Aonghus Posted January 5, 2018 Report Share Posted January 5, 2018 The name is Aonghus and I do not have a 'Viking bod.' I don't expect to end up looking like something from a romance novel. I'm more likely to appear on the cover of The Very Voluble Viking than the Very Virile Viking. But I am working towards regaining my health and a level of fitness I am happy with. My hobbies are medieval re-enactment (mainly through the SCA,) archaeological experimentation, woodworking, writing, leatherworking, historical brewing, Scottish country dancing and pipe smoking. As part of the SCA I am just getting into heavy fighting and my arms are jelly three fights in. (Hard to defend yourself with a shield when you can keep the shield lifted up.) So it'd be really nice to be in better fighting shape as well as looking better. I'm really just getting back into fitness after a rough couple of years. I moved from Scotland to the US and gained a load of weight. I think I've finally found the Big Why I actually needed to push me forward. I'm just not happy when I look at myself in the mirror or pictures anymore. I just gained an amazing daughter, our first baby, and I want to be alive for a long time for her. Able to play with her and take care of her. The doctor told me I am on the verge of pre-diabetic and that was a big wake up call. But, honestly, the really big thing has been being so unhappy with how I look. And I am just... tired of it. So, I am going to go ahead and try a challenge. I'm working hard on the small changes so that I don't overwhelm myself. Big quest - Actually achieve the 3 smart goals consistently. Smart goal 1: Do my C25K run 3 times a week. No matter what. there are 7 days in the week for me to use for this. Smart goal 2: Work on reducing my sugar intake. Just try to make better choices and keep tracking my food so that I can learn what has more sugar than I realised. Smart Goal 3: START getting my gauntlets or helmet padded. I don't have to complete either of these by February 1st. I just have to actually get out to the armouring workshop and get started on them. It seems like I should be able to achieve these and measure them easily enough. They are also things that'll make me feel better about myself and help to build and maintain positive habits. 5 Quote Link to comment
Radost Posted January 5, 2018 Report Share Posted January 5, 2018 Congratulations on welcoming a new person into your family! I don’t have kids myself but the sweet monsters I’ve been nanny to for the past several years have been a real inspiration to improve my diet and activity level. Good luck in your challenge! 1 Quote Link to comment
SailorV Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 Hello! Many congratulations on your baby girl! She will be a great motivator for you, and as she gets bigger you’ll naturally become more active, too. It’s good to start now, I get so winded chasing my son! I am also cutting sugar from my diet. I’m in the habit of reading the ingredient labels for added sugars- it’s so sneaky, I read a label on a box of crackers and there it was. I have also been checking things out on the glycemic index, and snacking on walnuts and apples instead of a pastry. What is your plan of attack? Are there any tools you’re using to track the sugar? (I use MyFitnessPal to track my foods, but I find the carbohydrates macro unreliable for this because it doesn’t separate which carbs come from sugar and wheat or fruits and veggies). Best wishes, V Quote Link to comment
Novaurora Posted January 6, 2018 Report Share Posted January 6, 2018 22 hours ago, Aonghus said: Smart goal 2: Work on reducing my sugar intake. Just try to make better choices and keep tracking my food so that I can learn what has more sugar than I realised. Hi there! Following along. For this goal here, it might be easier to track (and succeed) if you pick a particular thing (like soda or snacks) to cut down on because it makes it easier to measure. Good luck on your challenge!! Quote “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” John Steinbeck “Do I dare disturb the universe?” – T.S. Eliot “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” – Toni Morrison "All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us" JRR Tolkien Human Bard: CON 2, WIS 5, INT 1, CHA 2 Current Challenge: Nova Levels Up (and maybe doesn't abandon a challenge...) Link to comment
