Archon

Awesome challenge guys! Keep up the great fire-space-touching!

Challenge is not going well. I am lacking on motivation and failing on discipline. Need to re-evaluate my goals (short / long term). On the plus side, the weight is down a couple pounds for the first time in a while.

How is week 1 going for you buddy? Great to have you back. I am still struggling to climb out of the hole I buried myself in. As I read your first post, I swear that the entire time the song "The Boys are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy was going through my head, as a soundtrack. Good job on getting yourself back into the gym regularly and on the first 13 lbs lost!!! Congrats! Keep up the hard work. You're my hero Scotty!

So as of writing this challenge up yesterday, I made a couple very difficult (for me) choices to forgo participating in some revelry. I was tempted to say, "Well... I'll start next week when the challenge actually starts up..." But I figured it would probably be a lot easier/better to draw a firm line in the sand. So... that was good. I have been under-sleeping the past few nights and need to work to continue to improve that (since getting my fitbit, it has been easier to track my actual sleep habits, also has been terrifying to realize how poor my habits are in practice). First thing first... diet. No drinks... That will not be easy, but I'm totally going to keep doing it. Hm... now I need to upload some pictures: Some StarCraft inspired Pylons (per the reference in the title & related to my name), then some sneaky snakes and maybe even some throwback Hulk. I keep fighting off Ranger-Brain (which is lurking in the background telling me I should sleep 9 hours EVERY night on top of my 12-ish that get allocated to work... that I should be cooking all my meals, doing an hour of yoga a day, doing some morning jogging and meditating, learning all the new things, working out every night, and of course working in a few extra burpees...) Last challenge I significantly increased my overall activity level (from nothing to something). Now I need to focus my willpower on keeping out the bad. Then I will slowly start rebuilding in the good.

This title was long overdue, as is a refocus and re-spawn of my efforts. Last challenge I kept it simple, and I did... okay. This challenge I am going to keep it simple. Continue my good habits built last challenge and build new ones. My biggest weakness (to achieving my ends)... my largest source of excess calories is drinks. Disclaimer, I do not drink carbonated beverages ever (I cut those out completely a few years ago). However, wine and craft brew... sigh... I need to give up (while I am in a "cut" mindset). In a future endeavor, I will seek to add them back in when my goal is more "maintenance" aligned. This gives me a lot of heartache, fear, nervousness, anxiety; because I really enjoy drinking. I just struggle to do it in moderation, and it would be the easiest way for me to drop a TON of calories. Being a "heavyweight" is a curse. So the obvious solution, is to cut it out, cold turkey, 100%, no exceptions, starting today. That will be my only primary goal for this challenge. There is no grading; this is a pass/fail thing. I will prevail, but I know it will be hard. It will take all my focus, at least until I get over the first few weeks (where it will be VERY difficult). Especially considering I have stores laying around the house (that I don't necessarily want to just throw away either). Some of what I have on hand was actually a "gift"... sigh... so the debate will be to either re-gift (I will have to let my friend know), or to hold onto it for a few months and think of it as an incentive / reward. I have been stuck in the 250-255 lbs range for a long time now. I want to break out. I actually had my weight stable at 235 lbs for about 6 months last year, but then it started slowly climbing back up a half pound a week. I know I cannot outrun my poor eating habits and that they (specifically the liquid portion) need to change in order to align with my long-term goals. I also need to get back into the gym and lifting heavy things on a regular basis again. But first things first... improve diet... continue to be more active. Along the "activity" train of thought... I got a Fitbit Blaze a month & a half ago and have been using that to hold myself accountable. It gives me weekly summaries (as well as daily progress) through the app on my activity. I have been using that data as an incentive to increase my activity. Little-by-little, improving my health.

Awesome! You got this!

Well... I stayed break-even on the weight. I actually hit 20 minutes a day of walking, as an average, though I did not get out every day to do it. But... I did not hit my goals on food. So next challenge is going to be about cleaning up my diet. 0 treats. My cardio points for the week goal was 4+ and the results were: 3, 4, 3, 6, 3, 2 with an average of 3.5 Overall I would grade myself a C+ on this challenge. I put in more effort than I had been for the past several months, but I need to up the ante. I will create my new challenge here shortly and update the links in my signature. I am going to give myself credit for this challenge by adding a level, but I am not going to award any bonus to stats.

