ninjakitten

Oh fellow Canadian! Hello! 😄 Different province, though. I think we're currently pretending it's not all that bad. Sounds like a super busy weekend. I hope at least the accident won't be too much of a headache. Those things always happen when you're in the wrong headspace for dealing with it. (I'd absolutely see how much it's going to cost first though.)

Not that it's going to help you in any way when you're feeling kind of low in the moment, but I think being able to keep up these routines despite that is something to be really proud of. I hope you are.

Nothing revolutionary here, but I have a reminder about 30 minutes before I intend to go to bed and it helps me a lot more than I ever anticipated. I guess it depends on why you go to bed later than planned. I just get really caught up in the things I'm doing and forget time, so even it's so simple, it helps me a lot. What you wrote about your rats and building things for them reminded me so much about building things for my hamster back in the day. (A lot of the stuff being sold back then was truly horrible, so in a way it was almost required, but it was something I really loved about keeping them at the same time.) So I hope you got to make a few more great memories with your pets as well. 💚

I don't know what gave you that idea. I think there's space for family drama in your average rom-com, too. That's the hardest part of growing anything from seed. I can never get rid of them and end up with way too many. You can do it though! Don't be a plant hoarder like me.

The question is if that is a popular genre right now. Maybe you need to put some Step-Anything into that. Step-Customer. 🙃 Just for the search engine. I love the new title though. Will they use sourdough starter instead of massage oil? Lactic acid is supposedly quite good for the skin. Also I hope your next week will be easier. 💚

I might have a look around in some of the old challenges. But I really love the idea of adding some photos here and there. Maybe I'll give that a shot. 💚 And of course the black cat gifs. There seem to be a lot of fitting ones... Part of the reason I wanted to start again is because I annoyed everyone else with the diet/fitness talk. So I get that. I'm not really sure how to deal with the repetitive nature of this yet, so I don't really now what I want to turn this thread into. But I appreciate all your input. It did help a lot. 💚 Thank you Shello. 💚 Reading that made me wonder a bit if part of my problem is not really the challenge format, but that compared to last year everything has just gotten a lot slower when it comes to progress. The closer I get to a normal weight the slower the progress in that area. And even fitness... The first couple of months you always make progress so much faster than later on. Maybe I just have to deal with it. But it is something that didn't even cross my mind before. So thank you a lot for the input. No worries. Lectures are good sometimes. I do blame a lot of my bad habits when it comes to quitting tasks because I find them boring on having inattentive ADHD (used to be called ADD, no hyperactivity here). But I shouldn't use it as an excuse really. I cope with it quite well at work and with household chores, but when it comes to other activities in my free time I find it a lot harder. But obviously working on your health isn't just a hobby. Maybe I just need to reframe it a bit for myself. Choose to be bored. 😄 I think it will take me a moment...

Strongly encouraging it is then. Sounds like there is a high chance of success. 😄 As someone who is stuck just a couple of pounds away from their goal since forever, I absolutely understand that. I am quite sure I am self-sabotaging too. Aside from the obvious that I am trying to remind myself of, namely that I am doing it for myself so ruining it is frankly quite stupid, for a while I focused more on other fitness goals. A lot of them will come with some weight loss anyway. Not sure if any of that even applies to you, but it is something I've been thinking a lot about recently. Without any real success yet.

Just another proof that you can truly do anything if you set your mind to it! (I think people who like to care for their little plant babies a lot though quite often overwater those guys. I absolutely see how you could kill it.)

Just a joke. I was always the kid that needed... strong encouragement to even just attend school. 😅 I'm sure if not already, eventually it will be very much appreciated. (Also super successful yet again. You'll crush that 250 goal soon.)

So my options are making it so hard that I cannot stick to anything (avoiding the boring successful challenge) and fill my logs with more whining OR gifs? I know what to do now!!! Thank you. 🖤 Thank you snarky! I'll admit I was being quite selfish and just thinking of me when it came to complaining to how boring it all is. But I'm still very glad to hear that I didn't bore you (yet).

I don't really know what to say... I thought echinacea are basically 'bullet-proof' (although they do quite poorly in 'rich' soil, so fertilizer might be one way to off them). But then I have a peace lily in my living room and many people say it's THE beginner plant (we have a lot of plants and many of them are on the more 'difficult' side), but for some reason the peace lily hasn't flowered in ages and is looking incredibly pathetic. I guess it's just not meant to be. 😅 Well done! I get the hate for vinca. In general I don't like plants that spread too easily. Just so much work to keep them in check. Maybe with the exception of woodland phlox (don't ask me why I like those better than vinca, it makes little sense). But as I don't have a garden currently, there's no reason to worry about that. 😄

Wednesday May 12th #1 - I stuck to my goal but ate the worst food I could find, so for most of the day I was hungry. 😅 Was that a good plan? Probably not. Would I do it again? I want to say no, but... #2 - No running. I almost wanted to because I was feeling quite restless. But I don't think my knee would do all that well with the extra day just yet. #3 - Back on track with the stretching routine. --- I'm putting myself to sleep with these write-ups. I'm considering to change something so I don't quit before week one is even up, but I'm not sure what to change just yet.

Those look amazing! 💚 We always had herbs planted next to lavender as well. That or echinacea. But last year I saw someone had planted alliums with them and I really loved that too. I don't know how long they are in bloom, I assume it's only early summer. But it was so pretty. (There's a good chance they mainly chose them because they're supposedly deer resistant though.)

