Avoiding those Demons of Autumn

[Meant2Move]

I wasn't going to do a challenge, I'm fairly new here and still feeling my way around, trying to see if I feel at home. Then I read through a few challenge threads and realized that there are some goals I should be working toward, and why not see if this is an effective format and an effective strategy for staying on target. Soooo, here goes!

 

Main Quest

I love autumn, really, I do, but historically, this is a difficult time for me. I tend to close myself off - I stop communicating well with others, I am more likely to get depressed, and I more likely to get injured. Autumn is when I transition from fun outdoor summer workouts with my husband to hitting the gym, so I lose that hour spent with him doing something fun and transition to workouts that I don't love as much (although I do still enjoy them - I love to workout!).

 

This year, I want to Avoid the Demons of Autumn and stay more positive and healthy, maintain the strength gains I made this summer, and improve (not just maintain) my communications with coworkers, friends, and spouse.

 

Goal 1:

I will make a positive, personal daily contact. This may be a phone call instead of sending an email, a personal visit to an employee, or opening a new conversation with my spouse.

 

Scoring:

6 contacts/week = 4

5 contacts/week = 3

4 contacts/week = 2

fewer than 4 = 0

 

Goal 2:

I will do the things that I know keep my mental state positive and that ward off depression and avoidant behavior

- no wheat

- no alcohol

- limit added sugar

- run, hike, or do other "sanity maintenance cardio" at least 3 times a week

 

Scoring:

Deduct a point any time I have wheat or alcohol (these substances are terrible for me!)

Add point each day I do cardio/run/hike (bonus points available for long hikes or long runs)

Deduct a point anytime I have a sugary treat

 

Goal 3:

I've made some wonderful strength gains this summer with both body weight and barbell workouts. As I transition to more indoor workouts, I will maintain those gains

- pullups/pushups/T2B at least 2 times/week

- bonus points for OHP and squats

- lunges and KB swings at least once a week (winter hiking season is coming as is telemark season!!!)

 

Scoring:

4 points any week I do the 2 days of p/p/t and a day of lunges/KB

Add a point for PR on counts of pullups, pushups or T2B

Add a point for OHP or squats

Add a point for new PR on OHP or squats

 

Side Quest:  Grand Canyon Double Crossing on 10/4: 50 miles, 11,000 feet of elevation gain, and my goal is to complete the trek in 20 hours or less: 3:00 AM - 10:00 PM (ish)

- this will mess with my workout schedule a little the week before, and definitely the week after, and I will eat wheat for the easily available calories needed (pizza, cheddar bunnies, and mac & cheese to carb load the evening before we start). I am waiving the no wheat rule only for 10/4-10/6.  If I meet the goal of 20 hours or less, I will award myself bonus points (max of 15).

 

 

 

[SunSeeker]

Welcome M2M!!  So glad you joined up and I will definitely be following your challenge.  I so understand how you feel during the autumn as that is exactly how I feel once winter arrives.  When it gets cold I seriously want to hibernate.  Love your goals especially your side quest and can tell you put a lot of thought into them.  Good Luck on your Challenge!!

 

To make the hidden link: type something like "My Current Challenge", highlight it, click the ninth icon on the second row above (if you hover over it, a popup saying link will appear), then paste the long url in the box and finally click ok.  Hope that makes sense.

[LittleWitch]

Wow this is well thought out and detailed. The Grand Canyon crossing sounds amazing. Good luck with your quests :-)

[Meant2Move]

Thank you for the tip, Melyssa, I'd like to fix my signature (despite making my career in IT, tricks like that elude me).

 

Thank you, LittleWitch, and welcome. Nice to meet another newbie.

[Meant2Move]

I've always tracked my activity starting on Mondays, that way the weekend, when I am most apt to do something long or significant, doesn't unfairly influence weekly totals by being split oddly.  That said, I am declaring that my challenge officially started on 9/23/13. That happens to have been a significant day in my life (I turned 50!) and I can remember enough details of the week to catch up. I could go back further with exercise, but not food or personal contacts, so mine will be a 4 week challenge I guess...

