Ravis dons the hood again

[Ravis]

Hey y'all!

 

It's been....a while!  Moved to Austin about a year and a half ago and got nice and settled (with a pup!) right before COVID hit. I appreciate the fact that I have more space here than in DC in order for me to be safe.  Built out a garage gym that I'm feeling good about, so I'm able to get some good lift sessions and whatnot in there.   The last couple months though, I think quarantine/isolation fatigue settled in hard and I've really struggled to find the motivation to walk the three minutes to my garage and stay on track with my meal plan.  Thanks to some encouragement from @spezzy, I'm back and happy to refocus and work with everyone to kick some collective ass <3. 

 

Goals:

• Physical: 
  • Work out in some form 6 days a week, with minimum 3 days being weight/resistance training.  With this, I'd love to lean into my newfound love of cycling and do rides 1-2 times a week. The 6th workout will be in the form of either a lift, ride, or something new (yoga/mobility, a virtual "boot camp", etc.)
    • x/18 workouts to hit goal
• Lifestyle:
  • Try to put myself back in the habit of having clear/set work hours.  I've been 100% remote since mid march and it's been way too easy to be like "Oh, I can respond to this email really quick" no matter what time it comes in.  With the holidays coming up, I think this'll be a bit easier, but good practice for however long this full-time WFH thing lasts.
    • x/11 work days in the challenge
  • Hard stop at 10pm from video games if I have to work the next day.  This has become more and more of a thing I've done the longer I stay at home and it's creeping into me sleeping later/getting a later start for work/my ability to do a cycle class before work.
    • x/11 work days in the challenge
• Meal Plan:
  • Stay within macros 90% of the time, but eat intuitively. This'll be harder to track, so any ideas are welcome!
• DMing:
  • I started DMing a group of 5 players in D&D (5e) back in April. One of the hardest things for me to do is sit down and prep. While we'll only have a couple of sessions during this time frame, I want to outline the general plot and milestones of this campaign.  I have an idea, but really have just left it to see where the players go and what they do.  I know I can't plan for everything (learned that lesson already) I can at least plot out certain things I want to take them to and what McGuffin's they need to find. I have a lot of ideas and the purpose of this one is to finally get pen to paper.

 

Now if I accomplish all of these goals, I think my loot will be a punching bag for my gym.  I grew up doing martial arts and I've missed just having something to wail on for a bit!

 

Last but not least, it's just good to be back!  NF was a big part of my life in 2015-2016 and I've made some amazing friendships from it. Looking forward to reengaging with the community ❤️

 

Now let's get to work!

 

[spezzy]

[Rurik Harrgath]

Hail and 🔻, traveller!

 

 

5 hours ago, Ravis said:

• Hard stop at 10pm from video games if I have to work the next day. 

 

And that right there is my biggest fear about working remotely someday 🤣

[juliebarkley]

Welcome back!

[Ravis]

Okay! Official Day 1! Let's do this!

 

I haven't been in the habit of weighing myself the last few months, just been basing a lot off of how I look and feel.   While scale weight isn't a useful metric for me this year, it's always interesting to see just what the body does. I don't remember the last time I was sub 195, maybe like a year ago when I was hyper focused on my meal plan and workouts. While I appreciated the way my body performed and looked, that focus came at the expense of any kind of social life - like less than what I have now during a pandemic, and that says a lot. The graph below is from January til now. I was on a bulk plan Oct-Feb, then things slowed down for COVID, but no real gym access from March - late July.  Just happy that I am in a place (physically and financially) where I can build out a well-equipped garage gym.

 

I'm still debating today's movement/workout.  I am dealing with a sick pup and I really don't want to leave him alone for an hour while I go lift, so I'm leaning towards doing a Peloton class (via the app and my exercise bike, which was a WAY cheaper option, lol). If it warms up, maybe I'll take him out to the garage (detached from my apartment) so he can be outside some. Regardless, going to get that workout in :).  Already planned my meals for the day and am looking forward to some chickpea pasta or spaghetti squash depending on if I lift or bike and some stir fry tonight.

 

I did have an email come in last night for work and it's taken all my willpower to not open it this morning and respond (it's non-critical). The weekends are my time. The weekends are my time. The weekends are my time. If I repeat that, I'll believe it, right? lol.

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Howdy to another Texas Rebel!

 

I'm down the road in Austin's Less Cool Bigger Brother (the one with the superior breakfast Tacos )

On 12/3/2020 at 3:51 PM, Ravis said:

I'd love to lean into my newfound love of cycling

You certainly are in the right town for that!

 

I'll be here for support and to follow.

[Ravis]

Was able break away and get a lift in yesterday! With the way my week is lined up with a conference (virtual) for work, I knew getting that time away was going to be important to succeeding with my goals this week.

 

Goals:

• Workouts: 1/18 workouts to hit goal, will be hitting a cycle class today.
• Lifestyle:
  • Having clear work hours - because of the conference this week, my hours will be extended, but still will be making a point to not work after I close up shop for the day.
    • 1/20 days
  • Hard stop at 10pm from video games if I have to work the next day.  
    • 1/11 
• Meal Plan:
  • Stay within macros 90% of the time, but eat intuitively. This'll be harder to track, so any ideas are welcome!
    • to date: 100% compliance

Tracking seems a bit....clunky. Any suggestions on how to clean it up a little?

