Starpuck Rolls for Initiative

[starpuck]

STARPUCK STARTS A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE

 

 

 

Sometimes it's just really motivating to start a brand new character.   To have a fresh new character sheet, and shiny new pencils and new dice to get you rolling.   I had originally started this thread out with comments about how my last year had gone, and how it had finished up, but then I stopped and said, "Wait... that doesn't matter now.   What matters are the choices I make going forward and the effort I put in today and tomorrow and then tomorrow's tomorrow and so on."     So just like you might learn a new thing about your favored class or character archetype every time you roll up a new one,  I will take what I've learned playing through this game previously, and become even better at it this year!

 

Declarations and overall goals listed behind spoiler.   

 

Spoiler

 

• I am a person who does her best to eat well, so that she can be healthy and well fueled.
• I am a person who strength trains, so that she can function well through her whole life!
• I am a person who moves routinely, and loves sweating because it keeps my heart and lungs in tip top shape and improves my mood.
• I am a person who is ready to spread her wings, so must start planning for moving to a new nest and keep track of her budget.
• I am a person who enjoys creative outlets, so I must continue to keep them in use so I do not lose skills I have worked to gain.

 

And there you have the thing I stole directly from @Tanktimus the Encourager thread. 

 

• My goal is to cook on Sunday's 5 times and EAT all the leftovers.
• My goal is to do 10 strength based workouts.
• My goal is to sweat intentionally 12 times.
• My goal is to set up a budget, stick to it, and use cash to pay for all food/fun purchases only.
• My goal is to do creative endeavors 24 times.

 

 

Food must be a focus, as it is probably my weakest point.   The old adage of you can't outrun your fork is so true; and while I do active things - their purpose must no longer be 'to lose weight'.  I do those things because of the other awesome benefits they provide.     I also know what I can do to help make the food a smaller obstacle, but it takes planning ahead, and some substitution.    In the words of our beloved Pike...

 

Easy days/meals: Mon-Fri breakfasts and lunches at work.  No problem.

Moderately challenging meals/times: Homecooked meals on M/W.  I can't control the ingredients/prep.  T after dinner snacks while gaming.

Dangerously challenging times:  Th / Su gaming nights, weekends, especially ones with hockey games.

Other Challenges:  No room in the fridge for anything that would be 'mine' creates issues in keeping good options on hand.

 

Solutions

- Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead.

- Research and prepare healthier snack options.

- Cook on Sundays, for dinners on Tue and Thur.

 

Plan of Attack / Food

 

Adventurers only carry so many rations,  so track what you are carrying! (eating).

 - I am going to track calories loosely, not because I am aiming for a certain point (I am) but because if I focus only entirely on good foods, and try to be mindful of portions, I sometimes end up eating far too little!   You have to know what your doing in order to make any future adjustments, but the calories are being watched in order to fuel ENOUGH - as opposed to eating LESS AND LESS to lose weight.

 

Heroes Feasts are only for those big moments.

 - Sometimes you do need to go all out on feasting, but it's not every day, and not for every potential battle you might get into.    Enjoy the feasts when it is appropriate, but otherwise save that gem-encrusted bowl worth at least 1,000 gp.  Basically, allow indulgences when it is appropriate.   Eating out with friends is NOT an indulgence moment, that's a routine thing that happens, so eat like a normal adventurer on those days.

 

 

Plan of Attack / Exercise

 

 

Adventurers are almost always on the move.

 - Either walking from one town to the next, or delving into a dungeon or worse, they're no slouches.    I need to keep up the daily activity.     I work in a small office, but I am going to slowly try to build up and see what is a feasible number of steps per hour.   Well, without looking like a bear pacing in its enclosure at the zoo.   That gets weird.   Strength training to keep me strong, and sweat-inducing movement so that I am able to flee without passing out when the odds are not in my favor.

 

Not everyone starts off as a real adventurer...

 - Confession time.   I'm not sure how much I actually enjoy the act of -doing- exercise.    Sure, I am always pleased with the results; and my mood is often better after having done it than if I hadn't.   But it's hard to be motivated for rewards that aren't promised after every mission.     So, I take a page out of Taryon Darrington's book.    Fake it till I make it.   He was a total poser when he met up with Vox Machina, but by the end of his time with them, he was an official member, and not just a real adventurer, but a proper hero too!    So I need to go along with the motion, until it becomes something that I truly seek out time and time again.

 

Plan of Attack / Other Stuff

 

 

"Yes!  The PLAN!"

