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In good Ranger fashion, my to-do list is long and my time is short, and 'learning to make more than just screeching sounds with an instrument of choice' is, sadly, rather far down it at the moment. I shall follow along and play my radio in solidarity, though!

Week 5 ~ Tuesday ~ Thursday Went for a walk Tuesday and will go for another on Friday. Probably should be doing more than this but the weather has be utter crap. Macros have not been bad but have not been great. I haven't be exactly tracking and the bathroom scale went missing for a while there. I probably should weigh myself to make sure I haven't done too much damage, but I'm a little afraid. I've been ok through the day and eating my prepared foods for dinner but then I get peckish and don't have a mindful snack. Bedtimes haven't been bad. I think there was an early, a late, and an on time in there for the past 3 days. Probably leaning towards the Wants the last little while but there haven't been too many Shoulds I've been avoiding, other than I should probably be finding a way to do more indoor movement, even if it's just some stretching and such.

The Weekend I'm including last Friday in this also, it was forever ago and I do not remember, and today, because I can. There was no movement, I had a no bones weekend and I actually think I kind of needed it. It made my Monday night busy, which is never ideal, but it is what it is. Bedtime was good until Sunday where I stayed up too late playing Mass Effect (or, as my brain insists on calling it, Space Dragon Age). I got all the side quests done, though, so now I can just finish off the main quest, though admittedly I don't know how long what I've got left actually is, so that might not happen soon. Macros were not even remotely managed over the weekend, I ate a lot of takeout, though mostly made decent choices. If I added it all up it probably wasn't terrible, but I gave very little thought to what I ate and didn't even try to track it. Today wasn't great either, but oppositely so. My only nutrition until 6:30pm was the sugar and cream I put in my coffee and a protein shake. This was due to the no bones weekend, I put off grocery shopping until today, and couldn't be bothered to stop for a sandwich while I was out on the road today. I had more takeout for dinner, though I made a good choice, and cooked two (2!!) things for my dinners for the week, so I'll be good from now on for a bit, though I still need to find containers to freeze my soup, I've got a thing about leftovers that are more than 3 or 4 days old, I just can't do it even though it's probably fine, and I made 7 days worth of meals... After a weekend of Wants, I made myself do the Shoulds tonight, though I sure didn't want to. Groceries and cooking, mainly. I was then left with an awkward amount of time, not really enough to get into something like a video game or writing, but too much time to just go to bed a early. I read a bit, but I have to return the book soon and probably won't get it done, so it was hard to stay interested even though it's finally piqued my interest. Now I'm just in bed way earlier than normal feeling slightly out of sorts. This is why I like to spread my Adulting out rather than doing it all at once... Lesson learned? Enh, probably not.

Week 4 ~ Wednesday Is Week 4 even the right week? Despite the fact that I worked all through the pandemic, still it caused time to no longer have meaning, so I dunno... No movement, was pretty tired after work and I just couched. Macros no managed, I ate the crackers on my coffee table for dinner instead of getting up and eating my soup. I do not recall my bedtime from Tuesday night, but if it was bad it wasn't terrible, I might actually be getting slightly better at this... Week 4 ~ Thursday Walked with my sister. We picked the shorter route, I'm never very enthusiastic about it and she was cranky, so it seemed the right choice. While I have not technically entered any of what I ate today into MFP I will say macros managed because I didn't eat anything weird or different and the normal stuff always fits, that's why it's normal. I'm probably a bit under, TBH. Though I'm feeling a bit peckish and may have a snack before bed, but as long as I'm mindful about it and don't eat the entire thing of hummus it'll be fine. I was actually in bed early last night, but I dicked around on my phone for a bit (not ideal, but not actually forbidden, it was before my bedtime, I just try not to actually use my phone in bed if possible). I did, however, put it away by the appointed time, which is progress. I don't recall being particularly restless, but I know I did lay awake for a while at least, but not as bad as it has been. Helped my sister decorate cookies for her work, I actually kind of enjoy it because it's fiddly, but my mom gets impatient with my meticulousness. She knows me, though, and all I get is a mom look, which, after 40 years and thousands (tens of thousands?) of mom looks, I'm impervious to. For the record, the trees turned out quite well, well worth the wait.

This sounds like every mini horse I've ever met 😆 Hopefully your throat is just a result of a day of desert-like conditions followed by an evening of early winter-in-Ontario-like conditions, I find a big switch like that can mess with my respiratory tract without me actually being sick.

That update is just full of awesome, great job!

