Stopping Shots and Bad Habits, how Goalies level up

[JenniferStark]

I am a brand new NF Rebel and I want to use my first challenge to establish healthy habits to build on.

I am an accountant and every January through April I go through Tax Season.  During that time I generally work 10-12 hours days 7 days a week.  I want to improve my fitness and lifestyle habits to make it through that grueling time of year with less stress and better job performance.

When I’m not bean-counting, I am a goalie for a recreational women’s ice hockey team.  Having played college hockey I consider myself to be a fairly accomplished athlete but I know there is much more I can do to improve my game.  'Much more' includes better fitness and a healthier diet.  I tend to be an Eager Beaver so I’m trying to stick to a few small changes instead of biting off more than I can chew.

 

Main Quest:

To complete the ladder drill without stopping by the end of the hockey season

               (The ladder drill for Ice hockey goalies involves increasing reps of different skating skills. You start by doing one shuffle to the right then one shuffle to the left.  Next, two shuffles to the right, two to the left.  You continue up to five and do that for each of three more skating skills. Strength, technique and endurance are key.)

 

Side Quests:

Diet and Fitness Goals:

1. 2 Bodyweight work outs per week
2. Move up to using 10lbs for 15 reps for dumbbell pulls by week 5
3. No fast food!

 

Life Goal:

1. Save $100 for family Christmas gifts

 

Motivation:

 Completing this challenge will get me closer to accomplishing my main quest as well as establish healthy habits to build on.

[Sirlon]

Welcome to NF! I'm brand new too, aiming to build good habits for the first challenge. Good luck! Keep strong! Keep us updated on how it goes

[L_A_Malone]

That's awesome - hockey rocks! Good luck. I'm a newbie here too. Been lurking for a couple of weeks. I'll definitely be looking for updates from you.

[CactusWren]

Simple and to the point, I like it! Good luck!

[bam191]

Welcome to the rebellion Jennifer! Sports area always a great way to keep active, good job on sticking with it! Good luck, and hope to see you on the battlefield!

[JenniferStark]

Alrighty, today is day two and so far so good.  I am working on making Yoga a part of my daily habit because it helps reduce stress and calm my ADD brain for sleep.  I have been doing it every day when I get home from work for the last 8 days (its a little chain so far but it will be mighty soon).  I scheduled my BBWW on Wednesdays and Fridays because that is what works for me.  So far no fast food. I am was a sucker for frozen coffee drinks and breakfast burritos because they were easy to acquire. The last two days I got up early enough to make eggs at home, go me.  Last weekend the kitchen got cleaned out and anything not paleo when the way of the dodo.

Untill next time, best of luck on your challenges fellow NF'ers!.......hmm that sounds strange.

How about:

Best of luck fellow citizens of Awesomeville!   

[Batwoman]

The City of Townsville! hehehehe

 

I'm excited to see how the new diet and workout regiment will affect your awesome goaltending skills.

 

For the Rebellion!

[CourageousKate]

Hey JS! Welcome to FotB

 

I think your goals look great and totally achievable. SO COOL that you play ice hockey!!!

[vortexofsleep]

Hey there, newest member of the Fellowship of the Bat!  It's gonna be a great challenge.

 

ICE SKATING TERRIFIES ME.  So I am in total amazement of you right now.  And great job making your own eggs!  I totally get the lure of convenience with breakfast foods (or any foods, really).  There's a really good local donut shop with equally good coffee right across the street from work.  It's torture to resist.

[JenniferStark]

Vortex, ice skating is quite lovely actually. Its the falling I'm not too fond of, hahaha.

 

Update time! I originally planned to only update once a week but I had a good day so I thought I'd share. Started the day well by getting up (pretty much) on time and doing a BBWW.  After work i had to run some errands and with my honey out for the evening that meant I was on my own for dinner. For some reason being in the car after 6pm triggers my brain to think I need chicken nuggets. FALSE!   I was able to avoid processed chicken-ish bites distributed by the empire and finish my errands. I did my daily yoga when I got home (added another X to the chain) and roasted up a bunch of butternut squash for the week. One day closer to being a super hero.

[Batwoman]

Mmmmmmm nuggets.

 

Great job so far! Batman would not stop for nuggets if Catwoman was out stealing jewels. He'd be out fighting crime, probably stopping Catwoman from stealing those jewels.

 

Plus I don't think that any Batmobile would fit through a drive-thru (Batman is always thinking ahead).

[CourageousKate]

Update time! I originally planned to only update once a week but I had a good day so I thought I'd share. Started the day well by getting up (pretty much) on time and doing a BBWW.  After work i had to run some errands and with my honey out for the evening that meant I was on my own for dinner. For some reason being in the car after 6pm triggers my brain to think I need chicken nuggets. FALSE!   I was able to avoid processed chicken-ish bites distributed by the empire and finish my errands. I did my daily yoga when I got home (added another X to the chain) and roasted up a bunch of butternut squash for the week. One day closer to being a super hero.

Nice! Awesome day and GREAT choices!!! And I love butternut squash. Yum! I've got one at home... hmm. Maybe there's some roasting happening this evening

 

What kind of yoga do you practice? (Just yoga is totally an acceptable response, btw.)

 

Plus I don't think that any Batmobile would fit through a drive-thru (Batman is always thinking ahead).

^Truth.

[JenniferStark]

AgentKatia-I'm VERY new to yoga.  After being introduced to it at a goalie camp I have been trying to incorporate it into my weekly/daily routine.  I'd say I practice internet yoga, hehe.  Since I don't want to shell out cash for classes (or look like an idiot in front of other people) I look up videos by Esther Ekhart on youtube and look like an idiot in the privacy of my living room.  I just follow along doing stuff for beginners. 

 

Batwoman- As always, your Bat-wisdom is profoundly accurate.

[Batgirl]

Hockey is the best sport.  I can't skate (ice or otherwise) and I'm terrible at sports so I just watch.

[JenniferStark]

How right your are Batgirl, hockey it the best!  It's difficult which is why I love it. I also like the look on people's faces when they say "You play hockey? Oh field hockey right?" then I say 'no, ice hockey'  then they say *mouth hangs open*. It makes me smile every time.

[Swinging_Jarnbjorn]

I did my daily yoga when I got home (added another X to the chain) and roasted up a bunch of butternut squash for the week. One day closer to being a super hero.

DON'T BREAK THE CHAIN. Seriously, congratulations on starting something amazing by joining us here. The Rebellion and the Fellowship of the Bat are glad to have you!

[CourageousKate]

AgentKatia-I'm VERY new to yoga.  After being introduced to it at a goalie camp I have been trying to incorporate it into my weekly/daily routine.  I'd say I practice internet yoga, hehe.  Since I don't want to shell out cash for classes (or look like an idiot in front of other people) I look up videos by Esther Ekhart on youtube and look like an idiot in the privacy of my living room.  I just follow along doing stuff for beginners. 

 

Nice! That's awesome! I actually wish I was better about practicing yoga at home... I find it really hard to stay focused. That's cool, I'll have to check out Esther Ekhart

 

Hope week 1 rounded out nicely!

[JenniferStark]

Hello again Rebels! My first week went really well. I accomplished all of my work outs and I am made a few adjustments to add reps and weight to keep challengeing myself.  I may have set the work out bar too low so I think I have some goal adjusting to do.  I was pretty good with the paleo for the week. I was even went out to eat with my hockey buddies (which usually involves nachos and pizza) and stayed on track with some salmon over salad.  We ate before playing which made it easy to choose something healthy since skating after eating a bunch of crap is not very fun.  Sunday was super fun but had a few bumps. It was a busy day so I totally forgot to do my daily yoga, and being with my teamates= having some beer. Luckily I'm easing into the paleo pool by alowing one cheat day per week so I'm still within my goals. I got back on track with my yoga yesterday so I was able to avoid missing two in a row. I made some entries into my google calendar to remind me to do yoga going forward so once again better planning saves the day. 

Week 2 started strong with lots of veggie roasting and chicken grilling. So far so good. 

[CactusWren]

Excellent! Go you!

[vortexofsleep]

Mmmm.  Nachos. Pizza. Beer.  I've had a bad food day, so this is majorly appealing to me.  But my dinner will consist of a hamsteak, red peppers, really amazingly good cheddar, and an apple.  That is way better in every sense than nachos or pizza.

 

Yay for good food choices and planning ahead!

[Swinging_Jarnbjorn]

Cheat days are nice, but it's very tempting to chain them, which can be destructive. Congrats on staying ahead of the game on this one! I've gotta get on the prep/planning bandwagon. On-the-fly decisions are just too dicey.

[JenniferStark]

Yes, the longer this challenge goes on I realize its all about planning. Lots of rebels have mentioned they have more success when they prep lots of food early in the week. So on Sundays I'll fire up the crock pot, roast lots of veggies, and grill up some meats for the week.  If you have a few containers of meat and veggies in the fridge it makes it way easier to stay on track even if other folks in your house aren't follwoing your diet.  The days I am tempted to hop off the wagon are the ones where I have run out of pre-made food and I need something to eat.

[JenniferStark]

Good morning Rebels! Story time-Last summer I attended a goalie camp. We did oodles of dry land excersies between ice slots including pushups on a balance board.  I couldn't even do one. It was pretty embarassing. Not only was I the only girl but at 29 I was a good decade older than the next oldest camper.  I felt like a weak old lady and it made me sad. (Until I realized I could drive, drink beer and buy M rated video games-mwwahahaha). So push ups have been my nemesis... until today!

 

This morning I rocked my BBWW! I was able to do 3 normal push ups among the 3 sets of modified ones I normally do. My favorite song came on as I finished the work out so I did a victory dance (said victory dance lasted about 3 minutes and probably burned more calories than the push ups themselves.....).  Aside from generally feeling better now that I'm not stuffing grains and preservatives into my body anymore, this is the first 'result' I have seen. Wahoo!

 

You stay classy NF Rebels!

[Batgirl]

Let's hear it for 3 big-girl pushups!  Someday I will do big-girl pushups too.

[Batwoman]

YAY!