Ornata - Loosen Up!

[Ornata]

Challenge Update: 9/27 - 9/29

 

You win some, you lose some.

 

Quest 1: Become flexy-bendy

 

Yesterday I was fed up with to-do lists. The concept of them and what I had written on them. I'd been drowning in to-do lists 7 days a week for months, and being ridiculously productive wasn't making my to-do lists any smaller. So I took a break from everything yesterday and just killed my day doing whatever I wanted. It was nice, but it also meant I missed a day of yoga. I kind of don't regret it one bit.

 

1 day missed so far.

 

Quest 2: Keep momentum going.

 

I progressed in several exercises today out of coincidence. My next workout is going to be truly special hahahaha

 

9/29 workout:

35s leg lift plank both sides

3x5 assisted one-legged squats

3x8 3/4 push-ups with eccentrics --> progress to push-ups or I'm going to be very frustrated with myself >_>

3x8 decline pike push-ups --> progress to decline pike diamond push-ups

3x8 inverted rows, legs bent --> progress to inverted rows, legs straight

 

0 days missed so far.

 

Quest 3: Have fun with it

 

9/28 - Didn't do anything because I was raging against the to-do list.

9/29 - Crow practice

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Life Quest: Stop being an Internet hermit

 

I've recovered, yay! Always room for improvement though.

[Amdhiel]

Yesterday I was fed up with to-do lists. The concept of them and what I had written on them. I'd been drowning in to-do lists 7 days a week for months, and being ridiculously productive wasn't making my to-do lists any smaller. So I took a break from everything yesterday and just killed my day doing whatever I wanted. It was nice, but it also meant I missed a day of yoga. I kind of don't regret it one bit.

 

I do a lot of reading about productivity and such because I always feel so scattered no matter what I'm doing. IMO to-do lists are more for getting random crap out of your head so that you don't waste energy always trying to remember it. I'm kinda a GTD person but I'm not stringent by any means because I end up in a similar place to where you were on Saturday. Gigantic list of all the things that MUST be done that are actually 'projects' from a GTD perspective that I don't have brain power to break up into actual tasks.

 

What I'm saying is that taking a day off to give your self some much desereved space from all the 'MUSTS' of your world is a good thing!

[Ornata]

Yeah, I have a tendency to write down every little thing I need to do or else I'll forget it. You're right that lumping all that crap together was just draining, making me feel like the tiniest thing was some big task I had to do to accomplish an arbitrary daily to-do list. I think from now on I'll try to focus on, or maybe even just emphasize, the most important things I need to get done and then chill out about the small stuff. Thanks!

[dsavage]

I'm so jealous of your yoga and flexibility stuff, I'd like to add some of those exercises to my routine next challenge.

[JazzyM]

Omg, shrimps look and are terrible! My, my bff, and one of my brother's all tried it and couldn't do them. My brother kinda did it in intermediate style but jeez! If you can do even one, then you rock, chickie!

 

I'm jealous of your new flexibility. Though I never could touch the floor with more than the tips of my fingers. 

[Ornata]

I'm so jealous of your yoga and flexibility stuff, I'd like to add some of those exercises to my routine next challenge.

 

Thank you, crewmate! It feels really good after a while.

 

Omg, shrimps look and are terrible! My, my bff, and one of my brother's all tried it and couldn't do them. My brother kinda did it in intermediate style but jeez! If you can do even one, then you rock, chickie!

 

I'm jealous of your new flexibility. Though I never could touch the floor with more than the tips of my fingers. 

 

Aww, thank you so much! It took a lot of weeks to get to doing them. I started doing squats, then full squats, then Bulgarian split squats, and then it took me a really long time to get the balance and stuff just for beginner shrimps. I think anyone can do them, it just takes time to work up to them!

 

Challenge Update: 9/30 - 10/1

 

I began October with a Very Special Workout.

 

Quest 1: Become flexy-bendy

 

I totally did yoga yesterday. Yeah. Like, all the way.

