inara

What if you decorate them with flowers, camouflage style?

Chinese pole is so cool!! Some of the tricks are just insane. I will definitely be working on pull-ups, but for this challenge I wanted to focus on something I can do without excuses while traveling Sure sure I bet you secretely use it for some sexy booty shaking Oh and congrats to both of you for being mods! I see some things have changed around here,have clearly been away far too long...

Hey rebels, I'm back! And I'm on a mission. I have decided that I want to be an acrobat. Now I'm not expecting to join Cirque de Soleil anytime soon. I just want to see how far I can push this body as a personal long-term challenge. I also want to discover what will happen if I actually commit to something in life. My starting point is absolute scratch. My weapon of choice is the pole. Well, there isn't actually much choice here, it's the only aerial apparatus I can fit in my flat. Goals 1 Pole Skillz - Complete a 30 day intro to pole The programme includes strength and stretch exercises as well as pole tricks. (Pass or fail DEX +4) I'll start this when I get back from traveling. In the mean time I'll work on... 2 Pole Strength - Proper girl push ups I'll be doing sets of negative and partial push-ups 3-4x/week. (Points awarded for number of completed workouts A= 20+ workouts for STR +4) 3) Pole body - Has anyone ever seen a fat acrobat? Didn't think so. At 5'10'' and ~170 lbs I'm not technically overweight, but it's enough to make me uncomfortable, especially if I have to be half naked on the pole. Plan is to eat ~1800 kcal and 100+g protein everyday, adjusting half way through the challenge as needed. (CHA +4, points for number of successful days) 4) Life - Wiping the slate clean (I need to fill it with fun things) I've been procrastinating things like, hrmm, going to the dentist for the past, umm, half year or so. Yeah. Every time I find myself procrastinating I will put 20 SEK in a jar. Every time I do something "hard" I'll reward myself 50 SEK If at the end the cash flow is positive I get to treat myself something nice, else I will donate the difference. (WIS +3 max points based on ratio between in/out flow to be decided) Starting stats Aerial assassin Level 1 (Back on square 1) Age: 26 Height: 5'10'' Weight: ~170 lbs (To be updated) BF: ~27% according to scale (To be updated) Measurements: To be updated STR 2 DEX 3 STA 2 WIS 3 CHA 2 CON 3

Day 1 I didn't own Monday. But I did try, really! I started doing some hip-opening yoga, but couldn't quite get into the swing of things and stopped after 30 min. Then I played a bit on my hands, but it wasn't really training. I just did some random handstands every few minutes while halfheartedly watching a TV show. I also started a cooking experiment, smoked mackerel and sweet potato fish cakes. But then I couldn't figure out the "missing ingredient". And then I couldn't decide whether to bake them or fry them (I've never made fish cakes before). So I ended up eating the filling in mash form, oops. And then of course I spend ages trying to decide what my challenge goals would be... Day 1 was weird. Day 2 90 min handstand class, that's one point for being upside down a lot Also, for my first goal I've started tracking what I eat. Mindful is good, but analytic is better. WIS +2 for tracking all 6 weeks, unless I decide I'm wise enough as it is and it's no longer necessary. CON +3 for eating real food 90% of the time. To judge the success of the second part of the goal I will simply categorize and sum up all the meals in my spreadsheet. (Yay spreadsheet!)

Yay, it's awesome to be back - and thanks for trying to resurrect me from the dead last challenge. I really appreciated it even though unfortunately I saw your PM way too late. But now let's have some fun Learn something new every day! Thanks! I won't be able to do anything near as cool as you though, well at least not yet But I'm becoming seriously addicted to handbalancing, I LOVE being upside down in weird poses! Thanks Fear! You're right, it's so important to find the right balance in life. For me the past months have been manic, but the worst part is that it was entirely self inflicted. (One of the managers actually said that we are all like overachieving school girls and that it's our own fault we're stressed ) So it's nice to take a small step back and reprioritize what's important in life. Like handstands, yay for handstands! Thanks loads rabbit! And big welcome!

Oh no you ran away! Haha our brains must be synced, 3 of our goals are kind of similar Looking forward to this!

