Posy

I just wanted to post this here officially. I will update it as time goes on. This is for one of the mini-challenges my support group, CKitT are doing. Achievement challenge: 1) Run 1 mile non-stop. I have no idea how hard this will be. The last time I did this I was 15 years old (I'm now 24). I don't run now as it is. I do "interval" training once a week (basically twice since the challenge has started), which consists of jogging in place for 2 minutes and alternating with high knees for 30 seconds. Very different from real running, which I have not attempted in almost 2 years. Also, I will be doing this challenge outside, where it will be hot. So we'll see. (END) 2) Try 3 new foods. Such a simple concept, but it's not easy for a picky eater. I would like to try three new vegetables. Currently, the only ones I eat are peas, corn, and potatoes, which are not the best choices. So I'm going to try cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts! (CON) 3) Make a video blog of myself speaking in Danish. I have been teaching myself Danish for almost 17 weeks now. However, it has been really basic stuff. I tried working on pronunciation a little bit towards the beginning, but otherwise I have been almost exclusively practicing writing and reading. Listening also needs work, but that will come eventually. The really daunting thing for me is to actually try to speak the language. So I'm going to use this opportunity to force myself to really put myself out there and give it a go. It'll be completely embarrassing and awful, but I have to start somewhere! (WIS/CHA) 4) Do one pushup. This might seem laughable, but it is probably my single biggest fitness goal. I have never been able to do a pushup. Possibly a couple back in high school, but never in recent memory. I swear I have tried everything to increase my ability to do a real pushup. I lift weights. I can do a ton of knee/wall/couch/whatever variety of pushups. I can hold a plank for a long time. And so on. I. Just. Can't. Do. A. Real. Pushup. I can somewhat lift myself up. It's difficult, but I at least have some control over my body. However, I cannot lower myself without smashing my face into the ground. It's like my upper body does not understand the physics of how to do it. I've worked on 'form' before, but with no luck. So this time my plan is to keep trying until my face becomes so bloody I cannot see. In which case I will either have done a real pushup or I'll be dead. I'll still try to work on form, because it has been awhile since I've attempted a proper pushup. I'm going to try to videotape this for verification. (STR) Goals achieved: Week 1: Run 1 mile non-stop (completed; It took me 11:45) Week 2: Try 3 new foods (completed; also tried walnuts, blackberries, and hulled hemp seeds) Week 3: Post a video blog of myself speaking Danish (horribly completed) Week 4:

Your art is awesome, as always. I'm sorry you had a rough week (hey, you still ran more than I did!). All I can tell you, as someone who has lost a lot of weight, that there will always be rough weeks, days, hours, minutes, even seconds. The only thing you can do is keep going. We'd all like things to go smoothly and for progress to be consistent, but I know very few people who have ever had that experience with anything in their lives. So I guess my point is to be kind to yourself, learn from the experience, and try to do better next time (which is sounds like you are preparing to do).

I'm totally feeling the same way about accountability. Sometimes (ok, most of the time) the ONLY thing preventing me from binging or forcing me to workout is knowing that I'm going to have to come here and update you guys - and like you, I can't help but be honest! Great job on your goals and LOVE THOSE SHOES.

The jump roping is an interesting idea. I've wanted to start jump roping for awhile, but I'm full of excuses (lots of physical problems). Maybe I will steal that idea and try it for myself. I have the same goal, to do one pushup. I've already tried, and I can tell I probably won't get it by the end of the challenge. So maybe I will swap that out with your jump rope goal. I'm certainly going to keep working at the pushups, but it's one of those things that might actually be impossible (in this time frame), no matter how much I try.

I'm sorry you're feeling tired and exhausted. Honestly, I feel that way most days. It's hard not to get discouraged when you feel bad even when you are doing things right or working really hard. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed this week with the challenge, because I'm trying to do a million things at once, but I have to believe it will be worth it in the end. I keep reminding myself that it's only six weeks!

Good job on the water and resisting the Cherry Coke. I was shocked that I went a whole week without a diet soda. The cravings have already gotten better in that amount of time. But yeah, I definitely had my moments of standing in front of the vending machine at work, just staring.

