VintageGeek

Here's my first update: Monday, 11/12: Walked my brisk mile first thing in the morning - turns out a weird, jagged little lap around the office park where my building is equates to around a mile. And I took the stairs to my third floor office. Had only water and black coffee. Lots and lots of black coffee, actually - I was completely wired all day. No bodyweight workout, but did knock out a few rows on the hat. Had a can of soup and a peanut butter sandwich instead of going to Wendy's. It wasn't very satisfying, but I did it anyway. That night I had a couple of beers with a late dinner. Tuesday, 11/13: This was a little more difficult, honestly. Late Monday a friend of mine from Tasmania flew in and Tuesday he and I had a rushed breakfast at a convenience store. Bad choices were made - I had a cappuccino (I didn't see the regular coffee machine behind me until I'd already gotten the cappuccino) but I couldn't finish it because it was too sweet. I also had a packaged pastry thing. Pretty awful. Maybe "convenience store food" should count as "fast food," eh? No other slip ups though. Lunch had to be cheap, but we went to Subway and I had a meatball sub and water. Rest of the day was all water. We went to do some sight seeing in the afternoon (one of those "you never go to the cool places until you're showing someone from out of town" things) and we wandered around downtown for about an hour - I'm sure we covered a mile, probably more, so that was satisfied. Dinner was pasta puttanesca and water. No bodyweight workout, no knitting.

Great great goals! You are where I see myself in a year or two. Or at least where I hope to be. The Tough Mudder is a major, MAJOR life goal of mine. One of those bucket list things that I will deeply regret not doing if I bail. Also, another knitter! I've got some knitting projects in my challenge goals too. Your life goals sound awesome! I have a minor to-do list addiction. I keep a big dayplanner thingy where I write down everything I have to do, work or home related, and there is little that is more satisfying to me than scratching off those items one at a time. Here's a tip for motivation, and it's a little silly but it makes me feel good anyway. Sometimes when I'm writing my to-do list, I'll write down things I've already done so I can have the satisfaction of crossing something off my list right away. Even if it's something mundane or easy like taking a shower or starting the coffee. It sounds childish, but it helps me feel like I've already started being productive!

Thanks everybody! The two projects I'm working on primarily at the end of the year are: 1. A Star Wars Fair Isle hat for a good friend. It's going to look sort of like this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]6211[/ATTACH] Only with Storm Troopers and TIE fighters instead of R2D2s. 2. A large sampler afghan (this is actually a crochet project, not a knitting project), which will look a bit like this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]6212[/ATTACH] Only with more muted, "natural" colors. This is probably going to be a wedding gift, but I might just decide to keep it for myself - the wedding's not till March anyway.

I have some good measurable goals this time, and I am SO excited to get started on this challenge. Screw the last few weeks - life has been stressful and I've effed up a good number of times. I've put on weight, and almost took up my smoking habit again (luckily a friend of mine helped me nip that in the bud by screaming obscenities at me every time I lit up around him - it helped!). My goals for this tournament are not designed to push me really hard. Since it's been so long since I've been in a healthy mindframe, the purpose of these goals is to basically get me to my "baseline" - the plane of existence on which I should be living all the time. So here are my goals for this six weeks, along with the potential attribute points I could win: FITNESS: 1. Walk or run 1 mile per day. Yes, that's a very small goal for a scout, but it's a start. I basically have to forget that I was once running an average of 5 miles a day at the peak of my fitness. I'll get there again eventually. For now, I take it slow. One mile per day, on average. I know I'm not going to be able to get out and walk or run every single day, not even for a mile. So if I have to skip a day, it's cool to do two miles the next day. I'll keep the "rollovers" reasonable. +3 STA, +2 DEX 2. Do the Beginner Bodyweight Workout 2x/week. The goal initially is to do two sets all the way through, and work my way up to 3 as I see that I am able. +3 STR, +1 STA DIET: 1. Drink only water and black coffee/tea (+2 alcoholic beverages/week). This is pretty basic. No sodas, no diet sodas, no juice, no heavily creamed coffee, no milkshakes, no floats, no kool-aid. I do not drink alcohol very often, but since this challenge falls into the holidays, that's probably going to be the thing I'll be tempted by the most, so I'll give myself a tiny bit of leeway there. Also no more fast food. Duh. Stop pulling into Wendy's, McDonald's, Whataburger, Taco Cabana, etc. Not good for you. Not good. Start keeping soup or something in the office, keep healthy snacks in the car, nuts or whatever. Stop eating fast food. You must be crazy. +3 CON LIFE STUFF: 1. Knit 2 projects to completion. I have a couple of large-ish knitting projects I would really like to finish in the next six weeks. I haven't had a lot of motivation to knit for several months because of crazy personal drama, so I'm anxious to get on board with this. These are both meant to be Christmas gifts, so it's important that I kick it into high gear. Also, they both utilize techniques that I am not terribly familiar with, so this will require a lot of concentration and focus and time management. +2 WIS, +1 CHA That's what I've got to go on. I think those are reasonable for a first challenge. LET'S DO THIS.

