Valkyrie's Crusade

[Valkyrie21]

15 hours ago, Mortimer said:

I'm sure you can do it! I managed to stop myself at 2 chocolate truffles the other day and I ever did a one chocolate per day thing too. 

 you are a star!

thanks for the vote of confidence, thus far the bag remains unopened because I am not even interested!

[Valkyrie21]

Gym - started Level 4 B workout today

plus

Kettlebell swings 5x10x10kg, 10x10x12kg, 

worked up a decent sweat and indulged in the happy hormones.

 

Resumed my remote viewing practise and have levelled up there too - am more persistent and patient now and it results in even greater accuracy. Found a new website with over 100 targets so that is going to keep me busy for a while 

 

Diet - after that 'incident' with the turkey legs (opened the packet and they were so off that I nearly threw up, still within 3 days of expiry date, got a refund at least) my appetite for meat has taken a hammering and I am now pescatarian  (I have been on and off Vegetarian all my life, purely based on preference and appetite) and will be embracing the 'survivor diet' (beans and rice) with vegies again, plus protein shakes.

 

[Mortimer]

Yeah I don't know what I'd do without my beans - most of my iron is from plant sources now, since meat tends to come with all that extra fat that isn't particularly good for my calories. And is more expensive to boot too. *grumbles*

 

If you're getting iron from plant sources just remember to avoid coffee or tea 1h before and after your main iron dose. 

 

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coffee-caffeine-iron-absorption#section4

 

 

[Valkyrie21]

Little bit sore today but nothing like I had been expecting - this is great, I can handle that. 

Walked briskly into town and back, some 8000 steps, plus 12 mins of rowing - it all adds up.

 

Hydration and diet were all in the green zone today, ate the energy gummies, there were only 3 in the packet and they came in handy for walking before breakfast. The gummi bears are still alive and all accounted for.

 

Had some unexpected news which threw me a real curved ball, handled it well and didn't seek 'stress relief' in food.

 

Found the Kettlebell workout on NF and will do that next time instead of just swing, though I don't do lunges so will increase swings to 30 each round.

 

 

[Mortimer]

Cool. Good to know that the gummi bears are still around as proof that you're in control of your food demon rather then the other way round. Great work on that! 

 

P. S. I don't think I've tried rowing for more then 5 min in a row, so 12 min sounds like a really long stretch. Great job! =) 

[Valkyrie21]

Yesterday was a sloth day, mostly due to inclement weather all day but I didn't even muster the energy to row, definitely ate too much and yet, when I weighed myself this morning, I was down 200g from yesterday. 

Cracked open the packet of gummi bears too, there were 9 in the packet (since it is a sample), now there are 6 left. I think I am getting the hang of this now, starting to trust that I am winning this mind-game.

 

Cycled to the gym today,  implemented some of the NF Kettlebell workout excercises and then onto the rings. Pleased with my effort today, I get bored so easily with same exercises so it is vital to switch it up again and again. 

 

[aramis]

Great job on both gummi bears and kettlebells  

I'm intrigued about kettles. They look more natural to move around than dumbbells - how is this in practice? 

I don't have easy access to gym (nor time to drive to one), but getting one or two kettles would be probably doable. And yes, repeating same exercises may be boring. 

 

P.S.

I didn't ate that one skittle. I ate two. But only because I found that we have regular ones AND a packet of shell-less ones. Not bad, but none are as good as gummi bears

[Mortimer]

Lol gummi bears. I don't have any urges on gummi bears but dark chocolate and ice creams are a totally different story.  We all have different demons. Great work on keeping yours in check =)

 

I don't really want to use my willpower on mine in doing a flat no, I rather redirect him to the next pile of fruits and vegetables so that he does less damage.

 

My motto is that trying a new snack once is fine. Just don't go back for excessive number of helpings. 

 

You could try rotate exercises if you're getting bored, though for me I guess I like the certainty of having a fixed routine. 

[Valkyrie21]

the gummi bears are marching three by three hoorah, hoorah - they all have gone to 'a better place' by now  

Yesterday was mostly rest day with 15 mins of rowing in the evening

 

Today walked for a couple of hours at a leisurely pace through the bush, took lots of photos along the way. This is where I find my peace, it calms me down to walk in the bush and the focus on the camera and framing.

 

Nightly meditation has become a solid practise now, want to work on being more consistent with stretches.

 

 

 

[Mortimer]

Yeah I've found that being in the great outdoors makes you feel better. 

 

And Bush walking trails can be tricky and tiring too. 

[Valkyrie21]

Weird, thought I had posted yesterday but doesn't look like the post is there.

Anyway, it was a recovery day, some light walking and lots of stretching. I have started a serious stretching program for 'older joints' and it bloody hurts, omfg.

