Manarelle

Hello AerialTriceratops! There is always room for any kind of nerd here, and you are certainly not alone in loving books. I have one or two games I'm decent at, but all on the computer; I just can't get the hang of console games for some reason. Aerial silk looks so amazing, but I've never found the time to do it; that's awesome that you found something you like! Congratulations! PS: your English is fantastic. May I ask what your native language is? I'm a bit of a language nerd...

How did I live right outside of Denver for 6 years and not know of this?? That sounds like a ridiculous amount of fun. Enjoy!

Woot! You can do it! Just remember (and I say this only because I know you), no beating yourself up if you slip a day here or there. Do that workout and own it! I have faith in you.

Introduction: Hi I am Manarelle and this is my second challenge. I started using the Rebellion's guide to bodyweight training four months ago when hours of cardio were doing nothing for my knee problems or my weight. I got from 200 lbs to 175 with cardio and cutting out snacks, but I hit a plateau mid-2014, and got discouraged. I got through my first challenge, but recognized that (as usual) I was trying to do it all at once. Since I have a full-time job and take online classes toward my Master's degree, my schedule's already a little full, so I need to back up and identify just a few important things to keep myself in balance. (Especially since spring is supposed to be coming soon and that means gardening!!) Main Quest: Keep a healthy balance between work, school, and hobbies. Quest 1: Workout 3 times a week, either HIIT or BBWW Measurement: A = 3 times a week, every week, B = 3 times a week, most weeks, C = 2 times a week. Quest 2: Log my food. All of it. Even homemade. Measurement: A = every day, B = 6 days a week, C = mostly 6 days a week Quest 3: Use the Irish dance warm-up and stretches when I work out to improve balance and flexibility. Measurement: A = 3 times a week, every week, B = 3 times a week, most weeks, C = 2 times a week. Life Quest: Make 1 skirt that I really like, and can wear to work. Measurement: No grades, just pass/fail. Motivation: In an effort to keep it simple I'm not going to mess with points yet, but since I'm quite familiar about working to keep a GPA up, here goes: Mostly As: Treat myself to a professional massage Mostly Bs: Treat myself to a day at the range. Mostly Cs: Treat myself to some quality bath stuff. One step at a time!

Final update: Quest 1: Got my HIIT in, shortened the recovery time to 90 seconds, still felt good. Quest 2: Had a couple Twizzlers on Sunday. Quest 3: 3 warm-ups and cool-downs, and set an hourly notice to stretch at work. Life quest: German's been put on the backseat as the final project for school is due. Overall, I'm going to count this as a success, although there were definitely some rough spots. I also think I will not be messing with stat points just yet, as I want to keep it simple and focus on the goals, not the numbers. I learned a LOT about what to aim for goals going forward, and how to keep them measurable and balanced. I have a lot of problems making reasonable goals that don't interfere with other things (like school and current responsibilities); this helped me realize that smaller, attainable goals are better than big ones that sound good but ultimately stress me out. Can't wait til the next challenge, I'll be posting in the assassins! Thank you to everyone for the comments and support.

Ok, trying really, really hard not to squee here. If you're serious, I always have little questions about word usage (most of which start with "о чем разница между...") Мне надо пиÑать и говорить по-руÑÑкий. Я читаю книги и новоÑти, и Ñлушаю музыку, а только иногда Ñоздавать новые предложениÑ.

Chris-Tien Jinn, Love the puppy, thanks for the smile! Not the best week, as there was a major project due for evening classes, but I'm making some progress still, and certainly not giving up. Week 5 update: Quest 1: Got my HIIT in, though still carefully. Quest 2: No sugary snacks. Quest 3: 3 warm-ups and cool-downs, and set an hourly notice to stretch at work. Life quest: Only 2 days of German, but I am focusing more on Russian as I realize gaps in my vocab. One more week! This definitely gave me a lot of insight for the next challenge. Obviously, staying away from sugar isn't a big thing anymore, and I need to prioritize school and Russian before adding a new language. I got up to 3 reps on the BBWW, but then realized my form was off, and dropped down to 2, but I feel it a lot more.