 

...okay it didn't even cross my mind to do it until I was lying in bed about to fall asleep. Crap. I'm losing momentum. If I miss one more day of this quest, I'll lose my chance at finishing with an A! I'm not even in school anymore and I still don't like the idea of getting a B.

 

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Quest 2: Keep momentum going

 

Today's workout, through sheer coincidence, consisted almost entirely of newly progressed exercises. >____>

 

40s leg lift plank both sides

3x6 assisted one-legged squats (holy crap these don't actually feel like death!)

3x4 push-ups (I can only get down to about 90-degrees bent elbows, but hey, I can finally do them!)

1x4, 2x8 inverted rows legs straight, legs bent (bleh. legs bent is too easy and legs straight is too hard. Or maybe I was just exhausted from the previous exercises)

3x4 decline pike diamonds (I have balance issues with this one, both on the foot side and the hands side.)

 

My upper body strength is total crap. I progress like crazy on the core and legs, but I'm still a beginner with anything related to upper body except maybe the pikes (which I can somehow do just fine? I dunno). This might be a good thing to focus on in the next challenge.

 

0 days missed so far.

 

Quest 3: Have fun with it

 

9/30 - Did some slippery hiking in the pouring rain while at work. Didn't fall into the creek. It was a balance thing and it was fun so I say it counts!

10/1 - More crow practice.

 

I'm going to start handstand practice using Steve's guide. I'm not going to do it every day, though, because I already have plenty of things I need to worry about doing every day, I'm just going to integrate it into my repertoire of things I can do to "have fun with it" whenever I'm not out in the mountains.

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Life Quest: Stop being an Internet hermit

 

I didn't do any NF yesterday (long day at work followed by hunkering down and getting some freakin' writing done), but I still feel like I'm doing okay with this since I spent a crapload of time on the forums on Sunday and Monday.

 

Mini-Dungeon Week 3: Search NF for Resources

 

I think I'm going to skip out on this mini-dungeon. I spent months trawling NF and its forums before I joined the Rebellion, and applying those resources, and I don't think that doing it specifically for my challenge will help me at all. The difficulties I've had in my challenge so far only feel like small stumbles... I dunno, I think I might have made my first challenge too easy? Quest 2 is too easy at least, because it's something I already want to do all the time.

[lishvicious]

You are doing an awesome job - and the upper body strength will come - I think it is quite normal for women to be able to up their core and lower body strength a lot easier than the upper body. 

[alienjenn]

in my mind it's always better to make it a little too easy and entirely blow it out of the water than to make it too hard and feel like a failure

[Teros]

 

So I took a break from everything yesterday and just killed my day doing whatever I wanted. It was nice, but it also meant I missed a day of yoga. I kind of don't regret it one bit.

Everyone needs to decompress.

 

...okay it didn't even cross my mind to do it until I was lying in bed about to fall asleep. Crap. I'm losing momentum. If I miss one more day of this quest, I'll lose my chance at finishing with an A! I'm not even in school anymore and I still don't like the idea of getting a B.

 

 

Sorry. I saw it and needed to post.

 

I agree with what AJ has said above. It's much better to be easier on yourself and rock a challenge rather than make it too hard. Doing that only puts unneeded pressure on yourself. If you feel like motivation and energy is wavering, then I highly suggest you dial back your challenge a little bit. Far too often people will start off super strong but then eventually become overwhelmed and then give up. You don't want that.

[Ornata]

Now Lemon Grab makes me want to catch up on Adventure Time. Oh dear. Thanks for the great advice, everyone!

 

 

End of Week 3 Report

 

Halfway through and I'm not doing bad. Stumbled a bit, could always stand to improve, but overall seems pretty good as far as accomplishing my goals goes. It's a boring thing to say in a challenge, and I don't even have an image to spice things up. I find myself daydreaming about what I'll want to work on in my next challenge, so I have to rein myself in by telling myself I'm only halfway done with this one. Like I said before, I'm an eager beaver.

