AriatikStarr hunkers down on habits

[AriatikStarr]

I’m going to do this right now, before I get swept away with my week and forget about it. 

 

Over the last year, I’ve been working on meal prep (and eating it), stretching more, and trying to maintain my outdoor activities. This year I’d like to really nail down these habits. With this, I ultimately want to work on cutting some excess weight. I don’t really know exactly where to put my goal, but I plan to chunk it out 10 pounds at a time to make it seem attainable. 

 

As far as life goals, I officially hit my first savings goal. My main focus in 2018 will be turned to paying off as much of my student loans as possible. 

 

I also would like to be conversational in Spanish, and keep reading through the books I have (it’s like meditation, so not necessarily for learning purposes). 

 

so for challenge #1

 

Fun story, I’m actually out of town starting January 31st until February 15th. 

 

Lifting:

lower the weight being used for Wendler’s and work on the Boring But Big program for added volume. For this challenge, I’m just looking at completing 1 cycle. 

 

Stretching:

Make this part of the morning routine somehow, whether it’s after the gym or while coffee is brewing. Should be every day. Ideally I’ll also foam roll 2-3x per week.

 

Food:

No takeout at all. I’ll start here. January is cold so the threat of physically going out to eat is pretty low, but I’ll allow it on occasion for social purposes. 

 

Weight:

I’ll weigh in on my first Gym morning next week. From there, I’d like to lose 5+ pounds during this challenge. 

 

Duolingo:

30 minutes per day. 

 

Ive been enjoying reading and doing it regularly, but if I find that I haven’t in the first week I’ll adjust to add that goal as well. I just don’t want to get carried away. 

 

Same with bikes, although I suspect with walking dogs and the cold I won’t really have the capacity for a consistent 2 fun rides per week. 

 

 

 

 

[miss_marissa]

Great goals!!!

 

Congrats on hitting your savings goal too! I paid off my student loans Dec 31 2016 and it felt great!

[Gemma]

On 12/27/2017 at 7:50 PM, AriatikStarr said:

 

As far as life goals, I officially hit my first savings goal. My main focus in 2018 will be turned to paying off as much of my student loans as possible. 

 

 

Savings goal - Whoo Hoo!! Congratulations! 
 

Student loans - right there with you! This is also my #1 financial focus for 2018. 

 

[AriatikStarr]

Edit: I just looked up boring but big to see what I should be doing tonight and it specifically says not to use it if you’re dieting. I guess “cutting” is the same as “dieting” in that sense.

 

so I have no idea what I’m doing for lifting. New goal is to get there 3-4x per week? 

 

I’m so lost. Who tries to eat fewer calories than what they need? WHAT IS THIS?

[Blocky]

When I'm cutting, I find I can keep intensities fairly high, but my volume suffers from lack of energy, so I usually focus on maintaining strength in the powerlifts and then doing as many accessories as I can until my energy runs out... It's a tough one for sure...

[Grumble]

19 hours ago, AriatikStarr said:

Edit: I just looked up boring but big to see what I should be doing tonight and it specifically says not to use it if you’re dieting. I guess “cutting” is the same as “dieting” in that sense.

 

so I have no idea what I’m doing for lifting. New goal is to get there 3-4x per week? 

 

I’m so lost. Who tries to eat fewer calories than what they need? WHAT IS THIS?

 

I'm doing this! We can be lost together. Do you think they'll find us in sporting or home goods?

[AriatikStarr]

19 minutes ago, Grumble said:

 

I'm doing this! We can be lost together. Do you think they'll find us in sporting or home goods?

 

One of my unspoken New Years resolutions (now spoken) is to get better at baking by doing it once every week or two. It’s hard for me to start anything like that in January or February though, between house-sitting, moving in a new roommate, and traveling... but probably Home goods here.

 

mostly because I own a store’s worth of sporting goods. How many backpacks does one need? I just ordered another. 

[AriatikStarr]

Week 1ish:

 

lifting: 2/3. Locked myself out of the house Thursday and just wanted to sleep.

 

stretching: only twice, the days I lifted. My whole schedule this week was screwed up because some additional errands I had to run daily and frigid temperatures. Hoping to get back to morning workouts, and then morning stretches will make sense.

