Tkal and the guilds' routines

[Tkal]

Back from a great (but too short) vacation. Not much skiing (only 20+20+15 Km), but on all other days I went 1000m uphill (half of it on snow-shoes). Plus the days at my sister's, running/fighting/biking/throwing balls with my nephew. All in all I had plenty of outdoor quality time, which I really needed. And I came back without any extra weight on me, which is something I never manage to do when my mother is around.

 

Now back to business as usual. And as often happens with me, this challenge will be shorter and it will end on 30th March. That makes 27 days in total instead of the usual 42

 

In putting together this challenge I had some trouble to decide in which thread to go. I the end I stay here, where everything still fit

The conclusion of previous challenge was that the best approach is to have a consistent routine, 10 minutes of practice every day instead of 2 hours once per week

 

Tkal is an "assassin playing with the monks" STR +2, DEX +2

I am tuning down GMB program to 15 minutes of flexibility and balancing work, every day. Establish the routine is the crucial aspect. Flexibility will be more "feel the body needs". Balancing is the usual handstand

On top of that I add 15 minutes of karate skills. Focus is on the codified kicks drills. On odd days the the adventurer routine covers this

Since I know my weakness, the balancing work must be done before dinner, while karate fits better in the morning or as soon as I am back from work.

Tkal is a druid CHA +2, WIS +1

My house needs balance as much as me, so this is the battle plan. Each task should be completed before assassin routine

• Monday: fold and store clean clothes
• Tuesday: empty dishwasher
• Wednesday: clean table and counter
• Thursday: clean oven, prepare garbage for collection
• Friday: fill and start washing machine
• Saturday: put away all groceries, clean table and counter
• Sunday: vacuum and mop floors, ironing if needed. One of the following: defrost freezer, shower deep cleaning, bake a cake for colleagues, fill tax forms

Tkal is an adventurer CON +2, STA +1, DEX +1

This is my established routine where I do all the things, although it feels somewhat lighter now that sleeping gets its own specific quest

• meditate (during lunch break at work, of first thing in the morning in the weekend)
• physical activities outdoor: 30 minutes karate before work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On other days 2 hours walk or extra 30 minutes on my bike before or right after work. The walks can be split in sessions during the day (i.e. going to work and come back on foot)
• eat according to plan.

Tkal is a warrior CON +2, WIS +1, STR +1

When you play hard, you need to recover "harder". This is my sleep target: 55 hours/week. But since a true warrior must lift something heavy, I am lifting myself each morning from my bed without pressing "snooze" the second time

 

I'll update tomorrow with stats and tracking spreadsheet

Edit: traker is prepared

Edit 2: points added

[Kishi]

You could almost argue that the hormonal reset of all that sleep is what makes you more a warrior - you get all that HGH and the recovery makes your muscles that much stronger.

 

But that's just my .02.

 

Welcome back! Sounds like your vacation was awesome.

[Tkal]

Maybe it is worth to remember what the long term goal of all this is. I want to create a solid routine of healthy abits to cover all aspect of my life: food, fitness, work-family balance, keeping my mind and my hose in proper order. The goal is to be able to lead an autonomous life for as long as possible. Things like losing weight or improve my skills as a martial artist are important, but they are just side effects of the long term goal

 

Said that, a life update. I saw surgery team S last Friday. I had a really good impression of all of the surgeons and the supporting staff. I was expecting a long waiting list, something around 6 months, and instead I could go already in May. Wife and Mother freaked out more than me, so probably I will arrange a later date. I need someone to stay with me full time for one month after surgery since my mobility will be quite limited. The minimum recovery time is 6 weeks. Damn, I forgot to ask about rehab for the shoulders. I won't get any restrain, but I should not (and in the beginning could not) lift my arms. It will take a while before doing handstands again...

 

Most likely the really difficult part will be to stay locked inside, especially at the end of the recovery. Having my mother at home with me won't help with that...

 

On Wednesday I'll see surgery team V. This is an university hospital. On one side I like the idea that someone is learning something out of my surgeries. On the other it is my body, and I will be the one bearing the scars afterwards, and I am not so sure that I want someone doing a procedure for the first time on me. Anyway, I'll see what their plan is

[Kishi]

If you don't mind me asking, why would the surgery have anything to do with your shoulders? I would think that the reassignment would be about the pipes, so to speak...

