The Year of Magical Lifting

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by mom2w

Ya know, for various reasons, I didn't finish the challenge, but it doesnt mean it didn't inspire me or spur me to think things through in a different light.

THAT'S what matters....not that you finished. Your journey is certainly very interesting, Brenda...and inspiring.

Thanks, Lance!

Well, I'm moving ever closer to being able to work from home a couple days a week. The IT guy set me up with one of the extra computers at work which I schlept home last night and temporarily set up in my living room to be close to the cable modum while I tried it out. Of course, this computer, for some reason, is not connecting to the internet. I wonder if there is some kind of Wizard I need to run to set up a connection at home. This computer is running XP. I don't know much about this stuff at all. But, at work I think we have a T1? and here at home we have broadband through our cable company. If the computer was set up at work for the office connection would it have to be reset up for the broadband?

Ugh....

[stingo]

It might have to be set up to access your home network so it could access the internet...?

[Ogedei]

Also it's possible your ISP needs to have that machine registered to work with them.

Unless you are behind a router or something, that should nullify the need to register anything but the router.

Really it should PROBABLY be set to grab an Internet address automatically and so it should just work. But as you have discovered how things are supposed to work and how they do work are two different things.

How do you have everything connected at home?

What IP address does it show you if you click START->RUN, enter CMD, click OK and then type IPCONFIG in the black box?
What about on the working machine?

[Victoria]

Of course I'm lost to everything you just said, Og. No fault of yours...I'm just clueless with this stuff! Earth with a sideways eight, remember?

Originally Posted by Ogedei

How do you have everything connected at home?

I have a lap top for personal use which is connected via the pole at the street, then into the house, to the modem, to the wireless router, and then wirelessly to my lap top.

But, I talked to IT Guy and I may have run the connection improperly. I unplugged the cord from the modem to the wireless router and plugged that into the work computer, which will not have a wireless connection. So, the cable connection went from the house, to the modem, to the computer. He said try it from the house, to the modem, back into the router, then from the router using one of the 4 empty slots into the computer. Is this what you were talking about?

Originally Posted by Ogedei

Unless you are behind a router or something, that should nullify the need to register anything but the router.

So, I'll try that tonight. I'll try your other suggestions, too if this doesn't work and report! Thanks!!!

[Victoria]

Ohhhhh....this is not good. The Blue Screen of Death upon starting the computer.....guess I have bigger problems than the internet right now! Why should I have known this would not be easy!

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Ohhhhh....this is not good. The Blue Screen of Death upon starting the computer.....guess I have bigger problems than the internet right now! Why should I have known this would not be easy!

That ain't good!

[Lifty]

hey hey hey hey!! Now i can read up on ya.

[Victoria]

Boo!

[Victoria]

Blaaah....I've been feeling so darn depressed lately. I think a lot of it has to do with my job. When I first started working for this firm, it was the absolute best place I'd ever worked, for so many reasons. Many of the things that made me so happy there have changed, and I have an overriding feeling of a really good thing coming to an end. Promises are being made but have yet to materialize...it's that dang carrot in front of my nose that keeps me holding on. I'm very frustrated, and disheartened about it all. And it all boils down to 3 hours of driving each day being worth it anymore. I'm at the stage of not quite knowing which way to go with it, but maybe I don't really have to know just yet. I guess when it is time for a change, I will wake up one morning and just know it.

I've been thinking a lot about my fitness journey this past week. I know change comes very slow for me. I get into a comfort zone and become chained there pretty tightly. So, I have to take baby steps to ease my way into new areas. My actions are heavily driven by habit, so the key for me will be to reestablish them into more beneficial actions. I think I've heard repeating something 7 times is the magic number....let's double that times 3 and I just might start getting there. I'll be posting my new strategy later this weekend. I would love any feedback. It always helps...I really trust you guys!!!

I start my new TT workout bright and early Monday morning. I'm looking forward to it...."TT For Female Strength"....argh argh argh!!! Off to the barn now for some horsey time!!!

