Qeidren - Starting over in the Outback

[Qeidren]

The Story So Far:

"They told me not to take the Golden Highway this time of year. Between the drought and the winds, all the dust storms out here, the militia’s aerial patrols couldn’t keep up with the marauders on the roads, especially not the back roads. Well I was an idiot who thought I was invincible. Right up until I got overtaken by a cloud of rust that turned day into night, and surfing that wave of iron midnight, there they were. They left me bleeding out in a ditch beside the road: ruptured gallbladder the doctor said. So between the back injury and the stab wounds they left me with, It’s gonna take me months just to get back to square one, and I’m going to need to get back the plans they took. Beg borrow or steal. Preferably steal, especially from animals like that. . ."

 

Background:

Three months ago I started changing my diet and losing weight, with the goal that I would begin working out again when I hit 75 Kg (165 lbs). Three weeks ago I hit that target and suddenly plateaued off, so I guess I had a good sense of how far I could get with dietary changes alone. Two weeks ago, after much waiting, I was diagnosed with a 21mm (7/8”) gallstone. That is something that will need to come out, and I intend to have it removed before it necessitates the removal of my entire gallbladder. I’ve also noticed minor, niggling, aches and pains in my nearly-middle-aged spine playing up again, and it’s time to stop putting off doing something about that too. So, my first challenge here, to hit the ground running is to set things in motion about my core strength, saving my gallbladder, and close in on my target weight of 70Kg (154 lbs). This will put me bang in the middle of a normal BMI for my height.

 

GOALS:

Diet:

1. Modify existing recipes and formulate new recipes for lower-tyramine diet. Modify/formulate one new recipe per week. Cook at least one 6-8 serve meal per week.
   I suffer from migraines. Thankfully they are not that frequent, and sometimes they are inevitable, but the majority of my triggers are dietary in nature and the key trigger I have identified after years of theorising and correlating known triggers is ‘tyramine’. An amino acid found naturally in some foods and caused as a byproduct of fermentation in a lot of others. The list of things I have to be careful with/avoid is longer than the Great Book of Amber, and I still want to enjoy the occasional dangerous treat like half a bacon rasher or a couple of M&Ms. The less tyramine there is in my major meals every day, the less of a worry the occasional snack will be. My migraines frequently involve ambulance rides and multiple doses of medication that seem to have little to no effect before the migraine just fades away on its own. Managing my tyramine intake is my first and best defense, and it works. I have just gone 18 months between attacks. Removing/reducing the remaining sources of tyramine in my diet will only increase the duration between attacks.
    
2. Increase consumption of leafy greens to at least 200g per week.

   I eat more salad than most people I know, which still doesn’t say much, all things considered. But given the ease at which you can walk into a supermarket, buy a bag of salad, and see precisely how many serves are on the packet, this is an easy way to track how much I’m eating in the way of leafy greens, and I’d be an idiot not to take advantage of it, when it’s this easy.

Exercise:

1. Identify a yoga school, begin taking beginner classes once per week. Practice basic yoga poses with a focus on core and back strength 3 times per week for 15 minutes.
   I really want to do Iyengar yoga, there’s a school nearby that just started a beginner class. Hopefully I can start late, but if I can’t, I’ll find whatever I can, even if I have to try five different options. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

 

Level Up:

1. Layout, cut, sew and finish one item of clothing before the challenge ends.
   I bought a sewing machine and overlocker, and made sure they were good ones, so I could make myself the style of clothes I wanted, in the colours I wanted, in the natural fibres I wanted without either having to scour the internet or having to pay through the nose for them, so this is me making use of that. At some point in the coming 12 months I’m going to have enough hand-made clothes in my wardrobe to dress like Nathan Zachary every day of the week. That has always been the plan. EDIT: spend at least 30 minutes 3 times per week on this.

 

 

BONUS:

Bonus goals are entirely optional, often things that will be completed in the course of a day anyway, but the goal here is to increase consistency and/or build on an existing challenge. Bonus challenges are not always worth XP, but each challenge is always worth some form of bonus points. Each point is worth $2 towards some real world item that enhances my epic quest in some way.

