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Do any of you add non-paleo carbss to your post-workout meal to help with recovery? Loren Cordain recommends it for very long, intense workouts in "The Paleo Diet for Athletes", but after weight-training for an hour to an hour and a half I usually find that I feel fine and am getting excellent gains using bananas and maybe some raw honey (in other words, small amounts of high-sugar but technically paleo foods) to my post-workout meal. What about periodic carb re-feeds? What foods? How often do you "re-feed"? Aimee

I'm starting this out and I'm going to start talking here. I've attempted to start an accountabilibuddies thread but that did not seem to work out so well. So I think I'm going to just get all my thoughts, work out feats, defeats, and all around daily struggles here. Be prepared for what might come because my mind tends to really scatter. But I think this will be a new and very well needed adventure. I welcome all beneficial criticism/comments/concerns. Optimism encouraged. Negativity left at the door. If you have questions about me, look me up and check out my current challenge. Or my accountabilibuddies page pretty much is a good explanation of myself. I don't feel like typing much about myself. Basically because it's 11 pm. Ugh. Gotta get to sleep. first thing is first.... some numbers: 7/30/13: BF% of 29.78 8/13/13 BF% 29.4 I'm slightly on target with my goal. However, I think I gotta kick it into high gear. What do yall think? I think I'm gonna look up my macros after reading some threads. I've always attempted to do a food journal but have never followed through. I think it's finally time to really commit. Any tips on how? I know to use MyFitnessPal. I guess just eat the same things all the time that way I just have to put in the same things and not have to worry about measuring things out. Macros found.... Calories: 1740 Carbs per day: 208 g Protein per day: 100.1 g Fat per day: 56.4 g Fiber per day: 28-35 g Calories per meal: 580 Carbs per meal: 69.3 g Protein per meal: 33.4 g Fat per meal: 18.8 g Fiber per meal: 9-12 g

This, after being a fan of Nerd Fitness and reading all of the blog posts, is my FIRST CHALLENGE! And it couldn't have come at a better time. This is also my first post! I can't wait to get to know everyone in the boards! So, about 8 months ago, my family (no, just me and 1 out of 2 daughters) kicked sugar....poof, no longer a problem. Started counting carbs...I maybe lost a total of 8 lbs in 2 months of logging every bit of food that entered my mouth? I had even been seen pealing the toppings off of pizza and putting it on a lettuce wrap, no lie! The girls nutritionist told me that I had a parasite in my gut and things weren't going to happen until I cleaned things up. Enter 10 day juice fast followed by a Paleo diet, which I discovered researching low carb recipes. The weight couldn't stop coming off! As of the end of June I had lost a total of 40 lbs! Let's just say that has slowed down a bit. On Mother's Day our family experienced an incredibly horrific hit from within which has changed all of our lived from there on out. After 17 years and 2 wonderful daughters with a man I met when I was 20, I am single again and living on my own with only 1 of my 2 daughters. (Challenges 1, 2, 3.....) My job works within the corrections system, however not in a corrections setting. You couldn't tell it by me these days. My anxiety, which seemed to have been gone when I kicked caffein a couple years ago, is raging daily. I quit smoking (aaaaaggghhhhrrrrhhhhggghhh!!!!!) which has been great.....intermingle daughter who is not with me hating me periodically and siding with the antagonist in the scenario, older daughter (who "was" a lesbian) having a boyfriend who is really respectful because he doesn't bring his pot and smoke it around her since she doesn't like drugs, but he WILL snort a Xanex in the bathroom while they are at the mall.... My routine has been a bit off. My will has waned. My focus, a little to the left. Even though it still tastes like crap, I have seen McDonald's more in the past 2 months than I care to admit. And the scale tells the tale.... SO, my Main Goal: Lose weight, gain muscle, routinely walk/run 3-5 days a week at least 4 miles at a time. 3 tangible challenges: 1. Track weight lifting progress each week 2. Run at least 1 mile of the 4 mile circuit 3. Use my lunch hour to work out in building gym at least 3 days a week I am Fighting For: ME!! I own my life, my body, my sanity, and all that holds those things together, and they are more valuable than other's drama and mania. I fight for my resolve. My focus. My control. My life, health, future. Me. I have lost 40 lbs, and have a lot more fat to lose. I went down 2 pant sizes, I could definitely go down another one! Haven't been a 16 since I was 20....maybe 21? I just turned 37 and have HUGE plans for my 40's! I have lot's of Cougar-ing to git to! I'm in.

