[DarK_RaideR]

Yes, this is a typical case of "beware what you put in the title of your challenge thread". I'm force-manifesting awesomeness.

 

Welcome!

 

I've been out of the challenge loop for a while, due to things being rather messy and unstable, to a degree where I knew for sure that I couldn't even consistently stick with the forums themselves, let alone a challenge for myself, but I'm back now. For those who don't know my deal, hi and welcome, I'm DarK_RaideR but most people end up mentioning me as DR for short. No doctor though, I'm a lawyer and I recently wrapped up my 36th year on this planet. Also been on these boards for... 8 years now, how time flies. Also also, I'm fresh into a new job that I'm loving after 4+ years of effective unemployment (technically, freelance lawyers can never be unemployed, but I had no work or income during that period, on top of the practical, emotional, mental and other implications this caused) and fresh out of an 8 year relationship, almost all of which was spent living in the same house as my (now ex) girlfriend. It's been quite the bang to end 2022 and kickstart a transitional phase, but I'm feeling confident enough to take on a challenge in hopes of it getting me back on track.

 

THE PUMP

 

 

With no decent gyms in my area (besides the Muay Thai camp I used to attend, but its schedule doesn't work with my new job hours) I got a set of dumbbells and a pull-up bar on Black Friday. After an inital attempt with Stronglifts 5x5, I've switched to a dumbbell workout app and so far it's been fine for me. Furthermore, I've switched my daily schedule to wake up earlier in the morning and start the day with my workout, which gets me going for the day and gets the "I gotta work out" stress out of the way immediately. That said, my goal for this challenge is to stick with my daily workout. As I type this, I'm on day 18 of a 30 day plan at an intermediate level with 9kg  dumbbells (max weight I can get with all the plates I currently own). Assuming I hit workout 30 before the end of the challenge, I'm guessing by then I'll have a good idea of how to continue.

 

THE NOMZ

Last challenge I did, I'd just started on the new job and one of my goals was to bring home-cooked lunch to work every day. That went quite well, but it's gone off track ever since, perhaps due to me lacking the structure of a challenge. Part one of this goal is to once again bring home-cooked lunch to work every day for the duration of the challenge. On a similar note, part two is to track my eating on my phone like I used to do in the past. No big diet plans or weight goals, just stick with an easy habit in a consistent manner. If nothing else, it'll make me a bit more mindful with my eating. Also, to properly achieve this, I need part three of this goal, plan my grocery shopping and get it done on every Saturday morning.

 

THE LOLZ

This is the self care, mental health and making sure I also have fun part of the challenge. Which isn't usually hard to achieve, but I've lately noticed I don't much bother with videogames or tabletop RPGs (though the latter probably has more to do with the struggles of finding a group and consistently getting together to play rather than my outlook on the hobby). On the flipside, one of my previously regular get-together groups used to meet at the house of a guy who's bigtime into miniatures. One thing led to another and we all agreed to try and make Blood Bowl matches a thing, hence the image above. I mostly agreed to this because I know the rules from the videogame (and love the Warhammer Fantasy world) and while it never came to be, I still got myself a Dark Elf team, which I assembled and began painting on those times where we did get together but for some reason tabletop RPG sessions didn't happen. It's been a long time since I last bothered with miniatures and it was a nice reminder of how it can be more fun than stressful, so now that our group is falling apart due to the host moving back in with his mom, I got myself a few paints (been using his thus far) and once I'm done with the team, I intend to continue by painting the miniatures of Dungeon Saga, a tabletop game that's been collecting dust for quite some time on my bookshelf.

Gee, I wonder why...

 

This isn't just a goal about consistent painting though. Anything related to self care and/or pure pleasure counts, as long as I do at least one thing that makes me feel better every day. Taking note of it and posting about it here is a plus, making me more mindful and appreciative of the fun things in my life. Speaking of mindfulness, I also want to keep my minfulness app updated.

 

New year, new challenge, let's go!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I think it's no coincidence I am powerlifting again, Rurik and Spezzy are in the final processes of setting up their home gym, and you are on the forums again. I almost feel like the before times. Here to support you fully.

[KB Girl]

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I'm feeling confident enough to take on a challenge in hopes of it getting me back on track.

Excellent! 

 

Here for support if you like. What kind of lunches do you bring? I'm in the process of figuring out what to eat at work. 

[Jarric]

Yes! Good to see you back here and back lifting dude!

[RES]

So happy to see you back again!!

[DarK_RaideR]

21 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I think it's no coincidence I am powerlifting again, Rurik and Spezzy are in the final processes of setting up their home gym, and you are on the forums again. I almost feel like the before times. Here to support you fully.

 

19 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Here for support if you like. What kind of lunches do you bring? I'm in the process of figuring out what to eat at work. 

