Darkfoxx 69: Focus, Focus

[darkfoxx]

First off: 

 

*g8ggle gif*

 

Ahem. Now that we’ve got that out of the way .... 

 

It looks like #lockdownlightlife is not evaporating where I live any time soon. Things are mostly back to normal - with a few exceptions. 

 

• Masks, temperature checks and green status health apps are required everywhere but running outdoors
• Restaurants are still limited to parties of 5; with varying capacity
• Gyms are strictly limited to something like 3m of space around each goer
• Entrance to the country - even for residents - is highly limited and is a dodgy proposition at best, with strict quarantine protocols upon re-entry for those lucky enough to gain permission to enter. It’s a far from guaranteed thing. 
• I’m sure there are more things, but those are the ones that affect me directly 

 

I’m still fairing pretty well with things as they are. It looks like this challenge will encapsulate Thanksgiving - let’s see if I get to do my big to-do for that, or if I’m running packaged plates to friends individually. I’ve promised that hell or high water it’s happening this year. 

 

Goals - Of Consistency, no less

 

1. Nutrition. Continue on the trajectory from last challenge by:
   1. Not eating like an asshole (meaning not eating things I know are going to cause me pain or too damn much or all junk in a day)
   2. Keeping a loose eye on my macros on a weekly level and seeing how closely they resemble My Fitness Pal’s gentle weight loss guidelines by tracking my food daily with an eye toward accuracy but not Nazi-ism 
   3. Making sure to eat at least 2 servings of vegetables a day even if I don’t wanna
   4. Try to get enough water. What’s enough? An amount so I don’t wake up dehydrated feeling 
2. Movement. Continue on my 4 - 5x a week yoga schedule via Zoom or in-person if desirable/available; add in some sort of accessory work on Saturdays. Either a 5th yoga class or something in the gym in my building - even if that’s just treadmill & a podcast 
3. Social Habits. Continue on with my Zoom Tuesday Coffee with friends for as long as that lasts; continue supporting my Herd as daily as possible; continue trying to expand my social network through this new D&D group; try to interact with other humans in the world at least once a week
4. Stoke That Creative Flame. Keep my running crafts going. Currently, I’m still into clothes sewing and embroidery. Keep that up. Maybe add other things in as they catch my fancy - but, and this is a biggie: use up the supplies I have on hand before delving into a new thing that requires a bunch of specialty tools. Yeah. I know. This is the bane of all handicrafts peoples. And I used to have bins and bins of supplies from all the different things I’ve done over the years - but I don’t have that here, and to re-build that level of stash is ridiculous. I also don’t have storage space for that shit. So: use what you’ve got and then move on
5. Also tied to #4: Exercise Your Brain. I’ve got a year of Skillshare, and while that’s not learning on the level I feel comfortable with, bite sized info is fine. And it’s better than the plague of listicles that has taken the rest of the godsdamn Internet over. Pick a “class”, complete it, take with it what I can, move on. Not every instance of learning needs structure or metrics. Or papers. Certainly not dissertations. 
6. And I almost forgot: Get out of my comfort zone. We all know how much I love a photo challenge. I’ve been stagnant in my photography for months and months and wanted to grow my skills. I haaaaaaaate people in my pictures and my selfies are abominable. I’m also never satisfied with my face in them. Which seems like a psychological bear that needs poking. Hell, I bailed on my 365 days of yoga for Year 40 challenge - let’s fuck around with some insecurities. Shake some trees and see what falls. As such, work on improving my people photography game through selfies - and post the best one in a week. Phone or “real” camera, it doesn’t matter. Face in the shot or hidden - whatever. Just create something and get it somewhere decent. Doesn’t have to be magazine worthy. 

 

And that’s pretty much it, at least thus far. Not a deviation from previous Cycles, but more a continuation of that solid foundation I’ve built with a look toward at least gathering the supplies for a second level. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Here for a fellow stick-to-what's-working challenger.

[Scaly Freak]

15 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

It looks like this challenge will encapsulate Thanksgiving

 

Yikes.

 

Time has flown.

[Heidi]

16 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

Just create something

Here for all the wonderfulness.

