AvitusXenoi

Date: 9/16/15 Week/Day: 1/1 SQ1: Intermittent Fast/Healthy lunch/healthy supper Did you complete your quest for today? Completed. IF schedule maintained. Had 2 pieces of tilapia and a salad for lunch and a pork chop with a salad for supper. I did get my hands on some pretzels and tortilla chips towards evening, but I didn’t go get a pack of cigarettes so I’ll not sweat it. Also I just had a handful of each; historically I eat the entire bag. If not, why? If so, write something senseless. Derdiddle fop bap skiddle daddle. SQ2: 5 days fatburny/3 days BBWWy Are you on track with your 5 days cardio goal? So far so good. If so, what was today’s workout like? Nothing too eventful. I hopped on an elliptical, set it for 45 minutes and did the fat burning interval course. I read a short story called “The Universe Doesn’t Give a Fuck About You†as I went. Funny stuff and inspired. With cool down I was there for 50 minutes. If you missed your 5 day goal this week, why? How about BBWW? Are you on track to hit 3 days this week? Tomorrow is my first BBWW of the challenge Any problems you should address? My right knee felt just a little bit wonky on the elliptical, I’ll keep an eye on it. I still have a bit of a cold that seems to come back as soon as I think it’s gone. Just a sore throat today, but hopefully it just leaves me alone soon. LQ: Tracking Spending Did you track all spending today and type it into your template? Yep What did you buy that you didn’t need? Some food with no redeeming nutritional value. Are you learning anything new about your spending habits? Not yet. Today’s lesson seemed to be that when I am hungry I want to eat the whole store. What’s something that made you smile today? A guest at work came up and told me like 5 dirty jokes while I was trying to change a ballast in a light. None of them were very funny but he was all extroverty and friendly I had to smile at the effort. He had a toddler with him and kept having to lean in and whisper punch lines. I can’t really fathom walking up to a stranger and saying “ya wanna hear a dirty joke?!â€

