kleamy

Hi, and thanks! I'd forgotten all about this challenge :-( No soda or carbonated beverages - Check! Water and tea, and occasionally juice (which I'll cut out eventually, it's sooo sweet) was all I had. Walk or run 4 miles per week - Check! A single go, around the neighborhood at a fast walking pace. So, success! New job training starts Monday, and I'm excited!! This week is being spent in preparation, since I have to travel for training and I've seriously slacked on laundry for, oh, months. Ugh

I got the job!!! In the wake of the abrupt firing, unemployment chaos and now hiring, my fitness routine has gone out the window. Frankly, this challenge, while I've yet to meet any of my goals in any way, has shown me my biggest weakness by far: Consistency. The keystone that makes everything from fitness to nutrition to learning new skills successful...is the big hurdle. Hoo boy. I feel like every update here I need to scale back my goals, but I think perhaps I was a bit overambitious coming into this one. Probably a typical n00b issue, and I'm not surprised, I do that to myself often in many areas of my life. So, for the remainder of this challenge, my REVISED goals are small, and simple: No soda or carbonated beverages.Walk or run 4 miles per week - can be all at once, or broken up. Can be outside, or at the gym. Just do it. Over-arching quest to become Wonder Woman needs to be more gradual than I'd like, but until I can ditch responsibility and family for a year to solely transform myself and then return to them, it's going to have to be gradual. I don't like it, but there it is.

Week Two Update While traveling, we walked EVERYWHERE, and didn't even rent a car. We averaged 12 miles a day for 4 out of 5 days last week! I indulged diet-wise more than I'd have liked, but also made mostly good decisions as far as balancing veggies and protein, both of which I have trouble getting enough of in my daily intake. Friday I rested, and today I went to a festival with some friends and put in another 4.5 miles or so. No lifting happened this week, unfortunately, so I have a suspicion that when I start back up on Monday, I'll be back at square one. Unfortunate, but until the Consistency Achievement is unlocked, that will be the reality. On the job front, the second interview went swimmingly, and I'm checking in with them tomorrow morning just to touch base. I have high hopes that I'll get this position, which would be such a blessing in so many ways.

Well, boo. My first week was garbage. Only one successful lifting and running workout, too much junk, and no energy. As Saturday crept closer I stressed BIG TIME over the wedding (it was my first) and then Saturday was indeed an all day affair. Today will be a downtime sort of day, I have to decompress from it all! This week will be...interesting. We're going to Las Vegas tomorrow night, and I've checked out the places we're staying, and there are free weights, but not barbells, just dumbbells. So, I think I will work on modified lifts while I'm there, and the cardio will come from the miles we'll be walking up and down the strip and in the casinos. We'll have lots of food options, so I should be able to eat decently healthy, and my goal for the trip is to only have one "treat" item (read: sugary dessert-y type food) per day. So, I feel like I failed right out of the gate, but I also know that I have 5 weeks left. I did get ONE workout in this past week, so I'll honestly be happy if I complete two workouts this week. EDIT - I almost forgot! I also interviewed for a new job on Friday, which went swimmingly. I really want it, and have a second interview this week. On the flip side of that, the current PT job that I have appears to be about over. While I was at the wedding, my employer/friend emailed me to let me know I don't need to come in this week and that he's interviewing other people. It's not a surprise, we've had talks leaning this way previously...but email? Frankly, at the end of a super emotional, stressful day that was the last thing I needed. I deserve at least a phone call, but I guess I should have expected it when he offered me the job via Facebook. I guess I'm old school, but using the internet for things like that is really disrespectful to me. I was sort of looking for a new job for a number of reasons, but one was to preserve our friendship because I don't think it would survive my working full time for him. I think that was cemented by this. Maybe I'm still over emotional/tired from yesterday, but that seriously ticked me off. I need to cool off before I respond or call him.

Man, I see this option so often, but unfortunately I have food allergies, and almonds are on that list But, I know I could do the same with nuts that I'm not allergic to, so I should see about getting some of those!

Thanks guys! My Wednesday workout has been moved to today, as I was surprised with a short-notice date with the husband. Nice surprise, but my muscles seem to get antsy if I don't do some form of hard activity every few days, so I ended up fidgeting a lot Friday's workout will be moved to Saturday, which will be an all-day workout because I'm a photographer, and am shooting an all day wedding that day. Between hauling equipment, hiking all over, crouching, bending and climbing, and just plain being on my feet all day, I'm VERY glad for no workout on Sunday! Junk food is currently a couple of times a day, so I'm working on cutting that down to once a day for the next week or so. I've been drinking more water and doing a bit better with the volume of junk each day, so I think the baby steps of cutting it down will work. I'll be back later tonight with my Achievements for the day!

That sounds great! I'll message you with my email

Challenge Day 1 Achievement Unlocked: Barbell Rows Tonight, I entered that weight room and breathed a sigh of relief to see it empty. I bit the bullet and added weight to the barbell and squatted 50lbs. I was barely able to do the same weight on the bench, but completed the reps without dropping it on myself. I almost left without trying the barbell row, because of my serious lack of strength. But, how else am I going to gain anything? I took the empty bar to the mat and I did the rows! I'm not sure my form was right, but it was my first time so I'm cutting myself some slack. Achievement Pending: Run 2 miles I was pretty wiped after the weights, and hit the escalator type machine to work on my incline training. That was a bad decision, I barely lasted ten minutes, which was a very slow .6 miles. No more getting creative on the cardio - straight treadmill for the remainder of this challenge. I can work on hills later, sheesh. Today, I give myself a B.

Hey there, I'd love to be a buddy and check in on each other! I'm terrible with consistency myself, and the thought of being OK with myself in whatever I'm wearing to the beach seems like a fantasy. I love that goal!

I love this!

*deep breath* Here goes! First NF post, first challenge, first public accountability like this.. I currently resemble Daisy Duck: pasty white (that won't change ), roundish with no waist definition, no strength to speak of whatsoever. Main Quest To transform into Wonder Woman, strong and agile, confident in my own abilities and fearless in adversity (the amazing weaponry wouldn't hurt, either) Quest Goals Follow StrongLifts plan and lift M W F, even if there are other people in the weight room and I'm terrified Run 2-3 miles M W F after lifting, to keep stamina for next year's races Cut down junk food to once a week by the end of the challenge Being female, and currently very much fitting into the stereotype of having no upper body strength, I'm the oddity in my gym's weight room. I go late at night so it's not busy, but even when the guys in there are minding their own business and not constantly glancing and smirking, I feel overcome with a massive "you're going to make a giant fool of yourself in front of ALL THESE PEOPLE" in my head. At most, there's usually two other people in there, but my brain freaks the eff out about it. Part of the fear is that right now, I'm only lifting an empty barbell, and struggle at times with that. Add in the lack of self-confidence, the fact that any of my friends that go to a gym don't go to this one, and the fun I had the other day learning that I cannot, in fact, overhead press the barbell from my chest....well, step 1 is the biggest step. I'm about to head to the gym after posting this, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that having you guys with me will help kick my butt into just doing it and screw 'em all!