MaD MaLKaV

### Week 4 Summary ### 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: +3 STR. 2) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone. Target at least 2740 calories/day: +1 CON. 3) Floss my teeth: +1 CHA. 4) Shave every day: +0 CHA. I didn't shave on the weekend. 5) Brush my teeth at night: +0 CHA. I did every night but one, where I cleared my alarm and forgot to go back and do it. ### Final Summary ### 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: 2+3+3+3=11/4=2.75=+3 STR. 2) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone. Target at least 2740 calories/day: =1+1+1+1=4/4=+1 CON. 3) Floss my teeth: 1+1+1+1=4/4=+1 CHA. 4) Shave every day: 1+1+1+0=3/4=0.75=+1 CHA. . 5) Brush my teeth at night: 0+0+1+0=1/4=0.25=+0 CHA.

I've mostly been reading World of Warcraft based fantasy novels, so I know a bit more about the lore behind the game I'm playing. So far, I've read Before the Storm, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, Illidan, and Jaina Proudmore: Tides of War. I've started World of Warcraft Chronicle, which is just a lore dump without any story to it. I'm used to reading heavier material, since I've been trying lately to work my way through a bunch of classics. This is a fun change. I don't remember reading fiction for fun for quite some time. I've had fun with some of my classics though too. There's like 20 or so World of Warcraft novels to choose from still, but I'll need to be getting back to classics at some point. Both classics and fantasy novels have proven to be a nice change from reading technical oriented books, which is what I was doing with most of my free time before I started exploring classics (and mostly what I've been reading for years, other than assigned readings when I was in college). I think last time I read a novel was probably about 10 years back when I took Fiction at community college. Good news! The 8 pm reminder helped me succeed at brushing my teeth this weekend. I leave the reminder up on my phone if it goes off while I'm gaming, and it reminds me to brush when I put my phone on the charger, if I didn't already brush when it first went off. ### Week 3 Summary ### 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: +3 STR. Back to my 3 regular workouts this week. All on the right days too. 2) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone. Target at least 2740 calories/day: +1 CON. This is even easier now that I've made meals called Standard Breakfast, Standard Lunch, and Standard Snack for my three meals that are the same everyday. I wish I could make Standard Day template that pre-filled everything but dinner in a single click, since that's the only one that varies. I could probably do all the items in one meal, but it wouldn't separate them by breakfast/dinner/lunch anymore. 3) Floss my teeth: +1 CHA. Still keep doing this. 4) Shave every day: +1 CHA. I've felt like slacking on this one (really every other day is probably enough), but I've stuck with it. I had a fresh shave every day, even weekends. 5) Brush my teeth at night: +1 CHA. Woot! Oh, and I did that squat weight that gave me trouble before, and it didn't even feel that heavy. I made sure I was properly lined up before starting this time. I think I just didn't focus enough on getting into proper form the time I had trouble with it. Thanks for the advice about squatting not being a speed sport. It gives me an easy line to remind myself to take my time and make sure I'm lined up right before picking up the weight.

Oh yeah, I didn't mention my new side hobby of reading fantasy novels has really taken off. I've finished two and started a third since the challenge has begun. I got a collection of novels set in World of Warcraft, so it really expands out on some of the lore I'm familiar with from playing the game. Still got a bookmark in Plato for where I need to pick back up when I get back to my classics, but it's fun just reading something sort've fun for a bit.

### Week 2 Summary ### 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: +2 STR. (I missed one workout because I was cooking for company. The inlaws came in to town to babysit the baby so we could go to a curriculum planning meeting.) 2) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone. Target at least 2740 calories/day: +1 CON. Still counting. Not sure how I got down to 15.5% bodyfat on so many calories a day, but I ain't complaining. Less gain that I have to cut later. 3) Floss my teeth: +1 CHA 4) Shave every day: +1 CHA 5) Brush my teeth at night: +0 CHA. (Got off to a bad start this week, but the last four days have been fine. Let's see if I can earn that point from here on out)

That's a good idea. Using finishing dinner as the cue for the new response. I've done pretty good with my reminder set at 8, since normally I finish dinner around that time, so it goes off before I'm involved in anything at the computer. I've been doing well the last four days at least. Still lost the points for last week, since 1 failure is enough to lose the 1 point I earn for the week. But yeah, just doing it right after I finish dinner may be an even better solution.

