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As I stated in my Battle Log, there is nothing quite like a little time with the folks and a new year to put some gas on the fire of lifestyle change!!!! I will be adding more headspace type challenges later in the year to that end. I am processing so much right now I couldn't even put together my thoughts in time for the challenge. There is much I want to address in that arena. Exercise and diet first though... I've discovered in my time here that I cannot jump into things with the vigor I would like. I am more prone to injury and over-doing for whatever reason, perhaps the mystery of autoimmune disease, who knows, doesn't matter. Fall is usually my favorite season, but this year was rough. I felt weak and achy and just blech, sad, weepy, ugh. I'd spent months complaining and moaning and generally acting like a victim of my circumstances. I was no fun for anyone including myself. Around my birthday in November, I decided to get some more medical help. Things weren't right and I sort of knew it. Very long story made short, it seems likely that my thyroid stuff (I essentially have no thyroid due to radiation) has been poorly managed for years and years. I had all the symptoms and complications of being long-term overmedicated and likely teetering into some dangerous territory with heart and blood sugar issues not to mention further complicating all the hormone situation. I felt better within a week to two of the change. Finding a good, caring, listening endocrinologist is like finding a pot of gold. I am very blessed. I was also entirely fed up with my lack of doing anything physical other than walking for months and months on end. It was time for some real reflection about how exercise works and doesn't work for me. After thinking about my needs and goals, it was pretty clear that weight training was the absolute right answer for me. Unfortunately, the gyms around here are surprisingly either not equipped well for that or beyond my budget. I went to every gym in the city within reasonable distance. So much sadz. My husband had been trying to help and finally just decided we'd invest some time and money in a home gym in the basement. That man is gold, I tell ya. GOLD. So, a couple of weekends and... I started a pre-made program called Strong Curves in early December. So far, so good. I did have a jigsaw puzzle/snow shoveling injury ( @T2sarahconnor) and unplanned Florida getaway that set me back a week or so. The timing was actually pretty good since the vacation forced me to rest my back and I'm feeling ready to get at it. OK, enough with the update/novel... The Basement: I'm doing Strong Curves 3 days per week, M/W/F. The programming changes at week 5 and week 8. Since I went on rest mid week 4, I am doing the last workout for week 3 today and starting the challenge on Monday with Week 4. Programming will change a bit mid challenge. I am being quite cautious with increasing weights. I read a great article about exercise and autoimmune disease that makes me think slow and steady is probably the right way for me for long-term success. I am likely more prone to tendinous injury and strain. Success = 10 workouts before end of challenge. The Garden: Eat more veggies. Yeah, this is not so measurable, but my criteria for success here is to come up with a few new veggie based meals or sides to incorporate into our routine. We tend to eat a lot of the same meals over and over and not enough of them include veggies. Success = find and try 4 new recipes this challenge, particularly one that will work as a make-ahead lunch option for me. The Kitchen: Figure out a way to get more protein. This is such a struggle. I am tracking my food a bit this challenge. I don't need total compliance on this one, but I really need to find a way to sustainably get more protein in my diet. I tend to obsess when I track, so I'll be walking the line a bit with this one. However, I've found that when I tracked here and there, I am a bit underfed most of the time and usually abysmally low on protein. Make steps to rectify this. Success = getting close to 100g per day in a sustainable way by the end of challenge. The Living Room: Make a house a home. We've mass decluttered over the last 2 years and now it's time to home-it-up a bit. There is still some decluttering to happen. I imagine there always will be. The house needs a good thorough cleaning in week 1 and I'd like to make some effort in weeks 2, 3, and 4 to reestablish some aesthetic improvements. Replacing some worn cushions, adding some candles to burn, or things like that. New towels and pillows are also on the short list. Success = clean and at least 2 additions Along with all that, I have non-goal goals of using my bullet journal more and better, listening to more music at home, meditating a bit more often, and maybe some yoga when the mood strikes. I really want to build from a strong foundation this year and thats why I'm starting with the core of fitness and diet this challenge. I hope I can find some success in my challenges this year that was lacking last year and really build into more and more sustainable lifestyle changes and refine my headspace a bit too.

