[SambieWlks] Chapter the Seventh: Now

[Thilde]

Last challenge I got really stressed out.  It was my 6th challenge in a row and I ended up scrapping it on purpose on week 3.  I had to cut myself a break, or I was going to lose my mind.  A lot of stuff about my life changed.  I gave up paleo.  I gave up running.  I started walking.  I started eating whatever I want, and wouldn't you know after 9 months of clean eating, what I want is mostly clean food.  Huh.  I gave up body-comp, size, and weight goals.  I realized I like my body the shape that it is.  I also realized I spend a whole lot of time screaming at my body that it's terrible and it better shape up or else, and no time acknowledging that my body is healthy, it works properly, I can't remember the last time I had an illness of any kind, and I can do the things I want to do with my time.  All this time, while I've been berating it, my body has been quietly doing what it does so I can do what I want to do.  Who knew.   

 

My ultimate goal for the next 6 weeks is to live my life as it is right now, and find all the little nooks and crannies of happiness that are already there.  I have chosen 2 goals instead of the traditional 4.  I do not have a diet goal; after 9 months of strict paleo, my dietary habits are pretty much above reproach.  I can trust myself around food.  I am not running or doing bodyweight exercises right now.  I need a break from them for a short while, so I have chosen to walk and do yoga instead.

 

If you sleep for 8 hours and work for 8 hours, that leaves 8 hours left on weekdays (and more on weekends) to do whatever you want.  When the walking and the yoga sessions are done each day, I will be spending the rest of my hours getting outside and into the community to enjoy summer 2013.  And blogging about it.

 

This is my 7th challenge.  I will be settling back into the shadows to heal and recover, getting mentally stronger and physically more balanced.  I am planning to resume traditional 4-goal challenges with challenge #8 (which I'm already planning, and it's going to be epic).  

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[sambieWlks] Chapter the Seventh: Now

 

Goal 1: Walk 1 mile daily

I measured a one-mile loop on the back roads by my house, and I want to walk this circuit each morning.  If I miss a morning walk, I can do it later in the day.  

Scoring:  Tally (42 days = 100%)

XP:  +3 STA, +3 CON, +2 WIS

 

Goal 2: Complete the DoYogaWithMe 6-Week Beginner Program

I have been using DoYogaWithMe's free online videos for several months now and I love them.  I just discovered they have a new 6-week introductory program that combines their tutorials with the routines in an organized progression. I'm not a super beginner with yoga, but the structure and content of this program really appeals to me.  And, most of the routines are ones I've not done before, so I am really excited to dive in.

Scoring:  Total Weeks Completed (6 weeks completed = 100%)

XP: +3 DEX, +2 CHA, +2 WIS

 

Bonus: Participate in the weekly mini-challenges in the Assassins' forum.

 

Secret goals:  Accomplishing these goals are like getting a chipmunk to eat out of my hand*.  Right now, I'm sitting veeeery still with a pile of birdseed in my hand and the chipmunk is RIGHT THERE MAN.  I'm already doing these goals on autopilot; the last thing I want to do is Make It A Big Deal and jinx the streak.  So shhhh don't look at these goals directly in the eyes, don't make any sudden movements, don't make a lot of noise, and hopefully they won't run away.

**Meditate daily.  1 minute will do, 7 minutes is better (my current level), 10 minutes is great.

**Take my herbs and supplements daily.  I hate swallowing pills.  It's such a big to-do, and herby supplement pills always seem to be the size of a baby carrot.  But, gots to do it to get the benefits.  

 

*Based on a true story - when I was little I found a chipmunk hole in the ground and I wanted that chipmunk to be my friend.  So one day I sat on the ground next to the hole, dumped a bucket of sunflower seeds on my legs to completely cover my lap, and waited.  I sat more still than any child has ever sat in the history of children and/or sitting, and I was rewarded with a chipmunk sitting on my leg eating seeds.  Until my brother snuck up behind me and yelled ON PURPOSE to scare it away.  Brothers.  Man.  

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These are the weekly updates you're looking for:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

[GeoChip]

I am just getting my feet wet, exploring the site and looking for challenge ideas. Haven't even posted my introductory note yet! But I felt compelled to comment here. Your doyogawithme 6 week program is probably going on my first challenge list. I figure it's a good omen that both last 6 weeks. Very neat. Thanks for the lead!

[Thilde]

I am just getting my feet wet, exploring the site and looking for challenge ideas. Haven't even posted my introductory note yet! But I felt compelled to comment here. Your doyogawithme 6 week program is probably going on my first challenge list. I figure it's a good omen that both last 6 weeks. Very neat. Thanks for the lead!

Very welcome!  I can't recommend DoYogaWithMe highly enough....the videos are really really awesome and I so appreciate their commitment to providing their resources at no cost.    And welcome to NF!

