Gemma off the edge; here be dragons

[Gemma]

So, there I was, promising myself that I wouldn't overcommit, wouldn't take on too much at once, wouldn't, y'know, lose my everlovin' mind trying to do everything all the time ... 

 

I even sat out last challenge, because I just had TOO MUCH going on. I did manage to *finally* certify as an instructor for the class I most want to be able to teach, so that's cool. And I've taken the first preliminary steps towards starting my own business, which is a vaguely dragonesque thing to do (in the sense of "super-scary but kinda groovy at the same time.") But some of my previous good habits fell off by the wayside. I had my nutrition super-mega-locked-on, I thought, so I quit worrying about it ... and now there's bodyfat in places that much of the bodyfat had previously left.  I broke my 200+ day meditation streak on Headspace. And somewhere along the way I completely stopped prayer journalling, even though I found it valuable and was really enjoying it. 

 

Oh, yeah, and, this challenge runs halfway smack-dab into the middle of National Novel Writing Month. Of which I got suckered into being a volunteer for this year, instead of just a participant (see above re: overcommitting, taking on too much, etc.) So officially a terrible idea for me to get too ambitious about anything else, challenge-wise, lest I sail right off the edge of the map. 

On that same NaNoWriMo note - I just don't hardly ever write anymore. I get so caught up in the myriad things I like that I put off doing the thing I love. That's why NaNovember is so important to me - at least once a year I make writing my #1 priority. 

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  /28
• Prayer journal /28
• Write 2k words/day /28

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach  /12
• maintain mediation streak (Headspace - currently back up to 50 days)  /28
• maintain French practice streak (Duolingo - currently at 86 days)  /28

 

 

[RedStone]

 So many good things doe!!!!!!  We gotchuuuu and the scary groovy for the good groove of groovy things...

 

 

 

 

[Jord]

Here for this!

 

 

[Grumble]

Dragons!

 

I'm seriously contemplating NaNo this year. See how this next class feels first.

[JustCallMeAmber]

17 hours ago, Gemma said:

certify as an instructor for the class I most want to be able to teach

Shiny! What are you teaching?

[Laghail]

Following for swanky dragon writing goodness!

[Gemma]

20 hours ago, RedStone said:

 So many good things doe!!!!!!  We gotchuuuu and the scary groovy for the good groove of groovy things...

 

 

Thanks, and ... that must officially be the bad-assiest kite EVER! 
 

10 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Here for this!

 

 

8 hours ago, Grumble said:

Dragons!

 

I'm seriously contemplating NaNo this year. See how this next class feels first.

Toothless in the hizzouse! Much loves! 
If you do decide to jump off the nutbasket deep-end commit a month to the writing life, you officially have my deepest sympathy undying respect! We the WriMos ... though we be but nerdy, we are lunatics. 


 

5 hours ago, JustCallMeAmber said:

Shiny! What are you teaching?

I'm a part time firearms safety and marksmanship instructor, but I just got certified in a course called "Refuse to Be a Victim" which is an introductory mashup of criminal psychology, situational awareness, cyber-crime/fraud awareness, and practical crime prevention tips.
 

2 hours ago, Laghail said:

Following for swanky dragon writing goodness!

Swanky is a fun word to say! 

[Gemma]

So, day one, here we are:

 

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  1/28 (1966 cal, a little over on fat, a little under on carbs, 10 grams shy on protein, not bad) 
• Prayer journal 1/28 (Um, wow - my last entry prior to today was April 18. I knew it had been a while, but ... yikes!)
• Write 2k words/day 1/28 (today's count, 2003, 1-day streak on 4theWords) 

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 0/12, N/A on Sundays (I'm a M/W/F kinda girl) 
• maintain mediation streak  1/28 (Headspace streak stands at 53)
• maintain French practice streak 1/28 (Duolingo streak stands at 89)
   

The Duolingo app on my phone does "weekend challenges" to get 150 points in one weekend - I can maintain my streak with as little as 10 points a day, but I somehow always try to get this #shinything - even though there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT to spend lingots on. I fall for it almost every weekend. Not complaining, but - is it strange for a "gamified" habit app to constantly give rewards like this without also regularly updating what is available in the store?

 

 

Of course, when you keep accumulating more than you can use, that's by-definition HOARDING, right  

 

 

 

[Mike Wazowski]

3 minutes ago, Gemma said:

So, day one, here we are:

 

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  1/28 (1966 cal, a little over on fat, a little under on carbs, 10 grams shy on protein, not bad) 

Excellent!

 

3 minutes ago, Gemma said:

• Prayer journal 1/28 (Um, wow - my last entry prior to today was April 18. I knew it had been a while, but ... yikes!)

Woo! Good thing God’s grace is always there when we’re ready for it, right?

 

3 minutes ago, Gemma said:

• Write 2k words/day 1/28 (today's count, 2003, 1-day streak on 4theWords) 

Excellent! 

3 minutes ago, Gemma said:

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 0/12, N/A on Sundays (I'm a M/W/F kinda girl) 
• maintain mediation streak  1/28 (Headspace streak stands at 53)

I am amazed at your consistency - I’ve never gotten a streak of more than about 7 days with anything I try to do daily (prooooooooobably a sign I like to overload my life a bit haha).

