Search the Community

So, @Jarric I blame you. Let's see how much awesome I can summon in 12 days, because that is how much challenge there is left over and that is what I am dealing with. I did the sleep deprivation mastery class two frikkin nights in a row, so I am essentially running on fumes atm. What does that mean for my challenge? Yeah: BEDTIME ROUTINE is priority 1 and because of the short challenge duration, I think HOW CAN I BEST SERVE MY FUTURE SELF - SET HER UP FOR WIN? That's my 2nd priority. Service. wwmfstmfm? = what whould my future self thank me for most? Live in service of that Katrin, the one that rocks hard, just for 12 days, see what can happen in 12 days. So I will take a nap now, because working on less than 4h of sleep is a bad idea, then hit the deck running (I love that expression). Therapy, then work, then home, read on the bus home, pack gym bag, go straight to bed afterwards, catch necessary sleep, get up rested, go follow the plan in the gym, make appointment for kid (and myself too) (?), write my homework sentences about which day of the week I do what activity where 월화수목금토일, go to class prepaired, cuddle with my boys before bed, no screens. Reboot the evening thing: put out clothes, brush teeth and hair earlier, put out hotspot, so I have an actual evening, possibly with the kids, enjoy that time - screen free. As a break, while walking places or on the bus or stuff: look up what vinyl players cost and dream about buying one for myself earlier than midyear. Look up if I can find the vinyl my friend can't find for himself in one of the record stores around here, would make awesome gift. So the plan, nap now, then shower and morning thing. Hit the deck running

So 2020, eh? This is exciting! I can already kind of see the light returning to the world. The dark of the year is behind us. And as someone who has been doing kind of okay, managing s.a.d it still fills me with joy. I am 36 yo female from the north of Germany, Katrin irl, going by the handle Morag or Katrin Morag most everywhere online. I weigh 100kg, which is way too much. And I don't much like how bloated and stuff I feel. On a less depressing note: I did really well throughout the holiday season and into the new year. I am leaving break week with two more staple meals in my quiver, leaving me at a glorious all-time high of two. Yeah, I know, but the last 3 challenges were obviously worth it, because I now HAVE these 2 meals and am thinking about what else I like to eat regularly. One rice concoction is definitely needed, because the mushroom porridge I cooked in the past is kind of difficult because it has more than one portion (which is good, because it's a comfort food I sometimes prepair when I feel a cold come on or shark week or something, but calculating portion size is iffy with that one). Anyway so far so good. I am taking a weekly afternoon class of Korean, which is challenging and therefore good. I learned a lot but there is so much to learn still. The kids both need support for school work. Being a single mum, yes we co-parent but still, it falls onto my plate. And I don't mind that much, sometimes we are a bit overwhelmed, the boys and I. Luckily usually it's just one of us at a time, so it all works out. I have a twinge in my lower back / hip and it's keeping me out of the gym, which pisses me off, because of the lack of endorphins, plus I LOVE lifting, but I have called the physical therapy office and I may be able to get started on fixing it as early as next week. So progress. Phone call on Monday will tell. I need to implement a self-reflection habit of some sort, due to my therapist sending me out into the world on my own soon. Which is exciting, but also scary. So taking care of the things that pop up, when they pop up or scheduling them. All in an effort to keep stress levels managable. And I am kind of happy to not be in the gym that first half of January. But I miss the barbell. So theme? I wish I had an idea. Warning lable: there will be rambling wall posts, there will be food porn, there will be both hype and whine. And I am hoping for weight going down. Pain going away. Morag returning to the bar.

I have decided at least for now to switch to a battle log since it seems that is mainly what my challenge logs have become... I have a few goals for 2015... I am gonna figure out this place and what my goals are and whatnot... anything goes here... this is a place for complete transparency

I still haven't really thought of a coherent challenge idea, but I know it starts today, so.... here's a thread. One thing I know I want to do this month is list three things I am grateful/thankful for every day. They can be repeats from day to day. I am hoping that by focusing on the good things in my life it will help with the depression. I am totally open to challenge suggestions. I'm at a point where I feel like I'm on routine with tracking and step goals, those things aren't really "challenging". I may do the shower/taking care of myself challenge again, that is something I struggle with the more depressed I get. I may do a recipe challenge again. I'm honestly not sure what to work on the next four weeks! Edited to add: I set some goals, you can see them in my spreadsheet. I'm mostly focusing this month on taking care of myself. I feel like they are slacker goals, but they are good things to work on. I am still open to suggestions on how to improve my challenges because I feel like I'm on total newbie mode. Spreadsheet here!

