Exercise/Diet Support Group

[flying_backwards]

How to get past the "I should exercise" and even the "I want to exercise" to the actual "I exercised today"? Once I fell out of the exercise habit I have struggled to climb back into the saddle, so to speak. Well, since it included cycling, I suppose literally as well.

I actually do enjoy exercise, the kinds I used to do.

I mean the off-the-dance floor kind of exercises: weights, mat work, swimming, cycling, or even just walking. (Running is out, due to injury.)

Motivation tips welcome.

 

[RiseNFall]

Motivation tips welcome.

Here are a few possibilities:

Try the Streaks app.

For me, it's better to start small: plan something doable and find some way to make yourself accountable. When I am out of the habit of doing something, I need to schedule it, have a check list, SOMETHING, or I just don't do it.

Reward yourself. If you reach a specific goal, do something/buy something for yourself. Make the goal something that doesn't get "cancelled" if you mess up. For example, a goal of "I'll do x everyday this week" is over if you miss one day. Better something like, "I'll reward myself after I've done x on 5 days".

 

[Wannabe Triple Threat]

It really helped me to have a gym/yoga buddy. We motivate each other to actually show up and push ourselves in our workouts. It's also really nice when my instructor notices how my outside work is effecting my dancing -- i.e. "your balance is improving" or today, "your legs are getting stronger".

 

[flying_backwards]

start small: plan something doable and find some way to make yourself accountable. When I am out of the habit of doing something, I need to schedule it, have a check list.

Yes good advice, spot on. Thank you @RiseNFall. I'm remembering now how this goes, having been thru this cycle many times. And actually having done the exercise will really feel like reward enough.

I'm now remembering years ago when I needed to resume exercising that my first small goal was just to pack the gym bag, not even drive to the gym. Being behind schedule was keeping me from getting there, so having the bag packed got me closer.

I like charting, those sheets in the weights room with all the reps and weights column for each date. I've always wanted to get a packet of gold star stickers and stick them on. Apps on phones are the same idea I guess, virtual stickers.

 

[flying_backwards]

It really helped me to have a gym/yoga buddy. We motivate each other to actually show up and push ourselves in our workouts. It's also really nice when my instructor notices how my outside work is effecting my dancing -- i.e. "your balance is improving" or today, "your legs are getting stronger".

Yes @Wannabe Triple Threat. Agreed on both counts. When I was regularly working out, outside of dance, the strength did help a lot. And not carrying the extra weight helped.

This time around the workout buddy idea backfired. Ended up spending all my gym time teaching them dance instead of working out. Already too much time at that. But the cycle before this, my workout buddy back then was the primary motivating factor since he was also my aerials partner and so, highly motivated to get me strong and lean! There was a responsibility toward each other, a direct benefit to our dancing. So, depends on the workout buddy.

 

[Purr]

Yesterday I worked out at the gym and also had a lesson. Whatever I did to my quadriceps, I did it good. They don't exactly hurt, but they ache. I must have been really engaging them for stability and movement. Some other leg and core muscles don't exactly ache, but I can tell I used them.

Have yoga tonight, so lots of stretching. Tomorrow no gym but lots of walking, maybe a walk at lunch if it's not raining, and then walking when I go to Kroger. Note: my local Kroger was recently remodeled, and I have trouble finding stuff, so that means lot of walking up and down the aisles. Hope my legs feel better later on in the week.

 

[3wishes]

Soooooooo, a very tiny spaced franchise gym (which is truly 3 minutes from my home) took over the vacated Fresh N Easy store space. Wow wow wow. They even have this sliding weight sled (I use to do that with a personal trainer). The space is amazing, the fee includes everything available and classes and the spin room is awesome. I may have to jump ship from my current gym which charges an extra “personnel training” fee in order to use the equipment the other gym has for everyone to use without limits. Lastly, made a first attempt at returning to Yoga after 2 years, gasp, of not doing any yoga. Sore sore sore, but it’s a good sore.

 

[RiseNFall]

I've added some cardio work at the gym after I practice. Here is what a typical week looks like...if all goes well:

• Monday: dance lessons
• Tuesday: practice in pool and NuStep
• Wednesday: practice in pool and NuStep
• Thursday: Off
• Friday: dance lessons
• Saturday: practice in pool and NuStep
• Sunday: Off

My therapy pool practice is mildly aerobic, definitely builds muscles, and also seems to help my joints a lot. I typically have 30 minutes in the pool.

The NuStep is the one cardio exercise that I have found that doesn’t injure anything. It also has the advantage that it uses both arms and legs, so if my legs are feeling stressed I can use my arms more. I am currently using it for 15 minutes—after the therapy pool—and the only variable that I change is the “work load”, which goes from 1-10.

Here is how I have structured the 15 minutes:
1 minute: level 5
Repeat x times:
1 minute: level 5
1 minute: level 6
Repeat (6-x) times:
1 minute: level 4
1 minute: level 7
2 minutes: level 4

Yesterday, x was 2. I'm increasing x by 1 each time I go. I'm increasing what I am doing slowly to decrease the likelihood of injuring myself and to build some more muscle. Before illnesses, pandemic, etc., I used to feel free to approach it with more abandon ("Let's see what happens if I pop it up to 8! What about 9!"). Once I can do comfortably do four or five repeats at level 7, I'll try level 8.

