Priscillia

Congrats on your challenge going so well and asking the bestie out (I've been stalking this thread for awhile, I should have pipped up earlier)  It's really inspiring to hear about.

As for changing your nutrition challenge, if that's what you feel is best, I'd say go for it!  It sounds very doable and sustainable.

Week 2, Day 3 Recap

Log All The Food - Check!

Workouts 3X - 2/3 Yay Water!

Yoga Stretching - 2/2 (goal bumped up to two hours/sessions a week)

Draw and Post - Nothing done

Gold Quest - Still on track

Did Aquafit and then Yoga with a 30minute window in between.  I will admit I did some of the modified poses during yoga (due to being tired, I didn't think I had the strength to hold some of them once I tried them last night).

Today is a rest day

If you're in pain take it easy tonight... luckily those are definitely two classes where you can do modifications or do one thing when they tell you to do another if you have an owie pretty easily. 

 

I'm excited to hear about  your pole class! When's the first one?

I took it relatively easy (I think).  There was a different yoga instructor today and i told her about it at the beginning.  She came by after class to talk for a bit to see if there were any extra stretches I could do to help it.  She recognizes which muscles it is (she has it from time to time) but in her experience the best thing is use the massage balls and "go at it like a bear" with my back against the wall (literally said it like that, made me laugh pretty hard).  Which means I need to figure out where the balls are hiding in the house...

First class is on Monday (and all other mondays except the 2nd of June (colonoscopy) and May 19th (Victoria Day for Canada)).  I get to miss the rush hour traffic too

THAT CAPE.

This is exactly the type of pole dancing that I dream of

And now I wanna see a version with a batman theme.

What is with people and leg day?

Leg Day = These Legs

 

 

--Home Cooked: 13/21 - I knew I wasn't doing well on this, but it basically fell apart after I got the bad news. The beginning of the week I was basically preparing every meal.  So I have confidence going forward I will improve on this.

Totally understandable.  I've done that myself when I got news like that

/bear hugs to you! I'm sorry this is a heavy loss period for you, but you're inspiring for pushing through!  I hope you're right and that it does start getting more positive for you.

Also, holy spreadsheet batman.

Soooo sleepy.

Week 2, Day 2 Recap

Log All The Food - Check!

Workouts 3X - 1 :/

Yoga Stretching - Nada (but done for the week unless I want bonus points)

Draw and Post - Painted, almost finished an older piece

Gold Quest - Still on track

Dinner o dinner... bacon wrapped asparagus and some mango leftovers (I cut up a bunch for snacks while the asparagus was cooking).  Omnomnom.  Simple, but DE~LICIOUS!

I went to the gym after work to avoid traffic.  But I wonder if I wasn't tricked because the gym was PACKED.  Room for a plank without having people walking right beside you? NOPE.  So I did a warmup, some cardio for 15 minutes and then 1 circuit of BBWW and said nope, not happening after the third person stepped right beside my head during plank.  I felt way too uneasy to enjoy my workout.  Begin stretch down.

Luckily enough, I dropped by my dad's place and got to do deadlifts and use his chest press machine since he was curious of how much I could lift/push.  I got a congrats from him for taking the plunge on the pole classes (to quote "Really good for your upper body strength.  Hopefully you'll stick to it!").

I have no idea what happened, but a few hours after I ate, the muscles under my left shoulder blade started to hurt.  I'm guessing it might be the tightness of one of my sports bras (I only have 1 decent one imo) but it still hurts this morning.  I did put some tiger balm (heating type balm) on it last night and it seems to have reduced the sharpness.

it's kinda making me nervous for Aquafit + Yoga tonight.

Modifications to challenge

• Workouts 3x is now 1 pole class + 2 independent workouts per week beginning next week
• Yoga/stretching for 1 hour per week; I want to increase this to 2 hours per week. I almost hit it last week (shy of 20-30 minutes on the roller).  I'm really liking the effects both during and after classes/sessions.

I pulled the trigger!  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

So as long as one of the other level 1 classes aren't full, I can go to one of them for the one I miss due to the colonoscopy

And I swear my Crohn's will pick up on my excitement, but who cares!

