NicTheRugger

Thanks Liz! The crockpot chicken pot pie came out pretty well! I have enough for at least with 5 more meals. 

An update. I skipped the walk today because my knee was really achy today. I think between a tough PT session and increasing workouts from nothing to... well, 2-3 a week is enough that my knee is feeling the strain. Morning was not at all efficient this morning because I stayed up late for a chat with members of a discord group I'm in. Worth it because it was a lot of fun, but I am so tired today lol. 

I accomplished my goal of reading 2 books this month! I'm now trying to pick my next 2 for February. I bought 2 books at the bargain store this weekend (2 books for $6!!), so I'm thinking about reading one of those for February, and finding a non-fiction smart book to read for book #2. Not sure what that will be yet, but I have at least a little time to figure it out. 

My stomach isn't feeling great, so I'm going to call it a night and get ready for bed. I'll check in tomorrow. Good night, friends!

14 hours ago, Whisper said:

So, I've still been debating between using my 20 seconds of courage to start the book, and pushing it to the back for now. Got a notice from Discord this morning: Parable of the Sower does contain some heavy topics, and we remind you to please keep discussion of sensitive, upsetting, and/or graphic content to the #heavy_topics channel so that everyone can keep themselves and others safe during discussion. Please be forewarned that this novel includes depictions of: (white text, highlight to read) death, body horror, sexual assault, suicide, child neglect, cannibalism, slavery. Chapter 14, in particular, is a very heavy chapter. Please take care of yourselves!

 

And it is now NOPE o'clock. 

 

Their last book was Howl's Moving Castle. That did have an entry in Does the Dog Die that didn't look like it would be too bad. I might give that a try instead. For now, going to try and focus on spending more time reading Intuitive Eating

 

1, that is my one of my favorite gifs ever. 2, I think you've made a good choice here! I know I said 20 second of courage, but it's also important to make sure you're staying safe. Howl's Moving Castle is a lovely book and if you think you're up for it, I think that would be a great alternative to the other book. 

Best of luck with writing the letter! I hope things go well.

On 1/23/2020 at 9:10 PM, Whisper said:

1. Did better at being productive during slow times at work. Not good, but better.

That's all we can really ask for! Slow and steady improvement. Doing better is good in and of itself, even if it's not where you want it to be

11 hours ago, Whisper said:

So this sounds really dumb, at least in my head, but I'm actually afraid to start reading my book club book. The Parable of the Sower. I signed up to be exposed to good books I wouldn't otherwise read, to try and grow and expand my horizons, but the truth is that for nearly a year now, I've been afraid to read much of anything. All I've been doing is re-reading discworld books because they are safe. I've read them all before and though I don't remember everything, I trust that it will be a good story and often funny. I've always been more prone to re-read books, re-watch movies, re-play games, than to try a new book or movie or game. Because I know the known is good and safe, and the unknown might be bad. This need for safety in my reading has been extra strong this last year. I'm not even re-reading other things, just discworld, not Weber, or Asimov, or Card or anyone else I know is good. Just Pratchett because he is funny.

 

I trust that this book will be good, but I do not trust it to be safe. I skimmed a little bit of it when I first got it, and I know that there will be child sexual abuse, so it isn't going to be safe.

 

I signed up for the Discord for the book club. I've never used Discord before and it felt overwhelming. I trust that the people putting this together will try and have the Discord be safe, but it just felt like too much. 

 

Not sure what to do with all of this, so for now I'm going to keep re-playing a game.

The fear of the unknown can be paralyzing at times! And when things get stressful, we can often slide back into "comfort zones." (Do you know how many times I've rewatched Queer Eye on Netflix? Hint: too many. I watch it when my mental health is taking a dive because I know it's a safe show to watch and it makes me feel better.) What's important is to remember "20 seconds of courage." All you need is 20 seconds to pick up the new book. And who knows, you may end up finding a new book that brings you comfort when things are bad for you.  Good luck, my friend!

