karinajean

They lived in Tianjin, so we spent most of our time there. We had a few days in Beijing for me to sightsee, and also took a quick "girls trip" (my aunt, grandmother, and myself) to Xian. I was there for just over 2 weeks I think. I was thinking about how different everything must be! it's a long-term goal to get back there. 5th grade does seem a little intense for this amount of review in such a short time but the skills are really excellent. having a 15 year old in (american) high school, I wish that they had taught him this kind of critical evaluation and review skill deliberately when he was a little younger. now we are stuck trying to get him to do this his-own-self on tests / homeworks that he does poorly on, and he is NOT interested in doing it - but when he does, we see an immediate improvement. ah this is apparently an international problem. another challenge I run into is not knowing how much effort other kids' parents are putting into the homework. We are strictly free range and "monitor and coach" types, and I worry that he is at a disadvantage because we aren't doing more for him. On the other hand when he is on his own he'll know how to do things on his own and ask for what he needs from authority figures, because we make him do all of that currently with his own teachers.

hey and welcome to the boards! your challenge looks great, and I actually love talking about money so and refreshing budgets on the regular to status, so high fives in particular on that one!

more detail about salad please --> I am expecting it is as fancy as you are.

omg, such grace. also love your self-gif library. I think this is a level of self-care that many of us have not yet reached.

Challenge-5 (Wednesday) Finish - well, the challenge hasn't started yet but so far I'm super on-track for this goal! Food - logged all my food. I have been REALLY hungry lately, and actually feeling like I was going to fall asleep on my drive to work - I'm not sure if this is a sleep deprivation issue or a bonking issue because I'm sooooo hungry and have been getting up at 430 AM and working out intensely for ~45 min. every day on an empty stomach. So, I decided this week I'm going to have a protein shake every morning when I get home from exercise party (at 6AM) and then have 2nd breakfast - usually yogurt - when I"m in the office by 8 or 830. Recovery - I had a chiropractic appt last night, and made an appointment for acupuncture in 2 weeks. When I got home I drank lots of ginger tea instead of a beer. Exercise party was deadlifts and we did 6x3, and I did mine at 195 and it was pretty great, because I felt like I could lift a bunch more (this was supposed to be 85% of max, and I'm currently at 225) and I had the room to check in with my form and body while I was picking up the weight. Like, 1/2way through I caught my knees starting to collapse in, and was like HEY KNEES, don't do that! C-4 (Thursday) Went to exercise party this morning. there was a fast workout with power snatches and box jump overs but I had dropped a big heavy cast iron dutch oven lid on my foot on NYE, so he told me to just do step-ups. Which was AWESOME, because jumping is not my favorite, but I still felt a tiny bit bummed out to not do it RX because I'm a big nerd. probably the best tho'. The chiropractor adjusted my foot last night and said it was in pretty good shape "all things considered" by which she MOSTLY means my level of activity, not the incredibly heavy pot lid I threw at it. Tonight is TKD (I am still teaching on thursdays). Finish - STILL HERE! Food - logging caught up, will continue. Recover - um, nothing yet.

oooh, yes lets. do you use it often? I am very patchy about regularity but when I do use it, I love it a lot. also <3 <3 <3

I feel the same way!

LOVE YOU TOO, because we are essentially TWINS. yeah, I was really struggling with the # to hit. 3 sounded like not enough. 5 does sound like a lot, but when I consider a little walk as a recovery (I know, I know. moderation problems) it seemed more doable. I guess we will see! I mean, yeah! totally. I think I am expressing it poorly, but basically - I know I will weigh more than I used to, because I am a TOTAL beefcake now. and I am SO hungry all the time, so I know I need to eat more and better for that energy component. also though I know that if I truly want to show off my muscles (esp around my middle parts) there's some fluff there that I'll need to manage, but it's not super stressing me out. maybe it's totally off-base but regardless of what the number is, I'm just accustomed to having a general numerical idea of my body's relationship with the earth's gravity and when I deviate too much from that (up or down) it's a heads up for me to pay a little more attention to what is going on so I can either take more advantage of what is happening or stop what I'm doing and do it differently. I also don't want to rub it in, but having met RL in person, he could probably stand to be a little less attractive. Thanks, RL, for trying to fit in a little better with the rest of us norms.

ALLLL MOST as good as seeing you in person! True story but I such a poor assassin, my gif game is TERRIBLE. I know, we are a particularly self-demanding group of people, aren't we?

Hi!!! It was your challenge spreads posted on IG that gave me the final push to get over myself and get back in the forums. So [emoji173][emoji173][emoji173]for that. I Marie Kondoed my clothes and a lot of my craft supplies and it felt SO good. I still have a long way to go with the rest of my stuff but the concept of letting go of things that don't serve my happiness - that I'm keeping from guilt it fear - is so valuable!

Ooooh it's YOUUUUUUU. Yay! (Ps that's a song I am singing to you.)

hi old friend! I've been off-boards and am restarting like a noob too. I'm just trying to build some steady tracking habits, I am feeling 100% that basic right now.

