Asana

It's Wednesday! I thought yesterday was Friday so I'm a bit disappointed at the state of time. Main Quest: Down .4kg, basically recovering from a binge weekend so mostly water stuff. Diet Quest Food 2/29 - Doing well so far, I really love the almond butter and bananas I had for snack yesterday. I did really well resisting the wine last night (in favor of the whiskey I will be drinking tomorrow). Fitness Fitness 2/29 - One workout on Monday, yesterday walked over 10,000 steps for active recovery. Stretching 2/29 - Yup, did this. I need to actually follow Mobility and stretching instead of winging it. My hip flexors are a hot mess right now so I need to figure out stretches to do at work too. Level Up Your Life Photos 3/29 - I took a photo of all my food for the week, a photo of my yummy chocolate brownie cherry yogurt (because I'm trying not to eat the cherry garcia ice cream in the fridge), and my really beautiful fried eggs on my oatmeal. Mini Challenge: Defense Against the Dark Arts: Meditate for 5 minutes a day Ack! I totally spaced checking this until this morning so I'm behind! I'll do it tonight and sneak in a extra session or two over the next week! Thoughts: Off to a good start, so I'm feeling good about that!

They do, but one of my life goals is to be able to take amazing food pictures so I need to try for new photos. I'm still totally taking cat photos they just don't count for my photo of the day. I've hiked Pikes Peak several times, and my granddad's ashes were spread there so part of doing it (forever in the future, it's totally an epic quest right now) is to be able to run with my granddad who adored that hike.

THE CHARACTER SHEET Character Name: Asana Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw Wand description: Oak with a phoenix core, 12 inches Patronus: A hare 1. Defense Against the Dark Arts: Meditate for 5 minutes a day 2. Potions: Drink at least 3 Liters of water a day 3. Transfiguration: Try running (very slowly...) 4. Herbology: find two things you have never cooked before and cook them. Can be an ingredient or a recipe.

Hi all! I just finished my first rebel challenge and wanted to move to the ranger group for the next one. (I think that's ok?) Background Introduction My main goal is to lose weight and become strong and fit. I want to be able to lift heavy objects and run a race. Last challenge I focused on eating paleo which was a fun experiment, but I felt very strict and afraid of what I was putting in my mouth (did it have sugar!? Oh the world is ending!) and focused on getting into the gym (kicked ass for never really being consistent before). Stats: · Weight: 173 (Down 5 from the beginning of this adventure) · Height: 5'4" · Race: Mountain Dwarf · Goal Classes: Ranger · Activities: Weight Lifting, Running, attempting yoga Main Quest: Lose weight [40-50 lbs] and gain lots of strength, endurance and agility for weight lifting, running, climbing and life. Side Quest/Main: Run Pike's Peak Ascent - Super long ways off but I want to write it down. Diet Quest I tried paleo last time and it was great for making me eat less processed foods, but made me (and my husband) a wee bit crazy being so strict, plus I was low on carbs across the board which generally made me feel like death. So this time around I'm trying IIFYM and focusing on getting a balance of foods across the board and making sure I'm getting a little bit more carbs during the day. I still want to be eating mainly whole foods, but I'm throwing in some dairy, because I can do black coffee but its not my favorite. I'm also going to continue to keep added sugars low, but not flip out over it. Goal: Follow IIFYM Diet - with a high/low days for workouts Eat 1800 or less on workout day Eat 1400 or less on non-workout days Eat generally whole, unprocessed foods Fitness I did great last time around about getting to the gym, plus we bought barbells for our basement so I can squat and deadlift to my hearts content. My goal is to continue my progress but add in a stretching goal as I can feel things not quite working the way they need to. Goal: Workout 3x a week, with a mix of cardio and strength Do active recovery on days not workout out for at least 30 min (walk, climb, bike) Goal: ​Stretch every day for 10 minutes. Use Mobility and Starting stretching. Bonus points for doing more than 70 minutes in a week. Level Up Your Life I loved this one, but I ended up only taking pictures of cats since they were new and moved and are generally cute. So Cats do not count this time. Has to be something different. Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome. [Cat pictures do not count.] I'm tracking the food and exercise intake with Beeminder/IFTTT (healthy meals, Fruit and Veg, and workouts, calories consumed) and I'm also going to be using a app food tracker to track food intake and my food scale.

