caithnard

Yeah I wasn't sure about that, but I was thinking that if I alternate running days with walking or jogging days (based on how I'm feeling) I should be fine. ETA: and an update. Like the rest of the country, we're currently experiencing record lows. We're completely snowed in (can't drive out, mail's not getting delivered, etc) so I've been running indoors using my mom's treadmill which is definitely different feeling than running outside. Still, it's nice to be back to running. Really looking forward to some of this melting, though.

My primary goal this challenge is minimalism. Cutting the crap out of my life, simplifying things, and getting back to the basics. I've messed up a lot of things in my life over the past year and I want to get back to the foundations, which I know are solid. fitness - I've been working more on strength recently, but running and ultimate frisbee are my roots (not to mention cardio interferes less with work than strength training). My main goal here is consistency and building a habit, so specifically to run every day. No matter what. It doesn't have to be an intense run every day, just getting out there and doing something. food - On the topic of 'cutting the crap', I've been eating a mostly-keto diet (with some paleo influences--specifically fresh, natural ingredients over just carb-less food) that's been working pretty well for me. My problem becomes when I'm stressed or sick I tend to revert back to ramen. So my goal is to, avoid carb filled, processed food like ramen and cheez-its and keep a daily log of what I do eat. We're part of a CSA so I want to try and explore eating new types of vegetables. My neighbors wanted to do potluck dinners on the weekend (and are conveniently allergic to gluten and dairy, so the meals tend to be paleo friendly) so hopefully these will be a venue for experimenting with new recipes. flexibility - Want to focus on stretching (and I'm going to go ahead and lump good posture into this) so my goal here is going to be every day, do something to improve flexibility. It can be dynamic stretching as part of a run or (more likely) yoga. My side quest is to declutter My room is a constant disaster zone that tends to only get cleaned when I'm procrastinating or when somebody is coming over. There are two main things that clutter up my room -- school work that needs to be filed and laundry. So my goal here is at the start of each week (Sunday) all loose papers should be put away in the appropriate binders (or recycled in the case of scratchwork), all dirty clothes should be in my laundry hamper, and all clean clothes should be put away. Plus this will have the added benefit of me not tripping over dirty clothes when I go out to run in the mornings... Progress To be updated starting tomorrow

hey guys, I'm back after a little over a year(?!) away from the rebellion. It's been a really rough year and a half and my Christmas gift to myself is making some changes in my life. I guess the best way to summarize it is this: I found myself pursuing a course in school that I wasn't interested in (but everybody else thought I should go into) and had reached the point in school where being smart alone wasn't enough to get good grades, so I did abysmally in classes and barely scraped through the year and had issues with depression, etc. I've been slowly getting my academic life together, but so much of school is mental and improving my mental well-being means also improving my physical well-being. So that's part of what brings me back. The other part of what's bringing me back is that my mother recently had a health scare and turns out to have a genetic heart condition which I'm at risk for (going to the doctor tomorrow to get it checked out). Since I think I've more or less done the equivalent of dying without any recent save points, let me reintroduce myself: I'm currently in college studying to be an electrical engineer. In my free time I've been working on building an electric racecar, which has been super fun as well as super hard. In my free time I enjoy video games--recently Mass Effect, Bioshock Infinite, and Civ 5 have been my favorites--along with any TV show Aaron Sorkin has written, and sci-fi books like the Honor Harrington series. I've currently been attempting to eat keto, which I've had a much easier time sticking to than any other diet I tried, though my brother eats paleo so I tend to switch to that when I'm home (aka right now). The main thing I've discovered over the last year is that when I cut down on carbs, everything gets better. I feel better, I pay better attention in class, etc. Fitness-wise, I've mostly been doing body weight fitness off and on but want to get back into a regular schedule with some more concrete goals than "stop being weak". I also want to get back into running, since my stamina has really tanked since I stopped running regularly. I've also found that running is by far the best way to clear my head, which is exactly what I need. Looking forward to participating in the next challenge and in the mean time I'm looking forward to getting to know everybody!

