I'll tell you something, Karen. I don't think you have far to go. When I said I was surprised at the summit, it was because I thought you would be bigger in person (despite what the pics look like).
Do you know your bodyfat percentage? It is a MUCH better measure of fitness than that scale.
I didn't make it real to myself how close I was until Galya estimated my bodyfat at 21%. I was suspecting it was somewhere in the low-to-mid 20's, but not that low. At my age, I'm thinking that 18% will be the lower limit and I calculated what I would need to lose based on some calculator I got somewhere. Can send it to you if you want.
Srsly.
Thanks, Elisabeth. I don't know how far I have to go till I get there, I imagine. But, for me the problem with the monthly challenge pics is that I'm the only thing in them and they look giant,and I look like a square, to me. If pictures were the only thing I relied on, I'd be in serious trouble.
BF%--I have no idea. 25% would be my guess. Calculators put me anywhere between 22-25%. And some of the really oddball ones say as high as 35%. Not going to get any real tests done because there aren't any close and I'm not sure it isn't a waste of $.
As for the calculator, I'd love to check it out. I know they're all more a generalization than an individualization, but it's nice to look at things like that to get another idea of where I'm going.
Not that anyone asked, but all you gals looked great at the Summit. Just sayin'.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kfisherx
I don't know 'bout you gals, but I am hearting Tom right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialmom
Yeah, pretty much!!
Me, too. (Again wishing I would have taken the time to look up and figure out how to post those little smiley guys that Tracey uses so I could put one here.)
Wow, there was a party in here while I was running around this weekend! Hai everyone!
I had quite a long weekend. Thursday, I did yoga--I was so impressed with myself, I can now do the sun salutations with the upward dog without my torso touching the floor at all. I suppose if I knew what I was talking about it would be more impressive. Anyway, it was a great full body workout and it left my abs very sore the next day. Now that I'm in decent shape I can get a lot more out of yoga than just stretching.
That afternoon I got home to a message that I did NOT get the nonprofit job. In retrospect, I think I know what is going on. They asked me the same question I keep getting, which is, "You were Executive Director, how do you think it will be not being in charge." Well, I thought my answer was good--that it would be a relief and that I am a great team player--but what it boils down to is that I'm overqualified. Sigh. Fact is, I don' t WANT an Executive Director position. I left the last one because I just didn't have any emotional energy left for my own family, and until my youngest is out of high school, my kids have to be my priority.
Well, what that means is that I am going with the personal training full speed ahead. At least the schedule will be somewhat flexible and certainly part time to begin. I corresponded with the Cosgrove's gym--they don't have any coach positions open now, but the very nice office manager told me to send my resume, 'cause "this is the fitness business and things can change very fast!" So I'm putting that together today and sending it in. I also met the owner of a local studio on Saturday who is interested in seeing my resume as well.
I drove down south to meet Galya on Friday. What a lovely person. She helped me out with my form at the local 24 until we got expelled by a slope-shouldered, potbellied older trainer who claimed he was the manager. What a fool. He was watching us do two-point rows and told us that we should never, ever do it that way because the force could torque our spines and cripple us for life. LOL!
Ugh, have to run...will finish later. Stupid underlining where did that come from?
Why would you get expelled working out with someone who's helping you on your form? Did they think she was a 'trainer' working in on their territory? Bizarre. I guess I get it, but not quite. Sorry to hear about the job. I completely get the overqualified bit. I had that last year before going back to school. Like 'hey I'm not working' so why would I care that I'm overqualified? I know, they're looking long term. In the end I think the personal training sounds like something you're interested in doing, so it's probably for the best.
Thanks, Elisabeth. I don't know how far I have to go till I get there, I imagine. But, for me the problem with the monthly challenge pics is that I'm the only thing in them and they look giant,and I look like a square, to me. If pictures were the only thing I relied on, I'd be in serious trouble.
Karen--You don't look like a big square at all. Listen to Tom and me, and Galya, she agrees...you are not big! You are very close to being in excellent shape, you're already very fit. It is crazy to think of yourself as fat. Reallly. I read about a study where they disguised pictures of people's bodies somehow and a number of women who claimed they were fat saw their own bodies, did not realize that it belonged to them, and commented on how good they looked. You have ab lines, your legs are tiny, you are not fat. Fergawdsakes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by realcdn
Why would you get expelled working out with someone who's helping you on your form? Did they think she was a 'trainer' working in on their territory? Bizarre. I guess I get it, but not quite. Sorry to hear about the job. I completely get the overqualified bit. I had that last year before going back to school. Like 'hey I'm not working' so why would I care that I'm overqualified? I know, they're looking long term. In the end I think the personal training sounds like something you're interested in doing, so it's probably for the best.
