Ornata Gets Rougher Around the Edges

[Ornata]

Hello! I'm Ornata, and I've always secretly wanted to be a badass. Whatever that means for me.

 

I'm not a very intimidating person. I'm a small young woman trying to find success in a field that's largely dominated by scruffy mountain men (natural resources, or at least in my region). People have described me as quiet and polite. I would describe myself as way too cautious, way too concerned about how I present myself to people. Despite myself, I tend to gravitate toward fiction wherein world-weary, roughneck characters go around being awesome in some gritty setting and don't give a crap about the rules.

 

Until Nerd Fitness started my descent into the rabbit hole that is personal development, it never occurred to me that I could actually, you know, work toward doing the stuff I've wanted to do for years? I guess I was just stuck in this idea that I'm a completely unchanging entity. Like I'd need to settle with adapting to my own weaknesses.

 

I know I can't change my personality. I definitely don't want to become some kind of misanthropic badass with scars on her face and a killer glare. But I don't want my own labels for myself to hold me back or prevent me from experiencing the things I've always wanted to try. Having all these experiences and more might not turn me into the traditional idea of a badass, but maybe I'll have my own unique flavor without forcing myself to change my identity. I don't know. This is a long introduction already and I'm starting to ramble.

 

Ornata Gets Rougher Around the Edges

 

This Battle Log is my way of tracking my progress not only in fitness, but life as well. TMI inbound: as a kid I struggled with social anxiety and fear of crowds. Even nowadays I have a tendency to settle into tedious routine just through force of habit or clinging to the familiar, even though I know I'm happier when I'm frequently pushing the limits of what I think is comfortable.

 

Fitness-wise, I prefer bodyweight exercises. I follow the program that can be found on startbodyweight.com, with modifications to account for some lack of equipment. I'm also trying Steve Kamb's program for push-ups since I've been having some serious issues getting better at push-ups. I am focusing on improving upper body strength, flexibility, balance and grip strength. I'm also easing into dietary changes so I can lose body fat. My ultimate goal is to get to 23-25% body fat.

 

My 6-Week Challenges include:

1. Ornata, Loosen Up! - Flexibility, bodyweight exercises
2. Ornata Thrives in the Darkness - Upper body strength, portion control, cold tolerance

Now that introductions are over with, it's time to jump right into things.

[Ornata]

[11/10/14]

 

I did an absolutely atrocious job making it through the 2 week break period between challenges. I snacked as much as my wallet would allow, I half-assed my stretching, I stopped doing yoga, and even my workout program (the easiest quest in my whole Level 1 challenge!) fell apart. I stopped working out for some reason, I can't even remember why. In an attempt to fix the problem, I decided to turn my usual workout into a 2-day split, forcing me to spend less time working out but doing it every day. I made this decision because I thought the major barrier to my working out was how much time my workouts were starting to take: 45-60 minutes, which was time I desperately needed for NaNoWriMo in the mornings. I didn't want to wake up even earlier than I am already (4:45am), and I knew the workout absolutely would not happen if I did it at night, so I did the split.

 

It didn't really work. Basically I lost half of my program to my own stupid... I don't even know what. I'd do one day (push-ups/inverted rows/decline pikes), then I wouldn't do the other day (planks, one-legged squats, leg raises), rinse and repeat.

 

I'm getting better now. I did my plank/squat/leg raise day today for the first time since... *winces* November 3rd. That's a lot of missed workouts, and it shows. I had to dial back my routine and lost a lot of good progress in the process:

 

30s leg lift plank, both sides (at the end of my first challenge: arm and leg lift plank)

3x5 assisted one-legged squats (at the end of my first challenge: balance-assisted one-legged squats)

3x10 weighted leg raises, legs slightly bent (at the end of my first challenge: weighted leg raises, legs straight)

 

Needless to say, if this split doesn't work for Week 1 of the challenge I am definitely going back to my old way of doing things. No half-assing allowed.