Goals 2019

Reading
- 25 books overall
- 2 from Wheel of Time series
- 10 nonfiction

Powerlifting/Lifting
- compete in 2 meets
- deadlift 315+
- squat 230+
- bench 135+
- push press 100+
- snatch/clean 85+

Other Fitness
- run half marathon
- try other activities/classes

Writing/Editing
- rewrite/edit 3 novels
- finish 3 first drafts
- only start 2 new novels
- write 6 short stories
- submit to agents/publishers on 2 novels
- submit 2 short stories a month
- enter writers of future contest
- blog and post on youtube 3 times a month

Other Goals
- use some PTO
- do courses to maintain tech certification
- go out once a month
- perform as a drag king

Goals/Focus for 2018

 I have goals, which are things I want to focus on at least early on within the year, so will post here too as part of the goal is to remember to keep putting up posts here. I like to make goals for the year and break it down to each month. We'll start for now with the wanted focus for 2018.

Fitness

Deadlift - 315
Squat - 230, then... 250
Bench - BW and 135, not sure which will come first
Push Press, Clean&Jerk, Snatch - 100+

Run a Half-Marathon

Weigh - 120 (first get to 132 weight class, then worry about the rest)


Reading/Writing

Read 18 books
- 3 from Wheel of Time
- 2 nonfiction

Rewrite/Edit Novels
- Boys Read Romance
- North West
- Aeon Fading

Submit to Agents
- BRR
- NW

World Build
- Aeon Fading, Xan, other books in series
- Tattle Tell, Standing Ground, Rogues of Revolution series.

Finish First Draft
- Snow
- List 13
- Under Paper Stars
- In the Horizon He Saw Rain

Youtube/Blog
Make progress on both and post at least once a month. Portion some of the time each week to work on this along with writing, reading and exercise.

End Result for List 13

June 1 marked the end of my attempt at the List 13 challenge and had some mixed results overall. I didn't accomplish 13 things but had some success along the way.


List 13
1. 13 week cut (end goal weight 124)
2. 10 week weight training peak cycle
3. Study for PTCE (I also passed the PTCE)
4. Read 1-2 books
5. Write first draft for List 13 (I managed 13,000 words)
6. Get hair cut much shorter/change hair
7. Create new intro for youtube channel
8. Find location to run outside safely (Looked online but haven't gone to any)
9. Make 3 items pinned on pinterest
10. Sew one item
11. buy swimsuit but....  Did get new clothes that I needed
12. adult stuff that needs done - did an HIV test so that's pretty adult right there
13. new tattoo
14. paint on one canvas
15. go bowling or something (went to burlesque show)


I didn't buy a swimsuit but I did get clothing I needed and a pair of shoes when parents were in town, so that's sufficient. Swimsuit will be part of next cut, near the end as vacation requires one. Can't afford 13 and didn't go bowling or to movie but did go out with roommate mid-cut to a burlesque show. I'm counting HIV test as doing something cause I used to volunteer and a place let our group use their building that did the testing and I never got it done. It was always on my list of should one day just because list and I got to do it on the clock at work. So, managed about half of the 13 crossed off-ish.


And the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znuGgPnxnDA

List 13 Challenge

I am getting ready for a 13 week self challenge and have decided within that amount of time I want to accomplish at least 13 things. I am also a fan of lists so having the 13 things and setting goals sounded like a good idea. Plus, I have a novel that is called list 13 that I would like to get a first draft one this year, thus picking the number 13 along with a few other reasons.

My goals vary with a couple relating to work, some being super easy tasks and others are more challenging and might need some revision over the time period. And I don't have all 13 figured out just yet.

The thirteen week challenge is also a good number of weeks for the particular time of year. I say this because starting from March 1st means the end date is May 31. Start of a month as the beginning and an end of a month as the finish line. And can consider it as a pre-summer challenge due to the timing as well.


First on the list is the 13 week cut. I took a break from the lower calorie eating since I'd been trying to lose weight for a couple of years and had stalled. It was good to take a break and maintain for a while. Now, I'm ready to eat in a deficit again to try and get to that "healthy" weight range for my height. I'm 132-136 depending on the day, so the goal of 124 is reasonable. I will admit that I still will be happy even if it's 127 but for now, the ideal is to get under 125 as that's the top for my very short height. During that, for weight lifting, I am going to do another peak cycle. The loss of everything on my computer when it decided to play the phoenix means I don't have the excel with the previous program. I have to try something new and I'm looking forward to that. If things go well even with eating in a deficit, I should hit some new personal bests on bench, squat and deadlift.

