cyndidee

My interest is just to make sure I'm staying as active on days when I'm not teaching. I do about 6,000 steps during the school day, so I want to make sure I stay motivated when I'm not teaching. For instance, on Saturday I stayed inside and graded papers all day. I only did about 1,000 steps the entire day, which was a huge shock. So yesterday I got out, took the dogs to the dog park and ran around with them, did some shopping later, and ended up doing more than 6,000 steps. Much better than Saturday! Btw, in my shopping I ended up buying the Fitbit Charge HR from Dick's. I have heart issues, so I think this would help me make sure I'm not taking it too easy and I keep my heart rate in the right range when I'm doing more physical activity.

I just asked about this on fb and a friend said she got her Fitbit Charge HR from Dick's Sporting Goods. It's normally $149, but there's a coupon (search for it on the internet) for $20 off a purchase of $100 or more. Which makes it not that much more than the Flex or Zip (which I was considering buying). I might make a trip to Dick's to check them out this afternoon. The coupon ends on 4/16/15. (Edit: The regular Fitbit Charge is $129, so this would be $109 with the coupon!) I have a brand new Garmin Vivofit 2 that I'm returning after a week of wearing (that was $130) because it wasn't tracking my steps unless I would swing my arms. I walk a lot during the day, but I'm normally carrying stuff, so it wasn't tracking half my steps. Very frustrated. My Fitbit friends assured me that theirs are tracking properly and even track stairs (which mine doesn't do). It also has an alarm to wake you up (which mine doesn't have), and the Surge HR has caller ID. Very appealing!! The one thing I really like about my fitness band is that it would beep at me when I had been inactive for an hour. I'm normally on my feet all day, so I was surprised when it would beep at me. It made me realize that when I finally sit down, I stay down for a long time. It was a great reminder to get up and walk around. (And as a bonus, I got more laundry done. That may make sense to some.) So although I wasn't happy with my vivofit, I definitely want something to replace it to keep me motivated to keep moving!

I'm a teacher and I wanted to start tracking my steps so that I can stay just as active on my days off. (I tend to gain weight when I have a week or more off, or just have excessive snow days.) I'm one of those teachers (high school math) who never sits down until there are no students in my classroom. I'm also a career changing and recently started teaching. I'm so much more active now, but still struggle to lose weight. So I was also curious to see if I really am as active as I think I am. So I did my research and selected the Garmin vivofit 2 because it tracks different kinds of activity, my sleep, and it has a watch battery, so it doesn't have to be continuously recharged. However, after a week, I want to return it. It was $130 and it's just as accurate as the free pedometer I got at my old job. It doesn't seem to track my steps if I'm not swinging my arms. For those who walk around for their jobs, how do we track our steps when we're usually carrying things. Swinging my arms as I walk just isn't practical as a teacher. (Actually, it's kind ridiculous.) I wave my arms around a lot and of course, write on a white board and erase. How do I know those movements aren't tracking steps too? I think I need something like the Fitbit Zip that clips on my waistband. It also tracks your sleep, which I like but it doesn't change my health, so it's not something i need. I want something that beeps at me when I'm inactive though. I have a love/hate relationship with that part of the vivofit and I think I'd miss it. I definitely won't miss wearing that annoying rubber band 24/7. After wearing it for 7 days, I haven't gotten used to it at all. So I think something I clip on is more of what I need. However, before I return the vivofit 2, I wanted to check with the NF community to see what you think of your fitness trackers and what you would recommend. Maybe mine is defective and I just need to replace it. Or maybe it's just not the right device for me. I know there are some like me who walk around at work and track that activity and wanted to hear from you also. Btw, I'm not longer a runner (knees can't handle it anymore) but I still do walk and hike a bit. I also do core strengthening, bodyweight exercises and when I have time, I love doing zumba and line dancing, though I haven't tried those with the vivofit yet. Thank you!!

