DRINK WATER

[Evicious]

My battle log, eh? Here's the BLUF: "drink water". It's the Army's answer to every excuse and every ailment. Got a headache? Here's some ibuprofen - drink water. Exhausted from that 12-hour-turned-36 shift you just pulled? Take a knee and drink some water. Just found out your spouse is leaving you for that shitbag soldier you've been taking all the heat at work for, and she's doing it country-song style? How about you step outside for a minute, soldier, and drink some water.

(The previous sentence is completely fictional and an exaggeration of circumstances common to 70% of the military community; it is intended as a humorous illustration only)

Anyhoo, that's the brain activity behind my choice of a title for this beh-lohg. If I'm lucky, I won't embarrass myself too much on it - if I'm even luckier than lucky, my embarrassment will be immensely entertaining to the rest of the community.

On to the pot roast:

Current height (barefoot): 5' 9"

Current height (in socks at a company weigh-in after PT test): 5' 8"

Current height (while being a pirate): 6' 4"

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Current weight: 160 -/+

Goal weight: 145 -/+

Things that are helping me with my goal:

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Oh yeah, and the MyFitnessPal app on my cellphone. Calorie counting: it bruises the ego, but is good for the goal.

Things that are NOT helping me with my goal:

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And that's the pot roast in a nutshell (squirrel dinner?) and we'll see where it goes from here. I've done two of NF 6 Week Challenges previously and haven't finished either one. It's like this pirate keeps sailing towards the treasure island, but never goes back where she was headed once she's blown off course. Epic fail. So from now on, the only answer is.... *drumroll please*....

DRINK WATER.

Which, as you can see in the picture, I literally can. And will.

[Ghost]

I got a giggle out of that.

Let's hope the Army doesn't run out of water, it'd fall apart.

Now, DRINK SOME WATER.

[7callmemom]

LOL Drink water is my answer to everything too.

"Mom, I have a headache...can I take tylenol (that tastes like candy)?"

Drink water and come back in 20 if you still have a headache.

They never come back for their tylenol...LOL

[eseng666]

You are one tall chick )

[Evicious]

Ghost: Nah, then they'd just tell us to eat some sand or something. :-P

7callmemom: Yes! Start 'em off right at a young age, that's the spirit!

NokiaGolem: Only as a pirate.

So today, I have done NO PT WHATSOEVER. Bad Evicious, bad! ..... Oh wait, yes I did: I picked up LOTS of heavy things and put them down again, in multiple locations. Apparently, the words "Hey, we need you to grab your kevlar (helmet) and TC (be the passenger in charge of) a vehicle for supply so they can pick up all the things they've ordered recently," actually translates into, "Hey, we need you to go spend about 4 hours traipsing around various motorpools (big parking lots for military vehicles and vehicular equipment) physically transferring large, heavy boxes into the smallest vehicle you can find (HMMV) and transporting those to other locations so you can shuffle them around some more." So ok, I didn't actually "do PT" - but I absolutely worked out! I think I will give myself XP points in the Warrior class now.

[heavy drum beat, rap mode] I LIFTED HEAVY THINGS AND I PUT THAT SHIT DOWN! I LIFTED HEAVY ITEMS AND I PUT THAT SHIT DOWN!!! [/heavy drum beat, rap mode]

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Also, breakfast today was nomnom. I had an egg sandwich with turkey, mustard, and tomatoes. Lunch, however, was more of a fail: 2 little beers and nothing followed. :-/ Dinner is going to be very delicious though, as I have a weakness for cheap frozen pizzas - tada, Red Baron! Throw on some extra veggies, and it's good to go. :-D And don't forget my veggie tray, either, with all the sugar snap peas, and broccoli, and sweet peppers, and carrots, and celery... MyFitnessPal says I have 282 calories remaining from my total of 1530 that I'm supposed to maintain for weight loss. Yay!

