Kard

Day 7 - A stumble through the finish line of the leg So it has been several days since I last updated. After day 3, I had some serious swelling in my left foot. I was limping around in pain so I shelved exercise for the time being. That and my adherence to my new eating plan took a dive. That was the bad news. The good news is that I weighed in at 259lbs today! I am definitely not starving myself but I credit the loss to eliminating diet soda from my drink selection and avoiding Frankenfoods. I think this coming week will be much better. My foot is healing and I can start some light exercise and refocus on my new eating plan.

Day 3. It's a bumpy ride! I did okay today. It was my day off from physical activity but the change in food selection is beating me about the head and ears now. Not whining about it, just taking note so I can adjust. Meals: 0650 - 2 scrambled eggs, a couple pieces of ham, and some cooked cabbage. 1200 - A small portion of baby carrots and celery. Two portions of left over meat and spaghetti sauce. 2100 - Some cooked cabbage, a couple pieces of ham, spaghetti with noodles, and 2 pieces of garlic bread. Highs: 1. No sweets today 2. No sodas 3. Bag lunch! 4. Protein supplement Lows: 1. Felt cravings all day (grrr!) 2. Spaghetti noodles and cheesy garlic bread 3. Not enough sleep Personal note: My diet for the most part is pretty clean now. I'm probably feeling cravings because I am used to snacking on chocolates every now and then. I think the cravings are also a symptom of not eating enough either. I have to find that fine balance of eating just enough to fuel the body but promote fat loss as well. Making some adjustments starting tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I am adding a protein drink to my regimen as a part of the program I am following. The protein drink will be the first thing consumed after I wake up. It may slow down my workout a tad, but I will see. I also found a recipe for black beans that I plan on using for my actual breakfast. The addition of beans in the morning will give me the sensation of fullness while helping meet my calorie needs.

It's a start.

Ripple, They say if you do a job you love you will never work a day in your life. I think the same applies to exercise. Just find something to love and go with it!

Rippleberry, I am starting another class this week. I got a little soft on the break! So yes, I would love to share this over cake! I will bring carrot cake; its my favorite!

Guzzi, Thanks! I will be more than happy to tell you the story as it unfolds. The first chapter starts will be unveilled in less than four weeks!

Hi KaitSith, Welcome! It's good that you mapped out the obstacles in your daily routine. Just make sure to take small steps and gradually expand. That way you can stay motivated with your goals. Not much of a Pearl of Wisdom, but it seems to work for me.

Hail Mister, Welcome to the rebellion!

Welcome back alexc. I'm coming back myself with decidedly less ambitious strength and endurance goals in mind.

I've hit some highs today but I am feeling a little low right now. I will explain later. Meals: Breakfast - 0645. Had 3 eggs and half a portion of left over prime rib. Yum! Lunch - 1200. Started off with a handful of raw baby carrots and a stalk of celery. Then ate some asparagus, followed by half a can of garbonzo beans. Chased that down with a portion of left over prime rib. Not much of that left. Snack 1 - 1650. One serving of peanut butter. Post workout craving. Dinner - 1930ish. Half a jar of dill relish. 1 cup of hominy seasoned with butter. 1 portion of ham and about a cup of boiled cabbage. Finally sated. I feel a little guilty about the hominy but the wife made it and I was still feeling hungry. I did manage to control my consumption to a reasonable portion. Hominy is not on the approved list of foods, but I think it might be a good comfort food - yum! Activity: 0645 - short yoga sequence to wake the body up. 1625 - Beginner workout routine by Homemade Muscle. See explanation below. Highs: 1. No Sodas or carbonated drinks! 2. Hit 40 minute mark on exercise activity for today! (Challenge goal) 3. No binge sweets 4. Bag lunch (Challenge goal) 5. Had a good exercise session 6. Used inginuity to overcome lack of required equipment for pull ups and chin ups Lows: 1. Weighed in at 265lbs today 2. Hominy and butter 3. I couldn't finish all parts of my workout today. I am still recovering from a bout with gout I had a couple weeks ago. I was forced to cut short my leg exercise. After my exercise, my ankle felt okay but it is letting me know that it isn't happy with me right now. I am going to have to substitute lunges with isometric exercises to avoid excess load bearing on my afflicted joints. Exercise routine: 1. Pull ups 2x5 2. Chin ups 2x5 3. Lunges 3x5 4. Push ups 4x5 5. Leg raises 4x5 6. Prone cobra 3x30 second isometric holds My 1996 self would have eaten this routine for a snack and then go for a run afterwards. But this isn't about then, it is about becoming the best version of me now. I used a suspension trainer for most the upper body exercises. I am using the trainer to help ease me into more difficult exercises or help me replace items that aren't available, like a pull up bar.