For work, I am studying to get certified and that requires passing an exam. There is a program through work that involves going to classes but that is once a week and there are only 5. The bulk of the studying is at home. Not sure how long I have after the classes end to take the test but I'm guessing it will be some time in the next 13 weeks. Very important goal.

Here is the list of goals I have so far, aka my "list 13" with some that may be amended or changed depending on how the weeks go.

1. 13 week cut (end goal weight 124)
2. 10 week weight training peak cycle
3. Study for PTCE
4. Read 1-2 books
5. Write first draft for List 13
6. Get hair cut much shorter
7. Create new intro for youtube channel
8. Find location to run outside safely
9. Make 3 items pinned on pinterest
10. Sew one item


What goals are you working on? Do you have a list?

July Summary (What all distracted me)

So much happened in July that I ended up not posting much of anything for the entire month. There was more other stuff than writing and a little fitness on the side. Here is what has gone on lately, for anyone who is interested. :-)

Moving

I moved to Los Angelos early in June but that was into my sister's studio apartment and with just a car load of my belongings. July we moved into a new apartment. There was a short interruption that I'll discuss next but we spent part of the beginning of the month transitioning in apartments. Towards the end of the month, then, I drove all the way back up to Oregon to get the rest of my belongings. My dad drove over to help as he has a truck. We did end up leaving some stuff behind for the old roommates as they weren't quite worth the effort needed and didn't want to get a trailer. It was around 16 hour drive each way but heading down to LA again was done in two days, whereas on the way up, I did the drive in one day.

Visit Home

At the beginning of July we had to make an unfortunate trip over to Wyoming. My grandmother had suffered with Alzheimer's for the past few years and she passed away. We (My sister and I) went to attend the funeral and just be with our family. It was a long drive both ways but wouldn't have done it any other way.

Bad Luck

Had some not great luck, in particular with my car. Had a very minor accident that involved very little damage and no injuries, but was very jarring and a hassle. Then, day before leaving for Oregon, I popped a back tire on my car. Had to wait for road side assistance as I wasn't sure on how the use the jack that came with the donut tire thing my car has. I could change a tire but have never done it by myself with the car. Had to get a new one, which was an added expense on an already tight budget.

Work

My work schedule has been rather sporadic at the new location. There was a slight issue with the transfer in that the system put me as unavailable every day when it went through and the newer person doing the schedule didn't notice, so I wasn't on the schedule for that week. I did fill in at a different store and am still in contact with them. Other times I've gotten okay hours. I'm also applying for positions higher up and have been trying to get further in the company for a couple of years now. In progress but also looking around for opportunities.

Fitness

Still going to the gym and lifting. Not doing much running yet as I haven't found a place to run though am looking at a park that isn't too far away. The gym is only about 11 miles away, but that can be a long drive here in LA. I was a little sporadic with my lifting due to the lots of driving and things that went on during the month. I got in one lifting session in Wyoming along with some walks. In Oregon, I just packed up things. I'm starting a peak cycle in my weight lifting though, despite not able to compete at the APA Meet in October. Working towards a possible PR on all of the lifts. Trying to get squat above 200 and increase a little on bench. We'll see how deadlift will go as that I would like to see increase a decent amount but hard to tell the results.

Writing
This was hit the hardest. I haven't done much writing at all. I did a tiny little bit on North West and am on the very last chapter of the first draft. Need to get the last section done.  Need to up my game on this now that I have a place to set my computer aside from the bed. We have a table up and even have a new couch in the living room. Writing will happen in August along with a couple of blogs and hopefully some youtube videos.


August is a big month. Applying for jobs, trying to write, lifting heavy and my birthday. Hope it goes better than July. Hoping for good things this month.

First Powerlifting Meet and Youtube

At long last, the blog post about the experience I had at my first powerlifting meet. I took part in Elite Spring Challenge within the APA-WPA federation. It was held in Oregon and was a qualifier competition for another meet that will be held in October. Here is the video I put together with the lifts someone was nice enough to film for me along with the details of my experience at my very first and definitely not last powerlifting meet.





Had a great first meet experience. Another lifter offer to have her friend film me too and email it to me, so that was super nice because I had no one (friends or family) there with me. I didn't get all 3 attempts on all of the lifts but overall am pleased with how it went. Considering making notes on kg during training instead of just lbs to practice cause that conversion was a little rough at times when making decisions on my next attempts, maybe.

