Arm Yourselves With Pokey Sticks!

[21katykat01]

Fellow Nerds, I'm in some serious need of prodding.

If you've read this bit before, sorry, but to give you a little background, I got to my goal weight at the end of last year but I've still got more fat on me than I'd like. To rectify this, I bought the Rebel Fitness Guide, which has been awesome in educating me about what I need to start changing to level up my life! Since then, I've given up all sodas (apart from the occassional one with my Southern Comfort if I'm out with friends, if I don't drink cider), which is a pretty big thing considering I used to drink 2L+ a day! Now, I have at least 2-3 litres of water everyday and I can see the difference - my skin looks amazing!

I've also made some good changes to my diet. I didn't go paleo as I'd intended, because my bf isn't interested and it was getting really expensive effectively doing two separate shops. I've taken as much inspiration from it as I can though. We buy whole foods (where there is only one ingredient!), eating way more fruit and veg, lean protein and a lot less carbs. The only carbs I have now are rice and potatos, and in small quantities at that.

So I'm pleased with this progress, but I'm not being as awesome as I could be. My exercise has really been lacking. I do a PhD and work as well, so it's been hard to fit it in, but I know I could be better if I tried a bit harder. I've been trying to get in basic exercises daily (squats, incline press-ups, planks) and I am seeing some improvements but not nearly as much as I'd like.

This is where you, my friends, come in. Please prod me. I know I can do this, I just need a little push. Get hold of your pokey sticks and..... GO!

Thank you all, you're the best

[BoydLabBuck]

*sigh* Here I thought we were getting some of these.

Pokey stix from Gumby's Pizza

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[21katykat01]

Sorry no pizza-based pokey sticks allowed! (We don't have them in the UK *sadface*)

[K Po]

I'm going for a PhD too, complete with all the time consuming research that goes along with it, so I can sympathize with your problem. The best advice I feel I can give is to find a time frame where you can make it happen consistently. Wake up early, do it at lunch, whatever...just find a time and do it, no excuses. For me, this means waking up early in the morning to fit in my workouts because if I put it off until the end of the day, I'll be more mentally drained and ready to make excuses and go home. If you stay consistent with it, it'll become more of a habit and it'll be easier and easier to get up and go work out.

[21katykat01]

Good plan K Po, and good luck with your PhD! I am really not a morning person, but just (30 mins ago) signed up to a local gym, where there's lots of afternoon/early evening classes I can go to on my way home. Plus, I've just enlisted a friend to bully me every day! I think that will help

['Roos]

*poke* *pokepokepoke* GO DO YOUR EXERCISES. YOU'LL FEEL BETTER.

[Guest guest4729]

Things that help keep me motivated and successfully working out.

[161803398874989]

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/06/28/insipration/

[ZenGwen]

*poke* *poke* *poke*

Why are you reading this, go exercise!

Sympathy on the not-quite-making-paleo. Food is pricier for us over here than it is in the states. I'm just about managing to stick with it so far, but only because the boyfriend is on board.

*waves from Edinburgh*

[21katykat01]

Thanks you guys. You might be pleased to hear I've now signed myself up for a local gym (I figure it's worth the expense) with a trainer free for the first six weeks to kick my butt on a regular basis. I'm going to try to mix in classes with everday gym stuff, but I'm going to get shown how to use the weight section etc. in my induction (I already told them - no machines!) Positive steps I feel. And classes/sessions have gone in my diary to be kept as strictly as meetings or uni classes, so I won't let other stuff get in the way.

Also, ZenGen - I am so glad to see another NF recruit from Scotland! Hey!

[Maggie May]

*sigh* Here I thought we were getting some of these.

Pokey stix from Gumby's Pizza

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Sigh... me too. How I miss those (only got them on my college campus).

[Loren Wade]

*grabs pokey stick*

*prod*

[LRB]

My mother's mantra, and one I've adopted as my own, is: "Someone busier than you is working out right now."

For perspective, here's my daily schedule:

6 a.m. wake up

7:00 daughter 1 out the door to school

7:30 drive daughter 2 to school, drive me to work

8:00 to 5:00pm - work

5:00 drive home, get daughter 2 from aftercare, getting home @ about 5:30

Dinner, homework supervising, various meetings (I'm chair of a committee at church, on the board of a local nonprofit organization, and a couple of other things), kid-related events (flute lessons 1/week, group class 2x/month, team practices 1/week, games 1/week - for each of them, so multiply that by two), kid-related performances (band, theater, etc), until the kids are in bed at about 9 pm. Oh, and walking the dog and other miscellanea in there as well.

9:00 - kids in bed, now it's time to do the dishes, pay bills, plan for summer camps, send emails to friends so I don't get isolated and go insane, whatever.

11:00 - off to bed myself.

Also, on a regular basis, things like house cleaning, vet visits, grocery shopping, etc.

I'm not saying this to say "pity me, pity me," because this is the life I've chosen, these are things I've signed up for. And frankly, I am much less busy now than I've been since graduating from law school in 1997. I love this life. But if I don't take good care of my body, I'm not going to be able to continue this (or a busier) pace. And even with all I've listed above, it remains true that someone busier than I am is working out right now.

A few constructive thoughts (beyond "hey, here's a mantra"). (1) When I was doing the bodyweight workouts from the fitness guide, I got really frustrated with all of the rest periods in between sets. So I decided to shorten or skip them if I could. And if I gave out, then I just skipped some of the sets - there are only so many hours in the day. Another possibility would be to have your homework nearby and do it in bits and pieces during those rest times. And (2) get a slow cooker and use it. On the weekends, I make a meal for the week, and have it once a day each day. And sometime around Wednesday, I make another meal that I have once a day. Yes, it gets repetitive to have the same things for a week, but the way the overlapping works, I switch one meal every three to four days.

Hope this helps!