Hi all! I just finished my first rebel challenge and wanted to move to the ranger group for the next one. (I think that's ok?) Background Introduction My main goal is to lose weight and become strong and fit. I want to be able to lift heavy objects and run a race. Last challenge I focused on eating paleo which was a fun experiment, but I felt very strict and afraid of what I was putting in my mouth (did it have sugar!? Oh the world is ending!) and focused on getting into the gym (kicked ass for never really being consistent before). Stats: · Weight: 173 (Down 5 from the beginning of this adventure) · Height: 5'4" · Race: Mountain Dwarf · Goal Classes: Ranger · Activities: Weight Lifting, Running, attempting yoga Main Quest: Lose weight [40-50 lbs] and gain lots of strength, endurance and agility for weight lifting, running, climbing and life. Side Quest/Main: Run Pike's Peak Ascent - Super long ways off but I want to write it down. Diet Quest I tried paleo last time and it was great for making me eat less processed foods, but made me (and my husband) a wee bit crazy being so strict, plus I was low on carbs across the board which generally made me feel like death. So this time around I'm trying IIFYM and focusing on getting a balance of foods across the board and making sure I'm getting a little bit more carbs during the day. I still want to be eating mainly whole foods, but I'm throwing in some dairy, because I can do black coffee but its not my favorite. I'm also going to continue to keep added sugars low, but not flip out over it. Goal: Follow IIFYM Diet - with a high/low days for workouts Eat 1800 or less on workout dayEat 1400 or less on non-workout daysEat generally whole, unprocessed foodsFitness I did great last time around about getting to the gym, plus we bought barbells for our basement so I can squat and deadlift to my hearts content. My goal is to continue my progress but add in a stretching goal as I can feel things not quite working the way they need to. Goal: Workout 3x a week, with a mix of cardio and strengthDo active recovery on days not workout out for at least 30 min (walk, climb, bike)Goal: ​Stretch every day for 10 minutes. Use Mobility and Starting stretching. Bonus points for doing more than 70 minutes in a week. Level Up Your Life I loved this one, but I ended up only taking pictures of cats since they were new and moved and are generally cute. So Cats do not count this time. Has to be something different. Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome. [Cat pictures do not count.]Start 2 blog posts. Don't have to finish them but 'effing start. I'm tracking the food and exercise intake with Beeminder/IFTTT (healthy meals, Fruit and Veg, and workouts, calories consumed) and I'm also going to be using a app food tracker to track food intake and my food scale.

Wrap up: Stats: Weight: 174 ---> 172Height: 5'4"Race: Mountain Dwarf Goal Classes: RangerActivities: Weight Lifting, Running, attempting yogaLEVEL 1 REBEL CHALLENGE Diet Quest Follow Paleo DietB - 27/31No secondsA - 29/31Fitness Work out 3+ times a week, with each workout being 30+ minutes and any activity.B - 10Level Up Your Life Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome.A - 29/31This was a great challenge! I really enjoyed adding the competitions in and I'm going to do that for the next challenge. Overall I got As and Bs and I'm super happy about that for the first round. Plus I actually made it through the round!

Ok Checking in! It's been a rough week and a half emotionally and mentally but things are going. Fitness Work out 3+ times a week, with each workout being 30+ minutes and any activity.Yes! 3 times last week and Monday of this weekStretching - Sort of! It's been an every other kind of day thing (the boss annihilated me) but it's better than it was before. No SecondsYes! I'm doing really well about serving the "right amount". It might actually be a bit too much so next month's goal is mindful eating. Level Up Your Life Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome.Cats lots of cats. Very little food and that needs to change.