 

Quest 1: Become flexy-bendy

 

I'm sticking to this quest solely from fear of getting downgraded to a B at the end. I'll need to rekindle my original motivation in order to have any hope of not missing a single day of flexibility for 3 more weeks.

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Quest 2: Keep momentum going

 

Yeah, still going strong. Here was my most recent workout which I did today, 10/5:

 

60s leg lift plank both sides --> progress to arm and leg lift plank

1x8 assisted one-legged squats (Went for the second set, felt sharp pain in the knee that I banged up in the mountains the other day, and was like NOPE)

3x6 push-ups

3x4 inverted rows, legs straight

3x6 decline pike diamonds

 

0 days missed so far.

 

Quest 3: Have fun with it

 

I can hold crow for about 15 solid seconds now. I had to stop crow practice after I banged up my knee the other day. Dunno what I did, but it's all bruised. I can walk on it fine, it just doesn't like having a bunch of pressure or weight on any part of it. Should be okay in a few days if I don't make it worse.

 

Handstand practice is fun. I also went on a hike with scrambles today, 7.6 miles. Lots of things I had to balance on to cross little streams and stuff. Haven't missed any days since I last updated.

 

2 days missed so far, iirc.

 

Life Quest: Stop being an Internet hermit

 

Gah. 20 minutes, Ornata. That's the minimum you need to do per day. Stop forgetting.

 

Bonus: Rewards and motivation

 

I think I need a little bit of a motivation boost to keep me chugging along. First, here's the loot I promise myself if and only if I complete the challenge. I originally wasn't planning on giving myself rewards, but I think I need it.

 

Loot for Completing Quest 1 with an A:

- Epic Transformation: I can change the race in my signature from "Golem" to "Wood Elf." This is kind of dumb to have as a reward but I actually find this motivating.

- Trekker's Boots: My work boots are falling apart and I'm a bit financially tight right now. I'd like to get a really nice pair that will last me a long time despite putting them through a lot of punishment in my line of work. My current pair can hang on until winter, but if I can stick with my quest I'll buy them now to suit my new existence as a mountain-frolicking wood elf.

 

Loot for Completing Quest 2 with an A:

- Jump Rope of +1 Warming Up: I know jump ropes only cost like five bucks, but it's not essential and I like the idea of it being a reward for a very easy quest. As it gets colder and colder, it would be nice to be able to warm up faster and easier and I think jumping rope really really fast will help.

 

Loot for Completing Quest 3 with an A:

- TBD. Need to figure out something really fun to do or try that won't bleed my wallet.

 

Loot for Completing Life Quest with an A (only attainable if I really kick it into high gear this last half):

- CutLass Knife: I'd like to get a new knife, but I just can't bring myself to splurge on one since I don't really need it.

 

Loot for Completing This Challenge:

- Shiny New Video Game: Buy a video game I've been eying for a while. I don't buy new video games very often so this is a treat. (Haven't decided which one yet).

- Key to the Extra Restaurant Trip: Me and my other half only go out to dinner once a month to save money and have it as a special occasion. If I can complete this challenge, I'll cut loose and take the boy out to dinner a second time in the month.

 

Let's see how much loot I can get at the end.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

I love your rewards!!

Sent through a magic box.

[starsapart]

Woohoo!  You're doing so awesome!!!

 

And happy level up day.

[Amdhiel]

You can totally rock this! Adding a few rewards to keep your momentum going is a great idea.

[JazzyM]

Wooo, you can do it! I love your rewards, as well, great motivation. 

 

Keep it up!

[dsavage]

Your reward system is impressive. What's more impressive is the amount of self discipline you

clearly exercise normally on things like eating out.

 

Keep posting, you are inspiring us all!

[LiserFrenche]

Great job on Week 3 and love your rewards!

How is Week 4 going?

Congrats making it to Level 1!

(Can you tell writing is not my strong point?)