Better. Much better. The heat wave finally ended yesterday. Work is calming down. Thanks for checking in! Eating better. Started cooking at home. Went to the gym. Got in a few extra exercises already this week.

Week 1 Summary: Bad news first Well there was some good mixed in with the bad, but if I was grading myself, a 60% would be generous (better than a 0% at least). I only got 3 cardio points, only walked 3 days, and ate 4 treats... I saw improvement in my sleep schedule. I got out the foam roller and used it on 2 different occasions and felt great thereafter. Must continue. Also got addicted to a great book and read 400 pages between Friday evening & Saturday afternoon (better IMHO than a weekend of Netflix at least). A minor disclaimer: mitigating my underwhelming week was the fact that it was balls hot here in Michigan last week. Like 90-96 degrees every day (32-35C)... and humid... and it did not cool down much in the evenings, for the past 9 or 10 days now. Guys... I am a polar bear / yeti... I do not do well in this extreme heat and am anxious for fall to start up in earnest. Action plan: Make week 2 less weak (I only just barely resisted the temptation to replace "less weak" with "great again") - No treats Week 2 (to make up for doubling my allowance in week 1) - Walking every day at lunch (until I start getting up in mornings to do this) - Going to do a BBWW tonight - Going to shop for groceries tonight (on my way home from work) to start cooking at home more - Continue improving sleep (stay away from video games) - I am contemplating / experimenting with some intermittent fasting techniques

Weekend 0 summary: 2 weeks ago I got a Fitbit Blaze because I was interested in tracking my heart rate (during sleep, racquetball, etc). This past Saturday I think I blew its mind. I got in over 30,000 steps, over 14 miles of distance, and spent 4 hours with my heart rate over 130 bpm and another 4 hours between 100-130. It was like an all-day cardio-fest. Started with 2.5 hours of racquetball in the morning and then I went to a food-truck festival with a few buddies in the afternoon (lots of walking) and ended the day by going to an Irish Music Festival which meant more walking and some dancing / jumping around in the evening. Was a great weekend. Lots of sleep (as a data-nut, I really enjoy that it tracks sleep cycles too). Anyway, so today I still need to get out and so some walking this evening to hit goal 1. And I will keep goals 2 & 3 in mind as I go. I weighed in this morning at 253.8 lbs. and right around 27% body fat. Hope everyone is having a great Day 1!!!

Back to stalk

Awesome challenge DrFeelgood! Here to stalk & admire. Love the charts & data you rep.

I read this as I am literally eating an apple covered in peanut butter. I didn't even realize how real the hive-mind is until just now.

What the Doc said ^ ... #dreamjob

I stumble into the bar with clothing wet, ragged and torn. Flop heavily down onto barstool and lament to the tune of yon folk song... "I've been a wild rover for many a year and spent all me money on whiskey and beer. And now I'm returning with gold in great store, I never will play the wild rover no more." * Barkeep, I'll take a dram o' whiskey. "If I stop drinking all at once, I'm afraid the cumulative hangover would kill me." Ha, wiser words ne'er spake *

Thanks! Will hunt down your challenge in a bit. HEY!!! Thanks. Thanks Def. Always appreciated. Your support & smut always lifts my... spirits. MR. WILLES!!! Your energy... so good. Been loving the videos you have shared of your lifts on Insta!!! *Looking forward to stalking all y'all*

After a long hiatus, I am dragging myself back in here. Going to keep it simple to start. Nothing flashy. No theme. Just hard work, discipline, increased physical & forum activity. (#stalkmydoodlies) Long-term goal is to lose weight. Specifically, I am shooting to average losing 1 pound per week from now until I hit 18% body fat. In a rough estimate, I am guessing that will be near 225 pounds, so probably around April 1st, 2018. However, I will adjust my challenge specific goals to increase the intensity as needed to get me to my goal. History Goal 1: Be more active: Walk >20 Minutes Daily. Clean, simple, straight-forward. I have been doing this for almost 2 weeks now on my lunch breaks at work, and after building a habit plan to eventually transition this into a morning routine and add some light jogging (actually following a modified couch-to-2k, though my goal goes beyond that). Goal 2: Cardio Activity: 4+ points weekly (break-out in spoiler) Goal 3: Don't self-sabotage: I will allow myself 2 treats per week (includes desserts or drinks). If this is too much (for me to be hitting my goals) or I do not stay within my guided limit, I will cut both out 100% during next challenge. Reward (for staying at 2 or less & hitting weight goal): the number will stay at "2 per week" for next challenge. If I stay under 2 per week for the entire challenge but do not hit my weight-loss target, next challenge will be "1". If I go over 2, but still hit my targeted weight loss, I will drop this to "1". If I go over 2 and don't hit weight loss target, I'll go 4-weeks strictly without during next challenge. In the past, these are the few instances that significantly increase my average caloric intake. This is just a rough draft of my challenge, and I may tweak it over the next few days as I ponder it.

