Sheik

Nice! I had to look it up, but it looks fascinating. I'm reading a bunch of gardening books right now... because I'm a BAMF like that.

Update on Week 1: Totally went crazy eating at that board game event on Friday (wah wah--there was goat cheese and carrot cake bites, my two kryptonites), but when I forced myself to add up the calories the next day, I only had ~2200 for the whole day (probably because I forced myself to stick to celery sticks as much as possible). So I'm actually going to count that a win. Went to a local playground on Saturday to use the equipment to workout. A little girl and her dad showed up about 10 mins before I wrapped up, and she followed me around telling me I was a "real good exerciser." Adorbs. Also, as part of the Mini Experiment, I did 12 standard pushups! That's like 2 more than I ever did at my "peak," which really tells me I probably baby my rotator cuff way too much haha. Overall Week Scoring: A 5 days eating <1750 calories, 1 day eating < 2000, 1 day could have been worse3 Strength Training Sessions1 HIIIT session 6 30-min yoga videosGratitude journaling every daySuccess! Brr! Oh I was just very confused, because when you said "Hyperion," I thought you meant the John Keats poem, and I was wondering what that had to do with the image haha! No, I haven't read the Simmons novel, unfortunately.

I LOVE my spiralizer! It lets me eat "pasta" again, which I at one point had at least 1-2x a week. I also had a yummy salad last week from ribboned raw zucchii with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on it (plus delicious olives, artichoke hearts, etc.) I didn't get the attachment, I got the $20 plastic one on Amazon.

Yeah I thought about that too-- I'm trying to double up on days to give myself a rest day in between. I've been doing a hard set first (wooo 5 diamonds), then maxing out the easier one in a second set. I'm STILL sore today from yesterday's diamonds / tables, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow with typewriters / knees.

I do this ALL THE TIME. That's why I've had to structure my challenge such that I basically get "full credit" for keeping up with my goals and "partial credit" for at least not going off the rails. It's been surprisingly helpful in helping me retrain my brain.

Hi Hazard! So, update: my first week of the challenge is going really well so far--eating has been on track, been doing my strength training, and lots of walks and yoga. Technically, I started these goals two weeks ago, and my average weekly weight is down 3/4 of a pound, so go me! My first social event while eating healthy is tonight... I'm really going to try to hold it together and not EAT ALL THE THINGS the way I normally do. It's kind of a joke in this crowd how I eat super healthy 90% of the time and then go off the rails when I'm at these events, partly due to self-control issues and partly due to an overwhelming peer pressure. (Not a FUNNY joke, of course.) I'm planning to have some Greek yogurt right before I head over so I'm not starving when it's time to eat. Here goes...

Hi Ragnveig, I'm like you in that I don't "do" team sports and I also don't like a lot of equipment. Here are things I've enjoyed: WALKING. I love walking. I pop in an audiobook and can do it pretty much anywhere / anytime, depending on my footwear. And it burns a surprising amount of calories for being so low-impact. Love it.As someone else mentioned above, you could also do running. I personally hate it.Echoing what someone else said above about body weight strength training. That's pretty much all I do, and you can ramp up the difficulty as you need to.I started doing High Impact Interval Training (HIIT) in the last couple of years because I don't like extended cardio... it's intense, but it's only intense for 30-60 seconds, and then you get a break. It also doesn't generally require any equipment. I like Jessica Smith's videos on youtube for this kind of stuff.Other types of cardio videos you could try: dance / zumba, "walking" videos, kickboxing... depends on your mood.Yoga -- all you need is the floor, depending on what you're trying to do, and there are different types of yoga for whatever you want to do--Power yoga for strength training / cardio, hatha yoga for flexibility and stretching, etc.Kind of dorky, but I LOVE playgrounds, too. Swings are a surprising work out and so relaxing and fun.One thing I like about videos at home is you can pause them. I'm doing the 30 Day Yoga Challenge with Adriene (on youtube) this month, and she recently said in a video that it's up to each of us to take responsibility for ourselves and take a break when you need it. I kind of love that. Good luck!

This is great, I've been focusing way too much on legs recently! Although apparently yesterday was an off-day because I did 9 more table push ups today than I did wall push ups yesterday.... gonna have to give that another go.

Looks good! What kind of books are on your list?

I love your goals! I'm always so curious about those food programs--they sound promising, but I'm also a notorious spendthrift. As someone who recently had a tiny galley kitchen with no dishwasher though, it sounded like heaven. Good luck!

Congrats on the new place! At one point, I lived on the third floor and didn't have a car and I always felt like I had just worked out. I agree about MFP and carb tracking... I always have to do mental math in my head to make sure I'm on track. What's the Primal 21 Day challenge?

Haha! It's actually offered through the gym at my work, a personal trainer comes in and offers classes 2x a week for $60 for 6 weeks. Focuses on body weight exercises and kettle bells (totally my thing -- I don't have the patience for weight sets haha). Supposed to start with a movement assessment, at which he'll probably look at me struggle to do 6 push ups and laugh his butt off.... hahaha Sorry it's so cold! Where are you located? Here in Houston it's finally getting nice.

