Anamal Learns to Master Her Body

[Anamal]

Hello,

My name is Anamal, and I am a mountain dwelling creature who lives amongst the desert humans of Southern California. This is not by choice exactly, but more as a penance for my foolish youth, where I willingly walked into the prison that is student loans. For this challenge I'm seeking a home with the Rangers. I hope this will be a place where I can push myself to master my body and push beyond my current skill levels.

 

At the end of this challenge I want to be a leaner, faster, and more adept version of myself.

 

GOALS:

Strength Train 3x - Weekly

For this challenge I'm going to try and do bodyweight strength training for shorter sessions, but more often. I'll be following the NFA bodyweight level 4 A, B and C workouts for the next five weeks. When I have the energy/drive I'll be adding in some gymnastics holds to the end of workouts (hollow body hold, back body arch, and chin-up hang).

 

Green-Light Macros 5 of 7 - Weekly

In addition to Nerd Fitness I'm also working with Eat to Perform to get my nutrition dialed in, and lose some extra body fat. My goal is to green-light (aka hit my macros) at least 5 days a week. The other two days are for long hike or backpacking weekends where I typically need to consume extra calories in order to keep up with my energy expenditure.

 

Run Further Run Faster

Similar to last challenge I'm going to work on building my mileage progression. This time with a weekly hills-repeat session thrown in.

Week 1 - 13 miles, Week 2 - 14 miles, Week 3 - 15.5 miles, Week 4 - 17 miles, Week 5 18.5 miles

Side Quest V1 - Keep up with pre-run warm ups and evening foam rolling to help prevent injuries.

 

Steps on Steps on Steps

I'm going to aim to have a daily average of 15,000 steps at the end of the week. As I'm already running a decent amount this is more to help me keep moving on my non-training days and burning extra calories to aid in weight loss, but in a non-taxing way.

 

My reward for scoring at least a 90% throughout all four goals will be a new pair of trail running shoes.

 

[Wild Wolf]

41 minutes ago, Anamal said:

At the end of this challenge I want to be a leaner, faster, and more adept version of myself.

 

You'll get there! Following along again

 

W0lf

[Anamal]

Day 1 - Monday - VICTORY!

 

Steps: 10,209

** Note I know this method isn't perfect as I'm using my phone to track, which I don't always carry with me. But it got me out the door for an evening walk that I wouldn't have done otherwise. Definitely a win.

 

Macros: Green across the board! 

And as a bonus the scale is starting to trend downward already. It's nice having a program to jump back into after a weekend of travel and eating (lots and lots of eating). As my wise little sister said: when you have a routine, it allows you to be spontaneous. Smart kid that one.

 

Running and Strength: Nothing to report. Dropping people at the airport this morning meant that even after a rest weekend I took another rest day.

[Elastigirl]

Always a win when you make the time for a walk. Great challenge.

 

Edit: I really like what your sister said. Sometimes routines are looked down on for not being enough fun, but I am finding that a routine is very nice and helps me enjoy my non-routine spontaneous times even more.

[Anamal]

Day 2 - Tuesday - VICTORY!

 

Steps: 16,689 - Thanks to a four mile morning run, and a walk at lunch.

 

Strength Training: Did my first of three workouts, took about 30 minutes. It feels easier to only have to do 30mins of strength after I run, but who knows if I'm going to enjoy having to do it three days a week. We'll see.

 

Running: 4/13 miles

I realized today that because my calves are so strong I can really rely on them to run instead of my larger glute and hamstring muscles. As a result they get really tight and tender. This run I focused on engaging my glutes and the run felt a lot better.

 

Macros: Green across the board!

This marks day 2 of 5! Even with boyfriend cooking! This sometimes makes me nervous, but I sat down and explained my goals and how I want to be at a lower weight before we go to Peru in November so I don't have to worry about macros on vacation, and I think he's on board. Or at least willing to humor me when I ask him how much of an ingredient he's using.

 

Side Note: I want to green-light every weekday this week since I know I'll be backpacking this weekend and won't hit my macros due to having a much higher caloric need. I'm not worried on days like this because I know I'll be burning an additional 2,000 to 4,000 calories each day on the trail, but I still want to hit my goals this challenge.

 

Bonus Rounds!

- Contacted 5 new agencies about potential work, and sent follow up emails to six others.

- Reached out to an online forum about becoming a contributing travel writer and heard back with a yes! - Waiting on more details/first assignment.

- Went rock climbing with boyfriend.

 

23 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Always a win when you make the time for a walk. Great challenge.

 

Edit: I really like what your sister said. Sometimes routines are looked down on for not being enough fun, but I am finding that a routine is very nice and helps me enjoy my non-routine spontaneous times even more.

