Search the Community

The name says it all right? Goal 1, Qigong everyday in the wee morning hours. During those predawn hours is when qi energy is on the rise (supposedly), making it the best time to cultivate the qi. Anywho, it's convenient enough that I get home form my night shift job and have a couple hours to do this. And doing some light/gentle movement that's flowy and meditative is good to do at the end of a work day. Goal 2, MWF -- NF Academy Bodyweight workouts -- featuring qigong movement and breathing I also want to get back onto cultivating some strength again, so I'll follow the NF academy workouts. But... I'm going to do them with qigong movements. I think all the movements can be adapted to incorporate a tai chi/qigong feel. Like, slow down and breathe with the movement, do it with a sense of balance and attention, rather than just banging out the reps. For instance, last week I was doing some single leg RDLs... I turned it into a movement where I kick my leg back slowly while extending my arms forward in a push. Pushups, and squats will be done slowly, and I'll probably be adapting movements from my Kung Fu training where appropriate. Goal 3, TRS -- Ba Duan Jin -- Qigong routine Known also as the 8 Pieces of Brocade or 8 Treasures, this is a pretty standard Qigong routine. It will be my 'rest day' routine. Mostly I'm just doing this to memorize the form, and practice the movements. They all look easy, until you do it yourself and start picking out the details of the breathing and movements. In any case, it's a good routine for flexibility, coordination, and balance. Goal 4, Horde Money I've decided to start saving for a house again. I did a little bit of shopping online in the market here. There are some nice little houses for relatively cheap, I'd wind up with a mortgage less than my rent and I'd be earning equity so I ought to do this. I need a few thousand bucks for a down payment and fees to get things rolling. So I need to make myself work more hours and save aggressively. If I can manage that, I should be looking to purchase by the Spring next year. Goal 5, Write 600 words a day. Mostly self-explanatory. I'm working on a novel (one of three actually) and I want to see it to the end. It's a weird Western with supernatural and grim/dark fantasy elements about a gunslinger who can summon ghosts and is pursuing a cult leader who eats ghosts through a mysterious and vast desert where he meets a sorceress and dragon tamer who helps him track the cult leader. Or something like that.

<excuses> So I feel like I keep starting these challenges and dropping off the face of the earth half way through. I cant even count how many times I've had a re-spawn challenge. I'm getting tired of that. So for this challenge I actually already set up a spreadsheet that I can easily edit on the fly anytime, any day and not have to update this page. So even when i decide that trying to update my "blog" is too much of a hassle (which is 90% of what causes me to stop every time) I can still keep track and still keep myself accountable. I am also going to make the spreadsheet shareable so if anyone wants updates they can keep up. okay, now that I got that out of the way, here's the challenge! </excuses> YES I WANT SOME NEW FACE! Overall Goal: Lose 100 pounds (from 260 to 160) Steps: Clean up diet Exercises - bodyweight, dance, and eventually circus arts Control finances August 13-Sept 9 Specific Challenge: Kpop dance practice at least 2 times weekly (60 min practice sessions) Save $20 weekly No Fast Food (This time, restaurants are not included in this) Walk 30 minutes on weekdays (the equivalent of walking my son to school and walking back home, school starts on the 23rd) Details: So recently I started watching My ID is a Gangnam Beauty and was inspired by the main character. I want to really take control over my life and be happy in who I am regardless of what others may think of me. I want to be healthy for myself and also "to show them that I can also do well." There are many things I want to do right now, that my weight and health are getting in the way of. There have been so many times I have said I would do something and I bailed out. I have so many regrets and I'm tired of giving excuses. I want to show I can be a responsible, healthy, vibrant person. I want to show myself I can be loved and deserve to be loved, especially by myself. I want to show myself that many of the so called "limits" to what i can do, or what is acceptable for me to be, are really self set, and is really just fear. So while I am trying to lose weight, and it does have some very superficial seeming reasons, to me these are very deep laid issues I am seeking to fix. (here's a link to a clip from the first episode, some of the inspiration for this challenge: New Face Dance from My ID is a Gangnam Beauty) So I find dancing to kpop extremely fun and a really good full body workout without needing any equipment other than a tv and some room to move. I'm starting this week with TWICE's "Likey" dance I'm thinking next I'll do a boy band... Maybe BTS's "Mic Drop"? As for saving $20 weekly this is to better take control of my finances. How does this help in my weight loss journey? well most of what I spend my money on is food. Yeah it's as simple as that. I am also trying to start up my own Tea shop so saving money will help me with my dream of owning my own business and feeling like I've made a successful step in my life. Next, by not eating Fast Food I can kill two birds with one stone, fixing my diet, and saving money! I find it increasingly hard to not just run to McDonalds (the closest open food to my work at 2 in the morning, normally i wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole) on my break, or swing by Speedway on my way home for a quick snack, but each of these small stops tend to result in thousands of calories in one go, and money spent that could have been put to better use. Lastly, walking 30 minutes each (week)day is a huge multi-tasker in this challenge: i want to save money on gas (now that i own a big gas guzzling SUV) and also get a bit more of a workout, and also spend some quality time with my son. I'll be walking him to school each day; It's about a 15 min one-way walk, so until school actually starts (on the 23rd) I'll also be walking in preparation each day for 30 minutes. I'll skip doing so tomorrow though, since I have a 5k to run(ish... i'm terrible at running) later in the evening anyways . So that's all for today I guess. I'll give the update on how I've done the past few days of the challenge in the next post, but I really should get some sleep. I'll also post the spreadsheet after making a few final adjustments. So I'll see you all again very soon.

