Dottie

Can you put a happy face on it so I can at least pretend it's a helpful tool rather than the instrument of my self-torture?

For those who asked about surgical options, I had the TVT Transvaginal Tape done several years ago.

Before I had it I would lose my entire bladder contents while running or jumping. I had had 2 natural births, the second one was 9lbs 7 oz, and a radical hysterectomy 3 years later. I had some significant nerve damage and I had to wear incontinence pads daily.

The TVT surgery is pretty simple but you do need to take a long break from any lifting post op to avoid damaging it. I actually healed faster from my hysterectomy.

I still have sneezing issues but if you could see me sneeze, you'd understand why. It might actually be my superpower.

Outside of that, I suggest an (ahem) Kegel trainer. Check out Lelo ( this site is VERY adult in nature totally NSFW) has an interesting one.

On a side note, when I was still doing Crossfit, one of the female trainers told me she always peed herself, every class and basically let it flow! Lol!

I make a sweet potato hash out of diced sweet potato, ground beef, onions, garlic and spinach. toss it all in a pan with some coconut oil and cook until the meat is browned. Yummo!

No excuses Monday!!!

 

I had an extended day at work yesterday so I brought my workout get up with me and did my 3 miles and body weight workout on campus. Trying to escape my job even for a minute is like battling Orks. I even had a parent want to chat with me while I was doing squats. This would be annoying at the least but right at that moment I had just ripped the seam of my tights in a squat so it ended up being unbearably awkward as well. But this was no excuses Monday!

 

I finished my 2 rounds with 10 second planks FROM MY TOES!!!! I cannot express just how bad-assed I felt in that moment!!!

 

Had a hard time getting relaxed for my bedtime yoga. Possibly I was a little too wired from working on the computer.  Consequently, I had some wretched dreams and a terrible night of sleep.

Ah Sunday! It was gorgeous here in SV and we spent a lazy afternoon sipping craft brews at the new Whole Foods. Some off-road snacking occurred but I was able to balance the indulgence over dinner.

I've been having trouble getting to sleep without my evening cocktail so I did about 10 minutes of Yin yoga before bed. Worked like a charm! I'm finding that my sleep quality has a direct correlation to how much a workout can suck/not suck.

Today (Monday) marks the end of the second week of effort towards my new goals. I'm down 5 lbs but that's not even what I'm stoked about. In the past, I used to hold my breath and prepare to be disappointed at my results. I didn't even care this time. Just knowing I didn't phone it in this week felt like the bigger win and than the weight.

Making the time for nutrition and exercise is starting to feel less like effort and more like habit and I really need to find some ways to make sure it continues as such.

One of the things I'm fighting is the tendency to be overly anxious for the next step. Like once I'm a NFBBW rockstar what am I going to do next? I start focusing so much on what's in the future I start slipping on what's right now. Stay in the moment, sit with what's here right now. I hope that makes sense.

Welcome Dan Ross! Here's to your NF journey!!!

Hi Dottie from a fellow noob

 

Dan

What's up Dan Ross? I feel like I'm going to have to call you your whole name all the time! Thank you for the welcome!

Ha! Yeah Machete, I meant second person, whoops

 

Thanks Dottie. I make lists and plans that don't get followed through on too. If it's like a really practical to-do list, like 

1. Clean bathroom

2. Do shopping etc

then it gets done, but things like lists for self improvement that include things like "read more" and "meditate" just don't happen.

I do the same thing. Which includes taking time to exercise, go to yoga. Something somebody else needs always seemed to come first. Wow, I could really look at that as a racket I run on myself.

I'm doing the Beginner Body Weight workout every other day and in the short time that's been going on I can see a difference. I carry myself better and I feel more confident. So best of luck to you and I wish you good results too.

 

Good luck with the belongings purge. I'm guessing you'll feel amazing once everything is tidy and squared away.

I got my desk clean today! Already feels a lot better!

Mini Challenge!

 

Here are some questions to put your goals to the test:

1. Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)?  Is it reasonable? Long term goal, will require several challenge rounds to achieve.

2. 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?- All of my health related goals drive towards the main goal. My life goal will help in that it will make time for the other goals.

3. Are your main goals realistic? I'm a little unclear on this. should I be looking at a smaller weight loss goal that could be achieved during the challenge period? 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? Absolutely.

4. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? Yes.  What will you use to track them? My Fitness Pal and my Battle Log.

5. How are you grading your goals? This I may struggle with. I'm a very pass or fail kind of gal.  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€? I have built in effort goals.

6. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Retoling will be nessesary but I will need to cut myself slack which I never do.

7. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? None to speak of this time.  What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I did leave myself some room as the calorie defict and mileage are set over a week...more like an average rather than a daily pass or fail.

 

 

Here is my grading scale 100% compliance A, 85% compliance B, 75% compliance C, 65% compliance D.

 

I'm having trouble deciding how to divide the experience points.

1. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another?

2. 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?

3. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest?

