Tundralily - Clear mind, courageous heart, can't lose!

[tundralily]

Introduction

 

Hi I’m tundralily! Last challenge I focused on finding the harmony within, in an attempt to stabilize my mental health. I’m happy to say that while parts of my challenge didn’t pan out, I’m in a much better place mentally and spiritually and build a source of harmony within. I went home to my family, recovered while on stress leave, and came back to a terrible job with the strength to get out. The end of my challenge saw a couple shake-ups, with an unexpected move, an unexpected new job, and lots of change!  

 

When I was at home during my stress leave, my shield siblings (chosen family) reminded me that my home travels with me, and is really my community, the people that I love, and the lessons they taught me over the years. The lessons of acceptance, kindness, joy and justice. They reminded me that home isn't outside of me; it’s a place deep inside where I feel loved, connected and know that I belong.

 

The places where I have loved reflect this space inside of me, but do not create this place inside. Any place can become a home with love, connection, and knowing that I belong. This process starts from the inside out, not the outside in.  For the time being, I’m staying in the place where I live now, let’s see about building this into a home.

 

 

Main Quest

 

Building strength, calm, harmony, and restoration of my heart, body, soul, and mind.
 

To lay a new foundation, one brick on top of another for to building a home and safe space inside myself

 

I will face each day with an open heart, be adventurous in all the ways that piqued my curiosity, have specific long-term goals, and practice kindness and compassion towards myself. I will meet myself where I am with love, compassion, and without judgement. I will celebrate the smallest of successes and be gentle with myself if I fail, focusing instead on learning what works for me. I will respect the limitations of my mind, body, heart and soul, and find the edges where I can growth from.

 

 

Challenge Quest – Keep Flying and Stay Shiny!

 

My current enemy is my fatigue and lack of energy. I’m doing some medical investigating to figure out why I’m so tired all the time, but I want to get a hold of my lifestyle factors that may be contributing to feeling out of gas all the time. If I can restore my energy, there is no power in the verse that can stop me!

 

Quest 1:  Don't make me sleep again!

A )I’ll be in my bunk! (+2 STA)

-          In bed with lights out by 10pm weekdays or as adjusted to feel well rested in the morning (0/30)

You can't take the sky from me! – Waking up early (+ 1 STA)

-          Week 1 – 6:30 wake up – to lessen the shock of week 2!

-          Week 2 – 5:45 wake up time (0/5)

-          Weeks 3 – 6 – Adjust as needed (0/25)

c) Build a morning routine that includes a high protein paleo friendly breakfast (+2 CON)

 

I’m starting a new job on the 22^nd that includes a 90 min commute each way for the time being. I want to be out the door by 6:30 in the morning to be at work on time. I want to wake up in the morning feeling well rested and a good start to the day! Unfortunately I won’t be able to do a gradual shift due to my commute starting next week, its all in or else!

 

Quest 2: I aim to misbehave! (Strong Body) (+4 STR)

-          Complete beginner’s body weight workout 3x per week (0/18)

I used to lift heavily when I was still a competitive ski racer, but haven’t lifted for fun in years. I would love to change that, and do a proper push-up! Also, I would love to learn how to do a handstand. That’s a skill I’ve never developed.

 

Quest 3: I’m a leaf on the wind, watch me soar!

Improve flexibility through stretching/yoga/myofascial release daily  (+DEX 3)

A – 35-40 days

B – 25-34  days

C – 15-24 days

D - <15 days

 

Life Quest – Stash the cargo! (+ 3 WIS)

 

My motley crew and I (the dog hubby) are moving to a new apartment at the end of the month – shiny! In order to make this move, I need to stash our cargo and pack all of the things.

A – Packed and organized by September 20^th

B – Packed and organized by September 24^th

C – Packed and organized by September 27^th

[Anaticula]

Fellow CutLass checking in to see how you're challenges is looking, can't wait to see what goals you decide on.

