[BlimeyCharlie] No more Wibbly-Wobbly Charlie-Warlie

[Charlie_Quinn]

I've been knocked back with a cold the last few days so getting this up later than planned, but better late than never.

 

I've found over my last 2 challenges that I started off really well and then had a wobble which knocked me back, causing me to miss out on completing some of my goals. So as well as my 3 quests and life goal, I'm going to aim to change this pattern.

 

Main Quest

This is still the same: to gain enough strength and stamina to complete Tough Mudder next year. 

 

Quest 1

• Strength training 3 times a week
• 2 sessions of chin up training. 
  (3 STR, 1 STA)

I did well on this last challenge, and was going to drop it from my challenge altogether, as it's not been a challenge to get myself to the gym as I love it so much! But having a cold over the last week has meant I've missed a few gym sessions and I've realised how easy it is to fall out of a habit when something gets in your way.With that in mind, I need to keep this as part of my 6 week challenge.

 

Quest 2

• Handstand Training every other day
  (2 DEX)
   

 

I've been trying out handstand training over the 2 week break and have been enjoying it. My sense of balance has always been atrocious. I'm one of those people that can fall over while standing still, so this may be quite a challenge, but one I think I'll enjoy.

 

Quest 3

• Eat a balanced diet
  (2 CON)

 

 

I discovered last challenge that cutting out certain foods like white potatoes stopped me having suffering digestive issues and made me feel a lot healthier, so I'm building clean(ish) eating into this challenge.

• Plan and pre-prepare meals to prevent eating junk
  I'm pretty good at planning my evening meals, but really bad when it comes to lunch so I need to make sure I spend time on a Sunday preparing my lunches for the week.
• Treats are allowed, but must be homemade.
  I'm hoping this will reduce the amount of treats consumed. If I fancy cake, I can have cake, but I have to make the cake from scratch. The amount of time that takes will probably put me off the wanting the cake! 

Life Quest

• Improve my job prospects!
  (2 WIS)

 

 

I really dislike me job. I work for a very small company as a support manager. Which is actually a ridiculous job title as I only manage 1 person, and in 4 weeks, they are leaving anyway. There is no way to move up as there are only 5, soon to be 4 people in it, and the only person above me it the Company Owner. The main problem is, although it's essentially an IT job, it's very niche and not many of the skills I've learnt here are transferable to another role. I've always been fascinated with programming, so I've been trying out the Python course by Code Academy. I'm hoping I can grasp this, and then Java, and then I'll have some skills that are worth putting on my CV.

• Do at least 6 hours of programming course each week
  I think this should be enough to start with. I don't have a lot of time in the evenings, so I'm going to break this 6 hours down into bite size chunks (lunchtimes, weekends etc). 

[sozzielou]

Great goals, good luck with the challenge!

Subbed

[Balthazar]

there you are!

[Charlie_Quinn]

Great goals, good luck with the challenge!

Subbed

 

Thanks, you too!

 

 

there you are!

 

I'm here! Late to the party as always but I get there in the end!

[Everstorm]

Mud runners unite! Subbing.

[Anaticula]

Love your goals! I understand how having a job you don't like can be tough, so it's great to hear you are improving your skills to find a job you like better! Totally agree with your diet goals too, I'm doing the same thing.  If I don't cook it I can't eat it.  This is really good as the holidays will be hitting us this challenge and it's so easy to let what we eat get out of hand.  Looking forward to hearing how things go for you!

[tundralily]

Found you! Looks like you have some great goals this time around, especially the programming one. Have a great first day!

 

Hey, want to my my buddy? I'm still looking for one if you haven't found one yet!

[Charlie_Quinn]

Day one complete!

Handstand training done

Held 2 wall planks for 60 seconds each, hands about 3 feet from the wall.

Chin up training done

3x4 assisted chin ups, 3 negatives and 3 assisted negatives

Food prep done

Did an online food shop earlier, have chicken and sweet potato cooking in the oven right now for dinner tonight and lunch for the next few days.

Gym in the morning!

Sent from my HTC One mini 2 using Tapatalk

[Charlie_Quinn]

Found you! Looks like you have some great goals this time around, especially the programming one. Have a great first day!

Hey, want to my my buddy? I'm still looking for one if you haven't found one yet!

Hey there! Thanks, I just hope I can keep up the momentum this time. Sorry, I've already partnered up with sozzielou.

Sent from my HTC One mini 2 using Tapatalk

[TyrantLizard]

Subbing! And good usage of the word "wobble." Such a fantastic word.

 

Good luck on all your goals. I think your challenge sounds like a lot of fun, especially the handstand one. And since I am contemplating a job change myself (same career, but different place) that goal definitely hits a chord for me. Good luck with it!

