Skigh's War Journal

[Skigh]

Starting my first challenge today. I logged my first day in my quest topic and after looking around I saw this section for daily record keeping. I enjoyed the result of thinking all day about the things I'll write on here tonight. So I think working towards daily accountability could yield some good results. So I'll copy what I wrote in the other location here and pick up here.

 

Day 1!

Not all that spectacular but the journey started. I did okay on food. I had a buffalo chicken wrap with a side of fries for lunch, but didn't finish the fries. Some tortilla soup from Costco for dinner. All night after work I kept telling myself to do some simple exercises at home but it wasn't happening. Around 9:00 p.m. my wife told me she wanted some ice cream. I took the opportunity to tell her we can go only if we walk. (You can imagine her delight...) So I did get a brisk nightly walk to the store and back. (5 city blocks 1 way.) That's more than I would have done if I wasn't planning on writing this summary of my day, so I guess that's a win. 

 

Tomorrow is my birthday and I've got a brother taking me out to eat for lunch and my dad taking me out for dinner. Dear future Skigh: Make good choices!

 

Considering doing the picture thing tomorrow. I have high hopes for what those pictures will look like on my birthday in 2015. 

 

This last weekend I also talked my wife into buying a scale (mostly for challenge tracking). Which was good because while she's still small she's gained a little weight for the first time since High School. Slowly opening her eyes to the need to eat healthy and be active. "Slow moves."

Weight: 227 lbs.

[Skigh]

Day 2. +1 age is a stat increase, right?

 

Made 1 choice that was in the lesser of 2 evils category (a tostada at Cafe Rio instead of a burrito) and a few not so great choices. Pizza for my birthday dinner with my family and enough Dr Pepper for the week. Giving up the Dr Pepper is a boss battle for another challenge. But I am trying to limit my intake for now. Also with family wanting my attention I wasn't able to do any physical activity. Which now I need to get some exercise in each day for the rest of the week to hit my goal. No big. I'm probably to a total of 2 "evil" meals this week. So there's that. Not a good day challenge wise but I enjoyed my birthday.

Good thing about bad days. There's a new one just a few hours away.

[Skigh]

Day 3.

 

My daily physical activity was gift wrapped by mother nature today. Ain't she sweet? Snowed today which left me with an hour of shoveling to do. Put on a bluetooth headset and listened to the Comedy Icons radio station on Pandora while doing so. I think the laughter added to the work out a bit. Aziz Ansari kills me. People tell me I really need to get into Parks & Rec. Maybe I'll have time when HIMYM finally ends. (Don't judge).  I only give time to follow 1 or 2 tv shows at a time. Right now it's Agents of Shield and HIMYM. On rare occasion I watch an episode of Arrow on netflix. A podcast I listen to insists I do. (Same podcast that got me here.) So eventually that will move up the ranks. I've seen some episodes of Parks & Rec but it didn't hook me. I've heard I need to make it to season 2. 

 

I didn't give in to the dark side of hunger so much today. I had a carnation breakfast this morning, a banana, yogurt and granola for lunch. And wife made fettuccine alfredo with a salad for dinner. And leftovers will be lunch tomorrow.

 

I was hoping to go to the gym tonight but snow took up the time I had for that. Worse things could happen. They gym is still overcrowded this time of year isn't it? On most Thursdays I get to play basketball with my brothers and some friends. This is probably the only environment I enjoy playing sports cause no one gives about the result. We're all there for exercise and win or lose it's always a good time. So I'm looking forward to that tomorrow. 

[Skigh]

Day 4!

 

Played ball with my friends for an hour and 45 min tonight. We usually only play an hour so I have ran myself into the ground. Feels good. Food wise I had leftover pasta and alfredo for lunch and some tuna casserole for dinner. It was a long day so I had a bag of chips for a snack. We have a bag of veggie chips here at home. They taste like rice cakes but it would've kept me from getting potato chips if I had some at work so I will have to fix that tomorrow.

 

I've finally done enough digging around on NF to discover the BBWW, so I plan to do that tomorrow night for my workout. I also discovered where the stats are described so I need to do some more reading on that as well.

 

Did anyone else see Man of Steel for $10 on blu-ray on amazon around Christmas? I just got it in the mail today. This has been a good day.

