Brand new adventure

GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Hey there! I'm starting on darebee again after giving it up after covid lockdowns ended.
I had some health issues and haven't really been keeping up with my fitness other than a lot of walking (I average about 6.5 miles a day).
While walking is great, I'd love to lose about 10 lbs that I've gained over the last few years as well as feel stronger.

To get back into shape and feeling fit I will be starting Heros Journey. I'm attending a wedding in a little over a month of I'm hoping to lose a couple pounds by the end of August.
Day 1 is complete :v: on level one

The mountain climbers are killing me but I did all of it with only 3 short rests!
Food today has been sushi for lunch and I'm making some peanut udon noodles with tofu and cucumber for dinner! I typically eat pretty healthy but I'm hoping to reduce snacking as I take in a lot of my daily calories between meals!

Looking forward to it!
 
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GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Thank you to everyone who responded to my first post! It was such a welcome surprise and I'm so excited to join this community!

Day two!

I have completed Hero's Jouney day two on level one! Decided to help the stranger. I thought about doing level two as I was taking shorter rests and felt like my workout was very short. But honestly, I'm sweating a lot and even felt a little dizzy (not enough water probably). It's an intense workout for such a short time!

Food log:
Two homemade buckwheat crepes for breakfast (one homemade plum jam, one cheese and spinach)
Lunch was a homemade mini bagel with matcha cream cheese and fresh picked raspberries! Yummmmm :move:
Going out for sushi for dinner!

Calorie wise it's a little more than I intended (lotta carbs) but I also haven't been snacking today!

Excited to keep processing and hopefully see results in a few weeks!
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Day three done!

I went with the magic ring since I wanted a good core workout but it was pretty short. I ended up doing 20-some minutes of continuous rowing (I wanted 30 but got pretty exhausted so hopefully I'll be building up to 30).

Food today:

Lunch: Another homemade mini bagel with chia-raspberry jam and butter and then a salad with spinach, fetta, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar.
Dinner: Making lentil Dal with a little fresh salad on the side! Very excited for it
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Aaand onto day four!
Completed!

Was also short so I did some more rowing to supplement.

Food today:

Big brunch with friends: hashbrowns, fresh picked cherries and raspberries, mozzarella waffles, and a matcha latte. More food than needed but fun. Glad I didn't also eat the croissants.
Dinner: Some spanakopita and leftover curry.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Woaaah day 5 kicked my butt (and by that I mean it's going to be sore! Working those glutes!) Glad I'm on level 1 but I finished it! No rowing today.

Today was busy and a late start so I've just had a banana and strawberries.
Dinner is avocado toast with sweet potato and soft boiled eggs.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Day 6 level 1 completed.
I was right about being sore from day 5! I'm still a little sore.
Unfortunately I did not do a darebee workout this weekend. I did have some other mild exercise: a 2 hour walk on Friday and an hour of dance cardio on Saturday.

On friday I made breadcrumb salmon with quinoa and a lemon yogurt sauce. Then yellow curry for dinner. The weekend was an eclectic mix of leftovers and snacks.
I need to go grocery shopping and to figure out what I will be eating this week. As for today, eggs for lunch and maybe more salmon for dinner
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Day 8 level 1 completed

Yesterday I did not do a darebee workout but I did hike for about 6 miles and then later went for a long walk
Bananas for breakfast
greek yogurt with granola and raspberries for lunch
Dinner was a tomato sauce with canellini beans

Today the abs really killed me
I'm having overnight bananas and chia oats for lunch

Tonight is my birthday party!! So A lot of food will be had which means I am trying to keep it light right now.
On the plan is pasta with sauce, cake, and boozy milkshakes :)
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Thank you for the birthday wishes. Definitely not a healthy party but had lots of fun.
Today I started running for the first time in a while. Boy am I out of shape. But I walked/ran for over 40 minutes!

Then I did day 9 of heros journey and chose to do 200 squat jumps. I needed to take more than 20 second breaks but I did all 200!

Today I'm going over to a friends for stew and bringing a large veggie pasta salad.

edit: ended up doing 30 min on the rowing machine as well
 
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GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Today I did day 10 of heros journey!
I still can't do a full pushup so I did them on my knees and this workout still took me out. Arms and shoulders are definitely my weakness and these leave me very sore.
Then doing 3 different minute long planks after all those pushups??? :blackout:

Since I really want to get some cardio in I'm also doing another set of my couch to 5k program which involves 30 minutes of walking/running. It kicked my butt yesterday but hopefully since it's cooler today it won't be as bad?? Or maybe worse because I'm sore. Either way I will try my best:vibes:

For lunch I'm doing a picnic with turkey swiss roll ups and some veggie snacks.

Dinner is probably leftover pasta salad and more veggies. Maybe also eggs with feta.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
OH my goodness I have not been so sore in a long time. It's hard to get out of bed I'm so sore.

Today I did day 11 of heros journey and I decided to say my injury was "just a scratch". Boy did that workout kill me. So many jump squats in this program!!! I'm still sore from the last 200 jump squats!

