fio_smiles

Hi! It's been alright, haven't been checking in here -- will do an update tomorrow! No new recipes Will get on that tonight!

wow, go you!! Keep fighting

Recipes aren't the problem... laziness is. I need to get my ass in gear and just cook! But thank you for the invite, I'll take a look when I get my ass in gear

17th August Fitness: Knee/Physio update -- my knee is no longer 'popping', but still need to keep up with the physio exercises, I hadn't been locking out my knee at the end some of them, so when I demo'd what I was doing to my physio yesterday he corrected that -- he also asked for an adjustment on my squats to grip a medicine ball between my knees to ensure that I'd activating the VMO, and not over-tightening the IT band which he is continuing to work on with me. Dry needling again, but without the painful "massage" afterwards -- given I still had yellowed bruises from last week I think he took pity on me. 2 weeks on my own and then back for a checkup with him. Health: Had my taster night, the chicken I'd left in the fridge to defrost didn't look the best, so I binned it and just made a fat-free youghurt, oats and blueberry mini-desert, and then mixed up the leftover youghurt with oats for 'over night oats' which I brought into work for my breakfast today, feeling positive. (I'd also lost -6.5 lbs, which seems excessive, but I'd had a 7lb gain the previous week, I think the scales may have been a bit bugged out last week really, but it's nice to get back to close to where I was, onward and downward!).

Thank you very much, yes, we do all have different challenges and growth areas, thank you for the support!!

Mid-week review Fitness: Health: Life: Happy with both Fitness and Life progress so far. With Health, cooking hasn't been a priority, and for no good reason either -- going to make a concerted effort to cook tonight, have a taster night at my diet group (well, I call it Fat Club in my head, and it's not really a diet, more a guided plan for making better choices -- no shakes and soup meal replacements for me!) where everyone will bring things that are healthy and made from scratch and let you taste them, and then we share recipes for our favourites -- it's a great way to get inspired and *know* if you'll like something before you cook it! (I've also been nominated as their "Woman of the Year" and feeling a little bad because I've been off the bandwagon for a month or two, but I've been honest with them about it :/ )

I know the challenge hasn't quite started, but some of my habits have, so tracking that here for building upon. 15th August Fitness: torso workout day -- feel really good, back was very very stiff/sore, so did a little motion work with trainer. 16th August Life: Sorted out all clothes in the house, removed items for donation, put on one big laundry load, packed items aside that need mending / repair / alterations. 17th August Fitness: core workout day -- circuits, numbers increasing all the time - still strugling with crunch+extend, in particular after my first circuit (doing 3 circuits in total), feel it in my back and I lockdown in fear/anxiety, will talk to physio about this also. Really need to learn the names of these things I'm doing with the trainer so I can discuss them properly... I might post a photo of my "guide" images (he gives me a sheet to track with notes on each items to help me remember what to do) and see if people can help me identify them? Thanks! Fio

Thank you, I'm already doing the 3 workouts a week with a trainer (want to get my form solid and secure due to an old spinal injury which I let hold me back for far too long), I suspect the diet piece will be more difficult.

Hi all, First challenge -- eeek! Long term goal is weight loss, healthly eating habits and fitness... so my challenge goals, long road and I know this probably seems light, but it's feasible for me. Diet - Cooking from scratch 3 times per week. - Limit snacks/junk to 300 calories max per day. Fitness - Three workouts a week with trainer - One home workout at weekend - Knee rehab (diagnosed with patellar maltracking) - One gentle run per week Life - House redo -- clean out one problem room or chore 5 times per week. Thanks! Fio

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hey! Checking in! Keep up the good work!

Hi all! Thanks for the feedback, chatted with my trainer and he moved me to doing bench press today, did 5 reps of 10x 20kg, the first being assisted/guided/spotted by him, and the remaining 4 being all my own. Felt my chest in action and felt super comfortable doing it -- in the sense of "knowing" what I was doing -- need to work on my "direction" (over my chest isn't quite where my mind *thinks* it is when I'm lowering the bar, but he's working with me and correcting me on that) -- but I'm into it Thanks! Fio

Hey, from reading that I think it's actually a "push press" since I'm "bouncing" little before pushing it up overhead and locking my elbows. Crunches in general have been good with me, but the leg extend.... ugh.

I got onto a pecs fly machine today, and for sure I felt the ache from previously working the pecs, so thank you for that suggestion. Perfect, will do

My main fitness focus has been bodyweight focused, working with a trainer to get my core working, and to get me moving well. Currently I do three gym workouts a week, one core focused, one leg focused, one torso focused. Core (circuits, had been doing development sets, but started doing circuits recently): * Crunch + Extend legs (my nemesis of this workout) * Plank + Leg Fold * Knee Roll * Plank to side plank * reverse knee roll (not sure whats this is called) I find the first circuit is fine, but on the second one, I'm trying to crunch and then extend, but I seem to try to do both at the same time, I feel it in my back and I shut down completely, from doing 12ish in the first circuit to struggling to do 2-3 in the second, and subsequent ones. Torso (development, so doing 3-4 sets and moving on) * Pushups (against a bar, which has various height settings) -- seriously struggling with lowering this, and in particular with the "reverse" pushup, when I start at the bottom and pushup, rather than start at the top and go down -- feel like I'm working my arms too much and not my chest, but can't seem to "switch it on" appropriately, this has me in tears of sheer frustration -- as well as jelly armed/shouldered for the rest of the day. * Row (in a machine, not typical for me), loving this. Weight cranks up every time, and it's... easy. I mean the weight is hard, but the motion is fine and I feel like I'm doing it right, and my trainer agrees. * Overhead tricep barbell thing -- it's not a tricep extension, but I start with the bar on my chest and then heave it to straight overhead, arms locked out? Legs (new) * Motion, squats to a bench, barefooted. * Balance work- kick to front and back curtsy like things on a block one-legged. * Motion, squats to a bench, barefooted. * Balance work- one legged squat like things. * Motion, squats to a bench, barefooted. (and others) I also got a program from my physio yesterday, will write it up when I get a chance.