We argued with the guy for some time. He was pretty freaked out. He said it was a liability issue. A liability for the stupid 24 trainers--if the clients see something decent going the credibility of the trainers will be gone, I guess.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialmom
I love this board and the fact that there are so many women on here who do really love their bodies and the way they work/look/feel! Even better is the fact that every one of us (myself included) who does love their body, isn't perfect. Does that make sense? Not to speak for others, but there are few on here that do really have "hollywood" bodies (not that we even necessarily want them), but you're at a place, it seems, that you are happy. Even if you do still want to lose a few (so do I, but if I never do, I'll still be happy with the way I look), you've got a great, athletic, fit body, and I love that so many of us actually are accepting that. Hmm, a little convoluted, but hopefully you get my point. Little boys are calling me, so I'll have to leave my thoughts unedited!
Celeste, you have to help me. Please tell Karen she is tiny and doesn't have far to go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stingo
Not that anyone asked, but all you gals looked great at the Summit. Just sayin'.
Hear, hear Tom. I agree, they all looked great!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kfisherx
I don't know 'bout you gals, but I am hearting Tom right now.
I have to agree with him too though. Both you girls look awesome in your athletic bodies.
At some point in time on your ventures of figuring out just what the hell you want to do with yourself and your body (I mean besides just accept it 'cause where would the fun be with that?) you will also come to the realization that bf% measurements are so screwed up that even that becomes only a fuzzy way to say what it is that you want. I have come to know what I want in my head and I am shooting for that look in the mirror. All the rest is fluff. And when I can achieve it ony THEN will I be able to articulate it well enough for you to see what I mean....
Thing is, Karla, BF%s may be off but there isn't anything we can use that is 100%. Maybe we should come up with a Skinfold thickness test, and call it something different from bodyfat--since there are so many variables with lean mass, abdominal fat and such. Maybe if we did the 7 point, average them, and use that, nevermind "bodyfat percentage".
I am just trying to come up with an objective way for people to look at their bodies. Going into the Summit, I thought I was low-to-mid 20's, and she says 21-22%. It gave me a lot of confidence and allowed me to enjoy my progress. I'm not done, but just having that encouragement was and is huge for me. Now I"m looking at 18% as my goal--yes, it's not totally accurate but it allows me to have some sort of measure. I think we all need that in the ongoing work that we're doing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Espi
Exactly what I'm doing as well, except that I'm now trying to not exaggarate as much on the workout days and see what makes me get stronger without stalling in eternal maintenance as I seem to do when fear of losing strength makes me maintain.
One thing I am quite adamant about is to have 1 week of eating over maintenance in the most critical time of the cycle, something you no longer need to be concerned about. On the yang side of it, the first week of any cycle is typically way below maintenance for lack of appetite, so it all evens out.. too many women are bitchin' and moanin' about how they succumb to treats in 'that' time of the month and feel disappointed. I've seen that if I would stick to a deficit no matter what, cycle gets way shorter than normal & seeing TOM (not Tom) far too early is no fun at all.
When I get periods, which is occasional, I always allow myself to eat chocolate and to indulge more. At this point, I know a craving is my body telling me something. This was not always the case.
Karen--You don't look like a big square at all. Listen to Tom and me, and Galya, she agrees...you are not big! You are very close to being in excellent shape, you're already very fit. It is crazy to think of yourself as fat. Reallly. I read about a study where they disguised pictures of people's bodies somehow and a number of women who claimed they were fat saw their own bodies, did not realize that it belonged to them, and commented on how good they looked. You have ab lines, your legs are tiny, you are not fat. Fergawdsakes.
Okay . I honestly, truly don't think I am "fat." I think I have a ways to go, but still didn't mean I have 30 pounds to go. "Square" is because I have square shoulders rather than sloped shoulders. "Giant" is due to the way I cropped the pictures so that I'm the only thing there. That's just a distortion of size in the picture. Yes, I can be overly critical of myself, especially now when I have an irritable attitude (hungry!!!), but I get what you're saying. You are most likely right, too, that I wouldn't be as critical if I didn't know the person in the pictures. Really, I get what you're sayin' and am snapping out of it . . . positive attitude to follow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elisabethd
Celeste, you have to help me. Please tell Karen she is tiny and doesn't have far to go.
Please don't. Let's get back to the regularly scheduled log.
Sorry Karen, I just can't resist! (I know you don't think you're fat)--HOWEVER, to reiterate what we all said at the summit, we were amazed at how tiny and young you looked, you really do look great!
Sorry Karen, I just can't resist! (I know you don't think you're fat)--HOWEVER, to reiterate what we all said at the summit, we were amazed at how tiny and young you looked, you really do look great!
