FlyingJen's first challenge!

[FlyingJen]

Hello! I just joined yesterday, so I'm still reading through all the great information and making plans. I'm definitely an Assassin as my primary fitness goal is getting stronger to be a better circus artist, but I figured it would be best to start here for my first challenge. This probably looks like a lot for a first challenge, but almost all of these are things that I am already working on establishing as part of my daily routine. 

 

Diet 

• *note- I'm vegan and am not doing the paleo thing for obvious reasons. I already mostly eat whole foods and loads of veggies but want to cut out some of the more processed things I do eat*
• [breakfast] find new healthy things to eat for breakfast that I like and actually want to eat.
• [lunch] try eating two smaller lunches spaced evenly in day to keep energy levels more even. (I've done this before and it worked well for me)
• [dinner] Be more mindful of portion sizes. Stop eating when I'm full. 
• [general] NO POTATO CHIPS. *my personal kryptonite!*

 

Fitness

• Go for a walk/run every day, even if just around the block. 
• Complete a full bodyweight or free weights workout 3/x week. 
• Train handstands at home every day, just for a few minutes. I was taking a class but had to drop it due to a scheduling conflict but I don't want to lose my progress!
• Take frequent breaks from computer and do stretching or foam roller. Especially shoulders (recovering from 5 months of mysterious inflammation/pain/RSI in my right shoulder) 

 

Sleep

• Kick the nap habit (I work at home and tend to crash after lunch which has lead to a bad nap habit and an inability to fall asleep at night. I'm already working on this with another accountability group and am allowing myself one day per week to nap.
• Try to be in bed by midnight each day.

 

Other

• Be more mindful of unnecessary spending. 
• Limit checking social media to once in morning and once in evening, and set a timer for no more than 10 minutes each time. I hate being so compulsive about checking multiple times a day.
• Continue morning yoga/meditation (15 mins of each).
• Add evening meditation 10mins. 
• Have a 5 minute dance party each day *borrowed this from the suggested beginner goal list just because I like it*

 

[Aerisand]

Hi and welcome!

I think it's alright if you want to try it out with a longer list. 

Do you have a way to remind yourself of each thing/change when you need to remember it? 

Setting reminders and constantly checking on my challenge spreadsheet has helped keep me on track.

Maybe you have awesome memory, but since I don't, that's what I'd worry about   

 

Good luck!

[FlyingJen]

I have a google sheets document all set up! I've already started using it over the past week or so and it seems to work well for me. I fill in green for completed items, red for not completed, grey for n/a, so I can tell at a glance how I'm doing. 

[peelout]

I'm going to follow just so I can find out what a google sheets document is.

Can you fill me in?

[Dreamspin]

Following. 

[Grizzy]

Awesome challenge! I'm excited for it.

3 hours ago, peelout said:

I'm going to follow just so I can find out what a google sheets document is.

Can you fill me in?

I think it's like an excel sheet, like with the rows & columns, but through google?

[Mad Hatter]

Whee, another aerialist!  Welcome! 

 

Also spreadsheets are awesome. I definitely think you need one for all your goals.

[sylph]

Yay circus!

 

 

[only1twitch]

Google is my buddy too, but I'm using the calendar. I have events set up and color code them red, but switch the color for the event on that day to green if I accomplished that goal. Just started yesterday, but so far I have two pretty green days.

[RogueLibrarian]

Following!

[Aerisand]

7 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Also spreadsheets are awesome. I definitely think you need one for all your goals.

Woot, spreadsheet love all around! I feel at home  

[FlyingJen]

14 hours ago, peelout said:

I'm going to follow just so I can find out what a google sheets document is.

Can you fill me in?

 

11 hours ago, Grizzy said:

Awesome challenge! I'm excited for it.

I think it's like an excel sheet, like with the rows & columns, but through google?

Yep, it's just like Excel except online via Google. I like it better than Excel because I can access it on my phone away from home, it auto-saves, and it lets you drag things around. 

 

3 hours ago, only1twitch said:

Google is my buddy too, but I'm using the calendar. I have events set up and color code them red, but switch the color for the event on that day to green if I accomplished that goal. Just started yesterday, but so far I have two pretty green days.

Ooh, I like the calendar idea. I might look into that for the next round. 

 

 

[lucky fire dragon]

Found you here as well

 

Spreadsheets for the world!! Can also recommend the 5 min dance party. It's also great for mood shifting as you can just get it all out there

 

What shoulder stretches do you do between desk work?

[FlyingJen]

7 hours ago, lucky fire dragon said:

Found you here as well

 

Spreadsheets for the world!! Can also recommend the 5 min dance party. It's also great for mood shifting as you can just get it all out there

 

What shoulder stretches do you do between desk work?

I've only done 5 min dance party for 2 days now but I'm definitely adding it to my regular habit list! 

