Cynnister, Dwarf Adventurer

I've signed up for the current 6-week Nerd Fitness Challenge.  It will hopefully really jump start my life through weight loss/exercise, meditation and debt payments.  Here is the blog entry I started with NerdFitness.com...

May 2012 Challenge

I'm finally ready to put my all into a NF challenge. I've signed up and petered out the last few times, but not again! I love the idea of a challenge based on class/profession. I would like to be a part of the Ranger or Assassin classes, however much I want to build strength and cross train (and I will continue to work on those aspects) I would like to lose weight and build to running 3 miles daily, so I have chosen to be an Aventurer. A Dwarf Adventurer, that is, because I find dwarves strong, no-nonsense and full of grit! I am a dwarf.


Here are my personal attribute points (I kept the definitions for my benefit):

2 - Strength (STR) - physical strength
1 - Dexterity (DEX) - agility and speed
3 - Stamina (STA) - Endurance and Energy
3 - Constitution (CON) - ability to resist damage and disease
2 - Wisdom (WIS) - intuition and sense of things around himself
4 - Charisma (CHA) - force of personality and physical attractiveness

I am definitely highest scoring in Charisma because I am outgoing and have encouraged my friends to start getting fit themselves (we have started our own personal challenge between four of us with monthly weigh-ins, our team is named Super Mari-WHOAs! and we already plan on matching "Be Super!" tattoos). That said, I am slow, hence my Dexterity being a 1. I "run" but it's at a 10-12 min mile pace and that is something I eventually want to improve, this challenge will be about adding time, not speed.

Here are my goals for the next 6 weeks!

1) RUN 5K WITHOUT STOPPING (+4 STA)

I am currently able to run 1 mile at 6 mph without stopping on the treadmill and very close to that outdoors (not the same mph, but the same distance). I am signing up for Syracuse's Runapalooza 5K being held on June 30th (with a post-race concert by Enter the Haggis!) and the Warrior Dash on August 11th. Both races I need to at least have the ability to run this distance (with the Warrior Dash needing more, but that's for another post).

2) COMPLETE FIRST 5 WEEKS OF P90X TRAINING (+2 DEX/+ 3 STR)

I have been talking about starting this for a couple weeks now, it's high time I actually do it. My 13-yr-old son wants to do this with me, so we'll have each other to push to complete the routines. I've already taken before pictures, which I will post with the after pictures at the end of these six weeks and I have taken measurements (below). I do not have the P90X recommendations for food, nor do I really care to have them. I'm going to focus on eating whole foods, less carbs/more protein and veggies, and drink lots of water. I have an application that helps me keep track of calories that I will gently lean on to keep myself on track.

3) SET UP AND STICK TO A DAILY MORNING AND EVENING ROUTINE (+1 CON/+1 CHA)

I already start the morning with 5 Sun Salutations and have just started to add lunges and squat jumps. I would like to end the day with at least 5 minutes of meditation and possibly a few yoga moves to lower my heart rate. I will take the first week to set up the routines and the next 5 weeks to get into the habit of completing them daily.

4) WEIGH IN TWICE WEEKLY (+1 WIS)

Currently I'm weighing myself at least once every morning and sometimes (not almost all the time) I weigh in twice daily. I realized this had become obsessive when over this weekend I ate FAR too much at one meal and weighed myself a few hours later. I was up 6 lbs since the morning and I was devastated. I know logically it was the food still not digested and that it needed more time to process, but I still let it get under my skin (this morning I was only That said, I don't want this type of meltdown to hinder any progress I'm having and I need to remember we all have slip ups. It's not the end of the world. So I'm cutting back to every other day this week and then every third day and then to twice weekly by the end of the challenge.

5) PAYDAY LOANS PAID IN FULL (+3 WIS)

For those of you who have never had a payday loan - NEVER get one. This was done out of despiration some months back and in order to pay the three remaining loans off will be around $1500. It's been several months and I have been suffering because of this decision. And it's over and done with. I plan to have one paid this weekend (just under $400 payoff) and I hope that my next 2-3 paychecks pay off the other two (biggest) loans.

Here are my current stats >

Weight: 196.6 lbs

Bicep: 13" (flexed)
Bust: 42.25"
Underbust: 36.5"
Waist: 35"
Hips: 47.5"
Thigh: 28.25"
Calf: 16.75"

I plan to post during to my personal blog, Rock the Tiger Dress, as well as some here. Let's do this!