Rhovaniel: A brave new start

[Rhovaniel]

Alrighty... no fancy themes, no narrative (yet). Just a ranger turning up late to throw down with Life, and make every day count. 

 

This is my first challenge back, and I learned a lot of things about myself in my time away. Like, yes, I can keep a place clean and tidy. I struggle with that at home, but you know what nearly every single Airbnb host said about me in my reviews? A wonderful guest who left the place clean and tidy. I had things together, and it felt good. Then I got home, and I'm not going to lie, I can feel it starting to slip. Part of me wants to blame the lockdown we are all under, but I ain't in the business of blaming circumstance any more. It's time to put those life lessons to good use. 

 

RANGER UP! LET'S GET THIS DONE!

 

Goal 1: Body Fat Down, Performance UP!

 

Week 1: Track macros Sunday through to Saturday. No judging, no analysis till the end of the week. 

 

Week 2: Start the week by calculating an ideal macro/calorie range for modest fat loss whilst not losing too much performance wise. Range is for my sanity. Then - stick to it. If this lockdown lifts in time, I have a race in July. I need to maintain the balance of shedding some fat, whilst preparing for race day. I don't particularly care where I place in this, which is why I'm looking to lose fat right now. If I was, I'd hold off. 

 

Important - if the range is far outside of my usual calorie intake, the change will be more gradual, shaving 300 calories/day for a week before lowering once again till I hit that range. 

 

Week 3 and 4 - Manage macros, either lowering gradually or sticking to the range as best I can. 

 

Goal 2: Strong... but flexible

 

Daily yoga session to help with the DOMS, across all 4 weeks. The workouts I did this week left me feeling like the tin man for 3 days. And since I was taught a good all-body home yoga routine whilst at the yoga retreat, it seems stupid to waste that. I'll be coupling that with YouTube videos aimed specifically at lower body/leg recovery, because they are what's going to bear the main brunt of training.

 

Week 1 and 2: 3 runs per week. Just about getting that stimulus, and reminding my body how to do this running thing regularly. I ran ONCE. In Bali. I ended up encircled by three barking dogs protecting their compound. Whilst I dealt with the situation fine, and the dogs backed off with a couple of stern words and palms up (the universal stop sign!), it didn't seem worth tempting fate when I had cheaped out and not got the expensive Rabies shot before I went out. So, no running for a few months. In NZ, I was too busy flitting about Middle Earth in my own perfect paradise. 2 CF Workouts per week. My box have cut my membership fees down and are running daily live sessions on Zoom. I am very grateful for this, and intend to take full advantage. The two sessions I've done so far have just about destroyed my legs and shoulders, so this should work out just fine .

 

Weeks 3 and 4: 3 runs per week. This stays the same, I'll add mileage as I feel the need to. 3 CF Workouts per week. After 2 weeks of 2 WODS, I'll up this to three as my body adapts, if - and only if - I feel the need for the additional session. 

 

 

Goal 3: The Lockdown Plan for Not going Loopy

 

This one is about maintaining sanity, social connections and basically, not losing the plot. 

 

All Weeks:

Read my books. I got plenty of them! One hour of reading per day, minimum.

 

Video Call or Phone Call - 1 x week. Social Distancing is the wrong term, I think. Physical distancing is necessary and right. But we should hold our social connections tighter than ever - so long as that is done virtually, or at least 2 metres apart!

 

Keep the House looking Decent... or at least, not like a bomb hit it. - Realistically, this means doing something to maintain it every day. Laundry, tidying a room, leaving the kitchen clean and tidy every evening. This will likely be the hardest, challenge wise. Because I do not like chores. 

 

 

I'm taking a leaf out of @Jarric's [note] book here, and will track things using my BuJo. I will evaluate my progress and score myself at the end, but I don't have a clue what that performance review will involve. But if I manage to pull off an exceptional performance, I will have to think of a suitable reward!

[Sloth the Enduring]

Welcome back Rho.

[Rhovaniel]

4 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Welcome back Rho.

Thank you. It's good to be back!

[Salinger]

Yay Rho! So good to see you here! Following along and supporting you as best I can 💙

[SkyGirl]

Welcome home Rho!!!  ❤️❤️❤️ 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome home. 

[Novaurora]

Hey!!  We're both back.  We got this!!!!

[Jarric]

Glad to see you back challenging, looks like you've got a sound plan for getting back into things.

[Salinger]

How are you today Rho?x

[Elastigirl]

Good to see you.Welcome back

[Rhovaniel]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:32 PM, Salinger said:

Yay Rho! So good to see you here! Following along and supporting you as best I can 💙

Thank you Sal! Following and supporting you as best I can too!

 

On 4/4/2020 at 7:47 PM, SkyGirl said:

Welcome home Rho!!!  ❤️❤️❤️ 

Thank you Sky!!