Tomorrow is a PT run day again, and we will likely be running the post golf course. I love that golf course as a running route. There are hills everywhere and with the recent cool weather we've been having, it feels like heaven. If only push-ups were as fun as flying around that track, I'd be pushing close to 100 by now. Ah well, goals to keep working towards, I guess.

[Lefeux]

Nice intro. Every time I hear "Drink water" I want to blurt out "Beat the Heat Drill SGT. Beat the heat".

Having been in Afghanistan for the last 18 months I have drank approximately 5,240 liters of water (I drink about 6 liters a day). Fortunately I have drank much less in the way of sodas and teas.

Enjoy the golf course. When I was at Bragg (only duty station that had organized PT. Go Pentagon and PACOM) we didn't do any running around the golf course. Mostly just the pavement.

And hooray for lifting heavy stuff. I am taking a (involuntary) break from lifting. But tomorrow is run day.

[Evicious]

Yesterday's PT made me a VERY happy pirate: it was a battallion run consisting of 4.01 miles (according to the BN CDR's highspeed wrist-laptop) and although they projected an average pace of 9 minute miles, we did it in 8.35 (also according to the BN CDR's sci-fi tracking equipment)! Ladies and gentlemen, that is the speed I normally attain for the run portion of a PT test - that's what I consider "pushing" for me. And yet there I was, alive and panting and still feeling the buzz, when it was announced to me that I had just run double the distance at the same pace! Now THAT felt powerful.

Plus, I enjoyed being able to plug in those numbers to MyFitnessPal and see the calories I "earned back" with those miles. ;-D

It also motivates me to push for that distance consistently from now on. I've been limiting my runs to one lap around the golf course (2.15 miles) and working on gaining speed through fartleks. Well, now I can definitely say that strategy has been working but I can also tell it's time to up the ante. Am I realistically going to be able to take my current routine and apply it to double my current distance? Not easily, but that is the plan.

It's very important for me to remember that my reason for continuing to push is based on easing a lot of future discomfort: the more weight I can lift, the easier my body armor and gear is to wear; the more strength and endurance I build in my legs, the easier that load is to carry for the required distances. Oh yeah, and that as-of-yet-unattained 300 PT test score will be mine without even "trying". :-P Always nice to have a few bragging points to throw out when you need them.

BTW, I have created the most amazing recipe for baked grouper, and I am going to share it with my fellow piscean flesh diners:

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You will need...

- A glass baking dish of appropriate size for the number of fillets you are baking

- Olive oil

- Parsley (I used the dried seasoning)

- Garlic salt

- Small tomatoe(s)

How to make it....

1. Preheat the oven to 300* (F).

2. While the oven is heating, grease your glass baking pan with olive oil.

3. Place (thawed) fish fillets in the baking pan.

4. Coat lightly and evenly with garlic salt, then the parsley.

5. Once oven is at 300*, place the fish in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.

6. While fish is baking, watch Top Gear (UK version only!) or play video game of preference.

7. After 20 minutes, take fish out of oven and increase oven temperature to 400*.

8. If there is more than a 1/4 inch of fishy-olive-oil-juice in the bottom of the dish, drain a bit out so it doesn't stew.

9. Slice tomatoe(s) into half-inch thick pieces and lay prettily atop fish.

10. Carefully drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil over fish and tomatoes.

11. Put fish back in oven and set timer for about another 15 minutes or so.

12. When your timer goes off, retrieve your fish from the oven (don't forget to turn off the oven!)

13. Use a spatula or other very flat, broad kitchen instrument to scoop your fish out of the dish and lay it nicely on a plate.

14. Devour piscean flesh of deliciousness.

And that's it! I played around a bit and squeezed some orange juice from the Clementine I was nomming over one fillet, but it didn't make too much of a difference in the taste... I think lemon juice might have done better.

Now I've been reading some of the other Battle Logs, and Kibcy had an idea I really liked: a ticker to track points earned for achieving daily goals! I liked it so much, I went and made one for myself.

