Mizbrek Learns the True Meaning of Christmas

[Mizbrek]

 

The wind whipped outside the cave, snow drifting in at times. Mizbrek’s fire flickered, but stayed lit. The blizzard seemed to be at full intensity, and he huddled in his cloak near the fire. He’d have to weather this storm in order to continue his journey, and he was already further behind than he’d have liked.

 

He heard the figure approaching before he saw him. Miz shed the cloak, reaching for his staff.

 

“Who goes there?” he called out into the storm.

 

The figure approached slowly, just entering the mouth of the cave. “A simple traveler, friend.” He had a warm, friendly voice, but Miz couldn’t see his face yet. “Could I perhaps share your fire for a bit? I’ve been caught in this storm you see, and still have a long journey home.”

 

Miz paused for a second, hesitating. The figure was large, a human from the looks of it, and from what little he could see, he seemed to like the sweets (or the ale) too much to be a threat.

 

“Very well,” he said, lowering his staff.

 

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” he said, stepping into the cave. He wore a heavy brown cloak, with a red hat over his head, and had a full, white beard which obscured most of his face. He sat down next to Miz. “I don’t suppose you have any ale to take the chill off?”

 

Miz smiled. “I happen to be a Brewmaster.” The man laughed joyfully as Miz pulled a keg from his bag, pouring a mug of chocolate ginger stout for him, and one for himself. They drank in silence for a moment.

 

“Oh my, that is delightful, Brewmaster!” The man boomed. “What great luck I have!”

 

“I don’t know if I’d say that, friend,” Miz grumbled. “It’s colder than a Naz-gul’s heart out there, we’re stuck in this dingy, smelly cave with Light knows what beasts lurking further in, and we’ll be stuck here for days if that storm doesn’t let up soon.”

 

The man’s laughter boomed again. “Oh, Brewmaster, don’t you see? This is where the growth happens. This is how you get stronger, and tougher! And even if that isn’t the case, you get to share your brew with a stranger, and do a good deed, and I promise I will do my best to repay your kindness.” He took another long pull of the stout, emptying the mug, and gestured with it to ask if he could have more. Miz filled it obligingly and passed it back. “Did you know, across the multiverse, almost every culture has some kind of festival about togetherness at the darkest time of the year? People come together as the days get shorter and huddle together against the darkness. Some places have Christmas, others have Life Day, Winter Veil, Candlenights, it’s one of the rare things people all over the multiverse share. There can be great joy and growth in these months, one need only create it for themselves, search for it a bit. Oh, it’s hard, of course, but it changes you, leaves you stronger for it. That’s why people often make this season about joy.”

 

Miz filled his own mug with a smile. “That’s a lovely way of looking at it, friend. What did you say your name was?”

 

“You know, I’ve gone by a few, Brewmaster. You can call me Nicholas.”

 

Challenge Overview

 

Hello again folks! I took last challenge off from posting, for the most part. It didn’t work too badly for me, but I do want to try and step things up a bit before the holidays, as I know I’ll end up putting on a few pounds then. I’ll do my best to keep them off, of course, but I want to enjoy myself.

 

With past challenges I often try and add new things, or take on too much. Here I’m back to basics. My goal is to try and get as much of a head start going into the holidays and to build up good habits and continue those.

Challenge Goals

 

Don’t Binge on Food - often I will end up overeating, or eating when I don’t need to. I gain one point for every day I don’t do this.

Less than 2/4 drinks per weekday/weekend day - I’ve done this one before, but it bears repeating, and it’s something I’ve struggled with. Less than 2 drinks per weekday, 4 on weekends. It may not sound like much of a restriction, but it’s a start. 1 point per day I do this.

Stay Under Spreadsheet Calories - I use a spreadsheet to calculate my current TDEE at any given time, and it gives me a 500 calorie daily deficit for this. For every day I stay under that number, 1 point.

Spend 20 Minutes on Housework Per Day/60 Minutes on Weekends - Pretty self explanatory! For every day I do this, I gain a point.

 

Challenge Design

 

My initial design of this challenge was much more negative, it was about Miz weathering a storm, losing points if he missed some of these things, but I wanted to try and reframe it. Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year, and I want to be joyful with this.

 

I’m also calling this challenge a little early, as I’m officially on vacation as of the 21st! So it’ll be a couple days shorter for me! And I’m starting a bit late! So in total I’ll have 92 Points available. Now let’s set some loot goals:

 

45 Points - New Weightlifting Gloves

90 Points - Larger Brewing Equipment

 

I hope you’ll join me on this journey! I’ll be doing my best to check in on everyone I can throughout the challenge!

[Elastigirl]

Welcome back. I love the story. It's rainy and windy in my neck of the woods, so I need a bit of a reminder that this can be a very good time of year.

[Rhovaniel]

Good to see you back, Miz. Your narrative had me feeling all warm inside. I am also strangely jealous of the Brewmaster's ale...  

[deftona]

Our challenges are very similar - I am also trying to get a little cushion of weight loss to allow for a little freedom over Christmas, so following! 

[Mizbrek]

23 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Welcome back. I love the story. It's rainy and windy in my neck of the woods, so I need a bit of a reminder that this can be a very good time of year.

