Avery the Patient is training for Warrior status for her second challenge.

[Sepherina]

Hey everyone! Looking forward to another 5 week challenge!  The first one didn’t go too bad and I learned a lot. This one I hope to be a bit more concise 

 

Goal 1: Working on strength gains. 
For my 39th birthday I bought more dumbbells and a subscription to Booty by Bret. Chasing down those booty goals (among other things). This subscription comes with 3 workouts per week plus two glute days. Average time to do the main workouts is about 30-45 minutes. This is doable for me. The weak point here is staying consistent and putting in the work. 
 

Goal 2: Lunch 

I need to fuel these workouts. I am nailing breakfast and dinner meals. But lunch is off the rails. I have tried preparing lunches on Sunday but I don’t consistently  eat them. I have tried keeping easy things around the house to fix. I have to eat a high protein lunch in order to avoid a carb crash but I am struggling here to find a habit that will stick. Even eating leftovers for lunch is hard. Open to ideas on how to make this work better. I work full time from Home so access to a kitchen isn’t the problem. I am struggling I think to change gears between work and lunch. 
 

Goal 3: Put in hours towards some personal programming projects. 
 

I have two personal programming projects that I have started and need to make more progress on. Committing to 10 hours per week towards these.

 

Goal 4: Bedtime routine. 
The last few weeks I have found it hard to fall asleep. Once asleep I am fine  but dozing off has been hard. I don’t drink caffeine after 11 am and I am not napping too much so I am unsure why I am struggling. I need to come up with a routine that works. 
 

So 4 goals should be plenty. Hoping to make some progress in all of them. 
 

Happy Questing!

[RvndellMK]

For lunch, is the problem that you are having trouble finding time to eat? Or that you aren’t hungry? Or that you just don’t feel like eating?

 

Have you considered a simple protein shake? Could be useful with all the strength training you are doing. Get yourself used to eating midday with the shake, and once it gets to be more of a habit, build on it - add a banana, or some peanut butter toast.  Start small and build.

[Harriet]

Many glorious glute gains to you!

Why don't you eat your prepped meals or leftovers? Is it that they're not appealing and you crave something else?

As for the sleep, there are few things that can make it harder. Intense exercise within a few hours of bedtime makes it hard for some people to sleep. Spending time on screens and devices sometimes makes things worse, as does reading the news or doing anything that involves a lot of cognitive input or effort. Exposure to sunlight early in the day plus avoiding or dimming screens in the last hour before bed can help support the sleep/wake cycle. Rumination can be countered with meditation practice. I've also found gentle stretching before bed can help one to feel more comfortable and ready for sleep if one has stiffness or pain.

[Sepherina]

7 hours ago, RvndellMK said:

For lunch, is the problem that you are having trouble finding time to eat? Or that you aren’t hungry? Or that you just don’t feel like eating?

 

Have you considered a simple protein shake? Could be useful with all the strength training you are doing. Get yourself used to eating midday with the shake, and once it gets to be more of a habit, build on it - add a banana, or some peanut butter toast.  Start small and build.

I think it is a combination of all of the above depending on the day. My job is very brain intensive too so just remembering to eat before I am famished and cranky is difficult.  I think a set reminder may help for that though. 

[Sepherina]

2 hours ago, Harriet said:

Many glorious glute gains to you!

Why don't you eat your prepped meals or leftovers? Is it that they're not appealing and you crave something else?

As for the sleep, there are few things that can make it harder. Intense exercise within a few hours of bedtime makes it hard for some people to sleep. Spending time on screens and devices sometimes makes things worse, as does reading the news or doing anything that involves a lot of cognitive input or effort. Exposure to sunlight early in the day plus avoiding or dimming screens in the last hour before bed can help support the sleep/wake cycle. Rumination can be countered with meditation practice. I've also found gentle stretching before bed can help one to feel more comfortable and ready for sleep if one has stiffness or pain.

I think not finding them appealing is also some of the issue. That and trying to shift gears from work to lunch and then back to work. 

[Artemis Prime]

2 hours ago, Avery the Patient said:

I think a set reminder may help for that though. 

