The Arruvia Conspiracy - Back to Basics

[WhiteGhost]

Previously on The Arruvia Conspiracy:

 

 

Spoiler

 

Intro Cut-Scene: Shadows and Voices

    In the shadows of the narrow alley, a hooded figure moves silently forward along the wall trying to get a better view of the street.  The street is deserted except for two men standing beneath a dimly lit LED billboard, advertising a luxury sedan.  WhiteGhost’s eyes linger on the advertisement for only a moment before shifting his focus to the two men in the street. 

    “Man, it would be nice to move around the city in that instead of creeping through shadows all the time,” he thinks to himself before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. 

    At 3 o’clock in the morning on a Tuesday in Aldenton it would not be uncommon for a drunk office worker to be dragging himself home from a “client meeting” or perhaps a group of students from ACC, the local community college, to be finishing off a round of bar hopping.  These two, however, are as out of place in this low income neighborhood as orcs in Rivendell.  One of them is short and fat, with a receding hairline and deep grating voice, the other is tall and muscular with a nasal, rasping voice. 

    “I wouldn’t want to run into that guy in a dark alley,” WhiteGhost thinks to himself, chuckling inwardly about the irony of the idea.  Both men are dressed to the nines, the shorter man in a dark blue Italian double breasted pinstripe suit and highly polished black wingtips, and the other in an off-white bespoke seersucker suit and brown leather cap-toe derbys.  “Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K,” WhiteGhost thinks as he inches closer to try and catch their conversation. 

    “The BVI SPV could funnel mez cap through the Cayman holdco, it wouldn’t even hit the listco,” the nasely voice says in hushed tones.  Even in the dim light of the LED billboard, Whiteghost can see the shorter man roll his eyes. 

    “We’ve been over this! You have the routing info, I’ll message you when they execute the SPA.  Now let’s get out of here before someone sees us.  Who knows what kind of lowlifes might be lurking in a stinking dump of a neighborhood like this.”  Both men instinctively look around, but WhiteGhost is well concealed in the shadows.  

    “I have no idea what all that means, but sounds like these jokers are up to no good,” WhiteGhost thinks as he slowly creeps deeper into the shadows.  “I better get out of here too and go find Blinky, if anyone would know what this is about, it’s him.”

    Suddenly the LED billboard changed to show a flashing bottle of a new diet soda that had just been launched.  The light from the LED screen dissipates the shadows and both men are suddenly aware of the figure crouching at the mouth of the now fully lit alleyway.

    “Mishmash ‘n’ meatballs,” Whiteghost curses under his breath as he races back into the alley with the bruiser hot on his heels.  Unfortunately, this alley is a dead end so getting away from this guy is going to be a bit of a climb.

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Level 2: A Blinky Mess

WhiteGhost reaches the end of the wall and takes a bounding leap off of the back wall, tic-tacing over to a window ledge and pulls himself up. Afraid that looking over his should to check his pursuer will take precious seconds, he focuses on shimmying up a rain gutter until he reaches the edge of the roof.  Only once he has pulled himself over does he risk taking a look to see how things are going.  To his delight, the big man is still on the ground of the alley, trying in vain to grab the fire escape ladder.

WhiteGhost breathes a sigh of relief

“Well, that wasn’t so bad, but I am going to need to be more careful so I don’t get recognized.  It will be a lot harder to find Blinky if I have people looking for me” he thinks to himself as he sets off at a brisk run across the rooftops.

 

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Blinky lives in a nondescript 3^rd floor apartment in Indian Flats, a middle income neighborhood on the West side of town.  He started out as a CIA forensic accountant many years ago working in the organized crime unit, but he traded sides and went to work as a financier for a mob boss who made him an offer he apparently couldn’t refuse.  A couple of years ago he got caught embezzling his boss' cash and as punishment got his eyelids cut off, hence the nickname.  He now works as a freelance financial advisor, supplying his services to white hats, black hats and anyone else with a lot of cash and something to hide. 

When WhiteGhost gets to Blinky’s place he finds the front door hanging from just the top hinge, twisting slightly with every gust of wind. 

“I guess I’m not the only one who needs a word with old Blinky,” WhiteGhost mutters under his breath and he slips silently through the broken doorway.  Inside, Blinky’s place has been completely ransacked.  Drawers have been pulled out and dumped on the floor, his bed has been flipped and the bedsheets are strewn wildly around the bedroom.  His bookshelves have been pulled down and the floor of the living room is a sea of books.  WhiteGhost takes a look at the computer desk and smiles to himself.  The guys that did this clearly were not professionals, just some low level thugs who didn’t understand Blinky’s world.  The computer keyboard has been smashed to pieces and there is a hunting knife sticking through what remains of it, pinning it to the desk.  The monitor has been knocked to the floor with a fist sized hole through it.  However, the tower under the desk is untouched and apparently still on, the cooling fan creating a dull hum in the background.  Empty diet cola bottles litter the floor and a half eaten burrito is mashed under a tipped over chair.  Apparently Blinky was interrupted unexpectedly.

