ReverbPaul

I have a picture of my journal, but I'm having trouble uploading it. So instead, I'm putting it as public link on my DropBox. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4017978/NerdFitness/IMG_1934_small.png Also, a recent wound is making it extremely painful to do any kind of arm-related exercise. Bummer.

Update time: I have to redouble my efforts, because I'm starting to slack off on my workouts. Only did one this week! I'm hoping to do tonight's workout tomorrow morning though, so that I'll only have missed one instead of two. However, I'm doing a lot better on my writing requirement. Haven't missed a day! Interestingly, I'm really taking a liking to the whiteboard in my basement as a brainstorming tool. Then I take a scan on my iPhone if I need to erase the board. I'll still use the book for brainstorming when I'm not home though. I'll try to remember to take some pics sometime soon, when my phone isn't practically dead.

Bah, it happens to the best of us. I think that carrying 100 lbs for a mile should count for something though.

Nice! I'll bet you can hit a full minute pretty soon

Agreed. "That guy" is a great guy (gal?) to be. If my lifestyle was anywhere close to being as hectic as yours, I don't know that I'd be doing as well as you are doing. Keep it up!

When it comes to making lists on my iPhone, I'm kind of obsessed with having the perfect app. For just generic lists, I like "Clear" but I think it costs a couple bucks. For to-do lists, I currently use Carrot, but I have also spent quite some time designing and refining my own app. Now all that's left is to learn how to code an iPhone app. For the hipster PDA, there is a nice alternative you could try. http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Innovations-Bronze-Onyx-Silver-Complete-WN3-Pack-BOS/dp/B000V8PP7Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370713881&sr=8-1&keywords=wallet+notepad I'll definitely post some pics once the notebook has seen a bit more use. Basically all I'm writing in it is blog posts which is no big deal to show everybody.

Nice planking, Arkham! I'll bet by the end of this challenge you'll reach your push-up goal. Instead of doing wall push-ups, do you think chair push-ups would work? It would be a little tougher on your arms, so if you can do a few of those you'll probably be able to reach your push-up goal even faster. Or maybe do some wall push-ups, and then hulk out by doing your final push-up on a chair for extra power.

Arkham, I was at Target the other day and found a notebook (Cambridge Premium Notebook) that is PERFECT for the system I'm using. On the left, it's just lined paper, but on the right, it also has a sidebar at the edge of the sheet, which is exactly what I wanted to do anyway. As icing on the cake, there's a tiny writable area on the front cover to label the notebook, and right above the sidebar on every page is a little area to title the page. I agree with you about writing it out, I can type or use my iPhone, but there's just something about writing by hand. There's also this other idea you might like called the Hipster PDA. It's basically just a bunch of index cards that are all fastened together. Most websites suggest attaching it together using a binder clip, but personally I think butterfly clips make it easier to add / remove index cards. I used to carry one with me at all times (and had a fresh supply of cards both at home and at work), and the only reason I stopped is because I tried something else for a while and now that I want to go back, I can't find my clips. I also carry a Zebra compact pen on me at all times. It's my nerd pen.

Update time! Week one is going pretty well at the moment. On the downside, I was unable to do my workout yesterday. On the upside, I'm doing it again today. Another downside, I've been doing more coding than blog writing, and on the upside I have been writing every day anyway. The Details I'm still in the process of setting up my final writing system. Inspired by Arkham's awesomely insane (insanely awesome?) methods, I've decided that the thing for me to do is to get a big blank Moleskine (or a really nice knock-off). I'm doing that tonight. The left side will be for mind-mapping, and the right will be for writing. Once I'm ready to put it online, I'll write it in markdown using dillinger.io. Then, finally, I will add the converted html code to WordPress, tag it, title it, add pictures / video / audio, and finally publish it. Seems like a huge process -- insane, in fact -- but I think it will work out for me. In case you were curious, the "so far" version of my portfolio website (the coding portion of my writing goal) can be found here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4017978/IMPaulB/index.html The goal is to make it look like IMDb, because my domain name is IMPaulB (a play on "I am Paul B"). Oh yeah, and... Best News of All! My wife has agreed to exercise with me! This cannot be overstated. If she's doing it, that's even more reason for me to keep up with it.

Insane methods are the best kind! I Could see myself doing something like that too. I like that the process becomes more than just the standard school method of first draft, second draft, final draft. It seems like it's more of a combination of brainstorming and writing at the same time. Now I'm thinking about ways I can include a ideas from Cornell Notes, Holistic Learning, and Deliberate Practice. Still figuring out the details, but that probably means one page for mind mapping, and one page for handwriting, with the writing page being given a wide margin on the left for notes. Or something.

And now, a big decision. Should I write by hand, or computer?

I'll have to try that random list thing, thanks! And of COURSE there would be a kitten-based text editor, lol. Thanks for all the ideas guys.

Thanks Arkham! Yeah, writing is fun, but it's tough if you can't think of what to write. I try to keep a running list of ideas, but sometimes I just can't think of how to convey the idea even if I know what the idea is, or maybe I'll write something and it seems too similar to something else I've written before. But maybe with this challenge I'll be able to improve somewhat. What do you like to do when you've got writer's block?

