stillskies

That's an interesting way of doing a wildcard challenge. I may steal it for later in the year. >D (also hi. following along~)

That one ain't even fair.

MAGICAL GIRLZZZZZZZZZZ I am disappoint that the Magical Girls Workout is not a goal.

Now, I'm no help with veggies (I literally do not eat ANY in my diet), buuuut the wife likes asparagus. And beets. And you can make zucchini rounds with a little bit of olive oil and some cheese on top. Also, sugar snap peas. Although stars usually eats those like candy, so...

If it helps, I always forget to post photos and recipes? XD

My squat goal - at the time that I made it - was not ridic. =/

Day 025-27 Friday was a rest day (and, technically, the official end of the challenge). Stars and I worked from home, went grocery shopping (fooooood!), and then to her mother's concert. The music was good (2 Beethoven trios and a Rachmaninoff trio), but by the time we got home, I was exhausted. And it didn't help that I had to wake up early on Saturday for... RACE REPORT First race of the new year, and barely getting it under the wire for January. Sheesh. This was the Prediction 5K - at registration, we submitted our anticipated finish times, and whoever was closest got a prize. I put myself at 00:36:15, but ended up finishing at 00:37:56. Not my best run, but also not my worst. I'm realizing that running without music makes things harder and seem longer, because I swore I should have hit the turnaround sooner than I did. Focusing on getting to the turnaround rather than focusing on music and kind of bopping along definitely is a mind fuck. Yeesh. But, because we had to predict our times, we weren't allowed to have or use anything that could help us keep time (run trackers, watches, music, metronomes). I did set my nike+ app to track, but turned off the sound, and kept it in my pocket so I couldn't see how far I'd gone or the time. My vivofit also went in my pocket to count my steps, but, again, didn't look at it until after the race. Anyway, the first mile was.... okay? I don't know. I was tired and kind of crampy, and I really just... didn't want to be there. Fortunately, it was all paved. There was one section during the second mile that was gravel, but it lasted for maaaaaybe .15 miles? Not very long, but because it was gravel, the ice hung on longer, so I kind of did some dancing around sheets of ice so as not to fall on my butt. Mile 2 was fine - hit the turn around and started to run/walk (seriously, I have no idea why I was so damned out of it). As soon as I got to mile 3, I started to push a little harder, and I sprinted the last .1 miles of the course, overtaking this one person who had stubbornly stayed ahead of me. Whoo. /racereport Came home, ate a little, showered, and then watched South Park until stars came home from open gym, then it was on to blkhole's and Tyro's for Ruroni Kenshin movie time + pizza! Fun was had (including one scene where I legit have no clue what happened, but the two guys fighting just... stopped and ate????). Hit Trader Joe's on our way home, and then it was time to watch the MasterChef Jr finale (GOOOOOOOO BITTIES!). My favorite won, so yay! After that, we decided to watch Lucifer, which was hilarious and I will definitely be keeping up with this show. Sunday was... the day of eating like an asshole. I legit woke up, grabbed the tub of cookies, the bag of popcorn, and a glass of milk, and just sort of... ate while watching South Park. Didn't even have lunch because of all of the sugar. I felt like crap after, so there's that. Anyway, went to the gym in the afternoon. Re-did my 1RM at 100lbs on bench just to see if I could (I can!), then did a 5x5 squat at 135lbs. Deadlifted after that, and then we went home, whereupon I watched more South Park, and stars did a puzzle. It was a nice evening and a nice end to the challenge. Onto the challenge summary thing! Rescue the Boys by Choking Bitches With My Thighs (aka bjj - 3 classes accessory drills a week) - 3/3. Sometimes the Millennium Falcon Needs a Push (aka lift - 2 sessions a week) - 3/2! I Can't Keep Eating Like an Asshole (aka food - eat only what starsapart says 6x a week) - 5/6! Sodaaaaaaaaa. Also, Sunday. Still Taking None of Your Shit (aka life - figure out 2016 goals) - So, fitness-wise, this is what I've come up with:

Needs moar Akabane. (also, here for this. and adding to my re-watch list kthnxbai)

Yup. I'll put up my wrap up on Sunday since I'm taking my challenge through the weekend (can't deal with four weeks not actually being four weeks).

lol Maybe I'll make one while you're here. I can always use more guinea pigs....

You could.

That is all.

I was about to call you ten kinds of liar.

