The Beard

Got up this morning and did a half hour of cardio. 15 minutes on elliptical and 15 on stationary bike. Goals for the day reached. In other news, I'm taking a busload of students to a regional amateur hockey league game. Should be fun!

Woo! Rings have just been added to the list of things to install to a garage (when I get one)...

Ah yes, the super bowl. I will be allowing myself a few yummy things to eat as well, though this will come as part of my one meal a week in which I do not care about content so long as it's not ridiculous. Yay pull-ups!

Hey rest days are always good. I know some people might not take them, but I always need a personal day. I love that you're working on handstands. My pre-disappearance challenges included them. They're a lot of fun, I'm trying to figure out ways I can add them to the next challenge and make it work. Your progress with them seems great. It took me two challenges (13-14 weeks) to even get to a 5 second stand without the wall. All at your own pace Subbing

19 challenges! Oh my. I will be watching your progress with great interest! The PPP's look awesome!

Holy crap a lot has changed since I was last on here (serves me right I suppose)! All your news about stud muffin is awesome! It was really heart-warming to hear about all your adventures with him Great to hear you've both found a suitable arrangement

So I got up and did my workout this morning! Today was the squat/bench/row day, so I did my pull-ups! First picture will start on Wednesday of next week. Workout: Pull-ups - 1x3, 2x2 - Ooftah. That's quite the regression from what I was at. Alas, it was my own undoing. But back to it! Stronglifts 5x5: Squat - 5x5, 225lbs Bench - 5x5, 135lbs Row - 5x5, 135lbs Continuing to do well in this area. There's the update!

Oh goodness no! My beard is part of my identity! I only shave for charity (though trimmings are acceptable). Also, goal three will be updated in a few minutes!.

Prologue to Chapter 2 Since there are only a couple weeks left in this challenge, these will be fairly basic. I'll equate this to a prologue for a sequel video game. Objective: Get to pre-relationship weight To be specific, 199lbs. From there, the goal will simply be to be healthy with no particular weight goal in mind. Goals 1) Workouts - I currently work out 5 days a week: 3 days on Stronglifts and the other 2 on elliptical to get rid of the fat I got back. Making all 5 of these in a week when possible will continue to be important. Reward upon completion: Confirmation I'm back in a routine 2) Pull-ups - After much neglect, I want to get back into these. After perusing the forums, it seems the best option to do these is during the squat/bench/row day. So that's the plan, bring pull-ups back. Reward upon completion: Getting back to doing pull-ups is it's own reward 3) Take weekly progress pictures - Since my body composition is different this time around (more muscle, less fat despite the weight gain), I hope to take weekly progress pictures to monitor my progress. Reward upon completion: A sexy body. Beard on Well, here we go!

So I was gone for a while. Like forevers. Sad day(s) So here's the low-down on my disappearance, my reappearance, and everything in between. This isn't so much a new six week challenge thread, being a wee bit late for that, as it is a getting-back-to-things-and-also-updates-thread. There will be some bad, but hopefully more good! So I ended my last challenge (waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in May) on a note that I will describe as "meh". Meh. I was going through some life changes that involved a lady-friend (yay!) that started to mess with my routine as a single person. I didn't know quite how to react, so things other than my normal workout routine began to suffer, though I can say with certainty that I prefer the time spent with the lady-friend (more on her later!) to all those extra bits. Next, with my job, I had June and July off, so I took a six week deal at a summer program for high school students that I had previously worked with. The only bad things were that I had internet access issues (so no new challenge or updates) and a free dining center buffet (free is good, all you can eat, not so much). I still worked out five days a week and even got to rock climb! But with the added food, I gained about five pounds, which is not terrible overall. Once the program got done, I got back home and got back to my ideal body weight of around 200lbs. Happy beard! So when work started again I stayed in the routine, though food was a slight issue (the lady-friend cooks and bakes all sorts of wonderful things). The workouts managed to keep things in check so that I only gained about four pounds of "relationship weight", which in the grand scheme of things wasn't too bad. The lady-friend and I started talking about heavier relationship stuff! Huzzah! Now the bad stuff. Again with the sad days Mid-September to min-November where not the best days I've had. To start off, My schedule got completely thrown out of whack. I started grad school, started teaching an evening math course, and was offered a small part in the campus musical as an extra. All good things, but coupled with a busy work schedule I really wasn't able to work out and I refused to wake up early. Then in September my grandma had a stroke and died two weeks later. A month after that my grandpa (other side of the family) came to see the musical, went home, and died after he sat in his chair (he had been dealing with cancer). Not a great couple months. I really didn't care what I ate and the end result is I gained about 15 pounds (so up to 218 total). That's the end of the bad stuff, on to the good things. On December 1st, I asked the lady-friend to marry me! Ring pictured below. She said yes! I have gotten into a routine that lets me workout and still do everything I need to in the evenings (i.e. I exercise in the morning before work now). I'm back to eating healthy and I'm down to 209lbs, almost back to relationship weight! I'm doing Stronglifts 5x5 and some elliptical stuff in between. What I've realized from this is that I have a pretty good idea of what to do and how to go about doing it. The real thing I struggle with is how to adjust to changes in my routine, as do many other people. So going forward I need to anticipate what I can and plan ahead for the things I know will happen. That's the plan. Happy beard again! Now to the last things: I missed my fellow assassins! I missed this place! It was great to have a group of people I could share my struggles and triumphs with, especially since many of you were/are going through similar experiences. Like I said before, I'm a wee bit late to the party for the challenge, but I will eventually post some goals and share my progress for the duration! The Beard is back. And so is Shark Beard

