March Health Challenge (2016)

[AeryFairy]

Happy March, everyone!!

You all know the drill by now - post your health goals, support and encourage your fellow VV members, and keep us updated with your progress. Health goals can be anything health-related, mental or physical.

Last month's thread is here: February Health Challenge

 

[AeryFairy]

As for my goals:

More Roller Derby stuff. I'm aiming to pass my minimum skills test by the end of the year, so I'm going to keep working on everything I need for that. It's not just about skate time - I'm doing squats, crunches, sit-ups, and stretches in between practice sessions to improve my strength and flexibility.

I've downloaded my fitness pal and synched it with my fitbit, and I'm aiming to keep up with my goals on there - if only to create a recent record showing my exercise vs. diet. Every time I've track things like that in the past, it's shown that I should be getting fitter a lot quickly/more easily than I am (meeting protein goals, eating plenty of fresh food, creating a calorie deficit, regular exercise) - I'm starting to suspect an underlying condition/cause of some sort, but every doctor I've spoken to about it hasn't believed me and has told me to try harder, or that I must not be doing it right.

I'm also buying a bike, so I can add cycling into my weekly exercise

 

[PTree15]

Wow, AF, way to go on all the training. You must be rock-solid! And way cool on getting a bike. I want to cycle more this summer. I didn't get in enough days for my liking. Need to get the bike tuned up as well, as it spent the winter on my deck under a decent cover, but it could still use some oiling up, I'm sure.

Goals for March:
Continue watching the junk/sweets and lose a couple of more pounds. I did fairly well considering I went on vacation and all.
Continue with five days of exercise a week, including core training (more planks, crunches and the like) and more squats and lunges to get in prime hiking shape.
Continue keeping my water intake at least 48 ounces a day. I've slacked on that a bit this week, though I did great with it on vacation, mostly because it was so warm where I was, so I was always having water.
Continue improving on getting enough sleep. I had a decent February in that regard, though there remains room for improvement.

 

[AeryFairy]

Met my nutrition goals for the last 2 days. Also found a tasty vegan protein bar with 17.2g of protein in

Went to roller derby this evening. 20 and 3/4 laps!!! That's two and a bit more than my personal best Super happy, as I didn't think I was doing that well today. I'm really aching now though!

 

[PTree15]

I got a really good night's sleep last night!! I made myself go to bed by 11:30 and I woke up at 7:15! Almost eight hours. Happy, happy. Also, my friend and I walked outside at work for 35 minutes because it was really nice out, and then we did some strength training in the gym. I so can't wait for spring!

 

[ledboots]

I finally got back to daily yoga after my flu bout. I'm still feeling weak and old after the virus, lol, but the yoga helps. We have several pregnant patients in the hospital with influenza now. It hits them so hard, especially h1n1.

 

[PTree15]

I finally got back to daily yoga after my flu bout. I'm still feeling weak and old after the virus, lol, but the yoga helps. We have several pregnant patients in the hospital with influenza now. It hits them so hard, especially h1n1.

"Liked" for the part about the yoga, not the h1n1.

 

[AeryFairy]

"Liked" for the part about the yoga, not the h1n1.

Ditto!

 

[PTree15]

Happy (sort of, lol) Monday!
Last week I didn't get nearly enough workouts in on account of a ridiculous work schedule. So I started off the week with an intense climb on the treadmill and it felt soooo good. I climbed 1,423 in 30 minutes, did a 5-minute cool-down and then did some crunches and lunges. I am determined to get in six days of exercise this week.

The clock-changing also screws up my sleep, so I didn't do that well the last couple of nights. I hope to get in a good night's sleep tonight because I'm already tired, haha.

 

[AeryFairy]

Happy (sort of, lol) Monday!
Last week I didn't get nearly enough workouts in on account of a ridiculous work schedule. So I started off the week with an intense climb on the treadmill and it felt soooo good. I climbed 1,423 in 30 minutes, did a 5-minute cool-down and then did some crunches and lunges. I am determined to get in six days of exercise this week.

The clock-changing also screws up my sleep, so I didn't do that well the last couple of nights. I hope to get in a good night's sleep tonight because I'm already tired, haha.

Keep it up, PTree! Hope your sleeps corrects itself


I've been keeping up with my nutrition goals - logging everything I've eaten, even all the drinks I had at/after the Roller Derby game I went to over the weekend (our A team were playing, it was a really intense match, the scores were neck and neck up until the last minute and a half when we won ). Managed to dance all the drinks off at the after party though!

