donegal_dw

Today I switched to Level 2 of the dumbbell division from the academy...Level 1 was seeming a little easy. I'd like to get some heavier dumbbells though. Been keeping up with MyFitnessPal, staying within the calorie limit. (Still trying to eat at least 1 meal that's completely paleo daily) Been also keeping up with my side quest pretty much every day!

This is an update for yesterday~ I made a MyFitnessPal account and started tracking what I ate and my excercise...doing well so far! I walked on the treadmill again (because my shoulders were still pretty sore) for 45 min. Today I got up at 11, made some scrambled eggs, and am about to go workout with my sister! (We may not be able to walk daily since she has work, but we'll do workouts together when she can)

I have really been neglecting updating here... For yesterday's workout I did the Beginner's Body Weight Circuit, and was able to complete all 3 circuits--for the first time! Though I was sore today, I also walked (with some running here and there) for about an hour on the treadmill. Kind of a long time to be on a treadmill, but I felt really good! Listening to music, just able to zone out and enjoy the activity... Eating hasn't been as good as I want it to be, but it's not terrible. Sleeping is getting better! I now get tired at about 10 PM and am completely ready to sleep by 11! Which is a huge improvement compared to my sleep schedule before...

Late update--Got good news and bad news-- Since last update, I completed my scheduled workouts until Thursday when I had to leave to visit a friend for the weekend--and ate very badly while there... After coming back Sunday, I had lots of veggies but also rice and beans that were leftover from a barbecue... Ate out yesterday... But good news! My sister has decided to join me in walking daily. So we got up at 9 today and went for a 25 minute walk. Then I cooked a yummy recipe from one of my cookbooks... When staying with my friend, I was getting up at around 8 every day, and it's sort of helped to reset my schedule...

Update~ Did yesterday's workout, all good there! Got to get back to cooking regularly...had a bit of trouble the past 2 weeks where I wasn't able to buy new ingredients, but now things are better! Also got up early today... Weight (as of yesterday) is 173 lbs.~

Wow--sorry for the lack of updates! Things got a little busy... Well, for the week after my last update, I only managed to exercise once, and cooked maybe only 2 paleo meals. The week after that (which brings me up to today) I got back on track for exercising, though it was only yesterday that I got back to cooking/eating paleo. So...things were bad but are looking up. Oh--Though I have been doing well for my side quest! And my sleeping schedule is slowly changing...

Update for today: Unfortunately I slept in quite late today...was up really late last night... But I did my workout on time and ate almost all paleo meals! I'm really gaining my strength back, I noticed... and I also did some language study today!

Little update for yesterday: Did my scheduled workout no problem, and managed to eat all paleo meals the whole day! Though I did have 2 small bags of chips... As far as today, I actually woke up at 8:30, thought about sleeping in since I hadn't fallen asleep until after 3...But then decided to just get up and make breakfast--so I did! I also spent a good amount of time working on some art last night (part of the reason I was up so late), so I got my side quest covered too! Off to a good start, I'd say...let's see if I can keep it up!