[ChristArtist]

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[tundralily]

Starting measurements (inches)

 

Neck: 15.75

Shoulders: 44

Chest: 40 

Bicep: 11.5

Waist: 37 

Hips: 45

Thigh: 23.5

 

Fancy Photos!

 

 

[tundralily]

Wahoo challenge goals updated! I'm really looking forward to this challenge. I hope I'll be able to create some stability with some new routines in what will be a very crazy couple weeks. In the meantime....

 

  

[Harihead]

Tundralily, what a beautiful name for your challenge, and what wonderful goals! I'm an early-morning person, but leaving at 6:30 sounds brutal. Best wishes to you!

 

I had a high-protein breakfast in the airport (whilst flying early) that consisted of two fried eggs and a chicken breast, with a couple slices of tomato on the side. I have to say, it stuck with me through the day of travel. I hope you can find something that works for you. 

 

I'm still doing the beginner's body weight workout, slowly building week by week. The changes are happening! It makes me happy, because I too used to be a lot more active. It's a relief to get my body back. 

 

Best wishes to you on your challenging goals. Hang in there!

[Anaticula]

I like your challenge.  You have set yourself up some really good goals.  Can't wait to hear how you do on them.

[tundralily]

Day one is tough so far! I was in my bunk by 10pm last night....and didn't fall asleep till 3am. Derp. I still plan on getting up at 630 no matter how much sleep I get this week, luckily I don't really have a choice on the early wake ups next week and tend to do better with do or die situations where things become necessity.

I got up at 6:30 feeling sluggish and tired and tried to do a bbww, but found that my push ups are awful. I'm thinking that I'll have to start with wall push ups which is kinda disappointing. I was hoping to start with on the knees or incline but I wasn't able to hold proper form and ran out of time. I did stretch and foam roll this morning, whicnh is great for my sore shoulders!

I also forgot to ask my hubby to get what I needed for breaky, so no good there. My plan is to stop by the grocery store on the way home but I'm kinda stuck on what to grab. I am unfortunately allergic to eggs (and wheat) so that as a protein source is out. Anyone have any ideas on easy paleo ish egg free high protein breakfasts?

Today so far is also not so good with work. Super stressful and demanding bosses. Gods I'm looking forward to no more crazy bosses.

[tundralily]

I encountered a swarm of screeching eels today - in the form of my in ability to sleep last night and how my fatigue is impacting my ability to work and daily activity. In order to do battle with the swarm, I'm going to: 

 

STOP
S - Stop - look at the situation - what is really happening? 

I'm running on an inadequate amount of sleep, facing a stressful day at work, and am disappointed by my workout this morning.

T - Take a detached look at the situation - what is the ups and downs?

Its not my fault that I didn't sleep last night 

Today is another and better day 

I can work to minize the impact of less sleep by working to go to bed at the right time tonight (not early) 

The fact that I couldn't do full push up this morning is ok and not a big deal. It is where I'm at right now.According to my main quest, I can meet myself where I am with love, compassion, and without judgement. This is a limitation of my current abilities and an edge that I can grow from. 

My (percieved) failure doesn't mean that I am in any way deficient or a failure. It is merely where I am at right now

 

O - Open your mind to answers

 

I will celebrate the smallest of successes and be gentle with myself if I fail - I did 2 sets of 20 wall push ups so far today. I can redo my workout after work to increase the likelihood that I sleep better tonight and track my progress.

 

I can work to improve the likelihood of a better sleep tonight by switching to water instead of caffeine as of now and be present with my fatigue.

 

If I find my cognitive abilities are slipping at work, I can switch to a different task on my to-do list, take a walk, stretch, or eat something

 

When I get home tonight I can focus on keeping up with some activity (i.e. doing dishes) by pacing myself as I learned in my chronic pain workshop. I'll review my techniques in my book when I get home. 

 

 

P - Progress 

I will implement my above plan this afternoon (I'm on lunch) and send it to my email so I can see it at work as a reminder, and check things off as I go. 

 

Thanks again ChristArtist for the technique! Its awesome and I feel much better and less anxious. 
 

