Fiddle-on Starts Strength

[fiddle-on]

This challenge is about learning to do strength training and losing weight. The main thing that’s changed since last challenge is the fitness goals. In January, I was focused on recovery from a back injury and plantar fasciitis. The back is basically good now, as long as I’m careful. Therefore I’ve greatly upped my physical goals. I’ll be focusing on gaining strength for the first time ever.

 

I’ve always wanted to do more strength training, but I really enjoy running and hiking, so I just never found the time and motivation to do more than the beginner bodyweight workout. But since I can’t run or hike now, it’s the perfect time to learn strength, and hopefully get to a level I can easily sustain once I’ve got my feet back.

 

Diet:

 

Eat healthy: This means no more than one small dessert per day, a moderate amount of carbs, and lots of fruits and veggies. Moderate carbs is about 1 serving per meal, lots of fruits and veggies is 2-3 of each, with more veggies being optional.

 

If I start getting off of this, I will track my food for at least three days.

 

Physical:

 

I signed up for a month of small group personal training at a gym. I found it because I started reading about kettlebells, and they sound a lot more fun that lifting barbells, and a lot easier to do at home. When I went looking for a coach or teacher, I found this place. So I’ll be learning to swing a kettlebell and do other strength training.

 

For home use, I’ve been busy on craigslist. I’ve bought 2 adjustable dumbbells with 40 pounds each, a 25 pound kettlebell, and a 35 pound kettlebell. Total cost: $80. I also have a pull-up bar. That’s my starting home gym. Since I’m in a 400 square ft. apartment, space is at a premium. The only other things I’m considering adding are resistance bands and a lighter kettlebell.

 

Goal:

 

• Attend once weekly personal training session.
• Do exercise class or at-home workout on 3 additional days each week, with at least one of those being intensive.
• Continue to limit the amount of daily walking to under one mile. Wear shoes indoors. (for plantar fasciitis)

 

 

Life:

 

I’m trying to start my own writing/editing business. Right now, I’m at the get-the-word out stage. I wish I could say it’s harder than I thought it would be, but I knew before I started that that kind of social stuff is always a challenge for me. I want to start a blog, to be posted every two weeks. It will be about writing and editing. I’ve also got a fan-fiction novella that I want to finish. It only needs 2-3 more chapters, then some serious editing. I want to finish writing it this month, and get started on the edits.

 

Goal:

 

Start blog

• Write/edit at least 30 minutes per day.
• Send 3-4 e-mails per week to potential clients.

 

 

[fiddle-on]

Started on Saturday AM with the training studio’s required intro class. It included the basics of a few kettlebell exercises: the deadlift, swing, and Turkish get-up.

 

With my back, I had trouble with the swing. My form wasn’t worse than any other beginner, but by the second swing, it started twinging dangerously. So one of the coaches gave me a sandbag to work with instead. I held the bag to my chest and focused on learning to hip hinge properly before adding the swing. It really helped, and when I went home, I tried the swing with a 10 pound weight plate, and it didn’t hurt at all.

 

I was sore on Sunday, and it’s worse today. Hopefully better tomorrow. I’ve got my next class on Thursday. I’m signed up for Saturday morning as well, but I might switch that out for Monday if I hurt too badly on Friday.

[bker1370]

Following along

[Elastigirl]

Cool home gym! Interesting how the coach had you start with a sandbag, glad it helped. 

[Erick the Red]

What an exciting adventure you are starting with the home gym and the new business!

 

I have found that if I don't log my food I end up cheating, so I think you are on the right track with having that to fall back on if required.

 

I am impressed that the trainer found a way to help you get the movements right.  That short time should reap huge rewards.

[fiddle-on]

Stats:

 

Starting weight: 163 (Was 168 just after Christmas).

Starting hips: Just under 42"

Starting pants: My khakis fit OK, although the thighs are too loose and the button a tad too tight. At Christmas, the button was almost popping, and the thighs fit well. My Coldwater Creek jeans are about the same at the button.

 

Reference pic taken on 1-31-16. Not posted.

 

Starting strength: 10 push-ups with my hands on a 2 ft step stool with good form is very challenging, but doable. I'll add more once I get more measurable limits I'm confident in.

[fiddle-on]

Food: Doing well. For a few weeks in January, I had no appetite, which made losing weight easy, but it was kind of worrying. I'm back to wanting food, which is reassuring. It does mean that I actually need to watch what I'm eating: no snacking on junk just because I want some munchies.

 

Physical: Day off today. This evening, I was standing up from being bent over, and had no pain at all. It was great.

