Hugh

Excellent goals!

... we're ALL watching...

Good workout today! Went as planned. ooh, and it's the 1st of February. This means my new years resolutions may now happen They are as follows: do more exercise. eat less crap. get more sleep. (they will be fitting into my 4 week challenges.)

Nice goals. I totally understand the "eat all the things" part!

Update: End of week 4 and challenge review good exercise on monday and a fair bit friday evening (home rather than gym). ok on the sleep and not too bad on the the breakfasts but could have been better.

Update: End of week 3 not so good. limited exercise. sleep ok. breakfast not so much.

Update: End of week 2 busy week of kayak instructor training and stuff. did the gym thing on the friday.

Update: End of week 1 Week went well. Missed one breakfast. Didn't do a Friday workout this week so I've gotta do the next three. good workout monday. kayaking wednesday. long walk thursday. shorter walk friday. took it easy saturday - got a bit of a nasty head cold. pseudoephedrine FTW. managed gentle HEMA training this morning (sunday). All in all: good - on schedule!

Nice goals. (Especially the sugar!)

Lurking... awaiting mini 1...

“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.†- Duke Leto Atreides / Frank Herbert (Dune) On the arid world of Arrakis, the Fremen strike without warning and meld into the deserts. They use the environment and it's resources to survive and thrive yet it's harshness carves them into hardy survivors and fierce warriors. The world they live in shapes them. My world is very different and my environment is more forgiving (e.g. no giant sandworms) but it can be used to improve me just the same. My long term goal is to be more and more connected to my environment and let it shape and carve me into a fitter and healthier me. I'll be like the Fremen of Arrakis but in a much, much wetter environment. "Nathair uisce" is Irish for "water snake". I've chosen this moniker as snakes (which of course we don't have in Ireland) are often considered quite low on a scale of animal nobility... but they're still cool (especially with a Solid or Liquid prefix, for all us metalgear solid fans...). And it's water snake because, well, it's Ireland and it's usually raining. I also do a bit of kayaking and occasional camping on the islands of Lough Allen. (I did consider "bogpheist", an archaic Irish term meaning bog worm, but I thought it sounded just a bit too lowly...) I plan to move up the "animal scale" as 4 week challenges are completed So, I'm keeping the challenges simple and straightforward for now. 1: Get to bed before 1:30AM every weeknight. Weeknights are just nights when I have to get up for work/college in the morning. It is subject to change as, e.g. I often have fidays off so thursday night might not always count. 2: Eat some kind of breakfast every weekday morning. Preferably egg based for good healthy protein. 3: Exercise each Monday - full body workout. two sets of: 50 bodyweight Squats 20 incline push ups 20 bent over rows w/20kg kettlebell (each arm) 10 overhead presses w/20kg kettlebell (each arm) 60 second front plank 30 second side plank (each side) 4: Exercise 3 Fridays out of the 4 in the challenge (I'd usually be drinking on a Friday evening, so exercising will provide a dual benefit as the money I might spend on booze will be spent on the gym instead) Precise routine to be determined - will include barbell, sprints and swimming.

So far so good... Been getting to bed at a reasonable time and getting some kind of breakfast each morning, even if it's just a couple of eggs.

<Edited first post>

“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.†- Duke Leto Atreides / Frank Herbert (Dune) For some time now I've been out of the fight. Assorted excuses and... well... whatever. No excuses are valid. I'm back. A bit late. Too late to have any lofty goals for the first challenge but here I am, stepping back into the ring. One of my resolutions this year is to not consider any resolutions until the 1st of Feb anyway so that works I've been trying to imagine my ideal self at "level 50". Every time I try, the image swirls and morphs. It take aspects of all sorts of paragons of my goals and ideas but never quite settles in any one form. With some contemplation and reflection I've moved my viewpoint through the swirling mists and myriad forms to cut through to the core. Me at level 50: I'll be fit. Nothing amazing but fit... fitter than I've ever been before. Slim enough to fit into off the rack M-L clothing, tough enough to run a 5k in less than 25 minutes, barefoot. Strong enough to do a dozen pull ups. Agile enough to kip-up. My fitness training will be based on the primal blueprint and will incorporate as much wilderness fitness as possible (trail running, hiking, generally running about, lifting stuff and climbing stuff in the outdoors). I'll be working, either in outdoor pursuits and/or in some kind of skills development / training / teaching position. I'll have a black belt in Karate and probably in Kobudo too. Maybe be approaching black belt in another art such as Jujutsu or another grappling art. I'll be practicing and teaching HEMA in my spare time. I'll read more actual books and get more actual sleep. I'll be eating healthily, have a dog that my wife and I take long walks with on a daily basis and we'll be secure enough to occasionally go on holiday (something we've never been able to do). The dog will also accompany me on my solo excursions up into the hills or forests of wherever I live, for camping, bushcraft and general time to be among the green places. In short, I'll be in tune with and shaped by my environment. Like a Fremen... but in much wetter weather. The description is by no means exhaustive and will doubtless change from time to time. So, on the the last week or so of the existing challenge: Simple goals just to ease back into things... 1: Get to bed before 1:30AM every weeknight. 2: Eat some kind of breakfast every weekday morning. That's it. There's no XP or anything here, just a step onto the path of the Irish Fremen. to be continued.

