Visiting My 2014 Goals - Where Does The Time Go?

I pulled the following from a post earlier this year - wow, where did the year go?!

2014 Goals:

1) Workout and a basic yoga, four times a week.  (Ultimately, I'd like to be performing the full P90X workout again.)

2) Spend quality time with my wife in the evenings and on the weekends.  (Snuggling on the couch and watching a movie counts.  Both of us watching separate shows, ones that are just filling our time and we're not gaining a benefit from, do not count.)  I need to find a way to measure this one...

3) Add six paying clients to PPF.  (Baby steps...but forward motion.)

4) Take a Spanish course and have a basic proficiency in the language.  I've always wanted to learn Spanish, but I haven't been able to get into Rosetta Stone.  We're planning a vacation this year to a location where Spanish would be very useful.

This is a great example of how life takes control and you forget about (or just don't complete) your personal goals.

Updates on the four goals:

1) WORKOUT - I had some great tries on this goal but as of today, I'm doing none.  The year included a full-body band workout, a basic morning yoga streak, 10 burpees a day for 100 days (turned into 140 days), and ended with a three-week stint of P90X.  Only the burpees lasted any significant period of time, though I was feeling much better when I started P90X after coming off of the burpee challenge. Hopefully I can get a few more weeks of exercise before the year ends!

2) QUALITY TIME WITH MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE - I still haven't figured out how to measure this goal. I think we both like spending all of our free time with each other, but we also like our own online t.v. shows and interests (I cannot put down books!). Lately we've been spending a lot of time cooking together for our Whole30 challenge, which I think counts!

3) SIX PAYING CLIENTS - I am still having a hard time charging clients. I haven't put as much time into the business as I would like - I need to be networking and promoting my services - though I really enjoy helping others with their finances. I did add ONE paying client though! So (very small) baby steps...

4) SPANISH - We took a community college Spanish course earlier this year and had a lot of fun! Though we haven't opened the books since... We need to get on this one, as we've booked a trip to Cuba in February! This was the trip we wanted to take in 2014 (and originally learn Spanish for) but February should be a much better time to visit. I'm not sure if we have time for another course, but with our books, basic understanding, and Rosetta Stone, we should have some skills to practice with in Cuba.

I'm disappointed but also energized after revisiting my 2014 goals! There is still some time left to feel accomplished!

How are you doing on your 2014 goals?

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn

Whole7, Whole14...Eating Our Way to Whole30.

My wife and I started another challenge.  This one to jump-start some healthy living!

Whole30 Challenge

For this challenge, we're eating our way through Whole30, one week at a time.

There wasn't a particular reason why we selected Whole30. We're not trying to cut certain food completely out of our diet for the long-term, but since Whole30 does focus on a couple of our "pain" areas - grains and sugar - we thought this may be a good way to reduce these items from our normal diets.

Being somewhat reluctant to give up my daily popsicle (hey, they're natural fruit!) for more than a week, we approached this for seven days at a time.

Originally, we called it Whole7 (though I'm not trying to take or copyright any names here...).

That being said, we're already done with week one and have decided to continue for another week. Here comes Whole14!

I'm also happy to report that neither of us have cheated during the challenge! And this is with Halloween candy floating around both of our offices. We're now trying to figure out what to do for Thanksgiving (if we make it that long) - turkey and potatoes are in, stuffing and pie are out.

What to Eat?

So what is Whole30? In a nutshell - cut out grains (including rice), dairy, sugar, alcohol, and legumes.  Yep, I asked the same question...what's left???

Turns out there's a lot! You still have your vegetables (including potatoes), fruits, nuts, meat (though most bacon has sugar in it...), and drinks (coffee with no cream, oh yeah, and no alcohol).

The biggest three for us were grains, sugar, and creamer (for our coffee!!). We're still having a hard time with the coffee, but we've been experimenting with adding spices to the French Press...does wonders on the tongue.

Another part of Whole30 is getting out of the habit of eating just to eat. So even if we could make a healthy treat out of the approved foods list, we don't. This builds good eating habits once we're allowed to eat regularly again.

We have definitely not starved during this process, but we did learn just how much crap (as if we didn't know before) is in our food.