My current goal is to do what I can to prepare for my early August competition, which will include one multi-dance. It's a FADS comp and I expect them to be pretty accommodating with the single heats in terms of my not having to do too many in a row. Still, there will be the multi-dance and, at the moment, even an isolated VW heat would be pretty difficult. Thus, I would definitely be interested in hearing any suggestions for getting more from my exercise or a confirmation that what I'm doing seems like a good plan. There are several caveats:

• I am on heart medications that prevent my heart rate increasing more than a certain amount. That's good in that it protects my heart from (further) damage. (I had congestive heart failure from a viral infection about a decade ago.) It does mean, however, that I can't use heart rate to monitor exercise and that when I run out of oxygen, I really run out. My quads in particular just stop working. It's better not to push things to that point because it takes a while to recover enough to be able to do anything.
• I am injury prone! I have had physical therapy for my knees, my ankles, and my shoulders. I am doing exercises to strengthen those joints, but it's one of the reasons that I am I'm increasing the work load on the NuStep slowly.
• All the same, don't worry about making suggestions: the medications prevent me from damaging my heart and I'm quite good at "reading" my body and slowing down if necessary. When I have asked my cardiologist questions about exercise, his most common answer was, "There have not been any studies done to answer that." Thus, it's all a bit trial and error.

 

[raindance]

Since you already do the therapy pool, have you considered swimming or treading water for cardio? I've had a variety of injuries over the years, and found swimming to be a good way to get cardio without adding more injuries or aggravating old ones. I'm not talking about tons of laps with the same stroke (e.g. freestyle) over and over, as that can be hard on various joints. But a variety of strokes, at mild intensities at first and then building as able can be a good way to work a lot of different muscles and get some cardio in relatively gently.

Your NuStep plan looks good to me, you know your limits and you'll feel whether you can progress a bit faster after a while or not.

 

[RiseNFall]

Since you already do the therapy pool, have you considered swimming or treading water for cardio?

Treading water would work! The therapy pool isn't deep enough, however, and with the current reservation system I can't get reservations in both pools on the same day. It's something to keep in mind however.

 

[fascination]

I think it would help to have your pro strategically choreograph that vw such that it will be more tolerable (easier to do if it's smooth than standard) ...and begin to practice that first at slower speeds and then gradually increase

 

[Misspendragon]

Stress eating ALL THE THINGS

Confessions of a sugar addict: I have been known to eat sweetened condensed milk straight out of the can, spoonful by spoonful. When I want to get fancy, I stir some lime juice into it, and tell DH it’s deconstructed (more like preconstructed) key lime pie. I sometimes also eat icing/frosting...

www.dance-forums.com

And here I am, eating 1 slice of whole-wheat avocado toast for breakfast and baked asparagus with cauliflower for dinner, working out several hours daily and not eating anything sugary at all (I think the last time I drank soda I was 16 years old), yet I have diabetes, have had diabetes for over a decade. Life isn't fair .

Funny story: I do let my kids eat more carbs than I do, but we don't often eat sweets at home and they get an almond milk/berry mix/chia seeds shake for breakfast (delicious, BTW) or avocado toast with eggs. So you may imagine my shock when I recently learned that my older daughter's pet name at school is Dia, short for Diabetes, because for lunch, she consumes a muffin, two chocolate chip cookies, plus a large AND a small ice cup of cream. I nearly fainted when I checked the itemized list of her monthly lunch statement.

Why I bother to spend thousands monthly to feed the kids well, I don't know. My only hope is that once I'm gone, they will start eating healthy just to remember me.

Which is of course is entirely wishful thinking, I know.

 

[joy]

So you may imagine my shock when I recently learned that my older daughter's pet name at school is Dia, short for Diabetes, because for lunch, she consumes a muffin, two chocolate chip cookies, plus a large AND a small ice cup of cream

If restriction diets work, half of America wouldn’t be obese.

when I go on keto diets, I almost always fall off the wagon in a glorious carb laden way.

 

[Misspendragon]

If restriction diets work, half of America wouldn’t be obese.

when I go on keto diets, I almost always fall off the wagon in a glorious carb laden way.

I followed a keto diet for two years and my diabetes did not improve (probably because I never ate a lot of sugar to begin with) however my cholesterol and liver markers got worse. Too much fat and protein aren't good for you. Now I do eat carbs in moderation, but only complex carbs (whole wheat grains), not simple carbs like sugar (which are bad for everyone), and I eat more legumes and vegetables as well. My A1c level is 4.8, which is better than most healthy people's at my age.

But, when I'm not careful and eat too much fruit, my sugar level goes over 200 and then drops below 70, which would not happen to a non-diabetic person. In other words, I didn't cure my diabetes, I just stripped it from (most of) its power to ruin my heart, eyes etc. because I keep my sugar level in check.

Also, I'm not all that worried about my daughter's sugar consumption because she is an elite swimmer swimming twice a day. She does need lots of carbs. I wish she took it from better sources than ice cream, but at home at least she eats healthy, so it all balances out.

 

[Warren J. Dew]

Why I bother to spend thousands monthly to feed the kids well, I don't know. My only hope is that once I'm gone, they will start eating healthy just to remember me.

My mother had all sorts of eating habits I considered strange when I was a teen. When I got old enough to get metabolic syndrome, I started following half of them - though they were related to things like maintenance of a reducing rather than oxidizing environment, not to diabetes. Perhaps there's hope your daughter will remember too.

She followed a ketogenic diet when recommended by one doctor and it put her diabetes completely into remission, but she hated it so much she switched to a doctor who said the composition of the diet didn't matter if she could maintain the 1200kcal/day intake she had on keto. Naturally she couldn't maintain that level of intake on rice and cookies, so she became insulin dependent.

My teen daughter certainly doesn't follow my diet advice, but she's more than willing to nag me when I don't follow it - and her brothers when they don't follow theirs - so I know she's at least stored it and could use it in the future. 12 year old is starting to follow some of the advice for him - he's gluten sensitive and recently ordered a glazed corn donut that I hadn't even seen on the menu.