The Swampling is finally leaving the swamp...

[Swampling]

Hello there, fellow nerds,

 

after a couple of years of very (VERY) unhealthy living, I've decided that I can and will do better than before.

 

My Main Quest is to clean up my eating habits (stress eating, anyone?) as well as get strong (not quite Iron Maiden material, yet, but you never know... )

 

But first I need to establish a healthy fitness routine I like and can keep up.

 

My goals for my first challenge are:

- start with 1 "sugar free" day in the first week, add one more for every week, so by the end of the challenge I should be sugar free 6 out of 7 days... :-o (a BIG step for a chocoholic like me!)

- do bodyweight exercises 3x / week (following the program "Body by you" Mark Lauren)

- go to yoga class at least once a week

 

As a side quest I've decided to give Feldenkrais another chance. I tried to take group lessons last year, got frustrated and quit after a couple of weeks.

So, I'll finally read my book on the Feldenkrais method (I've had it for some time now, but never finished it) and do the lessons. Since there are 6 lessons, I aim to do one lesson per week.

 

My motivation?

For the last couple of years I've been in a downward spiral: stressful job, stress eating (free candy at the office didn't help there, really), insane hours, financial troubles, relationship troubles...

I was struggling with high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, weight gain, RSI, chronic back pain - the whole nine yards. I've decided to finally do something about that. ;-)

I remember being fit and healthy (about 10 years ago... *sigh*), and how great it (I) felt!

Guess what... I want that feeling back! :-)

 

Edit:

My starting stats:

- 145 lbs at 5' 5"

- bust: 35.4"

- waist: 29.5"

- hips: 40.2"

- thigh: 23.5"

- calf: 15.3"

 

Those may not sound terrible, and I don't expect to make tremendous changes. I've always been built like a small tank with wide shoulders + ribcage and wide hips (even when I was skinny, way back when). But I'd rather be a solid, strong and healthy small tank than a flabby, weak and sick one. :-D

 

Grading system:

BW workouts:

- A: 3 workouts / week

- B: missed 1 - 2 workouts over the whole six weeks

- C: missed 3 - 5 workouts

- D: missed 6 - 8 workouts

- F: missed more than 8 workouts

 

Yoga classes:

- A: 1 or 2 classes / week (I can compensate by taking 2 classes in one week if I skip one week)

- B: 5 classes / 6 weeks

- C: 4 classes / 6 weeks

- D: 3 classes / 6 weeks

- F: 2 or less classes / 6 weeks

 

Eating habits (sugar free days):

- A:  at least meet each weekly goal - additional sugar free days are always welcome. :-)

- B: 1 or 2 days less than planned (over the whole six weeks)

- C: 3 or 4 days less than planned

- D: 5 or 6 days less than planned

- F: 7 or more days less than planned

 

Life goal

- A: read the whole book, did all 6 exercises over the course of 6 weeks

- B: 5 exercises

- C: 4 exercises

- D: 3 exercises

- F: 2 or less exercises

[Swampling]

Started off this week with my first dose of bodyweight training, first thing in the morning.

I banged my head against the table with an overly enthusiastic let-me-up :-p, but aside from that it felt pretty good. :-D Although at the end my concentration had kind of deserted me (gone back to bed?) and the one legged romanian deadlifts were rather wobbly. But I'm working on it. :-)

[mikemystery]

Hah, you sound pretty much exactly like me: what is the DEAL with all the food in offices? I hobbled into to the office today, and there was cake at 10:30. Bastards.

I was exceedingly wobbly after my work out this morning, but felt surprisingly good (despite the pain). Just as well i've got a rooftop as I was NOT a pretty sight. Good to know i'm not the only one

[Swampling]

Hi mikemystery,

 

thanks for leaving a note in my thread. :-) It's always nice to know you're not the only one out there, struggling... I'm really glad I got a push in the direction of NF - I've been lurking on the forums for a couple of months now, but I've read many inspring posts here. The NF community is awesome! 

 

What kind of workout do you do? I'm still pretty newbie-ish with the bodyweight stuff, would like to get into weights at some point in the future (hard style kettlebells? olympic weightlifting?) but at the moment my own puny weight is plenty more than I can successfully manage, thank you very much... *sigh*

There's lots of room for improvement here before I take on even bigger challenges!

 

re candy at the office: I think my former bosses actually thought they were doing something nice for us. I don't think they thought it through... :-/ 

 

Oh - and today was already sugar-free! Yay! (And it's really a lot easier if that stuff isn't lying around everywhere!)

[bluekiwi1]

Totally understand the stress eating!  It's how I gained weight since I started my PhD program and the crazy hours.  Grr!  And free cookies, chocolates, candies, unlimited coffee/tea with open access to sugar and cream everywhere at work...  Not good at all!  But Will Power is my best friend right now!  He's strong and mean and banishes sugar out of my sight!

 

Good luck to your 6-week challenge!

