AllieTbo

Second Week Update The second week of the challenge is over, and it was about on par with the first week. I had an insane week at work (+60 hours), so it was hard for me to find time to cook and exercise as much as I wanted to. I went to the gym twice during the week, so not nearly as much as I need to to hit my challenge goal, but I can still feel the inklings of good habits forming that will hopefully last far past the end of the challenge. Wins - Continued to use my battle log dailyHit a few PRs at the gym Succeeded with staying under 300 liquid calories (giving me an "A" for the week!)Losses - Cheesecake factory. Went a bit overboard.Didn't sleep as much as I should due to crazy work scheduleDidn't work out as much as hoped forWe painted donuts during my watercolor class... I ate the donut afterwards.My weight hasn't changed over the past week either. Not bad, but not good. My biggest challenge has been making my own meals - I need to find some quick and easy recipes that include protein and vegetables. Time to start Week 3 off right!

Welp, I ate the rest of the pint last night... but week two is off to a good start! No ice cream involved yet

I 100% relate to this. Even though I don't live in a different country, going from a tech school with engineers who were all weird in their own way to a city filled with consultants and business majors (aka normal people) has been pretty scary. I try to contain my quirkiness at work, and every time it comes out I feel super judged. After someone sees my inner weirdness once, I feel like there is no turning back and then become even more awkward because I feel like I'm being judged even more. I'm sure a lot of it is internal paranoia, but you never know. Luckily nerdfitness is an outlet where I can proudly own up to my love of video games and all things nerdy Your quests are awesome and I look forward to following them! I would love to be able to do one pushup, nevermind 15

I love dragonair!!!! I just started playing pokemon X so I'm excited for the new graphics, but I'll always love the original 151 the most Having more pokemon names than I can remember is a little overwhelming haha... I can never catch them all O.o

First Week Update The week has been a mix of successes and failures. I knew that I wasn't going to make an incredibly drastic lifestyle change right away, but I have definitely taken some large steps towards forming good habits! Let's compare the wins and losses: Wins - Kept track of everything in my battle logWorked out 4 times, with random lunges or squats while bored at home throughout the weekWalked to and from work almost every dayDrank lots more water than I'm used toAte much more veggies than usual (still not enough but some is better than none)Cooked for myself a few nightsDidn't get takeout for lunch all weekDidn't drink any sodaDidn't eat anything from the snack table at work all week Losses - Felt really tired all week even though my sleep schedule was decent.. I'm guessing that it's a mix between daylight savings time messing with me and the change in diet.My knees felt destroyed after zumba class, so I might need to strengthen the supporting muscles in my legs before going back to that classWhile I was pretty good about liquid calories during the week (said no to soda, had coffee almost black instead of fancy lattes from starbucks) I failed later in the week. I had a beer and sangria last night and a bunch of mimosas today (it's hard to say no to 1 cent mimosas)A few of the meals that I had were not healthy by any means. Five guys, chipotle, and brunch (that's where the mimosas were... but it was also all you can eat. I ate less than I usually do there, said no to the waffles and didn't entirely binge, but still had a banana fritter and lots of other food). The good news is my healthy:unhealthy food ratio was much betterThere was a team celebration where I had a cupcake and a cookieI just ate Ben & Jerry's (but I stopped myself after a small portion)I feel really fatigued if I don't have sugar or carbs, so I'm slowly trying to figure out a good balance that helps me keep my energy/mood up. Next week's goal is to up the workouts in number and intensity (while going easy on the knees), try to have less sweets, and continue with the good habits that I've started I also have noticed that my pants fit better already so that's great! As for my little fairy friend, I plan on using her as a small mental reminder to keep myself in check and keep myself motivated (I might draw a picture of her and tape it up next to my desk at work... or on my fridge), but I think I'll skip out on the dialogue/storywriting part on my thread from now on. I realized that it might be hard to keep things interesting when it would mostly be her telling me to stop eating things

Preparations I quickly got used to having Kiya around. For the most part, she stays in my general area, but will sometimes stray to explore. Kiya had never been to a city before. While DC is relatively small, everything in comparison is huge to Kiya, who is used to forests with small cottages (your typical fairy haunt). Even if she wanders off for a bit, Kiya can sense when I am having a moral dilemma (I really want that candy...) and will quickly be at my side persuading me to reconsider. I'll have to admit, her presence hasn't immediately spiked my discipline levels, but each time I cave to a temptation she gets quite upset and dejected... almost like it's her fault. If anything, trying to avoid her disappointment will be a good motivator for me. One of the biggest factors that I have found influences my success is how prepared I am, especially when it comes to food. I know that I will have a bit of a struggle packing a lunch every day, but I hope to at least make my own (healthy) dinners most of the time. As I left my Sunday evening art class (where I slipped up twice by having a sugar cookie and a reeses cup... which Kiya wasn't too pleased about), Kiya convinced me to go to the supermarket to pick up some healthy things. With a basket filled with greens and protein, I feel ready for this challenge! I also took some measurements today for reference: Stomach......36 in Hips..............42 in Thigh............24 in Upper arm...12 in 6 week challenge, here I come!

Allie's Journey Begins: Kiya & The Hourglass There is only an hour left until the clocks are turned back. While I will get the chance to repeat every minute of the next hour, repeating other things in life is a fleeting concept. While 1:08 AM will change an hour from now, there is no changing the candy corns that I ate during that minute (Halloween candy is a blessing and a curse). These poor choices have slowly piled up for me like sand trickling in an hourglass. I'm ready to flip that hourglass over. Now if only I was strong enough to do that... *A light autumn breeze flows through the bedroom window. As you sit in bed watching the curtains flutter, you notice a flicker of green peek through. Before you can get up to investigate, a small creature flies through the window and lands at the foot of your bed. Oddly enough, this creature is now sitting cross-legged with a broad smile on her face, looking at you expectantly.* "Umm... Hello?" "Pleasure to meet you, Allie! I'm Kiya. Are you ready to begin?" "Begin what, exactly?" "Your journey! We have quite the path set out for us." Kiya spent the next half hour or so explaining to me what her purpose was for showing up in my bedroom. At about six inches tall and varying shades of a glowing blue and green, Kiya is a fairy with quite the expressive personality. During the impermanent hour at the end of daylight savings time, fairies such as herself sense those who want to reach a goal, but have gotten lost in the past while trying to achieve it. This makes sense for me, as I want to lead a healthier lifestyle, but have fallen off the wagon many times in the past. She will stay with me while I strive to reach this goal, pointing me in the right direction and helping to cultivate the thing that I lack the most on this journey - discipline. "So, are you ready, Allie?" "Let's do it!" We then worked together on a list of goals that I can work towards over the next few weeks: Allie's Journey Begins Starting Weight: 150lbs Goal Weight: 120lbs 1. Exercise at least 25 times over the next 6 weeks 2. Minimize liquid calories to less than 300 a week 3. Keep a food and exercise journal 4. Don't go overboard during the Thanksgiving holiday Once we had finished our planning session it was time to rest up. While not a primary goal, keeping a normal sleep schedule will be important on the path to reaching my goals and living a healthy lifestyle. Kiya curled up on my over-sized stuffed panda while I lay down in bed and drifted off, hopeful about starting my journey and tackling the challenge ahead of me, one grain of sand at a time.