Oh man... I totally forgot to check in over the course of the week, didn't I. Well, I'm happy to say that the week was mostly successful! I fell a little short with the reading goal (only 2 days) and the ab workouts (also only 2 workouts), but my mornings were efficient (except for the weekend because that's "me time"). I'm getting better with the bodyweight workouts, and I was even able to go for a jog yesterday!! It was my first jog in 5 1/2 months. I took it slow, it was mostly intervals via couch to 5 k, and my knee/leg was stiff by the end of it, but I did it! What I forgot to do, because it's been ages since I've gone for a run, was to do a good post-jog stretch. I did take a nice hot bath though, and that helped with the muscle soreness around the bad knee. 

Today, got up at 5:15, and did a mobility routine and my bodyweight workout. I did both the 1A and 1B workouts from the Academy. I'm pleased to say that I'm moving into the knee push-ups, from elevated push-ups, and doing regular inchworms because I can't actually figure out the mechanics to do the wall inch-worms. I've done my stretching and now I'm providing you all with this lovely little update! Need to hit the shower, make my bed, and try to leave early today because I want to make a quick stop at the ATM before work today. We're doing Chinese food for lunch and I don't have venmo so I'll need cash. Wasn't as efficient with my time as I should have been, took longer breaks than I should have between sets. 

Left to do today:

PT? (need to call and confirm)

Shower

Bank

Probably other things that I can't remember right now. 

I was going to have crockpot chicken pot pie for dinner today, but I didn't meal prep last night and the workout took longer than I thought it would, so that will wait until tomorrow. I'll have leftover meatloaf for dinner tonight with some sweet potato fries.

That's all for now, folks! Have a lovely day.  

Oh wow, what amazing photos! I hope you recover soon!

3 hours ago, jstanlick said:

LOL! English is my first language and many times I struggle with my wording as well  

English is a silly, evil language that makes 0 sense because it gets its grammar and structure from mugging other languages in dark alleys and rifling through their pockets for loose verbs and participles. 

3 hours ago, TGP said:

you can't work at all things at the same time;

you can't fix you diet, have an awesome gym routine, AND work on losing lots of weight All at these same time. INSTANTLY.

 

if and if you do that in a manic mood, it won't stick when things get sadder...

 

this all must be done INCREMENTALLY.

so , I whole heartedly love aramis's advice.  I think I tweaked out over the 2500kcals numbers.... but again are you going to , in addition to what I wrote before, NOW, write down every little cal you eat? maybe not.

 

change is Hard.  beware of getting overwhelmed.  beware of doing TOO much.  little  baby steps; and if your fatigued and eating poorly you can't just ignore that and say your losing weight.  it doesn't work that way.

As always, Jason's correct. It's important to build one small habit at a time. Too much too soon gets way too overwhelming, and you end up quitting out of sheer frustration. Trust me, I've been there. Maybe this week just focus on getting to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday, and tracking what you eat for a week. (However you want to do that. Notebook, using an app like myfitnesspal, whatever), next week, focus on building on those habits (keep going to the gym, etc.), and just keep building those habits, that way you can figure out what you want and how to get there. And of course... we're here to help!

Hmm... is there a type of cuisine you'd like to try? Ever want to try Georgian food? Or Brazillian? Sri Lankan? I find that when I want to try something new, I pick a type of cuisine I'd like to try, and then find a relatively simple recipe that I can make at home.

Oatmeal is fantastic during cold and gloomy weather! And civics should be interesting, hopefully? I know a little about civics, so I'm happy to try and attempt to help out if you have any questions! Are you focusing on any particular area of civics or is it going to be more broad, general civics? (the more I type it, the less like a word "civics" looks)

I'm glad you had a wonderful time snowboarding! Good luck with week 3  

On 1/19/2020 at 10:37 AM, Salinger said:

Hey Nic ❤️ did you get stuff done? Hope talk with roommate went ok?xx

Heya Liz! ❤️ I did get stuff done. Unfortunately, I was without internet from the moment I got home on Friday through Monday and have a limited data plan so updating was difficult to do.

The roommate chat went okay. She moved her things to the other side of the dining room so I could set up my desk. I'm actually sitting at it right now! I have my desk, I bought myself a big comfy chair to go with it (a little more than I wanted to spend on it, but it's so comfy it's worth it). 

