powerpc127

Hey guys! I'm not having a serious upset in my goals, but I've missed two days of exercise due to a bit of pain and I don't like it. I didn't know where best to ask these questions, but I figure this would be a good place to start. I'm experiencing two types of pain: First, I've started running fairly recently and I pushed myself probably a bit too hard 3 days ago. Since then I've had mild hamstring pain that feels sharper than just soreness, mainly when I walk for a long time or whenever I run. Has anyone else experienced this and have any advice to speed up recovery? Otherwise, does anyone have a good cardio replacement that won't stress my legs? (If it matters, I run on cement though I do have good running shoes.) The other upset is that I seem to be pinching a nerve in one of my wrists. I attempted a core workout today, but I couldn't hold a push up position through the pain. I decided to do yoga instead, but I'd really like to get back into my workout routine asap and these little problems are throwing a huge wrench in my plans. I bought a lot of calcium and protein rich foods today, but I'd like to do more (stretches, yoga, habit breaking, etc.). Any advice would be excellent as I try to work through these issues. Thanks everybody!

Week 2 recap: It's been an interesting week. I went out for drinks Tuesday and couldn't help but break my beer tally (it was busy and I didn't want to annoy the bartender with cocktail orders). That said, the other 6 days my diet was excellent. I also had to cut a run very short today because I was too sore. I got sore, however, by going on my best run in years, exactly 3 miles, just two days ago. I've also learned in this week that simply doing the same workout day after day will only target certain muscles, leaving others surprisingly weak. For example, I found out that I can barely do two close grip pushups (triangle pushups, I've always called them) even though I can do thirty regular ones with no problems. Likewise, being a long time cyclist does not mean I have strong enough hamstrings to run like I used to, which is why my run was so short today. Moving forward, I'll endeavor to find exercises that I haven't done before and incorporate them into my workouts as often as I can. Finally, one positive that I can take away from these minor setbacks is that I'm actually upset that I didn't get a good run in today. While my body is thanking me for the day off, I'm mentally not enjoying the rest at all. Instead, I'm eager to get back out there as soon as possible so I can continue crushing this challenge. I almost feel bad putting a mark on my weekly cardio checklist because I couldn't even make it a mile today. Ultimately, I still have that drive to do better and never settle, even if I didn't get the work in today that I was hoping for, and I really like that.

I've certainly been there. I remember at one point last Summer I almost bought my mom a mini fridge to keep beer in so I wouldn't have to look at them. I've been keeping a food journal for this challenge, and I keep it pinned up next to the snack/dessert cupboard. Every time I habitually reach for a quick snack, I see that journal and think about having to write my bad choices down. It's definitely saved me from myself quite a few times. Edit: I just saw your daily food log instagram, so I guess you're a step ahead of me. Still, keeping my journal next to my snacks has helped me a lot.

Go for it! A little oil (any kind) and a pinch of salt makes just about any vegetable excellent when it's grilled. So I've been reading up on all of this running advice to prepare myself for this 5k. Things like what pace to set, how to carbo-load, stretches to do before and after a race, and then I actually looked up the conversion from kilometers to miles... I always confuse which one is shorter, but I remembered the ratio, so I thought a 5k would be about 8 miles. Nope! It's just over 3 miles. Whoops. Well, the good news is that I did a 2 mile run last week, so I'm thinking hitting 3 in September will be absolutely doable.

I feel bad only just finding this thread, but I have to thank you for introducing me to darebee's site. I think I'll start using a few of their workouts. I also like how dedicated you are to your daily battle logs. I know how hard they can be to keep, but it seems like you're rocking it. Congratulations on the birth of mini-madness and welcome back to the (Arkham?) Asylum. Good luck with the rest of the challenge!

Thanks very much, durfette. Loved your goals as well, so I'm glad you're on board. For a condensed version of the Blues Brothers reference by the way, just know that they were on a mission from God to get their band back together and then google 'Blues Brothers 106 miles.' That's about it. Week 1 recap: I have accomplished every goal this week, and I'm itching to keep it up. I cheated a little on Saturday when I made a few grilled pizzas, but everything was homemade and I grilled a ton of veggies as well (broccoli, asparagus, green pepper, and sweet potato). Other than the cheese and bread that day, diet has been going great. A little white wine has been a great replacement for beer lately, and grilling has kept my fridge stocked with leftover vegetables. I had a pretty big victory (for me) on Thursday by bouncing back after missing a workout. I forgot that I had a board meeting to attend on Wednesday night, and therefore didn't get a workout in. I squeezed it in first thing on Thursday morning, and just moved my exercise schedule back a day and still managed to keep up. It was a nice feeling, and I still got a day off yesterday. I'm adding a new life goal to the list as well: do a backflip. I used to do gymnastics as a kid until a car accident left me with a broken leg. I never really got back to it when I was healthy, but I've always wanted to be able to do a backflip. I was googling some body weight exercises recently and came across videos of people learning how to do one, and that totally reignited my spark. It will also be a good excuse for me to get hooked up with a gymnastics gym and instructor, which I think would be awesome. This is getting rambly, so I'll end it here. Long story short, things are going well and are gonna get better.

I've hovered my pointer over the 'send' button so many times while reading and re-reading my posts here, but I love throwing caution to the wind and just speaking my mind every once in a while. It's liberating, but I know it takes courage, so bravo! Further kudos for having a wonderful message to share. It seems you are getting in shape for all of the right reasons, so there's nothing to be ashamed of here. I only just found this thread, but I can relate to how hard a baby steps approach can be. The all-or-nothing strategy used to be great for meeting my short term goals, but it never set me up for long term success with fitness. It's reassuring to know that other people are adopting a baby step approach as well. Glad to have you aboard, and here's to your continued success!

