Ambisagrus

It's true! Shouldn't be doing math, either, apparently...it was 300 points. Whatever. Get off my lawn.

Ok, so here's my "Monday" update, even though it's still technically Sunday here. Yoga was perfect -- we hit all the sessions and are growing in our ability. I'm very happy with it. We tweaked the schedule a bit so that there is a session every day -- am and pm every weekday, am only on Satuday, pm only on Sunday. That still gives more than 24 hours for total rest. 120 points. Workouts were vastly different, for reasons beyond my control. Long story short, there's now a martial arts class that we attend instead of the alternativng midday workout. It lasts for 90 minutes and includes "combat conditioning." It'll do for now...still going to say 60 points. Diet has been good. I am still eating carbs, but have whittled it down to two pieces of toast or a bagel at breakfast. The rest of the day is just meat and veggies (and the occasional unavoidable sauce). Sticking with 4 out of 5 per meal for the 20 meals: 80 points. Which brings us back to meditation, and I'd say it was meh. Not much better, but not worse -- still 40 out of 70. 330 points again this week, so still on track for the challenge. Sometime within the next 24 hours I'll take my mid-term pic. Feeling good!

I tried it and my knees hurt. I guess I have to build capacity either way.

I am noticing more strength in some of the yoga poses -- some fatigue in others as the week progresses. I really look forward to the rest days! Right now I'm just reminding myself that the way to get stronger is to do the work. Sounds like we may have the makings of a small group for meditation practice! I haven't tried kneeling...might be a better way for now.

I used to do it in a chair, and that was fine, but I'd like to actually sit without props. It's a goal, anyway.

Oh, yes. I'm feeling the difference in flexibility and in how quickly I loosen up. Deeper twists, too. The only thing that isn't great is holding poses -- I can feel the fatigue then. But that'll get stronger in time! We did post-yoga meditation tonight. I'm going to need to build my ability to sit -- lower back weakness creeps up fast. Still, it was good and now I'm ready to crash!

Week 2: Bit of an odd week here -- I'm doing my Monday check in because it's Monday here now. We skipped Saturday, so I also missed a workout day, however.... Workouts: My partner and I modified our arrangement to build in more flexibility. Instead of alternating strength and cardio days for 6 days of the week, we've begun doing 30 minutes cardio + 30 minutes strength on Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday. We're still maintaining twice daily yoga, but now Wednesday is yoga only, Saturday is long slow cardio only, and Sunday is complete rest. This worked out very well! We started it on Tuesday and, as above, lost Saturday, so we ended up with 3 strength and 3 cardio workouts total (same as our previous schedule), and all but Saturday's yoga. 120 for yoga (since missing Saturday was involuntary), 60 points for workouts. 180. Diet was great -- proper hydration and one dessert. The salad bar was better this week, but it's still not wonderful. I made up for it by eating more of the cooked veggies. Less than ideal, but better than nothing. I'm going to stick with 4 out of 5, though, for 80 points. Daily meditation is still the weakest part, but we have officially begun hanging out after evening yoga to get it done. I've done meditative prayer for a while, so this is just a matter of getting a time to stick. 40 out of 70...still plenty of room to improve, but we're getting there. Total is 300. That's my goal, and it was a week worthy of saying I made the goal. Improvements in meditation will continue, as will the workout regimen. COincidentally, I'm not weighing in at all during this challenge. I took a beginning photo and will take one at the halfway and end points, but the online album will have to wait a while. I'll be out here long enough to do several challenges, so I intend to collect a series of images that spans six or so months in 3-week intervals.

Time and quiet...once the day gets rolling it's a bit chaotic. Certainly never quiet around here, so it's difficult to get myself into the place where I will do it regularly. Bedtime works a little, but I go to sleep a lot. I'm thinking that before or after evening yoga may be the best time, but haven't implemented that yet.