Week 4 update: Quest 1: Sick; managed to do one day of BBWW, slowly. Back to it this week. Quest 2: No sugary snacks. Quest 3: Did my stretches twice this week, once with a workout and once because I was tired of laying in bed being pathetic. Life quest: reviewed or completed a new chapter 5 times. Two more weeks to go. I already know that the next challenge is going to involve not getting stressed out so much...

Seem to be going a pretty solid pattern of good/bad weeks here. This week was not great. I came down with a head cold that turned into a sinus infection, and I'm only now starting to be able to breathe again. I've stuck with healthy eating habits, but haven't been able to do anything more than stretch without going into coughing fits. Going to try to do the BBWW this weekend, but I think I'm gonna have to miss doing the HIIT workout this week. Next week will be better... I hope...

And right on schedule, I get smacked in the gob with a cold. How the heck is one supposed to workout and making improvements while coughing up a lung? I really wish my workplace would encourage people to stay home when they're sick, instead of everyone "toughing it out" and spreading germs.

Week 3 update: Quest 1: Did HIIT one time, kept it not at 100% though, I think I'm coming down with a cold again; breathing hard makes me cough. Quest 2: No sugary snacks! Also got a new app to track foods to see if I have dietary issues, or just haven't been feeling well. Quest 3: Used the dance warm-up and cool-down four times. Life quest: Only 4 nights of German. Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad, and I have been hitting 3 full sets of the BBWW for this entire week, so yay! I'm really hoping that the stuffy nose and coughing is just a leftover from the last time I was sick, and I'm not heading for another bout of aches and coughing.

Nicely done, and congrats! (Also marching band ftw! Ahhh, memories.)

SpecialSundae, Thank you, that is fantastic to hear. I was nervous about that because "everyone knows" squats and knee problems don't mix. I have had pain a few times, but I think that was from my form being off; fixing it and being careful to balance properly seems to have helped.

Silly, tiny woot, but I'm still proud. I've had knee problems since I was 18, due to poorly-fitted second-hand bikes and a bad fall while skiing. Last year, I realized that I sounded like an out-of-shape 70-year-old whenever I had to sit or kneel, groaning and bracing my upper body on whatever was handy to try to keep the weight off my knees. While that's acceptable for an out-of-shape 70-year-old, I felt it was pretty ridiculous for me at exactly half that age, and decided to do something about it. I started the beginner's bodyweight workout (which is what brought me to nerd fitness, thank you random google search!) in November of last year. I was really worried about the squats and lunges, trying to get my form right to keep from further mucking up my knees. I've always been a bad judge of the difference between push-through-it pain and you-better-stop pain, so progress was slow, but I was determined to keep at it. After 3 months, I still vary between being able to do 2 and 3 sets before falling over. This morning, half awake, I got up to go to the bathroom and feed the stupid cat (who doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in). Usually I grumble and shuffle my way through this routine and go right back to bed, but this time, I realized that I had sat down, silently, with no bracing on anything, and zero knee pain. There's no way I can go back to bed now, and I'm a-ok with that. Tiny silly woot ftw!

Congratulations! It's pretty awesome to find a new move that just feels right and opens more opportunities, especially when it's one you were hesitant to try at first. I'm sure in a couple months, you'll look back at this "failure" and think what a great milestone it was.

Week 2 update: Quest 1: Did HIIT one time, still working on refining the high-intensity movements. Discovered squat jumps are NOT it... yet. Quest 2: No sugary snacks! (Pumpkin seed bars are also not it though). Quest 3: Used the dance warm-up four times, and added the cool-down twice. Back on track. Life quest: 6 nights of German. Evening classes are back in full swing, and I had a 16-page write-up due this week. I'm going to try to budget time better, because it feels like I got workouts and classes done, but lost almost all of my game time. Only two hours logged on this week. I'll never hit max level at this rate!

