DAY 42

Trouble sleeping last few nights. Last night I was soundly asleep then my radiator started clanking louder than it's ever been, for minutes on end. When it became apparent it was possessed to torment me, I tried turning the knob to, I don't know, make something change, to no avail. I gave up, tried to go back to sleep (but only after smacking it a couple of times with a blunt object and crying) and it finally turned off on its own. What made it incredibly frustrating is that it had taken me a long while to fall asleep initially because of the cats' shenanigans. Le sigh. 

Good news, the 4-5-6 train is fully restored! GO MTA! Wow, NEVER thought I'd say that.

Gotta head to work early in a second, because even though service is restored, I'm sure it's clogged as hell, and I still need to figure out how to get to Atlantic Center.

Did some different stuff today, just to switch it up:

Workout Summary:
Jumping Jacks
50
50

Superman
60 sec

30 sec

Half Pistol Squat (really need to up the ante on leg work; these seem to be the ticket)
6 reps
6 reps

Decline Push-Up (these were good/tough; I think they're what I need to move through my plateau)
8 reps
10 reps
5 reps
6 reps

Frog Stand

8 sec (slipped out of this one, then my second attempt I almost fell on my face. But I prevailed!)
35 sec

-C

DAY 41

Didn't make it to volunteering, slept in too late, which I feel shitty about, but I made up for it by organizing clothes to donate. I'm about to run to the grocery store before catching a ride into Manhattan with my friend's boyfriend.  Apparently they have a 3 person per car minimum for crossing the bridges. Crazy.

Also, cranked out my 1600 words for the day for NaNoWriMo. Gotta do some brainstorming in my downtime at work; I get that the point is to just crank out material, but I think I need to make some world-building decisions before progressing much further.

Also, my Frog is coming along nicely.

Workout Summary
Jumping Jacks:
50
Mountain Climbers:
10 reps
12 reps
10 reps
Burpee:
6 reps
8 reps
6 reps
Frog Stand:
17 sec
39 sec
37 sec
One-Arm Dumbbell Row:
8 lb x 20 reps
8 lb x 20 reps
8 lb x 20 reps

Peace and love to all,

C

DAY 39 & 40: NaNoWriMo; Volunteering; Halloween!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Two of my four costumes:

DragRobin Returns for All Hallow's Eve!

PETER PAN NOT LINK DAMMIT

I may have gotten carried away this year, but thanks to Sandy, Halloween has been extended until through next week. I have yet to pull together my Poison Ivy and Devil costumes, but at least one of them will make an appearance.

Today is the start of NaNoWriMo! I signed up! If you're one of my many creative friends and you're reading this, you should too! Misery loves company. I mean, the more the merrier! No, but RealTalk: I've wanted to write a novel for a reaaaaally long time, and I am absolutely determined to have something finished at the end of November.  It will be rough. But instead of thinking of it as a terrifying, half-formed-scaly-blob-harlequin-fetus of a novel; I will look forward to December 1st as the day my adorable, wobbly newborn giraffe of first draft stands up on its spindly baby-legs for the first time and totters around bumping into things. See?! Cute! Baby giraffe. Baby giraffe. That will be my NaNoWriMo mantra.

Yesterday was a rest day, and today I tackled Day 3 of Week 2 of the Push Up challenge. I think I am going to Do-Over Week 2,  because the fifth set literally had me crying in a heap on the floor. I managed to get out the 15 reps of the last set, but the last 5 of those were spaced out. I haven't pushed myself that hard in a while, but it felt good. It was really cleansing, actually.  I look forward to the end of next week when those 15 reps will be waaay easier.

A big part of why my progress slowed has been, well, the insanity of this past week.  Stuck in my neighborhood of Brooklyn (and having gotten absurdly lucky, what with still having power, water, heat, etc), I've gotten a bit stir crazy and have just been staying up way too late, drinking more than usual and eating candy and other junk. I don't regret the candy last night, because it was an awesome childhood regression moment, but I digress.

Starting tomorrow, I am rising at a godly hour and making myself productive.  I was really hit by a blast of survival guilt today as I heard sirens in the distance for what seems like the hundred thousandth time. Tomorrow I am going to Hunter College in the morning to see if they still need volunteers to help with the people camping out there (Come with me!).

Today's Workout:
Jumping Jacks:
50-50
PushUps:
12-13-10-10-15(I'm not counting the 15 as consecutive though; I had to take a few rests and the last 5 were all stand alone)
RollingPlankofDoom:
20sec-30sec-15sec
Jump Squat:
11-15-9-9-17

My forearms already hurt. Time to hot/cold shower it up, then crank out another 800 words for NaNoWriMo.

Peace
C

DAY 38

My workout yesterday was far more mild, so today I upped the ante. I'm especially proud of my 37 second Frog Stand (I had my friend time me with a stop watch on  those, for the record).

Workout Summary (Fitocracy)

Jumping Jacks
50 jumping jacks

Superman
30 sec
60 sec
25 sec

One-Arm Dumbbell Row
8 lb x 20 reps
8 lb x 22 reps
8 lb x 21 reps

Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat
11 reps
16 reps
8 reps

Static Wall Sit
45 sec
60 sec
25 sec

Mountain Climbers
10 reps
10 reps
6 reps

Frog Stand
19 sec
37 sec
10 sec

Subways are still down, though we have limited bus service. Doesn't look like I'll be leaving Brooklyn till at least the weekend; time to catch up on Supernatural, write some new cover letters, and be productive.  Though tonight I believe I will put on make up with my other actor friends down the street and take photos. Make your own fun, kids!

DAYS 31-37

Final week of the challenge, and this has been the longest I've gone between updates.  I'm sitting here hunkered down in my apt as Sandy rages outside; I'm pretty far inland in Brooklyn and fortunately still have power.  I've done all my emergency prep and I'm pretty sure my former Boy Scout brothers would approve of my work. I'm sitting here in cargo pants with a flashlight and knife at my waist, batteries and matches in my pockets, with a backpack full of supplies ready should the worst occur. At this point it seems unlikely, but I kind of had a lot of fun preparing; imagining myself as bad ass military personnel, ready to leap into action.

I've been lax on the updates because I was travelling and then when I returned from my three day DC trip had to go straight into two long back to back shifts at the bar. And then this whole hurricane business started up. I've kept up with my workouts, though not my diet.  While visiting my family I indulged in my mother's cooking to the fullest extent; most of it was stuff I eat anyway so it wasn't "cheating; at least not up until the chocolate chip cookies came out. So. Good.

I caught up with a close a friend while in DC, and her roommate, coincidentally, was able to give me some awesome tips on my frog-stand as well as show me how to do a tripod headstand.  I think it will be some time before I attempt that on my own, but it was a great feeling and I now feel that it's closer to my reach.

On Thursday my mom drove me and my friend up to southern PA where my folks own a small house, and it wascompletely invigorating. The air was so fresh and it was so quiet, I felt completely mentally reset. We even worked out there, outside on the side of the hill; we did jump lunges and sprints up the hill; leaping over giant hillhocks and through the grass. It was freaking awesome.

Push ups are going well; my current max is 13. I think if I really make sure I sleep enough this week and approach my workouts well rested, I will be able to get to at least 18 reps. We'll see.
Still over the moon about my newfound frog-standing abilities:

Alright, back to catching up on the Walking Dead. Hope everyone affected by the storm is staying safe!

DAYS 28, 29 & 30

I'm really dragging my heels folks, but I attribute that to the fact that since late September I have been going at break neck speed, and well, sometimes shit gets put off and fallen behind/etc.  More importantly, I am progressing on at least two of my goals for the challenge, and am confident that I will at least accomplish my Push Up goal. So that's great! Everything else has been a good lesson about my habits, what my weak spots are and what I need to work on.

I had quite a work day Sunday and as a result over-indulged in food and drink after work. I kind of saw it coming, but it was the one day and not a week long binge, so I'm not going to worry about it. I definitely needed to let off steam; just don't want to make that particular method a habit, hahah.

I don't see a point anymore in just logging my workouts here, as I already do that on Fitocracy, so I'll focus on making this more about logging what I've learned from said workouts than just logging data.

I just started week 2 of the Push Up Program I'm following and already upped my max rep! I was able to crank out 12 reps in the last set of my most recent push up workout; that felt beyond beast. Think I might have mentioned this, but I'm really focusing on making sure I A) get 8 hours of sleep every night and B) eat enough good things, especially on my rest day, and C) streeetching.

I've also started experimenting with hot/cold showers and I have to say, maybe it's placebo effect but I definitely noticed less leg stiffness & soreness than before.

I've been working at the bar a lot to make up for the time I took off and I feel like I'm letting other areas (acting) take a hit because I don't have the energy to focus and get the work done that I need to. I'm going to DC to visit my parents, youngest brother, and big sis for a few days; leave tomorrow morning (after an audition!) and come back Saturday. When I get back, I go straight into working 4 days in a row, which is good as I need the money. I'm taking the DC trip as a mental break, but when I get back, I'm coming back swinging.  I really need to step up my approach to my career. I'm getting antsy about pilot season around the corner.

Overall, I think my main take away from this challenge so far is that I need to learn how to moderate myself. I tend to go all in, which works great for a short time, and then I crash completely.  So I need to work on focusing on just doing little things to work towards a more balanced lifestyle.

Last but not least: I CAN DO A FROGSTAND. I was literally sitting here, about to go on a search for advice on how to progress, because my last attempts I couldn't even get my toes off the ground, and I thought "I wonder if my push up progression has improved my forearm strength and core balance." So I got on the floor and DID LIKE FOUR SECONDS OF FROG. AHHH I'M SO EXCITED.

