Shynnee

Thanks! My first pregnancy was like the exact opposite of a fit pregnancy. I was already obese and I put on 50lbs, I was completely miserable and recovery was hard. I am hoping working out and not gaining a ton of weight this time around will help me out in those areas. Plus, I've worked so hard over the last 8 months that I don't want to let it go!

A bite size 4 week challenge is a great place to start the habit! Good luck with your challenge! Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

In August of 2015 I decided to finally take the reigns on my health and dedicate myself to learning how to be fit and healthy. As a beginner I went though a series of trial and error to find the thing that I would do and keep doing and I never thought it would be weightlifting. I was literally scared to go near the big kids at the gym, but I sucked it up and tried it one day and holy crap did I fall hard and fast (literally a couple of times!) for lifting. I have gained a ton of strength so far and lost a total of 30lbs. So, here I am doing my third challenge officially as a warrior. I am 35 years old and I am currently 17 weeks pregnant. I decided to sign up for a challenge because while I have been hitting the gym though my pregnancy, the last 3 weeks I went from going 3-4x a week to once maybe twice and I need some accountability to keep the momentum going through the rest of my pregnancy. Main quests: Lift in the gym 3x a week Track workouts with Bodyspace app, post weekly results to this challenge Log 10,000 steps daily minimum on fitbit device Post weekly results on this thread Side Quests Plan meals out each week and stick to plan. Allow for snacks but don't give in to crazy cravings I do pretty good with meal planning and eating right, so far in my pregnancy I have gained 4lbs and my overall goal is to gain less than 15 total. That's it. I don't want to set specific lift goals at the moment because my ability to hit my previous PR's is going down so my real goal is to keep pushing and not give up! (insert funny geeky .gif here so I can be part of the cool kids)

I'm still here and still on track. Good thing posting here wasn't a quest (probably should be next time though). I have been doing very well and until Friday I hadn't missed a single gym day. I have just been chugging along, falling into my routines and honestly I'm so exhausted I haven't even logged on to my computer in DAYS! Friday I had just finished my warmup and moved into my first set when I hear my name over the loud speaker, my child needed me in the child watch. I will spare you the details but the problem was diaper related. I go to change her and find that since switching gym bags I have no backup diapers, so I had to go home and I wasn't able to return that day. Since I have to add a day this weekend due to my gym being closed on Monday, I opted to just miss and only go 3x for last week. So here's my official update for weeks 2-4: Main quest- I have been doing fantastic at planning meals in advance, my only problem day is Wednesday because I don't get home until very late and if I don't have something in the crock pot we almost always eat out because I am too tired to cook or I have nothing thawed. During week's 2 and three my plan was to eat Tuesdays leftovers and both times it backfired because on week 2 we didn't any and on week 3 we didn't like what I made (oops!). So this week I was not going to be defeated and find myself with another box of Panda Express. I put everything in the crock pot before I left and had my husband turn it on later in the afternoon. Success! I think the lesson here is that leftovers are a meal option only and not to be part of the meal plan. Another lesson is that my almost 2 year old is ok with eating the same things for about 3 days, after that I need to mix it up. I made her a whole week's worth of broccoli pesto pasta as her main dish and she got sick of it sooner than I had hoped. So for her, I will pack up a few options for the week. Husband and I are ok to eat the same breakfast and lunch every day. Tip I picked up now that I meal plan - I swing by the grocery store on my way home from the gym several times a week. They put meat on sale 50% off if its within a few days of the sell by date and I've started to stock my deep freezer with meats. Once you have your protein making a meal is easy, its saved us a LOT of money over the last few weeks not buying meat as needed and saved me the hassle of trying to pick what recipes to use. Logging my food is hit or miss, I would say this is my biggest failure. Honestly though, since I'm pretty much eating the same stuff every day I know what my macro's are going to be and its not 100% necessary. I do log if I am having an especially large meal or if I need to check the calories of certain things. I set up alerts on MFP to help me remember to keep better track but as of today, this quest is hanging by a thread! Side quests: Aside from Friday I mentioned above I have not missed a single gym day in 8 weeks total. This is the longest I have ever stuck to anything and I can officially say that lifting weights is by far the most fun and easiest to stick to workout I have done. I have made some pretty good gains in weight over the last few weeks. I have 60lbs on my bench but I know I can do more, the problem is that I workout alone and I just don't feel comfortable trying more weight without help. My husband has promised to go with me so I can try more weight with a spotter so I know how much I can really do. I am still at a personal best of 13:21 running my mile but I am still chugging away at it. Honestly over the course of the first 2 weeks I went from 15 mins to 14 and now to 13:21. I think that just told me I wasn't really pushing myself until I set this goal. I think once I get my 12 minute mile I might try something else for cardio, suggestions welcome!!! I do great with my Fitbit all week long because of the gym, but I lose a lot of steps over the weekends because I don't workout and tend to stay home. It drags my 10k a day average down to about 6.5k. Which, surprise, surprise is about one mile of steps for me. Now that its cooling down here in AZ I think I will make it a goal to walk outside on the weekends. I think that's it for now.

