jkiley Turns 30 (Making this decade count!)

[jkiley]

I turn 30 on March 7th which is a little scary, but I will just use that as more motivation for success.
So far I have successfully completed two challenges this year and I'm ready to keep the streak going.
I hope to weigh less than 230lbs by the end of this challenge.


Main Quest: Weigh less than 200lbs by the end of the year.
 

30.80%

30.80%

Start: 242.2 lbs | Current = 229.2 lbs. | Progress: 13.0 of 42.2 lbs

Challenge Starting Stats (More for my reference if anyone cares).

 

Spoiler

Weight: 232.6 lbs
Waist: 45"
Hip: 42 1/2"
Neck: 17"
Chest: 45 1/2"
Biceps: 14 3/4"
Thigh: 22 1/2"
Calf: 15 1/4"

My theme this year has been small incremental changes, and I will be continuing that during this challenge.

Goal 1: Morning Exercise
Stay the course with my workout routine, and add in body weight workout two days a week.

Week 1: M-W-F Interval Training - T-Th 20min Jog on Treadmill | 5/5 finished

Week 2: M-W-F Interval Training - T-Th 20min Jog on Treadmill | 5/5 finished

Week 3: M-Th Interval Training - T-F 10min Jog / Body Weight Workout | 4/4 finished

Week 4: M-Th Interval Training - T-F 10min Jog / Body Weight Workout | 4/4 finished


Goal 2: Slowly Introduce Paleo
Cook and eat more paleo meals.

Week 1: Cook 3 paleo meals. | 3/3 finished

Week 2: Cook 3 paleo meals. | 3/3 finished

Week 3: Cook 3 paleo meals. | 3/3 finished

Week 4: Cook 4 paleo meals. | 4/4 finished


Goal 3: Cut back to one cup of coffee each day
I drink a lot of coffee so I will reduce my coffee intake each week down to one cup a day.

Week 1: 4 cups of coffee a day. | 7/7 finished

Week 2: 3 cups of coffee a day. | 7/7 finished

Week 3: 2 cups of coffee a day. | 7/7 finished

Week 4: 1 cups of coffee a day. | 7/7 finished




Goal 4: Start using Nerd Fitness Academy
I've been a academy member since it first launched, but I haven't spent much time with it.
I will complete one module each week or earlier.

Week 1: Getting Started Module and Introduce myself to the Facebook group Finished | Finished

 

Week 2: Mindset Module Finished. | Finished

Week 3: Nutrition Module Finished | Pass / Fail

Week 4: Fitness Module Finished. | Pass / Fail

[Sylvaa]

Woot woot for birthday challenges!

 

FWIW, 30 isn't scary. It's awesome! 

 

I've reduced coffee intake over the past 6 months or so - it wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. I've switched to herbal (so no caffeine) tea. It gives me that hot drink, but it so much better. I tend to go with ones that have mint or ginger, I feel they energize me.

[stealthstitcher]

 

FWIW, 30 isn't scary. It's awesome! 

 

Agreed. I'm finding post-30 to be awesomer (what, it's a word ...) than pre-30. Of course, I didn't find NF till post-30, so there you have it. 

Let us know how you find the academy - I've walked around it in circles contemplating for some time now.

[jkiley]

Woot woot for birthday challenges!

 

FWIW, 30 isn't scary. It's awesome! 

 

I've reduced coffee intake over the past 6 months or so - it wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. I've switched to herbal (so no caffeine) tea. It gives me that hot drink, but it so much better. I tend to go with ones that have mint or ginger, I feel they energize me.

 

Thanks, luckily I do enjoy tea. I will definitely give mint and ginger a try. 

[jkiley]

Agreed. I'm finding post-30 to be awesomer (what, it's a word ...) than pre-30. Of course, I didn't find NF till post-30, so there you have it. 

Let us know how you find the academy - I've walked around it in circles contemplating for some time now.

 

Thanks, I will definitely do what I can to make post-30 "awesomer"  ... It just feels like you wake up one day and pow! 10 years have passed... That is the scary part. 

I want to make it count this time. 

[jkiley]

Cooked my first paleo meal for this challenge today. I've done Paleo before, just trying to get back into it.

Decided to try something new and went with Paleo Sausage Stuffed Peppers:

http://paleopot.com/2012/10/paleo-sausage-stuffed-peppers/

Good flavor, but I think I diced up the cauliflower two small in the food processor. Didn't really have a rice quality about it, but still good.

Should be some good leftovers for work the next couple days.

Would have taken a picture but they kind of fell apart taking them out of the slow-cooker.

[stealthstitcher]

I have never tried the cauliflower rice thing ... I am skeptical about it. Cauliflower is cauliflower, rice is rice. But it seems to be awfully popular so I assume there's a reason people like it. 

[jkiley]

I have never tried the cauliflower rice thing ... I am skeptical about it. Cauliflower is cauliflower, rice is rice. But it seems to be awfully popular so I assume there's a reason people like it. 

 

This was the first time I've tried it. As previously mentioned I messed it up, but it didn't taste bad. 

I would definitely try it in another recipe where it would have a chance to be more rice like.  

[JessOfAllTrades]

Congrats on being close to your third decade of life! I too am in the soon-to-be-30 clubs (late May here). I love the way you have planned out your goals. Best of luck!

 

(and so glad to hear others say how great post-30 can be!)

[jkiley]

Congrats on being close to your third decade of life! I too am in the soon-to-be-30 clubs (late May here). I love the way you have planned out your goals. Best of luck!

