sammiejune29

Challege #5 Week 1 Summary Main Goal - Find my zen & rebuild my habits to have consistency & balance between work, school, life and working out - Last week severely tested my zen. Tested my habits and consistency too because nothing about last week was normal. My neck and back were so out of alignment I spent all of Monday in pain and went to the chiropractor twice. Started feeling sick and feverish Wednesday night. Broke up with my Doctor Who nerd on Monday. Fell down the stairs on Tuesday. I was severely low on will power by the end of the week. - I took the weekend to recover and reboot. Hung out with my ex-business partner on Saturday. It was really nice. We went out to lunch and then back to my place to work for a couple hours. It was nice both of us sitting on our computers, being productive and listening to music. I hope this happens more often. - Saturday night I spent watching Fellowship of the Ring while catching up on the forums. (which was my plan for Friday night, but the forums were down ) - Sunday I spend the whole day reading an incredibly good book. I really think that Brandon Sanderson is one of the best Fantasy writers out there. His systems of magic are so interesting and unique. I highly recommend Warbreaker, Elantris and his Mistborn Series. Goal #1 - Strength workouts (mostly BW) 2-3x's per week (0/2) - No workouts but I'm not docking myself points because I was sick - I will consider this when grading at the end of the challenge - My goal for this week (since I'm still sick) is to go through the upper/lower/body split routine that I got from Waldo and modify it to my skill level Goal #2 - Biking, hiking, yoga or running (maybe even horseback riding) at least once per week (0/1) - Nothing last week as much as I really, really, really NEEDED to do one of those activities for my mental health (but didn't because every muscle aches and I can't really breathe) - I'm debating going to Yoga tonight. Seeing as I've never done yoga before, I don't really know how much it will affect my sickness Goal #3 - Cook at least one meal per week from fresh ingredients (1/1) - Baked the Paleo/gluten free pumpkin coffee cake that I baked last challenge again - Turned out better this time (modified the recipe slightly) - Still not sure I love this recipe (though I ate enough of it yesterday) Health/Fitness Side Goal - Buy minimalist footwear - Haven't bought any yet - going to try some on this week *fingers-crossed*

Yeah, sometimes all the relaxation I need after a long day is 20 min on the forums. I forgot how good that is for me when I'm stressed. Doing a bit better. My fever broke at least and I'm not quite as achy. My chest is still full of gunk It probably going to be at least one more week before I can actually work out. Exactly! I want to start again at some point, but my will power is getting stretched a little too thin at the moment and I have to pick and choose my battles. Lol. And besides, this is a weight that I'm very very comfortable at, even if I can still see improvement to be made. I look gorgeous in all my clothing and I'm more than okay with staying here for now I don't have dinner at home as much as I wish I did. I'm so busy its hard to find time to cook (I know there is always time). Also, when I was dating the Doctor Who nerd, he would take me out to eat sometimes. Add to that the fact that Daniel eats with his boy most of the time. Its definitely not as fun cooking a big elaborate meal just for yourself. So last challenge my goal was new recipes. This challenge its more about just cooking at home and getting better at some of those recipes so that they are so easy that it doesn't take a lot of mental energy to cook them when I come home and I'm mentally exhausted.

My life has been kind of a blur lately too. Lol. I can't believe its more than halfway through September already. Those are definitely sweet looking And thanks!! I'm excited for my goals. Now if I can just get rid of this sickness Thanks for all the advice! Hearing stuff from people I know (well kinda, lol) and who have actual experience with them is so much more valuable than random things gleaned from the internet. Lol Yeah, I'm definitely looking at this goal as a way for me to perfect some of the recipes I gathered/made last challenge. Cause the more times you cook a particular recipe, the easier it becomes. I want to have at least a handful of delicious recipes that I can cook without thinking. My problem has been the fact that there aren't a lot of things that I really cook for myself (still getting used to this whole being an adult thing I guess, lol) For a while "cooking" was boiling pasta and pouring some sauce on it. That's not really in the picture anymore. Lol Definitely been getting lots of rest and lots of fluids!! Unfortunately not getting a lot of work done but that happens when you are sick. Thanks for all the shoe advice!! Its awesome to know all the options that are out there I'm excited to go buy some, hopefully this week *fingers crossed* Hey I'm hanging in there. Lol. Still hacking and coughing. Voice is all gravelly. Lol. Not sure what caused mine, but mine was more the "every muscle in my body aches and my chest is full of gunk" I can dig the ninja shoes