So - S.T.O.P.! Anything going on for anyone else that this may help? Let me know how I can support you with your eels etc!

[JazzyM]

I like that break down you did, It looks like a very helpful tool to help you look at where you're at more objectively. Love it.

 

Dude, I find even wall push ups hard, lol. You kicked it doing 20! Keep it up!

[Shello]

Ahoy mate.  Your challenge looks great and I love the STOP technique. 

 

Love the Princess Bride references.. 

 

Subbing to following my fellow pirate.

[tundralily]

Ahoy mate.  Your challenge looks great and I love the STOP technique. 

 

Love the Princess Bride references.. 

 

Subbing to following my fellow pirate.

 

Thanks Lady! I got the STOP technique off of ChristArtist in my last accountibuddies group, I love it. Hope you had a good day!

I like that break down you did, It looks like a very helpful tool to help you look at where you're at more objectively. Love it.

 

Dude, I find even wall push ups hard, lol. You kicked it doing 20! Keep it up!

Thanks for the encouragement, much appreciated! 

[tundralily]

Day 2 Update - Noodle legs!

 

I had an emotionally difficult day today, things went down badly at work and I ended up getting yelled at by a colleague. No fun. Wahoo for two more days at this job!

 

I ended up completing 2 rounds of the bodyweight workout last night and it felt really good. Much happiness all around. My legs today however are like noodles! I'm going to do another stretching session before I head to bed, that will bring it to 3 so far today. Unfortunately I didn't manage to fall asleep again till late and overslept my 6:30 wakeup (partially to blame because I gave up control of my alarm to my hubby, going to set my own alarm tonight!). I'm feeling fairly tired but not so much more than usual. 

 

I also had my first coaching meeting of the ski season today which means....WINTER IS COMING!! And, even better.....!!!

 

 

I coach alpine ski racing all winter, and will be having two groups this year. This will be my 11th season as a coach. I'm so excited! Time to go to bed and look at shiny new ski boots from my gear guide that arrived in the mail  

[ChristArtist]

What! Coaching alpine ski racing? You are like a "frozen" princess. ..as in, the movie frozen... the cold doesn't bother you anyway!

I'm so glad the group helped. .. you are rocking it. .. even with some sads.

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[Charlie_Quinn]

Hello fellow CutLass! Love your challenge, especially the Firefly theme! 

 

Subbing!

[JazzyM]

Looking good! Hope for more updates soon

[Teros]

The lessons of acceptance, kindness, joy and justice. They reminded me that home isn't outside of me; it’s a place deep inside where I feel loved, connected and know that I belong.

I wasn't expecting to water my beard this morning.  That's what this place is to me.

 

I would love to change that, and do a proper push-up!

Where are you at currently with this? It took me a while but I went from 0-50 of them. You can get to regular pushups by going from wall pushups, to incline pushups, to normal ones. When you do incline pushups, you might want to drop to lower and lower inclines. However, a common mistake I see on here are people that do knee pushups. This doesn't engage the core as much, and also you can't keep glutes and legs tight and in a straight planking position.  I'm not saying progress with knee pushups is impossible, I'm just saying that it's much, much, more helpful if you go the incline route since during the inclines, you actually do engage all of those muscles that are neglected with the knee version.

 

Looks solid. Hope you have a great challenge

[tundralily]

What! Coaching alpine ski racing? You are like a "frozen" princess. ..as in, the movie frozen... the cold doesn't bother you anyway!

I'm so glad the group helped. .. you are rocking it. .. even with some sads.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

You are the reason I didn't give up last time CA! Thanks for being so amazing and supportive. 

 

I am a ski coach, and love hanging out with the littles! I wish the cold didn't get to me, I look like a snowman on skiis with the all the layers I have to wear. My hubby swears I'm a block of ice 90% of the time! I still love the winter anyway. 

Hello fellow CutLass! Love your challenge, especially the Firefly theme! 

 

Subbing!

