Let's get less serious and learn to relax and have fun with life

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Thanks LJ! Ok, that's interesting! I imagine that a coach/cheerleader can really give you a boost. You know, I want to try that too one day. Let's find out if they have such competitions in the Netherlands too.

Update:
Today's activities:
30 km of indoor cycling
15 km of outdoor cycling (to/from work, ice skating center)
3 km of walking
5 km of rowing
1.5 hours of ice skating

I ate 2000-2500 calories (and I needed it!). Estimated deficit: 1500-2000 calories.

It's been a crazy exercise day.

Starting to feel more calm and centered again. Starting to believe that my life will be fine, and that my life is meaningful. I have a better idea of where I want to go, and what I want to do. Glad that my darker period is ending up, and that I am emerging better out of it; I think every area of my life has improved noticeably in the last weeks.

But if such crazy weeks are necessary for this growth, I am willing to sacrifice a bit of growth in return for a little more happiness, at least for a while! ;)
 
Just came back from ice skating. Even though I went alone, and even though I wasn't looking forward to it (because sometimes you just feel some nonsensical resistance against something), I really enjoyed it!! :D

I got my first lesson. The trainer was really nice (and pretty :p), I learned a lot from her. I fell a few times, because I was taking more risks than I did the past two times, and because I had to do all kinds of exercises, but as a result I did get noticeably better.

But what counts most is that it was fun!

I will go 2x per week now; 1 time for training, and 1 time just skating by myself (for fun, but also to do the exercises that I get in the training). If I do this, I can go 6 more times before the ice skating rink closes.

Will join another sport after that. I don't know yet which one.
 
Wow, that sounds really fun.

I am way too fearful on the ice, the last time I went with work, I fell, injured my knee and my manager had to help me off the ice. Very embarrassing. Glad you are enjoying it.
 
so glad you enjoyed yourself, it doesn't feel like exercise when it is fun !
 
Ice skating is so much fun. I'm supposed to go do it with a friend in a couple of weeks. :D

Also, glad to hear that you're feeling more settled and centered.
 
Thanks Cory, Tru, cate and Emily! :)

Quick update: This morning I was 87.7 kg, so only 0.2 kg heavier than my record this year. Expecting to lose 1 kg per week again, and I plan to just keep doing that for 5-6 weeks or so. Only then will I slow down a bit (to 0.75 kg per week, and 0.5 kg per week a bit later). So, what I am doing is definitely working (or: the laws of physics are still the same... I mean it would be weird if I didn't lose with a deficit). Today I will go to the gym again, do a bit of cycling and rowing. An hour or so, and not very intense, so that I can recover a bit.
 
Well done Tri on all of your hard work this week was reading your post about your Vo2max and all of that stuff it made my inner geek so happy that is the stuff I studied in college and I loved it so much I can relate with pushing yourself to the absolute max in those tests. As your enjoying the ice skating so much why don't you try roller blading they are not that dissimilar to each other and I am sure you could transfer a lot of what you learned from ice skating.
 
Thanks Morgane! :)

Wow, cool that you studied that! Did your career go in a different direction from there?

Haha, how far did you push yourself during physical tests? To the point of fainting? I have only fainted once... but I often come quite close to it! ;)

That is an excellent idea, I will get some roller skates!
 
Sadly I now work in admin which is far less interesting then what I studied haha. Yeah I passed out twice and got sick once. I was the best guinea pig for the tests because I would push myself all the way and you could get the most accurate reading which was important to me because I am a giant nerd and I want to be as accurate as possible.
 
Well, the future may hold something more interesting for you, if you choose so! I am also a bit deviating from my study area, but I am changing my current job step-by-step, moving to where I want to go! It feels a bit naughty to have my own agenda :p

That is AWESOME! I love it... I don't meet many women who are such maniacs like me (I mean that as a compliment ;)). Btw I also think being a nerd is a good thing. "Normal" people with deep interests are boring!

