D_chelyst

Working towards it!

I'm open-minded...as long as it's better than Episodes 1/2/3 and Hayden "Can't-act" Christensen isn't in it....agree with substix that the only good ones are Episodes 4/5/6. JJ Abrams did a great job with Star Trek, so this new SW should be good. *hoping*

congratulations!!

Yeah, that probably sounds silly, but I'm happy, it's my longest plank ever in my life! I've been struggling between 50 sec to 1 min 15 sec since December 31st, and suddenly today I did 1 min 45 sec and then a second one at 1 min 15 sec. I'm doing the Basic Training workout from the Rebel Strength Guide.

The links are broken

Welcome, AKGirl! You can start your own mini-challenge if you don't want to wait for the next 6 week challenge. What guild are you joining?

You don't need to have a ton of goals, just like 3-4 and a plan on how to achieve them, and you kinda have part of that already. Making a concrete plan tends to help with reaching a goal. So if I'm getting this right, the goals you've mentioned to get to your main "feel good goal" are to: 1. lose weight, 2. get restful sleep, 3. not have constant aches/pains, and 4. reduce insulin/stabilize blood sugars. You also said that you're going to restart Paleo, which could help with #1, 3, and 4. What else do you think you'll do? Come up with more smaller, manageable steps, and make them a priority. Keep us posted on your progress!

Good for you! I'm glad you've decided to make a change where you felt it's needed. Sometimes people reach their "I Have Had Enough" moment and still don't do anything about it. Recognizing that something needs to change and then making that decision is a big step. What are your goals so that you can get to where you want to be?

Welcome! I also had trouble when I started with the full circuit earlier this year. Not sure that I'm up to doing the complete circuit for all of the exercises yet, but here's what helped me get from a 15-second plank to a 55-sec plank, etc: start off doing less, like only half or less of the number of squats, push-ups, etc. for your 3 circuits. Do the number you think you can do with perfect form--even if it's modified exercises like knee push-ups or lunges with a chair--for 3 circuits without passing out. Even if it's 1 of something, start there! After 3-4 workouts in a week, raise the amount of exercise by 1 (1 more lunge, 1 more push-up, etc.). If a particular exercise still isn't strong enough to go up by one, then maintain what you were doing and raise it up the next week. Keep track of your progress through an Excel spreadsheet or some other written way, and you'll see be able to see the progress easier. A few more thoughts: make sure to warm-up and cool-down properly. This should help your soreness. Do dynamic stretches for warm-ups (about 5 minutes) and stretches along these lines for a cool-down (about 10 minutes). I don't do warm-ups/cool-down exactly as Steve writes on his blog, but what I do works for me. Another thought: make sure you're eating enough of the good stuff and enough protein/calories/etc. for your situation. This can also help. Good luck! Let us know how your next workouts go!

My spark was the last course I took for my master's last year (is this as nerdy as it gets?). It's called The Kinesthetic Classroom and was taught by Prof. Gail. The first day of class, she had us take our resting heart rate. My RHR was not where it should have been for someone my age, but it wasn't in a horrible spot either. I decided that I needed to fix this, and fix this NOW while it was still easy to do so. I started out with an exercise tape, then like 9 months later I secretly started to train to run in a 5k with my sister (yes, she was surprised ) I got hurt while training, and my sister told me about NF and some of the things she read on it. I checked it out, and boom, here I am and the strongest I've ever been. w00t!

Welp, the summer is nearly done, and school begins next week. I figured it's time that I post an update on my summer goals. *learn how to run properly - didn't work as diligently on this goal as I should have, but I'm getting more consistent with forefoot striking. When I run, it's usually just a sprint or two uphill or from the playground to the stop sign by my house after a workout (like .1 mi) *run 2 laps around the building out back without stopping (about .4 mile) - yeah....not sure I can do that, but I haven't honestly tried. I got tied up with goal number 4. *eat more veggies/meat/fruits and less junk food/cookies; also consume enough calories to compensate for the soreness and bulk up a little - some days/weeks are better than others. My hubby keeps eating crap, and sometimes I succumb to the donuts/cookies/ice cream he brings home. On the plus side, I have gone from 118 lb up to a pretty consistent 123 lb. 5 lbs of mostly muscle ain't nothin' to snub my nose at *beginner body weight workout 3x a week - my best and proudest achievement of this summer. I have two types of workouts, one for inside the house and one for the playground. Here's where I started and where I'm currently at, in no particular order: Beginner Body Weight Workout on June 25, 2012 Body Weight Squats, not going down to parallel yet -- 3 sets of 10 Wall and incline push-ups off of couch arm -- 3 sets of 10 Lunges (3 types – forward, backward, forward+backward) – 3 sets of 10 Bent over rowing, 6 lbs -- 3 sets of 10 Plank -- 3 sets of 15 seconds minimum Jumping Jacks -- 3 sets of 15 Back exercises from a workout video-- all 5 exercises, with the last exercise being only 5 reps instead of 10 Playground extras started on June 30, 2012 Negatives -- 1 set of 5, 1 set of 3 Inverted body rows at a very light angle -- 2 sets of 10 Beginner Body Weight Workout on August 25, 2012 Body Weight Squats below parallel -- 3 sets of 15 Full push-ups -- 3 sets of 7 Lunges (3 types) -- 2 sets of 12, 1 set of 6 f&b Bent over rowing, 15 lbs. -- 3 sets of 11 Plank-Hollow body with knees bent -- 3 sets of 55 seconds minimum Jumping Jacks -- 3 sets of 30 Back exercises from a workout video -- all 5 exercises of 10 reps each Hammer curls for forearm, 10 lb. -- 3 sets of 10 Finger roll up to wrist extension, 10 lb -- 3 sets of 10 Overhead Press, 15 lbs. -- 3 sets of 10 Playground extras Negatives --3 sets of 5 Inverted Body Rows (2 inclines, heavy/light angles) -- 3 sets of 6/4 Hanging reverse curls -- 3 sets of 10 but they're still really hard to do So that's my update . I'm pleased with my last goal because my progress has been so fast, as compared to when I started working out to an exercise tape last summer. I had no clue what I was doing last summer, but thanks to Steve's blog, now I know how to eat and how often to work out to get the results I want. Thanks for reading this!

How's the running going? And thanks for that link to vivobarefoot! I checked out their videos on barefoot running...so clear! I'm still not quite there with the proper running form, but these videos were great and the bullet points very helpful too.

Any updates on your foot?

Keep it up, Cutebug! P.S. I love how you include so many pictures! It really brings your challenge to life!

I'm contemplating what I want for breakfast....don't want to get sick of the usual sausage patty-scrambled egg on a hamburger bun....thinking about having a scrambled egg with the sauteed onions and red pepper we made a few days ago for dinner, followed by a cup of vanilla Silk. Maybe a yogurt too, either cherry or strawberry-banana flavor.