[Egham]

Hang in there Victoria. A commute like that would give anyone pause and if the job at the other end didn't appear to be developing as one had expected, anyone would view that as a major downer. 6 hours of your life....every working day....What's at the other end had better be worth it. Dangling carrots in front of employees can only work for so long, even if the job is close by.

I hope that the work at home option works for you once you get past the computer problems.....That should relieve some stress. You might also consider polishing your resume and perhaps freshening your portfolio plus possibly even tentatively identifying a few new employment options. It may prove comforting to know that if you wake up some morning knowing it's time to move on, you will be well prepared to take action.

It's good to see that you are psyched about starting the new TT program and I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts on a new strategy.

[L'ilJ]

I go through ups and downs with my job too. I guess the trick is to figure out whether its just the "blahs" or if it's really something that is fundamentally wrong with your work situation. Give it a little time and definitely take Egham's advice and in a few weeks see how you're feeling. Then re-evaluate.

Good luck w/the new TT workout!

[Victoria]

Thanks, Egham, for all your advice. It really helps. As far as the computer, unfortunately the hard drive crashed on the one I just brought home. So, now it's back to square one with IT Guy trying to figure out how to get me one of the office computers without having to present a shopping list to the owner of the company. Ugh...it's a long story. He's all for it but doesn't do well when things get too complicated. So, we are trying to get me what I need without causing too much of a stir in the office. Just easier that way. I may just buy a tower myself without any software, and have IT Guy load it up with the software at work. Monitor, keyboard, and mouse are pretty plentiful so that's no problem.

Jill, thanks for your advice as well. I appreciate it! I agree, its always worth giving things time, but I've been going through this for about a year now and my patience has just about run out. You know, it might not have been such a big deal if my commute wasn't so long. But, when 3-4 hours of my day is spent driving, it all starts to matter. I think the best thing I can do for myself right now is to focus my energy on getting my resume and portfolio in order. Then, it's just a matter of being ready when the opportunity arises!

[Victoria]

My first TRX experience....copied and pasted from the TRX log!

Originally Posted by Victoria

I finally tried the TRX tonight. Wow.....what a workout. Well, I didn't actually do a structured workout, just went through and tried all the exercises in Workout #1 two or three times, plus most of the exercises in the Military manual. And, I worked up a sweat!

Man, I thought my core was getting pretty strong from all my TT workouts...NOT!!! That really kicked my a$$!!! I did a body plant with the ab rollouts. This was after cycling through all the exercises a couple times so I was getting a bit tired. Got myself into positon, started the first rollout and flopped straight to the ground...ha! I felt the hammies in the hip presses much more than with the stability ball. And, it's really cool to do a pistol...even if it is assisted! I actually feel it a bit in my back right now. I guess it's not as strong as I thought. All in all it is quite challenging...much more than I thought. I like it...it's fun!!!

[stingo]

Sounds like you'll have a lot of fun with it. I'll be interested to see how the assisted stuff goes for you, since I know I can't do a pistol yet, but would like to see a progression into one.

[Victoria]

Going down was easy. It's coming back up that's the hard part!

I think this will be a great option when I just don't want to be down in the basement working out. The telephone pole in the yard worked out great. Although, I had to nail those metal ID letters/numbers back into the pole. Most of the little nails were at various stages of exit from the wood. They are to the right of the pole and the TRX strap sat right over them. No biggie! I wonder what the neighbors thought...

[Victoria]

After the past 8 weeks of TT workouts, I have not lost a single pound according to the scale. My clothes have not gotten any bigger, but they have not gotten any smaller either. So, clearly I’ve hit a wall. It’s a little frustrating putting in all the physical work and not seeing results so, I need to figure out what to change. I don’t particularly like keeping detailed records of stuff like this, so I’m trying to find a middle ground where I am tracking enough information to make good decisions, yet I’m not getting all bogged down in minutia.

I have a few guesses (in no particular order) of what I think needs to change. But, these guesses are not backed up with any hard data, just my gut.

1) I suspect I am consistently not eating enough, though what I eat is 90% or more compliant. So, I’ll be figuring out my daily calorie needs and recording that info.