[Rurik Harrgath]

Hello, Dru-wizard darkfoxx friend!

[darkfoxx]

1 hour ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

Hello, Dru-wizard darkfoxx friend!

Hallo! 

 

4 hours ago, Heidi said:

Here for all the wonderfulness.

Whoop! 

 

5 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Yikes.

 

Time has flown.

I know, right? 

 

15 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Here for a fellow stick-to-what's-working challenger.

I’m nothing if not striving for constancy 

[darkfoxx]

Week: 0, Monday

 

Quarantine Status:

Qatar Continues on with Phase 4 Part 2 of reintroduction-to-normal life. Things are more-or-less back to some semblance of normal, with restrictions. Masks, social distancing, temperature checks and green status on your health app are the norm; no big gatherings in restaurants are allowed; gym capacity is way down; re-entry into the country is far from guaranteed if you leave. Most things that *were* open *are* open, minus businesses that didn’t make the jump.

 

Nutrition

Goals here: smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat

 

Week 0 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 1 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 2 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 3 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 4 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 5 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??

 

Breakfast:  Half a leftover roti with a fried egg 

Lunch:  The last of my leftover rice mix + a berry smoothie 

Dinner:  Tacos! Found the first corn tortillas I’ve seen in this country, so of course we had to break out the Taco Bell seasoning for taco night. DH was a happy man.

Snacks:  None but my nightly whiskey & Diet Coke 

 

Did I eat like an asshole? Not especially. Lunch ended up being a touch heavy, but I was hungry for dinner - and we ate early 

Did anything try to kill me? Nope 

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? My smoothie had a bunch of beets, carrot juice and spinach; lunch had a bit of pumpkin 

Did I drink enough water? Mostly

 

Movement

Goals here: 4 - 5x a week yoga classes via Zoom or in person if that’s available and desirable + a little somethin’ somethin’ in the gym on Saturdays

 

This week’s projected schedule: Monday Warrior Flow (Zoom), Tuesday Handstand Practice (Zoom), Wednesday Monk Foundations (Zoom), Friday Warrior Monk (Zoom), Saturday Gym time, Sunday mall walks

 

Did I accomplish my fitness goal for the day? Yep! Slow flow was good - we worked on fancy tree variations - stand on one leg, tuck your other foot into the crook of your hip, fold over to hold that in place, raise your heel, go down into a one-legged tippy toe squat, balance, hands down, stand back up. I got down - which was a small victory - aaaand then kept rolling backwards when trying to find balance. It’s a work in progress, but a fun pose. 

 

Social Habits

Goal here: Support my Herd, keeping touch with friends online, building new online friendships, interact with other IRL humans at least once in a week

 

Did I support my Herd? Yep

Did I interact with “IRL” humans? A bit - I spoke with one of my fellow Zoom classmates a bit about the dogs (they “help” my yoga practice and everyone has seen Odin’s athleticism), and a bit about life 

 

Stoke That Creative Flame

Goal here: Main craft project, side project - keep my hands busy and creating

 

What was my project today? Working on my embroidered hankie a bit more. 

 

Exercise Your Brain

Goal here: Continue learning via Skillshare - at least weekly

 

What did I work on learning today? Nothing today but learning about the history of the witch hat and the persecution of supposed witches as a catch all for subduing any feminist sparks that were flying at the time 

 

Get Out Of My Comfort Zone

Goal here: Work on human photography through selfies & post my best of the week

 

Did I hit this goal today? Nope. Have taken a couple days off here and will get back to it by Week 1. I’ve got a new ring light on the way and have finally gotten my mirrorless to slave to the iPhone. 

 

 

 

[darkfoxx]

Week: 0, Tuesday

 

Quarantine Status:

Qatar Continues on with Phase 4 Part 2 of reintroduction-to-normal life. Things are more-or-less back to some semblance of normal, with restrictions. Masks, social distancing, temperature checks and green status on your health app are the norm; no big gatherings in restaurants are allowed; gym capacity is way down; re-entry into the country is far from guaranteed if you leave. Most things that *were* open *are* open, minus businesses that didn’t make the jump.

