erawka

GOD DAMN IT. I tweaked my back bad. Not in the gym, either. Lifting the dehumidifier of all the stupid things. Spending my last day of free time before New Job gently walking, popping ibuprofen and grumbling.

Totally. The weekend has been delightful since GF is around and friends are not at work. I'm definitely ready to take on a new social scene, having recharged a little too much. In a perfect world, the standard work day would be an hour or three shorter, allowing morning yoga enthusiasts the time to go get our stretch on before rolling into work. The gym doesn't have any yoga classes that are early enough to get me to work on time but late enough to be reasonable. I'm looking for something in a 6:30, but no dice. Stupid standard work day. Still plugging along on the NFA nutrition quests. I've had a little trouble logging food, and I'm trying out a notebook instead of MFP. So far, I like it way better. Qualitative data instead of numbers for me to obsess over = enough data for this objective. Plus, I have a cute little notebook that I want to use for something. PLUS, I don't actually like MFP that much. It's overwhelming and oddly time-consuming. Hormones are hormone-ing, and staying away from sugar is its usual difficult self. Getting enough water on board is check and double check. At least half of my H2O is coming in the form of Celestial Seasonings' Candy Cane Lane tea. It's the bomb. Minty and vanilla-y and somehow both cooling and warming at the same time. Yum. GF and I did BF% measurements. Yikes. I have gained about 4% since I last measured BF%. I mean, I traded my bike commute for a car commute of the same duration, I ate my feelings about Hard Job, and there you have it. There are some other factors, like the whole HPA axis dysregulation thing and intermittently working with the trainer, but for the most part, this makes sense. It's disappointing for sure, but on the whole, my life got less healthy from middle 2014 until now. So there's that. At least New Job allows me to bike some or most of the time (unclear which but it's something).

About halfway there on the water consumption for today, maybe a little over. I've been taking a lot of my water in the form of herbal tea because it's pretty dang cold in my house. Drafty ole bungalow. Logged everything so far, on track to knock off a day at Level 5. It feels funny to talk about eating in terms of levels, but it works. Went to yoga this morning, and it was a very nice practice. I usually go to the Vinyasa class, but this Hatha class was nice as well. A little gentler. It's a lovely start to the day. Climbing later tonight. I'm climbing again tomorrow evening, and I hope that I don't overdo it. I haven't done two days in a row in a while. We'll see. My fingers feel better -- I gave them quite a workout on Monday's bouldering session. I might be getting close to ready to go back to work. I'm a little lonely today.

Welp, done joined the Academy. I think, given all the climbing, I might wind up questing as an assassin. Even though I'm always a Ranger in my heart. There are a few quests that will take me a few days to complete. So, in the spirit of tracking and accountability: Taking Measurements: GF wants on board with this too, but likely will not make the time until the weekend. She also wants to take measurements in the morning rather than after work, which I think is reasonable. A week of eating at Level 5. Level 5 involves very rarely eating sweets, 12 out of 14 days without empty processed carbs and 12 out of 14 days with a veggie at every meal. This is essentially day one, which, on account of being my birthday, hasn't followed these guidelines. Something to work toward. Logging food: I logged today. I need 6 more consecutive days of logging to complete this quest. I'm going to keep trying MFP on this, although I might try the pen and paper method too. Water: 3L of water for 5 out of 7 days. That's probably more than I'm drinking now, although I drink the shit out of some herbal tea. Better get tracking on that.I'm trying not to jump the gun too hard on this. I did do the Recruit Workout today before lifting, and I was surprised at how tough it was. I sort of brushed it off, but it turns out my push-ups could use a little love these days. Tomorrow: Morning yoga, evening climbing, logging food, drinking water. I love love LOVE not working right now, and I'll be very sad on Tuesday when that comes to a screeching halt.