WhiteGhost hooks up his tablet to the computer through an HDMI adapter and discovers a TOR browser open, with TrueCrypt and Bleachbit running in the background.  If Blinky didn’t have time to close these, he must have really been in a rush to get out.  The TOR browser is open to a Lelantos email account, but most of the emails don’t make any sense.  It seems Blinky was encrypting his messages manually before entering them into the encrypted system.  Given the types of people he deals with, he couldn’t afford to mess around.  The last email received, though, was not encrypted.  Opening it up, WhiteGhosts finds a Darknote XDN blockchain showing transfers of large sums of bitcoin to accounts in varying countries with Switzerland, Russia, South Africa, China, India and Mongolia coming up the most.  The email sender is merely identified by a single letter: H.

“No time to worry about that now,” WhiteGhost thinks to himself. “I need to find Blinky and get to the bottom of this.”  He reaches down to unplug his HDMI cable, and decides to pull out the hard drive for later.  As he pulls it out, he notices a yellow sticky note stuck to the inside of the computer tower.  He pulls it off and finds “WG38.2946071.-80.3132366” scrawled in pencil. 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Level 3 - A Little Help

Smack!  A red hand print shows clearly on WhiteGhost’s cheek where he has been slapping himself every few minutes to keep himself awake.  Looking down at the computer screen dejectedly, WhiteGhost lets out a long sigh.  “I got nothin’” 

     WhiteGhost has been wracking his brain for the last three days trying to figure out what the message from Blinky could possibly mean.  He has run every decryption program he could think of but nothing was working.  He had spent hours combing through the recovered hard drive for decryption codes or any hint of what encryption methods Blinky preferred but every lead was a dead end.  WhiteGhost had even considered asking an anonymous hacker group such as the Shadow Brokers for help, but without knowing who was involved he just couldn’t risk it.

     The sun broke through a crack in the curtains, and WhiteGhost let out a curse in frustration. “This is beyond me.  I’m gonna need some help…”

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

  It didn't take long for WhiteGhost to figure out where to go. He had heard of Hazard, the godfather of the local Assassin organization, but had never really interacted with him.  He asked around and was able to arrange a meeting.  

      "What can I do for you, kid?" Hazard asked.  His tone was neutral but through the look in his eyes and the steel in his voice WhiteGhost knew this was a man with a background.  Swallowing nervously, Whitghost handed Hazard the scrap of paper he had recovered from the inside of Blinky's computer tower.  "I think this is some kind of code, but I have run all of the decryption programs I know but have come up empty every time.  Does this look like a code you are familiar with"?

      Hazard took a long look at the characters written on the note.  “WG38.2946071.-80.3132366”  He closed his eyes, leaned back and was put his arms behind his head as he thought.  Suddenly, Hazard opened his eyes, stood up and strode over to a bookshelf and started scanning the titles, searching for something specific.   Looking over his shoulder as he searches, Hazard looks directly at WhiteGhost "I assume this note was written specifically for you? The WG at the beginning can be ignored as it simply sates who the note is for.  The rest..." Hazard pulls a large atlas off the shelf and start flipping through pages until he finds what he is looking for.

      "The rest is merely latitude and longitude coordinates.  What you are looking for is here" he says as he stabs his finger into a map. "Looks like you are going to be making a trip to West Virginia.  Middle of nowhere, it seems.  About as far off the the grid as you can get..." 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Level 4 - Off the Grid

WhiteGhost crept up to the small cabin barely visible from the game trail leading past it.  The cabin is shrouded in Bush Honeysuckle and looks as if it hasn’t been inhabited for years.  He carefully pushes past the undergrowth and hesitates just for a moment before approaching the lone door to the cabin.  After a quick glance over his shoulder, WhiteGhost gently pushes open the unlocked door and sees his old friend sitting in an antique rocking chair next to a long unused fireplace. 

      “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming”.  Blinky says dryly as he looks up over the top of his book.  Blinky listens carefully as WhiteGhost recounts what he saw and heard in the alley back in Aldenton, and also the scene in Blinky’s apartment in Indian Flats. 

      “Well, I am not familiar with Mr. Muscles, but the fat guy is a Senior Partner over at Pentadin Partners, a shady financial services company that brokers transactions structured to get around international sanctions.  This is very interesting because I stumbled across a series of corporate acquisitions PP brokered this year just before I was so rudely chased from my home”.  Blinky walks over to a table covered in books and papers near the window and grabs a small notebook out of the stack.  “Let’s see here, we have a sclerochiton ilicifolius farm in Transvaal, South Africa, a chemical manufacturing plant in Guilin, China, a bacterial R&D center in Yasenevo, Russia, and an Ion Exchange Equipment manufacturer in Chennai, India.  Seems our fat friend has been quite busy”.  He walks over to his refrigerator and pulls out a soda and offers one to his guest who politely declines.  Blinky never used to be a big soda drinker, but perhaps the stress has gotten to him.  “I was trying to find out who the buyer was for these companies, but, as you can see, did not get to finish that task” Blinky says.  “Seeing as I need to stay off the grid for a while, perhaps you can help me look into it”. 

