I just experimentally did some one-armed dead hangs and I got to 30+ seconds with each arm
So I am pretty happy with that, that's a big improvement from only a few months ago! I feel like it might be time to really ramp up focusing on individual arm work. I did some one-armed band assisted eccentric pull-ups (lowers, basically) yesterday and they felt like they were really hammering my arms, so I think that three sets of 6 scapular pull-ups, two 30 second dead hangs per arm and two sets of 4 individual one-armed band assisted eccentrics per arm would be a very solid workout. Try to reduce the strength of the band I am use over time as well.
Alright attempted a slow pace higher cadence run this morning. Average cadence was 158, which is a decent increase there, and it did feel easier for the most part! Hip flexors felt like they were doing a lot more work than usual, but I'm okay with that. 2.5 miles 9:47 pace. Didn't quite do the slower pace I wanted to, but it felt pretty good so whatever.
Alright attempted a slow pace higher cadence run this morning. Average cadence was 158, which is a decent increase there, and it did feel easier for the most part! Hip flexors felt like they were doing a lot more work than usual, but I'm okay with that. 2.5 miles 9:47 pace. Didn't quite do the slower pace I wanted to, but it felt pretty good so whatever.
Anecdotal evidence: Higher cadence good?
Any intentional adjustment like that will probably bring with it different types of soreness, so keep an eye out for that just in case.
Of course, you always adjust cadence with terrain, so my average this morning was much lower than usual, but I was trail running through snow and ice so I had to walk a lot. I'll take that over slipping and smashing my face into a rock though.
Garmins are often rude and discouraging like that. You're unproductive. You're vO2 is poor. People 30 years older than you are walking laps around you. Some of this might be hyperbole.
I've kind of chosen to ignore the vO2 metric at this point. I like to see it go up, but I don't think it can be all that accurate since I'm not breathing into anything while running. Either way you got some solid runs in so Garmin can jog on.
From what I've heard a lot of the metrics/algorithms on Garmin can be a bit wacky at times.
To the point where someone I know has nicknamed his watch "The Thief of Joy" because it tells him he's unproductive when he feels good and productive at random times.
So I came across this picture recently of me. This was prob back in 2008 or 09.
For reference this is me right now, on the left.
It's a good reminder that this has been a long journey. I def had ups and downs but I'm glad I stuck with and continued to work at it.
+21
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Dancing around the house, getting up and down, cleaning before the birthday party tomorrow, while listening to a surprisingly good 90s soft rock playlist on YouTube music totally counts as exercise, right?
I think I've been doing enough exercise lately. I just slept for nearly 12 hours. I'm only up and awake because I don't want to lose the whole day. A couple gentler days I think.
If you were to design somebody who is biologically bad at running I feel like I would be it. Last time I really tried to get into running I fucked up my hip and it would click and pop for months afterwards. I am a slow, lumbering penguin ass son of a bitch more equipped to waddle and slide than move elegantly.
I'm also not good at moving heavy weights apparently. I have neither slow nor fast twitch muscle fibers. My Paleolithic ancestors must have been the ones that got set out in the middle of a field as giant sloth bait so the actual elite hunters could kill it.
I've been struggling this week. With having Ellie home for the first 3 days due to a mini lockdown, and then having Ecco home the last 2 days and all the stress and anxiety leading up to this weekend.
I've had 2 rest days in a row and I had chocolate cake for her birthday.
but I went swimming/water walking this morning and feel pretty good actually.
I need to get back onto the wagon though. right now i'm kinda o half off. i need to do some weights or some squats or something.
It's amazing how much off track I get when I"m not just sitting at my desk and needing an excuse to get up and move.
It's way more important to have the mindset and habit strength of, "I've fallen off for a few days, time to get back to my workout routine," than to punish yourself over a few things like the occasional extra desserts or days off. You need to still keep those things that you really enjoy in my view, even if you have them less often or in smaller portions.
Maybe compared to the average Joe on the street but no I would not consider myself particularly strong.
Once I can break 400lbs on a deadlift or a squat or hit 275+ (315lbs is my actual goal but my bench press is awful so tiny weak, idiot, baby steps I guess) on a bench then I'll feel like I'm finally able to say I'm "strong." The problem is, whenever I start to get close my body snaps in half and I die completely dead.
Maybe this is a weird/dumb/bad question, but: does anyone else who burned off weight get weirded out looking in the mirror?
