[WonderNatarella] Level 1 : Harder, faster, better, stronger

[WonderNatarella]

My Anthem song folks, I love Kanye's version, the rythm, the flow (not the lyrics though). It gives me the strength to give my all (not this all )

 

For those who do not know me : PrincessNatarella, a strong and independent blackbarella, on my way to greatness , like most of you!

 

I spent quite some defining and chosing the goals, the rating system! I am a multitask person, focusing is already a challenge for me.

 

Main Quest

 

Fit in a size 40 and weight 72kg. I'd be happy happy to fit in the size 40, no matter how I weight. 

 

My motivations (randomly)

• Health: Diabetes and heart blood pressure in my family…
• Sense of accomplishment: every year I say " this year I want to succeed in getting slimmer/healthier". I want this year to be THE one! I have been progressing drastically, so reaching the main goal would be the cherry on top of the cake
• Be inspiring: I am a future coach I work a lot on myself, I read a lot on personal development and I'm following trainings to become a coach in 5 / 6 years. I want to be a better ME, healthier, persistent and fitter.  I want to be inspiring.
• Self-appreciation: I take care of myself because I deserve it

 

 

Goals

By the end of the challenge I'll be eating processed carbs/sugar only once a week

 

My diet is mostly low carb High fat :

- OK :  Veggies, proteins, dairy (from grass fed animals)

- Limited : legumes, fruits (limited) , nuts

- Avoid : processed food & sugar

 

This diet implies PLANNING a week ahead (Sundays)

• Groceries only once a week
• Healthy snacking (veggies, nuts)

 

*******Ratings******

A. 1-2 serving processed carbs/sugar /week

B. 3

C. 4.

D. 5

E. 6

F. 6++++

 

Working out 6 times a week

 

Why 6 times? Because I'm already going almost everyday!

 

The aim is regularity of the training. I want to keep on being consistent to maximise the results I want to get. Of course, it would be interesting to set goals in terms of reps but I'd better wait to have another month with this routine AND I've done my first thrusters this morning and I still want to cry

 

I will plan the Strength sessions where there won't be any trainer with me. (Or because I'm a bit lazy I'll just ask the gym staff to give me a WOD )

 

- Strength training (3 / week)

Programme with free weight and body weight set by the trainer

 

- Cardio training (3 / week)

Zumba & Spinning

 

******Rating ******

A. 5 to 6 /week

B. 4

C. 3

D. 2

E. 1

F.0

 

Weight only 3 Times a month

 

A funny one ! I hesitated with Attend a trial class of CrossFit and Samba because it is also very important, but I know I will do it anyways.

However, I have this love/hate relationship with scale, so I will NOT use it for 3 weeks.

 

Scale and measuring days:

29 July

19 August

9 September

 

I am not allowed to weight myself in between. Believe me or not, this will be the hardest goal to reach!

 

******Rating******

A. I respected the 3 dates

C. I went on the scale 1 more time

E. I went on the scale 2 more times

 

Why am I so demanding on this one? It is important that I quit this bad habit.

 

 

Life Goal

Read 3 books in the month

I hesitated with " spend X hours dedicated to my job search" OR "find a flat" but I will relax a bit on those quests (that doesn't mean that I'm giving up on them, they just won't count for the NF challenge"

 

I always complain that I don't read enough. I'll have a full month for myself  (yeah !) and I don't want any pressure

 

So the idea is :

• One book on project management (for dummies e.g... Any recommendation is welcome)
• A book on personal development (carrier advice, relationships, efficiency at work)
• A Fun book

 

I'll update my post with chosen books and I'll ask for your recommendation in the book session

 

******Rating******

A. 3 books

B. 2 books and a half

C. 1book

D.0

 

Measurements on 29th July                                         On 19th August                              On 09 September

Weight : 87 kg (the day before was 85 so..)                                            82,4 kg                                                            82,9 kg  -4,1 ( but I am much thinner..Pics will follow )

Breast : 100 cms                                                                                                                       100 cms

Under Breast:  83cms                                                                                                                                                       83 cms

Waist : 86.5  cms                                                                                                                                                              82 cms - 4,5

Belly : 104 cms                                                                                                                                                                 98 cms  - 6

hips 114 csm                                                                                                                                                                    109 cms -5

Tights : 70 cms                                                                                                                                                                 68 cms - 2

triceps : 35cms                                                                                                                                                                 34 cms - 1

 

 

------

 

So I hope to be able the give as much support as I will receive on this!

