Karin

Wow, sucks that you have to deal with all of that. Good luck to you on everything and stay strong!

Saturday through Tuesday: I drove 8 hours to visit a friend on Saturday and will be staying with her for the week! My food choices are a little limited in that I'll have to work with fried and sugary foods for a while, so with that in mind, I'm trying to at least keep that within my calorie goals (if not a little over but not drastically so). I'll be very happy if I can keep my weight the same since my last weight in. Otherwise, I've been struggling with the jaw problems because sleeping on a couch isn't exactly good for the back and neck. I have the option of an air mattress but I have terrible luck with those and always feel waayyy worse after sleeping on one. I've also been dealing with the aftermath of not drinking coffee this whole time and have been super lethargic (normally have coffee every day at work). Today is the first day I've felt fine and my friend and I went out on the town and walked for several hours (though her choice in footwear, IE heals brought our outing to an early end). So I'll have a few struggles to deal with during this week, but hey, I'm on vacation. As long as I'm reasonable I don't think I'll have anything to worry about.

Well it's going. I drove 8 hours on Saturday to visit a friend and stay there for the week so my food choices have been a bit... limited. I'm doing my best to stay within reasonable calorie goals though. Thanks for checkin in on me!

Friday: Did well and no pain. Hooray!

Wednesday and Thursday: No pain again these days, hooray! I've also been super good at not biting my nails and eating crappily. Thursday I had an Addy awards show to go to with parts of my workplace with an open bar and buffet. I did very well. I had one serving at the buffet, one piece of cake, and 2 vodka and cranberries. Sounds a bit much but normally at these events where there is free food I stuff myself silly on everything (especially sweets). I was pleasantly full and had a nice evening.

Thank you! Teavana has all of my favorite tea so far. They are pricey but their tea tastes amazing and is a little sweet on its own without sugar. I can't overeat dark chocolate... at least not super dark. I start not wanting it after a small square or two. Luckily that Endangered Species dark chocolate quarter of a bar is only about 100 cal but has tons of fiber and I feel great and full/satisfied. So no overeating here.

Tuesday: No TMJ pain today, hooray! Plus I stuck to all of my other goals, though quitting the whole nail biting thing is really hard because I just start wanting to do it without thinking and I have to consciously just go, "No!" So far I'm keeping on with it.

Very true. I had been eating Godiva's dark chocolate which was delicious but just too expensive so I bought some of that Endangered Species 88% dark chocolate because it was on sale and claims to have conflict/slave labor free cocoa, so that's always a good thing.

Monday and challenge day 1: I stuck to all of my goals today, so yay! My TMJ is flaring up for no reason at all it seems, but at least I haven't done anything to worsen it. So good day over all. Discovery: Not sure how I feel about really really dark chocolate. I'm nibbling on some 88% and it's almost too bitter... I bought a bunch though because it was way cheaper in bulk and I have designated it my "healthy after dinner dessert" so maybe my palette will change by the time I finish them all.

In my case, it's definitely pain. All the time pain that makes my neck and head hurt along with my jaw. It's debilitating. But yes, tea and dark chocolate are amazing and I'm going to have some after I brew some up here soon!

Nice set of goals! I too have problems getting up in the morning so I certainly know how that goes and having had taken a few photography courses myself, it is definitely rewarding when you take those first shots with some knowledge behind them and compare to old ones. It really does make a difference (and so does the lens on whatever camera you end up with). Good luck!

Those goals are all great and I love that you are taking it slow. I made the mistake last time around of starting with too much and it all crumbled around me. So this time I'm taking it slow as well. Good luck to you!

My weigh-in day is going to be Sunday morning. So even though the challenge doesn't start until tomorrow, here is my weigh-in day for today regardless! Sunday: 145.2 I'm consuming a few treats I'm not eating after today (left over V-day chocolate and a margarita... yum) to A. eat them because they are delicious, and B. get them out of the house so I'm not tempted! The only chocolate I'll be eating these next 6 weeks is a segment of extra dark chocolate paired with some apple cider tea (unsweetened) after dinner. I suggest you try it: it's delicious, hits the spot and it doesn't cause me to lose control and eat the whole bar like how milk chocolate does.

Hello everyone, challenge number two! I'm hoping to get a little bit of traction this time around and I certainly learned a good bit about myself from the last challenge. This time I am focusing primarily on nutrition with a minor emphasis on exercise. I suck at eating properly and I suck at exercise, but I think my diet needs way more work hence the rest of my quest details below. Mission My long term goal is to eventually weigh 130 to 135 lbs and for general fitness and nutrition to become second nature where I no longer need to fight myself to be healthy. Motivation Tired of feeling worn out (I'm only 24, this should not be happening!) and being unable to control myself around sugar and other food. Quest I - 3 CHA, 2 WIS Maintain a healthy calorie deficit, less garbage food and more good food A - Perfect! - All points B - 1 day a week missed - 2 CHA, 2 WIS C - 2 days a week missed - 1 CHA, 1 WIS F - 3+ days a week missed - No points Quest II - 3 WIS, 1 CHA No snacking between meals (work makes this rather difficult). A - No snacking - All points B - 1-2 snacks a week - 2 WIS, 1 CHA C - 2-3 snack a week - 1 WIS F - 4+ snacks a week - No points Quest III - 1 STR, 1 DEX, 1 STA Do any kind of exercise once a week: I know this isn't much but I have the absolute most trouble with sticking to exercise so I'm starting out really small with this one. If I do more, great! If not, I'll at least make sure I do something. A - 1+ exercise a week - All points F - No exercise - No points Life Quest - 3 CON Lessen TMJ pain (quit aggravating my jaw problems by no longer biting nails or chewing lip, being more aware of when I clench my teeth when I'm stressed so I can quit it, stretch) A - 100% Quit doing the stuff I can control completely (like the nail biting) - All points B - 85% of the time - 2 CON C - 75% - 1 CON F - No change - No points

