Workout Accountability/check-ins

[naturalooks15]

Hi All,

Hoping people would be interested in this. 

I want to work out regularly and have a group of people who can keep each other accountable, just do daily check IN’s. I keep falling off the routine and then get into inertia and then it takes few weeks to couple of months to start back up. I am still not fully recovered after last years health issues and excercising is imperative to my health and everyone’s health. 

Please let me know your ideas !! We can structure it how everyone wants it.

I was thinking a check in and any tips people have, every day. This is the social group I interact most with and love the company of you kind and fun ladies. 

Also let me know if we need to move this thread in any other group.

Some tips I learned for athletic/ athleisure clothes -  I used buying new workout clothes as my motivation incentive for being consistent for 1 months rather than any food incentive. Used points to convert to gift cards and then bought 2 sets during sales. Before this I just had 1 legging and 2 Costco shirt. I didn't want to spend any money till I convinced myself that I would consistently use the clothes. Now I do so did some shopping 🙂

Leggings (criteria not rolling down on tummy fat, not needed to be pulled up a lot during the workout) - 

• Old Navy compression leggings - Very highly recommended and affordable
• Athleta Contender Leggings - Mid range, they have sales (semi-annual and general)
• Zella Live-in leggings from Nordstorms (people stock-up during anniversary sales)
• Sweaty Betty Power Leggings
• LuluLemon Fast & Free - High price but people love these
• Reebok Cotton 7/8 - I love these for yoga. These are my most "roll-down-proof-during-downward-dog" on my tummy since I gained mass in mis-section after surgeries. 
• Nike Dry Fit etc. from big box sporting goods store (name starts with D)

Shirts -

• I like short sleeve so most of mine are from Costco (Tuff brand or Kirkland)
• Tanks from Athleta. They have most of their styles in all sleeve length (from Tanks, short sleeves as well as long sleeve shirts)
• Tanks from Old Navy
• Calia by Carrie Underwood - I have been eyeing some but waiting for them to go on sale
• Nike Dry-Fit
• Under Arrmer compression shirts

How to take care of your workout clothes - I learnt about these recently. I always bought workout clothes from clearance racks in the past so used to just wash with regular clothes in normal cycle. That can cause them to fade soon. If investing in pricier/ better clothes, better take care of these 🙂

• Wash in cold/ delicate/ "activewear mode" if your machine has one
• If not washing immediately, let them air out if wet and not put it in hampers
• Line dry or tumble dry WITHOUT heat
• If too sweaty/ too stinky soak in a bucket full of water with 1/2 cup white vinegar overnight and then dump in the wash

*****Goals ***** <<still updating>>

@naturalooks15  Excercise 4 x week. still get to 7000 steps on off days. PT specific exercises 4 x week

@Brutalitops 

-Exercise at least once a day, no matter how little

-Go to an (easy) yoga class once a week until I can do it without muscle soreness the following day

@RNGesusPls 

Weekly goals: 

Run 30+ min on at least 1 weekday, 6 miles on a weekend

@scott1201 

• Exercise class 6x a week
• At least two long walks around the neighborhood 
• Try out all the trials from local studios (1st class free! One week for $10, etc) before committing to a new studio contract
• Make myself talk to a person at each class

@MissPuff 

Goal: 6-7 miles a week, split into 2 or 3 evening runs

Proof: Selfie or run stats screenshot

@gonerogue 

personal training/weight lifting 2x a week

add in a 3rd day of boot camp (class) and

a 4th day of just cardio (running)

@jen143xo 

Exercise 5-6 days a week (Lifting and cardio)

add more HITT cardio in approx 2x-3x a week

Hit my macro numbers everyday

Drink more water

[pocketvenus]

For a February update, I've still been unable to set up my home gym and at points, I've lost a lot of workout space so sometimes it's tough even to have enough room for spinal twist positions in yoga 😮 But I'm back on track, exercising daily, averaging around 30 min/day but sometimes going up to an hour. I honestly don't think it makes up for the lack of walking I do now since we're in lockdown though.

