Lindsey_M

Ooo I've not heard of that, I'll have to look it up. It's good to meet another fan PS. Yoga on Sunday 2/10 *victorypuffs*

Latest report: I've pulled my socks up a bit and have been more diligent about not eating junk food - not perfect but better. The thing I was least happy about eating was actually an egg salad; I'm going off eggs. Yestertag I went to hot yoga and out of the whole 90 minute class I had about a 10 minute break in the middle. So proud of myself. I'm still surprised that my hips are the stiffest part of my body with the smallest range of motion. Obviously some part has to be. I'm glad to be working towards loosening them up though. So that's 1/10 so far for that goal.

You're Beautiful - the one about the girl who takes her brother's place in a boyband. I've now started Love Rain because it has the same lead actor; I'm totally fangirling

Thanks Raptron! Yeah hot yoga was strange - I can't really remember moving at all, but about 36 hours later the muscles between my shoulders and the back of my arms reminded me that they had in fact been working. The heat really does make a difference; I didn't feel like I was straining hard during the class at all. 2 days into the challenge and it's a slow start. I've not been sleeping well - mostly because of an alarm going off outside. I may have prioritised watching the end of my latest kdrama over working out, and had a portion of crisps. Oops. Oh well, onwards and upwards!

Now that I have turned 30 and entered the "yoghurt and yoga pants" phase of the western female life-cycle, I want to achieve a more zen-like state of mind; though being a nerd my title also refers to the win status in Peggle when you clear the entire board of pegs. I will declutter my mind, my body... and my apartment. My ultimate fitness goal is still to do a handstand, but I also have an interim goal now to lose 4 inches off my chest so that I can fit into my polka dot dress in time for my friend's wedding in August. Actually I could well be upside down before that happens but who knows? Goals for this challenge: 1) Eat for health. This includes making good choices when eating out, limiting the number of biscuits consumed, eating lots of vegetables, and resisting the urge to overeat out of boredom. I know when I've eaten enough and when I haven't, and I know that if I haven't eaten enough rye bread will do me more favours that crisps. 2) Sweat it out. Not at aerobics, hells no, but at hot yoga. I went on Sunday to check it out and melted into a little puddle. Win conditions: 10 sessions A, 8 sessions B, 6 sessions C, 4 sessions D. 3) Gain a new point of view. An upside down one, to be specific. Ongoing handstand challenge win conditions: Walking on hands A, free standing B, flip up the wall C, walk up the wall D. And as a general bonus I will declutter my apartment. I've already done phase 1 which was organising my wardrobe - I now have the wearable side, the side that will fit if I get smaller, and anything that was either too big or I didn't think I'd wear again went to the charity shop. I've also got books to sort through, other clothes in drawers, old makeup to throw out, and an excess of crafting stuff that I should either use or let go of.

Better late than never... I got a little caught up starting Christmas early and missed doing my conclusions. I'm sorry. But it's a new year, so time for a new start. I ended this challenge at grade C: being able to walk up the wall into a handstand, but didn't get on to flipping up. There's still more progress to be made...

Thanks you guys I have to confess I've been hiding a bit since my massive 30th birthday blowout. It was awesome, and although there was cake and booze there was also ice skating so I did get a little bit of exercise. Mostly now I'm using coldness and Christmas prep as an excuse to not get off my arse, but really I'm watching Asian dramas online. Seriously: Korean melodrama That Winter, The Wind Blew is rocking my world.

You know that thing where after forcing yourself to do something for 3 weeks you're supposed to be set for life? I have the opposite. I will be so dedicated during those first three weeks, so amazingly into it that it would appear that I cannot possibly fail at anything and I'm some kind of super hero. Then my three weeks will expire and I'll just stop doing it without even noticing. So. Annoying.

Omg I almost forgot to do morning yoga on Sunday because my boyfriend distracted me by vomiting - so rude of him. He has a lot of food sensitivities so it happens occasionally, he should be fine now. After 3 days of laziness I've finally stopped aching, so I expect to be back in the gym tonight and attempting upsidedownness once again. I'm really looking forward to having any strength whatsoever. At the moment it's a challenge to even stay hydrated as it's so cold - the air is leaching my moisture and the water is too cold to drink

I figured out why I kept getting rushed in the morning: my alarm had lost 5 minutes. Boo to you, alarm, trying to undermine my progress. Progress is moderate at the moment. My upper back has been really sore this week, so I've not done any handstand practice since Monday. My limp noodle body needs some recovery time. I did a 1 hour Pilates class last night that included a lot of hip work and found that my hips are stiff, weak, and generally not up to much. It's like I have no muscles there. How did I get to 30 without ever needing muscles?! Regardless of my weakness I really enjoyed the class, it's my favourite workout of the week Minor confession time: Wednesday I was having crazy cravings, like I literally could not stop thinking about food, so I gave in and wrote it off as a cheat day. I had crisps, I had fast food, I had pie. Whatevs - it's one day, and I don't really think I over ate, I just ate really bad things. I feel a lot better for getting it out of my system, but it does mean I won't get a perfect grade for the food part of my challenge this week. My latest weigh in last night was 75kg - that makes a total loss since this summer of 5kg *winning*

So what's the next stage to increase the challenge: walking on your hands?