 

takeout: I did once, I don’t remember what my excuse was. I didn’t meal prep for some reason and have been eating odd stuff in the house. Goal is to prep Sunday and actually stick to it this week. 

 

weight: weighed myself Tuesday and was 3lbs heavier than before the holidays, however I’m also at the end of my menstrual cycle which tends to include some bloating. At any rate, trying to at least track all my food and I’m still often eating more than what I need to cut... I think. I’ll see when I weigh myself next week.

 

duolingo: 4/6 days done. 

 

This week was hectic and cold. Next week the only thing that may really throw me off is moving someone in on Saturday. Also there are new Airbnb guests upstairs this weekend through Tuesday and so far that has resulted in me losing sleep. Hoping not to start off the week this way (especially after finding out my Landlord has to go through a lengthy legal process to get it out of the building). 

 

[Deckard Gainz]

On 1/2/2018 at 7:03 PM, AriatikStarr said:

Edit: I just looked up boring but big to see what I should be doing tonight and it specifically says not to use it if you’re dieting. I guess “cutting” is the same as “dieting” in that sense.

 

 

I've read that generally high intensity > high volume on a cut. BBB works for that. I've also read the exact opposite, because the internet is a huge place full of really good and really bad ideas (but most things seem to suggest intensity over volume), so your mileage may vary. I'm kinda riding the middle with a powerbuilding program and a pretty light cut. It's slow, but it works. It probably wouldn't hurt to test the waters, see how well you can recover, and if it's overwhelming just change it up. 

[Grumble]

54 minutes ago, Deckard Gainz said:

 

I've read that generally high intensity > high volume on a cut. BBB works for that. I've also read the exact opposite, because the internet is a huge place full of really good and really bad ideas (but most things seem to suggest intensity over volume), so your mileage may vary. I'm kinda riding the middle with a powerbuilding program and a pretty light cut. It's slow, but it works. It probably wouldn't hurt to test the waters, see how well you can recover, and if it's overwhelming just change it up. 

 

BBB is good most the time, but if you're actually on a cut, be aware that you will not move as much weight as you think you can. Mostly because of caloric deficit and lowered rest times will not let your body move the same weight. But it will still work. 

 

Don't be afraid of volume though, it can definitely help. I tend to lean towards higher volume workouts when cutting, because they force me to move less weight.

[Deckard Gainz]

11 minutes ago, Grumble said:

Don't be afraid of volume though, it can definitely help. I tend to lean towards higher volume workouts when cutting, because they force me to move less weight.

 

I see a lot of anecdotal evidence like this to suggest that higher volume does work better for some folks. Most of the stuff I see advising against "high volume" is in reference to the super-high rep range bodybuilding/cardio lifting stuff, and I don't think that's what @Grumble is referring to. I think as long as you're going 50%+ in an appropriate range, and have a decent handle on what you're doing, and you're staying safe, it probably all works. I'm spending a lot of words to say "do whatever you think works best for you, and if it doesn't, do something else."

[Grumble]

1 minute ago, Deckard Gainz said:

 

I see a lot of anecdotal evidence like this to suggest that higher volume does work better for some folks. Most of the stuff I see advising against "high volume" is in reference to the super-high rep range bodybuilding/cardio lifting stuff, and I don't think that's what @Grumble is referring to. I think as long as you're going 50%+ in an appropriate range, and have a decent handle on what you're doing, and you're staying safe, it probably all works. I'm spending a lot of words to say "do whatever you think works best for you, and if it doesn't, do something else."

 

I have been known to do some bodybuilding stuff, but you're talking in the 15-20 rep ranges and thats just nonsense. 

 

[Deckard Gainz]

1 hour ago, Grumble said:

 

I have been known to do some bodybuilding stuff, but you're talking in the 15-20 rep ranges and thats just nonsense. 

 

 

Yeah, I think some of what I've read is geared at beginners that don't have a "real" concept of intensity and volume, and do stuff like "toning programs." I'd actually venture to guess that might be who the BBB disclaimer is geared towards, too. Hence why they might use the term "dieting" instead of cutting -- because someone with the bulk/cut vocabulary might be more inclined to know whether or not a high intensity program is appropriate.

[AriatikStarr]

So I’m not going to lie, I’ve dropped all planning for the month and am just going and doing movements I like. Hah! I just got done catsitting, now I’m dogsitting next week and I have a vacation in 2.5 weeks so it’s really hard to wrap my head around some kind of schedule.