[Blaidd]

welcome back Sam.  i thought you weren't going to come back for an actual challenge, but i totally love this challenge for you.  good luck and i'm with you all the way xx

[Harness]

And...subscribed ! I really love this set up. I don't know if you took your 8 hr statement from the 8 hour work day movement but if you didn't it is eerily similar, lol! Anyway, good luck with the challenge, and with finding happiness and balance...that sort of stuff is good for you, or so I have been told

[wesb1898]

A brain cleanse challenge.  I like it.  It is so great to hear that you have gotten to a safe place with food, and it is no longer a big closet monster.  I feel like I am in the same place.  I WANT to eat clean.  It isn't a chore now.  So, keep on being awesome!

[Aeryn]

I love your approach to this challenge - you have done such great things, and enjoying your body's ability to do what you ask of it is awesome. Love it!

[Elastigirl]

Great challenge. And a good reminder. Leveling up and making goals is good, but sometimes in the process we forget to be thankful for where we are now and like you said, how healthy are bodies are. Knowing that you can trust yourself around food is huge. Looking forward to reading about your challenge .

[AgentsSka]

Yeah, Sambie!  You are awesome!

 

And, you should probably start telling your body that, too!

[Thilde]

welcome back Sam.  i thought you weren't going to come back for an actual challenge, but i totally love this challenge for you.  good luck and i'm with you all the way xx

 Yes I am back, just not doing 4 goals.  I need this break.  It's going to be good. 

 

And...subscribed ! I really love this set up. I don't know if you took your 8 hr statement from the 8 hour work day movement but if you didn't it is eerily similar, lol! Anyway, good luck with the challenge, and with finding happiness and balance...that sort of stuff is good for you, or so I have been told

Thanks!  I have not heard of the 8hr work day movement yet but I will have to look it up now.    

 

A brain cleanse challenge.  I like it.  It is so great to hear that you have gotten to a safe place with food, and it is no longer a big closet monster.  I feel like I am in the same place.  I WANT to eat clean.  It isn't a chore now.  So, keep on being awesome!

Yes.  Closet monsters are the pits.    I love not being scared of food anymore.

 

I love your approach to this challenge - you have done such great things, and enjoying your body's ability to do what you ask of it is awesome. Love it!

Thanks!  

 

Great challenge. And a good reminder. Leveling up and making goals is good, but sometimes in the process we forget to be thankful for where we are now and like you said, how healthy are bodies are. Knowing that you can trust yourself around food is huge. Looking forward to reading about your challenge .

Exactly.    I am looking forward to this challenge a lot!

 

Yeah, Sambie!  You are awesome!

 

And, you should probably start telling your body that, too!

Haha thanks!  And I will.  Retraining the ol' Inner Monologue starts...now!

[nightlight]

Woot!

[Thilde]

Had planned to walk this evening, but spent the evening making a sort of hospital gown/straightjacket out of a sheet for our newest Saint Bernard....her spay stitches were removed at the vet this morning and this evening we found the suture had come open.  Apparently it was not really healed.  We got her from the shelter a little over a week ago, the day after her spay, and they didn't give us an e-collar or anything.  It was weird.  It's after-hours now and we live in the middle of nowhere, no stores within a 90 minute radius carry e-collars, and she's licking at the wound.  So, we called the ER vet, found out they are also 90 minutes away and they already have at least 3 hours of procedures in the queue right now.  They said if "nothing's hanging out" then it's probably best to just keep her still and quiet until the vet opens at 8am.  We cut tail and leg holes in a sheet, put it on her like a hospital gown, and loosely tied up the open side so that at least she can't get her mouth to the wound area.  It's not bleeding right now so that's good.  She is obviously uncomfortable, and you try telling a 105lb Saint Bernard not to move! (she is very underweight but still big.) 

 

I think I am going to pull the mattress off the pull-out couch and sleep on the floor with Bernie, as I can't think of any other way to keep her still....if I lay down with her she will stay right up against me.  If I keep her on the floor and sleep in my own bed, it's more likely she will pace....because she is so old and so underweight, she has very very very hangy boobies, which is where the skin on her suture didn't hold...so every time she gets up to walk, that area hangs and pulls.  We have it trussed up now loosely with ripped up sheets but I'm not a professional, there's only so much I can do to control the situation.  

 

I came home tonight after a rough obedience training class with our other Saint Bernard Daisy, planning to go on my 1mi walk before the sun went down.  But, we found the suture situation on Bernie instead and had to deal with that.  Once that was somewhat stabilized, I bundled up head to toe to keep the bugs off, strapped on my headlight, and went for my walk in the pitch black.  I live seriously in the middle of nowhere and I have learned that the dirt roads around my house are creepy as hell in the dark.  I got through it by swinging my flashlight back and forth and belting out Jesus Christ Superstar songs at the top of my lungs to scare off any bears or coyotes or zombies.

 

Lots of swearing going on in my head right now.  But at least my walk is done and my yoga tutorial is done.  Day one of this challenge and goals are 2/2.

[AgentsSka]

I'm confused. The older dog got spayed?

