Raxie Gets Boring

[Raxie]

Obligatory Pre-Challenge Brain-Stuffs: I've had a lot of success over my past few challenges, my last one was a bit of a let down because life threw stuff at me but I still managed to overall improve myself I think. However, while I've seen vast improvements with my health, strength and flexibility, I feel like I haven't been seeing much progress looks wise. And while most of my brain is like who cares you're stronger and awesomer, there's that part of me that is like... but summer is coming (here?) and I'd really like to rock out a bathing suit and not feel super self conscious.  I know this is due to my eating. I know I can't outrun my plate.  This has been the hugest struggle for me since I started my fitness journey, what I don't do well at more often than not during challenges, and what sets off a domino effect of not hitting my goals. One bad meal can easily turn into skipping a work out in my world, and as many awesome habits I've set through this challenge format eating well is just not one of them.  I've tried counting calories, counting macros, counting nothing but eating things that are obviously healthy, I just haven't  had the motivation.  I think it's because in the past I focus on other habits at the same time.  But now I've got my workout habits set basically in stone and I can nix all those other goals that I'll do anyway and this challenge I am going to be 100% focused on what I put into my body.  And it's going to be boring.  How boring you ask?  Let's see.

 

tldr: Raxie needs to eat moar better.

 

 

Mission 1: Home Cooking

 

 

I will prepare 6 dinners a week for myself.  Only one night of ordering out allowed.  Each of these dinners will be made of up of:

-1 or more protein

-1 or more whole grain or potato

-1 or more green veggie side (avocado does not count here, but is a welcome addition to any meal)

-NO DAIRY. Dairy makes the tummy have the owies.

 

Grading: +4 CON max.  % of weeks met awarded.

 

Mission 2: Salad

 

 

I will eat a salad every day.

 

EVERY. FREAKIN'. DAY.

 

This can be a side salad if neccessary.

 

Grading: +4 CON max. % of weeks met awarded.

 

Mission 3: Alcohol 

 

 

That's right, kids. Raxie is not going to drink alcohol AT ALL this entire challenge.  I have a feeling this actually going to be way easier than putting limits on what I actually drink which has been super difficult for me in social situations in the past.  This way I can just hang out with friends and tell them I'm not drinking straight up, instead of having a couple and then trying to convince myself to not or explain why I've switched to water "so early".  As a note, this isn't meant to be me giving up alcohol forever, just kind of a detox to my system in this area.

 

Grading: +4 WIS max. % of weeks met awarded.

 

Diet Quest: Snacks

 

 

So all my missions are diet related anyway, but here's another.  Try a new snack each week that will help curb my cheese craving. I think this is a huge problem in my prior attempts, I just told myself I'd have to suck it up during my cravings. This time I will be prepared! Each week I will buy or create a snack that has cheese-like properties to help pre-emptively curb my cheese addiction.  Will most likely be mostly nut-type-things. I will post here each week on how well the snack helped (or didn't) in curbing my cravings. If I find something I like I still want to try something new each week so I can have an arsenal of snacks that work by the end of this challenge.

 

Grading: +2 WIS max. % of weeks met awarded.

 

Life Side Quest: Water

 

 

I've been slacking on the water intake since I rocked out a water challenge 2 challenges ago.  Time to start tracking this again and get a handle on it once more.   Goal: 100oz/day.

 

Grading: +1 CON max. % of weeks met awarded.

 

 

Mini Quests:

 

Bye-Weeks Challenge:

 

Quest One: I have been working on crow for the past challenge and a half and I got it at the end of the last one, and now I'm interested in headstands. I know I can do a tripod for a millisecond but I want to work on it some more! I've never really worked on it before though and it hasn't gone along with any of my goals, so I'm gonna try to see what I can do tripod-wise 2 or 3 times before the next challenge.

 

Quest Two: I fell behind on my Zombies, Run! 5K training last challenge and I was hoping to be ~halfway through it by now. I'm going to start over with it, but instead of waiting for the beginning of the next challenge I am going to get week 1 out of the way and do 3 runs next week.

 

Quest Three: Go see a movie! The boyfriend and I LOVE see movies in theatres and we only do it about twice a year, there are a few things playing right now I know we both want to see. So I should make this happen. Oh and also give myself a bath day with a face and hair mask. I try to do this every 4-6 weeks and it's been like 3 months. So two things for quest three. Because yay happies!

 

Ranger Optional Mini Challenge Feats:

• Endurance Feat - Run/walk drills from Zombies, Run 5K training 2x/week

• Strength Feat - OHP 1x50+ lb (right now I'm at 47.5lb)

• Speed Feat - Hold tripod stand for 10 seconds

• Combat Feat - Go on a *good* hike with some significant elevation gains.

• Healing Feat - Meditate 6x/week

Rescue Zombie: And I'll also be following along with AlienJenn's Zombie mini challenge too, because why not?

 

 

 

 

Alibi: The last week of this challenge I will be going on vacation with the bf to Alaska, so this challenge will only be 5 weeks long for me.  I think I am actually going to start tomorrow (Tuesday) for this so I've still got 6 weeks to form a good habit of need eating like poop.

