Caolan is Back in the Ring for Round 3

[caolan]

I am back for my third 6-week challenge on NF. My first two were very successful - helping me get started on my path to fitness, including a lot of strength training, cardio, and more than 30 pounds of weight loss.

Now I need to make sure I don't fall off the wagon, because it would be so easy to relax with the holidays approaching.

My four goals for the challenge are:

• Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day. I am continuing this goal from the last challenge, but upping the goal to 45 minutes. I will do several different types of exercise during the week to keep my muscles guessing -- YAYOG workout, swim laps, ride my bike, hike, karate, etc. +2 DEX, +2 STA
• Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week. This is a continuation of a goal from my last challenge. Once again, I have configured MFP for a 750 calorie deficit. +2 CON, +2 CHA
• Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge. This is also a continuation of a prior goal. The initial 10-week program will be done by next weekend, but I need to continue to do the work during this challenge. +4 STR
• Take an online continuing education course. I have to get a certain number of continuing education credits every year to maintain some of my certifications, and I am behind schedule with at least one of the programs. My goal is to take an online course. If it lasts longer than 6 weeks, that is fine, but I need to complete the expected amount of work for the duration of this challenge. +3 WIS

The exercise goal will earn points like this:
45+ minutes = 3 points
35-44 minutes = 2 points
30-34 minutes = 1 point

The MFP, YAYOG, and education goals will earn points like this:
5+ weeks = 3 points
4 weeks = 2 points
3 weeks = 1 point

There are 12 possible points for the challenge. Here is my grading scale:
"A" for 10+ points
"B" for 9 points
"C" for 7-8 points

Challenge Status as of the end of week 6:

Goal 1: Exercise Minutes

100%

100%

Goal 2: MFP Tracking

66.67%

66.67%

Goal 3: YAYOG

100%

100%

Goal 4: Training

100%

100%

[Xena]

Looks like a good challenge...all your goals make sense and are laid out clearly. Bring on the awesomeness!

[caolan]

Status from Week 1:  I am on track with all 4 of my goals.

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.  I averaged 52 minutes of exercise each day.
2. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week.  I tracked every day and finished about 200 calories under plan for the week.
3. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge.  I finished week 10's exercises this week.  That is the end of the formal 10-week PVP challenge I was doing, but I will be continuing with the YAYOG program.
4. Take an online continuing education course.  I signed up for an online business ethics course, and completed the first week of video lectures.

[adamant]

Good job buddy, keep up the good work.

[Shello]

Hey Caolan. I didn't see this posted before. Good goals again. I like that you upped the activity level for each day.

And business ethics. I teach philosophy and that is my least favorite subject. I hope you enjoy it more than me.

How is your second week going so far?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[caolan]

Status from Week 2:  I am still on track with all 4 of my goals.

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.  I averaged 48 minutes of exercise each day.
2. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week.  I tracked every day and finished about 500 calories under plan for the week.
3. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge.  This was a partial rest week for me on YAYOG, so I only did 2 YAYOG workouts this week.  I plan to do roughly 4 per week for the rest of the challenge.
4. Take an online continuing education course.  I completed 3 weeks worth of the material for my business ethics course.

[Xena]

Great job! You are killing it.

[caolan]

Status from Week 3:  I am doing great on 3 goals, but struggled this week with goal #2.

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.  I averaged 60 minutes of exercise each day.
2. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week.  I tracked every day but finished about 800 calories over for the week, despite all of the exercise.  I'm not too disappointed in this result given that it was Thanksgiving week, but I should have done better.  A few simple choices on seconds and desserts would have left me right on track for the week.
3. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge.  I completed 4 YAYOG workouts this week, so I was right on track.
4. Take an online continuing education course.  I completed the remaining 3 weeks of material for my business ethics course.

[Shello]

Considering it was Thanksgiving I think you did pretty well.  I'm sure you'll be back to normal this week.   This is a really tough season.  I'm OK with giving in a little on Thanksgiving and Christmas but it seems there are so many excuses for having a little something extra.  I skipped a pizza party at work yesterday but we have 2 other holiday banquets I need to maneuver around.  Not to mention holiday parties with friends.  Tough season.   

[caolan]

I have fallen off the wagon for checking and posting on NF, but my challenge is going pretty well.  I don't feel like I am pushing myself nearly as hard as I did in my first 2 challenges, but I am meeting my goals.  Here is my status from Weeks 4 and 5 of this challenge:

 

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.  I easily hit my exercise targets for both weeks, averaging closer to an hour per day of exercise.
2. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week.  I tracked every day both weeks.  I finished 50 calories under plan in Week 4, and 90 over plan in Week 5.  I consider this a success for both weeks.
3. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge.  I had finished 4 weeks of YAYOG workouts by the end of Week 5, so I am on track.
4. Take an online continuing education course.  My business ethics course is finished, so this goal is complete.

[Shello]

Your consistency in achieving your goals is truly phenomenal.  You, my friend, are like a well oiled machine.  

[caolan]

Week 6 Results:

 

 

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.  I did about 55 minutes per day of exercise in week 6.
2. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week.  I tracked every day this week.  I finished about 600 calories over for the week.  This was not a good result for the last week of the challenge.
3. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge.  I finished my fifth week of YAYOG workouts.
4. Take an online continuing education course.  My business ethics course is finished, so this goal is complete.

 

Challenge Wrap-Up:

 

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes every day.  I did really well on my overall exercise goal, averaging about 55 minutes of exercise per day over the 6 weeks of this challenge.  3/3 points.
2. Track all of my meals in MFP every day and finish under my net calorie goal each week.  I tracked every day throughout the challenge, though I felt like it was more of an after-thought - something I did because I had committed to doing it, not something that I was using to really help me move forward.  I need to do a lot better at this in the future (like I did in my previous challenges).  I can see the difference in my weight loss progress. I lost about 15 pounds in each of the last 2 challenges, but only lost about 5 this time (and all of that weight loss occurred in the first 2 weeks of this challenge, when I was doing better at this goal).  1/3 points.
3. Complete at least 5 weeks of the YAYOG PVP challenge.  I finished the full 5 weeks of YAYOG workouts.  I focused on better form and doing slightly more difficult variations of the exercises than I did on my last pass through the YAYOG program, instead of just trying to do more reps. 3/3 points.
4. Take an online continuing education course.  I finished an online business ethics course during the challenge, so goal accomplished. 3/3 points.
5. ​Overall, I am awarding myself 10 out of 12 possible points.  This is an "A", but just barely.  Despite the "A" grade, I need to do better next time.