PEACE MOFOS
C

DAYS 26/27

Just got hit by a giant dose of tired; I was on a night schedule all week (working late/being up late, sleeping late) and it made it impossible to sleep last night; so after a day of work I am now suitably exhausted.

BUT! This morning, before the exhaustion kicked in, I busted out a SICK workout and upped my max rep for push ups.  This push-up plan is really doing its thing, I'm pleased to say.

Push Ups:
9-11-8-8-12(!)
Bulgarian Split squats:
9-13-9-6-10
Rolling Plank of Doom:
20 s(all 4 sides) / 35 s (4 sides)/ 15 s(4sides)

So that's awesome.  Also, one of our delightful regulars brought us homemade sweet potato pie and OH MY FREAKING GOD. So yummy. Definitely had two slices. So worth it.

I have never been more confident that I'll be reaching my goal of 20 consecutive push ups by the end of the challenge. I can hardly wait!

DAY 25

Mellow and somewhat productive day so far.

Got a little writing done; one of the reasons I often find myself desiring to write or work on acting stuff but frozen and ineffectual is I get overwhelmed by how much I want to do.  It finally sunk in today that I just need to create better routines. So, for starters:

-Write just one paragraph - this usually will turn into more, but if I set the goal as just the one, it seems more achievable on a day-to-day basis.
-Read aloud for five minutes
-Work on a scene or monologue for five minutes.

I did all that today and then some because I was enjoying myself so much. So, start small!

Workout was light:

Jumping Jacks: 50-50-50
Bench Dips: 10-8-7
Flat Straight Leg Raise: 10-15-10

Then I did 8 min of a deep squat, 2 min of calf stretch and 4 minutes of another MOBWod stretch.

Off to bartend.

-C

DAYS 22, 23 & 24

Forgot to update yesterday, and yesterday was awesome workout wise!

Yesterday(Day 23)

Bulgarian: 10-12-8-8-6
Push Up: 8-10-8-8-10 (The last 10 were brutal, sheer willpower was behind that last rep. But I'm so pumped.)
RollingPlankofDoom:
20 s each (1:20 total)
25 s each (1:40)
15 s each (1:00)

This Push Up plan is working pretty darn well, it seems!

So did that, and back on track with diet and IF.  Today was another late sleep day, can't do that again tomorrow or I won't get anything productive done.  I STILL need to return those library books. Ugh.

Workout Summary (copy and pasted from Fitocracy 'cause I'm lazy but with point values deleted because they're aren't relevant to me).

Jumping Jacks
50

One-Arm Dumbbell Row
8 lb x 18 reps
8 lb x 22 reps
8 lb x 18 reps

Jump Squat (Toyotas)
15 reps
18 reps
15 reps

Superman
45 sec
70 sec

45 sec

Whoo! Feeling strong and like I'm on the track to noticeable improvement again, which feels amazing. 

-C

DAY 21

Sunday! Funday, supposedly, but I beg to differ. Today was long and tedious with only few moments of respite, granted me by my always-cool and highly entertaining coworkers.  Worked both the 1 PM and the 4 PM game, which is not usually the case, so I didn't get home until 10:30 PM.  I was feeling not great; honestly I've been in a funk since the film wrapped.  Before I get into that:

Workout 10.15:

Jumping Jacks

100 

Push-Up
6-8-6-7 

Jump Squat
16 - 15 - 15 - 14
Superman
45 sec - 60 sec - 45 sec - 45 sec

I didn't know if I had it in me for push ups or any leg work at all; because I went dancing last night after working, so my legs were extra tired; add a twice-as-long-as-usual-shift today and I really didn't think I could crank out my Day 2 amount of push up reps for the push up program I'm following.

In my last post, I mentioned how I was thinking of going back on my diet plan; basically reintroducing cheats and booze and whatever else.  Then it hit me.

I was ready to quit. Throw in the towel. Not just the diet, the whole challenge.  I gave up inside.  Somewhere I lost the bullheaded optimism with which I had entered my first challenge and I just felt tired, beaten, and like there was no point to trying. 

The combination of my personal shit plus post-film-depression sent me into a tailspin, and though my primary meals were mostly on diet, I started drinking way more, and then eating crap late at night. Not even because I was hungry (I've been super vigilant about making sure I'm always satisfied, hungry Cara is not a happy Cara, nor a functional one); it was 100% emotional eating.

And I realized it truly tonight. I had been rationalizing it, "Oh, I'm just easing up, I can always try again next challenge, etc" I knew it was BS because I didn't really want to quit. I still want to reach my goals.  But I just felt empty of will power.  And the fact that I didn't have the mental energy to keep striving toward the goals I knew I wanted, and in fact didn't even feel that driving desire anymore, was even more depressing, which just fed into the whole thing.

I have been on a serious roll in a lot of ways, so I guess the crash was inevitable; we all go through great, awesome periods and low periods where you feel like you just can't catch a break.  And even though it's been less than two weeks since the movie wrapped and that's not a very long time, I crashed hard.  And that's okay. The important thing is, I figured out what happened.

Once I realized I had given up, it (obviously) lit a fire under my ass, and I attacked my workout, determined to regain control. Completing that fired me up again.

So. I almost quit, but I caught myself.

-C

DAY 20

Day 20 (yesterday)

Tried something new in my workout; the Rolling Plank of Doom (tm). It was brutal, but I dug it. 

Plank: 20 s each side x 2

Dumbell Row: 21 x 8 lb; 20 x 8lb; 20 x 8lb; 15 x 8lb

Negative Pull Ups: 5 / 3 / 2 / 1

I didn't make quite enough time for my workout, so that's all I got done, though I did log another 400 hops for the interguild challenge.

Had trouble with the diet these last few days; had a late night sub sandwich the other night and went out and had a few drinks last night as well. I'm going to evaluate tonight why I'm having so much trouble; I think maybe I'm just doing too many things at once and thus having a harder time doing them all proficiently. So I might officially loosen the parameters of the diet; we'll see.

Going to workout tonight after work; until then!

-C

DAYS 18&19

Yesterday was a Rest day, so I didn't workout and I went out after work and had a few drinks, but other than that stayed well on diet.

Today is Light Workout Day, and as this week's Inter-Guild Mini-Challenge is Jumping, I made jumping and push ups my whole workout. One of the forum members suggested this rep progression to help me get through this Push Up Plateau I seem to be on, so today was Day 1 of that.

Workout:
200 Jumps(which I did as if I were jump-roping; feet together, core tight, little hops)
6 Push Up
200 Jumps
6 Push Up
200 Jumps
4 Push Up
200 Jumps
4 Push Up
200 Jumps
8 Push Up

Now that I have finally gotten back to getting at least 8 hours sleep every night, I feel myself getting stronger. Sleep's crucial role in my fitness improvement has never been more apparent, it's actually a little shocking just how instrumental it is.

-C

DAY 17

So today I slept in reeaally late and it was amazing. I putzed around, did some cleaning, but felt funky/depressed for no reason. That frustrated me, and then I got mad. Then I was like "Screw this, I'm going to beat the sh*t out of this workout." So I did. Now I'm cooking asparagus and burgers.

I really need to ease up on my nut consumption, though. I just inhale the things. And almond butter. Oh boy.


WORKOUT:

Jumping Jacks: 50

Mountain Climber: 10

Bulgarian Split Squat: 8-8-9-10

Push Up: 7-7-7-8

Plank: 45s-60s-60s-45s

Bench Dips: 5-5-10-7


I'm also pleased to report that the Planks were less brutal than they were a week ago. I think I've really been letting my desire for Instant Gratification (RESULTS NOAW) really get me down. Slow and steady, slow and steady.


-C

DAYS 15 & 16

So Day 15 went really well up until the point I got to my friend's burlesque show and went on to ingest several hard ciders and some Jameson.  Then, upon returning home, consumed several tablespoons of almond butter with a spoon.  It was delicious. But then I felt like shit this morning, so today I got really seriously back on track. Success!

Need to get lots of sleep tonight; I haven't been as good about getting a full 7-8 hours as I was the first week and I think that's why I'm feeling so weak. I also got my IF back on track.

I joined my coworkers at dodgeball  for the first time, after work today, and it was so fun. I was terrible, but gung-ho as hell.  I also fell right onto my knees at one point, and now my right knee is in paaaaiinn. Gotta ice it. And find a new way to fall in the future. Totally worth it though.

Yesterday's Workout:
Jumping Jacks: 2 x 50
Seated Dip: 10
Dumbell Row: 2 x 8lb x 20 rep
Push Up: 3 x 6
Jump Lunge: 3 x 10
Spiderman: 15

Today's:
Jumping Jacks: 50
Superman: 45 sec, 60 sec, 45 sec
Dumbell Row: 8 lb x 15; 8lb x20 (x2)
Burpee: 7 - 6 - 6 (these were murder)
Jump Squats 14 - 14 - 15

Tomorrow I'm going to spend some serious time organizing my ever-growing list of shit to get done; I feel so disorganized and discombobulated at the moment.

DAYS 12, 13 & 14

I completely fell off my diet plan these last few days; after I wrapped Thursday I celebrated with a few brews, and then somehow the next night I was eating icecream cake. I kept that up all weekend, my normal healthful meals followed by stuff like brownies and pumpkin coffee/beer and I'm a little annoyed at myself.  There's no point in beating myself up about it, I just have to get back on track starting tomorrow.  I think I was just absolutely wiped out from filming and also kind of emotionally crashing from the high of it, thus lots of feelings-eating. I still kept up my workout regime, naturally, though I really didn't push it much and my workouts weren't too intense. I felt really weak during two of them, which is again I think a result of the very busy week I had.