How old are the dogs? Pics??

[AgentsSka]

Oh & good job knocking out the walk despite all those challenges!!

[Blaidd]

i know it's not a funny story about Bernie (poor doggy) but it made me smile, because i can totally see you doing that.  You're awesome!!!

 

And singing songs at the top of your voice would attract zombies not scare them off, but i bet it worked for the rest.  Good going Sambie

[nightlight]

sorry about your dog hopefully she can get the help she needs today and will be recovered quickly.

 

also, i love that you were singing JCS songs.

[Thilde]

I'm confused. The older dog got spayed?

How old are the dogs? Pics??

yeah, we got Bernie from a shelter 10 days ago.  Best we can piece together her story: she was kept tied outside and starved, used as a puppy mill...she has clearly had MANY litters of puppies (thus the very hangy boobies...).  We think she eventually lost so much weight that she slipped her collar and ran off.  The animal control fella found her on the other side of town and took her to the shelter on 5/10.  They kept her for 7 days but no one claimed her.  They put her up for adoption and we jumped right on that because we love Saints.  We visited her on 5/21 and staked our claim, they had her spayed on 5/23 (shelter procedure), and we took her home on 5/25  Bernie was skeletal when we got her, with a ring of rubbed off fur around her neck where her previous owners kept her collar on, and the fur had rubbed off her hips in patches where she had sat on the ground for hours with no fat or muscle to protect her joints.

 

Bernie is 5-6 years old.  Saints live to 8-10 so she's definitely on the older end of the spectrum.  Plus, with her obvious malnutrition, her body condition may even be technically more aged.  I feed her good, though...she gets all kinds of dog-healthy, fresh, local foods mixed in with her kibble and she eats like a pig, so she is steadily gaining weight.    When Sambie sets out to fatten somebody up, Sambie don't play around.

 

Our other Saint, Daisetsu, we got May of 2012...almost a year to the day before we brought Bernie home.  Daisetsu is from the same shelter, she is 4 years old now, and she was also intact when the shelter got her so they had her spayed too. I guess that's just normal procedure at shelters, to keep the stray pet population down.

 

Not sure what it is.....lots of stray Saints around here.  In the year between us getting Daisy and Bernie, there have been at least 3 other stray Saints brought to the same shelter.  Thankfully they all got adopted out to good homes too.

 

Oh & good job knocking out the walk despite all those challenges!!

Thanks.  

 

i know it's not a funny story about Bernie (poor doggy) but it made me smile, because i can totally see you doing that.  You're awesome!!!

 

And singing songs at the top of your voice would attract zombies not scare them off, but i bet it worked for the rest.  Good going Sambie

LOL in hindsight it is kindof funny.    Gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Hmm...I think my singing would scare off most any creature, supernatural or otherwise.    Haha!

 

sorry about your dog hopefully she can get the help she needs today and will be recovered quickly.

 

also, i love that you were singing JCS songs.

We have a vet appt at 3:15.  I hope they can take care of without general anesthesia, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

And I love love love JCS.   

[wesb1898]

Have you gotten your slackline yet?  I am LOVING mine.  It is so much fun.  And super humbling at the same time.

[AgentsSka]

I never understand how people can treat animals so cruelly.

 

Good for you for adopting them!  Thanks for the story... pretty amazing stuff there.

[Georges]

I hope your vet visit went well! 

And, it's awesome that you're providing a good home for Bernie. 

And, it's awesome that you put the important things first, and then got your walk in, too, on Monday!

[Thilde]

You guys, look what happened today!    Bernie is on the left and Daisy is on the right.  Bernie has been in the household for 12 days.  At first Daisy was SUPER not okay with that; there was a lot of posturing, barking, growling, lunging, nipping, etc.  We had to keep them apart for about a week, then we kept them in separate rooms but with a baby gate between them, then we took them on walks together around the yard, and then we let them walk around the house together without leashes.  They had gotten to the point where all that was okay...they were fine in the house together, as long as they each gave the other a wide berth.  Today at work I looked over (this couch is in my office next to my desk) and this is what I saw!!  

bernards by Becky Wh!te, on Flickr

 

I didn't ask either of them to get on the couch, nor did I pose them...I was so involved in my work that I actually didn't realize either of them were even in the room with me.  J tried to grab our camera but the batteries were dead, so I quickly unplugged all the cables from my work laptop and used the webcam to snap this pic.  12 days of painstakingly slow and meticulous integration work has paid off!  

[Blaidd]

good work Sambie.  Looks like your diligence is magic  

[Samunwal]

Thems some big puppies. Lucky pups, too, that y'all know what you're doing and take such good care of them, too. Kinda like it sounds you're doing with yourself. Love your challenge, and of course, subbed.

[AgentsSka]

That's awesome.

I really want dogs. :-/

[Harness]

LOL, I am happy that you have a peaceful house again and the the newest family member is doing well! Although I have to say that the pic does look like my brother and I when we were pointedly ignoring each other