It was a pretty meh weekend, challenge related. I sort of phoned in my PT exercises and skipped yoga altogether this weekend, which is no bueno. I need to get better about creating a habit for myself where I do yoga on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Yesterday was pretty good though. I woke up at 5:15 even though I had the day off (gotta love state holidays and working a government job), and forced myself to do a bodyweight workout. And y'all... I did the Academy 1A workout! My knee was a little cranky after it, but it got done. I'm probably going to stick with that workout until the end of the challenge to make sure that my knee is comfortable with doing that before going on to the next workout. I'll take it on a day-by-day basis to see how it's feeling. Had a lovely massage yesterday, and got in a walk. (Two, technically. I walked to the massage place and back. Both walks were about 10 minutes at a brisk pace).

Today, got up, did my PT exercises and a 15 minute mobility routine, which means I checked off that box for today. Morning was streamlined by actually getting out of bed and turning off my alarm, thanks to my phone being on the other side of the room. Clothes were picked out last night, and my lunch (soup!) is packed and ready to go. I need to take a shower and straighten my hair (it looks like a bird's been nesting in it), and then get ready for work so that's all for me for now!

To do:

Shower

Core workout

Read!!

Finish setting up how I want my desk to be laid out. (We'll get there eventually)

Hi Liz! Sorry I haven't been able to check in for the past couple of days. My internet's been out since Friday, and I got it back just yesterday. I'm so sorry to hear about the funding not working out.  Hopefully the next one will!

And Aramis is spot on with the idea of creating a fixed routine. Motivation comes and goes, so it's not always the best to rely on motivation to get you up and running. Sometimes, it's best to just have a schedule, and go about it even if you don't want to  Case in point, yesterday was my day off. I still dragged my sorry behind out of bed and did a bodyweight workout because Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are workout days. I really didn't want to be up at 5:15 on my day off, but it's a habit I'm working on (re)building for myself. Habits are always stronger than motivation.

As for the food thing... you may want to lose weight, but not eating enough will get you sick! And we definitely don't want that. Aramis is, again, 100% right. You want to be eating at a deficit while making sure your body gets what you need. As for the food thing being a lack of motivation, would something like crockpot meals or setting aside one day a week to do meal prep help with not wanting to cook?

Keep it up! You're doing great, even if things seem a little grim right now.

20 hours ago, Salinger said:

I hope work and everything else goes well for you xx

Thank you, Liz! I hope so too ❤️ 

Yesterday was SO BUSY. So busy, in fact, that when I got home in the evening, I didn't want to do anything when I got home. So I didn't do a core workout or yoga yesterday, but I did get everything else done on my list. I did, however, have a lovely evening, sitting on my couch, knitting, drinking a cup of my favorite tea, and watching The Addams Family (1990 movie). All in all, a success.

Today's looking like a less busy day at work, which is good. I'm going to get some much-needed desk time this afternoon so I can actually return calls on cases and whatnot. I've had one person call me 4 times on a case, but the problem is... I'm never at my desk! I can't answer my phone if I'm not there, and when I'm actually at my desk, I'm focused on the immediate tasks that need to be addressed ASAP, rather than checking my voicemails. Unfortunately. 

Slept horribly, last night. I couldn't get comfortable for the life of me, and the wind! The wind was something fierce last night. It kept waking me up. That being said, despite the lack of quality sleep, I was up and out of bed at 5:30, and didn't get back into bed because I moved my phone to the other side of the room. I think I'll need to keep doing that in order to actually motivate myself to get out of bed.  I had my morning 2 cups of water (gotta hydrate, babeeyyy), had an emergen-c (still feeling under the weather), and then had a mobility/PT exercise session that focused largely on foam rolling and working on my hips and lower back. I also did my killer 5 minute ab workout that I got from the Gunnery Sergeant a lifetime ago. It's a good workout, and I'm still feeling it. I'm hoping to work my way back up to doing it every day, because man, when I was doing that workout, I had killer abs. I could hold a 4 minute plank because of that workout, at one point. 