 

Art and D&D work and budget stuff.      I have taken a break with art, but am anxious to get back to it.   Must remember to be patient with myself, and to start focusing on learning some actual techniques and perhaps how to better use my program.    D&D prep comes into this category now, because I am really enjoying being a DM and it does require creative thinking and story writing.     So, I'd like to put about 5-6 hours in a week of "creativity".

 

The budget is going to be simple:   Figure out where I can save money, how much I can save, and save it.     Stay strict with my allowances for eating out or buying snacks for gaming (which will also help the food goal) and don't get willy nilly with the money.     I am going to keep a notepad or digital note on hand, and every time I get the urge I want or need something, I will write it down.  At the end of each week, I'll re-evaluate my need or desire for it.   Some things might be legit needs like: Man this toothpaste tastes so bad it makes me not want to brush my teeth, I need a new tube.    Other things might be, "I could really use dry erase markers for my DM'ing, but do I NEEEED them right now."

 

I'd like to put another $5000 into my savings account toward Puck's Manor.    I also want to go on a couple of vacations because travel is important to my soul.   So I need to figure out a budget that does both.

 

Oookaaay, well this got longer than I had meant for it to!

Let's break it down into simple terms.

 

Track my Rations Daily (Total Lots)   [MFP]

Prepare for questing every Sunday.  (Total 5)   [Cook on Sundays]

Limit Heroes Feast (Total 2)   [Two or less indulgences]

Chase dire wolves for sport.  (Total 12)  [Get my sweat on, run, dance, hockey]

Train like Grog. (Total 10)   [Strength Training]

Brainstorm, plot, create.  (Total 24)    [Art, D&D, Reading, etc.]

 

 

[bker1370]

following along.  Looks good

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I really like your declarations. The guy you got them from must know his stuff.

[obax]

I also like your declarations, and think I will do a little stealing of my own when it comes time to make my thread.

 

I like all the goals, especially the ones around food and the budget one. I feel like those things can and will lead to some fairly awesome awesome in your future!

[Wild Wolf]

4 hours ago, Starpuck said:

So, I'd like to put about 5-6 hours in a week of "creativity".

 

Excited about how this turns out  

 

4 hours ago, Starpuck said:

Figure out where I can save money, how much I can save, and save it.

 

Yusssss...I need to be doing more of this. 

 

Following for Artful Budgeting

 

Wolf

[SkyGirl]

I love your goals ... I love your declarations ...

 

 

 

Following for awesomeness!!

[Cheetah]

Following. You'll be brilliant.  :-)

[Red1263]

Oh I am definitely following Puck awesomeness! 

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Following!!

 

Quote

 "Wait... that doesn't matter now.   What matters are the choices I make going forward and the effort I put in today and tomorrow and then tomorrow's tomorrow and so on."     So just like you might learn a new thing about your favored class or character archetype every time you roll up a new one,  I will take what I've learned playing through this game previously, and become even better at it this year!

 

Also this? So important, thank you for the reminder as I continue to think about what I want to do with my challenge

[starpuck]

Oi guys.   Finally got outside for some fresh air because the sun was out.      Which was great... save for the fact it's only 3 degrees and the windchill is hitting -16.   So I basically looked like a Canadian Ninja.   [Pics are from previous ninja outings, but reflect the gear of choice for today.]   Also.   This is why winter sucks here.

 

 

 

Step 1 - Ninja Under Layer                                                           Step 2 - Defeat the elements!

  

 

We're on a streak of 12 days in a row that haven't seen temps above the teens.    THE TEENS!!!   And 6 of those days never got out of the single digits.    Seriously.  F dis season. 

 

I spent 70 minutes out there taking a flat ice scraper to the driveway to try and loosen up all the packed down snow and ice from the tire tracks packing down the snow that fell yesterday.   It equated to "6000" steps - ie, the motion of shoving the scraper out and back, plus the shoveling motion.    Given that I have not been too active with the weight lifting, or, well, anything lately... I am pretty sure I might be broken tomorrow!!  HAHAHA.    That said?  It felt so freaking good.      The air was so crisp and, once I got around all the frozen snot and watering eyes, it really opened up my sinuses!

 

The rest of the day is for cleaning up my room and getting pre-organized for the start of next week.   Putting away gifts that have been sitting out to look over and what not, and then playing some more Shadow of Mordor for a bit.   Then I am off to my friend's house, where I will pick him up to go shopping for some kind of stew we're going to attempt to make today!  Because... winter.    And stew is the meal of choice for days like this.    Wish us luck.   It's gonna take a miracle for this to turn out!

