In which Sarah Barr catches up to the wagon again and tells it to slow down a bit.

[Sarah Barr]

HI GUYS!

 

I SUCKED LAST CHALLENGE!

 

As in, I started off well, then kind of disappeared off the face of the planet and spent a month living off baked potatoes and cheese and apple pie.

 

Surprise, now I feel a bit cack! But ah, the first time I look at NF in almost a whole month and it's the day after a new challenge starts. Good timing. Missed you guys, but I have this thing where if I haven't spoken to people in a while I feel guiltier and guiltier about not speaking and end up too embarrassed to speak, so, er, sorry.

 

So I think last time I bit off way more than I could chew, and I'm going to simplify things a lot this challenge. Would have been nice, probably, to still be blazing away at Tough Mudder training and to be close to finishing C25K, but that was too much and it knocked me way back.

 

Challenge Goals:

 

1) Don't eat crap (+5 CON):

- Chocolate, cake, nachos, white bread, things that are clearly mostly sugar or grease or filler are defined as crap.

- Everything counts as crap if it's more than an appropriate portion: 2 portions of cheese is crap, 5 portions of fruit is great, a second bowl of chilli is crap.

- Things that are dairy are counted as crap (unless they're lactose free and thus unable to make my everything hurt).

 

2) Exercise three times a week, choosing from the following list (+2 STR, +1 DEX, +2 STA):

- Go swimming for an hour

- Walk to or from work (2.8 miles)

- Do a yoga video

(My achilles tendons are being really funny, so I'm not going to risk things that aren't gentle until they stop being really funny)

 

3) Get fresh air (+2 CON):

- Outside. For at least a couple of hours every weekend. Ideally while doing something physical. I'm going litter picking this weekend on the beach, which would be a good example of this. Goal is in order to give myself a feeling of having done something with my weekends. 

 

 

Life Goal:

 

Basically lifting this from ASOIAF, but: List three interesting things that you didn't know the day before (+3 WIS). Has to be to do with marine biology. Has to be actually interesting, and not just "kinds of worms you can preserve with 4% formalin".

 

 

 

Good to be back. 

 

 

 

As an aside, I am so happy it's Autumn. Summer was way too hot for me. I am planning Halloween already. Not sure how I'm going to top last year's dwarven adventurer costume, which can be seen in part below at Christmas for reasons beyond my understanding. That took so much yarn.

 

 

 

 

[Swampling]

Welcome back!

 

And that's an amazing dwarf!

How many pounds (stones? cubic metres?) of yarn did it take?

 

Sensible goals - hope your achilles tendons won't bother you too much!

Love the life goal, too.

 

So how are you doing so far?

[Sarah Barr]

Hi Swampling! Looking forward to catching up on your sugar monster slaying when I get the chance!

 

Haha, took about 6 balls of chunky white wool and 1 ball of grey. Would have added more if I'd had any...

 

I feel like it's going well so far! Not too stressed, not too much pressure. Have forgotten to do the life goal, so might add a big block of facts at the end of the week.

[GingaNinja]

Good to have you Sarah,let's do it! Last challenge was rough for me as well but we can kick ass this time!

[snark]

I love the life goal, might need to steal it myself in the future!

Glad you're having a good start so far, keep it up!

[Teros]

Missed you guys, but I have this thing where if I haven't spoken to people in a while I feel guiltier and guiltier about not speaking and end up too embarrassed to speak, so, er, sorry.

 

Do we have to have a PM going?

 

Good to see you back. 

 

(My achilles tendons are being really funny, so I'm not going to risk things that aren't gentle until they stop being really funny)

 

As an aside, I am so happy it's Autumn. Summer was way too hot for me. I am planning Halloween already. Not sure how I'm going to top last year's dwarven adventurer costume, which can be seen in part below at Christmas for reasons beyond my understanding. That took so much yarn.

I'm having tons of ankle issues from busting my arse at a spartan race. Achilles tend to feel like thier burning and random stabbing pains on the sides. It's super frustrating.