 

3 minutes ago, Gemma said:

• maintain French practice streak 1/28 (Duolingo streak stands at 89)
   

The Duolingo app on my phone does "weekend challenges" to get 150 points in one weekend - I can maintain my streak with as little as 10 points a day, but I somehow always try to get this #shinything - even though there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT to spend lingots on. I fall for it almost every weekend. Not complaining, but - is it strange for a "gamified" habit app to constantly give rewards like this without also regularly updating what is available in the store?

 

 

Of course, when you keep accumulating more than you can use, that's by-definition HOARDING, right  

 

 

 

Hot dayum to all of this! Nonsense on the lingots, just think of the next shiny language you’ll want to learn once you master French!

[Br0din]

[Laghail]

18 hours ago, Gemma said:

The Duolingo app on my phone does "weekend challenges" to get 150 points in one weekend - I can maintain my streak with as little as 10 points a day, but I somehow always try to get this #shinything - even though there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT to spend lingots on. I fall for it almost every weekend. Not complaining, but - is it strange for a "gamified" habit app to constantly give rewards like this without also regularly updating what is available in the store?

 

Of course, when you keep accumulating more than you can use, that's by-definition HOARDING, right  

 

The struggle is real! I think the intent is to make you spend lingots on refilling your health, buuut that game mechanic of not letting you play until you play somemore? It's one of the demons that haunts edutainment. 

[Chimichanga]

On 10/20/2017 at 3:53 PM, Gemma said:

I'm a part time firearms safety and marksmanship instructor, but I just got certified in a course called "Refuse to Be a Victim" which is an introductory mashup of criminal psychology, situational awareness, cyber-crime/fraud awareness, and practical crime prevention tips.

 

Rad!

[Gemma]

On 10/22/2017 at 5:33 PM, MikeWazowski said:

Excellent!

 

Woo! Good thing God’s grace is always there when we’re ready for it, right?

 

Excellent! 

I am amazed at your consistency - I’ve never gotten a streak of more than about 7 days with anything I try to do daily (prooooooooobably a sign I like to overload my life a bit haha).

 

Hot dayum to all of this! Nonsense on the lingots, just think of the next shiny language you’ll want to learn once you master French!

Thank you, sir - and yes, I have renewed gratitude for grace right now. Already have my next language on deck, I'm in the very beginning levels of learning Welsh. Super pronunciation funsies - it's got the rolling "R"s of Spanish, the nasals of French, the hard gutterals of German - often all in one word. 

 

7 hours ago, Br0din said:

Whoa!!! That's a little hypnotic. 
 

7 hours ago, Laghail said:

 

The struggle is real! I think the intent is to make you spend lingots on refilling your health, buuut that game mechanic of not letting you play until you play somemore? It's one of the demons that haunts edutainment. 

Weird design, but I still am having fun with it so imma try and quit bitching about the weird bits now  I'm not much of a gaming expert, so I'm sure there are bits I don't understand - but as long as my multilinguality keeps moving forward, hey ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


So for today: 
 

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  2/28 (2,377 cal, because the hubs was trying to be nice and brought home tiramisu from the grocery, and I am NOT turning that down  ) 
• Prayer journal 2/28 
• Write 2k words/day 1/28 (Nope, today was crazypants busy, I just managed a word count of 457 to maintain my 4thewords streak, but no way am I getting to 2k by bedtime - which is basically right now) 

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 1/12, today was high-volume squat and press day, yippee!
• maintain mediation streak  2/28 (Headspace streak - 54)
• maintain French practice streak 2/28 (Duolingo streak - 90)

 

[thist514]

Just popping in to say I love your avatar!!

[Gemma]

21 hours ago, thist514 said:

Just popping in to say I love your avatar!!

Thanks, I love Sarah's Scribbles and this one was just too perfect, so I stole it: 

http://www.gocomics.com/sarahs-scribbles/2017/06/28 

Tuesday Report ~

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  3/28 (1728 cal, but WAY low on protein) 
• Prayer journal 3/28 
• Write 2k words/day 1/28 (I forgot how hard that is when I'm out of practice. I got 1,152 and I'm brain-tired. And it wasn't even story, just brainstorming.) 

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 1/12
• maintain mediation streak  3/28 (Headspace streak - 55)
• maintain French practice streak 3/28 (Duolingo streak - 91)

[Mike Wazowski]

That duolingo streak is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!!!

[Jord]

12 hours ago, Gemma said:

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 1/12

 

How are you liking Starting Strength? I know those coaches are few and far between, so it's probably great to have even found a powerlifting coach! 

 

12 hours ago, Gemma said:

• maintain mediation streak  3/28 (Headspace streak - 55)
• maintain French practice streak 3/28 (Duolingo streak - 91)

 

Still every time I see streak I think of steaks... 

[JustCallMeAmber]

5 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Still every time I see streak I think of steaks..

