(Part 2) Best products from r/90daysgoal

BQ: Oh goodness, this is my bread and butter now. As some of you know - I'm an expat American living in Germany. Since so much awesome travel is so close now my SO and I try to take between 10-15 trips a year. Last year we made it on 20 trips total, including a lot of day trips to places nearby. Most of my trips are on the shorter side (less than 5 days) but I still stand by that everyone should be doing carry on only. With that in mind, I highly recommend my newest travel purchase, my Osprey Farpoint 40. It's a 40L backpack that's specifically designed for travel. It opens flat, packs like a suitcase, keeps the weight evenly distributed, and has a lot of fun features. For our 10 day trip home this May I plan on only using this backpack. My second most recent purchase is this teeny tiny packable day pack that I'm planning on packing into my backpack so that when we arrive at our destination I can use it around town. I also generally like having a large crossbody since I don't really like the look of carrying a backpack when I'm exploring. I use Google Flights for finding deals big picture but Skyscanner is much better for inter-Europe flights. I'm also a total sucker for my Kindle Fire right now (thinking about upgrading to an iPad this year) for entertainment on flights, especially now that you can download from the Netflix app. My SO has the cheapest version of the Fire and finds that he can't do this so that's worth noting. For long haul I REQUIRE an eye mask, super moisturizing hand cream, face moisturizer, fuzzy socks, and lip balm. This year my main goal is to really hone my travel and packing skills to get to the point where I just grab a few things out of my carry on bag and sit comfy for the whole flight. I think I have pins on Pinterest for literally anything you can ever possibly imagine for travel if you have other specific questions.

EDIT: I also think I'm going to try to do a better job documenting my packing/travel hacks via my Instagram.


Yesterday was pretty good, didn't run at the gym but took my time and stretched instead. It looks like the weather's going to be nice today so I might take my run outdoors for the first time this year. My asshole cat peed on my SO's bag of clean laundry so that was annoying to deal with last night. We had those Shirataki noodles as "pasta" for dinner which meant I was massively under my calorie goal for the day. Had some popcorn before bed. I've also mostly cut out breakfast since I don't think I'm hungry in the morning and big pciture I'd rather have a snack after dinner than something in the morning. Keeping my pre-dinner intake at less than 500 calories sets me up to not feel deprived and bingey at night. Weighed in this morning almost 8 pounds down for the year. This daily has gotten out of control it's so long lol.

Today:

• Journal
  
• Run
  
• Grocery store
  
• Laundry?
  
• Performance review at work
  
  
  | | M | T | W | T | F | S | S | S1 |
  |:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|
  | Step Goal | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | | | |30/30|
  | Read | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | | | |29/30|
  | Log Food | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | | | |26/26|
  | Journal | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | | | |14/20|
  | Run | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | | | |13/4|
  | Water | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | | | | |8/10|

I know, we discussed that once in the beginning of 90 days and it was always good to see you posting daily and to know that you are also still on track. Great to hear that you are doing better too! I'm still convinced that we can arrive at a point where we have an entirely relaxed and normal relationship with food. Just going a couple of days without feeling the need to binge is amazing and very relaxing already so although I know that not all my problems will be solved magically once that this lies behind me I'm still looking forward to it.

This is the book I read, it's less than 10 dollars for the kindle edition. I just finished it and will start a new one today. Just reading about this topic every night is helpful for me to stay motivated and on track. And the time is much better spent than on watching TV.

I'm not really going hardcore over the break, but my goals have really become my routine so I don't think I'll change much of what I do.

Yesterday was pretty relaxing - made some excellent spicy hot cocoa and read a few samples of books on my Kindle. Still can't decide what I want to read next. Right now it's a toss up between Something Rich and Strange, Station 11 and In Light of What We Know.

Today it's raining cats and dogs, and CrossFit has been cancelled. I think I'm going to brave the deluge and try to get in at least a mile or two, then do some body weight exercises. Then pasta tonight! Maybe I'll build a fire in the fireplace too.

EDIT: Yea, streets are flooded - not gonna be running in this mess. :-/ Goodbye, run streak. It was a good 13 days. At least I did some bodyweight exercises.

What I've generally heard (mostly in /r/fitness) is that the lower intensities will burn a higher percentage of calories from fat, but higher intensities will burn more fat overall (and so are usually more beneficial).