      “I’d love to help” WhiteGhost says, "but I wouldn’t even know where to start looking”.  The corners of Blinky’s mouth turn up to form just the faintest of smiles. 

      “Luckily, I have some information that may help” he says  “Mr. Osladin, whom you met in the alley the other night, likes to funnel his transactions through the same few offshore holding companies.  The hard drive you recovered has a few programs I developed that you can use to trace back to the beneficial owners.  Unfortunately for you, though, I can’t do it with you as I need to lay low for a bit”. 

      WhiteGhost looks at Blinky who just nods knowingly.

      “Well, it looks like I have some work to do” says WhiteGhost.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Level 5 - Dead End

After many hours of combing through the voluminous data in the software, WhiteGhost is able to track down all of the transactions.  At first, it seems these companies are all being bought by seemingly independent private companies, but it doesn’t take much digging to tell that they are all just shell companies. 

“Interesting, but not very helpful,” WhiteGhost mutters to himself. 

Without any other leads to go from, WhiteGhost spends the next few weeks trying to dig up the shareholders of the acquiring companies by poring through government filings, drilling up through complex offshore holding structures in various tax havens and ultimately coming to numerous anonymous individuals holding proxy stakes through a number of Swiss accounts. 

“This is a dead end,” grumbles WhiteGhost.  “Even if I could hack into each of those accounts and find out the identity of each holder, I don’t have the time or the resources to track them all down.”   

Waiting until after dark to avoid unwanted attention, WhiteGhost head back out for another visit with Blinky.  Once he is back inside in Blinky’s cabin, Blinky yanks closed all of the curtains and plugs in an audio jammer.

“I don’t think anyone knows I’m here, but we can’t take any chances” Blinky says as he sinks into a chair next to a table covered with a stack of binders and few empty soda cans.  “What do you have?”

Pacing back and forth, WhiteGhost explains to Blinky about the shell companies and proxy shareholders, continuously watching Blinky, looking for any sign of hope.

“Well,” starts Blinky “It isn’t impossible to track down these individuals, but there’s no guarantee those people are even real.”

WhiteGhost slumps into an empty chair dejectedly.  “So that’s it?”

“Well, I think we have gotten all of the information we can with our current information,” Says Blinky slowly. “We need to go out and get some new leads.”

WhiteGhost stares at Blinky uncomprehendingly as he mutters angrily “What do you think I’ve been doing for the last 3 weeks?”

“Go back to the beginning, of course!” exclaims Blinky.  “Those fellows you saw in Aldenton probably know what’s going on.  Mr. Demerara, The Partner from Pentadin, will probably know more about the shareholders because I suspect he structured those accounts himself.  I have a feeling, though, that the other guy may be more likely to provide useful information.” 

“Why’s that?” WhiteGhost asks, his curiosity peaked.

“Think back to the initial conversation you overheard,” continues Blinky “Demerara was being very guarded about what he said and was doing everything he could to keep the other guy quiet, remember?” Blinky grinned slyly “I imagine it wouldn’t take too much persuasion to get the big fellow going.”

“Brilliant idea!” exclaims WhiteGhost. “I just need to track that guy down, and I have a few ideas where he might be…”

 

 

Spoiler

 

Level 6 - Q&A

     Back in Aldenton, Whiteghost was putting together a plan to track down Muscles, they tall guy in the seersucker suit he first saw meeting with Demerara, the big wig deal broker from Pentadin. 

     “If I were a stacked & jacked white collar criminal with impeccable fashion sense where would I be hanging out” whiteGhost mumbled to himself as he was scanning ‘Like a Local’ for possible places the guy might be.  “I’m guessing he’s not going to be at any book clubs or poetry slams…  Let’s see… Maybe I could check the Crossfit Box”

     “Yeah, I bet this guy is one of those crossfitters – the perfect place for vain fitness nuts” he thought to himself absently as he continued scrolling

     “Hold on, this is it” WhiteGhost blurted out, then looked around to see if anyone noticed.  He was sitting at a bus stop bench as he scrolled through the app, keeping one eye on his phone and one eye on the busy street ahead of him.

     After making sure no one was watching him he looked back down at his phone, and the announcement lighting up his screen. 

 

     WhiteGhost grunted quietly as he struggled to fit into the jacket he just happened to find lying around in a locked closet in the staff changing room in the hotel basement.  It hadn’t taken long to pick the lock, but it would have been even faster if it had been a key padlock. Combination locks were never his strong suite. 

     Looking down at the nametag a smile came to his face.

     “Tonight, I am Juan Dominguez” he laughed as he looked at his blond hair slicked back behind his ears.  “If anyone asks I’ll just tell them my family comes from the colonies at Juarez”

     “If my Spanish were better, I may actually get someone to believe that…”

     His thoughts trickled off as he checked his watch; 30 minutes to show time.

