catscratch

Oh, also I forgot: *high five and chestbump*

Ahhh.. it's all done and over with now, eh? It was good following you these past 6 weeks! Congratulations on all your accomplishments and I look forward to following your future ones! Someday we can maybe do a little personal mini-challenge! Nothing says "get things done, now!" like a little friendly competition!!

Alright folks, the challenge is over and I'm finally able to post my end results! It's truly been a challenge getting myself to exercise as much as I have, even though I definitely didn't do it as much as I wanted to. My Goals: 1.) I want to be able to 3 Star the Angry Birds Level 3 Routine. -- +3 Str, +2 Sta, +2 Cha End Results: Squats: 100 body weight squats = 3 Stars for LEVEL 4!!! Pushups: 4 sessions gets me 41 pushups means I more than 3 star Level 2, but I completely fail Level 3 :c Back: 4, 3, 2, 1 means I 1 Star level 3 which makes me sad.. Core: 3:15 seconds in two sessions means I 3 Star Level 3 which is a big woot! Grade: C (50%) Stat Increase: +1.5 Str, +1 Sta, +1 Cha 2.) Eating very healthy hasn't been my forte. Although I love cooking and veggies, sometimes laziness gets the better of me... also I love soda too much.. therefore: No eating fast food and no soda. Also, cutting down on my grains and milk by 70% -- +4 Wis, +2 Con End Results: I have made a significant change to my daily dietary habits. I look at the food I'm buying for content and I avoid purchasing unnecessary pre-made items that are horrible for me. I have had a couple taquitos from the gas station (gods help me they are so good T__T) and I have had soda on 3 occasions. My dairy intake is definitely been reduced and I have been drinking WAY more water than I used to. Grains have only been reduced by I'd wager about 50% though, but that's still a pretty good change. This probably should have been 2 goals or so, but I just sort of lumped them all together in a "better diet" goal. Grade: B (75%) Stat Increase: +3 Wis, + 1.5 Con 3.) To be able to Jog from here to work without stopping (approx. 1 mile) at a reasonable pace. -- +2 Sta End Results: I have been able to run that mile and then I have even bumped it up a little since then. My time has always been from a regular clock and not a stopwatch, so I don't know exact time, but I can do it in ~9 minutes without being super out of breath (although sweaty is another matter :|) Grade: A (100%) Stat Increase: +2 Sta Overall Grade: B Overall Stat Increase: +1.5 Str, +0 Dex, +1.5 Con, +3 Sta, + 3 Wis, +1 Cha New Character Stats: | Str: 3.5 | Dex: 4 | Con: 3.5 | Sta: 5 | Wis: 5 | Cha: 4 | Thanks to everyone who checked in and gave me motivation on this! Big thanks to Otaku_wanna_fly and Strife for really throwing some support my way, it is very much appreciated. This has been a weird 6 weeks since I've never done any sort of personal challenge to better myself like this. I've definitely got some ideas about what my next goals are going to be. My favorite part of all this, though? Being able to say that I have significantly altered my diet for the better. I walked into the grocery store and was soooooooooooo hungry that I walked over to the pre-made meals section. EVERYTHING I LOOKED AT MADE ME FEEL GROSS!! I was all.. "damn fitness blogs and their betterment of me.. now I can't even bring myself to buy these crappy things.. Guess I'll cook dinner and not be lazy."

Tell us, Dungeon Master! Speak to us the words of power!

WOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Love everything I'm seeing here!

I had fallen off the wagon, but luckily I'd grabbed the side as I fell and I've been pulling myself back up. No easy task, but I've done it. I'm really starting to focus on my weak points now for this challenge: arms and back. My legs are pretty much just fine, and I am doing a bit of work with them and my core, but I'm shifting focus a little. Good luck to yourself, and thanks for checkin' in every once in a while. It's nice to know that somebody is cheering me on! I'll be in to check on YOUR progress soon, I promise!