Also there are some devices that can measure your heart rate. The most common ones I've seen are watches with chest straps you have to wear (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300766705&sr=8-1). I think if I were to keep track of my heart rate I would just learn to count my heart pulses.

Otherwise I think kitzkatz pretty much covered everything.

HEY GUYS I made a new myfitnesspal profile, add me @90days_lex if you don't mind I could REALLY use the support.

Gadgets: When I proved to myself that I wanted to do Insanity (April '14) and got through the first month of workouts, I rewarded myself (and/or bribed? I guess? haha I respond well to self-bribes :D) with a Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor to keep track of my progress. It's been a lifesaver and one of the biggest factors in my continued fitness journey since I use the calorie count to push myself during workouts where I know I'd otherwise slack off.

Yesterday ended up not being great. I've been binging a lot at night and it's completely destroying my progress. I'm not really sure what to do though - I've been trying IF so I can give into my cravings and binge at night and be okay but that doesn't make me feel great... spacing out my meals doesn't seem to work for me well either. Maybe it's just adjusting to Paleo, or maybe I'm just letting myself slip and am not being disciplined enough? Either way it's a major bummer. I want to do my best over the next week and a half or so. I just need a few really good days to get back on track and I know I'm capable of doing that. I did hit 3L of water though so that's good. I'm super-upping my water consumption for the next week or so while I start this new workout program, then I'll drop back down to 2L. Just constantly feeling thirsty and it's probably from too much sodium.


Today:

☑ P90X3 Day 3 [Yoga X] 83 kcal burnt [mfp estimate; forgot hrm --]

☑ Classes

☑ Sign up for MPRE - deadline today!

☑ Look into group project

☒ Scope out Fitness Center at apartment, Walk (at least 30 mins) - fail. I get really anxious about using fitness centers and gyms and stuff, even at my apartment because it's small and I don't want to show up and there be someone else there etcetc... might start waking up early to get a walk in? I don't know. Bah.

☑ Take care of bf's dog <3

☑ Read some Divergent

☐ Drink 3L water: ☑ ☑ ☑ ☑ ☐ ☐

☐ Burn 2000 calories this week! [0,676/2,000] - I need to do the fitness center thing -- P90X3 isn't burning enough calories and I don't want to work hard for 30 minutes and be a lazy blob the rest of the day...

☑ Days without soda: 3

Sprint 3 Goals (8/20-9/23)

☐ Eat Paleo/Primal 90%+ & MFP Log

☒ Finish another round of Insanity (End date: 9/27) burnt out

☑ Read 1 Novel

☐ Keep up with school reading

☐ Meditation Program: Practicing Mindfulness

☐ Get in good shape for Halloween! [50 days]

BQ I just devoured "We Are All Damaged" by Matthew Norman. I read it in a couple of days, so clearly I enjoyed it (and it's an easy read). If you happen to be a 30 or 40 something. B and I came up with an analogy last night - Moby Dick (and other big ol' books like that) are like a huge batch of super spicy curry. It's yummy and probably good for you. But, eating the whole batch in one sitting? Rough. You need some breaks to eat some mango with sticky rice (like We Are All Damaged) periodically, while working your way through the batch of curry.

Yesterday - I read a lot. I was supposed to hang with a friend, but my other friend was supposed to come over and help me fix my trim. So, I waited and waited for fix-it friend, and then it started raining, so fix it friend texts saying "it's raining." and I text saying, "so, reschedule?" and he texts saying, "driving." So, I wait and wait and wait and wait and finally text, "You ok?" and he texts back, "oh yah, I stopped at the bar." Fuck. Me. So, my evening plans got toasted. But, I finished my book, so there's that.

Today

• Work - Hell if I know. I'm bored. I need new projects to work on. I might just say screw it and do the policy stuff without the input of my coworker. Grrr. ARgh.
  
• Exercise - Z-health appointment. Also, I wore sandals today, because I've been walking around my house barefoot successfully. Um, nope. That was a mistake. Oh well. I only have to walk as far as where my car is (a few blocks).
  
• Life - it's L's birthday. So, I need to frost cupcakes (buy powdered sugar) and then we're going to an outdoor concert tonight. Should be fun. (Oh right - I need to buy tickets, too.)