 

Goal 1: 7 personal contacts so far, so even if I do well this weekend (and I hope to), I've hit my max of 4 points for the week! Yippee!!!

 

Goal 2: -2 for a donut which is both sweet and wheat on Thursday, -1 for Dove chocolate drops in desperation as I was working under a deadline, - 1 for the GF cookies I ate on Tuesday - sheesh - clearly sugar is a problem!!!

-4 on foods so far   Dang! Wiped out the points on G1 with some poor food choices.

 

BUT, it was an outstanding week cardio-wise:

Monday: 6 hours hiking: 18.5 miles, 5000 feet of elevation, and a really fantastic autumn birthday - allotting 3 pts for this

Wednesday: 15 minutes of high intensity cardio on the EFX    +1

Thursday: 30 minutes of high intensisty cardio on the EFX - "glut" program for the first time - it was a nice change    +1

Friday: 20 minutes of incline treadmill 12% grade @ 4.0 mph so walked 1.36 miles and climbed over 800 feet           +1

 

6 points on G2 (and likely another long hike this weekend so there may be more to come)

 

Goal 3:

Wednesday:

pullups 10 kippers and 4 straight

some T2B

3 songs worth of lunges/BOSU lunges/medicine ball lunges

10kg medicine ball squats for a song

100 KB swings with 15lb KB

 

Thursday: pushups 34 of good quality along with foam rolling and some hamstring work

 

Friday:

  OHP 6x45, 5x55, 2x65,1x70x2 - was flirting with trying for 75, a PR, but could tell after the set of 65 I didn't have it in me today

  Front squats: 8x55, 8x65, 8x70, 5x80

  set of lunges as a break for my arms

  Pullups 4,4,4

  T2B 5,5,4 (ran out of time mostly)

 

Guess I'll wait to score this after I see what the weekend brings. Looks like I need to do some more pushups... If I get a good set in, I'll give myself a 6 for the week, otherwise 5.

 

Now I'm headed to the grocery store and to repeat what my husband said this morning, "no treats!".   

[Bekah]

Heyyyyyy :)

I'm excited to see that you started a challenge thread! I went looking for one the other day and couldn't find one...and voila...here you are!

I love your goals and the Grand Canyon Crossing sounds like an amazing experience!

Great job on your workouts this week and Happy Belated Birthday!

[SunSeeker]

Happy Belated Birthday!  I turned 49 today.    

 

Looks like you've had a great week except for a few treats.  Did you make it back from the store without treats?  

[Meant2Move]

Heyyyyyy :)

I'm excited to see that you started a challenge thread! I went looking for one the other day and couldn't find one...and voila...here you are!

I love your goals and the Grand Canyon Crossing sounds like an amazing experience!

Great job on your workouts this week and Happy Belated Birthday!

Thanks, Bekah.  Sadly, I am one of those people who is often late, so for me to be late to start the challenge is just sort of typical... but I'm glad I did.

[Meant2Move]

Happy Belated Birthday!  I turned 49 today.  

 

Looks like you've had a great week except for a few treats.  Did you make it back from the store without treats?  

Yep - success at the store - no treats taken home.  Your birthday camping trip sounds great, glad you had such a relaxing time.

[Meant2Move]

First week totals now that the weekend is complete:

Goal 1 was 4 points - made some good personal contacts when I might have avoided them.

Goal 2 was a mixed bag - too many sweet treats lead to -5 on foods, but great cardio saved me with a +6, so +1 overall

Goal 3 strength - got in the pushups needed on the weekend - interspersed sets while we were slacklining (more on that below), plus bonus point for increasing by a length on the monkey bars - a new PR of 55 rungs or 2.5 laps continuous. +6 

 

11 points for week 1

 

Hmm - guess with my scale, actual points possible per week is a bit nebulous... but 15 is likely a reasonable "perfect" target.

