Arpeggio

So that makes a loss of 3 inches, a gain of one inch in my arms, and approximately 3% body fat GONE - I would call that a success! I would have like to see bigger changes, but considering I didn't do anything with my eating, that's still pretty good work!

Final stats: Bust 46 Waist 40 Hip 48.5 Thigh 26 Bicep 15 Weight 218.5 Fat 43.5%

You don't know HOW proud I am of myself - I have now caught up to myself in my C25K app (in other words, I'm now a workout farther than I've ever gotten before). I am also running more of my free run times, going further, pushing harder, and best of all - I HAVE NOT MISSED A SINGLE DAY. I have never been this motivated before. Now the hard part is keeping that motivation, especially since school has started and I upped what I expect from myself in my weightlifting sessions. I have also noticed that even on my "sleep in" days, I still wake myself up at 6 am... I've been starting to wonder if 5 am might not be a good idea, so that I can have an hour to practice in the mornings. I still have to ponder that one.

Haha, now that school has started, I am smoking the competiton... Mostly because my university decided to turn all the close parking lots into more construction, and I have classes at two ends of the campus, 3/4 of a mile from each other. I'm in the top 10 of people I've added from here!

OK, tech week took over my life for a bit there! I promise I was good and kept up with my running and lifting, even on Saturday when I slept in and just didn't want to do it! The opera was a success, both nights we played to a full house, the first night I believe every seat was full, and the second night only ten were empty, and those were the ones right next to the orchestra. I even got told that I was the sexiest pirate, and that my fake kisses were quite believable, even from the second row... So that means I feel like I accomplished that goal, hands down! School started yesterday, had a panic attack during my first audition, but did well during my second. Third audition is later today, I hope I do well...

I need a reminder to tell myself to come post in here! I promise I've been good, I haven't missed any days except for Sunday which is my rest day! I lifted yesterday, shoulders/back/legs, and today I did week 3 day 1 of my C25K (2.65 miles!)

Last night we had our first chance to practice with our live orchestra, for the show this weekend - pretty cool. I spent yesterday walking back and forth from the school, since it was my kids' first day back. I also worked on sewing a bunch of the costumes from my show... even though I'm a performer, since I'm not starting school til next week, so I got co-opted into finishing a bunch of Greek looking outfits. I've been feeling pretty good about my workouts - today was the first day I just didn't feel like getting up and working out, but I made my lazy bum get up anyhow. Now that it's done, I'm glad I did it. I'm starting to notice a difference in my appearance - not a lot, but just enough to let me know that perhaps it's really going to change something this time... Here's me at the start of week 1(of working out, after I got my workout area done, so not week 1 of the challenge) - green outfit. Start of week 2 is the white tshirt, you can see a little bit of a difference, mostly in my legs. I'll take my next set of photos on Sunday... I just need to figure out a better place to balance my camera so the focus isn't off.

Hmm, not very good at a daily log :-p. So far I've been very diligent, keeping my weight training on MWF, my jogging on TThS - Monday I worked back and legs, today I did abs and arms. On week 2 of my C25K program, and feeling good about it!

DUDE - I am going to email them. I'd love something like that, I love my Zombies!Run app because I can get lost in pursuing the story. If I could lift, and like, boost my Runner stats or earn more goodies for my base... That would be so awesome.

So I was wondering if any of you use an app (I'm of the iOS variety, but I have a Kindle as well) that generates WOTD type activities? I really want something that I can tell what equipment I have (barbells, dumbbells, roman chair, etc) and it would tell me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. But I don't know what's out there that's good, and I'm getting tired of buying apps that are nice, but don't do what I want. Any advice?

Did my C25K yesterday, more weights today! I've done 5 days in a row of my exercise plan! If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about that - I'm not normally a "get up at 6 am to push myself instead of snuggle in my cozy blankets" kind of girl...

Feeling a little more tired today, between C25K yesterday morning and a double run through rehearsal last night, my piggies are sore/dogs are barking/feets be killin me! But I still got up this morning, bright and early, and went and did a weightlifting circuit.

Did ten minutes of my rowing, and a different beginner's full body lifting workout from my app - phone is charging, I can look up the particulars later.

I was brave and logged all my food yesterday, and discovered I'd gone 300 calories over my goal, so at 8:30 I hopped on my elliptical and went until I'd burned more calories than I went over... it was good! I got ten kinds of sweaty, and still managed to fold a bunch of laundry before bed.

Thrillho, your son is awesome and inspiring! My sister and I just had a discussion the other day - she's been seeking help dealing with her autism, and it's been interesting to see the differences between her ADD + autism, versus my son's ADD + Aspie. There are some things they do that are similar, but some things are vastly different.

Last night I did 35 min on the elliptical to make up for a cupcake I shouldn't have eaten... And this morning I re-started my C25K, and did 2.11 miles!

Are we allowed to add our own mini quests? I decided I want to go back to logging ALL my food, instead of just vaguely reminiscing about what I ate during a meal before putting it out of my mind.