well, last week turned out to be super busy and super active. I'm surprised I got to my usual karate practice at all. Failed to practice katas outside of it Got plenty of exercise - kayaking and heavy lifting every day. Didn't do what I intended and get my circuits in as well BUT as it was such an active week, I don't feel too bad. Breakfasts kept pretty much on track with one 'blip' (nutrigrain bar on thursday morning) The weekend saw two days of swirdfighting shows at a country festival. Plenty of activity there too. This week: So far so good. salad for breakfast on monday, nuts and seeds yesterday. Scrambled duck eggs with a dollop of pate today. More kayaking on monday as one of the summer camp instructors let us down. Did some kata practice yesterday. should easily fit more in this afternoon - might try to get a new one fully committed to memory too Karate class this evening.

Last week was pretty good. did my two circuit workouts - basically a 10 minute version of the 7 minute workout that appeared on NF a little while back. did the breakfast thing most mornings but admittedly not all. practiced my katas two mornings. Could do better. This week is ok so far. Breakfasts on schedule. busy week at work doing summer camps so I'm out kayaking most afternoons - good bit of exercise there Still going to get the workouts in but it's a nice active daily schedule.

FTW!

Well, 05:30 is a bit of an uncivilized time to have to get up...

small but protein filled, low carb breakfast (ok, it was bacon and sausages and a cup of coffee but it's better than nutri-grain bars or some such!). Practiced my Katas this morning

(to be updated with specifics for scoring etc) Greetings and Salutatons. So. Here I am back again after a long haiatus. Since last october I've done embarrasingly little to keep myself fit and healthy. I've used injuries, illness, work, general busyness and moving house as excuses for inactivity and poor self-care. I've decided that my return will have me joining the ADVENTURERS for now. A focus on general health and fitness rather than specializing will give my body and mind the foundations they need. Main Quest: Slightly modified from previous 6wCs: Return to where I was a couple of years ago: Run 5k in under 30 mins, improve power to weight ratio so I can do a pull up and improve muscular/cardio stamina so I'm not out of breath after 5 minutes of longsword duelling. I think these are reasonable mid-term goals, achievable within a year. The first stage is to start shedding some excess weight. Goal the First: Eat the Right Food: Sounds simple but can be, and has been, oh so difficult for me. Willpower is part of it, avoiding having easy access to crappy food is another part. I'm keeping it simple and starting off small. I'll be making sure I have a filling, low carb breakfast most weekdays - Either a green smoothie or eggs, most likely. More veggies and salad with meals rather than carby stodge like potatoes, bread or pasta. Some rice is ok for now but not too much. Goal the Second: Build the habbit of regular exercise for it's own purpose. I do karate once a week and HEMA twice a week but I do precious little exercise outside of that. So I'll make a point of doing a specific workout twice a week. It doesn't have to be a massive undertaking and it will probably only be a 10 minute AMRAP interval circuit at first. I might even try to build it into a warmup for my Sunday HEMA sessions... Goal the Third: Practice: I feel that my Karate practice has slipped lately. I've been "phoning it in" to some extent and not really practicing outside of the dojo. I WILL practice my Katas two or three days a week, even if it's just a single run through of all the ones I know. Additionally, I'm going to learn three new katas by the end of the 6wC. I need to learn a few for my next grading so now's the time. Goal the Fourth (optional extra credit): To be determined... That'll do for now - this pot is as much a placeholder and self motivator as anything. See y'all soon (off to run through my Katas)

Hi. Welcome and well done for taking and sharing the inspiration! Having been overweight pretty much all my life, I can empathise. Firstly, I wouldn't worry too much about being in "sub-optima" shape. They probably get quite a few people through the doors who are interested in the art for it's health and fitness benefits. I used to ask "do i need to be fit" when enquiring about taking up assorted martial arts as a teen. The answer was always the same: "not at first but don't worry, you'll get fitter as you train". Second, you will surely find as you go along that your enthusiasm for getting better at the art will encourage you to add other fitness goals and exercises to suplement your training. Third, be prepared to make mistakes and laugh them off. You'll occasionally do something stupid, or that makes you feel stupid. Don't sweat it, you're all training and learning together and all the more experienced students have been there too so they should support and help you through it. Finally, be patient. Understand that improvement takes time. You'll get there in the end but you have to stick with it! Have you done the first lesson yet? How did it go?

Well, I've run into a couple of snags... Still eating breakfast pretty much every morning - Yay! Unfortunately I've done little exercise outside of my martial arts classes this last two weeks. Very poor right now so healthy food has been encroached upon somewhat by cheap bulk food like noodles and pasta. The weather has gone very cold and we can't afford to heat the house at the moment so we're living in one room with an electric heater. On top of that, I've had a gout flare-up and am hobbling about in considerable pain at the moment.