alexis_not_thecar

This looks fantastic!!! I can definitely do this at home and on rest days, thank you!!

I also have been feeling a lot more tightness in my hips than I'd like, and of thinking of trying to find an online yoga routine I could follow at home to work on my mobility. SooOOooOOoooooo if anyone knows of a great free online yoga routine, I'd love to hear about it!

First week was really good!! I hit PR's for my deadlift last night, and for my squat if I take the amount of sets and reps I'm doing into account. Also finally got through my 55lb OHP, and if my fractional plates actually arrive this week I should be able to move up to 57.25 and complete all 5 sets. I'm iffy about being able to make it to 60lbs for it because shoulder strength is a weak point for me, but we'll see. Definitely feeling good about my eating over the last week too. I'm really focusing on my protein more to help with recovery, as well as sleeping enough. I think that's a huge part of what's helping me continue to make strength gains at the gym. Reading is a lot harder to keep up with than I anticipated though. When I get home, I usually am coming from the gym and have to clean my apartment a bit, cook dinner, eat, get all my stuff prepped for the next day, and by the time that's all done I'm too drained to do anything but drink tea and relax doing nothing before going to sleep. Add the fact that I'm applying for tons of jobs right now, as well as the work that I have to complete for a course I'm taking, and I am pretty low on time to get things done. My goal for this week is to try and figure out a way to incorporate more reading time.

My introduction post can be found here Well almost at the end of my first work week during the challenge! Eating is going extremely well, I wasn't expecting to have any serious cravings and I was right. I actually haven't had any cravings really, except for a brief overwhelming desire for a latte. It's really helped that I've been trying to get my finances in order lately and be better at managing my money. I wrote out a new budget this week and was very realistic about my spending. Trying to stay under $20 a week for entertainment when I go to concerts so frequently was just an absurd thing to do last year. Anyways the point is, I'm refusing to put anything on my credit card besides bills that are automatically charged, or if it's something within my budget that can only be purchased online. Speaking of online purchases, I ordered a set of fractional plates this week to bring with me to the gym! My upper body strength is difficult to build up, so adding 5 lbs each workout to my bench, row, and OHP is not realistic. With these I'll be able to progress 2.5 lbs each week, making me less frustrated when I fail at the end of my sets. I failed on my OHP again last night. My first three sets of five at 55lbs were tough, but I got through them with 3 min rest in between, but my fourth set I failed on my last rep. I rested five minutes, then did all five reps of my fifth set, but I'm still frustrated. I think a big part of why I'm having a hard time making significant gains on my lifts is that I've been eating below maintenance for about a year now when I was doing a lot more calorie counting, and now that I'm not, the only amount I really know how to eat is that amount, which probably isn't enough to really fuel my workouts and allow me to build muscle. I'm trying to figure out how much I should be eating and following my hunger cues, but I don't know how reliable they are. I also decided to add in Romanian deadlifts at the end of my workouts to really target my hamstrings and glutes. I did 5x5 at 65 lbs of the hamstring variation yesterday, and tomorrow I'll do the same weight but the glute variation. I'm also focusing on really driving through my heels for my squats to make sure my form is good and my glutes are engaged. I've also added in a half hour walk at the end of my workout, which I'm using as time to read on my tablet to help me achieve my reading goal! The Foucault is a lot denser than I thought it would be, so it may take more time, but I'm happy as long as I'm working on it. Anyways, I'll do another report back on Sunday with how I'm feeling and any changes in my appearance.

Thanks!!

Hey y'all, so I've been following NF for over a year now, but this is my first time participating in a 6 week challenge. I've been lifting on and off for about a year or so, but just got back into it with a solidly structured program (Strong Lifts 5x5) about a month ago. I tend to eat mostly paleo, but the last two months I've totally gone off the rails with holidays, weddings, and general laziness. I'm currently doing my second Whole 30 as a bit of a nutritional reset, but it's mostly how I eat anyways, so that's not a huge thing for me to deal with right now. Anyways, here are my three goals for this challenge: 1. Gym 3x a week to follow my program, which should lead to these lifting numbers for me: Squat - 195 lbs Bench press - 82.5 lbs Barbell row - 92.5 lbs OHP - 72.5 lbs Deadlift - 210 lbs 2. Clean paleo eating every day, but also eating enough (4 meals a day with ~6oz protein at each meal) 3. 8 hours of sleep every night My life goal for this challenge is to read 3 books over the course of the challenge. I recently got quite a few of Foucault's works and would like to make a decent dent in them over the next 6 weeks. Alexis_not_thecar, level 1 Amazon Warrior STR 3|DEX 1|STA 1|CON 3|WIS 3|CHA 4