Keeping Momentum

BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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I've struggled in the past to keep a daily log and then today I thought, what if I wrote like no one was reading?

There are several things I have done in the past to keep myself sane from 750 words to meditation to hiking and of course exercising. It all helps but it all becomes forgotten easily.

I built up to walking 10 000 steps in August daily just to fall back to 3 000 after the holidays. Running 20 minutes back in February to nothing. Lost five kg to regain seven.

Lately I am trying a different approach, which is a slow build. I started just making sure I made it to my yoga class every Saturday. Started doing push-ups because I realised my poses suffered due to a lack of arm strength.

I find myself wanting to jump back into a program but am hesitant about it. I don't want to start another thing I cannot finish.

So then I stumbled upon this: https://darebee.com/fitness/mini-workouts-science.html and saw the five minute add-on program suggested.

And then I thought, yeah why not just do that as a standalone program instead of a full one. Let's see what happens.

To cut to the chase, today looked like this:

Morning
5 minute Yoga Stretches
Daily Push Ups Challenge

Midday
Epic Five Day 1

Evening
Visit the Hive
Read Flatland
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Thank you @JCU @mavie @Fremen @aku-chan and @Anek !

Yes, having a support group is really important and I think it is something I tend to neglect. I forget to check in and lose track.

Quite proud with myself today, am on Day 10 of the 8 Weeks to 5 K program and did what I wanted to do today. :)

Morning
5 minute Yoga Stretches
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 2 (All Day)

Midday
8 Weeks to 5K Day 10

Evening After Work
Epic Five Day 2
Visit the Hive
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Hello and thanks @Montserrat, @Froud, @JCU; @CODawn !

Yeah I don't know what is wrong with my knee, it started hurting in the back a while ago. It hurts for a day, then it stops the next. One day I tried to walk feeling it better and it got so bad it was extremely painful to walk. So I took it easy a couple of days and it stopped. Then yesterday it began acting up again. :sus: I am going to start adding knee and tendon exercises to my evening routine methinks. I know this has helped in the past when I had runner's knee. Never had pain in the back though.

To recap yesterday's exercise:

Friday, 11th of November
Morning
5 minute Yoga Stretches
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 3 - Replaced Incline Push-Ups with Wall Push-Ups to allow my arms to recover a bit after the push-up intense day on Thursday:

Midday
Aerial Yoga Class
Epic Five Day 3
8 Weeks to 5K Day 11

Evening After Work
Nice Evening Out

Today the plan is:

Saturday, 12th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
4x Sun Salutations :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 4 (All Day) - Ongoing
8 Weeks to 5K Day 11 - Replaced with modified Burn Baby Burn Workout, instead of doing Burpees I did Inchworms. My Knee was strangely ok with the rest. :v:

Before Lunch
Vinyasa Yoga Class
Epic Five Day 4

Evening
Knee Saver Workout
 
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BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Away from my computer again today. Yesterday went fine though the workouts did not happen in the planned order. I managed to rope the boyfriend in doing the five minutes with me so it looks like that will become an after dinner activity rather than a morning one now.

Today went well. Went on a 5km family hike today. I was not expecting to be as tired as I am tonight. 5 minute program, 8 week to 5k program, and challenge were done.
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Catch-Up Post:

Saturday, 12th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
4x Sun Salutations :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 4 (All Day) - :v:
8 Weeks to 5K Day 12 - Replaced with modified Burn Baby Burn Workout, instead of doing Burpees I did Inchworms. My Knee was strangely ok with the rest. :v:

Before Lunch
Vinyasa Yoga Class - Cancelled. Replaced with: YWA- Shakti Power Flow

Evening
Epic Five Day 4 :v:
Knee Saver Workout :v:

*

Sunday, 13th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
2x Sun Salutations :v:
Epic Five Day 5 (broke up in two sets) - :v:

Daytime
5K Hike, Elevation: 200m :v:

Evening
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 5 :v:
8 Weeks to 5K Day 13 :v:
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Shieldmaiden from Germany
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Posts: 514
Hello Bees!

yesterday marked a first hurdle - would my commitments hold up to a full day of work, rain and kids activities? Would I wake up on time? Would I stick to the plan?

The answer is almost. I did not wake up on time but since the morning routine is so short I managed to do the stretches anyways (not the sun salutations). We also had problems with the kids not being able to fall asleep so we only got to doing the 5 minute workout VERY late. After which I was too tired to do anything else. Heck, I was almost too tired to do the five minutes! It's just that, well, it's hard to find an excuse to not do five minute of anything.

