Syl

I'm thinking perhaps I'm not ready for a 6 week challenge as I haven't really given a damn about paying attention to this thing in weeks. I've been doing good on drinking water (although I'm not necessarily drinking more per se). I haven't worked out in weeks, so I'm totally failing the plank and lifting weights bit. Of course, the lifting weights bit was more to do with a lack of funds to pay the gym membership (which also means I was too poor to buy things to lift around home). Then I went on vacation with the kids to visit my husband's family while he's deployed and just didn't feel like doing anything other than be constantly on the move visiting various fun attractions. So at least I got a lot of walking in. I did also participate in my first ever 8K. I did fantastically horrible as I haven't run in weeks and it was 5,000 ft higher in elevation than I'm used to doing cardio at, so that sucked! But I'm proud of the fact that I still did it and that I wasn't dead last. I used my credit cards a little bit at the beginning of the challenge because I had to with my husband deploying and needing last minute items that I had no other money for and is his responsibility to acquire as they're not issued items. So I didn't use them much (as there wasn't much available credit on them) but I did use them. On the flip side, I finally got myself enrolled in a debt management program to help get all of this stupid debt paid off sooner. I'm paying the same amount each month but the APRs have been reduced so it will take a hell of a lot less time to get them all paid off. So yeah, I guess I'll be bowing out of the next six week challenge.

So I've been failing at this challenge quite splendidly and sadly I don't even really care that much. The last time I went to the gym was Monday of last week and I stopped being sore Friday of last week. Then major life changing news happened that is going to affect my family for the next we don't know how long. I haven't been keeping up on my water (most days I've been lucky to even drink some let alone the minimum of 8 cups a day). I've already spent money on the credit cards due to the life changing news, so it was unavoidable and justified. I'm planning on getting back with the program next week once my family feels more stable and the routine can begin again. Until then though, I'm at least going to work on getting back to drinking more water and making good food choices. Can't let life get me down or in the way for too long.

So I decided to come back to my thread to see if there was anymore advice and now I just have more questions. Who wants to point me in the right direction for information about all these various grips that y'all are talking about because I have no clue what y'all just said.

I think he means more along the lines of increasing the range of motion for your sore muscles before you feel like cursing to high hell and back again rather than improving your flexibility to do something like the splits.

So life threw a curve ball at me on Wednesday and I've yet to recover from it and won't go back to a sense of normality until Wednesday of next week. That being said, I'm still going to try and work on my goals as much as I gain given the restraints.

I'm with Vintage on relishing the soreness, hell I'm currently experiencing it myself at this very moment. I had a workout on Monday (after two weeks off for various not incredibly good reasons) and I'm still sore this Wednesday, which is a planned lifting day. However, after reading this thread I know that I should be able to muscle my way through it and accept the new soreness that that workout will bring as it's different lifts I'm doing today. Don't forget about your recovery protein either (shake, bar, slab of steak, what have you).

So yeah I'm already being faced with a challenge within this six week challenge. Today is my next scheduled lift day and my body is still sore as hell from Monday's session. Granted, I know I can just take the day off for that extra day of recovery (which I really kinda think I need as my body is rebelling at the idea of doing lunges when my quads hate me) but I don't like throwing off my whole workout week like that. I guess I'll just have to see what the day brings when I get off work this afternoon. I should really buy and consume more blueberries for all of their yummy anti-inflammatory goodness. In other challenge news, I'm still doing good on my water, not spending on my credit cards and should not try to increase my plank time after doing a workout as my muscles are already well used. Haha

Yeah my wrists were way off on where they should be and how far back they should be bent. I'll definitely be switching it up next time. Thanks for all of the pictures.

So then where exactly should the bar rest? The first time I did it, it was high up on my shoulders and was more or less pushing down on the top of my spine which hurt. So then a friend suggested that I rest it across my shoulders but more on the back side instead of top side, which doesn't hurt at all, but going by your hand removal method would totally let the bar just roll and crash to the ground.