Wow, has it really been a week since my last post? Grad school has been crazy (but I'm getting A's so far). No practicum this morning, so I got to drive out to my favorite running place (20 minutes away) and just run. It was really humid, so it wasn't as good of a run as I was hoping for, but it was a peaceful run, which is why i love that place. Did the 5k last Friday night and there were two huge hills, so my time wasn't much better than the previous week. And then I did a color run the next morning, but it walked it with my friend's family, which included 3 children. We had a great time!! Side note, the next day they asked how I got out of the car. I had no idea what they were talking about. My friend said "well you run a lot." I guess they meant after walking 3 miles and then riding in the car for an hour, if I was sore getting out of the car. Nope. I guess they were though. And they told me that they walked 3 miles regularly - I guess not. And may I brag that after doing three 5k's in 8 days, I wasn't sore at all. I'm so up for that half marathon in September! Woot!! Running - well, twice week regularly, but haven't been doing 3 due to wanting to baby my knee. My half marathon training starts Saturday though, so I need to start running 3 times a week again. (Grade: B I guess.) Sleep - I've been getting to bed early, which is what i wanted, but I haven't been getting a full nights sleep. I wake up after 6 hours and I'm wide awake. It just drives me crazy. I need 7 to 7 1/2 hours to feel really rested. I'm not sure how to get the full amount of sleep I need. (Grade: A for effort) Snacking - after a perfect record, I blew it yesterday by eating the icing off of a cupcake the teacher brought in. I could feel the ADD kicking in about an hour or so later and my brain felt thick the rest of the afternoon. Ugh. I need to stay away from sugar! (Grade: A) Strength training - nothing again. I WANT to do this, but obviously it's not a priority for me with everything else going on. I'm thinking about getting the Rebel Fitness Strength Guide. I almost bought some at-home TRX straps for a lot more and then found out that the gym at school has TRX classes for free - but not until fall semester. So I guess focusing on running right now has put strength training in the back seat, but I think that these two really should work together. Gotta get this figured out. (Grade: F - still hoping to pull this up to a D.)

I'm not staying on top of this challenge as much as I had hoped, but honestly, I'm doing a lot more because of this challenge. I might not be checking in that much, but I still feel the weight of accountability and I know you guys are wondering how the rest of the team is doing. I'm already thinking of what my goals will be for the next challenge. I'm also thinking that from Spring to Fall I'll be a Scout (running) and in the winter I'll be an Assassin. Their challenges seem so cool. I love the idea of working out through just using body movements. Anyone else have future plans?

Hi all, I'm alive, really I am! I've survived day two of grad school (masters in education) and oh my goodness it's crazy. We're tutoring from 8:30-noon all week, then class from 1 to 7:30 pm Mondays and Wednesdays and class 1-4:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Needless to say, homework nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was going to run tonight, but I ran out of time. So I'll be running tomorrow morning! Update on goals... Running 3 times a week - I've only been running twice a week the past couple of weeks. I did my first 5k of the summer last Saturday and though my time wasn't the best, it was better than I was expecting, and I wasn't hurting the next day. I have another 5k Friday night, so I'm hoping for another good time, though it'll be hotter that evening. Getting to bed early - I have no idea what happened, but this finally clicked. After years of trying to go to bed before midnight, I've been in bed by 11pm almost every night for the past 3 weeks. Getting up at 6:30 to run has been so much easier now that I'm getting a good 7 hours of sleep. I just need to keep getting up twice during the week and once on the weekends to get the running going again. No bad snacking - Perfect score here. Even with donuts and cookies during our orientation yesterday, I snacked on my almonds and apple. Funny thing, at work they didn't pay attention when I said I didn't do refined sugar or refined flour to keep my ADD from getting bad. Now that I'm around a bunch of future teachers, they respect this and even ask for more information. (There's actually a few others who strive to eat healthy and bring their own snacks too. I'll hang out with them when my resolve is weak.) Strength training - I did some exercises last week but I was really unmotivated. I helped a friend set up her yard sale and went after the bigger boxes to give arms a work-out. I also blew up two air mattresses with an air pump. I was hoping this all was a good workout, but the next day my arms didn't hurt at all. So obviously I need to do something a lot more planned and organized if I want a good workout. The mini-challenge this week has given me some inspiration. So far I'm getting a B in running, A in getting to bed early and no bad snacking, and a D in strength training. I need to pick up the running so I don't end up getting a C. And there's still a chance for me to raise that D to a C.

(original poster here...) A light bulb just went off. I think you've got a great idea there... he used to lift weights. Before he was 525 pounds he would work out all the time. I'm so not a weights person, but your advice has suddenly wanted me to start lifting - in the living room while he's watching TV. Actually, before we got married he asked if he could improve one thing about himself, what would I want it to be and I told him I wanted him to have huge muscular arms like he claims to have had in college. (I asked him about me and of course he said long hair... and bigger boobs.) After much thinking the past few days I think me not sticking with being paleo and not working out as often as I'd like to, has resulted in few changes in me. If I'm doing all this work and not seeing results, why continue? I know why, but he doesn't. I need to focus on some results and then maybe that will help him realize WHY I want to eat paleo and why I want to run. And maybe it'll help him realize why I want him to do the same.

