Recharging My Life

[GillyNomad]

I'm in a bit of a weird place at the moment. 

 

In December I promised myself that 2015 would be different. I would look after myself both mentally and physically. I've not done too badly but I'm in a bit of a slump at the moment. 

 

I have taken part in the two 6 week challenges for this year so far and feel that maybe that is not the way I should focus my efforts in terms of how I challenge myself. 

 

I've noticed a pattern in the year and half I've been doing challenges...I never really make it past the third or fourth week. And it has taken till now to realise that maybe I should focus more on using a battle log than creating challenges. I have a list of goals I want to achieve this year, but they don't necessarily fit into 6 week stints and I think that prevents me from putting it down as a goal and actually starting to level up. 

 

I said I was in a bit of a slump at the moment. I've been feeling just generally run down over the past couple of weeks even though I get the correct amount of sleep and there's nothing major going on at work at the moment.

 

So I've started taking some vitamins (as I hate fruit and only eat veggies in certain meals) and I've noticed a slight difference already. I feel less sleepy all the time, and more focused when I'm at work.

 

The main habit I'm trying to work on at the moment, is meditating. I've read a lot that tells me it's a good way to relax your mind, and I think feeling tired all the time could have something to do with all the chaos in my head, not just those that are work related. Only completed two days in a row at the moment but I'm liking the quiet time it gives me. 

 

I'm sick of feeling sorry for myself lately and posting this is the first step for picking myself up and recharging my batteries...again.  

 

 

[GillyNomad]

2015 Completed Goals

 

LIFE

 

 

- 

 

FITNESS

 

- Run 10 minutes without stopping - Completed Wednesday 15th April 2015

 

2015 Goals

 

LIFE

 

- Finish writing a Novel

- Get Promoted

- Save a deposit for a Flat

- Learn German

 

FITNESS

 

- Complete a pull up

- Complete 20 push ups in a row

- Complete 5 Dips

- 30 second wall handstand

- 30 second freestanding Handstand

- Run 10 minutes without stopping

- Run 20 minutes without stopping

- Run under 30 minute 5k

[GillyNomad]

so it's been the fourth day I have woken up at 5.30am (a new idea for my daily routine) and I actually quite like it. I am not nearly as tired as I expected to be at work or when I get home. Although, as mentioned above, I am feeling tired and rundown it is not because of my change in routine. I've been feeling like that for weeks. I haven't noticed any additional tiredness with the new routine. 

 

The time in the morning gives me a quieter and calmer pace. I'm not rushing around like a lunatic. I'm hoping to incorporate some small exercises or short HIIT workouts in the hour before I get ready for work. I've seen loads of women on the NFA facebook have success with morning workouts. Especially as this would give me the freedom to stay later at work if required. 

 

I'm using habitrpg to help with making sure I complete small habits and it's a fun way to keep me motivated. I've been using it for about 1 month consistently and have noticed the effect it is having is positive. 

[GillyNomad]

been a busy couple of days...loads of deadlines at work but the majority are now out of the way, so hopefully things will calm down a little over the next couple of weeks. 

 

I've still not exercised in over a week and a half. The motivation is not there but I am going to use the easter weekend to do a HIIT session. 

[GillyNomad]

Today was my birthday and it's been a good day. I ate more than I should have (first bit of ice cream in months) but I didn't feel bad about doing it. Today I didn't want to worry about what I ate or did, I just wanted to have a relaxing day. 

 

I've decided I need to join a gym. Since August I've been working out at home and I'm at the point now where I think I need to be in a place where everyone is working out. So tomorrow, me and my dad are scoping out one of the 24/7 gyms in my city.

 

During the week I should be able to get there for about 6:45 giving me an 1hr and 15 before I normally get into work. (I would get there earlier but the first train to the city isn't until 5:56am). It's incredibly close to work too! It's relatively cheap ad contract free so I can cancel at any point. 

[GillyNomad]

Joined the gym yesterday! Went and had a look around and it seemed really nice. 

 

There's a huge free weights section (including dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells) so I now have a place to maybe work on barbell squats! this section is due to get bigger too in May. They also have a TRX station, which is cool. 

 

It's now 5:35am and I'm just getting ready to grab the first train of the day into the city to go to the gym. Unfortunately I won't know what it's really like in the mornings at my gym until Wednesday due to Easter weekend. I'm hoping it stays quite quiet (even though there is a class on from around 6:30 every day!).  

[GillyNomad]

Well todays gym session was....awesome!