 

 

 

[Cheetah]

Great snow adventure!  I'm actively avoiding shoveling my driveway.

 

Good luck on your adventure!  Have fun storming the castle!

[Elastigirl]

Love your food plans, looks like a great balance of making sure you are eating enough, and not going overboard. Ok,I am being a wimp, and you are motivating me to just Ranger up. It is 40 degrees out, and I need to go for a walk, but I don't want to because it's cold. Right now you would think 40 degrees is the tropics, so I just need to do it.

[Red1263]

Loving the Canadian ninja outfit! 

[obax]

That looks like my everyday work wear, minus the insulated outer layer! That UnderArmour stuff is great, it keeps me warm (downright hot sometimes) when I'm out and I don't overheat when I'm in, I wear it literally every day in the winter. I prefer the neck gaiter to the ninja mask, however.

 

My dad always beats me to the shoveling, I legit enjoy doing it, but almost always regret it the next day...

[starpuck]

Thanks all for the follows and support and cheering on!    It's gonna be super challenging tomorrow, on a day off, to get into gear, but I am excited to get moving on it.  

 

Stuff to Do:

• Starting "Today's" weight and bf% estimates.
• Starting "Today's" pics, oh gads.
• 45m of Moving (Just Dance, new game.)
• Art
• Eat Healthy Stuffs

 

We DID get around to making food at friends house today.  This will be for Tuesday and Thursday night.

Spicy beef chili, with 1 can less of the beans than it called for ... meats better than beans.

 

Tonight we're having some friends over for festivities. 

 

We're going to go to the awesome burger joint and then coming back for drinks, snackies and nerd gaming.

On tap, Red Dragon Inn and Overcooked.

 

Happy New Year all, see ya tomorrow!

 

Edit:   Just finished drawing out my BuJo to start tracking tomorrow!!  Had to share it.

 

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Love your bullet journal setup as always!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

On 12/30/2017 at 11:22 AM, Starpuck said:

This is why winter sucks here.

 

Yeap, my outdoors clothing choices this week mirror yours.  I'm working on thinking of winter as special ops training.

[Raxie]

Jealous of your BuJo art.  Mine's so utilitarian and full of scribbles.  It's what keeps me sane though

 

HAPPY 2018!

[starpuck]

On 12/31/2017 at 5:01 PM, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

Love your bullet journal setup as always!

 

7 minutes ago, Raxie said:

Jealous of your BuJo art.  Mine's so utilitarian and full of scribbles.  It's what keeps me sane though

 

HAPPY 2018!

 

Oh guys, I don't do that for all the bujo stuff, just for challenge related dorkiness, and only then when I get the bug to be THAT creative with it.    My usual pages are the day, date, and list of what I want to do-- and if I am feeling sassy?   Colored pencils to mark the things done.  Haha.

 

HOW DID THE FIRST DAY GO?

 

Ugh guys.  Ugh.    I did fine, but it took way more willpower than should be necessary for Day 1 when motivation is at its peak.     TL;DR - my living arrangements are not only not conducive to healthy eating and life, but actually counterproductive.    You think it wouldn't be the case given I share the house with two diabetics, but nope.     Breakfast options were ... cereal.   (It doesn't hold me, but we woke up late so fine, I had cereal.)    At this point, BiL brings in some corn bread he made... I don't wanna be a jerk, so I try just a tiny 1x1 square of it... ugh.

 

Then my sis said, since we ate a late breakfast, we'd eat an early dinner at like 3pm.    Cool.   I loaded up  my new dance game and kicked my own ass with it.   Played for 45 minutes and burned like 360 calories and definitely got my sweat on.

 

 So at 1pm I was feeling a bit peckish, but didn't wanna ruin my dinner - so looked for what we had to snack on... crackers, chips, snack meat from the Christmas party, cheese, dips, dips, nasty thawed shrimp from Christmas Day, and leftovers from last week that consist of Fried chicken, stuffing, and turkey....        I grab 5 buttery round crackers, 2oz dried salami and a babybel cheese wheel.  It was the best I could do.

 

Then what happens?  They all fall asleep the rest of the afternoon, and don't wake up until 5pm... so ^ pathetic 'snack' had to hold my pathetic measured out 3/4c cereal breakfast from 10:30, until we finally ate at 5:30.   To say my moods were affected by the hangries is an understatement.   And I just got so bloody frustrated with how HARD it is for me to be healthy here.   There's not even room in the fridge for me to KEEP healthy things for myself.   