My muscles are so stiff (always have been on the stiff side anyway) and loosening them is seriously uncomfortable but I am hopeful it will get better with time and practise.

That was the reason why I stopped my daily Yoga practise, it just got too painful. The joys of having an auto-immune disease, constant inflammation.

Just learnt that the bus services to the mountain range nearby are more frequent now and I can see myself making the trip there and go hiking a lot more.

 

 

[Mortimer]

Hmmm. That sounds bad - did the doctor give you any tips with regards on the food management side of managing your auto immune disease? Also I've heard things about rolling with foam rollers. 

 

I yoga about once per week. Not really into the yoga thing, but do it for flexibility so I can climb better. Short = need to get the most of your teeny weeny reach. 

[aramis]

5 hours ago, Valkyrie21 said:

My muscles are so stiff

My solution on this is magnesium supplement - I prefer effervescent tablet form, as I drink it with my electrolytes as a feel-good drink. Main goal is to prevent cramps, but I found muscles are easier to stretch when I take magnesium. Just check if it is ok with your health issues. Consider calcium as well. It is used as support when dealing with allergy, so maybe it can help in toning down your auto-immune response. But I'm not a doctor, I just tell from my own experiments on me  

[Valkyrie21]

On 7/5/2019 at 3:25 PM, aramis said:

My solution on this is magnesium supplement - I prefer effervescent tablet form, as I drink it with my electrolytes as a feel-good drink. Main goal is to prevent cramps, but I found muscles are easier to stretch when I take magnesium. Just check if it is ok with your health issues. Consider calcium as well. It is used as support when dealing with allergy, so maybe it can help in toning down your auto-immune response. But I'm not a doctor, I just tell from my own experiments on me  

duly noted and ordered some Magnesium, used to take it before but it kind of dropped off the radar. Thanks!

On 7/5/2019 at 10:24 AM, Mortimer said:

Hmmm. That sounds bad - did the doctor give you any tips with regards on the food management side of managing your auto immune disease? Also I've heard things about rolling with foam rollers. 

 

I yoga about once per week. Not really into the yoga thing, but do it for flexibility so I can climb better. Short = need to get the most of your teeny weeny reach. 

Doctors and advice on specific diet? Not in this country, lol. The stretches are based on Yoga with specific targets, it does seem to get a bit easier over time.

[Valkyrie21]

Back at the gym today, Kettlebell upper body and swings, upped the weight for swings to 12kg now, looks like I can switch up to 8kg for halos and shoulder press next time.

I am struggling to find the motivation right now as it is in the middle of winter but doing my best to get some exercise every day. Got lucky yesterday as I decided to go for an early walk and as soon as i got home it started to bucket down with rain for the rest of the day.

 

Fasting today.

[Mortimer]

Cool! If weather doesn't permit going outside, did you think about having a dance party /doing aerobics indoors? Usually I pop up a Billy Blanks Tae Bo workout via YouTube if I can't get out to exercise. There's also zumba for indoor workouts, and it's not as if anyone's watching you dance so there isn't anything to be embarassed about. 

[Valkyrie21]

On 7/8/2019 at 9:33 PM, Mortimer said:

Cool! If weather doesn't permit going outside, did you think about having a dance party /doing aerobics indoors? Usually I pop up a Billy Blanks Tae Bo workout via YouTube if I can't get out to exercise. There's also zumba for indoor workouts, and it's not as if anyone's watching you dance so there isn't anything to be embarassed about. 

yes, all great suggestions, thank you!

 

So last week I fought my own battle, away from here,  physically and mentally.

Ageing is not for sissies someone famous said once (can't remember who it was), and she was not kidding.

I managed to get some walking, rowing and stretches in, couldn't get to the gym and it frustrates the heck out of me but have to grin and bear it. It should not stop me from doing the body-weight exercises though, and I did some (very few) with a real lack of enthusiasm. I do them in the kitchen whilst I wait for the kettle to boil :-)

It is not helping that I haven't scheduled the workouts, during summer I had a written schedule and stuck to it regardless of what was going on. But I can't even get myself to pick up the BJ and start that again. Hopefully this slump will pass soon enough.

Made more use of my sauna, just to get warmed to the core, helpful to ease aches. My mood has been quite good this winter, I suspect the Vit D in high doses help with that.

 

Re-kindled my love affair with my camera after a hiatus of a few weeks and been going flat out with some serious photography, love experimenting with it and re-discover the world around me from different perspectives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mortimer]

Billy Blanks is a bit hardcore. The first time I did it, my butt and thighs were aching in places I didn't realize I had. The good thing about Billy Blanks is that it does not require as much jumping and impact as a regular body combat class but is still intense (more, actually) . But body combat is better for venting frustrations. 

