Lissy goes on an adventure...

[Lisiera]

PROLOGUE

 

Hello fellow adventurer! My name is Lisiera, but you may call me Lissy. I see you've found my battle log. I admit that it isn't too impressive in its current state. But that's okay! I'm working on changing that. And, as an optional side quest, my friend, you're free to help as well. 

 

You see, I have many dreams. I'd love to spar and hold my own against a warrior like Alistair or Sten (Dragon Age). I long to have the endurance to hike from Canifis to Yanille (Runescape). I'd love to have the agility and skill like Black Widow to take down my enemies in the blink of an eye.

 

But these are just dreams. So many times I've started to try to make these a reality, but have just failed for one reason or another. Real life seemed to get in the way. Motivation got lost in the mail. I tried and failed, so I gave up.

 

Not anymore.

 

I've found my haven. I've found my true starting point. I found my fellow nerds 

 

So, here I go again. This is my last "start" because I'm committed to making life style changes. To training my body for the challenges I long to accomplish. To figure out immediate goals and eventual long term goals (I don't really have any long term goals right now other than "get fit," which I think needs a bit more detail). 

 

Come, friends. Join me by the fire and let me refill your tankard of mead (or, you know, that healthy flavorless stuff called water), and let me tell you tales of my small adventures at the gym, in the kitchen, in life in general. 

[EmiWantsToLiftThings]

4 minutes ago, Lisiera said:

I'd love to spar and hold my own against a warrior like Alistair

 

[Lisiera]

Chapter 1

Lissy Figures Stuff Out

 

I've come to realize there are lots of important factors in getting fit. Too many, in fact, for my brain to comprehend all at once. I come from a family where food is good. Very good. And by good I mean tasty, delicious, succulent, lots of other synonyms. But one thing it was not - healthy. Pasta, breaded chicken, cakes... I'm making myself crave things I shouldn't, so you'll excuse me if I'll stop. My family is also the type that is happiest when they are still. Lounged on the couch with the tv on, curled up comfy in a chair with a cat and a book. I take it you're not surprised when I tell you obesity runs in my family. I'm looking to change that. 

 

The thing is... how? 

 

Shortly after joining a gym a few months ago, I injured myself. I had to sit out and be a part of physical therapy for 14 weeks. It sucked, because I did find some motivation before then and was going pretty regularly. I admit I haven't gone much since. 

 

So goal number 1 - get my ass regularly to the gym. 

 

But what do I do there??

 

I'm happy that NFA is holding my hand when it comes to some of the body weight exercises. I'm on Bodyweight Level 1 right now. Some of the exercises seem very easy (I'm looking at you, wall slide), yet some... holding a plank for 20 seconds?? Maker, I get to 10 seconds and my body starts shaking like mad. I definitely need to plan what I'll be doing at the gym before I go, else I just kind of flounder around (like I did yesterday morning). So here's my work out schedule for this weekend:

 

Friday

- 1B (home) - Good Morning (10), Standing Wall Walk (5), One Leg Balance (5 secs), Wall Slide (8), all three times. Finish with 3 sets of planks til fail (will unfortunately be before 20 seconds... for now!)

- 30 minutes on the elliptical - pre set work out (fat burner or aerobic)

- Weighted squats (variations) and lunges / lower body

 

Saturday

- 1A (home) - Body weight squats (10), Knee push ups (10 - changed from elevated), Doorway Bodyweight Rows (10), all three times. Finish with Farmers Walk, 30 seconds)

- 3 sets of planks til fail

- 20 minutes on the elliptical

- 15 minutes on rowing machine

 

Sunday

- 1B (home) - Good Morning (10), Standing Wall Walk (5), One Leg Balance (5 secs), Wall Slide (8), all three times. Finish with 3 sets of planks til fail

- Yoga class

 

Monday

- 1A (home) - Body weight squats (10), Knee push ups (10 - changed from elevated), Doorway Bodyweight Rows (10), all three times. Finish with Farmers Walk, 30 seconds)

- 3 Sets of planks til fail

 

OK! Sounds like a plan! I can do this!

[Lisiera]

40 minutes ago, EmiWantsToLiftThings said:

 

Alistair is my imaginary bae. Seriously, the idea of keeping up with him is actually legit motivation for me.

[EmiWantsToLiftThings]

Just now, Lisiera said:

Alistair is my imaginary bae.

 

Haha, I feel this!  I remember starting out like "I'm not going to date him, he's such a BRO" then he slowly won me over, for real!  I couldn't resist his goofy charm!

 

 

PS: Your plan looks great!  I would see how you feel and don't be afraid to add in rest days where you don't do much of any strenuous activity if you feel your energy level start to drop.  Rest is how our bodies get stronger!