Hi there! I'm Paradigm! Or really, that's what they call me around here. And by they I mean... me. This is my second quest for six weeks! I'm honestly surprised I managed it the first time and even more surprised that I am jumping on the band wagon to go at this a second time. I have a bit of a hard past and I detailed it all in my first challenge. But I'm in a better place now and I am moving forward and working on what I consider to be the last step in my journey to a better life.... Feeling comfortable in my skin. My Main Quest: Well, I have the same goal but really two quests. I am training to go to Tough Mudder 2014 in Manchester, UK. I have a lot of friends counting on me now as we reserved our spot and our name for the team! Along with that, I am looking to get in amazing shape for my future wedding. It is a bit further off, in 2015. But I hope to achieve my weight loss goals before the end of 2013 anyways so the rest will be toning, working on muscle building and just improving. So... to clarify... My main quest is to be able to fit in to my jeans, my favourite jeans from when I was 18. The Holy Trinity (Three goals): 1) Do a workout 3 times a week with weights and 5 days a week with cardio.( +2 STR + 3 CON if recieve a grade B or higher) I have had a hard time with this in the past as I always get so caught up in work that I don't make the time for me. So I am making this more of a focus for me during this challenge. This is my number one priority. 2) Convert to ONLY organic, grass fed meats and only locally grown/sourced sustainable produce (+1 CHA +1 WIS + 1 DEX if receive grade B or higher) (some exceptions will be made out of necessity). I would like to have it so only one meal a week will be non-paleo by the end of the 6 weeks. I've had a hard time, with our travelling, keeping up with the types of meals I'd like to eat. Not the eating, I'm consistently eating now, but I'm not eating the type of stuff I want. So wherever we are, I'm making it a priority to eat like I should. 3) Reduce my waist by another 2" (+4 STR +2 DEX + 2 STA + 1 WIS on grade B or higher) I had huge success in the last challenge, but I still have a long way to go. So I'm hoping to lose another 2" off my waist by the end of this challenge. I will be keeping track of all my stats, but this is my measurement point for the goal. My goal is a 30" hip as I feel comfortable with that. But that will take more than 6 weeks, so I think that will be for next time. Side Quest: My life related side quest is to get my bank balance 5k into the positive before the end of the 6 weeks. This will be particularily hard as we have a lot of outgoing expenses in the next little bit... For instance, we have to pay for a year long rental. We have to pay for our new sales people we hired during the last challenge. We need to register my fiance (omg I get to say that now!) for his permanent residency here, we need to get marriage licenses (expensive, surprisingly), we also need to shell out the holding fees for our places we're getting married and start planning. So there is a lot to go out and we need to make sure we have a comfortable balance starting to build. My Motivation: I already hinted at it... But I've had a rough time in life. Not all bad or anything but I have been through a lot, especially over the last few years. I now have a business, which is my dream. I'm working on a video game with some friends which is going to launch soon, another dream. I'm getting married to an man who makes my past seem like it was all worth it just so I found him. Now my motivation is to feel comfortable in my skin. I feel like I am not the person I want to be, despite all my changes because I don't feel comfortable with how I look. I have always had a hard time realizing that I am better than I think I am, because even when I was skinny as hell I thought I was fat. So it's why it's not necessarily a weight goal but a comfortable in my skin. I want to feel good about myself and I want to look absolutely f'in killer at my wedding! (I'll stop mentioning it soon it's still just very exciting to me lol)

I read Speezy's story last night and I am a very similar to her story minus the smoking. I am 4'11 inches and have been working out for the past month. I have gone from 178 pound to 171 pounds. I keep fluctuating back and forth between 171 and 173. I have been doing cardio on the elliptical and eating much healthier, but I feel like I should be loosing more weight and looking more toned by now. Even though I have lost the weight I do not look it. I have four kids and I want my pre-baby body back or as close as I can get. How do I get started in weight lifting? I lifted in high school, but i remember nothing of what I did. Any help would be appreciated.

