TWburn

Day 16 (I think I lost a day in here somewhere...) 2 mile easy run this morning. Caught a cold from one of the tiny humans, but I didn't let it get in the way. Have my entire day planned out in myfitnesspal. Stretching in 5, 4, 3, 2...

Day 12, 13 - no cardio tracked my food stretched 1 of the 3 days. Blah weekend. But changing things up this week! Day 14 Workout: Bodyweight level 4 from the academy. Working on losing some body fat. I have built a significant amount of muscle over the past 10 months and I'm getting discouraged because I can't see much of it. I want to see what's under all of this fluff! Tracked everything, even the waffles and peanut butter I scarfed down after lunch. Stretched after my workout.

Day 11 Tracked, no stretch, no workout. No excuses, just didn't make time for it! Day 12 Workout: Deadlift 165# 3 x 5 Push Press 90# 5 x 5 Lunges 55# 3 x 16 Pull ups 3 x max (doing slow decline in a pull up progression. Working towards my first unassisted) Reverse Crunch 3 x 10 Shuttle Runs 1:00, 1:00 x 5

Finished off day 9 great! Stayed well within my calorie goal, tracked everything, and stretched really well. Finished my daughter's blanket, and I'm just about done with my next book! So far I'm completely on track with this challenge. Day 10 Woohoo! I hit double digits! In my mind I always set mini goals. 10 consecutive days of hitting my goals was my first one. My next one is to make it to the end of week 4. Week 3 is always my "hump week" and is usually when things start to fall apart. Not this time! Week 3 also happens to be Thanksgiving week, which I am going into with a plan! Today's Workout: Bench Press 5x5 110 Squat 5x5 115 Push Ups 3 x 10 Planks :60 x 3 Squat Thrusts :30, :30 x 5 Jump Rope :30, :30 x 5

Day 9 Cardio day. I decided it was time to give the Elliptical a break and try out my calf on a run. 3.15 miles in 35:49. My calf felt great the whole time. About the stretch and then tackle my day!

Day 6: Tracked my food and stretched. Skipped my cardio! Read some of a new book and I'm almost done with my daughter's blanket. Day 7: Tracked my food. Active rest day...nailed it! Ha ha! Read and work some more on the blanket. Day 8: DEADLIFT DAY! Workout: Deadlift 3x5 165 Push Press 5x5 85 Pull ups 3 x max Reverse Crunch 3 x 10 Shuttle Runs 1:00, 1:00 x 5 Jump Rope :30, :30 x 5 I did NOT want to workout. I was good until I stepped into the garage gym, and that's when the "I don't want to workout"s hit me! Took me until push press for it to flip. Then I was good! Got my stretching in, and tracked my food. Again, still not making the best decisions, but we will work on that over time.

Day 5 Workout: Bench Press 5x5 110 Back Squat 5x5 115 Push ups 3x10 planks :60 x3 Squat thrusts :30,:30 x 5 Skipped jump rope because of my right calf. Didn't injure it again, but I could feel it change in the last :30 of squat thrusts. Going to stretch, foam roll, and ice today to stay ahead of it. My entire day is planned out for food. I will update this evening on adjustments if I have to make any.

Day 4: Cardio day. Only had about 30 minutes so I used a shorter, but harder pre-programmed elliptical workout. Rough, but I made it through. My legs, not so much! All stretched out! Off to the craziness of this day! It's day where good choices are a must! Update: I tracked all of my food. Made some choices today that weren't great, but I'm owning them. It was a hectic day! Back to it 100% tomorrow!

