This is a Rebellion, isn't it? EternalJourno rebels.

[FatboySuave]

Introduction: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. My challenge goals have remained basically the same, but that's because it's been working for me so far. And I've yet to have a perfect month, so there's still room to improve. My primary goal here is to turn these quests into long-lasting habits that become second nature. So here we go again! One thing I'd like to change this month, however, is to level up in the Academy's bodyweight workouts. I've been on Level 3 for too long. I know I can move up, but I've been stalling because I don't have the equipment for the Level 4 activities. I will buy what I need ASAP and level up (I have a few extra bucks from selling my treadmill). I still don't feel strongly drawn to any particular guild, so I may forever be a Rebel.

 

 

Main Quest: I want to get down to 180 pounds by the end of the spring and I want to be strong enough to do a Tough Mudder Half in April, which I've already signed up for. My buddy and I also want to hike the Grand Canyon again in the spring, but we want to make it further down. The goal is 4.5-6 miles down and then back up.

 

Quest 1: Complete my assigned Bodyweight exercises three times a week and complete a cool down afterward. I will update these daily on my battle log if you want to see details and follow along.

A = Complete workout/cool down 3 times a week.
B = Complete workout/cool down 2 times a week.
C = Complete workout/cool down 1 time a week.
D = Complete 0 workouts/cool downs in a week.
F = No physical activity.

 

Quest 2: Walk and/or jog every day with my dog Booklet and complete a cool down afterward. I usually track these with the RunKeeper app on my battle log as well. I'm also tracking my miles on my Walk to Mordor. 

 

A = Walk/cool down 6-7 days a week

B = Walk/cool down 4-5 days a week.

C = Walk/cool down 2-3 day a week.

D = Walk/cool down 1 day a week.

F = No walking/cool downs.

Quest 3: Drink less alcohol.

A = Have no more than 3 drinks per week.
B = Have no more than 5 drinks per week. 
C = Have no more than 7 drinks per week.
D = Have no more than 9 drinks per week.
F = Anything more than that. 

Quest 4: Cook paleo meals more often, eat out less. If I do eat out, I will find healthy/paleo-ish options.

A = Eat out no more than 2 times a week. 
B = Eat out no more than 4 times a week.
C = Eat out no more than 6 times a week.
D = Eat out no more than 8 times a week.
F = Eat out more than 8 times a week. 

Life Quests: I really need to get my finances in order. I will look at my expenses for the past year and make a budget for the new year. 

Motivation: I feel like my lack of self confidence is a big obstacle that gets in the way of enjoying life and taking chances. I'd like to look good, so I can feel good and live life to the fullest.

[Vibrantella]

54 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

My buddy and I also want to hike the Grand Canyon again in the spring,

I'm hoping to be doing the same end of April! Woo-hoo!

 

Best of luck with your new challenge!

[Bookish Badger]

Following!

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Also following!! Glad I'm not the only one planning to repeat challenges until they stick

 

Also Star Wars

[Pherales]

Awesome for sticking to things even when they didn't go the way you wanted last time!  It's the best kind of stubborn

[shadowmoonsedai]

Good luck! Have you tried Mint for finances? I really like it for spend tracking because you can get as granular as you want to be as well as see trends from day-to-day, week-to-week, etc. 

[Hobbitron]

Ah the Tough Mudder! Those obstacles are insane  

I turn 40 next year and I'm getting a team together for the half mudder in Toronto in 2018. Building strength till then 

keep up the good work , you're on your way ! 

[Miw_Sher]

Following! I love seeing people giving multiple tries at things and not giving up.

[FatboySuave]

Welcome to my thread, everyone! And thanks for the follows I should probably start posting trigger warnings on my posts for long walls of text

I forgot to recap Super Bowl Sunday. It went pretty much as expected. I ate plenty of junk food, lol, but I didn't feel bad or guilty about it. The good thing is I didn't drink any alcohol, but that's primarily because I was still sick and felt like a zombie, lol. Anyway, I'm not dwelling on it. Moving on. I didn't do my meal prep Sunday, but I had some stuff leftover from last week's meal prep. That sounds bad, but I did my prep late in the week, so it was still good for one more day, lol.