 

This seriously, is probably the biggest motivator into my wanting to get my own place, but that seems so far away still and so I am left feeling trapped playing this game on Nightmare mode.       This is also why I do so much better at work- I cook breakfast there, do my lunch there, and have two snacks there.    That's 4 'meals' per day, 5 x a week that I can control what I am doing without a bunch of frustration from rotten food in the fridge, or lack of space, or whatever else.

 

 

Ok, /rant --- sorry.

 

Worked out ▲

Tracked Calories ▲

Arted ▲ (ugh, everything turned out shitty though)

Laundry all done for the week. ▲

Browsed for a Strength Program to use.  ▲

(I have a few from Nia Shanks, I just need to stop giving up on them 2 weeks in.)

Worked on D&D stuff  ▼

 

 

Tomorrow back to work, then straight to friends house for Divinity II night, but I have my cooked chili waiting for me.

 

 

[Raxie]

You did what you needed to do to get through today! No worries.  Though the living situation does sound frustrating. Mayhaps you can develop some "roommate protocols" like some of us around here have "plague protocols"? Like when your living situation gets in your way have a certain set of things you can do as back up at a minimum? Not sure that makes sense.  But happy day 1! You definitely rocked it, even though it took effort - you did it.

[obax]

That living situation sounds super frustrating, but you're taking steps to get away from that. Remember your plan and you journey is long term, and if things go less than ideally now due to a situation currently out of your control, all that matters is that you do your best even if it's not perfect. Get mad about it if you need to, but then accept that the now is imperfect, then set your sights back on what is to come and keep on keepin' on in that direction.

 

Related, do you have the option to get a small bar fridge or something similar, and hide it somewhere so it doesn't get filled with anything other than your stuff? Even if you have to plug it in in your bedroom, could that provide a stop-gap to help you through times when plans don't get stuck to or you need to do your own thing?

[starpuck]

Day 2 Update -  it's early, but warranted.

 

• Last night going to bed, I developed a sore throat that has persisted into today.
• I also, last night, put my retainer in (I had adult braces, so wearing your retainer at night helps keep teeth from shifting back over time) and it FREAKING BROKE!
• Had a doc appt this morning for yearly physical (am I the only one who feels like docs really don't find anything important from a physical?) and it took her 30 minutes to get into the exam room.
• Could not shop for groceries because Doc was running so late and I promised work I'd be in no later than 9:15 and it was already past that.
• Looked up my ortho to talk about replacing the retainer... he moved 2 hours away!!!
• Forgot my water bottle at friends house, so bought a new one and it totally sucks.
• When I drove in to work, it was -8, with windchills hitting up to -40.  (-22 to -40 celcius... also what mad math is this, that -40F is the same as -40C??)
• I'll have to do my grocery shopping at work, so my STR workout has to get bumped to tomorrow.  Sucks, but maybe for the better since my throat is so sore.

 

Seriously... can we not jump into this new challenge on Hard Mode please?

 

I will do what I have to do- albeit the list is unexpected half to do's, and still count today as a good day and a win.

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Sorry you're having such a rough day. I hope it gets better.

[starpuck]

How the day will end up...    I toughed it out.   Phew.    Didn't get a lot of things on my BuJo list done, but I got OTHER things done that needed doing.     

 

Work Out ► shifted to tomorrow due to doc appt. / running late / grocery needs

Tracked Calories ▲ (about 1700 which is my goal for a non-workout day.)

Groceries for Work ▲

Arted ▼

Worked on D&D stuff  ▼

Changed CC to a non annual fee one.  ▲

Called Dentist and Ortho referral about retainer. ▲

Have orders for yearly blood work and scans.  ▲

[obax]

You had hiccups in your day and you prioritized and adapted and still got a heck of a lot of stuff done. That's for sure a win!

 

7 hours ago, Starpuck said:

 

• When I drove in to work, it was -8, with windchills hitting up to -40.  (-22 to -40 celcius... also what mad math is this, that -40F is the same as -40C??)

 

Holy cold! And now you know why Fahrenheit makes my brain hurt... Also, I can't for the life of me ever remember how to spell it, jeeze! I'm sure there's someone somewhere at Google or maybe CSIS looking at my search history like o_0 why is this person so interested in American temperature??, I'm probably on a watch list of some sort somewhere...