[Tkal]

Transition surgeries 101. Rated for blood and language (hence the spoiler)

For people like me there are usually 3 surgeries:

• remove boobs (mastectomy)
• remove uterus+ovaries (hysterectomy)
• get a fleshy penis (phalloplasty or metoidioplasty)

Usually you do 1. because hairy boobs are ugly
Seriously, this is the a part of the body which is always visible, even when you have clothes on. You see it, other people see it. Plus, men do not have breast, so there are a lot of other meanings attached to that

The reasons for 2. are several. It can be rejection for all your female parts (same as 1.), or to get rid of the risk of ovary or cervix cancer (plus, no doctors fumbling with your privates for periodic check ups). In some places you need it to get new documents

The reason for 3.... well, usually men come with a penis attached same as women come with breast. Again there is a strong cultural component on top of the body image part

And let's be clear: "body image" as I used it above has little to do with aesthetics. It is really wearing your skin, and not somebody else's

Usually people do 1, then 2, then 3. Sometime only 1, or only 2. Maybe also only 3? Every story is different, every person has different needs and motivation, even if in the end the result is anyway one of the above surgeries

In my case I do 1 and 2 in one go. I need 2 to get the legal sex change. And 1 to be a bit more comfortable in my own skin. I am paying my level up with the proverbial pound of flesh... Plus in my family there is an extensive history of breast and uterus cancer. Did you heard about Angelina Jolie some time ago? similar situation here.

So, surgery 1 implies in my case big scars, that need to be properly taken care of. Which means limited arm movement for 6 weeks. This is not just to the visible scars, but mainly for the tissues underneath to heal.
If possible, for surgery 2 laparoscopy is preferred. To perform it they inflate your belly, which in turn put pressure on your diaphragm. Since my chest will be compressed by bandages, the only way to expand is at shoulder level, but given the limited motion range allowed, it will be like doing isometric exercises non-stop for two weeks.

Putting everything together, shoulder pain an shoulder mobility problems are the most common side effects of the kind of surgery I will get.
Maybe I am worrying about nothing, and I just have to slowly ease back in my activities. But if the transition is difficult, maybe a physiotherapist can help me to get back my range of motion without too much pain or frustration.

[Kishi]

Aaah, I see. I had a feeling that 1 was the reason as soon as I posted, but I didn't want to just sit there and assume things about your situation.

 

I apologize if I seemed insensitive in asking. I promise, I just wanted to know out of genuine curiosity. Thank you for your patience with me.

[LadyMonk]

Sounds like you have a lot going on right now with your upcoming surgery. I'm sure there must be some things that you can focus on during the recovery time, even if it's just isolated muscle groups. (Stronger grip?) I hope that your surgery and recovery go smoothly and quickly.

 

You've really regimented your goals! I'm impressed with that.

[Tkal]

I apologize if I seemed insensitive in asking. I promise, I just wanted to know out of genuine curiosity. Thank you for your patience with me.

No apology needed, it was a reasonable question

Anyway, today I had an appointment with team V and I realized one crucial thing: I look much less fit than what I am. I had this conversation with the surgeon, before she saw me half naked:

S: ...and after the 6 weeks [wearing compressing bandages] we strongly advice against doing any heavy lifting for other 3 months

me: can you quantify "heavy"?

S: 10 Kg

me (looking disappointed): so no fun for so long

S (condescending): why? do you usually lift much more than that?

me: I lift myself: push-ups, pull-ups, those sort of things. I also lift my sparring partners when I have the chance

S (insert sound of jaw dropping here)

Anyway, the 3-4 months break is something I have to consider carefully. I see a series of challenges running with the scouts in my future...

 

You've really regimented your goals! I'm impressed with that.

Thanks, but must do some tinkering. The schedule for house keeping is too easily disrupted by an extra laundry session, or a no-shoping-no-mail-nothing-on-the-table day. So I am reshuffling thing. I have 16 activities listed. Maybe the extra "clean table and counter" is not needed, so I go down to 14. I give myself freedom to do them when I want/can/need and I count the total during the week. Same approach that I use for scoring my sleep. In my head they are all equally demanding, even if the garbage needs 5 minutes and ironing more than 1 hour, so each of them gives me 1 point. Repeating or swapping between weeks is ok, as long as I have my 14 points down

[LadyMonk]

I like that. I have a to do for cleaning, which counts as any level of cleaning. I have a separate one for laundry, which counts if I do any amount, because I avoid every step of that. There are some things I still never get to, and designing a list like that might work.

[Teirin]

Missed your challenge post!  The recovery period would also be a good time to really focus on the sleep and meditation, maybe some reading?

 

Being underestimated is very annoying.  Glad you at least got the satisfaction of surprising her that much.

[Lou_be_Lou]

I'm also impressed by the clarity of your challenge - and its inspiring me to quickly do my ironing tonight instead of my usual trick of ignoring it.

 

I also really like your short daily exercise sessions - soudns like a brilliant plan.

Good luck re your surgery planning and recovery planning (my vote is for you to plan on physio - i'm sure they'll be able to help you regain shoulder mobility and speed as smoothly as possible).  Grrrr re surgeons assuming you don't like playing with weights.  Well done for surprising her.

[Kishi]

NICE. That is the one nice thing about not looking strong - being able to surprise people when you do sh!t that they don't think you can. Would've loved to see the look on the doctor's face.