Week 4 ~ Monday Day off work, so plenty of time to get shit done, but did I still cram it all into the end of the day? You bet I did! Went for a walk while it was still mostly sunny and actually, like, enjoyed it? Or something? Maybe I was just confused... Macros more or less managed, but I didn't eat the best overall due to lack of meal prep. I did get some meal prep done later so I should be good for the next few days. I can't remember what my bedtime was like on Sunday. I think it was not terrible. Week 4 ~ Tuesday Gonna report on things that aren't technically done, but I will for sure do them. Going for a walk before my physio with my sister. She made me make a bunch of dates for walking 2x/week so I only have to find solo motivation 1x/week for the next little while. We're both hoping setting times will result in us doing stuff after dark rather than cocooning on the couch. I'm very much not feeling it, but, while I will always let myself down when it comes to things like this, I will never let another person down, so it'll get done. Macros on track. If anything I'll be under. Bedtime was good last night but it was another case of being tired but not sleepy, so I lay awake for quite some time. Was also battling a case of the nuclear reactors, I kept waking up so hot after just drifting off, then having to get up to adjust covers or layers or pee or let the GD dog out even though he's perfectly capable of opening a partially closed door himself, and struggled to drift off again each time. Needless to say, sleep quality was very poor and I'm not in the mood just in general today... Hopefully I'll get some Critical Role in tonight, it feels like the current story is in the process of wrapping up and I want to know how it turns out. Much more RP and less battles right now, so I'm not feeling so urgent about it.

Your time will come, don't worry 😁 And ya, 2C and still hot in a t-shirt *sigh*

I don't think I have memory foam, though there is a mattress topper thing that might be foamy, but I'm not sure it even comes off. I should also mentioned I sleep directly below my window, which is open, which, at this time of year, should mitigate any foam-induced hot flashes, in theory. I honestly think it's just my aging hormones doing their thing, I'm of an age where they might start having an effect on things I'd rather they just leave alone...

Week 4 ~ Sunday No movement. Lots of driving (this is my weekend to work). I got SOOOOOO cold by the end of the day, even with the heat cranked in my van I was still cold when I got home. Time to break out the winter boots and put the insert in my jacket, methinks. Needless to say, I just put sweats over my longjohns and curled up on the couch. Macros not not managed. I stuck to the previously mentioned plan of eating 'normal' stuff during the day and enjoying ribs for dinner. I'm off work tomorrow so I can get some meal prep done, which will help with getting back to tracking. I actually went to bed on time last night, guys! I lay awake for a bit but not too long, but my sleep quality was terrible again. I actually woke up cold in the wee hours, which is very unusual, normally I'm nigh on a nuclear reactor in bed (but not on the couch, which is in the exact same room, where I'm nigh on an iceberg. I do not understand my thermoregulatory system). Gonna break out a warmer cover tonight and/or add a layer, or probably both so I have options if I go nuclear at 2am. Sister was over for dinner so I didn't have time for a Critical Role, which is what I wanted to do tonight. It's now 1.5hr before bedtime and I have no idea what to do with myself. Maybe I might *gasp* go to bed early 😲

Week 3 ~ Friday Went for a walk. Did not track. Had a healthy lunch and takeout for dinner, I wasn't actually feeling great and was a strange mix of hungry but bloated and not desiring food. Don't really remember much else, but I'm sure I stayed up too late Thursday night. Week 3 ~ Saturday No movement. Hoo boy I'm tired today, and I immediately couched when I got home from work... Macros are probably ok-ish. I've been avoiding weighing myself because I'm afraid I might have undone some/all the good I did, but I need to get over myself on this one. Tomorrow my sister is coming over and we're making ribs for dinner, but if I eat the usual stuff during the day it's should work out more or less ok, and then back to tracking and weighing on Monday. I think, after my week or so of small indulgences, I'll stick to the amount I was doing on the program I did and see how it goes, and just judge things by how my weight trends. I was watching a very long and very exciting episode of Critical Role Friday night. It was over 5hr long, which I did not realize when I started it, but I started it early enough that I only went to bed 30min late, which isn't bad. But then it was so exciting that I was all amped up when I tried to go to bed and lay awake for a while. I did get some decent brainstorming done on my story, but that's not what bed is supposed to be for.... Also, the sleep I did get was restless, lots of weird-ass dreams and waking up, so........ 😪

If you feel like you'd like to try some self-massage on your feet, I find a golf ball is a good size, if you can get your hands on one, and it's pretty easy to adjust the level of pressure if you do it sitting down (I often roll my feet on my golf ball while I'm sitting at my desk doing paperwork or listening to meetings). Regardless, hopefully your foot starts to feel better soon, as someone with on again off again foot pain, it's definitely no fun

For @Starpuck, and anyone else who wants to have a look, the complete backstory for my D&D character (I put the whole thing in there so there's no scrolling necessary. Spoilered for length):

I had the leaf blower, but there were a lot of leaves and I did a lot of walking back and forth, which is why it's only movement-ish. The leaf blower was heavy and my forearms got a bit of a workout, at least...

