Radishknight

Greetings all! I'm RK and my internet access is somewhat limited because I travel, a lot, and don't have a data plan. Thus why I'm posting late, not that it makes much of a difference I posted late every other challenge I've done (all one of them). My Main Quest is to be fit enough to compete with my husband in Tough Mudder. This year we were able to do a Spartan Sprint and I came out better than I thought I would, thanks to a dude that helped me over the walls. You're my hero nice dude. The side quests I'm currently working on are as follows: Run thrice a week, strength train at least once a week, and figure out this meditation thing to combat the "grey days" that stress induces. Also to pick up the 'Do something you're terrible at' challenge I'm going to hula hoop every day, even if I have to do it in hotel lobbies. I'm also still working on my grading process. The first one I came up with ended up being incredibly strict and nearly impossible to achieve success. I'd like to have a hit point system ideally with things that can be used as 'health potions' or something for weeks where my schedule nearly kills me. As it stands right now I'm using the simple A-F system per week and then averaging results at the end of the challenge. Good luck to you all!

Main Quest: Be able to compete in Tough Mudder (annually if possible) This goal should keep me occupied for the majority of the year. One thing is for sure though, I'm a lot closer than before this last challenge. Current Quests: Build up my Paleo Recipe cache: B+ I ended up going vegan halfway through the challenge (because of a recent diagnosis) so the direction of what recipes I was searching for changed. Even with that I feel like I did well, not amazing just well, in building a base for cooking meals I'm unaccustomed to. Bring my body fat % to 25 from 30: B Since most of our travelling brought us away from nifty things like the BodPod I have no real way to accurately measure my body fat % at this time. However, I lost an inch off my waist and 1/2 inch from my arms so I'm going to say I did alright. Building Endurance: C I didn't make my goal of being able to work out for an hour and not feel like I was dying. But I did manage to bring my endurance up enough to run for a solid 30+ minutes on the regular without feeling like throwing up. Handicaps: Activity Induced Asthma: It's almost completely gone. I still get a little wheezy, but the shower after the workout usually clears that right up. Yay! Bad shoulder: Still hates me. I didn't end up doing as much strength training as I was hoping to. It somehow turned into a once a week activity. I also completely screwed up my ranking system. According to my system I made an overall D on the amount of days worked out. *shrugs* because it's not an actual fail I'll take it. I know to work out a different system next time, or maybe make my A a little less than a 95%. So, I win! But just barely.

Update for accountability. Feb 2-8 was a solid B. No crazy last minute stuff, except my dude getting back from overseas a little early. Yay! 9-15 has been my best week so far, my second A. Not only that' I'm actually seeing improvement so I totally feel like I've won. I can now keep a reliable 10 minute mile pace for over 30 minutes without getting sick/ feeling like passing out. I don't dread working out as much as I used to. I didn't do much strength training but that's OK. I can always trow that into the next challenge.

Thanks WildColonialGrrl!!! I hope you can do the same to week 5. Yay! Jan 26-Feb 1 has been a solid B! It looks like I've formed a habit with Two 25 minute jogs and One set of interval training per week. Not exactly what I was out to do, but hey I'll take it! Then it get's to Saturday and I'm like "Crap I have only done 3 days this week" and I go out for a silly last minute jog/jog in place because I was a dork and brought along the dog that must smell the ENTIRE WORLD, for 30 minutes. I'm also going to start teaching a Zumba Gold class this week. Pray for me, or whatever way you send good luck so that I don't fall flat on my face, or completely forget the moves for the song. Oh please please please. I'm super stressing out! But again, I don't feel like the ZG routine is difficult enough for me at this stage to count as a 'workout'. I felt good this week; I feel like I've been over all more active than I have been in a long time even if not all of it is what one would consider 'exercise' ((hoola hoops for the win!)). Really not looking forward to the Vegan-ness I'm going to try here soon.

Healthy eating is totally key. Good job, yo! Did you read the article that was posted as "a reading assignment" by one of the admin on the Level 1 page? It's really really good. Good luck this week!

Funny you should mention booze. I have a friend who recently told me that simply cutting that out of her diet helped her lose a lot of her belly bulge. You're doing awesome! Keep up the good work.

Awesome! I'm totally sending this to my Brother in Law. I'll keep this article in mind in the coming weeks. Thanks for the post. Also... Toad, I really really loved racing as Toad in Mario Kart 64.

