musicalgal123

Haven't responded much because I haven't been home. In fact, I was two states away, but still doing my best. Update on the April Mini Win Goals - 15 mins or more of walking at least 3 days/week each week of April - Yup, I failed this one. I only walked the once. But that's okay. I'm starting to build new habits. If I keep working on this goal now, when I try it again in May, I'll succeed then. Practice. Build it up. Try it again. It's not a reason to give up and, I'm okay with this goal not succeeding already. I can still work on it and use it to my advantage. 8 cups of water or more at least 3 days/week each week of April - I succeeded for the first week of April. I got my 8 cups in for three days. Days that I'm working are actually the easiest because I pack 6 cups of water into my lunch box and then a glass of water at dinner is another 2 cups. But I did succeed so far. Limit fast food to once per week - I'm being a little more lenient on this one because it's mostly aimed at the fact that when I'm on the go, I tend to not make deliberate food choices and I look for convenience. My biggest enemy is Dunkin Donuts. I only went to Dunkin once last week. Every other food choice, healthy or not, was a deliberate food choice. I specifically knew I was short on time to make dinner and chose Subway as a healthier option to Dunkin (and loaded my sandwhich with veggies and no sauces). So, I'm considering this a success because it's got me already in the direction that I need to be going in. 15 mins or more a day of doing something I enjoy - I succeeded at this, but it wasn't always easy. Dealing with Depression and full time grad school is a tough combination. But I succeeded at doing this and I really think it's important. A daily complement to myself focused on my body - I succeeded at this, though some days it was hard. Some of my complements are about the way I dress, and I'm okay with that. Part of my learning body confidence is my learning to feel comfortable in my clothes too. Part of my learning not to hate the symptoms of my PCOS is learning to dress in the ways that make me feel confident about how I look. So, I succeeded in this, even if it was difficult. SO right now, that's 4 of my 5 goals are well within reach of success with one already failed and I'm very okay with all of it. On the sleep quest front? That has not succeeded at all, but I can just keep trying. Each day I mess up is just restarting the quest is all. I'm still tracking my bed times, but I know that was thrown off by my not being home. I am trying to journal my sleep habits here, but some days I don't succeed and it's okay. I'm getting there. I'm not giving up. And that's what's important. As for yesterday, I woke up around 9:30 (I was tired) but didn't really get up and moving til noon. I was visiting my girlfriend so I wasn't complaining or upset. I went to bed last night around 12:05 and absolutely had a LOT of screen time yesterday, including right before bed. But I also know my going to bed late had a lot to do with my husband not being home yet and I can't fall asleep without a partner next to me. Usually, it's my husband. This weekend it was my boyfriend and girlfriend. It can even be a best friend, but I can't sleep alone at all. So, staying up last night made things easier. It meant I was tired when my husband came home and I fell asleep very quickly. But it also meant that I was able to sleep because he was there. So, gonna keep trying at my 11pm goal, and we'll get there, slowly but surely.

Sleep Journal Entry 2 - Yesterday, I woke up around 7:30 and did not hit snooze. I relaxed in bed for a bit and finally got up and moving around 9 am. I watched no television yesterday, though I did have non-productive screen time, it wasn't right before bed. I was a tad late on the 11:00 time and actually went to bed for 11:30. I had my rehearsal and didn't get home til 11 because I spent time after rehearsal catching up with an old friend (which, as far as I'm concerned, totally counts towards the at least 15 minutes a day doing something that makes me happy). I had no screen time right before bed, I just passed out cold. As for how I did on my goals yesterday? I got a solid start to my water intake but then forgot to have more, oops. I tried though. I also didn't get out and walk for at least fifteen minutes. This is the hardest one for me to get started on so far. I did genuinely love my outfit yesterday. It felt very much more like me and I've been trying to find work clothes where I still feel like my punk self. I also did go to Subway, but I'm counting it towards not having fast food because I went in and made very conscious food choices as opposed to going to Dunkin and getting way too many sweets because it's quick and through the drive through. That's my biggest thing with the fast food. It's making sure I'm making conscious food choices. You know? So far today, my water intake has been going well. Very likely going to get that 8 cups in. Haven't succeeded at the walking, but loved that my tattoo was visible today and that felt really good and gave me some confidence while at work. No fast food at all today. Everything was home chosen and packed. Later tonight I'll make sure to grab some fun time in.