So today was a Rest day, though I completed my fifth and final day of mobility work for the NF week 2 Interguild challenge (go Assassins!). Hope we win.  It was really great learning new stretches and my legs are definitely feeling less tight, which is awesome. I will absolutely be incorporating MobWODs into my weekly routine.

Update on my Goal #4 (Write Every Day) I have been chugging along at this pretty successfully; some days the only writing I did was updating this blog and my NF Challenge thread, but over the past week I've been getting more creative (creativity breeds more creativity; I think being on set had a hand with this) and have been writing some poetry. I am adding Going to A Poetry Open Mic to my list of Bonus Goals for this challenge.

So even though I slipped up these last few days, I am hitting tomorrow with a vengeance; I'm going to be sure to load up on protein and healthy snacks to keep my wandering eyes away from chocolate covered cashews (which were delicious, by the way.)

Cara

Day 11 Con't

Just home from wrapping my last day on set of the feature. I am so happy and feel so very lucky to have gotten the opportunity to work with some really awesome people.

Did a very short workout;

3 x 5 Bulgarian Split Squats
3 x 5 Push Ups
8 Mins deep squat stretch
8 mins air squat stretch
8 Calf stretches

Tomorrow my life schedule returns to somewhat normal; though I intend to use the fire in my belly lit by the feature drive me on to book another project soon. Here's to many days of weird hours filming!

Cara

Sept 24 - NOV 5 6WKChallenge: DAY 10 & DAY 11

The last couple of days have been a flurry of activity and consisted of long stretches of not sleeping and eating at weird times.  But it was a massive amount of fun; the crew I worked with(for the upcoming indie romcom, Dry Spell) were just the coolest, nicest folks. I really can't wait for this movie to be finished so I can share the awesome.  My good friend Kyle Hoskins is one of the masterminds behind this project, and he's an awesome, great dude, so

Tuesday I got up around noon, had a huge breakfast/lunch around 1:30 PM. Snacked a bit, then when my friend came over for dinner around 8:30, I made us sweet potato fries and cube steak. I made us each like two yams worth of fries, so I couldn't even finish the meal and had leftovers. We stayed up for a while, then I went to sleep for two hours and was back up at 2:30 AM to meet back up with my friend (also an actor) and the film crew to go to location in Manhattan around 5 AM. Brought my Bag of Nuts (heh) and snacked on those for several hours.  Upon returning to my apartment, I had lunch (eggs/greenpepper/onion/bacon) while the crew shot this one scene, which took a few hours. By 4 PM I could barely keep my eyes open.

After they left, I had my leftover fries and steak, watched some Supernatural and also tried something new! Mobility Exercises! For this Challenge, NF is hosting Inter-Guild challenges, and this week's is to do 20 minutes of Mobility work a day for five days straight.  It's really perfect for me, because I don't know a lot about stretching and kind of slack off on it post-work out. Which is no good.

In a car on the way to my apartment yesterday, I was chatting with another actor and we were discussing coffee and breakfast habits. I mentioned that I eat about 4 or 5 eggs and turkey bacon/bacon etc every morning, and she says "That's like a man's breakfast!" Which just resulted in a huge mental facepalm from me.  So, a breakfast designed to fuel activity and fill you up is reserved for menfolk?! Whaa? Oh, I forgot, women are supposed to be delicate waifs unfit for anything more strenuous than cookie-baking or carrying a chihuahua (mmm cookies...).

Yesterday was a Rest Day, so no workout; today is a Light day. I have to be on location for filming at 1 PM in Manhattan, so the workout will have to wait until tonight.

Week 2 of the Challenge: So far, so good!

Oh, also, since the beginning of this challenge, I can see and feel a difference in the size of my lats.  It's kind of weird having muscle suddenly where there has never been any to speak of. Also incredibly vindicating/awesome.

Cara

Sept 24 - NOV 5 6WKChallenge: DAY 9

Slow start today; this past weekend really beat the crap out of me.  Took my time poking around the internet; did some journaling (which really relieved some of my stress).  I have an early shoot day tomorrow for Dry Spell and then once we wrap at the location in Manhattan, we are coming back to my apartment to shoot until the early evening. Fortunately I am not in any of the scenes at my place, so I can just relax and help out a little. But I also just found out that I will be filming again on Thursday for the feature, which is awesome, don't get me wrong, but I'm a little burned out. I do have Friday off, though. Whew. Then it's back to bartending/waitressing Saturday-Tuesday.

Today's Workout:

Bulgarian Split Squats per leg: 5 - 6 - 7 - 5
Push Up: 5 - 6 - 8 - 5 (tried looking up/ahead rather than down, that really helped)
Plank: 30s - 60s - 45s - 45s
Neg Pull Ups: 4 x 5 (last 5 were a struggle and more like 3 1/2 because 2 of them were more falls then lowering myself down :P )
3 x 5 sec Crow Pose Entrance (Getting up on forearms and balancing on toes)

And now Aleks is coming over and I'm going to make us sweet potato fries and maybe steak :D Hoorraaayy!

Day 8 (Mon Oct 1st)

YAY IT'S OCTOBER PUMPKIN EVERYTHING AND HALLOWEEEEEENNN

I love this month and I love Halloween, and October is just typically a fun month for me; not sure why.  Autumn in general is just good.


Wheeeeeeeeeeeew. LONG. Day.

Got up, worked out for Not-Quite-AS-Long-As-I-Would-Have-Liked but that's okay, because I did plenty of standing around and running around later, in heels, and covered in fake blood.

I also consumed cake frosting during a scene; it was delicious and also immediately made me start ripping ass between takes. Or maybe that was the guacamole I inhaled on the subway ride home the previous night... ANYWAY.

I just snacked on some more almond butter. Tomorrow I will be back to being strict about my 8 hour window; today and yesterday I just didn't have all full meals; it was a lot of grazing on my trail mix. I might be stress eating a little too.

My work out:
Warm up
Jump Lunges (New! Hard. Regretted later when I was standing about in heels). 12 - 12 - 12
Push Up 5 - 5 - 5 (working on keeping my form tight)
Superman 30 s - 60 s - 45 s
Dumbbell Row - 8lb x 10 (x3)

Also, protip: You can, in fact, use dish soap to clean fake blood off of your entire body.  But I wouldn't recommend it.

Day 7

Week 1 is over! And I am officially wiped out; looong day on set, a lot of standing around, waiting to go, only to hold for whatever reason. Ah, film.  It was really stuffy in the location and wearing a wig made that super unpleasant.  It wasn't grueling, but after five hours or so it go to me and I just totally mentally kaput.

Light workout this morning:

Jumping Jacks: 50 - 50
Jump Lunge: 20 - 20 -20
Push Up 5 - 5- 5 (still working on that form)
Negative Pull Up 5 - 5 - 5 (these were not quite totally controlled, but way more than they were the first time I tried them, so I feel justified logging them and also the chair assisted ones were really annoying me for some reason.

Diet is going swimmingly; no real sugar cravings to speak of; I think having natural sugar in relatively small amounts (a little fruit here and there, nuts) keeps it in check. Today was weird though; I had breakfast as usual, and snacked on my trail mix a bit, but I didn't get much of the lunch they served (the only stuff left to eat was like bok choi and some weird meat-mash thing that tasted good (ie, like grease) but I only had a few bites of it all.  It definitely was not as big of a meal as I needed; I demolished my trail mix and though I was never super hungry, I was definitely low on energy. So I'm currently killing this jar of almond butter and also had a little carrots and guac on the way home.

I also stopped at Whole Foods to replenish my trail mix, and damn, nuts in large quantities are expensive.  I don't know how I spent as much money as I did there, but I do not regret it one bit. Insert joke about
needing nuts here.  I've branched out and begun exploring pecans and walnuts too. Consensus: delicious.

Alright, gotta hit the shower and crap out; early morning and long day ahead tomorrow.

DAY 6 - Full Moon!

Last night's audition went swimmingly well; I was very emotionally free and it was a new experience for me (it was a role-play character interview, rather than a reading of a scene), and overall I feel great about it. I'm really working on focusing on auditions as solo exercises with no end except to enjoy the process and take something away. I think maybe in order to make sure I'm doing this, I will start an audition log where I briefly note what it was, how it went, etc.

Today's a rest day, so no workout (though I do mean to log a few burpees when I get home for the NF interguild weekly challenge).  I woke up at 2:30 AM and realize my eyelids had had an allergic reaction to some eye make up I wore last night, and had swollen to thrice their size. This has happened before, and while it usually goes away within a day, it was still incredibly annoying and possibly a big ol' wrench in the days shooting plans in regard to me.  Fortunately, it turned out that the only scene I was shooting day was one where I wear sunglasses. Talk about good timing.  My eyelids are almost back to their un-inflamed natural state, I am chuffed to report.

Then my debit card was shut off; upon calling customer service it turns out that Visa deemed one company that I had my card subscribed to as "at risk" and cancelled it; meaning someone possibly tried to hack, like, Netflix, or somebody, in order to get peoples card info.  Again, luckily, I was able to leave set because I had a LOT of downtime, and got a new card. So it was a weird day, but I had a couple of lucky strokes to counter the weirdness. Full moon?

About to head to another audition for a student film, killing time in Barnes and Nobles.   Need to go over my sides, so I suppose I will end this now and get to work. Also, there are some very odd ducks in this B&N. Full moon!

Cara

Day 5

Today's workout wasn't too intense, as I'm a bit pressed for time, but it was still pretty difficult for me.

Tried something new, added Bulgarian split squats:

Bulgarians: 5 - 5 - 5 (per leg)
Push Up:  6 - 6 - 6 (still really concentrating on keeping my form tight; I keep wanting to crank out more reps, but I'm really focusing on keeping my eager-beaver attitude in check so that when I get to 20 eventually, they will be 20 PERFECT FORM).
Plank: 45 sec - 45 - 45 (These seemed really difficult today, even though I was doing 60 second ones a few days ago.  I hate Plank right now :/ )

Assisted Pull Up w Chair: 10 - 10 - 10 (alternating which foot I use to balance; and making sure I lower myself all the way down for each rep).

