Posy

Link to my OP. Basically, the first half of this challenge went really well. Then I seriously injured my neck. Then I started full-time graduate school and TAing on top of working full-time. Oh, and my birthday was in there somewhere, too. So no big shocker that I faltered a bit during the second half of the challenge. That being said, just as this challenge is ending I'm starting to get a grasp on these other things in my life. Furthermore, I've come up with somewhat of a game plan for how to work towards my goals in the future, given my severe lack of 1) time, 2) energy, and 3) physical ability thanks to the injury. So hopefully by the time the next challenge starts I will have some of that implemented and not have to struggle so much. Anyway, my one regret during this challenge is that I didn't get involved with my support group as much as I did last time. Again, this was due to literally not having time. I hope in the future I'll be able to devote more time to that aspect of the challenges. Anyway, here's all my information! Goal one: Complete strength training workout 3X a week + 1 day of miscellaneous exercise I’m giving myself a C. The first three weeks went well, and then I suffered an injury. So I completely backed off the strength training for two weeks. This past week I got one workout in, but it only made the injury worse again. I feel like there isn’t a whole lot I could have done, so I’m not going to completely fail myself. So half the points. 1.5 STR + 1 STA Goal two: Stick to my "diet" This was a complete failure. Mostly F’s. Somehow I lost weight during this challenge, but I can’t in good conscious give myself any points for this goal. Goal three: Stretch every day + Yoga 3x a week This went well. When I injured my neck I couldn’t do yoga for a week, but otherwise, I’m comfortable giving myself an A for this and all the points except for CON. 1 DEX + 1 STA + .5 CON Life quest: Study Danish for a total of 5 hours a week + Anthropology for 2 hours a week This was mostly good. I failed to study for Danish one week due to a total lack of time. So 1/3 the points seems fair. + 2 WIS Finally, here are the mini-challenges I completed: 1) Think! Create smart goals (1 WIS) 1b) Join an accountability group + post on 5 threads (1 CHA) 2) 1,2,3,4, and "other" points of contact movements (1 STR) 3) Green Eggs and Ham (+1 CON) 4) The Cat in the Hat (+1 WIS) Total points: Previous Stats: LVL 2 || (STR) 6 || (DEX) 4 || (STA) 5 || (CON) 3.5 || (WIS) 9.5 || (CHA) 4.5 Current Stats: LVL 3 || (STR) 8.5 || (DEX) 5 || (STA) 7 || (CON) 5 || (WIS) 12.5 || (CHA) 5.5 Finally, here are my IRL starting and ending stats for this challenge: Starting / Ending Stats: Height: 5'5" Weight: 140.4 lbs / 131.6 lbs Calf: 14 in. / 13.5 in. Thigh: 22.25 in. / 22.25 in. Hips: 39.5 in. / 38.5 Waist (at belly button): 34 in. / 32 in. Waist (at narrowest point): 29.75 in. / 28 in. Chest (over nipples): 34 in. / 33.5 in. Chest (under breast): 31.75 in. / 30.5 in. Bicep: 9.75 in. / 9.25 in. Neck: 12.75 in. / 12.24 in.

