fiddle-on

My long weekend was frowns in everything but exercise: I really didn't even try to exercise control over my eating, which is a usual problem for me on weekends. I need to come up with a strategy for next weekend.

But today's a new day and a new week. I've got chili for lunches this week, and I'll be making a big batch of oatmeal tonight for breakfasts. 

Yet another returner!

I like the vague goals. I've usually got a mix of specific and vague. Like right now, I've got a clear calorie goal (300-500 calorie deficit, no added sugar), but a vague exercise goal (do it and include strength training sometimes). Also, I think I need to copy the doctor's visit: I'm past due for one.

I like the rewards goal. It doesn't work for me because I frequently end up getting myself the "reward" even if I fail. May you have better self control than I do!

17 minutes ago, Annabelle said:

 

Never two in a row

Words to live by!

I got my first frowny face for yesterday. After dinner, I just started snacking. At first because I was still a little hungry, and then because I just had trouble stopping. I ended the day a hundred or two calories over maintenance, so not horrible, but enough that I need to start my streak over.

19 hours ago, Inazea said:

I love the stickers you're giving yourself! And your violin part of the challenge reminds me that I wanted to get back to playing piano ages ago... Good luck with your challenge!

Thanks! I want to end the challenge with the most colorful calendar I can.

Sounds ambitious!  I like the test run idea: with 5 or 6 months to go, you'll have plenty of time to add in the habits that get left behind this challenge.

I've had 2 very good diet days in a row. On Monday I had a mini chocolate chip muffin (100 calories, 6 g sugar) because my breakfast was way too small, but that's the only junk I've had and it kept me from spending the 3 hours until lunch thinking about my coworker's chocolate filled candy jar. I've gone 2 full days without touching that chocolate, which has to be a personal record.

I didn't do as much of a workout as I was supposed to yesterday: 10 minutes of stretching yoga followed by about 15 minutes of bodyweight. Should have been at least 30 minutes of more intensive strength training or an hour long walk.

Today I'm signing up for Body Pump at the gym, so that'll be an actual workout.

On 5/21/2018 at 5:39 PM, Annabelle said:

Oh man.. right? This weekend is going to be the starting test. Memorial Day, I've got a wedding this Friday for a friend of mine, parties, etc

 

You can do it! Mindfulness > Impulse, yeah?

I just need to make sure I've got barriers between myself and Impulse as often as possible.  Good luck holding strong through the weekend!

I haven't been here for a year, but I'm back for the sake of the challenge accountability. 

I want to focus on diet this time around. I've started picking some of my bad food habits back up, and since January I've regained a couple of the pounds I lost in 2016/2017. I want to lose another 15-20 pounds instead of gaining more.  This challenge is going to focus on improving my eating habits and losing weight again. Specifically, I want to cut down on sugar and stop snacking between meals.

I've been better about fitness than diet. I haven't really had much direction this year, but I'm fine with what I'm doing. I'd rather spend my mental energy on my new job and on music than improving fitness. So my fitness goal is to continue as is: get at least 10,000 steps a day, do two strength training workouts a week (30-60 minutes each), and at a minimum get 30 minutes exercise every other day. 

Finally, I'm taking violin lessons after a long hiatus. Finding time to practice is hard.

Extra challenges: Memorial day weekend, a week-long business trip, a long weekend trip, a going away party for a friend moving out of the country, and all the usual little celebrations and occasions when there's social pressure to overeat at least a little.

I've got a list of other things that I'd like to do, but I want to prioritize weight loss and music right now. I'll mention the others and may use them for mini-challenges.

• No screen time for an hour before bed time.
• Get up an hour early to walk, do yoga, or otherwise work out.
• Speed walking workouts. I did a 4k speed walk race and finished with just over 9 minute miles, faster than I've ever run. I want to see if I can translate that to 5k walked in under 30 minutes.
• Make online dating profiles.

Specific Goals:

I'll be printing out a calendar to track my progress on paper.

