Amelia

Thanks everyone! and yes, lice do suck, MAJORLY. But I have gotten rid of most of them and I bought that tea tree oil shampoo so I sure hope that's helping. I've been checking her everyday to see if she has any more; yesterday I found none. But I'll keep checking. Now concerning my goals. Yesterday was a pretty good day compared to the days before that. I give myself a B- for yesterday. Overall, I give myself a C for the entire challenge so far. I am struggling with the "Eat only 3 times/day " goal. I think I'm just like my father. The more someone or something (my goals) tells me to do something, the more resisrant I am to do it. This type of thinking is primitive. I realize that I am not (or wasn't) in the right state of mind when I attempted to work on my goals, or at least I was in the beginning but that quickly faded. My brain is use to not expecting much out of me. But I have to challenge that way of thinking. For my second challenge. I want to set goals differently like " lose 1-2 lbs per week for a total of 6-12 lbs in 6 weeks" and "finish 2 laps in 35 minutes". I find those goals more exciting and motivating than diet goal. And if I want to achieve these goals I would have to make my diet healthier. So, win/win

I'm telling you SUGAR IS THE DEVIL!...ok it isn't but it's still evil :c That's why paleo is so difficult to stay on. Sugar, in some form, is freakin everywhere! I bet like 90 percent of processed food have simple carbs in them (ok, i totally made that number up but it wouldn't surprise me! ¬_¬ ) . It's so easy to just serve myself some cereal or go to some restaurant... I secretly wished the whole december 21st, 2012 thing was going to be that all the food would me magically turned into paleo-approved food...lol anyways, maybe you could allow yourself dessert on saturdays after dinner. that way you wont feel all weird that you can never have chocolate again. And this could be just one square of dark chocolate or whatever. It'll be much more difficult to get back on track if you go all out on dessert. Keep up the good work!

Congrats on reaching your life goal so early! It's great that you're making new goals for yourself once you've reached your previous one. That's a great trait to have. I'm sure you'll reach your next life goal, you seem like a very driven person. *admiration*

This week was pretty awful for me too. :[ But what I found really helpful about this six week challenge is that even if you fail a day or two, you still feel the need to get back up and keep going. If it wasn't for this challenge, my "fail" period of making no progress would have been way longer. It seems like you're getting on it again and the way you see exercise is changing so congrats! And I admire you for doing exercise even when you're so busy. Keep fighting for yourself. You deserve it!

Hey Ben, Keep up the good work and I'm sure you know perfection isn't possible (even those hot supermodels have weird looking feet or something ) so just do your best everyday and/or do a lil better tomorrow! I used to watch encino man errday back when I was a kid, then I had a crush on Brenden Fraser for the next 5-10 years...now I feel old...in five years I'll be, like, thirty AHHHH! *runs around in circles with arms flailing* jk... But I'm with you on the diet thing. I live with my parents and siblings and they sometimes bring stuff in the house that I know I shouldn't eat but it's incredibly tempting to a sugar lover like myself. It would be much easier to stay on track with my diet if I didn't have temptation in the freakin' house all the time! But it's their house so whatevs. I need to learn how to distract myself when the cravings hit. I read somewhere that they only last 15 minutes max anyways *shrug* And, yeah, the feeling after a good workout is the shiznit! Idk about you, but I feel like a bad ass. XD

