Kuiken's 6-wk Challenge #2-"Come with me if you want to lift."

[Kuiken]

Still waiting to see if my 5km speed has improved-race on Tuesday, but I'm ready for another challenge already! The last challenge went pretty well and I knocked my own socks off by doing my first pull up! This challenge will have less singular feats of awesome, but will be more awesome on a day-to-day level, dispersed throughout the challenge.

THE GOALS:

1. Follow the New Rules of Lifting for Women stage 1 program. I've dabbled in weight lifting for the last challenge, but nothing really structured so hopefully this program will fix that. I'm going up against Absidey in a PvP for this, with threats of the loser being forced to wear skirts, heels, and possibly even make up (do I even own any of this stuff?!), so as much I'll be excited to see Absidey do well, there can only be ONE! +3STR
   
2. Start tracking my calories. Again. When I initially started losing weight last year, it was basically calories in<calories out, which worked extremely well. A few months ago I found this website and switched to a mostly paleo diet which let me ditch the calorie counting and still lose weight. However towards the end of the last challenge I noticed my performance was stalling, so on a hunch a calorie tracked a few days and found I wasn't eating enough. Now that it's summer, this problem will only get worse as I have no appetite in the heat. But not enough fuel will cause goal #1 to fail, so back to the tedium of calorie tracking. I'm going to try to shoot for getting most of my calories in the morning and evening to avoid the hot parts of the day, but whatever I do I need to eat! I'll probably shoot for 40/30/30 for carbs/protein/fat, but I'll let my body tell me what fuel it wants (within reason of course). I need to track all my meals except for Sundays to give me some kind of break. +2WIS, +2CON
   
3. Become Stretch Armstrong! Yoga was a once a week thing, but I've started to let that slip and none of my workout goals are going to be realistic without tons of stretching in between-otherwise I'm just looking for injuries. Plus I love the bit at the end where you get to whip out a blanket and take a nap-it's like kindergarten all over again. So the plan is to go to yoga at least twice a week. My gym offers an insane amount of yoga classes and I have P90X's yoga disc, so no excuses! +2CON, +2DEX
   
4. "Quit the bitching on your blog and stop pretending art is hard." I don't actually have a blog, but I'm always whinging on in person (forget blogs, I whine in 3-D, HD!) about how I wish I was better at guitar, how I wish I had more time to draw, whingy-whiney-wah-wa. But we all know those excuses are bull and I'm just not making these things a priority. The plan-spend at least 20 mins a day at some kind of art-either practicing my guitar, trying to finish a drawing, writing up a short poem, whatever I'm in the mood for as long as it's creative. The majority of my day is consumed by analytical thinking and my artistic side suffers, which is wrong because not only does it make me a less balanced individual (but you guys knew I was unbalanced anyway ), it eventually will drag down my analytical side (my best scientific work/writing happens when I'm working on an art project on the side). To do a better science, I must do a better art. +2WIS, +2CHA
   

Starting measurements:

BW: 62.5kg

BF%: 23.5%

Biceps: 11"

Waist: 32"

Thighs: 22"

Starting lift weights will also go up tomorrow when I do the first workout-I did some test runs over the weekend and I think I know where I'm at, but I'd rather actually do the workout for real first rather than invite Murphy to wreak havoc on my plans. I'm on to you Murph ಠ_ಠ

Now to start this challenge off with some Butterflies and Hurricanes from Muse-LET'S DO THIS THING!

[CyningaDena]

Hooray! I must find this PvP thread immediately, because that show-down is going to be EPIC. I'm especially going to be cheering you on for your life goal. That's someting I want to do myself, and it's always the first thing to get cut out of my schedule.

Glad you're back to kick some ass in round 2!

[Weazley]

I just had to come in and say I love the title of your post!

But I love the goal to be more creative... or is it stop whining... or both!

But seriously, good luck - you have another supporter cheering you on from the side-lines!

[jimmie65]

Definitely like the life goal. Good luck.

[Kuiken]

That's someting I want to do myself, and it's always the first thing to get cut out of my schedule.

