myrlien

Seems like you've got a well rounded challenge and going strong. Keep up the awesome work! I saw FitBit mentioned by several people already so getting pretty curious.

Had my first climbing session since vacation today. Feeling a little weaker than usual, but it'll come back within a couple of sessions for sure. While I've been away the whole lead wall was changed and part of the bouldering, so I'm really excited to get into it! Also made plans to try something new this Sunday -- a ring class, you know like the ones they have in gymnastics? That'll be pretty cool. Expecting an intense workout. Food-wise I've been really good. Surprisingly good. My diet discipline usually doesn't extend beyond a day or two, so this is amazing. Sleep-wise I've had one mishap a few days ago, but I think I've done very well considering it was two nights since I got back to Australia. It was a 13-hour time difference from where I traveled from so felt the jet lag. Other than that I've been on track, about 7:30 hrs a night average as planned. I haven't had a chance to buy any fish yet, but it's on the list for the weekend!

Hey. Kudos to yoga's awesomeness! If you can find the motivation, it can be rather boring. Curious about the lock picks -- what are they for? Planning to rob someone, or getting locked out of your house often?

Way to go on week 2! I'd love to try bellydancing some time too, it seems like a lot of fun. Youtube videos don't do it justice though. How are the handstands coming along? (that's on my list, too!) Your challenge looks reeeallly challenging. You've already got a good exercise routine and diet, right? I can't imagine committing to all those things at once if starting from scratch!

Hey! Well, at least being removed from the internet is a great opportunity to get ahead with the decluttering goals. Now that easy things are running out, time to get out the vacuum!

Hey guys! Thanks for the replies. I just got back home and can now commence the quests full steam ahead! My excuse for not doing yoga while travelling: no yoga mat and I don't want to touch the icky floor. Crap food is junk food or fried stuff. And yeah, fish sources as well! We get a lot of fish imported from places like Vietnam, but we're also located on the ocean so there must be some places that sell fresh Australian fish. What I meant by 'good-ish' food is stuff like bread, dairy, pasta -- stuff that you need but not in excessive quantities, even if it's wholegain or whatever. This is hard because I loooove bread and cheese. I could have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Actually sometimes I do. Thanks for the link -- I just had a quick look and that's exactly the information I need to start off! Starting with buying fresh fish, because I really have no idea what to look for. And storage. While I've been visiting my dad he fed me a lot of fish, and so far I figured out that I like trout and tuna and prefer white fish to red fish. I also don't like salmon or catfish or any fatty fish. Off to a good start with the life goal! I'll have to re-evaluate fitness goals some time because I compleeetely forgot, but I got bullied into doing City to Surf (running event) 12k on 31 August. So will have to train. Darn. Also might sign up for Tough Mudder. Ooooonwards!!!

Yippie, finally graduated into Assassinhood! Next stop: Awesomehood. Main Quest: Get ripped Quest 1: Climbing & Yoga Climb at least 3 times a weekDo yoga at least once a weekQuest 1 applicable from week 3 onwards. This was also the plan for my last challenge but it didn't quite stick. Quest 2: Fuel Avoid crap food (now and then is OK in small quantities)No excessive quantities of bread/cheese/other good-ish food Quest 3: Sleep Maintain 7.5 hrs a night average sleep. An extra 30 mins a night from my last challenge! I think I'm on track. Life quest: Learn to cook fish I was a full vegetarian until about a week ago, when I started eating fish. I want to figure out what types of fish there are and what I like, and learn a few healthy ways to cook it. The first two weeks I might struggle with the diet and sleep quests, and the exercise quest will be impossible, because I'm travelling. Right now I'm in the Smoky Mountains National Park, getting ready for 3 days of hiking, horseback riding and maybe whitewater rafting. This is gonna be awesome! My main base is in Australia. Looking forward to the jet lag, especially when I have to go to work. It's 13 hrs difference so night and day will be completely flipped upside down. Fun fun.

