Tala

Well nerds, here I am at the end of my first week. I'd rate it a solid B+. I stuck to 90% of my goals and feel inspired enough to continue on next week! Sword fighting was a mixed bag. I feel confident holding the sword in my left hand for sure, but my fighting was pretty average, as was my level of fitness/endurance. That was disappointing. Still, just going to practice was a big deal for me (first one in like 2 years) so that's good. Trying to focus on the small steps and remind myself that realistic goals = goals you'll stick with. I also swam for the first time in a long time and chose a small goal of 10 laps (250 meters). Next time I swim I'll increase it to 12, then 14, etc... I'm looking at my goals here, and the other goals on my other tracking site, and think I have set too many goals overall. It's starting to feel like a bit of a chore, and it's typical of my 'all or nothing' approach to do ALL THE THINGS, then burn out and do none of the things. So, not sure what I need to shave off the list but will have a think. I'm thinking logging food as religionsly as I'm doing may go. Note, I was reading one of the NF articles about food logging and it said even just jotting down what you ate for each meal, rather than the calorie breakdown, is a good start at first. We'll see. Food tracking often works well for me, but I keep getting 'behind' on it and it's a real drag to go back retroactively. We'll see. Will have a think in the morning. Hope you're all doing awesome and have had/are having a lovely weekend!

Well, last night was the party, and I let my hair down and didn't worry about most of my goals - still chose healthy foods (vege kabobs on the grill, fresh made salsa, etc... ) but had some wine and chippies - and didn't feel bad for it. Still avoided ice cream tho, even though it literally came flying out of the fridge at me and landed on my feet! (My husband's ice cream, I should point out. Which I must make him eat so it's not tempting me!). Today's trick is to hop back on the path and ignore all the bags of chippies that got left behind.

Thanks! 'Dance partied' is totally a verb! Amusingly, when I admitted on FB that I'm doing that, dozens of my mates chimed in to say they also do that. It was a great moment for all of us private dance party people! The practice is roughly based on generic European steel fighting techniques, borrowing from SCA practices. But modified for larping (so no 'stabbing' motions, more hits to the sie of the body). The practice is really boring actually, but super important for building muscle memory and what not. The real test will be Sunday when I fight other people! Today went well. Did all the things I was meant to do, though I'm failing a little bit at dinners because I didn't get a chance to do a proper shop, and my husband keeps needing the car after work. So dinner has been kind of crappy, uninspiring food. Tomorrow I'm having 20 nerds over for a BBQ so figuring out how much extra activity I need over the weekend to offset a bit of relaxation in my eating goals. I am trying very hard to avoid my usual 'diet like a madwoman' for 3 months, then burn out cuz it's too hard. Trying the old balance and moderation approach with the odd planned indulgence (as opposed to unplanned emotional eating binge). Today's dance party worried the cat. Excellent.

Awesome inspiration - and best Tyrion gif!! Following

Ha ha ha, so I'd hoped to do my dance party before my husband came home, but... nope. So rather than go hide away, I put on the most ridiculous music I could think of: The Vengaboys. And then I FIVE MINUTE DANCE PARTIED at my husband as he sat on the couch and tried to pretend I wasn't there. Ha ha! This is turning into an unexpectedly fun ritual. I'm having a party on Fri and I think I'll see if I can get all my BBQ guests to join me in a 5 minute dance party then! So today I met all my goals, including... TEN SQUATS. Yeah that's right gentle readers - I SMASHED it. BURNINATE THAT! Yeah yeah I know it's only 10, but it's a mindset thing. I also tried some different sword strike combinations. On Sunday I go to sword practice with 20 other people and we'll see if I'm any good at fighting with my left hand (which is what I'm trying to learn how to do).

Hey Rinna! Thanks for the welcome! Setting a goal of feeling awesome wen you dress up as Black Widow sounds like a good thing to aim for - screw what other people think! <3 It's how YOU feel in the costume that matters <3 Dragon Age does have romance and some adult themes. Not sure what the actual raiting is but there is a bit of nudity in some of the sexy scenes - but it's a bit tame and if you don't follow the romance plots you may not see them.

Thank you!

Thanks everyone for your latest comments! You're helping inspire me to keep logging into NF at least once a day. You rock! Achieved all my goals today and learned I -like- unsweetened yogurt, and that I SERIOUSLY over-cooked the tofu for my healthy bulk lunches. Ick. This Sunday I'll take care to make a more edible batch of prepared meals. Once I won't have to choke down! But the glorious part of today was my 5 minute dance party. I'd sent someone a Motley Crue video as a joke, and then ended up dancing to a bunch of Motley Crue songs - dancing as BADLY as I could. Arm-flailing, head-banging, air-guitar. It was hilarious. Ended up being a super-good mood-lifter. Highly encourage wigging out and trying to dance as badly as you possibly can! See you all tomorrow!

*Day One* Food goals! BURNINATED! I did not eat ice cream. I made a weeks worth of healthy lunches and breakfasts and put them in the freezer. Even the yogurt which I didn't mean to freeze. Ho hum. Luckily it thawed out normally! Fitness goals! I started the Couch to 5k program yesterday. Today I went for a walk to the beach after work. I was not even remotely tempted to do a squat or a lunge. I DID, however, do 200 sword striles - 100 each hand. I use a wooden dowel that's the same weight as my sword, and hit it against a wooden pole (or 'pel' as it's called). Today I did alternating head/leg strikes, so I'd hit the right head then cross over to the left leg, and repeat that combination 50 times per arm, then switch sides. Level up your life goals - I had a 5 minute dance party! Look what I found - these amazing 5 minute (ish) dance lessons. I did Salsa today, with the cat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdQ87SOfb7Y I'm tracking my progress on another website (Trello) so I may end up just doing a weekly summary here and trying to make it more entertaining than just listing out what I've done, but for this week I'll probably do daily updates just so I can get into the habit of being here, and so I can see your lovely smiling faces!

YOU SEE THAT ARM? THAT IS HOW BUFF MY ARMS WILL BE SOMEDAY!!!!

*Sizzles*

Hello! Thanks for jumping aboard! I'll hope to keep things interesting! I'm in Auckland so it's still pretty warm. Was 26 on Saturday! So, no, icecream still appeals, ha ha! Love your user picture. <3 Joker!

Welcome fellow newbie and Dragon Age lover. Such good games, aye!

Thank you!! I've seen some gorgous faun costumes out there! I do larping as a hobby so there's scope for alll kindsa wild costuming there. At the moment I just play a noblewoman so it's kinda medieval-ish inspired, but I have plans for more fantastic costumes down the track. Oh man... I really really really recommend the Dragon Age trillogy. You can get Dragon Age Origins (the first one) super cheap on Steam these days. If you get it, let me know so I can hear how you're enjoying the story!

Thank you! I don't have a gym membership atm/weights at home, so the beginner bodyweight one probably is most achievable = but I'll look at all the ones you've sent me. And that's a good point - pick something and focus on it and ignore the rest for 3 months. Brilliant - thank you!!!