traaki squeaks in under the wire.

[traaki]

Okay, a couple challenges ago I outlined what I'd like to get done this year. I've hidden the full blow-by-blow below because it's long and boring, but have at it if you like:

 

Spoiler

Legend: strikethrough = complete, green = ontrack, yellow = a little behind, red = no go

Healthy body

* Complete 120 workouts (up from 104 last year): 105/120 

    * I crossed my goal from last year in mid-November!

* Complete a nutrition quest in all challenges. 

* Find a mid-to-long term goal that motivates me (e.g. a skill to learn, a milestone to achieve, whatever it is I need)

    * Current candidates: Pistol squat, full pushup, splits, backbend. I realized recently that the biggest challenge for me was space--I kept picking things that needed equipment or space (pullups, handstands)

* Lose 10 pounds.

Be happy

* Keep reading lots of books! Let's read 30 this year!  Aiming for 35 now! 

* Reduce the number of old projects I have sitting around. 

    * I WILL be done with KS by the end of 2018. I'm soooo clooooooooooooose.    

* Bike once a week (4 more times this year)

Increased financial stability

* Save as much as possible for a house. 

   * This was a nonsense goal, yet I did a pretty awesome job. I've saved substantially more than I expected. 

* Don't spend in any of my restricted categories (beauty, clothing, online writing classes, jewelry, decor).

* Fully fund my IRA & 401(k).
Community

* Say yes to opportunities to meet new people.

   * If traveling seventy-thousand days a year doesn't qualify, I don't know what does.

* Find ways to do what I like *with* other people, not just alone.

* Set up the internship with Outreachy.

Writing Community

* Attend three one local writing group or class. 

* Finish the cross-stitch projects for my Kickstarter.

Work Life
* Get comfortable at work. 

5

 

I am in a good place to hit *most* of the remaining goals, especially with a little challenge love! 

 

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able.

Why? Achieves my yearly 120 workouts goals.  I have a pretty rigid schedule as far as workouts go, so for my 2 extra workouts, a short 10-minute yoga or bodyweight session will count. 

Challenges: If I follow my regular schedule, I'll be two short at the end of the year. So, I not only have to stay focused on my standard workout, I also have to squeeze in two extras. Last year ended in a very similar way--down to the wire, lots of scheduling to make them all happen. But I know I can get this done. 

 

Q2: Bike 1x per week. 

Why? Achieves my goals of biking once a week, and helps me hit my yearly 120 workouts goals
Challenges: I have not been good about getting out on my bike, and it's cold now. And dark.

 

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards.

Details: I have one cross-stitch to finish (already designed and started!), two poems to hand write and one last poem to write. 

Why? I SHALL BE FREEEEEE...to spend more time reducing the # of old projects in my life in 2019. 

 

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. 

Details: Salad is not always working for me, but I want to be sure there's an ample amount of veggies in my lunch. 

Why? Achieve the goal of having 10 nutrition-related quests in 2018!

 

BONUS ACTIVITIES: 

1. Attend a writing group--I've got this scheduled, so all I gotta do at this point is show up.
2. Find a mid-to-long term goal that motivates me.
   1. Current candidates: Pistol squat, full pushup, splits, backbend. 
   2. I want to do some research into the goal and the progression that gets me there, and then pick it and set a date! 

[traaki]

Week 1: 

Q1: Get 9 hours of sleep every night. (M, Tu, Th, F, Sa)

Q2: Drink 3 Nalgenes of water every day. (M, Tu, W, Th)

Q3: Eat veggies as much as possible. (M, Tu, W, Fr, Sa, Su)

 

Week 2: 

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able. (2/2, extras: 3)

Q2: Bike 1x per week. (0/1)

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards. (Days worked on: M, F, Sa)

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. (4/3)

 

Week 3: 

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able. (2/2, extras: 0)

Q2: Bike 1x per week. (1/1)

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards. (Days worked on: M, W, Th, F )

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. (5/3)

 

Week 4: 

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able. (3/2)

Q2: Bike 1x per week. (0/1)

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards. (Days worked on: M, Tu, W, Th)

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. (5/3)

 

BONUS ACTIVITIES: 

Week 2: Attend a writing group--I've got this scheduled, so all I gotta do at this point is show up.

Any time: Find a mid-to-long term goal that motivates me.

