Juni0r83

Sounds like a “we aren’t getting along with Robert Wilks anymore, so we can’t admit that he may have been right in the past either” i may may be a little jaded, and I was kind of neutral about the IPF v Robert Wilks thing, until the IPF started telling the USAPL to do less drug testing. I know it’s more nuanced than that, but I’m just struggling to find things about the IPF board of directors to actually get behind these days. Further separating yourselves from the rest of the powerlifting community by making your records harder and harder to compare (starting with a change in weight classes, increasingly differing equipment standards, and now a change in comparative strength formula) does little to improve inter-organizational cooperation. And the powerlifting community being as small as it is, we can’t really afford to be as disparate as we’ve become.

Can support vicious. Great book. She’s actually just released a follow up that I’ve been meaning to grab. also, check out her shades of magic trilogy. The first was clearly the best, and apart from the obvious finale setup, number 2 was great too. But the third I probably could have lived without except for the great end and closing of the loop she gave the series. hank green’s debut novel: an absolutely remarkable thing, is great. also, although it’s a slow read, the Farseer chronicles by robin hobb, but you can stop there, you’ll also have to read the live ship traders and the tawny man series. They are all a single connected story, well worth the read. I haven’t read the other series she’s tacked on since I read tawny man series, but not for lack of desire, only a lack of time.

I can't do one, but it's not for lacking in training my back. It's generally from being a big fat guy...

So it occurred to me that I started filling out my lifts while I was in the gym yesterday, and then when the wheels fell off I failed to finish filling in the spreadsheet. To anyone who’s checked it and seen half of my attempts, I apologize, it is all now fully updated. On to the virtual comp. weigh in went about as I expected, but better than it’s been previously. At 135kg, I’m officially lighter than when I actually competed a couple of years ago, which is new. the lifts weren’t so good. Squat. Warm ups felt great, and first attempt was 207.5kg. Easy weight. Second attempt was 220kg and felt like a tonne of bricks. Third attempt was 230kg and I was really happy when I bounced out of the hole and cruised through my usual sticking point. previous max was 240kg, so even though i still feel like I’m rebuilding, I’m at least most of the way there now. Bench. Everything felt smooth and easy during the warmups. First attempt was 145kg, and it came off the chest and came to a near complete stop but eventually I locked it out. It was at this point that I realized I’d planned my attempts going for a PR at 160kg. Caught myself and made the jump to my actual third attempt goal of 155kg. Didn’t go up. Moving on, nothing to see here. Previous max was 157.5kg. I might have had 150 if I’d planned my attempts better. Silly me. Deadlift. warmups felt good, I didn’t use my belt or chalk until later than I normally do, and everything was moving easier than expected. first attempt at 207.5kg came off the floor nice and smooth. Second attempt at 220kg was a true max out, legs wobbling, back shaking, the whole bit. I really wanted to give it away about half way up but i stuck with it and managed to get my hips through in the end. There was no third attempt. Previous max was 235kg so I’ve lost more here than in the other two, and I’m going to have to start working on some imbalances that are becoming quite obvious as time goes by if I want to keep getting stronger. Final total of 595kg, wilks of 334. Let the rebuild continue.

I tend to eat dinner when I get to work (I start at 1830), have lunch around 0100 or 0200. Then I generally just go to sleep at around 0800. But I'm into intermittent fasting anyway, so this tends to work well for me.

I’m in, but I’m not expecting big thing, still coming back from the months I took off around the baby’s birth. Damn the kid is 8 months in 3 days, I’m not sure I can keep using that excuse for too much longer...

