Ryuu Survives Aincrad

[Ryuu1011]

Repost with some edits from my Battle Plan

Been offline here for way too long and have slipped back a long way from where I wanted to be this year. For some reason I always have a weird feeling of being a disappointment when I really fall of the wagon to getting back online and updating because I really feel like I've disappointed all my online friends on here, a stupid feeling I know but a strong one none the less. But after a lot of struggling and beating myself up I've finally got back on and want to try and finish out the year strong. 

 

Around the beginning of the summer I hurt my back pretty bad which really thrown me off, and it has been a constant battle between the back pain and my own pity party because of the back pain causing me not to really want to do anything. I traveled around a lot this summer (want to Italy and Greece and to Tennessee)  and overall had a great time but I know it wasn't the best for my back since sitting down tends to be what causes me the most pain and those long plane rides were painful . Plus having to stop exercising just made me hate myself and just snowball into bad eating habits on top of no exercise. Needless to say I'd gained some weight over the past few months which just added more snow to the snowball. Then once the school year started back I got the icing on the shitcake and was informed that my classroom had flooded over the summer and they still hadn't finished the floor. One week till the start of school and I couldn't even get into my classroom to start setting up, every day they told me that it would be ready the next day and then the next day would come and it still wouldn't be done. That continued for two weeks, into the first week of actual school and I couldn't even get into my classroom to start setting up for the year. Needless to say that didn't help my stress levels or my back, and made my work hell for the first month and a half of school.

 

Finally, I decided that enough was enough and I wanted my life back. I was tired of life happening to me and being caught up in the shitstorm that my life had become for the last few months and decided to take back control, so I started with what I could do and I decided that I was going to wake up early and do yoga every day, so I started doing yoga every morning. So far I am 24 days straight of doing as much or as little yoga and I can. About a week ago I even decided to double down and signed up for a year long unlimited membership at a great local yoga studio and so far I love it and it's (or at least seems to be) helping out my back. Taking that victory and trying to keep up I've gone ahead and started making some goals and have a plan for the next 4 week challenge: 

 

Ryuu Survives Aincrad (_____/200) 1 HS

The idea of MMORPGs and grinding levels has been on my mind a lot recently because its a lot like real life having to grind to get to the next level. Its a long (and mostly boring) process, but once you really get into the game or the activity the grind can become relatively fun. For this challenge I'm focusing on the grind, trying to build sustainable habits and get some level ups along the way. In past challenges I've used hit points to good success so I'll be using them again.

 

Stat Bonuses- 

Goal One: Nutrition- ____/7: ____/28

Record Nutrition and be close to 1700 cal.  Every 7 days of Recording = +1 Health Crystal (HS) 

Within >200: +0hp,

>300 off: -10hp,

>500 off: -25hp,

600+: -50hp,

No Recording: -100hp

Ultimate goal to loose ~2lbs maybe 1-1.5 bf% 

Start lbs: 165.2

BF%: 22.8

 

Practice my Sword Arts- 

Goal Two: Yoga Everyday- _____/7: _______/28

 

Yoga Everyday, for as much or as little time as I can, just do it.

~5min: +0hp

20-30min: +5hp

1h+: +10hp

 

Explore the World- 

Goal Three: Walk Everyday- ____/7: ______/28

Walk everyday for 5+ min, Mindfully: Concentrate on my day, the future, the sights and sounds of nature...exc

0- 5000 Steps: -10hp

5-7000 Steps: +0hp

 7-9000 Steps: +5hp

9-10,000 Steps: +10hp

10-15,000 Steps +15hp

 

Find Magic in Words-

Goal Four: Read Everyday- _____/7: ______/28

Read everyday for 20+ min.

0min: -25hp

~20min: +0hp

1h+: +10hp

[Grandkai_NL]

Following!! Of course. 

 

[Korranation]

Following

[Fuji_fox]

Love SAO! Good luck with your goals!

[Teancum]

Following! 

[Manarelle]

Sorry life's been so crap lately. Good on you for standing up and saying no more. You've got this!