 

Nutrition

Goals here: smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat

 

Week 0 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 1 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 2 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 3 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 4 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ?? Week 5 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??

 

Breakfast:  The last half roti with a fried egg. Aaaaaaand I think I need to call it quits on the eggs for a bit. Suffice it to say, I feel bad for how sensitive the dogs’ noses are when trapped under a weighted blanket all night with my ass

Lunch:  Barley salad from Caribou 

Dinner:  Eggplant stuffed with meat and cooked in tomato sauce 

Snacks:  A big smoothie - beet, carrot juice, frozen spinach, apple, banana, ginger - could use a bit of a nutritional boost and sugar reduction, but it was tasty 

 

Did I eat like an asshole? See above egg issue I don’t really want to admit is an issue 

Did anything try to kill me? Not me ....

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? Yep! Big smoothie & dinner 

Did I drink enough water? Mostly 

 

Movement

Goals here: 4 - 5x a week yoga classes via Zoom or in person if that’s available and desirable + a little somethin’ somethin’ in the gym on Saturdays

 

This week’s projected schedule: Monday Warrior Flow (Zoom), Tuesday Handstand Practice (Zoom), Wednesday Monk Foundations (Zoom), Friday Warrior Monk (Zoom), Saturday Gym time, Sunday mall walks

Did I accomplish my fitness goal for the day? Yep! Handstand (or forearm stand for me) class went well - I still can’t kick up with two legs (currently can only reliably kick up with my right leg), and one of the drills is nigh on impossible to do on my forearms - so I’ve modified and am doing it as a headstand. Actually pulled my legs up using core and no bounce that way while supported by the wall the first try - and then psyched myself out for subsequent tries. 

 

Social Habits

Goal here: Support my Herd, keeping touch with friends online, building new online friendships, interact with other IRL humans at least once in a week

 

Did I support my Herd? Yep

Did I interact with “IRL” humans? Nope 

 

Stoke That Creative Flame

Goal here: Main craft project, side project - keep my hands busy and creating

 

What was my project today? Embroidery and pulled out the knitting project I’m not thrilled about but have going anyways 

 

Exercise Your Brain

Goal here: Continue learning via Skillshare - at least weekly

 

What did I work on learning today? History documentaries on genetic correlations between survivors of the Black Plague & people who are less likely to get AIDS + the robust art scene of the Goths, Visigoths, and Ostrogoths 

 

Get Out Of My Comfort Zone

Goal here: Work on human photography through selfies & post my best of the week

 

Did I hit this goal today? Noooope 

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

I feel bad for how sensitive the dogs’ noses are when trapped under a weighted blanket all night with my ass

You do realize these are animals who get excited about sniffing each other's butts? They would probably buy that smell as a scented candle if they could.

[darkfoxx]

Week: 0, Wednesday

 

Quarantine Status:

Qatar Continues on with Phase 4 Part 2 of reintroduction-to-normal life. Things are more-or-less back to some semblance of normal, with restrictions. Masks, social distancing, temperature checks and green status on your health app are the norm; no big gatherings in restaurants are allowed; gym capacity is way down; re-entry into the country is far from guaranteed if you leave. Most things that *were* open *are* open, minus businesses that didn’t make the jump. 

 

Nutrition

Goals here: smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat

 

Week 0 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 1 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 2 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 3 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 4 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 5 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??

 

 

Breakfast:   Corn tortilla & fried egg 

Lunch:  Leftover hasselback eggplant with nutritional yeast 

Dinner:  Orzo with pumpkin hummus 

Snacks:  Bigass smoothie and should have had something after dinner but didn’t have time - went to bed hungry 

 

Did I eat like an asshole? Nope 

Did anything try to kill me? Nope. Not ... me 

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? Yep! Smoothie had beet & spinach; dinner had spinach & pumpkin 

Did I drink enough water? Probably not 

 

Movement

Goals here: 4 - 5x a week yoga classes via Zoom or in person if that’s available and desirable + a little somethin’ somethin’ in the gym on Saturdays

 

This week’s projected schedule: Monday Warrior Flow (Zoom), Tuesday Handstand Practice (Zoom), Wednesday Monk Foundations (Zoom), Friday Warrior Monk (Zoom), Saturday Gym time, Sunday mall walks 