2018 Changing Behaviors This year, my first challenge was a “what the hell am I going to do challenge”. So I threw in some stuff that I thought would be good to focus on. Those goals were good but I still felt a little lost and kept thinking about 2017 and what worked and didn’t work. 2017 was a stressful year and I let my impulses kind of run wild. I’ve always been a wants over needs type of person but have had a difficult time figuring out a way to change that. I just want to do everything now and feel silly taking it slow. Mentally, that’s what I want and I don’t want to wait to do anything. Physically, I put things off if I’m not sure how to do something or if it requires manual labor. 2018 is going to be about changing my behaviors. I want to have a good routine and strategy for overcoming my impulses. It’s time to start small and work my way up to the person I aspire to be. To accomplish this task I need a clear and fairly simple plan. My challenges are rarely simple so this will be clear but probably not simple. I need knowledge to help create that plan. I’ll need motivation or motivational tools to help when things get tough. I also need to make sure I have a support system (Thanks Rebels ). 2018 Changing Behaviors Levels LVL 1 - Organization LVL 2 - Night LVL 3 - Morning LVL 4 - Nutrition LVL 5 - Movement LVL 6 - Financial LVL 7 - Knowledge LVL 8 - Expression LVL 9 - Self-Discipline LVL 10 - Sustaining Each Level will last approximately 1 challenge cycle (28 days). If I do not follow my plan or fail to achieve my desired goal, then I do not move up a level. These levels are meant to build upon previous challenges and continue the habits gained from the previous level. For example, when I reach level 6, I should still be doing what I did through levels 1 to 5. The goal here is not to get as many points as possible but to develop the habit. If I end up skipping something or putting it off, I need to examine the reason why. Standard Goals Save $84 Got to the gym 4x Read 3 books Donate Plasma Monthly Focus - Feb : Sleep (7 to 8 hours) & Mar : No Spending on Non-Essentials Level 1 Goals Follow Dailies Cleaning Routine (1 pt each - 84 possibly points - GOAL = 58 points) Make Bed Bedroom Floor Clear Dish Free Sink Follow Weekly Cleaning Routine (1 pt each - 28 possibly points - GOAL = 19 points) Dust Mop Floors Vacuum Laundry Trash Clean Counters Clear Surfaces Follow Bi-Weekly Cleaning Routine (1 pt each - 8 possibly points - GOAL = 5 points) Scrub Bathroom Clean Sheets Toss Expired Foods Wipe Down Appliances Follow Monthly Cleaning Routine (1 pt each - 6 possibly points - GOAL = 4 points) Clean out car Clean out fridge Wipe down fridge Clean inside Microwave Sanitize sponges Deep Clean granite floors Follow Bi-Annually Cleaning Routine (1 pt each - 1 possibly points - GOAL = 1 points) Wipe Baseboards Follow Annual Cleaning Routine if applicable No Annual Cleaning task for February