I missed my gym night last night, since the wife got home late, and I didn't feel like going in later than usual. Going to make it up Saturday, so just switched which day has an x over it. I'm pretty good at tracking this stuff with a spreadsheet. I should add my nightly tooth brushing habit that I keep forgetting otherwise, and see if it helps me stick to it. I just added a reminder to my phone for it though, so I'll see if that works first.

That's a good idea. I guess I've just been lucky not having to set it for any other habits. This one is where my forgetfulness is hitting me. The only hard part is figuring out when to set the reminder for. If it's too early, I won't have eaten my dinner yet, but if it's too late, I'll be in the middle of gaming or something. But I do need something to remind me until it becomes a habit to just brush my teeth after dinner and preferably before I sit down to game. I'll try setting it for 8 and see how that works.

So, I'm a little late doing my summary for last week. For some reason, I can't remember that I'm supposed to be brushing my teeth at night. I end up playing video games before bed and then just go to sleep. I try to remember to brush my teeth before I sit down at the computer, but for some reason, that's easy to remember I should've done in the morning but hard to remember when I'm supposed to be doing it. I brushed my teeth like once at night last week. 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: +3 STR 2) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone. Target at least 2740 calories/day: +1 CON 3) Floss my teeth: +1 CHA 4) Shave every day: +1 CHA 5) Brush my teeth at night: +0 CHA Also, I missed my Wednesday gym session this week, because the wife was really late getting home and I didn't feel like going in really late. I plan to make it back up Saturday, so I need to go to the gym Friday and Saturday this week. That'll be a change. I've never been to the gym on Saturday, I don't think. Wonder if it's crowded cause people or off, or if it's empty because everyone's doing other stuff. Friday night at the gym rocks, because most of the people aren't there. Maybe Saturday will be cool too.

Sorry I'm so late replying, but you may want to try the Insight Timer app. I just use it for the timer, but it has a catalog of some insane number of free guided meditations. I just checked, it's over 10,000 meditations, and it's all free.

So, after slacking a bit the last week of last challenge and the week off between challenges, I decided to get back to doing my stuff, but maybe not try to do as much stuff for a change. For one, I just feel like going to the gym three times a week, instead of every weeknight. I'll keep up my strength training, but take it easy on my cardio (which was just walking anyway). I'm also temporarily suspending my reading of the classics for a bit, so I can relax and read some fantasy novels. In good news, I only gained about 3 pounds last challenge even though I was eating 2700 calories+ every day. My body fat percentage went down from 18.1% to 15.5% too. I have no idea how, since I took like a week and a half off from training at all and ate well over 2700 calories per day for my week of vacation, but I guess I'm benefiting from good changes that were in the pipeline. Anyway, I made some good muscle gains last month, even though my weight was fairly stable. Here's my goals this time around: # Actual goals 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights (+1 STR per day, aiming for 3 days a week) 2) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone. Target at least 2740 calories/day. (+1 CON) 3) Floss my teeth. (+1 CHA) 4) Shave every day (+1 CHA). I was shaving every third day. Would be nice to stay clean shaven. 5) Brush my teeth at night (+1 CHA). Dentist recommended. I was brushing (and floss) in the morning only, but I've done this well for two months now. # Goals on hold for this challenge as I take it easy 6) Go to the gym and do cardio (walk at 3mph or higher, or stationary cycle) for 30-45 minutes (+1 STA per day, aiming for 2 days a week). Extra hikes and walks on the weekend can count for extra points beyond the minimum +2. 7) Spend 30 minutes reading from the Great Books of the Western World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World). (+3 WIS) # Goals being discontinued permanently, unless I decide I miss them 8) Wake up every morning 30 minutes early, so I can meditate first thing. That puts me up at 6 AM instead of 6:30 AM. (+1 CON) 9) Meditate every weekday for 25 minutes. If I don't do it in the morning, then do it before bed. (+3 WIS) Classics read so far: Homer [Iliad, the Odyssey], Edith Hamilton [Mythology], Aeschylus [All Complete Works], Sophocles [All Complete Works], Euripides [All Complete Works], The Portable Greek Historians (with selections from Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Polybius), Marcus Aurelius [Meditations], Pierre Hadot [The Inner Citadel], Dante [The Divine Comedy], Milton [Paradise Lost], Bertrand Russell [A History of Western Philosophy, An Analysis of Mind, The Conquest of Happiness, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy, The Problems of Philosophy, Why I Am Not a Christian] Currently reading: Plato [All Works, including contested] Current Weight: 221.0 Pounds lost last challenge: -2.9 So far, I'm off to a bad start, since I didn't know that I was going to stick to a challenge at all this month (I thought I was taking the month off, until I realized that I'm still doing enough stuff that I should earn some points (even though the scoring system is fairly arbitrary and I don't get any real benefits from earning them)). I've only shaved every other day this week, and I haven't brushed my teeth at night once. I've kept up with flossing though. And I miss having every day. I noticed today in the mirror that I looked like I didn't shave this morning. I'm going to get back to it all today, and give myself credit if I keep the habit in line the rest of the week. I'm on top of flossing, strength training, and counting calories, so I just need to keep it going and remember to shave and brush teeth at night.