Yes, yes it is  I feel de-stressed during and after a class, it's divine

Yea, girl stuff sucks sometimes.  But what can you do after a painkiller cocktail? Not much but sleep :/

I'm debating on pulling the trigger earlier than anticipated on a dream of mine... pole dancing classes!  I was thinking of rewarding myself around July with it, but I received a newsletter from one of the studios near my workplace saying the next 9 week session starts on Monday (8 classes for the Monday ones due to a holiday).  It's a ten minute drive from work and in the middle of rush hour (which means I can skip that!).  Choices would be either monday (8 classes) or Tuesdays (9 classes) but I would be missing one of them due to the colonoscopy in June.

I feel like every time I visit this decision I'm over analyzing it (costs, time, gas) and then I shy away from the trigger.  This would be one of my three workouts for the week if I take the classes.  

Yay or nay?

Your photos are gorgeous!  I hope your challenge is going well

Week 2, Day 1 Recap

Log All The Food - Check!

Workouts 3X - Nada

Yoga Stretching - Went to class today!

Draw and Post - Continued sketching

Gold Quest - Still on track

Today went pretty well.  My appetite still isn't all that great (for lunch and supper) but it's much better then the weekend.

I decided to go to the 8PM yoga class (it's the same instructor as the Saturday Classes) and wooooooow.  What a difference!  I felt the stretching go much deeper today in my quads and glutes.  A couple things I did notice was that my balance is very poor on tree pose (first time doing it), and that having all that weight on one foot wasn't very comfortable.  I think the issue is mostly weight here, as I used to have decent balance when I was under 170lbs.  Another thing we did was lots of warrior poses (modifed ect. not sure on all of them) which weren't part of the other classes I went to

All said and done, I feel much better right now.  I think maybe I should try doing more yoga classes or try to add a massage roller session during the week.

Haha gone well until Saturday at least!

Day 5, 6 & 7 Recap

Log All The Food - MOSTLY CHECK! (might have forgotten 1-2 small chocolate eggs)

Workouts 3X - Nada

Yoga Stretching - Class on Sat!

Draw and Post - Failed

Gold Quest - Still on track

So I finished changing the tires on Friday and continued cleaning and drawing.  I should have posted the sketches in my tumblr queue then and there , but I figured I could work on them more Sat & Sun, same with my last BBWW for the week.

FAMOUS. LAST. WORDS.

Murphy's law being what it is, Saturday at noon I woke up, headed to yoga class, started yoga class and then started feeling cramps.  Like holy guacamole cramps.  It was okay until the end of the class since I had something else to focus on but after that... Day 6 and Day 7 are write offs other than that yoga class.  Sometimes you just gotta hate your reproductive system when it turns you into a miserable ball of pain.

Nothing new to report otherwise.

Week 1 Recap!

Log All The Food - CHECK!

Workouts 3X - B, missed last workout due to pain

Yoga Stretching - Passed! Did 1 class and 30-40 minutes of massage roller

Draw and Post - Failed! Lesson learned that you should still post it if it's not perfect because something else will derail you later.

Gold Quest - Still on track (with a little bonus)

Day 3 & 4 Recap 

Log All The Food - CHECK!

Workouts 3X - Did BBWW at home on Day 4

Yoga Stretching - Nada (this challenge goal does NOT include stretching after workouts)

Draw and Post - Nada

Gold Quest - On track

Day 3 was a rest day (thankfully!).  I woke up and DOMs from the new push up position was fierce in my deltoids/shoulders.  Didn't feel like cooking (and my mom bought fresh pita ect) so I did not have a good supper (ie. meat and veggies).  Went to bed early as well.

Day 4, saw the gastroentologist first thing.  Colonoscopy scheduled in June and I have a higher dosage on my current meds in the interim.  I did not eat properly yesterday (I had a huge lunch and didn't really bother with supper.  And I'm still not hungry today).  Did BBWW at home;

• Started feeling squats in the quads (close to the knees).  Second set at 13 reps I had to slow down to make sure my form was proper
  
• Wall push ups in tricep position; Went much smoother and DOMs today is not as bad.
  
