Search the Community

Im back with good news! The MRT pics of my brain came back and Im healthy! No multiple sclerosis, no early dementia. just a healthy brain in a fairly healthy body. lets celebrate, people!!!!! June is also midsummer night ( 21.) and my birthday ( 25.) plus summer holidays are beginning on the 21. here as well. uncork the bubbly! goal one: exercise for 15 to 20 minutes every day. you can choose between yoga, stretching, bodyweight circuit and kettlebell circuit and walk around the block. just do one of these daily during afternoon/ early evening hours. ( the hikes with the dog are a habit now, no need to concentrate on these). goal two: drugs. 2 glasses of wine max/day ... also reduce smoking gradually every week. starting point: 25 cigarettes a day, then one cigarette less every week. goal three: start duolingo again. this time try Italian. 5 to 10 minutes/day. goal four: find work project. I am broke af and need to do something small everyday to end up with a plan for an additional income after the summer holidays. Students are not enough. I started reaching out to contacts and have to decide what to do and apply for funds pronto. happy to be back!!!

2016 was hard for me. I came in at the beginning of the year wondering how the hell I'd get through it, because I already gave 2015 everything I had. I did get through it, but it was mostly paddling to stay above water rather than making much progress. Things that went better than expected: My job (even though I don't feel I did great, they keep giving me interesting work to do so I must be doing something right) My kid (he did much better at school and at Italian) My uni studies (only three more units to go after this one! I finish in January 2018, wooooo!) My cycling (I cycled about 4 times more than I did in 2015 - even I'm impressed when I say it like that, but it was just from 30 kilometers to about 120 kilometers) Things that went much worse than expected: My mental health (I had too many I can't do this anymore moments) My lifting (I injured my knee, then was sick a lot - I think my numbers went backwards) My writing (I barely wrote anything all year) My weight My weight is a big one because a lot of my weight gain was mental. Here's a chart: I hit 106 kilos around March. At 105 kilos, I would have lost a total of 40 kilos. And when I realised that I completely freaked out. Soon I'd be under 100 and then guys might start hitting on me and if they were guys I didn't like that would make me uncomfortable. I wouldn't have my safety barrier anymore. So I just started eating whatever I felt like, give or take some attempts to put order back in my eating habits. I'm still not sure how to get over this problem. I think maybe if I do a martial art I may feel safer even if I lose weight, but it's not really my scene. And it's not even that I feel physically unsafe, I just don't like being made to feel guilty or awkward. Is there a social martial arts equivalent? I need to think about this more. In any event, 2016 was a mixed bag but I feel 100% more positive coming into 2017! Here are my goals for the year (and so also for this challenge scaled appropriately): Eat an average of 2000 calories a day across the year. I think this will help me with my cravings. I've made a spreadsheet which tells me how many calories I am up or down for the year. Ride 1825 kilometers (that's 5k a day) Submit 12 short stories to publications (1 a month, so 1 for this challenge) Go to lifting 2-3 times per week No McDonalds or KFC whatsoever. I let down my guard and then it becomes a habit because of the drive-through convenience. Other takeaway is fine as long as I stick to Goal 1 above. Start my Italian tumblr using nerd stuff to help myself remember Italian words. Do a Powerlifting Meet. Do a Strongman Event. Woo yeah 2017! Bring it on!

I would love to go to Italy. I have been there twice on student trips as a chaperon. It is inspiring sight seeing but I would like to go there to study and interact with people beyond the bus driver and the tour guides. I love learning new things and I admire others who are multilingual so I am turning this challenge into a language learning challenge. I am taking a break from lifting and running because I am dealing with some health issues. I am pursuing treatment and it is best for me to stop heavy lifting of any kind So figuring out a new form of exercise is also a goal of mine. I would also like to develop my creativity further and I think my next step is learning to clear my mind. This is a concept from a TED Talk by David Allen. He talks about clearing space in your head to give move for creative thoughts. That means keeping nothing on your mind; clear away the chatter, the shopping list, the to do lists, the conversations in your head. Write things down and get out of your head. Be in the moment and do one thing at a time; be mindful. I am a person who has multiple projects going on with clutter in my head and in my surroundings. Time to clear away the insignificant and inconsequential. I want quality over quantity in my life. This challenge: #1 Practice Italian each day using Duolingo & Memrise Find one native speaker to have a conversation with in Italian. Read one article in Italian each week. (6 articles) Watch one movie in Italian during this challenge. Save $50 each week toward a study trip to Italy. $300 into savings. (A summer art history class in Rome is a possibility) #2 Health issues, diet and exercise Hormone reset diet is back on. Limit sugar, no red meats, no alcohol, one pound of veggies per day Daily water is a must! Three bottles a day Take supplements Schedule appointment and surgery Find a low impact exercise that I can enjoy #3 Clearing clutter Brain dumping - Write down all the things roaming in my brain. Get them out of my head and on paper. Immediate action - Single action items should be done the moment they pop into my head. Meditation - 30 minute of meditation to clear away remaining thoughts Throw out or give away unused, unneeded and unnecessary papers, clothes, books, etc.. (Flylady 27 fling boogie) Well this is it "sfida a vivere una vita bella" my challenge to live a beautiful life; Do things I enjoy, appreciate the body I have been given and clear out the things that don't matter.