[Skigh]

Day 5 & 6

 

Yesterday (Friday) was my anniversary so it was a busy day. I didn't have time to do any physical activity but I'm pretty proud of the the decisions I made food wise. Just thinking about my health and taking responsibility for it is helping me make good decisions more frequently. And that is the result I am hoping for through my goals. Good decision #1: For lunch my co-worker wanted to go to In-N Out (Hamburger place for those not in the west). I talked him into going to Jimmy John's (deli sandwiches) instead. I got a Beach Club (turkey lettuce cucumber tomato mayo and avacado). That is my sandwich of choice there. Good decision #2: Instead of Dr. Pepper I got lemonade. One step closer to that boss fight. For dinner my wife and I went to Cowboy Grub. Local homestyle cooking. Good decision #3: I sprung for the salmon filet instead of the Pot Roast or Chicken Fried Steak, and Good decision #4: we drank water instead of Dr pepper. That's 4 decisions that are big victories for me. I would not have made those decisions if I wasn't on this site. Being a Friday, and my anniversary I would've gone to In-N-Out and had a double cheese burger, fries and dr pepper (+ a refill), and I would've gotten the Pot Roast Dinner, and the Dr. Pepper. I may not make these same decisions perfectly from here on out. But that's progress I'm proud of after just 5 days. 

 

After dinner we went and saw Frozen. If you've read my challenge you'll know I'm into animation, so I pay particular attention to character animation in every animated movie I see now. There are subtle touches that I can catch that I just love what it does to the character. One moment that I enjoyed in this movies is at the beginning when Anna gets knocked off of her sister's bed onto the floor. She lands on her butt with her legs straight out. Anna takes a quick second to persuade her sister to play, and untenable excitement causes her legs to wiggle. The movement is so simple but it sells the emotion perfectly.

 

Today was better on the workout, but mediocre success on the food. I had a carnation breakfast this morning, some leftover pizza for lunch, and a chicken salad for dinner. I had a few snacks throughout the day. But I have an excuse! My wife gave me the most awesome birthday cake earlier this week at the worst possible timing. I've been spacing it out over the week, and letting her help me with it. But I'm not going to lie. I ate that whole can of Pringles by myself yesterday and today. Pringles and Dr Pepper are my crack. A few months from now I hope those positions have been replaced by....carrots and Simply Orange juice. Or something. Pringles don't come around nearly as often as DP. But once I pop I just can't stop. Here is the picture of my Birthday cake of vices!

 

 

Okay, holidays are over. My birthday and anniversary are over. There is no important event happening for months now that should tempt me into the dark side. Today was a good day though. I was lifting some boxes and moving a bunch of stuff into storage today. That was quite the workout. And tonight I did my first BBWW! I was able to do 2 circuits! On the second circuit I could only do 10 lunges. My legs were dying! But crap it felt great! I'm happy to know I can still do 10 push-ups! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to. After doing 2 circuits I felt as tired as I do after a half hour run on a treadmill. Very excited to keep doing this!

 

Another plus is I'm well within my goal to keep under 9 hours of games this week. I'm at about 6 hours for the whole week. I was playing quite a bit today, but I didn't play very much during the week. And I pulled myself away from games specifically to do the BBWW. Tomorrow is day 7. I'll probably go on a run for my exercise and spend some time figuring out my grades for week 1 of my challenge.

[LittleMissSunshine]

Love your birthday cake! Happy birthday, and good luck with the vices. Two years into healthier living and I still love the junk, but I at least don't crave it like I used to. Except caffeine. That I totally crave, in any form.

[rocky555]

Ahhh Pringles were my favourite, especially Hot & Spicy.

After not eating them for 3 months, I recently ate them and they did not sit well at all. 

So you just need to resist for a few months and then you can be at peace

[Skigh]

Thanks for the encouragement. Looking forward to the time when my body doesn't like unhealthy foods anymore.

 

Day 7

 

The lazies hit me hard today. I woke up very sore from my workout yesterday So I couldn't even get out and take a walk. I wasn't terrible on food. I ate a sandwich for lunch (turkey, avocado, cheese, spinach, tomato, and bbq sauce)  and nibbled through the rest of the day. That included a bowl of apple jacks, some toast and butter, and tuna on veggie chips. I resisted putting mayo in the tuna. I'm glad to say I didn't miss it. Not a fan of these particular veggie chips though. It'll take some getting used to.

 

With my day of a little too much rest I'll be doing the BBWW tomorrow. 

[SevenofSeven]

Looking good Skigh, everything takes time, and I think you are on the right path!

Good luck with your goals!

[Skigh]

Thanks 7of7.

 

Day 8

 

Off to a great start for week 2! I had a breakfast smoothie this morning (carrots, beets, cashews, dates, strawberries). I made myself a turkey sandwich at work (avacado, cheese, turkey, bbq sauce).