 

Sooo, the weekend hike was pre-empted because with the change in the weather (freezing nights), a couple of projects we had been putting off needed to be done NOW.  We also needed to hike, but we can do the GCDC without the hike and it will be better without worrying about things going wrong at home. I'll get in an extra set of lunges early in the week I hope and call it good.

 

Sunday after we determined we were not going to hike, we set up the slackline to loosen backs that were stiff from work on Saturday.

Slacklining was excellent too - had one of my better days in as long a time as I remember. Good mounts, and good passes.  This is when I slipped in the pushups and because we were outside and it was a gorgeous morning, I jumped on the monkey bars and did my best round ever - 55 rungs continuous, or 2.5 laps. Really pleased about that.

 

Another highlight of the weekend was something I usually dread, a body fat check with the calipers.  I wanted to do this because I had worked really hard this summer and also, wanted to have a starting point for the year (as measured by my birthday, not the calendar).

 

My goal for summer workouts, aside from having fun and enjoying the workout time with my husband was to maintain weight, gain strength, continue to work on body recomposition - less fat, more lean mass.  Using my trend (avg) weight of the past 10 days, it was 1 lb lower than in mid-May when T last did the calipers. Body fat % went from 16.9% to 16.03% and shows an increase of lean weight of .25 lbs - not much, but given my age, lack of weight gain, and a time period of 4 months, about what one might expect. I'll take a gain no matter how small!

[SunSeeker]

Wow I am impressed.  I haven't had a 16% body fat since I was in my 20%.  Sounds like a great first week!  Sorry you missed your hike, but sometimes chores take precedence.  I've been seeing slacklining here on NF quite a bit, is it as hard as it looks?

[Meant2Move]

Hey Melyssa,

Nope, slacklining is not particularly difficult, and it is really good for a body - great for spinal mobility, great for the core (that is your center of balance), great for improving balance and stability so that come winter, one is less apt to fall on ice.  Some mounts are pretty difficult as are many tricks, but a simple step up mount is easy to learn and just walking or standing  on the line is a good challenge and lots of fun.

 

I've never been particularly heavy - I'm 5' 7" and at my heaviest was about 155 lbs, but my frame is small and at that weight, I did not feel good. Worse, because my job is sedantary (I'm at a desk in front of a computer all day unless I'm out training) I was starting to develop some extra fat around my middle - the deadly kind. I decided to do something about it as part of my overall 'be healthy heading into mid-late adulthood'. As Dr. Andrew Weil puts it - "compression of morbidity" is the goal. Be really healthy, avoid the 'western' diseases, and the when the time comes, decline rapidly and die quick!

 

Over a longish period of time, we changed our diet to eating whole foods and I started doing more than cardio and hiking for exercise. About a year ago I dropped wheat from my diet which was good for me for a number of reasons both mental and physical, and with that, most grains went away too. The main reason for dropping the grains was that most are highly processed and given my calorie intake, the bang for the nutritional buck just isn't there. I get so much more from fruits and veggies. So anyway, I drop a few pounds each year and have been working at reducing body fat in particular for about 4 years. When I started measuring and working on this, I was at about 27% and weighed 148 lbs.  My avg weight this summer is about 135 lbs. I'd like to keep it here and really don't plan to lose any more fat either. My focus is really more on maintaining the strength gains I've made to keep the lean muscle mass.

 

----

133.8 today - have to walk some papers over to campus in a little bit and will stop by the store to buy some bagels and cream cheese as it is time to add some extra carbs and extra calories to my diet for the weekend's adventures. Of course, that assumes the US Congress can get their act together and re-open the government and thus, the national parks. So totally idiotic!

 

Meanwhile, I am planning as if we will get to do the GCDC on Saturday and to that end, figured today was my last day to tear the leg muscles apart in hopes of rebuilding them better and stronger! 

 

Incline treadmill @ 14% and 4.1 mph for 25 minutes was a good walk - climbed 1300 feet over 1.6 miles.  Then went upstairs for lunges, lunges, more lunges, and then some squats. I have that bone deep exhausted feeling that comes from a really outstanding and hard workout.  Also, talked with a couple at the gym that we would do well to make friends with - many common interests in activity, so point to goal #1!

