PinkNinja

Oo! Where ya cruising to?

Mom came. I made us salmon and roasted green beans&mushrooms. I'm getting sort of caught up at work. I'm down 18.2 lbs, which is all kinds of awesome. My evening routine has been going well. I am laying out my clothes, making sure food is ready to go, making sure at least 2 water bottles are ready to go(I filter the tap water), and I've started making sure my sink is empty every night. I've always loaded/unloaded the dishwasher on my lunch break. But now I walk on my lunch break, so this new habit will be a good one. Turtle has slept all through the night almost every night! He gets a pass on Friday night because I think I kept him up. When I woke up, he was sleeping in his crate! I had a bad case of antsy and couldn't sleep. I only got a few hours, but I wasn't sleepy Saturday, so *shrug* I've filled up one of the big black, body bag looking trash bags of paper & crap that I'd been hoarding, including a cardboard box. My extra room is looking better and better. When I get it organized, I'm ordering a yoga swing. That's helping me stay motivated to get it organized and decluttered. I think if I get a swing that takes 2 hooks, then I can use the hooks for rings later. They both look like they need to a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Is that right for rings, @Kishi ? I didn't work on it last night because mom visited. I did the warrior sequence. I tried to get her to do it with me. I've started a "Climbing Gym" category in YNAB. Climbing & Equipment is $20 for a day. But it's quite a drive, so I'm putting an extra $20 on the goal for fuel. Back to the grindstone.

February at work sucks. Instead of moping about it, I'm going to keep a list of things I can do next year to be ready for this month. I just needed to put that in writing so that I'd stick to it.

I did the warrior warm up yesterday. I didn't do anything Wednesday. I got home from work with a killer headache. Unless you count moving all of my new weights into the house, I didn't do any strength work either. I'm really falling short on yoga and strength this week. I am getting the barebones of an evening routine down though. I like it. I had my socks, my under shirt, and my boots all laid out. Had my brass all pinned on my uniform and even had my pen in the pocket. lol I had most of my food laid out and my snacks ready to go. I don't have dinner laid out because mom may or may not come eat dinner with me tonight. I got stuff to do what counts as a flex meal for me but is still healthy for her. Dad's working out of town for the next six weeks, so she wants to come workout and eat with me more. She may. But I have the stuff for that together and ready. If she doesn't come, I have what I'll make for dinner picked out, just not thawing out. My boss and I met this morning. Apparently, his boss thinks I'm doing the same thing to my boss as my employee is to me, that I'm taking over and running everything, that I don't copy my boss on emails to the main office, etc. My boss is blowing it off, mostly because he knows that he tells me to send those emails, which I do copy him on. The email that dude used as an example actually had my boss copied on it. The reply was addressed to me, as in it started with my name, but was copied to my boss. Our meeting pretty much ended with me being sick of work and my boss telling me to relax, I'm good at it and to not let asshats run me off. Then commenting that he "learned 'asshat' from me, so see, I teach him lots of new things". He hates email. He's old school and his inbox is usually so full that stuff doesn't go through, sending or receiving. I type 10x faster than him. My inbox says managed. And I am better at writing. So it's easier for him to ask me to send emails. Sometimes people email me directly because they know that I'll get it and respond. I always ask him, if it's something that I should, and I usually reply to him. Urgh> Anyway. I feel like I've spent more time griping about work than on my challenge. Sorry. I made progress in my extra room/future gym. I need to purge and organize craft stuff. I am going to contain it all to one side of the closet and to all but two drawers of my desk. I think that I will start working on that for my 20 minutes of long term cleaning every day. If it wasn't budget time at work, I'd just take off Saturday while mom is supposed to be here and get that done. But I am behind and I have the whole weekend free from frustrating people.

I did his last year. I addressed a lot of this in the performance review. It got better for about a month. Then after a month or so of back sliding, we had a meeting where we did a written formal agreement on lots of it. Once I get budget finished next week, it's time to start on his PE again. I plan on addressing it again, and it will have to lower his score. If I lower it, it will be below the threshold for merit bonus. I hope that drives the point home without completely shutting him down.

Part of the problem is he thinks he's a coworker and not my employee. He's always trying to go around me rather than through me. Yesterday was my day off and he kept trying to bug me. HE CAME TO MY HOUSE(granted, I live in the park, but still) to ask if I'd gotten his email asking about something that was NOT time sensitive.

