Sports & Fitness

[Fjorab_Teke]

I'm glad to play (American touch) football again! My husband's coworkers play on Saturdays when they're not working, and the weather is usually ridiculously nice in this part of California except when it's too hot in late summer. I've always liked playing sports with a bunch of hot guys, and i always have a "favorite," hehe. This place isn't home, and there's always the looming possibility the military will move us, but for now i'm enjoying this group and their football games while it lasts.

This town also has lots of walking paths and sidewalks almost to the rural areas, so it's easy to go for nice several-mile walks. There are good fitness centers here, too, but i only ever use my $35 membership to try something out or shoot some hoops, so i'm cutting off the membership since i'd rather play outside. I might do some more horsey stuff soon, but my riding instructor is recovering a few more months from a bad accident.

[Madge]

Progress: Well, I've continued riding to and from work and my turnaround time is now about 25-30 minutes (sometimes the wind is awful) and I feel like I'm going at a suitable pace (i.e. not so hard that I end up soaked in sweat and begging for mercy). It took about two weeks before my body got used to it, as someone said. A large part of that was probably pumping up my tyres. I've also worked out some very basic bike maintenance skills. All in all, go me, and thankyou friends for your advice

[Fury]

Go Madge indeed! It sounds like you're doing really well.

I'm pleased with my progress too. I've been lifting weights 4 days a week and have really whipped my eating habits into shape! I'm drinking a lot more water to keep my system clean, eating a lot of protein (turkey, chicken, tuna, eggs!) and have cut down big time on the chocolate. I've replaced my chocolate snacks with fruit but I know I'm still consuming too much sugar, be it natural or not. So next I have to work on swapping some of the fruit snacks for vegetables (carrot sticks, cucumber, that kind of thing) and nuts.

I've taken a 'before' picture if anyone is interested and am excited to take a picture in a month or so's time to see how big the difference will be. I plan to take a picture every month and - fingers crossed - in 6 months time I will have a 4 pack and well proportioned muscles!

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I am most pleased with my arms and some parts of my shoulders. But! I want them to be bigger and much more defined! My lower back especially looks pretty neglected. I'm also working hard on my abs. I have a flat stomach and my diet is good so I am hoping I can make a 4-pack at least!

(P.S. Yellow face because I had no make-up on and was pulling the derpiest face ever)

[Madge]

I love your hair. Is that weird? It's not weird, right?

[Marah]

So my new years resolution of socializing more on these forums got derailed by January, because January is just not my month.
My continuing resolution of losing weight and getting healthier got derailed and the beginning of February by twisting my ancle (twice and really badly) and now that both my feet are approaching the same size again by a cold/flu hybrid.
Before all of that woe I managed in 2012 to patiently get my running to 70 minutes (hopefully 10K I don't have a fancy smart phone to check) and my weight down by 8 kilos.
I am posting here to share with you my mini resolution of beating this cold and next week finally start running again. Most likely a small 30 minutes so as not to overdo it.

I read through this thread, great going on the progression.
Fury, I would love to see your updates, I haven't been able to motivate myself to do something with weights but it wouldn't be a bad thing.
Madge, my problem with biking to something is that I always bike too fast if I need to be somewhere in time. (And then I end up being too early) so sweaty and begging for mercy (or water) sounds familiair. Going home however and it not mattering how late I get there is when I love my bike the most. No waiting around for overly full busses!

[Fury]

I love your hair. Is that weird? It's not weird, right?

Haha that's not weird, that's really kind of you to say - thank you!

I'm pleased with how things are going although I've realised that to get to where I want to be I will have to start working a little harder. Now that I'm a gym "regular" (I hate that phrase) I don't feel as self-conscious lifting weights even though I'm generally the only girl doing so and therefore the weakest. But I've upped my game these last couple of days and won't be content to settle for lifting weights that don't make me strain with the effort haha!

I took a few pictures this morning to show somebody because I've noticed a few of my work shirts are now getting too tight in the arms. So excuse the smirk, it looks smug but I was in fact laughing at how awkward it looks!

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So all in all: proud of myself for sticking to 4 days a week. Here's hoping the muscle keeps on coming!