Did I accomplish my fitness goal for the day? Yep! Today was foundational yoga, though I don’t remember what the focus was ... my favorite instructor is back for a bit, so that was a good treat 

 

Social Habits

Goal here: Support my Herd, keeping touch with friends online, building new online friendships, interact with other IRL humans at least once in a week  

 

Did I support my Herd? Yep

Did I interact with “IRL” humans? Yep! We had our first meeting with the new dog trainer over Zoom, and it went well. She, of course, doesn’t agree with most of the methods prescribed by the other trainer and seemed much more willing to be flexible on her suggestions to find fixes that work for us as a family and our dogs as individuals. Short summary of our homework insofar as I can remember off the top of my head:

 

Ditch the food bowls and make the dogs work for food - snuffle mats, rolled towels - something to make them use their noses a bit 

Catalog barking and what sounds trigger barks - second step is desensitization 

Practice walking for 10 minutes a day - leash behind the back, drop little pieces of cheese when dog looks up so they’ll continue to look to you and not be hyper vigilant

Second treat - spread cheese on the back of a long spoon and lead the dog with that - circle and heel when dog moves in front

Slooooow desensitization with dogs in the wild. Sit and watch from afar with cheese, meat, and dog food treats 

Bring a doggie buffet of high-value treats while outside of the house

Quit bringing the dogs to Furr Camp for their weekly play day

Continue with the dog walker

Switch back to harnesses 

Continue on with go to bed for barking; add in wearing a leash and harness during high traffic times/high bark times of the day - step on leash, lead to bed. Wait at least :30, treat and up. 

 

Stoke That Creative Flame

Goal here: Main craft project, side project - keep my hands busy and creating

 

What was my project today? I don’t think I worked on anything today. 

 

Exercise Your Brain

Goal here: Continue learning via Skillshare - at least weekly

 

What did I work on learning today? Watched some YouTube videos on Lightroom and kind of building your own presets 

 

Get Out Of My Comfort Zone

Goal here: Work on human photography through selfies & post my best of the week

 

Did I hit this goal today? Yep! I actually got a not terrible face selfie

 

 

 

[darkfoxx]

Week: 0, Thursday

 

Quarantine Status:

Qatar Continues on with Phase 4 Part 2 of reintroduction-to-normal life. Things are more-or-less back to some semblance of normal, with restrictions. Masks, social distancing, temperature checks and green status on your health app are the norm; no big gatherings in restaurants are allowed; gym capacity is way down; re-entry into the country is far from guaranteed if you leave. Most things that *were* open *are* open, minus businesses that didn’t make the jump. 

 

Nutrition

Goals here: smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat

 

 

Week 0 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??

Week 1 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 2 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 3 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 4 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??
Week 5 Averages: _ calories (_%), _ protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) Start Weight: ??

 

 

Breakfast:  Oats, frozen blueberries, unsweetened peanut butter, date molasses, cinnamon/nutmeg/cardamom/ginger

Lunch:  Leftover eggplant bake

Dinner:  Leftover orzo with pumpkin hummus

Snacks:  Big smoothie: Granny Smith apple/frozen spinach/beet/ginger/lemon juice/carrot juice/chia seed/collagen protein powder

 

Did I eat like an asshole? A bit. My smoothie was 1/3 too big but I didn’t want to waste the fiber at the end 

Did anything try to kill me? Yep. I think the smoothie was too much fiber and maybe apples aren’t the best thing for my intestines at the moment. I felt bloated and uncomfortable for the rest of the day

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? Yep! About half a cup of eggplant with lunch and some spinach + pumpkin with dinner - maybe half a cup; half a cup or so of frozen spinach nuggets in my snack smoothie 

Did I drink enough water? Nope. Went to bed a bit thirsty - the thirst, of course, started riiiiight before bed when it was too late to down a lot of liquids. I’m feeling the effects today, too - it’s 9:19 and I’m already thirsty 

 

Movement

Goals here: 4 - 5x a week yoga classes via Zoom or in person if that’s available and desirable + a little somethin’ somethin’ in the gym on Saturdays

 

This week’s projected schedule: Monday Warrior Flow (Zoom), Tuesday Handstand Practice (Zoom), Wednesday Monk Foundations (Zoom), Friday Warrior Monk (Zoom), Saturday Gym time, Sunday mall walks 

Did I accomplish my fitness goal for the day? Yep. I took today as a rest day and I needed the mental break. Probably the physical break as well. I’m dedicating Thursdays as my mental health days - no things I have to do at a certain time, leftovers for dinner, some form of pampering. Today I re-dyed my hair. 

