RMRK Fitness Month

[Acolyte]

     Welcome to RMRK's first annual fitness month, hosted by Acolyte! What is this you ask? Well, for a while I've been trying to get into shape, and I've realized that it's easier to keep fitness goals when you see others keeping goals as well. I know that there are other RMRK'ers that are also trying to meet their own fitness goals. So I thought it would be a cool idea for a sort of fitness "contest" of sorts to get us all a bit more motivated.

     Basically you set your own daily exercise and/or diet goal, and try to meet that goal each day for the month of April. Anybody that does this will get a shiny reward icon! Of course, this is all on the honor system. We have no way of actually checking if you met your goals or not, but the real reward here is obviously being a fitter, healthier person.

    So go ahead and leave a post here if you'd like to join in!


List of Participants:
1. Acolyte
2. NAMKCOR
3. LadyJ
4. Zylos
5. Arlen
6. DnP3
7. Holkeye
8. crow5derlock
9. Yuyubabe
10. Anski
11. <leave a post to join!>


Q and A:

What kind of goal should I set?:
That's entirely up to you. Not everybody can run a mile every day, and not everyone has the time to count calories. www.myfitnesspal.com is a tool that you can use to formulate a diet and exercise plan to suit your needs. You can also use it to keep track of your daily progress.

Do I have to wait until April 1st to start?
Not at all! You can take this extra week to start warming up and trying out your plan. You can make adjustments to it if you think it is too much or too little effort.

What if I don't make my goal for the day?:
Don't stress over missing a day or two, just try to get back on track. The only way you can lose is if you completely give up. Don't get discouraged. If your goal is a bit too high, it's okay to make adjustments.

[tSwitch]

I'm totally in.

Goal: I want to lose 1.5lbs to 2lbs a week each week.

also award?:
...it's supposed to be a scale.

[Acolyte]

I think it looks great. 

[Jules]

Count me in!  My plan is to lose 1-2lbs per week. I would love to lose 2, but if I can lose 1 I'll be content. 

Goals:
1) Lose 1-2lbs per week
2) Exercise at least 20 min per day
3) Drink 2 glasses of water per day.  I suck at my water consumption, gotta start somewhere!
4) Avoid sodas. 
5) Stay under my calorie goal for the day.

I'm technically already working on these but I've been sucking lately. So if I can do them, I'll be happy. And Lord knows I need accountability! This is a fabulous idea Acolyte, thanks

[tSwitch]

Yay LadyJ!

[Zylos]

...my goal is to GAIN 1-2 lbs per week, preferably in body tone rather than fat but I'll take what I can get. I only weigh like 135-140 when I should be something around 150-160 if I recall right. My odd problem is that my metabolism is unusually quick to burn off everything, ironically meaning that I lose weight a lot quicker than I actually gain weight. Combine that with a physically demanding job, and you get a surprisingly underweight "stick folf" as I'm often called. T_T

[Moss.]

I'm in. The only goal I want to reach isn't really a "lose X pounds" goal, it's more of a "get my lazy ass up early at least 3 times a week to run 2 miles" goal.


Oh, but I do want to avoid eating out every day for lunch, and that'll help me lose weight, too, so let's make that a goal as well.

[tSwitch]

...my goal is to GAIN 1-2 lbs per week, preferably in body tone rather than fat but I'll take what I can get. I only weigh like 135-140 when I should be something around 150-160 if I recall right. My odd problem is that my metabolism is unusually quick to burn off everything, ironically meaning that I lose weight a lot quicker than I actually gain weight. Combine that with a physically demanding job, and you get a surprisingly underweight "stick folf" as I'm often called. T_T

Then go for it!  It's Fitness month and that sooo qualifies.  Eat more, hit the gym, etc...

I'm in. The only goal I want to reach isn't really a "lose X pounds" goal, it's more of a "get my lazy ass up early at least 3 times a week to run 2 miles" goal.


Oh, but I do want to avoid eating out every day for lunch, and that'll help me lose weight, too, so let's make that a goal as well.

Ditto for you.

Manageable goals are key \(:])/

[Jules]

...my goal is to GAIN 1-2 lbs per week, preferably in body tone rather than fat but I'll take what I can get. I only weigh like 135-140 when I should be something around 150-160 if I recall right. My odd problem is that my metabolism is unusually quick to burn off everything, ironically meaning that I lose weight a lot quicker than I actually gain weight. Combine that with a physically demanding job, and you get a surprisingly underweight "stick folf" as I'm often called. T_T

I feel for you. For the longest time I had no sympathy for people who had trouble gaining weight. My mama was one of those people. She's always been tiny.  I remember picking on her about it so many times.  "wah wah you can't gain weight"  But then I was actually around her enough to see her really trying. Eating three meals a day is hard for her because she just isn't used to it.  After seeing her struggle to gain weight and be just as disappointed as I was when I couldn't lose, I have a new found respect for that struggle. So good on you and good luck for your goals as well!


And I'm with NAMKKCOR. It doesn't have to be weight loss goals. Any goal  you have that helps you get fit is a fitness goal.  And who better to cheer you on than your friends?

