Lucky fire dragon has no plan

[lucky fire dragon]

Lucky fire dragon has no plan

 

After many ambitious challenges, some successful, some not so much, I am at a point where I don't have any plan and don't even feel like one - very unusual, but let's bear with it and see where the tides might take me, I'm confident it'll be a good place as long as I keep my head up

 

For those who don't know me yet, I'm a 40 year old mother of three, working part time as healing practitioner and spiritual coach. I love pole dancing and have worked myself up to Level 2+ (which is still beginners but posh enough to look impressive to non-polers  ), have dabbled a bit in aerial hoop and very basic gymnastic rings exercises, love singing and travelling, which I'm going to get to do in the second half of this challenge, travel that is, with my dear family to our lovely family in beautiful South Africa.

 

Pole dance has hit a summer low in my motivation right now, which I decided is okay, but being lazy while munching all the yummies on our holiday won't be okay, so I'll have to do something, even it's not totally structured through and aiming for specific things. So here is my no-plan-plan for the coming 4 weeks

 

 

1. Get some clue

I'm pulling myself towards myself and will actually count my calorie intake for the two weeks that I am still here in all detail with my fitbit app. I have no clue right now how much I take in, so how will I know what I need to burn in order for it to be balanced? Right, gotta get a clue

Will report total of each day here for accountability. So far I won't judge or aim for a maximum, just tracking to know my present habits.

 

 

 

2. Burn some, no matter how 

I'll start with setting my goal at burning 2000 kcal / day and might have to adapt in the coming weeks, depending what point 1 will show... It doesn't matter how I do it as long as by midnight 2000 kcal are burned up. It's like the shopaholic girl wondering about money - either she has to spend less or make more, spending less doesn't work for her, so she opts for making more. I don't feel like limiting myself too much during holiday and family fun times, so I'll just have to burn some more  let's hope I'm better at it than she is at making money

 

Ideas to draw from for all the burns:

- walking

- hooping

- running

- rope skipping

- yoga

- pole dance

- pilates

- darebee or other workouts

-... (to be extended)

 

 

3. Get clearer

This is threefold: I want to keep my meditations going in the mornings which will be easy during the first two weeks as I am doing them together with some clients of mine via webinar (isn't technology awesome ) but I'd like to keep it going afterwards on my own as well. Writing diary to my Larger Self counts as well as that gets me into a happy, constructive and calm state just the same.

The other parts are physical: I want to pick up some eye training again. Had a book on it a while ago, but it had too few real exercises for my taste so I got myself this great book on the Bates method by Nathan Oxenfeld "Give up your glasses for good" and since then it is lying there and simply doesn't move into my knowledge by osmosis, I might have to actually read it  I don't even wear glasses, but do have a slight short sightedness that worsens when I stare at screens too long, read too much or get tired. So I'd like to catch it before I really need glasses, plus I think life would be a lot brighter with clear focus... AND I want to spot all the pretty birds and antelopes in South Africa  

So I'll read 15 min / day in this book and/or do exercises from it

And last but not least: hydration! So helpful and yet when I don't track it I don't do it. 2 Liters of water will do for most days, sometimes I could do with more, but if I do those 2 every day I'll call it a yay

 

For easy tracking

meditation  0/28

eye training  0/28  

2liters of water  0/28

 

Oh, and it would be awesome to take part in the mini again, of course

 

Oh, oh, AND I will keep my improved work habits up and tackle the tougher things early on with the Monkey Tamers United again. To be absolutely recommended!!

 

So let the games begin...

 

Best of success everyone, let's have some FUN 

 

 

[Lightning]

That came together nicely.   

 

[lucky fire dragon]

2 hours ago, Lightning said:

That came together nicely.   

 

 

it did, didn't it

[Mad Hatter]

Very nice unplan. Which actually reads a lot like a real plan.  

[Mrs Van]

NICE!

[Suzaqu]

Looks like a great (non-)plan! A good mental reset and building momentum and information for the next challenge.

[lucky fire dragon]

13 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Very nice unplan. Which actually reads a lot like a real plan.  

 

 I know... it's like when I planned an "unchallenge" that wasn't really one either. But it's a lot less plan than it could have been!!

 

11 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

NICE!

 

 

7 hours ago, Suzaqu said:

Looks like a great (non-)plan! A good mental reset and building momentum and information for the next challenge.

 

Thanks, that's the plan idea... I see this is going to be a tricky one to phrase right 

Gathering all the goodies for new plans to come

 

 

LOVE your avatar crow pose  looks awesome

[lucky fire dragon]

Day 1 was already yesterday, wasn't it? Phew nearly missed it...

 

Get a clue:

no calories counted yet as I still had to come up with my non-plan

 

Burn some, no matter how:

long walk did the trick and I had hula hooped a little too
2040 kcal burned, yessss

 

Get clearer:

no eye training yet for still coming up with non-plan

meditation done

2 liters of water had

 

GOOD DAY

 

Day 2 showed me that there is no such thing as counting calorie intake without trying to stay below fitbit suggestions  Am I too much of a "good girl" after all? Never mind, in this case it is good for me, so yay for that!

