werwolf

Am I the only one who doesn't care for bacon? It's just so freakin salty.

Nutritional anthropology can be fascinating if done right. Here's hoping the author of the banana book you'll be reading is a good'un!

She's probably studying like a good girl. And well done her for doing so.

I have no clue what you guys are talking about, but I'm highly amused anyway. Glad you're going into this challenge on such a high though Clawed!

One-Word Progress Report for Day One: Mistakes! Much Wordier Progress Report for Day One: Fitness Goals: 1, 2, & 3. Cardio Day. I was planning on going to a kickboxing class that I really like, but we didn't get out of work in time. I'm almost glad because I don't know if my swimmy sleepy brain could have coped with the combinations. Being a treadmill slave suited me just fine as there wasn't must to think about. All I had to do was remember to jog for a bit every ten minutes. Diet Goal: 1. Mistake! I added chickpeas to my salad for dinner without thinking about anything other than their protein content. It wasn't until I was sitting at the table waiting on my brother's wife to stop checking her facebook from her cell phone and eat her damn dinner that I realized: NO! Garbanzo BEANS! CARBS! Balls. So my brain gets a bit of unexpected sugar tonight. I'm cross with myself though. I hate being wrong. Life Goal: 1. I did good dealing with giving up my plans and desires and doing what my brother's wife had in mind. It's "too stressful" for her to remember to pick me up from the gym, so I can't be dropped off as we drive by on the way home from work. I have to waste at least 30 minutes going all the way to the house and then driving myself back to the gym. I also completely missed that kickboxing class. But, the class will still be there another week and I can do it then. *sigh* Although, it would be a lot nicer if I could count on doing it every week.

I happen to really like my Pure Protein bars and I don't consider them a cheat. lol We're supposed to like everything we eat! Not just the junky bits! I say go for your Larabar. (Just don't stray into Luna bars. I have moral objections to those.) P.S. I make sure I don't eat anything at least an hour before working out. If I did my tummy would quickly reject it all over the floor. ... Not the sort of attention I'm looking for.

Who doesn't love The Cutting Edge??? lol I hear her saying it everytime I read your thread title.

I leave you boys alone for one night and this is what happens? *shakes head* Sheesh. lol

One-Word Progress Report for Day One: Exhaustion! Much Wordier Progress Report for Day One: Fitness Goals: 1, 2, & 3. Rest day. And thank the sweet baby Jesus for it. I was completely dragging all day long. I nearly fell asleep at my desk, could barely keep my eyes open on the wild ride that is driving home with my brother's wife, and when I got home I went directly to bed and didn't wake up until I had to pee at 9:30pm. I then went back to bed at midnight. I have not been that tired and slept that much in one day since I had mono as a teenager. Diet Goal: 1. I'm not going to completely blame the low carb diet. ... I'm gonna blame it mostly though. lol I didn't get much sleep Sunday night and I may be coming down with something after having my brother's wife sneeze and cough all over me for days, so those things must be taken into consideration. However, I also think that the lower carb intake played an important role in the show. So that was interesting and frustrating, but will hopefully resolve itself as I continue to stick to the plan. (Because that's how I roll.) Life Goal: 1. I kinda already blew this one, as I'd intended Wednesday to be my rest day rather than yesterday. But I could not have safely driven myself to the gym; I was that tired. But you can't beat the challenge in the first day. Just gotta keep plugging away and see what happens. As for the Disney Princess 5k... We thought it would be really cute and fun too! I have one girlfriend who is a runner and has done, like, proper marathons and stuff and another who isn't sporty but has signed up for the Warrior Dash this year! So it's all level of running ability but we wouldn't be in it to win it, we'd just be in it to do something healthy and silly and girly with one another at one of our very favourite places in the whole wide world. I don't know if you must dress as a princess, but certainly something pink and/or covered in glitter will be in order. It won't be for several years yet that we'll do this, but I'm already looking forward to it.

The Peanut Butter Mothra will get you any way she can. lol

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I had no idea there were so many different methods people were using to keep themselves entertained. I'm pretty happy about my 1 minute of running for every 9 walking (plus additional random stairs or biking). The likelihood of it causing me to fall horribly isn't that high, as opposed to you amazing creatures who can do things backwards, and it's a tiny step towards a super-uber-long-term goal I have of doing a Disney Princess 5k someday (someday very very far away) with two of my girlfriends. Oh, and a side note on my sordid history with backwards-ness: We were doing backward run races in P.E. class in the 3rd grade and I fell and knocked myself unconscious for several minutes. The paramedics were called, it was no fun. I actually am that clumsy. lol