Sleep journal entry 1 - Yesterday, I woke up around 7:30. I actually got out of bed closer to 9. I did not hit snooze, but I also did not have an alarm set at all. I actually watched very little television yesterday, which is good. Though I did have quite a bit of screen time that was NOT productive. Probably a good 3 hours spread out through the day, including when heading to bed. I finally went to bed at about midnight, which is not the plan I had in mind. I did sit in bed for about 20 minutes or so on facebook before falling asleep, but once I actually tried to fall asleep, I was out really quickly. I'm not too upset about going to bed after my planned time. I was legit working on something important and not just facebook scrolling til about 10:30. But, I definitely have some work to do on getting better sleep. I started in on my "20 seconds of courage" thing and finally started looking for a dentist. Long story short, my previous dentist is the reason I'm terrified to go to any dentist. I know I have some issues with my teeth that need to be worked on. I know that fixing your teeth and gums can help your overall health. But I'm severely phobic now. I started looking for a dentist this morning to finally deal with the hole in my tooth. So, that's pretty big.

Okay, so been working on switching my language from "I don't have time for that" to "It's not a priority." I know and tracked that I spend a LOT of time on Facebook and Netflix. These do not surprise me. So I'm going to try and use that to my advantage and start putting in a little more specific times for planned movement and such (like my fifteen minute walks). I read through the sleep article in the mindset section of the academy today. I'm lucky I have some pretty solid sleep schedules. I tend to go to bed around 10 and get up between 6 and 7. So I'm getting a solid 8 hours a night. I also tend to start waking up before my alarm goes off at 7. This really helps. I have a technique I use to clear my mind before bed every night (a counting backwards by threes technique). So for the quests related to this module, I need to work on practicing a sleep journal. I'll record it here, to make things easy. And go to bed by a certain time every night. I'll aim for 11 to give me some wiggle room for the nights that 10 is a tad tough (especially because it'll still give me a solid 8 hours). I can do this. As for my mini goals: I'm drinking water right now (yay). I didn't go for a walk today, but that's okay. I did not engage in Fast Food today. I ate out, but it was at a Deli and I made conscious decisions about my food choices while there (such as loading the wrap with veggies). It wasn't Dunkin, my biggest vice. So, I'm giving myself the point there. I also actively and truly complemented my body today (my hair is on point, yo!) and as soon as I'm done with some homework, I'm gonna spend 15 minutes coloring or knitting while watching tv (the coloring/knitting being the key important part as it's something I enjoy and find relaxing). So, that's a really good start for the mini goals in my first day of April. I can do this.

So, I've reached the lesson in the Academy for "Ain't Nobody Got Time for That." I'm going to try tracking some of the things I do that are more time waster things over, on top of switching the phrase "I don't have time for that" to "It's not a priority." So, we'll see how that goes. I also officially joined the NF Academy FB group for women folk. So, hopefully that helps too cause it's more support. Tomorrow should also be good for my building trackers for my little wins to start tracking them in April, though I've already started focusing on the water one. I've been drinking it more and was low enough on the other things I drank in place of water that I just finished them off. They're gone, so I just won't buy more. I have my fun things in easy access (my spinning wheel, knitting, coloring books, piano, and chainmaille supplies). I have a water bottle going for my constant water refills. So, I've already got some of my environmental changes done. Here's trying and getting my life together, one piece at a time.