 

Try Marc bosmans zumba gold. Its a lot slower and easier to follow then regular zumba, but still enough to work up a sweat. (I was demoing 1h for my aunt. I'm not much of a dancer, really) 

 

Example:

 

https://youtu.be/xBgAUIWxiTw

 

What's a BJ? 

 

And Grats on getting back onto photography! I think the natural world has lots of wonders just waiting for us to discover. 

[Valkyrie21]

finally made it back to the gym, did some work with the gymnastic rings, surprisingly I was stronger after two weeks of not doing any workouts than before, maybe my body just really needed the rest to grow and recover.

My garmin app hasn't tracked for over a  week and a bit, really pissing me off, but to make matters worse I finally found out how on earth people drop their phone into the loo - good one.

The new one doesn't even support the garmin app so I am just tracking steps now, which is ok, really. Got a bit OCDish with the whole thing anyway.

My gym is moving location in October (all things going well), which is good in some ways because I can then access it by bus, so no reason not to go when the weather is nasty. Bit sad though, I really REALLY like the abundance of daylight through the many windows in there, the new locale won't have that.

 

Food - so so, pescatarian efforts left me feeling tired so I am including free range chicken again. IMF works well for me, I am following some plans through an app which mixes it up a lot, not just the predictable 8/16.

 

Mind - bloody great, been in a really good mood and very creative, sometimes at 4am jumped out of bed and set up a scene to shoot, good fun.

 

 

 

 

[Mortimer]

I know if I want better park run timings I should skip my Friday HIIT workout. Then I have more energy to play with on Saturday morning.

 

Ouch dropping your phone into the loo, doh sad to hear it got ruined =(

 

IF does have its place but probably I won't implement it for myself because I workout 2/3x per day. Though technically I can since I won't be doing back to back gym classes so I don't need the enhanced stamina regeneration. Hrrrmmm. Point to think about. But I sort of like eating when I want to.

 

How did some of the scenes go? Pics?

[porkkchop]

Seems like you’re doing really well and getting a handle on food and self control. Really admire this because I’m currently at the point where I buy things in single portions purely because it means I have to stop, even though it’s so much more expensive. 

 

Anyway, keep up the great work!!!

 

[Valkyrie21]

On 8/11/2019 at 10:08 PM, porkkchop said:

Seems like you’re doing really well and getting a handle on food and self control. Really admire this because I’m currently at the point where I buy things in single portions purely because it means I have to stop, even though it’s so much more expensive. 

 

Anyway, keep up the great work!!!

 

Nope, I did not get a handle (yet) and I expect it will be an ongoing challenge with wins and losses. I caved in a couple of times since, other times I was steadfast. Single portions work best for me too!

[Valkyrie21]

Feel like I am coming back into 'the zone' again, my energy levels are up and virtually demanded to get a workout today. Because I felt like drifting without a clear plan and goal I printed off the sheets for level 4 workouts and committed to that, plus some extras. Re - started with 4A today and kept a record as well (seems to be the key for me, it has to be measurable improvement) 

 

Diet - some major change there: I quit sugar. It was completely directed by my body, just didn't want it anymore. Tough couple of days of withdrawal and my eyes lingered on the sugar substitutes for a minute at the supermarket but left it all on the shelf. 

Will sit down tonight and also re-start my Bullet Journal so I can schedule workouts, keep track of various things etc.

Spring is coming, and I'm feelin' it!

 

 

[Mortimer]

Spring always brings new energy and also inspiration to  get moving! Actually I find artificial sweeteners not that a good idea as you still keep your sweet tooth, besides they generally have side effects, like aspartame will send you to the restroom if taken in excess.

[Valkyrie21]

4B gym workout done - Sunday morning, no one around at the gym - bliss.

Was tempted to do only three rounds (instead of the suggested four) but pushed through the resistence 

Step-ups showed that the left leg is quite a bit weaker, struggling at times to get up and stay balanced (#NOF that got nailed back together a few years ago), be interesting to see if it regains equal strength or always be incapacitated. Time will tell. Right now it is throbbing, time to put the red-light pad on.

 

I am a little sad that my gym will be moving, after less than a year. At the moment it is on the outskirts of town - and I love it. The bike ride takes me through a low key industrial area but - there is a lot of green grass, trees, bushes, so many birds I can hear and see, trees, just a lot of nature around me. And the gym has many huge windows, letting in sunshine and daylight. But it is not always convenient, the new location is accessible by bus, which is a bonus as the weather is not always bicycle friendly. It is a huge shed-like structure, like most gyms and this really sucks. Anyway, we'll see, if I really hate it I will cancel my membership and focus on home workouts an go to the park across the road (to hang the rings). Save a few bucks whilst I am at it, but I really hope it will be ok as that would be my preferred option.