DanyRose

I am? I am. I am! That is a hold over from my signature when I was doing that last year (complete fail, it happens) but I do have a running goal, and I do walk my dog a LOT. So I will keep it. I haven't thought about distances this time around (I still have the uber map I made of Middle Earth though to track my progress somewhere). Hrm. 458 miles to Rivendell... 10 miles a day. That's a lot of walking. How far is it to Bree? Like 135 miles or so? That's a doable 3 miles a day, 4 miles easy (to make up any distance errors). It's 240 to Weathertop. 5.7 miles a day. That is a little more of a challenge, but probably still doable. I might shoot for Weathertop, fight me some Nazgul at the end if I make it there. A quest should end in an epic boss fight, don't cha think? Wanna go along? For reference, because I... well nerd moment, this made me really happy: Bag-End to Rivendell

As a fellow 5'4" rebel I had to laugh at the shrinking. I like that "Why am I doing..." statement in your last post. It also made me giggle. Climbing easily on kitchen counters is a unique goal!

Hey good to see other writers here! It's nice to hear a challenge worked for getting novels finished. That's my main quest this challenge. I've written novels in the past, very bad novels granted, but I've learned from them and actually have a good story I am excited about again. The doing of it is the problem. @EVEArgent: If you write, semi regularly (as in, putting words of some variety on paper/word doc creatively--even nonfiction is creative) you are a writer. Own it

Last year, I think at this exact challenge start date this year, my sister and I decided we were going to do this thing. . . . . . We failed our mission. But here I am, back again. I'm not sure what happened last year, I don't remember (which is freaky for me, I remember most things) but right around April I had my first encounter with that Boss of Bosses-- Overlord Major Depression, Elite Level 100. So I have a feeling that was contributing to the non-completion of my first challenge. At this point, I am pretty sure it was me returning to "school" for a second degree I don't want (am now, very certainly, not getting). It diverted me from what I was wanting to be doing, have known I want to be doing since, well, elementary school which is: Be an Author. I am going to be frank here and very honest. 2014 sucked at everything creative for me. There's a thing about how artists and writers and blah blah are great and depressed and whatever. Possibly, maybe for some. For this chick, depression sucks the life force giving joy out of everything creative. When brushing my teeth in the morning is a negotiation with myself, there is no way anything will get painted (my first degree is art) or written. I focused everything into work-- I am a personal trainer-- and getting those stupid chemistry classes done. In April I did not get help for the depression and I should have. It was to the point where I couldn't trust myself with anything sharp, even thumb tacks. But it got better over the summer, not really but a little. Sunlight will do that. Then around October after a confrontation with my boss and returning from a family vacation to a lonely apartment it hit again big time. Big enough that my mom, under the guise of just popping down to the better Oregon weather, stayed with me for a week. I got help. Got some meds which I've weaned off of. Got a dog-- probably the best thing to happen last year. He's the best, cutest guy ever. Papillon with the ears to prove it. He's seven months. I am very proud. He's not my kid, but he's my young companion. I like to think I am the doggy equivalent of Gandalf for him. Anyway. Around the end of December I made a pact with myself to change my life this year and stop living in this Peter Pan state I've been in since college. I really need to be an adult (I am almost 27, though I look like 20). It is time. So, my apartment is being overhauled, simplified. I've figured out who I am and where I am going. My diet (thanks half to my dog eating raw) is slowly changing from junk food central back to mostly paleo again. I've joined a run club at my gym, the itty dog and I walk at leaf 3 miles a day, and I am actually happy. I haven't been able to say that for a very long time. But the assessment of myself, even with stuff yet to be finished around here, is happy. Except for one thing. That pesky career thing... and that leads me to my challenge. MAIN QUEST: A Life Quest. I am writer. Finish a novel. --- It doesn't have to be perfect. --- It only has to be the first draft. Bitty Quests: 1) Write 10 pages a day, long hand. (Yes I am one of those). 2) Take a picture of my progress every day (accountability). Maybe post that image here in this thread for all to see (gasp! /nailbiting) 3) Do this first thing in the morning, even if it means I have to get up earlier than I do already. Side Quests: 1) Run once a week. -- I've run races in the past, the next one is in May. I know once a week isn't enough, but currently it's none. 2) Weights/Lifting/Bodyweight/A Class -- 3x per week. 4) Clean/organize/toss/remove from premises something every day. Regular dishes do not count, I need to do those everyday no matter what. And... I think that's it. I haven't really thought too much about this, I just got home from work and decided to pop in here and see if maybe I was tempted. It would seem that I am. So here it is. --DR

Hi! Thanks for stopping by Life got in the way and I had a super stressful freak out over some classes I'm taking this semester. It threw me off track. I'm slowly getting things back together but I'm going to have to reevaluate here. I might end up doing this first challenge again, we'll see. It's all been a learning process. -DR Edit: I did work out today-- I only have 45 minutes in between shifts at work in which to do what I had planned to be a 60 minute workout. I made it a circuit routine, pushed through, and managed to get it done with ten minutes to spare! Woohoo. And I did pretty good on my eating today as well: I did have a coffee after work, but had a chicken salad for lunch, a protein shake and some tea later on. Not so good on the writing goal. Being up at 4am for work really kicks my day out of whack. I'll try to check back in tomorrow.

I agree that the Disney races are more about the fun then the finish. It was so much fun last year, there were all sorts of special villains out along the course and the after party looked like a blast (unfortunately I did not go because I needed a wheelchair after finishing to get back to the buses.) Plus, all the Halloween decorations in the Magic Kingdom and the special parade... Great fun! My mom and dad are planning on walking. They both were signed up for the 5k but my mom broke her ankle right before so she couldn't race, but my dad did. I think he was surprised how much fun he had. We're going for the full thing this year, the 5k and the 10 miles. I'm running and I'm trying to think of a way to set up locator beacons, lol, so we can find each other.

