Motivation!

[Asaryu]

So, seems to me that there are a lot of people who have a desire to get fit/lose weight/tone up.

So I propose that in this thread, we post up the good things we have done for our bodies so that we can all tell each other how wonderful we are.

First post should be your goal, and then after that, you can say what you're doing about your goal. And so that the thread doesn't get too bogged down with the inevitable congratulatory comments, if you're going to post, make sure to start it with what you did for yourself, then you can get into the congratulations.

I shall start: I am posting this between 2 of my 4 sets of 60 sit-ups today. And later on I'm going to walk 1 1/2 kilometers to see friends, eat a salad, watch a movie, and then walk 1 1/2 kilometers home.

[Lilianna]

I weight 165 right now, and aim to weigh 125 by August. However, this plan puts me at about 140 in April, and since I already have my prom dress I'm afraid I won't fit in it right. Hm.

I've cut out quite a lot of calories in the past couple of days, and tomorrow I start a regiment of 30 minutes of exercise a day... which is roughly 30 more than I get now.

[cyanide_sweet]

I'm not sure if I want to lose weight... I've mentioned I'd like to drop a few pounds, and there has been enormous backlash from all my male friends as apparantly this will mean less-boobage?

Anyhoo, my fitness goal is to start out at 30min exercise a day, maybe up it in February.

[Asaryu]

I have done my 240 sit-ups today. I like my abs, they are much much stronger and more durable than they have been in a while. It's just a shame you can't see them very well.

I forgot to mention my plan.

I plan to gain a certain level of fitness. I figure that strict measurements and weighing of myself will only serve to depress me. The benefits I am looking for are to be less tired (and it's working already), have more energy, and to be able to fit more into each day, and hopefully, being happy with the way my body looks will follow soon afterwards. I have been going to the gym for about 3 months now, though it becomes more sporadic when I have assignments due and such.

Lilianna & CS: 30 minutes a day sounds good to me. It's more than I am doing at the moment. I try to go to the gym for an hour twice a week. What sort of physical exercise were you both planning on doing?

[Dirty n Evil]

I'm going to use the method that I used when I was younger to get into shape. I start with low weights or few reps, so afterwards I'm not immediately sore. This is mostly to get myself into the habit of exercising, training myself the routine. Then, each week I up the weight or the number of reps. A slow, steady increase that doesn't push me too hard or leave me unpleasantly achy afterwards. Because it's when I'm sore and achy I tell myself it's okay to skip just once... and that's where I throw myself out of my rhythm. All I have to do is keep with the habit and the rate at which I'm increasing each exercise.

And I don't believe in scales, you can be putting up muscle weight even as you lose the fat, so it seems like you're losing the "bad" weight slower than you are.

[Bear]

Being nice and dieting means that there will be more chocolate, bacon and baileys left for the rest of us

[Phoenix]

My plan within 5 years is to get a body like this, and weigh in at ~230lbs:



I'm currently 185, with barely any fat whatsoever (none that's visible, that's for sure! ), and I play ultimate weekly, sometimes American football, too, I lift small weights daily, do core exercises and as soon as the ice clears up, will be running daily, too! So my fitness is decent, I just need more muscle mass. As a result, I tailored my (already very strict) diet, to include a lot more protein

[Bear]

Your also going to dye your skin black and shave your head? Just kidding.

[Phoenix]

Your also going to dye your skin black and shave your head? Just kidding.

Funny guy There's always one!

[thaldin]

I'm 5'11" and about 195...

I wouldn't mind dropping about 15 lbs just to trim up... I'm seriously considering working out a way to start back to Aikido again. I miss it terribly and it is a great workout. Sadly my dojo is 30 minutes from my house and classes start right after work and last 2 hrs. Since I carpool every day with my g/f, it makes it a logistical problem.

[midgetshrimp]

I'm 5' 7" and weigh 160, so I have no real need to do much of anything (my body is constant, no matter what I eat or what I do to exercise, I've never weighed more than 165). But I have a chin-up bar set up, and I screwed a strap into the floor in front of my bed to keep my feet down for sit ups. My exercises include push-ups (sets of 20), sit-ups (alternating front-side-side, 30 each), and pull-ups (sets of 10). If I can keep with it regularly, I can up the reps. There won't really be any noticeable physical difference apart from possibly being slightly more toned, but my fat percentage will probably go down to about 8 after a month or so, and it will help get me stronger for work at the auction house (which is exercise in itself). I'll develop a more involved routine at some point, but only using my body weight, seeing as I don't have gym access or my own exercise equipment. I wish I had an elliptical.

[Dirty n Evil]

Midge, I mostly only use my own body weight as well. I just have a pair of dumbells for curls and such. It takes a bit of adjusting, but juggling the number of reps you do in each set can help a little with the mass. I used to be one of those people who couldn't put on a pound either, even if I ate a gallon of ice cream a day. Even then, I was able to increase my mass slightly by doing less sets but more reps. Just build to it slowly, as you don't want to put too much stress on your joints too quickly.

[thaldin]

Yeah my metabolism used to be very high... then I got older.. the poundage will come MS hehe whether you want it to or not...

For me it hit right about age 30...

Graduating high school, I was 5'11" and about 155 lbs... a bean pole and nothing would change it...

When I got out of basic training, I was about 170 to 175, I filled out some finally, go figure, PT does that =)

Now, I'm like 195 to 200 lbs and wish I could get it gone heh

[midgetshrimp]

Midge, I mostly only use my own body weight as well. I just have a pair of dumbells for curls and such. It takes a bit of adjusting, but juggling the number of reps you do in each set can help a little with the mass. I used to be one of those people who couldn't put on a pound either, even if I ate a gallon of ice cream a day. Even then, I was able to increase my mass slightly by doing less sets but more reps. Just build to it slowly, as you don't want to put too much stress on your joints too quickly.

I was n a weight training program for a year and a half for soccer in high school. Being able to leg press from 400 to 800 lbs, I only got my bench press up to 155 (my arms look big, I've been told, but they aren't that strong) and extensive conditioning exercises in the course of the year. At the beginning? 155 lbs and 13% body fat. At the end? 155 lbs and 6% body fat. The only real difference was you could see my abs more clearly. I am a physical idiosyncrasy.

[cyanide_sweet]

Lilianna & CS: 30 minutes a day sounds good to me. It's more than I am doing at the moment. I try to go to the gym for an hour twice a week. What sort of physical exercise were you both planning on doing?

Treadmill, pushups, situps, maybe some yoga. I don't have a gym membership so it's the best I can do
I'm just waiting for it to warm up so I can go biking.