 

Let's smash it!

[WonderNatarella]

I can't wait to start!

I am looking for paleo recipes (as I love cooking and I'll have plenty of time!). I'm more and more tempted to jump into paleo for those 6 weeks and see what are the effects on me for such a long period. Building an habit is always easier when I'm in a "known" environment.

 

I go back to my nerding on paleo blogs

[cobaltsword]

super ^^ looking forward to reading how you do in this challenge

concerning a fun book, what do you mean? because I've got several books that I maybe could suggest but what do you like?

[L'irlandaise]

Hey there. Hope the challenge is verything you hope it will be.

[WonderNatarella]

Merci Cobalt!

 

fun, can be on anything, it's just to have a book less goal-oriented!

 

Btw : I'm coming from my first Crossfit training!!!

[WonderNatarella]

Hey there. Hope the challenge is verything you hope it will be.

Hey Copine!

 

Merci!!! I can't wait to see you reaching your goals either lady

 

Thanks for stepping by!

[cobaltsword]

Merci Cobalt!

 

fun, can be on anything, it's just to have a book less goal-oriented!

 

Btw : I'm coming from my first Crossfit training!!!

 

de rien ^^ premier crossfit? super, chapeau que t'y arrive c'est trop dure pour moi XD

 

hum, some good books, well the list is long XD if you like dark/detective stories I recommend Steward Macbride (awesome books XD), otherwise now i'm reading Brain Bates 'the real middle-earth' it's interesting ^^ but what genres do you like cuz I've got tones of books XD

[Nuala]

Subscribing

[holycalude]

I love the way you established and structured everything there... good work, I wish you the best!

Maybe It's just me but.. are you french?

[WonderNatarella]

de rien ^^ premier crossfit? super, chapeau que t'y arrive c'est trop dure pour moi XD

 

hum, some good books, well the list is long XD if you like dark/detective stories I recommend Steward Macbride (awesome books XD), otherwise now i'm reading Brain Bates 'the real middle-earth' it's interesting ^^ but what genres do you like cuz I've got tones of books XD

This is a very good question : I tend to read mostly self-help book those past years However, I remember liking chick-lit and biographies

 

 

Subscribing

Thank you! Hope to see you kicking my ass when necessary!

 

 

I love the way you established and structured everything there... good work, I wish you the best!

Maybe It's just me but.. are you french?

Thank you for stepping by!

 

Can you read my accent? Yes, I'm French of African origin, living in Belgium... What about you?

[holycalude]

I'm from Quebec! Lac-Saint-Jean to be more precise. so yup, french native here too!

My instinct told me!
Seriously, I just "felt" your accent. Bwahaha.

[Ayla]

Reading is the best side quest ever. It's my favorite thing in the world! I was actually grounded from reading as a kid because it was interfering with my life haha. What do you like to read? If you like historical fiction, fantasy, dystopian novels, sci fi... or really anything else then I totally have you covered!

 

It is obligatory that I recommend Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. It is the first in the series, but it can stand alone (although, if you read it, I'm sure you won't want to let it stand alone). It's my absolute favorite book/series of all time. Period. My username is the main character's name and my picture is from the really horrificly bad movie adaptation of it. It's about a super badass girl back in prehistoric times. It sounds kind of corny and stupid, but it's really not. It's such an amazing, epic, inspiring story.

 

Failing all else... any drug store romance novel. Screw it. They're so fun and easy to read.

[holycalude]

"Reading is the best side quest ever. It's my favorite thing in the world! I was actually grounded from reading as a kid because it was interfering with my life haha."

Remembers me of when I stayed up all night while going to school because I couldn't put down those books down...

