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Things are rolling along. Each day I'm unwinding a bit more, so each day is a little less and a little more but not so far as Disney. Time for another challenge of basics, and a copy/paste of last time, maybe with a touch of nuance. It worked well and I have more energy to devote to myself, so I should at least make it a bit of a challenge. 1: eat well enough, but at least eat. And this time add some extra vegetables and fruits to at least one meal/snack. 2: exercise. I like exercise and that can be as simple as I need it to be. And of course do the daily dare. And this time try to follow a bit more of a schedule; aim for 2 days of walking/running, 2 days strength, but no shame if it doesn't quite work. 3: sleep as best I can. Actually, sleep has been quite good, but don't let it slip due to poor choices. 4: I have an amazing support circle. Ask for help. And this time... nope no changes. keep it up, especially since mom is leaving in a few days so I can be alone as I know I need to be for a bit. 5: Take time to just be and to reflect without judgement on all things. And continue to maintain space for the grief (and anger) but remember why those feeling exist too. They are normal and fine, but don't wallow in them.

S'up Nerds! It's been a minute... or you know... a few years. My bad! In recent events, I transferred to a better workplace, my bestie, my sister from another mister, the platonic love of my life, Kristi, got married and moved away, and the horrible creeping dread of my 40th Birthday is cackling and following me down dark hallways and helping my cats trip me at 2 am. So I'm going to make the most of the final year if my 30s and try and get my physical, mental and social health back on track. To keep it simple, I'm going to be doing my absolute best to do he following this challenge. - Limit my terrible Coke Zero addiction to one bottle per shift at work and one bottle per day at home. - Fill and drink my large green water bottle at least three times a shift at work and knock back three full glasses of water per day at home. - Dig through the massive pile of Darebee workouts, print them off at work if my boss will let me and crank out one per day, five days a week. Including a warm up and a cool down. - Fancy up my stupidly huge pile of Ramen for work meals with veggies, different kinds of proteins, and reduced the flavour packets by at least 50% because I seriously doubt anyone should be ingesting that much sodium daily. - Post up my starting stats on Monday of weight, BF%, pants and shirt size then see if I have made any improvements at the end of the challenge. I've got a goal of being able to fit into a bridesmaid dress for Kristi's wedding (the fun party part anyhow, since they got married at the Mayor's office in Dayton for her Visa) and look fuckin' hot in it if I can. The last wedding I was in, back in 2010 I was horribly uncomfortable the entire time, my dress looked meh, and it ripped before the night was over, and I felt fat in it. I refuse to let that happen again if I can help it. Wish me luck Nerds! It's nice to be back ~Leigh Tracking stuff: I'm using an older model WW scale for measurements. I wish it had Bluetooth because it would be way easier to track things since the screen on this sucker is brutal to read, but it's more accurate/consistent than the shiny new scale I got last year. I have no clue if Body Water is a 5 or a weight so I'm just going to track it as is. I want to see if it goes up or down while I'm murdering my Ramen stockpile. I'm going to make sure I'm in the same outfit each week for tracking and to see if anything fits differently when I'm done. Leggings are an XL, and shirt is an XL, both fit comfortably, don't dig in and are old enough in my wardrobe that they won't change size if I launder them incorrectly. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Final Change Body Weight 225.2 lbs 221.2 lbs Fat Mass 85.8 lbs 92.7 lbs Body Fat % 38.6% 41.9% Body Water 43.9 93.7 lbs BMI 35.8 35.7 Note: Week 1 was my cheap scale at home, Week two is the in depth scale at my gym. Workout tracking: Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7 Viking 3 sets 24 min 2.2 km 2/3 Sets 30 min interval jog Nothing Nothing Leg day! + half hour walk Assassin nothing 25 hills walk + full body Drink Tracking: Pop Intake Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7 w = work h:1 w:n/a b: n/a g: 3 h:0 w:1 b: 1.5 g:3 h:1 w:1 b:0 g:3 h:1 w:1.5 b:2 g:1 h:0 w:2 b:3 g:0 h:1.5 w:n/a b:n/a g:2 h:1 w:n/a b:n/a g:2 h = home h:3/4 w:1 b:2 g:1 h:0 w:n/a b:3 g:0 goal: 1 each b = water bottle g = glass of water

All of the space. In all of the ways that space can be had. 1. physical space: - find homes for all the shit in my room that doesn't belong where it is (ideally in the first two weeks because we have electricians coming April 5 for 3 weeks yuck) - give away or otherwise get rid of the whole bin of stuff I don't want (by the end of the challenge) 2. mental space: - journal OR meditate every day (both is better) 3. financial breathing room space: - no more than 1 takeout order a day (ideally none but baby steps) - don't buy anything that isn't an absolute necessity 4. spiritual space? - someone help me out here idk how to spirituality if-you-squint physical space goal: lose weight, thereby taking up less physical space and everything seems roomier!

