Search the Community

Better late than never, I'm jumping back into the fray because I need the extra accountability. of posting my progress here. For 2023, I've chose the word 'Worth' to be my motivational focus. I've done this in previous years, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. Last year's word was 'Dare', and I don't know how much I lived up to it, but I did dare to buy my own home after decades of renting, so that was a pretty big move to make. What does 'worth' mean to me? It means asking myself important questions every once in a while. Like, is what I'm doing at this exact moment really worth my time and attention? And telling myself, when I need to hear it, that I'm worth more than I let myself believe. Matthew 10 says 'Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the hairs on your head are numbered. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." God thinks I'm worth something. So I need to start believing that myself. W = Read the Word of God daily O = Organize, clean and otherwise keep your surroundings in good order. R = Follow regular bedtime and morning routines. T = Track your food and water intake daily H = Do something that makes you happy every day. Trying to come up with a clever, nerdy theme for a challenge is tough and has held me back in the past. So I'm going to quit trying to be clever and just stick to my goals for this year that I already laid out above. The hardest so far in this new year are the routines and the tracking. And sometimes even the 'happiness' aspect. To give myself more time for these activities, I've taken the worst offenders of time wasting off my phone - Facebook and this Harry Potter game I've been addicted to lately. My goals for the last 4 weeks of the current challenge then are as follows: Routines Follow your bedtime routine and lights out by 11pm at the latest Follow the Nerd Fitness Gym General DOMS Bodyweight Workout 1 (4 week program) Tracking Track food and water intake daily. Aim for 8+ cups of water and tracking at least 66% of your food daily. Happiness - Spend at least 10 minutes a day reading, writing, playing ukulele, crocheting, learning to watercolor, or working on voice recording Not at all clever, no fancy gif to catch the eye. But if you've noticed my post and read this far, let me know what you think! Any tips?

So I haven’t given up. I don’t feel I am getting anywhere, but hey, I am still here and last challenge went pretty well. Spoiler has basic background info. So winter is very much here. While it will warm up at the beginning of the challenge, that doesn’t make the things coming up easier, but rather harder. The good news is, my dad is returning to work this week for the first time since his stroke. My birthday is in this challenge and we are in our new normal of what things will be with my parents. The family drama is still here and I am actually kinda of worried about how things will go with my birthday and them. I am being reminded regularly that if I DON’T take care of myself, I could end up unable to care for my family. I see it almost daily in caring for my dad (and it’s not my dad showing me). Add to that, tonight we were talking about old times and Eldest Agent’s friend seemed amazed that A) I was ever small once, B) I was ever young once and C) that I could honestly do some flexibility moves he can’t. All of this being said means I need to get my act together and do my boxes. So much of me wants to do ALL THE THINGS right now and see improvement and see progress. But it isn’t there yet. So I keep trying. This challenge will be similar to the last 2, in the “Do X number of things from a category a day”. This has helped because some days I can do more, but most days I do at least SOMETHING. I increased the number of things I need to do in a couple of categories I added a thing or 2. The plan is: Strength (Do 4 of 9) – To have the physical strength to keep going Balance ball crunches Wall Sit (sec) Side kicks Leg lifts Reverse sit ups sit ups Knee to Elbows Push ups Balance Ball push ups Flexibility (do 6 of 11) – To have the flexibility to bend when the world wants me to break Wrist Extension Stretch Upward dog/Child pose Meditating Groot Lord of the dance Yoga (ankle above head) Butterfly Ballet/toe Touch Sitting Fix/Shoulder stretch Warrior 1 Warrior 3 (Eagle bird thing) Side stretch Forward bend Life and Family (do 10 of 13) – To remember what is important Play with Cats NF time Do something for internship Spend time with Agents Check Seedlings Plan Be in bed by 11:30 Floss in morning Floss before bed Work on one thing off of Part B list Daily One good thing Water a plant Homework time daily Fighting Chaos – Clean these daily (Do 4 of 7) – To prevent some chaos by having things ready to be used Pennisula/Island Table / Half wall Desk Bathroom up Bathroom down Clean off door to basement Clean off Dresser Fighting Chaos – Purge or organize (do 4 of 8) – To finally control some of the physical chaos that contributes to the problem Front room Computer room Basement 3 pages out of recipe binder Clean off nightstands Counter over dishwasher File 1 thing a day Purge 1 thing a day Walking (Do 2 of 4)– To increase my ability to go the distance when needed (stupid format issues) Walk 10500 steps Walk 15 minutes a day 7 hours with 250 steps Walk to Mordor Fuel (Do 8 of 12) – To ensure I have the nutrition and energy to keep going (more dumb format issues) No eating after dinner No stupid sugar Track breakfast Track Second breakfast Track Elevensies < 3 bottles of tea Eat Yogurt Daily Eat Bananas Daily Eat dried Apricots Eat Breakfast Eat Lunch 120 oz of water Overall there is 64 possible points, and to get the correct amount for each goal, I need at least 38 pts a day. I am hoping for more each day. I still feel like accepting that this isn’t working and this is where I am going to be is a thing. But I am here and I am trying and that is all I can do. I may not have much to run on, but I am hoping that continuing where I am, trying to increase what I do will do something. As a result, I am going to believe that this will get me there. That maybe, just maybe I can do this