[alienjenn]

I gave up the scale last challenge.... and it was so liberating... my friend (who is the one that I talk diet and such with... and he is TOTALLY addicted to the scale) asked me the other day how much I weighed... I was like EH I don't know... I was 255 last I checked... when was that.... ummmmmmm..... I DON'T KNOW!! so I will be weighting this week for the challenge beginning... but other than that it doesn't matter.... the first couple weeks are the hardest

[cobaltsword]

This is a very good question : I tend to read mostly self-help book those past years However, I remember liking chick-lit and biographies

 

well i'm a bit low on chick-lit XD but biographies, I really liked teddy Roosevelt's an inspiring man ^^

[L'irlandaise]

Bonsoir! Best self-help book I've read recently The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Most enjoyable chick-lit? Hmmm, I really like the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. I think the first one is The Spellman Files. Or anything by Marian Keyes.   Happy reading, whatever you decide!

[WonderNatarella]

Strength & Cardio trainings

Yesterday was my "rest" day, or I'd rather say : my non-workout day! I'm still recovering from CrossFit

 

However, at one point this evening, I'll go to the gym for my strength training without the trainer (I needed to sleep longer this morning)

 

What I plan to do :

• 800 meters rowing
• 30 knee pushups  
• 2 minute rope jump
• 50 walking lunges with a 12,5 kg barbell
• 30 kettle ball swing (9 kg ball)
• 25 jumps on a 50 cms box

(and then I start from the last one)

 

ABS :

• Swiss ball Crunches 3*25
• Swiss ball planks 3*30
• Swiss Ball Pass 3*20

Self-note : Strength training better on the mornings -

 

Working out plans of the week :

Strength: Tu – Friday – sun (bodyweight at my parents place)

Cardio : wes – sat (Zumbaaaaa)

 

Eating

I've started eating paleo for an as-long-as-possible period (not in the NF goals though) but more because I'm curious of seeing the effects on myself.

I need to study meals and actually cook them.

 

Scale

I really wanted this morning but I resisted.

 

Books

As there is 2 I haven't decided yet, I'll update the list on Sunday.

 

Personal  goals of  the week

As I am going away for 10 days I want to get things done so that when I'm back, everything is clean and beautiful home

-Finish to clean my desk at home

-Prepare in boxes

      Items I have to sell

      Items I have to give

-Clean and tidy my room

-Finish cleaning and tidying my desk at work

 

Next report on Sunday then!

[WonderNatarella]

well i'm a bit low on chick-lit XD but biographies, I really liked teddy Roosevelt's an inspiring man ^^

 

Bonsoir! Best self-help book I've read recently The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Most enjoyable chick-lit? Hmmm, I really like the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz. I think the first one is The Spellman Files. Or anything by Marian Keyes.   Happy reading, whatever you decide!

 

Merci both of you!

[Ayla]

Hey thanks for the articles. You look like you have your goals laid out really well. And congrats on resisting that scale! I hope you're crushing it today and I'm looking forward to seeing your reading list.

[cobaltsword]

looking good Wondernatarella ^^ really really big thumbs up for those exercises but don't push yourself over the top

i know i would burn out if i did what you're doing now XD

but kudos bonne chance

[Mortikar]

Hey there! Welcome to the group and we're so glad to have you. I sound like a broken record to myself because I tell everyone this, but I really mean it! I can't wait to stand with you at the 6 week finish line and look back at the people we used to be only to anticipate more of the same.

 

I've heard of Belgium. I have this wierd fixation with learning about WW2 and recently have been studying the Battle of the Bulge. Bostogne and what not! yeah, Belgian buzz words!

 

Your goals look very solid and attainable. I may suggest a book that's on my list for a personal improvment suggestion. I haven't read it yet but if you decide to, maybe we can have a mini book club or something. I just finished the one I was reading.

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Learning-Journey-Performance/dp/0743277465

 

Have you seen the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer?" It's about a little boy who is this chess prodigy at a very young age and becomes the world champion. This book was written by that boy (well, he's a man now) who also went on to become a martial arts world champion. He explains that his success in becoming such a master in two very very different fields is attributed to his understanding of how to *learn* how to learn. Sounds very cool. I think I'm going to get it right now!

