Elliott907

Thanks! Yeah, I have the recommended exercise paperwork somewhere. I'm in the middle of moving, so I need to go dig that out. Right now I've started with walking, using decent shoes with arch support to try to make it as nice as possible until I can actually get those exercises going again. And stretching, which is... weird. Medication: nope, I'm broke and can't afford it, not for any of it. Whee! Thanks, America, for not investing in single payer/universal health care. So nice. Blood pressure: Thanks for the advice! I can't afford to see a doctor for anything, which is why I'm trying other avenues of reduction. The gym is free, thanks to my hubby's work benefits, so I'm starting there. I do know that sleep is important, so I'm trying to make that a priority alongside more exercise and cleaning up my food habits. Eventually I'll have a few dollars to see a doctor!

Ugh. Okay. Once more with feeling. This is probably my third or fourth big "I'm gonna do it!" thread here and... well, they haven't been successful before. But I have knowledge and experience from all those attempts before to help me push through and make lasting positive changes this time! I'm Elliott. I'm a writer, a reader, a dork, and into various nerdy stuff. What I'm not into is exercise and shoving anything but carbs into my mouth. Well, that's not entirely true. I just don't much care for it. It's easier to just sit on the couch and veg with some junk food, or to call for pizza instead of cooking something healthy. But it doesn't matter that it's easier, it's not doing me any favors. I have various medical complications and old injuries that doing this is just... it's not good. So, gotta do The Thing and retrain myself! The Plan So. I have a plan. Ish. I'm working on a plan: Exercise and Food and Mental Stuff. Thoughts on Exercise: My left leg and low back are pretty weak, well, weaker than normal, after a back injury in 2015. It's left me with muscle and nerve damage from my low back down my leg. So, I need to work on building up strength in my trunk and legs, so they can work normally again. I also need to stretch and gain flexibility in general, to help my muscles keep from seizing. I get massive spasm storms that lock up my leg and pretty much immobilize me from the waist down. It's gotten better in the last few months, which I cautiously and tentatively say might correlate to the fact that I'm intaking more marijuana and CBD products (yay, legal state!). Not gonna say it's the cause for the lessening symptoms, but *might* be related. Plain and simple, I need to lose weight. That will help a lot with my joints and cardiovascular health. My blood pressure is stupid high, and if I don't want to be on medication for it for the rest of my life (I'm only 27!), I need to lose weight and try to manage my BP that way. Food and exercise might make enough of an impact to keep away from the pills. So, moving forward: Strength training and cardio with input from trainer(s) and physical therapist. Start walking more in general. Take the stairs instead of the elevators, when possible. Park further from the door when going shopping. Do yoga or stretches at home and after workouts. Maybe swim for low impact exercise? Thoughts on Food: I really, really like sugar and carbs. Which is unfortunate. I've found that keto/low carb can work for me, if I can just fkin' stick to it, so that might be a good way for me to attack my crappy diet. But I also know that going head-first and cold turkey tends to be the worst way for me to do it. So maybe moderation as I get used to being at the gym and working out, then focusing on reining in my food more? More good veggies, better protein sources, and fewer carbs/sugars seems to be a good way to approach things. Drink! More! Water! The plan: Drink more water - aiming for like, a gallon a day? I don't know. But more water instead of soda. Eat more veggies and proteins and rely less on carbs to fill out a meal. Cook more at home, when possible, to have more of a handle on what I'm eating. Then, when I have a better rhythm of things, go lower carb and focus more on veggies and good proteins. Batch cook when possible. Thoughts on Mental Stuff: This one's more nebulous because I'm just three bags of cats in a trench coat. I'm super anxious and have depression and mania (yay, bipolar disorder), and I'm generally a low-spoons kind of person. So, to free up spell slots: Prepare gym bag the night before, so I'm not stressed in the morning Practice better sleep hygiene and get to bed at a regular hour Maybe some short meditation, maybe yoga? Might work well in the Exercise column. Set actual schedules for stuff so I don't lose track of time and fall into a pit of not doing things. Batch cook on high spoon days so I don't have to on low spoon days (and so I can't justify takeout so often). Maybe eventually start journaling? Actually schedule writing time so I feel (and am) more productive. Track-able metrics: Blood pressure, can be tracked Physical bodily measurements Weight Occurrence of muscle spasm storms (needs to be journaled, though) Fringe/Intangible metrics: Feelings on whether I'm okay with the progress so far How my joints feel on the day to day How my clothes fit Goals Short term goals: Create and support a gym habit. Shooting for 3x a week and working up to 5 to 7x a week. Drink water. Shooting for between 1/2 - 1 gallon a day. Sleep better. Shooting for bedtime at 10pm and waking up at 7ish. Eat better. Incorporate more veggies and proteins into my meals and cut reliance on carbs and sugars. Intermediate term goals: Gain range of motion in my hip Lose enough weight to require smaller clothes - aiming for size 20/22 by Yule (-2 sizes) Push for a 25-minute 5K (last time I ran I got to 28 minutes, because I'm slow, but I think I can do it!) Longer term goals Lose weight - I want to lose 30 lbs by the end of January, but that means I gotta *do the thing!* maybe define more of these as I go Ultimately, lose weight, gain muscle, increase endurance for walking/jogging. But I gotta actually break that down into measurable, attainable benchmarks. So here goes!

