221Tea

Final week summary: 1) Running 4/3 2) NROLFW 0/2 3) Weight loss: down to 162.5 so that's 5.5lb lost during the challenge and 10.5 since the beginning of the year 4) Innkeeping:7/7 Even though I seriously floundered on the add't weight workouts, I feel really good about how I finished this month. I do still struggle with the motivation to get in those add't workouts as I have to commute to work and spending 3-4 weeks days at the gym after work is a long slog. Now that the temperature is perking up, I'm going to transition to running outside; so I'm hoping that will give me a bit of flexibility and motivation to get to the gym those other two nights. I think my biggest victory was on Friday when I ran 2.5km w/o stopping. I started this challenge doing 90 second intervals, so 20 mins non stop was a huge win for me. I have 7 weeks until my 5k road race and I'm feeling really confident that I'll finish sub 40 mins. Other than that? Feels good to take some old pants out of the closet that I haven't been able to wear in a while and I'm going to work on adding those weight workouts back into the mix.

*Pokes head out of hole* OOF. I've fallen off the challenge-tracking bandwagon, but I'm still trying to keep up on my goals. Week 2 Summary: -3 runs (3/3) -1 NROLFW (1/2) Week 3 Summary: -3 runs (3/3) -1 NROLFW (1/2) - Got a new PR in dead lifts and did 5 reps at 135lb, which brings me another step closer to 5 reps at 1:1 BW/Lift ratio. Weight: down 3.5lb since start of challenge Innkeeping: 50% - I find the end of the day rolls around and I've forgotten to do my dedicated 10 minutes; but I think the house is cleaner over all. I'm now halfway through my C25K program and I signed up to do a 5k fun run/road race on Apr 16th. The only detriment I'm seeing with this C25k program is that they seem to think I'll be able to run a 10 min/mile after only 8 weeks, which I think is ridiculous. Currently I'm chugging along at 13.3/mile, so I'm going to spend the time between the end of my program next month and the race adding a few mins to each run to get me from 30 mins to 42 mins. I know I haven't been diligent in tracking on here, but overall I'm still feeling really great about this journey and that I'm making good progress, week after week. They're not huge milestones, but after finishing my first ever uninterrupted 5 min run last week, I felt like blasting the Rocky theme song and jumping off the treadmill in victory. I haven't been as great about keeping up with the secondary workouts, but I'm not going to berate myself right now because I still went out there 4 days a week and did my best.

Belated week 1 summary: Runs: 4/3 - not too bad. Squeezed in #4 on the weekend. NROLFW/Yoga: 1/2 - not so great. Did Stage 1 A #3 of NROLFW. Weight: down 1.5lb since Jan 31st "Innkeeping" - bit of a fail, that. Ended up spending two hours cleaning the whole house on Sunday. Oops. Exactly what I was hoping to avoid. I'm giving the first week a 75%/B.

I've only done six runs of the C25K app, and I'm not hating it, but enjoy might be a bit too strong. I haven't run regularly since I was a teenager, and even then I wasn't particularly fond of it. I think in the past I haven't pursued it because "I'm not good at it" and wasn't a good runner because I didn't pursue it, haha. That zombie app sounds terrifying! I'm one of those people hiding behind the couch for The Walking Dead so I can only imagine the sheer terror on my face if I was running through my neighbourhood from invisible zombies.

OOF. Rough week/The game is afoot. (What a terrible running pun). So far I've got three C25K runs in the bag, so let's check that off. I'm down a pound from my last weigh in last Friday, so that's great! Big fat zero on the inn-keeping and additional workouts. BUT there are still 2 days left in the week, so I'm holding out hope. I had an absolutely terrible macro/eating day yesterday (Think carbs, carbs, and oh look, more carbs) but I'm getting better at identifying the cravings and trying to logically work through what feelings are triggering the need to nom nom nom. Also reminding myself that one slip up is not a blank cheque to just 'ruin the week'.

WHOA. Petting the screen right now and drooling. This is something I really need to work on because I get bored of my lunches so easily but DAMN this looks great.

Of course I don't read the Ranger HQ post and neglect to include my user name in the title.

