Ciara returns

[Ciara]

Hey Guys!

 

I'm back, did you miss me? I sure missed you...

Gonna skip the excuses as to why I've been gone. I've been gone because I lost motivation and started lying to myself.

Lately, however, I've been having dreams about my old fitness life, especially parkour-related dreams. I've been itching to go to the gym but I feel like I can't go alone (I transferred schools so the gym is new and scary. Also hella far away from my dorm). My new boyfriend always pouts when I talk about working out (although tonight he finally agreed to come with me to the gym! Success! Now *I* need to start going...) Then this weekend I visited my grandparents and they are not in good shape...frail, can't move around well, angry at the world and their misfortune. My aunt said something to me..."This is why we need to exercise now, so we don't become like them in the future." I realized oh dang I'm setting myself up for failure I do NOT want to be like my grandfather or even my mom...I want to be 65 and still able to run and remember things.

 

So here's my late goal. Sorry I'm joining halfway through but I know you guys won't mind...better late than never right?

 

GOAL:

To fall back into some kind of fitness routine. I don't care if it's pumping iron 5x a week and eating all the steamed veggies with chicken breast and salmon or just walking every night when my boyfriend gets off work and limiting ice cream to 4 days a week (instead of every day 2x a day. Yes, that is where I am right now.) As long as I'm doing SOMETHING on a regular basis in the next...3 weeks? By the end of the challenge I want to have a starting place upon which to build.

 

Quest 1: (WIS + 4)

Drink 6-8 glasses of water daily. I'm not going to cut out anything like tea or soda. I just want to add water.

 

A- 6-8 glasses a day

B- 4-5 glasses a day

C- 3 or fewer glasses a day

 

Quest 2: (CON + 3, CHA + 2)

Actually do stop eating so much ice cream though. I seriously eat 1-2 mugs of ice cream a day (I put it in mugs instead of bowls so it's not as messy). By the end of this challenge I want to be eating it 4 days a week max. But the thing is, I'll probably just replace ice cream with another sweet treat like cake or cookies. My sweet tooth is like me on my period every day like NO I EFFING NEED THIS SUGAR I WILL CUT YOU. It's like that it's scary. I need a replacement, any suggestions? Or maybe I can start with going from ten billion cookies to one. 

 

A- 4 or fewer times/week

B- 5-7 times/week

C- 8+ times/week

 

Quest 3: (STR + 3, STA + 3)

Walk every night. After James gets off work, go home and then take a walk. At least 10 minutes even if the wind is biting cold or it's raining. He doesn't need to come. Preferably 30 minutes but if 10 is all I'm feeling that night then it's fine as long as I went out and made a point. Walking around campus (which I do a lot!) doesn't count. I have to do this with my main goal in mind.

 

A- Every night

B- 5-6 nights

C- 4 or fewer nights

 

Optional Quest 4: Hit the gym 2x a week. Cardio, weights, or a class. Doesn't matter as long as I go and do something for at least 30 minutes. It could even be a combo, like 15 min cardio 15 min weight training. I would like to be able to easily lift 50 lbs by June...I can do it but it's a bit of a struggle (need this for a job). But this is optional, for days when I feel especially motivated. If I don't go a single time it doesn't matter.

 

The points are as follows:

STR: 3

STA: 3

WIS: 4

DEX: 0

CON: 3

CHA: 2

 

Don't feel like taking pictures, but I will take measurements.

 

Bust: 40in

Waist: 34in

Belly: 41in

Hips: 45in

Thighs: L: 28.5in R: 27.5in

Biceps: L: 14in R: 14.5in

Calves: L: 17in R: 17in

 

Weight: 180.8lbs

Pants size: 12

 

Not happy with this at all. Let myself go like whoa. But I'm not focusing on the numbers this time. Just gonna try to get back on the wagon. Next challenge will be more interesting.

 

By the way, I'm turning 21 in like 2 weeks!

[Ciara]

It's 9:45pm. I do NOT want to go out and walk. I drank like...3 glasses of water this morning? The only thing that's certain is I can't eat ice cream because I'm at home on spring break and there's no ice cream in the house.

[Barfly]

It's a start

[Ciara]

So i came back a few days ago guns blazing with great plans for myself and like this is gonna be great but i'll be honest i don't know where that came from but i feel totally dejected now and like i feel totally hopeless like i can't do anything right for myself i definitely don't have the same confidence i did when i posted this. it was like a moment of mania where i thought i could do it all and i haven't been for a single walk and although i drink 4-6 glasses of water a day and only have had ice cream once

 

actually that's pretty good

 

but i still feel hopeless. i just want to be THERE already without putting in the effort. I go back to school next week, i'm home for spring break right now, so maybe when i get back into my real routine i'll be more active (both here and in the real world). i'm just gonna try to get back into a mindset of healthiness and do a real challenge when the next one comes along. sigh.

[Barfly]

Oh no! Don't give up! There's always hope. Drinking plenty of water and cutting back on ice cream are huge (ice cream is my weakness - I can't have it in the house).

Are you overwhelmed by the thought of everything you planned on doing? Scale back and get started, like 1 walk per week.

You can do this!

[Elastigirl]

You said you recently transferred schools? That's a big change, and you are trying to get used to it. Your mind is probably focused on that and trying to make ALL the changes at once fitness wise- is bound to throw your mind into overdrive. I like your plan of eating less ice cream, and you are off to a good start with that. What about then just letting yourself have a couple of cookies, or fruit? You are doing great already with that and drinking water. What about just making those your two goals for this challenge? Then next challenge, once those things are a habit, you can work on walking. Sometimes it is best to take things in bite size chunks, especially if you are already overwhelmed. Better to start making small new habits and building on them, then taking on too much and giving up.

[SunlitSapling]

I totally understand the feeling of not doing enough when you create all these plans and don't manage to follow through with them all.

But look at it this way: you're doing SOME of them and that's better than the nothing you were doing before. If you need to adjust your goals, do it!

Or you can double down on them like me and attempt to make up for all the workouts you missed (probably not the best idea but it pumps me up)

[Ciara]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. 

 

I've been doing really well with the water. I haven't kept track of how many glasses I drink but it's at least 5 a day. I had ice cream 3x last week and not once so far this week. I've walked a few times but it isn't developing into a habit yet. I'm going to try to incorporate gym time and walks into my next challenge instead and focus on drinking more water and reducing ice cream. I've noticed that by drinking more water, I drink less coffee and tea without meaning to which is pretty cool.