2) The lack of HIITs in my routine has stalled my fat loss. I’m guessing this is true because when I was doing them with my previous 8-week resistance program, I was losing pounds and pant sizes, I think about .5 lb each week. A bit slow perhaps, but still losing.

3) I need to put more value in my eating. I have a terrible habit of buying lunch out every day at work. By doing this, I have much less control over what I eat and even when I eat. I’m still buying compliant food, but I know I’m not eating frequently enough throughout the day since I only purchase a meal once during the typical lunch hour. If I remember to grab a piece of fruit or a container of cottage cheese, then I’ll have a snack as well. But, that doesn’t always happen. So, I know it is important for me to rewrite that habit into packing the proper food for myself each day.

4) A lack of any quantitative tracking method certainly is not helping the cause. Relying on the scale and how my clothes fit isn’t cutting it anymore.

I also know that I’m not very good with goals; I just don’t give them a chance. But, I realize they are a crucial part of this whole process. I think if they are to work for me, I have to start rather small to get used to using them. It will be a new mental exercise for me; heck this whole process is rather new to me. I never had to worry about my weight before. I was a consistent 135 lbs. at 5’6” tall, size 32 Levis my whole adult life and I was very comfortable with my body composition.

So, here I go taking baby steps with my goals:

Short-term goals:

Goal #1 - Quantitative Measurements every 2 weeks: I created a new spreadsheet which is linked in my sig. This is basically the results tracker chart from the Body Comp chapter in PN. I’ll be recording and tracking my body weight, skinfold measurements, and girth measurements which will comprise my body composition tracking. This will start today.

Goal #2 – Record calories each day in Fitday: This is where I may slack off, so I’ll have to really push myself to do this each day. At least for a week or two to see how much I really am eating to be sure of my suspicion.

Goal #3 – Pack food a minimum of 2 days/week: Ugh, another hard habit to establish. As I get better at packing my food, I’ll increase this goal. But, it’s just a matter of commitment and making this whole process important enough to me to do it! This will also require a slight change to the food situation in the house. Since SO and I have opposite work schedules, therefore opposite eating schedules, we’ve decided to try separating our food completely. It may seem a bit harsh, but when I shop, I tend to get what I want to eat even though I may be shopping for two; when she shops she gets what she wants to eat, which is not always what I want to eat. So, we will each do our own shopping and we each get one half of the fridge. That way, I’m in complete control of my food, I know exactly what I have for the week and I can avoid any excuses.

Long-term goals:

Goal #1 – Body Weight = 135 lbs…and fit into my 32 Levis again!

Goal #2 – % BF=TBD. I don’t know what that is yet, but I think once I start tracking my body comp, I’ll have a better idea.

Goal #3 – Keep improving general health, fitness and mobility.

I think 3 goals each is good to start with. Change happens slowly for me, so this feels challenging but manageable enough and most importantly, achievable. Not to say I won’t stumble along the way from time to time, but with a little determination and the tremendous support you guys always give, I think I can give this a pretty good go.

As far as workouts, here is my program for the next 8 weeks.

Resistance: 3 days/week
I’ll be following “TT for Female Strength: How to Get Lean & Do Your First Chin-Up.” I haven’t given up on my goal to mistress that darn chin-up, but I think this program will be better for me since it has a bit less volume on the shoulder. I don't want to hurt it again.

HIIT: 2 days/week
I’ll be doing either treadmill or spinner workouts. I won’t bother posting the parameters here; they’ll be in my workout log. But, I’m hopeful this will make a difference.

Other: 1 day/week
This will be my day to do something more for fun, but still physically challenging. I’ll be doing either a TRX workout, BW circuits, or 6-minute circuits. So, I’ll still be working out at a pretty good intensity, it will just feel like more of a “fun” day. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Recovery: 1day/week
After the 8-week program is complete I’ll take a week off and I’ll re-evaluate this process again and establish the next set of goals for the next 8 weeks. This time frame seems to suit me well. Long enough to get good results, yet short enough to always see the end of the tunnel.

Whew…..that’s it for now. Please don't hesitate to comment, critique or otherwise offer your thoughts about any of this. It aways helps!