Ahoythar

Hello Everyone! I'm a week late to my sequel, but I have a decent excuse. I just completed my Masters Thesis and Oral defense last week so I think I can forgive me. Maybe you can too! Starting today I need to set up some rules! Following my happy, happy graduation and receiving my degree in Ruling-the-Masses from the Princess Academy I'm set to get married. Two months to work hard. Lets do this! My simple plan: Goal 1:Eat better Lunch and dinner half veggieseat fruit for breakfast/dessertmilky/alcoholic drinks twice a weekGoal 2: Exercise more regularly Exercise five days a weekweightlifting twice-three timescardio/HIIT and pilates/yoga twice a week Side-quest: Spend some time volunteering at the local community center and animal shelter.look for a job I'm just going to assume that I'll need to be more specific along the way, but for now this is the basic framework!

I would say that eating breakfast or not eating breakfast doesn't matter. It's really up to you. I love eating breakfast, but my bf hates it because it makes him feel more hungry. Either way you look at it, losing weight is still just about calories in vs. calories out. No sense in forcing yourself to eat extra.

So Today is the Last day! I have to say I gave myself some simple challenges and I was able to make something of them in this short period of time! So the first part of the challenge was lifting: I made all of my goals except bench press! My stats: Squat 65 kg, Deadlift 60kg, overhead 20kg (44lbs), bench press 25kg (55lbs) I have to say though, I haven't focused very much on lifting lately, because my lifting partner has been down for the count. Eating more veggies: done, completed the challenge of making the majority of my meals consist of veggies! Writing 1 1/2 pgs per day to finish my thesis: There were some days I didn't write as much as I should have and I decided to take the weekends off of writing, but all in all I kept up writing. THANK GOD IM ALMOST DONE. That's all I can say. All in all, this challenge was a success! Thanks everyone for helping me through and for the encouragement! See you in the next challenge!

I think an 1 1/2 hours of light or moderate exercise is good. I'm not sure what an LNG class is, but the running program should start out slow. However, like was mentioned above, you don't want to over do it and get hurt. The higher the intensity, the more likely you are to get hurt. Take care and have fun!

THE LAST WEEK!?! How did that happen?! It's already the last week of this Challenge! I'm super glad I decided to join in, even though I was a bit late to the race. Already eating a ton more veggies has become pretty normal to me and it's gotten me to focus more on what I'm putting on my plate. I might not be eating 50% veggies for lunch and dinner everyday, but most days I do. I'm swapping fries and burgers for veggie sandwiches and salads at restaurants and eating less calories in general. Yey! I'm focusing more on what I'm lifting at the gym too. Yey! I've also been mowing down this thesis paper. It might not be everything I wanted it to be and more, but it'll do. I still have about ten to fifteen more pages I'm trying to write, but it's already coming together. Hope to finish almost all of it by the end of this challenge! I'll have to start thinking about the next challenge now! Exciting!

Day 17 I'm so sore! I had an awesome workout yesterday. I've been using Fitness Blender's at home workouts and I love the interval training/cardio workouts. I'm trying to start tracking my calories too. We'll see how this goes..... All in all, I had a good day! Oh and I really wanted to thank everyone for the support. It's so nice to have and very much appreciated. Hugs for all y'all!

That was a really great post! Thanks for the info and tips. I'll dust off my fitness pal and start using it again.

Yeah I basically lived on nuts and nut butter when I tried going low carb. Not exactly the best idea!

Hey Rebels of Representing and Reprimanding Roles! I've got about 10-15lbs that I want to kick to the roadside, but I need some advice. I'm a female, 5'2 and 128lbs. No idea what my body fat percentage is, but I'm probably in the 25% or more range though I'm not overweight. Just eating healthy and exercising isn't going to cut it. I've been trying to add veggies and cut out more of the empty calories and carbs recently as part of my challenge, but what else should I be looking out for? Other Questions: I kind of hate calorie tracking, but is it necessary in the end? How often should I be exercising? 3x a week for 45mins? 6x for an hour? Also how long should it take to lose this weight? Is five months a reasonable goal? Any kind of advice is welcome really!

Well I think everyone has felt the way you were feeling. The cards are stacked against us and we can't see anyway around it. The truth is, we all just have to keep moving on. Just keep an eye on what you're eating and I'm sure you'll do fine. Watch out for stress eating and try incorporating exercise into your daily social activities if that helps save you some time. Go on walks with friends or your daughter. I've even seen people incorporate their kids into their exercises! You got this.

When I have a sweet tooth I'll either drink sugar free cocoa or eat some sugar free jello! I know some people have issues with sweetners, but I love having something sweet without that dirty feeling sugar leaves in my mouth. If I'm feeling extra special I'll bake an apple with cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts. SO good!

Day 16 The good: It's gotten really easy to incorporate veggies into all of my meals. Big salads and stir-fried veggies are pretty much a staple for me now. This means the amount of rice and bread I've been eating is far less, plus less sweets. I'm not sure if it's helping me lose fat, but technically it should, right? The not so good: I have to admit, I haven't been able to go to the gym much so I'm really worried about making my weightlifting goals. (I'm still working out at home though!) I guess the stress from trying to get interviews lined up for my thesis (so I can finish it this month before my family comes to visit me), coupled with the stress from knowing I'll be getting my wisdom teeth out (which means being out of order for four or five days) has got me kind of frazzled. Life happens though! I knew I was putting stress on myself to finish my paper so quickly, but I want to graduate soon so I can go home and get hitched!

Sounds like you're doing well! The major you picked looks like it will be really useful and going into the Peace Corp will be an awesome, awesome experience!

I love your positive energy! Definitely good for your body and mind. Keep up the good work!

Congrats! I've never been prego before, but I wish you the best of luck!