hello all! heres an overview of what i bring to the table, where i've been, and where im hoping to go. Nerdiness: Im a voracious reader. i play video games on my ps3. i play board games and card games. im a lab analyst. and i have a mildly embarrassing obsession with disney movies, animations, manga, firefly, ect. and i enjoy singing really loudly in the car. "Athletic" history: i taught swimming lessons for 7 years, and took a year of that to figure out how to swim butterfly without looking like i was drowning (the indicator being that lifeguards stopped asking if i was okay....or if i needed help. just kidding. most of my peers just sat on the edge and chuckled. always glad to be of entertainment.). i was a powerlifter in High school, enjoying deadlift the most. at my best- i could deadlift 215lbs. after reading born to run a year or so ago- i became a runner. i enjoyed 5k's for quite some time until i inexplicably hurt my left foot. no really- no idea what happened. could be a stress fracture. could be a tendon. could be aliens. x ray showed nothing. so...with instructions to baby my foot *humph* i thought i'd try body weight exercises and weight lifting. i also played coed roller hockey, soccer and such like but nothing really fit until swimming. Battle Strategy: i initially planned on working out in the morning so that i wasnt able to just sit on my butt afterwards. however, i recently purchased a new bed and its the most comfortable cloud....er - bed ive ever slept on. getting up earlier than absolutely necessary is now much more difficult. i swear- gravity increased. i stand all day at work (and essentially run around like a chicken with my head cut off) and when i get back home im tired. i also bike to and from work the days weather permits. lurking around the site here, i discovered the basic body weight exercises. i'm going to work that as a circuit. and during my stretches- im going to work on being able to do the splits. (since it really only adds 4 mins to the stretch time im not overly worried about this) i planned on viewing the NF vids for proper form on lifting so that i dont injure myself. its been awhile since high school power lifting and i cant promise that i remember how to do it correctly. Any advice? Strategies? good books to read? =) see you on the interwebs...

I'm new to all of this, but here goes! Starting an accountability group! Team LEVEL UP is for peeps who have lost weight, or have weight to lose and are ready to take this challenge to the next level. LEVEL UP PEEPS! I'm Strongmama and I have lost 180 lbs. I still have some more to lose, but my focus is eating clean and training mean. If/when I lose more pounds, it will be great, but the number on the scale is not my primary focus. I want the numbers on my dumb-bells to go UP! Here are my before and current pics. Feel free to post pics, so at the end of challenge, you'll have a good comparison! Let's DO THIS. LEVEL UP!

I participated in my first challenge last time, and now I'm back for more! Goals: 1. Do a pull up! This is a continuation from last challenge since I didn't quite make it. However, now I'm working with a powerlifting club on campus, and they have me doing lots of stuff to strengthen my back, so I think this will help. I'm going to try to really focus on this one. 2. Drop body fat As the title suggests, I'm experimenting with a ketogenic diet. I'm not being super crazy about this, but I am giving up fruit except for one day a week. I'm not going to monitor myself really closely on vegetable consumption to try to hit an exact amount of carbs each day. I will be well under 100 g, and I think giving up fruit and all the sugar and carbs that come with them SHOULD cause me to lose fat faster. Not going to be super upset if I don't see some kind of super drastic change. I really am happy with the way I look, but I was curious to see what ketosis would do for me. My current BFP is about 22%. 3. Stop lying around in bed for 2 hours after my alarm goes off This is a terrible habit I've developed. In my research lab, I make my own hours, so there is no one telling me to come in at a certain time. HOWEVER, it would be nice to get in there early so I can leave earlier. But my bed is seriously so comfortable. I want to get back in the habit of getting out of bed once my alarm goes off. 4. Make strides toward entering a powerlifting competition I really, really want to compete. Like I mentioned earlier, I've started working with the powerlifting club here at OSU. They are super friendly people and are totally willing to help get you into competition shape. I just need to look in to finding a good meet to enter and how to register. I'm not sure how far in advance you need to register for them, but if I happen to do that before the end of this challenge, I will give myself an A. Let's do this thing.