Totally! At first I didn't really get what she was saying, but then this week, after a weekend of unstructured eating and no training, it's nice to be able to get back on track easily. And I also know that because I'm normally eating one way, that a day or so of being off-track won't derail me.

[Anamal]

Day 3 - Wednesday - VICTORY! *Does celebratory karate moves*

 

Steps: 13,480

I know what you're thinking: "But Anamal! You're below your 15k goal average! You won't make it!" Fear not simple peasant! For I am going backpacking this weekend, and will easily crank out 30k+ steps each day. That doesn't mean I don't want my daily total to be close to 15k, but it does mean that I can be a little more lax knowing Sat and Sun will be big steps days.

 

Running: 2 Miles w/hills

Cut it a little short (was aiming for three miles), but my ankle started to act up a little bit. This is the same ankle that I injured in a marathon earlier this year and required almost six weeks off of running, and a total reset in fitness. So when it starts to get a little funky I call it a day and go home to foam roll. But I did ride my bike to/from work to up my caloric burn a little.

 

Strength: Completed workout 2 of 3. I'm liking these shorter sessions.

 

Macros: Green light baby! BOOYAH! And even managed to fit in a glass of wine and restaurant food for date night. Winning.

 

So far I'm feeling really great this challenge, the scale is moving in the right direction, and I'm starting to get the hang of the whole counting macros thing. I'll be excited to see where I end up at the end of this challenge. 

 

Bonus Content:

- Rode bike to/from work while being an adult and actually getting my oil changed.

- Launched my blog (finally, I've been majorly lazy on this). This is another step towards having more financial freedom and the ability to pay off debt faster. The goal will be to build the site and hopefully monetize it in the future, or alternately use it as a portfolio for more freelance writing work.

- New pot for ultralight backpacking came in. Now all I have to do is finish building my alcohol stove, and repair my backpack's pockets and I'll be ready for this weekend.

[Anamal]

I'm going to wrap up Thursday and Friday in this post, since starting Friday afternoon at about 4pm I'll be off the grid until Monday morning.

 

Day 4 - Thursday - VICTORY! But a tired one.

Steps: 11,685, not super high since I cut my run short, but I did ride my bike to work, which doesn't show up as steps.

 

Running:  2 miles. Ankle was a little bothersome so I just cut it short.

 

Macros:  All green baby! Despite the fact that I was basically hungry all day long I stuck to my goals. There is always going to be some discomfort when it comes to change. In addition, shark week just started so I had the joy of being an emotional mess yesterday, the lovely benefit of bloating, and a general desire to eat all the things. Such is being a woman. It generally is far shittier than being a man.

 

Strength: Session 3 of 3 complete! Again, I was really tired and unmotivated so I skipped my extras that I've programmed in. Which, I'll probably have to re-think anyway since my apartment is so tiny that I don't think I can safely practice handstands or even wall stands. I'll tackle that next week.

 

Bonus Content:

- Went climbing with boyfriend but we bailed early because I was really unmotivated and he wanted to finish brewing his beer.

- Officially signed on with an outdoor website to write content for them. This marks my second freelance job in addition to my regular job. I will defeat the student loan dragon!

 

Day 5 - Friday - (probable) VICTORY!

Yes, I'm writing this on Friday morning, but it's a rest day and I've already planned out my food for the day, so I can basically figure out how this is going to work.

 

Steps: Probably relatively low, I'd guess in the 6k range. I want to give my body a day to really really rest before backpacking this weekend.

 

Running: N/A - Rest day. Total run mileage for the week will be 8/13. Not great, but ankle flare up, plus 27+ miles of hard hiking this weekend. I'll call it even. Maybe give myself a B for this week.

 

Macros: So long as I stick to the plan I've outlined I'll green-light everything, thus marking my 5/5 days for the week on green!

 

Strength: N/A - Rest day.

 

Bonus Content:

Who knows what the future will hold! It's 10am as I'm writing this. So far I'm hungry (it's a low calorie day), and have terrible cramps (see note above about how being a woman is the pits), but it's a mellow work day so I'm hoping I can escape early to get into the mountains. I'm already packed up and excited to try sleeping in a hammock.

[jonfirestar]

Great work. I'll be following along

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Anamal]

Week 1 Wrap up! Overall Grade: 

 

Steps: Daily Average = 19, 073

Grade: A

 

Strength Train: Sessions 3

Grade A

 

Running: Total milage 8 of 13 + 1 Hill session

This one is leaving me a little confused, I got in my hill session so that is a plus. But I didn't hit my mileage numbers, in part due to a little injury flare up, and in part because I knew I'd be backpacking for two days and getting in lots of mileage and elevation gain. And while that's good for overall fitness, it's not specifically run training. Looking forward I can see I'll be on a three day backpacking trip each of the next two weekends. So assuming a rest day before/after each trip, that leaves 2-3 days to run each week. So I'm going to officially instate a new rule:

 

I must run my weekly milage, UNLESS I go on a backpacking trip that is at least DOUBLE the distance of my remaining mileage. And I MUST make an effort to run at least three days a week.

