Emerald Eagle

XP Update: Run 16/01/2017 = 5XP Run 18/01/2017 = 5XP (10XP) Run 20/01/2017 = 5XP (15XP) Bonus 3x Run in a week = 10XP (25XP) Run 23/01/2017 = 5XP (30XP) Run 25/01/2017 = 5XP (35XP) No Bonus Run 31/01/2017 = 5XP (40XP) Run 02/02/2017 = 5XP (45XP) No Bonus

New to this, when does will the area for the Feb-Mar challenge be released?

I did it! It might be 30+ oC in my house but I sweated through putting the spare room together and moving all the boxes from the lounge room to their new homes in the spare room. 1 more point towards putting the tent away.

Update: Thursday Had another average day at work, went to gym after work and ran Week 3, Day 1 of the C25K App on the treadmill. Went to a different gym closer to work (benefits of a membership at a chain gym), and their treadmills are much newer and nicer than the ones at my regular gym. This particular interval included running for 3 minutes straight, twice. And I did it. No stopping, for 3 minutes. I honestly cannot remember the last time I ran for 3 minutes straight, was probably back when I did PE in High School. Definitely felt like a huge win. Then went to dinner with a very old friend. It was really lovely to catch up and spend time with her, she also had some very helpful life and career advice (as always). Was glad I made time to see her and we will hopefully catch up more regularly now. It was one of my goals this year to be more social and make time for my friends. All in all a better day.

Update: Wednesday I didn't get a run in but I did have another PT session (doing extras in the next few weeks to make up for ones I missed over Christmas/New Year). Decided we would do arms *gulp* even after the boxing session from yesterday. I really wasn't feeling too sore and I knew if we did legs I would use that as an excuse to not run later in the week (damn you DOMS). Session went well; my arms, chest and back good were smashed. Headed home to an empty house, made another delicious dinner (pork rashers, steamed veggies, spiralised potatoes) and then tackled the mountain of dishes that had accumulated in our kitchen. On Thursday I *will* run, by hell or high water!

Was totally pumped to get my Domestic Rangering done last night but it didn't happen my husband was out last night and only after dinner when it was full dark did I realise that the light bulb in the spare room had blown. I've only just moved in and I don't know where he keeps the spare globes, and even if I did I did not really want to be on a ladder changing a light with no one else home. He wasn't really interested in changing it when he got home at 1am either (understandable!) It wasn't a complete loss, instead I did all of the dishes and started tidying some small things in the lounge room. Now I will just have to find some time tomorrow or Saturday to complete my Domestic Rangering quest!

Update: Tuesday Had a super crappy terrible day at work. Don't feel like re-hashing it but came home SUPER grumpy and a bit fed up with the world. I felt frustrated that I am not making progress and I'm back where I started two years ago, frustrated that I had sabotaged my progress over the weekend, and ready to throw in the towel at work. I managed to take all of this out on my poor husband who didn't ask for it and was not ready for what was coming. I left the house feeling frustrated and resigned and headed to gym. I ran by C25K run (the one I was meant to do last week). I feel like running on the treadmill is a bit of a cop out and not as challenging or "real" as running outside. But I did it, so I'll take he win. Blasting loud rock music and letting all my frustration out on the run definitely helped. There was no way I was going to stop running before that beep, I was not going to let one more thing defeat me that day. I then had about half an hour to cool down before my PT session. I spent the time stretching and reading a novel. (Side note, it is so good to get back into reading for pleasure. I forgot how enjoyable and relaxing it is!) Then it was PT and tonight was boxing! Before I moved to one-on-one sessions with my PT I used to attend some of her small group classes. We'd do circuits, combining body weight, kettlebells and dumbbells, and once a week we would do boxing. Boxing was always my favourite class, it was cardio without being boring and boy did it make my shoulders burn. Well a one-on-one boxing session is even better. We barely stopped for the 45 minutes and my shoulders were burning by the end. We also did some extra work on my non-dominant arm which I think I might keep up long term. When I lift I am obviously one-sided, my dominant hand/arm is a lot stronger than my other arm. Came home, apologised and made up with himself, and cooked delicious fresh dinner to finish the day (marinated lamb chops, veggies sticks, and baked spiralised potato).

This NF article really helped me when I first started: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/embrace-the-weird/ Try not to hide away from being different, embrace it and make it a part of you! None of your family lift weights, well little black sheep it's time to be different and rock it. P.S. The thing I have realised since conquering the free weights section is that no one is watching. No one notices if you're lifting 200kg or just the bar. They're all there, head phones in and focused on their own workouts. Even the bros doing endless bicep curls are watching their own muscles not your weight. So get in there, get your stuff done, and don't let anyone stop you

Public Declaration: As a dutiful domestic ranger I *will* sort out the boxes of my things that has been sitting in our lounge room since I packed up my bedroom at my parent's house and officially moved into my husband's house. I *will* find homes for these things, probably in the spare bedroom and I *will not* just move the pile of stuff from one location to another and dump it in the spare room.

