12-Week Challenge: Week 5 Update

[claudiav]

@rationalfaith Good for you for not eating all the chocolate!! I can be an emotional eater when family stuff gets bad so I have an idea of how proud you must feel right now a food scale is your bff if you're comfortable with measuring and counting! Also yay for muscles. You had an awesome week! Way to go!

 

[rationalfaith]

@claudiav I used to count calories and it did become a little obsessive for me, and when I stopped I actually lost some weight! Now though, since I've used the scale the past couple of days.. I found out I was right. Time to eat more food!

 

[vincentstoppazzoni]

@denice65 Well, I only went to the gym twice, but I did circuit training at home four times, as well as turned all the soil in the gardens, weeded, etc. to get everything ready for planting.

My goal was to lose 3% BF, and I won't know if I'm there until the end of the challenge, when I get my next Bodpod assessment done. However, I think I'm doing it.

MADE ME FEEL AWESOME STORY: This week, my strength and conditioning coach told me that I'm the perfect example of how to lose body fat and gain muscle at a slow, steady, and healthy rate. He said he had no concerns of me ever gaining the weight back, because I had the right mindset about it. I don't have "end goals", or an "end date". Exercise and good food is simply a part of my life. It was just nice to hear some affirmation that what I'm doing is working.

Edit: Formatting

 

[manihoney]

@vincentstoppazzoni What a great thing to hear. I am sure that felt awesome!

 

[liquidiqn]

@denice65 I've lost about 8 pounds, which is thrilling - down below 160 for the first time in probably a couple years. My goal during the challenge was just to lose 5, so I've already got that beat! However, I have yet to hit my goal a single time of going to the gym 3x/week (only twice last week) so that's what I'm going to work on now, along with continuing to count calories and increase my protein intake.

 

[ctiffany]

@denice65 Last week my work schedule flipped from nights to days, which actually made it more difficult to get to the gym. Two nights I ended up lifting at 11PM. I've never been to my gym that late and was curious what sketchy people would be lurking about. Turns out all of the other crazy people working out at that hour were women.

 

[tempset]

@denice65 Workout-wise this week was hard (Shark Week = I feel like a weak garbage human), but I still got everything in. My runs were better than my lifts, which I think makes sense given how I felt.

Diet-wise I'm eating at maintenance right now, so no losses to speak of, but I'm holding rock steady around 161 lbs eating an average of 2,300 cals/day. The extra food doesn't suck! And I haven't seen any gains at all, which is nice. It'll be interesting to go back to my cut next week with a proven TDEE to work off of.

 

[creation61]

@denice65 Tried slacklining for the first time at a local obstacle course. And happy that I have enough balance / coordination to make it across. Also happy this cut is working, but sad cause now I feel like I look gaunt with the weight loss in my chest... and my legs are nowhere near being smaller. Still excited to see if I can get some abs though!

 

[dawn16]

@denice65 Last week was bad eating - wise but it WILL improve! Also, as of like 15 minutes ago I reached my bench goal for this challenge! Excited about that, excited to take it further.

 

[liquidiqn]

@dawn16 Congrats on reaching your goal, that's great!

 

[praises]

@denice65 My weight has kind of settled and I didn't lose much more over the past week, but that's okay! I have some other helpful metrics to choose from:

• I wasn't super tired getting up at 5:00 AM to run every day and my pace is back to normal.
• I notice a lot more muscle tone lately (maybe it's water weight loss instead of true fat loss but I feel good about myself, okay).
• My easy long run pace yesterday was the same as my easy pace on much shorter runs.
• My weekend junk food binges seem to be over...the junk food is still there but I'm intuitively choosing to stop eating when full and not stuffing myself like there's no tomorrow.

I'm not sure if I'm on track to meet my weight loss goal, but I'm definitely fulfilling my "discipline to maintain fitness habits" goals. This week: Keeping the running easy because I have a 10K on Sunday, my first race ever! Adding optional third strength training workout.

 

[icocguy]

@praises Good luck on your first race!

 

[mouse4]

@denice65 My week was just ok - I ended up coming down with a cold and since I'm a week away from my vacation I opted out of exercising and got as much rest as possible. I was really good with food and just in general tried to pick better, nutrient dense options. weighed in at 146.4 this week, so I lost 1 pound. I feel fine about it considering the circumstances. Going to keep it easy this week until I feel 100% again. Goal is to lose another pound this week.

I am absolutely itching to be able to go back to the gym full force, but I know I'll be sick longer if I don't just give my body the rest so it can recover. I've been feeling a little more frustrated lately with how I look and my progress isn't what I'd like it to be, but I keep telling myself I have made some progress. I think I'll take time to reevaluate my game plan so I can pick it up in the second half.

 

[maxrap]

@denice65 The last week I've completely failed all my goals because I did mostly nothing. I don't need words or pity just being honest. The one frustration I have is that I don't seem to form habits outside of watching TV. I even banned TV time to just certain hours, so I read a book instead. I'm just sucking right now.

 

[manihoney]

@maxrap I worked out while watching Spy last week. I did mostly bodyweight exercises and used one 20 pound dumbell. It worked pretty well. Maybe that could work for you.

 

[icocguy]

@maxrap Acknowledging that there's a problem is the first step in resolving it. Maybe try a few sets of push ups or jumping jacks while watching TV? Find an activity you can do while enjoying your favorite show. You can do this!

 

[sixskinners]

@maxrap Reach out and make yourself accountable to someone? Will power isn't enough! I wouldn't have had any success if I didn't incentivize working out/ held myself accountable to a goal setting app/ fitbit/ gym partner/ personal trainer, etc.

 

[immortalzealot]

@denice65 I am really getting the hang of this 'eating right'. I have been weighing almost everything and hitting my calorie goals almost every day. When I 'cheat' I still don't manage to go over my TDEE (according to fitbit).

I feel like I can eat like this forever. I'm happy because diet has always been my big let down.

Lost 1kg - did minimal exercise due to insane work load.

 

[manihoney]

@immortalzealot Yes! That is great. I am on a 35 day streak with tracking and have certainly improved since I dragged out my food scale.
I hope I can do as well as you.

 

[novembermike]

@immortalzealot Yay! Diet seems to be what we struggle with the most so kudos to you for getting to that point.

It just clicked with me this week that calorie goals for the day fluctuate based - it's not just going to be 1700/day all day everyday. Energy needs change due to activity level and as such I should be adjusting calorie intake accordingly. Why it took so long to get that I have no idea since I've had my Fitbit for coming up on a year now.