Ach! Check-in time. I totally ignored that alert on my phone a few days ago: Diet Quest Follow Paleo DietI've been doing exceptionally well! My only issue is that I have been getting really hungry so I may need to increase my calories a bit (I think I went too far in the extreme). As evidenced I ate my snack for the afternoon at 8 am. No secondsDoing really well at this too, I'm awesome. Fitness Last week was a bit of a bust with things popping up left and right. However, now I have an 'effing barbell and squat rack in the basement so I have no excueses ever. In fact I'm going to work out during the snow storm this weekend. That will teach the snow. Level Up Your Life Cats lots of cats. Turns out I like some cats. Boss Monster I'm doing a lot of stretching at work so I'm doing pretty well with this. Really happy with the last week. There was one day where I just broke down and was like "it's not working, I'm a failure, yadda yadda." But I didn't grab the food I did a suck it up buttercup and I've been killing it.

HP: 6/10 Total Points: 49, Level 0 Weekly Quests for this Challenge: Paleo DietNo SecondsWorkout or active recoveryPhoto a dayTotal: 0/28 Monster of the Week After leaving quickly from lake in the Plains of Ruin, I stumble into a verdant forest which my map proclaims to be the enchanted forest of Cimorene. I set up camp in a quiet spot. Soon along comes a woman that oozes confidence and danger. I share my dinner and we talk for a while, challenging each other to different feats of strength. Finally, she comes up with a challenge that may defeat me. She challenges me to do the Limber 11 (or other stretching exercise) for at least 10 minutes for a week. Friday - Saturday - Sunday -Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Boss Monster of the Week (first true boss workout) I'm starting a challenge on the side and I'm going to do a workout at the beginning and end to see improvements. The challenge is to go against Finland: The workout: 500 m row [or 400m Run or 800m bike] (i'll pick one tonight and do the same one for all three tests) 40 air squats30 sit ups 20 push ups10 pull ups (or inverted rows For time I'm going to be doing this 3 times, once in 6 weeks and once in 12 weeks and potentially keep that up for the rest of the year to see improvement. Finland and I are going to party at the gym. Time: [TBD]

Diet Quest Follow Paleo DietMonday - All good, had a perfect day (and the falafel, while not a ball was a delicious mess of yum). Tuesday - Good up until I tried to eat all the peanut butter (to be fair, only a cup was left, so not the whole jar), on the plus side I didn't eat a ton because it made me sick, but it was overkill. And it was paleo. Down side I then ate some cheese at our friends house, but in moderation. Wednesday - So far not bad at all. I even ate lunch later because I wasn't hungry yet. No secondsStill doing well, ate seconds of falafel, but I didn't eat over 80% fullness. Fitness Work out 3+ times a week, with each workout being 30+ minutes and any activity.Monday - Got on the bikeTuesday - Rest DayWednesday - I forgot about a meeting so not tonight. Plus side I get my fitbit tonight. Level Up Your Life Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome.Monday: DinnerTuesday: CatsWednesday: My friends birthday cake

We did adopt from the shelter! I'm a big fan of helping animals from the shelter and we found the two sweetest cats now named Parker and River.

Weekly Round up: Diet Quest Follow Paleo DietI did great except for today, today I filtched some chocolate chips and over ate at lunch due to emotional stuff. On the plus side I learn more of my triggers. I think I need to have "emotional bags" of things when life is just going wrong that will make me happy. No secondsKicking ass and taking names. Meal Prep for the week:Breakfast - Tuna Quinoa CasseroleLunch - Turkey ChiliDinners -Monday - Falafel Tuesday - Leftovers before Bridge Wednesday - Dinner outThursday - Honey hot chickenFriday - FishSaturday - UnknownSunday - Unknown Fitness Work out 3+ times a week, with each workout being 30+ minutes and any activity.Thursday - Got cats...and didn't work outFriday - StrongliftsSaturday - Rest daySunday - Road the bike for 30 minutes Plan for the weekMonday - StrongLiftsTuesday - RestWednesday - Rest (sadly), I might try and get on the bike early in the morning. Thursday - Squat ClinicFriday - RunSaturday - StrongLiftsSunday - RunLevel Up Your Life Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome.Thursday - CatsFriday - CatsSaturday - CatsSunday - Progress PhotosDoing pretty good!

