Jié Xī

Worked out and ate really well today. Usually Sundays are a bit more high calorie, but I ate like normal except for treating myself to a mocha when we took the boys to the play ground. DIET Coffee w/ protein. Protein Shake. Protein Bar. Mocha. Low-Sugar sloppy joe w/ cheese in large low-carb wrap. Several chunks of 90% chocolate. TOTAL CALORIES: approx 1550 (protein: approx 90) WORKOUT Barbells Deadlift -- 3x10 70 lbs Romanian Deadlift -- 3x10 70 lbs Squats -- 2x10 50 lbs Overhead press -- 3x6 40 lbs. Chest press -- 2x10 30 lbs Dumbbells Bent-over dumbell rows -- 2x10 12 lbs each Lateral Delt Raises -- 2x10 10 lbs each Front Delt Raises -- 2x10 10 lbs each Donkey Kicks (10lb ankle weights and band) Hip Flexor Exercise and Bird Dogs (just one 1 rep each)

Another level up. So, my mid-back has issues as well. So much so that I have to crack it nearly every day (sometimes several times a day) on my banister (leaning over backwards so that it pops). LOL, I sound so old typing this out, but I've been like this since my teens so it's just normal life to me. Anyway, I can't stand for long periods of time before it hurts A LOT. And most heartbreakingly, I couldn't wear my babies in those front-carrier things without extreme pain. I would push through it when they were first born, but by the time they were 5-6 months old, they were just too heavy. I can wear them on my back, because it forces my back to stay straight, but any front-bearing weight pulls my spine forward and causes pain. Anyway, carrying my kids in my arms (you know, with their head against one arm and their legs draped over the other arm (the way you would hold them to lean over a crib and lay them down) causes it to ache. But it's a very natural way to hold them. Especially if they are tired, and you give them a bottle or sippy cup and carry them down the hall to their room. Well, my son is now 2 years old (25 pounds or so) and I do this nearly every day and it always causes my mid-back to ache. But because it's so short (30-45 seconds), it's bearable (unlike taking a walk with them in the front-carrier at 15 pounds). And I'll crack it on the banister and the ache goes away. So the other day, I carried him down the hall and noticed my back didn't hurt. I thought it was rather odd, but didn't think much more of it. Well, after today (due to the monkey bar success), I intentionally carried my son out in front of me down the hall to his room. Again, no pain! Because the mid-back pain is SO regular (unlike the shoulder, which just aches on occasion unless I injure it), I really want to know which exercise is helping with this. The bent over rows? The front lateral raises? Just all the compound moves in general? This probably sounds dumb, but I've had this issue for so long that I thought of it as a spine issue and had no idea that I could strengthen the muscles enough that they could compensate. I might just end up stronger (and in less pain) in my forties than I ever was in my twenties and thirties. I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think I fully realized that working out would help my normal life. I just thought that it would allow me to do cool stuff, like the Ninja Warrior course at the trampoline park or rock climbing. So anyway, barbells rock! Or Dumbbells. Or both. LOL.

