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Greetings lovely nerds, I've recently found that my right wrist has been REALLY bugging me to the point where I can't snatch because I get flares of pain. At first I thought it was workout related (too much yoga, planking, pushups, etc), but I described the pain to my coach who used to be a graphic designer and she had the same feeling in her arm/wrist and it was due to her mouse and desk setup. Sometimes I'll be at rest and it feels like shards of glass are going up and down my forearm right above my radius. SO! Any recommendations on a good mouse out there? Looking at all those gamers out there. If my fellow desk monkeys have recommendations on keyboards and mouse pads, too, that wouldn't hurt. Right now I have the "you work for an underfunded federal unit LOL" starter pack, aka a Dell keyboard from the early '00s and a Logitech mouse that has seen better days. The cheaper the better, since this is coming out of my own pocket, but I understand you have to spend a little money for good quality. Any and all help is appreciated!

OK! Progress on recent challenges has been excellent, time to build on what's gone before. 1) Eat more veggies Remember how much Kaylee valued (for orgasmic levels of "valued") fresh food? I don't live on a spaceship (yet), so I can have all the fresh stuff I want. I need to get more veggies in my lunches and dinners. Goal: everyday have a meal with some solid vegetables in it. I'm doing great on fruit for breakfast, now I need to step up on the other meals. A = 6/week; B = 5/week; C = 4/week; D = 3/week. Sta + 1; Wis + 1 Bonus challenge! Get to a local Farmer's market and explore their offerings. Cha +1 Extra bonus! Make a big veggie-ful meal on weekends to have as leftovers for lunch or dinners. Con +1 2) Exercise changes The Firefly crew can kick ass equally on ship or planetside. I haven't been getting outdoors enough, and I haven't been getting enough cardio. So! Two-parter: a: At work: do a round of this exercise series each day. I found this during the last mini-challenge, and it's perfect for what I want. Potential pitfall--in a few weeks I'll be starting a lab test, and I'm not sure what my cubicle time will look like. But every day that it's possible, I want to do these. b: At home: each day that it's possible, get out for a walk, minimum 15 minutes. We've got some lovely walking paths near our house, and I want to explore more. I didn't manage it today because it was raining, but I was ready to do it! (I went downstairs and did a sledgehammer routine instead.) To be graded on a 90/80/70% scale. Str +2, Dex +2 Bonus: Start jogging! After doing some walking, start upping the difficulty with some interval jogging: 1 min walk/1 min run, that sort of thing. I have disliked running before, so it will be interesting to try it again. +1 Sta. 3) Meditation Book derives a lot of strength and character from his time in prayer. For me that's mindfulness meditation. Goal: *every day* do at least 5 min of meditation. Do 30 min when that's practical. A = 6/week, B = 5/week, etc. I'm adding on a goal to write down three things I'm grateful for every day. I need to get my head in a more positive mindset, and I know that can be a big help. Wis +1, Cha +1 Bonus challenge! Experiment with candle meditation. Wis +1 4) Maintenance Kaylee has to keep the engines in good shape under non-ideal circumstances and within considerable budget constraints. I need to maintain the habits from other challenges that have paid off. I realized that last challenge I dropped some habits because they weren't "part of the challenge." So here's where I change that. This is a long list, but it's already stuff I know how to do. -Bring lunch to work. If not, stick with simple sandwiches and salads from the cafeteria -Go to bed no later than 10pm -Do not purchase alcohol to drink at home -Take all vitamins -Bring healthy snacks to work, no vending machines -Floss -Track calories with MyFitnessPal -Smoothies for breakfast A = no more than 10 lapses/week; B = 15 lapses; C = 20 lapses, etc. Con +2, Wis +1

So about a year ago, when I was half way through my fitness journey, full of so much positive energy it just leaked from every orifice in my body I started a initiative in my office. The 10:15 push up break was born, every day, starting with just me I would get up from my desk, go into the middle of our office, and do as many push-ups as I could. At the time, I did it alone, and the most I could do was 6 full Push-ups. Still a larger guy even 6 felt like a triumph Within a week, I had an office mate join me, she too was on a fitness journey, she could only do 10 knee push-ups, but doing them made her feel great. She progressed through the year, the Push-up break a daily reminder of the commitment to fitness, over the year she is down 40lbs. By the end of the first month we had 4 people joining in, I was up to 12 full push-ups. At the end of the 3rd month the whole office was in on the 10:15 push up break! Our executive director said it was the favorite part of his day; and said it was a great idea that it started. By now I was up to 20 Push-ups. Due to the massive success of the 10:15 push-up break a 2:00 Plank break, and 4:00 stretch break were added to the daily routine in the office. Again everyone joined in, and looked forward to it every day. Months went by, sometimes people miss the break, but more often the not, the entire office assembles, gets on the ground, and pushes themselves, in more way than one. Today, almost a year after starting the break, with perfect form, completing with a growl, then a Burpee up to a jumping celebration: I did 50 push-ups in a row.

So I started an hourly pushup club with my team at my office where we each do a set on the hours. Even if you can only do one, the important thing is to get up out of your desk, do what you can, then go back to work with a (hopefully) clearer mind. I was hoping to find an exercise that we can do to work our backs on off days. The only caveat is that being in an open office, we can't simply hang a pull up bar (and most of us wouldn't be able to do a pull up anyway). I was hoping to find something similar to pushups, that requires no equipment and can be done solo. Thoughts?