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]

@naturalooks15 you're welcome!

[ShortErica]

Glad to hear you found something you like @pocketvenus!

[makeitup305]

If you’re looking for the best way to get rid of that stale sweat/musty odor on your clothes, 10/10 would recommend the Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. It works better than the vinegar trick for me. The Clorox Laundry Sanitizer (liquid) and the Method Laundry Detergent Booster in Sport are both pretty good, too, though I’m not sure if as good as the Lysol.

[pocketvenus]

@makeitup305 Hanging up clothes to dry in the sunlight if you can is also good! 🌞🌞🌞

[makeitup305]

So I’ve been on my Noom trial one week and so far it’s Ok. I’m not sure if it’s worth the price (their current special is $150 for 5 months, so $30 per month). They prompt you to read short articles and quizzes and weigh yourself every day. A “coach” checks in with you occasionally but it’s not a live chat, more of a delayed texting situation. They focus on eating “green” foods (less calorie dense foods like vegetables and fruit) vs yellow (medium calorie dense foods with protein, fats and carbs ) and red foods (high calorie content foods such as cake, cookies, and pizza). I said I wanted to lose 30 lbs and they put me on a 1200 calorie diet with is pretty low for me. I haven’t been following it very closely as I wanted to track and see how much I was eating on my own (closer to >1800). I have started incorporating more “green” foods since I got on it and being more aware of my snacking habits. I lost 1 lb over the last week which is ok, I guess, since I wasn’t restricting my food as much. I’m not sure if I’m going to buy the whole 5 months but I do think I need something like this to help me stay on track as I get very easily discouraged.

[naturalooks15]

@makeitup305  I started Noom in Aug and was dilligent with it till about early Nov. I think concept of red, yellow, green helped me. I did loose about 6 Lbs in 12 weeks. Though coach or group was not helpful for me at all. I got the offer for $19/month and coach hasn't messaged me since October haha. I do need to cancel it. This did teach me to start measuring and counting and made me realize how grossly I underestimated weight/size of things as well as calories in them. Even though I was exercising and eating relatively healthy, I was definitely over eating.  I did feel like I was staying bit hungrier for the plan it gave me and not sustainable so I upped my calories (1200 was not at all enough for me) and I didn;t want to developed binging habit. 

How is it going for you @makeitup305 

[pocketvenus]

@makeitup305 I always figure health is the best thing to invest in! 😛 Regarding feeling discouraged, I bear in mind that it's normal to have to experiment a lot and experience plateaus, not just in terms of one's body but in terms of what one finds motivating and what does and doesn't work in terms of making changes to diet and exercise. Every body is different and your own body changes with time! As long as you are feeling good and healthier and enjoying what you're doing, that's the most important thing 🙂  

[makeitup305]

Thanks @pocketvenus ! I know there’s not overnight fix and it’s just a matter of making better habits. I forgot to cancel my trial subscription to Noom so now I guess I’ll give the whole program a whirl haha so far it’s ok, I’ve been staying consistent with tracking my food and weighing myself often. So far it’s helped in making me more snack-conscious and switching out chips for veggies and fruit.

[eshoe]

Oh bummer sorry you didn’t get a chance to cancel, @makeitup305 😕 But happy to hear you are going to make the most of it. I’ve done that with a few subscriptions.

[makeitup305]

@eshoe I don’t feel too bummed about it. I was considering buying it anyway so it just made the decision for me 😛 It focuses a lot on eating greens and lower calorie-dense foods and that has really helped me. I’ve switched a lot of my snacking habits to raw veggies and fruit, and have been eating vegetables and fruits more consistently (so has my boyfriend, which is a miracle).

[pocketvenus]

Update since my last post, I've been doing legs 2x per week and back 1x per week.

Already seeing more muscle definition in my calves and thighs. I wish I'd measured them before starting to see how much they've grown. I can also finally do 45-50 sec of jumping lunges without taking a break so feeling like I'm on the right track 😁 Before I started focusing on legs, I could barely do this exercise, I might get through like, two reps and it would be oh no. My legs were very, very weak.