Week 3 ~ Thursday No walk, but I did help my sister clean up leaves in her yard, so that's movement-ish, and I did get out in the sun. For sure getting out for a walk today, it's sunny and not too warm, but at the moment I'm still partaking in my morning laze-about. Macros not managed, I went out for lunch and had fish and chips and they were good but not exactly healthy. Had chicken soup for dinner, then a whole bunch of hummus and triscuits, which fall into the category of not awful but a bit calorie dense. Bedtimes not had. Got carried away with Critical Role...

Week 3 ~ Monday ~ Wednesday No real movement. I'm working the late shift and I tend to choose sleep over movement on these days. It's only 3 days out of each month, so I'm not too fussed, but I will for sure have to do something tomorrow. I find myself actually kind of wanting to go for a walk, mostly because the weather's been nice and I could use some sunshine, so I think it'll get done Thursday and Friday for sure, barring bad weather (I have not checked the forecast). It's going to get more challenging as darkness comes earlier and earlier, even on my early days I work until 4 and it'll be dark by then or very close to it, and once it's dark I want to cocoon, so we'll see how that goes. Haven't really been tracking but I've been eating normal stuff for the most part so I'm at or under my kcals (maybe not today, I definitely had McDonalds for dinner...). I need to give this some thought, specifically with respect to, do I want to add a few more kcals or stick to the lower kcals I was given on the program I was doing, which has now ended; and, do I keep tracking, or just keep to 'normal' stuff and weigh regularly to ensure I'm not gaining. Both have pros and cons. My bedtimes haven't been awful but haven't been great either. That said, I do get a little loosey-goosey on my late shifts because I can sleep in before work, so I haven't been super sleepy either. That also said, work's been, shall we say, a bit rough this week, and I have not been sleeping well even if I've been sleeping lots. It's ongoing so may be weighing on me for a while, without going into detail (which I can't do cuz confidentiality), I'm struggling to find how, in this particular case, I can facilitate justice within a justice system that is not always the most kind to victims, in this case a victim who is also complicit in an offense, while also helping to facilitate the healing of said victim. I knew I would likely struggle with this sort of thing if/when it came up, but I was also really hoping I'd be a lot more experienced before I had to deal with it so I could come at it from a place of knowledge, at the very least... Been leaning towards Wants lately, partly due to the timing that goes along with late shifts and partly as a reaction to the moral dilemma(s) spinning about in my head at all hours. I've got the next two days off so I'm looking to have a good balance of Wants and Shoulds during that time, to set me up well for my 7-day stretch coming up after that, which is always a slog. Random Musings re: Exercise that I May or May Not Have Already Mentioned Been thinking about what sorts of exercise I want to do, and as much as I love heavy lifting I think I want to give it a break for a bit. It's not that I don't want to do it, it's that I want to do other things more right now and I can't fit it all in at once. So, come January, I'll be back to swords and have the opportunity to do it 2x/week (for more money). I'd also like to get back to rock climbing (indoor), and when I did it before I found that 3x/week worked well for making progress, and less than that could stall my progress. That would be my 5 days of movement, which is what I'm shooting for. The local climbing gym is undergoing major renovations and I don't know when they'll be done, but I think my medium-term plan will be to continue with the regular walks and try to be better at mobility stuff (this is a constant struggle, much like bedtimes), and then look at focusing on those two things once January rolls around. I've got some mental stuff to work on between now and then (namely feeling like I'm wasting the time of the 'real' practitioners of the sports by virtue of the fact that I'm out of shape and not good at it. This applies to both swords and climbing), so maybe if I give myself this timeline my brain can find a way to get over its own shit by then.

I tend towards being quiet and contemplative and observing all there is to observe before coming to a conclusion, but once I decide to act I ACT. And my character's like that, in that she's got a Sage background, so is inclined towards intellectual pursuits, but also a fighter, so always prepared to act when necessary. I think it's a good combination. But I also think it'd be fun to play a half-orc barbarian who just charges in and acts first and thinks later, if they even think at all. I also naturally tend towards chaotic good IRL, as does my character, but I think a slightly evil character could be fun too, or even a lawful good character. I honestly don't know which would be harder, a lawful anything or an evil anything, both go against my nature..........

Glad it was a good'un!