 

The early start was a little hard but once I was in the gym I was fine. It was really empty (not sure if that is mainly due to Easter Saturday though)

 

4.4.15

 

Warm up:

Bike - 10 minutes - 3.55km

 

Workout:

Push Ups: 10-5-6

Sit up with 4kg med ball with twist: 12-10-10

10kg Squat: 10-10-10

10 kg Deadlift: 5-5

TRX Knee to Chest: 10-10-10

TRX Inverted Rows: 10-10-10

 

End of workout: Row - 1.14 - 264m

[GillyNomad]

So my legs are sore today...

 

But all I've wanted to do is go back to the gym!

 

I've decided to go three times a week following this routine for my workouts:

 

Monday or Tuesday: Bodyweight/TRX

 

Wednesday or Thursday: Cardio (i.e. Bike/Rowing/Treadmill)

 

Saturday: Weights

 

Saturday seems like it would be the quietest as there are no classes till 12:25 in the studio so it will be free for me to use (the actual area to use weights scares me a little at the moment as I'm such a beginner. The studio has smaller plates I can use until I get my form/strength up to scratch).

[GillyNomad]

Caught the first train into town for the gym this morning. Had a pretty decent workout. Although I have decided that I definitely don't like it if I don't use weights...all bodyweight training makes me really bored and feel like i have not accomplished much. So I'm switching Monday's to Bodyweight (push ups/pull ups) and weights. 

 

6.4.15

 

Warm Up:

Bike - 10 mins - 3.10km (I had to guess here as once my workout was finished it would not show me my results!)

 

Workout:

Low Row: 10-10-10

TRX Plank: 30-30-30

TRX One Leg Squat (Each Leg): 5-5-5

TRX Hip Raise: 10-10-10

TRX Deltoid Fly: 10

TRX Side Plank (Each Side): 15

Press Ups: 3-3-4

 

One thing i learnt today...never leave push ups till last, I suck. 

[GillyNomad]

Forgot to post Wednesday's workout also known as Cardio day:

 

8/4/15

 

Bike - 10:15mins - 3.37km - level 2 

 

Rowing Machine - 5 minutes - 965km - Resistance 6

 

Treadmill - 10 minutes - 1.16km - incline 1.5 (non-stop running for 6 minutes)

 

Plank - 35-35-35

 

______________________

 

I pretty much suck at running and so I feel it will be slow progress in that department. Also the gym was quite busy, busier than I was expecting. Next week I am hopefully going to go in on Tuesday and Thursday morning to see if it's any quieter. 

[GillyNomad]

11/4/15

 

Warm Up:

Push Ups - 10-10

Arnold Press @ 6kg - 8-5

TRX Inverted Rows - 10-8

 

Workout:

Barbell Squat @ 20kg - 8-8-8

Barbell Squat @ 30kg - 5-4

Deadlift @ 25kg - 5-5-5

Overhead Press @ 17.5kg - 5-4-4

Dumbbell Plank Row @ 5kg - 25 seconds / @6kg - 25 seconds

 

Cooldown:

Bike - 5 minutes - 1.23km

[GillyNomad]

So in my first post I mentioned about not doing well in six week challenges and therefore switching to a Battle log instead however I think the social aspect of being in a challenge is great. So I am going to set a few goals for the next six weeks but rather than have a challenge log I'll just be staying here. I'll also take part in the mini's. 

 

Challenge: April 13th till May 25th. 

 

My Life Goal: Get Promoted to Junior Consultant.

- 15 minutes a day writing FAQ for my Project

- 15 minutes, on non-gym days, VBA training

 

My Fitness Goal: Complete a pull up.

- 2.5 minute Dead Hang practice daily

- Work on TRX Assisted Pull ups at gym. 2x8, last set to failure.

 

I am on holiday from 22nd till 30th so these goals will be put on hold during that week as I will not have my work computer or a pull up bar with me. Instead I will be working on push ups and throwing myself into German culture

[GillyNomad]

So yesterday I practiced my dead hang...it killed. Didn't work on my FAQ or VBA training. Work was stressful that day and I came home just wanting to avoid everything to do with work.

 

Today has been better so will do a couple of lessons. 

[GillyNomad]

So yesterday I didn't do my VBA training or Dead Hangs...got caught up in updating my computer and so completely forgot.

 

However so far today I have been to the gym and completed half an hour of VBA training to make up for it! 

[GillyNomad]

15/4/15

 

Rowing Machine: 5 minutes - 946m - Resistance 5

 

Treadmill: 15 minutes - 1.70km - 1.06miles (12 minutes non-stop running!)

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

So today was cardio day and I actually really enjoyed it. I downloaded Zombie's run to use on the treadmill and it was amazing! For the first time in years I actually managed to run for over 10 minutes non-stop! That's another tick of my ultimate quest!

 

I had to cut the workout slightly short so I couldn't complete the mission - but will do on Saturday!