 

i will probably get 15+ miles in just commuting next week every day. 

 

I did FINALLY meal prep this morning. 

 

I squatted a weak 225 Tuesday, benched 115 (failed 120) yesterday, and then I overhead squatted 65x3 (rep PR lol) and then pretty easily repped out 45 for 3 sets of 8. It’s also my special lady week, and I’ve been going to the gym hungry (for reasons) so I am just happy I’m touching barbells this week and not lazily stretching on the floor by people doing work. 

 

I did just realize it’s thursday and I haven’t ordered takeout this week. I actually don’t think I’ve eaten out, although I did buy donuts on the bus ride home Sunday or Monday. Although this makes it a lot more puzzling as to how I lasted until Thursday without doing meal prep...

[AriatikStarr]

Week 2:

 

Updating this now, even though there’s time to squeeze in a few things for the day. I plan to focus on planning my trip instead. 

 

Lifting:

Went Tuesday through Thursday. Not a very strong week, but productive nonetheless. I did hit an overhead squat rep PR of 65x3. I also did some pretty clean paused front squats and successfully made my abs sore without doing a million reps. 

 

I get to use an apartment building gym next week and I’m actually pretty excited about it. 

 

Eating:

ordered pizza yesterday with a friend, so that’s fine. But then I also just ordered a hoagie... so I’m -1 on takeout orders for the week. Not the worst, could be better.

 

weight:

was down 1.4 pounds on Thursday, from weighing myself 10 days ago. I had quite a few heavy calorie days in there, so this was kind of surprising. 

 

stretching:

only once. I was doing it at the gym after workouts but this week I’ve been more motivated than my ride home, so am lifting to the very end of my time there. Oddly enough my mobility seems to be better than normal. Still want to make this a better habit, 

 

Duolingo:

4/7. I’m stuck on “future” — I keep dying on the first lesson and then just practicing to get my lives back, which takes the full half hour. I should probably use a computer and not my phone so that I can get through it. 

[AriatikStarr]

week 3 update:

 

it literally feels like yesterday that I typed up week 2... that’s how this week has gone. And basically, it was mostly trash in the challenge sense. I have a random dog in my apartment, in addition to the new human and cat... so four furry things and two humans. Too much.

 

lifting & stretching: 

combining these updates because I did them together this week... two days. The dog-fetching destroyed my plans early in the week. 

 

duolingo:

goose egg. I decided that maybe I should spend my computer time figuring out where I’ll be sleeping in two weeks instead of limping through Spanish I won’t be fluent enough in anyway. 

 

eating:

bad for the first half of the week on takeout. Better for the second half. 

 

weight:

weighed myself on Thursday and was down another 1.8 pounds which is astounding because I ate copious amounts of pizza and fried cheese in the last week. 

 

So... quite obviously need some improvement over the next week in all areas. 

[Blocky]

On 1/21/2018 at 7:18 AM, AriatikStarr said:

weight:

weighed myself on Thursday and was down another 1.8 pounds which is astounding because I ate copious amounts of pizza and fried cheese in the last week. 

 

 

 

This sounds like an epic win!

[AriatikStarr]

10 hours ago, Blocky said:

 

This sounds like an epic win!

 

Only .4 pounds this past week. And Ieave for vacation next week so I won’t be able to weigh myself again until the 16th or so... and then I probably won’t want to. 

[AriatikStarr]

Week 3 update:

 

to keep this one concise... I basically lifted 3 days, stretched 2 days, and ordered takeout a few days. Also as of Thursday I was down another .4 pounds.

 

I sort of made note of this before but I’ve definitely dropped Duolingo for now, just haven’t had time and wasn’t making a lot of progress and really needed to finalize the logistics of the trip. 

 

Lifting: had a phenomenal squat day despite hip pain, but then bench and deadlift were mediocre. 

 

So weeks 4 & 5 will be a bust because I’ll be out of the country. I likely won’t lift or stretch (maybe, but communal dorm rooms don’t really promote that). I won’t order takeout but I’ll be eating out a bunch. Also won’t weigh myself. 

 

I guess basically what I’m saying here is I’m pretty much done with this challenge. And I didn’t fully succeed at any of it but I kind of held on to the threads, which given this crazy month is as much as I could ask for.