EmeraldYam

OK! Time for some updating! I've been very bad about updating, which is partially due to how I approach writing. Yes, DustMite, I always write with a finished product in mind. Coupled with that is a severe perfectionist streak. I hate writing something that I feel is less than perfect. I have tried really, really hard to overcome this, but it's still the number one challenge in my life. I can't tell you how many writing projects I have started and abandoned because it wasn't "good enough". I know this is a stupid way of approaching any sort of creative work, and I am trying to design a sort of writing workout to match my physical workouts, one that will force me to just write and not worry about what the writing is FOR. I had a long talk with my dad about this over the weekend and he came up with some very helpful suggestions on how to overcome this mental roadblock. SO! More updates! I haven't updated in a while, so I will spare you a day-to-day account of the last two weeks and sum things up. Board Gaming: I am a major board gaming geek, so much so that I have written a series of board game reviews for a board gaming website, aptly name BoardGameGeek.com. You can check out my reviews here, if you feel so inclined. I haven't written any in a while, but I think I am going to return to them in order to help keep my writing moving along. Fitness: I have been following the Bodyweight Brigade Workout from the NF Rebel Strength Guide. I must admit to skipping my workout on the day before Thanksgiving in order to clean the house, but other than that I have been keeping strictly to the program, which is good. I'll just run over some benchmarks: Push-ups: I have moved from knee push-ups to incline push-ups and am loving it. I can still only crank out one full push-up, but that full push-up is perfect form and I can feel the progress much better than with knee push-ups.Body rows: I can consistently manage one and a half full body rows. This is perhaps the most frustrating part of my workout, as I'm not really feeling the progress.Planks: After my slow, form-focused week of workouts, I was stunned, absolutely stunned, when I knocked out a 90sec plank without even thinking about it. I've done it twice now and am ready to start focusing on reaching the big 2min plank. I never made planks a priority in my workout before, but now I'm itching to see how much punishment my baby abs can take.Diet: Awesome. I have rarely had more than one serving of grains (or potatoes) a day, and several days I have had no grains whatsoever. Like I said at the beginning of this challenge, I am not overweight, but, thanks to no grains and a regular workout schedule I have lost five pounds and feel more energized during the day. Again, I Writing: See above. I'm working on it. National Novel Writing Month obviously crashed and burned, but I've still got the article topics I brainstormed early in the challenge and have come up with some more. I'm aiming to have at least ONE piece of writing before this challenge winds up. I can do it. Employment: While I haven't come up with anything concrete, I have taken steps towards nailing down some options. Essentially, I want to learn Burmese. I have been fortunate enough to visit Burma several times and have many close Burmese family friends. Since Aung San Suu Kyi's release, there has been some unprecedented momentum to genuine reform in Burma and this would be a fantastic time for me to learn Burmese, preferably in-country. With that language knowledge, I would be able to pursue all sorts of opportunities if Burma continues to open up. Budget: I am still $33 dollars shy of my $300 non-food spending limit. This has been a great success for me, and I will be attempting to continue it after this challenge. Getting rid of crap: Um. Whoops. As I like to say... ONWARDS!

QUICK YAM UPDATE! I have been bad Yam in that I have not updated here. I have been good Yam in that I have stuck with my workout schedule (with a one day lapse for Thanskgiving). I have been happy Yam in that I have managed to get my family to play Ticket to Ride, phase 1 of my plan to convert them into rabid board gamers like myself. Details to follow. Just one more thing... perfect form 90 second plank! WHOOOO!

