Huntress

Ugh. The honeymoon period has worn off - I've fallen into a bit of a depressive slump and am feeling like my goals are pointless because 'nothing will ever change'. I just want to eat takeaway and lie on the couch. If anyone has some encouragement I could sure use it!!

Oh man... your food pics... when I see them all I think is 'I need to put that food in my face'! You've inspired me to take my own pics except I don't have a phone with a camera atm Anyway, good for you. It's awesome that you put in the effort to make yourself such delicious and healthy food while you're balancing study and work... AND exercise, in your case. That's not easy to do and you're totally killing it. Awesome work!

I like your goals and your ambition! Sounds like you are doing a great job with a challenge that requires a lot of tricky calorie monitoring. Nice work!

I totally get that, on all fronts. I'm actually not very into derby in a public competition sense. I think of it more as an art and a discipline... the best feeling is not delivering a big hit but rather mastering a new technique (which may or may not involve delivering a big hit!). I like learning new ways of moving and playing with physical forces... my boyfriend says similar things about his martial art. It's awesome that you get to train girls!! I guess I like it because I still think there's a lot of cultural assumptions about women and contact sports (mainly, that they don't play them). It turned out to be a good few days, challenge wise... I made two lunches this week (chicken salads, one with sweet potato and veggies and the other with chickpeas and veggies), consistent with challenge goal 2. We've cooked both nights... spicy chicken and veggies, salmon and salad. I'll make lamb cutlets with salad tonight, my partner will make paleo meatballs with sweet potato mash and veggies tomorrow. All very simple but high in veggies and protein and low in anything processed. Yesterday we went for an 1 hr walk up a hill after work... I'm quite pleased with this as it was 35 degrees celcius (95 fahrenheit) and we were puffing and panting our way to the top! So that's the exercise goal met. I feel like a zombie though... sleeping poorly now I'm back at work. Hopefully it will even out as I settle back in.

Progress against goals for today: 1. Eat - have packed my 'snack boxes' - one of fresh, refrigerated food and one of dry food - to take to work with me tomorrow. One is sitting by the door, one is in the fridge. For dinner tonight, I made roast chicken with sweet potato and a side salad... I made six serves, so I've packed two for our lunches tomorrow, with two left over for lunches or emergency dinner. R cooks us salmon and veggies tomorrow. 2. Sleep. I've followed my routine for tomorrow and have 1/2 hr to relax before I need to be in bed to meet my 10.30 pm bedtime goal. 3. Move. Not good due to that pesky headache!! I now have an hour of working out I need to do to stay on track for my exercise goals for the week. Maybe we can go climbing tomorrow or I'll combine a run with a bodyweight workout.

I love your food pictures! The omelette and salad looks so fresh and tasty and the portobello mushroom 'buns' are an inspired choice... might have to steal that idea! You're killing this challenge

Nice! That sounds like a great combo. My partner is a martial artist too (bujinkan) and he says krav maga is . I actually want to try hapkido but as you say... no time! Do you train for tae kwon do competitions or is it more learning the art for you? As for squirrels... it's funny you should say that... the first time I saw a squirrel I totally freaked out! We don't have them here. I was with some American friends who thought it was the funniest thing ever to see an adult human getting excited to see a squirrel. I'm reading a book at the moment about a guy hiking in the Ozarks... it sounds like there are some very beautiful places to see there. Congrats on kicking depression in the junk! I salute you! I'm hoping that returning to exercise will help make a positive difference too. I do take meds but I think it's time for me to make lifestyle changes and seek therapy. Thanks ladymorella, that's lovely of you to say! Thanks Levana! Likewise, you sound like you're smashing it. I agree with you about a plan. And one is coming together, slowly... My plans today were derailed by a random crippling headache which meant I spent until around 2 lying on the couch with the lights off feeling sorry for myself... I feel better now though but not really up to exercise. R very kindly stepped up to the plate and went out and bought all the ingredients for my snack box and our meals for the week! I'm giving these miso-ginger chicken thighs a go and will turn the leftovers into chicken and sweet potato salads for us to take to work.

