Darkfoxx 55: Throwing More Spaghetti

[darkfoxx]

In my continuing effort to reclaim the glory that was me & fitness circa 2016, I'm throwing some more spaghetti at the wall to see if I can get something to stick. 

 

Because YET-A-FREAKING-GAIN I was reminded recently (of course when waxing rhapsodic about my Nerd Fam trying to rope in a new recruit) that a: I was kind of a little badass back then, and b: I had my shit under so much control diet and exercise-wise that it was easy. So easy, I was Queen of the damn side challenges. 
 

So ... ummmm ... yeah. 

 

I AIN'T THAT ANY MORE. 

 

And on the one hand *channel hippie "I'm ok, you're ok" self* It's ok, 

But on the other hand, *channel me circa 2016* You know what works - head down & suck it up, buttercup. This shit isn't easy, but all humans can 1000% do it. Your bullshit excuses as to why you're a special snowflake are BS. And you know they're BS. 

 

I've more or less decided to break up with Soflete - we all knew that shit wasn't sustainable, but I wanted to give it a good run. DH is still in love with the programming, but even he's chilled a degree or two to make room for SUP. 

 

Things I learned from my time in the gym (Soflete and before that, with a trainer):

 

• Re-discovered that I hate being in the gym for more than like :45 at a clip
• I am waaaaaayyyyy too practical to be comfortable with dropping a shitton of cash on a trainer 
• Said trainer was a damn waste of time physical-wise, but did help with things like injury prevention and my 'too much'/'hit the gas' gene
• I like lifting heavy things as much as I knew I would
• There is a way to lift heavy things that doesn't injure me
• That doesn't mean my ass gets a carte blanche to forget that I have legit ass chronic wrist and lower lumbar injuries
• I can build something more sustainable (thx basic-ass but actually legit just non-sexy NF weightlifting guide)

 

So, what kind of spaghetti am I throwing at the wall this cycle? 

 

Back to yoga. My body just feels better when I'm working in that arena. And, my local bougie studio just lowered their prices pretty heftily per class - so, there's less of an excuse there. Aaaaaaaaaand, at least for now (who TF knows what's going to happen in May - Ramadan - and June - beginning of Summer), there are 3 classes being held at convenient times for my life. 2 11am classes on days I don't typically have anything planned + 1 5pm class on a day I do. 

 

So I bought a 10-class pack, and I'm back on the mat. 

 

Planning on also adding in 2 days a week of strength training when my body readjusts to being bendy, since yoga alone does not melt the lbs off how I want them to go. 

 

And working on not eating like an asshole (still), and trying to see if I can do that in a framework that doesn't exclude food groups or involve time on My Fitness Pal. Which I love and all, but I'm trying to see if I can be trusted yet to have some sort of natural balance. (spoiler: thus far, hellz to the no if I want to actually lose the 10 lbs I'm up). 

 

In Support Of Spaghetti Goals

 

1. Yoga 2-3x a week; work in weight training when I can, but when I do - 2x a week.

2. Travel is happening this cycle - and maybe new puppy homecoming, too - so life is going to continue to be cray. This travel is a real vacation for the both of us, so there will be tons of hiking and walking involved - for travel, just avoid foods that hurt. 

3. Continue attempting to not eat like an asshole - avoid foods that hurt, limit my time being shitfaced to my 1 wine lunch a month + maaaaaaaybe either my monthly game night, or 1 other outing. Continue taking pics of my meals, trying to only eat when hungry, and eating enough to make me full but not bursting - despite the starving children in Africa I'm murdering by not having a clean plate (80s kid, yo - that shit was on TV)

4. Continue working to build and maintain my local network of support and peoples

5. Look further into the $ making things I've got kicking around in my head 

6. Do something other than sit on the couch and watch YouTube if I'm home all day (see 4&5)

 

And that's about it - 6 quasi-goals that really only boil down to 2 concrete goals + 1 general purpose 'be less lazy' goal. 

 

 

 

[Fonzico]

Side eye dishing, crow pose crushing, inspiration to all Darkfoxx is making a comeback!

You got this, I know you do.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following along again.

 

[Terra]

And there she is!!!  I kind of miss the 2016 version of me too.  Following for your return to greatness!  

[Moros]

Following!

[Hiroro]

Following!