I need to take a quick shower still, and make sure I have everything packed for the day. It's still incredibly windy, and the temperature dropped 25 degrees since yesterday (from 45 to about 20, this morning; from about 7.5*C to about -6.7*C, for those on the Celsius system), so I'm reconsidering the clothes I picked out last night. I know I picked out a warm sweater and a skirt I could wear with fleece-lined tights but.... it's still so cold  I'll be a Nic-cicle by the end of the day. I'll probably throw that stuff on anyway though... and just grab a long coat and wear warm boots to work and switch into work-appropriate shoes there. (I may or may not keep a shoe-rack at the office with about 5 pairs of appropriate high heels to wear)

To-dos for the rest of the day:

- Shower

- Yoga

- Read

- Organize my room

- Knit

- Figure out how to have that talk with my roommate about the fact that she didn't clean her stuff out of the dining room even though she said she would this week....

Have a fabulous day, everyone!

Hi Mia! A little late to the party, but following along and cheering you on. 

About the mission trip/volunteer opportunities that are limited by money and transportation, 1, I obviously hope they work out in your favor because that would be fun. 2, are there non-money volunteer opportunities that speak to you as well? 

I hope that you're feeling better and that the budget tweaking that your mom is undoubtedly rocking goes well!

Aah, that's so frustrating that they haven't gotten back to you yet! Very unprofessional of them. 😠 I hope you have a lovely time with your friend this weekend!

It's Thursday already? Oh man. The week is simultaneously dragging on and flying by. I'm not even sure how that's possible. I've been thinking about the conversation my partner and I had, and I can't stop thinking about it unless I'm extremely busy at work. But thinking about it is making me not sleep well, I'm distracted, not focused... it's just a lot and I'm still really conflicted.

On a more challenge-related note. I've done one yoga session this week and one bodyweight session. I've neglected the ab workouts so far, but no longer! Once I finish this, I'm going to do my PT exercises and a core workout, and get ready for the day. Thankfully, I've already set out my outfit for today (did it last night!), my lunch is pre-packed, and I have all my things together ready to go when I'm all done with my morning tasks. I was slow in getting up this morning, because I moved my phone back to near my bed because I wanted to listen to some soothing music to fall asleep and didn't want to blast the volume from the other side of the room. Clearly not a great option, since it took me over 40 minutes to get out of bed this morning. I'll move the charger back to the other side of the room when I go back in to get dressed.

PT session went well this week. While I'm still experiencing knee pain, it's increasingly infrequent, as I work towards targeting my lower back and hip muscles. By strengthening those, I somehow help my knee. I don't get how that works (will need to consult the anatomy book), but if it works, it works, right?

That's all I got time for now, my friends. Today's going to be a busy day at work, so I want to get there in under an hour so I can finish prepping for the day and start working on my crazy backlog that's piling up because I never have enough time to get everything done. 

To do list for today:

- Make bed

-Do PT exercises/mobility (I've found a routine that actually incorporates many of my PT exercises!)

- Yoga session (tonight, when I get home)

- Get through at least 3 backlog folders at work today (I can bring work home with me to accomplish this task)

- Spend time reading tonight

- Core workout

- Take my vitamins and an emergen-c. I don't feel too great this morning, and I'm worried about getting sick again. And as the saying goes, "ain't nobody got time for that."

- Log my gratitude for today

On 1/13/2020 at 6:49 AM, RES said:

Went to the gym today, ran intervals...near the end of my workout someone gets on the treadmill next to me with a gallon of cologne on....why do people do this???? Forget judgement free zones I need a fragrance free zone in the gym 😣

Completely unnecessary! I don't get why people feel the need to do that. No one wants to smell overwhelming fragrance when they're sweaty and tired after a good workout. To me, that indicates that they're there for something other than working out. How was your treadmill workout though?

Sounds like a great start to the challenge, Doug! I hope you and your family have an awesome time snowboarding  

On 1/13/2020 at 12:49 PM, Salinger said:

Dear Lizz 

The Artists Information Company is pleased to offer you a bursary of £1,695 to support the activity set out in your Artist Bursary 2020 application.