Day 3 DEADLIFT DAY!!! My favorite day! Workout: Deadlift 3x5 @ 165 (ready to increase next week? How exciting!) Push Press 5x5 @ 85 (Max is 95, but working back up after shoulder injury) Lunge 3x16 45# bar - having trouble with my right knee today? Freaking weird. Pull-ups 3 x Max - I cannot do a normal pull-up so I do jumping/slow decline. Any pointers would be great! Reverse Crunch 3 x 10 End of the day update: Food choices: seriously, who eats almost 2 full bags of popcorn? This girl! Not only can I not get enough of it, but it's nice when I feel like I need to eat but I don't need all of the calories. Right now it is filling that craving gap and it's getting me through the rest of the day without winding up bingeing on something dumb and full of mindless calories! At the end of the day, I stayed within my calorie goal, and tracked accurately and completely! [emoji106] Stretching: I stretched a couple times today, and spent some time with the heating pad. Some of my muscles seriously needed the heat therapy today! Felt amazing and I feel pretty awesome! Day 3 of awesome in the books! Feels great to be back on track. My body is thanking me profusely. Up and at me first thing to knock out cardio. Won't have time amidst all of the crazy that begins at 7 am tomorrow, so 5:30am will have to do! [emoji4]

@knightwatch, thanks! Today was pretty great as well! Sore. Holy DOMS! Day 2 recap: I was up at 5:03am , just after my husband linked me some article about how discipline starts with getting out of bed on the first alarm! A girl can take a hint! Gosh! Coffee, news, then off to workout! 50 minutes later and pretty far into a new book while on the elliptical = approximately 650 calories blazed! Food was completely tracked. Great choices were made. I had a moment where one wrong decision could have spiraled my entire day, but instead of the child's Halloween candy, I decided on my gigantic salad for lunch an hour early instead. I mean, somebody could have lost an arm at that point! Stretching. When DOMS are present, the last thing you want to do is torture yourself with a lacrosse ball, but I did it anyway. My calf muscle and my shoulder are thanking me. Although, my pride is definitely not, after the tears and almost fits of laughter from the pain caused by the tiny green rubber terrorist. I'm going to sharpie a crazy face on it. Maybe give it a personality, sort of like Wilson, the volleyball. Maybe I will mold my next challenge to it. I finished my book! Yeah! Started a new one, and got some work done on my daughter's blanket. I feel like I'm going to wind up being that 70 yr old granny who takes a break from her rocking chair to just bust out a 200lb deadlift! "Oh, here! Hold my knitting needles for a second. This is my set!" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks @ChairmanDavey. The calf strain in August has been a serious downfall for me. It's a lot better than it was, but not 100%. I have always neglected my calves, but it's time to change that. Woke up ready to go this morning! I'm starting some of my lifts out with low weight. Due to injuries over the last few months, I am working back towards my max weights. Day 1 Workout: Barbell Bench Press 5x5 105/110/110/110/110 (up 5lbs! Broken Plateau!) Back Squat 5x5 (previous max 135) 105/105/105/105/105 Push Up 3x10 Plank :60x3 Squat Thrusts :30,:30 x5 Jump Rope :30,:30 x5 Felt amazing to finally get a complete workout in. I've done so much damage to myself the last few months, and it felt great to let go of my disappointment and own the fact that I am the one who has to stop the cycle. Stretched pretty good following my workout. Did some rolling out with a lacrosse ball this evening to combat tightness in my calf to prevent reinjury, and also for a tension headache that is the leftover from a shoulder/back injury from a couple weeks ago. Trying to make sure I stay ahead of it so there is no reinjury. Planned out today's food last night after dinner, and only had to adjust a few things. Stayed on track, measured my food, and made sure it was as accurate as possible. I feel like today was a great day, and I am proud of myself for not giving into temptation the few times that it came knocking!