Big sweeping changes are on hold until at least 2 weeks from now when I see someone about long covid. In the meantime I continue doing small things daily that will both be good for me at a super basic level and also keep health anxiety gremlins at bay so I don't go absolutely insane. Or that's the idea anyway. 1 - drink 128oz water 2 - take probiotic 3 - eat three different plants 4 - use my stupid inhaler as often as I'm supposed to Fingers crossed it's not long covid and I'm just taking a while to recover. Otherwise I might go insane. =D

Hello fellow adventurer, allow me to bring you up to speed…. When we last left our rebel, he had awoken from a years long hyper sleep. In this awakening process the old protocols were lost and his system attempted a self-reboot. However the reboot was not successful and kept looping with diminishing returns. Luckily for the rebel, his life partner had been out of hypersleep for a while and suggested a new boot sequence. This one caught. The memories of old habits began to return and stoke a fire within. Here we catch up to RescuedRuckus again as a quest is presented through his datapad. TL;DR the last challenge: I got a few weeks in and due to several rounds of Flu wreaking havoc on our household, I lost any and all momentum on my goals. But after we got to feeling better my wife suggested I try a new program she started on our BeachBody account. I love the program (no HIIT or high impact anything!) and actually look forward to working out again! So here we are, second challenge after a many year long hiatus from NF! Goal 1: Work It Out! Keeping it simple this time, my goal is to complete a minimum of three Dig Deeper program workouts every week. More is awesome but I’m still getting back into this plus the chaos of having two kiddos under 4yo to deal with can sabotage getting a workout in some days. Goal 2: Hydrate or Die(state)! I know I struggle to keep properly hydrated. So my goal here is to consume a minimum of 120oz water per day (so 4 of my big insulated cups). Goal 3: Clean House! One of our struggles with kids in the house and both of us working full time is keeping the house as clean as we would like. To combat this my goal here is to clean up for 5 minutes (minimum) every day with the intention of every day has a different target. This should help prevent “squirrel brain” cleaning which just gets a few things done but doesn’t make an appreciable impact on overall cleanliness. Goal 4: Skill Check! Prepare the blades for culinary combat… I recently (as in last week) bought a whetstone kit to learn how to sharpen our kitchen knives and save on the cost of sending them to a local guy several times a year. My goal here is to learn the skill of sharpening a kitchen knife and be able to do it decently well by the end of the challenge. Overall this challenge is about building new routines/habits and gaining momentum to becoming a better me. Thanks for tuning in and reading my post, Hope to see you around when I drop the next update!

Thanks to the absolutely TERRIBLE end to the last challenge (due to contracting COVID at a work event) - I'm just rolling over the challenge. I made some progress on these items last challenge but didn't quite get to "done" - and of course I get to start ALL OVER with the step challenge. 1) Hit 3500 steps a day - whether that's just running around this ginormous house or (preferably) getting out and walking, weather permitting. If I'm hitting that consistently over a week, gradually up that to 5k - but don't sweat it if I don't. 2) Spend some time working on cleaning off my desk - again. I got the 1099's out and my desk was gone through but stuff is stacking up again - and it needs to NOT and I need to prep for the next Tax step - 1065 forms for the side biz and THEN I can do our personal taxes. That biz needs to take off so I can hire someone..... 3) I have several bins of clothes in the master bedroom that have been packed since we left Atlanta in 2020. I would like to get through those bins. I dug through a couple but they need to be completely gone through and emptied and stuff either washed and put away or donated. I hope to get through at least 3 bins this challenge (they're pretty big bins).