[Ryuu1011]

On 10/20/2017 at 5:35 PM, Grandkai_NL said:

Following!! Of course. 

Always glad you're here

On 10/21/2017 at 12:02 AM, Korranation said:

Following

YAY! Perhaps I'll learn some more of your masterful gif-fu ;D 

On 10/21/2017 at 12:13 AM, Fuji_fox said:

Love SAO! Good luck with your goals!

Yess Have you read the SAO progressive light novels yet? They journey floor by floor up the original Aincrad and they are super good, and very hard to put down.

On 10/22/2017 at 2:26 AM, Teancum said:

Following! 

YAY!  

1 hour ago, Manarelle said:

Sorry life's been so crap lately. Good on you for standing up and saying no more. You've got this!

Thanks its been rough but sometimes you just have to RAWR and be like fudge this, this isn't me, I want my life back and then take it Glad you're here 

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 1: Sun Oct 22nd (190/200)

Went home to my parents place in Raleigh for a belated birthday weekend with my family (my b-day was on the 11th) and played a bunch of board games and got some expansions for my current favorite Mystic Vale a card building, deck building game that is a whole lot of fun and different ever time you play. Unfortunately my family likes to order out which makes eating healthy a challenge but I did some research and picked the lesser of the evils which I'm happy about and managed to stay near my goals for the most part, only taking some  minor damage (-10hp) since I was siting down playing game most of the day I only got about 4000 steps. But I did make sure to get up and mindfully walk so overall not a complete scrub of that goal for the day. In the end I'm happy with my first day of this challenge.

 

G1: Nutrition- Recorded and within goal range 

G2: Yoga- Very short because I was running out of time before bed but I did get down and do it so the streak continues  

G3: Walk-  Only got ~4000 steps but I did get up and take a walk after working on my lessons for a while so counting that as a win.

G4: Read- Read for about 30min before bed today and was able to finish on Vol 1 of the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Manga which was very good!  

 

[Grandkai_NL]

A bit late but...

Happy Birthday!!

 

A good start of the challenge. I also like to read 30min before bed. It helps resting my eyes from eletronic screens. 

[raptron]

Welcome back into the fray! Do you know what is up with your back? I'm glad yoga has been helpful for it! 

[Ryuu1011]

21 hours ago, Grandkai_NL said:

A bit late but...

Happy Birthday!!

 

A good start of the challenge. I also like to read 30min before bed. It helps resting my eyes from eletronic screens. 

Thanks Yeah reading before bed has been great for my sleep, its just such a relaxing way to end the day and fall off to sleep

20 hours ago, raptron said:

Welcome back into the fray! Do you know what is up with your back? I'm glad yoga has been helpful for it! 

Thanks! Ehhh kind of? I've been to a Chiropractor and and basically all they said was the muscles in my back were super tight and stressed and that I had a "super straight" spine (like apparently I have the spine of an arrow) which isn't good because your spine is suppose to look more like an "s" and function like a spring when you run to cushion the impact. So since mine is so straight when I was running I was causing a lot of extra stress on my back muscles and spine. Basically I just can't/ shouldn't run anymore, and I've got to be more careful if I start weight training again. Which kind of really sucks since I really do love OCRs. But I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation and am hoping that I can still achieve most of my long term goals through yoga too

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 2: Mon Oct 23rd (215/200)

Strong first weekday of this challenge. 100%+ed all my goals today. Woot!

G1: Nutrition- Recorded and within goal range

G2: Yoga- Got a good morning yoga session in and then made it to the Open Hot Flow class at the yoga studio for ~90min of total yoga today giving me +10hp

G3: Walk-  Walked while my cross country students were practicing so I managed to get 14000 steps for +15hp

G4: Read- Read as soon as I got home, which ended up making me fall asleep for about a 30min nap but I'm pretty sure I read for 20min prior to that point so I'm counting it hahaha 

 

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 3: Tuesday Oct 24rd (230/200)

Today was my Middle School Cross Country Team's Championship Meet and I'm very proud of my runners and what we've accomplished this season. Our top boy and girl both got second overall in the championship and then we had many more runners in the top 20 too. It is always a little sad when the season is over but I'm not going to lie its going to be nice having my afternoons back, to walk on my own, do some reading, or do some more yoga. I've just got to make sure that I don't just get home and sit down in front of the TV and game for the whole rest of the day or watch a ton of TV. 

