Jayniana Jones Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 This is my first challenge. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’ve hung out on a forum since my teen years when Prodigy was my access to the world. I thought I’d give this quest a try because I need to make a mental shift to get back to being fit. About two and half years ago, I tore my ACL in taekwondo, went through surgery and therapy with focus and determination. Once I was free to do whatever I wanted physically, I fell apart mentally and haven’t been as active as I once was. I’ve gained about 20 pounds since my injury and lost nearly all of my strength that I had before because I fell into a funk. I struggle with clinical depression (this was before my injury) and I’ve noticed that I’ve been emotional eating. If there is any sort of stress in my day I eat. My mom is currently getting treated for incurable ovarian cancer and I’m depended on heavily by my father, grandmother (my mom’s mom), and brothers (they’re both in distant states). Add in my normal duties as homeschool mom of teens, building a writing career, and being a chauffeur and stress is a pretty regular part of my day. My biggest nemesis is that I devalue myself throughout the day. I tend to put my needs last. I do so much for everyone else that by the time there’s a smidge of time for myself (usually at night), I’m tired and discouraged that I didn’t get the things done that I wanted to do and often don’t bother. Of course, the "don’t bother" is justified with I promise that tomorrow I’ll make time for me. The cycle continues. My Main Quest:With that brief intro, my main quest is to put my needs above others and acknowledge that I have value, it’s okay to say ‘no’, and am enough just as I am. A huge quest for me is getting the courage to go on a whitewater kayaking and yoga retreat in Costa Rica in 2017. The ideas excites me, yet I find myself thinking of reasons why I shouldn’t or can’t go. The 2-3 quests to achieve my main quests are: - Keep a daily food journal for the entire challenge that will help me be aware of what I’m consuming. I tend to eat things without really tasting them, so I think learning to be aware and intentional will help me get a good idea of what steps to take next. - Do my workout immediately in the morning before I do anything for anyone else. - Do yoga 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes. I love yoga and have been avoiding it for awhile. I know it will help me relax and re-build my strength and flexibility. (I plan to add bodyweight items later.) My life quest:- Do a small drawing or painting once a week. I love to draw and paint, yet I tend to shove it aside because someone else needs my attention. My motivation:My emotions tend to affect the atmosphere around me. If I’m stressed, my husband and kids tend to steer clear of me or become victims of my bouts of anger. If I’m having a bad day where I want to curl up in a ball in bed and pretend the world doesn’t exist, my family is uncertain of what to do to make me better. If I’m happy, they are relaxed and happy. In the past when I’ve worked out regularly, challenged myself, and structured my days where I feel like my own desires are being fed I’ve felt confident and excited about life. I know I will have bad days, everyone does, but I want to have more days where I feel alive and value my life instead of the opposite. I want to get myself in a healthy place both mentally and physically so I can take that trip to Costa Rica. Thanks for reading and I wish everyone good skill on their journeys for the next six weeks. 1 Quote Druid - Assassin - Adventurer Level 18 Challenges: [Current] [18} [17] [16] [15] [14] [13] [12] [11] [10] [9] [8] [7] [6] [5] [4] [3] [ 2 ] [ 1 ] Link to post
Toshimi Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 hey! Sounds like you're not doing martial arts right now, but if you want to stop by the courtyard sometime and say hi! Welcome to the challenges and look forward to seeing you rock it! Quote Try not, do or do not- Yoda Link to post
Teirin Posted September 17, 2015 Report Share Posted September 17, 2015 Hi and welcome to Nerdfitness! ACL tears are incredibly nasty. Our guild leader Cheechoe had to take time off TKD because of one, I believe. Devaluing yourself is something to fix stat. The list of what you're doing for your family and career is impressive and there's no reason you should come last. Glad to see you doing something like this for yourself. That retreat sounds amazing! Adventure more like :-) As wanderingcavegirl mentioned, you're very welcome to stop by the Monk's Courtyard if you like. Quote Behave yourself, badly if necessary. Current Challenge Judo - Shodan My Character Link to post
Heatwave Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 How's your progress going? -Heatwave Quote Link to post