I seriously seriously have missed you all so much. I'm glad you're all still here.

I came here looking for you and was rewarded with penguin pics. annyshay you have the BEST CHALLENGE.

ooooh, CHINA. I had family living there in the 1990s and was fortunate to travel there for several weeks. it was an incredible experience for a 19 year old. I am so jealous of the food, pls more food porn thx. oh and hi! thank you for telling me about the diplomatic immunity, for some reason I missed that in my intro packet and now WHO DARES DREAM THE LEVEL OF HAVOC THAT SHALL BE EMBARKED UPON.

it's hard to get the jump on a Mad Hatter.

oooooooh you are writing a book!!!! that is so awesome! also HI here is to a new year full of good presence and successful habits.

POP QUIZ: what's the difference between being a truly successful (potentially mad) scientist and just messing around making things explode here and there? THE QUALITY OF YOUR NOTES. I was here last in June (oh god so embarrassed) and since then I've still been super busy, still been going to cross-fit 5x a week (I KNOW I LACK MODERATION OK), tae kwon do 2-3x a week, and eating not terribly. Over the last couple of months though I've said to myself: SELF, you know what would make you a more effective human being? if you were keeping better notes. * I don't know how much food I need to keep fueling my body at my current pace (I am moving at a rate of approximately NO MODERATION). * I don't know really how much stronger I'm getting, every new PR feels like a snapshot totally independent of time and space (but it is totally dependent on gravity, I will have you know) * I don't know what my body is supposed to weigh. I know I'm on the soft side - and I've been having a cookie bulk over the holidays as is appropriate - but with all the weights I've been lifting I need to find my new normal idea for how heavy I ought to be while living here with planet earth gravity. I'm up from when I started crossfit but also up from when I started the cookie bulk even more. I need a challenge to get data to support my FUTURE GOALS, which are: show off my new muscles a little big by debulking (post cookie bulk), see if it's possible to fit in some running, and oh also yoga. I'm pretty solid on showing up to my regular workouts but not so solid on the supporting habits that will get me looking the way I want to look and performing the way I want to perform, so this challenge is focused on rebuilding those habits. Goal 1: Finish this challenge. ok, that sounds preeeety self explanatory but I went back and checked and I started and did not finish 5 challenges in 2018. That's right, every challenge I started, I did not finish. I also didn't finish my last few challenges in 2017. Now, 2017 was a pretty rough year for me personally, and 2018 was hard for me as well (as it was for many of us), but beyond basic chemistry and thermodynamics, being healthy is really about having good habits, and you all are my good habit. measurable outcome: post here several times a week. write up challenge in my hobobujo and update / track against those goals. TAKE BETTER NOTES PART 1. Goal 2: Find your food balance. Take better notes part 2 - LOG FOOD. I've used the loseit app in the past and am comfortable with it. I'm going to try not to worry about calories, but rather, log everything I'm eating so I can start to pull apart that thermodynamic calculation of how much I need to be eating to power my body. When I first started at crossfit I pretty much ate avocado toast every day and it went pretty well for me, but the cookie bulk in December has for sure fluffed me up. I am also going to try not to eat like an asshole, so I can get a pretty clear understanding of what my natural food budget looks like right now. measurable outcome: log the things every day. Goal 3. More recovery activity. I've been hitting crossfit hard, and tkd hasn't been the most gentle pursuit either. I need to do more stretching and flexibility work. I would like to work in more walking and yoga into my already ridiculous schedule. I have a subscription to Do Yoga With Me and they have a Flexibility for Busy People course that I should be able to work in. I can walk at lunch, it's not horribly snowy and icy yet this year. And also, I have a few hundred dollars in my flexible spending account that I have to use up by March, so prioritizing chiropractic and getting massages are a big part of this too. measurable outcome: aim for 5 recovery activities every week. backstory. I'm karinajean, 41, live in NY state, commute to NJ about an hour each way where I manage projects and clean up hazardous waste. I joined the NFA in October 2013 and transitioned over to the big scary boards (ahem, these forums) in April 2014. Since I discovered NR, I've lost about 25 lbs, tore my ACL / had it replaced with a cadaver ligament and rehabbed it, ran a bunch of running things, took over instruction for a class at the dojo, started with some weight lifting, and have increased by weight by about 20 lbs (note NOT all clean muscle). CURRENTLY I practice tae kwon do several times a week, take weapons and boxing classes in addition, and have a long-time overarching fitness goal of doing good form push- and pull-ups. I accidentally started doing crossfit in February 2018 and have been attending classes regularly since then. I have a crazy mean (yet super sweet) cat and live with my husband full time and my younger stepdude 1/2 time. the 2nd stepdude is In college out of state. I motorcycle, knit and spin, and am endlessly ignoring how messy the house and yard is. I'm an ASSASSIN because I like doing all the things, and because I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups -- these seem like very efficient movements that will exercise my upper body and core, and if I can do those and run and do martial arts (NINJA) I will feel totally strong and fit and capable. The MERMAID comes in because I saw it in a dream when I was a very young child and I believe it to be true. also kittens. you see how it goes.

delete delete! wrong forum!

hello old friends and new friends! I've been super absent for the last few challenges but am excited to be back here again. I am 85% sure that I've managed to balance my time (screen time and other time) in a way that will make showing up here and hanging out with the cool kids (THAT'S YOU) possible again. TLDR: I MISSED YOU! HI! (oh heck I forgot how hard it is to come up with challenge titles....)