 

When I got home I did 2 circuits of the bbww. 20 squats 10 push-ups 20 lunges 10 dumbbell rows 20 second plank 30 jumping jacks. Last time on the second circuit I only did 10 lunges. I decided to take my time and crank out the whole 20 this time. I upped the planks to 20 seconds cause 15 seemed a little short. And on Saturday my dumbbell rows were with a 10 lb. I didn't feel anything so I used a 20 lb tonight. I felt it a little more, but might do 15 or 20 on Wednesday. 

 

Now I'm going to go find something for dinner, and spend the evening very proud of today. 

For Frodo! (I beat Lego LOTR story mode on steam last night. Get to work on unlocking all the characters now)

[Thom Stépan]

You are doing a great job there mate. The BBWW is a killer, for us newbies. But damn it feels good when you have done it. I thought my legs were strong from carrying me around, but after doing the squats and lunges, I know differently.

 

Keep at it buddy, there are plenty of good folk here to cheer you on.

[Skigh]

Day 9

 

Started off the day with a smoothie and a turkey sandwich for lunch. Along with some yogurt/granola and some leftover pasta between meals. My family went to a local diner for dinner. So I resisted the hamburger and went with a grilled cheese and a pickle. I did eat a few of my wife's fries and some of her smoothie. Could have been better. Could have been worse. I did not get any physical activity in but tomorrow I can do the bbww. 

 

Thanks for the cheers Thom. And you're right. I feel such wonderful pain after a bbww. I love feeling tired an hurt like that. Those lunges hurt, especially on the second round. Can't wait til we're doing 3 circuits! Best part is we'll get there. Cause we're here every day. It's great!

[rocky555]

Thanks for the cheers Thom. And you're right. I feel such wonderful pain after a bbww. I love feeling tired an hurt like that. Those lunges hurt, especially on the second round. Can't wait til we're doing 3 circuits! Best part is we'll get there. Cause we're here every day. It's great!

When I do my burpee challenges, often at the end reps I can barely lift myself from the floor. And I have problems standing for the next few hours. But it feels good somehow and I keep doing it again and again. Now you are hooked and there is no return 

[Skigh]

Days 9, 10 and 11

 

I slacked off for a second there. But don't worry. I'm still here. Not unscathed, but still fighting the good fight.

 

Wednesday I was supposed to do a bbww but failed. Long day at work...yadda yadda yadda... another excuse that future me won't care about. It happened. Sauron still didn't get the ring. I'm still marching towards Mordor. Foods wasn't horrible. I had a turkey sandwich again for lunch, I think there was a smoothie in the morning and at night I had some toast and cheese, and some veggie chips (which are still gross. But the bag's almost gone).

 

Thursday was a carnation chocolate milk for breakfast, Subway for lunch, and a freschetta pizza for dinner. I did get to play basketball with my brothers. It was only the 3 of us this week so we tried 2 on 1. That was a great workout for my brother (who was by himself) but not so great for the team of 2. So we switched it to 1 on 1 on 1. That gave us all a workout. Felt great! 90 minutes of exercise there. 

 

Today my work bought me a cafe rio salad for my birthday. Carnation breakfast. And we had french toast for dinner. Sometimes our attempts to avoid fast food aren't the healthiest, but we didn't spend $15 at Wendy's so I'm happy. And I stepped away from the video games to do my BBWW! 2x(20 squats 10 push-ups 20 lunges 10 dumbbell rows 20 second plank 30 jumping jacks). Good news. The lunges on the second circuit weren't as painful. I was able to get through all 20 at a fairly steady pace. PROGRESS!

 

I've been a little heavy on the games this week and still haven't done anything towards my life goal since the challenge started. I need to change that tomorrow. Maybe update my quest to be a little more specific. 

[Thom Stépan]

We all have down days. It is the getting up again that counts. Good for you for getting up.

Woden uses ravens for messages, I use a Samsung S4.

[Skigh]

Day 12 and 13

 

Saturday I went to a local model train show. My dad and nephews are into them so it was a family affair. There was a lego club there that had quite the collection. Including Shield's airship from Avengers with working propellers, and Iron Man attached to a propeller trying to jump start it. It was huge, and made me remember my childhood dreams of having a lego room someday. They also had the Shire with some hobbit holes and rivers and bridges. They build a generic city out of legos with multiple themes. It included the courthouse in back to the future with Doc Brown up on the clock and a line that went down to a Delorean complete with the hook to catch the lightning strike. The turtles were there. A lot of Batman going on. Bane and crew lined up against the police outside the Gotham stock exchange building. A few of Batman's vehicles. A batcave that had a classic batmobile. That was the only thing that entertained me. But it was a lot of walking around so I wasn't completely lazy yesterday. I did eat lunch after the show at Culvers. Bad news. My body definitely likes fast food a little less. Small moves.