That's not quite the situation. He is bad about doing things without getting approval. Including purchasing stuff that has landed my boss & I in hot water (mostly my boss). The things that he comes in my office for sometimes aren't even questions. He just left after coming to complain to me that housekeeping is leaving the heat turned up too high in the cabins when they clean them. He was in here at 8:15 to ask me if the interpreter had started soliciting donations for the fishing derby. He was back by 8:45 to show me what he got for Valentine's day and to gripe that the marina doesn't have all the boats out of the water and he "ain't getting them repaired anymore if they can't do what they're supposed to". He's the maintenance supervisor. NOTHING he has come to me about so far today had anything to do with the list of stuff his crew is supposed to get done this week. Yet, he'll tell contractors that they don't have to pour concrete according to plans, tell vendors they can make repairs or service calls without purchasing documents in place, and calling fiscal asset management in our main office to tell them I'm wrong and we're not missing a weedeater because it never existed despite me having a photo of it.(that's the missing asset we found btw,so yeah..) I don't know if you remember me complaining about the contractor that wouldn't listen to me, but this is the employee he kept going to instead of me. He never considers the possibility that he's wrong, even when he knows nothing about what he's doing. Sometimes he comes in here because he didn't listen the first three times when I asked him to do something a certain way. I tried writing it out, but he loses it, sometimes before he gets out the door. When it is stuff relevant to his job, it's because he's scatterbrained. He'll have to come back and ask stuff 4 or 5 times before he even gets out of the building. He just called because when he was here griping about the boats he forgot to ask me to sign the PR he came in for. *sigh* He's a great guy, but he drives me nuts. I made him go to the purchasing training last week because of some of the problems with that. I have a formal agreement with him for things like doing a work schedule for his department, completing a monthly maintenance report, and several other things. I don't want to ride him too much because he's one of the few employees here that seems to genuinely care and try to go the extra mile. I set aside 2 times a week for us to have meetings, the beginning and end of his week. He's the only department manager I do that with. I'm trying to get the others on board, but one hates me and the other is ambivalent because she's retiring, so, at least he's not like that. I think when the new maintenance shop is finished and he can move into his own office, it might be a little better. He'll have a space to be organized in and won't hang out in my office. Maybe. Sorry, that kind of turned into a rant. But yes, yesterday was mostly a win. Today has been pretty good, too.

Today was a pretty good day. I got rid of the bed! I found a deal that will let me save $100/month on the Nutrisystem food. I did tree pose while I waited on interviewees, two were no shows, so I didn't do it the WHOLE time. I started cleaning the room that had the bed in it and will start creating my training space. We were missing an asset at work and it was found today, making my work life easier. I'm still behind, though. I'm trying to catch up without working extra. It's hard because I have one employee that is CONSTANTLY interrupting me. He can't wait on answers, sometimes on that aren't even his business! I have a hard enough time focusing with the phone ringing and regular office stuff, but lately, he's in there at least every 15 minutes. And I'm not exaggerating. (Sorry, rant over) I found out NorthFace's warranty may cover repair or replacement of my favorite backpacking pack. They don't make it anymore, so I hope they repair it. I've been waiting 3 weeks on an answer about it & got a response today. I know that's not really challenge related, but it really helped make my day. My sister asked me to perform her wedding ceremony. So that's pretty cool, even it's driving Mom nuts. She's getting married March 17th, here in the park. She wants me to wear skinny jeans. I'm going to have to try hard to lose more weight. Her first wedding was in May and it was super hot. Her second one was in January and was really cold. Third time's a charm, right? Maybe it'll be perfect weather. I'm going to work in my future gym tomorrow for at least 40 minutes. I'm also going to work on laundry and do the warrior warm up.

Hi! I hope you're over the flu! A mandatory rest day sounds like a good idea.

That is really badass. Thank you for the link! I tried to meditate every day last challenge, and in a few other before. I'm really bad at remembering to do it every day. I've started using 10% Happier. It has some really short guided meditations. There's even one called 1 minute to Sanity and one that is "For an Anxious Moment" that is 1 minute long. I still have trouble remembering to stop and use them, but having the short ones has helped. Especially at work. Awesome video. I need to video myself for form checks and I just can't bring myself to do it yet. So I'm extra impressed. Plus, lights are overrated.