Thank you!!

Braembel-- I'm doing the same approach, just eliminating (as much as I can) a couple things. I think dairy is going to be part of my diet long term, it's one of those things that if I give up I never recover from it and hello fast food binges. I don't have problems with it so I don't worry about it. Hopefully, when I'm able to get my own house, I can get some goats and use their raw milk for cheese and drinking. The problem with being a personal trainer is we can't really give diet advice outside of conventional wisdom as it's outside of our scope of practice and falls into the realms of the dieticians. So, as much as I would love love love to tell people they might try Primal or Paleo diets, I can't really. If they seem open to it I'm totally willing to discuss anything, but most people just want "Eat better, whole grains, low fat blah blah blah." I tend to ask, first thing, what their idea of a "healthy" diet is which gives me a good idea about their mindset. What works for some people sometimes doesn't work for everyone. I do think trainers should be doing more research outside of the textbook though. Most just keep on with the CW stuff and never read any book that might give a different opinion. Their way becomes the only way and by golly if you aren't eating plain chicken breasts, non-fat yogurt, and granola you are never ever going to lose weight. And if you aren't running for an hour a day and lifting five days a week you will never get stronger or drop those pounds. Excuse me, but what bull. That might work for some but there are better, more efficient ways to health. It's unfortunate that you ran into this kind of trainer. Whole foods, good fats (whatever your definition of this is), whole fat dairy, veggies and fruits is the way to go. If you start exercising a few days a week with this sort of diet you will get healthier. As to writing--I'm only counting fiction words because, if this post is any indication, I can go on and on and on and on here talking about health and fitness and nutrition, lol. My problem is focusing on adding words to my novel. Though I do find that this sort of writing, in the forum environment, does tend to get the writing juices flowing so there is that.

I just made a batch of bone broth. It always makes my apartment smell AMAZING! It sounds like you had/are having a good first day. Diablo III.... man I wish I had the time. Have fun in the dungeons

I saw the title of your journal and I had to pop in to see if it meant what I thought it meant.... And it does! My mom, dad and myself are signed up for the Tower of Terror run in October which will be my second time doing it. Really hurt myself the first time which led to a not stellar finish. But I finished! Next year I'd love to try for a coast to coast medal. I was thinking Tinkerbell and Wine and Dine as well. I really enjoyed the run last year at Disney. You're definitely starting early enough to train well for the race. Good luck

They did that for me too . These people are so nice here! I like how mindfulness is part of your goals. That's a great thing. Good luck!

I love the story you have going! Your goals are really doable. I'll be checking in to see more of how you fare in the Arena. Woohoo!

After reading about these Color Me Rad 5k runs I looked it up and there's one in Portland in June! It looks like a ton of fun. I think I'm going to have to sign up.

How was your first day?

Day number one! Things went pretty good today. The plan to schedule in my workout between two trainings worked perfectly and I got an hour of yoga in. Not exactly the workout I thought I would do, but on Mondays and Fridays I have to get up in time to open the gym at 5am and that doesn't leave much time to do things before I head out the door. So I decided to combine my sun salutations goal (that's about fifteen minutes for me) with a longer yoga practice as my workout. It felt really nice and even though the loud dance music was blaring through the gym I put on my headphones and listened to Gandalf's "Alhambra" album and took off my glasses so I couldn't get distracted by everyone coming in and wanting to chat. That tends to put a dent in a workout, people wanting to talk, and as a trainer at that specific gym I feel a little obligated to stop and chat or help or whatever it is they are wanting. I don't mind too much during a normal workout, everyone is mostly nice, but not while doing yoga. I did surya namaskar a and then warriors, side angles, twists and ended with good ole' cat/cow and some child's poses. I was pretty proud of myself though as all of my chaturanga's were controlled and I hovered above the ground and then rotated forward beautifully into up dog without thighs touching the ground. I used to rely on the floor, touching belly and chest to it and keeping legs on it at all times. I used to get there as fast as possible, not really appreciating the simplicity yet difficult complexity of the pose. I enjoyed that a lot today. Plus, hey, it's pushups! I think I did about 20 of them at least. My foods were pretty on par too. I did get a coffee after my morning shift was over. This was pre-planned. Mondays and Fridays (those early morning days) coffee has to happen otherwise, as I've found from experience, it puts me at risk for greater mishaps in diet in the future. I did well and just got a latte though, so steps forward there. I did not have any grains today. Besides the latte, my foods were: about 1/4lb spicy ground lamb, 1/2 sweet potato in butter and cinnamon, a green smoothie, and about 2oz of liver pate with 1oz of Swiss cheese. The life goal: only 500 words of writing, but that's better than none so I'm calling it perfect there. It's better to do a little bit than none at all and everything will pick up momentum. Tomorrow I don't have to be into work until 8:30am so it's a green smoothie as my morning meal. I haven't decided yet if I'm game enough to walk to work-- it's three miles and has been raining pretty good here. I mean: Oregon. If I did walk to work, I would have to walk back home after. I think small steps maybe here will be good, do the workouts at the gym and keep the walks for separate times for now. Tomorrow there is a noon gentle yoga class and since I'll be at the gym I'm going to do that class. There's no specific workout on my schedule for tomorrow but everyone loves the new instructor we have for Tuesday yoga so I think some relaxing Hatha will be quite lovely. Alrighty, that's it for today's update! See you all tomorrow.