A Druid's Battle Log

[Jupiter]

So, I’ve done a few challenges already and I’ve decided to do a battle log as well, so I can keep better track of everything I’m doing and to keep myself more accountable. I haven’t been posting as much to the challenge threads as I’d like so I’m hoping I’ll post more here.

 

A little about me: I’m Jupiter, I’m 28 and I work a stressful desk job with (mostly) long hours. My main goal is just to be healthier, get in shape, and put more balance into my life (and not work myself into the ground like I have been for the last few years).

 

So, to accomplish this goal I have a few smaller goals. I’ve used them for my challenges and they’ve surprisingly been working, so I want to keep going and just increase the difficulty level.

 

Fitness:

Yoga twice a week for at least 20 minutes.

-       This has become my zen time LOL. I really enjoy it, though I still can’t do some of the more challenging poses and some days I can barely do the easier ones. It’s a work in progress.

 

Walk and get in between 3500 steps and 6000 steps a day (this may or may not happen on yoga days, depending on my energy levels).

-       I convinced my coworker to go walking with me at lunch when she’s in the office, and I plan on taking my dog for walks after work, so I think this is doable.

 

Nutrition:

Cook at least one semi-healthy meal once or twice a week.

-       This will probably be my biggest overhaul. I’ve done nothing but eat takeout for months because work has been so busy but now I’m forcing this habit back to life. I’ve been tracking everything I eat for the last two weeks and the results have been equally interesting and alarming. So I really want to try to focus on eating healthier foods.  

 

Intellectual:

 

Write between 1500 and 2000 words a day.

Revise 1 hour a day.

-       I’m trying to be a writer and build up a writing career on the side (it’s going very, very slowly so far) but these last few weeks I’ve gotten way off track, so now it’s time to get this car back on the rails and get the work done.  

Read at least 20 to 30 minutes every other day.

-       I love to read but it’s been hard this year with all the hours I’ve been working and I’m not sure I’ll reach my reading challenge goal this year. I’m doing a new reading challenge for next year and I’m determined to reach it.  

Sketch at least once or twice a week.

-       I haven’t drawn anything in a while, and while I’m bad at it, I like it and I want to get better at it.

 

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Thanks for reading.  

[The Battle Chef]

Followin'

I know that workplace chaos all too well.

[Jupiter]

Not much to report today. 

 

Fitness:

        - Steps: 5124. I wore my new tennis shoes today and they about killed my feet. I think I need to break them in more. 

 

Nutrition: 

        - Cooking: I just had leftovers from what I cooked yesterday (basically chicken and frozen veggies, simple but good). In total my calorie intake was 1209, which seems kind of low? I've never really paid much attention to calories before now.  

 

Intellectual:

        - Revisions: 2 hours roughly. I revised my short story for about an hour and only got through about 2 pages. Tried to write on my novelette, but I've had a "this isn't right feeling" the last few days, and I realized that the scenes are too choppy and short. There is just too much going on in the plot for this to be a novelette. I think it needs to be a novella, which sort of sucks because I wanted to submit this to a contest, but they don't take novellas. Still, I want to do right by the story, so, a novella it is. So now I'm going back through it to expand and move things around a bit and put them in their correct places. It's a mess right now and my brain isn't having it. After I fix the issues I should be good to keep going and finish it. I spent about forty-ish minutes on it. 

 

Anyway, happy holidays everyone. 

[Jupiter]

Didn't get much done yesterday, but I expected that with the holiday. Enjoyed time with family and had way too much food, but I did get in my 20 minutes of yoga by the end of the day. 

 

Today:

 

Fitness:

        - Yoga 20 minutes

        - Walked for 20 minutes. I wanted to walk for another 10 minutes, but I didn't expect it to be as cold as it was, so I cut it short. 

 

Nutrition:

        - Still finishing up leftovers from yesterday (there were a lot of leftovers) so no cooking. Well, I made scrambled eggs yesterday for breakfast, so I suppose that counts. One of these days I will figure out how to make an omelet. Today, though, I ate so many calories that I don't even want to look at my calorie counter. Once I finish all the leftovers I should be able to get back on track. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised my short story for a little over an hour. I was hoping to squeeze in another hour but I didn't make it. I'm doing some research on airplanes, spaceships, and planets and stuff like that for the story. It's pretty interesting info. It's a science fiction story, which I'm not used to writing, but it's different and fun. 