[Swampling]

Totally understand the stress eating!  It's how I gained weight since I started my PhD program and the crazy hours.  Grr!  And free cookies, chocolates, candies, unlimited coffee/tea with open access to sugar and cream everywhere at work...  Not good at all!  But Will Power is my best friend right now!  He's strong and mean and banishes sugar out of my sight!

 

Good luck to your 6-week challenge!

Thank you! Good luck to you as well!

 

Might I borrow Mr. Power for tomorrow? He was sorely missed today: The boss brought cookies from home - their son got diagnosed with celiac, so they are getting rid of all the forbidden stuff by feeding it to us... ;-( Not fair!

[Swampling]

So... second day of BWT. No problem there, Wednesdays are "nice and easy", compared to Mondays and Fridays. :-)

 

Let's see if Mr. Power is with me today, when I'm confronted again with The Evil Italian Cookies. I already packed a snack bag with almonds and nuts, that will hopefully help.

[bluekiwi1]

Keep going, Swampling!  You can do this!    Those cookies got nothing on you!

[Swampling]

Keep going, Swampling!  You can do this!    Those cookies got nothing on you!

Thanks for the pep talk, Kiwi! :-)

 

I actually made it through yesterday without one single cookie! Yay! Go me! :-D

 

Today is going to be waaaay easier, since I'm not at the office, and most of the sugary stuff has been eliminated from our pantry. Plus, it's yoga day - always something to look forward to. :-)

 

Have a successful day, y'all!

[Swampling]

Had a very good yoga class yesterday. I felt pretty strong and most of the exercises  felt easier than usual. I'm still taking the beginner's class, mind you, but still - I felt great!

Plus, I had a bonus sugar-free day for this week! *happydance*

 

Started today with my third BW workout, didn't do too shabby, either. No exercise to level up, yet, though, but maybe next week... We'll see.

 

That's already all of my health / fitness goals for this week :-o , and leaves the first Feldenkrais lesson for the weekend.

[Swampling]

Edit: Added starting stats + grading system to my first post.

[bluekiwi1]

YAY!  Another good day, good job, Swampling!  And good luck with the Feldenkrais lesson this weekend!  I don't know what it is... You'll have to share!

 

Have a super duper weekend!

[Swampling]

So, the weekend was kind of successful: I didn't do anything challenge related on Saturday, and today I finished the first Feldenkrais lesson. On my first try I got interrupted and finished it at a later point. So I finished it alright, but I could have done without the interruption.

 

Also, I am still having problems with "right" and "wrong" when I'm doing the Feldenkrais stuff. There supposedly is no "right" or "wrong" - or so the teacher told us repeatedly when I was trying lessons last year. But I still feel like I'm missing something, like I'm doing something "wrong" or "not good enough" or "I can't feel enough difference in the quality / range / ... of different variations of movements". *sigh*

How long does it take for a mind to open up enough to "get" this kind of stuff? ^^ I could really use some help here...

 

Grades for week 1:

- met all my workout related goals: that's two As for BWT and yoga

- met my quota of sugar free days: A

- finished 1 Feldenkrais lesson in two sessions: A-

 

If you'd like to know what-the-??? the Feldenkrais method is about, here's a nice, if a little longish, explanation: http://www.feldenkrais.com/method/article/felden_what/

[Swampling]

Started off the second week with oversleeping, but still getting my first dose of BWT done. *whew*

 

It went surprisingly well (Mondays are usually tough), but my right wrist hurt after the third set of 3 pike push ups. I changed hand placement + the rotation of my arms and did the rest of the sets - not completely pain-free, but it was just a little twinge. Have to find out what I'm doing wrong there.

[bluekiwi1]

Grades for week 1:

- met all my workout related goals: that's two As for BWT and yoga

- met my quota of sugar free days: A

- finished 1 Feldenkrais lesson in two sessions: A-

 

If you'd like to know what-the-??? the Feldenkrais method is about, here's a nice, if a little longish, explanation: http://www.feldenkrais.com/method/article/felden_what/

Thanks for the info on the Feldenkrais method.  Sounds quite intense...  Great job on week 1!  YAY!

 

 

Started off the second week with oversleeping, but still getting my first dose of BWT done. *whew*

 

It went surprisingly well (Mondays are usually tough), but my right wrist hurt after the third set of 3 pike push ups. I changed hand placement + the rotation of my arms and did the rest of the sets - not completely pain-free, but it was just a little twinge. Have to find out what I'm doing wrong there.

I overslept a bit this morning, but still managed to be at work by 9:30am.  I blamed on it being Monday and Kiwi dislikes Mondays...

 

Great job on day 1 of week 2!   Best of luck to you on Week Two!

[Swampling]

Thanks for checking in, Kiwi, and good luck with Week 2 for you too!

 

Another success for today: I have already met 50% of my eating goals for this week (one of at least two days without sugar, yay!).

Even if today was pure torture! (I'm sharing an office with my boss, and he had a bowl of cookies on his desk. That sweet, sugary smell all day long... Not. Fair.)