Alright, I'm at work right now so that means I have the internet! So, one week left to go in this crazy challenge thing, eh? Alright, well here is where I'm at: 3 Star Level 3 of the Angry Birds Workout: Squats - I have achieved a new high score for this: 100 body weight squats!!! YEEEEAAAAH! Oh man.. my legs afterwards.. bleh! Push-ups - 3 sessions netted me 41 pushups.. I fell back down on 42, I just couldn't quite make it all the way up... so I fear that I might not actually achieve this part of the goal. I'm going to try my damnedest though! If I can't make it by the end of next week, well.. I guess I have a goal for the next challenge, huh? Back - Well.. I'm able to 1 star this goal.. which is SORT of close.. but I did a set of 4, 3, 2, and 1 .... I'm a little disappointed in myself, but I'm still improving! Core - I'm proud to say that, in a session of 2:02 and 1:13, I was able to hold a plank for 3:15 which is 15 seconds over my target goal! I have one more week to see how much further I can get it. Mile Jog to Work: I can now easily jog that mile. My best time is still around 9 minutes or so. I will be doing a test at the end of this week to determine what my final time is. I've been jogging the mile 2 - 3 times a week now, so I'm feeling pretty good. I told my self that I didn't want to be super winded at the end of it, so I'm not going to full out haul ass but I'm not going to take it too easy either. I mean, how am I supposed to get better if I'm not pushing myself!? Diet Restrictions: Well, I will say that I drank soda on two occasions these past 5 weeks. Once was during a nerdfest, in which rum and cokes were consumed (although I did use Pepsi Max for the mixer so it wasn't SOOO bad) and the other was when I just really really wanted a mountain dew. So I've semi failed that soda thing.. but considering how much I USED to drink I am pretty happy with how I've done. The grains/dairy intake is harder to gauge though. I have definitely cut back on my dairy. I bought some almond milk, which is actually REALLY tasty and I think I'm going to stick with it from now on. I have also stopped putting cheese on EVERYTHING! When I do have cheese, I definitely use about half of what I used to. I've always loved my veggies, but now I'm really starting to increase the variety of what I eat. I've taken to eating raw broccoli as a snack after work, I'm using sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes (and just using olive oil and spices for seasonings), and I just bought an eggplant! I'm still eating lots of peas and green beans and whatnot that I've always eaten, too. Overall, I'd say that I have maybe, so far, cut down my dairy and grains by more like 50% - 60% instead of the target 70% so combined with my soda indulgences I'm going to have to take a slight grade cut on this category. Oh well though, I'm still improving! I have to say that since I started this challenge I've really started looking at what I'm buying and consuming. I'll still eat some things that are bad for me, but like Steve says, it's okay as long as you don't binge on them! Something that I didn't set in my original goals but wanted to touch upon in this post was my alcohol consumption. Since I work at a bar 4-5 nights a week, I'd often times sit down and have a beer and a shot after I'd get done with my shift. The problem was that all too often that turned into me going to after hours and drinking until the sun came up. I don't really get SUPER drunk, but it's prolonged drinking over time and I think THAT is one of the main contributors to my expanding waistline and the disappearance of my abs! Lately, I've really been cutting down on the late nights and excessive drinking. I'm trying hard to cut out the after-shift drinks as well since I'm not really financially stable at the moment. If I'm spending 4 dollars on a drink (plus the tip) 4 nights a week that adds up to an average of $64 a month that I'm drinking away!! Now, I'm not planning on just quitting drinking completely, but I really am trying to tone it back down to maybe just once a week, if that. Making the decisions that are best for me isn't very easy, but I want certain things out of me and life in general and I'm know that the reward I'm seeking is going to be worth it SO MUCH!

Found something relevant! It's a Facebook page for Team Impulse, an Iowa based PK/FR club. I just messaged them to see where/when they practice! Moving forward with life goals = fun times!

Gene Starwind - Outlaw Star has suddenly appeared on my list! I think it knows that I'm going to do this as my next Cosplay..

Well, I've been jogging the mile twice a week now! Today I jogged .4 miles to see the bus I was going to board leave as I waited to cross the street. So instead of waiting the 40 minutes until the next one, I walked about 2 blocks, than jogged for another 1.3 miles! It's not so hard once you get going.. that and I couldn't stop thinking about the homemade chicken salad sandwich I was going to eat when I got to my destination! Also, I did FIVE pullups in a row last night. I'm so close to being able to 3 star the Level 3 back exercises!

