Sambalina

Lol, I know, right? Well, it seems they've decided I'm not a threat to international internet security and gave me my site back So, tomorrow I will be working on getting a post template sorted out so my posts look like they are worth reading as well as being full of awesome info. I need to learn to use headings more effectively. I'm good with paragraphs, but posts are still looking very 'wall of text-y'. I've almost got next week's post ready to go now, too

I've posted stuff to the site's FB page, but am just keeping it all on the down-low while I work out my systems and presentation, etc.

I just did my swimming (14 lengths today @ 8 meters a length), and did all 3 30 day challenges. I have a little DOMS from yesterday, but nothing major.

And food logging is on track.

Despite starting the week with some pretty bad stomach issues, week one is going well

I've also go my welcome packet for the coaching course. There are some pre-course journalling tasks that I'll tackle soon, and some recommended readings. I don't think I can read all the books. 1) because I can't afford to buy that many, even on Kindle, and 2) some of them are REALLY not my thing. I know it's great for some people, and no disrespect, but some aspects of spiritual healing and stuff I just can't get into. At this point in my life, I'm quite science based, and while I'm open to change, I know my limitations.

Of all the airports to be in, Incheon's a good one So much free wifi! Also, there's a Gong Cha in the basement, fyi. It's a little bit hidden, but if you're addicted like I am, then it's good to know it's there.

Keep at it, Ares! í™”ì´íŒ…!!!

Hey guys! Still sick, but getting better. I did all three of my 30 day challenges today (day 1!), and swam 13+10 lengths of the pool (the +10 was after a break).

So, that's 23 lengths (roughly 150m), 20 squats, 3 pushups, and a 40s plank.

I haven't been able to make much progress on the website because the hosting company has taken it down while they investigate whether I'm a terrorist or something. I paid with a Korean credit card from Vanuatu, which really confused them. They requested ID, and then requested I translate my Korean ID, I did and sent my NZ drivers license, and now they just haven't gotten back to me and my site it still down over 24h later. 

I have done some writing and stuff, though

I'm on track with my calendar so far, too.

Hope you're all doing well!

8 eggs... is a lot of eggs!

How did you eat them without being grossed out by too much egg? Do you reckon it's sustainable?

Seoraksan!? Why not just kill ourselves and do Bukansan while we're at it? Lol, but seriously, I love hiking in Korea! (Gwanaksan FTW!) But, my fav activity is going to the Han, or up to Paldang and renting a bike and cycling the river - it's gorgeous!

Salambander - I've dated military guys too, but I still can't quite shake my discomfort. My best friend married an air-force guy though, and he was amazing. 

That's a cool thought about anchoring - I've not tried that really. I think I'll give it a go, sounds useful.

Ok, questions to answer in Korean:

- Where are you from?

- What's your favourite animal?

- Why did you move to Korea?

- Are you Russian?

- Do you know that Korea has four seasons?

- Why are some cornchips shaped like a triangle?

- What is the best Baskin Robins flavour and why?

- What's your favourite exercise?

- What did you last dream?

I'm just worried about treating my future students like my current students. haha. I'm sure college students don't want to chant together and sing songs about colors. Or make paper airplanes as an assignment. I will miss elementary school, but I'm called to a better challenge!

 

Depending on what tier uni you're moving to... you might be surprised Some of my students would be thrilled with that! I hear the higher ranked uni students are a bit more... studious, but some of my classes... not so much. I have this big fluffy stuffed sheep I use when teaching camps with younger kids, and I trialled it in some of my uni classes thinking they'd never go for it. They went crazy over it!! So, don't sweat it too much, I'm sure you'll be fine

Also, you're coping strategies sound awesome! Good on you for hitting it so hard and really avoiding your triggers. Nice work!

Thank you everyone! I am stoked to be in (though the old bank account just took a bit of a hit paying for it). But, like my parents say, heaps of people spend that much on their hobbies, and at least this has the chance of earning some of it back, and being awesome fun as well.

Sadly, I'm still pretty sick dashing to the bathroom, strength work, and swimming are not compatible. So, I'm not going to be able to get in my swimming this week, but I'm not taking it personally. I'll get stuck in as soon as I'm able.

Food logging is going well. I love the TwoGrand app! The internet here in Vanuatu is soooo slow, so logging takes some effort, but I'm doing it.