I'm shooting for a total of 10000 daily goals achieved, because alot of them are going to be household chores that I ordinarily - but not always - do every day. Also, I'm restricting the number of points I can earn on any one goal to 10. I anticipate that the majority will be worth around 5 pts or so. Hopefully, this ticker will help keep me doing the little things that always need to be done, but that are sometimes just... too easy to put off. You know what I mean. >_< So, today's goals will be...

1) 10 pts - Go to Walmart and purchase new windshield wipers for my car, an actual pair of running pants, various food items that need replacing for dietary purposes, and order this month's set of contact lenses.

2) 2 pts - Since I'm going to be right there anyway, get my eyebrows waxed. I'm starting to look like Groucho Marx.

3) 5 pts - Clean the kitchen

4) 8 pts - Finish washing, drying, folding and putting away all that damn laundry.

5) 8 pts - Go to the gym and SQUAT And maybe do a back workout since I'm there.

Now, let's see what I can accomplish, shall we?

[Evicious]

Well, today has certainly been a full one! Goals accomplished are as follows:

1) Purchased all items except running pants, because our Walmart sucketh royal donkey butt. Will check out the available selection at the PX tomorrow. Additionally, the new windshield wipers are on AND I put in a new air filter as well. Now if only I can remember when the next oil change is....?

2) Eyebrows are waxed.

3) Kitchen is clean. Boyfriend chided me for doing it, b/c we have agreed that he's the one who will clean there since he hates sweeping, dusting, vacuming, and laundry... but there's just something about starting your to-do list with a clean kitchen that really sets a good tone for the other tasks.

4) Laundry is DONE!!! I even sorted out all the white socks and permanent-markered the bottoms of the feet w/ intials and numbers, so I know what I'm sorting. :-) The green socks, though.... *shudders*.... that's for another day.

5) No gym. All my other tasks got in the way, I suppose.

Anyhoo, total points for today = 25. Yay!

Edited to add: I'm not giving myself bonus points for it, but I wanted to log that I actually made my butterfly shadow box today! I've been holding onto the wings for months, but I finally purchased a shadow box picture frame today and put it all together.

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I am very pleased with the result. Also, I continued working on crocheting my (first!) blanket tonight. I found I was working alot faster than my first time around; that's a significant improvement from my first two rows, where it took me the entire Dark Knight to "finish"! So mad kudos to me. :-D

[Evicious]

Quick update on yesterday:

PT - Golf course (as always), but this time I used that nifty little timer feature on my wrist watch. 2.15 miles in.... 21:33?!?! Ugh! Well, that's what walking during the run does, I guess. I ran the same track again after work with my boyfriend, and as he is one of those guys who can outrun Ghengis Khan and his army of horsemen, we DEFINITELY didn't walk. Unfortunately, we also didn't time ourselves so while I know I ran faster the second time I don't know by how much. :-/ That's ok though, because it still means I ran a total of 4.3 miles yesterday. That makes me happy.

For PT today, my company is doing the O-Course. YAY!!!!! Everybody likes the O-Course! It's a giant playground for adults, and there's usually a good-natured competition thrown in as well. I'm going to have to try to be part of the first group though, as I have an eye exam appointment before 0900. I'll be very disappointed if I have to leave before I get the chance to play. I'm also going to take my camera and see if I can take some pictures while I'm there, so you guys can see what I'm talking about and why I'm so excited. Hopefully, they'll let me do that.

I'm still tracking my calorie intake via MyFitnessPal, and most days I make it close to the right numbers - but I'm still usually over by 10-200. So I really need to start paying attention and nailing those down. I am, however, pleased that I continue to utilize this tool and that I'm doing so well at inputting absolutely everything that passes my lips. Except water. I should really start taking note of that too, just to see how I'm doing there. I'll start that today.

Anyhoo, I'll update later.

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My team (5 soldiers) completed the course in just 21 minutes! The idea is to sprint from obstacle to obstacle once every member of the team has completed it, or has been instructed to move on without completing it if the team safety officer feels an individual cannot negotiate it (which earns the team a 1 minute penalty). I am proud to say that we only earned two penalties - I am not proud to say that they were both because of me. I was unable to climb up the rope on the first obstacle, and unable to jump high enough to flip over the top log of the log jump. :-/ Talk about uncool.