As for back, that's not progressing as fast. I especially want to work on lats so I can do pull ups eventually. My husband got a lat pull down bar extension for our bench but while I wait for that to arrive, I've been using tension bands and I guess my lats are pathetically weak because I am already feeling the burrrrn ha ha.

Anyway, it feels like I'm finally balancing out my body!! I didn't realize it but over the years I had built up super strong abs, strong upper chest, strong glutes but still had weak legs and back. It's really embarrassing but I did not do a single exercise for my calves ever until the pandemic. I was worried I wouldn't be able to fit into my knee high boots if I worked them out. But now I realize that was very dumb because I can see how much work it's going to take to add muscle there and calf strength is obviously so important for certain exercises.

I've also started cutting down on cardio and doing more super setting which can raise the heart rate. I've also been doing more barre but wondering if I should just switch to weights altogether.

[makeitup305]

@pocketvenus that’s awesome! I have a super weak core so I’m jealous! My legs are decently strong (considering I didn’t work out until 2 months ago) but my upper body is puny in comparison. I can’t do a pull-up even with bands to assist and I’m doing incline pushups to build up my strength for a regular pushup. Keep up the hard work!

[pocketvenus]

@makeitup305 Pull ups are realllllllly hard!! Also, I should be more accurate, it's really my abs that are strong while my lower back, which can also be considered core, is definitely an area I am trying to work on more now.

Thanks for the motivating words! 💖 Keep going and working on those push ups, they are such a great exercise. People think of them as an arms and chest thing but they are great for activating core muscles too! 🙂

[ShortErica]

That sounds like great progress @pocketvenus! One thing I'd encourage is having even strength in your legs. As a person with a repaired ACL, one of the reasons it is torn a lot in soccer players is due to an imbalance - very strong quads and relatively not as strong hamstrings. At least that is something I've been told.

[pocketvenus]

@ShortErica Thanks for the tip! Yes, I'm learning more and more that it's important to be well-rounded when strength training 🙂

[makeitup305]

So after almost a year of not doing anything exercise related, I've finally started going to the gym consistently. It's been almost 2 months of consistently going to the gym and weight lifting 4x a week. Even though technically gyms aren't supposed to be open, mine still is (on the down low). It's a small private gym that's open 24 hours and at most there have been 3 other people at the same time as my SO and I, which really helps with my self-consciousness. I have yet to lose a pound but I knew it was bound to happen since my diet hasn't been great. I just signed up for a Noom trial. Has anyone tried using it? I just need some accountability and some prompting with eating right. I know I also need to start incorporating some cardio to help cut the pounds. Mentally, I don't feel too bad because I know I've been getting stronger and that if I do what I have to, the weight will come off.

[ShortErica]

That's awesome @makeitup305. I wish weight came off as quickly as it came on. Although the scale is the scale and we all have some magic number we aspire too, have your clothes started fitting differently? Just changes in muscle tone and muscle to fat can start leading to little change you might see that will increase your motivation. I feel you on needing to start incorporating cardio. You can do it!

[makeitup305]

@ShortErica I had to buy pretty much a whole new wardrobe recently because my clothes didn’t fit so I haven’t seen much change in that. I have noticed some more definition in my arms and back, and some on my legs. I’ve been slowly increasing weight and reps on all my exercises so that’s how I’ve been measuring my progress, mostly. Over the last 4 years I went from a small 6 to a 10, and have gone up over 30 lbs, which is crazy to me since before this I’ve always sort of leveled out. I really want to be able to fit into some of my old clothes so that’s my main motivation right now but it’s probably going to be a while before I get there. 

[pocketvenus]

@makeitup305 From 6 to 30 pounds, that's amazing progress 💪💪💪

[makeitup305]

Haha @pocketvenus I meant that I gained 30 lbs in weight not lifting weights haha I used to be a small 6 but now I’m closer to a size 10. I did go up 30 lbs in my squat over the past 2 months so that’s something!

[pocketvenus]

@makeitup305 Oh I totally misunderstood *duh face emoji* thank you for clarifying ❤️

30lbs for squat exercises is really great!! 👍