 

23 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Welcome home. 

Thanks. It's good to be back.

 

18 hours ago, Novaurora said:

Hey!!  We're both back.  We got this!!!!

We do! It's good to see you Nova!

 

4 hours ago, Jarric said:

Glad to see you back challenging, looks like you've got a sound plan for getting back into things.

Thanks. Yeah, I'm hoping this is the challenge that goes more or less to plan!

 

4 hours ago, Salinger said:

How are you today Rho?x

Thanks for checking in Sal. Update below  

 

4 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Good to see you.Welcome back

EG! Good to see you! Thank you!

 

Today started well. I got up, got two loads of laundry done, did some general tidying, got my yoga session in and had a decent breakfast. I even managed to get in my hour reading this morning. Things started to go pear shaped when I realised that I didn't have a plan for lunch/dinner and at noon, I was meant to be playing D&D with some other nerds. So I had flapjacks and crisps and honestly, it did not get much better from there. BUT I did log it. So, for Week 1, that counts. Which leaves me with the confused feelings of fulfilling my challenge goals today whilst also feeling like I failed because my food was worse than usual today. Tomorrow must be better. 

 

Macros (tracking): Check

Daily Yoga: Check

Exercise: Rest Day (check)

Reading: Check

Housework: Check

Video/Phone call: D&D was over video chat, but I need to call my Nan this week too. 

 

D&D was good, once we had all figured out our multitude of tech issues. Had our intro session, kicked some goblin butt, and broke the ice. I'm looking forward to next week's session, where we see what @Jarric has planned for our downfall!

 

 

One last thing that is worth mentioning. There are grumblings on the news here in the UK that, if idiots don't stop using this lockdown as an excuse to sunbathe and flock to parks and otherwise be stupid, thoughtless morons, the current guidelines allowing people to go out to exercise could change. If that happens, my running goal is gonna suffer. I'm praying that doesn't happen. 

[Kestrel Grey]

Welcome back Rho!

 

1 hour ago, Rhovaniel said:

Which leaves me with the confused feelings of fulfilling my challenge goals today whilst also feeling like I failed because my food was worse than usual today. Tomorrow must be better. 

Maybe give yourself some grace with food this week.  I'm not saying don't try to eat better, I'm saying you aren't being fair with yourself if you say you won't make macros a goal and then get down on yourself for not meeting the goal you've told yourself you don't have!

 

1 hour ago, Rhovaniel said:

 

One last thing that is worth mentioning. There are grumblings on the news here in the UK that, if idiots don't stop using this lockdown as an excuse to sunbathe and flock to parks and otherwise be stupid, thoughtless morons, the current guidelines allowing people to go out to exercise could change. If that happens, my running goal is gonna suffer. I'm praying that doesn't happen. 

Ugh that sucks.  It happened in Canada the first week in; people were stupid so they shut access to all parks, trails and recreation areas.  They likely won't lock you in your house though. It just means getting creative with local roads and lots of loops around the block.  Frustrating but doable. 

[Elastigirl]

2 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Thank you Sal! Following and supporting you as best I can too!

 

T

 

 

One last thing that is worth mentioning. There are grumblings on the news here in the UK that, if idiots don't stop using this lockdown as an excuse to sunbathe and flock to parks and otherwise be stupid, thoughtless morons, the current guidelines allowing people to go out to exercise could change. If that happens, my running goal is gonna suffer. I'm praying that doesn't happen. 

We are still allowed to go for walks, but they closed all the parks, beaches, and trails, for that very reason here

[DarK_RaideR]

Welcome back!

[Jarric]

10 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

So, for Week 1, that counts. Which leaves me with the confused feelings of fulfilling my challenge goals today whilst also feeling like I failed because my food was worse than usual today

 

Don't be so hard on yourself, you met your goal, and you should be pleased with that. There's a reason you planned this goal the way you did, because it's a sensible approach and you're in it for the long game, so celebrate when things go to plan.

 

10 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

If that happens, my running goal is gonna suffer

 

Try not to worry about it. There's nothing you can do about it right now, so worrying won't do you any favours. And if it does happen you'll adapt, adjust your goals, and Ranger on.

[Rhovaniel]

On 4/5/2020 at 10:41 PM, Kestrel Grey said:

Welcome back Rho!

 

Maybe give yourself some grace with food this week.  I'm not saying don't try to eat better, I'm saying you aren't being fair with yourself if you say you won't make macros a goal and then get down on yourself for not meeting the goal you've told yourself you don't have!

 

Ugh that sucks.  It happened in Canada the first week in; people were stupid so they shut access to all parks, trails and recreation areas.  They likely won't lock you in your house though. It just means getting creative with local roads and lots of loops around the block.  Frustrating but doable. 