Goal: Get stronger! I was wildly successful in my last challenge. I want to continue that trend. What things make someone stronger/make a warrior? More food More sleep More weights Goal #1 - Eat more food I want to get stronger so I need to eat to build muscle. I was previously eating at around 1600 calories to lose weight, now I'm shooting for around 2100 calories (though likely it'll be around 1900-2000). IIFYM says to do 50% carbs, 25% protein, 25% fats, but I might do something more like 30% protein, 30% fats, 40% carbs just because I like fats and I actually find it hard to eat just plain carbs without some kind of fat or protein involved. I think 2100 is kind of an upper limit and I doubt I'll hit it very often, that's a lot of food! Goal #2 - Sleep more! Lately I’ve been going to bed at like 11:30pm and getting up at 5:30am, that’s not nearly enough. I have a garmin vivofit that tracks my sleep, so I just need to actually use it. Shooting for at least 7 hours, which means ASLEEP by 10:30. I’d like to be in bed by 9:30 and then reading and relaxing to be ASLEEP by 10:30, hopefully earlier. Goal #3 - StrongCurves 3-4x a week I’ve had success with StrongCurves, so I’m just going to keep that up. So far I haven’t failed any lift or done any kind of roll of shame, so let’s keep that going! PR erryday. Side quest: Make time in your life for makeup! I LOVE watching makeup videos on youtube. It’s weird, don’t judge me. I’ve learned so much and recently unlocked the mystery of making my oily skin not look oily, even throughout a workday! I’ll try to post some products that I’m using but the goal is to wear makeup to work. Just for shits n' giggles, I will be keeping a Google Sheet of my lifts, mostly bench, OHP, deadlift, and maybe some others to keep track of my strength gains. All these ingredients SHOULD add up to increased strength, but will they? Stay tuned! EDIT: I downloaded the iPhone app called Strong and upgraded it ($4.99, grrr) so that I could keep track of my workouts digitally which means no more bringing a notebook to the gym. I will be exporting spreadsheets from that app to keep track of my gains.

Well, my original post got eaten when my firefox crashed so here's basically the tl;dnr version (aka, tl;did not want to type again I ended up typing a lot anyway) Goal 1 - Eat at 15% deficit of TDEE I want to get down to 155 lbs. I had been hovering around 170 but this morning weighed in at about 162, so this is very do-able! Looking for about 1 lb a week. How: Track my food in MFP. I eat the same breakfast every day so that's easy. Also track weight daily in MFP. I feel daily tracking gives me the best indicator of how I'm doing because what if I weight myself one week and I'm particularly dehydrated and then the next week I'm on my cycle so I'm all bloated, that's not giving me the whole picture. I'm not currently obsessing over the scale or the weight or like "omg I just ate a ton, I wonder how much I weigh now!" The scale is my friend, not my enemy, and I will use its accurate and objective readings to reach my goals. Why 155? That's my college weight, and at this point just kind of an arbitrary weight goal. After this cut, I want to bulk and gain muscle so I think 155 is a good starting point. Goal 2 - Bring yo mutha effin' lunch to work, yo Seriously. This is beneficial because I can eat exactly to my calorie goals AND if I eat the same thing for a few days it's easier to track in MFP. This makes two aspects of my life automated so I can focus on other shit, like finishing the Wheel of Time series and elbowing my fiance outta the way so I can play Destiny (I kid, I kid). Goal 3 - StrongCurves (aka Booty by Bret) 3x a week Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Bret Contreras. We'll never know. I actually do have an ample rump but it's not very useful. How do I know this? Because I injured my back in Sept 2014 and did extensive physical therapy which pretty much led to the conclusion that I have very little glute and ab activation which means my quads and back are doing most of the work. Bad times for back (no so bad for quadzilla). StrongCurves is particularly ideal for me because of its focus on glutes, it's 3x a week which is more than do-able for me and flexible in case work gets stoopid, it's strength-based to help me maintain muscle while cutting. Win-win-win!!