SvladCjelli

I've joined previous challenges as either a newbie or an adventurer, but I've always enjoyed assassin-like activities. As it happens I am taking a circus based class all month so I am actually doing the stuff I enjoy. My last challenge was a big bust. I mostly had a hard time coming back from vacation and getting myself back on track, but I feel I am ready now. I am using the new "epic quest" xp leveling system fyi. This months's challenges: 1. Walk/run 30 min/day in addition to any walking I get done during regular work day (I was tracking steps, but this became discouraging so I think time will be easier for now.) 25 xp if I succeed, none if I don't. 2. Multitiered goal: drink more water-like beverages (can include green tea, etc) Week 1: drink at least 32 oz/day 5xp Week 2: drink at least 40 oz/day 5xp Week 3: drink at least 50 oz/day 5xp Week 4: drink at least 60 oz/day 10xp 3. Get some rest: get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. 25 xp if completed, 0 if not. Life quest: Read 6 chapters of pharmacology textbook this month 25 xp all or nothing. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Another day, another adventure. So far staying on the path to healing. Shoulder hurts a little more today during the exercises, but for the most part my shoulder felt better today. Met all goals today including reading goal. This feels like a very long path. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Day 2 update Still on the journey to the healer, no set backs today. Completed over 10,100 steps, all shoulder stretches, and ate 3 cups of veggies. Also read for 20 min on work related stuff. So far trudging along the path. Feels good to be able to say this after a long day. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply! So I didn't have much time to write out my above challenge thread, but I wanted to get it started so I could have my goals written out. I feel more accountable that way. Anyway, I have a feeling I will be posting often this time around as I seriously dread doing shoulder rehab stuff. It is like in a video game when you have the option of turning tail and going to see the healer or continuing on knowing you are about to die, but saying "to hell with it I've got this!" Of course only to die shortly thereafter and having to respawn at a much less fortuitous location. Well as this is the real world and I don't have the option of dying and starting over again I am making the super unpleasant trip back to the healer and forcing myself to take each step. I do have patience for a lot of things in life and am no stranger to delayed gratification, but when it comes to exercising I generally just want to go for it. I only stopped cuz there was pain (problem.) All of that preamble is to say I am going to rejoice in every day I accomplish this goal and will post as often as I need to to say on the path back to the healer. And with that for today: 3 cups of veggies eaten 1 fitbit charged ready for tomorrow 1 complete shoulder rehab session done Also read my didactic materials for this week. And with that I am off to sleep. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Since my last (successful!) challenge I have still been battling some old foes and one new one. I went home for Christmas and have gotten off track somewhat with my diet goals so I am going to start there. I also slacked on walking everyday so I will resurrect that goal and challenge it a little further. As for my new foe I developed some nagging pain in my right shoulder and so my main goal this challenge will be to address this first before attempting other great and glorious feats. I'm not sure I do or don't fit into the new adventurers group though I think both the new description and the old description fit me fine (aside from skydiving though that does sound fun.) I enjoy hiking and exploring new things/places and plan to check out a judo class later this month. Anyway, thought I would start here for my second challenge. As for my goals: Goal 1: Eat 3 cups of veggies/day with at least one cup being greens. I was already eating a salad daily and dinner meals with veggies, but I want to really focus on this for this month. Goal 2: Walk at least 10,100 steps everyday as tracked by my fitbit (well officially starting tomorrow when I get my fitbit recharged...) I did really well getting in 10k steps daily last challenge and want to build in this. Goal 3: Follow daily shoulder stretch and strengthening exercises. This varies from day to day, but I should be stretching my shoulder daily with some strength building exercises several days a week. My life quest goal will be two-fold. First part is I am to do all of my didactic readings/assignments every week for work. I slack off here a lot and think it is important for me to really focus here. The second part is to read on a work related topic for 20 min/day. So the didactic stuff can count towards this 20 min, but if I have finished all of that then I will read something else. That's all for now. Now off to seek a new adventure...