RES Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Congrats on the little one! I do wonder what it is about the states that makes everyone gain (or by comparison, lose when traveling abroad) maybe someday I'll be able to leave and see what's so different out there Nice goals to begin with, good luck! Quote RES...and I want to live days worth dying for... Current: RES: CUTE Moves Spoiler Magickal, Eclectic, Goddess, Level 63 |1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|38|39|40|41|42|43|44|45|46|47|48|49|50|51|52|53|54|55|56|57|58|59|60|61|62|63|64|65|66|67| |My Character Page | Tracking Spreadsheet | Growth happens when you care more about the well being of your future self than the comfort of your present self! "Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is." -Yoda Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 On 1/6/2018 at 8:03 AM, Stribs said: Hi there! Following along. For this goal here, it might be easier to track (and succeed) if you pick a particular thing (like soda or snacks) to cut down on because it makes it easier to measure. Good luck on your challenge!! I stopped eating as much random junk food which has really helped, but the big thing has just been scanning the labels into myfitness pal and seeing how many grams of sugar my usual portion of each thing has. The 'healthy' yoghurt I was having for breakfast had more than my entire day's portion of sugar in it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Novaurora Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 5 minutes ago, Aonghus said: I stopped eating as much random junk food which has really helped, but the big thing has just been scanning the labels into myfitness pal and seeing how many grams of sugar my usual portion of each thing has. The 'healthy' yoghurt I was having for breakfast had more than my entire day's portion of sugar in it. I love the oikos triple 0 Greek yogurt 1 Quote “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” John Steinbeck “Do I dare disturb the universe?” – T.S. Eliot “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” – Toni Morrison "All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us" JRR Tolkien Human Bard: CON 2, WIS 5, INT 1, CHA 2 Current Challenge: Nova Levels Up (and maybe doesn't abandon a challenge...) Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Update after week 1. I managed to get all three of my runs in plus one day of free weights. Already got run number 1 in for this week and today I'll try to get some free weights in today on my lunch break. Continuing to work on making better choices food wise and definitely doing a decent job of checking into how much sugar each thing that I eat has. I've dropped the sugar a fair bit so that I am not over my total every day. 2 Quote Link to comment
Beginner.Berserker Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 On 1/5/2018 at 8:50 AM, Aonghus said: My hobbies are medieval re-enactment (mainly through the SCA,) archaeological experimentation, woodworking, writing, leatherworking, historical brewing, Scottish country dancing and pipe smoking. You are basically doing every hobby I've also wanted to try! What is historic brewing? My first attempt at mead making in currently in progress and I was wondering if that the same thing and if you had any pointers? Congrats on your new baby! I bet she's best motivation out there! I also like how you've kept your main goal really simple, it'll build a good foundation for future goals. Good luck! 3 Quote Link to comment
Laghail Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Following mostly in hopes of seeing dope costume and hobby pictures from #SCAlife, but also the weight slinging and clean eating are exciting! What does your free weight program look like? 2 Quote Level 34 [Yorkie Packmaster] Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 11:17 AM, Beginner.Berserker said: You are basically doing every hobby I've also wanted to try! What is historic brewing? My first attempt at mead making in currently in progress and I was wondering if that the same thing and if you had any pointers? Congrats on your new baby! I bet she's best motivation out there! I also like how you've kept your main goal really simple, it'll build a good foundation for future goals. Good luck! Thanks! I really appreciate that. they are good hobbies and I have a lot of fun. You should definitely look into getting involved with your local group. I can help you find info if you need! As far as the brewing, I try to research things heavily and then use that as a basis for how to actually do the brewing, including building the equipment. I have a website at www.badwolfsca.com that goes over some of my stuff. I'm about to do a major update since there is loads of stuff I have done that I haven't put on there, yet. 1 Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 11:35 AM, Laghail said: Following mostly in hopes of seeing dope costume and hobby pictures from #SCAlife, but also the weight slinging and clean eating are exciting! What does your free weight program look like? Your wish is my command! Pictured below - Me getting squired. Me after fording a river on an experimental medieval hike. (Fording a river in medieval shoes is a bitch!) Me actually fording the river with a friend. Some of my medieval brewing in the Kuurna I built by hand using period tools. Me testing out Norse winter gear. As far as the weight program, it's a slow starter because I am trying to favour my tendonitis-y elbow. Usually 2 days a week where I'll do bench presses, shoulder presses, bicep curls, shrugs and assisted chin-ups. Three days a week I run. Things will slowly switch up over time. 3 Quote Link to comment