My mental image of myself seems to be of me at about 250 to 260 pounds. When I saw myself at 320, that was not the person I expected to see, and that was motivation to shed pounds. Now that I’m 190, I really don’t look anything like my mental image of myself. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy in the mirror! But I’m having trouble getting my brain to accept that oh hey, that really is me.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Maybe this is a weird/dumb/bad question, but: does anyone else who burned off weight get weirded out looking in the mirror?
My mental image of myself seems to be of me at about 250 to 260 pounds. When I saw myself at 320, that was not the person I expected to see, and that was motivation to shed pounds. Now that I’m 190, I really don’t look anything like my mental image of myself. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy in the mirror! But I’m having trouble getting my brain to accept that oh hey, that really is me.
The thing that did this to me recently is socks.
I knit myself a great pair of socks. The hug my calf and ankles and fit great.
Then I took photos of them on my feet.
They were huge.
I looked at them next to a pair of commercial socks and the difference is astounding.
The commercial ones have elastic in then, so they can stretch to fit legs, but go back down to a "normal" looking sock. So those were always how my brain saw my legs.
But now there's this hand knit pair of socks, that hug tightly but in the ground look like they should be used as covers for very large golf clubs.
It's been a huge shock to my brain to see the perception of my legs and feet next to the reality.
Maybe this is a weird/dumb/bad question, but: does anyone else who burned off weight get weirded out looking in the mirror?
My mental image of myself seems to be of me at about 250 to 260 pounds. When I saw myself at 320, that was not the person I expected to see, and that was motivation to shed pounds. Now that I’m 190, I really don’t look anything like my mental image of myself. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy in the mirror! But I’m having trouble getting my brain to accept that oh hey, that really is me.
100% I do.
Like I posted earlier, I been doing the weight loss thing for over 10 years. I initially went from 280 to 180, and would then be anywhere from 165 to 205 for the years after that first weight loss. I continued to consider myself overweight regardless of my weight, and my mental image has stayed the same.
Right now I'm probably at the best shape I ever been. I'm at 148, and feel great, but if I look in the mirror or think of myself I still think of me as the usual person.
I seen some people recently that I hadn't seen in a good couple of months (socially distanced, being safe) and they seem amazed at how I look. I thought they were being nice, that my change couldn't be that drastic and then I see a picture like this
and it really fucks with me, because I'm slim? It's just not something I would have ever considered myself. It's great (though I don't want to define myself by that) but it's def something I'm still processing.
+3
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
So while I don’t have a proper fitness tracker I remembered today that the iPhone does basic step counting/tracking. I’ve felt for a bit that walking my dog since she joined me in my apartment has improved my walking stamina over the past handful of months, and... yep
I hear you @Shadowhope - Slightly different but I still have a mental image of myself as blonde and I've not been since my very early teens. I'm 35 now and yet I would still, unless I thought about it, describe myself as blonde. It doesn't really shake me seeing it in the mirror, I'm used to this mousey brown mop visually but yeah.
I have always struggled with how I look, like I always hated my physique and thought it looked dreadful etc. Nothing unusual there.
I still kind of instinctively think that I look that way, even though realistically I don't look so much like I used to? I just always focus on the imperfections. It's unhealthy when that happens, but I try to be kind to myself and ignore the voice that is so critical. Sometimes people I know get a little frustrated by it, which I can appreciate why, but it is something I do work on.
Hating how I looked is partly how I ended up at the size I am, because when you feel you have to wear baggy clothes and cover up and ignore mirrors it’s easier to ignore the weight creep on. And now I have kind of the opposite perception to most of you, whereby I’m much slimmer in my head than I actually am, so whenever I was forced to confront reality I just felt too ashamed to do anything.
Which is why now I’m trying to make it about generally being active and healthier rather than fixing on a weight or size goal.
Anyway, last week I walked an average 11,695 steps a day, which is about a 8,000 daily increase over Jan when I was very sedentary. I reduced my resting heart rate from 67 to 61-62 over the past two weeks, and I ate an average 1,538 calories daily, which I think is about right.
lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
My silly season of birthday parties is almost at an end! Only 2 more this coming weekend and then another in 2 weeks.
and Ellie has started Primary, so I can get back to my daily walks in the house without needing to pause constantly to answer a question or try to not step on the child who is INEXPLICABLY standing right behind me all of a sudden.
Weigh in this morning at me a 133.6, last week was 133.4. so, i'm still roughly maintaining, but not losing. and that needs to be fixed.