Hi, I'm Sheik and it's been six months since my last challenge. (Cue All: Hi, Sheik.) The timing of this challenge works out well for me. I've been slacking ~3ish months and have been eating pretty poorly and only working out 1-2x a week while I focused on other area. Not great, but I only gained ~3 lbs, so it's not all bad... HOWEVER, I looked at the calendar and realized that the Primal training course I signed up for last fall starts in February and I've grown soft and weak... CUE FREAKOUT. Anyway, to prepare for the class that starts in 32 days (but who's counting?) this challenge will focus on three areas: Nutrition (2 points a day): I'll aim to eat less than 1750 calories each day (<120g carb). Because I struggle with demotivation if I "go over," I will get two points a day for every day I eat less than 1750, and 1 point if I eat between 1750-2000. Strength and Cardio (1-2 points a day): to get ready for Primal, I'm planning to do the following, each worth 1 point a day: Bodyweight strength training 3x a week HIIT 1-2x a week Walking as often as possible (1 point for every hour) Mental Health (1-2.5 points a day): finally, to balance the physical with the mental (something I've struggled with in the past), I will also: Do yoga (1 point for every time I actually go to the studio I'm paying for anyway) The 30 Days of Yoga challenge with Adriene (.5 points for every time I do it) Identify a daily gratitude and write it on a post-it note on my wall. SCORING: I'll be tracking all of this in a spreadsheet separately. Each day, I'll have a total of 6.5 points possible, but realistically I'll probably only get ~4-4.5 a day unless I'm feeling especially awesome. Daily Scoring: A: >4 points, B: 4 points, C: 3 points, D: 2 points, F: <2 points My overall weekly scoring will be a bit more steep so I'll have a challenge without the daily threat of demotivation of "not making it today." Weekly Scoring: A: 28+ points, B: 25 - 28 points, C: 21- 25 points, D: 17 - 21 points, F: <17 points Let's do this!

Week 2 update: I'm back on track for my food / food cravings. I made a DELICIOUS veggie soup from OhSheGlows and vegetarian jamabalaya this weekend, so I'll be nomming down on that for dinner for the foreseeable future. I finally broke down and started buying new clothes (I wanted to wait until I was done losing weight, but my pants were 2 sizes too big so it was getting a bit ridiculous) so I stocked up on warm sweaters and pants last week. I'm continuing to get weird compliments from a co-worker. She saw me Thursday and said, "Wow, I never knew you could get so skinny!" I decided to just smile and pretend it wasn't back-handed haha. I split my arm and leg strength training sessions into different days this week so I could get 4 sessions in to make up for 1 missed session last week. Still just keeping on keeping on. And flossing.

I love these cardio challenges! Just put in my high knees, going to do mountain climbers this afternoon!

Thanks, everyone! Week 1, Days 1-2 update: This challenge is starting off a little rockier than the last... I went on a short trip this weekend and ate ALL THE AMAZING FOOD I've generally quit eating and my brain was loving it. I'm now craving junk for the first time since August (why, brain, why?). I dreamt last night I binged on fried chicken on orange sherbet, which sounds simultaneously delicious and disgusting. (I should note that I don't eat fried chicken or sherbet, although I did have ice cream this weekend.) So this is going to be fun to kick. On the bright side, I am keeping my eating under control, worked out on Monday, and have been consistently flossing. I'm going to work out really hard this afternoon since I find that helps me control my cravings (I don't want to eat 500 calories of junk if I just busted my butt in the gym and only burnt 250 haha).

Sheik here for my second challenge! I'm super proud of how I did for the first challenge--I lost ten pounds (and a pants size) and lowered the amount of assistance I needed for a chin up from 40 pounds to 16 pounds! I think I may actually be able to do a pull up by the end of the year (my overall goal), transforming myself into a badass! Here are my goals: Goal 1: MOAR STRENGTH TRAINING, working towards a pull up by including inverted rows and negative pull-ups at least three times a week. A = 18 sessions B = 12 sessions C = 9 sessions F = Anything less Goal 2: To lose some fat (and hopefully weight, to make the pull up easier haha), I'll track what I eat, aiming for an average of less than 1600 calories a day, with a focus on protein and veggies. (Totals will be averaged per week.) A = Made it all 6 weeks B = Made it 5 weeks C = Made it 4 weeks F = Made it less than 3 weeks Goal 3: Get outside at least once a week (for my health!) A = outside exercise 6 times B = outside exercise 5 times C = outside exercise 4 times F = outside exercise 3 times Side Quest: Floss every day. I used to be good at this, but have limited it to my 1-2 problem areas daily, and the rest when I think about it.

Challenge Summary: I think I did pretty well for my first cahllenge! I give myself a B+ on the nutrition challenge (although if I were to reset my goals, it would probably be an A... 5 days of ~200 calories more than my goal in 6 weeks is still pretty good). I get an A for my strength training (woot woot) and for my grip training. Results-wise, I saw a huge change over the past 6 weeks. I've lost about 10 pounds since the middle of September, dropped a pants size and lost inches from everywhere. Looking forward to keeping it up going forward.