All good stuff I need to hear, thank you!! I'm going to reread all of this a few more times and it'll sink in. I think part of my problem is that I blame him for my bad choices. Having non-cheat food planned out is a good idea. I do paleo to help with my ADD, not to lose weight. I prefer how I feel (how I think) when I haven't had sugar or breads/pastas. I think I might need to make a list of why I run, why I avoid refined sugar and flour, why I want this to be part of my regular life and post it somewhere. MY goals, something only I am responsible for. And maybe when the hubster sees how hard I'm trying, maybe he might cheer me on a little. Btw, I keep thinking about how much I seriously hate cooking, but I could definitely make myself salads. Thank you! I'll reread this again after I get some work done...

I love my husband, he's pretty awesome. We've been married 5 years and we still love to goof around and kiss when we see each other. A long time ago he weighed over 500 pounds and had gastric bypass. He lost almost half his body weight, and when we met he was around 280. At that time, we were both "active" - I went line dancing a lot (I hate country music, but I love dancing), and he would hike around his 17 acres, which was mostly hills. Then we got married and I quit line dancing (it's not his thing) and because he moved here, to the city, he quit hiking. End result - we both gained at least 40 pounds. Two years into our marriage we decided we needed to lose weight and started Medifast. We both dropped 40 pounds but I'm not sure it was the healthiest way to do it. (I swear he lost a lot of hair while we were doing Medifast.) We learned to eat healthy, but went into a lot of debt. We quit buying their food and I've gained back about 10 pounds, but my husband has gained back all 40 pounds, plus some. So I started researching healthier ways to lose weight. (I found mercola.com, Mark's Daily Apple, Paleo/non-paleo, and Nerd Fitness.) So I started running two years ago and he stays home and watches Netflix. I try to eat paleo, he sneaks snack food and candy after I go to bed. He does all the cooking and grocery shopping (I hate cooking, he loves it) and can't seem to remember that I don't consider corn a vegetable. We try to plan meals together, but somehow he's always sneaking non-paleo food into the meals. My will-power isn't so great, so he easily talks me into pizza for dinner (on nights he doesn't want to cook, and neither do I). He teases about getting cupcakes from a local place or making cookies, and I give in. I complain that I'm not motivated to run when I should and he seems happy to have me home. He doesn't encourage me to go run, and seems annoyed when I do 5k's. I did a 10k last year and he was a jerk before the race (it was early), and afterwards he just wanted to go home. (This year we're driving separate.) I've asked for encouragement to get healthy but I guess he thinks I am healthy enough. I've tried talking to him about it but he gets defensive and angry, so I prefer not to go there again. I fear I'll lose him to a heart attack when he's in his 50's (when his overweight uncles passed away - his dad is very thin). He feels like he's fine and has no interest in changing how he eats or what he does. I've asked him to check his weight periodically but he now refuses to get on a scale. I could go on, but this is getting long and I'm sure you're getting the point. I feel bad in a way, I changed, not him, but now I want him to change too. I feel like everything i do to make myself feel better makes him feel worse. I know what I need to do is keep going forward and when I fall, pick myself up and keep going. He may never get on board with being healthy and there's not really anything I can do to make him want to be healthy. Any advice on how to deal with this? I know I can't be the only person who has been through this. (Is there a board for lop-sided relationships?)

I don't have any advice, just wanted to say I understand you're concern and your frustration with your parents. I'll be saying a prayer that your little dog is just fine and that you can enjoy yourself while you're away. *hugs*

Well crap, I had an update and then my laptop died and I lost it. Ugh. It was great, it had insights about building good habits and replacing bad habits and being encouraged because two of my goals already feel like good habits. And then I went into how I'm stressed from leaving my job (last day is Wednesday) and I'm having anxiety issues with starting my masters next week and that starting something new right now is really difficult, but I'm going to keep pushing forward. Blah blah blah, it was awesome. And now it's 10:30 and I need to go to bed, so I'll have to share the awesomeness tomorrow. In a nutshell... Goal to not snack at work - A. Goal to go to bed early at night - A. Goal to run 3 times a week - C. Goal to do strength training once a week - F. (That's right, still haven't done that.) I've learned a lot about myself these last two weeks. Those things I plan ahead to do happen easily. Those things I assume I'll work it in sooner or later, aren't happening. Yeah, that's like stating the obvious, but it's hitting me upside the head right now. Habits are difficult to change, and wanting to do something different takes a lot more planning than I'm currently doing. So this next week will require more planning.

