Maigs

Week 3 Day 4 Lunch walk. Tried a pseudo-fast (fruits only, would have had veggies if I had remembered to buy any) to "detox" (get water weight out of my system) but then we decided to finally watch Batman v Superman and had Chinese for dinner and popcorn (small) and soda (large, shared) at the theater. IMO the movie wasn't worth watching and I wish I had gone to the gym and lifted heavy shit instead This morning I bought veggies and will be doing my pseudo-fast again. Tonight we're going to start clearing out the dining room so we can paint in there and finally get flooring put down in there and the kitchen. Our bookshelves/game cabinet are in the dining room so that will be fun clearing those out. Would like to run again too but renovations might take priority

Week 3 Day 1 Eating was pretty good considering we had breakfast and lunch with family then drove for 10 hours, but I spent the entire day sitting down only getting 2.8k steps in Week 3 Day 2 Re-did C25k Week 3 Day 1. Shins/calves and feet held up nicely. I restarted it since I rushed through the two days of week three last time trying to test out my shoes before vacation then took 10 days off. Got 11.5k steps in today. Food was BAD. Went to Red Robin and ate 2500 calories there in addition to the hashbrown's for breakfast and two cookies between. Their sweet potato fries are amazing but horrible for you and I got a second helping. Good news is that I was not remotely hungry at dinner so I'm only at 3k calories for the day.

A tad late but - Week 1 Recap: C25k Monday Strength Training Thursday Lunch walks Monday, Tuesday & Thursday Food was kind of iffy but not horrible. I ate one of the oatmeal cream pies Friday when we headed out on vacation and it was the only one I had. I did eat a few too many wheat thins though Week 2 Recap: Over 108k steps Crap tons of walking in a very hilly city and climbing many stairs (my new fitbit doesn't track flight of stairs but hubs' recorded 259 flights even after losing a day's data when the battery died) I think food was pretty good despite being on vacation. Breakfast was a banana and bread with cream cheese the first few days and a chocolate croissant the last few. Lunch was often a magherita pizza, reasonably sized. Dinner was usually some sort of pasta dish if we even ate, we tended to be too tired to want to find food in the evenings. We shared a bag of Kinder Bueno mini's through the week and the last day I had a normal sized Bueno bar (these things are amazing). Rome has awesome water fountains all over the city so we brought our bottles with us everywhere and drank from them all week with almost no soda. Saturday wasn't as good since we were home and Mom is an awesome cook. I have some homemade cookies and Buenos to ration out for a while instead of cramming my face with delicious chocolate

Just got back from vacation last night. Rome is awesome! Here's my last 10 days in a nutshell: 4/8 - Drive 10 hours to leave pets with family. 3.1k steps 4/9 - Get to the airport at 1pm, don't get to room in Rome until 12pm the following day (with a 6 hour time difference). 6.5k steps 4/10 - Arrived in Rome. Rucked much distance to get from airport to Airbnb room with luggage then wandered around the city for a few hours. 17.2k steps 4/11 - Tour of Pompeii and climb Mt. Vesuvius. Happy that I managed to out-hike hubs since he usually does better on mountains than me. 16.9k steps 4/12 - Wander around the city in the morning then tour of Colosseum and Roman Forums. Amazing old architecture, 'nuff said 25k steps 4/13 - Capitoline Museum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain. We got lost repeatedly trying to find Trevi. After that we were so frustrated and in pain (my plantar faciitis, hubs knee that got him out of the Army) that we went back to the hotel around 2pm and played card games and let our bodies heal a bit. 17.7k steps 4/14 - Tour of Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St Peters Basilica plus three more Basilica's outside of the Vatican. 8.5 hours total so we were very happy we rested the evening before. Crazy, ostentatious buildings. We paid to go to the top of St. Peters, worth the money as long as you're not claustrophobic or afraid of heights. 17.5k steps 4/15 - Left room at 8am with luggage. Took metro to Termini station, took train to airport, took bus to international terminal, then took another bus to plane for tarmac loading. Finally back in family's state at 6:45pm. 10.5k steps 4/16 - Stayed at family's for the day to hang out and play games. 3.6k steps (108.6k steps for the week) 4/17 - Met up with more family for breakfast and lunch then drove 10 hours to get home at midnight. 2.8k steps Today I am off work and decompressing before going back tomorrow. Did grocery shopping and unpacked. Will head to the gym later today. I'll try to get some highlight pictures up later and catch up on everyone's challenge threads

Years ago I read on a thread somewhere on the forums a theory that squats are easier for some people while deadlifts are easier for others. It had something to do with the ratio of the length of the femur to the rest of the body and how leverage works. No idea how true it was but it seemed to make sense. I've heard something like that too but I'm a relatively tall, long limbed woman, I often can't buy regular jeans or sweaters because they're too short. Squats just feel like they're doing more. Maybe because my deadlifts were limited by my grip strength more than my body strength. Plus I really wasn't trained on deadlifts so I could very well be doing them wrong