 

- 1470 kcal had

- 1890 kcal burned at 9pm (so 2000 will be had by midnight, yesss) EDIT: it was 2054

- meditation done

- 2 liters of water had

- eye training.... oops better go read

 

For a while the burn goal looked far out, but a 45 minute walk fixed it again and now I'm good. How come walking will burn more than pole despite being so much easier?? Mystifies me, but is simple fact. Hula Hoop burned 45 calories in 10 minutes, so that comes to about the same as an intense pole session (which burns approx 230 in an hour) and still less than walking... or would it increase exponentially if I hooped for longer? But I can't do anything but ordinary waist hoop yet and it does get boring if I go on for too long... hmm

 

Well, it's all good information already

and again a

 

GOOD DAY

 

[Elastigirl]

Are you tracking calories with the FItbit? It seems pretty accurate for walking, but exercise  seems low. I'll do a 45 minute ring workout and it will say 60 calories

[lucky fire dragon]

3 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Are you tracking calories with the FItbit? It seems pretty accurate for walking, but exercise  seems low. I'll do a 45 minute ring workout and it will say 60 calories

 

yes, I am. Do you think it isn't accurate? Yes, I remember similar numbers when I worked out on the rings and was wondering how it could be so little while I was exhausted afterwards...

 

Hm, I'd counted on it being accurate enough, really not sure how to tackle this if it isn't. Any ideas?

[Mad Hatter]

I think HR monitors only really work for cardio, as they can't really account for the post-training recovery demanded by strength training. But you can always adjust your calorie intake if you're dropping too quickly or feeling too fatigued.

[Lara]

Following!

[Elastigirl]

I use My Fitness Pal for tracking calories. Workouts I use the vigorous calisthenics - which is about 420 per hour. Some people say that it is too much, but it seems to be fairly accurate for me.

[Mrs Van]

Walking and hula for the Win! I couldn't get the click-on Fitbit step counter to even count my steps and measure the distance accurately a couple of years ago, so I just gave up with those things. My cellphone's app (route tracker) seems accurate enough for the walking but the previous app I used for net carbs was drastically different to what Prof. Tim Noakes' books gave with Banting for net carbs, so now I'm sticking to a paper routine for that. In the end it isn't life threatening serious, so if you at least get an idea of what you are doing?

 

[TheFatFriar]

Glad to see you've made it here! Lately I've been feeling super discouraged, too, and not even started my own challenge. I'm not sure if I will, but I'll surely support you along the way

[lucky fire dragon]

19 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I think HR monitors only really work for cardio, as they can't really account for the post-training recovery demanded by strength training. But you can always adjust your calorie intake if you're dropping too quickly or feeling too fatigued.

 

True, I could do that. Just sometimes I'm tired from sitting still for too long, or from bad sleep with the cats waking us up a lot, or from hot weather,... I don't always know whats what.

I'm reading a book called "Fettlogik" by a psychologist who went from 140 kg to 65 kg within one year by counting calories only and who writes about how she discovered many of the diet theories out there that seem so "logical" and proven science to people are simply myths and not even true. If you want to loose weight it doesn't even matter so much what you eat, say, as long as the amount is right and when a "diet" works it's usually because it makes people eat less than before in terms of calories. If you want to get stronger, stay healthy while loosing weight and keep your body balanced then it will make a difference what kind of food you eat, but for weight loss alone the difference lies simply in the relation calorie intake and usage. It's an interesting read and now I am curious where I generally am on that balance as I have never tracked that before. Guess it will take some time to get a more or less accurate picture of my habits. Especially as my habits change all the time

 

 

19 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I use My Fitness Pal for tracking calories. Workouts I use the vigorous calisthenics - which is about 420 per hour. Some people say that it is too much, but it seems to be fairly accurate for me.

 

That does seem a lot. 

I've never looked into My Fitness Pal yet, the food tracking is so easy on the fitbit as it lists most foods from the stores where I shop my ingredients, so that part I am quite happy with.

Only reason to look into MFP would be for connecting to you guys  Anyone happy to connect on fitbit with me?

 

6 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

Walking and hula for the Win! I couldn't get the click-on Fitbit step counter to even count my steps and measure the distance accurately a couple of years ago, so I just gave up with those things. My cellphone's app (route tracker) seems accurate enough for the walking but the previous app I used for net carbs was drastically different to what Prof. Tim Noakes' books gave with Banting for net carbs, so now I'm sticking to a paper routine for that. In the end it isn't life threatening serious, so if you at least get an idea of what you are doing?

 

 

I had a step counter before that didn't work that well either. Now I have a fitbit charge and that seems well accurate on the steps, distance probably not so much as it has no gps tracking, but I don't care that much about the distance anyway. 

 

You're right, of course  I'm just curious to see where I stand and am learning how big a difference it makes when I just sit around (doing client sessions and computer work maybe, but still it's sitting) most day or do housework say or lots of exercise. It's valuable input

 

[lucky fire dragon]

19 hours ago, zenLara said:

Following!