 

Social Habits

Goal here: Support my Herd, keeping touch with friends online, building new online friendships, interact with other IRL humans at least once in a week  

 

Did I support my Herd? Yep

Did I interact with “IRL” humans? Nope

 

Stoke That Creative Flame

Goal here: Main craft project, side project - keep my hands busy and creating

 

What was my project today? Hmmm ... I don’t think I picked my embroidery up today, either. Not sure what’s up with that. 

 

Exercise Your Brain

Goal here: Continue learning via Skillshare - at least weekly

 

What did I work on learning today? Watched (4?) lessons on portrait/selfie photography - learned like 2 nuggets of wisdom re: posing, and was reminded about the power of props. Was also reminded of the principles of posing to evoke subtle feeling - had forgotten about half of that, since people are not my jam

 

Get Out Of My Comfort Zone

Goal here: Work on human photography through selfies & post my best of the week

 

Did I hit this goal today? Meh. I worked on it, but am not super happy with the best shot I pulled from the bunch. Maybe with some editing I can fix some of the issues. I think with these shots, I’ll share the unedited + edited version with you guys - that might be super interesting to compare and contrast. 

 

Also worked today on dog homework; cataloging every bark - and trying to correlate it with a noise we can use in training in stage 2. The babes were pretty good today. 

 

We also took the pups on a training walk after pulling teeth to get DH to participate. I get that his life is rough, he works hard, and I’m home sitting on my ass and eating bonbons all day - but that does not absolve him of working to enact the changes we both want to see in the dogs while he is home. We were out there for 15 minutes, and it went fairly well. The new way of attention grabbing seemed to work pretty well with Odin - he ignored 2 out of 3 dogs - the pulling was still garbage, but it’s only Day 1. Forgot to bring training treats for Freya, buuuut - smart little bastard saw what DH was doing with Odin and decided to start mimicking what was getting him cheese. She’s too smart for our own good. 

 

Hiding food and snuffle towels are also working well at mealtime. I think they’re enjoying the activity, though it isn’t much of a challenge. Odin still kind of sucks at hunting. 

 

[Scaly Freak]

I am closely following your dog training adventures and taking notes. My Happy Sidekick is disturbingly smart and inhales her food, and I'm going to try and experiment with some of the methods you are using with your dogs, based on how they work out for you. Thanks for sharing!  

[Fonzico]

Friend! Good looking challenge, and I'm happy to be following along! 

 

I'm super interested about your dog training adventures... We have some leash pulling and territoriality issues with Annie, and I really need to put the time into working on them... I'm going to let you inspire me

[darkfoxx]

On 10/23/2020 at 7:30 PM, Scaly Freak said:

I am closely following your dog training adventures and taking notes. My Happy Sidekick is disturbingly smart and inhales her food, and I'm going to try and experiment with some of the methods you are using with your dogs, based on how they work out for you. Thanks for sharing!  

Fingers crossed, then! 

On 10/24/2020 at 4:32 PM, Fonzico said:

Friend! Good looking challenge, and I'm happy to be following along! 

 

I'm super interested about your dog training adventures... We have some leash pulling and territoriality issues with Annie, and I really need to put the time into working on them... I'm going to let you inspire me

Hoping this training goes well ... it’s ... so/so so far. 

 

Weekend Update:

 

Food was poop. Ended up eating an assortment of Indian breads dipped in butter chicken gravy for dinner Friday and the rest of the breads dipped in hummus for dinner Sunday. Oops. Nary a vegetable was had pretty much all weekend. 