...well, I mean NOW that's all I am going to think

 

 

[Gemma]

8 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

How are you liking Starting Strength? I know those coaches are few and far between, so it's probably great to have even found a powerlifting coach! 

My coach is fabulous - and just blind dumb Irish luck that I found her. I was trying to do Starting Strength via reading the book and watching YouTube, and I did pretty okay, but I had a major squat form problem that I couldn't figure out on my own. I was listening to the very first Mark Rippetoe/SS podcast (which is a bit like the fitness version of Howard Stern) and he said something about the VERY FEW SS gyms in the U.S. and listed locations - and then he said the name of my little bitty little middle o' nowhere town.

 

 

Yes, I am very lucky to have found them. It's costing more than I would prefer to be paying, but without my coach I'm pretty sure I'd have a completely acceptable bench, press, and deadlift - and still be struggling to goblet squat a 25# kettlebell to depth.

 

8 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Still every time I see streak I think of steaks... 

 

2 hours ago, JustCallMeAmber said:

...well, I mean NOW that's all I am going to think

 

 

 

More importantly, don't think about streaking seared strip steak-stuffed carbs:

 

[Br0din]

8 minutes ago, Gemma said:

Yes, I am very lucky to have found them. It's costing more than I would prefer to be paying, but without my coach I'm pretty sure I'd have a completely acceptable bench, press, and deadlift - and still be struggling to goblet squat a 25# kettlebell to depth.

 

even after all the years of studying and lifting...  these last 5 months with a coach has been mind blowing.  So helpful, everyone needs a good coach.

[Gemma]

Wednesday Report ~

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  4/28 (11974 cal, still low on protein. Protein is hard when you are trying to cut cals.) 
• Prayer journal 4/28 
• Write 2k words/day 1/28 (Today's wordcount: 530. I'm still maintaining my 4thewords streak but that's about it. The streak threshold is 444 words.) 

I might need to steal a page from @Laghail's book (LAME writernerd pun intended) and make this into a sliding goal. Set it to "reasonable" for a week, or so, then if I hit that, up it a little for the next week. 

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 2/12
• maintain mediation streak  4/28 (Headspace streak - 56)
• maintain French practice streak 4/28 (Duolingo streak - 92)

[Jord]

14 hours ago, Gemma said:

 

but without my coach I'm pretty sure I'd have a completely acceptable bench, press, and deadlift - and still be struggling to goblet squat a 25# kettlebell to depth.

 

 

14 hours ago, Br0din said:

 

even after all the years of studying and lifting...  these last 5 months with a coach has been mind blowing.  So helpful, everyone needs a good coach.

 

Right?! And it's not just the form work. He also pushes me harder than I would push myself. Not in a dangerous way, he just has a better eye from outside when I have more left in me to go up in weight. Sometimes lifts feel really slow in your head but look fine from the outside. 

 

14 hours ago, Gemma said:

 

 

 

THIS IS EVERYTHING. 

 

11 hours ago, Gemma said:

Tuesday Report ~

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  4/28 (11974 cal, still low on protein. Protein is hard when you are trying to cut cals.) 

 

you just need the above sammie ^^ even though they never explain what really happens with the bread

[Gemma]

11 hours ago, Gemma said:

Wednesday Report ~

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  4/28 (11974 cal, still low on protein. Protein is hard when you are trying to cut cals.) 

Holy hyperbolic typos, Batman - no, folks, I did NOT eat nearly twelve thousand calories in one day, that would NOT support my current goals  ... 

 

Also, for your amusement: AntBro 

 

[Gemma]

So the past few days of my life have been just a little bit 

 

 

 

No crisis. Just no "reinforcing healthy good new habits" neither. I procrastinated my church art project until I basically *had* to work on it all night as soon as I got home both Thursday and Friday, finally finished it Saturday morning. While distracted with that, I completely gave over any thoughts of food tracking, prayer journaling, or writing. 

 

In happier news, I did maintain my already-well-established habits, so I'm taking that as more evidence that if I can just get a thing to have a dedicated, non-negotiable spot in my daily routine, and hold it there for a month or so, it can remain stable even when I get easily distracted by shiny objects. So, since reading Scripture, Duolingoing French, and meditating are all embedded before I even interact with humans in the morning, and my gym routine is on my calendar and I kind of plan my life around it, those seem pretty secure for now. <frantically searches for something wooden to knock on>

 

I just have to find the right a) timeslot and b) safeguards  to get the new habits up to that level of neural compulsion. 
 

As of Monday ~

Start/reboot:

• Track The Macros!  4/28 
• Prayer journal 4/28 
• Write 1k words/day 3/28 (modified down from 2k for the next two days, then it's NaNo anyway. Today: 1434) 

Keep on keepin' on with:

• weight training 3 days/week with Starting Strength coach: 4/12
• maintain mediation streak  8/28 (Headspace streak - 61)
• maintain French practice streak 8/28 (Duolingo streak - 97)

 

 

[juliebarkley]

Glad to hear you’re back at it! Uncertainty can weigh on you pretty hard. I hope that now that you know what you’re dealing with (even though it’s not good news), it will be easier to cope now