WOW you're on challenge 55, that's amazing!

[NeverThatBored]

Following to see you reclaim your glory!

 

2016 was such a good fitness year. I feel like the forums were much more hopping back then too. 

[darkfoxx]

Following to see you reclaim your glory!
 
2016 was such a good fitness year. I feel like the forums were much more hopping back then too. 

They were 1000% more hopping - which, I think, is what helped us all.

The forums are what we put into them - to reclaim that level of hype, we need to do what we can to generate it.




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[Tanktimus the Encourager]

The forums were indeed more hopping back then. They have never really recovered from the slump that started when the forum software switched over to the version we have now. There was a big learning curve for those who were used to the old software. Strangely, however, new user registrations peaked the next year, during 2017. That data is somewhat skewed, however, by spammers. As the forum software got better at filtering out spambots that lowered the number of posts and new users, so comparing the data from then and now is not apples to apples, and the analytic tools aren't sophisticated enough to take that into account (and honestly they don't need to be).  Another fact was the explosion around that time of NF products. Rising Heroes debuted some time 2016-17, and then the coaching program took off. There are a lot more ways for nerds to engage the rebellion than there were 3 years ago, and not all of them choose the forums. 

[Tateman]

6 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

despite the starving children in Africa I'm murdering by not having a clean plate (80s kid, yo - that shit was on TV)

 

OMG this for real. I still feel guilt if when I don't clean my plate. It is freaking crazy.

 

25 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

The forums were indeed more hopping back then. They have never really recovered from the slump that started when the forum software switched over to the version we have now. There was a big learning curve for those who were used to the old software. Strangely, however, new user registrations peaked the next year, during 2017. That data is somewhat skewed, however, by spammers. As the forum software got better at filtering out spambots that lowered the number of posts and new users, so comparing the data from then and now is not apples to apples, and the analytic tools aren't sophisticated enough to take that into account (and honestly they don't need to be).  Another fact was the explosion around that time of NF products. Rising Heroes debuted some time 2016-17, and then the coaching program took off. There are a lot more ways for nerds to engage the rebellion than there were 3 years ago, and not all of them choose the forums. 

Yeah, would agree. There is a lot more options for people to do things. Like the Academy too. Plus, there really never seems to be any mention of the forums in various NF emails. Usually just promoting the paid products.

 

Following along darkfoxx. You got this!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

30 minutes ago, Tateman said:

Plus, there really never seems to be any mention of the forums in various NF emails. Usually just promoting the paid products.

I really don't blame them for that. NF is a business, and Steve doesn't really make any money off of these forums. In fact, he spends money on them. The closest thing you will ever see an ad on here is that unobtrusive link at the top of the page to the coaching program. If you'll notice, they don't even promote any of the other paid programs, all mentions are of the coaching programs, because they are having runaway success with them. That stuff pays the bills to keep the lights on in the forums.

[Tateman]

52 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I really don't blame them for that. NF is a business, and Steve doesn't really make any money off of these forums. In fact, he spends money on them. The closest thing you will ever see an ad on here is that unobtrusive link at the top of the page to the coaching program. If you'll notice, they don't even promote any of the other paid programs, all mentions are of the coaching programs, because they are having runaway success with them. That stuff pays the bills to keep the lights on in the forums.

Yup, I agree. I am glad to see how much the NF business has taken off.

[darkfoxx]

Yesterday

Grabbed some rice crackers before heading off to yoga because I couldn’t fathom breakfast

Alignment yoga class - which was harder than it should have been thanks to tight but I didn’t know about it thighs. The neck and shoulder stretching felt good though; just lunge holds sucked.

Matcha lemonade and a quinoa/kale/sweet potato/onion bowl with cashew lime dressing at the vegan place next door

Had more rice crackers when I was genuinely hungry later

Baked a bunch of shit that was going to go bad

Dinner was chicken breast, cauliflower & Brussels in parsley sauce

Spoke with DH some more about being tired of my stomach sucking again; he pointed out that no, I am not in fact resilient like I think - I’m a damn delicate flower.

Which is not how I see my stomach issues, but is probably actually accurate.

Dinner made my insides stabby - probably because of the Brussels - did tons of research on his theory (IBS), and yeah - I’ve got like 90% of those symptoms. But IBS is a catchall diagnosis, so ...