Wow, two pages worth of monk topics, and your guild leader didn't even show up. Wow, guys, I dropped the ball. Sorry for that. So, life done gone became a hurricane in the intervening period. Lease is coming up in August, and I've been trying to get into personal training in a big way. Animazement happened in my town, which led to me meeting up with some friends of mine from high school whom I hadn't seen in years. They didn't recognize me, which was a freaking fantastic validation of my efforts from the old days. Anyway, the war against myself continues. The program I'm following to develop the physique is a combination of four programs. I am following the first, to some mixed success. It's ostensibly an insulin resetting protocol, which just means it's about burning fat. I've had some good results, but it relies on adhering to a very strict low-carb plan to start with, and between the con and some low willpower on the weekends, it's not always easy to do what I need to do. Still, I refuse to be defeated. My dalliances tend to be larger meals rather than day-long binges, so it's not unbearable. Might even be a good fit-in, who knows. Oof. I'm writing this too early in the morning. Let's get some challenges up, shall we? Goal 1: Prime, Adapt Workouts Currently doing the workouts and following the diet advice of Engineering the Alpha, by John Romaniello. Man is good. Workouts are good. I'm seeing definition in my arms that I never thought I'd see, and when I find myself at the limits of what my gym can do for me, I find new ways to challenge myself. Anyway, I will be posting the workouts here to keep myself accountable. 4 workouts per week; I'll go ahead and post the numbers and the notes here for everyone to see. Graded out of 24. +2 STR, +2 STA Goal 2: STICK TO THE DAMN DIETARY DIRECTIONS Right. So, this is a comprehensive program, with very specific directions about the macros and the like. I'll go ahead and post them up each week, and I will let you know if I blow it. Interestingly, cheat days are not permitted for the first two weeks of this challenge; then, the program shifts, and they are allowed again. Graded out of a possible 42. +2 CON, +2 WIS Goal 3: 6 Minute Superman So, I've been fooling around with warm-ups and the like. The newest name that's come out is Dan Go, who basically took the myofacial release protocols from MWOD and created a mobility system for warming-up with them. I intend to follow these protocols with each workout. I should have no excuses, given that I have a lacrosse ball and six minutes before each workout. Graded out of a possible 24. +3 STA, +1 CON LIFE GOAL: GET LIFE SORTED Despite my goal of being a better writer, I have more problems to solve at the moment. My lease is up in August, and I need to get into a better-paying job if I have any intention of staying here in Raleigh. Some things are moving here that make me hopeful; my goal is to have them solidified before these six weeks are done. This will be graded as a Pass/Fail, with room for half credit if only one of the two objectives is accomplished. +2 CHA, +1 WIS Get all this sorted, and one day I will be free to go play in the dojo again. But let's just focus on winning these next 6 weeks, shall we?

Hey all, First 6 week challenge here at nerd fitness, and I am looking to get stronger. That's what Warriors are all about right? Currently I have been following the Nerd Fitness Strength guide loosely, and have ben doing that for a few months. It was great to get back up to previous highs and surpass them, but I know more is possible. So with that in mind I want to be able to accomplish the following. Lifting Goals: 1. Back Squat 300lbs - Current is 245lbs 2. Deadlift 300lbs - Current is 245lbs (Limiting factor is my grip) 3. Bench 225lbs - Current is 155lbs Life Goal: 4. Read a book (not associated with work) at least 30 minutes a day. I'm hoping to continue with the Strength guide, but will also be looking into more lifting techniques to enhance certain areas that I am weaker in. Looking to lift heavy 3-4 times a week, possibly add another 1-2 days of peripheral mucles to help stability. Reading is easy, I love reading. I just havent been reading any good stuff, and I have a backlog of stuff to read. Time to commit and put a dent in it! Any good tips on improving grip strength? Best of luck to all!

