Runner5

Well, here's the final results of the challenge. I did not make 17% (although I didn't expect to in 6 weeks anyway). My progress was not nearly as good as I'd hoped in terms of food intake -- quite a few bumps in the road. My grading scale was basically A-F. I had to get at least a D (61% success or better) in order to earn any points, and the number of points earned were distributed on a curve depending on how many I had allotted to a specific task. So: Go to Crossfit 15 times: Goal was 15, got 13 = 86%. I got 4 of the 5 points: +3 STR, +1 DEX Eat clean 5/week: Goal was total of 30 times, got 14 = 46%. Receive no points Track calories daily: Goal was 42 times, got 20 = 48%. Receive no points. Stop showing frustration. Goal was "pass/fail". I only had 2 incidents I thought I reacted poorly, so giving myself a pass. +3 WIS Next challenge I'll be focusing on food again. I'm pretty happy with my exercise routines for the most part -- it's really my diet that's a problem.

Haha Starpuck, too funny. If there was an Able Township near me, I'd consider getting a PO box just for the address. So I checked my bodyfat yesterday. I am down from 24% on July 29 to 22.4%. (I use a handheld electronic meter that I've found to be consistent -- even if it's not 100% accurate -- as long as I measure first thing in the morning before eating, drinking, or exercising). And my progress pic this morning appears to show some change as well compared to the ones I took at the beginning of the challenge.

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I will try upping the protein %, and not eating carbs -- even complex carbs -- without fat or protein. I know the calorie # seem low, but I have a ridiculously slow metabolism (as Homer Simpson would say, "I'm drought and famine resistant!") and pile on body fat very easily. And I think I just have a higher satiety point than most people -- I usually have to add a very large salad or other vegetables to meals that would leave anyone else feeling stuffed. I don't think I'd mind the hunger as an occasional thing, but spending the next 40 years always feeling like I need more and can't have it ... that's hell to me.

I'm a 44 year old female, 138 lbs, and I work out 6 days a week: 3 days of crossfit alternating with 3 days of jogging 2-3 miles. I am trying to lose bodyfat (I'd like to get around 17%), but struggling due to my diet. My macros are about 40% fat, 20% protein and 40% carbs. The carbs are nearly all from vegetables and limited fruits, legumes, and whole grains. At around 1700 calories a day, I maintain my weight. However, I am hungry most of the time. The one month I tried eating when I was hungry / until I was full, I averaged 2500-3000 calories a day. I gained nearly 10 lbs and my bodyfat soared from 19% to 24%. My clothes got really tight too. I'll be completely transparent here: one of the reasons I work out is vanity. I am so frustrated I just want to cry. Do I really have to spend the rest of my life choosing between being fat or being hungry?

Hi Starpuck! I'm doing ... well, not so well. I'm on track with the Crossfit portion, but as far as eating clean and tracking food intake, really haven't done well at all. The tracking is tedious, especially if I eat out (which I do frequently). And it's difficult to eat clean when eating out. That said, I don't think I've been overeating too much, which tends to be my biggest problem. I haven't checked my bodyfat % yet since we started, so I'm kind of curious on that score. I will probably test it some time this week just to see where I'm at. Thank you for asking!

Thanks guys -- yeah, I'm keeping in mind that it was only a few days, and I've been very on-target since then. Still, frustrating to have "wasted" a week for ... well, junk that I barely remember at this point. Live and learn...

I've been toying with the idea of working toward a 10K, but I can't even begin to imagine 20K! Congrats on finishing, no matter how "unpretty" it was!

@Genni - congrats! I couldn't do the free form until like week 6. Even week 7 I was pushing to try to get a full 20 min straight. Nice job!

Soooo frustrated with myself. I tracked and ate clean (goals 1 and 2) for the first 5 days, but then went out of town for a wedding and *blew* it. Eating 3 meals a day at restaurants, plus snack food everywhere makes it SO easy to munch mindlessly and then can't remember what I ate (or too lazy/in denial to spend 30 minutes trying to enter it all in). I wasn't even HUNGRY most of the time, but still stuffed my face. Now I'm back on track but that's basically half a week that's down the drain -- I feel like I just completely negated 5 days of good work.

I tend to be very reward-motivated (one of the reasons that the "leveling up" concept appeals to me). So I tend to plan rewards for myself when I successfully complete a challenge: a new piece of fitness equipment, a trip or activity I've been wanting to do, jewelry, something for the house or yard. It's generally something frivolous that I can't otherwise justify purchasing. Well, I just discovered what will be my reward for this challenge. I have zero use for it, it will probably just sit in a closet, but I love it and want it and will make it my own: Tactical Combat Corset

Did really well on my food intake and tracking, and also attended Crossfit yesterday. The food tracking can get tedious, so that's where I'm focusing most of my energy. if I don't track, it's easy to forget to count it. It adds up fast, plus a lot of times the stuff I forget tends to be junk food (flavored coffee creamers, a piece of candy, etc). By tracking it, I'm more aware of it.