Glad to see you back!! (even if you are with the scouts now ) Definitely think these are great and attainable goals for after surgery recovery And I love my fitbit as well, though I don't have the flex. Can't wait to see you rock it!

Glad to see you happy I like happy Mily! You are gonna rock this challenge I find the more I've cooked a particular recipe the easier it is. Now there are some things that I don't even have to think about when I cook them. Makes cooking for myself when I'm tired and stressed a lot easier. One of the things I cook is an egg scramble for breakfast. I get a ham, cut it up into small pieces, divide those pieces in to zip lock bags. Then I freeze most of them and pull them out a day or two before I need them. So I put a little butter or oil in a pan, wait till it heats up a little, throw in the baggie of ham. Then I cut up a green pepper while its heating up. By the time I'm done cutting up the green pepper its time to dump in the eggs. Pour the eggs over the ham. Add any spices you like on top of that, then the green peppers. As tempting as it is to flip it now, let it cook for a few min. I usually use this time to wash my cutting board and knife. Then flip everything, push it around the pan some until there are no runny parts of eggs left. Its so delicious and it is so easy. Haha! I love your math

So incredibly proud of you!! Reading this made me smile so much! I love seeing other people succeed and face their fears. Its so inspiring and just what I needed after this long week. Lol Yay for A's across the board! Looking forward to seeing you rock your epic workout day

My roommate (Daniel) and I are planning on starting some yoga classes. I'm really excited about it! I've never been terribly flexible but I know my back surgery didn't help things on that front. Its incredible how much progress you've made and how similar your losses were to mine (though you did yours in considerably less time, congrats on that) I'm around 159 right now too. Stupid being sick at the beginning of a challenge!! Here's hoping we both get better soon! Yay for creating something awesome and having everyone like it

I kinda stopped following along last challenge cause life got busy, but going back and reading your wrap up, you kicked some serious ass! Great job, especially with drinking more water. I know I feel about a million times better when I'm good and hydrated. And don't be too hard on yourself if you aren't 100% paleo yet. It may be better to ease into it. You are already making much much healthier choices so I'd still call that a win. And is your fitbit still acting up? I absolutely love mine! I'd be sad if it stopped working right. I'm also sad if I accidentally forget it and then do a lot of walking. Lol

Happy Nerdiversary!! I sincerely hope that I have accomplished this much by the time I hit 2 years here And tortoises are so awesome. This is a pic of my friend's tortoise and she is beautiful Daniel is the same way. He keeps saying he needs to workout more and do it more consistently but won't join the rebellion to keep himself accountable. Silly boys! LOL!! Awesome pics

Love the challenge!! Definitely going to be following because I need to reduce my own stress level. Gives me great inspiration Its really wonderful that the bento aren't stressful Once you do something enough times it definitely becomes a lot easier! Having a computer without a battery is a pain (been there, done that) but you quickly learn to scout out plugs wherever you go. Lol. So glad you found one at the gym and that you have some place you can work comfortably without the construction ruckus!

