[Arya Sapphire] Through the Looking Glass

[crar4321]

This thread is just making me want to use up the next 3 months of my life reading A Song of Ice and Fire again! How good was the most recent episode though!

[Arya Sapphire]

Day 2 of the challenge: 

 

This morning I woke up at 7am (still snoozed from the 6:30am alarm I put on, but It's better than the usual 8:30am!) and went for a ''walk/jog''. I finished the Week 2 Day 1 from the C25K. It felt pretty great and the weather was wonderful. I'll definitely try to keep this up. 

 

By the time I came back home, I had some actual time to cook and prep meals. I made a HUGE batch of quinoa and cooked some spinach and onions in a lot of different spices.

 

I had Ezekiel bread with sriracha, sliced avocado and flax seeds for breakfast. And for my second meal of the day (lunch-y dinner) I had quinoa, those spinach, tempeh and some organic salsa on the side. Yum! And no takeouts! Woot woot! 

 

I still have to work until 12am tonight so hopefully I'm not starving by then, because I won't allow myself to buy myself sweet potato fries from work. So here you go for the goals: 

 

• Week 1 goals: 
• Strength training: 1 in 3
• Jogging: 1 in 3
• Takeouts: 0
• Life quest: I did all the dishes but my room is still pretty messy. Hoping to have a thorough clean on Thursday.

[Arya Sapphire]

Leothil, the books come out splitted here. Means 1 book in english are 2 books in german. Very expensive...

 

Ain't it great when you wake up early to run? I forgot to turn of my clock on Monday and it woke me up on a day I wanted to sleep in.

 

Oh no. I have the same issue back home. I wanted to read the ASOIAF in French but they were 40$ each, when I can get the English version for 12-15$. Let's just say I stuck to English because my wallet would have hated me!

 

Oh boy, I used to always do that, haha. Hopefully you remember to change it so you can sleep in a little next time!

 

 

Ah ha! Found and subbed

 

Thanks for being so supportive of my challenge  I love that part of your challenge is to clean your room.  I should *really* consider adding that to my next set of goals....*kicks a sock into the hamper*

 

Aww, yay! Thanks for finding my thread! Let's do it! We could be accountingbuddies of the clean rooms.

 

 

Woot, good start Arya!

 

And you're reading some Song of Fire and Ice too... bonus points. I'm going to reread book 5 this month, in the slim hopes that book 6 won't be too far away. I read it two years ago (or was it longer? whenever it first came out, probably closer to 3-4 years) but I can't seem to remember a dang thing that happened in it.

 

Haha now go clean your room!

 

Those books are very very addictive! But I've been stuck in the middle of the third one for a while. I had to put it down in the summer and never picked it up, oops!

Hopefully book 6 comes out soon! Especially since GRRM was talking about doing an 8th book. 

 

I will clean it, I have to! Oh my gosh It's the hardest part of this challenge as of now. 

 

 

This thread is just making me want to use up the next 3 months of my life reading A Song of Ice and Fire again! How good was the most recent episode though!

 

Do it! I haven't seen the last episode so no spoilers please. I'm guessing it was crazy, haha.

[crar4321]

Do it! I haven't seen the last episode so no spoilers please. I'm guessing it was crazy, haha.

 

I really should! I only have the slightest memory of the general storyline, so each new episode is a big surprise!

 

Looks like your second day went pretty well! Also, it's possible to make sweet potato crisps at home if you're craving a potato-y/salty snack!

[Maia]

I had Ezekiel bread with sriracha, sliced avocado and flax seeds for breakfast. 

 

 

I had Ezekiel bread with avocado today too! And here I thought I invented it I'll have to try it with sriracha, that sounds awesome. 

[Leothil]

Leothil, the books come out splitted here. Means 1 book in english are 2 books in german. Very expensive...

 

They did the same thing for the Swedish translation, actually. I remember finding the first book (=the first half of A Game of Thrones) in a library and reading it many years ago, but I never tried to find the rest of the books. It wasn't until I tried reading them in English that I got hooked. ^^ That once again showed me that some of a book's atmosphere always gets lost in translation.

 

Do it! I haven't seen the last episode so no spoilers please. I'm guessing it was crazy, haha.

 

Well, things happened, like they usually do. I'm waiting more for the next episode, however. It will be craaazy!