I did just okay. I initially started out with wanting to clean up my eating (low carb, no sugar) and start exercising (from no exercise) and do yoga and de-stress to alleviate TMJ. Turns out that was waaayyyy too much. I dropped the exercise to focus on eating and discovered that I have a MUCH bigger problem with sugar than I ever thought possible and my TMJ/stress stagnated. My ups and downs as follows: - My eating was everywhere: I ate really well many days in a row to only loose my motivation and pig out like there was no tomorrow after. - I couldn't stick to low carb very long; carb flu kept knocking me off and my sugar addiction almost seemed to have gotten worse some days. + I did count every last calorie from the beginning so I know at the very least what my trigger foods are and how much I went over by when I did. + I lost about 4 lbs. + I have 90% stopped chewing on my lips and nails (trying to stop completely because it aggravates my jaw problems) - TMJ symptoms caused from stress haven't really changed, though I have been documenting days when I get it (and the severity) to see if I can spot a pattern and be more proactive. So there's that. I think I know what I need to focus on next time to ensure that I am successful and do more than flounder about, and I think I'll probably be in the Adventurer's Guild.

Well I made it to the end of my first challenge! However, I don't think I did particularly well in any of my goals so no extra skill points for me. I ended up dropping the exercise portion because I was burning out way too quickly and tried to keep with just de-stressing and eating. So here is a brief breakdown of my ups and downs. - My eating was everywhere: I ate really well many days in a row to only loose my motivation and pig out like there was no tomorrow after. - I couldn't stick to low carb very long; carb flu kept knocking me off and my sugar addiction almost seemed to have gotten worse some days. + I did count every last calorie from the beginning so I I know at the very least what my trigger foods are and how much I went over by when I did. + I still lost about 4 lbs. + I have 90% stopped chewing on my lips and nails (trying to stop completely because it aggravates my jaw problems) - TMJ symptoms caused from stress haven't really changed. So there's that. I think I know what I need to focus on next time to ensure that I am successful and do more than flounder about.

Sunday - Weigh in: 148.4 Well my Valentine's day silliness added another pound this week. Oops. I'm ridding all of the sweets left over in my house and giving them all to my much obliged sister who can eat anything and everything and never gain a pound.

Happy Valentine's day everyone! I celebrated by eating all of my favorite things with my boyfriend (Mexican food and fancy chocolates) and sitting happily in a food coma while reading. Day well spent! Back on track tomorrow.

Monday and Tuesday: I've done pretty well these past couple days! I *finally* stuck within my calorie limits (been tough lately). Yay! Not as low carb as I would have liked, but still better than before. I may actually lose a pound this week (if Valentine's Day doesn't unravel it at least, ha!).

Sunday weigh in: Still 147.2, so no pounds gained or lost this week ... which is perfectly fine by me because my cravings for everything really overwhelmed me and I thought I killed my progress this past week. Trying to do better this week so on V-day I don't feel guilty about my planned indulgences for Friday (Mexican food and chocolate!). Wish me luck; I've felt so apathetic lately, I'm gonna need it.

Monday & Tuesday: Did better! Though I did indulge in some Taco Bell because my boyfriend had it right there and waiting for me when I got home from work (damn was it good). I still hit my calorie goals even with the Taco Bell, so not too bad. Tomorrow I'm going to have grass fed beef as part of my lunch, so that should be yummy.

That's super helpful, thanks!

I've done okay so far, even lost 5 lbs! But... I had literally TONS of motivation and was ready to tackle everything the first couple of weeks but since then it has been unbelievably difficult. I just restocked the fridge so hopefully I'll have less a desire to eat crap food because now I have a fridge full of goodness! I'm planning (keyword there) to finish out these last 2 weeks strong so on V-day I can eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant and then run off to my favorite candy shop without feeling guilty! ...maybe not the best most healthiest reward, but dammit, I've avoided that place like the plague and now I really want to eat there. I feel that going once every 6 week challenge won't hurt.

The other day I bought some Kroger Simple Truth Organic Grass fed stew beef. I can't find nutrition info ANYWHERE on it. I have no idea what cuts of meat are typically used for stew meat and if grassfed cuts make a difference. Can anyone enlighten me and give me somewhat of an estimate for calories and such? I'm finding wildly different calorie estimates online from 600 to 1,400 calories for 16oz. I just want to be able to figure out if I eat it all if it's practically my day's worth of food or just a meal. Help please?

Sunday weigh in: 147.2 = gained a lb from last week, but about 5lbs lost over all. Been a few days. I gained that 1lb because I ate a bunch of fast food and fried junk and chocolate. Oops. I plan on doing better this week! Going to go shopping momentarily to restock the fridge so I have lots to eat so I feel less compelled to eat junk. Wish me luck, my motivation is waning and I need to get some more before my apathy destroys my progress.