I'm thinking of making a rule that I can't sit down until I get back out and do at least a 5 min walk not only to hit my challenge goal but I know that if I can at least get out the door that 5min walk will probably turn into a 20-30min+ walk and be very beneficial overall.

 

G1: Nutrition- Recorded and slightly under my goal which is exactly where I like to be

G2: Yoga- Did a quick 15min yoga session to start off the day since I was having a very *meh* morning, but I've gotten pretty good at pushing through and telling myself to do at least 5min even when I'm not feeling it. I'm really trying to keep my good streak going too I just hit 30days

G3: Walk- Got in a lot of good steps during the meet  for a total of 12000 steps for +15hp again, woot easy health gain

G4: Read- Finished off the Second LoZ Twilight Princess Manga before bed, I forgot how easy it is to read an entire manga in like 30min lol 

[Korranation]

Congrats on hitting those goals!

[raptron]

Aw, congrats to your kids! That's awesome. Good plan for using your reclaimed time for good.  

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 4: Wednesday Oct 25rd (265/200)

Today went quite well overall, Started with a nice 30min yoga session to wake up and finished with a brutal 90min advanced hot power yoga session, so I got a lot of yoga in today. Continue to be doing well with my nutrition thanks to my preped meals though I'll need to cook something tomorrow to make sure that I've got food for the rest of the week- I need to find an new healthy recipe to try that meal preps well.

 

G1: Nutrition- Recorded and well within my goal range

G2: Yoga- Lots of yoga today 30min in the morning and then and long 90min session at night. 1h+ yoga +10hp I invite anyone to try power yoga if you don't think it'll give you a good workout. You will die >___< hahaha

G3: Walk-  Had a wonderfully mindful walk today- It was also an especially nice day which helped, overall I walked for about 1 hour and ended up with over 10,000 steps so +15hp

G4: Read- Read for quite a while today thanks to my extra hour in the afternoons now. I'm currently working on the 7 Habits of highly effective Teens which is a great book about building you best self to help you make your best life. 1h reading +10hp

[raptron]

So much yoga! I am not sure I could do HOT power yoga! I'd probably slip and slide out the door. 

[Ryuu1011]

1 hour ago, raptron said:

So much yoga! I am not sure I could do HOT power yoga! I'd probably slip and slide out the door. 

So that was actually my biggest problem with it originally too since I'm a naturally sweaty individual, but I recently got a lifeforme yoga mat for my birthday, which I've got to say is the grippy-est mat I've ever used, and it has made sweat slipping a thing of the past. A tad pricey but the overall quality of the mat is unbeatable and totally worth it if you're in the market for a new mat.

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 5: Thursday Oct 26th (300/200)

First week is going very well so far in terms of my overall goals. Getting back online and posting my daily updates is definitely helping for keeping me accountable and on track.

 

G1: Nutrition- Logged and just slightly under

G2: Yoga- A relaxed yoga day today, started with a light 15min session and then did another relaxing 60min at the studio for ariel yoga in these cool hammock like things. +10hp

G3: Walk-  Another good walk as soon as I got home netting me about 11,000 steps so +15hp

G4: Read- Got plenty of reading in today and even started a book list for all of the books that I was to start picking up (its already becoming quite a long list >___<)

[raptron]

23 hours ago, Ryuu1011 said:

So that was actually my biggest problem with it originally too since I'm a naturally sweaty individual, but I recently got a lifeforme yoga mat for my birthday, which I've got to say is the grippy-est mat I've ever used, and it has made sweat slipping a thing of the past. A tad pricey but the overall quality of the mat is unbeatable and totally worth it if you're in the market for a new mat.

