Cephalopod_Dreams

*waves* Hi, again. I dropped off the wagon for a little bit but no one noticed so that's ok Also I haven't actually gained any weight. I'm 10 stone 2 lbs, which is about where I've been for the last 3 - 4 months regardless of exercise or eating habits, so screw it. A combination of general illness, painful physio after my accident and general relationship stress kept me away from karate and being less mindful of my food. It's not just NF, I even ended up abandoning Habitica again and I love that app! But I'm back now: karate yesterday, pilates today, the addition of protein shakes to my diet (yay for potions!) and I've even joined an IRL friend in committing to learn a new language via DuoLingo - Hooray! Let's see how long I can keep this up before completely burning out again. ALSO I only just realised that I can follow people on here and I dont have to hunt down their latest post and follow it each time, and then inevitable lose track of them at the end of each challenge. I am an idiot, but hopefully I can fix that.

Hey sweetie, I saw your post on the NF Women's FB page so I wanted to drop in and say hi! I'll be following your respawn so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

I feel like I'm falling off the wagon. I'm trying to stay focused and positive, but I still haven't made any progress in strength or weight. Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough? I feel miserable, and all out of energy to try again. Maybe I'm just doomed to stay chubby and unhealthy.

Time for a belated challenge summary: OK, so I kinda dropped off the map a bit. But since no one seemed to notice I guess that's ok. Quest 1: Go to Karate twice a week. I am committing to staying for the whole of each lesson (1 hour 45 minutes per session). Goal: A = 3 lessons a week. B = 2 lessons a week. C = 1 lessons a week. Reward: A = +2 Str, +2 Dex, +1 Sta. B = +1 Sta, +1 Dex. C = +1 Dex RESULT: FAIL I just didn't manage this. I went 3 times in the whole of April. And truth be told I feel pretty shitty about that. Quest 2: Strength training twice a week. This can be at home, but ideally will take place at the gym. It's the SIXTH challenge where i've wanted to focus on strength and it's time I got serious about it. The plan is to strength train after my pilates sessions. Goal: A = 2 gym sessions a week . B = 2 sessions a week (home/gym). C = 1 session a week. Reward: A = +2 Str, +2 Sta, +1 Dex,. B = +1 Sta, +1 Str. C = +1 Str RESULT: FAIL I didn't so this either. A couple of times I managed a short strength workout after pilates, but nothing consistent. I'm still not able to lift any more that I was in February, and I'm no closer to a push up or a pull up. Quest 3: I haven't lost a pound since I joined NF 6 months ago. Obviously I need to track my diet better, as I'm pretty sure I have no good idea of what my calories or macros are. I am really really nervous about this but I've downloaded My Fitness Pal and hopefully that will give me a good place to start. Goal: A = 7 days a week . B = 5 days a week . C = 3 days a week. Reward: A = +2 Wis, +3 Con . B = +2 Con, +1 Wis . C = +1 Con RESULT: +2 WIS +3 Con I still haven't lost so much as a pound, but I tracked everything I ate for the whole month. It's helped me realise that I eat too much fat, don't eat as much protein as i thought I did and I have 'treats' way more often than I thought. Unfortunately I also ended up having a bulimia set back for the first time in years. Damn but food makes me feel back about myself.

1500 on non exercise days, 1800 on exercise days. Aiming for 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbs

I think I recognise more than a few poi moves in that dance I'm feeling inspired to go home and see how that might work.

Thanks for the hip routine share I will be looking in to that

I went back to karate on Monday. I had a couple of weeks off as I was getting demotivated and depressed, so I went back to karate on Monday, pilates and lifting on Tuesday and karate again tonight. I had a nice chat with the ladies on the Nerd Fitness facebook group this week. I'm still unhappy that I'm not losing weight or gaining muscle; my lifts aren't improving at all and I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall. But the ladies were really helpful, and some even suggested that I might not be eating enough calories! I don't know about that though as I think my weight is going up, which means I'm gaining fat as if it was muscle my lifts would be improving. I need to set aside some time for myself to go over the nutrition module and see what I can change. Tuesday's gym: 2 sets 10 x squat - 10 kg 20 x dumbbell row - 10 kg 10 x overhead press - 10 kg and: 5 x assisted pull up 40kg assist 5 x assisted chin up 40kg assist 5 x assisted dip 40kg assist 5 x assisted pull up 35kg assist 5 x assisted chin up 35 kg assist 5 x assisted dip 35kg assist I tried another set at 35 after a rest but only managed another one with very bad form so I gave up.

OMG solo holiday? That's awesome

I'm sorry to hear about that honey, sounds like he was picking a very silly fight. Serious props to you though; there's no way you should grovel for someone who keeps messing you about like that *hugs*

I made it to pilates! But I had another session on Thursday that finished 20 minutes before my karate session, so I didn't make it to karate. I have however managed to track my food intake every day! and I've stayed away from coffee and reduced my alcohol intake again. So these things are good! I'm having a super stressful time with my insurance company, who screwed everything up and have left me over £2000 out of pocket. It's awful and overwhelming and I hate it, so keeping my focus on other things is hard. Thankfully I have these two to look after me.

