Draco

Depending on the day and my mood, I stay up late either for: 1 - cleaning the house and trying to get things set up to run smoothly in the morning, knowing I'll have no energy then because I didn't sleep enough OR 2 - Skyrim. Because... Skyrim! Ever played? I'm going to play some more tonight, but I'm going to cut it out in an hour so I can lay out my clothes and get in bed by ten. That's not like me, but I do need the sleep. And I'm trying to change for the better. So sleep I shall!

That's why I set up my challenge this way. Last year I did two challenges (and barely started a third before dropping out). I have kept exactly two habits from back then, neither of which were among my goals: I stopped drinking soda and started bringing a water bottle to work. Forget being bigger, faster, stronger, etc - it's the little things that stick with you and change your life over time. So I want more little things! ....though eventually I want to run a 5K again.

Day Four: Same walk as yesterday, but 16 minutes. My leg muscles are starting to ache though. I forgot that, being out of shape at the moment, walking IS exercise and I need to leave my body time to recover. *sigh* I miss being a runner. I think tomorrow will be a day off from walking. 80 ounces of water, 60 ounces of coffee. Same yoga routine as yesterday. I'm going to get bored of this if I don't expand it soon, but I made this commitment to myself so that I learn the individual poses well enough that I'm comfortable doing them any time with no prep. I'm slowly building a repertoire of poses I can use in the freestyle yoga session I WANT to do. And so I will stick with it, bored or not. And in a few weeks, I will enjoy it my way. Tonight I'll be laying out workout clothes next to my suit, the timer on the coffee maker is set.... let's see how this goes!

I don't have a particular bedtime in mind, but I'm trying to learn how to set things up well at night so I can get off to a good start in the mornings. One of my goals this challenge is to lay out each days clothes the night before. I'd like to join up if you'd all be willing.

Day three: Walked a mile again, faster this time. I measured my routes on mapquest.com and found out that day two was 0.78 miles, but my other two routes are full miles. So I can walk a mile in 15 minutes, if I work at keeping the pace. I think my problem isn't going to be getting the walks in - its going to be keeping myself from breaking into a run. It feels good to be intentionally exercising again. 102 oz water and 60 oz coffee yesterday. The morning yoga mini session is going well, though it naturally feels too short. It does bring up a couple things I may need to tweak though. One is that certain muscle groups that I've always had problems with (hamstrings and shoulders primarily) probably should be stretched regularly as well. I'm thinking of adding that as a fitness side quest. The other relates to... Laying out my clothes the night before. This is going better than anticipated (though I must remember a belt). One problem: I get up wearing pajama pants, go to the restroom, and then want to exercise. I can't put on the suit sitting next to me - not yet anyway. For now I do my yoga mini session in the bathroom. But as I add more poses, that's not going to be possible. I need to lay out workout clothes along with my regular outfit. And if THAT becomes a habit that sticks with me, I will truly have no excuses.

If you make any good freezer meals, would you mind sharing recipes? I'm a certified public accountant, so I go months at a time where I'm home for dinner only one or two days a week. And my wife is physically handicapped, so if I don't have something set up that she can prepare easily, the kids just end up eating processed prepackaged foods. So any new ideas of what to prepare would be a huge help! I can empathize with the house issues - I don't know you of home, so I have no idea of the scale of he problem, but my house has been an enormous embarrassment for years because I can't bear to throw things away. And then there's so much stuff around that cleaning around it (or even worse - finding something when you need it!) takes forever. Papers are the worst for me. I have no filing system (at least not one that's effective), and I can't bring myself to toss anything I might need one day - so I make a pile to go through. One room of the house and a decent chunk of the basement are just paper, and probably 99% trash. I'm slowly working on recovering though, and flylady.net has been a big help. You might want to check it out.

Thank you therealkat! I didn't update my challenge last night because I had to watch a certain show, bit no regrets!

Is there any other reason for C25K training? I was doing Zombies Run last year until I hurt my knee. Looking forward to starting again, but I'm a long way from being 5K ready at the moment. Maybe in a challenge or two. I love the Dr Horrible theme! I've only seen it once, but it must have screwed up the way I think. I'm always telling my wife we just need to do x and y to get the status back to quo. I hadn't realized I got that from Dr Horrible! Now I need to see if my library has a copy.... Good luck with your goals! Btw, I'm a baker too so I know how hard the dessert thing will be. I'm glad to see you're facing the monster head on!

