UH60guy ain't afraid of no ghost

[UH60guy]

Sub-creatures! Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, the Traveller has come! Choose and perish!

I couldn’t help it… These goals for the challenge just popped into my head.

The choice is made!

 

 

Ray Stantz: Gozer the Gozarian! Good evening. As a duly elected representative of the city, county and state of New York I order you to cease and desist in all supernatural activity and return to forthwith to your place of origin or the nearest convenient parallel dimension.

 

Life goal first: It’s time to cease and desist some of these side projects and simplify my life- we have a baby on the way that is due Nov 2 (right around the end of this challenge!) and that’ll be plenty for me. I’m lucky enough to be at a point in my life and career that I can afford to step back a little too. I had to take a hard look at two commitments- I was training to run my second marathon and working on a master’s degree in aerospace engineering- both of which occupied much of my free time.

 

After a little soul searching, I abandoned the marathon and will keep to half marathons since they don’t take hours of training many times a week. After even more soul searching, I stopped with the degree too- I hadn’t paid anything other than my free time (GI Bill, thanks), but I think I was getting it just to collect another masters degree- not so much to really have an opportunity to use it.

 

My goal, now that the calendar is cleared up a bit, is to do something every day to prepare for the baby. Whether that’s prepping the nursery, reading the books the wife bought for half an hour, organizing closets, etc… Just something each day.

I’ll just need to focus on the big picture.

 

Winston Zeddemore: What do you mean big?

Egon Spengler: Well, let's say this Twinkie represents all of the psychokinetic energy in the New York area. According to this morning's sample it will be a Twinkie, 35 feet long and weighing approximately 600 pounds.

Winston Zeddemore: That's a big Twinkie.

 

 

I don’t need that kind of sugary treat. I need to pay better attention to what I eat. Last challenge, I paid attention to what I ate, rather than the scale, and I lost weight. At least I did, until I slacked off and gained it all back the second half of the challenge. I’m going to try again. One point for each healthy meal (emphasis on portion control and REAL food, not crap from a box), 0 points for skipped or unhealthy meals, -0.5 points for snacks and desserts. It’s a little vague, and subject to my judgement, but it seems to work when I’m honest with myself. I’m not going paleo or grain free or anything- so pasta or bread are fine if the meal is healthy if used appropriately, not like in Nutella/Stay-Puft marshmallow sandwiches or something. It’s a maximum of 126 points, but 100 points is my goal based on realistic changes to eating patterns each week. That’s about 17 points per week, which is like 2-3 missed or not perfectly healthy meals and 2-4 snacks/desserts.

 

I’ll need to stay focused, and repeat my early success.

 

Ray Stantz: Sir, what you have there is what we refer to as a focused, non-terminal, repeating phantasm, or a Class Five full roaming vapor. Real nasty one, too!

 

 

Ray reminds me that I also need to be a full roaming vapor. I’m just toning back, not quitting, my running. I’ll run three days per week: one set of sprints for 2-3 miles, one medium run day of 3-6 miles, and one long run day of 6-15 miles. I’ll try to alternate the distance of my long runs to not injure myself and stay fit for my races. I’m running the “Crawlin’ Crab Half Marathon†on October 6, and the “Wicked†10k on October 26, right at the end of the challenge. I’ll try to do that in my costume too- I’ve never run in a costume, and I have a Vinz Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer costume I made a year ago that I never got to wear. Now I just need to retool the colander hat to be padded for running.

 

 

It’s all about balancing life with my exercise. Devoting too much time to any one pursuit would be bad.

 

Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?

Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal.

 

 

OK, maybe not total protonic reversal bad, but getting fat and outta shape bad. I’ll hit the gym three times per week during my lunch break. Gotta keep it in perspective and flexible. I have a physical fitness test in the third week, so I can’t get too regimented in my plan as I have to allow for training on specific events and rest days leading up to it, but anything’s free game after October 1 (coincidentally, my birthday).

 

OK, time to get started on the challenge!

Peter Venkman: Let’s show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!

 

 

Tl;dr

1) Do something for the upcoming baby each day. WIS+2, CHA+2

2) Eat better than I did last challenge. CON+2, WIS+2

3) 1 sprint session, 1 mid distance, 1 long run per week. DEX+2, STA+2

4) Gym three times per week. STR+3

Long term goal: If it wasn't obvious enough, gotta get ready for my first baby! She's a comin' at the end of the challenge!

Cop out, but deal with it: My inspiration is the same as last challenge, the first ultrasound and a 3D ultrasound posted beside my monitor at work:

[Fonzico]

I love that you're trying to find some more balance in your life before the baby comes - I think you'll definitely earn your wisdom points on that one! And what better inspiration could you ask for?

 

Good luck to you in this challenge - love the theme, BTW

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Your themes are always the best. Let's rock this one out :-D

[UH60guy]

Thanks for the encouragement! Looking forward to facing my ghosts of the previous challenge, which I feel I could have done a lot better.

[thekatisalie]

Great motivation! Congrats on the upcoming little one!! I love your theme and can't wait to see how your goals pan out for you!