Thanks for the advice and I'll definitely have to take a better look at my wrist placement the next time I'm at the squat rack. Although I'm fairly certain that they were bent back and I will try to do better about wrapping a stiff steel bar around myself next time. Haha I can already begin to see the issue with the Smith machine from just that alone as I know for a fact that I didn't care as much about my wrist placement with that because the bar really wasn't going to go anywhere without me...

Well I was really only sick for like a couple of days and then was lazy for most of the rest of time time. >_> It's sad and there's just no excuse but that's the truth. So basically (without the ability to take a pic of myself doing this), just try to stick with only one method of doing squats and don't use the same weight for each as it's not the same thing.

Yeah the title pretty much says it all, I had an odd wrist pain in both wrists today while doing squats and I'm not sure if it's because I was using the actual squat rack versus the Smith machine or if it's because I hadn't been to the gym in two weeks (I was sick and then lazy). At my gym there are two of each station and they're pretty much busy at all times and you just get on whatever becomes available first. I used the same amount of weights on the squat rack as I did on the Smith machine last time but it just hurt like nobody's business today. I lowered the weights a little and that seemed to help some, so I guess it could just be a weight issue but I figured I'd stop by here and see what others have to say on the topic.

So day one of the 6 week challenge has so far been a success for me. I'm 8 cups of water down and done with the gym and my date with the squat rack. I noticed something odd though and I'm not sure what caused it and I'll probably go post about this somewhere else in the forums for advice. But my wrists were hurting during today's squat session. I'm not sure if it's because I was using the actual squat rack versus the Smith machine or if it's just because I haven't done a weighted squat in about two weeks (I was sick and then lazy). At my gym there are 2 squat racks and 2 Smith machines and all are pretty much in use at the same time all the time so you get on whatever becomes available first unless you just like waiting around for forever. So I used a normal squat rack today and put on the same amount of weights that I did the last time I used a Smith machine and it just hurt my wrists and I wasn't expecting that. For my last set I lowered the weights a little and it seemed to help a little bit. So any advice from you fellow rangers would be appreciated.

Well today begins my first ever 6 week challenge and I'm already 2 cups of water down and all of my credit cards are out of my wallet, even the obscure ones that I can only use at certain places that have no major credit card logo affiliation. My gym bag is packed for my 3 pm gym date and I should really hit the floor to get a starting point on that plank of mine. Well I just did it to test myself and actually made it to a minute. Haha. So I guess I'll be changing that goal to 90 seconds and just try to increase it by at least 5 seconds every week. That seems doable.

Yeah my challenge with early in the week food prep is that my husband hates leftovers, so I can't just grill up a bunch of chicken and then serve it throughout the week. So therefore I just take it a day at a time two weeks in advance when I'm buying food. Haha

Ah ok, I know that by another name that is currently escaping me. Haha Thanks for the helpful video though. It's always nice to see what it is that I'm supposed to be starting to do in a couple of weeks.

I wish I had the motivation to plan out my meals ahead of time. Instead I just look in the freezer before going shopping and figure out how many nights of dinners I need, then just buy whatever the hell I want that I think I'll actually make. I know they're expensive, but you could invest in a jogging stroller and just take your baby along with you for the run?

Ugh I totally feel your pain. Back when I first started losing weight in 2012, I mysteriously injured my knee while attempting the C25K program (I was incredibly obese at the time) and it just wasn't good for my knee. So I had to suck it up and just ride on a stationary bike so that I could still be active even though what I really wanted to do was the program. Hell I wasn't even jogging at that point (you could just forget about running), but was more 3.0 for walking and 3.5 for "running". But hooray for you in wanting to stay active somehow while recovering and good luck with the meditation.

So what's everyone up to today? The family and I are going to go watch Epic as it's probably one of the only family friendly (for young children) movies in the theater right now. It'll be the second movie this weekend as we hit up a free showing of After Earth provided by the USO here on post that had Will and Jaden Smith in attendance for a little Q&A session before the movie.