Ran again yesterday trying to stay at a higher cadence. 2.8 miles at 10:09 with an average of 158 again. It felt a lot better, especially considering I was on trails this time instead of sidewalk, but my hamstrings are a bit sore today!
Got some climbing in today and had my butt thoroughly kicked. Sent a couple of nice easy problems and found some fun cracks to come back and throw myself at next time I'm out there. My shoulders and arms are already achy, so tomorrow should feel great!
My silly season of birthday parties is almost at an end! Only 2 more this coming weekend and then another in 2 weeks.
and Ellie has started Primary, so I can get back to my daily walks in the house without needing to pause constantly to answer a question or try to not step on the child who is INEXPLICABLY standing right behind me all of a sudden.
Weigh in this morning at me a 133.6, last week was 133.4. so, i'm still roughly maintaining, but not losing. and that needs to be fixed.
so tired.
You know your body best, but I can't help but think tracking fractions of a kilo isn't useful? Just because the average person's weight fluctuates significantly more than that in a day just from normal stuff like water retention, etc.
+4
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
My silly season of birthday parties is almost at an end! Only 2 more this coming weekend and then another in 2 weeks.
and Ellie has started Primary, so I can get back to my daily walks in the house without needing to pause constantly to answer a question or try to not step on the child who is INEXPLICABLY standing right behind me all of a sudden.
Weigh in this morning at me a 133.6, last week was 133.4. so, i'm still roughly maintaining, but not losing. and that needs to be fixed.
so tired.
You know your body best, but I can't help but think tracking fractions of a kilo isn't useful? Just because the average person's weight fluctuates significantly more than that in a day just from normal stuff like water retention, etc.
I'm only weighing the one day but yeah, I pretty much agree. But it still helps me to put down the full number.
My silly season of birthday parties is almost at an end! Only 2 more this coming weekend and then another in 2 weeks.
and Ellie has started Primary, so I can get back to my daily walks in the house without needing to pause constantly to answer a question or try to not step on the child who is INEXPLICABLY standing right behind me all of a sudden.
Weigh in this morning at me a 133.6, last week was 133.4. so, i'm still roughly maintaining, but not losing. and that needs to be fixed.
so tired.
You know your body best, but I can't help but think tracking fractions of a kilo isn't useful? Just because the average person's weight fluctuates significantly more than that in a day just from normal stuff like water retention, etc.
I'm only weighing the one day but yeah, I pretty much agree. But it still helps me to put down the full number.
Gotcha
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Hating how I looked is partly how I ended up at the size I am, because when you feel you have to wear baggy clothes and cover up and ignore mirrors it’s easier to ignore the weight creep on. And now I have kind of the opposite perception to most of you, whereby I’m much slimmer in my head than I actually am, so whenever I was forced to confront reality I just felt too ashamed to do anything.
This was/still is me. I can't remember the last time I looked at myself fully in a mirror.
It was when my son was born that I realised I needed to change. I was only ever having photos taken of me and him where you can only see me from my shoulders up.
My wife did his swimming lessons because I was too ashamed of my stretch marks. Fortunately they've gone now but I think I'll never be fully happy with my weight even if I lost loads more.
409. So I'm still not up to my biggest again but still not making a ton of progress. I'm cutting easy back on caffeine though because I had accidentally been taking way too much in and getting headaches.
I've had more energy though since I got my stimulant back. But I was having issues moving around without getting winded without my blood pressure meds for a few days but I'm back on those and besides a bit of initial dizziness I'm getting more chores done. Oh and they are giving me advair to try soon because the weather/environment and such has such a drastic effect on my breathing.
But hopefully this week I can start doing some stretching and maybe minor bodyweight exercises. Try to get in like 30 minutes of cardio on the weekends with my pedels.
I went into my closet and looked at some of my fancy clothes that don't fit and got sad so I really want to lose more weight.
I’m now mostly trying to eat to maintenance. Some days, that’s slightly under my Fitbit’s estimated calories out, some days it’s slightly over. I have a plan to keep monitoring my weight, and if I see it average over 195 for a week or if it goes over 200 at all, I’ll resume calorie restriction until the weight gain is resolved. On the other end of things, weighing in at under 185 will trigger a “eat at a 1,000 calorie surplus” measure, continuing until I have at least a full week of weigh-ins over 185. So, everything is currently fine, and I have plans in place for what to do if things become not-fine, and plans to ensure not-fine gets no worse than not-fine. But my brain has a little panic spike every time I see that I’m eating at more maintenance level for a day.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
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PwnanObrienHe's right, life sucks.Registered Userregular
Well, I did it. I finally found the most obnoxious Youtube fitness channel ever...