1. Hit water target of 8 glasses per day per week.  +/- 5 BP/wk I manage this probably 40% of the time. I'd like to hit that target a bit more than that.
2. Increase consumption of leafy greens to at least 300g per week 2BP/wk
3. Practice basic yoga poses at least five times per week for at least 25 minutes 5BP/wk
4. Hit step count of at least 15,000 on work days and 7,500 on non-work days +/- 1 BP/day Easier than you'd think. My job can involve up to 20 Km's walking per day if things are really hectic.
5. Cut, fit, and finish new Dining table before the challenge ends. 5BP

[Elastigirl]

Welcome.I never heard of tyramine before. That is interesting. I'm impressed with how you must have kept theorizing and trouble shooting until you discovered that.

[Qeidren]

6 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Welcome.I never heard of tyramine before. That is interesting. I'm impressed with how you must have kept theorizing and trouble shooting until you discovered that.

Well, one of Tyramine's roles is the regulation of blood pressure, and it is broken down in the body by monoamine oxidase, which also has a role in regulating mood in the brain. Migraine is actually a common side effect for people taking MAOI's for depression or parkinson's. All the anecdotal data tracks with the hypothesis that my body doesn't produce enough MAO on its own.

[Elastigirl]

40 minutes ago, Qeidren said:

Well, one of Tyramine's roles is the regulation of blood pressure, and it is broken down in the body by monoamine oxidase, which also has a role in regulating mood in the brain. Migraine is actually a common side effect for people taking MAOI's for depression or parkinson's. All the anecdotal data tracks with the hypothesis that my body doesn't produce enough MAO on its own.

Interesting. LOur bodies are so cool!

[fitnessgurl]

On 10/22/2020 at 7:46 PM, Qeidren said:

Well, one of Tyramine's roles is the regulation of blood pressure, and it is broken down in the body by monoamine oxidase, which also has a role in regulating mood in the brain. Migraine is actually a common side effect for people taking MAOI's for depression or parkinson's. All the anecdotal data tracks with the hypothesis that my body doesn't produce enough MAO on its own.

Interesting stuff. Migraines are horrible. I'm glad that I don't get them often anymore.

[Qeidren]

Day 1:

 

Probably won't be posting updates to this thread every day, as some days there won't be much to report. But here goes:

 

Working on an eight-day rotation has its advantages. Weekly activities is not one of them. Working nights every other week has its advantages. Daily activities is not one of them. When you start your day at 4PM, it can make it hard to get your daily goals in for that first night shift. Given that I can't set the rollover time in samsung health  I'm just going to be doing what I've been doing for the past quarter century when pulling all nighters: refusing to call today, 'tomorrow' until I've slept. Because while I can easily manage 12Km's in less than 6 hours, getting in my 15,000 steps while I'm supposed to be getting ready for work and working and monitoring equipment and suchlike makes it harder. So I'm calling today's bonus goal on steps a win. Because between 1900 and 0700 I put in just shy of 21,000 steps.

 

Water was way easier.

 

Booked in for a yoga class this Saturday. Didn't get time to practice poses after work though, but I am going to get some in tomorrow when I wake up. Hopefully changing class days/times on a wewk to week basis will be as easy as it looks on their website, but I'll learn more this weekend.

 

On target for leafy greens this week. A single serve of mayo and couple teaspoons of hot sauce make it plenty enjoyable

 

I have made a stab at two tyramine-free recipes this week, but both of those were started before the challenge began. Luckily for me, they still need some work in the flavours department. Things to work on at the end of this week when I'm off work.

 

Haven't had a chance to get any sartorial stuff done in the past few days, been looking after my cat who gets separation anxiety, and curious cats and the tissue paper they print clothing patterns on don't mix, so that has been on hold. But I do finally have everything I need to trace out my patterns once I'm off. Just need to keep my fuzzy overlord happy while I work.

