shesavedtheworldalot

Time your evening routine one night. Seriously, one of the things that prevents me from going to bed on time is just the whole, "UGH, but getting ready for bed takes SO LONG and I just don't feel like DOING it." In reality, it takes less than 5 minutes, so the whining and laziness is unnecessary. Then spend a couple minutes meditating on your floor, just clearing your head and slowing down your breathing so you're in the right mindspace for sleep. Do NOT do it IN your bed! Do not do ANYTHING in your bed except sleep! Studies have shown that when we do things other than sleep and...other bed-related activities....in our beds we stop associating them with rest and have a harder time falling asleep.

Aaagghhh!!! I've heard A Discovery of Witches is so GOOD. It's definitely on my "To Be Read" pile. (Which is huge and grows all the time, and I will probably never finish before I die, because by the time I get around to READING a book on it, I've added five more. Which is saying something because I read really fast, I just never have the time to do it anymore.) And I hear you on the "getting to bed on time" thing, though for me it's getting to work on time. I can't just leave for work in the middle of a chapter! This means that I am almost always a couple minutes behind. Luckily, as long as I make it in by 6:45 am, my boss doesn't care TOO much!

I am just terrible about updating these types of things. Things are going well. I had a 96% success rate on the first week, and a 97% success rate on the second week of the challenge. This week is going....not so great. I'm pretty tired this week and with everything happening in the world, I'm stressing out over the holidays. (I'm pretty liberal, and my dad's family is SUPER conservative. Like, get all their information from FoxNews conservative.) I tend to stuff my face to keep my mouth closed during big family get togethers, and it's making me nervous about staying in line with the good eating habits I've been working so hard to develop. Exercise is going well. I hit a 155 pound squat last week. Fine, my form wasn't perfect, but only because I was a little terrified and thought I would for sure go down in flames in front of everyone. Or die the world's most squished death. I did not. Huge confidence booster. Honestly, making sure I practice music is the hardest goal. It's so depressing to see how much of my hard won technique I've lost. I spent half an hour the other day just trying to make sure my tone wasn't crappy, and I never really felt "in the zone" about it. I just didn't hate it a whole ton. So that's everything. Things have been going well, Thanksgiving has been rough, and Clariel was delivered by my friendly Amazon distributor, via the postal service today, so getting to my workout will be hard when all I want to do is curl up with a good book!

I like stainless or anodized steel. Both are non-reactive, which means you don't have chemicals getting into your food. I do have one "non-stick" pan that I use solely for making omelettes or scrambled eggs in the morning. I love cast iron. Cast iron is amazing for making frittatas or cornbread or what-have-you. Cast iron is not for beginners. Especially a new cast iron pan. You have to season the iron, which is a process. (I have a hand-me-down from my great-grandfather, otherwise I would never deal with it.) There's also a whole cleaning regimen. Cast iron is awesome, but is definitely Level 2-3 cookery. You do want a good Chef's knife (honestly, I think I bought mine at Target. Pay a little more for it, it's worth it,) and a couple paring knives. And eventually you'll want a knife sharpener. I have a steel, tube-like, whetstone stick thing. This will keep your knives sharp, and keep you from cutting yourself.

This one is done! (Mostly because I did it last time? It's cheating, I know, but I'm following a couple new L1s!)

That's a really good idea. I always have a hard time getting enough water in on the weekends. I'm going to start that RIGHT now!

I'm FROM Fort Wayne, but living down south halfway between Cinci and Indy!

Hi! Just saw that you're "trying again" too and I wanted to pop in and say there's a whole bunch of us and this time, we've definitely got it! Good luck!

I have a hard time getting enough sleep too. I typically set evening alarms. At 8 pm, my first alarm goes off. At this time, no matter what I am done working/cleaning/exercising/etc, in an effort to relax before sleep and to prepare to go to bed. At 9 pm, my alarm to go to bed goes off and I have to be IN BED in the next 30 minutes. (I wake up at 5 am.) It's very hard to get used to, but setting an alarm to remind yourself that sleep is something you should schedule and have the right to schedule can help a lot.

Did it! Link to my current challenge is in my signature! Thanks for everything you do Blaidd!