 

Editing: I've got the start of a website. I figured out how to run wordpress locally, bought a domain, and wrote a draft of an intro page. Goal is to get a basic site up and running by Monday.

[Elastigirl]

Hooray for no pain!

[fiddle-on]

Hooray for no pain!

Best thing in tbe world ☺.

Still doing well all around.

Wrote a couple blog post drafts yesterday. It's going to be a fitness and general self improvement blog, as inspired by Nerd Fitness and others. Today is getting the website together.

I went to the first personal training class on Thursday morning (6am, which is too early). It was good. Focus was on learning movements with easy weights. My shoulders were pretty sore on Friday, but they are better today. I think I'm going to go to the condintioning class in a few hours.

[fiddle-on]

I wanted to go to a kettlebell class this morning, but it was full. I hadn't signed up in advance because I wasn't sure I wouldn't be too sore - yesterday it hurt to raise my arms over my head, and if that was worse today, I was going to take it easy. But the soreness was mostly gone. I ended up going to a yoga class instead. I'vw been avoiding those because bending over forwards has been hard on my back, and you do that 20 or 30 times in most yoga classes. But my back has been doing so much better I decided to risk it - worst case, I walk out halfway through.

 

I missed the 8AM class I wanted to go, so I decided to give the 12:30 power yoga a try. It was quite intensive, but I got through it, and felt pretty good, with no added back pain. I did need a few extra breaks to sit and have a drink because it was "warm" yoga, with the room probably at 80-90 degrees. My least favorite thing about yoga classes is that it's really hard to find a place that doesn't do hot yoga, and I strongly prefer a comfortable, cool room. This studio has a couple normal temperature classes that fit into my schedule, but they are both significantly less challenging beginner's classes. Once my package has run out at this place, I'll keep looking.

[LydiaJaybird]

I ended up going to a yoga class instead. I'vw been avoiding those because bending over forwards has been hard on my back, and you do that 20 or 30 times in most yoga classes. But my back has been doing so much better I decided to risk it - worst case, I walk out halfway through.

 

Yoga might actually do good things for your back! And you're right - you can always peace out if something doesnt feel right. Or pass on exercises or whatever.

[fiddle-on]

Yeah, I've found in the past that an hour of yoga once a week makes up for most of the problems from sitting at a desk all day. 

 

Went for a short walk this morning, no foot pain. I thought about running for 30 seconds, but I decided I'll stick to the original plan and wait for next month, or at least until I've got an evening when I walk and it doesn't hurt.

 

I've been reading up on suspension training and gymnastics rings, and it seems like a lot of fun, and it would give me a good way to modify rows until I can work my way up to doing pullups. I may make my own, because I think a two attachment system like the rings would be more versatile for me than a TRX style one attachment system, and I haven't found any of those for less than $45 with the good ones costing up to $100.

 

Pricing materials, I could make something for under $30 if I have to buy all the materials new, and less if I can reuse stuff I have. I think I feel a craft project coming on!

 

I've also decided to do a mini-challenge of cleaning for 10 minutes a day, ideally in first thing in the morning. I like life better when my kitchen is usable, and my clothes are folded and hung properly.

[fiddle-on]

I went out to lunch and had a cheeseburger and fries. So fairly unhealthy, and the only veggies were the slice of lettuce and tomato on the burger. (Potatoes count as veggies to me right up until you fry them). However, that makes it my first non-smiley face all month in food, and since I didn't overeat at dinner too, it's not even a frown. Just felt the need to post it so it doesn't get forgotten in the land of snowballing junk food.

 

Update for last Sunday to Saturday:

 

Excellent on diet (Junk food came today, so will be included in week 2)

Excellent on exercise: long walk on Monday, 15 minute bodyweight session on Tuesday 1 Personal training (Thurs), 1 h intensive yoga class on Saturday.

OK on writing/editing. Wrote at least 30 minutes most days. Missed Tuesday and Wednesday.

[robozebra]

Great work so far! Looks like you've been getting a lot done. I bet all this strength training will really help your back in the long run, too. It sucks that you're having foot problems, but I'm impressed that you've managed to turn a negative, not being able to run because of foot pain, into a total positive, using the opportunity to focus on the strength training you normally never have time for. Awesome!

And good luck with your blog! I haven't started on the trying to get representation part of writing, I want to get a few more finished works under my belt first, but I sure am not looking forward to it. Networking/looking for clients seems equally awful. Good luck and stick with it! It'll all be worth it in the end.

I think I feel a craft project coming on!

Nothing's better than craft time!