So, I leveled up today! I've had shoulder impingement since my teens. Every morning when I wake up, I have to "pop" it back into place. Not where it should it sit (it never goes where it should), but at least back into the place that is normal for me. And more often then not, I'll have to "crack" it throughout the day. I had a physical therapist while pregnant and asked her about it, but she couldn't get it to go back into the socket properly. I doesn't bother me most of the time, and there isn't and real limited mobility. (Technically, there is limited mobility but not that affects my life. But there is one belly dance move called snake arms that I can't do. Because you don't ever move your arm in this way in normal life, I never even knew that I had limited mobility. Specifically, you imagine you're holding a beach ball on your hip with your palm (so your elbow is out), then move the ball up the side of your body with your palm, then when your hand is near your armpit you gracefully drop your shoulder and raise your arm. Well, my shoulder can't drop. Well it can, but there's a click and it gets stuck and it is the exact opposite of graceful, lol.) The point is that that shoulder is rather weak. It's rather easy for me to injure it. I can pull too hard on the railing as I go up the stairs and tear what I assume is the tendon. And it will hurt like heck for days. I can't hold my arm up in the air for very long before the ache is severe, etc. And it takes me quite awhile of doing push ups on my knees before I can get all the other muscles strong enough to compensate for that shoulder to the point that I can do push ups on my toes. Anyway . . . every so often when I take the boys to a playground, I attempt the monkey bars. Because of my shoulder, I can't even get my feet off the ground, let alone actually go from one bar to another. I can't do pull-ups either, because again, I can't get my shoulders to take my weight. Well, today we took the boys to the playground and there was a pull up type bar where I was actually already above the bar because I was on this beam that was higher. (That probably doesn't make sense, sorry, hard to describe). So, I grabbed the bar and lowered myself into the pull up position (instead of having to raise myself into the position). I actually hung there for several seconds (elbows bent) and even lifted my chin above and below the bar 5x before my grip gave up. Excited by this, I went to the monkey bars (a few minutes later after my hands stopped burning, lol), and again was able to hang (this time with arms full extended and even managed to let go and grab the next one -- though not with the bad shoulder. My grip gave out again before I could attempt it with my bad shoulder, and I really didn't want to chance injuring it, but just the fact that I could hang -- both with arms bent for the pull-ups and arms fully extended for the monkey bars is a MAJOR improvement for me. Probably something I haven't been able to do for more than 15 years. And certainly never at this weight as I'm 15 pounds heavier than my "normal" weight. I assume this is due to my barbell workouts. I'm thinking I might practice grip strength from time to time to see if I can eventually do real push ups before the year is out.

Ultimate Challenge Goal: Lose 4.5 pounds (reach 159.9). Reward: Dye hair. When I turned 40, I dyed my hair red and fell in love. I bought hair extensions and a fish tail braid clip-in that matched it perfectly so I could pull off really cool steampunk styles. But I gained the weight back so fast (30+ lbs in one year), that my clothes quickly didn't fit and I never bothered to keep up with my hair. At 159, I will be close enough to 150 (my average weight) that most of my clothes will fit again. (I have some clothes from my ultimate goal of 135, but if 150 is all I can maintain, it's good enough. I'm not spending the rest of my life chasing after an elusive goal). So anyway, I have several inches of dark brown roots and the rest of it is just lighter brown with hints of residual red. I would really love to reach 159.9 by the fourth of July weekend because we are having an informal birthday barbecue party (for everyone who has a birthday over the summer -- father-in-law, husband, me, and both boys), and it would be fun to be a redhead in time for it. Goal #1: 2x a week Total Body Powerbuilding Sessions Compound Exercises: Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift, Squats, Overhead Press, Chess Press, Bent-Over Dumbbell Row Isolation Exercises: Front Delt Raise, Lateral Delt Raise, Donkey Kicks Goal #2: Daily Hip Flexor Stretches and Ab Work (Planks, Bird Dog, & Dead Bugs) Technically, I plan to do the stretches every day and the ab work on the days I don't lift. And if my abs are sore (I don't anticipate this), I'll do them on alternate days. There's a ton of conflicting info on whether ab work can be done consecutively or not, so I'll just listen to my body. Goal #3: Finish ridiculously hard science class with A- or better. I picked Nutrition thinking it would be easy. Oh my gosh. Not. Tests include questions such as: How many grams of protein should a person with kidney damage who is not on dialysis eat? Anyway, I've already worked myself up from a B to an A- so I'm hoping to maintain that. Goal #4: Write and Submit Book Proposal Submission requirements are the introduction and one sample chapter. Due to the complicated nature of this book, I have to write 4 chapters in order to correctly write the chapter I want to submit. Thankfully, the book is fully outlined, so this should be possible over 5-6 weeks of this challenge.

I like your challenge name. Still trying to think up one for myself. I also like your mini-adventures. I took the family on one myself today. Congrats on 12 straight challenges!

Question for the people that continuing posting even during the week between challenges: do you post in your thread that just ended or do you start you new thread and post there? Have a great weekend everyone!

Yes, this is what I'm trying to wrap my head around as well. Are there any obvious signs of adrenal failure? I'll google it, of course, but was just wondering if you noticed anything particular that made you realize it.

I. Am. Finally. Under. 165!!!!! Today's Weight: 164.4. Next goal: <155.9 I think my next challenge is going to be rather simple. 2 Compound Total Body Workouts a week. Stretches and Core work 4-6 times a week.

