Blaze

I'm switching from Astronomy to History of Magic starting this week. I need a class that's a little less intensive for my back so I'm going to work on balance with this little twist board thing I bought a while ago. And I'm trading up GMB for more gentle flexibility and movement training. Went a little too hard a little too soon but whatever I do will still count for Transfiguration. I absolutely adore my Charms class - learning so much. What's everyone's favorite class so far?

I aggravated some back issues last night and I'm not feeling so great today. But I'm in Astronomy... I don't think I'm going to feel like doing even the couple minutes a day of backbend practice that I've been doing so far. Can I get a medical pass to switch to a different class? I was almost immobile the first two weeks of June due to back spasms and I don't want that to happen again.

If I can do curls and one-arm rows, I can be a beater this time around. I'll fill in where you need me.

Quidditch! When will we know what the weekly assigned exercises are?

I feel like a bit of a snitch but I want to make sure we're all playing by the same rules. I was looking at the other House spreadsheets when I noticed that someone in Gryffindor has 100 plus minutes of definitely non-physical activity under History of Magic. I hope this will be corrected. And because you've clarified this is for training on specific skills and not general fitness, I'm assuming that everyday activities like walking or biking would not count, correct? Tonight I learned a new skill with the poi balls, something called a reel turn. I started slow, figured it out and then practiced some more until I got a little overconfident and pegged myself in the forehead. Time to put that away for the evening and try again tomorrow. It's a good thing I'm nowhere near ready to start lighting these things on fire.

One thing that makes sense about me being picked for Slytherin is... I don't like to lose. Don't skip class! Report your times!

Snape was Slytherin. Merlin was, too. So I guess I can handle it. And I've never minded snakes. I think they're cute. But I also think bats and possums are cute too. It seems like Transfiguration is a popular class with us, and as part of my animal flow stuff, I'm working on flexibility, mobility and quadrupedal motion. I'm also doing Astronomy because of the bridges and three point backbends I'm working on. And I decided to pick up Charms so I'd have a good reason to practice my juggling and poi balls. Go Team Slytherin!

Charms it is. I'm pretty rusty with my juggling and could use the practice, and I'm pretty sure these poi balls I've been neglecting would also qualify here for the hand/eye coordination. Thanks! Hmm. I think I'm entirely too polite to be in Slytherin. Or else my seeming politeness is just a ruse to throw you all off...

Slytherin? Okay embracing my inner... whatever. This’ll be fun! I’m pretty much set on Astonomy and Transfiguration. Can you give some examples of what would qualify under Charms? And is History of Magic sort of anything goes? I have writing as one of my challenges and I’m wondering if that qualifies.

I flossed last night. I went to bed before 11:20, actually last night I was in bed and lights out before 11:00. I drank 8 glasses of water at work today And for my Monday workout, since I'm starting out after a long drought of strength training, I did a Fitness Assessment from SkinnyMs. https://skinnyms.com/yourathomefitnessassessment/ I can try this again at the end of the Challenge to see if there's improvement. Here are my results: For my Flexibility test, I scored 16 inches, or one inch past my heels. That's average for my age. On push-ups, I did 6 before my arms gave out. That's 'Fair'. For the Partial Curl Test, I scored 16 curls in a minutes, which is 'Good'. But then I immediately got horrible cramps in my gut - like a Charlie Horse but in your belly. Ouch!!! And finally, for the Squat Test, I got 29. Which is... 'Excellent' for my age group. Surprise! Either I'm just really good at squats or I was doing them wrong. Time to shut down. Tomorrow is a shiny new day!