My issues are less with fogetting where I am and more with being painfully (sometimes actual physical pain) aware of where I should be but can't be because other people are screwing it up for me. Back when I was a grown up and lived alone I got a lot fewer headaches and backaches because my stress level was so much lower, even though I was working two jobs just to pay my bills and going to university full-time, just because I got to run my own dang life. But *lesigh* that's not how my world is anymore, so I've got to suck it up and deal. Holy crap running backwards!?! You must have me confused with someone who has any sense of coordination. lol It's a fun idea, but I think it would be a fun idea that would land me in hospital very quickly. And ever since I've been at my brother's and away from peanut butter I am no longer haunted by PBM. I wasn't lying when I said I don't even like peanut butter. I really don't. I just can't resist it once I've seen the jar. It's the weirdest thing. So I'm not worried about PBM this month. Aww, Gow you're the sweetest thing ever. I think cutting out cheats for 28 days will do us all a world of good (and bring us all closer and whatnot).

"Grow a pair of what? This is a family-friendly board ya know." You may be saying to yourself. To which I reply, "This challenge is going to be focused on building up my upper body. So I'll hopefully be growing a pair of biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Why, what did you think I meant?" About Me: I'm the werwolf. I have control issues. I have a busted thyroid and pernicious anaemia (among a fun-tastic grab-bag of other health issues). I am a giant. I just moved in with my brother and his wife because I accepted a pretty nice job in the wife's office. All this change hasn't been easy on me or my fitness/health. I'm hoping that during this, my second challenge, I will be able to find some sort of balance in my life again. Fitness Goals: 1. Visually improve muscle tone in my upper body I know a month isn't long enough for me to have tickets to the gun show or anything, but I'm aiming to at least have the gun show pencilled into my day planner. If ya know what I mean. 2. Make the treadmill less boring The treadmill is necessary for me; I have a spinal injury and it is the best way I've found to warm up my back so I don't hurt myself while working out. I intend to run/jog at least 1 minute for every 9 minutes spent walking. I've also started using the bike and stair-stepper not as a replacement for the treadmill, but as a supplementary novelty to keep things interesting. 3. Break 200 in a significant way When I say 'significant' I don't mean that I expect to lose 20lbs this month. I just mean that I'm sick of toying with the 100's but then bouncing back up into the 200's and feeling shit about it. I want to get down into the 190's somewhere and stick to it. I want it to be 'for reals' as the kids say these days. There will be NO CHEAT DAYS this month at all. Trust me when I say I've had more than enough of those lately. Diet Goal: 1. Experiment with a low(er) carb diet After hearing all the raves about Paleo/Primal from a lot of my fellow Rebels and moving in with my brother (who has diabetes and has begun doing another round of Atkins in order to lose weight), my curiosity has gotten the best of me and I have decided to try my own version. I absolutely refuse to decrease my vegetable intake, so I will not be counting those carbs (though I will be eliminating all starchy veg like potatoes and most of the fruit I would normally eat). I've worked it out and under my new plan my daily carb count (without those in the aforementioned vegetables) will be around 25g a day. That leaves plenty of veg-based-carb wiggle room and keeps me happily munching the green stuff the way I love to. I've got a real academic interest to see how this all goes. Life Goal: 1. Find a pattern I'm one of those people. I very much need patterns and schedules and plans in order to feel at ease and anywhere close to happy. I am very much at the mercy of other people, first my parents and now my brother and his wife, who have no concept of the extent to which their chaos negatively impacts my emotional state. No amount of explanation is enough because they simply don't grasp the mindset. Therefore it's up to me to adjust to them. So that's what I'll keep trying to do. Methodology: 1. I can't take any excuses from myself that aren't medically necessary. 2. I'm going to add a space about how the lower carb diet makes me feel each day to my food journal. Just for research purposes. 3. I will content myself with planning as well as I can and I will force myself to accept, if not understand, the chaos around me. Challenges: 1. I'm lazier and whinier than I'd like to admit. 2. I may have wicked carb cravings. Which will be new and strange and interesting, if not very much fun to deal with. 3. I can't change the fact that stability keeps me happy. I can't make my family understand me. But I can try to react in a way that isn't self-destructive.

These freaks are giving y'all a bad name. I really hope they just got confused.

