Ready to reset life

[d00slip]

.

[Horsedog]

Awesome - you've got a plan and you're ready to pull the trigger!! So what are your specific goals? Like, what things in particular do you want to be able to do to be considered fit?

Keep us posted

[D_chelyst]

Welcome! Don't forget about diet along with your workouts. If you're not eating the right stuff/enough calories, you won't see as many gains as quickly. Good luck with your new journey!

[d00slip]

Thanks a lot guys!

So I’ve had a look around, settled a bit and created my character sheet (or should I say life sheet). My starting stats are in my signature, I have decided to just be an adventurer for now, but I’m leaning towards eventually becoming a ranger.

Seeing as I landed smack dab in the middle of a 6 week challenge, I’m going to ready myself for the next one. From what I gather it takes about a week or two after a challenge ends for a new one to begin, so going by that logic I estimate that I have about 2-3 weeks before the new one starts. I’m going to conservatively choose 2 weeks and build my own little challenge around that. I won’t be adding any attribute points because it just doesn’t seem fair, but I’m just too excited to wait a couple of weeks before challenging myself.

Also - thanks D_chelyst, I'm eating rather healthily at the moment, but I'm going to give the paleo diet a whack next month. And thank you Horsedog, I plan on being an active member, I like the idea of having some public pressure to get a bit of fire under my arse. I'll be posting my goals for these 2 weeks today.

What do you guys think?

[Horsedog]

Awesome Goals are KEY!! And the challenges here on NF make hitting' 'em even more fun

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Piccolojones]

Welcome! Sounds like you're in a very similar spot in life to myself. Looking forward to seeing your short-term goals for your personal mini-challenge. What about long term goals? In Steve's TedxTalk, I think he mentioned figuring out what your level 50 looks like, then breaking it down into smaller goals for each level. You may not know what your level 50 is just yet (I know I have no idea), but what's your "level 10" look like? Or your 1-2 year health and fitness goals?

[d00slip]

Hey Piccolojones,

The problem I have with long term goals, even short term goals,is that I've focused so much on reading and researching that I haven't really done anything. I've managed to get into a position where I feel overwhelmed, the perfect term is analysis paralysis (thanks again, Steve). So I have decided to stop reading and planning and just start doing, this mini challenge being that act of doing. After the 2 weeks I will reevaluate and set goals for the 6 week challenge as well as create my own personal Epic Quest, which will include some of my long term goals.

As I've said before I've opted to go for a military style fitness programme. This evening after work I decided to do an assessment of my fitness, which I used to set the goals for my 2 week challenge. The results and my starting stats are as follows:

2 Week Challenge Start date 21/07/2012

Stats:

Height: 173cm (5'6.7")

Weight: 72.8kg (160 lbs)

BMI: 24.32

Press-ups in 2min: 28

2min rest

Sit-ups in 2min: 34

2min rest

Pull-ups in 2min: 2

2min rest

2.5km run: 15 minutes 31 seconds

Fitness Goals:

Press-ups in 2min: 35

Sit-ups in 2min: 40

Pull-ups in 2min: 3

2.5km run: 13 minutes 30 seconds

Career goals:

Finish my work to-do list daily.

Luckily a skill I acquired through the last month or two of relentless reading and planning, was the ability to make a very good to-do list. The problem however, is sticking to it, I want to make it my mission to finish every day’s to-do list and not leave work until I have done so.

I'm going to share a little quote that inspired me into action:

"I'm not gonna build a wall, I'm gonna lay this brick as perfectly as it can be laid - you do that every day and soon you have a wall." -Will Smith

[Kuiken]

Love the Will Smith quote! That's great way to keep yourself from being overwhelmed and just take things one day at a time. I think I'm going to take pictures every 2 weeks so I can see the progress my brick wall is making. Helps to see the overall view from time to time as well so you don't get lost in the bricks.

Good luck this week on your mini-challenge and get stuff DONE!

[d00slip]

Thanks Kuiken

I also think tracking progress is a brilliant idea, I decided to take photos and a couple of body measurements every fortnight as well. I'm excited about this journey

[Thor]

You sound like you know what needs to be done :-)

I find that having real and true goals is motivating as hell. And failing at one or two is in effect also a positive lesson.

Check out the "Fail more, Suck less" blog post by Steve. One of the smartest things he ever wrote :-)

Have fun on your joerney :-)

Thorsten

[d00slip]

Vielen dank Thorsten, I'm checking out the post now. If a rocket scientist says it's smart I better check it out I feel very motivated and I've also decided to track a couple of body measurements and take photos every fortnight. I'm sure seeing visible results will be another big motivator.

[Caitriona]

"I'm not gonna build a wall, I'm gonna lay this brick as perfectly as it can be laid - you do that every day and soon you have a wall." -Will Smith

I really like that! Especially since I have no idea yet what my level 50 looks like... or even my level 10. Right now, every time I have a Woot! moment, I'm super excited about just that accomplishment, and it makes me think: "If I managed that, what else can I do next?" So brick by brick it is. =)

[Kuiken]

How are your workouts going? Die weer is baie koud by my-it takes so much motivation just to get out bed! Sounds like you're staying strong and 1 week is almost over!

[d00slip]

Cait, I don't have a clue as to what my lvl 50 looks like either :/ But I guess that's part of the fun, they say life is a journey after all I'm done with confusing myself to the point of failure, so I'd rather start with one small thing and do it to the best of my ability - then move on.

Kuikentjie, I'm having the same problem! I had dinner plans tonight so I was supposed to get up early for a run this morning, but the voices in my head won. I cancelled my dinner plans though and did my workout and run after work I have my priorities straight this time. As for progress, the fitness is going well, even though I lost the excitement once my calves were replaced by burning rods of pain The to-do list is struggling a bit though, Monday and Tuesday didn't go as well as I would have wanted them to. But today I decided instead of being picky of what I want to do first, thereby procrastinating like a champ, I would just start from the top and work my way through. It worked wonders and I finished every little item on my list, woot!