[Ornata]

End of Week 4 Report, Since I Totally Failed to Do My Normal Every-Other-Day Updates This Week

 

 

Still haven't fallen off the wagon quite yet! A few factors collided to make me put NF posting on the backburner: I was placed in a supervisory position at work (unexpected considering my "rank" in the bureaucracy), I spent the week fighting off something aka sleeping whenever I can, and I've been trying to work around some problems with knee pain. I'm considering giving myself an excused "pass" this week for my life goal so I can really put in a good-faith effort for dat CutLass Knife, but we'll see.

 

Quest 1: Become flexy-bendy

 

Until just recently I stopped doing the 30-Day Yoga Challenge and instead did a freeform stretching routine every day. Felt off every day and probably didn't make progress, but at least I stuck to my goal. I'm starting to use the 30-Day Yoga Challenge as a cooldown for my bodyweight exercises in addition to doing it on its own every other day, and that's helping me keep up with the habit too.

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Quest 2: Keep momentum going

 

I did a workout on Tuesday...

 

20s arm and leg lift plank both sides

3x8 assisted one-legged squats --> holy crap that was difficult, not gonna progress until that doesn't feel like death on a stick

3x7 push-ups

3x5 inverted rows

3x7 decline pike diamonds

 

...and after that workout I just felt completely exhausted, way more than usual. My body was giving me red flags. In hindsight I think I just felt that way because I was coming down with something, but I decided after the Tuesday workout I was going to skip my Thursday workout and take it easy.

 

So I did my next workout on Saturday, and I still felt not so good so I decided to tone it down a lot. I cut out the one-legged squats and dialed back almost all the other exercises. That turned out to be a good idea because I felt pretty good afterward, and it was better than skipping another day.

 

20s arm and leg lift plank both sides

1x7 push-ups, 2x8 3/4 push-ups with eccentrics

3x8 inverted rows, legs bent

3x8 decline pike push-ups --> progress to wall bent waist handstand push-ups (so excited for this!!)

 

1 day missed so far.

 

Quest 3: Have fun with it

 

I'm technically still doing this, but I feel like I've lost touch with the spirit of this quest. I don't have any boulders or trees to climb at work anymore (different program locale) so I've been just doing practice for crow, wall handstands and double elbow levers. Which are cool, but I don't sit there thinking "wow this is so much fun and not just a routine I'm going through the motions for!"

 

New Goal: Don't do the same thing, or the same sequence of things (crow, handstand, levers), in a row. (Or, if I do them, they don't count for this quest. It has to be fun and fresh!)

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Life Quest: Stop being an Internet hermit

 

I'm gonna say I was too busy trying not to fall off the wagon on my main quests to work on this >_> God I'm so behind on CutLass stuff, I'M SORRY DRUNKEN BARMAID *sob*

 

But I might give myself a pass for this week. We'll see. I'm feeling better now, both in terms of mystery illness and knees, so there's no excuse anymore.

[Amdhiel]

Take it easy on yourself!! Your life quest and accountability groups are less important than the quests that contribute to your main goal. You had a great week 4 even though you got thrown for a loop at work and were trying to get sick. You stuck with it, did your best to make smart decisions and adapt to changing conditions which are all amazing accomplishments!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[lullaby88]

Awesome Week 4! And Amdhiel is right. Focus on your goals first, everything else is just extra.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

[JazzyM]

The Drunken Barmaid forgives you! Always remember that RL comes before us, so always take care of yourself.

 

Also, congrats on the new position? Can't tell if you're happy about it or not, lol.

 

Keep up the good work!

[Ornata]

Update: 10/12 - 10/13

 

I got my boyfriend to start doing bodyweight exercises with me!! It wasn't intentional. He asked me about it after a hike we did yesterday. We climbed a small mountain and I spent a long time squeeing about a trail nearby that I really want to do that goes over ~3.5 miles of the very top of a mountain ridge (one-way, so like 7-ish miles of punishing hiking total). He'd been mentioning the growing gap in our fitness levels for a while now and I think he finally realized that he'd need to start working on fitness if he wanted to join me on the increasingly difficult hikes I keep wanting to do. I'm so pleasantly surprised and happy! I won't ever need to hike alone, which is a bit dangerous on some of these trails.