Firstly, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you that has supported me over the years ❤️ I truly appreciate it and you all offer me a different prospective. You are all a part of my journey and I am grateful. This challenge is going to be about building small consistent habits and maintaining the ones I worked on in the previous challenge. There is a lot I want to work on and writing it all out makes it seem huge. But I am feeling good about it right now. I will review it as the challenge progresses and modify as needed. I imagine it might take me a few challenges to shake the rust off and hit 80% of my goals. I am okay with this. Nutrition: Count calories and aim for 1900-2200 cal daily > This has been the most effective way for me personally to lose weight without being super restrictive with carbs. I believe I haven't successfully got back to counting calories since before April 2022. I feel 2200 cal is more than generous and should still put me on the path to lose 1lb per week. I am going to try and come up with a few options for breakfast and lunch that can be repeated for the majority of the week. This will make it easier to track and perhaps I won't get burnt out from tracking so quickly. Mobility: Do mobility or chair exercise video twice per week > I am noticing certain movements getting harder so I have saved some short videos on Youtube that I can follow. I am hoping to regain mobility but also practice at incorporating exercise into my routine. As a bonus, most of the videos I saved aren't dependent on how my feet are feeling. I am still getting over my plantar fasciitis. Job Search: Work towards finishing HoofLog > I am still working on finding a job. I need a stronger portfolio so I can stand out. I want to finish HoofLog so I can use it but also so I have something to show potential employers. I would also like to find a better way to host the project so it is faster load. My current set up takes awhile the first time you load it which isn't good if I want to add it to my resume. Happiness: Make time to paint once per week > I have missed painting but can't seem to make myself do it. I will aim to paint once per week even if it is just for 5 minutes. Other art, crafts or even reading is also acceptable. Balance: Aim to ride Daisy at least twice per week > Visiting with Daisy and riding have a huge impact on my mental wellbeing (and physical). Daisy makes my world okay; there is a reason why I used to say that Daisy is my therapist. I am still struggling with getting on by myself so I will try to be social and ask friends when they will be up or try to be around when I know my coach is finishing up her lessons. Managing Time: Create a rough schedule and day plan > I apparently have two modes... One is I feel I have so much time to do things that I end up wasting it and doing nothing. The second is I feel guilty about taking time to do fun things because I feel I should be working to find a job in my free time... I have enough time to work on my job search, ride my horse, play with the dogs and whatever else I want to do... I just need to plan accordingly. Accountability: Post exercises and food on my health journey instagram account (jess_levels_up) + update spreadsheet every day > In the past my instagram has helped make calorie counting more interactive and fun. I put more thought into my meals and try to make them look nicer which makes them tastier. Updating my spreadsheet will keep me aware of my goals because I am very much an out of sight out of mind person. If I am not reminded daily of my goals then I will forget some. Passives > Teeth routine > 2L water per day > More veggies Thank you for sharing this with me @Sepherina

Times are hard and A wandering bard lives and eats on the mastery of their craft and the sharpness of their memory. No one likes tripping over the notes after all, or (heaven forbid) forgetting the lyrics half way through. So, in an effort to give their best performance this musician should endeavour to keep their fingers nimble and their tunes fresh in their mind. Especially as i play more than one instrument, most especially as I'm susceptible to distraction by the newest shiny musical object. Therein lies a deep dark hole filled with lost plectrums my friends. essentially keeping up the skill level with a few of them is something i need to work on. I want to be able to play them in front of people without crippling stage fright or self consciousness. ….i mean, there is going to be both of those things anyway, id just like to keep them to some sort of manageable level of terror. (Maybe i will make that a future goal sometime, try to reduce my stage fright 🤔) I used to practice mandolin most mornings. It was part of my routine and something i really enjoyed, over the last year or so its just something I've fallen out of the habit of doing. so this month I'm going to try to - practice twice a week for half an hour.( If i manage more. That is super. I just dont want to overload myself) also, this last month it became very evident that i really needed to sort two things in particular. - drinking enough water - going to sleep at 10-10:30pm Not doing the two above is messing with my meds and general wellbeing in various directions and needs sorting asap. to this effort I'm going to start using a water jug again and endeavour to get through 2 of them a day. Which evens out at about 6mugs worth (i probubly need to measure things at least once, just to know where i stand) For the sleep, I'm going to get back into the habit of setting an alarm so i don't read for too long. strait forward, so hopefully achievable. And, left over from last month we also have -finish sorting room (this is going to take a while, clearly. But its getting here) Already ongoing - try to go for 3 walks a week -stick to healthy snacks in between meals oh, incase anyone is curious. My mandolin is a 100+ year old bowlback. It is awesome and has amazing tone. I found it in two pieces in an attic and its had major neck reconstruction surgery. It plays like a dream 98% of the time but sometimes the original tuners are a bit crotchety

