MsMoneypenny

I did a lot better this time than the last challenge, but I suck big time at updating my challenge thread. Fitness Lifting heavy 3 times a week A+ Done! I didn't miss a single work out; this is HUGE for me. I'm really freaking proud of myself for this one Squat goal: 1 set (5 reps) at 125 F. I'm currently at 5 reps at 95, which isn't bad considering that halfway through the challenge I had to fix my form and start basically from scratch. Deadlift goal: 1 set at 100 A+ I hit this goal on Friday! Bench press goal: 1 set at 100 F. I'm stuck at 50 Walking 30 minutes 4 times a week A+ Again, not a single missed walk even in the absolutely frigid weather (it was -4 this morning!) This MUST be done outside! Diet Eat 90% Primal F. I'm sitting at 85% due to a much too long celebratory period after I received my acceptance letter into the University of Pittsburgh's MPH program. Copious amounts of booze and bar food was consumed, but I'm ok with this. I've been working for the last two years to make it to grad school, and sometimes you just gotta let things go Pre-approved cheat: All bets are off on Thanksgiving Life Cleaning the house every Saturday A+! Not a single Saturday was missed, and my house is sparkling! Overall? I'd say a C. I rocked at doing lifestyle changes: working out consistently, cleaning, and eating (except for this last week), and failed mostly on the specific number goals (lifting a certain amount). The number goal fails are due mostly to changing my form half way through for safety, so I'm ok with that because it's good for the long run. The numbers come out to be a D, but I'm giving myself extra points for making into one of the best public health programs in the nation *and* being awarded a large-ish fellowship for tuition. Challenge complete!

Wednesday November 16 Workout Squats 5x5 at 85 Deadlifts 5x5 at 85 Bench 5x5 at 40 2 laps farmer walk at 30 lbs Foodstuffs Pre wo protein shake Post wo sweet potato

Halfway Point Eval Fitness Lifting heavy 3 times a week: I've only missed one workout (last Wednesday), but I think that missing it helped me break through the plateau I was at weight wise, so win? Squat goal: 1 set (5 reps) at 125: At this point, I'm squatting 85 comfortably for a full set. I'm on track (it's only 40 pounds, and there's a full three weeks left in the challenge), but I think it'll be by the skin of my teeth. Deadlift goal: 1 set at 100: This is definitely going to happen. I'm at 80 now, so in three weeks I should be able to hit 100 no problem. Bench press goal: 1 set at 100: Pretty sure that this one is gonna be a big fat fail. Walking 30 minutes 4 times a week: So far, so good! This MUST be done outside! Diet Eat 90% Primal Even with my slip up last week, after doing the math, I'm still over 90% so far. Win! Pre-approved cheat: All bets are off on Thanksgiving Life Cleaning the house every Saturday: Dust and grime has been annihilated! My house has never been so clean! Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at in relation to my goals.

Monday November 14 Workout Squats 5x5 at 85 Deadlifts 5x5 at 80 Bench 5x5 at 40 2 laps farmer walk at 25 lbs Foodstuffs Pre wo protein shake Sweet potato

Talk about a rough three days. I got some rough news on Monday, and it threw me into a tailspin. I used to have a problem with stress eating and I thought that I had worked through it, but apparently I haven't. I ate nothing but crap this week in quantities I'm a little ashamed of, and missed my Tuesday and Wednesday workouts. Then on Wednesday afternoon, I read the article on the main site about how it's never the right time. That struck a nerve big time for me. Was the news this week less than ideal? Yes. Does that give me permission to go on a food bender? No. Life is stressful. Good stress, bad stress, it doesn't matter. I need to learn to work around the stress by eating the right foods and lifting even when I'm having a major meltdown, because eating junk and not lifting makes everything worse. I also refuse to beat myself up over my choices this week. It's over, it's done, and there's nothing left to do but get back on track.

Monday November 7 Morning Workout Squats 5x5 at 60 Deadlifts 5x5 at 60 Bench 5x5 at 20 Farmer walks 2 laps at 25 This was probably the hardest workout I've done in a long time. I was really struggling by the end of each lift, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with lifting in Chucks rather than Nike Frees as well as changing my grip and stance. So I feel like a total noob again and it's pissing me off. Tomorrow I'm going to go in after my morning walk and lift with just the bar to cement my stance and retrain my body. Argh. Foodstuffs Protein shake String cheese Apple

Weekend update! I didn't do any cardio over the weekend, but did manage to get all my grading done! Success! However, I did practice my changed grip and stance for squats and deadlifts and I'm pretty excited about that.