So at the end of the challenge now. One day left technically I guess, but I thought I'd weigh in on how things went. Overall goal was weight loss and habit maintenance. On the weight loss front I am down about 4 lbs, not the 5 I was aiming for, but things are still heading in the right direction so that is what matters. I started my current weight loss journey in September and have lost approx 16 lbs since then so overall fairly steady success. And I think at 15-16 lbs that puts me at having lost about 10% of my prevoius body weight which isn't bad either. So all in all I count it a success. I was able to attend several holiday parties and keep my eating in check without majorly depriving myself so that was cool. With desserts I have been following one of two rules for the most part: either 3 bites or a predetermined amount ahead of time. Both seem to be working well. As for dessert at home that has been a rare occurance mostly because sugar is still very triggering food for me. Goal one: Workouts. I never skipped a workout for the whole six weeks so that is a success. Towards the end of my first program my right shoulder started to hurt and it never really seemed to improve. When I started the strength training program things got worse so after the first 2-3 workouts I cut back on the exercises (cut out 3 of 8: push ups, bridges, and a-frame push ups) and started doing shoulder stretches instead. I went to 3 yin yoga classes instead of 4, but that was also in part because of the shoulder. So maybe 1 missed workout (stretching session), but overall I feel like I met my goal. After about a week of resting my shoulder hurts less with movement so that is good. I'm pretty sure it is my rotator cuff so I found some stretching and strengthening exercises to focus on. As I want my shoulder to be in good working condition I decided to focus on rehab now and get it feeling better first before attempting anything else that stresses it. I figure if it is not feeling a lot better after 1 month I'll seek out PT. Goal two: Accomplished. Every day save one before midnight, that night I was still getting in steps as I was at a party late, but got them within 5 minutes after midnight. So that means at least 420k steps in 6 weeks? Kinda crazy. Goal three: I logged almost all of my meals if not all if them (some retroactively). MFP is pretty awesome for logging things and I feel they have only made it easier over time. It is probably a good thing I tend to eat the same meals all week long, but boring is easy. At least I switch things up weekly. Sleep: not so good. As seen above I kind of gave up on this a while back. I wilk need to find a way to incentivize myself to make that happen. Will spend some quality time thinking about this over the upcoming holiday and retry this goal in a challenge next year. I am happy I made it through this challenge and look forward to great things next year. Thank you Koadadle for the support along the way, it helped a lot.

This week has been tough. I'm meeting my goals, but emotionally and physically it has been hard. Started strength training this week. Monday was a preview session just getting used to the movements and then on Wednesday I started the first progressions of the movements. Woke up today SO SORE. But I went to yoga this evening (yin yoga which is essentially stretching/holding poses for a long time) and it was good, helped me to move my muscles even though I didn't want to. Goal 1: 4/5 workouts met this week. One more strength training session tomorrow. Goal 2: 4/7 days have met my step goal, plan to finish this goal up for tonight though to make it 5/7 days Goal 3: 5/7 days tracked my food intake. I'm meeting my calorie goals for the most part. Weight has come down ever so slightly this week. But not much to write home about. I'll be checking hip/waist measurements on Sunday and will update then. Sleep - pretty much given up on this. Attempting to get about 7 hours a night, but this week in particular has been hard. Will need to reassess this goal in a big way in the future. Not much else. Emotionally I am in a bit of a state of shock this week, but I have tried to keep my focus on maintaining habits rather than making massive changes/improvements.

End of the week update: Finished GMB elements today! The program was seven weeks and though that doesn't seem like much I had a hard time making it through the first two weeks on several attempts so it seems like a big milestone. This last week seemed especially difficult, kept wanting to put it off. As for the program it really helped me deepen my bodyweight squat and mobility in this position. For that alone I think the program was worth it. I may still use some of the flow elements as a warm up in the future. So 6/6 workouts this week. Steps: 7/7 days hit 10k. I went for a 7.5 mile hike today and my fitbit states I went up the equivalent of 165 flights of stairs worth of hills. It was an intense trail, but I'm glad I did it. Got to put my trekking poles to good use. Food tracking: Well, I tracked every day except Thanksgiving though I know what I ate and I know the total came in under my calorie goal. I think I was just feeling lazy that day. Only day I actually went over was Friday, but I had dessert and it was totally worth it. As for weight loss goal: I'm a little over halfway there (2.7 lbs down based on average weekly weights). However, my exercise pants are definitely getting looser, they were somewhat falling down on me today, so things are still headed in the right direction. Crazy to think I had to buy a new larger pair of pants just a few months ago since these pants were too small... Sleep goal: It has been a wash. On the plus side I am getting about 7.5-8 hrs of sleep a night so it isn't that my sleep is suffering, just not hitting my bedtime goal which is going to become more important next month. Nothing else new. I'm very excited to be starting Intergral Strength next week. And yoga! Back to yoga. Haven't been there is a few months since I was trying to get my base goals under control and drilled in as habits.

