EstellaHavisham

I also weigh myself every day even though I know it isn't ideal. I wear a fitbit and I have a fitbit scale, so my weight and bodyfat get saved automatically. I can view it as a graph on my phone or computer. So even though I may have gained one day, it's motivating to see the downward trend. As for the language, it's amazing to watch my daughter already! She understands everything I say in English, but she speaks only a few words, all German. The way she says goodbye makes me melt!

Thanks Luciana, I've been in Germany over five years now... most of the time I am very happy here! I think I don't fit in with the neighborhood mothers because of personality, and not because I am not German. I get along well with my work colleagues and I am the only non-German there as well. When I was still on maternity leave, it was very important for me that these women on my street like me. Now that I am back at work, I hardly give a crap! The language is very often a problem for me because I hate sounding like an idiot. And in new situations, this is nearly impossible to avoid! Before I meet with the trainer on Tuesday, I am going to sit down and learn what is barbell, dumbell, squat, etc. in German.

Hello, I'm still hanging on! Not much time to update though. Just by cutting out sweets and grains, I've lost a little over 6 pounds since the challenge began! Tomorrow I have an appointment at the gym again to learn how to lift free weights properly. My attendance at the gym has been pretty sporadic. My daughter started daycare in June, hardly a day goes by that one of us isn't sick.

Still here... Today I haven't cheated once and it's nearly 8:30PM. Haven't done the workout though. I found out something really upsetting about a family member, and I've been kind of rooted to my seat. I did take my starting measurements, a week late

Kenne ich nicht, aber danke für den Tipp Chen. Bisher habe ich nur mit den Geräte Training gemacht. Mir wurde erzählt, dass die sicherer seien

Ich wohne in der nähe von Hamburg. Ich bin eigentlich US-Amerikanerin (mein geschriebenes deutsch braucht eine Erklärung), aber hoffentlich das macht nichts Ich habe ich bei NF angemeldet, weil hier ist die erste Fitnessseite die ich gefunden habe, die nicht zu aggressiv wirkt, und ist trotzdem hilfreich und seriös. Ich will mich wie ein Cavewoman ernähren, aber mich nicht so benehmen! Habe auch keine interesse an die 1kg rosa Hanteln. Ich möchte bald mit einem Trainer treffen und Muskeltraining ohne Geräte lernen. Vielleicht werde ich Eure Hilfe auch brauchen, die verschiedene Begriffe sind höchstwahrscheinlich anders gennant.... Deadlift, Squat und Co.

I didn't post for a couple of days.... and I fell off a bit yesterday, but today I am back on! It's been a pretty stressful week. I went to the gym twice this week and lifted as heavy as I can. Still using only the machines, but tomorrow I will do the beginner body weight training at home. Haven't rescheduled the trainer, and I have no idea when that can happen again. Both trainer and I are as flexible as a German Panzer. My baby is sick, so I had to cancel my appointment with a trainer, and the breakfast I was supposed to host on Monday is also cancelled. Only one person who was invited even ackowledged my message, and wished my baby to get well! So I will not be spending any more time with those mothers, so goodbye to a source of stress and processed-food-temptation. This got me into an unhelpful brooding pity party, and I ate some chocolate and drank two glasses of wine. But I have realized it's stupid to waste time on people who don't bring any value to my life. I am the only non-German in this group of women. I've always been sort of a loner, plus the language has proven to be too much to really want to be bothered. I feel less lonely when I'm home with my daughter than with a group of seven women I don't connect with. I worry sometimes though my baby will grow up an outsider because of her foreign mother. But that may have happened anyway. I'm sick of trying to fit in with these people. Another thing that I find discouraging, is I haven't seen the scale move. The tiny bit of weight I lost in the first couple of days is back on, I feel better, but I also feel deprived. I will keep going because I signed up for this challenge and staying the same is better than getting fatter. I will also take measurements today and record them, maybe something is happening that the scale doesn't reflect. I had lovely hard boiled eggs with tomatoes and basil for lunch, excellent! Now I'm off to do garden work.

