Djinn's Battle Log

[Djinn]

1.7

 

Things went well today. I think sometime this week I might throw in another half set of bodyweight exercises. Bringing me up to a grand total of one and a half sets.

I'm looking forward to my run tomorrow! I always seem to have a better day when I run in the morning.

 

Perhaps you could make a list of "acceptable" snacks and try to keep the rest of it away from you/out of the kitchen.

That's a really good idea. The celery idea was also a good idea. I also picked up some herbal tea with natural sweetness.

[Harika]

Yes for an awesome day!

[Djinn]

I went running this morning, and that was lovely and refreshing.

Not a good day, diet wise. Siiigh.

 

Just a weird day in general; I've been all out of sorts!

 

Thanks, Harika!

[Djinn]

Week in Review...What Day is it again??

 

I feel the need to take stock of the situation...

 

So, here are my grades for last week.

 

Running 3-4 times - A

Body Weight Workouts - B (missed one)

Food Goals - B (Ate...2 pieces of fruit last week, two more than usual, but my eating has gone completely haywire!)

 

Life goal - A! I have a paper topic and some sources. :-)

 

This actually makes me feel a little better. I did okay, but I didn't kick butt the way I want to feel like I did. I notice that I'm totally using graduate school grading standards (where an A means you were highly adequate, an A- is understood as a B, and a B is really a C, B- means you need to quit school and hang your head in shame).

 

Of course, now I must ask myself why I'm struggling with the two things I'm struggling with.

 

The bodyweight workouts are on the fence. I don't feel any stronger. I don't look forward to them. It's a thing to be got over with as soon as possible. By contrast, I feel like the running is a sustainable change. I look forward to it, and I find it fun and rewarding.

 

Likewise, over the past few days, as I have mentioned on here, I've noticed that my eating has gone comepletely insane - I'm eating more than usual, I'm eating things I don't normally eat; I'm really shocked and upset about the whole thing. I definitely need to center and restablize myself.

So, I'm tweaking my food goal - I'm just going to eat how I normally eat, with a general idea that I'm "eating healthfully", but keep track of how well I'm paying attention to my fullness. 

 

That seems like a goal more in line with my mindset, if less measurable.

[Stonie]

One way to tidy up your eating could be to (and don't groan when I say this) start counting calories. You'll be more mindful of what you put in your mouth if you know you have to write it down somewhere someone else might see it, and you will have a good idea of what effect different foods have in your mouth. Don't try drastically changing your diet while you count for the first couple of weeks; just count what you eat in a normal day and you might surprise yourself with what the food you eat has in it. Then you can see what you need to remove, change, add in, etc. And once you've got a good idea of what everything has in it, you can stop counting. As long as you eat mostly real foods (vegetables, meat, spices etc) you'll be doing fine even if you overindulge once a week. Your body is probably trying to make up energy for all the running and exercising your doing; and you're going for foods you're used to as fuel for your increased activity. 

 

Otherwise, you are rocking this, don't let those nasty grading scores (and that is nasty - B as a failure?!) drain your motivation. If you don't like the BWW, find something else you do like. 

 

As long as you don't give up, you are winning.

[Djinn]

2.3

I did keep track of how hungry I was yesterday.

I skipped my BWW and spent some time thinking about how to best enact my goals instead, so I feel like my attitude has improved a lot, even since yesterday.

Today is my rest day, and I definitely need it; I'll be putting the time towards other things, and will be sure to post again tonight; this posting the day after business is getting me all confused.

Tea, I'm going to have to work up to counting calories. It's a great suggestion to just keep track of it without restriction at first.

That might end up being a summer project!

[Djinn]

2.4 (Thursday)

I rested, as planned. Started to track my hunger levels. Went out with some friends in the afternoon.

 

2.5 (Friday)

Went for a very nice run, kept track of my hunger levels, and my eating seems to be returning to normal. Had a lot of fun with my friends, and a relaxing evening out.

 

2.6 (Saturday)

Finally completed a BWW x1, the only one this week, I think. I'm looking forward to my run tomorrow. Had a really excellent work day today. Perhaps overindulged in sweets.

[Harika]

Food/eating is getting better? That is good, obsessing over food will just mean that you think of it more and want to snack more, right?

 

You are on a fairly good streak! Keep it up!

[Djinn]

2.7

I had a lovely run today, followed by some pretty thorough stretching.

This is the crunch time around mid-term for me, so I'm pretty busy right now.

I kept pretty close tabs on my hunger levels today, up until the evening, but I stemmed the snacking tide by working out a little and bleaching my roots. This was a rough week, but I'm feeling good about the coming week!

[Harika]

Study time is great for deep stretching. Just spread out on a rug and start in a pose. Readjust form each page flip if you find yourself slipping, and let time and gravity work the post deeper. Butterfly is my favorite for this, but forward fold, pike, and downdog/dolphin can work too.