RESERVED FOR WEEKLY SUMMARIES AND END OF CHALLENGE SUMMARY WEEK 001 CHALLENGE: Yoga - 2 sessions a week GRADE: A! I did them. I didn't like them, but I did them. I'm not feeling much flexier, either. Mostly, I just feel stiff and tight. I know that being consistent will help that, but ugh. So. Boring. CHALLENGE: Outdoors - 2 winter activities throughout the challenge GRADE: B! Halfway there! Likely won't hit the second one until the 20th - that's when we're going to the mountains. CHALLENGE: Food - eat only what starsapart approves 6x week GRADE: A! Had one day where I just said screw it, but kept on track the rest of the week. CHALLENGE: Baking - one new chocolate recipe a week GRADE: Pass! Dark chocolate hot chocolate. WEEK 002 CHALLENGE: Yoga - 2 sessions a week GRADE: B! I only managed the one session on Friday. It was still boring, and slightly more challenging than the week before, which was not cool. CHALLENGE: Outdoors - 2 winter activities throughout the challenge GRADE: B! Week 3 will net me my complete on this. CHALLENGE: Food - eat only what starsapart approves 6x week GRADE: C! Nope. Just... nope. CHALLENGE: Baking - one new chocolate recipe a week GRADE: Fail! Not this week. There was already so much chocolate in the house because of Valentine's day, and there wasn't anyone else over to feed chocolate to... WEEK 003 CHALLENGE: Yoga - 2 sessions a week GRADE: B! I'm considering it good that I actually have gone at least once every week this month.... CHALLENGE: Outdoors - 2 winter activities throughout the challenge GRADE: A! Shoveling and throwing snowballs. Yay! CHALLENGE: Food - eat only what starsapart approves 6x week GRADE: B! Not bad. Even went three days without any gluten products. Go me. CHALLENGE: Baking - one new chocolate recipe a week GRADE: PASS! Chocolate souffle on Monday, and chocolate chip banana bread on Saturday. WEEK 004 CHALLENGE: Yoga - 2 sessions a week GRADE: A! HA. Finally. CHALLENGE: Outdoors - 2 winter activities throughout the challenge GRADE: A! Shoveling and throwing snowballs. Yay! CHALLENGE: Food - eat only what starsapart approves 6x week GRADE: A! Woot! CHALLENGE: Baking - one new chocolate recipe a week GRADE: PASS! Browniessssssss. CHALLENGE SUMMARY CHALLENGE: Yoga - 2 sessions a week GRADE: B! Eh. I still hate yoga, but I managed to go to at least one class a week. I don't know that I feel any different, or any more flexible, but it might be something I try to keep doing. We'll see. CHALLENGE: Outdoors - 2 winter activities throughout the challenge GRADE: A! This was actually harder than I'd originally anticipated because of weather. In that there was hardly any. Except in the mountains, which really derailed things. But it was fun getting outside. I always forget that until I'm outside, though. CHALLENGE: Food - eat only what starsapart approves 6x week GRADE: B! I mostly kept up with the spirit of the challenge. I'm back in the habit of logging, which is good. I'm still having minor panic attacks looking at numbers, but I've been more conscientious of what I'm eating, so I'm calling this a win. CHALLENGE: Baking - one new chocolate recipe a week GRADE: PASS! So much chocolate this challenge. And I didn't eat any of it. XD Well, stars and BlackTezca enjoyed them! I think. CHALLENGE GRADE:B! Solid effort this go around! Yay me!

brb finding gifs. also FIRST! THE YEAR OF DISNEY PRINCESSES BECAUSE I AM A MOTHERFUCKING PRINCESS MONK: PRINCESS ANNA EDITION As is tradition (hey, once totally counts as tradition!), have my favorite Anna song: Wait. That's not it. Anyway, moving on. Contortion is Needed to Mimic Paintings Being cooped up in the same place for year after year kinda gives a girl strange hobbies. On the bright side, it's a castle, so there's tons of paintings and sculptures around. And what better way to pass the time than to try to mirror their poses. I mean, it's not like poses in paintings are unrealistic and unmanageable, right? Right. CHALLENGE: Yoga - 2 sessions a week GRADING: A - 2 sessions | B - 1 session | C - No sessions These are to be on different days. But I neglect stretching, and I know that flexibility would help in my jiu jitsu, so I know this is a good goal for me. It's just boring as fuck. Goal can be met with a 30 minute video or by taking a class at work. Thordamnit, Elsa Stupid Elsa and her stupid three day eternal winter. Going outside is that much harder, now. It's cold. There's snow. There's ice. And even worse than all of that? There's Olaf. But, we must persevere if we want to bring back summer! CHALLENGE: Outdoors - 2 winter activities throughout the challenge GRADING: A - 2 activities | B - 1 activity | C - No activity I will find just about any excuse to not go outside in the winter. Especially if there's snow. Even more especially if there's snow and I have to get up early to go to said snow. Which means mountains. This goal is more of a 'fun' fitness goal than anything - basically, I need to get to the mountains and do... something. Snow shoeing. Cross country skiing. Tubing. Seeing ice sculptures. Basically, something that can be done only in Winter. And they can be done in the same day. I Can't Keep Eating Like an Asshole, Redux Anna is lucky she's got her very own professional chef to keep her figure in shape. (Also, she's a Disney Princess, so.) I, unfortunately, do not have that. (Although I have a wonderful wife who cooks dinner for me.) CHALLENGE: Food - eat only what starsapart approves 6x week GRADING: A - 6x | B - 5x | C - 4x Basically, keep on keeping on. I've gotten better at eating decently, and have made a slight comeback to MFP. (Which is still a struggle, but 1400 calories is better than 800 calories, right? Right.) So, stars have loosened the reins somewhat, and I'm pretty much allowed to eat whatever is on the acceptable items list. There are certain things that still require permission (soda, how I miss you), but. This is progress, right? Right. I Want to Stuff Some Chocolate in my Face We all have weaknesses. Some people are weak to the Dark Side (coughcoughskywalkerscough), while others are weak to sugar (slurpeeeeeee). Anna (and my wife) happen to have a weakness for chocolate. And since it's the month of Valentine's day, Anna's weakness is perfectly suited! CHALLENGE: Baking - one new chocolate recipe a week GRADING: Pass | Fail I enjoy baking. I enjoy baking things for others to eat. Other people like chocolate. I feel like this is a win. (Plus, I'll get to work on my frosting skills.) Recipe can be for anything - frosting, brownies, cupcakes, truffles, cheesecake. It just has to utilize chocolate in some way.