This thread is for my favorite recipes. My boyfriend is from Ecuador, so I end up learning and cooking a lot of Ecuadorian recipes. However, I also love lots of other cuisines and make (or try to make ) dishes from all over the world (including my home country, 'Murica). We rarely eat out, but we're both busy so I end up doing a lot of batch cooking on the weekend. A lot of these recipes are primal, paleo, or easily modified to be so. My boyfriend isn't in to healthy eating, but he likes almost everything I cook and has a big appetite. To start things off, here's one of my favorite Ecuadorian dishes: ---Paleo, unless you go with some non-paleo toppings--- Encebollado de Pescado - a soup with tuna, yuca, and red onion. recipe - http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/03/01/encebollado-de-pescado-or-tuna-soup/ Laylita's recipes are usually pretty spot-on; I highly recommend her blog. Notes: - Since fresh albacore tuna is difficult to find and cost prohibitive where I live, I usually make this with canned tuna (I get the Wild Planet brand from Costco). - The way my boyfriend's parents make it, they cook the onion in the soup rather than pickling it. I love it both ways. - I like the soup as is, while my boyfriend likes adding a squeeze of lime juice, tostado, chifles (recipe here or you can buy them in a latin american grocery store), or popcorn. Another traditional accompaniement is toasted white bread, but we usually skip this.

This is pretty much a copy of my last attempt, which I started and then totally sidelined what with midterms. I've discovered that the time when I'm so busy I'm not getting enough sleep is not in fact the best time to start new endeavors. Oops. So, we begin again. I've wrapped up a few classes, and am managing to clear some schedule space so hopefully this will go better. On the motivation side, once I start to see positive changes I tend to keep going, it's those first weeks that are hardest for me. The plan is to keep reminding myself of my goals, so my momentum continues until habits form. Things I'm doing to help with my motivation issues: - For starters, I'm subscribing to a minimum of 10 active and inspiring threads so I can see what others are doing, be encouraged, and learn more about fitness. This will keep my inbox pretty busy and since email is a huge part of my life, i'll be looking at fitness for a large part of the day. -My food journal has once again taken up residence on my desk atop my printer (it used to live there and was used regularly, then it moved to a shelf where it hasn't been touched since). -I've also stared switching out my home-screens for NF/Fitness things. My iphone now displays the logo found here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/41703-every-guild-logo-in-one-epic-logo/page-2?hl=+guild%20+logo -If you have any other ideas to keep this at the forefront of my mind until these changes are habits please let me know. Thanks! This mission is pretty much the same as past ones: Mission for this Challenge - Weight Loss Goal 1 - Eat Paleo. I'm shooting for 90% on this goal, so that I have some flexibility. Thanksgiving break is coming and I'll be stuck in a dorm, so as long as I plan ahead and don't give into cravings I should be ok. Goal 2 – Bodyweight workouts This must be a minimum of 3x per week and cardio by itself doesn't count. I want this goal to apply specifically to strength training. I’ll be focusing on the BBWW and adjusting difficulty levels as I progress. Goal 3 – Walk/Bike 4 hrs minimum a week Self explanatory, but it only counts if it's a real walk = 20+ minutes (back and forth to class/errands does not count). This can be done in the gym (since it's officially below freezing here) Life Goal – Learn Italian So, I only speak one language: English. (and rudimentary French, but 2 years in high school = terrible language skills). I'm headed to Florence to study abroad next semester and will be taking language classes there, but I want to have a little bit of a foundation before I arrive. So, this goal is to complete s on Duolingo (starting from 2). That won't make me any kind of native speaker, but I'll know more than I do now. Here goes! -Artemis

