Fitchella 2012 It's GO TIME!

[faxman75]

I figured I would start this up now that we have all had some time to recover from Coachella 2011.

Just like the last thread. Share your meals, exercises, progress and anything else in this thread. Fitness is a lifelong process so having a long term plan and creating new and good habits would be ideal. We almost have an entire year to get to where we want to be healthwise and at a healthy pace that will allow us to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

You can post pictures of your progress if you like or not, you don't have to do anything. I have even used this thread to hold myself accountable. Whatever suits you. Just know in this thread you will be safe from any ridicule and you have nothing to be embarassed about. I say this as one of the fattest members of this thread. That said, FAT should not be an offensive word, if you are fat, it's because you have more fat on your body, it's just a fact but don't worry no one is going to be calling you a fatty in this thread either. As seen in last years thread, this is not just for overweight people and it's not JUST about weight loss. This is about living healthy. You are welcome to set any goals you like in the short term and long term as well. It doesn't have to be just about losing weight. It's also productive to create habit goals. For instance, one of my goals last go around was to start jogging in the morning. Something I didn't think I was capable of, mission accomplished! For the past few months I have made it a routine to jog for 1.2 miles every single morning to start my day.

Newcomers are WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED to post as well.

I wish everyone continued success and a healthy year. For this round i've cleaned out my closet, gotten a crash and burn on the mountain out of the way and on to a new belt and 3 notches in already. I'm 35 years old and 5'7 inches tall and started this living healthy routine about 5 months ago at 300 pounds. I'm currently somewhere in the 250 range and i'm trying not to weigh myself for a few more weeks. I'm trying to shed the numeric way of thinking and not dwell on a number every week. If i'm living healthy, exercising and eating right, the pounds will ultimately come off over time, so no reason to focus on the number and get discouraged during some weeks when the scale doesn't change or shows a positive.

I hope to see you ALL at Coachella 2012 with healthier habits and feeling the best you ever felt!

[ThatGirl]

Great that you started this new thread! I have lost 30 lbs since January with the help of a website called Sparkpeople.com, which is free and is great for tracking your food intake and your exercise minutes. It also has reports showing your calorie burn, daily basal metabolic rate, lots of tools and tips, and (GASP) a message board. I hit my goal weight around the time of Coachella and am determined to continue to exercise and track all my food so I can keep it off. I've lost and gained weight back before and need to stay on track this time. My exercise regime includes Zumba dance 3 x weekly and strength training 1 -2 x weekly.

Faxman you are doing awesome and you should keep it up! You are right that if you keep at it consistently you will see those results!!

[chairmenmeow47]

i keep doing weird things to my feet that prevent me from wearing sneakers. i'm hoping this will be resolved soon cause i want to walk!!!!

[PlayaDelWes]

Fitchella 2012 - STRETCH GOALS!
Going above and beyond your casual targets

[faxman75]

Welcome ThatGirl and thank you!

Ivy, i'm trying to start wearing this pair of Nike running shoes my roommate passed on to me. They are a little snug but I really like how light they feel. Today though, I feel them slightly starting to dig into my heel. Boo.

I hope your feet get sorted out and you can walk again soon!

My current daily routine is as follows.

6:00am 1.2 mile jog around the apartment (18 min. 25 sec. average)
5:45pm 1.2 mile hike South Mountain javelina/beverly canyon loop (22 min. 30 sec.)
I take the stairs daily at work. That's down 8 flights a day and up 10 flights a day.
I'm currently trying to add weights though I haven't been consistent yet. I get in a couple of days a week on average and i'm trying to make a habit of doing them every day after my hike.

My weekend is a bit less strict. I usually get my jog in on Saturday before 9am (1.2 miles around the apartment) and a hike later in the afternoon usually around 4PM. Sunday I usually miss the morning jog but still do the afternoon hike. It's rare that I ever miss a day completely, I try to keep this a dailiy routine.

