Jen of Arc

One of my favorite Shel Silverstein Poems: If you're a bird, be an early bird, And catch the worm for your breakfast plate. Yes, if you're a bird, be an early, early bird, But if you're a worm, sleep late!

Thanks, Lou186000 . . . Yes, things are going well! Only one week in, but we gotta keep it going. I'll check out your posts ASAP.

Battle statistics for the 20th and 21st of September in the year of our Lord 2015: Beginner bodyweight workout three days per week? Nay. Forthwith, Jen of Arc shall venture onto the BBWW battlefield on the morrow. With fear and trembling, she also prepareth to meet the Dread Bathroom Scale and its slippery ally, Sir Tape Measure, to be battled every Tuesday, for God and Queen 6-Week Challenge. 30 minute walk daily? Yea. Sunday, the Holiest of days, Jen of Arc walketh accompanied by Sir Spacecraftman for a full hour whilst the sun was at its highest peak in the heavens and moisture stood in the air like a noxious fog sent from the Evil One himself. Perspiration floweth freely from her pores, and she was sore overheated. Yea, though she walked through the valley of the 95 degrees and 95% humidity, she feared no evil, for the cooling waters of her pool awaited. Verily, she changeth not into a swimsuit after her walk, but threw off her shoes and jumpeth right into the holy waters clad in her walking battle armor. Huzzah! On Monday, a great victory was Jen of Arc's when she defeated her 30-minute walk before the hour of 9 a.m.! This giveth her great energy throughout the day and enableth her to accomplish many feats of valor. Whole foods/no sugar before 5 p.m., no snacks after dinner? Yea. Jen of Arc continueth to reign victorious over this foe! Its effectiveness for throwing off encumbrances in the form of extra pounds, however, remains an enigma. Write 3-4K words or edit for 8 hours daily? Yea. Jen of Arc realizeth that her goal is a narrow one, for she forgetteth to include research within her oath. Notwithstanding this error, Jen of Arc slayeth many hours of productive research on Monday, and to this, she proclaimeth, "Victory is mine!" Jen of Arc now boasts a cursory knowledge of the "Civil Rights Movement" in American History. What heroes and villains existeth in the history of this nation! From those heroes she drew much inspiration and she now shouts, "To WAR!"

I hope everyone is Leveling-UP this weekend! I survived my first major restaurant temptations last night, and did okay. No dessert, BUT lots of fries.

Battle statistics for the 19th of September in the year of our Lord 2015: Beginner bodyweight workout three days per week? Yea. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday -- What madness is this? After facing, and succumbing to foes innumerable in the form of Poutine Fries and ale most seductive of the Blue Moon variety, Jen of Arc proceedeth to battle her BBWW at 9:30 p.m.! Victory was hers, but at what cost? Whilst, late into the night, she slayed squats and struggled against pushups (of which she left FIVE on the field, unchallenged), Jen of Arc's mighty warrior spouse, Sir Spacecraftman, who had been away, battling engineering dragons for six days in the far off realm of Denver, lay sleeping in her bed, unaccompanied. Whether it was nobler to keep her oaths to Queen 6-week Challenge or to cast her vows aside and join her husband in wedded bliss, Jen of Arc could not divine. Alas, Sir Spacecraftman leaveth agayne on Monday for the evil realm of Houston, Texas, where he will surely conquer Component Design Reviews with valor. Jen of Arc continues to struggle most ignominiously with prioritizing her quests. 30 minute walk daily? Yea. Saturday--Jen of Arc's late-night (8:45 p.m.) battles must come to an end! Armed with flashlight and reflective straps, Jen of Arc once agayne defeated the 30-minute walk on the dark streets of her village. Alas, as she trekketh into the night with gladness, knowing her vows were being kept, she longeth for a better battle plan--one that will lead to victory over her daily walk by 9 a.m., the benefits of which have been shown by magicians and wisemen alike. Whole foods/no sugar before 5 p.m., no snacks after dinner? Yea. Jen of Arc findeth this goal a small sacrifice when she knows frivolity and carousing await after 5 p.m. And despite the temptations many during the night, dessert had not the power to coerce her. To victory! Write 3-4K words or edit for 8 hours daily? Nay. This oath applyest only to workdays.

Whaaa? Oh, that is Class-C Craptastic. I hope everyone is okay. Sending you magical power vibes from the Space Coast.

I can't believe I'm still here after 5 whole days. Usually I bail on self-improvement kicks by end of day 3. Could it be the magical powers being sent to me by the creative minds in the Writer's Guild? I think so. Saint Jen's blessings be unto you all this weekend.

Great story. Looking forward to more. I haven't decided on any characters, etc., yet. May not until I get some of my professional writing finished. Meanwhile, loving the Writers Guild.

Peace, Love and Level-Up to you all this weekend! Why let the day of the week sabotage your goals? Become master of your weekend. Saturday and Sunday, we aren't afraid of you. Bring it.

Final paperwork for our foster license will be signed today, which means we could have little people in our house as soon as Tuesday. I hope my whole health/life goals don't fly out the window. I want this challenge to have results, even small results will do. Today is BBWW day for me, but I have plans to go to Red Robin with my husband and a friend tonight. I'm already thinking about those fries and it's only 9 a.m. Please send me willpower vibes. A few fries won't break any of my goals, but Unlimited Red Robin Fries--that's a foe most horrific and mighty!