[Jupiter]

Fitness:

        - Walked 5595 steps. I wanted to get more in but it was cloudy and freezing. I need to invest in better outdoor winter gear I guess. 

 

Nutrition:

        - Finally finished the last of the Christmas leftovers. I didn't have a chance to cook anything, so it'll be frozen meals tomorrow and then a trip to the store over the weekend for fresh foods. I've already picked out the recipes I want to use, which is half the battle. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised my short story for roughly two hours. It's looking better, but now I'm getting into the horror element of the story and it's creeping me out a little LOL. 

        - Read for about forty minutes today. I downloaded some audiobooks from the library and I'm listening during my walks. Right now I'm reading a YA fantasy, Renegades by Marissa Meyer. 

[Jupiter]

Yesterday and today I walked for about 30 minutes each. I've been mentally exhausted over the last two days though so I didn't get anything else done, though I did sketch for a few minutes and I finally finished the drawing after working on it off and on the last few months. Hopefully I should bounce back by tomorrow. 

[The Battle Chef]

11 hours ago, Jupiter said:

Yesterday and today I walked for about 30 minutes each. I've been mentally exhausted over the last two days though so I didn't get anything else done, though I did sketch for a few minutes and I finally finished the drawing after working on it off and on the last few months. Hopefully I should bounce back by tomorrow. 

Holidays are exhausting  D:

[Jupiter]

9 hours ago, Rusk said:

Holidays are exhausting  D:

 

They can be, yeah. 

[Jupiter]

Still super exhausted. I think I'm just not sleeping super well. I keep waking up two or three times in the middle of the night. Still, I didn't want another day of doing nothing so I pushed through and got some stuff done. 

 

Fitness:

        - Walked 3639 steps. I got my steps in mostly by running errands. It's getting so cold out that I may have to switch to the gym for a while if I want to do a real walk. 

        - Yoga 20 minutes. I barely got through it, but I did it, and I felt somewhat energized after. Between that and some black tea, I had enough energy to do some cooking.

 

Nutrition:

        - I made a main dish (chicken) in my instant pot. I've cooked it a few times so I feel more confident in making it. I also made a side dish (carrots and green beans en papillote with lemon and different herbs), but I didn't like it as much. I can still smell it all over my house and for some reason it's making me a bit nauseous. I don't think I'll be making that again. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised my short story for roughly half an hour. Feeling pretty brain dead but I wanted to get through at least a page, so I did. I want to be done with the first round of revisions by the end of the week. Cross your fingers for me. 

        - Read for probably around 2 hours, which helped some. Reading an ebook, Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine, another YA fantasy. I need to finish this and the audiobook before they're due back at the library. 

[Jupiter]

Happy New Year!

 

Yesterday: 

 

Fitness:

        - Yoga 20 minutes. 

        - Walked for about half an hour. My energy came back yesterday afternoon so I was all about that exercise. 

      

Nutrition:

        - Finished the last of my leftovers. I'm considering batch cooking on weekends, but I've tried it before and it didn't work out so well (eating the same thing for a whole week gets tiring real fast), so I'll have to think about it. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Finished Ink and Bone last night since the ebook is due back today. I stayed up way too late to finish it, but it was too good to put down. I wanted the next one immediately but there is a wait list.  And since I didn't get any revisions done yesterday I'll have to make up for it today.  

 

I'll post about today's stats this afternoon. Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year's Eve.

 

 

[Jupiter]

Fitness:

        - Yoga 20 minutes. 

        - Walked only 1596 steps. Didn't meet my minimum, but at least I got in the 1500.  

      

Nutrition:

        - Got some semi-healthy leftovers from my grandma when I went over to her house today, score. My last calorie count for today is 1115. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised my short story for only an hour instead of the 2 hours that I'd planned. But, I only have 3 pages left until I'm done with the first round, so I'm still on track to finish by the end of the week. 