 

     When he first saw the announcement the other night, he knew getting tickets to this event was going to be hard.  “It isn’t every day that the world’s fastest growing beverage company teams up with the world’s largest lingerie brand and the hottest company in athletic fashion for a one night only fashion show to launch their newest product” he mused. 

     He had tried getting a ticket, but this was an exclusive party and only the only people getting into this event are the rich or well connected.

     “And the serving staff, of course” he thought with a smirk.

     There would of course be media present, but those credentials were getting extra scrutiny tonight.  With an event this hot, every fashion blogger and Youtube celebrity trainer was trying to get in.  Unless you were on the specific invite list, though, you might as well be James O’Keefe trying to get into a Planned Parenthood board meeting.

     Buttoning up the jacket and straightening his tie, WhiteGhost headed up to the hotel catering center to grab some hors d’oeuvres. 

     “I need to get there a little early to get the first choice of trays” he thought to himself “they guys with the champagne and caviar get the most attention but the least scrutiny”

 

     WhiteGhost took advantage of both the anonymity and the broad access afforded him by the service jacket and tray of expensive champagne and he wandered about the event keeping an eye out for his quarry. 

     “You’d think a guy of hi size would be easy to spot” he though, frustrated that he had not seen him yet.  “He’s got to be here, I can’t imagine he would miss an event like this”

     Still unable to find the guy he was searching for, WhiteGhost made his way towards the catwalk to see if he could find a spot where could watch the show.  It was then he spotted him.

     On the front row along one side of the low T-shaped stage he saw a huge man, wearing a bespoke white tuxedo with a mandarin collar over a burgundy vest, his black, shoulder-length hair combed back behind his ears. 

     “There you are” WhiteGhost whispered to himself.  “now, let’s see what kind of information I can get out of you about those transactions”

     The plan came to him immediately, but it would take some preparation.  Heading back into the service area, WhiteGhost ditched his service jacket, grabbed a tool belt and made his way to the booth.  In the confusion as the show began, he was able to pass himself off as a backup lighting technician and set himself up behind a backup spotlight on the left lighting truss.  From there he had a good view of both the stage and the large man filling a prime seat just to the side of it.

    “And now, the game is afoot” WhiteGhost thought to himself as a smile spread across his face

 

     WhiteGhost watches the show from his position on the lighting show.  Although the show itself is entertaining enough, his primary objective is observing his mark, a large heavily muscled man sitting in the front row.  As the man watches the models strut up and down the runway, WhiteGhost carefully observes the man’s demeanor, and how he interacts with both the guests seated next to him but also the service staff.

     Interrogation is one of WhiteGhost’s specialties, and he knows that there are two universal truths when it comes to getting information. First, the best source is a willing source and second, Fear Up is always the last approach.

     As WhiteGhost recalls the two rules, his mind slips back to his training and he can picture his instructor as she repeats this mantra over and over again.  The memory brings a smile to his face as he recalls the scene.

     As the show wraps up, WhiteGhost descends back down to the ground level and approaches his target. 

     Taking advantage of the chaos as the guests begin to depart, WhiteGhost corners his prey as he attempts to get out of the aisle between the chairs and the stage

“Good evening, sir,” WhiteGhost says flashing a grin “I’m a doing an expose of this event for Stacked.com and would like to ask you a few questions about how your feedback on the event”

     The man stops and eyes WhiteGhost suspiciously

     “Stacked.com” he says slowly. "I’m not familiar with your publication”

     “Oh, I’m not surprised” replies WhiteGhost cheerfully.  “We have just been acquired by the Huffington Post, though, so my article will appear in their new Wellness and Fitness section”

     WhiteGhost lowers his voice and leans in “This is still not public information, so please don’t tell anyone”

     After a quick nod, WhiteGhost continues “Clearly you are the most fit man in this building, what is your secret to getting so stacked?”

     WhiteGhsot continues to ask primarily fitness related questions and build up the man’s ego, but every third or fourth question he drops a leading question prepping him to talk more about his involvement in the acquisitions of the companies Blinky had on his hard drive.  No direct questions, but questions designed to touch on tangential topics: overseas travel, occupational success, and personal philosophy.

     As the man is regaling WhiteGhost with his latest travel adventure, the man’s voice suddenly trails off.  He leans toward WhiteGhost, seeming to see him for the first time and his eyes narrow

     “You look really familiar, where have I seen you before”

     “Oh, you have probably seen my Youtube Channel, I have… “ WhiteGhost starts but get cut off

     “Wait a minute, I know you! You’re that guy spying on us from the alley the other night” the man growls

     WhiteGhost glances around to see that the place is now deserted except for the two of them. 

     As his eyes come back around to the man in front of him, he has just enough time to see a giant fist as it connects with his chin.