 

I'm excited for fall too! My favorite time of year. Leaves changing color, the cool breeze that's not cold enough for a big jacket yet. I think of snuggles, flannel overshirts, pumpkin spice, and the start of hearty stews.

 

That's a pretty badass dwarf look.  Have fun and good luck this challenge

[deftona]

That beard is epic. I kinda want one in black for everyday wear because it will go with everything. 

[Sarah Barr]

Finally! A chance to update!

 

Junk goal! Ate some junk at the weekend but otherwise it's going well! Getting more fruit, veg and protein in, and minding portions of things that are junk in excess.

 

Exercise goal! Swam, walked, didn't do yoga but 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Will top it this week.

 

Fresh air goal! Nobody would go with me to litter pick and I ended up curled up in a ball of panic at the idea of going on my own. But the autumn air feels really good so I'm going to go to that beach this weekend on my own - I can do things completely alone fine, it's the idea of going alone to a thing full of strangers that's the problem. Need to work on that.

 

Life goal!

 

Here are... 3x7 days... 21 things I have learned that I didn't know last week!

 

- There's a kind of moth that spends its larval stage in rivers.

- A bunch of the major rivers in Europe converged into one super-river that went through Doggerland and through what would become the English Channel way back in the last Ice Age.

- Turtles have kidney-like organs where you'd think their brain would be.

- Some caddis fly larvae spin fishing nets.

- Figs are not fruit, they're actually a bunch of encased flowers. Delicious, delicious flowers.

- Jellyfish are considered plankton, albeit macroplankton.

- Charles Darwin pretty much invented the plankton net.

- Pretty much all nereids (Ancient Greek sea nymphs) all had names (clutching at marine straws here, yes)

- Insects are rich in protein in a different way from mammals. But I didn't find out how.

- Killer whales can kill great whites just by holding them upside down.

- Holding a great white upside down will kill it because it goes into a trance and drowns.

- The great white is odd because it has to swim to keep breathing - contrary to popular belief, most sharks are able to actively pump water over their gills while chilling out on the bottom.

- Fire ants will eat turtle eggs.

- A fossilised shark eggcase was found in Yorkshire, which is really rare because they're soft.

- A fifth of England's wildflower species are under threat.

- The IWC finally got round to passing a resolution to control scientific whaling.

- Leatherback turtles come all the way up to Scotland and might have inspired the myth of horse-shaped sea monsters.

- The myth of selkies (beautiful people who are secretly seals) might have been inspired by visitors from the north wearing lots of sealskin. Again, clutching at straws here.

- Lots of mammals, including primates, have penis bones; humans are odd for not having them.

- In the same way that when bats relax their feet to grip a branch, seals close their nostrils by relaxing them.

- I knew that insects breathe through holes that run along their sides, but I didn't know that they can also open or close those holes. Makes sense, really.

 

 

...I need to do that every day instead of every week. WALL OF BIOLOGY. Meep.

[Beaucastle]

*lurks*

[GingaNinja]

Oooooo awesome facts and hey I know you don't know me all that well but if you want to meet for a cup of tea and a vent then you are more than welcome, I'm told I'm a good listener!

[Sarah Barr]

Hallo!

 

Things: Good so far! Sticking to goals! Might be coming down with something throaty so not walking this week, but will work out indoors somehow.

Made kit list for Fort William, mostly consisting of waterproofs and spare socks. Woot! (Pretty sure something throaty will be gone by then)

 

Facts from yesterday and today:

- There are lots of big cat sightings in Scotland that are dismissed as cack (my own included, grumble grumble) but in 1980 a puma was caught in Inverness-shire and kept at the highland wildlife park until it died 5 years later.

- Some plants, such as the dead-horse arum are thermogenic (can generate their own heat). 

- Komodo dragons can reproduce via parthenogenesis

- Whip scorpions, which freak me right the tit out, spray acetic acid.

- The pygmy sperm whale is a thing I did not know existed, and it's around 3.5m long, compared to adult bull sperm whales, which can grow to 18 metres long.