So it's been a whole year since my last (and first) 6 week challenge! I didn't mean to let so much time go by, but now I finally feel ready for my second one! (In case anyone's interested, here's the first one!) : http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/47155-first-challenge-djoan/ (Also--I wasn't exactly sure on which guild I'd fit in best, so I decided the Adventurers would be good for now) First, I'd like to start off by sharing some success I had at the beginning of this year! At the end of last December I decided I would begin the new year with trying to do just one thing to "level up"--exercise-wise--every day and that I'd count whatever it was as a success and mark it with a sticker on the calendar. Just so that I could build up momentum...I wanted to start off as small as I could, and be happy with the small successes. Right away I started putting up stickers. It didn't matter how much I did; only that I did something, and therefore earned a sticker. More and more stickers accumulated, and every time I looked at them, I felt happy and motivated to continue. And continue I did! I eventually got to doing complete workouts twice a week, usually along with a 3rd day of only a few exercises instead of a whole workout. I had finally achieved a sort of consistency! And amazingly, I was able to keep this up through February, and the first week of March. Then, things got a little busy...and I forgot...and before I knew it, a whole month had gone by without any exercise! Luckily it was around this time that I got my hands on a paleo recipe book that I had wanted for quite some time. I began to focus on making some of the recipes...That was the first week of this month. Since then, I've gotten some other recipe books and made several super yummy meals! I've even been able to drop a few pounds! (During the exercising my weight didn't change much...I hadn't really changed my eating habits...But I did get stronger!) Just this past week I started exercising again--I realized how much I missed/needed it! (I feel so much better exercising...Though I'm rather sad to discover how much strength I'd lost over those 4 weeks...) When I saw that there was a new 6 week challenge starting, and remembering how much I also missed this site, I decided it was time to begin again--so here I am! Now on to the important stuff~ Main Quest: Get to 170 lbs. Ideally it would actually be 168 (that being the lowest I was able to get to the last time I had success with losing weight). Current weight is around 175-ish. I'd also like to be more flexible and stronger in general. And go to sleep/wake up earlier...Which leads me to-- Goal #1: Go to sleep no later than 11 PM and wake up no later than 9 AM. I'm going to have to do this gradually...at least for the waking up part...(If by week 6 I've been able to make this a habit then I'll count it as a success, otherwise we'll see how far I get) Goal #2: Complete every scheduled workout (currently following the Academy's Level 1 Dumbbell Division...doing workouts almost every other day), allowing for a miss of no more than 2 days in a row. Stretching as well as walking/hiking will be included. Goal #3: Cook/Eat a paleo meal at least once a day. (edited) Side Life Quest: Do something that's either homework, reading, art, or language study/practice for at least 30 min. every day! Well that's that! Sorry for the rather long intro part... I hope to update here at least every week, but it may (hopefully!) be more often.

Thanks!!

Wow--Sorry for the long delay in updating! Been having quite a busy past week...We've been having the bathroom renovated at home and unfortunately it's rather disrupting things quite a bit... And I must add that the last 2 weeks of the challenge I pretty much failed everything...Though I did get back up on the walking part! And I haven't given up yet...I'm just starting again a bit slower... Okay, so here's how I'd say I did on my goals: Goal #1 (Track Food) : D Originally this goal was to gradually increase the number of days of eating paleo, but I decided to change it to this since I'd had success with it in the past. I was able to keep with it a little after changing it, but then came the week of failure...And the slow start to catch up... Goal #2 (Strength Train 3x per week) : C Fortunately this was more of a success than goal #1 (again, at least until week 5...) Goal #3 (Walk for 30 min. 3x per week) : B Even after the week of failure I still managed a few days of walking/running outside. Life Quest (Read 2 books) : C I finished one book but was only able to get a little into the 2nd... Overall Grade : C Even though things didn't end as well as I'd hoped, it's not over for me yet! My sister has actually agreed to exercise with me everyday (or at least every other day) and so far we are 3 days into it and so far so good (We're starting with using the elliptical and stationary bike that we have)! I think one of the reasons for why I had such a hard time the last 2 weeks was that I stopped checking NF or the forums as regularly as I had before...So I kind of lost the mindset I had... Oh! But there's actually something quite good that's come out of all this that I nearly forgot about! Since about 2 weeks ago, my sleeping schedule has been completely turned around! I think it started when my sister and I had to drive our mom to the doctor's at 8 in the morning, but since then I've been going to sleep at around 10 PM and waking up at about 8 every day! Which is a heck of a lot different from what it used to be!! (Another thing that may be helping is that the workers who are renovating the bathroom arrive at 8 nearly every day...Also not being on the computer past 8 PM) As for which guild I'm going to be in for the next challenge and what goals I might have, I'm thinking maybe the Adventurers, at least until I get my weight down to normal. For as long as I've known about the guilds, the Warriors has greatly appealed to me, but I'm also interested in the Rangers and Assassins, so we'll see! My goals will most likely include strength training and walking/jogging again (I'm trying to increase the time I can keep jogging), and I'll have to think about what I want to do in regards to nutrition (because I definitely need to address that too)...And I'd love to get more into a habit of reading! Or studying one of the several foreign languages I have an interest in...! Again, I really want to thank everyone who has replied to and/or followed this thread--your words and just knowing that you're there definitely help me! I look forward to the next challenge, it's another chance for me to try again! And I'm going to see if I can get my sister to join too!

Yes, I'm looking forward to yet also feeling sad about it coming to the end!

Thanks! Will do.

It definitely does. Thanks!

Thank you both of you--I can't tell you how much your support helps me! Already things have started to turn around...namely my sleep schedule, which definitely makes me feel better! And my sister now wants to walk with me, so now I'll have a partner!