liz1729

April Challenge Day 5 I have a diagnosis and plan of action from the consultant. it involves drastic lifestyle changes. For 6 months: sleep with the head of my bed raised up, no eating within 4 hours of bedtime, eating little and often (bye bye intermittent fasting!),no alcohol, no fizzy drinks, no citrus, no tea/coffee. Have to take a long course of meds. After 6 months, off the meds and some relaxation of the rules but as little as possible. That is for life. This is a major lifestyle change.

April Challenge Day 4 Still suffering from the after effects of that endoscopy. I basically got filled with air right from my throat to my intestines, got the sharpest wind ever through my whole chest and stomach and have had to wait to slowly burp it out over 48 hours. Good thing I'e been alone! So eating much has been off the cards and screw exercise, I could barely move. On the positive side, I didn't have any junk food.

WHOOPS!!!!

March April Challenge Day 3 I barely slept through thirst, felt like crap from the get go from thirst and low blood sugar then drove to hospital and had an endoscopy. Have a hernia, gastritis and duodenitis. Biopsy taken; results in 2 days and follow up appointment then too (who said the NHS is crap??). I opted for the procedure without sedation as I'm all for avoiding unnecessary medication. It was unpleasant, to say the least. They sprayed the top of my throat with numbing spray, yeah great, but it really hurt from the point just past that right down to my stomach and still does now. Couldn't eat much after that. Still feel sick sick sick. All bets are off today. I just want to lounge around while someone strokes my hair and fetches me warm drinks. Unfortunately I live alone. I'll go to bed soon and start afresh tomorrow.

March April Challenge Day 2 An inferior 4 freggies today. I fell apart by evening time and didn't eat quite as well as intended. Binged on crackers til midnight when I had to stop as I had an endoscopy the next day and orders to stop all eating and drinking (even water) from midnight. Went to sleep very thirsty and spend all night dreaming of drinking water. Day 5 of yoga with adriene was lovely and I went for a run in the evening too. More internetting today - 10 sessions in total with 4 fails of more than 15 minutes. Just had stuff to do and it sucked to stop mid task! Like I sold my dining table on eBay and needed to arrange pick up times; I was rearranging addresses for council tax for when I move. I squeezed a spot, wasn't even satisfying. Showered but neglected my face.

March April Challenge Day 1 I excelled myself on the freggie front with an unprecedented total of 9. It's not that hard to hit it you base all eatings around them (which I won't be for every meal every day!). No junk until quite late at night then a highly enjoyable binge of crackers and a creme egg. Random. I'm trying to change my eating habits from no breakfast / light lunch / large evening meal/ bedtime snack to breakfast / large lunch / small evening meal / small late night snack and I got hungry late on. I'm getting a free lunch at work from September so I want to make the most of it! I did well on the fluids front, with a pint of water on my desk all day and two refills of my giant 1 litre teapot (containing fruit tea). I did day 4 of yoga with adriene which was great. I'm really getting to like her and I'm enjoying her series. I'm already seeing improvements in my flexibility and I ache less. I internetted in 15 min chunks of time like a good non-binger and racked up a mere 5 sessions in total during the day. That's a lot of time left to be productive yet my work was crap. Just didn't have the brain to produce anything very good. I resisted squeezing my spots including the massive one on my chin, showered nicely after my yoga in the morning and cleaned my face. Neglected to clean it in the evening though. I spent the majority of the day chained to my desk working on my dissertation with 'breaks' to clean and pack up pre-house move. Fun. I'm trying to get in good habits with washing up and do it as I create it. While this is technically less work (because things don't get crusted on, need soaking, etc) it felt like more effort to do it 4 times a day rather than every 3 days. I went into town for the first time in ages as the shoes I'd ordered into Clarks were in. I needed some new flat shoes for work as I've worn two pairs down to the holes-in-the-soles stage and I need some sandals for summer. I have to order them in because I'm a size 3 and they don't stock them in store. I bought 3 pairs total which was very promising and only took about 15 minutes. I bought a new shower squeezy ball thingy to replace the old one that the internet says is ridden with bacteria and making my spots worse (it was 29p) and I bought a ton of other random crap because I was in one of those cheap shops where you can't resist buying everything. To be fair, the £1 witch hazel spot stuff actually dried up my giant spot and the £1 chiropodist sponge has made my feet amazingly soft. Win.

Nice to see your challenge is up and I've enjoyed looking through your battle log too. I'm considering starting one too.