 

It's sort of hard to explain stretches in words! I do most of these: http://greatist.com/move/stretches-for-tight-shoulders  and basically whatever feels good. I like the one where you lie on your stomach, put your arms flat on the ground, 90 degrees like goal posts, and twist one leg over (left leg over to right and vice versa, while looking in opposite direction). Good front of the shoulder stretch. I was having pain in both the front and back of my shoulder, but mostly the back. So I was foam rolling and using a rubber ball on the back a lot. But then one of my circus instructors (who isn't a PT but knows a lot about it) said that I should focus on the front instead because those muscles were pulling too much which was causing the back muscles to stretch out too much. And pretty much as soon as I focused on stretching out the front everything started to feel better! 

 

I use a standing desk which has helped so much. I was definitely hunching in a weird way when I was sitting. Even with standing, my shoulder only started to feel better once I started being better about taking regular breaks. Years ago I gave myself chronic wrist pain from computer usage (solved by switching to ergonomic keyboard), so it's really no joke and is very hard on the body.

[lucky fire dragon]

wow that sounds like a great stretch, I'll have to try that one! 
Thanks for the link, too, I know most of those and love them, but do them far too rarely, so now I will bookmark and maybe set a reminder? Hmm, still crafting my challenge, so there is room

 

I switch between standing and sitting and find that works well, but recently I forgot and spent way too much time sitting again. It feels like slowing down my whole system and making me sluggish, so that will be good to freshen up again.

 

How did your day go today?

[FlyingJen]

After a makeshift standing desk I built out of cardboard boxes, I finally bought myself a Varidesk so I can raise and lower it, which is great. I spend most of my computer time standing because it is so much more comfortable for me, but sometimes I just need to sit! But when I do it doesn't take long to feel exactly how I messed up my shoulder so then it's back to standing. 

 

Today was pretty great- I did the Recruit workout and went for a long walk and revised my spreadsheet to include all my new challenge things. It's a bit insane but really does help me make sure I do all the things I need to do in a day!

[Mad Hatter]

I've got a variable desk at work too, love it. I find that my standing vs sitting ratio depends on how mentally challenging the task is, more standing for emails and more sitting for tricky code.

 

And that's one crazy spreadsheet!

[dancezwithkittehz]

YAY MORE CIRCUS PEOPLE!   Following!

[Keldream Nebula]

That's quite a list, but you've made it well-planned

 

I hope to, at some point in the nearer future than the later, find somewhere to do trapeze/aerial/anything-like-that type of stuff, I've always wanted to! 

 

I'm following along!

[sylph]

17 minutes ago, Keldream Nebula said:

 

I hope to, at some point in the nearer future than the later, find somewhere to do trapeze/aerial/anything-like-that type of stuff, I've always wanted to! 

Doooooo eeeeeeeet!

[dancezwithkittehz]

54 minutes ago, Keldream Nebula said:

That's quite a list, but you've made it well-planned

 

I hope to, at some point in the nearer future than the later, find somewhere to do trapeze/aerial/anything-like-that type of stuff, I've always wanted to! 

 

I'm following along!

 

Seconding Sylph, doooo  eeeeeeet! 

[FlyingJen]

Well, today I kind of failed and ate a ridiculous quantity of disgusting off-brand Funyuns. I was successful at not taking a nap, instead deciding to walk to the grocery store that is further away from my house because they have tins of Greek stuffed grape leaves there. It's a 1h 10m walk round trip so that was good, except for the little bit of my brain that was all "you deserve a treat! You are walking a lot! You're giving up salty snacks for the next month, so why not?" The reason I don't even normally keep stuff like this in the house is because I'm completely incapable of eating just a few. Just like I'm incapable of napping for 10 minutes. Guess I don't do moderation well! 

 

Starting challenge tracking in earnest tomorrow as it's the first of the month, but here's my list for today. Green is success, orange is mixed bag, red is fail.

Diet 

• [breakfast] find new healthy things to eat  [did overnight steel-cut oats yesterday with apple, which tasted great and were super filling]
• [lunch] two smaller lunches   [ate a small first lunch of leftover stuffed mushrooms. Second lunch was a fail as a bag of off-brand Funyuns does not constitute a healthy lunch choice!]
• [dinner] Portion sizes/satiety  [did not eat too much, stopped eating when full]
• [general] NO POTATO CHIPS. *my personal kryptonite!*  FAIL FAIL FAIL Technically I did not eat potato chips, but still...I want to avoid empty calorie salty snacks in general! 

 Fitness

• Go for a walk/run every day, even if just around the block. [3.6 mi walk to store and back. 1h 10m. Have realized that unless I am walking in the woods, I don't necessarily feel motivated to walk for the sake of walking, so it's best to set some sort of goal or place to go or errand to run.]
• Complete a full bodyweight or free weights workout 3/x week. Rest day today. Did NF recruit workout yesterday.
• Train handstands at home every day, just for a few minutes. The only place in my house with a bit of empty wall that is good for handstand training is in my kitchen. So I do this right before I wash the dishes, which I do right before getting ready for bed each night. Yet to be done, but it will happen.
• Take frequent breaks from computer and do stretching or foam roller.  Wasn't great about this today. Forgot to set my timer to remind me to take breaks, and then ignored it a few times.

