Diane65 wrote:As promised following a discussion with TheyCallMeMrGlass at the weekend this thread needs restarting. I am ashamed to say almost back to square 1 and really need to get back on track. Anyone else ready to go on this journey yet again? Let's get some healthy menus and fitness programmes going again.
Lets do :) And you're looking radiant and fit already Diane...those DIY stuff you're doing is probably a factor!
So where do we start then? Well, all we need to do first is know where we are with our current diet and physical activity. What we are eating and drinking and how much daily exercises we getting in our lives. Just for a moment think. And then think about what changes we can make to our diet and adding more physical activities.
We do not need to be drastic. In fact, its healthier to make gradual changes. Changes that we can adapt to more easily and then keep making small changes once we feel comfortable to make the changes. Dont worry though, small changes make a big difference! Because the small changes will be more frequent along the journey to be healthy and fit.
The key is to adapt a healthy and fit lifestyle that we can maintain for life! Not a lifestyle that causes so much stress, makes you lose weight in a silly short time only to no longer keep up with it and pile on all the body fat back on more than you even started with. For that is the pitfall of all diet fads. And I will be blunt...most of us fell into that trap on this very thread since it started. Not that we should regret anything we achieved in the past...my god, we should be proud of what we achieved and boy many of us felt good about our achievements, we had great times on here over the years and I for one treasure those days we shared in our health and fitness journeys! Now we can learn from all that and do even better than ever.
Some of us have different goals. At first I had body loss goals and achieved shedding a huge amount of body fat (I was incredibly obese once upon a time) to become a lean athletic 15% body fat sportsman. I enjoyed that period of time for a good couple of years, even shockingly becoming a qualified fitness trainer and squash coach on the way.
But then somehow I didnt maintain my fitness. Unfortunately, I got complacent and I am not anywhere setting a good example as a health and fitness trainer! I also fell from being a division one squash player in the South London league to division 4
My cricket playing ability also declined this year.
Why? Well...I was not setting goals for myself. Everything I had achieved prior was by setting goals. But then I reached a sort of comfort zone in where I was in happy place of all I had accomplished and didnt push myself for bigger goals...and that led to complacency and before I knew it, I slipped into bad eating habits and a slackening of maintaining physical fitness at the gym.
So my personal goal is to work my way up to being a division one squash player and win squash tournaments. The odds are admittedly against me as I get older and a little slower in my reflexes to win tournaments dominated by young players in the 20s but I believe age has nothing to do with ability and it all comes down to fitness. I was beating those very spritely young Division one players in my late thirties. I felt fitter and faster than I was in my twenties. So I believe I can get back to that sort of peak. Age will not be a barrier!
And thats another key. Believe in yourself, KNOW that you will achieve your goal, dont just be hoping for it. All we need is the drive.
But we need intermediate goals to guage our progress. Our main goal is too far away. We need a series of shorter goals. For me, my intermediate goals will be in running. There is a great organisation called Parkrun which are Saturday morning 5km races free for everyone to take part in and are held simultaneuosly throughout the UK in public parks. London alone have about 50 venues. So wherever you are, there is a good chance one is near you. What is great about it, is that they record your times and grades your performances over time, taking into consideration your age. So if your are 80 years old, you can still be top of the table! So those runs will be my gauge and also I want the 50 parkrun shirt they give for free to all runners who did 50 runs! The reason its free, its sponsored by big sports companies. This year, I believe Nike is sponsoring.
SO those are my main and intermediate goals. Another first intermediate goal is to win my fourth division league and get promoted to third division. Its embarrassing right now being a squash coach and only playing in a such a low division. So I have to fix that!
So how will I achieve my intermediate goals. Well as I said, I need to make changes to my current diet. I have to stop the outdoor junk eating and start doing my own pack lunches of healthier meals instead of the unhealthy junk we are forced to eat outdoors. I used to do this ritually but then I stopped, why? Beats me! Well, actually I know why...I didnt have goals
I have been getting addicted to Cappacino in the recent couple of years, so I will change that to herbal tea. I will start a base phase gym program for myself, 4 times a week for 4 weeks. Then change the program, for the following 4 weeks etc.
I will also ensure that my diet includes all the nutrients to keep me HEALTHY. So lots of vegetable of all colours. Varied colours ensures you cover all nutrients. Less fruits, because fruits contain sugars which vegetables can equally provide without the sugars. BUT fruits are healthy and I will eat some...but everything in moderation. I will eat proper five days a week and on weekends I will treat myself to my favourite meals and enjoy my cricket teas spread on Sundays :) Its important to reawards myself but of course not to an extent.
Forget diet fads. Adapt gradually. And very important, feel good about every little change you make. Never stress. Stress just ages you. Enjoy the journey. The incremental small changes over our body fat loss journey will all add up over time in the form of huge results in our being healthier and fitter.
When I talk of goals, I mean material targets. Not a numerical ones. A material one. Such as looking fit for a wedding anniversary or birthday party. Then associate that with a reasonable body fat target. NOT WEIGHT. Weight is meaningless. Weight is no indication of your health and fitness. Body Fat can reflect your health and fitness more than just your weight. A very fit person can actually be called obese if he/she was weighed which is nonsense.
And now for one more ingredient to ensure our success.
US! Much of what I achieved in the early days of my health and fitness journey was all down to the encouragement and sharing of our experiences with all you guys on this thread!
Our grouping here makes for a powerful means to progressing our health and fitness journey. Seriously.
Record your progress, talking about it, keeps us on our toes. It also adds pressure but a healthy kind of pressure.
Our goal is to be HEALTHIER and FITTER which leads us to look younger, more beautiful and even more radiant than we already are
My program for this week:
Tuesday (crikey thats today!): Gym: 8km run, upper body workout. (2hrs)
Wednesday: Gym: Lower body and core workout (1hr)
Thursday: REST
Friday: Squash match, upper body workout (1.5hrs)
Saturday: 5km Parkrun (30mins in morning), Squash match in afternoon.
Sunday: Cricket (4hrs...but effectively average 30 mins running activity)
Monday: REST
I will post more with lots of tips that I know works to achieving our goals, HEALTHILY. But too much information is a overload and leads to stress. Stress is bad. Just enjoy the journey and make small changes frequently as opposed to making huge drastic changes in one go.
SO...what are your targets? What changes will you make? :)
And, enough chat from me, I'm off to the gym after work :)
Well done asamaic with all your fitness you certainly put me to shame. 