Ok, progress report for 4-9 Jan (I was doing the challenge before I posted the thread!). I'll probably post progress updates every few days rather than every day. 1. Sleep. This has been ok. I'm in bed at 11.30 for lights of at midnight... I'm on holiday this week, hence the later bedtime. I have difficulty sleeping and at the moment it's taking me about an hour to fall asleep. Not the best but I'm not sure what I can do about it. I've started getting my morning coffee set up before I go to bed so all I have to do in the morning is dump hot water into my aeropress and drink up. It's making a big difference to my mornings! 2. Eat. This has been really good. Since the challenge started, I've eaten my own cooking for each meal on the weekdays and sent my partner off to work with pre-packed lunch for two days this week. It's all been good stuff - meatball and veggie soup, salmon and salad, green smoothies, eggs on toast, that sort of thing. We'll also cook all our weekend meals except today's brunch (smashed avocado and chilli quinoa salad at my favourite cafe... so good!), though technically that's not necessary for this challenge. I've made a meal plan for the week and a shopping list... we're going to go get it all tonight and I'll take my snack boxes in tomorrow. 3. Move. This has been pretty good. I've done about an hour of vigorous exercise and about 2-3 hrs of moderate walking, with another hour planned for a friend this afternoon... I only let myself 'count' an hour of walking toward my exercise total though, so I still have an hour to go this week. My partner and I have agreed to go indoor rockclimbing tomorrow, so that should cover off the last hour. What surprises me is how deeply not motivated I feel to do anything more than walking. I don't know if I just need to get back on the horse, or I need clearer exercise goals, but I guess the point of this gentle challenge is to get an idea of what will get me more enthused about moving again. Walking is great though... it has such emotional and mental benefits for me. just gentle walking. This week I have seen 8 ducklings, 1 feral peacock (!), 1 glorious hilltop sunset, and a few dozen kangaroos! I even found the coolest thing on a hilltop trig on one walk... someone padlocked a pull up bar to it and then carved a happy birthday message to his sweatheart on the padlock! So of course I had to have some fun swinging round on the top of a hill 4. The hike... hmm. I'm getting kind of stressed. My partner, R, has taken the lead a little on this as he can see it's overwhelming me. He thinks the second week of Feb is a feasible start date but I'm really not so convinced. If we don't go in early Feb it'll be a bit painful for him work-wise until mid-Autumn, by which time it will probably be cold and rainy, though he says he can still take leave in early Autumn. I'll meet with our third hiking buddy, my best friend, later today to see what she thinks. I'm not feeling very positive about it though R says 1) to let him come up with a plan before I say it's not possible and 2) that my depression always tells me what I really want is impossible. He's probably right on both counts All in all, I think things are going pretty well. Huntress out!

Ok, firstly, your venison curry is giving me serious food envy! Yum. Secondly, great quest and challenge. It sounds like you know what you want and you're not afraid to put in the hard yards to get there. Your goals are impressive and it sounds like you're making great progress towards achieving them! I look forward to following along as you smash it over the next few weeks. I resonated a lot with a few of the things you put in your original post... when you talk about succumbing to work stress and feeling like your body didn't 'deserve' healthy food, I've definitely been there. Also, feeling like your body is yearning to awake, become stronger and more active... I feel like that too. Study anxiety... ugh... I don't even want to think about undergrad! I admire you for studying around work. It's not easy.

Ok, firstly, your venison curry is giving me serious food envy! Yum. Secondly, great quest and challenge. It sounds like you know what you want and you're not afraid to put in the hard yards to get there. Your goals are impressive and it sounds like you're making great progress towards achieving them! I look forward to following along as you smash it over the next few weeks. I resonated a lot with a few of the things you put in your original post... when you talk about succumbing to work stress and feeling like your body didn't 'deserve' healthy food, I've definitely been there. Also, feeling like your body is yearning to awake, become stronger and more active... I feel like that too. Study anxiety... ugh... I don't even want to think about undergrad! I admire you for studying around work. It's not easy.