What is a clean and jerk?

Very much not fitness or even challenge related here but....PONIES!!!!! I <3 me some ponies! My whole house watches it multiple times a week. Haha

Howdy! Syl here and I'm new to the forums and this whole challenge thing so I thought I'd give it a try. I've had good success with other challenges on a different website's forums but I figured one filled with nerds would be a better time. So here we have it, my goals for my first ever 6 week challenge. 1) Drink more water - I currently am very good about getting in at least 8 cups of water a day but I've heard off and on over the last year how you should drink half your body weight in ounces of water. Well when I originally started my journey that was 19 freaking cups of water! How crazy is that?! Well I'm now down to 13 cups of water but that still sounds like a lot to me to get in on a daily basis. So I'm going to try and get in at least 10 cups a day so that I can get my body used to drowning in water. Haha 2) Hold a plank for at least 60 seconds - I know it sounds simple for some but I seem to collapse somewhere around 45 seconds. So I'd like to increase that to at least 60 seconds. 3) Lift weights 3 times a week - I've been working with the New Rules of Lifting for Women for the past few weeks but have been really slacking on getting in that third day a week of lifting simply because of the hours of child care at the gym on Fridays. But since school ends for my kiddo next week, I'm recommitting myself to making it to the gym 3 times a week for my date with the squat rack/deadlifts. 4) Stop using my credit cards and just pay on them - This one is honestly tough for me because our financial situation is just so crappy that I have to use the credit cards to pay some bills or buy food for the family because my husband's paychecks are being shorted $400 a month due to paperwork mishaps and my hours have been reduced because of twice weekly appointments that happen right in the middle of my work shift and I'm losing about $100-200 a month from that. So it's just an incredibly vicious cycle that I can't get out of credit card debt because I keep adding to it every month in order to feed my family and get gas in the car to go to work. But for the next 6 weeks I'm going to see what I can do about changing that by taking the cards out of my wallet and locking them up. Ranger Syl out

I haven't actually thought of swimming yet but that's definitely something to look in to. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yeah I'm fairly certain that it's more of a combination of the three rather than my body being comfortable being 60-70 pounds overweight still. Haha I actually happen to know for a fact that I haven't been completely honest with myself in my food logging bc om nom nom nom candy. I'm working on being better at that again. I've also been working with my calories to see if maybe a higher number (not huge) would help and I didn't really see much of any difference, just a continued bouncing on the scale. I know that I try my best to eat back my exercise calories (as I'm already eating at a deficit for weight loss) and usually wind up with a protein shake. Hell, sometimes I'll go workout just so I can have the damn shake because it tastes good. Haha It's just all highly frustrating but the important thing is that I'm not going to give up and will keep at it until I figure out what works. Because you can't level up if you stop playing.