[D&P3]

I'm in. I guess my goal is just to walk more.
My School is close to a 40 minute walk from the Train Station and I normally catch a tram.
Walking there and back for each of the three days I go there a week seems manageable enough for me

Another goal would be more homemade lunches, since I seem to just buy fast-food from the many local shops while I'm there.

[Moss.]

Yeah, fast-food lunches will either kill your health, or your wallet. Or in most cases, both. I've managed to eat healthy alternatives at fast-food places when I eat out for lunch, but it's still too big of a hit on my wallet to keep living like that.

[Acolyte]

...my goal is to GAIN 1-2 lbs per week, preferably in body tone rather than fat but I'll take what I can get. I only weigh like 135-140 when I should be something around 150-160 if I recall right. My odd problem is that my metabolism is unusually quick to burn off everything, ironically meaning that I lose weight a lot quicker than I actually gain weight. Combine that with a physically demanding job, and you get a surprisingly underweight "stick folf" as I'm often called. T_T

That's a fine goal to have. Are you going to focus on incorporating more exercise, or modifying your diet?

I'm in. The only goal I want to reach isn't really a "lose X pounds" goal, it's more of a "get my lazy ass up early at least 3 times a week to run 2 miles" goal.


Oh, but I do want to avoid eating out every day for lunch, and that'll help me lose weight, too, so let's make that a goal as well.

I was originally going to say "don't make a Lose X amount goal", because (imo) it's a lot better to set small daily goals for yourself. But if that's how some people want to do it, that's fine too.

It's great to see so many people on board already. I believe in you guys.

(Something that I like to do is put a little star on the calendar every day I meet my goal. It might be a little silly, but I think it helps motivate me a bit. For further motivation, you could even give yourself a small reward at the end of each week, like renting a movie or going to the park or something. Obviously you want to try and avoid a food reward *unless you're like zylos and it doesn't matter all that much *)

[tSwitch]

Actually, it's super good to "cheat" once a week if you're watching your intake.  Last fall when I had started I'd give myself one off day a week, where I'd eat whatever I wanted to.  I usually used this as an occasion to go out for something.

Still managed to lose ~2lbs a week ( which is at the upper end of healthy loss ).

It helps you keep your willpower together, because you'll know at least one day of the week you can relax and eat comfort food or something.  Not only that, but it's all about motivation and moderation.  It's hard to keep motivated if you're tempted by all of your favorite unhealthy foods, and don't let yourself chill once in a while.

This is advice from a dietician, btw.

[Sophist]

I think a certain british admin needs to think about doing this...

[Holkeye]

3.5 miles x 5 days/week
Lifting x 4 days/week

[Dwarra?]

I don't know what your lifting routine is, but I had that schedule and I could not keep it up. So props to you.

[Zylos]

I wore one of those pedometer things to work one day and clocked myself at around 8 miles for shorter shift for all the walking and moving I had to do, and that's not including all of the heavy lifting I'm asked to do. Short of paying to go to a gym for more specific exercise machines, I don't think working out will really matter much to me as much as just changes to a diet. What you intake seems far more important than what you do about it afterward.

/layman's perspective

[Dwarra?]

I'm assuming you have the same body type/metabolism that I do. I've always been frozen at 120lbs even while eating tons and working construction. Once I started an actual weight lifting routine the changes were pretty fast, I shot up to 135 within a month. I am definitely not saying that diet isn't important either, what you eat goes a lot further than how much you weigh and you should pay attention to that regardless. But don't underestimate weightlifting whether you're trying to gain pounds or lose them.

[Holkeye]

Protein

[crow5derlock]

So you want us all healthy now? Then i'll try this...

Goal:
First week gain 5lbs (I'm too skinny).
Second week lose 3lbs to excersize.
Repeatfor the rest of the month.

Edit: Oh and drink at least a gallon of water a day.

[Sophist]

I'll join this. I need to start running to improve my already fucked up heart so I don't have another heart attack.

A mile a day keeps the doctor at a safe enough distance to barricade the doors and prepare the spearmen.

[Zylos]

I'm assuming you have the same body type/metabolism that I do. I've always been frozen at 120lbs even while eating tons and working construction. Once I started an actual weight lifting routine the changes were pretty fast, I shot up to 135 within a month. I am definitely not saying that diet isn't important either, what you eat goes a lot further than how much you weigh and you should pay attention to that regardless. But don't underestimate weightlifting whether you're trying to gain pounds or lose them.

Huh. Maybe I'll give it a try then, see what comes of it. We have a lot of weights, barbells, and old punching bags tucked away in our backroom, so perhaps I'll try setting those up again to see if I can't build up any change in a month's time too.

[Moss.]

I didn't run today because, while it was 65 degrees and sunny this weekend, there was 3 inches of snow on the ground this morning.

Real sick of this weather.

I DID run this weekend, though. When it was nice.

[Zylos]

BE A MAN, ARLEN. RUN IN THE EFFING SNOW.

[Holkeye]

Days not over yet!