Thank you! Good to be back! It's been weirdly warm here, but much the same, rain and wind and no snow!

23 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Good to see you back, Miz. Your narrative had me feeling all warm inside. I am also strangely jealous of the Brewmaster's ale...  

Ha, right?! I tried to make a pumpkin peanut butter ale, didn't turn out too well! Brewing a Winter Ale this weekend!

12 hours ago, deftona said:

Our challenges are very similar - I am also trying to get a little cushion of weight loss to allow for a little freedom over Christmas, so following! 

Yay! Welcome! I'll do my best to share what works for me!

 

A good day yesterday! I struggled a bit with the drinks, but I did manage it. I really wanted to try and keep to zero drinks, and keep WELL under my TDEE, but I did have one. I mean, folding laundry is pretty boring without at least one beer, right? I'm also adding one challenge goal that's only for weekdays! But it's one I really want to work towards. I try to be at the gym when it opens at 5am, and I am mostly successful at that, but the last few weeks it's often been 5:15, 5:30 or so, and I want to really try and be there as early as possible. So since my gym is only 5 minutes away, I'm setting a goal of being out my front door before 5am, but only on weekdays! Weekends I just work out whenever I can.

 

Don’t Binge on Food - Stayed in excellent control! Had a few bits of chocolate in bed but that was it. 

Less than 2/4 drinks per weekday/weekend day - Just 1!

Stay Under Spreadsheet Calories - 200 under goal, and 700 under TDEE!

Spend 20 Minutes on Housework Per Day/60 Minutes on Weekends - More than that I think!

Out the Door Before 5am (Weekdays) - Managed this yesterday! About 4:58 when all was said and done, but close enough!

 

5 Points

[jonfirestar]

Somehow I wasn't following you. I'll remedy that now

[Mizbrek]

2 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

Somehow I wasn't following you. I'll remedy that now

Great to have you! I posted a bit late this time around, still getting back on the Rebellion bicycle so to speak!

 

Did very well yesterday. I'm struggling a bit - finding it very hard to eat reasonable portions these days and not overindulge. No one thing - Ms. Miz is away and it's less busy around the house, so I spend a lot of time just sitting around going "Hmm...I could eat more/drink more now." Doing my best to keep busy! But it's good discipline practice.

 

Don’t Binge on Food - Done and done yesterday. 

Less than 2/4 drinks per weekday/weekend day - Just 1 again!

Stay Under Spreadsheet Calories - 260 under goal!

Spend 20 Minutes on Housework Per Day/60 Minutes on Weekends - Definitely more than that yesterday!

Out the Door Before 5am (Weekdays) - Missed this yesterday - not by much, but a bit! Still figuring out all the things I need to do in the morning with the dog - normally she just stays with Ms. Miz.

 

 

9 Points

 

[Mizbrek]

Good day yesterday. Made it out to the gym earlier, had a fun day of running around and finished off with some elliptical work.

 

Don’t Binge on Food - Done and done yesterday. 

Less than 2/4 drinks per weekday/weekend day - Had 2 yesterday, but kept it within those limits!

Stay Under Spreadsheet Calories - Just barely yesterday, thanks to the extra drink, but made it!

Spend 20 Minutes on Housework Per Day/60 Minutes on Weekends - Yup, cleaned up the kitchen and worked on the bedroom a bit.

Out the Door Before 5am (Weekdays) - Made it yesterday!

 

 

14 Points

[Rhovaniel]

Nicely done, Miz! Have a great Week 2!  

[Elastigirl]

Been a bit since you checked in. How's it going?

[Mizbrek]

On 12/3/2017 at 3:49 PM, Rhovaniel said:

Nicely done, Miz! Have a great Week 2!  

Thanks! So far not too bad!

12 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Been a bit since you checked in. How's it going?

Thanks for checking in! Been meaning to post but had some technical difficulties with my tablet.

 

I'm not gonna try and account for all the days I missed, but will try and give an overview! Overall the challenge has been going well for me. I dropped a couple pounds last week, but bumped up a bit this weekend. Just water weight though. Long story short, Ms Miz and I got some great financial news and went out to a steak house to celebrate! I do feel like I'm back on track for the most part now though, and my hope is we have a relatively quiet week and I can focus on meeting these goals and make a final push before the holidays.

 

Don’t Binge on Food - I've been on and off on this. I've slipped on it a few times, but mostly I'd say I've stuck to it. Giving myself 5 points here.

Less than 2/4 drinks per weekday/weekend day - Again, off and on a bit on this one. Gonna say 3 points here.

Stay Under Spreadsheet Calories - 4 points here. I actually have the data for this one!

Spend 20 Minutes on Housework Per Day/60 Minutes on Weekends - I'm gonna say I've done this 6 days out of the last few. I didn't do as much this weekend, but I have been doing something almost every day.

Out the Door Before 5am (Weekdays) - I've managed this probably 2 days. It's definitely tough! A few of those were out of my hands, somewhat. 

 

34 Points

[Elastigirl]

Looks like overall a good week. A steak house is a great way to celebrate!

[SkyGirl]

MIZBREEEEEK

 

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