[Lisiera]

Friday workout DONE!! I wasn't sure I was gonna find the motivation - I had to stay later at work, and when I got home I was so exhausted all I wanted to do was collapse on my couch and play Skyrim. Which I did for about a half hour. Then I got my ass to the gym! Speaking of bro, there was one who sat on the ONLY BENCH by the free weights and spent literally 30 minutes staring at himself in the mirror and taking selfies without even touching the frickin weights. Seriously, bro. My gym is small so I literally couldn't get to the weights. I ended up going home and finishing my work out there. I ran up six flights of stairs, and a bunch of reps of squats and lunges, and... oh yeah...

 

DID A 33 SECOND PLANK!!!

 

I actually timed myself and holy batman I could do it for a lot longer than I thought. So 1 minute mark, here I come  

 

'Scuse em while I do my happy dance!

 

[Lisiera]

Saturday workout also done! Slightly modified from what I posted... I ended up doing 30 minutes on the elliptical (aerobic session). I would have loved to do the rowing machine but it faces a huge window and the sun was shining through... I'd have to do the whole thing squinting and blind. Mental note: rowing machine can only be used early in the morning or late at night. I ran up my six flights of stairs to my apartment (I can do 5 before really feeling it), then did a 20 minute core work out. Speaking of core...

 

I timed myself again - 50 seconds!! Guys, I did a 50 second plank! I really wanna hit that one minute mark. I'm gonna try again today but considering it hurts to breath right now (hello rarely used core muscles), I'm not sure I'll succeed. That's ok though, because I will soon!

 

I have a yoga class coming up this afternoon which I'm excited for. From there it's just unpacking and cleaning up the new pace (desperately needed after my move!). 

 

Bummed/discouraged - I finally weighed myself for the first time in a while and I'm up quite a few pounds more than I thought. I'm, erm... experiencing my moon blood, as they say, and I'm definitely bloated, so I'm just going to keep working out, start eating better, and keep my fingers crossed for next week.

[Lisiera]

Random Musings from Lisiera's Mind

 

You will never regret actually going to the gym. You WILL regret NOT going.

 

I came really close to not making it to the gym yesterday. I didn't wanna. It was my day off. Orange Is The New Black demanded to be finished (oh, and uh, anyone wanna talk about it??). Lots of excuses not to go. So I plopped myself down on the couch (ok no I didn't, I was there already), took out my phone and started going through Pinterest - Health and Fitness. Awesome motivation there. But mehhh I still don't wanna. So I went onto Instagram and looked through pictures of people who made amazing transformations, or are in the process of doing so. I looked at the first picture I posted and realized that YES, I really wanna change and make my own transformation! But how am I gonna do that with my lazy butt on the couch. So I went! 

 

For a lot of people, social media can be discouraging and overall not helpful. I get that. The professional photoshopped pictures of hot, fit women in their underwear were not helpful to me. But the real pictures, the ones taken with the phones in bad lighting, you can tell that's real and the people in those pics are genuine. And those help. Those are ridiculously motivating. Because sometime in the future, I want to post side by side comparison pictures. The one of me from last week, and one of future me, and be that motivation to someone else.

 

In summary:

- Go to the gym, you won't regret it

- You'll probably regret not going to the gym

- Sometimes social media sucks

- But sometimes it's awesome

[Lisiera]

Yoga was cancelled today 

 

So I worked on unpacking my new place, cleaning up, and... oh yeah, beating General DOMS! Wooot I'm passed level 1 now  Level two is definitely going to be a bit more challenging. Side planks UGH. I'm just getting semi-not-sucky at regular planks. And, by the way, I can do a full minute! Have a bit of a competition going on in the facebook group which is super awesome and motivating! 

 

So I did a bit of body weight exercises but I'm calling today my rest day. Tomorrow I'll hit the gym again before celebrations!

[Elastigirl]

Great job of getting past the Idon'twanna's and going to the gym!

[Lisiera]

Home from zumba! God that was a great work out, but all I wanna do is sleep! 

I did a bad job scheduling a work out for today and yesterday, which means yesterday I didn't do much, and I wouldn't have done that much again today if I hadn't signed up for this zumba class last week. So - schedule time!

 

Thursday - Bodyweight 2A (morning), 30 mins on the elliptical, various squats/lunges (evening)

Friday - Bodyweight 2B (morning), 30 mins on the elliptical, rowing machine (evening)

Saturday - Bodyweight 2A, the rest TBD

Sunday - Bodyweight 2B, yoga

[x Valkyrie x]

I love your log!! Skyrim has been my secret (ok, not so secret) obsession for years, literally years. What a game...and also Dragon Age (mostly the first one)...I loved Alistair too! 

Nice job on the planks! When side planks get easier, you could try side plank dips(where you dip your hip to the ground then bring yourself straight again), it adds a little dynamic stabilization, and really works the obliques and QL!