For 2017, I chose a word to help guide me through my goals for the year. My word was 'Connection' because I wanted to be more outgoing and connect with people - being an introvert I actually need to remind myself to do that. I wasn't sure how I'd done, but when I mentioned that word and goal to friends of mine at the end of the year, they said they could tell I was putting myself out there more, so that was nice. For 2018, I've been struggling to find the right word for what I want to achieve, because frankly I have lots of goals. 'Center' was one thought, and another possible word that I really liked was 'Win'. But they weren't quite right - too focused on me, when I'm trying to be more outgoing toward others. Then today in church, the sermon focused on a favorite verse of mine. Isaiah 60:1 - 'Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.' As part of his sermon about how we can shine in our lives every day, the pastor used this phrase - 'Be Extraordinary at the Ordinary.' And suddenly I had my perfect word for the year, a word that will motivate me to do my best even at the little goals, and to shine all the while with a positive attitude and kind words for everyone around me. SHINE Since the RPG leveling up side of Nerd Fitness has never motivated me much, I'm going to add stars - - to my signature when I succeed. Then I can keep better track of things and have that visual reminder of my progress as I go. My goals for this first challenge are fairly simple, and I'm using the 3 R's of forming a habit to try and make them stick. Reminder, Routine, Reward. SHINE has the bonus connotation of constantly reminding me of Firefly. So I got myself a nerdy/geeky theme to boot! Yay me! Goal #1 - Sleep More I'm supposed to being getting 7 hours of sleep minimum, but lately I've fallen back into bad habits of staying up far later than I should. My goal is lights out by 11:20 on work nights. Reminder - I have two alarms set for 10:30 and 11:00pm nightly. Routine - Shut down the computer at 10:30 sharp, the first alarm. That gives me half an hour to get ready for bed, pack my lunch for tomorrow, read a devotion, or whatever. And the 11 pm alarm will give me time to crawl into bed and read a book or brush the cat for a little while before lights out time. Reward - for 15 stars or more on this challenge, my reward is too be better rested. But I further shall reward myself with a new book. Maybe this one... Goal #2 - Drink More I really need to drink more water. Once upon a time, I drank tons every day at work, but I'm so busy I don't think about it these days. However I can tell that I'm dehydrated, and I also think I have the tendency to think I'm hungry when what my body really wants is H2O. So... Reminder - This one is trickier. What can I do to remind myself to drink? I do have to run to the copier, and to my co-workers cubicles to drop off work - coming back into my own cube could be my cue. Routine - When I return from getting copies, I will take a drink before sitting down. I might not do it every single time, but my goal is to drink eight glasses - 64 oz of water at work every day. Reward - for 15 stars or more on this challenge, my reward is be better hydrated. But I will reward myself by upgrading my next massage to a hot stone massage. That's very motivating, right there. And so is this... Goal #3 - Exercise More In early March, we have the annual Fight for Air stair climb by the American Lung Association, in my building which is the tallest in the state. I work on the 15th floor, so I can train for this challenge, I've already climbed the 600 steps from my floor to the top once already, and I know I need to do more. This is prep work that I can do while the weather is crappy, to start getting in shape for a 5k. Aside from lunch hour stair climbs and my weekly Zumba class, what I really need to add back into my routine is a home strength program. Reminder - When I come home from work the first thing I do is take off my boots. Routine - When I take off my boots, I'll also change into work-out clothes and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'll do some kind of strength training - I haven't figure out what quite yet. Reward - for 8 stars or more on this challenge, my reward is that I'll start converting some of this fat over to muscle. But I'll reward myself with a new top. Goal #4 - Floss More Seems silly to make this a goal, but I recently had a root canal - Yuck! And I switched to a new dentist at the same time for my regular cleaning and check-up. The hygienist was friggin' BRUTAL. It was like being in a torture chamber while she worked on me. I gotta go back and face that again? I don't know, maybe it's me and I just really need to take better care of my teeth. Or maybe it's her and she's psycho. But either way, I ought to floss more than I do, which is very little at present . Reminder - I've put a bowl of floss sticks right next to my toothbrush and paste, super convenient. Routine - Whenever I brush, I will also flush, either before or after. Reward - for 20 stars or more, my reward will hopefully be kick-ass checkup the next time I go to the dentist, but that's not until June. In the meantime, I'll reward myself with a new movie from the bargain section. I already have this one, clearly.

Based solely on my overuse of the word 'shiny', I qualify as a huge geek, apparently. Although... I majored in mathematics, minored in computer information systems, grammar is extremely important to me, and I enjoy making my own Sudoku puzzles. That's solid nerd stuff. Looks like I could fit in both camps, but where do I fit in the Nerd Fitness Rebellion? I've bounced around a bit over the years. But scanning the various guild boards to figure out where I belong for this challenge, and maybe for this whole year, I find myself thinking about trying to be a runner again, or at the very least a slow jogger. I managed to complete four 5k charity runs a couple years ago, my first ones ever, before back issues sidelines me. But I do miss that challenge. Plus I love to hike, and this jungle looks full of promise around every turn of the trail. You may be hearing more from me soon. Stay tuned...