I'm not a spiritual person, but I have seen Blues Brothers enough times to know divine intervention when I see it. Today, a notice was posted at the entrance to my building to tell me that the neighborhood needs to vote soon to allow a nearby high school to host a 5k in September. Well I'm gonna make sure they host that 5k, because as of today I'm on a mission from God to run that thing. I have 106 miles of training to do, a full stomach of fruits and vegetables, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and I'm wearing sunglasses. Hit it. (And in case you haven't seen Blues Brothers, I do not actually have cigarettes, nor am I wearing sunglasses, but you should watch Blues Brothers).

Update time: So far week 1 is going well. The food journal is very helpful. I've noticed myself a few times picking up a chocolate bar or some chips and putting it down because I thought about writing it in my journal. It's not even that anyone reads it (including myself), but the five seconds it takes to write it down always makes me feel guilty. I also have a white board with a little grid on it representing the days I need to work out and I've been slowly crossing them out. Diet is going well, exercise is going well, and I'm feeling good overall. One road bump I've hit though is that I feel like I'm not losing weight sometimes. I think I need to stop getting hung up on my reflection and remember that I'm in this for the long haul, but it sure isn't easy. Sometimes I look in the mirror and feel just as out of shape as I was a few months ago, but whenever I work out I always notice how much I've improved since I started. I'll get to where I want to be, but the only way to get there is to keep working on it.

I'm doing a body weight circuit workout slightly based on the one provided by the site. 20 squats 10+ push ups 5 lunges per side (might start doing back lunges because these are getting easy) leg lift for as long as I can 10 bench dips or 5 assisted pull ups, depending on where I work out plank for as long as I can 30 jumping jacks Run it three times total It's in a constant state of flux, though. And yeah, I have been relishing this beer for the last few days of the zero week. I have a birthday party to attend on Saturday, and I want to be hungover well into the regular week so I just don't even think about beer.

"Bike to the McDonald's and back 2x a week." NOOOOO!!! That is the opposite of healthy. "Don't worry, I won't actually go into the McDonald's. Gross." Phew... Good call. Seems like you have a good plan. 8 lbs seems like a reasonable goal. Good luck!

I'm going to treat this week as a trial run for my diet, so this one won't factor into grading but it will help me set up a routine. I've started a food journal, and it's helped me realize just how much (and sometimes how little) I eat. Every time I eat a vegetable or fruit serving, I'll put a number next to it to represent how many servings I've had so far that day, and at the bottom of the page I'm going to put a big ol' checkmark once I eat 5 servings. I'm using a little pocket notepad that I've clipped to the fridge so it'll be easy to track.

It's always funny for me to hear about someone who is trying to actually gain weight. I'd say just eat like I did for the last few years and you'll gain weight in no time. You'd also probably get fat and miserable, though. Your English is also quite good. I don't know how well you can speak in English, but your writing is excellent. Keep it up!

Yesterday was my final cheat day for 5 weeks. One large pizza, 2 liters of coke, and 5 beers later, I am completely ready to swear off junk food. As you can probably tell, the theme for this challenge is to adopt a healthier diet for 5 weeks. Since it is also my second challenge of the year, I have gained some insight into my exercise habits and how to improve them too. Essentially, I need to improve my diet, tighten up my workout schedule, and monitor as much of this as possible. Without further ado, here are my goals: One With Nature - Eat 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables daily. The season is right for this to be easy, and one of my homemade protein smoothies will provide 3 of those servings. If I eat one of those every day and make myself snack on fruits and veggies when I get hungry, it should be enough to complete this. Grading: Drop one letter grade for every week that I don't do this (one off-day per week allowed). Seal the Gates! - Reduce carbs, sweets, and empty calories. I need to raise my defense stat a little when it comes to eating. This was my biggest weakness for my last challenge, so it will be the most monitored goal for this one. I'm also going to go a little easier on myself this time around (baby steps). Basically I have to say goodbye (sigh) to... pasta, beer, refined sugars, chips, and soda. The hardest one of these will be beer, undoubtedly. I'll see how this goes after a week and reevaluate after that, but I'd like to have no more than 3 beers a week, and ideally none. Grading: Four servings of the aforementioned foods are allowed weekly. Any more than that and I'll lose a letter grade for the week. (Also, beer can only be 3 of those servings). Excellence Matters - Maintain and adapt my workout routine. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle. I quoted this in my last challenge as well, but that's the point. I need to maintain my workout routines from my last challenge into this one, but I may need to change the workouts periodically if they get too easy. Grading: Do 3 workouts and 2 cardio sessions per week. Minus one letter grade for every week not filled. Enable Autosave - Record my progress daily. Last challenge, I kept a dry erase board on the wall of my room with a daily progress chart. I'll do that again for my exercise, but I'd like to keep a food journal hanging on the fridge as well. This challenge won't be graded, but if I don't do it then the progress in all of my other challenges will not be verifiable, so I'd better freakin' do it. I'm contemplating taking some before and after photos as well, but I'd like to keep them on my computer so my friends don't randomly see my naked torso when I try to show them pictures of dogs or something. I can't wait to crush this challenge. In the words of the immortal Leeroy Jenkins, "Let's do this!"

Mid week and I'm feeling good. Went for a run on Monday, did workouts the last two days, and I'm currently pumping myself up for the third this week. Yesterday's workout was at about midnight, but I still burned through it. I'll be going for a bike ride later (hopefully), but I might keep it short because traffic will be a hassle. I acquired a slight injury to my leg that I stupidly got by slamming it into a very sturdy bar stool. The bone feels a little bruised, but it hasn't slowed me down yet. I've been killing it this week, and I can't wait to wrap the week up and get going on my next challenge.