mgrif99

Day 25 (11/5/2010) Only 3 days left of this challenge? Really?!? 1. Spinning Still doing well in this area; I get stronger and can do more every time I go. 2. Diet This morning: scrambled eggs with copious amounts of spinach and (small amounts of) mozzarella cheese. 3. Dog Walking Still not walking as much as I would like, but it has become a routine. I can FEEL it when we don't go for a walk. I miss and and feel so much better when I go. 4. Blog I have made progress, but I really need to re-think this whole blog thing. I have all these ideas but encounter hurdles that leave me frustrated. I need to do some serious comparisons and reviews of blogs before I start one. Took the day off from work today. Need a break from other people's children. Looking forward to this weekend!

still nursing a halloween candy hangover/coma? :?

Hey, NTU I updated my stuff in my thread. So, what's your news?

Spent last weekend visiting a friend I haven't seen in along time, taking my mom to the beach, and spending time with my puppy outdoors. The weather was amazing last weekend. Update: 1. Spinning Staying up longer and longer during standing climbs. The longest I have held out was 2 minutes, and I can do 1-minute intervals fairly easy. This is a HUGE improvement compared to the beginning of this challenge. I'm pretty stoked. 2. Diet Doing okay, not spectacular, but OVERALL better than a few weeks ago. I found that I'm getting bored of my usual dishes (and so is my 14 year-old!), so I got a couple recipe books to keep it interesting. Working full time has also helped; I don't spend nearly as much time at home, when wandering into the fridge was a frequent occurrence. I bring healthy, packable lunches and no cash. 3. Dog Walking Took the pup downtown on Saturday, visited with other dogs and dog owners, and took a long walk down the seawall. The view was fantastic. Took her to a local state park on Sunday, where she got another good walk with lots of new smells to investigate (and leave her mark on). This morning, we walked 1.4 miles around the neighborhood, stopping at a small park on the way. I am ROCKIN' the dog walking lately. 4. Blog The blog is blah. Blah for the blog. It hasn't been a priority the past few days, and the next few days are scheduled to be pretty busy. Not sure how I'm gonna fit it in... might have to wait until next week. Hope everyone else is doing well. 8-)

A quick update: 1. Spinning Yesterday I did a 30-min spin class, followed by a 30-min core class, followed by a 60-min yoga class. A bit ambitious, but afterward I felt like a rock star. Sore upper abs and tight hams today, but much less sore than I anticipated. Got an hour-long spin class scheduled at 7:15am tomorrow morning. It'll be my first AM spin class. :shock: 2. Diet Bleh. Good one day, hot dogs and chips the next. :cry: 3. Dog Walking I haven't walked the dog all week! I've been getting job offers every morning since I've been back from the cruise, and so instead of walking the dog, I jump in the shower and go to work. BUT, I am taking her to a Mutt Strut tomorrow, so we will inevitably get in some walking, not to mention socializing. 4. Blog Updated the blog a bit. I feel better about it, but it still needs work. I am exhausted and have to get up early for the spinning. One thing I have noticed: while pedaling for an hour, my legs are killing me, but I feel no residual pain the following day. I wonder... am I not pushing myself hard enough? Any thoughts?

Nice!!

woops!

This week has been going really well. I feel really good about everything. I withdrew from school and am now job-hunting full time, which has taken up a lot of my time and energy. Going to the gym has helped me keep motivated. Spinning class this afternoon... going to time how long I stay standing during a tough climb. I'm leaving tomorrow for a 4 day cruise with my sister (I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself), so I will not be posting until at least Monday night, my time. I am bringing my workout sched with me and plan to utilize the super fancy gyms on the boat. And planning on not deviating from the diet too much. Everyone have a great rest of the week!!