 

Grade B

 

Macros: Green Light 5 days of 7

Grade A

 

Week Grade: 95%

 

[Elastigirl]

Great challenge start!

[jonfirestar]

Great going. Keep it up

[Anamal]

Week 2 - Day 1 - Monday

 

Oh my god! I was so tired! Over the weekend I hiked (like active, moving, hiking time) for close to 17 hours, covering 30 miles, and almost 10,000 feet of vertical gain, and as many feet back down. Monday I needed a rest day. I also didn't get up and walk around as much as I should have, but I still tried to keep up the habit of getting water and using the bathroom on the far side of the building.

 

Macros: All green baby! Feels good to be able to jump right back into my program without having to think about what to do. Makes it really easy to pick the right foods in the right amounts. Honestly, I'm a huge fan of outsourcing efforts like this.

Strength: N/A rest day.

Running: N/A rest day.

Steps: 5,703. Not impressed with myself, I could have easily gone on a walk before dinner, but I was just too lazy and tired. I'll aim to do better with the remaining days of the week.

 

23 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Great challenge start!

 

22 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

Great going. Keep it up

Thanks guys! It means a lot 

[Elastigirl]

I'd say you more than earned your rest day.That's a heck of a ton of hiking.

[Anamal]

Week 2 - Days 2-4 Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday.

 

TL;DR After a long weekend, plus getting my period, plus backpacking trip coming up I decided to have a rest week. Lots of walking (aiming for 20k steps a day), but very little else. Body just didn't feel up to it.

 

Macros: Doing great here! Weekend will be about eating intuitively since cals will need to be higher while backpacking.

 

Running: Uhhhh like 1.5 miles out of 14. But I've been walking in the morning and at lunch every day this week, so lots of movement.

 

Strength: 0/3 so tired, my body definitely needed rest. After a really half assed strength session on Tuesday, I decided just to chill until next week.

 

Steps: My daily average has jumped up to 20,000 steps, with me getting in 15k+ every day this week (and definitely this weekend after my backpacking trip).

 

Bonus Content:

Went climbing once

Submitted my first article to my editor this week

Got out my 2nd and 3rd blog posts

Going backpacking this weekend.

[Anamal]

Week 3 - Getting Back on Track.

 

Last week and weekend we're admittedly not a show of my best training/eating habits. But I had an amazing time with friends in Seattle, ate some incredible food, hiked in some truly awe-inspiring mountains, and generally had a great time. Increasingly I'm feeling good about how my body is looking, and in the last week I've developed the ability to do a dead hang pull up! Win! So while last week was decidedly off-plan, I came back into this week ready to kick some ass. 

 

I think last week really illustrates some of the issues I (personally) have with the NF challenge format. I find that in pursuit of my goals, I can sometimes lose track of how my body is feeling, and what it's telling me I need. So while I was probably only at 50% adherence to my goals last week, I'm not going to severely mark myself down, because I think it's what I needed to succeed long term and not get burned out or injured.

 

Anyway, on to this week:

 

STEPS:

Monday - 13,089

Tuesday - 20, 056

 

MACROS:

Monday - All Green!

Tuesday - All Green!

RUNNING:

Monday - Rest Day - Landed late and had to go straight to work, no time to train

Tuesday - Run 4 miles 

STRENGTH:

Monday - Rest day

Tuesday - Strength 1 of 3 complete

[Rurik Harrgath]

3 hours ago, Anamal said:

I think last week really illustrates some of the issues I (personally) have with the NF challenge format. I find that in pursuit of my goals, I can sometimes lose track of how my body is feeling, and what it's telling me I need. So while I was probably only at 50% adherence to my goals last week, I'm not going to severely mark myself down, because I think it's what I needed to succeed long term and not get burned out or injured.

 

That tends to be one of the many epiphanies veterans have toward NF challenges.  Strict adherence to challenge goals isn't always in one's best interest, but you've been around the block enough to know that some deviance is not only health but absolutely necessary.  Don't punish yourself too harshly and just realize that gamifying life is a lesson in adaptability.  That's practically the mantra around the Ranger forums these days! 

[Anamal]

Week 3 Wrap Up - Overall Grade 80%

STEPS

Friday - 6,559 (wanted a true rest day before the weekend backpacking trip).

Saturday - 40,096

Sunday - 52,629 (new steps PR! And now you can probably see why I was ok with being a little lazy on Friday).

