What are your health / fitness goals? Accountability

Aloha! I hope you are all enjoying this new year! I was a ball of emotions at the beginning of the year. I wonder if it has to do with the fasting? Things are evening out and I'm feeling much better.
I decided to take this entire week off from strength training in the spirit of not over training. I started consistent strength training 5 times a week in May and have been going for 35 solid weeks. Even though it's challenging for me to slow down, mentally, I think it is good for me to take this break.
I'm still very active. There is a dancing platform that is doing a challenge. If we log a video that we watcher every single day of the year and send them a copy of the calendar, they will give us a free online membership. That's my favorite price so I'm trying to do this.
What is a goal that you have set for this new year?

 

Utah Treasurer Exposes Foreign Investors Gutting American Land In The Name Of Climate Change

7 min in
Stay away USA

 

2024 is off to a great start! I had a lot of fun gardening today. Tomorrow I'm hitting the weights again after taking the week off. Have a wonderful week, everyone!

 

Happy Monday! Today I hooped for an hour then did a total body strength and conditioning workout. This evening I'll practicing dancing then yoga before bed.

 

Happy Tuesday! Today was a cardio and core workout. Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

 

Aloha! This has been an eventful week. I'm currently on my 3rd 36 hour fast. I have been doing this extended fast once a week and this time around I was actually looking forward to it. I read 20 books during the month of December and reached my goal of reading 110 books.

Last week I read:

• August: Osage County by Tracy Letts This is a play that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Tony award in 2009. I really enjoyed it even though it centered around a family tragedy.
• Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter to Make More Room for Happiness by Gretchin Rubin. I really enjoyed Rubin's "Happiness Project" back in the day and I used to do a yearly happiness project that I blogged about every year. Sometimes it was a Happiness Project or a "Transform your Life Project," but it was something that I looked forward to every year. I did this annual project for 8.5 years and then I retired that blog. It was time to fully move forward from my past and it was a good decision. This book had lots of practical tips, but it felt very watered down compared to her other books. I enjoyed reading it.
• Hello God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume. I love Judy Blume's books. This one really made me miss my Grandma...
• Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave. I've been noticing a lot of books like this lately with a very similar plot. This must be the chick-lit version of a spinner. Basically online influencers make it "big" then try to sabotage each other on Twitter. I don't think it's a good look and a total snooze. "Yellow Face" was almost exactly like this and I'm surprised that it won the Goodreads award for 2023.
• Life in the Fasting Lane by Dr. Jason Fung. Boy, did I put off reading this one, but I'm so glad that I finally did and it inspired me to try these longer fasts. If you're considering Intermittent Fasting, I highly recommend it.
• Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Sutanto I absolutely LOVED this book. It was so funny and sweet. A perfect way to end the year.

This week I'm reading:

1. Homecoming by Kate Morton This is a Historical Fiction / Mystery Thriller that takes place in Adelaide Australia in 1959. Lots of twists and turns in this book. A bit long and slow at times, but I'm glad that I read it.
2. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley This was the 1992 Pulitzer Prize winner. Written in a King Lear type format. A bit slow to get into and I didn't really like the characters. Lots of incest. For what it is, I think that it's well-written, but I'm kind of surprised that it won the Pulitzer.
3. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. Historical Fiction Indigenous Mystery that takes place in 1962. I just started reading this one this morning. It's a rule that I have to read books that take place in places that I've lived and this one takes place in Maine. I'll let you know what I think!
4. The 4 Agreements Companion Book by Miguel Ruiz I wanted to start practicing the 4 agreements this year and this book is helpful. I honestly don't really like doing a lot of work through the past or working through childhood layers or any of that therapy type of work. I don't like reliving the past because it holds me back. I think that the best way to move forward is to actively work towards goals and to leave the past in the past. Learn the lessons and forgive then move forward. Yes, I'm a bit resistant, but every day I'm finding my way!

What are you currently reading or listening to?

Today is going to be an upper body workout and I'm looking forward to it! I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

 

@Brokor 88 push-ups is great! Especially without stopping. Thanks for sharing this link. I'm in the middle of a 36 hour fast and have 15 more hours to go. I was trying to figure out how in the world I would pass the time. I was doing really well until the neighbors made bacon. LOL.
I just brewed myself a cup of black coffee and am going to start treading this now.
Cheers!

 

I'm trying to find a good non-fiction book to read and my digital library has a section called "Shelf-Care" but it seems like all of the books are glamorizing fatness. I don't think we should loathe ourselves if we're not where we want to be, but the aggressive body positivity movement is a little much for me. I don't miss having sore joints, feeling $hitty and not being able to easily get off the floor without my hands...

 

I’m off my routine but…That weather, yikes! Since Monday I’m at about 74 hours of OT and holding up great for an old fart. I credit my running and grappling mostly, I’m a bit stubborn they say too. (Lol) Lots of good stories from this storm in that file in my head. No marriage proposals this time though, rats!

 

@Meat that is a lot of OT! I would be off of my routine too. Stay safe and make sure that you take some time to recharge your batteries.
I think the last round of "extreme weather" that I experienced in my home town was the "Snowpacalypse of 2012." LOL good times.

 

Well over 100 now.

I’ve experienced a similar event in 1995 amongst a few others. That one changed my thinking about vulnerability big time. If the weather didn’t warm up dozens would have died in that community. This current storm followed by freezing temps was about a 6 out of 10 is all but I’m well over 100 hours of OT since last Monday. Caught up last night with sleep and made it to the 5 AM class this morning. Yay.