As those who followed by last challenge know, my depression has been getting worse. I have decided to make simple, achievable goals this month. This will keep me on the right path, and won't set me up for failure! I couldn't think of a cool theme this time, so, just basics. Goal One Track all my food on MFP Con +2, Wis +2, Cha +1 Goal Two Exercise three times per week Str +1, Sta +2, Con +1, Cha +1 Goal Three Do not drink soda except at work, and if used in mixed drinks at my brother's bday party Con +2, Wis +2, Cha +1 Summary: Goal 1 = stay in MFP range, Goal 2 = exercise 3x/week, Goal 3 = no soda outside of work Week One (5/8-5/14): Goal 1: 86% (went over the limit 1 day) Goal 2: 100%+ (exercised four times!) Goal 3: 100% Week Two (5/15-5/21): Goal 1: 100% Goal 2: 100%+ (cardio/long walks four days of the week. Squats 5 days of the week for the Mini. Got some form of exercise every day of this week, Sun-Sat!) Goal 3: 100% Week Three (5/22-5/28): Goal 1: 100% Goal 2: 100% Goal 3: 100% Week Four (5/29-6/4): Goal 1: 86% (went over the limit 1 day) Goal 2: 100% Goal 3: 86% (had soda at home one day)

Back for another challenge! I feel like this month, I'll be advancing in some ways, and going backward in others, but it should all be helpful! 1. Clean up my drinking! I was doing well with cutting soda this earlier this year, but as soon as I dropped it from my challenge goals, I lost sight of it. For this month, I will only drink soda at work, or in a mixed drink at a social gathering. I have maintained my (not listed as of yet) goal of only drinking alcohol in social settings. This month I am making it official. The last couple weeks my depression has started to intensify again, and historically that makes me drink a lot more often. I don't want to fall into this trap again. I will continue to have a couple drinks at game night, but no solo drinking! +2 Con, +1 Sta Week 1: 100% Week 2: 100% Week 3: 86% (missed one day) Week 4: 100% 2. Clean up my snacking! Guys, this is super embarrassing for me to admit. But I know NF is "safe space", so here goes. My snack habits for the last couple years involve eating an entire bag (not the little bags, the big bags) of pre-popped popcorn almost every day. Like at least 5-6 days of the week. Sometimes I also eat a bag of chips (again, full size bag), or a bunch of candy, or etc. Now, I have done really well over the past few challenges in that I have cut almost all sweets (baked goods and candy) out. I'm eating small portions occasionally instead of mowing through a box of Little Debbies in a day. But I am still crunching away. One step I have already taken to hopefully help with this is I am eating bigger lunches. Healthy, but bigger. I am hoping this will help me stay fuller longer, so that I don't go nuts on snacks after work. I am also spending the money to buy healthy snacks. My current favorite is green grapes which are kinda pricey this time of year. Well, I am paying the money, it's better to keep those in the house then junk. So, the goal itself: Only eat popcorn twice a week. That would be a big improvement from 5-6 times a week. +1 Int, +2 Wis Week 1: 100% Week 2: 100% Week 3: 100% Week 4: 100% 3. Clean up my exercise! Just kidding, my exercise isn't dirty. (maybe it should be? that would make for fun tracking, LOL) I just wanted to stick with how I'd been writing these because reasons. So, this month I'm going to step outside my cardio comfort zone. I will do the NF Beginning Bodyweight Workout twice per week. I will also still do cardio, at least twice per week. +1 Str, +2 Sta Week 1: 100% Week 2: 50% Week 3: 50% Week 4: 100% 4. Clean up myself! As previously stated in this post, the depression monster has been chasing me harder lately. The first thing to go is my personal hygiene. Gross, I know, but I am going to make it a goal to take care of myself. What I am listing as my goal may seem like low standards, but it would be a huge improvement over depression standards. For this goal, I will take full showers at least three times a week, and I will brush my teeth every day. +3 Cha, +3 Wis Week 1: 100% Week 2: 100% teeth, 66% showers (2 of 3) Week 3: 100% teeth, 66% showers (2 of 3) Week 4: 100%