- And the spermaceti, a waxy substance which fills much of the head of sperm whales and either controls buoyancy or conducts sound, apparently smells like raw milk.

 

KingLeeroy! Yes please, tea would be good! (I think I'm all vented out for now, but thanks!) Fancy meeting up with Rachel and I at some point, maybe at Black Medicine on Nicolson, hopefully before Fort William? Will FB you later when I find out when Rachel is free!

[IronGlider]

That is a ton of interesting stuff that I didn't know, haha like that you've made this into a daily thing too! :-)

 

Looking forward to where things are going for you... :-)

[Sarah Barr]

Merry Saturday!

 

Very, very bored of bed rest. Throaty thing is tonsillitis. Still not been able to exercise. Boo. Knitting doesn't count as exercise, sadly. But I am making headway on a big sparkly striped purple and black jumper dress. 

 

People I live with are very kind and keep bringing me soft toy poundland dinosaurs and chocolate to help my throat. So two chocolate-flavoured slip ups, but I don't feel like eating much so they were pretty modest. 

 

As much as I would like to just post True Facts videos by zefrank (I've been asleep for two days and haven't learned anything), I will go find out nine facts just now:

 

- Octopuses have one kidney but two hearts.

- Wombats probably evolved cube shaped poop so it doesn't roll off logs when the wombat marks its territory.

- And apparently, wombat poop is cube shaped because it comes out very dry. I don't understand that bit, to be quite honest.

 

- Lactose, the sugar found in milk, is also rumoured to be found in Forsythia flowers, but this hasn't been confirmed by scientific testing.

- Brussels sprouts are bitter because they produce sulphur compounds.

- BUT those sulphur compounds are excellent because the could turn on tumour-suppressor genes in pre-cancerous cells. (So don't over-steam them or you'll lose the good stuff)

 

- The Maori word for eels is tuna.

- Longfin eels will eat ducklings.

- Shark fins do not add any flavour to shark fin soup at all. The flavour is all from the broth.

 

Here is a True Facts video anyway! Have a good day!

 

[Sarah Barr]

Today's facts!

 

- It has been estimated that the... the... that thing... of a Titanosaur (or was it Sauroposeidon?) was around 3.5m long and 30cm wide, but I don't know whether that's diameter or circumference. There was a dinosaur documentary on yesterday called Tyrannosaurus Sex; it was perplexing. There were CGI dinosaurs and awkward looking paleontologists.

 

- That programme also explained that the plates on the back of a stegosaurus were actually not connected to the spine and were free-floating in the skin.

 

- The white, wiggly cords that keep the yolk of an egg suspended in the albumen (and which I hate and have to pick out of the flaming thing before I cook it) are called the chalazae, and the fact that I can't seem to find out what they're made of means I will continue to keep picking them out.

[IronGlider]

Merry weekend to you too!

Whoah, hope you get better, nice to know people are helpless ya! :-)

And Wow, amazing facts!

Also, the very thought of shark fin broth sounds like absolute hell and tortue to me, the smell! The texture! The TASTE!!1 OH THE HORROR!!!!!!!!1 *faints*

[Sarah Barr]

Yay, I am probably better! 

 

Spending the best part of last week in bed means I am having to upload significant quantities of caffeine into system to maintain functional power levels today but I found a source of sugarfree Relentless. It's still junk, but at least it has token amounts of added B vitamins, I guess.

 

Tickets to Fort William meetup booked! Sleeper train, but apparently the West Highland Line is exceptionally beautiful so I will probably not sleep and instead paw sparkly-eyed at the window as the sun rises through the mist, caressing Rannoch Moor in swirls of hazy pearl-gold. Or I will pass out and make drooly angry badger noises in my sleep. One of those.

 

Today's facts:

- This is apparently what an angry badger sounds like.

- "Rannoch Moor contains the most extensive complex of western blanket and soligenous/valley mire in Britain", which is one of the reasons why it's a Special Area of Conservation.

- Rannoch Moor is home to a fairly rare and badass kind of ant, Formica exsecta, which can have colonies with multiple egg-laying queens.