Sleep

• Kick the nap habit.  Avoided that post-lunch crash nap by going for a walk, but dozed off on the sofa while waiting for my partner to come home from work (he was late).
• Try to be in bed by midnight each day. This is going to be a long-term struggle! Did not happen last night. I just tend to get wired at night. Not napping does seem to be making me actually somewhat more tired at bedtime though.

Other

• Daily financial check-in/accounting/mindfulness.  I'm really bad at keeping my Quickbooks up to date, and it's for my business so it's important! So my plan is to make sure that I enter whatever receipts I have every day. Also just be mindful of what I am spending money on. Today I bought some necessary business items. Also went to Staples during my afternoon walk and ALMOST bought a Microsoft Surface. I do plan to get one, but not until I have actually saved up the money for it, so I'm glad I was able to curb the "oh just put it on the credit card" impulse.
• Limit checking social media Did good at this yesterday, not so much today! Whenever I post something I want to keep checking back to see if it got comments/likes.
• Continue morning yoga/meditation (15 mins of each). Super solid habit, yay! Love this way to start my day.
• Add evening meditation 10mins. Have been having a lot of trouble making this stick, so I've just been kind of trying to meditate lying in bed before falling asleep. 2 days so far, and it seems to be working. 
• Have a 5 minute dance party each day  Total mood booster. Love it. Today's music was 60's surf rock courtesy of The Trashmen. I like playing that Bird is the Word song for my parrot. 

[peelout]

Video of 5 min dance?  

[FlyingJen]

22 hours ago, peelout said:

Video of 5 min dance?  

Haha, sure, I'll do one next week. Not sure how to post vid here but I'll figure it out.

[FlyingJen]

Friday, April 1.

 

Fridays are a bit odd as I totally deviate from my usual schedule. I go to open practice at circus school from 9:30-10:30 (mostly worked on handstands, a little trapeze), and then class from 10:45 to noon (rope today). I have to drive my partner to work so I can have the car to get there, which means leaving home at 8am. Have to go get him at 4pm. 

 

Diet 

• [breakfast] find new healthy things to eat  [overnight steel-cut oats with apple. A bit of a pain to eat in the car while driving, but kept me full through all of circus, which is much better than the Belvita biscuits or Clif bar I had previously been eating for Friday breakfasts due to portability]
• [lunch] two smaller lunches   [ate Clif bar and orange immediately after class, ran some errands, ate an Amy's frozen bean enchilada when I got home. Lots of salt in there but there are worse things and I needed something quick]
• [dinner] Portion sizes/satiety  [got Chinese takeout, not the healthiest thing, but at least I didn't eat too much. I love Asian food and it is one thing that I will keep eating because it tastes good even if I'm full!]
• [general] NO POTATO CHIPS/other unhealthy salty snacks. *my personal kryptonite!*  [Kind of wanted a salty snack after my walk but ate some trail mix (nuts and dried fruit) instead.]

 Fitness

• Go for a walk/run every day, even if just around the block. 

Complete a full bodyweight or free weights workout 3/x week. Intended to do NF Bodyweight Level 1 in the evening but I'm too beat from class and walking in the sun. Marked orange instead of red because the only reason I didn't do it is because I did too much other exercise, not because I was lazy. Train handstands at home every day, just for a few minutes. Trained handstands at circus school. Actually got a good freestanding balance a few times, maybe 6-8s. Take frequent breaks from computer and do stretching or foam roller.  N/A since I wasn't really on the computer all day. Usually I take Friday off from my paid work. I haven't been great about stretching my shoulders the past few days and it has clearly not helped as my bad shoulder is quite sore after class.

Sleep

• Kick the nap habit.  Fridays are a huge nap pitfall for me. I've gotten in the habit of running errands after circus class, not eating enough, coming home super hungry, eating too much for a late lunch, and then crashing on the sofa for a couple of hours until time to go pick up my partner. Today I ate enough for breakfast to get me through an intense class, ate healthy snacks right after class, and went out instead of napping. BUT I crashed in my comfy office chair while reading after dinner, for about an hour. I think I am bad at relaxing. I'm either doing some species of work (paid editing work, paid design work, personal art work), or I'm totally asleep. My favorite way to relax is reading, but half the time if I go to read I end up falling asleep (unless it's actually bed time and I try to read to make myself sleepy and it doesn't work)!

Try to be in bed by midnight each day.  Trouble falling asleep last night at bedtime. Up until 1am.

Other

• Daily financial check-in/accounting/mindfulness.  Did buy some shirts at Target but those were desperately needed after purging my wardrobe of things that were basically non-functional/too old. I successfully refrained from buying anything I didn't actually need.

Limit checking social media Did ok with this today, probably because I wasn't home most of the day Continue morning yoga/meditation (15 mins of each). N/A on Friday mornings. Add evening meditation 10mins. Did this last night in bed once I finally felt a bit sleepy. Helped me fall asleep. Have a one-song dance party each day.  Changed this from 5-min dance party to one-song dance party. A lot of songs are under 5 mins, but doing only one song seems right. Today's selection - "Not in Love" by Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith. With my parrot standing on my head. I think she likes dancing.