Ripple

This is great for me actually - I have a family situation that is taking me out of town unexpectedly this Wednesday - Saturday so it will throw off my challenge week quite a bit. Next week should be back to normal.

Did somebody say... cheesecake? Sending good vibes for safe travels and good health for all of you. Becoming a parent is an epic adventure unto itself. <3

Get Lean: 1/28 Today's food is tracked so far. About to go make myself a monstrous snack because I only ate one meal today and I am way too far under goal currently. That will be tracked too, no worries there! Get Flexible: 0/12 Accidental rest day. I had every intention of getting to this today but let it get too late in the day to accomplish this and my habit tracker goals of bedtime routine before 10pm. I'll have to be more intentional about when/how this fits into my day moving forward, in the meantime I can still hit my goal of 3x this week easily if I hit the rest of my bodyweight rest days. Get Strong: 0/12 Rest day today, so this is expected. Habit Tracker: 1/28 Everything is done except for out of office by 11pm. It's 10:36pm right now and this is the last thing I plan on doing before I walk out of my office for the evening. Habit Tracker Bonus: 1 Snuck in an extra pomodoro today for business - started to write myself a note to send a promotional email tomorrow morning and decided to just get it done tonight instead. Feels good to have that time-sensitive task off my plate! Thoughts: Aside from motivating myself to do my Get Flexible task today, I am really happy with how my day went. As it turns out, coloring in little boxes to signify that I did a thing is super effective, so much so that the notion of getting to color a box in the Bonus Business Pomodoros category was enough to motivate me to complete a task now rather than putting it off until tomorrow. Whee!

I am beyond super-mega impressed that you are sticking with your goals in the midst of everything. Things usually go to hell for me when I start getting life'd - and now anytime I try to let that be an excuse I'm going to think about you. WWHD?

Not 100% sure I did this right but I joined your PVP! My character was Adulting + Choose One so I chose Strength - if I'm doing it wrong just yell at me! For me Day 1 is Monday though... you people who insist on starting your weeks on Sunday confuse me. Good luck with your goals this round - love your ability to roll with challenges and keep on going!

Here for the gorgeous bullet journal. Also the awesome goals. That journal though...

That's most of it. I'm doing the recommended routine from reddit's bodyweight fitness subreddit if you want to see the routine and progressions. I left out the dynamic stretches before and starting stretching after because there's nothing really to track there in terms of progression. I'm also skipping the first pair in the routine (pullups / dips) because the routine calls for leaving those out until you reach diamond push ups and horizontal rows, both of which are probably farther in the future than the end of this challenge unless I end up surprising myself!

Most moms get flowers... I got flowers AND a plyo box fit for a Deadhead: Best family ever.

Oh man, my l-sit game is pathetic! I'm still sort of dinking around with where I should be in squat progressions - I focused really hard in the first few weeks in getting a perfect form deep bodyweight squat that I could stay in for at least 30 seconds and I can now do 60 seconds during Starting Stretching. Last workout was my first attempt at single leg box squats from a chair and oh man the DOMs after were brutal. At any rate we should definitely compare notes - I'm excited that you're in a similar place! I followed your challenge and I'm excited to catch up on it tonight or tomorrow - for now I've got an excited 5 year old that can't wait to go hiking for Mother's Day!

Ohai. I'm here. Finally. First: I'm making the leap and declaring myself an Assassin. Falling in love with bodyweight strength training in the last challenge was both unexpected and totally awesome. Second: I'm dropping the Skyrim analogies from this challenge. While the concept of grinding remains a HUGE perspective shift for me, and one I will continue to carry forward, trying to make my updates fit a mold started to feel like work and make me not want to update. I just want to spew out whatever is in my brains, ok? Ok. Third: Splitting this challenge into two main categories: getting stronger+ more agile and fighting the (procrastination) monkey. This challenge is really focused on daily habits which is going to be hard but it is also oh-so-necessary in my life right now. Get Stronger + More Agile Get Lean: X/28 Daily Tracking + Under TDEE Allowances for flexing are okay - meaning I can plan for a splurge but cannot splurge if I wasn't under on other days to make up for it. Get Flexible: X/12 Molding Mobility + Starting Stretching OR Yoga: 3x per week I want to start doing more mobility work on my rest days. Molding Mobility + Starting Stretching only takes about 20 minutes in total, so no excuses on this one! Get Strong: X/12 Bodyweight Routine: 3x per week Starting Stats: Fight the Monkey: Habit Tracker: X/28 I created a not-nearly-as-pretty habit tracker inspired by @Briniel's bullet journal. There are six daily items and two bonus tracking areas. Habit Tracker Info:

Thanks for catching this for me - makes it nice and simple. Woo!