Our BN almost never authorizes the companies to conduct PT on the O-Course, which is a shame because all that functional movement is a real ass-kicker of a workout! We all had fun, but it really was an eye-opener for a lot of people about their true level of fitness: all the numbers in the weight room and on the track mean zilch when you're facing a 20 ft tall ladder with rungs spaced a body-length apart. ;-) I wish we could train on it more often.

[Evicious]

Sorry about the delay in updating; I got tagged to pull CQ yesterday, so I wasn't home to write everything up. Here it is now:

So, I was feeling so pumped after navigating the O-Course yesterday that I called up my best friend and we went to the gym over lunch too! It turned out to be a good time to turn to one of the fitness apps I'd previously downloaded on my Droid, Fitness Buddy (the free version!). Here was the workout we pulled from it:

Barbell Squat - We started with just 10Lbs on the bar, but moved up 30Lbs for the second and third sets.

Barbell Lunge - Same weight as the squats.

Dumbbell Calf Raise - 25Lbs in each hand.

Barbell Deadlift - Upped the ante here and added 20Lbs to the squat and lunge weight, for a total of 50Lbs on the bar.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press (military) - We went pretty light on these, just 15Lbs per hand.

Dumbbell Raise (front) - Same as the press.

Dumbbell Raise (lateral) - Same as the press

FitnessBuddy recommend x3 sets of x5 reps each, so that was what we went with. I'm terrible at making up workouts because I have so little experience with lifting weights, so FitnessBuddy is a real help on gym days. I think I may even buy the full version: it's only $0.99... we'll see. :-)

Food yesterday went ok, but not great. The problem came on my CQ shift - pulling a night shift on top of a day shift makes you pretty hungry by 03:00. I pretty much devoured my

, so that was an additional 1290 calories. :-O Set myself back by probably a week :-/ Oh well, moving forward.

I did start tracking my water yesterday. I almost made it through an entire camelback!

Now I'm going to go fold laundry and watch Law & Order: SVU, and be productive in a few other ways. Points will be set at...

- Fold and put away laundry = 5 pts

- Put away clean dishes = 2 pts

- Sweep the floor = 5 pts

- Work on my crocheting = 8 pts

Toodooloo!

[Evicious]

Ok, so I read the big red text banner across the top and have decided yet again to try another 6 Week Challenge. For my own convenience, here is a link to my challenge thread: Facing the Hydra

The past 2 days have been a little all-over-the-place, due to a 4 Day (Army-approved weekend starting yesterday and lasting through Monday) and my boyfriend taking leave to go visit his family. However, I have finally acquired a cat - *squee!* - and she will keep me company while he is gone. Isn't she beautiful? And she's such a sassy little sweetheart, too!

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Anyhoo, big goals while he's gone are:

- Exercise daily (yah, duh!)

- Complete Tending the Hearthfire and Clearing the Dragon's Hoard quests (details at the bottom of this post)

- Put in x14 new rows in my crochet blanket by the end of the 17th (that's two rows a day, if I'm consistent)

Tending the Hearthfires R

While wanderlust keeps life exciting, every adventurer must eventually return home for well-earned rest and reflection, and to prepare for their next quest. Clothes must be washed clean again; cooking utensils scrubbed free of the last adventures' meal; bedding freshened to accommodate a good night's rest; and the accumulated dirt and dust that settled during the adventurer's absence must be swept away (so as not to give would-be thieves and squatters the impression of an abandoned lair).

Reward: +1 bonus effect to STA, CON, WIS, and CHA. Effect lasts 24 hrs upon quest completion

Clearing the Dragon's Hoard

Dragons are famed not only for their immense size and deadly abilities in combat, but also for the gargantuan piles of stuff they amass in their lairs. Trouble is, dragons aren't terribly picky about the value of their hoards: there's a good bit of garbage mixed in with their riches, but they're far too occupied with terrifying the surrounding countryside to stop and sort it out. Fortunately, you can help them out with that! Sneak in and pick a pile to start separating trash from treasure: you'll clean out the Dragon's Hoard in no time.