 

Didn’t get my Saturday activity in, but I *did* find one of my favorite yoga teachers on a new (to me) online platform open to anyone anywhere - and he has a class at 2:30 my time on Saturdays. If my body is good to go, I’d much rather take that than go walk on the treadmill. Check him (and other yogis) out: https://olakaola.com/user/dav-jones

 

Dog training ... went. 

 

Everyone is loving the new feeding drill. We roll the dogs’ food up in a towel, making it as complicated as possible, and feed them in separate closed rooms. Everyone gets the time they need to figure the puzzle out, and Odin seems to be getting a touch better with his nose. It makes both of them super happy. 

 

Walks are still a hot mess. We’ve gone back to harnesses over the martingale collars the last trainer liked, and that’s much better for us at least. Found out Freya won’t follow cheese, but she will follow chicken. Odin prefers cheese, but still loves chicken as well. Walks for Odin have had diminishing returns daily; Freya and DH are now working on heel because she’s too damn smart and motivated when she wants to be. Yesterday, Odin was at redline pretty much immediately - we had to share the elevator with a smelly guy and his paint cart who was super dog nervous, and then a lady walked right past us. He lost all will to follow the cheese-smeared wooden spoon to heel and I had to carry him back home while the other two had a good time. Which is fine. It’s part of the process. Frustrating, though. 

 

Nothing much else happened during the weekend. D&D is next Friday; decided I’m dragging DH out for dinner somewhere outside next Saturday and figured out what I want to do for my birthday - desert glamping. 

 

[darkfoxx]

Forgot to post with my weekend update: 

 

Best selfie of the week. Original v edited. I actually got quite a few I didn’t hate from this day (Friday). Put some of the things from all the Skillshare videos on posing into practice - and finally made it to the patio, where I’ve been meaning to take selfies for awhile. 

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

Very nice! What do you edit with?

[darkfoxx]

15 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Very nice! What do you edit with?

Thanks! I use a combo of phone editors: the onboard iPhone edits if I want something quick & dirty, Lightroom & Snapseed for a little beefier or more finessed edits, MOLDIV for collages and text, and Camera+ if I can’t get what i want elsewise. 

 

For this particular image, I believe it was a combo of iPhone with a little tinkering in Lightroom. 

 

For travel photos taken with the “real” cameras, I’m a big fan of Photoshop, but am learning more about Lightroom so I don’t have to re-purchase a subscription and can just use DH’s stuff. He does all kinds of crazy panoramic image stacking. 

[darkfoxx]

Week: 1, Monday

 

Quarantine Status:

Qatar Continues on with Phase 4 Part 2 of reintroduction-to-normal life. Things are more-or-less back to some semblance of normal, with restrictions. Masks, social distancing, temperature checks and green status on your health app are the norm; no big gatherings in restaurants are allowed; gym capacity is way down; re-entry into the country is far from guaranteed if you leave. Most things that *were* open *are* open, minus businesses that didn’t make the jump. 

 

Nutrition

Goals here: smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat

 

Week 0 Averages: 956 calories, 57g protein (20%), 123g carbs (44%), 46g fat (36%) End Weight: 136.8
Week 1 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 2 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 3 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 4 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 5 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??

 

 

Breakfast:  Oats, date molasses, sugar free peanut butter

Lunch:  Leftover biryani

Dinner:  Instant-ish udon with fish cakes, fried tofu skin, seaweed sheets, scallions, pickled ginger and furikake - was also supposed to have spinach, but the floor cleaner we bought leaked all over our basket at the grocery and the spinach wasn’t swapped out - I rinsed the package, but was still freaked out because it still smelled a bit. Not sure if there was *actually* floor cleaner on our spinach, but was too grossed out to risk it. Nutrition light it was. N

Snacks:  

 

Did I eat like an asshole? Not especially 

Did anything try to kill me? Nope - and that was a bit of what has been behind this weekend’s lack of veggies 

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? Noooooope. 