     

     And then blackness

 

 

 

 

     WhiteGhost groans and rolls over, blinking his eyes as the he is nearly blinded by the sunlight.  His head is pounding and he feels like he just got run over by a truck.  Looking around he can see that he is laying on the ground behind an overflowing dumpster, his clothes covered in bits of discarded food and old napkins, and a mashed soda can has managed to attach itself to his elbow.

     “Oh man, what happened?” he groans loudly as he tries, unsuccessfully to raise himself up.

     Closing his eyes, he tries to remember how he ended up here but can only recall bits and pieces.  He strains again to pull himself up, struggling with the effort. 

     The drumming in is head is like a high school marching band struggling through their first rehearsal

     “I need to rest a bit to clear my head, but this isn’t the place for it” he thinks to himself “I need to find somewhere a little cleaner.  And without the awful stench…”

     Leaning over and supporting his weight on the side of the dumpster, WhiteGhost heaves painfully and unceremoniously spews whatever remained of last night’s dinner all over his shoes

 

 

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OK, last challenge was a hot mess, so I need to take things down a notch, get into a groove and prepare for when the weather gets warm enough to get outside for some real workouts.  Details coming in the next post

[WhiteGhost]

OK, here we go.  Things got out of hand the last couple of challenges, particularly on the eating side, which have now started to catch up with me.  I am in no way ready to pick up where I left off from, so I am going to use this challenge to ramp up.

 

Objective 1: Cardio

I am still not sure what I want to do here yet.  I will probably just outsource to Darebee for some HIIT workouts at first and asjust as necessary.  I may supplement with some strength workouts, but primarily I want to get in some workouts that get the heart rate up.  It has been too long and I am hoping these will help boost my energy levels, which have been really low lately.  Runs may happen too depending on outside temperatures.

 

Objective 2: Mobility

Using animal movement to increase flexibility did not work for me.  At all.  Maybe at some point I can come back to it, because that is where I would like to end up, but I am just not ready for it yet.  So for now it is all about sticking with GMB Focused Flexibility and the stuff that has worked for me in previous challenges.

 

Objective 3: Food

I have been learning to cook and have been pleasantly surprised with how some things turned out, while others have been less delightful. 

I have enjoyed the process though and this is slowly developing into a pseudo hobby for me.  However, something happened while I was in the hospital with Ghostlet last week, and my appetite, cravings and ability to eat certain foods without a gut fairy rebellion has changed suddenly and dramatically.  I don't know why, and I don't know to what extend yet, but some things I had this week that I used to like (pizza, cheese, pumpkin pie, brownies) all turn my stomach and make we want to vomit now.  I am still experimenting with what I can eat, but for now I will be doing more cooking than usual to make sure I have access to foods that I can keep down.  I am going to experiment with two things this challenge:

1. Batch Cooking - I have done this unintentionally before because I still don't know to how to control portions when I cook, but this time I am going to do it intentionally so that I have enough food for each week so that I don't end up coming home from work and eating garbage because I am not in the mood to cook.
2. Intuitive Eating - I am not sure how this works (I don't have the book) but based on what I have seen from other threads like @Tanktimus the Encourager and @Ensi I have the general gist.  Essentially I will be focusing on eating only when and how much I feel like, and stop eating when I am full, only thirsty, or just bored.  

 

Objective 4: Focus

I am going to steal an item out of @DarK_RaideR's challenge and not allow myself distractions at work before 3pm.  That means no checking NF updates. no browsing cracked.com and no games on my phone.  Not even during lunch.  This applies only to workdays, obviously.  This also means that I will need to cut back on the number of people I follow because otherwise I end up following 50 people like usual and I am just not going to have the time to keep up.  If I end up not following anyone's thread this time around, this is why. 


The big monkeywrench waiting to be thrown into the gears here is that next week will be Chinese New Year, which means 10 days in Hainan and hopefully a quite a bit of time on the beach.  The downside is that it may throw my workout schedule into disarray and cooking will be non-existent.  On the flip side, the beach is the perfect place to practice some back flips

[GregT.]

Following, and hope to see you get it back on track.  I'm thinking workouts at the beach should be easy.  I mean your body weight stuff can all be done in the sand, and if you need to get in the water .  As for food, just keep mindful of what goes in your face lol.  Besides, eating whole foods other than your protein should be doable, I mean getting fruit, nuts and veggies to eat at the beach could work for that.  The Protein well, I'm sure you can work that too.  Good Luck.  l looking at new challenge up tonight.  hope to see you around.

 

 

[Ensi]

Following!  Here's a post where I've gathered some intuitive eating (or non-dieting) resources. It's a process to switch from a certain diet to intuitive eating, kinda like going from autopilot to driving manually...! And maybe you'd like to consider the reason you want to do it? My reasons were that I just want to be healthy and have a normal, balanced diet. Intuitive eating has taken away the stress and anxiety I used to have around food, and now I have more room to focus on what I can and want to eat, instead of what I can't or what I don't want to. So, at its best, intuitive eating lets you construct your own way of eating (by trial and effort), but it can feel overwhelming and scary at the start. Happy to give you support and advice on your way!