I just wanted to say that I figured out a way around this: box.com. I'll be uploading my playlists (either music files or possibly in video format, depending on which editing method I choose to use), and then you guys would have to download them. The plus side is that if I upload them as music files you can actually have them on your computer and put them on an MP3 player if you have one (as opposed to only having access to them on YouTube).

Week 2 Recap: Monday (6/10): 5 minute breathing space. Tuesday (6/11): Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) in 1 group for 6 minutes. Wednesday (6/12): 5 minute breathing space. Thursday (6/13): 5 minute breathing space. Friday (6/14): 5 minute breathing space.. Saturday (6/15): 5 minute breathing space. Sunday (6/16): 5 minute breathing space. There was also some mindful eating in there, but I didn't keep track of how long. This week I want to work more PMR back in.

I have a question about the playlist challenge. If we want to edit our music (to cut out parts that don't fit the mood of the workout, to fade in/out for flow, to include sound bites) how are we supposed to share it legally? We can't upload it to YouTube or SoundCloud, as those both have copyright rules. We could just make playlists of songs already existing on YouTube, but then we wouldn't actually be able to edit them for any of the bonus points. I guess I'm just not clear on how to do both?

Week 2 Recap: Monday (6/10): Studied for one hour. Yoga with stretches for 32 minutes. 5 minute breathing space. Tuesday (6/11): Studied for one hour. Yoga with stretches for 32 minutes. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) in 1 group for 6 minutes. Wednesday (6/12): Studied for 1 1/2 hours. Yoga with stretches for 28 minutes. 5 minute breathing space. Thursday (6/13): Studied for one hour. Strength training with stretches for 50 minutes. 5 minute breathing space. Friday (6/14); Studied for 2 1/2 hours. Interval training with stretches for 52 minutes. 5 minute breathing space. Saturday (6/15): Studied for 2 hours. Strength training with stretches for 47 minutes. 5 minute breathing space Sunday (6/16): Studied for 1 1/2 hours. Yoga with stretches for 32 minutes; 5 minute breathing space - Cheat meal: None! Although I might have a piece of cake later this evening. Based on this, I am giving myself the following grades for the week: Strength/Interval training: A Yoga/Stretching: A Diet: A Life: AAs with life in general, this week has had it's ups and downs. However, I'm really happy with how this week went challenge-wise. I slightly increased the intensity of my strength training and interval training workouts. I also exceeded my study goals. Oh, and I had no binging/fasting this week and no diet soda. There were definitely temptations, but this challenge is keeping me strong. Finally, I completed mini-challenge #2 (increasing protein). The one thing I would like to work on this week is focusing better on my meditation PvP challenge. I've technically been doing my 5 minutes, but I don't believe I've been giving it 100% every time. Right now I am super psyched for CKitT's mini-challenges. I'm putting a lot of effort into our playlist challenge and am really going to push myself with the achievement challenge.

Hey guys! I've been thinking about our mini-challenges and have come up with 3 out of 4 of my "achievement challenge" goals. I didn't know if I should post it on our mini-challenge thread, or not, so I'm just going to post it here. This is what I'm thinking so far: Achievement challenge: 1) Do one pushup. This might seem laughable, but it is probably my single biggest fitness goal. I have never been able to do a pushup. Possibly a couple back in high school, but never in recent memory. I swear I have tried everything to increase my ability to do a real pushup. I lift weights. I can do a ton of knee/wall/couch/whatever variety of pushups. I can hold a plank for a long time. And so on. I. Just. Can't. Do. A. Real. Pushup. I can somewhat lift myself up. It's difficult, but I at least have some control over my body. However, I cannot lower myself without smashing my face into the ground. It's like my upper body does not understand the physics of how to do it. I've worked on 'form' before, but with no luck. So this time my plan is to keep trying until my face becomes so bloody I cannot see. In which case I will either have done a real pushup or I'll be dead. I'll still try to work on form, because it has been awhile since I've attempted a proper pushup. I'm going to try to videotape this for verification. 2) Run 1 mile non-stop. I have no idea how hard this will be. The last time I did this I was 15 years old (I'm now 24). I don't run now as it is. I do "interval" training once a week (basically twice since the challenge has started), which consists of jogging in place for 2 minutes and alternating with high knees for 30 seconds. Very different from real running, which I have not attempted in almost 2 years. Also, I will be doing this challenge outside, where it will be hot. So we'll see. I might do a "practice" run first, and see where I'm at, and then adjust this goal accordingly (so that it's at least attainable, but still daunting!). I'm not sure how I will document this. 3) Make a video blog of myself speaking in Danish. I have been teaching myself Danish for almost 17 weeks now. However, it has been really basic stuff. I tried working on pronunciation a little bit towards the beginning, but otherwise I have been almost exclusively practicing writing and reading. Listening also needs work, but that will come eventually. The really daunting thing for me is to actually try to speak the language. So I'm going to use this opportunity to force myself to really put myself out there and give it a go. It'll be completely embarrassing and awful, but I have to start somewhere! 4) TBD. Brainstorming suggestions welcome! This is in the order of the weeks I would like to achieve these, starting with this coming up week. The first two are sort of inter-changeable, though. It's just going to depend on when I have private time to be able to video tape myself attempting a pushup versus when I have time to go outside and try running.

