blkhole24601 Finds the Interconnectedness of All Things

[blkhole24601]

“Examine your world from all angles and you will see the interconnectedness of all things. Even that which is humble can be the key to greater things.†– The Lion of Two Rivers

 

Last challenge, I began the journey to learn how to love my body for what it is, right now.  The battle is far from over, but once upon a time, when I first joined Nerd Fitness, I actually started to like how I looked, so I decided to go back to when I feel I was the most successful at these 6-week challenges from a body image standpoint and have recycled old quests from my first two challenges.  Because while learning to love myself is largely a mental and emotional challenge, as a sufferer of depression and ADHD there is most certainly a physical component as well that affects my mental and emotional states, and vice versa.  Everything is connected, and through this connectedness, I can find happiness.

 

Wu the Lotus Blossom is my home girl (and someday, I’d love to cosplay her!)

 

MAIN QUEST: Love my body and love myself! Because poor body image issues and low self-esteem are a pain in the ass.

 

QUEST 1: MIND: REMEMBER THE BASICS [+5 CON]

 

Eating is 90% of the battle, and I’m all about making sure I eat smarter.  Last challenge, I focused on taking control of my mindless snacking, which was a definite success for the most part; this challenge, I want to revisit calorie counting and macro management and utilize the IIFYM practice, at least until I get to the measurements I want, in which case I will reevaluate.  Whether or not that happens this challenge, we’ll see; I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

 

In the meantime, 6x/week, I will be sure to eat between 1430-1787 calories (gross) daily.  If I burn more than 500 calories in exercise, I will allow myself up to 2000 calories in total. I will also track my macros (target: 150g carbs/98g protein/49g fat), but it will not be part of my grading just yet, if at all this challenge.  I will reevaluate every week to see if any of these numbers need to be tweaked any, and so the exact numbers will be subject to change based on lessons learned.

 

A = 6x/week | B = 4-5x/week | C = 3x/week | D = 1-2x/week | F = 0x/week

 

I will, of course, strive to make this a 7x/week goal, but I'm giving myself some leeway in case of Life. That said, I don't want to fall back into a "Well, I managed it for Monday through Saturday, I can take Sunday off!" mindset because there has only been problems with that approach for me. So, if I manage to eat within calorie limits for all seven days of the week, I will put $10 towards the bonus gift at the end of the challenge.

 

QUEST 2: BODY: WAY OF THE CLOSED FIST [+3 STA, +1 STR, +1 DEX]

 

Throughout the course of the next 6 weeks, I will be running in four races, which while I know I can finish them, I want to make a strong showing. That said, I don’t want to let up on my other training in dance and bodyweight strength training, but I know that considering my life, I can’t do it all.  So, I will commit to running 3x/week and other workout (strength and/or dance) 2x/week. If I can do more, I’ll certainly try, but I won’t hold myself to it. Dancing during rehearsals, if the total time spent on choreography is over 30 minutes, WILL count. Also, Week 6, in lieu of tech week for Cabaret, will be exempt from this quest because I literally won't have any time between work and rehearsals and whatever little sleep I actually get, and any spare time I do find will likely just be resting.

 

Running: A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week | F = 0x/week

Strength/Dance: A = 2x/week | C = 1x/week | F = 0x/week

 

If in any given week I manage to dance 2x/week and strength train 2x/week, I will give myself $25 towards the bonus gift at the end of the challenge. If I don't do the ideal but manage to do strength/dance more than twice in a week, it'll be $5 per extra workout. That said, dancing for Cabaret rehearsals will have a max limit of 2x/week; if I want extra dance points, it needs to be outside of rehearsal. Working on choreography outside of rehearsals will count, though. During Week 6, aside from the race I'm running that week, any workouts I do that isn't part of the show's dancing (practicing choreography on my own outside of rehearsal will count, but if it's during a run-through or part of the rehearsal itself, it will not count because that's just cheating) will merit me an extra $5 per workout.

 

QUEST 3: SPIRIT: WAY OF THE OPEN PALM [+3 DEX]

 

Of all physical skills to let slide while in rehearsals, this is the one that will take the hardest and longest time to recover from, plus flexibility will make all sorts of things easier from a physical, a health, and a performance standpoint.  3x/week, I will dedicated 10-15 minutes to flexibility work be it long and deep stretches, splits work, yoga, what have you. Also note that for Week 6, this quest will not be exempt and the challenge will then become about fitting in long, deep stretches prior to rehearsals/performances.

