Jonesy's 6th Challenge

[Jonesy]

So I'm not 100% sure I'm following this new challenge set up/stats correctly but here I go. I start my new challenge tomorrow and I'm going to focus on progression. I want to start small and building on what I accomplished from the prior weeks. I also want to learn to trust my own boundaries but still push myself. My ultimate goal here is to lose some weight by cut back on unhealthy eating & build a healthier routine.

In the past few weeks I've had a difficult time eating a reasonable amount of calories and/or healthy food. In order to get back on track I'm starting small and working my way up. I have a hard time sorting out what is too easy for me or what the appropriate amount of progression is before my brain shuts down on me and I go back to lazy ways. I may progress fast than what I've planned for.

- Tracker -

MAIN QUEST : Lose more than 100 pounds and drop 5 or more pant sizes

This is a quest that I expect to take a year or longer to accomplish.

WHAT'S MY MOTIVATION?

As much as I would love to say to be healthy, I'm pretty shallow when it comes to my motivation. I hate the way I currently look/feel and want to see myself the way I think I am in my mind. I want both those images to match. I also want to prove to myself that my willpower is powerful and I can overcome the unhealthy ways I've been living.

MINI QUESTS TO ACCOMPLISH MAIN QUEST - WEEKLY PLAN DETAILS BELOW

#1 - Meal Planning - 3 CON + 2 WIS

#2 - Building a Healthy Routine - 3 WIS

#3 - Exercises - 2 DEX + 2 STA * 1 STR

Life Quest - Pay off $100 towards my credit card - 2 WIS

Bonus Quests - Participate in Mini Challenges as much as possible & with the NerdFitness community.

STARTING STATS:

Weight: 292

Pant Size: 26

Chest: 55in

Waist: 55.5in

Hips: 57.5in

WEEKLY PLANS

Week 1 -

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 30% - 7 meals followed

#2 - Prepare Lunch night before

#3 - Walk/Run 1 mile

REWARD : Buy Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

Week 2 -

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 30% - 7 meals followed

#2 - Prepare Lunch night before

#3 - Walk/Run 2 mile and 1 day of Tai Chi or Yoga

REWARD : Buy Pitch Perfect Movie

Week 3 -

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 30% - 7 meals followed

#2 - Prepare Lunch night before & Be in bed by 10pm on weekdays, unless plans prevent it

#3 - Walk/Run 2 mile and 1 day of Tai Chi or Yoga

REWARD : Buy Underworld : Awakening Movie

Week 4 -

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 40% - 9 meals followed

#2 - Prepare Lunch night before & Be in bed by 10pm on weekdays, unless plans prevent it

#3 - Walk/Run 3 mile, 2 day of Tai Chi or Yoga & 1 Early Morning workout

REWARD : Buy a nice set of workout socks

Week 5 -

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 40% - 9 meals followed

#2 -Prepare Lunch night before, Be in bed by 10pm on weekdays, unless plans prevent it & Daily clean for 10 mins or more

#3 - Walk/Run 3 mile, 2 day of Tai Chi or Yoga & 1 Early Morning workout

REWARD : Enjoy an iPic Movie

Week 6 -

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 40% - 9 meals followed

#2 - Prepare Lunch night before, Be in bed by 10pm on weekdays, unless plans prevent it & Daily clean for 10 mins or more

#3 - Walk/Run 3 mile, 2 day of Tai Chi or Yoga & 1 Early Morning workout

REWARD : Nerdfitness T-shirt

[Jonesy]

Mini Quest 1 - Think - Are my goals SMART goals? 

 

Specific - MQ - Might not be super specific but it's close. I anticipate accomplishing my goal about a year from now. Earlier if I can lose 2 lbs per week. 3MiniQ - I believe they are very specific. The weekly break down helps there.

 

Measurable - MQ - I'm looking at 5-10lbs lost each month plus dropped pant sizes. 3MiniQ - I set up a pretty decent plan in which measuring them should be easy. 

 

Attainable - MQ - With dedication and control this can be done. 3MiniQ - By the end of 6 weeks I should have made a new routine for myself. 

 

Relevant - MQ - I better start on it now before I get older and it becomes harder. 3MiniQ - To accomplish my MQ I need to work on these mini quests first. I'm currently living a very unhealthy lifestyle and my mini quests will help me change that. 