Yesterday's training session didn't go so well though - felt really down, like I'm not improving much any more because I'm stuck on the same few things (transitions, T-stops, crossovers) and I can't progress any further until I've got them nailed. Then someone skated into me during laps and knocked me over, and I got a finger caught in her wheels. Ended up with a lovely blood blister :/ I'm gonna go skating with a few people on Wednesday, not to train but just to have fun, see if I can get a bit of my confidence back.

And now the weather is clearing up, out comes the skipping rope! I love skipping

 

[KLS52]

I'm doing Pilates/yoga 2-3 times a week, only, but it's more than I was doing. And I'm back to eating more healthy and cutting out the junk food. Wahhhh!!! Lol

 

[PTree15]

AF, yikes on the blister and all, but good on ya for going just to have fun. Sometimes we can get in training ruts. I find I have to mix things up a bit as I'm a treadmill junkie, so at times I just want to walk outside, even if it's not at the intensity of the treadmill work. It still puts a smile on my face to get outside. We are back to rainy cold weather, so no walking outside at the moment. *pout*, as SB says, lol.

KLS, awesome, awesome for you. That is the way to maintain all of that hard work you did! Well done!

Today was another good workout on the treadmill; I climbed 1,403 feet in 3o minutes (I decreased the speed slightly because I had a crick in my knee, lol) and I did a ton of crunches and then a couple of sets of squats. I might do some lunges tonight in front of TV (my favorite show, NCIS, is on tonight) depending on how my knee feels.

The sleep, alas, was wretched. I got only 4 hours. I was wide awake at 2 a.m., and it was all I could do to fall asleep by 3. Blech. Here's hoping for a better night's sleep tonight.

 

[shyvas]

Despite the stress, lack of sleep and hectic (too much paperwork) lifestyle, my cardiogram results were good.

 

[AeryFairy]

Keep it up, everyone!

I went to the skating rink tonight, actually had a really good time just skating for fun without the pressure of trying to learn anything

 

[Tom L.]

WHEW. I finally learned the complete Yang-style Tai Chi 24 form. I won't have to get the book out of the library anymore. I think it's improving my balance, and it definitely has a calming effect. At work I can always find a spot to do the routine if I need to clear my head- it only takes 5 minutes, or even less if I don't want to take too much time.

Some of the moves are assymetrical so that the two sides of your body do different things; I might learn the whole form in mirror image to stay balanced. I think that at the more advanced levels, there are forms where you do a lot more and wind up doing both sides equally anyway- but considering it took me about 3 years just to learn the basic 5-minute routine (on my own, with only a good book for a teacher, granted), I'm not sure the 48 form or 64 form would be a realistic goal...

I'm keeping up my gym workouts and walking too.

ETA: Just backread this thread. Good going, everybody!!!!!!

 

[PTree15]

Way to go, Tom! I've always been interested in Tai Chi, as I would love to improve my balance.

My knee is still a bit funky, so I took it easy on the climbing on the treadmill. I got 45 minutes in, though, so that was really good. I still managed 1,144 feet. Woot!

 

[PTree15]

Gaaaah, work sort of derailed my exercise last week, though I did get in a few days, just not my five or six that I wanted. I've started this week off right, though. Yesterday, my sister and I walked 2 to 3 miles in a park and today I kicked butt on the treadmill by climbing 1, 412 feet in 30 minutes (plus a five-minute cool-down). I also did four minutes of crunches. And last night, I got 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Last week, I did not sleep that well, so it was relief to get a good night's sleep.

 

[AeryFairy]

So at Monday's training session, there was apparently a reporter there writing an article about us

Get your skates on! The UK’s only dedicated Roller Derby venue for anyone interested.

And yes, I am in the pictures - look for the bright orange helmet

Also, weighed myself today and I've apparently lost a couple of pounds in the last few weeks. Not my goal at all, but still nice to see the exercise is doing something.

 

[Tom L.]

I know this is May, but I just got back from walking 3.5 miles to the gym and 2 miles back. I got there later than I had planned, and had to cut my normal 12 sets of various exercises down to 9. As it was, they inadvertently turned out the lights in the locker room as I was getting ready to leave (at least I wasn't in the shower!)