Hello there I'm YellowRose and i'm back on NF after a rather long break. so lets get to it.... SMART GOALS!!!! 1.Specific Two part goal, get down to my happy weight Run more (and run this Ugly Sweater dec 12) 2. Measurable 133lbs (+/-5lbs) Continue to build on speed (3m time currently 33min, get faster, say 27min) then build on distance (3m w/out stopping, once obtained speed above, increase distance this is a soft metric) 3. Attainable currently 142lb (loose 9lbs) so not far off here but i really dont want to loose muscle, additionally i dont like restricting calories while im building any kind of athletic ability. I'll be looking to loose less than a pound a week, say 0.5lbs or less. as long as I'm slightly decreasing my weight i'll consider this goal met. bi-weekly measurments. track my 3ml times, share and post my times, run at least 3 times aweek. note will use MAPMyRUN or my watch to measure my speed. (new watch is a future budget item, current one is broken) 4. Relavant I like the way my close fit when i'm about that weight, i bought all my post maternity clothing when i was about that weight. so lets get back to it. all so i like to be strong and have well working muscles. runners high is good for my soul. 5. Time Bound For the next 6weeks or so i'd like to have a negative weight differential over each bi-weekly measurment, so say loose 3lbs by the end of 6 weeks. run 3m in 27min in 6weeks.

Oooh, it feels really awesome to get in on a guild! Ah, even better to take my first step into the whole guild world with the Assassins! The choice was a little tough with martial arts and parkour being some passions of mine, but...well, parkour is a lifestyle. So, here I am, ready to take flight and be a badass addition to the Assassin! Quest #1: Condition, condition, condition. Bodyweight conditioning for the world! Ah, as of late, I'm really into bodyweight conditiong and y'know well, training myself using nothing but my own bodyweight. Repetitive, I know. As for my choice of BC, 3x a week of Neila Rey's Super Saiyan workout. Rewards: +2 STR, +3 STA Quest #2: Train, train, train. Parkour is a sport drowning in the need for repetition, and also for an ever increasing chance to evolve. Learn a new move? Train it until it's second nature. Now train it on all kinds of surfaces. Now practice your flow with the move, and so on. Go out and train 3x a week, using parkour vision. For any non-traceurs or traceurs unfamiliar with the term, it's just truly seeing everything as potential to train your technique. Rewards: +2 DEX, +2 STA, +1 WIS Quest #3: Handstands, handstands, handstands. I can't really do a handstand. I can get up there, but my head is pressed against the floor. And so, practice my handstands for 5 minutes a day. Goal is a free standing handstand but I'll take what I can get. Rewards: +2 STR, +2 STA Life Quest: Save, save, save. I have a bit of a hard time saving money. Even if I budget everything out, somehow what was supposed to go into my savings somehow goes well...not into my savings. So my life quest for the challenge? Add a minimum of $50 to my savings account for every paycheck. Rewards: +1 WIS

