Chris-Tien Jinn

I took pics but am having a little trouble getting them off the camera. I will post them in the spirit of NEVER SEEING THAT FLAB AGAIN!! Stats as of today Weight: 172 lbs. Neck: 14" Bicep: 12.75" Bust: 43" (when did that happen??) Waist: 36" (ditto) Hips: 43" Thigh: 24"

Subbed - good to see another IT woman out there. And cosplay .... nice!!!

My story/plan for the coming year is in my Battle Log - I had spent the weekend thinking about an over-arching theme, and I am amazed at how well the NF changes fit!!! My mission - to take and hold the Tower of Wizards (i.e. the college's IT function). I got out of grad school with a lot of bad habits and about 45 unwanted pounds. Which means that my professional wardrobe no longer fits. Not even the suit that I used for interviews (I sucked in my gut for days ....). While I could buy new clothes ( and will ...), I know that we humans have a strong bias toward expecting leaders to be slim, energetic, and look good. You don't have to be a model, but looking around my fellow high-ranking administrators, the ones in the offices - who are listened to in meetings - are all at least average weight and fairly fit. I can't remember the last time I saw a keynote speaker at a conference who was visibly overweight. It's a bias in our country, and I'm not going to change it. I'm going to change myself. My Dean and the incoming Associate Dean are both fairly fit men. Standing next to them (female and pretty dumpy - overweight and in casual clothes), I feel like an imposter. I have to step up my game big time in the next few months if I'm going to be taken seriously as the IT Director. And I have to get in better shape just so that I have the energy to keep up. It's a demanding job, and if I'm not on top of my game every day, things don't happen. So, the first big quest is to get in reasonable shape ASAP. I'd like to lose all 45 pounds this coming year, but it took a good 8 years to put them on .... we'll see what we can do. Main Quest - lose weight and fit comfortably into my grey & black suit - proof will be a picture of me in it at the end of the challenge. 10,000 steps per day on my Jawbone UP (2 STA, 1 STR, 1 DEXStick to my calorie budget on myfitnesspal.com (1 WIS, 2 CON)Bowflex workout 3 days per week (3 STR, 1 STA)Life Quest Every work day - do hair, put on make up, dress at least business casual (no jeans!) (2 CHA)Diet Side Quest Eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies (one each color) (2 CON)Beginning pics and measurements to come (shudder)!!

Sleep Nearly 8 hours. So much for warnings about not drinking alcohol before bed. I went to bed early (before 10!!) and slept all night. Lose Weight Eat a rainbow Red: Orange: Mango Yellow: Green: Blue: Purple: Black beans Calorie budget: 1701/2086 Steps: 11,342!!! Alcohol consumption: one glass of wine Strength Training (Bowflex) - rest day Increase dexterity Nada. Although I DID run outside. And my ankle doesn't hurt. At all. Emotional Control Meditate: Nada

Awesome. Welcome to NF. You have great goals and will achieve them!!!

Sleep 7.25 hours. I'm going to have to go to bed early each night if I'm going to get even 7.5 hours of sleep per night. I fall asleep pretty well, but hubby wakes up early (which is why he falls asleep while playing video games!), and that wakes me up. Lose Weight Eat a rainbow Red: Strawberries, tomato Orange: Mango juice Yellow: Banana peppers Green: Spinach, avocado, lettuce Blue: Blueberries Purple: Calorie budget: Today was one of those days that keep me overweight. 1949/1306 - I love how myfitnesspal reminds me that if I keep eating like that ... I'll weight 173.5 again in 5 weeks. Ouch. Steps: About 7,000 steps, despite walking up and down stairs and even going for an evening stroll with hubby and puppy. Alcohol consumption: 1/2 glass of a raspberry beer that hubby brought home. Strength Training (Bowflex) Aerobic row - 55 lbs, 16 reps Leg press - 80 lbs., 20 reps Standing leg kick - 15 lbs, 20 reps Abductors - 30 lbs., 20 reps (each side) Adductors - 30 lbs., 15 reps (each side) Seated resisted ab crunches - 30 lbs. 20 reps (each side) Seated resisted crunch - 30 lbs., 20 reps Sidebends - 25 lbs., 20 reps (each side) Reverse fly - 20 lbs., 15 reps Resisted punch 20 lbs., 20 reps (each hand) Rope pushdown - 25 lbs., 20 reps (at which point, I pulled my left tricep while reaching backward for the hand holds for the bench press ...) Increase dexterity Nope Emotional Control Meditate: Nada

Man, you have TOTALLY scored with that center.

