alayners

I had the same question. I emailed and asked yesterday, but haven't gotten a response... If I do, I'll post it here!

Alright. This week was busy busy, and I was training at a computer 9 hours a day, so I wasn't about to get back on the computer to post on here. I did pretty badly this week, but that's sort of to be expected, and now I'm home and can get back into things. Weight loss: Still down the 2.6 lbs I lost right off the bat. I need to really focus on this goal, or I won't meet it. I'm going to. Workouts: I got 4 workouts in last week by going for a run on Sunday, and then using my lunch breaks to go for walks. I'm now like 6 workouts behind (eek). I'm about to go for a run. I need to really start doing 2 things a day, which is totally doable. No candy, ice cream, soda, or alcohol: Still going strong on this one. Hung out with a bunch of grad students this week, who really wanted me to drink, and then went to a couple bars with my friends last night... tempting, but I don't need the calories. No buying anything: This one I'm not doing well at. I went out to eat 5 times this week. Two of them were for good reasons (people I needed to meet and network with), 2 were just to be social, and last night it was because I was lazy. I would have not gone out to eat last night, but I fall into slippery slope situations a lot. I was like, well I already ate out 4 times, might as well do another. Oh well. Going to go grocery shopping today, and go back to not eating out. All in all, I expected to not meet my goals this week. I didn't, and that's fine. This week I am going to totally rock it.

This should be fun, since I'm staying at a friend of a friend's house this week. Hey, nice to meet you, can I kickbox in your living room? lol.

Goal 1: lose weight. Still hanging out at the same weight. I've been eating an average of 1,300/calories day. If I add in the workouts I should be doing, I should make some progress. Goal 2: Workout every day. I skipped a couple workouts this week, but went for a 6 mile bike ride this morning, and am going on a hike in a bit. Goal 3: No candy, no ice cream, no soda, no alcohol. Check Goal 4: No buying anything. I've been doing well on this, but a local restaurant put on Facebook they were having crepes on special today, and they looked delicious. And 3 of my friends were going there, and asked me to join, and I couldn't resist. :-( In general, this has been a really rough week, and several situations have really drained my energy and taken up a significant amount of my time. Excuses, excuses. I feel like I did fairly well considering the circumstances, and I'm gonna try to make up the workouts I missed. As I said before, I'm going to be out of town next week. I'm going grocery shopping in the morning to buy food to take with me, so I will be less tempted to eat out. While I want to complete my goal of not buying anything, I think it is more important that I meet and network with these folks, and so I'll go out to lunch/dinner/drinks as needed, and try to keep it as cheap and healthy as possible. I am going to take my bike with me, and try to bike from where I'm staying to the training location at least a couple times (4+ miles each way). Then, I can get a couple workouts in while I'm gone. I'll take my running gear as well, although it's been a very long time since I ran without my dog.

That's my plan too, I just wondered if you had anything else in mind. :-) How's your challenge going so far?

When I was shopping for my Power Blocks, I did find some good deals on Craigslist, but too far away from where I live. I ended up buying them from Dick's because they put them on sale for $100 bucks off, which made them pretty affordable. I've also bought weights from Amazon. Sometimes you can find some really good deals (less than half the price as in stores), and occasionally free shipping.

Update so far: (I started on June 1, Saturday). Goal 1: lose weight. I'm down 2.6 lbs, but that's just water weight from not eating as much junk (salt). We'll see how that changes moving forward. Goal 2: Workout every day. I went swimming on Saturday, and a walk on Sunday. These both technically fit the goal, but were kind of cheating, as well. The goal is about being active every day, though, not about necessarily doing something vigorous, so I'll count them. Yesterday, I went to a yoga class for the first time in 8 years. It was a beginner yoga class, but shockingly easy. So, I'll have to try some of the other classes to really get a good workout. Goal 3: No candy, no ice cream, no soda, no alcohol. Check. Goal 4: No buying anything. So far so good. I did have to spend some money on my dog, who got injured, but I think that's fair, and doesn't count. HOWEVER, I just realized I have to be out of town at a training from Sunday-Friday of next week. I'll be staying with a friend of a friend and meeting a lot of people who I need to network with and impress. I'm not sure how I'm going to swing this. I need to make a plan, or I know I will fail. I should be able to go for a couple runs, in the evening after training, and I'll just have to add additional workouts this week and the week after to make up the days I miss. I should be okay for breakfast. I assume people from the training will go out to lunch and dinner together a lot, and I'll be expected to go for drinks with my host and the people he'll introduce me to, which is really important, professionally. I'm not sure how to balance not being a weirdo with my goals. :-/ New goal: decide on a plan to handle next week by Thursday.

That is a great idea! Hopefully I'll make it through the challenge without doing so, but it's a good way to balance anything that I end up "needing" I did have to buy anti-biotics and epsom salt for my dog yesterday, which were unplanned, but I feel like don't count against my goal.