Exactly! I have no idea why as it's what I enjoy the most, but I think my brain goes "if you enjoy it, it must not be a profitable or practical use of time-DROP IT!".

I just had to come in and say I love the title of your post!

But I love the goal to be more creative... or is it stop whining... or both!

But seriously, good luck - you have another supporter cheering you on from the side-lines!

Hahah-good point! Pretty much both. Because then I'm all "I wish I could play that song/finish this drawing/etc..."-did I put any time into it? well noooo....but I still wish... And thanks for the encouragement!

Definitely like the life goal. Good luck.

Thanks man! I'm curious to what happens with the life goal-I know what I WANT to happen, so hopefully I can make it so!

[Blaidd]

Hey babe, you've got 15 points to allocate or have I just miscalculated? Great goals though. I'll keep watching you

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Absidey]

You weren't kidding about our goals being similar this challenge! I'll definitely be hanging out here a lot; I think it's going to be pretty awesome for us both, no matter who ends up in heels.

To do a better science, I must do a better art.

I love this.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Hey, the gang is FINALLY all here.

Great goals, but - yea - I think you get more points to allocate than you're giving your goals. Don't leave treasure laying on the ground!!

[Kuiken]

Hey babe, you've got 15 points to allocate or have I just miscalculated? Great goals though. I'll keep watching you

Hey, the gang is FINALLY all here.

Great goals, but - yea - I think you get more points to allocate than you're giving your goals. Don't leave treasure laying on the ground!!

Reading comprehension FAIL. Fortunately I have you guys watching my back! Hmm-I'll have to rethink this one and add more detail to my goals to spread that 15pts out evenly. Also I forgot to add the 0.75 WIS from the last challenge from my life goal. This is pretty much why I don't play RPG's much-I'm all "LEEERROOOYY JEEEENKINSSS!!!!" and miss all the details :-P

You weren't kidding about our goals being similar this challenge! I'll definitely be hanging out here a lot; I think it's going to be pretty awesome for us both, no matter who ends up in heels.

I promise I didn't plagiarize your goals! Well not totally plagiarize them, more like "re imagined" them. Honestly I did have most of these goals kicking around in my brain before I read your thread-I must have been getting psychic messages from you, maybe because I was trying to read your mind to see if you had any secret weapons up your sleeve to win the PvP. But all I could find was your goals, lack of sleep, and a bizarre obsession with rock climbing chalk. Slightly disturbing.

So far so good-did 1A (full update in the PvP thread-it'll be easier to track there), tracked ALL the calories, got my yoga planned for the week, and played around on the guitar for 20 mins. Not a bad day all in all.

Highlight of the Day:

Planted seeds for my veggie garden! So far I've got watermelon (OK-so the garden's not 100% veg-close enough), spinach, and cauliflower, along with some random flowers. Now for the hard part-waiting and watering them. Maybe if I play Chariots of Fire on repeat it'll encourage them to grow faster?

[esteel]

Just noticed the challenge name.. genius. Love it! Good luck!

[Kuiken]

Just noticed the challenge name.. genius. Love it! Good luck!

Thanks! The hardest part of these challenges is always trying to come up with a funny title

So I ran my 5km again last night and....36:49. BAH! How did I gain 3, almost 4 minutes?! Some thoughts:

-First run was in 35F weather, second run was in 80F weather

-They changed the course a little, which added about 0.75km (yes I'm going to use that-don't judge)

-I tried keeping a steady quick pace throughout when last time I started slow and gradually picked up speed.

-I did a weights workout the day before-first race I took about 2-3 rest days to prep.

Whatever. Time is relative, ask Doctor Who or Einstein. It felt like I was knocking the race out of the park and I put my all into it, so on that front I'm satisfied. I will return to this challenge later-you may have won this round speed, but I'll be back (I promise I'm not planning all these Terminator references!).

Otherwise the day went well-logged my food and did 20 minutes of inking on a drawing I started in June that I might just actually finish during this challenge if I keep up my daily 20! Yoga and weights 1B today-I plan to take my fury about my 5km time out on my deadlifts. RAWR!