Thanks! It started out really slow and I thought I wouldn't get anything done, but then the group challenges sort of pumped me back up.

Mini-update: Today I had interval training. It kicked my butt. Normally I do: 5 minutes light jogging in place. Then 10 intervals of 2 minutes light jogging in place + 30 seconds of "high knees". Cool down is another 5 minutes of light jogging. Today I increased the "high knees" to 60 seconds each, and dang! Also did my stretches after that. I studied for 2 1/2 hours today! It was easy, because I've been listening to Doctor Who music in preparation for our group challenges. I'm really excited for those! I've got 12 hours of Doctor Who music, so there's that haha. However, I am not sure how I will share my playlists once I am done. I'm thinking about using Windows Movie Maker to do some editing. I can't upload it to YouTube, obviously, because of copyright issues. So any suggestions would be much appreciated. I've been thinking about the recipe challenge, and it's going to be very difficult for me. I'm a super picky eater, which is one roadblock, but also, the paleo aspect is definitely restricting. So I look forward to really challenging myself with that. I am most excited for the achievements challenge. So far I have come up with: Do 1 pushup, run 1 mile non-stop, and make a video blog of myself speaking Danish. No idea for the last one, yet. Finally, the creativity challenge is a bit of a toss-up. I'm a crafty person in general, but there's nothing specific that "I do", like drawing or painting, which I'm sure other people here excel at. Also, of our three group fandoms I am only familiar with Doctor Who, so I'm afraid I'll be a bit useless with any type of cross-over references. Still, I'll try to come up with something!

Update: Today I had interval training. It kicked my butt. I increased my 30 second "high" intervals to 60 minutes. Also, I studied for 2 1/2 hours today! I'm slacking on the meditation. I'm doing it, but I'm not as focused as I could be. So I'm going to try to focus on that extra the next couple of days. The protein challenge is coming well. Right now I am excited for all the mini-challenges that we are doing in my accountabilibuddy (or whatever it's called) group!

Those challenges are fantastic. I really want to try my hand at all of them. Oh man. You got me so excited!

Yeah, the yoga is a good "compromise" for me. It helps me feel active without killing myself. The food is going good. I'm enjoying eating more calories every day. The protein mini-challenge came at a good time, because it's preventing me from filling up those extra calories with bad foods. My body is definitely still adjusting to it, though.

It might be something in the ingredients. I've eaten it before (I always eat the whole pint in one sitting), and it's never been a problem. So I'll probably give it a try again someday haha. It's sort of my "this is low-calorie, but not necessarily good for you" cheat treat. Only, I looked at the nutritional label last night for the first time and realized that it actually has quite a bit of protein and fiber, so now I'm just totally justifying it. Except, it costs like $5 a pint, so it's definitely going to stay a treat. Still, I am seriously addicted to ice cream so it's good for those OH GOD I MUST HAVE FROZEN DESSERT FOOD RIGHT NOW moments when frozen grapes just won't do - especially because my boyfriend's parents keep all sorts of "real" ice cream in the freezer at all times, which really amps up my cravings.