Did you do the downward dog part, too? I like the last one in it. Glad you enjoyed it!

Well if it helps you put your world back right, that's not accurate. As far as the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists(&others) is concerned, tortoises and terrapins are both a type of turtle. Colloquially, it varies based on several factors. In some places, the term turtle is used for catch-all and in others, tortoise is a catch-all. In some, it's based on terrestrial vs aquatic dwelling. In others, people may use the feet vs flipper rule. If it's a reptile and has a shell, it's in the order Chelonia, which herpetologists consider turtles. It's like 250ish species. All tortoises are turtles but not all turtles are tortoises. Bottom line, they are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles whether they are tortoises are not. I have had that discussion with people at work almost as many times as I have had the discussion about how toads are a type of frog and moss not growing only on the North side of a tree. Usually, it's not cool enough to include the TMNT, though. Thanks! His father was my dog, Boudreaux.If he was left unattended outside, Boudreaux would collect turtles. He had a small pit dug where he'd deposit any that crossed his path. Then he'd lay beside the pit and watch them excitedly. If one got out, he'd let it go until it was almost where he couldn't reach it, then he'd grab it and set it back in the pit. He lives with my parents now. When I first visited after the puppies were born, he picked up one and brought it to me. He acted just like he did with the turtles. Every time I visited, he brought me the same one. So I brought it home and named it Turtle. Not that you asked, but I love my doggies, including talking about them. lol Thanks!

I've never played any Dark Souls games, but it looks like a very interesting game. And pretty! I may have to check it out. I don't know if my satellite internet can handle the streaming, but I am going to try to watch!

Congrats on being below 5k! That's great. Four weeks of vacation? <3 Way to go. If it was that cold here, I'd not be walking to work either. Course, I'm not walking (or riding) to work anyway. It's too cold. Josh and I both liked the Kamelot video.

Hi! Isn't it? I loved it. I can't believe I forgot about it. Fallen Warrior was such a good stretch and when I found this flow, I'd never heard of that pose. I googled ninja park ranger. It could've been funnier but I wasn't completely disappointed. Also, I learned one of the black power rangers was named Adam Park. FYI, for anyone that may be curious, he found a 110 lb barbell & Dumbbell set and decided that'd be what I really wanted. I'm stoked.

I have to decide if I want a barbel and a couple plates or an air fryer for Valentine's day.

I didn't know what headology was, but I looked it up. I've always been intrigued by that concept! I read a series about some swords, and that was a big theme in it. *edit* I couldn't remember the name and it was bugging me. I found it! The Book of Swords Series by Fred Saberhagen