I also attempted Crow Pose for the first time!! I got to having my hands on the floor in front of me, leaned forward a little bracing my knees on my upper arms with my toes still on the ground, breathed and counted to ten, and release. Did that like 4 times in sets of 2.

Now to shower, run to audition, and then back home for writing, website updating, scene work, tape audition, and then bed. Three more days in a row of shooting for Medicine Man starts tomorrow! I can't believe it's half-over.

FOR THE REBELLION

Cara

Days 3 & 4

Whew, first day off (kind of; I work at the bar tonight) since I started filming on the feature, which, by the way, is just completely fucking awesome, educational, exhausting, and inspiring to be a part of. I cannot emphasize how lucky I feel.

So at the end of each day of filming, I was completely exhausted on every level.  It's funny how even though for the actors there is a lot of standing around and waiting, you're operating on such an intense level of focus and mental preparedness that when you're done you're just utterly spent. That's how it felt to me, anyway.  I got home each night, attempted writing and updating things (like this blog) and found that even my hands felt heavy with exhaustion. But, because I am a badass, I still managed to stay on track with the 6WC diet and work out regimen.

Yesterday I got up 5AM; got in a simple work out. I had gotten a full 8 hours sleep, but had no energy it seemed.
Warm up (50 jumping jacks, leg swings).
Flat leg raise: 10-10-10-10
Assisted Pull Up w chair: 6-8-8-8
Push Up: 6-7-7-6

Did this in circuit form.


We were released early again yesterday because we had to move out of the location by 8PM, so I ended up home by like 5 PM.


I have been staying on diet really well, even managing to stay within my 8 hour eating window.  With the exception of last night. Because of the shooting schedule, I didn't eat quite enough in the window, so I was hungry when I got home. Ate not only the leftover asparagus, but also half a jar of almond butter with half a bag of baby carrots. So basically, I just need to make sure I eat enough during my 8 hours to avoid stuffing my face before bed  (I've never had an issue with this, it was a result of the shooting schedule: breakfast at 6:30 AM, lunch at 1 PM with a little snacking on almonds/cashews between just didn't cut it).

And I've been managing to log all my meals, which I'm proud of, because it's tedious shit, hahah.

(Tuesday was a long day on set, all of my primary dialogue scenes were shot and went well, I felt.  I did not feel quite as "on" as I would have liked, but I can't do anything about that now.  I just know for future reference that it takes two nights sleep to recover from a night with almost no sleep, at least in terms of how I feel mentally (alertness, etc).  One of the actors and I were released slightly early (6 PM instead of 8 PM) and so I went home and was asleep by like 8:30 PM.  So yesterday I was operating on a full night's sleep, but was still feeling effects of the two nights of very little sleep Sunday/Monday).

Haven't worked out yet today; I may add a run in, not sure what I feel like doing yet.

Oh, and in terms of my goals; I realized that with the shooting schedule and how tired it left me, writing for 25 minutes straight was not happening. So I'm editing my goal to just Writing Every Day.  It can be for five minutes, I just have to do it.

Day 2

Completely wiped out. I think that, even though I got a solid 6 hours sleep, it wasn't enough comparative to how much energy I spent.  I am about to pass out.

Today's a rest day; so no workout.

I realized it's silly not to count writing in this blog/updating my NF challenge thread as writing, because it is.  Not very good writing, but writing nonetheless. So I realized that when it comes to practical application; my writing can be spread out throughout my day; doesn't have to be all in one sitting.  Because I just tried free writing a bit and it was good and all but like even my friggin' hands are too tired to type.

BUT just wanna say I've been doing well with my food logs, my diet, been writing, so, SO FAR SO GOOD. GOOD NIGHT.

Cara

Official First Day of 6 Wk Ch

6WkChallenge Sept 24-Nov

DAY ONE

I can barely keep my eyes open, so I'm making this one short.  Will post more of an update Thursday.

First official day of the challenge, and also my first day on the set of the feature film.  Filming today was amazing; it's just a really awesome group of people to work with.  Everybody's super nice and it's as low stress of an environment as a film set can be (hah). They also even had PaleOkay (see what I did there?) eating options! Whoo! So I manged to stay on diet, and then I even worked out when I got home.  But two nights in a row of four hours of sleep = dead to the world.

Today I tried something a little new with the workouts; I tried out jumping lunges. Fun! Challenging! Also, push ups, planks and some assisted pull ups.

I'm so tired. Bed nowz.

Oh, but, lemme just say that I am COMMITING TO NO BOOZE AND NO ADDED SUGAR(an occasional piece of fruit is cool). At all, none. You heard it here first, folks!

-Cara

Re-Prioritizing

So, the next 6 Week Challenge starts tomorrow; and so does my work on the feature! AHH I'M SO EXCITED.

So, I already outlined my goals for the challenge.  RE: Strict Paleo, I was waffling about cutting out all sugar/sweeteners and alcohol.  I made a decision when I realized I wasn't indecisive because I didn't think I could do it, I was indecisive because it would mean committing; holding myself accountable.  I knew I could physically do it, because I've abstained from alcohol for months at a time before and I was doing well with the no sugar thing last challenge.  I just lost sight of my goals and I got lazy.

So, I'm cutting out sugar and alcohol COMPLETELY.  I already turned down drinks twice today and when I explained why, I was happy to receive congratulatory/impressed responses, which was nice.  I'm sure I'll get some funny looks at some point, but it was nice to get positive feedback off the back.  I am also utilizing the forum at NF as a means of holding myself accountable; really publicly committing to my goals and starting a Player v Player challenge.

Impressed myself by hopping out of bed at 8:30 AM and cranking out a workout.  I was definitely not as rested as I would've liked to be and as a result my workout wasn't that intense, but I got it done, and that's what counts.

Tomorrow is the big day; my first day on set of the feature. I could not be more thrilled/terrified; it's surreal really.  It's almost like it doesn't quite register as a real thing that I'm doing. Gonna be a lot of fun.

Okay, time to write; I am determined to stick to my 25 min/day schedule and so far it's going well.

Peace
Cara

Chaos to Reboot

Okay, so the last few days have been mad hectic and I really kind of went all over the place diet-wise.  Yesterday I didn't wake up with enough to time to do the Light workout, so instead of today being a rest day, it's a Light day.  Did 3 x 7 push ups, 3 x 10 leg raises, and 2 x5 assisted pull up and 1 x 10 assisted pull up.

ALSO.  I didn't realize that NF's next 6 Week Challenge started so soon, but it does! On Monday! Yay!

So, because I can only keep track of so many things at once; I am going restart my 4 Week Challenge by way of hopping on board with the 6 Week one. Make sense?  I have been beyond frazzled and the 6 Week will be a good way to stay on track.

The last 36 hours consisted of me going to the bar to work, getting done around midnight which meant I was in bed at 2 AM, back up at 8 AM to go film in South Jersey.  I got done with that shoot at around midnight, got on a bus back to NYC at 2:30 AM this morning, got back to my apartment at around 6 AM. Passed. The Fuck. Out. Only woke at 4:15 PM; my sleep pattern is wrecked, sadly.  So it's 1:35 AM now and I'm still wide awake.  I figure I'll fall asleep around 3 AM, be back up at 8 AM.  I'll be a bit tired for work, but that's okay because it will get me back on track sleep wise.

So, my goals remain the same as mentioned a few posts ago.

Getting a Six Pack:
1) Workout 6 times a week
2) Strict Paleo diet
3) Do 1 Pull Up
4) Write for 25 mins a day

I'm feeling good about this challenge, I am going to accomplish a lot.

Rock out!

-Cara

4WC: Day 1

Veritably bounced out of bed this morning when I heard the door buzz; MY PULL UP BAR GOT HERE!

I was pleased as pie;  felt all butch putting that shit together. I even used a wrench to tighten to the screws. I know, you're swooning at my ability to complete a basic task.  Lawd ha' mercy. So put that bad boy in place, and voila! Instant access to Necessary Equipment for Badasses.

Though I was eager to try out some negative pull ups, I had some things to do, so I organized myself for the day, ate breakfast, and worked on my lines for the feature, the short film and an audition (that I have to tape this week), as well as my Richard III monologue(because I got an audition for a production of Hamlet tomorrow! I'm very, very excited, as it will be my first audition for a classical piece and thus my first opportunity in the professional sphere to test my Willy Shakes Skillz).  That all went swimmingly.  The sun was streaming in my windows, and I was pumped to work out.

So, I started off with Circuit A, which is five sets (trying to keep it under 20 mins) of:

20 Bodyweight Lunge / 7 Push-Up / 60 sec Plank / 5 Negative Pull-Up + a run

Well, everything went swimmingly until the Negs. I could barely hold myself up, let alone lower myself at a controlled rate. I was very disappointed by this, but now I know where I stand.

The last two Planks were absolute murder. I almost gave in on the last one, but managed the full minute.  Similarly, the last set of push ups were brutal, but I focused on my breath and made it through (the wilderness! You know I made it throuughhhOooh a ooohh).

So after the five sets were over, I was still frustrated by my failed Negs, so I did four sets of 5 Assisted Pull Ups with a Chair. These went way better, and I could feel some muscles that have obviously not gotten worked at all start to creak. While I'm a bit down that I'm not as strong as I'd like yet, I at least know how far I have to go, and I have a plan to get there.