Thankfully that helped me kick things off on the right foot Monday. I woke up feeling much better and I felt strong enough to do zumba. We did a few new songs plus some tough favorites. I finally learned the name of the song that I really like. It's "Waiting on the Stage" by Machel Montano. That shit gets me so fucking AMPED! lol. The video I linked shows not quite the same routine we do, but the part where the beat drops (with the criss-crossing and high knees) is the same. It's intense. It kills me. But it makes me feel so pumped! If I ever get the courage some day, I'll record a video of myself in class. We'll see...

 

But class was interesting this time because there was a skinny teenage girl directly in front of me who was barely moving the entire time. The previous class (Saturday), the instructor said some people complained that her routines were too hard, so she wanted perspective from a few of us regulars (look at me, already considering myself a regular). And her class is definitely more intense than the other instructor's class, but that's the reason why I like it. Well, the instructor had said that one of the complainants was barely moving through the class. Well, I got to see it up close right in front of me. I would never make fun of anybody who comes to the class, and everybody is super chill. Nobody stares at anybody else. And there's a lot of different body types. There's a guy who's maybe 2-3 times my size who comes fairly regularly and gives it the best shot that he can. There's ladies with no rhythm who can never seem to get the routines down even though they've been attending for months. And it's all good! But then there's this girl who just didn't even seem to try or want to try. It was actually kind of annoying and almost a buzz kill for me at first. It was distracting and sort of pulled me out of the moment. I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her and yell at her, "Move! Do something! Anything! Try!" And then there's one routine where we do a quick sort of gallop forward and I had to adjust a few times to avoid running her over, lol.

 

After a while though, it seemed like maybe something was off. I'm not sure what though. I don't want to speculate wildly — even though that's what people think we journalists do these days. But even on the parts where we do jumping jacks, she seemed lost. Like what kid doesn't know how to do a jumping jack? And then she seemed lost during the squat routine. I almost went up to give her some pointers, but then the instructor's mom, who often helps out with stuff, went up to talk to her. The girl seemed like she didn't want to hear anything from anybody, but maybe that was more out of embarrassment or something, but she still didn't seem to "get it." But after the class the big guy, who's super friendly and talks to everybody, went up to her and tried to encourage her to come back. I feel bad for judging her at first. On one hand it seemed like she didn't really want to be there — like that typical teenage "over it" attitude. But on the other hand, she obviously had the courage to come to class — maybe she wants to be a dancer or wants to learn to dance, but maybe there's some personal obstacle that she's dealing with that nobody can see. I don't know. Hopefully she'll keep coming to class. Maybe I'll reach out to her next time and give her some pointers if she seems willing to take some advice.

 

[Pherales]

Walls of text are the best kind of walls I can climb over them sitting down!

 

I feel your pain on that one person who just doesn't seem willing to try, but also, major kudos for trying to look past the obvious answer and think harder about her reasons for her behaviour.  It could be that she just didn't want to try, for sure, but most people would dismiss it as just that and not consider anything else at all.  I think there's nothing better (personally) than viewing the world in a wider lens.

 

I'm glad you're feeling better!

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Wow, you seem to be a really observant person. I always wanted to be a journalist but in the end settled to become something else, because of getting writers block regularly.

 

Good luck and best wishes for your challenge.

[shadowmoonsedai]

21 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

Welcome to my thread, everyone! And thanks for the follows I should probably start posting trigger warnings on my posts for long walls of text

I forgot to recap Super Bowl Sunday. It went pretty much as expected. I ate plenty of junk food, lol, but I didn't feel bad or guilty about it. The good thing is I didn't drink any alcohol, but that's primarily because I was still sick and felt like a zombie, lol. Anyway, I'm not dwelling on it. Moving on. I didn't do my meal prep Sunday, but I had some stuff leftover from last week's meal prep. That sounds bad, but I did my prep late in the week, so it was still good for one more day, lol.

Thankfully that helped me kick things off on the right foot Monday. I woke up feeling much better and I felt strong enough to do zumba. We did a few new songs plus some tough favorites. I finally learned the name of the song that I really like. It's "Waiting on the Stage" by Machel Montano. That shit gets me so fucking AMPED! lol. The video I linked shows not quite the same routine we do, but the part where the beat drops (with the criss-crossing and high knees) is the same. It's intense. It kills me. But it makes me feel so pumped! If I ever get the courage some day, I'll record a video of myself in class. We'll see...

