100 pushup challenge: update 1

As you recall, along with zillions of J.D.-fearing minions, I recently challenged myself to doing 100 pushups in 6 weeks, which would be somewhere at the end of July for me. In my original post I didn't go so far as to scoff at the challenge, because I knew it would be tough! But I did suggest that the comparison between doing 100 pushups and running a marathon was not quite the right comparison, because while 100 pushups will be hard, running a marathon is freaking harder, OK? Even seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said that running the New York Marathon in 2006 "was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done". (Of course Lance finished in under 3 hours, while my marathon took me 4:28. But I ride my bike only ~600 miles a year.) So all I was saying was, pushups and marathons aren't the same.

But I must say, I'm having a hard time. First off, my biggest problem is my ab muscles. I went into this challenge with both my pushup muscles and my core muscles being way out of condition. I am not familiar with a way to do pushups without tightening my core muscles, and so the result of my very first day of pushups was several days of sore abs.

Week 1 recap:
So the first day of the challenge I performed according to schedule, and did 5 sets of the following numbers of pushups: 2-2-2-2-3. The next two days of the pushup challenge I could not do a single regular pushup due to ab pain, so instead I modified my schedule and performed increased repetitions of modified (knee) pushups. So instead of performing 4-3-2-2-4 and 5-4-4-3-5 on days 2 and 3, I performed more like 12-12-12-12-12 and 15-15-15-15-15 modified pushups. In the past, completing huge messes of knee pushups really helped my regular pushups improve, so I'm going with that theory this time, as well.

Week 2 recap:
A similar thing happened during the second week. I performed according to schedule on day 1 (4-4-3-3-5) and day 2 (6-5-3-3-6), but on day 3 my abs were holding me back from performing my pushups in acceptable form so instead I did something like 5 regular pushups followed by 15-20-20-15 knee pushups.

I really think I can hit the goal of 100 pushups, but I'm not sure I can do so according to the schedule at one hundred pushups. When I previously reached 50 pushups within 4 weeks I was doing pushups 5 days per week, and more repetitions. So, will I be "cheating" if I do extra? Can I say I'm participating in the same challenge if I modify my schedule? I think the challenge is just to complete 100 pushups, and not necessarily do so according to any particular plan, right?

That's what I'm going to go with. Because we're already 1/3 finished with the challenge and I can't even do 10 regular pushups. I need to pick up the pace.

Moments of hilarity: finding old to-do lists

I keep a spiral bound notebook that I write everything in. I take notes for work, I sketch out my vegetable garden, I keep track of hours I work on projects (though I do most of that at Toggl.com), and I write my to-do lists.

I used to keep a "master" to-do list in its own notebook. Basically, the entire book was devoted to this list, and I'd write all my to-do items on the first page, cross them out as I completed them, and just keep adding items to the bottom of the list as they came up. When the first page was filled, I'd move to the second page. If ever an entire page's items were crossed off, I'd rip out the page, and the next page would become page 1.

That was actually a little depressing, because I sometimes have quite lofty to-do items. Things like "Landscape Yard" tend to appear on my lists. Items that can take literally years. So the book would always have several pages of items that were crossed out at the beginning, save for a few stragglers such as: "Paint House", "New Garage", "Antarctica". At some point my to-do notebook mysteriously vanished (eyeing the shredder) and I started making micro to-do lists in my regular note-taking notebook. Just like grocery lists. A list of things to do today, this evening, or this weekend. After the time period ends, the list loses its relevancy and is discarded.

So rather than view my incomplete to-do items as depressing, I now find them funny. Whenever I happen to come across a to-do list from a few weeks or months ago, it amuses me, as life should, to see what I accomplished and what I did not.

Here's one I've just come across. You need not understand what all the items mean to get the picture.

Clean cage
Dad - mulch?
Igs Outside Igs In
Feed Petunia
Raina Cage
Mutual - plants
Hosta
Run
Mow
Sun
DGF
JRS
Buoscio
Lungate
Run
Sun
Blood
Raina Cage
Basement
Container Store Shelves

The problem with this list was that I tried to keep it going like I used to, rather than use my new method of keeping micro-lists that are discarded quickly after use. Hence the same items appearing multiple times. (Too bad Raina's Cage was neglected not once, but twice. Thank goodness Raina was already dead.)

And thank goodness I can now cross off the following:

Basement
Container Store Shelves

The men from US Waterproofing are in my basement right now, and from my second floor office I can feel them working their jackhammers on the basement floor. Dust is flying all over my new Container Store shelves, but that's something I can live with. On my next micro-list I'm betting there'll be an entry that says:

Dust Container Store Shelves

Personal fitness challenge: 100 pushups

Inspired by J.D. at Get Fit Slowly and a whole mess of other people who were also inspired by J.D., today I embark on a challenge to be able to do 100 pushups -- yes, all at one time -- within six weeks.

We are following the guide at one hundred pushups. The program is on the side of less-intense in that we only need to practice three days per week. An initial test establishes the number of pushups we do during each session and at what rate we progress. For my initial test I could do 5 pushups, so for my first session -- today's session -- I completed a total of 11 pushups. It wasn't easy; despite using free weights a few times a week, these particular muscles are out of shape. And my initial test placed me in the remedial pushup group.