Tick Tock. Three weeks to trip. My back is improving and my goals helping. The writing thing isn't happening, but otherwise not doing too shabby.

I'm learning to play the ukulele for my trip to Glacier National Park in 29 days. So I get points for practicing all my songs, which I'd do anyway. And I'm an avid reader, so I get points for that, too! Sweet!

My back is feeling a bit better today, and I kinda want to do some strength stuff, but I think I need to stick with stretches and keep taking it slow. My Food Gap plan is working, and the water... It's a lot of water, but I'm doing it. Of course I'm broke this week so packing my breakfasts and lunches has gone just fine. The real test will come after pay-day on Friday. And I really really really need to write. Right? WRITE!

That's a matter of opinion. Mine is this...

I'm off to a good start, and this time I'm in a PvP challenge to help keep me motivated. But this lower back/hip issue is annoying. Does anybody have tips to stretch it away or otherwise recover before my hiking vacation? Walking helps, but I have an office job so lots of sitting. I have various back support gizmos as well.

I may have some trouble in the strength area, at least to start, since I'm having some back problems right now. But I hope to do some types of exercises at least, and I think I can kick butt on the rest of this stuff... And I'll be Rogue. Because I said so.

I am heading to an epic vacation in Glacier National Park starting August 11th. I've dreamed of going there for quite some time, but only within the last year has my dream transformed into blossoming reality. I was at first going to go by myself, somehow... But lucky for me, two awesome friends heard my plans and decided that they wanted to come, too! We have a camping cabin reserved for four nights, and one night we'll be sleeping in a tipi on the Blackfeet Reservation. There'll be horseback riding, whitewater rafting, kayaking, and much hiking in the mountains. I'm from Wisconsin, no mountains here, so that makes preparing somewhat difficult. In this last challenge before the trip, I want to make some improvements while I can. The stronger I can get now, the better off I'll be for the trip. Which I am so excited for, I can hardly stand it, btw... The big issue for me at the moment is I've had a flair-up of lower back pain that hasn't bothered me in nearly a year. That sucks. It means I have to take it easy for a bit, and not do the squat challenge I was hoping to do to get my legs ready for climbing. But there's still plenty that I can do, and if my back improves, the squats can still happen. In the meantime, I thought I'd test out a few weight loss 'tips' to see if they'll help me drop a little bit for V-Day. 1. 12 Hour Food Deficit - I'm testing this dieting tip that recommends a twelve hour gap between the last thing you eat at night, and the first thing you eat in the morning. Since I'm prone to snacking at night, I think that cutting myself off by 8 or 9 pm, so I can have a timely breakfast in the morning, is a good plan. 2. Drink Water - Some calculator said I should drink 140 ounces a day, based on my weight. That seems nuts to me. I'd never leave the bathroom. But more water is supposed to be beneficial. I do drink water, but I intend to drink two cups at home in the morning, two cups before each meal - breakfast, lunch and dinner - and another in the evening before bed. That should get me at least 80 ounces of water every day, which is WAY more than I currently drink. 3. Pack Food - There are lots of temptations to be had in the world, lots of bad choices to be made at any restaurant or cafeteria, and some choices that seem good but probably aren't. So I will pack my all my food for work, that's breakfast, lunch, and snacks, and will eat my own food, 95% of the time. That should give me the allowance for occasionally eating out with friends, but not much else. This is for the best, definitely. Life Goal - Write! I'm supposed to be doing Camp NaNoWriMo right now, working for 20 hours on editing a novel I wrote a few years ago in an effort to get it published. I think I've done about an hour an a half so far, so I really need to get cooking on this one, and I need to continue that after the month is over as well. Lot's to write. So my goal is to spend at least 10 minutes per day on writing/editing. This way once I get started, I'll hopefully continue and go longer than just the 10, but at least I'll get 10 a day if nothing else. This challenge will take me 28 days closer to Glacier, and when it's done, I'll have a little less than a week to go. EEK! Better get to work!

I too have no freaking idea what this is, but I think some competition would do me good. I really hate to lose. And my name is Blaze, so obviously I'm all about lighting up the darkness.

I'm just posting to put our thread at the top of the board. Because it's good to be on top of something, right? AND I'm gonna go do stuff that will contribute to our score, because I can. So I will. And you should, too. We can be on top of more than just the message board!