My Xenafication Challenge

[Quorralyne]

Hi, I'm Heather. This is me, right now, right before my first workout of my pledged challenge to transform - everything - into a warrior woman.

I stumbled across NF because of the awesome Superhero post by Steve that somebody randomly put on their Facebook news feed. I'm a huge superhero movie fan and this realistic approach to taking on characteristics of some of the Avengers fascinated me. Even my handle, Quorralyne, is inspired by the TRON: Legacy character portrayed by Olivia Wilde. When that film first came out, it inspired me to make the most drastic career shift of my life. I went from over 7 years in hospitality to becoming a C# web developer with a passion for programming mobile apps. Her appetite for learning completely foreign things really served my own curiousity as well, and I completely immersed in the wonderful world of code. Now that I hit that goal of thinking and learning quickly, I began taking a serious look at my level of health and fitness. Sitting in a chair coding over 10 hours a day is not conducive to weight loss in the slightest. Even though my roommate and I (she's a model) try to make smart, fresh and healthy choices in our meals I noticed that she was dropping the weight steadily and finally went down to her target goal, while I only dropped a size or two and couldn't make anymore progress. Very frustrating. Now that I had found a creative and mentally healthy place to live for my career, it was time that I FELT like I was capable of anything. That includes getting fit.

After reading the article on Staci, I was completely hooked on not only cleansing my body of all the toxins by going Paleo, but I want to actually start gaining serious core strength and muscle. So, I've decided to go all in at once - yes, I know, slow and steady wins the race usually, but my brain does not work that way. I'm a quit-cold-turkey kind of dedicated person, or I'll give myself too many excuses when I go with gradual changes. Therefore, I conjured a visible goal in my head: XENA.

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Why Xena? That chick has some serious skills with hand-to-hand combat, horsemanship and general bad-assery that I've loved watching since I was young. She rides a horse, handles foraging and hunting along her journey, must clear her head to control her strength and is constantly active. Why NOT Xena?! I have a 4 year old Arabian gelding that is also starting to undergo training under saddle, and I want to get in shape to really ride him to his potential - which I can't when I'm lugging 25+ extra pounds and have no core strength. Because he is such a central part of my life, visualizing my goal as becoming "Xenafied" really works for me. Therefore, I outlined a lifestyle for myself to submerge into.

--THE XENAFICATION CHALLENGE--

PART 1

Paleo Diet

For the first 30 days I am going to go strict Paleo. Obviously my dieting habits in the past were not enough, but then again I never eliminated grain or dairy from it before. This time frame was suggested by the article Steve wrote, and I'm going to give it a serious try. Caffeine is going to be a big issue for me as a coder... but it will have to be tea for that or nothing. I'm not going to cheat the first thirty days. This is warrior bootcamp for me.

PART 2

Beginner Body Weight Workout

I do have a gym membership, and have enjoyed doing cardio there in the past, so I will be braving the Empire to get myself fit. I also have noticed that I won't work out at home - going to the gym FORCES me to do what I came there to do. I'm starting with the Beginner Body Weight Workout and finish by doing 10-15 minutes on the eliptical.

PART 3

Warrior Skill Training

This area will change as new skills are conquered. I've decided to start my warrior training by focusing on horsemanship and riding at least 3 times a week, until I can handle my horse at any gait and maneuver around an obstacle course. Next in the list is archery, followed by fight training - I'm thinking kick-boxing would be Xena-approved. On the modern side of things taking up firearms training is also of interest to me. After all, warriors are not century-specific

PART 4

Introspection and Meditation

Keeping a journal (yes, a physical one) of my challenge and spending at least 20 minutes a day completely unwinding in a quiet, dark place. This is something that is very important for me to do. My brain gets quite busy solving the world's problems, and I cannot remember the last time I refocused it. I have chosen for this to be my time with God, but it is an idea given to me by a wonderful atheist friend who meditates frequently. The point is to be still, regroup, and be renewed of mind.

PART 5

Conquer a Fear

This is a big one for me. Fear is something a warrior still feels, but they have the courage to face it - and ultimately, defeat it. Within the next 30 days I have chosen to conquer my biggest one - fear of drowning. It's true, sadly, I do not know how to swim. Lots of bad experiences (and they aren't important to list now) but it's time I conquered it. I will start swimming lessons this month along with the guidance of a hypnotherapist (controversial? Sure. But I've attempted this twice before and my body just locks up).