Day two - A note, if it looks like I'm going through the NF Academy and using this as a recording space while I go, I am. It made sense to me for now. I'm looking for other ways to be held accountable on a more personal level, but this is a start. I'm going through the mindset portion so setting things up and making sure they're all written down. Measurements complete. 193.4 pounds. I also recorded my physical size in cm. I'm gonna probably build some kind of tracker in Google Drive (because that place is my life right now). Why am I doing this - I'm afraid I'm going to die young. My health is awful. I'm terrified I'm going to die young. I'm afraid my partners (yes you read that correctly) will suddenly get a phone call going "she had a heart attack" and God, I don't want that. I don't want that at all. I don't want to die. Not yet. I hate my body. I'm working on that in therapy because a bunch of my body hatred comes from having chronic illness and chronic pain and hormone issues. I'm addressing that. I'm changing how I dress to learn to be more comfortable with it. But, I still hate my body and I can at least do something about that. So I am. My Goal - I am someone who will be 125 lbs, healthy, and confident in her body. Current tiny wins - 3 aimed for the physical healthy (125 lbs and healthy) and 2 on the emotional healthy/confident in my body part. I will go for a fifteen minute (or more) walk at least 3 days a week for the month of April. I will drink at least 8 cups of water (or more) at least 3 days a week for the month of April. I will limit fast food to once a week or less for the month of April. I will spend at least 15 minutes (or more) doing something I enjoy every day in April. I will find at least one part of my body to be genuinely happy with every day in April. For motivation, a lot of healthy rewards for me are hobby based. Getting more craft supplies. Buying albums off iTunes. Buying books that I want. I'll stick with this smaller list because it's less expensive than me buying a bunch of video games. So, my loot options for April are - 3 April little wins equals any one of the listed loot items. All 5 April little wins equals any two of the listed loot items (and yes, they can be doubled up, so two skeins of yarn or two albums from iTunes is acceptable). Every 10 pound mark can equal one additional listed loot item (because that's a big deal for me at least) Environment updates I can make to help make this actually happen. These should be revisited for May. Since my biggest fast food enemy is Dunkin Donuts during breakfast, I can making sure my breakfast supplies are out and ready to go. This way I'm not falling back into that habit of stopping for fast food but making a conscious food choice instead. I can grab and label one of the water bottles in my house and keep it out and ready to go. This will help me keep track of my water intake. I will keep things I like within easy access in my living room. This keeps them within reach and ready to go for me so I can spend time doing things I enjoy. Self care keeps my head healthy which in turn can help me learn to love myself. I will keep my hiking boots out of my closet. I wear my hiking boots when I purposefully go walking. The rest of the time, I have easy access to my cane and when I'm purposefully walking, I try not to use my cane. My boots have my specialized inserts in them and provide a lot of support. By keeping them out, they're ready to go so I'm moving more often. I will stop carrying cash. If I don't carry cash, then I force myself to go inside the fast food place. If I carry cash, then I'll often use a drive through. If I don't have access to the drive through, then I have a better chance of not falling back into this habit. I will stop buying myself sugary drinks. If I don't have them in the house, I'll drink water when I'm thirsty instead of sugary drinks.

So... I've attempted to focus on my health numerous times over and over. And, I've pretty much always failed. It's definitely not helpful in any way at all. But I'm watching myself getting incredibly unhealthy. I'm watching my body start to fail me. I'm only thirty years old. My body may be disabled but it shouldn't be failing to the level that it is. So... I really desperately need to fix this. I need to get healthy. On so many levels. If I don't, I'm going to die young and that's literally something I don't want at all. Starting point - I have the following list of diagnosis: Ehlors Danlos Syndrome - Hypermobile Type, Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome, Raynaud's Syndrome, High Blood Pressure, ADHD - Inattentive Type, OCD, Major Depressive Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I'm also around 200 pounds and only 5'3" with very little muscle and almost all fat. So, I'm starting to try and desperately get healthy. I am using the Nerd Fitness Academy. I'm starting through the mind set portions and took my photos today. Measurements will happen tomorrow morning. So yeah... we're trying to get started on this because I don't want 30 to become the new 60.

albeus, I wish I could say I had, but sadly I had to not go to the one I was registered for. I got sick with Mono and had to lay off all physical activity. Luckily, that's over and done with. I have moved on. However, I can't wait to hear about yours. I want so bad to do one.

