AWESOME! You can really tell that your face has thinned out a lot! You're looking really greatQuote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Dottie
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AWESOME! You can really tell that your face has thinned out a lot! You're looking really greatQuote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Dottie
So Mermaid Harmony now has abs and obliques she needs to post!
Fell into a bad case of depression over the fall and totally ignored working on exercises, so now I get to start all over again. >.>;
At least I feel like I'm not too out of it, but we'll see when I go back to the pool tomorrow.
Here's to work on keeping a consistent work out schedule for longer this time.
Had a great week. Lots of yoga, swimming, climbing, and hiking. Climbed again tonight and discovered my muscles are broken down. Time for a recovery day.
Also practicing intuitive eating. It's forcing me to be more self-aware.
My goal is to lose inches, not so much care what I weigh as long as I can get my body how I want it. Don't really have a good scale but last I checked my weight was in the 160's.
the smallest point of my waist is 33 inches, lower waist above the hips is 35 inches, and widest point of my hips is 42 inches. I really just want my stomach to be flatter and lose a few inches near the 'pooch'. I know when loosing weight it loses a littler everywhere but my goal is for my lower tummy to loose inches and be flatter. I believe muscles weighs more than fat so when it comes to weight I am not really all that concerned.
So far I have unfortunately gone through a lot of 'one month' challenges and getting discouraged or miserable for whatever reason and not going through with it (I know...shame on me >.< ) but for the last few months I have joined a gym with a pool (that they clean with salt water and saline so no chlorine!) I have managed to go at least once a week so far but not really on a consistent day or amount of time. So I have decided to start a schedule for myself.
For this month I will go to the gym and swim for at least 20 minutes, every Wednesday and Friday. I know it is not much, but I do not want to start too high and then burn myself out for it. after this month I will up the visits to three times a week and after that up the time to 30 min. I also plan to change my diet, starting today: no bread, pasta, soda, sugar, and dairy. (I will allow myself a cheat day on sundays, to help me adjust.)
That is my plan so far. I swim using the dolphin kick but for about 4 laps I do the freestyle stroke to give my arms some workout too.
I am going to do my best to stick with it and eventually see some results as I adjust my eating and workout along the way ^^
That is awesome. Good plan Lunette! And no "shame on you" for getting discouraged with those one month challenges. The ONLY times those things are any good is when they're already aligned with your long-term goals, and those goals aren't just to be thinner. For example, if you did one that was swimming-focused, and incorporated things you already love to do, then you might be able to stick with it. But hating the challenges only means you can't keep it up, and in order for it to really work, you'd have to be able to continue with it long after 30 days. Those things are meant as springboards into a whole new lifestyle, and if you don't like living that way and can't see yourself adopting it, then forget it.
My big goal now is to be much, much more active that I was over the summer. Back to my real athletic lifestyle that I had before. I'm also addressing some eating issues, and the intuitive eating thing is helping me with that. It's hard though. No more snacking on delicious snacks just because they're tasty! I've made a promise to myself to not check the scale for a month, and just focus on being active and eating well. At some point, I may go back to counting calories, but not yet.
Ugh I've been exercising, eating well and even added less sweet tea in.my life (which for a FL mer is hard) and still all I've managed is one pants size down all winter...thinking I'm just meant to be a chubby mermaid
Hey, one pants size is nothing to scoff at! Don't lose heart - these things often don't happen evenly. Some people will lose lots at the start then plateau, others will be slow at the start and then lose more and more as they go. Just keep going and you will see results :) even if you aren't losing kilos steadily, you'll be getting healthier and healthier and that's the most important thing.
^^ This. The important thing is that you're being healthier. The rest will follow. Keep it up!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Melaina
^ agreed with both of the above. Focus on healthy, not skinny! <3
Speaking of which, I scared myself looking in the mirror today. I'm still having trouble eating, and I've been eating less than a meal a day... plenty of bones showing. :( I've been trying to force myself to eat but everything I eat still makes me feel sick. Not enough water? Screwed up taste buds? Not sure. But I need to put on weight pretty bad and figure out why my body doesn't like food. :(
Ooh Maressa, what's going on? Food allergies? That sounds horrible. I hope you can get it figured out.
Personally I'm content with the way my body looks but not with how it feels. Am I the only one who get out of breath going up a flight of stairs? I am so physically unfit, which is what I'm aiming to change. If I gain a little muscle in the process I won't oppose to it, I'm just focused right now on making sure my fitness matches my body.
Look into a food allergy or blood sugar levels or celiac or something like that. Before I was diagnosed with celiac, I NEVER ever wanted to eat because food made me sick. Could be many different things but if you don't feel a desire to eat much then something's not right. ):
That's what I had thought too, and I got tested about 8 months ago for celiac and ulcers, and both came back negative. :/ I'm allergic to dairy, and I'm pretty sure my blood sugar is messed up- last time I was in the hospital they kept me off of ALL sugars it was so high. Almost diabetic high... but I was also on a steroid drip, soooo... I've had a lot of tests done and so far no answers. I have MS, and I'm on a pretty intense oral medication.Quote:
Originally Posted by MerEmma
I'm horribly out of shape too. I have trouble eating, which translates into not enough energy to exercise... so I'm a couch potato who weight 125 lbs. :P Get dat fitness, girl! <3Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Nessie
My university is super cool and gives us a gym membership when we pay of student fees so I have access to the gym and all the pools (there 4 of them!). Unfortunately our meal hall SUCKS. So much deep fried stuff, and being on an island that can't really grow much of it's own produce, everything has to be shipped in and isn't very good/ goes bad (we found a moldy lemon the other day in meal hall). I'm finding it really hard to eat well and eat at all sometimes because there isn't much to chose from.