I always think "I want to do a cool themed challenge, but I just don't have a good idea for a theme." I overlooked the obvious, Ninjas! I've realized (with some help) I need a good goal to work towards, something to help drive me. I can't take a martial arts class for the time being, BUT being a ninja is not just about the martial aspect! I'm going to do a challenge that will help me be a better ninja. (No, I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon.) Ninja Climbing Ninjas, on occasion , have to get into places without using doors or gates. Teamwork is awesome, but I don't usually travel with a squad. Plus, climbing is fun. I'd love to have a gym closer than 2.5 hours. I'm at the beginning, so any strength I gain or weight I lose is gonna be beneficial. But it's more motivating if I remember I'm doing it to be a better climber, instead of just to not be fat. I especially need to work on my upper body and back because they're weaker, but my core and bottom aren't far behind. Rather than have a specific movement goal I just need to work. I will strength train twice a week, at home or at the fitness center. It's looking more and more like it'll be at home. Ninja Evenings When I wake up in the morning, I want to feel like this: Not this: (though maybe not as angry as Ralph, js..) Ninja's get gobs of stuff accomplished each day. In order to do that, they have to establish some form of routine to be prepared. I have been focusing solely on my morning routine. Every time I get it established my lack of sleep screws it up. I need to establish a good evening routine that will help me ease into bedtime as well as help me be adequately prepared for the next day. I'm hoping that an evening routine will not only help me be more prepared but also help get Turtle (my puppy) into a routine that lets me sleep through the night. Because these 4 am potty breaks are getting old. Especially since when we go outside, he gets distracted by deer, doesn't pee, and then goes back in the house, only to remember, once I'm under the covers, that he still has to pee, and we have to do it all again. << not my amused face Contrary to popular belief, Ninjas need sleep. Even the 4 legged ones. I'm not sure what all I need to do in my routine. I know I need to do the basics, lay out tomorrow's clothes, lay out tomorrow's food, fill up my water bottles for the next day, and brush my teeth. I think I'm going to take the dog out whether he has to go or not. Maybe even a short walk? We walk when I get home from work. I don't want to have to crate him at night, but that may end up being the best way to build that habit for him. I want to try walking at night, first. The problem is, a walk, especially when it's this cold gets both of us out of sleepy mode, and to be honest, he's better at going to bed early than I am, and he tries to get me to go. Maybe I need to look at what time he decides we should go to bed. That might be the bedtime I need. lol So for the next few days, I'm going to track what I do in the evenings. Oh, except tomorrow I leave to go to my bf's. So tonight I'll track it, and I'm going to look up other people's routines. I think Tim Ferriss(sp?) has some interviews with people about morning and evening routines. If nothing else, I can start with the basics and see what happens. I will set an alarm for 9:45. I will lay out my food and clothes for the next day. I'll walk Turtle for about 10 minutes. Ninja Balance It's pretty common knowledge that ninjas need good balance. My balance isn't terrible, but it's not prodigious. I'm sure it's gotten worse in the last year or so since I have rarely even stood on one foot, let alone held a kick or even stood in tree pose for more than a couple seconds. I love the warrior poses and would be thrilled if I could do flying warrior: I think it's feasible for me. Maybe. But I need to start with a more attainable goal. I need to work on my Warrior 3: Warrior 3: I can do it but not well, steadily or for very long. So for this challenge, I'm going to work on improving it. I plan to use the warrior warm-up flow from here: http://www.athleta.net/2010/03/29/the-5-warrior-warm-up/ I used to lead part of our TKD group in this before we started class. It will be a good way to focus on the details of each pose really well. Warrior work at least twice a week. Tree pose at least once a day, 6 days a week. Ninja Lair I have 3 beds. I live alone, and I very rarely have more than one visitor at a time. I also have 2 air mattresses just in case I was to get more visitors. I am going to get rid of the bed in my extra room and turn it into my workout escape room. No puppies or children allowed. Okay, maybe the girls. Especially if I get rings or a yoga trapeze. Getting rid of the bed is step one. That will happen before the end of the challenge. Shouldn't be too hard, I'm giving it away. In Summary: 1. Strength training 2x/week 2. Begin a basic evening routine every night at 9:45 3. Practice the warrior flow 2x/week. 4. Get the extra bed out of the way.

I did measure. I was thinking they were the same as I posted on the first post a long time ago. But they're not. So I'm going to record them. These are from the 31st of Jan. Weight: 233.2 lbs Neck: 14.75" Waist: 50" Bicep: 13.5" Hips: 50" Thigh: 24" Bust: 48" I've been thinking about goals and having something to train for. Deciding on something to train for is harder than it sounds because I like to do everything. Which, that in itself is something to train for, being able to do whatever whenever. I want to be a good martial artist, but I feel like I need to put that on hold until I can find a class I can attend. So in the mean time, I need to come up with a new goal, to give me drive on my fitness journey. Then, when I find a class, I'll be in good shape! So I really thought about it, and I think if I ignore the "Yeah, but you won't ever be able to do that" in my head, there are 3 main things I'd like to be able to do well. I want to be a good rock climber. I love obstacle races and want them to be easier (because I'm stronger, not the race sucking). Climbing the highest points in every state in the contiguous US is already sort of a goal, but some of them require actual REAL mountain climbing (I'm looking at you, Rainier.) So I want to be able to climb Mountains, like Mt. Whitney, Mt. Hood, and maybe even add Denali to the list. I think these 3 goals fit together very well. Some of the mountains will involve rock & ice climbing. And all the obstacle races I've ever heard of involve climbing. I don't get to climb often because the closest climbing gym is 2.5 hours away. But there are lots of exercises that can help prepare. So I'm going to look into what I need to train & strengthen, and then use some of the advice & info from Never Gymless (and probably from people on NF) to figure out what I need to do. I know it's been so long since I've worked out that right now, just about anything will be better than nothing. I know the obstacle races require running, so I need to keep that in mind. And I'm putting this here to read later: https://www.climbing.com/skills/learn-to-train-a-complete-guide-to-climbing-training/ https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/rock-climbing-how-to-cross-train.html http://www.climbhealthy.com/5-home-exercises-climbers/ http://www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/physical-conditioning-for-mountaineering-expeditions/