Sorry Karen, I just can't resist! (I know you don't think you're fat)--HOWEVER, to reiterate what we all said at the summit, we were amazed at how tiny and young you looked, you really do look great!
I'm sorry too but I have to add...when I first saw you Karen..I was like...DAYAM...Karen is tiny...
Aw, thanks Tom. You're a sweetie. And fun to drink beer with.
Well, now that I've thoroughly embarrassed Karen, I'll finish what I was writing the other day.
As I suspected, the minute I started scrutinizing my diet, trying to analyze it for Etana, the scale stalled out. Now, this is after a clean weekend with minimal alcohol, one small refeed, much less food than I have ever gone with. I think I am going to back off and not think about it as that was working a lot better. I also can't help thinking that I lose weight a lot better when I am not exercising very hard. I did the best when I was sick, in fact. This is so irritating. No scale movement for three weeks. ARGH. I'm determined that I will not give up, though, and stick to eating clean this week. I think I will do a real refeed this weekend though since it seems to encourage my body to give up weight. I also realize that the lower I go the harder it gets.
The best outcome of the meeting with Galya was that she confirmed what I knew about my shoulders--my right rides up, but she noticed right away one of the major problems, which is that my pectoral medialis is very tight and shortened. She advised me to use the tennis ball to roll it--it's funny because I had just started to do that on my own. I'm also coming to the realization that certain things can't be solved--like my hips--and I am going to have to learn to work around them. That means running is out, spinning will have to be my cardio. My plan right now is to do spinning 2x a week, lifting 2x, yoga 2x, one day off. The yoga seems to be helping my hips a lot. Other than the class yesterday, in which I screwed up my knee doing some silly stretch that I knew I shouldn't do. I don't know why I listen to the stupid instructors at 24. Fooey.
We had Roland and Galya over for dinner on Saturday--it was great to see them, and hopefully my husband didn't scare them away as he managed to insult them both in one sentence. Hopefully they are good natured and won't hold it against me. ONly so much I can do to restrain him.
At this point, I can't work up the enthusiasm to log my workouts from last week. Not that exciting anyway. So far this week I did spinning on Monday and useless yoga yesterday, at least I know which class NOT to go to now.
Today I'm strugging to get through the ACE manual. My test will be on August 8 so I'm trying not to procrastinate and plow through. It's more challenging than I though, mostly because i have to stop and look stuff up--the descriptions in the manual are pretty convoluted.
I'm also sending off my resume to Results Fitness. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
A one-sentence double-insult? Wow - impressive! I was pretty worried about what my DH might blurt out when I brought him to the Summit... luckily, he was pretty well-behaved!
A one-sentence double-insult? Wow - impressive! I was pretty worried about what my DH might blurt out when I brought him to the Summit... luckily, he was pretty well-behaved!
Yeah, I have to wonder what was said... inquiring minds etc.
__________________
Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
Yeah, I have to wonder what was said... inquiring minds etc.
Umm...it was about religion. Err...I dunno if I want to get religious folks riled up.
Oh, well, here goes: He comes from a very very conservative Old Calendar Russian Orthodox family. Know what Rasputin looked like? Yeah, that's them.
OK. So, he was describing an aunt of his who converted to evangelicalism (whatever) from Orthodoxy and said, "From one form of insanity to another."
And guess what...Galya is Orthodox, Roland some form of Evangelism.
Yep, he's talented.
All right. Just got back from the gym. Did Fat Loss IIa. My hips felt weird because of Stupid Yoga Woman, but I felt like I needed to lift so I was very careful. My ROM is sooooo pathetic now that I'm not allowed to lean forward on squats. Anyhoo,
Front squat 3x10@55
Seated cable row 1x10@85, then 2x10@75. I'm trying to concentrate on pulling my shoulders down and back so I decided to back off on the weights until I can get my shoulders from residing somewhere in the vicinity of my ears.
Hip ext w/leg curl
3x10 (I can get my hips way up now, and stable. Now I have to figure out how to make them harder)
barbell push press
3x10@55 (so much fun. this one gets the guys staring)
dynamic lunge
3x10@55
Upper body russian twist
1x12, then 2x10 holding 5#plate.
I feel much better, even though my left hams are weird. Galya mentioned that my legs are pretty thin (proportionately) and so now I have a new goal...getting my legs developed. I was watching the gym manager work out today and she has GORGEOUS legs. I want them. I must have them.
Well, back to manual. I'm remembering how to study now.