Second Challenge: The first challenge taught me plenty. I rocked the first three weeks, fell in the mud during week four and then got sick, while still squandering in the mud, for the remainder of the challenge. This is why I opted not to take the level 2; I didn’t feel I earned it. I was overzealous in my vision and need to remind my self that I’m just trying to get to level TWO here, not get the ultimate weapons or strut off to die in the Omega Ruins. For this reason I have limited myself to two SQs, one diet and one fitness, as well as a life quest. Staying away from drinking isn’t specifically a quest, but it is a must-do or I WILL fail. So it just goes without saying. I did fine abstaining at first until my willpower depleted from filling my day to the top with challenge activities; I felt I had not time to just enjoy being alive. Definitely approaching this challenge with a stronger emphasis on seeking FUN in the quest. There’s a reason I don’t crank up the difficulty in Skyrim until my character can handle himself in the shadows, someday I hope to join the assassins as it were J So: more flexible goals, less gung ho, and make a point to enjoy the game. Main Quest: This has been altered from my previous challenge. Initially my main quest was to achieve 10% body fat by May 18, 2016. After looking at some of the pictures I would like to up it to 15% body fat. I’m not auditioning for fight club, this would make me proud. Smart Quest 1: Sumo wrestlers are from Japan, but they can’t put on black pajamas and call themselves ninjas. Smart quest one involves intermittent fasting 8/16, continuing on from the second half of my last challenge. My feed window will be from noon to 8pm. This one is easy for me to follow and therefore goes in the basket for bonus weight loss. Results are motivating. I’ll be bringing lunch to work and it will mainly consist of fresh greens and protein. I can usually grab an apple or banana from the kitchen at work, but I will buy fruit if I find I’m not getting enough. Just trying to save cash, but that’ll be my life quest. Supper is to be veggie/protein/fat oriented and generally paleo, but not being a nazi about this. Grading of this quest will be as follows: Each successful IF and healthy meal will count as a point with a potential of however many meals turn out to be in the 6 week window. Stats awarded on a direct success percentage. Perfect score will result in +3 Constitution and +2 Stamina, each stat being individually calculated based on the final numbers Smart Quest 2: Keep those muscles awake. This is the fitness portion, but I will not be going overboard seeking gains since this challenge is primarily a weight loss/cutting challenge. I purchased a gym membership today (on my walk home from work, two blocks from home) and will do cardio at a medium intensity 5 days per week with a minimum 45 minute time. The idea is targeting my pace for fat burning, so I’m not doing very intense workouts that require rest days. Just maintaining a healthy level of activity and chipping away at the flab. I am not concerned about precisely which 5 days a week I make it to the gym as long as I make it five. In addition to my gym time I will continue doing the BBWW at home 3 days per week, but listening close to my body so as not to overdo it. Obviously I won’t be gaining muscle while running a cutting program, so I’m not trying to push it really hard with this but rather maintain where I am and ensure my muscles are ready to work when I focus on strength at a later challenge. Perhaps the next one, depending on the results I get this time. Scoring will be like my SQ1, a direct percentage of potential stat points based on the number of possible workouts. Any week I do not show up at the gym for my 5 days will result in an addition dock of 1 point per workout missed, with a potential of 6 unbonus points if I really suck. This way I can’t do 4 days one week and 6 days the next so it balances out my lack of effort. I might be sneaky like that. Perfect score for this quest will result in +3 Stamina and +2 Strength. Life Quest: You can only buy this many potions with this many Gil. My life quest will involve tracking ALL of my spending in order to collect data for a budget. I am terrible about swiping my debit card and quickly losing track of where I’m at. This doesn’t lead to overdrafts but it does lead to being penniless for a week until I get paid. Continuing to abstain from drinking and smoking will help IMMENSELY in that regard, but I really want to take charge of my finances. I turned 30 this year and have no savings whatsoever. I am a minimalist and Spartan about a lot of things, I don’t even own a pillow because I can ball up my fluffy bathrobe and then it’s there when I wake up during chilly winter mornings. Why pillow? I don’t own a bed because my loveseat has a pull-out sleeper that works great seeing as I am luck enough to have no back problems. It was free. I don’t own a blanket (okay, the two my mom crocheted me when I was little because Mom) but I have a quality sleeping bag that is worth the money if I don’t just use it for camping a few times a year. I can wander through Walmart with a thousand dollars and not see a single thing I want bad enough to buy. The point of this is I am generally simple in my wants but I am so airheaded about my money that I still manage to not save any largely due to bad habits. Most of it is blown on food that is killing me, booze that I drink alone as I read awesome books, and cigarettes that tricked my brain into wanting. I someday want to get set up with a tiny house on a tiny chunk of land as a solution to the cost-of-housing trap. With the money I make this will require being clever with money, not apathetic towards it. Back to the Life Quest. I will track my spending by always asking for a receipt or writing down what it was and what it cost if no receipt is available. I’ll type this up in a running log on my PC. Because of my cheap healthy-as-can-be-had-cheaply diet I really won’t have cause to buy much beyond necessities. The main point of this is data collection, tracking spending is the sort of math I knew by kindergarten. It is a tool, use it. My grading on this is not about being money whiz by the end, but making a habit of always knowing how many financial hit points I have. I’ll create a template for my battle log that addresses each quest (stealing your pragmatism, Bouncer) and each day it will ask if I’ve tracked my spending clean. Stat gain will be a direct percentage of possible days with all spending tracked. Perfect score results in +5 Wisdom. Motivation: My first challenge started strong and ended weak, but it proved to me that I have a hell of a lot more potential if I am engaging with my life instead of just letting the candle burn itself out. My big sister got inspired by my efforts and is now setting up to quit smoking herself; that’s awesome. My motivation is that I CAN DO THIS, but it’s like learning any new thing; learn it step by step. Master goal-setting and goal attaining becomes more likely. Don’t read self help books, write them with my life. Don’t wish for experiences, build a mind and body that actively creates them. I went back to my hometown and my college town during my road trip (that’s why I’m starting two days late, just getting resettled) and it really showed me the power of time. All will change, all does constantly, but I have the CHOICE to steer my little ship on the currents it gives me. My motivation is to feel that I am no longer being swallowed up by life, but am savoring it with alertness and intent. Thanks again to the nerdfitness community. I am sorry if I don’t interact as much as I might but having no internet access at home makes fumbling with my phone tend towards short interactions that I don’t want to come across as thoughtless. I will try to make more time to find a PC lab to show that I’m doing more than clicking ‘like’ on your journey as the easiest way to show my support.

Game officially on for me today. challenge info all typed up, will transfer from jumpdrive to an internetified PC after work.

Any plans for the new challenge? I'm coming in a few days late on Wednesday but you had my back during my cherry challenge, just making sure ya didn't give up on ffx just because chocobo racing is the tart sweat of the devil's armpits. I'm as much of a wallflower in forums as i am in auditoriums, but please don't think I'm not cheering you on over here by the exit sign! Oh, and I found this 'woosh' outside, the one you wanted soon; you dropped it on your way out of the house.

Back from vacation tomorrow to begin 2nd challenge. starting late, ending late. I'm heading to adventurers and looking forward to some positive change.