[L'irlandaise]

Wow your strength training programme is impressive. How are you finding those kettlebells?

[WonderNatarella]

Tuesday

Workout

Yesterday, « j’ai fait ma princesse Â» (meaning that “I drama-queened†at the gym).

Kettle balls were used, ropes were used, gym was incredibly crowded (Summer holidays guys, why do people stay in Brussels! ) So I couldn’t exercise the way I wanted which caused me to be pissed at everybody because things were not ready for me (I don’t like it when things don’t go my way..GRRR).

 

So, I change my WO for :

 

500 m rowing (second time I went 300m)

25 knee pushups (*2)

40 walking lunges with 7 kg dumbbells (*2)

Deadlifted 15kg bar (20*2)

20 rep Weird exercise where I pretended to be sitting at the wall with my 7kg dumbbells (*1)

2 mn jump rope (eventually)

The abs programme above (only 2 set of 20 reps of each exercise)

Then 1.30 jump rope.

 

Then guess what? I went for zumba (teacher was crazy, we are preparing a flash mob, he got excited and the class lasted an extra-20min!

 

I found my good mood back and was full of energy after that! So lessons learnt :

• Strength train first thing in the morning no matter what  (I got the confirmation of this yesterday and I also notice that I don’t snack for 3 / 4 hours. I feel like eating healthy

 

Eating :

Yesterday I ate 2 waffle-biscuits around 18h… I had friends at home, they left. I don’t know what emotions led me to that… but the pattern was the following :

Waffles on the table(my flatmate’s),

• I will not have them because I am committed to treat myself good and healthy
• Yes but I feel like having sth sweet, moreover they look good and tasty
• You know that every processed crap you’ll eat will slow the pace at which you’ll reach your goals?
• Yeah, whatever

 

The issue is when you eat one, you want a second one…

 

Thoughts: I guess I need to associate a negative trigger to prevent myself eating sweet things especially when I’m not hungry.

 

I need to find something that will make me stick no matter what as well…

Is it an issue of motivation definition?

Is it an issue of environment?

Is it lack of self-discipline?

 

A friend suggested that I may not believe that I am capable of doing it, the idea in its principle looks amazing but I may just not fully be endorsing the “identity†of a non-snacker…

 

I know I’m on the right path…

 

 

Wesnesday

No workout

Poor eating around 15h ( at work) and 19h (I went to the store in order to…buy sth sweet)

 

*****

So guys, I know that :

• Morning workouts, no snacking after
• Evening workouts, no snacking after

Is my solution working out twice a day? Since I’ll have plenty of time in August, I will to try this…

 

Then I have to try to set negative triggers. I also imagine that being single may be part of the equation when it comes to

 

If you think at other tips…let me know.

 

I hope you are all doing well!

[Ayla]

Well, you know, that article about habit-forming you linked me yesterday really helped me to resist bad behavior. Maybe you need to think about it like that. You're the kind of person who doesn't eat junk food. You're the kind of person who resists temptation. Your reward for not eating that junk food is feeling accomplished and confident about really being that awesome person that you want to be. Perhaps making something like "I resist temptation, because I am a strong person" your mantra would help you.

 

Are you sure you want to work out twice a day? You're already pushing yourself so hard! Maybe doing something that gets you moving but isn't too strenuous for your second "work out" would work for you. Something like easy yoga, a walk, or even something silly like dancing to your favorite music until you work up a bit of a sweat. That way, you might feel less inclined to snack without working so hard that you burn out. Just my two cents. Good luck and take care of yourself!

[cobaltsword]

looking good  natarella ^^ remember that we assassins are adaptable, if something doesn't go our way we change towards the situation

working out twice a day, that would depend either you do two shorter trainings or one big training ^^ plus take in mind that it's sometimes more effective to go hard for 20-30 min giving everything you've got (at least in my experience check out steves "18 min of madness" article ^^)

otherwise it's looking good

when's the flashmod and where?