Right now I am living life at around 175 pounds. At the end of 30 days I would like to have dropped another dress size. You'll notice that my goal does not include pounds lost, but rather a fitness level that allows me to be agile, strong, balanced, clear-headed and toxin-free. I would LIKE to be under 150 by October (what my recommended BMI is), but more important is that I look and feel healthy and strong, and have gained some real-life warrior skills while I'm at it.

Here goes nothing!

Day 1:

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[D_chelyst]

That's cool stuff Glad to see that you've created such a detailed plan of action! Clear goals = better chance of reaching them

[Siferiax]

Wow I really like how you challenged yourself and made a whole Xena challenge.

I mean Xena is awesome haha

This really inspires me to find a role model for my goals! It sounds like a great idea to have a visual reference!

Good luck in your goals!

[tigersheart]

Welcome and awesome post!

And no slow and steady does not always win the race....because each race is different! So go with what works for you

Excellent goals, and I wish you the very best in them!

[Sloth the Enduring]

This all looks great Heather.

[Quorralyne]

Update:

-Lost 6 pounds since the 1st. Woot!

-Took up archery now, and purchased a traditional recurve bow for target practice. I'm not bad, it turns out.

-Tried my hand at making Paleo cookies and LOVED them. Trader Joes, Apple Market, Amazon and World Market have become my best friends.

-Since I finished detoxing off caffeine completely, I've noticed that my thinking is CLEARER at work than it ever was, and my body is naturally starting to wake me up in time. Apparently I never needed that crap to begin with.

-Still haven't found a swimming instructor. Working on that!

[D_chelyst]

Great update! Do you do your target practice at home or somewhere else? I had wanted to get into archery but don't have the space outside in our current house for the backstop without injuring the house or possibly alarming the neighbors. And I'm pretty sure it'd be a bad idea to do archery inside the house...!

And...I wish I hadn't known of such a thing as Paleo cookies....that's just way too tempting........I would probably eat those and nothing else ever............

[erawka]

Good for you for picking a fear to conquer! I also am afraid of swimming -- bad experiences here also, so I just tense up -- so I hear you on that. Keep us posted about the hypnotherapy! That never occurred to me. Your bad-a** plan is really inspiring to read!

[KellyElizabeth]

When I was a kid, my friend Erin lived on this 10 acre farm type thing in the middle of the Mojave desert. Literally nothing around for miles and miles and miles. She had horses and when I would come over with my older brother (who happened to be her older brothers best friend) we would play Xena/Hercules. I would always be Gabrielle because she was Xena. We'd ride horses and pretend fight all over the place. We were warriors!

I love and support your Xenafication, she's a strong woman warrior and you're going to love firearm training.

Welcome Warrior!

[Quorralyne]

UPDATE: Lost 8 pounds so far!

[aFirefly]

UPDATE: Lost 8 pounds so far!

Wow, Heather! You go girl! I was like, what is this "Xenafication" she is talking about? Maybe I am ignorant of some new fitness approach. Then I was like, oh, duh. Xena! Totes McGoats grew up watching that show religiously with my lesbo (fo' serious) mama, hahaha. She was kinda a big deal in the household, you can imagine. It was the family night of the week, and she's a pretty kick-butt lady to look up to! YOU CAN DO IT! That's a crazy intense plan you've given yourself, but hey, look, you're doing it. I hope you're proud of yourself and you let the momentum carry you forward to accomplish everything on that list. You go, warrior girl.

And so congrats on the weight loss!

PS: Jealous of horses. May come and steal. Maybe.

[caponerd48]

Awesome quest so far! Way to take charge!

[tonic]

Great going! I am going to have to take a page out o your book for next challenge.

[Quorralyne]

Up to 17.5 lbs free weights for dumbbell rows. Finally increasing my resistance for interval cardio on the eliptical between 7 and 15, respectively.

And....

10 lbs lost in 30 DAYS!!!!

Wow. Loving this result. I'm sore, but feeling great... and much stronger!