Fonzico

Glad to hear you're feeling better! I love the focus on joy in your challenge, it's beautiful. And I'm also here to say +1 to the Mexican feast! I've been craving it too, I'm sure it's the cold weather trying me to warm myself up with spices!

Friend! Good looking challenge, and I'm happy to be following along! I'm super interested about your dog training adventures... We have some leash pulling and territoriality issues with Annie, and I really need to put the time into working on them... I'm going to let you inspire me

Congratulations to your momma! 91, that's awesome! Your dinner sounds like it was fantastic. Great job with the toe touch! I have also always struggled with behind the back stuff - what can you do to improve it?

Ah getting out of town is totally worth the longer commute! I'm a little sad about not being biking distance from work anymore, but I don't even know if we'll ever go back to being on-site full time. The tradeoff for the rural peace is definitely feeling worth it right now! Yeah I totally understand on the posting thing. It's why I haven't really been on the boards this year. But I need to do SOMETHING so I hope this helps. In any case, I am SUPER grateful that you are here! I'm at an all-time-high right now too, and not digging it. But we're here and we're taking action, dammit! Thank you so much!! I still just break out in a giant grin out of nowhere at my good fortune sometimes!

Week Zero update: Tracking has happened (totally eating too much, but at least I'm owning it?) I worked out Monday, but not again since. And I've done no classwork so far. Work has been using up my brain power lately... Hubs woke up feeling off this morning, and now I feel like I'm coming down with something too! Hopefully it's just a cold, but operation Baby Meeting is definitely cancelled for this weekend. Time to hole up and eat soup (she says like that wasn't what she was already doing anyways).

I'm sorry to hear about your brother's health concerns! I know our brothers both have very different issues going on, but I can definitely empathize with the worry. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon and it's not anything serious. I love that you are just tackling one goal to start with! Very smart. Great job on your breakfasts so far

Rhia! It's so good to see you, friend! I feel like I've taken nothing but giant steps backwards over the last year and then some, so I really need all the support I can get to turn it around! And of course I will go find your challenge now too to return the favour! Problems that you can not fix are the worst kind. I just want to make things better for my little bro, but it's not my battle to fight, and it's just going to suck for a bit for him. I despise inaction. Yeah, buying a house in the midst of COVID was kind of a weird decision - things are trending up here, but they've been quite low (the 39 active cases going on right now is a record high for our area), but it all really worked out well. I hope you're able to make your move when you're ready to!

Autumn is so bittersweet, I agree! (Although it's full on winter here already, boo-hiss) I like that you're trying to find a balance between accepting the pace of the season and still actively enjoying it.

Thank you!! It's so good to see you, my friend! Congrats to you too! Is your commute shorter now? You could always battle log it, if you want the posting without the pressure?