Here are some questions to put your goals to the test: Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Yes. It's healthy and achievable, possibly over the next six months to one year. Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on? I think I'm good here. They're really tiny beginner steps, and I'm good with that, especially with as busy as I'm going to be this holiday season. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? I don't really think I could. Less than that would be more backsliding into bad habits than trying to move forward. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? YES! This is where I failed last time. I have a calendar that I'm going to keep on my fridge at home, like a kindergartener with a chore chart. How are you grading your goals? Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€)? Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€? Yes. I went out of my way this time to make sure I assigned "grades" for all of my goals. I receive "grades" for each of my goals every day, and then at the end of the week, assign myself a % grade for the work. At the end of the challenge, I'll average all those grades and give myself a grade. 90% or above is an A and is rewarded with a brand new outfit that I love regardless of price, 80% or above is a B and I can have two new articles of clothing, 70% or above is 1 article of clothing that I ABSOLUTELY NEED. (I'm really going to have to buy new pants regardless. They're getting too big.) Any less than 70%, and I fail the challenge. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll just modify what I consider "passing". Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? Thanksgiving weekend will be difficult, but I can still exercise at home, and I'll just really focus on veggies and lean turkey during dinner. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? Nope, we're good! Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set? If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? God, I hope so. The water and veggies can be built into my day. The exercise is something I'm going to have to insist on taking some "me time" for. It's very difficult for me to insist that I need time for myself, but I'm going to try for it. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest. I think I'm trying to build a few good habits, but all those habits are in support of my main quest!

I totally did it! Yesterday, when I got the email, lol. I was in a meeting though, and was trying to very quietly suck down 8 oz of water out of my giant cup. I definitely got a look of, "What are you doing? You can't be that thirsty," from my boss. I haven't been getting a ton of mat time. I've been using it to stretch after strength training (especially a couple days after squats when my hamstrings are getting supertight) and a little before bed. The breathing exercises have been great for dealing with long work hours and frustrations. I finally understood yesterday why the directions for downward dog always say that you're holding your weight on your HANDS instead of your feet. It feels totally different. I should have pushed it farther and tried to take one leg off the mat and up, but there's always next time! I like the videos by Kanta Barrios that are on Amazon Instant. This is her website http://innersplendoryoga.com/, but I typically just find free videos on online streaming services. Hers are great for beginners. I'm really inflexible in most places too. Can't touch my toes, can barely get my fingertips to the floor when I'm in a wide stance. I do have a flexible spine though, so that's a nice start, and I'm pretty strong, so it's fun to do those strength poses and then work on deepening them for balance and flexibility improvement.

ARE WE THE SAME PERSON? Except for the Scandinavia thing. I'm American. (But I'm from the Midwest, where many Scandinavian people settled? I'm reaching, aren't I?) Love your reading list. Have you tried Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series? It's like if Harry Potter grew up, was way more sarcastic, and Hermione was shorter and kicked more ass and got more credit for it. Basically, it's amazing. I also hate vacuuming, people who don't pick up after their dogs, and I'm not particularly fond of pumpkin spice lattes. (It's not real pumpkin. Mostly it just tastes like the color orange. Offensive.) Love your goals and how structured they are. You've definitely inspired me to better define my goal setting strategies, especially my strategies for what "success" looks like. (And I like that you've worked wine into your plan. I can appreciate someone who decides off the bat that wine is awesome!) Best of luck!

I participated in my first challenge last challenge session, and stuck with it for almost three weeks, and then life got out of control and I lost focus. Really want to make it work out this time, so I'm trying again. Maybe this time I'll get out of Level I? (I really hope so!) My goals remain relatively the same, with some mods to make them more "I work 11 hours a day and have to keep my home running" friendly. My MAIN QUEST is to decrease from 31% body fat (current) to 25% body fat. I know lots of people go lower than this, and that it's perfectly healthy to do so, but I want to see how that feels before I set a new goal. In order to achieve this, I will:--Participated in structured workouts AT LEAST 3x/week. Last challenge, I found out that I really enjoy yoga and it's a great balance to strength training. (Nice, long, slow stretches, plus many yoga poses are the same thing you do in strength training, but with less movement.) Would I like to get to the gym/my mat more than that? Yes, of course, but it's not feasible right now. --6 servings of freggies every day. This is not SO hard, as long as I focus on keep my plates colorful and interesting. To wit, it's 6:30 am, and I'm already 2 in. (Tomatoes and onions in a steak omelette. I'm all about omeletting leftovers.) --64 ounces of water EVERY DAY. This one kills me. Battle plan is to fill up my giant work cup once before lunch and once after lunch. That will get me to 48 oz. without really trying. So if I drink a glass when I wake up and a glass with dinner, I've made it. Or two glasses after work, since I require morning coffee at this time of year. (Cold and dark? Ugh. Gross.) Side Life Quest: Spend at least one hour a week practicing music. I've cleared out a space in the apartment for my flute and music stand, and dug out my stack of music that I haven't played in forever. 20-30 minutes a couple days per week will get me through this one easily, and it's so good for my stress level which tends to go through the roof this time of year. I'm going to work hard at this this time, and to track it, I'm going to print off a calendar to keep myself honest. Star each day (in different colors) days I manage the water and veggies goal, and check mark for workouts. I'll note the time of my music practice. I think why I failed last time was because I did not actually keep track of my successes/failures, and thus could not analyze why I had succeeded or failed. Let's do this!! (And here's some StarKidPotter for all of you. Hermione is my hero.)

