112th time is the charm

[ElemHH]

I'm a 36 year old Englishman, who has been living in the US for 3 years now.

I was 213lb when I emigrated and many of the people I knew told me that I would put on lots of weight after moving. Instead I started watching what I ate and exercising and got down to 195lb. As time went on, my good habits fell and I started to gain all of my weight back and eventually got to the heaviest I had been, 224lb.

 

I'm not sure what has clicked over in my brain, but recently I started to make some changes and actually move towards some of the goals I've had for a while. I've visited the site periodically for a couple of years, but decided to join in with the challenges here, hoping that it would provide me with a little boost of motivation when things get challenging.

 

My long term goal is to weigh 175lb. I don't know why, but that has always been the weight that I thought would be right for me. Once I get there I may reassess and decide that I need to lose a little more, but for now I would 175 would be an achievement I would be proud of.

 

Goal 1 - I have started using some fitness apps. I plan on using these apps all of the way through the six week challenge (and

              continue afterward). The results I want to attain at the end of the six weeks are:

              50 consecutive push-ups, 10 consecutive pull-ups, 100 consecutive squats & 60 consecutive sit-ups.

 

Goal 2 - To consume 1,814Kcal or less each day. I am not putting restrictions on myself when it comes to giving up certain foods or

              drinks.

 

Goal 3 - Complete the 7 week stretching/strength course I have. I'll be doing week one before the start of the six week challenge,

              so I can finish it as the challenge ends.

[Blaidd]

Welcome back to the site Elem.  Hope to see much more of you around. 

 

You might notice that someone has added a tag to your post.  This is not to box you into a corner but rather because your goals or lifestyle have links to the guild you've been tagged and we'd like to bring you to the attention of one of their guild ambassadors. These ambassadors will be able to offer you advice, encouragement and support on your goals.  You don't even have to wait around for them to come introduce themselves to you, you are more than welcome to pop into the Adventurers' board and introduce yourself to the guildies there. I am also around to answer any questions that you might have so do not hesitate to PM me.

 

Good Luck with your challenge

AB xx

[ElemHH]

Thank you Blaidd, hopefully I'll be around more this time. I didn't even remember signing up the first time, it was only when I got told during sign up that my email was already in use that I realized that I had an account.

 

 

 

I know we are still a week out from the start of the challenge, but I've decided to start writing a mini exercise journal here. I won't detail everything that I've done, I'll mainly be giving an overview so I can see how far I have gone since the start and writing down anything notable, things that I may forget in the future, or have taken for granted in the past.

 

Today is day seven of my fresh start. I've been sticking to my restricted calories and new exercises and have lost 8lb so far. I haven't tried to lose so much i a week, it's just what my body does during the first week of a new regimen, my weight lost will decrease and stabilize over the next few weeks.

 

Yesterday was supposed to be the first day of a stretching and strength course, so I could finish it at the end of the challenge. But I fell asleep on the couch last night and ended up sleeping there all night, so I missed my first session. Since week one is lighter than the other weeks, I decided to combine day 1 & 2 so I could get back on track, hopefully no more missed sessions.

Doing the stretches was interesting, I've never been happy with my flexibility, but I've found out that I have a good range of motion in each of my joints and my body holds up well. I've never stopped to think about how lucky I am to have no restriction in my movement, but seeing the variations given for people that can't move as well made me look at my body in a new light.

 

I have a power tower in my bedroom and haven't used it much over the last 8-10 months. The last time I did use it, my tricep dips took a long time to improve, I slowly worked to get from 10-15 and they always seemed to be a struggle. This week I have started doing them again, my first session was 10 and I felt good doing them. So for my second session I went up to 15 and they still felt easy. Today I went up to 20, there was a little shaking in my arms during the last couple, but they still weren't as hard as they had been before. I'm not sure what has caused the improvement, I'm just happy that my triceps are stronger (they have always been one of my weakest areas).

 

I've also completed today's fitness app exercises (Sit-ups and Squats).

 

Tomorrow will be another day of the stretching program, and more fitness app exercises (Push-ups and Pull-ups).

