Maigs

Holy crap, that is an awesome update! So much winning! I need to re-implement the daily to-do list

Following along of course! This is a big win! Cheers to you for speaking up instead of letting the anxiety built, and cheers to Hubs for having a solution so no anxiety was needed at all!

Good to see you back! Here to cheer you on

I only bothered with a set because I wanted to replace the one I got with a knot in it and they all come in sets. I'll play around and see how I feel about the different bands Thanks! I'm slightly baffled by the weight loss success since I felt like I was way over goal a lot. But I'll take it!

Thanks! Now I just need to lose another few pounds to get back under 200 *le sigh*

Starting weight: 212.4 6/21: 208.6 6/28: 205.6 7/5: 206.6 7/12: 205.0 7/19: ??? 7/26: 202.2 Weekly loss: ??? Total loss: 10.2 Might have been a bit of a fluke as I was not on track this last week while we were working on a house project. Plus this morning was a bit higher. Tonight we're celebrating getting our part of the project done (contractor is coming out the rest of the week to do his part) by going out to dinner and a movie. We're going to a sushi/hibachi grill and I always over order and end up stuffing myself silly, but hopefully this time I remember how many maki rolls is too much and order one less And I have chocolate covered peanuts for the movie and we always get junior popcorns (our theaters gives them out for free on Tuesdays) and usually a soda. But then I'm planning on being back on track so fingers crossed next week isn't a gain

Challenge Wrap up Overall I think I'd call it a successful challenge. I had some mentally down days, but pushed through okay. Having the in-laws out put me further off track than my headspace. Fitness - I'm back in the habit of going to kickboxing (and I got a new, hopefully not glitchy heartrate monitor). I pivoted away from lifting on purpose, but will bring it back in next challenge. I started going to PT for my hip and have done much better at rehab now that I have good direction. Nutrition - I wasn't great on the daily restriction, but I must have done okay as a weekly average based on my weight. Leaving out soda went okay and even though I had it as a (reasonable) treat the last two days I realize it was not as much of a treat as I wanted. I have 100% stuck to my goal of reducing energy drinks. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to reduce it further next challenge or not. House - Much progress made. Much more to do but that's what I signed up for when we bought this place Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - 19/15 total, 5/5 weeks 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - 5/10 total. 3/5 weeks - pivoted away from this temporarily 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily - 23/27 total; 4/5 weeks - changed from 3 times a week to daily in week 3 Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - 22/35 - not great. Definitely room for improvement. However, I did lose 9.6lbs since the start of zero week so even when I was over I wasn't completely off the rails. I may change this to an average calories for the week next challenge 2. No soda. Period - 28/35 - Not terrible. Even when I did have soda it was just one. 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - 35/35 - perfect score! House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - Well call this a success. Got a ton of quotes in and agreed to most of the work that I plan on having done this year. 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - Overall hours was definitely a success. Don't feel like I made a ton of progress (besides the one day where I managed to take and post before & after pictures) but progress was made

Week 5 Wrapup Meh week. Was tired and recovering from a weekend with the in-laws. Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - 3/3 - Right on target. Less than last week, but probably for the best while I finish getting my hip back up 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - 0/2 - didn't make it in 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily - 6/7 - I did the stretches almost every night, didn't do the exercises as often Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - 2/7 - even worse than last week. No bueno 2. No soda. Period - 4/7 - Two of these were perfectly acceptable, don't remember what the third was 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - 7/7 - Still going strong House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - Removed a lot of insulation this weekend. And called the second HVAC guy to come out again sometime next week to look at a different placement I thought of for getting additional vents upstairs 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - Don't think I managed any of this, unless you count watering the baby grass