[Raxie]

WEEK 1: A+

 

Home cooking: 6/6
Salad: 7/7
Alcohol: 7/7
Snacks: 1/1
Water: 7/7 

 

WEEK 2: A+

 

Home cooking: 6/6
Salad: 7/7
Alcohol: 7/7
Snacks: 1/1
Water: 7/7 

 

WEEK 3: A

 

Home cooking: 6/6
Salad: 6/7
Alcohol: 7/7
Snacks: 1/1
Water: 7/7

 

WEEK 4: C+

 

Home cooking: 3/6
Salad: 3/7
Alcohol: 7/7
Snacks: 1/1
Water: 7/7

 

WEEK 5: B

 

Home cooking: 3/6
Salad: 5/7
Alcohol: 6/6
Snacks: 1/1
Water: 7/7

 

WEEK 6: A+

(altered vacation rules)

 

Healthy Eating: 6/6

Non-Local Alcohol Free Days: 7/7

Water: 7/7

 

CHALLENGE TOTALS: A-

 

Home cooking/Eating: 30/36

Salad: 28/34

Alcohol: 34/34

Snacks: 5/5
Water: 42/42

[Raxie]

In the zero week I'm also working in the Bye Weeks PvP Challenge.

 

My goals there are:

 

Comining in late! I've got 1 week + 2.5 days left...time to get my mini-challenge on!

 

Quest One: I have been working on crow for the past challenge and a half and I got it at the end of the last one, and now I'm interested in headstands. I know I can do a tripod for a millisecond but I want to work on it some more! I've never really worked on it before though and it hasn't gone along with any of my goals, so I'm gonna try to see what I can do tripod-wise 2 or 3 times before the next challenge.

 

Quest Two: I fell behind on my Zombies, Run! 5K training last challenge and I was hoping to be ~halfway through it by now. I'm going to start over with it, but instead of waiting for the beginning of the next challenge I am going to get week 1 out of the way and do 3 runs next week.

 

Quest Three: Go see a movie! The boyfriend and I LOVE see movies in theatres and we only do it about twice a year, there are a few things playing right now I know we both want to see. So I should make this happen. Oh and also give myself a bath day with a face and hair mask. I try to do this every 4-6 weeks and it's been like 3 months. So two things for quest three. Because yay happies!

 

I've already got a movie planned for Wednesday night and a self-spa day planned for Thursday.  Definitely waking up for a run tomorrow and possibly some tripod headstands tonight

 

(edit - just ended up adding this to my main mission OP to make life easier so pardon the duplication)

[shaar]

Have you heard of / tried non-dairy cheese?  My boss has had some and she says it's pretty darn great.... I'm intrigued...

 

http://us.daiyafoods.com/

 

Also I was SO CLOSE to trying a "dry July" but for the 4th of July we are having a party at our house... that will definitely include beers!  But I'm really pleased with how much I've cut back - I know you can do it!!!  I actually bring a bottle of water with me to our bottle shop now, if people get pushy with me ever I'll just tell them my liver is failing and that they are heartless for being so rude about my dietary choices...

 

SUBBING YEEEAAAHH!! 

[DarK_RaideR]

This was too funny. Keep em coming

[raptron]

Your intro paragraph. I feellllllllllll you. So much feeling of you. You got this.

[Balthazar]

here you are, hiding in plain sight!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

[goodbye_farewell]

You got this! Oh and if you completely abstain from drinking, get ready for people to ask if you are pregnant

[Raxie]

Have you heard of / tried non-dairy cheese?  My boss has had some and she says it's pretty darn great.... I'm intrigued...

 

http://us.daiyafoods.com/

 

Also I was SO CLOSE to trying a "dry July" but for the 4th of July we are having a party at our house... that will definitely include beers!  But I'm really pleased with how much I've cut back - I know you can do it!!!  I actually bring a bottle of water with me to our bottle shop now, if people get pushy with me ever I'll just tell them my liver is failing and that they are heartless for being so rude about my dietary choices...

 

SUBBING YEEEAAAHH!! 

 

I've tried some, hated most, and found a few that are tolerable.  Daiya is one of the tolerable ones.  It's pretty good when being part of an overall recipe but if you're used to just eating slices of delicious specialty cheeses on crackers it is definitelyyyyy not going to do the job.

 

I'm hoping that by the time the 4th rolls around I will have habit-ed not drinking enough for that day to be a piece of cake lol.

 

This was too funny. Keep em coming

 

I actually initially had a different gif there but then changed it last minute.  Glad I did

 

Your intro paragraph. I feellllllllllll you. So much feeling of you. You got this.

 

Eating is hard! Well. Eating good is hard :| Hmf.  Haha.  Thanks!

 

here you are, hiding in plain sight!

 

Here I am!

 

 

JITTERS! So glad you stopped by! Missed you

 

You got this! Oh and if you completely abstain from drinking, get ready for people to ask if you are pregnant

 

OH MAN.  I honestly didn't even remotely think of that.  But you're totally right hahah. I'm going to have to come up with some sort of epic response to these inquiries.

