Search the Community

I’m back after missing a couple of challenges due to some health craziness. If you’re curious, you can read more here. Main Quest Contemplating goals feels weird to me now because the goals themselves haven’t really changed. I still want to drop body fat and increase endurance. What has changed is my perspective. Being laid up for three months was probably a blessing in disguise because I had to be patient and it gave me a lot of time to think about what I want as far as fitness is concerned. Strength is still very important to me, but it took a backseat to endurance the moment I couldn’t walk more than 50 feet without getting exhausted. The day after my six-week checkup, we went to our favorite recreational area for a bike ride. After pushing a 45-lb bike up a steep incline and riding 7.2 miles of twisting hill roads, I thought death was imminent, but I could already see so much improvement over last year. Even my balance has been better since surgery. I realized biking has become fun again, and it’s given me new focus. So, with that said, my main quest for this challenge is to ride 25 miles in one stint by September 6. My top distance right now is 14.2, so I think that’s doable. Hubs is helping me put together a training plan today. Sub-goals to help with this quest are as follows: Fuel for the Engine. With the focus on endurance work and the reintroduction of resistance training, I’m keeping my calorie goal at 1,800 and working off of the TDEE method. We should see some fat drop while retaining lean mass. A = 1,750 deficit for the week, B = 1,500 net deficit for the week, C = 1,250 deficit for the week Hydration. Staying hydrated is important on long rides, especially in the kind of heat we have around here. My intake has slacked off lately from 96-112 ounces a day to 64-72. My goal is to bring it back up to at least 80 per day. A = 112+ ounces, B = 96+ ounces, C = 80+ ounces Restarting Strength. I’m so ready to get back to the weights because I’m tired of feeling puny, but I have to start slow with this. Since the doc was nice enough to put my abs back together, we don’t want to jeopardize the belleh. I’ll be doing a machine circuit three days per week for now to stay safe. A = 3 days, B = 2 days, C = 1 day Life Quest Being part feline, I love to sleep, so getting up early and at the same time every morning is a feat in itself. I was working on this in my last challenge and had made some progress, but let it go to crap when I started getting sick and had to rest every spare second. I’m going to pick this back up and start hauling my ass out of bed at 6:00 a.m. again because it’s important to me. Motivation I want to feel better. With everything that’s happened over the last few months I’m probably still hyper-focused on my health, but I want to keep my momentum. That’s entirely what this six-week challenge is about: momentum. Stats Here are my current stats. Oh, and the doc measured my height back in April. Turns out I’m an inch taller than I thought I was. :-P My weight went up a bit right before surgery and has maintained there, so I’m actually right about the same spot I was at the end of the last challenge. Height—5 ft., 4.5 in. Weight—Starting, 161.6 lb. Neck—Starting, 12.75 in. Waist—Starting, 34 in. Hips—Starting, 41.75 in. Forearm—Starting, 8.85 in. Bicep—Starting, 11 in. Thigh—Starting, 23.75 in. Calf—Starting, 14.25 in. Roll on.