[Tkal]

Saturday I had a great training with my Sensei. Usually she gives a 1.5 hour lesson just for the student, then there is a 2.5 hours workshop open to everybody. I am sorry that starting from September there won't be the first session any more, since we are too few. The school is not so big, and most of us live far away, so the participation from the school is always limited
 
On the other hand there were two jujitsu guys and I had a lot of fun with them. One trains in a more traditional school and he is stronger than a bull and I cannot even grab his wrists because they are so big. The other is a young men who does BJJ with a passion for chocking holds. I think I have a crush on BJJ now   
Anyway, I am bruised everywhere, with doms in every single muscle of my body. And I am happy. I miss this sort of fights
 
Challenge recap: all reasonably on track. Room for improvement, especially on the sleeping (still not enough during the week) and eating (to much emotion eating last week) part. And the assassins, when I am not as constant as I should. On the plus side I can kick up and handstand against the wall easily and with control. Also the headstand is almost there (without the wall). So, even with so-and-so routine I have improvements. But since the routine was my major goal, the improvements are actually not helping since they make me think that I do not need to practice every day

[Kishi]

Yeah. If Judo is a cult, BJJ is the fanatical few that carry it on. They're a rough and tumble crowd, but humble and good more often than not for all the bluster. I have a shameless crush on all the grappling styles that I've seen.

 

Hmm, that kind of improvement is tricky. I can see how this kind of improvement doesn't help you to establish routine, but in the long term I'm glad that you're getting better and improving yourself anyway. A mixed blessing this, I suppose. ;;

[Tkal]

Time to go back to the first page...
 
Last week I got a "nice" letter from my insurance company, that they were not going to pay for my surgeries because "a lot of blablabla". I had a bit of freaking out because I knew that my surgeries are covered by the national system [1] and I really did not understand that letter. I spent a lot of time and energy reading legal stuff a building up my case. Finally yesterday we settle the thing: they pay but only if I get the surgery with team V
 
I am still a bit upset, since on paper they have an agreement with both hospitals, and I am undergoing some fairly standard procedure. Anyway, my preference for team S was not too strong and I can live also with V. Overall V knows me since day 1, and if there are no complications I won't end up with big scars, but the approach of S was safer from my point of view. Oh, well, instead of flipping a coin, my insurance has done it for me
 
Anyway, in two weeks I have a phone appointment (scary phone calls!) to plan a date
 
Result of all the above was not enough sleep and too many carbs. Now time to go back on track, lose the 2kg (4.4 lbs) gained this week and put some more serious effort there. I know that most of the weight is water and should be gone by next week. After that it would be great to lose another 5 kg (11 lbs) at least. The less subcutaneous fat I have, the better my recovery will be. I'm glad that next week Wife will be back, oxytocin is great to control hunger
 
[1] Every basic insurance must cover completely a long list of common and less common cost. The list is valid on national level and it is the same for everybody. Also the price is fixed, and if you cannot afford it the basics are covered anyway by the State. On top of that every company add some extras (like coverage for the dentist), but of course more extras you want and more you have to pay

[Lou_be_Lou]

Good luck with the scary phone calls.  Phew re insurance covering your surgery.  Grrrr re lack of choice.  Best wishes with it all.

Wow, sounds like you have a very motivating reason for losing weight. 

 

Plus, YAY for jujitsu - it is such good fun.  I love it when the throws work.  Though I hear you about ungrappleable wrists - a training partner I train with has huge wrists and doesn't understand why I can't wrist lock him - keeps telling me my angle is wrong (it probably is) but the giant wrists do not help.

[Kishi]

It's annoying whenever circumstances take away a choice rather than permit you to make it yourself. But it is what it is, and at least it means you can still progress and move forward, even if it's not necessarily in the way that you would like.

 

You have some seriously good reasons to get lean. Well, then, chief. Get to work.

[Tkal]

Quickly wrapping up my challenge. Also this time good points but neutral feelings.
I take home the meditation, that is going great and I didn't miss a single day. Moving also went well, and the nice weather definitively helped.
The sleeping did not improved in comparison to previous challenge. In the end I go to bed too late and read too long. The weekly measure is good, but I should add a minimum per day too.
The cleaning worked up to a point: I do what is needed, but I "binge" in the weekends and get lazy during the week. Job done, but no good habit established. I have two weeks to think a new strategy.
The balance work was great, and the most satisfying part of the challenge, although if I look at the numbers is also the part where I missed more days.
Eating suffered from too much stress at work and with the health insurance. Not an excuse, but I can definitely do better there.
 
Final numbers:

• adventurer 90,85%
• warrior 86,25%
• druid 91,07%
• assassin 80,36%

Scores (summed and rounded to the closest quarter)

• STR 2,5 (max = 3)
• DEX 2,5 (max = 3)
• STA 1,0 (max = 1)
• CON 3,5 (max = 4)
• WIS 1,75 (max = 2)
• CHA 1,75 (max = 2)

See you in two weeks