July 23-24 Friday I did a short day at work and started ripping out the ancient insulation in our attic in preparation of new and better insulation going in next week. It was not a fun process (blown in insulation held up to the underside of the eaves with something slightly more substantial than carboard, no way to take it down without making a huge mess). I made a decent dent in the project, but also learned that it was a bigger project than expected. Hubs worked until after 8pm and I knew we'd be at this project all weekend so I suggested pizza for dinner since we make 3 meals out of one jumbo pizza (and breadsticks!). I ended up a hair under 2300 calories. Not sure I'll count it for the goal since the pizza was intentional, but I didn't calculate it out until just now. Edit: Just remembers the ice cream I forgot to log, ended up around 2500 calories for the day I had to run out at one point to buy better masks and more trash bags and grabbed myself a couple Dr Peppers since I was gonna earn them with this project. I had one after I was done working for the day. I did not go to the gym for good reason. I did do my hip rehab, stretches and exercises. Today we basically spent all day until about 4pm tearing out more insulation. Luckily Hubs had the smart idea to try and buy a larger shop vac (ours is tiny and immediately clogged) and that helped immensely. Still a lot left to do, including the bigger pain in the butt areas, but we made a ton of progress. Hopefully we can finish tomorrow since I have to work full days Monday & Tuesday and we're going to see Snake Eyes Tuesday night and we have to be done by Wednesday morning when the new stuff is going in. We quit around 4 since Hubs has his weekly game night and I went to a going away party for 3 trainers that are leaving my kickboxing gym. I really debated not going since I don't have any interactions with anyone outside of the gym and I am not at all social but gave it a shot. I played yard pong (like oversized beer pong with half-sized basketballs and no beer in the tubs) which was actually fun. I see two of the other women I played with semi-regularly at the gym and all of us were similarly un-skilled And I made the winning shot! I didn't learn any of their real names though 🙄 Food was good today. Oatmeal for breakfast, a piece of pizza and a breadstick for lunch and so far just a snack for dinner. And the other Dr Pepper because I freaking earned it (though far less satisfying now that I'm getting out of the habit of drinking them). Working in long pants, long sleeves, N95 mask, and headlamp in an attic apparently makes me very un-hungry. No gym for good reason again. I did my hip stretches before going to the party and plan on doing the exercises (and maybe more stretches) before bed Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ❌❌ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ❌✔️ 2. No soda. Period - ❌❌ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ✔️✔️ 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ❌❌

Oh, and I weighed myself this morning and I am down 9lbs from the start of the challenge despite a less than stellar couple of weeks

July 21-22 Wednesday I ate okay but ended up over calories by about 200 (added up after the fact). It was supposed to be D&D night so Hubs brought home Taco Bell, but then we decided last minute to skip again since a player wasn't feeling well and Hubs & I were both still exhausted from this weekend. Because of the planned D&D and the exhaustion I took a rest day from the gym. I actually took a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon and woke up feeling like garbage. I did squeeze in some hip stretches, but didn't do the exercises. Thursday I was back on track for food. I had PT and they added some new exercises (glute bridges, single leg glute bridges, clam shells, and reverse clamshells) to strengthen the lazy glute muscle, and I felt good going in but sore leaving. They sent me home last week with a band to do the exercises with, but it's just cut from a roll and tied together so I'm considering buying a set. I went to kickboxing after and definitely felt my hip getting tight so I did extra stretches in the evening (which apparently worked because it feels fine today). I got a new heart rate monitor at the gym which I am very excited about. It's crazy how much I rely on that now to make sure I'm in an appropriate range. No progress on the house or yard, but I did some today and will be doing a crap-ton this weekend to prep for insulation going in next week. Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ❌✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ❌✔️ 2. No soda. Period - ✔️✔️ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️✔️✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ❌❌ 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ❌❌

Starting weight: 212.4 6/21: 208.6 6/28: 205.6 7/5: 206.6 7/12: 205.0 7/19: ??? Weekly loss: ??? Total loss: ??? Didn't weigh myself this week. I meant to but forgot...maybe subconsciously "forgot" since after a weekend that included our house warming party and the in-laws visiting I'm sure I'm up