First Monday update: We had a great week. Twice daily yoga is actually very nice -- the morning session is more vigorous and gets the day going well (we start at 5:30 -- it was hard to get up a few times, but I always felt great afterward). The evening session is gentle and restorative...we broke a very light sweat a couple of times, but nothing like the morning, and I'm ready to drop off to sleep afterward. Evening yoga is at 8....it frames the night's rest nicely. We missed one evening session due to unforseen events, but made 12 out of our 13 scheduled sessions (Sunday morning is an intentional rest day). 120 points. The regular workout is harder to schedule -- events are fluid -- but we managed to get five of the 6 scheduled workouts in. We dropped one cardio day, which I don't feel so bad about. Monday was body weight, Wednesday was kettlebell, and Saturday was TRX. Again, we were gentle...we're starting easy and intentionally adding a little each week, so the first week may have been easier than it had to be. But we're old men and we don't want to hurt ourselves. 50 points. Diet was decent -- I did complete the liter of water per meal, and stuck to 4 cups of coffee/tea or less per day, except for one day when I had an extra cup. The "salad bar" was really just tomatoes and carrots most days, so that wasn't as good as I'd hoped. However, we did stick to just one dessert, and I avoided snacks well enough to give myself 4 out of 5 points for the 20 meals on average -- 80 points. Meditation was weak. We are building it into the yoga now, so I think it will be better. Still, I'd say I got 30 of the possibe 70. 280 points total = not quite where I want to be, but a good week. Integrating yoga and meditation while maintaining the other areas should get this week up to full speed.

Grading system...hmm. Well, we have 18 sessions scheduled per week, so I could say 10 pts per session for 180 possible points. There are 7 meditation sessions for 10 points each = 70 possible points. There are 20 meals per week (Sunday brunch), so maybe 5 points per meal within the standard for 100. 350 possible points per week. I'll say 300 points, then, is successful.

It's true, it is a lot...at least in terms of time. We're taking the "old man" approach and staying focused on constant, gentle pressure rather than very high intensity. The evening yoga isn't so much a workout as a cool down...very light and restful. Plus, my partner is a doctor, so if I start to collapse he'll be there for me. If he collapses, well, he's on his own! Yes, we're military, so off on a deployment for the next few challenges. We've definitely got time to build up to intensity.

I dropped out of my last challenge and then skipped one due to some unexpected events in life, but now I'm back to resume the work! I'm currently on a long trip away from home, so this challenge gives me the opportunity to focus more energy on personal growth so that I may return home stronger in body, mind and spirit. Main Quest: Establish a daily yoga and contemplative prayer practice Yoga: I'm with a group and have identified two friends who also wish to practice daily yoga, so there is some acocuntability here. We plan two daily sessions -- a lively morning session of 40 minutes and a gentle evening session of 20 minutes. Contemplation: I have a personal office and intend to set aside 30 minutes daily for meditative prayer. I intend to start with just 10 minutes, but am leaving room for growth as my ability to concentrate increases. Side Quest 1: Increase strength and cardiovascular endurance One of my yoga partners has agreed to an additional daily workout (except Sunday) of 30-45 minutes, alternating between strength and cardio training. Side Quest 2: Improve diet We don't get to choose our food here, so these are the steps: 1. A full liter of water with each meal 2. Salad bar first, then "main line" to get the main course 3. Dessert only once per week and special occasions 4. Limit coffee/tea to 4 cups daily (believe it or not, this is an improvement) That's enough for one quest! It seems like a lot, but we really do have the time as we're trying to fill 16-hour days that only have a few meetings in the regular schedule. I'll check in weekly with progress reports and take before/progress/after photos offline.

End of week 1: no appreciable changes in measurements, but lost 1 pound. Last week I did not follow my plan because it was the final week of prep for a half marathon. The race went well on Saturday, and I finished better than my goal of "under 2 hours" (1:54:55), so I'm happy with it. This week I'm modifying my goal a little bit. The daily writing goal turns out to be unfair to my family on the weekend, since it's really "me" time and the weekend is "we" time. So, my goal will be to write every workday instead of every day. OTherwise, exercising in half hour units is sustainable, and I may even surpass my goals on some weeks. Onward.