I had not heard of dead bugs, but just watched a video and they seem like a good one to do. But the bird dog I knew of and had even asked the chiropractor about that and he said he loved that exercise. Something about it working both sides of the brain, lol. He called it something different, but we were definitely talking about the same thing because I demonstrated it for him. So, thanks, I will add dead bugs too. Hopefully I can strengthen my back, loosen up my hip flexors, AND have a tight tummy. Some. Day.

Okay, so I hadn't mentioned that for the past 3 weeks, I've been waking up with my right hip feeling like it was on fire. I'm talking a pain scale of 7-8. Within 5 minutes of getting up and walking around, the pain is 0. Not kidding, 0. It didn't hurt when I ran up and down the steps for my cardio. It didn't hurt when I lifted weights. Nothing that I did during the day brought me any pain. And yet, the burning would be so intense that it would normally wake me several times from about 3 or 5 am till I got up for the day (between 7-8). I googled it, and hip pain at night is common, but everything they listed, such as bursitis, is accompanied by it being aggravated (hurting) when climbing steps. Anyway, because I didn't know what was causing it, I took off from weight lifting last week (I did work out Monday though) to see if that made any difference / allowed it to heal. No difference. So finally, I went to the chiropractor yesterday. He put my hip back in (oh my gosh, it hurt so bad -- it's never hurt before, but of course I'd never done this before). I laid on my back and he pressed on it (that was the part that hurt) and moved my knee from my chest to fully extending my leg. It took 2 times of this and then he said he felt it go back in. Sure enough, when I woke up this morning, I would say the pain was a 2 (probably just nerves needing to heal from it being out so long). Anyway, he said it was because I have such tight hip flexors. Not wanting to knock it out again, I asked him if it was from lifting kids. No. Doing deadlifts. No. Crunches. Yes, most definitely; he said I should never do crunches. I asked if I could keep doing The Flag (a lower ab exercise I actually enjoyed doing, and the one I was really hoping would help me no longer look pregnant everytime I sit down), and he said no, just like a crunch, it is shortening my hip flexors. I asked him if I could do planks and he said yes, that was fine. *sigh* Planks are so boring. The Flag was actually fun. Anyway, he gave me some hip flexor stretching exercises (3 sets for 30 seconds) so I will do them religiously. And I guess replace crunches and the flag with planks. I knew 10 years ago I had tight hip flexors because my other hip will occasionally flare up on me (maybe 2-3 times every 4-6 months or so) for an excruciating 10 seconds (like a 10 on the pain scale) and then be gone. At least it's not from doing barbell stuff. I would've been devastated. I'm kinda of addicted to that now, lol. UPDATE: That was a really rambling post. I hope it made sense. I'm too lazy/tired to rewrite/edit it.

Stressful. My 4-year old is autistic, and he's been on a waiting list for ABA therapy since October. He reached the top of the list during Covid, but they are open now and so they had me bring him for a reassessment. What's frustrating is that they can't just see him once or twice a week, he has to actually go Mon through Thursday. I opted for the part-time (1-4) instead of the full time, but it still feels like a lot of being away from home. I plan on homeschooling, so I'm not really emotionally prepared for letting him be gone from home for so long at such a young age. It's also scary. I mean, you are always hearing of horrible things happening to kids by adults they trusted. There is a part of me that wants to just forget the whole thing; so what if he has a delay, he'll catch up eventually. But, even as I sat there through the reassessment, I realized there were things he can't do that I didn't even realize he couldn't and wouldn't have known to help him do. For instance, 2 year olds should be able to draw a straight line and 4 year olds should be able to draw a box (both copying you after you do it). But when she drew the straight line and asked him to do, he took the marker and drew circles and scribbles. So that's something they will work with him on. I never even knew he should be able to do that, so how would it have occurred to me to teach him that. So now, I'm just feeling rather incompetent -- not in a down on myself way, but in a, how can I properly teach him if I'm ignorant on developmental delays and the ways to help older toddlers overcome those delays. There's a part of me that thinks I should just get the same textbook she was using and equip/train myself, but at the same time, I am so swamped with my own school work at the moment, in addition to all the business/writing projects I'm working on that I don't feel I could give him the adequate amount of time they can. I wish there were more hours in day or that I needed less sleep. (I need 9 hours to not need a mid-afternoon nap, but my father could go on 6 hours. Why couldn't he have passed that onto me? LOL). Anyway . . . I will update my fitness in the next post. But thanks for checking in and asking. I've missed logging on this past week, but have just been rather overwhelmed with everything going on.