Next in character update is hopefully tomorrow. Anyway, Loanna, would you rather me find a more in character way to explain it? Or would you just prefer I tell it like it is as me the person?

Well, today sucked. Ma died two days ago. And I had hoped that my not seeing her meant that the gravemind either still held her or had her return in a different location. I did not expect to see her shambling towards me as I left the home we had shared. There was no mistaking her. Despite the blood dripping from her and the pale skin and all that, it was still Ma. Still wearing the same dress. Hair down and matted from that last battle. I kinda just stood there in shock, not really wanting to accept the fact that I now had to put her down. I mean, it's what happens to everyone. You die. You go through the gravemind. You come back. Eventually you come back with the undead. It's life. But it is always tough. What I did not expect was her to lift her head and lock eyes with me. They were savage. But the moment she locked eyes, I knew. I bolted. I didn't have to wait for that unearthly scream to echo from her lips to know that she was one of the bursters. Damn bursters are painfully hard when you're not a runner. I ran, pausing between buildings to glimpse if I had a good enough shot yet or not. Geese, to be chased by your own Ma, knowing if she caught you, you were gonna be food and potentially take another trip through the gravemind? Dude, been there once. Never want to go again. It was all I could think of as I ran. Run. Stop and look. Run. Stop. Run. Stop. Over and over. Finally, someone saw me running. One of the retrogrades of the place was sitting watch on the roof of the building. Then the gunshots. I turned into a building, slammed the door behind me and dropped against it. I don't want to admit it, but yeah, I cried. That was Ma out there. Undead and now being shot at by the neighbors. She came down the stairs and handed me a can. Said she was sorry and hoped that my journey would go well. Maybe the can could help out somehow. I nodded. Chilled a bit til I could stop sobbing and then headed out. So now I'm finally on the road and outside of Delphia. The city is still in view and I can still hear the artillery from the war, but I'm finally away from that place and all its damn nightmares. Found a decent spot to set up camp. A small rock pile with a little bit of a shelter in the front of it. As long as I cover up the entrance pretty good and scatter twigs around the front, I'll be alerted if anything comes and my gun will be ready. But it will at least be nice to sleep without worrying about my back. For once. ********** Out of character Got through the first workout in the Zombies, 5k program. YAY. Also, currently at over 12,000 steps. Feeling great!

LOL! I was actually a zombie fan long before Zombies, Run. But Zombies, Run certainly didn't hurt the genre.

To those that asked, the TV workouts was something I found that I kinda fell in love with. It is set up where when you're watching an episode of something, if a certain something happens, then you do a set of an exercise. For example, while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if I see Xander say something stupid, then I do a set of 25 squats. Since Xander says stupid things a LOT, I tend to do 5 or 6 sets an episode. This leads to a lot of working out, but the way it is set up makes it feel a lot less like a workout and a lot more like I'm doing a few sets of something. I enjoy it a lot. I first found it on a tumbler. I'll link you guys! TV Workouts

SkullHands - I have done it before, but not in awhile so starting all over. Love the app though. FiOWNya - It is very very worth it. You gotta pay for the app, but I really love it a lot. Check it out.

I am in. Restarting as a newbie again, but this time more prepped for success. Learned a lot in my almost failures of last challenge and now I am ready to go. Woot! I also plan on being way more involved in ZAP this time around. I think that will all help.

