faille's "let's try this again" challenge

[faille]

Ok!  Let's try this again!  I signed up late last challenge, and then true to form I lost motivation just a couple weeks later.  

 

My challenges will be much the same as last time, except I am tuning them down slightly so they are achievable with even a minimum of effort from me.  It is soooo about the baby steps for me - I'm sorry this isn't a very interesting challenge!

 

Last time I was worried about spamming my own thread with updates, so I did not post daily.  But that made it easy for me to forget to post.  So this challenge I will do daily check ins to track my cumulative progress

 

Water - A=2016, B=1675, C=1344, D=672

CON +2, STA +1

Setting this at 48 ounces a day.  32 is easy, but 64 was still too hard.  Score will be by ounces.

 

Strength - A=21, B=17, C=15, D=13.  Pushup Goal bumps one letter grade.

STR +3

Pushups every other day, with the goal of a single, well formed, controlled push up by the end of the challenge.  If I reach that before mid-challenge, the goal will become 5.  Score by days, 21 total for challenge

 

Life - Professional - A=27, B=24, C=21, D=18

STA +3, WIS +2

Out of bed by 7:30 am on week days.  I am an adult, omg.  No excuse.  30 days total

 

Life - Fun - A=27, B=24, C=21, D=18

CHA +3, DEX +1

I am upping this to 15 minutes of crafting a day.  My original of 1 hour a week was too easy, so I am bumping this up to at least 15 a day.  Max 1 point for 15 minutes

 

 

Starting Stats

 

Stat             3/5      4/15

Height           5'10"

Weight           167      163.6

Natural Waist    32"      31"

Waist            37.5"    36"

Hips             42.5"    41" 

Full Pushups     0        Knee 1x15, 1x9, 1x3 

 

Edited to adjust grading and points now that I actually understand how it works!  Also added previous challenge and current challenge stats.

[faille]

Day 1 - 4/15/2013

 

Water - On track to hit my 48 by the time I go to bed

 

Strength - Going back to where I stopped on the "Convict Conditioning" workout (I know it has some controversy on these boards, but for me I like a progression so I'm going with it!)  Working on 2x15 knees right now.  I did 1x15, 1x9, and 1x3.  I updated this in my original post to start a baseline.

 

Life:Professional - Did not get up at 7:30am.  This is going to be a hard one.  I don't HAVE to be at work earlier, but I WANT to.  I don't know how to make this a motivating factor for me.  Help??

 

Life:Fun - I organized my pictures from this weekend's crafting and made a post on the forum I frequent for costuming.  An ancillary goal to this challenge is I want to look good in a The Dark Knight Rises Catwoman outfit, and my crafting this weekend was a step toward the costume.  This challenge is a step toward the body to make it look good!

[minutemix]

Life:Professional - Did not get up at 7:30am.  This is going to be a hard one.  I don't HAVE to be at work earlier, but I WANT to.  I don't know how to make this a motivating factor for me.  Help??

 

Maybe try putting your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that you have to get out of bed to shut it off. It'll help you complete step one "Get out of bed." You can call step two "Don't get back into bed." Hope it helps! XD

[tenaciousglee]

You need to become a robot! A robot doesn't deviate from its program. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/08/09/robots/

There's another good suggestion in that article: immediately after you get up, go for a walk.

[faille]

You need to become a robot! A robot doesn't deviate from its program. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/08/09/robots/

There's another good suggestion in that article: immediately after you get up, go for a walk.

 

Thank you!  I had not read that article yet.  I think a lot has to do with my phone addiction.  Today I woke up (and stayed up) at 7:30, but then I spent half hour on my phone checking my websites to see what happened since I went to sleep 8 or less hours before (spoiler alert: not much happens while EVERY ONE ELSE is sleeping too!).  I will find my old alarm clock this week and use that instead of my phone.  For tonight, I will put my phone in the bathroom so I have to get up to turn it off.  And then, since I'm already there, I might as well get in the shower.  And once I'm showered, might as well get ready and eat breakfast... this could work!