 

In other awesome news: I managed to snag a small crate from work that is made out of 18mm A-grade plywood. I was planning to build myself a filing cabinet in the near future and this not only saves me 80% of the cost in materials, it's actually better than what I had specced out.

[Guinness2000]

I think it's really awesome that you're making your own clothes. I am very new to this forum and am starting my own challenge in the morning, but I really like how you set up your goals; and I have my own dream of having my own homemade wardrobe. The cat issue is one I am well aware of – my cat is very much an attention hog. I've been a bit of a seamstress for about 8 years now and understand it is a very big mission to undertake.

[Qeidren]

She is absolutely adorable, but it's quite clear she needs a buddy. A lot has changed in the past six months, she's not getting the same interaction she used to. Plus, last month, the neighbour's tom who used to come by and flirt with her through the door, he decided rather suddenly that he didn't like her anymore.

 

All I wanted was a plain cotton shirt in something other than white or a pale blue/red. Finding that was hard enough, and also expensive. Things kinda snowballed from there.

 

I struggled with some of my goals until I realised that setting goals based around doing less of or not doing something wasn't going to work for me. So I decided to set more active goals in a way that the passive stuff would handle itself.

[Guinness2000]

10 hours ago, Qeidren said:

She is absolutely adorable, but it's quite clear she needs a buddy. A lot has changed in the past six months, she's not getting the same interaction she used to. Plus, last month, the neighbour's tom who used to come by and flirt with her through the door, he decided rather suddenly that he didn't like her anymore.

 

All I wanted was a plain cotton shirt in something other than white or a pale blue/red. Finding that was hard enough, and also expensive. Things kinda snowballed from there.

 

I struggled with some of my goals until I realised that setting goals based around doing less of or not doing something wasn't going to work for me. So I decided to set more active goals in a way that the passive stuff would handle itself.

My cat (profile pic) is also quite the cutie, and she needs to be in the same room with me or else she is very unhappy. Cat's can drastically react to lifestyle changes especially when it comes to company. Does she have any entertainment she likes? For example my sister bought Disney+ just for her cat so that when my sister is in the lab or at school she puts on the National Geographic's "Cats of the Wild". It seems to provide the interest and companionship without you having to provide the entertainment. 

 

Sewing is definitely a passion project like any other. I like the natural fabrics goal as well. Buying ethically and organically sourced clothes which aren't contributing to climate change or habitat destruction for a reasonable price has been a personal challenge I've struggled with for years. 

Your goal philosophy is moving. I am actually developing an app which tracks active and passive goals for motivational reinforcement because of that tendency to set limitations and fail because of the negative mindest associated with it. 

[Laghail]

Woah, I'm impressed by the metrics and thought in this challenge.

What's Iyenga yoga?

[Qeidren]

1 hour ago, Laghail said:

Woah, I'm impressed by the metrics and thought in this challenge.

What's Iyenga yoga?

Iyengar Yoga takes its name from the school's founder BKS Iyengar. Iyengar yoga has a particular focus on physical health, and mobility as that was how the school's founder used Yoga to improve a lifetime of chronic health conditions.

 

And speaking of yoga...

 

Day 2:

 

Holy heck! There were a couple of poses where I could actually feel the curve of my spine bending sideways when I was trying to look straight ahead. Bad posture adds up. Mind you, part of this is hereditary and staying on top of it, getting it back to more normal is going to be a long process.

 

In other news, I haven't exactly cut any of my usual snacks out of my diet, but the increase in my water intake and the leafy greens is already showing subtle signs. Over the years I've had to learn to keep close tabs on my mood, as one of the warning signs of an impending migraine is sudden irritability out of nowhere, and I've noticed that too much of some things (like sweets) has a noticeable downward impact on my mood, and other things (like coca cola) can make me practically bipolar. More water and salads though, and my mental resiliance is actually up. Had a super hectic shift at work, but rather than knocked flat I feel fine. Plus I not only handled it, I cleared up all the fallout, too. It's a good sign that there's more to healthy eating than snobbery and masochism.