Week 1 Day 4 Ummm...mulligan? Got busy at work and didn't end up having time for my walk at lunch. Took my car to get serviced before gaming so I didn't have time to run home, got Subway instead and for some reason decided I needed a footlong meal with a soda and cookies. And then they broke out the leftover Easter candy. I think I ended up 2500-3000 calorie range with less than 5k steps for the day. Today I will hopefully get my lunch walk in but it's my last day at work before vacation so we'll see how that goes. I'm working with my trainer tonight and then finishing packing and cleaning the house. We leave first thing tomorrow morning for a 10 hour car ride followed by about 10 hours of flying Saturday so those days will likely be busts. But then followed by a crapton of walking! Oh, and my new Fitbit came in yesterday! My old one was very literally coming apart. Another week and the device might have completely ripped away from the band, it's the Charge so all one piece. My new one is the Alta that has a detachable band so hopefully I won't have that problem. I'll probably superglue to Charge back together and keep in in case something happens with the Alta.

Awesome job on the PR's Tank! I maybe haven't had the right training on deadlifts, but I definitely prefer squats

Week 1 Day 3 30 minute walk at lunch. New work shoes seem to be okay, not great but hopefully will let my heel heal 11.8k steps Got 90% of the way packed for the trip Put my new keeper recipe into MFP. 500 calories, 29g of protein (despite being vegan) and 13g sugar Tonight is game night and I have to get my tires balanced after work so no exercise besides my lunch walk

I've found that a lot of loans won't let you pay bi-weekly, they have to have at least one payment every month for at least the minimum payment amount. What I do is have a separate account where every week (hubs and I are paid bi-weekly but on off weeks) I put 1/4 of the bill amount into that account, then when it's time to pay the bill I have the money set aside already. When I had a mortgage, car payment, and two student loans due in the first half of the month it could be hard to pay all of them and still eat if I didn't do that. But this evens out those big payments and makes life so much easier

Once I decide I like a recipe I put it into MFP but when experimenting it's not worth the trouble. One recipe I tried this week is a keeper but the other was a flop. Hubs specifically asked for the cream pies and has already gotten into them. I'm actually not a huge fan but will probably eat some on the drive. I need to figure out good traveling food since we make this drive several times a year.

Just looked at her site and remembered another reason I was turned off; she wants you to put on shoes! Like all the time. That's torture! Oh, I've heard but not visited that one too. Need to check that out....tomorrow since it's bedtime and I still need to stretch out my poor legs so I can walk tomorrow

I have heard of her, but haven't checked her out too much. I think I got turned off by someone saying you get daily emails when you sign up.... But I'll have to go check out the site now if I'm accidentally stealing her idea

Following this thread for continued de-cluttering motivation. Last year we downsized from a 2300sqft house with a 2 car garage to a <1000sqft house with a one car garage. I'm naturally minimalist-leaning but it's still amazing how much stuff builds up, especially when you stay in the same house for 7 years. I absolutely love my smaller house but we still need to pare down our stuff a bit. We're also remodeling the entire house so as we do each room I'm using it as an opportunity to get rid of everything that doesn't "spark joy" in the new space. I had the living room there until I was given a filing cabinet for my HOA treasurer duties and remodel stuff is starting to pile up on my desk, but now the kitchen is getting there too. Dining room is next once we get back from vacation. Once we're done with the remodel my plan is to pick a room every month to thoroughly clean/de-clutter. This would also help me keep up on things I forget about like dusting ceiling fans and tops of doorways and moving furniture to vacuum behind. Since my house is so small, picking one room a month lets me get to every room twice a year

Week 1 Day 2 (I'm counting from Sunday): 30 minute walk at lunch Week 3 Day 2 C25k Almost 13k steps Need to Will stretch before bed Got the security tag taken off my new work shoes so I can test them out tomorrow. Today was a second run in my new running shoes and so far they seem to be good. I want to get one more run in before Friday but my shins/calves might force me to make it a walk. I probably shouldn't have run today but I wanted to properly test out my shoes. My food has been a tad iffy this last week. Hard to say for sure how bad since I've been trying out new recipes and don't know the calories of them. I did horrible Saturday because of gaming (need to plan better) and have been really "snacky" lately in general but don't have proper snacks on hand. Definitely need to work on planning my snacks better when we get back from vacation. On that note I bought a BIG box of oatmeal cream pies for the trip so I foresee snacks being really bad during travel.