Mission I'm spent the last few months on an up and down, and my mission this challenge is to break the unhealthy habits, and start the healthy ones again. I am absolutely disgusted with how badly I've gone off the beaten path, especially these last two weeks. I have been fighting injuries, and using them as an excuse to get out of a workout, instead of adjusting for the injury. No excuses. It's time to fix this! I want to lose at least the 5lbs I put on in the last 2 months. I want to get back into my routine of strength training 3 days/cardio 3 days per week. I want to stop getting injured from my lack of stretching. Quests 1) Track food/calories intake every single day by accurately measuring food and entering everything into MyFitnessPal (+3 Con) This is a pass/fail goal for me. I either do it honestly and 100% of the time, or I don't. I'm only cheating myself if I don't. 2) Exercise 6 days a week: 3 strength days, 3 cardio/HIIT days, 1 Active recovery day (+2 STR, +2 DEX, +2 STA) A - Finish 100% of workout schedule ( +2, +2, +2) B - Finish above 90% of workout schedule (+1.25, +1.25, +1.25) C - Finish above 80% of workout schedule (+.5, +.5, +.5) 3) STRETCH IT OUT Yoga, Foam rolling, stretching for the recommended amount of time after a workout. I will be doing some form of stretching every single day. (+3 CON) A - 100% (+3) B - 90% (+2) C - 80% (+1) Life Quest Finish my current book. Finish my daughter's blanket, and start on my son's. (+3 WIS) Starting weight: 180 Starting Measurements: Neck: Arms: Chest: Waist: Hips: Thighs: Calves:

Quests Recap! 1) Track food/calories intake every single day by accurately measuring food and entering everything into MyFitnessPal Track at least 80% of the challenge (+1 CON) 2) Exercise 6 days a week: 3 strength days, 3 cardio/HIIT days B - Finish above 90% of workout schedule (+1.25 STR, +1.25 DEX, +1.25 CON) 3) STRETCH IT OUT Big fat Fail! Ha ha! I didn't do a single day of yoga. Life quest recap I didn't finish Clash of Kings, but I did read 4 young adult (ha ha ha) novels in a span of 2 weeks. ( +2 WIX) ~ Even though I didn't keep updating my challenge thread as much as I would have liked (life got sort of crazy during this challenge), I think I did pretty good keeping my goals in sight. I am consistently lifting, I am a lot quicker to notice bad nutrition choices and turning it around, but I REALLY need to work on my stretching. We are headed to New York for 3 weeks in August and we are going to switch it up a little bit. We wont have barbell access since my hometown is in podunk nowhere. We will most likely do a bodyweight workout and use the playground up the street for pull up portions of our workouts. I'm excited for a change. And yoga...lots of yoga since we will have the extra time.

Thanks for checking in! Life has been crazy hectic! The challenge is going good, I just haven't had the time to log in and update. I will try to get on and update in the next day or two!

Week 2 went okay. My workout partner was out of town, but I got 3/6 of my workouts done for the week. I tracked all of my food for the week but I went over my calorie goal twice, and didn't track the whole day for 1 of those days. I've been stretching after my workouts, but I haven't even done a single day of yoga. I will probably adjust that goal to just keep stretching well after my workouts. I have officially put down the Game of Thrones series, because I can't seem to keep myself interested long enough to read more than a page. I did, however, join a summer program with my kids. I have been reading to them like crazy, and I picked up a new book for myself. I'm hoping to get through it in the next couple of weeks and start the second one in the series shortly after. Even though some things have changed, and week two wasn't the best, I still think the week turned out pretty good. Week 3 has been great so far. I also decided to upgrade from a fitbit flex (have had it for 4 years) to a fitbit charge, and I still love my fitbit just as much as the first day I put one on! Headed to the Elliptical this afternoon after a great workout this morning. Added 5lbs to my deadlift, and 5lbs to my push press!

Day 7 Deadlift day! Workout done! It's HOT in the garage today! Food has been tracked so far and I'm on track. About to stretch it out, then yoga before bed. I haven't read much, but in going to try and get some in tonight. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day 4 Deadlift day! Woohoo! Food Tracked and within calorie goal Stretched...still no yoga. Day 5 Workout...not so much. Excuses are plentiful. Calories tracked but over my goal no stretching, no yoga Day 6 No workout again Calories tracked for 3/4 of the day...impromptu BBQ with the neighbors and I ate all of the things! Stretched a little bit last night before bed, but still no yoga. Food Prep day! Ready for the week. I'm going to turn this around. Hopefully squeeze in both of my missed workouts today, and food will be on point while my other half is out of town because he prepped all of my chicken yesterday! I've got goals and letting the weekends get crazy and out of control, are not an option at this point.