 

Ahoy there lass, glad to have you on board! Thank fer dropping an anchor on me challenge!

Looking good! Hope for more updates soon

Ahoy there lass, glad to have you on board! Thank fer dropping an anchor on me challenge!

 

I wasn't expecting to water my beard this morning.  That's what this place is to me.

 

Where are you at currently with this? It took me a while but I went from 0-50 of them. You can get to regular pushups by going from wall pushups, to incline pushups, to normal ones. When you do incline pushups, you might want to drop to lower and lower inclines. However, a common mistake I see on here are people that do knee pushups. This doesn't engage the core as much, and also you can't keep glutes and legs tight and in a straight planking position.  I'm not saying progress with knee pushups is impossible, I'm just saying that it's much, much, more helpful if you go the incline route since during the inclines, you actually do engage all of those muscles that are neglected with the knee version.

 

Looks solid. Hope you have a great challenge

Love all the inspiration, thanks for stopping by Teros! 

 

I just finished being able to complete 3 sets of 20 wall push-ups with my bodyweight workouts, according to Steve's advice here. Thanks for the advice about doing incline push-ups, that's a great idea to skip over the knee push-ups.  I'm going to try a set of incline push-ups with my next BWW tomorrow. 

[tundralily]

Week 1 Update

 

This week was a tough week all around. It took me a couple days to actually fall asleep around 10:00, keeping the 6:30 wake up definitely helped but made for some really long and tired days. 

 

I finished my old toxic job on Thursday, and have been detoxing ever since. The last day was awful, my boss and coworkers were not being friendly about me leaving and I ended up leaving early because I was so sick and tired of people yelling at me. Good riddance! 

 

I start my new job on Monday and am feeling rather anxious about it Its a much larger company and large team to work with, instead of me struggling to deal with things all on my own with no support. My department has 15 people in it, and I'll be in a technical support role, mostly focusing on doing some mapping in the first bit. Yay for being able to use ArcGIS again!!

 

My energy levels have been kinda all over the place, mostly trending towards tired. I'm going to add a mini goal of tracking my levels to see what makes a difference. My BWW workouts were awesome this week! I managed to complete 2 circuits with a break in between. This week, I'd like to try and see if I can reduce the break to 2 minutes and then add incline pushups. 

 

Quest 1:  Don't make me sleep again!
A )I’ll be in my bunk! (+2 STA)
 

In bed with lights out by 10pm weekdays or as adjusted to feel well rested in the morning - I did great on this one! 5 weeknights in a row  for 5/30 for the challenge 
 

You can't take the sky from me! – Waking up early (+ 1 STA)

Week 1 – 6:30 wake up: I did not as well with this one, I ended up getting up at 6:30 3/5 times this week (3/30 so far). 

c) Build a morning routine that includes a high protein paleo friendly breakfast (+2 CON)

 

Due to a lack of planning, this was not a sucessful week for this one. I had chicken for breaky one morning, then fruit the rest of the week for 1/5. I have some ideas on my grocery list for some breaky prep tomorrow for the week. I'm thinking of making up some smoothies and leaving a big container in the fridge I can grab from in the mornings. 

Quest 2: I aim to misbehave! (Strong Body) (+4 STR)
Complete beginner’s body weight workout 3x per week (3/18)

 

I did all 3 workouts this week, wahoo! I like being able to complete it while I was cooking supper. It worked quite well and I'm looking forward to adding more this week. 

Quest 3: I’m a leaf on the wind, watch me soar!
Improve flexibility through stretching/yoga/myofascial release daily  (+DEX 3)
 
I stretched 6/7 days this week, forgot to stretch on Thursday. I'm going to put together a list of daily stretches to hit that I can check off. I have a list from my ostepath to complete, and love doing it, but I seem to like to forget some muscles!! That will help.