• Dumbell Rows; Still on 3 disks on each side of the dumbell (4 is max).  Left hand is still struggling on the last few reps, Right is a bit better on the last few reps.
  
• Planks; 45s each, better than earlier this week.
  
• Jumping Jacks; 30 each (and I had my gym bag with me! Thank the deities for sports bras)
  

I got home late and finished BBWW at about 8.  I think I maybe did some updates on my pcs and then went to bed at ten.  I felt pretty drained last night.

I believe the gym is closed today (the website says the holiday schedule is up, but it LIES!), so either tomorrow or Sunday I'll be doing BBWW.  I've also changed the car tires (they are HEAVY even if they're so small...) and I'm looking forward to a mix of cleaning and drawing for the rest of today

What are you doing foodwise to deal with your Crohn's?

Your flare could be part of the reason for little change in your midsection measurements. I have IBS and can get very bloated and swollen when it's not doing well and/or I am eating poorly, and the measurements could be just that (I may be entirely wrong, so forgive me if I am)

How were the last few days?

Food wise is mostly staying away from stuff that I know makes me feel horrible (I'm starting to think bread is on that list now).  So mostly eating more protein (eggs and bacon muffins for breakfast, usually chicken for lunch, dinner is weird this week since I'm never really hungry for it).  Staying away from really spicy, greasy and most processed things is what I've been trying but even that's not 100% fail safe.  Staying away from seeds doesn't work that much since I can eat a container of strawberries and be fine :/  My stomach is such a troll.

Especially since it never does anything against a blt from McD  I can't figure out how that gets through fine and the home made pizza caused misery.

Good thing is that I saw my gastroentologist yesterday.  My imuran dose is going up by one pill until my colonoscopy on the 3rd of June (blech!).  Fastest they could schedule, but at least there's some relief until then.  My inflammation rate with my monthly blood tests aren't that bad at all either.

To be honest, I never thought that my Crohn's might affect my measurements!  Everyone in my family seems to lose the weight slowest in the midsection so I assumed it was the case for myself   I'll keep that in mind

Ahhh double posts.  Oh well, have some Toothless!

Day 2 Recap - 

Log All The Food - CHECK!

Workouts 3X - Did BBWW at home (no deadlifts)

Yoga Stretching - Nada (this challenge goal does NOT include stretching after workouts)

Draw and Post - Nada for today, might do something later tonight

Gold Quest - Still on track

Not much new to report other than my Crohn's making a nuisance of itself.  Hopefully when I see my gastroentologist on Thursday I may get more answers than "watch what you eat" since stuff that's normally safe suddenly isn't...

Due to this I did NOT go to the gym.  I did, however, plough through the BBWW at home.  So no 10-15 minute eliptical/bike or 2 sets of deadlifts today.  After a warm up, I did 2 circuits though I needed a few minutes to catch my breath after the first plank.  Things I noticed;

• I did my squats faster than normal (parallel to floor, knees can still feel it but I believe that's a weight issue right now)
• I re-rolled on push-ups.  I can do almost full ones (my bust gets in the way) when the exercise targets the pectorals.  I'm re-rolling to wall push-ups in the position meant to target the triceps more effectively for when I begin to do inverted body rows since my arms are WEAK!
  
• No Lunges until I lose some weight (looking 20 lbs minimum) due to poor balance and knee pain.  I actually tried to do a couple in the warm up and I felt something weird in one of them so I backed off before resuming the warm up and BBWW.
  
• Dumbell rows; Hard for first set since the adjustable dumbell had all four weights on each side.  Took 1 off each side for 2nd set.  Still could barely finish the 10th rep of each set.  Non-dominant hand had it worst.
  
• Planks; Did horrible (for me). I can normally do 40s-1:15 but only managed 30 and 25 today.  Maybe because I used too much on the dumbells?
  
• Jumping Jacks; Had to modify these since my gym bag (with my sports bra) was at the office.  Did the leg movement, no arm movement
  

I'm finding it odd that during the last week or so, I don't particularly feel like eating super (not on weekends since I don't eat breakfast on Sat & Sun).  I had a milkshake with protein powder, spinach, banana and so frozen fruit instead so i'm not munching on crap later this evening.