 

This thread is just making me want to use up the next 3 months of my life reading A Song of Ice and Fire again! How good was the most recent episode though!

 

It was good, although they gave up some of the realism in the book in favour of making the episode more dramatic. But I guess that's what you have to do to keep your viewers nowadays...

 

I'm going to reread book 5 this month, in the slim hopes that book 6 won't be too far away. I read it two years ago (or was it longer? whenever it first came out, probably closer to 3-4 years) but I can't seem to remember a dang thing that happened in it.

 

I'm having the same problem. I really want to reread the series before the next season starts just to freshen up my memory. I'm guessing they will use chapters from both the 4th and the 5th book next season, since they take place at the same time.

[Mugen]

I had somehow completely managed to miss your second day post! Anyway, great! I should totally move my jogs to mornings too, it really is easier to find the time to go in the mornings than late at night! 

 

Good job with managing to keep your room and diet clean

[Arya Sapphire]

I really should! I only have the slightest memory of the general storyline, so each new episode is a big surprise!

 

Looks like your second day went pretty well! Also, it's possible to make sweet potato crisps at home if you're craving a potato-y/salty snack!

 

Mmmh that sounds delicious! I might experiment with that on my next day off!

 

 

I had Ezekiel bread with avocado today too! And here I thought I invented it I'll have to try it with sriracha, that sounds awesome. 

 

Haha, we definitely were on the same track! It's so so good! I could probably have that everyday. 

 

 

I had somehow completely managed to miss your second day post! Anyway, great! I should totally move my jogs to mornings too, it really is easier to find the time to go in the mornings than late at night! 

 

Good job with managing to keep your room and diet clean

 

Haha, It's okay! Thank you so mcuh for the support! 

 

And yes, when It's possible to wake up early in the morning, it does feel amazing to go run first thing. Everything is peaceful outside and then the rest of my day seems a bit brighter. But the best time to run is the one that feels the best for you (did that make any sense, haha? sorry I'm super tired).

[Arya Sapphire]

Day 3 of the challenge: 

 

I do want to be accountable and say that last night after being done my shift at 12:30am, I bought a veggie hot dog from the street vendor. I did enjoy it, but It's the evil takeout luring me into its arms again. Argh! Leave me alone takeout! 

 

;;

 

Today was amazing food wise and working out wise as well! 

I trained with my PT today and it was legs day (my favorite of all   ):

 

We started off with a minute of beginner burpees (so no jump when coming back up, but I lifted 12lbs dumbells when I got up), a minute of side lunges with a 4kg kettlebell and a minute of jumping jacks. 

 

Right away we went into some hip raises (I think... I always forget the name of things). So my back was on a mat and I had one leg on an exercising ball, the other leg lifted in the air. I then had to use my foot to bring the exercising ball toward me. 4 sets of 10 for each leg!

 

After that, on we were for some raised squats. I totally failed those. Last time, I was holding a 35lbs dumbell, so we tried with 40lbs. My form was poor and I could feel my back muscles work too much. We finished the set. Went to the second set with 35lbs; my form was still poor. We then did the third set with 30lbs; my form was still poor. So instead of doing the squats on the platforms, I just hold the dumbell to my chest and did the squats on the ground. My form was perfect then! So the last two sets were 10 reps with the 30lbs dumbell. I felt so much better knowing that my body didn't simply forget how to perform a squat. Oh my.

 

The best part of my workout probably was the single leg deadlift though. It burned so good. It was my first time doing those so I did 3 sets of 10, with 20lbs on a bar. I'm not too sure how much the bar weighs... I'll try to figure that out eventually. So here you go! Legs day in my world: lots of new things and adjustment but It's all for the best.  

 

• Week 1 goals: 
• Strength training: 2 in 3
• Jogging: 1 in 3
• Takeouts: 1 (argh 24/7 hot dog vendor is making it difficult, haha, but I'll power through!)
• Life quest: No cleaning today as of yet. I'll fold my clothes from the laundry when I'm done work.  

I hope you guys are doing great!

[MogiShade]

 

Day 3 of the challenge: 

 

I do want to be accountable and say that last night after being done my shift at 12:30am, I bought a veggie hot dog from the street vendor. I did enjoy it, but It's the evil takeout luring me into its arms again. Argh! Leave me alone takeout! 