Dustmite - Haha, thanks! I do enjoy writing this updates. Unfortuantely, the reason why there are such long gaps in between them is that, while I enjoy writing, I find it a very time-intensive process, even when just writing these little updates. I have to be satisfied with every word before I hit that POST button. Skirler - I really should try writing with a timer. I think that a concrete, beeping time pressure might help me get over this perfectionist streak I have with writing. I'll give it a try over the weekend. SuperXM1ke - I definitely have a love/hate relationship with planks. I LOATHE doing them, but the moment I collapse and stare at my time, I feel ragged, winded, exhausted, and absolutely fantastic. So... INTERMITTENT UPDATE TIME! I'M NOT DEAD, NOR HAVE I DROPPED OUT. It's just been a crazy, crazy week. I can't blame my work schedule for my lack of progress in my life goals this time, so I'll have to blame life. I've been having an unusually social week, starting with my dad's birthday on Monday, followed by some fun, board gaming sessions with new geeky friends, and culminating with my birthday tomorrow. So... I've been bad and haven't worked on my life goals AT ALL. BUT I've been having fun. Lots of fun. That might not excuse my poor performance... but for me, at the moment, it just about justifies it. Am I concerned that I'm letting my life goals slide? Absolutely. Do I recognize I had a terribly week as far as life priorities? Yes. Am I going to do something about it? Yes. I am turning 30 tomorrow, and while I'm very proud that I've finally established a fitness and diet routine that works for me, I absolutely HAVE to get my life in order. Day 22 RSG Basic Training Program: -5, 2, 3 incline push-ups (fourth stair) - 10, 8, 10 knee push-ups - 1 body row - 5, 4, 6 bent-knee body rows - 3x20 squats - 2x60s planks I completed the Basic Training section of the Rebel Strength Guide last week, but didn't feel quite ready for the jump to Rank 1 of the Bodyweight Brigade program, so I decided to take this week as a "form" week, slowing way down and concentrating 100% on form without worrying about increasing reps. This was very satisfying, and I could definitely feel the result in my muscles the next day. 75% grain avoidance: Slice of bread with dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 23 RSG Basic Training Program: Ran up some stairs. TAKE THAT, STAIRS. 75% grain avoidance: On track. English muffin with dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 24 RSG Basic Training Program: -5, 5, 6 incline push-ups (fourth stair) - 8, 8, 7 knee push-up - 2x1 body row - 5, 7, 4 bent-knee body rows - 3x20 squats - 2x60s planks I'm still feeling really good about my decision to slow down and concentrate on form. ALthough my overall rep totals have suffered, I feel much loser to a proper push-up than I did a week ago, and think I am still on track for my week's mini-goals of 75% grain avoidance: On track. Rice with dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: $22.26 on travel supplies (budgeted). Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 25 RSG Basic Training Program: Stairs conquered. 75% grain avoidance: No grains consumed. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: $41.68 on board games. This was my first (and last) major non-budgeted purchase. I am, rather feebly, justifying it as a birthday present for myself; I turn 30 tomorrow and, while I have totally bombed my life goals recent, I have stuck with my fitness goals and have, without really trying or expecting to, lost four pounds since the start of the challenge. I have $71 left out of my $300 budget, which means I might have to trim a couple planned purchases, but overall I'm still feeling pretty good about this, the only life goal I currently have under control. Crap gotten rid of: None. ONWARDS! I say that a lot. This time it will happen.