Aside from appointments here and there, I no longer have any evening commitments. It finally feels like I can breathe, especially since a few important things in my life have recently been dealt with. This much free time can be bad for my waistline if I spend all of it playing video games, though, so this challenge will be about re-establishing some healthy habits. If I treat them like the Daily Quests I do on FFXIV, surely this will work...right? Daily Quests: - Sun salutations every morning, followed by a 1 min plank. - 4 min Tabata workout on the Assault Bike every morning. - Sweep the main floor every evening (because the wind from the Assault Bike sends cat and dog hair flying EVERYWHERE and I don't want to have to sweep in the mornings). - Intermittent fasting (easy, because making food is annoying and this means I'll have to do it less). - Go to bed at a reasonable hour (easier because if I'm sober I get tired around 9 PM because apparently I am Old™ now). - Daily bodyweight workout (the details aren't 100% figured out, so this goal may be left out, or implemented mid-challenge). I'll probably adjust things before Week 1. (I suspect more thought dumping will also be happening in this post because there are a lot of thoughts and feelings and emotions going on on the back of my mind re. this challenge and life and everything, but I can't quite put them all into words right now.)

RESPAWN! Again! I'd like to just not address the fact that I'm respawning again. I thought that I was going to. I thought I might say some things to explain why I ghosted the last attempt. I'm skipping the excuses, though. I know what happened, and that's enough. I'm showing up. What I will do is apologize to the people I follow and try to support for having not only ghosted my own challenge but for ghosting the forum full stop. I should've been there. My Challenge (Edited on 02/07 to increase likelihood of success) Get out of bed at 4:30 AM every morning, weekday or weekend. Gradually work toward getting up at 4:00 AM. Get out of bed at 4:00 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at 4:30 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I need my "me" time and early morning is the only realistic opportunity for me to get it. I can exercise, drink a bit of coffee, be alone for a bit, meditate... The morning is mine! Exercise for 30 minutes 4 days a week. Gradually work up to 45 minutes 6 5 days a week. I am paying for a remote personal trainer and I need to follow the plan. The whole reason I have her on my team is to help me focus on wellness. So that's what I'm going to do. Edit: First week no pressure to exercise. Grace week. Track my food intake and aim for my calorie and protein goals. Practice meditation daily 3x per week for 5 minutes. Gradually work toward 10 minutes. Basically, I'm respawning with the same challenge as last time. I got out of bed at 4:30 AM to write this challenge up, so I'll take that as evidence that I can do it all! Thank you for reading this and for following, if you choose to. This place is the best. Today I woke up at 4:30 AM (finally!) and actually rolled out of bed when my alarm went off.

This morning - quite literally. Nothing like starting the first work day of the new year with a failed windows update that tried to self install because I didn't hit snooze as I avoided really doing anything on my computer over the long weekend. But 2 reboots did it (after a brief panic where it couldn't find a boot partition - ANYWAY - welcome to my life where I have all the luck - and it's bad luck LOL). For those new - please feel free to read the intro linked below in my signature. The main difference is that I have finally moved to the mountain (ok, giant plateau) in middle Tennessee, I no longer travel extensively (just a couple of trips a year rather than a month), Mom moved in last February and we currently ALSO have 2 roommates so we cook for 5 adults almost every night 'round here. I'm not a chef but I'm a Darn Good Cook (tm). Mom being around helps to make sure I eat my dang vegetables - and she really helps me out so it's a good thing . She also bakes which is awesome, but not for the waste (edit - ffs WAIST) line LOL. Anywho..... I've been doing lots of minor tweaks to make big changes. I've made solid progress over the years - with lots of adjustments so we're just going to keep rolling with what I want to focus on these few weeks with the ultimate goal of being healthier and trying not to kill myself with stress to get things done with the property, the side biz and life in general. So to start of this New Year I'd like to work on some stuff that has been lingering and move around more. 1) Hit 3500 steps a day - whether that's just running around this ginormous house or (preferably) getting out and walking, weather permitting. If I'm hitting that consistently over a week, gradually up that to 5k - but don't sweat it if I don't. 2) Spend some time working on cleaning off my desk - again. This is important because I probably have some vitally important docs mixed into this mess that I need for tax season. By the end of the challenge my desk needs to be sorted (and hopefully 1065 done for side biz to get a jump on that - 1099's need to go out no later than next week by golly). 3) I have several bins of clothes in the master bedroom that have been packed since we left Atlanta in 2020. I would like to get through a bin per week to be sorted, washed and either put away or donated.