Figured I'd start one of these so I can ramble on and on and have some accountability to boot. My primary goal for this year is weight loss and mindfulness. I want to be good to myself. I'm unsure if I'm aiming low or high, but I'm making 199 by 1/1/16 my goal for the year. That's 60 lbs. 5 lbs a month... I think that's doable. Especially at first, I'm mainly going to work to accomplish this by rehauling the way I eat and drink. The past few months in particular I allowed myself to stress eat like crazy - donuts, cookies, candy, all sorts of sugary badness. My soda and alcohol intakes increased as well. I'm going to work on food first. I've already cut back significantly on alcohol, so I will keep going with that. Soda will come after I get food under control. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew (ha, ha) and set myseful up for failure from the get go. Later this year when I have food and drinks leveled up into better habits, I will build exercise plans. In the interim I will do minor (but hopefully helpful things) like taking walks when the weather permits. Let's kick 2015's ass.

For successfully completing my Feb challenge, my reward was changing my NF name to something awesome. I chose MichiruSedai because it represents two of my big fandoms: Sailor Moon (anime) and Wheel of Time (books). I like it! For this month, I'm going to try and challenge myself a bit more. Nutrition goal: Cook one new recipe per week I was just gifted two awesome cookbooks for my birthday today! So between these new resources, and of course the interwebs, I can add some new tasty dishes to my normal rotation, and put a little adventure into the kitchen! Week 1: 100% (Honey Garlic Chicken & Veggies) Week 2: 100% (Coconut Pineapple Cauliflower "Rice") Week 3: 100% (Sweet Potato Hash) Week 4: 100% (Klah from Dragonriders of Pern) (Stats: +4 WIS - 1 point per week completed) Fitness goal: Get three 30+ minute workouts per week This last month, I was counting 10 minutes as a workout. I want to step that up! My focus at this point is cardio. Week 1: 100% Week 2: 100% Week 3: 100% Week 4: 100% (Stats: +2 Sta, +2 Con - 0.5 point of each stat earned per week completed) Level up my life goal: Go on one adventure a week This could be taking myself to a movie. It could be taking my son to a family night in town. It just needs to be something that is outside my comfort zone. Week 1: 100% (Lunch out alone) Week 2: 0% (got strep throat and all plans cancelled! I will try to do a "make up" by getting an extra adventure in the next two weeks now that I am healthy again) Week 3: 100% (Tapas & Tunes event) Week 4: 100% (checked out the new coffeehouse) (Stats: +2 Con, +2 Cha - 0.5 point of each stat earned per week completed) Level up my life goal: Kindness is key I need to be nicer to myself. I am going to do one nice thing for myself every day. This could be giving myself time to read, taking time to sit in the sun, or just stopping and telling myself that I am a good person. I will be more mindful of my inner dialogue and be my own best friend. Week 1: 100% Week 2: 100% Week 3: 100% Week 4: 100% (Stats: +3 Wis) I know I am doing two level up my life goals instead of as many diet/exercise goals, but I hope that is all right. I feel I need more work in that area this month. I'm excited to rock this month!!

Over the course of this challenge, I will power myself up from typical woman msblt82, to super-powered awesome Sailor Neptune! At then end of my challenge, assuming I succeed, I will change my forums name from msblt82 to something cool aND Sailor Neptune-y NEPTUNE PLANET POWER! 1. Eat a veggie with lunch & dinner every day: +1 Str +1 Wis *Week one: 100% *Week two: 100% *Week three: 100% *Week four: 100% DEEP SUBMERGE! 2. No soda after work: +2 Con +1 Wis *Week one: 100% *Week two: 100% *Week three: 100% *Week four: 100% NEPTUNE CRYSTAL POWER! 3. Exercise three times a week: +2 Sta +2 Con +2 Dex *Week one: 33% (got sick) *Week two: 100% *Week three: 100% *Week four: 100% SUBMARINE REFLECTION! 4. At least 60 mins non screen relaxation (book, board game, card game, social time, etc) a day: +2 Wis +2 Cha *Week one: 75% (got sick, unless sleep counts as non-screen time ) *Week two: 100% *Week three: 100% *Week four: 100%