Cledbo - Defeat is Only a State of Mind

[Cledbo]

Hi all! This is my second challenge, still at level 0 because I didn't do too well at sticking with my stated goals last time.

I'm not too down about it, I took the opportunity to step back and reassess properly what I was going for. I now have an Epic Quest thread going to give me some perspective from which to build my smaller steps - like this challenge!

So without further waffle and rhubarb, here we go:

Main Quest: Get READY.

For what? Loads of stuff. Mostly Army Reserve, but also pregnancy (fingers crossed!), and generally being awesome at all times. By awesome, I'm thinking of things like being skilled, learned, sensual, confident, capable of defending myself, funny, and at the cutting edge - it doesn't really matter which edge, as long as I'm on it.

I love new, innovative stuff and being there when "it's all happening", so I want to be ready for when amazing opportunities appear (or be ready to go find some myself!)

[This is the level of badass I'm aiming for]

Obviously I won't be able to achieve this multi-layered goal in this challenge, not least because I'm currently on course so I can't do a lot of the 'new experiences' I'm planning until after I'm finished. Also, because that's a pretty huge goal right there, and how do you eat an elephant?

(One bite at a time. Duh.)

First Goal - STRENGTH/DEXTERITY: Functional training three times a week

As I'm on course, they're forcing us to do physical training 2-3 times a week anyway, which will make the first 3 weeks of this challenge easy to stick to at least! I will still need to do my own training to fill in any gaps (and not the half-assed stuff I've been doing in my room up until now). I will give bonus points for additional workouts, or particularly long walks (1hr+) if I fit them in too.

(Scoring: 3x week 2pts, 2x wk 1pt, 1x wk 0.5pt, 0x wk 0pts - 1 attribute point = 2 weekly points)

Second Goal - WISDOM: Pilates/Yoga/Other 'body control' exercise 1hr per week

No Pilates classes here unfortunately, but I will do a total of 1 hour of body control work each week to work towards being graceful, having balance, becoming less clumsy and overall having better control of this sack of bones and meat my brain sits in (pleasant image, huh?).

Once I get home, it'll be back into proper Pilates classes.

I also want to try out Xtend Barre at least once - even though it's expensive, I've heard it's awesome.

(Scoring: 1hr 2pts, 30-45min 1pt, 15-30min 0.5pt, <15min 0pts - 1 attribute point = 4 weekly points)

Third Goal - CONSTITUTION/STAMINA: Doing something physically uncomfortable once a week

[Previously I had a nutrition goal in here, but because I'm not cooking for myself, and both my naturopath and my psychologist were more concerned with my mental issues with food than with my nutrition, so I decided to bin it in favour of something to develop my soldierly side a bit.]

It sounds weird on the face of it, but the general idea is once a week I'll do something physically uncomfortable to "harden myself up". It doesn't have to be exercise, per se - it could be a walk, but out in the rain with no umbrella or jacket. Someone below suggested a cold shower - that fits too!

Going for a pack march is exercise too, obviously, but quite often it's uncomfortable and boring too, so a mental exercise at the same time. When I get home from course I might go camping by myself, or try out a new fitness class or move that intimidated me before.

As long as it's something that my first though about it is "Uhhh I don't really wanna do that." then it fits the bill!

(Scoring: 1x wk 2pts (+1pt for each additional time), 0x wk 0pts - 1 attribute point = 3 weekly points)

Life Quest - CHARISMA

Every day I'm going to work on my screenplays - an idea, a scene, a bit of a character profile. Even if it's only 5 minutes, it still counts.

In addition to that, I'm going to devote at least 2 hours a week to researching some new thing - anything, as long as it's new knowledge.

There's not really an 'Intelligence' attribute in the NF model, but I think this activity kind of fits Charisma, because by pursuing my passion and learning new things I become a more interesting and well-rounded person, who is fun to talk to. Sounds attractive to me!

(Scoring: Daily 2pts, 5-6x wk 1.5pts, 3-4x wk 1pt, 1-2x wk 0.5pts, 0x wk 0pts - 1 attribute point = 6 weekly points)

Motivation

As hinted at in my main quest above, I want to be ready for lots of exciting things. My motivation is going to be eventually getting to do some of those things, like have a kid, go overseas, have adventures I haven't even thought of yet - anything! If opportunity comes a-knockin' and I'm not good to go, well, that's not going to be a good situation at all, is it?

