PunchTonic

I'm taking transfiguration, but when's a good time to work on mobility? morning? night? what do you all prefer?

Ah hi! Just jumping in on this! I was thinking of throwing one of the classes that I struggle to go to regularly (Sparring class at Tae Kwon Do) to count specifically for this challenge. I go to those classes regularly on other days, but this extra session is bonus (which I end up skipping sometimes without proper motivation). Maybe bonus practice to something you do regularly, whether that's getting there a bit early or staying late may count toward training? I'd say go with whatever system gives you the most momentum/satisfaction! I think I can only do two classes - Charms and Transfiguration (my faves!)

WEEK 2 UPDATE: Well, life keeps chugging along. I have such a love-hate relationship with routine. It's great because I'm the most productive when my schedule is fairly regular. It sucks though, because when every day looks pretty much like the last, it starts to feel mundane and I get too into my head about the meaning of life and things get weird. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So I went to the dentist all proud and stuff because I've been flossing consistently for the better part of half a year. But apparently my "home care" still needs work because my hygienist recommended a waterpik (a high-powered water flosser). I bought one the other day, but I haven't used it yet. I guess I was a little disappointed that my flossing habit didn't have a discernible impact on my gum health. I'm hopeful for the waterpik though - I've heard good things, but it's just ONE MORE thing to add to my nightly routine haha. I don't know what was going on last week, but my muscles felt sore pretty much every day. I think I also got started on the wrong foot because I had to skip my workout time to go to the dentist. Long story short, I didn't go on any runs last week, so I'm a bit rusty. I'm going to try to carve out some time to run at LEAST this Wed. Man, working out regularly requires so much time commitment. I need to work on some school stuff, but I wonder where I'm going to find the time...

Oh I hadn't! Your comment actually reminded me to post haha. It was more a general comment on the challenge so far. i HAD to look this guy up. That is AMAZING. I'm trying to bite his food but I looked at an interview of his and he was like, "I eat when I'm hungry....I don't think about it much" which is awesome, but not very helpful for someone trying to emulate! I gotta go do some poking around the food forums here. 1. no such thing ;D 2. actually....I'm not. Terrible, I know. For a long time, any barrier to entry was enough to stop me from running at all, but now that I'm running more regularly, I don't really have the excuse. I'll try that out this week too. ^^

WEEK 1 UPDATE: I think my challenge metrics speak for themselves! Overall, progress is steady. This week was going really well at the beginning. My housemates weren't home and so I set my own schedule/meals. That was when I was eating low-carb, studying dutifully, etc. They came home and 1. I ran out of groceries and 2. We eat out a lot SO the low-carb dinner train came to a halt. It's a bit disappointing, but that just means I have to focus on keeping my lunches (the only meal I have 100% control over) healthy. This is my #1 struggle as far as my diet goes. As an aside, I want to be a vegetarian but I also don't want to eat a lot of dairy or breads..... I'm still trying to figure out how to make that work, especially as far as protein and muscle building goes. I'm not necessarily trying to put on muscle, I just want to make sure my body is nourished so I can keep fueling my workouts. I'd also like to drop my body fat %. Is this too much to ask? Maybe. Probably. xD I was doing well for running, but lately, my shins have been tensing up, making it painful to run after about 2 miles. My brother (the veteran runner in the household) said it was from over-training and to run more slowly, but I already run at like, a 10-11 minute pace - I'd practically be walking if I go slower! It also hurts usually the first run of the week, which leads me to believe that it's because I'm "cold" after the weekend. I just rested the duration of the week (though I went to TKD nearly every day, so I was still exercising, just not aerobically). I'll give it another shot this week, and try to troubleshoot some things. Onward!

pause... WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN. cONGRATs?!!? EDIT: just went through your last challenge and found the announcement. ahh curse my inactivity, but congrats nonetheless!!

yeah! i'm hoping to take advantage of this nice weather we're having lately, even if it is slightly disconcerting haha

it does, unfortunately. ;( not until around august though, so i've got a fair bit of time to hit all the tourist-y must-sees!

hahah yes! That's the image I chase in my dreams. I hope there'll still be a place in government research labs for our cohort once we graduate! *fingers crossed*

Thank you!! ^^ I don't know exactly what my research topic/question will be, but it'll focus on applied urban/suburban landscape ecology. I'm particularly interested in issues such as sustainable design/policy and environmental justice and stewardship.

Main Goals: Floss (X/7) - Be on time for work (X/5) - Do 10 push-ups every day (X/7) - Study Tarot (X/7) - Keep a public food log (X/7) - Bonus Goals: Run (X total) - Low-carb meal (X total) -