[WhiteGhost]

31 minutes ago, GregT. said:

I mean getting fruit, nuts and veggies to eat at the beach could work for that. 

I guess I should have been more specific - cooking won't be happening while I am there.  Well, I will have access to a kitchen but it is in my MIL's place and she does all the cooking there.  My job will be to eat whatever she makes, which is usually tasty and relatively healthy, although quite carb heavy.  WRT exercise, they just got a pullup bar there so I expect to be making full use of it.  

 

31 minutes ago, GregT. said:

hope to see you around.

I'll be there for sure!

 

11 minutes ago, Ensi said:

And maybe you'd like to consider the reason you want to do it?

Actually, I already have   Mostly it is 2 factors: portion control and boredom.  I have issues not finishing whatever is on my plate, or when I make it finishing whatever I made.  Often this leads me to end up eating way past the point of feeling full and moving into  "I think I'm going to be ill" territory.  This challenge I am sepcifically going to be mindful of what I am eating and when I am satified, stop.  That's it - no stress about wasting food or storing leftovers, just eating until I am done and then finishing.  This also means I won't be ordering sympathy food (Mi Vieja gets home pretty late and she usually orders food when she gets home.  Sometimes I will order something with her just because it is awkward to be doing nothing while she is eating even though I have already had dinner, but I need to knock that off.  No more second dinners

None of those either, unless I am actually hungry

 

The second issue is boredom.  All too often I will find myself struggling through some drudgery or watching Ghsotlet watch someone else play Minecraft on the TV and decide that would be a good time for a snack.  Usually I am not even hungry, and in almost every case the snack isn't even a healthy one.  So again, no mindless snacking, only supplementing when I am actually hungry between meals.

 

I will have a gander at your link for more info  

[deftona]

Following! 

All these people with productivity goals making me feel like a bum... 

[GregT.]

2 minutes ago, deftona said:

feel like a bum

You just have to bring the booty up everywhere don't you?

 

I like that.

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

7 minutes ago, deftona said:

Following! 

All these people with productivity goals making me feel like a bum... 

I hope it makes you feel like the kind of bum that can write non-fiction and cash its own checks  

 

5 minutes ago, GregT. said:

You just have to bring the booty up everywhere don't you?

Well, we can't have saggy bottoms now can we.  Bringing up booty is everyone's duty  

[DarK_RaideR]

6 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

On the flip side, the beach is the perfect place to practice some back flips

I see what you did there...

[CourtnieMarie]

just checked out the darebee HIIT options - saved for later! thanks!

 

[Wobbegong]

Following but probably will mostly lurk but hi! Good luck! 

[WhiteGhost]

21 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I see what you did there...

Nothing gets past you, I see  

 

12 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

just checked out the darebee HIIT options - saved for later! thanks!

Yeah, I have been quite impressed with their offerings but have not yet tried anything other than the daily dares

 

48 minutes ago, Wobbegong said:

Following but probably will mostly lurk but hi! Good luck! 

Nice to have you!

 

Update time!

Cardio

I woke up this morning but didn't want to get out of bed to workout so I just stayed in bed until I had to get up for work.  I will try to make up for it when I get home from work tonight.  Today is supposed to be leg day but my right hip has been giving me problems for the last couple of days.  I have no idea what the issue is, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with how I sit on the couch, because that position seems to aggravate it the most.  I think good run would probably be good for it to work out the kinks.

 

Mobility

I did my stretching last night, and was happy to discover that I have not lost much in terms of gains I had made last year.  My forward fold is still frustratingly awful, but I guess I will just have to take things slowly.  It isn't as if I am on some kind of deadline to reach my toes.

 

Food

Over the weekend I made a pot of Japanese curry which has been a dinner for the last 3 nights.  As I was serving it up last night I noticed that there is only half a serving left.  I really wanted to eat the last half serving, but I wasn't hungry anymore so I left it.  I am not sure what I am going to do with half a serving of curry, but not just eating it to get rid of it is a win.  A hard earned win, too, because I really wanted to not have a half serving sitting in the fridge.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take tonight's dinner out of the freezer, so I am going to have to improvise tonight.  I also skipped having a snickers bar that I wanted because I wasn't actually hungry, just had the munchies.

 

Focus

Today was the first day of the no distractions rule and my day has been very productive.  I had everything ticked off my to do list by 1:30. 

 

 

[deftona]

1 hour ago, WhiteGhost said:

It isn't as if I am on some kind of deadline to reach my toes.

 

[Grandkai_NL]

Following! 

 

On 6-2-2018 at 3:40 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Batch Cooking - I have done this unintentionally before because I still don't know to how to control portions when I cook,

Usually when i cook batches for the week (meal prep) i just use 50% of a package per meal. Most meat/fish come in 2 which is enough for 2 people so i just 50/50 it for 2 meals and as for veggies i usually pick about 250-300 grams. So far this has worked for me, its enough to still my hunger

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, deftona said:

 

 

17 minutes ago, Grandkai_NL said:

Following! 