I'm also living in a place where the ground isn't flat and level and I realized my scale doesn't work properly on this floor so I'm completely clueless these days when it comes to my weight!! This means I'm 100% reliant on measurements and my performance in workouts to track progress which is okay with me because I think these are both more important than weight. I've definitely increased my endurance so my pilates and barre workouts are way easier but I've finally restarted weight training again and definitely lost gains I'd made there 😞 Looking forward to building all that back again but will have to be patient and wait until I can set up my bench and stuff.

[naturalooks15]

Exercising at least twice a week is now an ingrained habit for me, just part of the routine. adding 3rd & 4th days is still a challenge that I am continuing to work on.  Even with crazy work schedule, I keep my 2xweek workout classes and don't cancel them (losing money and then penalty for late cancel on top is was good motivator in the beginning but now I just crave it and look forward to going).

I realized I was eating healthy but eating  lot more calories than  needed. I tried Noom and had good results but now have moved onto something else now but keeping a lot of elements I learnt in Noom. Overall I am down 11 Lbs since Aug but stuck at the same place for last ~6 weeks. I also know the reason - because I am not eating as well as I was on Oct-Dec, My workdays have been 14-18 hr days since Mid Dec so hard to prioritize cooking good food, avoiding some junk and most importantly not getting proper sleep for last 2+ months. Slowly trying to get back to groove. 

[pocketvenus]

@naturalooks15 It's tough to eat well when one is pressed for time! I started making bowls with oatmeal, rice noodles and couscous. Add water, cover and it's ready in under 2 min! Then add some veg and protein 🙂

[naturalooks15]

@pocketvenus  I am trying out a meal kit service, Vegan option. Takes about 30-45 min for a meal. They also recently started doing prepared meals so trying that next week for maybe 2 meals. 

Are you Vegan by any chance (or would be interested in trying out a meal kit hope it's not against the rule? I can send a free kit to you. I don't get benefit but 1st box is free for you to try out and no obligation to subscribe.  They are called Purple Carrot. I like their recipes/variety.  Let me know. 

[pocketvenus]

@naturalooks15 It's so sweet of you to offer a free kit! My partner has a lot of serious dietary restrictions so these meal kit services tend not work out well for us, but it's really nice of you to think of me. I am definitely trying to increase my plant-based meals and snacks. Right now, because it's winter, I'm really into heating up some nut milk and adding things like tumeric and ginger or cacao and maca and having that for snacks or dessert 🙂

[pocketvenus]

Update: so my knee injury took way longer to heal than I expected and it's kind of sad how quickly I lost the gains in muscle tone in my legs. Ug! But I've stopped feeling that scary twinge and can wear heels again 😄 Unfortunately, just as I'd healed up, I had a major life event hit in December so for the first time in years, my exercise became more erratic. I did not exercise for four days straight which is the longest I've ever gone without. I did do a fair bit of heavy lifting and deep cleaning those days but that can't replace targeted, proper exercise. Thankful though, that I'd been working on upper back! I definitely felt like lifting was easier. Exercise is such important training for real life!! Anyway, I also got takeaway a lot those weeks because I didn't have time to cook. I gained back the weight I'd lost and the inches that came off returned. Now I'm eating normally again, lost a couple pounds and am working on building myself back up to the level of intensity I was at in terms of weight training. It's difficult because my life and schedule are still sort of in disarray, and it makes it difficult to plan so I'm easing back into it. Hopefully I can have my home gym set up properly again soon!

[naturalooks15]

Hi Folks, sorry haven been able to pop in here for a while. But I have been keeping up with exercises (also lost some weight, about 10 Lbs in last 16 weeks) so yay !!

I am very consistent with 2x week HIIT. during summer months I was doing 1-3 miles walk/jog 3x week but with the whether that has stopped. Trying to find reasonable price new or used weights so I can do something at home but currently now much luck. 
I did manage to get a adjustable Kettle bell on blackfriday so need to create a routine with that. Goal is to go back to at least 4x week workouts. 

