pinupgeek

Thanks! I've already thought of new things to put into it to make it better, but I think I'm going to hold off awhile longer to edit. Rest of Week 6 Fitness: Teaching two hours Wednesday, plus I actually remembered to do 20 minutes of yoga before class! Then Thursday was my sister's birthday dinner so I skipped class (which got cancelled anyway). Another 20 minutes of yoga today because my internet is crap and wouldn't load the longer online class. Only warmed up with shimmies today, 10 minutes total of all 3. Friday, I decided to level up on my pushups and do decline pushups. I started them off of a little 2-foot high stool, thinking it'd be hard, but I still busted out 11 of them. So I switched to a chair and still managed 9 and 12. However, this was with my pushup assists (I have terrible wrists), so today I went without and did decline off the chair. And did 9, 10, and 11 pushups. With really good depth. When did I get this strong? Diet: Eh. A lot of eating out this weekend, but I tried to pick healthy things off the menu, and I made sure to eat clean at home. Luckily, I don't have anything but Paleo friendly food at home. I did make some really great pan-fried Moroccan chicken, though. Life: Gift 1 still needs the ends threaded in. Gift 2 is about halfway done. Turkish...well, I did pick up a Turkish phrase book to complement my vocab, because I don't have any connecting words. Fail challenge: Still at -7 pullups, but getting stronger. I didn't expect to reach a full pullup, but I hope to soon.

Hooray for your dress being too big...sort of. It's great that you've got a paleo routine down. If it works for you, then that's really what counts, especially when you figure out what stuff makes you feel bad. House cleaning always exhausts me in ways it shouldn't. I think it at least counts as cardio. Though pushing a vacuum around sometimes requires a lot of strength.

Love the romantic squats by candlelight. Power outages are no excuse!

Woohoo, you finished Nano! Congrats! And now I know what sculpt a pooch means. Most belly dancers (including myself!) are familiar with the lovely 6-pack pot belly.

Finger injury is better than a foot injury! Though, how is affecting your Nano progress? I'm not sure if this helps, but when I'm doing yoga that's similar to what you're talking about I keep my abs contracted the whole time. For me, it helps me keep control of my legs, and it protects my back! I also feel like my abs get stronger that way.

Week 6 Days 1 and 2 Fitness: Was supposed to have two shows next weekend and had rehearsal for both on Monday night, but now I seem to have no shows next weekend, so it was just typical dance class. Last night was BWW. Tested my knee out with some regular squats and pistol squats and it seems to be okay. Did 14 pushups on my first rep! Hit 10 and 11 on the second and third. Also did a 5-minute shimmy warmup. I didn't do the other five minutes so I could go over choreo for my class and for another potential show at the end of December. Diet: Didn't make the other chicken because I had so much of the first batch left. Seem to be adding toast into my diet. This must stop. Life: One gift finished! Just have to thread in the ends and block it. No Turkish. Was speeding through to the finish line most of last night. But now I'm done, so plenty of time for Turkish! Nano: Finished last night! Something around 50,100 words. Now for editing last year's novel... Mini-failure: Now up to -7 on at least one rep. I'm about halfway to a full pullup now.

Your Thanksgiving dinner sounds like it went well! Sorry to hear you reinjured yourself, though--4-inch heels are scary!

Congrats on completing Nano!

Thanks, Silence. I was actually surprised with the 1K in 30 got me back on track. But then I promptly got behind again. End of Week 5 (hey, I figured out what week we're on!) Fitness: Got some lunges in, still hovering around 10 pushups average. 30 minutes of yoga on Saturday, and then I held off on my BWW yesterday and ended up with a headache too close to bed to take an Excedrin (the kind where it doesn't hurt as long as you don't move). Did another 30 of yoga and 2 reps of pullups instead. Diet: Marinated some chicken last night to cook today, made some ground beef patties and baked even more chicken and some veggies last night. Going to try to make up for the holiday indulgence. Life: Up to 75 Turkish words right now, though I'm starting to forget to study them. However, I have found someone local to practice speaking with! Also, gift 1, almost done. Started Gift 2. Mini-challenge: Ugh, yeah, the bed on time thing just isn't working. Last night I forgot I still had to do laundry and stayed up late to finish it. Maybe I should have made this the mini-failure. Mini-failure: Up to -6 pullups. Jaw is healed and I'm making sure not to clench it. Week 5 Grade: A solid C, I think. Holiday.