Welcome to my humble thread, friends. Main quest: survive a semester in Rome! The adventure begins in late August, so I have to be ready. My semester ends in just three weeks. Beginning May 2, I’ll have all the time in the world to train—so no excuses! Goal 1: Move. Weeks 1-3, only three sessions a week are required; weeks 4-6, six sessions a week. I’ll probably introduce interval training or sprints here. A stamina session can be walking, biking, or swimming (read: excuses to finally enjoy the spring weather). I’ll start off with 15 minutes a day and increase it to forty-five minutes by the end of the challenge. I can earn one extra credit point for every extra five minutes during a session, and five extra credit points if I get up to an hour by week six! +3 STA, +1 DEX. Goal 2: Muscle. For weeks 1-3, only two workouts per week are required. For weeks 4-6, three per week. A workout can be a beginner body weight workout, Angry Birds, yoga*—anything that makes me sore! I’d like to strengthen my back (through table pull-ups, which are at zero right now) and arms/chest (through pushups; I can do three sets of eight at a 2.5 foot incline). I can earn an extra credit point for every additional workout. *I found a few yoga routines that don't put pressure on my carpal tunnel-y wrists! Yay! +4 STR. Goal 3: Morning. Current wake-up time: 7:00a or later. Goal: 6:15a by end of challenge. 7:00a every morning. I’m allowing myself one free pass per week to be used in emergencies. Late nights happen. +1 CON, +1 WIS. EDIT: I'm probably overloading myself. Goal 4: Mind. I get to write my history capstone paper in the fall! Yay! But I’m a semester behind—boo. I should have been researching my topic for the “research class†this spring, but I changed my topic a month in. Now, I don’t have a topic at all. (Oops). Anyway, I have to pick my topic before school ends and do my research over the summer. So, the goal is to create an end-of-semester and summer “schedule†and stick to it. The schedule is really just a loosely structured doodad to make sure I’m not slacking off, which I’m prone to do. I have 12 weeks in summer to do all my research, which leaves three weeks to visit Stephen/get ready for Rome/study at a Goethe institute/etc. +4 WIS, +1 CHA. Side quest: ...Mouth? I'm running out of alliterative titles. Thirty minutes of daily Italian practice. I'm allowed four free passes. Extra credit for extra sessions, work, or time. +1 WIS. EDIT: Striking this goal. I tend to overload myself and get depressed when I inevitably fail everything. All goals will be graded on total percentage, with one extra credit point awarded for every extra workout. For the fourth goal, I get two points for every day I work ahead (i.e. complete at least one of the next day's subgoals). Let's get going!