Haha, maybe your dog has hidden super powers? Fellow Firefly fan I presume? (ooh one alliteration point won for me ) Thanks Elastigirl!! And this time I'm not going anywhere

Nice goals Kibcy I gave up on jeans a long time ago as I have the exact same problem... So high five from me!

Yay, handstands! Great goals, good luck!

Sooo many pull-ups!

Hey Tinkerer! Love your goals, especially the friends goal. I also struggle with keeping in touch with friends, but you might be just the inspiration I need

Princess bride and rocky horror, this is off to a great start already!

Love that you hula hoop for cardio, it's so much fun! A tip is to make your own so you don't have to buy the weighted ones. Lighter ones are a bit more difficult to use as you say but you can do more tricks and stuff with them and they don't mash your intestines.

Yoga is all about accepting yourself and realizing that you're awesome however your poses look. So keep rocking them, you look great

Those are some very cool looking goals. #2 is seriously badass, looking forward to the video

I really wish I could hibernate all winter! I daydream about turning into a kitty and curl up into a ball and be petted all day Alas, as you say, we'll have to take it one step at a time until the sun comes out again. Best of luck with your goals and looking forward to see you kick ass as always!

Hello, I'm back and sooo ready for this challenge! For the past weeks (months?) I've been overstressed and overworked due to work deadlines - and as a consequence I've been MIA from the forums and, well, from life. I have slept too little, eaten poorly, missed acro classes and neglected just about every aspect of my well-being. This is not the rebel way of life! From now on I'm going to prioritize myself and what makes me happy. As such I want to have a relaxed challenge this time, with focus on having fun and enjoying every bit of it. Diet & Fitness Eat all the tasty things The plan is eat mindfully, to listen to my taste buds and not my brain's silly cravings. Sure, one cookie can be very tasty. But is the second really that good? Food experiments and making a mess in the kitchen is highly encouraged. Point system will follow, once I figure it out. CON+3, WIS +2 Play upside down! Inversion practice 3x/week, could be handstand training, yoga with focus on arm balances or finally get over my fear of headstands. Points awarded for completed session, with a bonus WIS point for a consistent headstand. STR +3, WIS +1 Streeeetch By doing intense stretching 3x/week, I have tiny hopes to get the (front) splits this challenge. But I also find intense stretching kind of emotionally cleansing for lack of better words. Even when it hurts. Or maybe because it hurts. Points awarded for each completed session. DEX +3 Life Don't live for the weekends! Leave work early on Wednesdays and Fridays for some luxury me-time. I can do anything as long as it's nurturing for soul. For example I could go and make something, read a book, or see an exhibition. I know this may not sound like an actual challenge but I actually struggle with this. I'm sure any programmers out there know the feeling where you just want to do one more little thing before you leave, and that thing is never as little as you expected. Well, this kind of thinking keeps me stuck at work and and every weekend I find myself wondering what time thief stole my week. I think I'll take my time back now, thank you very much. CHA +3 May this be the best challenge yet and good luck to all of you!

Almost didn't see this on time (thanks loads for the PM Mily ), but count me IN! I actually have homework from my stretch teacher this week so this challenge ties in really well! Today's mobility work (20 minutes): Pigeon Straddle against wall Frog stretch

Torture's the word! The only "encouragement" I get from my teacher in stretch class is "it's ok to cry"... So I'm very impressed with how hard you're pushing yourself, keep it up and you'll be superbendy in no time.

In conclusion, I should suck it up

That's a noble goal, I fully approve

Thanks, I'm so excited about this term I'm becoming just a tad obsessed with the acro stuff, it's just so much fun! Aww thanks Ysabet. I think it's getting better, so hopefully I'll be on full capacity soon! I think it will be really fun, I spend some time just doodling yesterday and it felt really nice and pressure free. None of the "oh it's not good enough to hang on a wall and therefore shouldn't do anything at all" stupid thinking. And thanks! Well it's supposed to be a challenge eh? (Apologies, that was so lame, I better be off to bed now...)

Well sort of, by birth anyway Living in Stockholm since about a year and a half.

That's exactly how I feel, how did I miss this much bad-assery?

Haha yeah I just came back from gymnastics where I've basically been upside down for the past two hours.