[tenaciousglee]

I'll be tracking along, too! You've got an excellent write-up and I wish you luck.

[pbandbrains]

Congratulations and good luck!

[darkfoxx]

You can totally rock this. Good work on re-structuring your priorities to better align with life happenings. 

[UH60guy]

Off to a good start. It helps to have the Ghostbusters theme stuck in my head all day to remind me too

 

Breakfast- 2-egg omelet filled with a little bacon and mozzarella, topped with a 100 cal pack of the Wholly Guacamole (all natural REAL ingredients, very tasty). Cuppa joe sans sugar.

Lunch- Greek yogurt and an apple, large bottle of water.

Cake in break room: ignored.

Gym- 4 sets of pull ups, dips, decline sit ups, decline push ups.

 

Already at 2 points for the food for the day, 1/3 gym visits complete, and I haven't even gotten home from work yet.

 

It feels good to be focused again. Every time a challenge ends, I seem to lose focus, binge eat, or slack on the workouts. I almost forgot how awesome that starting fresh feeling of a new challenge can be.

[thekatisalie]

Grats on ignoring the cake! That is the hardest part for me. Last night my husband brought me dessert and I had to decline it, even after he 'prepared' it for me.

I love Wholly Guacamole! Nummm. I think you just inspired me to go pick some up!

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Off to a good start. It helps to have the Ghostbusters theme stuck in my head all day to remind me too

 

Breakfast- 2-egg omelet filled with a little bacon and mozzarella, topped with a 100 cal pack of the Wholly Guacamole (all natural REAL ingredients, very tasty). Cuppa joe sans sugar.

Lunch- Greek yogurt and an apple, large bottle of water.

Cake in break room: ignored.

Gym- 4 sets of pull ups, dips, decline sit ups, decline push ups.

 

Already at 2 points for the food for the day, 1/3 gym visits complete, and I haven't even gotten home from work yet.

 

It feels good to be focused again. Every time a challenge ends, I seem to lose focus, binge eat, or slack on the workouts. I almost forgot how awesome that starting fresh feeling of a new challenge can be.

 

 

Exactly what I expected from you. You got this like a puppy has cute.

[Eilyd]

I like this theme even better than BSG!  Good job on the cake - remember, it's a lie!

[UH60guy]

The cake may be a lie, but my semi-anniversary wasn't. Had our 16th anniversary last night, though we’ve been married 8 years (two weddings, long story).

 

I did well during the day but we went out for dinner. I was going to be good, but then I was presented with kangaroo on the menu, and well, curiosity got the better of me. Then dessert. +2, -.5 for the day, running total of 4.5 points for meals.

 

I also skipped a run, but it was for the sake of:

 

Today was “do everything for the baby day.†I took the day off work, and we ran a gauntlet of appointments- pediatrician meet-and-greet at 8 (though he called in sick), chiropractor for the wife at 10, baby stuff exchanging/shopping, hospital arrival information class, midwife appointment, dinner, then a breastfeeding for couples class brought the day to a close at 9 PM. I think we hit that goal out of the park on the “do something for the baby†front.

 

The run can be made up, no problem

[thekatisalie]

Oh man. KANGAROO! I had kangaroo at a place in town. It was seasoned so wonderfully and cooked to perfection. How did you like it?

So much to learn in preparation for a baby. I hope it is good bonding time for you and the wife, too!

[UH60guy]

This was cut into bite sized chunks, serve on linguine with a light olive oil type sauce with peppers, mushrooms, and a pico de gallo type topping. Sounded weird but was pretty good. Tasted like a mild beef, and the preparation made for a good dish.

 

Couldn't get credit for the healthy meal (though it might have been) since I'm not sure exactly how it was prepared, plus I had a bread roll, she crab soup, and two glasses wine. Marzcapone cake for dessert. On one hand it was our anniversary, but on the other I really need to work on my control. I'm good at avoiding the situation to have food in front me, but once it's there (restaurant, home with snacks, pot luck) I lose my hard-won control and just eat anyting. Gotta keep working at it to do well on the challenge.

 

On the plus side, an expensive dinner ensures I don't have the financial resources to slip up like this again too soon! I'm back on track today on the food front with two good meals- one just some toast and almond butter for breakfast, and a Starbucks "protein" bistro box containing an egg, apple, grapes, peanut butter, and a scone. 6.5 cumulative points (of 8 possible) so far.

 

The gym got cancelled today as I got pulled into a long meeting (will have it again on Friday too) so I'll improvise with a run and workout at home tonight. Might try to do my sprints up to a playground, do my workout, and do the sprints home. We'll see!

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Sounds like you had a good back up plan for your workout! Indulgences are fine every so often, we're only human and that sounds absolutely fantastic. Well worth it on a special day. .

However, back to the grind!

[idealistinfire]

Sounds like you're doing well overall - bet the "all for the baby" day was exhausting though!

[UH60guy]

Oh, that day wore me out, but like ripping off a band aid, it was great to just do it all at once.

