madcityknitta

Thanks for all the nice comments y'all! Zero week was a bit of a bust for a variety of life reasons. Back on the horse! Changing one of my goals to be instead of getting up at 5:30 to taking the bus vs driving to work 5x/week. We are thinking seriously about going down to a one car household, but this would involve me tightening up my morning routine and catching the bus. So far so good this week, 2 successes! Not quite up at 5:30 but I've been spending less time laying in bed on my phone before getting up which is a win. Did not get to the gym last night, but I still have time to remedy that tonight. Figuring it out with the above bus schedule vs driving, but it's going ok. I did meditate Monday, though I didn't do a "good job" at it. Distracted. It's the effort that counts. Didn't pack a lunch yesterday because of a Diwali celebration at my work. Have leftover soup today (salmon chowder, holy cow it's good). So that is shaping up good as well. Hoping for a less brief update tomorrow. Of course work is crazy the first week I try to do one of these challenges. We just keep plugging along!

Ha, thanks! Easing into zero week... Getting up at 5:30 didn't happen. Sort of expected that based on the messed up sleep schedule I followed this weekend, but still frustrated. Stopped at the grocery store on the way in for a frozen lunch which I'll count as a half win since I didn't go shopping Sunday nor prepare anything for lunch today. Weeee. Gonna shop after work today for the week and move lifting to Tuesday after work. Went for a 30 min run over lunch break - slow and steady. Felt good, finally starting to get the crisp of fall in the air. It's supposed to be up in the mid 70s again on Friday though. Ah well, winter will be here soon enough and then no one will be happy.

I love that phrase - action absorbs anxiety. I've lived through what you are going through (new town, not knowing anyone but significant other) and it's not easy, but it does get better!! Social anxiety is definitely a thing (at least for me), but are there any meetup groups where you are at? I never made any great friends through meetup specifically, but it was a nice way to get out there and practice my meeting-new-people skills. I still struggle a lot with anxiety and self sabotage so I'm following along. Sending along lots of good wrist healing thoughts!

So a lot of stuff happened in the last year. Got a job, got laid off, got a new job. Got married. Got a dog. Bought a house. Gained 40 lbs? (whoa) My name is Angela and I'm here to get back to living a healthier lifestyle. Let's do ittttttt. Main Goal: Run a half marathon in June. What am I doing to get there? - I would like to lose some weight to make the distance easier to cover. - I would like to continue to lift weights to maintain strong bone health and to keep my metabolism kicking. - I want to start running again on a regular basis. - I want to do all these things without going 110% and immediately burning out and going back to doing nothing at all. Goal 1: Get up by 5:30AM on weekdays If I am up early, I am able to make a smoothie for breakfast, pack a lunch, deal with the dog, and get myself ready and out the door with minimal stress. If I'm not...ehh sometimes that stuff happens and sometimes it's a crazy rush to the door where I stop for a mocha on the way into work. So, up and at 'em! Goal 2: Lift 3x week I am on a program that calls for lifting 3x week. Ideally this would happen M/W/F but if it gets done, it's a win. Not going to set rep limits or everything since I'm generally pretty good at doing the scheduled stuff once my butt is in the gym. Goal 3: Meditate at least 10 minutes daily. This is something I've been working on a lot but need to get more consistent with. I think it makes a difference in my mental health and I'd like to make it more of a habit. Goal 4: Pack lunch for work 3x/week. This is something I struggle with because man, I love eating out at lunch. But my budget disagrees, and it's a way to get more healthy food into my diet. 3x/week is a win for now, we can move it up in future challenges. All right, let's do this thing!

Friday Deadlift: 45x8, 95x8, 115x8, 135x8 Cable pulldown: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10, 60x10 DB Row (each side): 20x10x3 Back hyperextension: BWx10, 10x10x2 (Gonna start bolding current PRs, even when they aren't all that impressive yet.) Saturday Was lazy and boring. Went to a friend's house to play games, sat around, had deadlifting DOMS. Nothing too noteworthy but a generally good and chill day. Sunday Hiked 5 miles with the doggo in the morning. She's a sweetie. A gorgeous morning, but I was pretty pooped by the end. It also got warmer than I would like in the middle of October, but oh well. Didn't do much the rest of the day, watched the Browns lose a winnable game and the Packers win a game they maybe should have lost. (Go Pack). Happy Monday, y'all!

Thursday Ended up being a weird food day. Bigger lunch, smaller dinner. Calories were OK. Started Galloway's 5K training plan but pacing was a little faster than recommended based on my magic mile. Too much enthusiasm I'm sure on the run intervals since it's been a while since I was out running. Trying to train at a slower pace not to get injured or burned out so I'll have to feel that out a bit more. 25 min - 5 min warm-up/cool-down walking, 30:60 sec intervals x10 Avg pace: 14:56 (including warm-up/cool-down) Bench press: 45x10, 50x10, 55x10 Standing shoulder press: 10dbx10, 15dbx8, 45x3 Tricep pull: 30x10, 40x10, 50x10 Ab work: home Did ab work on the bosu ball at home. Want to solidify a regular core workout instead of just farting around but that'll come in time. Friday Not much else to say. Stuck in training all morning, yoga at lunch, lifting after work. Saturday is gonna be a lazy, rainy day. We have a game night at a friend's house. Sunday is supposed to be nicer out so I'll probably drag the pooch somewhere hiking. GLAD IT'S FRIDAY.