Did I drink enough water? Also no. Woke up at 1:30 so dry my throat was clicking 

 

Movement

Goals here: 4 - 5x a week yoga classes via Zoom or in person if that’s available and desirable + a little somethin’ somethin’ in the gym on Saturdays

 

This week’s projected schedule: Monday Warrior Flow (Zoom), Tuesday Handstand Practice (Zoom), Wednesday Monk Foundations (Zoom), Friday Warrior Monk (Zoom), Saturday Gym time, Sunday mall walks 

Did I accomplish my fitness goal for the day? Yep! Warrior flow was good - a bit challenging and my wrist felt tender, but good. 

 

Social Habits

Goal here: Support my Herd, keeping touch with friends online, building new online friendships, interact with other IRL humans at least once in a week  

 

Did I support my Herd? Yep

Did I interact with “IRL” humans? Nope

 

Stoke That Creative Flame

Goal here: Main craft project, side project - keep my hands busy and creating

 

What was my project today? Looked at my embroidery but I know I won’t use the handkerchief I’m working on - too many threads in the back - and it’s wonky - so my desire to finish it is pretty low. I have a few other things to work on. 

 

Exercise Your Brain

Goal here: Continue learning via Skillshare - at least weekly - and then put that

Goals: Learn about selfies, food photography, increasing social media traffic, digital art, watercolor

 

Sub Goals: Fix Google-identified security weaknesses, Skillshare Thursday, review old business, professional and blog websites to see what I want to update, implement any changes learned from Skillshare, take another look at online English teaching.

 

What did I work on learning today? No classes today 

 

Did I work toward any mini goals? Worked on Google-kept passwords. Cleaned out 100+ so from Google’s scope of action from sites I either can’t remember what they are or don’t care about and don’t plan on using again - got like 2 passwords I care about and will continue to use updated. This all took me about an hour. I can tell this is going to be exactly as tedious as I thought it would be - and the reason I’ve put it off for a few years. I have something like 60 passwords to update. 

 

Get Out Of My Comfort Zone

Goal here: Work on human photography through selfies & post my best of the week

 

Did I hit this goal today? Yep, and actually didn’t hate most of the selfies I took for the day. My fresh new ‘do helps. DH did a great job cutting my hair this weekend. 

 

 

 

[Fonzico]

Nicely done on the pic editing - that looks great!

 

Now eat a damn vegetable!

[Scaly Freak]

8 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? Noooooope. 

 

To be fair, floor cleaner is a perfectly valid reason to avoid the vegetable you had planned to eat. Are there plans to have back-up vegetables available in case something like this happens again?

[Rurik Harrgath]

22 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

Did I hit this goal today? Yep, and actually didn’t hate most of the selfies I took for the day.

 

I might borrow this as a side quest at some point.  I'll even allow 'didn't hate' as positive self-talk in this case

[darkfoxx]

16 hours ago, Fonzico said:

Nicely done on the pic editing - that looks great!

 

Now eat a damn vegetable!

Thanks!

15 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

To be fair, floor cleaner is a perfectly valid reason to avoid the vegetable you had planned to eat. Are there plans to have back-up vegetables available in case something like this happens again?

Not especially - Mondays have been kind of a throwaway day, dinner-wise, since I shifted my big grocery shop to Tuesdays. Things will balance out eventually there. 

2 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

I might borrow this as a side quest at some point.  I'll even allow 'didn't hate' as positive self-talk in this case

It’s kinda painful some days - some days, not so much. Definitely highlights areas I’m not thrilled with - but also kinda makes them less of a deal with repeat and continued exposure in my brain. Let’s see if that goodwill holds. 

[darkfoxx]

Week: 1, Tuesday

 

Quarantine Status:

Qatar Continues on with Phase 4 Part 2 of reintroduction-to-normal life. Things are more-or-less back to some semblance of normal, with restrictions. Masks, social distancing, temperature checks and green status on your health app are the norm; no big gatherings in restaurants are allowed; gym capacity is way down; re-entry into the country is far from guaranteed if you leave. Most things that *were* open *are* open, minus businesses that didn’t make the jump. 

