AwesomeAri

This. I can get behind this. I really love morning workouts for all the reasons you list above (well, minus the wife and kids part). I used to get up at 5:50AM Monday through Friday, religiously, to get on a bus to my gym and put in a 45-60 minute work out (depending on traffic). It improved my entire day and I always felt awesome. I've fallen out of that routine and I keep trying to make evening workouts happen. But maybe evening workouts just aren't going to happen. Maybe I'm truly a morning person and I need to get back on the morning workout grind. I'll give it another shot. Thanks!

Here's a funny story. I read Tank's advice and just said to myself "self, you have a smart phone. there's no reason why you can't google up a driving school during your walk home from work!" so i did just that. I opened up my Safari client, set my search terms as "driving school hoboken, nj" and let the internet work its sweet, mysterious magic. And you may not believe what happened next so I may have to upload some photographic proof, but, a Yelp search came up as one of my first Google results. I clicked through the Yelp link figuring I would get a nice list of options as well as some preliminary ratings/reviews. Wrong. I clicked on the Yelp link and found a review for a local Public Transportation line and a bunch of listings for local delis! Well, fellow nerds, I guess the internet has spoken. I got so distracted by the humor in my results that all I could manage to do was capture a screen grab and text it to all my friends so they could laugh with me. I'm going to try again when I get home tonight. I'll update you on my progress.

Okay so Day 2 was a moderate success, I would say 3/5. My breakfast was a +1. We had some meetings at work which meant that I had bagels and croissants in my face (tough to resist!). I pre-empted this by having a major (home made) protein shake before work so I wasn't the least bit hungry when bagel time came around. Lunch was a -1. The day got very busy and stressful very quickly and I wound up not having my lunch until about 3. By midday I had eaten 2 cookies and a brownie that were lying around the conference room. Yikes! I did eventually eat some of my actual, planned lunch of grilled chicken and spinach, but it was pretty late and I felt pretty guilty about having had junk earlier and didn't have time to actually get out of my office. Dinner was a +2, steak! My favorite. Another +1 for stopping by the farmer's market during my commute home to pick up some fresh produce for the rest of the week. And a -1 for neither working out nor putting any time into finding a driving school. It's a shaky start but I'm confident things will smooth out once I focus. So far today is looking good. I had a late breakfast but plan on heading out for a lunch break in about an hour. Dinner will be quick, probably some rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and some salad. Then my evening workout will be a dodge ball game! I'm kind of excited, my team is a lot of fun and I think we'll make the playoffs if we win tonight. Wish me luck!

Your challenge/goals are looking awesome! Good luck! What's for lunch on Tuesday? I like to buy a rotisserie chicken from shop rite at the beginning of the week to make some quick meals. They're especially great when it's too hot to cook or I press the snooze button and sleep through too much of my morning prep time

Hi guys! I wrote this the other day and have plenty to add but I wanted to make sure I get in on the challenge in time. The Main Quest: Complete a half marathon. I've registered for a half marathon that's taking place in November. I'm not a terrifically strong runner but I can get by. I've completed a bunch of 5ks but now I'm ready for a new challenge! Also scared. I am definitely scared. Advice is welcome! The Missions: 1 - go on two runs per week. 1 short run (approx. 25-30mins) 1 long run (approx. 45-60mins) for a total of 12 runs over the course of the 6 week challenge. distance is irrelevant at this point. it's more about being consistent and recording my workouts using the map my run app on my phone. I'll easily be able to tell whether or not I'm making any progress. that said, I can't cheat and do all of my runs at the beginning of the challenge and then take the rest of the 6 weeks off. it has to be 2 runs per week. if I go on an extra run [that totally won't happen but let's pretend] then it's just a wildcard and i'll have the option to choose a short or long or intervals. if the weather is too dangerous to run in (heat wave, lightning, sharknado) I can sub in a kettlebell work out at home. the point is to be consistent and make the effort to carve out the time to focus and train for my half marathon in November. 2 - focus on cleaning up my diet. for the last 3 weeks I've eaten a very low carb diet. I feel awesome and I really enjoy it. that said, there are 1-2 days out of the week where i'll sneak in some pizza or ice cream (or both, plus candy like this week) and that is derailing my progress. there is a remarkable difference in how I feel the morning after a dinner of protein, fat, and vegetables [awesome] vs. how I feel the morning after a giant slice of pizza [drowsy. not awesome]. so the goal here is: limit dairy to 1 meal per day, limit "cheats" to truly special occasions. (free chips in the office does not count as a special occasion). for the most part everything else is pretty much gravy. I've been consistently eating breakfast (eggs), consistently cooking for myself, including leafy greens, and excluding soda and beer. I want to keep it up and get even better at it! 3 - take my lunch break during work. no more working lunches (or at least, fewer working lunches). I have a terrible habit of getting to my desk at 9am and not going back outside until 5:30 when my shift ends. Part of what makes working out in the evening so difficult for me is that I usually come home mentally drained from work. it kills my motivation! I need my motivation back and I think that taking my lunch break will help me accomplish this. I think this counts as a fitness goal btw, mostly because of the positive impact I think it would have on my motivation to run but also because I think focusing on eating my meals will reduce the likelihood of me sneaking in a midday ice cream cone [which we keep stocked in my office freezer. I know I know. torture!]. At the very least I'll get a half hour-45 minutes outside walking around instead of sitting. And finally the life/side quest: 1 - sign up for 4 driving lessons. basically, I need to get over the idea that I can get by without a car. it's a pain in the ass to always take the train/bus/walk and driving is a basic life skill that I should have. So far so good. I woke up this morning and completed my first run before work. The weather was gorgeous (after some major heat waves in the NJ it's quite a relief) so I wanted to take advantage. I found that this kind of made the rest of my goals sort of fall into place. My meals were solid [bfast: eggs, snack: almonds, lunch:salmon & avocado, dinner: chicken thighs and cucumbers] mainly because I didn't want to "undo" my workout. Lunch time DID present a couple of challenges. A.) I neglected to make time to pack lunch so I did have to rely on a local grocery store's prepared food section. This worked out for the most part though it was pricey (food is ridiculousy expensive in the city I work in) and pretty much would be unaffordable as a regular habit. B.) I walked out of my office building and was immediately confronted by the fact that a BELGIAN WAFFLE TRUCK was parked right outside. I had to muster all the strength from every fat cell in my body in order to walk away fom the temptation of scoring some waffles with Nutella for lunch. Not easy, you guys. I'll be back to update tomorrow and I hope we all get some serious work done in these 6 weeks!