Hello, sweet nerds. It is I, the ever prodigal Fonzico. I had to look back in my history to check - my last challenge was in June, and I posted for like a week before disappearing again. Whoops. NOT THIS TIME. I triple-pinkie-cross-heart-promise. LIFE has been a bit bananas since then, TBH! The updates are multitudinous. Most exciting first? WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOUSE! WHaaaat? Especially considering that in my last challenge I was like "I need more money to buy a house". It was crazy. Long story: One day, out of the blue, my favourite coworker was like "Have you considered homeownership? Because a couple of the townhouses by me are for sale for WAY less that I paid for mine, so you should think about it." And it just so happened that we had some money set aside for an upcoming vacation and to buy a new piece of equipment for our business... and I ran the numbers and if we didn't do those things, we could juuuuuuuust barely swing a minimum downpayment. SO we were like, "what the heck, no harm in looking!" I'll save you the incredibly dramatic details (they involved almost putting an offer in on what, in retrospect, was NOT the right place), but we ended up buying an adorable little duplex in a hamlet about 10 minutes outside of the city we (used) to live in. There's like nothing for services out here (there's a perogy pub - yes, you heard me, and a pie shop that's open twice a week), but it's a 3 minute drive from a town with gas/alcohol/groceries, and like I said, 10 minutes to the city. AND my best friend lives out here, and so does my aunt AND I FREAKING LOVE IT! Like, even more than I thought I would - I was worried that it would be annoying to be outside of the city, but the benefits all make up for it! So the hamlet is a former airforce base from WWII. In the 50s they built a bunch of military housing and then the whole place got decommissioned in like the late 80s I think. They've built newer residences out here since, but we are in one of the old ones. Whoever renovated it did a DAMN good job of it though - the only thing that hasn't been redone is the floors, which are original hardwood (and in rough shape). It's got a decently big yard though, and a little garage (the garage is duplexed with the opposite neighbour from the one the house is duplexed with, which I have never seen before). Gas range. New appliances. Massive master bedroom. 1.5 baths. Big deck. And the neighbourhood is just so peaceful and beautiful. The speed limit is 30km/hr through the whole hamlet, there are tons of old trees, fields, walking trails, a baseball and soccer field and outdoor rink. We loved it from the moment we saw it - only viewed it once, and didn't even ask anyone else to come see it before we bought! And it's like 75% of the price of what we would have paid for a similar property in town. And because it's part of the county, the property taxes are practically non-existant. Well, half of what you'd pay in the city, anyways. Okay, I'll stop rambling now. But for real real, I am just so happy. It's the absolute perfect place for us. Getting to start fresh in a beautiful place has been so incredibly good for our souls, and my anxiety has been WAY down since we moved. For how long has purging been a challenge goal for me? And now it's DONE! I've also started school again - super part-time, online - I'm working towards a Certficate in Public Administration. I figure, with the volitility of my employment situation and the fact that they'll pay like $2500 a year for me to take classes, I'd be silly not to. I'm still in the same role (admissions and registration at my local community college). Still at 90% of full time, which is only 31.5hrs per week. Not ideal, but I will say that I don't mind the hours. And at least I'm employed. The hubs is sort of not employed right now - we still have a small amount of business with our side gig, and in theory he can pick up hours with his dad's company, but their relationship has been a bit fraught lately, and he's looking for some distance. Which is ultimately a good thing, but he needs to start looking for work in earnest because he hasn't really worked since like mid-Sept. (Although that's part of the new house appeal too - even with the other bills that come with it, the mortgage is so low that it's cheaper than renting, and we can almost get by on just my salary.) But he's gone full house-husband on me, which I'm very much enjoying. Apparently he just needed to own the place in order to give a shit about how clean it is! My biggest stressor right now is the fact that my BABY (not a baby, he's 31) brother just had a baby of his own with a women who he is not currently in a relationship with and who hates him off and on. And we are 5 hours away, and COVID and THEY HAVEN'T NAMED THE BABY YET and he's 2 weeks old! And none of our family has met him! This is not cool. And I don't know what to do about it. And he has to move by the end of the month (he was supposed to be moving in with her, but that's not happening now), and I want to go help him, but I NEED TO BE ABLE TO MEET THE BABY if I go, and I don't know if that's going to be a thing. My heart is absolutely breaking for him right now. And I feel doubly bad about it, because I'm probably the one he's closet to in the family, and I feel like he probably needs me right now and I don't know how to help. I think my parents are going to go down there next weekend, come hell or high water (but not snow, because my mother won't do bad roads). But while my dad is a voice of reason and calm, my mother is nothing but anxiety and shrillness (I love her, but by god) and I don't really expect that she'll help the situation and will probably undo any good my father can manage. Bah. Okay, therapy time over. I really do have a challenge to post here! 1. WORKOUT I just need to move more. I can feel myself losing flexibility that i did NOT have to lose! Goal is 3x per week, minimum 30 minute workout. I'm currently doing BBoD Barre Blend videos, but something similar will suffice. Unfortunately while it has improved a bit, my left ring finger is still messed up from mysterious injury about a year ago, so weights/kettlebells are still off the table 2. TRACK FOOD I so very badly need to eat better. But I'm going to work on it one step at a time and make it sustainable. First step is to track, which will help me figure out exactly where I am, where I can start improving and will naturally help me do better just by paying attention. Goal is every day. 3. GO TO CLASS Well, not go, there is no where to go to. My class is virtual and asychronous, so I just need to work on it. I got off to a bad start, as we decided to move like right after I registered, but no excuses now. Goal is 3 hours per week. We'll see how that goes and adjust if needed. 4. BONUS - CHECK INS I need to check in here at least 4 times a week, and check in with other rebels at least 8 times. There. Intentions set. Let's do this

Terrible at updating, geez! I blame uninstalling Tapatalk... It was making me so angry though. Let's see: Carbs have been a little high most days, as have calories. More low carb than keto. Need to rein it in. I did finish ("finish" haha. Made decent enough to publish, I should say) the online store. I'm pretty proud of myself, and I think it's doing my mental health a great deal of good to have something productive to focus on, since work is not being very fulfilling as of late. Work yesterday was completely draining. Mostly due to a very upset call I took in the afternoon though, not the whole day generally. Did nothing in the evening except walk the dogs and eat oO It's raining today, so I'm debating whether I want to go disc golfing in it or not! It's good practice for when you have to play a tournament in those conditions, so I actually might. I'm getting more and more excited for our upcoming camping trip and disc golf tourney to follow! There are 4 other women in my division right now (although one of them may not actually be able to come) but I'm so excited to actually compete! I feel like I've been improving a lot, but it'll be nice to see how I stack up against other talented ladies. It'll be tough though! If the weather isn't miserable on Wednesday for Canada Day, we may make the trip up to try the course. I've never played it before and I think John has only played it once.

Date night was excellent! Netflix just added the whole Studio Ghibli library in Canada Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are a great place to start if you ever get the chance.

So I totally forgot that I tried to update a couple days ago and my phone was being stupid and it didn't work. I restarted it, and then got distracted! Anyways. Update time! Day 3 carbs: 35g Day 4 carbs: 15g Day 5 carbs: 39g Need more day 4. 39 is not great. Disc golf league night on Thursday was great - I scored a personal best, and was only 4-5 strokes higher than several of the men who I would not normally consider myself competitive with. And I didn't even feel like it was a crazy good round or anything, I could shave 3-4 off of that easily if I was putting well. I started working on our online shop today - I still have lots to do, but it's taking shape. I'm pleased. Tonight we have a date night in! Fancy charcuterie board, adult bevvies and Studio Ghibli! Maybe a fire if it doesn't rain. For now, it's time for my mid-afternoon nap! Ahhhhh.