Squat - 3 white lights on the first two but failed on near 210, started to lean forward when trying to grind it out but that's okay. Got 198 on second attempt and all of my attempts were kinda slow, so things to work on.

Bench - First attempt 3 white lights, 1 red on second (not sure reason but eh, still counted) and failed the attempt at close to 125 (pesky conversions). That pause is just too long for me at that weight for now. 115 was my second attempt so that's still my max for good reps though I've done 125 touch and go.

Deadlift - Got all three attempts with just 1 red light on one attempt. I ended up going for a little more than planned on the third attempt as the second went well and trying to pick a decent weight with the conversion. Managed around 248. Not quite at goal of 2 times body weight but getting closer.

For a half minute or so, held a total record, which was kind of fun in the moment as he announced when your attempt was for a record before the lift.

Results, I don't remember the exact kg total but around 560ish lbs. Ended up placing second in the open division for the 132 weight class. This meet was also a qualifier for a "world" meet that is held in the same location in October. So, I'm qualified to compete in that one and can focus my training in preparation for APA-WPA World. Maybe I can get my total to above 600 if I get those last attempts worked out in bench, squat (okay, increase a little on both) and get over 2xbw deadlift. #goals

Really enjoyed the meet. Everyone is nice and encouraging. I had a good time, lots of nerves and energy and can't wait to compete again.


My Youtube Channel

Aside from the video of my lift and a couple lifts I'd put up for a little competition on bodybuilding.com, there are other videos along with future plans. I decided to start my own youtube channel in connection with the topics of this blog.

Fiction & Fitness Youtube Channel

The channel will have similar topics as the blog with a little more emphasis on the fitness than writing as it's a little easier to show video of lifting and food compared to the writing side. There will be writing ones too though, I can guarantee that. I have many plans in how to use topics for the video along with the longer worded stuff for here on the blog. It is a little weird filming myself and hearing my voice on the videos because you sound so very different in your head compared to recordings. Taking time to get used to it but should be more consistent with content as I learn programs, editing and get to posting different videos and blogs.

Coming soon: LA, Music Festival and Novel Updates.

Hero Up to Run Distance and Phoebe

Hi there. It has been a while and September is almost gone but I really wanted to get this post up before the month ended. I'm going to talk about jogging again because I've done a total of three 5k events so far and it's almost time for my 10k one (October 25th).

As a non-runner, the idea of paying money to run a course even when I can do it for free seemed odd at first. One of the runs in fact is in the area I do my long runs at every week. However, what makes the races great and the money worth spending is what those funds go to support. Every 5k this summer that I attended raised money for a cause or organization. The one this month, however, was my favorite and I already have plans for next year.

September 5th, I took part in Hero Up. It was a timed 5k and half marathon where participants got to dress up as super heroes in order to raise money to help fight against children's cancer. There was also a kid's run too. Even though I knew no one there, the whole atmosphere and event was awesome. From Hulk leading the event, many people dressed up like batman (most common outfit this year), all the way to the little baby superman, it was just a great few hours.

http://hero-up.org
http://hero-up.org/about/

My costume for the one this year was based off a character that my sister recommended: Huntress from Bird's of Prey. I based my costume on a couple images I found on pinterest and google, much like this one:

I hope to take part in the Half Marathon next year. Never thought I would run that far but for a cause like this one, it's worth the effort. While running doesn't seem like it would do much, the funds they can raise and the awareness are what make it a good reason to run. Which, brings me to the next set of links and similar topic that could use some promotion.

A wonderful couple that I associate with on a regular basis online had the recent misfortune of their child being diagnosed with Leukemia. Phoebe is only 5 and has a tough road ahead of her but the writing community of Writing.com have been showing their support for the family. Her story is public on Facebook.

Some links:
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfPhoebe?pnref=story
https://www.booster.com/friends-of-phoebe
http://www.gofundme.com/FriendsofPhoebe


Hopefully next year, things will be looking better and the money raised by the different organizations help make a big difference in the fight against children's cancer, on personal and global levels. Expect a post next year and a different hero. Maybe even a picture of me as I will Hero Up for September and the fight against children's cancer.

A Weight Goal Achieved

Yep, I made it to one of my goals and am dedicating a post to a little scale victory.