I'll tell you what, as a fellow diagnosed depressed (who turned out allergic to multiple medications), the best way I've found to beat it is to simply put my focus on moving forward. It sounds cliche, but it works for me. When I want to do nothing more than stay in bed, I remind myself of the obligations I have and the reasons I can't. It sucks, a lot. But, you know you can't miss work, you know you can't fix your problems by slouching around and feeling bad all day. Harsh truth is, this is a condition with which we must live. I've been trying to use it as an opportunity to conquer myself. I don't know if this helps at all, but it's what I do, channel it into productivity however I can to get me up and moving. Once I've gotten out the door, I'm usually too busy to let the chemistry slow me down. It also helps to have something to look forward to every day. For me, that's Aikido. What is it for you? I can't say. Some people like Origami, some like sports, some like sewing. It doesn't matter. A daily ritual or routine helps a lot 

 

As for breaking it down, I also have struggled with that. I took a lesson from the book on black ops (AKA Burn Notice). No plan survives battle. Thinking five moves ahead leaves you blind to what's in front of you. So, instead of thinking my overall goal to lose 15 pounds and change my lifestyle, I focused on a one-week goal of eating a calorie deficit of 3500. And I further broke it down by saying "500 under every day." In Aikido, I'm not thinking about my black belt, I'm thinking about my next rank, and really, my next minute in the dojo and the technique at hand.

 

These percentage status bars everyone has really conflict me. On one hand, I see an overwhelming goal that I can't imagine reaching and know how much time and effort and dedication it will take and that overwhelms me to such a severe degree that I'm ready to just not try. On the other hand, I see a single percentile changing slowly over time, which is a source of motivation and a reminder that I only need to make one change at a time to make a difference. In the end, I've opted not to use them because I know my depression makes the big picture seem way too big.

 

Unfortunately, while our struggles may be the same, the solution is highly individual. Still, I hope my methods can at least serve as some inspiration, or at least as a reminder that you are not alone in your battles and at least one other person fights the same challenge every single day

This! So this! The only thing that helps with my GAD/Side dish of depression is momentum. If I can get my body moving forward, the mind follows.

I'm a compulsive list maker who rarely checks of her lists. This always throws me out of sorts. There's a saying they use around here about collecting underwear. It's really stuck with me. Recently, I've just tried to do what's right in front of me, right now, and it's really helping.

I use CBT for my anxiety and I find it really helps but when I'm chemically in the thick of a depression, it's borderline useless. Medication can be very helpful in moving things in the right direction.

Peace to you, friend and you can hit me up if you ever need to chat.

Long time paleo girl here. I tried the whole new recipe every day, planned meals, paleo baked goods route and it's a tough row to hoe. Let me preface the next bit by saying please don't be discouraged, paleo and you are worth every bit of time you put in.

Eating paleo requires a lot of kitchen time, there are definately short cuts but eating real food is time consuming.

When you're starting out, all the delicious recipes will call to you but you'll burn out quick.

I do a loose weekly plan revolving around several proteins, a couple of which go well on salad. I purchase my groceries, and before I even put them away I wash and prep all the veggies. This usually happens on Saturday or Sunday morning.

On Sunday, I pull out the frozen protein (We buy 1/2 a cow and 1/2 a hog yearly) and put it in a dish in the fridge to thaw. Fresh protein gets prepped, marinaded for instance, and cooked.

I put a big pot with a steamer on the stove and steam 3 or 4 batches of veggies.

I make several days of mason jar salads and pack up all the veggies and protein in containers in the fridge.

I make cupcake frittatas or an egg casserole for quick breakfasts and put those in the fridge.

I cook off some winter squash in the oven and wrap sweet potatoes in foil and put them in th crock pot.

During the week, we grab veggies, a starch and some protein and call it dinner.

Breakfast is some egg frittatas and berries

Lunch is usually a salad with some cut up protein.

I'll make a recipe type dish once a week. I keep this to a minimum because it's time consuming.

Some other tips:

Roast up some chicken drumsticks and freeze in single serve (3-4) packages

Brown up some ground meat with onions and spices and make single portions of these to freeze

(If you have a vaccum sealer, this comes in handy)

I call this emergency protein for days you run out.

Good luck and enjoy!

I almost used that as my handle!! Lol!

All caught up!!

 

3rd day of BBWW. Nailed all the lunges so there's some progress!!!!! I also moved to my toes for the plank only for 5 seconds but again, Progress.

 

I slept fitfully last night and am catching the brunt of it this afternoon. I'm eating poorly, not in quality but in quantity. My stress level is pretty high as we've just now hit the 24 hour mark on the kids' screen restriction and my youngest is like a gnat. Only one of us will survive this month, I'm betting on him.

 

I'm working on my office, trying to destash all of the hoardy stuff going on there. I'm guessing this is going to be a long project.

 

Until tomorrow!

Better late than never!

Main Goal- lose 70 lbs fat

Challenge goal Diet- stay in calorie deficit (weekly) while eating nutritionally dense foods

Challenge goal Fitness- Nerd Fitness Beginner's workout at least 3 times weekly

Challenge goal Stamina- walk/ jog at least 5 times per week for a total of 15 miles

Lifestyle goal- put my belongings on a diet! Purge office daily for 10 minutes or more or a total of 70 minutes per week.