To put myself in (hopefully) a better mood, I hit the park for a run. It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL out today and as it was the middle of a week day, not many people were out. I picked the distance I wanted to run to (Grand Army Plaza, exactly 1.2 miles from my starting point in the park) and ran. The whole way. Without stopping.  In 12:49.  Not as fast as I would have liked, but it was almost entirely up hill, so I feel badass as fuck.  Took a two minute breather, kept walking, then I ran back, without stopping, and made it in 12:06 (downhill, mostly). The last two minutes were brutal, but fortunately, Sia's Titanium came on my iPod and I was able to finish strong.

I didn't have much intention of running much this challenge, but I think it's growing on me. I won't do it every workout, but maybe twice or thrice a week. I felt amazing after and it will (probably?) be good for my lung capacity.

Also, I would like to point out that I got my highest score ever (574) on my Fitocracy (carastarbuck, look me up if care about these sorts of sites).

Alright! A strong first day, now I have to eat dinner, sweep my room and go get my hair trimmed. Away!

-Cara

Cara's 4 Week Mini Challenge: Abs

Alright, kids, I have exactly four weeks until I am getting my new head shots and some full body shots for my portfolio, which means THIS IS THE HOMO HOME STRETCH before I can go back to burying myself in Breyer's chocolate icecream and a six-pack of Angry Orchard cider on my Wednesday nights. Just kidding. Sort of.   I did find, that this past Sunday (which I had designated "cheat" day) I got really sick after eating a lot of crap.What? You mean my stomach had adjusted to only digesting certain foods and that stuffing it with with gluten and processed chocolate and bread was a tiny bit overwhelming?  Shocking, I know.  No, but really, after October 17th, my diet will be less strict and it will just be about maintaining the shape I'm in, no more focus on fat burning.

But that's four weeks away, so let's focus on the here-and-now, THE CHALLENGE:

Goals! I'm setting four goals, like the last challenge, and this time around I will come up with a way more specific plan of action for each one.

#1 & 2 Six Pack Abs (Two Part Goal)

So, I was actually inspired to do the original 6WC by Joel Runyon's mission to get six-pack abs. This challenge, I am openly embracing that as my goal; I am committing fully. I want a six pack.  This means recommitting to no sugar; no dairy, no artificial crap, no alcohol; solomente meat, veggies, and eggs for the next four weeks.  I'm already half way there, I just need to buckle down for the remainder of the challenge.  This might get difficult to stick to on filming days because I don't know what food I will have on set, so I will have to really be good about preparing meals ahead of time and bringing snacks. I will be allowing myself -minimal- "cheats;" such as super-rich dark chocolate and salted almonds; but only in small amounts, obviously.

I am going to break this into two sections; and I will reward myself based on the completion of each section; because while I cannot control how my body reacts to the diet and exercise, I can control my work outs and what I eat, so I will be rewarded myself based on the completion of the regimen, and not based on actually getting a six pack. Make sense? Good.

PART ONE: 

-Six Workouts Per Week:

     Okay, so this is how I started the last challenge, but I wasn't quite up for it, but I feel ready now.

      The Structure will be:

•      Circuit A
•      Circuit B
•      Light Workout (short run, a few sets of push ups, a few planks/supermans, some combo of those)
•      Rest Day
•      Circuit A
•      Circuit B
•      Light Workout

PART TWO:

-Track Meals/Strict Paleo

• I food-logged a little last challenge but really did not stick to it.  Doing that this time; writing down    everything I eat.  Tedious, but it will help me stay on track.
• Continue my basic meal structure; eating during 8 hour windows
• No alcohol at all
• No more Starbucks/Dunkin flavored coffees.  This is like not working out; it's not an option.
• Preparation.  Make sure at the start of each week (Wednesday) I do comprehensive brainstorming about what I'm going to eat that week (find new recipes; switch it up a bit).

#3 Do 1 Pull Up

This was one of my goals from the 6WC that I didn't accomplish, but but but GUESS WHAT, my pull up bar came today! So now, I will be able to more actively work on that pull up and not just talk about it.

How:

• Negative pull ups, assisted pull ups, MOAR PUSH UPS, Dumbbell Rows
• Continue to track workouts; make sure I am always adding one rep/one set; always doing quantitatively more each workout.

#4 (Life Goal) -Write 25 mins EVERY DAY

I had a cool idea for a novel earlier this summer and I completely abandoned the project.  I also started writing music, but then dropped it; this was all a result of self-doubt and fear.  I'm going to work on getting this projects off the ground by writing for 25 mins every day, no matter what.  Already did that today, so we're off to a good start!

• Wake up earlier or, when I get home from work, write before logging into anything online (Facebook, etc).

Okay, those are the goals. Haven't come up with rewards yet, but I will probably do that later today.  Right now, it's beautiful outside and I need to go work out!

Abs away!

End of the Six Week Challenge; Days 41 & 42

The end of the Six Week Challenge has arrived and I still can't decide to type "6 Week Challenge," or "Six Week Challenge." Sigh. But it's been great either way, and while I did not accomplish mostof my goals, I still feel awesome. Let's recap:

Goals:

#1 - Do 25 consecutive push ups.
I  underestimated how out of shape I was, and it took me about 3 1/2 weeks to realize my form was all wrong, so serious back-tracking took place.  So on this one, even though I didn't reach the goal; I learned a lot. I can do 10 consecutive push ups, by the way. So half way there!

#2 - Stick to strict Paleo
I'm giving myself this one. I was going for a record of no cheat days at all, pure Paleo (only meat, veggies, eggs, no sugar), but then I started going insane, so I designated Sundays my cheat day. In terms of what I eat on any random day, my meals are pure Paleo goodness. Mission accomplished!

#3 - Do 1 Pull Up
As with #1, I aimed a little too high, and I also did not make all the necessary steps (haven't bought a pull up bar yet).  Saving this one for the next challenge!

#4 - Reach Out to at least 4 Agents about representation
Got ahead of myself (noticing a pattern?).  I realized too late that I really need to have at least a basic reel put together (aside from my filmed NYCDA scene) before I start contacting agencies.  I did take steps to make that happen, and reached out to people I filmed with over the summer to get my footage.

Stuff I accomplished outside of the goals:

- DISCIPLINE. I created a routine and stuck to it.  I mentally crossed off opting out; there was no reason and absolutely no circumstance under which it was acceptable for me to miss a workout.  And I am proud to say I achieved this, and this framework will stay with me for a long time.  Working out is a totally new habit and it's one that has affected my productivity in every area,

-STRATEGY. I'm learning how to set goals; how to accurately assess my status with any given project/state of being, etc and figure out how to proceed from there.

-CONFIDENCE.  I'm getting in shape, seeing the results and feeling wonderful about my body and my capabilities.  This is definitely a personal best in a lot of ways, and I basically feel like I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to.  I have also noticed some big ways in which my acting has felt the positive reverberations of my exercise work ethic.

Even though today was technically a rest day, I didn't want the last official day of the challenge to not have a workout in it, haha.  So I decided to really push myself, and I learned some stuff.

Mainly, that my push up form, though improving, was really starting to slide.  I corrected it, and the resulting push ups were murder, but I did them!

I did four circuits of Lunge/Plank/PushUp:
Circuit 1: 20 lunge, 60 sec plank, 5 push up
2/3/4/5: 20 lunge, 60 sec plank, 6 push up
6: 7 push up

And yesterday was a solid 20Squat/3Burpee/30SecWallSit/30SecSuperman/10DumbbellRow day (four and a half circuits).

So.  The Six Week Challenge is over, but I still have a month until my new headshots (exactly four weeks as of today). I also start filming the feature next Monday (9/24).  So tomorrow begins Cara's Mini 4 Week Challenge!  Going to create a few goals for myself, the same as I would for the Six Week, and also maybe come up with my own reward system.

DAY 40!

Guys! Day forty! Holy crap.  Yesterday (Day 39, obvs) was a rest day and I ate more than a few pieces of dark chocolate and many roasted and salted almonds...Mmmmm almonds. Also, I went out and bought almond milk. I just can't do black coffee anymore. I just won't.  It's gross. Well, not gross, but even with a splash of almond milk it is so much more delicious. There is natural sugar in it, but in the servings I consume probably a gram or less, so I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I've found that if my sugar intake is really low (under 25 grams) for the whole day, I don't suffer the crash and the cravings aren't as intense. Whoo! Take that, sugar.  Also, I'm going to switch to agave syrup as a natural sweetener. I will use less because A) expensive B) it takes a lot of it to get the amount of sweet I crave, so I will be forced to cut back for the sake of my bank account. And again, the natural sugar count is very low.

Instead of one of my normal circuit workouts; today I went to the park and HOLY SHIT it's so nice out.  I figured, screw it, let's a run a little. I felt like a frisky baby horse, out for a frolic.  And frolic I did! Warmed up in the usual manner, stretched a little, then took off at a decent pace.

Guys.  I didn't want to die within four minutes. I felt great, I felt strong. I didn't want to test my mile or anything, but I did want to make the work out a little harder, so I took five interval breaks roughly evenly spaced out for five burpees; a total of twenty-five burpees over the course of a 17 minute mile (with like five short walking breaks).  Nothing crazy, but I feel SO much more confident about my ability to run a 5k soon. I also took it easy to make sure my left knee was in fighting shape, and I'm happy to report that it felt great the whole time.

YAY. And.  I'm going to see one of my favorite bands of all time tonight; AND it will be my first punk show in like four years (the last time I saw said band; the Street Dogs). AND they're playing with the Koffin Kats, who I found out, are AWESOME.

Today rocks.

DAY 38

Woke up sans alarm at almost exactly 8:30; surprising myself. Fed the cats, put the coffee on and laid back down.  Woke up at 9:30, feeling incredibly refreshed. Worked out:

Five circuits of Lunge/Plank/StandOneLeg/PushUP.