This would be where I would start, picking a set time and then using an alarm to remind you. Even if you don't feel like eating, making yourself nibble on something will over time train your body to think of that as "food time" and you'll start to get hungry at that time. I'd also take a full half-hour break (or longer) and using that time to take a little walk or read a chapter of a book or something. It might help you switch out of work mode if you really put work aside and focus on something else for a while and will probably also be good for your work as well.

[Harriet]

17 hours ago, Avery the Patient said:

I think not finding them appealing is also some of the issue. That and trying to shift gears from work to lunch and then back to work. 

 

Not finding the meals appealing is why I don't meal prep for the whole week. Not sure how to fix that but maybe you could try adding fresh elements in. Anyway, good luck!

[Sepherina]

Today was a beautiful day in Pittsburgh. Thank goodness too cause the humidity and the heat was just awful the last few weeks. When it gets that way no one feels motivated to do anything and just walking outside feels like you are suffocating. 
 

I spent today doing my typical Saturday things. Meal planning for next week’s dinners are done, fridge is cleaned out and groceries bought. With 6 of us in the house this setup helps me keep my sanity around dinner and helps us stay on budget. This week’s meal plan is:

 

Monday: Grilled Chicken strawberry salad with goat cheese, almonds and slaw dressing

Tuesday:chicken enchiladas (use crockpot to cook chicken)

Wednesday:golash

Thursday:Sausages  with perogies and a garden salad. 

Friday: Broccoli Cheese soup

Saturday: leftovers

 

I think for lunches I will try to eat some leftovers and make some black bean salsa. We have left over pulled pork I can repurpose for pork tacos. I did set a timer on my phone to remind myself to eat. I struggle hard core here to stay on track

I did meet my move goal today between running errands, the morning walk with the hubs and doing day 2 of this week’s workout. The next round of workouts is pretty benchpress intensive and I am already at 15 reps with my 12 pound  dumbbells even after 3 sets. I may have to buy 15 and 18 pound ones soon. 
 

I didn’t get any programming in today. I didn’t really have enough time focus on it. I am hoping to put in several hours tomorrow night since I am not on for cooking dinner. 

 

Thanks for reading and Happy questing !

 

[Son of Rylos]

Great looking goals! Every previous adventure and challenge can lead to newly learned avenues to success. You got this and I'm in!

[Maigs]

On 7/29/2021 at 7:47 PM, Avery the Patient said:

Even eating leftovers for lunch is hard

Why is this hard? Is it because you don't enjoy leftovers or because of some logistics of saving/reheating them?

 

I live off leftovers and am sad when a new recipe I like doesn't make any

[Sepherina]

1 hour ago, Maigs said:

Why is this hard? Is it because you don't enjoy leftovers or because of some logistics of saving/reheating them?

 

I live off leftovers and am sad when a new recipe I like doesn't make any

It’s more like I get tired of eating them or even on some days they are saved for  that night’s dinner. I have also found that this is also the meal where I tend to reach and crave unhealthy fast food options. 

[Scaly Freak]

4 hours ago, Avery the Patient said:

I think for lunches I will try to eat some leftovers and make some black bean salsa. We have left over pulled pork I can repurpose for pork tacos. I did set a timer on my phone to remind myself to eat. I struggle hard core here to stay on track

 

Hello, fellow works-fulltime-from-home Rebel!  

 

I personally am taking shameless advantage of the fact the computer my work have provided, has an Outlook calendar. I have a recurring hour-long appointment on my calendar at 11:30, Monday through Friday, that I have named "LUNCH!  Go eat something!" I do move it if I need to, to make room for meetings, but I stubbornly keep my one hour on the calendar every day.  It has helped. 

 

As for eating leftovers, how are you storing them? If they are already pre-assembled into a meal to heat up, it will take a lot less work to turn them into lunch, and that should also help. As will snack-type foods, for days when even lower effort is needed.

[Sepherina]

Happy taco Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a great week. 

 

I did start this Sunday with the  last workout for Month 38 Booty by Bret workout. I am slowly moving into this program as it can be pretty intense. Month 39 is squat and bench press focused so I definitely need to take it slow and fuel my body. Today is the first day of a deload week. Here is today’s  workout

 

3x12 Dumbbell squats, 8 pounds per side

3x AMRAP push-ups (I am doing negatives here. I got 3 sets of 4. Knee push ups are too easy for me)

3x10 sumo squats. I started with an 8 pound weight but found my form lacking and stepped it down to a body weight. These are going to be the killers this month. 
3x30 sec bar hangs. I am working towards a chin up but I need to be extra careful and watch my form. My upper trapezius are very tight and this exercise can aggravate it if I move to fast. 
3x10 single leg hip thrusts. These are killer too. Only doing body weight.  Hoping by the end of week 4 I can be at 3x15. 
 