Hi TheHailey, I like the way you are tracking your day to day activity. I would like to adopt your method for my log if you don't mind. I think you made the right choice by ditching the app. I think it is easier to go for time or just say that you walked a lot. I find that counting those steps, like macros and calories are more stressful than just enjoying the activity. I hope this helps!

Hiyo VintageCustard! I've been using DDP Yoga on and off for a couple of years. I can't claim success like Disil has but I am using it to meet two of my quests this year. I like it because of the structure, and I think it is a good introduction to other forms of yoga. It has energized my research in to the other aspects of yoga. Good luck with your endeavor with DDP Yoga!

Hiyo! I thought I would just add my two cents. I doing a self-study Xingyi Quan. Its one of the three major internal styles. I have played with Yang Style Tai Chi for a while, but I really wanted to learn Xingyi after watching the "The One". I've grown to like the system so much that I haven't put much thought into anything else. I haven't found a partner willing to study with me so I guess my forms will be "flowers with paper stems." I also have some experience with Kenpo and Karate, so my "paper stems" will be like lollipop stems, thin sheets of tightly rolled paper that is nearly impossible to rip or break but can still put an eye out if not handled properly! Just keeping the thread alive! Hiyo!

Thanks fleaball! I really appreciate your encouragement! (I thought this was kinda funny, hope you enjoy fleaball!)

Okay here it goes, I am taking the first leap! My challenge isn't all that ambitious compared to other rebels here. That said, my challenge is really about building the foundation for the rest of the year. Very simply my challenge is to lose one pound per week for the duration of the challenge. Here is how I am going to accomplish this: Commit to exercising at least days per week. I will exercise for at least 40 minutes each day I exercise but I don't have to do all 40 minutes at once. Commit to eight hours of sleep each day, more if I can squeeze it in. Omit all carbonated and fizzy drinks. I've done well with eliminating regular soda due to gout, but I can over indulge on diet soda. (It's not good for us anyway, so why drink it?) Generally I will only drink water, coffee, tea, or freshly juiced vegetables. The only exception is organic tart cherry juice which can only be found in stores. My sub challenges are: Be able to perform one complete unassisted pull up (not an easy task at 118 kilos. ) Bring homemade lunches to work at least 3x per week. Eat at least one cup of fresh cruciferous vegetables with every meal. Everything here contributes in a small way to my overall quests for this year. I like to think that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, not one humongous leap!

Hey Vaereyes, I am going to reveal my nerdness to everyone. The gent on the gif is Daemon, a charismatic rogue on the show Vampire Diaries. He is my favourite character on the show. His misadventures turn a Twilight clone into something entertaining to watch. Cheers!

