RogueLibrarian

Look, there's a reason I barely noticed the "ten weeks" notification on my phone app, but I was damn sure to get screenshots of the day before. Thanks! I feel great. Haven't decided what the long-term alcohol policy will be. I'm staying California sober until after my bloodwork in a couple of months, and then we'll see. I think ideally I'll probably stick to a "one on special occasions" policy.

(I need to catch up on everyone else's week 1 posts later today)

That's mindfulness, though! Don't have to force anything, just notice what's there and notice your responses. (I'm really good at coaching mindfulness and really bad at not beating myself up for "doing it wrong" myself) This sounds like a very good plan. This sounds awesome. I really love your videos with the commentary subtitles.

Hey! Good to see you again I will need more than a few hours to get ready. I have some self-defense moves (we call them "one-steps") that I haven't learned yet, because we didn't work on them at all during home video lessons. I've been told a lot to work combos faster, but for some reason that was the day it actually clicked how fast I need to be attacking. Mostly because my opponents were all a lot faster than me. I was encouraged that my instructor was nudging more new people to join sparring, because I'm fully outclassed by the current crop Hey, you know that saying, the best time was a year ago (or whatever), but the second best time is now! Okay, so I did not go to kickboxing on Saturday because my muscles were just all protesting, and my bum knee was starting to feel like it was going to annoy me. I decided to listen and give myself a few extra recovery days. So today I'm back on the routine for reals. Karate tonight (regular technique class, not sparring), weights/cardio at the gym tomorrow. Tomorrow's gym scheduling is going to be a little tricky since I have two classes/webinars to present tomorrow, but I will make it work. OH! And ETA: Over the weekend I hit 69 days since my last alcoholic drink.

I would not be able to do cardio in a mask. I've just been making sure that I've got enough space around me when I hit the machine. And it'll be cool enough for outdoor running soon! Yep! I call it New Year's in August.

Back from afternoon gym break. Weight workout was great, and I'm making steady progress. I wish I'd discovered weights long before this, but the second best time is now, right? Also a good elliptical workout with a Zombies Run mission, and my pace is improving! My work gym is still more crowded than I'd like, but we're only three weeks into the semester and I expect enthusiasm will wane as time goes on and the crowds will thin out a little. I wore a mask while doing weights, and the elliptical machine next to me was empty so I felt okay going maskless.

One of my oldest friends, and we're both kicking our own aging asses back into shape after a period of idleness. We've agreed to be each other's motivation buddies whenever needed! Hi! Glad to see you too! The good thing about a schedule this active is that if something comes up during the week and I can't get it all in, I've still got a good number of workouts. I'm keeping to it as long as I can maintain the momentum -- probably not indefinitely? Last night after karate class I dreamed I was getting a massage and damn did that ever sound good to my aching muscles after an hour of kicking.

I had a really good karate class last night. We're doing swing kicks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFLhJSTXw9E) which are one of the most difficult ones we learn, and I am ... not a natural at them. But nobody is. And I was a lot better by the end of class than I was at the beginning. Test in about three and a half weeks! I have some stuff to work on.

Here for it! This sounds like such a delightful challenge. I'll need tattoo pictures please. (I too have a sleeve in progress and can't wait to get more ink.) You. You go sit down.

I did not want to go to sparring class last night. I'm still readjusting to it after a year and a half off, I'm the lowest belt (least skilled) in sparring right now, and I was tired after my first day of work after a four-day weekend. So I texted a friend as I was leaving work and told him that I didn't want to go to karate class, but I needed to tell someone that I was going so that I'd be accountable to go. I instructed him to give me a hard time about it if I didn't text him after class and tell him that I'd gone. So I went to class! I enjoyed it and learned a lot this week despite (*because of) getting beaten up by small teenage girls. I am really ready for some new, less experienced students to start sparring.... Tonight: regular (non-sparring) karate class. Tomorrow, weights and cardio.

HI BUDDY

Our gym also does kickboxing, which is how I started there. After a couple of years of eyeing karate classes out of the corner of my eye I decided to try it, and wish I had done it sooner! Honestly, just because it's the style that was popularized by American teachers who learned in Japan mid-century after WW2. I should probably know more than that. I almost have enough pieces together to start with some test pictures. Soon! It is! And really fun. It feels like swinging a weapon around and it burns off stress like nobody's business. It does not look like that when I do it.

Thanks! I can really get retested any time I want, but I've decided I'm going to go in November before the holiday eating really gets going. Costume progress photos will be shared as they arise. Very much like Shovelglove. I have a 7-lb and a 10-lb; I use the 10lb but was glad I started with the 7. It's a lot harder than just lifting that amount of weight, since you're swinging it and controlling its movement.

My school does what they just call "American Karate" -- there are fiddly things that distinguish it from other karate styles, but I can't ever keep track of what they are. It's the only martial art I've ever studied. I've been doing it for something like three years and I'm a blue belt. Our progression goes white/gold/green/purple/blue/red/brown/black, and most colors have three ranks (beginner/middle/advanced), so I'm pretty close to right in the middle of the ladder. (Progress slows down significantly once you get near the top; I will not be a black belt in three years.)

So glad I'm here to hear about this. Seriously, a huge huge part of mental health treatment is just ... patience while you let yourself adapt to new drugs. Therapy helps with this!