Hey guys! Here's my end of challenge post. Basically, the first half of this challenge went really well. Then I seriously injured my neck. Then I started full-time graduate school and TAing on top of working full-time. Oh, and my birthday was in there somewhere, too. So no big shocker that I faltered a bit during the second half of the challenge. That being said, just as this challenge is ending I'm starting to get a grasp on these other things in my life. Furthermore, I've come up with somewhat of a game plan for how to work towards my goals in the future, given my severe lack of 1) time, 2) energy, and 3) physical ability thanks to the injury. So hopefully by the time the next challenge starts I will have some of that implemented and not have to struggle so much. Anyway, my one regret during this challenge is that I didn't get involved with my support group as much as I did last time. Again, this was due to literally not having time. I hope in the future I'll be able to devote more time to that aspect of the challenges. Anyway, here's all my information! Goal one: Complete strength training workout 3X a week + 1 day of miscellaneous exercise I’m giving myself a C. The first three weeks went well, and then I suffered an injury. So I completely backed off the strength training for two weeks. This past week I got one workout in, but it only made the injury worse again. I feel like there isn’t a whole lot I could have done, so I’m not going to completely fail myself. So half the points. 1.5 STR + 1 STA Goal two: Stick to my "diet" This was a complete failure. Mostly F’s. Somehow I lost weight during this challenge, but I can’t in good conscious give myself any points for this goal. Goal three: Stretch every day + Yoga 3x a week This went well. When I injured my neck I couldn’t do yoga for a week, but otherwise, I’m comfortable giving myself an A for this and all the points except for CON. 1 DEX + 1 STA + .5 CON Life quest: Study Danish for a total of 5 hours a week + Anthropology for 2 hours a week This was mostly good. I failed to study for Danish one week due to a total lack of time. So 1/3 the points seems fair. + 2 WIS Finally, here are the mini-challenges I completed: 1) Think! Create smart goals (1 WIS) 1b) Join an accountability group + post on 5 threads (1 CHA) 2) 1,2,3,4, and "other" points of contact movements (1 STR) 3) Green Eggs and Ham (+1 CON) 4) The Cat in the Hat (+1 WIS) Total points: Previous Stats: LVL 2 || (STR) 6 || (DEX) 4 || (STA) 5 || (CON) 3.5 || (WIS) 9.5 || (CHA) 4.5 Current Stats: LVL 3 || (STR) 8.5 || (DEX) 5 || (STA) 7 || (CON) 5 || (WIS) 12.5 || (CHA) 5.5 Finally, here are my IRL starting and ending stats for this challenge: Starting / Ending Stats: Height: 5'5" Weight: 140.4 lbs / 131.6 lbs Calf: 14 in. / 13.5 in. Thigh: 22.25 in. / 22.25 in. Hips: 39.5 in. / 38.5 Waist (at belly button): 34 in. / 32 in. Waist (at narrowest point): 29.75 in. / 28 in. Chest (over nipples): 34 in. / 33.5 in. Chest (under breast): 31.75 in. / 30.5 in. Bicep: 9.75 in. / 9.25 in. Neck: 12.75 in. / 12.24 in.

I need to do an end-of-challenge post soon, but for now I just have time for a weekly update. Stretching and yoga went well. A for that. Surprisingly, I met my goal for studying Danish, which I did not expect to happen. So A for that as well. I wasn't really planning on working out this week, but I did manage to get a strength training workout in. Unfortunately, the next day my neck was hurting again. So D for that. Finally, my diet was abysmal this week. Lots of stress eating thanks to school. F for that. My new goals are: Primarily focus on not binge eating. I'm mostly over yoga, but strength training will continue to be a thing. I've come to the conclusion that I don't have the time to study Danish X amount of hours a week like I have been trying to do. So instead, I'm going to try and get it any whenever I can - even if it's just a couple of minutes here and there each day. Strength training is still on hold. Or at least full workouts. Again, I honestly don't have an hour to do it three times a week. Also, the injury is slow healing. However, I think I'll go the studying route and try to get in parts of my routine whenever I can (some weights here, a plank there, a couple squats wherever, etc.). I know it's not as effective, but it's realistically what I can manage right now. The most important thing is controlling the eating.

