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Hi all,

   I'm starting over in the level 1 forums because I haven't been on here in something like 5 years. I haven't been lifting or even moving much for the last 2 years and one of my emotional struggles has been accepting that I'm not who I used to be and I can't lift as much as I used to. Accepting that I'm starting over and allowing myself to be weaker than I used to be is a major thing that I want to work on, so for this challenge, my first challenge back in years, I'm starting at level 1. 

 

I'm going to set some simple goals to ease myself back in to working out, and these baby steps will hopefully help me hit my bigger powerlifting and life goals.

- Lift at least 2x per week. Bonus points for making it to the gym a third time. Total final lift goal: 8 sessions 

- Cardio or yoga at least 1x per week. My gym is a powerlifting focused gym with no cardio equipment and Iowa is chilly and dark this time of year so these are workouts that I can do at home. This can be a challenge for me because when I'm home I'm usually focused on all the other things I need to get done and workouts get ignored. Total final cardio/yoga goal: 4 sessions

- Track food at least 5 days a week. Bonus points for 6 or all 7 days in the week. I don't care what I'm eating, I just want to get back in the habit of tracking.Side note: I joined the challenge a day late, so I'll forgive myself one tracking day. Total final tracking goal: 19 days

- Personal goal: 1 productive thing each work day. Again, I started late so I forgive myself one day. Bonus points for additional productive things. Total final productive things goal: 19 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Yesterday I lifted! I'll count that as 1/8 for my lifting goal.

Workout tracking as follows

Squats: bar x2x8

80x1x5

95x1x3

105x3x5

Military Press: bar x5x5

Shrugs: bar x5x20

Some random dumbbell shoulder accessory workout that I don't know the name of: 10# dumbbell in each hand x 3x10

Skull Crushers: 17.5x3x15

Tricep Pulls: 30x3x10

Lat pulldowns: 60x3x10

 

 

What is your favorite at-home cardio workout? 

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Warrior, Ravenclaw, book lover, history nerd, Red Sonja wannabe

 

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Hi from a newbie. I don't have access to a gym and I've been advised by the physio not to run any more (slightly gammy knee) so my cardio workouts are on the indoor bike or the rowing machine (I bought an old refurbished one a few years ago - it's been a great investment and a relative gave us an old indoor bike they weren't using - result!) I also use Yoga Studio app from home yoga workouts thought it's not such a good deal now they've gone subscription-only. I've been mainly doing interval training on the rower and bike recently and have been enjoying those. Do you have any kit at home you can use for cardio?

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16 hours ago, Little Miss Camouflage said:

Hi from a newbie. I don't have access to a gym and I've been advised by the physio not to run any more (slightly gammy knee) so my cardio workouts are on the indoor bike or the rowing machine (I bought an old refurbished one a few years ago - it's been a great investment and a relative gave us an old indoor bike they weren't using - result!) I also use Yoga Studio app from home yoga workouts thought it's not such a good deal now they've gone subscription-only. I've been mainly doing interval training on the rower and bike recently and have been enjoying those. Do you have any kit at home you can use for cardio?

Ah, thanks for the advice. Sadly I'm in a third floor apartment and my lease says I'm not allowed to have workout machines. Lame! I do run the stairs though, the stairwells in my building aren't heated so I have to bundle up, but it is still a good workout. In nicer weather I jumprope outside. I also have some kettlebells that I use. 

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Day 3!  

 

It feels weird saying that since I skipped day 1, but oh well. I did not get a productive thing done yesterday, but I've set myself up so that I can do 2 things today and still be on track. I don't like that model, of skipping something and then doubling down, but it is nice to have that wiggle room when life decides to be life and get in the way. 

 

We did do yoga last night. As you can see from the attached photo, "we" is me and my #HelpfulYogaCat 

Really, she's #HelpfulAnythingCat because she wants to be involved in whatever it is that I have going on, but she especially enjoys helping with yoga and my sewing projects. 

 

Current Stats:

Lifts: 1/8

Cardio/Yoga: 1/4

Meal tracking: 1/19

Productivity: 0/19

 

 

Screen Shot 2019-01-09 at 9.59.17 AM.png

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Warrior, Ravenclaw, book lover, history nerd, Red Sonja wannabe

 

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If you live on the third floor you must get a lot of stair action in a normal day :-) I trained by walking up and down stairs at work years ago during my lunch hour and it got me fit enough within a month to get up Mount Kilimanjaro so don't underrate it! I'm sure it'll work out for you. There's so much you can do without gyms and machines. Jump-rope, I've not really got on with since I was about 11. It's soooo much harder as an adult. That'll be a great workout for you in the better weather.  