Ah, I completely missed the end of this challenge AND the start of the current one. My excuse is that I've been travelling for the past few weeks. I'll consider my fitness-related and sleep-related quests successful, even though I didn't achieve the climbing levels that I wanted to. At last I got enough sessions in. So +2 stat points! On to the next challenge!

Hahah, hear hear with the shoe troubles. I wore waterproof trainers for my mud run and the puddles just stayed in there. Have fun with the sky diving!

Big pat on the back for donating blood.

Thanks for the support guys! I just spent a ridiculous amount of time on airplanes, and am now in Alabama visiting my dad. The jet lag is pretty bad. Day and night have completely flipped upside down and I'm feeling pretty crap overall. I hope it goes away by tomorrow. I haven't seen this town since we left when I was a young grasshopper 8 years or so ago, so it's really weird. Communicating with the locals can be a little difficult because when they rattle something off, I can barely understand the dialect. Searched around for climbing gyms, but there isn't really any good gym that's accessible. There's one in the university here, but you have to be a guest of a staff or student to go there -- I know a few people who would be able to get me in so will go there at some point. Not expecting much from it though -- from what I can see online it's tiny, and they only offer V0 to V4 in bouldering so probably not more than just a couple of routes available. And surprise surprise, no gym in New Orleans? What? Foodwise -- haven't been eating much lately. Zero appetite. It'll come back when the jet lag is gone. Really excited to get to the Smoky Mnts at some point for hiking!

Okie dokie! My week was pretty good - 3 solid climbing sessions, 7:06 hrs average sleep, but no yoga. Ate well for the last couple of days, except today overdosed on roasted almonds and found ice cream in the freezer. I can walk past it in a store, but not in the house! Also not buying roasted almonds again. I figured it would be a healthy snack but they are super addictive. Next challenge I'm determined to focus more on diet!

I have no idea. I've never had a serious running injury. Maybe see a physio and get some professional advice on what to do about it, when you can start running again, etc? In the meantime, since the goal is to gain muscle, you could focus on weights! Running doesn't work the upper body much at all. If your friends ask about th exercise you could just say that you want to get fitter. It's a perfectly reasonable goal -- exercise isn't only about weight loss!

Holy crap, whatever you're doing, it's working big time! I really like the idea of taking photos to track progress, especially if it seem unnoticeable when just looking in the mirror. It's amazing how far you've come in just five weeks. Is there a way to narrow down what specifically induces the reaction when exercising? Like what is it about running -- the fact that it's intense cardio? Maybe then you can pick a sport that'll suit you.

Hey, good start! You will definitely, definitely get to your goal and beyond by 24 August if you keep up with that regime.

Congrats! Could just go for the easiest, safest route when applying for lead passes. Then you're guaranteed to get it!

I've finally entered into badgehood! And allocated those points. Did an awesome job food-wise today. It's my procrastination instincts kicking in, trying to lose a few pounds before vacation. Although I don't think five days is gonna cut it... better late than never! Also had a great bouldering session. Found a do-able V4 that I couldn't complete due to the last hold. I think it should be a good pull-up and lock elbow, then grab the hold. I can't find any easier (or more-technical-less-raw-strength) way to do it. Other than the last move it's a very smooth, juggy overhang climb -- my favorite. I'm not sure if I'll get another chance to try it before I leave though. And noooow... I shall go claim another 7-hour sleep! Hoorah!

That's great progress! 4L, really? I'd drown. Have you noticed anything different since you started drinking that much water, like maybe clearer skin or something like that? I'm curious if being fully hydrated has those kinds of benefits. I know that a lot of people say yes, but it's not like there are any before and after pictures floating around.

Hey Jonathan! I've never watched Firefly, but you mentioned a spaceship? Your story idea is pretty cool -- training week sounds very military, which is always awesome. I'd be very motivated too if I could slap a 'military' label on the training (or 'spaceship'). Very fortunate for you to be an ectomorph. >:c I'm a little envious about that. It's probably the best body type for body weight sports. Another one you can try is rock climbing! It's traveler-friendly (I get the impression you travel a lot, hotel room workouts and all?). Good luck in your quest for Shiny!