[pocketvenus]

@naturalooks15 I hear you, home gym equipment became pretty $$$ in Toronto with the pandemic!

[naturalooks15]

Yeah, same here. Insane prices. I managed to get the Bowflex one without a mark-up and rather with some discount directly from their website But they delayed the shipping of Dumbbells till Feb 🙂 so I am still waiting on it. I got their adjustable Kettlebell shipped on time though. 

[pocketvenus]

@naturalooks15 Nice!! The Bowflex and Ironmaster dumbbells are in very high demand here! The markups on Kijiji are wild 😮 Hope your shipment comes in soon 🙂 

[WhereYouStand]

Hi can I jump in and join ?

[pocketvenus]

@WhereYouStand It's a bit late to reply but absolutely, you can join in anytime 🙂

[pocketvenus]

I injured one of my knees so I have been doing upper body and ab workouts all week! Does anyone have injury friendly workout tips? I'm going to try easing into some no-low impact cardio today because I'm missing cardio but if there's any problem, I will immediately stop and go back to upper body strength training again T_T Kind of frustrating but at least I'm not ignoring back!!

[pocketvenus]

September update: After a couple months of working on legs and back, I'm pretty happy with the strength that I've gained. There's way more definition in my calves and a little more in my thighs and back. The additional strength has definitely made all my workouts easier, including cardio.

I've lost four pounds, 0.75" from my waist and 0.5" from my hips. I don't like to lose weight too fast, this is about as fast as I'm willing to go. I'm going to switch to doing maintenance workouts to try to pause the weight loss, increase my pilates and barre workouts and keep weights at the same level. Then I'll reassess in a month. I think I'll keep strength training my back though and upping the weights there because it was not very strong to start with and I didn't push myself as much as I could the past two months.

[makeitup305]

I fell off the wagon a bit over the past week and a half but I’m back on it now. I’ve started incorporating a little bit of cardio into my workouts- a 5 minute run (now up to 7 min) followed by 10 min on the bike . It’s not much right now but I’m hopeful that slowly adding minutes to my workout (going up 1-2 minutes per week) will help me build stamina and make it less daunting. I’m very happy with how my workouts have been going lately. I keep going up in weight and/or reps pretty consistently and have been feeling motivated to go (most of the time). I really want to make a tank top with #babymuscles on it lol I’ve also been eating better overall and have officially lost my first 5 lbs of fat! I can’t remember the last time I saw the scale go down and stay there. Here’s to losing 25 more 😉

[pocketvenus]

Update: I've been doing the same weights on my legs for a month now and am ready to move up to the next weight level 🙂 I also moved up from the Medium tension band for back exercises to Heavy. Feeling sore but good! I also started tracking things more seriously instead of guessing which weights I've been using. I'm also tracking total minutes spent exercising each day. I'm using a plain notebook for now but would like to get a nicer one eventually. I kind of liked Cassey Ho's 90 Day journal which had templates for goal setting and such but that's sold out. Does anyone have a favourite workout journal? 

[pocketvenus]

Update: I bought this 90 day journal and I really like it! You can track food, workouts, sleep, water, and mood. It's pretty simple and I really like it. There's a ton of space so I'm going to use one line per day. That's 4 days per page which will let me use this journal for 360 days, almost one year 🙂 I'm also going to track my weight and measurements. It's very motivating, I highly recommend journaling!

[naturalooks15]

@pocketvenus  This looks so awesome !  I specially like the water counter. I am using 'Lose It' app ($10 for the whole year) but this looks great for someone who enjoys paper. I think I will get it for my spouse. He is pen-paper guy. DO you mind sharing where did you get it from/ brand name etc.?

[pocketvenus]

@naturalooks15 I'm still using it and really like it! Very affordable too. I found it on Amazon and the publisher is Pretty Simple Books 🙂

• ISBN-10 : 1948209454
• ISBN-13 : 978-1948209458

[naturalooks15]

Thank you @pocketvenus  I will check it out.