@littlewings: really? XD jk! I'm one of those people that when she's not allowed something, she wants it even more(gah!). Thanks for the encouragement. and I'm an ok painter but practice makes perfect @Avalonna: Thanks for letting me know! I thought I had read 2-3 times/week :/ *in Wall-e voice* Eeeeeeeeva! lol So, here we go: 1) Eat only three meals a day, around every 4-5 hours pretty much failed this the last two days. I have made a secret side goal ¬_¬ to lose 2 lbs per week until my birthday (May 9). If I do this I will be at around 130 lbs (and hell yeah, I'm going on a shopping spree). This is more incentive to actually make progress on goals 1,2, and 3. I don't really consider it an extra goal but more as a result that should come from properly working on goals 1,2 and 3. And it is more appealing to me. 2) Eat vegetables and protein for at least two meals/day I did eat some veggies but not as much as I should have. 3) Exercise for 30-60 minutes, 5-6 times/week. I exercised 2 out of the last 3 days. If I continue to exercise everyday until Sunday I will have exercised 4 days this week. Its isn't ideal but it isnt absolutely horrible. :/ 4) Spend one-on-one time with Eva every evening I have kept up with this goal. For example, yesterday I spent 2 hours picking lice and nits from her hair. >_< Those little a-holes we're pretty much see through. I hate lice. She got them from her cousin and her mom don't give a crap. So every time she comes over I'm going to lather up Eva's head with some tea tree oil shampoo and leave it on for ten minutes. I had my husband check me and I checked him we were both clear. I hope he's right. Gonna go buy some tea tree shampoo today...hate 'em!

So the past 2 days were a disaster. I'm an all-or-nothing type of person so Monday and Tuesday were "nothing" days. I didn't feel like exercising at all, so I didn't. I ate vegetables but not the amount I should have. I didn't journal my food intake (it was that bad so I didn't want to face it). I did play with my daughter a bit, though. I have modified my goals after a week because I am impatient and have a short attention span. Also, I stress easily. I think this is becasue I have been used to dealing with very little pressure, so once something comes up, my brain registers it as chaos. -.- I have received a few commissions for paintings, so this is the cause of the stress. First, I realize I have to establish some sort of daily routine. This is what I have in mind: --Between 7:30 & 8:30: Wake up and have green tea --:30 minutes later: Exercise (or clean if it's Sunday) --Eat breakfast --Spend :30 minutes max on Nerd Fitness Forums [i plan to update my challenge thread twice per week (I'd say wednesdays and Sundays) and use the other days to catch up on everyone's progress in the group (which I haven't been very good at)] --Spend 2 hours cleaning with Eva's help --Spend 4-6 hours doing art-related stuff without T.V. (reading, taking pictures, drawing, painting,etc.) i will take a break in between for lunch --After 7:00 pm I will focus on Eva only. I will limit t.v. during this time. I will follow her lead, so whatever she wants to do. --Around 9:00 pm--bath time, story time, then bed time This schedule isn't strict, somedays I may skip an activity, for example. As long as I follow this general schedule on most days I'll be happy. My Modified Goals: 1) Eat only three meals a day, around every 4-5 hours (I noticed while I was keeping a food journal that I am snacking constantly so this will help me eat less and hopefully lose some fatness ) 2) Eat vegetables and protein for at least two meals/day (I am thinking lunch and dinner and allow myself some fruit for breakfast, I heard somewhere that is when your body needs carbs the most *shrug* ) 3) Exercise for 30-60 minutes, 5-6 times/week. (I was doing strength training on my own but I did a Jillian Michaels DVD today (the one I used to lose the baby weight, which I have gained back -.- ) and I noticed I pushed myself harder than I do when training on my own. So I will keep using the DVDs, I have several of them so I can switch it up when I get bored, which happens a lot. I am not going to be strict on what types of exercise I have to do; sometimes I feel like dancing instead of strength or running. As long as I do some type of activity. 4) Spend one-on-one time with Eva every evening. I am not going to put a time requirement on this. I will just play with her as long as she wants me to without going past bath time. Here's to never giving up!

