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.

Yah, things have been going well. I'll post the summary in a day or so, but as of now I'm not even meeting my activity goal on account of having only one day off. I will have to get on that tomorrow.

That recipe looks scrumptious. It sucks when others won't eat your cooking, but it also means there are no mice in your home. You've yet to miss an objective, how awesome is that? Keep it up!

Week 1 Summary Goal 1 (eat regular meals): 86% Goal 2 (no sugary stuff): 100% 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 four day streak free of all binge behaviors - Four piano sessions totaling five hours - 25.4 miles walked *Waves to Cathelas* Thanks for dropping in! Sleep is indeed a nonnegotiable requirement. I just need to get better at convincing myself of that in the moment.

I love your determination! Those woods have nothing on you.

Thank you! My non-car-ownership does have some positive aspects. I probably have about seven to ten miles a week that would be more hassle to avoid than to just walk.

If you will be having a fire, you should make cobbler! For those of us in North America, blackberries are just coming into season, while cherries and strawberries are in surplus. Depending on how strictly you interpret paleo, you can make delicious crumb toppings with nut flour, oil and honey. Also popular on car camping trips is breakfast casserole comprised of some combination of eggs, onions, bell peppers, ground sausage, bacon and potato (which you could leave out or substitute squash or some such filler vegetable). If you are the person who remembers to bring coffee, I guarantee your family will love you.

Gratz on an excellent first day! Your TrailRider sounds cool. It's great that you've found a way to share outdoor experiences with your daughter.

It sounds like you're winning at planning for success. Have a safe and restful trip home!

I have smartened my goals! Charisma for me!

In response to the first mini-challenge, I've made a proper goal. It bothers me that it is a negative goal, but I can think of no positive way to phrase "avoid binge-eating" that is specific. Here are the rationales for the alignment of the rest of the goals: Put together actual meals 3x per day. The is the opposite of binge behavior, which involves alternately eating everything in sight and subsisting on caffeine. No sugary stuff. Sugar is a trigger. Get to bed before one every night. There are three reasons for this. Night is when I get hungry, so prolonging that period of time is liable to result in extraneous eating. Staying up too late throws off my circadian rhythms for the following two days. Finally, overtiredness creates cravings for stimulants like sugar and caffeine. Work out twice per week by extra walking, yoga or bodyweight exercises. Helps maintain energy levels, decreasing the need for artificial substitutes. Facilitates remembering to drink water (dehydration makes me crave sugar for some reason).