Anxiety, depression, laziness...Can the nameless wonder change? page 170

[namelesswonder]

Day 1 down, 29 to go.

Sleep: I slept like a rock. I'm sure I got a solid 8 hrs and was able to get out of bed on time with minimal stumbling in the morning. Here's hoping for another night like that tonight! I still feel like having coffee though.

Food: Yesterday was 100% on track. I ended up making up for missed breakfast mid-afternoon so I did have 3 meals, but within a fairly short amount of time. I also had my last sweet potato, and I'm hoping to get more tonight. I'm thinking of incorporating more GAPS-like protocols into my diet to help with the yeast overgrowth. I need to make bone broth, which means I'll probably pick up an organic chicken at Trader Joe's this weekend. Making bone broth from a roasted chicken from the grocery store just doesn't seem right. Maybe I will get some ginger too, fresh ginger tea sounds amazing right now. I wonder if it would be too powerful for me to enjoy. I am kind of cheating on the Whole30 with the inclusion of raw, local honey for allergy relief. It does help. My allergies have been significantly worse lately, however, and I need a new jar. I'm not depending on the honey for sweetness, I just take a small half-spoonful in the morning, so I think it's a fair "cheat". I didn't report on this: a couple of weeks ago, I bought some ripe avocados and tried freezing them. They went bad while defrosting. Sigh, so much for that. If I was the kind of person to go shopping multiple times a week, I could have avocados all the time, but I am not. I think nuts are out once I run out of almonds, they might be adding to this slight acne flare-up.

Exercise: Biking is definitely in the cards tonight. I didn't do anything yesterday, just felt too crummy. I want to go to the grocery store (with a backpack, learned my lesson last night) and get sweet potatoes and bananas. I'm going to do more kneeling push-ups before I go out tonight. Tonight's plan: Go to parents' house straight after work to turn off pool pump, go to the apartment, have some nuts if needed, drink some water & take Candex, bike to grocery store, bike back, log distance! The worst part is going to be figuring out how to get from the bike path to the store. Last time I took it there, I carried it up and down this really rough path off a bridge... I don't want to do that again, but am nervous about biking on the road.

Mood/Brain: I was feeling depressed yesterday, probably wore myself out from the tummy troubles and feeling guilty about leaving work. I was exhausted all day and felt like the day was a waste, which is an awful feeling for me. I took a Tryptophan last night and feel much better today. All my worries about going back to work today are gone, though I am REALLY bored and there's not much I can do today. I will not take another tonight, I think it was just a momentary thing. I don't want to over-do it, since taking too much tends to be just as bad or worse than when I need it.

Ramblings, Ravings and Rants.: Off-day link-day

GravyBoat's haircut is making me all flustered about my hair again. It's so much EASIER when it's a pixie cut, and it takes long enough to grow out to a gross length that I could probably maintain the pink. Get it cut, grow it out, get it cut, re-bleach & re-pink, grow it out, repeat. So hard to decide.

[WaylandC]

I saw somewhere that you mentioned your push-ups. One way to get a few more reps is to get into your top position and lower yourself to the bottom position with control. You can do this from your full plank position (top portion of push-up) or knee push-up.

Doing them from the plank position may give your muscles a bit more stress that they need to adapt so you can level-up

Just an idea.

[namelesswonder]

Something gives out as I get to the bottom. Maybe it's not my core. It's like part of me just stops working and I drop!

[jenn26point2]

What the Army had us do to improve our push-ups was to require us to do as many as we possibly could from the plank position. Once we reached our max, we had to drop to our knees and keep doing them until we physically could not do them anymore. It helps you build up muscle strength so that next time you can possibly do one more from the plank position.

I also cannot hold myself isometrically in the bottom position. I think it's overall strength that is the problem there.

During our army physical fitness tests, if we were doing pushups and had to take a break, we were required to either go into a plank position or a downward dog position without lifting our hands or bending our knees in either position. Those are the only two authorized rest positions (we were only allowed 2 minutes for pushups, so you didn't want to 'rest' too long). Check out Army regulation 25-20 for more info if you're interested. You can google it and find an accessible pdf document that teaches you all the ins and outs of Army PT.