I like you being here anyway, support or not. As for lunches, depends on what I've cooked the night before. It also helps that I'm fine eating food cold, so I don't have to bother with microwaves and heating it up. As a general rule, I go for protein (mostly meat) plus something on the side, but I'll try to break it up with fish, eggs and legumes when possible. My only rule really is no messy foods to work. You know, the ones hard to get on a fork and likely to get your clothes dirty. Or the super liquid/saucy stuff I can't trust to put in a container and walk to work with no risk of it spilling inside my backpack.

 

16 hours ago, Jarric said:

Yes! Good to see you back here and back lifting dude!

12 hours ago, RES said:

So happy to see you back again!!

I never left

I mean, I took a break from doing a challenge, but I never left the forum. Rebellion Rule #1, in it for life!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

. It also helps that I'm fine eating food cold, so I don't have to bother with microwaves and heating it up.

Nice to know I'm not the only one. Sra. Tanque doesn't think I'm crazy, but she can't wrap her head around it either.

[DarK_RaideR]

Happy New Year, rebel friends!

 

Ready to take this challenge head on, I even made a spreadsheet to track progress!

[Rhovaniel]

Happy New Year, D_R. It's good to see a challenge of yours appear  

[RES]

11 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Happy New Year, rebel friends!

 

Ready to take this challenge head on, I even made a spreadsheet to track progress!

Nice!

[Jarric]

That is a very pretty spreadsheet! Love it mate

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

14 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Happy New Year, rebel friends!

 

Ready to take this challenge head on, I even made a spreadsheet to track progress!

Honest to God, I was worried this was gonna be a Rick Roll.

[DarK_RaideR]

17 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Happy New Year, D_R. It's good to see a challenge of yours appear  

Good to see you around, Rho.

 

10 hours ago, Jarric said:

That is a very pretty spreadsheet! Love it mate

I'm not that big into spreadsheets, but they do tend to make life easier on several occasions.

 

9 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Honest to God, I was worried this was gonna be a Rick Roll.

[DarK_RaideR]

Challenge Day 1: Sunday, January 1st

I'm usually against starting a challenge on a Sunday, but this one being the 1st of the month makes it easier to track, so here we are.

 

Did I do my workout for the day?

Absolutely. Wasn't really feeling it straight out of bed, but I pressured myself and got it done early in the morning. It did help that I hadn't gone overboard the night before, just dinner with the cats, firework watching and straight to bed, but what didn't help was the coffee I'd had straight out of bed. My stomach struggled a bit throughout the workout, but I pulled through. Details under spoiler.

Spoiler

Warmup: 35" of standing knee to opposite elbow crunches

2 rounds (9.5kg dumbbells)

12 Dumbbell seated in&out crunches

14 Dumbbell backward lunges

12 Dumbbell front raises

12 Dumbbell chest fly

20" on each side, Dumbbell side boat hold

12 Dumbbell bicep curls (should have been reverse curls, but I kept spinning the weights so it was either this or hammer curls)

12 Bent over row

7 Triceps dips (using a coffee table)

12 Arnold dumbbell press

30" Alternating renegade row

Score: 1/1

 

Did I track what I ate on my phone app?

Yup, even if this seems to be the most difficult of my goals. It's easy to forget and hard to backtrack, plus I'm at this point just eyeballing the amounts instead of outright weighing everything. NYE's leftovers kept me going for lunch, dinner and extra to take the day after to work.

Score: 1/1

 

Did I do something to feel better today?

It's kinda weird, but I did the usual Sunday cleaning, plus a good chunk of ironing and it made me feel good in a self-care kind of way. Which is great, because these usually feel like a chore, ironing especially. Later on I did a bit of miniature painting while both cats were taking a nap, giving my BloodBowl team a second coat of paint on all the exposed fleshy bits. By the time I was done with all 12 miniatures, I didn't want to see that colour anymore, but wasn't feeling pumped about adding the metallic bits either, so I settled for a few blood red splash details and set it aside before the situation moved from fun to obsession territory.

Score: 1/1

 

Song of the day

(Courtesy of a random "90s sing along music" playlist that reminded me of its existence)

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

NF coaches often reccomend taking g pictures of food before it is eaten if writing or calorie tracking is too onerous.

[KB Girl]

Analog tracking also makes it easier / gives more freedom for guesstimating, but really only an option if you've got a lot of numbers in your head already or you're motivated to make that happen. In the long run it does save a lot of time, because you can just look at your plate and go "mm, probably about 550" and then note that down. 

[Rurik Harrgath]

On 12/30/2022 at 10:00 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

 

 

 

Glad to see you've posted a challenge!

 

On 12/30/2022 at 10:00 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Anything related to self care and/or pure pleasure counts, as long as I do at least one thing that makes me feel better every day. 