Thanks! I'm going to read Never Gymless. It reminded me that I have Body By You, too. I've been thinking about what you said about training versus working out. I need to decide on a goal and then use what I've got to train for it. I don't know when I'll be able to do martial art again, so I need to find something else to work for. Something I feel is realistically attainable. Because I already am starting to think about bouncing around with work out plans. I decided to do then bands, then now I'm like, ooo, i have BBY, but I can hang a yoga trapeze in my extra room, and so on.. My tailbone really never quit. I've just been trying to learn what helps and what hurts. I think sometimes it's touchier than others. I have some orthopedic cushions that have been helping, especially with driving and kayaking. When it got pretty bad in November, the doctor gave me a steroid pack to knock it back a little. He said he'll help me start looking for long term solutions again, maybe even deadening the nerve. One reason I thought of the yoga trapeze is my physical therapist a few years ago said that if I could get something to hang upside down or a traction table, it'd probably help.

Dad and I went to the oyster supper last night. So I didn't stick to the Nutrisystem plan, but we had a great time. Totally worth it. I've gotten used to drinking totally unsweet tea. I've been weaning myself off of sweet tea for a while now, cutting down the sugar I used when I made it. The last time I made it at home, I only added 1/8 of a cup for the gallon. While I was at the oyster supper, the sweet was WAY too sweet. I got a cup of unsweet. It was good, so now that's the way I'll go. I walked Turtle at lunch, but not after work because we had to go. I did have to walk almost half a mile from where I parked to the dinner. lol Aside from that, I've been getting in at least 30 minutes. I've stunk at keeping up with Duolingo and my morning routine is all jacked up. I keep sleeping too late. I need work on getting a routine down and going to bed earlier. Hopefully, staying asleep. I guess this has been a half and half challenge, half success and half not terrible, but not what I aimed for. I'm done 14 pounds since the 7th though, so that's cool.

I had really been looking forward to the class tonight that was supposed to be all about weight lifting. When I walked in, there were several stations set up around the room There was nothing heavier than 4 lbs out except the "fitness stick" that was 6. He was explaining the circuit training stations to the instructor for the spin class that just ended. Three of the 7 stations were off limits because of my tailbone. I got bummed and went to row. I only went 9 minutes. My tailbone was unhappy. Hopefully not all the time. When I got home, I got out my resistance bands and looked up some. I did bicep curls, overhead presses, squats and stuff. I need to find a premade one. *edit* I guess I didn't realize how sleepy I was when I wrote this until I came to post this today, ie the next day, and realized I already had, so some of its not full thoughts. Sorry!*

Thank you! I needed the video on proper form, too. I was doing it mostly right, but at an angle up.

January 1st I was back up to 246.8 January 7th I started Nutrisystem. I've been walking my puppy for about 20 minutes a day most days, some days longer, and some days not at all because it's cold and wet. Jan 23rd I started going to the beginner's fitness class at the local gym on Mondays. I went again last night. I haven't measured recently.I plan to tomorrow morning, but I'm down to 233.7, so I've lost 13.1 lbs and have started to enjoy being active again. This past fall, like November, I started taking an antidepressant. I think that has helped me a lot.

I'm proud of me. I went to the fitness class again. I almost didn't. I'm in the middle of yearly equipment inventory at work, and it's stressing me out a little, so I was tempted to work late. I said "No! This will still be here tomorrow!" And left. Mom asked me to come help her with something. I said "ok, but I'm going to work out first!" Its a little thing that shouldn't be cause for pride, really, but I'm pleased. I also rowed 1 km after the class. I'd never tried a rowing machine before and wanted to. I was only on it for 5 minutes. I think I'd like it with some headphones and nowhere to be. Gotta go to bed.