We did a couple shots on Thursday and it was really fun! I don't really recognize myself haha but I don't hate it. Hopefully I'll see a few more ladies on Tuesday and finish it up. So unstable. I got, what, 6 months of full time permanent work!? Ugh. I'm over it.

Day two: Carbs were on point at 22g. Calories were solid too. More disc golf - it was league night. It was insanely windy after the 4th hole, so I don't feel too bad about my score not being great! I have a friend who is sponsored by one of the disc manufacturers, and she mailed me one of their new discs to try out on the condition that I get a few other ladies to try too, and film the results. So we're going to do that tomorrow - I'm excited, it should be fun! I've been eating leftover fish taco insides for breakfast and lunch today, and I've got Coq au Vin going for supper, which I'll have with mashed cauliflower. Looking forward to having a chill evening. It's been a busy week!

So hard to stick to the plan when work is crazy! I hope it settles down for you for real here soon...

Haha I'm loving the bingo! I feel like that could be a good way to gamify lots of outdoor activities! I think I need to make one for our upcoming camping trip.

Ooh new garden shed! I hope you'll post pictures when it's all done And thank you for the reminder about Anti-fragile, I meant to read it and forgot about it! I'll be interested to hear your ideas as you go through it.

So far, so good, day one. 29g of carbs. Only activity was - you guessed it - disc golf! Hubs and I went to the new course in a nearby town and had a good time. I'm sad today because when they first announced our reduction at work, our boss said she would try to make it so we got Friday afternoons off... But it sounds like that's been kiboshed. Probably just end up with a 1/2 hr-1hr less each day I was hoping there would be at least one upside to this whole deal. Ugh. So over it. I'm stuck in this endless loop of new job?--> moving?-->buy a house? (Because I feel like trying to rent a new place with our 5 pets is going to be a tough sell) --> need more money to buy house. --> new job? I just need to be patient, and wait it out a bit. Hopefully work will start picking up for hubs soon here and we can save more aggressively. I almost made it a goal, but it's more up to him, not me, and I didn't want to be frustrated over something I don't have much control over. I AM finally getting our disc golf apparel line a functioning online store though! So that's one thing I can contribute to that will hopefully add a little cash to the piggy bank!

Oh thank you, thank you, Slothy! Hello back to you! Yes, actually! The restrictions have lifted enough to do events that allow for physical distancing, which is pretty easy with disc golf our league is up and running twice a week and we have a tournament coming up in July that I am very very excited about! Disc golf is basically the only thing I do now so it's good that it's allowed! In theory, yes, but it was my kettlebell class that I loved so much! I have a hard time motivating myself to work as hard on my own... Maybe I can find a video or something so it's not self-led. Nice to see you though! <3! I will track down y'all's challenges shortly here, I promise!

What up, babes, I'm back! Like most of the world, I've had a hell of an adjustment these last several months. While I've tried to keep up as best I could on the health and fitness side of things, just getting through the interminable days has been challenge enough. I'm finally feeling ready to do (a little) more than just survive though, so here I am. I've got some weight to lose, which has been building since late last year when I was struggling hard with anxiety. (Quarantine def caused some depression, but weirdly enough very little anxiety, although I've really managed to be in public very little). I did try (and sort of succeed) at working out in the first few months at home, but I fell out of the habit in the last couple, and need to start something back up again there. . I'm also back on the keto bandwagon, which is really really helping with a lot of things, mentally and physically, and I love it. I'm working from home, which is good. Probably until January at least, which is possibly less good. We'll see. Our whole office also just got notice that our hours are being cut by 10%, effective Mid-July, which is decidedly bad. Better than being laid off entirely... But mostly not Covid-related, we just have a provincial government with very little interest in funding education. Which means who knows when, if ever, we'll go back to full time. So I'm semi-looking for new opportunities - obviously now is not a great time to job hunt or to move, but given the right opportunity, I'm ready to do both. Anyways. That's the sum of my life right now, give or take! As far as goals go: 1. Eat less than 30g carbs per day In order to know if I'm succeeding, I need to track properly, so that's part of the goal too. I'm getting better at it, but fully committing now. 2. Do something active other than walking/disc golf. I'm starting with a bare minimum of ONCE a week here, because I need a low bar that I can crush to get going. Yeah, no, that's it. Two goals. Keep it manageable! Tbh a lot of the point is just to have a good place to journal and keep track of things.

I don't have one! I was just thinking about coming back, but since the new one is in a couple weeks, I figured I'd just lurk in the meantime

Aw, I'm glad your pup is better! It's so hard to see them suffer! Food looks hella yum as always!

I'm glad your father in law is doing better! That was so sweet of the woman to drop off the treats before your zoom get-together. It's not the same as in person but at least you are getting some social contact in!