I've struggled in the past with staying motivated for the more abstract, long-term "maintenance" phase of all things fitness and nutrition - give me a short-term goal, and I'm all over it like white on rice. My new tack, after a ton of reading and soul-searching, is to do exactly what Steve said - focus on the daily actions, the every-day, every-week, time in time out stuff that you just "do", and before you know it you're there. Not only that, you get to stay there - just by doing the same thing you've done the whole time. No crazy rules that are only sustainable for a few weeks or months at a time, no unrealistic workouts or schedules or whatever.

I'll be eating dessert, because dammit I like dessert and I can eat it without instantly turning into Jabba the Hut. But I'll also be working out, and doing whatever I need to to find exercise that's enjoyable. I'll be pushing myself to get better at things - to increase my skill points, so to speak - because I love growing and I get a buzz out of learning new stuff. These habits can be taken with me wherever, and scaled to fit whatever my life is at a given point in time, and that's why I think it's going to work. I hope it does.

PS thanks in advance for your advice and kind words. I'm going to work harder this time at connecting here, because I think that was something else I didn't do well at all last challenge. That support is something I think I need, and whilst I've got some good mates here and at home, none of them are in quite the same space as me you know? If you're in a similar place to me, let me know - I'd love to chat and be mutually supportive in return!

THE FINISH LINE

If I meet all my set challenges and achieve my stated goals, what I'll end up with as a Level 1 is:

STR 3 DEX 3 CON 2 STA 2 WIS 3 CHA 2

... and if I get that, then that's pretty awesome. But I've also been inspired by a few other NF'ers who've set up little rewards for themselves.

So, if I earn all 15 attribute points above, I'm going to splash out on a new pair of Vibram Fivefingers. My third pair

If I get 12-14 attribute points assigned, I'll buy myself a mini-pack of Xtend Barre classes instead.

10-11 attribute points, we're down to a pull-up bar (which I've wanted for ages and might just buy anyway)

Less than 10, no dice - try again sister! Though I might console myself with an NF tshirt or something, just so I don't go home empty handed -_^

UPDATE: Level Up!

So I made it to the end of week 3, it's assignment of attribute points time, woo! I'm only going to assign the ones I've earned so far (rather than the 10 suggested by the rules) because, well, that's what I feel I've earned! I know in D&D you can't have half points but eh, whatever.

STR: 2

DEX: 1.5

WIS: 1.75

CON: 1

STA: 0.75

CHA: 0.5

UPDATE 2: Level Up again!

I made it to the end! Woo! Not all my goals came off as planned, but I learnt a lot which I will apply to the next challenge, and all the challenges beyond that.

Here's how I ended up in the finish...

STR: 2

DEX: 3 (full points for diligent working on handstand at the end)

WIS: 2

CON: 2

STA: 1

CHA: 1

So I feel I earned 11 out of 15 stat points and made it to Level 2, which is a fair shake for someone who broke herself twice and needed a week and a half off work for the flu! Despite not quite making the cut against my original goals, I'm still getting the Barre classes as my reward to myself, because they will help my next challenge, plus my doors are too wide for a pull up bar anyway.

Here's to the next challenge!!

[Hazard]

Hi!  Glad to see you're giving it another go.  Just dropping in to wish you luck with your challenge.  If you ever need any help, just ask!

[alienjenn]

hey girl!!

 

I love me some strength training and yoga!!

 

 

(subbing to watch and cheer!!)

 

[Teros]

Uncomfortable?  Cold showers it is.

 

For me, food is 90% the reason I had bad anxiety and depression for 14+ years and I didn't even know it.  You are what you eat. 

 

Good luck and have fun!

[Cledbo]

Right, here we go! Updated the main chunk o' stuff up there and added the most kick-ass gif I could find (because for me, it's gifs or it's nothing), and IRL I actually did something! Yay!

 

So the gym was closed at 4pm today (boo), and we finished work at 4:30pm (double boo - it's a public holiday for the whole country except us!), so I had to do a prison/transit lines workout. I used one from Fitness First magazine, which unfortunately I can't link to because it's only on iPad (damn you proprietary software! *shakes fist*). Essentially, it's multi-plane bodyweight exercises where you twist and move through all 3 dimensions, with a bit of explosiveness and flow built in.