[Fury]

I found two pictures that are a good comparison showing the difference in my arms. I'm pleased with how things are going:



I want to be a muscley bitch!

[Fury]

I thought it was time for another little update!

Within the last 2-3 months I've been pushing myself and changing up my routines in the gym. I'm pleased with my progress but I've still got a fair way to go. For comparison:



The differences seem subtle at first glance but I can notice my arms are a lot fuller. My frame in general has definitely bulked out, especially when I compare it to photos from last year in which I look skinnyskinnyskinny.

I'm on track to achieving what I want to achieve by January 2014 (maybe not the 6 pack... I still like chocolate too much!) and I recently discovered I can do 2-3 pull-ups in a row. Very proud of this as my upper body used to be so weak. I'm working on being able to do more, hoping my rotator cuff niggle will disappear soon and also working on squat form. Yay!

P.S. I got contact lenses and had more hair chopped off. Derp.

[thelonetiel]

That is really impressive Fury, congrats! I definitely have no upper body strength and get embarrassed by it. That kind of progress in a year seems pretty awesome, and I might have to try this sometime.

Though, at the moment, I've been starting jogging. I'm still at a pretty meager pace and distance, but already way better than when I began over a month ago. Kinda crazy how little time improvement takes, or maybe it just looks like more effort from an outsider perspective.

[Madge]

Your progress is pretty damn impressive, Fury!!! Especially on pull-ups. The thought of doing one pull up makes my arms tremble so you must truly be an adonis amongst us.

Just realised I forgot to give my little update - I continued riding every single day until I moved locations. My new location is 13km away (twice as far!) and doesn't have good bike path access. However, I've ridden about once a week so far and intend to do it three times a week in the future. It takes 50-55 minutes and is a nice easy ride - I get off at the other end feeling like I've barely broken a sweat (i.e. no huffing and puffing on arrival, I'm sure I've been sweating). Far call from my first few days where 6km had me knackered. I even rode to work in an awful rainstorm! My shoes got soaked through but I put them in the soil sample drying oven we have and that had them mostly dried by hometime.

[Ziggy]

I have a dog, that and cleaning rat cages is the extent of my fitness. I thought I'd lose weight getting a dog, in fact, I gained it through the enormous stress of raising a puppy

[Fury]

Thanks guys! I've noticed my traps have gained in size which is great, I've been trying to bulk them up more by doing shrugs with every back workout.

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Tiel: It's great when you start to notice the difference, it's such a thrill. Keep it up. And you should definitely try weightlifting! You can do as much or as little as you want depending on your goals.

Madge: Awesome! A 50-55 minute bike ride is pretty long, it must be doing wonders to your fitness levels.

[Kari]

Love the progress shots I need to exercise more myself, but I keep coming up with excuses. Especially since I have issues with "things that take too long to show results"

[Cranberry]

Haha, Kari, I know exactly what you mean. I used to play the violin as a kid, and I was pretty good. I gave it up, and then like... 20 years later I wanted to learn again. When I wasn't good right off the bat, I got frustrated and quit. See also: guitar. I don't have a problem with exercising, though... I would if I had to go to a gym, I think, but I just take long walks with my dogs (2 hours most days, sometimes 4 or even 6). I enjoy those, and my dogs are also jerks if we miss a few in a row, so that motivates me.

Looking good, Fury!

[Fury]

I've been a bit AWOL from these forums recently (sorry, I will return to socialise soon!) but wanted to share another comparison that I'm fairly pleased with:

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lolpants

The face ain't grinning yet because I'm not entirely satisfied but I'm getting closer! I've done what is known as a "bulk" in bodybuilding terms (eating more calories than your body usually needs in order to feed your muscles and grow) and now I'm on a "cut" (going into a caloric deficit and doing cardio in order to burn body fat and reveal the muscle underneath). My stomach is very stubborn and I know it's going to be harder than hard to reveal a 6 pack but I can dream?! I'm currently consuming around 1500 calories a day as opposed to 2000+ a few weeks ago. I've also added 10 minutes cardio after each weight session and have been playing more Squash. I reckon I'm on target for a full transformation in February 2014; a year since this all started. Wish me luck!