[Jupiter]

Fitness:

        - Walked 4363 steps today. Even though it was freezing, I bundled up and my coworker and I went for a walk at lunch.  

      

Nutrition:

        - Finished up the last of my grandma's leftovers for lunch, and I meant to cook something decent for dinner, but I didn't end up having time, so I had some scrambled eggs and some bread rolls. I was gifted with a surprise file as I was basically walking out of the office, but I wasn't able to finish it because there was something wrong with it. And of course the person who gave it to me was the only one who could fix it, and she left as soon as she sprung it on me. Anyway, I ended up with 1152 calories for today. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised my short story for roughly an hour. This scene was intense. Almost done though. 

[RubiksCat]

Scrambled eggs and bread rolls sounds like a delicious dinner!

[Endor]

Oh yeah step counter and walking....that's how I lost a lot of weight before, need to reboot that! 

 

Will follow to see if some interesting home cooked meals appear here  

[Kishi]

Yes. Will follow for food. Also for a fellow writer.

[Jupiter]

On 1/2/2019 at 9:42 PM, Rubik'sCat said:

Scrambled eggs and bread rolls sounds like a delicious dinner!

 

LOL yeah it wasn't too bad.  

 

On 1/3/2019 at 5:29 PM, Endor said:

Oh yeah step counter and walking....that's how I lost a lot of weight before, need to reboot that! 

 

Will follow to see if some interesting home cooked meals appear here  

 

LOL, well I'm still trying to figure out this whole cooking thing, but I'll try to make it interesting.  

 

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

Yes. Will follow for food. Also for a fellow writer.

 

Thanks! What kind of stuff do you write?

 

[Jupiter]

Yesterday:

 

Fitness:

        - Walked around 5100 steps. Work was nuts yesterday and I felt super stressed, but I forced myself out for a walk with my coworker so I could get away from the barrage of emails for a few minutes.  

      

Nutrition:

        - No home cooked meals yesterday. I bought something from a food truck: pulled pork sandwich with mac and cheese. So good. I definitely need to make this myself.   I also had to work late and then run some errands, so I ended up stopping at a fast food place for a burger and fries on the way home. Not the most healthy foods, but I still only had around 1300 calories for the whole day, and according to my food tracker app, I'm still mostly on track, so it's not a total loss. 

 

Intellectual:

        - No writing or revisions, but I did read a little bit. Reading Shades of Wicked. Not normally into paranormal romance, but I like some of this author's work so I'm giving this book a try. So far I'm not sure I'm impressed. 

 

 

Today:

 

Fitness:

        - Walked 4511 steps today. The weather was nicer today than it has been all week and my dog was practically running she was so excited to go out.

      

Nutrition:

        - Utterly failed this one today. I had nothing but snacks and frozen meals, and my calorie count is at 1310. Work was nuts again today, too, so it was hard to focus on making healthy eating choices. Supposedly we're slower, but I haven't seen it yet. Batch cooking is looking better and better every day. On the bright side, I ate things that I'd already bought from the store instead of eating out, so that is a plus. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised my short story for about forty to fifty minutes, and I'm finally done with the first round of revisions. I'm still not entirely sure about the ending, I feel like I rushed it, but hopefully I'll be able to figure it out in round 2. 

        - Still listening to Renegades by Marissa Meyer. I need to finish it by the end of the weekend, but I have 8 hours left to listen to, so I'm not sure if I'll finish it before it has to go back to the library. 

[Kishi]

15 hours ago, Jupiter said:

Thanks! What kind of stuff do you write?

 

Urban fantasy right now, but I've dabbled in a bunch of genres across that spectrum.

 

14 hours ago, Jupiter said:

I bought something from a food truck: pulled pork sandwich with mac and cheese.

 

Seriously! How are food trucks so good!?

 

Edit to add: Oh how rude, I forgot to ask - what kind of stuff do you write?

[Jupiter]

9 hours ago, Kishi said:

Seriously! How are food trucks so good!?

 

Right? 

 

9 hours ago, Kishi said:

Edit to add: Oh how rude, I forgot to ask - what kind of stuff do you write?

 

Oh no worries. Mostly urban fantasy also. 

[Jupiter]

Fitness:

        - Walked 6035 steps. Score.  

