shesavedtheworldalot

This comment made my day! All the smiles! God, that is a LOT of energy for that early in the morning. Just FYI, you probably have seen the results of clicker training. Ever seen those videos where the dogs know lots of commands and/or insane tricks? That's usually the result of clicker training. It's a form of operant conditioning, whereby the dog learns that the "click" means they did it right and food/pets/love/rewards are forthcoming. If they don't get a click, they just keep trying things until they get it right. It's a really fun way to train, especially if you have a dog that will just offer insane behaviors for food. (One of the things I'm trying to do right now is get her to "train" with me. Ie, walking lunges = every time I lunge she sits, I hold a plank = she holds a down/stay, I do push ups = she does repeated sits and downs. It's funny to watch!)

I very rarely set strict number goals about weight/inches/etc., because to be frank, I just don't CARE. In the past, I've become all-consumed with the number on the scale, and it killed any strength I had and made me really obsessive and body conscious. I refuse to have pride in my body over how it looks to other people. (Yeah, rejecting the male gaze! Sorry, feminist rants are one of my things.) I value my body for what it does FOR me and others. The numbers will decrease as my abilities increase. I don't worry about them. My goal when I started working with a trainer was to have confidence in knowing what the equipment does and how to use it so that I could get in, get work done, and get out without feeling self-conscious. "No fear," sabe?

Well, I was going to update WEEKLY, but I guess I'll just throw this in here: So far so good. The increased water intake is helping with the DOMS more than I thought it would. I'm in the bathroom every hour though, so there's always a tradeoff I guess. Cooking is fun--Last night I decided it was absolutely fall and I would hear no arguments about it, so I made a pork loin stuffed with apples and onions, with red potatoes and green beans, everything seasoned with a healthy dose of oregano and rosemary. YUM. And I did a back/core workout last night that had me gasping by the end. (Squat thrusts, you will be the DEATH of me. I HATE YOU. Just kidding. We're good, right?) But the real news is that I got my metabolism re-measured last night in a check up, and it's increased nicely. After a discussion with the dietitian, it's possible that I may have originally killed my metabolism with the cycles of dramatically cutting calories to lose weight, but my body is WORKING again! All this really means is MORE FOOD. I LOVE FOOD. (I don't think loving food is an unhealthy attitude, per se. Food is great. Food is what powers our bodies. It's a community act. It's evolution, for the love of Pete. Whoever Pete is. Building a healthy relationship with food is different from loving food. End rant.) Also, the body fat is still decreasing, so it's nice to see the overall main quest thing happening, albeit SO SLOWLY. Trainer is also writing a paper to some kind of national athletic licensing board and asked me to write up a short testimonial because I've made some serious lifting progress in a year. (Couldn't squat my bodyweight properly in January, current PR is 135 lbs. Confidence!) And....that's all. Woot! Go Challenge! [insert cartwheel.]

You mean I never have to watch four different football games all at once ever again?? TO THINK GEEK!!!!

I'm so there with you! What helped me was counting calories and seeing how much a serving really was. I "portioned out" all my meals for the day (x calories for each meal, and x calories for a snack in between) so that I was eating six times a day. This helps with two things: First, it helps you see how much you need to eat. As in, you eat a true portion size and you go, "Huh, I feel satisfied. I can go about my day." Second, eating so often, you're never actually hungry, and you know that your next meal is right around the corner. (I eat about every three hours.) As for the fiancee, ask to limit the amount of junk food in the house. Pick up one or two "junk items" per week. (In our house, it's tortilla chips and ONE BOX of cookies.) Then pick up snacks that you can both enjoy. (This week, it's real fruit pineapple paletas and homemade hummus! Yum!) Try to cook and eat good healthy things that he/she will enjoy as well. This is going to put a lot of responsibility on you, but as you show your fiancee how easy and delicious it is to eat better, I guarantee that he/she will begin to be way more supportive, because there's less fear that you're trying to force a change on him/her. Finally, work on adopting a better attitude towards food. There's nothing wrong with wanting and having some ice cream. Portion it out into a bowl, and put some toppings on it. Make it a real treat. Put the carton away. And when it's done, it's done. Love cheese? Blackberries and feta is a delicious, low-cal snack that's both sweet and salty. If you start telling yourself you can't ever have something, you'll want it all the time. Find better ways to get your favorite things in. And if you know you're eating just because you're bored, get up and find something to do. Take a pet for a walk, clean the windows, vacuum the carpets, find a great new recipe for dinner and pick up the ingredients, play a musical instrument. In the words of the immortal Betty Draper, "Only boring people are bored."

I firmly believe in being distracted by pop culture. It's probably why if I'm going to use cardio machines, I demand a tv with subtitles and full power of the remote so I can find something all-consuming to watch and blast music!

Had to jump in since I found your name intriguing! (I've been called "MandaPanda" my whole life...) Back when I was running, I used a couch to 5k program on my phone that worked well for outdoor training and would chime in to tell me to run or walk. Really took the guesswork out of it, and the intervals are much easier to progress on than you might think! (Though the first two weeks are killer when coming from a treadmill.) Best of luck to you in completing the challenge and in changing your blood sugar numbers! That's not easy!

