Fitchella 2012 It's GO TIME!

[faxman75]

Just had my best time on the morning jog by about 30 seconds or so. It's so much easier of a jog when I do it this much later in the morning but I only get to do this every other week when i'm off on Friday. It's 85 right now which is beautiful but it's supposed to be 100 when I go hiking later. Good times.

[keeshonjohnson]

Hooray for the new thread . Tonight I wore my wedding dress to a party (8 year olds wedding themed birthday party). This is the first time in almost 10 years that I have been small enough to do this! So happy
next years fitchella goal is to be down 10lbs and be incredibly strong and fit. Go fitchella 2012!

[johnatx]

i just wanted to say that you guys rock.

working out has been the 2nd most positive force in my recent life, and i'm so glad to see you guys beginning/sharing in the experience of making yourself physically fit.

keep up the great work! but, don't obsess too much over it or you may hurt yourselves.

once again, you guys rock!

[RedHotSgtPeppers]

I want this to be me in a year: (may this inspire you guys)

[Westy]

That doesn't help. I've been working out pretty hard for about 10 months, and I think I look like the guy at about 8 seconds.

[RedHotSgtPeppers]

That doesn't help. I've been working out pretty hard for about 10 months, and I think I look like the guy at about 8 seconds.

I'd be happy to look like him at 8 seconds.

[faxman75]

i just wanted to say that you guys rock.

working out has been the 2nd most positive force in my recent life,

Awesome to hear! Keep it up.

[Mr. Dylanja]

i just wanted to say that you guys rock.

working out has been the 2nd most positive force in my recent life, and i'm so glad to see you guys beginning/sharing in the experience of making yourself physically fit.

keep up the great work! but, don't obsess too much over it or you may hurt yourselves.

once again, you guys rock!

The first thing is skrillex, right?

[johnatx]

nope, family is 1st. then physical fitness. THEN skrillex is a close whomp whomp whomp third!

[meowlouder]

Keep up the good work y'all your motivation is inspiring!

I was updating my workout playlist earlier and remembered how great this song is for any sort of cardio:

[chairmenmeow47]

i used to shove people out of the way at clubs to dance to that song

[nathanfairchild]

i've gone part-time bulimic to get ready for next years chella. wish me luck.

[DFrank]

I know it's not accessible to everyone, but swimming does wonders. I swim 3 or 4 times a week and i love the post-workout feeling much more than running.

Reading enough online, it's the best aerobic exercise you can get and is non-impact on your body (in case you have knee problems etc).

[LooseAtTheZoo]

i used to shove people out of the way at clubs to dance to that song

Truth. No other physical responses seem appropriate

[faxman75]

Awesome weather for a hike today. I breezed through it and it almost felt easy, another personal fastest time on the trail. I was up late drinking last night so I missed the morning jog, not a big deal though. I notice I don't really think or worry about it when I have a not so healthy meal anymore. I'm eating right more than 90% of the time so I don't get stressed or angry with myself when I do go out to eat. It think that's a healthy thought process. I'm also enjoying not getting on the scale and worrying about what it reads, even if i was only doing it once a week. The rules have gotten much more simple for me. Follow a balanced diet and exercise every day. As long as I am doing that 90% of the time I will continue to have to success. This has also allowed me to focus more on school as I have 2 final exams this coming week.

[ThatGirl]

I know it's not accessible to everyone, but swimming does wonders. I swim 3 or 4 times a week and i love the post-workout feeling much more than running.

Reading enough online, it's the best aerobic exercise you can get and is non-impact on your body (in case you have knee problems etc).

There is a pool at my gym and if I get bored with my regular workout I do laps..I'm a weak swimmer but I go between front and backstroke and even use foot flippers to really get moving, but you are right its a heck of a cardio challenge! And it's a nice reward to hit the steam room or hot tub after.

[meowlouder]

Today I went to the gym for the first time since Coachella. It's been closed due to remodeling so everything is brand new. They seemed to have glued TV's to everything so I just watched Sex & the City while stairclimbing the entire time. Hooray for being lazily active

[faxman75]

Fit Fit Fit! Where is you all at?

This week has been busy. Two finals and they are done and I got B's in both classes so I feel like a winner. I am taking 2 summer classes but one is online so that will free up another day for hiking! Speaking of hiking I saw my first snake yesterday near the start of the trail. I was already into a jog and as I approached it looked like a stick and by the time I noticed his head I leaped over him. It wasn't a rattler or anything but am so unfamiliar with desert wild life I don't know what it was. It blended in with the ground rather nicely. This encounter became quite the distraction for the rest of the walk. I was obsessively thinking about desert animals that could poison and kill me and wondered if this non-incident would have me changing up my entire routine and instead of hiking, back to the apt. gym using the treadmill. I started to develop other justifications like the oven getting hotter (the phoenix weather) day by day now. At the end of the hike I decided I wouldn't go for a 2nd go around but I wasn't going to give up because of just one little snake.