Hi all - I'm another Adventurer just visiting your guild. I'm hoping to join your ranks in a challenge or two, once I've gotten some more of the basics under my belt. Hope you don't mind if I peek in on you all from time to time!

I had done MyFitnessPal back in my first challenge last year - it really works if you put in the effort. I've gained the weight back since then though. If I were you, I would consider doing one challenge with the calorie limit like this, but making my next challenge focus on forming healthy habits that will carry with you even when you're not "dieting". Something simple, like cutting soda or drinking your coffee black can go a long way over time. I may be halfway back up to my starting weight, but I haven't had a soda in 11 months. The weight comes and goes, but kicking the soda? That's something that I'll carry with me for life.

Sorry to hear about the leg Leeroy, but it's great to hear that you're focusing on doing what needs to be done to get it back up to speed. Just don't overdo and reinjure it - a mistake I made a couple of times now with my knee (injured it running, the doctor won't look at it because it's not hurting when I have an appointment, and then a few weeks later I hurt it running again). Slow and steady will get you there. Nice drumming!

Wow - I gotta say, the warhammer workout is just amazing, and such an awesome idea! When I read that you're going to make a forge though - I didn't think people still forged anything nowadays outside of factories. Can you link to something on that? I'd be curious to know more! And don't give away too much about Skyrim - I'm a late starter, so I'm still muddling through that one!

I'm having trouble with the sleep myself - I get up at the same time every day, which helps - but going to bed at the same time never seems to work. There's always something keeping me up later (like checking out people's boards on NF).

Two days in, and I'm going to modify one of my goals: Instead of 96 ounces of water a day, I'm going to aim for 80 ounces. Someone I trust suggested to me that my max water intake should be no more than (in ounces) my body weight (in pounds) divided by two. Any more than that and I might have problems with my electrolyte balance. She studied this stuff in college and works as a chiropractor, so I'm going to take her advice on this. But I've been doing well in the challenge so far: Two days started with short yoga routines Day one had 96 ounces of water and 60 ounces of coffee Day two had 104 ounces of water and 48 ounces of coffee I took a lunchtime walk both days (20 minutes yesterday, 15 today but I walked much faster) And my wife complimented my outfit this morning - the first day that I laid out clothes the night before. I actually have a whole week of work outfits picked out, and they all match better than what I usually wear. So it's a very successful start!

I've been looking at this PVP for a couple of days, trying to decide if I had the courage to join. Today I opened a fortune cookie that said "Somewhere, deep inside, we all can fly." I'm going to take it as a sign that I'm supposed to be here. Since I've only just started fluttering, and I've only ever done one of Flylady's missions, I'm going to try for three missions a week and one weekly home blessing some time over the 6WC. So that's a goal of 20 points. I think I can handle that. Failure? I'll let my daughter paint her Daddy's toenails for Halloween. Success? I place an order of flower bulbs from Spring Hill Nurseries. They won't ship until February, so I'll end up with a bunch of bulbs showing up in the middle of tax season (I'm an accountant, so that's my busy time). It'll force me to go outside and work with my hands a bit during my busiest time. (Edited to include photo)

