Nhiyoka

Okay. I'm pulling out of this race. There's too much going on in my life right now to keep this going. I've gotta get some things taken care of and then maybe I'll be back for another when I can focus on this better. Sorry guys. Good luck. I'm still pursuing goals. Just, you know, not in a 6 week challenge format.

I fell into a BAD downward spiral which, in short, lead to a complete LACK of motivation for me. I'm still fighting it. I fell behind in school, didn't record my calories, got kinda sick (recurring migraine lasting most of the week) and had NO desire to DO any of my responsibilities. Yesterday, I did 1/2 of my assignment that was already late and did some personal stuff that I needed to do. Hopefully it'll get better. I'm still not incredibly motivated. But I have a midterm to study for and am gonna try and MAKE myself do stuff...in general. I got a D for the week. I DID still exercise here and there but didn't go to zumba or capoeira and swam but the pool was WAAAAY too crowded...like 4 people/lane so I left after 10 laps. We'll see how this week goes. I am gonna start counting calories again today.

I think we're in week three? I fell off the wagon gloriously last night. But I'm crawling back on. Still not studying like I should. Anne of the Island is too much good company to ignore!

I love P!nk! Bf thinks she's all terrible and likes Katy Perry more or some stuff. But what does he know? Hehe. If it makes you feel any better about the over eating thing, I went almost 800 calories over if not more last night because I had a TERRIBLE day at work and then came home to an apartment that smelled like a compost pile because no one cared to take out the trash. I reacted by angrily binging on grilled chicken tacos (more like massive monstrous burritos) and angry orchard apple cider. So nommy! I regret it a little. But today I'm going to try to behave again and eat right. Ugh...we'll make it! Good luck and awesome pic!

Second week went okay. Ate pretty well, minus Saturday's "CHEAT" day. I don't think I've even yet been able to reach my calorie intake goal on that day. Which I'm fine with because I honestly feel full before then. After Capoeira, it is often somewhere around the 2300 mark, AFTER having already ate breakfast and a snack. Had some Thai style coconut curry Halibut but all but once (had left overs) it seemed to have it out for me. I got my PB2 regular and chocolate stuff in from Bell Plantation. It is...grainy by itself but good mixed with regular peanut butter and less calories on my morning hunka toast (yes, I eat grains still, just so long as it falls underneath my calorie goal. Nothing has much more staying power than carbs and protein in the morning for me. Started it because I needed to get used to lowering caloric intake, kept it up because yummy pb toast in the morning on HOME MADE BREAD). I did all my exercises, to goal, even slightly faster for running (1. 14:10, 2. 13:50). I stretched my legs after running. I'd like to eventually be able to be more leg flexible in Capoeira in general. It's a long road ahead. I pulled my groin muscles on the right and for the rest of the day yesterday was telling my close friends I'd sprained my crotch. Yeah. You can see why I want to work on strengthening/flexibility of my lower body. I made a point of NOT getting ahold of my friend for that extra exercise on Friday because I usually feel exercise weary by then. Left it up to her. She had a last minute charter to do so it was a no go. I really DO want to be supportive but I get worn out exercising most days of the week. And I also want to be social with a new buddy from Capoeira class but I seem to have a case of TOO MANY exercise enthusiastic friends whose schedules simply do not line up with mine, therefore more exercise instead of just joining one or the other in a preexisting plan. Also, I already have to bike most places due to SO's truck being kaputt and him using my car (and also being far more bike commute friendly than car commute friendly). That leaves me biking to my 5 hr shift with a sore body. Luckily, it ain't but 3 miles away. My studying for upcoming nursing classes has been nonexistent over the last few weeks. But I can kinda crochet now. :/

Tell me about it. I have zumba tonight otherwise I dunno WHAT I'd do to have a fulfilling meal on a few hundred calories at the end of the day!

Hey Unikarm. I hope things are going well for you on your challenge.