Need to work on the morning wake up though. :LOL::p

Monday, 14th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
4x Sun Salutations :x:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 6 (All Day) :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 14 :v:

Evening
Aerial Yin Yoga
Epic Five Day 6 (broke up in two sets) - :v:
Knee Saver Workout :x:

*

Yesterday I also decided to sit down and get my plan organised a bit. So that it actually looks like a plan and not a jumbled set of exercises I try to fit somehow during the day. The result ended up like this:

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches
2-6x Sun Salutations
Challenge

Lunch Time
Running Program

Evening (Before Dinner when Possible)
Epic Five
Knee Saver Workout/Knee Workout
(Yoga)

I am putting Yoga in brackets as I don't want to engage myself to doing it every evening. It is more of a when it feels good, kind of thing. I also have one yoga class Saturday at noon, which often gets cancelled though, and which I replace with YWA flows when it does.

That is all for today. Have a nice day bees! :love:
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Posts: 514
Thank you @PetiteSheWolf

So the past two days I have come across a hiccup. Tuesday I had a bit of a mental breakdown in the evening and as a result, I did not do the EPIC Five Workout. Then yesterday, I on purpose skipped it because I was having the worst DOMS in my arms, and it was an upper body day scheduled for the EPIC five. It did not seem wise. Today I should get back on track, although I am going to replace today's run with a cardio workout because of a work engagement I have at noon.

Overall, it looks like this:

Tuesday, 15th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
4x Sun Salutations :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 7 :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 15 :v:

Evening
Epic Five - :x:
Knee Saver Workout :x:


Wednesday, 16th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
4x Sun Salutations :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 8 (All Day) :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 16 :x: - I simply forgot to do the Squats

Evening
Epic Five - :x:
Knee Saver Workout :x:

Current Workout Streak: 8 days
 
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BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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:love:@JCU

Wednesday, 16th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
4x Sun Salutations :x:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 9 :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 16 :: -Replaced with evening Cardio


Evening
Gutsy :v:
Epic Five Day 7 - :v:
Knee Saver Workout :v:

gutsy-workout.jpg


Current Workout Streak: 9 days
 
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BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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@CODawn :hug:

@thinman thanks for the advice! It’s true that my knee stopped hurting and I completely forgot it was acting up just last week. I need to be more mindful of it on the future. I will add the side lunges to my routine they look great!

For the push ups, indeed I am not doing them to failure and in fact on the days I am supposed to do totals I do an easier version of them. So I do incline push ups when I do three sets and wall push ups when doing totals. I should add these details to my posts.

And I am petite (as in short) but not really slim anymore. Just above overweight. One of my goals is to get back into the normal range.

Thanks again for the tips!
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Good Evening Bees!
it's the end of the week and a very much needed one. I don't know if it's the new exercise regimen or the waning moon or whatnot, but I have been exhausted all week to the point of nearly dozing off at work. Nevertheless, it was also a productive week at work so I am not too upset about it. The only low point was a coordination meeting with our client that really did not go as expected. Apparently, we are not supposed to raise issues when they come up. At least not unless it's someone else's fault and not due to "the team is not big enough" or similar. I should e used to it by now but it had been smooth sailing for a few months before this so I guess I let myself relax and this was a nasty call to work.

Exercise wise though, things are going well. I may update my first post to something more optimistic. I was not in a very good spot when I did it and needed to just write something down to get going. However all those daily five minutes have been doing wonders for my morale and I am starting to hope in long-term goals again. I also started sharing my running journey with real-life colleagues which I never did before and it has been surprisingly nice!

Here is what I have been up to:

Friday, 18th of November

Before Breakfast
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
6x Sun Salutations (Series A) :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 10 (All Day) :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 18 - 30 Squats, 30 Calf Raises :v:

Evening
Epic Five Day 8 - :v: - I did not really manage to do the reverse plank leg raises. I tried my darnedst but managed maybe ten seconds of those and then just stayed in reverse plank.
Knee Saver Workout - REST


Saturday, 19th of November - Yoga Day

Morning
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
6x Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar, one side = 1 time) :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 18 - 4 min run, 1 min walk - x3 :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 11 - 5x Knee Push-Ups, 6 x Wall Push Ups (I did not have access to my usual incline) :v:

Evening
Epic Five Day 9 - :v:

In detail:
30second plank, 30 second rest x2,
Uneven Plan 1 min,
Side Plank 30s per side, 1 min rest,
1 min side plank rotations, 1 min rest,
1 min side bridges
  • I really don't know how 5 minutes can be so hard
Knee Saver Workout - :v:
Side Squats as suggested by @thinman - I think I went too deep on these, it was very hard getting back up, will do better next time

Also, I have new shoes! And I like them very much. I will post a picture in a minute.
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Thank you @JCU @CODawn @Fremen @aku-chan @Anek!

Yesterday the knee started acting up again. There seems to be a common denominator in that it always acts up when I do the trail I did on Saturday, next to my parents' home. It is the only route I run which is paved and starts downhill with a steep uphill halfway through. Maybe it's that, maybe I warm up less for that route. But it's definitely two times I run that route and two times my knee acts up after not feeling it at all.

