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As of today, I have 348 days to get down to 200lbs. Progress: 4/75lbs Quest: Lose 5lbs (268lbs) 1. Track calories 5 times per week 2. 90 additional minutes of movement per week 3. A productive thing per day 4. Work on painting once a week Specific productive tasks

Hey all, I am back to attempt a challenge. I didn't participate in the last challenge. I ended up bowling in my yearly USBC Open Tournament. This year (and next) is in Las Vegas. I totally was unprepared for it, but did much better then I expected I just didn't have it in me to get in on a challenge too. Life is a bit hectic. I've been struggling. 2018, keto was an absolute awesome thing for me. I've tried to get back to it. Sometimes it seems successful, but then it all comes crashing down. This challenge, I really want to see if I can just eat in a certain calorie range. Though, I still want to be healthier still of course. I just want to be able to eat whatever fruit I may want etc. So I really just want to focus on tracking again, with a set amount of calories. Of course, I really want to drop weight super fast. I think that really has not worked well though. I mean, I lost like 110 or 120 pounds in 2018. Struggled in 2019, then full blown gain everything back early 2020. Way back in 2013/2014 was a similar weight trip for me. Of course, it was a quick bounce back. So as much as I want to lose all the weight, I really thing I just need to focus more on a slower weight loss. Also working to just get myself better with exercise. All the things to work together will get me losing weight. So let's see if I can just get this started up. There will be a caveat here too. Like I said, life is a bit hectic. Wife might be losing her job (most likely). So she will be looking for work I assume during her transition out. Nothing confirmed yet, but there will be more Monday. With that, it is certainly time that need to get back out there, and get some work. I've been stay at home Dad since 2010, so no clue what I would even try for. This challenge could just totally implode, and I have to rethink the goals depending on what all happens. Goal#1 - Tracking, plus under 2500 calories. In the past I thought about 2300 calories was were I wanted to be at when I was eating keto. I'll have to monitor things to see if I need to adjust things up or down for calories. For now though, I want to target 2500. Preferable +/- 99ish. I don't want to under eat too. I'll track everything in Chronometer. 7 days a week. 10 points per day. 70 points total Goal#2 - Move more One thing for sure, I need to get out walking at the bare minimum. I felt that for sure when I was bowling. Day 2 I was bowling 6 games. I was running on fumes those last 3 games. Even less then fumes haha. To start, I am going to walk for 30 minutes each day. By the end of this challenge, I would like to be walking twice a day for 30 minutes, or an hour walk. Plus I want to be working out. Just body weight workouts, or all at homes style workouts. Week 1 I start with walking for 30 minutes (more is fine too). Week 2 I continue the walking. Week 3 I added in workouts with the walking. Week 4 is working out with more walking. Add in the second walk, or longer first walk. At least for a few of the days. Week 5, I get it all together. 7 days a week. Week 1/2 - 10 points a day. 70 points on the week. Week 3/4/5 - 70 points for walking each week. 40 points for workouts each week. (3 to 4 still need to figure it out) 110 points on the week. Goal#3 - Please go to bed! What do you know, I need to get myself in a sleep challenge again. Oddly enough, I've been staying up late reading. Before it was playing games, watching videos. I have been trying to work on getting to bed at a good time, but I haven't nailed it. I've gotten into a few books, and just would sit here reading for 3 to 4 hours. Suddenly, it's 3:30 in the morning haha. So no more "Just one more chapter" or "one last video" I want to get back to 10:30 PM to get off the computer or whatever, and get to reading. Then, head off to bed at 11:30 PM. 7 days a week, 10 points a day. 70 points for the week. Goal#4 - Chores and downsize Part of my move more is going to get into getting chores routine again, and clearing through things. Too many things in this apartment that we really just need to get rid of. We have a storage unit too that we should make our way through, and get rid of it. Less bills are good. Each day, I need to get cat boxes cleaned out, and dishes done. I need to spend at least one hour during the week on downsizing. I think it will be much more then that, but I just need a smaller time frame to just get started 10 points each day for the chores. 70 on the week. 50 points a week for the downsizing. (I really want to get though some things) 120 total points each week Total challenge points: Week 1 (6/20 - 6/26) - 0/330 Week 2 (6/27 - 7/03) - 0/330 Week 3 (7/04 - 7/10) - 0/370 Week 4 (7/11 - 7/17) - 0/370 Week 5 (7/18 - 7/24) - 0/370 Measurements - First day / Last day Chest - 55.98 in / Waist - 62.51 in / (L) Bicep - 17.83 in / (R) Bicep - 17.00 in / (L) Thigh - 30.78 in / (R) Thigh - 29.33 in / Weight (lbs) - 370.8 /

