sylph sallies forth

[sylph]

Okay, unchallenging last time 'round got me back in the swing of things (kind of).

 

Time to take some of that momentum and do something with it. The timing for this challenge is actually pretty opportune. Full disclosure: I tend to lose the workout habit with releases for my favorite video games. It's a major stress reliever for me and also a "quality time with hubs" activity. So, coming up in September are two fairly major releases which will lure me with their sirens' calls: Borderlands 3 (Sept 13th) and the next expansion for Destiny 2: Shadowkeep (Sept 17th). Destiny for sure will be a day one purchase (and possible a couple days of vacation taken). BL3 isn't such a persistent online world that you need to keep up with so much, so that one may keep until the holidays or something. Throw in some Division 2 as my 'casual' game and that's a LOT of gaming time.

 

Having this 5 week challenge to rebuild some habits prior to getting lost in some video games should help somewhat to build up a head of steam to help me keep my health as a priority.

 

I'll figure out specific goals over the next week or so, but (as usual) they will likely touch on some amount of regular movement, keeping a handle on food, maintaining a reduced alcohol intake, etc.

 

I also have a very specific task to review page proofs and update the index for the textbook I co-authored/co-revised last year. Since the deadline for that is in approximately three weeks, that'll get wrapped into this challenge as well.

 

Oh yeah, still not doing assassin-y things.

 

Alrighty. Some goals.

 

Move.

Two weight training sessions and two 'cardio' sessions per week. These can be on the same day, if I so desire.

Ancillary goal: figure out an actual weight training routine to minimize faffing about and support progress.

 

Food.

Track calories again. It works when I do it, so why not do it?

Ancillary goal: eat more like a grown up and actually assemble/cook food that resembles a meal once per week (5x total for this challenge)

 

Work.

As mentioned, proofs have come back for the text book that consumed my life for much of last year. Indexing and final proof review are due in 3 weeks. Get this done.

There may be an ancillary goal here, time will tell.

 

Clean.

A simple goal to help build the habit of having a cleaner kitchen on a more regular basis: at the end of each day, load the dishwasher and run it overnight if needed. Empty the following day.

Ancillary goal: scoop the damn cat litter daily.

[KB Girl]

It is probably also good to have that deadline before the game release

I used to be the same way with some games and some book series- I'd just disappear of the face of the earth for 2-3 days whenever a new book came out. Life is different with kids though, you just can't put them on pause or something. (unfortunately) 

 

Anyway, building up a head of steam sounds like an excellent plan! 

[WhiteGhost]

10 hours ago, sylph said:

Oh yeah, still not doing assassin-y things.

Stealth assassining

 

[mediaguy99]

Following along....

 

Borderlands 2 was awesome!  I hope I have the opportunity to check out #3.  Will do my best to keep apprised of your mission.

[sylph]

20 hours ago, KB Girl said:

It is probably also good to have that deadline before the game release

I used to be the same way with some games and some book series- I'd just disappear of the face of the earth for 2-3 days whenever a new book came out. Life is different with kids though, you just can't put them on pause or something. (unfortunately) 

 

Anyway, building up a head of steam sounds like an excellent plan! 

No kiddos for me means I can still retreat into the Cave of New Media on a regular basis. This is fine, as long as all my habits don't revert afterwards as well.

 

10 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Stealth assassining

 

Hah! I'm so assassiny, no one can even tell that I'm assassining.

 

2 hours ago, mediaguy99 said:

Following along....

 

Borderlands 2 was awesome!  I hope I have the opportunity to check out #3.  Will do my best to keep apprised of your mission.

Welcome aboard again!

I really enjoyed BL1 and BL2 (hubs and I played BL1 back in the day, split screen. I don't know how we managed). I'm hoping BL3 lives up to its predecessors. Hitting the right tone on a consistent basis can be tough for that kind of game.

[sylph]

Oh hey, I have some goals and stuff.

[raptron]

I like em!

[KB Girl]

They're perfect

Clean kitchen in the morning helps sooo much with not eating like a fool. 

 

What kind of weights do you train with? 

[sylph]

6 hours ago, raptron said:

I like em!

Thanks. They are just variations on previous goals, but I'm trying to tackle them in a slightly smarter way.