Tracking Paleo Diet XXXXXOONo Seconds XXXXOXOWorkout or active recovery XXXXXOXPhoto a day XXXXXXXTotal 24/28 (-4 HP) Boss/Steps 1 (1/8): 50142 - 43613 - 16714 - 59285 - 76596 - 64227 - 8753Total: 39808/35000 (113%) ​DEFEATED

I came up with a quest idea to add weekly milestones to keep things interesting, in the form of boss monsters. Rules/Fine Print: Start with 10 HP, for each task that is not completed you lose 1 HP (up to 8 per week)If you have no hit points You either must take on an additional minor skirmish the next week or take on a boss. Minor Skirmishes are smaller monsters/quests that take a week to finish. Things like 5 minutes of yoga a day, weight all food for a week, getting over X distance over the week. After a quest is completed the difficulty increases (if it can be), e.g., the first time you get walk X number of steps you have to walk 35,000, the next time 40,000. Boss Monsters are one time workouts that are just difficult (basically, crossfit open/WODs) that are just going to destroy you. These must be completed at least once a month. Sometimes two depending on life. The skirmishes and bosses are randomly created by formulas and tables because I love excel and color coding. Weekly quests are things that must be done daily and 1 HP is lost for each day it is not completedLeveling consists of the total number of weekly task points (one per day per task, here, 4 tasks a day/28 per week), 25 points for boss monsters. Level 1 = 50 points, Level 2 = 100, each level after that is a hundred more than the previous one (200, 300, 400, 500, etc). Each week starts on a Friday to encourage workouts over the weekend. This is all subject to change because I'm just trying this out. Weekly Quests for this Challenge: (Must be completed 7 times over 7 days, else 1 HP is lost) Paleo DietNo SecondsWorkout or active recoveryPhoto a dayBoss monster of the Week (25) You find your self on the plains of ruin, a desolate lonely area with very little cover. You see a a small dot in the sky far overhead, circling as if awaiting your death. You trudge along the winding path and reach a lake with a few sad trees dotting along the way. You hear a cry and turn and see: The dreaded Owlctopus!! There is only one way to defeat this evil squishy head exorcist head spinning beast, by walking quickly away from it. In fact, precisely 35,000 or more steps away from it. ​DEFEATED

Read my mind! Mid week check in: Monday: Diet Quest Follow Paleo DietMonday, Tuesday and Wednesday - I did really good at work (no sneaking snacks or anything) but every night I've had one (luckily small!) thing that broke paleo. I know this is in part having leftover stuff around the house, but the fact that I haven't binged on anything and I've been able to take small amounts (cupcake tin sized) is really really good. There is room for improvement, but not bad!No secondsTotally kicking ass at this. There was one day I snuck another bite as I was putting stuff away, so I need to be careful about that, it's a life long habit that's going to be really hard to break I think. Fitness Work out 3+ times a week, with each workout being 30+ minutes and any activity.Monday - Did Strong Lifts Tuesday - Rest Day, so chilledWednesday - Had workout schedule, but got to the gym too late. Luckily I had taken an extra walk earlier in the day and got well over 10,000 steps so I'm ok with this. Level Up Your Life Take a picture a day, particularly of food to get better at taking food photos and making food look awesome.Monday: CoffeeTuesday: LunchWednesday: my beautiful new cutting board Thursday: the cats (the brand new, will be picked up from the shelter tonight cats) Over all I feel really good about the start of this challenge. Paleo could be a lot better and I need to watch sneaking food while packing or licking beaters, but this is a great start!