Some basic eating tips that have helped me with a balanced diet. I used to be crazy addicted to sweets and sugars. I replaced ice cream, chocolate, candy with fruits, a variety is good, I tend to eat bananas every single day and also like oranges and apples on a regular basis. These work great for snacks too. I also eat raw almonds. I actually love almonds and have started to add them to my Healthy Choice Steamer when I eat those on occasion. I also now drink more water. On average I drink about 80 oz. a day. The general rule I have heard is half your weight in ounces each day. For bigger people like me, that's very difficiult, I have not been able to 125 oz a day but I know some days I get around 100.

They say breakfast is the most imprtant meal of the day but I must admit, i'm not a big breakfast eater. Every day I eat a banana and munch on raw almonds for breakfast, i'm just not all that interested in anything else and i'm fine with that. I sit in a cube all morning so i'm not very active at that point anyway.

Lunch: I usually prepare a lunch and i've added salmon to my diet so I usually cook a fillet of salmon and bring bags of frozen veggies to work. If it's not salmon it might be a chicken breast or if i'm too busy I always have a few healthy choice steamers in the freezer so that i'm prepared.

Snack: Every afternoon around 3:00PM or so I have an orange, apple or another banana. I also get this thing out of the vending machine called Energizer Mix which is nuts, raisins and banana chips. It's probably the healthiest thing in there and it's a rather small portion and the bags look 100 years old but I figure it's better than the Peanut M&M's i'm always wanting so i'm content.

Dinner: Dinner is always different. I've been into lamb chops, fish or any other peice of meat with some more green vegies (usually broccoli or green beans) and I tend to add fresh green peppers and onion chopped up and sprinkle shredded cheese on top and it's delicious. I usually have a glass of diet green tea. I've cut out ALL soda at this point and have taken quite the liking to diet green tea. I was addicted to diet soda for a long time and having a can or two a day. There are apparently health benefits to green tea as well. I have stopped going to the buffet and sitting down and eating 3-4 plates of food and started getting a to go carton from the buffet. It's cheaper than sitting down and it gives me a more healthy sized portion, so I figure that's an improvement.

At night I tend to have a bowl of cereal with splenda and 1% milk. Ok I lied, it's usually 2 bowls.

That's about it. If you like some of those ideas, implement one at a time and see how they work for you. I use all kinds of other tools to help every single day too. I post in this thread, another on facebook and I also use an app to hold myself accountable every single day. The app I use is cardio trainer on android. It works great for me and I would recommend it. It deciphers between workouts (walk, run, treadmill, hike) and it uses GPS for outdoor exercisers like myself. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to be as specific about as many of my habits as possible. I also quit smoking a couple of months ago and the only time I get cravings are when I drink alcohol but i'm pretty strong and flat out have mentally learned to ignore and just know i'm a non smoker now, even if I want one, I tell myself I can't because it's poison. Plain and simple, no bending or cheating on that one.

[OutOfmYminD]

Make it happen!

I'm on step one, the most important step after which everything else is going to fall right into place if I can maintain it. Pre-Coachella wasn't the best time but now smoking has officially got the boot.

[faxman75]

Alright, i didn't post a photo at the start of last fitchella so this time I will so I can see the progress come next April.

[yardbird]

I take the stairs daily at work. That's down 8 flights a day and up 10 flights a day.

I'm not trying to be a dick but could you explain the discrepancy?

This is the only solution I could come up with:

[chairmenmeow47]

i have good shoes, it's just first my work shoes gave me a really uncomfortable blister. i tried walking one day, but it just aggravated things. then a few days later, i went to my parents and went outside to water the grapevine. i came back in to play piano, and noticed my other foot was bleeding. no clue what i did, but i haven't been able to wear normal shoes since. i'm hoping this weekend will be better. i'm also going to do south beach for the umpteenth time next week. i miss cooking.