@Jennynot-It's true what you said about planning to spend time with someone. I should rethink that goal. Maybe something like only 2 hours max of t.v. per day (that would be for both of us) to make sure we spend time doing other things like playing (with me or anyone in the family), painting, or cleaning. LOL I mean't diced cactus with scrambled eggs like this. p.s. I'm eating a fresh mango right now in your honor how much do they cost over there btw? Here they are about 88 cents each which is about .66 euros 1-9-13 Goal 1: Food Journal -2 cups broccoli & spinach + 3/4 cup ground turkey -1 cup white rice + 6 oz chicken in chile sauce -banana + 2 tbsp almond butter -5 chocolate chip cookies -1cup veggies + 3/4 cup turkey -a happy meal (which didn't bring me happiness) Goal 2: 3-5 servings/cups of veggies -3 cups of veggies! Goal 3: Exercise Did my strength training routine #1. I pushed harder this time! Goal 4: Eva Time I only spent about an hour total with Eva, but we went to the playground and she spent a good 30 minutes playing there too 1-10-13 Goal 1: Food Journal -2 cups steamed veggies + honey walnut shrimp + Kung Pao Chicken (Panda Express...and I shared some of my shrimp so I didnt eat all of it >_>) -about a cup of cold stone ice cream (mint mint chocolate chocolate chip) -5 chips ahoy cookies (I know, it's bad!) -1.5 cups broccoli & spinach + 1 cup turkey i'm definitely a sugar addict...bleh Goal 2: 3-5 servings/cups of veggies I ate 3.5 cups of veggiet today!...I should buy some kale. Goal 3: Exercise -Ran my 2 laps! I notice my endurance is slowly improving. Goal 4: Eva Time -I spent about 1:30 with Eva, playing and looking at books. 1-11-13 Goal 1: Food Journal -Shrimp, chicken, & beef fajitas with rice and beans + 1 cup lettuce (didn't eat all most of it, I'd say less than 1/3, I ate all the lettuce though. There was a lot of fajitas no wonder it cost $11.99 '-') -2 cups mixed steamed veggies + 1 cup spaghetti (with ground turkey) -1 donut + 1 cup milk -1 cup pineapple (it was delicious!, I need to remind myself to go for fruit when craving something sweet) -1 cup cocoa puffs + 1/2 cup milk yes, sugar, sugar, sugar. When I stop eating so bad I'll lose weight super fast (with exercise) I went 90% paleo for a month and lost about 10 lbs went down to 134 lbs but then I went back to my old habits >_< gah! If only I had kept going I would look like this. lol jk *sigh*... Goal 2: 3-5 servings/cups of veggies -I ate 3 cups of veggies today Goal 3: Exercise -I did my strength training today. I did alright. Goal 4: Eva Time -I spent about about 30 minutes playing with Eva. Seems she had more fun playing by herself. o_o

Thanks, Space-Elf! Date: 1-8-13 Goal 1: Food Journal -About 20 oz hot green tea -2 cups cactus+ eggs (1.5 cups veggies) -2" square of fudge '-' -slimfast bar (...idk why) -1/2 cup dried mangoes -2 cups spinach & broccoli + 1 cup ground turket and potatoes in tomato paste (I'm not much of a cook) -1 cup milk + 3 chips ahoy cookies -2 cups cereal + 1 cup milk I definitely over ate yet again. I'm going to try to adopt the "carb addict's" diet for a while which is pretty much: 3 meals, about every four hours. all of which are basically paleo: protein + veggies but I can add dessert/anything I want after one of those meals (I'm going to pick dinner) as long as the "eating session" doesn't last longer than 30 minutes. We'll see how it goes. Goal 2: Eat 3-5 servings of veggies I ate 3.5 cups of veggies! Goal 3: Exercise I ran my 2 laps around the golf course. I like running! I noticed I performed better while running. I realize that in order for me to perform better during my workouts I have to eat better and eat less. I enjoy exercising it's just that what I eat makes me feel lazy, tired and even pessimistic at times. Goal 4: Eva Time Didn't spend much time with Eva (she's 3 btw), well I did but not one on one. She was painting with me while I painted but we were both in our own little world, if that makes sense. We were both being extra irritable yesterday, too. Today I'll do better.