Hey Kishi, That's pretty awesome -- I might have to check it out. I had my eye on the rebel fitness guide but the running guide might be more helpful. Does the running guide have strength training tips for the obstacle races? ohhh a weekly schedule! yeah, that's a great idea -- thanks! i'll definitely be working on putting one of those together tomorrow and will probably post it. The $800 is separate, it's really about being more aware of my spending/budget and staying out of debt. i paid off all my credit cards on New Year's Eve and I want to keep it that way! Plus I'd like to put some more effort into building a rainy day fund but I know that if I just say "save more" i'll end up with $0 saved up at the end of the year. The warrior dash is ridiculously fun! And I hope you can convince your wife to join you this year, tons of women compete and some of them are so diesel! it's a great motivator. Plus you guys can dress up in costume -- in my opinion that's the best part.

Sounds like fun! Good luck

I love this! Good luck

Good luck to you! This sounds like a really fun challenge. I also would like to do a half marathon even despite the fact that running is a major weakness for me. Cheers to you! Ari

Sounds great, good luck to you!

Props to you for resisting the sour cream cherry muffin! That must've been hard, I know sweets are a major weakness for me and I sooooo hate it when I see donuts/cookies/chocolate in the office kitchen!

Thanks Kishi! I have run the Warrior Dash two summers in a row and I finished both in the exact same time. Of course I was glad to finish at all but I would have loved to see a few minutes come off my time. I finished in an hour and 14 minutes both times! I think there's room to do way better than that. Thanks good luck to you as well -- I'm really excited for the challenge this time around! Simple and to the point is kind of a general side goal of mine these days. Does that count for the 6 week challenge??? I have aspired to work my way up to a Tough Mudder but I have to admit I am more than a little intimidated by the prospect of doing a half marathon of obstacles and mud!! I am planning on running a half in the spring but it'll be "easier" since it's a road race. I think you should definitely try the warrior dash this year -- I bet you would have a lot of fun!

Hey All -- so the last time I got involved in a NF 6 week challenge I totally dropped it within the first week. I realized I wasn't at all focused or motivated. This time is different -- I am working on getting into a bikini when I go on a trip to Vegas this summer! I'm also registered for the Warrior Dash and I would really like to beat last year's race time. I have 7 months to get to it, and that means I can make my goals small and attainable, one 6-week challenge at a time. The Goals: Diet and Fitness: - lose 7lbs - CHA: 3, CON: 5 - run 5k in under 31 minutes - STA: 5 - do the beginner body weight work out 4x per week - STR: 1 Life Goals: - save up $800 - WIS: 1

Wow! This post changes everything for me. I have been working on the assisted pull up machine at my gym and adjusting the weight every few days. I did feel most of the work happening in my biceps and forearms and it's terribly hard to engage my core and back muscles...probably bc of what your trainer said! The machine is doing all the stabilizing work for you. DOH! I will definitely change my approach to this I like doing rows so I think I'm going to start there. Thanks for sharing!

Well I bought one and tried it out for a few days then ultimately had to return it. I registered it and got adjusted to the way it works then I found out that I am basically a spazz so it counted things as steps that aren't really steps. Example: it registered my train rides as steps. I guess the swaying motion on the train activated the sensors? Whether that was due to a defective item or just my misuse, I gave up on it pretty quickly because I had such a hard time getting an accurate reading. It's a shame! I was really excited when I got it because I read so many positive reviews and I thought it would be a great way to keep track of my activity and get a good read on my runs but it just wasn't for me.