 

[traaki]

So, like, I just posted that whole thing about my challenge but the REAL reality is that this week is one of the busiest of the year for me. I'm back in my former hometown, seeing millions of people, working full-time, struggling with the dark and cold and barely staying alive.  So for week 1 we have: 

 

1) Get 9 hours of sleep every night. 

2) Drink 3 Nalgenes of water every day. 

3) Eat veggies at lunch as much as possible. 

 

That's it. I'm sad to lose workouts and all the things but these three things are my building blocks.

[UnquietBones]

That sounds like an awesome have-done/will-do list!

 

What sort of writing are you doing? I hope your crazy week goes well-- almost to hump day!  

[traaki]

14 hours ago, UnquietBones said:

That sounds like an awesome have-done/will-do list!

 

What sort of writing are you doing? I hope your crazy week goes well-- almost to hump day!  

Thanks!!! The crazy week is going well--last night was our last big gathering, after this it's smaller stuff. I def feel like I'm getting sick but I'm hoping lots of sleep and vitamins and stuff will help. 

 

Right now I'm editing a novel I wrote last year.  It's so hard and fun and all the things!!!

[Manarelle]

Seconding the sentiment of awesome have done/ will do list. Boo to reality intruding, but nice work catching the crazy early so you can plan for it instead of getting blindsided. I'm sure I've asked this before, but have you considered a sad lamp for the winter blahs?

[raptron]

Dang, that is such a comprehensive way to tackle the year! I love it.

 

GOOD LUCK SURVIVING THE WEEK. VEG WILL HELP!!!

[traaki]

3 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Seconding the sentiment of awesome have done/ will do list. Boo to reality intruding, but nice work catching the crazy early so you can plan for it instead of getting blindsided. I'm sure I've asked this before, but have you considered a sad lamp for the winter blahs?

Well, thankfully I don't actually *live* in a dark cold place anymore.  I just visit and am promptly sad-ified.  Unless you think it would be helpful even for the short term? 

 

2 hours ago, raptron said:

Dang, that is such a comprehensive way to tackle the year! I love it.

 

GOOD LUCK SURVIVING THE WEEK. VEG WILL HELP!!!

 

Thanks!! I have been using this model for 2 years now and really like it. At the beginning of the year goals tend to be a lot clearer and more concrete but they get a little wobble-y by the time December rolls around. 

 

AND YAY VEG! I hope you are right. <3

[RogueLibrarian]

Heyyyyy veggies are great

 

So is writing

 

Let's write and eat our veggies

[traaki]

1 hour ago, RogueLibrarian said:

Heyyyyy veggies are great

 

So is writing

 

Let's write and eat our veggies

YAAASSS 

 

 

Except veggies and sitting alone in a room for hours on end instead of champagne and fancy clothes. 

[UnquietBones]

You can totally eat veggies in fancy clothes!

[traaki]

Week 1 Report!

Q1: Get 9 hours of sleep every night. (M, Tu, Th, F, Sa) (5/7)

Q2: Drink 3 Nalgenes of water every day. (M, Tu, W, Th, Su) (4/7)

Q3: Eat veggies as much as possible. (M, Tu, W, Fr, Sa, Su) (6/7)

 

Honestly my records were not great this week, I think I did better at water than it appears I've done. 

 

Other updates: 

I'M SICK! Because of COURSE I am. Anyway, it could be worse--it's basically a cough, an eternal headache and then fevers in the middle of the night. I've never had whatever this is, but I'm trying to kill it with sleeping and water. 

 

I'M BACK HOME! Yayayayayayayayayayayayayay!!! It's beautiful and I'm so happy to be here.  I don't have a trip for another 8 weeks and that feels great. 

 

This coming week will be switched back to the real challenge goals (working out, etc). Bike ride I'm hoping to do later in the week when this cough has subsided. One sorta helpful thing is most of my family (myself not included) has decided to do Whole30. Whole30 (as with many diets) rubs me very much the wrong way, but the food is good and they're doing a lot of the prep/planning for it so I just have to show up and eat.  AND it means they've been really good at providing veggies at every meal.  So that should srsly push this challenge into success territory.  
 

I'm also gonna go RIGHT NOW and figure out a good long-term fitness goal for myself. 

[traaki]

Front-runners for long-term goal/stupid human trick: 

 

Backbend--for some reason this one feels really achievable, probably just because I used to be able to do it.  And it doesn't require much in terms of space or equipment.  Plus it might counteract my bad sitting habits.