Hey everyone! I know I've been MIA for most of this challenge in terms of posting here, but I have been absurdly busy. Like... not even having five minutes to write a post busy. In fact, I have to keep this update post brief too. So, I will just say that I still have not been exercising this week. I was going to try the mini-challenge, but I just haven't had time (literally). Maybe I will try it today, though. So no grade for that. My diet is getting a C. I was doing OK during most of the week, but it's my birthday tomorrow and I have straight up been having a crazy binge weekend. I'm only penalizing myself half-way for that, though, because it was somewhat planned. I did start the yoga and stretching back up this week. I stretched every day and did yoga for four days. So A for that. Finally, my studying was a failure. Well, I did way more than two hours of studying Anthropology. In fact, that won't be a problem at all for the rest of the challenge. However, I studied for less than an hour with my Danish. Again, I simply did not have the time. So I'm giving myself a C. I already know that the exercising and Danish probably won't improve for the rest of the challenge. I really can't stress enough how little time I have to do anything these days. Still, I AM looking into ways to incorporate both of those back into my crazy schedule. It's just going to take some time (probably longer than this challenge) to get things sorted out. So yeah. My goals for this coming week are to get back on track with my diet (after Monday), continue stretching everyday and doing yoga, and maybe fit in at least one work out.

Well, I recently moved into my apartment so it's mostly straightened out. So I decided to work on organizing my computer files and 1,500 bookmarks. It was appropriate, because I got a new laptop this weekend and am starting graduate school this week. That was a huge job in and of itself. I also organized my craft supplies a little bit - mostly labeling boxes. Finally, I organized my clothes in my closet. When I moved I just hung them all up without any sort of order. So yeah, I'm going to split the difference and give myself +1 WIS.

Hello everyone! So here's my weekly update: Goal one: Complete strength training workout 3X a week + 1 day of miscellaneous exercise This goal was intentionally put on hold this week as I have a neck injury. It's getting better, but pretty much anything beyond bed rest was out of the question this week. Goal two: Stick to my "diet" Since I planned to not work out this week I thought it would be a good chance to focus on food. Well, that failed on day one. I totally binged all day Monday. Tuesday was good. Then Wednesday night I overate again - however it was in a specific social situation that I rarely would find myself in and I'm not feeling bad about it. Then I binged again on Thursday. Friday until today has been good, though. So yeah. I can't decide if I'm pissed off and annoyed or what. I hate to say, "Today is a new day!", because it does absolutely nothing for me. So I guess I'm just whatever, over it. Goal three: Stretch every day + Yoga 3x a week As with exercising, this goal was put on hold for this week. I did stretch on Saturday, though. My plan for this week is to work stretching back in everyday and try yoga if it's possible. Life quest: Study Danish for a total of 5 hours a week + Anthropology for 2 hours a week This went well. I exceeded my Anthropology goal by an hour. Based on all of this, I'm going to give myself an A for studying; an F for diet; and nothing for strength training or stretching. Also, I did sort of do the mini-challenge for this week. I recently moved into my apartment, and it's pretty much straightened out. So I decided to work on organizing my computer - my files and my 1,500 bookmarks. It was appropriate, since I just got a new laptop this weekend and am starting school this week. So upcoming goals (in addition to the regular ones) this week: I'm starting graduate school this week. My goals are to focus on diet, once again. Work stretching and possibly yoga back in. Studying Anthropology will be easy, because of school, obviously - so I'll have to focus on fitting Danish in there.