It went okay. Mostly good, actually. I stuck him in an infant car seat that clicks into a stroller and put a cover on him so they couldn't see him (and so it looked like he was a baby). That got me past 2 masked security checkpoints (that's what I'm calling them because they stop and ask you a bunch of Covid questions and take your temperature). No one even asked to see him or his age in the waiting room so that went well too. So by the time I took the cover off and took him out of the stroller, we were already in the room where they put the cast on. And neither the nurse nor the doctor said anything about him wearing a mask. The bad part was the doctor said it would be best for a soft cast that I can remove myself in 3 weeks. The nurse was there and gave me instructions. Then a nice guy came in and put the cast on him and little guy was so calm about it and sat completely still. Then the guy said something about a saw to remove it. And I said, oh, they said I can just peel it off. He immediately started unwrapping it as quick as he could. Too late. The nurse had failed to tell him it was supposed to be a soft cast and he had put on a hard cast. My son is afraid of our quiet vacuum cleaner. He runs and hides in his bedroom anytime I or daddy vacuums. The saw was attached to this 10x louder than a vacuum thing. My son was absolutely terrified. I had to pin him to me while he is screaming frantically and he cries out sharper every time the saw touches him which makes me think he's getting his arm cut into and the guy tries to explain it's not hurting him and it's the vibration (and noise) that is scaring him. But let's just say, I was completely traumatized for him after that. When it was finally off, he asked if we needed a minute. Um, duh!!!! So he left. I was thinking there was no way in God's green earth that he would sit still and let him wrap him up again, but he came 30 seconds later and gave him this light-up ball and left again (oh my gosh, if it wasn't multi-colored, it would have been the grossest thing ever -- it looked like alien egg sack, oozing pustily when you squeezed it). But my son loved it. The guy came back a few minutes later, and this time brought a helper, who commented that she had never seen a child his age sit so still for a cast (and I'm thinking, and this is his second time in 5 minutes after being fully traumatized!). So, anyway, the right cast is on. He asked if he could keep the ball "car ride . . . ball, car ride" and even told the man "bye-bye" and "dee-do" (thank you for the ball). I left, fully convinced I was ordering takeout for dinner and completely splurging, but I kept repeating to myself that everything was fine and that I didn't have to feed my nerves. I did well -- I picked up a thin crust pizza (our normal -- i.e. planned -- Friday night treat as it doesn't overdo my carbs much) and walked right past the decadent slice of chocolate cake that was crying out my name. (It helps that my birthday is the first of July and I'll let myself have it then). I did not however workout. Much too frazzled. But I'm proud of myself for not giving in to stress eating. Thank you @Harriet , @Scalyfreak , and @miss_marissa for asking about him! PS -- I have a pain black mask that I plan to add steampunk gears too, but the kitty cat is the only one my little doesn't rip off my face 100% of the time (just 50%).

That is my plan -- to show up with his mask and hope to God they don't refuse us. It's a children's hospital though, which is what I don't understand. All the other toddlers willing to wear them, or are they refusing to see all toddlers who aren't? That doesn't really make sense to me. Trying not to panic.

On a totally unrelated note, I did not work out today. I'm really anxious about tomorrow. If I didn't mention it, last week, the day after my little turned 2, he tripped and fell in the kitchen. I took him to urgent care the next day and they took an x-ray and discovered he broke his wrist. His appointment for the orthopedic to put it in a cast is tomorrow, but they told me over the phone that he is required to wear a mask. I told them that he won't wear a mask and they said they won't see him if he doesn't wear a mask. He's two!!! I've tried getting him to wear it, he won't even stay still for a second. He pushes it away even before I get it on his face. I've worn mine in front of him (he's finally not freaking out when I wear it), but he won't wear one. I'm trying not to freak out inside, but I'm afraid they'll refuse to cast his wrist and he'll end up with permanent damage (he won't keep the splint on). Please pray (if that's your thing) that the people there are more compassionate than the woman on the phone who scheduled my appointment. My anxiety is really, really high over this. 😭