JC Penney actually has a good selection. I got two pairs of running pants in black with fun colored waistbands fairly cheap. (One has stylized flowers on the waistband, the other is neon orange.) Big selection of colors/styles/etc and reasonably priced. Admittedly, my shoes are obnoxiously aqua with pink detailing. I like pink, but that doesn't mean I want it to be every on every article of clothing I wear. Typically, it's moisture wicking running capris and thin v-neck tees from Old Navy.

I made some last night! I was lazy, though, and just did slices of sweet potato. (Thick enough to be soft on the inside, but thin enough to get crispy on the edges. Threw them on a baking sheet, shook salt, garlic powder, and chili powder over top and baked them at 375 for 15ish minutes. (Long enough to take a shower, shave my legs, and find some clothes.) Turned them, seasoned the other side, and cooked another five minutes. Delicious. For a kitchen experiment, it was fabulous. I'm going to have to buy more sweet potatoes!

You can do ALL of these things! Put your onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, whathaveyou on the BOTTOM, though with the meat on top. That way it flavors the meat. As for the liquid, you can use water or beef broth. Think about using a little bit of soy sauce or red vinegar. Personally, I like to go for water with whatever red wine I have sitting on the counter. Makes for a GREAT tasting roast.

Start small and you too shall love the crock pot! You can cook chicken breast with just a little water and have chicken for a week. (I usually do 4-6 depending on size.) OR, you can use the same number of chicken breasts and a jar of salsa verde. You get deliciously flavored chicken that pulls apart easily and can be used in tacos, casseroles, omelettes, etc. Use frozen chicken breasts and cook on "low" for 12 hours. (So you can go to work/school/whatever.) Note, if you have pets who countersurf, put the crockpot somewhere they can't get to it! (Like the bathroom. Seriously.) Everything will start to smell delicious within about 2 hours and it's a bit much to ask your pets NOT to get into it.

This pumpkin and black bean soup is my favorite thing to make in fall: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/11/black-bean-pumkin-soup/ It's savory, lasts a long time (though I don't think it would freeze well, imo) and it's so smokey. Pro-tips: Fire roasted tomatoes are a MUST, I think. You can get organic canned ones from Muir Glen at most grocery stores. If that's not important to you, then Hunt's is fine. No need to get fancy. Also, I never have shallots, so I always end up using extra garlic and onion. Definitely weekend comfort food feelings.

It so is.

HOLY COW! That's 276 pounds!!! (American. I don't metric well.) Go you!!!!

New PR of 80 lbs on bench press! As someone who used to struggle to lift the bar, this is awesome news! Also, I had my labs redone from three months ago after working to get my diet and exercise and whatnot under control and they came back awesome! Drop in blood glucose, drop into the healthy ranges for bad cholesterol, BIG drop in trigycerides. I'm well within healthy levels now, instead of teetering on the high edge of things. WOO HOO FOR HEALTHINESS!!!

Charcoal grill. Cut it in half, pat of butter on each side, roast it cut side up with whatever else you're cooking. It will probably take a solid 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, but if you like grilling out anyway, it gives it this crazy smoky taste that just feels like late summer/early fall. Not into grilling? Oven at 375, cut side up with butter in each side again. Eat it right out of the shell with salt and pepper. You can also do it in the crockpot on low (don't cut it up!), if you'll be gone all day. It's such a comforting food to come back to.

Kale is great for omelettes. Heat a smidge of olive oil or coconut oil in a pan and then throw the torn up (ribs removed to take out the bitterness!) kale into the pan. Add a few shakes of salt, some crushed red pepper and sprinkle some water over the top. Cover it for a minute to wilt the leaves. Then pour two beaten eggs over the top and let it sit. At this point, you can eat it as a frittata (especially delicious with lightly dressed salad on top) or flip it, put some stuff in the middle, and eat it like an omelette. You can also try this lentil soup from 101 cookbooks. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lively-up-yourself-lentil-soup-recipe.html It's my favorite thing to do with a bunch of kale, it keeps really well, and it tastes like fall. Use fire-roasted tomatoes and top it with greek yogurt mixed with cumin and chili powder for best results. I love food and cooking, so I'm going to join this group if no one protests.

I have days like this ALL THE TIME. The key is to have everything packed up and ready to go, so all you have to do is keep moving. If there's any way you can just pack everything for your workout and change elsewhere, it might work better. I find that if I get ready at home, I go, "Well, I'm already here, and there's the couch, and I don't really want to do this anyway..." Whereas, if I change at the gym/track/etc, I just get it done. Also, remember to be SAFE if you're working outdoors. It's getting dark earlier! Better to redesign your workout than to put yourself in an unsafe situation!