LivingDeadGirl

Saturday's Battle Log 2/11/2017 Diet Breakfast: 1 cup milk Lunch: 4 chicken breast chunks, green beans, 1/2 roll, 1 glass lemonade Snacks: 2 cups Koolaid, 1 cup sweet tea Dinner: grilled porkchops, handfull of potato chips Fitness Exercise: None Life None Cosplay Gave away some unneeded cosplay items (wigs, fabrics, old Renfair garb) Started on Codex's dress End Result: Another hectic day in which I spent it running around and trying to clean out my home (trying to get rid of old costumes/accessories and comics) It was somewhat successful, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. The process took longer than expected and not as much time was devoted to sewing as I had hoped. I'm happy with the dress so far, despite the choice of fabric turning out to be considerably thinner than I expected. It'll be a bit of a challenge to get the volume that I want from the skirt, but it is a lovely fabric. So soft! Sunday's Battle Log 2/12/2017 Diet Breakfast: 1 cup milk Lunch: McDonald's McChiken w/o bread, Filet-O-Fish w/o bread, 1/2 mocha frappe Snacks: None Dinner: Pot Roast with carrots, onions, potatoes Fitness Exercise: 2 hours / 4 miles hiking Life None Cosplay Repleated Codex's skirt End Result: I'm very good at covering up my social anxiety (thanks to several years of theater) but once I'm at a breaking point, I feel completely... devoid of life. Struggles with depression are nothing new, and it's why I try (and multitask) so hard to keep myself distracted and forced to busy myself with the things that do make me happy. I really wasn't feeling like doing anything at all, but this was the start of my 4-Week Challenge. I didn't want to start off on a bad foot, so I trekked my mopey self up to the mountain. It wasn't enjoyable, but the Valentine's Week PokemonGO event was enough to take my mind off of more depressing things.

Thursday's Battle Log 2/9/2017 Diet Breakfast: 1.5 cup of coffee Lunch: 4 CK sushi*, 4 kimono sushi*, edamane, 1 strawberry mochi, 1.5 glasses of Pepsi Snacks: 2 cups Koolaid Dinner: 2 eggs, breakfast sausaged sweeted with a tablespoon of maple syrup Fitness Exercise: None Life Studied 20 minutes Spanish Cosplay None End Result: Eh. *CK recipe = spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, eel sauce Kimono = shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, topped with crab and spicy mayo Friday's Battle Log 2/10/2017 Diet Breakfast: Lunch: 2 Taco Bell double decker tacos, 2 cinnabon delights, 1 mountain dew Snacks: 1 cup milk Dinner: Beef taco salad, 2 slices of Walmart cheesecake, 2 cups Koolaid Fitness Exercise: 2 hour walk Life Took a personal day from work Cosplay None End Result: It's obvious that the stress in my life is what destroys all my hard efforts. One miserable week at work had me backslide into stuffing my face with sugary treats in an attempt to make my day better. Plus it's Valentine's Day and I wanted to share cheesecake with the boyfriend. I immediately felt guilty after eating it, but a long's week of hardship left me feeling apathetic. =T

Small goals or not, it's a good habit to set the bar somewhere and meet it. From what I've read, it seems that many people overload their challenge (like I might have) and are unable to keep up with the goals and inadvertently give up. So in this case, it's better to succeed something than nothing at all. Good job on your diet! I'm finding that sticking to certain eating criteria can prove to be difficult, especially around the Valentine's candy that seems to be EVERYWHERE. Seriously. It's everywhere.

It was a hectic weekend for me, so here's days 10, 11, 12, and today's! This is what I did during the weekend.

Today is Feb 9th, so I'm already behind.... whoops! How about a collaboration of some past creations I've made?

You and I have the same struggle when it comes to Spanish. A user on here introduced me to Duolingo and I've been using it for two weeks now - definitely recommended. There's also an app available so it's easily accessible. Social media is a huge motivator for me. I have a facebook, instagram, tumblr, and twitter to update with my cosplay stuff. Previously it was mostly for promoting when cons I worked at, but now it's sporadic and a mix of whatever happens to be going on at the moment. Exposure is incredibly important for professionals that are wanting to book gigs, but I've stepped back a bit and instead focus more on using my costumes for charity. Each media is user friendly, and there's separate formats to help you find what suits you best. Facebook is text and photo friendly and accessible for a mass of cosplayers to connect and keep up with. Instagram is more recently trending with the cosplay crowd and more photo-centric. Tumblr is perfect if blogs, progress updates, tutorials, etc is your thing. Twitter is my least favorite and used minimally. You just gotta play around and use what suits you best.