Hello, assassins! Fair warning: long post ahead. My very vague master quest is to survive a semester in Rome, which I hope to take in Fall 2014. I need the strength to haul heavy suitcases through airports and up hotel stairs, the stamina to spend entire days or weekends walking through Europe, the discipline to finish my final paper in history during the semester while making time to explore the world, and the skills/charisma to order meals in multiple languages and meet new people. The main focus of this challenge is discipline and habits. Fitness goals are based around establishing habits of exercise, establishing a habitual bedtime, and not eating food that makes me feel sick. (I may change the latter to keeping a food journal.) My “life goal†is to stick to a study schedule. This is to make sure I develop habits of working ahead, instead of surfing the web until 9PM and realizing I have twenty pages in Italian due the next day. Anyway. Habits are good. Habits are wonderful. Habits means that I have time, energy, and willpower to study Italian, write a book for my Italian prof (in Italian!), study music so I can serenade Stephen random people in Italy, and finally finish a paper without pulling all-nighters. In Italy. Yay, Italy! I continue with the nitty-gritty below: definitions, the grading scale, examining pitfalls and their solutions, and possible rewards/motivations for succeeding in goals. Grading scale (I may edit this to reflect NF "standards" of grading): Workouts: Do 3 NF Beginner Body Weight Workouts every week. A+: All 18 workouts! (Cool beans! I bet you could literally catch a bus by now!) Graded by percentage on a ten-point scale. Sleep: Go to sleep between 10:30 and 11:30 every night. A+: Get to bed on schedule every night! (That’s 42 nights!) A: Miss 2 nights. (You were skyping Stephen random people, weren’t you?) B: Miss 4 nights. C: Miss 6 nights. D: Miss 8 nights. F: Miss more than 10 nights. Food: Eat no bad food or keep a food journal (while still eating no bad food). A+: No bad food during the entire challenge! Recorded every meal! A: Only 2 slip-ups! Only missed 2 meals! B: 4 slip-ups. Missed 4 meals. C: 6 slip-ups. Missed 6 meals. D: 8 slip-ups. Missed 8 meals. F: 10 or more slip-ups. Missed 10 or more meals. (I’ll get the stomach pump.) Life: Stick to a study schedule. (I’m still working on the schedule, but it essentially means doing homework before dinner and not fiddling on the internet before work is done.) A+: On schedule every day! Graded by percentage on a ten-point scale. Definitions: 1. BWW—the NerdFitness beginner Body Weight Workout, linked here. 2. Bad food—things that make me feel sick. Right now, dairy is the major offender as I am lactose intolerant. I’m also avoiding super-sugary or processed foods (i.e. Cheerios, most cereals, and anything that might be classified as "candy"), rice milk, and most chocolate. (I get that you would add milk to milk chocolate, but why would you also add in milk protein, milk fat, whey, butter, AND lactose?!) Good food is healthy stuff that I can eat—most veggies, some meat, and most fruits. Grains (especially those with gluten) are currently questionable but probably okay. A food journal would help identify possible food allergies. 3. Habits—things or routines to which I become accustomed. Right now, my habits involve “surfing the internet after class†and “devouring the souls of the unborn.†Future habits may involve “studying for two hours after class†and “going to bed at 11.†4. Bedtime—for this challenge, between 10:30 and 11:30. End goal: get to bed around 11 every day to maximize sleep and productivity. 5. Stephen—shhh. 6. Study schedule: still working on this one, and it may become more/less specific as I need it to be. Essentially, I go to the library and study after class, try to do my homework on the day it is assigned, and work a little bit on big projects every day. Potential pitfalls: In the past, anxiety/depression due to major life shifts kept me from finishing. I also seem to recoil from words like “challenges.†Luckily, life moved on and the anxiety has mostly gone with its source. For this challenge, I expect the biggest issue to be my health; I quit yoga last year because I my carpal tunnel (which still plagues my wrists), and I seem to be developing new food allergies. Yay. Solutions: 1. Remember that fitness resolves a lot of health problems, like wrist/back pain. 2. Good form. I can do pushups on my fists because it keeps my wrists straight and happy. 3. Avoid bad food. This week, I’ve already had to cut out rice milk and chocolate. 4. Possibly keep a food journal to identify bad food. 5. Schedules. Schedules. Seriously. Schedules smash excuses. 6. Fitness gives you more energy, which means you can do more stuff. 7. Puns and cat gifs. Join me in my quest! I am excited to join you in yours!

