Suzaqu does things

[Suzaqu]

So excited for the 10 year stuff! I joined NF in April 2015, and have taken many a break, but it's always been in the background for me as a support system. I went back and looked at my first challenge and it was all focused on mobility and flexibility, and there was an undercurrent of weight loss . Thinking back to where I was then, my fitness/health has transformed. I'm all about how I can move, what I can do, and being aware of my mental state.

 

I'm still in the process of coming back from a break, so I'm keeping this challenge simple and straightforward. Also so I'll hopefully have time to participate in the minichallenge!

 

I'm also going to do a Monday-Sunday challenge, it's just how my brain works, so I'm kicking it off for real tomorrow. It will just help with my tracking, as I often use Sundays to review and finalize my goals for the week. It's also usually a big workout day for me.

 

1) Do the fitness things: Kettlebells 3x per week, yoga 1x per week. I did a 30 day yoga challenge last challenge and it felt really good. I loved the mobility gains I saw and I realized that that sort of focused movement has been missing from my workouts. So I'm trying to keep it going this challenge.

 

2) Read a thing: I want to start and finish a new book over the course of this challenge. I have so many books I have on a reading list that has been built over many years, but I never actually read them, and often just go back and reread old favorites instead. (Nothing wrong with that, but I need something new). Hopefully I'll manage to get through 2 books, but 1 is my reasonable goal.

 

3) Think through things: As I mentioned in my last challenge, there's a lot of change and chaos at work right now, and I want to help myself sort through that. So I'm going to journal at least 2x a week. I haven't been a journal-er really ever, but it's been speaking to me recently as a way to work things out, and I've inpromptu done it a few times over the past weeks, so I want to see if this is a habit I want to build.

 

4) Post some things: I really failed at posting last challenge, and I want to make it a priority. So I have to post in my thread at least 2x per week (and this one doesn't count!)

 

[lucky fire dragon]

found you and excited to hear about which books you will read. Also yoga and kettlebells are great movement always, so I might sneak peak for inspiration from you  Just so you know, you have to keep it coming now  and yes, do please post  

[Defining]

Looks sweet and simple!

[Mad Hatter]

22 minutes ago, Suzaqu said:

I'm all about how I can move, what I can do, and being aware of my mental state.

This is everything.

 

There's a 2020 choose-your-own-adventure style reading challenge going on, if you fancy joining.  

[Elastigirl]

I somehow missed your last challenge! Glad to have you back!

[WhiteGhost]

Following along  

[Suzaqu]

On 2/16/2020 at 12:35 PM, lucky fire dragon said:

found you and excited to hear about which books you will read. Also yoga and kettlebells are great movement always, so I might sneak peak for inspiration from you  Just so you know, you have to keep it coming now  and yes, do please post  

Yes, i will keep it coming! for fun creative KB workouts, my old kettlebell trainers instagram has some fun ones posted https://www.instagram.com/boopbod/?hl=en

 

On 2/16/2020 at 12:50 PM, Defining said:

Looks sweet and simple!

Yes, I've been bad at keeping up with fancy challenges, so I'm trying to keep it doable and productive.

 

On 2/16/2020 at 12:51 PM, Mad Hatter said:

This is everything.

 

There's a 2020 choose-your-own-adventure style reading challenge going on, if you fancy joining.  

Yes, I only came to that realization when I looked back at my first challenge in prep for writing this one. I've been feeling stagnant, so it was nice to be able to look back and see growth!

 

Yes, I would totally be in! I'll go find it now!

 

On 2/16/2020 at 6:42 PM, Elastigirl said:

I somehow missed your last challenge! Glad to have you back!

Thanks! I'm excited to be back and actually posting now

 

On 2/17/2020 at 1:27 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Following along  

Glad to have you!

[Suzaqu]

Hey y'all! I'm actually here doing the posting thing!

 

I'm sorry to confess I have yet to actually pick a book. I did take Sunday to finish a book I had had sitting mostly read for a long time to get me going for this challenge. The book I finished was A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schawb, which I would definitely recommend.  A review listed her as "The natural successor to Diana Wynne Jones" which is basically all the review  I needed to get me reading it. But now I have to find a new one for the actual challenge. I think I will make that a goal for tonight. 

 

I've done two kettlebell workouts so far this week (both S&S) and hope to do yoga or another kettlebell workout tonight. I actually left work at a decent hour today (hence the posting) so I should be able to find time. Unfortunately, frustration with the whole work situation was one of my main motivations for calling the day done, but I'm trying to channel that energy positively into a workout tonight, instead of crying over wine like I did last night.  I also took some of that frustration out in journaling over my lunch break and I think it helped? At least I was able to sort out where some of the emotions were coming from, even if I can't fix any of the causes.  Hoping for a fun weekend with lots of distractions and a good solution to fix this soon.