For the first circuit my plank was 30 secs, but I upped it to 45 for the remaining four circuits.  I also upped my push up number to 6, and after completing the five circuits, did one more set of 6 push ups to bring my total to 36 for the day.  I feel really fantastic today.  I think the 8 hour eating window is perfect.  I just finished a huge breakfast/lunch (spinach + 4 egg omelet, 4 pieces of delicious TJs bacon and a whole avocado); will probably have like a can of tuna in a few hours, and then dinner before I head to work(I have to leave at 6:30ish, so dinner will be at 6 PM, which works out perfectly).  Also found that snacking a tiny bit on salted almonds and a piece or two of dark chocolate satisfy my craving for bad salty foods and super sugary things like ice-cream.  I LOVE chocolate and sweet beverages like lattes, so it's a good way to scratch the itch without totally fucking up the work I've done on cutting out all that shit.

I also spent half my morning making inspirational wall papers for my desktop inscribed with my one year goals, my five year goals, and my ten year goals; helps to keep that stuff not far from the front my of mind. And some quotes! Lawd knows I love me some good inspirational quotes.

So the Six Week Challenge is over on Monday, Sept 17th.  On Monday, I will be doing a workout that basically tests my limits; how many push ups can I do consecutively primarily.  I still don't have a pull up bar, so I may have to run to the nearest playground.  But to be honest, I don't think I'm there yet. I may hold onto that goal for the next challenge.

Though the challenge is ending technically, I still have a ways a to go.  One month exactly, to be precise.  I scheduled my new headshots and body shots for October 17th.  So throughout filming of the feature I will be staying on track with the diet, and the week before hand I will be ultra strict.  These last few weeks have flown by, so the idea of another month really doesn't seem very daunting.  I am really excited to see how much I can accomplish before then(maybe that 1 pull up! maybe 30 push ups? Who knows!).

Peace!

DAY 37 (and 36)

So it hit me yesterday that I start filming in 13 days.  Two weeks. I've come a long way since I started this thing, but it also feels like time just disappeared and I don't feel as far along as I would like.

But that's okay!  I just decided that for the next 13 days I am really going to buckle down and focus.  That means:

-Mandatory 8 hours of sleep per night unless it is absolutely unavoidable that I stay up late/get up early (this Thursday I will be working until midnightish, probably get home around 1:30-2 AM, and then have to be up around 8 or 9 AM Friday).

-Diet:  So my cheat day on Sunday definitely had consequences that I did not consider.  Primarily that that the sugar I consumed fucked with my body for the next two days and yesterday, even though I was physically rested; I was sleepy, irritable and couldn't focus. And also ate french fries to make myself feel better.   Not that fries are the absolute worst, but I'd always been able to work around such cravings before, and I gave in this time. But that's okay! I'm not going to beat myself up about it, rather, I'm just going to focus on what I want to accomplish over the next two weeks.

I am going to tighten up my eating window to 8 hours.  So on days that I work the bar from 11-8, I will be eating at around 930 AM, 1 PM and 530 PM.  Yesterday for example, I had breakfast at about 8 AM, so I had lunch at noon and dinner at 3:30 PM. It seemed to work great, as I wasn't hungry the rest of the day.  Also, I've kind of already been doing this by never eating after 7 PM, I'm just tightening the parameters a bit.

I feel great about how my body is looking and feeling. I could stop now, honestly, and still feel damn good, but I would know that I had settled for "good enough."  So I'm going to stay on track for the remainder of the shoot, so that when I get my head shots redone in a month, I can really be proud of my discipline.  And I will have proved to myself that I can do it.

Today is a rest day. Yesterday the workout consisted of:

Warm up: 50 Jumping jacks, 5 push ups, leg swings.

Workout was four circuits of:
20 Bodyweight squats
30 sec Superman
30 sec wall sit
3 burpee
10 dumbbell rows

I think I must not have stretched enough either, because my left leg is sore as hell. BOO. MOAR STRETCHING NEXT TIME.

Alright, let's do this.

Day 35 (and Days 33/44)

A very busy, very intense weekend on all fronts.  Worked Saturday (work out day) and Sunday (rest day).  Ended up breaking the diet completely on Sunday and stuffing my face with sugar, grease and some booze, and it was AMAZING.  I felt like shit physically after though, so I have no fear that I will stay on track for the week.

Saturday my workout consisted of:

Warm up: 50 Jumping jacks, 5 push ups, leg swings.

Workout was four circuits of:
20 Bodyweight squats
30 sec Superman
30 sec wall sit
3 burpee
10 dumbbell rows

I completed a fifth set of squats right before the 15 was up, bring my total to 100.  Haven't done that many in a while, so that felt great.

Just finished today's workout. 50 jacks to warm up as well as leg swings.

My circuits were:
1)20 lunge
   30 sec plank
   2 assisted pistol squat per leg
   5 push up

2/3/4)
20 lunge
30 sec plank
one leg balance 30 sec per leg
5 push up

Then I completed one more set of 20 lunges and 6 push ups, bringing my total to:
Lunge: 100 (50 per leg)
Push up: 31

Rawr.

 I took today off from the bar, because I'm a bit behind on the stuff I need to be doing to prepare for the feature and the short, as well as daily errand stuff.  Away!

Day 32

Whew.  Didn't do a whole lot today activity wise.  Returned some unread library books (my eyes are bigger than my book stomach, or something) and want to Trader Joe's for some nitrate free bacon, yut.

Worked out!
Four circuits of

• 20 lunges
• 30 second plank
• 5 push ups
• pistol squat/one leg balance

So during the first circuit I attempted a pistol squat, managed a really half assed one.  For the remaining three circuits I just balanced on one leg for 30 seconds, leaning forward with other leg bent and out behind me.  Don't know what you'd call that, but hey! I also cranked out another 5 push ups after the circuit training, bringing my total of the day to 25.

Today was a great day for one big reason, though I think I'll stay mum on it, at least for now.  I've just come a long way this summer and I'm damn proud of myself.

Day 31

It has been exactly one month since I started doing this.  I have edited my goals, re-evaluated my abilities and am currently taking stock of where I am.

Today was a rest day, though I spent about two hours dancing in heels; which was way more fun than I thought it would be, for the record.

Tomorrow I be writing a bit of progress report and think about what I need to focus on in the next two weeks (before cameras roll) and five weeks before I get my new head shots/full body shots.

To commemorate the One Month marker, just gonna say I am damn proud of myself. And holy shit this is hard and I want a pumpkin spice latte.

DAY 30(!)

I am incredibly glad I listened to myself and gave myself the day off from the bar yesterday; I felt braindead.  Writing a simple sentence seemed like a complicated chore. Whew.  Feeling very refreshed, and excited. Tonight, NFL starts, which means the money starts rolling in and I can start putting aside money for travel for the spring.  And tomorrow, as I mentioned previously, there is a meeting with the dance choreographer for the feature.  A year ago I would have looked toward such an event with terror, but I feel far more capable and comfortable with my body than I ever have before; I'm actually looking forward to it.  I snagged some new heels at Payless(hooray for Buy One Get One 50% Off) for the rehearsal, as I realized my one pair of pumps have pretty much outlived their usefulness.

Slept late and felt bad about it, but I banished that feeling fairly quickly and just adjusted my schedule for the day accordingly.  No sense in feeling guilty when it was clear that I needed the extra Zzzzs. Went to Target for cat food and Payless for shoes, managed to get in and out in under an hour (had my stop watch running), and only bought one thing I didn't go there for. Success(Granted, that one thing was pumpkin coffee syrup; and while I am still going to limit my artificial sweetener intake; I figure once or twice a week will be a little reward)!

Got home, immediately workout out.

Warm up:

• 10 Leg swings /leg forward/back and side to side
• 50 Jumping Jacks
• 5 Push Ups
• 10 Spider-Mans

Four Circuits of:

• 20 body weight squats
• 30 second Superman
• 30 second wall sit
• 3 burpees
• 10 bent over dumbbell rows

Really pushed hard and felt like a boss after; and totally alleviated any remaining guilt I had about sleeping late. Asserting control!  Also I finished the fourth circuit just barely inside the 15 minutes (14:45ish); felt good.

Aside from the previous two days brain-deadedness (yes I made up "deadedness"), I have definitely been feeling really mentally clear of late.  My confidence is at an all time high; both from the sense of accomplishment I get from my workouts and diet and the actual nutrition factor of what I eat affecting my brain.  I am somewhat prone to depression; but the last really, really shitty day I had emotionally/mentally was the day before I began working out and changed my diet.  Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

Also, thinking of getting a pull up bar for my place; now that gym is out of the question, I really need to find a way to reach my goal of one pull up.  I've been doing plenty of rows and whatnot, but I think I have to start doing assisted pull ups with a chair if I want to make more significant progress.

The Week 5 Challenge is about getting organized; and I still need to decide what I want to focus on.  Maybe organize all my old bills and pay stubs? Eeesh, that's a scary prospect.

DAY 29

So I decided to finally go to the Planet Fitness I joined.  I did a quick workout and then promptly quit the gym.  For one thing, I was disappointed (though not surprised) by their lack of barbells. My fault, I should have actually checked out the premises before signing up online, but whatever.  Lesson learned!  Also I realized I just really hate the gym atmosphere.  I do not like other people around me while I work out. Home body weight workouts continue!

I did, obviously, workout while I was there.  I did 3 circuits of the following:

• 20 weighted lunges (10lb dumbell per hand)(10 per leg)
• 5 push ups (they're getting easier!)
• 30 second plank
• 10 standing triceps overhead extension with 10 lb dumbbell

The weighted lunges kicked my ass.

