justanothernerd

Thought I'd post something in here by means of introduction (duh). Just spent ages writing the first post of my Daily Battle Log thread, so I'm just going to recycle it here as an intro. Sorry if that's too annoyingly lazy. Bises x The Situation Two years ago I started a Daily Battle Log and didn't follow it up with a single update. Not one. Obviously, that didn't go quite as planned. No point dwelling on the past though, because two years ago is not today, and today I'm ready to commit to change. The past two years have been full of positive change: I finished school, got a job, discovered tumblr (rather belatedly), moved into my own apartment, fell in love. I've also been accepted for the final selection process for an amazing IT school in Paris. It's called 42 and it's nerd heaven and I'm going there for a month-long entrance exam in September. I feel like everything's finally come together and I'm ready to embark on real life. The only thing holding me back is my lump of lard excuse for a body --- in two years, I've gained 15kg. As of today, the situation is as follows: Weight: 78.4kg (173 lbs) Height: 170cm (5 foot 6ish) Belly: 102cm (40 inches) Thigh: 68cm (27 inches) Very out of breath walking up two flights of stairs to my apartment. While I do go to a weekly dance class, I am embarrassingly incompetent and feel like death before the warm up is even over. Poor skin due to poor diet, poor adherence to doctor's orders, and never getting any sun because I'm always inside. Goals While my physical appearance is certainly less than ideal (in society's terms at least), I don't want to focus on working towards an aesthetic goal. My main concern is the things that my body can't do in its current state. Therefore, my general long-term goal is to have a stronger, healthier, faster body, that can sing, dance and run up stairs without gasping for breath like a dying whale. I am young, and I want to feel young and do young person things. With all this in mind, I've come up with a list of fairly simpe things that I want to be able to do by September. My month at 42 marks the start of a whole new adventure, and I want to go into it healthy and capable in mind and body. By 1st September 2015 (99 days from now) I will be able to do the following without feeling like I'm dying: Run 5km Hold a 30 second hand stand Do 30 push ups Hold a 120 second plank Cycle to my nearest train station (12km of hills) Swim a length of a local swimming lake The Plan Every week for the next 14 weeks I will: Run for 30 minutes twice a week Swim for 30 minutes once a week Cycle for 30 minutes once a week Do a basic body weight workout three times a week Have one rest day a week Every day for the next 99 days I will: Practice handstand training for 10 minutes Eat 2 portions of lean protein and 3 portions of healthy veggies Drink at least 8 glasses of plain water Take all my medications Spend at least 30 minutes outside Go to sleep by 11pm I will gradually increase the nature and intensity of each workout, but I will keep the frequency and duration constant to keep a routine I can stick to. When I am away from home and cannot swim or cycle I will replace it wth a run. I will track my commitment with a chart on which I will mark off each completed daily and weekly requirement as they are completed. I will write a short daily log by 10.30pm every evening, and post weekly summaries to reflect on my progress every Sunday morning by 10am. I will take photos and measurements every Sunday morning to keep track of my progress. For every week successfully completed without missing any of the daily or weekly requirements, I will reward myself with a healthy lunch out with a friend. For every month successfully completed I will reward myself with a weekend camping trip with a friend. If I don't miss a single requirement over the whole 99 days I will reward myself with a weekend in Paris. If I successfully fulfill each of the 6 goals by September, I will reward myself with a new haircut. I guess all that's left is for me to go and be healthy for the rest of the day, and check in this evening with my daily log. À bientôt, Mimi

Meet Mimi. She's average height, quite intelligent, average looks, a little tubby but not drastically overweight. All in all, fairly average. Which is something she's out to change. Today, June 6th 2013, Mimi's ready to start her journey out of the average and into the EXTRAORDINARY. Right now, there are three areas of her life she needs to take control of: - Physical health - Work ethic - Social interactions (or lack thereof). So. Here's how she's going to start levelling up her life: - Regular exercise. Whether it be walking, running, cycling, or digging the veg patch, as of today, Mimi will spend 30 minutes every day getting sweaty. Once she is fit enough to run for three minutes without feeling like death itself, she will run three times a week, and start basic bodyweight exercises. But for now, she just needs to get outside and get moving. - Eating sensibly. Fruit, veg, meat, fish, grains and pulses. She's read all of Steve's nutrition articles, but needs to stop collecting those underpants and start putting knowledge into action. - Setting realistic aims and working her butt off to achieve them. In two years' time, she sees herself studying languages or linguistics at a British university, whilst continuing her classical music training, with the long term goal of singing opera. If she is to get anywhere near that goal, the hard work has to start NOW. - Join the local volleyball club. Everyone starts as a beginner; get over it. Go make some friends and get healthy at the same time. Mimi will log her progress here. EVERY DAY. To keep her on her toes, Mimi will use a points system to objectively quantify her progress. She's read about Steve's role-playing outlook on life, and thinks it's quite frankly brilliant. While Mimi isn't a gamer herself, she thinks putting numbers to the progress will help keep her focussed and keep the whole process as fun as possible. To begin with, the points system will be fairly simple: - 5 minutes exercise: 4 points - 3 decent meals: 30 points - 10 minutes music practice: 3 points - In bed by 10.30: 5 points - Up at 6.30: 5 points - 1 hour of schoolwork: 4 points - Volleyball training / music rehearsal: 7 points/hour - learning a song on the guitar: 20 points - unhealthy snack: - 20 points - silly spending: - 15 points - more than 30 minutes on facebook: - 5 points per offending minute. So, if all goes to plan, and she sleeps 8 hours (10 points), eats well (30 points), cycles for 30 minutes (24 points), sings for 40 minutes (12 points), plays the harp for 20 minutes (6 points), studies for 6 hours (24 points), and has a 1-hour choir rehearsal (7 points), she could earn 113 points on an ideal average day. However, one chocolate bar, one impulse buy, and 15 extra minutes on facebook would leave her with only 3 points. When she gets to 1000 points, Mimi will first of all perform the victory dance, then she will buy herself three brand new books When she hits the 5000 mark, she'll make herself a circle dress When she hits 10000, she'll buy all the Three Days Grace albums on itunes She'll think about further rewards when she gets that far. For a while, this new regime is going to be HARD. It isn't that drastic, but it's going to require some REAL WORK.