I'm on a road trip so I'll be starting and finishing a day behind. placeholder for goalification...check

I have to update this for the record. I've been doing most of my posting on my battle log since I fell into disarray 3 days into week 4. It seems changing up my goals to much mid challenge completely threw my rhythm. Two bad days led to bad attitude, led to poor performance across the board, and then I got sick on the 30th which, until the last two days, has put everything but my IF at a standstill. I am happy that I did so well the first 3 weeks, it proved to me that I can do this. I am, however, not ascending to level 2. It just isn't warranted. Just barely making it out of a dungeon alive doesn't mean you're ready to go back in and fight Ultima Weapon. I still have work to do at level 1. What have I learned? My next challenge is going to have one less goal. I felt that this challenge took over my whole life sometimes. Prepping meals is definitely in my future, that and seeing to it that the dishes are always done. I also came up with the idea of a lifesaver list. A list of fun diversions from coloring to walking, just a good long list with variety so that when I start feeling stuck and despondent I can pick something from the list as a healthy distraction that tries to stir up a little fun. Fun. Next challenge: have more fun. I was checking of my goals every day but I felt busy, rushed. I started burning out. I also want to make the room I work out in more asskicky. It's pretty well barren now with a rubbermaid tote and my dumbells. Need something on the walls that reminds me why I'm there. My next challenge will focus more on weight loss. I was definitely not clear on that this challenge and it showed. Still keeping at the bbww, but also running a defecit and doing appropriate cardio. It will motivate me to see results. It's disappointing to miss my target, but I'll be respawing into adventurers for the next one. Many thanks to all of you who cheered me on; I'll do better by you next time.

Great news at work, got a quality raise that should add up to a couple hundred buck extra every month. very heartening. with my upcoming busget goal this could set me on a path a lil faster. Another good thing about the raise that I got is that it comes with new responsibilities. They are basically trying to get me prepared for more of a leadership role. I was chief engineer of one property but now two. My boss oversees all 14 properties in our corporation and is a stellar dude. They want me to work on delegation, planning and leadership skills generally. This is all good fodder for future life questing. I am introverted enough where leading doesn't strongly appeal, I prefer more self oriented work, but I'd also like to buy an acre or 2 of land someday. This is a potential path to that. It requires me to pursue self growth personally as well as professionally. Good motivation. I already calculated that if I put aside the value of my raise for 5 years it's almost $15,000. That sounds like a down payment to me. Or a nice used RV and we can skip the acres..."I'd like to live in Yosemite this summer." Hmmm...

Most of the snot appears to be out of my head, nose blowing now is a half hourly event that still suggests my sinuses have vaulted ceilings. My right ear is plugged too which is interesting to me because I've never experienced it before in this way. Sounds aree muffled until there happens to be a loud sound which makes crazy feedbacky sounds. No crazy headache or aches n pains, just that wheezy snot lung cough and a general lethargy. IF has been no prob last 4 days. I tried getting as much rest as i could during my days off. Hoping to have this wrapped up soon.

Still sick today, just wiped out. lungs fulla phlegm, right ears all plugged and just generally wiped out. smeagol is goin crazy cause he can't go outside without me but I'm staying inside today. Work tomorrow hopefully the rest heals me up over night. blarg.

It's been a dungeonous fortnight. I did discover I can now do 14 pushups, that was vindicating. One week left and I would rather not be ashamed so I'll just slap myself upside the head in a friendly "you know better, dumbass" way and consider what's next. I've been sick for two days, there is a gallon if snot where my brain used to be. Hopefully that wraps up soon, I slept from 8:30 last night to 7am and it felt like 4 hours. Managed my IF the past few days, trying to ramp up water and speed my immune system. Definitely not doing my bbww tomorrow if i feel this way. We'll see. I do have my goals lined up for next challenge but i may be starting a week late depending on when it lands. Got a roadtrip comin up. "Balls!" cried the queen, and the king laughed because he had to.

Just starting to consider future goals. I will for sure continue with body weight training, but other than that I think I'll just go with a diet goal that includes a fruit, veg, and protein with each meal. a life quest of managing my money. fewer quests. try to have more fun instead of feeling like its all about not failing.

I've been following you from the start and really loving your steadfast, samwise spirit. Your progress reflects your focus and commitment; it's inspiring and kickass. If you were vegan I suspect you could punch the highlights out of somebody's hair. It was really enlightening for me to read that your bbww sets take you 15 minutes. I've been cranking them out as fast as I can and probably been failing myself by doing so. I generally finish my circuit in 25 minutes or so. Based on your kickassery I will slow my roll and see how it developes. Well done Fatal. Perhaps in the quiet week between this challenge and the next your music will have time to surface.

It's starting to smell like respawn in here. Did awesome the first three weeks but this just keeps getting sloppier. to a point where I don't think I've earned level two nor could I with perfect performance for the remainder. My routine shattered when I tried changing to IF, followed by my attitude, and I think a regroup is required. I know how well I did the first half but it seemed like I took on too much. The entire day seemed filled, the challenge was all encompassing. Taking on smoking was big, using fitness to get through it helped. Trying to come up with a smaller-steps method for the next challenge so I don't end up feeling overwhelmed. Dust off, I can respawn.