In regard to a calendar system: It works, if you tend to book a lot of things into fixed time blocks. I don't. I'm hoping this improves as I get better at scheduling my time from day to day. In regard to a morning routine: Getting out of bed is hard in the winter time You really do need to be looking forward to something every morning to help get you moving in a timely fashion. As I lost interest in the podcast I was listening to, I lost interest in getting moving early It doesn't work if you don't have an evening routine designed to set you up for an easy access morning routine In regard to an evening routine: This is more important to improving personal organisation than I thought I need to have an alarm that tells me: now, do it now, and go to bed. Without that, it only tends to happen sometime In regard to writing a schedule the night before: It helps if it's somewhere I can see it and refer to it constantly It helps if my wife is equally committed to the schedule. Halfway through my two weeks off we got into an argument because she wasn't happy with the way it was being done. So I got her to write the schedule. It didn't change all that much from the way I planned it, but suddenly she understood why it was the way it was and worked along side me to help us both be more organised and get more stuff done. Additionally, the days I tried to operate without a schedule were by far the worst in my personal performance. The schedule is important In regard to scheduling 2 hours for project work each day: I've found while it is important to schedule these time blocks to ensure I have time to complete tasks, if you aren't really focused on what it is you want to achieve by a certain deadline, the time tends to be wasted. I have to get better at knowing what it is I need to work on so that I can focus myself properly, and actually select a project each day so that I don't sit down and waste half my time thinking "what do I want to work on today?" In regard to getting my shit together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad I did these two too late to have any real impact on my life just yet, so, verdict pending Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list I've been good with the to-do list, but no so good with the due dates Ultimately I need to get better at checking this when deciding what it is I need to be do when writing my schedule for the next day Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture This has completely changed the way I write notes Needless to say I've been using this pretty consistently, and the addition of notebooks allows me to sort, organise and find what it is I'm looking for quickly and easily. This was a good decision. Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Nothing has felt better to my peace of mind than this step. Absolutely awesome. Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app I've done this, but I'm not so sure it's helping, maybe more just allowed me start tracking goals consistently. It doesn't help that things that should be dailies have become habits because I don't have time to do them when I'm working. Would probably be better for someone who didn't work 12 hour shifts. Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it This is the goal I've failed at. I'm working on it, but it's slow going. Some decisions have been made however, and hopefully progress will improve rapidly from here. Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Math alarm has worked on all but 2 days so far. Even when I've rolled back over and decided I didn't want to get up, by brain has become active, and I end up getting up within 15 minutes anyway. Getting to bed on time has been the biggest part of the struggle here. If I'm not to bed on time, I probably wont get up on time. Final thoughts on getting my shit together: The most amazing part of this process is that it seemed to snowball. As I got myself more organised to utilise my free time more effectively, my wife started to do the same. And once the two of us were moving, we more often than not got additional things done each day. I've also become more motivated to work on projects rather than just stop and watch tv, which was probably the best side affect of this process. But I still need to get better at some things, and I'm thinking there is more stuff that needs to go on that to-do list in order to continue to improve my life.

Week 4: Monday Track calories: 2438. I'm surprised, It was my wife's birthday, and much cake was eaten... 19/36 points earned. Do cardio: No 12/16 Get My shit together: I did setup a Google calendar and have a look at a few calendar management apps. Found one I'm happy with, started using it. Now I just have to link my calendar with my wifes, and then as life gets more complicated, we'll continue to add layers. 10/11 Do My Morning Routine: 12/19 Do My Evening Routine: 12/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 13/19 Tuesday Track calories: 1942 20/36 Do cardio: Yes 14/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do My Morning Routine: 13/19 Do My Evening Routine: 12/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 14/19 Wednesday Track calories 2375 21/36 Do cardio: No 14/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 13/19 Do My Evening Routine: 13/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 15/19 Thursday Track calories: 3104 21/36 Do cardio No 14/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 13/19 Do My Evening Routine: 14/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 16/19 Friday Track calories: 2482 22/36 Do cardio Yes 16/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 14/19 Do My Evening Routine: 15/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 17/19 Saturday Track calories: 1883 23/36 Do cardio Yes 16/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 15/19 Do My Evening Routine: 16/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 18/19 Sunday Track calories: 3572 Weekly average 2542 25/36 Do cardio No 16/16 Get My shit together 10/11 Do Morning Routine: 16/19 Do My Evening Routine: 16/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 18/19 Total Points for the challenge: 101/120, 84%. Solid B. Considering how big a life change this challenge was for me, and how big of a shift in focus, I'm happy with that. A bit work still to go to get myself into a position where I would call myself organised, but there has been definite improvement in how I run my life. Some thoughts to follow...

Was going to write an update, but given that we're just a day away from the end of the challenge, decided against it. I'll just update the entire last week at the end. Still ticking along though.

I’ll crush two out of three of the things on my list. The last one, creating a workspace for myself, that’s a rather significant job. So, work to be done...

So, personally, I haven't actually used GreySkull LP. But I can't say as many people who've used it have much bad to say about it. If it fits what you're looking for, give it a go, and see how things pan out. If it turns out you're not getting what you need from it, then give something else a go. That being said, progress is not linear. Each kilo you add to your lifts will take longer and longer to achieve. So if you feel like a program just isn't increasing your strength fast enough for you, it might be your expectations that need an adjustment, not your program. Additionally, I remember at the end of my time on SL, I was taking around 2.5 hours per workout to get through all my sets. 5 sets of 5 at close to maximal effort will do that to you though.

