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Been away for awhile. Tried things that didn't work. Tried things that did, until life got in the way. Workshopped more stuff. Long story, longer story, long and complicated story. Here are my new/current goals. 1. Sleep more: 7+ hours. I need a decent bedtime so I can get decent sleep. I am currently writing this at 2:53 am, and that irony does not escape me. I work typical business hours. 2. Actually follow the workout plan. About a month ago, I came up with a workout plan that I think will finally work really well with my busy schedule. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Work Work Work Work Work Jujitsu (AM) Church “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ Cardio & Abs Resistance Jujitsu (PM) Life Group “ “ Cardio & Abs Resistance Quads & Chest *Cardio & Abs if time and energy “ “ Errands (Hams, Lats & Delts) I think this one will work better. Ideally I would like to do barbell training. But my current gym is a Planet Fitness, and they don't have barbells. I've tried to do my best to stimulate a barbell, but I just keep on hurting myself instead. So I'm going to just focus on muscle groups instead of particular lifts, until I can get a different gym environment. I'm also giving myself a lot of leeway on what type of sets I will do. At this point I don't care so much about a particular program like pyramids, 5/3/1, 5x5s etc., just the muscle groups. I also may switch out the Quads for extra Hams exercises depending on how my IT band is acting that week. 3. Water. 6+ glasses Water, water everywhere, but I'm still dehydrated. I always have water nearby, but for some reason I don't drink very much of it. And that leads to low energy, headaches, and dizziness for me; enough is enough.

Here's a little back story: So, after a little over a year of paying attention (paleo diet, exercise, etc), I have gone from 198 lbs, to 133 lbs. However, I have had many recent changes in my life, and my personal goals have fallen to the wayside. I still stay active, do my "best" to make healthy choices, and log my food every day. I have also put my health to the back burner, and have been more lax with my diet. A recent bout of depression and the fact that I ended up losing my workout partner have simply compounded this. I had been eating bread (gasps), and have recently started breaking out into a rash/hives, and feeling generally crumby. I know that I have lost a decent amount of muscle tone, and I want to work on this, as well as being more loving to my body than I am lazy. I have figured out how to stay "thin" without trying to hard. It's time for that to stop. I do best when I challenge myself. I also know that the last time that I participated in one of these challenges, I simply set too many goals. Even though I championed most, I fell behind in a few others and beat myself up about it pretty horribly. All that in mind, I am going to set a few reasonable goals to get myself back on track. I have decided to go with a points based system, logging each day, and updating this at least once a week to keep on track. I will also measure once every two weeks to see my progress, and weigh at the beginning and end of the challenge. Food Nom-worthy Gluten free, and at very least an 80/20 ratio of healthy to nonsense - 10pts/wk Keep within 200 calories of food goal a day (I have a tendency to go too far under) - 10pts/wk Keep logging food like a champ - 10pts/wk _____________________ Exercise Goal 1 - Build muscle tone (100 push ups/day by end of challenge): Push up goals Week 1 - Do 25 , 2X/day @ least 5 days/wk - 25 points Week 2 - Do 30, 2X/day, @ least 5 days/wk - 30 points Week 3 - Do 35, 2X/day, @ least 5 days/wk- 35 points Point of no return (more than I have ever done before Week 4 - Do 40,2X/day, @ least 5 days/wk - 40 points Week 5 - Do 45,2X/day, @ least 5 days/wk - 45 points Week 5 - Do 50,2X/day, @ least 5 days/wk - 100 points_____________________ Goal 2 - Strengthen Core: Core Goals Week 1 - Plank 1X/day and post time - 15pts15 situps with 10 lb kettle bell - 15pts Week 2 - Plank 2X/day and post time - 15pts20 situps with 10 lb