And we begin! Fruit and veg were prepped last night and I have a choice of 8 to select from in the house, fruit tea is brewing ready to start yoga and a spot that started up on my chin a few days ago has shown up in full glory...MUST....NOT...SQUEEZE.... Starting stats: Weight: 7 stone 8 Chest: 82cm Waist: 68cm The fat bit at bellybutton level: 72cm Hips: 87cm The widest part of my butt: 92cm L Thigh: 51cm I'm intrigued to see if anything actually changes.

I'm a maths teacher. Husband is a Prof of Maths. It's been 7 years in total for us :-) We had about a 2 year lead in that this might happen then 6 months to mentally prepare ourselves once he'd accepted the job before he left. And he's back for 3 months over the summer, starting in 1.5 months! He beat 700 other applicants to the job, it's only 3 years and should set him up for getting his next position which I hope is a permanent professorship at Oxford University... it was too good to turn down! I made the best of it by taking up tons of hobbies I wouldn't otherwise have time for so it's been really nice to find myself in that way, I've been half of a couple for so long that I never really took the time to see what I really like doing.

Good luck Grizzy. Know what you mean about the partner wanting your company while you want space! We used to struggle with that one. I hope you find some strategies bring you peace.

Good luckMmead0105! Know the feeling trying to do too much at once, I'm really a fan of the way you've started small. Nice work on the daily steps, what are you doing to get it so high?

Hi mmead0105 and Grizzy! I'm looking forward to the challenge! A bit about me: I'm 27, married and a teacher in the UK. My husband is a professor and currently based in America. I have just finished up at one job in order to take a term out from work to do the dissertation of the Master's degree I started 4 years ago and have worked on in bits and pieces. It was starting to look like I'd never get it finished! I got a new job for September, head of dept in a private girls boarding school which is going to be a big step up so I'm spending some time there in preparation. So I am sort of still in school, except I'm a long distance, part time student so don't actually get taught or see other students! My dissertation supervisor and I meet every now and then. I have taken on other work (which ironically pays more overall for fewer hours!) doing private tuition and exam marking this summer so I have an income but it's quite lonely. I really don't like not working full time. And the idea of living with my parents after 9 years away is daunting. I've stayed with them for up to 6 days before and while it's lovely, the peace, quiet and freedom is amazing afterwards. Good thing it's only two weeks!

After the last challenge, I started well then got kinda bored and hopeless. What went well was - eating more freggies - doing exercise classes In this challenge, I am mostly not at working. I have a lot of study to do. I have to sort through my whole house of stuff and move in with my parents min-month, for two weeks, before moving across country to my new house. Exhausting! I don't do well through changes of routine and especially when I have to lose my independence and most of the control over my eating when living with my parents briefly. The Big Aim Improve my health after a long illness and maintain continuity through house moves! 1. Eat 5 freggies per day Stepping it up from the last challenge of 4 per day as I exceeded 4 freggies fairly regularly! I was either very good or absolutely appalling so I am going to preplan my freggies per day, especially fruit, which I've had go off before I got around to eating it. Good luck to me on that one when I live with my parents obviously! I'll get what I'm given! Score: A = 5; B = 4; C = 3 2. Junk food diary I'm not ready to limit my junk food intake artificially when I have a big and stressful Master's dissertation to write somehow, I'm not putting mood swings on top of that! But I think it would be good to at least see what I'm doing to myself... 3. 30 days of yoga journey I've ached so bad, especially when trying to get to sleep, since doing more exercise and think I need a robust stretching routine. Doing a 30 days of yoga thing off youtube to get into that. Score: A = 90%; B = 80%; C=70% 4. Internet in 15 minute chunks I waste so much time on the internet looking at random rubbish, without even noticing how much time has gone by! I need to go on the internet to do dissertation stuff, chase utlity companies for house moving, update this thread, and Skype my hubby but the rest is limited. I'll set a timer for 15 minutes then I have to do something else for at least 30 minutes before the next one. EDIT: BONUS 5. Sort out my skin I have a lot of spots on my face and back and squeeze them regularly which as we all know is BAD. I also get flare ups of eczema and psoriasis, the latter of which has appeared in three locations in the last couple of days. I googled what to do about it and got some sense (shower after exercise) and some unnecessarily expensive pseudo-science products. Good old NHS talked the most sense. I already do some, like showering with an emollient cream and exfoliating sometimes. I started the shower one a couple of weeks ago and my back is looking better; my face is getting worse I think because I'm studying and touch my face while I work. So I'm going to track the following and see what comes out: (a) Longest streak of days with no spot squeezing. (b) Showering ASAP at the end of exercise if at home and making the best of it with babywipes if at the gym (c) Clean my face morning and night (with my emollient cream).