Update 1: 1. The weather's been really crappy lately: cold, gloomy and raining the the morning...and I love it! It's just like home (Seattle) I'm not sure what it is about drizzle that makes me want to get out there and run...but it does. Seriously, if the weather stays like this all challenge I will be happy and successful. 2. Haven't tried running on this yet, just walking. I've been taking this route to the supermarket. Even walking, the hill is still long. Good thing I'm going that way when my backpack is empty, not when it's full of groceries... 3. Been doing okay with keto for breakfast/lunch, but not for dinner. I need to work on my self control. On a side note, my backpack was really heavy last supermarket trip because of all of the meat and cheese... 4. Midterms are this week and next week, so that's really going to be the big test for the goal. On the note of skipping classes...I should be in orgo right now...so definitely need to work on this subgoal...

Erick: that's a great way of thinking about it! Astro_girl: I have an iPhone that I use for music while running, so I'll be sure to check that out (I haven't actually tried mapping out distances on my own. One of my good friends is a long distance runner and he usually suggests routes for me to try) I'm an electrical computer and biomedical engineering double major (with a random English minor, because I wanted classes that weren't just matrices/machine learning)

Hey guys, I'm a pretty regular lurker around here, though I'm very new to this specific class, having been somewhat of an assassin/druid hybrid previously. A little bit of background: a few years ago, I broke my wrist. For various reasons, it took a while to get it checked out during which I did some pretty inadvisable things like play an ultimate frisbee tournament and rock climb on it. Whoops. Anyways, I have been having issues off and on with it. I've made an effort to strengthen the muscles around it which has helped a lot and I didn't have any issues for a while...until this past week. I don't know what I did, but it's been feeling worse than ever before, close to what it felt like when I broke it. I talked to my doctor over the weekend (and I'm seeing him in person today) but basically for this challenge I'm going to need to stay off of my wrist except for very specific rehab stuff, which I'm discussing with him today. So, this challenge, I'm concentrating on building my endurance and speed while I let my wrist recover. Last challenge I was able to accomplish one of my year-long goals (run a 5K) so my overall running goals are to improve my 5K time and to work towards running a 10K. Specific Goals: 1. Run. More specifically, go running before class twice a week and in the early morning on either Saturday/Sunday. Also, figure out routes/mileages of different loops around my neighborhood so I can set specific time goals. 2. Conquer the eastern hill. I've run extensively to the north, south, and west of my house. They're all slightly hilly, residential areas and are great for running, so I've learnt the streets pretty well. I can't say the same about what's to the east of me. I walk miles to the north/south/west to the grocery store, target, cvs, etc but the east is currently impassable due to a really long, fairly steep hill. If I want to cross it, I have to take a bus or car. I don't want that any more. By the end of the challenge, I'm determined to be able to jog up the hill (though I'll start with walking it). One run a week (probably the weekend one) should start with walking as far up that hill as I can, then heading south and running through the park. 3. Keto! Last challenge I started packing lunches for myself, and towards the end I randomly went keto, mostly based on the available food in my house (Costco bacon is heavenly...). My goal is to stick with keto for the duration of the challenge. I suspect I'll have to sneak a few more carbs in there on days with longer runs, but I'll figure that issue out when I come to it. The main difficulty here is that I cook for a household of 10ish people, who all live off of pasta and rice. I can easily make both non-keto and keto food for a meal, but it's going to be a matter of willpower not to eat the other stuff. 4. 4.0 Ah, the elusive 4.0. Never had one, determined to change that this semester. Side goal: go to your damn classes.

oh yeah right this exists. A very quick update: The good news is that school has started and so far it's all been really manageable and I have free time to do stuff for me and wonderful things like that. The bad news is that I got strep sometime in the first week of school and have been disgustingly sick. I did however accomplish one of my year long goals. I'll be back later with evidence of that as well as some pictures of the lunches I've been making.

My brother has a ninja blender at home (Amazon had the best price (around $70 maybe?), I think, though Costco wasn't bad). It's more of a blender, but it does a good job processing foods as well. I have cuisinart's 4-cup food processor that I got from a friend when she moved. It's probably not large enough for what you need, but it does a really good job of chopping up small things, like nuts, that I can't do with my knife effectively.

