@ccdragon, wow 20 push ups and 30 squats ever hour?!? That's awesome!

I tried going off of coffee a few months ago, and I did it, but I found myself eating/drinking other things to take its place. I finally reverted back. I have one cup of coffee every morning on my way to work with sugar free flavored creamer, so it's about 30 calories. I wish I could do black coffee, or just milk, but I can't. I need the sweetner.

So yesterday was my first day attempting 1250 calories. MFP had me set at 1650. I went over the 1250, but came in at 1525 (I think) so it was still under 1650. Maybe this is how I trick myself. Maybe, because I have been known to fail, sabotage and have low will power, I need to tell myself that I need to stay under 1250, and when I fail, I still am under 1650. Rather than aiming at 1650, failing, and reaching 1800+. I know, I am only fooling myself, but I have to have a starting point. If losing weight was easy, I wouldn't be here.

Goals for today: stay between 1250-1650 calories, 5000+ steps, go to the gym, and drink a minimum of 80 oz of water.

Have a fantastic day everyone!

Checking in for Thursday. I'm currently multitasking - at the gym, doing homework while sitting on a stationary bike. Got my tracker order issue straightened out just a few minutes ago. Couldn't get here yesterday because for some reason, somehow, I managed to get motion sickness on the way home from school. While driving myself. I ended up spending the whole night dizzy and nauseous. Decided to stay home and clean, because that's a productive way to stay moving that I can take breaks from when I get too dizzy.

As for today, I've got grocery shopping to do after class. Realized this morning that we're out of almond milk, which got my day started on a less than great note because I hate real milk, but I also hate dry cereal...so that wasn't great.

Been coming up with more costume ideas and...that's not really a good thing. The "I don't look good enough to pull this off, everyone else is going to be better than me and I'm just going to get posted all over the internet to be mocked again" terror is getting worse. And I'm afraid to tell any of my closer friends about that because I'm sure they're sick of hearing it - I've already lost one friend over it after all.

Sigh. I'm trying to be positive but it's not very easy.

Thanks Fyreside!! Today I work on my squats, arms, waist and legs. My body is so so sore! It hurts to sit on the toilet plus I walk like a snail!! lol I guess the more I work the easier it gonna get. I finished my food diary as well!

Thanks dragon. I've been pushing pretty hard, but only because I'm enjoying the challenge. Had another sub 1300cal day today, and ramped up the exercise. Hoping for a great weigh in this weekend. That's a heck of a lot of squats and pushups you are doing there. Are your pushups like... horizontal on the ground or inclined?

@meat513 I'm hoping it gets easier too. It's just got to right? lol. Seriously though, I know it's a long path back to fitness. But just today I realised, hey I'm on my way. I've even decided which mountain I want to climb when I feel like I'm ready to test my fitness.

Anyway, to wrap up with my Friday check in. 50 mins of cardio incl 20min on the treadmill and 30mins of other assorted machines. Did my strength workout as per the schedual and then went for my rained out Thursday swim as well.

And because my not very old Asics Gel-Cumulus runners are literally falling apart, I went and got a pair of Reebok Cloudride DMX's A shoe designed for walking with this neat air system built in that makes it feel super cushioned. Perfect for someone who just throws their foot out in front and lands on it lol.

ccrdragon wrote: »

Those were horizontal push-ups.

Dude.. thats epic. I legit cannot do a pushup.

Nice. Well I'm inspired. My weight sessions are a mess at the moment, I really need to suss out a routine that I can get more value out of.

Ok so, that's a multi part answer. For starters. I've got a piece of land that I want to be doing more with, so I need some strength to suit a rural lifestyle. There's always something that needs lifting, dragging or shoveling. Secondly, having been strong before, I like how it feels. And thirdly, my body shape will never lend itself to being really trim. So the long term goal is to bulk up a little.

Right now, the short term goal/plan is to run the biggest calorie deficit that I can healthily run without losing any of the muscle I do have. Mid term goal is actually build on what I have and long term, try to tone up a little. I feel no particular drive to get all ripped, but some definition sounds good.

@ccrdragon -- I legit cannot do a pushup either. Did some aerobics this morning that went right into arm work and I'm like - just NO. I'll keep working on it ;-P Also, I started IF with my breakfast at 2 right out the gate, so definitely mucked it up.

@Fyreside -- been a runner for 10 years and I always over stride. Coach Sandy on Youtube says it's a counter balance issues, watch where your hands are, you land right underneath your fist, fist is way out front, so will your foot. I'm unsure if this is the gospel, but I've been trying it. If you over stride while walking - not sure there ;-P I've also tried upping the cadence (some say if your foot turnover is fast enough you can't over stride). *shrug* I still have craptastic form - working on it - always ;-P (Also - nice kicks! )

@meat513 -- You're doing awesome! I've had the 'sitting on toilet issue' and 'walking like a snail' issue! #the pain is real! Keep going strong, you're killin' it.

@orlybayu -- when I'm tired or don't feel good is when I fall off track, but uh' usually with ice cream not almonds.

Great hearing from everyone - I have to run out the door - but champion effort!

I worked out a little today, ate well, but tonight is a pizza party for the kiddos with snacks and stuff but have budgeted for one slice of pizza and 3 cookies. Full confession - my kids are grown, but getting big kids to come around and hang out when they get bigger and busy requires just a little bribery. ;-P I miss everyone being together.

Hi gang. Checking in for Saturday. Diary is done and exercise targets met.
Had a read about the Wendler 5/3/1 system, thanks @ccrdragon.

@OregonRunner5 I tried that out today and my 20min walks were consistently up to 2.6km which is a bit more than usual for sure. I would describe my form as precarious. I'm waiting for the day I have a stumble and get spat off the back of that machine into the wall lol.

Morning everyone!

Yesterday was one of those days that makes one seriously start to believe in fate. My tracker order got cancelled again, so I just went "All right, apparently I'm not gonna be able to get it direct from the company. Let's see how much I have to save to get it somewhere else."

Well, I found it at Best Buy for $10 less than the price I was trying to pay. Also I made a kind of last-minute decision to get the Ray instead of the Shine - same price, same features, just a different design that I've always liked less when I was looking at both on the stock bands but started kinda changing my mind during the search for accessories - and according to reviews it's more secure on its bands, and making my own will be easier.

Then, my workout for the day was doing my grocery/pharmacy run on foot. It was one of those "it's more convenient than not working out" workouts - it would have been a massive pain to park after that trip, so I just left the car where it was already parked and walked it. Then came "it's fate" moment #2: on the way home, I found a large electric pressure cooker that can't be worth less than $150 new sitting out there with a "FREE" sign on it; someone had discarded it because it had some minor damage that didn't affect its function. So not only is that an unexpected valuable freebie, but it made the walk into a better workout, because it is...pretty heavy to carry for 3/4 of a mile.

Tomorrow night I plan to test it out. Tonight, though, I'm not going to be cooking at home - boyfriend and I are going to Vegas to check out (and probably book) our most likely wedding venue. It's a 5-6 hour drive from here; we're going to get in in the evening, stay in the hotel, and then we have a meeting with event planning staff tomorrow morning. I'm a little bit nervous about what we'll be able to do about food over the next two days, but I'm sure we'll work something out. At the very least I'll have plenty of interesting places to walk and run around to compensate for any excess.