• Diet: 
  • Sugar: 
    • Less than 5 g of added sugar in a day and no cookies/candy/chocolates  is excellent, worth a sparkly sticker.
    • 5-25 g of added sugar and a single small cookie/chocolate/etc is pretty good, worth a non-sparkly sticker.
    • 25-50 g of added sugar or 200 calories of cookies/chocolate/etc is significantly more than ideal, but it's the most I can eat and still have a not-too-bad day nutritionwise. I get a black squiggly mouth face. I want to limit this to one in the whole month.
    • More than 200 calories of cookies/chocolate/etc: I get a big red frowny face.
  • Regular meals:
    • Two/Three meals and no snacks: Sparkly sticker.
    • Small healthy snack because I didn't adequately plan for meals and get distractingly hungry between meals: non-sparkly sticker.
    • 1-2 snacks of fruit, vegetables, or something healthy and under 100 calories between meals for no good reason:  black squiggly mouth face.
    • More than 1-2 between meal snacks, too many calories, or junk food as snacks: big red frowny face.
  •  If I'm not eating regular meals because my schedule gets screwy, I may change this up.

• Tracking:
  • If I track the day on the LoseIt! app, I get a smiley face.
  • If I don't track, I get a frowny face.
• Fitness:
  • Meeting minimum steps and workout goals: Smiley face.
  • Not meeting minumum steps and workout goals: Frowny face.
• Violin:
  • Practice 60+ minutes: Music notes.
  • Practice 30-60 minute a day: Gold star.
  • Practice less than 30 minutes: Squiggly mouth face.
  • Don't practice: Frowny face.

Woohoo! I'm another long-time absent person who's looking to get back to making progress, though my last challenge was May, 2017. 

Here's to exercising good judgement and making slow, consistent progress.

2 hours ago, Evicious said:

I had a good day yesterday! I finished laundry and approximately 90% of de-cluttering, and I roasted the crap out everything veg. Pics in the spoilers!

 

@Fonzico's recommended recipe for mass-roasting:
http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2013/07/the-best-roasted-vegetables-ever.html

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Prepped for the oven! I couldn't fit anything else in this pan, so I left out the onion, garlic, and tomatoes (my husband isn't a huge fan of those veggies anyway).

 

 

And after roasting! I nibbled on a few pieces, and these were absolutely delicious.

 

 

And here was for @RhiaWolfe's recipe:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Prepped for roasting - I also roasted asparagus in a separate foil packet (not shown).

 

Final results, along with some agave-garlic-lemon grilled chicken thighs (guess what my lunch is? ). The asparagus turned out especially brilliant: I will be packeting my asparagus from this day forth.

 

 

I was so happy with the Roast-Off, I went on to roast the leftovers (and left-outers) afterwards.

  Reveal hidden contents

Agave & Salt roasted Eggplant sticks (half of this is my snack for today).

 

Spaghetti Squash with Veggie Sauce. I should've taken pics of how I made the sauce, but I was really focused on cooking and completely forgot to document the process. Anyway, I diced up the leftover onion, garlic, and eggplant and put that in a pot to simmer until it was completely reduced, then added in canned tomato sauce and some generic Italian seasoning. The result is a lovely, thick sauce for my spaghetti squash.

 

I declare Fonzico's Mass Roasting recipe the winner of the Roast-Off for one reason, and one reason only: I am lazy, and I appreciated the efficiency of being able to simply put a lid on the final dish, rather than having to transfer the veggies from the pan to a container.  

 

RhiaWolfe's asparagus trick, however, was an answer from the gods! I usually steam my asparagus in the microwave because every time I tried to roast it in the oven it would get all shriveled and rubbery; using the foil packet, though, resulted in some of the most tender and flavorful asparagus I've had in years. My husband also complimented it, and he's usually the "I eat veggies because my wife makes me" type! We had some with our dinner (see spoiler) and I saved the rest for our lunches (if you look closely in the previous pics, you can see it buried under RhiaWolfe's roasted veggies).

 

I really enjoyed trying out the new recipes, and I'm stoked to have found 2 new ways of preparing vegetables that impress not only myself but also my husband.  Maybe next challenge I'll implement a Weekend Recipe challenge, where I recruit recipes from my Accountabilibuddies and do a cook-and-compare?