Highlight of the Day:

I was speaking to a friend over Skype that I haven't seen in several months and he was like "Damn-you're looking pretty fit!". This was after my 5km, so I needed all the encouragement I could get Plus the husband and I are making plans to take a short holiday to the Karoo (big, pretty desert) which will include lots of hiking, biking, and beautiful scenery in October! SO excited!

[AKGirl]

Whatever. Time is relative, ask Doctor Who or Einstein. It felt like I was knocking the race out of the park and I put my all into it, so on that front I'm satisfied. I will return to this challenge later-you may have won this round speed, but I'll be back (I promise I'm not planning all these Terminator references!).

Running is so frustrating at times. I can eat the same thing, sleep the same amount, head out my door feeling about the same, and results will vary. I like to take one run a week without my watch - just enjoy the scenery and move my legs.

[Kuiken]

Running is so frustrating at times. I can eat the same thing, sleep the same amount, head out my door feeling about the same, and results will vary. I like to take one run a week without my watch - just enjoy the scenery and move my legs.

Yeah-since my last challenge had a running goal, I'm just going to do fun runs this challenge to get back into the enjoyment of it. Especially now that the weather is warm and nice, it'll be a great change of pace! Next challenge I might get serious again-we'll see how I feel.

I did 1B yesterday, starting at 67lbs on the deadlift-not too shabby, but I'm still focusing on my form like the good little injury-free rebel I am. Then because I'm a masochist I did an hour yoga class after my weight workout, with the teacher who loves to hold poses until Judgement day. Holy macaroni-the pain and the shaking! 0_o BUT-I did feel like Chuck Norris after I walked out of there (is yoga suppose to make you feel like Chuck Norris? Am I doing it wrong?) because I made it through the entire class without needing a break (wanting, yes-but needing, no). This totally made up for my disappointing run. It also made me soooo tired that I went to bed ~8pm. After getting in 20 mins of guitar practice of course. Mainly just working on chord changes and trying to build my hand muscles/finger callouses back up, but I did practice a couple of songs and most importantly, I enjoyed it!

Highlight of the Day:

Doing my weights and yoga back-to-back LIKE A BOSS! I might try to do this every Wednesday because it was so completely that awesome.

[Librarian of Doom]

I love your goals!!! Don't beat yourself up too much about the 5k; sometimes giving it your all will be different from other times. Looking forward to following your challenge!!!

[jimmie65]

I'm trying to picture Chuck Norris doing yoga, but just can't get a good joke out of it.

Nice work on your goals.

[Absidey]

Yeah-since my last challenge had a running goal, I'm just going to do fun runs this challenge to get back into the enjoyment of it. Especially now that the weather is warm and nice, it'll be a great change of pace! Next challenge I might get serious again-we'll see how I feel.

Is it weird reading us talk about fall and cooling temperatures while you head into summer?

I did 1B yesterday, starting at 67lbs on the deadlift-not too shabby, but I'm still focusing on my form like the good little injury-free rebel I am. Then because I'm a masochist I did an hour yoga class after my weight workout, with the teacher who loves to hold poses until Judgement day. Holy macaroni-the pain and the shaking! 0_o BUT-I did feel like Chuck Norris after I walked out of there (is yoga suppose to make you feel like Chuck Norris? Am I doing it wrong?) because I made it through the entire class without needing a break (wanting, yes-but needing, no). This totally made up for my disappointing run. It also made me soooo tired that I went to bed ~8pm. After getting in 20 mins of guitar practice of course. Mainly just working on chord changes and trying to build my hand muscles/finger callouses back up, but I did practice a couple of songs and most importantly, I enjoyed it!

Highlight of the Day:

Doing my weights and yoga back-to-back LIKE A BOSS! I might try to do this every Wednesday because it was so completely that awesome.

Dude, you're awesome! I'm inspired to get a little crazy this weekend. I used to do yoga after a cardio-resistance hybrid class sometimes, but I come out of our lifting just limp. I could do the end bit of yoga where you lie on the floor and breathe, and that's about it. Way to go!

I'm trying to picture Chuck Norris doing yoga, but just can't get a good joke out of it.

Nice work on your goals.