[Rurik Harrgath]

On 12/6/2020 at 8:44 AM, Ravis said:

I did have an email come in last night for work and it's taken all my willpower to not open it this morning and respond (it's non-critical). The weekends are my time. The weekends are my time. The weekends are my time. If I repeat that, I'll believe it, right? lol.

 

At least your mantra worked 🤣.  How's Brax feeling now?

 

2 hours ago, Ravis said:

Tracking seems a bit....clunky. Any suggestions on how to clean it up a little?

 

 

... isn't clunky enough.  You need checkboxes!  More checkboxes!  Always checkboxes.  18 per line!  🤣

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

50 minutes ago, Ravis said:

Meal Plan:

• Stay within macros 90% of the time, but eat intuitively. This'll be harder to track, so any ideas are welcome!
  • to date: 100% compliance

 

The thing about eating intuitively is you don't  have to track stuff. It's basically a yes/no question based on your perception.

[Ravis]

2 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

The thing about eating intuitively is you don't  have to track stuff. It's basically a yes/no question based on your perception.

 

The "downside" of tracking for the better part of 15 years, I always have a habit of keeping mental track of where my macros are, haha.

[Ravis]

14 minutes ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

At least your mantra worked 🤣.  How's Brax feeling now?

 

 

He's passssed out.  Which is good he's resting because he was up all night.  Also means that I was up all night and am screaming internally while I just want to nap and am on this conference all day.

[Ravis]

Got my cycle class in solely because of this challenge!  Was wiped after my conference and work, but got it in!  Also, I love pretty data.  45 minute tabata class!

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

49 minutes ago, Ravis said:

Got my cycle class in solely because of this challenge! 

Good thing you came back to the forums then.

[Ravis]

As of the end of day 3 and I can already say I've gotten 2 workouts in because of the challenge that I'd have rationalized my way out of, hah.  The balancing the conference and my regular job is a bit difficult, but only a few more days.

 

Goals:

• Workouts: 3/18 workouts to hit goal, will be hitting a cycle class today.
• Lifestyle:
  • Having clear work hours - because of the conference this week, my hours will be extended, but still will be making a point to not work after I close up shop for the day.
    • 2/20 days
  • Hard stop at 10pm from video games if I have to work the next day.  
    • 3/11 
• Meal Plan:
  • Stay within macros 90% of the time. This'll be harder to track, so any ideas are welcome!
    • to date: 100% compliance. Felt the want to just eat yesterday (cold outside + boredom + available food in my fridge is a terrible combination), but stayed within my programmed macros.

 

Looking forward to DMing tonight.  It'll be a shorter session than normal (2 hours as opposed to 3), but I've found if we cancel/postpone, the motivation to prep immediately goes out the window.  Also am seeing two friends who are in my bubble on Friday and am very excited - it's been like three weeks since I've been any kind of social. Also also have some meetings about the house I'm building coming up and designing is going to be so much fun!  Just can't go overboard with all the fun options because $$$, haha. 

[Sylvaa]

 

On 12/3/2020 at 4:51 PM, Ravis said:

Try to put myself back in the habit of having clear/set work hours.  I've been 100% remote since mid march and it's been way too easy to be like "Oh, I can respond to this email really quick" no matter what time it comes in.  With the holidays coming up, I think this'll be a bit easier, but good practice for however long this full-time WFH thing lasts.

 

100% this is so hard. I work with a few people I know are on EST that respond to e-mails at like 9 or 10 at night and I'm just like, what are you even doing?  Do you have a dedicated work space to be able to "close up shop" after work hours are over? 

 

Also, garage gym pictures are always appreciated!

[Ravis]

6 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

Also, garage gym pictures are always appreciated!

This has been my project since I was able to add a garage to my lease in July! The full rack came in last week, so I'll be selling the pullup/dip station but it's served me well.

 

Also featuring my pupper, Brax (named after my main D&D character)

 

[Ravis]

• Workouts: 4/18 workouts to hit goal
• Lifestyle:
  • Having clear work hours - because of the conference this week, my hours will be extended, but still will be making a point to not work after I close up shop for the day.
    • 3/20 days
  • Hard stop at 10pm from video games if I have to work the next day.  
    • 4/11 
• Meal Plan:
  • Stay within macros 90% of the time. This'll be harder to track, so any ideas are welcome!
    • to date: 100% compliance

 

Almost done with this conference and I am wiped. BUT, I got the electrical planning on the house I'm building done yesterday and I have my design group appointment on Monday (and I'm off work on Monday)! So excited!

[Ravis]

 

Lift and a decent hike with the pup in the books today! Numbers today include today's.

 

• Workouts: 6/18 workouts to hit goal. Week #1 goal: complete
• Lifestyle:
  • Having clear work hours - because of the conference this week, my hours will be extended, but still will be making a point to not work after I close up shop for the day.
    • 5/20 days Week #1 goal: complete
  • Hard stop at 10pm from video games if I have to work the next day.  
    • 5/11 Week #1 goal: complete
• Meal Plan:
  • Stay within macros 90% of the time. This'll be harder to track, so any ideas are welcome!
    • to date: ~95% compliance (had some great indian food with a friend today, but the plate/meal was small, so I made up for estimated macros elsewhere.  Worth it though, SO good and I got some quality time with a friend.
      • Week #1 goal: complete