Jord Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 I'm slow and failed to notice the other thread was your intro not your challenge... Quote Jǫrð, Delvian Nomad - Level 12 { Battle Log } Link to comment
Laghail Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Dang pictures batman, how'd the fording go? 1 Quote Level 34 [Yorkie Packmaster] Link to comment
juliebarkley Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 On 1/12/2018 at 7:37 AM, Taddea Zhaan said: I'm slow and failed to notice the other thread was your intro not your challenge... You're not alone. I just stumbled across this thread and thought, "but I'm sure I'm already following Aongus...". Oh well, I'm following both now 2 Quote Challenge: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 On 1/12/2018 at 9:41 AM, Laghail said: Dang pictures batman, how'd the fording go? Honestly, it was rough. I'm only 5'4" so the water was sternum level at the deepest. On the way across it was hard and slow, but I managed it. On the way back I took a spill and broke a toe. Learned a lot, though. I did a blog post about the whole weekend adventure. www.badwolfsca.com/2017/08/14/an-experimental-medieval-hike/ 1 Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 Third run of the week taken care of today. I was already tired from moving stuff from the old craft room now baby room down to the new craft room Then I stupidly ate a fair sized dinner twenty minutes before going for my run. But I did it. I pushed myself through and didn't slow down or stop. Tomorrow will be week 5 day 1. Hopefully I can get some crafting in tomorrow, too. It'd be good for my mental health. 2 Quote Link to comment
Marianne Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 May I say Aonghus, you sound cool! When I was around 11-12 I was very (very, very) into a fantasy adventure book series with a female knight, and I was determined to be a female knight too, so I took up martial arts, gymnastics and archery. It was incredible for my confidence as well as my fitness. Maybe your Viking activities will give you the same push? Motivation like that, which captures your imagination, your intellect and your passion, is so powerful. I'll be following along with you! Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 On 1/15/2018 at 12:37 AM, Marianne said: May I say Aonghus, you sound cool! When I was around 11-12 I was very (very, very) into a fantasy adventure book series with a female knight, and I was determined to be a female knight too, so I took up martial arts, gymnastics and archery. It was incredible for my confidence as well as my fitness. Maybe your Viking activities will give you the same push? Motivation like that, which captures your imagination, your intellect and your passion, is so powerful. I'll be following along with you! Would that be the Alana books by any chance? I'm definitely trying to leverage some fitness activities out of the re-enactment stuff if I possibly can. Quote Link to comment
Marianne Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 20 hours ago, Aonghus said: Would that be the Alana books by any chance? I'm definitely trying to leverage some fitness activities out of the re-enactment stuff if I possibly can. Yes! In the end I became an academic rather than a knight 1 Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 6 hours ago, Marianne said: Yes! In the end I became an academic rather than a knight LOL. Nothing wrong with that. Also, those books are fab kid's books. I plan to read them with my daughter once she's a wee bit bigger. Quote Link to comment
Jazmin Posted January 18, 2018 Report Share Posted January 18, 2018 Greetings Aonghus! As another SCAdian here, I just wanted to say hi from Ealdormere. XD Part of my fitness goals (but one of those big nebulous why goals) is 'survive Pennsic' You got this! 1 Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 On 1/18/2018 at 9:49 AM, Jazmin said: Greetings Aonghus! As another SCAdian here, I just wanted to say hi from Ealdormere. XD Part of my fitness goals (but one of those big nebulous why goals) is 'survive Pennsic' You got this! Hello to you, too. You can totally did Pennsic. And it'll be so worth it. Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 Got week 5, day 2 of my C25K program done. Run 5, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5. I pushed myself to go to the gym even though I wasn't feeling it and earned my sweat wings. I feel great. 2 Quote Link to comment
Aonghus Posted January 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 Week 5, Day 3 of the C25K program I'm on was completed last night. It actually felt pretty easy, all things considered. I am toying with the idea of just trying a 20 minute run tomorrow and seeing if I can manage it, but we'll see. 3 Quote Link to comment
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