FluffyRin's Getting Settled Right

[fluffyrin42]

Hi Rangers - second challenge for me, but first outside the Adventurers!  Last challenge was blown to bits when we ended up moving on Week 2.  Now that we're all moved and getting settled, my goals for this challenge are targeted towards getting into a new routine.

 

Goal 1: Get Active Outside (+2 STA, +2 CON)

The new house has trails, paths, and ponds all over that are waiting to be explored.  My first goal is to get outside and walk/run/bike, whatever gets me out of the house at least 3 times per week.  I'd like to take this challenge to motivate myself to get out of the comfort of my living room and go explore!

A: >90%

B: 80%-89%

C: 70%-79%

D: 60%-69%

F: <60%

 

Goal 2: Get Strong (+4 STR)

Last challenge I failed in epic fashion to build a strength habit. I think a big part of it was 3x a week was just too much for me starting out. So this challenge I'm going to take it a step back and aim for twice a week doing strength training.  As a stretch goal, I'd like to be doing 5 good-form push ups by the end.  Last challenge, I was doing 12 push-ups from my knees...

A: >90%

B: 80%-89%

C: 70%-79%

D: 60%-69%

F: <60%

 

Goal 3: Get Healthy (+3 CON)

I generally eat pretty healthy, but I want to work on better managing the junk food.  My goal is to limit my sweets to only twice per week.

A: <12 treats

B: 13 treats

C: 14 treats

D: 15 treats

F: >15 treats

 

Goal 4: Get Clean (+2 WIS, +2 CHA)

I was pretty successful with my clean sink challenge, but I'm going to make this one more generic: 15 minutes of chores per day. No matter what it is, just picking up around the house, scrubbing the bath, or weeding the yard - my goal is consistency.  I tend to clean in bursts - one day I'll spend hours catching up on the mess... I'd like to make upkeep more of a normal part of my day.  I'd also like to keep our place more presentable so I'm not worried about inviting people over to our messy house!  Grading will be based on the percentage of days I reach my 15 minute goal.

A: >90%

B: 80%-89%

C: 70%-79%

D: 60%-69%

F: <60%

 

Bonus Goal: Since I'm in a new town, I need to find a gym where I can start working more with weights and I really want to get back to swimming.  So I'm also going to use this challenge to find a gym to call home.

[quaintly]

Love that you're scaling back to your levels, instead of just quitting. Good luck!

[Crooked]

Welcome to the Rangers! I think these are great goals - challenging but doable and not discouraging. Good luck!

[fluffyrin42]

Love that you're scaling back to your levels, instead of just quitting. Good luck!

 

Thanks Quaintly! I was so discouraged last time, hopefully this makes it easier to stick around.

 

Welcome to the Rangers! I think these are great goals - challenging but doable and not discouraging. Good luck!

 

Thanks Crooked! I'm ready to get moving towards good habits.

[angstmuffin]

This is an awesome list!  I like that your static goals are sane!  Maybe you could set up a 15 minute playlist of 3-4 completely indulgent songs to blast into your earbuds while you do your chores?  Music makes me clean like a ninja.

[Paisley]

Hi Subbing for the newbie rangers,

 

I can imagine it would have been impossible to keep up any sort of routine whilst in the middle of moving, but it's good to see you've back straight back into it again.  And on the plus side you now have lots of new territory to explore for your first goal.

 

I totally understand your last goal, I keep meaning to do this but it only ever lasts for a week or so then I slide back into bad habits, maybe my next challenge will have to include a goal like this.  My main problem though is when I try and do the little bit of cleaning every day I never feel like I have a clean home, bits of it are clean, but never all of it at once, then I still end up doing a big clean when it gets too much and I'm right back where I started.

 

good luck

[smurray]

Good goals. I hope you get settled in to your new home quickly and good luck on the challenge.

[HalflingOfficeDrone]

Good Luck!!

[Beckles]

You've got a great nutrition goal. It's pretty challenging, but easy to measure. Makes me think I shouldn't have gone with something so complicated and subjective.

[Nzyme]

GOOD LUCK!!!!!! Just stick to your goals and you'll be there in no time!!! 

[fluffyrin42]

This is an awesome list!  I like that your static goals are sane!  Maybe you could set up a 15 minute playlist of 3-4 completely indulgent songs to blast into your earbuds while you do your chores?  Music makes me clean like a ninja.

Thanks - I learned a lot about over reaching last challenge... And the playlist is a great idea!

 

Hi Subbing for the newbie rangers,

 

I can imagine it would have been impossible to keep up any sort of routine whilst in the middle of moving, but it's good to see you've back straight back into it again.  And on the plus side you now have lots of new territory to explore for your first goal.

 

I totally understand your last goal, I keep meaning to do this but it only ever lasts for a week or so then I slide back into bad habits, maybe my next challenge will have to include a goal like this.  My main problem though is when I try and do the little bit of cleaning every day I never feel like I have a clean home, bits of it are clean, but never all of it at once, then I still end up doing a big clean when it gets too much and I'm right back where I started.

 

good luck

 

Thanks for following along!  Yeah - I'm interested to see how this goal turns out.  Honestly, I still expect to have a big cleaning frenzy before people come over, I'm just hoping to keep the dust and vacuuming more under control.  When we moved out of the last place I was appalled at how dusty we let things get.  I'll let you know how it's working for me!

 

Good goals. I hope you get settled in to your new home quickly and good luck on the challenge.

 

Thanks!

 

Good Luck!!

 

Thanks - you too!

 

You've got a great nutrition goal. It's pretty challenging, but easy to measure. Makes me think I shouldn't have gone with something so complicated and subjective.

 

Thanks! My biggest challenge will be turning down nightly sweet offers, but I managed day 1!    And it's never to late to revise...

 

GOOD LUCK!!!!!! Just stick to your goals and you'll be there in no time!!! 

 

Thanks! I hope so.

[fluffyrin42]

Week 1 / Day 1 Status:

 

Goal 1 (1/3): Woot! Starting off solid.  I got in a nice run through the surrounding neighborhood and located the trailhead for the local lake loop.  I also noticed another multi-use path on my way to work that I might check out on my way home some evening.  Run Stats: 1.95 miles in 20:41.  Walking break at 07:30 for 02:30 and then walked from 17:30 to cool down.  Did a little yoga to stretch when I got back.

 

Goal 2 (0/2): I'm going to try to stagger these from my "active outside" days.

 

Goal 3 (0 treats): I passed on ice cream and had cherries instead (so excited for summer fruit)!

 

Goal 4 (1/7): I got this one out of the way as soon as I got home.  We had a giant pile of boxes that were blocking our living room after unpacking all of the books.  I broke them all down, did a load of laundry, and wiped down the dining room table for dinner.

 

Goals for today: I want to get in my strength session this afternoon and my cleaning goal is to get my kitchen counters all cleaned off and the floors swept.  Now that we don't have many boxes to drag through, I'd like to get all the misc paper bits up off the floor - our dogs seem to find a new "treat" every time I let them out.

[Crooked]

Week 1 / Day 1 Status:

Goal 1 (1/3): Woot! Starting off solid. I got in a nice run through the surrounding neighborhood and located the trailhead for the local lake loop. I also noticed another multi-use path on my way to work that I might check out on my way home some evening. Run Stats: 1.95 miles in 20:41. Walking break at 07:30 for 02:30 and then walked from 17:30 to cool down. Did a little yoga to stretch when I got back.

Goal 2 (0/2): I'm going to try to stagger these from my "active outside" days.

Goal 3 (0 treats): I passed on ice cream and had cherries instead (so excited for summer fruit)!

Goal 4 (1/7): I got this one out of the way as soon as I got home. We had a giant pile of boxes that were blocking our living room after unpacking all of the books. I broke them all down, did a load of laundry, and wiped down the dining room table for dinner.

Goals for today: I want to get in my strength session this afternoon and my cleaning goal is to get my kitchen counters all cleaned off and the floors swept. Now that we don't have many boxes to drag through, I'd like to get all the misc paper bits up off the floor - our dogs seem to find a new "treat" every time I let them out.

Awesome work! Definitely kicking off the challenge well.

[Paisley]

great first day. a solid start to the challenge.

[DrWho]

Looks like you're starting out great! Before I hurt my shoulder I was working a lot on improving and increasing my push ups.  What helped me if you aren't already doing this is doing 3 different types of push ups.  Triangle push ups, standard push ups and wide arm push ups.  I would also do a hold at the bottom of the push up to build up those muscles.  Even if you have to do them on your knees they are a great place to start!    

[fluffyrin42]

Awesome work! Definitely kicking off the challenge well.

 

Thanks! I was excited to get going right!

 

great first day. a solid start to the challenge.

 

Thanks!

 

Looks like you're starting out great! Before I hurt my shoulder I was working a lot on improving and increasing my push ups.  What helped me if you aren't already doing this is doing 3 different types of push ups.  Triangle push ups, standard push ups and wide arm push ups.  I would also do a hold at the bottom of the push up to build up those muscles.  Even if you have to do them on your knees they are a great place to start!    

 

Ooo... good idea.  I know wide push-ups are a lot easier for me - I thought I was doing awesome at push-ups for a bit, and then I read the "proper push-up" post and had to start from scratch.  But I'm getting there!

[fluffyrin42]

Week 1 / Day 2 Status:

 

Goal 1 (1/3): Rest day from outdoors.

 

Goal 2 (1/2): Got in 3 quick sets of the BBWW (details below - surprise performance).  I took the first set to record my squats and lunges for a form check.  When watching the video, wow. My squat form sucks.  So I'm going to start working through the squat exercises here: http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/squat-therapy-4-drills-will-improve-your-squat  I did a few pole squats after my workout and was surprised at how much lower I was able to get before I started to rise up on my toes.