 

3 hours ago, KB Girl said:

They're perfect

Clean kitchen in the morning helps sooo much with not eating like a fool. 

 

What kind of weights do you train with? 

I get really overwhelmed when it builds up. Doing it every day will make it feel like a smaller task (same strategy for cat litter).

 

We have a pretty decently equipped gym in our basement--power rack, BBs, DBs, a leg press. Plus a treadmill for cardio health purposes. It's all a few short steps down into the basement. I really have no excuse not to do something.

[Mad Hatter]

Here!

[sylph]

Zero Week, Tuesday

Got 4/5 of my textbook chapter proofs reviewed. I need to do secondary review for chapters updated/written by other authors, create index terms for the chapter I wrote from scratch and then fill in the index for the ~400 terms that are my responsibility. I have three weeks, so I think this is a pretty good start.

Did not work out in any way shape or form.

Had toast for dinner.

BUT I did scoop the cat litter when I got home and loaded all the dishes into the dishwasher before I went to bed. Wasn't full enough to run, though. Probably tonight.

[KB Girl]

On 7/31/2019 at 3:52 AM, sylph said:

We have a pretty decently equipped gym in our basement--power rack, BBs, DBs, a leg press. Plus a treadmill for cardio health purposes. It's all a few short steps down into the basement. I really have no excuse not to do something.

You'll figure out something to your tastes I'm sure, but in the meantime if you like, here's my "at least I did something" training; 

2 sets of 10 goblet or back-squats, 2 sets of 10 Romanian deadlift, 3 sets of 5/5 DB oh press, 3 sets of 5/5 dumbell row, 2 sets of 8/8 lunges, 2 sets of 5/5 single leg deadlift. No rest in between, light weights, takes 15-20 minutes. 

 

21 hours ago, sylph said:

BUT I did scoop the cat litter when I got home and loaded all the dishes into the dishwasher before I went to bed. Wasn't full enough to run, though. Probably tonight.

That's a BIG win getting the party started!

 

[sylph]

Zero Week, Wednesday

Textbook proofs for my own chapters complete. Will do other author's chapters once they've done their initial review. Also added terms to the index list that were relevant to my chapters. Will likely start indexing tomorrow. Woo.

Dinner out of the microwave meant minimal dishes (loaded into the washer before bed) but no need to run it.

Scooped litter

Worked out--a bunch of light BB Bench to ensure my elbows and shoulders would be okay with some work (which they were and still are today, hooray!) and then some standing DB OHP. Increased the volume from my 'practice' workouts last month, but not any kind of actual structured program for which I could track progress.

 

[sylph]

8 hours ago, KB Girl said:

You'll figure out something to your tastes I'm sure, but in the meantime if you like, here's my "at least I did something" training; 

2 sets of 10 goblet or back-squats, 2 sets of 10 Romanian deadlift, 3 sets of 5/5 DB oh press, 3 sets of 5/5 dumbell row, 2 sets of 8/8 lunges, 2 sets of 5/5 single leg deadlift. No rest in between, light weights, takes 15-20 minutes. 

I like the general outline of this. I may have to steal it and then tweak a few things. Thanks for sharing!

[sylph]

Zero Week, Thursday

Made a sandwich for dinner. This whole cooking meals thing is going to take more preplanning than I'm giving it.

I did track food/cals for the entirety of Thursday, which is something I haven't done in awhile.

Loaded and ran the dishwasher. Will empty when I get home today.

Litter was scooped

No indexing on Thursday, but I did get it started this afternoon. I am responsible from letters I through O. It's rather tedious, but not terrible as long as I don't do it for too long in a row. Breaking this up into short blocks of time will be key for keeping my sanity.

 

[KB Girl]

So far very good consistent going on the daily things  

 

[sylph]

On 8/2/2019 at 4:40 PM, KB Girl said:

So far very good consistent going on the daily things  

 

heh, until the weekend.

[sylph]

Zero Week, Friday

As promised, got some indexing done. I-K done, along with part of L. Not too terrible, though it really is mind-numbing.

Tracked calories and had a PB & J sandwich for dinner.

Loaded the dishwasher

Scooped litter (I think?)

 

Zero Week, Saturday

Tracked calories

Ignored the dishwasher and the litter. Oops.