Found my measuring tape as well!  I'll edit the first post with the latest measurements, but I'll post the measurements I took in January, about a month or so before my flare started.

JAN 7th 2014

Bust 46.5

Underbust 37.5

Waist 38

Hips 46

L Arm 14

L Thigh 26

R Arm 13.25

R Thigh 25.5

APR 15th 2014

Bust 45

Underbust 37

Waist 38

Hips 46

L Arm 13.75

L Thigh 25

R Arm 13.12 (1/8th)

R Thigh 24.5

So I guess trying to eat relatively well during a flare helped a bit.  I also think we've found the problem spots too (hips and waist).  And it figures they're the one place i want to get rid of inches the most! Murphy's law for ya!

I only stay on them for about 5 minutes.  I can't handle much more than that.  Though initially I was only at around 60 seconds a side without dying.

You must have a lot more pain tolerance then me then

Love everything about this! Oh, to be a cat. And I really like the grading system you developed. Very bright-line rules there.

Cats are pretty fun though I'm more of a dog person.  And thanks!  I wanted to emulate the Yoda quote in my signature while leaving some leeway if my crohns decided to make a nuisance of itself.

Oof IT bands are the worstttt (or best) with foam rolling.  I've been doing it for a while now and they have yet to not hurt so good every time.

I have no idea if I should be afraid or not, right now  How long does it take you to get them done?  My GP said it takes her ten, moving very slowly, but I have no idea how anyone can stand it for that long!

Ahh I see now how you are concentrating on flexibility, in yoga and such.

Goals seem great and best of luck to you keep us updated on the yoga as its something I would like to look into soon!

And a big thumbs upon the gifs!

Haha yep! Flexibility to help the muscles.  It's a bit of a kryptonite atm and I want to change that around.

Thanks on both counts and I totally will keep everyone updated on the yoga/flex training.  In fact, something tells me I may end up doing double the time after the last class and the roller session

Subbing.  Goals sound good and doable, though you go for cardio and I went for flexibility this challenge

It's awesome to see someone else with an Animation background    Thanks for the link to Pixelovey, it's a different approach then I'm used to but makes a loooot of sense

Day 1 Recap - Warning I'm feeling Cat-ty today

Log All The Food - CHECK!

Workouts 3X - No workouts yet

Yoga Stretching - 1/2 CHECK!

Draw and Post - Started on Friday, Ongoing

Gold Quest - Still on track, April payment will be done later in the month instead of this week

So DOM from Saturday really kicked in this morning  It was different feeling it in the deltoids and part of the arms instead of gluteus maximus/quads.  Still, dat feeling in the morning!

The start of the day went really well with 2 exceptions relating to my willpower muscle; someone left home made blueberry/lemon scones (small ones) in the kitchenette and there was pizza left over from one of the meetings.  Nothing big or derailing, just different.  If I could find whoever made the scones I'd love to try that recipe since it was so tasty.  As for the pizza, I think the last time I had delivery was when work had a party back in January since I missed the last one (being sick).  Hawaiian pizza is one of my favourites (I love making it at home every couple of months).

What really derailed my plans today was a bit of a flare an hour before my day was done (and go to the gym across the street).  I'm not too worried of the cause since I know what was new in the last 24 hours (a bit of mashed corn, peas, turkey stuffing and the delivery pizza) and they normally aren't a part of my diet.

So no modified BBWW today.  But I did spend 30-40 minutes in 2-3 sessions with the massage roller (as did my mother) instead so that I could do something productive.  And man, did the roller ever feel intense on my calves and certain areas of the quads and IT band.  I don't think I realized how much they've needed it.

Due to Easter (totally forgot about it), I've got Friday off.  I'm not certain if the gym I do Yoga at is open (others have modified hours but this location doesn't seem to have anything listed).  But if it is, and it's also open on Friday, I may just replace one of the BBWW workouts with an Aquafit class.  Or maybe do both?

On a completely unrelated note: I scared both my mom and a friend of mine showing them Flip the Dog (I did it the first time around on Saturday, but decided not to risk it as I could feel it in my shoulders and wrists).  The look on their faces!