      

Nutrition:

        - Went to see a movie (Bumblebee, which was so good by the way) and ran some errands, so I grabbed fast food since I was out and I didn't cook anything. My calorie intake was 1730 though so I'll need to pay better attention tomorrow. I still haven't decided what I want to make tomorrow either so it may just be the same as what I made last week, but we'll see what I feel like when I'm at the store. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Started round 2 of revisions on my short story today. I spent an hour on just the first page. Hopefully I can get through more tomorrow. 

       

[Jupiter]

Fitness:

        - Walked around 4500 steps.

        - Yoga 20 minutes.

      

Nutrition:

        - Had mostly frozen foods today, but I did make chicken in my instant pot (made with chicken stock, soy sauce and brown sugar, mmmm), and made some frozen veggies to go with it so I have something for lunch and dinner tomorrow. It's not super fancy but at least it's cheap. Good news too is I only bought takeout two days this week, and I got my calorie count down to around 1300. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Another hour and another page of revisions done. 

[The Battle Chef]

How do you like the instant pot?  I've been considering getting one for a while.

[Khari]

Hey, Jupiter!

 

I've been away from the forums over the holiday, but I'm back! I'm so excited that you've been making food in the instapot (and in general). Not fancy but do-able is definitely the goal for beginning to cook your own food, so good job!!! As for batch-cooking on the weekends, it's a good idea, but food boredom is real. You may want to make 2-3 different meals at once if you decide to try it again. (Think centered around 3 different star-of-the-plate foods, like 1 poultry, 1 red meat, 1 fish; or like "burger patties, baked chicken wings, porkchops" sort of a thing. If you prep enough servings for both lunch and dinner for each, then rotate them, you have less chance of getting food bored.  Or if you find a great deal on the same protein (who hasn't been there?), you can spice and serve it 3 different ways. (Example: you find a deal on a big hunk of beef. Have them grind part of it into patties at the store, take some slices off it for steak, and then cube some of it and put it into a slow-cooker/insta-pot soup. As always, I have a recipe if you need some inspiration XD). Then you can add whatever side-veggies you want just like you've been doing. Also, if you have a bunch of veggies about to go to waste in the fridge, try sticking them all on a pan, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and roasting them. You get a nice variety of veggies for the next few days, and when they're roasted, for some reason they taste extra delicious.

 

Wow, I can really nerd out about food (you should see me in real life--I'm even more intense in person!)  I'm loving the progress on yoga and walking and how tough you've been on working on revising. You're doing awesome! Hope this stuff helps you out a little! You're doing awesome! 

[Jupiter]

19 hours ago, Rusk said:

How do you like the instant pot?  I've been considering getting one for a while.

 

I've only tried a few recipes in it so far, but I really like it. It really cuts down on cooking time, which is a huge plus. 

 

12 hours ago, Kharissandra said:

I've been away from the forums over the holiday, but I'm back!

 

Yay, I'm glad you're back! Are you doing the challenge this month?

 

 

12 hours ago, Kharissandra said:

Wow, I can really nerd out about food (you should see me in real life--I'm even more intense in person!) 

 

LOL, nerd away, this is really helpful! Thank you for all the tips.

 

12 hours ago, Kharissandra said:

I'm loving the progress on yoga and walking and how tough you've been on working on revising. You're doing awesome! Hope this stuff helps you out a little! You're doing awesome! 

 

Thank you!!! I really appreciate all your support. It definitely helps.  

 

 

[Jupiter]

Fitness:

        - Walked 6020 steps. Not sure how I did it, because I was so tired, but I did it. 

        

Nutrition:

        - I had the food I made yesterday, chicken and frozen veggies/rice for lunch, and then for dinner I made an egg sandwich (and I ate some donut holes, but at least part of the meal was semi-healthy). Overall calorie count for the day is 1166. 

 

Intellectual:

        - Revised for an hour and a half. I'm not sure if I was just more focused today or what, but I made it through 5 pages.  

        - I tried to keep reading the paranormal romance, but it finally lost me. So, onto a different book. I just downloaded Furyborn by Claire Legrand from the library. Hopefully this one is better.