Life Quest – Stash the cargo! (+ 3 WIS)

My motley crew and I (the dog hubby) are moving to a new apartment at the end of the month – shiny! In order to make this move, I need to stash our cargo and pack all of the things.
A – Packed and organized by September 20th
B – Packed and organized by September 24th
C – Packed and organized by September 27th

 

Well its the 20th and I'm not fully packed like I wanted to be. Need to make a checklist so my hubby and I know where we are at and can make a team effort!

 

To Do List for tomorrow: 

- Finish meal plan for the week 

- Make breaky for the week off the meal plan

- Pack the ski room 

- Go grocery shopping 

- Make a daily list of stretches

- Clean out the car and prep it for the week

- Load up my phone with music, podcasts, and audiobooks for my commute this week!

[Charlie_Quinn]

Hey Tundralily, congrats on a great first week. I'm sorry to hear your last day of work didn't go well. Doing a job you hate for a horrible employer really drags you down. Hopefully now you are out of there, your energy levels might start to improve. Good luck in your new job!

[starsapart]

Popping over from the Cutlass thread to check out your challenge, and I flailed like an idiot over the Firefly references.  LOVE THEM!

 

Looks like you're doing well in progressing on your goals, too.  Moving is meserable, so as long as you get yourself ready to go on time, I would call it a win!  When we moved, we were packing still at 5am on moving day..... ahahahahahaha.

[tundralily]

Popping over from the Cutlass thread to check out your challenge, and I flailed like an idiot over the Firefly references.  LOVE THEM!

 

Looks like you're doing well in progressing on your goals, too.  Moving is meserable, so as long as you get yourself ready to go on time, I would call it a win!  When we moved, we were packing still at 5am on moving day..... ahahahahahaha.

Thanks for stopping by starsapart! I'm having a hard time packing this week, and am actually go to chance my life quest to a sucess if I move without forgetting anyone and we all make it through in one piece! Fingers crossed that it will go well. I'm exicited for more sun. We're moving from a basement to a cheaper third floor 2 bed. Now I can have a workout room! Although the hubby wants to call it an office...

[tundralily]

Week 2 Update - I found a gym! 

 

Things are going really well so far this week for me. I LOVE my new job, even though its a 240km 3 hr round trip for the time being. Its awesome! The people are super supportive and my boss is great. Its a super technical role supporting a forestry company, but I'm really liking the mix of field work and checking to see things on the ground in how we plan the forest. Its like doing puzzles with the forest, balancing all the wildlife, road, social, economic, and practical issues like where does a harvest area go in the first place? Super happy compared to my last job. Its night and day how much better this is. 

 

My coworker happen to overhear me talking about lifting, and mentioned that there's a really awesome gym nearby work. I'm going to join and am super exicited. Most people go home for lunch but I live out of town so its great to have something to do and go workout. I'm debating about whether to start lifting with the Starting Strength or new rules of lifting for women but figure I'll finish up with the BBWW first. Or the end of this challenge, whatever comes first. 

 

Getting up at 5:30 everyday has been a bit rough. I'm still adapting to the concept of an earlier bedtime am finding it hard to start getting ready for bed by 9:15 to be lights out at 10. I didn't sleep well last night and got about 4 hours sleep last night. However, I still did my workout today even though I wasn't able to do as many reps as on Sunday for most things. Got tired pretty quick, and ended a bit early to have a good stretch. I figure sticking to my routine is super key no matter how tired I may be and am proud of myself for not using being tired as a reason to not do things today! 

 

Hope all of your weeks are going well, will catch up later in the week once my moving frenzy is done. 

[tundralily]

Adventurer's Second Mini - Lift the things!

 

The second adventurers mini is fun! Summarized here for tracking purposes

 

From my workout today: Mybodyweight factor is 98 (196lbs/2)
BW Squats: 40x98=3920
Incline Push-ups: 20x98=1960
BW Lunges  35x98=3430
20-sec plank  45x98=4410
Jumping jacks 60x98=5880
Kettlebell Dumbell Rows 20x10=200

Total 19800lbs moved!

[Anaticula]

So happy you found a job you enjoy! That will make such a difference in your life.