Background: When I joined the Rebellion a year ago, it was the day that a new challenge was starting. I jumped in head first and tried to do so much all at once... I was trying to compress a C25K program from eight weeks to six, pullups, pushups, diet.... I was in over my head and didn't have any clue. I injured myself (minor) running, and had fits and starts since then. Later that year, I went for a second challenge. I had broad over-arching goals with lots and lots of sub-goals. In hindsight, it was pretty dumb and I'm kind of surprised no one said so to my face! I lost my job during that challenge, and dealt with a hurricane and several other major events.... I muddled through achieving little - nothing that would stick. Over that time of challenges, my weight dropped from 170 to 146 - I hit my goal of 148 and dipped below it. But I didn't learn anything really. It's a year later, I don't exercise regularly, I weight 163 (and am gradually trending upwards), and none of it is muscle - I'm getting a beer-belly back. I've been reading Steve's articles for the past year, but not doing much more. Now, it's time for a change.... I reenter as an Adventurer, but one who will take things slow and easy, build habits one at a time, and seek to become a Druid instead of a multiclass everything-doer. MAIN QUEST TO MAKE HEALTH AND FITNESS A HABIT, so even if my world falls apart again, at least some things will carry across to my next endeavor. SMALL yoga routine daily. I will permit myself add something weekly, but I'm starting with three poses: mountain->volcano->side bends. And that's it. In the past I have always tried to overdo and learn a long program all at once, and I find I'm not comfortable doing too much without the video. So I put it off (I don't have time to get the mat and watch the video, and the kids are sleeping!) If I keep it small, keep it simple... I have no excuses. Yoga helps me find peace and a kind of center in my day, but I do it so rarely.... Today, that will begin to change.Walk a mile (or 20 minutes at a decent pace) every other day (with skipping permitted in inclement weather). I do want to get back into running 5Ks eventually, but general basic fitness is more important to me right now. If it's going well, the last two weeks of the challenge I might consider beginning C25K training again. But for starters, just walking. In my first challenge, I had tried to do a 8 week C25K program in 6 weeks, and hurt my knee and ankle. I'm taking this slow and easy now. And a mile happens to fit at lunch time at work most days, so this could work.Drink water. Goal is 96 ounces daily. Primarily, this level of consumption is intended to help me stop drinking so much coffee! Typically, I drink about 32 ounces of water and an equal amount of coffee on weekends. On weekdays I drink more like 64 ounces of water and 84 ounces of coffee. I find that I get headaches more often on weekends, and I wonder if is related to the drastic shift in hydration. If I pay attention to increasing the water, maybe the coffee will drop off more easily. As a side note (and nothing more), I will track how much coffee I drink. I had been trying to cut back, but that will not be a focus of this challenge. I will just post my quantities to maybe get a baseline for the next challenge....SIDE QUEST: Lay out clothes the night before. Going from a life of slobbery and minor hoarding, I'm gradually working my way better one small step at a time. I've already developed the habit off cleaning my kitchen every night before bed (except last night, but I burnt my hand and couldn't stand the hot water. The kitchen is clean now though). Having my clothes set up takes a minute at night but saves me several minutes in the morning (and the inevitable '"wait... this doesn't match" that comes from picking clothes from the closet while my wife is sleeping). A small step, yes... but the little things make a big impact when they become a daily habit. AND SO IT BEGINS....