 

;;

 

Today was amazing food wise and working out wise as well! 

I trained with my PT today and it was legs day (my favorite of all   ):

 

We started off with a minute of beginner burpees (so no jump when coming back up, but I lifted 12lbs dumbells when I got up), a minute of side lunges with a 4kg kettlebell and a minute of jumping jacks. 

 

Right away we went into some hip raises (I think... I always forget the name of things). So my back was on a mat and I had one leg on an exercising ball, the other leg lifted in the air. I then had to use my foot to bring the exercising ball toward me. 4 sets of 10 for each leg!

 

After that, on we were for some raised squats. I totally failed those. Last time, I was holding a 35lbs dumbell, so we tried with 40lbs. My form was poor and I could feel my back muscles work too much. We finished the set. Went to the second set with 35lbs; my form was still poor. We then did the third set with 30lbs; my form was still poor. So instead of doing the squats on the platforms, I just hold the dumbell to my chest and did the squats on the ground. My form was perfect then! So the last two sets were 10 reps with the 30lbs dumbell. I felt so much better knowing that my body didn't simply forget how to perform a squat. Oh my.

 

The best part of my workout probably was the single leg deadlift though. It burned so good. It was my first time doing those so I did 3 sets of 10, with 20lbs on a bar. I'm not too sure how much the bar weighs... I'll try to figure that out eventually. So here you go! Legs day in my world: lots of new things and adjustment but It's all for the best.

 

• Week 1 goals: 
• Strength training: 2 in 3
• Jogging: 1 in 3
• Takeouts: 1 (argh 24/7 hot dog vendor is making it difficult, haha, but I'll power through!)
• Life quest: No cleaning today as of yet. I'll fold my clothes from the laundry when I'm done work.

I hope you guys are doing great!

 

 

Leg day is your favourite day of the week?  Huh...\

 

So...

 

How you doin'? 

[Aminarra]

 

Day 3 of the challenge: 

 

I do want to be accountable and say that last night after being done my shift at 12:30am, I bought a veggie hot dog from the street vendor. I did enjoy it, but It's the evil takeout luring me into its arms again. Argh! Leave me alone takeout! 

 

 

Argh. Damn those convenience foods.  ::Sigh::  I may or may not have had cheetos for dinner...

[Maia]

The best part of my workout probably was the single leg deadlift though. It burned so good. It was my first time doing those so I did 3 sets of 10, with 20lbs on a bar. I'm not too sure how much the bar weighs... I'll try to figure that out eventually. So here you go! Legs day in my world: lots of new things and adjustment but It's all for the best.

 

Sounds like you got a great workout today

[katastrophenkatzchen]

Woohoo for leg day!

Feel the burn, love the burn!

 

One take-out isn't the end of the world. Especially when you stopped and REALLY enjoyed it, not just eaten something on the run.

It was tasty and it was yesterday.

Today is a new chance to be take-out free and aweseome.

Wait, you already ARE awesome... so keep up the good time!

[DarK_RaideR]

Sometimes you just can't avoid takeout, what matters is dodging it when there is a choice instead of picking the easy way out. Also, given the situation, don't overlook the achievement that you took the nano-second to pick a veggie hotdog instead of the default one.

[Leothil]

Yay for leg days! Though I think I enjoy them the most because my leg muscles are my strongest ones by far...

[Guest]

Your workout is looking awesome! Also, I like how your thread is like one big party. Workout par-ty~!

[GeminiX6]

Following back, thanks for the encouragement! We definitely have almost the exact same goals, it's kind of freaky. Kick ass at the challenge!

[TheStephil]

 

Day 3 of the challenge: 

 

I do want to be accountable and say that last night after being done my shift at 12:30am, I bought a veggie hot dog from the street vendor. I did enjoy it, but It's the evil takeout luring me into its arms again. Argh! Leave me alone takeout! 

 

;;

 

Today was amazing food wise and working out wise as well! 

I trained with my PT today and it was legs day (my favorite of all   ):

 

We started off with a minute of beginner burpees (so no jump when coming back up, but I lifted 12lbs dumbells when I got up), a minute of side lunges with a 4kg kettlebell and a minute of jumping jacks. 