 

Time-bound - MQ - I don't have a set date in my head but an ideal target date would be May 31, 2014. 3MiniQ - I have 6 weeks to learn a new routine. At the end of those 6 weeks I plan on continuing with the same plan and progressing even more!

 

+1 WIS for me

[Laureleye]

I like that you're building up a progression of new habits. 

[Tateman]

Good goals, and reward system  I don't think you are that shallow on your motivation.  Mental healthy is good too

[Dorothy]

Good luck with your goals! I love your weekly plan and rewards system. Sometimes it makes it easier if you have something a little more tangible to look forward to, which is why I love the reward system. 

[Jonesy]

I like that you're building up a progression of new habits. 

 

Thank you. I've done it in the past and it seems to work the best. It's playing around with the amount of progression that I need to figure out.

 

Good goals, and reward system  I don't think you are that shallow on your motivation.  Mental healthy is good too

 

I never looked at it that way, mental healthy. Very good way to look at it. Thank you!

[Jonesy]

Good luck with your goals! I love your weekly plan and rewards system. Sometimes it makes it easier if you have something a little more tangible to look forward to, which is why I love the reward system. 

 

Thank you. One thing that I learned from my previous challenges is that I need a short term reward to drive myself. Even if it is something small and that I can get at anytime as long as it is NOT food. It also makes me force myself NOT to buy whatever I want until I've earned it. 

[Jonesy]

Almost half way through week 1 and things are going well. I still need to find some time to get in my 1 mile but I'm planning on waking up early Thursday to get that in. I've made lunch everyday now and only missed 1 planned meal. Now to just keep the momentum going!

 

Possibly skipping mini quest B - at least part 1,  for now. Part of me wants to join a group but I get discouraged when I get overwhelmed or forget to check out threads on a regular basis. 

[Tateman]

It's not too bad.  I had some people in my group only check in every now and then.

 

Sounds like you are starting off the challenge good so far.  Keep it going!

[Jonesy]

Thank you Tateman! I wish I could bottle challenge week 1 motivation and willpower for later weeks. For those weeks where I just don't feel like following my plan because I feel unstoppable this week!

 

I also just received an email from Barnes and Nobles that has a 20% off coupon in it. Perfect timing for this week and a nice incentive to push me to make my goal and get my reward. Yay for discounts on books!

[Tateman]

Yeah, I hope my motivation really keeps pushing me this challenge.  

[Jonesy]

Almost got my mile done today, got .8 miles completed. I have not walked or worked out for a month now, so I was not surprised that my lower back had some twinges. I plan to go for another walk early Saturday morning since I'm getting my tattoo Saturday evening. 

[Jonesy]

Still doing pretty well but I need to finish my mile walk. Didn't find time to do that today. I DID wash all my dirty clothes and change my bed sheets. I also got my first tattoo!

[Jonesy]

Week 1 - Did a great job and did Mini challenge 1: Think! Very little struggles this week and I will continue to do just as good on week 2. Getting my reward Monday!!! REWARD : Buy Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews

#1 - Meal planning on Sat/Sun & follow 30% - 7 meals followed

I ended up following 70% so I did a lot better than I thought I would. I WILL keep up the good work. (70% accomplished was aimimg for 30% - 20% NOT followed on weekday - 60% NOT Followed on weekend) Obviously I struggle on weekends. 

#2 - Prepare Lunch night before

5 out of 5 weekday lunches made but I forgot Monday's at home.

#3 - Walk/Run 1 mile

Ended the week with 1.3 miles in 33 mins. (Thursday & Sunday)

[Claudzilla]

Good goals! I like how you've laid everything out so specifically - that should make it much easier to follow through. I like doing meal planning, actually - get yourself a cookbook or two that you actually like (my top pick: Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayliss - you can make delicious, authentic Mexican food really easily with stuff from the regular grocery store. Not super paleo, but he makes it ridiculously easy to make substitutions), and spend an hour or so paging through. The stuff that looks good is going to leap right off the page and onto your grocery list, I guarantee it. Good luck!

[Jonesy]

Good goals! I like how you've laid everything out so specifically - that should make it much easier to follow through. I like doing meal planning, actually - get yourself a cookbook or two that you actually like (my top pick: Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayliss - you can make delicious, authentic Mexican food really easily with stuff from the regular grocery store. Not super paleo, but he makes it ridiculously easy to make substitutions), and spend an hour or so paging through. The stuff that looks good is going to leap right off the page and onto your grocery list, I guarantee it. Good luck!