Thanks for the cheerleading, Skirler and DustMite. I definitely needed it this week. Man, I have been such a bad forum participant these last few days. I apologize. Here's some catching up... Day 18 RSG Basic Training Program: Rest day. Ran up six flights of stairs. Stairs have been a good way to keep track of my overall level of fitness. Two months ago, when I consciously started to try taking the stairs instead of the elevator, I had to drag myself up the last few flights. Now, I'm still winded by the time I reach the top, but that's because I'm RUNNING up them. 75% grain avoidance: On track. Rice with dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: $28.84 to feed my car. Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 19 RSG Basic Training Program: - 2x1 body rows - 20, 2x15 bent knee body rows - 30, 2x25 lunges - 88s, 70s planks OK, first things first. My planks. I increased my max plank time by 16 seconds, which is such a big jump that I'm a bit suspicious that, in my determination not to give up when my brain told me I should, I might have let my form slip. Of course, there is a slender possibility that I just plain ROCK, but the next time I do planks, I'm going to make sure I keep an eye on my form... which is kind of hard to do when you're shouting "raararrhghrghfivemoreseconds" at the floor, which is how I usually conclude my planks. Other than that, can I just say how proud I was that I actually worked out today? I was seriously considering skipping it, as I got home later than usual and just wanted to veg out, but maybe my body is smarter than I am, because I found myself trapped in my workout clothes with no option to back out. 75% grain avoidance: Didn't get a chance to eat a prepared lunch, so unfortunately had a sandwich as well as an English muffin with dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: $20 for a weekend pass to a local board gaming convention. Because this is NERD Fitness, and I need to make sure my nerd credentials are not questioned. Crap gotten rid of: None. Weekend Report: Days 20-21 RSG Basic Training Program: Most of my exercise this weekend involved walking around a board gaming convention playing boardgames with friends, which may not have done much for my fitness, but was pretty good for my soul. I made some new friends and got to spend quality time with some old ones. It was a lot of fun. 75% grain avoidance: On track. Rice with both dinners, but otherwise no grains. Employment options: I am still employed. That is an option. Writing: Abysmal. Non-food spending: $4 for a hard-to-find card game that I stumbled across at the board gaming convention. Not a planned purchase, but still within my budget. Crap gotten rid of: None Week 3 Grades Fitness: A-. Once again, despite increasingly not feeling like working out, I managed to complete 100% of my workouts. I also met my mini-goal of two full body-rows, although I can't do them in a single set... yet. My push-up mini-goal is still elusive, as my core still doesn't seem quite up to the task. I'm going to scale back a bit this next week and focus on incline push-ups instead of knee push-ups, to see if that helps me make the jump. Diet: A. I had a day of extra sandwich, but still on track Employment: F. No progress made. Writing: F. Terrible. My writing momentum totally got derailed, and I look on track to achieving my "fail" in NaNoWriMo for another year. I'm going to try and Non-food spending: A-. I spent $53, and while my convention attendance fee and small game purchase were not previously budgeted, I am still on track to stay below my $300 limit, although I might have to cut out one or two smaller purchases I had been planning. This has been a good way of keeping myself aware of trade-offs - I can go to a game convention, but that means I can't buy, say, a pair of fancy socks. Fair enough. Overall: C-. I am still feeling confident about my fitness goals, despite the struggles I've had in getting my push-up form to where it should be. The fact that I am consistently completing my workouts, despite not always wanting to, is EXCELLENT. Now all I need to do is transfer that level of determination and consistency to my life goals. I still have three weeks to get things moving. Mini-goals for Week 4: - 1x2 body rows - 1x2 push ups - At least half an hour of writing every day, it's not scary, face it - Get rid of your damn pile of clothes, Yam, honestly, you'd think it was rocket science the way you've been avoiding it

Yeah... I have to really work at this zoning out thing. I'm pretty sure I could break 90sec if my brain didn't keep telling my body "OK THAT'S ENOUGH NOW NO HONESTLY THAT'S ENOUGH JUST FALL ON THE FLOOR AND DO YOUR GASPING FISH ACT DON'T TRY FOR ANOTHER FIVE SECONDS". My body ought to know better than to listen to my brain... or my brain needs to start reminding me "Hey, StarShine can plank for TWO WHOLE FREAKING MINUTES. What are you, a wet noodle? Suck it up!"

I'm having something of a suckfest week over here as well (especially regarding my own writing goals), so it's reassuring to know that you have also been struggling to stay on track, but you're not taking that as a cue to give up - rather, you're coming back re-energized and raring to go. So let it be with me! I'm fulfilled my fail quota for these six weeks, time to move on!

I love reading about your parkour progress. It is really hard for me to look at parkour and say to myself "that is something I could do", because it just seems so phenomenally "out there" and intense, but the way you're breaking it down makes it seem just as manageable as any seemingly impossible fitness goal - with hard work and perseverance, anything is possible. Awesomeness.

Wow, your visible progress in just two weeks is AMAZING, as is your pull-up domination! You've still got a good 3.5 weeks to conquer those five pull-ups, and at the rate you're going, I can see it happening.