Hey Max. I definitely feel you on the joint thing. I've been 3-4 years in the process of generally not f'ing up my right knee any worse. Doc said I probably strained it at some point and didn't realize, therefore didn't let it heal. Now I have a hot dagger jamming through my knee any time I cycle too hard. Swimming helps to work stabilizing muscles but I will forever have to baby it. And the sucky part is that I LOVE cycling. I'm signed up to do a 50k next summer and I JUST don't know how my knee will do it. But I WILL DO IT! Have you tried getting the blood flowing and maybe doing something specific to loosen up the joints a tad before your normal routine? I find that helps me stave off SOME of the joint pain.

Hey Time. Our goals are similar. I am trying to maintain 1800 calories/day and work out 4-7x/wk (4 minimum). I've found I tend to exercise to be able to eat. Sometimes, the type or quality of calories just isn't enough and I find myself jogging or biking to be able to have a more substantial dinner. My goal is to go from 180ish to 170ish by the end of this but eventually I'll be trying for 160 and even later 145. I'm hoping this calorie counting thing works for me as you say it works for you. I find it at LEAST gives me a rough idea of WHAT I'm doing to my body. Anyway, thanks for giving moral support on my challenge. I'll be sure to come back and look for updates on yours as well.

I'm sorry to hear about your lack of access to swim facilities. Any safe, natural swimming places? I WAS worn out but it came on gradually. At first, I was mostly just hungry.

Oh, I mean to say that I was counting down and back as 2, not one. That's how they had it listed on the conversion thingy. So REAL laps would have been half that amount. I just kinda putted around suuuper slowly after I finished my half a mile. I didn't feel any effect until LATER that day. I was TIRED!

Weekly update #1 (yes, it's late. sorry): Alright, so last week I did pretty dang well on my physical goals. I worked out as many times as I said, even DID the workouts listed. Tuesday's zumba with adorable-hot instructor was fun and I got a good cardio workout in while shakin mah booty. Wednesday's run around the lake was a bit pathetic with a 14min, 10sec mile (approx, google maps is obstinate) but it's a good baseline to start from. Thursday I went swimming with my roommate/buddy and only MEANT to do a half mile but did 56 of the 65 laps of a mile while waiting for him to do his mile. I did the first half mile all vim and vigor and lazed about with a paddle board for the last bit. Friday I ended up inadvertently having to haul major ASS around town with my bike since SO's truck broke down and he isn't as bicically (spelling? WHO CARES?) inclined as I so I count that as extra credit. Saturday I went to Capoeira class, my major calorie burner and workout maker. But my teacher has this new thing about lecturing us about warming up and stretching BEFORE class like big kids while sitting us down and consequently cooling us down and tightening our limbs back up. O.o I dunno. I don't always agree with her methods but DANG that woman can play! I still went with an even 1000 calories burned for my tracker since it IS a 2.5 hour class of fairly intense exercise when we ARE moving. I had mostly good days diet wise with one planned and one unplanned overages. Saturday was a pirate pub crawl put on annually by the downtown pub/business collective and I intended to go to that and have a few drinks/bar food. But since I had a large and lavish breakfast that wasn't a mite healthy, I was already fairly up in calories before doing that. I ended up going roughly 300 cal over when the night was over. Last night (Sunday) I ended up at an impromptu (for me) ramen house hang out and ate WAAAY too many calories. THEN, SO decided we should have a hang out, play vijya games/read/whatever night with the roomie and I ended up going 1300 calories over goal. YIKES! It sucks but I WILL NOT let myself fall off the wagon. Today, I'm right back to healthy breakfast so far and a pseudo-healthy lunch due to leftover ramen and lack of strategic grocery shopping. One of my buddies and I got back into contact recently. It turns out she has lost a significant amount of weight (kudos to her!) and she was talking about wanting to do a partner indoor cycling class at our health center on Fridays. I agreed to be supportive but am secretly putting no effort in to followup due to laziness/sheer workout exhaustion sometimes. And also the fact that pretty much ALL indoor cycles tend to f up my bad knee but my own beloved steed does not. But I will definitely join her if she asks me to on Fridays. I'll be counting it as extra credit and allow myself a slightly bigger portion size of whatever favorite food afterward. I was also eyeballing the new fitbit flex so that I can get more accurate readings and the like. I accidentally ordered it on my friend's amazon prime so I am getting it now either way whether I wanted to for real or not. :/ Just have to pay him back and have him ship it to me.

