75 Hard Week Three: The week of dread

 I have managed to make it through the third week of the 75 Hard.  It wasn't an easy week though!  I actually dreaded completing some (ok most) of my workouts!  I dreaded going outside.  I dreaded the early morning workouts.  I just was filled with dread.  But I pushed through and did what I needed to do!

75 Hard Day 15 

I had been super sore for a good portion of the previous week and had been choosing my indoor exercise carefully to allow my body to heal while still pushing forward.   But this day I decided that I would jump it up to a step aerobics workout.   My legs were tired when I was done, but I didn't have any of the pain that I had felt the week before.  That was a huge victory!   Jason and I went out with the dog and walked for about an hour and with that I was easily able to knock off my outdoor exercise. 

I got my reading in and drank my water with no problem.   I managed to end the day with 1393 Calories, so I was within my caloric goal range!  It was another successful day!

 75 Hard Day 16

On Monday, the 16th day of my 75 Hard Challenge I struggled with exercise.  It wasn't so much any pain but just an overwhelming sense of dread about completing it.  I was tired.  I was feeling lazy.  I just didn't want to do it.  My indoor exercise was a hodgepodge of things.  I literally started one exercise and then felt so dissatisfied that I swapped to something else.....and then swapped again!  I was so proud of completing my 45 minutes that I snapped a picture of my watch/tracker......but I even messed that up!  HAHAHA  But, blurry you can see I made it to 45 minutes and one second!  I'm telling you, it was rough indoor workout!

The outdoor workout came much later in the afternoon. I went out and worked in the yard sawing up wood (with a hand saw) and dragging limbs.  My heart rate was up and it was a gorgeous day.

The water was no problem.  My reading was done early in the morning.  I finished the book Estrogen Matters. (Amazon Affiliate Link)  It was a pretty decent read.  It was a bit dry at times with scads of data, but it got the point across!   However, the doctor still said "weigh the risks and the benefits' and then you can decide if hormone replacement therapy is right for you!  Good advice and one that I have followed pretty much all my adult life (which is why I don't take the medication for my Acid Reflux/GERD....it didn't really help me all that much and well, that made the risks outweigh the benefits...and yes when I talked to the doctor I have his blessing and support of that decision.)

 

 My calories were at 1486.  I was close to the top of my range, but managed to stay under the 1500 limit!

 75 Hard Day 17

I felt a little bit better with my indoor workout on this day.  I wasn't so wishy washy and chose one thing (Zumba) and completed my 45 minutes without becoming dissatisfied and having to switch.  At about 12:30 PM, I headed outside and went up to the bonfire pit where I had piles of down trees.  Some was stuff we cut late last fall and others were stuff that has come down this winter. (Like the wind storm from last week that brought a huge limb down right against our house.)  My in-laws came over and together we clipped, we cut, we saw and we stacked that wood!   I still have a pile brush that needs to be cut (it was too windy that day).  We finished about 3 hours later.  I wasn't cold while I was outside, even though I was only in a sweatshirt.  But when I came in I immediately felt cold, so I curled up under a blanket and read for a bit!    I was happy though....all my exercise was done for the day!

 The reading posed no problem, which is not surprising as lately I have been averaging about 4 books read a week.   The water was also no issue!  64 ounces done and dusted!  My calories were also in line with my grand total being 1383.  I checked each item off the 75 Hard challenge list and became eligible to move on to day 18 (if you mess up you have to restart at day 1).

75 Hard Day 18

I had to do a bit more planning today as I knew that I would be up and out the door by about 8:45.  The indoor exercise was no problem as I do that every morning at 5AM.   By 7:45 I was outside traipsing around with the dog to get my outdoor workout in. Ohhh, and my reading was done between the indoor workout and the outdoor workout.

Why I left the house was so that I could give my nephew a lesson in driving stick shift.  He did really well. (my aching neck...hahaha not really.  He listened to the car and was starting to get the hang of it pretty quickly!)  After that, my brother and my other nephew worked at my mom's house to get it ready to sell.  We have two bedrooms totally cleaned, emptied and the doors are closed.   We also scrubbed out all three bathrooms and they are ready to go also!  I did really good with my water through the day, sipping as the day went and drinking water while we ate lunch.  I was on a roll!   I had no problem finishing my water for the day.  The issue came into play with my food.  I had done well throughout the day but when it came time for dinner I just didn't have time to make our planned dinner that was on the menu!  I was way short on time.  So I pulled out my emergency frozen pizzas.  They were delicious, but I used way too many calories! I ended the day at 1755 calories.   That is sadly over my daily goal of 1500 calories.  BUT, all is not lost.  IF you remember the post where I talked about my personal 75 hard challenge I talked about my diet plan, which was to keep my calories under 1500 and NOT eat my earned calories, with one exception. I decided to allow myself the right to eat those earned calories once a week to allow myself to 'live'.     With my 45 minute indoor workout along with my 30 minute doggie walk time I was perfectly fine!  YAY!  
 