 

And Rannoch Moor looks like this:

 

 

Which means YES YOU HAVE TO COME TO THE FORT WILLIAM MEET UP.

[Sabretooth-Kitty]

Love your dwarven costume!

 

So jealous about the fort william meet up, hopefully there will be something else next year for me to attend. Rannoch Moor looks so beautiful in that pic

[Sarah Barr]

...I am in deep shame.

i'd had a lot of caffeine when I looked up the badger fact, and thought about badger noises, and that turned into people making badger noises, and how my father now looks an awful lot like a badger, and I spent 45 minutes on the bus home sitting by myself, red in the face laughing and I couldn't stop. I tried to pretend my book was funny, but "Ecology of Aquatic Systems" is hardly a riot.

 

Hurr.

 

Extra impetus for success! Meet-up t-shirt miiight end up being too tight. 

 

Going to walk to work and swim tonight, to celebrate being well and truly better.

Which means I have ten minutes to get out the house.

 

Facts!

- I forgot. Later!

 

Going to check weight. Haven't weighed self since bathroom got re-done and the lino was too soft for the scales to work on. 

8 minutes! Shift yer carcass!

 

CARCASS! That is what shall get me going.

 

[Sarah Barr]

106.9 KILOGRAMS?! WHAT THE LONG STRING OF EXPLETIVES IS THIS FURTHER EXPLETIVE?!

 

To be honest, I can't remember what it was the last time I weighed myself. 

[Sabretooth-Kitty]

I love that you're able to just make yourself laugh that much just thinking to yourself, I think it's an awesome talent! 

[Sarah Barr]

Might be a sign that I'm a bit too easily amused!  

 

Added a progress thing to my signature because Iggy's progress thing is exciting to watch and I think it'll give me some more accountability, especially since, with this being day 1 of tracking, there is a big fat 0 under weight lost so far. 

 

Considering cancelling gym membership and spending the money on swimming instead; won't do it yet in case watching the powerlifting competition in FW sparks something, but swimming is more fun for me and I do actually have a swimming buddy!

[IronGlider]

Best of luck as always Sarah, it only goes up from here! I look forward to every iteration you make and seeing that number descend as you embark on your life quest. (how often will you weigh yourself?)

 

And yeah, stick with what you find fun! imo I don't think you need a membership, especially long-term but yeah it might be worth hanging onto for the start + for the fact that you can + as you said you never know, you might spark something of interest! :-)

 

I'll pass my (proverbial) OS to you, remember, there are no limitations for what you or your body can do. It'll be an adventure, filled with discovery and positivity. You will reach there, it's just a matter of time! :-D

 

[Sarah Barr]

I'll pass my (proverbial) OS to you, remember, there are no limitations for what you or your body can do. It'll be an adventure, filled with discovery and positivity. You will reach there, it's just a matter of time! :-D

 

*salutes*

 

I'm thinking weekly weigh-ins, but taking it with a pinch of salt and looking at monthly averages to see how I'm doing!

[Sarah Barr]

Working on a craft project that people can do in FW if/when there is torrential rain and we can't go do things outside. 

 

Was inspired by Teros' wall of motivation and requires your favourite things people have said to you on challenge threads, so I just went through all of my challenges and YOU GUYS I love you guys. You're all awesome!

 

Bit misty eyed now.

[Sarah Barr]

Facts for today and yesterday!

 

- The smallest species of true seal is considered to be the ringed seal, at about 5ft long.

- The only exclusively freshwater pinniped (true seal) species is the Baikal seal, endemic to Lake Baikal in Russia

- But, the largest lake in Finland, Lake Saimaa, does have its own freshwater subspecies of ringed seal, the Saimaa seal. They are all adorable.

 

- Lake Saimaa has asbestos deposits. I did not know asbestos could be a thing that forms natural deposits. Huh.

- The deepest loch in Scotland, Loch Morar, is 310m (1,017ft) deep.

- There is a species of shrew called the Eurasian water shrew, which lives in Britain, and it has venomous saliva.