Update: Monday morning (about Thursday - Sunday) I did not complete a third run this week, which means I missed my goal for the week, no loot for me. If I'm honest I am not really surprised, I knew we were going away for the long weekend, I knew I wanted to really enjoy the weekend, and I knew that I would probably get home too tired to run on Sunday. Thursday morning we attended a one year old birthday party. It was a really beautiful celebration of life and a great little person. I ate BBQ meat and salad for lunch, not too bad, and had a piece of birthday cake to celebrate. Afterwards I felt really sick - it's interesting after cutting way back on sugar how much a little bit can affect you. In hindsight I really wish I had listened to my body and slowed right down. *sigh* We then left on our camping adventure. 3 nights away with great mates drinking, and eating, and enjoying the great outdoors. One of the boys had offered to organise food and insisted on doing a lot of the cooking. It was a nice gesture, and he wanted a couple of us oldies to enjoy our last camping trip before we're too old. The downside was that he's not the most amazing cook and the menu included a lot of things I would not have chosen to eat. Some of it also didn't taste that great so I ended up eating a lot more snacks than I should have. Lesson learnt, I cannot resist something if it is just sitting on the table in front of me. Chips, lollies, biscuits, nuts, soft drink, all were consumed over the weekend in quantities I am not particularly proud of. Two out of the three nights I also drank quite a bit of alcohol, and ended up stumbling to bed. On the plus side despite coming home tired I managed to invest 2 hours in meal prep for the week. I had a healthy breakfast prepared for this morning, I have the last of the lunches I prepared for this week with me today and ingredients to make healthy lunches for the rest of the week. Himself also had lunch to take to work. Realistically this is the last time that I'm going to have the same opportunity and temptations to go off the rails like this. I'm not considering it a failure, just a speed bump, and fully intend to get right back to growing stronger and healthier and fitter this morning. Things I to consider going forward after this weekend: - Maybe it's time to give up alcohol, or more importantly drinking to excess. I almost always drink to access because of peer pressure of self-pressure based on wanting to fit in. Alcohol is not going to help me achieve my goals. - Tired Eagle is not a healthy eagle. Getting enough sleep *needs* to be a priority. - This journey is an active journey. I'm not a passenger I need to be the driver and the navigator and that means taking control of my own destiny (food choices mainly). Aim for this week is 4 runs to make up for the one I missed last week and two gym sessions. Will report back hopefully with some wins!

Put my on the Pill. Which has actually helped A LOT in regulating my cycle, calming down my hormones, and making life livable during my TOM.

Update: Tuesday I did not have a run scheduled today, so I did not have a run to miss. In the morning my willpower folded and I bought and ate a pastry from the bakery downstairs at work. It was delicious. It was probably not the best choice but I got back on the wagon, ate my salad for lunch, and didn't let it de-rail my progress. After work we had an early dinner scheduled with the in-laws. While the stir-fry that was served was not perfect (egg noodles and a sweet sauce) it was tasty and full of veggies so I ate it knowing I had a gym session afterwards. Even said no to dessert, which I definitely consider a win. Headed to gym and had a session with my PT. It included more machines than I would have liked but my arms definitely got a work out. Even did a bit of overhead work which counted towards the Ranger's mini-challenge. Finished off the day with some leftover lamb chops (I was hungry after gym) and putting together a new playlist to listen to while I run. Wednesday I did it! It was not pretty, not even a little bit, I did not run for all of the seconds the app told me I should but I dragged by saggy arse out of bed and went for a run before work. I'm counting that as a win for today. Now to stay on track with food for the rest of today and more PT tonight.

Also, I get nauseous - a feel like any minute I could throw up feeling. For about 12-18 hours on day 2-3. I used to miss a day of work a month, almost like clockwork until I talked to my doctor about it.

I don't know what it is, but chocolate just makes it better. Though for me it's more broadly carbs, any kind of carbs, ALL THE CARBS. The bakery is already one of my demons but the call becomes 10 times stronger during that week.