[LiserFrenche]

I do the same, I start off well, but life gets in the way and I get derailed.  We can do this!  I like your goals and your idea for homemade treats.  I hope you share what you make and your recipes. I plan on checking in to see how you are doing. 

[Charlie_Quinn]

Note to self, when your alarm goes off in the morning, do not hit dismiss than fall straight back to sleep!! The worst thing is, I don't even remember doing it. So that means I've not been able to go to the gym this morning and won't be able to go this evening as it's the hubby's birthday today and it would be a bit mean to spend the evening in the gym!

 

I'm not going to get into a funk about this, it's still early in the week so can still fit my 3 sessions in on Weds, Fri and Sun. 

 

This is really good as the holidays will be hitting us this challenge and it's so easy to let what we eat get out of hand.  Looking forward to hearing how things go for you!

 

The holidays will be a real challenge, as I come from a family of feeders! Luckily they all love to cook too so most food will be homemade. I just have to have the willpower to not eat so much!

 

 

Subbing! And good usage of the word "wobble." Such a fantastic word.

 

Good luck on all your goals. I think your challenge sounds like a lot of fun, especially the handstand one. And since I am contemplating a job change myself (same career, but different place) that goal definitely hits a chord for me. Good luck with it!

 

Thanks! Wobble is a great word. But not as good as Wibble.

 

 

 

I do the same, I start off well, but life gets in the way and I get derailed.  We can do this!  I like your goals and your idea for homemade treats.  I hope you share what you make and your recipes. I plan on checking in to see how you are doing. 

 

I had a very hectic few weeks last challenge that threw me right off track. Should be a little calmer this time around. I love that everyone on NF is always here to give me a push and inspiration when needed. 

 

If I make anything interesting, I'll be sure to post pics and a recipe!

[Balthazar]

Note to self, when your alarm goes off in the morning, do not hit dismiss than fall straight back to sleep!! The worst thing is, I don't even remember doing it. So that means I've not been able to go to the gym this morning and won't be able to go this evening as it's the hubby's birthday today and it would be a bit mean to spend the evening in the gym!

 

 

I used to suffer from this problem to, so now I set 3 alarms, one 4 minutes before I want to get up, one at the time and one four minutes after. For me I find that four minutes isn't enough time for me to drift off in to a deep sleep (alter your alarm times accordingly), so far it hasn't failed me

 

If I do miss a workout then the next day is what I call my "War" day, where I go to war on myself and do two back to back workouts. As long as you have days that work different areas you can do this, so you still get all your workouts in and your tiredness at the end is a good reminder to try and not do it again

 

 . . . although sometimes i sadistically enjoy the War days, but that's another story

[Charlie_Quinn]

I used to suffer from this problem to, so now I set 3 alarms, one 4 minutes before I want to get up, one at the time and one four minutes after. For me I find that four minutes isn't enough time for me to drift off in to a deep sleep (alter your alarm times accordingly), so far it hasn't failed me

 

If I do miss a workout then the next day is what I call my "War" day, where I go to war on myself and do two back to back workouts. As long as you have days that work different areas you can do this, so you still get all your workouts in and your tiredness at the end is a good reminder to try and not do it again

 

 . . . although sometimes i sadistically enjoy the War days, but that's another story

 

Interesting. Might have to try that. Do you have separate alarm clocks or just set separate alarms on your phone? 

 

Oh don't worry, I will punish myself sufficiently tomorrow!  

[Anaticula]

Hope you managed to get your workout in and enjoy the birthday too.  ItsDaniel gave some good advice about the alarm, I hope that helps.

[Xena]

Glad you had a great day 1, and glad you get to celebrate with your husband today :-)

 

Lots of people feel the sag in momentum later in the challenge. Oddly that's also when the forum starts to quiet down quite a bit. If you are feeling a little unmotivated, please swing on by the rangers tent and ask for some suggestions...I know you probably have plenty of ideas for yourself, but I think it helps to stir up a little energy in the group.

 

Doing the minichallenge might help too. I don't know what DR has planned, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of big push at the end.

[Charlie_Quinn]

Glad you had a great day 1, and glad you get to celebrate with your husband today :-)

 

Lots of people feel the sag in momentum later in the challenge. Oddly that's also when the forum starts to quiet down quite a bit. If you are feeling a little unmotivated, please swing on by the rangers tent and ask for some suggestions...I know you probably have plenty of ideas for yourself, but I think it helps to stir up a little energy in the group.

 

Doing the minichallenge might help too. I don't know what DR has planned, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of big push at the end.

 

Yeah, I've found that has happened to me on the last 2 challenges around the 3 week mark and that's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid this time around. Sozzielou and I have teamed up (we're the Southern Fairies!) for the Ranger mini, I'm looking forward to see what DR has planned for us.