 

 

Maybe try putting your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that you have to get out of bed to shut it off. It'll help you complete step one "Get out of bed." You can call step two "Don't get back into bed." Hope it helps! XD

 

Haha.. yes.. redundant rules are what I need.  Step three.. stay out of bed!

[faille]

Week 1, Day 2 - 4/16/2013

 

Water - On track to hit my 48 by the time I go to bed

 

Strength - This is my "off" day, so no update there.

 

Life:Professional - Woke up on time, but still spend 30 minutes farting around on my phone.  This maybe should have been a detox on my phone goal.  Food for thought for the next challenge.  I will try the tips from minutemix and tenaciousglee and really commit myself to this goal.

 

Life:Fun - So today I spent my "crafting" time turning this...

 

 

 

Into this (thanks to THAT)

 

 

My little sweet puppy has turned into a 70+ pound tornado.  Naming him Dyson was cute when all he ate were sticks and leaves in the backyard

[faille]

Week 1, Day 3 - 4/17/2013

 

Water - On track to hit my 48 by the time I go to bed.  Most days I end up drinking more, because I don't count my morning coffee mix (which is 12 ounces water plus a powdered mix I made) or lunchtime water/unsweetened tea.  I decided for the challenge to only count actual water that was consumed.

 

Strength - Second day of Pushups complete!  Turns out I am weaker than I thought, however  BF was watching me and noticed my elbows flaring.  Once I corrected that I could no longer get back up from knee pushups.  So we found a suitable counter for me to go back to inclines.  So today was 1x3 knees, 1x10 incline, and 1x15 incline.  I am now working toward 2x20 incline for my next level.

 

Life:Professional - I'm giving myself half a point for today.  I woke up on time, and only spent a few minutes going to my 4 main sites ONCE.  Then I got up and got in the shower.  That is remarkable restraint for me.

 

Life:Fun - Worked on modifying the file for my Catwoman fabric.  I will be using it this weekend to do my next attempt at recreating the fabric from Anne Hathaway's suit in The Dark Knight Rises.

[tenaciousglee]

 

 

Life:Professional - I'm giving myself half a point for today.  I woke up on time, and only spent a few minutes going to my 4 main sites ONCE.  Then I got up and got in the shower.  That is remarkable restraint for me.

 

 

 

 

Kudos for your remarkable restraint! Baby steps!

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/04/10/baby-steps-build-on-small-successes-to-get-healthy/

 

That link doesn't really apply to waking up on time, but you gotta love that Steve wrote an article about "What about Bob?"

[faille]

That link doesn't really apply to waking up on time, but you gotta love that Steve wrote an article about "What about Bob?"

 

Haven't thought about that movie in a long time!!

 

 

Week 1, Day 4 - 4/18/2013

 

Water - DONE

 

Strength - Off Day

 

Life:Professional - FULL POINT.  This is partially because I'm on call this week (IT... not glamorous) and the phone rang early so I was up.  But hey

 

Life:Fun - Just set the timer for 15 minutes and started cleaning up my craft room until it went off.

 

Overall a successful day!

[faille]

Week 1, Day 5 - 4/19/2013

 

Water - Probably will make this today.  Strange day, so my whole schedule was a little off.  Still have about 20 ounces to go, but I will be up a while yet.

 

Strength - 2x20 incline pushups done.  Next will be working on 3x40.  Based on how I felt at the end of my sets today, I think I will be here for a few days (or more).  Going to see what I am capable of on Sunday (haven't decided if I will do just 3 sets, to exhaustion, or all 120 in however many sets it takes yet.. probably to exhaustion), and then aim on an increase in each set # until I hit the mark.