Summary: F on most counts. C for freggies. Lessons learnt: repetition gets boring. Freggies are great. Better planning needed so I don't leave one type too long and let it go rotten. Exercise classes really suit me right now while I am low of mood and easily give up midtask. Meal planning is a good idea.

Thanks Owlet and Jarric! It is quite a relief but we haven't signed anything yet so it may still go wrong :-( Jarric, it was a really good class. I'm so unfit that it's just what I need right now. I've always wanted to learn barbell stuff - squat, deadlify, power thingys, etc - but after a back injury I didn't dare unless I knew I'd have superperfect form. The instructor emphasised that it's a light to moderate weight class for building endurance blah blah rep effect(TM) blah blah other things. This class has been great for learning form. I'm getting the form in my muscle memory because there are so many reps. This is all dependant on having a really good teacher, she is always watching everyone (class of about 10), gives very good cues for form and is very quick to point out form corrections. I've learnt a lot already. I had waaaaaay less weight than most of the rest of the class but this was good as some other people were struggling and when they saw me shamelessly lifting an empty bar they copied for the next set. I missed quite a few reps during the last 1/3 of the class last time and only a few reps this time. I'm aiming to get to the point where I can do the whole thing and get adding weight on. Eventually I'll head into the gym to do some actual proper weight lifting.

Whoops posted twice!

Thanks Marbres! I actually find them all really interesting (NERD!!), it's skimming through and focussing on the bits I need without getting too engrossed and detailed that I'm finding difficult. I did read a really boring book on cat behaviours that my mum bought me after you suggested that though! Week 3 Summary I've been rebellious AF and not got a lot done for the challenge. Also failed to keep daily records. On the other hand I appear to have secured a house!?!? Once the paperwork is signed that will be a weight off my mind. 1. Exercise:F 2 days of exercise. One was a run which I cut short as I was tired. The other was a superkickass exericse class at my local university. Called BodyPump, the stock photo on the website had smiling women holding cissy just-the-bar barbells and described it as a high rep workout suitable for anyone. This ticked all my boxes of "not intimidatingly challenging" and a gentle ease back into weights. The class was quite small which meant we got individual attention and the instructor was BRILLIANT (I later found out she is the head instructor there). The barbells were some special type designed to clip little weights on and off the ends and we all had at least 5kg added on. It contained an enormous range of moves: deadlifts, presses, squats, curls, lunges, etc etc for 45 sweaty tough minutes. I felt like I might break my arms off at one point and left with veins popping. I could barely walk for 2 days afterwards either (note to self, stretch properly afterwards). I'd never push myself that hard at home and I didn't know how to do the lifts properly without all the cues and an instructor watching and correcting me. I'm really look forward to doing this class again next Tuesday 2. Freggies: C This is a guess. I hit 4+ on several days at least. I have done much better than before. But some days I was too miserable or stressed to eat at all so had zero. 3. (a) Bedtime: F I failed big time at this. 3. ( Getting up in the morning: F This too. 4. Handwriting: F Laziness! Coming up: Lets make the last week a good one!!

Week 2 Summary 1. Exercise:C Not really been feeling it, this week. 2. Freggies: B I actually did this very well most days, but dragged down my average with two days of barely eating when I was really miserable. 3. (a) Bedtime: C Best of 5 is 10 mins better than last week. I'm finding it harder to get to sleep which I'm taking as a sign I'm getting less ill. I'm forcing myself not to overdo it and getting kinda bored. Time to start doing serious work on my Master's dissertation, I think. 3. ( Getting up in the morning: C Best of 5 is 50 mins better than last week. Except for Monday, when I had places to be, I let myself wake up naturally every day. This was heavenly and far superior to force-awake-then-doze as per the week before. 4. Handwriting: F Laziness. Coming up: I never did make it up in time for frivolous spending and I don't think it was the right incentive for me as I don't want to buy miscellaneous stuff. So that's gone. This week comes with a daily schedule of things to get done, especially packing in the hours on my Master's work.

Glad to hear it helps! It's odd with the pullups, I think it's more painful to just hang off a bar than it is to pullup on it. I don't know if it's all in your mind (because you are focusing on something other that your hands) or if it's a physical thing (because you vary the pinch points on your hand slightly through the movement).

Dear Owlet, I would like to share my secret to pullup success that personal trainers don't want you to know!! :-P Step 1: have a pullup bar nearby in your house Step 2: quite a few times a day, despondently do a rubbish fake pullup of patheticness because you are rubbish and can't get up far. Step 3: accidentally clear the bar with your face. I'm not even kidding. I was at straight arm hangs in the pullup progression I was following because it hurt so bad to hold on that I needed to train my hands before I even officially trained my arms.