 

But class was interesting this time because there was a skinny teenage girl directly in front of me who was barely moving the entire time. The previous class (Saturday), the instructor said some people complained that her routines were too hard, so she wanted perspective from a few of us regulars (look at me, already considering myself a regular). And her class is definitely more intense than the other instructor's class, but that's the reason why I like it. Well, the instructor had said that one of the complainants was barely moving through the class. Well, I got to see it up close right in front of me. I would never make fun of anybody who comes to the class, and everybody is super chill. Nobody stares at anybody else. And there's a lot of different body types. There's a guy who's maybe 2-3 times my size who comes fairly regularly and gives it the best shot that he can. There's ladies with no rhythm who can never seem to get the routines down even though they've been attending for months. And it's all good! But then there's this girl who just didn't even seem to try or want to try. It was actually kind of annoying and almost a buzz kill for me at first. It was distracting and sort of pulled me out of the moment. I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her and yell at her, "Move! Do something! Anything! Try!" And then there's one routine where we do a quick sort of gallop forward and I had to adjust a few times to avoid running her over, lol.

 

After a while though, it seemed like maybe something was off. I'm not sure what though. I don't want to speculate wildly — even though that's what people think we journalists do these days. But even on the parts where we do jumping jacks, she seemed lost. Like what kid doesn't know how to do a jumping jack? And then she seemed lost during the squat routine. I almost went up to give her some pointers, but then the instructor's mom, who often helps out with stuff, went up to talk to her. The girl seemed like she didn't want to hear anything from anybody, but maybe that was more out of embarrassment or something, but she still didn't seem to "get it." But after the class the big guy, who's super friendly and talks to everybody, went up to her and tried to encourage her to come back. I feel bad for judging her at first. On one hand it seemed like she didn't really want to be there — like that typical teenage "over it" attitude. But on the other hand, she obviously had the courage to come to class — maybe she wants to be a dancer or wants to learn to dance, but maybe there's some personal obstacle that she's dealing with that nobody can see. I don't know. Hopefully she'll keep coming to class. Maybe I'll reach out to her next time and give her some pointers if she seems willing to take some advice.

 

I think your observations are pretty on the mark. Before my first Zumba (and Pump) class, I didn't realize that you were just sort of dropped into without any learning ahead of time. It was pretty discouraging because I did feel like everyone was judging me for not knowing the moves and not being able to keep up because everything was new. I'm glad you guys tried to talk with her and encourage her - I hope she comes back! 

[Butternut]

Yikes! I hope your next class is a little smoother. 

 

On 2/7/2017 at 4:28 PM, EternalJourno said:

Maybe I'll reach out to her next time and give her some pointers if she seems willing to take some advice.

 

Hopefully she is. Maybe it'll help loosen her up. 

[GardenGeek]

This might be my theme music for this challenge, because you are the second person I'm recommending this to, but you should check out the book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, it's about habit formation and it's pretty good. Also The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (I think that was his name) had some really great ideas.

[FatboySuave]

On 2/7/2017 at 6:18 PM, Dalish said:

Walls of text are the best kind of walls I can climb over them sitting down!

 

I love this so much <3

 

On 2/8/2017 at 11:19 AM, Luciana Valerosa Culming said:

Wow, you seem to be a really observant person. I always wanted to be a journalist but in the end settled to become something else, because of getting writers block regularly.

 

I get severe writer's block when it comes to creative writing, but I'm never at a loss for words when it comes to journalism. Well, maybe not never... lol

 

On 2/8/2017 at 11:52 AM, shadowmoonsedai said:

I didn't realize that you were just sort of dropped into without any learning ahead of time. It was pretty discouraging because I did feel like everyone was judging me for not knowing the moves and not being able to keep up because everything was new. I'm glad you guys tried to talk with her and encourage her - I hope she comes back! 

 

Luckily I'm at a point where I don't care if I mess up. I just jump around and keep moving, lol.

 

12 hours ago, GardenGeek said:

This might be my theme music for this challenge, because you are the second person I'm recommending this to, but you should check out the book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, it's about habit formation and it's pretty good. Also The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (I think that was his name) had some really great ideas.

 

Thanks for the suggestions

 

17 hours ago, Butternut said:

I hope your next class is a little smoother. 

 

Yesterday's class was a lot of fun. It was a smaller group, but mostly regulars. We started doing a different squat routine to the tune of "Proud Mary" by Ike & Tina Turner. It starts off so harmless, we just do some pulsing squats. Then it really turns up, lol. The first time I hated it because it was so rough, but this time I had a lot of fun with it.