And I'm hard at work on the blog each day. I've got my theme chosen and one post on, now just playing with the layout, setting, images, and so on. Tasks over the weekend will be to do the 'about' page and get some plugins up and running, as well as continuing work on un-crapifying the look

WOOT! I just got accepted into the program! All systems are go! 

Nice work, Daniel. DO you feel like the ball rolling helped? Or is it a think you'll only see progress with after a while?

Oh Wow - way to go on not smoking! That is a huge step to take - awesome. What else have you been doing to cope? I do uni campus walking as well, but it's so cold right now!

I'm a uni professor in Korea too What area of Seoul are you moving to? I'm down in Suwon, and the job is great! I'm sure once you get into it, you'll never regret the change.

Anyway, I'm subbed for an awesome challenge!

I live in Korea tooooooo!! I'm in Suwon (Just south of Seoul). I know your joy over pants that fit - I have the same thing with shoes

I'm thinking we need a NerdFitness Korea meetup.

Great challenge, by the way - I'm proud of you for learning Korean! I've been in Korea for over three years and I'm just not keen.

Is your boyfriend Korean? (sorry if that's a rude question - totally not meant to be). 

I'm kinda happy to find a fellow female teacher in Korea on NF... usually most of the folks are military, which makes them scary to me (I'm from New Zealand, we don't have much exposure!).

Anywho, keep up the great work on your challenge!

Awesome challenge, and great goals! The focus is really good and you have such a sensible and confident approach - love it!

I've done starting strength before and really enjoyed it, I'm sure you'll see some good results from it. I know I did!

And I'm with you on your food logging goal. I use a photo diary app for mine, since I stopped counting stuff about 6 months ago and that's working well for the moment. You'll surely get some useful data from MFP that can help you move forward.

AND - great job working your way through all the health industry BS! It makes me so mad that there's so much blatant mis-information being put out so people can make a quick buck off of others, especially when those others are genuinely trying to improve themselves or their lives. So, good on you - hopefully you'll inspire the people around you to do some of the same thinking and searching.

Subbed for a kick-ass challenge!

Ok, Day 1 update!

I have a tummy bug  Pretty bad cramping, dizzy spells, nausea, and not fun times. So, I have to put my fitness goals on hold for a day or two because I'm not squatting or swimming anywhere at the moment! Blegh! I hate taking pills, but mum has given me some painkillers that are making life bearable, so I can get on with my other goals.

I've made a blog post planner for the next six weeks and filled in my posts and social media plans. I have my very first post ready to go for tomorrow. The site still looks like crap, but I figure it's best to just get going and fix it along the way rather than wasting time waiting to get it all 'perfect'.

I've managed to eat twice today, and logged both meals on the app, so all good

All in all, I am pleased with my progress today, considering my state! The lady who cleans the apartments says half the island has come down with the same bug, so at least I'm not alone in my misery

Oh! And SUPER exciting news - I just applied for the coaching program I want to do, so fingers crossed that I get in! (and that I'm not making a massive mistake choosing to do this instead of a PhD).

Your vacation sounds lovely and relaxing, Blaidd. Do you have any photos for us?

I know what you mean about it being tricky to remember stuff/goals on vacation. I have the exact same problem with food logging.

Also, I with you on trying to slow down when eating. I've been hearing how important it is for digestion from a few different people and I definitely feel better when I don't gulp my meal down. How's it making you feel? The only drawback is I am left eating long after everyone else is finished, so I feel a bit self-conscious!

Enjoy the final few days of the island!

Wow, thanks itsDaniel! I'll keep you in mind if I'm struggling with something - that's awesome!

I'm excited to be in the rangers this time around.

Hey Blaidd! I know right? It's pretty exciting.

Right now I'm in beautiful Vanuatu visiting my parents for a whole month and a half! A gorgeous and inspiring place to start 2015 and really get myself ready for the awesome I am going to bring this year

Here's a New Year's day pic:

Hi Rangers! This is my first challenge with you guys, I'm over here from the warriors. I'm excited for the first challenge of the year and so looking forward to levelling up in a major way in 2015.

I'm currently on vacation in Vanuatu, visiting my parents who live here. Yeah... it's an awesome way to start the new year

Tzippi - I've been to that castle! It's so cool! I live next door to you, in Korea

Hi everyone! I'm Sambalina. I've been doing NF challenges for years, but took a massive break in the second half of 2014. While away, I kept up heaps of the good habits built on my NF challenges, like lifting and eating well. I even did a Whole30 all by my self. It was a wonderful experience and I'm hoping to do a couple more in 2015. I'm actually usually a warrior, but I'm away from home for this entire 6 week challenge, and I'm going to use this vacation to shake up my exercise routine and diversify a bit.