Week 5 catchup so far Goals: Sunday-Tuesday Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ✔️❌✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌❌❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ❌✔️✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ❌❌❌ 2. No soda. Period - ✔️✔️❌ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️✔️✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ❌❌❌ 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ❌❌❌

Week 4 Wrapup Busy week/weekend. Not ideal goal-wise, but visits from the in-laws don't happen very often so I won't get too worked up about it as long as I can get back on track now Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - 5/3 - 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - 0/2 - didn't make it in 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily - 7/7 - Did pretty well on this and seeing a decrease in pain/discomfort and increase in flexibility Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - 3/7 - Not good. Definitely needs improvement 2. No soda. Period - 5/7 - Was fine with the first one, less fine with the second 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - 7/7, still easy peasy House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - Don't think we actually accomplished anything 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - Lots of time trimming trees, burning stuff too small for firewood, and burning really old firewood left over from two owners ago

I got behind again. The in-laws showed up Friday with 5 & 6 year old nieces and stayed through Monday morning. I get along with my in-laws and the girls are cute, but man they are a LOT. They just do not stop. We also had our house warming party Friday. It was good, Hubs has a couple of co-worker/friends who are amazing and really helped pull things together since we have no idea what we're doing throwing parties or grilling. I have not tracked food since Thursday. We went out Thursday again an I went over by ~150 calories. There may have been a day or two after that I was actually within calories, but I didn't track at all. I did my stretches every day except Sunday, though I usually forgot to do the extra exercises the PT gave me. I took Thursday and Friday off kickboxing which I really needed the break because my hip was very stiff and uncomfortable Thursday. The PT did a deep tissue massage that involved using elbows and it felt surprisingly good. I did go to kickboxing Friday and Saturday and yesterday. Saturday we spent most of the day trimming juniper trees, burning the small bits and cutting the larger limbs into future firewood. My hip was not happy after that, but doing my stretches got it loosened back up and it felt fine Sunday. Goals: Thurs-Sat Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ❌❌✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌❌❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️✔️✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ❌❌❌ 2. No soda. Period - ❌✔️✔️ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️✔️✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ❌I don't think I made any actual progress on goals last week 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ✔️ many hours Saturday

July 14 Not a super productive day. I worked a bit then relaxed around the house most of the afternoon. I did manage to nudge @Novaurorainto a workout I went to kickboxing and maybe shouldn't have since it was my seventh day in a row and I twinged my ankle/calf jump roping. The ankle was fine pretty quickly, but the calf was very tight the rest of the day. So far today it hasn't bothered me so hopefully it's okay, but I'm taking a needed rest day. While I was working out Hubs messaged me that he was gonna have to work very late so I did more lazing about until he finally left work at 8:30 and I made us a very late dinner, did my stretches, then went to bed. I didn't realize until PT today that I forgot to do the hip exercises Oh, I got a new body pillow that I had ordered based on a friend's recommendation and it's longer than my old one so it can actually be under my arm and between my feet at the same time and it is amazing! I feel like having something between my knees, but then having my ankles come together was probably not great for my hip. And this one is memory foam so hopefully it will keep it's shape longer Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ✔️ 2. No soda. Period - ✔️ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ❌not yet 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ❌not yet

