Starpuck Confronts her Rival

[starpuck]

 

 

 

 

(to be continued...)

[karinajean]

[emoji173]ï¸

Sent from my iPhone while riding a unicorn through the cosmos.

[starpuck]

This ...

 

is our heroine, Starpuck!!

 

And like most heroes, she has to overcome her fair share of struggles to be triumphant.   

And all great heroes have one hurdle in common...

 

A RIVAL!

 

 

Our hero is out hiking and hanging from trees like a boss!!!

... while her rival?   

 

Yeah, that's two-fisted gaming going on.  PC whirring and XBOX controller in hand.

 

 

Why do you always obstruct my path!?

All I ever wished for was to pass through here, unhindered...

And yet, why?  Why must you challenge me so!?

Always standing in my way.

In other words?

My Rival!!

~ Erza Scarlet

 

 

Pass through unhindered.   

That's a key point there.   

---Unhindered---

Or, ya know, without a lot of effort.  

 

That, I must confess, is one of my hang ups.   I get tired of the constant hard work.   The constant thinking and effort.   I get frustrated, and even bitter, at those who seem able to achieve what I want to achieve, but without the effort.   What it eventually amounts to is my giving up for just long enough, that I fizzle out and don't make lasting changes.    I know I am capable of making them, but it's about working to succeed beyond 'the six weeks'.   Mindset must change.

 

How do I know I can do this?   Because I gave up all artificial sweetener and sodas on Sept 1st, 2014.   Ok, that might not seem like much- I mean it's not even a full year yet.  But it is getting up toward 6 months.   Also, I was a 4-8 sodas/day drinker.   Soda with breakfast, with lunch, with dinner, with my snack, and refills if we're out, or gaming.   I don't even reach for them any more.   It's absolute habit to just fill up the glass with water at home, or say 'Just water for me' at the restaurants.

 

Last challenge I was able to do a lot of internal, brain-stuff, emotional thinking crap.     And this is a terrifying confession to make, especially as I think back to a friend, years ago telling me, "Why only look up to and be inspired by these kick ass female characters?   Why not actually /be/ one."   He was the same friend who told me that if I could ever learn to use my powers of rationalization to talk myself into the good, healthy, confident behaviors- that I would be unstoppable.

 

I know who my rival is.   

I know who is always standing in my way.

It's myself.

 

 

And I am going to defeat my rival this challenge!!!

[joedog]

I love it!

[Haikoo]

Woo! I hope you kick your ass!

[SevenFootGeek]

Rar!  Mighty Starpuck is mighty!  

[Lokesbrah]

I think I understand. I always let myself down as well. But... it does have to change someday right?

[JerseyLightning]

I can relate! I hope you win this challenge, starpuck! Kick your own ass! XD

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

 

 

Yea - go get her!!!

[pwallace]

 

 

Sounds like an Identity crisis. Go kick some ass.....your own ass....... Following like Happy follows Natsu!

[kaelvan]

Somehow this seem fitting

[Sandylion]

[starpuck]

Apparently this challenge is going up one piece at a time.  Hah!  But that's okay, it's giving me time to really think about each part I want to post and how I want to do it.   I feel, a little bit, like I might be biting off too much- but while the "goals" might be many, they are kind of flexible in some regard.   So!   Here's the job board for this challenge!

 

 

 

 

GOAL #1 - Journal & Track My Noms

 

Aka, track calories in/out in MFP!

Target per week:   6+

36 Days Tracked = +3.5 CHA

While I wish I didn't have to track.   I do.   At least until I get into mindless, don't have to think about it, healthy habits, choices and portion sizes.

There is a side quest attached to this, which has a HUGE stat reward attached to it because it's THAT big of a deal.

No McDonalds Burritos - AT ALL!!

0 Burritos = +5 CON

Why?  Because my sister was ALSO just diagnosed with diabetes.   Of my immediate family, (Dad, 2 brothers and my sis) three of them are diabetic.   *I* will not be.

 

 

GOAL #2 - No More Slacking!  Move, Lift, Bend!

 

Strength Train 3x/week

18 Strength Sessions = +3 STR

The bottom line is I really like being strong, and I like what strength training does to my shape.   Those two things will not come, without consistent time put into maintaining those things.

Mobility 3x/week

18 Sessions of stretching or foam rolling = +1.5 DEX

This will continue to assist my knee rehab, will go a long way in continuing to improve the damage done to my left toe/leg/etc from past foot surgeries, keep me more guarded against injuries from hockey and other sports.

Total Days in Motion 6x/week

36 total days in some kind of motion.

Ex: Hockey, dancing, walking 10k steps, biking, shoveling, yardwork.    Anything that has me up off my arse counts.