Today I am supposed to do a longer run. I will give it a try and if knee complains I will stop and give it a rest.

Sunday, 20th of November

Morning
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
3x Sun Salutations (Series A, jump to plank) :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 12 (All Day) :v:

Daytime
8 Weeks to 5K Day 20 - 30 Squats, 30 Calf raises - x3 :v:

Evening
Epic Five Day 10 - :v:

In detail:
1 minute side leg raises, 1 minute rest x2,
change side

Knee Saver Workout - REST
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Thanks @Louve Rose and @JCU and @Anek for the healing vibes!

Knee was a lot better today. Did not hurt at all during the run, only a bit after stretching. Then this evening it was fine again so I was able to do ALL THE EXERCISES today.

Monday, 21st of November

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
3x Sun Salutations (Series A, jump to plank) :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 13 (Incline Push-Ups) :v:

Daytime (Before Lunch)
8 Weeks to 5K Day 21 - 10 min run, 2 min walk - x2 :v:

Evening (Before Dinner)
Epic Five Day 11 - :v: - EPIC Achieved! Though I did normal lunges instead of jumping ones just in case
Side Squats x 10 :v: - this time I feel I was too high. I will get the right form eventually

Knee Saver Workout - REST
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Thanks @CODawn !

I am tired today again. The sort of tiredness where you just want to lie down and binge Netflix. I Also overslept and could not do my Yoga Stretches this morning. Planning to do some YWA for Hips and Hamstrings, if I don't get too much of a potato tonight.

Tuesday, 22nd of November

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :x:
3x Sun Salutations (Series A, jump to plank) :x:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 14 (Wall Push-Ups) :v:

Daytime (Before Lunch)
8 Weeks to 5K Day 22 - 5 min run, 2 min walk - x2 :v:

Evening (Before Dinner)
Epic Five Day 12 - :v: - Incline Push-Ups - Split in Five Sets with one Minute Rest
Knee Saver Workout - :x:

Before Bed
Yoga With Adriene for Hamstrings :v:

Will update this post once it's done. :) (update done)
 
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BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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@PetiteSheWolf thanks for the reminder. I don't think it is my exercise yet that is making me so tired. I think it's a combination of having slept horribly, boring but charged days at work and shitty weather. It's good advice though, and I admit I have not quite figure out how to balance those when following both a program and a challenge. It seems somehow they never line up!

Wednesday, 23nd of November

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
6x Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar) :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 15 (Incline Wall Push-Ups) :v:

Daytime (Before Lunch)
8 Weeks to 5K Day 22 - 20x2 Squats, 20x2 Calf Raises- x2 :v:

Evening (Before Dinner)
Epic Five Day 13 - :v: - Made it Epic!
Knee Saver Workout - :v:

Before Bed
YWA - Yoga to Fill Your Cup :v:
 
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BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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COMBO BREAKER

Hi bees! :ragdoll:

So yesterday I lost my streak. It was a crazy day, I had to wake up at 6am to attend a dentist appointment in a nearby town, then on the way back to work there was an accident on the road which made me lose two hours of my time. I couldn't even go home and telework because work was on the way to home. I finally arrived at work past noon and had to cross the campus to attend a meeting, so I had to have lunch on the go, forget about getting my midday run in.

Then, at the end of the day a spontaneous beer happened which turned into two spontaneous beers and a shot. I got home and could not mentally get over the idea of working out tipsy (has anyone done that?). I also smoked a bit. It was fun though, I had a great time with my colleagues and it was much needed given the stress we are currently in.

I guess I could have woken up a bit earlier and done at least some stretching in the evening but well. I will just take it as a lesson to not miss my morning exercises ever.

The good news is I am already back on track with my morning stretches and sun salutations done this morning. :)

I will jump ahead on the challenge (just skip a day), yesterday was a "rest" day anyways, an continue EPIC 5 where I was at. I will see if I get a lunch run in to make up for not runnign yesterday (and because I like lunch runs).

Have a nice day bees!:float:
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Thanks @PetiteSheWolf for the kind words!

@Froud yeaaaaah that's what I thought. :LOL: and it was abs day too so it sounded like a perfect combination to lose my dinner

Hellooo again.
Yesterday was tricky again. I had a busy day at work and dinner at my parents' in the evening. Due to a work emergency, I ended up running home without a pause available for me to do my routine. After dinner, I was too tired to do the challenge and EPIC five. The good news is though that I could not just go to bed without doing something. So I did the dreamcatcher yoga sequence from Darebee. :)

Today is yoga day. Then run day though I will see how it goes because my knee is being annoying again. And I have not been stressing it! Somehow though now it hurts more when I walk or am seated than when I exercise. If it keeps up I may go see a doctor about it to check what's going on.