Preparation

We did try to do some preparation before beginning this challenge, knowing that cutting out some of our favorite foods would not be easy!

Did you know spaghetti squash is a great replacement for your spaghetti noodles? You may have, but I had no idea! It's delicious! Cut it in half (no easy feat), bake it, scrap it with a fork. Voila! Spaghetti noodles with a slight nutty flavor.  (Again, we found this out before we started Whole30, but we've definitely used it as a meal - with homemade spaghetti sauce of course.)

Did you know that most of the canned beans you buy from the grocery store have sugar in them? It's almost impossible (and for some beans in the stores around me it is impossible) to find one without sugar! (We obviously learned this before we started Whole14, since legumes are not permitted in Whole30.)

In fact, sugar (in some form) is in so much it's ridiculous! Read what you eat...then buy as close to real food as possible and/or make your own dishes.

We're still learning a good technique for skinning a raw salmon filet - though the butcher was amazing and I'll probably just keep asking him to do it.

Our biggest lesson has been that planning, shopping for, and preparing a week of eating at home is no easy task! This has been a lot more work!

Completing the Whole30

Will we make it through a whole thirty days? We're not sure...and we don't care at this point.

We do plan to make it through fourteen days through and that would be considered successful.

With today's food, I'll keep eating this way forever - boiled eggs and a handful of walnuts for breakfast, awesome salad (with oil and vinegar) and baked chicken for lunch, an apple and banana for afternoon snack (yes, I still need some type of snack!), and salmon and arugula salad for dinner!

Whole14, here we come!

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn

So Much Fun, So Little Time...Before The Rain Starts!

The summer has been full for us...and it's been amazing!

Some updates:

The last few weekends have been no exception to our adventurous summer!

• We hit Seattle for a concert, an amazing hotel, and a picture tour through Pike Place.
• We headed back to Wyoming for a wedding, driving from midnight to 4 a.m. to make it.
• We camped in Mt. Hood National Forest - no bears and possibly the last for the summer (boo!) but lots of sun and cool river water.

(More details to come on all of these!)

On the challenges and exercise, I'm still doing my burbees - I'm now at 129 days!

And not to be left out, we've pulled out our passports and we're gearing up for our week in Iceland.  We cannot wait, with or without a volcano eruption!

I hope everyone's summer has been as breathtaking, exciting, and daring!

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn

Mini Goal - 100 Days, 10 Burpees a Day - COMPLETE!

I made it! 100 days, 10 burpees a day!

Mini goal complete!

This week ended my mini challenge of completing 10 burpees a day, for 100 days!

This sounds easy - it's only 10 burpees - but it's not! Not only is completing 10 burpees in a row surprisingly tough, the more difficult part is sticking with it for 100 days!

Admittedly, I wasn't able to complete all 100 days in a row without missing a couple of days (not on purpose!). But I made up for those days, sometimes doing 20 burpees a day!

As I became more accustomed to the movement, and became a little stronger, I added a clap push-up within the burpee.  I tried to finish the goal with double-clap push-ups, but I wasn't able to complete all 10 burpees without stopping.

On the last day of my challenge, my wife recorded me completing 10 of the single clap push-up burpees in a row - yay!

Benefits

I'm definitely stronger due to the challenge.  It's definitely not a full workout or enough gym time, but it is something.

I know I can complete 100 day challenges.  This is the longest workout related challenge I've ever completed (I couldn't even finish P90X, even after making it over 60 days!).

I have a new, healthy evening routine.

What's Next?

I'm at the point where completing my burpees everyday is natural - and now it only takes about 40 seconds! - so I'm considering extending this mini goal to 200 DAYS IN A ROW!

We're discussing another challenge, possible one that can become part of our daily/weekly habit. Having a goal that becomes part of life (like the burpees have) is an interesting goal.

I believe focusing (again) on some of my time wasters would be good.  I'd like to build better habits around actions that suck up my time.  Possibly limiting streaming television shows or my time on social media platforms. (I still have a lot of time wasters!)

For now...

I completed my mini goal of 100 days, 10 burpees a day!!

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn

Weekend Backpacking - 22 Miles in 44 Hours, Badger Creek Trail, Oregon

Not bad for our first backpacking trip of the year - 22 miles in 44 hours!