A rough start to the week, for no discernable reason. I just haven't been able to get out of first gear. On the plus side, I have kept my workout schedule, despite not feeling like it, which is reassuring. On the negative side, I have totally let my life goals slide. Trying to reboot myself and end the week on a positive note. Day 15 RSG Basic Training Program: - 1 body row - 18, 14, 11 bent knee body rows - 30, 25, 20 lunges - 70s, 52s planks Today's lesson was that simply aiming to get one single rep more than last workout is actually quite limiting. I found this out by mistakening thinking I had to beat 16 bent-knee rows, knocking out 18 reps, and then realizing my previous workout was only 12 reps. So, that was cool. Similarly, not focusing so much on the timer while doing my planks helped me get an extra eight seconds. While every second is an improvement, why settle for two when you actually CAN add eight? 75% grain avoidance: Absolutely no grains consumed. Employment options: None. Writing: I spent half an hour brainstorming, which was useful, but didn't get any substantial amount of writing done. Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 16 RSG Basic Training Program: Rest day. I made a point of running up any stairs I encountered, instead of taking the elevator. That counts. 75% grain avoidance: On track. One English muffin consumed at dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 17 RSG Basic Training Program: - 2x1 push-ups - 16, 16, 12 push-ups - 3x30 squats - 72s, 36s planks For one reason or another, I was really not feeling this workout. I managed a couple more push-ups, but again have to really struggle to keep myself from arching my back to help propel myself upwards. Maybe I should switch from knee push-ups to incline push-ups, to help train my core to stay straight. I managed to tack another few seconds on my first plank (thanks, in part, to inarticulate shouting when I felt like giving up) but I totally tanked on my second plank. 75% grain avoidance: On track. One sandwich consumed at dinner. Employment options: None. Writing: None - might try to get 30 minutes in before going to sleep. Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None. So... a bit discouraging, but everyone has off-days. I'm still in this fight. Time to check up on everybody else's threads for some good old Rebel Army inspiration!

Long post! Lots to get caught up on! First of all... This is absolutely true, and I think it manifests itself in my planks most of all. I've had a hard time adding seconds to my planks in the last couple sessions, but I recognize that a large part of that is me staring frantically at the timer and, when I'm a couple seconds past my last plank, giving up. I tried changing that today by purposefully not watching the timer and got an extra 8 seconds of plank. So there are definitely mental hurdles that I need to and can overcome. Skirler: Definitely get the needles out! As I note below, my writing goal is kicking my butt, but I know it'll be worth it eventually. With your creative life goal, not only will you have a great feeling of accomplishment, but you'll also have warm feet! sedimentarydearwatson: Way to go on your push-up! That's really inspiring to me. I managed to go all the way down, but getting all the way back up was the hard part! ONWARDS for both of us! And now, weekend catch-up... Days 13-14: Weekend Report RSG Basic Training Program: Two rest days. I failed to make an effort to move more on my rest days, but I did to hit my Week 2 mini-goals of one real push-up and one real body row. Well... I did the body row! A real boobs-to-bar (I'm copywriting that phrase) body row! I tried for a second one and made it 75% of the way up, so I'm sure I can get two in a row by the end of the week. The push-up was a bit trickier - I managed to lower myself all the way down and push back up, but I couldn't quite keep my core tight and my back arched. I'm feeling pretty confident that my arms and chest are capable of it, but I need to concentrate more on keeping my core tight. 75% grain avoidance: No grains at all on Saturday, one serving of rice on Sunday, so definitely on track. I'm really pleased at how much I don't miss constantly munching on Cheetos and other forms of junk food. Employment options: Ah... hm... Look behind you! A classic misdirection! *runs* Writing: I got an average of an hour of writing in every day, except for Saturday. I am not at all pleased with the quality of the stuff I have written, which is very frustrating and discouraging, but I recognize (at an academic level, at least, if not at an emotional level) that writing every day, regardless of the quality, is going to help me develop the better writing habits that I need to progress. Non-food spending: None. Hurrah! Crap gotten rid of: None. Boo! I suck! BUT THAT WILL CHANGE! Week 2 Grades Fitness: A-. Completed all my workouts, acheived my mini-goal of one full body row and mostly achieved my mini-goal of one full push-up. I'm not 100% satisfied with my push-up yet, but it is miles beyond what I could do a few weeks ago. Diet: A. I did have a second serving of rice at one dinner, but this was (I suppose) balance out by at least one totally grain-free meal. Employment: F. No progress made. Writing: B-. Although I'm not happy about what I wrote, I at least managed to write something to not be happy about, which is progress... if that makes any sense. Non-food spending: A. My only non-food purchase was budgeted into my $300 limit. I have spent $112 so far and feel like my impulse shopping urge (which, fortunately, has never been out of control) is diminishing. Just for reference, I printed out a chart with 300 circles on it, and have been coloring them in as I've spent money. Having that visual reference is really useful in curbing impulse purchases. Overall: B. I'm feeling really good about my fitness and diet goals. I know I'm not pushing myself as hard as I could be, though, so my challenge moving forward will be to really concentrate on getting that extra rep out, whether or not I "feel like it". My life goals are still the ones giving me trouble. While I know that writing every day is good, the quality of that enforced writing is a bit depressing. ANY WRITING IS GOOD WRITING at this stage. I just have to believe that. Mini-goals for Week 3: - Two real, non-knee push-ups - Two real, non-bent-knees body rows - One outline of one possible employment route (one of last week's mini-goals) - At least one hour of writing every day, continued ONWARDS!