Week 3 Day 5 Track Calories: 2214 calories. 14/36 Do Cardio: I did it, no points 12/16 Get My Shit Together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Clearing my inboxes wasn't nearly as easy a process as I was expecting. Several hours of just selecting and moving page after page of emails that contain information I still need but don't require action later, and I have nothing but clean inboxes. And I must admit, it was worth it. Having an empty inbox has got to be one of the most cathartic things in my world right now. It honestly feels like a little knot of stress that I didn't even realise I was carrying around has suddenly untangled in my brain. 8/11 Morning Routine: 10/19 Evening Routine: 10/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 10/19 I've been keeping up with my morning stuff, and getting work done every day which is always comforting 64/120 points earned for this challenge so far. Week 3 Day 6 Track Calories: 2107. Another point down 15/36 Do Cardio: Went for another walk. Another day without points... 12/16 Get My Shit Together: Nothing to add for today. 8/11 Do My Morning Routine: 11/19 Do My Evening Routine: 11/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 11/19 68/120 points earned so far Week 3 Day 7 Track Calories: 2483 calories. Another point down. Weekly average calories were 2481, so another 2 bonus points earned. 18/36 points earned. Do Cardio: No. Sunday was crazy enough without me trying to fit a walk into the mix as well... 12/16 Get My Shit Together: No, I did nothing on this day, because from 8:30 till 16:30 I was on my feet running first aid competitions for St John Cadets from two cities to decide who goes to state competitions in a couple of months time. This has been the focus of my project work for the last 2 weeks probably. And it's finally done, and I can relax and maybe start doing other stuff for a change. 8/11 Do My Morning Routine: 11/19 Do My Evening Routine: 12/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 12/19 I'm counting the project work because I spent all day working. But not my morning routine because I kind of just got up and got to work. 73/120 points earned so far this challenge. I just want to say thankyou as well to @Taddea Zhaan, @JustCallMeAmber And @CourtnieMarie for your encouragement and gentle reminders that I still have this challenge happening. It has been really appreciated.

I don't tend to forget them so much as I just start to neglect them (kind of like my to-do list) and then become so overwhelmed with guilt that I stop updating here, and things just tend to start falling into a dark hole and I never get anywhere... You at least keep doing stuff, even if it wasn't what you originally planned. Side note, I did a thing yesterday, so I have actual stuff to update when I get around to it later today.

Week 2 Day 7 Track Calories: 2213 calories. 1 Point earned Weekly Average: 2288 calories. 2 Bonus points earned. Woohoo. 11/36 Do Cardio: Last Shift. This will start happening tomorrow 8/16 Get My Shit Together: Can't wait to not be working for a few weeks. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 41/120 points earned so far. Week 3 Day 1 Track Calories: 2984 calories. What the hell. I remember missing my target on Monday, I don't remember it being that damn high. 11/36 Do Cardio: First Day off, no cardio. 8/16 Get My Shit Together: No new tasks completed 7/11 Morning Routine: 6/19 Evening Routine: 6/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 6/19 44/120 points earned so far. Week 3 Day 2 Track Calories: 2387 calories. Another solid day. 12/36 Do Cardio: 30 minutes of walking successfully completed 10/16 Get My Shit Together: I still haven't managed to get anything done here. 7/11 Morning Routine: 7/19 Evening Routine: 7/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 7/19 50/120 pointes earned so far. Week 3 Day 3 Track Calories: 2451 calories. Another point earned. 13/36 Do Cardio: Another good day of walking listening to podcasts. This is the last time I can claim points for this one this week... 12/16 Get My Shit Together: I really have no more excuses. But seriously, no progress... 7/11 Morning Routine: 8/19 Evening Routine: 8/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 8/19 - I'm actually wondering if I should start tracking how many times I actually do the work instead of just scheduling for it... 56/120 pointes earned so far. Week 3 Day 4 Track Calories: 2739 calories. It was takeaway day, what do you want me to say? 13/36 Do Cardio: I did it, but, no points none the less. 12/16 Get My Shit Together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up There are a couple of easy ones I should probably try and check off this week. We'll see... 7/11 Morning Routine: 9/19 Evening Routine: 9/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 9/19 - This day did not go to plan, I slept in because I didn't get to bed until late. Although I got through everything, I had to completed rearrange everything. I wasn't overly happy about it, but I then went and made the same mistake again. Stupid late nights ruining my morning routine... 59/120 points earned for this challenge so far. So close to the half way mark. 50% is a pass right? Really trying to push for at least a pass mark here.

Sorry, overslept, for nearly a week.... Update Pending....

Week 2 Day 5 Track Calories: 2597 calories. No points earned. Bu-Bow. 8/36 Do Cardio: Nightshift sucks. 8/16 Get My Shit Together: Still working, still haven't done anything. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 38/120 pointes earned so far. Week 2 Day 6 Track Calories: 2222 calories. 1 more point earned. 9/36 Do Cardio: So close to the end. But still no cardio. 8/16 Get My Shit Together: Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up I really don't have an excuse for not closing off a couple of these during my work week, but, I just haven't bothered. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 I'm now on my last shift. And I can't wait to not be stuck at a desk for 12 hours a day. 39/120 points earned for this challenge so far.