Reward: + 3 WIS, and 3 additional experience points to be distributed among remaining attributes according to preference

R = Repeatable quest

[Evicious]

CQ went well last night, however I didn't put in one single new loop in my crochet the entire night. Fail then and there, but tonight's a new night.

Tending the Hearthfire for today consists of the following:

- sweep the floors

- vacume the carpets

- do the dishes

- work on laundry

- clean the bathroom

- dust

I'm about 50% through (it's taking me a few hours this time around b/c I've put off housekeeping for a few days). Should be done by the time I go to bed.

[Evicious]

Quick update on yesterday before I take off for PT:

Hit the gym at 1100 with my buddy:

5 sets of 10 reps for barbell squats, but I lowered the weight from last time to just 65 (I'm including the 45 Lb bar in this number).

5 sets of 20 incline situps with a 20 Lb medicine ball.

5 sets of 10 back extensions, no weight.

5 sets of 5 lunges, 25 Lb dumbells each hand.

Don't know specifically what today will bring, since we have mandatory EO training from 1000-1130, and then I'm slotted to give the P6 brief at 1300 but I promise I will do something.

[Evicious]

Good gods, it's been 4 days already (since I last posted)?!

Se la... er, Army. I didn't even get a weekend, due to getting yet ANOTHER Saturday CQ shift. Yay.

The good news is that this upcoming week will be very short due to an Army-mandated long weekend; the bad news is that we have a 20K ruck march to complete in 3 hours over some very nasty terrain before we get to relax - and none of our "training" rucks up to this one have been longer than 12K. There may be pictures of my feet included in that day's log, depending on whether or not it decides to rain on us as well (which it is, ironically, indeed projected to do). Nothing says "hamburger feet and other fun injuries" like "ruck march we're probably not prepared for, on a lane we've never been down, in the dark of night"... yeah... that should be a fun update.

On the upside I have consistently been making it to the gym over lunch, thanks to my best friend and workout partner who makes a point of showing up so that I have to show up as well. I haven't been paying too close of attention to the weights or reps really, since my schedule has been limited to 30 or under lunch time. BUT I can say that the lowest weight on the barbell I've used yet has been 65Lbs; no less than 25Lbs for dumbells; and no fewer sets/reps than 5/5.

My diet hasn't been great lately, due to me substituting my get-food time for go-gym time. However, it also hasn't been that bad either: something about not being able to eat that second meal of the day makes me a lot less hungry overall when I finally do get the chance for some alone time with food. I don't like not eating at least 3x a day (and truthfully, I've always felt more energetic and healthy when I simply snacked my way through the work hours) but... sometimes, you gotta choose a higher priority over a preference.

I have managed to complete my Clearing the Dragon's Hoard quest (see three posts up). It's so strange to see how empty the guest room looks now - and to discover that all that mess can actually fit perfectly in the little closet in the same room!

[Evicious]

So the 20K ruckmarch tore me up pretty bad; this 4 Day will have to be a rest period for my feet. On the up side, I've just gone my first full day without a single cigarette, or even a puff from one. The plan is to go the entire weekend without one, and then to take advantage of the next two weeks of training out of state to continue abstaining. I'm hoping the chain in location, schedule and surroundings will help me adjust to my new smoke-free way of life. Ultimately, I'd like to continue the trend for... y'know, forever. I really hope this jump starts the completion of that goal.

[Evicious]

Ok, so I set myself back last night on the no-more-smoking thing. But today is a new day, and that means even if I'm starting over I'm still accomplishing my goal. I am so determined to do this in fact, that I believe I will add this goal to my 6 Week Challenge list.