I knew I'd be hungry for sure but somehow it was still surprising! I can't imagine NOT eating. holy crow. MY PLEASURE MS ICE CREAM EVERY DAY! well I definitely had some things squeezed out. like the forums, and also sleep, to some extent. thank you!

your trip sounds awesome! nice job picking up a coach. sometimes you just need someone to give you that push, right? I felt silly doing it a few months ago but I LOVE having someone telling me what to do for exercise. it has been so helpful.

wednesday! exercise party. basically we did a million wall balls and then some power cleans and then a million wall balls and then some power snatches (yay snatch!). I was aggressively hungry on wednesday! I had a good breakfast (I thought) - I got home stressed about my CSA share, because I picked up week 2 and we still hadn't finished everything from week 1 (which is pretty much the definition of failure). so at 6AM I got home and pulled out some spinach and arugula and garlic scape and made a frittata out of CSA Panic, and then I ate 1/4 of this 9-egg frittata in a big egg sandwich with sourdough bread with jalapenos and cheddar baked in. I had a big lunch and then made a bad decision and ate some not-so-great cookies in the afternoon. exercise party today was deadlifts and I PRed at 205#. so after that, I made sure to have a protein shake because again I was aggressively hungry! and then a big yogurt-and-strawberry (ps this is my homemade yogurt with FRESH STRAWBERRIES from my CSA mixed in!) mid-morning breakfast, and I TOTALLY put peanut butter on the aforementioned jalapeno-cheddar-sourdough bread and made a lunch sandwich. I'm having more yogurt now because I'm afraid that I am going to hit a point where I feel like either fainting or vomiting this afternoon (because I have, every afternoon this week). related / this morning - this CRACKS ME UP:

hey! I'm soooo late to challenges this time around but I'm really excited for yours, even if you're feeling like you're not hitting your activity goals. what about just picking a goal of doing *something* for a period of time every day, and then when the uncertainty is more cleared up you can rededicate yourself to a specific pursuit? also, please come here, at a minimum, to talk about your feels. don't keep it inside. we're here for you!

I'd better prove that I'm having a great week! thursday / friday I was down for the count sick. I worked from home friday and ended the day by doing some random paperwork and drinking a couple of beers. I regret nothing. Saturday: no dojo sat., - there may have been a falling out? and my boxing / weapons instructor has been kind of out of touch? I hope it gets sorted soon. my new scythe came in the mail friday so we put it together and I spent a couple of hours doing some full contact gardening (pulling up weeds, spraying poison ivy, wrestling a wisteria) and learning to use the scythe. YO it was hot, and I had like, sheet flow of sweat off my face. I also cancelled tkd class, because we had a tkd bbq later in the day. so activity = full contact gardening! Sunday we got up early and went to meet my dad for fathers day, and then home for fathers day for my husband and his dad. after the evening wrapped up I went back outside and planted more plants (in my yard that often involves a pick axe, because the yard is so old and compacted). it was SO HOT, and really a bad day to plant things, but I had them and they needed some dirt, so what do you do? you PLANT and then you drink 10,000 gallons of water. Monday! exercise party. we did back squats. I did 135#. I think I could have done more, but I don't think we were going for max, and also we couldn't remember my prior squat. I rode my new-to-me motorcycle to work, and had to stay a little late because of big thunderstorms passing through, so I didn't have time to cook up my CSA share bok choi, sadly. leftovers for dinner! tuesday! exercise party. ugh, it was a lot, and it was hot hot hot and HUMID. we did push jerks, which sound like something I like to do to ACTUAL jerks, not a barbell. then headstand push-ups, then box jumps, then A RUN, which I was not expecting. and then we did it again, and then again. (it was a 21-15-9 workout). I feel like I represented myself adequately, but it was a lot. man, though, I am still not tired of people telling me what to do for exercise. what a luxury. and also? my quads are popping. I literally lie around on the couch and flex, because I"m super obnoxious and easily entertained. but better than the flexing, my squat is SO MUCH BETTER than it was before. I used to hinge forward a LOT. like, the angle between my torso and my horizontal thighs was acute (aw! adorable! no, by that I mean less than 45deg) and it is SO MUCH BETTER now. that's so cool, I seriously thought my body geometry was just weird (because I'm a giant) but it turns out all I needed was lots and lots and lots of practice. it seemed to clear up by sunday morning, which was awesome! I'm having a lot of head snot right now, but I think there's a new pollen in the air this morning - I woke up with a scrapey throat and my eyes are burning. OH ALLERGIES YOU ARE THE BEST.