Well as a reward for completing my first three weeks I went to see the final Hunger Games tonight which was pretty good. Of course it ended late enough I didn't feel like working out, but it has become enough of a habit that I came home, changed, and just started warming up without giving myself much time to back out which is a pretty big milestone for me. I have three workouts left of Elements and then will start GMB integral strength on Monday. The program is 3 days a week so on Tue/Thur I am going to go to yin yoga classes which I am looking forward to. Nothing else new. Progress this week: Goal 1: 3/6 workouts Goal 2: walked 10k steps 4/7 days Goal 3: tracked calories 4/7 days Sleep: have not met my goal basically all week though I was in bed last night by 11 pm, just didn't really attempt to go to sleep at that time. That may be my modified goal, get in bed by 11 and then work towards actually winding down and sleeping soon thereafter. Previous weeks: Goal 1: all workouts met for all weeks Goal 2: 10k steps completed all days Goal 3: tracked calories for all days except 2, maybe 3, so doing well here as well.

I am doing well keeping up with most of my goals. Goal 1: 4/6 workouts this week and 6/6 for previous weeks Goal 2: 5/7 days of hitting 10k steps, 7/7 for previous weeks Goal 3: 5/7 days of logging/tracking food intake My weight hasn't changed too much, but my clothes are fitting better which is what I am going for anyway so I remain motivated there. For those wondering why I bother weighing myself the answer is I eat better when I weigh myself and I slack off when I don't so it mostly just keeps me on track rather than providing an 'accurate' health and fitness measure. Some hate the scale which I can understand. I gain weight when I don't weigh myself and develop all sorts of other unhealthy eating habits if it is only once a week so I found daily weights to be most effective in keeping me sane and eating healthy. Sleep... Well I was in bed by 11 one day this week. I don't think I have been as motivated as my rising time can be pretty late for me so I know I will get 7-8 hours of sleep even if I go to bed later, but I feel rested so that's good. I might need to set an early rising time more in tune with my typical starting time at work in order to make this goal doable. We'll see. Looking forward to the weekend.

Thanks for the support. This week has been pretty good. There have been a few nights where I didn't really feel like working out, but I still managed to get it done. Goal 1: So 5/6 with workouts this week, have my last one tomorrow. Goal 2: 6/7 days met 10k steps, one day left Goal 3: So not as much success with this one. I think I have tracked my calories for about 3/6 days. I had several days where I was eating food out or provided at work which made it difficult to accurately estimate calories, but I tried to keep portion sizes in check so I consider that part a success. I did overeat at the middle eastern restaurant though... my downfall, but was able to adjust my diet for the rest of the day. I have been scared to eat out as I feel I have less control over things and will overeat, but I think this week was a good foray back into eating out with pretty good success. Making it to bed by 11 pm has happened once this entire week I think, maybe twice. I think I know I need to go to bed earlier, but am not really that motivated or at least I am more motivated to get other things done over getting to bed by 11. Will have to brainstorm what could help motivate me to have an earlier bed time. Two weeks in and doing well. Look forward to what next week brings.

Thank you all for the support. So far so good except for going to bed by 11, that hasn't happened. I am going to have to look at things at the end of the week and analyze what changes need to be made, but all my other goals are being met. This week is a little rough in that I have two late night work shifts so that has thrown off my sleep schedule and my general weekly flow of grtting things done, but after this week that shouldn't be an issue for the rest of the challenge. Will check in later in the week.