What kind of yoga do you do? I do mine as soon as I get out of bed, before I even have time to think about whether I feel like it or not I use a printed out sheet (attached) and just do what it tells me. Expecting my brain to come up with ideas on the spur of the moment tends to upset it, so I try to save my thinking power for more enjoyable things.

Yeah, I thought I'd been doing some strength training, but compared to shoulder pressing a 7kg dumbell, keeping up an entire 76kg me is a hell of a lot harder! My morning yoga streak is still intact, though I felt like a rushed it a bit this morning. This is the price I pay for not going to bed on time

Oh, side quests, I has those too... Mini morning yoga is still going well. I'm pondering getting another stickman sheet to do when I get in from work, a hip loosening one for added bendiness. Knitting scarves is making slow progress. At this rate I'll have finished 2, maybe 3 by Christmas :/

Monday report: Workout at the gym: win Eating well with only one sneaky gingerbread man: win Handstand practice: 30, 20, 30, 20 seconds I'm still a meter from the wall. I crouch in front of it then walk my feet up behind me until upright facing the wall. As much as the beginner's guide emphasised that this was a matter of technique I'm actually having to build a lot of strength. My little noodle arms are getting more stable. My side planks are getting better too - soon I will be brave enough to try real grown up yoga at a proper studio.

aWOOga! aWOOga! Ultimate Badasses coming through!

Aw, thanks you guys My weekend was a little more chilled. I know I did planks on Saturday but I didn't write the times down. They were definitely getting longer though. I've started putting videos on youtube to distract me while I'm doing them, so I can just hang out in the plank for as long as possible without counting every long second in my head. I am going to blame planks for rediscovering my love of kpop. On Sunday I slowed down my morning yoga routine and held the poses for longer, stretching it to about 12 minutes. The sequence I use includes down dogs and side planks and my shoulders/upper back are getting quite tired. I took a rest from official handstand related plank practice. It's really hard to know how much I can push myself. I'm doing such a little bit each day that it doesn't feel like much at all, but those things I am working on are getting better.

Summary for Thursday: Morning yoga: win Unnecessary hot chocolate: lose Pilates cancelled but went to bums legs and tums class anyway: win 1 meter walk up the wall stands: 25, 20, 25, 15, 5 seconds: win Compared to Monday that's loads more upside-downness! *happy dance* I feel I deserve a special prize for making it to the end of bums legs and tums. I hated every minute of it. Speed crunches can go die in a hole. I don't even have any aches in my abs today so it can't have been doing much. I spotted myself in the mirror after and I had a face like a slapped arse - and even that didn't make me laugh so you know it was bad.

Just did my planks for the day: 5 x 35 seconds 3 days into the challenge and feeling good about it

Sounds like you're off to a flying start

Sounds like you're doing well - don't break your head!

Tuesday summary: Morning yoga: win Good food: win Very brief. As mentioned, I had a bad case of ladycramps. Usually I allow myself all kinds of indulgence for that, but I stuck to my morning stretches and I had a big portion of healthy food instead of any junk food. I probably ate too much because my stomach hurt a little bit afterwards, but I didn't trust my willpower to behave so I just filled up my capacity with lentils and kale.

My week so far has been pretty good I've dealt with some small hurdles, e.g. aches and pains, and waiting up late for my bf to come home without losing sight of my goals or letting them disrupt my routine. I felt really groggy and unmotivated when I woke up this morning but bargained with myself that even 1 minute of yoga would still count so I did that. I'm glad I did. I did another 1 min just before lunch too. It's such a tiny amount but it stretches me out, reminds my body of the posture it should have all the time, and reminds my brain that I'm still doing this and will do it again soon

I am planning a stealthy bra shopping trip soon, but in this case it was pure hormone attack - I had nasty ladycramps all day too

I'll probably do 30 days of planks by accident! I like the idea, but more poor little brain works best when it has fewer things to concentrate on. Between doing yoga and handstands it's already forgotten that I also need to do the dishes... Monday summary: Morning yoga: win Evening workout: win Not being able to run fast on the treadmill because my boobs hurt: lose Walk up planks, hands 1 meter from the wall: 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec: WIN Bonus straight arm plank: 30 sec YouTube yoga 10 mins: win In bed by 11pm: win And I only had 1 ginger biscuit and no extra helpings at dinner *proud*