Name: werwolf Goal Overview: 1. Focus on upper body strength 2. Find either a workable pattern to my life or become more comfortable with chaos 3. Attempt a low(er) carb diet If you follow a specific way of eating: Curiosity has gotten the better of me and I'm going to try counting my carbs. Any other piece of information you think would be useful for team creation: I like my motivation to be a mixture of love and violence. If you want to be part of a team or if you want to work alone: Rather than crashing a squad like I did last time... I'll sign up for one right at the start.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again here: I find it amusing how making unhealthy options just slightly more difficult to get to really does focus the mind. Somehow in that walk across the room/rearrangement of things in a closet/digging through a drawer I get a few more seconds to ask myself if I really need what I'm about to shove in my face. It's like when you have that twinge of guilt as a child right before you reach into the cookie jar before dinner. It's a hesitation from your better self. And, I have to admit, I sometimes tell my better self to stick it where the sun don't shine and I get what I'm looking for anyway. But other times, I sigh and agree that I don't actually require those Jelly Bellys. ... And then I pout.

I wish I could be more helpful, but I'm not allowed to dress myself. I've been told that all women think their body is freakish and doesn't fit into clothing, we just can't all agree on what bits are wrong. But I assumed that was just to shut me up whining about being put together wrong and looking weird in 'normal-people' clothes.

I've also learned to be really careful about both dired fruit and dried veg because for some reason the companies always think they need to add stuff. Sugar and oil are the main culprits. Aren't these things delicious enough as they are?? lol I get so annoyed when I have to shove a packet back on the shelf because it's got added junk.

The title really is brilliant. I'm using this week as a kind of preparatory detox/daily mini-challenge/settling in period before the next challenge starts. I want to see where my difficulties are so I can target them more effectively during the challenge. I hope it works. I like the way you're 'earning' your off-plan food. I find anything that forces me to seriously think about it either makes me stop or confirms that it's something I really need (for whatever reason, be it physical or emotional). I may steal that idea in payment for my title suggestion.

That pretty much sums me up as well. Disturbing, but almost cute. Also, glitter-encrusted evil. I wish I had a great deal of money to waste on their products. As it stands, I have a small but well-loved collection.

Finally! A healthy way to destress with a cupcake!

Yet another victim of Peanut Butter Mothra. I feel your struggles my friend. *hug*

I did a lot better on paper than I feel like I did. Which is upsetting. But... because of what I went through during this challenge, I'm not going to let my upset feelings spoil my health. I'm just going to sigh heavily and look forward to doing better next challenge.

End of Challenge Report Fitness Goals So let's recap my original goals and then look at how I fared: 1. Continue to lose weight Min- lose at least 2lbs Expected- lose at least 5lbs Cool- lose 8lbs! This goal was officially deleted due to my change of venue and lack of scale consistency. However, I must admit that I did manage to get back to my TN doctor's office and take an official weight... I lost two pounds. I was amazed and angry. Amazed that even with all my self-destructive eating behaviour and inability to maintain my fitness schedule I still managed to lose my minimum. Angry that I'd been so screwed up mentally and physically by all the stress and chaos and change and let it derail what had been a steady decline in numbers. I will recommit myself to the next challenge and give myself a C for this goal. 2. Increase from 12 to 15 reps a set Min- Do this for all moves Expected- Do for all moves and increase weight on some moves Cool- All moves and increase weight OR add a set for all moves I missed a lot of planned strength training, but when I did do it, I did it right. I get an unqualified A for this goal. 3. Attempt proper push-ups Min- Do one real push-up without pain Expected- Do 1-5 real push-ups without pain Cool- Do 1-5 real push-ups without pain each workout I get a B for this one. Because, frankly, I couldn't always be arsed to do pushups in every work out. That's the only thing that kept me from the Cool result. Diet Goal 1. Avoid the peanut butter demon Min- Slip once or twice, manage to pry my fingers off the jar before it's all gone Expected- Slip once or twice, but stop at one spoonful Cool- Let no peanut butter touch my lips all month Except for the not-even-remotely-peanut-buttery protein bar, which SO doesn't count, no peanut butter has passed these lips all month. A! Life Goal 1. Get more sleep Min- Go to bed before midnight most nights Expected- Go to bed before 11pm most nights Cool- Go to bed before 11pm most nights and sleep all the way through I'd like to say I met my Expected requirements, but I probably didn't. So I get a C for this. That being said, my sleep has only gotten worse at my brother's house because this bed is far too soft for my spine to take. We're going to sort that out. Hopefully soon. So, this month was unexpected to say the least. I had no idea when I started this challenge that I'd end it in a different state with a brand new job but none of the comforts of pets or solitude. I'm going to have to grossly oversimplify here... but it's been emotionally gut wrenching. I hope that this next month/challenge will see me more stable and calm and back on a fitness path I can feel good about. It's just a stroke of luck that I appear to have done well on this month's challenge. I managed to pick goals that were difficult when I was stable but paled into trivial when everything was in upheaval. But we pick up and we do better, that's the Way of the Rebel. Bring on March 7th!