Except for the stubborn weight loss, I don't have any of the symptoms of Metabolic Damage / Starvation Mode (been googling this for the last several hours): Gas / Bloating / Constipation and/or diarrhoea / Reflux or heart burn / Low energy or fatigue / Increased hunger and food cravings / Reduced libido / Oedema -- fluid retention, especially in the calves or ankles / Anxiety and depression / Weight gain or stubborn weight loss / Loss of muscle mass / Irregularity or cessation of periods in women / Low immunity, recurring and/or prolonged colds and flu / Sleep disturbances / Changes in mood However, I've spent my life either on a low-calorie diet or splurging, so I *should be* the poster child for it. The advice seems to be, for a 3 week period, either eat less and workout less or eat more and workout more, but don't eat less and workout more . . . the opposite of what I'm tempted to do. The thing is, since I started lifting heavier I was eating more. So I would have thought that was eating more and workout more. Ugh! Okay, so I'm thinking of this as my new workout schedule and keeping my eating the same / aiming for 1500 a day. Mon: Lower Body (compound & isolation) Tues: Yoga, Cardio, Abs Wed: Upper Body (compound & isolation) Thurs: Yoga, Cardio, Abs Fri: Full Body (compound exercises) Sat: Rest Sun: Rest OR Cardio & Abs ( and maybe yoga) My cardio will either be 1/2 Ahch-To (unless I'm really motivated and do the whole thing) or my 10-min HITT DVD, and my yoga is this 12-min Yoga Emergency for legs and another for hips. I'll either rotate or do both. I have NEVER gotten into a regular yoga routine so if I actually succeed at this, it will be amazing. I tend to only focus on one thing at a time (probably due to the ADHD) which is usually strength training. If I'm really motivated, I'll add in cardio. And I tend to only do yoga when I'm in pain (usually the 12-min emergency back version -- I have them all, lol). I'm going to try to force myself to do this routine for the rest of this 5-week challenge, so only 2 weeks and see if it makes a difference. I tend to try something for a few days and give up if the scale doesn't go down. I might try to keep myself off the scale too.

I'm 5'5. I wasn't sure about adding more, but that was based on the "if you don't eat enough you go into starvation mode and won't lose weight" theory. Ugh.

True that! Oh, good, because I like being a warrior and didn't really want to leave for 5 weeks. I would miss you all! I've actually upped my calories because my typical weight loss diet is 800-1000 calories (with weekend splurges) and didn't think that would be enough now that I'm lifting heavy. Honestly, at this point, I don't know if I'm in deficit or not. I've never had this much problems losing weight before. I would cut out carbs, eat around 800-1000 calories (1200-1500 on weekends) and strength train (work with 8bs dumbbells and body weight -- lunges, squats, etc. with no weights). When I started working with barbells, first I added an extra protein shake, and then when I still wasn't losing, added in another meal as I assumed I wasn't eating enough. I'm not counting calories, but I don't think I'm eating too much. I've never eaten to lift heavy before. Here's my typical day. Coffee -- 165 cal (from sugar-free creamer & added protein) / 11 gr. protein Protein Shake -- 160 cal / 30 gr protein (I do forget this one a lot, unless I'm hungry which reminds me) Lunch (ranges from 160-240-300 depending if another protein shake, chicken on low-carb wrap, or protein bar) / pro. 15-30 grams Dinner -- At least 30 gram protein, and under 45 grams carbs (usually carbs are closer to 15-30 range) Snack / Post Workout -- Protein shake 160 cal / 30 grams protein plus 2-3 squares 90% chocolate 190 cal (and about 5 carbs) And if I'm really hungry, I'll also eat raw red pepper with light ranch dressing (80 calories for the ranch) Not including dinner, my calories are around 915 if I remember my morning shake and 755 if I forget. Dinner is usually chicken or steak strips (150 calories) or burger (250 calories) with bacon (70) plus cheese and/or low-sugar sauce (100-200), possibly including a low carb wrap (80 cal) or very occasionally pasta (always under 30 grams carbs) and/or veggies. So, my highest dinner would be the bacon cheeseburger on low carb-wrap for about 530-600. But honestly, it's usually chicken or lean steak strips. For instance, yesterday's dinner was only about 300 calories (chicken sausage with cheddar cheese). The day before, I had steak strips (180) with pepperjack cheese (70) on low carb wrap (80) with light sour cream (40-60) and a bit of salsa (30), for a total of 420. So my guess is my calories are between 1200-1500 on average. I've no idea if that is a deficit or a surplus -- it feels like a lot to me. All I know is I'm not walking around starving, and if I do feel hungry it reminds me that I forgot a shake so I go drink it, or if I get hungry later, I let myself eat the red pepper and ranch. This is the most I've ever eaten on a "diet." I'm actually trying not to diet and just choose healthy foods 80-90% of the time (I eat thin crust pizza on the weekends, and weekend snacks are rice cakes with cream cheese). I don't feel deprived for the first time ever, so I'm happy with my eating right now, just not happy that I'm not losing. If I'm eating too much (my fear), that would suck. If I'm not eating enough, that's scary, because I honestly don't know how to eat more; I would be terrified I would gain weight.