Those are some good looking veggies!

On ‎5‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 10:48 AM, Wolfen said:

Moving from the Adventurer's Guild to the Rangers. It may be a temporary move, but I'm excited for this change. I still have an Adventurer's heart, but I needed to mix things up a bit.

 

 

Ooh, me too. I've kind of bounced around between guilds, but at heart, I'm an adventurous Scout. Or a scouteous Adventurer?

I've biked 30 miles since Friday, run 6, and hiked about 3. Also done one and a half Simple and Sinister workouts. My longest nonstop bike ride is now 17 miles.

My living room is actually as clean as I want it to be, but the bedroom is much worse. I had to clean in a hurry for my brother's visit because initially, we were all going to visit at my parents, but last minute that got changed to my apartment. 2 hours, and all the stuff I couldn't really deal with is now in bedroom.  I've got a big pile of stuff that I'm not sure whether to keep or give away, plus 3 bags of stuff in the car that I'm looking to donate.

I ate a bit more than I should over the weekend, but not too badly. I anticipated overeating on Sunday, when I was celebrating, but then I ate too much on Friday and Monday too. Oh well.

5 hours ago, Dagger said:

Summer Challenge

 

So one of my writing mentors for a lark decided to open up a novel challenge this year, where he'd accept five writers max and he'd act as their beta reader (he calls them first readers but most people haven't heard that term) if they finished one novel each month of the summer (June, July, August). Actually just go ahead and read his blog post about it: A Novel Challenge.

 

I decided to be one of the five. So I signed up in early May and told almost no one.

 

This is my way to kick start my writing on my travels. This is also the reason I decided that after my plans for June and July (which have been planned since March), I'd be staying still in London so I'd have an easier time finishing the August novel. (Check out roam.co if you are interested in see the place I'm staying at in London.)

 

To give people who don't know word counts a lot some perspective of how long 30 000 words is...

A category romance (aka those romances you find in most supermarkets) is generally between 40k-50k words.

A typical novel (such as mystery, thriller, sci fi) is around 90k words.

A fantasy novel is somewhere between 90k (more urban fantasy) to 250k (epic fantasy) words.

 

So 30k words is fairly short by today's standards, but! But fairly normal before the '90s and maybe even the '80s. So if you don't know a lot about publishing history, 30k word long novels sounds super short by today's standards, but it really was very common for most of the 20th century. (And for this short paragraph I had to look up how you write the '90s and '80s, and I had to double check if 20th century meant 1901 to 1999 (or 2000 apparently...). Why not just call it by the number it actually has? *le sigh* (btw, I know the reason, I just think it is stupid ))

 

I have a jump off point if I don't think I can finish the first novel in time. At June 15th, I can decide to bow out if it isn't working. My goal is to be fairly sure I can get it done in June at that time.

 

And this will definitely be a challenge!

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Btw, this is the post where I will track whether I finish or not.

 

June novel: 

 

July novel: 

 

August novel: 

Wow, this is exciting. And really impressive.

My trick for remember centuries is that the 1st century started in 0001, so everything counts from there.

21 hours ago, Virago said:

 

 

Doesn't today feel like it should be Friday? I feel like it should be Friday. 

You just described my entire week. Except that this morning I got in to work and though it was Thursday.

I rand 2.5 miles in about 28 minutes last night.  That was including a slow, uphill first mile and a 1 minute walk break every 8 minutes. I could have kept going at that pace for another interval or two easily. I think I'm going to switch up my C25k and keep in walk breaks for a while. It's so much easier than running non-stop for 20+ minutes, plus it's a bit faster. Running non-stop hurts more by the end and that slows me down, plus knowing I'll hurt in the end keeps me from pushing earlier. I'll run again tonight if I have the time to do both S&S and a run.

I didn't do any strength training because I was tired and sore. So today will be the full S&S.

I noodled around a bit on the flute, but didn't do any focused practice. This is on the list of things to do tonight, but low priority.

I spent my cleaning time rearranging two bookshelves. I'll do the rest of that bookcase tonight. I'm also accumulating a pile of stuff that I don't know where to store, but I don't want to get rid of.

