Vangelis

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! (Insert Obi Wan's point of view quote here.) Glass half full it is.

What about the ROUS's?!?!?

Nice phone!!! Lol. BOT: Great job so far! I think the one thing all of us first timers need focus on is finishing, not what grades we make. I think hanging in there builds momentum and sets us all up for success on the next challenge. Keep up with the good work!

Mini Challenge complete! I'm averaging 120g of protein per day. (BTW, the mini challenge isn't restricted to this past week, just hit the protein requirement five times the rest of the way. Too easy.) Still holding strong on no sodas & no sweet tea but holy hell the cravings hit hard these last few days. I want a DP sooooooo bad!!! Took a day off from Insanity yesterday morning and played Golf instead. Today is a rest day so I'm hoping two days of rest will get me ready for tomorrow's workout. I'm experiencing a variety of tweaks and twinges from my first two weeks of Insanity. I'm being very mindful of my plethora of injuries I piled up over the years in uniform so I don't overdo it and end up injured. Glad to see everyone is still hanging around! 2 weeks down, 4 to go. We can do this, together!

Week one is done son! Crushed it but I'm not going to get overhyped; I've still got 5 more to go and the run & chin-up goal staring hard back at me. BTW, Insanity is kicking my ass!!! I'm also happy to report no soda, no sweat tea. As for school, I have orientation on 25 June (I'm nervous as hell about this). As for my fringe goals, I've been still at least 5 mins a day since day one and one of the books of my trilogy has been read.

THIS! Same here. This week I have meditated at the beach, while lying in bed, and while grilling out. Good times!

Checking in! Crushed that first week but it was only a week, 5 more to go. Insanity workout complete for today too. Plan is to start back running this week and work up to 5 miles in 5 weeks (I'm at one already). I used to run 6-9 every Monday when I was in the Military so the goal isn't as daunting as it sounds (or at least that's what I'm telling myself). Also, I'm happy to report no soda, no sweet tea. <--This is what I am most proud of. How's everyone else doing?

Don't sweat the swearing. Why not? Because it will detract from how much success you're having with veggies, cokes, & sleep. Keep up the good work!

THIR YES THIR!!!!!

I cannot recommend "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield highly enough for you. Get a copy, read it, ear mark it, spill coffee on it, read it again, give it away, buy another copy, rinse, repeat. It's a simple, quick, to the point read about how much potential we have has human beings and why we are always in a state of being perpetually stuck. Here's a glass half full perspective of people's first challenge (including mine). "C" is passing! It's about starting and finishing, not making the honor roll. Keep kicking ass! "The War of Art" http://www.amazon.com/The-War-of-Art-ebook/dp/B007A4SDCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370698034&sr=8-1&keywords=the+war+of+art

5 days down, 5 days of meditation achieved. Sitting on the shore listening to the waves is incredibly relaxing. When I leave mom's to go back home in two weeks, this will become a harder challenge.

5 days down, 5 days of meditation achieved. Sitting on the shore listening to the waves is incredibly relaxing. When I leave mom's to go back home in two weeks, this will become a harder challenge.

Oh nooooo!!!! Growing lawns, not food has always perplexed me. I'd love to house shop and find a home with a green house or garden in the back, but I'm weird that way. I figure if I'm paying the water bill to water the yard, it might as well give me something in return.

I feel you on the kids as motivators. One of mine poked my belly and said "fat daddy" which turned me from lurker to participant on NF. Keep us updated with your progress. I'm especially interested in how you go about weening off of grains.

You are kicking ass, Mag! Taking baby steps with the grooming and house cleaning will go a long way to actually energizing you. You will be amazed at how much better you will feel.

Avoided the drive thru = Epic win! That type of resilience and mindset will get you where you need to go. Awesome job!

How's the "no chocolate" coming? Much respect for that goal! I am a chocoholic. I find it irresistible. What are you doing to avoid or substitute for it?

How's it coming so far? Caffeine headaches? If so, they'll go away after about 3 days and you'll be good as new! Also, best of luck with the greens! Sautéed spinach is quick & easy, Kale "chips" are damn good (so is braised Kale), turnip or collards are a great reason to eat bacon too (cook it in the pot with them).

WW, you went epic with the "no sugar" goal. That's awesome! How's the drawing coming along? And what is it you like to draw or are working on?

@Missjoana: The plan is just to not drink them. I've got a case of Mellow Yellow, a case of Mountain Dew, & a case of Dr Pepper sitting here at the house and I refuse to have anything to do with them. It's tough!!! Especially when you see one of your loved ones drinking down one of those delicious, frosty beverages. This is all leftover from an end of the year fundraiser so I had to make it a priority goal. I can kill a sixer of DP a day if I'm not paying attention. Hey Cim, I'm holding up rather well. The Pure Cardio workout kicked the shit out of me this morning especially with the short recovery time from putting off yesterday's workout to late last night. The only thing saving me right now is the copious amounts of water I'm drinking.

I'm participating in the Meditation PvP challenge.

Weight/Grade added to my goals.

Thanks for the support! Y'all give me too much credit! I'm just laying off the soda and sweet tea; I am still having my morning coffee with about a teaspoon of sugar plus I've started drinking unsweet tea w/ lemon (meh) so I haven't had any caffeine withdrawals since I'm still taking it in. I figure baby steps with this first challenge and make it something attainable. I have the opinion that this challenge should set up the next one and so forth and so on. Once this one is complete, I'll take inventory of how I did and where I'm at and go from there. Trust me, I wanted to go cold turkey on caffeine, sugar, & soda but after careful consideration, I believed that would have set me up for failure. As for today, so far so good. I've pushed back Insanity til late this evening b/c I woke up sore as hell this morning and had the range of motion of Frankenstein's monster. I will do it tonight, guaranteed. Everything is in motion for school ATM. I have to take a bunch of pre-reqs before I can be eligible for PA school, so I intend to start knocking them out. I can still apply late this Fall for the 2014 PA Program while taking the pre-reqs so that is what I will do. Orientation is June 25th! Y'all keep kicking ass!!!

Retired US Army in the house! Chilling in Knoxvegas, TN for now. (not in your group, just wanted to sound off)