kettle bell - 15pts Week 3 - Plank 3X/day and time - post best time - 15pts25 situps with 10 lb kettle bell - 15pts Week 4 - Plank 4X/day - post best time - 15pts30 situps with 10 lb kettle bell - 15pts Week 5 - Plank 5X/day and time - post best time - 15pts35 situps with 10 lb kettle bell - 15pts Week 6 - Plank 6X/day and time - post best time - 15pts40 situps with 10 lb kettle bell - 15pts_____________________ Mind Goal 3 - Self Love:Flexibility Try a new yoga pose for meditation every week and post - 20 pts/wk _____________________ Rest Get at least 6 hours of sleep a night - + 5 bonus pts/day (this might be my biggest weakness, so I'm going to give myself more leniency, and chances for points... I get up crazy early, and am terrible about going to bed)_____________________ Scoring: 390 pts & Up- CELEBRATE YOUR BADASSEDNESS320-380 pts - CHAMPION250-310 pts - APPRENTICE>250 pts - QUITTER So after the first week, it would appear that I need to make some changes to my goals, as I am much more weak, and more out of shape than I would like to admit. I am modifying my goals to do this routine 5 days/wk instead of 6, as I need more time for my puny muscles to recover. I also need to modify the ammt of pushups I will be doing, as it appears I am farther behind on this than I would like to be. Make no mistake, I am still going to push towards 100/day by the end of this challenge, but initially, I am going to have to baby step this >_< Let's start off with my progress to date: ​​Week 1 YOGA POSE FOR THE WEEK: BRIDGE POSE DAY 1 (MON PM)2X 25 PU Tot PU= 502X 15 SU W KB39 SEC PLANK1X 15 LR, 1X 12LR1X 10 SQ, 1X 2 SQ W KBPOST HR = 98Pro: 104 cal under, 14% CarbsCon: Smoked 1 cig, 16 oz Coke Zero DAY 2 (TUES - PM)1X 14 PU, 1X 6 PU, 1X 5 PU1X 15 PU, 1X 6 PU, 1X 3 PU (To failure) Tot PU: 491X 16 SU, 1X 21 SU W KB30 SEC PLANK1X 15 LR, 1X 9 LR2X 15 SQ W KBPost HR: 98Pro: 116 cal under, 20% CarbsCon: 20 oz Diet Sunkist DAY 3 (WEDS)1X 15 PU, 3X 10 PU, 1X 5 PU(To failure) Tot PU: 502X 16 SU W KB53 SEC PLANK2X 10 LR2X 12 SQ W KBPost HR = 112(No pauses during circuits)Pro: 42 cal under, 14% CarbsCon: Smoked 2 cigs, 12 oz Coke ZeroBonus: Found allergen free low carb cookies for work munchies... Woot! DAY 4 (THURS)Day off to prevent injury (listen to your mother)Resting HR = 74Pro: 94 cal under, 17% carbsCon: 6ish oz Coke Zero, Fatigued​​ DAY 5 (FRI)Day off... SickResting HR = 85​​Pro: 16% carbsCon: Smoked 3 cigarettes, Sick (UTI) DAY 6 (SAT) - REST - FEVER33 SEC PLANK DAY 7 (SUN) - REST - FEVER30 SEC PLANK WEEK 2 DAY 8 (MON PM)2X 25 PU Tot PU= 502X 25 SU W KB39 SEC PLANK1X 20 LR, 1X 12LR2X 20 S W KBPOST HR = 128Pro: 96cal under, 20% CarbsCon: Smoked 2 cigs, 20 oz Monster Blue This week's score: (I am also giving myself 15 pts for pushups and sit-ups, as I did my very best and listened to my fitness obsessed mom and resting when I was really sick to avoid injury and allow myself to get better) Exercise = 30 pts Yoga = 20pts Sleep = 20 pts (Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun) This week's score = 70points I have decided that my emphasis is going to be consitency, and not how much I can do. I know at this point that the hardest part for me is getting started. While I did need to take at least two days off this past week in order to get better from a UTI and to let my muscles heal, I didn't necessarily even mean to take 3 off. The simple truth is, that while it may have benefited me in the long run, I recognize that this means that my routine is far from a habit. What I am going to strive for is creating this habit. I have decided to add 10 extra bonus points for each day that I get up early and work out in the morning before work. This is something that I have been "meaning to do" for a long time. However, as this means getting up at 5 when it's cold outside, I have been dragging my feet. My new goal for this week is to get up and do this in the morning, as I tend to have better workouts, and to establish this as a new habit.Whatever I cannot complete of my workout in the morning, I will be doing in the evening. Hopefully this will help me improve more quickly, and I will be better able to meet my original goals.