Ahhh yesterday! I took a mental health day from work and didn't log any food. Feeling a little less overwhelmed and ready to keep on keepin' on. Tuesday: Rest Wednesday: Didn't lift as I tweaked my right rhomboid muscle pretty well (probably sleeping, lol I'm awesome) and figured bench pressing was probably not a good choice. Instead ran a Galloway "magic mile" at 10:55. I felt OK about that (especially considering my current weight) and look forward to it trending downwards as I shed some pounds. They recommend re-testing every 2 weeks but I think I'll start out doing it monthly until I feel some significant improvement that warrants doing it more often. I think the Galloway walk/run training is going to be a good way for me not to overdo it right away, especially doing lifting 3x/week. Trying not to bust ass on any one thing in the name of longer term habits. Thursday: Started the day off with string cheese and sugary coffee soooo not ideal. Can only go uphill from here!! A good chance I try to do my upper body "push" workout and a short jog tonight to get back on schedule with workouts as my back mostly feels better today.

Monday: Box squats: 45x10, 65x10, 75x10, 85x10 Lunges: 2x10xBW each side RDL: 65x10, 85x10, 115x10 Leg sled machine(just calves): 160x15, 180x10, 200x10 Whoa, box squats were just the ticket! Set the box back to cue a parallel depth squat and didn't really rest on the box - once I felt my butt touch down I went back up. Going to keep doing box squats for a few weeks to try and cue in the muscle memory of what a parallel squat feels like. I felt like could have added more weight but I didn't want to deal with crazy DOMS so I left it where it was. Speaking of - no crazy DOMS yet this morning! We'll see how the day progresses. Yay muscle adaptation. Getting back to Cooksmarts for dinner and lunch leftovers. Slipped a bit yesterday and had pizza at a work lunch, but made up for it later in the day.

We use cooksmarts.com a lot - would recommend!

As promised, doggo pictures! @Super Starling! She's an Australian Shepherd - 10 months old. Lots of energy! A very good dog though. Yours looks like an absolute sweetie. Old dogs are awesome. TBH if this just turns into a dog log, there are certainly worse things. Saturday (cont): Let's just say I ate a burger with cheese curds on it after a few moscow mules. LOL moving on. Sunday: Forgot to turn on my GPS but I think we went around 4-5 miles early Sunday. It was Azula's (doggo) first longer hike and she did really well. We stopped a few times for her to drink some water and roll around in the leaves. Went home, made an omlette for lunch and a big ol' batch of chili for dinner. Went grocery shopping for all sorts of good stuff for lunch and dinner this week with the hubs. Monday Packed chili for lunch, made my protein smoothie breakfast. Still figuring out my ideal morning routine. Was just a little bit too behind to catch the bus/workout before work, but when I drove in I was a half hour early. SIGH. I used to get up at five to have a nice luxurious morning without being rushed, but it definitely means I have to go to bed earlier. I love sleeping so this isn't the worst thing in the world but it does mean I spend less time with my husband after work. We shall see. I'll update later with my workout today - it is legs again today. Someday I'll learn how to squat better. Currently benching more than I'm squatting so something is not right. Might try doing some box squats today to see if I can teach my muscles what it feels like to sit back correctly into a squat.

It me! Friday (cont): Bench press: 45x10, 50x10, 55x10 Standing shoulder press: 18x10, 45x5, 15dbx10 Ass. Dip:. 150x6, 150x2 (max assist) Ab work Calories were fine even with a little junk food due to a small lunch (which may have led to some of the junk food OH WELL) Saturday: Deadlift (weights assuming 45 lb bar? Start low next time): 65x8, 95x8, 115x8 Ass. Pull-up (hack, max assist): 200x7, 200x5 DB Row (each side): 20x10, 20x10, 25x10 Back hyperextension: BWx10x3 Ahhh I love deadlifting. It's been too long. Not sure on the weights because it felt super easy, and there is a chance the bar was a "womans" bar or whatever. I'll start low next time to be sure but these will increase next time I hope. Pullups were LOL a nightmare (I think form issues) and DB rows felt good. I'll add weight next time for the hyperextensions but I'm trying to keep DOMS to a minimum tomorrow for hiking (yeah, we'll see how that goes). My hiking partner. I'll try to get a good picture of her out in the wild tomorrow. Rest of today is gonna be lounging around, maybe some cleaning...nothing too exciting. Going out to dinner with friends so I'm planning on a light lunch and I'm not going to stress too much about the calories since a long hike is in my future tomorrow and it should all balance out if I don't gorge tomorrow.