I plan to do another 20 mile bike ride on Saturday. And my brother is coming up for a visit with his family, including my baby niece, so that's exciting. We'll probably go to a museum and do dinner.

20 hours ago, Virago said:

Ooh, I love Simple & Sinister! Have fun! 

 

I want to hear more about this folk music festival - sounds awesome! And I totally hear you - I was always too anxious to practice any instrument if I knew someone could hear me. Glad flute is working well for you so far!

It's more of an adult band camp for folk musicians, with the focus being on workshops and classes. Though there are concerts every evening. The two I've gone to are Acadia Trad School (https://acadiatradschool.com/) and Northeast Heritage Music Camp( http://www.northeastheritagemusiccamp.com/ ). The first has better scenery, the second  has better food, and both have amazing musicians.

My weight just dipped below 140! 139.2 on the scale this morning. The last time I was this weight, I was shorter than I am now (by maybe quarter or half an inch, but still shorter!).

I didn't have time for everything I wanted to do last night, so I prioritized cleaning. At this point, the bedroom is halfway to acceptable and about 1/4 of the way as neat as I wish it was.

I've come up with a flute routine that works for now. Long tones first thing in the morning, which are very meditative and a good way start the day, then video lessons in the evening before bed.

I knew that I would be strapped for time in the evening, so instead of walking to the water cooler at work, I did lunges and desk pushups at my workstation. 60 lunges, 30 pushups over the day. I also took the long way home after work, for a 45 minute bike ride instead of 15, then another 5 minutes on alternating kettlebell swings and core exercises.

On ‎5‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 9:00 PM, Owlet said:

 

I want to, so badly! I just don't know  Or can't see how it is possible. I can't think of a single job that interests me, except being a freelance artist and that does not feel remotely possible. How did you become an author? When I was on break it started to feel, maybe not possible, but slightly less impossible. But when ever I even slightly allude to it people tell me it's not realistic. Which is what my brain tells me too. Ugh getting teary again. 

 

I know a few people who are freelance musicians, which is probably equally difficult as being a freelance artist.  I knew a few more in my 20s, but it's not an easy life, especially starting out.  The successful ones are the ones who are good at connecting with people and made a niche, and don't mind being poor if they love what they do.  They promote themselves, search out opportunities, and take almost anything that comes their way, and keep improving their skills.  If you've never made money off of your art, now's the time to start learning how.

In their 20s, most of them needed to work outside music to make ends meet, and several still do. One has a side business as a freelance web designer and tech support guy, one worked for her dad who's a lawyer, and I don't really remember what the others did. The full time musicians were all teaching music as well as playing and had started teaching in high school or college.

If you're willing to make sacrifices, you can probably make it happen.  It'll mean putting off other plans and spending all your free time on your art business until you get established (then it'll be 90% of your free time).  But it's not impossible, just  difficult.

1 hour ago, RhiaWolfe said:

Week 0: Monday, May 22

 

I just was so hungry! I couldn't stop thinking about food! I would eat and I would even feel my stomach was full, but for some reason I wanted more food! It was insane!!!

 

...

Finally I realized... I was about to start my period. OF COURSE!!!! That explains it! I was still so frustrated and felt horrible that I didn't do well my first day. 

 

Kind of obnoxious how a little change in your hormones translates into the real world. But today's a new day, and now you know what's up.

4 hours ago, Salinger said:

 

 

 

Thanks guys. Just massively in shock. A man has just been arrested just up my road in connection to the attack, armed police in masks everywhere. It is scary. 

 

All friends are ok, in touch with them and seeing one later tonight. 

 

No transport running and roads closed as our shopping centre has just been evacuated due to suspect package...so no gym today as cant get there. Will do some weights and try to distract myself!

 

Thanks again everyone xx

I'm glad you and yours are OK. That's terrifying that it happened so close.

I started out cleaning in the bedroom last night. I spent 20 minutes picking stuff up and putting it away. I could have spent 40 and not finished. This is a huge thing I want to change about myself. I want to be in the habit of keeping my apartment neat. I want to spend 20 minutes before guests arrive bringing my apartment from acceptable to neat, not 2 hours bringing it from disgusting to messy. I hate living in the mess, and it affects my overall mood.

