FatboySuave is trapped in the Hex

[FatboySuave]

My name is Richard and I feel like I just woke up from a three- to four-year long coma. The past few years are a blur. I find myself unhealthier than ever with no real idea how I got here. It's like someone wiped my memory, or made those memories inaccessible. It's like I was living an entirely different life filled with adventures before; then all of a sudden I woke up in a black-and-white world where I do nothing but waste away.  But recently something triggered my brain to wake up and realize something is not right. I still feel trapped inside some sort of giant, red Hex, but I think I'm ready to make an escape plan. 

 

Quest 1: Quit the energy drinks and other liquid calories. 

 

Quest 2: Walk the dogs. 

 

Quest 3: Make more meals, eat out less. 

 

I've already started my quests. I've gone two weeks without an energy drink so far. I've been drinking black coffee every morning. I find myself still craving sugary drinks, so I'm trying to switch to juice and moderate the intake. I've been making more meals - nothing spectacular and not quite at the nutritional goals I'm eventually aiming for. Cereal in the mornings, sandwiches for lunch, stir fry with pasta in the evenings, with plenty of snacks in between. I've taken the dogs on a couple walks over the past couple weeks, but nowhere near as many as we need. We just tried hiking an old favorite spot of ours, but we didn't make it far. My legs said, "Nope." So we're going to stick with walks around the neighborhood for now. 

 

This is my second (or third?) re-spawn in recent months. I've had success here in the forums in the past. I'd like to become active again and rekindle that success. 

 

 

[Klutch]

Looks like you've set great goals and are already working towards them. Good luck! We're all rooting for you.

[FatboySuave]

While the Sunday hike was not as successful as I hoped it would be, I ended up playing tennis with friends later and it was good. It was the first time in years that I've played. A more experienced friend gave a mini lesson to another friend and her son, both of whom had never played before. I got back into the swing of things pretty smoothly - like riding a bike. We played for maybe an hour and a half and we had a blast. We're hoping to do it regularly. 

 

Today I bought groceries and made some stir fry meals for the week. 

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention a side quest I've been working on the past couple weeks. I've started focusing more on self care. About an hour before I go to bed, I'm more mindful about brushing my teeth, washing my face, shaving, etc. I also need to take better care of my feet. I call the nightly routine my Awesome Hour and have a calendar alarm set for it every night. It's partially inspired by the video below. But I'm watching it now for the first time in a long time, and it's much more tongue in cheek and miserable-seeming than I remember, lol. I swear Awesome Hour is a good thing and it's going well. 

 

 

[Rurik Harrgath]

On 3/7/2021 at 2:18 PM, FatboySuave said:

I've already started my quests. I've gone two weeks without an energy drink so far. I've been drinking black coffee every morning. I find myself still craving sugary drinks, so I'm trying to switch to juice and moderate the intake.

 

Hello!  This is something I've struggled with on and on, so here are a few of my strategies for fighting the "stim-junkie" life...

• Switch to zero-cal energy drinks like Reign or Monster Ultra.  Best case, regulate those to specific scenarios or days - for example, only work days or road work days.
• Try diet ginger ale or tonic water with a low-cal juice.  I've found 10 cal mango/cran/blueberry taste pretty good with diet ginger ale!
• Similar to both, but I've started having my pre-workout with diet ginger ale or tonic water as a bit of a "combat stim" potion before my workouts.
• Flavored BCAAs with water.

Your mileage may vary but one of those might resonate and stick with you!  Keep up the good work so far 💪🔥

[Jupiter]

You're doing great so far. Nice job!  

[juliebarkley]

How are the walks going?

[FatboySuave]

On 3/9/2021 at 4:53 PM, Jupiter said:

You're doing great so far. Nice job!  

 

Thanks, Jupiter! 

 

On 3/11/2021 at 7:28 PM, juliebarkley said:

How are the walks going?

 

They're not going at all 😞 I was sore from tennis ALL week long. I could barely walk the two days after playing. But even then, I just have a mental block on getting out with the dogs. I have the time. I want it to be a priority. I just need to get up, get out, and do it. 

 

Another thing I need to recondition myself into doing is updating my battle log. I realized I don't currently have any means for tracking what I eat and do, so there's no way to hold myself accountable. I'm going to work on that soon. I've been getting situated with a new computer and keep telling myself that once I'm all set up, then I can take care of my daily duties. I think it's becoming more of an excuse though, so I got to keep myself on track and actually start to do the things. 

Otherwise, I still haven't had any energy drinks. I can feel my sugar dependency weakening, so that's good. Food wise, I know I can do better. I weighed myself recently, thinking that maybe the minor changes I've made would make a difference, but so far nothing. I think it's a reality check that I need to invest in these habits more in order to see progress. 

[juliebarkley]

2 hours ago, FatboySuave said:

Another thing I need to recondition myself into doing is updating my battle log. I realized I don't currently have any means for tracking what I eat and do, so there's no way to hold myself accountable. I'm going to work on that soon.

Are you at the point of trying to set SMART goals, or still working on gathering the data to determine what would be the best goals to reach for?

 

Battle log, challenge thread... either one could be used for accountability. It's very common to keep at least some of the same goals going forward between challenges, so it's really what you find most helpful. You will get more engagement in a challenge thread, if that's what you're looking for, but a battle log keeps all the records in one place. It really depends on what kind of accountability you are looking for.

[FatboySuave]

53 minutes ago, juliebarkley said:

Battle log, challenge thread... either one could be used for accountability.

 

In the past I found a nice balance between both the challenge thread and a battle log. The battle log was where I kept the down and dirty details. Then the challenge thread is where I graded myself and self reflected. 

[FatboySuave]

Side quest update: Like Kevin Malone in the Office, I bought myself a foot bath, lol. I went on a bit of a shopping spree this weekend for some computer accessories — spending my stimulus check before it arrives. My new setup is both meant for business and pleasure. My laptop was so old that Apple stopped supporting software updates, so I recently got a new PC — my first PC since I was in high school. I've been using Macs since my early college days both for work and personal use. The new PC is kitted out for gaming, but I'm legit becoming more productive with work stuff from home. So I'm hoping to maintain that balance. I got a new monitor because the gaming monitor I was using previously was terrible for reading text. It was a major strain on my eyes. So the new monitor is great. And if you're gonna get a monitor, then you got to get a new keyboard and mouse. And external speakers. And headphones with a mic. And some touch lights. Ok, so maybe I went a bit overboard, but I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, so I wanted to make it a happy, comfortable space. I need a new new chair though. The one I bought doesn't stay *ahem* erect. It keeps sinking — which I've taken as yet another sign that I need to lose weight, lol. But, anyway, back to the foot bath! I'm making foot care part of my Awesome Hour — at least once or twice a week maybe. I took a 15-20 minute foot bath and applied some lotion and a fresh pair of socks for the night before doing the rest of my Awesome Hour routine. This is supposed to be my bedtime, but because of the time change I'm not tired yet. Staring at a screen is not helping, so off to bed I (try to) go.