 

A = 3x/week | B = 2x/week | C = 1x/week | F = 0x/week

 

LIFE QUEST: EXPLORE THE JADE EMPIRE [+1 WIS, +1 CHA]

 

Once a week, I will endeavor to try something new. These can be big things like going someplace I’ve never been before or trying a new activity, or small things like trying a new recipe or new exercise/yoga pose or what have you. As long as it’s something I’ve never done/tried before or someplace I’ve never been before, it counts! Alternatively, something that maybe I’ve done/tried a long time ago, failed, and have been too scared to try again, will also count. The more outside of my comfort zone, the better! Any new exercises/yoga poses done during mini challenges will not count towards this quest because that's cheating.

 

Pass/Fail; there is no middle ground

 

BONUS QUEST: 100 Days of Happiness!

I started this at the end of last challenge and would like to use Nerd Fitness as motivation to keep it up. From May 23 â€“ August 31 (for a total of 100 days) I want to have one image to describe what made me happy that day, or if nothing in particular made me happy or if I had a bad day, an image showing what makes me happy in my life.  Ideally, I will take the picture myself, but there are days when it won’t be possible so I’ll use a stock photo or pull something from the Internet instead.  I will include these in each of my daily updates. No grading or stat points included. This is just for fun.

 

SUMMARY:

Quest 1: Eat according to IIFYM 6x/week.

Quest 2: Run 3x/week, Strength/Dance 2x/week at minimum

Quest 3: Deep flexibility work 3x/week

Life Quest: Do something new/scary 1x/week

 

STAT POINT DISTRIBUTION:

+1 STR | +4 DEX | +3 STA | +5 CON | +1 WIS | +1 CHA

 

WEEKLY RECAPS

Day Zero | Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Challenge Complete!

 

MINI CHALLENGES

Day Zero AMRAPs:

Assisted Dips: 9

Assisted Pull-ups: 6

Assisted Pistol Squats: 4

Hanging Knee Raises: 1 5

Current AMRAPs:

Assisted Dips: 20

Assisted Pull-ups: 11

Assisted Pistol Squats: 15

Hanging Knee Raises: 13

 

+1 STA Earned!

+1 STR Earned!

+1 DEX Earned!

 

REWARDS!

I haven’t utilized rewards in a while mostly since it was too hard and stressful coming up with a suitable/realistic reward system.  This time, for Reasons, I have some rewards that I want, to look forward to, and that I can’t justify spending money on since I’m trying to tighten up my finances in lieu of the Cancun vacation in August (all paid for, but I’m saving up money for surprise extra costs that might pop up), possibly moving this autumn (because we’re considering adopting a puppy, and a third floor apartment just won’t cut it, plus we are So Over the crap parking situation at our current place), and a relatively last minute surprise Japan trip around New Year's (that I'm already needing to dip into my savings account to be able to pay for).  Stacking rewards!

 

A-average = Professional massage/spa day

B-average = New swimsuit for Cancun trip

C-average = Buy a thing (less than $25) at Charming Charlie’s (preemptively purchased, whoops!)

 

Bonus Gift! The money I earned for going above and beyond the Quests 1 and 2 minimums will be used towards extracurricular (read: unnecessary but desired) extra costs in Cancun, such as drinks, souvenirs, touristy things, etc.

Week One Earned: $70

Week Two Earned: $100

Week Three Earned: $75

Week Four Earned:

 

Starting Measurements and Photos:

  

 

Waist @ Narrowest: 26.75" (Goal: 24")

Waist @ Navel: 30"

Hips: 35"

WHR: 0.76 (Goal: Maintain between 0.75-0.80)

Chest: 31"

Bicep: 9.5"

Thigh: 20.5"

Calf: 14.25"

Neck: 12"

Wrist: 5.5"

[Urgan]

Following!

[Leimanu]

Love the goals, especially doing something new every week!

[sylph]

Now I know why you were playing Jade Empire.

[blkhole24601]

Following!

 

YAY! Welcome!