Love your goal number 4. I don't have a set schedule, and find it hard to get things done. Like right now, I'm reading and posting on NF, when I should be at the office. lol. I'll probably make this a goal for a future challenge. Good luck with your challenge!

The Count of Monte Cristo has been one of my favorite books since I was a teenager. Sounds like you've made some amazing progress already! As Loki said, your story was really inspiring. Good luck!

I feel you on the elevated pushups. I just last week realized that those are getting easier, and maybe it's time to either move to something closer to the ground, or to big girl pushups. Do you have a plan for working up to real pushups?

One of my goals is also to not eat out at all. It's really hard for me, because I usually eat out with friends 3-4 times a week (which is a lot). I'm cutting it out to save money. I still go with them, I just make sure I'm not hungry, so I won't be tempted to eat anything, and just have water. It's a little awkward at first, but you get used to it. Loki's suggestion to get a salad is a good idea. If you eat out when you are in the city, make sure you bring healthy snacks, so you won't be starving and tempted to break the rules. Good luck!

Great goals! How heavy of weights are you working with now? I swear by my Power Blocks. They were an investment, but I love the adjustability as I get stronger, and they were probably cheaper than buying sets of dumbbells (and take up less space).

Thanks for the ideas Calliope and qimster! I froze some Chobani (FroCho!?) and it's kinda delicious, but also kinda still junk food. Baby steps! I'll have to check out learnvest.com too.

I didn't sign up on the google doc either :-/

I REALLY should have bought a swimsuit before beginning this challenge... kinda forgot that last year's doesn't really fit anymore :-/

This seems like the best group for me! I want to survive when the zombie apocalypse (or other apocalypse) happens. It's a big motivator in my training. This is my first challenge. My goals are to workout an average of once per day, cut out junk food, and lose 11ish pounds. Just curious. You hear there's a zombie outbreak. What is the first thing you do?

I love Zombies, Run! I am physically capable of running a lot further than I mentally think I can, and I'll talk myself into stopping early. Zombies, Run! helps me stay motivated, and keeps my mind busy doing other things. lol. I hope it works for you too! Good luck!

I've thought about participating in challenges before, but never really got to it. I'm shy, and sharing my goals and progress towards them is very much against my nature. It just so happens that I had set a lot of goals for June, and was writing them down and making a plan, and realized that the challenge starts Monday, so I'll take my month goals and make then 6 week challenge goals, and participate on the Nerd Fitness forums! 10 seconds of courage (probably more like 10 minutes)! I'm looking forward to engaging with other Nerd Fitness folks. I've been reading the blog for a year or so, and sometimes I lurk in the forums. I've also been following the rebel fitness guide for a while now. Anyways.... GOALS!! Goal 1: Stop being obese. I'm pretty close. 11.2 lbs to go. I feel like this is completely doable, and if I stick with Goals 2-4, should happen. Goal 2: Workout every day. I know I won't do this. I really mean workout an average of once every day, or 45 times for the 6 week challenge plus the 2 days I'm starting early. Anything counts... bike commuting (or riding), swimming, yoga, running, the Rebel Fitness Guide workout, hiking. Goal 3: No candy, no ice cream, no soda, no alcohol. Dark chocolate is allowed, because I'm being realistic! I drink soda maybe once a month, unless it has alcohol in it, so those go hand in hand. I mostly eat ice cream because it's so hot, and I need to cool off. I'm thinking about freezing yogurt or something to fill that niche in my life... open to suggestions. Goal 4: No buying anything. Groceries, gas, and supplies to keep my car running (oil, coolant, etc.) are allowed. I can also buy my dog's heartworm preventative and vaccination, and take her to the vet. No eating out, although plain coffee and tea are allowed at coffeeshops, because sometimes I need to work from them. I was poor for a long time, and couldn't afford anything. Recently, I've been doing better financially, but have been spending a lot of money... a lot of useful purchases (clothes that fit, new running shoes, new hiking boots, backpack and helmet for bike commuting, etc.), but I need to save money, so I'm going to not buy anything for the next 6 weeks, and see how much I can save. I figure the amount I'll be able to save will really motivate me to go back to being frugal. Hopefully.

I've read that article, and have been doing some of that (but am starting to get more serious about it). I've been doing the workouts in the Rebel Fitness Guide, and am prepping for leveling up to Outsider/Outcast, and want to be able to do assisted chin-ups as part of that workout, while I keep working towards the real thing. :-) I'll definitely check those out, thanks!

I want to start working on pull-ups and chin-ups and am getting a pull-up bar. I'm looking for recommendations on what the best resistance bands for assisted pull-ups would be. I want to keep this as cheap as possible, without being so cheap that they break. I also have a mild latex allergy. So... I'm interested in what the best options are out there, even if they do include latex, but if people have latex-free suggestions, that would be awesome. Also, I'm wondering how to figure out how much resistance I need to start out with, other than guessing. Thanks!