I was late to this challenge, but awesome news on the job front! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

How is the handstand workshop going?

Pretty snakes! I'm loving all the photos on your battlelog Thinking I might have to start doing the same thing. Also hooray for beating all of your PRs! That's really super awesome

Poor little lizard looks like a skink?

SO much for usual routine.... I didn't make it to karate last night. I had a meeting with a new physio and it turns out that I am much more screwed up than I thought I was. By the time he'd readjusted my shoulder EVERYTHING hurt so I went home and slathered myself in tiger balm instead. Pilates tonight though. I'm going straight from work so I cant bail.

Today was a very, very interesting day. Today I saw a physiotherapist, who I was referred to following my accident at the end of January. My physiotherapist was really good - he spotted that I was hyper-mobile from the way I was holding my phone! Also he was absolutely brimming with interesting information. Did you know: There's a correlation between people who have hyper-mobility and people who develop an autoimmune condition? If you are hyper-mobile - even if it's not extreme enough that you dislocate joins easily - you should still be under the care of a professional to correct your posture and imbalances? Hyper-mobility and poor posture contribute to chronic pain and can exaggerate neuropathic pain. Before today I didn't know ANY of these things. It seems like something that someone should have mentioned! I've see so many specialists for my pain and my autoimmune and no one ever connected the dots. I'm now going to do some research on initiatives that he suggested I look into. He's going to recommend me for 8 - 10 sessions. It's going to be a pain to organise with work since he wants to see me twice a week but I think it will be worth it if it can help with my pain.

I know I've read it, but not for a while. I guess it's a good time to revisit

Thanks Sara ☺ I still have some work to do on cutting down grains (actually, quite a lot of work) but I'm pretty sure it will help y health and weight management so it's worth doing. I have logged my meals for seven days in a row! I am inordinately proud of myself for this. I had a wobble towards the end of last week in terms of food and exercise but I logged all my sins and spent two hours being active in the garden on Sunday to make up for missing karate and pilates. Back into my usual routine this week though. I think this challenge is going OK so far, but I clearly still have work to do when it comes to my alcohol consumption.

Snuff was a bittersweet book for me. Seeing the change in Pratchett's writing was heartbreaking, but it was clear he was trying to wrap up that story and leave it in a good place. Have you read Raising Steam? I enjoyed seeing how things worked out for the goblins.

Challenge update: I have successfully managed to track my food on MFP for two days in a row. While my calorie consumption isn't too bad I'm already surprised by how much fat I'm consuming. I'm definitely going to have to keep an eye on that as the challenge continues. I had an appointment with my Doctor yesterday and he confirmed that I do in fact have IBS. I've suspected this for a few years, but with everything else going on I didn't get around to checking it out. My Dr even said to me "I'm surprised you lived with it this long without getting help." I had to explain that it's the least of my problems. Oh well, now I'm armed with a whole booklet of information, and maybe this will give me the push I need to finally get my diet under control.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll look into it I grow my own tea plants at home (mint, lemon balm, borage, bergamot) and I plan to start growing my own ginger soon so I can make fresh ginger teas

Thanks Luciana! I think I'm definitely going to have to start prepping some lunches, it's the only way I wont go insane measuring food every day if I can do it all at once on a Sunday. Challenge update: I went to karate on Monday and stayed for the advanced lesson. Woo! It's fun but hard and my left arm is now covered in bruises after spending 45 minutes blocking attacks from a black belt student. I also managed to drink no coffee or alcohol on Monday - double win! No coffee yesterday either. I discovered a cinnamon tea which is my new favourite thing, and there's a ginger tea as well which I love. Finally a 'fruit' tea that doesnt taste of perfume! I went to pilates yesterday and I really enjoyed it, but oh god I am feeling it today. it was mostly hip flexor and hamstring work, and since mine are screwed it was really painful. Has to be good for me though. After pilates I forced myself to stay in the gym and do a short strength set: 3 sets: Barbell Squat 10kg x 10 Bent over Barbell row 10kg x 20 Barbell overhead press 10kg x 10 I'm starting to feel more confident with these so I might up the weight soon. I wanted to get on the assisted pull up machine but the gym was way too busy so I just went home. One of my goals for this challenge is to track my food, so I downloaded My Fitness Pal and logged all of my food yesterday. That's a massive success for me! I also changed the calorie and macro goals to personalise it, and MFP suggested I should be on 1200 calories a day. NOPE.

I know your pain! I will be checking out Just Bento today. I'm not celiac but bread makes me ill, and trying to pack a lunch without it sometimes seems impossible. Thanks for the great resources

I'm going to be following this pretty closely, as my weight's been creeping up and I need to keep on top of it. Good luck! Your challenge looks great