Honeybee

Week 1 Summary I think I did pretty well! Unfortunately I only meditated 5 days out of 7, so I didn't achieve that goal. I did manage to stretch every day (yay!) and I abstained from alcohol 4 days last week. I'm hoping to bring that momentum into this week, particularly with the alcohol part of the challenge. Aside from my goals, I've managed to stay pretty active. I've started doing strong curves using dumbbells and I've kept up my newish habit of doing a daily 30-minute walk or jog every morning. I'm also doing longer yoga classes online, as well as some apartment-friendly calisthenics videos when I don't have a yoga class. Food wise, I'm logging everything but I am eating back about half of my estimated calories I burn from exercise just to stay sane. I stayed within my goal caloric intake 4/7 days in week one, and I never went more than 300 calories over my goal (and that increase should be covered by exercise anyway). I do need some improvement on listening to my body and feeding it properly. On the weekend, I found myself "saving up" my calories for dinner and drinks by having a tiny lunch. On both days, it led to small binges (and a lot of bad feelings!) in the evenings.

Thanks, Davy! Day 3 and 4 Update More good days! I meditated each day for 10-15 minutes, didn't drink any alcohol, stayed within my calorie limit, did my stretches and extra exercise. Last night, I was feeling so exhausted but I did this 45-minute deep stretching video (Yoga with Adriene!) and fell asleep so peacefully afterwards. Despite all the good days, I've been feeling extra exhausted and super hungry this week. I have a feeling this is partly due to the lack of alcohol, so I'm trying to take it easy at work this week and not be too hard on myself as long as the "big stuff" is getting accomplished.

Nice work! How have you been eating your vegetables - raw or prepared in any particular way? I need to increase my intake too but I'm not a big fan of raw vegetables other than a couple types.

I really like your goals! I have meditation OR journaling as one of mine but I've been feeling like I'm just not ready to open myself up to a journal right now. I think I'll give your one-minute approach a shot.

Sounds like you have a great plan! I'll be joining you with the 5 minutes of daily meditation.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! Honestly I'm currently just doing the first five stretches in this image held for 1 min each / 1 min each side. I'd love to get splits someday but I'm verrrry far away. It's helped though - I can already touch my toes! Day 2 Update Day 1 was a disaster but Day 2 went well. I managed 20 mins of deep stretches, 25 mins of yoga, and 30 mins of an apartment friendly (no jumping!) cardio workout. I also did 5 mins of meditation and did not have any alcohol. It felt so nice to be able to eat whatever I wanted (pizza! chinese takeout!) and not worry about saving the calories for alcohol. Going to try again tonight. I did some cardio and a 30 min walk this morning but I still need to get in a meditation session and some stretching, but that should be no problem.

I love the challenge name and inspiration. I can totally relate - and I'm sure a lot of others can do. I'll be joining you with the meditation goal.

Welcome back from someone who is also doing her first challenge after being gone 5 years. I'll be joining you with the stretching!

Is it just me or is getting recycling/cardboard/etc out of the house such a major relief? It's one of my favorite things when cleaning. I really like your goals. I've been guilty of working from home out of my bed and it is definitely having a negative impact on my sleep and my work time/personal time boundaries in general.

Good question! I'm thinking I'll have some of my regular drinks but without the alcohol - so diet tonic + lime, or seltzer + lime. I stocked up on LaCroix too. I've been trying to get in the habit of having one drink with alcohol then one of the same drinks without to "trick" myself, so I'm planning on a continuation of that. Tonight will be my first no-alcohol night of the challenge, so we'll see how it goes!

