The Chameleon

I like to do my gym workouts first thing in the morning. It's not always easy to get out of bed (especially now that it's cold), but I know that working out in the morning makes the rest of my day go such much better. My best strategy, though, is to sleep in my workout gear. Even if I get up and start doing other things in the morning, it's like I can't take a shower or change my clothes without first going to the gym...

Love this idea. I do something similar occasionally... when I find myself overcome by cravings, I know I need to work a little more pleasure into my life

Just got home from 2.5 days of conferencing for work. It was great, but I'm an introvert and feel completely disoriented by all the mingling. Week 1 went great in terms of my goals. The only one I missed my target for was going to bed early. I've already given more compliments and encouragement in one week than I set as a goal for myself all month! So maybe I'm not so bad at that after all! All of that said, I am sort of questioning whether these are the right goals for me. I've been following the NF Academy for about 4 months and had been following the blog for 3 months before that. So I have a pretty solid routine of lifting three times a week, eating mostly Paleo, etc. Before this challenge started, I'd spent several weeks here and there tracking my food and/or watching my macros very closely. But I have some history with disorder eating, so I have to be careful with that kind of thing. I wanted to use this 4-week challenge to build on the good habits that I've already developed. But I'm finding that focusing on my challenge goals makes it a little easier to cheat on those habits that I'd developed (which are not explicit goals here). Decision-fatigue, I guess. Mostly, I'm worried that I'm falling off the Paleo wagon a bit, because tracking food is not one of my goals. I've been pretty disciplined about the Paleo diet for a while but was getting kind of tired of all the tracking. Now that food isn't an explicit goal, I feel myself having more cravings and wanting to indulge in all the things I haven't been indulging in these past several months. I suppose this might just be some backlash or whiplash or something from all that tracking I was doing. I know in the long term, I want to find balance: eating Paleo as much as possible, while still indulging in some sugars and carbs when I want and within reason. What's tricky is finding the right balance so that I'm not feeling deprived and then wanting to indulge, if that makes sense. Thoughts? Go to Bed Early 16.67%16.67% Walk More 25%25% Fast in the Morning 37.5%37.5% Compliment or Encourage Someone 125%125%

Whoa! You got drunk, actually thought about your workout schedule, and then *did* some squats? I'm impressed.

Have you tried bringing a lemon or two to work? I've been drinking green tea more regularly. Even if I brew it exactly according to the directions, it always tastes bitter. Adding a squeeze of lemon (you could do a squirt from one of those prepared lemon juice things, too) makes all the difference! Just a tiny bit of fructose and it adds some complexity.

Sounds like you're off to a great start!

I'm also afraid of heights! Actually, I've heard that most climbers are and/or that climbing can make people afraid of heights. That said, I'm not exactly a climber. I went once recently and someone took this badass picture of me. It's something that's been on my list to do more regularly, especially since I met nice people there and I'm living abroad in a place where I could use some more friends. As for the fear of heights... I find I'm fine as long as I'm climbing and looking up. It's just when I have to let go of the wall or look down that the fear kicks in. For my 29th birthday two years ago, I went bungee jumping *specifically* because I wanted to get over my fear of heights. It helped a little bit.

Sorry for the silence! It's been a *busy* week! I just use the Health app on my iPhone to track steps. I like it well enough because I haven't seen another tracker that I'd want to wear, and while I don't always have my iPhone on me, it does the job well enough. I'm happy to say I've been killing it walking this week. Might not make my goal of getting to bed early 3 nights, but we'll see. I have a friend staying with me for a few days, so that's kind of thrown off my bedtime routine... Have also given not one but three (!) compliments. And I already fasted twice, so this week is going really well. Wednesday night I had a pretty difficult conversation with a friend and ended up eating my emotions afterwards. But it could have been worse, and the next day I fasted in the morning and ate very conservatively. Onwards and upwards! Thanks for checking in!

Double post. Sorry!

I had trouble with mobility, as well. Still do. After reading a bunch online, I found this article and accompanying videos to be really helpful. Squats are still the diciest for me... I worry about my knees and hamstrings. But doing these kinds of exercises regularly has helped, and I'm *slowly* adding weight I hear you. I work from home two days a week, which makes it easier. I make myself a green tea with some lemon and focus on writing and work for a few hours. The reason I'm trying to work up to 1pm is because that's when we typically eat lunch together at work. I'm trying to work up to being able to fast on office days, too.

Is there room for me, too? I love this approach and feel like my goals for this (my first) challenge are pretty modest. Main Quest Lose fat. I want to lose 2 inches from my body measurements (neck, chest, waist, hips, biceps, thighs, calves). My Big WhyI want to set an example for others in my life that it’s possible to change. 3 Diet and Fitness Goals that Will Get Me ThereGo to bed early (by 10pm at least 3 days a week) Walk more (7,000 steps per day OR 49,000 steps per week) Fast in the morning (twice a week… until 12pm and maybe even 1pm) Leveling Up My Life GoalGive a compliment, piece of encouragement, or positive reinforcement to someone once each week. Has to be in person or over the phone (though I promise to be supportive to accountabilibuddies and others online, too! I just think I'm already pretty good at that...)

This is my first challenge, and I'm using it to focus on losing fat. I already have pretty good habits: eating 80% paleo and following the barbell workouts 3 days a week. But I'm looking to maintain that muscle as I lose some fleshiness. My Main Quest Lose 2 inches from my body measurements (neck, chest, waist, hips, biceps, thighs, calves) 3 Diet and Fitness Goals that Will Get Me ThereGo to bed early (by 10pm at least 3 days a week) Walk more (7,000 steps per day OR 49,000 steps per week) Fast in the morning (twice a week… until 12pm and maybe even 1pm)Leveling Up My Life Goal Give a compliment, piece of encouragement, or positive reinforcement to someone once each week. Has to be in person or over the phone. Thanks in advance for solidarity, support, and advice!

Welcome! I'm new to these forums, too, and have similar goals. I started lifting back in June and have struggled particularly with squats: I worked my way up to 80 or 100lbs pretty quickly, but then my hamstrings started getting gnarly. They were always super tight, and no amount of stretching seemed to help. Then my knees started giving me trouble. Through some experimentation and observation, I figured out it was my squats, so I went back to square one, trying to work on form without a lot of weight. It took 3-4 months of reading on these forums and more generally online, but I finally figured out that my poor hip and ankle flexibility was preventing good squat form. This article and its accompanying videos were a lifesaver! I started working on my flexibility and found that, slowly, I could start adding weight to my squats without any repercussions for my knees and hams. I'm still only squatting 80 pounds at the most, but I'm hoping to improve on that during this 4-week challenge. This is just to say that, while I'm no doctor, you might not have to give up on squats entirely. Look for advice here and elsewhere online about how to protect the nerves in your neck when you squat. Don't worry about weight. Just focus on form and keeping pain at bay. Here's hoping you can be squatting 150 by this time next year Feel free to friend me, too!