Hey all, sorry about being MIA for the last week, it's been a struggle. I've stayed on track with the goals of not snacking at work and getting to bed early (Yay!!) but the running and working out hasn't gone well. (So far A's for no snacking and going to bed early, C on the running goal and an F on the strength training goal.) However, I'm not beating myself up over this. I've learned so much about myself over the past two weeks. First, the goals I set are things I want to be become HABITS. I've heard it takes 6 weeks to make something a habit, so I'm on my way to developing two new habits (and replacing old habits). I'll continue to work on the running and strength training, which are things I've been trying to develop as habits for the last year. If I haven't done it yet, it's probably not going to happen overnight. But I'm definitely going to keep working on it. I love running, I just don't always have the time or energy to go run. Strength training, so far I don't love. (Especially with a funny knee.) My last day at work is Wednesday and I'll have Thursday and Friday off. I'm definitely running one of those mornings - it's always my favorite way to start a day off. (I sleep in a little and then go run.) Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

Thank you! I had forgotten about My Fitness Pal. I already have an account from a few years ago. I was entering my food and was amused by the crap I was eating 2 years ago thinking it was healthy. (Seriously, Stouffer's French Bread Pizza?) I wasn't amused by the fact that my last weigh-in on there was 3 pounds less than I am now. Btw, another perk I found on My Fitness Pal is that you can set your own goals, and also indicate what categories of food are important to you to track. Nice. Thanks so much!! Feeling a bit more on track with my fitness.

I started going paleo about a year ago and I'm about 80% paleo now. (I have pizza on Saturdays if I do my long run that day.) I actuall went paleo to help my focus and my ADD isn't anywhere near as bad as it used to be. I also now get stomach aches if I eat grains, so I'm probably a little gluten intolerant. Anyway, I didn't lose any weight from going paleo, but probably because I eat too many fruits and I do sneak some grains once in awhile, but just small amounts to try to keep the stomach ache from happening. (I also eat beans when I go to Chipotle, and do indulge in peanut butter once in awhile.) So now I'd like to actually track my eating, to really analyze how paleo I am, and to also see if I'm overeating the paleo foods I'm allowed to have. I use Map My Run, but they don't have food tracking. I tried Endomondo but I can't seem to download their food tracking app on itunes. (Something about the Singapore store and my account being for the US store and now I can't update anything.) I just tried to log into Sparkpeople after being gone for over a year, but I can't remember my password and to get my password sent to me I had to watch a 30-second Crest ad. And then it didn't give me the visual hint to enter the answer, so no password. So I'm annoyed at sparkpeople and I'm not going there again. What app do you recommend to track paleo eating? Thank you!!

It's just such a weird thing. I ran 1.5 miles this morning and the knee was fine, didn't hurt at all. I made sure that when I went up and down curbs I made sure I led with my left foot, not my right (even when it was awkward to do so) and the knee was fine. I get back to my house and my doggies are in the window waiting for me and I forgot, I hit our first step (which is a tall one) with the right foot and my knee started hurting again. Ugh. It's fine now, but no more stairs today. Right now we have bad insurance (no co-pay, we pay the full amount of the office visit), which is making me hesitant to go to the doctor, but on July 1st we'll have much better insurance. I think I'll wait another week and see if babying it doesn't help. I'll go next week when I have a couple days off if it isn't better by then. I have a 5k on the 22nd, another one on the 28th, and another one (that I'm walking with friends) on the 29th. Gotta make sure I don't booger anything up and keep myself from doing those races. (I don't normally register for 3 in two weekends, they're all races with friends and in two cases, they were free. So... yeah.) Btw, there's no swelling and when it's not hurting I can move my knee around and it doesn't hurt. I can left my knee up to my chest and the bending doesn't hurt. It's when there's weight on it and I push that it hurts. It's just weird.