...and what's amazing is that he did it while giving out what seems like sound scientific advice. There's just one, subtle gimmick going on here that you might find annoying.
Posts
I'll at least be back to work so I'll at least have a schedule.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Awesome man!
So I am pretty happy with that, that's a big improvement from only a few months ago! I feel like it might be time to really ramp up focusing on individual arm work. I did some one-armed band assisted eccentric pull-ups (lowers, basically) yesterday and they felt like they were really hammering my arms, so I think that three sets of 6 scapular pull-ups, two 30 second dead hangs per arm and two sets of 4 individual one-armed band assisted eccentrics per arm would be a very solid workout. Try to reduce the strength of the band I am use over time as well.
Last week 169 lbs
This week 166 lbs
Anecdotal evidence: Higher cadence good?
Any intentional adjustment like that will probably bring with it different types of soreness, so keep an eye out for that just in case.
Of course, you always adjust cadence with terrain, so my average this morning was much lower than usual, but I was trail running through snow and ice so I had to walk a lot. I'll take that over slipping and smashing my face into a rock though.
I've kind of chosen to ignore the vO2 metric at this point. I like to see it go up, but I don't think it can be all that accurate since I'm not breathing into anything while running. Either way you got some solid runs in so Garmin can jog on.
To the point where someone I know has nicknamed his watch "The Thief of Joy" because it tells him he's unproductive when he feels good and productive at random times.
For reference this is me right now, on the left.
It's a good reminder that this has been a long journey. I def had ups and downs but I'm glad I stuck with and continued to work at it.
I sure feel tired.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
If you were to design somebody who is biologically bad at running I feel like I would be it. Last time I really tried to get into running I fucked up my hip and it would click and pop for months afterwards. I am a slow, lumbering penguin ass son of a bitch more equipped to waddle and slide than move elegantly.
I'm also not good at moving heavy weights apparently. I have neither slow nor fast twitch muscle fibers. My Paleolithic ancestors must have been the ones that got set out in the middle of a field as giant sloth bait so the actual elite hunters could kill it.
It's way more important to have the mindset and habit strength of, "I've fallen off for a few days, time to get back to my workout routine," than to punish yourself over a few things like the occasional extra desserts or days off. You need to still keep those things that you really enjoy in my view, even if you have them less often or in smaller portions.
3 steps per seconds sounds really hardcore though since I am a slow jogger but i guess i will try it out first
This will be here until I receive an apology or Weedlordvegeta get any consequences for being a bully
Maybe compared to the average Joe on the street but no I would not consider myself particularly strong.
Once I can break 400lbs on a deadlift or a squat or hit 275+ (315lbs is my actual goal but my bench press is awful so tiny weak, idiot, baby steps I guess) on a bench then I'll feel like I'm finally able to say I'm "strong." The problem is, whenever I start to get close my body snaps in half and I die completely dead.
They are giving me advair and sending to follow up with the pulmonologist again too. Check out my lungs a little more than just just the apnea issue.
Maybe this is a weird/dumb/bad question, but: does anyone else who burned off weight get weirded out looking in the mirror?
My mental image of myself seems to be of me at about 250 to 260 pounds. When I saw myself at 320, that was not the person I expected to see, and that was motivation to shed pounds. Now that I’m 190, I really don’t look anything like my mental image of myself. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy in the mirror! But I’m having trouble getting my brain to accept that oh hey, that really is me.
The thing that did this to me recently is socks.
I knit myself a great pair of socks. The hug my calf and ankles and fit great.
Then I took photos of them on my feet.
They were huge.
I looked at them next to a pair of commercial socks and the difference is astounding.
The commercial ones have elastic in then, so they can stretch to fit legs, but go back down to a "normal" looking sock. So those were always how my brain saw my legs.
But now there's this hand knit pair of socks, that hug tightly but in the ground look like they should be used as covers for very large golf clubs.
It's been a huge shock to my brain to see the perception of my legs and feet next to the reality.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
100% I do.
Like I posted earlier, I been doing the weight loss thing for over 10 years. I initially went from 280 to 180, and would then be anywhere from 165 to 205 for the years after that first weight loss. I continued to consider myself overweight regardless of my weight, and my mental image has stayed the same.