Btw, great last challenge! Even though I stopped being able to follow along I went back and read your wrap up And congrats on getting under 150. I've kinda hit a weight plateau now and its weird. Lol This is a great idea. When I did my own 15 min a day cleaning thing a few challenges back it definitely took me two challenges to make it stick. I don't mind stretching but I actually like cleaning. I actually tend to have a problem stopping cleaning when my 15 min are up. I have to force myself because I usually have about 30 other things I need to be doing and can't afford to spend 2 hours cleaning. Lol Awesome video! When the forums were down last night I was able to watch your video and it definitely helped my NF withdrawal a little. Lol. Definitely makes me more excited about trying out some yoga and flow stuff in the future I had some weird popping my shoulder recently. Mine was caused by a rib being popped out of place and it was popping out because of muscle imbalance. It also generally just made that shoulder feel weaker and tire more easily when it was like that. Massaging the area between my shoulder blade and spine with a tennis ball seemed to help it a ton!! I don't know if you have the same problem, but it sounds really similar. If it seems to not be improving, it might be worth a visit to a chiropractor. Yay for spaghetti squash! Really makes me want some right about now. Lol

I had read the books before seeing it so I knew what was coming but I was still bawling!! WHAT!!! Getting rid of all your books!! That's crazy! But your trip/new lifestyle is going to be so incredible you probably won't even have time to miss them. Lol This is exactly why are you are back on NF. So that you have support when you need it We are all here for you (as you could see from the outpouring of support and love ) And I hope between all of us we can figure out some lower body stuff that works! The combined brain power of the nerds is pretty incredible

Yay for really awesome long term goals!! I still gotta figure out what some of my really long term goals are (besides a real push up which has been a goal pretty much my whole life, lol)

Hopefully this time I will be a little more successful cheering you on!! Goals can go either way for me. There are some things that I know I absolutely positively should not connect to a goal (like homework) because that would stress me out worse. But I love your idea of having the one main goal and just other things to think about doing over the course of the 6 weeks. And of course we are all here to cheer you on and keep you accountable whether a challenge or an unchallenge. Lol When I first read this I thought you "stuck it IN the fridge" and I was trying to figure out why the list needed to be cold. I think I should have gone to bed a while ago. Lol Somehow I missed the fact that you had a brother. I was really confused for a second cause you always talk about geocaching with your sister. Seriously, its time for me to go to bed. Lol

Update time: So far this challenge had not started off terribly well. Lol I spent the first half of the week in agony because pretty much my whole neck/back was out of alignment. After a couple visits to my wonderful chiropractor its feeling much better. However, now I'm sick. I think its the flu cause its hard to breathe and I keep sneezing and I'm achy all over. Not fun at all and definitely not conducive to working out. :-/ Its been about two weeks since I've done a BW workout and I miss it sooooo much! As soon as I feel better I'm going to have so much fun Third Goal: I still can't really decide what I want to do with my third goal. I want it to be something food/diet related (I think). I stopped tracking all my calories a few weeks ago. Pretty much when school started. It doesn't really take that much time but when your to-do list is always so much longer than what you actually have time to do, sometimes it seems like a lot of time. If I'm just eating the same thing everyday (which I was for a while) its not so bad. Its when I eat differently (ie: my birthday) that it gets trickier to enter things. So I could make a goal around counting my calories again but I'm not sure if that's what I really want right now. I have so much on my plate at the moment that I'm afraid I don't have enough will power to do that. And I've been doing a good job at maintaining my weight, even if I haven't been losing, which I'm okay with for the moment. I'm not where I want to be but there is no rush to get there. So I think I just talked myself out of making that a goal. Thanks guys for the help. Lol I could just have a goal to cook meals at home so many times per week. But the problem with that is when I end up having lunch meetings (which I have had pretty much all week this week). I'm so busy that if I didn't make these meetings lunch meetings, they probably wouldn't happen. Also, when I cook myself eggs, green peppers and ham (which is what I eat for breakfast/lunch/brunch - whatever you want to call it - most day) I don't really feel like that counts. So maybe the goal is to cook something other than that at least once per week. And cooking means fresh ingredients. Opening a can of soup and sticking it in the microwave is not cooking. Well I think I have my answer. Thanks again for listening

Thanks! I definitely need some focus, that's for sure! I've definitely realized this over the last few weeks. And NF has become part of my center. I'm so glad to be back around the message boards My shins look like I was playing some serious soccer without shin guards. Lol. And my back/neck seem to be doing okay. Went to the chiropractor again yesterday but it usually takes a couple adjustments before it wants to stay so I'm not too worried. Now I'm just fighting what I think is the flu