So, along with the New Year, I have a bunch of new goals. I'm an English teacher at a university in South Korea (but I'm from New Zealand). I thought that was the path I wanted to continue down, so I applied for a place in a TESOL PhD program, which I got. However, I had a kind of revelation after I'd submitted my application. I love teaching, but I don't love ESL. It's not what I want to dedicate my life to. What I do love is learning about health and wellness. So, I love teaching and I love health... and after some comments from co-workers and watching some great and inspirational interviews online, I've decided to start a health blog, take a health coaching course, and try to make my way into the industry. I won't be quitting my day job any time soon, but I'm super excited about taking my life in this new direction!

I've never been even a tad entrepreneurial until very recently, and always just assumed I'd work for others my whole life, but now... I'm excited, scared, and energised to give it a go

So, all things going to plan, I'll be starting the Eating Psychology Coach training program offered by the Institute for the Psychology of Eating late this month. I expect many of my future challenge this year will revolve around that, but for now I want to focus on the blog side of things. I know my main quest isn't diet and fitness related (well, not directly), but my side quests are. So, here's my first 2015 challenge:

Main Quest: Get the blog up and running. (I'll link to it later, when there's something to see!)

Goal 1: Set up the blog with just the basics for now.

- About page

- Title

- Search function

- Blog

- Facebook and Pinterest plug-ins

- Email

Goal 2: Create a posting schedule for the next 6 weeks and stick to it (1 post/week)

Goal 3: Promote content on social media (FB, Pinterest, other blogs) and check out Twitter and Instagram to see if I want to do those. Put these tasks on the planner and do them 3-4 times a week.

Side Quest 1: Tackle some weak areas

I can't do a push up. I struggle even with knee ones. I want to do 5 regular pushups by the end of this challenge. I also want to keep my core strong and maintain my squat function. And... want to swim while I'm in the climate to do so. So, I have a 30 day challenge on my phone for pushups, plank, and squats, and a pool in the front yard

- Complete the 3x 30 day challenges

- Swim 5+ times a week, starting with 12 lengths (it's small pool), and increasing by 1 length every second day until I'm doing 24+ lengths

Side Quest 2: Log those meals

I'm on vacation for a couple of months and I want to make sure 'vacation mode' doesn't get out of hand. I've had the past two weeks off but starting today I will

- Log every meal using my TwoGrand app.

And that's my challenge. I know it's not totally in the 'correct' or traditional NF format, but it's what's going to work for me this time around. I'm looking forward to a life changing 6 weeks with the rangers! Thanks, guys

Man, I need to check this thread more often. Or subscribe to it, like a smart person. I live in South Korea, so I'm usually here if any rebels want a meetup! I'm in Seoul Feel free to PM me if you are keen.

All that activity sounds so fun! Snowboarding and rock-climbing are such good exercise Were you pretty sore afterwards?

Yeah, eating healthy while travelling takes a lot of extra thought and planning, that's for sure! How have things gone over the past week?

I'm sorry to hear about your dad! I hope his recovery is going well. It is so difficult to keep new habits on track when stressful stuff happens, so true.

I usually update by 'replying', but it is totally up to you how you want to format your challenge. I'm going to be starting in January too

I hope your holiday season has been great!

My biggest bit of advice here is: whatever meals you can find the time to make, make them big enough so there are leftovers for your dinner. I know you say there's not much fridge space, but I bet that with a little reorganising/pushing/finding stuff past it's prime and chucking it, that you can make some space for one or two meals worth of leftovers.

How's the challenge going, ScarletFyre?

For your food logging, in case you're looking to try something different, I've started using the phone app 'TwoGrand'. It's a photo food log focussed on conscious eating and I've been using it for a few months and love it

Aw, sorry to hear you're sick, tgw It makes healthy choices pretty hard sometimes. Though yay for awesome boyfriend!

How are you feeling now?

Yoga+swearing = good

Christmas baking = good

increased sexiness= great

looking forward to yoga = awesome

This is so cool! And I love the sound of dirty yoga I especially like the bit about not confusing exercise with religion. I like the free videos over at doyogawithme.com, but there are some teachers I stay away from because they get up in my chakra. That's cool if you're into it, but I just want to work out.

Sounds like your challenge is going well. You're brave to try to take on a cleaning/clearing project this far into the holiday season