Better Body Goals-Accountability Thread

[Kamanaka]

Codadion you have inspired me, I've been swimming slot more and for alot longer, I've been doing leg squats and sit ups daily, cutting down on the junk food and eating more healthily. I bought a badminton set for the garden and roped my boyfriend into playing with me, I aquired a weighted hula hoop and and a skipping rope! I don't weigh myself as I have had instances of being obsessed with my weight in the past and want to get fit sensibly. But I've measured and in three weeks my waist has gone from 31" to 28"! Really pleased!

Coradion you are looking really great!!

[Mermaid Harmony]

I love this thread, I've been doing Zumba twice a week, and have recently started doing weight lifting classes and I've been adding weight each time and feel myself getting stronger. I'm loving it. :-) Although I'm sure I'd notice more of a difference in my waist if I didn't like ice cream so much. :-) I feel good just knowing that what is on me is not as much slim fat as it is slim tone now. Still a bit to go, but Storm and Coradion inspire me.

[Coradion]

Codadion you have inspired me, I've been swimming slot more and for alot longer, I've been doing leg squats and sit ups daily, cutting down on the junk food and eating more healthily. I bought a badminton set for the garden and roped my boyfriend into playing with me, I aquired a weighted hula hoop and and a skipping rope! I don't weigh myself as I have had instances of being obsessed with my weight in the past and want to get fit sensibly. But I've measured and in three weeks my waist has gone from 31" to 28"! Really pleased!

Coradion you are looking really great!!

Thanks! Great job on toning up! I know how the weight thing goes, sometimes I gain like five pounds but I look better and more toned. Weight is a nice indicator but it's hard to tell what is muscle gain and what's fat, etc. I'm glad this thread is helping you! Keep it up everyone!

[Coradion]

I love this thread, I've been doing Zumba twice a week, and have recently started doing weight lifting classes and I've been adding weight each time and feel myself getting stronger. I'm loving it. :-) Although I'm sure I'd notice more of a difference in my waist if I didn't like ice cream so much. :-) I feel good just knowing that what is on me is not as much slim fat as it is slim tone now. Still a bit to go, but Storm and Coradion inspire me.

Dude, Storm like... I want her to kick my ass in the gym one day. I want to be as fit as that mer.

[Coradion]

Well, I finally have almost visible abs. Still a long ways to go until I reach my goals, but there's visible progress at least!

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

When I was in my early twenties the doctor told me, "You will always be tall and thin". I was 5'7 and weighed 135. At my lowest I was 115. Then I got pregnant with my eldest daughter and things went downhill from then. I was 27 when I delivered her, and 205 pounds. I had Pre-E and had to be induced. After she was born I dropped down to 178 and stuck there for the next 5 years. I had never had to lose weight before, and I could always eat whatever I wanted. Now I needed to lose weight and even if I starved myself I still couldn't do it. The doc put me on Medifast (the same doc who said I would always be thin). Within a week I was suicidal. Literately curled up in the bathtub crying hysterically. I have struggled with PTSD for a long time and luckily I recognized that there was something more going on then just being depressed for no reason. I went to the nearest restaurant, bought a huge meal and ate LOL. I was back to normal a few hours later. When I told my doctor what happened he had my glucose tested and found out I am hypoglycemic and by throwing off my sugar so bad with the medi fast diet, it screwed up the chemicals in my brain and made me momentarily insane LOL.

I got pregnant with my second baby and had a perfectly normal pregnancy and delivery. Within a month I dropped down to 145 pounds and looked better then I had in years. Unfortunately we lived in a not so nice community that (because my husband is Asian and I am white) they avoided us. They didn't like mixed race marriages. They wouldn't even let their kids play with ours. I gained back all the weight.

Then we moved! I have been more active the last two months then I have been in years. I started out at 200 pounds since the mermaid obsession began and I am now 189 pounds! I know it is going to be a slow go. I had to have a full hysterectomy because of endomitriosis and that screws up the metabolism, but I am determined to look good in a tail darnit! I will get my body back, if I have to fight tooth and nail to do it!

[Coradion]

When I was in my early twenties the doctor told me, "You will always be tall and thin". I was 5'7 and weighed 135. At my lowest I was 115. Then I got pregnant with my eldest daughter and things went downhill from then. I was 27 when I delivered her, and 205 pounds. I had Pre-E and had to be induced. After she was born I dropped down to 178 and stuck there for the next 5 years. I had never had to lose weight before, and I could always eat whatever I wanted. Now I needed to lose weight and even if I starved myself I still couldn't do it. The doc put me on Medifast (the same doc who said I would always be thin). Within a week I was suicidal. Literately curled up in the bathtub crying hysterically. I have struggled with PTSD for a long time and luckily I recognized that there was something more going on then just being depressed for no reason. I went to the nearest restaurant, bought a huge meal and ate LOL. I was back to normal a few hours later. When I told my doctor what happened he had my glucose tested and found out I am hypoglycemic and by throwing off my sugar so bad with the medi fast diet, it screwed up the chemicals in my brain and made me momentarily insane LOL.

I got pregnant with my second baby and had a perfectly normal pregnancy and delivery. Within a month I dropped down to 145 pounds and looked better then I had in years. Unfortunately we lived in a not so nice community that (because my husband is Asian and I am white) they avoided us. They didn't like mixed race marriages. They wouldn't even let their kids play with ours. I gained back all the weight.

