wockerjabi

We're allowed to leave the house where I live, provided we stay away from others, so I'm still able to take walks. I got in four miles this morning; it was quite nice. Otherwise, following all the boring expert advice about routines and maintaining norms seems to work pretty well. I appreciated the reminder from Steve the other.... week?.... to concentrate on nutrition when stuck in the apartment.

It can be tough when plans you put a lot of work into have to be scrapped. I hope your hiking buddy is okay! Also, good for you for not being discouraged, and staying positive!

Fourth week summary/challenge summary. Goal: go to bed by midnight every day (bonus points if I go to bed by 10) 79% for this week, 69% overall. This is a thing that I'm still going to be working on. I do think it's helped to have it as a goal. Goal: consume no more than 1 energy drink per week 100% for this week and for the challenge as a whole! I have consumed ZERO energy drinks during this time period! I'm pretty pleased with this. I've been cutting back since I quit the job where I sold them, but I haven't gone that long without one in a few years. Goal: walk 3 times a week for at least 2 miles 100% for the week, 75% overall. I wish I could build more walking into my day, but I'm glad I'm making time for it in some form, at least. Goal: include protein and 2 fruits/vegetables every lunch and supper 96% for the week, 87% overall. I do think it's helped somewhat with balance to have this as a goal.

Third week summary: Goal: go to bed by midnight every day (bonus points if I go to bed by 10) 71% If you want to read charitably and count the days that were close. Goal: consume no more than 1 energy drink per week 100% Goal: walk 3 times a week for at least 2 miles 67% Meh. Goal: include protein and 2 fruits/vegetables every lunch and supper 89%

You went avoided any moments of anger or frustration while also teaching, impressive.

Second week summary: Goal: go to bed by midnight every day (bonus points if I go to bed by 10) 57%, e.g. 3/7 plus half a day's worth (7%) for getting to bed early and taking a nap after work. Goal: consume no more than 1 energy drink per week 100% Goal: walk 3 times a week for at least 2 miles 33% so far. Meh. I've been sick, and I twisted an ankle, but this is still pretty pathetic. Going to go on a walk this evening to make it 67%. Goal: include protein and 2 fruits/vegetables every lunch and supper 77% I'm finding I'm doing pretty well for lunch, but supper is more of a gamble because it's not pre-prepared. I may look into rectifying that. Yeah, so the getting to bed on time goal has been going pretty terribly. But at least my job applications have been getting done!

The first week is up! Here's the summary. Goal: go to bed by midnight every day (bonus points if I go to bed by 10) 71%, e.g. 5/7. A couple of those were only technically on time, though. No bonus points for me. Goal: consume no more than 1 energy drink per week 100%! No energy drinks, just coffee, tea and V8. Goal: walk 3 times a week for at least 2 miles 100%! Incidentally, this means I also completed the first week's mini challenge. Goal: include protein and 2 fruits/vegetables every lunch and supper 87%, not too terrible. For weekends I've been ending up skipping lunch, so I just excluded those from counting, either positively or negatively.

I know! It's not very strong, though; comparable to cola. Looking at the ingredients, they seem to have just added green tea extract to the original recipe. I've experimented with splitting sleep into afternoon and late night, and getting stuff done in between. I always feel really rested, like I got to have two nights of sleep. A lot of social events happens in the early evening, though. It's not something I can make work every day.

Thanks for the helpful input, guys! There are immediate reasons (migraine, road trip, spring break), but ultimately I'm just a nocturnal person, and it's hard to be responsible and sleep at the time I'm most energetic and productive. I'm trying to develop that habit, though, because the career choices I've made make it really inconvenient to be dragging during the day.

I really thought I would at least get the first couple days perfect, but I'm telling myself it's a process or something. So far, this is what I've got. Going to bed on time: 50% success rate Including fruits/vegetables: 80% Limiting energy drinks: 100% Also, I'm going to define caffeinated V8 as a non-energy drink for the purposes of this quest, just so I can have something portable to take to work. The caffeine level is comparable to all the tea I'd be drinking at home, anyhow, and way better than Monster, Nos, etc.

That's an optimistic reading goal! I read all the time, but mostly articles, fanfic, comics, thrift store historical monographs. . . Nothing that organized. Good luck!

Hey guys! I have risen from the dead to resume walking a lot and hopefully backpacking. How's it going? Quest: have more energy Goal: go to bed by midnight every day (bonus points if I go to bed by 10) Goal: consume no more than 1 energy drink per week Quest: increase endurance Goal: walk 3 times a week for at least 2 miles Quest: establish better eating habits Goal: include protein and 2 fruits/vegetables every lunch and supper

The most effective way to avoid added sugar on a limited budget is probably to cook "real food" yourself and skip pre-packaged stuff for the most part. What works for me is to try to keep a number of inexpensive staple foods around that I can use for lots of different things. Here's some suggestions: Potatoes/sweet potatoes Squash Spinach/collard greens (cheap frozen, keeps forever) Broccoli Onions Garlic Carrots Bell pepper (when in season) Roma tomatoes Cucumber Lemons/limes (good for seasoning things) Parsley Apples/bananas/whatever fruit is cheap Eggs (eggs have approx. 276,000 uses) Cheese (add in small amounts to things like the aforementioned eggs) Plain yogurt Milk Some sort of cooking oil Vinegar and oil to make salad dressing Tea (the essential beverage) Nut butter (check labels on this one) Hummus (or you can make it yourself with chick peas) Oatmeal (by the canister, not the individually packaged stuff) Raisins/whatever dried fruit is cheap (again, check labels) Rice (Basmati is delicious) Beans (dried, not canned) Meat is nice a couple times a week. Chicken can be very cheap if you buy it in bulk frozen. If you're worried about hormones, just drain off the grease and don't eat the skin, as that's where hormones collect in a chicken's body. [source: my mom, who has an MS in food science] Obviously this list isn't paleo or vegetarian, or especially low-carb. It's just some suggestions if your strategy is to eat real food.

Week 3 Summary Goal 1 (eat regular meals): 86% Goal 2 (no sugary stuff): 86% Goal 3 (get to bed on time): 86% Goal 4 (complete two workouts) 100% Bonus Goal (two sessions with my piano): 100% Overall Score: 92% Achievements this week - A seven day streak with no binge behaviors - 4+ hours of piano, only half of which had anything to do with the LOTR score - 24.9 miles walked It's a weakness of the daily pass/fail method that the score for going to bed ten minutes late is the same as that for pulling an all-nighter. Still, I prefer to keep a hard deadline.

Week 2 Summary Goal 1 (eat regular meals): 86% Goal 2 (no sugary stuff): 86% Goal 3 (get to bed on time): 86% Goal 4 (complete two workouts): 50% Bonus Goal (two sessions with my piano): 100% Overall Score: 84% In summary, I had a great week until Sunday, and then I ate only one meal, made pie and spent the entire afternoon watching films with my in-laws instead of being active. For good measure, I stayed up all night reading fanfiction and creating a Hobbit AU. I feel accomplished, actually, for fitting so much fuckery in one day... Oh well.