I was gonna guess that actually, if we were having a guessing match. Now I just have to wrap my head around ethnic Greek and O.C. Russian Orthodox
What happened is that the Greek Orthodox Church did some sort of reform in 1923 and adopted the Western Calendar. There are still Old Calendar churches in Greece, but not here. So, they go to the Russian church, since they still use the old calendar. "If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me." (direct quote from late FIL)
That was a good one - nice job! Religion is such a touchy subject... coming from a Jewish woman married to a (converted) Jewish husband who went to Catholic school and has family who was Greek Orthodox!
(ETA - and I live next door to Evangelicals on one side and Jehovah's Witnesses on the other!)
Eh--no biggie. We went to church up until the last few years, but during my FIL's short, painful, fatal bout with cancer, the priest was very cruel to the whole family. Weird stuff. But Peter's not mean about it--he's a very good-natured guy. We have lots of funny Orthodox church stories. Galya knows how funny they can be. REmind me to tell you about my full-immersion baptism sometime. : )
That was a good one - nice job! Religion is such a touchy subject... coming from a Jewish woman married to a (converted) Jewish husband who went to Catholic school and has family who was Greek Orthodox!
(ETA - and I live next door to Evangelicals on one side and Jehovah's Witnesses on the other!)
Yeah, I wasn't raised religious(is that the right term? Or is it religiously? No, that can't be right...)--Catholic mom and Southern Baptist dad, but I converted to Orthodoxy because it was so important to the family. We used to go to church especially when the kids were younger. And, my next door neighbors are Scientologists, my best friend is a converted Mormon, there is a pitched battle in my husband's family about which church to go to, so I'm keeping out of it for now.
Harder hip extension on swiss ball with leg curl? Try them with one leg (the other leg bent and off the ball. That's what I had to do in Power Training.
Harder hip extension on swiss ball with leg curl? Try them with one leg (the other leg bent and off the ball. That's what I had to do in Power Training.
Good luck with that.
Of course. Thanks, Jane!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kfisherx
Sometimes I go to the church of 24-Hour Fitness
Does that count?
Ha ha...it's certainly the only place I go religiously....
Scale is stubbornly up today. My volume of exercise has increased a lot, and I think my body hangs on to water more when I'm more active. Luckily, my husband is being very encouraging and supportive and says there is a definite difference--I've got that squishy marble-ey thing going around my midsection, so I'm hoping that means my abs are trying to shake off the fat.
Today I'm spinning at 12 with that instructor that leaves a pool of sweat on the floor--always fun to watch. And studying. My DH is going on a weekend bachelor party so I need to get my studying in now, since I will have 3 kids bugging me for 4 days and I won't get anything done.
I sent in my resume to Results yesterday and I am in agony. I had to really force myself to do it; putting myself out there is not natural to me. I guess I'll have to get over that. Anyway, hoping for the best...I have just under 2 months to find a training job.
Can't believe Miss Jane came in w/o saying something about grammar. If not mistaken, a -ly always belongs to a verb, so that makes it an adverb.
At least English is quite a bit more regular than Dutch where you won't see this relation as clearly. Better yet, Esperanto where all grammar is perfectly regular & how I finally understood the difference (adverb/adjective)
But actually just wanted to say I chuckled a lot about that insulting joke
Did Galya & Roland laugh too?
C
But actually just wanted to say I chuckled a lot about that insulting joke
Did Galya & Roland laugh too?
Uh, they looked kind of stunned. That's when I figured out their respective religions.
Galya is still talking to me, so I guess he didn't completely freak them out...
I got to the gym right at noon on the dot and all the bikes were taken, so no spinning for me today. I did the rowing machine for 1/2 an hour, did about 8 intervals in that period....not as satisfying as spinning, that's for sure. So I just concentrated on my posture, keeping my shoulders where they're supposed to be and using my core. My lower traps are pretty sore this week from all the squeezing and pulling. One of the yoga teachers suggested an image of "putting your shoulderblades in your back pockets". Pretty good image--but between that, not hyperextending my knees, and trying to keep my pelvis in the right place, I'm feeling kind of disoriented. Oh, well, 40 years of bad habits can't be cured overnight....
If pictures were the only thing I relied on, I'd be in serious trouble. 
. I honestly, truly don't think I am "fat." I think I have a ways to go, but still didn't mean I have 30 pounds to go.
I did the rowing machine for 1/2 an hour, did about 8 intervals in that period....not as satisfying as spinning, that's for sure. So I just concentrated on my posture, keeping my shoulders where they're supposed to be and using my core. My lower traps are pretty sore this week from all the squeezing and pulling. One of the yoga teachers suggested an image of "putting your shoulderblades in your back pockets". Pretty good image--but between that, not hyperextending my knees, and trying to keep my pelvis in the right place, I'm feeling kind of disoriented. Oh, well, 40 years of bad habits can't be cured overnight....
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