Alanna

Great job crossing off the hoof trimming in Zero Week! I also like using apps to limit/schedule scrolling - it bypasses the motivation requirements. Cold Turkey is a good desktop app with a free version (or a relatively inexpensive one-off payment - as opposed to a subscription - if you want to use a scheduler).

So, the promised challenge write-up: Not too much to say. Food got tracked, and I'm slowly losing the 3-4 kg I gained over the summer/fall from the job search prioritisation and stress - I'm about 1/2 to 1/3 of the way there. Workouts got tracked (including deadlifts!), and now I need to make some plots of the data. I was okay at posting in my challenge (1-2x/week). At least I finished this challenge! Not so great at following others' challenges. I didn't work that much on personal coding projects, but I started picking them up again towards the end - I think I'm starting to recover from my summer sprint. Not really sure what to do for the holiday challenge. I don't seem to have much bandwidth for writing right now!

Sorry for missing the past couple of weeks! It's understandable that finding a sitter is very stressful when it's so hard to even interview candidates (and when you're trusting them with a very important task) - I'm glad the sitters that you found sound more committed. Fingers crossed the infusions are helping so you have that in your toolkit. Vitamin/mineral deficiencies can have a really dramatic impact on energy and mood, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are giving you a boost.

Week 5 🥒 🍗 🥕 🥗 🍣 🥒 🍤 [Food] ⬜ 💪 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🦵 🏋️‍♀️ [Workouts] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 💻 [Code] Had a busy week - I'll post a proper write-up soon. The most exciting thing is that I went to the gym today and deadlifted 80 kg x 5 x 3 💪. Almost back to bodyweight deadlifts.

Week 4 🥒 🍗 ⬜ 🥕 🥗 🍣 🥒 [Food] ⬜ 💪 ⬜ ⬜ 🦵‍ ⬜ 🤸‍♀️ [Workouts] 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 💻 ⬜ ⬜ [Code]

Thank you! --------------------- Week 4 (!), Monday 🥒 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Food] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜‍ ⬜ ⬜ [Workouts] 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code]

That's cool that you had your gait analysed - I hope the orthotics are a good long-term solution. I think I'm due a rewatch!

It's not a bad club to be a part of! ------------------------ Week 3 🥕 🥒 🥗 🍗 🐟 🥕 🥬 [Food] ⬜ 🦵 ⬜ 💪 ⬜‍ ⬜ 🏋️‍♀️ [Workouts] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] Pretty good week except for working on personal coding projects (again). I went to the gym again today with Mr. Alanna and deadlifted up to 72.5 kg x 5. It was our (dating) anniversary weekend too, and we went to see The Marvels, which we enjoyed - it was probably one of my favourites of the latest Marvel stage.

I'm sorry the past week has been rough - as you and others have said, it makes sense that you'd be shattered by the earlier stress. I'm glad you at least have good support from your doctor now - hopefully some of the interventions have a positive impact soon. I also really like your jumpers in your photos with Orange! (esp. the mustard one - I've been on a mustard yellow kick recently)

Oh no, I missed Friday evening and now it's Thursday evening AGAIN 😅 I'm not doing a great job being active on here, but so far everything else is going pretty well (minus coding): Week 2 🍤 🥒 🥕 🍛 🥬 🐔 🐟 [Food] ⬜ 💪 ⬜ 🤸‍♀️ ⬜‍ ⬜ 🦵 [Workouts] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] Week 3 so far (through Thursday) 🥕 🥒 🥗 🍗 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Food] ⬜ 🦵 ⬜ 💪 ⬜‍ ⬜ ⬜ [Workouts] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] I've been a bit tired because I didn't sleep well this week - combination of staying up later to make sure that our dog was okay with Bonfire Night fireworks and also having interrupted sleep. I think I cut my calories too low, which often messes with my sleep - I'm feeling better now making sure I get a higher amount. Last Wednesday I also slipped in the garden while playing with my dog. I think I hit a concrete patio coming down, because I got a MASSIVE bruise on the upper part of my shin that blistered the next day. Luckily I wasn't planning on deadlifting last weekend.

I'm sorry, that sounds like a really sucky day, especially when you already had low energy. I hope your jelly at least turns out okay. I also like thicker leggings with a higher cotton content for non-fitness wear (although I will do light home workouts in them too when I'm too lazy to change). I have a burgundy pair with a soft, fuzzy lining that are really really warm and comfortable. I also find that cotton-y leggings are easy to dress up (without sacrificing comfort) by layering with a loose, comfortable skirt or dress.

Sorry to hear you lost Rook ❤️. I love the painting you made of him. Good luck with the job search! I need to get back to working on coding projects, too.

Returning to the Iron shrine is very exciting 😁. I'm glad your new job is going well! (minus the person I'll refer to as the Drama Llama)

How is it Thursday evening already?? Here is my progress for Monday - Thursday: 🍤 🥒 🥕 🍛 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Food] ⬜ 💪 ⬜ 🤸‍♀️ ⬜‍ ⬜ ⬜ [Workouts] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] My food scales's battery died on Tuesday, so my food tracking will be a little less accurate until I can replace it.