 

Workout Summary:

Circuit 1: 20 body weight squats; 7 full push-ups, finished to 15 on knees; 15 lunges; 10 inverted rows (could only go to about 10 inches below my hands because I was using our table and it has a pretty wide apron on it - but I held the top position for 1-2 seconds each rep for a little extra challenge)

Circuit 2: 20 body weight squats; 6 full push-ups, finished to 15 on knees; 15 lunges; 10 inverted rows

Circuit 3: 20 pole squats; 3 full push-ups, finished to 10 on knees (I was wiped); 15 lunges; 10 inverted rows

 

So about the push-ups.  I was recording my entire first set for a form check... I got to 7 push-ups and was cursing a storm because "I swear 3 weeks ago I could do 12 of these, WTF!!"  I collapsed down onto my knees and then realized - wait.  I'm not on my knees.  Apparently I've been better at push-ups than I thought, just too chicken to try it.  D'OH!  I was pretty tired after a long day at work and clearly wasn't super focused on what I was doing.  So I'm going to revise my push-up goal to be doing 3x10 by the end.  

 

Also, completely forgot that planks were a part of the workout until I was done and had dinner in my belly.  So I'll have to throw those in at some point today.

 

Goal 3 (0 treats): Day 2 down!

 

Goal 4 (1/7): My husband got home before I did and he was having a hard time getting some book sorting done with our mutts running around his feet.  So I was put on muttley watch (two of them are kinda accident prone, so we have to keep eyes on them pretty much any time they are out of their kennels).  They managed to stay mostly out from underfoot while I did my workout, but they just wouldn't stay put when I was trying to clean.  So I only got about 5 minutes to unload the dishwasher.  :-/  This morning, I picked up a few smaller things to try and make up for it, but since the goal is consistency, no points for me.

[chrisevans17]

This is an awesome list!  I like that your static goals are sane!  Maybe you could set up a 15 minute playlist of 3-4 completely indulgent songs to blast into your earbuds while you do your chores?  Music makes me clean like a ninja.

I concur. I turn on my DirecTV music channels while I clean. Especially when I am home alone. I dance around with the vacuum like Mrs. Doubtfire. 

[Shivani]

Wow, you've done great today  

 

I'm super super impressed by the pushups - well done you! 

[Nzyme]

Wow look at you go!!! You're going all out with this! Every motivational for the rest of us! Keep at it champ! 

[fluffyrin42]

I concur. I turn on my DirecTV music channels while I clean. Especially when I am home alone. I dance around with the vacuum like Mrs. Doubtfire. 

 

Lol - that cracked me up.  So far I've just been setting a timer... Knowing there is an end has helped enormously.

 

Wow, you've done great today

 

I'm super super impressed by the pushups - well done you! 

 

Thanks!  I definitely surprised myself.  Now I just need to keep pushing harder...

 

Wow look at you go!!! You're going all out with this! Every motivational for the rest of us! Keep at it champ! 

 

Thanks!  Just need to keep maintaining momentum...

[fluffyrin42]

Week 1 / Day 3 Status:

 

Goal 1 (2/3): I usually try to run first thing in the morning because it's really easy for me to put it off when I get home... but it drizzly and cold this morning so I held off.  After work, I did throw my shoes on right away and got in a good run.  I was able to try out the little pond loop near my house.  Run Stats: 3.0 miles in 28:55; ran until 08:00, walked 2 minutes, ran 10:00, walked 2 minutes, finished running.

 

Goal 2 (1/2): Rested.

 

Goal 3 (1 treat): I did have ice cream after dinner last night.  Just a small scoop, though!

 

Goal 4 (2/7): I didn't get to clean the kitchen, but I did clean out my dog's food/water dishes, picked up a bunch of laundry, and vacuumed the basement.

 

I will say, the cleaning goal is a lot harder when I get home after my husband.  It's just so easy to sit down and start relaxing when we're together.  I get home first tonight, so I'm going to try and knock out the kitchen once and for all!

[Doc Brian]

^{I follow Flylady.net's advice and do "fifteen minute boogies."  Pick a room or a task and do fifteen minutes of work as fast as you can.  Its the only way I can get the kids to do anything.  "Boogie the living room!" lets them know if they go fast enough, I'll let them stop in a few minutes.  Often, they get the job done in 15 minutes anyways.}

[Doc Brian]

Font went tiny on me. What the heck?

 

Anyways, just saw your report...

1. I enjoy taking scenic routes.  Those are some really good times you've posted there.

3. Ice cream was calling to me last night too.  Had previously bought some for my teenage daughter, and the box was in the freezer calling to me.

4. My wife says she has the same problem.

[fluffyrin42]

haha!  I've seen the 15 minute attack on quite a few websites, so that's why I picked it for my challenge.  So far, I'm a little inconsistent, but hopefully it picks up!

 

4. My wife says she has the same problem.

 

So glad I'm not the only one.