ScurvySpider

Grades for Week 2, June 10-16 Revised Goal 1, Dumbbells: Grade = A. (3/3 days, full routine) I’m enjoying this so far. Goal 2, log & blog: Grade = A. (7/7 days) Downside: Don’t like it. Didn’t think it through (as usual) -- wound up b/logging some exercises in 4 different places (not including the wonderful mini challenge !) Benefits: 1. Prevents forgetting I’m in a challenge, 2. 6 weeks is a fair length of time to sort out what works best. Goal 3, walk & run: Grade = C+. 7/10 miles. Priorities went upside down this week. But determined to bring in an A in Week 3. Goal 4, filing. “Can’t touch this.†Walking, logging and blogging consumes all of my waking hours (ha).

I got worried when I didn't see your updates, but now I see why -- ditto the above, you amazing champion.

Yes, welcome. Sounds like you're off to a good start on some very worthy goals. I want to be sure you've seen the mini-challenge (pinned post at top of druid forum) so you can get credit for not only biking, but any salutations to the sun or moon you might be doing.

I don't know the answer to your question, so am re-quoting it in case someone does... my older model pedometer would definitely overcount in situations of non-walking movement, such as riding in a car or bus, or would count differently if I fastened it on in different places. I used to calibrate mine by walking a known distance and comparing until I finally learned how to position it where it would read accurately for me specifically.

May I offer a belated welcome to the challenge, and ask how it is coming? 1. re: 10 pounds: it DOES sound like much, to me. Been fighting the same 10 pounds up and down for about a year now, but without a well-defined plan such as yours. 2. re: meditation: sounds good too. Just this week I began combining Ocean Breathing with the Moon Meditation* and find it a soothing combination. Can be done anywhere and adjusted to however much time you have available. 3. re: business: that's a tough one, I have no input on. Other than I'm interested in massage and obsessed with trigger points. 4. re: possession purging. Awesome --difficult but worth it. *stumbled across the Moon Meditation while looking up the druid's mini-challenge to perform Salutations to the Moon.

Goals look good, and I admire your consistency. I'm a huge fan of that 100 pushups program; intend to go back on it, in the next challenge. I still can't do 1 real pushup, but I followed the program first on wall pushups, then bent-knee pushups. Saw a definite improvement in my little chicken-wrists that finally did stop feeling like they were going to snap in half. 80 pushups, amazing. That HAD to feel great.

Glad you are recovering and hope you resist any temptation to overdo. I've been threatening to install a palm print security scanner on the kitchen cabinet where the rest of the family keep their snack food since like your Mom, they will never stop buying it or swinging it in front of me when they eat some. :eyeroll:

I FEEL RIGHTEOUS cuz the arms are the right amount of sore today Bought 6 dumbbells last night & figured out a routine with 8 movements (dumbbell bench press, alternating bicep curl, shoulder press, triceps kickback, kneeling one arm row, lateral raise, lying fly, upright row) Started with 5 pound weights to get used to the movements. Appreciate the encouragements. I'm stoked & ready to bump up either # of sets, # of reps, or weight, will figure that all out tonight

All praise & a million thanks for both sets of video links because last night I jumped in with a different version I found randomly (yogajournal.com) and about fell over in the kitchen floor (attempting Somachandrasana I)

I recently read somewhere that moon salutations are a good counter-move after hunching over a desk all day -- Bonus! ! Sorry to hear about the broken toe, DrDidg. Yeeeeouch! !

@Lucky: Thank you muchly. Since I admitted that much, let me finish my true confession: I pushed myself more because I had an audience. My companions in the free-weight room were muscle-bound males 10-30 years younger who were politely not staring, but looking out the sides of their eyes at Granny Clampett in the corner who can't even do a full lateral raise with 10-pound dumbbells ! Pushing our limits, as you say, is good -- and maybe it's normal and expected to be really sore for 4 days (but I don't think so)?? I've learned my lesson, I swear, about pride (the false kind). Am undeterred with the dumbbell plan. Just going to break down and buy a few for home.

