Susie_Derkins

Hm...that smell thing. Interesting. I've never heard of that. Have you Googled it? Maybe a neti pot?

I'd really, really encourage you to make the sleep goal your main priority. I find that I exercise better, eat healthier foods, and am generally a nicer person on a full night of sleep. Good luck with your basement! Sounds like you've got a good handle on what needs to be done.

Oh, cool! I don't think we had any rowers in our group last time. Unfortunately, I know zero about rowing and have little to contribute there. BUT, I do know all about saving your paycheck! When I first started learning about personal finance, I read the GetRichSlowly blog a lot.

Way to carry on, despite being on vacation! I essentially crumple in new surroundings and eat everything. You're a rockstar! Also, DAMN.

Hi, hi, hi! I love reading your updates and I'm glad to see that you've returned for another challenge. Your goals look solid! I'd never heard of the Whole30 program and I'm interested in hearing how it works for you. I despise updating my resume. Maybe set up some sort of reward for finishing it. Hooray for another six weeks!

Glad to hear that you're getting a good start on this challenge! We'll nag ya if we notice you haven't posted in awhile

Eff yeah for chin ups! This is something that I'm also working on. Maybe for your life goal, you could make it even smaller, like "Organize home office for 15 minutes every day." Good luck with this! Clutter drives me crazy.

Hi, Bean! Your new goals look awesome! I'm especially excited to hear how you like the beginner BW program. Also, I may have missed it in your other thread, but how did the 5k go? I can't remember the name. The Space Race? Space Shuttle?

Hi friends! I struggled to flesh out goals for my second challenge. August 18-26 is my office’s “high season†and I often work 12+ hour days during that time. As to not set myself up for total failure, I’m structuring my goals a little differently. These are my goals for August 6-17 and August 26-September 17: Fitness: 150 minutes of cardio per week. I’m working on diversifying my cardio activities to avoid overtraining injuries and to cut my knees some slack. I hope to incorporate a mixture of running, elliptical-ing, spinning and swimming. I’d like to try the rowing machine at my gym. Maybe even some dancing? I focused on strength training during the last challenge and want to try and balance out. +3 DEX and +3 STA. Fitness: 3 strength-based practices per week, either yoga or free weights. This goal is returning after I enjoyed it so much last time. +3 STR. Diet: No more than 10 grams of added sugar per day. After tracking calories , I’ve learned that 10g is nothing. I have a raging sweet tooth and I hope that this will really keep me in line when my office fills with donuts and cookies. +4 CON (this may seem like a lot, but, like I said, RAGING sweet tooth). Life: Blog three times per week. I read and wrote bunches as an English major, but this has waned as I became a financial office stooge. I’m working on posting three times each week – two will be superficial “what I did†posts and one will have more substantial content. +2 WIS. These are my goals for August 18-26: Log calories very strictly. Because this time of the year is so stressful for my office, I'm surrounded with pizza, cookies, donuts, etc. I’m loosening the reins on dietary restrictions this week (eat the pizza, already!), but I’m going to log it religiously. With MyFitnessPal, there’s really no excuse. 15 minutes of yoga on any day that I don’t otherwise exercise. I’m hoping to maintain some sort of fitness routine, but I’m going to try and accept that, on most of these days, I should not workout - for the sake of myself and others. On these days, I will do some sun salutations and a quick meditation. I’m not offering any points for the Aug 18-26 goals. Rather, I’m just trying to acknowledge that those days will be radically different from my “normal†life and adjust accordingly because I know that I won’t be able to meet my main goals during that week. I can’t anticipate any challenges other than what’s already been mentioned. If y’all see any gaping flaws in my plan, please feel free to note! [TABLE=width: 400] Race: Gnome [/TD] Class: Scout Attributes: Strength (STR) 5 Dexterity (DEX) 6 Stamina (STA) 5 Constitution (CON) 4 Wisdom (WIS) 6 Charisma (CHA) 3 Total 29[TD] [/TABLE] (Table credit to Josh_C!) Hooray for another challenge!