It's the least fun of my goals, but I need to make it the most important.

I visited my parents last night, so I didn't do the C210k workout. But I did a 3 mile walk instead. I also spend 10 minutes doing Turkish Getups, 20 minutes cleaning, and around 30 practicing flute. So I'm off to a strong start. I think C210k is going to be the hardest fitness goal to keep up with because I like biking better.

21 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I like how you've broken the cleaning into sections. And very cool that you are now playing flute.

Thanks. I really just need to learn to clean effectively and consistently, so hopefully this will work better than just throwing time at the problem.

I love the sound of the flute way more than the sound of the violin, so I'm happy enough to be spending more time with it.

Last challenge was my first since last fall, and was partly to help me get over the winter blues.  This challenge I’m building on that and adding in music.

Goals
Fitness-

Walk or take my bike to work every rain-free day. It's about a mile and a half, or 5-10 if I have extra time and take a long route for the fun of it. (+1 per day, +2 per longer ride)

Run 3 or 4 C210k workouts a week. Running isn't my favorite, but it's convenient and I like being able to run. I’m on week 7 now. Also, I’m signed up for a half marathon in November. (+2 per 30 minutes)

10+ minutes of strength training every day, not including warmup. This will usually be half or all of Simple and Sinister kettlebell routine.

Take the mountain bike onto trails at least twice a week. I'll also be looking for a group to ride with. (+2 per ride, +5 for finding a group)

Cleaning-
Last time, I gave myself the goal to set a timer for cleaning. It didn’t work very well, partly because I felt undirected. This time, I’m going to set myself an area and spend a minimum of 20 minutes a day until it’s acceptably clean. This is in addition to a required 10 or 15 minutes to maintain whatever I’ve already done. (+2 per area completed)

List of areas:  (To be taped to the front door.)

• Kitchen counters
• Kitchen cabinets
• Kitchen floor
• Living room shelves (by radiator)
• Living room shelves (by door)
• Living room furniture
• Living room floor
• Living room bike storage
• Living room workout area
• Bathroom cabinets
• Bathroom floor
• Bathroom shower/toilet/sink
• Hallway closet (high)
• Hallway closet (low)
• Bedroom shelves
• Bedroom floor
• Bedroom furniture
• Bedroom underbed
• Bedroom closet (high)
• Bedroom closet (low)
• Mending/alteration pile (30 pounds down = Badly fitting clothes!)

Diet-
Last challenge, I lost 1 pound. Could have been better, could have been worse. I'd like to lose 2 this challenge. 

Keep in the range of 1500-1700 calories a day, and track it in the LoseIt! app. (+1 per day)

If I burn more than about 500 calories in exercise, eat back the extra.

 Starting weight:  141 (+2 per pound lost).

Music-

I’m signed up for a folk music camp in June, but I haven’t really played much since attending last year.

As an extra challenge, I’m switching from my main instrument (fiddle) to flute (which was my main instrument 15 years ago) because my apartment’s walls are like paper and the flute is quieter. I’m less self-conscious about playing it, which means I actually practice it.

Goals:

1. Play at least 15 minutes a day. (+1 per day)

2. Do 1-3 lessons from the Flute Basics class at the Online Academy of Irish Music per week. Number depends on difficulty. (+2 per lesson)

3. Attend local Irish session. (+5 per session)

Keeping track-
I'll print out a calendar and note progress on it. (+1 per week)
Bonus stuff-

1. Bonus points for applying to jobs. +1 per application sent, +50 per job offer, +100 per good job offered and accepted.
2. Budgeting. I’ve never had any trouble saving money, but I decided last week that as long as I’m in the habit of tracking my food, I may as well track my spending as well. +1 per week of tracking all spending in an app. This ties in with my cleaning goal because I’ve got a budget item for storage furniture so that I can actually keep my apartment looking nice.
3. Sewing. It’s under cleaning as well, but I’ve got a big pile of clothes I’ve shrunk out of, but that I still like well enough that I don’t want to give them away. I need to start altering those so they fit.