Or even super duper light squats, like less than 50%, with higher (but not burn out crazy noodle legs higher) volume? The trainer I worked with (who was great with the physio stuff) suggested accumulating five minutes in a deep squat throughout the day, and that helped me some with my overall squattiness too. Just hanging out in an ATG squat for a minute or however long every so often.

Listen. I'm a VERY important software tycoon, and I have LOTS of money and power. I'll make Steve an offer he can't refuse! ... Meanwhile, back in reality, I've enjoyed the forums for a number of years now, but I have a hard time sustaining goals and momentum. I have a pretty scattershot approach to fitness, and I tend to program-hop. I'd like to find something that contains enough of a trajectory that I will see some results from doing what I'm told with enough variation that I'll stay interested. Really, I've budgeted for it, and I'm just pausing before taking the plunge. I do think I'd respond well to checking off boxes and gaining points for small tasks. I love a good checklist IRL.

Nerd Fitness Academy. Will edit for clarity! Neither of those other NFAs are really that appealing to me, as I suspect the National Futures Association is probably more investment related than speculative fiction related.

You are gonna be right. For now, I'm pretending that it'll never end. Fingers in ears LALALALA style. Went bouldering last night. Bouldering is so much harder for me than top rope! Probably because I'm of the ectomorph/elvish/stringbean persuasion, and the fast twitch bits are not exactly my forte. Still, I went with a couple friends I hadn't seen in a while, and it was nice to catch up. I topped out over a couple routes, which was scary but good. Today I didn't really have my act together for a morning yoga class, so I'm going to try to catch the evening one. There will definitely be a walk in my future today, maybe a trip to the gym with some nominal lifting and definite sauna time. In order to be able to do the mountaineering program without slowing everyone down, I need to be able to do a pretty challenging local hike with a loaded pack of 25 pounds. I haven't done much rucking lately, but I have the lead time to do a little training, so I'd best get on it. All that to say, my walks need to be loaded from here on out. I probably won't start the 25 pounds for a few weeks, but it's definitely going to help to get used to a pack. I'm considering buying into the Academy. Have any of y'all done that?

I googled around and got a sense of reviews from non-Rebellion members, but I want a sense of what Nerds think about the program before I buy. I've also read the old threads of this nature, and they're not tremendously detailed and several came out when Nerd Fitness Academy was brand new. Now that it has had a chance to grow up a little and work out the bugs, what do folks think?

So the fall on ice resulted in some lingering knee pain. Ended up rescheduling today's climbing plans on account of said pain. Might hit up yoga, might just rest up. Saw The Martian yesterday. I enjoyed the ride. We didn't mean to see it in 3D, but that was what was showing. I really want to see more movies. I might try to catch a matinee this week while I'm luxuriating in my spare time. The little indie bookstore near my house is closing. This is sad, but also expected. They were not awesome, although their TPB sci-fi/fantasy/speculative fiction section was pretty decent. I cleaned them out of a few of my faves that didn't survive the purges over the years. I might swing through again with my Goodreads list. Back on the YNAB train. That software is the bomb. It's a little trickier with a temporarily irregular income, but whatevs. I've got everything I need, so it doesn't help to complain. GF went for a run and I have some much-wanted quiet time in the house alone. Having the whole fam under one roof is great, but I feel obliged to entertain. I've definitely been missing my chill time. It's been cold, and it's a damp cold. The furnace is struggling. Need to get it serviced. I also think the temp sensor is not up to snuff. Off to google that and attempt some DIY antics.

Something that takes time and self-compassion to beat, addiction is. And 3-4 days of awesome are more awesome days than you had before. Your walking is all awesome from the looks of it!

Another successful day of hiking, although I fell hard on some ice. Mileage unclear, but I feel good and tired.

Yesterday: 5 mile hike with the fam. Today: Yoga and amble through the wetlands with fam. Not sure how long the amble was, but according to the parental pedometer, we made our 10K steps. Dinner is modest and mostly healthy: salmon, roasted root veg, brussels sprouts, salad, cheesecake.

Congrats bro!

Hermy G: Come for teh awesome, stay for the book recommendations. I'm glad you're alive! Woots all around! Wootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwootwoot

This is all good stuff. None of us would be at NF if we nailed all of our goals all of the time. 18 day streak is more than a 17 day streak is more than giving up. <3 <3 <3

Thanks! Less stressful job = more happy erawka. Did anyone else really love Steve's Winter is Coming post? I mean, yes. I am a sucker for GoT in general (to the extent I can say that as a books-only fan so far -- no particular reason other than lack of HBO access and a current obsession with House. I'm a one show at a time Nerd). But I really appreciate the notion that the holidays are a time to be more mindful of wellness rather than "meh! it's the holidays!" This isn't a revolutionary concept, but having noticed that trading a bike commute for a car commute added some additional erawka, this is a really timely addition to the getting my me back campaign that New Job has kicked off. So, hell yeah, Steve. I'll take that pledge. I'll add some bits of my own, too. Holidays gather, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my goal is met. I shall take no weeks off, miss no workouts, justify no overeating. I shall wear no stretchy pants and win no glory. I shall live and die by my commitment to becoming a better rock climber, and I shall meditate as the peaceful warrior that I am. I am the sword in the darkness. I am a leaf in the wind. I am the Watcher of my body. I am the fire that burns against the apathy, the light that brings my momentum, the horn that wakes my habits, the shield that guards the realms of my health. I pledge my life and honor to the Holiday Watch, for this night and all the nights to come. Take that, suckas. So to clarify: I've been marinating in stress for a long-ass time. If you count law school (and you should), something like six years of AAAAAAAA!!DEADLINES!!PASSING!!BAR EXAM!!STRESSFUL JOB!! So low key is key. I loves me some rock climbing, but I probably shouldn't do it more than a couple times a week. Even though I want to climb all the things, overuse injuries are really common among climbers since we tend to overuse a lot of tiny hand and finger connective tissue bits. Even though I want to ruck all the things (so as to get conditioned enough to keep up when I join Rad Mountaineering Group), I probably shouldn't set up a program where I'm rucking an hour a day because I've been a desk jockey for a while now, and that's going to be a little much. What is going to matter most is reliably doing those things a bit and more reliably doing yoga and meditation. Thankfully, I've got about five or six days coming up with the folks, who really like doing some of those things. And the brother may be on board with some climbing gym times. But truly, the next two weeks (which is my off time before starting New Job) need to be about teaching my system not to panic at every little thing, getting a lot of sleep, and gentle movement. I haven't been to the doc lately, but I'm showing all the same symptoms that I did when I got my adrenal fatigue AKA HPA axis dysregulation diagnosis. I'm certain these last few months, which have been truly abysmal, fried some of the progress I made in 2014 and early 2015. So when I take Steve's pledge, I intend to do a lot of walking (loaded and unloaded) and a lot of yoga. Climbing and lifting are just gravy. Fun gravy! Exciting gravy! Gravy that I love! Gravy that is not actually gravy in the sense that my long term fitness goals revolve around getting better at this amazing climbing gravy! But for the short term: gravy. Short term gravy. STG. In other news, AGT is out of the picture. He was helpful for a time, but $$. And also the not listening to my goals part. And scheduling was becoming difficult. Mostly the last two, actually. Anyway, no more trainer. Which is Totally Fine. I've got my Long Term Goals and my Short Term Gravy and my little something every day to be a happier, fitter, saner nerd.

Last day of stressful work was Saturday. Then I promptly got sick. Feeling mostly better today, preparing the house for my parents' arrival tomorrow (eep!) -- mostly light yoga today. Some errands by foot. Unlikely that I'll do more than yoga and hiking while the folks are here. And that's totally fine. Hear that, stupid thinky brain? Totally fine.

Subbed and hi.

Erstwhile erawka is erstwhile. News: I HAVE A NEW JOB! I PRESUMABLY WILL NOT BE WORKING MY LIFE AWAY IN MISERY! Plus, I will be able to bike to work a decent chunk of the time. Woot! Woot! A thousand times woot! Anyway, I went climbing last night with an acquaintance I know from non-climbing contexts. It was great! She was a perfect climbing buddy. Supportive, fun, and willing to try things that are way too hard, just to see what happens. Which inspired me to do so as well. I got halfway up a 5.11b and gave some 10c routes a solid effort. I am improving, even with my occasional climbing schedule. I went climbing outdoors last weekend. It was super fun, but a little rainy toward the end. Climbing outside is a little more nerve-wracking for me because it feels less controlled. (well, it IS less controlled.) There's an intensive mountaineering class that I'm interested in taking that will cover some of the rope and anchor work. It's in the spring. AND I'LL HAVE TIME TO DO IT OMG! Grocery shopping today. In a cooking rut. Suggestions welcome.

In summary, I am still a lackluster NF participant. I did, however, climb more than usual. At least one a week all weeks but one. I also climbed with new people which was good for the "omg not a good enough climber" fear. I think I will be sticking with the battle log for the time being. I think I need to rack up a few small wins over a longer time frame before I start to do the 6 week obsession thing again.

Sometimes the effects of a break are flattering? That's great that you're going to your group again. Social support is key. Also, way to stay on track with the steps! It's nice to be ahead enough to miss a day. What sort of device do you use for your tracking?

Lifted Saturday. Still struggling to find a meditation habit, although I'm working in a fair amount of walking meditation. Lifting again today. Using the NF barbell program because I. Need. A program. When I have no program, I drift into the gym without purpose, do a few things, and leave. With a program, I am more likely to have a structured warm up. I'm more likely to do something nice like sauna afterwards. I'm --- OMG BRAINSTORM. I should go to the sauna and MEDITATE THERE. CAN YOU EVEN. I CANNOT.** **My thought process was a little faster and less caps locky about this, but I sincerely did just come up with this while typing.

While we're thieving, I'm stealing this farmer's walk between station thing too. That shit is brilliant. Can you imagine that with walking lunges? *some kind of fire-based emoji* Do you follow a particular program w/r/t met cons? I mean, I know you made this up because you said so, but I'm curious how often you sprinkle them in. At this point, I'm sprinkling them in liberally with my previous night's sleep being a major deciding factor. Climbing and lifting are just more important, but you can't argue with the time efficiency factor of a good circuit.

In the last few days, I have made some progress in some areas and less in others. I lifted on Sunday and went to yoga on Monday. Today I had therapy, which means a lot of driving and not a lot of working out. Therapy is mindfulness-based, so there is meditation built in. I also meditated on Sunday, and I suppose yoga counts in a way. Although I don't have nutrition/dietary goals this challenge, I am certainly beating myself up a lot for dietary stuff in the last few weeks. I have been paying particular negative attention to food choices involving sugar and carbs. It seems like the more negative attention and mental berating I inflict upon myself, the worse I feel, and in turn, the more I go to "bad" foods to comfort myself. Honestly, I feel like I have to be kind of careful on the forums in this regard. It's very easy to start assigning value judgments to food when actively involved in a fitness community. The more I demonize certain foods, the harder I tend to fall when I eat them. And it's basically inevitable that I will eat something suboptimal at some point in the future. I'm just way less intentional about it when I am being so hard on myself. Example: Planning to enjoy one of the GF pumpkin muffins that the GF GF baked, anticipating that all day, smearing that mother with almond butter and diving in -- I'll kick myself about this way less than diving into the cheesecake that someone brought to work for the bajillionth coworker birthday. I've also applied to two more jobs, and I had a phone interview yesterday. Yay eventual new job! Boo lengthy and time consuming application processes!