I hope it's okay that I'm posting this a little early - Monday is going to be crazy busy for me and I may not have time. ANYWHO I do have some good measurable goals this time, and I am SO excited to get started on this challenge. Screw the last few weeks - life has been stressful and I've effed up a good number of times. I've put on weight, and almost took up my smoking habit again (luckily a friend of mine helped me nip that in the bud by screaming obscenities at me every time I lit up around him - it helped!). My goals for this tournament are not designed to push me really hard. Since it's been so long since I've been in a healthy mindframe, the purpose of these goals is to basically get me to my "baseline" - the plane of existence on which I should be living all the time. So here are my goals for this six weeks, along with the potential attribute points I could win: FITNESS: 1. Walk or run 1 mile per day. Yes, that's a very small goal for a scout, but it's a start. I basically have to forget that I was once running an average of 5 miles a day at the peak of my fitness. I'll get there again eventually. For now, I take it slow. One mile per day, on average. I know I'm not going to be able to get out and walk or run every single day, not even for a mile. So if I have to skip a day, it's cool to do two miles the next day. I'll keep the "rollovers" reasonable. +3 STA, +2 DEX 2. Do the Beginner Bodyweight Workout 2x/week. The goal initially is to do two sets all the way through, and work my way up to 3 as I see that I am able. +3 STR, +1 STA DIET: 1. Drink only water and black coffee/tea (+2 alcoholic beverages/week). This is pretty basic. No sodas, no diet sodas, no juice, no heavily creamed coffee, no milkshakes, no floats, no kool-aid. I do not drink alcohol very often, but since this challenge falls into the holidays, that's probably going to be the thing I'll be tempted by the most, so I'll give myself a tiny bit of leeway there. +1 CON 2. No more fast food. Duh. Stop pulling into Wendy's, McDonald's, Whataburger, Taco Cabana, etc. Not good for you. Not good. Start keeping soup or something in the office, keep healthy snacks in the car, nuts or whatever. Stop eating fast food. You must be crazy. +2 CON LIFE STUFF: 1. Knit 2 projects to completion. I have a couple of large-ish knitting projects I would really like to finish in the next six weeks. I haven't had a lot of motivation to knit for several months because of crazy personal drama, so I'm anxious to get on board with this. These are both meant to be Christmas gifts, so it's important that I kick it into high gear. Also, they both utilize techniques that I am not terribly familiar with, so this will require a lot of concentration and focus and time management. +2 WIS, +1 CHA That's what I've got to go on. I think those are reasonable for a first challenge. LET'S DO THIS.

Well see that's the thing - I'm not really measuring anything. I suppose I could figure out some way to get it all more specific. Let me think on it and come back to it later. Man I used to be so good at this stuff.

