MintyFresh

Day 20... Food is fuel, not life. Life is muay thai and mobility: 1. Tracking food every day: I've been doing this even though I've been on vacation for like a week and a half. Looking forward to detoxing when I get home! 2. No consumption of dairy products for the entire challenge: I refocused after my previous check-in and did great until last night when I said yes to a sticky toffee pudding with sweet cream gelato. I didn't touch the stuff today, so I'm back on track already. 3. Go to Muay Thai 4 nights per week: I've been away from my gym but I have hiked, lifted or ran each day of vacation so I've kept up there! Woohoo! 4. Improve joint health with this routine every morning: this routine is so great! I wish I could get my family into it with me because I just feel so awake after I do this! Being creative and financially wise: 1. End the challenge with $40 worth of a cushion in my checking account: This is looking more possible! 2. Write 4 short stories (2 pages or so, really short!) by the end of the challenge. I've been focusing on a 10-minute play script, and the deadline for that is in a week plus change so I'll keep plugging away on writing!

Day 12...I'm not dead yet! Food is fuel, not life. Life is muay thai and mobility: 1. Tracking food - I've been bad about this since Thursday 2/11. Getting back on the horse by entering all that I've eaten today! 2. No consumption of dairy products - definitely need to refocus on this, I've been on vacation since Friday so I've let these first two goals slide. 3. Go to Muay Thai 4 nights per week - I've done well on this; I took my friend for an hour lesson with a badass Muay Thai fighter yesterday so kept on track there despite being away from my gym! 4. Improve joint health with this routine every morning - I'm on track here too; just doing these little 5-10 minutes of exercises makes me feel so much more limber! Being creative and financially wise: 1. End the challenge with $40 worth of a cushion in my checking account - I'm on track with this, I can't believe it! I've been inspired while visiting my friend cause I swear she's part Vulcan - she makes a budget and sticks to it like it ain't no thang, so I'm hopeful that I can take some of that good sense home with me! 2. Write 4 short stories (2 pages or so, really short!) by the end of the challenge - I have one story done and am ready to start the next one. I'm also working on a 10-minute play with a friend so I think I can count that toward this goal! All in all, I haven't been doing terribly but I know there are pieces I've dropped over the last few week. Time to keep all of the pins in the air and really hunker down to succeed at this challenge! How's it going for all of you?

Checking in on Day 4 Food is fuel, not life. Life is muay thai and mobility: 1. Tracking food and drinks in MyFitnessPal - I've been very consistent with this and realized I wasn't eating enough. Woohoo for noticing things! 2. No consumption of dairy products for the entire challenge. So far, so good 3. Go to Muay Thai 4 nights per week, even if I'm not feeling it. Been good on this, one day the gym was closed due to snow but I made up for it 4. Improve joint health with this routine every morning. I'll be focusing on this more because I haven't been consistent yet. Being creative and financially wise: 1. End the challenge with $40 worth of a cushion in my checking account. This one is looking difficult, hopefully I'll be able to come around! No coop for me this week, I'll be grocery shopping at Aldi lol. 2. Write 4 short stories (2 pages or so, really short!) by the end of the challenge. Haven't even sat down to write yet. This and the joint health routine will be the focus for me over the next few days!

Did you break into my mind and steal my challenge Mitch Dee? Goals 1, 3, and 4 specifically. I'm in the same boat, let's row together!

Hey Malcontent, welcome back to the Monks from a new recruit. Those bodyweight exercises look fascinating, I'm going to start using the Phrakture joint mobility exercises in the morning. Good luck on your challenge!

Thanks Kishi! As regards my knee, it doesn't impede my ability to train but I have noticed some differences in how I throw certain techniques (knees especially). So I've had to almost start from square 1 on those techniques, which is frustrating because I can remember how well I used to do them, you know? I'll know for next time that I can spice up my description of my challenge! I love that Cello Wars video you posted in yours! Good luck, here's to a successful day 3.

Those Ukrainian dancers are amazing! Midwestern American here saying hey, we've dug out of the snow but more is on the way today! I'm newish to the forums, tried before but I'm not great at keeping up with all the posts!

Hey fellow Rebels, I'm MintyFresh and I'm addicted to Muay Thai. I'm 10 months into knee surgery recovery but over the last few weeks I've just gotten discouraged. Hopefully this 4-week challenge will help me boost the excitement and start making meaningful progress again! Food is fuel, not life. Life is muay thai and mobility: 1. I got down on myself when I had a couple months of really poor, emotional eating and stopped paying attention to what was in my diet. I will track every day during the challenge, no matter what, because I just need to be honest about how I'm fueling myself. 2. No consumption of dairy products for the entire challenge. It does mean, nasty things to my cardio so I just can't go there! 3. Go to Muay Thai 4 nights per week, even if I'm not feeling it. It's hard to go when I'm feeling like The Blerch but the less I go, the more blerchy I become! 4. Improve joint health with this routine every morning. Being creative and financially wise: 1. End the challenge with $40 worth of a cushion in my checking account. It's not much I know, but damn if it doesn't feel impossible at this point in my life. I'm slowly climbing out of a bit of debt so succeeding in this will make me feel like I can make it! 2. Write 4 short stories (2 pages or so, really short!) by the end of the challenge. They don't have to be good, but I am sharing them with my 14 year old brother, so hopefully they're angsty and emo enough for him! What are your goals? How can we help each other? Also, here's my character: https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/39433.

Checking in on Day 5...I didn't study yesterday since I went up north to visit family & that trip takes all freaking day. About to get to it this evening though, so 4/5 days isn't bad! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a similar struggle with the evening hours, except my danger zone is kind of 6-12, depending how late I allow myself to stay up. Are you looking for any buddies to message with to help you stay on track? I am! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Checking in on Day 3... Last night I listened to the story twice as I was falling asleep. I tried to pick out a couple of key words to say along with her to work on pronunciation. Today I read the story out loud, not along with the audio. I read it through one time completely, then went back over the paragraphs with the really long words. 3 for 3 study days! Yay!

I'm just going to reply to this thread each day to keep track of how I did. I listened to an Ojibwemowin story three times today, reading along with it once. I picked out one unusual conjugation of a verb that I recognized to remember and texted my friend, who is keeping me accountable, to tell her what I thought it was. As I said, I kind of suck at studying language at home, so I'm just going to monkey around for the first couple of weeks by focusing on one story at a time. First I want to just understand the gist of it, then I want to go through for grammar patterns and new vocabulary, then I want to use it as "inspiration" for a short story, or maybe just write a summary of it, if I feel like being boring. So, a great Day 1 on the books. Woop woop!

Thanks Hazard, your stats are amazing! Good luck with your challenge too!

Hey Rebels, I'm keeping my Main Quest really simple, because I really want to succeed in this one area! I got inspired to do this by Steve's latest entry about doing something you suck at. Language study on my own is definitely something I suck at, so I hope I can improve over the next 6 weeks. Definitely looking for support & to find some buddies who are also leveling up in their lives! MintyFresh Main Quest: Improve my fluency in Ojibwemowin (an indigenous language of Minnesota) Goals to get me there: 1. Study for 15-30 minutes daily for 6 weeks. 2. Make one phone call/video chat to an Ojibwemowin speaker per week throughout the challenge. 3. Write a short story (3-4 paragraphs) once a week, check it with a more advanced learner if possible.

I looked for the post it with no luck. I'm imagining a string of them saying "DANGER!" Also noticed that you're getting into kickboxing/MMA-that's awesome! I've been doing Muay Thai and kickboxing for about a year now and it's one of the best things to ever happen to me. Look forward to hearing about how you like it (or love it ) !

YES! This is what I will do, and you guys are awesome. Good luck today everyone!

Thanks joedog! Look forward to hearing from someone else who uses MFP.