I'm taking it easy this challenge, so I'll only stick to my strength training three days a week and track that with the spreadsheet.

Had a great relaxing vacation with the family. It felt weird not keeping track of my goals, since I've been doing mostly the same goals for a few months now, except the weight lifting being new (new as in only 2 months old). Lol. I almost grew a beard from not shaving all week. I brought my razor; I had just decided that I wasn't sticking with anything during vacation. Now here's where I lose some points: # Week 4 Summary # 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: +1 STR (only time I haven't been to the gym at least 3x in a week in a few months now) 2) Go to the gym and do cardio: +0 STA 3) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone: +1 CON (I still did this, my calories were well over 2700 a day thanks to inlaws providing lots of food and wine) 4) Wake up every morning 30 minutes early, so I can meditate first thing: +0 CON 5) Meditate every weekday for 25 minutes: +0 WIS 6) Spend 30 minutes reading from the Great Books of the Western World: +0 WIS 7) Floss my teeth: +0 CHA (I packed my floss, but didn't use it this week either) 8) Shave every day: +0 CHA 9) Brush my teeth at night: +0 CHA (I could've at least done this, but I didn't) It was good having to actively think of things to discuss with the inlaws, rather than having my nose in a book most of the trip. Of course, the father-in-law and his brother were really interested in how my reading was going, so I got to talk about what I last read a little bit. I'm ready to get back to my reading this week or at least by the start of the new challenge. My last reading was a little challenging, since I missed one of the points entirely until reading the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy summary afterwards. It's rough reading through something to the finish when you're already pretty lost. So, it was nice having a bit of a break after that. But I am looking forward to getting back to Plato. The dialogues are fairly engaging. Going to continue my workout plan, even though I'm not in a competition anymore. I'll probably see out the next few months of personal training with the 2700 calorie diet, and then try cutting. I've put on fat and muscle in roughly equal proportion, as my fat percentage has stayed fairly constant even though I gained so much muscle, but I got pretty good at dieting before. Just have to make sure I can do it while keeping up my protein intake and just accept that I probably won't make as noticeably progress with my lifts while I'm eating in a deficit. I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop the meditation for next challenge, at least for the time being, to see if I miss it. I don't really mind getting up at 6 instead of 6:30, but I don't feel like I'm getting that much out of it. Maybe after I stop, I'll realize how useful it was and decide to go back to it. I've gotten fairly good at it now at least. It just isn't something I want to continue doing. Hmm.. Well, I put all my final thoughts in this post, so I might as well include my final point summary in this post too. # Challenge Summary # 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: 3+3+3+1=10/4=2.5= +3 STR 2) Go to the gym and do cardio: 2+1+1+0=4/4= +1 STA 3) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone: 1+1+1+1=4/4= +1 CON 4) Wake up every morning 30 minutes early, so I can meditate first thing: 1+1+0+0=2/4=0.5= +1 CON 5) Meditate every weekday for 25 minutes: 3+3+0+0=6/4=1.5= +2 WIS 6) Spend 30 minutes reading from the Great Books of the Western World: 3+3+0+0=6/4=1.5= +2 WIS 7) Floss my teeth: 1+1+1+0=3/4=0.75= +1 CHA 8) Shave every day: 1+1+1+0=3/4=0.75= +1 CHA 9) Brush my teeth at night: 0+1+1+0=2/4=0.5= +1 CHA Looks like rounding really worked in my favor this time. I used to play in hardcore mode and always rounded down, but I decided at some point there was no need to be so hard on myself. But it does mean I can only do half the effort on my 1 pointers for the same points. Either way, I don't take advantage of it by planning for slacking. Now I'm really behind on reading all the other warrior threads from vacationing and spending some of my little free time playing WOW, so need to see about getting caught back up before the new challenge starts.