Here are some questions to put your goals to the test: Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Overall goal is to get to 25% body fat. I'm currently at 36%. It's definitely achievable, over a long period of time, and it's also reasonable for my age/height. Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on? Yep. Drinking water, structured exercise 3x/week, and 3 colors of fruits and veggies to every plate. Basic and simple. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? I could scale it down, but I don't think that's necessary. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? "Weekly checkup" system for the workouts, stopping and thinking at each meal, and using a big cup that has to be filled 2x each day for water. How are you grading your goals? Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€)? Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€? If I "meet" or "exceed" all of my goals, I'm buying shoes. Completely impractical gorgeous shoes, regardless of price. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Two/three can remain unaltered. The third will have to be carefully tracked. I have a tendency to get a cold and fall off the exercise wagon. So as soon as I'm well enough to exercise again, albeit slowly, I need to start right away. Injury would be another, more complicated story. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I think I'm good on this front. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? Nope! Good to go! Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set? If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? Technically, yes. I will try to convince myself that I'm too busy. I'll need to counter that negative message a lot. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? Trying to build a few good habits here, but I think everything is focused on the overall quest.

Thanks, Blaidd! That definitely sounds like where I should be. I'm kind of spazzy, so I never want to do one thing for too long. And as for the health and fitness thing, not too bad for a company that works in the death industry, huh?

Oh God. Being in a wedding. Those dresses are always AWFUL. (I have two chiffon creations hanging in my closet right now.) Best of luck to you making that look good!

Haha! Yes! I'm also a musical geek! I've seen Wicked twice, and my college roommate and I have gone as Elphaba/Glinda for Halloween, and we have a caricature on the wall with the caption, "For you see my roommate is, unusually and exceedingly peculiar and all together quite impossible to describe./Blonde." I am not the blonde. Also, I guess we're not roommates anymore, so we just trade the picture back and forth every year because neither of us wants to give it up! I love how positive everyone is here! I've been skipping around some of the threads and even the topics that make internet people start yelling at each other are full of supportive comments. No negativity, just asking questions. It's awesome. So glad I finally decide to jump in with both feet!

Yep! Love Buffy! (And in the eternal Spike/Angel debate, I fall firmly in the "I just want to get drunk with Spike and talk about how BORING Angel is" camp.

Here goes the very first six-week challenge. I've already mapped out when this thing ends. The last week of October. I can hold on until the last week of October. I'm in a really good place to do this right now. My employer just won an award for being the most health conscious employer in the state, and they offer all kinds of programs to help. This means I get to use a BodPod for free every 2 weeks, so I know my numbers are pretty accurate. (In true nerdy fashion, I FREAKING LOVE DATA.) This brings me to the Main Quest: My MAIN QUEST is to decrease from 31% body fat (current) to 25% body fat. I know lots of people go lower than this, and that it's perfectly healthy to do so, but I want to see how that feels before I set a new goal. In order to achieve this, I will:--Participated in structured workouts AT LEAST 3x/week. Ideally, I would like to strength train 3x/week, plus whatever else I'm into, but I'm starting slowly. This should be an easily achievable goal. I meet with a trainer 1x/week anyway, plus the company is offering yoga 2x/week. Just attending those classes and NOT GIVING UP, will allow me to reach this goal. Then all I have to do is add in an extra session of strength training on the weekend to really exceed it. --3 freggies at EVERY MEAL. This is hard, but when I actually stick to it, I feel like I'm at my best. Simply put, this is the "three color" rule. All plates must be colorful and interesting. --64 ounces of water EVERY DAY. This one kills me. Battle plan is to fill up my giant work cup once before lunch and once after lunch. That will get me to 48 oz. without really trying. So if I drink a glass when I wake up and a glass with dinner, I've made it. Side Life Quest: Really devote time to some clicker training. As it turns out, I'm kind of a crazy dog lady, and my corresponding crazy dog is in an agility demo at the beginning of October. We have some work to put in if she's going to perform for God knows how many people. Clicker training, 2x per week, so that we can work on running a course with ease. (Yes, I know this is a whole new level of geeky. I promise not to judge you for your hobbies. ) Why am I doing this? I want to live by the improv rules: "YES, AND..." To take whatever adventures life offers me, and not only to jump on them, but to add to them. I'm tired of not doing things because I think I can't or because I'm afraid of how it will look. No more thinking that things "aren't for me." No more being afraid to be seen at the pool, no more being worried about who I was before, no more worrying about time or money or strength. If an opportunity presents itself to me, I'm going for it. So what's in store? Who knows. But I know the answer is: YES, AND...

I hope I'm doing this right. I don't computer good. At 26, I moved to a new town. By 27, I gained an extra 30 pounds from the stress and loneliness. I've always hated exercising because it's boring. I love cooking because it's fun, but I managed to convince myself there was no time to do it. Stress makes me feel trapped. My pants were way too tight and uncomfortable on top of everything. I joined the gym and started doing the same old thing--a couple miles on the treadmill, but didn't change my eating habits. In January of this year, I decided enough was enough. I wanted to try something totally new, but was too scared to do it alone. I hired a trainer to show me how to use the OTHER side of the gym. The scary side. The Place of the Giant Men. Where Women Must Never Go. And it turned out, I was good at it! And I actually liked it! All the things I've been told and I've told myself I couldn't do, it turns out I'm really good at! And then to get better at THAT, I decided to start eating better. I'm back to cooking and getting some healthy food back into myself (and my boyfriend, who I'm slowly persuading to join me). While I will probably never go full paleo (healthy, inspired oatmeal is kind of my jam) I'm definitely trying to focus on protein, fruits, and veggies. And at some point in the last couple months, I found the Rebellion. As a long time lover of fantasy literature (one of the few places women get to be just as kickass as the men) I am psyched to be working "beside" people who get my jokes! I joined the six week challenge that starts today, and I can't wait to get started! So HI!!!!!!