Aww that's hard. Do you have a dorm kitchen or something? I bailed on the meal hall in my 2nd year and lived off of frozen veggies and anything I could cook in 2 pots and a frying pan. I also had a hot plate–which was illegal in my dorm but I used it anyway. A couple of friends got together with me and we would do dinner nights a couple times a week, rotating who got to cook, and car-pooled to the grocery store.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Nessie
Consider yourself lucky that your country gives you free food at school at all :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Nessie
Oh it's never free. The dreaded student loans! :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Melaina
Okay first time posting in this thread. I am hitting a wall big time and thought I might be able to learn some from all of you. I have been scowering fitness forums but not having much luck...
So before I get into my fitness blurb I gotta post a discretion that I have health issues that DIRECTLY affect my fitness:
Dyspraxia- a disorder that makes for terrible motor and fine motor capabilities and causes people to have lower than normal body tone.
Endometriosis and Interstitial Cystitis- affect my abdomen area and have given me a lot of scar tissue and make that whole area very "tight" in terms of movement (not flexible or moving the way it should). Also constantly attacks my immune system so I am always either sick, tired, or both. Also, too many crunches or ab specific movements cause illness to flare up.
Okay with that out of the way...
I am a fairly active person. I swim 3-5 times a week in or out of a mermaid tail. I go to the gym for an hour every second day where I spend half my time on cardio and half my time on machines and weights. I do yoga 1-2 times a week (though I haven't been able to do it this past month due to a dislocated toe I am waiting to have reset) and I walk 30 min-60 min every single day. I eat really healthy for the most part. I have a sweet tooth but I do calorie count and balance things because my illness relies on it. Lots of veggies and lean meats.
I have been able to meet all of my main fitness goals in the past year except one. I was trying to tone arms, back, and underarms, and I think I really achieved that. I probably don't look toned to all of you, but if I had before and after photos (something I didnt think of) you'd really notice it. I'm proud of that especially my underarms I'd get that saggy fat thing going on.
I lost weight and got down to me goal of 130. I was almost 150 just over a year ago due to medication that makes people gain on average 30lbs. As soon as I stopped it the weight started pouring off.
I have been drinking a probiotic tea that has helped a lot with water retention and bloating I experience from med side effect.
The big thing I can't get past is my tummy. I have the kangaroo pouch going on that so many women do. But instead of getting better with all this hard work, I think it's gotten worse. On the bloat end of things thanks to that tea and propbiotics I def notice the bloat go down. But it's just JELLO. I can NOT get it to tone. I try to do crunched but find traditional crunches and traditional variations REALLY flare up my illnesses. So I use ab machines, try to increase cardio, and do more indirect core training plus I started yoga this year.
I am getting the muffin top at mermaid gigs. The bulge at the waist in my favourite pants. A pouch when I wear a dress. I'm not liking it. I work so hard I'm not sure what else I can do to change it up in order to tone my stomach.
I don't need it to be flat and perfect. It NEVER will be. I also have scoliosis so I will forever have a bit of a bump because my spine is indented that way so it pushes everything out. Hard to explain but even sucking it in and being super flat you can see how my back pushes forward.
Does anyone have any tricks for toning abs? I don't expect to get ripped. and I don't think it's necessarily a weight issues either. I think it's a problem area for most women but for me I think it's extra because of the dyspraxia. I usually find I can work every bit as hard as someone else but I'll only get 1/4 of the result. And that's okay with me. I have come to accept that. I had a really good personal trainer who was able to push me while also respecting certain limits. (can't afford one at the moment). But for whatever reason I am seeing results everywhere else except here. And I think as I lose inches off the waist and tone alone the sides it's making the pouch/bump REALLY apparent.
Thoughts?
Row boat exercises, is the only thing I can think of to flatten tummy.
Menopause has given me a fat tummy which some people think I'm pregnant...
Yeah I did the row boat loads before and never really felt I got much from it :/ I can always try it again though
Does it bother you that much to have a muffin top? It sounds like you tried everything except popping "health pills" but nobody wants to resort to that as opposed to exercise.
There is always surgery...
The only way to get rid of that is to lose weight everywhere. You have to lose a lot of subcutaneous body fat to get rid of that pouch. No amount of sit ups or rows or anything like that is going to whittle that down, meaning you'll be hard as iron underneath, but you'll still have that little pouch of fat. It's a fact of life that most women face. So if you got your BMI down, down below where it's practically dangerous, then you might see a flat tummy.