I love that photo, so creative! My little guy has been loving on Star Wars a lot lately - he wants to be either a minion or Obi Wan for Halloween, he can't quite make up his mind... As for the bike, the thing that finally got him going was having him scoot the bike without using the pedals, swinging both feet at the same time. For the longest time, he'd try scooting with his feet alternating, which would get him moving but also moving continually off balance (side to side) until he got a foot tangled up under a wheel. Once he learned the smooth scoot-n-glide action, it wasn't too tough to get his feet up onto the pedals. He fell a couple times, but not badly, and was game enough to hop back on and try again.

Their website does do a fairly decent job of helping you with your caloric goals, though - I've been very pleased with the various Fitbit devices I've had over the last 2 years. I just wish the Flex had come out before I bought the One, instead of a couple weeks after... I'd rather have the water resistant wristband than the stair counter. I pretty much only climb stairs at school, and then the website makes me feel guilty during the summer where I don't have stairs in my home.

I'm at http://www.fitbit.com/user/22PYXG - I could totally use some Fitbit friends, I feel like if I had some buddies it would be a little more motivating

I had the original Fitbit, currently using the Fitbit One, and I'm planning on buying the Flex later this month - I also have the Aria scale, and I love that I can get all my fitness info in one place.

Is it weird that I kind of want to just go back out and do another workout? Is it wise to do so? I guess looking at those photos really is more motivating than I thought, and it even makes me wish I had a full photo of my junked out porch from before I cleaned it all up. Makes me think I need to get photos of myself - right now I don't like appearing in photos because of how startling I look in them - I have backwards body dysmorphic disorder... I tend to think I look way better than I do, and then random photos remind me of just how chunky I've become. But I could see how weekly photos might help, once there's a downward trend going on.

5 minute warmup on my rowing machine thing(not exactly a rowing machine, but it was free, who cares if it looks like I'm riding a demented train pushcar?!) Ace of Spades workout from the Instant Fitness app (except I did the squats and calf raises with a barbell loaded with 2 15 lb weights - I know it's not much, but it made me feel strong!) High Knees: 2 sets/5 reps Squats: 2 sets/5 reps Calf Raise: 2 sets/5 reps Pushup (Knee): 2 sets/5 reps Iron Chair: 2 sets/1 rep (duration 10 sec) Bridge: 2 sets/5 reps Squat Jump: 2 sets/5 reps Pushup (Knee): 2 sets/5 reps Pull In (Lying): 4 sets/5 reps (I got bored in the 30 second rest so I did more of these) Hop: 2 sets/5 reps 5 minutes on rowing machine for cooldown

I'm starting with the 5k, and then moving to the other when I finish it. I'd started it before I herniated my disc, and I absolutely loved it! I didn't even think to take a photo of my BEFORE porch, but I will go take a photo of my AFTER... Today was my first day doing a full workout and it's awesome!! I am a Greek Chorus member(ie, Doric column, tree, courtier, boozy sea nymph, wicked witch, and droopy angel) in a local production of Dido & Aeneas, and I get stuck in a stage kiss for 5+ minutes, thanks to the curse of a wicked witch. Luckily my cast members all think I'm phenomenal at what I do, even if I have severe doubts about myself... I've been really good at weighing in - I bought a wifi scale thing that makes it so effortless to weigh and track my fat %, so I really have no excuse for that. In the last week I managed to get rid of the crusty old futon on my porch, and I cleaned off my dusty exercise gear, found an app that spits out workouts with verbal cues, cleaned up my awfully leaf-strewn porch, and got everything set up. Saturday I got in a mini-workout, today I did a full 30 minute set. Tomorrow I start up the 5k app again, from the beginning... I am thinking about doing a local Color Run 5k at the end of September, as a fun way to show myself that I can do this! I'm just a bit intimidated by the huge hill in the middle of the course... Before: After:

MAIN QUEST My main quest is to have lowered my body fat percentage - I am currently at 46.9%. Goals to achieve this: Weigh in on my scale (it measures body fat percentage as well) at least 3 times weekly.Get my home gym set up. It does me no good in a pile on my porch.Start my lifting/C25K(Zombies!Run) schedule I planned, and stick with it! (M/W/F= Make Weightlifting Fun, T/Th/S = Terribly Thrilling Speed)SIDE QUESTSLife Side Quest: To get through my stage kiss scene in the production I am in without being embarassed, laughing, or otherwise not taking myself seriously as an actor. Fat girls can still be sexy, boozy sea nymphs.Mini Quests: to be added as the challenge moves on.MOTIVATIONFat loss would be the one thing I can change in my body to bring the most immediate relief of my physical aches and pains. Living with chronic pain makes me cranky and tired and unmotivated. If I can alleviate that by even a small amount, then I know I will be on my way to a happier, healthier life.MEASUREMENTSBust: 47"Waist: 41"Hip: 49"Upper Arm: 14"Thigh: 26.5"Body Fat: 46.9%