Isn't it time yet (for the new challenge)????? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwJDYXctGvQ

OOOHHHH - workout with AC/DC ---- nice!

Sleep A little over 7 hours. Lose Weight Eat a rainbow Red: Tomato Orange: Yellow: Corn Green: Asparagus Blue: Blueberries Purple: Black beans Calorie budget: 1517/1636 Steps: Over 10,000 Alcohol consumption: None! Although I was vastly tempted while trying to teach hubby to play Guild Wars 2. He literally fell asleep in his chair at one point. Grrrrr!! Strength Training None Increase dexterity Ankle alphabet Emotional Control Meditate: None.

Wow - writing a GAME in Excel?? I'm impressed. What is the goal of the game??

Sleep Nearly 8 hours solid!!! Having hubby home is great. Being able to open the windows at night is also helpful. I vaguely remember the cat snuggling me (trying to get warm), but that's about it. Lose Weight Eat a rainbow Red: Strawberry and rhubarb with my oatmeal; watermelon Orange: Mango fruit juice as part of my recovery meal Yellow: Pineapple, corn Green: honeydew melon, green grapes Blue: Purple: purple grapes, red wine Calorie budget: 2150/1726 - over budget .... Steps: 10,448 - yea!! Alcohol consumption: ..... should have skipped the wine, but Sunday night phone calls with my mom are a difficult weekly ritual Strength Training None Increase dexterity Went trail "running" - which was more walking than running - Kettle Moraine State Park. The short, easy route was not too bad, except the bikers forget that they are sharing the trail with hikers. Between the elevation change, the rocks and roots, and having to watch out to maniacs in spandex, I did about 1.25 miles in a half hour. But it worked my ankle - hard. Tired but not injured. Emotional Control Meditate: 20 minutes

Volleyball players wear them, especially in the summer. Wear what works - and lift really heavy things. When they see the weight on the bar, they'll have to revise the opinion about appropriate or not. Me, I look like an advertisement for a thrift shop when I'm at the gym, but I'm also not lifting 100+ pounds of metal that I'd rather not snag on my clothes and drop on my toes!

So far, so good on the brother front. He was discharged yesterday, and we're all crossing fingers, toes, and eyes!!! I'm gearing up for the next challenge and started a battle blog. I have roughed out approximate goals for the next year, which will naturally change. But at least I know what direction I'm heading in. More or less.

Not sure how I am going to approach logging. I' not usually very good at staying consistent, although I have managed to follow programs such as Diet Power for as much as a year .... but burn out is a major concern. Sleep Yea!! Last night I got 7.25 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That never happens!!! I attribute the blissful night to the fact that the cat refused to come in a 10 pm - so I got to sleep all night without him laying on me or trying to convince me to pet him or feed him at 3, 4, and 5 am. Lose Weight Eat a rainbow Red: Tomato Orange: Carrots Yellow: Baby corn Green: Broccoli, Spinach Blue: Blueberries Purple: Red wine Calorie budget: At first, I thought I would have to amend my intention to track calories every day since it seemed impossible (or depressing) to account for every little snippet of food at the Chinese buffet. But myfitnesspal.com has an estimate by number of plates. If I avoid the fried foods and load up on things that have veggies, it might not be so far off. Met goal for today (1623/1658) Steps: Hit my goal of 10,000 steps by doing elliptical training for 35 minutes and then a walk for 48 - despite the heat. At least the humidity has dropped down to a manageable 33%!!!! (I like the Jawbone Up!) Alcohol consumption: 1 glass (which is better than the usual 2 or 3!) Strength Training Nada Increase dexterity Wrote the alphabet with my injured ankle. Emotional Control Meditate: None