Has it really been more five years since I did a NF challenge? Where did life go? In the past couple years, I've undergone a lot of change in my life and I've been neglecting my health through all of it. I got into the best shape of my life while doing challenges on NF in the past and I hope returning can help me get some of that momentum back. I had gotten into a very good routine before COVID-19 hit and then everything went to hell! I've been tracking my food and working out fairly regularly for a month now, so I feel like it's time to get creative and really ramp it up. Overarching Goal: Be the me I can be proud of My body and my mind need care and love. I want to treat my body well, accept my emotions, and strive to be better without beating myself up over past failures. Fitness Goal: Stretch at least 6 days per week [#/5] When I was doing NF challenges years ago, I did a lot of yoga and got pretty flexible. Now, I can't even touch my toes! There's no reason why I can't take 10 minutes to hold some deep stretches each day - and I know it would do me a lot of good. Health Goal: Reduce alcohol consumption, with at least 1 dry day per week [#/5] I know I use alcohol to cover up my emotions and deal with stress, but I've done a decent job cutting back to 1-2 drinks per evening during the week. I'm hoping that by mixing in some alcohol-free nights, I'll realize I don't need it at all. Baby steps! I've also been logging food + alcohol for over a month now, so I'll be comparing my weekly average over the last five weeks to my weekly average during the challenge. Life Goal: Journal or meditate at least 6 days per week [#/5] I need to do a better job being okay with my feelings rather than trying to bury them and distract myself. I think journaling and meditation could both really help me be more accepting of my mental state. And that's that! It feels good to be back. Stats Starting Weight - 131 lbs Starting Measurements - Arm: 10.5", Waist: 27", Hips: 37", Thigh: 21.5", Calve: 14"

Hello! I'm a little late to the party but better late than never, right? This is my third try to complete my second challenge. It took me two tries to complete my first challenge, so I'm assuming it'll take four tries to complete my next challenge. I really need to do a reset of my health and fitness routines, and I could use the support of the NF community. Starting Stats: Height: 5'6.5" | Weight: 119.5 lbs Measurements to be added later STR 5 | DEX 4 | STA 4 | CON 6 | WIS 7.5 | CHA 4.5 MyFitnessPal: zendegi (Please add me!) Main Quest #1: At least four 30-minute workouts per week. (+4 STA) I had this goal in another challenge and it worked well for me. These workouts can be of any intensity level, so it should not be difficult to complete. Currently, I'm at zero 30-minute workouts per week. There's nowhere to go but up, right? Main Quest #2: Cut alcohol consumption to six drinks per week max. (+2 CON, +1 STR) Wine and beer are just too much fun! It's time to cut it down to a much more reasonable level and prove to myself that I can enjoy drinking in moderation. I can have one bottle of wine or one six pack of beer per week. Main Quest #3: Cook supper at least half of the time. (+1 CON, +1 CHA) Right now, my husband handles most of the cooking. I'd like to help out in that department and improve my (very limited) cooking skills. I'm going to go easy on myself for this challenge and count assisting my husband (at least 50% of the work) as cooking, since it's really about improving my cooking abilities. If you have any good slow cooker recipes, please share them! Bonus Quest: Join a gym and sign up for personal training sessions. (+1 CHA) I've always been shy about going to a "real" gym, so I'd like to sign up for a membership and have a few personal training sessions so I learn proper lifting form. It's time to cut back on the cardio and start lifting some heavy things. Note: I'm only giving myself 10 possible reward points since I'm starting late. I can miss one week for any/all of the goals and lose a reward point, but any more than one week missed and I lose all the points. Motivation: I miss the way I felt when I was focused on health and fitness. I felt strong and really proud of myself! Depression and anxiety have kind of knocked the wind out of my sails, but I really want to feel that way again. I've also always wanted to try aerial silks and pole dance classes, but would prefer to start building a bit of strength and flexibility before I commit.

I'm so sorry for your loss. *hugs* Thank you for sharing the photo and some memories with us.

I am terrible painter but have been meaning to repaint our living room, so maybe now is the perfect time for some practice. So far I've tackled the fridge, kitchen cabinets, and my makeup brushes. Next up are the ceiling fans. Thanks Jitters, I'm glad to be back although the trips were great. But here I have my blender, my skin brush, my yoga mat, and my laptop ... so there's no reason these challenges shouldn't go well over the next few weeks.