Thanks, Diglett and NTU, for the support. Helps me keep on track. I'm planning a detailed post later, but for now... This is my motto this week:

THANKS!! :mrgreen:

Great pic of you and the kiddo! It's amazing the "recharged" feeling our friends and family give us. I had a similar experience last weekend, and I am super excited about the challenge this week. No amount of coffee could have done that for me. I enjoy keeping up with your posts. Keep going strong! 8-)

Whew! I had a great weekend out of town. Hope everyone had an equally fantastic weekend. Last week's challenge was both good and bad, but overall I had progress and am heading in the desired direction. 1. Spinning Good: I went to the Wed class as scheduled, and I stayed standing longer than I had before. Knowing that it is one of my specific NFR goals to stay standing the entire climb, it really helped me focus. Bad: I skipped yesterday's class while recovering from the weekend. Progress? I say YES. Steps to ensure more progress: Not get so crazy on the weekends that I jeopardize my Monday afternoon spinning class. Make Sunday my rest, relax, and recover day... not Monday. 2. Diet Bad: I did not stick to the prescribed diet 100%. Good: I avoided all sweets and most of the processed foods available to me. Progress? I say YES again. It's not ideal, but better than it was before starting the challenge. Steps to ensure more progress: Prepare more foods at home in advance, even if I know I will be out of town. If I know I will be "out", look into foods that will be available ahead of time and plan what I will have in advance. No food choices while hungry! (My brother is on a strict gluten-free diet, so I'll pick his brain how he travels so much and stays on track with food.) 3. Dog Walking Good: I did walk the dog, twice I think, last week. Before the challenge, I hadn't walked my poor puppy in months. Bad: Did not walk her 5x last week as planned. Progress? YES Steps to ensure more progress: Get to bed by 10pm so I can get up earlier to walk the dog. 4. Blog Good: Started the blog and have done some (very little) research into blogging. Bad: Not as far I would like to be on this. Progress? YES Steps to ensure more progress: Dedicate a certain amount of time to it, like scheduling study time for my classes. Last weekend (visiting with family and friends) helped me feel rejuvenated and inspired and motivated. I'm looking forward to this week!

I see myself getting off track, so I'm going to zero in my original four goals. And focus on progress. 1. Spinning 2. Diet 3. Dog Walking 4. Blog Other areas that I am working on will be posted on my blog, unless a specific problem/question comes up, which I will post here for feedback. Will post today's progress later.

I was thinking the SAME thing.

Congrats! It's a great feeling. I am pretty behind in my school work these days, but it's not one of my goals for this challenge. Fortunately.

Day 3 (Thu, Oct 14) Stats Weight: 225 lbs (down 4 lbs since Day 1) Body Fat: 38% (up 1% from Day 1) Fat Weight (weight x BF%): 86 lbs (up one lb from Day 1) This leads to two observations: (1) I am not sure how accurate the body fat measuring device is. It's an electronic, hand-held version. Anyone know the accuracy on these things? (2) Losing fat is more important than losing weight. I'm down a few pounds overall, but I am up in pounds of fat. I really don't care about the overall number if I'm getting relatively fatter. I;m trying to keep in mind that this is only Day 3! Spinning (Mon, Wed, Sat) No spinning scheduled today. The spinning studio also offers a yoga class on Thursday nights, but I am usually still at my son's high school football games when the class starts. I would love to do yoga! Diet Bkfst: 3 scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes (no sugar or processed foods... yay for me!) Lunch: Skipped lunch without realizing it. I just wasn't hungry until dinner. Dinner: Did not prepare anything in advance and was running around town. Result: BLT sandwich on flatbread with a side of yogurt from Subway. Not ideal, but better than McDonald's or something else ridiculously far away from my types of foods. H2O Drank two 32oz bottles of water. I'm thinking maybe I should set a goal for 4 of these bottles (totals 1 gallon?) per day. Any feedback appreciated. Dog Walking (Five days/week) No walking due to knee pain (see below). Exercises (Tue, Thu, Sun) Jumping Jacks: 20 Pull Ups: 1, on an assisted pull up machine with 160 lbs Squats: 20, holding weight of 20 lbs Push Ups: only 1 with good form, on my knees Lunges: 10 (5 each leg), holding weight of 20 lbs Chin Ups: 0, after doing one assisted pull up = no upper body strength left! Sit Ups: 20 Box Jumps: 0 (no box jump apparatus at the gym. looking into what i can use at home.) Leg Lifts: 20 Plank: 0 I pushed a bit hard today, which felt really good until I did the lunges. Right at the end, my knees started to hurt, so I stopped. I assume this is due to poor form. Now I have residual knee pain, especially one my right knee, which hurts quite a bit when I move around. Staying in one spot doesn't hurt, but staying in one spot is what got me in this out-of-shape predicament to begin with! :mrgreen: I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day and hoping it will be better tomorrow. 5K Training (Tue, Thu, Sat/Sun) No training today. (See knee pain above.) Blog Still stagnant in this area. But I have been thinking about what I want to do with it. That counts for something, right? (Okay, not really.) After all this mental process, I'm ready to get some stuff going. My plan is to work on it tonight after everything here (dinner, teenager homework and chores, etc.) settles down. Day 2 Synopsis: My knee hurts!! Dammit! I do have a more positive attitude, though. I like working on my goals, and they are challenging. I'm still learning how to pace myself. It's a process that I hope to get better at.