The local hot yoga instructor reached out to me on Facebook again about re-taking her class. Sometime last year I tried hot yoga and absolutely hated it, lol. I said as much on Facebook, and the owner of the studio saw it and asked me about my experience. She thinks I may have just had a bad instructor, so she's offering me a free class with her leading. So I told her I'd be there next Tuesday... I'm not looking forward to it at all, but I'm willing to give it a shot. And I'm dragging my friends down with me, lol.

Even though I've felt as if I haven't hit a lot of my quests lately, I'm doing OK weight-wise. I'm at about 205-206 pounds as of this morning. I think it's a credit to my obsession with zumba. I've been doing it 3 times a week for the past month. I'm still loving it. But I really need to get back into the strength training and walking still.

[Butternut]

32 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

So I told her I'd be there next Tuesday... I'm not looking forward to it at all, but I'm willing to give it a shot. And I'm dragging my friends down with me, l

 

Oooooo. That's awesome you got a friend going with ya. What is it about hot yoga you don't like?

 

glad your sticking with Zumba. 

 

It it takes time to find the work out that fits you. I can spend hours on my bike but can't do HIIT training. 

[Vibrantella]

19 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

I've been doing it 3 times a week for the past month. I'm still loving it. But I really need to get back into the strength training and walking still.

When will you find the time?  OK, walking you can incorporate into your day/weekend as you have to (I presume) walk your dog anyway.  But if you're doing so well with Zumba, why put pressure on yourself about strength training?  Maybe give yourself another month or two and then think about swapping some Zumba for weights...

 

19 hours ago, Butternut said:

I can spend hours on my bike but can't do HIIT training. 

It's so funny how humans are different - I am SO completely the opposite!  

[Miw_Sher]

23 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

The local hot yoga instructor reached out to me on Facebook again about re-taking her class.

 

I admit I did not understand this was about hot yoga at first and was going to congratulate you on making an impression + some sassy teasing. Then I read the rest of your post.

[Bookish Badger]

Did the skinny girl ever come back to Zumba? I'm willing to bet that it was her first class of that sort and she was completely overwhelmed (scared, humiliated) when she realized that everyone knew the choreography except her. If you aren't familiar with the steps, even the cues from the instructor sound like a foreign language.

[FatboySuave]

On 2/9/2017 at 0:54 PM, Butternut said:

What is it about hot yoga you don't like?

 

The heat, lol. Umm, seriously though, I just had a really hard time the first time I did it. The heat really got to me. I had to exit the room before the class ended. And I'm not sure I'm a yoga person. I thought I might be. I think I like the idea of yoga, but actually doing it is not as enjoyable. 

 

14 hours ago, Vibrantella said:

When will you find the time?

 

The original plan was that I would do my bodyweight workout 3 times a week, and then I was doing zumba once a week on an off day, like an "active rest day." Then the more zumba I did in a week, the less bodyweight workouts I did. I'm sure I'll find a balance eventually. As much as I love zumba, I feel like I'm missing out on the strength training, so I'll probably go back to doing zumba just once a week. 

 

10 hours ago, Miw_Sher said:

I admit I did not understand this was about hot yoga at first and was going to congratulate you on making an impression + some sassy teasing. Then I read the rest of your post.

 

Haha, maybe a hyphen will help in the future: hot-yoga instructor. In the journalism world, we specifically make a differentiation between a small-business man and a small businessman. Is the man physically small or does he run a small business? lol

 

9 hours ago, Bookish Badger said:

Did the skinny girl ever come back to Zumba?

 

She has not come back yet. Maybe next week. We'll see. 

Tomorrow I'll be skipping my first zumba class in a while. *Gasp!* But that's because I'm planning to go hiking with some friends. The weather has been amazing lately. I haven't gone hiking in a while, so I'm not exactly sure how I'll do, but I'm hoping to see the effect of the cardio I've been doing recently.

In other news, I had some friends over last night for board games, and I only had 2 cocktails with some Sprite Zero. So that felt like a win. 

[Leimanu]

Will we get pictures of Booklet?  That's a cute name

 

Good for you for going to Zumba!  I love when there's men in a considered-female thing, and vice-versa.  It's the 21st century.  Gender-specific stuff is so last century.