Friday 9/29 Thursday Walked 40 mins over lunch. Hit my calorie goals. Ate a decent amount of protein. Diiiidn't go to the gym, but there had been some mental waffling on scheduling so I'm not gonna beat myself up too badly about that. Hoping to get a more consistent schedule started next week (Lift M/W/F before or after work, do some sort of faster-than-walking movement Tu/Th/Su, yoga Wed/Fri). That being said... Friday The plan today is 45 min yoga over lunch (done!) and then the second day of my lifting plan after work. Normally this would be the third lifting day of the week, but I'll do the third day tomorrow since there are few overlapping muscles (bench press, shoulder press, dips, core today and deadlift, pull ups, rows, and back hyper-extensions tomorrow). Trying not to overthink it which is failing. Friday yoga is a bit more movement than Wednesday, but they are great ways to break up the workday. We'll see how I feel, but I'd like to get out hiking with my dog early morning on Sunday - it's supposed to be in the 50-60s in the morning which sounds DELIGHTFUL. I have a few places in mind that I would love to get out to. There is not much better than hiking yourself exhausted and taking a nap on the couch with football on in the background. And then a bowl of chili.

THURSDAY 9/28 Tuesday Workout Goblet squats: 20x10, 30x10, 40x10 Lunges: BWx10, BWx10 Romanian Deadlift: 45x10, 65x10, 65x10 Leg sled machine (calf raises): 120x10, 160x10, 180x10 40 min walk Wednesday Workout ~60 min easy yoga Man, yesterday was a DOMS nightmare (did my first leg workout Tuesday). I forgot how much lifting hurts for the first few weeks. I did some stretching after getting out of bed to prepare myself for not hobbling around too awkwardly at work. The yoga classes they have at my office are pretty focused on stretching instead of some of the faster flow classes I've done in the past, which is perfect for a lunch break. Pushed through the DOMS for that which was likely helpful in the long run because WHOA I feel a lot better today. Still some lingering soreness in my legs but hey - squats. Food-wise yesterday I went over my calories by about 300 or so. Sigh. Poor planning led to a big lunch and then more snacking and wine at a friend's house later. Who can say no to good cheese and homemade bread? Gonna try to come in a few hundred calories under today to make up for it. (No promises though.) Today I am hoping to convince my husband to cook so I can take my doggo out for a walk/run after work. Heel blisters have been a forever problem of mine so I think I'm going to have to start taping up my problem heel again with Leukotape - a strip across the back of the heel lasts a few days and pretty much prevents blistering for me. I'm trying to also let my skin thicken up but it's hit or miss with how that goes. I try to get enough friction to get a callus but not so much to get a huge blister. I have tried every sock and shoe combo under the moon - just have weird feet I guess. Then Friday is back to the gym to lift more things. I started lifting on a Tuesday but am adjusting to a M/W/F schedule. Gonna lift twice this week (Tues/Fri) and then pick up the 3x/week on Monday.

Hello! My name is Angela and I am here because I have lived the last few years of my life in a way that led to me packing on around 50 lbs. Whoops! Backstory I started at a stressful job around 3 years ago and moved to a even more stressful job 7 months ago. I was laid off and was devastated. After about a month and a half of funemployment, I started working again at a place earning less money, but also with much less stress. It is a job with the state, which means great benefits and job stability (at least in my state it does). I feel such an unexpected and palpable sense of relief after starting this job. I didn't realize what my previous jobs were doing to my body and my mind. I also got married and bought a house in the last three years, so it's not all bad, but I feel like I haven't had any mental space to focus on my physical and emotional well-being in some time. I have the opportunity to change things though, and I'm hoping by yelling them into the void here it will help keep me accountable to myself. I don't want to lose weight to look better, although that will be a nice benefit. I wish to be healthy and live forever (obvs) and at my current state of obesity, that is going to be a tough sell. We are also thinking about having children in the not-so-distant future, and the better health I can be in at the start of my hopeful pregnancy, the better. I want to be able to lift things and have healthy muscles and bones. I used to run long distance and would like to get back to doing that on a regular basis, though I'd like to lose some of the weight before doing that for the sake of my bones. I also love yoga and hiking. These are things that make me feel better both mentally and physically. I'd like to incorporate them when I can. Stats Age: 29 Height: 5'9" Starting (and current) Weight: 245 Long-term Goal Weight: 170 Plan Lifting: I will be following this workout plan. While the intermediate category doesn't really apply to me at this point, I'm planning on starting on the higher end of the reps. The big bonus in this plan for me is the split in body chains so I am able to do some running/walking as well without squatting/deadlifting every single workout (only most!). Scheduled days for this are M/W/F. Run/Walking: One the days my office does not have a yoga class over lunch, I will be walking as weather permits. On T/Th, I would like to run/walk with my doggo before or after work for about 30/40 mins if it's nice-ish out instead of slogging on a treadmill. Yoga: My office holds 45 min yoga classes over lunch on W/F with live teachers. I will be going to these as I am able assuming it's not super awkward. Hiking: I would like to establish a longer endurance activity on the weekend, with bonus points if the dog can be involved. I'd like to get back into hiking, but as the winter approaches, that will likely be at a minimum. Long walks, long runs, etc. We'll see what feels good. Nutrition: I am tracking on MFP (friend me!) and striving for ~30% protein. It's a work in progress.