Pistol squats--my knees do better the more squats I do, and the progression here is basically to get better at squats and do a lot of them. Plus it's fancy.  

 

ANYWAY. I'll decide on one by the end of the week. 

[raptron]

16 hours ago, traaki said:

I'M SICK! Because of COURSE I am. Anyway, it could be worse--it's basically a cough, an eternal headache and then fevers in the middle of the night. I've never had whatever this is, but I'm trying to kill it with sleeping and water. 

Ugh, feel better soon.

 

16 hours ago, traaki said:

I'M BACK HOME! Yayayayayayayayayayayayayay!!! It's beautiful and I'm so happy to be here.  I don't have a trip for another 8 weeks and that feels

great. 

Yessss.

 

16 hours ago, traaki said:

This coming week will be switched back to the real challenge goals (working out, etc). Bike ride I'm hoping to do later in the week when this cough has subsided. One sorta helpful thing is most of my family (myself not included) has decided to do Whole30. Whole30 (as with many diets) rubs me very much the wrong way, but the food is good and they're doing a lot of the prep/planning for it so I just have to show up and eat.  AND it means they've been really good at providing veggies at every meal. 

Yes for veggies and lots of good homemade food things, even if it is in the context of the not-so-great w30, haha. 

[Manarelle]

19 hours ago, traaki said:

Front-runners for long-term goal/stupid human trick: 

 

Backbend--for some reason this one feels really achievable, probably just because I used to be able to do it.  And it doesn't require much in terms of space or equipment.  Plus it might counteract my bad sitting habits.

Pistol squats--my knees do better the more squats I do, and the progression here is basically to get better at squats and do a lot of them. Plus it's fancy.  

 

ANYWAY. I'll decide on one by the end of the week. 

 

Good goals, whichever one you go with. I started doing bridges again, because cobra position wasn't stretching my stomach. The first few days were hilariously bad, but now I can pushup and lower down without looking like I have muscle dyslexia. 

 

I'd say you did a solid first week, 4,5, and 6 out of 7 is very well done. Welcome home, and enjoy the downtime.

[traaki]

After 8 days of fever/coughing, I finally gave in and did one of those newfangled video doctor things last night. I am now on antibiotics and steroids and already feeling like a human (though I did wake up at 4:30 am, thanks, steroids). That said, whatever this tends to come on strong at night so we'll see how I feel in three hours....

 

Week 2 Check-in:

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able. (2/2, extras: 1)  As I feel best in the morning, I've still mostly gotten workouts in. I've been doing restorative yoga which probably wouldn't count on a normal day, but given that I have some terrible sickness, I've been kicking ass (also the yoga has been helping). 

Q2: Bike 1x per week. (0/1) Yeaaaaaah, we'll see. If the asthma calms down, this is do-able, but there is no way I'm doing cardio + cold air + asthma right now.

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards. (Days worked on: M) - Okay this slowed down but I'll pick it up again today. I just couldn't do anything but cough and watch the Crown. 

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. (3/3) - This is looking less like salad club and more like "adding freggies through the day".  I'm a tiny bit inclined to swap it for an anti-Diet Doctor Pepper quest but I may not be strong enough for that yet. 

 

For the rest of the week, I feel confident I can get some progress on everything save the bike. I haven't been writing much (something about a splitting headache doesn't compel me to sit and think, I guess) 

[Manarelle]

16 hours ago, traaki said:

After 8 days of fever/coughing, I finally gave in and did one of those newfangled video doctor things last night. I am now on antibiotics and steroids and already feeling like a human (though I did wake up at 4:30 am, thanks, steroids). That said, whatever this tends to come on strong at night so we'll see how I feel in three hours....

 

Glad to hear you've got some relief, and hopefully you got to sleep more than in the past week. How did the video consult go? Our insurance is offering it, but won't tell us what it costs, which makes me hesitant to try. 

 

Hope you're on the mend and the weekend is a good one. 

[WhiteGhost]

On 12/3/2018 at 8:50 AM, traaki said:

Pistol squats--my knees do better the more squats I do, and the progression here is basically to get better at squats and do a lot of them. Plus it's fancy.  

I love pistols.  Super fancy and really good for building up your skwat skills

[traaki]

 

On 12/7/2018 at 8:02 AM, Manarelle said:

Glad to hear you've got some relief, and hopefully you got to sleep more than in the past week. How did the video consult go? Our insurance is offering it, but won't tell us what it costs, which makes me hesitant to try. 