Jayniana Jones Posted September 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 How's your progress going? -Heatwave Thanks for checking in on me. Last week I managed to get 4 out of 5 days in for yoga. Getting them in right away in the morning definitely helped because I wasn't worried about squeezing the time in. In all fairness, I did do a 7 mile hike on Saturday with my kids, so I figured missing a day of yoga was okay. The food journal has been a bit of a challenge because I'm not used to writing what I eat. I've had to go from memory a couple of times. I have noticed that having to be honest and write it down is making me evaluate whether I'm hungry in the first place. So even on my stress eating days, stopping and asking, "do I really want this?" I'm teaching myself drawing with ink. I just had the thought that I should post my drawings/paintings in here so show progress. They aren't much, but it's fun to have a little time to create. I'm heading out on vacation on Wednesday (we're heading to Mammoth Cave and Cumberland Falls, KY) and have a plan in place for completing my yoga goals. I'm curious to see how it works out because usually my vacations don't have much intentional exercise other than hiking. Have a good week everyone. 2 Quote Druid - Assassin - Adventurer Level 18 Challenges: [Current] [18} [17] [16] [15] [14] [13] [12] [11] [10] [9] [8] [7] [6] [5] [4] [3] [ 2 ] [ 1 ] Link to post
Teirin Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 How did the yoga plan work out? Hiking is pretty great for vacation exercise. Quote Behave yourself, badly if necessary. Current Challenge Judo - Shodan My Character Link to post
Luciana Valerosa Culming Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 I'm teaching myself drawing with ink. I just had the thought that I should post my drawings/paintings in here so show progress. They aren't much, but it's fun to have a little time to create.Oh I'm trying out ink recently, too. We would love to see some pictures. Quote level 12 Hobbit Monk (respawned September 2016) STR 4 | DEX 15 | CON 16 | STA 15 | WIS 33 | CHA 24 | Halfling | Newbie | Fencer and Bookworm Introduction | Character | Daily Battle Log | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | # | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | #### | 17 | Current Challenge Spoiler I'm exercising, because I want to get my stamina and strength. I enjoy medieevil swordmanship, Tai Chi, yoga, aikido and fire spinning. I'm also a roleplaying nerd and a book worm. Let's fight the procrastination dragon! Link to post
Toshimi Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Just seeing how things are going? Quote Try not, do or do not- Yoda Link to post
Chris-Tien Jinn Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 Quote Some sort of Jedi ..... We are better than we know, if we can be made to see it, [then] for the rest of our lives, we'll be unwilling to settle for less. Current Challenge: Return of the Persistent Priestess Past Challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 "No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space." -- James T. Kirk Link to post
Jayniana Jones Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Thanks everyone for checking in on me. My yoga is doing well. I'm on a 13 day streak of doing yoga everyday (I know this wasn't my original goal, but you may see my logic below). I've gotten a few pictures drawn. I will post a few once I'm back home. My food log bombed because I don't think of it until my head hits the pillow. Life exploded here. My father in-law fractured his L1 vertebrae. He was working on a shed roof and fell. My husband is the child who lives the closest (about 3 1/2 hours). At the time of the accident his mom was 12 hours away taking care of her sister who has brain cancer. The day after she returned home (my husband has been staying with his parents to help care for his dad) she had a stroke and has a benign tumor in her brain. We found this out yesterday. I was supposed to leave for Phoenix this Wednesday and decided it wasn't a good idea to leave my husband to care for his parents, our kids, my dog, and work full time. So I cancelled the trip to support him and ease my own worries about going away.Before I started the challenge, my mom was on break from being treated for incurable ovarian cancer. She has some doctor things that I need to support her with so I'm divided between my in-laws, my parents, and our home.My husband commented that he noticed a change in my mood and ability to cope when I put yoga and walking as a priority. I noticed a difference too, so as an experiment I decided to do yoga everyday for a minimum of 15 minutes everyday. What I'm noticing is that I'm feeling okay and confident. My emotional eating has slowed down because I'm aware of when I'm hungry and when I'm grabbing something because I'm freaked out. I'm by no means perfect, but I'm wondering if the yoga is heightening my awareness. Or maybe it is because I'm feeling better by doing yoga that I don't want to eat junk. I'm not sure.That's my current status. I think it's going well considering the things that have been tossed onto my plate. One thing I want to do more is hang out on the forum. I've been monitoring a few sections through my email, but haven't had a chance to login and chime in. I understand it's a "do what you can" but it's something I'm hoping to work in slowly.There's my status in a nutshell. Thanks for checking in on me.Jayniana Quote Druid - Assassin - Adventurer Level 18 Challenges: [Current] [18} [17] [16] [15] [14] [13] [12] [11] [10] [9] [8] [7] [6] [5] [4] [3] [ 2 ] [ 1 ] Link to post
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