LIfe happens. It's how you deal with it that counts... On the downside, I've recently being diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and GERD. By the end of this challenge I will hopefully will have had the final tests to determine what kind of surgery - if any - will be right for me. For those of you who don't already know, I've been on the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole for about 7 months now. Long term effects of it are pretty nasty - the one bothering me in particular is that it inhibits calcium/magnesium absorption. This became apparent over the last challenge when my legs started to twitch all night, and I found myself pausing Strong Curves for a couple of weeks, only to find the twitching came back as soon as I resumed my workouts. As someone who was fine lifting way more on Strong Lifts I'm inclined to think it's the medication that's to blame, and not the intensity of my lifting. On the upside, since supplementing with calcium and magnesium this seems to have disappeared. If it comes back I'll start on the creatine. I can't bear the thought of putting all those hours in at the gym and having to do the same workouts with the same weights. I'm now on the home stretch (weeks 9-12) for this beginner's Strong Curves routine. I hope I'll be able to move into the advanced programme after, but if not I'm happy to repeat this last bit again. HERE WE GO! 1. Lose fat, get stronger Progress was depressingly slow last challenge, I lost a grand total of 1.1kg / 2.4lbs and 1" off the body. My calories seem to be somewhere between the low end of maintenance and the high end of deficit. I'll do my best to push comfortably into the deficit end of the spectrum by cutting calories to 1500 per day. I'm less hungry on 'active recovery' days, so I could cut more drastically on those days if I find I'm finding it hard to restrict on Strong Curves days. If I find my recovery suffers then I'll have to hang back from increasing weights, as losing fat is a higher priority right now. So, Strong Curves four times per week. 2. Climbmill HIIT routine It's 18 mins long, I'm doing it twice per week, and I've already modified the speed as it's a killer on the quads. I'll change up if it ever gets 'easy'. Due for another hiking holiday in October, which is why I chose that particular cardio machine. 3. Recover I don't know if this will be simple foam rolling or all-out yoga, but I think this would aid recovery. I still haven't worked out which days to do this - perhaps after workouts B and C, as they hammer the thighs way more. Obviously keep up with food supplements too. 4. Simple timetabling Tech on Mon-Wed; Creative on Thu-Sat. Brain doesn't like switching fast between the two disciplines and I find myself doing nothing instead. I've left this deliberately vague so I don't pressure myself too much, and then quit the first time after I fail.

Hey everyone, So before when I was trying to lose weight, I was barely ever home and only needed to feed myself. I went after quick, pre-made things like frozen dinners (I know, healthy as anything, but at least they were the Weight Watchers brand?) Now, I'm taking care of my mother and have more of an opportunity to cook at home. I love it, and I've gotten to the point of calculating how many calories are in a total dish, but I was wondering how to figure out what a portion size would be when there's multiple different ingredients with differing portion sizes, and confirmation that I've gotten the calories per serving correct. For example (aka Free Recipe for helping me out if it sounds good to you ) Chunky Meatless Chili: 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes: serving size-1/4 cup; calories per serving- 25; total servings per container-about 7 1 can Goya black beans: serving size-1/2 cup; calories per serving-110; total servings per container-about 3.5 1 can Goya dark red kidney beans: serving size-1/2 cup; calories per serving-90; total servings per container-about 3.5 1/2 of a large red bell pepper, chopped: calories-about 25? I know a whole is around 50 so I guesstimated a little... 1/2 of a large white onion, chopped: calories-about 30. Again, guesstimating. I'm not too strict with calorie counting when it comes to veggies. So I've come to the conclusion that since there's 7 servings of the tomatoes and 7 servings total with beans, the resulting chili would be about 7 servings total? (If I'm wrong, please let me know!) The total to sit and eat the whole pot (very tempting, but I do try to spread it out) would be 930 calories total. So would a serving be half a cup, a whole cup, a barrel...? Thanks in advance! And for anyone interested in making it for themselves, I seasoned with cumin, black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder (I didn't add any extra salt because it was already present in garlic salt, so I'd add a bit if you just use garlic powder), then topped with 1/4 c of fat-free mozzarella cheese.

Respawn again... (I wonder just how often this will happen.) I first thought I'll join for the next challenge, but then worried I might lose all momentum again. So I came up with 3 ridiculously easy goals for the remainder of this challenge to hopefully bridge the gap to the next. 1. Count calories every day. 2. Post something every day. (Anything, not specifically to this thread.) 3. Move for 30 minutes every day. Now I'm off to stalk some of your threads. Awful pun to start this off: " A friend of mine tried to annoy me with bird puns, but I soon realized that toucan play at that game."

So I'm out of the chrysalis and getting ready to fly! GOAL Lose 5lbs, since that's approximately 4% of my current weight. That should take me down to 122lbs by the end of the challenge. Keep myself sane while being mostly unemployed.QUESTS Eat 1200-1400 calories per day. I'm sad to report that I will not be following the mid-70s Bowie diet of milk, cocaine and peppers. Mainly because I'm intolerant to peppers.Substitute juice/soda with water. And drink more water generally.Complete Darebee's 30-Day HIIT Challenge Complete Men's Health 3 Week Home Dumbbell Workout, and don't eat estimated calories back!!!Read something that isn't on a screen for at least 30 minutes a day, because my life's turning into this:Finish Berklee's songwriting MOOC. Alright! No need to take the piss!Engage with art once a week - movie/literature if poor; art gallery or theatre if already in town or if I suddenly have enough money to travel into town especiallyAnd just for lols, complete Cassy Ho's Journey to Splits STATS Weight: 127lbs Waist: 28" Hips: 36.6" Abdomen: 31" Bust: 34" Overbust: 32" Underbust: 28.5" Thigh: 20.5" Calf: 13.5" Neck: 13.5" * I am neither thin, white, nor a member of the British aristocracy, but I am missing David Bowie something rotten.