En hoe gaan dit met jou challenge?

[d00slip]

Nerds, I've found a brilliant youtube video to get you motivated in the morning. Go check

out!

[Kuiken]

Haha-I totally put "-tjie" on the end of everything-it works so well! I also chose sleep over work outs this morning and will have to make it up this afternoon. Way to resort your priorities though! Cancelling dinner for running? That's dedication! I think I need to figure out a way to make that video my alarm clock-that thing was EPIC inspiration! My workouts otherwise are going good I think-my arms feel as strong as cooked noodles and my legs wobble a bit when I walk, but I'm still standing! Soon enough I'm sure you're calves will downgrade from burning to mild tingling-then you'll have to amp up your running to make them burn again-hahaha! And BIG congrats on getting back on top of your to-do lists at work and owning them!!!

Dit gaan goed mit my challenge, danike-maar stadig! I wish I could get into a time machine and just fast forward to where I want to be, but instead I'm going to watch that video again and remind myself that "there's the right way and the easy way".

[d00slip]

I know right! That video is friggin awesome, not a bad idea to turn that into your alarm tone. Maybe we should invest some time into manufacturing a time machine, with my braai skills and your giving-away-potato's skills I'm sure we can make something work. On second thought, we should leave it to the experts

I'm glad your challenge is moving in the right direction though, one brick at a time Kuiken

[Laney]

I know right! That video is friggin awesome, not a bad idea to turn that into your alarm tone. Maybe we should invest some time into manufacturing a time machine, with my braai skills and your giving-away-potato's skills I'm sure we can make something work. On second thought, we should leave it to the experts

I'm glad your challenge is moving in the right direction though, one brick at a time Kuiken

Haha, set that in your scheduled tasks if you have a PC in your room... Insta-morning-motivation! Sweet video though

[Kuiken]

I was thinking about skipping gym this morning since it was so chilly and then I remembered this video with the guy cleaning ice off of his bike and then cycling through icey mountains-suddenly felt like a total wussy for whining about it being "a little chilly" and got out of bed

WOOOO-week 2 of the mini-challenge is here and ready to rock!

[d00slip]

AWESOME Kuiken If we stay determined we can make this happen. Our first week is done and dusted and like you said, time to rock a new one! How did last week go for you? Other than the fact that the Stormers lost against the Sharks it was awesome

[Kuiken]

I'm actually down 1kg from last week, so not too shabby! This week is starting a bit rough due to more house guests (I swear there must be a B&B sign outside my house)-lack of sleep killed Monday's productivity, but I'm going to try to make Tuesday count! Did you see any advances in your fitness assessments?

Ek is jammer om te hoor dit jy is en Stormers fan-shame :-P Ek het baie leife vir die Blou Bulles-but mainly because so many of them are also Springboks. I'm so ready for the Tri-Nations to start-that's my favorite tournament!!

[d00slip]

GZ on the weight loss! And I'm sorry to hear of your situation, being a bulls supporter can't be good for you heart I also had a rough start to the week, I am officially sick :`( I don't know if it's the Stormers or my sick house mate that caused it, I think it was the Stormers, but I can't exercise now D:

I have decided to not just wallow in self-pity though, I am going to start my paleo adventure today So if I can't get healthy through exercise, I can at least get healthy through diet. I also saw our estimates were correct, new 6-weeker starts on the 6th of August. I'm going to focus on getting ready for that one. It sucks that I can't go on with my little challenge though.

Anyway, I'm happy to hear of your results. Keep fighting the fight Kuiken

P.S - The Tri-Nations are going to be AWESOME! Then we can both shout for the same team lol.

[Kuiken]

Pffft-you're just jealous the Stormers don't have snazzy pink jerseys!

Shame to hear you're sick There's some awful flu bug going around, hopefully it's not that! But good on you for rolling with the punches and not accepting defeat-that's how it's done! I hope your paleo start goes well-it's actually not as hard as I thought it would be. Basically it's like braaing at every meal with some veg thrown in Well, except for the no beer part-still trying to figure out how to squeeze booze into my diet for the Tri-Nations.

I finally found a fat caliper at Sportsman's Warehouse! It was hidden by the karate and boxing stuff. Cost ~R100 and I did it twice and got the same results, so it seems pretty simple to use.

Hope you get plenty of rest and feel better soon! For your illness I mean, not for being a Stormers fan-no amount of Vit C or rest will cure that pain :-P

[d00slip]

Basically it's like braaing at every meal with some veg thrown in

That sounds like a dream world

I'm feeling much better already, I pumped myself full of medlemon. I'm also going to have a beer situation when the Tri-Nations start, but I reckon a little bit of cheating every now and then is okay. And that's good news about the calipers, that's cheap too! I actually lol'd when I read your bit about the Stormers pain. At least that cheered me up a bit, there's always next year.

P.S - I think you misspelt crappy, it's not spelt snazzy.

[Kuiken]

Yay for medlemon!

How's the Paleo going so far? Or is this your last weekend of pasta and bread? I'm feeling pretty pumped about the 6 wk challenge-the 2 wk one was cool, but it wasn't really so long that it felt like a real challenge. Getting ready to hit this one head on! Are you with me?!

Also, let's have a moment of silence for today, we have to be Sharks fans. I plan on wearing dark sunglasses, a hat, scarf, etc... and go to a pub far from my house so I can watch it anonymously and not embarrass myself cheering for such a team. But I guess being a Stormers fan you're used to that.