[lucky] ... what's my motivation?

[lucky]

Hello all!  This is my first challenge (a little late, as usual), and I'm curious to see how these things go.  As I'm starting in NerdFitness, I'm also starting grad school so I want to do my best to establish healthy habits right from the get go.

Main Quest: In a couple of months I want to be agile enough to walk on my hands.

Goal 1: Hold a handstand for 10 seconds.  I plan to start with headstands against the wall, gradually work into a handstand, and over time move out and do these without support.

Goal 2: Eat an actual dinner every night, no more extended grazing sessions!  It is so easy to get home from work and grab and apple.  And then a bananna a little later.  And then a beer after that.  And then some chips a bit later on.  And then.... yeah, no more of that!

Goal 3: Run 5k 3x weekly.  I recently got to the point where I can jog a 5k, and I intend to maintain a habit of it.

Life Side Quest:  Brew a barelywine in a specific style.  It's very easy to cobble a recipe together for a high gravity beer and let it go (as long as you maintain sanitary conditions).  It's not so easy to have a specific goal in mind, maintain fermentation temperature, transfer on schedule and monitor all the other millions of variables involved in brewing.  The purpose of this side quest is akin to trimming of the bonsai; to take onself out of the immediacy of everyday life and strive for a perfection over time.

My motivation for doing this challenge:
I've never seen myself as being athletic, and for me the whole purpose of being in shape is to be able to do amazing things.  Performing acrobatic feats (backflips, handstands etc..) has always fascinated me, but as a 6'1" guy it seemed out of place for me to try it.  Now, though, it's time that my interests override my doubts.  It's time to see what this body can do!

[Jawad170]

Awesome, you made the challenge, and it looks great! 

Quilly's doing handstands for her challenge as well, but her goal is to do pushups with them not walk, yet. =p

 

Anyway, good luck, Lucky. *highfive* , wait, *lowfive* ? 

[alienjenn]

I have been following this for handstands.... although I have a LOT of arthritis in my hands :/ so I am kinda stuck.... 

 

 

I demand fully expect pictures 

[GingaNinja]

Hey lucky! I’m Leeroy an Ambassador for the Adventurer’s!

 

Good goals and welcome to Level 1 and good luck with your challenge!

 

If you’re interested in finding more tips, stories, and motivation from Adventurers that have similar goals to yours head on over to the Adventurer’s Tavern where you’ll find people always willing to chat. If you’d like to talk to me you can either check out my current challenge or pm me on the board.  If you have any questions on how to use the forums, check out this tutorial. I’ll be following your topic here as well so you’ll probably see me again anyway.

 

Good luck with your challenge!

[lucky]

Jawad:

It looks like Quilly is leaps and bounds beyond what I can do right now, but that is definitely something I aspire to.  Thanks!

 

Alienjenn:

Hey, that resource is spot on, thanks alienjenn!  So, following those instructions I'm able to get close to the 1-foot mark from the wall... it's just being comfortable with my contingency plan once I push free and the weight starts to pull to the other direction, you know?  I do have photographic evidence of what I can do, it'll just take a moment to figure out how to upload it.  Proof to follow.

 

KingLeeroy:

Thanks for looking out!  If you have any suggestions/tips, I'm all ears.  Thanks!

[alienjenn]

Coolio!

[lucky]

 

Allrighty, hope this works!

[alienjenn]

WOOT looks great

[IrishMartian]

That looks awesome! big woot. Now I want to try a handstand to complete my push up challenge. Might make sure I'm not alone in the house when I try it for ambulance calling purposes.

[lullaby88]

Hey Lucky! Welcome to the Nerd Fitness forums! I'm Lullaby, one of the ambassadors for the Assassins' Guild. I see you are working on handstands. Did you know that fits in with the training that some Assassins go through?   Well, now you do! 

 

If you haven't been around the forums yet, here's a link to more information about the Assassin's Guild. We have a phonebook where you can find fellow Assassins that may follow your same training habits. There's also the Assassins' Den where we hang out and chat. If you have any questions, stop by the Assassins' Den. You can also reach me by using the private messenger system (click the envelope at the top right of the screen) or you can post on my thread.

 

Best of luck in your goals!

Lullaby

[lucky]

I hear ya, IrishMartian, which is why I'm starting to work on the bailing out portion of the handstand.  It looks like the pirouette bail is the recomended way out... the step-by-step instructions are a little mechanical for my liking (do X, then Y, then Z all as the fear of god is running through you as you come crashing to the ground.... ), but so far my approximation of the technique is: turn and lead with one foot.  Which, oddly enough, is the starting technique for a great number of things in life!

[alienjenn]

this is my favorite description of the pirouette bail

[GingaNinja]

Nice handstand thingy! Looks like you are having fun

[lucky]

Allrighty, made it through the work-week and progress is decent.  I'm thinking, however, about altering goal #3...

 

Progress-

 

Goal #1:  Able to handstand against the wall for 60 seconds! (Whoo!)

               Still working on executing a pirouette bail in a way that doesn't resemble a sack of potatoes falling over.  I'm not discouraged, though, this is a skill and skills take time.  Besides, my couch cushions acting as landing pads seem rather happy on the floor.

 

Goal #2:  This one has been the most challenging so far... three times this week I've looked up and realized it's 9:30 and I haven't eaten yet.  I'll still make a quick-small meal then, but I need to do something to eat closer to the 7 o'clock mark.  So, this morning I'm cooking some chickens to freeze and take out during the week to help get a timely meal.  We'll see how that works!