@Elenea- Modesto, @Porkchop-idk what dub step is either LOL Maybe I'll give portal a try but I have a lot of painting related stuff that needs to be done! D:

But you never regret doing a workout once you've finished! Keep fighting for yourself, you have it in you!

Good job on the exercise! And congrats on the 2 lbs lost! Woot! Martial arts are awesome...*whispers* I've always had a strange attraction to jackie chan lmao and bruce lee but that's more common

I'm going to enter yesterday's food journal/progress update today and I will do this for the rest of the challenge because I am using my family's desktop and I don't like to use it while they're home because then they'll judge me. haha! I do have a laptop but the x,c,v,m, and ; keys don't work and it annnoys me and throws off my groove (I watched the Emperor's New Groove with my daughter two days ago...) Soo... Date: 1-7-13 Goal 1: Food Journal -About 20 oz of hot green tea -1/4 banana (pre-workout snack!) -1 cup chicken soup + 1 cup broccoli cuts -2 tic tacs (>_>) -2x2" square of fudge but that could be an under estimate... -1/4 potato -1/2-1 cup protein shake -1/2-1 cup cereal with banana (I woulda ate the whole thing but my daughter hogged it) -About a cup of dried mangoes (they're evil; the first ingredient is fruit and the second is sugar so basically sugar+sugar! >_<) -1.5 cups cactus (yes, I'm !) Grade: A, I recorded everythng I ate! I didn't eat great but that is the point of this food journal, to make me more aware of what I'm putting in my body. I need to stop snacking so much, I am definitey a grazer. Goal 2: Eat 3-5 servings of veggies/day I ate 4 cups of veggies which I say is 4 servings! >_> 1 cup broccoli cuts + 1.5 cups cactus (I consider it a vegetable...) + 1.5 cups of broccoli cuts=4 cups of veggies! Grade: A Goal 3: Exercise I did my strength training routine #1 (which is in my log) but I could've put more effort into it. Next time for sure; I know I can do it! Strength training makes me feel like a beast (in a good even though I'm only curling 10 lbs lol, you gotta start somehwere). Goal 4: Eva Time I spent about 30 minutes-1 hour playing with Eva while I was cleaning, she loves to help! And then after painting, We played pretend for another hour (I drew a crying face on one foot and a mean face on her other foot and she pretended the two were having a conversation...awesomeness) Grade: A, I didn't read her a bedtime story, but that is because I asked her to pick a book and she didn't want any so we just went to sleep. .

I was beginning to develop PF when I was running which bummed me out. Tha made me give up un running. Then I learned about barefoot running and got some minimalist shoes. I went for a three mile run last week with no pain. Suggest to your friend that he/she learn how to run/walk/stand properly. This article helped me: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/08/22/running-properly/

Hey Ben!, That seems like a lot to take on! I have a few observations and questions that are meant to help. I hope they don't come across as negative. 1. Your diet goals seem like 3 seperate goals! Maybe you could do 1.a. for the first two weeks then add 1.b. for the next two weeks, etc. so that by the last two weeks you are doing all of your goals and the transition would be smoother? Just a suggestion. 3.a. What do you mean by "concrete steps"? I think you should make a list of the steps that are needed and set a due date for each one. 3.b. How will you measure this at the end of the six weeks? Maybe you could be more specific like "I will cook for myself at least 15 meals/week" or "I will learn/cook one new recipe per week" 3.c. What do you mean by more? 8 glasses/day? 4. The first 2 goals in this category could fall into health and fitness so maybe you can make this last goal to spend 1-2 hours/day with friends/family? Hope this helps and doesn't irritate! Amelia

Keep on keepin' on!

I can relate to your story, more specifically the part about not feeling confident when around others. I've been like this my whole life (I think I learned this from my mother who weighs 130 lbs and has been saying ever since I can remember that she's fat, and she's still saying it). I prefer to just stay at home than to have to face trying to put on my favorite jeans to go out and realize that they're now uncomfortably tight (UGH!). I've been neglecting my creative side as well and what's worse is that I got a Bachelor's in art! Anyways, I'm going to stop now, I think this stuff belongs in my journal... Do your best every day and remind yourself why you are doing this. Believe that you will reach your targets! We can do it! Good luck!