No caffeine is a rough one. While it's an admirable goal, I wouldn't recommend letting it derail your challenge. Maybe try scaling back gradually, or switching to another source of caffeine, like tea. You're absolutely on track with your fitness goals, which is impressive enough as it is! (Slightly) bloody but unbowed, that's you.

Apart from Monday, I've managed to get almost an hour of writing in every day. I haven't necessarily written a LOT during those hours, but the simple act of sitting down and saying "OK, I'm doing nothing but writing for the next 60 minutes - no internet, no games of spider solitaire, no tidying up my desk, just writing" really helps keep me on track. I'm hoping by the end of the six weeks it will be a habit, not something I have to struggle with every day. I swear I love writing, but it can be like pulling teeth! Good job sticking to your writing targets this week.

Looking forward to a report on your Sunday workout! As you say, IT WILL HAPPEN! Suspect you're going to blow your chin-up goal out of the water pretty darn soon.

101-second plank with tired, overworked abs? My mind, she is blown!

Man, your pull-up goal is just going to fall away like butter under a heat lamp. Totally impressed.

Fantastic home-cooked duck curry gained me a pound this week - your duck sounds infinitely more healthy, and well deserving of its moderate red wine accompaniment.

Way to go! It's fantastic when you first start seeing actual physical changes in the mirror. And good job on the half pull-up! It sometimes feels like I am billions of miles away from a full pull-up, but seeing people like you making such progress with your own pull-up goals is inspiring. Wooo!

Skirler - Knew the shoe would drop sooner or later. DustMite - You're undoubtedly right. If the box is in my car, I'm probably going to be more likely to drive out of my way to a donation place. I'll give that a shot. Been a bad forum resident these last couple days. Time to catch up! Day 11 RSG Basic Training Program: Rest day. 75% grain avoidance: I caved and had seconds at dinner for the first time in weeks (it was duck curry, one of my favorites) and ended up having an extra half-serving of rice. But other than that, still holding strong. Employment: Unexplored. Writing: Wrote for an hour and got another 600 words down. So, we've established that I can actually write something every day. This is good. Now to pick up the pace. Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None. Day 12 RSG Basic Training Program: -16, 14, 10 knee push-ups - 30, 30, 30 overhead squats - 62s, 47s planks I tried a full push-up at the beginning of my workout and just about managed it, although my form left something to be desired. I'll try again on Sunday to see if I can meet my week's mini-goals. Adding time on to my planks is getting excrutiating, but I'm still managing to hold on for those extra seconds. 75% grain avoidance: On track. Some rice noodles with dinner. Employment: Unexplored Writing: Only got 30 minutes of writing in, but it was useful nonetheless. Looking forward to getting more done this weekend. Non-food spending: None. Crap gotten rid of: None.

Thanks for the comments everyone. This forum really does have the most supportive, warm and fuzzy posters of any online community I have ever encountered. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and have someone tell me I'm doing it all wrong, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. I'm behind on everyone else's threads but will get caught up in the morning. It's really inspiring to see how everyone is progressing! Now, back to me... Day 10 RSG Basic Training Program: - 12, 10, 9 bent-knee body rows - 30, 20, 20 lunges - 60s, 45s planks I tried a proper body row at the beginning of my workout and got about 75% of the way up. This is up from 50% last week, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to do a whole one by the weekend. I find myself using my legs significantly to compensate when I start to tire, so I am anxious to move on from the bent-knee version. Increasing my plank times is getting significantly harder, but even a single second is an improvement, and I'm moving in the right direction. 75% grain avoidance: On track. One serving of rice (surprise surprise) with dinner. Employment: Unexplored. This is going to be on the back burner all week, I suspect, as I try to get some sort of writing rhythm down. Writing: Not bad. I spent a solid hour and a half writing this evening and got 600 words down on paper, which, while a far cry from the 1667-words-a-day target of NaNoWriMo, is 600 more words that I've written in a month, and it feels BLOODY GOOD. Am hoping to keep this momentum going tomorrow. Non-food spending: None. Resisting going on a Kindle-fueled book-buying spree is tough, but right now I'm simply downloading samples of all the books I'm interested in and saving them for the time being. No point buying the book if I'm not going to read it, and I have a long queue of good old paper books to read before I'm going to need something new. Hurrah for suppressing instant gratification urges! Crap gotten rid of: None. Just put the damn box in the car and drive it to a charity thrift shop already! Sheesh! It's not that complicated!