[Laghail]

Whoa that sounds wonderful!

[juliebarkley]

1 hour ago, Qeidren said:

Had a super hectic shift at work, but rather than knocked flat I feel fine. Plus I not only handled it, I cleared up all the fallout, too. It's a good sign that there's more to healthy eating than snobbery and masochism.

Huzzah!

[Qeidren]

13 hours ago, Guinness2000 said:

My cat (profile pic) is also quite the cutie, and she needs to be in the same room with me or else she is very unhappy. Cat's can drastically react to lifestyle changes especially when it comes to company. Does she have any entertainment she likes? For example my sister bought Disney+ just for her cat so that when my sister is in the lab or at school she puts on the National Geographic's "Cats of the Wild". It seems to provide the interest and companionship without you having to provide the entertainment. 

 

Sewing is definitely a passion project like any other. I like the natural fabrics goal as well. Buying ethically and organically sourced clothes which aren't contributing to climate change or habitat destruction for a reasonable price has been a personal challenge I've struggled with for years. 

Your goal philosophy is moving. I am actually developing an app which tracks active and passive goals for motivational reinforcement because of that tendency to set limitations and fail because of the negative mindest associated with it. 

Liliana is rarely interested in TV, but she does like to watch the local magpies when they come around. Some new window seats are on the cards for her this week. Not hard to do. She's also got a vet appointment, just to rule out any health issues, really want to make sure I'm doing everything I can for her.

 

What little I do know about how fabrics and dyes are made is unnerving enough from an environmental standpoint, but the industry is changing too. I have tried dying my own fabrics, but getting the colour to stay is always the challenge.

 

For my goals I wanted them to not only be active, but also easy. Not too easy, mind, but easy enough that sticking to them wasn't a chore. The point of the challenge is for change, not necessarily for challenge, that's what the bonus challenges are for. If I can do the basic stuff then the bonuses are for style points.

 

The active versus passive stuff is, like the difficulty curve, grounded in psychology. The point is to fake myself into realising that long lasting changes are easy. With the active stuff, that has to do with how the mind works. If the goal is to "drink less soda", there's not actually anything to do, there's nothing to focus on and I'm creating a gap in my routine. With nothing to fill it, anything could happen, moreover as a goal, it sets an expectation that is only suited to a handful of situations. Instead, I set a goal of "8 glasses of water per day." Doing that sets a new habit, the bar to clear involves me doing things instead of not doing them, and instead of doing less of a bad thing I'm leaving less room for it.

 

I'd be interested to see how your app works and how it tackles the reinforcement and motivational aspects, those are always interesting problems.

 

[Guinness2000]

6 hours ago, Qeidren said:

Liliana is rarely interested in TV, but she does like to watch the local magpies when they come around. Some new window seats are on the cards for her this week. Not hard to do. She's also got a vet appointment, just to rule out any health issues, really want to make sure I'm doing everything I can for her.

 

What little I do know about how fabrics and dyes are made is unnerving enough from an environmental standpoint, but the industry is changing too. I have tried dying my own fabrics, but getting the colour to stay is always the challenge.

 

For my goals I wanted them to not only be active, but also easy. Not too easy, mind, but easy enough that sticking to them wasn't a chore. The point of the challenge is for change, not necessarily for challenge, that's what the bonus challenges are for. If I can do the basic stuff then the bonuses are for style points.

 

The active versus passive stuff is, like the difficulty curve, grounded in psychology. The point is to fake myself into realising that long lasting changes are easy. With the active stuff, that has to do with how the mind works. If the goal is to "drink less soda", there's not actually anything to do, there's nothing to focus on and I'm creating a gap in my routine. With nothing to fill it, anything could happen, moreover as a goal, it sets an expectation that is only suited to a handful of situations. Instead, I set a goal of "8 glasses of water per day." Doing that sets a new habit, the bar to clear involves me doing things instead of not doing them, and instead of doing less of a bad thing I'm leaving less room for it.

 

I'd be interested to see how your app works and how it tackles the reinforcement and motivational aspects, those are always interesting problems.