I joined too! I took the last spot left..that's what I get for neglecting NF . I'll definitely be on here more during the this challenge to offer more support. I am pretty sure the admins only consider the posts you make on your challenge thread and not your battle log. So if your plan is to only do just one, then do the challenge thread. That's what I plan to do: just ignore my battle log for the most part during challenges and focus on my challenge thread which is http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/22243-amelias-1st-challenge/ and maybe I shouldn't be leader because...I don't know what portal is *runs away*

Solid plan! Don't feel guilty. Ask yourself what lead you to get off track and how you're going to avoid that "trigger" tomorrow. Do better tomorrow. Keep at it. I want to see the progress you are going to make at the end of this challenge!

I have changed my goals for this challenge to make them more manageble. Height: 5'4" Weight: around 156 lbs (12-30-12) Measurements: Chest: 37.5" Waist: 32.5" Hips: 41" Thigh: 24.5"' Upper arm: 14.5" Run time (2 laps=3.8 mi): 46 minutes Push-ups: 1 (barely) Pull-ups: 0 Body Weight Squats: 71 Situps: 16 Goal ONE: What is my target? Keep a food/exercise journal/regular journal and write in it everyday Goal TWO: What is my target? Eat 3-5 servings of vegetables everyday Goal THREE: What is my target? Exercise 30-60 minutes, 5-6 days/week How am I going to reach my target? (List the actions that are required to reach my target) 1. Wake up every day at 8:00 a.m., drink green tea, and exercise for 30-60 minutes, Monday-Friday/Saturday 2. Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Strength Training 3. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Cardio (1-2 laps around golf course) What are the milestones for reaching my target? (List smaller goals within your larger goal) 1. Follow exercise plan for 1,2,3,4,5,6,& 7 weeks straight Goal FOUR: What is my target? Spend 2 hours/day, 7 days/week, playing/learning with Eva How am I going to reach my target? (List the actions that are required to reach my target) 1. On Sundays, plan activities I will do with Eva the following week. 2. Spend 1 hour after breakfast (~9:00-10:00 a.m.) and one hour before bath (~8:00-9:00 p.m.) playing/learning with Eva everyday. What are the milestones for reaching my target? (List smaller goals within your larger goal) 1 Go 1,2,3,4,5,6, & 7 weeks straight playing/ learning with Eva. What reward will I give myself for reaching my targets in this six week challenge? $150 worth of workout gear from VSX by Victoria's Secret Attribute Points Distribution (15 total) Strength (STR) – 2.5Dexterity (DEX) - 2Stamina (STA) – 2.5Constitution (CON) – 3Wisdom (WIS) – 3.5Charisma (CHA)-1.5 Goal Attributes Assigned ONE WIS: 2 TWO CON: 3 THREE STR: 2.5, DEX: 2, STA: 2.5 FOUR WIS: 1.5, CHA: 1.5 I have taken before pics of myself and they made me sad lol

Happy New Years! Thanks guys. I have a cold! So i decided to start on the 7th and to make my goals more manageable.

Hi Old Fart!, I was going to go all out on my first challenge (nearly 100% paleo) but after some reflection I see that the slower I go, the easier it will be for me to stick to my goals and make them habits that will stay with me for a long time. And starting a food journal sees like the logial first step towards healthier eating. Thanks for the input!

Yes I did, and yes it is! I have an etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/AmeliasGoods and I can do custom drawings too. (pardon the shameless plug ^-^ )

Aw! That's not good! But maybe you could still participate. Is it ok if you just walk everyday? Or maybe you could focus on improving your diet? Take up meditation? I hope you get better so you can kick some ass on the next challenge!