So the last time I attempted a six week challenge it was a little over 2 years ago and I never completed it. Part of me was ok with that at the time as I was making a new friend, working out with them, joined crossfit, etc. none of which were part of my six week challenge. I deliberately chose not to follow through with my challenge even though I was making excellent progress for the above reasons. Two years later I am in a more stable place, my weight went back up again though probably around where I was two years ago +/- 5 lbs. I still have met my strength goals or anything else so for now I plan to follow through with my goals for now. The other difference this time around is I have been doing all of my six week challenge goals minus one for at least 2 weeks, some for at least 6 weeks so I feel they are very doable. Main goal: Lose weight. I would like to lose at least 5 lbs in the next 6 weeks. I have been averaging about 1 lb/week so this should be achievable. I have lost about 11 lbs since the middle of September (so maybe more around 2 lbs/week for a few weeks...) and another 5 lbs would get me closer to my goal. My overarching goal is probably another 20-30 lbs. I don't have a set goal weight, but in that range sounds good to me. I would love to have body fat percentage under 25%. Goal 1: Continue doing GMB's elements course. I am working on week 3 this week so will be starting week 4 next week. This is probably my 3rd or 4th time attempting this course and the only time I have made it to week 3. When I finish elements I will go straight into Integral Strength from GMB and should make it through week 2 by the end of the challenge. (Each program has 6 workouts per week so one day off a week.) Goal 2: Walk 10000 steps everyday (tracked by my fitbit.) I have been doing this for about 6 weeks now and I love my evening walks. It helps keep me accountable, reduces the amount of television I watch, and it is good for my mental health. Goal 3: Plan my meals weekly and track my food intake daily. This has been key for me over the past 6 weeks and I will continue to do this. Currently I am cooking 2 meals per day and buying my salads premade because that seemed like to big of a step to start with. To be honest I started by just making breakfast daily and tracking for four weeks. Now I am making dinner as well as breakfast. If everything is going well I may be making my lunches in another 2 weeks, but I have a tendency to do too much too soon and give up so I have been taking things slowly. Life Goal: I have been following the babysteps over at FlyLady to get my house under better order for the past 6-7 weeks? Not really sure now. Anyway, the steps should only take 4 weeks (31 days) but I tried that once as well and gave up too. So I have been taking them slowly adding a new task every week or so as I can handle it. My goal now is to go to bed by 11 pm every night. No excuses. This will be very challenging. I have attempted to do this for a week now and met my goal maybe twice. So those are my goals. I weigh myself daily as it helps me stay accountable. I don't care what the scale says, but I eat better when I know I will weigh myself daily. I'll take measurements in another 2 weeks (checked them 2 weeks ago and too soon to check now) so I will post any changes there. Otherwise that's it for now. As for motivation? I want my clothes to fit again and I want to feel healthier and obtain cool fitness goals like handstands and pull ups and other awesome stuff. These are my first steps. Tl;dr I am I terrible at follow through but have been doing these goals for several weeks now so hopefully I can keep them going. Goals are to lose weight, follow exercise program daily, walk 10k steps every day, track my food intake, and go to sleep by 11 pm every night.

Halfway through update: Week 3 goals: Goal 1: 6/6 - completed all workouts - A Goal 2: 4/5 - fell asleep early Friday night so I missed one this week - B Goal 3: 3/3 - had veggies for breakfast 3/3 days, actually 4/3 - A Strength progress over the last 3 weeks: overhead squats: currently at 52 from 36, so met my first goal, however, I am still not quite at a full depth squat so I will continue to work towards that push-ups: I gave up on kneeling push-ups, I wasn't progressing as much as I wanted strengthwise so I jumped into regular push ups, currently at 13 in 5 sets up from 45 kneeling push-ups in 5 sets planks: currently at 129 sec in 3 sets (43 sec/set); so I accomplished 120s in 3 sets, now I am aiming for 45s x 3 sets, then I will add in hollow body holds inverted rows: I started doing negatives among other things (3 full reps in 2 sets); currently at 8 reps in 5 sets, 1 set of 3 reps; so I think I will get to 5 reps in 1 set by the end Stat updates: hips - lost about 0.75 inches waist (narrowest) - lost about 0.75 inches waist (navel) - lost about 0.5 inches weight - lost about 2lbs Life goal: I am doing abysmally here. Lots of reasons, some good, most not. Studying has never really been one of my strong areas.

Thanks for the encouragement swe. I did get in my Tuesday morning workout, but I was quite sore, worse by the evening though. However, I was feeling good enough by Wednesday that I went to yoga Wednesday night as well. I like the class. I was still sore today after the class, but not as bad as I felt Tuesday so I would call that progress. I did manage to get my jump roping in on Wednesday and my Thursday workout in as well. So doing well there. Progress for week 3: Goal 1: 4/6 - 2 workouts left for this week, so far so good Goal 2: 2/5 - but those 2 were 1 hour yoga classes so I think that's pretty good, still have to stretch the rest of the week though Goal 3: 3 weekday breakfasts with veggies - goal met.