 

Life:Professional - Today was such a strange day.  I got obsessed with listening to the Boston police scanner feed last night.  I tuned in right when the suspects started throwing the explosives out the windows, and listened until about 4am when I finally decided to try to sleep.  So I put my headphones on and went to sleep listening to it.  I had an all day training event today for work, so I was up at 6 and there by 7:45, which was perfect.  So full point on that, but between the Boston situation, almost no sleep, and then breakfast and lunch being provided, I didn't take very good care of myself today.  Even though I was exhausted, I did make myself do my crafting and pushups, so yay me!

 

I was about to take a nap when they got the tip about Suspect 2 in the boat, so once that started I just decided to stay up until my usual bedtime and hopefully reset tomorrow.  It was absolutely insane listening to that feed.. the way the police conducted themselves was fascinating to listen to.  I have so much more respect for what they do day in and day out.  None of them expected that this is how they would end (or start) their week, but by the chatter on the radio you would think they'd been training for this exact situation for months.  Really amazing.  Anyway.

 

Life:Fun - Today I managed to get my sewing table folded up and put away, and I also put little felt stickers on the legs so it won't scratch my floors when I slide it around.  Nice to have my floor space back, even if I will probably be pulling the table back out again shortly anyway

 

See you when I check in tomorrow....

[faille]

Week 1, Day 6 - 4/20/2013

Water - Not going to hit my goal on this today. Maybe half.. I went to MakerPlace today and got a large soda on the way (gah).. I wanted something to drink while I worked, and it hit the spot. But probably would have been better to get a tea instead. Ah well.

Strength - Off Day

Life:Professional - N/A .. although I was out of bed by 7:45 anyway to take my car to get serviced!

Life:Fun - Worked on my Catwoman costume project again down at MakerPlace. I think I may have something that will work! Won't be entirely screen accurate, but it will be much better than anything that is commercially available.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Hi, Faille!!  Welcome back - and I'm sure you'll hit your goals this time.  Even if you don't hit them perfectly - you ARE improving your life by attaining the partial points.

 

For getting out of bed, I recommend a hungry cat and a dog that wants to be walked.  I'm out of bed by 6 every morning.  

[thealicat]

I think the water challenge is great! I don't drink hot drinks at all and drink water all day at work - probably to much!! But it helps keep me awake, keep my system clean and I swear it helps keep skin looking awesome!

Try keeping a water bottle on your desk or always have some in the fridge so its really convenient to drink it (and difficult to spill haha!!)

I have the same eternal struggle with waking up ! My best advice, try not to snooze! Another thing that really helped me was having a radio come on half and your before I had to be up on absolute 80s - it means I always want to get up and dance!!

Good luck with the push up - that was a goal of mine last year and now I'm doing three sets of 10!

[faille]

Hi, Faille!!  Welcome back - and I'm sure you'll hit your goals this time.  Even if you don't hit them perfectly - you ARE improving your life by attaining the partial points.

 

For getting out of bed, I recommend a hungry cat and a dog that wants to be walked.  I'm out of bed by 6 every morning.  

 

Thanks!  Week 1 is down, so now my biggest challenge will be keeping the momentum going next week!  I do have two dogs, but they are also lazy bums who will sleep with me until noon (as we did today).  I have heard that cats are more particular about their schedules.. maybe I'll have to look into that ;P

 

I think the water challenge is great! I don't drink hot drinks at all and drink water all day at work - probably to much!! But it helps keep me awake, keep my system clean and I swear it helps keep skin looking awesome! Try keeping a water bottle on your desk or always have some in the fridge so its really convenient to drink it (and difficult to spill haha!!) I have the same eternal struggle with waking up ! My best advice, try not to snooze! Another thing that really helped me was having a radio come on half and your before I had to be up on absolute 80s - it means I always want to get up and dance!! Good luck with the push up - that was a goal of mine last year and now I'm doing three sets of 10!

 

I notice a difference in my skin when I drink a lot too - extra incentive to keep it up!  Love the idea of waking up to 80s music, I'll have to see what kind of playlist I can get set up on my phone

[faille]

Week 1, Day 7 - 4/21/2013 and Week 1 Recap!