Dinner Sunday was Sonic as that is where Minion #4 wanted his birthday dinner. Monday we had the Strawberry Grilled chicken salads and tonight are chicken enchiladas.   I have taken the advice of a few of you and have set an alarm  for lunch. If I am not immediately hungry I have the protein shake. It has helped a bunch and I haven’t crashed the last two days by 2 pm. I have also found that by 2 I am more hungry and more willing to eat what we have in the house. I hope this trend continues.  

 

I did get 3 hours of programming time in on Sunday and I hope to get more later this week. My motivation is lacking but i should just getter done. 

 

 

 

Working on sleeping better. The last few nights have been cooler and less humid which has made sleeping more

comfortable. Avoiding caffeine and actually moving earlier in the morning has helped as well. I have also tried to cut down on my late afternoon naps.  I do love napping thought.  It’s hard being an early bird married to a night owl when said night owl wants to chat after 10:30  pm and I have been awake since 6:30 am.  Naps help me function during the day but don’t help when I actually need to sleep.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions and I hope you are all doing well on your own challenges!

[Son of Rylos]

Sounds like progress is being made well so far. Sometimes the best advice is just seeing other people's experiences and it looks like you've picked up a few things that way and that is great. Naps are awesome by the way LOL my mother used to take naps sometimes after she'd be home from teaching and she's like me, a notorious morning person. even 30 mins to an hour is just enough to give your system a nice, quick charge. Keep it up!

[RvndellMK]

3 hours ago, Avery the Patient said:eight. These are going to be the killers this month. 

.

This gif made my day, thank you. 🙃

[Sepherina]

Happy hump day everyone! 

 

 

I feel like today has just dragged

on. I am soo ready for the weekend but we still have two more work days to go. 

 

 

I am sitting on the couch after dinner trying to work up the motivation to do my 15-20 minute glute workout. I am feeling pretty exhausted and feel like if I did it now I wouldn’t give it as much effort as I should.  I think I will shoot for getting it done before work tomorrow morning. 
 

 Dinner tonight was broccoli cheese soup (https://www.averiecooks.com/best-broccoli-cheese-soup-better-panera-copycat/).  Our family loves this stuff. If you make it do not omit the smoked paprika or the cayenne pepper as both add some amazing flavor to the soup. 
 

Wins for today include actually eating leftovers for lunch. I also got an hour of programming in this evening before dinner.  
 

 

I am pretty tired after a long day so I am hoping that sleep will come easy tonight. 

 

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is doing well on their own challenges!

[Sepherina]

Well on second thought I just got the workout done. 
3 x20 3 way banded glute

kickbacks…..damn these burn. 
3x12 lateral lunges. I may add a weight here as these were easy

3x20 hinge hip abduction. These are tough too

3x20 banded glute bridges. 
 

Now I can sleep in right!

[h3r0]

How's the challenge going? 

[Sepherina]

I had to bow out on this one. We had a family emergency that has consumed all of my extra time the last 2 weeks. 

[h3r0]

12 minutes ago, Avery the Patient said:

I had to bow out on this one. We had a family emergency that has consumed all of my extra time the last 2 weeks. 

 

Sorry to hear about the emergency. I hope everyone is doing well. 

 

[Sepherina]

3 hours ago, h3r0 said:

 

Sorry to hear about the emergency. I hope everyone is doing well. 

 

Everyone is alive which is always good. Thank you for asking. 

[Scaly Freak]

4 hours ago, Avery the Patient said:

I had to bow out on this one. We had a family emergency that has consumed all of my extra time the last 2 weeks. 

 

I hope everyone is able to recover, you included. and bowing out when something else needs our full attention is smart. It's not failure, it's an acknowledgement of priorities, and is the sort of thing that earn Warrior status by showing good judgment. You'll be joining us for the next challenge, I hope?