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Thanks. I think PaulG had a good idea - I like the idea of adding on a staircase of pace every week or so as I get fitter. Will make me feel like I’m achieving something!

Hi all, I've fallen welllll out of the bounds of my personal fitness goals since lockdown began (partner is shielding, so we're on day 82 of not leaving our flat...yay...) so I've decided that the fitness we're going to try and do is daily running up and down our stairwell - we're on the 7th floor, which means 15 full sets of stairs top to bottom and no one ever uses the stairs so we can keep safe and distant easily. HOWEVER. We started it this morning and OMG. I nearly threw up at the top. We ran down, then went as fast as we could back up. I ran down fine, then up to floor four fine (9 sets of stairs) then nausea hit me like bricks! I carried on to the top but it's taken me about 20 minutes to regain a sense of feeling okay. I'm thinking that we need to approach it less in a "fast as possible!" way and more in a strategic build up way... but I don't really know what that might look like. Any advice?

Hey Nerds! I started bouldering in January (climbed casually at university but that was a while back, so I'm basically a newbie) and I'm really enjoying it - going twice a week and three times if I can. My boyfriend is into it too and we've got a little gang who go together. Good times. My problem is that I'm a little overweight - could stand to lose probably 30 to 40 pounds - and my upper body strength isn't great yet. It's growing with time, but not very quickly. My hands / forearms wear out with the grip of climbing before my back / shoulders do, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any back / shoulder / upper arm exercises I could do on non-climbing days which didn't involve grip - so not pull ups, but exercising those same muscles. I want to keep within my body's limits and be sensible, but I think I'm safe to do more than my 2 hour sessions twice a week. At the moment my wish to finish a route and my lack of strength means I'm heaving my way up the wall, which takes its toll on my stamina and my technique! Bonus points: If anyone had a programme to recommend I follow at home in the evenings / mornings, that would be fab! S

SarahSmall, reporting for duty as HEAD CHEERLEADER! *waves pom-poms ferociously* Not taking part in this challenge unfortunately due to only just keeping my head above water in all other aspects of life, but I'll be doing what I can and watching from the shadows and popping up to spur you all on whenever I can! Go team! X

Me? Head...cheerleader?? ALL MY SCHOOL YEAR DREAMS COME TRUE! I ACCEPT!

Can't believe the challenge has finished!! I've explained all in my personal challenge thread... But thanks for being my accountabillybuddies guys - I might have gone AWOL but you all offered a really brilliant little support group for me to come back to and you're epic people. X

*like an explosion in a dusty china shop, she returned - bedraggled, wild-eyed, and muttering a half foreign language under her breath. An empty champagne bottle was all that she held but stuck to her shoe and dragged along behind her was a stream of unfinished paperwork. Slowly gazing around and blinking in the new light of day, the muttering ceased and she began, with building enthusiasm, to speak...* The last few weeks have been...manic. On a whole new spectrum. Work ramped up to entire new levels of crazy - but in a brilliant 'new projects and insanely quick turnarounds which show what an epic team we are' kind of way, and my other jobs and life did too. In short, I lost all track of space and time and failed miserably at the 'walking to work' thing, but mostly because walking to work at 6am isn't advisable and walking home at midnight isn't always either. I did, however, manage to lose 7lbs (despite stress eating and work dinners) and also... GOT PROMOTED! *at this point she flung her hands in the air with joy, sending the empty champagne bottle ricocheting across the room and smashing through a window, but didn't seem to notice* So overall I'm quite pleased, though life took over and I didn't achieve all that I wanted, I think I did pretty damn well. Just need to make sure I spare time to tell people about it in future! MyFitnessPal has been bugging me for weeks - 'why haven't you input your lunch?', 'why do you never visit anymore?', 'Is there another app? Do you love him?' - but I'm going to try and rebuild our relationship and start logging my time again. Don't think I'll do the next challenge as this fog shows no sign of clearing yet, but I'll definitely be here lurking in the shadows cheering you on when I can, and I'll definitely be doing one - properly! - in the future. Thanks to all who supported me! You rock. X

This...has...become...so...hard...! Out to dinner most days this week and last and waking up hungry because I'm hungover and then hungry around lunch because I've woken my metabolism by having breakfast so not able to skip lunch (or even eat healthily) GODDAMMIT. So busy too, and out in the evenings, so can't even make myself lunches to try and maintain some semblance of healthiness! Gahh. Need a boost if anyone has motivational gifs please. x

Thanks Retxab, that makes sense

Oh my goodness...If I wasn't motivated before...GOTTA SHIFT THAT EXTRA WEIGHT AND BEAT TEAM 2! (And fab work all of you - team 1 & 2! What epic amounts to be battling with - proud of us all!)