 

Yep, this is surely a sign.  I've seen similar on a couple of challenges this round, and now I'm thinking it's an addition I really need to make.

 

On 12/30/2022 at 10:22 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I think it's no coincidence I am powerlifting again, Rurik and Spezzy are in the final processes of setting up their home gym, and you are on the forums again. I almost feel like the before times. Here to support you fully.

 

The clouds are parting and here comes the sunshine!

 

 

8 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

It's kinda weird, but I did the usual Sunday cleaning, plus a good chunk of ironing and it made me feel good in a self-care kind of way. Which is great, because these usually feel like a chore, ironing especially.

 

I've been recently finding that things like Sunday cleaning and even more or less tidying up dishes before bed has an immense effect on my mental health, in a self-care sort of way.  I totally get it.

[WhiteGhost]

Here for this one.  I used to be pretty big into painting miniatures years ago, but I haven't done it since.  I do kind of miss it sometimes, though

 

21 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Song of the day

It was a really pleasant surprise to see you post a song that I actually know  

[deftona]

Following! 

[DarK_RaideR]

20 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

NF coaches often reccomend taking g pictures of food before it is eaten if writing or calorie tracking is too onerous.

I'm guessing this makes sense in the context of sending said pictures to the coaches. Or at least posting them for accountability, like @darkfoxx does. Not likely to make me more mindful of my eating or reduce my serving sizes.

 

19 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Analog tracking also makes it easier / gives more freedom for guesstimating, but really only an option if you've got a lot of numbers in your head already or you're motivated to make that happen. In the long run it does save a lot of time, because you can just look at your plate and go "mm, probably about 550" and then note that down. 

I mean, there was a time when I'd use these apps to pre-plan my meals ahead and snipe my macros to a tee *insert Aragorn "but it is not today" meme*

 

16 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

Glad to see you've posted a challenge!

Glad to see you around and posting a Blood Bowl gif!

 

4 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Here for this one.  I used to be pretty big into painting miniatures years ago, but I haven't done it since.  I do kind of miss it sometimes, though

I was kind of the same, really. Just small scale stuff like Blood Bowl or Necromunda, never had the money/mass painting patience/storage space needed for full-on wargame armies. It's been fun to get back into the groove. Also, random tag @Teros

 

4 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

It was a really pleasant surprise to see you post a song that I actually know  

Stay tuned for the next one, pretty sure you'll know it too!

[DarK_RaideR]

Challenge Day 2: Monday, January 2nd

 

Did I do my workout for the day?

Yup, straight out of bed after I took care of all the cat stuff (refill the feeder, change the water, clean their toilet) and some necessary after-care (sweep the floor so I don't work out on kitty litter remains, use ambient deodorant so I don't sweat in the stench of a freshly stirred litterbox).  Once again, details under spoiler

Spoiler

Warmup: 35" of high knee stepping

2 rounds (9.5kg dumbbells)

12 Dumbbell plie squats

12 Dumbbell pullovers

12 Dumbbell deadlifts/hip hinges

12 Dumbbell kickbacks

12 Dumbbell butt bridge

20" on each side, Dumbbell side boat hold

7 Triceps dips

12 Arnold dumbbell press

12 Standing dumbbell calf raise

30" Alternating renegade row

Score: 2/2

 

Did I bring home cooked food to work?

Yup, packed the last NYE dinner leftovers. I'd made pork bits in a sauce of red wine, balsamic vinegar and whiskey (since I didn't have any cognac the recipe called for), plus a ton of onions that got caramelized, then made it extra sweet by adding chestnuts, dried fruit (plums, dates and apricots) and originally served it over rice, but for this day I'd made some mashed potatoes the night before. T'was as delicious as when I'd just made it, if not more now that the flavours had time to mesh. Plus, I thought I was out of supplies and almost got takeout for dinner, but then remembered of this goal and instead cooked something simple with what I had available, ensuring I had a decent dinner while also saving some for the next day's lunch.

Score: 1/1

 

Did I track what I ate on my phone app?

I did, probably the first day in a while that I didn't go over my caloric budget for the day. Good call on not having that beer after dinner. I'm still steadily gaining weight every day, but I like to think it's mostly muscle. I haven't gone overboard anyway, nor is this the start of my fitness journey to expect those newbie (mostly water-based) weight drops. I'm not feeling bloated, which is what matters for now. Plus the mirror seems to think I've gotten a bit more… buff?... toned? Won't complain. This is with just what, two weeks of dumbbell training? Arnie was onto something (that something being steroids. Let's be honest, he was roided AF during his most buff of days).

Score: 2/2

 

Did I do something to feel better today?