Oh, Dearie. I'm sorry you had one of those frustrating workouts. I have had those. I tried "Slim in Six" once, and there was an exercise in the first workout where I was to lie on my stomach, tighten all my butt and back muscles, and lift up my straight arms and legs as high as I could. I couldn't do it at all! I looked like a beached whale, barely moving, then randomly flopping about on the floor. It was so awkward that I started laughing at how ridiculous it was, and I just turned off the video and said FU Slim in Six lady in your stupid leotard. Next time will be better, I think!

Yes, I promise you that salad is not worth a thousand pounds. That's insane. The time in life I enjoyed salad the most was when I was growing most of the greens and veg myself. That was satisfying and the salad tasty better fresh. But I haven't started a garden here in Florida yet. I know it seems like it would be easy here, but not so. There are many pests and plant diseases lurking in the sub-tropical zone, so I haven't been brave enough to join that battle yet. Meanwhile, sometimes I do raw veggie sticks for snack, and that's a lot like salad, without those pesky leaves.

Today's battle statistics: Beginner bodyweight workout three days per week? Yea. On Tuesday, and Thursday. -- Whilst Jen of Arc took her rest day Friday, her thighs cryest not out in pain as badly as they did on Thursday, despite journeys most numerous up and down the stairs. This, she counteth joyfully as evidence of progress most glorious, Amen. 30 minute walk daily? Yea. Friday--Late to battle, Jen of Arc walked not onto the field until the hour of 9:30 p.m. A crescent moon hung low in the heavens, and darkness surrounded her, yet she bravely achieved her goal, carrying within her the knowledge that her efforts would help the Avengers slay the Snackless Monster on Habitica.com. Unbeknownst to her, the monster lay dead since 5 p.m. Whole foods/no sugar before 5 p.m., no snacks after dinner? Yea. Jen of Arc naileth it. Write 3-4K words or edit for 8 hours daily? Nay. Alas, only 2,500 words Jen of Arc penned to parchment this day. Distractions will be slain on the morrow!

Bleh, I agree with you, Ducki, I hate salad. The jars are pretty and all, but there's no denying the fact that there's leaves and vegetables in there. I guess I need to be further into my 6-week challenge before I start forcing myself to eat that stuff. I buy it and it just goes bad in my fridge. Sad!

Yah, I don't know what other people are doing, but I'm using my daily Battle Log to track my 6-week challenge progress, but then I think if I want to "discuss" issues I'm having, I'll do it here in Recruits. Also, I think the idea of the Juice Bar is to sort of keep the newer people and hot discussions in one place. In general, forums are messy and all over the place, no matter what site you go to. I'm learning to go with the flow. Welcome, BTW!!

Welcome! Is it the weekend? When did that happen?! Onward to victory!

Welcome and good luck! I'm all about the elusive military pushup. My arms are like, "You're funny. We see what you're trying to do here . . . and . . . it ain't gunna happen."

Ha! I know, yesterday I was wondering if pumpkin pie counts as a vegetable. I love brussels sprouts, but only if they are fried with bacon!

Yes, 3-4K words. I have been working on this outline/skeleton for almost a year, so that's why the words come so quick. I know exactly what I'm going to write, so it just comes out. It takes me about 8 hours, so it really only amounts to 2 pages (250 wds) per hour. The quantity will slow down when I start to go back and make it pretty. I wouldn't want anyone to read it now--it's verbal vomit.

I think you will find 10K is a pretty big goal when you're not hiking. On a regular weekend, I'm doing well if I get in 7,000 steps, just from doing housework, etc. It's great for your cardiovascular health to walk 10K! But, I don't think the end result will be the same as doing the BBWW, since muscles burn more fat in the long run. Of course, you'll definitely benefit from so many steps--just in a different way. I'd say your first challenge should give you plenty of leeway to learn your best goals. We beginners are a bit clueless about setting goals. Kudos for your adaptation!

Hey Ladies, I forgot to mention, when we were talking about being sedentary for work, that I use this free App on my Mac: http://www.dejal.com/timeout/ It has a timer that will bring up a screen to make you take breaks (you decide the duration of the break) at intervals that you set. I set mine for 20 minutes, because of what I read about sitting longer than that. It also does those 15-second breaks where you are encouraged to look away from your screen and focus on something else. I like it a lot, especially when I'm doing a marathon writing day, like today. But there are some days when I disable it, because I don't want to deal with it. It can be annoying at first, but after a while, you can tell how different your cardiovascular system works when you don't hunker down for too long at a time. When I take the breaks, I notice that I have more energy all day, and don't even need my 3 p.m. caffeine fix. Go figure. I guess it's metabolism. I don't know if it is available on PC. Probably. Okay, love ya, bye bye...

Sending you happy thoughts for today...can't wait to hear about how belly dancing goes. When in doubt, shake it!

Some positive self-talk for today... At any given moment, you have the power to say, "This is not how the story is going to end." I love that!

Sending you power vibes today. Bzzzzzzzzzz. (Apparently that's what power vibes sound like. Ha.) Anyway, level up!