I might be overthinking this but: What is best for calculating hours trained for strength training? Since my current routine involves warmup / skill work / strength work should I only count the strength work portion or the entire routine? Should I only count time spent in set or does the entire duration (sets + rest) count? This seems really obvious for something like yoga since start to finish is pretty much "doing yoga" but strength training seems muddy to me.

Better Late than Never Challenge Recap: This was me for a lot of this challenge... Ok, let's talk about the good first. Tracking: 26/28 Yoga: 2/4 BWF: 7/4 !!!!!!! So, the epic good news in this challenge is somehow despite otherwise failing at life and adulting I managed to create and sustain healthy habits. The two days of missed tracking happened because of personal issues that caused me to spend a weekend in bed in a puddle of depression and self loathing so I'm willing to not only forgive those but to celebrate the fact that I got right back on the wagon without missing a beat. Fuck. Yes. I didn't make my yoga goal, but that is because bodyweight work ended up taking more of a priority this challenge than I initially planned. When taken together, I took my goal of moving 2x per week and exceeded it, even with a week off for injury. I feel happy about this, but what I'm really over the fucking mood ecstatic about is the fact that this is just now a thing that I am committed to do and I don't spend a lot of time questioning it - I just do the thing at the time I committed to do the thing. Now let's talk about why I feel like this despite all the good above... So, health and fitness stuff is going well. Yay, right? Well... yes. And... no. One of the many fun things about living inside my ADHD brain is when I really find my stride with something I really, really find it. Like, I get obsessed. I've consumed more content about bodyweight training in the last month than I've probably consumed my entire life prior. It starts by looking for one thing then I'm down the internet rabbit hole reading articles, blog posts, AMAs which leads to surfing instagram and youtube videos which leads to more curiosity which leads to more reading and so on. Good thing... yes? Not really. I feel like my primary challenge in life is, and always has been, balance. If I'm doing mega-well in one area it is almost always to the detriment of other equally important things: family, business (I own two), household maintenance, self care (including that elusive sleep thing). The thing is, it's not the 4-6 hours a week doing actual bodyweight work takes out of my life each week that is the problem. This is a Good Thing™. It's the countless other hours that I waste zeroing in on whatever it is I'm obsessed with at the moment to the detriment of everything else in my life. Prime example: I bought a dot journal for my workout log a fucking month ago but rather than using it right away I waited until I figured out exactly how I wanted to lay it out, then spent a ridiculous amount of time transposing my prior workouts, including redoing the first page several times until I was 100% happy with it. Such is the vicious cycle of my life: I'm always crushing it in one area and failing utterly everywhere else. So, my next challenge will be centered on bringing some balance into my world without losing the good habits I built in this challenge. The habits are great, but getting so immersed in one thing and using it as an excuse to procrastinate on everything else... not so great. This is not a new problem, but it's one I'm going to have to figure out how to solve - otherwise other life demands will eventually reach critical mass and I'll end up shelving fitness to catch up.

New plan didn't go... according to plan. Some good, some bad, overall it could have been worse. My goal for running is to get up to a 10k distance before the Tough Mudder in October. It's really for endurance, I don't have any interest in running for speed or time. It actually only cost me a week of training so that's good. Got back on it in Week 4 and completed the routine x2. Really appreciate you checking in on me. My personal life got... a little hairy which was the reason I vanished for a bit. Things are better now, though!

I love this! I hope to do something similar in our back yard, and now that I've got the mister bodyweight training with me I just might be able to talk him into it.

I'm nursing an injury, so I'm going to wait to see how my workout goes on Tuesday to announce my class (or lack thereof). I'm a hopeless summoner so if my forearm keeps messing with me I'll have to sit this round out.

