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lucky fire dragon takes good care of herself After a rather wobbly challenge last time I was lost for about a week as to how to go from here. Aiming for all the things is not going to happen right now and also seems not the best approach for me, so I'll go back to my main passions with pole and hoop and having enough ease and fun in my life that decision feels so good, probably combined with the restful 4 day vacation last weekend, I am climbing up on top of my world again and getting EXCITED Add the new mini theme, ooooooooh well, you have me excited a whole lot more and it goes so well with the theme that finally took shape this morning between work sessions and household catching up: This challenge I will be REALLY good to myself and take the best care, because I am worth it and because it will enable me to have even more fun and because you have to be in tiptop shape to help destroy a ring in Mordor So let's get with it Goal 1 Good fuel and Hydration - moooooar veggies!!! Looking for variety and want to up that part of my meals as it has bored me for a while and now I notice that that is not good - less carbs and sugars! Meaning less pasta, rice, etc... less sugary or alcoholic drinks and rather - mooooooar water! Minimum of 2 Liters / day, aiming for 3-4 days / week again with 2,5 liters minimum The water will help with all the rest as I know from the past. Hobbits and dwarves had not much else on their journey either, except at rare rest places and celebrations. Those times are restricted to one evening/week where I can indulge in anything I want to, granted I had my minimum water As for my meals, I will list all intake here and hope that will motivate me enough to keep things healthy Also it might be a good reference point for any hindsight. Will see, have never tracked any food before, am curious on any result, sure it can only be progress Goal 2 Get stronger Frodo really wouldn't have got far without Sam! And why? Because Sam was not only true and wise, he was also strrrrrrong!! I want to be too. In order to give this a nice structure, yet flexible, I will adapt Steve's Angry Bird Workout a bit - I love that workout structure Workout will consist of x reps of deep bodyweight squats x reps of pull ups on hoop or pole x reps of chin ups on hoop / pull ups with other hand up on pole x reps of sit ups on hoop / hang back sit ups on pole x minutes of plank x minutes of side plank each side Will do my first workout tomorrow to determine how many reps of each. Will see how many I can do over 3 sets, use that number as a starter and once I can do them in 2 sets or less, will up the number of reps. Will do the whole workout with either pole or hoop 3x/week With a nice stretching session afterwards, I will be flying again in no time Talking about flying: aiming for 2 pole and 1 hoop training at home in addition to the weekly classes Tentative schedule: Mon run training, Angry Bird on hoop plus train a bit Tue* Angry Bird on pole plus train Wed run training, hoop class at night Thu pole class at night Fri hike or chill with hubby during morning Sat Run training, Angry Bird on pole plus train and dance Sun rest day * Tuesday might end up a rest day from time to time, depending what is happening around me and how my body is doing. I want to leave enough play for it all to be good long term and no stress. After all I want to take good care of myself Goal 3 Having fun There is a lot going on in my life right now with work, family and the awesome sports stuff, that it's easy to get into a mode of working hard and forgetting when to stop and smell the roses. So I will schedule those times - again, that is, I have had this element before in a challenge and it was simply beautiful: 2 plan free afternoons / week. No appointments, no tasks set, just free time to spend however I want to. If I want to be productive on something that tickles me, I can of course, but the beauty is to not have to A win for this goal is also every time I get inspired instead of escaping into mindless distractions that don't really relax me in the end. For instance watching "Got to dance" inspires me, watching little youtube movies on facebook distracts me but doesn't relax me. Proper relaxation like a delicious hot bath, or lying with my legs up the wall, or meditating and breathing are fabulous wins, too, of course. Will see how many wins I can collect over the course of these weeks Side goals: - stick to my training schedule for the 10 mile run on October 11th - finish said run honorably, personal goal is to finish in 2 hours 10 min - another translation project for work, that I have kept for procrastination savoring and that I will track with a progress bar in signature. Those are just so cool That's it for now. Will draft some spreadsheets still for easy tracking progress. No before and after pics, rather some hoop and pole win pics during the challenge No rewards as benefits from all this will be super rewarding in themselves. No stat points as I lost interest in them and this way is simpler. Oh yes, that is another side goal: simplifying my life

Hi Everybody, I came back last challenge, after a long break. I succeeded; in the last challenge, rebuilding my healthy habits that I had let decay. I started my vitamins (everyday) again. I made strength training (3 X a week) a priority. I also made sure to eat right (paleo, and in a calorie deficit.) I am very excited to participate in this challenge and keep the momentum going. Goal: 1 Eat Right​This is absolutely critical to my success. I want to get into the 1XX's for my weight this time, and eating right is 80% of my weight loss. So I signed up a food delivery program, that delivers food to me that is paleo, and portioned out for me. Each meal is between 400-600 calories. I eat one for lunch and one for dinner. I supplement that with an apple for lunch and dinner, and for desert I eat a frozen banana dipped in dark chocolate (130cal.) This keeps me in the 1600 calorie range which is great for me to lose weight. If I eat extra food, or cheat I will come here and tell on myself. TL;DR eat my delivered food, don't be dumb. Goal: 2 Strength Training This has been a really enjoyable thing for me, It gives me incredible motivation. I started doing Strong Lifts (weight lifting program) last challenge and I love seeing the weight increase as I progress. I plan to continue that and I am still doing my circuit body weight work (after my strong lifts.) My body weight work is 10 Bulgarian split squats, 10 push ups, 5 pull ups, 15 leg raises, 10 back hyperextensions, I also throw 5 dumbbell curls (35lb) in. I then rest for a min and then repeat 3 times. I plan to increase intensity as it gets easier. I can add dumbbells to the split squats, do close push ups, increase reps etc. TL;DR Pick up heavy stuff and put it down. Goal: 3 Mobility This one is important My Dex is tied for my lowest stat for a reason. I have a hard time getting a proper squat grip on a barbell, and to be honest I'm just not flexible at all. I would like to change this, I know it can help prevent injuries and help remove some pain. I will do some mobility exercises I learned from the Mobility WOD website (which has become a paysite, anyone have an alternative?) I will also do some of my own stretching and mobility exercises to focus on the areas that I think will be most beneficial. TL;DR Become more like a rubber band Life Goal: Learn New Skills So yeah, I'm very happily married. Not looking for any girls, but I love the idea of learning skills. I haven't made a list of skills, I kinda want it to flow naturally from whatever is interesting to me that week. I plan to make them something I haven't tried before, and I want something tangible I can show after. Examples would be a new dance move, with video evidence or, locking picking successfully picking a lock, something of that nature. New things are usually scary to me, so hooray for getting out of my comfort zone. TL;DR try new things and learn stuff So that's the plan, now all I have to do is follow through.