 

MACROS

Friday - All Green!

Saturday - LOL NOPE! Not even close, ate intuitively in order to fuel my hike. But I'm not really counting this as going over since I can't really function on diet calories while hiking for 7+ hours. However, in the future would like to eat more protein, and less fats, since my body is primarily burning carbs on hikes.

Sunday - See above.

 

RUNNING

Netted out with 9 miles running, and 50 miles (yes, five-zero) backpacking. I think we're good. But I still want to do better with running.

STRENGTH

Total 2 of 3 sessions for the week completed. I'm aiming to do much better next week and re-working my actual workouts to fit my schedule better.

 

 

Week 4 - A New Beginning! - Outlining Goals

This week started a little funny with the three day weekend, so it really feels like it's starting today (Tuesday), meh whatever, four day week! There are a few things I want to update this week that I think will help me succeed. 

 

Strength: Re-work training from three full body days, to 1 upper body + core, 1 lower body, 1 combo + core. This way I can get in all my sessions and still hike on the weekend. Hoping that by doing only upper body early in the week I'll be able to strength train right after a long hike.

 

Running: Running under a certain HR wasn't really doing it for me, I gave it several months and while my times were slowly dropping, I was beginning to stall and it was starting to injure my achilles tendon, and I was forced to run with poor form in order to move that slowly. Starting this week I'll be working on running cadence. I can already feel that this helps me engage larger muscles (glutes and hams) and doesn't injure my calves.

 

Macros: Same as before, but now with hiking season coming to an end, it will be easier for me to green-light more days.

 

Steps: Keeping it the same. I'm upping my daily goal to 20k from now until late October when I will start reversing out of my current deficit.

 

MONDAY:
STEPS: 43,083

MACROS: Obviously no, it was supposed to be a low day. I cannot hike 16 miles on 1800 cals, it would be very unpleasant and slow. However, I didn't go totally crazy with food after we got off the trail, so in general cals weren't crazy high.

 

RUNNING: Uhhh nope, but I did hike 16 miles, so that's a thing.

STRENGTH: Nothing to see here, you can probably figure out why (hint - it was all the hiking and travel I did).

 

** Speaking from Tuesday morning - I'm very tired today after all the travel, hiking, lack of sleep, and just general effort. My weight is up after the weekend, which I suspect is due to eating too many fats, and possibly water retention after a much larger sodium intake. I'll continue to monitor that and make sure I'm drinking lots of water. I still want to get decent steps in today as I hope it will get my body feeling better and some blood moving to my muscles. Also, I'm probably dehydrated. Also, I'm committed to getting back on my macros.

 

 

[Anamal]

Mid-Week Check in! 

 

I've been doing ok, still pretty tired after a hard weekend, and it seems like Shark Week might be starting early, so I've been majorly suffering from cravings, sleepiness, cramps, and general lack of motivation. Oh and the desire to sleep. Did I mention the sleep? And the cravings? And the sleep? Clearly that's where my mind is at.

 

But I did decide on something fun! I want to train for a fast 5k for the next few months and see what I can do. Typically I lean towards the slower and longer races (having run a 50k and marathon already in 2016 before I was injured). But now that I'm coming back from an injury that was a major setback I want to try something new. My goal for the next two years is to PR every race distance from the 5k to the 50k! Once I PR one I can move up. So we're looking at 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, 20 mile, marathon, 50k. Should be fun! Current PR for the 5k is 28 minutes I believe. My goal would be sub 25mins (or just about 8min mile pace). I'm really excited to have something new to train for now that backpacking season is wrapping up. I downloaded a training plan today and I'll get started on Monday!

 

Right here are the stats for the last two days:

 

Tuesday -

Running: 0 miles, rest day

Macros: All Green

Steps: 5,295

Strength: None, rest day 

 

 

Wednesday -

Running: None, rest day. But got in a morning walk. I like to keep the habit of walking or running in the morning when at all possible.

Macros: Green light (but not with good foods, this week has been a major struggle).

Steps: 11,230

Strength: 1 of 3 complete, and first day on a new program. Lower body + Core.

 

Bonus Content Includes -

Going out to drinks with a new friend

New and exciting projects at work

Planning out new running goals!

Setting a timer on my phone to remind me to walk around every 30 minutes.

[Anamal]

Right, so this challenge has kinda been all over the place, from pretty decent successes, to kinda random weeks, to weeks or weekends where I just decided that I didn't give any f--ks anymore. So I'm going to end this challenge today, do a week or so on my own, and maybe hop into the next one. I still have lots of goals going down! I'm just not sure that NF challenges are the right place (esp as I tend to forget to post here, and can't prioritize engaging with other members right now).

 

Peace kids!