but will make the best of it along the way. Big thing number 1; MrC was fired/let go/HR will let him know basically due to his I'm-too-good-for-any-of-you-attitude (my educated guess based on what I see.) Big thing number 2; this made him completely reevaluate all the things. I took this as my sign to be completely clear with my boundaries. Seems to have been heard. Big thing number 3; he also stood up to his mom treating us like an afterthought since we haven't provided grandchildren. No, we will not drop everything to see you on Christmas if you don't let us know until the morning of! That whole paragraph basically encompasses why I have no idea what to expect from the ride that is 2024. At least MrC is demonstrating he understands how his actions impact my/our life in a very real and unfair way. He is doubling down on finding therapy, but also taking steps on his own while waiting So I can't really plan, but I can organize my personal goals to make them more possible and realistic. Ultimately they are pretty much the same as before but with more Focus. Oh! the year of focus.... that needs a snappy name. Highlight list, details will end up over in the battle log; safety belts fastened, hands inside the cart... Personal; -Strong personal boundaries, clearly defined and defended. -further Stoicism studies -continue the conscious alcohol path Fitness; -start my personal tracking stats again -plan fitness goals -track food -meal planning with a focus on protein -lose 5 lbs by March Satisfaction; -plan creating goals -organize wardrobe making goals for style/wants/cost -personal presentation and style Reality awareness; -financial awareness for all the things as we are greatly reduced right now and don't know when that will change

Ok let's give this a shot. Ahaha. A shot. Like a shot glass. See what I did there. *siiigh* It seems that whenever I give myself a goal, or whenever someone else gives me a goal (even if I pay them to do so), this happens: So in hopes that I'll drink less, I'm giving myself a goal to get drunk daily. If my trainwreck of a brain keeps doing the same bullshit that it's always done, it means I won't want to get drunk daily and will win at life. Yay! If my trainwreck of a brain all of a sudden decides to buck the trend and I actually do get drunk daily, then I win the challenge. Yay! Winning all around! The bar (ehehe, bar) has been lowered to the point where I literally cannot lose. If this challenge were a video game, this is what it would be like: I'll probably work out and unclutter here and there and mention what I've done in this thread, so I'm not giving up ENTIRELY but I'm scared that if I make "work out" and/or "unclutter" a goal then I immediately won't want to do either of these things. My REAL focus during the bulk of this challenge will be to prepare for January 22, which is when I'll FINALLY have the autism diagnosis appointment 😐 I'm dreading the result. Possible result #1 is that I am autistic, as I've been suspecting more and more in the past few years. It will be good to have a diagnosis but I will also be BIG MAD™ about how I've pretty much wasted my whole life so far trying to "be normal" and will probably need like a decade of therapy to get properly mentally unfucked. Possible result #2 is that I am not autistic, which means...WTF is wrong with me then? What is the possible explanation for the behavioral quirks and the meltdowns etc? It can't be "just ADHD." I'm pretty sure it'll be possible result #1 because I've read almost 4 books about autism in adults during the past challenge (I'm halfway through the 4th book now) and have been thinking "aaaaa this is me 😐" to a lot of things described in the books, but there is still uncertainty and I HATE UNCERTAINTY so now I'm all stressed to the max. Underlying (and unstated) goals for 2024 will be to improve mental health, and to try to learn how to work with my trainwreck of a brain and hopefully make it less of a hinderance when it comes to, y'know, being a functional human. Oh, and to get to 142lb by the time I'm 42, because that's also coming up this year. This thread will be mostly a journal where I share successes and failures (hopefully more of the former) and generally complain about shit in entertaining ways.

I am doing a pretty poor job of being an actual functional person right now. Time to go back to basic shit that, if I keep up with it, will lead to feeling slightly more human and less like a zombie. 1 - drink 128 ounces of water a day. [Used to hit this easily and then suddenly it's become a struggle.] 2 - brush teeth & use mouthwash in the morning/floss & use prescription toothpaste at night. [Subject to change as I'm waiting to hear back from my dentist about something that I hope I haven't fucked up.] 3 - eat minimum 2 different plants a day. [lol what even are micronutrients] 4 - when big mad, write about it in my journal instead of on the interwebs. [witty comment goes here idk] 5 - check blood sugar when I wake up at least 3 times a week. [don't be diabetic, kids.] bonus - track all the shit in the fancy ✨wellness planner✨ I bought and feel like a fancy person bonus 2 - check my blood pressure for 7 straight days and send the results to my doctor bc she's thinking of lowering the dose on my meds. Yay. the gif button is failing me rn. I'll find something to put here later.