 

You seem to really take care of your kitty. Liliana is a wonderful name as well.

 

I was rereading your initial post and it seams you do a bit of carpentry too.  I am also in the process of planning and building my cat a little bench with steps since she's starting to get a little old for making the jump. 

 

The industry is unnerving on it's own, I absolutely agree. Again I really like your philosophy overrall.  I have a tendency to strong-arm things or muscle through which in rock climbing gets me to the summit, but means I can't climb as much – it isn't productive for long-term change. I definitely thing the power of directionality (positive or negative actions) for reframing your goals. 

 

I am still in the early development stages. App building is new to me and I am working on about 4 right now. The idea originated on my sister's new medication regime. She didn't actually track how she was feeling throughout the new medication and couldn't say for sure if she actually felt different or better. So what she would do is track the active positive (take new medications) and the passive positive or negative of her choice three times a day. The set-up would be pretty much automated and responding would be like texting. I am considering actually doing it through the native messaging app. It is similar to my own spreadsheet I made for tracking my own objectives and goals. I write down the thing I said I planned to do, and then track how I feel emotionally, physically, and energetically. Over time I hope to see those be more consistent throughout the day. Then I have a reinforcing visual for me to continue along that path. Or in the case of medication I have something to show my doctor regarding how the medication actually makes me feel.

[Guinness2000]

6 hours ago, Qeidren said:

getting the colour to stay is always the challenge

Also, I find that using a natural colorant (such as tumeric) mixed with any kind of starch (I usually use potato) [ too much will stiffen your fabric, so by little I mean little) and then heat setting can help the colors last a whole lot longer.

[fitnessgurl]

16 hours ago, Qeidren said:

one of the warning signs of an impending migraine is sudden irritability out of nowhere, and I've noticed that too much of some things (like sweets) has a noticeable downward impact on my mood, and other things (like coca cola) can make me practically bipolar

🤯🤔 Sweets I suspected...but the irritability thing...I had no clue. I rarely have soda, but I did for two days in a row (non-caffeinated) & got a "my eyes can't focus" & an "omg did I get hit with Thor's hammer?" headache

[Qeidren]

50 minutes ago, fitnessgurl said:

🤯🤔 Sweets I suspected...but the irritability thing...I had no clue. I rarely have soda, but I did for two days in a row (non-caffeinated) & got a "my eyes can't focus" & an "omg did I get hit with Thor's hammer?" headache

Yeah. Sugar crash migraines are a thing, but you kinda have to eat like it's halloween to get one. The biggest surprise for me was coconut. Not that I ever ate that much of it to begin with, but the few things I did have was basically playing with fire when it comes to migraines. I have yet to hear any evidence that chillies are bad for me in this regard, so food continues to have meaning.

[Qeidren]

Day 3:

 

I may have overdone it a little on the stretching with my yoga, so I'm going to take it a little easier on that front today. Work was a mess, but that's manufacturing for you. It is the ultimate cure for perfectionism and prefectionism.

 

I've managed to hit my target and the bonus for leafy greens. Hot sauce actually manages to make rocket palatable. Gonna smash that and look at making a couple more small changes. I came home after work and noticed that nearly all my food options were carb-based. Not that I can't handle a bowl of cereal after 15 Ks and 12 hours on my feet, and since I stopped having Sultana Bran (both the sultanas and the cereal contain tyramine) plain 'ol corn flakes or rice bubbles is just fine from an energy standpoint, but it's the nutrition content that can be lacking.

 

I've been noticing for a while now that I struggle to get enough of certain micros: iron, potassium, and calcium, usually in that order. Part of that, I think, is that the values in Samsung Health aren't accurate, but that's not a good enough excuse and it's not the whole of the reason. It's not that I get none either, but if I can eat more to fill that need rather than just fill the hole that would be a huge step forward.

 

Steps and water are coming along just fine, the hard part for both is going to be when I'm off work this week. But that is exactly why they're challenges.