I don't know how many of the followers will remember, but back in May of 2013, I took part in a health blog hop and talked about weight goals. Link to Blog Post


That was over 2 years ago. My goal at the end of that post was to make it to 160, which was still obese for my height. However, it wasn't a final, that is the lowest I could ever attempt, type of goal, which I had to clarify in the comments. It was an interim goal since the lowest I had been as an adult was 179 and it was hard to picture lower.

I now weigh even less than that goal.

I reached 160 on April 18th. As I got closer to that weight, my goal changed to then make it to 150 because that marked the line at my height for overweight instead of obese.

On July 20th, I reached that goal too. In fact, I now am at 143 and still slowly losing weight. Have a ways to go in order to reach what is deemed a healthy weight for my height, but I can see it more now. When I weighed over 200 it was hard to imagine even weighing 150 let alone much less. As I make my way down this path, I see things a bit more now. I don't have a final goal range just yet, and I may even one day do a bulk (purposefully gain weight at a very very slow pace in order to gain muscle), but for now, things are going well. I will reach the year mark from when I decided to be more active in a couple of weeks and have lost over 65 lbs. Even better than that is the things I can do and the activities I want to try doing in the future.

I can jog 4 miles and hope to soon increase that number. I also can squat 160, deadlift over 180 and bench 100 (all in lbs for either 3 to 5 reps).

I still have many goals, which still includes novel writing, as it's not about the end but the journey it takes to get there.

Dawn Does... a 5k

Yep, I jogged a 5k in June. In fact, I took part in Neon Glow for Pride up in Portland. Neon clothes, glow sticks and all kinds of rainbows were prominent for the evening jog, plus fun music playing to keep everyone energized.

Picture:

Sorry, just my shoes. hehe I'm still on a no online posts rule for pictures of me but I am taking progress photos.


I had the neon shoes as those happen to be the running shoes I got from the store. Worked out well. I also had a neon yellow shirt I got on clearance and blue/yellow neon shorts. It ended up colder than I had quite expected, so I was glad that I had knee-hi socks on that evening.

Prior to the event, I spent months training using Couch to 5k. It is a great program for anyone who wants to start running. Before that I just did walking with short bits of running (for about a 3 minute song and worked up to a one interval middle of my walk on treadmill at 8 minutes). I did all of the C25k ones outside and still prefer to do my jogs out at the park or even around the neighborhood. I did find the program helped me to be able to jog a whole 30 minutes without stopping but that wasn't 5k for my short stride and slow speed. I had weeks before the event when I made it to the end, so I just kept the same schedule and increased my time each week. I ended up able to jog 40 minutes without stopping not long before my scheduled 5k, which worked out to be enough time for me.

In June, I jogged the whole 5k at the event, which was my goal. It wasn't timed so I don't know how long it took me but I wasn't near last and had fun cheering the others as they made it to the finish line.


I have 2 more 5k events coming up. One is a bubble/color run and the other is a hero run, so I'm needing to work on my costume for that. I'm also training for a 10k to help me get some distance and used to running as I'm still a beginner in order to get better at the 5k distance. I am signed up for a 10k at the end of October, which will be costume related and fun as well.

While I still prefer lifting compared to running, I'm enjoying the process and look forward to reaching more milestones in fitness.

Quick Update

Wow, I really haven't posted since the A to Z challenge back in April. Craziness.


April was quite the hectic month and I have to admit this year, the A to Z Challenge was more than I could handle. I did succeed in posting in both blogs every day, though a few of the posts were rather late in the day. However, I missed the mark on commenting and it was a struggle to keep up with those posts. I appreciated the people who did stop by on my blogs and the few who left me comments.

Since then things did get quite busy. One major change is that at the very beginning of June, I moved apartments. Moving in general is a hassle. There is all of the packing, handling everything for both and new places then the actual move, which me and my mom did alone. Fun times moving from a second floor apartment and driving a moving truck. Settling into new place has taken time too and I still have kitchen stuff in boxes cause not sure where to put it at this point s the new place comes with a roommate.

I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things with writing and the blogs now that I'm more settled down. I have still been going to the gym, jogging and eating somewhat healthy.

Upcoming posts:
my first 5k
weight update
summer novels


And hopefully more beyond that. I continue to write, working towards submitting TT, lift heavy weights and just keep pushing. Write on.

Summer Plans

I haven't done a goal or update post for a little while. Since it's June and I'm doing a focus on novels for summer, it seems like a good time to do a post about my plans for the three months.

