GradSchoolVixen

As we near the week 5 midmark I thought I'd do an update. 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. This morning, at my max, I was able to do 2 miles in 22:30 sec (11:15/mile). At 6 week mark will run a 5k and see how long it take me. Currently am running a 5k in 36 minutes on the treadmill. Turns out the one I was going 11:15/mile on was actually WAY slower than that speed on other treadmills! I've worked my way back up to 11:15/miles on the "fast" treadmills, lol. 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. Am 2.5 lbs down from my starting weight from the start of the challenge. Not a great job, but I did manage to keep off the 7 lbs I lost in January, so since that new year, that equals a 9 lb loss. I'll take it 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). No soda. I am awesome. 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and reducing spending, where possible to $75/week. According to my spreadsheet, I'm averaging $105 a week. Not the best, but a start in minimizing costs compared to my earlier spending of $125/week.

Mid-Week Week 3 Update 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. My body definitely felt that week and a half off the treadmill. My fitness rule of thumb is to do the same run 3 times and then up the intensity (thanks Couch25k!). I had previously done 5.4 mph (11:15/mile pace) for 25 minutes, and I wanted to up that to 29 minutes at the same speed. After ten minutes I was DYING, but I finished 25 minutes by the skin of my teeth. Progress still necessary, but I'm really glad to be exercising again. 2.25 miles in 25 minutes (5.4 mph) 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. (I have about 50 to lose) After horrible 4 lb gain from last week, am down 2.6 lbs from that high so far this week. Good start, here's hoping I can maintain that loss (may be a lot of initial water weight drop off from going back to the gym). 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). No soda. I think I may have almost kicked the habit! 3+ weeks now w/o soda. 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and spending $75 or less a week from here on out. After last week's spending extravaganza ($125), my goal this week is to spend less than $25. So far, have only spent $6 (cafeteria lunch) but am probably going to have to do 'clean out the fridge" meals for the rest of the week of spaghetti, eggs, and the like. "Bottomless Chicken Pot Pie" was the recipe this week for home cooking. Turned out really well!

Start Week 3 Update Thank you for the encouraging words, Elastigirl! Hopefully this week will go a little better than the last. 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. No running this past week. This week, hope to increase speed and/or time on treadmill. Stay tuned for updates. 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. (I have about 50 to lose) Up 4.0 lbs from last weigh in, leaving me at a total gain/loss of +1 pound for this challenge. Must refocus on healthy choices this week and not letting stress unduely influence my eating habits. 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). No soda. Muy excellent. 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and spending $75 or less a week from here on out. Week 2 total was $127.78. MAJOR FAIL. I was mostly on track until I bought liquor on Friday night ($20) and then spent $10 at the bar. I loaded up on groceries yesterday, so I'm hoping I can make it through this week on $25 or less. Which would average out to $75 spent last week and $75 this week. Note to self: NO MORE ALCOHOL PURCHASES. It messes with my diet, finances, and depression in a baaaad way. Nada mas bebidas, self. I mean it.

Week 2 Midweek Update Have you ever jumped on a treadmill that's going too fast? And you pull something in your leg, curse yourself a fool, and keep trying to limp along? That's kind of how my week has been. I have a huge exam tomorrow and despite working my tail off for days to get caught up, but that treadmill is still churning away. I'm still behind. REALLY behind. 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. No running this week, though I did sign up for a 10k in April. My one and only gym visit was to a TurboKick class on Tuesday. 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. (I have about 50 to lose) Up 4.6 lbs from last weight in. That is really unpleasant, lol. I'm hoping at least one or two pounds of that is water weight since I've been sleeping about 4-5 hours a night. I definitely had some alcohol and junk food on Tuesday night and some bad food on Wednesday in response to being stuck at the library and stress eating. No excuses. Hoping to get back on track today. 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). No soda. Que bueno. 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and spending $75 or less a week from here on out. Bought some food from a vending machine in the library- remembered to track it. Fighting the urge to go to the grocery store and buy comfort food. Trying to finish what's in my house to the very end before purchasing more stuff. I'd like to be able to go to the grocery store once a week and get everything I need in one fell swoop instead of needing to go multiple times like I have been.

Some book recs that pop into my head right away are The End of Overeating by David Kessler (educational, with really interesting and bizarre studies to back up his facts),Sir Apropros of Nothing by Peter David (witty comedy), and Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Quest for Bodily Perfection by A. J. Jacobs (*really* funny. Not a serious book about nutrition, but you'll pick up some interesting knowledge along the way). Any recommendations on your end would be appreciated as well! I also seem to have trouble finding new books. Good luck!

Have you seen the 100 sit-up challenge? Granted, I've never seen it through to the end, but it's out there! lol Every day is a new day to healthy choices. It's never too late (for now)! Good luck! I'm excited to see your updates!

Start Week 2 Update: 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. Fastest run was 2.25 mi at 5.4 mph in 25 minutes. Longest run was 2.55 mi at 5.3 mph in 29 minutes. Good start. Progress still needed. 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. (I have about 50 to lose) Week 1: lost 3 lbs. On fire, what what. I have a Week 01 tracking chart of awesome (daily weigh ins suit my Type A personality) but I couldn't seem to embed it. Sadness. 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). No soda. Fantabulous. 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and spending $75 or less a week from here on out. Through pure coincidence, my Week 1 budget on groceries was $74.48. THIS WAS SO HARD, GUYS. No buying coffee to keep myself awake in class. Having to bring snacks instead of buying delicious overpriced cookies and granola bars. Going home at lunch to eat instead of going to the cafeteria. It'll be worth it when I have money to freaking *eat* over the summer though (stupid grad loans don't cover summer costs). Keeping the end goal in mind, lol. As always, feel free to follow me on tumblr if you like posts of fitness and fandom.