Day 3 needed a little get up and go, but I felt great by the end of the day. I wanted to bail on cardio SO BAD, but I sucked it up and murdered the elliptical for 45 minutes, and also found a new show to watch on netflix?!?! Sense 8 seems strange, yet oddly interesting to me. We will see if it can hold my attention again this weekend! I HATE boring cardio, so netflix is my go to when I'm using a machine. Day 3 workout done! Food tracked and within 100 calories of my goal. Stretched forever, but still haven't done a single day of yoga. Ha! I feel much better after a few days of lighter, healthier foods. And then I had a s'more for dessert last night! Yum!

Thanks @DarK_RaideR! I'm glad I came back! Day 1 was awesome! Day 2 was a bit off, but still great. Day 1: Tracked everything and stayed within 100 calroies of my goal. Drank my gallon of water, and then some. HIIT workout (holy crap my calves are sore)! Spent 45 minutes stretching everything out! Day 2: Tracked and stayed under my calorie goal. Had a weird upset stomach thing going on yesterday, so I didn't hit 1500 calories, but got in a minimum of 1200. Strength training done, stretched and spent some extra time last night rolling my calves. My stomach is still weird this morning. I'm not sure what's up. I don't feel sick, but my appetite isn't "EAT ALL OF THE THINGS" like it has been. About to take measurements and I will post a before photo shortly.

Day 1: HIIT workout done Food tracked and within 100 calories of my goal. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Since Day 1 of the last challenge, I have lost 6.1 lbs, 1% Body Fat and 10.5 inches all over. Current Measurements: Weight: 178.6lbs Body Fat%: 39.3% BMI: 28.7 Neck: 13.75 Arms - R: 13.25, L: 13.25 Chest: 34.25 Waist: 38.5 Hips: 41.5 Thighs - R: 26.5, L:26.5 Calves - R: 15, L: 15.25 Day 1 photo for this challenge Here is my side by side that shows the biggest change. Day 1 of last challenge/last day of last challenge

Mission My mission for this year is to meet my weight goal of 140lbs. Get stronger, finish a bunch of NF Challenges, and just have fun! Some of the things in this challenge are the same as my last challenge. They are still a work in progress, and they are important goals to me, so I really want to nail them down! I'm going to take it a bit easier this challenge as far as forums and posting. Last challenge, it was hard to keep up with the accountabilibuddies and worry about everything else at the same time. I had a lot of fun with what I did get accomplished, but this challenge I need to FOCUS! Quests 1) Track food/calories intake every single day by accurately measuring food and entering everything into MyFitnessPal (+3 Con) A - Track 100% of the challenge, and stay within calorie goal (+3) B - Track at least 90% of the challenge (+2) C - Track at least 80% of the challenge (+1) 2) Exercise 6 days a week: 3 strength days, 3 cardio/HIIT days (+2 STR, +2 DEX, +2 STA) A - Finish 100% of workout schedule ( +2, +2, +2) B - Finish above 90% of workout schedule (+1.25, +1.25, +1.25) C - Finish above 80% of workout schedule (+.5, +.5, +.5) 3) STRETCH IT OUT 30 days of Yoga on youtube! So 5 days a week! (+3) A - Finish all 30 days (+3) B - Finish 25 days (+2) C - Finish 20 day (+1) Life Quest Finish the second book in the Game of Thrones series (Clash of Kings) and start reading book #3. (+3 WIS)

I've been keeping up with workouts this last week. Along with a lot of other things. I did manage to drink a gallon of water every single day through the entire challenge. That is one habit that I'm glad to have. I'm never dehydrated! I didn't manage to make 70% with either my strength training or my cardio/hiit training. I tracked about 85% of the entire challenge. I made it 1/3 of the way into A Clash of Kings, so I went above and beyond my life quest. I can't believe it's been six weeks already! I'm looking forward to killing the next challenge! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yoga this morning, so I'm all sorts of stretched out. No sprints today. I decided it was a run 2 miles kind of day. Felt great and the weather is amazing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did a 2 mile interval run yesterday. 8 intervals total. Stretching like a mad woman this morning! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk