Twilight: Celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing

[Twilight]

WTF double post.

 

[RES]

I aspire to be that flexible...looking forward to your next challenge my friend!

[Twilight]

Last night on my way home from work I thought to myself: I can totally work out tonight! I did my regular 3k walk (half in the morning walking the kid to school, half in the evening coming home from work), but my foot was really sore, and one of the tendons that got hurt was really painful by the time I went to bed. So I overdid the walking yesterday I guess, which is frustrating. I've wrapped my foot again in the Tensor bandage and I guess I'll be taking the bus home instead of walking.

 

I'm liking the idea of a "do something every day" format for my next challenge. I can take the list of all the things I wanted to do this challenge, and I'll give myself credit if I do any of the things from the list. So if I'm not up to working out, I have the option of doing a 30 minute squat, or hand exercises, or to practrice my ukulele. I would keep track so that if I do more than one thing per day, I can maybe get points or something, and that will affect my final score or I'll get a reward or something. Maybe the different things could have different points, so that if I double-up on a lot of high-scoring activities, I'll get a bigger reward. If I miss a day, I could dock a point. And hey, this would make it very very easy to grade myself on the challenge. I might need to make three categories to go with the three goals format ... physical, fun, and food? That could work.

 

[Nymeria]

I'm really jealous of your flexibility.  Your king pigeon is gorgeous!

 

I really love having "do something every day" or "play" goals for the summertime.  If you're going to be spending a lot of time playing outside with your kids, it just makes sense to have more open ended workout plans.  Just be careful with that foot.  You're better off taking things slowly and letting it heal, rather than continuing to push yourself too much and then have to deal with setbacks. 

[Twilight]

Setbacks are nobody's friend!!
 
Drafting a scoreboard and points system for the next challenge (and keeping in mind The Most Loathed's tips on making a TL;DR at the bottom/top of my daily updates to make things easier on journalists and newcomers):
 
Scoreboard

Goal Today Week Total Challenge Total Body       Spirit       Maintenance      

 

Points

 

Body (STR/DEX/STA) STAT Points Spirit (CHA/WIS) STAT Points Maintenance (CON) STAT Points Walk STA 1 Ukulele CHA 3 Log all food WIS 1 Stretch/yoga DEX 1 Play with my kids CHA 1 Identify problem food WIS 5 ABWW (per circuit) STR 2 Write WIS 3 Week without incident CON 5 Swim STA 3 Hair maintenance CHA 1 Day without junk CON 1 Hand dexterity DEX 1 Photography CHA 1 In bed by 11 CON 1 Squat STA 1 Husband time WIS 1 Asleep by 12 CON 1 Rope (bottom) DEX 3 Job stuff WIS 10       Wrestling STA 3 Rope (top) WIS 1       Hand balancing DEX 2             Hollow body holds STA 2                              

 
 
I'll add some kind of SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT section for when something extra special or really cool happens.

 

Edit: WTF formatting. I can't figure it out ... but I will later.

[elsfaire]

Neat idea!

Formatting is a PIB. You either have to do it manually with spaces, or do a screengrab of your pretty table and post the pic. The forum does not seem to understand tabs and such. :/

[RES]

I like your plan!

[Teirin]

I have to say that reading the table that way is a bit funny though. 

[Twilight]

I bet it would be hilarious to put it though a text-to-speech thingie!

 

Ok, refining and brainstorming for next challenge ...
 
Sample Scoreboard 
Stat  Today  Week Total  Challenge Total
STR   1      20          45
DEX   3      15          60
STA   2       5          14
CON   0       4           8
WIS   6      12          55
CHA   3      25          70
 

Today was awesome because: I wore my favourite skirt and felt good about my body!

Draft Points (ideas/suggestions/additions welcome)
Activity              Stat  Points
ABWW circuit          STR   3 
Two bodyweight sets   STR   1
Stretch/yoga          DEX   1
Hand dexterity        DEX   1
Rope (bottom)         DEX   3
Hand balancing        DEX   2
Walk                  STA   1
Swim                  STA   5
Squat                 STA   1
Wrestling             STA   3
Hollow body holds     STA   2
Week of happy tummy   CON   5
Day without junk      CON   1
In bed by 11          CON   1
Lights out by 12      CON   1
Write                 WIS   3
Husband time          WIS   1
Job stuff             WIS  10
Rope (top)            WIS   1
Log all food          WIS   1
Identify problem food WIS   5
Ukulele               CHA   3
Play with my kids     CHA   1
Hair maintenance      CHA   4
Photography           CHA   1

 

Initial thoughts is that 10 points/day would be a good baseline. A workout day would be 6 points for ABWW if I do my usual two circuits, 1 for stretching/yoga, 1 for walking, and then I'd have two points to add from anything on the list to make it 10. A swimming day would be 5 points for swimming, 1 for walking, 1 for stretching, and then three points to add ... I want to make swimming equal to ABWW, but 6 points seems like a lot for just that. Hrm. I suppose I can update my goals as I get more data and figure out how many points I usually earn per day.

 

Current ideas for goals:

1. Earn at least 10 points per day (measureable, attainable), which will generally be done by:
   1. Walking 3km every weekday (pending foot recovery)
   2. ABWW every other day (with days off as required)
   3. Swimming two or three times per week (pending new bathing suit)
2. Make every day awesome (relative but that's ok)
3. Keep losing body fat so that my body better shows all of my hard work (I'm not sure how I'll measure this without a scale or calipers or anything like that)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x5zhQCzI2E

[elsfaire]

Neat way to include diverse activities. Maybe you can just keep track of points for a few test days to see if the goal is at a good level?

 

I hope you can keep track of all of your options. I would need a spreadsheet, lol.

[Lilith]

The point system looks like fun!

[Twilight]

I'm definitely using a spreadsheet! That's what I tried to paste up above that didn't work. I was also thinking of using the next week and a bit to track how I do, but I'm not swimming and ABWWing again yet, so it'll be tough to get to 10 points. I'm only at like 2 points for the day so far. But I will track and see how it goes!

 

I'm moving Hollow Body Holds to STR. I'm not sure if Hand Balancing should bein DEX or STA or STR. Arg.

 

Edit for music (thanks T2 Sarah Connor!!)

 

[Xahn]

Man, I love the idea of each activity adding up to something.  That's really cool.  

 

Nice work on the Challenge Twilight.  Even though you had your foot injury, you still were really moving forward.  I think you've really established yourself through these two challenges, and balancing that with a family is amazing.  

[Teirin]

Nice points system!  Love the balance between family stuff, workout stuff, and self care.

[Twilight]

Scoreboard for Sprint 1

Stat   Yesterday   Week Total 

STR     1           1

DEX     1           1

STA     1           2

CON     3           7

WIS     1           1

CHA     3           3 

Total  10          15

 

Yesterday was awesome because: I wore my favourite skirt and felt good about my body, I played my ukulele, and I made it to 10 points!!!

 

Details below!

Wednesday

Activity               Stat  Points

Walk 3.5km             STA   1

In bed by 11           CON   1

Lights out by 12       CON   1

Day of happy tummy     CON   1

Day without junk food  CON   1     

Total                        5

 

 

Thursday

Activity               Stat  Points

Two bodyweight sets    STR   1

Hand dexterity         DEX   1

Walk 3.5km             STA   1

In bed by 11           CON   1

Lights out by 12       CON   1

Day of happy tummy     CON   1

Husband time           WIS   1

Ukulele                CHA   3     

Total                       10

 

 

 

Draft Points v2 (ideas/suggestions/additions welcome)

Activity              Stat  Points

ABWW circuit          STR   3

Two bodyweight sets   STR   1

Hollow body holds     STR   2

Stretch/yoga          DEX   1

Hand dexterity        DEX   1

Rope (bottom)         DEX   3

Hand balancing        DEX   2

Walk 3.5km            STA   1

Swim 500m             STA   3

30 minute squat       STA   1

Wrestling             STA   3

Day of happy tummy    CON   1

Day of only good food CON   1

In bed by 11          CON   1

Lights out by 12      CON   1

Write                 WIS   3

Husband time          WIS   1

Job stuff             WIS  10

Rope (top)            WIS   1

Log all food          WIS   1

Identify problem food WIS   5

Ukulele               CHA   3

Play with my kids     CHA   1

Hair maintenance      CHA   4

Photography           CHA   2

 

This is a lot of work to set up! I hope that copy+pasting will save me time once I've got the format figured out. I'm excited about the points system though. Last night I was all "I need to get to 10 points!" so I did the hand dexterity exercises on my walk home, then I got out my ukulele once the kids were in bed and practiced a bunch! And then did some squats and calf raises while I was brushing my teeth, and then husband time! Wooooo, it's working!

 

Edit for music!

 

[Bekah]

I love the points system idea It sounds like something that works great for you!!! Congratulations on finishing strong with an amazing challenge

[Twilight]

Scoreboard for Sprint 1

Stat   Yesterday   Week Total

STR     0           1

DEX     1           2

STA     2           4

CON     1           8

WIS     0           1

CHA     2           5        

Total   6          21

 

 

Yesterday was awesome because: I did my 4k walk twice and went to a housewarming party and had a great time.

 

Friday

Activity               Stat  Points

Hand dexterity         DEX   1

Walk 8km               STA   2

Day of happy tummy     CON   1

Photography            CHA   2     

Total                        6

 

I think I may have to aim for a week score rather than a daily score. I knew yesterday would be a wash for junk food (I indulged, but didn't overdo it) and getting to bed on time because of the housewarming party, and the working out thing is still on hold because of my ankle. I did do a couple of lunges last night, but not enough to count for points. I've been specifically worried about lunges and my ankle, so I'm pleased that they didn't hurt. I'm still not going to be doing pistols for a while though.

 

[Elastigirl]

Great job on your mid challenge challenge!

[Teros]

Love cake!  The food AND that song.  Burned that to one of them dang new fangled Cee-dees for my walking-man.

[Mad Hatter]

Heh haven't listened to Cake for a while. It's one of those bands that will always bring back memories, in this case of an old boyfriend. Good it wasn't an ugly breakup or anything, otherwise the music would have been ruined.

[Twilight]

Heh haven't listened to Cake for a while. It's one of those bands that will always bring back memories, in this case of an old boyfriend. Good it wasn't an ugly breakup or anything, otherwise the music would have been ruined.

 

Yes! I make strong associations with music, so I'm careful to not associate music I love with specific people.

 

Scoreboard for Sprint 1

Stat   Yesterday   Week Total

STR     4           5

DEX     4           6

STA     1           5

CON     0           8

WIS     1           2

CHA     1           6        

Total  11          32

 

 

Yesterday was awesome because: I had friends over and we all did some stretching and hand balancing! I showed them my points system and they were excited about it. And I got to 11 points!!

 

Saturday

Activity               Stat  Points

Six bodyweight sets    STR   3

Hollow body holds      STR   1

Stretch/yoga           DEX   1

Hand dexterity         DEX   1

Hand balancing         DEX   2

Walk 4km               STA   1

Husband time           WIS   1

Play with my kids      CHA   1          

Total                       11

 

My husband went out last night with his gf to play board games, so I decided to have a no-pants cuddle party with some friends. I was stretching when they came over, so we got into the points system I made, and then we were all "look what I can do!" and we were doing handstands and Crow and all that. It was really fun!

 

Earlier in the day I'd taken my kids to the park, which was also great. We passed by a bike store on the way home because I really want to get a bike again. I was talking to a coworker who lives near me and bikes to work sometimes about routes to work, so I may do that when school is finished and I'm not walking kid #1 in the mornings.

 

I tried to download HabitRPG for my iPad to see if I could load all of my tasks and points in there, but I have an iPad 1, and it can't be upgraded past IOS 5.1, so it can't support it. I've got a gift certificate from my parents for my birthday for the Apple store, but I haven't got around to getting a new one yet. I'm not even sure where the Apple store is in this city, and I'm not sure how much the gift certificate is for.

 

I'm getting excited for Pride! World Pride is in Toronto this year, so it's going to be even bigger than usual. I'm going to be participating in the Dyke March on the Saturday, and the Pride Parade on the Sunday. I should look into joining the Trans March on the Friday, too. For the Dyke March I march with the Leather Pride group, so I'm thinking about what I want to wear. I'm thinking leather booty shorts, because damn, my butt looks great these days. And then fishnets and my stompy boots, and I'll see if I can borrow that leather underbust corset again (or just buy my own), and then ... who knows what on top. Mmm, leather.

 

Going to the park again today because it's another beautiful day!

[Twilight]

Scoreboard for Sprint 2

Stat   Yesterday   Week Total

STR     0           0

DEX     0           0

STA     2           2

CON     0           0

WIS     0           0

CHA     1           1        

Total   3           3

 

Yesterday was awesome because: I played with my kids outside again and had a leisurely swim with a friend.

 

Sunday

Activity               Stat  Points

Walk 4km               STA   1

Swim                   STA   1

Play with my kids      CHA   1          

Total                        3

 

 

Not much to report yesterday in terms of activity. So far it looks like "activity days" are easy to get to 10 points, and "rest days" are not. I'll know more after this week with sprint 2. I've decided that since I can't carry my spreadsheet around with me, and the spreadsheet app I downloaded is a pain in the Bruce Campbell, I'm going to print out my points and use them like a checklist, oldskool style.

 

T2SarahConnor's thread has me on a 90's kick!

 

[RedCedar]

Yay Pride season! Seattle Pride isn't until the end of the month, but I will for sure be doing Trans Pride on Friday, Dyke March Saturday, and being hungover as sh*t Sunday morning to watch my girlfriend represent the queer counseling agency she works for. 

 

 

As always, awesome music choices, badass attitudes, and stellar perseverance. You rock Twilight, in so many ways.

 

 

Also, way to up the ante on the points system. So much more detail than anything my brain could've created! 

 

I'll probably be in the backcountry for too much of the next challenge to participate, but I'll drop in every once in a while over the summer. Looking forward to see where you go from here! 

[Twilight]

It's end of month here, too. For a long time we missed it because we'd go to Ottawa for Canada Day, but we're not doing that this year. It's going to be intense at the end of the month! Apparently we can expect twice as many people as usual!

 

And gosh, you all, thanks.

 

Scoreboard for Sprint 2

Stat   Yesterday   Week Total

STR     1           1

DEX     1           1

STA     4           6

CON     2           2

WIS     0           0

CHA     0           1        

Total   8          11

 

Yesterday was awesome because: I made a really delicious pasta sauce for dinner.

 

Monday

Activity               Stat  Points

Two bodyweight sets    STR   1

Hand dexterity         DEX   1

Walk 3.5km             STA   1

Chores (x3)            STA   3

Day of happy tummy     CON   1

In bed by 11           CON   1          

Total                        8

 

I realised that I should be giving myself points for chores, too. Since Modak has come down with the flu (yes, in June), I left work early yesterday to come home and look after him. Today I'm working from home to look after him and the kids (he's a stay at home dad). I'm doing lots, just not formal workout stuff, and it would not be fair if my points made it look like I'd just been lazy yesterday and today.

 

I'm feeling good about specifying which stat each point goes to. It's going to better reflect what I worked on in the next challenge this way. I'll distribute the points I earn (and use charts! and graphs!) using percentages. If my goal is 400 points (looking likely) then I can easily score myself on the A-F system. I'm actually thinking that instead of a simple points goal, I might use control charts to determine how "in control" my "process" (being active) is: if I'm consistent in my points per day, it's better than being super active one day and inactive the next.

 

I get paid on Friday, so I can go bathing suit (and maybe bike) shopping! YAY.

 

[Teros]

Handling a bunch of stuff like a champ. If the points system works then go for it.