Tarly Tries to Take Over the World

[Stronkey Kong]

 

Cuz that's what you do when you're cooped up in a cage with some scientific gadgets, you develop plots to take over the world -- Brain. Of course, there's always that other part of you that worries that just wants to run on the hamster wheel, goof around, and blow off steam -- Pinky.

 

 

More context -- the world is in a vulnerable state due to the current Pandemic which provides an ideal opportunity to advance my plans for world dominiation...

 

I am taking courses on Coursera toward a Master's in Electical Engineering from UC-Boulder. So that means I'll be doing a lot of studying and working on projects at home while I'm cooped up. I'm focusing on embedded systems (computers that run machines with little, if any, human interaction) so I get to play with circuits and microcontrollers --inventor/mad scientist shit -- which is gonna be fun. Despite stay-at-home orders, I'm essential so I still work, which makes staying on top of coursework hard. I've also got to clean up my apartment and organize some workspace -- the lab.

 

And I'm overhauling my nutrition and exercise. I'm going to re-try the Eat Right for Your Type diet... granted the motivation for the diet is based on blood type which is not supported by any published science, but it's the one that made me go from 330 to 280 during the summer following my senior year of high school. It might work again. I also looked at the food groups/portions and calculated some macros and calories based on them... the nutrition is balanced and the macros and calories are reasonable, and sticking within the plan I should lose weight.

 

For exercise I have a hamster wheel stationary bike. I will just be putting in my time and trying to burn as many calories as possible. The upside is I can do this in front of a TV which lets me get the workout in while watching Netflix or playing video games and such.

 

Goal 1: Finish my first EE course on time.

 

I finished my first week. There are four more to go for the first class. I should be wrapping it up in week three.

 

Then I'll have to decide if/when/how on the next one. I'm only taking them through coursera right now which means I'll get one of their certificates, but I don't get academic credit from UC-Boulder until I pay their tuition and take their final exams. I'm enrolled in a four course (3 credit hour) specialization. I'm planning on finishing them on coursera, before I decide to enroll and pay up. But I need a 3.0 or better average across the whole specialization to be admitted to the program.

 

So... keep up and get an A. That is all.

 

Goal 2: Track and follow the Eat Right for Your Type diet

 

I've worked out the plan and will be tracking my nutrition by servings and portions according to the plan. I made a spreadsheet for tracking. That makes it easy. I worked out the portion sizes so they are easy to count by eye. 4 oz of chicken breast or fish is about the size of the palm of my hand. Fruits, nuts, veggies all a small handful etc. Just eat the food and check a box, and try to stay within the ranges given each week.

 

Goal 3: Hamster Wheel

 

Get on the exercise bike. I'm tracking the calories burned and the time I spend on it. Ideally, I'd like to burn a pound of fat a week... 3500 calories, but that would require 6-7 hours per week. It's possible, but managing 4 hours is hard enough. I'll try and track though and see what I can do.

 

Goal 4:Track measurments for good feedback.

 

Weigh in daily. Calculate 7-day rolling average. Diameters of body parts weekly. I'll use these to adjust my nutrition or exercise to get into that 1-2 lbs./week weight loss I keep aiming for.

 

 

Goal 5: Build my lab

 

 

I need a generally clean, generally organized workspace to study and build electronic shit. So I'm going to work on cleaning up my junk filled office and set up a work table. I've got 4 book shelves to hold (hopefully all) my books. I also ordered a white board and a cart with some drawers and little organizer bins for holding tiny little electronics components. We're doing this.

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I fink so Brain, but how are we going to get the tiger to shave that many baboons? 

[Stronkey Kong]

Apparently,  in the time it takes Windows to perform 23% of updates,  you can prepare a loaf of sourdough for proofing.

 

This is another variable in my progress. But maybe I can get an hour on the xbike before it finishes. 

 

Addit: how do you go from 60% to 57%? Windows can't even do arithmetic. How is it even a computer? If you're watching my tracking spreadsheet and wondering why the wine category has so many portions checked off...

[Lara]

Windows is full of surprises

 

Good luck with the studying part, sounds hard. How are you finding coursera? I did a couple of courses there a while ago (didn't ask for certificates though) and they were awesome, but I never met anyone else using the platform.

 

Following!

[annyshay]

Love the theme. Rock this challenge!

[Stronkey Kong]

10 hours ago, zenLara said:

Windows is full of surprises

 

Good luck with the studying part, sounds hard. How are you finding coursera? I did a couple of courses there a while ago (didn't ask for certificates though) and they were awesome, but I never met anyone else using the platform.

 

Following!

 

Coursera varies from course to course, and you get what you pay for. Last summer I nearly completed an IBM certificate in data science that was not very engaging. I covered a lot of material quickly and was a decent intro to the field, but assignments and quizzes were to easy and not engaging... they were written with little thought put into them and required no critical thinking.

 

These EE courses are much more engaging and challenging. More readings, the video lectures are more in-depth... and lots more projects. And I think this has much to do with the fact that it was developed by a University with the intention of creating an online degree... rather than 'selling' a company's platform for doing something. The IBM course was heavily steered toward's using Watson's AI platform... which isn't great.

 

So yeah it depends. If you're self-motivated you can get a lot out of it.

 

9 hours ago, annyshay said:

Love the theme. Rock this challenge!

 

16 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I fink so Brain, but how are we going to get the tiger to shave that many baboons? 

 

[Scaly Freak]

19 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

I've worked out the plan and will be tracking my nutrition by servings and portions according to the plan. I made a spreadsheet for tracking. That makes it easy. I worked out the portion sizes so they are easy to count by eye. 4 oz of chicken breast or fish is about the size of the palm of my hand. Fruits, nuts, veggies all a small handful etc. Just eat the food and check a box, and try to stay within the ranges given each week.

