Crooked

I have one month before I start my job as a lawyer at a big firm. The hours are going to be tough and unpredictable, so I want to do my best to get myself really healthy and develop better habits before I begin. My overall aim for this (belated) challenge is to work on habit building so I can feel my best and most confident when I wake up on September 8 and leave for the office. FOOD I have been following a mostly paleo diet for the past four years. Sometimes I eat more non-gluten-containing grains than others, and I'm often flexible about legumes and frankenfood ingredients, but I generally keep it clean. Recently I've been feeling really good about my diet. I've been incorporating more seafood than usual, I've been eating a good mix of vegetables, and there are very few days where I experience food aversions and so just eat things like nuts and raisins for dinner (this has been a problem for me for a while). The big things I would like to focus on this challenge are cutting down on my reliance on bars (Exo bars, Epic bars, Larabars—I sometimes eat multiple per day) and backing off on my binge foods: dark chocolate, plantain chips and nut butters are particularly bad for me. Goals 1. Write down everything I eat (either make a list or use a tracking app like MFP, which I do intermittently now. 2. Maximum one bar of any kind per day. 3. Chocolate two days per week at most. 4. Measure out portion sizes before eating foods that I tend to overeat. These goals seem extremely doable (well, maybe not cutting back on chocolate!), but I hope to develop consistency and therefore confidence in my habits by being regular about them. FITNESS I have done very little exercise over the past few months. This past year I was mostly doing 5/3/1. Then I hurt my back in the spring (I think in March or April) from a combination of too much sitting and imperfect squat form. From mid-April to present I've been running very occasionally, doing a bit of yoga and walking a lot. My back issues aren't resolved but I have a better sense of what's going on, so I would like to get back into a routine. I also currently weigh between 149 and 152 pounds at 5'4". For a while I have been trying to tell myself that this weight is ok because I'm muscular, and that's largely true, but I also have a decent amount of body fat OVER my muscles, and I'd like to start working on improving my body composition instead of pretending I'm happy with it the way it is. I think the overall fittest I ever was was when I had been doing CrossFit for a year with a great coach. I don't think I'm going to be able to get back into CrossFit entirely, but I would basically like to do more HIIT along with my lifting and try to be more rounded in my training. I'm a little overwhelmed with the prospect of trying to come up with a program for myself while also trying to work on my back issues and coming back from months of almost no exercise. I'm not going to make doing a program or completing it every day a goal, though I will come up with something shortly. Down the road I might email my old CrossFit coach and ask him to program for me. For now, I am going to make my goals more modest so I can hopefully achieve them comfortably. Goals 1. Do some form of exercise, broadly defined, five days per week. 2. At least one run or long walk per week. 3. At least one yoga class per week. 4. At least one weight session per week. [Note: Since my gym just canceled my membership without telling me that there was anything wrong, I don't currently have a gym to go to. Until that is remedied, I won't hold myself to this.] 5. At least two days including a circuit or HIIT. SLEEP While I'm on vacation, there's no reason I can't get eight hours of sleep per night. LIFE GOALS AND PRODUCTIVITY I struggle to get myself to do administrative tasks (going to the post office, calling the credit card company, switching to online bill pay, things like that). I also have been having some trouble motivating myself to work on bigger, more open ended tasks (finishing my research for a former professor, reworking a paper I wrote, etc.). I plan to write up a list of to do items for every day. My goal is to just do the things I say I'm going to do for any given day. Of course I can game the system by not assigning myself anything—but I tend to have the reverse problem of thinking I will be able to accomplish more than I am. So that's my overall plan. I would really love it if by following all of these goals I could cut some weight before I start work and start getting back into the range at which I am comfortable with my body. But I am trying not to be too outcome oriented at this stage and to simply prioritize process.

Hi everyone! I know the challenge is already underway, but it's never too late to start (or restart) a fitness journey, right? So I've decided to join the fun as I get back into shape after the bar and before beginning work at my firm. Hanging out with the Rangers this challenge because I am trying to work strength and metcon at the same time and to cut the body fat that has been creeping on throughout law school. Goals to come once I think of them.

CONGRATULATIONS ON AN AMAZING MEET!

I just squatted 150 pounds for 20 reps. The most I've ever done at that weight is 15 reps, and the most I've ever squatted for 20 reps before is 135 pounds. I've been feeling a little weak this week because I haven't been sleeping great or eating quite enough, but everything this morning felt smooth and easy and awesome. Just needed to celebrate that somewhere!