Right now I'm probably at the best shape I ever been. I'm at 148, and feel great, but if I look in the mirror or think of myself I still think of me as the usual person.
I seen some people recently that I hadn't seen in a good couple of months (socially distanced, being safe) and they seem amazed at how I look. I thought they were being nice, that my change couldn't be that drastic and then I see a picture like this
and it really fucks with me, because I'm slim? It's just not something I would have ever considered myself. It's great (though I don't want to define myself by that) but it's def something I'm still processing.
(I got her in late October)
I still kind of instinctively think that I look that way, even though realistically I don't look so much like I used to? I just always focus on the imperfections. It's unhealthy when that happens, but I try to be kind to myself and ignore the voice that is so critical. Sometimes people I know get a little frustrated by it, which I can appreciate why, but it is something I do work on.
They're so fucking hard, I almost feel like I can't imagine it unassisted, never mind the full pull-up
Which is why now I’m trying to make it about generally being active and healthier rather than fixing on a weight or size goal.
Anyway, last week I walked an average 11,695 steps a day, which is about a 8,000 daily increase over Jan when I was very sedentary. I reduced my resting heart rate from 67 to 61-62 over the past two weeks, and I ate an average 1,538 calories daily, which I think is about right.
Unfortunately what seems to happen is instead of becoming the Ultimate Beef™️ I just hurt my back and then eat Taco Bell on my floor.
and Ellie has started Primary, so I can get back to my daily walks in the house without needing to pause constantly to answer a question or try to not step on the child who is INEXPLICABLY standing right behind me all of a sudden.
Weigh in this morning at me a 133.6, last week was 133.4. so, i'm still roughly maintaining, but not losing. and that needs to be fixed.
so tired.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Got some climbing in today and had my butt thoroughly kicked. Sent a couple of nice easy problems and found some fun cracks to come back and throw myself at next time I'm out there. My shoulders and arms are already achy, so tomorrow should feel great!
You know your body best, but I can't help but think tracking fractions of a kilo isn't useful? Just because the average person's weight fluctuates significantly more than that in a day just from normal stuff like water retention, etc.
I'm only weighing the one day but yeah, I pretty much agree. But it still helps me to put down the full number.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Gotcha
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
I know what you meant but I just want to emphasize that I do not for a moment think you are dumb :heartbeat:
This was/still is me. I can't remember the last time I looked at myself fully in a mirror.
It was when my son was born that I realised I needed to change. I was only ever having photos taken of me and him where you can only see me from my shoulders up.
My wife did his swimming lessons because I was too ashamed of my stretch marks. Fortunately they've gone now but I think I'll never be fully happy with my weight even if I lost loads more.
Body dysmorphia is rubbish!
409. So I'm still not up to my biggest again but still not making a ton of progress. I'm cutting easy back on caffeine though because I had accidentally been taking way too much in and getting headaches.
I've had more energy though since I got my stimulant back. But I was having issues moving around without getting winded without my blood pressure meds for a few days but I'm back on those and besides a bit of initial dizziness I'm getting more chores done. Oh and they are giving me advair to try soon because the weather/environment and such has such a drastic effect on my breathing.
But hopefully this week I can start doing some stretching and maybe minor bodyweight exercises. Try to get in like 30 minutes of cardio on the weekends with my pedels.
I went into my closet and looked at some of my fancy clothes that don't fit and got sad so I really want to lose more weight.
I am stressed with work, I need to really blitz some upper body and chest
BRAINS ARE SO DUMB.
I’m now mostly trying to eat to maintenance. Some days, that’s slightly under my Fitbit’s estimated calories out, some days it’s slightly over. I have a plan to keep monitoring my weight, and if I see it average over 195 for a week or if it goes over 200 at all, I’ll resume calorie restriction until the weight gain is resolved. On the other end of things, weighing in at under 185 will trigger a “eat at a 1,000 calorie surplus” measure, continuing until I have at least a full week of weigh-ins over 185. So, everything is currently fine, and I have plans in place for what to do if things become not-fine, and plans to ensure not-fine gets no worse than not-fine. But my brain has a little panic spike every time I see that I’m eating at more maintenance level for a day.
...and what's amazing is that he did it while giving out what seems like sound scientific advice. There's just one, subtle gimmick going on here that you might find annoying.