I'm pretty happy with my progress on my crochet, too. The blanket looks like a scarf still, but it's getting consistently wider so it should start looking like an actual blanket soon!

Thanksgiving went well enough; my boyfriend made a ham and a greenbean casserole, so we didn't exactly eat healthy... but we also didn't overeat like we might have at certain other tables with more yumminess available to snarf. I also did very well on my alcohol consumption, following every beer with a full glass of water - I think my total number of beers consumed over the course of the afternoon and evening was maybe 8? Again, not really healthy for an average day's consumption but pretty good for the notorious Turkey Day. :-) I went to bed sober, at any rate.

I've decided to ignore my Hearthfire quest until tomorrow, mostly because I'm sick of folding laundry - aaaand because I feel like the boyfriend should learn what it's like to handle the laundry on his own while I'm away at training. Yes, I have a vindictive side. Yes, I embrace it occasionally: I think it's healthy from time to time to do so. X-D Of course, I am setting myself to up to come home to nothing short of a ginormous pile of laundry... but hopefully, he'll decide to step up his efforts a little bit when he realizes I'm home again and he still doesn't have any clean clothes...?! We'll see. Sometimes, you gotta go to extremes to get the point across.

[Buffedstuff]

Good stuff, keep pushing through

God Luck

~Buff~

[Evicious]

And I'm back. It was a looooooooong 2 weeks of quote-unquote training in KY, and I am ridiculously happy to be home again. Also, emotional relationship-y type shit went down (of course!) during that time - don't worry, it's fixed now - and this big badass totally smoked an entire pack(...s) during that time. BOOOOOOOOOOO000000000oooooooooo.... Anyhoo, like I said, that's all better now and even though the clock got set back on Let the Embers Die, I'm still pushing forward.

On the MAJOR upside, I am now on block leave and so have all the time in the world to watch Top Gear Uk, work on my crochet, enjoy the everlasting joyousness that is the ever joy-inspiring freedom of joyful Skyrim (!), perhaps kill some zombies on Dead Island or wrack my brains on Portal 2, or maybe try to build yet another giant castle in the sky in Minecraft ... oh yeah, and work out every day and eat healthy. ;-)

Also, I am very proud to announce that my habit of daily inebriation has decreased an overall 90%. I am now in the steady habit of watching other people drink (turns out my boyfriend is even funnier when I'm sober!) and when I do drink, I drink at least one 8 oz glass of water in between. It's amazing how much more I enjoy parties, now that I'm not blacked out two hours after arrival. >_<

Soooo.... yeah. That's my quick update for 06:08 on the first day of my glorious next couple of weeks of block leave. I've got a bit of a to-do list today, which includes taking my kitteh in to the vet for an appointment, hopefully getting my new tires put on my car, buying groceries, and going for a quick little run around the golf course (not necessarily in that order). Breakfast today is cream of celery soup with a can of mixed vegetables thrown in - hey, I said I have to get groceries!

[Evicious]

Took my best friend's dog for a run around the golf course today (2.15 mi of lovely, rolling hills). He was tired and happy, I was tired and happy, and then I spent 3 hours waiting for Firestone to change four tires on my car. I declined their offer to align them when they finally finished. Came home to a delicious meal of barbecued pork loin (yay, boyfriend who cooks!) and broccoli (

!) and am now headed back to the futon to re-engage Dishonored.

[Evicious]

WOOT!!! Got my boyfriend to go to the gym this afternoon!!! Not that he doesn't go on his own usually, but with block leave going on I was concerned that all he was going to do was sit around playing Xbox, drinking beer, and complaining about getting fat (which he isn't, and has never been). And of course, that meant I, too, went to the gym! 2 miles on the treadmill (warmed up at 5.5 speed, finished at 8.7), 3 sets of 5 deadlifts with 50 Lbs on the bar, and then lots of random stuff like dips, pullups, pulldowns, and chest flys. Then came home and had my protein shake stuff for lunch.

I feel good, na na na na na na na, I knew that I woo-ould, na na na na na na na... :-P