In our last challenge, we watched as Chris-Tien struggled to recover from grievous wounds inflicted by a multitude of enemies. At the end of one of the coldest, longest winters on record, Ranger Chris had been abandoned by her companions and set upon by an ogre, a princess, and a two-headed hydra in rapid succession. Stretched beyond her limits, the Ranger prevailed but was very badly wounded. Looking for a place to hide and heal, she took a mis-step and fell into a deep, deep cave. Bleeding and bruised, she tried unsuccessfully for days to find a way out. Missing her pack, her weapons, and any means of creating a light source, she finally curled into a ball, exhausted, no longer caring if she lived or died. She didn't die. When Chris awoke after a long refreshing sleep, she realized to her amazement that she could see. And not only could she see, she saw an endless cave of wonders and treasure!! She explored the cave, noting valuable items and mounds of gold and silver. Her injuries and an odd clumsiness bothered her slightly, but she hardly noticed as she explored. As she passed by a huge mirror, she whirled around awkwardly to face the dragon whose reflection she spyed, ready to take on the beast despite her lack of armor or weapons. But there was nothing behind her. Curious, she looked again …. and realized that the reflection of a young, silver wyrm was her very own. As she neared the glass to gain a better look at herself, her breath frosted over the reflection. She realized what she'd been turning into - a northern variant of the silver dragons of the mountains - an ice dragon! It took some experimentation, but gradually Chris-Tien realized that she could shift between human and dragon form, and that she could only see in the dark in the draconian stage. Being a practical person, she put aside of mystery of HOW she could do this until after she had gotten out of the cave. After all, she had spent years in the Tower of Wizards and knew that the answers existed somewhere in that massive structure. And she had spent some months as an ogre while traveling through a cursed swamp. She knew she could figure this out. But first, she had to get out of her current predicament. -------------- At Nerd Fitness we don't care about past mistakes - so I'm not going to dwell on the past year's lack of success but rather learn from it. I didn't lose weight or develop much strength, but I did graduate, find a job, move, buy a house (and sell one!), and get promoted to being the college's IT Director (which was not a job I sought out, but someone had to do it…..). The only life change that we haven't accomplished yet is to get my husband a job near our home. But all of that change was stressful. And I fell back on old, bad habits of emotional eating and drinking too much. I did work out - mostly cardio with some strength training - and so I ended up maintaining my weight. A minor victory. This coming year, I am going to PWN my challenges and totally embrace being an ice dragon. (Stats are here: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Silver_Dragon) They are strong, healthy, smart, wise, and very charismatic. They are also armored, can fly, They are also impassive and intimidating, but they are lawful good … which means that they know the rules and follow them. As a director - I need to set and enforce policy. And convince people to follow my direction. It's not something I'm good at - and I need to develop the appearance and presence that will aid me rather than hold me back. Since we have about 7 challenges per year, that's about 28 habit changes to adopt gradually. Rough goals for the year: I am going to lose weight and get back down to my ideal, fighting weight range: 127 - 135 lbs. That's about a pound per week - so I have to stick with this part of the plan even between challenges! 1)Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables daily. I'm terrible at this and generally prefer to eat a lot of unhealthy processed foods. 2) Stick to my calories budget on myfitnesspal.com 3) Cardio every day: 10,000 steps or equivalent as measured by my Jawbone Up. Dragons are strong. 4)Get a personal trainer and follow his/her advice 5) Weight train - Bowflex 6) Weight train - machines at Anytime Fitness 7) Weight train - free weights 8) CrossFit training classes Dragons have amazing constitutions 9) Visit medical professionals: doctor, dental cleaning, optometrist, orthodontist 10) Get enough sleep (7.5 hours per night) Dragons are charismatic 11) Look the part - hair, makeup, and accessories 12) Decorate office 13) Meet all faculty members in the college 14) Have a lunch weekly with a peer 15) Stop picking at my chin!!!! Dragons are armored 16) Suit up! Buy and wear professional clothing (one outfit per challenge) Dragons fly 17) Stop drinking 18) Ankle exercises 19) Train for and run 5Ks Dragons are impassive 20) Meditate daily Dragons are intimidating 21) Martial arts classes Dragons are lawfully good 22) Set policies for online program Dragons are both smart and wise 23) Financial Literacy article 24) Financial Literacy book 25) Possibility spaces article Dragons love treasure 26) Save money for daughter's wedding 27) Retirement savings 28) Vacation savings 29) Good jewelry Next challenge - starting July 29th - in which Chris-Tien gets off her butt, climbs out of the cave, eats a rainbow, and shines in the sun!!! Gets off her butt - 10,000 steps per day (1 STR & 1 STA & 2 DEX) Climbs out of the cave - stop drinking and do ankle exercises (2 CON & 1 WIS & 2 DEX) Eats a rainbow - 6 servings of fruit and veggies (one each color) (2 CON) And shines! Dress professionally and set up office (4 CHA)

Thankfully, the nearest Coldstone is now a half-hour away and I never got started on Culver's frozen custard. You all can add me too: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/ChristienJinn -- I just remembered to set it to be viewable by friends. I'm now going to watch TV and add all of YOU!