No need to try and save my enormous ego. 😅 I am mostly glad I just somehow made it. It was either do it in those eight weeks or fail the program. BUT it really wasn't all that good. The eight weeks included research. Not just the writing. 😂 Whinging about projects that take so long is absolutely normal though. Especially once you come close to the end and see all those areas where you could still do so much more. As I said, I'm not the role model here so it's not like I'm speaking from experience, but I got the feeling that without deadlines most papers would never see the light of day. You'd just have people working on the details till they retire. So just make the best of it. As I said, it sounds like you're doing a great job. 💚

Ah, makes sense. Back in the day when I painted more I used to prep canvas with white gesso mostly (although I think they tend to offer at least colours like black and grey as well). But making sure you cover every little spot obviously would be so much harder on a 3D model. It's quite common to then tone your canvas with a light layer of colour, though. The traditional options are burnt umber and yellow ochre I believe (not that it really matters, but they tend to be good for a 'natural' look). To tone you mix your paint with solvent till it's more like ink, so it should be much easier to get into all the little areas... I wonder how well it would work. I've never done anything like painting miniatures, but I find it quite interesting. So thank you for sharing.

But it's great you're taking your time! (I wrote my Master's thesis when I was really depressed and put it off so long that I effectively had... 8 weeks or so to finish everything and panic attacks. 😅 Do not recommend. Even though I somehow passed and it wasn't even that bad. But years later I'm still constantly thinking about how it could have been amazing instead.) And you're even doing all that other stuff on the side! It honestly sounds like you're doing an awesome job!

Tuesday May 11th #1 - I was a bit over my goal. I was about to claim I wasn't, just based on calories burned during exercise, but I never account for them on the individual days. Just making excuses. 🙃 But no worries, I didn't waste calories on anything nutritious. (I cannot even spell nutritious without help it seems. So I'm safe on that front.) #2 - Done. I have to remember to wear my knee brace though. Otherwise I'll need a new goal soon. I'd say I put it in some obvious spot to make it easier, but I'm the type of person to skip the part of a letter printed in red and all caps, just to go straight to the fine print. Missing key points along the way. 😅 Maybe I should try hiding it instead. #3 - No stretching. I kept putting it off. Until there was no more time to put it off or to stretch.

You're living the life and I am admittedly a bit jealous. A shelf in your fridge dedicated to everything pickled and awesome is the dream. 😄 (If you liked the pickled carrots and turnip/daikon, I usually add them to this sandwich which I seem to link everywhere and it is amazing. Surprisingly there is also no peanut butter this one time.) I really tried to come up with a pickle themed equivalent, but I'll be honest. I'm not creative and it's kind of hard. Chad has at least that going for him... I'm sure his manager would be proud. (I could also imagine that his manager is his wife.) Tartar sauce cucumbers? Or go an all different way and have a recipe for kvass and call it a bread-based kombucha... Anyway, my take away is that I am not meant to be an author. I agree. 😐 It might be better not to have a theme in this case. My grandparents were similar I suppose. It's the reason my mom just avoids anything that reminds her of canned veggies from the garden, pickled veggies, etc. 😄 I love all of it. But I didn't get tortured with it as a kid, so... If what is said in the video is correct, cheese on sweet dessert type of foods is a thing in the Philippines... So maybe instead of crazy, you are just cultured Shello. (Also hope for you to have so few migraines that tracking them won't even be worth it anymore. 💚)

I'm curious, why wouldn't you prime with white again? Also do you mix most of your colours for this? Trying to mix 1000 shades of blue does sound exhausting. Maybe buying them would be worse though. Unless maybe you do the Picasso thing and just say it is the start of your blue period.

Not there yet at all here, but what I find weirdest about the idea of going back to office in a more "normal" way is oddly enough the idea of being in an elevator with other people. 😅 Maybe the pandemic will bring me lasting fitness success by making me walk the stairs more often. (That lunch looks amazing though.)

Someone else who likes weighing themselves daily. I know it's not for everyone but I love having all the extra data. 💚 It also made me more relaxed about my weight fluctuating a lot. Also great for getting back on track so fast. I think those off days really just matter if we let them get to us and don't just get back to it right away. Even though it can be hard. (Because chipotle chicken mac and cheese really sounds good. 😅)

They cannot have too much unfortunately (it is a lot of sugar for such small critters I suppose), but it is hilarious and absolutely worth doing. I do find I am a bit slow for sketching outside, too. BUT it is the one thing I am kind of interested in at the moment. Maybe it's being stuck at home so much. But I love the idea of getting to a point where maybe I could do some quick sketches whenever it is that we are allowed to travel again. Also why don't you give ink a shot? I'll admit I found it a bit scary at first, because I thought I'll just instantly ruin my sketches and cannot erase anything, but it's been a favourite for a long time now. Partly because you don't need to take a whole lot of things with you. Lazy people reasons. 😅

I cannot be the only one who always tells this to everyone else because I know it is true... And then completely freak out when the scale doesn't move even though it should, because common sense is out of the window when it comes to my own progress. 😅 Yesterday's Shello is a hero! 💚

Those are great options. I sometimes make some kind of breakfast "burrito", with spinach, eggwhite, chicken, whatever else I have and lots of hot sauce. If you want to keep up the fruit for breakfast thing though, cottage cheese is quite good (I tend to go for the 1% fat one and I believe it's 15g of protein for 90cal). If it's available were you shop, Skyr is quite similar when it comes to protein content and there might be more interesting flavours. Or low fat quark. Not so much for breakfast maybe (I'd be too lazy to prepare anything with it at least), but a great vegetarian option with lots of protein is also seitan. If you can eat gluten at least. Depends on the brand but I think on average the calories are a bit higher than they are for tofu BUT the protein content is a lot higher, too.

Of all the pets my family kept throughout the years, rabbits and horses were the only ones going crazy for bananas. I cannot even tell why it's so funny to me that it is those two, maybe just the slight difference in size. 😅 Also the area you walked in looks so nice. Do you ever go out to sketch?