I think there are a couple things to take into account when using eCigs (I'm a Blu user, myself). 1. The higher the nicotine content, the more throat hit you'll get (generally speaking). 2. Despite #1, you'll never get the same feel from eCigs that you get from a real cigarette. It's like fat-free sour cream vs full-fat sour cream: not nearly as good, but you can get used to it. Between myself and other friends who have switched to "vaping", we've found that the ones who are most successful are those who don't try to "cut down" on regular cigarettes by supplementing with the eCigs. What tends to happen in those cases is that they smoke just as many real ones and then add in eCigs on top! Instead, use just the eCig with a high nicotine content and try not to give into the urge to smoke a regular cigarette. Doing so just reinforces what you're missing with the eCigs. The high nicotine in the eCig will give you a throat hit and help take the edge off enough to give you time to get used to the fact that it doesn't feel as good as the real thing. This does take a while! There are a lot of tiny "rituals" associated with smoking that create the experience: pulling out the pack, opening the box, lighting the cigarette, inhaling and feeling that throat hit, exhaling and seeing the smoke, flicking the ash off, etc. The more of those rituals that you lose, the more the experience feels "wrong". So you have to substitute new rituals instead: pulling out the charger pack, screwing in a fresh battery or cartridge, inhaling and feeling the throat hit, exhaling and seeing the vapor, flicking imaginary ash off the eCig etc. Once you get used to the different feel, you can switch to a lower nicotine content, and the difference is negligible (like the difference between 1% milk and 2% milk). Finally, drop down to 0 nicotine cartridges. By this time, you'll be used to the feel and taste of eCigs and it won't feel like such a huge weird difference like it does going from real cigs to eCigs initially, and you won't really miss the lack of throat hit. A lot of people never switch to 0 nicotine. I did because it is a vasoconstrictor -- not as dangerous as everything else in cigs, but not exactly good for you either, so why keep using it if you don't have to? Hope that makes sense and helps. Good luck!

I am so excited to try it! Little worried about hurdles, though. Last time I did an obstacle race with hurdles, I looked like I was having a seizure trying to jump them.

Edited original post to add starting stats and pics. Be gentle...

Bravo Team represents at the Zombie Apocalypse. Blog post at www.runnerfive.com

Neat! I'm signed up for the 3pm wave for that exact run!

I'm running iOS so yeah, probably an OS difference, but w00t!!! on being able to login separately! Hooray!!!

Week 7 is hilarious. My BF & I run together, and he flatly refused to skip for those episodes. Being supportive, I tormented him by skipping next to him pretty much everywhere we went in public for that entire week. ("Stop that!" "Make me!")

Ok, so here's some possibly good news for you. The new Zombies, Run 2 supports multiplayer. You can go into the settings and choose to create a 2nd player. So if you and your husband do your runs separately, you can track them separately under your own player names on the same device (i.e. your husband's fancy model). Meaning you keep your own stats and own base! If you run together that's more of a problem, because you can only have one player tracking at any given time. But it sounds like you run separately. Does that help?

For me, lowering bodyfat is mostly diet, but you have to strength train as well. If you don't, you're as likely to lose muscle mass as fat. In the past I've had the most success with limiting my calories to <2000 per day (at least 25% of that protein and all of it quality whole foods) and strength training 3 days a week with heavy weights and lower reps. And isn't the "Zombies Run" app the best? I spent 4 decades of my life avoiding running, and now I just love it!

Hah, totally following this challenge! I'm also doing the Zombie Apocalypse: http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/33485-runner-5-the-starving-time/#entry618393

I will be following your challenge and am curious as to what you learn in your studies. Like chickie monkey above, I'm fascinated with how diet can affect us emotionally and mentally as well as physically, and like you, I'm struggling to get my own diet under control.

I have a "Run For Your Lives" race coming up in November, and I'll be doing the same, haha!

Hahaha, love the Firefly quotes for each goal. Life goal of getting more sleep is awesome -- so many people tend to consider sleep to be "lazy", and it's a point of pride to sleep as little as possible. But more and more studies are coming out showing sleep deprivation associated with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, and overall shortened life expectancy. Good job on realizing how important sleep is!

Love the Avatar theme!