Ok so I am doing weight lifting at home with my cheesy 8 lb weights. I want to upgrade to bigger/better ones, but what is a brand/style that fits well. Also what lbs do you guys recommend to get. I am new to this "at home" workout. I usually just go to the gym but honestly those machines do nothing for me. I am about 2 weeks in to doing it, I am 5' 1 1/2" if this info is needed. Thanks in advance!

I'm feeling a lot less like a noob now, but I do have a very important question I wanted to ask of you more experienced and lovely people. On days when I don't go to the gym, I make do with what I have at home. I do body weight squats, push ups, planks, and things like that. I can't do incline pull ups because of my right hand (flexor tendinitis, had surgery twice), but I do make sure to do assisted pull ups at the gym where the machine has a much better grip on it. At home, my heaviest dumbbell is 10 lbs (in the past I never got much farther past needing it), and already I'm able to tell that it's getting to be too light and I only get a benefit with adding reps and/or sets. My question is this: I'm going to be adding another gym day and was wondering if instead of the usual 3x15 I feel anything from with the 10 lb weights, would it be advisable to switch to the 5x5 with 20 lb weights for my rows and curls? On a positive note, before I could only do 5 second planks, but now I'm up to 10 on a bad day and 15 on a good day and about ready to get rid of the ball for my push ups.

My last challenge was an epic fail. So I modified my goals a bit and I'm going again. TAKE TWO I lost some pounds during the first challenge but now I'm back to where I was. I'm not too disappointed with that, but I'd like to look a bit better for summer. Lookie, I attached pics! Height: 5'5" Weight: 134 body fat %: 25%? Underbust: 33" High Waist: 30.5" Low waist: 35" Hips: 36" Fitness Goal 1: Stick to Weight Watchers for the next 6 weeks. NO skipping days. Target of 24 points a day. My ultimate goal is to count every point every day, even if I didn't make the target points. Recently I've reduced my calories for breakfast. I skip the cereal and have an egg or yogurt and half a piece of fruit. Tho if I'm out of eggs and yogurt, I get the Kashi cereal out. I'm going to revive the Excel sheet that automatically calculates my points that I made last round. (4 CON ) Fitness Goal 2 Water 130 lb./2 = oz Drink 66 oz of water a day. I have 22 oz bottle that I used extensively during the first challenge and it has become habit to drink from it all day and continually refill it from the tap. Most days it has been easy to drink 2 bottles of water and sometimes 3, so this time we'll make it a daily goal, since I'm not 100% on this. This really helps suppress my appetite. Added this time - one soda a day (mostly will be Coke Zero, but I tend to allow myself a real coke on Saturday) (2 CON) Fitness Goal 3: 3/7 x 1/3 hr workouts This is probably the one I am going to fail. During the first challenge I tried to do workouts 5 days a week, which started out good, but petered out quickly. So 20 minute workouts 3 days a week of some kind, which will include lifting some weights. (3 STA + 2 STR) Life goal level up 2^n BERZERKER Cleaning Cleaning time directly after work. Taking a tip from zenhabits.com and building up a habit of cleaning. This week, I'm turning on the kitchen timer for 2 minutes and being a whirlwind of productivity, next week will be 8 minutes, then 16. I don't know if I'll need to go to 32, that sounds like a long time devoted to cleaning. We'll se where it goes after 16. If I maintain 16 min. daily then that is a success. Last time this failed b/c the BF cleaned the apt so thoroughly that I had no idea what I should clean and thus did not establish a habit. (4 CHA)