Okay so here's my little mini-challenge thread, to occupy me for the next 3 weeks. Just a few little goals, which is appropriate as I am just getting started (again). Basically the remaining time in this challenge is going to be spent just getting back into the mindset of getting fit. I've been there before, I can do it again. I remember what it feels like, what I said to myself, what I did to stay motivated, etc. I will not be applying any XP to these goals as they're not really that definable or specific. Next time, however, I'll be earning some major pointage. THE GOALS N STUFF: 1. Start fixing my diet. For the past several months I've been gorging on bread, sodas, desserts, and sugary coffee drinks. Frankly, it's easy enough for me to eliminate the sugary beverages and desserts - I don't have that much of a sweet tooth, and as long as I have plenty of water and black coffee (I get the delicious kind so I don't miss the milk and sugar) I'm generally fine. I also discovered that I have a juicer! I didn't realize that I had one, but I do! So I've been experimenting with different kinds of juices and really enjoying the hell out of the results. Bread, however, is going to be the tough one, so I think I'm going to have to wean off of it. Not only do I love it SO MUCH, but money is tight for me right now, so breads and pastas have become a staple due to their low cost. Eventually I'll have a more specific goal, but for now I'll just focus on making non-bready decisions whenever possible. 2. Start exercising again - just a little. I'd like to hit the gym a couple times a week at least to walk/run on the treadmill (my neighborhood sucks for running and there aren't any good trails that are closer than the gym). I'll also start keeping some light weights by my desk so that whenever I take a break maybe I can do a set of curls or something instead of making a sandwich. Again, nothing too specific here - just gradually working myself up into making better choices. 3. Stay motivated. There are websites, pictures, videos, movies, etc. that I know will inspire me to get and stay on the right track. The challenge here is not immediately running out the door and killing myself every time I see one. I get SUPER motivated when I really try! 4. Participate in all the remaining Fall Frenzy challenges. This week's battle is pretty easy, hahaha. I'm glad to be getting in on this one because I think it's really important and builds a spirit of community, which is very important to me. So I mean...yeah. Eat better, exercise more, motivate myself, and Fall Frenzy it up. Basic and vague, but again, there will be time for specifics next time. Hope this works and doesn't suck as a first challenge. I'm excited to get started!

Awesome!! I'm excited. :) I do have a few small goals in mind that I can put into action for the next three weeks, most of which basically have to do with just getting into the right mindset again. I'm cool with going slow (I say that now, hahaha) and not really putting big plans into action until the next six-week challenge. Thanks! I look forward to scouting with you all.

As I understand it, running shoes are definitely one of those things where you get what you pay for. I totally understand not wanting or being able to spend a lot of money but getting cheap shoes that don't conform to your feet is a fast-track to injury, especially if you're just getting started. When I started C25k I didn't even know if I was going to want to run long-term, so buying shoes was not only a huge expense for me (DIRT poor) but also a risk because what if I bought these expensive shoes and then didn't like to run?? Anyway, it all turned out okay - I found shoes that cost less than $100 (they were still expensive for me at the time though) and I ended up loving running. I still have those shoes although I really need to replace them. They're just so comfortable! They're like a second skin now. My recommendation is to go to Nike and start reading up on everything they say about running shoes. There's a whole process to buying the right pair and their system for choosing a pair is pretty outstanding. Their clearance and last-year shoes are much more reasonable and there isn't anything wrong with them. You might be able to find a pair for around $50 but I'll bet that's about as cheaply as you'll be able to do it and still get good shoes. I mean, unless somebody has found a Holy Grail of running shoes, in which case, link me baby!! ETA: I see now that you're in the UK - I apologize for not checking first. I mean, same thing applies, but adjust prices accordingly.

Heya. So I was a member here waaaay back and now I've returned after...wow, I think more than a year. Craziness. I have a couple of questions. 1. I want to be a Scout and do Scouty things with you guys. Cool? 2. I want to level up. Can I do that even though I'm too late to join the current challenge? I mean, can I still post a challenge thread and track my XP (or whatever) even though I can't actually technically participate? 3. Can I participate in the weekly Fall Frenzy battles? Are they part of the six-week challenge? I may have other questions as time goes on. WE SHALL SEE.