[Djinn]

Ok, so I have had a crazy week at work, and that's definitely part of what I'm getting a grip on for next week. I'm probably going to have a better outcome if I look into something other than BWW for my strength, but running is going very well.

 

Study time is great for deep stretching. Just spread out on a rug and start in a pose. Readjust form each page flip if you find yourself slipping, and let time and gravity work the post deeper. Butterfly is my favorite for this, but forward fold, pike, and downdog/dolphin can work too.

This is such good advice! I spend so much time reading, and carry a lot of tension in my neck. I was thinking that more stretching would support my running goals better than a lot of emphasis on BWWs (since I'm not doing that anyway...

Anyway, here is my week 2 in review:

Running - A

BWW - C

Eating - B

Life Goal - A

[Harika]

That is not bad! Perhaps allow for stretching to substitute bww but still try out interesting exercises?

[Djinn]

Friday was insane! I had a teaching observation, and a stack of essays to get through.

I still managed to finish up the second week of C25K, which I'm pretty excited about. I have the next week off, so I'm going to try to get ahead for school and take exceptionally good care of myself.

 

That is not bad! Perhaps allow for stretching to substitute bww but still try out interesting exercises?

This is really good idea. I also have a pinterest board full of exercises, so that might offer enough variety to keep me interested.

I will probably also go more towards scheduling my workouts like I did during week one, since that seemed to work very well.

[Harika]

Live through Friday? Check.

Complete wk2 C25k? Check.

Stoked for rest week? Check.

A working plan for bwwo changes? Yes.

 

That is a kick-ass summary if I have ever read one.

[Djinn]

I've had a heck of a week!

I'm on the last day of week 3 of the C25K.

The installation of a hanging fruit basket at the entry to my kitchen has made an immense difference in the health of my snacking.

I changed the topic of my big paper, but settled on a better, more fitting topic.

I am still sorting out the BWW, but hey! Still doing better than I thought I would.

 

Live through Friday? Check.

Complete wk2 C25k? Check.

Stoked for rest week? Check.

A working plan for bwwo changes? Yes.

 

That is a kick-ass summary if I have ever read one.

 

Thank you!  I'm hanging in here, and I definitely feel more energetic than I used to; I'm loving the running. 

[Djinn]

I finished week 3 of C25K this morning, and am feeling pretty great! I've kept up with my stretching well enough, though I am following Harika's idea to stretch while I study (or grade, in this case).

 

Anyway, I'm looking at Sunday's training and I feel a little intimidated. Run for three minutes, Walk 90 secs, Run for 5 MINUTES, Walk for 2.5 minutes, Jog for 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds.

Five minutes isn't a lot, but it sure seems like it to me!

[Djinn]

My progress photos don't show much progress... I mean, my already thin legs look a bit thinner. I guess that reflects the difficulties I've had with eating well and BWWs.

It's rough, though, because whenever I think about making changes to my diet, I become very, very sad. SO for now, I'm going to stick to making little changes to see what effect it has.

[Djinn]

Finished the 1st day of week 4 of C25K. It wasn't bad at all! I've been feeling it in my right calf and left hip, so I spent  a lot of time stretching this morning, and will do the same tomorrow.

I've recently realized that a friend of mine has been asking me repeatedly to go to the gym with him (for some reason I thought it was an insincere offer?), so I think that might help me get more into the weight lifting side of things. Yay!

[Harika]

New things are fun! Did you set a date for the gym day? I want to read about how it goes.

Congrats on finishing week 3 of c25k. 

[Djinn]

New things are fun! Did you set a date for the gym day? I want to read about how it goes.

Congrats on finishing week 3 of c25k. 

Yes, we are going to meet up T/TH in the AM, which is awesome.

Also, thanks. I've been enjoying the running a lot.

[Djinn]

Going to the gym with a friend is much better than going alone. I actually finished three sets!

We plan to meet up again Thursday!

I have a run planned for this morning, though I'm pretty sleepy; hopefully it will wake me up.

[Harika]

Challenge: one gym-buddy gym session

Success!

Achievement unlocked: regular-session gym buddy

[Djinn]

Okay, so I'm going to do my week in review now:

Running: A - Finished week 4 of C25K

BWW: B - Completed two workouts, but my hip is now tender, so I'm skipping my run today, will stretch tonight.

Nutrition: B - I'm minding my appetite well, still perhaps spending too many calories on Porters and Stouts. I went to the grocery stores yesterday and stocked up on all my favorite healthy foods, bought some things I've been wanting to include in my diet: spirolina, coconut oil, protien powder (for cake batter smoothies), among other things that I normally eat.

 

Life Goal: I changed my topic *again*, but I've got it this time! Today is all about getting a leg up on this project.

[Djinn]

Staying on top of things for the most part - I met with my workout buddy this morning, and plan to go running tomorrow.

 

Making some good progress on my paper, especially the last few days.

[Harika]

That is great!