I had a great start to week 1 and a rough ending. I got my three runs in, I didn't snack at work, and I went to bed earlier than I used to almost every night. However, I didn't do any strength training, so even with 3/4, it feels like a fail. I guess I'm feeling discouraged right now because I'm having some problems with my right knee. I was going to do some strength training last night but basically talked myself out of it because of my knee. I was supposed to run this morning but didn't because my knee was hurting this morning (and it was down-pouring). I've always had a little bit of pain after running, but not enough to take anything. My doctor checked it out and he said it was just soreness from my weight and running on it. But then about a month ago, after running I twisted my knee while getting into the passenger seat. I'm now having problems bringing it to a 90 degree angle, so going up and down stairs hurts really bad. I've kept running because it doesn't hurt to run. However, yesterday I did something more to it and now it hurts when I twist my leg at all. Rolling over in bed last night was very painful, and going from a sitting to standing position seems to make the pain worse. So I've been feeling discouraged because I don't want to deal with injuries, I don't want to go to the doctor and find out I have to stop running or working out. I've done some googling to see how serious it is and it seems to be just a slight sprain, or at the worst, a small tear. It sounds like it'll heal on it's own, but I'm still not sure about running. I was walking today without any pain but going downstairs to do laundry made it start hurting again. I think I might try to run in the morning and see how the knee does. I hate that I took two days off and I'm behind in my goals already. Sometimes we need to give our bodies a rest, but I feel like I'm just getting started, I don't want to dial it back already. How am I ever going to lose weight if I can't do more than what I've done before? I'm just feeling really frustrated right now.

Thank you so much, that's exactly what I wanted to know. I'm a numbers person and the percentages were throwing me off a bit because it's more than just a weight thing. I do need to focus more on building muscle, and I think I'm the right place to get help on that.

I have hypothyroidism and used to use it as an excuse to be overweight and not try to lose weight - "it's just too hard." I now know it's NOT too hard, it just takes more determination and more time to lose weight. It's definitely possible, it's just harder for us. I have a friend who's lost 80 pounds in 6 months by eating better, working out and running. He acts like everyone would lose the same amount if they just tried as hard as he has. I told him he had it easy and went into all the hard work he's done. And then I told him I did the same thing last year (for 4 months) and only lost 5 pounds. He shut up. He may have lost more weight, but I'm tougher than him.

My bad, it was Shape magazine. That makes it even worse, doesn't it? http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/10-easy-paleo-diet-recipes

Yesterday someone added me as a friend. I don't know this person, so I went to check out their profile. They had no information at all, have never made any posts and have no other friends, just me. I'm the friendly sort, so I didn't mind. However, a day later, still no info on the profile, no posts and I'm still their only friend. I'm one of those who go with their gut feelings, so I removed them as a friend. Does this happen a lot around here? (Maybe I need to change what I consider "normal.") Does anyone else find this as odd? (I've been on the internet since the mid-90's when people would telnet to BBS's. So I'm just relying on my experience with people online. I've never regretted going with a gut feeling.)

You eat lemons? *pucker* I think some people just make up health tips out of a lot of little bits of information. Actually, I think this is how most health articles in women's magazines are written. Found one in Women's Day that had "paleo" recipes that included beans and potatoes. Yeah, NOT paleo.

Try this... http://www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.html I enjoy this techno music quite a bit, but in week 7 or 8 there's a voice that says "Hello" a couple of times. I was running around my neighborhood and it really creeped me out.

I ran this morning!! It started off as a horrible run, I couldn't get up to my usual pace and I was really struggling to keep moving forward. But then about half a mile in something clicked and I fell into my usual pace and it felt good. I kept running until I ran out of time and I actually did 20 minutes straight! I haven't done that since last fall! It's like my body is remembering that we used to do this and it's feeling familiar again. Oh I'm so happy this morning! Not to mention it's a half day for me. I also ran around a high school in my area. When I start teaching fall of 2014, I'd like to teach there. Running around it (twice) sorta felt like I was claiming that I was going to work there. That was kinda my mantra as I ran around the parking lot. "This is my school, I'm going to teach here next year." (I will teach at some school in the city, but not sure if it'll be that one or not. I'm hoping it is!) It's going to be an awesome day!! I'm having an open house tonight (and tomorrow morning) for my home business and afterwards some friends are going to come over and we're burning our Christmas tree. I don't know how we got into this habit, we have a great time with it. The branches go up like little sparklers. I also have massive amounts of lavender in our back yard and we trim them with hedge trimmers. (Yes, seriously.) So I've saved those clippings too. Between the pine sap and the lavender oil, we're going to have a very fragrant fire tonight. It'll be like a big outdoor incense party.