For those that I followed and that followed me, sorry for the disappearance again :/ There were some family issues going on (don't worry it's mostly ok now) so between that, work, and other life things going on this wasn't really the highest priority. I know it was really out of my control, but I still feel guilty about not at least putting up one or two update posts. Oh well. Things should be a bit better by the next challenge, though I think I'm going to have a scaled back one just in case. I love the assassin forum and I want to keep going with it. Wrap-up: Beard ups - I missed 2 in the last two weeks, bringing my total to 15/18 ---> B Om nom nom - easiest one to do because calories are basically worked out in my day to day planning for meals, though I did get a couple missed days. Total 27/30 ---> A Spicing up handstands - This one did not go so well due to it not falling into my regular workout schedule, and thus it suffered along with other "free time" items. Only one instance in the last two weeks, for a total of 10/18 ---> F Life quest - Also suffered from the "free time" priorities changing. Also one instance in the last two weeks for a total of 9/18 ---> F So for this challenge I believe the overall grade is a D. Not the ideal way to end it, that's the way life goes sometimes. But the Beard keeps on bearding. See you all next challenge

Sorry for the disappearance again :/ There were some family issues going on (don't worry it's mostly ok now) so between that, work, and other life things going on this wasn't really the highest priority. I know it was really out of my control, but I still feel guilty about not at least putting up one or two update posts. Oh well. Things should be a bit better by the next challenge, though I think I'm going to have a scaled back one just in case. I love the assassin forum and I want to keep going with it. Wrap-up: Beard ups - I missed 2 in the last two weeks, bringing my total to 15/18 ---> B Om nom nom - easiest one to do because calories are basically worked out in my day to day planning for meals, though I did get a couple missed days. Total 27/30 ---> A Spicing up handstands - This one did not go so well due to it not falling into my regular workout schedule, and thus it suffered along with other "free time" items. Only one instance in the last two weeks, for a total of 10/18 ---> F Life quest - Also suffered from the "free time" priorities changing. Also one instance in the last two weeks for a total of 9/18 ---> F So for this challenge I believe the overall grade is a D. I'll stick at level 3. Not the ideal way to end it, that's the way life goes sometimes. But the Beard keeps on bearding. See you all next challenge

Weekend+ report! Subpar end to week 4, did 2/3 of pull ups, HSPUs, and piano. 5/5 on food though! I have more exciting news to come after my totals... Totals Beard ups - 11/18 Om nom nom - 19/30 Spicing up handstands - 9/18 Life quest - 8/18 Now for the exciting news... 1 ("least" exciting) I got accepted into grad school! After a bunch or random hiccups I got in! I hope to get a master's in student affairs 2 (most exciting ) The lady friend and I are officially together!!! :D Yay!!!

Week 4, Day 3 Not much to report this time. Just food and HSPUs. Beard ups - 10/18 Om nom nom - 17/30 Spicing up handstands - 8/18 Life quest - 7/18 Beard! Hehehehe

Week 4, Day 2 I fooded and I fooded! But I did not food too much! Pretty slow day challenge-wise other than that. Lady friend is still pretty awesome Beard ups - 10/18 Om nom nom - 16/30 Spicing up handstands - 7/18 Life quest - 7/18

Thanks for the encouragement! Getting that pull up was exciting, and the things with the lady friend even more so

Week 4, Day 1 Back on track! Did 5 minutes of piano and rocked the food between my new goal of 1800-2000 at about 1950ish! But the best part of yesterday was that I managed to get the 7th pull up!!! Woooooooooo! Pretty dandy day overall! Oh, and things with the lady friend continue to go well We have decided that we are having the "relationship talk" next week (after finals are done) to see where it goes! :) Anyway... here are the totals so far! Beard ups - 10/18 Om nom nom - 15/30 Spicing up handstands - 7/18 Life quest - 7/18 Here's a funny image commemorating another wizard beard!

Thanks everyone Yes she is really amazing and I'm really hoping it continues to work out with her. She has also met John Williams and Daniel Radcliffe, which is pretty bad ass!

It's so good to hear you're going on vacation! You definitely seem like you need a break from everything that's going on! Much hugs from me and my beard!

You're still doing splendidly awesome Twilight! Your hair looks delightful! Hope you feel better soon!!!

Woo so much going on! Great job with the survival run (and everything else so far)! Your garden is still looking pretty cool! Cool that you were able to go and promote your kettlebell stuff! I'm sure you did great! Keep being awesome! You're pretty good at it!

Wooo swing dancing nerdery! Some students here on campus want to start a swing dancing club. Definitely something I want them to follow through with!

SO MUCH AWESOME HOOP THINGS!!! :D Seriously that is so cool. Hope you're feeling better! Going back a few pages to the awkward window things, I have an amusing story (well, it's amusing to me at least). So I moved into a new apartment in July that came equipped with some curtains in the bedroom (for obvious reasons). As part of my new found enjoyment of living by myself for the first time, I would often lounge around my apartment completely nude, because why not! This liberating habit continued for some time. Then one day in October/November I realized that the curtains aren't the most opaque set in the world... Basically, though they are black, they are QUITE see through, especially when it gets dark out and the light is on. So, doing the math (or just estimating the math for kicks and giggles), I judge about a 98.47% chance that the neighbors in the apartment building across the way have seen me naked at least once. Oh well! Opportunity for strangers to observe my weight loss!

Oh, and lest I forget... Love this picture!

Hooooooooly crap! Seven pages of updates to read! Serves me right for going of the grid... From me perusing your thread, it seems you're doing quite awesome with this challenge! So many things going on! Sorry to hear about your grandpa Your family will be in my thoughts. Exciting news about the flat though! It can be a wee bit scary, but with what you had outlined a few pages back it seems it will be entirely worth it Much luck to you as you move on to this next part of your life's journey