Hi! Progress is looking great so far -- you're keeping to 1.3k cals a day even when exercising? That sounds really challenging (I'm always starving after exercise!). Is aerial silks the same as aerial yoga, like circus-y movements with a hammock? I tried that recently and it was so much fun! How did it go?

Agreed! So leaving the diet until the next challenge doesn't make me a quitter, just a procrastinator! (Although I've been serially procrastinating on that front since high school). Yeah, it's freaking hard to put energy into all those goals at the same time, I've been feeling it since week one. Thanks! Results are in exactly a month -- same day as I get on the plane to go home... waaaay too much thinking time at exactly the wrong time. Oh well, I'll find some way to knock myself out. Trying to do exactly that, and feeling pretty chill about the pathetic-ness of rest of it so far :3 Sleeping was definitely the main one health-wise so I'm really happy about staying on top of that!

Hey Climber_girl! Wowww am I excited to find your board. We have a lot of similar goals -- climbing and getting enough sleep, and I had my first mud obstacle course recently and thought it was freaking awesome. They had set it up on a cattle farm I'm pretty sure we were crawling or swimming through a mud and cow poop cocktail. Very macho. Do you have any obstacle races on the horizon? Kudos to that person wearing a helmet in the climbing picture, I NEARLY learned that lesson the hard way. Good luck with your goals!

Hey, not time like the present! Jump on the bandwagon and rock it! Also, my sister lives in Sweden and I have visited it -- it is freaking awesome. Everyone is crazy tall over there, and blonde. Lots of Russians vacationing. Stockholm is really pretty, especially the trees, unlike my desert tribe in Australia. We're still in the dark ages riding kangaroos. Good luck in your challenge!

Sweeeet congrats on getting this far! Four weeks, woohoo! It is four right? I'm pretty sure. I wish real life had points so I could dump them all into Charisma (because being hot is the meaning of life!). I'm on a roasted almond high, sorry for spamming your board. I come in peace.

I'm still alive! The past week has been good, and dull, and awesome, and panicky, and everything in between. Firsty, I sat my final exam! Like, final EVER! (On that note -- knock wood because I don't know if I passed yet). So the first part of the week was freaking panicky and boring, a lot. What I've learned in my too-many years of study: They lie, it does NOT make for well-rounded individuals. It KILLS your hobbies. I'm glad that I managed to keep climbing in my life while studying. Now I'm rediscovering my past interests: drawing, writing, and hopefully learning guitar! I'm so excited!!! I've spent some time in the last couple of days sketching and muscle memory is coming back pretty quickly, but I'm still not drawing as dynamically as I used to. Oh well, it's going to be a fun and frustrating journey getting there! Also -- next week I'm going on a three-week vacation to U.S. (south) -- it's actually to visit my dad, who's working there. So it's not so much a vacation-vacation, but I'll still be visiting the surrounds -- New Orleans, Atlanta, and Smoky Mountains. Excited to get some hiking done, and to forget about work for a while. And to make life even sweeter: got an awesome pay rise at work (end of financial year staff reviews). It's been a very weird week of ups and downs, but mostly ups! Last week's goals progress: pathetic, but at least I'm in good mental health? Climbing sessions: ONE Yoga sessions: ZIP Diet: down the drain, not even trying anymore Sleep: pretty darn good actually, 10-day average 7:36 hrs -- so let's grasp some straws and call the week a success? Moving on from last week's shameful performance, I actually had a great climbing session today! Did some bouldering and quite a lot of lead. Secured a challenging 19 that was freaking me out and continues to do so. Fell after clipping at the top on every climb. So. Ignoring my pathetic goal attempt that wasn't even an attempt, it was a shameful belly-flop, shame on me, last week was freaking awesome.