I think not putting emphasis on the weight/appearance part of it helps. I think it's hard for some people to understand that weight and fitness aren't necessarily correlated and there's lots of reasons to lose weight/get stronger that have nothing to do with each other. I'm not sure what it is, but a lot of the Asian parents I know have absolutely no taboo against talking about somebody's weight. The first time I saw a woman I used to babysit for in a year, her first response was "you're lost so much weight, you look so healthy!", I tried my best to steer the conversation away from lost weight as an end goal to the mileage I was running, the sports team I was playing ons winning season, etc. Talking about it not as "I've lost xxx pounds" but as "I've been running xxx miles" helps emphasize the work I'm putting into it, I think. In the end, I think a lot of it is jealousy. You've conjured up the will power to work out and eat right, they haven't. It's a tricky subject to deal with, because there are so many issues with how a woman's self-image is attacked every where, but I think making it about the fitness and the hard work, but not the weight loss helps. (Or just changing the subject)

If you're having trouble grasping concepts, maybe try studying with friends? Just having it explained a different way than your teacher did can be all that you need, and working together and explaining problems to each other is a fantastic way to make sure you really understand what you're doing. I like to set a consistent study schedule for myself, including a study hall from 7-9. This is no internet study time, since there's no way on earth I can be productive while also having the internet. Obviously you'll have some homework that you need the internet for and you should schedule time to do it outside of this period, but use this time to do homework on paper or review/preview classes. Other than that, I guess make sure you're taking effective notes and you're looking over them. I actually take two sets of notes--one in class then I copy everything over (to increase legibility, add in notes where I fell asleep, etc) to a clean set of notes which is the one I keep in my binder. Use highlighters or different colors to color code your notes. I'm engineering, so I have one color for formulas, another for definitions (always with units!), and another for examples. I tend to write the examples as things like 'EXAMPLE - NERNST EQUATION' so when I'm doing my homework, it's easy to find the example problem in class that corresponds to the homework problem. Other than a color code, take your notes in a readable, meaningful way. I find that having a clear indentation system works so I can tell subjects vs. sub-topics really easily. Write things different ways to indicate headers or other things you should pay attention to. I have freakishly nice handwriting, so I'll alternate between ALL CAPS, cursive/italics and change the way I space letters so I can scan my notes quickly and find what I need. As far as exams go, figure out when your exams are and always be studying for them. Review what your learnt in class that night, not a month down the road. Set aside a time once or week or so to go over everything you've learnt. Think about how it all fits together (within the subject). That way, when exams come up, there's not a daunting level of material to learn because it's all fresh in your mind. After exams, review the material again. Figure out what you didn't know as well as you thought you did and fix that (this is especially important for cumulative classes, like math or science) Finally, figure out what motivates you. I have a spreadsheet of all of my grades (including what my current letter grade would be) that I update constantly and print out every week to put on my wall, so I can see when I failed and forgot to do a homework assignment or didn't study for an exam as much as I should. Having my grades up like that (and not just recycling a bad test) forces me to be more accountable and to not get sloppy. On a more positive note, put up something that reminds you of a career you're working towards or a university you want to get in to. Maybe a picture of a smart guy you want to emulate or an academic award you previously achieved. When you do get a good test grade, pin it up on your wall to remind yourself that you can do this. ETA: seconding that you make a schedule. I have absolutely everything on my gcal, including the aforementioned study hall and silly things like when I sleep and eat. I don't always follow everything, because undoubtedly comes up (a consistent full nights sleep in college is a laughable idea...) but having it on there then makes me feel guilty about playing games or browsing reddit after my bedtime and I'll go to bed quicker than if I didn't do that. I forget to do things like eat and sleep enough an embarrassing number of times during the school year.