Hello Rangers, The name is 221Tea and the address is 221B Baker Street. I'm a consulting (tea pot) detective and I've just completed my first challenge as a rebel. So far the game is afoot and the clues have led me to your esteemed guild. I'm short, I'm stout, I have a propensity for scones, so I think I'll make an excellent hobbit ranger once I get hustling and move a little faster! Below are my year end goals that I outlined in my first challenge: 1) Lose 26.5 lbs - maintain at 145-147 (So far, I'm down 5lb from 173 to 168 - off to a good start) 2) Deadlift my weight for 5 reps (Current: 135lb two rep max. Between the weight loss and additional strength training, I'm going to get there!) 3) Complete a C25K program 3A) New! - Complete the Warrior Dash on May 28th In my first challenge, I started really small. My goals were to lose 4lbs, do 12 Stronglifts 5x5 workouts, and make breakfast every work day. I did pretty well! I ended up swapping out my last few 5x5 workouts to New Rules of Lifting for Women, and I'll be sticking with that for now. Going forward, my challenge goals for this month are: 1) Complete 4 weeks (12 runs) of a C25k program. I've already got week 1 in the bag. The goal is week 2-5, but if I struggle and need to repeat a week? That's ok. My theme this year is slow and steady so I'm more focused on getting 12 runs done. This will serve me well on my way to my first Warrior Dash in May! 2) Lose another 4lb 3) Complete 8 additional workouts (NROLFW or Yoga or Intervals on Elliptical) - giving myself a bit of break here. I know that if I try to go from sedentary sloth to 5 gym days a week, I'll miss important clues and give up the case. The yoga and elliptical I can do at home, so if I'm having a rough day, I'm not going to beat myself up over not making it in to the gym. I know in the past I've used one bad day as an excuse to write off the rest of the week/month etc. Level up My life: 1) Innkeeping - 10 minutes a day. A fellow rebel from the last challenge (CJ The Soon to Be Mighty) had a great method to tackle household cleaning - 10 minutes of innkeeping a day. Hobbits like a comfy hobbit hole, and mine could use a bit of a scrub. Try as I might to attach swiffers to the paws of my cats, it just doesn't seem to work. So that's it! Looking forward to following everyone else's progress this month as well.

Nice! Any favourites? Most of mine are in The Adventures or Memoirs. (Red Headed League, Blue Carbuncle, Copper Beeches, Final Problem. Greek Interpreter, Dancing Men & Devil's Foot) I'm also a bit....Ok, a HUGE fan of the BBC series.

I gave myself an A overall. Missed one workout, missed breakfast two days, but did better on my weight loss overall. Re: my earlier q for gym motication. I've started packing my gym bag the night before and leave it right by the front door so I'm guilted into picking it up on my out in the morning. I commute so the morning work out definitely isn't an option for me but I've been doing a bit better.

Howdy! I took some of Lady Morella's tips above and I've been doing supermans/prone cobra/dolphin stretches and it's helping a bit. I think because this is due to years of bad posturing and compensating, it's not going to remedy quickly. I'm finding it a bit easier since I switched back to New Rules as there are DB shoulder presses and lat pull downs in the first group of work outs. And yes, looking forward to joining the Rangers, and I'm always down to discuss all things Sherlock. =)

Last day of the challenge! Finishing on a bit of a whimper instead of a roar; I've been a bit sick the last few days so I'm going to crawl across the finish line. Stronglifts/Weight workouts: 11/12. I'm giving myself a pass on this because I also did 3 C25K workouts, intervals on the elliptical and yoga throughout the challenge. Going from doing nothing on the couch to 4 workouts weekly is something worth celebrating. Breakfast every work day: 18/20 Also very pleased with this! Can always do better, but I've gone from grabbing fast food every day to a fibre/protein heavy oat mix so I'm happy. (As are my wallet and waistline) Lose 4lb: As of right now I'm down 5lb so I'm calling that an A+/100% On time to work: Errr. 16/20. Yeah, failed a bit on the level up your life quest but I'm definitely more mindful of it. I really liked the format of this challenge and having smaller, but manageable goals was a great way to kickstart the year. I'm definitely going to participate in February's challenge as a beginner hobbit ranger!

So I actually did end up switching back to NROLFW after 7 Stronglifts workouts. Three of those in the bag, so only 2 more 'weight' workouts to hit my challenge goal. Had to dial back the weight on some of my DL/Squats due to the reps being increased from 5 to 15 a set in the first few workouts. Feeling really good though! Tired, but a good tired. Once I get through stage 1 of NROLFW, I might sub in some exercises from NROL Supercharged or Lou/Alwyn's new Strong book that came out this year. I know some people find their programs a bit fussy but I've always liked them.

I've actually changed gyms and they have a much better set up re: dumbbells/barbells and plates, so I'm happy about that. I still might get those tiny plates if I really hit a plateau.

CJ - I really, REALLY like the "Innkeeping" concept and I am going to shamelessly steal that for my next challenge. Not that my place is terrible dirty, but doing one little thing a day seems much more manageable than groaning and cleaning the wole damn house on a Sunday. You're making great progress - keep up the good work!