The Borg Queen

Nice goals! Hiking the west coast trail sounds like a lot of fun. Hope you get to do it!

Nice job finishing the challenging and making some progress toward your goals! Kick the job interview's booty!

Ding Ding! You did a great job on your goals. Nice work balancing lifestyle and relationship... seems like you've made progress!

WEEK 5 RESULTS: Goal 1: Lifting The rest week cut into my regular lifting schedule. NA Goal 2: Running I got 2 runs in. B. Goal 3: Not Eating Out I ate out once, and the rest of the time I cooked delicious paleo meals. A Overall Grade: B+ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF CHALLENGE REPORT CARD: Week 1: A- Week 2: C+ Week 3: A- Week 4: A- Week 5: B+ Overall grade: B+, by my estimation BY THE NUMBERS: Starting weight: 155 lbs Ending Weight: 151 lbs (- 4 lbs!!!) Total inches lost: 5 inches (wtf, that seems like a lot... but spread over whole body, and considering I lost 4 lbs, maybe it isn't that weird) BF Starting: 31% BF Ending: 31.5% I don't think this is accurate, but it's worth recording the numbers anyway. Photographic evaluation: By the way things look, I'm getting a little more definition in the ab region. I'd say I have a 2 or 3 pack going. Also, there is a clear difference in the love handle region, which tends to be my problem area. Awesome! Other observations: I feel less self-conscious in revealing summer clothes. And in general, I have way more energy and less anxiety. Woo hoo! ------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks, team! Thanks to everyone for making the challenge fun, and for keeping me honest during trials and tribulations. I had a super good time getting to know you. I'll look forward to seeing you during the next challenge!

This is a great point. I like the idea of choosing a "king" goal, but I will have to put more thought into what it will be

Hey, I'm a salesperson, working in the alternative energy field.

Wow, you've been busy! I'm pretty impressed that you did some working out at all, even if it was "lame," as you say. Doing hotel room workouts shows a lot of commitment. As for eating paleo, I hope you're not losing heart. I always have problems sticking to it around friends and family, and then also while traveling... so the combination for me would be a recipe for failure. But it actually sounds like you are doing well, considering! And the fun thing about straying from the diet is you can always start fresh tomorrow. It sounds like you're maintaining a good attitude about it.

PS I hope you have an awesome time at the party! Stay disciplined, starbon (and selectively lose control )

That athlean poster is really funny! I'm not sure why. I think the progression is surprising. Whenever I start running after a long pause, I get really winded and red in the face (imagine a tomato with pneumonia), and then it slowly gets better. You just have to keep at it, you know, get the sprints in even if it's while carrying groceries.

"Nerds Level Up Finances," interesting concept. I like it

You hear people yammering on and on about the detriments of chronic cardio, but no one complains about dancing. According to one article, it's actually supposed to help you fight off alzheimers! http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm It seems like dancing is paleo, but what do you think about ballroom dancing? Is it a post- agricultural abomination of dancing? That's what my husband is interested in doing. Heck, I'll try anything.

^^^ L'irlandaise, you crack me up. Here are my long term goals, copied and pasted from mini-challenge 6. What a great exercise! 1. Get down to and MAINTAIN 20% BF. 2. Once I reach maintenance weight, develop a diet and fitness plan that will enable me to stay healthy for life. 3. Strengthen my network, by making my relationships with friends and family a priority. Go out of my way to build strong relationships. And maybe as a sub goal: lead a substance-free social life. 4. Continue doing things that I love, but find a way to do them and MAKE MORE MONEY. If you're reading between the lines, you may just see "money and power!" But hopefully, my goals will also lead to becoming a better person and contributing something valuable to society. So yeah, I want it all. WIS +1

Remind me not to breath on you after I've eaten peanuts. Just say no to peanut breath, lol. J/K, peanuts are NOT paleo. L'irlaindaise, thanks for reminding me about radishes! That's an awesome snack food. Do you chomp 'em plain?

WOOOO HOOOO, congratulations, you are amazing!!!!!!! I am so excited for you!

I wish more LC products were stevia sweetened. That only has the side effect of tasting weird, sometimes.

REST WEEK OVER. +0.5 con I feel really rested now, and I'm biting at the bit to get back in the game!!!! I'm going to take a nice, long run tomorrow, and then find a yoga class to go to. Also, I'll probably throw in some pushups, cause why not. And maybe a bike ride? What the heck, I'll do it all!!! In other news, I'm going back to a job that requires some physical exertion, so it's going to be interesting to incorporate my workout schedule with that. I'll see how it goes... I may have to change things around. Also, now's my chance to complain about maltitol. Have you ever had it? IT'S DISGUSTING. I fooled myself into eating some "low carb" coconut ice cream sweetened with maltitol, and it completely wrecked my stomach. That momentary sweet taste is not worth all the pain and suffering. I'd trade it for real sugar and an insulin spike any day. There should be a warning on the label, like there is with Oelestra chips. Yuck. *shaking head* Thanks to snarky, starbon, l'irlandaise, and cb3 for the very nice notes. And starbon, I really appreciate your pokes and prods. It can be hard to remember to update.

Wooo, sounds like you have a busy work schedule! And you're sticking to your workout plan, which is awesome. So you fell into the kiss trap... that's rough. At my old job, they had this big bag of peanut M&Ms, and I used to raid that all the time. It's hard when you're hungry, and you know it's there, to resist.... Planning to have convenient snack food in advance a really good idea. I think that's the only solution. Little tomatoes are so yummy, and they are getting to be IN SEASON

AHHHHH the toenail! Don't let it get infected, cake! Swing dancing sounds so fun! Have you been doing it awhile? I was just trying to talk my h-band into taking a dance class w/me, but he's shy. Have fun at the music festival

Are you gluten sensitive? Is it possible that you gluten'd yourself, causing the headache? I get wild and crazy headaches when I snarf bread, even if it is topped with delicious bacon. I am imagining jumping while not moving the head, and it's kind of funny. It might take some grace and skill. If you liked that, you might belong in the assassin guild... Glad to hear the walking happened! Are you seeing anything nice on your walks?

It's funny because I'm exactly the opposite. The only way for me to quit things is to go cold turkey... otherwise, I drive myself crazy with crushing desire. Somehow, saying "No" to myself is easier than saying "yes, but..."

Holy crap, 19% is awesome! Way to go. That is super exciting! Did you drop 5% during this challenge, or since you started (or both)? How are your sprints going? Is it getting easier, or is it terrible every time?

Glad you got through the slump! Nice job on meeting your morning goal, I know that's been a tough one and it's nice to see some success

Hahaha I like it. I remember liking whoppers. I haven't had them in... years! I've heard that sometimes people use a type of aversion therapy when avoiding foods. For example, if you're avoiding cheese, you try to think of something disgusting every time you think of cheese in order to transfer the disgusting feeling to the cheese. This would never work for me, but it works for some people.

I like this idea! I'll do it, but I have to put some thought into it. I'm liking some of these mini challenges. Love it!

Hey, I love your new avatar! Who is it? Looks like you're doing a good job doing the bodyweight workout. Keep up the good work!