I did pretty good. Only two monkey failures per habit at least. I was off to a much better start with no failures for a while. At least the two times I failed to work out were because I had to work late. I don't have such good excuse for the missed meditations. My alarm didn't go off one day and the other I just decided to sleep in. But then to finish, I declared all of the final week as me not participating, because I was on vacation and couldn't be bothered to keep up with all my habits. I should've probably done some bodyweight exercises or something to stay on track, but it was a relaxing week off from everything. But that racked up four or five failures basically, since I didn't keep my habits up. Either way, the break did me good and I'm ready to get back to my habits. It was weird not keeping up with all the stuff that I keep up with in a day. I have like 6 or 7 habits that make up my challenge that I wasn't tracking on this spreadsheet, and I took the week off from them too. I almost grew a beard (since shaving everyday was one of the habits I ignored). Oh well, hope everyone else had a stronger finale.

# Week 3 Summary # 1) Go to the gym and lift some weights: +3 STR 2) Go to the gym and do cardio: +1 STA (missed Thursday again because of work) 3) Count calories in MyFitnessPal on phone: +1 CON 4) Wake up every morning 30 minutes early, so I can meditate first thing: +0 CON 5) Meditate every weekday for 25 minutes: +1 WIS 6) Spend 30 minutes reading from the Great Books of the Western World: +0 WIS 7) Floss my teeth: +1 CHA 8) Shave every day: +1 CHA 9) Brush my teeth at night: +1 CHA I had a bit of an off week. My alarm didn't go off Wednesday, so I didn't meditate. Then Friday I just felt like sleeping in thirty minutes, especially since I might be dropping the habit anyway. Those two days lost me most of my meditation points. Then during the week, I just felt like doing other stuff than read Plato. I had originally planned to just make it up by reading 3 hours straight on Saturday, but then Saturday rolled around and I stayed busy with wife and baby and never read anything. I'll get those habits back on track but not this week. I'm out of town on vacation and not trying to keep up any habits this week. I could probably.do some bodyweight exercises or something, but taking.most of the week off won't hurt too bad. I'll get back to it with personal trainer on Friday. I may still read some Plato this week. Vacation is relaxing and gives me lots of free time. I've been mostly social with family rather than reading this week. And I packed my floss but haven't used it yet. One week off from trying to do stuff won't have any long term repercussions though, so I'm fine with taking a habit vacation too.

I haven't had a chance to try squats again with the same weight, since the squat racks have been busy on my leg day. I ended up doing the squat machine instead the last two weeks. It's easier to pile more weight on to, but I don't have to deal with controlling the weight and re-racking it and all. I think next week I'll wait for a squat rack to try the same weight that gave me pause last time, instead of taking the quick way out. I have a podcast to listen to to kill time anyway, so a little waiting won't hurt me.