[SunSeeker]

Good morning Meant2Move.  Every since I can remember I've enjoyed walking on beams and such, so I might have to give slacklining a try some time.  I have pretty good balance I think and the yoga I am doing is helping to improve that as well.  I've never been particularly heavy, but I am carrying some extra weight with me right now.  I have started the dreaded perimenopause and put 10 pounds on in a month for no particular reason (no change in diet or exercise routine, just bam).  I have been working hard to get that off and I've lost 5 of that already.  I am 5' 5" and 147 right now, but would like to get back down to around 132 (my weight seems to plateau at 2s...132, 142, 152).  That is were I feel my best.  

 

It is nice to read about a woman my age who seems to feel the same way I do about ageing.  My family tells me to just accept the weight gain because I can't do anything about it.  I am the smallest among the woman in my family, but I still refuse to accept that I can't lose weight if I eat right and exercise.  I haven't lifted weights in a few years and definitely need to put that back in my routine.  Reading about your success is an inspiration to me.  Thanks for sharing.  Wish I could get my husband on board, but I know that just isn't going to happen.  Love him to pieces anyway.  lol

 

Oh the stupid government shut down!  Sorry that it might be affecting your trip.   

[Meant2Move]

Hi Melyssa - you can absolutely do something about the weight, but yes, between perimenopause (just nasty stuff!) and some changes in how our bodies respond to foods and activity, you might find you have to tweak your diet to feel your best.  I love to experiment and have always been one to keep a journal so I just note what I've been eating and how I'm feeling in terms of energy, body processes, and mentals/emotions.  I'd say dropping all fast food and eliminating processed foods gave me the biggest boost in terms of feeling good and losing weight.  Going for short (30 minutes) intense cardio sessions were the most effective tool I found for manaing the hormones.  I am really lucky that my husband is totally on board with the healthy aging process, he often drives our exercise focus while I am the driver of what we eat since I do the shopping.

 

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133.4 which I totally don't get, but whatever - I'm still eating more than usual, more than I want, and working to boost the glycogen stores to their max level. Sadly, so far the stupid congress isn't budging and I fear our annual GCDC will be derailed by politics. Poo! 

 

My butt was fairly screaming this morning from the lunges - am really dreading second day soreness tomorrow, I may be a cripple! 

 

Hit the treadmill to work on my long neglected power walking skills. Was pretty happy to work my way up to 5.0 mph starting from 4.7. So in 25 minutes managed 2 miles, 2% incline. Enjoyed getting some blood moving to sore muscles, enjoyed the sanity maintenance benefits (demons of autumn are lurking), and enjoyed hitting the 5 mph target. 

 

Was way past out of time, but unwilling to not do something for my upper body, I went for low reps with high intensity - no pauses or rests, just jump down from the bar, flex wrists and shake out the arms, then jump back on: 

 

pullups - mix of kippers and straight 15

t2b - just 10 worked in between pullups

pushups - just 12, then back on the bar

[Meant2Move]

Melissa, if you are interested in slack line and have some trees available, Sierra Trading Post is an easy place to get one at low cost. The site has sales all the time, loads of online coupons, etc. we get a lot of gear there because the prices can be excellent. Anyway, the Gibbon slack lines are sturdy, easy to set up if you have some trees or posts, and slack lining is super fun as well as good for a body. And yes, with some yoga practice, you would be a natural!

------

Unfortunately, I let traveling and a night in a hotel tempt me into a glass of wine. Not the end of the world, but not a great idea either as I have been feeling rather avoident lately - just a part of the autumn "syndrome" I need to avoid.

Hoping to get in a run in the morning before spending the day at a conference, then home... But not to my big 50 miler as planned. I am sooooooo bummed that the government shutdown has wrecked our annual Grand Canyon Double Crossing! So pointless, so frustrating! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

We could postpone a week or so, but the North Rim closes for the season on 10/15 of each year, so while we can go after that date, we cannot do the full 50 mile version of a double crossing, it will be a shorter version. I am trying to keep in mind that compared to other people who are worried about actually getting a paycheck, my troubles are tiny. But I am angry about the stupidity of the situation.