Awesome goals! I have the same question as NTU: what are you referring to when you say three 5.8s? I love veggies! Brussel sprouts are fantastic, as long as they cooked just right. (very Goldilock-ish, I suppose) Not too firm but not too soft. Butternut squash (a winter squash, I believe) is also really good and easy to make. Just cut in half longways, place both halves face-up (skin-side down) on a cookie sheet in the oven, and when you can insert a fork and pull it out without resistance, it is done. I prefer a little butter and salt and pepper, but it depends on your diet.As a general rule, I find adding a little salt to the water before boiling veggies tends to increase the taste on veggies you might find too bland. And, if you haven't discovered this already, the less cooking the better (usually, anyway). Some of the best veggies are merely blanched and still crisp and tender. Good luck with veggies, and keep us posted! Go Team Next Level!

I remember my wisdom teeth removal... it was a bitch. Good for you for getting back into the swing of things! I like what you've done so far. I'm new to a lot of these exercises people have been writing about. What are Hip Bridges and Good Mornings? Go Team Next Level!

That makes sense. Thanks!

Curious... what is "metcon"?

You are so right! That's my plan for today. Thanks!

Well, you're both right. I was looking at the crazy 300 workout (that NTU referred to) with 135 deadlifts and floor wipers... which was too much for me. I settled on the Nerd Fitness 300 workout (that 67alecto referred to), but I modified it a bit for me. I have back issues and added ab work and the plank; I wanted something explosive so I added box jumps. So, in essence, you were both correct. Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the support. Today was a rough day, and I was looking forward to getting online to NFR for some uplifting news. It's nice having a connection with people who are working towards similar goals.

I must admit something: I make long posts. :ugeek: Day 2 (Wed, Oct 13) Stats No new stats. I guess I will do this weekly. Spinning (Mon, Wed, Sat) Spinning class kicked my ass today. Still didn't make it through the standing climbs. I realized today I need to ask my instructor how long the standing climbs are, because it sometimes varies. Having a length of time would help in my goal-setting and goal-achieving in this area. Diet Stomach still a bit upset today, so I didn't eat much. Scrambled eggs with spinach for bkfst, which was awesome. I inadvertently ate a donut today. Not kidding. Today I found out that the engagement ring my ex-fiance gave me is a fake. A fake diamond that he bragged out how expensive it was. I wore a fake ring from a fake guy while in a fake relationship for an entire year. So I ate a donut. It was already down the hatch before I really even thought about what I was doing. Old habits rear their ugly head in stressful situations, I guess. Dinner was chicken "fajitas" with fresh tomatoes and avocado. Super yummy. Sparkling water & tap water was consumed throughout the day. Dog Walking (Five days/week) Walked my sweet puppy around the neighborhood. I was running late, but I squeezed it in. She and I were both happy afterward. Exercises (Tue, Thu, Sun) No exercises today. Good thing, too, because I am super sore from yesterday! 5K Training (Tue, Thu, Sat/Sun) no training today Blog No work today. :cry: Day 2 Synopsis: Muscle soreness!!! I'm glad I decided to not do everything every day of the week. My body needs a break.

Yeah, I originally looked at The 300 Workout, but it's a bit much for me. I like the idea of being to move my own body weight. I am on a no-sugar, no-processed foods diet. It's basically this: Only eat three meals a day, at least 4 hours apart. Bkfst: a protein and a fruit Lunch & Dinner: fresh salad, a protein, and veggies It allows small amounts of milk and cheese and salad dressing (as long as sugar is not in the first four ingredients), so it's not really paleo. The key is that it is very specific about the amount of everything. (Exactly 4.0 oz of protein, etc.) I started to weigh everything, then realized it was too difficult, especially when I wasn't at home when I was eating. Now I just stick to the types of foods, not so much the amounts. Thanks for following my blog. I need to work on it!! :?