Hey guys! It's only 1130, but I've already been pretty productive today. I woke up with pretty extreme abdominal pain (I actually considered appendicitis, but it just turned out to be gas from eating a whole pint of Arctic Zero "ice cream" before bed last night; embarrassing, but the truth!). Anyway, that got me up nice and early. I've already studied today and worked out. I'm trying to gradually increase my workouts each week in terms of what I'm doing. It wasn't substantial today, but: Squats: +10 seconds each + 3lbKnee pushups: +5Plank: +10 secondsToe taps: +20Single leg bridge: +5 secondsDumbbell rows: +1lbBicep curls: +3lbsDumbbell lateral raises and overheads: +1lbI'll continue this on Saturday (tomorrow is an interval day) with my second strength training workout. Then next week I will try to increase those numbers a little more. My back is bothering me after working out, so I'm a bit worried, but it's nothing worse than what I usually experience from walking around at work all day. I just remember that last week the jogging was especially bad, so I'm a bit nervous for tomorrow. We'll see.

Yes, I remember that you've been decreasing that, which I am proud of you for!

Yeah, I worked the past four days in a row, which is why they were all yoga days. I read another comment of yours somewhere about being "rushed", and I feel the same way. I love non-work days when I can really just take my time and do my workout without stressing about all the million other things I have to fit in.

I think you did OK on your goals, considering how much you're taking on. The weekends are definitely hard. Also, girl, you a drunk. (A drunk artistic genius.)

This is sort of unsolicited advice (so feel free to ignore it!), but I don't believe the amount of cholesterol in egg yolks is harmful. Saturated fat and trans fat are more important than dietary cholesterol when watching your blood cholesterol. You can eat at least 1-2 whole eggs a day without raising your risk for anything. Personally, I eat 2 every day!

Glad to hear about your goals. I think it's cool you're doing the paleo thing. I never got into it myself. As a picky eater I really can't afford to eliminate any "healthy" foods from my diet!

Oh, and I don't mean that I don't consider yoga in general a non-workout. I just mean in this context, how I do it, and for the purposes of "eating more calories and protein" I do not consider it a workout comparable to my strength training and interval training workouts.

Just posting a semi-weekly update. The past four days have all been yoga days. The next three will be strength training, interval training, and then strength training again. I've been fine with my diet, studying, and PvP yoga challenge. I'm also on board for the current mini-challenge of eating more protein. It's pretty perfect for me right now, since I am working on getting up to maintenance levels food wise and building strength. I'll post a 5-day recap on that thread once it's over, but for now: Yesterday I ate about 1,400 (too low), and consumed about 83g of protein. It was a non-workout day (I do not consider yoga a workout). If anyone is interested, this is where the protein came from: Greek yogurt (12g)2 eggs (12g)1 oz goat cheese (4g)2 slices bread (5g)2 tbsp peanut butter with flax seed (9g)Banana (1g)Baked potato (2g)Grilled chicken breast (31g)1/2 cup corn + peas (3g)Stone-ground wheat crackers (2g)Hummus (2g)I am not done eating today, but I expect to be at around 1,600 calories and 120g protein. I've eaten mostly the same foods I did yesterday, but I also added 1 1/2 cups of Special K Protein cereal (20g), and 1/2 cup skim milk (4g). I usually try to stay away from cereal, but I'll eat it once a week or so when I'm rushed in the morning (I work at 0500). Oh, and my ice cream for today has 14g of protein. Tomorrow is a workout day (strength training), and I expect to eat about 1,600 calories and 123g of protein. I'll be eating the same thing as yesterday, but will be adding my usual 1 cup of skim milk (8g) and Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials No Sugar Added Rich Milk Chocolate Powder packet (5g; and that was a mouth-full haha) post-workout and a can of tuna (22g) and bread (5g) as an additional snack. Anyway! The past four days have been very stressful, but I have the next couple of days off. So I am hoping I can really put 100% into my studying and workouts. I've just sort of been muddling through, but sometimes that's all you can do on super busy days! Better than nothing, I say.