 

Nutrition

Goals here: smaller portions, less meat, more veggies, nutrient dense food options, no GI issues. Eat with an eye toward Base MFP goals for slow weight loss: 1,260 calories, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat

 

Week 0 Averages: 956 calories, 57g protein (20%), 123g carbs (44%), 46g fat (36%) End Weight: 136.8
Week 1 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _carbs (_%), _fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 2 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 3 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 4 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??
Week 5 Averages: _ calories, _g protein (_%), _g carbs (_%), _g fat (_%) End Weight: ??

 

 

Breakfast:   Half the big chapatti 

Lunch:  The last of the leftover biryani 

Dinner:  Leftover Udon because today was another planning failure - went grocery shopping late and didn’t have the time to make what I wanted for dinner; also didn’t want to jump into the next day’s dinner plan, because that took more brain power and creative manna than I had. Leftovers night came early this week. 

Snacks:  

 

Did I eat like an asshole? Eh 

Did anything try to kill me? Kinda, but I don’t remember what 

Did I eat a vegetable? How much? Ummm .... 

Did I drink enough water? Apparently not. Because I woke up in the middle of the night rough again. This could also mean that mold season is ending and the air is dryer. We’re still pulling 2 solid and sometimes 3 refills of the dehumidifier out of the air a day, but it seems like things are less wet in the air overall, so that’s a plus. 

 

Movement

Goals here: 4 - 5x a week yoga classes via Zoom or in person if that’s available and desirable + a little or a lot of accessory work on Saturdays

 

This week’s projected schedule: Monday Warrior Flow (Zoom), Tuesday Handstand Practice (Zoom), Wednesday Monk Foundations (Zoom), Thursday Rest Yo Body Day, Friday Warrior Monk (Zoom), Saturday Dav flow or a little directed movement elsewhere, Sunday mall walk

Did I accomplish my fitness goal for the day? Yep! Despite the dogs and DH being home, I completed my handstand class - with DH roaming around the house and watching. Good boy, not critically. He even managed to get a semi-decent snap of one of my better attempts at pulling away from the wall. 

 

Social Habits

Goal here: Support my Herd, keeping touch with friends online, building new online friendships, interact with other IRL humans at least once in a week  

 

Did I support my Herd? Yep

Did I interact with “IRL” humans? Yes! Had my coffee and catch up date - which lasted until we were both starving at 2. The dogs also got to meet not only the bug guy but the new cleaners, so life was chaos most of the morning. 

 

Stoke That Creative Flame

Goal here: Main craft project, side project - keep my hands busy and creating

 

What was my project today? Yet again, did not pick crafting up. 

 

Exercise Your Brain

Goal here: Continue learning via Skillshare - at least weekly - and then put that

Goals: Learn about selfies, food photography, increasing social media traffic, digital art, watercolor

 

Sub Goals to be worked on daily in the hour after lunch: Fix Google-identified security weaknesses, Skillshare Thursday, review old business, professional and blog websites to see what I want to update, implement any changes learned from Skillshare, take another look at ways to support future-me financially.

 

What did I work on learning today? Nothing. Talked about struggles with the last thing on the list with a girlfriend who is very similar in the mind frame boat. We are coming to the conclusion that forcing square pegs in round holes is maybe not the healthiest thing either of us could be doing with our hyper critical and anxious brains. 

 

Did I work toward any mini goals? Nooooope. 

 

Get Out Of My Comfort Zone

Goal here: Work on human photography through selfies & post my best of the week

 

Did I hit this goal today? Yep. Just barely squeaked a shot in when DH remembered I had mail at like 8:30. Played with my new greyscale eyeshadow palette and a dark vampy lip in the half-dark while catching up on Lovecraft County. 

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

6 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

 

What did I work on learning today? Nothing

Excuse me, but this:

6 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

We are coming to the conclusion that forcing square pegs in round holes is maybe not the healthiest thing either of us could be doing with our hyper critical and anxious brains. 

Sounds like some pretty big learning to me. 

[Scaly Freak]

8 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

Played with my new greyscale eyeshadow palette and a dark vampy lip in the half-dark while catching up on Lovecraft County. 

 

Immediately jealous of the greyscale eyeshadows!

 

I'm playing with red lipstick today - combined a deep burgundy type liner with a carmine red lipstick for a bit of contouring and texture and it came out very well.