Waanie

Welcome back . I also got back recently, and sometimes it is so hard to not disappear again. However, I think that working on goals consistently actually helps me forward a lot. Anyway, I love the cat-memes in your challenge description (is it the same cat in all memes?)! Your goals are solid as well, I'll be here to cheer you on .

It did not really feel like a workout... more like randomly doing stretches while watching youtube, a quarter hour of yoga, then some more stretches, etc. In my mind, a workout is somewhat more structured and requires more effort than this . Still, an hour of this is still nice for progress. For the tennis ball torture, I just lie on the ground and roll on the area between the shoulder blades and spine. Not sure if this is the most effective or efficient, but it always feels like I have way more mobility afterwards. Thanks! Now I'm not sure if it is a holiday or vacation, as they are the same word in Dutch... Anyway, going away for a week will be nice . Long time no see! I'm glad I found a good physio a while ago, so I have good hopes that I'll be running again a few weeks from now. Over the past few days, I did not do a lot fitness wise; yesterday I spent all day with friends, where we went relay-cooking (cook in pairs, where every pair has to pick up where the others left off). It was lots of fun, the food was good, and there were even a few surprising dishes coming out of it. The most notable was an eastern-style salad, with spinach, cabbage, sweet and sour cucumber and carrot, and HOT chickpeas. Sometimes the dishes did not combine at all, like a flambeed Camembert with chinese-style tomato-soup and a vegetable/beans/meatballs dish, but it was fun and tasty all around. Today I visited my family, and otherwise I try to keep it slow. I'm still thinking on how to register my progress this challenge, I think I will go for something smartphone related. If anyone knows a nice app without ads, please let me know, or otherwise I might abuse my Daylio for this.

Oof, going from 2500 to 1300-1800 sounds tough! It also looks like you enjoy cheese ^^. Seriously though, the difference between how you eat now and how you ate before is like day and night, keep it up .

That's great about the running . It's nice to see that all your other activity kept you in shape so that going into running is not a problem . Your hanging times and push-ups are also steadily increasing, keep up the good work!

This helps me as well . Except I often forget to put pen and paper next to my bed, and walk to the room next door to fill up the empty white board while not really being able to see what I'm writing . How did the bowling game go?

Getting more food for breakfast/lunch sounds like a good idea . Also, great job on not eating the icecream . How much food do you usually eat?

I hope the weather clears up for you! Here, the weather is almost ideal for being outside (mostly sunny, and 24C). Thunderstorms are great to watch, especially at night, but not so much fun to walk around in. I just spent an hour or so doing the stretches of my physio and focused flexibility, followed by some yoga and torturing my upper back with a tennis ball. I felt so stiff everywhere, but now it is somewhat better. Yoga was day 24 of Erin Motz's 30-day challenge, and I don't know yet what I want to do afterwards. I don't really like yoga with Adrienne, and I don't know if there are any other nice 30-day challenges (or any other duration) out there. Another point I noticed recently, is that my daily exercise is still more than an hour on average, even with the hip injury. I'm glad this is going well effortlessly, which is more than I was able to do a few months ago .

Thanks! On the one hand, it's a pity that I cannot run at the moment, especially after I was just getting to the good parts (5-10 consecutive minutes of running). On the other hand, now I have a good excuse to fix my hips with a physio while I can still walk (mostly) and climb (somewhat). I just hope that it will get better soon, as sitting still with this great weather is frustrating .

Congratulations on your home! Agreed on both parts... The first time something breaks or you need big renovations, it is scary as hell as well. Suddenly, everything costs money, you have to find reliable handymen, etc. This is okay, and the anxiety really diminishes in time. The freedom of owning your own house is really worth it .

Snack squirrel mode is the worst. I just finished my olives, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a glass of buttermilk, and I still want MOAR! Good luck!

New challenge is up!

Over the past few challenges, I have become more energetic and my life is finally getting in order again. Unfortunately, I'm now suffering a groin/hip injury due to poor running-technique. Since I have no idea how much exercise I will be able to do in the next few weeks, I will focus on flexibility. Long term goal: Feel more energetic again and move with ease. Challenge goal: - recover from running injury - improve squat "stretch" and prone knee-to-chest stretch - maintain yoga, cleaning and clarinet habits Quests: 1. Daily physical therapy exercises 2. Daily Focused Flexibility exercises 3. Yoga 3x a week L1. Play the clarinet 3x a week L2. 15 minutes of chores 3x a week There will be one week where I'll be on holiday, then I'll skip the yoga, clarinet and chores. I will try to keep up the climbing and will possibly do some strength-training or running, we'll see. This week is to settle in, and next week I will really start this challenge .

Yeah, I agree it was a success (which is also why I did not calculate percentages) . My problem with my running technique is that I place my feet in front of each other, instead of on two separate lines. This requires my core to compensate a lot, which it cannot do, and therefore my iliopsoas (hip-flexor) and adductors take over. They are not meant to do this, hence the pain. The good news is that I can still do daily stuff, although long walks cause some pain. Climbing is possible, as long as I do easy routes that go straight up. It's not much, but better than nothing. For my new challenge, I will focus on flexibility (including physio exercises). I also need to play the clarinet more often and keep my house clean now that it is liveable, so I think I have my goals. Challenge will be posted later today .

I love these fun goals . Do you have any plans specifically to prepare for it, or just go with the flow? Following!

That workout sounds HARD! I hope you'll recover from it soon. And yeah, we often forget that stepping, house-work and other daily activity is exercise as well, but it consumes waaay more energy than those 2-5 workouts per week .