[namelesswonder]

50 min, ranging from 8mph to 15 mph (most of the speed was on the way back). I only stopped at intersections, otherwise I was pedaling the whole time!

[WaylandC]

Something gives out as I get to the bottom.

If when this happens everything lands pretty evenly. I'd say your core is okay and your pecs and front delts are weak depending on the angle of your elbows when you give out.

Seated dips may help.

When you do your knee push-ups you can try a wider hand position to focus more on the pecs and that last bit in your range of motion where you're weak.

By the way, it's normal for you to be weaker in the upper body because you're a woman.

I have found that trying to grip the floor or clawing it helps me get a few more reps as well as squeezing my glutes and leg muscles.

If I can give you anymore tips or tricks, let me know.

[namelesswonder]

^I tried putting my hands out farther and was able to do 5 push-ups without dropping my knees! If I do those for a while, would it make regular push-ups (with hands under shoulders) easier? Or would regular hand position on my knees work too?

I can only do a couple of seated dips, but I will start doing those too. Boyfriend was messing around with them recently and it was a struggle for me. I definitely claw at the floor during my last push-up or two =P

Sleep: I had some trouble falling asleep, and then Boyfriend had to get up at 6 to go clean at work (which he wasn't getting paid for, so he bailed when he found out. I don't blame him!). I have a headache today and am pretty tired, but not feeling out of it.

Exercise: 5.54 miles yesterday, highest yet! I'm focusing on distance before speed. Theoretically, I could just practice the 3.5 miles it will take to get to work or get home, and practice speeding that up, but I'd like to be able to do 7 miles in one trip so I will be less tired when I actually do the commute. I'm hoping this will make up for the hills that the bike path doesn't have, but my commute does. I did a few series of push-ups yesterday, but nothing major. If it rains tonight, I'll do some weight stuff inside and bike again on the weekend. I saw a cute chick with VERY attractive legs on the bike trail yesterday, on roller blades. I know from past experience that I am really terrible on those.

Food: Day 2 was 100% compliant for my Whole30. I was super hungry and Boyfriend was not so I ate both of our dinners (green beans and steak cooked in homemade ghee). That was about 3/4 lb of meat. Delicious. Tonight will be boring old chicken breast. I need to get Boyfriend some buns so we can have burgers. Right now, my half-assing-it GAPS is excluding potatoes of any kind and only eating fruit as snacks. I bought apples, oranges, and bananas yesterday. I have enough bananas to try that banana ice cream

Mood/brain: I feel a little sensitive today, but not so much that I think I need Tryptophan for tomorrow. I think I will be fine with some good sleep. Therapy was good. She forgot to tell me she moved offices so that cut into my time a little, but rather than getting annoyed, as I would have in the past, i was amused about having to go halfway across town. The new office is in a renovated colonial house, very cute.

In other news...
Weekend plans:
Bike if I can't tonight. Get more cat food. Sew the hem on the dress I'm reconstructing. Think more about getting my hair cut (damn you, GravyBoat!). Most people are voting towards a pixie-cut, but I was originally planning on growing out a bit. Then again, I've never had a pink pixie-cut and I have had jaw-length pink hair before.

[NoSaladWithoutMeat]

I always have trouble doing pushups, even when I've been exercising for a while I can't do them without being on my knees.
But dips, for some reason, I can do. At least 3 sets of ten. I wonder what's that all about ;s

When I was watching ANTM I really wanted Sophie's pink hairdo:


Though I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off.

[Kakes]

You marvelous little wonder you. I just had to drop in and say the progress pics you posted yesterday are HOT! You look fab darling.

[jenn26point2]

I only do wide-armed pushups. It's what I did in the army and it's what i do now. I cannot do many pushups with my arms close and forget about diamonds!! As for whether or not you'll be able to do more close arm pushups by doing wide arm... probably not. uses a different combination of muscles.