 

Usually when i cook batches for the week (meal prep) i just use 50% of a package per meal. Most meat/fish come in 2 which is enough for 2 people so i just 50/50 it for 2 meals and as for veggies i usually pick about 250-300 grams. So far this has worked for me, its enough to still my hunger

Howdy!  Meat doesn't come in packages here, usually just dumped in a big bin and you buy however much you want.  Veggies also don't come prepackaged so I will need to learn how to eyeball 300 grams. 

 

I should take some pictures of the markets here, I suspect it may be interesting for some people to see what food markets look like over here.  I know Deffy was asking about it (kind of) last challenge but I never got around to it.

[Lara]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:40 AM, WhiteGhost said:

not allow myself distractions at work before 3pm.  That means no checking NF updates. no browsing cracked.com and no games on my phone.

This puzzles me. Do you actually do that at work?

 

On 6/2/2018 at 6:39 AM, WhiteGhost said:

None of those either

But... but... that is so sad!

 

Good luck!

[jonfirestar]

I"m here to cheer you on. Going to try and do better than last challenge

 

[CourtnieMarie]

7 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Food

Over the weekend I made a pot of Japanese curry which has been a dinner for the last 3 nights.  As I was serving it up last night I noticed that there is only half a serving left.  I really wanted to eat the last half serving, but I wasn't hungry anymore so I left it.  I am not sure what I am going to do with half a serving of curry, but not just eating it to get rid of it is a win.  A hard earned win, too, because I really wanted to not have a half serving sitting in the fridge.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take tonight's dinner out of the freezer, so I am going to have to improvise tonight. 

can you "beef" up the half serving of curry with other things to make it a full serving? scrambled eggs? potatoes? other veg or meat?

 

4 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Howdy!  Meat doesn't come in packages here, usually just dumped in a big bin and you buy however much you want.  Veggies also don't come prepackaged so I will need to learn how to eyeball 300 grams. 

 

I should take some pictures of the markets here, I suspect it may be interesting for some people to see what food markets look like over here.  I know Deffy was asking about it (kind of) last challenge but I never got around to it.

grocery shopping is my JAM so I would looooove to see how it's laid out over there!

[WhiteGhost]

4 hours ago, zenLara said:

This puzzles me. Do you actually do that at work?

Uh, not before 3pm I don't...

 

I sit at a desk and look at a computer (and often my phone) for work, so it is not uncommon for me to have a couple of extra browser tabs open for non work stuff or to do a game or two of sudoku or solitaire. Not allowing me to do these should in theory improve my efficiency (assuming I don't replace them with some other way to waste time)

 

1 hour ago, jonfirestar said:

I"m here to cheer you on. Going to try and do better than last challenge

 

Yeah, you and me both.  I still haven't posted over to your thread yet, but I have been reading along.

 

37 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

can you "beef" up the half serving of curry with other things to make it a full serving? scrambled eggs? potatoes? other veg or meat?

My idea was to supplement it with a side dish. I made a fruit salad tonight to have with my curry tomorrow, but then a dinner meeting got scheduled for tomorrow so I hope it keeps until Friday.

 

Tonight I was in the mood for Okinawa Tacos (tacos but over rice instead of wrapped in a tortilla) so I made some of those. I made too much again, but ended up eating all of it anyway   I will post some pics of it once I am on a computer

 

37 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

grocery shopping is my JAM so I would looooove to see how it's laid out over there!

OK then, next time I am out I will take some pics.

 

[Mad Hatter]

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I sit at a desk and look at a computer (and often my phone) for work, so it is not uncommon for me to have a couple of extra browser tabs open for non work stuff or to do a game or two of sudoku or solitaire. Not allowing me to do these should in theory improve my efficiency (assuming I don't replace them with some other way to waste time)

That's the thing though - it's practically impossible to be productive throughout an entire work day if you have a desk job. Unless you're a robot. Of course taking a short break and going outside or just stretch a little or having a social chat with someone will probably lead to more productivity than FB or playing games, but either way breaks are super important. (And some days my brain just doesn't function and then it doesn't matter what I do I still won't be productive...)

 

23 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

just checked out the darebee HIIT options - saved for later! thanks!

 

 

 

[Wild Wolf]

On 2/6/2018 at 12:03 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Well, we can't have saggy bottoms now can we.  Bringing up booty is everyone's duty  

 

 

Great looking challenge brother! You're an adaptable Argonaut-I have faith you'll make the monkeywrench in your plans your BE-OTCH    

 

Wolf

[Sloth the Enduring]

We call Okinawa tacos Mexican Hay Stack because that’s what our high school lunch room called it.

Throw all the leftovers in a casserole pan, add even more cheese on top, crumble nachos on top. Bake until melty and you have Taco Hot Dish, a Minnesota classic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[annyshay]

HI!