 

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21 hours ago, JessFit said:

What is your favorite at-home cardio workout? 

Walking (Treadmill) yoga, bodyweight...that last one isn't really cardio though

Stairs sound like a great workout! 

Welcome back to the rebellion

2 hours ago, JessFit said:

Really, she's #HelpfulAnythingCat because she wants to be involved in whatever it is that I have going on, but she especially enjoys helping with yoga and my sewing projects. 

Mine aren't fond of yoga (the mat yes, me doing yoga, no) but love when I am crocheting! 

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1 hour ago, RES said:

Walking (Treadmill) yoga, bodyweight...that last one isn't really cardio though

It is really funny, because I'm strong as can be, but since I rarely train bodyweight, my body thinks it is cardio and my heart rate reflects that! 

 

1 hour ago, RES said:

Mine aren't fond of yoga (the mat yes, me doing yoga, no) but love when I am crocheting! 

I'm practically given up crocheting because of my helpful cat. 

 

Thanks for the feedback! 

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Great goals! I love Yoga with Adrienne for at home Yoga videos that are from 15 - 40 minutes and they're free on You Tube.

Also maybe have a look at The Body Coach on You Tube - he has some shortish home HIIT videos that might work for Cardio.

Good Luck!

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On 1/10/2019 at 4:21 AM, Ellestar said:

Great goals! I love Yoga with Adrienne for at home Yoga videos that are from 15 - 40 minutes and they're free on You Tube.

Also maybe have a look at The Body Coach on You Tube - he has some shortish home HIIT videos that might work for Cardio.

Good Luck!

Have you ever seen the Fitness Marshall videos? He is hilarious and the dances are so much fun! 

 

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15 hours ago, jenkofb said:

Nice goals. Smart to take it slow too. Your cat is adorbs. I clean the house for extra cardio - scrubbing is actually really good exercise. Best of luck!

Thanks! My cat knows she's adorable and uses it to get away with things. I like the thought of scrubbing, I doubt my tiny apartment will get me too many burned calories, but every little but helps. 

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Day 5

 

I went to the gym last night and I struggle so hard with the fact that I used to be so much stronger than I currently am. I accept that I chose to take time away from the gym, I accept that strength loss is inevitable, but I remember when I was repping 225# for my squats and get angry that I'm such a weakling now. I had to stop last night and remind myself that this is the best gym session I've had in months. I also spent some time last night reminding myself of the girl that I used to be, the girl who was convinced that I'd NEVER be able to squat a whole plate, or bodyweight, let alone rm1s in the mid 200s. That girl would be so proud of my current lifts, even if I'm currently not. So I have to remind myself to be more gentle with myself as I regain strength, it isn't easy, but it is necessary. 

 

Last night the cat and I ate nothing but cheese for dinner and it turned in to an incredible lifting session. My lifts felt so darn good! Especially since I forgot my gym bag and didn't have knee sleeves or my belt. Oops. Thats what I get for taking it out of my car and up to my apartment so that I could wash all the socks and shaker cups that collected in there. 

 

Lifts

Squat: Bar x2x5

80x1x5

95x1x5

115x3x5

Bench: Bar x2x10

55x1x10

65x3x8

Back extensions: 20x3x10

superset  curls and rows

curls, each arm: 12.5x3x10

dumbbell rows each arm: 20X3X20

 

 

Current Stats:

Lifts: 2/8

Cardio/Yoga: 1/4

Meal tracking: 3/19

Productivity: 2/19

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On 1/11/2019 at 9:26 AM, JessFit said:

So I have to remind myself to be more gentle with myself as I regain strength, it isn't easy, but it is necessary. 

Good job recognizing this. No one is harder on us than we are on ourselves, remind yourself that you'll get back to where you were, it's not gone forever!

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RES...and I want to live days worth dying for

Current: RES: Holiday Struggle

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My Character Page | Tracking Spreadsheet | My Blog |

Growth happens when you care more about the well being of your future self than the comfort of your present self!

"Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is." -Yoda

 

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Happy week 2! 