Your goals sound totally doable! Wishing you lots of luck and good intention on your challenge!

This is awesome!! I can't draw to save my life, and I've never worked with graphite or any similar materials - this is totally impressive to me.

Do the thing! This year is focused on costumes that can be used for charity events (i.e. superheroes, princesses) but I do hope to complete a Star Wars outfit before the movie releases in December.

I've had 4 years of Spanish in the past, but without people to practice with.. it's difficult to recollect on the spot. The Duolingo app that I was recently introduced to is a perfect refresher course so far. do you have a cosplay page somewhere?

It is, but I think they're easy enough goals. I'm better at multitasking than any one area, so this shouldn't be out of my reach. We'll definitely find out and if it proves more difficult than expected, then I can re-access for the next round. Thank you for the info! I'm going to look through there and see if there's some that I find applicable/enjoyable.

That's a mentality that I have had, but one of my biggest downfalls is that I'll become complacent and give up easily. Keeping the motivation up is one of my biggest weaknesses.

Wednesday's Battle Log 2/8/2017 Diet Breakfast: 2 cups coffee, 3 keto sausage balls Lunch: Steak and Shake burger with the bun removed, 1/2 fries, root beer Snacks: 1 cup milk Dinner: Village Inn's omelette with chicken in it, sweet tea Fitness Exercise: None Life Studied 20 minutes Spanish Started Trigger Point Therapy at the chiropractor Cosplay None End Result: My job is trying to ruin my life. Not out of spite, mind you, but simply because it's a stressful environment that I feel will only get worse. A new policy is being put into place that I strongly disagree with on a moral level, but I'm in a tight spot where I simply cannot live without a job that pays me my current wage and my particular position does not come available often. The sheer stress of this workplace leaves me in considerable levels of back pain (tension mixed with sitting at a desk in an incredibly uncomfortable chair) and by the time the day is through, I want to quit at life. One horribly depressing work meeting later, I ate a poor lunch. For dinner, I went out with friends in an attempt to cheer myself up and further indulged. This week sucks.

This will be my first challenge, so I want to be careful with overwhelming myself... but I find that I work better under pressure and if I find that I have to hold myself accountable to other people. So here's to kicking ass in the next 4 weeks! FOUR WEEK CHALLENGE: FEB 12 – MARCH 11 Diet Drink one glass of water a day NO SODA Reduce sweets/carbs consumption by 50% Fitness 2 hour hike once a week Strength training once a week 30 minute gym exercise 3 times a week Life Wake up early. Must be out of bed by 7:00 AM Whiten teeth with extra flossing and whitening toothpaste. (No more whitening strips!) Study Spanish (via Duolingo) for 20 minutes a day whenever in the office. Have a family meal once a week Put away $15 every paycheck into London savings Cosplay Finish Kate Bishop Finish Codex Attend one DCM League Event Update instagram once a day! So far I've been working up to this game plan, and have kept up with 2 gym workouts a week and one soda a week. I've already drastically reduced carbs/sugar from my normal diet and intend to continue that pattern. I'm horrible at waking up early, which will prove to be a challenge of its own but will be necessary to start the day on a better foot and accomplish everything I want. My biggest concerns at completing the goals I set for myself will be the London Savings and finishing Codex, because of my limited finances. This is why it's called a challenge... and I will do my best!

Tuesday's Battle Log 2/7/2017 Diet Breakfast: 2 cups coffee Lunch: bowl of meatballs and mozzerella cheese, 2 cups tea Snacks: 2 cookies, 1 cup milk Dinner: 2 eggs, small portion of grilled chicken meat, 1 cup koolaid Fitness Exercise: None Life Studied 20 minutes Spanish Cosplay None End Result: Day 2 of a horrible week. Horrible, stressful work day. Went home. Went to bed. Stress is definitely the source of unhealthy eating. A crazy morning substituted a proper breakfast for some of the cookies that sit around the office. Blah. Blah day. Blah diet. Blah life. Here's looking to the weekend, because this week sucks.