So glad to see you on the forums again! This will be fun. Thanks man! I feel very positive about it. When I last got checked out, I had been very sedentary and had just started back to the gym. I was also one room away from my fridge 24 hours a day. I think I'm going to kill it if I can keep on my current trajectory. In fairness, I am very old and have had lots of time, practice and failures getting to this point This is a thing! I'm really, really psyched about it. Hi! Glad to have you aboard! Yeah bud! Good to see you. I was staff on that one (and will be again in the spring) and it went great. This one is no work and all play for me. SO LET'S HAVE A WEEK 0 CHECK-IN I took a four-day weekend for Labor Day, no regrets. Got a kickboxing class in as usual on Saturday (Ms. Rogue and I do that together as our regular thing). Monday is usually karate class, but no class due to the holiday. It was (just barely) cool enough to do an outdoor mace workout, which felt great! Today (Tues) I'm going to sparring class after work. I have to have four sparring classes to qualify for my next belt test (testing for advanced blue belt), and this will be #3. Sparring still intimidates me somewhat; I had gotten to a pretty good place with it before pandemic, but then ... *points at everything* I took a year and a half off so I'm re-acclimating. It'll be good though. I'm always glad when I go. Tomorrow is regular karate class (technique etc), and I'll do weights & cardio at the work gym on Thursday.

okay what now HI! How great to see you! This is an amazing ambitious challenge and I can't wait to hear how it goes. I have done therapy for years (generalized anxiety disorder) and it can really be great! See if this helps: You're paying someone so they have to listen to you no matter what you decide to show up and talk about, and they can't leave or tell you to shut up.

Hello, gang -- it's been a while since I've done a challenge! I have a very active fitness regimen these days. Honestly, my routine is a lot more Monk + Warrior than anything else, but my heart is always going to be with the Assassins. Here's what my routine's like: Martial arts class twice a week Weights and cardio twice a week Kickboxing once a week Yoga twice a week Daily meditation ...that's a lot. I've been doing pretty well keeping it going. Surprisingly, the one where I tend to fall down on the job is the yoga, but I want to keep that in the mix because it helps with the workout soreness, and flexibility is becoming increasingly important in karate class. My main goal this challenge is to just keep this going at a steady pace. This year I was diagnosed prediabetic (I have some family risk factors) and I will retest my blood levels in November. I have made changes to my diet, amped up my workout routine since then, and mostly cut added sugar out of my diet. I haven’t had a drink of alcohol in two months. I had a really good realization about my weight recently. I’ve lost a few pounds since coming out of full-time WFH and going back to the gym, and I was aiming for a goal weight that I’d hit a couple of years ago. I have realized that when I was at that low weight I was in a pretty bad mental health place, and I was probably unhealthily underweight. So I’ve stopped aiming for it. I think I’m at a good healthy weight now, and my weight goal is just to maintain where I am, reshape my belly a little if I can (always!) and if I put on some muscle weight that’s even better. I just bought three pair of pants and a shirt to fit my current size. Fun stuff: In the last year I have discovered that I *love* steel mace workouts. It feels like swinging a weapon, and it’s such a fun way to do strength workouts. Unfortunately I don’t have a good indoor space to do them (without risking a lamp or window), and the weather here in Georgia has been way too hot for outdoor exercise … until this week when we suddenly have morning temperatures in the sixties F. So I’m going to find an adjustment to my routine that includes some mace time. I have registered for a “legally distinct from Star Wars” LARP next summer (Starfall Academy) that includes lightsaber combat classes from pro trainers. I am working on a costume for that and one of my side quests is to start some sewing for a hooded tunic I’m going to make. I have registered for a Halloween 5K run with a couple of friends that takes place in a historic cemetery. We are going as a Loki/Thor variant group. (I’m going to wear horns, a Glorious Purpose t-shirt and a bi pride pin as my costume.)

I had my first video class with the kids today, and it went great. Was not weird, felt more like a regular karate class than anything I've done in months.

I did not have a productive weekend. No goal progress to speak of. My weight loss is going well, though! 3 lbs left to hit my goal milestone.

Good resolution! I had a come to Jeebus talk with my karate instructor last night. Results: 1) we're moving our regular one-on-one night to a day when he'll have fewer problems and conflicts, and 2) I'm joining the juniors (teenagers) Zoom class once a week so I'll get an additional day of training every week. (Unspoken benefit: even if he flakes out on me again I'll still have a training day.)

Yep. He's getting the Dad Voice now.

Karate teacher didn't show up for my lesson last night. It was my last straw, and I sent him a pissed-off text. He apologized and promised to call me today to make a training plan. We'll see how that goes. Instead, I went for a run last night and did some yoga this morning.

Right??? In non-fitness news, a friend has been running a remote weekly D&D game since the start of the pandemic, and we're close to wrapping the campaign. We're making him a thank-you package with a dungeon master t-shirt and a custom-made mini -- we're debating whether to get one of him as the DM, or one of the campaign's villain.

Hi gang! I'm a little behind on updates, as usual. Weight is doing pretty well. Last I checked, I'm stable at 5lbs lost (another 5 to go). I did eat like a pig last night since Ms. Rogue made amazing homemade lasagna. Over the weekend, I ran EIGHT kilometers without a walk break. Before starting this training, my PR was 5km or so. I'm starting to think I can make it to ten for the race in a month. Took kickboxing class yesterday evening, and I definitely need to add push-ups to my regular routine again. I was making good progress on them for a while, and I've let it slip and I can tell a big difference. Not making a lot of headway on the writing goal; need to assess and revise the plan. Today is yoga/rest/walk.