July 13 I worked from home since Sis and her bf were here in the morning and I didn't want to leave before they did and then didn't want to bother with commuting after they'd left. I really like how flexible my job is. I got in a few hours of work and put the office/guest room back together. Went out to water our grass seed (in the area around the trees that used to be railroad ties and yard waste and the spot next to the shed we spent 8+ hours on a week ago) and we have baby grass growing! Not much by the trees yet so we may have to spread more seed in the fall and/or spring but progress. I made it to kickboxing again and they ended up keeping my malfunctioning heart rate monitor and are going to try and find me a decent refurb at the office, or order me a new one if they don't have a refurb. But I got in a good workout. My hip did get a bit uncomfortable, but certainly no more than normal and maybe less. As soon as I got home and showered we headed out to dinner and a movie. And I ate like garbage. Ok, not really garbage, but not to goal. We got Greek so I had a falafel pita. This restaurant includes drinks with an entre and Hubs filled me up a Dr Pepper without asking (and to be perfectly honest, I was probably gonna get one anyway, but this way I can blame Hubs). Then we went to the movies and they do free junior popcorn with each ticket on Tuesdays plus I got a bag of peanut M&M's and we shared a soda. My best guess put me at about 2700 calories for the day I almost missed my hip rehab, but squeezed it in right before bed. Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ❌ 2. No soda. Period - ❌ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ❌not yet 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ❌not yet

Based on 20 years of playing D&D: Endurance is CON, Flexibility is DEX, playing an instrument is CHA. I'd be inclined to put drawing as CHA as well, but in D&D I think it would actually be an INT (the Craft - calligraphy skill is INT) I agree with @zeroh13 that the solid baseline is more complicated. I would say a combination of DEX and STR for the examples you listed, but if you wanted to include cardiovascular health (blood pressure, resting heart rate) that would be CON *whew* something I can actually nerd about

July 12 Busy day. I didn't sleep well and ended up wide awake at about 2am. After fighting it for an hour I finally just got up and read my book in the couch until I fell back asleep there around 4am. I had enough to do at work that I could (and maybe should) have worked a full day, but I had to run to the doctor's office to get my bc shot at 1:15, then run to PT at 2:30. Not enough time between the appointments to do anything useful. I grabbed Subway for lunch then watched the kittens playing at Petsmart to waste the little extra time. At PT she did needling in my hip which was odd feeling (she put two tiny needles into the muscle, then send electric currents through them). Just now writing this I realized that I haven't noticed any discomfort in my hip all day. We'll see if that holds up through kickboxing here in a bit. I was given a couple of banded exercises to do in addition to my daily stretches. She had me stretch at the appointment, which was good because I didn't end up doing them on my own later. Afterwards I made it to kickboxing. My heartrate monitor is messing up which is annoying because I can't tell if I'm being whiney or if I'm really in the red. They're gonna try to fix it and if they can't they'll order me a new one. When I got home I finished getting the guest room ready for my sister and made dinner. They didn't get in until 10pm and we stayed up talking for a couple more hours. We're old and normally get to bed between 9-10, so that added to a poor nights sleep before, I slept like a rock last night I ended up slightly over my 1800 calorie goal, entirely because I decided that the 150 calorie mini-ice cream drumstick was absolutely worth it. I'm counting it as my higher calorie day since it was within the 2300 calories and intentionally over the 1800. I'm not sure I'll stay within 2300 today since we're going to the movies to see Black Widow Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ✔️ 2. No soda. Period - ✔️ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ❌not yet 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ❌not yet

Keep these updates coming! I started getting a little puppy crazy and my boss just brought home an adorable Bernadoodle and need reminded that puppies are work and I am not ready for that kind of additional work until at least next spring

Week 3 Wrapup Still kinda iffy mental health wise. I did better about eating on goal than last week, but still some improvement to be made. I only went lifting once, but decided to pivot that goal to hitting the challenge at kickboxing. Counting up my points it looks like I did really well. Still felt like a slump week, but apparently I powered through and stuck to my goals pretty well Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - 5/3 - felt good 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - 1/2 - Pivoted. I think I'll try to keep in one day a week, but won't push it 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily - 6/7 - changed to daily after my PT appointment and have been keeping up with that Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - 7/7 - this doesn't seem right, but that's what I put here... 2. No soda. Period - 6/7 - no regrets for the one I did have 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - 7/7, easy peasy. Thinking about lowering this to one next challenge House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - We bought new light fixtures, though they are still sitting in boxes on the table over a week later. Agreed on the quote for the built-ins 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - Spent 10 hours Sunday/Monday, plus 30 minutes cleaning up our poor peach tree Friday. Didn't do any extra yard work over the last weekend