I'm also really curious to see what happens with this schedule, especially since I'm not going to optimise my bodyweight sessions to support those lifts (although I'm doing a decent amount of heavy pulls and unilateral squats). It's low stakes, so if I don't progress much or stall very quickly, that's fine - it would just be nice to get back to lifting bodyweight for both. I think my leg strength is pretty decent from the bodyweight work - most of my DOMS afterwards has been from my upper back (probably traps and rhomboids).

Week 1 Recap ⬜ 🍗 🥒 🍣 🍚 🐔 🥗 [Food] ⬜ ⬜ 💪 ⬜ 🏋️‍ ⬜ 🦵 [Workouts] ⬜ 🤓 🤓 ⬜ 🤓 ⬜ 🤓 [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] Most of my "rune" practice is going well, and my protein intake is much better (not exactly sure where it was before, but it's probably up by 25-50%, depending on the day). I didn't do any coding this week, but since I successfully added a lot of other things this week, I'm not fussed about tackling that next week. Hope everyone else's challenges are going well - I still need to catch up on a lot of challenges!

I'm glad the art session went well - sounds like it was a successful autoregulation of your snack goals! Stop me if I've told you this before, but did you know you could make your own gelatin/gummy snacks? You can buy gelatin powder in bulk (Great Lakes is the brand I use) and then could adapt the other ingredients based on triggers and nutritional needs. There are tons of recipes on autoimmune paleo blogs if you'd like ideas 🙂.

Thank you! ------------------- Week 1, Friday ⬜ 🍗 🥒 🍣 🍚 ⬜ ⬜ [Food] ⬜ ⬜ 💪 ⬜ 🏋️‍♂️ ⬜ ⬜ [Workouts] ⬜ 🤓 🤓 ⬜ 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] Food tracking is still going well. I think a good target protein level for me would be 135 g - 160 g, and I managed to hit the lower end of that range on Wednesday and Thursday (and probably can today if I have a protein-rich snack). In other exciting news, Mr. Alanna just joined our local gym, which is about a 15 minute walk from our house. He can also invite me to join him 2x/month, so I tagged along today and touched a barbell for the first time in almost three years. It was fun to throw some weights around again (and I was surprised that the movements still came really naturally), but I still prefer my new assassin-based training (hence not getting my own membership). It's nice to have some variety, though, especially since some movements don't really have bodyweight equivalents. I'll test out incorporating some barbell work during my two free sessions per month. Today's workout: Deadlift: 60 kg x 5 x 3 Low bar squat: 50 kg x 5 x 3 Lying leg raises: 8 x 2 The gym also has a surprisingly good free weights section for a commercial gym. I've been once before (almost 9 (!) years ago when my university's gym closed over a holiday) and since then they've add three proper, double-sided power racks. Along with their other squat racks, that gives users nine spots to squat or press. They also have a deadlift platform, tons of bumper plates, and a couple of bench-specific racks.

Following! I like your strategy for mindfulness and "snacks." (probably not what you mean by a beauty snack 😅) I hope having the painter over isn't too stressful - tradespeople usually appreciate having space to get on with their work, so hopefully you still have plenty of time to yourself next week ❤️

Following! Congrats on the progress you've made, and great job working around the foot issues while you adjust to your new job. I hope the physiotherapist's recommendations help resolve the pain.

Thanks, I hope your challenges have been going well - I need to catch up with your thread! ------------------------- Week 1, Wednesday ⬜ 🍗 🥒 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Food] ⬜ ⬜ 💪 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Workouts] ⬜ 🤓 🤓 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [NF] ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ [Code] Food tracking is going well so far. I'm trying to shift my macros away from carbs, and my stomach is not on board with the extra fats yet 😅. My protein levels are still low since I ran out of my crutch (protein powder), but my order should be here soon. I didn't sleep well last night so did a relatively light workout, although I was able to do more than I planned once I got started: Hanging bar hold, 15 sec x 3 Ring press, 10 sec x 3 Chin-ups, 1 x 2 Push-ups (negative followed by a knee push-up), 8 x 3 I finally hung up my gymnastic rings a few weeks ago - it's been fun working with them again 🙂

Welp, I disappeared again during the May/June challenge after succumbing to a combination of fatigue / job searching and career stress / disruptive travel. Things have finally calmed down the past month or so, so I'm returning my focus to progressing my health and fitness. This challenge I'm just focusing on writing things down because I tend to make better progress when I track. Goals: Writing down food: Track my food on MFP at least 5 days/week (I started today and I am not definitely not getting enough protein 😬) Writing down workouts: Record my strength/skill training workouts. In theory I've written up a programme focused on unilateral squats and rebuilding my chin-ups, but sticking to regular workout sessions is the priority. Writing on NF: Update my NF thread at least 2x/week. Writing code: Work on a personal coding project at least 1x/week (after frantically upskilling all summer, I got burned out and haven't done much the last several weeks). I may try to make this challenge Shadowhunter (TV series) themed since Shadowhunter runes are all about written things giving strength and special powers, but for now I just wanted to start my challenge asap!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and new job - that's really exciting!