Wasn't too sore for a workout. Yay! Did not do 42lbs though. Stuck with 30 -- OHP, Chest Press, and Bent Over Rows. Plus delt isolation. Same old, same old. But, I did do half of Ahch-To today -- yay! I'm actually wondering if I should do a cardio challenge next. Is that Scouts? All I do is short HITT workouts (10 minutes or less; did I mention I hate cardio?). What I mostly mean is that unless I'm too sore, I lift 5-6x a week. But Cardio is maybe 3x. I'm thinking to shed some of the fat so I can actually see the muscle I'm building, I may have to up the cardio. So does that mean I add HITT to my warrior goals, or do I do a Scout challenge? 🤔

Good job!

I'm going to CCU for a dual undergrad and grad degree in Biblical Studies, lol. Sadly, yes. It's why I avoid Christian online discussion groups. They can get very nasty.

Wow, you are the second person I just found out got this and also survived. I think she said she was 1 or 30 who survived from 80 (I think) who got it. I believe she said it was from a bad batch of prescription medicine a doctor had prescribed her for something else. And I second everyone else -- very glad you didn't die!

Biblical scholars wouldn't do that! (Runs and hides) 😜

I like instrumentals. I listen to it to write by. No idea if this is considered metal or heavy or what. So that was my first attempt at hiding something. Hopefully it worked.

Today I lifted less. Well, more weights, but less sets and reps. I've been so sore after lower body days that I've had to skip cardio the following day(s), and add in extra rest days, so I decided to experiment. So instead of 3-4 sets of stuff, I did 2-3 sets. And I'm up to 70 lbs on the dead lift and RDL. Mostly because I set it up on stacked weight plates so that it actually hit my lower shin instead of my ankle. It's amazing how much more you can lift when you can actually do it right, lol. Oh, and I've added Bulgarian Split Squats to my routine but without weights at this point because those suckers are HARD! Oh, and I'm up to 42lbs on the OHP. I did them yesterday. Starting to feel sore in the shoulders this evening. Hopefully I'm not ridiculously sore tomorrow or I'll have to add an extra rest day for upper too.

Did a lower body workout. The slightly added height did help a bit, though I still found my shoulders rounding a bit on the deadlift. I'm gonna get blocks or something to raise it higher. But, no pain in the knee (probably helped that I didn't "push through the knees" and just stood up like @Harriet said). I still am stronger on the RDL; I can do more reps of them. I'll have to try to refind that article that I'm pretty sure said you will always be able to lift more on the traditional deadlift than the RDL. Maybe I misread? Anyway . . . poor little 2 year old fell and broke his wrist! He's okay, he didn't even cry when the doctor moved his wrist all about. He fell in the kitchen last night and it was swollen but I figured it was just a sprain. But it was still swollen this morning and then he fell again at the playground and was really favoring it so I went ahead and took him to Urgent Care. He broke the bone that runs from the wrist to the thumb. I feel so bad for him. He's in a splint for now (waiting to see an orthopedic specialist). For the first several hours he kept pulling at it and saying, "help, mommy, off." But this evening I guess he got used to it because he was just running around the house giggling like normal. Am watching movies now with hubby, sippy on my second (and last) very weak Sangria (about 1/3 wine).