Harriet's Emergency Stopgap

[Harriet]

I have been removed from my cardboard box and dragged on a holiday. This stresses me. I like my box. Routines keep the badness at bay. Unfortunately the air quality at home  is 10-smokes-a-day sort of bad and Mr Harriet is worried about his asthma. So I will be like a hermit-crab-cat without its hermit-crab-shell-box for several more days. I have a cold that won't go away, and I feel anxious and depressed.

 

 

I don't know if the travelling caused the anxiety, which caused the depression and the cold, or if the cold caused the travelling and the depression. Wait, no, that makes no sense. Whatever.

I've done no meditation, no cardio, I can't do lifting without a gym, and I haven't been eating or cooking healthy. I need to do one thing to stop me feeling like a total slug, and shake of the cold and accompanying depressive symptoms. I don't really have the emotional energy to pass up restaurant food when we're travelling, I'm stressed enough. So I think the one thing could be a bodyweight workout each day. So, for now, until things get a bit easier, my ONE AND ONLY QUEST is:

10 Half pushups, 20 bodyweight squats, 15 reverse crunches, 10 suitcase rows. Each day. Possibly multiple circuits. Let's see. 

And I'll think of a proper challenge for when I get back to my box.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following. With all you have going on, bodyweight workouts ARE a proper challenge.

[Blocky]

51 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I have been removed from my cardboard box and dragged on a holiday.

 

Heh... I can empathise... I am very much a hermit crab these days... Mrs Blocky has organised a nice little holiday in Feb next year (which on the surface, sounds brilliant) and I'm already dreading the change in routine...

[Grumble]

11 hours ago, Harriet said:

And I'll think of a proper challenge for when I get back to my box.

 

10 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following. With all you have going on, bodyweight workouts ARE a proper challenge.

 

What he said.

[farflight]

11 hours ago, Harriet said:

And I'll think of a proper challenge for when I get back to my box.

Agree with previous comments...any challenge is a proper challenge...hence the name "challenge" :-P

 

The beginner's bodyweight circuit (TLDR: 20 squats, 10 pushups, 20 lunges, 10 dumbbell rows, 15 sec plank, 30 jump jacks do 3 sets with as few breaks as possible) is what really got me started with exercise in general. As I mastered the movements/reps I started adding weight. My literal first "weight" was a 10 lb container of cat litter. 

 

Sorry things are stressful. Stick to the course you know as much as possible...this too shall pass...hopefully sooner rather than later. Following for supports!!

[Harriet]

Thank you for the support, warrior nerds. I think the bodyweight stuff will help prevent my confidence from eroding, so I can get straight back to lifting when I go home. 

 

10 hours ago, Blocky said:

Heh... I can empathise... I am very much a hermit crab these days... Mrs Blocky has organised a nice little holiday in Feb next year (which on the surface, sounds brilliant) and I'm already dreading the change in routine...

 

Oh, thank goodness I'm not the only one. It seems like experiencing exotic places is what passes for higher education and spiritual enlightenment these days. At least on the internet. 

[Gemma]

Your coping strategy is brilliant. I would be equally ill-slug-like in your situation (who am I kidding, I am still sluglike and my 'out of comfort zone' event was two months ago!), so giant huzzahs for recognizing and taking action! 

[Harriet]

I'm going to write what I did every day for the next few days, because it will raise the excuses threshold a little higher.

Today I did 2 sets of my bodyweight exercises.

 

And (and I think this is pretty good give how I've been feeling) I finished my short story which was my homework and which I had five days to write (I took one day off because I was full-slug-mode). I submitted it for review by my classmates without worrying too much if it was good or perfect or if I'd made mistakes. Usually I would freak out about something like this, but, I dunno, they're not my bosses and they also only had five days. And everyone knows I'm not a writer and I'm still allowed to take lessons and try. So there.

[Harriet]

Argh. After several weeks of drinking almost no alcohol, and a few nights of drinking whilst travelling, I think I can safely say that wine totally ruins my sleep, and may even make my sinuses worse. It's time to cut it out, even for holidays. Sorry wine, there's something I want more.

 

Felt terrible today but did two rounds of bodyweight exercises. Non-consecutively because tired. 

[Harriet]

2 rounds of bodyweight exercises and some writing. 

[Harriet]

2 rounds of bodyweight exercises, a few laps in the hotel pool, and a 2-hr hike on the exquisite mountain above this desert town. 

We took a cable car up, so it was quite high and cold. The whole landscape is made of straight pines with clusters of skyward-pointing needles in deep green--though some are a lighter, blueish colour. Everywhere there are forts of pale, sparkling granite and whole graveyards of fallen trees in ashen colours. Occasionally one is broken open to reveal the honey coloured timber inside. Also, I saw chipmunks. Yes! They are real! And tiny. And shy. One was stationed on a log, cheeping like a bird while its companion rustled around on the ground. Every time it chirped, it dipped its tail down and up again. 

I'm starting to think about what my challenge should be when I get back. I'm looking forward to getting back to barbells. For some reason I just get super tired and de-motivated with bodyweight exercises. Who would think that 8 barbell squats would be easier and more enjoyable than 20 bodyweight squats? 

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

On 11/20/2018 at 10:39 PM, Harriet said:

And I'll think of a proper challenge for when I get back to my box.

A proper challenge for you right now might be exactly what you are doing.  