 

 

So does beer count as grains then? 🤔

[Stronkey Kong]

4 hours ago, Scalyfreak said:

 

So does beer count as grains then? 🤔

 

Nope. Sadly, beer is on the 'Avoid' list for my blood type along with hard alcohol*. Red wine, however, is considered "Highly Beneficial," while white wine is neutral.

 

 

*Though it stands to reason, based on why the authors of this diet claim hard alcohol is bad, that if diluted in cocktails or other beverages it should be fine.

[Scaly Freak]

16 minutes ago, Chris Tarly said:

Nope. Sadly, beer is on the 'Avoid' list for my blood type along with hard alcohol*. Red wine, however, is considered "Highly Beneficial," while white wine is neutral.

 

That's... oddly specific. However, I would never stoop to contradict any dietary rule that encourages consuming more red wine.

[Stronkey Kong]

36 minutes ago, Scalyfreak said:

 

That's... oddly specific. However, I would never stoop to contradict any dietary rule that encourages consuming more red wine.

 

Yup. This diet has a lot of oddly specific restrictions.

 

Salmon is beneficial, flounder is to be avoided.

Pinto bean are beneficial, lima beans are to be avoided.

Grapes good, mango bad.

 

And so on.

[Stronkey Kong]

 

Goal 1, EE course: I printed off a book chapter and got a ton of reading done at work tonight. I now have some vague ideas about how to interface a variety of different sensors with embedded system circuitry.

Goal 2, Diet Tracking: Just checking off boxes. But the wine is overflowing.

Goal 3, Hamster Wheel: 3 hours and change and 2100 calories burned thus far this week.*

Goal 4, Measurements: I forgot to take starting measurments other than weight. But weight is already trending downward steadily for the last three days.

 

* I forgot to mention, weeks start at 12 am Saturday, and end 11:59 pm Friday. I'm doing this so that my weekend, when i have the most ability to damage my diet, is a fresh start rather than a "Well, this week is fucked, let's order pizza and chinese food."

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

11 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

lima beans are to be avoided

That's just good advice for anyone.

[Lara]

19 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

And I think this has much to do with the fact that it was developed by a University with the intention of creating an online degree... rather than 'selling' a company's platform for doing something.

I think that might be the key. The course I liked the most was the free part of a 6 parts course offered by the Berklee college of music. Doing it entirely costs $$$$, but I thought it would be totally worth it (if I had such money to spend on it) because the free part was awesome and extraordinarily well built.

Nice that you're finding these ones are much more interesting than the previous.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Any diet that says Mango Bad isn’t getting my consideration. But I hope it works for you.

[Sciread77]

Following!

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Any diet that says Mango Bad isn’t getting my consideration. But I hope it works for you.

 

But... but... Wine Good!

[Stronkey Kong]

3 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

That's just good advice for anyone.

 

... but I have to avoid tomatoes and peppers.

 

2 hours ago, zenLara said:

I think that might be the key. The course I liked the most was the free part of a 6 parts course offered by the Berklee college of music. Doing it entirely costs $$$$, but I thought it would be totally worth it (if I had such money to spend on it) because the free part was awesome and extraordinarily well built.

Nice that you're finding these ones are much more interesting than the previous.

 

Yup. Forking over hard earned money to established institutions is the way to go.

 

2 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Any diet that says Mango Bad isn’t getting my consideration. But I hope it works for you.

 

Bear in mind, I have two cans of mango and a bunch of yogurt in the fridge... there's gonna be some lassi in the near future.

 

34 minutes ago, Sciread77 said:

Following!

 

Welcome!

 

17 minutes ago, Scalyfreak said:

 

But... but... Wine Good!

 

She gets it.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

2 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

 

... but I have to avoid tomatoes and peppers.

There's a reason I only quoted a few words...

[Stronkey Kong]

I ordered the book for this diet online and it arrived today. What I found to be convincing with a high school diploma with a basic science education is no longer convincing after obtaining an advanced degree in the field.

 

Also, the diet gives different recommendations based on racial ancestry... I think my diet is racist.

 

However, it does outline four different altogether, generally reasonably balanced diets: one that's nearly paleo, one that's basically Mediterranean, and the other two are different flavors of more balanced variety. Mine is the Mediterranean-ey one and I'll stick with it for now.

 

In other news, for Type A's:

Ostrich and Squab are acceptable,

but

moose, and squirrel are to be avoided...

 

 

Damn

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

12 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

Also, the diet gives different recommendations based on racial ancestry... I think my diet is racist.

 

I think that falls under the definition of the concept, actually. 

...

 

Er... yikes? 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Hi! Following along! (Hugs for world domination plots!) i knew we were friends for a reason! Muwahahahaha!

[Stronkey Kong]

I just paid off my second credit card of the year! Yuss!

 

That felt good. 

[Scaly Freak]

6 hours ago, Chris Tarly said:

I just paid off my second credit card of the year! Yuss!

 

That felt good. 

 

I believe that merits one of these:

 

 

 

[Stronkey Kong]

Goal 1, EE course: I've been reading from an electrical engineering the last two nights at work. Gettin' my circuit analysis and analog signal processing game on.

Goal 2, Diet Tracking: I'm out of wine.  

Goal 3, Hamster Wheel: I did another hour last night after work... I'm at 2700 calories burned for the week. I'm going to try to get the remaining 800 for 1 lb of fat burned off tonight.

Goal 4, Measurements: I'm down about 5 pounds since I started this. I'm feeling better. This might actually work.

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Man you are killing it! How are you feeling? 
 

i’d offer you my wine, but I drank it! 😂