Introduction Hi, I'm Talora Dion, and this is my second challenge at NF. I'm excited to join the Rangers, because I think I've always been a Ranger: I love XC running and mountain biking, as well as lifting weights and getting stronger. I have been struggling with fatigue of unknown origin, insomnia (worsened by exercise), anxiety, and various "weird" medical issues (like seemingly random allergic reactions to food) for about 5 years now. This is my continuing quest to get my life back! Current stats: 5'7", 143lbs (as of September 13, 2014 at 9pm), size 8 (Canadian), a mile long list of minor to moderate severity medical complaints. Last Challenge, I had three main quests: eat strict Paleo, do the NF Basic Bodyweight workout, and sleep a minimum of 8 hours per night, 6 nights a week. I did mediocre on the first, not good on the second, and decent on the third. This time, I want to make things easier (so that I am not discouraged, which happened last challenge), as well as more practical. My Mission I want to be healthy, fit, and happy, with more energy than I know what to do with! Specifically, here's what that would look like: Endurance Measures Able to mountain bike for a full day and be only slightly sore the next day, with no impact on energy levels for the following weekEasily run 5km with my dog 3x/weekStrength Measures Deadlift 200lbs 1rep (Currently 75lbs?)Back Squat 120lbs 1rep (Currently 45 lbs)Bench Press 75lbs 1 rep (Currently 45 lbs?)25 toe pushups in one set (Currently 2 :S )3 pullups (dead hang, no kipping) (Currently none)Other Running my own business, with flexible hoursCamping, hiking and mountain biking on a regular basisWorking on my Epic Quest itemsI want to achieve the Endurance and Strength measures by April 30th, 2015. This will likely entail losing some weight (and I would like to weigh closer to 130lbs) but my focus is on HEALTH and ENERGY. The Other items are going to take a little longer than that. Quest #1: Strong and FreeThis is all about building strength and endurance gradually. I am really out of the habit of exercising and need to make it a habit again. If I am not strong and fit, I cannot be an effective Ranger.Part 1: Bike 2x per week with Castle (my dog direwolf). We're BOTH out of shape, so I'm starting with 2 outings per week, each 2km, and building up to ~5km twice a week over the course of this challenge.Part 2: Go to the gym 2x per week. I'm joining a new gym for this Challenge that will hopefully be more inviting; I will go sign up tomorrow (September 15th). Note that for the time being, I'm not setting any goals beyond just walking in the door of the gym twice a week: no expectation for any workouts. Quest #2: Hunter GathererAgain, this quest is all about instilling habits. Part 1: I want to make it a habit to cook a huge batch of Paleo food twice per week, and then live off it until it's gone. Not only will this reduce the amount of time I have to spend in the kitchen to eat well, it should also reduce the amount I spend on said food. Also, I really hate wasting food--and I waste too much due to buying stuff I don't eat before it goes bad. So, twice per week, I'm going to buy just what I need to make the next cookup. Part 2: I desperately need to get in the habit of eating breakfast. Too often, I skip breakfast and then am ravenous by 10:30am. A crashy, hangry Ranger is a useless, possibly detrimental one. To keep myself safe out there, I need to take care of myself, and that definitely includes eating to fuel my activities. Quest #3: R&RAll the above effort will be for naught if I am not rested and relaxed. My anxiety issues are in full force these days due to work, which I can't really do anything about--except to manage my own state of mind. Sleep, time outside in nature, and time spent doing things I enjoy are how I will get through this Challenge. Part 1: Getting into a bedtime routine: no screens after 9pm, in bed at 10pm, lights out at 11pm. This should allow me to get a solid 8+ hours of sleep.Part 2: Run for the hills! i.e. get out in nature at least once a week. I will be managing and recording all these things using a spreadsheet: here (HUGE shoutout and thanks to ShadowLion, whose spreadsheet this is based on.) And finally, a Life Quest:To get from where I am to where I want to be, I need to put in some serious time working on my side businesses (yes... plural). I am aiming to spend 7 hours per week on this, tracked using RescueTime. Additionally, to reach the goals I've set for myself and my dog, we need to get serious about training. Therefore, I will be recording how many training sessions I do every week, aiming for 7. Training sessions don't need to be long--2 minutes counts--but they need to happen! (I can't figure out how to make the image proper sized :S )