This is my fourth challenge, and I seem to be at a plateau. No weight loss, no significant gains in strength, and, most importantly, no further progress on getting into those shorts. And, it’s a really, really busy time of year and I have lots of stuff I need to get done. Most of which I have been avoiding the last few months. So. It’s time to kick things up a notch. Make some reach-for-it goals and get myself going again. I have 2 main goals for these 6 weeks: get into those shorts at long last dang it, and get sh!t done. I’m taking a cue from Chanda and using some nesting sub-goals that should push me towards the big ones. Here’s how I’m going to do it: Goal 1: Exercise. Weights: Nerd Fitness Barbell Battalion Rank 1B Workout. That’s lifting 4 times a week. I’ll be adding weight slowly to avoid injury. 24 possible points. A=24 points. B=22 points. C=20 points, D=18 points. I actually started this last week, and am supposed to take off every 6 weeks, so I’m giving myself 4 points to start. +2 STR, +1 DEXPark in the far lot 2x/week minimum – 12 points. A=12+, B=11, C=10, D=9. +1 STAGet in an “extra†walk (after dinner, weekend hike, etc) 3x/week minimum. 18 points. A=18+, B=16, C=14, D=12. +1 STAGoal 2: Mind the Diet The first two weeks of the challenge will be back to “induction†mode: <30g (net) carbohydrates per day. No grains, no sugar, no legumes, minimal dairy, minimal fruit and nuts. Veggies and meat, meat and veggies (and eggs). Hubby and I did this back in August. It helped. 14 days. 14 days=A, 13=B, 12=C, 11=D CONI will keep daily calories under 1800. 42 days. 40+=A, 38=B, 36=C, 34=D. +2 WIS +1 CONI will use a food-logging app (MyNetDiary) for everything I put in my mouth this 6 weeks to make sure I meet the other 2 goals. I hate measuring and keeping track of what I eat, but I find that I need to recalibrate my idea of what a serving size is a couple of times a year. It’s been over 6 months since I’ve logged regularly, so it’s time again. 42 days. 40+=A, 38=B, 36=C, 34=D. +2 WISGoal 3: Get Sh!t Done. Finish the Coursera class, do the required reading, lectures, tests and quizzes. Class finishes May 6. Finish the Woot! project and submit it to the AQI (by May 1) Finish the Plum Blossom Venn project (by May 27) Clean out shed (by April 28) Mulch garden paths (by May 5) Finish prepping garden beds (by May 10) Finish planting garden (by May 11) Cut back forsythia/red tip bushes (by May 27) Contact the retirement plan people from an old employer and make sure I’m still on their books (by May 1) Plan/execute younger daughter’s birthday party (by May 27) Plan summer trip (by May 15) Clear out closet (by May 6)That’s 12 items. 10+ done=A; 8 done=B, 6=C, 4=D. +3 CHA, +1 WIS, +1 DEX I probably won't be on the boards much, but I'll try to keep up with some of you anyway and participate in the guild challenges.

Here we go again! Same old shit again! Marching down the avenue! 6 more weeks and I'll be through! Goals: - 2 miles 5x week - Push up drills 3x week (100 Push Ups program, Android) - Drop 10 lbs Additional: Every day that's warm enough and nice enough, I will spend approximately 30 minutes soaking up the sun with a good book. Edited to add: I'm not posting this in the Ranger 6 Week Challenge forum, because I don't anticipate being able to really follow the Challenge during this time.

Name: Kingclumsy Class: Ranger Strength (STR) - 2 Dexterity (DEX) - 1 A ranger without dexterity? Its in the name. I'm clumsy, I'm awkward Stamina (STA) - 3 Given enough focus, no power in the universe can stop me... hopefully. Constitution (CON) - 3 Wisdom (WIS) - 2 I'm smart? Yes. I'm wise? No Charisma (CHA) - 4 I set myself these tasks over the next six weeks. Fitness Goals Skate Like the Wind: I'm not ashamed to say I've fallen in love with the sport of Roller Derby. I started their last frsh meat back in february but stopped due to lack of confidence and a fractured rib (mostly the latter) their next intake will probably be not long after this challenge finishes and I really want to take part with the eventual aim of being a referee. I suck royally at skating but absolutely love it. Currently the only place to skate is outdoors so I've purchased outdoor wheels. My Goal: 24 Hours of total Skate time over 6 weeks. Even if for fifteen minutes, it all helps. (weather permitting) (+3 STA, +1Str) Start with myself and the world will follow hart what I eat: Using Myfitnesspal . keep track of what I eat. aim for 100g of protein a day (especially on excercise days) and to hit the correct no. of calories (+2 Wisdom +1Constitution) Go to the Gym twice a week: This is a minimum. If the weather sucks and I cannot skate, I should go more often. I walk past it on the way home from work, I have no reason not to. +2 STR, +1 WIS Derby Stance!: If there is one excercise that helps me skate, its squats. So I've set myself the challenge of squatting 70kilos for five reps by the end of the challenge. I can currentl comfortably squat 50kg so this isn't too much of a challenge. +3STR Life Goals: Keep the House tidier: Clean up after myself around the house, simple enough. +2 WIS. I'll need help for this, this is my fourth attempt. follow me on twitter @king_clumsy and if you're on myfitnesspal I'm kingclumsy. Onwarrrrdd!