 

Going to do my weekly updates on Sunday, since I have more time.  Overall I'm very proud of my progress.. I earned a 86% for the overall week, and I am so close to dropping below 160 for the first time in 2 years.  For each of my goals below, I'll list my "grade" for the week, then comments about today.  But first, some Stats progress!

 

 

Stat             3/5 - #0      4/15 - #1             4/21/2013 #1-1

Height           5'10"

Weight           167           163.6                 160.8

Natural Waist    32"           31"                   30.25"

Waist            37.5"         36"                   35.5"

Hips             42.5"         41"                   41"

Full Pushups     0             Knee 1x15,1x9,1x3     Incline 1x25,1x23,1x15

 

 

Water - 95% - A - I feel like this goal is set in a good place.  If I'm not mindful, it's easy to miss it, but I don't feel like I'm struggling to keep up every day.  Today: Complete! Weekends are always the hardest for me on water consumption, so I'm very pleased this was not an issue today.

 

Strength - 100% - A+ - I feel like I am actually making progress on this one now that I improved my form.  Today: On incline pushups 3x40 goal still.  1x25, 1x23, and 1x15 today.  So that is my next target to exceed on Tuesday.

 

Life:Professional - 50% - F Ouch!  This is going to be a hard one.  Even one day off drops me to an 80%.  Oh well, I made the goal, and now I have to feel the consequences  Today: N/A, and I took full advantage by sleeping in

 

Life:Fun - 100% A+ - I have been enjoying this one.  Today: More planning and tweaking on my costume.  I'm realizing it's not long until Comic-Con and I don't have a lot of actual WORK done on it.  So I spent my time today writing down all the pieces I need to put together and getting a plan together to finish them.  This next week I am going to focus on the mask and goggles.

[faille]

Week 2, Day 1 - 4/22/2013

Water - Crushed it!

Strength - Off Day, but I was feeling inspired so I did some situps.  Just messing around really and didn't count them.

Life:Professional - .5 .. Woke up at 7:30 but still did some crap on my phone for 15 minutes.  Going to try to wake up 15 minutes earlier so I can still do my crap and get out of bed on time.

Life:Fun - Full point.  I just kind of puttered around in my room for the time.  I waited 15 years for the last Wheel of Time book to come out, then another 3 months for it to come out on eBook, then another 3 weeks to remember to download it (how does that happen.. wait YEARS for something then forget when the day actually comes?!) .. so I kinda rushed through my crafting time so I could get back to readddingnggggg it ttststttttt.  I was actually a little afraid to start reading after I downloaded it.  Don't want it to really end, ya know?  And then I read the first page, and then the next 100 lol.  So off I go!

[faille]

Ok.. let's catch up

 

Week 2, Day 2,3,4 - 4/23/2013 - 4/25/2013

Water - 16, 32, and 40 ounces.  Not super happy with this, will get back on track tomorrow.

Strength - On Tuesday, I did 1x35, 1x25, and 1x20.  So I was feeling pretty good since the goal right now is 3x40.  Then today the bf was watching me do them and corrected my form.  Once I was doing them "right" again, I only got 1x21, 1x15, and 1x16 today.  So I feel like maybe I backslid a little bit here in progress, but not in overall completion of this goal.  Since I'm not doing a whole heck of a lot of pushups any given day, I wonder if I could do this every day to kind of speed things along?  Not sure how important a rest day is when this is basically my entire workout!

Life:Professional - Giving myself .5 points for Tuesday, 1 for Wednesday, and a big fat ZERO for today.  I was up within 15 minutes of my alarm on Tues, 3 minutes on Wed, and today I didn't get out of bed until after 8.  Good news is I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow morning so I'll be up on time.  I'm going to keep this goal as-is for the rest of the challenge, but I think next challenge I need to really think about what the true reasons for my tardiness are and tackle those.  Maybe start with a "go to bed at a decent time" goal or something like that.  I don't WANT it enough, so I'm not TRYING enough.  Blerg!