I have to spend a significant portion of the rest of the day wearing high heels, as I have a choreography meeting on Thursday for the feature with the rest of the cast (those who play performers) to figure out routines and what not, and I never wear them, so I figure I should practice a bit. Ugh.  I hate high heels so much.  Suffer for your art, right?

Diet related note:  Been cutting back big time on the artificial sweetener.  Down to like 1 1/2 tsp in my first cup of joe in the morning. Whoooo.

Day 28: Week Five Begins.

Today is the official first day of Week Five.  It was a rest day, and again I experimented with eating patterns.

My meals:

-Breakfast: 4 eggs, 4 slices of turkey bacon
-Second Breakfast: (because I'm a hobbit, apparently, but my family already knows that) - A western omelet (eggs, ham, green peppers, onion)
-Lunch: Burger no bun, sauteed onion, bacon, side salad with vinegar, salt n pepper
-Dinner: Salad with sauteed red peppers

All in all I feel pretty good.  I mean, I'm still really tired, but standing around all day will do that.  Also, I was busier today than I expected, much like yesterday, so we will see how I feel after a good ten hours sleep.

I'm off tomorrow from the bar, though I have an audition in the evening.  Either tomorrow or Wednesday or both I have to hit the store;  I will be at work Thurs, Sat, Sun, Mon, and Tues, and I am getting tired of the few healthy eating options I have there.  Also I end up spending money so that I can eat dinner before 7 PM, which is no good.  So goal for the work week is MEAL PREP.

I've also decided I love sauteed spinach and want it with everything I eat.  I am going to buy the grocery out of spinach.  It's decided.

There is less tension between the kitties. Yay! I really hope they become lovers/besties in short order.

I may purchase Joel Runyon's Impossible Abs program, which comes out tomorrow.  It'll be like $40 or something, which is less than I would spend in a night out filling my body with crap out drinking, so why not?  It's basically what I'm doing already, only with more guidelines.  And you know how I love my guidelines.

Also realized this whole endeavor means virtually no alcohol.  Not a huge deal; I've gone months without drinking before. Also I'll be saving a ton of money.  I'm not great at moderation, so instead of saying "Oh I'll only have 2 glasses of wine per week" or whatever, I'm probably just going to (continue to) do away with booze entirely.  Plus, I've been doing so well on this No Sugar thing for the last six days that I really don't want to break my streak.  Want to see how long I can go.

Day 27

So today was Day 27; and Week 4 officially draws to a close. Holy crap.

I went to bed early last night, was woken around midnight to power going out, one of the roommates fixed it, went back to sleep, woke up at 7 AM to  my cat Seamus waking me up via Knock Over the Water Glass technique.  Went back to sleep for another hour, got up at 8 AM.

I cranked out a workout; it was tough.
Warm up consisting of 50 jumping jacks, 5 push ups, 10 Spidermans, and then leg swings (both forward and side to side).

3 Circuits of:
-20 body weight squats
-30 sec Superman
-30 Wall sit
-10 dumbbell rows/arm with 8 lbs

I had very little energy. I was really tired all day, I tried to compensate for my lack of energy by eating more, so I ended up eating about four meals.  Big breakfast of 3 eggs, an avocado and 4 pieces of turkey bacon; then I had another 2 eggs and 2 sausage patties a few hours later from the deli near work, then a salad with grilled chicken, sauteed green and red peppers, and onion.  Then a few hours later six grilled chicken tenders.  Eating seemed to help with the energy flagging, but I was still exhausted at the end of my shift.  I guess I just wasn't fully recovered from Saturday's mayhem at work.

Also, the new cat came over today! Seamus and Crono seem fine with him, and the new guy, Sammy, is just a little shell shocked and hasn't really moved since we brought them all face to face in the living room.  He's just sitting in the corner under a shelf, which is fair.  A lot of changes for one day and a tiny cat brain.  They're all currently laying the living room, a few feet from each other.  I'm confident they'll all be buddies in a few weeks.

Okay. Bed. Week five starts tomorrow!

Day 26: Persevering in the face of Tired

Holy mother of god, I am tired.  I was up until about 3 AM last night and woke up at 7:30 AM for work. DUMB DUMB DUMB. Then busted tail during the first OSU game, leaving me in a nearly comatose state at the end of my shift.  But I had not worked out yet.  So I schlepped home to Brooklyn and made dinner immediately, so that I would not be eating after 7 PM (to continue my routine).  Watched a little Supernatural.  But still, I had not worked out.  And all the while with these words in mind: "Never miss two days in a row."

Yesterday was my rest day.  If I didn't work out today...DUN DUN DUN.  But it's okay, because I JUST DID. And as a result, sitting here, sweaty, feeling like a badass.  Not only did I work out after a long work day and running on little sleep, I cranked out 25 push ups. 2. 5. TWENTY FIVE.

All it took was a little David Guetta and some will power.

My circuit:

• 5 push up
• 20 lunges (10 per leg)
• 30 sec plank
• 30 jumping jacks

I completed four circuits and then squeezed in the last five push ups right before my 15 was up.  So now I'm even more tired, but now I'm tired AND accomplished.

Alright.  Working the next three days in row, and tomorrow evening the new kitty arrives.  Bed NOW. -passes out-

Yes, I'm aware that it's barely 9 PM. 'Night kids!

Day 25

Holy crap, Week 4 is almost done.  I really feel like time is rushing by, this is crazy. Time flies when you're having fun incredibly focused on what you're doing and not just farting through life.

Today is a rest day, though I'll probably do a bit of yoga and stretching here in a minute. Made sure I updated my website today. Most importantly, I booked my head shot photographer to do a reshoot in early mid October; right around when I wrap filming on the feature. This is perfect; I planned on continuing the diet and work out regime for a full eight weeks, so this is the final goal post at the end. I will be getting new head shots obviously, but I also told him I want some full body shots in athletic wear (sports bra, gym shorts) and possibly a bikini or something, so there's no backing down now. COMMITMENT HOLY CRAP. *hides*

Really starting to see the changes in my body, these last few days without sugar of any kind.  That is so definitely a huge factor.  I also swear my cellulite is vanishing (TMI? TOO BAD), though that's the kind of thing probably only I would notice.  And holy shit, is sugar hard to avoid.  It is literally in almost everything we consume.  That's kind of scary. 

Alrighty, time to get productive; more room cleaning and organizing today.

Day 24: CatsCatsCats

I'm officially adopting a new cat, which means I am upgrading from Cat Owner to Cat Person.  If I get a third cat of my own(the roommate's cat doesn't count) then I will officially be a Cat Lady.  Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Anyhow, I went to Target and miraculously managed to buy only one thing I didn't go there to get (colorful shoelaces!).  I got a litterbox, catfood, a large plastic bin to store all cat-related things in as well as two smaller plastic organizers/bins for my papers/notebooks and bills/office supplies.  Tomorrow the organization shall commence, as I have to go waitress in an hour or so.

Finished a GREAT workout; I feel really awesome about it; I pushed myself to my limit but not beyond and sweated my butt off.  I started up a warm up of 25 jumping jacks, 5 push ups (which I cranked out with relative ease compared to yesterday; progress!) and some moves to open up my hips and get my legs warmed up.  Then I did 4 circuits of

-20 body weight squats
-30 second Superman
-30 second static wall sit
-10 one armed dumbell rows (8lbs/my gallon Tropicana bottle)

Finished the fourth circuit around 14:25.  I really liked this combination of exercises, I may stick with it for a while.  I get bored easily so I've been changing the workouts a lot; maybe too frequently.

Diet is going well; currently trying to scale back the amount of artificial sweetener I use in my coffee.  I went out and bought some less cheap coffee, hoping this will taste better than Folgers (it was disgusting with nothing in it.).....after some intense assessment, yes, this stuff does taste better.  A brand I picked up at Target called like 8 O'Clock or something, their French roast.  I put maybe a teaspoon of splenda substitute in it.  Not bad!

I don't mind shelling out for coffee, so this may be the start of a beautiful adventure into gourmet coffee land. Away!

Day 23: The End of Running (for now)

Just finished today's workout, though more on that in a second.

I woke up at 9 am, unassisted! I even tried to go back to sleep but to no avail. Kind of awesome, actually.  I made coffee, ate five eggs (as I was out of bacon I upped the quantity), did about 30 minutes or less of internet nonesense.  Then I spent at least 20 minutes working on acting stuff (so far so good!) which included beginning to create an index of everyone I have ever worked with, been cast by or been taught by. This was a suggestion of my dad's, and a pretty good one.  I'm putting EVERYbody on it.  Even if I only met you once, if we exchanged emails or info of any kind, you're going in it.  It will help me keep track of useful contacts, resources, cool people I might want to reach out to work with in the future, etc.

Oh, and I wrote myself a new bio last night for my website, and I think it's pretty solid and professional sounding. Feel great about that. Check it:

So, my workout.  The plan was to do four circuits of .08 mile Sprint /5Burpees /20Lunges/30 second Plank.  I took my time warming up and stretching.  The new running shoes feel AMAZING, so I was pumped and confident.  But the moment my left foot hit the ground in my first sprint, I could tell something was off.  I pushed through it anyway, though I readjusted my weight distribution and didn't strain very hard, but it was clear something was off.  So I walked around for a little, then did the 5 burpees, 20 lunges and 30 sec plank.

My left knee would, uh, twinge, I guess.  There was no one particular movement that did it, it was almost random seeming.  I could walk and feel nothing, do burpees and nothing and then maybe on one lunge it would feel weird.  That's a really vague description, but alas that's what it was.  So, I abandoned the sprints then did:

25 Jumping Jacks x 2
20 lunges x 2
5 more burpees x 2
30 sec plank x 2

After the last lunge set the knee twinged again, so I decided to finish off the workout by just doing upper body/abs.  So I did:

5 Push Up x 3 (REALLY stoked about that, progress!)
30 Sec Plank x 3

Then again, took my time stretching and cooling down.  Bout to take a hot shower, then I'm going to ice and elevate later tonight after I'm done cooking my food for the week.

