Halfway through 2015 - how goes your year in fitness?

[athompson10]

So we're at the midway point of 2015. How are your fitness and health so far? Where are you on your goals, what have been the high and low points of the year? Anything new and exciting for the rest of 2015?

Me, I'm thrilled that I completed two rotations (Body Beaat and a Beast/Ripped with Hiit/Low impact Series hybrid). I'm on track with my consistency goals and have gained a lot of strength so far. I do have a nagging toe joint problem which I need to address, and I still have some vanity weight I'd like to lose. I have houseguests this month, a short trip in August and two weeks away in October-November that I need to plan for so I don't get too idle. On the whole, my head and body are doing well this year.

How ' bout you?

[Aunt Famous]

It's been a great year for me on all sort of fronts. I have really focused on being healthy this year -- rest days, getting enough sleep, eating good foods, self-acceptance, incidental exercise, staying injury-free -- and it's been working well. I do workouts that I love, I feel fantastic, and I look like the best version of myself. Hooray! May it last!

AF

Check out my blog at www.typeALC.com

[cmarsh4]

I have to say this has been my best health year in a long time. I have lost 40 lbs. I have finally got out of my head that food is a stress reliever and have started thinking about nutrition vs diet. I workout consistently even getting up at 4:30 in the morning to make sure I get it in. I have run 3 5 K's this year and have more planned and keep improving my time. My Dr. took me off of my blood pressure medicine.

I had my stress level under control but unfortunately work issues has brought that way up lately but hopefully I can work through those and get that back down.

Everyone says you fall apart when you turn 50 but I am doing everything in my power to not let this happen!!!!

[yogapam]

This has been a good year for me too. I have finally found my niche in high rep/low weight and ballet/barre workouts, and have accepted that lifting heavy and super intense/high impact workouts no longer work for my joints.

Cmarsh4 - Congrats on your weight loss, way to go!

[Kitten]

Well done cmarsh!

Mine is going pretty good . I finished a power90 rotation at the beginning of the year. I was stunned to discover I was now an advanced exerciser. Via that I discovered Jari Love! Omg! ! I always have a ton of energy to burn when I get done with her!
Although Leslie is the core of my aerobics routine, I rediscovered kickboxing, which I try to sneak in once a week.

After 2 weeks of sporadically exercising-I adopted 2 kittens, long story-I started a supreme 90 day rotation. Subbing out the tabata, my knees were like um.no, just no.

I'm 25 pounds down with 10 more to go.

[jEnNnY]

I had to stop exercising altogether since mid February due to a terrible lower back pain. I tried to work through the pain, but working out just made it worse. Plus, I felt my legs were getting weaker and weaker. I went to the doctor, a physiatrist and a chiropractor. None of them helped me or found out the cause of my pain. I got physical therapy and adjustments at the chiropractor, but none of them helped. The doctors prescribed anti-inflammatory meds that didn't help either. It was frustrating. They all advised to stay away from exercise. I would be resting in bed as much as possible because that seemed to be the only thing that would give me a bit of relieve.

In May I had to travel somewhere where I had no option but walk/hike everywhere. It is a small island where there is no public transportation system. Every day I was walking around most of the day. By the third day (I spent two weeks there) I started feeling better! My back was less painful, and moving didn't seem as daunting. I felt pain at night, out of tiredness, but the next morning I would feel much better again.

I came back home determined to work my way back to exercising and started with Travis Eliot's Yoga Foundations. Then I tried the new KCM (they arrived the day before my trip and now I'm addicted to them! ), some Rodney Yee's older 20 min yoga videos and just yesterday I did the all strength premix of Cathe's XTrain Legs! I have tried to include also some more core work without crunches or situps. Of course, I have been very cautious when performing the moves (e.g. no forward bends touching my knee with my nose, and no intense back bends; very little high impact and stomach in during boxing, being mindful during any moves involving twisting, etc) and selecting the weights. My lower back is not completely back to normal or 100% pain free, but I do feel so much better! I am gaining some of my strength back and I feel I am on my way to heal, finally!