Backdated- January 23, 2014

Not much to report other than Friday night dinners are my cheat meal. Kept it pretty clean, no grains. I did sneak some of the kids' chips. A nice grass fed filet, sweet potato, salad, a couple glasses of an amazing Malbec and some coconut milk ice cream for dessert.

I was a little bummed to have missed a walk as my afternoon got away from me but with the extra time over the weekend, I think I'll try to add the mileage into my Saturday and Sunday walks/hikes.

Happy Friday!

Feliz fin de semana!

Backdated January 22, 2015

Beginner's Workout 13 minutes- 2 rounds

Modifications-

Incline push ups

Plank from knees

10 walking lunges per round

12 lb rows- I'm going to add another 5 lbs for Saturday.

3.5 mile walk with a little jogging mixed in to finish before it got too dark

1 hour of Yin Yoga and guided meditation- so much awesome.

Backdated January 21, 2015

3 mile walk as today was a rest day from the Beginner's Circuit. Diet was squeaky clean. I suffered some moderate soreness from yesterday's workout and had some concerns about going again tomorrow.

Good afternoon troops!

I'm going to back date this entry to day one of my epic nerdification, January 20, 2015

I'll start by acknowledging my dietary habits. I have eaten paleoish for about 5 years in between bouts of wanton nutritional off-roading. I have a metric crap ton of Paleo cookbook that look pretty on my kitchen shelf but rarely see daylight because I've come to the realization that the only way I can stick to it is to keep it simple. I indulge occasionally in dairy and (gasp) really good beer. I completely understand that these things have consequences but I happily take them as this provides a balance in my life that I can live with.

My starting weight was 220.5 lbs on my 5'5" frame. My scale said 48% body fat but those are notoriously inaccurate so I just use it as a base line to monitor changes in body comp over time.

Body Goals-

• 70 lb FAT loss- I'd like to see an increase in strength and LBM at the same time so my ultimate goal...
• 22-23% body fat
• Manage my Hypothyroidism through nutrition with minimal medication
• Start lifting heavy!

Mind Goals-

• Simplify my life. I have too many things and I spend too much time playing Tetris with them so I have room to think.
• Create a elegant routine that allows all the things that need to get done, done and leaves time to enjoy friends and family
• Remove obstacles and level up my business.

I recently took what I can only describe as a seminar in Socratic investigation into myself and discovered some pretty profound things that could very well be the difference in this attempt at weight loss. The most profound was being diagnosed with cancer. I've since been given a clean bill of health as I had one of the rare few "curable" cancers but the experience left me with an aversion to seeming weak or a Debbie Downer worthy of pity. I don't ask for help, I don't speak up for myself, or at least I didn't things are a little different now.

I would also bow tho the preferences and needs of my family instead of taking time for myself.

For the first time, I'm putting myself first and everyone else second (or at least 1st and a half, I love doing things for my family)

So enough with the back story!

Today I started the NF Beginner's Circuit. I completed two rounds with the following modifications

• Incline push ups
• Planks from the knees

Total time @ 10 minutes

Additionally, I generally walk about 3 miles a day not counting (but included in) my regular Fitbit steps.

I also love Yin yoga. Like super love it. Like I'm going to go to instructor's training without any ambition to instruct, love it. Just goober out on all the Eastern medicine and yummy stretching.

Signing out!

Patti

Done.

 

2 rounds- 13 minutes

• Incline push ups (but slow on purpose),
• planks were from the knees ( straight back, sir!)
• went down to 10 lunges each set
• increased the weight on my rows to 12 but I think I'll add another 5 for next time

I felt little twinges of soreness but no instability, which was what I think I was concerned about it.

 

Bottom line, I lived!

 

Thanks all!

Ok Rebels,

I rocked a Yin yoga class now I'm going to fuel up, put my big girl knickers on and hit the workout! Thanks to all!

Not moving is bad! Ha, don't I know it. I have a standing desk at work and I got into my car for the commute last night and drove for 20 mins. When I got home, I nearly fell out of the car. I was loose all day then 20 mins of sitting and I was crippled!

I really see both sides of the argument as valid. My biggest concern would be cheating on form to avoid discomfort possibly injuring yourself.

I had a very similar experience my first couple Yin sessions and my instructor said it was very, very normal. I don't remember her exact explanation but it was something about opening the connective tissue and releasing negative energy. I agree it's new age-y but something about the fact that it's a common occurrence makes me believe there's something to it.

With that said, Yin is by far my favorite practice. The challenge of the long poses and relaxing into them is the best way to quiet the frenetic pace of my thoughts. It's possible that this slowing actually allows me to feel my thoughts before they get pushed out by the next ones.

Oh and I also have some wicked open hips!

Thank you, Hazard! I feel better today but I think I'll put two rest days in between workouts until I can do it without being sore. I did put down a lot of protein yesterday.

You rock, thanks!

I completed 2 sets (scaled) of the Beginner's Workout yesterday and the lunges murdered me. A question that's been plaguing me is if I should push through another couple of rounds tomorrow or wait until I can get up from a chair without whimpering?

I know keeping moving helps, so I will continue my daily 3 mile constitutionals.