But because I'm a freaking REBEL I posted here anyway. Bwahahahaha. Okay so I haven't been around in a long time, and it is definitely starting to show. I can't even remember what happened last time. Here's hoping it sticks? Bah, what am I saying? The only thing that's ever been consistent with me is my own inconsistencies. Anyway, fun life changes. Getting divorced, for one, and holy hell is that a blessing. I can't remember the last time I was as happy as I've been the few months I've been living away from my spouse. Maybe never. But it's stressful, as most major life changes are, and stress usually leads to me not giving a flying rat's ass what I put in my body. I've been getting kind of depressed and moody lately, and as I slathered over a barbecue sandwich last night (with a dinner roll on the side, mind you), sipped my tea, and dipped my french fries into ketchup that was particularly greasy, I realized it maybe might have something to do with my diet. Yeah, there's exercise to be done too, but I re-read the "Level Up Your Life" article where Steve describes it as playing an RPG and I realized that I can afford to take some steps, so I'm going to start with my diet. I'm moving to a modified Paleo. Also lots and lots of water. Lots and lots. There are things I won't give up (at least not yet), like coffee, and the occasional grain-based product (maybe twice a week?), but mostly I just want to seriously increase my intake of vegetables and non-shitty meats. The last time I did this I ate a crapload of bacon and sausage and while that was delicious, I don't think it was quite the point of Paleo. Once I've made that change relatively successfully, I should be in a better position to start a more serious exercise routine. I've got a Bowflex and a gym membership (both!) so I don't have many excuses left. Life is stressful and expensive and sometimes it sucks a lot, but I always feel better when I'm getting my fruits and veggies. So hai thar. Back again.

Definitely start small then. Little bitty steps - if you try to take on something too big at first, or too far beyond your current skill level, you're likely to get frustrated. I know I do. But I also get frustrated doing projects that are too easy. So it can be tricky to find the right project. Make sure it's fun, first and foremost.

Like Oogiem, I taught myself to sew (and knit and crochet too) and I'm not awesome at it, but I still love it. Craftster.org Ohmystars.net cutoutandkeep.net threadbanger.com All four of these sites are LOADED with inspiration and easy-to-follow tutorials. Not really any "patterns" to be had, but when it comes to sewing clothes, I found it was easiest to start by tailoring or altering existing garments to change their look or fit. That allows you to start with cheap material too, since I know you've said you're on a budget, and I know it's a very solid foundation in the Steampunk community, since so much of the attitude behind the movement itself is based on finding cool stuff and making it work for you. A few other tips for just starting out: 1. Buy cheap fabric to start with. You'll be tempted by all the fancy brocades and stuff, but your best bet is to start off with nice simple cottons and stuff. 2. Ribbed and other knit fabric is MURDER to knit with if you don't have a ball-point needle for your sewing machine. It has a blunt end so it just slips between the knit stitches that make up the fabric, instead of trying to cut through it with a sharp point. 3. Start off with simply constructed things like bags, pillows, etc. Use these projects to get really good at "reading" your machine. It's like a car or a computer. Sometimes you have to know just the right way to work with it to get it to work with you. 4. There will be books at the library you can look at, and also estate sales and thrift stores are great places to find some awesome vintage pattern books and "how to" books and magazines. I am so excited for you!!! You're gonna have a great time. Sewing something you can actually wear outside the house is a pretty phenomenal thing.

Every day my husband makes a big batch of scrambled eggs and sausage for himself and the kids, and there are always leftovers. Being a considerate husband, he puts them in a ziploc and keeps them in the fridge for me to have for MY breakfast (which occurs a couple of hours earlier, before anyone wakes up). However, as mentioned above, microwaving eggs makes them pretty freaking nasty. I can't really stomach them. Sometimes I manage to shove them down, but usually I just get a few bites then I have to bail and have something else. Is there a better way? Can I put them in a frying pan with some butter or coconut oil and reheat them that way with better results?

MiB 2 was good because Tommy Lee Jones is awesome. There were a lot of things I could have done without, but I thought the script wasn't awful and the premise was actually kind of sweet. There seems to be a trend of trilogies where the first and third movies are great (Mission: Impossible for one), so I'm super excited about this one. Yaayy!