So this particular group of internet pusher-uppers started today, and will train on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Get Fit Slowly will post a reminder on each of those days, which will certainly help me stay motivated. I imagine I'll report here once a week or so, to keep you apprised of my progress.

In his initial post, J.D. compares this challenge with completing a marathon. I've run a marathon, and I predict that a marathon, plus all the training that goes along with it, is tougher. I've never done 100 pushups but once I did go from 0 to 50 in 4 weeks, and those 4 weeks were nothing even remotely like 4 weeks of marathon training. And the marathon itself, well, that's a lot of hours on one's feet. The 50 pushups were over in a few minutes. The training was less intense and the feat itself was less intense. I really do not mean to dismiss this challenge at all, and I won't even bet that I will accomplish it in the end. I'm just telling you my prediction, my opinion, at the outset. We'll see how wrong or right I am ... in 4 weeks!

Adjusting my calorie goal

I am sometimes too impressionable. I read something or hear somebody say something and I label it "gospel" and file it in a place of importance and easy access in my mind's filing cabinet.

For instance:

Denise Austin said that I can safely reduce my daily caloric intake to 1200 calories and quickly lose weight without hurting my body. During the year I lived in Savannah, Georgia, I spent a lot of time in my living room with Denise Austin. For various reasons I had gained a ton of weight the year before (well, not quite a ton ... 1.5% of a ton, to be precise) so I spent this year in relative seclusion attempting to get healthy. Some days I jogged around Forsyth Park, but on the really stifling humid Savannah days I stayed in my living room and turned on the TV to do aerobics with Denise. It was a nice time. So I made many efforts to follow her advice.

Somewhere I read that while trying to get pregnant, Angelina Jolie's nutritionist advised her to up her daily caloric intake from 1200 to 1500 calories. Of course all beautiful celebrities diet their entire lives; their paychecks depend on it. (Often I wish mine did.) So I figured, if Angelina can maintain those breasts while consuming only 1200 calories a day, I can certainly do so and remain healthy.

I've heard that 1200 calorie rule bandied about in numerous places, from numerous sources. I have no doubt that it's a fine goal. I have little doubt that it's harmless and that you'll drop weight fast with that kind of calorie intake, and I can prove it. So striving for 1200 calories a day when dieting is what I've always done. I simply thought it must be the right thing to do. It was my gospel.

So when I signed up at FitDay to log my diet and exercise, I set up some daily goals for myself. The one I pay most attention to is daily caloric intake, and the goal I set for myself was 1200-1500 calories. I wanted to give myself a little buffer zone, as I knew it would be tough to get into the habit of consuming only 1200 calories. So 1200-1500 seemed reasonable, but I really wanted to keep it closer to 1200 when possible.

I tried, oh how I tried. I did very well for a while, too. I reached my first fitness goal of losing my first 4 pounds, and life was good. Until bedtime, that is. Any time after 6pm, actually, because by that time I had already consumed my 1200 calories, and the most I could do after that was have maybe a nutrition bar and a piece of fruit, that is, if I was satisfied with going all the way to 1500 calories for the day, and regardless, I went to bed hungry. Every night. And it's hard for me to sleep when I'm hungry.

What ended up happening was that I rebelled and ended up gaining the weight back. I was miserable. So about a week ago I decided to try making a change.

My new goal for daily caloric intake is 1400-1600 calories. Now, instead of 1500 calories being "OK, but at the high end of where I want to be," it's right in the middle of where I'm aiming. It's my bullseye. And if I want, I can even have 100 more calories after that!

It's still restrictive, as diets are by definition. But it's possible. Often lately I've been landing somewhere between 1400-1500 calories after dinner, and then if I'm hungry before bed my favorite snack is Orville Redenbacher's 94% fat free popcorn in a 100-calorie mini bag. I actually bought the box of mini bags by accident, but it turns out that the serving size is just right.

I'm learning that there is nothing wrong with adjusting my goals. More to the point, I'm learning that to adjust a goal is not to fail at the goal. There is a little trial and error involved in just about everything we do, and the important thing is that we improve along the way. So here I am, full of more calories than before, but at least now I can sleep.

My first five-point day

If you scroll down to the bottom of the right sidebar, you'll see a little graph titled "Joe's Goals." Underneath the graph you'll see that it is personalized for me: "Jen's Goals." Joe's Goals is a web site that helps you keep track of, you guessed it: your daily goals. You create an account, sign in, and set it up to meet your specifications. For instance, my daily goals involve my work productivity, my diet, my exercise regimen, whether I walk the dogs or read, whether I overeat ... you get the idea. I assign a certain number of points (positive or negative) for each goal. At the end of the day, the more points I have, the more goals I reached that day.

The highest number of points I can get is five, and the lowest is minus two. Usually I come in around two or three ... actually, the graph will tell you that over the past 30 days my average is only one point. That sounds rather sad, but over the past 30 days there are days when I didn't log any goals, and sure, I've had some bad ones too. But the idea of displaying my "Jen's Goals" graph for everyone to see (including myself) is that it will drive me to improve.

And some days, improvement really shows. Yesterday I hit my first five-point day! In other words, I completed every task that I hope to do on a daily basis, and didn't do any of the things that I try to avoid. It is a really good feeling. The taste of five points for the first time is very sweet, and it makes me want to come back for more.

I really don't know who this Joe guy is, but this web site of his is pretty slick. Thanks, Joe.