Out of Character Translation Escape the Horde was my first attempt at the Nerd Fitness Challenges. It was a huge learning experience for me. I learned that I enjoyed the aspects of the challenges, but I did not set mine up in a way that would help me succeed. In fact, I didn't succeed. I only really got through 2 weeks before I started falling off the wagon. But I learned a lot about me and I'm not at all upset. Learning how to get through things so that you can succeed is a huge step to fitness, so it's good. I am taking what I learned and I'm trying the challenges again. I'm again going to do this as a "first timer" only because I didn't even get half way through last time. So a new challenge with new goals and a new set up. Firstly, I'm cutting the fantasy out of mine. I'm not a Halfling Ranger. No. Fantasy is cool and all, but I'm a zombie fan. Post-apocolypse. Dystopian futures. That stuff really gets me psyched. So this time, I'm sticking with the zombie theme through and through. I am a member of a LARP called Dystopia Rising. And I really love it. I play the LARP actively and I play the tabletop regularly as well. So I'm rebuilding my character with that world in mind. It is a post-apocolyptic zombie world. I'll still follow the character rules of Nerd Fitness (so if I succeed, I'll do the attributes and such as Nerd Fitness would) but I'm using the DR races and classes. (For here, I'll pick the guild that most closely resembles what I'm aiming for). It's taking something I'm interested in and working with it. So, I am no longer Lily Evenmore, Halfling Ranger. I am now Grace Peters, Remnant Jones. A Remnant is a half-breed or mutation in the world of DR. They are pretty average and want desperately to be liked... Sounds a lot like me. A Jones is an archeologist (think Indiana Jones, yes, it was named after him). They need all around fitness due to hijinks that happen when they go on digs. I guess, in Nerd Fitness terms, they'd be rangers. I'm gonna try to do as much of my updates as I can, in character. It's just more fun. However, if I feel something needs some major explaining, then I'll do it out of character like I did here. If you couldn't tell, my main quest is to run a 5k. My mini quests to work up to that are 10,000 steps a day, do the zombie 5k trainer 3x a week, and do a "tv workout" 2x a week. Last challenge I only aimed for 5,000 steps a day. Why the drastic jump? Well, I am working now and at work alone I can easily hit 7,000. Gotta up it to keep it challenging. Zombie 5k trainer is rather obvious considering the main quest. The "tv workout" is a body weight workout based on tv shows I watch. Whenever a certain character does something specific, I do a set of something specific. I enjoy it quite a bit and I think that I'll be more motivated to do this right now, then the Beginner Body Weight Circuit. I'll try to add that back in later when I've built up the habits. So yeah. I think I'm ready. Time to get in shape and lose weight!