 

Right away we went into some hip raises (I think... I always forget the name of things). So my back was on a mat and I had one leg on an exercising ball, the other leg lifted in the air. I then had to use my foot to bring the exercising ball toward me. 4 sets of 10 for each leg!

 

After that, on we were for some raised squats. I totally failed those. Last time, I was holding a 35lbs dumbell, so we tried with 40lbs. My form was poor and I could feel my back muscles work too much. We finished the set. Went to the second set with 35lbs; my form was still poor. We then did the third set with 30lbs; my form was still poor. So instead of doing the squats on the platforms, I just hold the dumbell to my chest and did the squats on the ground. My form was perfect then! So the last two sets were 10 reps with the 30lbs dumbell. I felt so much better knowing that my body didn't simply forget how to perform a squat. Oh my.

 

The best part of my workout probably was the single leg deadlift though. It burned so good. It was my first time doing those so I did 3 sets of 10, with 20lbs on a bar. I'm not too sure how much the bar weighs... I'll try to figure that out eventually. So here you go! Legs day in my world: lots of new things and adjustment but It's all for the best.

 

• Week 1 goals: 
• Strength training: 2 in 3
• Jogging: 1 in 3
• Takeouts: 1 (argh 24/7 hot dog vendor is making it difficult, haha, but I'll power through!)
• Life quest: No cleaning today as of yet. I'll fold my clothes from the laundry when I'm done work.

I hope you guys are doing great!

 

 

Great job.

Your PT should know how much the bar weighs. If its an olympic bar its 45lbs.

[Kailer]

It looks like you're off to a great start and making lots of friends, so I'll just stop by for a high five.

**Up top**

You know where to find me if you need anything

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[katastrophenkatzchen]

Par~tey!

You have a really good start, keep it going!

[Silverwind]

Great start to the challenge! Keep it up!

 

And as Stephil mentioned above, standard 7 foot olympic bars are 45lbs, but don't be afraid to ask just to make sure! Some gyms have different size bars floating around and it's always good to have an accurate record to look back on and work from

[Arya Sapphire]

Leg day is your favourite day of the week?  Huh...\

 

So...

 

How you doin'? 

 

Haha, totally read that in Joey's voice. And indeed, legs day is the best day of all. I think a few of us would agree. ;D

 

 

Argh. Damn those convenience foods.  ::Sigh::  I may or may not have had cheetos for dinner...

 

They're the hardest to kick away! But honestly, it feels so good to eat stuff I make myself. I don't even miss takeout right now. Baby steps, soon those cheetos dinner won't sound so good. :-)

 

 

Sounds like you got a great workout today

 

Yes, it was a lot of fun! :-D

 

 

Woohoo for leg day!

Feel the burn, love the burn!

 

One take-out isn't the end of the world. Especially when you stopped and REALLY enjoyed it, not just eaten something on the run.

It was tasty and it was yesterday.

Today is a new chance to be take-out free and aweseome.

Wait, you already ARE awesome... so keep up the good time!

 

Yes! I think It's my favorite burn out of all the muscle groups, even more so than abs.

 

And thank you so much! You're so right! Everyday is a new day to work on ourselves and become more and more badass. Thank you again my friend, you're the best. :-D

 

 

Sometimes you just can't avoid takeout, what matters is dodging it when there is a choice instead of picking the easy way out. Also, given the situation, don't overlook the achievement that you took the nano-second to pick a veggie hotdog instead of the default one.

 

Thank you DarK_RaideR! I guess you're right. If you're gonna do takeout, at least take a healthier option when possible. You're making me feel better about it. :-)

 

 

Yay for leg days! Though I think I enjoy them the most because my leg muscles are my strongest ones by far...

 

Maybe that could be what it is for me too. I really enjoy seeing myself improve quickly when it comes to leg workouts. Yay for legs day! (also yay for the amazing butt it gives us ;D)

 

 

Your workout is looking awesome! Also, I like how your thread is like one big party. Workout par-ty~!

 

A fitness party sounds like a lot of fun! We should totally rename my thread ''The workout party'', instead of twerking we're doing push-ups and squats? Okay, sometimes I forget I'm not funny, haha, oops. 

Thank you so much. It was indeed a good workout since my glutes are super sore today! :-)

 

 

Following back, thanks for the encouragement! We definitely have almost the exact same goals, it's kind of freaky. Kick ass at the challenge!