 

Goal #3:  Jogged/ran 3x this week.  This one I've decided to alter to incorporate interval training.  Basically, for two non-consecutive workouts I will work interval training, and in between these two will be the 5k jog.  I am still only going 3 times a week, but this way I get the exercize benefits while mitigating the wear-and-tear on my body.

 

Well, that's where I am at right now.  Gotta say, I'm happy with the progress I've made so far, and it's definitely been inspirational reading the challenges that others have posted.  And rest assured, when I can pirouette bail with some semblance of grace, video will follow (may take a while!).

[GingaNinja]

Nice one on the handstand, that is awesome!

 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm chicken

 

Sounds like you are making excellent progress well done! I just wanted to ask if you've joined an accountabilibuddies group yet, if not I am running one, a few people joined late so the more the merrier.

 

If you fancy it, here is the link: Potentials

[lucky]

Thanks KingLeeroy!  I think I will head over there and make my introductions as soon as I find a couple of consecutive free moments.  Much appreciated!

[lullaby88]

Awesome progress during your first week. 

 

Keep it up!

[T2sarahconnor]

Nice progress on your handstands!

You should introduce yourself to band camp. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/51237-bandcamp-life-before-death-strength-before-weakness-journey-before-destination/

He is a home brewer too!

[GingaNinja]

I keep meaning to get into home brewing, A few people I know do it, we do have a demijohn and a wine kit, I got my boyfriend a beginners set for a birthday, he still hasn't used it. so this makes me sad! Hopefully we can get it going soon, I want to make ginger wine god dammit!

[lucky]

 

T2sarahconnor -

 

Nice progress on your handstands!

You should introduce yourself to band camp. http://rebellion.ner...re-destination/

He is a home brewer too!

 

Thanks, I've started reading his challenge thread.  Of course, now I'm thinking about a chocolate stout.  At 7AM.  On a Saturday.... this could be a long day!

 

 

KingLeeroy -

 

I keep meaning to get into home brewing, A few people I know do it, we do have a demijohn and a wine kit, I got my boyfriend a beginners set for a birthday, he still hasn't used it. so this makes me sad! Hopefully we can get it going soon, I want to make ginger wine god dammit!

 

Definitely start now!  And if not now, then Now!  Seriously, though, homebrewing is a lot of fun and as long as you maintain sanitation you're going to make some quality quaffables.  Just a heads up: I've brewed a ginger mead before and it takes a long time (like 6 months or so) for the ginger to lose its heat and harshness if you use too much.  So, I would suggest either going easy on the spice or (and I recommend this next one) make a ginger wine in one demijohn and a quick-turnaround dandelion wine in another.  Let me know if you get started!

 

O.K., so, the weekly update:

 

Update Goal #1:  Able to kick up into the wall with some consistency, however finding that 'sweet spot' after pushing back off is somewhat elusive.  I did manage to find and hold it for about 3 seconds earlier this week, but that's the longest I've gotten so far.  Still, I've proven to the inner doubter that I can do it, so this week I aim to improve my controled balance time and by Friday try to kick up in the middle of a room without a wall to stop me.

Update Goal #2:  Small improvement over last week: post-work feedings are occurring earlier than before and I haven't been snacking after dinner, but one of the meals this week was take-out and a couple of others were barely better.  

So, I realize that most people don't try eating more to lose weight, but this goal is part of a larger plan.  I've found that there are two ways to make me ravenously hangry: to have three cups of coffee, skip breakfast and wait until 10:30AM ; or to keep track of calories and dictate how much I can and can't eat.  My hope is to get used to eating at set times throughout the day first, and then start to quantify what's going in in the next challenge.

Update Goal #3:  Decent improvement here, altered my original goal to incorporate interval training into the 5k schedule.  I've always been a night-runner... fewer people, it's quiet and I can use it to work out the stress of the day.  But, given that I am trying to eat an actual dinner and that running on a full stomach is less than awesome, this week I will try out running in the morning at least once.  You know, to confuse my body even more. 

 

[lucky]

Aaaaaand the barelywine has been brewed!

Life Quest (aspect = Precision of Thought and Action) for this 6 week challenge has almost reached completion.  I just need to give all the little yeasties a few more weeks to squirt out EtOH and belch out CO2 before transfering to the secondary fermenter and that is all I will need to do until December.

So.... seeing as to how this is only week three, I want to play around with some ideas concerning the next challenge before it starts.  Having weighed myself for the first time in a year, I realized I am 215lbs.  Which is what I was last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.  So, "Yay" for not gaining any weight, but I think it's time to 'undo the goo', which will require some hefty (ha ha) dietary changes.

Eating on a regular schedule has been the most difficult part of my challenge, so for the remaining three weeks I am going to implement a philosophy of "Buy what you eat, eat what you buy".  In other words, assign one area in the fridge for the produce and healthy perishables that will be consumed by this time next week.  Reduce food waste and reduce my waist.  (sorry, horrible I know, but I couldn't resist)

[Hazard]

I like that you're adding on after completing a goal early.  Very cool.  Keep up the great work!

[dsavage]

Congrats on reaching your goal!

I know lots of folks around here have had good luck with the paleo diet,

but yeah getting a routine down and planning your meals is a HUGE step

towards being successful.

 

Also, fun to see another Wheel Of Time fan around here! I know a horn of valere when I see it, guess

it's obvious who "lucky" is supposed to be.

[GingaNinja]

The kit I got him came with a ginger wine kit as well so going to give that a shot sometimes as well. Would be more interesed in forraged stuff to make wine with a mate of mine makes an amazing elderflower champagne!

[GingaNinja]

You are doing great work Lucky keep it up!