Week 3 Recap: I just... no idea. Not eating like an asshole: 5/7, followed by weekend-binge-of-doom Pomodoros: 3 total, which happened in the same day. Fail. Sleep: Massive failure. Huge. Astronomical. Then I slept 25 hours in a single weekend. BWF: 1 workout, which ended in injury. Yoga: 0, due to aforementioned injury. So... yeah. I don't even know how to break down this update. I guess let's talk about how on Monday I almost went to bed on time but not really, then on Tuesday I wrenched my forearm something fierce during the last set of my workout. Really, I think my forearm was messed up the entire workout as I wasn't able to hold a side plank on that side and couldn't figure out why, but actual PAIN did not come until that final set of incline rows... and painful it was. Then, I skipped my workout on Thursday by choice because my forearm was still in massive pain. I decided that if this is a long term injury I'd shift my focus to running since that is something I need to be looking toward for Tough Mudder in October. Meanwhile I only managed to meet my pomodoro goal on Monday and I'm feeling awfully behind and stressed. Then Friday rolls along and I still don't feel okay trying out my forearm. Which, is fine. Except I decide to just eat like an asshole for two days which is totally not fine. But on the upside I did track that shit and realized I didn't damage myself as much as my protesting digestive system might think. So in keeping with the rest of this challenge it seems I'm doing enough to maintain but not to lose. Could be better. Could definitely be worse. Then between Friday and Sunday I go into a food/haven'tsleptlikeanormahumaninmonths coma. Between Friday and Saturday I slept for... and I'm not shitting you... at least 25 hours. Twenty. Five. Hours. This is not abnormal for me. I sleep like an asshole for 3 months, slowly wearing myself down with not enough sleep, then in one fell swoop I sleep for the majority of a weekend and wake up on the other end feeling superhuman. Is this what people who can sleep like adults all of the time feel like? Anyway... I'm honestly not even sure where to take the last week of this challenge. I've met my goal of tracking... though the correlating goal of not sabotaging my progress by eating like an asshole is elusive. On the upside, I'm not gaining. I'm just also not losing. I've met my goal of bodyweight workouts... but now I'm injured which impedes both that and my yoga goal. I've gotten a lot done, actually, but in the context of any of my not-sucking-at-daily-life goals I have done.. not so well. Well, fuck. I will say... I'm still here which is much-fucking-better than in challenges past when I'm failing so hard in week 3 that I give up because I'm too embarrassed to admit just how bad I'm sucking at this. Ok, so the next week is stupidly simple. If I can't do this, I deserve to fail: FINALLY clear the business backlog that has been plaguing me for ages (I've made great progress on this already this weekend, between all the sleep). There are six items on my list. I have seven days... yes some of them are busy but I will. do. this. much. Check out my injury next week: if the bodyweight routine is not possible right now, plan a running routine for next challenge. Easy. I have a plan in mind already, just need to work out the logistics with the mister alternating his bwf days with my running days. Don't ruin the amazing overslept feeling I have right now. I love sleep. I feel amazing right now. It's no wonder I can't go to sleep at a normal hour tonight after sleeping for literally over half of my weekend, but in order to sustain this feeling getting at least 7 hours a night, which means asleep by midnight, is non-fucking-negotiable. Not even going to stress about eating beyond tracking. Tracking has become a daily habit and I feel good about that. I seem to at least be not gaining, so I'm mostly concerned with setting my next challenge up for success here. Kill the stress causing backlog dead, figure out my movement plan for the next challenge, don't ruin all the amazing sleep I just got. Man, this grind. It's starting to feel... grindy. BUT... I'm still here and that is a real accomplishment for me.

I'm going to be useless potentially for the rest of the battle. Wrenched something in my forearm during my last inverted row set last night so I'm on rest from planks (and 95% of my routine) until that sorts itself out. Super. Guess I'll have to go for a battle class and bang out squats for the next fight.

Week 3, Day 1 Pomodoros: 3 (whee!) Sleep: It will happen! Managed to knock out 2 pomodoros before noon and a third that started before noon and ended after. Sort of lost my productivity stride after that (partially going down the craigslist-gym-equipment rabbit hole, partially post-lunch slump) but it's a good start and I made real progress today. Heading to bed right now - yeah yeah I might be a minute or two late but I just knocked out a couple of tasks that have really been weighing on me which is huge. You see, when I'm stuck in a procrastination loop I end up staying up late with the INTENTION of getting more done but instead spend a whole lot of time in the dark playground before going to bed far too late which means I wake up the next morning even farther behind and underslept and full of generalized hate for everything. So, new impromptu rule - if I find myself sitting at my PC past a reasonable hour I have two choices: I can either do something I ACTUALLY enjoy (like play Skyrim), or I can do something ACTUALLY productive. If I'm going to do neither I'd be better off leaving my office for the night and reading/watching tv/cleaning/whatever'ing. p.s. - I know I make it sound like I sit in my office a zillion hours a day chained to my desk which isn't quite true. It's more like I sit here all day then take a significant break from the time my family gets home until mini-me goes to bed then end up back in here feeling guilty and like I need to do more work and visiting the dark playground for hours on and instead because I resent not having my evenings because I'm so behind. VICIOUS. CYCLE'D.

Yes, I'm so pleased with how it came together, and I just snagged a deal for an olympic bar, some plates, the extra two mats I need, and a couple of extra goodies on craigslist that I'm picking up tomorrow which should make it relatively finished for quite some time. Yoga as a warm up / cool down is a great idea and something I thought of for my soon-to-be running days. It's not as possible on the bodyweight days as the mister is not at all a yogi (and not at all bendy) so it's more important to spend our time on dynamic warmups and a whole lot of stretching afterward to work on his bendy-ness. I think if I tried to bring balance into the equation via yoga postures it'd be too much right now... but maybe some day!