Monday's Battle Log 2/5/2017 Diet Breakfast: 1.5 cups of coffee Lunch: Snacks: 3 keto sausage balls, 1 small chocolate chip cookie, 1 handful of BBQ potato chips, 1 cup milk Dinner: Beef/Chicken mix with green beans stir fry Fitness Exercise: None Life Studied 20 minutes Spanish Visited chiropractor for round 3 Cosplay Sanded on Codex's staff wings, paint primer End Result: Yesterday was the first day of what is bound to be a hectic week. I work in property management, which is an easy job albeit quite stressful. The regional manager stepped by yesterday to inform us that the owners will be visiting on Wednesday, and provided us with a BOOK of things to do to prepare for their visit. (Making sure the property is clean, there's no visible damages to the fences, gates, or buildings, and that residents have their areas tidied and Christmas decorations removed - simple stuff, but it's a large property and our residents are not the most cooperative) Besides her visit, I had to process our evictions. There was simply no time in the day to take a lunch, and so I snacked on whatever I could grab. I didn't actually sit down to eat until nearly 7PM. I still stayed within my calorie intake for the day, and I'm happy to look in the mirror and notice a physical difference already. I've always had an hourglass shape, but my curves are slimming down and my figure is becoming more pronounced. It may be a small victory, but since I've started going to the gym... I can hook my bra two sizes smaller. I also think that I've dropped perhaps a pound, and I was able to fit into an old pair of pants when I went hiking this weekend - and that's my true goal. Seeing a quick result, no matter how small, is motivating me to keep up the good work. I'm hoping that come March, I can fit back into my Belle cosplay for the new Beauty and the Beast premiere.

I've never been one to really crave anything - most likely due to the fact that I always indulged in anything that sounded good. Now that I find myself resisting unhealthy options, I find that I miss pizza and ice cream so damn badly. Whenever it was an option to have ice cream, I never wanted it. Now that I tell myself no, I want it so bad. ;~; Good job on the reading! Do you prefer real, hardbound books or do you mind Nook/Kindle apps? I have a Nook, but mostly use the app on my phone because it's easy to squeeze in reading whenever I'm out and about and/or find some unexpected down time. I went hiking this weekend, and found a more interesting way to get a workout than my local gym. That's definitely going to be a weekly thing.

To be honest, most of the Warcraft books aren't very good. The story is interesting and does add depth, but it's stagnant. It feels more like the writer is writing for themselves than an audience.. if that makes sense. How was your weekend?

Saturday's Battle Log 2/4/2017 Diet Breakfast: 5 small squares of baked oatmeal, 1 cup milk Lunch: hamburger patty with cheese, 2 eggs, 2 cups Koolaid Snacks: Dinner: hamburger patty with cheese, 2 eggs, 2 cups Koolaid Fitness Exercise: None Life Nothing to note Cosplay Worked on Codex's staff with little progress, however the wings were fabricated and are ready to paint! End Result: I hate it when deceptively easy props turn out to be a little more difficult than expected. I intended to spend most of Saturday completing the staff, but the materials I chose to keep things on the cheap side are proving more difficult than expected. It turns out that paperclay doesn't stick to plastics very well and a couple minutes of trying to put the staff together undid three days work of molding clay. FML. Sunday's Battle Log 2/5/2017 Diet Breakfast: McDonald's sausage biscuit with cheese, 1/2 of a medium mocha frappe Lunch: Snacks: 1 bottle of water Dinner: Bowl of meatballs with 1/4 cup of mozzerella cheese, 2 cups KoolAid Fitness Exercise: 2.5 hours / 4 miles of hiking Life None Cosplay Cosplay research End Result: It took some convincing, but I managed to get my boyfriend to join me on a hike. We ventured to a local spot that turned out to be more impressive than I expected. While only 20 mins from my house, there's a great area in Tulsa called Turkey Mountain. We didn't necessarily stick to the trails, and instead chose any path that looked interesting - which ended up in a single scary moment where it was incredibly steep and caused Ben to loose his footing and slide down the mountainside - but it was a helluva workout. I was pretty winded most of the time, but I didn't give up! Not only was it good for my health, but also I think it's great bonding for the boyfriend and I. We're in talks to make it a weekly outing for us.