[GuyInTucson]

Keep at it Mark. I haven't stopped working for longer than a few days - not counting my honeymoon - since November 2009 and i don't plan on it any time soon. Once you get to your goal, you'll feel outstanding both physically and emotionally.

[faxman75]

I'm not trying to be a dick but could you explain the discrepancy?

This is the only solution I could come up with:

lol no problem. The parking garage is a different structure than the building I work in. They are across the street from eachother. I normally park on the 4th floor of the parking garage and I work on the 5th floor of the office building. As you can see that still makes my math from yesterday wrong ha ha. It's down 9 flights and up 9 flights. Math is not my strong suit.

Thanks Jason! I will. I feel better every day.

[Mr. Dylanja]

lol, I thought that was the new, "uphill both ways," I was gonna let him run with it.

[zircona1]

I jog a few times a week around my neighborhood, I average about 12-15 miles a week.

Ever since I got back from Coachella, I have felt weaker when I jog. My legs don't feel as strong, and I've been wheezing after about 15-20 minutes.

I've made an appt. with my dr.

[PotVsKtl]

It's strange how this is a topic year after year populated by the same individuals. Shouldn't you all be skeletons at this point? Is there a perpetual weight loss machine?

[GuyInTucson]

Getting fit does not necessarily mean losing weight.

[chiapet]

How many years has this topic been posted? I'm only aware of the previous thread, which really only picked up steam a few months before Coachella, so not even a year's worth of discussion really.

Plus... the point was not to be skeletons but to encourage each other about making good fitness choices, on an ongoing basis.

Why post on threads that don't interest you or that you don't need?

[PotVsKtl]

I post on threads that will allow me to make quips at my leisure. Why read words with your eyes?

[faxman75]

I've only been at this 6 months so i'm not part of the Pot's analysis. A search shows another fitchella thread that was started January 2010. So this is the 3rd. I wasn't aware of that first thread.

[chiapet]

Yea, I'm pretty sure our preparedness for 2010 mostly included discussion of how many costco sized containers of junk food to buy. Not exactly fitchella.

[Premium Roast]

decided to just let go and refrain from daily scheduled exersize. Energy levels may slightly suffer, but metabolism is high so it's not a big deal. More drinking and smoking too.

[faxman75]

Just got back from the hike. First one since the crash and burn on Monday evening. I'm on par with my best times so aside from scabs all over my right leg and elbow, i'm perfectly fine.

It was also extra dry the last two days, I heard the humidity yesterday was around 2% which ties some record lows. This was also the hottest hike yet as it was 97 degrees. I did skip weights and have not done them since Saturday. Apparently i'm only doing weights when I feel like it as I can't seem to make them a habit yet, which is fine. Plenty of time to implement them.

[weeklymix]

I stopped eating a bunch of crap late at night and I'm pretty sure it was directly responsible for 15-20 of the 25 pounds lost before this Coachella.

[Hannahrain]

I stopped cleaning bloody footwounds altogether and I'm pretty sure it was directly responsible for 3-7 of the 9 toes lost before this Coachella.

[weeklymix]

Ugh.

[Hannahrain]

No no, it's a blessing. Now I can fit into the discount shoes from the sample sale and there's still room left in the toe for lipstick and a little mad money.

[weeklymix]

Clap clap.

[bmack86]

I'm starting to hit a problem: the three pairs of pants I can wear with a belt without looking like a clown are starting to become pretty loose. I don't have money to do pants shopping right now, but I'm starting to look really goofy wearing pants that are now 4 or 5 sizes too large for me.

[weeklymix]

Spend less time worrying about pant size and more time convincing everyone of your true gangster nature.

[Hannahrain]

Wear them all at once. The two inner pairs will fill out the outer pair in a convincing leg-shaped way.

[Mr. Dylanja]

I'm pretty sure everyone knows B-Mack is a gangster as soon as they see him. If not, just introduce yourself as B-Mack and your problem is solved.