Yes and it was a weird one. I mean, I did mess around a bit with my RPG stuff. I did a bit of house cleaning that made me feel better. Then I talked with a couple of friends that share the first name as me to plan our nameday celebration on Saturday. I'm not particularly hyped or in a mood to party, but I last celebrated the nameday with one of those guys in early 2020 right before covid hit while the other was living in the Netherlands and wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. So now he's back and super driven to experience the triple-threat party, which in turn has me and the other guy chugging along cause otherwise we wouldn't be doing anything. Anyway, we made arrangements and talked about bringing some music. In today's world of Spotify and streaming, that meant I had to bust out my ol' external hard drive from back in the mp3 days. Which was still there, but apparently my ex took all the cables with her own stuff when she left. Wasn't gonna be held back though. So, I operated on the case to remove the HD inside, tried to hook it up on my PC but the motherboard was too modern to include the appropriate plugs. So of course I attempted the same with my older PC, which I still have lying around after it was replaced. Which was set to function on my old 32" TV screen and just wouldn't boot on the smaller spare 14" PC screen I'd brought down from the attic, meaning I had to use another external disk to download and create a Windows boot drive, hook it up to the old PC, re-set Windows on it but lo and behold, once it was all said and done, the drive was operational and I had full access to my mp3 collection again.

 

Making all of the above work despite the aforementioned roadblocks (plus two curious cats hanging around while I did everything) gave me a warm feeling of satisfaction, but since I've been aiming to turn that old PC into a retrogaming station and media player, I dug up that old CD of FIFA98 that I bought for a dime from an ancient store few months back and tested it. Needless to say, seeing and hearing that intro once again gave me chills, which leads us to,,,

Score: 2/2

 

Song of the day

(Best damn use of music in a sports videogame intro video ever, fight me)

For all you nostalgic football conoisseurs, I also played a game of Greece vs Albania that went 3-0 into halftime, before Windows caused the game to crash after a ton of pop ups about screen resolution and whatnot. So I deactivated them all, bumped the difficulty up a level and tried to complete a full match as Juventus against Barcelona. The change was noticeable, with opposition giving me a fistfight over posession and after a short pass from Rivaldo, Christophe Dugarry made a run through my defence to score around the 20' mark. That was the score going into half time, meaning I had to get serious and that's just what happened, with Inzaghi scoring the equaliser as the clock hit 68 minutes. All bets were off after that, I was hyped like a kid again and after a magical combination between the equally magical pair of Zidane and Del Pierro, the ball was forwarded to Inzaghi that made it 1-2 at just 89 minutes. Dramatic finish to a dramatic match, 10/10 would play again.

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

but then remembered of this goal and instead cooked something simple with what I had available

Perfect

 

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

gave me a warm feeling of satisfaction

Understandably so.  that was some real dedication there

 

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Stay tuned for the next one, pretty sure you'll know it too!

Haha, you have seriously overestimated my western music exposure 

 

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

The change was noticeable, with opposition giving me a fistfight over posession and after a short pass from Rivaldo, Christophe Dugarry made a run through my defence to score around the 20' mark. That was the score going into half time, meaning I had to get serious and that's just what happened, with Inzaghi scoring the equaliser as the clock hit 68 minutes. All bets were off after that, I was hyped like a kid again and after a magical combination between the equally magical pair of Zidane and Del Pierro, the ball was forwarded to Inzaghi that made it 1-2 at just 89 minutes.

This is awesome.  I have been sick for the last few days and all I had to entertain myself was watching Ghostlet play his FIFA 21.  If I happened to sleep through any of his exciting matches he would give me a play by play very similar to your description

[KB Girl]

7 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I'd made pork bits in a sauce of red wine, balsamic vinegar and whiskey (since I didn't have any cognac the recipe called for), plus a ton of onions that got caramelized, then made it extra sweet by adding chestnuts, dried fruit (plums, dates and apricots) and originally served it over rice, but for this day I'd made some mashed potatoes the night before.

That sounds divine! Good call on making dinner after all  

 

I spend quite some time in my teens playing fifa, can’t honestly say I’ve missed it x) 

[Rurik Harrgath]

7 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

For all you nostalgic football conoisseurs, I also played a game of Greece vs Albania that went 3-0 into halftime, before Windows caused the game to crash after a ton of pop ups about screen resolution and whatnot. 

 

Maybe the Powers That Be were trying to tell you something 🤣

[starpuck]

On 12/31/2022 at 7:15 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

I mean, I took a break from doing a challenge, but I never left the forum. Rebellion Rule #1, in it for life!

Hellyeah!

 

DR - you've been a gem ever since I got to know you.   I've had so much fun interacting with you across boards or even live media HOURS apart from the rest of our gang.     You sure had some rough seas going for a while, and, well, I just wanted to say, I really appreciate you for who you are and just as you are.    I'm glad to see ya dipping back into the challenges, and you know we will always have your back!!

 

Because.  Rule#1