I managed to fail to meet any of my goals - there are plenty of reasons (excuses) for this, but nothing that would cause me to allow stat point increases anywhere. Goal 1: DISCIPLINE THE TROOPS: Build healthy habits and have the discipline to follow through - Plan and execute weekly exercise routines; work on my posture and breathing throughout the day (details on my thread) Goal 1 RESULTS: I had one week of executing my exercise plan and paying close attention to my posture. Then five weeks of nada. I have been filled with excuses: The family got sick, I got sick, I lost my job, the family got sick again, I got sick again.... On my third day at my new job I even broke out in hives (must be allergic to SOMETHING). Really, I DID need to step back and slow down while everything was going on, but I could have done SOMETHING. Instead I did nothing. And so no progress was made. Goal 2: STOCK THE ARSENAL: Learn a wide variety of exercise types/styles and particular exercises/poses, so I have a sizable “arsenal†to work from. (details on my thread) Goal 2 RESULTS: I rediscovered my lost love of yoga... but stopped practicing after the first week. I do intend to take that up again soon, but until my sinus infection goes away any motion where my body is leaned over causes post nasal drip and a coughing fit. Not very yoga-friendly. And like in my first goal, I pretty much stopped all forward progress after the first week. Goal 3: DON MY ARMOR: My vanity fitness goal - Lose weight, learn and attempt a basic (modified) paleo diet, and include abs and buttocks work in my regular workouts (details on my thread) Goal 3 RESULTS: I hit my goal weight, though as a result of skipping meals when I was too feverish to care, not due to exercise. Did not try paleo at any point (though I do think a veggie counting goal would be a better place for me to start). And there's no progress on my abs/glutes/chest - all workouts have been on hold for weeks. Goal 4: BUILD DEFENSES: The level-up-my-life goal: Taking responsibility. Complete a variety of easy-to-procrastinate tasks (i.e. write a will, get my annual physical checkup) that never get done but could be devastating if they NEVER get done. Complete success will be about 60% of the list done during the challenge. (details on my thread) Goal 4 RESULTS: I'm starting to make progress here, more as a result of necessity than actual effort. Still a fail if you go by my original points schedule. RESULTS SUMMARY: I called this challenge “Preparing to Hold Back The Darknessâ€. In that sense, perhaps I did better than the individual goals would indicate. Although I can list each of the goals as a fail, I can also look at it this way: The darkness did not take the shape that I thought it would, and it did not leave me time to prepare for it, but I rode it out and came out the other side. Worse for wear, yes - but I could have had a much harder time of this than I did. In short (details on my thread), I lost my job, dealt with each person in my family falling ill twice with high fevers, a sinus infection, pinkeye, injured my knee, and had some kind of allergic reaction that left me covered in red spots for a week. But here I am after all that.... I have a new job in a quality CPA firm (voted best firm on Long Island two years running!) with what should be serious growth potential. My family is mostly healthy, and we have been taking care of ourselves and (mostly) not eating junk food. I have not had a drop of soda since October, though I started putting sugar in my coffee again when I got sick. I hit my 149 ideal weight last week and have actually dipped below it since then. We were ready for Christmas - though we scaled back from prior years. And though our "emergency fund" is nearly empty, we incurred no new debts during this period. Goals reached? No. Held back the darkness? Yeah, I'd say that. And my perspective on these challenges is changing though (I think for the better) – if I want to move forward, it will be by taking small steps consistently, not by setting a time limit and trying to fix everything. Yes, it would be nice if fixing everything WORKED, but it doesn’t change ME. The small steps do. (Yes, I know this is exactly what EVERYONE on NF says EVERY DAY, but it’s hard to listen sometimes when I WANT to fix everything at once!) So my third challenge will be (re)starting small. Upon the advice of my fellow adventurers who posted on my thread, I am considering this leveling up (although NO stat points were gained, as NO goal objectives were achieved.)

During my first challenge, I tracked everything I consumed for three weeks straight. Out of curiosity, I just went back and counted coffee. I averaged 6.5 cups, with a high of 9 cups and a low of 4.5. It's 200 mg per 8 oz cup of coffee on average, right? That means I averaged 1300 and maxed at 1800. In a 150 lb body. Ouch. And when I'm tracking what I eat/drink, I tend to use a lot more moderation than my usual mindless eating/drinking.... I'm wondering what my REAL average is. I think my third challenge might just include a caffeine reduction regimen. Six weeks? Start with a cap of six cups and work down to one cup, right? lol:) Or should I suck it up and go from 5 cups to zero? Zero... no coffee... none.... nada.... Maybe I'll stick with the six cup to one cup max.

So.... How did Week One go?

I'm away for the weekend, so please bug me with pms if you log in on Tuesday and you don't see a Monday update on my thread.

Hey all - I'm thinking about changing some of my goals and would like some advice. I started out with a paleo goal (learn about paleo, then implement a meal plan, count days on, etc.) But once I read up about it, I realized that jumping into it with my diet the way it is is going to mean going almost Atkins plus fruit - I don't eat much in the way of veggies on a regular basis, unless it has some kind of sweet sauce. I mean I go through stretches where I'm good on veggies, but.... What do you all think of changing my count-days-of-paleo to count-servings-of-veggies or count-days-of-5+-servings?

Completely epic - You can do it Chanda!

I'd be interested to see what you intend with goal #4 - how DO you completely schedule and organize your life? And how do you measure success? Good luck over the next six weeks, and welcome to the Challenge!

Hi PaleoIsh, just wanted to add one comment from experience: If your arms are weak to start (as mine are), it is very difficult to build both pull-ups and push-ups in the same time period. For me, working either caused my arms to become tired. Then I couldn't push myself with the other exercise. Just something to keep in mind.

First, congratulations Hiraedd on being named the Adventurer's Champion for the previous challenge! Cheers!