DAY SEVENTEEN! Calories: MyFitnessPal is flashing red lights at me and telling me off for not eating enough calories to be healthy...but I ate well so I'm going to ignore it! You tell me: Breakfast: Cup of coffee with milk and half a sweetener packet, two segments of chocolate orange - 105 calories Lunch: Pret-a-Manger Crayfish, rocket and avocado salad and Pret-a-Manger egg and spinach protein pot - 306 calories Dinner: Chicken breast fillet cooked in peri peri sauce, portion of baby carrots, portion of runner beans, skinny chocolate mousse - 330 calories Total Calories: 741 Thing is, I understand looking at that number, that my calorie count is low...but at the same time I don't think the amount of food is especially small (excluding the fact it's a crap breakfast nutritionally!) given that I spend my entire day sitting at a desk doing no exercise. I walked home from work, but that's only a mile and a half and probably less than 100 calories lost, even walking fast-ish in the cold. Hmm. No more news for today...except that I've added another challenge (more of a promise to myself) to spend more time looking after myself in other ways too. I'm busy working full-time with projects and other things on the go, but that's no excuse to not spend at least two hours per week just doing a bit of me time. So this evening, instead of watching an episode of Orange is the New Black (so good!) I had a long luxurious shower and face scrub and did my nails. Fabulosa

Holy Moly *drools*. PLUS absolute coincidence because I came into work this morning to find a chocolate orange left on my desk as a present! From my lovely biz partner extraordinaire who also found out he's going to be an uncle today! It's been a good day. The chocolate orange got shared around which made my colleagues happy, I didn't eat too much of it (but indulged in a couple of segments) so I was happy, and life is good Thanks m'dear! x

LOVE that comic! So damn true! You can dream all you bloody want, no one is going to do it for you and you're not going to wake up arrived. That's really spurred me on - thanks x

If you're reading this, you already rock at life. You're just working to rock harder.

DAY FIFTEEN! Calories: TICK Exercise: Walked to and from work - TICK No Snacking: No snacking indeed! Workout: No. But I'm not too fussed since I walked today. Life Quest: Second business meeting with my biz partner and I'm SO excited about this project. Review confirmed for early Feb. Biz partner confessed to me that he's heard word I'm getting a promotion. *HAPPINESS*.

What an awesome surprise!! Your family and friends are so cool! That's wicked, Terah - glad you had a good time! x

Thanks Kshennya I did wonder if people were doing that, since in most circumstances setting yourself the aim of a promotion in six weeks is a bit mental but hopefully it makes a bit more sense now! Haha. I've always been of the mindset that you have to be your own biggest fan because no one else will be, and I'm pretty damn ambitious...it's just the making it happen and not letting life get in the way element that I need to knuckle down on! I know where I want to be, but need to make sure I'm constantly working to get myself there - not drifting and seeing what happens along the way. Same goes for the diet and it's the reason I'm here - I know what I want of myself but it's just getting there proactively rather than constantly thinking 'the diet starts Monday...' or 'I'm just too busy...' because it's all rubbish! x

Hah! I love that. Usain Bolt having a stumble? Career ruining. Gimli tripping over a rock on his way over the mountains? Styles it out like a champ and we just love him more.

Hey! Looks like you were getting on alright in your last update - how's it going? Would love an update. Let us know if there's anything we can help push you with x

Hey, Miss America - you don't need me to tell you you're doing an awesome job. YOU JUST ARE. x *cheers*

Great work Syren! I love the Sonic theme and you're amazing work-outs. Really great to read them detailed out like that - might have to start applying them to my own life... I SUCK at regular exercise at the moment. *Does 10 star jumps out of guilt* I can't have snacks in my house either, but we have a newsagents next door and an open-till-midnight Tesco just up the road which effectively work the same as having an AISLE of chocolate and sweets in my kitchen. Bad times. We'll push through! x

So much positivity Terah - love it! And as for that ironing beast? You're my hero. *sideways glances at growing pile of ironing and washing* My beast is yet to be slain... Keep it up! x

Reading your update has inspired me to move more money into my savings for this month. Thanks for motivating me!! Looks like you're doing an awesome job. Christmas parties are killer when it comes to sticking to a plan, but it sounds as though you allowed yourself to have fun and account for it in other ways - a great way to be since it's more realistic given how life likes to get in the way of plans! x

Really enjoyed catching up on your updates! Definitely name the bar Celia. She's shiny and cool and spends all her time in the gym. Definitely a Celia. With your exercise and your careful eating, paired with the hefty upping of your water intake, I wouldn't be surprised if a mix of water weight and muscle gain was making it look like you hadn't lost any weight. Do you just measure by scales or do you measure with a tape too? losing inches round the waist / arms / legs etc. might be more of an indicator for you. Gunna need pictures of that sculpture, by the way. Sounds awesome! x