ohmyghost

Hi guys! I’m overwhelmed by all the positive comments to this post – in a good way! Thank you so much for all your support, even in my absence. Sorry about the novel length post I'm about to lay down here So, the reason for my radio silence! I’m not going into details, but last week I actually witnessed something pretty traumatic. I’m all good, but I basically gave myself a pass on worrying about self improvement: it was enough just focusing on getting myself back into the general swing of things and ensuring good mental health. For the first few days, I thought of even just giving up on this month and restarting next month. I'm glad I gave myself time to balance myself out, because I’m feeling back to normal, and totally ready to challenge myself again. So I’m just writing last week off as a loss, without letting myself feel guilty about it, and picking up again. Yesterday, I printed off a little template with check boxes, to keep on my bedroom wall. For things like the sugary drink “three a week†task, I want to tick off a maximum of those three boxes, and then it’s a reminder that I am done with drinks for the week. For something like the bodyweight and breakfast task, I need to tick it off at least once. I really think this visual reminder and the physical action of ticking it off will help a lot. The one thing that I did notice – apart from the first couple of days of last week – is that having decided to change my daily habits, relating to teeth (!) and sugary drinks, actually continued to carry over, even when I wasn’t focusing in on Ensuring I Hit My Target. Focusing back in on this in a concrete way should just make the results even better. I’m really positive about them! The ones I’m struggling with motivation for is the “once a week†tasks: the ‘breakfast before work’ and ‘one bodyweight workout’ ones. Because I’m not having to incorporate into my daily routine, it’s super easy to put off until the Sunday – which clearly is too late for the breakfast task – and then it’s going to be easy to make excuses for the workout, or even just to completely forget about it. That’s actually what happened on week one: I managed to complete every single task perfectly! Except the bodyweight challenge. I just put it off, and put it off, and then it was 11pm and I was in bed and went OH MY --. That’s a big part of the reason I’ve decided to actually physically write it up on my wall: clearly, I need that reminder! I actually have a late start tomorrow morning, so my plan is to wake up the same time as usual, and use those extra hours to complete that task. I would say “wish me luckâ€, but I guess that suggests I have no control over the situation. (And when it comes to waking up on time, I usually feel that way!) Anyway – thanks again for all your encouragement. It’s appreciated even more than you may realise P.S. - Yes, it looks like someone popped the assassin tag on there for me. And I don't think they were wrong - dancing, calisthenics, yoga, yes! Definitely going to check it out after the next challenge or two, when I feel like I've gotten a bit of a handle on myself Thanks for the welcome!

Thanks all for the support and the advice! Looking forward to tracking & updating my progress.

I'd love to join in, if that's okay? I'm brand new to the forums and super motivated to kick start my life. I read fewer books last year than I think I have in my entire life. Such a shame, and I'm ready to reset! I'll read anything, but I'm stoked for If the Oceans Were Ink. Yay!

Yet another one from Sydney here, too! Brand new and ready to go. Awesome to hear about the meet ups, I'll be keeping an eye out.

Hi and welcome! I'm brand new too. A few years ago I had similar difficulties with figuring out what to do at the gym. I had a mild injury to my shoulders that meant I was nervous about doing anything other than the treadmill, which hardly seemed worth it for the amount of money I was spending! I actually ended up leaving my gym earlier this year because I couldn't really afford it anymore - but with that loss of membership came a huge loss of motivation. So I really hope that being here helps you find an activity you can do, and you don't end up in the same boat. Good luck with your goals and your challenge!

Hi guys! My name's Hannah, I'm 28 years old. My sister recommended this to me as she's had a lot of fun and success with Nerd Fitness over the years, so I'm ready to give it a go. I've got a huge long list of the Person I Want To Be, and am trying to break it down to very small, very manageable chunks, so that by the end of the year I can act a bit more like that vision of myself. This is definitely the first ever health challenge I've taken and decided to be serious about, so I'm a bit nervous. To ease myself in I've decided to give myself a little theme for my quests, which is: Stop lying to yourself! DIETThe Lie: Because I don't have a set schedule for sugary drinks ("I need my 8am coffee!" "I need my afternoon soda!") I seem to think I don't really drink anything much apart from water. Of course, this is BS! Most days I'll have at least something, whether it's a milk tea, a sweet iced tea, a coke, whatever. Pretty sure that doesn't count.The Fix: Swap out sugary drinks. Instead, opt for soda water with fruit pieces & tea. This will swap my intake of anything apart from the above and water to a maximum of three a week. The Lie: I eat breakfast! Okay, usually it's four hours after I've woken up. After I've gotten to work. After the day's started. And it's half a slice of banana bread from the nearest cafe, instead of the apple I have sitting in the fruit bowl at home waiting for me. They're basically the exact same thing.The Fix: Have breakfast before leaving the house at least once a week. FITNESSThe Lie: I walk to and from work every day so that's pretty much a thorough workout. Right?The Fix: Complete the NF bodyweight workout at least once a week. LIFE The Lie: I'm an adult. I totally brush my teeth properly. Shoving my toothbrush in and wiggling it around a bit totally does the trick.The Fix: Actually brush my teeth for a thorough two minutes twice daily.