Woo hoo! Who knew that helping a friend's raiding team would lead to this, years later. I'm incredibly grateful that we've stuck together even when the raid didn't, and that we both found something here to help us. Self-healing FTW!

Props to you! It is hard to step back and realize how much impact life changes can have on you, but doing something for yourself is the best reason, and a great motivator. Congrats on making the change!

Congrats on taking the PhD classes. I'm doing an online Masters degree, halfway through my fourth class, so I can sympathize with the time commitment, and the dilemma of sitting on the computer at work, then sitting on the computer doing homework at home. Good luck with your classes, and the challenge! How's the first week gone?

I'm tracking daily progress on my wall calendar, which goes Sunday - Saturday, so here's my... Week 1 update: Quest 1: Did the HIIT on that crummy day, loved it. Definitely doing it again. Quest 2: No sugary snacks! Quest 3: Little behind on this one, only used the dance routine twice this week. Feels good though. Life quest: reviewed or completed a new chapter 5 times! Evening classes start back up next week... That'll be interesting to balance, but I'll make it happen. Just have to stay on track.

Today has been absolute crap. Feeling un-motivated, un-focused and my legs still hurt from Tuesday's workout. Muscles are starting to show up in new places, but the fat isn't going away yet, so my clothes feel weird. Woke up to my gentleman's cat puking everywhere, and the gentleman was running too late to clean it up. My "healthy snack" of a hard-boiled egg didn't want to peel, so all i got was a handful of shattered egg white. Ok, I'm done. Just needed to get that out. I'm gonna go try this HIIT workout... maybe that'll go well.

Simple is a very good way to start! Actually, come to think of it, simple is a pretty good way to continue (frequently). Grats on setting the goal!

Challenges: 1: Jan '15 - HIIT, German language learning 2: Feb '15 - BBWW, sewing 3: Apr '15 - Gardening/ BBWW, Russian, sing, dance 4: May '15 - Handstands 5: Jul '15 - Workout/ planks 6: Sept '15 - Ankle injury & rehab 7: Nov '15 - Still ankle rehab, some workout 8: Jan '16 - Cardio, flexibility 9: Feb '16 - Posture & attitude towards weight 10: Mar '16 - Parkour & workouts (Yes, I totally stole the "suggested post," because otherwise I'd dither over what to include and never get this done!) Introduction: Hi I am Manarelle and this is my first challenge. I started using the Rebellion's guide to bodyweight training two months ago when hours of cardio were doing nothing for my knee problems or my weight. I got from 200 lbs to 175 with cardio and cutting out snacks, but when I hit a plateau mid-2014, I got discouraged. With the bodyweight training, I'm ignoring the scales, craving healthy foods, and feel so much better in my own skin. Main Quest: Do the full Beginner Bodyweight Workout (all 3 sets) without breaking form due to exhaustion. Quest 1: Work the HIIT workouts into my schedule (I'm still recovering from a cold). Measurement: A = once a week, every week, B = once a week, 4-5 weeks, C = once a week, 1-3 weeks Reward: A = +3 STA, B = +2 STA, C = +1 STA Quest 2: Eat no sugary/cornsyrupy junk food for the next six weeks Measurement: A = 0 junk snacks, B = 2 junk snacks, C = 4 junk snacks Reward: A = +3 CON, B = +2CON, C = +1 CON Quest 3: Use the Irish dance warm-up and stretches when I work out to improve balance and flexibility. Measurement: A = 21 days; B = 19 days, C = 17 days Reward: A = +3 DEX, B = +2 DEX, C = +1 DEX Life Quest: Complete a review or new chapter of German at least 5 times a week (I use Duolingo). Measurement: A = 5 times, every week, B = 4 times, C = 3 times Reward: A = +2 WIS, B = +1 WIS, C = +0.5 WIS Motivation: I used to do Irish dance, and it was exhilarating. Even back then, I would still fall over after a 2-3 minute dance. I would love to be in a place where I could finish a dance and still feel strong!