[ElemHH]

I know everyone says that you shouldn't exercise at night before bed, but it is my preferred time, so I have just finished my long session, which was mainly stretches. I can definitely feel the effort that I have put into working my hips, but after only a few days, I do see some improvement in how deep I can squat.

The only other work i did today was to continue with my push-up and pull-up programmes.

 

My calorie counter app originally budgeted me to consume 1,814 calories each day is I wanted to lose 2lb per week and I found it easy, I was several hundred calories under my allocation. Since my weight dropped 8lb during my first week, the app has set a new limit of 1,763. 50 calories should be barely noticeable, but I am having a harder time with it this week. I am still staying under my limit, but it feels like more of a sacrifice now.

So, my problem must relate more to my mind than my body. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions of how to improve my mental outlook? I spent plenty of time thinking about working on my physical strength, but no time thinking about how to improve my mental strength.

[ElemHH]

 

I was reminded of this quote today after a minor stumble.

 

I have done some work on my pull-ups and dips and have my strength/stretching course to do later. Today it was the dips that gave me some trouble. I have been finding them easy lately and making noticable gains, but today I felt like I needed to stop at 9 dips. I restarted and this time only got to five. I didn't know why I was struggling, but decided to stop and try again in a few days. After reading a few of the other newbie recruits challenge posts I got a surge of motivation and went back to challenge myself. I told myself that I couldn't stop until I hit 20 and this time managed it.

 

I knew my mental strength was an issue this week, but hopefully by sticking at this and counting each day as a success, I'll see myself improve in that area too.

 

I also need to keep in mind that these forums can serve as a great source of motivation. I've been reading other peoples posts, but not thinking about how we are all linked in these quests, we fuel each other and there is no reason why we can't all achieve what we are aiming for.

[ElemHH]

An added source of motivation is seeing my progress bar fill. I weighed myself this morning to keep myself motivated, my weight had come down, so I got to update my bar tonight.

[ElemHH]

Last night I was reading someones challenge thread and decided to steal one of their ideas. In Madines journey to Mordor, Madine details wanting to walk daily and track how far she walks, so she can match Frodo's journey. Walking isn't going to be part of my challenge, but I do want to walk more often. Seeing as I knew I was going to have to walk home from work today (2.75 miles), I downloaded some gps tracker apps, so they could measure my distance and speed, now any time I feel like going out walking, I'll fire up then app and see how much closer each session gets me to mount doom. So, thank you Mandine for the inspiration.

 

So far walking is the only exercise I have done today, I still have push-ups, squats and my stretching/strength course.

 

I've managed to stic to everything so far, here's hoping that I can keep it up.

[pureleeawesome]

Hey Elem

 

Just wanted to come by and say hi and good luck with your challenge :-)

May I ask what the 7 week stretching/strength course you're doing is?

[ElemHH]

Hey Elem

 

Just wanted to come by and say hi and good luck with your challenge :-)

May I ask what the 7 week stretching/strength course you're doing is?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you didn't read all of the above posts, because I didn't make them reader friendly. I started out with the idea that I would just write a brief summary of anything notable, but that quickly gave way to the rambling log format instead. I have been using this thread to write everything down to keep myself accountable.

 

The stretching/strength course is called Elements and it's by GMB (Gold medal bodies). I have been deliberately vague when it comes to the products I'm using, bacuase I mention them so often that I thought my posts might start sounding like an infomercial script if I kept naming them.

[ElemHH]

Yesterday's session went well, my pull-ups have improved and although my hip flexibility still needs a lot of work, I am seeing improvement there too. I can also get down into a full squat (back of my thigh resting on my calf), but need to work on balance, as I need to have my hands touching something to stop me tipping over backwards.

 

Today will be a the busiest exercise day for me as all of the fitness apps I use have aligned and need to be done today, on top of that it's also the last day of week 1 stretching/strength.

 

The stretch program gives you each Sunday off to rest and since I am doing all of the app fitness routines today, I don't think there will be any tomorrow. I could day the day off completely and just relax, but I don't think that would be a good is a for me, I'm naturally lazy and don't want to give myself the option to do nothing, so I'll probably do some tricep dips and go for a walk. Keep it light, but make sure I'm still doing something.