Thanks! I was surprised by her comment because she's normally pretty cool, but then I found out she just started a new diet and isn't loving it, so it made sense. (I definitely believe other people's issues are their own and generally don't have anything to do with me haha) Week Six, Days 1-3 Update: Keeping up my nutrition goals, although I'm getting bored with my workout routine so it's time to switch that up slightly (I need to update the spreadsheets I keep on my phone to the Dumbbell Level 2 from the Academy and just haven't quite gotten around to it).

Week Five Update: I slacked off at the gym last week for various reasons (only had 1 really good workout) but mostly maintained my nutrition goals. I'm relaxing slightly on the calories goal since it's now occurring to me I should have aimed for a weekly total (or average) rather than daily--because even though I may go slightly over 1 day, I'm generally well below the goal and don't get "credit" for it the way my goals are currently structured. So that's a thing. Prepped all my food for the week yesterday, including making homemade stewed and diced tomatoes to freeze for the next time I want to make soup or jambalaya. I went to an animal rescue fundraiser last night and, because I had room in my calorie goal, ended up having a couple of glasses of champagne (I haven't had alcohol since the beginning of August). My GOD I had forgotten how horrible booze is for your body--even just the little bit I had completely ruined my sleep last night, I woke up incredibly dehydrated, and my tummy is significantly less happy than it normally is... all of which didn't even come with a slight buzz while I was actually drinking since I had so little over the course of 3 hours. I'm definitely recommitted to no alcohol now. I got my first negative comment about my weight loss on Friday; a coworker made a comment that I only eat granola now and used to be "normal." I just told her I was never normal haha. Looking back on the first five weeks of the six-week challenge, it's given me a convenient "excuse" for what I'm eating / drinking / doing with my time. I may just make up my own challenge after next week so I can point to that when people ask why I'm not eating junk.

Week Five, Days 1-2 Update: I'm having a bad week for a variety of reasons, but I'm still maintaining my healthy food choices (and my sweet potato and vegetarian sausage hash is amazing and tastes like Thanksgiving). Haven't had as much energy (or as many s***s to give, unfortunately) for working out, so I cut my strength training short on Monday to just do some stretching. Going to do my best to workout today. On the bright side, I'm still losing weight at a pretty good pace (1-1.5 pounds a week), and I'm down around 12 pounds altogether and am now around my high school weight. Readjusted my goals to see if I can lose another 7-10 pounds before Christmas.

Thanks! When I first started out, I felt guilty if I didn't work out 5 days a week, but I'm still seeing results even if I average 3-4 times, so I'm allowing myself to rest when I need to. Week Four, Days 5-7 Update: Worked out on Friday and had an exciting revelation--two months ago, I could only do a chin up with 40 pounds of assistance. On Friday, I did a chin up with just 16 pounds of assistance!!! Part of that is losing ten pounds (and I'm aiming to lose another 7-10), and part of it is all the inverted rows and negative pull ups I've been doing. Woot woot! I think I may actually get to a real chin up by Christmas! Went a little overboard on my calories for the day because I was really hungry by dinner (by ~150 kcal), but I'm not sweating it and ate really well the rest of the weekend. Last night, I prepped my dinner for the week (vegetarian sausage and sweet potato hash, which I'll put in half an acorn squash because MMM AUTUMN) and prepped my lunch for today (I'm eating the Nourish and Glow Mircle Bowl from Oh She Glows this week, although I replaced the almond salad with 50% tuna and 50% chickpeas because I don't have a food processor and my blender is laughably terrible.)

Week Four, Day Four Update: Yesterday was my rest day so I didn't work out, but I did really well nutrition-wise. I realized this week that I've successfully (and accidentally haha) eliminated all grains from my diet M-F. Still getting carbs from veggies and fruit, obviously, but I feel WAY better than I would have if I had just cut grains out cold turkey two months ago. (I'll still have tortillas this weekend because mmm Tex Mex.)

Week Four, Day Three Update: Had a really good day yesterday, nutrition and strength-training wise. I've started video recording myself doing push ups to work on my form (two months ago I couldn't even do 1 regular pushup, now I'm up to two sets of 8... although again, my form needs work because I struggle to keep my back straight.) I've been having the tilapia and squash foil packet that Noel wrote about on the homepage for dinner this week, and I find that on the weeks I do that, I lose a lot more weight than I do on weeks where I have beans or quinoa for dinner (I'm assuming due to water weight from the carbs). I've started researching other foil packets I can make for next week.

Week Four, Day Two Update: Yesterday was my rest day, so I did some low intensity cardio on the elliptical (watching Food Network ladies make a bunch of food I'm not eating right now haha). I did slip a little on my calorie goal (~50 calories) because the bf and I strung up some lights for Halloween and I was really craving candy... although I only had 4 Starburst pieces, so it's not like I went crazy haha. Could have been a lot worse. I did make him take all the leftover candy home with him though. He had been storing it at my place before and I had to put a stop to that shiz.