Suzaqu is back for 2017!

[Suzaqu]

Hello everyone!

 

So I kinda just gave up on having a January challenge. My mom was in town for the first week, and then I got sick for another week, and then work got crazy because someone took medical leave, and the idea of writing a challenge just started stressing me out, so I decided to give myself a cycle off. Unfortunately, I took the cycle off from basically all fitness stuff, so I really need to get back into it; my body is unhappy and so is my mind.

 

I liked my points format last time, so I'm trying it again, only I'm adding in negative points as well, to up the difficulty level. I'm also running this one Sunday-Saturday, since I'm going out of town the last weekend of the challenge and I want all the time I can get, also this will motivate me to get moving tomorrow!

 

Things that can earn me points:

• Doing a workout (S&S, yoga, long walk/hike, exercise bike, etc) +2
• Doing my evening mobility routine (focused on hips and spine currently) +1
• Logging into NF and posting on my thread and one other (gotta get back in the habit) +1
• sweeping the kitchen floor (a new habit I want to build) +1
• no alcohol day (I have a bad habit of a daily beer/glass of wine) +1
• standing for at least 1 hour (cumulative over a day) at work at my standing desk +1
• Reading (and understanding) one page of math (I'm working on a new project with a new mentor and I want some motivation) +1
• Doing an adult thing I don't want to do (can earn one per week, last time this got me to get a lot of stuff done!) +5

Things that will lose me points:

• going over my calorie goal for the day -1
• watching a youtube video (this is a bad habit I have and there are much better things I can be doing with my time, like reading math, or listening to my backlog of podcasts, the one exception will be if I'm reading an article that links a video and I want to see that video as part of the article) -1

 

Points goal/reward

If I earn 150 points over the course of the challenge, I can buy the fancy tea maker thing I want, guilt-free. (I've been debating it for a bit, but the cost and guilt from not needing it have held me back)

 

Let's do this! I have no theme, so I'm going to go with cute animal gifs, those are motivational.

 

[Manarelle]

Oooooooh my gosh that gif is adorable! And the "do an adult thing I don't want to do" is brilliant! I see a new fancy tea maker thing in your future. You got this!

[Grayspeed]

14 hours ago, Suzaqu said:

 

Let's do this! I have no theme, so I'm going to go with cute animal gifs, those are motivational.

 

This is the best thing ever.

Also, welcome back!

[raptron]

Ooh, such a good challenge structure. 

[Elastigirl]

Happy dance Suzaqu is back!

I'm back to doing S & S again too.

Fancy tea maker thing- tell me more. 

[LouCarJo]

I'm exactly the same in having had a bit of a write-off of a January but the new year has started now!  Also, I like kettlebells too :-)

[Suzaqu]

On 2/12/2017 at 0:31 PM, Grayspeed said:

This is the best thing ever.

Also, welcome back!

Thank you! I've missed the community here! I'm off to go find and follow everyone's challenges!

[Suzaqu]

On 2/13/2017 at 10:48 AM, raptron said:

Ooh, such a good challenge structure. 

Thank you! I'm not sure how the negative points will go, but so far they have put the fear in me to not do those things. Negative reinforcement for the win! (That's a healthy thing, right?  )

[Suzaqu]

On 2/13/2017 at 10:43 PM, Elastigirl said:

Happy dance Suzaqu is back!

I'm back to doing S & S again too.

Fancy tea maker thing- tell me more. 

Yes! More S&S! I'm so happy to be back. 

 

This is the tea thing I want. I saw it when it first popped up on kickstarter and have been lusting after it ever since. I like that I wouldn't have to clean out my little tea filter thing at work anymore with it, also I think the ritual of it would be fun.

[Suzaqu]

On 2/14/2017 at 2:09 AM, LouCarJo said:

I'm exactly the same in having had a bit of a write-off of a January but the new year has started now!  Also, I like kettlebells too :-)

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who didn't win 2017 off the bat, glad you are back at it as well!

[Suzaqu]

Updates!

 

Sunday: 

I did my S&S and it felt really good! I just did my standard weights and it all went well. I also did my mobility routine and I could definitely feel that I hadn't done it in a while, my spine protested with lots of cracking. I did watch a youtube video while doing S&S as it honestly was the only thing I could do to motivate myself to actually do it.

Math: 2+1-1=3

 

Monday:

S&S again, and I started upping my weight. I swung my 35lb bell for the first time and amazingly enough made it through 10 reps per arm (though I do feel them now), I also did one round of TGU with the 25lb, again, I'm sore, but was successful. I also did my mobility, and my hip ROM is definitely coming back. I'm doing a step challenge through work and in an effort to get more steps I did sweep the floor. I also didn't drink anything , which kept my calories down. I did once again watch a yt video while doing S&S and I think I may add that as an exception to the rules, as it encourages me and makes it a reward, so I'm not going to take off a point for that one. I also spent an hour standing at work.

Overall it was a great day for points, which was awesome, because the rest of the day wasn't super productive. I had to go to orientation for the job I have had for 7 months, so that was half a day of productivity lost at work.

Math: 2+1+1+1+1=6

Total: 9

 

Tuesday

I didn't do S&S because I had to put in extra hours at work and since it was valentine's day, I decided to skip the workout and spend time with my husband and eat delivery sushi, om nom nom. I did stand at work during those extra hours and I swept the floor (so romantic :P) I didn't do my full mobility routine, I totally forgot about the hip part, but did the spine work.