I am not a new member here. I became a member about two year ago (according to my profile). I liked the idea of questing to make my fitness goals but I never really got started. So in short I dropped out. I have a list of reasons, or excuses (including medical ones) depending on how you look at it, but they don't matter. I just wasn't in the game, period. So why did I come back? Well it is pretty simple. For a while I was big into MMO's. But as time went on, I found myself wanting more. I don't want play someone else's game, I want to be the hero in my own game, in my own world. You folks catch my drift? So it wasn't any surprise that I wanted to come back and really give this a try. To really put effort into this and create the best possible version of me ever. I became motivated after working on some distance learning courses that are beneficial to the work I do. These courses aren't paid-to-play diplomas, you have to work. No one forced me to take these courses. I could have withdrawn anytime. No one would have said anything negative, and I wouldn't have paid a dime in compensation. These courses were hard and I thought about dropping them several times. It would have been easy to use work as an excuse. But I didn't quit, I finished the courses with high marks! And that got me thinking, "why can't I apply this to my heath and fitness?" So that is why I am here. To plan the quests and take on the challenges. NF has made it easier to plan my quests and challenges. So I am all in this time, and I invite anyone to hold me accountable to my challenges if they want to. So what are my goals? Mostly my focus is on longevity and be able to enjoy 110 years of life on this planet. So weight loss is big on my list of things to accomplish. So is reducing stress.I plan on doing more in Xingyi Quan (an internal martial art). And I will sprinkle some strength training in there too, to keep the bones strong. I think all of this achievable by me. So am coming in to this challenge not with hot fiery passion that will blow out in a strong wind, but with a constant heat and motivation that comes with careful tending and direction.

Vaereyes, Love your opening gif, made me laugh! Welcome to the rebellion!

Aly J, Welcome! I know all about the sweet tooth. I found that doing things in baby steps is a lot more constructive than trying to make big changes in my lifestyle. Particularly if you have a sweet tooth, try eliminating sweet drinks for a month before you look at other things. And if you fall off of the wagon, its okay. Get back on when you are ready. A_seeker

Thanks redeaglespirit and cobaltsword! I really appreciate the support! You can see my progress in my battle log if you want. You are welcome to read about my progress anytime!

Alright everyone, I've been a little inconsistent with my posts but I'm not slacking off, really! Started the day with a 15 min walk. I wanted to go a little longer but I was supposed to go to the office a little early today. I managed to consume a decent lunch and breakfast. I swam for 20 minutes at the pool and made it home to a modest dinner. Carb intake - minimal. Breakfast: 4 oz turkey breast and celery sticks Lunch: Rotisserie Chicken breast and a cup of spinach Dinner: 8 oz turkey breast and 1/2 cup sauerkraut. (Yummy combination I know! ) 2 cups of coffee with heavy cream and coconut oil The funny thing about this is that I am not as hungry as I thought I would be.

Hail flashfacts! Great job with your progress, I hope to attain the same level of success you have in due time. In the mean time, I wish you the best and will cheer you on as you proceed!

This is my first challenge and so I thought I would keep it simple: I am going to reduce my waist line by one inch or more by the end of this challenge! One inch may not seem like a lot, but that one inch is a start for me and will set the pace on how future challenges will go. Plus my waist line is really the one body area that I would like to improve. Why am I doing this challenge? Simply to prove that I can, that i won't stop because something derails my plan or life KO's me when I least expect it! Here is my plan: Strength Training on Tues, Thur, & Sat using bodyweight exercises Conditioning on Mon, Wed, & Fri swimming at least 20 min or more Walking everyday, working my way up to 30min or more My life quest will be to create a digital drawing of my character and post it by the end of the challenge!

Thanks Super Destroyer! As for my log, I've skipped logging a couple of days obviously but the good news is that I made past five days with no breads, sweets, sodas or rice! I am sweating a lot more than I am used to - is this common? Here's my meals and exercise for the day: Breakfast: 1. Four pieces of bacon 2. 6 Celery sticks 3. 1 cup of cottage cheese Lunch: 1. Four ounces of pork chop 2. 1 cup of spinach (I actually had more but I was pretty full today so I saved the rest for later) Exercise: Swam in the pool for about 20 minutes (A lot longer than last time!) Dinner: 1. Eight ounces of pork chop 2. 1 cup of spinach with a little olive oil and salt (Gotta be careful with this! The olive oil made me a little queasy. So Balsamic vinegar will be mixed in next time!) Until tomorrow!

Hail SkinnySailor! I know what it is like being away from family for a long period of time. I think you are doing the right thing by focusing on improving your fitness! Be sure to check out the resources here and don't be afraid to ask for tips! I look forward to hearing of your fitness achievements!