[Harriet]

I went to an actual gym today. There was one in the town we were staying in. I did 75lb bench presses for the first time (yes, I am small novice warrior). Failed a couple and had to be rescued by Mr Harriet. Usually I work out alone and have to be a bit more conservative with the bench press.

 

I decided to reduce my squat to 100lb to focus on form (I have developed a slight good morning squat). Knees out, everything up at the same time. It was fine. 

Going home tomorrow! Yay! I'm ready to eat stuff that doesn't make me feel regretful, go for walks, and get back to lifting. Also to sleep long and well in my own bed. Mmmm. Sleep.

 

[Katerina]

 

On 11/24/2018 at 6:19 PM, Harriet said:

Also, I saw chipmunks. Yes! They are real! And tiny. And shy

Wait. This is a new experience? Doesn't the sweltering place you live have them? If not, omg, I am so sorry! I have "familiars" at home that I feed almost daily (I toss a couple of nuts beneath the tree by my car like a daily sacrifice--lol.) -- some chipmunks and one squirrel that (I kid you not) knows where I live (a couple of doors down from his tree) and comes to visit in the front yard, which makes my cat crazy. 

 

I am proud of you for powering through the disruption to routine and for developing a good case of the eff-its with regard to your classmates' responses. Enjoy returning to routine! The hike sounds gorgeous, btw. 

 

Also, I loved the clip of the cat being dragged on a leash. 

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Katerina said:

 

Wait. This is a new experience? Doesn't the sweltering place you live have them? If not, omg, I am so sorry! I have "familiars" at home that I feed almost daily (I toss a couple of nuts beneath the tree by my car like a daily sacrifice--lol.) -- some chipmunks and one squirrel that (I kid you not) knows where I live (a couple of doors down from his tree) and comes to visit in the front yard, which makes my cat crazy. 

 

I am proud of you for powering through the disruption to routine and for developing a good case of the eff-its with regard to your classmates' responses. Enjoy returning to routine! The hike sounds gorgeous, btw. 

 

Also, I loved the clip of the cat being dragged on a leash. 

 

Thank you! I'm glad other people understand how important the routine is. 

 

Yes! I never saw a chipmunk before. The sweltering place I hail from is in the Southern hemisphere, hence the hot Christmas. We have so many interesting birds, plus adorable weird marsupials and a variety of snakes. But no chipmunks. Nor are there chipmunks in Germany, my second home. I'm actually in the USA for the first time ever. I have seen silvery deer, a coyote, hummingbirds the size of my pinkie finger, and a yellowish squirrel, which ran up the back of my leg on the university campus. It decided climbing my butt would be too advanced a challenge, and jumped back down. 

[CourtnieMarie]

thanks for reminding me to appreciate the nature we have around us! even if it's an everyday occurrence for some of us.

 

good work doing those bw moves while away from a gym! AND taking the energy to find a temporary gym! glad you're going home  

[Blocky]

4 hours ago, Harriet said:

The sweltering place I hail from is in the Southern hemisphere, hence the hot Christmas. We have so many interesting birds, plus adorable weird marsupials and a variety of snakes.

 

Yay... another upside-down southern hemispherer...

[Katerina]

8 hours ago, Harriet said:

We have so many interesting birds, plus adorable weird marsupials and a variety of snakes. But no chipmunks

Um, you can keep the snakes. I will stick with the cold weather and just continue to complain about it --lol. I am not well traveled at all, but I would never have guessed that Germany doesn't have chipmunks. In a desert type environment, ok, I can see it, but Germany has forests. Well, there's my new thing learned for today

[Harriet]

8 hours ago, Blocky said:

 

Yay... another upside-down southern hemispherer...

 

Hail fellow antipodean! You know what I miss about Oz? I miss the way the days are light and the nights are dark. All year round. No 4pm sunsets in the Winter. 

 

4 hours ago, Katerina said:

Um, you can keep the snakes. I will stick with the cold weather and just continue to complain about it --lol. I am not well traveled at all, but I would never have guessed that Germany doesn't have chipmunks. In a desert type environment, ok, I can see it, but Germany has forests. Well, there's my new thing learned for today

 

I will keep them. I know how to wrangle them. Can you hold on to the mountain lions for me though? 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

7 hours ago, Harriet said:

 

I will keep them. I know how to wrangle them. Can you hold on to the mountain lions for me though? 

[Grumble]

8 hours ago, Harriet said:

I will keep them. I know how to wrangle them. Can you hold on to the mountain lions for me though? 

Please don't confuse this cougar:

 

With this cougar:

 

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Grumble said:

Please don't confuse this cougar:

 

With this cougar:

 

 

The park ranger gave me a large stick and some snacks to distract them and fight them off. I think they were referring to the large cats, but who knows?

[Grumble]

1 minute ago, Harriet said:

 

The park ranger gave me a large stick and some snacks to distract them and fight them off. I think they were referring to the large cats, but who knows?

 

Works for both.

[Harriet]

Ouch. I tweaked my shoulder when dropping dumbbells to the side during a dumbbell bench press. It feels bad two days later. I guess it's not a good idea to go back to the gym. There's nothing that doesn't use my shoulder, including the squat where I have to raise my arms to hold the barbell. At the moment, even that hurts. 

But at least I'm home and planning my challenge. And I'm going shopping for healthy, delicious groceries.

[CourtnieMarie]

argh! sorry that happened. heal up soon!