Suzaqu

suzyQlou: Thanks for the good wishes. She is doing well and appreciated the visit. I'm glad that my goals survived this first test. It's sometimes hard to stay on track when life gets in the way. starsapart: Thank you for stopping by! There are so many interesting guilds and it's hard to figure them all out. I'll definitely be looking into the assassans. Even though I never really thought about it, I am basically a bodyweight person and I'm super happy to see that the dancers have a home And i'm super happy to see the emphasis on gifs! I was thinking about possibly the druids, but this looks like it might be a better fit. On the quest front, I did indeed not get the chance to go to ballet last night. I also didn't get in any yoga today, I wasn't feeling up to figuring out how to do it on carpet so I just did my standard stretching routine and rolling out. If I'm going to keep stretching at home and trying to do yoga, I think I'm going to invest in a home yoga mat (I have one that lives at work so I can take it to my lunchtime classes). I'm so happy to have completed my first week of the challenge sucessfully! I'm thinking I'm going to try to get in one more stretching session this weekend. I already feel like I can relax into the stretches more now, and my nemesis- aka legs up the wall - is starting to actually feel good and very grounding. I also have kept up with keeping in contact with friends, and hopefully that habit continues Progress: Quest 1: 4/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4 Quest 2: 4/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3 Life quest: deadlines missed = 0

Checking in after last night, I did do both my rolling and my stretching! Ballet class today is looking a little iffy because we have to visit my husband's grandmother in the hospital, so there may be no progress made on the goals tonight. But I'm still ahead of schedule and I'm taking friday off, so I should be able to get in a good stretching session then (and maybe even some home yoga practice!) Progress: Quest 1: 3/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4 Quest 2: 3/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3 Life quest: deadlines missed = 0

On the challenge front, I just replied to all the messages from friends that had deadlines looming, and I made it with 20 minutes to spare! (I was counting from the moment I posted this challenge for messages that had been queued for longer than that.) I'm hoping to do another stretching and rollout session tonight. With that and a ballet class tomorrow that I'm planning on attending, I'll be done with my goals for the week! I want to get the momentum rolling right away, so I'm glad I was able to hit the ground running. I'll probably end up putting in extra sessions (I'm not allowing myself to work ahead on next week goals). I think that this is a sign that I should up the numbers for next challenge, but we'll see how the rest of the 6 weeks go.

suzyQlou, Hahaha, I'm still working on my analysis of all of us, but I have my bots mining the site right now (just kidding, I swear!). I currently am working at a university looking at progress and completion data from students. I always envisioned teaching as well, but I'm happy with where I am. I do love a good SQL query, so I'm with you there.

I love that you have a points system for motivation. I'm going to need something like that outside of NF to start working on some of my work and home goals. Any advice for setting one up? It seems kinda daunting.

Suzy Q's unite! @suzyQlou (does the @ tag work here?), thanks for the nice comments! I definitely still have trouble with the scale and have been trying to adjust to not worrying about it so much. I saw in another thread that you are a math nerd, me too! I studied math and physics but have been lured away from them by big data.

Night two check in, I had another double night of both stretching and rolling out. I do have some people I need to respond to by tomorrow evening to make my 48 hour deadline, so I need to get that done. Tracking: Quest 1: 2/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4 Quest 2: 2/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3 Life quest: deadlines missed = 0

Miniquest 1 completed!

Mini quest 1! Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Yes, I think it is reasonable, but a good challenge. 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 only have 2 quests because I couldn't come up with a 3rd that directly built on my main quest. Each quest is a good nugget of a goal to work on, so I think they have the right scope.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? My main goal is a good stepping stone in my goal to become more flexible.Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? Both my main quest and quests have specific measures that I detailed above, including completion guidelines. I'll check in here every few days (if not every day) to update my progress. 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€? I'm grading my goals on a standard A/F scale, based on the number of times I complete the desired activity.What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Because my goals are stretching based, I can rework stretches to avoid injuries. Because I only look at completions per week, there's more flexibility if I don't feel up to stretching on a given day.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? My week by week structure will allow me to be flexible around special occasions.Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? I think my goals work out well together, spending time rolling out muscles before stretching doesn't hurt progress.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? I certainly have time in the evenings that I'm not using well, and my goals will take all of 10-15 minutes to complete, so it won't be a problem.Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I'm trying to build 2 habits, but they both focus on my main quest, so I think I have a good balance.

Another Suzy Q (or Suzaqu as I have spelled it) checking in! I hate waking up early, so I admire you for setting that goal! I have to get up by 6 for work, which is awful enough. I also love your goal to read a book instead of using the Ipad, I need to do the same. I spend way too much time on my computer in the evening, especially for how little I actually accomplish.

Checking in for night one, I rolled out my muscles and it felt good. I forgot how much it helps out after a workout. (Today was barre.) I have some people I need to message today or tomorrow to keep up with my life goal. I also got my stretching done for the night as well. Tracking: Quest 1: 1/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4 Quest 2: 1/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3, 0/3 Life quest: deadlines missed = 0

Hello everyone! I've been very excited waiting for the next challenge round to start and I'm pumped to be joining you all! I've been doing the weight loss thing for the past 2 years, hovering around maintaining for the past 9 months or so. My current job involves sitting in front of a computer, so I have been working hard on incorporating exercise into my life. What got me interested in fitness and exercise beyond the calorie counting was a barre class. I loved working on strength and seeing how far I could push my body. I realized that I had to gain some weight in order to put on muscle. So now I'm trying to adjust to eating for this new goal. My main issue my whole life has been a severe lack of flexibility in the back of my legs. I've had many doctors, PTs etc tell me many different reasons for this issue and I have been slacking on all of them. I trained as a ballerina from 1st grade to 12th grade and was never consistently able to touch my toes, that's how bad it was. I currently exercise 3-4 times a week for an hour each, consisting of barre, yoga, ballet, and Pilates. I'd like to continue to get stronger while maintaining and improving my flexibility. Which brings me to my quests: Main quest: Be able to consistently touch my toes (every day for 3 days in a row) when "cold" i.e. not warmed-up. I'm currently about 2.5 inches away. Subquests: Stretch 4 times a week. - This should consist of the entire stretching regimen I have worked out for myself, or either a yoga or ballet class, both of which have large amounts of time dedicated to stretching. Grading: 24-22 times =A, 21-19 = B, 20-17 = C, 16-14 = D, <14= F Roll out muscles 3 times a week - This should be at least 3 different muscle sets for a minimum of 30 seconds each and and in addition includes the knots in my feet (which for some reason apparently is a direct cause of my inability touch my toes). Grading: 18-16 times =A, 15-14 = B, 13-12 = C, 11-10 = D, <10= F Lifequest: Do a better job of keeping in touch with people. Do not let more than 48 hours pass before replying to a message of any form (facebook, text, email, etc). Grading: missed deadline on 0-5 messages = A, 6-10 = B, 11-15 = C, 16-20 = D, <20 = F Motivation: This is a problem that has been with me for my entire life, it will feel amazing to conquer it! Good luck to all! I'm excited to get started on this with my fellow recruits!