Scotty! So good to have you back! I consider myself lucky to be one of the "select few". I have fond memories of 2015 (many of which include you, Def, & the doodlies...) and some less fond memories (so many burpees). We'll get back there! I too have let myself slide and am working to rebuild positive momentum. I wish you much success on your journey & will be stalking you along the way.

I am alive! (Although the Doodlies know that because I have remained remotely active in the Yak's Head chat). I am back! (Well... currently undergoing resurrection, will be fully undead for next challenge) 1) Main Goal: Re-establishing habits. Starting with tomorrow morning, I am going to go on a ~30 minute walk, every morning between now and the start of next challenge. That is it. Next challenge I am not going to get too carried away. Starting (over) small, buildinating the habits. 2) Accountability: For me, just tracking my activity on a daily basis and knowing I am reporting it is encouragement and motivation. 3) PvP: I am interest in PvP. However, first I need to rebuild up my activity momentum (both physically & the regularity of my presence here). I will be tracking my daily walks for the next few weeks. When I start up my new challenge thread in ~2-3 weeks, I will post up how I did (ideally 21/21 days walking). I will also get better at checking out my fellow Doodlie's challenges for this upcoming challenge. I have been ghost on the forums for several challenges now (I was active most of 2015 & 2016, but not much in 2017). We still have a google-doc with links to everyone's threads? Or will we post them here-ish (for next challenge?) #Throwback - Was just reading the posts here... SCOTTY'S BACK?????????????????????????????????????? *holds breath in excitement & fantasizing about burpees & smut*

Invest the $125,000 and consider the interest "additional discretionary income for spending". So if I could earn a moderate return in the market each year, at 6% that would be about $7,500 of extra cash flow a year, or about $625 a month to spend. In good years, the return could be as high as 8-12%, so possibly as much as $1,250 a month. If the market took a dive, I would just let it sit there until it returned to its original value (which it always does eventually). Tell you what, an extra $600 a month to spend would feel great. That is a lot of dining out. Or a lot of dates. Or a lot of self-gifts. Or save up for 2-3 months and go on a trip out of the country. A lot of options and that is income I would have EVERY month to decide what to do with, forever, without ever deflating the principal (yeah yeah... inflation, I know).

Love the Rant. Plus all the loving you dropped on the Rebels today. I logged on to check a friend's thread an almost every Rebel thread on the first two pages was slammed with a "Miw_Sher" as most recent poster. Keep being awesome!!! (i.e. #notacouchprotester)

How was week 1? Your hubby told me this morning that he did "lots of gym" this week... (I poked him a bit earlier this week... didn't prod though. Just asked him about frequency of biking currently, and distance, and what the races were going to look like, etc.) I'm optimistic, nay, hopeful... that I shall be moving out that way this summer. Have had several chats with my boss about it over the past 3 months. Super excited. Going to drag all the guys to the gym with me (kicking & screaming). All the racquetball... maybe even get 1-2 of them interested in "Picking it up & setting it down." (*in my best Arnold impersonation voice*). You have been kicking @$$ on Duolingo over the past 2-3 months!!! I remember when I was out there around the holidays, we were almost at the same EXP point. I think that was early December. I have not done much over the past 3 months (other than possibly helping get you back into it... I remember you doing it before bed, late that night... It was playing to us down in the kitchen over the baby monitor, lol). And now you're like level >9000. #respect

#Spectating (for the 'yoga' remarks) GO BACON!!!

Firefly... (mic drop)

Tough choice between my eyes & my ass. Those are by far the most complimented features. I would say that I like my eyes better. Very dark blue outer ring, but they fade to a silvery middle (actually a mix of light blue, green, with a few orange or light brownish flecks). A little bit like a wolf's eyes (thinking the cool blue Husky eyes). But... I have been told I have a nice bubble butt too (curvy & proportionate).