Challenge Accepted! http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/69062-estellahavisham-great-expectations/

Mini Challenge Responses: Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? I think it's achievable and reasonable. The quest should be simple and measurable. Either the last pair of pants I will fit at the end of the challenge or they won't. By fit I mean I would put them on and would be able to wear them to work, comfortably sit, stand, crouch etc. At the moment, I can get them on and zip up. But if they were new in a shop, I would say they don't fit. YET! 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? I would say this quest needs subquests because pants don't magically fit on their own. The three subquests are all relevant and should help me. Are your main goals realistic? 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? I think my main goal is quite realistic. If I really do succeed in cutting out the foods that I tend to go overboard with, I think I could reach this goal. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? They are all yes/no. Did I eat any bread/rice/potatoes/candy today? Did I go to the gym Wednesday and Friday? I've been tracking here on this post. How are you grading your goals? 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 think I will start at 100% and subtract whenever I don't meet my goal. I don't have a reward yet. I haven't thought much about grading, just going with the flow.What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? The workouts would have to be dropped on those days, and unfortunately because of childcare, I couldn't go to the gym on a different day. I could do workouts at home though while baby sleeps. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I have no modifications built in, but I know in advance it will be difficult/impossible to stay away from starches and sweets. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? No I don't think so. 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? I have time made. Two days a week, my daughter stays later at daycare. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I am also trying clean the kitchen every night. I have a bad habit of leaving dishes in the sink overnight. The kitchen is pretty open, so when it slides, the whole house starts to go with it.

My daughter was up half the night crying and today she has a fever. So I had to cancel my appointment with the trainer. Now I am at home waiting for the doctor's office to open and for my husband to finish his half day of work, so I can go do a half day work. We have so much chocolate and pudding and restaurant leftovers. Trying not to think about it. Our American guests have moved on to Denmark for a wedding. But they are coming back on Sunday. And at the weekend, some Danish friends are stopping by on their way from from vacation. It's as if Germany is the middle of the world! I find it pretty easy to stick to a diet if I am alone, but the minute other people show up I have difficulties. On Monday I am hosting a breakfast for the mothers who live on my street. We switch off every month. You can't host a German breakfast without buying bread, but I'm thinking about what else I can plan...

We went out to dinner again today since we have visitors. And I cheated and drank a small beer. We were at a brewery, I didn't feel like explaining why I don't want a beer. But that was the only cheat since Monday and it wasn't too bad I guess. Went to the gym and used the treadmill only to warm up. And then I used the weight machines and lifted as heavy as I could. Five reps, three sets. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. And one part of my quest is fulfulled: I am meeting with a trainer tomorrow morning to learn how to use the free weights properly!

Went out to dinner. Had a small steak and substituted the baked potato for broccoli.

Weighed in this morning .3 kilos lighter. Woke up at 5AM and did Zumba. The day is half over and I am still on the wagon.

It's the end of day 1 and I made it without a cheat. And the kitchen is clean (life quest). I didn't exercise today though. I've been trying to wake up at 5AM to do Zumba! But I've only made it 3 times in the last week. I felt like a million bucks though on those days. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow I have work and the Amis are coming, so it will be more difficult than today.

HAHA I don't know how the Asian stores are in Germany either! But I'll give it a look next time I am kid free, hopefully after work tomorrow. Today I have been good so far and the day is more than half over. Went to visit a friend and politely refused a croissant. For lunch I made ground beef with pumpkin and it was excellent! I made my daughter noodles to have with her lunch. Normally I cook more than she will ever eat and have what she didn't eat. But today I counted out 10 zitis for her... and picked six of them off the floor. Tomorrow some friends are flying in from the US. They are actually going to a wedding in Denmark but are stopping here for a few days before and after the wedding. This will be a challenge because we'll be going to some restaurants with them for sure. They are staying in a hotel, so it could be worse! I still need to clean up around here, cat hair everywhere! Not much time, baby will be awake soon.

Thanks Kaysey. I'll have to check out the supermarket here, or maybe an Asian store. I heard that there is some kind of Asian noodle also made only from vegetable. Bread and noodles seem to be the most important food group in the German diet, so I'm not too optimistic.