I like the towel scrunching exercise. It's the only way I have of testing how strong my feet are. Glad to see your foot is doing better, and that your lifting is going well!

After Thanksgiving Update. Kishi, Nano is going well. I hit 40K last night after 3 days of being behind, thanks to a 1K in 30 minutes sprint. Not much longer now! Fitness: Stupid knee still being stupid. Dance class Monday, 3 reps each of pushups and pullups on Tuesday, and 2 hours teaching on Wednesday. Gonna try the leg BWW tonight and see how far I get. Pushups are hovering around an average of 10 per rep. Nothing on Thursday, unless you count getting in and out of the car. Diet: Managed to stick to small portions and mostly good foods, though my dad and I had our traditional Thanksgiving lasagna. And I probably didn't have to eat the slice of apple pie. But I was the only at my work function not complaining of being too full to move (or work)! Also, I only took turkey and mashed potatoes for leftovers. Life: No Turkish at all this week, unless you count my randomly running vocab in my head. Gift 1 is still progressing. I have to be at work today but have so little to do that I brought my yarn with me and have been working on it throughout the day. Should be done sometime this weekend. Mini-challenge: Well, I get to sleep by 10:30ish when I intend to. When I have to stay up late cooking, not so much. Mini-failure: Still holding fast at -5, though I managed to strain my jaw the other night by clenching my teeth. That was fun.

Week something or other catchup Yeah, too busy to post but I've been trying to keep up. Fitness: Friday was BWW with a shimmy warmup. 12 Pushups was the max. Completely forgot to do yoga on Wednesday before dance class. Did an hour on Saturday; ended up extremely sore. Completely forgot to do BWW on Sunday. Diet: Ugh, not good. It's the holiday week. Do I get a pass, as long as I eat healthy for whatever I cook myself? Life: About 35 minutes total of Turkish. But I'm up to 60+ words! Also about halfway done with a scarf. I have a feeling the Christmas gift goal will be a failure. Mini-challenge: More or less got in bed by 10:30 on worknight, give or take 5 minutes. Mini-failure: Got up to -5 pushups for three reps and I can pull myself higher on at least the first two.

Hooray for 26K! It's not Nano unless you're pounding away on that last few thousand on Nov. 30 at 10pm--I always thought that the 50K in a week people were overachievers.

Week whatever, days 2 and 3 Fitness: Okay, I didn't do any leg work. I also messed up on my pushups because the kitten got in the way, but still got a rep of 10 in. Also did shimmy warmup, still not doing down shimmies--everything's hurting right now. Does anyone remember the episode of the X-Files where Mulder goes back in time to the boat during WWII, and Scully doesn't know who he is but wears this awesome red dress? Well, her arms in that dress were just...wow. Those are the arms I've always wanted and I might actually get them! Diet: Inspired by a meal I saw in a restaurant, I cooked up a pound or two of steak and threw in some canned diced tomatoes and a cut up squash in with it. It smells good, but I haven't tried it yet. It should keep me fed for a couple of days, though. Life: I've been pushing Turkish aside to work on Christmas gifts. And Nano. Broke the halfway point the other night and am at 26773. Mini-challenge: Stayed up till 11:15 last night to get in some more of my word count. But Tuesday I was successful. Mini-failure. -3, -4, -4. Was congratulated by my bellydance class for even attempting pullups.