[fiddle-on]

Great work so far! Looks like you've been getting a lot done. I bet all this strength training will really help your back in the long run, too. It sucks that you're having foot problems, but I'm impressed that you've managed to turn a negative, not being able to run because of foot pain, into a total positive, using the opportunity to focus on the strength training you normally never have time for. Awesome!

And good luck with your blog! I haven't started on the trying to get representation part of writing, I want to get a few more finished works under my belt first, but I sure am not looking forward to it. Networking/looking for clients seems equally awful. Good luck and stick with it! It'll all be worth it in the end.

 

Nothing's better than craft time!

 

Well, it took me 6 months of doing progressively limited activity for me to get to this point, but I'm glad I finally stopped moping about not being able to do what I used to, and started figuring out what I CAN do.

 

If you want someone to look over your work, I'd love to get some experience with things other than business writing and scientific papers and reports, especially if you'd be willing to act as a reference in the future. PM me if you want to talk about it. (And it's networking practice!)

[fiddle-on]

No work today, due to snow. They closed the office. I went to a class at the kettlebell studio instead. I've been feeling really energized after I go, and I've felt like I've had more energy in general all week. So that's a really good benefit. I'd forgotten how good it feels to push myself physically.

 

I also spent about 25 minutes cleaning this morning. The armchair in my bedroom is completely clear, and my kitchen looks OK, although it could do with another 20 mintes or so to really clean it.

 

And now I'm alternating between Nerd Fitness, randomly browsing the internet, and working on my new WordPress website. I think I'm just going to turn off the internet until 4 pm, and see how much I can get done on the website.

[fiddle-on]

PF acting up today. I'm going to try flat shoes for the personal training on Thursday, instead of barefoot. The floor in the studio is moderately soft, but I don't think it's really enough.

 

Spent 15 minutes cleaning. That's two days in a row the kitchen has looked good, and the bedroom isn't terrible! (Yes, my standards are low. That's why it's a challenge )

[fiddle-on]

Woke up with a headache this morning, and painkillers haven't helped yet. Although they did cure the slight general soreness from new exercise. Had a really hard time getting out of bed. Spent about 5 minutes cleaning while the shower was getting hot, but I'll need to finish after work.

 

The only reason I'm doing well on food today is that they didn't have chocolate chip muffins in the cafeteria, and pistachio just aren't that tempting.

 

Overall, I'm just feeling really gloomy today.

[LydiaJaybird]

Maybe you're dehydrated? I get headaches from that.

 

Sorry you're feeling gloomy... Hopefully your mood brightens today!

[fiddle-on]

I usually get tension headaches from staring at screens too much. Yesterday was just a bad day all around.

 

Today's a little better, not least because I got enough sleep last night AND went to another personal training session this morning. I like working out in the morning. 6 AM, when the class is, is an hour or two before I'd choose, but it's still enjoyable.

 

Of course, then at work I went and stupidly tried upgrading the program I do most of my work on. This is usually a bad idea, and should be avoided until IT forces the issue. That took from 10 AM until 5 pm, plus at least another couple hours tomorrow. Maybe all day. It should have taken 1-2 hours, but the upgrade deleted something else, so then I had to fix that. Plus the reason for the upgrade in the first place was to install a new extra feature. It turns out I need a second program to make that work, and that's 9 gb. My hard drive has only 40 gb free, so now I get to try to talk my way into an upgrade, which is desperately needed, but that IT doesn't like to provide out of their schedule. I really need to get my business off the ground so I have the authority to fix my own mistakes without going through five extra people.

 

As a result of all of that, I was nibbling chocolate this afternoon. Only 4 or 5 pieces (hershey's kisses and nuggets), so probably the equivalent of a single candy bar. Could have been better, could have been worse.

 

Since I was out of the house so early, I moved my cleaning to after work. I cleaned out the floor of my hallway closet because my kitchen didn't need anything but putting away clean dishes. I really like this mini.

[fiddle-on]

Went to a yoga class this week, the 8AM class. Last week I kept failing to get my butt out the door, and ended up in the 12:30 power yoga as a result. I'm doing yoga as  recovery activity, so that was too much! This week, I got to my first choice class, which is a lot gentler, and the instructor has a sense of humor. Towards the end, he had everyone doing pushups by saying 'Now come up. Let's go back down. Try back up again" and so on in a very conversational voice. That was hard work, made even harder because I was laughing!

 

This weekend is supposed to be ridiculously cold here in MA. Sunday the high is around 10 F. I'm still kind of depressed. Taking vitamin D, and going to go hang out with people and get outdoors despite the cold. All of which generally help. Plus it's a long weekend, so that's a plus.