Then we moved! I have been more active the last two months then I have been in years. I started out at 200 pounds since the mermaid obsession began and I am now 189 pounds! I know it is going to be a slow go. I had to have a full hysterectomy because of endomitriosis and that screws up the metabolism, but I am determined to look good in a tail darnit! I will get my body back, if I have to fight tooth and nail to do it!

You can do it! I know how the weight roller coaster game goes and it can be miserable although I've never added the complications of pregnancy to it (screw people who had mixed marriages, I'm a mutt asian/Hawai'ian/White and proud of it). What kinds of workouts are you gonna try? Dieting only does so much for me, right now I train and teach acrobatic pole dance and I love it. If you want a fun way to workout I'd definitely give it a try. No pressure, but if you take your before pics now, seeing the visible changes later on can be really empowering. If you're not opposed to it, sharing them and your progress is really inspiring to those of us on this thread! I believe in you!

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

Awe thanks! I honestly went from a very "shut in" life doing petty much nothing, to swimming nearly every single day. I also ride my bike, and when it rains my exercise bike. I am trying to work on flexibility and plan to start doing some yoga at home. I think if I just stay active and adjust my diet I will start to shed some pounds. Especially when I finally get a fin and am able to practice. I heard it is quite a work out!

By the way, you look great! Congrats!

[Coradion]

Make sure to do resistance training of some kind. Especially for women if you just do cardio you'll plateau as fas as weight loss goes and sometimes even start gaining a bit of weight again even if you're super active and fit

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

Can you post some ideas of what kind of resistance training works best?

[Coradion]

It all depends on you and what you like. You can do weight training, but personally I hate that. If you want to swim, you can have "drag" days. When I did that for swim team we would wear sneakers, board shorts, and XXL t-shirts. You go slow as can be but it works you hard, it was that or we had a vasa trainer which was essentially a weight system on the pool deck that you strapped around your waist or yourankles. You swim really hard until the weight pulley on deck rings a bell then you relax, let it pull you to the wall and do it again. We also swam with 5 gallon buckets on our feet. If you don't want to torture yourself you can try just using resistance bands, but I personally think it's boring. I like acrobatic pole dance a lotfor resistance training. You fight gravity the whole time, get strong fast, and you don't get bored cause you're learning tricks and not doing reps.

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

The pole dancing sounds like a blast, but I don't think they have any classes where I live. 5 gallon buckets? Geez...and I thought my swim coach was hard! There is a little gym in the clubhouse of our complex. Maybe I will check out the weight machines. I have trouble with my shoulder and knee. Torn trap muscle and torn miniscus, (I used to be an ice skater and competitive roller skater). Will have to try and find things that don't strain the injuries.

[Coradion]

Where in FL are you? I have some friends who compete in acrobatic pole that are all from FL. You might just wanna try drag swim days in a shirt and shorts. Same motion, just a lotta extra work. Or if you surf or can do open water swims in a current that'll do it too. The main thing with cardio swims is that you set a tempo and only do that tempo for x amount of time. You want to be switching up your pace and muscle strain. Even biking up hills and uneven terrain will really help!

[SeaMansa]

Seeing as I'm a long way from getting my tail (I'm only 19, working part time, still saving just to get my own car :P) I have plenty of time to get my body all nice and merman-ish... But the thing is, I'm so lazy :'( I was always rather skinny and yesterday I realized I was actually 20 pounds heavier than I thought (scale at Publix said I was 145....which is even funnier when you bear in mind I was at Publix just to get cake and pastries xD) So anyway, I really wanna start working out but I nver have the time. I work all day, when I get home, I sleep, and then when I have free time, I just chill and dont even go anywhere. So yeah, just adding this in here. wish me luck guys. Today starts my first day, if I do nothing more than a few push UPS in the morning then its an improvement and hopefully a start

[Coradion]

Seeing as I'm a long way from getting my tail (I'm only 19, working part time, still saving just to get my own car :P) I have plenty of time to get my body all nice and merman-ish... But the thing is, I'm so lazy :'( I was always rather skinny and yesterday I realized I was actually 20 pounds heavier than I thought (scale at Publix said I was 145....which is even funnier when you bear in mind I was at Publix just to get cake and pastries xD) So anyway, I really wanna start working out but I nver have the time. I work all day, when I get home, I sleep, and then when I have free time, I just chill and dont even go anywhere. So yeah, just adding this in here. wish me luck guys. Today starts my first day, if I do nothing more than a few push UPS in the morning then its an improvement and hopefully a start

Start with whatever fits your schedule. You'll find after awhile that you start to prioritize working out and have the energy for it!

[Coradion]

Worked out today, I just got hired to be a teacher at a new acrobatics/pole studio! Apparently we're hosting a national competition in November and all instructors are expected to compete. Gotta start working a routine now, it's nice to have a goal. Here's a bad pic from today's workout, it's a hands free hold. I'm holding my hands behind my back and the pole is under my bicep. It hurts.

[Mermaid Galene]

Impressive, Coradion! In that pic you almost look like a merman underwater; just missing the tail, lol!

[Mermaid Lily_Pad]

Wow! I would sooo injure myself with a pole. LOL I tried it once since I gained weight and nearly broke my shoulder. I am incredibly UNflexable. I can't even touch my toes. LOL Which is sad because I used to be a pro Ice Skating instructor. You would think I would be graceful *laughs* I am near Tampa.

[Coradion]

There are a bunch or studios in the Tampa area. I am not flexy at all. I just like learning tricks more than I like lifting weights, so I do acrobatics :P

[shimmygoddess]

ok, so you all inspired me to start the glute challenge again...On Day 2