Spend a good chunk of the day outside doing yard work. It's neither a lifting workout nor a cardio session but it's zero week anyway, so whatevs.

 

Zero Week, Sunday

Tracked calories

Remembered the litter, forgot about the dishwasher.

No movement to speak of.

 

Now on to Weeks of Actual Challenging.

[sylph]

Unrelated to anything in this challenge: 

 

I need to sort through my closet and reorganize my clothes. I'm getting the urge to buy new stuff because "I don't have anything to wear." This is usually a sign that I do, indeed, have plenty to wear, I'm just in a rut with wearing the same things. Before I rush off and buy something because I 'need' it, I'll take a look at what I actually have and determine whether there are any actual wardrobe gaps to fill. If all goes as it typically does, I will shuffle my closet around, re-organize a bunch of stuff and actually wind up finding out that I can get rid of several things that I have and no longer wear, rather than needing to buy new things.

[raptron]

Woo for solid indexing progress!

 

Good observations about your wardrobe -- especially the bit about it meaning it's time to get rid of things rather than buy more. I have some thinking to do about my own clothing hoard. 

[mediaguy99]

3 hours ago, sylph said:

If all goes as it typically does, I will shuffle my closet around, re-organize a bunch of stuff and actually wind up finding out that I can get rid of several things that I have and no longer wear, rather than needing to buy new things.

 

I love this approach.  Wish someone I knew did this instead of what they normally do...  No I'm not complaining... much... >:O

 

[KB Girl]

Yea that wardrobe issue sounds very familiar. 

[sylph]

17 hours ago, raptron said:

Woo for solid indexing progress!

 

Good observations about your wardrobe -- especially the bit about it meaning it's time to get rid of things rather than buy more. I have some thinking to do about my own clothing hoard. 

 

15 hours ago, mediaguy99 said:

 

I love this approach.  Wish someone I knew did this instead of what they normally do...  No I'm not complaining... much... >:O

 

 

6 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Yea that wardrobe issue sounds very familiar. 

 

It's somewhat universal, I think. Having nothing to wear and being bored by my current wardrobe are two different things and can have very different solutions. I've been trying to be more mindful of which problem I'm actually trying to solve when I get the urge to shop.

 

 

Week 1, Monday

Did some kind of leg workout--goblet squats, RDLs, walking lunges 1/2 weights, 0/2 cardio for the week

Litter scooped, dishwasher loaded, calories tracked.

Dinner was burgers on the Foreman. Better than toast or chips & salsa, not quite a homemade meal. Half-credit? 0.5/5 for the challenge

No further indexing progress (hopefully more today--I also need to do a secondary review of a couple of my coauthors' chapters).

 

[sylph]

Week 1, Tuesday

Went and got my hair cut/recolored after work.

Forgot about the litter. Whoops.

Loaded the dishwasher and tracked cals though.

I'm now halfway through 'M' on the index. Blarg. One of my coauthors also sent me some comments on the chapters of mine she reviewed as a second pair of eyes. I've yet to open them. I'm sure they are great, as she is awesome and exceptionally detail oriented. I just seem to take feedback on this project very personally (especially the chapters I wrote from scratch, rather than just revised/updated from the previous edition) and need to make sure I'm in the right frame of mind to read her comments/edits.

Dinner was leftover pizza and late post-haircut.

 

For various work purposes I have been walking all over creation today. Since I reached 10k steps before noon, I may count that as a 'cardio' day as it certainly achieved my goal of moving more. I will likely do some kind of pull-oriented workout tonight.

Inspired by @KB Girl I've cracked open my old bullet journal and am trying to think of ways that will help it work for me again. It is possibly simply a matter of refreshing the habit. I will likely go find the original BuJo 'how to' video to get myself inspired again and try to make time to do this regularly. It was a very useful tool for me for awhile.

[WhiteGhost]

On 8/6/2019 at 12:37 AM, sylph said:

Spend a good chunk of the day outside doing yard work. It's neither a lifting workout nor a cardio session

Sometimes. Other times it can end up being both... 

 

On 8/6/2019 at 6:50 AM, mediaguy99 said:

I love this approach.  Wish someone I knew did this instead of what they normally do...  No I'm not complaining... much... >:O

Haha,  I was thinking something almost identical to this