Hello everyone! So here's my weekly update: Goal one: Complete strength training workout 3X a week + 1 day of miscellaneous exercise My workouts were awkward this week. I also went on an one hour walk (miscellaneous exercise). On Thursday, I played tennis for 45 minutes (miscellaneous exercise in place of on strength training workout) and one half of my regular strength training workout (weights only). On Friday I did the second half of my workout (bodyweight circuit). So overall I did two strength training workouts and two miscellaneous workouts. Goal achieved? Goal two: Stick to my "diet" This goal was going well until Friday. I had a date night and planned to enjoy some candy at the movies and fast food afterward. However, due to the stress of the week and especially this weekend, I ended up binging all day Saturday and Sunday. So failed this goal entirely. Also, I took part in this week's mini-challenge. I tried three different kinds of jerky (two were inedible) and kiwi (gross on its own, but I'm going to try it in a smoothie today). Goal three: Stretch every day + Yoga 3x a week Stretched every day except for Sunday. Exceeded my yoga goal by doing it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Life quest: Study Danish for a total of 5 hours a week + Anthropology for 2 hours a week Met both of these goals. Based on all of this, I'm going to give myself A's for my strength training, yoga, and studying goals. I've decided to go with a F for my diet diet goal. Basically, what happened this week is that I injured my neck on Saturday. So I am not going to penalize myself for not doing a proper strength training workout on Sunday and not stretching. I literally could not move my neck! There is no excuse for the diet. I just had a horrible weekend personally and I handled it in the same poor way I usually do. So upcoming goals (in addition to the regular ones) this week: I am NOT going to workout this week or probably stretch (I'll do what I can), because my neck needs all the rest it can get. Instead, I'm going to take this time to focus on diet and studying. This week is going to be just as stressful as this weekend was and I really want to prove to myself that I can make smart food choices under those conditions. Finally, here are my half-way updated stats: Starting stats: Height: 5'5" Weight: 140.2 // 132 lbs Calf: 14 in. // 14 in. Thigh: 22.25 in. // 22 in. Hips: 39.5 in. // 38.25 in. Waist (at belly button): 34 in. // 32.5 in. Waist (at narrowest point): 29.75 in. // 27.75 in. Chest (over nipples): 34 in. // 33 in. Chest (under breast): 31.75 in. // 30 in. Bicep: 9.75 in. // 9.75 in. Neck: 12.75 in. // 12.75 in. Wrist: 6 in. // 6 in.

Hey guys! My weekly update is up in my challenge thread.

Hello everyone! So here's my weekly update: Goal one: Complete strength training workout 3X a week + 1 day of miscellaneous exercise I did strength training on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. This week I wanted to increase my weights and holds, which I did. For my miscellaneous workout I wanted to make use of the facilities at my new apartment so I went swimming for 15 minutes (not laps) and played tennis for 45 minutes on Thursday. I would have gone for a longer swim, but the lifeguard was there cleaning the pool and I was confined to too small of an area to actually do anything. Goal two: Stick to my "diet" This goal did not go so well. I had planned to have cake, ice cream and pizza this past week due to my boyfriend's birthday. My challenge for the week was to indulge in this yummy food without going overboard. In that regard, I ate exactly as much of those things as I had intended to. Seriously, I measured out and ate 1/2 a cup of ice cream at a time - something I have literally never done. However, I also ended up having cinnamon sticks from Pizza Hut (unplanned purchase), which omgsofreakinggood and on Friday I just ate poorly in general (some gross cheesecake brownie ice cream that I actually threw half of away, two Hershey bars, and A LOT of peanut butter). It wasn't a full on binge, but definitely more than I had wanted to indulge in this week. Also, I challenged myself this week to track my water in-take for one day. It came out to 68oz from water, 8oz from milk, and 32oz from diet soda - for a total of 108oz. Goal three: Stretch every day + Yoga 3x a week Stretched every day. Exceeded my yoga goal by doing it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Also, I completed the mini-challenge for this week (1,2,3,4), and posted a video of myself trying out mostly yoga moves. Life quest: Study Danish for a total of 5 hours a week + Anthropology for 2 hours a week I studied Danish for 5 hours and Anthropology for 2 hours. An additional goal of mine for this week was to start working on Danish listening exercises. To that end, I devoted the entire week to learning ONE song. Based on all of this, I'm going to give myself A's for my strength training, yoga, and studying goals. I've decided to go with a B - for my diet goal. I'm super proud of myself for measuring out cake and ice cream and only eating the amount I planned too, but I obviously went a little overboard one day this week. However, it's wasn't a full-on binge compared to my usual behavior, so I will not fail myself over it. So upcoming goals (in addition to the regular ones) this week: Increase weights for strength training, go back to no processed grains, move on to a new Danish listening exercise (either a new song or story) - or work on my grammar if the site I've been using gets fixed.