 

1 hour ago, Kunmaar said:

Glad to see you've made it here! Lately I've been feeling super discouraged, too, and not even started my own challenge. I'm not sure if I will, but I'll surely support you along the way

 

Thank you  And DO EEEEEEET!!!!! 

 

please

 

how am I supposed to cheer back at you  Had been looking for you and am very glad to see you at least with one foot back in here

Join us!!

 

[TheFatFriar]

57 minutes ago, lucky fire dragon said:

 

 

Thank you  And DO EEEEEEET!!!!! 

 

please

 

how am I supposed to cheer back at you  Had been looking for you and am very glad to see you at least with one foot back in here

Join us!!

 

 

Thanks for looking for me, haha I'd love to start my own thread, but right now I have no idea what my goals should be this month. Never been so confused before! Thankfully I haven't gained much weight in the meantime, but I really don't want to do any more strength training until summer is over I'm okay with light cardio (walking, hooping etc.), though. Thanks for inspiring me, I might not have bothered to return to the forums if not for friends like you

[Mrs Van]

1 hour ago, lucky fire dragon said:

You're right, of course  I'm just curious to see where I stand and am learning how big a difference it makes when I just sit around (doing client sessions and computer work maybe, but still it's sitting) most day or do housework say or lots of exercise. It's valuable input

I understand.

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, lucky fire dragon said:

I'm reading a book called "Fettlogik" by a psychologist who went from 140 kg to 65 kg within one year by counting calories only and who writes about how she discovered many of the diet theories out there that seem so "logical" and proven science to people are simply myths and not even true. If you want to loose weight it doesn't even matter so much what you eat, say, as long as the amount is right and when a "diet" works it's usually because it makes people eat less than before in terms of calories. If you want to get stronger, stay healthy while loosing weight and keep your body balanced then it will make a difference what kind of food you eat, but for weight loss alone the difference lies simply in the relation calorie intake and usage. It's an interesting read and now I am curious where I generally am on that balance as I have never tracked that before. Guess it will take some time to get a more or less accurate picture of my habits. Especially as my habits change all the time

 

 

As far as I know the only way to lose weight that research actually supports is simply to eat less... With the caveat (which a lot of people fail to grasp) is that calorie expenditure is a changing variable that depends both on how much you move (including NEAT) and HOW you move, which calorie counting apps cannot take into account accurately. Even if your exercise and eating habits are consistent you might still expend different amounts depending on if you lie on the couch one week or if you do loads of chores the other week. But it's pretty easy to tell where you are on the scale. Literally, if you're gaining you're eating too much (unless you're bulking) or if you're losing you're eating too little (unless you're cutting).  

[Lightning]

20 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

 

As far as I know the only way to lose weight that research actually supports is simply to eat less... With the caveat (which a lot of people fail to grasp) is that calorie expenditure is a changing variable that depends both on how much you move (including NEAT) and HOW you move, which calorie counting apps cannot take into account accurately. Even if your exercise and eating habits are consistent you might still expend different amounts depending on if you lie on the couch one week or if you do loads of chores the other week. But it's pretty easy to tell where you are on the scale. Literally, if you're gaining you're eating too much (unless you're bulking) or if you're losing you're eating too little (unless you're cutting).  

 

And it Doesn't help that calories and movement are hard to accurately track. 

 

I do think that the "diet" aspect is really about finding what eating plan makes it easier for you to eat less.  Lower carb / higher fat diets are more satisfying and filling for me.  I also hold more water weight when I eat carbs so that makes it look like I lose more weight with paleoish diets.  Sugar makes me crave more sugar so of course cutting sugar is a smart weight loss plan.  And eating more vegetables fills you wil fiber and water while offering low calories.  In the end, calories are King.

[SymphonicDan]

I second everything Mad Hatter has said here about counting calories. Strength-bearing exercise often doesn't burn a huge amount while you do it, but will burn for several days afterwards, and the app won't take that into account.

 

Also, while it's true that the only way to lose weight is to have a calorie deficit, whether your calories are coming from doughnuts or organic vegan grass-fed free-range kale, if you don't have a healthy diet then you'll lose weight while feeling like shit rather than feeling good. And you're more likely to have a "good" body composition (moderately low amounts of fat, moderately high amounts of muscle) if your calories have come in an appropriate form. And if you eat poorly then you'll have low energy and won't move around as much burning calories, so the process will be harder. And if you're on sugar crashes all the time you won't have much motivation so the minutiae of the diet will be harder to adhere to.

 

Oh, and hi LFD, I've found you and I'm following

[annyshay]

Found you! And Dori... now to catch up....

[annyshay]

On 7/21/2016 at 3:39 PM, SymphonicDan said:

organic vegan grass-fed free-range kale

Haahahahahahaha

[Mad Hatter]

On 7/21/2016 at 10:39 PM, SymphonicDan said:

organic vegan grass-fed free-range kale

 

Aaaand gluten free!