[Suzaqu]

Updating with progress made in the last hour  I decided on yoga, because looking back, I definitely needed some good mind+body work. Savasana at the end was exactly what I needed.

I also picked my book: Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch. It's a series near and dear to my heart. I started reading when I was living in England, and I have kept it up with it for years whenever I could find the new books here in the US. And I found the most recent one when I was in Scotland this summer, but forgot about it and never actually started reading it.  I like the size of the UK editions better, so I'm extra excited to start this one! 

[lucky fire dragon]

great choice, kudos and thanks for the kb and book hints - I love Diana Wynn Jones and Ben Aaronovitch and will go look for A Gathering of Shadows

Hope your work situation comes to a good solution all around 🤗

[Suzaqu]

On 2/22/2020 at 4:09 AM, lucky fire dragon said:

great choice, kudos and thanks for the kb and book hints - I love Diana Wynn Jones and Ben Aaronovitch and will go look for A Gathering of Shadows

Hope your work situation comes to a good solution all around 🤗

Thanks! The  first book in the Gathering of Shadows series is called A Darker Shade of Magic so I'd recommend starting there. I just finished my Aaronovich book and found found otu the new one is due out in the US in 2 days, perfect timing, so I had to order it, as a treat for myself for actually reading a book this year

 

[Mad Hatter]

I love that your treat for reading is another book! Great positive reinforcement.  

[Suzaqu]

Weekend update!

Week 1 Day 6:

Took a long hike/walk with my husband in the morning and then had some good reading time in the afternoon. We had plans for the evening, but they fell through, so I ended up getting very good reading time in and finished 2/3 of my book.

 

Week 1 Day 7:

i finished my book this morning and then used the afternoon for a kettlebell workout (not S&S, just rounds of squats, deadlifts, presses, snatches, windmills, skull crushers and russian twists). I managed to get some work done, which will make this week go much easier, and did some journaling which was positive and optimistic. I think I accomplished my goal of having a disconnected, rejuvenating weekend, and set myself up for a good week. Lunches are packed, house is clean, and I'm feeling good! Now i have some glitter eyeliner on and heading off to my rescheduled plans - Korean fried chicken, mmmm.

 

Goal review: I met all my goals this week, including actually posting here, and I managed to finish my book! I'm now going to start My Ántonia which I've been wanting to read for a while and will be part of the 2020 book challenge. I'm feeling good and want to keep this positive momentum up! We'll see how it goes, this is set up to be a busy mess of a week work-wise. But I have a job interview on Wednesday with a different part of my org that may be a nice solution to many of my problems.

 

Hope everyone's weekend went well!

[suzyQlou]

What a great week!  Thanks for the book recommendations. 

[Suzaqu]

On 2/24/2020 at 5:36 AM, suzyQlou said:

What a great week!  Thanks for the book recommendations. 

No problem! I love reading but haven't really done it in so long, I'm excited to start again!

[Suzaqu]

Trying to get better at updating more often! 

 

Week 2 Day 1:

Was going to have a rest day, but felt antsy and bored so ended up doing some easy time on my exercise bike. I also made another batch of my curry lentil sweet potato spinach thing for the week. My husband is out of town, so having giant dutch oven's worth of easy tasty food is nice.

 

Week 2 Day 2:

Had a rest day and it felt good

 

Week 2 Day 3:

I had to wake up early and also had a job interview in the afternoon, so I ended up doing kettlebells (S&S) in the morning. It was my normal weights, but it was a struggle to get through. I think part of that was the timing, but I think just being distracted and not in a great headspace also impacted it. But it definitely also helped deal with some of the excess energy and focus my mind, so I'm glad I did it. I also took some time over my lunch hour to do some journaling to pump myself up before the interview. It was a different, more positive, less ranting style for me, and did its job (along with the pump-up music dance party I had in my office). I think the interview went well and I got good feedback from my thank you emails so fingers crossed it works out!

 

Week 2 Day 4:

Thankfully a less exciting day than Wednesday work-wise. I had a nice relaxing evening and did another round of S&S with the same weights, and felt super strong. It was one of those amazing workouts where it all just feels right, which was a nice counterpoint to the previous day. 

 

Week 2 Day 5 (today)!

I woke up and made the mistake I make every morning of checking my work emails. There were some there that put me in the wrong mood, and so to counteract that and make the day go better, I decided to do a morning wake up yoga video before my funk got worse. And it definitely helped! The day went much better than it started off. I once again got antsy and ended up doing some bike time while watching netflix.

 

I think the week has been a good example of me learning to my body (and mind) and what it wants and needs. I want to keep this up next week, because we're hosting a week long event that will have me at work early and late, and stressed the whole time, so I want to still try to keep up with my goals.