 

 

Love the goals, especially doing something new every week!

 

I have to admit, this goal is not a goal I used before but a goal from starsapart's first challenge. It's the only fun Life Quest idea I could come up with that I felt like I could actually pull off and still be a challenge for this round, all things considered. Excited to see what things I learn from the experiences!

 

 

Now I know why you were playing Jade Empire.

 

Yyyyyyup. I basically put the finishing touches the other day and thought, "You know, I really miss this game like burning. I'M GOING TO GO PLAY IT." One of Bioware's sorely underrated works, which is sad, because Bioware basically pulled a lot of things from Jade Empire into Dragon Age. I know I'm not the only one who sees Wild Flower+Chai Ka as basically Anders+Justice except, you know, much, much healthier -- not that that's hard to do. Plus Nathan Fillion voices Gao the Lesser. Plus John Cleese voices one of the best sidequest characters of all time. This game, it is my heart. It's also the game that got me into Bioware games, too! My gateway drug.

[raptron]

Oooh, this is so nicely balanced. I love it.

[mediaguy99]

Ok, continuing to follow you because of all the cool stuff you're doing.  

[BlackTezca]

The party don't start till I walk in....

 

You have awesome goals and if you want a friend to help you try out new places and stuff, I think I'm pretty close where you are (sounds somewhat stalkerish, but eh!).  Since you mentioned IIFYM and I have a food quest challenge as also, you inspired me to look it up and see about utilizing it in my fooding side quest.  You have such fantastic goals and I will also love the body-positivity and overall happiness quests you have

 

Of course I'm following!

 

[blkhole24601]

Oooh, this is so nicely balanced. I love it.

 

Balance is exactly one of the things I was going for in this challenge.

 

 

Ok, continuing to follow you because of all the cool stuff you're doing.  

 

Yay!! Happy to have you!

 

 

The party don't start till I walk in....

 

You have awesome goals and if you want a friend to help you try out new places and stuff, I think I'm pretty close where you are (sounds somewhat stalkerish, but eh!).  Since you mentioned IIFYM and I have a food quest challenge as also, you inspired me to look it up and see about utilizing it in my fooding side quest.  You have such fantastic goals and I will also love the body-positivity and overall happiness quests you have

 

Of course I'm following!

 

 

 

And absolutely, let us do things together!! I have no solid plans yet but I'll let you know if I find somewhere/something interesting/cool to explore!! And there's a few people around here who swear by IIFYM and the calorie allotment is easier to deal with, so I thought I'd give it a try. I did something like it during my second challenge when I first set the 1400-1600 calorie range, but I do want to pay more attention to macros this time. Plus, that calculator is a lot of fun to fiddle around with.

 

And yay!!!!!! Happy to have youuuuuu!

[BlackTezca]

Balance is exactly one of the things I was going for in this challenge.

 

 

 

Yay!! Happy to have you!

 

 

 

 

And absolutely, let us do things together!! I have no solid plans yet but I'll let you know if I find somewhere/something interesting/cool to explore!! And there's a few people around here who swear by IIFYM and the calorie allotment is easier to deal with, so I thought I'd give it a try. I did something like it during my second challenge when I first set the 1400-1600 calorie range, but I do want to pay more attention to macros this time. Plus, that calculator is a lot of fun to fiddle around with.

 

And yay!!!!!! Happy to have youuuuuu!

 

There are a lot of events that just kinda pop up all over the place which is what I love about Denver summers!  I think I'll give it a bit of a try too.  My eating problem is and probably will always be sugar, so I'll be focusing mostly on that through MFP, though having those other macros will help me out a lot.

 

I will need to experiment with MFP to see if I can edit those macro values.

 

Always happy to be here

[blkhole24601]

There are a lot of events that just kinda pop up all over the place which is what I love about Denver summers!  I think I'll give it a bit of a try too.  My eating problem is and probably will always be sugar, so I'll be focusing mostly on that through MFP, though having those other macros will help me out a lot.

 

I will need to experiment with MFP to see if I can edit those macro values.

 

Always happy to be here

 

I think the macro values in MFP can be messed with, but it's based on percentages, which is frustrating because I can't get it to the exact macro counts I'm actually aiming for. I think if you get MFP Premium you can make it more precise but I'm not paying for a food tracking app.