I imagine it a little like this:

[Amphion]

I'm trying to picture Chuck Norris doing yoga, but just can't get a good joke out of it.

Nice work on your goals.

Oh come on, Chuck Norris can be legitametly pictured doing anything and owning it.

Love the title. Looks like you got a good plan and a good start. Keep up the good work.

[CyningaDena]

I imagine it a little like this:

LMAO!

Oh sweet jeezis, Abs, that was perfect. Namaste.

[Jaksavage]

Best. Title. Ever. And great goals too! Luck in the coming weeks!

[Kuiken]

I love your goals!!! Don't beat yourself up too much about the 5k; sometimes giving it your all will be different from other times. Looking forward to following your challenge!!!

Thanks for the encouragement-I know you fought hard to get your 5km time down in the last challenge, so it means a lot coming from you! I know I put my all into the run, so while I'm disappointed in the time I know I couldn't have tried any harder. Plus running was pretty fun the last challenge, so I won't complain if I have to do it again!

I'm trying to picture Chuck Norris doing yoga, but just can't get a good joke out of it.

Nice work on your goals.

If he can do high round house kicks in those tight jeans, he can totally do yoga. And are you sure you're brave make a joke at Chuck Norris's expense?! Tread carefully or you may have a round house kick coming!

Is it weird reading us talk about fall and cooling temperatures while you head into summer?

YES. Especially when everyone starts whining about the cold or discussing hot pumpkin spiced things. I plan to continue mentioning how hot is is and my sunburn to make sure you guys are equally weirded out.

Dude, you're awesome! I'm inspired to get a little crazy this weekend. I used to do yoga after a cardio-resistance hybrid class sometimes, but I come out of our lifting just limp. I could do the end bit of yoga where you lie on the floor and breathe, and that's about it. Way to go!

I imagine it a little like this:

Dude you're awesome for finding this magicalness! I can totally hear him doing the breathing through that mask too-LOL! I need to print this out so when I'm snickering tomorrow during yoga I can show the teacher as this will be impossible to describe without the picture.

Oh come on, Chuck Norris can be legitametly pictured doing anything and owning it.

Love the title. Looks like you got a good plan and a good start. Keep up the good work.

Exactly. Chuck Norris is the man. Thanks for the cheers and good luck on your soda goal-I dropped soda over 10 yrs ago and haven't regretted it one bit!

Best. Title. Ever. And great goals too! Luck in the coming weeks!

The only problem with the title is that I can only read it in Arnold's voice-wait, considering his lifting career that might not be a bad thing. Thanks and good luck on your goals! The "focus and follow through" one may be something I have to steal in the future!

[Kuiken]

For the update, I've been eating well with a cheat on Friday night for a friend's birthday (we went to a Turkish restaurant where there were sword/fire balancing belly dancers-freakin AMAZING!), and I've been playing guitar and doing some minor drawing.

Thursday was a long day and I realized why I drop art so quickly-it takes energy! But I forced my self to do 20 mins of just doodling to remind myself not everything creative must be perfect.

Weights workout and yoga combo again on Friday morning. Best part was the teacher knew me from her Sunday class and knew that I could do wall headstands and made me demonstrate for the class while she described the movements (hard to do both at the same time). Even though my arms were like noodles after weights, I think the realization that I was the most advanced yogi in the class (ok-not by much, but still) pumped me up and I muscled through them. The downside-now the teacher is convinced I can do scorpion (do you see that chick's eyes? Does it look like she's having fun?!) and is making it her mission to get me there by Christmas! I admire her optimism if nothing else.

And then Saturday came along. And riding lessons. And my favorite horse the mule. So we start to trot and things are ok, but my seat is not 100%-like did they wax the saddle or what? Weird-but let's keep going, maybe it's just me. Now we start to canter. In a circle. And my foot is like "forget this stirrup-I'm free!" "Foot, nooo! Bad foot!" Then there's that fabulous slowing down of time where weigh my options:

1. Get foot back in stirrup, but now the stirrup is flapping and the horse does not seem to appreciate this (agreed) and seems to take it as a cue to go faster (disagree pony, DISAGREE).