Everything else is going just about the same. Still eating pretty well. I haven't been on the scale in over 2 weeks which is good. I'm starting to get more and more comments on my weight loss and appearance which is nice to hear. Mostly, I just love not being physically miserable anymore. I'm still taking the stairs at work. If i'm feeling sluggish in the morning or running a bit behind, I NEVER skip the morning jog but there has been an occasion or two in the last few weeks where I have shortened it as to not be too late to work but I jog 1.2 miles every morning and shortening it just means 1 mile even.

One final thing i've been noticing is I am tucking in certain shirts, something I wasn't doing at all for a long time. I'm starting to care just a tad about my appearance which I had not cared about for several years. I figured this was a necessity if I care to ever date again in my life.

How has everyone else been?

[chairmenmeow47]

it's nice to know you're keeping up with the jog, even if you're just shortening it. i try to do that with walks. when i'm in my rhythm, i try to walk just around the block even if i don't have time or don't feel well. it can be hard to find that motivation, but at least if you do a short walk/run you feel like you've done SOMETHING.

i'm back in the habit, even though i've been sick. i have frankly been too broke to eat properly, but hopefully next check will be better. it's nice to have the time to do things for myself again

oh, and as i said on your facebook, i saw my first daytime coyote. i kept my eyes on him until i was far away. i kept acting out scenarios in my head of what i'd do if he approached, but running into the nearby street screaming seemed to be the only thing that made sense.

[Mr. Dylanja]

How has everyone else been?

I've just been sitting here wondering about your hair.

[faxman75]

If it starts running at you, standing still seems like a bad idea but I swear that's the answer I hear for everything. Just be calm and stay still.
BUT A COYOTE IS CHARGING AT ME WITH SALIVA DRIPPING FROM HIS FANGS!!?

Regarding shortening the jog. I'm pleased that I have not abused this as well. The old me would have started going out later and later every morning and by now I would be down to a 5 minute walk. It was funny though, yesterday morning I was looking all over the place for my Roku remote and for some reason I felt I could not jog until I found the damn remote. I was being so ridiculous and stubborn about it. Finally I found it on the floor behind my bed. Today I was right back to the normal jog but I have to laugh at my frustrations and justifications in hindsight.

I found this forum post to be rather helpful regarding poisonous Arizona creatures.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/arizo...rs-snakes.html

and after looking at pictures of desert snakes for the last half hour, I have no idea what kind of snake I saw. It was maybe a foot and a half long and blended in with the ground. It didn't appear to have much color either. I knew once I saw one, I would become preoccupied ha.

[faxman75]

I've just been sitting here wondering about your hair.

I got the Bieber cut, it's pretty sweet.

[Courtney]

Bumpity bump. I'm jumping into this thread. Hi fitchellites.

So I've started riding my bicycle into work, both for health and budget and general saving-the-world type reasons. Man is my butt sore. But I think it's going to have a really positive impact on my overall fitness level as long as I can stick with it. I'm super psyched about it!

I've also been getting back into packing my lunches after a couple months of being very, very bad about not doing it. Today's lunch was smoked turkey and brie with homegrown arugula and Big Island tomato on toasted whole wheat, and an apple on the side. Mmmmmm yum.

[Courtney]

Also, office-dwellers: have any of you experimented with non-traditional chairs for your desks? I used an exercise ball for a while at work, but eventually I brought it back home because it was too much of a pain when I was wearing sky-high heels. I haven't taken a foray back into the fitness-type chair arena since, however this "Ergo Ergo Stool" at the MoMA Design Store has me reconsidering. Look how pretty it is!

[ThatGirl]

I am still losing weight unintentionally? .. Lost 3 more lbs even though I'm eating according to a maintenance program. Still exercising but maybe i'm not tracking my food correctly. That said I've been travelling and my job has changed and I'm under a ton of stress.

[Courtney]

ThatGirl, do you normally find that that's your body's reaction to change and stress? I know some people who are like that (of course, I tend to be the opposite).

[ThatGirl]

ThatGirl, do you normally find that that's your body's reaction to change and stress? I know some people who are like that (of course, I tend to be the opposite).

I don't normally lose weight under stress. Normally I feel compelled to overeat when i'm stressed .. i feel like I've indulged a few times but most days I am eating the calories recommended for maintenance- but still losing.

[chairmenmeow47]

i just want to thank rick for the tuesday walk & keeping my ass motivated. *chunky fist bump*

[downingthief]

i just want to thank rick for the tuesday walk & keeping my ass motivated. *chunky fist bump*

Ummm...there is no way in Hell you are chunky. Just sayin'.

I found out that the City of Scottsdale has a gym pretty much right around the corner from me. $75 gets me a year membership...time to take the fitchella plunge!

[TommyboyUNM]

I am still losing weight unintentionally? .. Lost 3 more lbs even though I'm eating according to a maintenance program. Still exercising but maybe i'm not tracking my food correctly. That said I've been travelling and my job has changed and I'm under a ton of stress.

I don't normally lose weight under stress. Normally I feel compelled to overeat when i'm stressed .. i feel like I've indulged a few times but most days I am eating the calories recommended for maintenance- but still losing.

Have you had your thyroid checked out? I went through the same thing about a year and a half ago. I unintentionally lost almost 30 pounds in less than 2 months, and it turns out I had a hyperactive thyroid.