Math: 1+1=2

Total: 11

 

Wednesday: 

All the soreness, we'll see if S&S happens tonight. I do get a point for actually logging in and reporting today. I'm currently at work on "lunch" and just realized I need to do some more standing!

 

[Elastigirl]

Woot for the bigger weights and getting back into S&S. Sushi sounds like a nice way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

[Suzaqu]

Just now, Elastigirl said:

Woot for the bigger weights and getting back into S&S. Sushi sounds like a nice way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Steak was on the menu, with wine and asparagus, but cooking did not sound like fun at all after a long day, so that was moved to tonight. The celebration continues, and I get all the protein!

[Elastigirl]

4 minutes ago, Suzaqu said:

Steak was on the menu, with wine and asparagus, but cooking did not sound like fun at all after a long day, so that was moved to tonight. The celebration continues, and I get all the protein!

Nice. We fixed steak at home last night, and then tonight we are going out to celebrate our anniversary.

[LouCarJo]

Mmmm sushi

[Suzaqu]

20 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Nice. We fixed steak at home last night, and then tonight we are going out to celebrate our anniversary.

Very nice! I much prefer to stay in on the 14th and then go out some other day, much less insanity! Happy anniversary!

[Suzaqu]

7 hours ago, LouCarJo said:

Mmmm sushi

I fully admit that it gets ordered way too often in our house, probably more than pizza even, which is shocking to me.

[Suzaqu]

Wednesday:

I did log in and talk to all you awesome people! I'm still trying to find everyone's threads and read all the posts, but I'll get there! I also did my mobility. I think I want to research and add in some shoulder mobility drills, as they are feeling pretty tight. Any suggestions? I also stood for an hour at work. My back was really sore and tight, so I took the night off again from S&S, but I'm going to try to do it tonight! (We're having a party tomorrow, so tonight is cleaning night) Speaking of cleaning, I did sweep. Alcohol was drunk, because we had steak, and it's basically required by law to have red wine with it  I think tonight (Thursday) will be dry though.

Math: 1+1+1+1=4

Total: 15

 

[karinajean]

wow, that tea maker is so appealing!

[raptron]

Wall angels are pretty classic! Hmm, shoulder dislocates holding onto a towel or dowel? 

[LouCarJo]

15 hours ago, Suzaqu said:

I fully admit that it gets ordered way too often in our house, probably more than pizza even, which is shocking to me.

When we moved to our current place, we don't really do takeaways anymore as there's barely any options we like.  Side benefit of moving to a smaller place!  I'd be tempted by sushi often too if I could order it in.

[Suzaqu]

On 2/16/2017 at 1:46 PM, karinajean said:

wow, that tea maker is so appealing!

Yep, they sold me an idea, and I bought it! Now hopefully I get all the points I need, so I can buy it for realz!

[Suzaqu]

On 2/16/2017 at 2:40 PM, raptron said:

Wall angels are pretty classic! Hmm, shoulder dislocates holding onto a towel or dowel? 

Oh man, I can't believe I forgot about wall angels! The are so deceptively simple looking, maybe they should be called wall devils

[Suzaqu]

On 2/17/2017 at 3:44 AM, LouCarJo said:

When we moved to our current place, we don't really do takeaways anymore as there's barely any options we like.  Side benefit of moving to a smaller place!  I'd be tempted by sushi often too if I could order it in.

We moved from a place with no options to far too many, and the habits have definitely slipped. I try to at least control portions...most of the time

[Suzaqu]

Thursday: 

As predicted, Thursday was dry, I also managed to stand for an hour at work. I came home and had a marathon cleaning session for the party, which involved sweeping the floor. After cleaning, I didn't want to do S&S, not sure why, but I didn't. So I decided to do other kettlebell stuff for fun. I did suitcase+waiter's carries, snatches, deadlifts, windmills, russian twists, skull crushers, renegade rows (so happy I finally have two heavy bells so I can do these), and cooled down with arm bars. Definitely upper body heavy, which I haven't done in a while, so it felt really good. I also logged into NF and posted, so a very productive day overall.

Math: 1+1+1+2+1=6

Total:21

 

Friday:

We had our party, so basically nothing happened. I drank (possibly more than was fully wise) and didn't work out. But I did stand for an hour at work, despite all the doms from Thursday's workout adventure. We also had a going away party at work for lunch, so my food choices were all delicious and calorie-dense. I went over my calorie goal (but only by about 200, so essentially maintenance, so I'm proud, despite losing a point).

Math: 1-1=0

Total:21

 

Saturday:

Today was also dry, partially due to minor overindulgence yesterday. Workout for the day was a 3 mile walk to the deli for lunch, om nom nom! I also did my awful adult thing: signed up for health insurance! I'm finally eligible, and there are 14 plans to choose from, so this was definitely not fun. I'm going to do my mobility tonight, I promise, and am here checking in. Productive day! I was sorely tempted to watch youtube while doing chores and insurance stuff, but resisted. Now that I'm not doing it, I see what a habit it has become. Thankfully I have many podcasts to catch up on.

 

Math: 1+2+5+1+1=10

Total: 31