Don't fall off the wagon though Unikarm. It might be a tough start but you just keep getting back on the trail is all. I had 1300 more calories than I was supposed to last night. But today, I'ma try eating healthier again. Good luck!

Linyaari, you should lose 0.5-2 pounds per week so a healthy goal for six weeks would be between 3 and 12 pounds honestly but I'm sure if you keep your intake as nutrient dense as possible, maybe take supplements to cover the nutrients you know you might run a deficit on (read: don't necessarily just TAKE a multi, but evaluate your intake and see what is likely to be deficient and work with that). Also, I don't recall your weight but I know that it tends to be easier to lose weight at the beginning of a weight loss endeavor than when you get closer to your healthier weight. The issues to worry about are running a significant deficiency (malnourishment) in the long run and your body going into starvation mode due to not enough calorie intake and too much exercise.

I am, in fact, dope. However, I'm still mostly in the flailing child stage of training. As in, I mostly look ridiculous but am getting stronger, more flexible and more mentally tough. I'm no Mestre. I have not tried zumba toning. I notice I've tended to shy away from any zumba offshoot that is mostly not zumba imo so far. Tried some MOSTLY partner work and weight lifting/exercise set version that I just DIDN'T like. Not to knock yours, I'm sure it was great.

Secil I've done Zumba a hand full of times and it helps that my teacher is HOTTTT! Haha it's a plus. I've done Capoeira for the last few semesters (semester 3) and haven't noticed any improvement really except my mental fortitude. There is, of COURSE, plenty of whining afterward though. Yeah, I take advantage of all of the physical ed classes I do because I've been passing time until Nursing School starts for me in January. 2+ YEAR waiting list for this mofo. MIGHT have to stop once I get in. I find that it gets (and always HAS gotten) very difficult for me to breath if I push myself too much with running. Doc once told me years ago that I had exercise induced asthma. So I've always kept my pushes to JUST under that limit. I should be fine pushing it so long as I stay under that throat closing up limit.

Yeah, I actually read through your entire post and subbed. I didn't see any squads that really tickled my fancy so I just decided to go through our guild and find interesting/relatable challenge threads. Did you mean that you'd be following roughly MY schedule? Or modified to fit your stuff? I think I'll leave the 3rd goal empty unless I come up with an absolutely groundbreaking and amazing one. Otherwise, I kinda unofficially AM counting my side goal, at least the fitness one as part 3.

Hey Unikarm. Our goals are somewhat similar. As is our methodology. Good luck on the weight loss. I decided to go with a more gradual approach to my longer term goal but I also have difficulty losing weight so, for me, 10 lbs is a significant amount. I also have researched much and applied little (read: diet and nutrition minor, nursing major). But am also using a diet/fitness tracker website to at LEAST get a good idea of where I'm at nutritionally. I'm going to reread Intuitive Eating and would suggest it if you're up for suggestions. Good Luck!