I'm here, I'm here! I went "off the grid" for a couple vacations and have just now returned to the world of laptops and wifi. During the past two weeks I: Failed miserably at my alcohol goal Succeeded with my writing goal Did okay with my Clarisonic skin brush goal And did pretty well with yoga I'm glad to be back in the game! Today is my first jobless day after my vacation (I got home from my Seattle & Portland trip last night). Right now it still feels like a normal day off: cleaning, running errands, etc. Eventually I'll run of out objects to deep clean and the reality will sink in.

Oh I haven't been but only because I forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder! I'm adding it to my "repeat often" list.

@Bekah and Eve - Thanks you two! I guess you have to embrace the bad days as well as the good. The last two days have been okay! There's been some definite improvement. Day 7 and Day 8 were very good!

@Bekah - That sounds good! I find that I like Erin's videos but am going back to a few particular ones (mainly the hamstring flow and yoga for splits). Oh and did you do the headstand video? It's a lot of shoulder and core strengthening work and then she tells you how she gets into a headstand. I totally didn't get there at all, but I tried a little bit and at least feel like I have a place to return to when I feel ready. I felt the same way about her crow video. It's difficult, but she gives you a good starting place to return to next month or next year or whenever you feel like you want to try it. Worth bookmarking for a later watch! Yay that ab yoga day of DOOOOOM!!!! is done, lol.

@green eggs - Ooh nice! I built a glossy white Besta Burs desk. It's really long (70in) but also narrow, so it fit on the one wall we have available in the living area of our tiny apartment. @Bekah - That's what I'm thinking! I used to wish for a year when I had more time for NaNoWriMo and here it is! I hope some other NF folks are doing it too. And I'm just going to Portland with my husband. We've thought about leaving MN but not sure where we'd like to live. I really like the PNW region and think he would too, so we're going to do a little exploring and see how we feel about the cities. A savings goal is a great idea! You should totally do it next time. I'll be cheering you on! Day 6 was another bad day but I'm going to meditate for a bit and reset. In the past I quit challenges because I was so hard on myself and ashamed of my bad days, but this time I'm really trying to take them in stride. Onto Day 7!

I love your quest 4. It's something I'm trying for as well. A good book has totally done the trick for me! How are all your quests going?

Good morning, Druids!

Hey there fellow INTP! My writing goal has been my toughest as well. Keep at it

Day 4 was really hard, but I'm feeling much stronger now at Day 24, so I may have to go revisit it and see if it's any less hard.

@Journeyman - I think you and I are pretty similar. I've also been practicing for about 2 years and doing it daily for about 2 months. There are some poses where I can really see a difference after only two months of consistent practice. @Eve - Not keeping wine at home is really the only thing that saves me some days. It's a good thing my husband doesn't drink! We normally don't have alcohol at home, which is good for me. @green eggs - Ooh what furniture? I wish you luck! Oh and I am totally going to do NaNoWriMo for the first time ever this year. I've always wanted to do it, but as an adult I always seem to have a really hectic schedule in November. Not this year! Day 5 was a bad one, but there's no sense in getting too down about it. Onto Day 6!

@Jitters - Nope! I do freelance web design so I'll probably ramp that up, but the layoff really caught me off guard. @green eggs - Oh good idea, those four-packs of small bottles might be just the ticket. Also I'm surprised that writing has been the toughest goal for me. I think it's mainly because I'm scared of writing something "crappy". I think I have to get all the bad writing out before the good stuff can start happening, though. I'll write on! @LittleTurtle - Good to know! I will stick with mine and hope to see some results. Thank you for the luck! Day 4 went okay. Bad eating again. I did break down and have wine as a reward for using my afternoon off to put together an Ikea desk. No more working at the kitchen table! Yoga is going well. I've been doing this short hamstring flow video every day and it doesn't seem to get any easier, but I can see I'm slowly becoming a bit more flexible.