MarmotGrrl

This is a WAAAY overdue reply, but I wanted to close things out. For those of you who stuck with me - yep, love Battlestar Gallatica! Enjoying the slowly running, enjoying what I learned.... I got sick the last week, which affected my success a bit, but in general: * I did the 4 sessions of 10-mins+ yoga weekly. Helped a lot with pain and flexibility. Good stuff. * I walked well over 20 minutes each day (with Tee the Wonder Dog), except for one day when I was sick. This was a great thing for me and for Tee. * I found my way into cooking, and actually gave my wife the gift of more cooking for Christmas. (I've never been much of a cook, and it means our meals are really limited.) More on that below. * I sort of sucked with journaling - I think because I felt like I had to have Big Thoughts? Not sure, but I think I gave myself some subtle and not-good pressure. * I was terrible about keeping up here. I like the 4-week challenge ideas, I may continue them - not sure if I'm someone who posts, or if I need to go easier on myself, or what. Yes, this means I need to journal, I think, to make more sense of this. On the cooking front, I made: * Potato soup that was so good, it was a revelation to me - the biggest victory of the challenge. (And it was so good, I made more the next week!) * Beef stew. OK, but too bland, and I made a goof on the recipe and the meat was over-cooked. Easy enough to try again. * Two different kinds of steak marinades - and sorta went all paleo for several days, eating steak and steak and steak. A bit much, but kind of funny. More to come. I thank you all for the support. I admire those of you who were better at posting. And I'll ponder how I engage here, for 2018. Happy New Year, all!!

Thanks for the yoga site, karinajean - will have to check that out. This is an update and pseudo-journal - so yeah, I'm counting it! I've done well on the walking and yoga and pretty well on the journalling. Still no clue What I Really Want, but it's a 4-week challenge, not a 1-week. A few personal observations: * I didn't quite admit when I started this (publicly) that I really want to be able to run again. I was a fair middle-distance runner back in the Paleolithic Era, and would like to try, eventually, things like trail running or distances longer than 5K. For now, though, I need to get up my endurance, and if I'd been honest (read: a bit more willing to push myself), I'd have committed here to 3x a week run/walk sessions of 25 minutes each. Because that's my inner commit. So far, so good - I'm doing it - but my hesitation in publicly saying this makes me recognize how much I tend to try to avoid failure. Good lesson, I guess. * The cooking thing - try a new recipe - is going to be a bit of a challenge for me. I'll get to it, but I've made no progress, and week 1 is nearly over. I'm hoping I'll be clever and creative tomorrow. Or Sunday?? * I'm glad I gave myself the flexibility to do yoga and journalling 4 x/week, and didn't push so hard to do more. I've had a personal challenge (appears my beloved dog has cancer), and it's obvious December is going to be different than I expected. So there's a lesson here in flexibility. One change I do need to make: Those 20 minutes a day of walking are with "Tee," my dog. For now, he's chipper and happy, and than may continue. But I've noticed I want to move faster than he does, now that he's 14. So since I'm run/walking on my own, I'm going to try to make those walks a bit more meditative, a bit more about him than me. Thanks all for tagging along on this journey!

Wowza. I'm with valkyrieRising and TGP. Amazing and hardcore!

I have a Yoga App called Down Dog, which I really like. Mostly I've been doing yoga focused on stretching, because I've had a lot of back pain in recent months. I'm also planning to do a routine once or twice a week focused more strengthening, as well.

Wow. Your goals sound tough (to me), but fantastic. Good luck!

Uh oh, you asked...! Anything Tolkien. Most Star Trek (I just started a new round of Deep Space Nine on DVD). And I've started run/walking (sinceSeptember) with Zombies Run! I have two Fantasy novels "in the trunk", and one of the things to figure out is if I still have a passion for writing fiction. i love that you're seeking more it - something to emulate!

Good luck, Thom, and that is for posting the beginners body weight link I'm going to take a peek at that myself.

Good luck! I'm intrigued by the Walking Stars glad marathon--will have to Google that!

I've debated doing an NF challenge for too long. It's time, at last, to act. I'm almost 54, and though I was active in my teens and 20s (hence my nom du guerre), I've been too sedentary lately. Skewed priorities, health challenges - and now, it's time to make a change. I've already started some of this, but it's about consistency now. So what I plan: - Walking a minimum of 20 minutes a day - 4 yoga sessions each week of at least 10 minutes each - Trying one new recipe a week - Journaling at least 4 times a week to help me pinpoint What I Really Want, and a rough timeline to act on that Onward!