I'm sure they'll work together. Rhovaniel doesn't need a man to fight all her battles

Update: Monday I did not get up and run before work I genuinely meant to when I went to bed Sunday night but I could not drag myself out of bed on Monday morning. Thankfully I still found time after work to get a run in and some overhead work for the Ranger mini-challenge. Part of me thinks I should just accept that I am not a morning person and work out during the day rather than force myself to get out of bed. The other side of me really wants to be a morning person, thinks working out first thing is really good for you (so says science) and I need to keep at it. I guess we shall see! Running in Week 2 comprises of 90 seconds running, 120 seconds walking for 6 rounds (plus warm up and cool down). None of the 90 second windows felt unachievable, on one I was struggling a bit but I think that had more to do with the heat than anything else. A couple of observations that I need to follow up: 1. I'm not sure how to correctly run. I mean, my body can run but particularly on the treadmill I have time to think about what my feet are doing and I don't think they're doing the right thing. I definitely want to Google some videos and see what the interwebs say. Might even post in the forums here and see if people have any advice. 2. I need a new playlist. Wasn't feeling my usual one so I swapped to the NFA Women's playlist and it was alright but a bit up and down. Time to invest in putting a kick arse playlist together to keep me going! Finished the day off with a delicious summer dinner of marinated prawns and salad, enjoyed with himself.

I remember having this same realisation in November last year. Stressed to the max and overwhelmed. My answer was my Bullet Journal. It's made such a difference in my life! When something comes up I just write it down and then I don't have to stress about it because I won't forget it (I've written it down) and the bujo methodology allows you to manage the list really well. P.S. I love your story and I feel totally inspired. Well done! This latest instalment really spoke to me about rebelling and then getting push back because it's so true. If you stand up and say something or fight back then the enemy comes at you 10% harder than before. Keep slaying demons

Didn't hit go for a run before work as planned, but I still have the rest of the day to smash things!

Update: Sunday Exercise-wise today was rest day. After working out 5/6 of the previous days my legs needed a rest. However, Sunday was Domestic Day! Left himself sleeping and got up early to get the grocery shopping done. Meal prep was smaller this week, I'm only working three days and then have Thu-Fri off when we go away camping Menu for the upcoming week: Breakfast - Bacon and Broccoli salad Lunch - Zucchini Cannelloni with spinach and ricotta filling I also cooked lunch for himself - Roast Lamb and veggies. As we had to be out in the afternoon I did not get the rest of the domestic rangering done that I was hoping. I did manage to squeeze in two loads of washing! Hopefully I can find time this week to tackle the lounge room. Tomorrow I am meant to start Week 2 of the C25K plan. It's meant to be HOT so the plan is to go to bed early tonight and get up first thing in the morning to run before the heat hits. Should probably shut down my laptop and start getting ready for the week ahead.

Tank says 50000, spreadsheet says 60000. Either way time to put some weight overhead

*waves* Hi from Facebook! Definite inspiration for future challenges Also love your BuJo - it's much more colourful than mine is.

What are people up to this weekend? It's Saturday here in Aus and I've been to the gym, and then spent the afternoon at our church helping out with the working bee. Tomorrow is domestic day - washing, cleaning, meal prep.

Just wanted to say I am so glad that one of my 2017 goals was to get involved with the NF forums. This is AWESOME. I cannot wait to find out what next week's challenge is already

Update: Saturday Night Sleep in (much needed) and then a PT session. First session with my trainer in 2017 after being away for the beginning of January. It was leg day and she definitely made me work! The session included 4 different types of squats, and 3 different types of lunges. My legs were definitely feeling it by the end! The plan is that the strength work will complement my running, particularly working on my legs. I also had to weigh in, I don't like weighing in too often as it can affect my mood and my mindset. Since I last weighed in on Tuesday (my monthly weigh in / take photos / take measurements etc.) I have lost 0.9kg. Awesome. Reinforces to me that eating right and regularly working out is working, and if I continue to keep at it then it will continue to work. I am also slightly intrigued about the affect that running is having on my weight loss. I know NF preaches strength training for weight loss but I wonder if the combined training will really work for me. The next 11 weeks should be a good experiment. Summary: Feeling very positive and pumped. Ready for a domestic day and meal prep session tomorrow.

Run For The Kids: Supporting the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne The run I'm doing has a fundraising component for the local children's hospital. The hospital is world renowned and does a big fundraiser every year over easter. It feels a bit like fate that today I earned my race registration. Today in Melbourne city there was a horrible incident where a man drove his car into a crowd of people. Several people, including some children, were killed and a number were seriously injured. All of these children are being treated at the Royal Children's Hospital. Many of my friends and family who live in the city are shaken. They do not believe it was a terrorist attack, almost certainly a drug-induced mania, but scary none the less. Definitely praying for all of the people affected, both directly and indirectly, and particularly the medical staff at the Royal Children's and other hospitals in the city supporting those injured. If anyone is interested in checking out my fundraising page it can be found here: https://runforthekids2017.gofundraise.com.au/page/GemmaNash