Thank you! You are right, of course. This is the whole point of this week - I can't correct my course if I don't bother to look at the current heading. I need to work on not being so down on myself for things like this. Having an awesome guild around me helps  

 

On 4/6/2020 at 1:50 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Welcome back!

Good to be back!  

 

23 hours ago, Jarric said:

 

Don't be so hard on yourself, you met your goal, and you should be pleased with that. There's a reason you planned this goal the way you did, because it's a sensible approach and you're in it for the long game, so celebrate when things go to plan.

 

 

Try not to worry about it. There's nothing you can do about it right now, so worrying won't do you any favours. And if it does happen you'll adapt, adjust your goals, and Ranger on.:

Thanks Jarric. You are wise, of course. Long term plans make enemies of short term guilts  

 

I'm doing my best not to worry. At the very least, I'm hoping any new measures still allow us to go out on short loops close to home, because my garden is more like a kitty poop zone. 

 

 

 

Day Two - Pretty darn good! I managed to turn my alarm off (slightly pointless with no job to get up to at the moment) and sleep for another couple of hours. I hate when I do that, simply because it's disorientating and throws my day slightly out of whack. It also meant that I joined my CF Box's 12.30pm workout rather than the early morning one. But it got done and that's what counts. Mix of sit ups, dumbbell rows, snatches and a couple other movements my brain has noped out of remembering. I should really write these down... but it was good and got my heart rate up and me all sweaty, so mission accomplished. The rest of the day has been low-key. Spent a couple of hours looking for and then applying for a couple of jobs. I'm finding the whole crafting a cover letter/why you want this job and skills you have, etc thing mentally draining.  But I do have the time to put into them, so fingers crossed one of them works out. I'm aiming at two job applications a day. Enough to be proactive, and few enough to spend the time to do each application justice. No point half-assing ten a day and getting nowhere. 

 

I'm a good way through re-reading my running book The Happy Runner, which is doing wonders for both running motivation and a daily dose of optimism. So that was a good hour and a half reading, and that goal complete. 

 

Interspersed with some mindless TV and rediscovering the addictive qualities of my old Nintendo 3DS (Pokémon Alpha Sapphire ), I hauled my butt to the yoga mat for a half hour session. 

 

Macros all tracked and looking a lot less binge-y than yesterday, which is nice. I'm doing my best to leave judgements behind. MFP is a bit of a jerk with regards to that, but it can go screw. 

 

The only thing 'pending' today is the housework (which I meant to do before getting side-tracked with Pokémon). Lucky for me, the kitchen needs sorting out, so I guess that's what I'll be doing now, before I head to bed!

 

Macros (tracking): Check

Daily Yoga: Check

Exercise: CrossFit session (check)

Reading: Check

Housework: PENDING - Will update on this tomorrow.

Video/Phone call: Not yet. 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

MFP has no boundaries and thinks it's good to judge people.

[SkyGirl]

7 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Thank you! You are right, of course. This is the whole point of this week - I can't correct my course if I don't bother to look at the current heading. I need to work on not being so down on myself for things like this. Having an awesome guild around me helps  

 

There's a lot of healthy discourse going on right now reminding us that we're not under the same pressures of productivity, success, achievement, etc. right now that we usually are. In a very real sense, we are trying to survive. Sometimes that will mean holding ourselves to high standards to preserve our autonomy and mental wellness; and sometimes that will mean giving ourselves ease to rest and take it easy. There is space and time for both. Doing your best - even when it looks a bit different than normal - is more than enough.  ❤️ 

[Rhovaniel]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:22 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

MFP has no boundaries and thinks it's good to judge people.

It's a goddamned jerk! But right now, it's also a useful tool. *sigh*

 

On 4/7/2020 at 5:00 AM, SkyGirl said:

 

There's a lot of healthy discourse going on right now reminding us that we're not under the same pressures of productivity, success, achievement, etc. right now that we usually are. In a very real sense, we are trying to survive. Sometimes that will mean holding ourselves to high standards to preserve our autonomy and mental wellness; and sometimes that will mean giving ourselves ease to rest and take it easy. There is space and time for both. Doing your best - even when it looks a bit different than normal - is more than enough.  ❤️ 

Very true. Right now, I think I need the high standards. Because for me, allowing myself to take it easy will all to quickly slide to 'not doing anything'. But I can certainly axe the self-judgement.

 

 

I was so tired last night, I didn't log on. I think part of that was that I ended up doing both a strength session and a run yesterday. The run was planned, the strength was just a curiosity as to how I stack up with max push-ups, squats and sit ups . As you do... 

 

I got a post-run yoga session in as well, so I'm counting that as the daily yoga, even though it wasn't my usual one. I fully expected my legs and abs to be on fire today, but they are actually fine! So I shouldn't have an issue getting my CF session in today. I currently have three full days ticked off and duly coloured in my bullet journal tracker, and it's a good feeling! It's basically set out like a road, and the aim is to get each square (three per day, for the three goals) ticked off and coloured in. 