 

[WhiteGhost]

13 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

That's the thing though - it's practically impossible to be productive throughout an entire work day if you have a desk job. Unless you're a robot. Of course taking a short break and going outside or just stretch a little or having a social chat with someone will probably lead to more productivity than FB or playing games, but either way breaks are super important. (And some days my brain just doesn't function and then it doesn't matter what I do I still won't be productive...)

 

Yeah, I need to do this because it was getting to the point where I would check my NF updates in the morning when I got in and suddenly it was 11:30 and my whole morning had evaporated.  After this challenge I will probably more to a quid pro quo system (again stolen from DR) in which if I want to do something non work related, I have to finish a task first.

 

10 hours ago, Wolfpool said:

 

 

Great looking challenge brother! You're an adaptable Argonaut-I have faith you'll make the monkeywrench in your plans your BE-OTCH    

 

Wolf

WAT? Wolfpool is here?

Dude, you should have let me know you were coming! I could have done something with the place to make you feel more comfortable, like light the garbage can on fire or pee on the couch. I didn't even leave a deuce in the pot for you  

 

Can I get you something to drink? Your usual maybe?

No, today we need something special, something classy, something in a nice Wolfpool red

Do you want that straight from the box or should I pour it into a ziplock bag in case you want it for the road?

 

7 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

We call Okinawa tacos Mexican Hay Stack because that’s what our high school lunch room called it.

Throw all the leftovers in a casserole pan, add even more cheese on top, crumble nachos on top. Bake until melty and you have Taco Hot Dish, a Minnesota classic.
 

Huh, I didn't know they even existed outside of Okinawa.  You can find boxes of the pre-seasoned meat there in the local foods sections of the tourist shops and they claim it is one of their traditional original foods

 

 

6 hours ago, annyshay said:

HI!

 

Hi back!

 

 

Cardio
I didn't end up working out last night but I got in a workout this morning even though I wanted to just stay in bed. I did the old leg routine from 2 challenges ago and was just what the doctor ordered.  

Spoiler

 

Landmine jumps x15/leg

Slip leg curls x50

Stool pistol squats x10/leg

Jump lunges x30

Glute bridges x30

Tabletops x20

Shrimp squats at 16lbs x10/leg

Side jump lunges x30

Single leg glute bridges x15/leg

back squat @ 50kgs 3x10

Deadlift @ 50kgs 3x10

 

My hip has been feeling wonky for the last 3 days for no reason but by the end of the workout the problem seems to have resolved itself.  My quads were really feeling it by the end and I had originally planned to do single leg deadlifts but I couldn't get in more than 5/2 before they tapped out so I just went ahead and used both legs.  It was good to get in a solid workout and I have had more energy today than usual and I am sure the workout is the primary driver for that.  I do think there is something wrong with my brain though, because I was seriously tempted to go out for a run even though the temperature outside was -13c.  So this means again no cardio, but I did get my heart rate up a break a sweat so I will throw this into the 'eh, close enough' category

 

Mobility

I did my regular stretching last night and everything felt good except the forward folds.  Those things are just miserable, but I need to improve here so I can do things like l-sits and proper leg raises so I keep with it.  Everything else is showing improvement but this so I may go back and review the Focused Flexibility videos to see if there is something else I can be doing to help with that

 

Food

As I mentioned above, I made Okinawa tacos and fruit salad last night

I made too much (about 50% more than I needed) and I kept eating even though I was really full.  Not a win from IE perspective, but at least I was aware of what I was doing, so partial win?  Plus it was really yummy.  I also noticed something that I really couldn't explain.  The salad dressing was made of boysenberry yogurt, honey and lemon juice, and when I had apple, orange and dressing only it tasted like cinnamon  [edit: peppermint] candy canes.  Can anyone explain this or my mouth just really weird?

 

Focus,

Much better than usual (no distractions until 1pm) but I ran out of things things that need to be done today other than things that I am waiting for other people on, so here I am.  

 

[Ensi]

How about kettlebells for cardio? Using a kettlebell that would allow you to keep the pace up would be a great tool! (you know, not so heavy that it's really hard to lift it up, but not so light that your movement gets reckless) That's my cardio these days, and it's a lot of fun  Can't wait for the biking season, though...

 

15 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

I made too much (about 50% more than I needed) and I kept eating even though I was really full.  Not a win from IE perspective, but at least I was aware of what I was doing, so partial win?  Plus it was really yummy.

 

You were able to recognize that you were full, which means that your body's signals work, and they're communicating with you! If it was really yummy (which it totally looks like!), it was OK to eat it. The thing about IE is that it's OK to eat everything. But (ha!) I try to make my decisions with my body. Sure, it's OK to eat a whole chocolate cake, but would I feel good after it? It's much more satisfying to feel good in my body than to actually eat a whole cake.

 

Stay curious, and keep learning about how you feel when you're hungry, and how you feel when you're full. Have fun!