Update:
Today's deficit:
  • About 1000 calories.
Activities:
  • Indoor cycling for one hour: 25 km
  • Running: 1 km
  • Walking: 3 km
  • Commute cycling: 5 km
Random thoughts and ideas:
  • I realized that I am having much less trouble in my body then I used to have in the past:
    • No more dry skin on my back
    • It used to be very common, but I hardly any stomach burn (only rarely, when I drink too much coca cola zero).
    • Never abdominal pains, hardly ever diarrhea (only after increasingly rare overeating days).
    • Almost no headaches. Only when in stressful environments for prolonged times, which is rare. I used to have a lot of headaches.
    • No more dry lips.
    • No weird muscle pains (only the normal fatigue)
  • Will start a exercise/diet/health journal, in a simple notebook. Kind of what I am doing here, but then more systematic, and on paper. I think it's interesting to track things, so that I can discover patterns, and look back later, just out of curiosity.
 
Tri, you seem to me like an all or nothing person. You are so into this! Journals, meditation, crazy exercise regimes, lists....

I get the impression that this is kind of an obsession with you, but if it wasn't this, it would be something else. Are you someone that finds balance in your life?
 
I've actually noticed the same thing physically. I used to get migraines, stomach problems, etc. With some exercise, weight loss, and pretty moderate diet change most of those problems have improved.
 
Emilyrose said:
Tri, you seem to me like an all or nothing person. You are so into this! Journals, meditation, crazy exercise regimes, lists....

I get the impression that this is kind of an obsession with you, but if it wasn't this, it would be something else. Are you someone that finds balance in your life?
Click to expand...

Yep, I tend to be a bit obsessive, but that's because I really want my life to go well. A lot of things have not gone well for a long time, I was wasting my life, and I don't want that anymore. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to make my life great. I do find balance, because I don't focus on improving one area rapidly while ignoring the rest. I also have my work, a social life, my family, etc that get enough of my time and attention.

Also, I take things step by step. So this exercise routine, I built it over many months, and I am pretty consistent at it. I know where to fit it in my day, and I also make sure that it doesn't take up all my free time.

About that journal... I would make sure that I could write it in 2 minutes or so a day, so no long stories, and it would mean that I would write less in this journal. It's not just that I want a journal, I also want to spend less time on the internet.

So, you can look forward to shorter updates from me! ;)

Update:
This morning I weighed 87.5, equal to my record so far.
Today I will go for an 8 km run. And I will be helping some friends who are moving to a different home all day. So, free fitness!
 
My weight this morning: 87.3 kg
Another record low! I expect my weight to continue to go down over the next months. Next weekend I expect to be between 86.0 and 86.5.

Yesterday I told a friend that I lost 10.5 kg since Christmas. He said "that's a lot" and he said that I looked a lot different (better), but that I didn't need to lose more. I took that as a compliment, but it is also very typical for the people around you (family, friends) to say that. People are uncomfortable with other people changing around them; I used to find that strange (from my own point of view), but to be honest I must admit that I feel the same when other people lose weight - I am happy for them, but at the same time it is weird, you are not used to seeing them like that. Perhaps our brains are wired to associate losing weight with losing health, due to our evolution.

Anyways, I will continue losing until my body fat percentage is (just) below 10%, which is somewhere between 76 and 80 kg.
 
@Sunflower_ Thanks! Yeah, it is very motivating! Having hit a record low makes me conscious that everything that I do on a day matters; every day I can lose 100-250 grams, which may or may not be visible on the scale the next day, but I know that I can be confident that I am making progress.

Update: yesterday I cycled for about 20 km, ran 15 km, walked 3 km and rowed 2.5 km. On Saturday I had a resting day. Today I will cycle 30 km and row 5 kilometers.
 
Just came back from the gym. Did what I planned to do (30 km of cycling, 5 km of rowing). When I started, I often went over my plans, but now I like to stick more closer to them, seems like that's the smart thing to do (to prevent injuries). This is going well... haven't had any injuries so far, and there haven't been any signs of any developing. I think this is the benefit of experience :).

I hit another of this months (bonus) goals: cycling for 30 minutes with 260(+) watts on average. I was not intending to do this... in the first 12 minutes I was actually going much slower, with about 200 watts on average, and reading a book while cycling (I am that one weird guy at the gym who does that :p). Then I put away my book, and I noticed that my legs were strong today and I felt the urge to go for it... so I pushed myself and cycled the rest with about 300 watts on average. So, in the end I had an average of 260 watts. Next goal: avg of 270(+) watts for 30 minutes. Judging by how it went today, this should also be doable before the end of this month.
 
T0day's plan:
- 30 km of cycling
- 5 km of rowing
- 10 km of running

It'll be a heavy day. I will do everything at a moderate pace, though. Tomorrow will be a lighter day.
 
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