This is a placeholder for now. Will be back to edit in more details. Excited to start the new year with some basic goals and starting a good foundation with good habits! ------------- Alrighty, now that I'm not on a movie intermission.... First goals for the year are going to be simple stepping stones into what I hope will become good habits. Welcoming in the new year with some W's (Only the last one was intentional, but we'll pretend it was all on purpose...) Now to the goals: 1. Workout > I'd like to set a good habit this year of working out frequently instead of intermittently. I've noticed that I feel better in general when I'm working out, and eventually I'd like to put together my own workout routine, but for now I'm going to use some basic workouts/exercises that I'll be pulling from Darbee. I might also be pulling in some yoga every so often or on some full days might just be getting in a stretch or something small. 2. Water > I think part of it was the business of the holidays, but I've really been noticing a lack in staying hydrated. I'd love to start this year off with a good habit of getting enough water every day. My current goal will be roughly 8 cups of water each day. 3. Wash > I'm really hoping this year to take better care of my skin. Not that I've been terrible about it, but my focus has mainly been on keeping a tiny human alive recently. My goal this challenge will be to find a face & skin care routine and to stick with it. ------------------------------------- That's it for now! Hope y'all have a wonderful new year!

Art by: https://www.deviantart.com/allnamesinuse It's another year and another respawn for me! 2024... My how it's come upon me so quickly. I got reminded just the other day of how quickly a year passes when I got a reminder email of a digital journal entry I wrote a year ago to the date. In that entry I wrote about how disappointed that I was in myself in 2022. How I stopped exercising consistently after being quite the hiker and shadow boxing enthusiast. Rather than be depressed by the fact that I would write practically the exact same thing today (disappointment and call to action), I felt more emboldened to turn things around heading into 2024. So, here I am again. This time I am an injured warrior who woke from a magical, social media induced coma and must make my way through the unforgiving winter landscape to my place of refuge. My refuge is consistency. My refuge is habit. My refuge is progression. Goals: Log food and drinks that aren't water into my journal daily. Log exercises as I do them. For this challenge, I'll put $10 into a new clothing fund for every workout over 20 minutes that I accomplish. Don't buy any new items of clothing or other frivolous stuff at all this challenge. It's time to be more conscious about my spending habits. Spend 5 minutes each day in meditative practice or spiritual reflection. That said, I should note that there will be a slight delay in my attempt to reach my refuge. Unfortunately, I have a respiratory illness right now that's got me in its snares. Let's just say I'm making weak healing potions while I gather my strength for the journey.

Rebel related discussions! *Note: You can participate in guild discussions regardless of your chosen guild. Generalized nerd fitness. After finishing your first challenge in the Level 1 Guild, you may not be sure which guild to pick - if so, this is where you fall. Many choose to stay with the Rebels guild long term as it is a great place for people pursuing any healthier lifestyle. This outstanding guild is full of supportive people developing healthier habits, leveling up their fitness, and ironing out their nutrition. * Example Activities: Any!

*if you want to skip to more fun chat feel free to drop down a few posts* I don't have a lot to give at the moment. I'm not really doing a challenge but I'm thinking about my nerds. I'm here in spirit (not in a Jacob Marley way) but not in an active way right now. Thanks for just being here. Love you all

Hey All, it's been a minute haha. In my time away, I really tried changing my mindset a bit. (Not being doom and gloom if I make a mistake or whatnot) I decided it was my phase 1, and just just trying to focus one getting a few habits set. I can spoiler what I was doing for phase 1 to say anyone reading haha The start of Phase 1 At some point early this year, my shoulder got messed up. Frozen shoulder is what they are calling it. I didn't have it checked until recently. I have some PT to do for it, and that is going to be part of my phase 2. Phase 1 has been rolling well enough, that it is time to add in some movement portions. Phase 2 goals #1 - Do PT every morning PT for my shoulder is 3 things at the moment. More to be added next visit in a couple of weeks I had been very bad about getting them done until more recently. I feel like I am doing well with it now, but want to make sure I get it in each morning. I find it is easier for me to get it done right after I wake up. Eventually I will get more movements. I eventually hope this also helps get me into doing body weight exercises and/or going to out apartment complex gym haha #2 - All the walking! I've really, really, really been thinking about running again. I don't quite feel like I am ready for c25k yet though. In the past, I have done it as this weight. I feel like I should get use to walking first, before I run. I've started up this last couple of weeks. At least getting in a walk every now and then. Wasn't super consistent. I want to be better at it. I have tested myself with a bit more walking to see what might be a comfortable distance/time. I play pokemon go while walking around. the 15 minute daily incense is a good minimum. I walked 2 miles today with just a couple of pauses, and my feet are a bit sore. I feel like 30 minutes wasn't bad. This first week, I want to focus on the 15 to 30 minute time frame. I have a route to follow in pokemon go that is about 30 minutes, so that helps. Once I feel like I am doing well here, I might just start up c25k again. I am creeping into getting below 300lbs again, so this will help even more haha. #3 - Getting better sleep This has always been something I work on. It is just too easy for me to stay up late. With more movement, I will really, really need more recovery time. I have been playing Pokemon Sleep, as well. I have alarms set for time to read, and time to go to bed. Bed time comes at 11:30pm, but that gets very close to 11:45-50. Eventually, I might want to move up going to bed time and such. That is pretty much it. I haven't taken body measurements in awhile. I have taken a few pictures at least. Then scale weight has been done. 306 today. No real grading too. It's just been the mindset I have had lately. It's ok to make a mistake. I'm more focused on getting these established as a habit. Challenges for me will of course be things like Christmas. I've already decided that I will be fine eating what we normally make, and leftovers. I can get back to keto after that. I want to still not go super crazy, no "I have to eat all the things since I am not on diet!" I had told my wife I want to still try to track what I am eating, so I want to measure some things out like potato salad. Then I can have an idea. Will be curious to see how my blood sugar numbers react as well too. Anyhow, good luck all!

