JuniperBlossom

Love your hobby themed posts! I would love to see some of your work! Another book series you might like is The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's kind of a Harry Potter for adults. Best of luck!

Yeah, goldfish are pretty addictive! I try to tell myself I don't like them, but somehow I always end up eating handful after handful. I'm not sure I can go for over an hour at this point, but burpees might work out. I mean, they're awful, but they do make me feel like a badass, which is kind of the point! Thanks!

Hi Guys! This is my second challenge. My first started well, then crashed and burned due to sickness and little ones who just wouldn't sleep! I ended up at about a 75% success rate for my fitness goals. I think I can crush that this time! This round is all about ditching the mommy habits - the wine, the leftovers, the "just one bite" of whatever they're eating. A little bit about me: I'm a thirty something SAHM mother of 2 little girls (1 and 3 if you're curious). I love me some Harry Potter, Labyrinth, BSG, Dr. Who, Sherlock, Firefly, and Star Trek. I've been referring to Wil Wheaton as my nerdy celebrity boyfriend for about a decade now. Fitness goals - Hot yoga once a week and bodyweight workout twice a week. Previously I was trying to squeeze this in before the kids woke up, getting up at 5:00AM, however, this only works if they sleep perfectly, which hasn't happened much lately. I'm going to try workout out at 9:00 PM or so instead. This isn't terribly ideal, as it winds me up before bed, but I'm going to try it and see what happens. Nutriton goals - 1. Wine only once per week, and only 2 glasses. I love wine, but it screws up my sleep, makes me feel too lazy to clean up after dinner, and makes me HUNGRY! I don't know why, but when I drink wine I want to EAT ALL THE THINGS!!! 2. No more snacking on the kids leftovers or eating "kid food" like granola bars or goldfish crackers. Seriously, I don't know why I even do this, it doesn't even taste that good! Reward- If I complete all 12 workouts I get this luscious nail polish! Good luck to all!

here's my post-mortem: I get a 75% for my fitness goals, or 9/12 workouts. The first two weeks I crushed it, the third week I did 2/3 workouts, and the fourth week I did 1/3. This was due to my kids being sick and not sleeping, then I was sick as well. Nutrition went well and cleaning went ok. Overall, I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to meet my fitness goals, but I'm trying to accept that during this season of my life things will happen in fits and starts, and the main thing to focus on is continuing to make it a priority to keep trying. Next challenge starts tomorrow for me! I'm planning on sticking with the same fitness goals, however, my knees are complaining a lot with all of those lunges (previous injury) so I'm going to look for a body weight routine that meets these needs.

Well, no nail polish reward for me this challenge! I did go to yoga once last week, but I only did BBWW once and I didn't clean much. My kids had really bad colds and were up a ton at night, so my husband and I have been at newborn levels of sleep deprivation for a bit. I was tempted to push through to get my last workout in, but I know from experience that those 45 extra minutes of potential sleep make a huge difference. Things seem to be on the upswing, though, so I'm hoping to make my goals for this last week, and there is always next challenge!

Following! It's awesome that you found a solution when things weren't going your way when things weren't working. I look forward to hearing how you like martial arts!

Just a quick check-in today. I was really nervous about meeting my fitness goals with family in town, however, my guests unexpectedly have similar goals! We worked out this morning (BBWW ftw!) and they want to yoga with me on Saturday. Yay! This is the first time I've entered into a challenge with a specific reward in mind, and I'm finding that it is way more motivating than I thought! The idea of not getting that nail polish really bothers me, so I'm making much more of an effort than I normally would. I will have to start thinking of more rewards for the future!

Kirby R - thanks for the info! My yoga studio advertises that they do the full Bikram style, but I haven't really researched it enough to know how authentic they really are. I went to a power yoga class last night that was amazing! She totally kicked my butt! It was a great workout and I felt so blissed out by the end! I'll definitely have to get to that class again! Today I went to the gym with my workout buddy. She wanted to do a different body weight workout, so we tried that one instead. We got to the gym earlier and so got a bit more work done this time. I also was able to take a few hours and meet my cleaning goal for the week, yay! I'm a bit concerned about next week. We have visitors for the second half of the week, so my husband has to work extra in the beginning of the week to get the time off. As a result, I won't have much childcare to fit everything in. I'll make it happen somehow though, I want that nail polish!