 

Will probably go to the gym on tomorrow as well to do a bodyweight/dumbbell workout. 

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

EDIT: Also completed  50 (2x25) lunges for the Assassins mini challenge Joust! 

[GillyNomad]

Work started of slow today, then picked up really quickly and became quite stressful! I actually felt deja vu when dealing with an issue - it was really weird because I even knew what a colleague was going to say before he said it!

 

Anyway - did my VBA training again at work as the morning was fairly slow and I get in a lot earlier than most. I also went for a run today so I could finish of the zombie's run mission. Ran 1.19miles or 1.92km - took about 15 minutes or something like that. So that adds another 1.19 miles to the challenge total! I'm also adding in my walk to work and gym as I can use public transport instead but choose not too. The gym walk I also consider to be part of my warm up. 

 

Also so far I have today I have completed 290 lunges for the challenge.

 

I've decided to take off dead hangs from my challenge. There is simply no motivation to do them and rather than beat myself up about it I am just going to remove the goal and work hard on the other aspects. 

 

I have not worked on the FAQ today but I did complete a user guide for another colleague/new starters to do with expenses  so I am counting that towards my challenge goal instead. 

[Mr_Willes]

For real that many lunges?!? you're killing the other houses including mine!

[GillyNomad]

For real that many lunges?!? you're killing the other houses including mine!

 

Haha...I have a system that makes me move if I'm sat down too long when I'm at home (Netflix is bad!). This challenge allows me to incorporate the movement as lunges  Added another 60 since that post! So total is now 350 for the day.

 

Forgot to add earlier I also did 2x10 push ups today.  

[Mr_Willes]

Just so you know i pushed out 100 extra lunges for our house because of you but thats enough before bedtime.

[tundralily]

You are a lunge machine, and I'm inspired by your awesome! Ours is the fury!!

 

[GillyNomad]

Today was a non-gym day but completed 180 lunges for the challenge. 

 

Also found out about a pay rise today...and it is awesome! Should be able to save up for a deposit a lot quicker!

 

Completed 15 mins of VBA training this morning too and again instead of the FAQ I worked on a user guide for an application my company uses. 

[GillyNomad]

Forgot to mention we went out for dinner to celebrate and while I only ate a main of steak and chips...my stomach is hating me for it. I ate too much food clearly!

[GillyNomad]

Gym day today!

 

18/4/15

 

Knee Push ups: 10-10-10

Lunges: 20-20@8kg-20

Assisted TRX Lunges: 10-8-8

Negative Dips: 8 (By this point my arms had kinda given up!)

 

Barbell Squat: 5-5@25kg-5@30kg-5@40kg-3@45kg

Deadlift: 5@25kg-2@40kg

Treadmill: 24:30mins - 1.65 miles (2.65km) - incline 1

 

It's around that time where my strength in my arms kinda disappeared but I refused not to do push ups for this reason so cracked on and did some knee ones. 

 

Also added on top of the gym 140 more lunges for the challenge. In addition, done a lot of walking today!

[GillyNomad]

Today has been kind of a blur...I have done god knows how many lunges and walked too many miles (I could work it out from the spreadsheet but so tired I can't be bothered!) and I am now officially knackered. 

 

my eyes are struggling to stay open for me to type this!

 

Anyway, this weekend has been a bit hectic so not completed my VBA training but I am on week 3 homework material in a week and a half so I'm ahead of the game at the moment. 

 

Can't wait for Wednesday when I make my first lonesome trip to another non-english speaking country. It's going to be scary but I think great at the same time. 

[GillyNomad]

So first thing first.
 
Berlin was AWESOME! It was an absolutely amazing experience - there are simply no words to describe it. I met some amazing people out there and made some (hopefully) lifetime friends. I came back from Berlin on a high feeling more relaxed than I've ever felt. I am so glad I took those 20 seconds of courage and booked it. It was so worth everything. Just brilliant. Below are just some of the girls I spent my time with (I'm in that group somewhere). 
 
 


So because Berlin was so incredible...I'm a little bit lost at the moment. Going back to work has been a bit of a whirlwind and I've not yet found my footing. Also I've been ill this week (actually took a day off work to recover) so the gym has been non-existent other than Monday's session.

 

I have been eating like crap since I got back and it is starting to get me down now. But feeling sorry for myself is not going to change anything. Only I can change the way I currently am. I think (especially based on Monday's gym session) I am going to sit down and plan out the next couple of weeks in terms of work, meals and gym. Try and get my head back in the game! 

 

Next post will be about the shockingly bad gym session I had on Monday. 

 

P.S My trip has meant I have crossed off several Ultimate Quest items and am now onto Level 5! Yay!