I found this old journal in Ma's stuff. Decided it might be nice to use. It's mostly empty. There's a few notes and recipes in it (Ma was a cook) but not much else. Though, it'll be nice to have something of hers with me when I leave in two days. I live here in the Delphian Wastes. It's mostly Retrogrades here. Got a few Mericans and Remnants (like me). Quite a few Lascarian live in the tunnels under the city. Got a Vegasian here and there. Some Full Dead. Not many. Natural Ones tend to avoid this place like the plague though. Too much radiation in the air. And the Pure Bloods from DuPont Pointe have been waging war on this city for years. I think they're allied with the Iron Works from out west. That would explain why they have the artillery they use when they try to "purge us from the rot." Bastards. Ma died in the last attack. So I'm going through her stuff. Finding stuff to trade and sell if needed. Finding what's useful. All while packing up my own crap. I'm done. The war between the Retrogrades and the Pure Bloods is stupid. I need something better than this. So I'm going North. There's a few towns up there that might be good spots. Old York is up that way. Second Hayven is up there. Beacon Hill if I go up far enough. Either way, in two days, I leave for good. There's quite a bit of work to do to if I plan on surviving this trip. As of right now I'm not exactly in the best of shape. I'm a Jones not a soldier or something else. I look at ancient relics from the old world, you know, back before the Fall. Try to figure out what I can from the old world society. It is fun stuff but it means I don't know much about traveling. I've got quite a ways to go before I even reach the closest city, Old York. It's a good few weeks of travel, if I find a caravan to join. The trip alone is going to be quite a journey. Surviving the Trip to Second Hayven. I'll aim for second Hayven for now. Seems like a decent place, from what little news I got down here. So yeah. Travelling up to Second Hayven. That's my big goal for now. (Translation - Over arching goal is to successfully run a 5k.) In order to survive get there in decent time, I need to do a lot of travelling each day. No sitting around and resting unless I get sick... or injured... Which, in the wastes is a huge possibility, but I'm gonna try to stay uninjured for this. Anyway, travel a bunch each day. A good few miles, at the least. (Translation - Mini goal 1, walk 10,000 steps a day). I also gotta make sure I get into better shape. Right now our biggest worry in Delphia is the war with the Pure Bloods. Thanks to that, we don't have to worry about much more than a few shamblers, sleepers, and the occasional raider or slaver. But the wastes, their teaming with the undead and other nasties. I gotta watch out for tanks, bursters, mercies, goliaths, you name it. I gotta be able to handle it. I gotta be able to run. (Translation - Mini goal 2, work through the Zombies 5k Trainer program 3x a week). Lastly, I gotta build me some muscle. Yeah, I have a gun for when the zed start coming, but sometimes they get close. I gotta be able to pistol whip their undead brains out, but for that to happen, I need the muscle to back up the attack. It's important. I gotta work on that. (Translation - Mini goal 3, do a body weight "tv workout" 2 times a week). I gotta get out of here and up to Hayven. For Ma. She always wanted to see the end of this war. So, for her, I'm gonna show her a place without war. Well, without the war we have here in Delphia. I'm gonna make it to Hayven. For her. (Translation - My mom is my motivation). I'm gonna write it all down for her too. It's important. And maybe, while I'm traveling, I can go on a few digs and find some stuff. Record all that I've learned about the Old World and see what I can see. (Translation - Life goal, get all my lesson plans fully prepped the week before I have to teach any of them). Anyway, I gotta go back to packing so that I'm ready to leave in two days.