It's not so much the little pouch of fat I may not be clear enough in the issue. I was living a far unhealthier life style before but was still able to tone it. I wasn't skinny, but I had muscle and my core was strong, and the pouch wasn't that obvious unless I was having a bad stomach day. Now I look pregnant on some days despite living healthier than I ever have, and I am being asked if I am pregnant. And it also wont fit the measurements I had my tail made in for my waist/tummy. I'm saying the muscle underneath is gone. it's not fat. It's still muscle. But it's all soft now with no definition. It's calledhypotonia.
Basically
If I don't work my butt off my whole life to always work my muscles, I will lose them for good and be all rag doll like. I've gotten really close before when I was bed ridden and sick for a year. it was super hard to come back from. Doctors can't say or do much it is what it is but I'll be damned if this is it for my core. I'm not ready to just accept it and be jiggly all over and when I say that I'm not talking fat. I'm talking damaged muscle. I feel like I am on the down slope for that with my core right now and I want to try other techniques to engage the muscles if people have suggestions.
Ah, I understand, now.
Oh, better to have a chat with your doctor then. He/she will be able to advise you better on how to regain the muscle tone. I had thought you were talking about body fat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Jaffa
You can't really spot tone, if you develop the muscle under the fat layer it just pushes the fat. Row boats are good cause it's resistance cardio, the main results you see are from overall weight loss and toning everything not just one spot.
If you really wanna drop the weight and are a normal person (some people never work out and make me mad with their abs) you should do a mix of cardio and lifting or another resistance. If you do cardio sets do interval training for faster results.
And I feel ya guys I've gained like threeish pounds and feel super bloaty.
Attachment 25976
Coradion, you're terrible! :p You can do those amazing moves and you feel bloaty? LOL!
BTW: Your feet are just gorgeous in that photo, I love how you point your toes!
I am having problems putting together an exercise routine for myself. I know what goals I'm aiming for, but I get lost on what exercises I should be doing, amount of reps, etc. I wish I could just pay someone to tell me what to do!
Yeah doctors just keep saying keep working out. Toning my belly is low on their priority lok
Have you tried planking?
Attachment 25984
I don't get free food. I pay almost $3000 a semester for food.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Melaina
No dorm kitchen and hot plates are completely banned. There's no place to even safely use a hot plate even if I wanted to bend the rules.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vrindavana Starfish
Sorry it's been a while Firstly thank you mers for your support ^.^ I've still not lost any more weight but I haven't gained any either so hurrah!
Secondly Raina what has always worked for me (even now it's helping) is the crunch cheating movements. Basically I lay on a big ball and roll my body with it (usually while chasing my 2 year old around) but it works those tummy muscles and tightens the little pouches. I'm no longer fat and flabby I'm just chubby and round lol. I think it'll be easy on your back and if you only do a little a day it shouldn't irritate anything. Just a thought ^.^
Coradin you look amazingly well in that photo but I understand the discomfort of feeling bloaty. Just a little nutrition tip I learned in college, salad with JUST vinegar before and after exercising. No cheese, or meats just veggies and like an apple cider vinegar. Usually works for me when I swim.
Thanks again guys looking forward to everyone's changes in the new year!
Ah, yes, but we pay $3000 and have to survive on 2 minute noodles and pizza coupons :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Nessie
Student life tends to suck in most countries. I guess we can be thankful that we get to go to school at all!
Nessie, that sucks. I guess the best you may be able to do is organize something to try to get healthier food options in the dining halls. Not a quick fix though. And there's only so much you can cook in a coffee pot, and most of that is not very healthy anyway.
Raina, I don't know if this is helpful, and I don't know much about your health issues and what specifically it means to you— you know about that– but could it be possible that you may have over-trained your abs a bit and they're not able to properly recover? I know I overtrained in climbing, and didn't have enough recovery time between sessions, so my muscles just kept getting broken down, but not built back up. That can still leave muscle, but it doesn't feel toned. It sounds like with what you have to deal with, there would be a very delicate balance between recovery and losing muscle. And the symptoms of over-training are very much like symptoms you'd already have from other things, so it would be hard to tell.
If it's something like your body has just adjusted to the exercise you're getting, then it's good that you're doing yoga too. That might be enough to switch things up and get your body out of being energy efficient, if that makes sense.
A lot of these are good points that everyone made about fitness. I've found with the majority of the people I've trained that the biggest barrier they have to overcome are their personal excuses. I don't let my acrobatics students say "I can't" unless there is a true medical reason making them physically incapable like a torn muscle. You can always try. If you are not mixing cardio with resistance training you are unlikely to look toned. Cardio means an hour and fifteen minute minimum three times a week. You must have an elevated heart rate if you want it to count, walking, hula hooping, etc is not good cardio and you don't start real weight loss until the 45 min mark.
You need resistance training too, I was a competitive swimmer for thirteen years spending thirty plus hours in the pool every week year round. I was in great cardio shape but I was obese. It wasn't until I started doing resistance training with acrobatics that I actually lost the weight which has been like seventy pounds over the last five years. You have to be self accountable, if you are not committed to it, you won't see the results you want. This thread is about saying what we will do to make the changes that will help us get the fitness we want.
Raina, have you considered archery, or social dancing?