[spooky]

Hi Elem! Good luck with your challenge and great work so far! I really loved the part about motivation

 

 

[...]

 

I also need to keep in mind that these forums can serve as a great source of motivation. I've been reading other peoples posts, but not thinking about how we are all linked in these quests, we fuel each other and there is no reason why we can't all achieve what we are aiming for.

yes this picture! I actually do daily inspiration every morning as part of my challenge and I love it! Might be something to consider.  Anyways I draw a lot of inspiration from posters that I follow, and being on this site helps make my internet time a positive experience. I love the last sentence of your post, it's so true! Looking forward to following you on your quest

[Br0din]

today's question for motivation:

 

[DragonMommy]

Love your motivational pics! I definitely need the reminder daily. Good on you for starting your personal challenge early, sounds like you're going to do very well!

[CrimsonDew]

Good luck with your challenge!!    

[ElemHH]

Good luck with your challenge!!    

 

Thank you.

 

( ^ This is my wife, she's the one who gets to deal with grumpy me when I won't let myself eat all of the things I'm craving)

[ElemHH]

Thanks to everyone for all of the recent comments and kind words.

 

I got more done today than I had originally planned. All four fitness apps needed to be done today (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and squats), my stretching/strength course needed to be finished (last day of week 1). But before I did any of this I felt the urge to get outside, so went for a walk. I put on some high energy music (The progidy's greatest hits) to keep my pace up, set my gps tracker and walked for just over 70 minutes (4.98 miles). The only downside to this is that my feet are a little tender now, so tomorrow's walk will have to be a bit shorter and gentler.

 

In the last two days I've walked 7.73 miles, which according to Madine's - spreadsheet puts me on the slopes of Green hill country, looking back at Hobbiton.

 

My push-up app says my next workout will be tomorrow. So tomorrow will be push-ups, pull-ups (not app related, just the few I do each day), tricep dips and a walk.

A lighter day to prep for everyones official day one on Monday. Good luck everybody

[ElemHH]

[ElemHH]

I caught myself making excuses already and the challenge hasn't even begun yet. Tired feet isn't a good enough excuse for me to start slacking off, only an actual injury would warrant that. So today, I put on some shoes with a little more padding, slowed down slightly (just under 4mph rather than just over) and went out to do the same route as yesterday (with a tiny alteration to get the distance up to 5 miles exactly). Which brings my miles up to 12.73 and my Lotr location is "Stop in a birch grove. Eat a frugal supper"

 

Walk - Hobbiton to Rivendell

2.6%

2.6%

[chthonian]

I love the walking-to-Mordor thing you've picked up! Have you heard of the app The Walk (made by the same people behind Zombies Run)? I might start using that again; it tracks your walking across the UK and unfolds a narrative at the same time.

[ElemHH]

I love the walking-to-Mordor thing you've picked up! Have you heard of the app The Walk (made by the same people behind Zombies Run)? I might start using that again; it tracks your walking across the UK and unfolds a narrative at the same time.

I hadn't heard of The Walk but I looked it up this morning and it looks fun, I may have to give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

 

 

Official weigh-in = 210lb

My first weight loss during the first week was 8lb (I always have a big first week when my body gets shocked).

Last week's weight loss was 3lb.

I was expecting my weigh loss to level out to around 2lb per week, so I'm happy with 3lb. But even if the scales didn't show my work I would have still been happy. A pair of trousers that were too tight to wear now fit me again. I don't wear jeans very often, so last night when I got out a pair with a 36 inch waist and found that they were actually loose, I was put in a good mood. Another few weeks and I might be able to get into some 34s again.

[imjustarogue]

Congrats on your weight loss so far!

[ElemHH]

Congrats on your weight loss so far!

Thanks, hopefully I can keep it up.

 

 

 

Today's exercise are done,

 

Pull-ups (not on app),

Push-ups, sit-ups & squats (all on app)

Stretch program.