We are truly living in the golden age of television. At no point have I ever seen television written, acted, directed and funded as well as it is now. And the clock is ticking. There is no way that the shows are making back the exorbitant budgets, especially on subscription streaming services that can't sell ads. Enjoy it while it lasts. Sidenote, I am also not watching Shadow Hunters because it doesn't feel on the same calibre as the other television shows being made at the moment.

Week 2 Day 4 Track Calories: 2357 calories. 1 point earned. I cut it close, but I managed to stay within the lines. Considering Thursday is the day I eat takeaway, I figure that's a relative win. 8/36 Do Cardio: Still no cardio. Still at work. 8/16 Get My Shit Together Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Nothing to add. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 Only a few days left before I get back home for a couple of weeks. I can't wait. 38/120 points earned for this challenge so far.

Thanks guys. I'll do my best not to let everyone down.

It's worth pointing out that my wife grew up in a farming community, and she tells the story of the time her grandfather shot one in the head and it waddled away like nothing happened...

I thought people only cared about the stuff? That’s why double and triple stuffed is a thing...

If you're trying to gain weight, adding milk to your diet is often an easy way to do it. It's got a decent marco-nutrient profile and adds a bunch of calories with very little effort (especially for those who are having trouble eating extra calories). As for the rest of the stuff, track your intake. If you're trying to gain weight, and the scale is going up, keep your intake where it is. If it isn't going up, eat more. If you're trying to lose weight, and it's going up, lower it every few weeks by a couple of hundred calories until the weight stops going up, then lower it by another couple of hundred calories per day so it will starting going down. The thing about the calcium, there is very little peer reviewed evidence that milk helps you build stronger bones. There was a lot of stuff sold to people about milk by governments and the dairy industry about milk being so good for your bones, but not a whole lot of science to back it up. Additionally, although there have been some limited studies that say milk leeches calcium from bones, but there are no solid, long term, large scale studies, so I wouldn't worry about it too much unless the milk is causing a bad reaction to you. As @alexc has said, there is some stuff about people who don't put any resistance through their bodies having issues with early onset osteoporosis (I actually read a study about people who swim for physical fitness), but consistently the best way to build stronger bones is to do resistance training. Resistance on your body causes your bones to grow along with your muscles and your sinews, admittedly at a much slower rate however. And eating a lot of leafy greens often gives you all of the calcium you need every day anyway, so I wouldn't stress too much about what the milk may or may not be doing to your bones. So eat your vegetables, consume enough calories to achieve your goals, do resistance training, and don't neglect your cardio vascular system and I'm sure you'll get where you want to go.

I know I've loaded most of my points into the back half of the challenge, but that's kind of what's worrying me. My efforts normally dwindle towards the end of a challenge, and if I can't build some serious momentum in the first half of the challenge, I don't know how I'm going to go at finishing all of my goals this time around.

Week 2 Day 3 Track Calories: 1977 calories. 1 point earned. Not sure if this is a big swing back from last week or if it just worked out for me yesterday. 7/36 Do Cardio: I'm back at work. So no cardio. I actually need to think about this goal as I move into my 19 days off. I don't think it's appropriate to count my 2 points for every day. I'm thinking I just count the first 2 per week. 8/16 Get My Shit Together Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Still No change here. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 Work means I'm not doing these things at the moment. I'll get back to it next week when I'm not working again. 37/120 points earned for this challenge so far.

Week 2 Day 2 Track Calories: 2540 calories. 0 points earned. I had 1 too many double coat tim tams to finish off my calories for the day apparently. Whoops. 6/36 Do Cardio: Got a walk in this morning, and finished listening to that podcast. I downloaded a few more from the same guy, and depending on how I feel about these others, I'll figure out if I need to switch to something else. 8/16 Get My Shit Together Set up a Google calendar to manage my appointments and fixed time bookings Check out fantastical to manage my Google calendar effectively from my iPhone and iPad Start keeping a running to-do list with due dates Check out todoist as an option for managing your to-do list Start keeping notes better organised to capture ideas and projects you want to work on Check out Evernote as an option for managing your ideas capture Clear my inboxes so that they can become incoming traffic only instead of store houses of years and years of messages and information that is no longer relevant to my life Reset Habitica and become familiar with the web based system instead of just the app Setup a workspace so when I want to work on a project I have a place to do it Pick a bed time and wake up time Check out Math alarm as an option to help me wake up Nothing new to see here, move along. 7/11 Morning Routine: 5/19 Evening Routine: 5/19 Schedule 2 hours for project work: 5/19 Five days off, five points earned for each one. That's right on target. I must admit, some mornings were harder to get moving than others, but none of them is as hard as getting up for work at 5:30 in the damn morning. That can go take a flying leap. Stupid shift work. 36/120 points earned for this challenge so far. I feel like it'll seem less overwhelming once I can get past the half way mark...