So I didn't have the greatest day today. I had a two-hour work meeting that turned into an all-day meeting and I was unprepared so when I got out of my meeting, I freaking chowed down on all this junk food I bought when I stopped to fill up my car at the gas station on the way home. So my main quest got shunted to the side this afternoon. Here's my game plan for moving forward from today: I'm going to write up a healthy menu for the rest of the week then go grocery shopping/visit the farmer's market tomorrow I'm gonna ask my friend if she wants to run after Muay Thai tomorrow night to make up for the workout I didn't do todaySo that's about it. I'm not going to beat myself up but I am going to try to take steps to prevent this sort of food-fueled meltdown in the future!

Oh okay, cool! To join a group, I went to this Google Doc to sign up https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnL943o3CTUvdFd4NWpFcnZnMzJFWjVDRVczVUpaakE&usp=sharing then I found the team in the Forums. I haven't figured out what to do about being part of a team yet but I signed up for one in the hopes that it'll keep me motivated! Good luck to you, feel free to add me.

Hope you're all doing well! I love the excitement and energy I'm seeing around here. I'm already struggling but I'm not ready to give up! I had a two-hour work meeting today that turned into an all-day meeting and I only brought one snack with me (an apple, so ALL my sugar for the day in one fell fruit). I ended up totally binging on junk food I picked up at the gas station when I stopped to fill up & was just starving as I scanned the aisles. So I was over double for my calorie intake today and felt junk-food-sick so I skipped my workout tonight in favor of a Face Off mini-marathon. I'm not giving up though, my strategy is to hit up the grocery store first thing in the morning (after I have my berry smoothie) with a list that I'm gonna write up tonight. I'm also thinking about making my MyFitnessPal diaries public and posting them on my challenge blog...but I'm feeling a little shy about that because I know that I don't eat as well as I should...that's why I'm here... Good luck everyone, thanks for letting me vent!

Hey everyone, I'm excited to join the team! Snacking is one of my main downfalls, especially sweets and ice cream. I'm heading to the grocery store tonight with some of the awesome snack suggestions you've posted so far so thanks for the support already! Here's my challenge: http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/34479-mintyfresh-reporting-for-duty/ Look forward to rocking this challenge with all of you!

Whoa, the backpacking trip sounds fun! What do you mean by running intervals? I've never done intervals, always been a little shy to try them. I'm getting back into running myself, good luck with your challenge!

Main Quest: Clean up my eating habits so that I'm staying at or just under what it recommends on the MyFitnessPal app I just started using. I didn't realize how imbalanced my diet is-I started tracking what I ate last week just to see why I've gained about 8 pounds this summer and I'm way over on calories every day and I'm getting too much of some vitamins while I'm woefully lacking in other areas. I want to balance things out and get back to eating to live, rather than living to eat! I'm having trouble adjusting the categories tracked on MyFitnessPal though...I want to avoid processed foods like bread and pasta but their tracker is geared toward the Food Pyramid recommendations. Anybody have suggestions on how to change this or for other good (free) diet-tracking apps that are customizable? Super-specific goals to help me achieve the Main Quest: 1. Track whatever I eat (and why I eat it) using MyFitnessPal or a similar food-tracking app every day 2. Go grocery shopping once a week when I'm not hungry and with a list in hand based off a weekly menu I create. 3. Work out 5 days a week for about an hour and work standing up at my counter rather than sitting all day. Life Side Quest: spend less than $10/week on meals out for just 6 weeks This is one of my biggest unnecessary spending areas right now and I used to make it a game to stay under that cap but I just got lazy over the last couple years. This will also help me save money so I can buy gear for my Fitness Side Quest.) Fitness Side Quest: attend Muay Thai and Kickboxing classes 5 nights per week By the end of this challenge, I want to feel comfortable enough to ask my coach if I can join the invite-only Thursday sparring classes. I've been doing Muay Thai and kickboxing for just over a year now and feel like I'm almost ready to level up! I'm looking forward to participating and dominating in my first ever challenge. Let's do this guys!

Oh yeah, give it time, you'll see a lot of changes! It takes me at least a few weeks to start seeing any difference in appearance. And that's a year or so into maintaining a weight removal that trimmed enough fat to finally give me some muscle tone. Keep up that lifting!

Way to go!