Hi all, I need some advice in what seems to be an ideal bodyfat percentage for a female/ how I can drop a few % points. I'm 29, 125 pounds and completely stuck at 21.5% bodyfat. No matter what, I can't seem to drop below this and I'd like to lean out more. I've been stuck here for 9 months at least. I crossfit around 4 times a week and also do strength training on those days as well. Walk 7000 steps+/ day. I eat 90-95% paleo. 50% fat/30% protein/20% carbs (carbs all from fruit, veg and sweet potato.) I try to keep my fruit consumption fairly low, sticking with green apples and berries when I do. Try very hard to avoid starchy fruits like bananas and grapes. Only sugar consumption is a few tablespoons of honey/ week. What can I do!?!

Accountability time! I recently had my 39th b-day. About a week prior I weighed myself and was the heaviest I have ever been. I am determined to be fit by my 40th b-day and as a reward will treat myself to a beach holiday where I can wear a new, sexy, bikini! Starting stats (4 Feb) Weight: 201.5 Waist 1: 44.75 Waist 2: 40.25 R Calf: 16.5 L Calf: 16.5 R Thigh: 26.5 L Thigh: 26.75 Hips: 45 Chest 1: 40 Chest 2: 45.5 R Bicep: 13 L Bicep: 13 Shoulders: 47 Total Inches: 374.75 Current Stats (5 March) Weight: 198.5 (as of 22 Feb) Waist 1: 43.5 Waist 2: 40 R Calf: 15.75 L Calf: 15.5 R Thigh: 26.75 L Thigh: 25.75 Hips: 44 Chest 1: 39.5 Chest 2: 44.5 R Bicep: 12.5 L Bicep: 12.75 Shoulders: 46.5 Total Inches: 367 Inches lost to date: 7.75 Goals: Keep diet clean with no more than 3 meals out a week and only 1 cheat a week Finish the NROL4W program Starting tomorrow I will be logging my food and fitness here and I will measure myself weekly. I don't have a scale so I am not worried about weight at this point (though I am part of a weight loss challenge with a friend so will have to locate one by the end of June. ).

I started lifting weights again the other day. I have been benching the same amount for 2 weeks now, and instead of it getting easier (which I expected) it seems to be getting harder? Thoughts? Eiric S

On my last challenge, I learned just how dependent I am upon keeping my carbs low and fat high. So, with that in mind: Physical Challenges: Stick with a high fat, low carb diet. Low carb is defined as under 80 grams of carbs a day. I can lose weight keeping it under 100, but I feel better if it is under 80, since I am not a competition athlete. Control my sweet tooth. I have a tendency to dive face first into the M&Ms when I get home from work. I will use techniques from The Power of Habits to help me understand and eliminate this habit. Doing this will be essential to getting item 1. Get back on a regular weight workout schedule. My weight lifting has been sporadic lately. I have managed to get barely enough in, but I really need to get back to a schedule. The plan is: Body weight workout on Monday (pushups, pullups, planks, squats) Gym weight workout on Thursday (all major muscle groups to exhaustion - using Slow Burn method) Rotator cuff exercises on Tuesday and Friday Mental Challenge: I just read Matthew Kelly's book Off Balance, which delineates a specific method for attaining higher personal satisfaction. I will give it a try. By the end of the six weeks, I should have both an assessment of my current situation, and a plan to make it better, including a increase in my personal planning to include the important things. I get bogged down with "urgent" things too often. I need to prioritize them correctly so I can get things done which need to get done in a more efficient manner.