Thanks for your kind words everyone! LetItRain and Kyalii, the hiking trip is about 10 years in the making. I've wanted to do something like this for as long as I can remember, and it's only now that I'm in a physical and financial place where it's feasible for me. Maybe in a challenge to come you'll be telling me about the ones you have planned! Hmm, well, I don't follow any particular diet, so paleo people might not eat some of this. Also, I know not everyone has access to a fridge at work. But my list is: Spreads that keep out of the fridge - peanut or almond butter, vegemite (I'm an Aussie if you can't tell!). Crackers to go with them.Fruit/veg that keeps well in the fridge - apples, baby carrots, baby cucumber, tomatoes.Refrigerated spreads - hummus or ricotta. Sweet treats - dried fruit, dark chocolate, honey. Not the best, but I'd rather comfort eat a few squares of chocolate and dried pineapple than what I was eating last year... which was chocolate bars like snickers etc. Emergency protein - tinned tuna.Hope that helps! Believe me I struggle with taking it slow too! This challenge is an attempt to do that. Already I'm feeling guilty about not setting myself more difficult goals. Stupid brain. I'm sorry to hear that you too have to wrestle with these demons, but at the same time it's nice to know there are others in similar situations taking on this challenge. Re: roller derby, basically I wanted to do something crazy to prove to myself I hadn't become a total slave to my job, and my local league happened to be running a freshmeat program. I think there are as many reasons to play derby as there are roller girls... I can think of a stay-at-home mother of three special needs kids who comes to derby for some 'downtime'! The hits aren't too bad in and of themselves, tbh, except for the really big ones. It's the falls that are scary to me, since that's when most injuries seem to occur. What's your martial art, btw? I think that's a really cool thing to be doing.

Thanks for your kind words Levana! It sounds like we're in similar places. I'm sorry to hear you have to battle depression and its potato-ifying effects, too. Likewise, it sounds like you're taking an awesome step by taking this challenge! I'll be following you too and cheering As a quick update, today I have: - Made my list of foods for my snack boxes for work. - Gone for a 1/2 hr walk with my partner where we discussed options for our hike and other trip. - Ate food that I cooked/made... leftover meatball and veggie soup, beef and veggie stir fry, green smoothies, etc. Yesterday I went for a pretty strenuous walk up a hill for an hour (so steep. very steps. much burning. ow), so that was good. Tomorrow I'll make a meal plan for next week, including snack boxes, and buy everything... by which I mean treat myself and arrange to have the groceries delivered