 

Thank you for passing by GeminiX6! I'll definitely keep on cheering you on and I can't wait to see you crush your goals! :-)

[Arya Sapphire]

Great job.

Your PT should know how much the bar weighs. If its an olympic bar its 45lbs.

 

I asked her today and she said it should be 45lbs, but since the bar is supported it doesn't feel like I'm lifting 65lbs (the bar + the 20lbs). I don't know if that makes any sense? 

 

 

It looks like you're off to a great start and making lots of friends, so I'll just stop by for a high five.

**Up top**

You know where to find me if you need anything 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I'm surprised by how nice people are here! Such a fun fitness community! :-D

 

Thank you for the high five, It's much appreciated! I'll definitely come peak at the tavern again, you guys were so lovely.

 

 

Par~tey!

You have a really good start, keep it going!

 

Big fitness party, woot woot! Bring on the protein shakes. ;D

 

Thank you again! *hugs*

 

 

Great start to the challenge! Keep it up!

 

And as Stephil mentioned above, standard 7 foot olympic bars are 45lbs, but don't be afraid to ask just to make sure! Some gyms have different size bars floating around and it's always good to have an accurate record to look back on and work from 

 

Thank you so much Silverwind! 

 

So my PT said it should be 45lbs, but since the bar is kind of getting held by the ''pole'' (it's not really a pole, I can't find my words today argh) it's not like I'm fully lifting the bar. I'm kind of assisted by the ''platform''. 

 

When my brain is wired again, I'll try to explain myself more clearly, haha.

And yes, I would love to know the ''exact weight'' that I'm lifting to take notes of my improvement!

[Arya Sapphire]

*sorry to post so much, I wasn't allowed to put all the answers in one post!*

 

Day 4 of the challenge:

 

Guys, GUYS, I did my first full push-up! I wasn't on my knees. And I did it! Omg! I almost cried because honestly, I have never in my life been able to do a ''guy push-up'' as we used to call them when I was younger. In high school, I failed a part PE because I couldn't finish one and fell flat on my face. Omg. Yeah, I'm still freaking out over it. 

 

Today's workout was upper body and I was training with my PT again today.

 

The warm-up was 5 minutes on the elliptical, then we did a new exercise and she didn't tell me the name so I wouldn't know. But it was a back exercise. I did 4 sets of 10 reps of that with 25 lbs. Then 4 sets of 10 assisted pull-ups, which was at 90 for the first set and 85 for the last 3. (oh, I feel the burn already)

 

We then moved on to do some chest presses, 4 sets of 10 reps. I think it was 15lbs. And the assisted push-ups: Which when we went to do them, I saw her move the bar super low and she saw panic on my face. I totally thought I wouldn't be able to do it. I was super nervous. Then, as I did the first set, it felt super easy. So I told her my story about failing PE and never doing a full push-up ever, so she forced me to try. AND I SUCCEEDED. I really felt like crying and hugging her. Anyway, so 4 sets of 10 assisted push-ups (she had to move the bar even lower for the last 3 sets )

 

Then it was a small circuit of v-raises: 4 sets of 10 reps with 5lbs (next time I'll move to 8lbs since it was a bit easy). 4 sets of 10 reps of shoulder presses with 8lbs. And some I-don't-know-what-it's-called where I was pulling a handle towards myself and my elbows had to be enligned with my shoulders. I think she said the weight was 25lbs! 

 

We finished with 45 seconds of heel touches x2 and 10 knee raises x2. (why not work the abs as well? ;D) I also walked from the gym to my apartment, which is 1 hour.

 

Food wise: no takeouts! Woot woot! But I ate SO MUCH today. I felt like I was starving all the time. I literally just finished a full plate of perogies with a spinach salad and some crumbled tempeh on top with salsa and sriracha. Off I go tonight to my friend's departure party... so lots of beer. Dun dun dun. Beer will be my next challenge for sure, haha. :$

 

• Week 1 goals:
• Strength training: 3 in 3 (yay!)
• Jogging: 1 in 3 
• Takeouts: 1
• Life quest: I moped the floor of my room today and folded some of the clean clothes I had forgotten since Monday, haha.

 

I hope you guys all had a wonderful day! Keep on rocking and crushing your goals!

[Genewich]

Whoo! Doing a full pushup is no joke, congrats!