It's that time again!!! Super excited to be back on NF, back in Detroit, and back to work! Due to the inclement weather, literally all of my plans got thrown out the window, hence the slightly late start, but I'm totally ready for action now. Main Quest Continue to drop the extra weight and develop a positive body image Active Missions Cut that starch! [+3 CON, +2 CHA] As I mentioned in my last challenge thread, I have PCOS and have always found it difficult to lose weight. I got some material on the Glycemic Load Diet for Christmas and have been reading up on that. I think it makes a lot of sense for me based on my experience with food and my body up to now as well as those of my family members. Because I live in community, it's likely that I won't be able to entirely cut out every starchy thing, but I'm going to up the ante from last time. Even if it's part of a community meal, I'm going to separate out as much as possible any bread, rice, white potatoes, pasta, etc. This is in addition to the obvious absence of empty calories from sweets and sugary drinks. None of that nonsense! A: >=40 days sticking to the above guidelines B: 36-39 days C: 32-35 days D: 28-31 days F: <28 days Work on my fitness! [+3 STR] This is also a continuation of something I worked on last challenge. I felt good running and doing a body weight workout three times a week each. I'd like to keep that up, but the freezing temperatures are making it really difficult. The solution? Get my ass to the YMCA (finally). Last challenge, I chased down an answer as to whether or not I'd be able to get any special membership discount as a full-time volunteer. That answer was a resounding "no". The plan now is to get a family membership with my housemates. This goal will be broken up into the following steps (A >= 90%, B >= 80%, C >= 70%, D >= 60%, F < 60%): Talk to the whole community about going in on a membership (15%)Inquire about family membership (10%)Tour facility (optional, 5% bonus)Obtain personal transportation (borrow, fix, or buy a bike) or figure out when I can drive to the Y (25%)Try group classes, go at least once/week for the remainder of the challenge (20%)Get to the Y at least 3 times/week for the remainder of the challenge (30%)Zombies, Run! 5K [+4 STA] I started running using Zombies, Run! 5K Training and, though I did go running while I was home for winter break, the holidays threw me off a bit. I want to finish out the training and keep right on running. Eventually, I want to do a 5K event, but that will most likely have to wait until I have an income. This goal will be split into two parts of equal weight. First, I'm going to finish the last three weeks of the training by February. This gives me a little wiggle room, which I think is necessary given the fact that I don't yet have a place to run indoors. The second part is that I want to get my 5K time down below 30 minutes. I'm not entirely sure because I've never timed for exactly that distance, but I think I'm probably around 40 minutes with plenty of walking thrown in there right now, so shaving off 10 minutes feels reasonable. A: Done by 1/31; 5K in less than 30 minutes B: Done by 2/1; 5K in 30-31 minutes C: Done by 2/2; 5K in 31-32 minutes D: Done by 2/3; 5K in 32-33 minutes F: Done 2/4 or later; 5K in more than 33 minutes Life Quest Don't touch those savings! [+3 WIS] In the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, you're encouraged to remain at your placement site (with the exception of any JVC retreats) for the entire year. Most people go home for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. I work at a high school, so I went home during the students' winter break. The only other time I'll be leaving Detroit for any personal reason is to go to my friend's wedding in late June. I'm guessing I'm going to need something like $300 to cover airfare, a dress, and any food not provided by the families of the bride and groom or carried along with me. As I receive $100/month as a stipend, this means I need to start saving now. Between now and the end of the challenge, I'll receive two months' stipend. I still have a little left over from December. At the end of the challenge, I will have put away at least $100 towards my wedding trip fund. A: At least $100 set aside B: $92-$99 C: $84-$91 D: $76-$83 F: $75 or less Having finished my first full challenge, I'm already noticing a big difference in how I look and feel. I want more of that. If I keep on making changes like the ones these challenges inspire me to, I can tell I'll eventually reach a point where I'm happy with my self-image. I want to be able to look in the mirror and say, "YES! I did this!"

This is a NEW squad for people with a money-related goal: are you saving money? Paying off loans? Looking to improve your current job situation? Starting or maintaining your own business? Then this is the squad for you! Officially we can be a group of seven people, but of course more followers are welcome. Post your name, your relevant goal, your challenge thread, and perhaps one form of contact (e-mail, Twitter, etc). Maybe we can do regular e-mails keeping each other motivated and on target! Members: kawatan: kawatan Ends the Start-Scumming Cycle; job search goal (30 "contact points" in 42 days) OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN OPEN