I'll see if I can get stars to get a video of me doing them, but it's basically a shoulder stand while putting your legs in the triangle choke position. For someone with a weak core, this is torture. I'm going through Sunday, yo. I have a thing about 4 weeks not actually being 4 weeks. But I'll do a wrap up or whatever on Sunday.

Day 024 Will wonders never cease? A TIMELY UPDATE! Work yesterday was relatively slow, which was nice. Gave me some time to catch up on a few minor projects that I've been neglecting. Managed to go down to the gym, even though stars and I were going to the new gym after work. Spent that time doing body weight and core, along with my bjj drills. I am determined to be able to do 20 lunges (10 each leg) without my legs feeling like they're on fire. My knee push ups are getting much better and easier - I think that in a week or so, I'll be comfortable moving back to regular push ups. We'll see. Didn't end up leaving work until nearly 5:30 (stars got dragged into a last minute meeting). By this time, any motivation I had had to go to the new gym to squat was long gone. Like, legit gone. Like, I spent the car ride home making excuses as to why I couldn't go. And dragged my feet changing when I got home. And whined. A lot. Not my finest hour, but I really didn't want to go. Mostly because I'm lazy. At any rate, I did go. It was crowded. We had planned to start off with squats, but the rack was taken, so we decided to start with bench instead. Except that one bench was taken and the other... was being used as a table. Stars asked if we could use the bench since the woman resting her stuff on it was doing dumb bell work; woman acted affronted, but moved her stuff, which allowed us to bench. Yay! I made it up to 95lbs (1 rep - suuuper hard), but managed 3 sets of 3 reps at 90lbs. I'm slowly making my way back up to my 100lb 1RM. Next was squats. I've never actually used a squat rack before. The heaviest I've squatted on my back is 60lbs - I've gotten to 70lbs for front squat. Basically, if I can clean and press it, I've squatted it. So, this was a new experience for me. Started with a warm up with the bar, and it only went uphill from there. I made it up to 135lbs - which felt moderately heavy, but I don't know if that's because of the weight, or because I'd done 5 or 6 sets before at lower weights and was tired. I guess we'll find out on Sunday. Came home, nommed, watched some South Park, showered and slept. All in all, a decent day. Onto the challenge summary thing! Rescue the Boys by Choking Bitches With My Thighs (aka bjj - 3 classes accessory drills a week) - 3/3. Did glute bridges, one legged glute bridges (I'm really bad at trying to break someone's form and roll them over), and triangle shoulder stands. Which suck. So hard. Oh god. My abs. Sometimes the Millennium Falcon Needs a Push (aka lift - 2 sessions a week) - 2/2! See above. I Can't Keep Eating Like an Asshole (aka food - eat only what starsapart says 6x a week) - 4/6! I was a bit under yesterday because of lack of food in the house, but I did hit 1400, which is low for a double work out day, but. Still Taking None of Your Shit (aka life - figure out 2016 goals) - Transferred some fitness goals into a handy dandy spreadsheet. Added some new ones. Once photobucket comes back up (it's down for maintenance), I'll post it. But additional goals that I added: Run Disney Coast to Coast medal (which blkhole and I will likely be doing in 2017).

Thanks. I'm pretty much resigned to 2016 being a crappy year until it proves otherwise. And for O:OU - it will work when it works. Unfortunately, there's not much council to give on it except that our chances will be greater if we do 2-3 back to back IUIs. But for that, we need to have more sperm. And 2 vials costs upwards of $1,000. I just... don't have that kind of money to spend on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. It is. Thank you! Same to you! And no worries - crooked sentences and typing errors while tired are normal. Hopefully you can get some rest! Thanks. Yass. So excite about the gym, except when it's time to go. Whoops. Fortunately, the things I'm focusing on will ultimately help with my running and, more importantly, jiu jitsu. Ugh. Money. I hate money. I remember the pathetically small paycheck days from when I worked retail. >.< It's really just stressful. I did my drills yesterday!