Starting Over

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
So... Hi!
My fitness journey started in the beginning of 2018, during my first year of university. It was a way to escape from all the deadlines and to feel better in my own skin. Over the years I did a lot of Darebee programs and workouts, experimented with some gym equipment, and stuff like that. Also, I've always hated exercising, especially back at school – PE was my enemy (turns out I just like doing stuff at my own pace). Darebee changed that.
A big reason for starting my own thread is to hold myself accountable. I had a solid work-out routine until COVID started, after that, it has just been a mess. Pretty much I just work out for a few days and then forget about it.
Now that I registered my account here again, I decided not to mark down the programs I had finished, but start again.
Here's to new beginnings!
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
I'm lowkey still trying to figure out which program to choose (thinking about doing two programs and maybe doing a challenge in November, but not sure). I was thinking about Back and Core, Ironborn, 30 Days of Change, and Foundation and to narrow it down from there (or maybe even 30 Days of HIIT (but I'm not a big fan of cardio, plus not sure how much I can jump in my apartment)).

But I kept things simple for today:
Emi Wong's Slim Legs 10 min workout
Exercise of the day: 50 heel taps
 

Fremen

Well-known member
Shaman from Italy
Posts: 3,181
"“Keep an eye on the staircases. They like to change.” Percy Weasley, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone."

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
Hehe well, this is going well xD
So much of keeping myself accountable then... The past three days have been workout free, although I did go on a walk on Wednesday, and well... it's Friday today, so it's safe to assume today might be workout free too :sneaky:
(But never say never)
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
05/11/2022
Easy Core Challenge - Day 2 (switched the days)
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 2

06/11/2022
30-Day Walkabout - Day 1 (5,000 steps)
Foundation - Day 2 (7 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 1
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 1
+ some misc sets from different programs

@Hwestneth helped me go over all the fitness goals I'd like to achieve. Better late than never! The main goal would be to get back to the shape I was in 4 years ago, but I'm not too focused on that at the moment.
I'd like to focus more on general fitness and regaining muscle strength for now.
Since the first week of "getting back on track" proved to be a bit difficult, mainly just finding time for workouts (and being too tired in the evening), it's probably better to schedule the actual training to the morning time and walk in the evenings (although it gets dark ridiculously early now)
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
07/11/2022
Foundation - Day 3 (5 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 3
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 3
30-Day Walkabout - Day 2 (5,500 steps)

Surprisingly, working out in the morning didn't feel that awful, but it was difficult to get out of bed on time. Monday mornings are hard :( But it was easier to have it out of the way and know it's done, so I guess that's a win!
Walking part of it wasn't too bad either. I divided it into two parts – instead of heading straight to my car after work, I walked around for a bit (~1+km) and then later went for a longer walk.
 
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Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
08/11/22
Foundation - Day 4 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 4
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 4
30-Day Walkabout - Day 3 (6,000 steps)

I was pretty sure tonight's walk was going to be at least 5 km, but it turned out it was just below 4 km. But luckily I already had some steps before that, so it all worked out. :LOL:
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
09/11/2022
Foundation - Day 5 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 5
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 5
30-Day Walkabout - Day 4 (5,000 steps)

Brain decided to sleep through the alarms this morning, so I only managed to do 3 sets from the Foundation (pretty much rushed through it without rest).
The evening walk was divided into two parts, I went to a home improvement store after work and walked there instead of driving, and then went on a short walk later.
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
11/11/2022
Foundation - Day 7 (5 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 7
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 7
30-Day Walkabout - Day 6 (7,000 steps)

The weather is weird, it's been so warm and rainy, but it feels kind of nice to walk in the rain.
A dog almost gave me a heart attack – it was a dark corner and then the dog started barking out of nowhere. I've never heard a dog barking so deeply and loudly, so that was quite a scare xD
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
13/11/2022
Foundation - Day 9 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 9
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 9
30-Day Walkabout - Day 8 (5,000 steps)

Today was a lazy Sunday. Only three sets from Foundation and the walkabout challenge had 5,000 steps marked, so didn't feel like doing more either (at 6,5k steps at the moment)
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
So I wanted to do a small weekly rundown. Not really sure what to put here, but starting with steps and PAI

07/11/2022-13/11/2022
Average steps: 6,909
PAI by the end of the week: 82

My watch has a feature called PAI, which should stand for something like Physical Activity Indication? Index? something like that. I'm aiming for 100, but keeping it near 80 is a good start too. It should calculate it based on heart rate, but I still haven't grasped the logic completely yet. The first few days might not have been that accurate since I didn't log my walks as workouts. But I try to keep my heart rate in the 130-140 range.
I tried to sort out my eating habits too. Breakfast and lunch were not the problems, but an after-work snack and dinner were. I ate way too much in the evenings. So now I'm eating a snack after work (around 5 pm), going for a walk around 6.30 pm, and eating dinner around 8 pm (and trying to keep it lighter). Trying to drink more water too.