Friday November 4 Morning Workout Squats 5x5 at 60 Deadlifts 5x5 at 60 Bench 5x5 at 20 Farmer walks 2 laps at 25 I followed the advice of Rippetoe and lifted in my Chucks today while also beginning to fix my form. The shoes and different form made an incredible difference: it was a hell of a lot harder to lift. I'm pretty pumped though because having better form will only benefit me in the long run. Yesterday was as difficult as advertised, but it's Friday now so I can only be happy about that. I'm administering an exam in 20 minutes and my goal for the weekend is to get all 30 of the graded by Saturday at 5. If I can get that done, I'm going to the movies on Saturday (something that I haven't done in months). Foodstuffs Pre WO: half a protein shake Post WO: the rest of the protein shake, slice of cheese Lunch: leftover pork and asparagus Dinner: Homemade pork tamales! Not Primal, but worth every last bite!

I definitely find that when I don't get enough sleep, my workouts are pure crap. I average 7-8 hours a night, which was ridiculously hard to do in the beginning. I workout in the mornings, and have to be at work by 8, so it's ridiculously early when my alarm goes off. But it really is just a matter of prioritizing. The hardest thing for me was the first couple of weeks when my body rebelled at being in bed at 9:30. I just couldn't fall asleep, and then I stressed about not getting enough sleep which kept me up even longer, lol! But I found that if I forced myself out of bed and into the gym even if I hadn't had enough sleep, it reset my body and the next night, I was a little more ready to sleep at 9:30. It really did take a good two weeks for my sleep schedule to really change though. And now, if I'm not in bed by 10 I turn into a crank pot that falls asleep at the most inopportune times.

Thursday November 3 30 minute fasted walk (I'm buying wool tights or some kind of long underwear today because I'm tired of freezing!) This is shaping up to be a CRAAAAZY day, and I will be grateful for the weekend. I finally was able to check a copy of Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength this week, and it turns out I'm doing my squats wrong (not going down far enough below parallel and my stance is too narrow). So last night I started working on flexibility and mobility so that I can get properly below parallel, and it was crazy how tight I was. I'll be adding these in daily. I don't think I've said it before, but eating Primal would be a heck of a lot harder if my boyfriend didn't love to cook. He works all day, but 5 days out of the week still cooks crazy delicious meals for us (please see tonight's dinner and last night's chili). Without him, I'd be eating nothing but chicken breasts and frozen veggies! Foodstuffs Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, pork sausage Lunch: leftover chili! Dinner: pork loin with a delicious mushroom pepper rub, roasted asparagus and green beans

Merino wool tights. Got it, and thank you!

Wednesday November 2 Workout Squats 5x5 at 70 lbs Deadlifts 5x5 at 65 lbs Farmer's walk 2 laps at 30 lbs I tried to increase my deadlift to 70 today but my form was terrible, so I'll try again on Friday. I'm pretty sure that I'm capable of squatting way more than 70 lbs (probably closer to 85), but I'm afraid of going too fast and injuring myself. So slow and steady it is! Foodstuffs Pre WO: Apple, slice of cheese Post WO: whey protein shake Snack: Red bell pepper Lunch: 2 homemade hamburger patties, bag of steam fresh broccoli with EVOO/apple cider vinegar/spice mixture Dinner: bowl of homemade Primal chili (so freaking good!)

The feeling you'll get when you can increase your weights is absolutely indescribable and addictive Way to go on the progress!

Nope, running tights! But I was still freezing, so I'm thinking maybe sweatpants instead? Or maybe I need to listen to my grandmother and invest in long underwear, lol!