[Qeidren]

Day 4: finished up my work week.

 

Leafy greens: Somewhere between 350 and 400g worth. But the woolworth's 4 leaf salad is way better than the coles one IMO.

 

Recipes: got a couple of good starting points with a smokeless chilli and a sweet and sour noodle stir fry, they both need some work in the flavour department vis-a-vis spices. I just need to check some stuff about the tyramine content of a few things in my spice rack.

 

Yoga: 3/5 days so far I have managed stretches for close to half an hour. A lot of that is me double checking the instructions, but that's what the practice is for.

 

Level up:

Over the next four days I need to trace and cut a pattern for a shirt vest, then lay out and cut the fabric. The fabric has been washed and ready to go for weeks. A solid afternoon somewhere in between vet appointments, spring cleaning and yoga classes should suffice.

 

Bonus:

 

Steps: so far I'm 4/35, the challenge will be this weekend with the wet weather. A lap around the block once a day should get me there

 

Water: Ditto here. 4/35, but the challenge is always when I'm not working. I don't drink more juice/soda when I'm off the clock, I just drink less in general. So reminding myself to have my 8 glasses is the trick.

 

Dining table: this is the one that will take the most work to get started, really. I need to set and calibrate the spline jig in the router, then cut out the dovetails for the leg joints, carve the splines and glue up the top. As soon as it's together it needs to be cut round, chamfered, sanded, and sealed ASAP. So I may spend most of my time in the workshop making sure that when I do get to it, that I can knock it all over in a couple of afternoons. Once the top is together, the legs and apron can be finished in stages much more easily. But this is what I get for gluing cross grain in the middle of the rainy season.

[Qeidren]

Day 5:

 

Today was a short day. Finish night shift and sleep, then an afternoon of running around. Making time for my challenges was the important thing today.

 

Diet: no cooking today, grocery shopping tomorrow, gonna work on improving those two recipes. I haven't had a side salad today, but I'm well in hand for that.

 

Yoga: 4/5 days. Given that Sunday is the start of a new week and I've got a yoga class on Saturday, so if I want to hit that bonus goal then I need to do my Yoga today and tomorrow.

 

Water: 5/35

Steps: 5/35 a quick wander around the block netted me over 8,000 steps

 

Level up: not enough time today, but I'm going to be making time tomorrow afternoon.

 

Just as I suspected, the acacia panels for my table top have warped a little in all the damp.

[spezzy]

Great goals, and can't wait to see what you make

[Qeidren]

Day 6:

 

"The best made plans of mice and men. . ." are both waylaid by cats.

 

Liliana woke me up at 4:30 in the morning, after I had, had too little sleep. Then I slept through my alarm and woke up after midday. Spent the whole day playing catch up.

 

Still made it on the dailies.

 

Leafy Greens: managed another serve with dinner tonight, that takes me to around 450g for the week.

Recipes: Working on a more flavourful smokeless chilli recipe, I'm going to combine it with the greens because that was pretty damn good. Going to marinate some beef strips in spices before I turn in for the night and cook it up tomorrow night.

Yoga: 5/5 days this week doing basic poses for a minimum of 25 minutes

Water: 6/7 days this week managing 8 glasses per day

Steps: 6/7 days this week managing to hit my targets. Even took a walk in the rain this afternoon

Level up: Making time for creative stuff today was the area where I fell short. Not happy with that, but I had to cut corners somewhere, and that was it. Still. Tomorrow is a new day.

[Qeidren]

Quick update: just finished my first yoga class. Nearly fell over a couple of times, got a small head rush once, serves me right for having such a dinky breakfast. But I made it through just fine, I am actually one of the more flexible people in the class, at least when it comes to arms and legs. I am at my least limber in my core and back, precisely what I'm doing this to work on. Definitely leaning a little to the left, gonna add some basic stretches to my daily yoga practice, sides and back.

 

Also: stopped in at Raj's corner for lunch: butter chicken, garlic naan, and pappadums. I ate the whole thing!

 

[Elastigirl]

Yay for being bendy!