[Amdhiel]

 

I really dislike me job. I work for a very small company as a support manager. Which is actually a ridiculous job title as I only manage 1 person, and in 4 weeks, they are leaving anyway. There is no way to move up as there are only 5, soon to be 4 people in it, and the only person above me it the Company Owner. The main problem is, although it's essentially an IT job, it's very niche and not many of the skills I've learnt here are transferable to another role. I've always been fascinated with programming, so I've been trying out the Python course by Code Academy. I'm hoping I can grasp this, and then Java, and then I'll have some skills that are worth putting on my CV.

• Do at least 6 hours of programming course each week

  I think this should be enough to start with. I don't have a lot of time in the evenings, so I'm going to break this 6 hours down into bite size chunks (lunchtimes, weekends etc). 

 

I'm doing a similar thing for my life quest and really I should stop being a dork about working on Python. Also, depending on what you actually do your job skill maybe ridiculously transferrable. And when I say ridiculously, I mean it. My last job I did stuff with financial analysis and such and now I'm doing report development for something that has no relation. Analytical and learning skills will allow you to transfer into a lot more positions than you'd expect. Having coding like python and VBA/VB will also help depending on what you actually want to be doing.

[Charlie_Quinn]

Day 2 report

 

So I missed the gym yesterday, so bit of a fail there. But the day wasn't a complete bust.

 

Eat Healthy - Complete

I had my usual chicken, sweet potato and veg for lunch. For dinner decided to experiment. I brought some Lebanese spice mix a while back but never tried using it. I fancied some couscous, so I sauteed some onions and garlic and added about a tablespoon of the spice mix and cooked till the onions were soft (smelt amazing at this point). I chopped up some mushrooms and courgette and added to the pan. When these were soft, I added my couscous and a bit more olive oil, stirred everything up till the couscous was coated with the spice mix, took off the heat and added enough boiling water to cover, threw a big handful of spinach on top, stirred again and then put a lid on and left it for 5 mins. After 5 mins the couscous was nicely fluffed up so just needed a stir with a spoon and hey presto! Tasty Couscous! Absolutely delicious! I will be making again, but next time I might add a handful of sultanas, or a spoon of honey and it needed a little sweetness.

 

Programming Course - 30 mins complete

I got in 30 mins over my lunch break yesterday. Unfortunately I had forgotten a few things since my last session so had to go back and do a section again.

 

I got up for the gym this morning (yay!) and royally kicked my own arse (ouch!). It's also handstand day today, thankfully, didn't do shoulder this morning.

[Balthazar]

I am totally coming to yours for dinner (or tea where i'm from)

[sozzielou]

Way to go Charlie! I love experimenting with different foods, it's so worthwhile when you find something you just imagined up tastes really good.

 

 

I am totally coming to yours for dinner (or tea where i'm from)

 

It's tea for me too. So many people don't get that!

[Charlie_Quinn]

 

I am totally coming to yours for dinner (or tea where i'm from)

 

You are welcome for dinner, tea. supper, whatever you want to call it!

 

 

Way to go Charlie! I love experimenting with different foods, it's so worthwhile when you find something you just imagined up tastes really good.

 

So do I. I love just playing around with ingredients to see what works and if it doesn't work, who cares! 

[Balthazar]

You are welcome for dinner, tea. supper, whatever you want to call it!

 

I am on THE way

[Charlie_Quinn]

Quick day 3 update then I'm off to bed!

 

Strength Training - Complete (1/3)

Barbell Squats, Cable Row, Step Ups, Prone Jackknife and Push-ups. Must have worked hard as my legs are aching already! Can't really call it DOMS if there's no delay in the muscle soreness.

 

Handstand Training - Complete

Could do much due to the aching, but got it done none the less

 

Balanced diet - Complete

I did have Bacon and Eggs for dinner but I'm counting that as eating clean. Protein, baby! 

 

Coding Course - 1hr 30 mins Complete (2 hour total)

I'd love to say I'm finding this easy but I'm not. I'm enjoying it, but it is a challenge. I've been doing my job so long now that I can do it without even thinking about it. Because of that, it's been a while since I did anything really taxing and my brain isn't used to it! 

 

 

I am on THE way

 

Bring booze! Rum and gin are both acceptable!

[sozzielou]

You're doing great, well done!

 

 

Coding Course - 1hr 30 mins Complete (2 hour total)

I'd love to say I'm finding this easy but I'm not. I'm enjoying it, but it is a challenge. I've been doing my job so long now that I can do it without even thinking about it. Because of that, it's been a while since I did anything really taxing and my brain isn't used to it! 

 

 

This! I feel the same way. But we will get there!