75 Hard Day 19

I seriously think I'm a bad ass!  I have to be!   This challenge has thrown snow at me, it's thrown wind at me, it's thrown single digit temps at me and it has thrown rain at me (and of course not a delightful warm summer rain...a cold winter rain).   But after day 18 of this 75 Hard challenge I can add another weather to my list or torture.  I was outside walking in an ice storm on this day.  Yes, it was precipitating and it was ice!  It was quite pretty, that's for sure!  Yeah, I'm a bad ass!

The water, the reading and the exercise was completed and I was at 1271 for my daily calories.  Therefore day 19 was a win and I was doing great!

 75 Hard Day 20

This was another day where I checked off all the boxes of my 75 Challenge requirements easily. Notice I said that I checked them all off easily.  Some of the things were still quite dreadful.  I just wasn't feeling the workouts!   But I did them.

As always, reading was easy and so was the water!   My calorie count came in at 1278.  So a day full of wins!

 75 Hard Day 21

It was Saturday and the last thing I wanted to do was exercise. I don't exercise at 5 AM on the weekends.  Typically I am awake before Jason and I mosey my way to the living room and relax while he sleeps in.  I don't exercise until after Jason AND the bird are awake.  I wouldn't dare interrupt the birds sleep by exercising in the next room!  But I had made it almost 3 complete weeks of the 75 hard challenge and I wasn't going to mess it up, so off I went!   45 minutes of step aerobics completed!

After a nap that lasted all morning and a whole lot of grogginess that followed; I got myself moving.  I folded some laundry, straightened the kitchen and of course fed Fred (my sourdough starter).   Then we headed out and walked for 45 minutes in the neighborhood behind us.   Zoey has developed a weird fear of storm drain/grates.  I don't recall any issues on previous walks by today she was petrified of them.  Weird!   But, that is off subject.  What is important is that my outdoor exercise is DONE!

I spent some time reading and finished my third non-fiction book of this challenge.  This book was To The Gorge . (Amazon Affiliate Link)  It is the story of a long distance runner whose mother dies of cancer. This runner decides to run the across Oregon on the PCT and try to set a record and do it in honor of her mother.   This book tells the story of this run and the mental fortitude needed for such a challenge, something that always interests me.   The book also walks the reader through the cancer diagnosis and and the whole way to the eventual death through 'flash back' memories interspersed in the running story.   It was a good read.  It was  a good reminder to live your life joyfully. (Like the mother, even though the daughter/runner was wracked with grief and was not joyful.)   It was a good book, but maybe a little hard to read considering I finished reading this book on  February 8th and February 9th would mark the 1 year anniversary of my mom's death.

 I was a little worried about my water considering I took a shower after exercising and was back on the recliner by 9AM and I then slept until Noon.  What does that mean?  Well I don't know about you, but I don't naturally drink water whilst asleep.  Ha.    But I  did remarkably well and my water was done by dinner time!   This was a Saturday and we go out to eat on Saturdays, but I planned my food well in advance and I ended the day with 1291 calories!  WIN WIN WIN all around.   And with that, I managed to complete week three of the 75 Hard Challenge!  

 

Reflections of 75 Hard To Date

After only 3 weeks I am finding the water so much easier to complete.  I am pretty impressed with that! I kid you not, before this challenge I was always trying to get my water consumption up to 64 ounces and I was lucky to make it to 30 ounces a day, and that was a struggle.   But I am doing it now!  I went from drinking pretty much nothing to consistently and easily drinking 64 ounces. 

Outdoor exercises are sometimes lame.  I sometimes go for a formal walk, but much of the time I find myself traipsing around outside with the dog....walking in place while she sniffs....or walking in place while I play fetch with her. I feel as if I am cheating.  Even though I am outside.  Even though I am moving.  I feel like I'm cheating because it's something I have been doing (maybe just not as long) and I feel as if I should be doing something 'new'.   I have to give this some food for thought!

The selfie a day?   I am doing it, maybe not a full body shot, but I am taking a selfie a day.  This is actually the one that I haven't felt particularly in love with.  I am not really seeing a need or purpose, but I am doing it regardless.  I think maybe the reason I don't feel the need and see the importance is that I am looking at myself on youtube all the time.  Afterall, I film almost daily for my weight loss and lifestyle youtube channel so I am seeing myself and have a record of my self through that.  Who knows.   And yes, I am filming and talking about my 75 hard challenge there too!  You can check it out the complete playlist here.    And  I will post the first video in the serious below.  (And if you don't want to check it out, no worries.  I don't blame you, I like a good blog post myself!)