Friday, 25th of November

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
3x Sun Salutations (Series A) :v:

Daytime (Before Lunch)
Long Walk at Lunchtime

Evening (After Dinner)

Dream Catcher Workout

Dream is a Darebee, yoga-based workout you can do at home to help your mind and body relax.
darebee.com darebee.com

Consecutive Exercise Days: 1

Imma catch up on everyone's logs soon. :)
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Hello bees! :move:

Thanks @Anek ! It's been really weird. It hurts in the bad of the knee rather than the front, and it shows up randomly. I can do a run workout without having it act up (even the next day) but a midday stroll will have it screaming. The only thing I noticed is it consistently gets worse after I do the run near my parents' house. So I stopped doing that.

I'm officially back on track though I switched up some things yesterday. Let's see if I manage to remember them all.

Saturday, 26th of November - Yoga Day

Yoga got cancelled again, so I replaced with YWA.

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:

Daytime (Before Lunch)
3x Sun Salutation, Series A :v:
YWA - Total Body Yoga - Deep Stretch :v:

Daytime (Afternoon)
Quick Warmup :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 15 (Incline Wall Push-Ups) :v:
8 Weeks to 5K Day 25 - 20x2 Squats, 20x2 Calf Raises- x2 :v:
Epic Five - Day 14 :v:
Epic Five - Day 15 :v:

Evening (After Dinner)
Knee Saver Workout - :x: - I forgot

I also got passed on my mom's Fitbit which she never uses. I never had a fitness tracker so I am very curious as to how this will play out.
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Hello bees!

still on track though still did not do things in the proper order yesterday. :) Also, knee is back to normal. Let's hope it stays that way.

Fitbit is fun, although the constant buzzing during a hike "you are in cardio mode, you are in fat burner mode, move faster to stay in the zone, you are in cardio mode" was a bit distracting at first. Eventually though I got the message and was able to ignore it. Metrics are fun but it stays there. I don't see myself using it beyond a simple curiosity.

Consecutive Days: 2

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
3x Sun Salutation, Series A :v:
8 Weeks to 5K Day 26 - Running Replacement - Perfect Run Workout (Jumping Lunges replaced with Floor Taps)
End Game Workout
Tune Out Yoga

Daytime (Before Lunch)
3km Hike, 1h00 Walk :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 18 (All Day) :v:

Evening - Before Dinner
Quick Warmup
Epic Five - Day 16 :v: 30s intervals followed by 10s break, I actually managed to do it all like that without longer breaks so maybe I will stick that for the rest of the program
8 Weeks to 5K Day 27 20x2 Squats, 20x2 Calf Raises- x2

Evening (After Dinner)
Knee Saver Workout - :x: - I forgot
 
BrigidForged

BrigidForged

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Hello Bees!

I have had two rough days behind me. I regressed into a binge/purge behaviour both evenings after getting frustrated over the scale not budging for the past 15 days. It's not even that the number is important to me, it's just that I feel the difference running and doing calisthenics compared to when I was 10kg lighter and it drives me nuts to see not progress back to that weight. I just want to be able to do child pose without my stomach in the way and not feel like I am dragging extra weight when running.

Realistically, I know that I did not plan to focus on weight loss this month, that the exercise I am doing is very short bursts and so not enough to make a real difference in my calorie expenditure every day so without changing my eating habits of course I won't lose anything. However, there is also wishful thinking and it got to me.

Before my regression, I was playing with the idea of doing intermittent fasting in December up until the holidays. It seemed like a good idea to avoid gaining weight but still indulging in the festivities, and also because I like fasting as a concept and doing the occasional fast makes me feel better. However, I read somewhere though that that can trigger EDs so I am a bit wary of this idea now. :sus:

In terms of exercise.

Consecutive Days: 4

Monday, 28th of November

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :v:
3x Sun Salutation, Series A :v:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 17 :v: (I got messed up with the count here, I was supposed to be on day 19 already)

Daytime (Before Lunch)
8 Weeks to 5K Day 28 - Run 15min

Evening (Before Dinner)
Quick Warmup
Epic Five - Day 17 :v: 30s intervals followed by 10s break
Knee Saver Workout - :x: -

Tuesday, 29th of November

Morning (Before Breakfast)
5 minute Yoga Stretches :x:
3x Sun Salutation, Series A :x:
Daily Push Ups Challenge Day 18 (All Day) :v:

Daytime (Before Lunch)
8 Weeks to 5K Day 29 - Run 6min, Walk 2min x2

Evening - (Before Dinner)
Quick Warmup
Epic Five - Day 18 :v: 30s intervals followed by 10s break
Knee Saver Workout - :x:
 
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