Eilyd

Shun the Sugar: Seriously, only one sweet thing per day. This includes cookies, even if they're small! - sub-goal: I've become addicted to pudding. So with this challenge, I'm only allowed to make it once per week. Return of the Lifts: 3 sets of squats, deadlifts, and some kind of press 3x/week. It doesn't matter how much weight or even if a "set" means 2 reps one day or 10 reps another, I need to just do it. Early to bed, early to rise: In bed by 10:30, up by 7:00. Side Quest: There's a 5k that I want to run, but I keep forgetting to register. So I need to sign up by the end of this challenge!

Ok, I might have forgotten to post things, but I still did my goals! I don't remember exact numbers, but overall grades: 1 & 2: I didn't necessarily do 3 yogas or 4 walks per week, but I *did* do yoga or walk almost every day! I am very pleased with this. Calling it A- 3: A+ at eating fruits and veggies, somewhat less successful with sugar. Averages out to a B+. 4. A! I still got frustrated, but it helped to have a mechanic in place to interrupt my spiral of frustration. Even when I wanted to scream, I felt less helpless or out of control, because I knew that I was exercising my self-control (even when it wasn't working very well). I've also gotten pretty good at going to bed before 11 and getting up between 6 and 7, which is making it much easier to get back to work. Next challenge: squats and sugar!

TIL that sugar is a crutch. Hi, my name is Eilyd, and I'm an emotional eater.

I really appreciate this new format - 4 weeks on with only a weekend between keeps me from mentally checking out. Yoga - 1/4. Not NF, just did some sun salutations in the morning before work. Walk - 3/3. Walked a half mile each way to and from my car on Monday and Tuesday (first days back at work!) and .8 miles around the neighborhood today. Food - 3/3 on veggies (except for meals that I didn't eat, and well, that's another problem). 1/3 on sweet things. I've been indulging my sweet tooth too readily since the baby was born and now it's a hard habit to break. I found myself trying to justify that this scone didn't count as a sweet thing, because I picked it for its goes-with-tea quality rather than its sweetness, but that's basically bs and I know it.

Agreed, you sound like a warrior!

1. NF Yoga 4x/week 2. Walk 3x/week 3. Fruit or veggies with every meal and only one sugary thing per day 4. Respond to baby-based frustration by counting to 10 and breathing. (Not as quantifiable as most goals, but I need to do this.) Adorable baby tax: I got started well last challenge. Now I think I can be a bit more dedicated and challenge myself. (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!)

Neither walked nor did my third yoga for last week, but I...thought really really hard about it? Week 4: Veggies - 5/7. Yoga - 2/3 Walking - some, but not my mile. Organizing - YES Overall Challenge - 90% I ate most of my veggies, only missed one yoga, and got a lot better at walking distances. Things are getting cleaned up around here, too!

Walked on Sunday, a bit over a half mile comfortably. I think I'll be able to reach a mile next weekend.

Mindful of phone time wasting is a good place to start. I finally came to grips with how much time I was spending on it when I found my mood being significantly influenced by FB political arguments, and decided that was enough of that.

Week 3: Veggies - 5/7. We were very stressed out and didn't do a good job of eating (veggies or anything) this week. Yoga - 7/7, barely. A couple days were "Oops, didn't get to yoga, guess I'll do a sun salutation". Cleaning/Organizing - ALL the laundry. Also I attacked a pile of paperwork. Got....1/5 of the way through? It's a big pile.

I make pancakes that are semi-paleo (depending on whether you allow dairy) with cream cheese, a couple eggs, and an alternative flour to provide extra cohesion. We've actually fooled people with them; they thought they were normal pancakes.

Thursday - Ate sufficient fruits/veggies, organized baby clothes for a half hour. Hooray! Friday - I ate some figs, but that's about it in the fruit/veggie category. I did do yoga, though! Saturday - figs in the morning, carrots in the evening, so 2/3. Went on a short walk and then determined that the wind and semi-snow were not worth it.

If you exercised before and after having a baby, how long did it take you to return to your pre-pregnancy level of performance? Please include relevant variables for reference (e.g. weight gain and activity levels during pregnancy, c-section or vaginal birth, medical complications). For me I did not exercise much during pregnancy because of chiropractic issues and a big-ass baby, so I gained 45 lbs and lost all my muscle (except in my back; that one seems to have deteriorated less). I am 8 weeks postpartum with very little diastasis, so my midwife cleared me to begin exercising. However, I've discovered that going for walks is exhausting and I seem to be at absolute beginner level of yoga. I understand that my body has gone through a lot, so I'm not mad--I just want to have reasonable training expectations.

Hehe! I need to have that party again. This one was a wine and girl-stuff party, but managed to be almost as fun.

Oh those are great! I appreciate the second one's pointing out the (should have been obvious) position to strengthen the passive leg--holding it up high has been one of my biggest challenges. Another passive leg training position I heard is to start out facing a low block, and resting your passive foot on it. Then squat. It enables you to do the motion without the challenge of supporting your passive leg and also makes balance a bit easier.

*suspicious glance* Your silence makes me think you're busy with a baby. Is this why you've neglected us?

Thanks for the recommendation, CJ! Wednesday - failure to adult in any way, but I did yoga! It feels so good to move and stretch. Made sure to have fruits and veggies (even aside from the spinach artichoke dip that is mostly cheese). I woke up at 5 today with the baby, and decided to get up since I felt awake. I've at least managed to do some leave-related paperwork for my job, and ate yogurt. It seems so hard to remember to eat in the morning even though I'm not going anywhere.

Ah! This makes more sense. I like your method of working up to it -- my frustration with pistols was that I could only generally manage a couple with 70% range of motion, and so I couldn't do a lot in the way of increasing reps.

Thursday - good, ate veggies. Ended up going on a long walk with the baby to my neighbor/coworker's house. Picked up somewhat. Friday - did not do yoga because the walk was overly ambitious. Revised walking goal: get to 1 mile by the end of the challenge. Totally forgot to eat because I was getting ready for a party, but once I ate I did have veggies. But getting ready for a party meant lots of cleaning, so I made that goal. Saturday - veggies ok. Did not walk because I already did that on Thursday and also was still recovering. Cleaning goal met. Sunday - I might have eaten one veggie? Weird day with weird eating. Week 2 Monday - ate fruits/veggies but only had 2 meals. No organization, no yoga. Tuesday - peppers with dinner, apple with lunch, snacked on dates. Did sun salutations tonight to make up for yoga yesterday. Folded laundry and reorganized drawers, so definitely made that goal. Regarding cleaning system, the timer is a good idea. I will try that tomorrow. Generally it's vague because it is hard to control how much time I might have - five minutes in the baby could need me incessantly for the next 3 hours. So I just try to do anything. Glee, that's actually an Ikea paper tape measure on the cat haha. She loved to play with it until she tore it to pieces. This baby is so cute. He's laying next to me and humming!

How did the weekend go?

Maybe I missed this, but what does the height on pistols mean? Are you going up that high from a fully bent knee?

Midweek 1 update: Monday - Did yoga, ate at least one vegetable. Since I didn't have that goal nailed down yet I give it a pass. Definitely spent some time organizing. Tuesday - null on yoga, might have eaten vegetables? Put away dishes. Wednesday - Did yoga, had an apple and green beans (only ate 2 actual meals). Picked up the living room.

Yep, Eilyd Starts Over, in the Rebels (since I'm starting over from so far behind that I don't feel capable of doing ranger-y things). I'm glad to be back and following my old compatriots.