[mikemystery]

What kind of workout do you do? I'm still pretty newbie-ish with the bodyweight stuff, would like to get into weights at some point in the future (hard style kettlebells? olympic weightlifting?) but at the moment my own puny weight is plenty more than I can successfully manage, thank you very much... *sigh*

 

 

There's lots of room for improvement here before I take on even bigger challenges!

 

 

I'm doing the rookie nerd fitness workout, which is pretty good. Worth the punt for the downloads: its nice to have a routine to follow. Ive got a set of dumbells, but i'm on like 5kg, because my arms are so weedy. by christmas I WILL have done a pull-up i looked at a local gym membership, and worked out I could basically buy all the kit for the cost of two months membership. SO I got a second-hand bench and the dumbells and a resistance band and that's all i need. And a jump rope. 

 

I totally get you on the weights. I used to do a lot of running when i was younger, so the cardio is o,  but i've never really done any weights. the youtube channel really helps with the "how do you do it" part. 

[Swampling]

I'd probably have started with the rookie workout as well, if I hadn't already bought the bodyweight book a couple of weeks before I signed up here. So I didn't have a closer look at the rookie program, but it sounds like a good routine to follow.

For me it's also easier to have a routine I can stick to - which the book thankfully provides, one of the reasons I bought it. It also tells me how to measure progress, when to "level up" and so on. That's very helpful!

 

Will you do any additional exercises preparing for The Christmas Pull Up? For me a pull up is still pretty far in the future, I'll be happy when I can do at least one correct chin up first. Which will take me some more time. But I'm working on it...

[Swampling]

Today was an exercise free day, but I managed to remain on my sugarless track, even if the cookie torture continued. Plus, there was chocolate in the office kitchen. Which I eyed somewhat dubiously but otherwise left alone. Thank you, Mr. Will Power!

[Swampling]

Started today with the easy BW workout. No pain in my wrist this time, but I didn't do any pike push ups, will have to see how it goes on Friday, when the pike is back on the menu.

[AshPS]

Hey there! on getting your workout in!

 

Good, solid set of goals- will be lurking!!

[bluekiwi1]

Started today with the easy BW workout. No pain in my wrist this time, but I didn't do any pike push ups, will have to see how it goes on Friday, when the pike is back on the menu.

YAY!  Sounds like the body weight workout is getting easier for you!  I remember my first day doing it.  I didn't know I have muscles in my butt!

 

Good luck!

[Swampling]

Hey there! on getting your workout in!

 

Good, solid set of goals- will be lurking!!

 

Hi Ash, thank you for lurking! I came upon your thread today and I intend to lurk right back atcha!

I think you are one impressive lady!

 

YAY!  Sounds like the body weight workout is getting easier for you!  I remember my first day doing it.  I didn't know I have muscles in my butt!

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks, Kiwi! It's not really getting easier, it's just that Wednesdays are the easiest of the three workouts in a week. The first (which I usually do on Mondays) is really tough.

 

I follow the "Body by you" program by M. Lauren, and I've started sometime in March this year (on and off). It was a happy conicidence that this challenge started at a time when I was ready to switch from the first workout cycle to the second. In the second cycle you have three different intensity levels for your workout while you do more or less the same exercises over the whole week.

Each workout consists of four parts: "pulls", "squats", "pushes" and "bends". The first workout uses what Lauren calls "dynamic efforts": all upward movements are supposed to be executed as explosive and fast as you can still do them in good form. You do 10 sets of 3 "dynamic" reps, one minute per set.

 

Since that is really, really intense you get a little reprieve on your second workout, which is a measly 2 sets of 7 reps of each, 2 or 3 minutes per set, depending on the movement category. So that's my easy Wednesday.

 

The third workout is more or less "medium intensity", 3 sets of 9 reps each, again 2 or 3 minutes per set. If I can execute all three sets of one exercise perfectly during this third workout, I'll be rewarded the next week with a more difficult exercise in this category, e.g. in the "pushing" category I'm currently doing pushups with my hands elevated on a chair. Once I can do those without losing my form near the end, I get to do one second pauses at the lowest point. Yay! And then two second pauses. And then do the pushups with my hands close together. And so on... So Friday will be my judgment day if I'm ready to level up any of the exercises yet.

 

And on the topic of butt muscles... Isn't it amazing to find out in what strange places one actually has muscles???

[Swampling]

Oh, and another cookie-(and sugar-)free day at the office! Yay!

Nice bonus for this week...

[Swampling]

Today was yoga day again. Not so easy this time, we did some stuff that's really hard on my knee and hip joints (working on the pigeon and cow face poses). Parts of me are rather hyperflexible (too long ligaments, if that's the correct word), but others -  not so much. Ouch! I'll really have to work on those more. Maybe a perfect cow face (the yoga pose!!!) will be a future challenge.

 

Sugar free again! Yay! Being at home is waaaay easier than being at the office, in this regard. At least since I got rid of my chocolate stash right before the challenge...