[Meant2Move]

Really enjoyed my run this morning. Nice to be outside in moderate temps (am in Phoenix so a balmy 70 or so at 6:30 this morning). Did two loops around a large mall parking lot and was guessing it was about three miles. Stopped to chat with a WWII Navy vet who was walking the other direction and he confirmed my distance guess. Says he walks around the loop every day for his health. He must be 80-90 ish and was moving along well, seemed alert. Yep, just keep moving!!!!

I wasn't running fast as my bum and thighs (quads, gluts, hammies) are still screaming from the lunges. Second day soreness is a killer! Likely 9 min miles. Truly yucky hotel breakfast - does anyone like these Holiday Inn cheese omelettes? But no off the list substances and I am getting back on track with a new day.

Off to conference now.

[Meant2Move]

134.2 Had hoped I might do an outdoor workout this morning w/ T as I was going in late, but it was waaay below freezing so playing on the bars just wasn't going to be any fun. 

 

At the gym, mixed up various inclines for 2 miles on the treadmill, ranging from 15% to 3%, most done at 12%. Climbed 750 feet over those 2 miles in 25 minutes. Was having some asthma symptoms (wheat and Phoenix air are a bad combination for me) and had no inhaler handy, so didn't push as hard as I might have. 

 

Woke up rather pissed off about ruined weekend plans, but honestly, my gripes are minor compared to millions of people who are hugely impacted by the shutdown. Anyway, took my "mad" upstairs to the weight room and knocked out good rounds of pushups, pullups and T2B in a short amount of time. 

 

New "record" for pullups done in a session at 20

3 sets of 10 pushups

20 T2B

100 KB swings - moved up to the 20 lb KB

 

T suggested we might transfer our endurance weekend to a 100 miler that easily supports a drop to 100 km near the end of the month. Hm... maybe that is the way to go. Not much elevation gain on that course, so not best suited for me as I am so strong on steep hills, but I've been on the course and I like it well enough. Will have to mull on this.

 

Oh and ding me a point for yesterday at the conference where I dodged the dessert tray and the wheat represented there, but later gave in to a snack cup of M&M's. They just weren't all that yummy... hard to believe I used to eat a half pound bag over a bad week at work!

[Meant2Move]

I still have the weekend to go, but here is a round up of the week so far:

 

Goal 1: have hit the target of at last 6 personal contacts, so 4 points already

Goal 2: 3 "banned substance" dings so far: M&M's, glass of wine, and was starving so had a quesadilla (wheat flour)

  - Cardio points so far: Tuesday - Friday so 4 points, not sure what the weekend will bring, we might go hiking in the White Mts or hike near home.

Goal 3: did get in 2 days of p/p/t2b, a day with lunges, a day with KB = 4 pts, bonus pt for maxing pullups today so 5

 

10 pts going into the weekend

[swe]

Very detailed and interesting goals. And a nice elaborate way to grade all your successes! Seems like your doing great with 10pts already this week.

 

Keep up the great work. Hiking seems really nice. I only do that for a few days a year up in the mountains in Sweden. Is really amazing once you're in the right environment

[Meant2Move]

Very detailed and interesting goals. And a nice elaborate way to grade all your successes! Seems like your doing great with 10pts already this week.

 

Keep up the great work. Hiking seems really nice. I only do that for a few days a year up in the mountains in Sweden. Is really amazing once you're in the right environment

 

Thanks, Swe. 

 

One of the things my organization does is support teacher gradebook software and the teachers that use it - we often warn against getting to elaborate in the gradebook, but it is hard to resist!   I adore hiking and most anything else done outdoors.