Main Quest: Lose 10 Lbs or fit my old pants size 10-12 but in women's so who REALLY knows?. Currently at 181.1 Lbs according to last doc visit. Will not be able to measure weight again until followup dietitian visit no scale at home so will be tracking hips and leg measurements 3x during this challenge and posting weight results when I get them. Note: This fits into a less immediate goal of losing 20 Lbs by December when I'll be going to visit my Significant Other's family with him in Minnesota. And THIS goal fits into an EVEN LONGER TERM goal of getting down to my healthy, ideal weight range of 117-143, ( 100 Lbs for first 5' and 5 Lbs for every inch after +/- 10%, nutrition classes yay!) being 5'6". I'm comfortable with weighing 140 or 145 honestly. As a byproduct of this (which will show in my approach to this weight loss) I'll be stronger, faster, more flexible and hopefully happier. I don't currently have a deadline for this longer term goal since the more immediate goals were to show myself that I can, in fact, DO this. Game Plan: 1. Work out 4x/Week: Capoeira on SaturdaysZumba on TuesdaysRun around University Lake approx 1 mile on Wednesdays increasing speed each time in order to eventually be able to flee danger! Can alter to accommodate for workout partners, TIMES/ACTIVITIES only, not days or frequencies.Swim on Thursdays, first and second week doing 1/2 mile, second and third at 3/4 mile and fourth and fifth at 1 mile. Can alter to accommodate for workout partners, TIMES/ACTIVITIES only, not days or frequencies.A: Accomplished workouts 4x/wk and did my BEST B: Accomplished but didn't do my BEST C: Completed 3 workouts, best or not D: Completed 2 workouts, best or not F: Completed 0-1 workouts 2. Eat 1800 calories/day or stay under my calculated goal based on exercise on myfitnesspal account. Saturday will be pretty much a cheat day, given how many calories I burn doing Capoeira. A: Made HEALTHY choices, at or within healthy range of goal (lower to at) B: Kept to my calorie limit, MOSTLY healthy choices C: Kept under calorie limit, healthy choices be damned! D: Ate too much according to goal limit F: BIIIIINGE!!!! EAT ALL THE THINGS! (Saturdays don't count unless OVER GOAL AND ONLY UNHEALTHY) 3. Really can't think of a third just yet. Will leave here in case I come up with something later. Side Quests: Life: Successfully study 3x/week to prepare myself for Nursing School. 2x for current classes and 1x for preparation for Pathophysiology. Have to get increasingly better each time PREP study only by studying longer without distraction. Fitness: Improve leg flexibility. After running around lake or significant warm up, do circuit of leg stretches based on stretches from Capoeira. Don't have to show noticeable improvement, just have to do the stretches 1x/week outside of Capoeira class. Bonus if noticeable improvement! Will post grades on Sunday every week. My grades document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkMD5pfU1TbcdG1PVkRSUmFsSDd0MFA0OGFPX2RPR1E&usp=sharing

Okay. That definitely clarifies it for me. So I'm forgoing my zumba class tonight in favor of some r&r. Even asked for a ride to work today instead of biking. Sunday, 25 mile bike ride, left me wiped out. My body just screams at me when I think about an hour straight of intense cardio like that. I'll get back to it tomorrow. I know how the never ending sun thing goes. I live in Anchorage which is JUST high enough on this little blue ball that the sun seems to NEVER go away during the summer. My only sleep aids so far have been ear plugs and eye masks. Sleep pills affect me too much. Only a few days left! Keep going strong. We'll make it!

Hey Church. Yeah, I'd say rest days are important. And I've noticed that lack of sleep makes workouts significantly pathetic for me so I'm sure it's a combination of both for you. I wasn't too clear on your goals structure so I don't know if you scheduled regular rest days in there. It's usually good to have one or two to recuperate. Good luck with the last week!

I just biked 25 miles. Sooo hungry!

Your progress is amazing! I've been off the forums for a bit but just came back and read your updates. I am impressed. I've noticed not much has been said about the financial goal lately. How's that going? I'm currently still working on not going further into debt. Aaah college days, such fun FUN times....

I'm with hatenik_the_barbarian on this one. Klaymates, where are you? I know I've been a stranger but you're my squad-mate and I hope you haven't lost momentum. Looking forward to future posts. Good luck with the last week(s).

It looks like good progress. Sorry about the lady friend leaving and good luck on the last week.