It's the least wonderful time of the year in my world and I am a cranky bitch. I should maybe do something about that. goals are most likely going to change after I talk to my therapist but if I don't post a thread now it's never happening. 1. do one thing a day to make my bedroom or common areas of the house suck less, no matter how small a thing it is. 2. do something about my anxiety 3. eat food that won't kill me 4. learn how to breathe properly again since my lungs are still pissy about that while having covid thing and any kind of exertion makes me want to die

Last challenge of the year usually means reflection for most and wrapping out the current year. But I feel like I have spent a lot of time this year just reflecting. It is now time for some actionable steps around the reflections. Upping the ante: I have always wanted to do a physique competition and I would like to do it before I turn 50. But before I can even get to being stage ready I need to put some SMART goals in place. This is a very long term goal. Specific: Add a third day (Monday) to my training. This day is included in the price I am paying currently for training. Recovery days are now going to be Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Measurable : Easy, I either make it on Monday or I don’t. Achievable: There is nothing stopping me from meeting this goal. I have no commitments on Monday, and I am currently healthy. Relevant: I need to put on more muscle. This is a step in the right direction Time Bound: I need to do this 3 of the next 4 weeks. (This means I can only take Christmas Day off. If I miss any other week, I have the ability to make it up on Wednesday. Supporting the new training day: Training requires more than just showing up on the day of. To support results, I need to really drive home the following: Sleep: Bed by 10:00 PM and up by 6/7 AM (weekdays/weekends). No phone or screens. Food/Minimize Alcohol: Must eat meals. Right now I am not tracking calories. I am only working towards maintaining my weight or a slight bulk (less than 10 pounds). Also, no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a week. I feel better if I just don’t have it. Hydration: It is Fall/Winter. The air is soo very dry. Week 1, I need to have 60 oz of water each day. This will increase 10 oz every week until I am at 100 oz. Movement: Daily walks with Maple. There is no bad weather….just bad clothing. So unless its too cold for puppers….we go for our walk (or I am very very ill). Some other maintenance items: Accountability: Posting here helps hold me accountable. No Spend: Holding to our minimalist Christmas this year. Each minion gets a gift and a stocking. Most family and friends don’t need things either. At the most I maybe need to buy 3 gifts for extended family/friends. Gratitude: This practice has helped me a lot. I used to judge people who did this every year around November, but just the mindfulness of thinking more positively around things in life has made a difference in my mood. And just because we love her dearly, a Maple picture. She was pouting because I would not let her play outside in the below zero weather ALL DAY today.

I've taken the last couple of challenges off, but I'm feeling the need to set some parameters for the upcoming holiday season, just because I won't survive otherwise. So this is my very short and hopefully doable list for December: Meditate at least 10 minutes daily Stretch/balance routine 3x per week Workout or deload routine 3x per week Sewing whenever possible I hope this will keep me sane!