If my "already bike-commute" you mean "have bike-commuted a handful of times last fall and still haven't aired up the tires from winter" then yes, I bike commute Once I get back from vacation in two weeks I'll get it road ready again and next challenge will probably include a goal to bike-commute 2-3 times a week

Zero Week Recap: C25k Sunday and Wednesday Strength Training Thursday and Saturday Lunch walks three days I think Stretched Sunday and Thursday Did 5 of the 13 things on my to-do list and prepped for two others (started packing and found out who does gas line work for an oven) Got new running shoes that so far seem to work for my wonky feet This week is going to involve a lot of running around like crazy doing all the vacation prep stuff you don't think about until the last minute. I need to get the tires in my car balanced (long story but we're driving 10 hours to the airport to leave for Rome), need to buy my caffeine mixes, need to go back to the outlet mall to have the damn security tag taken off shoes I bought yesterday, have to pay my gym (it's not on autopay so I actually have to think about it), need to get the last tax return to a client, need to get background stuff for the Pathfinder campaigns on my computer so I can work on them on the plane without needed to be online. And I still want to get 2 more runs in before work Thursday so I can make sure my shoes really do work before my 7 days are up, I'm planning on working with the trainer after work Thursday (though I warned him I may have to cancel), and we're gaming Wednesday.

Nice job on the bike commute. I bought a bike last fall after ~15 years of not riding and I know how much work it can take to talk yourself into riding. I have an insanely easy commute (2.8 miles, one long but not overly steep hill, not in traffic) but it still takes a lot mental prep to do it.

Hopefully you won't have to wait too long to see those So even though I did nearly 10k steps yesterday (on my normal rest day) including Week 3 Day 1 of C25k I woke up this morning with minimal leg/foot pain! I needed to check out my replacement shoes since I get a week to return them for a full refund so I ran despite my shin splints, running on my heels instead of the balls of my feet to keep some of the pressure of my shins/calves and it worked! I was able to finish the runs, my shins feel mostly okay and my feet don't hurt much. I'm going shopping today to hopefully find shoes I can wear to work that work aggravate my plantar faciitis. Anyway, here's my total workout from yesterday: Bench machine - 50lbs x12; 52.5lbs x10, 55lbs x8 Lunges with 2x 20lbs kettlebells - 3x14 Seated row - 85lbs x12, 90lbs x10, 95lbs x8 Incline pushups on 6th peg of smith machine - 12, 10, 8 Lat Pulldown - 72.5lbs x12, 75lbs x 10, 72.5lbs x8 Squats with 2x 25lbs kettlebells - 3x10 Situps - 20, 15, 10 Assisted Chinups - 3x5 Week 3 day 1 of C25k - Jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, job 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes twice Add that to unpacking the kitchen, taking measurements, doing some packing/ordering for the trip, and playing Pathfinder I'd call it a good productive day

Finished unpacking the kitchen today, am working on packing for the trip, ordered some items for the trip (a new fitbit for me and hubs, and a pair of jeans for me), and and just generally cleaning the house. Also took measurements 4/2/16 Weight - 184 Waist - 33" Hips - 39.5" Thigh - 25" Calf - 17" Bicep - 13.5" Chest - 35"

I'm on the Depo shot, have been on it for 2 years this time, was on it for about 6 before. I LOVE IT! Not everyone reacts as well as I do to it, but I get no periods, no spotting, and none of the side effects others have (weight gain, mood swings, etc). It's good for 3 months (not one like someone said above) and you get a two week window to get it. A lot of women like IUD's. There are two versions; a hormonal one that will get rid of periods for most women and is good for 3 or 5 years, and a non-hormonal one that is good for 10 years. I had the non-hormonal for 18 months between my sessions on the shot and I didn't like it

Granted I get a fair amount of natural light, but I find that opening my blinds makes a huge difference in how my house feels. It's cave-like and makes me want to just sit around when they're shut but even without direct sun it gets a much happier feel with them open and I'm more energetic

Thanks. I've been foam rolling my calves trying to help out my plantar faciitis so I'll have to add my shins to the list. If it's more painful than the it band I'm going to have issues, that makes me want to cry when I roll it.

So I'm feeling like a bit of an idiot. My "calf issues" is probably actually shin splints. I always assumed shin splints were on the front of your shin, not the side. But after trying to stretch out my calves and massage out knots I realized it was at the bone where I hurt so I did some research. So I'm going to have to give it a few days before I try running again. I tried taking it slow, only "running" at 5.5mph but I need to slow it down some more until my legs can handle it. I'm also going to return my new shoes tonight. There just isn't quite enough room for my toes. I don't quite need wide shoes but apparently should stick to New Balance which have wider toe-boxes. Tax returns are all finalized, I just need to get copies to the clients!3 Ugh, I hate sunscreen though *poutyface* It's a guided tour to Pompeii so we probably won't have time to see Herculaneum. That does sound cool though, I'll have to keep it in mind if/when we go back

Ugh, one of these days I might learn. I ran yesterday and then didn't stretch. Today I'm wearing the same shoes I've been having issues with and went on a walk at lunch, came back and my calves were so tight I was actually limping. I almost wore my new tennis shoes to work today since I knew my boss would understand (she has knee issues) but decided against it. I really need to buy some black tennis shoes that don't bother my feet to wear to work because these just aren't cutting it anymore