DH thinks I should actually go talk to someone.

And I should - but I’m going to take this cycle to report my food/symptom/mood/poop in an app so I have starting data to work from.

That also gives me time to find a doctor I won’t immediately hate on sight, cause I’m a bit hostile where medical professionals are concerned - a fair amount of them (at least in my experience) suck - and/or don’t keep with the times.

Snacked on popcorn that was too bland so I melted a little butter for tossing & had furikake over top.






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[Cheetah]

I like your goals and your determination.  You can do it!  Happy Challenge!

[Sloth the Enduring]

IBS is really hard to deal with. Before you go to the doctor have food log that tracks when and what you ate and when and what symptoms you had. It’ll really speed things along.

[Fonzico]

The vegan bowl looks tasty AF.

Good luck figuring out the stomach stuff... I'm with your hubby on this one, you precious porcelain filigree.

[EricMN]

Chicken breast, brussels and cauliflower sounds amazing. You can come to my house and make dinner any time.

[Wild Wolf]

Seems like I'm not the only one chucking spaghetti on the wall  

 

Following along to see you conquer this challenge and come out on the other side as a badass, battle-hardened iron maiden! 

 

 

Wolf

[darkfoxx]

Tuesday was coffee Group at a Turkish place - had a meat & egg skillet with some pita and Turkish tea while talking over stomach issues with a girlfriend going through the same thing.

Took a walk and downloaded a symptom reporting app.

Lunch was late crackers

Dinner was wings & tortilla chips out

Wednesday



Breakfast was avocado toast with my Wednesday Group

Haircut, bought a salt grinder, got my nails done.

Lunch was the last of the crackers + blueberries when that wasn’t enough.

Dinner was leftover smashed sweet potatoes & raisin oil chicken

Thursday


Monthly wine business lunch - let’s just say I was out till 2 am. Tons of bar nuts & vodka sodas fueled the post -lunch happenings. Also a tiny amount of shisha.

Mostly either chatted with girlfriends or had zero idea what was happening because it was too loud - when in doubt and you can’t see straight to read your phone - just dance in your seat. There was also a long but at the end of balancing babysitting a friend and not wanting to abandon her + FFS, it’s 2 am.

Friday

Today has been a writeoff.


Breakfast was 1 rice cake

Lunch was a side of fries

Snack was half an avocado scrambled egg sandwich

Dinner was the other half

I probably won’t be snacking later tonight. Will attempt to finally drink the pot of tea I brewed when I could stand up that long.




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[JuiceeTarget]

What a week! I love your food pictures.

[darkfoxx]

What a week! I love your food pictures.

Thanks!


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[darkfoxx]

Saturday

Initial plans were sand and wind-Ed out, so DH played Division and I watched videos with a pup in my lap all morning and afternoon.

Waited waaaaay too long to make food - made eggs & baby potato & onion & chicken & thyme & parsley hash around 12:30

Had the rest of the potatoes in half an hour because I was still hungry

DH had Mickey Dees

Had tickets to the Philharmonic- Beethoven - tried a new and tasty pan Asian place beforehand - had the crudetite amuse, beef & foie dumplings, duck fried rice, salmon nigiri, accidental eel nigiri, and the eel maki roll we ordered. Was out and across the way in time for the show.






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[Hiroro]

All the food looks yum, especially that hash!

Can I ask how you format your photos like that?

And how was the concert?

[darkfoxx]

@Hiroro: I use the app MOLDIV

And the concert was great! Hadn’t seen the Qatar Philharmonic before, and the venue was beautiful - the orchestra did something neat - the conductor also played first violin while conducting, so that was an interesting convention to see I haven’t run across yet.

That, and he was playing some insane ass Stradivarius on loan from someone I’ve never heard of.

Can’t wait for the next show we’ve got tix for: Harry Potter & Bond!


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[Fonzico]

@Hiroro: I use the app MOLDIV

And the concert was great! Hadn’t seen the Qatar Philharmonic before, and the venue was beautiful - the orchestra did something neat - the conductor also played first violin while conducting, so that was an interesting convention to see I haven’t run across yet.

That, and he was playing some insane ass Stradivarius on loan from someone I’ve never heard of.

Can’t wait for the next show we’ve got tix for: Harry Potter & Bond!


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So cool! That sounds like an incredible experience!