Hey all! I'm Huntress. I used to hang around these parts back in 2013, when I was lifting, obstacle racing and eating clean. Since that time, I fell out of lifting, into indoor rockclimbing, into roller derby and most recently... into being a couch potato. If I look at my old progress pics, I've pretty much gone back to square one. I'm here again to turn that around. And although slimming down is nice - I can't deny it - it's not my primary motivation. What motivates me is my desire to have a body that can do cool stuff, whether that's a heavy deadlift or delivering an epic roller derby hit. Since I'm no longer a newbie to the world of fitness or mindful eating, you'd think I'd just jump straight back into it by busting out some kettlebell swings and downing a kale-chia-kombucha smoothie, right? Well... I'd like to, but I have these crappy chronic diseases called depression and anxiety, and they've been raining on my parade pretty hard these last few months. So I need to take it slow, and focus on sustainable change that won't overwhelm me or give me panic attacks. Main quest: At the moment, my main big goal is to do a four-day hike in south-east Tasmania with my partner, as a 30th birthday gift to myself... I turn 30 in February, a few days after this challenge ends. I've come to the bitter realisation I need to shape up a bit to do that, but I still plan to do the hike before the end of April. Lifestyle quests: sleep, move, eat 1. Sleep My sleeping habits are awful. Improving them will improve my mental health as well as lay a foundation for good choices throughout the day. On weeknights (Sun-Thurs), in bed by 10.30, for lights out at 11. On weekends (Fri-Sat), lights out at midnight, unless I'm out partying, which happens only rarely.No computer while I'm in bed before sleep. All I can do with my computer is put it beside my bed and play online lectures until it's time for lights out, as this helps me sleep. On weeknights, before going to bed, follow this routine. 2. Eat This is where I'd like to see the biggest change during the challenge. I've been eating tons of crap at the moment. Now I'm on holidays I'm eating pretty well but the challenge will be keeping it up when I go back to work next week. Week one: plan two healthy snack boxes for work: one of snacks for under my desk, one of fresh fruit and veg for the fridge. Buy ingredients for snack boxes, take into work over the weekend and get set up for the week. Bring in lunch at least 2 days. Home-cooked meals (either me or partner) 5 nights per week. Week two: Keep snack boxes topped up. Bring lunch at least 3 days. Home-cooked meals 5 nights per week.Week three: Keep snack boxes topped up. Bring lunch at least 4 days. Home-cooked meals 5 nights per week.Week four: Keep snack boxes topped up. Bring lunch at least 5 days. Home-cooked meals 5 nights per week.3. Move I'm really not sure what to do with this one so I'll keep it simple. 3 hours of physical exercise a week. 2 hours of this needs to be vigorous exercise (running, walking up a steep hill at a decent page, rollerskating fitness, etc). 1 hour can be walking at a relaxed pace. Side quest: the big adventure/s I need to bed this down a bit more, but my partner and I are settling what we'll do for my 30th (it involves being... not where I am, and that's as far as we've gotten. Cripes!), and when we'll do our big hike. My side quest will involve: Settling on dates.Making hotel and flight bookings for my 30th weekend.Revising my leave so I can do the hike later (my work is flexible about these things).Costing and budgeting.Anyway, I think that's it for now Huntress out.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, that's invaluable feedback. I'd heard rumours about what you're talking about but wondered if it was really true - and it seems that it is! That's so crazy. I cannot even imagine doing a workout like what you are talking about. And I don't see the point in doing things faster just because! Better to do it well and do it slowly. I am 100% not up for injuring myself or puking after a workout. I work out to feel better and enjoy myself, not to damage my body or make myself sick. I am also not competitive. I train so I can be a better version of myself, not so I can be better than anyone else. Actually I have puked during a workout and kept going... unfortunately anaerobic training, even when I am not pushing myself all that hard, seems to trigger a nausea reaction in me which can lead to not pretty results I usually sit down for a bit and then get back up and give it another go. But I don't feel like I'm puking from exertion, more just cos my body doesn't like the sensation of HIIT. But anyway. I think what I'm going to is be straight up and ask the gym owners what their attitude is toward form and injury and competition and puking and whatnot is. If I get the vibe that it's one of a place like what you are talking about I'll give up on my oly lifting dreams until I move to a bigger city. If they seem to have good attitudes then I'll give it a go.

Hey Rebels I've been thinking about where I want to train when I get my full driver's licence and can work out wherever I choose. One of the options I am considering is Crossfit, as I'm interested in Olympic-style weightlifting and the only places that teach it in my city are Crossfit gyms. However, Crossfit has a pretty polarising reputation - for some it's a religion, for others a cult. I'd like to know the opinion of rebels, especially rebels with lifting experience. Do you crossfit? What do you think of crossfit? What I am really interested in is Crossfit's training style and how safe/effective it is. The training I am familiar with is powerlifting style where you mostly do heavier weights for fewer reps and the focus is on how good your form is not how fast you lift the weight. And it's better to do, say, one full pull up then 20 kipping ones like they do in crossfit. I'm a little freaked out by the idea of doing power snatches or deadlifts for time, especially with the kind of weight Crossfit seems to recommend. Is that safe? Is that even good for you? This is the specific crossfit gym I was looking at if anyone wants to take a look for me and tell me what they think - http://crossfit2600.com.au/category/workout-otd/ - thanks everyone!