Week 3 ~ Sunday Movement achieved via changing my all seasons to snows. I was aided by my sister, and a fine selection of curse words. Macros probably managed, couldn't be bothered to track again today, but I've hardly eaten anything and am making good soup for dinners, so I'm probably way under. Did not make my bedtime last night but it was not ridiculous. I did turn off what I was doing in the middle of it despite the fact I didn't want to and go to bed because I could feel I was getting sleepy, which is not my usual MO. More not getting to sleep once I was in bed, though it wasn't so bad this time. Quite a bit of adulting done today, and somehow it was time efficient so it's not even 5pm and I'm done, so I should be able to find some balance between the Wants and Shoulds today. Not sure yet what my Want will be for the evening, but I have a good amount of time to decide and do it.

Week 2 ~ Saturday It was a budding no bones day but then I rallied, and I still don't understand how! Woke up with a wicked headache, not entirely sure what from, so I oozed from the upstairs couch where I drink my coffee to my downstairs couch where I generally reside and watched a bunch of Critical Role. At one point I needed to pee, and somehow this pee break turned into getting dressed and going for a walk, though my ear buds were dead and I had to listen to my own thoughts instead of a podcast. But the walk was accomplished, and actually wasn't terrible, though I underestimated the coldness and my fingies got a little frosty. Started to bother with macros today then abandoned it when I decided groceries were for tomorrow and the leftover pizza in the fridge was for today, so I doubt they were managed, but I also don't think they're terrible. To bed early last night, believe it or not. And on a non-work night, no less! My brain promptly went *bing* and I did not get to sleep for some time, but it's the thought that counts? Or something? I mean, it is actually the thought that counts, since I can't control what my brain will do once I'm in bed, all I can do is be in bed on time and hope for the best. I actually feel ok about the balance between Wants and Shoulds today. I surprised myself by going for a walk. While I didn't have any distinct desire not to, generally a day that starts out with no bones stays one with no bones, so yay for sudden-onset bonesiness. I would've liked to get some writing done today, and that might still happen, though it's getting a bit late and I'm a bit sleepy. I didn't do no writing, I expanded my D&D character's background story, but I'm afraid if I leave my story too long my interest will wane, as it has before, many times, and it'll stall again. I have a fair amount of adulting to do tomorrow, but we'll see how it ends up. If anyone's curious, here's the next part to Iskra's story (again, spoilered for length, this is getting a little ridiculous but it's fun so I'm not stopping):

Adulting is the worst... It's never too early when you live in Canada! (For the record, it did not stick around. If it had I'd've liked it better, its the wet sloppy stuff I hate, I love a good cold day with crunchy snow and icicles on my eyelashes)

Hopefully your throat resolves itself, these days I feel like every little cough and tickle gets the paranoid part of my brain going and I'm constantly analyzing my symptoms to try to decide if it's just the weather or if I need to make myself an isolation bubble... Love how the cat painting is coming along!

Great mindset win on those donuts! And, despite the next day not being as great as you hoped, you've got a good mindset there too, acknowledging what was less than ideal and moving on to the next. Hopefully things went as planned!

No questions yet, but I will for sure bug you with questions if/when they arise. I feel like I might fall within the categories of Friend 3 and you, though I it might take me some time to really get in tune with the role play stuff. I tried to make a character with similar values as my own to make it easier, but I do think it could be fun to play as someone different. But then again, I've never done it before, so who knows what I'll really end up enamoured with. I did enjoy making the backstory for my character, it scratched the writing itch without me having to get deeply invested in my story. In case you're curious, I'm a teifling fighter named Iskra. This is the first part of her backstory (spoilered for length, I can't do anything simply):

Week 2 ~ Wednesday No movement, got lazy. It was a nastier day than yesterday, so I didn't want to go out, and I just never got my ass in gear for something inside. No idea on macros, I seem to be jumping right off the tracking train before it even gets to the station... That said, I had my usual for breakfast and lunch and some semi-regular takeout which wasn't even all that good this time for dinner, so I didn't eat it all, so it's probably fine on at least the kcal front, if not the macro front. I honestly don't remember about my bedtime last night... I feel like it was a bit late? Maybe? Made myself a D&D character, a friend of mine's sister plays in a regular game, and brother wants to try it out, as do I. The DM said he'd make a 1-2 session campaign for me and my friend's brother to dip our toes in, and my friend and her sister will come along for the ride to round out the group. Nothing's officially organized yet, so it's technically only a maybe, but I've got my fingers crossed it'll work out. Then I watched the 1st episode of the 1st campaign of Critical Role, I'm enjoying this way more than I thought I would. His descriptions of the battles in particular are quite exciting.