Exercise questionnaire
Basics:
Name (or what you go by): Nye
Age: 36
Gender: M
Location: London, UK
Internet:
MyFitnessPal?: nye75
Dailymile?: nyecamden
Twitter?: nyecamden
Questions:
What are your goals?: Lose 14-28 pounds for my next marathon in May, improve my time by 1 hour (should be doable - previous one was 7 hours!)
Weight loss so far: 70 pounds in 5 years. (40 of which was done in 1 year).
Do you lift weights?: I do a mixture of bodyweight exercises/calisthenics and weight training in the endurance range.
Do you do cardio?: Cardio is my main thing atm, though I often find it boring. Before my focus was on training for marathons, my focus was more on weight training.
Do you take classes?: Mostly yoga atm. I like to take inspiration from classes; I like to try new things regularly.
Are you on a special diet?: I aim to be in caloric deficit of 220kcals a day for slow weight loss. I eat a balanced moderate diet with all food allowed (but don't drink many drinks that aren't water/tea/coffee).
What are you looking for in a [fitness] friend?:
I like being friends with people who are serious about getting into shape. I like encouraging people who are new to fitness. I'd be keen on being friends with people on dailymile and myfitnesspal as well as on LJ.
How long have you been working out?: Consistently for 3.5 years. Before that I did regular cycling as transportation and that was about it.
Source: NEW YEARS WORKING OUT FRIENDING MEME!
Find more people that work out and can help motivate you to do the same!
Additional questions:
How do you get yourself to exercise regularly?
I use what I call 'presentology'. Though I have a rough idea what exercise I want to do from week to week, I find that if I focus on what I can do RIGHT NOW (or after 'work', this lunchtime - very short-term future times) then I will go out and do it. Just do it. If I think to myself that I have to weight train three times a week for the rest of my life I get stuck and feel I can't do just one training session. If I focus on just doing it today/NOW, I am not scared about having to do it forever.
Modify your goal Sometimes I sit in my living room thinking 'I ought to go for a run'. I get myself worked up about all the things I think I ought to do. I say 'STOP' or clap my hands three times. Then I focus on what I can do right now. Right now I can find my running gear. Right now I can put my socks on. If I'm really stuck I tell myself that I don't have to go for a run. All I have to do is leave the flat in running gear. For swimming: all I have to do is get my bag packed, get myself to the leisure centre and get to the locker. When I get to the locker I decide I still can't face going swimming and go home, I have still succeeded in my goal to get to the locker. (I have never done this, but I give myself permission to do it).
Modify your goal time/distance Sometimes I have a goal of walking for 1 hour. This may be too ambitious a goal that day because I don't have that amount of time, or maybe I'm feeling anxious about the idea of walking for a whole hour. Can I walk for five minutes/round the block? Yes I can! So I do this. Maybe I walk for 15 minutes. Sometimes setting out to walk for 5 minutes means that I walk for an hour (if time allows), but quite often I end up going for a short walk and that is good enough.
Some is better than none. If I want to go out for a jog/walk session of 20 minutes but I don't have the time to do that, I instead do a 10 minute session. If I had a full-time job I would have the time to do 3 x 10 minute sessions a week and 1 or 2 longer sessions a week. I could even do two 10 minute sessions in a day and have time to do busy work stuff. Sometimes I wear my running shoes when I go on medium-long walks, and do a small amount of running within that walk.
Do you have a training plan? How firmly do you stick to it?
At the moment I don't have a training plan, but I do have general aims. My aim is to exercise every day, with at least 1 day a week my exercise being light. I find it easier to keep momentum going if I exercise every day. When I am in training for a marathon, I am quite loose about sticking to the training plan. I make sure I do the big training run once a week (health allowing), and try to do most of the smaller runs. If I have to skip the big training run one week, I talk to doubtfulace the experienced marathon runner (whose ideas on training I trust).
What do you do if you have a break from exercising? (Planned or unplanned.) If I miss a day or more of exercise, I use presentology to focus on what I can do today rather than what I ought to have done yesterday.
Name (or what you go by): Nye
Age: 36
Gender: M
Location: London, UK
Internet:
MyFitnessPal?: nye75
Dailymile?: nyecamden
Twitter?: nyecamden
Questions:
What are your goals?: Lose 14-28 pounds for my next marathon in May, improve my time by 1 hour (should be doable - previous one was 7 hours!)
Weight loss so far: 70 pounds in 5 years. (40 of which was done in 1 year).
Do you lift weights?: I do a mixture of bodyweight exercises/calisthenics and weight training in the endurance range.
Do you do cardio?: Cardio is my main thing atm, though I often find it boring. Before my focus was on training for marathons, my focus was more on weight training.
Do you take classes?: Mostly yoga atm. I like to take inspiration from classes; I like to try new things regularly.
Are you on a special diet?: I aim to be in caloric deficit of 220kcals a day for slow weight loss. I eat a balanced moderate diet with all food allowed (but don't drink many drinks that aren't water/tea/coffee).
What are you looking for in a [fitness] friend?:
I like being friends with people who are serious about getting into shape. I like encouraging people who are new to fitness. I'd be keen on being friends with people on dailymile and myfitnesspal as well as on LJ.
How long have you been working out?: Consistently for 3.5 years. Before that I did regular cycling as transportation and that was about it.
Source: NEW YEARS WORKING OUT FRIENDING MEME!
Find more people that work out and can help motivate you to do the same!
Additional questions:
How do you get yourself to exercise regularly?
I use what I call 'presentology'. Though I have a rough idea what exercise I want to do from week to week, I find that if I focus on what I can do RIGHT NOW (or after 'work', this lunchtime - very short-term future times) then I will go out and do it. Just do it. If I think to myself that I have to weight train three times a week for the rest of my life I get stuck and feel I can't do just one training session. If I focus on just doing it today/NOW, I am not scared about having to do it forever.
Modify your goal Sometimes I sit in my living room thinking 'I ought to go for a run'. I get myself worked up about all the things I think I ought to do. I say 'STOP' or clap my hands three times. Then I focus on what I can do right now. Right now I can find my running gear. Right now I can put my socks on. If I'm really stuck I tell myself that I don't have to go for a run. All I have to do is leave the flat in running gear. For swimming: all I have to do is get my bag packed, get myself to the leisure centre and get to the locker. When I get to the locker I decide I still can't face going swimming and go home, I have still succeeded in my goal to get to the locker. (I have never done this, but I give myself permission to do it).
Modify your goal time/distance Sometimes I have a goal of walking for 1 hour. This may be too ambitious a goal that day because I don't have that amount of time, or maybe I'm feeling anxious about the idea of walking for a whole hour. Can I walk for five minutes/round the block? Yes I can! So I do this. Maybe I walk for 15 minutes. Sometimes setting out to walk for 5 minutes means that I walk for an hour (if time allows), but quite often I end up going for a short walk and that is good enough.
Some is better than none. If I want to go out for a jog/walk session of 20 minutes but I don't have the time to do that, I instead do a 10 minute session. If I had a full-time job I would have the time to do 3 x 10 minute sessions a week and 1 or 2 longer sessions a week. I could even do two 10 minute sessions in a day and have time to do busy work stuff. Sometimes I wear my running shoes when I go on medium-long walks, and do a small amount of running within that walk.
Do you have a training plan? How firmly do you stick to it?
At the moment I don't have a training plan, but I do have general aims. My aim is to exercise every day, with at least 1 day a week my exercise being light. I find it easier to keep momentum going if I exercise every day. When I am in training for a marathon, I am quite loose about sticking to the training plan. I make sure I do the big training run once a week (health allowing), and try to do most of the smaller runs. If I have to skip the big training run one week, I talk to doubtfulace the experienced marathon runner (whose ideas on training I trust).
What do you do if you have a break from exercising? (Planned or unplanned.) If I miss a day or more of exercise, I use presentology to focus on what I can do today rather than what I ought to have done yesterday.