 

To make sure I am eating correctly for my activity levels, the following caloric goals will be my rough draft target:

Rest Days = 1400

10k Step Days = 1600

Lifting/Dancing Days = 1700

Hockey Days = 2100

 

**I have the new Fitbit Charge HR, which monitors my HR ALL day.   I will still use my Polar HRM to monitor my heavy exercises as the Fitbit has a tendency to lose some accuracy in those situations.   If my target goals on calories end up landing me short of what I need based on Fitbit/HRM inputs, I will adjust.

 

 

 

 

GOAL #3 - Be Creative!

 

Be Creative 1x/week

6 Creative Outlets = +2 Wis

This can be drawing, painting, music, creating things with my photos, new photography, making videos/montages for the hockey team/NF.    It's my, "Do stuff that you are not already good at" goal.    Upping the anti here in that I am going to have a requirement of POSTING what I do each week as proof and accountability of what I've done.   (And to teach me how to get over the hang up of only wanting to share things that come easy or turn out 'perfect'.)

 

 

 

And... that's it.   It's not a lot, but it's a lot, but it's not.   I dunno.     I've managed 6 days of being active before- and since I am allowing a variety of things to count and mix and match, I feel it's very doable.  The only thing that needs to be strict is the 3x strength workout part.   The rest can be very flexible.    So ... here we go.  

 

[blkhole24601]

Fantastic goals! Camping out here again~

[alienjenn]

which one will win?!

[Lokesbrah]

Great Goals! I hope you can nail this challenge too!

[karinajean]

Nice! It's a lot, like you said, but you can do it.

Do you like the fitbit charge hr? I'fe been waiting to see how the jawbone up 3 w hr compares.

Sent from my iPhone while riding a unicorn through the cosmos.

[obax]

Over the past few challenges, it seems like you've really had some good revelations, and it's been great watching you evolve your thinking in all these helpful ways. This definitely seems like an extension of all the self-realization. Many people are their own worst enemy, but not many people have the insight or strength to realize that, let alone to actively work to overcome it.

 

As always, I'm cheering you along the whole way! I can't wait to see how it goes for you (I suspect it will be good!).

[chickie.monkey]

I'm gone for a super long time and you're just as awesome as always. I was just talking with my wife the other day about how I'm my own worst enemy and constantly getting in my own way. Here's to us conquering ourselves.

 

And yes, I did write up my challenge. Thanks for fixing that for me.

[maigrey]

You got this, starpuck!

[starpuck]

Day 1 - I am coming for you!!

 

 

ERK!!!!!

 

 

                      Me â–¼

  â—„ My Workout

 

Soooo that didn't go as well as I'd like it to, but I did it!  I got up, I started it, it kicked my ass, but I finished it.  No quitting.   

 

Unlike some of my past lapses in working out, this most recent one where I was sick for almost 3 solid weeks, had brought my activity level down to a full zero percent.   I need to cut myself some slack and realize that not only has my progress paused, but my body spent all its energy on trying to get me healthy again.   While the illness is gone, the body may not yet be recovered.  

 

...but it will.

 

Other things to note:

Got my grocery shopping in!  (Conquered the coupon malfunction at the grocery store)

Bought lots of healthy food!  (And no junk food for work.)

Ate my scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast.  (Despite dropping eggshell in the bowl!)

Did my lunch hour workout.  (Even though I am likely playing hockey tonight.)

Stretched for 10 minutes afterward.   (Even though my body was trembling like a leaf.)

 

 

~TODAY'S WORKOUT WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY, The Enforcer from Above, 7FG~!

 

3 Circuits of the Following

• 10 incline push ups
• 10 bodyweight squats (spiderman kind from PT)
• 30" plank
• 10 bench dips
• 10 reverse lunges
• 10 burpees

I am very glad that I told myself, "Starpuck, it is okay to bring this down to a beginner/warm up level... you have not asked your body of ANYTHING for three weeks, so don't be a dick to it."

 

Now I need to figure out how to make my new Fitbit Charge HR play nicely with MFP and my input workouts from the readings of my Polar HRM.    Ugh, math face.

[SevenFootGeek]

[pwallace]

YOU CAN DO IT DON'T GIVE UP!

[obax]

An excellent start! I know the feel of how hard it is getting back to things, I only took a week off (unlike you, for no good reason, however), and holy cow, this morning hurt...

 

Inquiry: you have in the past mentioned a heart rate monitor, which, if I understood correctly, assisted in determining the number of calories burned during the day/during workouts. Is this the Polar HRM you speak of, and if so, how does it work? I've been thinking about getting something like that, more out of curiosity than anything, but have no idea what I'm even looking for...

[karinajean]

Nice! I am totally stealing your workout for my hotel room tomorrow. EXCELLENT.