Pretty exhausted from the last two days so no additional running/rowing today.

For lunch I am going with my family to a mexican restaurant and dinner will likely be the leftovers from lunch.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Day 12 of hero's journey. Feeling a lot less sore today since I did a lot of stretching yesterday. Day 12 was pretty much yoga which was definitely good for my sore legs. The last pose was so hard to do and I couldn't even get my knees close to the ground. Shows me how sore my thighs are.

Had scrambled eggs and strawberries for breakfast.
I'm staying with family for the next two weeks so I'm really not sure what lunch and dinner will look like as it's totally out of my control. Hopefully I can make some healthy choices or at least keep the portions small. Hard since family tends to push large helpings.

A little disappointed as I stepped on the scale and not much has changed for me despite starting to track what I eat closely three weeks ago and doing workouts almost daily for the last two weeks. But I have another month until the wedding I'm attending so there's still time. I know that I've had some off day and I wonder if my unhealthy eating on those days was more egregious than I thought since I didn't track it. I'm going to try my best to maintain working out and eating healthy while staying with family.

I realized I didn't bring running shoes with me to visit my family! I packed workout clothes so I can keep doing the darebee workouts, but the only shoes I have are a pair of very flat street shoes and some intense tread hiking shoes. Do you think I can run in hiking shoes since those have some support? I was hoping to run about three times a week but I'm wondering if I should find some other cardio.... I might be able to borrow a bike and go biking instead.


Anyway's I'll be back to track my food once I find out what it is I'll be eating lol

Food update: I was left to my own devices for lunch so I decided to snack light since I knew dinner would be large. I had an apple with peanut butter and a few slices of prosciutto. To my surprise, dinner was already on it's way despite being early afternoon. Pizza has been ordered. Fortunately my aunt likes cauliflower crust.
 
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GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Hey y'all! Thank you so much for the running suggestions!

I know I've been gone for a bit now but I swear I haven't been slacking, just without internet.
Unfortunately, being with family does make food tracking hard as I'm not in control of what is cooked so it's been a mix of salads, fish, and desserts as well as the occasional pasta. I definitely have been eating more than I would normally at home.

In terms of exercise the past few days:
On the 26th I ended up running for 2.5 miles in my hiking shoes which was okay but definitely not as pleasant as the running shoes. Probably won't do again for fear of blisters. And then I went on a 4 mile hike.
On the 27th I did day 13 of Hero's Journey
On the 28th there was no workout but I did still end up walking 13k steps throughout the day
On the 29th I did an hour of kayaking and burned over 200 calories
On the 30th I did half an hour of kayaking
On the 31st I did only a little walking
On the 1st no exercise but 16k steps
On the 2nd a 4 mile hike with 2000 feet vertical rise (was pretty intense!)
On the 3rd a 5.4 mile hike
On the 4th a 3.7 mile hike

Today I am back with internet and will be heading home soon. I did day 15 of Hero's journey level 1 and am going to try some of the running alternatives suggested by @astro_rae ! Thanks! I am going to do rivers of sweat.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Add on for today! Did rivers of sweat instead of a running workout. Did level 3 (7 sets) with little to no break! While it wasn't time wise as long as a run (only took 15 min) my watch says I burned 130 calories! Pretty good for a quarter of an hour. I am definitely drenched in sweat.

Also I will try using a tape measure when I get home since that seems like a good idea. I didn't really take any progress pics but maybe I should start that to see if I notice any differences.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Day 15th completed yesterday along with a 1.5 hour walk. I did 7 sets of the workout.
It was an eclectic day of eating leftovers since I haven't been shopping since getting back: so greek yogurt with freeze dried strawberries, a salad, plum, rice crackers, and a chocolate cake slice

Today I did another part of the couch to 5k program (mixed walking and running)
I also did day 16 of hero's journey
Did 7 sets of rivers of sweat

I'm planning on having some greek yogurt for lunch and making a salad for dinner since it's so hot out. Also possible that I will make spanakopita.
 
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GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Yesterday: Did day 17 of hero's journey on level 2! About 5 pushups for each chunk and 1 minute rest. I'm still doing pushups on my knees because I can't seem to get a single one in a full plank.
Also did another walk/run 5k training and then 28 minutes of rowing (couldn't quite hit 30)

Had boba tea and some thai curry rice for lunch (not the healthiest option for sure)
Made a big lentil salad for dinner and had cherries for dessert. Stayed under my calorie goal for the day almost entirely because of all the exercise.

Today:
Did another 5k walk/run program
Did day 18 of hero's journey. I'd love to do all 10 since I know I'm capable of the cardio, but the receptiveness of doing the same two workouts 5 times in a row 10 times is not inviting. Ended up just doing level 1. It was still more of a workout than I was expecting.

Food for today:
Had some salami and cherry tomatoes as a snack.
Leftover lentil salad for lunch.
Not sure about dinner yet.