Being super productive today, though I have more to do and it's already 5 pm, so I better get crackin'.  I still need to head to Target for some plastic bins and maybe a tool kit, as well as organize some shit in my room.

For the 6 Week Challenge one of my goals was to run 3k without stopping.


It seems to me that the wisest thing to do would be to abandon the Run 3k goal for the remainder of this challenge.  With how physically intense my job can be I really cannot afford a blown out knee, and running might be really dangerous (as my near-panic attack of last week showed us).  So, while I am disappointed about that, it seems the only option.

That goal, goal #3, will now officially be to continue the remaining two and a half weeks of the challenge , AND the two weeks after that before filming, sugar free.  I already committed to doing that for this week's homework and I was kinda sorta trying it before, but now it is official.  No. MOAR. SUGAR. At all.  This is so hard for me because I have a sweet tooth like nobody's business.  But then, I also love salty shit, so maybe I can substitute? Like, instead of getting a sugary beverage/snack I can eat...something salty? I dunno. Anyway.  I'll think of something.


-C

Week Four Homework from NF

This is this week's Challenge from NF:

This is another thinking man's challenge. It's meant to build on the challenge put forth to you last week. Ask yourself a question: what's stopping you from being the best you you can be?

Those goals that you considered last week, why haven't you accomplished them yet? Your health goals, your fitness goals, what's holding you back from doing what you want? Are you not getting enough sleep? Are you not prioritizing exercise, or eating right? Are you not studying enough? Are you watching so much Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood that you can barely function in life (can't say I don't know how that one goes)?
What's going on in your life that you can change, just for one week, to improve your quality of life?
Find that weakness, pinpoint it, and destroy it - just for one week. One week of 8 hour rests, one week of consistent training, one week of financial management.

For example, I don't sleep enough, at all. My mission this week is to get 7.5 - 9 hours of sleep every night (that's my sweet spot).
Your reward for accomplishing this mission will be +1 WIS and +1 STA.
Your deadline is Monday, September 3rd, at 11:59PM.

Serendipitous, as two things became clear to me today. I don't spend enough time on my real career because I'm usually wiped out from the day job. And I haven't totally cut out sugar from diet and I think that's what's impeding weight-loss progress. So I'm going to make this a double goal, and I will only award myself a half point for each (if I complete the first goal I will get  +.5 WIS +.5 STA, so that only in completing both goals will I get the full point for each category.

Okay, here goes (deep breath of commitment):
1)For this week I will not consume ANY sugar. Nada, nothing, not even fruit. I kinda tried this last week and failed miserably.  This will make me super vigilant about what I put in my body, because sugar is everywhere and I will probably save money because I will be eating out on the town less. Werq!
2) I will spend AT LEAST 20 minutes, every day, working on acting related stuff.  That can be working a monologue, writing cover letters, combing audition listings, creating my industry contacts list, whatever.

Okay, now I really am going to bed.

-C

Mind Over Matter

I was typing up an update to my NF Challenge Thread and thought I'd post it here too:

RE: Sugar Cravings, I just read Joel's article on said topic! Could not have arrived at a better time.
It reminds that yes, while cravings are inevitable and understandable, there are ways to cope without totally destroying the work you've done. Made me think again that this whole challenge is really you versus yourself. No one is force-feeding you that tub of chocolate icecream (that's what I was craving today, heh). Next time I get that craving, I'm going to go grab some dark chocolate. Yut.
One interesting aspect of this diet/challenge is my relationship with food. I have had various relationships with it. Some really unhealthy, though I was fortunate enough to never develop an actual disorder and endanger my health (I might add that i saw more than a few friends do this, sadly). Because of seeing my friends struggle and harm themselves, I've always sworn to myself to make sure my pursuit of health is just that, a pursuit of HEALTH.
Now, I would be lying if I said that my current regime is totally about health. Yes, I want to be in the Badass Shape of Badasses. But I also want to look amazing naked. There. This is totally about my ego. And that's okay, because it turns out that the path to actually getting in really awesome shape for the first time in my life is down Ego Trail. I want to look good, therefore I have to work out and put good, healthful things into my body. Luckily, I have learned that starving myself and taking ephedrine will just fuck you up, possibly for life.

So, on this whole "Deny your cravings" subject, it's tough, because I want to treat myself well and not feel in a perpetual state of deprivation or denial, because then it seems a slippery slope to anorexia, body dysmorphia, etc (for me, not everyone). I'm just super aware of it, I guess. Anyhow, I figure the main way to avoid this is focus on treating my body with love and attention, as well as setting more goals.
A) LOADING UP on protein etc during the day. I upped my egg intake to 4 this morning and felt great all morning. So guess what? Four eggs it is!
B) Figuring out more yummy ways to cook. I have been pretty lazy with this, and cooking the same shit over and over again, because I'm too lazy to do anything differently than throw it in a pan and sautee it with olive oil. I just need more variety.

C)I've discovered that I am really enjoying the feeling of doing difficult shit. When I complete a longer set or go another day with no sugar, it's kind of like proof that it really, truly is mind over matter. I think the root of this entire experiment is Control. This whole thing is something that is under MY control. No one else has any influence of any kind. The outcome is truly up to me, and me alone. And that is pretty damn empowering.

That's pretty much it.  Obviously, the eating guidelines I follow are tough when you realize how saturated with processed sugar and crap our food is.   When you think about how much sugar and god-knows-what-else is in our food, it's really no wonder people get sick so much and suffer so many health problems.  I would be very interested to see a long term study on people who eat strict paleo etc and what their health looks like in the long run.  I know it would be really hard to pull off and control for different factors, but you know.  ANYWAY.

When it comes down to it for me, this is about control.  This is about being utterly and totally responsible for and to myself.  No one else can force me to eat crap, no one can trick me into giving up or thinking "it's just too hard."  I believe in the power of the human mind to Get. Shit. Ton. And this is the ultimate test of that for me.  How badly do I want this? How much do I want to prove that I can do WHATEVER I set my mind to?

The answer? Very.

And I mean to.

On that note, time to dick around on tumblr and watch some Supernatural.

-C

Day 22: Week Four Underway

Today is Day 2 of Week 4.  At the end of this week, I will have been doing this for ONE WHOLE MONTH, YOU GUYS. A MONTH.

So I have not been totally happy with my progress in week 3, and so I did some evaluating to see what I need to shake up. 

The little big thing I realized is that the vinaigrette dressing I had been using on my salads at work has sugar in it.  This should have been a no-brainer, but I guess I didn't -want- to know, because the thought of eating salad plain was not particularly appetizing.  What I may start doing is bringing a little tupperware with a tiny mix of oil and vinegar and just use that.  Or suck it up. We'll see. 

I was still eating fruit and drinking a Naked juice in the morning.  This week I am definitely going to cut out that sugar and see what happens.

I think last Thursday's Drink-a-thon 2012 REALLY set me back more than I thought it would.  Sure, it was just one night and hungover morning, but when I think about how many different things I consumed over that 10 hour period, I wince a bit.  Lots of gluten based stuff.  Lots of sugar.  And beer, and beer just doesn't usually sit well with me and causes major bloatage.  So...I do want to go out at least one night a week with my friends, so I need to figure out an alternative. One, is drink less.  This actually won't be that hard.  I think I just got carried away last week because it had been a WHILE since going out. Probably JUST stick to tequila + water.  Sure that means I won't get in on whatever drink specials, but that's actually okay because I'll drink slower and end up saving money.

I also got new running shoes and work shoes, and my legs feel better already. Another no-brainer, but never having been super athletic before, shit like "Oh maybe these shoes I've been running around in every day for six months are worn out" isn't my first thought.  Now it is.

Today was a rest day, but yesterday my work circuit out consisted of:

Wall Sit: 4 Sets of 30 Seconds

Push up: 4 sets of 3

Superman: 4 sets of 30 seconds

Jumping Jacks: 4 sets of 20

Seated Dips: 4 sets of 10

I haven't done any burpees for a while, so tomorrow I'm going to take my new kicks for a spin with burpees and sprints in the park.

Also, I started up with my food journal again. Write it down during the day, Google Docs type it up at night. Gonna go do that now.

-LION ROAR-

-yawn-

Out!

-C

Day 20: THREE WEEKS IN.

Hey! Three weeks! BAM. I can't believe the challenge is half over.  I'm keeping the regime up for two weeks past the actual challenge, as two weeks after it ends is when filming begins, so I want those last two weeks to be the final push.

But. Taking a second here.  I've been doing this for three weeks.  I don't think I've ever been this disciplined about something, ever. I know I've said that before, but holy shit, it's really sinking in.  I'm killing it.  And I feel absolutely confident that this will, as it has been doing, continue to sharpen the other aspects of my life.  I get shit done.  Very little dillydallying going on anymore.

Just finished morning workout; 3 and 1/2 circuits of 20 Squats, 3 Push Ups (CORRECT FORM!), 30 Sec Plank, and 10 Bent Over Dumbbell Row.

Grand total of 60 Squats, 9 Push Ups, 3 Planks and 20 Rows.

Because my legs get worked out virtually all day when I'm working, I took particular care to pay attention to how my knees were feelings etc, being careful to listen to how my muscles were feeling, and where I was focusing my weight.  Helped a lot.  Today should be an easy work day, so hopefully tonight I'll have enough energy to get some acting stuff done, as well as tidy up a bit.

FOR THE REBELLION!

-C