Jarric

@Tanktimus the Encourager that was awesome. Nearly woke Mrs up I was laughing so much at the end!

Agreed, I was acutely aware of my calves by the end of this. Done with EC too though

Just caught up on your thread, sounds like you're doing awesome! Great and very active last week, and that bicep is damn impressive. Very envious of your trip too. With the weight thing, don't listen to the scale! If you feel good and feel you look good then the scale is irrelevant. Body fat % is a good bet, or just take photos of yourself. If you're trying to get more calories in your day, and you don't feel you can eat more, liquid calories are your friend. Whole milk, protein shakes, whatever works for you.

So having got to bed at 4am on Sunday morning, after several beers, Sunday was not likely to be the most active day. Woke up late (obviously). Had Coco Pops for breakfast (well... brunch) and procrastinated thinking about doing some exercise or some cleaning rather than actually doing anything. The plan was for this to be a gym day, and I woke up with just barely enough time to go before heading out to play snooker. Then looked at the train times down to Brighton and found out that there were no direct trains around that time, and with changes from my local station it would be 54 minutes instead of the usual 12. So I walked up into town to catch a better train, but that ruined any chance I had of gymming. Side note: this does mean I get to gym after work today instead, so I'm not losing a day out of my routine and not counting it as a compromise. Did do the daily dare for the PvP (sitting punches) but no EC due to crap abs and hangover. Got the train down to Brighton and played snooker for a couple of hours. Lost 3-2 due to not having my head in the game, but had good fun all the same. Went home and made a beef chilli for me and Mrs; it was rather excellent but a bit short on chipotle paste. Then off to work at the club for a very very quiet night there. For Duolingo I had a LOT to do, so a couple before I left for snooker, more between frames at snooker I was doing individual lessons, then more on the train back home. Hit 113XP which completes the weekly goal . Challenge goals so far (end of week 3): Swim: 3/3 for week 3 - 3 weeks complete Hiking: 1/2 for month - failed French: 369/350 XP for week 3 Teeth: 7/7 for week 3 Keep track: I'm here! No compromises: All good Calories: 1,800 in vs 4,416 out = 2,143 deficit Exercise: No Weight at 24/04/16: 10st8 (-3lbs on last week)

Awesome, will give it a go, thanks

So, for the final week I will be pledging my colours to: Martell - Yoga practice twice this week. Can anyone recommend any good Youtube (or similar) videos for beginner yoga?

So weekend round up. Of my productivity list I got his far: Make omelette muffins for the week's breakfasts û Buy trouser for hiking ü Clean bathroom û Clean and polish hiking boots ü Clean kitchen û Hoover û Sort out new tenancy agreement û Wash gym and swim stuff û Grocery shopping ü Put batteries in the clocks ü Mow the lawn û Clean out my car û Take car to car wash û Play Diablo III only after completing at least 2 of the above û Missed my hike Saturday because (a) I wanted to get other stuff done and it would have taken the whole day, (b) my legs hurt from Friday's squats and (c) after the last hike my legs were still struggling a week later and I don't want that on the hiking weekend next weekend. So I've failed on that goal for the challenge, and I'm still debating whether it was the right thing to do or whether I'm just making excuses. Did walk into town (about 20 mins each way) to buy my hiking trousers, so I now have those, and clean, shiny boots with new laces. Today was a bit of a write off. Somewhere between last night's many beers and going to bed at 4am I overslept quite a bit. And then the train times to go out to play snooker were stupid so I had no time at all, so no gym today. It does mean I get to go tomorrow instead though so no real loss there/I'm not too worried/not counting it as a compromise. Did get my Duolingo done today. I was well behind so had to commit to doing little bits throughout the day to squeeze it in. Omelette muffins were not made. Debating whether I should make them now (it's midnight) or just leave and go to bed. Challenge goals so far: Swim: 3/3 for week 3 - 3 weeks complete Hiking: 1/2 for month - failed French: 369/350 XP for week 3 - 3 weeks complete Teeth: 6/7 for week 3 (and assuming I brush them tonight, 3 weeks complete) Keep track: I'm here! No compromises: All good for week 3 - 2/3 weeks ok Rough plan for week 4: Monday swim, work, gym Tuesday swim, work, badminton, yoga with Mrs Wednesday swim, work, snooker Thursday swim, work, badminton, yoga with Mrs Friday pack and buy hiking food, possibly gym?, drive to Dartmoor Saturday & Sunday hike across Dartmoor All week keep tooth brushing. Duolingo aim for 70XP each day, as I really need to complete the challenge by Friday so I don't have to worry about it around hiking I'm doing the yoga for the Ranger mini. Can anyone recommend any good Youtube (or similar) videos of introductory level yoga?