   I'm here to say that I'm rocking some aspects, and dragging in others. Thats ok, we're only 1/4 of the way through the challenge and I have time to catch up. I hope that everyone had a great weekend, we got a lot of snow, but I didn't let it slow me down. Saturday I lifted, which makes 3 lifts this week! Also, Saturday evening I went to a Civil War era ball and danced and danced! I love the reels, waltzes, and set dances that make up 1860s social events. Yes, I am that nerd. My heart rate wasn't super elevated for long periods of time, in part because the band needed a break between dances, but I did get 10k steps in on Saturday (I forgot to take my Fitbit off, how anachronistic!) and danced a bunch. Plus, I did it all in a corset, hoop, silk gown, and six layers of skirts, so I'll count that as cardio. Plus, I got to smooch on President Lincoln, and that is sure to get a Lady's heart rate elevated! Last night was a hip-hop videos in my living room kinda night. My Fitbit did track that as cardio because my heart rate was higher. 

 

Saturday workout:

Squats: Barx2x5

80x1x5

100x1x5

125x3x5

Shoulder press:

Barx2x5

55x3x5

Deadlifts: 78X2x5

100.5x3x5

 

I haven't deadlifted in ages so I kept it light. 

 

 

 

 

IMG_6248.jpg

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44 minutes ago, JessFit said:

Saturday evening I went to a Civil War era ball and danced and danced! I love the reels, waltzes, and set dances that make up 1860s social events. Yes, I am that nerd. My heart rate wasn't super elevated for long periods of time, in part because the band needed a break between dances, but I did get 10k steps in on Saturday (I forgot to take my Fitbit off, how anachronistic!) and danced a bunch. Plus, I did it all in a corset, hoop, silk gown, and six layers of skirts, so I'll count that as cardio. Plus, I got to smooch on President Lincoln, and that is sure to get a Lady's heart rate elevated!

 

That sounds like a LOT of fun!

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Yesterday I got 3 productive things done, tracked my eating, and did yoga. I was intending to lift but I decided to save that for tonight. I'm dog sitting about 45 minutes away from the gym this week which means gym time requires more than an additional hour set aside for the commute, which I hate, bleh. However the myriad of excuses I could come up with won't do much for me in the long run. 

 

Current Stats:

Lifts: 3/8

Cardio/Yoga: 4/4

Meal tracking: 4/19

Productivity: 5/19

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Oh how fun!

RES...and I want to live days worth dying for

Current: RES: Holiday Struggle

Spoiler

Really Eclectic Scorpio, Level 80

|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|38|39|40|41|42|43|44|45|46|47|48|49|50|51|52|53|54|55|56|57|58|59|60|61|62|63|64|65|66|67|68|69|70|71|72|73|74|75|76|77|78|79|80|81|82|83|84|85|86|

My Character Page | Tracking Spreadsheet | My Blog |

Growth happens when you care more about the well being of your future self than the comfort of your present self!

"Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is." -Yoda

 

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On 1/15/2019 at 11:49 AM, Craftyviking said:

That skirt is very epic Also you are doing great at hitting your goals!

 

22 hours ago, Little Miss Camouflage said:

I hope you waltzed round saying 'fiddle dee dee' all night :-) Fabulous outfit. Looks like great fun. And such good exercise!

 

22 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Civil War era ball sounds so fun. I love your outfit!

 

9 hours ago, RES said:

Oh how fun!

 

 

Thanks for the positive feedback all! I love sewing, so I made the ballgown myself. @little miss camouflage I did make one of the underskirts out of a a bed skirt, but that is as close to Scarlet O'Hara as I managed. 

 

Lifted last night, got 2 productive things done, and tracked yesterday as well. I've gotten a good bit done on my goals today as well. Cardio on lunch, all my food for the day is tracked (THANK YOU meal prep!) and I've gotten 2 productive things done.

Plus for lunch I had an amazing brown rice bowl with colorful roast veggies, chicken, feta, and hummus. It was amazing and I'm really excited for lunch tomorrow! 

 

Tracking food the past week + is making it very obvious that I eat when I'm bored, and thats a problem. I'm not huge, but my doctor recommends that I be smaller. More than that, I wonder how much better I would feel if I grazed on junk less frequently. It is SO EASY to snack while driving, working on the computer, etc. and boredom eating adds up. I think I may have found one of my goals for the next challenge. 

 

Last night's lifts:

Squat: Barx2x5

80x1x5

100x1x5

120x1x3

135x2x5

135x2x3

Bench: Barx2x10

60x1x5

70x3x5

Curls, each arm: 15x3x10

Dumbell downs, each arm: 22.5x3x10

 

Current Stats:

Lifts: 4/8

Cardio/Yoga: 5/4

Meal tracking: 6/19

Productivity: 9/19

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