 

My reading goal was also satisfied. I read some more of my running book, and then last night started another book, because variety . I know some people that have been horrified by this habit (and some naysayers who think I'm not a true reader, even!) but I like to have two books on the go, usually very different genres, or fiction and non-fiction. 

 

Macros: I am doing my best to ignore the pre-set 'goal' that damned app has for my calories - and its orange/red judgements when I logged an entire Lindt bunny. I dutifully logged it all though. So that's all good. 

 

I also realised that I do not have a laundry pile. I have a laundry mountain. But I spent an hour or so making a dent in the folding, so I'm calling that a win. I think that needs to be today's task as well. 

 

 

Macros: Check 

Exercise: Check

Yoga: Check

Reading: Check

Housework: Check

Video/Phone call: This is a great goal to have to stare at, because otherwise I'd definitely put this off too much. I will try to call my Nan today. 

 

 

 

 

[Salinger]

Hey Rho wow wow wow thats a lot of working out. GO YOU!!!!

 

What are you reading? xx

[Novaurora]

5 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Macros: I am doing my best to ignore the pre-set 'goal' that damned app has for my calories - and its orange/red judgements when I logged an entire Lindt bunny. I dutifully logged it all though. So that's all good. 

You tell that app to fuck right off.  Enjoy your quarantine snacks if that's what you've decided to let yourself do, especially after all that working out.  Great job!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

18 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

I know some people that have been horrified by this habit (and some naysayers who think I'm not a true reader, even!) but I like to have two books on the go, usually very different genres, or fiction and non-fiction. 

 

What in the gatekeeping-bullshit is that about? Anyone who reads is a reader. And lots of people have more than one book going at once. Poop be upon the head of anyone who gives you a hard time about that.

[Elastigirl]

I love having a couple of books on the go.My husband is strictly a  one at a time  (not that he's horrified by mine habit, he just wonders how I keep track) 

[Rhovaniel]

22 hours ago, Salinger said:

Hey Rho wow wow wow thats a lot of working out. GO YOU!!!!

 

What are you reading? xx

Thanks Sal. I'm reading my way through a medieval detective series, in very small steps as and when I pick it back up/find the series in random bookshops lol, called the Crowner John Mysteries. This one is called the Awful Secret. 

 

17 hours ago, Novaurora said:

You tell that app to fuck right off.  Enjoy your quarantine snacks if that's what you've decided to let yourself do, especially after all that working out.  Great job!

I know, judgemental little jerk! 

 

4 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

What in the gatekeeping-bullshit is that about? Anyone who reads is a reader. And lots of people have more than one book going at once. Poop be upon the head of anyone who gives you a hard time about that.

Poop upon the head! I am going to have to remember that one! Yeah, I've never listened to them, but I do roll my eyes a lot. 

 

2 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I love having a couple of books on the go.My husband is strictly a  one at a time  (not that he's horrified by mine habit, he just wonders how I keep track) 

It's odd how I have no confusion lol. I can switch between books without a hitch. 

 

 

So, yesterday was both good... and bad. Good, because I got 2 out of 3 of my goals done. Bad, because I out of sorts, kind of down but not in the way that spells trouble. I went for a second run in as many days, which isn't all that wise. I managed to get my hour of reading, which helped. I just could not get myself going. The only things I did do, out of necessity, was to do a couple of follow up tasks for a couple of job applications. One was a phone call 'pre-interview' thing and one was a basic numeracy/literacy test. Whilst the one with the phone interview pays more, I'm actually more keen on the other. It's only a temporary position because of the pandemic, helping out in the hospital as a 'bedside buddy', supporting doctors and nurses with their tasks as well as providing comfort to patients, but I feel that I could be of use there, and I want to help. 

 

I fulfilled the social goal, and called my Nan. I had a pleasant chat with her, she's bearing up in the self-isolation well, though I am concerned she is still going out for short trips to the beach - she's older, and has a few health issues. I also called my Dad and checked in with him. He's worried. He can't work because fencing isn't exactly essential work, he obviously can't work from home (especially as he injured his leg just before the lockdown), and if it lasts much longer, his business will fail. 

 

Housework did not get done, but macros tracking did. Eating was poor again, but next week is where changes can be made. 

 

Today, I'm hoping will be better. I was just in a bit of a funk yesterday. 

 

Macros: Check 

Exercise: Check

Yoga: No, but counting this as a win because I did a good amount of stretches after my run. 

Reading: Check

Housework: No

Video/Phone call: Called my Dad and my Nan. 

 

[Novaurora]

I hope yesterday did turn out better!  Is there anyway your dad can apply for business relief?  I know in my state they are letting people like that apply for unemployment (at least partially).  I hope everything works out for him.  Good job on your goals!!