This is my second attempt at doing the six-week challenge (June 3 to July 14). After completely bombing the second half of my first challenge, I'm going to start a bit smaller this time around. So, these are my new goals. What do you think? Write every day for at least 15 minutes I am hooking this action to my evening shower. My existing process is Go Home, then Shower. I will add "write" after the shower. A: 0 strikes +4 WIS +1 CHA B: 3 or fewer strikes +3 WIS C: 6 or fewer strikes +1 WIS Specifically, I will do one of three things that kinda fits into the "writing" category: Blogging, composing, or web coding. As long as I do any one of these (or any combination of them) for a minimum of 15 minutes, I have accomplished this goal for the day. On any given day, if I accomplish this goal AND post to NF (this thread doesn't count), I am allowed to remove one strike. What I'm hoping to accomplish with this goal is to get in the habit of writing blog posts more frequently, which might force me to start doing music learning posts again, and consequently might move me forward in my efforts to create an official Play Without Thinking guitar learning system (i.e. something that could be thought of as a Rebel Guitar Guide). When I have mentioned this before, people seemed interested, which has increased my desire to see it through. I recently modified my system in order to learn Ukulele during my honeymoon. I got to a competent level in under a week. But really, all that stuff is just icing on the cake. The main thing is to just WRITE. I am also allowing myself to continue writing music, like in my previous challenge, but I'm not holding myself to finish x number of songs, it's just another option in addition to blogging. I also want to make coding count because I am currently working on creating my web developer portfolio site, which I hope will help me to start getting side gigs for extra cash flow. Many times I have tried to get a gig, and the employer wanted to see a portfolio site, which I don't have yet. I already bought the domain, now I just need to create the website. Start over with the Dumbbell Division I am hooking this action to arriving at home on Monday Wednesday Friday. So on those days, the whole process will be Go Home, Dumbbells, Shower, Write. A: 0 strikes +3 STR +2 CON B: 2 or fewer strikes +2 STR +1 CON C: 4 or fewer strikes +1 STR This one is pretty straight-forward. I will start over with the Rank 2 workouts. If I accomplish this goal AND take pictures before my workouts on June 3rd, June 24, or July 14, I am allowed to remove one strike. I may or may not post the pictures to the thread. Haven't decided yet. That's it! Wish me luck!

So, I'm not sure how many people have actually been reading this, but post-wedding, I completely bombed doing anything about anything in the 6-week challenge. As such, I'm not sure whether I should give myself any extra stats this time around. Thoughts? Also, I think the reason is that I bit off more than I could chew, so in the next challenge (failure is just a stepping stone toward success), I will be taking what I've learned from this challenge to come up with goals that are more doable. Plus, I've had plenty of time to think about what my next goals would be.

What's your username? I'll follow you!

As luck would have it I did download the C25K app a while back. Maybe I'll make that a goal during the next 6-week challenge. Any suggestions on running shoes?

Hi guys, I recently started using this website that's basically Twitter for music discovery, and it's pretty damn cool. http://www.thisismyjam.com/ Basically, you choose a song to be your "jam" and it stays there for up to a week, and you can follow other people who have jams you like. If you pick a new jam, it replaces your old jam. Once you find a bunch of people you follow, you've basically got a new playlist every week full of great songs. Very simple, and extremely effective. So here's my deal: if you have an account (or if you create one), let me know I'll follow you! My handle is theReverbSignal. http://www.thisismyjam.com/theReverbSignal

Nice! My aunt does this kind of thing too, and I've often thought I should do it (but I'm nowhere near that yet). So cool, even if you did cramp up a little. But then again, that just means you know you're pushing yourself to improve, and that's never a bad thing! How long have you been running? Any suggestions for somebody who hasn't gotten started yet?

Haven't updated in a while. But I've been pretty good on all counts except two: Although I am continuing to work on my music, it's not progressing as fast as I would like because most of my time is being taken up by wedding preparation.Also because of time spent on wedding, I missed another workout.The wedding is this weekend, and then honeymoon for the week after. During the honeymoon, I'm sure I can manage to set aside some time each day to write lyrics (I certainly can't record music so I'll have no choice but to write), as well as put aside an hour to do body-weight exercises, which I'll count toward my goal even though technically I'm following the dumbbell division workouts.

I got a body fat caliper, because more data is never a bad thing. Hey, I'm a skinny guy, what do you think my body fat is going to be? ten percent? twelve percent? NOPE!!! According to the caliper, I've got about 21 percent body fat, which is directly in the middle of "average" for men in my age group. 21 percent?! This is humbling, to say the least. I shall endeavor to bring it down to a healthier 15%. Not so much a goal yet (maybe the next challenge), but just something to track, to see what kinds of changes happen to that number over time. Edit: I was using it wrong. I didn't see the slider thingie. My actual body fat is about 16.5%, which is in the "ideal" category. So, I'm happy with that. Still, I'll keep monitoring that to make sure it stays there instead of getting too low or too high.

I need to get on the forums more often.... maybe that shoulda been my personal goal? Also, since I forgot to say last time I updated (shame on me), thanks Squawk for the kind words! Anyway: Lunch: I brought it from home twice this week! Woo hoo!Exercise: I missed one last week, but have been getting all of my exercise in otherwise.Weight: I'm holding steady at 142 lbs. I must consume more food!Songs: I'm aiming to speed up the song (it just feels too slow to me). Lyrics are still in progress, but I've laid out some of the basics: it takes the journey of video game characters and uses it as a metaphor for friendship. I'll try to record a verse and chorus at some point so I can post.

Nice planking!

Yeah, no biggie, I'm still a newb myself and honestly I should have thought more about it. All that info about what effect x amount of reps will get you is directly in the Rebel guide. Luckily there are a ton of people here who were able to correct me and you didn't end up with incomplete info. But here's what I really wanted to quote: "The only people who [use the free weights] are the really muscular guys." Or perhaps this could be rephrased as "the only people who look like they got good results are also the only ones using the free weights." Heck, maybe go up to them and do the compliment / question combo to find out what has helped them succeed.

Also I said this to rpg101 (another NF newbie like us), but a great weight to look at your weight is... well I'll just quote what I said in the other forum: Hope this helps! Edit: and also you may find that over time, you will still have an overall downward curve even though any two weeks might net you the same value.