My dad and his girlfriend are always cooking more food than they need so I reap the benefits. Maybe I should hire him out!Week something, Day 1 Fitness: Rest day, apart from dance class. My knee is all messed up again, though! I think it's because I have a new desk and computer, and both are at such an angle I keep banging my knee on the desk. Tonight's an easy leg night, though. Definitely noticing a difference in my arm definition this time around. Diet: Ate exactly what I brought for lunch. Did not sneak off for snacks. Life: More crochet stuff. Finished a spool of crochet thread, will probably need at least two more plus the one I have to complete the scarf. Mini-challenge: In bed by 10:30 again, read a chapter. Mini-failure: Boy, I could feel those pullup attempts last night in dance class!

Great start to the week!

There is still plenty of time to catch up on Nano! You can always do it in 5 or 10 minutes sprints! Or just make the goal a little bit more manageable... That being said, I like that you have backup bacon. I hate it when I forget to thaw my bacon before starting breakfast and then have no bacon.

Foot injuries suck. I recommend a lot of ice--I was freezing water bottles and rolling them under my feet when I had a bad turn with muscular strains and tendonitis this summer. Once I even stuck my stainless steel mug in the freezer when I was at work and had no other option. Even though you can't run right now, don't forget that your health comes first--you only have two feet, and you want to keep them for a long time!

Rest of Week 3 Fitness: BWW on Friday night and Sunday night. I dropped in my pushup counts--back down to 8 and 12. Did a 45 minute yoga sessions on Saturday, so missed 15 minutes of that, and 3/4s of my shimmy drills on Friday and Saturday. My lower back's been bothering me, and shimmies on the down hip tend to exacerbate things, so I've been leaving them out. I also only did two reps of each leg exercise yesterday because I spent about 15 minutes doing some leg-intensive choreo. Diet: Got some good meat and veggie leftovers from my dad and have been eating this. Also went shopping and got some veggies and more meat to cook. Even though it's not a goal this challenge, I didn't eat very well this weekend, though better than I once would have. Lots of eating out or eating with family, and I took the opportunity to eat some comfort food. But it was only a weekend! Life: About 30 minutes Turkish review. Also sat down with a couple of movies on Saturday and got lots of a scarf done. Mini-challenge: This is going on again this week. I was in bed by 10:30 last night, read until about 10:45. Mini-failure: Slightly better on the pullups. I'm counting them as negative numbers for now, since I can't do a full one. Last night I did 3 reps of -4. I think I can get higher than I did on Tuesday! Week 3 Grade: B+. I somehow managed to fit almost everything in!

Yes, chocolate cake is definitely good. And classes are more important than Nano (*gasp!* Really?). I do hope you get your word count in, though, 15K isn't too far behind!

I'm sorry to hear about your dog--losing a pet sucks no matter what. Hope today goes better for you, and that you get a nice big word count! Good luck with the job apps, too!

I would love to participate in the 11/11/11 challenge, but I have so little time to write today! I will be cheering you on, though, Kishi!

Hmm, Week 3, Day 3 post seems to have disappeared. Or I didn't look where I was posting and posted it elsewhere (please someone tell me if I did that!)... Week 3, Day 3 and 4 Fitness: Shimmy drills in all three dance classes Wednesday and Thursday. Nothing else so far. Diet: Made up some steak and sweet potatoes last night for lunch today. Still have chicken and more steak and veggies in the fridge. Life: Added a few more rows to a scarf after dance class last night. Going to have to work on crocheting successfully now that I have a cat who actually likes yarn. Mini-challenge: Was in bed by 10:30 Wednesday night. Did not get to bed until 11 last night. I'll be carrying this challenge over until next week. Mini-failure: Nothing new.

Congrats on the almost 5K from last night! Remember to take a break every now and then, though...carpal tunnel sucks (and I say that as a hypocrite). Someone told me once that they had an aunt who was a typist who never developed carpal tunnel because when she went home at night, she kept her hands busy doing smaller exercises (embroidery, I think it was)--kind of like a cool down for her hand and wrist muscles.

Your meals always sound amazing--I also want that soup recipe (my favorite part of fall--all the pumpkin)!