Sitting punches done, but no EC. Last night's beer may have affected my stamina on this one (not that my abs are much use anyway at present).

Yesterday was reasonably productive, although I would have liked to have got more done. Having got to bed late on Friday night I slept in (well, I got up to move my car for the Mrs and then went back to bed and slept in). Was supposed to go for my second challenge hike but by the time I got up I wanted to do other things instead and knew I'd lose the whole day otherwise. Also my legs hurt from Friday's squats. Also also I remember the last walk left my legs hurting for about a week, and I don't really want to prejudice the actual hike next weekend with a practice one this weekend! Got up, Coco Pops for breakfast, put out the washing (that I'd put on when I got up to move the car earlier), then walked into town (so I could feel like I'd at least done some walking) and bought some hiking trousers and a washing sock holder thing. Got home, tried on my trousers, and cooked a bacon and egg sandwich for lunch. Cleaned my hiking boots and put on new laces. Did acrobat holds for my daily dare. A minimal amount of Duolingo was done, but I did at least put new batteries in all the clocks. Was going to continue being productive, but I laid down on my bed whilst looking something up on my phone and promptly fell asleep. Woke up annoyed at myself for that when the Mrs got home, but I guess I must have needed it. Mrs made a cheesy pasta bake for dinner, which was lovely. I ran up the shop while she was doing that and grabbed some more groceries and eggs for omelette muffins (which I still need to make). Had to run a karaoke night in the evening, which was a shambles with very few people turning up. I had a skinful (well, 7 Guinness anyway) and got a cab home about 1am. Stayed up when I got back (due to drunkenness) and had some diet coke. Watched TV until I dragged myself to bed at 4am. This may have affected my productivity today, but more on that tomorrow. Challenge goals so far: Swim: 3/3 for week 3 - 3 weeks complete Hiking: 1/2 for month - failed French: 256/350 XP for week 3 Teeth: 6/7 for week 3 Keep track: I'm here! No compromises: All good Calories: 3,473 in vs 4,366 out = 893 deficit Exercise: No

Busy busy day yesterday. Got up late, and seriously considered not going swimming because I knew I was short on time. Went anyway. Think the motivation of the 4 week challenge and the Ranger mini really helped me there. 200m x Breaststroke 100m x breast arms/fly legs 100m x fly arms/breast legs 200m x butterfly (set a new PB of 07:41 for this, although most of that time was still catching my breath between lengths!). Work was busy. Forgot my gym shoes annoyingly, so had to go home and then back out to the gym which wasted some time. First time on the new routine went like this: 5min row warm-up - 1110m (I'm doing this for time now to see if I can increase distance, with 3:30 slow and the last 1:30 fast) Squats - 30kg x 4 x 10 Dumbell side raise/front raise/hammer curl/shoulder press - 4kg x 4 x 6 Leg extensions (5kg)/v-sit KB twists (8kg) - 2 x 10 Incline Bench - 25kg x 2 x 10, 20kg x 2 x 8 Lat pull down machine - 27kg x 4 x 10 Uneven plank (daily dare) - 2 mins with EC Had a bit of a freak out half way through. Was just getting more and more agitated with worrying about getting in people's way and not knowing 100% what I was doing. Probably started when I couldn't get the clips on the barbell because I was being stupid. A lovely girl (who was deadlifting what looked like a huge amount at the time) help me out, which was nice of her. Then I couldn't get the bench set right for the incline bench and I very nearly just gave up and walked out out of sheer embarrassment. Got through it though, so next time I'll be more prepared and it will be better. When I got back the Mrs was in bed as she hadn't been feeling great, so I showered, went to the supermarket alone and then came back and cooked her dinner. It was late by that point but decided to go and catch the end of a band at the local pub with my Dad. In all the rushing, very little Duolingo was done (20XP) Calorific day too; breakfast was biscuits, lunch was a big cheese and ham baguette plus fruit and veg. Caved in to a double chocolate muffin mid-afternoon telling myself "well... it is Friday". Dinner was pie and chips and beans. Then a couple of pints with Dad. Then when I got back some Easter egg seemed like an excellent idea (I've nearly run out thank goodness!). Challenge goals so far: Swim: 3/3 for week 3 - 3 weeks complete Hiking: 1/2 for month French: 231/350 XP for week 3 Teeth: 5/7 for week 3 Keep track: I'm here! No compromises: All good Calories: 3,919 in vs 4,162 out = 243 deficit Exercise: Swim x 32mins, gym x 63mins

I know what you mean, but getting there's half the fun!