Update time! Endurance: this has been going well. I've been running in the mornings a few days a week. I'm back in Pittsburgh, but in a new house, so I'm currently doing shorter runs as I learn the local geography. I've currently been trying to do runs around 20min long, as I get used to the terrain (and heat. Sigh.) I'll map out run routes that I know the mileage of. Balance: I'm halfway through orientation and all of the rigging/tech that I'm doing with it. The up of this is that most of it is outside, so I'm using a scissor lift which is so much more fun than a genie (and yay, new freshmen). The down side of this is that my wrist is having really bad issues right now and I'm wearing my brace to keep the irritation down as much as possible. However, the specific yoga poses I'm aiming for don't require weight on my wrist in a way that hurts, so I've been slowly/carefully working towards them. The main issue is that something as basic as a sun salutation hurts quite a bit when I'm in something resembling plank. Foresight: So I've been busy enough that I haven't been bringing in lunch because I have no time to eat it. Um. On the eating healthy side, I've been trying to eat much closer to paleo than I normally do (mostly in the no carb aspect) for my other meals. This is pretty difficult because a lot of the free meals we're getting right now are for the freshmen, and tend to be options like primanti's sandwiches (sandwiches with coleslaw and french fries inside them) and aren't even pretending to be healthy or low carb. Yay for salad. On my own, I've mostly been eating chicken, usually in soup with added orzo. Tenacity: School still hasn't started yet. Closest thing I've done to academics is unpack my school books, which I'm fairly sure doesn't count.

I'm still alive, I swear. Man I'm terrible at updating these things. Anyway, this past week's been a bit different than normal, since at home with my parents. I haven't been specifically working on my goals as outlined because of this, but I've been working toward them: Endurance: my parents live in the midwest. The crappy thing about this is that it's really, really hot here (even hotter than normal, since we haven't had much rain this summer). The nice thing is my parents have a pretty nice treadmill, since both of them are runners. I don't watch TV at school, so I've been running while catching up on Nikita and Person of Interest. Running on a treadmill is good, because one thing I need to work on is running at a consistent pace, but it doesn't quite help the willpower battle for running. Balance: I'm still having some issues with my wrist, so I've been working on strengthening it separately from yoga balance poses. I'm adding some leg balance poses into my yoga routines until my wrist is happier. I've also been working out some with my brother. His workout style is very different from mine (he's trying to bulk up, I'm not), but it's been fun to mix it up some. He's definitely much stronger than I am, but I'm a lot more flexible than he is, so that's been interesting. We did run together over the weekend, when we finally got some rain and it was cooler. He's a tennis player, so he's a lot faster than I am (I still maintain that he has an advantage because he's taller), but my endurance is better than his. Yay. Foresight: I'm at home, so this has been pretty boring. I set aside meals the night before in a tupperware container and eat them during lunch time. Exciting. As far as food content goes, my brother's moving towards eating paleo, so I've been trying to cook things that will also work for him. Because of the weather, it's been a lot of grilling--beef/pepper/pineapple/onion kebabs are a favorite. Tenacity: School doesn't start for two weeks, so I haven't really been focused on this goal yet. However, I did buy my school supplies. That counts for something, right? (more seriously, I've been reading some books I've been meaning to for a while, including some by Murakami and a book on brain imaging my dad gave me, as well as reviewing basic chemistry because I remember nothing...) Anyway, I drive back to Pittsburgh tomorrow, so I'll be starting the challenge more properly then.

There's a quote I saw on reddit once that stuck with me: "Slut: A word to vilify a woman if she says yes. Friendzone: A word to vilify women if she says no." I guess my advice would be: try not to think of being friendzoned as a negative thing. If she actually does want to be friends, it means she does like you--she just doesn't want to date. Maybe you're not her type, maybe you came at the wrong time, who knows. And if you actually like her, it means you like talking to her, being around her, etc which is exactly what you'll do as a friend. Yeah you won't be going out, but you'll eventually move on and maybe this will develop into a strong friendship which could be far more valuable than a short-term relationship. If she doesn't really like you and gave you the 'just friends' line to be nice, well, she could've said worse (put yourself in her shoes, there's no good way to turn somebody down and sometimes the desire to 'just be friends' is the truth). You tried (which is more than a lot of guys who complain about being friend zoned do...), hopefully you'll have better luck next time.

Last spring, I tried to pack my lunch in a vaguely bento box way. It made it more fun/exciting than just bringing in leftovers from the previous night. Of course, it was also more effort, so a lot of days would end up being meat/cheese/veggie sandwich (on homemade focaccia) + carrots and hummus. I want to try more Japanese-inspired dishes, like this one.

I approve of the Legend of Korra theme! I'm working on sewing a Lin cosplay for halloween (if by working you mean re-watching Korra to find reference images...) I'm working on a similar balance/hand stand goal, so hopefully we can work together on achieving that.