*pulls out a confetti gun and fires it* That's AMAZING, Liz!! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. New York is a great city for the arts. I hope you have an amazing time when you come around to this side of the pond!. I'm sure whatever you end up doing for your exhibit will be amazing. Your art is fantastic, and I'm sure you're going to wow people.

3 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hello all...

 

8am here, slept AWFUL, my word...maybe 3 hours in total which is not good. Prob due to me spending so much time not doing anything, crying, lazing and moping about. 

 

Well is today the day i hear? Is the flu person back at work? hahahahhahah

 

I will call around 11 am i have decided. 

 

Until then, i MUST work on the next application...it HAS to be ready by Sunday. 

 

Its so so cold this morning, my hands are like ice typing this. I have a hot cup of tea though to warm me through. I may have some porridge for breakfast too. I better track food or else ill mess up again. 

 

I may try to go to the gym, feels so tough whilst waiting but i suppose it will waste some time?! And distract me perhaps. 

 

Number 1 priority today though is this stupid application. xx

I think distracting yourself while you're anxiously waiting is a good thing! And I hope the phone call goes well.  My fingers are crossed for you!

Also, @aramis is spot-on with calling the application stupid. It may be stressful, anxiety-inducing, complicated, and many other things... but it's not stupid. Stupid means that it's not worth doing; not only that, because it's something you want, don't devalue it! When you devalue the things you want, you devalue yourself as well. The application may be hard, but you have a group of people who will be cheering you on every second of the process. 

Well, I was able to make it through most of the list. I made my soup (it was delicious). I did some meal planning, but not all. I was able to do some prep for my motions (one of them requires watching a DVD from my work computer, and I cannot do that at home), and some of the prep involves me asking many questions of my coworkers, because I've never done that particular type of motion before. I did what I could, but I also wasn't in the best mindset yesterday. After my afternoon update, I had a Long and Serious(TM) chat with my partner about our future together. He's asked me to move up to Vermont with him so we can be together and not be long-distance any more. And I feel... conflicted. I don't really know what to do, and it put me in a funk for the entire end of my day, because I was not expecting this chat and it definitely threw me off my productivity game. Because of that, I didn't get much meal planning done (I have today covered and Tuesday, and that's it). 

But, I need to focus on the here and now for today, so here's my to-do list for the day:

Make my bed

Rescue my laundry from the dryer since I never took it out yesterday

Go to work by 7:30 (gotta move fast so I can do that!)

Finish all of the things I didn't get to yesterday (planner, meal planning)

Go to PT

Go for a walk today (I completely forgot to do it yesterday)

Practice Polish

Based on how PT goes, either a core workout or a bodyweight workout. 

I'm experiencing lower back pain today. I'm not sure if it's always been there and I've been ignoring it, or if it's something new tbh. I did my morning mobility stretches and I don't think it helped very much tbh. I'll probably end up taking a couple of ibuprofen with breakfast (can't take that on an empty stomach!) and see if that helps.

That's all I've got time for for now. I'll be back later, folks!

3 hours ago, Salinger said:

busy busy Nic!!! Good luck  xx

Thanks, Liz!!  

Lunch-time check in!  Had a very productive morning

• Bake bread for the week (it's just one loaf, but it's a time investment)
• PT exercises and yoga
• core workout
• Meal plan for the week
• Make soup for dinner/for lunches this week
• Vacuum the floors
• Clean the bathroom (minus tub, which I did last night)
• Wash the floors
• Do my laundry (in progress, first load is in the dryer, second and final load is in the washer)
• Prep my motions for tomorrow
• Prep my planner for the week
• Practice Polish
• Read at least one copy of The New Yorker (I have a backlog that I've been meaning to get to and I never do...)