 

Thanks! If I don't plan my weeks I tend to slack off.

 

I have a few cookbooks but most of the time they require a lot of ingredients and I struggle with recipes that require a lot of prep. I'm trying to improve that though. I just want to find a cookbook that is for the every day person who wants to eat healthier with less ingredients. I'm not doing the whole Paleo thing and I don't have lots of restrictions currently so planning isn't the issue. Sticking to my meal plan is what kills me, I enjoy going with the flow! I've been making a dish on Sunday that generally will cover a week or more of food so I'm prepared. I also enjoy getting recipes from the blog runsforcookies.com. I just made her BBQ Chicken Pizza and it's like a pizza scone. 

 

My first step is to combat sticking to my plan. Once I am around 80% or 90% followed, my idea is to start adding in restrictions such as limiting sugars, limiting carb %, upping protein, etc.  

[Tateman]

Nice job  I have thought about getting a tattoo before, but I am not sure what I would want to get.  I thought about getting some video game characters in there, but I don't know about it

[Claudzilla]

PS - AWESOME TATTOO! I love the colors!!!

 

If you're anything like me, as soon as one's done, you're already mulling ideas for the next one... 

[Jonesy]

Thanks! I wanted something super bright and I LOVE the colors as well.

 

I'm actually very happy with the one tattoo. So far I've had little issue with the healing but it really is inconvenient.

 

I had 2 tattoo's planned for a very long time, the one I got and a tree of life design. I want to wait to get the tree of life one until I get to my goal weight. So I won't be getting another one for a while.

 

She says now...Haha 

[Jonesy]

Quick update for this week - 

 

I'm rocking the preparation and have made my lunch every night. I've followed my meal plan pretty good so far. Missed last nights (I let cravings overrun me) and this morning (running late) but I have the rest of today's food prepped and ready to go. 

 

My struggle continues to be working out. I'm not waking up early enough to get in my walks and it's been really hot outside when I get off work. Now I'm not using this as an excuse but wearing my sports bra is pretty much impossible while my tattoo is healing because the bra is so tight. I'm thinking of pushing back my workout week plans and to change things for the next few weeks while it heals. If anyone has any ideas I'm all for them. I just have to do them at home so I don't have to wear a bra Lol. Uugh

 

Ideas -

10 min walk at work

Planks every day 1 min or more!

Squats

[Tateman]

Maybe yoga?  I never actually tried it, but it might be better to do instead of a workout now while your tattoo heals.  Otherwise maybe lookign into some body weight exercises you can do at home that won't bug you too much.

 

Nice job on the meal planning.  I still am not so hot at it myself, but am getting better

[Jonesy]

Thanks I forgot about my yoga stuff.

 

I have a yoga video I've done before - one is really nice for relaxing and stretching and the other puts me in super uncomfortable positions. LOL. The tattoo doesn't hurt at all, but it's flaking really bad and I don't want to pull out too much ink. I should have waited until after the challenge but it was the only appointment the artist had (within the next few months) since she had someone cancel. But for now I'm doing light exercises. 

 

The planning of meals is the easy part for me, sticking to those plans and not caving into a craving is my issue at the moment. 

[GingaNinja]

Hey Jonesy, just read through your thread, I really like your goals and I think your motivation is sound, who doesn't want feel happy with the way they look! I really like how you've set out yourself weekly rewards, I think that is a good way to keep motivation up and I am totally with your on wishing I could bottle up Week One Motivation for later weeks! I think I am going to have to think of something to do or get for myself at the end of my challenge. 

 

Glad your food planning is going really well it can be tough to make a habit of something like that! I am worried about food boredom setting in at some point and will have to change up what I am doing. Well done for battling your cravings you are doing such an excellent job!

 

Great Tattoo, hope it settles down soon! 

[Jonesy]

Thanks! Cravings can really be a bitch. I'm starting to learn that they are not always "cravings" though and sometimes other things. Just need to listen to the smarter voice in my head telling me there is food in the fridge that is good enough. 

 

Got .75 miles done today at work and I plan on getting another .75 miles tomorrow. THEN I only have .50 left for the week.

[Claudzilla]

Nice work! It sounds like you're staying on track and making progress! Way to go!