July 10-11 I always end up behind on the weekends. Saturday was a lazy day. We dropped my tire off to get fixed first thing in the morning and picked up Taco Bell for breakfast. Then I went to kickboxing and picked my fixed tire back up afterwards. Hubs helped me put it back on the car, then we lazed around. I was feeling a little queasy (probably from Taco Bell) and didn't end up eating lunch. I did take a really long nap though, sleeping until Hubs was getting ready to head out to his Saturday D&D game. I watched a knock off Tiny House Hunters on Youtube most of the evening while talking to @Novaurora. I did get a session of stretching in and added the muscle stick roller and heating pad that I had ordered the other day. Sunday was also a lazy day. I think I read until early afternoon, then went to kickboxing, then went grocery shopping, then did some cleaning and re-arranging of the office so my sister has a place to stay when she comes through tonight. She and her SO are moving west and we are a good interval out for the first day's drive, but the table I've been using as a desk at home was blocking the murphy bed. I did my stretches & other hip rehab again. I'm definitely noticing that the hip is less tender when I use the lacrosse ball so hopefully that's a good sign. oals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ✔️✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ✔️✔️ 2. No soda. Period - ✔️✔️ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ✔️ done previously 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ✔️ done previously

Thanks. It was crappy, but in the grand scheme of these it wasn't too bad. I probably wouldn't have shed any tears if I weren't still recovering from burnout He's absolutely not a romantic gesture kind of guy, but he has always been able to step up when I need him to without me telling him what I need

Starting weight: 212.4 6/21: 208.6 6/28: 205.6 7/5: 206.6 7/12: 205.0 Weekly loss: 1.6lbs Total loss: 7.4lbs Clawed my way back to decent nutrition and had a big whoosh yesterday so I'm back on track. It still wasn't a great mental health week, but I'm pushing through. This week I have a sister stopping by on her way to move out west, we're seeing Black Widow in theaters (and most likely getting dinner), having the in-laws come out for a few days, and having a house warming party so it's gonna be iffy again

July 9 Maigs' Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day - in pictures Despite a near breakdown (I'll admit, tears were shed sitting on the lawnmower after I got the car jacked up) it wasn't a terrible day. I had the second day of training in the morning which was okay. I agreed to the quote that a carpenter gave to do some built-ins upstairs. I made it to kickboxing and had a decent workout, though my heartrate monitor wasn't working well and had me at a far lower heart rate than I could possibly have been in. I'm pretty sure I've decided to do the challenge and focus on kickboxing at the expense of lifting for a bit. Food was good, though I will be honest that being out of town saved us from going out to eat after the tire issue. I did not want to cook, but I didn't want to drive anywhere either so we ate leftovers Hubs was awesome and as soon as he got home he got out the chainsaw and took care of the tree and finished getting my tire off. I had jacked up the car and set a jackstand, but was unjustly paranoid that I'd placed them wrong and couldn't bring myself to lower the car to actually sit on the jackstand and risk the total breakdown that would have happened if I'd been wrong. Spoiler alert, I had them placed just fine, I've changed tires before and know what I'm doing. I did my stretching once. The PT prescribed twice and that would be ideal, but once is better than none. Goals Fitness 1. Kickboxing 3x/week - ✔️ 2. Weight Lifting 2x/week - ❌ 3. Hip rehab 3x/week daily- ✔️ Nutrition 1. Stay within 1800 calories each day, except for one day a week of up to 2300 calories - ✔️ 2. No soda. Period - ✔️ 3. Maximum of 2 energy drinks a day - ✔️ House 1. Make progress on at least two projects on my HUGE list each week - ✔️ done previously 2. Spend at least an hour a week working on the garden/yard - ✔️ done previously