Ahaha, jump squats are the best form of evil. I've never tried hemp protein, but I'm always looking for new recipes and things to try. I'd love to follow your food/cooking updates. Your goals sound awesome. Good luck!!

Food at the office/work is the worst. Especially if your co-workers baked it, and then you're between a rock and a hard place to eat it and feel guilty, turn it down and feel guilty, or take a piece and eat half of it and not be satisfied. Not that I speak from experience or anything *cough cough* I found the best thing was just to tell everyone I was dieting (repeatedly) until they kept food away from the me "for my own good". A little condescending, but I no longer had to worry about offending my co-workers by not tasting their food. Unless you've found a more graceful way to avoid deliciousness you want to share? I also concur with everyone else that roller derby is awesome. Good luck with your challenges!

I think I totally stole the format of my challenge post from your post (It was my favorite set up) Congrats on working out and conquering the dreaded push-ups and burpees! (Our gym does 4 burpees during our cardio session and that's pretty much the extent of my burpee capabilities, lol)

I also like the body fat goal! I might steal it for the next challenge. Good luck with the no alcohol rule! I'd be greatful for any suggestions on how to be in a social situation w/o drinking- that has recently been my downfall. Socially awkward ftw.

I struggled to stay fit in college, just by itself. It must be extra hard to try to balance fitness on top of a full course load and office work too! Much respect. Good luck with your goals, they also sound awesome to me!

I'm going to try to update Thursdays and Mondays, so here we go. Midweek Week 1 Update: 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. At 6 week mark, will run a 5k and see how long it take me. The treadmills at our gym autoshut off at 30 minutes which is really nice, but also a pain. It leads to people exercising for 25 minutes, shutting off the machine, restarting, and exercising for 25 more minutes, lol. I managed to do 2.55 mi in 29 minutes (5.3 mph) which was pretty much pushing my body to its max. To hit my 30 minute goal, I'm trying to work on upping speed in 20 minute intervals and going for slower, "longer" runs of 29 minutes. Lol. 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. (I have about 50 to lose) As of this morning, down 1.5 lbs. Good start. 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). Have been bringing re-useable water bottles to school and drinking SO MUCH WATER because I'm bored in class and don't want to fall asleep. Have not yet drank soda. On track. 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and spending $75 or less a week from here on out. This has actually been my greatest contributor to weight loss. (Who knew, right?) I have an Excel spreadsheet I've set up with six tabs, one for each week. Shopping at the grocery store, I've tried to make financially more sound decisions (Buying the large 5 dollar peanut butter instead of the small 3.50 peanut butter, buying bread that's on sale two loaves for one, etc) I've also been good at planning my meals. I made a large pot of spaghetti to last me several meals yesterday. Before that, I cooked a chicken crockpot recipe which was basically carrots + mushrooms + onion + chicken + crockpot = delicious delicious food. It lasted about five meals and was relatively cheap (probably about $15 for ingredients, so $3 a meal?) I've been buying bananas to snack on (so cheap!) and a bag of apples that made me cringe at it's $5 cost but I'm damn well eating the expensive things, lol. Lastly, yogurt is an unexpected extravagance of my budget. I've already emptied the $4.50 container I bought and I'm telling myself I'll have to eat oatmeal as a snack until next week b/c oatmeal is relatively cheap and that greek yogurt is *expensive* I've decided that I'm going to use my "saved" funds of $25 a week and put that towards paying off my credit card debt. Also, my car has been making horrible sounds for 3 months, so I should probably get that looked at. Sigh.

Good luck with your goals! I definitely feel you with #4. It's rough out there.

This is also my *mumble mumble* time giving up soda. Have you seen the "real Coca Cola" bears video? It puts me off soda for at least a couple hours, lol. Good luck!!!

Woot, we can be "no soda" buddies. This is roughly, I don't know, the 10th time I've tried to give up soda. Good luck!!!! Your goals sound awesome!

That shirt is awesome, haha. Good luck!!!

Over the last 3 years I've lost 65 lbs (which is great!) but I've 50 or so to go and I've been stagnating at this weight for 8 months. Time to kick it into high gear with a little nerdy comraderie. 1. Fitness goal- Complete a 5k in 30 minutes. This morning, at my max, I was able to do 2 miles in 22:30 sec (11:15/mile). At 6 week mark will run a 5k and see how long it take me. Score: A: 30 min B: 31 min C: 32 min D: 33 min F: 34+ min 2. Fitness goal- Lose 12 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting from weigh-in tomorrow morning. A: 12 lb loss B: 10 lb loss C: 8 lb loss D: 6 lb loss F: 5 lbs or less lost 3. Nutrition goal- Not drink any form of soda (Coffee is acceptable, as I am a grad student and not a saint). Score: A: No soda, woot. B: 1 slip up C: 2 slip up D: 3 slip up F: 4+ slip ups/off the wagon 4. Life goal- Reduce money spent on groceries by keeping track of money spent week and reducing spending, where possible. I tried to reduce last year to $100/week and had difficulties with this *cringe*. My increasing poverty means I'd like to spend $75 or less a week from here on out. After some calculations, I determined that I spent $125 on groceries this week so that's the starting point. Alcohol and eating out will be included as "groceries". A: have weekly tracking of groceries and have reduced spending to 75/week by 6th week B: have weekly tracking of groceries and have reduced spending to 90/week by 6th week C: have some form of data and reduced spending to 100/week by 6th week. D/F: look at your life, look at your choices. You're broke and cant' afford this. Excited to be doing this with you all! Also, you can find me on tumblr, if anybody, you know, does that *cough cough*