February workouts February 2 500m erg 2:09.2 Back squat 45x5 95x5 120x5 135x5 (oops) 150x15 155x5 165x3 135x3 135x3 135x3 135x3 135x3 Front squat 75x10 75x10 75x10 FEBRUARY 3 Bench 45x5 65x5 75x5 85x3 95x9 100x3 100x3 100x3 100x3 Narrow bench 45x10 45x10 45x10 45x10 45x10 Dumbbell shrugs 25x40 Dumbbell rows 20x20/arm Treadmill walk one hour FEBRUARY 7 Press 45x5 55x5 60x5 65x3 70x9 75x3 60x5 60x5 60x5 60x5 60x5 Deadlift 45x5 135x5 150x5 170x3 190x17 200x3 205x3 150x5 150x5 150x5 Have a little cold. Trying not to push too hard or max out but still get the lifts in. February 11 Erg 500m 2:04.5 Back squats 45x5 95x5 110x5 125x5 140x19 145x5 150x5 110x5 110x5 110x5 110x5 110x5 45m walk February 12 Bench 45x5 65x5 70x5 80x5 90x8 (whoops) 95x5 70x5 70x5 70x5 70x5 70x5 70x5 70x5 Hang cleans 45x5 65x5 85x5 100x12 105x5 110x5 115x5 Barbell shrugs 45x20 45x20 45x20 Barbell curls 45x5 45x5 45x5 35m Felt super weak this morning. My max-reps set was disappointing but it felt bad as soon as I picked up the bar. Instead I tried to up the volume so I could get a decent amount of work in by doing extra first-set-last sets. I think I'm just not getting quite enough sleep. Goal is to be in bed by 10 tonight. February 13 Deadlift 45x5 135x5 155x5 180x20 185x5 190x5 195x5 200x5 Front squat 45x5 65x5 85x5 95x5 95x5 105x5 115x5 115x5 115x5 115x5 Gym etiquette fails: Basically invite yourself to work in with me on the squat rack. Use the rack for bicep curls. Then leave the bar in the bottom position so I have to clean it back up to use it for squats.

I tried Natural Calm but I woke up with weird neck pain, and I saw some people online mention they had that side effect, so I got a little freaked out.

I've fallen off a bit with posting and with the challenge. Once I fail to post for a few days, I get anxious thinking about trying to remember everything I did, which further discourages posting. So rather than try to catch up, I'm just going to forgive myself and move forward. I've been going to sleep later and later and sleeping increasingly restlessly, so I'm going to make that my number-one priority going forward. I've also been avoiding lifting for a few days because I feel weak, which is just so unlike me and I think stems from sleep deprivation. Finally, I've struggled with schoolwork-related motivation. All areas for improvement but not for beating myself up!

Yesterday: Sleep: 6:18—just couldn't stay asleep Steps: 17,352 Stretch: Did not Strength: Bench45x1065x370x380x390x1195x3100x3105x370x370x370x370x370x3 Back squat45x595x5135x3155x3165x3170x3170x3170x3 2 strict pull-ups 1 pull-up1 pull-up1 pull-up2 chin-ups2 chin-ups One hour treadmill walk Sustenance: pre-workout: larabarlunch: zucchini noodles with eggs and Rao'ssnacks: green apple; plantain chips; macadamia nuts; raisinsdinner: AMAZING duck; salad with pomegranate seeds and walnuts; oven-roasted cauliflower (my brother's girlfriend is a kitchen goddess)

Recent workouts: January 26500m row 2:09.8 Back squat45x595x5115x3125x3140x18150x3155x3115x3115x3115x3115x3115x3 Front squat70x870x870x870x870x8 Treadmill walk Stretching January 27500m erg warmup 2:08.6 Press45x555x360x370x375x680x2, failed 3rd rep60x360x360x360x360x360x3 Hang cleans45x565x575x385x395x12100x3105x3110x3115x3 Whoops. Realized I forgot to multiply my press max by 90% in calculating numbers today. No wonder this workout felt so much harder and more of a struggle! Treadmill walk15 min stretchinf January 28Erg sprints30 sec on 30 sec off121m119m122m121m117m120m119m113m117m122m Treadmill walk20 min stretching January 29500m erg warmup 2:14.5 Deadlifts45x5135x3145x3165x3185x18205x3215x3145x3145x3145x3145x3145x3 Dumbbell shrugs 20x20Curls 20x8/armDumbbell rows 20x10/armShrugs 20x20Curls 20x8/armRows 20x10/armShrugs 20x20Curls 20x8Rows 20x10/arm Treadmill walking for an hour

Whoops! Hi! I've been a little swamped recently!

Role reversal with parents is super, super tough and frustrating. I'm sorry it's been difficult but thrilled you had such a great trip!

DAY NINETEEN RECAP Sleep: 7:34 Steps: 3,437 Stretching: None Strength: Rest day Sustenance: breakfast: eggs with spaghetti squash, onions, red peppers; FCLO/butter oil blend pill, vitamin D lunch: sweet potato with bacon, caulifower rice; two slices dried mango snack: McIntosh apple dinner: tuna with homemade mayo and apple slices

I like this summary of your lifts' statuses a lot—super interesting to read!

THIS IS SO CUTE

DAY EIGHTEEN RECAP Sleep: 6:50 Steps: 13,187 Strength: See above Stretching: Almost twenty minutes after my workout Sustenance: pre-workout: cashew larabar breakfast: spaghetti squash with eggs and Rao's tomato sauce; raspberries; bone broth lunch: chicken; kale salad with apple; sweet potato; macadamia nuts snacks: broccoli cooked in ghee; mcintosh apple; two squares dark chocolate dinner: chocolate chili with homemade plantain "chips" DAY NINETEEN RECAP Sleep: 7:27Steps: 13,289Strength: 500m erg warmup 2:09.2 Bench45x555x565x575x585x1190x565x565x565x565x565x5 Back squat45x595x5135x5140x5145x5150x5155x5135x5Treadmill walk Stretching: Ten minutes after my workoutSustenance:breakfast: chocolate chili with sweet potato over cauliflower rice; broccolilunch: tuna with homemade mayo and applessnack: friend's homemade paleo bread with butter; macadamia nutsdinner: eggs with spaghetti squash and Rao's; FCLO pills; vitamin Dsnack: dark chocolate