Hey guys! I actually thought I had posted this yesterday, but I guess I forgot. Oops! I made a video for the current mini-challenge. You can see the post I made for it here OR just go straight to the video. Anyway, yesterday was my boyfriend's birthday. I had cake and ice cream! My first "processed grains" since the challenge started. Oh, and did I mention that I managed all of this without going psycho and binging? Progress my friends. Progress. There are still two more tests to come this week: he wants to get donuts for breakfast and pizza for dinner at some point (we didn't today, because of my work schedule). So I'll let you all know how that goes!

So I know I said I was only going to do weekly updates, but... I made a video for the current mini-challenge. You can see the post I made for it here OR just go straight to the video. Anyway, today is my boyfriend's birthday. I had cake and ice cream! My first "processed grains" since the challenge started. Oh, and did I mention that I managed all of this without going psycho and binging? Progress my friends. Progress. There are still two more tests to come this week: he wants to get donuts for breakfast and pizza for dinner at some point (we didn't today, because of my work schedule). So I'll let you all know how that goes!

So I did this today, and I decided to make a little 1-minute video. Hopefully I am posting this correctly (if not, here's the link): Today was a yoga day, so I went ahead and did mostly all yoga poses. 1 point: Dancer's Pose This was my first time doing this one, as you can tell from how shaky I am in the video. My body did not understand the mechanics of how to get my lifted leg parallel to the ground! 2 points: Warrior Pose/Revolved Triangle I wasn't sure if the Revolved Triangle counted as 2 or 3 points. Technically, one of my hands is touching the ground a little bit, but it's just hanging there. I've done both of these poses before. The ones I "tried" and counted for this challenge were the Firefly Pose and the Side Crow Pose - both of which I failed at (and thus, they did not end up in the video). 3 points: One-legged Plank I do regular planks all the time during my body-weight workouts, but have never tried the one-legged version. If you watch the video that will be very apparent! I also tried a one-handed inclined push-up, but that was a no go. 4 points: Back Stretch Not really sure what to call this one. Basically, you get on your hands and knees and alternate between letting your lower back sag and pulling it up. Other: Shoulder-stand Pose and umm... "Head-between-legs"...pose? No idea what you call the second one! I've done both of these before, but not in many years. Not so good with the Shoulder-Stand Pose. I also tried the Bow Pose, but I was unable to get the front of my body up like the girl in the link. Anyway, this was a fun little challenge. The hardest part was thinking of movements that I hadn't tried before and that were at my level. I'm determined now to master the ones I failed at! I hope my video gives people some ideas for what they might try. I obviously referred to Tamzilla's link of yoga poses, which was quite useful!

I definitely want to do this. I'm still looking for 3 and 4-points of contact moves. Pretty much everything posted here I have already tried before, or is beyond my skills (like a one-handed push-up lolno). I found one, two, and no-points (I'm going to count the "bow pose", which actually has just your stomach touching the floor, if that's OK) of contact poses from the yoga page that was posted, but I'd be interested to know if anyone has more strength based moves.

Hey guys! Here is the link to my weekly update. Summary: Everything went really well! I completed all 3 of my strength training workouts, went walking for 1.5 hours as my one miscellaneous workout, stretched everyday and exceeded my goal for number of days doing yoga. I also met my goals for studying Danish and Anthropology. Finally, not only did I not binge this week, but I ate NO processed grains. No bread, cereal, or crackers. That is not a part of my overall goals. I just wanted to see if I could do it for a week. It was absolutely miserable! Right now I feel indifferent about all of this. I've definitely been struggling with the lack of grains. There has been plenty of carbohydrates from fruit and other sources, but it's not the same! Also, I have been on my period since the challenge started, so *blargh*. Work has been exhausting and I have had a million things to do with moving. Still, I know I survived this week by taking part in this challenge. As much as my body wants to eat an entire cake right now I definitely feel like I've sort of "detoxed" over the week after a really long and bad binge that lead up to the start of this challenge. Anyway, I'm glad for how things are going so far and I just hope I can keep it up for the rest of the challenge. Next week will hopefully be tougher in the exercise department and more lenient with the diet (I've already got pizza, ice cream, and cake plans for my boyfriend's birthday).