It's this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007NFJN0I/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Kind of purple/blue in places. Inexpensive, too. And I think (though I haven't tried) that the phone-holder piece (yes, that's the technical term) would probably screw into any standard camera tripod. I have one at home with the longer telescoping legs, but didn't test the compatibility before packing the new one along with me today.

 

If only I could wear super hero T's at work.

Looks like the screw should work with regular cameras and maybe DSLRs too (dunno about the weight for DSLRs though).  It seems like a very good (and tempting) solution as a tripod.   I'll need to take a look at finding them in Canada and if they'll support heavier cameras  Thanks for sharing!

Nice Goals!  I'll stick around; I have my own mess to keep clean  

I was going to suggest a to-do list but saw one as I scrolled down.  The only suggestion I have for the moment is for the paperwork; check for accordion files (or file folders, I forget what the proper name is...).  I use one for finances, one for medical ect.  I find that helps to liberate drawers for other uses.  You can just stick the important ones in a locked cabinet/etc and the others on a bookshelf too

I'm too boring with veggies, I only do a couple different things.  Sautéed mushrooms, two cups of spinach or bacon wrapped asparagus with some type of meat is pretty much all I do lately 

Fiddling about with it, it seems like it will. It holds my phone, doesn't fall over, and the little octopus legs seem like they could easily wrap around a vertical support somewhere so I won't have to leave it on the floor.

Now I'm curious to see what it looks like.  I'm imagining purple octopus legs around a lamppost right now >.>

And yeeppp. Wtf at the weather, I feel your pain this week (Eastern Ontario is expecting snow/hail again too)

This is a great conversation! My husband is not really on board, but he does tolerate what I choose to do. I have tried encouraging him to find things he can do that he enjoys, but he's not ready to do that. He works long hours and is mostly too tired to do anything when he gets home. Also we have children so it's tricky to ever do things together.

We definitely do the junk food bonding too. Which has been a bit of a sticking point since I've been eating clean. Not sure how to find new healthy bonding routines :-/

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you're eating clean, is he eating what you're having?  I find that even if I have to stop exercise for a month or so, as long as I'm eating well I've still got lots of energy to spare after a long shift.

One of my coworkers says trying new healthy restaurants or even making healthy recipes (sweet potato pizza etc.) has been a good bonding time with her partner.  Doesn't help that whenever she brings in lunch it smells heavenly.

Hi As the Druid Ambassador (who is also an Assassin at heart...they are so much faster than me, I think Nuala doesn't eat or sleep actually!) I am here to help with your yoga needs. There are SO many different types of yoga and so many different ways to do it. I don't do classes anymore. I did for a few years, and I think they are great as beginners because you get your alignment squared away with an instructor, but after that point, its easy to do it yourself at home as long as you are motivated. 

I am glad to see the first class went well Here is the link for the 30 day yoga challenge and I LOVE Erin Motz (the teacher for the challenge) she really knows her stuff and is amazing. 

Anyways, I could go on for days. I am glad to find an aspiring yogini and also find your use of Lizzy Maguire GIFs to be a fantastic addition to the norm. I love your debt goal also! I'm too much of a chicken shit  afraid to even try pole dancing, but I really hope someday I end up doing it! I will be looking forward to when you do it too  

I'm Bekah

From lurking the forums for awhile, I can agree with you on thinking Nuala doesn't sleep!  Actually, it does explains the robot part

I'll take a look at the challenge, though I think maybe for this 6 week challenge it may be best to stick with classes since I'm such a noob  I'll take you up on help once I get more familiar with it.  I tried yoga at home once (right after I got diagnosed with crohn's) but I never enjoyed it.  The class though... I was able to talk to one woman before for quite a bit and the instructor was amazingly calming.  The atmosphere was completely different from when I tried it at home.  I think this may stick this time around

Debt wise I wanted to make an extra payment this weekend but I forgot about a kickstarter that I pledged to a couple months back (i'm also very pleased it's over because I'm psyched on receiving the product!). That dinged in this weekend so credit card needs to be dealt with this payday instead of the next one.  Still on track for this month, just delayed to the weekend after next.  Plus, my tax return should come in and I can send it in that direction too