Some things that I noticed this past week:
- it got easier
- having a proper routine feels good
- lost around 1kg
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
14/11/2022
Foundation - Day 10 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 10
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 10
30-Day Walkabout - Day 9 (8,000)

The morning started with sleeping through the alarms, I tried to get up before the usual time, but still slept longer than intended. Didn't have time to do more than three sets, had to leave a bit earlier than usual.
It's getting colder! My thighs were freezing during the walk, felt like it was -5C, but pretty sure it was around +2
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
15/11/2022
Foundation - Day 11 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 11
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 11
30-Day Walkabout - Day 10 (8,500 steps)

Waking up on time has proved to be difficult (and going to bed on time). There's just so much to do in the evenings and so little time. :bored:
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
18/11/2022
Foundation - Day 14 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 14
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 14
30-Day Walkabout - Day 13 (9,500 steps)

19/11/2022
Foundation - Day 15 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 15
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 15
Shoveling snow twice
8,000 steps

It snowed! And it should snow some more in the next few days (according to the forecast at least). :ohyes:
I decided to drop/postpone the walkabout challenge until the weather gets better again or maybe start again in the spring. The roads were absolutely horrendous today, especially the sidewalks. Penguin-walk made its comeback and there was just no way of walking quickly.
So with dropping the walkabout challenge, the goal is to hit at least around 8,000 steps a day for now.
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
24/11/2022
Foundation - Day 20 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 20
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 20
5,700 steps

Honestly, I would walk more, but sidewalks are either an icy mess, or salt mush, or an uneven mess (which my Achilles reaaally doesn't like), so I've settled on a ~2.5km path. It's better than nothing, but I kind of miss the snowless times now
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
26/11/2022
Foundation - Day 22 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 22
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 22
5,600 steps

27/11/2022
Foundation - Day 23 (5 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 23
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 23
Probably ~5,000 steps

Don't know the exact steps for today, but I'm guessing it was around 5,000. My wrist got irritated by the watch strap so I took a day off from wearing it to give it some time to heal.
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
21/11/2022 - 27/11/2022 | Weekly rundown
Average steps: 5,743
PAI by the end of the week: 55

Snow means it's more difficult to walk, which in turn means pace is lower, which means heart rate is a bit lower... Which means PAI took a big plunge this week :sadness:
It was a stressful week at work (a lot of writing and thinking), but altogether, the week wasn't too bad.
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
28/11/2022
Foundation - Day 24 (3 sets)
Easy Core Challenge - Day 24
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 24
6,400 steps

Fell asleep at 2 am and woke up at 7 am so I've been surviving on 5 hours of sleep :phew: So it's been a rough Monday :D
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
01/12/2022
Foundation - Day 27 (3 sets)
Fit December - Day 1
Easy Core Challenge - Day 27
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 27
6,100 steps

Kind of a meh day, had a lot to process. But I did decorate my Christmas tree! Back in the day, my parents used to decorate on the 23rd so this has been my mindset for years too. Plus I haven't really decorated for Christmas for years, so this is something different :D
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
02/12/2022
Foundation - Day 28 (3 sets)
Fit December - Day 2
Easy Core Challenge - Day 28
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 28
5,300+ steps

The morning was pretty hectic, it was -12C and my car's handbrake had frozen overnight, so that was a fun way to start the day :D
 

Maly

Well-known member
Huntress Posts: 132
04/12/2022
Foundation - Day 30
Fit December - Day 4
Easy Core Challenge - Day 30
Yoga Abs Challenge - Day 30

Finished with Foundation, Easy Core, and Yoga Abs! :move:
Going forwards, I'll probably focus on Fit December for now and take up some more challenges. I already selected them but need to find my notes to remember what they were
 
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