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say that I have been keeping up with everyone's posts and comments, even though I have not been responding much myself. In contrast to the last challenge, I've decided to only do weekly updates instead of posting every couple of days (explained below). Also, I'm going to recap by looking at each goal instead of each day: Goal one: Complete strength training workout 3X a week + 1 day of miscellaneous exercise I did strength training on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. My miscellaneous workout was going for a 1.5 hour walk with my boyfriend. It was really nice, because we recently moved and it was our first chance to explore the area. We didn't even know we had a cool old-time-y downtown within walking distance! Also, this coming week, if my bloody period (pun totally intended) will knock it off and go away, I would like to try some of my other planned miscellaneous workouts. Goal two: Stick to my "diet" I've tracked everything. Haven't overeaten. If anything, I probably under-ate this week. Not on purpose. I've just got a jacked-up work schedule. Anyway, not only did I not binge this week but I went above and beyond by eating NO processed grains. No cereal, crackers, or bread. I'll be honest: it was absolutely miserable. This coming week I will definitely be eating some, though. It's my boyfriend's birthday on Tuesday and we'll be having ice cream, cake, and pizza! Of course, before this challenge started I went grocery shopping, because of the move, and I stocked up on crackers, cereal, and canned corn. Only, I randomly decided that it was time to finally cut this stuff out of my diet the day before this challenge started. So we took all of that extra food and dropped it off at a food bank. I avoided bread by simply not buying anymore after it ran out last Sunday. It was an interesting experiment. I've been eating eggs every morning for breakfast instead of the occasional bowl of Special K Protein. For lunch, instead of bringing a peanut butter sandwich with me to work I've just been skipping that portion and eating an apple with peanut butter when I get home. Finally, for dinner, I used to eat a 1/2 cup of mixed corn and peas, but now I'm eating just the peas. I replaced my usual russet potato with a cup of broccoli mixed with 2 tbsp hummus. I would normally eat the hummus with crackers. So it's no longer my goal to go entirely without processed grains. I mostly just wanted to see if I could do it for a week. I think this week I will be a lot more lenient, because I can feel myself "breaking" from the cravings. Goal three: Stretch every day + Yoga 3x a week Stretched every day. Exceeded my yoga goal by doing it on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Life quest: Study Danish for a total of 5 hours a week + Anthropology for 2 hours a week Studied Danish for 333 out of 300 minutes and Anthropology for 120 out of 120 minutes. So I would definitely say that's A's all across the board. I'm not feeling too excited just yet, though. During the last challenge I did really well for the first three weeks, but as soon as a "schedule roadblock" (I went on vacation for a week) came up I stumbled. That's why I've decided to only update this weekly. Last time I would be feeling really proud after a couple of days, and then sure enough I would "screw up". Then it felt like the whole week was a waste and I shouldn't even bother. I think I understand the "one day at a time" concept, and now I want to start working on longer term goals. I want to be able to look back at the week and say, "Yeah, I screwed up that one meal or day", but also see it in the grand scheme of things. If that makes any sense. Anyway! I was going to post my weight stats every week, but I'm not so sure now. When I weighed in one week ago I was a little over 140 lbs (I started the last challenge at 130 lbs). However, I had literally binged for four days straight leading up to Monday. Before that I had binged for about a week straight and then ate fine for a week and a half. So I weighed myself this morning and I was at 131.2 lbs. I'm hesitant to post that, because it sounds like a ton to lose in one week (especially when you're already at a normal weight). However, I know that it was mostly my body just detoxing, being shocked by the sudden drop in calories and increase in exercise (I just started up my somewhat physical job two weeks ago), and water weight (I've been on my period all week!). I think this coming week I'm going to focus more on eating enough - possibly zig-zagging my calories. That'll be easy with the planned birthday meals haha. So upcoming goals (in addition to the regular ones) this week: Increase weights and duration of holds during my strength training, try out a different exercise like swimming or tennis, and treat myself to yummy food without going crazy.