 

Even though I've had to tone some exercises down so my knees can heal from a mystery minor injury, I'm still really happy with how everything is going. I'm able to lift heavy things at work (the first time in my life I've ever impressed someone with my strength), hike up mountains, I'm as flexible as a normal person now, and I can balance not-terribly and do a couple cool tricks. Can't wait to see where I end up at the end of the challenge in 2 weeks.

 

Quest 1: Become flexy-bendy

 

I'm still doing it! And it's fun again!

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Quest 2: Keep momentum going

 

Knee pain is an issue. Strange knee pain, too. I dialed back to beginner shrimps again just to keep my legs moving, but I want to go back to one-legged squats as soon as I can without hurting myself.

 

30s arm and leg lift plank

3x8 beginner shrimps

3x8 3/4 push-ups with eccentrics

3x8 flat straight leg raises

3x6 inverted rows

3x4 wall bent waist handstand push-ups (asjdlaskfhdj these are so tough but I feel like such a badass when I do them!!)

 

Also a bunch of easier exercises in the progressions since I was showing the other half how to do them. We spent a lot of time today just figuring out where he was fitness-wise, so it'll be more formal for him later on.

 

1 day missed so far.

 

Quest 3: Have fun with it

 

Indeed I have. Yesterday we went on a difficult hike at a new location -- loved it. I had a funny moment where we came across this rocky cliff. I blurted out (going from old habits), "I'm not gonna climb on that." Then there was a pause, and then I realized what I just said and I was like "Okay I'm totally climbing that, actually." XD And that's how I got a sweet picture of me standing on the edge of a cliff with the little mountain we'd just climbed in the background.

 

Today I did handstand practice, crow practice, and started doing Supermans to strengthen my lower back so I can start working on double elbow levers, and I actually found all of this to be fun, and did it because I genuinely wanted to and not just out of habit, so it'll count.

 

Life Quest: Stop being an Internet hermit.

 

Not bad. Chugging along.

[tundralily]

Wow, you are ROCKING this challenge! Way to go, you inspired me today. Well done!

[Anaticula]

Great to hear that your boyfriend is going to be joining you for your exercise.  Having someone to work out with really helps! Keep up the good work!

[Ornata]

Challenge Update: 10/14 - 10/15

 

Quest 1: Become flexy-bendy

 

Hells yeah.

 

2 days missed so far.

 

Quest 2: Keep momentum going

 

I did my very first balance-assisted one-legged squats today! Only 1x4 though. My knee is fine if I wear a knee brace, but I don't want to hurt it further so I'm taking things slow.

 

Too bad I'm backsliding/plateauing in everything else.

 

20s arm and leg lift plank, both sides

1x4 balance-assisted one-legged squats, 2x8 beginner shrimps

3x5 push-ups

3x4 wall bent waist handstand push-ups

+ quite a few inverted rows, which I'm doing every day (sets scattered throughout the day when at home) to support my crew in the CutLass mini this week and tracking separately.

 

1 day missed so far.

 

Quest 3: Have fun with it

 

Yep!

 

10/14: wall handstand for as long as I could. Getting really comfortable being upside-down.

10/15: double elbow lever practice, also known as "purposeful flopping"

 

Life quest: Stop being an Internet hermit

 

For the first time during this challenge I've been keeping up with all my subscribed topics every single day! I'm not posting in all those topics, but at least I'm keeping up. I still have a chance to get that knife at the end of the challenge if I keep this up.

[alienjenn]

I love being upside down  

 

one of the things that I do to work on shoulder strength to help with my addiction hobby is pike push ups

 

 

 

they are SUPER helpful