[FatboySuave]

On 2/11/2017 at 9:44 AM, Leimanu said:

Will we get pictures of Booklet?  That's a cute name

 

Good for you for going to Zumba!  I love when there's men in a considered-female thing, and vice-versa.  It's the 21st century.  Gender-specific stuff is so last century.

 

Pictures of Lil' Book will come soon! We went hiking Saturday and I meant to take pics but I just forgot. And, yeah, sometimes I feel a bit self-conscious about doing zumba with a group of women, but nobody seems to mind. And I love the class too much to let something silly like that stop me, lol. The only awkward part is when I show up a bit too early and there's a school-aged dance class practicing, so I just sit there trying to not look like a creepy old guy watching little girls dance, lol.

Week 0 Update

 

Quest 1 - Workouts: B (I did zero bodyweight workouts, but I did zumba twice.)

 

Quest 2 - Walks: D (Only walked once on a hike with Booklet and a friend.)

Quest 3 - Alcohol: A (I only had 2 small cocktails on board game night.)

Quest 4 - Diet: D (We had a job candidate come in, which means meals out. Plus just some other general infractions.)

Week 0 Grade: C+

 

A pretty decent start to the new challenge. Mistakes were made. Moving on

This week is off to a great start. I did my meal prep yesterday. And I did a bodyweight workout and took Booklet on a short walk. I've been neglecting my strength workouts, so I struggled quite a bit. My pushup game is a bit weaker than it should be. I'm looking forward to building those muscles back up. In order to get back into the routine of doing 3 bodyweight workouts a week, I may consider cutting back on the zumba a bit. I'm gonna listen closer to my body. I feel good today, so I think I'm gonna go to class tonight. I've been experiencing a bit of soreness in my heel lately, so I'm a bit worried about that, but it's by no means unbearable. So we'll see how it goes tonight.

 

 

[Miw_Sher]

18 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

 

Pictures of Lil' Book will come soon! We went hiking Saturday and I meant to take pics but I just forgot. And, yeah, sometimes I feel a bit self-conscious about doing zumba with a group of women, but nobody seems to mind. And I love the class too much to let something silly like that stop me, lol. The only awkward part is when I show up a bit too early and there's a school-aged dance class practicing, so I just sit there trying to not look like a creepy old guy watching little girls dance, lol.

 

 

If it helps, there is nothing I find hotter and more admirable than a man who is able to get past male gender stereotypes.

[FatboySuave]

23 hours ago, Miw_Sher said:

If it helps, there is nothing I find hotter and more admirable than a man who is able to get past male gender stereotypes.

 

Haha, this does help a bit.

Zumba went great last night. I didn't feel any pain in my heel. I was mindful of the movements to see if anything in particular triggered any pain, but everything was fine. But today my heel is feeling quite sore, almost like it's bruised. I'm not sure what's going on. I can walk on it with a limp. It's just a little tender. I think I might take the week off from zumba to let it *heel* heh Doing zumba a day after I did some strength training had a definite impact though. I really struggled during the arms routine — like, a lot. So at least I know my arms are getting the attention they need from my bodyweight workouts. So I need to keep those up, especially as a means for training for the Half Mudder in April. I feel like it might sneak up on me and I'm not really actively training, so I gotta be careful there.

The skinny girl showed up again. Still much of the same non-movement from her. I wasn't near her this time though, but the big guy in the class appeared to give her a pep talk. I have a feeling her friend is dragging her there. But I still don't know what's going on.

 

I did give some advice to my friend who's been coming regularly. She noted that she has pain in her knees during the squat routine. I happened to glance at her at one point and noticed she was putting all her weight on her toes, which seemed to be pointed way too far out, like a ballerina. I talked to her afterward to see if that's how she always did squats or if she was doing that to avoid knee pain. Then I tried to give her some pointers on proper form, though I'm no expert. So we'll see if that helps her.

Tonight I'm having friends over for Pal-entine's Day for board games and tacos. I'm gonna try to stick to lettuce-wrap tacos for myself while providing tortillas for everybody else. We'll see how that goes. But I'm also thinking of getting baked good for everyone (the local animal shelter is having a fundraiser). I may not be able to resist, lol. I hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day! <3

And here's a picture of Booklet I promised:
 

 

[Butternut]

20 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

Tonight I'm having friends over for Pal-entine's Day for board games and tacos.

 

I so wish I was your friend.

 

Have fun tonight and great job with you week 0! Only 2 cocktails on game night? That's impressive.