So, my year of fitness just began! I hope by the end of December I will be completely pain free, more fit and even with more muscle definition I dream to be more tight in the upper body and core and to have very well define quads, hamstrings and glutes

[BamaTanya]

I had abdominal surgery in December, so I started back very gradually.

Days working out:
January -- 26
February -- 25
March -- 29
April -- 26
May -- 27
June -- 22 (took off a week for injured ankle)

I began with some youtube post-surgery exercises and Mirabai Holland DVDs. I've done a CS month, a month with Leslie Sansone's Walk It Off in 30 Days, almost a month with Jillian's Beginner Shred, and now completing my third week of Herbalife 24 Fit. I'm walking with my husband some evenings and/or swimming with my kids.

I'm taking my lunch to work every day. I'm cooking big pots of soup on the weekends and getting creative with my "salads in a jar." I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than I ever have in my life.

I'm down 30 pounds!

[weener]

Working out in the evening was not working for me anymore. In May I started morning workouts - getting up around 3:45 to start 4'ish. I started with Jessica Smith Walk On DVD's to see how I would do without eating. It worked. I'm loving my workout time. I also walk at least 2 miles most every day at lunch.

There are days when I'm tired and I have to drag myself out of bed - I make myself doing at least something for 15-20 minutes. It helps me to have a better attitude at work.

[dutchgirl]

So far I'm having a great year!

What's Working
- creating my own 6 week rotations where I alternate weeks between 3 different systems or instructors. I'm just finishing up my 4th 6-week rotation! This has helped me stay consistent and get the number of days per week in that I want,
- working out in the morning. When I was working I tried afternoon/evening workouts and it wasn't working. I'd miss workouts due to working late, running errands, needing to cook, just being plain tired, etc. While some mornings are ugly, getting my workout in early had made me more consistent.
- tracking my food intake with My Fitness Pal. I've lost 5 lbs since April. I'd like to lose about 6 more. Having guidelines in place with regards to food intake have made me more aware and accountable.
- incorporating yoga at least once per week. It's really helped to cut down on the soreness and on the amount of muscular strain/pull injuries.

Challenges
- my sinus issues are not improving. Between an anatomical disadvantage, allergies, and exposure to sick children I've been nailed several times already this year with sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, and the like. This will throw a big wrench in my exercise schedule and the time to recover my cardio capacity after being sick is not fun. Despite good medical care, allergy medication, reasonable self care, I can't ever seem to prevent a simple runny nose from turning into a full blown infection of some sort.
- I miss Ben & Jerry ! I love them dearly and they're not good for my effort to reduce my weight. When they're in my life, I'm in a dysfunctional relationship where I just can't say no to them.

Knock on wood, here's hoping the rest of the year is as good if not better!

[Pat58]

Wow the thread is young and I already see many VF'ers are sharing challenges.

Sabine I so feel for you on having problem sinuses.

Jenny your story is amazing. I'm so glad to read that you found a way to work through the back pain - how frustrating.

Congratulations to all who have lost weight or got back on the wagon and persevered!

What's going well for me:

I discovered Margaret Richard and feel like I've been given a new lease on exercise. Between her sales and overwhelming VF generosity, I now have a nice library of MR workouts and have been working with her specific style of joint friendly, but muscle toasting, workouts. They are helping my back problems, too. I also have been reading up on, and trying new recipes, to eliminate some foods which I've discovered contribute to inflammation in my sinuses and joints, and am having some success there.

My challenges:

I'm going to rename 2015 "My Left Foot." Since winter I've been plagued with pain in the left foot. An MRI in March revealed that the whole foot is just a hotbed of joint damage. I found this out approximately two weeks after purchasing the Zumba Exhilarate system with the Rizer.

Just when I got my head wrapped around all that and was able to resume my walking and much more low impact cardio program with padded socks and Skechers walking shoes, I gave myself a lovely high ankle sprain to my left ankle. I'm limping around in an AirCast and babying that foot.

All I can say is thank goodness for Margaret Richard and her genius in producing "Getting Better," short Pilates videos, and some of my RaviAna workouts to keep me from going insane.