1

They *said* it was free, which is the only reason I did it. We will see if that is actually true. It went well! She was really kind and I didn't have to leave my house, plus it seems she diagnosed me correctly as I'm definitely feeling like a human again (albeit a human with asthma and gut problems). 

 

On 12/3/2018 at 1:06 PM, Manarelle said:

Good goals, whichever one you go with. I started doing bridges again, because cobra position wasn't stretching my stomach. The first few days were hilariously bad, but now I can pushup and lower down without looking like I have muscle dyslexia. 

2

I decided I would try a bridge because my biggest concern was that choosing a bridge was too easy. HAAAAAAAAAA. I literally can't do anything but lay on the floor. If my legs push, they just shove my shoulders into the floor. My arms are....worthless. HOW IS THIS SO HARD?! I USED TO DO IT SO MUCH.

[traaki]

Okay, week 2 final report: 

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able. (2/2, extras: 3)

Q2: Bike 1x per week. (0/1)  asthma

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards. (Days worked on: M, F, Sa)

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. (4/3)

 

Overall pretty good, for a person recovering from bronchitis! 

 

For my bonus goals:

1) I FORMALLY DECIDED my fitness goal is going to be a backbend. As I said in my last post, I was so baffled by trying to do one again that it seems nice and challenging...but not as many years in the future as a pistol squat.

2) I am going to a writing group this Thursday! 

 

Week three I'm feeling pretty good about. Still not sure about biking, but hoping the end of the week could work. I also need to focus more on veggies; I can tell I'm avoiding it. 

[Manarelle]

On 12/10/2018 at 4:20 PM, traaki said:

I decided I would try a bridge because my biggest concern was that choosing a bridge was too easy. HAAAAAAAAAA. I literally can't do anything but lay on the floor. If my legs push, they just shove my shoulders into the floor. My arms are....worthless. HOW IS THIS SO HARD?! I USED TO DO IT SO MUCH.

 

The few cardio machines at the gym are right in front of the kids' class when I work out. It's amazing to watch what they do without even thinking about it (handstand into backbend and stand up out of it? No problem!), and realizing that I used to be able to do (some of) that and now I'd probably just break if I tried it without warming up and stretching out. Growing old ain't for the weak. You've got this, though, sounds like that's a good challenge for you, and you can laugh in the face of age once you've got it back.

[traaki]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:43 AM, Manarelle said:

you can laugh in the face of age once you've got it back.

Not gonna lie: this is definitely a big motivator.  I SHAKE MY FIST IN THE FACE OF AGING! (Except when I am too old and tired to shake it.)

[traaki]

Week 3 Update: 

Q1: Workout 2x per week + 2 extra workouts as able. (2/2, extras: 0)

Q2: Bike 1x per week. (1/1)

Q3: Daily progress on kickstarter rewards. (Days worked on: M, W, Th, F )

Q4: Have a salad or otherwise sub in veggies 3x per week. (5/3)

 

Look at all that greeeeeen!!

 

I'm on track to hit 120 workouts for the year, which is awesome!!  16 more than last year!  My Kickstarter cross-stitch is progressing pretty quickly! I do at least one letter per day, usually more.  Eating veggies! Woohoo! 

I rode my bike today for the first time since October. It....kicked my ass. My lungs are definitely still struggling after the whole bronchitis thing.  Plus...I haven't biked in sub-freezing temps for four years, so I'm just not used to it.  That said, I'm glad I did it. I did a new ride over to where my writing group meets so hopefully I can do that next time I go. 

 

Which brings me to....I've ALSO completed my bonus goals! I attended a writing group last night and while I'm not 100% convinced it's right for me, I will be going back.  On my bike. 

[Manarelle]

On 12/14/2018 at 6:10 PM, traaki said:

Look at all that greeeeeen!!

 

 

Nice work this week. AND the bonus goal, AND the biking..... you nailed this one. How far was the bike ride? Kudos to you for doing it in the cold, I think I'd have died. 

[raptron]

On 12/14/2018 at 6:10 PM, traaki said:

Which brings me to....I've ALSO completed my bonus goals! I attended a writing group last night and while I'm not 100% convinced it's right for me, I will be going back.  On my bike. 

\o/