So, I know it seems like I disappeared for awhile. I promise, it was not me quitting and leaving. As for my first challenge? Well... what a learning experience. I realized something that I had not realized before honestly. When I'm working on my goals and objectives for challenges, I really need to take into account more than just the current levels I am at and what things I want to take care of. I also need to look at the time period during which the challenge is going to take place and see what things are going on in that time period as a whole. Ex - For this past challenge. I was smart to take my Mono into account (quick mono update. Have had no symptoms in a few weeks, yay. Looking forward to going camping and all that again). I was smart to look at my current fitness levels. I was not so smart to not consider the various situations I already knew were going to come up during the weeks of the challenge. Things like, going on vacation to a internetless location, starting my teaching job up again and figuring that into my schedule/goals, starting up college courses again, etc... All of these are going to drastically change my time and the amount of activity I have going on. Drastically changing the situation that I was dealing with ends up drastically changing my results. It made some weeks hard to keep track of. Thoughts on each individual goal. - Thoughts on the workout twice a week - This was kind of a miserable failure. I sort of lost rather quickly. I might go back to my initial ideas of doing my "tv workouts" for strength training and doing my running attempts for cardio. Not that the circuit is bad in any way at all. I just don't think it is the right idea for me. That's all. Overall grade on this goal - F (Lacks effort) - Thoughts on the water intake - I sorta succeeded about half of the time. I was great at carrying water with me all the time. I even bought a better water bottle that is 16 oz instead of the 20 oz bottle I had so that it would be easier to keep track of whether or not I was reaching my water in take goal. I need to work on other ways to get myself to remember to drink from it. But overall, much better at drinking more. Overall grade on this goal - C (Inconsistent effort) - Thoughts on the number of steps goal - This one was the most out of wack. During my vacation week, I am certain I reached my goal just based on the fact that I was moving a lot. Swimming. Boating (as in Kayaking and sailing) and hiking and all sorts of goodies. Only, since I was on a lake, I couldn't wear my pedometer so much since I didn't want to destroy it. So I didn't have an accurate count. I am also learning that when I am at home, I don't do much and lose a lot of my "step" in that, I sort of just chill and relax during that time. With school starting up and the traveling from classroom to classroom for all the students that I work with, I went from struggling to get 5,000 steps to almost always reaching 7,500 on school days. Overall grade on this goal - C (Inconcsistent effort) - Thoughts on my job application goal - I sorta reached this and sort of didn't. I spent one week where I did enough job applications to easily cover one a week. However, it was not actually one a week. It was just a TON that one week. That said, I did end up with a temporary job (yay) and it is in my field (also yay). I have a special education position at a music and arts magnet school. I am working with fourth and fifth graders until the full time teacher returns from maternity leave. Great resume material and experience in my field. So, not a bad result over all. Overall grade on this goal - C (Inconsistent effort) That said, what are my thoughts overall? I learned a lot. I learned a few areas that I need to work on. I learned that I also need to get on here more often and just be more open. I honestly think that would have helped a lot. I learned that I need to consider the time period in which I'm working on my goals. I learned that I need to be creative. I think I'll be far more successful next challenge. I also feel that while I didn't do the greatest on this challenge by any means, I also didn't fail. Why is that? Well, even on days that I did not succeed, I was still actively thinking about these goals. And even though I did not succeed overall any where near how I wanted to, I learned a lot about myself and about the way I function when it comes to getting healthier. I cannot help but call that success in my book.