I did the thing that the P90X guy did before P90X... I dunno my mom had these DVD's and it was the same guy only it wasn't the X, and it was ok. I find that I don't like the DVD workouts. I like this one really sweet sounding chick on youtube ZuzkaLight. Mostly because I'm in small spaces, or travelling with the dude more often than not and her workouts usually don't require much other than body weight. Good luck with battling the sugar demon.

So I'm all turned around with time and stuff. But according to my log (because if I don't write things down I remember nothing) the week of Jan 12-18 was an enormous A for awsomesauce! I managed to get in a whole 5 days worth of good solid exercise. Two 25+ minute runs and Three 20 minute sessions of interval training, with only marginal wimpiness on the last sets. Then American food kicked me in the face. Last week, Jan 19-25, was full of me just forcing myself to do something, anything. When I say "I refuse to count calories" I don't mean I eat whatever the crap I want. I keep to a balanced diet, I don't eat processed foods and I hardly ever eat fast food, I just don't stress about the calories in said food and eat practical portions. I recently just started keeping a log of what I eat and how much because this happened the last time I returned to the U.S. Only last time I threw up a whole lot more. So, Jan 19-25 was actually a C. I managed to get a 20min jog in with the dog, one interval training session, and a sorta-kinda jog that lasted about 35 minutes up and down the hills in the area where I'm currently couch surfing. I also had a day when I kind of did the interval training, but was totally wimpy about it so I'm not going to count it; and I went snow boarding on the 19th but I don't know if I should count that as exercise seeing as how I wasn't particularly sore afterwards. Maybe it's because I crashed less than the last time. () This week is looking more promising. I think I'm getting over the food readjustment period, but I've also gone out of my way to purchase more organics than I usually do. Thanks WildColonialGrrl and FiOWNya. It's nice to have people rooting for ya. <3 Good luck you two!!!

Dude! I know how you feel, but don't get too discouraged. Sometimes the frustration is more an anchor than fuel. It helps me to ignore what I haven't done and focus on what needs doing. It's hard to form new habits, but I think you can do this. I really like your rating system and you're doing a really good job with the accountability.

Hooray for new years and the heaps upon heaps of weight loss BS that explodes all over the FaceBook. It's like my Aunt and Sun Rider. I think she spends like 6 or 7 hundred dollars a month on the stuff. I think it's chinese herbs or something. She got my mom hooked. Thankfully my mom isn't as religious about it. Though every once in a while she does ask me if I need [insert product here] to help me get over a cold or what have you.

Tuna. I'm not kidding. I thought my husband was crazy when he handed me a can of tuna 30 minutes after a really hard work out, but it worked. It doesn't magically make all the soreness go away, but it makes a huge difference. I'll echo everyone else on this point. Make sure you're hydrated. I feel the sore bits more when I haven't been drinking enough water. Oh and Tiger Balm. I looooove Tiger Balm, it could just be that the smell relaxes me, or the stuff might actually work. *shrugs*

The whole article reminded me of what one of my father's in law would do every 6 months or so. He'd eat home made vegetable soup for every meal for a month, lose something like 15 pounds, then go right back to his awful trucker diet of Denny's and fast food chicken sandwiches. A lot of the diets that were rated high felt very 'fashionable' to me. Whole grains are the 'super food' of the decade. Fat is now the Nemesis (I thought sugar was the bad guy, is it still on the food villain's list?). I really feel like there are fads that run through the Diet and Nutrition spotlight every so often. Here in a few years some 'new study' will come out and redefine what everyone should be eating yet again. Everyone's metabolism is different, their goals are different, and what we eat needs to support the demands of the body. Also, I just wanted to put my two cents in on raw dairy because one of the other forum members expressed concern. Raw dairy typically isn't any more dangerous than pasteurized dairy as long as it comes from a reputable source (Here is the link for the data). Don't buy raw milk from that shady guy selling it by the side of the road in coolers full of mostly melted ice. I'm more afraid of buying spinach than I am of raw milk from the dairy near my in-laws. Interesting fact: most people who are lactose intolerant can consume raw milk without issue. If raw dairy still freaks you out try and find pasteurized non homogenized milk. You can get most all the goodies without the worry.

I think it's a good idea. I have a few videos I look up every time I have a gray day or am procrastinating; I should probably have a playlist. So far it seems to have helped me out when I've made use of it.

I'm going to definitely add a lot of ya'll's songs to my playlist. A few staple workout songs for me are Ramstein; Sonne ,Pillar; Frontline,Tank!, Origa; Rise, and just about anything PowerGlove.