[Meant2Move]

Wonderful weekend afterall. We set off Saturday morning for the AZ White Mountains. We did a short 1 mile rim overlook hike to stretch out a little bit after 3 hours in the car, then drove through town to get a sense of where things were, then on to another longer hike.  Did 9 miles in about 2 hrs 45 minutes without running or feeling rushed, just walking and talking and enjoying the forest trail.  Seemed a little bit like when we were in the American South - lots of trees, views not that great because of all the trees... Back in town, found a yummy local Mexican restaurant for a great dinner, then found our hotel. Nice, comfortable place and free because I had travel points earned at work.

 

Sunday morning had a good breakfast, then did another hike. Decided to just do the 5 mile version instead of the 9 mile. This trail offered nicer views. Our wildlife spotting was limited to a tarantula (it is walking season for the males who are wandering about looking for the females) and some interesting tracks.  We took the shorter trail as we wanted to go check out a nearby ski resort and not get home late. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to the base of the resort, we would have liked to check out the runs and get a sense of length and steepness - suitability for telemark. Oh well, headed home and arrived with daylight to spare so we could let the demon cats out for an hour or so. Took them for a walk, unpacked and put stuff away, and enjoyed a relaxing evening.

 

Anyway, I'm calling the weekend a wash in terms of points.  15 miles of hiking but also some "road trip" food while in the car. Sticking with 10 points for the week.

[Meant2Move]

Start of week 3

3.3 mile run around Shoe HIll with Tom this morning, 3x8 pushups

We both committed to no sweets for the week - actually what we discussed was limiting ourselves to 1 treat a week.

[Meant2Move]

135.6 and it was warm enough to get in a yard workout - Yippee!  Storm is coming so there was a breeze all night and the temp was 50 F - plenty warm enough to play outside.  How I have missed that these last couple of weeks!

 

Warmed up with a nice speed rope set of 500 (or thereabouts), no Achilles pain
- OHP 5 x 50, 4 x60, 1 x75!, tried for 80, but only got the bar to my eyes, 1 x75 (struggled as I didn't wait long after the failure at 80)
- Front squats: 6 x 50, 6 x 70, 6 x 90, 4 x 90
- Monkey Bar Laps: 2, 1
- Stepups w/50 lbs 20 each leg
- T2B 6, 6, 4, 4, 4
- Campus touch-ups 6
- Pullups 3 on rings (did these last so arms were toast)
- Cartwheels 6, 6, 2, 6 (10 of these were right handed - trying to get a decent right handed cartwheel after only doing lefties all my life)

- Misc leg stuff in  between arm exercises for recovery: step-ups 40, step cross overs 50, jumping toe taps 50

[Meant2Move]

135.2 Super windy this morning so back to the gym. Kind of a drag other than the gym is where the BOSU can be found and I do love that piece of equipment!

 

Incline treadmill - various heights for  awhile, then settled into 5% and 5.0 mph to focus on power walking.  20 minutes total.

 

Balance work on the BOSU with 10kg medicine ball, then single leg balance work. Haven't done this all summer and it felt good!

 

BOSU lunges for a long song, then step back lunges with the 10kg medicine ball for a song, then tick-tock lunges until my quads screamed for mercy and finished off the 3rd song with side lunges.

 

Set of pushups and hit the shower.

 

Was very pleased when I made it through the grocery store last evening without buying a treat! So far to good. Having read Steve's email yesterday, I told myself I don't eat that when walking past the gluten free cookies and the Justin's PB cups.

 

I'm a little behind on positive contacts this week, better get to work on that.

[Meant2Move]

136.2 and our first real snow of the year - won't last long, but still, not really ready for slippery roads and white stuff.

EFX for 20 minutes of intense cardio that required no thinking, then upstairs for some hard work
Pullups - mostly kippers, 14, then straight chinups 6
T2B 15
hanging knee raises 10
100 kb swings
step-ups with 60lbs - used the machine for this as I haven't figured out an easy means of adding weight at home, the 25lb plates are as big as it gets at my house, save the 45lb'ers and I am not ready for those! Was surprised what a difference 10 extra lbs made in terms of effort!

 

Am busy scheduling myself out for a big road trip next week - it will be a big challenge to meet my fitness and food goals next week, but the contacts are easy when I'm not stuck in an office at a computer.