 

So far I've avoided turning to chocolate as consolation. I went grocery shopping yesterday, and instead of buying cookies or candy because I felt crappy, I bought cheese and multigrain pizza dough. So I'll make an asparagus and cheese white pizza. Also a pork stew in the crock pot.  Plus I'm thinking of making crepes. I need more friends to share food with!

[robozebra]

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well. For your headaches: I understand caffeine is supposed to help with tension headahces. I get migraines from time to time, and I take pills with aspirin, acetometaphin, and caffeine, and they are AMAZING. If the painkillers you're taking don't already have caffeine in them, you might want to try some that do.

I had to laugh when you mentioned cleaning your room and now your armchair is finally empty. All of us messy people know The Chair and the struggle involved in keeping things off of it.

Yay for keeping up with your workouts despite everything! I hate cold weather, I think if my work closed for snow I'd take that as an excuse to never get up, except to go get more warm drinks and maybe go get my remote so I can watch netflix in bed.

Thanks for the offer of reading some of my stuff! I will take you up on that! Give me a little time to work some more on what I've got going right now, and I'll PM you sometime soon to set something up. You're the best!

[fiddle-on]

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well. For your headaches: I understand caffeine is supposed to help with tension headahces. I get migraines from time to time, and I take pills with aspirin, acetometaphin, and caffeine, and they are AMAZING. If the painkillers you're taking don't already have caffeine in them, you might want to try some that do.

I had to laugh when you mentioned cleaning your room and now your armchair is finally empty. All of us messy people know The Chair and the struggle involved in keeping things off of it.

Yay for keeping up with your workouts despite everything! I hate cold weather, I think if my work closed for snow I'd take that as an excuse to never get up, except to go get more warm drinks and maybe go get my remote so I can watch netflix in bed.

Thanks for the offer of reading some of my stuff! I will take you up on that! Give me a little time to work some more on what I've got going right now, and I'll PM you sometime soon to set something up. You're the best!

 

I've never figured out if caffeine would help with tension headaches, because it gives me caffeine headaches :-P.  A friend told me to try massaging muscles at the base of the skull at the back of my head, which works wonders. And I've found good posture to be the most effective preventative measure, but sometimes I slouch my head anyway. I'm looking forward to hearing from you about the writing.

 

I'm going to go for a short walk now, in order to have done something physical besides laundry. It's about 10F, which is way too cold for anything longer than really short. I also need to do a little more writing. I think I'll plan out the next chapter of my fanfic on my walk. I'm almost done with what I originally planned, and now I just need to decide how to end it neatly while the story keeps trying to turn itself into an epic.

[fiddle-on]

The last couple of days, I'd been eating a slightly higher carb diet than I want to be eating, probably closer to 5 or 6 servings than the 3 I'm aiming for. Not a problem yet, but if I couldn't get back on track today, or at latest tomorrow, I'd have to start tracking my food again.

 

So today I decided I'd do better today. The plan is to eat carbs only with my meals, and have fairly small servings of them.

 

Breakfast was two eggs and cheese, a crepe made with 1/4 cup of batter, and half a yellow pepper.

 

Morning snack was a half cup of cottage cheese with chia seeds mixed in.

 

Lunch was my go-to lazy meal: frozen meatballs, frozen peas, and a little butter with garlic all microwaved for about three minutes, then I added a quarter cup of plain yogurt and mixed it all together. The frozen meatballs are great: simple ingredient list, they taste good, and my cousin works at the plant where they make them. The brand is Simply Perfect, if you're interested.

 

Since lunch didn't have anything carb-heavy, afternoon snacks were 8 triscuits with cheese, a bunch of peanuts, and celery with peanut butter.

 

Dinner is at my parents, so it will probably be a bit higher carb, but they do eat healthy enough that I don't need to worry about it.

 

I went to another class at the gym this morning, and the instructor had me actually swinging the kettlebell (8 kg) for the first time, which was cool. The first swing made my back twinge a bit, but then I got the form better, and after a few, I felt pretty good.  Went back to the sandbag swing for the intensive work at the end of class, which was 180 swings alternated with kettlebell overhead presses. Even with the sandbag, that stressed my back muscles, so with the kettlebell it just wouldn't have happened. I was pretty impressed with myself I got through that :star: .  The class is also the reason for all the afternoon snacks. It burns a whole lot of calories.

[LydiaJaybird]

Ugh, updates are the worst... :/ I'd have a headache too going through all that! Hope they've dissipated some!!

 

I feel ya on having trouble with the carbs... They're a bitch to shake! I made the mistake of cheating keto over the holidays (BECAUSE CHRISTMAS) & I'm still having trouble staying off them! But now I know... Holidays aren't worth the carbs! >.<