Nice weekend plan; hope it goes/is going well

Late catching up with your thread, sorry! Just wanted to say that this is why you are going to keep smashing through your goals. You were having a bad time but you got back up and pushed through it, and you've got great support behind you to help you do it too.

Well done, and congrats on hitting silver!

Uneven plank completed yesterday. I stuck it on the end of my gym session, which didn't make it any easier! Done with EC though. And acrobat holds done this morning with EC. Is it me or were those comparatively easy?

Swimming done this morning (got up late so it was really short, but at least I went). Swimming challenge completed for the week. Also back on track with Duolingo now.

I haven't tried that one actually! Will have too, as I'm unacceptably bad at this stroke at the moment. Challenge complete however! Did my second swim with drills as last time. Improved my time for the straight 200m butterfly to 07:41 (almost half of that is catching my breath between lengths though) compared to 8:25 on the first attempt. Family, Duty, Honour

Quick one today as I'm running out of lunch break to write this. Got up too late to go swimming yesterday, leaving me only one day to meet my challenge for the week. Got into work 30 mins early as a consequence, which was good as I was mega busy after my day off and still ended up staying 45 mins late. Breakfast was biscuits, lunch was leftover Chinese from Wednesday night, plus a kiwi and a raw carrot. Had another kiwi as an afternoon snack. No swimming made this an unintentional rest day. Got home and cooked pork shoulder steaks marinaded in honey, lemon juice and black pepper. Serves with roast carrots and roast potatoes. Was rather good if I do say so myself. Did a load of Duolingo to try to catch up with the last couple of days (88XP). Daily dare was also done, with EEC (30 seconds jump lunges, did over 30 in the time for the second extra point). Mrs needed help with putting together her floristry coursework (lots of cutting and sticking) so I stayed up late eating easter egg and doing that. Project's due in today so won't have to help her on another for a while. Ended up getting to bed just before 1am again. Challenge goals so far: Swim: 2/3 for week 3 Hiking: 1/2 for month French: 211/350 XP for week 3 (back on track now) Teeth: 4/7 for week 3 Keep track: I'm here! No compromises: All good Calories: 2,235 in vs 3,035 out = 800 deficit Exercise: No

Excellent stuff; the world needs more musical people!

Glad you're doing well and the surgery went smoothly. And good work on sticking to your meds and resting well

Sorry you're having such a bad time with creepy guys, hope you'll have no more of that. Looks like you've done some decent damage to that boss though :). If you're still having trouble editing posts you can do it by opening the edit in a new tab. Right click on the edit button (or press and hold on mobile) and select open in new tab and it should work fine.

Failed it first time, so gave it a second and had another go. 32 done in 30 seconds, EEC complete . Praying for more leg stuff for the rest of this challenge! On a side note I haven't jumped up and down in front of my bedroom mirror for a long time, and I was pleasantly surprised by how little I jiggle now.

Just caught up with this; looks like you're doing awesome so far!

Could desperately do with an extra point if I'm going to hit silver, so will be shooting for this

Conference day yesterday. All a bit nerve-racking but I caught with some existing clients, met a few people who will hopefully become clients, and got through my speech without any issues. I don't know why I was so worried about the speech; I'm actually quite good at public speaking and it was only 10 minutes, just unnecessarily anxious for some reason. After the conference picked up the Mrs and drove the 2.5 hour trip home. Beautiful sunny day for a longish drive actually. Did some Duolingo (56XP) and then had to transcribe the Mrs college work (we forgot to take her laptop away with us, so she hand-wrote all her work and I typed it up for her). Then just time to go on here for a bit and do my daily dare with EC (side plank crunches; they were...interesting). Food wise the calorie tracking is complete guess work as it was eating out all day. Fry up in the hotel for breakfast, sandwich buffet and pastries at the conference for lunch, cakey things mid afternoon when the conference ended. Neither of us could be bothered to cook when we got home, so Chinese takeaway (ribs, beef, sweet and sour chicken and shrimp fried rice) for dinner. It looks quite good on the tracker, but the reality could be very different! Challenge goals so far: Swim: 2/3 for week 3 Hiking: 1/2 for month French: 123/350 XP for week 3 Teeth: 3/7 for week 3 Keep track: I'm here! No compromises: All good Calories: 2,870 in vs 3,556 out = 686 deficit Exercise: No