Week 37 Accountability Report and My Actifit Report Card: September 20 2018
This Week’s Accountability Report
Exercise:
Seven out of Seven days
Weight:
77.5 kg
I’m looking for some advice.
In January, I decided that I wanted to lose 10 kg over the course of a year. That seemed like a reasonable timeframe to enact and make permanent the lifestyle changes that are necessary to lose 10 kg and not gain it back.
When I made this decision, I weighed just over 82 kg, which is the heaviest I have ever been in my life. Without really knowing what my ideal weight is, I chose 72 kg. Nine years ago, I weighed around 68 kg. Five years after that, when I initially began feeling overweight and was shocked to see how heavy I had become, I weighed 76 kg. 72 kg is right between these two weights and seems to me like a fitting goal, but is it really? I don’t know.
During my first six months of exercise, I gradually lost weight. For the past three and a half months, though, my weight has plateaued in the 77 kg range. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to break free of this weight. Last week, in particular, I upped the amount of daily exercise that I have been doing considerably. I ran and walked between three and eight kilometers everyday, and on two occasions, I went to a gym and lifted weights. My initial average of fifteen minutes of daily exercise has become thirty or forty minutes of daily exercise. While my body is changing and my waist is continuing to shrink, my weight is not dropping. I also feel like I am not seeing any noticeable change in the fat around my midsection (other than that it seems to be softer and droopier than it used to be).
Is my weight loss goal reasonable? As I approach the age of 40, is it reasonable to think that I can again weigh the same amount I did when I was 32?
For those of you that have lost weight, how did you do it, and what did you find was the most effective way to do so?
Actifit: Today’s fitness was based around cycling to work and back (18 km round trip).
I found this post so inspiring, it was just seeing your level of accountability. I’ve fallen off the actifit bandwagon a little. I think it’s just too hard to write meaningful posts and edit the default reports... But I’ll try again...maybe...
I can’t help you with your question since everyone is different. I’m also assuming you’re a man. As a woman getting older, I’ve actually found it better to not be so skinny such that it resorts to a gaunt and wrinkly face! I’ve seen that in a friend after she divorced. She lost a lot of weight, and sadly, I can’t say it was an improvement. I think as you get older it’s just harder, so it’s more being regular. Maybe it’s better to not focus on just weight and have long term goals like running a marathon. I’ve found when I don’t have a race, I have zero discipline...I’m dabbling at the idea of training for an Ultrathon, only so I have a goal! But the idea of committing to more than 42 km is scary because I’m not sure my joints can cope.
Thanks for your comment. You made my day.
I’ve been beginning to think it might be a good idea to stop focusing so much on the weight loss aspect of all of this too and just focus on enjoying exercise.
When I was younger, I never had to lose weight, I was always a little too skinny. Now that I’m trying to, I don’t know what the process is, so it’s a little confusing. I just want to have realistic goals, which I think I do (losing 10 kg and exercising for at least 15 minutes a day).
As for Actifit, I only started doing that recently, but it kind of fits into the lifestyle I’ve been building over the past year and allows me to make a post a day. I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to write, so I’ve been using the posts as a way to show a photo a day (I like snapping quick pictures) and any thoughts/reflections I have from that day. I’ve been tagging the posts as Ulog posts too. I do find it difficult, though, to wait until the end of the day when the activity report is almost complete to actually find the time to write a post, but I don’t worry too much about the quality of them. I just try to share something meaningful to me.
Exactly, enjoy the exercise. Be grateful that you can go for a walk or run pain-free aside from feeling the aging effects. Everytime I go for a long run, I’m always struck by the reminder that I take for granted such a simple activity, yet, it’s so important to me. And when I overdo it and injure myself such that I can’t indulge in the simple pleasure of just going for a run, I am miserable. I’ve said this thousands of times, running for me is my time of meditation. I deliberately run very slow, so that it’s actually more about slowly finding a meditative rhythm, to get lost in thought and the music. Actifit is just a little bonus at the end where I can look at my phone and think: woohoo! That was 10k+ steps!
As for the posting aspect, I am trying to do what you’re doing, but it’s exhausting. After a day filled with work, exercise and family, the idea of making my report meaningful for a few more cents seems uneconomical. I’ve come to the realization that for what my time is worth, it’s more economical to pay myself STEEM! So these days I’m in a dilemma with myself as far as how much I invest in these actifit reports, or if I should just use a different account and not care that I spam that with not-so-meaningful updates. I’m still reluctant to do that because a part of me wants to attract interaction and build friendships based on a common interests in fitness too. I have this on my Facebook, but it’s harder on the blockchain.
Anyway, thank you for your follow and upvote, I appreciated the support. ❤️
That’s great advice about be grateful for being able to walk and run pain free. Every time I’ve lost mobility due to an injury or illness I’ve felt miserable too. It is a blessing to be able to be active, and I use the time to listen to lectures and talks of all sorts, so time spent running becomes time spent learning, thinking, and just letting go of stress.
As for Actifit, I don’t really like how it posts to the Steemit Blockchain either. I wish there were a way to filter or organize and display our own posts. That would be nice. You can always post your Actifit report to Steemit and edit it the next day. That might leaded to added pressure to write something you feel is worthwhile, though.
Another thing I have been thinking about is trying to link Actifit to Dlike. That might not work though because I think they are two separate Dapps. Even still, you could share a link in your Actifit reports to an article or video that you enjoyed and then use the tag Dlike to show that you are just sharing information.
You’re so helpful, trying to think of ideas to get these actifit reports easier to post.
:)
I’m lying in bed thinking: I should probably get off my back and be upright on a cross trainer to work on some steps....but posting the thing...urrrrgh!
I’ll look into Dlike though.
Oh, I’ve tried listening YouTube documentaries while running. It’s highly unrelaxing. I just go with techno remixes with simple beats now. The goal is always to zone out, such that I forget I’m running.
That’s interesting. Everyone’s different. I used to listen to music, but I’ve found that listening to talks makes me focus either on the ideas of the talks or the ideas I get from them more than the running, so in that sense I relax more and can run further.
Although I can’t really help you with your question, I remember reading some parts of Tim Ferress’ book, The 4 Hour Body, that had some advice around losing weight. I haven’t personally put the advice into practice, so not sure if it’s effective. Also, although you might be staying around a similar weight, perhaps your body fat is decreasing and you are becoming healthier in other ways.
Btw, been wanting to try out Actifit, how are you finding it so far? Do you know if it’s out on IOS yet?
I’ve never read his book on exercise, only the 4 hour workweek. I can imagine what he might suggest, though. I know I’m not doing things the most efficient way or effective, but I’m doing what is sustainable for me.
I have gotten a lot of good results over the past nine months, and I’m very happy with my progress overall. Since my goal was weight oriented though, my focus is shifting more and more toward actually lowering the number on the scale before the year is over, which might not be a good thing. I don’t know.
As for the app, I’m using the iPhone version now, but I don’t think it has all the features that the other app does. Actually, the IOS app is very barebones at the moment, more so than Steemit.com:). Since fitness is something I’ve been focused on this year already, I really like participating in actifit. I don’t like having to always carry my phone around with me, so there is that trade off.
Congrats! You just reached the top level milestone via using Actifit fitness tracker and provided Proof of Activity!
You accordingly gained 100 Actifit tokens for attaining 11890 tracked activity!
You also received an 3.88% upvote via @actifit account.