 

And yes, Denver is great for all sorts of things to do! I have a list of things I'd like to do/check out, but lmao that list is longer than I have time for. I'll pare it down eventually, though!

 

[starsapart]

Here for this~

[blkhole24601]

Here for this~

 

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryuu1011]

I think the macro values in MFP can be messed with, but it's based on percentages, which is frustrating because I can't get it to the exact macro counts I'm actually aiming for. I think if you get MFP Premium you can make it more precise but I'm not paying for a food tracking app.

I like MFP alot to and agree, while some of the pro features are nice, the reason I liked it the most was because it was free. I'd consider it if it was a flat rate feel like $5 or something but I'm not paying for subscription. I just set the percentages close to my numbers and just try and get around them, its to frustrating to try and hit exact numbers. Just get them in the ball park and it's going to be fine. Good Luck you're going to do great!!

[blkhole24601]

I like MFP alot to and agree, while some of the pro features are nice, the reason I liked it the most was because it was free. I'd consider it if it was a flat rate feel like $5 or something but I'm not paying for subscription. I just set the percentages close to my numbers and just try and get around them, its to frustrating to try and hit exact numbers. Just get them in the ball park and it's going to be fine. Good Luck you're going to do great!!

 

Pretty much this. Plus I don't like paying for apps unless it's Zombies, Run! ;;; And ballparking is what I've been doing, too, so I completely understand the frustration!

 

And thanks!!

[Ryuu1011]

Pretty much this. Plus I don't like paying for apps unless it's Zombies, Run! ;;; And ballparking is what I've been doing, too, so I completely understand the frustration!

 

And thanks!!

I just found Zombies, Run! and it's awesome! (Hahaha ALL the Nerdy Fitness Apps)

[Mad Hatter]

I kind of disappeared on you, but your last challenge has been really inspiring! 

 

Following for more awesome.

[blkhole24601]

I just found Zombies, Run! and it's awesome! (Hahaha ALL the Nerdy Fitness Apps)

 

Best fitness app is BEST! Seriously love that app with all my heart.

 

 

I kind of disappeared on you, but your last challenge has been really inspiring! 

 

Following for more awesome.

 

No worries, I sort of had a disappearing act near the end of the last challenge, too. ;;;;; It happens!!

 

And thank youuuuuuuuu!!!

 

Welcome aboard!

[blkhole24601]

The problem with these boards coming up so soon and getting up my challenge thread so early is that I'm already having to make tweaks! If you've been rereading the OP, or if you're just joining in, you probably already know all of this, but some of the changes I made:

• Quest 1: Because I know a problem I have with making a daily habit graded on a 6x/week scale is that if I get to Sunday with a perfect grade, I'm not compelled to do that particular habit, which has been detrimental in the long run. Now, I don't want to be so strict on myself by saying I will do something 7x/week just so that I'm not so hard on myself if I have an off day for whatever reason, so the grading is left largely unchanged, but I'm implementing a bonus monetary reward system. If I manage to eat within my calorie range 7x/week, I will put $10 towards a bonus gift. More details on that in a bit.
   
• Quest 1: Also, these exact numbers are mostly likely going to change at the start of the challenge. Based on my measurements earlier in the week, my actual calorie range ought to be 1500-1800 calories gross. (If you're following along in my battle log, you'll see I'm not succeeding in reaching 1500. Definitely hanging out in the 1200-1400 calorie range right now, ugh.) So when I throw up my Day Zero post, expect different calorie ranges and macro goals!
   
• Quest 2: I decided to clean up my OP a bit by not including the Hal Higdon plan and just saying that for that extra $25 towards the bonus gift, I will need to do strength 2x/week and dance 2x/week. It's just a cleaner way of saying what I've been saying, really. If I don't reach that ideal but do more than the minimum, it'll be an extra $5 towards the bonus gift per extra workout. Also, I made a special note regarding dancing during rehearsals, which will count!
   
• Quest 2: BUT! Knowing how tech week for The Mikado has gone and knowing that tech week for Cabaret is going to be more chaotic, I'm making Week 6 exempt from this quest. Any workouts I do outside of what I need to do for the show will net me an extra $5 per workout towards the bonus gift. So, still motivated to try to workout, but I won't be penalized if I can't.
   