Thanks! My numbers above represent 30-minute 'units,' so I end up with Sunday off completely and an hour of yoga on Saturday. Weekdays are run/yoga or run/strength. So far, so good!

Ok, off and running! Here are my benchmarks:: Waist: 37.0 Chest: 40.0 Bicep: 14.0 Quad: 23.5

I tried page goals last time and flopped. Daily seems to be the baby step I need for now. Focus and finish sounds like a good next step....

I'd be down for that, if one exists.

Hi all! This will be my second challenge. The first went very well, all things considered -- I made my main goal and one of my sides, with suitable progress on the other two sides. There were some good lessons learned that will carry forward into this one. Like many, I have an animal famililar that expresses my ethos -- the gray fox. So this will be my Fox challenge! Foxes are sleek and agile, so these will be my twin mantras and goal areas. First, 'sleek:' The main thrust of my effort is still body composition, but not focused entirely on weight this time. I would like to continue to lose fat and gain muscle, so I will aim for at least a 1" decrease in the circumference of my waist and a combined 2" increase in my chest, arms and quads. Foxes are omnivorous, foraging in the early evening before going on the hunt for meat. To assist my body comp goal, I'll be more faithful to Paleo -- cut dairy and starch to minimum and increase veggies (including juicing at breakfast) and healthy fats. Next, 'agile,' with one component each for body, mind and spirit: Body: increase focus on strength and flexibility. To accomplish this, I'll aim for weekly yoga 4x and strength 3x using TRX and kettlebells. To make room for this increase, I'll cut my running back to sustainment levels -- 5 runs but shorter and serving as warmup for strength workouts. Mind: I have a desire to write, and no fewer than 4 projects brewing. I'll write every day. No page goals -- just aiming to establish the habit of daily writing. Spirit: Daily meditation/contemplative prayer in conjunction with yoga and as a stand-alone on off days. I'll take weekly metrics and post results to this thread. That's a lot of verbage, so here it is in shorthand: Main -- lose 1" off waist and gain combined 2" on chest, arms and quads. Side 1: Increase fidelity to Paleo -- minimal dairy and starch, increase veggies and healthy fat. Side 2: Workout regimen -- 5x run, 4x yoga, 3x strength Side 3: Daily writing and meditation.

I just looked back at the thread - thanks for the encouraging words! I did fairly well with the first challenge - made my main goal and one of my sides. I've already laid out about 80% of the next challenge and decided to go Druid. Thanks again - see you in the next one!

I've got the same question, though I'm currently doing not enough yoga. Kettlebells leave my 42-year old connective tissues aching for about 3 days, but my partner and I run the day after with no ill effect. If you do your kettles Saturday morning, you should have ample recovery time for a Monday evening class?

Main: Achieve sub-190 pounds through diet and exercise. Minis: 1. Complete a 30-day streak running at least one mile per day, with 30 minutes preferred. 2. Achieve 150 miles running/hiking. 3. Maintain 2 kettlebell workouts and one 30-minute swim/bike per week. Life: Write 60 pages of my current project.

Hi all -- I've got a daily workout goal and some definite weight and ability targets. I have a real life training partner, but would love an email buddy (or even a few!) for motivation and mutual engagement. Interests are broad: psychology and spirituality (Jung, Watts, etc)., running, geocaching...all the nerdy stuff, i guess. Message if you're interested.

You posted right before me, so welcome! Good luck on the journey.

Hi all, I'm a new guy currently in Temecula, CA. I'm in the military and assigned to Camp Pendleton at the moment. I'd describe myself as a half-elf Ranger, with some druid tendencies. I'm about 80% paleo/primal, and I've considered vegetarian strongly. I love yoga and meditation, and have been an avid runner. These days, I'm looking to get more into triathlon training (not necessarily racing). My goal has been consistent for about 5 years now - lifelong fitness. That's it. Love the outdoors, seeking balance in all things. Good to meet you all!