Thanks Lullaby! Yep, the slow cooker is a great idea, will definitely be using it to my advantage. It will be exciting to try some new recipes and find what works for me. At the moment I'm really liking the idea of a home-made pulled pork (without any nasties) which I could us throughout the week for salads or sandwiches. This week is going ok ish... I've made dinner for myself every night this week (salad with salmon and brown rice twice, scrambled eggs with veggies on the side once, and now a salmon, sweet potato and broccoli salad with pepitas and edamame which will also become lunch tomorrow... don't usually eat this much salmon but it's just worked out that way lol!). Sleep goals going quite badly so I really need to work on that. Exercise goals going ok, managed to get in a 5k walk with friends on Wednesday night, plans for climbing a mountain with another on Sunday, so just need to get in a weights session on my own on Saturday and I'll be sweet

Hellooo... I'm sneaking back in, shamefacedly, for my third attempt at a Nerd Fitness level 1 challenge. What happened to the first challenge? Depression. What happened to the second challenge? Depression, followed by pneumonia. Good times! I might not be sucessful, but I am determined not to quit... I'll come back and edit this post more but I just want to put in a skeleton for now to get the ball rolling and make sure I start with everyone else. So, goals. 1. Sleep Lights off by 10.30pm Sunday-Thursday - 0.5 points per day.Leave for work by 8.30 every morning - 0.5 points per day. 2. Move At least 3 dedicated hours of exercise per week. Must be at a brisk walk pace or higher. At least 1 hour to be weights.Bonus points for additional hours.1.5 points for activities beyond the 3 hours which are social in nature i.e. rockclimbing with boyfriend, trampolining or bushwalking or workouts with friends. This is to provide an incentive for me to build activity into my social calendar. Investigate my closest Crossfit gym...Sign up for roller derby 10 week course to start in 3 November! 3. Eat Build own 'cookbook' of sub-15 minute healthy meals so I can get back in the habit of cooking tasty healthy good for myself (weeks 1-2 of challenge).Build and maintain freezer stockpile of healthy meals that can be made directly from freezer or pantry (frozen veggies for stirfries, frozen salmon for roasting, edamame for snacking etc). (Weeks 3-6 of challenge).Weekly grocery shop to ensure I've always got food in the pantry so I'm not as tempted to get takeout. (Every week)Bring lunches to work OR bring salad obtained at super healthy paleo cafe on the way in.More home cooked dinners... hmm... need to think about a measurable goal for this one as I still want to enjoy meals out. Any ideas? 4. Repeat!!! Most things I'll start immediately, but a couple of things I'll phase in. Bringing lunch - week 1, 1 day. week 2-3, 2 days. week 4-5, 3 days. week 6, 4 days.Dinner - still working on it! Time to crash, but I'll be back to put in a proper post, point scoring system and more thought out goals soon

I like this comment in a big way. The other thing I noticed is that they were constantly going on about how she was 'only' 5'1 or whatever it was. I watch Japanese Ninja Warrior and a lot of the top competitors are small, lightweight dudes (around 5-5'3). Personally I think the Japanese competition is way tougher than the American and the Japanese competitors don't seem to struggle because they're short.

Aawwwwwwesome! Took me a while to work out how to deadlift off the floor too and I well remember how good it felt when I finally got there! Congrats and here's to many more full deadlifts to come.

I think it's great! I love Ninja Warrior - the original Japanese show - and it was great to see it getting so much PR. A lot of people think women aren't capable of demonstrating that much upper body strength and she really smashed those prejudices. Only one woman has completed the first stage in Japan and I'd really love it if Catanzaro could top that. I don't know anyone who thought what she did was easy though, that would make me pretty mad, although I imagine they could be quite easily put in their place... by getting them to attempt the course!