Life:Fun - Big surprise this is the challenge I'm awesome with  Full points all 3 days.  It's not perfectly easy, there have been a couple days where I didn't feel like doing it, but this is by far the easiest one to do every day.  Last few days I worked on the sculpt for my catwoman mask and researched ways for me to cast it.  This thing is going to be goofy as hell, I haven't ever sculpted anything before and then made a mold of it, but at least it is fun and a way for me to watch The Dark Knight Rises constantly.. for .. research... yeah...

 

I did make one small change tonight in how I will approach the rest of the challenge.  On my spreadsheet, I originally had the entire challenge zero'd out, and my score would go from 0% F to 100% A.  Now, I filled in all the remaining days with full credit, so I can immediately see the impact if I miss a day or fall short of my water goal.  Maybe this will help me feel motivated to keep a perfect score going!

 

Here's to finishing the work week strong!

[faille]

Week 2, Day 5,6,7 - 4/26/2013 - 4/28/2013

Water - 46, 32, 24.  Sunday isn't over yet, so I'm hoping to up my water a little bit.  I've had plenty of fluids today in general, an ice tea and a small gatorade, just not water.

Strength - On Saturday, did 1x27, 1x17, and 1x13 with my improved form.  Goal is still 3x40.  Next week I am going to do some exercises on the off days, using weights and pushing up while on my back (don't know what it is called).

Life:Professional - Full point for Friday!

Life:Fun - Full points.  Did more screenprint testing on Saturday for Catwoman.  Not entirely sure what I'm going to do today yet, but as soon as I post this I'll be off to find out

 

I'll do measurements and weekly recap tomorrow.  I think I gained a pound or two this week, I was very lax on my eating habits.  Plus I did not weigh every day, and for me that usually means I am going off the rails.  If I don't SEE the scale go up, that means it's not happening, right?

[faille]

Week 2 Retrospective

 

Last week was tough, but not entirely unexpected.  I always do well for a week or two, then peter out.  I am feeling more motivated and ready to crush this week, however!

 

As for my weight "gain" last week.  There were three main contributors.  1) My coworker brought me a tub of Red Vines because they are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THING EVER EVER EVER.  So I resisted for a while, but eventually gave in and had "only one serving" a day.. then that turned into a morning and afternoon snack.  I'm not used to that much sugar and I really think that is what set me back in my downward trend on the scale.  2) BF made banana bread this week, and I used my Red Vine weakness to give myself permission to overindulge in the banana bread.  3) I bought a GIANT bag of walnuts at Costco, thinking it would be a good healthy snack in the afternoons when I am hungry between lunch and the drive home.  Also went overboard on those, mindlessly snacking even when I wasn't hungry.  So the combination of the sugar and all the extra calories in general really got to me.  Cutting way back this week!

 

Stat             3/5 - #0      4/15 - #1             4/21/2013 #1-1          4/29/2013 #1-2

Height           5'10"

Weight           167           163.6                 160.8                   162.4

Natural Waist    32"           31"                   30.25"                  30.5"

Waist            37.5"         36"                   35.5"                   35.5"

Hips             42.5"         41"                   41"                     41.75"

Full Pushups     0             Knee 1x15,1x9,1x3     Incline 1x25,1x23,1x15  Incline 1x27,1x17,1x13

 

Water - 73% for Week 2, 84% Overall.  I definitely need to be more mindful of this in the coming week.

 

Strength - 100% for Week 2, 100% Overall.  Not making as much forward progress as I'd like, but definitely working hard on this one.

Life:Professional - 60% for Week 2, 55% Overall.  If I don't miss a single day for the rest of the challenge I'll get out of here with a B, and that would be hard earned.

Life:Fun - 100% for Week 2, 100% Overall.  Hopefully by the end of the challenge this will be an ingrained habit and I can move on to dedicating 15 minutes to something else!