 

Today I had some tortilla soup and corn chips for lunch. And a turkey sandwich with cheese for dinner. I just finished my 2 circuits of the BBWW. After two circuits I am completely exhausted and muscles feel well worked. But I'm getting less and less sore the next morning. Not sure if I need to rest for 10 minutes and try a 3rd circuit or if I should up my reps on circuits 1 and 2. I welcome any thoughts. (See my previous few BBWW descriptions. i haven't changed anything yet).

 

Heading over to my mission now to grade myself for the week.

[Skigh]

Day 14, 15 & 16. Mini-Boss fight: 3rd circuit

 

Monday & Tuesday are best left out of sight to my memory. But this is a journal, right? No workout on either day. I'm particularly disappointed I didn't do anything Monday because I had the day off. (Thank you bankers hours.) Monday I had a wonderful turkey sandwich (potato bread, avocado, spinach, cheddar cheese, tomato, pickles, bbq sauce) at home. I had subway for lunch on both Tuesday and today (Wed) because I woke up too late to make myself dinner. Any regular foot long is $5. So it's any easy answer to dodge evil food. Calorie wise it probably isn't much better. But I eat a lot more vegetables on a sub than I do a hamburger. So it works for me for now. Yesterday I had a buffalo chicken sandwich (w/ pepper jack lettuce [they were out of spinach] tomato, cucumber, pickles, jalapenos, green peppers, and southwest sauce) with chips and a Dr Pepper. Today I had a spicy Italian (spinach, tomato, green peppers, pickles, jalapenos, pepper jack and southwest). Chips and DP again as well. 

 

So after 2.5 days of bad decisions I decided to dive head first back into the fight, And I conquered my mini boss! I did 3 circuits of the BBWW. 3 x (20 squats, 10 push ups, 20 lunges, 20 dumbbell rows, 20 sec. planks, 30 jumping jacks). I upped the rows by 10 cause I was barely feeling 10 as it was. I'm using 20 lb dumbbells. They were just laying around the house. I think they'll do for now. The third circuit definitely kicked my trash. I figured out I can keep a decent pace on the lunges if I keep timing with my breath and give me one breath rest between each lunge. And my entire upper legs were screaming obscenities at me in the shower. Made me cry inside.

 

Question about the planks. When I exhale I muscles tend to tremble. My arms and legs (where my weight is being supported) just shake a little uncontrollably when I'm breathing out. It isn't painful. It more seems like my muscles are trying to keep balance. That sounds like a bad way to describe it, but I don't know what else to say. I'm wondering if I'm holding the plank wrong. Any thoughts are welcome. 

 

I looked through my email a little closer and saw the email from Nerd Fitness about the Jedi Training. I think I'm going to start doing this a few times a week on my off days from the BBWW. Looking forward to that!

 

Also, something else I need to write down so I'm accountable for it. (Begin sobs of gamer Skigh). I mentioned I woke up too late to make myself lunch. That's cause Monday night I was up til 3, and Tuesday night I was up til 2. So next mini-boss fight is to stop fighting the heartless. I've been a little over involved with the Kingdom Hearts 1.5 remix for ps3. So I'm going over to my challenge to start grading myself on my life quest of animating. I'm committing to 6 hours a week. That's 1 hour a day with 1 day break. Whenever I can get myself into it I usually go on for hours. So I don't expect this to be too hard. Including it in my grades will help me kick back the games a little and get something done for my demo reel. 

[Skigh]

Day 17 

 

too tired to press the shift key. played ball. my trash was handed to me in a gift box. i have a weak shoulder. it can slightly dislocate easier than it should. i know how to put it back in place easy so it just ends up super sore. but it's something i try to avoid. i just usually don't take certain risks when playing sports, or doing other things. this happened twice tonight though. adrenaline is keeping it from hurting right now but tomorrow morning it will have divorce papers ready to take everything away from me. hopefully by tomorrow night i ought to be able to do my push ups without any trouble. it isn't so much the push up motion that causes it to come out. its funnier movements. like throwing a frisbee really hard. i have never lost any range of motion from it. i just have to cater to it a little more carefully than others. that's life. to summarize this paragraph: i hurt.