I'll be undergoing some minor surgery tomorrow and so probably won't be able to workout for a handful of days and will be eating only soft foods. Bought some applesauce, baby food, and cauliflower (that I intend on blending into mashed cauliflower).
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
I'm back! Doing a lot better but the soft foods diet has been pretty draining on my energy. I've been trying to drink protein shakes and then blending fruits/veggies into smoothies, but I think it's pretty hard to get a feel for what a balanced diet would be when everything is a liquid. The most solid food I've had is some mac and cheese...
Hoping to be back to more solids in a day or two.
I've been going on some light walks or hikes the last few days but nothing heavy.

Today I decided I was up for a workout so I'm doing Hero's Journey Day 19. I did up to level 3! But didn't do the 1000 punch side quest.
Especially since it's not that heavy with long breaks it was a good way to start back up.

Food today was protein shake and some scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Cup of hot chocolate as a snack.

Going to make some mashed cauliflower (with pesto for flavor) for lunch.
Will also probably puree some banana and maybe other fruit as a snack.

Not sure about dinner yet as I need to do a grocery run tomorrow.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Ended up making a coconut milk chickpea curry for dinner which is based on a curry recipe that used to be on this site.

Today I tried to do another 5k training run but it was so hot out I didn't finish it. But I'm glad I tried and I'll try again tomorrow.
Did day 20 of Hero's Journey. It wasn't very hard so I didn't take the rests. Wasn't sure what back stretches meant so I just did some shoulder rolls. I did part 1 on level one but did it all at once instead of throughout the day. Since this workout wasn't crazy I thought about doing some more but it's so killer hot today that I'm sweating just sitting here.

I plan on getting up earlier tomorrow so that I have some more time before it gets too hot.

Going grocery shopping today so here's the meal plan:

Going to make some greek yogurt parfait for lunch.

Dinner is going to be some tofu pasta and cucumber salad on the side.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Day 21 of hero's journey done! Did level 1 and I'm feeling stronger! I thought that my few days break for surgery was going to hold me back but I actually did more pushups than I've done previously! I'm still doing them on my knees but it feels great to see the number increase. I also was surprised at how tired my arms felt after the arm circles.

I ended up doing a 5 minute glutes workout from blogilaties that was killer.

For lunch I'm making a large summer grain salad with couscous and lots of veggies (and chickpeas for some protein).

Dinner will probably be the leftover tofu pasta from yesterday.

I'm feeling really good! I feel like I'm starting to feel and see the results of working out and being more conscious of my food. It's got me pumped and motivated to keep going. I also have absolutely loved the structure of not needing to think about my workout each day and having this program to follow. Thanks Darebee :)
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Feeling a little more sluggish yesterday. Went for a walk and one of my friends showed me his calisthenics workouts (he's been doing it for years so I can't even attempt a lot of the workouts he does). But I do think it would be nice to start trying to work my way up to a pullup. I did a few modified exercises with him but nothing that would really count as a workout.

Did day 22 of heros' journey on level 1.

Yesterday I ended up making homemade peach icecream and so I ate a bowl of that.

Today: I've had a few cups of fresh blackberries since they are growing here now.
Had a salad with farro, grilled peaches, avocado, arugula, mascarpone cheese, and lemon juice. It was delicious!
Had some more for dinner and then went out and had a figjam and brie icecream :icecream:


Today: Did day 23 of hero's journey. Decided to do all 5 sets with only one minute break between sets. Mostly because I didn't have the time for a long workout today.
Lunch is going to be more of the farro salad.
I'm going out for dinner and so I checked the menu ahead of time. I think I'll get an heirloom tomato sandwich. But the cajun veggie pasta also sounds good..... I'm glad that they have a handful of healthy options though.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Didn't end up working out yesterday.

As for food updates:
Friday I ended up eating the heirloom tomato sandwich (proud for sticking with my healthier option) and then a little strawberry rhubarb crisp that I split ;P
Yesterday I ate some palak paneer for lunch.
Dinner was half a veggie burger and a small milkshake. Not the healthiest food for sure. I have noticed that days I workout I think I eat a little healthier.

Today I did day 25 of heros' journey. Was much harder than I thought it would be (why are the infinities so hard!)
I am having leftover palak paneer for lunch.
Dinner I'm planning on making a cajun shrimp soup.... really looking forward to it!
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Hey hey!
Was out camping for a few days so less exercise.

No workout monday
Tuesday 5.2 mile hike (560 cal)
Wednesday 9 mile hike (1200 cal)

Today I did almost 30 min of rowing.
Also did day 25 of hero's journey on level 1. Still doing more pushups than before which feels really good!
Today I'll be doing a charcuterie lunch. Probably leftovers or something smaller for dinner since it's so hot out.
 
GoldenPheonix

GoldenPheonix

Active member
Posts: 31
Today I did about 20 minutes of rowing with one main break. (Feeling crazy tired today)
The burpees are taking me out on day 26 of hero's journey. Ended up doing 5 sets of everything instead of 5,5,10,5,5. Level 1.


Lunch I'm making another farro salad with tomato, parsley, mint, seasoning.
Also baking some kidney beans to see if I can roast them and make them a little crispy.

Trying to get a little more protein in so I might do something for dinner with the pre-marinated tofu I've got.
 
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