For me the issue is not trans fats and if one should eat them. But adults and companies should be able to decide for themselves what they produce and consume. Or at the very least it should be decided by the elected officials that we vote for, can protest, and write to. Why should the FDA have the right to do this at all?

I'm ready for tomorrow! Tonight I made gulasch for dinner. Instead of noodles, I am adding carrots. My husband has noticed the change in me and is amused. At first he wanted noodles, but changed his mind and stuck with the carrots when he heard I will definitely not have any noodles. So he is a part of the challenge too. Tomorrow I have no work, so while the baby sleeps I am going to practice the lifting moves using a broomstick. My normal gym day is Wednesday. Until now, I stuck with the machines and then jogged a half hour on the treadmill. I'm so ready to kiss the treadmill goodbye forever. But the weight machines... I enjoy them because I don't know what I'm doing otherwise. I am afraid of the free weights area at the gym. A lot of... I call them monkeys.... hang out around there grunting and throwing weights around and they seem aggressive. Also, whenever I leave the house I have to speak German, and the gym is no exception. I will see about making an appointment with a trainer. Until that appointment, I guess I will stick with machines and increase the weight?

Hi, I joined NF last night and signed up for the six week challenge that begins tomorrow. I'm 34, American but living in Germany (not military). Usually I measure myself in Kilos. Had a baby last year and I am still the same weight I was the day I left the hospital with her. My jeans are getting less and less comfortable. Right now I am 160 cm and 67 kg (5'3" and 148 lbs). Other than those months when I had another human being growing inside me, I have never weighed so much in my life. I have made half-hearted efforts in the past to shape up, but since I always looked and felt "well enough anyway", nothing ever really ever stuck. I am pretty short and quite sedentary by nature, so I can easily out-eat the amount of calories I really need. My friend posted a pic of me on Facebook from college. Another posted a pic of me shortly after my wedding five years ago. And I realized that I have been gaining over a kilo a year. I was 52kg (116 lbs) in college. 57kg (125 lbs) on my wedding day five years later. And now 67kg five years after that! So this was a wake up call. I was never very motivated because I hate being hungry, I hate running and sports in general. And like I said, I always thought I looked and felt fine anyway. Not really satisfied, but not dissatisfied enough to really do something about it. I stumbled upon NF yesterday and I like what I am reading. I've been going to the gym on and off for years. My favorite part is lifting weights, but I always did basically the opposite of what is recommended here. And I love bread and sweets, but if I am real with myself, they make up an unacceptable percentage of what I take in per day. It's better to set "none" as my goal! I am starting with the six week challenge and we'll see what happens. At some point tomorrow I will take my measurements. It won't be easy, but learning German was probably worse ;P There it is. Hi

Me: Sedentary-by-nature bookworm, originally from New York but living in Germany. 34 years old, and still carrying around baby weight. Or can one still call it that past the baby's first birthday? I'm short, but always was within the normal range of body weight without having to bother much about it. Went to the gym before baby, because that's what healthy people do. But I've never been in shape really. I think a slug is my true spirit animal. A well-read, daydreaming, intellectual slug. Luckily, I'm also very frugal, and I refuse to buy fat clothes. I'm not really fat yet, but I'm getting there. Lately I've been feeling even more sluggish than usual, and this isn't acceptable because I have a job, house and kid to take care of. My Main Quest: I want to fit in the last pair of pants I bought before getting pregnant. They still have the tags on. That was 5 kilos ago. After that, it's another 5 kilos to what I weighed on my wedding day. From there it would be another 5 to my lowest weight in college. I want to avoid having a number as a goal though. I don't know my measurements from those times. SMART quest: No potatoes, grains, pasta, or rice. No sweets except one square of dark chocolate if I have been otherwise good.Strength training at least twice a week.Make an appointment at gym to learn to lift properly.Life Quest: Clean up the kitchen every night before bed. Motivation: All inclusive vacation in Turkey at the end of the year. It would be nice to feel comfortable in a bathing suit, and have new eating habits in place so I don't go overboard at the buffets. Attribute Points: I have no idea what this means.