Friday's Battle Log 2/3/2017 Diet Breakfast: 1.5 cups of coffee, 4 keto sausage balls Lunch: beef and green bean stir fry, 1 cup tea Snacks: 1 cup milk Dinner: chicken parmesan, green beans, 2 cups koolaid Fitness Exercise: 20 minutes walking at work, 30 mins on the elliptical Life Nothing to note Cosplay Cosplay research End Result: A crazy busy day at work, yet I still took my lazy ass to the gym.

Super excited to have finally updated my character page with actual quests. https://www.nerdfitness.com/level-up/my-character/

Thursday's Battle Log 2/2/2017 Diet Breakfast: 1/2 cup coffee, 1 cup chocolate milk, 1/2 cinnamon scone Lunch: beef and green bean stir fry Snacks: Dinner: bacon and 3 eggs Fitness Exercise: 35 minutes elliptical Life Practiced Spanish for 20 minutes Cosplay Mailed back Codex and X-23 wigs (I was sent wigs that were totally not what was pictured and had to send them back to Amazon for a refund. e_e ) End Result: Yesterday at work was incredibly stressful. I had a meeting with the regional first thing in the morning (breakfast was provided, hence the scone) followed by a visit from the corporate office staff. Despite all the chaos, I stuck with my regiment and hit the gym. I was concerned about how it would go, having skipped several days due to the chiropractor, but I was able to run without pause for a good 15 minutes! It felt great to push myself more than what I'm used to, and I went home feeling amazing. The boyfriend mentioned that he could already see a difference since I started visiting the gym a month ago. My weight hasn't dropped, but my shape has - and that's what actually matters to me.

Y'know... I've never really known why it's called a salad because it really is basically just tuna mixed with onions, eggs, and some mayo. Chicken salad and pea salad are basically the same thing and still called a salad. I don't get it. I know that many people will toss in extra ingredients according to their personal tastes (most commonly they toss in relish or pickles of some kind - which I hate. Hate pickles. Ew.) But I keep mine pretty simple.

I think a lot of it also has to do with my hair, lol. It sounds silly, but it takes a lot for my hair to be presentable and working out will definitely undo hours of effort. Whenever PokemonGo first came out, I would drive to work an hour or two early and jog up and down the trails outside my office to catch Pokemon. I loved it, but my hair would get all frizzy and there would be no time for me to drive across town and wash up and then get back to work. Then I would be winded for the rest of the workday. Different strokes for different folks. Goosebumps were amazing! I wouldn't really say that the books I read are in the horror film, but are moreso "suspense" and "thriller". My absolute favorite series are the Hannibal Lecter books (Hannibal Rising, Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal) You could try Christie Golden's "Thrall" which is a WOW book. While it was a decent enough book, it wasn't enough to hold my interest until the end... I also definitely recommend Percy Jackson series. It's more mythology than wizardry, but a similar concept that's easy enough to conquer. Good job! That's a step in the right direction. Baby steps is better than no steps at all.

Wednesday's Battle Log 2/1/2017 Diet Breakfast: 4 keto sausage balls, 2 cups coffee Lunch: 2 cups tuna salad, 2 cups tea Snacks: 3 tiny oatmeal squares Dinner: bacon and 2 eggs Fitness Exercise: None Life Practiced Spanish for 20 minutes Cosplay Had to rework the ring segments on Codex's staff End Result: Yesterday was my second trip to the chiropractor. I was incredibly nervous considering the pain that resulted from the first visit, but this trip was considerably swifter. I was in and out in about 30 minutes, and only left with maybe a Pain Level 4. The neck cracking tends to leave me with a mix of dizziness/ears ringing, and so rather than risk the gym I went home to work on cosplay and watched a documentary regarding Anastasia Romanov. My back pain is rather persistent this week, but no more than what I am used to. My gym schedule is normally Tues-Thurs, but I intend to make up for the skipped days through the weekend. My silhouette has begun to slim a little bit and I don't want to lose what I've worked so hard for. Not to mention that my "Cosplay Wish List" continues to grow and I'm impatient to get to an ideal weight so that I can feel comfortable in my costuming.