I also have the oven on self-clean right now. It absolutely needs it. To be honest, I'm not sure my roommate ever ran the self-clean cycle on the oven. It feels good to have the house clean. While I'm all warm and a little sweaty now from scrubbing away for the past few hours, it's very satisfying. My roommate and I have different definitions of clean, and I hadn't done the vacuuming in a couple of weeks. (Although, I did only get the vacuum for Christmas...) To my eternal horror, I saw that cobwebs were starting to build up. I think when I get a new place next year (and how I hope that next year's place will be a place for at least a couple of years because I'm tired of moving), I'm either going to live by myself and stick to a regular cleaning schedule, or make sure that whomever I'm living with has a clean home as a priority. 

It's a beautiful if windy day here in the South Shore, and I have what windows haven't been wrapped for the winter open to let in the fresh air. 

I'm waiting for my chicken drumsticks to finish thawing out so I can make soup, and after lunch I'm going to get started on the planner and meal planning for the week. I'll figure out where to go from there. TTFN!

On 1/11/2020 at 1:34 AM, Elastigirl said:

Glad the PT was able to determine what was causing your pain, and that you are on the road to recovery. Weird how having thing injured (your back) then messes up with the rest of the body

Isn't that just bizarre? I really can't understand how it happened. 

Happy Sunday, friends! Sundays end up being my "busy" days because I usually spend Saturdays round my parents' house. I may need to start cutting down on that though or only going around every other weekend that way I don't have to cram in everything on Sunday, because my to-do list for today is... whew.  I'm taking a leaf out of @Salinger's book and am going to post my list here to keep me accountable!

• Bake bread for the week (it's just one loaf, but it's a time investment)
• PT exercises and yoga
• core workout
• Meal plan for the week
• Make soup for dinner/for lunches this week
• Vacuum the floors
• Clean the bathroom (minus tub, which I did last night)
• Wash the floors
• Do my laundry
• Prep my motions for tomorrow
• Prep my planner for the week
• Practice Polish
• Read at least one copy of The New Yorker (I have a backlog that I've been meaning to get to and I never do...)

That the list... I think. I may add on more as needed. But for now, the bread is in the oven, I've done my PT exercises and am about to start yoga, and then I'll go from there. 

5 hours ago, Salinger said:

Been thinking a lot, last night, about a challenge for myself. Perhaps i will aim to climb Snowdonia in the summer. Remember i went there last summer? and couldnt do it....im thinking of training so i can....?? might be a good goal?

That sounds like a lovely goal, Liz! ❤️ 

Hiya, Doug! Happy New Year! As always, here to cheer on my favorite half-ogre ranger. Keep up the good work!

Your goals are so awesome! I'll be cheering you on  And have fun with measuring penguins! That sounds very fun and I'm extremely jealous haha

Friday check-in! Thank goodness it's Friday! It has been quite a week. 

Challenge updates so far:

only one day of yoga done, will do some tomorrow and Sunday. I like having the time to do these routines in the morning, because I think they set the tone of my day better.

one day of BW workout done. That will also be a tomorrow project. 

1 ab/core workout done. I did that last night and I'm weirdly feeling it today. I knew I've gotten out of shape but it wasn't until I did my 5 minute ab workout that I got from the gunnery sergeant back when I was working towards OCS that I realized how out of shape I've gotten. That 5 minute ab workout used to be a breeze! I struggled to do the entire thing yesterday. I'm going to do another workout tonight and then on Sunday to hit 3 for the week.

Days reading: 2/4. I'm likely going to be only able to do 3 out of 4 days this week, but may try to get some reading done during the day on Sunday so I can finish my book by the end of the day.

I've been relatively successful with walks this week, when my knee's allowed me. Today was a pretty warm day and was able to walk around for about 10-15 minutes. Only some knee irritation. 

streamlining my morning was successful... until today. I didn't sleep very well last night, so when my alarm went off this morning, I woke up, got out of bed, turned off my alarm... and promptly got back into bed and slept for an entire hour! Thankfully, I live 5 minutes from work, and I set my alarm for 5:30, so I wasn't late for work, but yikes. I guess I really needed that extra sleep.

Not much of an update today, I'm afraid. My head's feeling kinda fuzzy and tired, so I'm gonna poke in on some other posts and see how peeps are doing and then call it a night. Bye friends!