Oooh, good to know there is a solution to this! 

 

Yay reading!

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 6: Friday Oct 27th (300/200)

A pretty good Friday went a little over on my calorie goals but only by ~300 so not the end of the world since I did an hour of yoga and got about 7000 steps today with many more planned for tomorrow. Overall this week is going very well I just hope I can keep up the momentum through the whole challenge. Hopefully since they are all daily goals I can keep up the streak the whole challenge (and after!) 

 

G1: Nutrition- Logged over by about 300 -10hp

G2: Yoga- Did a short yoga session first thing in the morning to keep up the routine and then did a nice 75min T.G.I.F yoga session after work. It which turned out to be really nice and relaxing just what I needed after a stressful school day (+10)

G3: Walk-  Wasn't able to walk quite as much as I wanted to but still got a fair number of steps in ~7000

G4: Read- Read a lot about type and fonts/ Calligraphy online today, so not ideal for this goal since I'd like it to be 20min of print reading but I'ma count it for today, since I also read a little out of a book just not for very long.

[Manarelle]

16 hours ago, Ryuu1011 said:

G4: Read- Read a lot about type and fonts/ Calligraphy online today, so not ideal for this goal since I'd like it to be 20min of print reading but I'ma count it for today, since I also read a little out of a book just not for very long.

 

Every little bit counts. 5 minutes a day is better than 0 minutes a day. Keep it up!

[Ryuu1011]

Week 1 Day 7: Saturday Oct 28th (325/200)

Had a very strong Saturday with most of my goals getting completed by 9am! Got up at my normal 5:30am and did 30min of light yoga and then went on about an hour walk to nock off my walking goal. When I got back I made some breakfast and then when to the yoga studio for an actual 60min class. Got some lunch while I was out and then when I returned I started on my lesson for the next week and nocked them out, but by the time they were done it was basically past dinner time even though I had wanted to make something. To compromise I went ahead and ordered something healthy but also went out and got the groceries I'd need for the meal so I could start on it asap tomorrow. Overall a great end to the week.

 

G1: Nutrition- Logged way under my goal by over -600 which counters Friday quite nicely

G2: Yoga- Lots of yoga again today +10hp

G3: Walk-  Tons of steps today almost at 20,000 +15hp

G4: Read-  Read for a decent amount before bed and for little spurts throughout the day but I'm unsure of the total time though I feel like it was easily at least 20min

[Ryuu1011]

 

Week One Review (325/200) + 2 HCs

Had an awesome first week of the challenge. Grinded my level with the best of them! hahaha and I 100%ed all of my goals I hope I can keep up this momentum and knock this challenge out of the park Normally the hardest days I have end up being the weekend but this weekend I made a similar schedule to that which I follow during the work week to ensure I completed my goals and it worked like a charm! I've also found that I like getting my goals done as soon as possible during the day to give me the greatest chance of accomplishing them. This is especially true for my yoga goal.

 

Goal One: Nutrition- 7/7: 7/28

Going great so far. Have prepared most of my meals at home and those that I haven't I've made the conscious decision to eat healthy every time resulting in a good cal deficit for this week.

Start lbs: 165.2 Current lbs: 164.8

BF%: 22.8 Current BF%: 22.4%

 

Goal Two: Yoga Everyday- 7/7: 7/28

Yoga Everyday has been going very good too, I haven't misses a day yet and my total streak is up to 34 days  

 

Goal Three: Walk Everyday- 7/7: 7/28

Hit my subgoal of 5-7000 steps every day but one and hit my goal to walk mindfully everyday so another good win for this week.

 

Goal Four: Read Everyday- 7/7: 7/28

Very intentionally carved out sometime each day About 1/2 way though my primary non-fiction book for this challenge, and I think I'll be picking up another fiction book/ comic book soon since I finished off Vol. 3 of batman eternal a little while ago.

[raptron]

Kicking buttttts.