Current stats and potential progress

In order to make any proper goals, it's helpful to know where you're starting from. Let's go.

Weight:
Ideally, I'd like to take Kelsey's approach and measure body fat percentage. But I'm not sure how to best do that. I don't think my gym has any kind of measuring devices (although I'm 100% just assuming that, seeing as how I've never asked). I know you can get one of those cool scales that electrocutes you or whatever and reads how much body fat you've got, but how much are those? A million dollars. (Again, 100% assumption). And then there are those little pincers that attach to your folds of fat like plastic crabs. I distinctly remember in the fall of senior year, my high school health teacher had us pinch our tricep fat, and in this ominous voice threatened "THERE'LL BE MORE TO PINCH AFTER THE HOLIDAYS!!! HAR HAR HAR." Gonna stay away from the plastic crabs.

Please?

So, barring me purchasing a fancy scale (which, knowing my propensity to throw money into these things, very well could happen), we're just gonna go with what the scale says, in combo with how my jeans fit and where my belt loop's at. Currently I'm at a smooth 151.4, which means I've lost almost exactly 10 pounds from my highest weight in 2013. HEYO! Gotta throw out props to the horrendous stomach bug I had over Christmas, which jumped me under 155. I would not wish that horror on anyone. Hell on earth, with a side of weight loss.

Note on weight: 5+ years ago, I would never have publicly stated my weight, because it can be such a loaded number. But it's just that, a number. Ain't no ell-bees bout to define me. So whatever, I weigh what I weigh.

As far as the cardio side of things, I've been not running for several months now due to a nasty case of runner's knee. I'm working on strengthening my quads and taking care of it, so it's been mostly elliptical and bike for me. However, just today I decided to do a little dreadmill work, and did a run 5 minutes, walk a couple minutes, repeat, for 30 total. And my knee's good! Felt fine during, and feels fine now. I know it's a meager beginning but I'll take it. 

Pull up progress:
To be clear, I'm working on a pull up, not a chin up. Sometimes I use them interchangeably, and that's actually incorrect. Pull ups are with your palms facing away from you, and chin ups are with palms facing towards you. I can do an assisted chin up a lot easier than a pull up (most people can, it uses more of your biceps muscles), but I'm training specifically for this beast at Tough Mudder in May:

And we all know the floor is lava. This chick, for example, is about to die:

Dead.

Monkey bars require more pull up-type movement than chin ups, so that's what I'm doing. Currently, I can do 8 reps with the assisted weight set on 85 pounds. I can do more reps after that, but not another whole set of 8. I'm hoping to move down to 75 pounds by the end of January. I'm just now realizing it's already the 25th, which gives me less than one week. Yeesh. I may need to update this goal.

Abs:
Pinterest always tells me that abs are 80% made in the kitchen and 20% made in the gym. Womp womp.

Still waiting for the recipe.

In addition to eating healthy and working on losing some weight for that 80%, I'm spending the other 20% planking my butt (stomach?) off in the gym. I'm able to hold a front plank on my elbows for a full minute now, but it's the side planks that kill me. I can't seem to do over 30 seconds on those.

How I think I look. How I really look. Side planks be damned.

I'm going to keep working on it. Usually I'll do between 2-6 minutes total for planks, but I'm hoping to get that up to a consistent 6 soon. I'd like to start holding those side planks for a full minute, too.

So that's a general idea of where we're starting from. I'm hoping to get to the gym again tomorrow, but I'm coming down with a cold that's one of those wait-and-see things. I'll either feel fine, or be bed-ridden tomorrow.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!!