I love building things! Way to go with keeping up on your exercises. I've been bad... I WAS doing my Angry Birds routine and not so much running.. but now I'm running 1 to 1.5 miles at a time twice a week and only doing the workout routine once or twice At least it's better than nothing! I know exactly what you mean by not really feeling any enthusiasm for it. I just have to get myself all psyched to do some workouts! lol

Woot! I think ISU has a Parkour club, but I'll have to look into whether or not they let non-students join. If they still exist, and they DO let people in, then I will post about it on here! If you're old enough to drink, stop by Welch Ave Station. I DJ 5 nights a week there, so come request a song!

I love it! I'd love to do Tough Mudder as well.

I'm not sure how many Rebels there are in Iowa, or how many practice Parkour, but I was wondering if anybody WAS in the central Iowa area. I'm from Ames and I was looking for people who I could learn from/with.

I've been cutting down on my commercial fruit juices and sodas as well and replacing them with teas. I'm definitely a novice tea consumer and don't know a lot of really good teas. We have a place called Tea-vana (like nirvana but with tea!) at a mall nearby with AMAZING flavors and stuff.. but it's really expensive. Any good suggestions for both cold and hot teas?

That's amazing!! I just joined at the beginning of the year with the same goals of building muscle and being healthier! Thanks for sharing your success, it's inspiring to the rest of us!

I may not be a LARPer, but I AM a huge tabletop gamer and sword/knife fan! I believe pics are in order, my good fellow!!

Excellent! Keep working for your goals! Nothing beats feeling great about yourself!!

Thanks for the pointers. I probably would have just kept doing them toes pointed forward the whole time without thinking about any variations.

I have been doing that while at work sometimes. I control the music at a bar and in my little booth area I have a bunch of liquor shelves.. the lowest being about 2-3 inches so it works well.. but I have to contend with shelves and whatnot so I have to grip the edge of the counter to keep from falling backwards. Maybe I could find a couple old phone books and duct tape them together...

P.S. I also hate the doorframe mounted pull up bars. I am borrowing one and since I'm 6'- 6'1" it's annoying as hell to tuck my knees up and in.

I've been doing the Angry Birds workout for this 6 week challenge. One of my goals was to 3 star the Level 3 exercises. For Squats, that means 70 of them with only a single minute-long rest. I managed to get to 85 before I felt like I was going to fall over instead of stand up. My thighs were SUPER exhausted.. but I've noticed that after the workout that my calves are not very fatigued at all. I was wondering: are the squats focusing more on the thighs or am I perhaps doing it wrong? If I AM doing it right and it's more of an upper leg workout, are there any recommended exercises to build up my calve strength? I feel like my upper legs are pretty much sold muscle, rigid to poke when I flex them, but when I *try* to flex my calves they are still fairly squishy. I don't want to have super beefy upper legs if my lower legs are going to be all awkward looking.. like a chicken drumstick overall.. I feel like either I'm doing something wrong or I need to incorporate another exercise so as to properly balance out my body weight workouts.

I also recommend attempting the chin-up first since it is a little easier. I'm trying to increase my pull up reps myself. I can do about 4 or 5 chin ups but only 3ish pull ups. I'm going to alternate between doing max reps of chin ups one day, then work on pull ups the next time to see how many I can do. Maybe try increasing the number of negative pull ups one day, and work on chin ups the next until you reach the next level of pull up?

Yeah yeah, I'm working it, showin the world what I got. To hot to stop, soles to the flattop. Pushin myself to a higher level, gotta get better, feel myself un-fettered, unchained and unrestrained so I can fly. So high, my limit's not even the sky because I can go further, it's just a matter of Willpower. You can't wither me with even your sourest glower. Negative energy beams can't touch me, I'm too free. So join me as I surpass this level and move on to a higher state. No excuses, no wait, don't hesitate. Together, we can ALL be great. (Yay for freestyle rap lol)

I am officially signed up to run in the 4:30 time slot in Kansas City on April 27th!! This is my very first Warrior Dash.. hell.. it's my very first official 5k! HA! This is what I've been training myself for and pushing myself towards with the current 6 week challenge. Building up muscle and endurance in an effort to DOMINATE THIS THING!! Any other Rebels going? Strife and I are going down together, but it'd be neat to meet some other people from the Rebellion. So excited!