Edit: I have moved to the assassin's guild! As a third-timer, I have an excuse. Follow me here! Hello, friends! Fair warning: long post ahead. My very vague master quest is to survive a semester in Rome, which I hope to take in Fall 2014. I need the strength to haul heavy suitcases through airports and up hotel stairs, the stamina to spend entire days or weekends walking through Europe, the discipline to finish my final paper in history during the semester while making time to explore the world, and the skills/charisma to order meals in multiple languages and meet new people. The main focus of this challenge is discipline and habits. Fitness goals are based around establishing habits of exercise, establishing a habitual bedtime, and not eating food that makes me feel sick. (I may change the latter to keeping a food journal.) My “life goal†is to stick to a study schedule. This is to make sure I develop habits of working ahead, instead of surfing the web until 9PM and realizing I have twenty pages in Italian due the next day. Anyway. Habits are good. Habits are wonderful. Habits means that I have time, energy, and willpower to study Italian, write a book for my Italian prof (in Italian!), study music so I can serenade Stephen random people in Italy, and finally finish a paper without pulling all-nighters. In Italy. Yay, Italy! I continue with the nitty-gritty below: definitions, the grading scale, examining pitfalls and their solutions, and possible rewards/motivations for succeeding in goals. Grading scale (I may edit this to reflect NF "standards" of grading): Workouts: Do 3 NF Beginner Body Weight Workouts every week. A+: All 15 workouts! (Cool beans! I bet you could literally catch a bus by now!) A: 13-14 workouts! B: 11-12 workouts! C: 9-10 workouts! D: 7-8 workouts! F: less than 7! Sleep: Go to sleep between 10:30 and 11:30 every night. A+: Get to bed on schedule every night! (That’s 42 nights!) A: Miss 2 nights. (You were skyping Stephen random people, weren’t you?) B: Miss 4 nights. C: Miss 6 nights. D: Miss 8 nights. F: Miss more than 10 nights. Food: Eat no bad food or keep a food journal (while still eating no bad food). A+: No bad food during the entire challenge! Recorded every meal! A: Only 2 slip-ups! Only missed 2 meals! B: 4 slip-ups. Missed 4 meals. C: 6 slip-ups. Missed 6 meals. D: 8 slip-ups. Missed 8 meals. F: 10 or more slip-ups. Missed 10 or more meals. (I’ll get the stomach pump.) Life: Stick to a study schedule. (I’m still working on the schedule, but it essentially means doing homework before dinner and not fiddling on the internet before work is done.) A+: On schedule every day! A: Only off-schedule 2 days. B: Off-schedule 4 days. C: Off-schedule 6 days. D: Off-schedule 8 days. F: Off-schedule 10 days. (Just hold on! The police are on their way!) Definitions: 1. BWW—the NerdFitness beginner Body Weight Workout, linked here. 2. Bad food—things that make me feel sick. Right now, dairy is the major offender as I am lactose intolerant. I’m also avoiding super-sugary or processed foods (i.e. Cheerios, most cereals, and anything that might be classified as "candy"), rice milk, and most chocolate. (I get that you would add milk to milk chocolate, but why would you also add in milk protein, milk fat, whey, butter, AND lactose?!) Good food is healthy stuff that I can eat—most veggies, some meat, and most fruits. Grains (especially those with gluten) are currently questionable but probably okay. A food journal would help identify possible food allergies. 3. Habits—things or routines to which I become accustomed. Right now, my habits involve “surfing the internet after class†and “devouring the souls of the unborn.†Future habits may involve “studying for two hours after class†and “going to bed at 11.†4. Bedtime—for this challenge, between 10:30 and 11:30. End goal: get to bed around 11 every day to maximize sleep and productivity. 5. Stephen—shhh. 6. Study schedule: still working on this one, and it may become more/less specific as I need it to be. Essentially, I go to the library and study after class, try to do my homework on the day it is assigned, and work a little bit on big projects every day. Potential pitfalls: In the past, anxiety/depression due to major life shifts kept me from finishing. I also seem to recoil from words like “challenges.†Luckily, life moved on and the anxiety has mostly gone with its source. For this challenge, I expect the biggest issue to be my health; I quit yoga last year because I my carpal tunnel (which still plagues my wrists), and I seem to be developing new food allergies. Yay. Solutions: 1. Remember that fitness resolves a lot of health problems, like wrist/back pain. 2. Good form. I can do pushups on my fists because it keeps my wrists straight and happy. 3. Avoid bad food. This week, I’ve already had to cut out rice milk and chocolate. 4. Possibly keep a food journal to identify bad food. 5. Schedules. Schedules. Seriously. Schedules smash excuses. 6. Fitness gives you more energy, which means you can do more stuff. Join me in my quest! I am stoked to join yours.

Had a craving for Italian food tonight so whipped this up 6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs 1/2c ricotta 1/4c chopped artichoke hearts 1/4c chopped broccoli rabe (spinach works too) 1tsp fresh thyme (or whatever you have) Enough prosciutto to wrap the chicken 16oz crushed tomatoes with garlic and basil 2tsp Italian seasoning (marjoram, oregano, etc) Preheat oven to 375F Mix the cheese, artichokes and broccoli rabe with the fresh thyme. Flatten the chicken thighs slightly to make easier to roll. Lay them out cut side up, season with a bit of salt and pepper if desired. Divide the cheese among the thighs and roll up as tight as you can without losing the filling. Wrap each thigh with 1 piece prosciutto. Pour 1/2 the tomatoes into the bottom of a 9x9x2" pan. Place chicken rolls seam side down. Cover with remaining tomatoes. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake until cooked through, about 30-40 minutes. Serve with squash "pasta" noodles or braised broccoli rabe.