Thanks Jarric. In the spirit of carrying on regardless, I've grumpily done things despite feeling miserable and now I feel a bit better. Got 5 freggies yesterday and managed an actual pullup today.

Well the good news is I didn't have to drive 120 miles for some stupid landlord. He met the other couple earlier in the day and picked them without even meeting me. I can't explain how upset and filled with rage I am. This whole process is inherently unhealthy. My whole life is on hold and I can't focus on anything or do anything productive until it's done. Jarric - how did you do that cool progress thingy at the bottom of your post?

Day 1: Super exciting frivolous spending is not enough and I slept instead until the phone rang at 9:30. :-( So the fund sits at £0. I then did next to nothing, no exercise, none of my daily tasks, forced myself to cook a bit of pasta to eat and have a horrible headache. I just feel miserable and stressed about my house hunting. The landlord likes lots of the applicants and wants to meet each of us before he decides .... he wants me to give up hours and drive 120 miles through traffic to spend about 15 minutes on him being excessively fussy just to be in with a chance of getting the house? I'll have to give so much and it will genuinely be personal if I don't succeed. I think I'm going to go with my back up house which is clearly overpriced, broken and with an awful landlord. Good times!

Thank you Owlet and Marbres, I was a proper grump yesterday. So the weekly summary: 1. Exercise: A+ Good nerd! Well done me! 2. Freggies: B On Friday, I designed a new breakfast of fruit drizzled with honey and scattered with sesame seeds which is lovely and nets me 3 in one meal that used to score 0. Also a lovely refreshing start to the day. 3. (a) Bedtime: C Saved by the best of 5 with a time of 12:58! It was worse than this grade implies and my quality of sleep is reduced. I think it's sleeping in too late in the mornings that is doing it. Taking the bedtime routine seriously though and that helps. I have a dreamy voiced yoga video to do and camomile tea (okay I drink this at any time of day but it's supposed to be good before bed too!). I also reinstated an old oddity: 1. Lie in bed and chose your sleeping position. Make sure you really like it as it's not changing. 2. Breathe slowly and deeply and count your breaths. 3. Ignore all other thoughts. They'll appear but don't reply. Just say no and the next number. 4. If you aren't 100% sure of the number, start again. I regularly can't remember if the number is the breath just gone or the one about to start. 5. If you chose to move at all, start again. Sleeping people lie still. So scratching, changing position, adjusting the covers all forfeit the count. 6. If you get to 1000, get up, eat chocolate, have a party, spend £100 on something nice and don't feel guilty about any of it. I've never got near 100 before being asleep. 3. ( Getting up in the morning: C Just about made it with a 9:58 average of best 5. I really think this one is critical to get the sleeping correct. 4. Handwriting: A Good nerd. Coming up: Exercise and handwriting I just need to keep up the good work. Freggies are getting there. Sleep routine needs maintaining until it's consistent. Wake up routine needs a bit more incentive to move my ass. I managed to be up at 7:20 today to go view a house 1.5 hours' away so I can do it with enough incentive. The eBay/Amazon fund: This is my incentive. Rather than begin the day with housework, Master's study, paying bills etc, it begins with super-exciting frivolous spending time!!! Between the time of 8:00 and 8:30 only, I may peruse eBay and Amazon for things I would like but don't need. Pretty clothes and fancy stationery are my weaknesses. Every day I am up by 8am, I add £5 to the fund. I may spend any of the rest of the half hour reading buzzfeed and watching pointless youtube videos. I may not go on ebay, amazon, buzzfeed or youtube at other times of the day.

Well yesterday didn't go so well. I'm having trouble househunting and am getting worried I'll end up homeless (or living with my parents 70 miles from my workplace). I expanded my search to any place of any size up to £800 a month in commuting distance of work (n=about 100). I narrowed by those that allow pets or didn't mention pets (n=10), I phoned to arrange viewings (n=0). I then wallowed in self pity feeling stressed out of my mind, was sick, didn't eat all day. So zero freggies and zero everything else. Did my exercise and writing. I'm just emotionally drained and at the end of my tether with this house hunting thing. The system for getting a house is that the estate agents arrange viewings, loads of people want each house, loads apply, one gets picked. The losers have to try again. This is a nightmare when I live an hour away from my new workplace. It's not like I can even stack them, as it's on the estate agents schedule. I did one last week. I have one tomorrow and one thursday. Imagine if I also had to go to work! (Incidentally, you cannot rent a house without a job. The system is so broken.) I slept badly, woke late, feel sick. Ate some fruit. Can't stomach much else.