Off to a rocky start. Sunday, I went to the gym and was pleasantly surprised at what I was able to accomplish! Cardio: 11:15min jog on the elliptical machine Short dance party at being able to do that! Weights: 6x 10# goblet squats 30x 10# overhead dumbbell presses, each side 30x 10# bent rows, each side 15 modified pushups I was really excited because this has been the longest I've been able to walk, let alone jog, in over 16 months since I messed up my back and leg. I had some leg pain, some nerve backfiring, but I was able to make it the 10 minutes I'd hoped for. i'm also pretty excited because the weight routine is about 3/5th of my old routine - in a perfect routine I would have done 30 squats and modded pushups, along with as many assisted pull-ups I'm capable of doing. I nixed the pullups altogether because I'm not about that life; it's so hard to make it negate as much of my weight as I need to do an actual pull, it's not funny. I get really disheartened. I should probably do something to work the pulling motion, but I'm not sure what else could work. Lat pull downs? I had to stop my squats after six because it just huuuuuurt so much. I lost good form with my bent-over rows a couple time, rounding my lower back and trying to brace it badly, but I was able to stop and fix it. Not too horrible. Then I got sick as a dog Monday. And yesterday. And today. Is gym-flu a thing? I think I caught it. This week has sucked so bad. But, I'm working on staying hydrated, and hope to get better enough to go back to the gym tomorrow, if I'm not too miserable. Taking lots of fluids and hand sanitizer with me, if I do!

Thank you very much!

Thanks! Do you know if that app is available on Android? I might have to check it out! I was looking at adding reminders and maaaan does that suck. Maybe an app is a better bet! Good luck on your challenge, too! I hope it goes well, I look forward to reading your log!

Hello! I feel like I've started so many new threads to manage and all. For a brief recap of my respawn and daily logs: I'm Elliott, I'm from Alaska, been a long-time lurker/Rebel. Been primarily sedentary due to a back and leg injury back in 2015, still have trouble with getting around and pain. Don't have a physical therapist or a doctor, my life sucks. Husband's work has comp'd him with a brand new gym membership for the two of us thanks to new benefits structure So... I've started my daily log here and my character sheet here, and I figured it would be nice to get involved with a challenge, since I had the good fortune to walk back into the Rebellion right before one starts this weekend. So, here are my quests for this challenge, based on goals I've already identified: 1) Workout regularly Do a treadmill/elliptical walk followed by resistance band work and stretches 3x a week. Probably Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or something. Aiming for 10 minutes walking, as possible. Some days are bad leg days, and that's okay. Those are days we work more on getting stretchy. On days that I just. can't. do. stairs, I will do stretches and resistance bands at home. 2) Drink more water I'm bad at hydrating, so making a specific goal of drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day is helpful. I have a washed out juice container that I use, and now I'll need to be more diligent to drink. I'm gonna try to set hourly reminders in my phone to drink a couple ounces, so that I make my goal. Also, make sure I drink water before meals. That's gotta help, right? Common wisdom says drinking water before meals helps fill you up, and lord knows I can use that. 3) Work toward getting a regular physical therapist. So, I don't know that I can actually pull the trigger on this one any time soon, since I am unemployed and hubby and I are living on just his paycheck, but we recently got insurance through the ACA market (woo!) and so I should really figure out getting some actual, doctor-led rehab done Go over our insurance plan for exclusions on physical therapy by 4/1/17 Research local out-patient clinics in town and rates (and, let's not kid myself, any financial plans they've got set up) by 4/10/17 Call clinics to see if they're accepting patients by 4/15/17 Points: Man, I used to get so hung up on points, and I see that some folks are using them, but I think I wanna do something different and just register my "grade" for the challenge on two things: How often I did the things I said I'd do, and how I felt each week. I hope to update this log every couple days, and maybe on Saturdays write a recap and a weekly grade. Maybe that will be more useful to me than numbers or letters. Who knows. Here we go meow!