Final Report I finished. Although I didn't update every day, I stuck with it. I didn't lose weight, but I am feeling a little more in control of myself. We sold the Minnesota house. My husband moved his stuff down here (I was really beginning to wonder if we were going to separate and start divorce proceedings). I moved back up to my big girl office. I have plans for the next challenge. I'm counting this as a win and a level up. Goals Exercise Daily 30+ minutes - 55% success on that, at least, that's what I counted. I think there were more than a few days when I forgot to log because I was so very busy. I got a fitness band to help me track my activity passively and consistently. (+1 CON, +1 STA, +0.5 STR) 5 points per day in the improvement game - 35% of possible points - this was less successful than I had anticipated. I had more trouble finding macro changes to make than expected, and I didn't lose any weight over the challenge. Nor did I really tone up. My jeans are getting tight again. (+0.5 CON, +1 WIS) Meditate daily - 24% - how hard is it to find time to mediate or recite affirmations daily? Obviously pretty hard. During the day, I have people who want my attention (nasty hobbits). At night, I distract myself from the quiet house ... literally running away from the quiet of meditation. (+0.5 WIS) simply because I learned something significant about myself. Daily reward - 24% as well. Taking time to smell the roses, or buy and iTunes song, was much harder to remember. I fall into habits when stressed. Bad habits. I'm also giving myself (+1 WIS) for learning things that I didn't necessarily want to know about myself. I hope to do better with them next challenge!! Final scores: CON 10.25 +1.5 = 11.75 STA 16 + 1 = 17 STR 13 + 0.5 = 13.5 WIS 17.75 + 2.5 = 20.25 DEX = 7.5 CHA = 11.5 With a great deal of wisdom and stamina, I'm starting to look more like a wizard than a ranger. Suggestions for increasing Dexterity?? Anyone???

Brother is doing ok. The complications from his cancer make me so grateful for every day things!! One week from surgery, and little bro does not have an infection (the big worry with GI surgery), but his lower GI tract is still not showing signs of function returning. Still, the surgeon is confident that things will pick up. Lots of positive changes.

Like so many easy ways of measuring that approximate something useful .... scale is a liar!!!

W00t!!!!! I know you will feel that you have accomplished something major with a VBAC!

Final Report I finished. Although I didn't update every day, I stuck with it. I didn't lose weight, but I am feeling a little more in control of myself. We sold the Minnesota house. My husband moved his stuff down here (I was really beginning to wonder if we were going to separate and start divorce proceedings). I moved back up to my big girl office. I have plans for the next challenge. I'm counting this as a win and a level up. Goals Exercise Daily 30+ minutes - 55% success on that, at least, that's what I counted. I think there were more than a few days when I forgot to log because I was so very busy. I got a fitness band to help me track my activity passively and consistently. (+1 CON, +1 STA, +0.5 STR) 5 points per day in the improvement game - 35% of possible points - this was less successful than I had anticipated. I had more trouble finding macro changes to make than expected, and I didn't lose any weight over the challenge. Nor did I really tone up. My jeans are getting tight again. (+0.5 CON, +1 WIS) Meditate daily - 24% - how hard is it to find time to mediate or recite affirmations daily? Obviously pretty hard. During the day, I have people who want my attention (nasty hobbits). At night, I distract myself from the quiet house ... literally running away from the quiet of meditation. (+0.5 WIS) simply because I learned something significant about myself. Daily reward - 24% as well. Taking time to smell the roses, or buy and iTunes song, was much harder to remember. I fall into habits when stressed. Bad habits. I'm also giving myself (+1 WIS) for learning things that I didn't necessarily want to know about myself. I hope to do better with them next challenge!! Final scores: CON 10.25 +1.5 = 11.75 STA 16 + 1 = 17 STR 13 + 0.5 = 13.5 WIS 17.75 + 2.5 = 20.25 DEX = 7.5 CHA = 11.5 With a great deal of wisdom and stamina, I'm starting to look more like a wizard than a ranger. Suggestions for increasing Dexterity?? Anyone???

Ok, ended on a high note!! July 14th Exercise Daily 30+ minutes: Elliptical 35 minutes (24/42)5 points per day in the improvement game: 6 points (73/210)Meditate daily: Affirmations (10/42)Life Goals Daily reward --- Jawbone UP! (11/42)I got the Jawbone instead of the FitBit because the FitBit is on backorder for 8 weeks. Available = good enough.

YUM!!!

Excellent job on the challenge - even if you didn't hit the mark you made HUGE progress toward your goals. Looking forward to the book. I loved the Apollo era and really regret that the US has gotten out of manned space missions (mostly).