 

i had the mac n cheese bar at my work's cafeteria for lunch and my wife made salmon with salad and potatoes for dinner. 

 

oh and before i went to basketball i did spend an hour working on a walk cycle tonight. (victory!)

 

and now i will go to bed before 1 am for the first time this week. 

[Skigh]

Day 18 & 19 Circuit #3 still unfriendly

 

Friday I had a turkey sandwich at Jimmy Johns and then I had a pizza for dinner cooked at home. Both my wife and I wanted a burger and fries. Not sure our alternate was any better but I have stayed away from the fast food restaurants. I was kicking myself for not working out before I ate because I did not feel up to it after I ate. So no exercise.

 

Today I had yogurt for breakfast and some random samples at the grocery stores I went to. Any time we pass some sushi samples I try to get my wife to try some. That might yield some results in ten years but I don't see that happening any sooner than that. I made myself a turkey sandwich in the afternoon and we went to Red Robin for dinner. Not "fast food" but not a meal i'm proud of. My foods grade will not be pretty tomorrow. Nor will my side quest. Old habit is a hard beast to kill for good. Can't expect everything to change overnight. I was super close to not working out tonight but looking ahead to when I want to do the bbww this coming week I needed to get it done today. So at midnight I made myself do 3 circuits of the BBWW. 3 x (20 squats, 10 push ups, 20 lunges, 20 rows, 20 sec planks, 30 jumping jacks). My legs feel like fettuccine after that workout. Boy do I feel better about that half hour than I do about the several hours before being rather unproductive.

 

This is a site for geeks and whatnot so I won't hide that I'm pretty excited about what I have been doing with my game time this week. I am 2 achievements away from getting all the steam achievements for Batman: Arkham Aslyum. I just need to get all the trophies in the combat challenges. Pointless I know but I am definitely a completionist gamer. Probably why I like Guild Wars 2. Also why this website is changing my life. Looking forward to the end of this challenge. Leveling on here will be more satisfying than any level on a video game.

[citizenkade]

Dude! THREE WEEKS! Breathe that in a moment. THREE WEEKS you've been making a concerted effort to make your life healthier. Way to go, man! Hitting that BBWW at midnight? Do you think you would have had that mentality a month ago? WAY TO KICK SOME ASS!

[Skigh]

Thanks Kade! I know. It is crazy to me how dedicated I have been to this. Just by changing the way I think about my quest every day. My wife will suggest we go somewhere to eat and I'll respond with "That goes against my quest. We can't go there."  A month ago there is no way I was committed enough to good health to exercise at midnight. Especially that much of a workout. Much appreciation for the invitation to NF on geekshow. 

 

(My log is 2 pages now! WIN!)

[Skigh]

Day 20  "OOOOOHHHHH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE..."

 

Today was a pretty chill day. I was home all day. Foods was some cereal and tuna casserole for dinner. I did some more reading on the star wars workout NF just posted this month. At first read I thought it was something to do for rest days from a strength workout. Upon further reading I realized it is an alternate strength workout. So I may work on the handstand thing each day and do the rest of it once a week in place of one of my BBWW's. Cause I want to be a Jedi. So, tonight I decided to go on a run for my exercise. Nothing too impressive. "Zombies, Run!" told me I ran a mile. I suppose if I'm going to go on random runs I better take a page out of CitizenKade's and Thom's book and track my walk through Middle-Earth. So, mile 1. Hooray.

[citizenkade]

Be what ever you want. Unless it's a Jedi. Always be a Jedi.

[Skigh]

Day 21 Zombies ate my pain meds

 

Today was pretty good. Surprising as it is Monday. I had a carnation breakfast this morning and made myself a turkey sandwich for lunch (potato bread, turkey, spinach, avocado, and bbq sauce). When I got home from work I knew I had better work out right away or I'd excuse my way out of it. So I went running from Zombies for my warm-up which turned out to be 1/2 a mile. I was worried that I had worn myself out too much to do a full 3 circuits. I just took my time but I rocked 'em out! 3 x (20 squats, 20 push ups, 20 lunges, 20 rows, 20 second plank, 30 jumping jacks). The lunges are slowly getting bearable. Even with the 1/2 mile jog I still completed the third circuit at a consistent pace. And for din din we're having stroganoff. And I am going to love it. 

 

Mid challenge weight 224.8 lbs. One foot in front of the other.

[Skigh]

Also add 1.5 hours of animation to my week. Woohoo!