Thanks Aeryn! I can't wait to figure it out too Lol Being sick and unable to do anything certainly makes things calmer... though not in the way I would have preferred. Lol It does make it easier. Its actually one of the most amicable breakups I've ever had. We even successfully hung out and did trivia for a few hours the day after the break up. And I can't wait to try the upper/lower/full split, as soon as I get rid of this flu! I'm also very excited about the minimalist footwear. I will definitely go easy at first, but I already spend a lot of time barefoot so hopefully the transition won't be too bad. Thanks! I'm glad I did get seriously hurt! I've definitely had enough of that already. Lol How long have you had your vibrams? I'm still not sure which kind I want to get but I'm excited to go shopping!

You already know this cause I've told you about a million times but I'm so glad you are back And Game of Thrones is definitely hard to put down. I've read all 5 books twice now. I once bought Eragon in spanish to read it but then never did. I think I'd have more luck reading a book in another language on my kindle cause it makes looking up words so easy.

I did indeed dye my hair. I only had the box for 6 weeks before I finally found the time to do it. Lol. But I have the heart and soul of a redhead so I figure I might as well have red hair

Thats so amazing!! I love singing in other languages. Daniel is always amazing by my ability to sing in languages I don't know. I think its because even when I'm singing in english, I'm not really aware of what I'm singing. Lol

So glad to see you back!! And with an awesome pic! I really gotta stop reading your thread when I'm sitting in class and HUNGRY!! Lol. It all sounds so delicious. Girl! You crazy! That's not weak at all!! I'd be impressed if those were lbs but they are kgs!!

Back and neck pain is a lot better. But I think my neck still needs one more adjustment. When it goes out like this (which it does every 5-6 months) it usually takes 2-3 adjustments before it sticks. My back is mostly just still irritated and inflamed from everything being SOOO far out of alignment, but its getting better. So yesterday I managed to fall down the stairs on my way to class. I was holding a mug of coffee in one hand and my phone in the other. Somehow I managed not to spill my coffee or drop my phone. However, my shins are bruised to hell. I don't really understand how my shins got bruised falling DOWN a set of stairs, but they did. I am finally beginning to feel like a real assassin though. My reflexes are so much better than they used to be. If I had fallen the same way a year ago I would have definitely been covered in coffee and more than likely have sprained or broken something. But because of my new found dexterity, I managed to come out of it mostly unscathed. As far as the minimalist shoes go, I'm not sure which ones I want to try. My plan is to go shoe shopping and try on a bunch and see what I like. I've done enough reading/research that the next step is definitely to go shopping for some. Also, Doctor Who nerd and I are successfully being friends thus far. He is on our trivia team and we hung out for quite a few hours last night doing trivia. I even gave him a ride home and things weren't tense or awkward. In fact in some ways they were more relaxed than they had been in months. I think we just make better friends than more than that. Still gotta figure out that last goal... (also added Yoga to second goal)

I'm so excited for this challenge for you And as awesome as your story is, you will always be a wolf to me Monk is definitely my favorite

Updated some of my goals. Still trying to figure out the third. Other updates: My neck was super out of alignment for a little over a week which caused my lower back to get inflamed and be very very painful. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and he fixed me I love my chiropractor! But my lower back is still a little sore. So I'm going to hold off on working out till tomorrow. The really sucky thing is that I haven't done a proper bodyweight workout since Weds, Sept 4th I just gotta get back into my habit. One of the reasons I wasn't working out was because my goat having friends were out of town last week so I was feeding their goats, chickens, dogs, cats & their tortoise all week. And of course the goat had to escape at least one week. So its not like I didn't get any physical activity in. Lol Also, I broke up with my Doctor Who nerd. It wasn't easy for me but it was definitely the right decision. While he is a great guy (who I fully intend to stay friends with) we didn't work. Our personalities just didn't mesh terribly well. I'm okay, a little sad, but okay. I know it was the right decision.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do this challenge!! I like the attitude this time around and I can't wait to see you rock it once again