I think using at least one stolen skill if not two would benefit us greatly here, otherwise we're going to be out of time. Ninjas can aim for at least one steal per battle in the next two battles (assuming they go quicker with using stolen skills) which will give us some ammo for the final battle.

Yay for killing it in week two! Fingers crossed for you on the job! Wheeeeeeee! p.s. - I accidentally recruited one of my business partners to do TM with me... which means I'm definitely doing it now. What have I done?!

Week 2: Move. Build moar gym. Continue eating like an asshole. Fail at the rest. Two out of three ain't bad. Week 2: Tracking: 7/7 Yoga: 0/1 (I will make this up by going 2x in the remaining weeks) BWF: 2/1 Sleep: 0/7 Non-Zero: ??? Fitbit Steps: ??? So family workouts are my new jam. Schedule + soreness kept us from hitting 3x this week on our bodyweight routine but the plan is to hit 3x consistently moving forward. Having a built in cheerleader (mini-me) is pretty-damn-awesome. I mean, how can I skip my workout with the world's most adorable 5 year old looking at me and saying with so much excitement MOMMY IS IT TIME TO EXERCISE YET? Having a built in workout partner (husband) is pretty sweet too. I'm competitive by nature so I push harder when I'm working out with someone else, and since husband already knows I'm weird-as-fuck he doesn't judge when I get all grunty. On our too-sore-to-workout day we spent our time making our gym more gym like. The power rack is new, so while husband assembled it I worked on gathering up all of the other random fitness equipment that never found a proper home after our move and organizing the space. The next step is to add two more stall mats because there isn't quite enough empty floor space for all three of us to be comfortable at once. I'm also hoping to find a good Craigslist deal on a barbell and plates but it will be a while before we need to worry about adding weighted lifts for lower body (squats & deadlifts) so I'm not in a huge hurry and waiting on the right deal. So, I feel like I need to reevaluate my goals. Movement: When I started this challenge, I was intending on easing into bodyweight workouts by myself and focusing primarily on yoga. Now I've got a whole family of assassins-in-training and to be perfectly honest, I am surprised at how much I am enjoying the process so far. On top of that, I talked one of my business partners into doing the Missouri Tough Mudder... which means I'm now doing the Missouri Tough Mudder. Oops. I've already hit my goal of 4x bodyweight workouts for the challenge (woo) and I'll easily hit my goal of 4x yoga, but in the name of keeping it simple I think I'll leave this goal as it stands for now and aim to reevaluate for my next challenge. Obviously I'm already strength training but I'll need to be thinking toward incorporating running/endurance at some point between now and October which might push yoga out of the picture for a bit. I hate to do that though because I feel like the work I've done with yoga has given me a really solid foundation for bodyweight in terms of flexibility and form. So, I'll be ruminating. Eating: So, I'm hitting my tracking goal but I'm definitely not losing any weight. Thankfully, tracking has at least kept me from gaining thus far as I tend to have enough discipline to correct asshole eating behavior before it gets too out of control. HOWEVER, since bodyweight work is essentially lifting yourself, I need to have less fucking weight on my body if I expect to be able to progress. So, I'm actually going to RAISE my calorie limit on MFP (I had it set low to build in a buffer for weekends / social events) and make it my aim for the next 2 weeks to have 0 days over my TDEE -500 goal. Non-Zero & Sleep: This is just a big fat bucket o'fail. I'm sure I've had non-zero days but the way I framed it just seems so fucking vague that I can't ever really remember... but I definitely know I am not nearly as productive as I need to be probably at least in part because I'm not getting enough fucking sleep. Vicious cycle. So I'm going to step it back and make this really stupidly fucking simple for the next two weeks: In bed with lights off by midnight. So, if I go to bed before midnight I can read or reddit or TV or what-the-fuck-ever else but midnight is lights out. Two pomodoros before noon. I find if I hit my productivity stride in the AM it will carry through the rest of the day, but if I fuck around until lunch chances are I'm not going to have a good day. No restrictions on what I'm pomodoring: can be work for either of my businesses or chores so long as it is focused and intentional work. I get a pass on days in which my AM is completely filled with client appointments... BUT I must do two pomodoros that day. TL;DR: Changing up my goals for the remainder of the challenge. Yoga: 4x total (Currently 2/4) BWF: 4x total (done) Tracking: Stay at goal of TDEE -500 every day. Sleep: Lights out by midnight. Pomodoros: 2x before noon every day (unless AM clients, then 2x pomodoros sometime before the day is up)

I'm healing again as I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get in around my scheduled workouts & yoga sessions and my workouts produce ~180 of healing each time.

I HATE not being able to edit so here's the second part of my thought since I posted too soon... ... my overall point was maybe steals are best used at the very start of a fight so we can take advantage of the weakness produced?