Week 2 Reflections. Definite improvement. I felt really good about the whole thing. Not a perfect week, but far better than last week. 64 ounces of water a day - Missed only one day of the week. Yay. Got better at incorporating my other water intake that was not from my bottle. Feeling really good about the whole thing. I think the day I missed was me falling back to old habits. 5,000 steps a day. Also only missed one day. I spent a lot of that day driving, so I ended up not really getting a chance to move much. What I did to get to the 5,000 mark was I would give myself reasons to dance or move around. Like, if I was knitting to a show, I would dance up through the opening. I would do laps around the house every few stitches. I found far more reasons to check on the boys I was sitting. 2 days of the beginner weight circuit per week. Did not succeed here. I did one and did great. No after ache in the muscles. The second day, I just plain forgot. So then I was like "tomorrow" and I kept forgetting. That was a full out oops. One job application a week. I think I did 8 this week. Note, I really want a full time job. That said, I did get a long term substitute teaching position, which is also epic. So overall, far better than my first week. Huge improvement. Now to improve even more for this coming week.

Loving the support so far guys. So I'm gonna post my week one thoughts and answer you guys all at the same time! On my goals - Drinking water - Set up a pretty nice system with my water bottle. It is a 20 ounce bottle. I wrapped 4 rubber bands around it. Each time I finish the bottle, I move a rubber band to the top. If I get to at least half way while working on my fourth rubber band I know I have made my goal. It is not the best to keep track of though since I also drink water at most meals and didn't always use my bottle for it. I also drink non-caffinated teas and have no problem including that in my water count (since the lack of caffeine means it won't dehydrate me). Need to find a way to include it. I did much better at the beginning of the week or when I remember to have my bottle with me. Monday and Tuesday were both successful. Wednesday, I came close like today. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I didn't do so well. Gotta work harder on keeping my water bottle with me and working on drinking it. 2 of 7 isn't exactly great. However, I have an okay system. I may just incorporate out of bottle water into my rubber bands somehow. Will think on that. - Exercising twice a week with the beginner body weight circuit - I did it once this week. New workout meant my muscles were really really achey. Luckily, it was an ache I knew, so I knew there was no injury. It was just the new workout ache. But it lasted the rest of the week. Still feeling it today actually and I was hoping I could wait til it disappeared completely. Next week it won't ache as long though since it won't be completely new. That means I have a good chance of success next week. - Walking at least 5,000 steps a day. Did not succeed at this one. If I were having a normal week, going for a walk would be a huge help. Trust me. I love walking. I have a great trail at the end of the road through the woods. Plus, with school starting up during this challenge, I know that getting the walking in will definitely happen towards the end of the challenge. I'm stuck because right now I'm a nanny for a good 8 hours a day. I am a nanny in a rather small apartment and the boys that I am watching are, while great boys, not in an area where we can go outside and play (or trust me, we would). So we have a very small set of options and no place to walk around. And I can't go walking around the area without them since I'm watching over them. So, I need some more creative in-door solutions. Otherwise, all of these solutions you give would be awesomely amazing. I reached my goal only once this week. I figure there is a way to reach it with the situation I have currently, but I am not sure yet what it is. - At least one job application a week? NAILED IT! Got my application in this week. Fingers crossed for a position there since I desperately need the work. We will see what happens. So, overall for week one? Not a success at all. However, not a failure since I did succeed some days and I did learn quite a bit about how I need to think or work to get through the rest of the challenge. I learned a lot from the first week which makes it not a failure. I can get through this.

I was asking cause when I can find things to do outside of the house, 5,000 steps is pretty easy. The thing is, I live in the middle of the woods. There is no walking around the corner as around the corner is a few miles away (and I am not yet up to a few miles right now). Hence my need for ideas around the house. I will definitely give the stairs thing a try though.

You are wonderful. Rock on!

I know me very well. I probably won't be updating every day and that is okay. But I felt today needed an update. Today is not yet over, but I am already feeling good. I reached my daily step goal already. Yay. At least 5,000 steps today. I did go shopping today though, so that helped. I am gonna need ideas for how to help increase my steps per day on days where I don't go for groceries or something like that. Water goal? Super close to finishing that for the day. I have rubber bands on my bottle. My bottle is 20 ounces so I put 4 rubber bands on it. Every time I finished the bottle, I moved a rubber band to the top. After three rubber bands I only need 4 more ounces, but there is a forth band if I want it. I am about 8 ounces away from my goal for the day and with a few hours left in the day, I know I will definitely succeed. So day one is a HUGE success. However, advice for reaching my step goal on days where I stay home would be greatly appreciated.

I think day one is going well so far. I have to go get groceries today which will definitely help with the daily step goal. I also measured out how much water is in my water bottle (20) and then stuck enough rubber bands on it to multiple the bottle til I get my water intake goal. (64 ounces is goal, so 4 rubber bands will get me at least 64 ounces). Every time I finish the bottle off, I move one of the rubber bands from the middle of the bottle to up near the cap. That will tell me how much water I have had so far. So definitely off to a great start. Yay!

I am a teacher. I went to college for it. Got my bachelor's degree in it. I have two different teaching certifications. While I don't have my own classroom yet, I have done a few long term positions and I have some experience in the field. One of the most important things I have learned as a teacher is the importance of data. Data lets you measure and see what is going on. Data lets you know if you have succeeded or failed. Data gives you all the information you need to plan for the future. Data is what makes anything work. Exercise is no different from education in that remark. That's why our goals have to be specific and measurable. It's because you need the data to see that you're getting somewhere. You need the data to see how far you've come. And so, my pre-challenge data! Weight - 168.4 pounds, measure first thing upon waking in the morning.Left thigh circumfrance - 23 inchesLeft upper arm circumfrance - 13 inchesHip - 40 inchesWaist - 39 inchesAverage number of daily steps - 2,291 While I work on my main quest, I'll want to know that I'm actually getting somewhere. So I took some pre-challenge data to help me out. I'll know I'm succeeding in my preparing to outrun the horde of zombies outside town if I know where I am beginning and then measure again when I have completed the challenge.