 

Total for Week 2: 83%

Total Overall: 85%

[cavejen]

Just wanted to say your puppy is cute! Mine also grew into a mega Lab food-hoover

 

Good luck rockin' this week. Looks like you are really self aware about the snacking/food habits, sometimes it's easier to just put things out of sight and control that way if you know you're the type to mindlessly munch.

 

I sympathise with the getting out of bed thing. Having a dog fixed that for me, maybe program yours to be an alarm clock that won't shut up

[faille]

Week 3, Day 1 - 4/29/2013

Water - 48!

Strength - Incline 1x35, 1x20, 1x20.  I finally feel like I'm making progress on these.  The first 20 or so of the first set are "easy" and it gets progressively harder from there.  I stop my set when I can barely lift myself up on the final rep.  With any luck I will make it to at least 2x40, 1x? by the end of the week.

Life:Professional - Full point, without any extra incentive (like a Dr Appointment) to do so!

Life:Fun - Full points.  More messing around with the Catowman mask sculpt

[faille]

Just wanted to say your puppy is cute! Mine also grew into a mega Lab food-hoover

 

Good luck rockin' this week. Looks like you are really self aware about the snacking/food habits, sometimes it's easier to just put things out of sight and control that way if you know you're the type to mindlessly munch.

 

I sympathise with the getting out of bed thing. Having a dog fixed that for me, maybe program yours to be an alarm clock that won't shut up

 

Thank you - yay for labs!  Sadly both of my dogs are super lazy and sleep until we get up (sometimes longer).  Hard enough getting out of a warm bed, then you add a puppy sleeping next to you.. impossible!

[faille]

Week 3, Days 2,3,4 - 4/30/2013 - 5/2/2013

Water - 64, 40, 48.  So been doing well here.

Strength - Incline 1x40, 1x30, 1x28!  I should definitely be on to knee push-ups by the end of the week.  On Tuesday I also did some reverse pushups with 10 pound weights, so I will be doing that again before bed tonight just to make sure my noodle arms move a little each day

Life:Professional - 1,0,0.  I started the week off strong, then progressively got lazier.  I think I was getting frustrated that even if I was out of bed at 7:30, it was still taking me forever to get ready and out the door.  So I ended up at work at the same time, so it felt kind of futile.  I WILL get up on time tomorrow!

Life:Fun - Full points.  More messing around with the Catowman mask sculpt and other misc craftingness

[turbo_tortoise155]

hey. nice challenge! Shooting for water consumption is a good idea. Also, I'd be interested in which push-up regiment you are following. It seems to be working. =D

 

I hope you post pics of your cat woman costume. I'd love to see it! Anne Hathaway looks so awesome in that movie!! I want her little goggles/kitten ears so bad!!

 

As far as your getting up at 7:30 goal... how late do you go to bed? It is pretty hypocritical of me to ask you this since I am a dirty stay up, BUT still it is a valid question. Do you know how many hours of sleep you need to get to feel ready to go? 8? 6? 10? Rewind from 7:30 and make that your bedtime. 30 minutes before your bedtime start getting ready for bed, so no delays there. Also.. found that alarm clock yet? It seems like phone access for you in the morning might need to stop. Maybe get ready first and then you have phone time with whatever time you have left? To do this, maybe put your phone in your purse or another room (like the living room?).

[faille]

Week 3, Days 5,6 - 5/3/2013 - 5/4/2013

Water - 56, 44.. should get up to 48 by bedtime.

Strength - Incline 1x40, 1x31, 1x30  Very small, but measured improvement 

Life:Professional - Full point for the last day that counts (Friday).  

Life:Fun - .5, 1.  I'm giving myself half point on Friday because I worked all day then went to see Iron Man 3 (AWESOME by the way.. I don't have the comic storylines to compare to so I can just enjoy it for what it is)  so I was too tired to do much.  I did some half assed browsing and preparing mentally for Saturday, so I'm only giving half point.  Today I spent like 4 hours plus on crafty pursuits, but sadly my challenge goal was for 15 per day and not cumulative

 

Weekly recap coming tomorrow!