I never knew that! I have a banana in my post workout shake every day, maybe that's why I'm never that tired afterwards

That's a great idea! I put a little bag of almonds in my workout bag just in case I do it again. My weekend was great, not much in the movement department but I did keep my eating under control! I am taking measurements tonight and I'll update my original post in a few!

Today was day one of weeks 5-8 of the Strong Curves program. I'm happy to be doing new routines because last week despite adding 10+lbs to most things, I wasn't getting sore anymore. Guess that was a good sign to change it up! I'm pretty impressed with what my body can do after only 4 weeks of weight training. It really makes me excited for the weeks to come! So here's how Week 1 fared for me: Main quest: My entire weeks lunches were portioned out so I was able to stay on track There was one day that I didn't plan dinner because we went to a BBQ, I was able to stay within my calorie limits for the day because I said no to beer. Which was hard because all the fall beers are amazing! I have logged all of my food into MFP, I did go over by 200 calories twice this week. Side quests Finished up week 4 of Strong Curves last week! I was doing so good getting my steps until Sunday came along and I logged a measly 2400 steps. As far as my mile goes. 13:21 remains my best time. I actually haven't even been able to get back to it. The closest I came was 13:23 on Friday. I know my downfall is not running the same speed the whole time, when I do need to slow down, I really need to not slow down to a walk.

I learned a valuable lesson today. NEVER EVER forget to eat before you workout. My daughter got up late today so I was rushing around while she had breakfast so we could head to the gym right away and feeding myself breakfast totally slipped my mind. So on nothing but coffee, I began my workout. I start my workout with a 1 mile run, I am trying to get down to a 12 minute mile and I thought today would be the day I beat my current best of 13:21 I start feeling sluggish about half mile in and had to slow down, my heart rate was up to 180. I ended up at 13:23. Not bad but I feel like I worked harder than my 13:21! Head over to do some glute raises and I usually knock out 20 and I can barely get 10. This continued all through my workout when it finally dawned on me while I was choking down vomit during my step ups that I didn't eat anything! I nearly gave up and went home with my tail between my legs but I finished, though I know I could have been pushing harder. So, don't let this be you. Food is fuel and makes your body run. Besides today's debacle I am on track as planned. My husband didn't have to go in Tuesday like we thought so I was able to go to the gym that day, which was nice. I actually look forward to working out, which is a huge change from the past. My daughter likes going to the child care and I like getting some "me" time. I plan to add my measurements sometime before Monday so I can track that too. My weight isn't falling off fast but clothes that were inches too small are fitting now so I know I'm shrinking. I think measurements might be a better judge of my progress than the scale since the majority of my workout is weight lifting.

That is true! Puxico Missouri. I left promptly afterwards lol. But, my school was so small that we didn't have sports teams and to fill the time between core classes (where most people were taking home economics or shop) we went to the grade school and graded papers for the teachers.

Post what you're planning to cook with your CSA stuff, one of my quests is to plan meals in advance and put on the white board as well so sharing recipes is a MUST! Good luck! I have moved to a brand new state/town where I knew nobody 3 times in my life and its always an adventure, hopefully keeping busy with that will help keep you moving too!

Possibly the cutest name ever.

That one is true!

I really like MyFitnessPal. If you're using a recipe you found online, you can just copy the link in and MyFitnessPal gets all the ingredients, lets you swap if you made substitutions and then breaks it down by serving for you. Also, MFP links to FitBit so if you're tracking your food in there the calories cross over to fitbit and your calories burned cross over into MFP. Its very handy.

1. I graduated from a high school with 16 people in my class 2. I have an irrational hatred for Ohio 3. I have 9 siblings I'm Shynnee, I am 34 and I live in Arizona with my husband, almost 2 year old daughter and our dog, Ginger. I've never really been in shape but I wasn't overweight until my late 20s and all that not working out finally caught up with me. I've yo-yo'd all over the place over the last 8-10 years and this past year I've really buckled down and made changes. I really want my daughter to see going to the gym and doing active things as part of everyday normal life and not something we stop what we're doing for. Answer:

I love how you set out each week in advance with specific details, definitely easier to stick to that way!