Well, it sounds like you're doing pretty well overall! The workout and improved snacking sound like some good progress! Keep us posted!

Bonjour! I second listening to Notre Dame de Paris! Les Dix Commandements is also an awesome French musical. It sounds like you have some great goals lined up. Good luck!

Love your tracker and backstory! Following!

That dog is hilarious! LOL, I can imagine the google results for "hot yoga" are pretty intense. I hope you weren't at work! Hot yoga, aka Bikram, is a practice where the room is heated to roughly 115 degrees Farenheit and the poses are done in the same order each time.

Checking in! Day 1 went pretty well! I enjoyed my first day with my workout buddy, however, we only got through 1 rep of BBWW before we ran out of time. We will have to plan better next time. I did quite a bit of food prep, I cut up veg for my daily lunch salads, made some mini meat loaves for dinner with extra to freeze, marinated some chicken for dinner tonight, and prepped a crockpot Mexican chicken recipe for later in the week. Today is kind of a low-key day since DH is working overnight, although the kids did nap at the same time (yay for the much sought after dual nap!) so I got a head start on my weekly cleaning. Tomorrow is yoga day, either Bikram (hot yoga) or power, depending on how the timing works out, as well as some cleaning. Anyone else do hot yoga? I usually do power yoga, but I tried a hot class a few weeks ago and I really like. I do wonder if I'll get bored since it's the same poses in the same order every class. We will see!

Great goals! I love the idea of being a Renaissance Man (or Woman). There are so many interesting things to learn and do! Do you have any particular books mind? I haven't read anything in ages and I'm always looking for a good recommendation!

I love your setup! What a fun way to gamify your goals! I love that you picked goals that make sense to you right where you are. I look forward to following your quest.

I'm so excited for the week ahead! This last week has gone well. I spent about an hour and half biking a nice trail with my husband and the girls in trailers a few days ago, and today we spent quite a while walking outdoors (I live in Florida, BTW). I was very tempted to get takeout on the way home today, as we were out much later than expected, but we had some doctored leftovers that suited us fine! Tomorrow morning at 5:00 is my first session with my gym buddy. I'm quite nervous as I haven't done the BBWW in a few months and you never know how the baby will sleep, but I'm hopeful! Good luck to all! PS. I think I've decided on a reward for completing this challenge successfully - this gorgeous green nail polish!

Wow! That dress looks awesome!

Wow! It looks like you've already made some great progress!

That sounds like so much fun!

Good luck! I hear you on having your family's treats around to tempt you. I keep Goldfish and other salty snacks around for my kids and sometimes it's all I can do to stop myself from eating the whole bag!

Hi! Sounds like a plan! I look forward to following your progress. I looove oatmeal! If you're looking for a new recipe, I'd be happy to recommend a few!

Sounds like you have a solid plan! What is the Goblin Ball? Is it Labyrinth related?

Hi There! I’m Juniper, a 30-something SAHM to 2 little girls, ages 1 and 3. Motherhood has left me a bit more jiggly than I’d like. I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight fairly quickly, but things are not quite where I left them, so to speak, so I’m looking to firm up a bit. I’d also like to be able to keep up with my girls when we’re playing outside. I live in central Florida, so right now is the perfect time to play outdoors, but I find myself huffing and puffing trying to keep up with them. Overall, I’m looking to establish the fitness habit and figure out how to fit workouts into my day. Nutrition goals: I’m actually a Registered Dietitian, so overall healthy eating is pretty routine, but there are a few areas I need to be a little more diligent. No more “lazy meals.” Do my meal planning/prep every week to avoid getting nasty takeout or quick throw-together meals because I don’t have time to make a proper meal. Fitness goals: Pretty simple, yoga once a week and BBWW twice per week. I have a new workout buddy and we’re going to try to get up early and workout together twice a week. The main problem I’ve been encountering with this is my 1 year old’s sleep habits. I strongly prefer to get up in the morning and workout, but this isn’t so easily accomplished when the baby has me up at 5:00 AM. Life goals: I’ve been working on establishing a cleaning routine. I do one main cleaning (dusting, floors, bathrooms) once a week and a deeper, rotating zone cleaning once per week as well. My goal is just to continue this. Thanks for reading! I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you!