 

Each time I lose weight I input the new weight into my calorie tracker, which then reduces my daily allowance. I struggle with the new allowance for the first couple of days, today being no exception. I didn't go over my new allowance (I did get close), the thing that makes this note worthy for me is that my last snack session comprised mainly of raw, fresh vegetables. Not only did I eat a healthy snack, but I also enjoyed it.

 

Congratulations to everyone who started their 6 week challenge today.

 

Now on to today's mini challenge (for 1 Wisdom point). Found here for anyone who hasn't seen it.

 

1 - Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable?

Yes. One of my quests is following a 7 week program, I started it a week before the challenge began, so am due to finish it at the same time the challenge ends.

My calorie intake goal can be challenging, but is definitely doable, especially when I go walking that day, as it will give me an extra few hundred calories as a buffer for those days I eat more.

My fitness apps have levels laid out, so I worked out my final performance goals based on where I will be with each app when the challenge comes to an end.

 

2 - Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on?

I may officially have three quests for this challenge, but if boiled down to their base concepts, there are really only two; diet and exercise. Both of these support my long term goal of reaching what I think is an ideal weight for my height & build. I don't believe that they will be too much for me to handle.

Only my first quest (following the fitness apps) has sub-quests, four in total (Push-ups, Pull-ups, Sit-ups, Squats).

 

3 - Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them?

Both of my exercise quests were designed by others to be followed in a certain timescale so I should be ok if I just follow what is already laid out before me and don't get too ambitious. The calorie intake goal is something that I did have input in. The calorie tracker app that I'm using asked me for a weekly weight loss goal and I chose 2lb per week. If this proves to be too difficult I can scale it back to 1lb or even 0.5lb per week instead.

 

4 - Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them?

My goals are all trackable. My fitness apps and calorie tracker all store my performances on my phone. The stretching program has weekly charts to follow, including comments section and tick boxes.

 

5 - How are you grading your goals? Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six

weeksâ€)? Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you

“lose the weight†or “run the distance�

My goals are all pass/fail. I understand the idea behind not making your goals absolute, but I have a habit of taking every excuse and eventually giving up altogether, so this time I am giving myself no outs, I have to show self-discipline or fail.

 

6 - What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured?

It would depend on what illness/injury I had. If I was still able to do some exercise, just not to the level I am currently planning, then I would do what I could do in order to keep my momentum and habits going and then carry on with the same goals in the next challenge (modified to take into account what improvements I had already made).

 

7 - Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays,

anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build

into your goals for those?

I don't have any holidays or special occasions during the challenge.

 

8 - Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another?

No. All of my goals fit together nicely.

 

9 - Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set? If not,

what are you planning to do to make time for them?

I don't sleep much at night (hence the vampire race), my wife however usually goes to bed quite early. So each night I have several hours alone. It is during this time that I usually exercise, update my challenge thread, or read other people threads.

 

10 - Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest?

I'm trying to build the habits of daily exercise and being aware of what I'm consuming. Both of these will help me reach my main quest.

[AthenaMM]

Good job on your exercises! Keep it up!

[ElemHH]

Good job on your exercises! Keep it up!

Thanks for the support. Good luck with your quests.

 

 

I walked home from work today (2.8 miles), did my pull-up app when I got home, But struggled with starting my stretching/strength program. Its almost 4am and I have say up for hours, wasting time. As time passed I felt less like doing my last exercise session. About half an hour ago I forced myself to get up, but had to decide to do the shorter version of the exercise in order to motivate myself to do it.

There is a a long warm-up/stretch period before the exercise begins. Each movement has a 5-20 rep requirement, I have been doing the full 20 for the last week, but tonight I just did 5 of everything. The instructor says to do what feels right based on how you feel, so I don't feel bad about doing the minimum, as i really didn't feel into it tonight. But  I will be making sure that I do the full 20 again tommorow, I don't want the minimum to become a habit.

[AthenaMM]

It's still a win! You could have decided not to do anything. In fact, it's more of a win than if you were super motivated and did it, because this was hard, but you did it anyway. I've seen it suggested lots of times to tell yourself you only have to do 5 minutes or whatever to get yourself started, but I don't think I've ever actually done that. So you did a GREAT job! Don't tell yourself differently.