I'm only a failure if I quit, right?

[jtizzle]

So I meant to do the last round of six week challenge, signed up, and got as far as crafting my perfect goals and plan, and.....

never posted them or followed through. I think I did my optimum super-awesome workout one time.

Before that I pledged to post a battle log and then I got really busy and stopped. Then I didn't start again because I felt like a loser. That was last year, sometime, I don't even want to look at when.

So now I'm going to try again. I just got done with a week of binge-playing Ingress and feeling like a piece of crap for neglecting all of my important goals to play the game. And possibly jeopardizing my current employment track. So I decided I needed to start paying attention to what I am doing and revisit my goals for the year (which by my standards never got "finished") and came back to the Nerd Fitness academy to see what's up.

The Nerd Fitness Academy I joined at its inception and read everything and..... didn't really do.

And they made a game I can play! and collect shiny XP and level up!

And I find myself reading the stuff and not doing it. What is the difference between that stupid game and my real life?

[ARock10]

Hey jtizzle, I too have intended to post a challenge or have posted a challenge and then only done one or two more posts.  It can be hard to start, that's why so few people do.  It's hard to go through with a plan too.  But that's what this community is for.  I've seen lots of people drop off for a while only to resurface and start again and they get welcomed back and encouraged each time.  I'm glad you are back and started a new battle log.  Looking forward to your next post.

[jtizzle]

So today I run the Warrior Dash in Wisconsin. I hope I'm in good enough shape for it, I'm not exactly a noob at fitness but I've been concentrating on diet to manage some health issues (depression and now rheumatoid arthritis) so the working out had been restricted to the Primal essentials and walking. I've run 5ks before even though I haven't cracked 30 min yet (got 1 min to go!) but Ive stopped running due to hip pain and working on cortisol and inflammation levels. Concerned about my upper body strength though, I can't seem to manage a pull-up after 6 month's of mainly regular practice. I'm trying not to be my negative self and not think too hard, just do what's right in front of me and be in the moment.

More venting, sorry, I'm working on trying to get an attitude adjustment because it has been really bad the last few months. I feel like my body is failing me, but I probably just need to adjust my expectations and my techniques and it'll be fine.

Not looking for a response, I guess I just hope that if someone else with similar attitudes reads this they can be encouraged to try again/keep going.

[jtizzle]

Hey jtizzle, I too have intended to post a challenge or have posted a challenge and then only done one or two more posts.  It can be hard to start, that's why so few people do.  It's hard to go through with a plan too.  But that's what this community is for.  I've seen lots of people drop off for a while only to resurface and start again and they get welcomed back and encouraged each time.  I'm glad you are back and started a new battle log.  Looking forward to your next post.

Thanks, ARock10, I'm glad you took the time to reply. I know I beat myself up a lot but I really want think I'm better than that - it's an integrity issue for me because I'm not doing what I promised. But it is hard, or else everyone would do it, Right!

All the best!

[jtizzle]

Warrior Dash was really fun! of course I am stronger than I think I am. To think I almost didn't sign up because I was scared and feeling worthless. So there, negativity.

Sunday was a rest day. I really should have at least taken a walk but I didn't plan well so I ran out of time (I had to work)

Today I take new "before" pictures, they're actually "during" pictures as i've been at this for a while. But I'm going through the Academy to give some structure and reinvigorate things. I'm doing the bodyweight workouts.

[jtizzle]

I promise, no more whining. I am sorry to have bored anyone to death with my "woe is me" stuff, but venting really helped me accept what I was allowing to happen, and consequently I could deal with it. So thank you for bearing with me and ignoring it instead of telling me to shut up.

I LOVE the new Academy! And I'm super stoked about the email I got with the TMNT workout- it's just what I was looking for!

so, now I can finally get down to goals.

1) first, follow workout schedule for 6 weeks. this is TMNT 3x/wk, starting at level 1 and hoping to progress 1 lvl a week, but I don't know how long I'll get linear progress. Pistol squats are intimidating to me. 3 other days will be jogging with some sprints occasionally. length of 2-3 mi depending on speed. At some point I'd like to get faster at running to make a 5k in under 30 min, but this is really more for stress reduction and maintaining my current cardio fitness level.

2) for the last 6 weeks I've transitioned to the Primal diet. I kicked dairy, which I didn't think I'd be able to do. my goal is to get to following the anti-inflammatory diet as closely as possible to see what affect it has on my arthritis. I feel like I'm too young to have written that sentence. I'm not sure how I will do with the nightshade vegetables because it's finally tomato season where I live. And eggs will be hard also, I'm still trying to figure out what I can eat for breakfast and I'm blanking out. Loads of bacon? ooh, bacon-spinach salad. I can have salad for breakfast, right?

3) continue my stress management plan of meditation, solid sleep schedule, and assertiveness work.

4) since that last one is maintenance, I will add one more - be more active on the forums, and contribute where I can.

Goal - stronger, better mobility, balance, and power. This has actually been what I've wanted so the timing is perfect

specific strength goals: i really want to be able to do a pull-up. I need to strengthen my posterior chain,my squats are terrible.

Reward - 6 weeks will result in either a rock-climbing session or a parkour class. I want to do both equally badly so I'm going to have to do a coin-toss to see which.

Battle log will be daily log of diet and workout, and sleep hours and meditation time.

I' m sure I've left something out but it's time to be done for now and get some sleep!