Hello friends! First off: GOOD NEWS! I've been accepted to my top choice graduate program! The best part is that my research is fully funded, so won't be taking on any extra debt to get my Master's degree (I guess barring any catastrophic events). I found this out while I was visiting the school over this weekend and I just got back yesterday, which is why the challenge thread posting is so late. I'm really happy, but I'm still digesting and processing all the news and what that means for me tangibly over the next few months. Life changes, yet again! My challenge this go-around is just to keep up the steady progress from last month. Without further ado: Main Goals: Floss (X/7) - I have a dentist appointment scheduled during this challenge, so I'll get to see how flossing has (hopefully!) improved my dental health! Be on time for work (X/5) - I've slipped into a bad habit of being slightly late to work because my boss isn't ever around, but I need to do better. Do 10 push-ups every day (X/7) - My upper body game is weak, so I want to step it up! Study Tarot (X/7) - Now that I found a way I like to study Tarot regularly (using the Labyrinthos Academy app), I've stepped this up from being a bonus to a main! Keep a public food log (X/7) - I'm trying to up my diet level, so I need to see where I can improve. I'll probably keep my food log on a piece of paper in the kitchen (where my housemates can see it). Bonus Goals: Run - shooting for 3x/week or 12 times over the course of the challenge Eat a low-carb meal - shooting for 7x/week or 28 times over the course of the challenge Let's go!

WEEK 4 UPDATE: OVERALL SCORE: Main Goals Fitness: 16/28 = 57% ---> womp womppp Lvl up 1: 25/28 = 89% Lvl up 2: 20/24 = 83% Main goal (+) total: 76% Diet: -12 percentage points Bonus goals: +26 percentage points TOTAL: 90% Wow let me just say, I did NOT expect to score so high. Hooray for bonus points! Especially those low carb meals. It started with me trying to eat low-carb at lunch, but some dinners (coincidentally, the ones I got to plan/cook) were low carb, so I got to rack up extra points at dinner time and subsequent lunches (leftovers!). So hey, that's pretty awesome. In the last week, I started the Labyrinthos Academy Tarot Studying app, which was SO helpful! It even has daily lessons/tasks for you to do. I'm mad I didn't start earlier (even though I only heard about it maybe a few days before I started using it). I think going through the lessons on the app will be a decent introduction to the cards, and it made it a lot less intimidating than using the workbook that I was planning on using before. I'll definitely need to further my studies after it, but this is a good base level to start with. I finally started doing some running. Part of me is like, "why do I want to do this?" when every time I run is a battle of willpower. BUT I do feel good afterward and the runs I go on are short...I guess running is just an easy metric of aerobic health so I do it. And literally 100% of my motivation is that, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, could I run far enough fast enough to survive? XD I'm not kidding. Which is what makes the Zombies, Run! app helpful for making my runs suck a little less. My main problem is that I start running with some semblance of regularity for a few months at a time and then stop when life "gets in the way." Then I have to start all over when I decide I want to get fit again or when the weather improves, or whatever. So I'm trying to stick to a weekly schedule (rn, it's mon and wed, seeing about adding sat/sun) so I can maintain a base level of cardio fitness. That's a work in progress, though. The unplanned snack challenge was tough, I'm not gonna lie. What helped was actually getting healthy snacks to keep around. I realized that my best eating style is just to eat when I'm hungry, which ends up in me having like, 4 small-medium sized meals a day (breakfast, lunch, after-work 2nd lunch, and dinner haha), with a few snacks (my go-tos have been apples+PB, a few crackers and dates, slices of deli meat with slices of cheese) in between. I'm not much of a calorie-counter, but I know that when I eat something small when I feel a hunger twinge (smaller than a full-out pang), it's easier to resist junk food, I can focus on cooking good meals at home, and I'm less likely to overeat. Turning on the light when I wake up has been ineffective this go-around. My ultimate goal there is to be able to get up when my alarm goes off (instead of perpetually hitting snooze...) with a secondary ultimate goal of not being late to work so often. Part of it is there hasn't been any consequences if I don't get to work on time (my boss is rarely in the office), but I just know that's a dangerous habit to slip into. In future challenges, I'll try to motivate myself to that end specifically. My main fitness goal to do squats and pushups was...not a great success in that I DIDN'T do what I set out to 43% of the time. Yikes. That being said, by the end of this challenge I completed almost 400 more collective pushups and squats than I would have if this wasn't a part of the challenge. I can definitely notice a difference in my quads and my arm muscles are a little more defined when I look in the mirror. So hey, I guess it's doing something. I think I'll continue something like this in the future. I really want to improve my upper-body strength, so maybe it'll focus on that. Well, thanks for following on my first assassins challenge! Hopefully, I'll see y'all in the next one!

I'll have to check that out!

WEEK 3 UPDATE: Not quite as good as last week, but minor improvements in different places. I ate a BUNCH of low-carb meals because my brother made a pork roast and a kale salad, which lasted at least through the week. He also made mashed potatoes, but I was able to resist, haha. Turning on the light is not as effective for me actually getting out of bed as the last time I tried that... I don't know what's changed! I'm chronically late to work at least 15 minutes each day. Luckily my boss has been out of the office most days lately so I've been able to get away with it, but I know that's not good. eep. I've FINALLY started going running haha. I started using Zombies, Run! I like that there's a story line and SOME motivation to keep running and to push through. Those sprints (even if it's only for 1k at a time) are killer though. It's good for a more casual runner (aka me), though they do have running programs for races. They have a lot of content, so I'm excited to keep it up. General life update: I got invited to an interview weekend at my top choice graduate school! Other than having to pay for an expensive plane ticket (ugh, I hate flying), I'm really excited to visit!