BQ: For me it is PC. Less expensive (I build my own monsters with some input on parts from my husband), good for gaming, and it is what I am used to for now. I would love to try out a Mac, but then they are expensive, not great for gaming, and good luck upgrading parts yourself.


Yesterday:

I had a pretty much perfect day goal wise. I found some interesting job postings, drinking my water is really becoming a habit, and the book I finished was amazing. However... my treadmill tried to kill me last night. I was 5.5 miles into my 6.2 (10K) run and the think just started randomly jerking. I almost fell face first into the front and then almost fell backward. NOT COOL. I tried a couple of things... did finish my run... Little worried about my run today. Please don't let me get an head injury from my treadmill... I will never live that down.


Today:

• Apply for Jobs (AM & PM)
  
  
• Drink 3L of water
  
  
• Run
  
  
• Read 20% of my new book
  
  

BQ

We like to play chickenfoot!

Yesterday

Took the dogs for a run instead of doing lower body, but otherwise hit all of my goals. The dogs were getting a bit of cabin fever because it's been rainy here, so the run was definitely the way to go.

Today

• Fitness: upper body
  
• Mental Health: focused relaxation, read
  
• Marriage: give a compliment, say yes
  
• Finance: ynab
  
  Have a great Thursday, guys!

Hi Serasha, one DVD I can recommend is by Gaiam. It's called AM and PM Yoga For Beginners (with Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden). The reason I like the DVD is because you get two separate workouts in it (morning/evening), the workouts are short (20 minutes each) and demonstrate a lot of different poses but none are super difficult. As a beginner, you should find them challenging at first but not so challenging that you won't come back to it. Back when I used this video, I found that in addition to getting a workout in, another benefit was that I would fall asleep so quickly at night after using the PM workout.

Another option for home yoga (if for some reason you don't end up buying a video) are online videos at Yoga Journal in their multimedia section. Some of their workouts are a little more difficult but they are very good about giving precise instructions on form and modifications for different abilities, which you may find helpful as a beginner.

I hope this helps and let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Plantronics BackBeat 903+ Headset on amazon here

I bought them for my husband last year and gave them a try yesterday. I thought they might be uncomfortable, but they weren't at all. They have a longer battery life than some of the more minimalist ones and a better receiver. That being said, I could tell they would have preferred my phone being on an armband instead of a waist pouch. I had some "skipping" when I wore the belt at my hips instead of waist, when I didn't have the top of the phone oriented as close to my left side as possible, or when I didn't keep my head up. So one plus was it encouraged good running posture!

They aren't perfect, but I would certainly recommend them. I will certainly be excited when this technology improves a bit more.

Oh, it really is great. I'm super excited, my new stick and the bolts for my runner should come tomorrow and I picked up a 2'x4' shooting mat to dick around with a puck/work on stickhandling while I watch tv 'n' stuff. I can't wait to get back on the ice. It's like an itch I've got to scratch.

Speaking of my scale, here's a link to it. The one I got was blue with orange trim that perfectly matched my Broncos colors but it looks like I must have snagged the last one. It works great and is suuuuper easy to clean/disinfect.

Can I add a 20-oz Slow Cooker to the list? It's a food warmer (it won't cook) but I love having it at my desk at work. It heats leftovers to a lovely temp, and if I freeze leftovers they are hot and yummy at lunch. Cans of Progresso soup work wonderfully. It's on Amazon here.

Yesterday

Only one goal from yesterday: enjoy my anniversary! And I did. Everything was perfect. I'm a very happy puppy.

Today

• Get cat food from the store
  
• Finish up laundry
  
• Grocery shopping
  
• Attend university lecture
  
• Assist any students via email
  
• Grade student papers (3-5)
  
• Dissertation work! Deadline approaching on this portion of the project (October 31)
  
• Read a little more of my second book of Sprint One: Your Best Brain Ever by National Geographic
  
• Exercise! For real! At least 30 minutes! I may need some sort of award system here...

there is nothing worse than a soggy bottom!

When I first came here to visit, I wanted to make a rhubarb pie, and my now-husband didn't have a pie pan I could find anywhere. The only one I could find in town was perforated, like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCraft-MasterClass-Crusty-Bake-Non-stick/dp/B00NLR3AKG/

I was dubious, but it makes the best pies. My bottoms are never soggy, and also it's great for a million other things, like roasting vegetables, because air flows through it!