Crooked - Thanks! I haven't found cutting breads and pastas out of my diet very hard (although I do miss sandwiches occasionally), but rice is definitely my main grain and, while I've been cutting back the amount of rice I'm eating at each meal, I don't know if I will ever give it up 100%, so it's encouraging to know that it is a rather lesser "evil".

I remain extremely suspicious of those so-called cheeseballs.... Day 9 RSG Basic Training Program: Rest day. Whoopee. 75% grain avoidance: On track. One English muffin at dinner. Employment: Unexplored. Writing: Technically I did spend an hour writing, but I didn't end up with very many words on a page. My love/hate relationship with NaNoWriMo is already veering towards the "hate" end of the spectrum, although a late night writing session did help me finally settle on a few key stylistic choices. Was very discouraged overall, but I refuse to quit NaNo after the very first day. PERSEVERE! Non-food spending: $91.11 on one of the big-ticket items I had budgeted for. Crap gotten rid of: None. Not a great day, but ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!

Skirler - I'd better wait on learning knitting until after I've achieved my non-food spending limit goal, then! Yeah, as you can see from my report below, that's already happening a bit. Would love to hear any suggestions you might have! Day 8 RSG Basic Training Program: - 14, 12, 9 knee push-ups - 36, 30, 25 overhead squats - 56s, 42s planks Push-ups are progressing slowly, but I did manage to increase my reps from last session and, while my form still slips a bit, I think I am getting more consistent. Overhead squats were marginally more difficult than regular squats, but still not as challenging as I would have liked. Anyone have any progression suggestions? I was thinking of trying close leg squats or jump squats next, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. 75% grain avoidance: I consumed a handful of cheeseballs at a Halloween office party, but apart from that no grains were consumed. And I'm not even sure those cheeseballs were grains. They might have been some orange plastic food substitute. Employment: Unexplored. Writing: I didn't do an hour of writing, but I did do an hour of brainstorming ahead of the National Novel Writing Month kick-off tomorrow. I hesitate to officially name NaNoWriMo as my "fail" goal, since I've failed it five times before, but now I've got this Six Week Challenge to keep me going. I'm a bit concerned about putting my "four short articles" goal on the back-burner, but my main problem with writing is just getting the words on the page. This will be a good exercise in that, and will hopefully train me to write without worrying about whether or not it's phrased perfectly or who might read it and what they might think. Non-food spending: None. I set the $300 non-food spending limit specifically to accommodate some larger-ticket items that I knew I would be purchasing during these six weeks, without leaving much leeway for anything else. This has been really good at curbing those impulse purchases that gradually add up to a lot more than they should. Crap gotten rid of: None. Box of unwanted clothes still sitting in hallway looking at me accusingly.

Absolutely AWESOME about the rows! To be able to do 10 right away is really amazing! Go you! I'm definitely inspired to kick my butt into gear and get a pull-up bar myself now...

Hurrah! Yes, I have a severe weakness for socks. I have a bunch of Smartwool socks, which are super comfy, but they are wearing out and I'm constantly tempted to pick up some other brands of socks to see if they're more durable. I absolutely should learn to knit, though... cheaper, and more stylistic options! Skirler - I'm doing body rows from my dining table, as per Steve's suggestion here. It's not ideal though (hard to get a good grip sometimes) so I'm thinking about getting a cheap pull-up bar and setting it up at a low level.

GOod job with your push-ups and planks! I'm hoping to get a 1min plank this week, and I'm also trying to work my way up to 5 full push-ups. Would love to hear more about your push-up progress.