And...what an amazing Memorial Day weekend!

In addition to honoring our veterans, we took advantage of the summer weather and left for adventure. (Escaping the on-going PDXBoil...)

A long weekend, a late start, beautiful scenery, and complete exhaustion = fun!

The trek - Badger Creek Trail in Oregon. Round trip of 22 miles.
The trekkers - Me, my wife (the photographer), and the dog.
The time - Started on the trail at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, returned to the car at 11:15 a.m. on Monday.

The trail - a rocky, hilly footpath - travels along the Badger Creek for most of the hike. Occasionally the trail leaves the creek and passes through old forests. At times it appears the forest is dying - or is dead - as the trees are falling, leafless, and foreboding. BUT the fallen trees make for a great obstacle course, crossing the trail and making hikers climb, hop, or blaze new trails. Numerous creeks are also crossed - giving you plenty of opportunities to fill your water bottles!

The trail lead to the Badger Lake and a nearby campground. (The lake is also accessible by car for the less adventurous...)

The first day hiking was pretty rough, we were definitely not prepared for the hills or the full campsites (dang holiday weekends).  But the next morning (after making camp on the side of the trail), when we realized where we ended, it was all worthwhile - we went a lot farther then we initially believed!

After getting our muscles accustomed to the work, the second and third days were much more reasonable!

We took this time to test a lot of our new backpacking gear - water filter, JetBoil, and coffee maker (I cannot function without my morning coffee! - as well as test ourselves - carrying backpacks the entire hike, putting up and taking down the tent and gear each day, and packing and leaving as early as possible.

All of our equipment worked perfectly! And...somehow we made it without passing out!

Have you been backpacking yet? Where was your favorite spot?

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn

This Skinny Guy's Exercise Goals - Another Challenge

I'm on a mission for health!

Eating better is a good start, but I need to add some muscle...

In my thirties, I'm a little disappointed that I've never made this happen before now!

My Challenge.

My wife and I challenged each other to some physical goals.

The winners get some great prizes, and the loser (if there is one) has to be the driver while we're in Iceland. (An upcoming trip! Yay!)

I want to win!

My Stats.

Below are my current measurements (as of April 20th):

Chest - 36.5"
Belly - 34.5"
Arm - 13.75"
Mid-thigh - 19.5"

Below is what my goal is by September 1st!

Chest - 39.5"
Belly - an 8 pack
Arm - 15.25"
Mid-thigh - 21"

My Thoughts.

I have no idea what is realistic when it comes to exercise. How much can a guy naturally add in size? Is this goal achievable?

Regardless, this is what I'm striving for.

My Plan.

I'm going to start out light, as I'm in terrible shape right now.

For the first couple of weeks, I plan to perform a full body band workout. I'd also better add in some abs - as this goal is going to be tough!!

Depending on how I feel, and the amount of time I can find, I'm going to start P90X (again). Three days a week, then gradually adding in more. I do not think I can reach this goal without some serious commitment!

I have also adjusted my diet slightly.  I've added a few calories (trying to use a calorie app for tracking), lots of protein, and plenty of water!

This is all on top of our backpacking regime (training for a summer backpacking trip). The weekend hikes will not stop!

For fun, we're also in the middle of a 100 day burpee challenge. Ten burpees a day for 100 days! Any extra workouts are good!

I have about 108 days to see where I land...any suggestions?

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn

Mini Goal - 100 Days, 10 Burpees a Day

New challenge accepted.

After friends read about an individual who completed 10 push-ups a day for 100 days, we decided we needed a similar challenge.  But of course we changed it up a little...

Our challenge: 100 days, 10 burpees a day!

An interesting mini goal, considering I don't think any of us really knew what a burpee was before accepting the new routine. But after some research and a video, we were ready to go!

We are all in different physical shape, so we've left completing the burpees to the imagination.  We have burpees where the push-ups are separate from the rest of the exercise, we have double push-ups, and (hopefully starting this week) we'll have push-ups with a clap!

Adding some of the variation and fun in the burpee style may not be completely acceptable by CrossFit aficionados, but it's probably the only way I'll make it through the full 100 days!!

Just completed day 23, only 77 days to go!

Any new mini goals in your life?

Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn