RedMarten

Thanks! It's just a restarting kind of year I guess. 6/7/21 Update. Let's see, time for the start of *checks notes* week 2. That doesn't seem right. So it looks like the ear infections and colds wiped out most of this challenge. We are all back to baseline levels of healthy now, although it does look like Mini-RM#2 is going to get some ear tubes in the near future, which probably won't be fun for any of us. I finally shook my cough last week, but I stayed lazy for the rest of the week. I did get back to the garage this morning, and logged my next 5X5. My legs were super tight to start with, but after the second set of squats things started feeling good. I've been debating myself on what to do about getting more sleep in, I don't think I can ignore my sleep anymore with all of the lost sleep I've had over the last year. My first thought was to drop morning workouts to MWF and try to hit them hard to get in everything I want to, but that's not realistic for me these days, instead I have decided to move bedtime back to 9:00 and try to be asleep before 10:00. I'll probably make this a priority for the next challenge. Painting has been going ok. I got a good bit done last week on a model, I don't have any current pics, but I'll try and grab some tonight. There still hasn't been a lot of editing happening though. Strong 5x5 - Workout A Monday, June 7, 2021 at 5:29 AM Squat (Barbell) Set 1: 85 lb × 5 Set 2: 85 lb × 5 Set 3: 85 lb × 5 Set 4: 85 lb × 5 Set 5: 85 lb × 5 Bench Press (Barbell) Set 1: 60 lb × 5 Set 2: 60 lb × 5 Set 3: 60 lb × 5 Set 4: 60 lb × 5 Set 5: 60 lb × 5 Bent Over Row (Barbell) Set 1: 60 lb × 5 Set 2: 60 lb × 5 I did have to call the workout early, Mini-RM#2 was waking up, and I needed to get her breakfast going.

She's a pretty happy kid, it takes a lot to bring her down, but she was wiped out all week from that ear infection, so it must have been bad. Please, I'm shooting for the moon here. I'm planning on having a case of unsold, poorly printed, self published books by the end of the year! For the most part no, Mini RM#2 and I both caught colds at the end of the week, I figure we picked something up at the doctors office. I spent most of the weekend coughing pretty hard. I'm better now, but still cough some. I did get out in the garage this morning and go through my warmups and do some high knees, just to see if that set off any coughs. Everything seemed good, so maybe tomorrow I can get back to an actual workout. There was a little painting done during the week, but nothing regular. The whole schedule was so chaotic from all the sickness. Getting back to it is my current goal. Thanks for checking in!

It’s a fantasy story. I used to work it over in my head while I was working out in pre-podcast days. I finished the manuscript last December, but haven’t started editing it yet. I’ll look up my elevator pitch for it in a bit and add it on here. (Updating from my phone at the moment.) Yay barbell workouts indeed! tightness in my IT bands have shut down more than a few squat sessions over the past few years. I’ve found a few stretches and warmup activities that have helped a lot lately, but it’s a constant fight to keep them feeling good. my plan right now is to just follow the SL5x5 through the end of this challenge, then test my maxes and swapping back over to 5/3/1 (because I don’t know anything else at this point) for the next challenge. If I’m feeling good on the 5x5 I might stick with it just to expand my base some more. In other words, I don’t know. Quick update Mini Red Marten #2 has a double ear infection, I’ve been staying home with her the last couple of days, which hasn’t left time for anything else like meals or sleep. She’s much better now, and will hopefully sleep through the night tonight. Then maybe things can go back to normal and I can pass out for a while.

Heh, that's only because I started using the app later in the workout. My alarm goes off at 5:00, and that's a lot later than it used to be set. Learn from my mistakes? What kind of hippie voodoo are you trying to teach here?! 5/17/2021 Update I was on the road for the weekend visiting my parents. No real workout was done, but I did have a couple of short "hikes" on Saturday. It was late before we got back yesterday, which didn't leave any extra time for picking up groceries. I've got some leftovers for lunch today, but still need to get groceries and prep the rest of the week. I did put a meal plan together on the drive back last night. Just need to make time to pick it all up. Today's workout Strong 5x5 - Workout B Monday, May 17, 2021 at 5:27 AM Squat (Barbell) Set 1: 75 lb × 5 Set 2: 75 lb × 5 Set 3: 75 lb × 5 Set 4: 75 lb × 5 Set 5: 75 lb × 5 Overhead Press (Barbell) Set 1: 50 lb × 5 Set 2: 50 lb × 5 Set 3: 50 lb × 5 Set 4: 50 lb × 5 Set 5: 50 lb × 5 Deadlift (Barbell) Set 1: 55 lb × 5 Set 2: 55 lb × 5 Set 3: 55 lb × 5 After a couple of bad nights of sleep, and being cooped up in a car for four hours yesterday, everything felt tight this morning. I also got a late start, which didn't leave any time for any accessory work. The rest of the week should be pretty normal though. That should help with the consistency. The creative side of the work was in short supply this weekend. I spent Friday night picking out a model to work on while on the road, and built it Saturday. Last night was spent just planning the steps in painting this one. I'm planning on pulling out all of the stops on this one. I need to start editing my writing too. I don't know if I should add that in as a goal and aim for a certain number of pages per week? Or pages per day? I'll have to think about it some more and maybe start something tomorrow. I'm operating at a solid 40% today, so reading is probably not a great idea.

These are referred to as washes in the mini painting world (and maybe in other artsy areas as well, idk.) and they are helpful for doing just that, but with acrylics they have a tendency to pool in strange spots. Something that has been getting bigger in the community is to use oil washes, because you can just go back in with a little mineral spirits and remove the wash from anything you don't want it on. I've dabbled in oils, and have found them to be a lot more fun than acrylics. I should probably use them more. Even though it is the world's cheapest barbell, I can use it whenever I like in my garage. Thanks! 5/14/21 Update Morning workout Strong 5x5 - Workout A Friday, May 14, 2021 at 5:44 AM Squat (Barbell) Set 1: 65 lb × 5 Set 2: 65 lb × 5 Set 3: 65 lb × 5 Set 4: 65 lb × 5 Set 5: 65 lb × 5 Bench Press (Barbell) Set 1: 55 lb × 5 Set 2: 55 lb × 5 Set 3: 55 lb × 5 Set 4: 55 lb × 5 Set 5: 55 lb × 5 Bent Over Row (Barbell) Set 1: 55 lb × 5 Set 2: 55 lb × 5 Set 3: 55 lb × 5 Set 4: 55 lb × 5 Set 5: 55 lb × 5 I realized that I still had a subscription to this app, and could email myself the workouts, easy peasy. I had to run some errands during lunch yesterday and ended up picking up fast food, which meant I wasn't that hungy for supper last night and ended up mostly snacking, so the whole day was out of whack. So that's a loss for the day. I'm going to be heading to my parents this weekend too, which will be home cooked foods, althgough not the healthiest. I'll have to double down on Sunday to get groceries and get lunches prepped for the week. More painting last night. I'm going to put this model aside for now. It's to a decent stopping point, even though there are parts of it that I still don't like. I think I need a new perspective. I'll probably work on something totally different and come back to this one in a bit.

Why are you writing about me? Seriously, stop writing about me! Jokes aside, all of this resonated pretty closely with my experience. I lost a lot of weight lifting and eating better, I did good for a few years, but never really committed to a proper lifting routine. Tracking macros probably did me more harm than good in the long run, for years, even if I wasn't actively lifting, I would end up eating extra food because a voice in my head would say I hadn't had enough protein that day. So needless to say, I understand a lot of these woes. Watching your squat video, I think your depth is fine. You're like me (once again) in that you've got big man thighs, it makes the depth look funky. The closest thing to a critique that I have is that you've got a hint of slumpage in your upper back as you start to come back up, which could turn your squats into good mornings as the weights get heavier, just make sure you're driving your shoulders back as you start coming back up, and it shouldn't ever be an issue. Take all of that advice in that I'm a professional geologist, and may not know what I'm talking about (but I still say depth looks good. You've got a lot of stuff going on right now, it's inspiring to see you still trying to better your health with all of the other stuff going on. Kudos to you man, I'll be following.

The short answer is that the white bleeds through too much, and you've really got to get into every nook and cranny to get good coverage. Black primer hides a multitude of sins. I have been mixing my own colors from a CYM palette, but I've got some stock paints that I've been using with it too. I'm actually liking the blue fur more now that I've filled in some other parts of the model, so maybe I am starting a blue period... I only got into warhammer a couple of years ago through one of their video games, which is weird because I spent a good part of my childhood in hobby stores with my dad with RC planes that he built. I still haven't played any of the table top stuff, but I bought enough stuff to build this army last year during lock down to help out my local hobby store. Mostly I've just got the big monsters left to paint, and that's what I'm trying to figure out now. That's pretty much what chili is, just a tasty way to use cheap ingredients. My recipe is a couple of pounds of meat, a jar of salsa, a can of beans, as much of a beer as it takes to top the liquid off, a lot of chili powder, a little cumin, and salt/pepper. The only special thing I add is some ancho chili in chipotle sauce. He really is. He's got a couple of videos that really shifted how I look at some parts of fitness. Like using steady state cardio as a way to train your heart, or that we're not out of shape, we're adapted to the lifestyle we lead. 5/13/21 Update Day two of the C25k program on the air bike was completed. I was pretty exhausted this morning when my alarm went off and if I had the option, I would have kept sleeping, but since I was already awake, that wasn't going to work. I may have to reevauluate as things go on and give myself an off day midweek or something just to get some extra sleep, we'll see how it goes for now though. More painting! Things are starting to come together on this model, still a little bit of work to finish basing, then I can move onto the finer details.

Patience is definitely required in this hobby. I'll attempt to keep the Instagram train going so you can see the completed model. I understand the not comparing myself to my old records. When I first fell off the fitness wagon and tried getting back on after a few months, I was constantly getting frustrated at how hard everything was. As of right now, I'm ok with taking it slow, especially while I'm sore from these initial workouts, but I think in another week as the mobility comes back and my muscles get used to moving like this the soreness will fall off and I'll probably have some impatience start to creep in then. 5/12/21 Workout Standard warmup Squats 5X55 lbs 5X55 5X55 5X55 5X55 OHP 5X45 lbs 5X45 5X45 5X45 5X45 DL 5X45 lbs 5X45 5X45 5X45 5X45 Even though I'm still sore from Monday's workout, this one felt better, I did run a little short on time, and it was garbage day, so no finisher today (hauling the garbage can up to the road doesn't count) Food is still on track, and tonight is leftovers, so no real cooking has to be done. That'll make the evening easier. More painting was done last night, and this model is really testing my patience, I'm not used to dealing with this much blue, and the skin is really throwing me off. The main thing I have learned so far is to never prime with white again.

Glad to hear that not snacking is getting easier. I think the routine for stretching is a good idea, I should probably come up with one myself. I tend to fall into the rut of doing the stretches that feel good, and not the ones that don't, whcih are probably the ones I really need to be doing. My grandparents were depression era from the rural south. There wasn't a vegetable safe from my grandmother. I've only dabbled in the pickling department myself, red onions, sauerkraut, and kimchi are the only officially pickled things I've ever made. I may look into some others this summer. The best theme I ever did in my old days on NF was the time I posted a picture of nic cage morphed into something else with every post I made. It started out as a joke, but ended up turning into a whole thing, the Nic Cage rabbit hole is deeeeeep. For example... On second thought, maybe it's better not to have a theme.

That is indeed a nice SQUAT rack (I don't want to get dragged down with Tanktimus). I thought it might have been a lumber based contraption, but this is much better. I like that it has the safety arms, and the general adjustability of everything. This really has it all going on.

5/11/21 Workout C25k -day 1 on the Echo bike. This seems like a good alternate day workout, it's not stressing any muscles too badly while I knock the rust off of the lifting and mobility. Food went fine yesterday. I did swap out the broccoli for asparagus last night, just because it was easier to cook. I got a little bit of painting done last night, the baby didn't want to go to sleep, so it was much later than normal when I got started.

Report time. Recipe White bread toasted thin layer of mayo on one side natural peanut butter Pickled red onion The pickled red onion flavor overpowered everything else, the mayo didn't add anything, but that could just be because I used such a small amount. This isn't my normal peanut butter either and didn't have as strong of a peanut flavor as what I normally use, so that might be an improvement. Overall, it wasn't terrible or even that weird as flavors go, but you had better like pickled red onion if you're going to try it.

Mayo is a texture thing for me. Too creamy and gelatinous. I'll attempt a thin layer for flavor, and for science.

I've got some in my fridge, I can report back tonight (minus the mayo, obviously) My current hypothesis is, it's gonna be delicious. (Imagine throwing those over some noodles with a little soy sauce and sriracha, that would be a fantastic combo) Yeah, I had a "hopefully it doesn't happen again." type thing typed up and I thought, No, only iron clad positivity here! My migraines used to shut me down. I would have terrible pain and light sensitivity. I would usually go lay in the floor with my head under a bed until I passed out. Luckily, my migraines these days have shifted to fancy light circles in my eyes followed by some minor light sensitivity. I don't know what changed, but I do not want to go back.

Oh man, that whole mental garden thing sounds great. Plus I've always really liked the term "Grotesques". I'll have to look up some more info on all of this. Congrats on getting out of quarantine (soon)! I'm sure that will be a relief just to go out the front door for a change.