I'm back.

I had gotten more than a little obsessive w my fittness routine, perviously. Like... it was not ok to be sore literally every day. Why did I think this? (Oh, yeah, bc that is what it took to be a socially acceptable size while only being mildly obsessed with food.)

More recetly, I have let myself become a potato. Which is also not really ok.

Now that I am rolling into year 2 as a teacher (while still finishing up grad school) and am a bit more settled in, I need to figure out how to incorporate gymgoing and generally healthier habits back into my life. WITHOUT letting it take over my life, or obsessing about food, or accepting redic levels of doms, etc etc.

I am, short term, eating keto but only because I have a lot of edema happening right now. Being in ketosis is actually less damaging to my system than most RX "water pills" so I will do this for 4-8 weeks to get water off then gradually shift back to a normal eating pattern. Using a simple spreadsheet to track carbs so that I don't see calorie info because that way lies madness.

My goals are 3 fold - 1. Get back in gym doing strength work 2-3x a week (1x can be a class) 2. Always leave some reps on the table - I want to work hard, but I need to avoid working to failure. I will always be more stubborn/stoic than I am actually strong so that always ends in injury. 3. Be incredibly mindful about what my motivation actually is when I start to want to add more training volume. I need to be super careful about not punishing myself w workouts, basically.

I've gone all the way back to basics. Not even looking at barbells yet. Using mostly nautilus machines to isolate movements and force myself to relearn forms. I'll reassess that in 4-6 weeks. I just need to get some basic stregnth rebuilt. Current workout aims for 8-15 reps, 3 sets (moving up weight at 15 reps).
Leg press
Lat pulldowns
Low Rows
Ham curls
Quad extensions
Glute kickbacks
"Bench" (with light easy bar)
Millitary press (with same)

Managed 2x this week as well as going to class last Saturday. Hopefully this is the start of a new habit.