Hi all, I'm Elliott, back at it again with the white Vans. Or at least, some kinda shoe. I'm back after a looooong hiatus. I messed up my leg and lower back in a major way with disc herniation, nerve damage, and what seems to be muscular atrophy back in November 2015, and I'm now to a point where I can walk relatively reliably again. I managed to recover without surgery, which wasn't exactly my idea, but my doctor and I got to a point where surgery actually increased the likelihood of further injury. Anyway, long story aside, I'm here, have frequent numbness in my leg, and am working on getting to a point where I can eventually do all the things again. That, in essence, is my epic quest. So, to help myself succeed, I've enlisted a partner in crime - my husband, actually. His work has given him a free membership to the gym and includes me on it, so we're heading into this together. Paired with his fear of mortality, we've got ourselves some good motivation to work on our physical health. Some tactics we're using: 1) Better diet. We've increased veggie intake and are slowly weaning ourselves off of meat proteins (because we're broke all the time and meat is expensive here). We're also reducing reliance on simple carbs. I strive to make a balanced breakfast for the two of us most work days, and I'm continually trying to convince him to bring something for lunch (that's a hard sell, though, because apparently his company sucks and doesn't have a break area or real place to like, hang and eat.) 2) Lots more water. We've taken to drinking from half-gallon juice jugs and it helps keep us hydrated. I prefer to drink with Crystal Light packets, since they have like, 0 calories and a low hit on nutritional values, but I'm trying to drink more water plain through the day. I have a problem not hydrating enough, and it gets the better of me. 3) Better sleep. I'm a horrid sleeper, whereas he hits the pillow and immediately drifts off. I'm jealous. Over the last month or two I've taken to trying to go to bed when he does, around 10, so that I can try to wake up and make us breakfast in the morning. That's just a few things we've started working on, and I'm happy and cautiously hopeful about moving forward. I took my starting weight at the gym yesterday, so that I at least have some numbers to go by, but I'm hoping to get measurements taken for a more thorough analysis of my progress. I also have to find another physical therapist if I really want to get anywhere, since my last appointment was in August. Ugh. I hate the American health care system, lemme tell ya. Well, here I am. Gonna try not to drift out aimlessly like Jubal Early, and finally get to a point where I'm happy on my path. Here goes! Here's my battle log: https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/96196-doing-the-thing/ Aaaand here's my character sheet: https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/180689

Yaaaay! My ID is Elliett91. Woot! Which faction do you enjoy more, if any? I like the AD but I'm getting bored with Auridon. I mean, I've gotten to Grahtwood and a couple other places, but I was hoping for a bigger map in general, I think. It feels so much smaller than Skyrim!

I'm trying! Next challenge log is started, Saying Its Name. Trying to cut down on junk food and sodas. Ugh.

Ookay, going on my second challenge. It's not very well thought out, but I'm trying something new. Based on my last challenge, where I had like, 3-4 separate goals, that's just too much. I'm gonna focus on two goals this time. But here's the thing, I'm not entirely sure how I'm gonna do this. I'm a big food addict. I'm a compulsive eater, and eat my feelings, and get really bad sugar cravings. I'm trying to own this, but I'm really super good at denial. Food is life, food is love, and I hate it. Which then makes me hate myself. Not an uncommon feeling among many of us, I'm sure. But also playing a part into my weird food relationship is my depression. When I get depressed I'm either stuffing my face til I puke or starving myself til I faint. There is no in between. [siiiiigh....] But, according to terry Prachett, "Before you can kill the monster you have to say its name." I'm calling you out, self, and addiction, too! So I'm going to try to cut out junk foods and such because of my tendency to overeat, but I'm worried, because I'm poor and the only food I'm able to afford right now is processed carbs and junk. Ah, adulthood. Here's the daily plan so far: I'm starting out with oatmeal sweetened with 1/4 c craisins and 2T brown sugar for breakfast and 20 ounces of water. The fiber should help fill me up for lunch, and the water should help "top me off", so to speak. Lunch for the next couple days (starting tomorrow, at least) will be a tuna salad sandwich with eggs for eggstra protein, and another 20 ounces of water. A snack at 3:30, if necessary, will be a serving of hummus and a small piece of naan (because mom bought me bread and I can't afford veggies right now...). I'm not sure about dinner yet. I have tons of ramen, boxed mac and cheese, etc., but none of that is particularly good for me... Part of what goes so wonky with my diet is just being able to have ice cream for dinner and mochas for breakfast and such, so I'm going to try to quit those almost cold turkey - starting at up to twice a week for skinny mochas (aiming for once a week, then maybe less than that by the end of the challenge), and once a week for ice cream, and a similar aim for the end of the challenge. Instead of the two (or three, or four) sodas I've been indulging in a day, I'll start weaning myself off them - one a day for a week, then five a week, then four, then three, then two, then hopefully one a week. I'm not sure how to grade this. These items are what I've started identifying immediately, but doesn't even begin to count the doughnut I get every now and again with my coffee, or the gelato I sometimes treat myself to at lunch, or the cookie at the grocery store check stand that wanders into my basket. I'm hoping that by focusing on some things and reworking specific habits, I'll subconsciously get the picture? Don't get me wrong, I want everything to go away, but small steps, I guess. So here goes. I'm starting tomorrow, so I can get my oatmeal and sandwiches ready and get possible feedback from other fine Nerds. Here goes.

Sorry I've been off! I've been moving (finally found a place! Woot!) and been sick, and generally feeling super morose. I'm gonna draft up my next challenge and start... uh, tomorrow. Maybe today, depending on if I get my challenge log up. Ugh. I'm taking it easy this time, though, because I sucked last challenge. I didn't make the full six weeks, but I'm gonna try again!

Who plays ESO? I'm new to MMORPGs and feeling like a big baby and would love some friends to play with. I play on a PS4, so I don't think we're compatible if you play on PC (right, that's how that works? I'm dumb!) I have a level 15 Dragon Knight character (such a baby!) that's Aldmeri Dominion but I'm thinking of making another character for another faction. Haven't decided yet. Who's game to play?