Theatresara joins the Scouts!

[theatresara]

Hi everyone!

 

It has been about a year since my last challenge and I previously mainly hung out over in the Assassin forum.  However, my life has changed (I've move twice and started my first full-time job) and so have my goals, so here I am!

 

I've been about 30 pounds heavier than where I would like to be for about a year now.  Most of it's due to poor eating habits, a weird schedule, and not being active enough.  Now that I'm only working one place instead of freelancing and living on my own for the first time, I have a lot more control over my life and can make healthier choices.  I'm still working up to 80 hours a week, but it comes with guaranteed breaks and not having to eat on the run all the time.

 

Which brings me to me this challenge.

 

Main Quest:  Lose 30 pounds in a healthy way!

I'm on a mission to get down to a healthy weight.  Right now, that means starting by getting more active, which means walking.  A lot of walking.  I'm hoping to be down 10 pounds by the end of the challenge.

 

Challenge Goals

 

1)  Go for a 15 minute/1 mile walk every morning.  I actually started this yesterday, and now it's official to keep it going.  I'm moving into a busy time at work that involves long hours and not a lot of activity, so this will help make sure that I start my day off right.  If I can't get outside for some reason, I'll do a 15-20 minute workout in my apartment.

 

2) Hit 10,000 steps on my FitBit every day.  I'm generally pretty good about this unless I'm having a super lazy day off.  But lazy days off are no reason to not get up and move any longer!  I'm giving myself 3 free days throughout the challenge in case I get sick or get snowed in, but the steps must be made up for on another day that week.

 

3) Sign up for and successfully complete the Christmas Town Dash 8k at work in December, running at least half of it.  I just found out that there's an 8k race at work and will be running it!  Because it's my longest race ever and I'll be working a lot of long hours at work, I don't want to worry about training to run the whole thing without stopping, but I can definitely run half!

[awesomesue]

Hey run/walk combos will certainly get you there!

[theatresara]

Edited my original posted with new details. I still may add a life quest, but I haven't decided what it is yet.  

[theatresara]

My alarm went off 15 minutes early than normal and my first challenge morning mile is complete!  Plus, 25% of the way there for my step goal before I even leave for work.

 

Happy Beginning of Challenge everyone!

[theatresara]

Today was rough.  I cut my morning mile a bit short because I fell and scraped up my knee and hand really bad (yay wet leaves), took a nap during my lunch break instead of my usual walk because I was too tired to focus on work, and only ended up hitting 7000 steps due to working an 11 hour day all in one building.  

 

Tomorrow is a new day.  I'm determined to not let today get me down and set the tone for the rest of the challenge.  It's a bump in the road, not a dead end.

[DrWho]

Ouch!  I hope you're okay! Wet leaves definitely make the ground slick!  Hopefully you won't have any bumps or  bruises to show for it! 

[theatresara]

Ouch!  I hope you're okay! Wet leaves definitely make the ground slick!  Hopefully you won't have any bumps or  bruises to show for it! 

 

I'm doing alright, mostly just scraped up my knee!  I decided to do an indoor workout this morning instead of a mile walk since the ground was wet again and falling two days in a row didn't sound like a good plan.

 

 

I had a bit of a slow start to my day today as it was my one day off for the week. When I got home for the evening and realized my step count was no where near 10,000, I went for a long walk/jog instead of just relaxing on the couch all night.  Here's to the small choices that add up!

[Elastigirl]

Hi there and welcome back. Awesome job of choosing to walk over sitting on the couch

[awesomesue]

Fantastic that you brushed off an off day and ended up that much more motivated the next day!  So impressed that you saw a lower number than you liked for the step count and decided to walk.  Just excellent.

[theatresara]

Only have a minute before I leave for work, but just an update that I'm still going strong! Morning mile every morning, only had that one day where I didn't hit 10,000 steps, and have not had any soda since committing to the mini-challenge.  I also have started adding running into my morning mile since I can't fit in any kind of 8k training on my work days right now.

[DrWho]

Sounds like you're doing great so far! Keep up the good work! 

[theatresara]

Week 1 Report!

 

1)  Go for a 15 minute/1 mile walk every morning. 

With the exception of the day after I fell, I walked every morning this week (and did squats and pushups that morning in my apartment instead!  I even inspired my supervisor (who lives in the same apartment complex) to go for morning runs after seeing me walk when she was leaving for work two days in a row.

 

2) Hit 10,000 steps on my FitBit every day.  

Step Counts for the week below!

 

3) Sign up for and successfully complete the Christmas Town Dash 8k at work in December, running at least half of it.  