Tuesday November 1 Workout 30 minute fasted walk My alarm went off this morning and I wanted to get out of bed like I wanted to have a root canal. But all I could hear in my head was my brother saying "Nobody ever regrets working out. They *always* regret not working out." So I put my hard hat on and went to work. I'm definitely going to need sweat pants or something because it was 28 degrees when I started I studiously ignored all the Halloween candy that was everywhere yesterday, so I think that's a big WIN! ETA Foodstuffs Breakfast: scrambled eggs, pork sausage from a rancher friend (OMG YUM) Lunch: salmon fillet, steam fresh green beans with a little balsamic vinaigrette Dinner: 2 chicken breasts, saladbeast (really, the thing was HUGE)

Monday October 31 Workout Squat 5x5 at 65 Deadlift 5x5 at 65 Bench press 5x5 at 40 (this time next week I'll try graduating to the bar for real bench presses!) 2 laps farmer's walks at 30 And! The whole house got cleaned yesterday, including scrubbing the tile. Nervous energy FTW! ETA Foodstuffs PreWO: Apple, slice of cheese PostWO: Whey protein shake Lunch: Pork sausage from a rancher friend, spinach salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes, and artichoke hearts Dinner: Pork chops (also from rancher friend), another spinach salad, and a small sweet potato

Sunday October 30 Workout 30 minute walk (in the freezing wind!) House cleaning didn't happen yesterday, but it's going down today!

Thanks for all the encouragement! I'm beyond excited to be back Saturday October 29 Workout 30 minute walk

Friday October 28 Workout Squat: 5x5 50 Deadlift: 5x5 just the bar I tried to add 5 lbs but it was still too heavy for me to have good form. I'll try again on Monday. Pullups: 5 assisted at 110 lbs Bench: 5x5 at 20 lbs Farmer's walk: 2 full laps (back and forth = 1 lap) across my gym at 25 lbs

Thursday October 27 Workout 30 minute fast walk at 6:30 am I definitely need warmer workout gear because I froze for the first 10 minutes. Anyone have any suggestions for winter workout gear? I live in Colorado, so it gets pretty freaking frigid here.

Wednesday October 26 I'M CLEARED FOR WEIGHT LIFTING!!!! My ortho appointment went well: the break has healed beautifully, and I'm ok to start weight lifting So this morning, I headed to the gym! Squat: 5x5 just the bar Deadlift: 5x5 just the bar (this was so much harder than I thought it would be! It's just picking stuff up, but it got my heart racing) Pullups: 4 assisted at 110 lbs Bench: 5x5 at 15 lbs Farmer's walk: 2 full laps (back and forth = 1 lap) across my gym at 25 lbs I'm so freaking excited to be back!

Me too, me too!

So last challenge didn't go as well as planned, mostly due to a broken ankle. But I have my final orthopedic appointment tomorrow, where I'll hopefully get out of this cast and back into the gym! Fitness Lifting heavy 3 times a week Squat goal: 1 set (5 reps) at 125 Deadlift goal: 1 set at 100 Bench press goal: 1 set at 100 Walking 30 minutes 4 times a week This MUST be done outside! Diet Eat 90% Primal Pre-approved cheat: All bets are off on Thanksgiving Life Cleaning the house every Saturday Let's do this!

This was my first challenge, and despite breaking my ankle and not being able to workout for most of it, I think I did pretty well. Diet Goal: Eat (nearly) completely Paleo B+ This was surprisingly easy! Looking back over my food diary, I'd say I wound up eating roughly 75-80% Paleo. For the next challenge, I'd like to see if I can't raise that percentage to 85-90%. Fitness Goal: Finish the last two weeks of the Bodyweight Brigade and then begin barbell training D This did not happen. I started strong, but after a hiking mishap landed me with a broken ankle, training had to go by the wayside. I was on crutches for the first 3 weeks though, and now my upper body strength and overall endurance is a lot better than it was at the beginning. I've never been on crutches before, and was shocked at how hard it was to schlep my weight across campus weighed down by books and my laptop. With any luck, I should be out of the cast and have the go ahead to start working out at the end of next week! Life Goals: Finish grad school applications and read 2 fun books (Pass/fail) FAIL The fun book reading didn't happen at all (they're still sitting on my bedside table berating me), and I'm so close to finishing my application! I'm putting the final touches on my personal statement today and will be sending it out for editing tomorrow. So close! OVERALL GRADE: C I'm pretty happy with the results of this challenge. Despite some major stumbling blocks (broken ankle, dead computer, family business), I still managed to stay on target with my diet and life goals. I can't wait to get my ok to work out from my doctor and start the next challenge!

EPIC AND UTTER FAIL. I went hiking this weekend and broke my ankle. Gaah. So I am out of commission for the next 6-8 weeks. >.<