 

Back on track. Got my sprints in last night. However, since the weather was beautiful out, the playground was full. I planned on doing my workout back at the house, but since I put so much effort in the sprints, I physically couldn't handle more than a few push ups. I figured I would be better served to try the workout tonight instead, and not immediately following a run.

 

I wish I looked at the watch more, because I think this would have been one of the fastest times I've run. It said something like 20:54 (high-something twenty) on the watch- that was after two miles of sprints (8 quarter mile sprints), and included 8 minutes of walking (1 minute after each sprint)! I don't think I've ever sustained that kind of speed, which is something like 6:30/mile pace. I'll have to pull up the records on the watch tonight to see just how well it went. Always amazing to think that in just 20 minutes I can get in a kick-ass workout that really does the trick, and I don't need to devote an entire day to it.

 

Eating went better, I'm back on track. Three good meals yesterday, and one this morning. Fruit and egg for breakfast. Cumulative total as of Thursday morning is 8.5 points (goal is 17/week average).

 

Baby stuff- got in a good 30 minutes reading last night before bed. So far I'm on track for 3/3 days of staying focused on it and not devolving into goofing off.

[idealistinfire]

I hear you on the surprise that a 20 minute workout can be all that is needed to wear you to the bone instead of needing an entire day of activity.  Felt that way after my workout yesterday.  Good work getting back on track after a crazy-busy day

[Eilyd]

Lookin' good. I have to say, your baby-prep day is kind of intimidating and makes me nervous about all the other things that go along with having a kid. Your kangaroo experience sounds interesting (for what it's worth, I would totally count that as a healthy meal).

[UH60guy]

I'm not sure if I'm making excuses, letting circumstances get the better of me. Am I "allowing things to happen to me" or is this "making bad decisions within limited time resources?"

 

The only thing I accomplished yesterday was three healthy meals. Granted, it's still an accomplishment, and healthy foods while in a long conference is a win in and of itself.

 

I got to work at 7 AM, worked through lunch (my usual gym time) because of this week long conference. The boss had to leave early, but unfortunately the boss' boss came over right before I would have left at 4 and needed me for a special project. I ended up working until 6 PM, and still had to make the hour drive home. Dinner was shortly after I arrived (grilled chicken and broccoli).

 

So, I was faced with a 7:30 dinner, and not wanting to run or work out on a full stomach. I probably could have made better use of the time between dinner and bed at 10:00, but I didn't do anything around the house or do my reading either. Just kinda vegged out on the sofa and watched a little TV together.

 

Still only at 1 run and 1 workout this week, and I missed my first baby prep day. I'm hoping today will fare better. I think the conference is supposed to (finally!) end at noon, so I might just be able to make it to the gym today after all.

[idealistinfire]

Can't wait to hear about your gym workout!  I know a full schedule makes it way more difficult to get everything done, especially when tired or brain-dead, but you'll feel better for the workout.  I think I've asked you this before, but do you have a favorite workout move that you're just dying to do? 

[UH60guy]

Yup, I made it to the gym after work! Almost didn't find parking because they set up an Oktoberfest tent right next to the gym... isn't it September?

 

OK, got the workout in, but not the run. Another long day, and I'm planning to run both weekend days. Dinner was at the Indian place... it was relatively healthy, got the Tikka which is like Indian fajitas minus the tortillas- but I still had a samosa and naan. No points

Saturday breakfast was good, but lunch not so much. I went flying today and unexpectedly ran into a friend at the airport.

 

We checked out the Corolla lighthouse on the North Carolina Outer Banks:

 

However after the flight, he bought me lunch- a hamburger and fries in a diner. No points but ohhhh boy did it taste good. I'll need to be good the rest of the weekend...

[UH60guy]

Got the run in today, but that hamburger defeated me for round two. It already stole my healthy meal point, but it was still sitting on my stomach during the run. I felt icky, and only made it 4.2 miles of the planned 5. That still fits within my 3-6 mile mid-range run goal, so I'm on track. Woohoo!

 

And on the baby front- last night, read more of my book. I'm almost halfway through it now, when before it just sat on my nightstand collecting ust. At least the challenge got me moving there! Today I hung curtains. Sort of. I put up the brackets, measured and held them up exactly where the wife wanted them. Once the brackets and rod were up, I found that the rod she picked was an inch too short and couldn't fit across the window. After a brief, halfhearted argument about the need to measure things before buying, we figured we'll just go to Wal Mart and pick out another rod. No real harm done. The curtains do look good at least.

 

So, here's the rub- do I get the point for doing something if I have to undo it? I better be sure to get in some reading tonight on top of this just to be extra safe

 

Edit... Also to remind me to stay on track- I'm now setting the alarm and ringtones on my phone to the Ghostbusters theme. Might serve as a song to get suck in my head when I'm getting ready to snack or slack!

[idealistinfire]

The theme song thing really works - many times this week I've been like "Oh, I just want fast food" or "Uhg, I don't want to go for my walk AGAIN", but I'm making myself listen to my theme song everytime the Saboteur starts his attacks, and its been very effective at bolstering healthy habits.  And yes, I think you get points for doing things even if you have to redo them.  It's not like you made the mistake on purpose.