I haven't signed up yet because I entered a contest for a free entry at work and am hoping that I win and save some money.  However, I'm working on a training plan and, if nothing else, am incorporating running into my morning walks.  I'm also hoping to complete at least a 5k on my days off every week, even if it's just walking it, so I get my endurance up.  

 

Mini-Challenge!

The only soda I had this week was Monday afternoon before committing to the mini-challenge, so I consider it a success.  I'm going to continue with the No Soda rule for the rest of the challenge and add in additional weekly goals.  This week, it's no fast food.  This is easier said then done and requires a lot of planning ahead since the only food available to buy near work after 2pm is fast food and Subway and I'm only mostly 12-hour work days right now.

 

Step Counts!

Monday-10,102

Tuesday-6,937

Wednesday-10,113

Thursday-10,437

Friday-10,062

Saturday-10,010 (Yes, I paced around my apartment before bed to make sure to get my last few hundred steps in.)

Sunday-10,811

 

I didn't make up my missed Tuesday steps, but I'm still considering it a very successful first week and hope that my averages for next week are higher!

[awesomesue]

Fantastic week 1!  Inspired someone else to get moving is just icing.

[theatresara]

Tomorrow morning is my first major roadblock in the challenge.  After working 52 hours in 4 days, I have to be at work an hour earlier than normal, which puts my morning routine off during a week where I'm already not as rested as I would like.

 

I have an alarm set early enough to go on my morning walk and am going to bed early to make sure I'm rested enough. Here's to hoping my planning works!

 

P.S.  I also didn't stop at Wendy's on my way home despite not having eaten in 8 hours due to work getting insane at the point where I was planning on taking dinner.  I forced myself to wait a bit longer and made food at home.  It wasn't the healthiest dinner, but did involve veggies and was definitely better than what I would have gotten in the drive through.

[theatresara]

Update time!

 

I only walked for 1/2 mile on the morning that I had to get up earlier than normal, but am proud that I still went out because there were SO MANY excuses going through my head as I got dressed.   Other than that morning, I walked for at least a mile, sometimes a bit more, even made some puppy friends one day.

 

Step counts!

Monday       10,028

Tuesday      10,037

Wednesday 11,720

Thursday     11,286

Friday          14,119

Saturday      11,870

Sunday        15,413

 

I've also been going strong with the mini-challenge.  I've even been avoiding soda as a mixer when I have an occasional drink after work.

[awesomesue]

No soda and skipping Wendy's...way to go  Puppy friends makes it all worthwhile.    If you cook and do not rely on too much processed foods then most anything you make at home is definitely going to be healthier.  That had to be a win with being so hungry and most likely tired.

[theatresara]

This week has been a bit rough so far, mostly because of working taking over my life.

 

I gave myself Monday off from everything.  It was my only day off of the week (and until Thanksgiving Day next Thursday) after work 80 hours in 6 days, so I was exhausted.  I let myself rest and sleep.  No morning mile, no worrying about step counts, nothing.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday were both good.  In fact, they were so crazy at work that I far exceeded my step counts.  Perks of working 14 hour busy days?

 

Today was rough again.  It was raining fairly heavily all day, so I never got outside.  I did do a short workout this morning (mostly arm exercises for my bad shoulder and squats), but didn't reach my step goal, I fell about 1,000 steps short and no time to make them up before bed.

 

I'm hoping this weekend will be nicer weather, so more successful.  This week and next week are 80 hour weeks again, so I'm not making much progress as far as 8k training goes, but I'm trying to at least keep moving as much as I can.

[awesomesue]

That rest day sounds like it was sorely needed!  Missing your step count by 1000.  That is not bad especially since you exceed it so often.  I bet your average step count so far is well over 10000 a day.

[theatresara]

Sorry for being MIA the past couple weeks.  It's been insane and I'm just starting to get my feet back under me (literally, when it comes to the challenge).

 

First of all, I did not run the 8k I was planning on.  I ended up going into 80 hour weeks at work far sooner than I imagined and had no time to train at all.  My life was wake up, work, eat, work, sleep, repeat.

 

In addition, the week of Thanksgiving was probably the worst of my life due to a lot of really horrible and completely unexpected personal stuff that I'm not going to get into.  All of the momentum from the beginning of the challenge was already stinted by my work load and then came to a grinding halt.

 

I'm just now starting to get back on track and into a routine again.  I'm on vacation from work and am trying to de-stress and enjoy a week off right now.  I'm wearing my fitbit every day, so am going to start trying to hit my step goals daily again this week and then will revisit things for the next challenge, which should be a significantly less crazy time of my life!

[awesomesue]

Ouch.  Hope things settle and the week off allows de-stressing!