• Quest 3: No changes in the end. I kept changing my mind on bonus things but ehhhh, let's not overcomplicate things. I will note that no, Week 6 is NOT exempt from this quest. I better damn well be able to find at least 10-15 minutes for stretches! At the very least, I can do these during the time we're given for warm-ups and such.
   
• Life Quest: Just a note that any new exercises or yoga poses explored as a result of Assassins Mini Challenges will not count towards this quest, because dude. Seriously. That's cheating.
   
• Bonus Gift! I decided what my bonus gift will be. Any money I earn through the extra credit stuff above will be put towards my free spending money in Cancun. How's THAT for motivation!

Expect more changes before the challenge officially starts. I'm always thinking about this, after all!

[Mad Hatter]

Surely it's better to tweak your goals now than when the challenge has already started?

[Urgan]

Surely it's better to tweak your goals now than when the challenge has already started?

 

Agreed. This is the perfect proofing time, when the sparkle-shine of New Challenge fades a bit, the critical analysis comes out to review your plan. No need to be apologetic! 

[blkhole24601]

 

Surely it's better to tweak your goals now than when the challenge has already started? 

 

Agreed. This is the perfect proofing time, when the sparkle-shine of New Challenge fades a bit, the critical analysis comes out to review your plan. No need to be apologetic! 

 

True enough! I mean, challenge tweaking may be a thing that happens anyway, but at least I can minimize things as I come to new realizations and lessons learned and desires, among other things.

[Achaedia]

Woo! Also I like the idea of bonus goals. I tend to make mine too hard as well but the bonus seems like a good compromise.

[blkhole24601]

Woo! Also I like the idea of bonus goals. I tend to make mine too hard as well but the bonus seems like a good compromise.

 

Hopefully it works out as well as I think it will! I'm still trying to figure out what it is about certain goals of mine that turn out to be successes and others that don't, and I do wonder if it's because I hold myself at a higher standard than is reasonable to expect from myself, so this way I can figure out a baseline or bare minimum and instead of saying, "This is good enough" I can still try to motivate myself to do more if at all possible. If not, no harm no foul! 

[blkhole24601]

Interim Week 1 Notes and Such

• Do not. Mess around. With tech week. I had hopes of trying to get in just four workouts this past week and all I managed were two. Three if you count the 25 minute deep long stretch session I did on Friday. This is a big lesson learned and the reason why Week 6 is exempt from my workout quest (Quest #2) because the reality is that between work and rehearsals during tech week, I have literally no time for anything else, and when I do, sleep is a much, much coveted thing. For example, I'd hoped to do a long run yesterday morning, or on Saturday morning before my audition. What happened instead was that I slept until I had to get up to do the things, leaving me no time to run even just a little bit. I'm still exhausted, tbh!
   
• Also, I'm wondering about my approach to eating. Aside from Friday, I ate between 1200-1400 calories every day, and I feel like I'm bloated, gaining weight, and all the good feelings I had about my body at the end of last challenge are in danger of slipping away. Granted, I am two weeks out from Shark Week, which means that the likelihood that I'm bloating is a real thing, but still, I wonder if my body is such that if I want to lose weight, it really is less about the eating and more about the exercising? I have no clue, but if this is true, it's both good news and bad news. Still, it's something to experiment with as I continue to try to track my food and see what works for me.
   
• Alternatively, while IF makes me feel less stressed about how much I'm eating in general, skipping breakfast may not actually be the best idea for me if this past week was any indication on how my metabolism actually works. On the other hand, maybe for me, it's not just "eat less" that I need to do in order to get slimmer -- it may be both sides of the equation of "eat less, move more." So... moving more. Need to make that a priority again.
   
• With that in mind, I need to figure out the best time for me to get to the gym and actually go to it. I do like mornings, so hopefully once the exhaustion from tech week passes I can get into that habit once and for all. For this week, though, it'll be more about juggling my schedule to fit it in.
   
• All of that aside, The Mikado is now finally up and running, and I'm going to my first Cabaret rehearsal tonight, and it's going to be a dance rehearsal, woo! So even if I can't get to the gym to do my strength workout, I'll still be doing something!