Blah, I always feel awkward doing introductions. Hi, my name is Emilie but I've grown rather fond of the name Syl ever since my days of being absorbed into the soul sucking abyss known as World of Warcraft (I'm currently a recovering addict of the game). I'm a married mother of two that loves to read, watch Doctor Who and crochet of all things. So ever since January 1, 2012 (New Year's Day = most standard overused start date for weight loss ever haha), I've been on a weight loss journey. I stepped on the scale, saw 303 lbs and finally just said to myself, "That's enough. No more. Never again." And so it began... I started eating healthier smaller more frequent snacks/meals (eat every 3 hours as opposed to morning, noon and night), drink water out the wazoo and exercising. My best friend and I started hitting up the gym practically every day and were mainly just treadmill users. About a month in she suggested that we do the C25K program and so we did. I of course, still being morbidly obese and way out of shape was just walking and walking faster for the "run" portions (think 3.0 and 3.5). I remember sweating like crazy going at those speeds though. It would completely figure that a month into that a mysterious knee injury would happen and that I would have to take it easy on the exercise until it felt better (I still to this day don't know what the hell happened as its not like I fell down or anything). So I rode the bike for the next two months because it had less impact on my knees but still allowed me to exercise. She also suggested that we start lifting weights and so into the male dominated, sweat infused powerhouse of the weight room we ventured. Two females feeling incredibly awkward; one skinny fat and in all black, the other obese and in flamboyantly bright colors because she told herself it would make exercise more fun. Can you guess who I was? Haha Around this time we were both getting ready for major international moves (we're married to the Army and it was PCS season and therefore time to return to the United States). But even after she moved, I still kept with it. I would go on what I liked to call "boredom walks", where I would put my son in his stroller and literally just walk circles around the perimeter of the parking lot while waiting for my daughter to get out of school. I'd do this for at least 30+ minutes 5 days a week on top of still going to the gym once my husband got home. One day, on one such walk, I had a complete and total stranger come up to me and tell me what an inspiration I am and how great I look with all of my weight loss (by this point I'd lost about 40 lbs). That was mind blowing as I'd never talked to this woman before in my life and wasn't even aware that I was being watched and could motivate people without knowing it. So then we moved and visited with my husband's family for a month and I still kept with the exercising and lifting weights with the machines (because the hell if I was actually going to touch a free weigh *shudder*). Even once we finally got settled in our current home, I found the nearest fitness center and kept with it. I managed to run my first 5K last July in just under 45 minutes (I was still in the interval training portion of the C25K program and just listened to it as I completed the course). I was damn proud of my time too since I told myself before I started that I just wanted to try and finish in under 45 minutes and I did. For the next couple of months, I started running a little longer and faster while on the treadmill and things were going great. Then October rolled around and I got a job... I haven't had a job in four years at this point and so I was always so damn tired after getting off work that I didn't want to work out and therefore I didn't. The sad part is that my job is only a part time job and I was only working 4 hours a day back then. But it was just such a shock to my system to go from super lazy bones sitting on my butt all day long watching tv (when not at the gym) to actually having to stand on my feet for 4 hours straight. *Gasp* Woe is me, right? Haha I eventually got over that though and reminded myself that nothing about my body is going to change unless I make it change. So back to the fitness center I went and I got back into C25K...again. Throughout that whole first year of my journey (which I now like to think of as a fitness journey instead of just a weight loss one because I want to be fit once I'm at my goal rather than just skinny fat), I lost 80 lbs, over 35 inches and 4 pants sizes. Then at the beginning of the year, I decided to try something new. I was actually going to step out of my comfort zone and break away from the weight machines and go use the free weights instead. I bought a highly praised strength training book geared towards women and convinced myself that I could do this. It was only about a week or two later that I realized I would need an actual gym membership to accomplish this (which of course required stupid amounts of start up money) and so I waited. I finally got the membership in February and have been lifting ever since and I love it. Now my current problem though, is that I seem to be stuck. I've been bouncing around with the same 5 lbs for the last 5 months and haven't really gone anywhere in inches either. I've still been tracking my calories and exercising but nothing seems to be working and so I'm just looking for some help, advice, suggestions, what have you. I know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same results while expecting something different to happen (or something to that effect) but yet I still seem to have fallen into the trap. >_< So I ask you, fellow nerds (assuming you've made it to the bottom of this crazy long introduction), will you help me to stop being insane and to get all my numbers moving in the right direction again? Now to see if I can figure out how to toss in a picture here... Huzzah! It seems I did it right. I honestly feel a little forums challenged at sometimes but these ones seem really user friendly. So yeah, that's me through last year. Jan 2012, 303 lbs, May 2012 about 45 lbs down (and I honestly thought I looked good at that time but now I look back at it and just shudder) and Jan 2013 about 220 lbs give or take a few. From a size 24 to a 16. And there you have it friends; me in a nutshell. A very large nutshell. Or perhaps more like the Tardis where it's bigger on the inside. Because I bet you had no idea that little itty bitty link was going to lead to something so long.