 

By the end of the lunges in the middle my legs were on fire, the "triangle push-ups" (which involve moving your bodyweight onto one arm to do a push up, and then the other) had me literally on my knees, and the Superman/Tucks at the end nearly had me flat on my face! Great workout though, took me 40mins, I was sweating and shaking by the end (in a good way), and needed only myself and the 1 square metre available beside my bunk.

 

Didn't do an uncomfortable thing today (I think that'll be on Wednesday - we're doing battle PT, and if it's raining I'm totally counting that as my CON/STA training), and tomorrow will be my Pilates/yoga sesh. Now I'm off to do a little screenplay work before I shower off my workout sweat and turn in for a nice early night. Best time for muscle growth is sleeping, and I love myself a good sleep!

 

Laters

[Leothil]

Hi there!

 

Awesome work today! It looks like you really put some thought into creating this challenge. Best of luck with completing it!  

[alienjenn]

I can see you will be even more badass than your gif.... unfortunately I can not find one that shows the level of badassitude I think you will achieve so I will just leave this here... 

 

 

 

you will be more badass than this

[Cledbo]

alienjenn, to quote Philip Fry, that's the best thing I ever saw!

 

Second day has gone well - just finished a 30min Pilates workout I found on Youtube (oh thank you internet gods for supplying me with no reason to flake on my workout goals ever again!!).

 

I've opened up Evernote for my daily dose of vitamin screenplay, and tomorrow comes the first of my "dear Lord I don't wanna" challenges - Battle PT. Forecast for 6:30am - rain. Yeah. At least I'm getting paid.

 

For funsies today, I made a list of stuff that scares the bejeezus out of me but I might actually want to do one day, to work out which (if any) I'd be willing to pursue in the name of hardening up. Here's what I came up with:

• Bungee jumping
• Abseiling/rapelling (I've done one of the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons before, over 100m, but I'm still terrified)
• Sleeping outside in just a sleeping bag (usually I use a bivvy bag or a swag, so creepy crawlies can't get in. I once was bitten by a possum through my bivvy bag, I actually wee'd a little I was so scared!)
• Working up north (in Australia) with the heat, mosquitoes with dengue fever, and crocodiles
• Leeches
• Catching the night bus in any big city
• Walking/running at night alone
• Working with vehicle batteries (I set one on fire once...)
• Boating in anything smaller than a ferry
• Singing/playing a musical instrument in public
• Cosplay
• Talking like a sensible, normal person to high-level superiors
• Escape and evasion/interrogation training

 (all of which I think as a whole more about the weird stuff I want to do, rather than what I'm afraid of!!)

 

Thoughts? Additions? If I get stuck, it'll be cold showers for sure, but considering it's due to be 11 degrees Celsius and raining tomorrow morning I think that'll be unavoidable anyway!

[Leothil]

• Talking like a sensible, normal person to high-level superiors

 

I can totally relate to that. Or just talking to any person I don't know that well. Or phoning to people I don't know. That's the worst!

 

I think a list is a great idea. That way you have a bunch of ideas to follow up later when you can't think of anything. No excuses, so to say.

[Anim07734]

It's great that you're trying to extend your comfort zone, but keep in mind that fear is a survival instinct.  Some of those things on your list of fears may just be good ideas to avoid.  I've been plenty of places where you should just stay home at night.  So be safe and make sure you have a plan.

 

Personally, I recommend the cosplay option.  It's a lot of fun once you get past the "oh, god, people" part.

[mascota]

Yep, I don't relate at all to those fears (walking alone/taking the bus at night) because my country and specially my city are pretty safe, but you should be careful.

 

For the bungee jumping, I did it with a non-elastical cord because someone told me that the elastical cord gives you the feeling of having your guts trying to go through your mouth. It's scary, it's fun, it's exciting and I loved it, but I'll never do it again haha

[TourdeForce]

•  
• Talking like a sensible, normal person to high-level superiors

Yes, that. Also, getting bitten by a possum! EEK!

 

Sounds like you've made a great start! Good luck with it all, especially your first scary challenge in the rain!

[Cledbo]

Day 3, yeah! So it didn't rain, but there was a lot of dew on the football field we ran, then crawled across. Humans were not meant to leopard crawl (seriously, even leopards weren't meant to leopard crawl!)

If you're unfamiliar with leopard crawling, check this out. Add to that tyre flips, lunges, 2x20L water jerry carries, and push-ups, and you have a whole load of ouch. At the end we had to alternate between crawling and "sprinting" (which for me was more of a struggling jog) the length of the field.