I take an SSRI (Lexapro) for depression and anxiety. It's definitely made a massive difference in my life and I regard choosing to take it as one of the best decisions I've made for my health. I'm not sure it's helped with my motivation as I made most of my fitness gains while I was really, really depressed before taking it - it was the one thing that brought me happiness and - but in making my rough patches less debilitating it's made it easier to keep things up. However! A lack of motivation, apathy and feeling like everything is too hard are all pretty common symptoms of depression. Could be that in helping with your depression, your meds have made it easier to develop a desire to do new things and give them a go. And that's fantastic! I really hope they keep working out for you.

Nah, it's everything. Even stuff that is strength based requires your lungs to work hard for you. At the moment, even just doing my mobility stretches leaves me breathing like I've just done a set of squats, so I can't see myself muscling up a climbing wall. Boooo. MalleusMalificarium, the advice to focus on diet is good. I'm gonna have to think my usual strategy because I'm a pretty passionate cook but I don't have the energy in me to make what I usually do. Hopefully I'll be able to think of some simple stuff I can make that is healthy and still tasty. Stretching I'm gonna give a go again in a few days. I am improving - last week I needed to take rest breaks when I did laundry or made food, and now it ain't no thang - so hopefully as I keep getting better I can add more stuff like that back in.

I ran a 10k obstacle course in a rainbow leotard, hot pink leggings and matching hot pink and lime green wristwarmers. It was a classy affair.

Hey rebels, I've just finally got the better of a nasty bout of pneumonia that has had me on my back for the past three weeks. I went and saw my doctor today, and she said that although I'm recovering, I'm still very weak and it will be another 3-4 weeks until my lung capacity returns to normal and I can return to exercise. I know she's right - it's kind of hard to ignore when I get breathless from just taking out the trash - but I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to the idea of having to swear off exercise for a month. When I feel bad, I go for a walk or drag my boyfriend indoor rockclimbing or do a weights session. I'm reading about so many amazing athletic achievements (anyone seen Kacy Catanzaro on American Ninja Warrior?!) and in my head I'm so ready to go out and do a million pull ups but I seriously can't even walk around the block without getting dizzy and needing to lie down. Does anyone have any tips on staying positive and motivated when you recover from an illness? I don't want to lose the energy and desire I have to work out and stay healthy but at the same time thinking about how much I want to exercise is driving me crazy because I'm always thinking about stuff I can't do yet. My brain also plays weird tricks on me and tells me that because I can't exercise now I'll never be able to exercise and be fit again. Like, for some reason I am convinced today that I'll never be able to fix my lower back issues and thus will never be able to deadlift heavy, which makes absolutely no sense, but stupid brain, all these thoughts are going through my head. I think that part of it is also that just before I got sick I slipped into some really self destructive patterns of bad eating and inactivity. Being so sick actually made me realise how much I appreciate that I've been given a body that can do awesome stuff and I want to make the most of it and respect it by eating right and exercising. Grateful for and all advice and stories of recovery from illness - thanks

Depends on your definition of 'family' and 'work out', but my boyfriend (who I think of as family) and I go indoor rockclimbing together once a week or so. I think it has benefits beyond just the exercise side of things because it means we work as a team, build trust through safely belaying each other, support and encourage each other. The biggest tips I would have are COMMUNICATE and respect where the other family member is at in their fitness journey. I am not a very good climber, and I'm afraid of heights. My boyfriend on the other hand has more climbing experience and skill, but a lower fitness level than me, so he tires a lot faster. We put a bit of work into showing the other respect for their abilities and support for the things they need to work on. We also tailor our climbs to ensure we're equally challenged - he suggested I climb twice for every time he climbs, which ensures we're both tired and sore by the end of a climbing session!