 

@Meat over 100 hours?!?! Your work place is so lucky to have you. I think in 1996 (or maybe 95) we had an ice storm and a giant tree branch went straight through our roof and ceiling like a dagger and landed on the head side of my bed.
Thank goodness I was spending the week with my Grandparents. God is good!
Great job on making it to your 5 am class! I still need to get my butt to my workout. I procrastinated with weeding and pruning bougainvilleas, but now I should do it before I lose motivation. Here goes!

 

Strength & Conditoning AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) is complete! Thank you for motivating me to get going!
Next on the agenda is dancing then some floorwork.
I'm brushing up my water purification series on my blog and I think I'm going to start writing a fasting series since I'm learning a lot about it right now.
Hope you will have a wonderful week!

 

So much excitement in my life today. For once I wish it would actually rain and pour

Less than 24 hours of getting a $300 water delivery for my catchment, it nearly drained completely. We checked all of the pipes and plumbing and the gutters and all of that seems to be in working order. We even rebuilt the other house's toilet. Water pumps are good so we think the culprit is the liner within the tank. I think that it always had an issue the whole time that I've owned the property, but it's just gotten worse. Thankfully, my neighbor up the road is a provider for the kind of liner that I need so we will install that this afternoon then buy a 4th water delivery in less than a month. Ugh.

This morning it was so windy and I was nervous because I could see the palm trees swaying a lot more than usual as I was unlocking the front gate. When I got home a giant ironwood had fallen and blocked the gate and the entire driveway. I feel so thankful that it was yesterday that I was weeding and working in that exact spot. I'm thankful to be alive! Now we are chainsawing and trying to move the tree so that we can drive through the front gate.

It's times like these that make me feel thankful that I have a survival mindset. These types of things probably would have stressed me out in the past, but right now I just feel excited and all I can see are the blessings! Also, moving this tree and branches is much easier now that I'm in better shape!

Today is supposed to be Cardio and abs. We shall see if the power lasts with these high winds. What are you thankful for today? I'm reading lots of good books too, but I'll write another post for that.

 

Just finished my quads / glutes workout and 2.5 hours of dancing! It feels good to have energy today... Coffee helps.

 

Not having running water for the last 4 days is cramping my style. It's inconvenient to not be able to shower, wash dishes, flush the toilet, do laundry, and water plants in the conventional way. And having no food (due to my long fast today) and no running water isn't the best. Haha I was being a bit dramatic there. Lol. It's all true. Honestly, none of it is that bad and we have figured out a good system. I went through most of my stored water supply since we've been having issues since before Christmas.
The good news is that we got down to the root of the problem! Literally, it was tree roots that grew through my water tank liner and caused the leak. I'm so thankful that it wasn't the washing machines, gutter systems, or plumbing. We hired professionals to install the liner and they put the job off for the last 3 days, but finally came back to do it. Hopefully, by tonight I will have running water again!
I'm doing my 4th 36 hour fast and will break it tomorrow morning. Today I did an upper body workout followed by kickboxing.

This week I read:

• 2 Women Walk into A Bar by Cheryl Strayed 21 years ago, author Cheryl Strayed set off on the Pacific Crest Trail to heal from the death of her beloved mother. I started reading her book "Wild" but never read it because I was working 5 jobs and was very busy at the time. I think I will read it soon. This book talks about her relationship with her mother-in-law Joan. It is a short story that talks about the end of Joan's life. I think it was very well-written. I always appreciate how sincere and down to earth Cheryl is. 4/124
• The 4 Agreements Companion Book I read through this entire book and am now going back to work through the exercises and journal prompts. I mentioned before that I don't enjoy rehashing the past and thinking about my childhood because I'm worried that it will keep me from moving forward, but I'm willing to give it a shot if it will help me to actually move forward and make positive changes in my life. 5/124
• Instant: The Story of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos "The bottom line is in heaving" -Edwin Land. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Edwin Land was a highly educated visionary who's cameras touched the lives of many. I wish they would have gone digital tried printing. This reminds me that I want to finish reading "The Idea Factory" which talks about Bell Labs. There's a lot of overlap. The 2nd half of the book rapidly fizzled out and felt glazed over and the last chapter talked about Lady Gaga and felt inconclusive. 6/124
• Forever by Judy Blume Judy Blume is so gifted at tackling all of those challenging coming of age struggles and milestones. 7/124

I'm currently reading:

• The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence by Stephen Kurczy. This is an account that talks about the quiet zone in Green Banks, West Virginia where cell-phones and wifi are banned because they interfere with the signals of the Radio Telescope. It was a little slow in the beginning, but it's starting to pick up now that they're talking about homesteaders, hippies (the Rainbow Gathering was there), and a community of neo-nazis. Not to mention the rebels and rulebreakers who still have microwaves and wifi.
• The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship by Miguel Ruiz. Since I'm trying to practice the 4 agreements in my own life, I want to read the entire series. I'm really good at shutting people out and sabotaging myself when things are good and I'm trying to change that. There, I said it.
• Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls I just started reading this so I barely know what it's about. Historical Fiction has become my favorite genre. This one takes place in Virginia during the Prohibition. I'll let you know when I know more!

What are you reading or listening to? I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

 

@Brokor I want to read something by Brandon Sanderson soon. I haven't read any of his books yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
"The Book of Five Rings" is gold. I read it for the first time a few months ago and have been going back through it slowly section by section.
Thanks for sharing!