2. Crap-we're still going in a circle and at the end of the arena, so I have to keep following the curve of the circle. Well that's unfortunate.

3. What should I have for lunch? Hmm-I wonder if there's any chicken left from last night? Some sweet potatoes would be nice.

4. WTF brain we are about to die and then there won't be any lunch-FOCUS.

5. This isn't really working-maybe I should jump while I can instead of waiting to fall when I have no control.

Option 5 seemed to be the best choice, so I scheduled an unscheduled dismount as soon as I saw a safe place to land. It was not graceful. It was not pretty. And it was slightly painful (oh the bruises!). But my biggest regret about abandoning ship was not yelling "GERONIMO!"-I think I was distracted by lunch choices. Anyway, like a trooper I got back on the horse and finished the lesson (including the jumps-admittedly these were a bit scary, but I balled my way through them-just at a slightly slower pace). Hopefully the next lesson will be less eventful.

Today's 20 mins of art was photography! I found the tiniest praying mantis ever and decided to practice my macro skills on him. Afterwards I spent probably another 20 mins editing the photos, but I'm insanely please with the results! I'm really starting to get into this goal!

DSC_7673-2 by kuiken_meisie, on Flickr

DSC_7669-edit by kuiken_meisie, on Flickr

DSC_7660 by kuiken_meisie, on Flickr

Highlight of the Day: SURVIVING-lol. The good news is now that I've fallen and it wasn't THAT horrible, it will hopefully give me more confidence and make me a bolder rider. The tiny, tiny praying mantis was also pretty damn cool. Still trying to figure out what he eats-gnats? Fleas? Dust particles?

[CyningaDena]

LOL! You had the best day ever! I expect to see pics of your scorpion pose, complete with your best "take the fracking picture already!" expression.

And then Saturday came along. And riding lessons. And my favorite horse the mule. So we start to trot and things are ok, but my seat is not 100%-like did they wax the saddle or what? Weird-but let's keep going, maybe it's just me. Now we start to canter. In a circle. And my foot is like "forget this stirrup-I'm free!" "Foot, nooo! Bad foot!" Then there's that fabulous slowing down of time where weigh my options:

1. Get foot back in stirrup, but now the stirrup is flapping and the horse does not seem to appreciate this (agreed) and seems to take it as a cue to go faster (disagree pony, DISAGREE).

2. Crap-we're still going in a circle and at the end of the arena, so I have to keep following the curve of the circle. Well that's unfortunate.

3. What should I have for lunch? Hmm-I wonder if there's any chicken left from last night? Some sweet potatoes would be nice.

4. WTF brain we are about to die and then there won't be any lunch-FOCUS.

5. This isn't really working-maybe I should jump while I can instead of waiting to fall when I have no control.

Kuiken, you made my day. I would love to live in your world, just for a little bit.

Still trying to figure out what he eats-gnats? Fleas? Dust particles?

The chameleon's dish.

[Absidey]

So. Much. Awesome. Like the real kind. Not like a hotdog. So scorpion pose, huh? I didn't even know that was a thing. Outside of gymnastics, I guess, because they do crazy body stuff. If you can do that, I'll be in awe of you forever.

And way to go bailing off a horse! While thinking about lunch! (Nice one, btw, I had to wipe water off my computer screen. Good laugh.)

I have a theory about the preying mantis. He eats anti-gravity space dust, which is what causes the film on the underside of glass objects, like the very sharply angled front windshield of my car.

The vader yoga thing was in one of the other guilds' general boards and I had to bookmark it. I really like the one with yoda, because that's what it feels like trying to do yoga with Kate around. (My burpee count is crazy low because I can't do burpees without getting tackled.) http://blog.thaeger.com/2012/02/28/star-wars-yoga/

I'm about to go whine about the cold in my own thread. It's low 70s, high 60s. (20ish Celsius?) I'm broken.

[jimmie65]

Thank you for the laugh. Loved reading your update - praying mantis, horseback riding, and twisted yoga positions for the win.

[Blaidd]

What a weekend it sounds that you have had. You are still my hero

Good luck with second week. I am still looking forward to more art.