Welp. Here we are. As of today (okay, 9:30 pm today), I am officially 40. My first act of my 40's is to...drink me a cup of coffee. And then listen to a little bit of my audio book. And then maybe plan my post. One of the issues with my last challenge (and most of the earlier ones) is that it got to be unwieldy to update. Sometimes, I just don't want to write all that much. Also, especially after a long workday, my hand aches from typing, so the last thing I want to do is more typing. Anywho, I still want to do the challenges, but I need to keep the option of doing either a very short form for those days when I don't have much to say or am too tired to type. Some of y'all use symbols and emojis to chart your progress, so I think that's what I'll adopt, too. I'll also keep the "evaluation" style from my last challenge. I'm not counting individual water glasses consumed or stuff like that. Just-in my measure-was I successful with that one domain that day or not? Also, no more evaluating back days if I miss one. I just keep it rolling. That'll make it more likely for me to update if I go those 2 or 3 day stretches without updating. So here go the domains. Bujo: Yep. I, too, have hopped on the Bullet Journal train. I expect I will be reaching out to some of y'all for some help with these since I am very new to this. Success involves-Updating my bullet journal for that day. Food: Success involves-Staying on top of meal planning and kitchen management, cooking at home instead of eating out, incorporating veggies into my meals, eating enough (not skipping meals), exploring new recipes and techniques, and replacing less healthy sweets (brownies, etc.) with healthier ones (fruit, etc.) Drink: Success involves-Eschewing unhealthy beverages (beer, sodas) for healthy ones (water) and getting sufficient water intake. Exercise: Success involves-Getting some kind of exercise or other body maintenance activities. Mobility work, greyskull (going to start that back up soon after I clear space in my gym), walking, yard work, hiking, etc. I'll even count study of that Deskbound book I bought earlier (only provided that I'm also applying what's in the book which would also involve deploying the mobility exercises in there). Meditate: Success involves-Any amount of meditation, no matter how short. Piano: Success involves-A minimum of 5 mins at the piano. Socializing: A new one for me. Ever since COVID, I've turned into a hermit and have closed myself off from pretty much everybody. I suppose it's more correct to say that I always was kind of a hermit, but COVID let me lean deeply into those urges. It's just hard for me to socialize. I don't really keep up with my friends or my family, and I have a hard time talking to others. It feels weird and awkward striking up conversations with people, especially folks I don't know well. Thing is, it's just as scary for others as it is for me. Add to that the fact that, as I grow older, my social networks are going to become more and more essential. So, I need to start exercising my social muscles. Now's as good of a time as any. Success involves-Commenting on other people's NF posts, arranging (and attending) social gatherings, meeting new people, reaching out to folks I haven't talked to in a while, etc. And then a space for commentary at the end should I feel so inclined. Credit will be either-Full Credit (🥇); Partial Credit (🥈); or No Credit (🎱). No negative points. That's it. Now go enjoy some Jimmy Buffett:

Hey - it's me. Been hear a while. Surprising no one my challenge is to walk more. Got my new fitbit and I need to hit my measly 3500 steps per day and try to work up to 5000 by the end of the year. I'm a broken record here but it's all I have left in me at the moment. I'm hoping to have hot water tomorrow (see last challenge for THAT saga) and I just spent tonight at the County Commissioner's meeting where they refuse to lift a single finger to stop a Sand Quarry up the road so we have to go to Plan B and find some reason for the Dept of Water to not grant a permit which basically means contacting lots of folks to find out if we have any endangered\unique species living in the caves in that area that would be impacted. I'm disheartened at the moment. I moved here for the peace and quiet. Blasting apart the mountain is most definitely NOT peace and quiet.

Here I am again. I have goals and I thought it would be good to have some accountability to go along with them, so I'm back. This is a simple challenge for me - in theory at least. 1. November is NaNoWriMo so my first goal is to write - even if I don't quite have a handle on my story yet. Power through and get it done one more time. I can't start until 11/1 and must write 50,000 words of a novel by midnight on 11/30. I'll track my daily or weekly totals as I go along. It's going to be some kind of weird Western Fantasy thing, but I'm still lacking a bit on the plot - one week of planning to go, so I can track that as well. I've done some brainstorming the past couple days, and hey, today I actually names for several characters, so that's progress. 2. I'm determined to get into a strength training routine and I have found a Beginners Over 50 30-day Challenge. I started on Monday morning and I did Day 2 just a little while ago. Must keep going and not miss. Each video is less than 20 minutes, and I get Sundays off, so it's not too taxing. Just the right amount I'd say, considering how my arms and abs feel right now. 3. Tracking is also very important. I know that. I want to track at least 2 meals and 1 snack daily. I did that yesterday. Today I tracked almost everything I ate well before I ate it, and there's still time to get the couple snacks I missed. I'm using the MyFitnessPal app for this purpose. So that's it. I track my food. I work out daily. I write like the wind. What do you think?