I knew you would get that shirt! Great work with your goals!

Overall, I give myself a B. Copied from my thread:

Hi friends! I briefly looked through the other threads, but I don't think has been covered just yet. I would like to mail a care package with Paleo goodies to a friend who lives a few states away. The recipes that I found don't seem to be shelf-stable enough to survive the journey. Can anyone recommend something commercially made / packaged that would be good to mail? He lives in the south, so I also prefer something that won't melt in the heat. Thanks for reading

Glad to hear you're back at work! I imagine that was stressful. I'm also really glad to hear that warming up and cooling down is now habitual. I think these things are so important for injury prevention. Great work!

You did a good job with this challenge! Also, keep us posted on the New Rules of Lifting. I keep reading great things about it.

Even if you didn't hit your goals, I'm glad to hear that you were still active everyday. It's about the journey, not just the destination

Great progress on all of your goals! Even if you didn't hit them this time, you've definitely come far after six weeks.

I like the ongoing updates. Way to stick with it!

Whoa! Great job on placing in your race! How exciting!

Hello, Scouts! It’s hard to believe that the challenge is over! These six weeks really flew by me. Reckoning time… My goals: Strength train 3x per week for +4 STR. I rocked this. Between yoga and lifting weights in the gym, I was able to nail this goal. I squatted with a barbell for the first time. My new plank record is 2 minutes. I can do wheel. Super excited with how this one worked out. Reward: +4 STR. Run a 7:00 mile for +5 DEX. I think that most would agree this was my most far-reaching goal, with a starting time of 8:17. I trained with fartleks, 100 meter sprints, and long runs of 3 miles. I was advised to also train hills, but I wussed out of that. My final mile is now 7:43, or 34 seconds faster. 34 seconds equals 44% of the 77 second goal, so I am giving myself 44% of the reward, or +2 DEX. Eliminate soda for +3 CON. This went perfectly before and after my vacation. While I was gone, I think I drank between 4 and 5 sodas. I knew that vacationing would be a challenge, but I also wanted to enjoy it. Trying to focus on the journey itself, so I’m allotting a reward of +2 CON. Read two books for +1 WIS. Actually read three. Lovedthis goal. Reward: +1 WIS. Develop a solid savings plan for retirement and a house down payment for +2 WIS. This one was…okay. I did all of the groundwork, like developing a monthly budget and annual budget, setting aside an emergency fund, researching various funds/interest-bearing accounts, and reading about how mortgages and financing work. Didn’t actually meet with an investment advisor. I will give myself a +1 WIS for this. Plus, the weekly missions: Week 1: +1 DEX Week 2: +1 STA Week 3: +1 DEX Week 4: +1 WIS Week 5: 0 Week 6: 0 Bringing my new stats to: [TABLE=width: 200] Strength (STR) 5 [/TD] Dexterity (DEX) 6 Stamina (STA) 5 Constitution (CON) 4 Wisdom (WIS) 6 Charisma (CHA) 3 Total 29[TD] [/TABLE] (again, table credit to Josh_C!) Overall, I really enjoyed participating in this challenge. Posting regularly on the forum has been a lot of fun and definitely made me feel more accountable. I’m a little bummed about the timed mile, but it’s just the beginning! I’ve got lots of time to get stronger, faster, and healthier. Thanks so much for commenting on my posts, answering my questions, offering advice, and sharing your experiences with me. You all are awesome

This may be a shameless plug, but I actually wrote a short post about it.

Maybe it's because I'm a planner, but I always feel better after breaking tasks down and scheduling things. It's great that you and your wife are working together on this. The one thing that's holding me back? More reflection needed. I'll report back.

Great job getting the study materials for the electrical test. The first step is the hardest. Good luck to you and Cita on your upcoming 5k!

Hope you're not going too crazy with the Australia planning and good luck with this week's pullups

Impressive handstand times! Even with my feet against the wall, I get super nervous upside down.

Hey Rosie! Hope you're finding success with your goals and good luck on your upcoming race