Fitness Goal # 1 -- Gym Time Screw this. I'm not doing it. I tore my arms up in just 20 minutes of free weight work -- not giving up on the gym idea altogether; but postponing til I know what I'm doing a little more. Am changing this goal (making revisions in green, in original topic/challenge post) from: free weight gym time = 60 minutes each week to: at-home dumbbell movements= predetermined #'s of reps & sets Week 1 Grade = D (20/60 min=33%) Fitness Goal # 2 -- Log & Blog. Week 1 Grade = B (Logged on 18/21 times = 85%) Fitness Goal # 3 -- Walk & Run. Week 1 Grade = B (8.5 miles out of 10) Life Goal -- at-work Paper Purge & Filing 5% complete: purged material from the 1990's which I feel sure someone will ask me for within a week, but which I'm not regulatorily required to keep.

Good goals, I love simplicity combined with feisty imagery. And this is an excellent reminder of how people who mean well can still go to extremes, develop dogmatic tunnel vision I'll be curious to see how you resolve the meat cravings.

Sunning, and Mooning, and Walking - oh my! One of my 6-week challenge goals is walking, how much of that walking can I count for the Yellow Brick Road? Glad for the mini-challenges and for the encouragement to try moon salutations.

Welcome, and good luck. This might be dumb but sometimes I chew gum and it helps just enough to get me through a stressful situation by giving that nervous energy a place to go. Will be curious to read, late on in the challenge, how you applied your creativity to solve the drink-issue in a healthy way. I think you were wise to accept the advice to limit the number of challenge goal.

Welcome and good luck. I'm admiring of your attitude. You keeping getting back up off the mat, in circumstances where others might opt to stay down.

Welcome & good luck with the excellent goals which so directly relate to the building blocks of overall fitness. I notice 3 of the goals list specifically defined & easy-to-grade actions toward a goal -- so can the push-up also have that incorporated into it (something like work on push-up 4 days a week), or is it a brutal all-or-nothing pass/fail situation? Not that I think you will fail -- but if, say, after 6 weeks you can do a full pushup without perfect form, I'd hate to see you not get credit for the hard work behind that.

Good goals, and good luck with them. I especially like this phrase . especially when I consider its all-too-common opposite -- "mindless eating"

Goals look good but 2 questions: 1) Tracking is good & do you want to consider making the "measurable" weight goal be action of tracking daily (completely within your control) vs. % lost (not always within our control)? 2) Meditating is good & for a mini-mini-meditation, did you ever try Ocean Breath? I find it oddly soothing for something so simple & am using it now to tide me over til I'm no longer too jumpy / too sleepy to do prolonged proper focused meditation. Welcome, and good luck.

Good SMART goals, they sound tough but doable. I like that you give yourself breaks, exceptions, substitutions. .A truer word was never spoken. I have a similar long-term goal = one real, full, good-form pushup. Although I'm sitting out pushups specifically this current challenge, I'm plugging away at the arm strength. Have you tried the hundredpushups dot com site?

Goals look solid & even better with the added detail. I predict you will dominate all boots in your camp. I fainted just contemplating all that recalibration. But -- good reminder of the upside of structure & even possibly of having to work for a living.

Ooh. Sigh. Pre-nerd-fitness days, that sounded ideal. Or at least better than poop...ok, no. Yes! Go for it! It took more than one challenge, but where I used to start the day with a cup of coffee, it's now a cup of water. It tastes bleh but gives a kind of mental boost... to perform a truly healthy action even before fully awake. (My guess would be Fearless Leader Chanda for the yin yoga tip.)

Good goals; I like em; although one is the opposite of mine (I want to visit NF MORE). Want to make sure you saw the NF blog "5 ways to instantly become more productive" which mentions site-blocking software which I did use, and ultimately disabled after it helped me through the initial rough patch, where I'd go online for a business purpose and out of an almost unconscious habit, find myself clicking where I said I wouldn't go. This is excellent: Words to live by, both online-time-related & actually every-thing-in-the-world related.

Good goals & I know you'll rock them. I especially like the "frightening" since some of the most worthwhile (or at least fun/interesting) things begin with that juicy fear component Not cynical. Rational. Otherwise (seems to me) burnout will be a given.

Dear Bold Conqueress Cheerleader Lady I'm so sorry to read so belatedly about the lung problems. And so completely unsurprised by your determination. You will whip it !!