Since at the beginning of the year I focused on writing short stories, submitting and trying to write on a regular basis, I decided that summer was a good time to focus on novels. After summer there is enough of a break to rest a little before NaNoWriMo. Plus, I have plenty of novels that need work done. So, most of my writing and editing is going to novels for June, July and August.

Summer Novel Plans
Edit Tattle Tell (goal is to finish edits by August)
Finish writing Lighting the Wall (it's at 25k so far)
Finish writing Angel/Demon (it's at over 32k so far)
Write In the Horizon He Saw Rain (rewrite from short story version)
Write List 13 (rewrite from novelette version)

I haven’t forgotten about the health side. No worries. I only dropped about 3 lbs last month, going from 216 to 213. It's a hard range that I buoy in often, so still trying to get lower. Won't be anything special loss wise till I get down under 200. Either way, hoping to keep it going in that direction. I’m consuming more vegetables and fruit, which I think is helping. Then again, I’m going from barely eating maybe a serving or two a day or less to more so it’s easy to increase that amount. Also, cutting down on the buying of candy though I’m also practicing cake decorating and cupcake, so that is a new challenge.

Next, I need to up the physical activity. I do a lot of walking around, standing and even lift heavy things at work, but at home more sitting is involved. I have plenty of dvds and a little space in front of the small tv I never use. I just have to make sure I exercise at a time where stomping is okay cause I’m pretty sure if I start doing work out dvds, the people below me won’t appreciate if it’s at a sleep time. Either way, as I up the healthy foods, I can up the physical activity (or well, as I work on cakes I should up the exercise cause I don’t eat much of it, but I do taste a little and those calories count too).

So, that is my summer plans. Work, novel, eat healthier and exercise. Maybe I can get down to 205 by my birthday. The big 3-0 is approaching.  I’ll bury my head in novels till it gets here.


Do you have summer plans?
What are your writing, reading, editing or health plans for June, July, August?

A Stall in Progress

This happens from time to time. I'll be really productive some months (crazy in others, like nanowrimo) but on the flip side of that, there will be weeks or a month where not much gets done. Everything just stalled for the past week or so. But that's okay.

Actually, part of the reason for my recent stall (no blogging, editing, writing, reading) was due to a cold. For the past week, all I've done is work, sleep, go through kleenex and now cough. That was all kinds of fun, let me tell you. *note: sarcasm*  So, that is my "excuse" for not getting much done lately. I felt up to nothing, not even reading a book. My daily writing went to over a week of 0 words per day. So, May is a slack month in progress wise. But now that I'm on the mend, I hope to make the second half at least somewhat productive.

I will admit, I don't feel that bad about not getting stuff done. Sure, it's a set back from some of my goals, like the editing, but at times things happen. Okay, I did feel a little discouraged seeing all those gray zeroes on my writing worksheet. But then I reminded myself that it's okay. I can still keep going and it's not the end of the world to miss a week of writing.

Sure, if things come up all the time and you don't find a way to work around them to get writing and such done, then it might become an issue. But an occasional set back, don't let it get you down. Things happen that get in the way of progress, projects can stall.

I also bring this up because I help moderate a writing web site and now there is a forum where Monday we post our goals for the week (5 days) and Friday we post the results. It's not many days, and some people get a bit ambitious. Honestly, I wish we did 7 day goals but that's a different story. Back to my point... Some people, when posting their results get very discouraged when they "fail" at what they had wanted to achieve. The post is a "woe is me" and "I'm so awful cause I didn't do what I wanted to do" types that start to get defeatist in tone. But try not to do that. I don't make many goals and some of them, I just don't achieve. Instead of getting discouraged, I just evaluate how things went, then figure out my next set of goals and keep moving forward.

This isn't just for writing either. Health and fitness comes with setbacks. Being sick affected how I ate and such for the whole week. Colds are tricky for weight too, for me. Cause I consumed mostly chicken noodle soup, orange juice and sprite, the scale shows a 2 lb loss. Which would be good but once I got back to eating regular food, I usually just gain in back in a few days. Because I can finally eat something besides soup. And it wasn't a healthy loss to being with because it's from eating only like 1000 calories a day and over half of it being liquid form. Plus, this stalls any exercise due to the fact that I slept when I wasn't at work.

Health, fitness, fiction, it all can stall from time to time. The question is what do you do after the stall to pick yourself up and get back to a level of productiveness.


Have you stalled on a project lately?
What do you do to get back into the swing of things?