I came last, so when the instructor asked at the end if anyone had incurred an injury, all I could think was "Only to my ego..."

 

Turns out I may have injured myself after all, because my right knee has been doing weird things at times today. If its still being weird tomorrow morning I'll be off to the doc to have it looked at, but hopefully it's just a little overstretched from all the traverse movement and crawling (damn that crawling!!) we did.

 

Just to clarify about a couple of my listed 'fears' - I totally get being safe and sensible about travelling alone at night, by whatever means, and I wouldn't go and do something I thought would be unsafe just for the sake of doing it. I would, however, like to be able to go for a run or a walk after the sun goes down and not be unnecessarily freaked out at 8 or 9pm, for example. 3am? Sure, I'll be in a big group or at home. But darkness itself, in my own suburban neighbourhood, shouldn't be a barrier to going outside. One of the ways I plan on building up to conquering it is by going back to Krav Maga. A combination of decent fitness (strength, sprint speed and endurance) and some good self-defense moves should go a long way to making me feel more comfortable with doing things which, on the face of it, should be safe. Hell, I used to catch the night bus in Sydney when I was a teenager and it never worried me - for some reason, adulthood has brought this on now all those invincibility hormones have gone away, or I've just learnt more about how dangerous and horrifying the world can be.

I'm the kind of person who locks all their doors when they're home alone, and locks the car doors when I'm driving in traffic. One awful day these habits might save my life, and I see no reason to stop them, but as a total mindset which is potentially stopping me from doing things I want to be able to do (like walk to the shops after dark) I think a bit of training and a goal of getting out there a bit more is a decent one.

 

Having said that, I also think I might start with cosplay, and talking to my bosses, before moving up to things which could be physically more iffy!

[Leothil]

That sounds tough. And don't worry about coming last, the important thing is that you followed through and did it! I seem to recall some alternating running and crawling during a PE lesson in primary school, and they aren't very fond memories...

I really hope your knee is okay! Knee injuries are a real pain to recover from.

[alienjenn]

I walk/run/hike/bike at night all the time... if your neighborhood is safe go for it

The evil dancing circus monkeys that live in my phone rarely let my communications come through appropriately

[Cledbo]

So my knee - yeah, not good. Damn you battle PT! It doesn't hurt when I'm not moving, but after a fair period of walking/standing it gets tired and I can feel it weaken - that's when, if I move wrong, it'll hurt. I'm on restrictions for the next week, so at least the PT Instructors won't have the opportunity to inadvertently make it worse, but it's still a bummer. Tonight I was going to do either a Pilates or a dynamic movement training in-room workout, but instead I'm resting. I'll do something on the weekend, maybe even at the gym with Mum, so I still hit my 1hr by Sunday, but I'm not going to push it right now - too risky.

 

However, UPSIDES: I can still do lots of abs, and arms. Abs, arms, all the time. Can probably also manage some supermans/swimmers (Pilates moves that work the bum and don't involve knees at all), in addition to planks, hundreds, pushups, pullups, and other challenging bodyweight-type things.

Also stretching. Because stretching after working out is g-o-o-d-j-u-j-u.

 

I've been amusing myself in a couple of ways the last day or so - after Steve's post about doing something you suck at, but enjoy, I made a list (which is, you'll be happy to see, far less insane than my 'fears' list from earlier):

• Dancing, all kinds - I'm a total spaz, but I love it. I would love to be halfway coordinated!
• Singing - sometimes I like to imagine I could be a female Michael Buble. That would be amazeballs.
• Writing, screenplays, stories, blog posts - My partner is a talented aspiring novelist, I envy his easy imagination, but I know that practice makes perfect too.
• Cake decorating - my grandmother was a whiz at this, and I know it came from hundreds (maybe *thousands*) of hours of practice. Nowadays my cakes are all paleo (almond or coconut flour, honey/maple syrup, etc) and icing is a bit of a challenge, but for the sheer beauty of an amazing cake I might have to make a sugary exception or two. In the name of art.
• Doing hard Pilates moves - there's just something about the achievement of standing on one leg, on a Reformer bed, for even almost the amount of time the advanced instructor requires, that makes me feel good inside. If I can get better at just one thing, I want it to be Pilates - I enjoy it, and it's such a great workout for a bazillion reasons.

The second way I was amusing myself was by trying to match pop culture figures to different Guilds and Guild combinations, as part of my "which Guild do I want to join?" think-a-thon. I'm also musing on my race, but that'll take another evening of intensive Googling I think (and trawling of the NF boards - you guys are so creative, it's not even funny!). Do you agree? Disagree? Have some suggestions? This is just for fun, because without a workout today I had a lot of time on my hands. I'm basing my choices on the NF definitions of these classes, rather than the traditional (especially re: Assassins bodyweight mastery, not actual assassination skills - at least, not always!)

• Assassin: Catwoman, Black Widow
• Monk: Elektra, Michelle Yeoh
• Ranger: Wonder Woman, Huntress
• Ranger/Monk: Sonja Blade (Mortal Kombat)
• Assassin/Monk: Bruce Lee, Chun Li (because kicking that fast is way more than a straight monk skill - assassin bodyweight mastery fo' sho')
• Assassin/Ranger: Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy FTW), She-Ra, Valkyrie

Of these, I'm most gee'd up about emulating Sonja or Gamora. Maybe I just like green a lot

Because I currently don't do any fighting martial arts, Assassin/Ranger is probably the one I'll be shooting for (and there can be quite a bit of crossover between Assassin and Monk depending on how much MA training you choose to do, I've noticed). It's also a good combo for Army work, as well as general fun fitness - strength and speed supported by body mastery, balance and grace. 

 

Anyway! I'm going to sign off and get some much needed sleep, and stop hassling you all with my comic book/video game character fantasies Maybe my first cosplay should be Sonja....

[Teros]

Adventurer: Link

 

Bummer about the knee.  Hope it gets better soon.

[Cledbo]

Managed third functional training session this week, despite stupid knee, doing an upper body and core workout whilst the rest of my course did boxing. Pushups, inverted rows and dips on the machine at 45kg (so, really, only lifting about 18 kg) for 1 min each, 3 sets. Then I did a mini Pilates workout for core and hip strength (ow, btw).

For 40min I'm pretty happy, and my mid back definitely got challenged by the way it feels right now!

My knee is feeling better, I'm going to be careful with it over the weekend then probably start some strengthening exercises on Monday (I'm not in group PT for all of next week) as that point a bigger risk might be loss of strength and functionality - do not want!

Just barely remembered to do screenplay work last night, I literally did 5 min before going to bed. Tomorrow morning I'll hit my target for Wisdom by doing an hour of stretching with Mum and her friends before they go for a run (and I may walk around a bit while I wait for them to come back). One of mum's friends has a back injury that means she has to do a long warm-up before any type of exercise; she's also a personal trainer, so I should learn a thing or two as well!

All in all week one had gone great, and I'm looking forward to both tomorrow and week 2!

[alienjenn]

glad to see the knee is feeling better

[Leothil]

Great news about your knee! I hope it only will get better from here on! Well done, keep it up!

[Cledbo]

End of week one, score time!

STR/DEX: Did 3 training sessions, 2pts

WIS: Total 1.5 hrs Pilates, 2.5pts

CON/STA: Battle PT, and did Pilates out in the cold, 2.5pts

CHA: 6 times (forgot yesterday, oops), and did more than 2 hrs research, 1.5pts

Solid start, let's see if I can keep it up next week!

[SkizzyLizzy]

I'm so curious about your screenplays! Do you mind my asking what genre they are? I've got one that's been marinating for about a year now (had to take a break after writing my thesis), but I'm about ready to dive back into it.

[Leothil]

You rocked this week! Congratulations on a great start! ^^

[Teros]

Congrats.  Beware the dreaded week 3- that's when boredom starts to sink in. Rock this week and you got some good momentum.

[Cledbo]

I'm so curious about your screenplays! Do you mind my asking what genre they are? I've got one that's been marinating for about a year now (had to take a break after writing my thesis), but I'm about ready to dive back into it.

 

The first one I'm working on is an adaptation of a sci-fi novel by Justina Robson (not telling which one, but all of her books are pretty boss

I want to write an original screenplay eventually, but only have a couple of ideas so far and haven't gotten any further than that. The adaptation is a good place for me to start learning the technical ropes because I already know what I want the movie to look like in my head - the trick is what to take out! It's so much harder than it sounds. 

What genre is yours, SkizzyLizzy?