 

(and so glad to hear others say how great post-30 can be!)

 

Thanks! The Tres Decades club is just around the corner for both of us. 

[jkiley]

The challenge has been going good so far... I ended up working 14 hours yesterday to hit a work deadline, so I decided to sleep in and skip my morning workout today.  I will pick it up durning my lunch break. 

Tonight I will be making Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti for my paleo meal.  That is one of my favorite go to recipes , easy, and leaves plenty of leftovers!

 

I haven't started reading through the Nerd Fitness Academy yet, but I should be able to today. My schedule should be a little more normal now that I got that work project mostly finished. 

[jkiley]

Today I turn the BIG 30.  Had a great weekend celebrating my birthday.  Went mountain biking on Saturday afternoon, then my family threw a surprise party for me at my parents house which I didn't see coming at all!

Saturday night I went to a hockey game with some friends then headed off to the arcade bar for a few drinks which was a lot of fun.

 

Sunday after recovering from a small hangover I went for a hike with some other friends. Overall a pretty good send off for my 20's. 

 

Recapping last week, I hit all of my goals but I am starting to feel a little burnt out.  Trying to keep my motivation up.

Also, I might need to tweak my paleo cooking goals as I am ending up with more leftovers than I expected. 

[Sylvaa]

 

You've been doing so great through the challenges! What do you think is going on with getting burnt out? It's definitely hard to keep motivation up over the long term - maybe a change of pace with whatever is giving you the most stress?

[jkiley]

 

You've been doing so great through the challenges! What do you think is going on with getting burnt out? It's definitely hard to keep motivation up over the long term - maybe a change of pace with whatever is giving you the most stress?

 

Haha, thanks... What a creepy photo!

Some mornings I feel pumped up and ready to go, and others I'm having to drag myself out of bed not feeling like I have much energy and force myself to exercise.

 

I had put in a few long days at work last week so hopefully I just need to recover from that. 

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Congratulations on entering your 30's!!!  It really is a great decade, and you're going to rock it!!

[JessOfAllTrades]

Happy belated birthday! Sounds like a great start to 30.

[jkiley]

I hadn't had a chance to update for a awhile. Last week things got busy fast at work and I was out of town during the weekend.

Things have been going well, but I am pulling back a little bit on some of my goals to make it more manageable for the rest of the challenge. 

 

I was starting to get a some pain in my knees so I dialed back the intensity on my workouts last week.

For this week I restructured my workout schedule with Wednesday as a rest day. I hope that should help.

 

As far as cooking paleo goes there have been a lot more leftovers than I expected. So I am going to stick with just cooking a minimum of 3 meals weekly for the rest of the challenge.  

 

Reducing my coffee intake has been easy so far but I think the next two weeks will be more challenging. Only two cups a day this week and only 1 cup next week. 

 

I move on to the nutrition module in the Nerd Fitness Academy this week and I have been doing a pretty good job of interacting with the Facebook group

 

Thanks!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Great job adopting new habits!!!!  Cutting down on caffeine is hard, but you're doing it wisely.  I've gotten to the point where I'll have a cup or maybe two but truly do not want to drink it constantly .... the way I used to.  

[KenTheBrave]

Happy Even-Later-Than-Everyone-Else's-Happy-Birthday Birthday jkiley!   How has your first 30-year-old week been? 

 

I'm switching from a '2' to a '3' this December too! Looking forward to reading more about your adventures! 

[jkiley]

Great job adopting new habits!!!!  Cutting down on caffeine is hard, but you're doing it wisely.  I've gotten to the point where I'll have a cup or maybe two but truly do not want to drink it constantly .... the way I used to.  

 

Thanks! I feel sometimes dependent on it in the morning and would drink an entire pot or more by myself... Which cant be good for you.   

[jkiley]

Happy Even-Later-Than-Everyone-Else's-Happy-Birthday Birthday jkiley!   How has your first 30-year-old week been? 

 

I'm switching from a '2' to a '3' this December too! Looking forward to reading more about your adventures! 

 

Thanks Ken! First week was really good, I even headed direction to Colorado (Denver specifically) for a friends bachelor party not knowing they were also celebrating St. Patricks Day.  

Had a blast, there was so much going on.

 

Happy very very early birthday to you!

[Sylvaa]

Thanks! I feel sometimes dependent on it in the morning and would drink an entire pot or more by myself... Which cant be good for you.   

 

It's also not good for your teeth!

 

I used to be a full pot drinker (I gave up soda and got my caffeine from coffee). Now I've transitioned to one cup most days (sometimes 2, I'm not perfect). I definitely don't feel a difference in energy or anything like that once I got over the initial "holy crap, where's my coffee".

[jkiley]

It's also not good for your teeth!

 

I used to be a full pot drinker (I gave up soda and got my caffeine from coffee). Now I've transitioned to one cup most days (sometimes 2, I'm not perfect). I definitely don't feel a difference in energy or anything like that once I got over the initial "holy crap, where's my coffee".

[jkiley]

I've been taking it slow all year getting into the habit of working out in the mornings. So far just cardio, but I've finally changed up my workout routine to add some strength training with the recruit body weight circuit. 
 

It really kicked my butt, and thought I might get sick. I can remember a time in my life when I could have completed it with ease.

 

But after showering I felt great. I feel like I have more energy today and my focus at work is clearer (jkiley said while posting this at work).  

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

 

 

..... again!!!  I sympathize.  It's hard getting BACK to the fitness we remember.  But you can do it!!