 

[Suzaqu]

Coming back again with a weekend update 

Week 2 Day 6:

Did my final round of S&S for the week. I felt worn out but strong during it, which was a nice place to be.  Next week I want to work on upping the weights, as I'm feeling pretty solid with these and with my technique even on bad days, like the one I had earlier this week.

 

Week 2 Day 7: 

Got in a nice walk around my neighborhood and did some major spring cleaning/decluttering today and that felt awesome. Twas a very nice way to be active on a rest day. I still have to journal one more time this week and I promise I'll get it done today  I'm not feeling very verbose, probably why my updates are so short as well, but I'll try to build positive vibes for the week.  I also need to emphasize the reading this week, I did nothing. It will be a stressful week with our week-long conference thing, so taking some reading time (if I can find it) will be good.

[Suzaqu]

Doing the update thing earlier than usual for the week, baby steps!

 

Week 3 Day 1:

I wanted to have an easy day, since the week was going to start off for real with lots of work the next day and I wanted to get some housework done as well, so I did a shorter flow-y yoga video.

 

Week 3 Day 2:

I came home exhausted from a work dinner, so this was a true rest day. I took advantage of some down time over lunch to journal and try to build good thoughts for the kickoff of my week-long event and I think it helped me go into it with a good mindset, despite some minor setback and some people bringing me down.

 

Week 3 Day 3:

I came home late again and tired, but stressing about my interview the next day. So I did a round of S&S so I could hopefully sleep well that night.

 

Week 3 Day 4 (today):

Thankfully the S&S helped me sleep well and I think I did really well at my interview! It ended up being 2.5 hours, but was actually fun. I wanted to carry on the momentum and so did S&S tonight and started ramping up the weight. I feel good and more balanced. When I came home, I was mentally exausted and physically energized, and now I feel relaxed and well worked in both aspects. 

 

I gotta get the reading going, hopefully this weekend!

[Mad Hatter]

16 hours ago, Suzaqu said:

It ended up being 2.5 hours, but was actually fun.

Great sign! Hope it goes well.  

[Elastigirl]

That's great that the interview was fun. Might be a good  fit for both your and your possible employer. Great consistency on S and S. It always feels so motivating when you are able to move up a weight.

[Suzaqu]

On 3/6/2020 at 1:30 PM, Elastigirl said:

That's great that the interview was fun. Might be a good  fit for both your and your possible employer. Great consistency on S and S. It always feels so motivating when you are able to move up a weight.

Yes, it seems like the team I'd be leading has a great dynamic, and that I fit well into it, so hopefully everyone thinks it's a good fit!

 

Thanks, it's definitely super motivating. It's fun to think back to when the current weight seemed as hard as the new weight does now.

On 3/6/2020 at 12:54 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Great sign! Hope it goes well.  

Thanks! It was truly fun conversations which made it run over, so I hope they feel it went well too! I had only planned on an hour and a half, so it caused a few issues with the event I was hosting at work, but my awesome coworkers covered for me! 

 

[Suzaqu]

Week 3 Day 5

Finally done with my week-long event at work! Celebrated by going home at a reasonable hour and then with ramen for dinner and drinks with friends. No challenge progress, but that's ok, it was a positive day!

 

Week 3 Day 6

Went on a medium walk and then explored a town I don't get to as much as I should. Found some cute shops and had an awesome lunch that seemed to be designed for me.

 

Week 3 Day 7

Went on a long hike with my husband in the morning and then caught up on all of my challenge elements this afternoon. S&S again (only went up in weight on some of the TGUs, was feeling too worn out from the hike to do the swings too) and finished out the week with journaling. I'm feeling really calm and ready for this coming week. It's the first time in a while I haven't had anything major on the horizon at work, so I'm hoping I can focus on long term projects at work and at home...Like finally doing some reading!

[Elastigirl]

1 hour ago, Suzaqu said:

nly went up in weight on some of the TGUs

That's  how Pavel recommended it. Just start out going up 1 or 2  times

[Suzaqu]

On 3/8/2020 at 11:54 PM, Elastigirl said:

That's  how Pavel recommended it. Just start out going up 1 or 2  times

Oops, that was definitely unclear, I meant i didn't up the weight on any of my swings at all. I'm definitely trying to do what Pavel recommends, I think I did 4 heavy TGUs. Though in the S&S book I see that he doesn't do the heavy ones first, or necessarily all together, they're mixed in to the 10. I get the reasoning behind it, but mentally I just feel like I have to do them all first to get them out of the way. Have you experienced this/do you think it make a big difference in progress?

[Sloth the Enduring]

I’ve done it both ways. It doesn’t seem to matter much. My preference is to do all the lighter ones I have planned, like for a warm up, and then do the heavier ones.