[Xena]

 

 

 

Gotta say, nothing boring about that.

 

Since you mentioned both, I think avocado is actually probably a good substitute for cheese.

[ladylydia]

I disagree with your title, you're not boring.

[SomeGuyFromScotland]

I'm jumping on board the Raxie Express for this challenge. The Raxpress? Either way, I'm in. Following. I came for the boring, but I stayed for the GIFs.

[Raxie]

Gotta say, nothing boring about that.

 

Since you mentioned both, I think avocado is actually probably a good substitute for cheese.

 

I actually didn't think of that.  Avocado is one of my favourite foods so this is genius. 

 

I disagree with your title, you're not boring.

 

Awww thanks I'm defintely going to feel boring with my non-drinking non-eating out non-making complicated recipes self this challenge.  But I think it will actually be nice.

 

I'm jumping on board the Raxie Express for this challenge. The Raxpress? Either way, I'm in. Following. I came for the boring, but I stayed for the GIFs.

 

All aboard the Raxpress!

 

[goodbye_farewell]

OH MAN.  I honestly didn't even remotely think of that.  But you're totally right hahah. I'm going to have to come up with some sort of epic response to these inquiries.

Haha indeed. Seriously though, the very next day after my wife and I found out she was pregnant, we went to party, and she was drinking water. The very first question out of her friend's mouth was "Are you pregnant?!"   So yeah, get those epic responses ready!

[Raxie]

Haha indeed. Seriously though, the very next day after my wife and I found out she was pregnant, we went to party, and she was drinking water. The very first question out of her friend's mouth was "Are you pregnant?!"   So yeah, get those epic responses ready!

 

Epic response suggestion box is open!

 

My first thought is I can tell people I'm on a mission from god.

 

 

But it's not like the Blues Brothers didn't drink hahah. This will need to be pondered.

[Raxie]

So tonight I am going shopping for boring food supplies! And by boring I just mean I don't plan on making complicated recipes because I think that's part of what has derailed me in the past.  I'm just gonna roast a bunch of veggies, marinate some protein to cook off when the time comes, and cook a lot of rice.  I think my first round of batch cooked roasted veggies is going to be cauliflower, broccoli and carrots.  I might also bake some sweet potatoes at the same time for some variety. Not sure what snack I am going to choose. Cashews? Nut bars? Buzzfeed actually has some really awesome ideas for avocado snacks. Maybe I'll just get a bunch of avocados per Xena's suggestion.

 

This morning I was supposed to go for a run but my town is flooded (not like dangerously just the sewer drains are kind of full and backing up everywhere) so that did not work out because I can convince myself to run in the rain and through some puddles but not through one giant puddle the entire time. Tomorrow should be better because it's FINALLY supposed to stop raining tonight around 8.  Hooray!

[SomeGuyFromScotland]

I like hard boiled eggs as a snack. And YES to the sweet potatoes.

[ninjakitten]

Epic response suggestion box is open!

 

Eh, that reminds me how I always come up with a decent response long AFTER [insert event] happened. How lame is that. 

 

 

This morning I was supposed to go for a run but my town is flooded (not like dangerously just the sewer drains are kind of full and backing up everywhere) so that did not work out because I can convince myself to run in the rain and through some puddles but not through one giant puddle the entire time. Tomorrow should be better because it's FINALLY supposed to stop raining tonight around 8.  Hooray!

 

Why does my mind go from flooded town to swimming? Hope tomorrow is better indeed. 

 

I mostly stopped by for the GIFs and stayed because of the avocado snacks. That does sound brilliant. All aboard the Raxpress indeed.

[Raxie]

I like hard boiled eggs as a snack. And YES to the sweet potatoes.

 

Mmm I do love hard boiled eggs.  Especially with a touch of mustard. I'm planning on mass cooking them for salad toppers, so I should definitely have some around for snacking as well. Awesome idea!

 

Eh, that reminds me how I always come up with a decent response long AFTER [insert event] happened. How lame is that. 

 

Why does my mind go from flooded town to swimming? Hope tomorrow is better indeed. 

 

I mostly stopped by for the GIFs and stayed because of the avocado snacks. That does sound brilliant. All aboard the Raxpress indeed.

 

Ugh that *always* happens to me. It's the worst!  Yeah I'm probably just going to tell people I'm trying to detox/be healthier anyway, but a mission from god might get thrown in on occasion lol.

 

We got super flooded a few years ago and I considered taking my kayak out on the streets until I remembered this is all overflow from the sewer drainage not...draining so that would be a super mega ew.

 

I do love my gifs and my avocados, so you've come to the right place! Here's a 2-for-1:

 

[joedog]

When my beloved was going through a vegan period, she made this nut-spread that was sort of like a spreadable cheese. It was totally not cheese but it was actually pretty good. I mean, I liked it and I'm super picky. I'll ask her for the recipe. 

[shaar]

I've tried some, hated most, and found a few that are tolerable.  Daiya is one of the tolerable ones.  It's pretty good when being part of an overall recipe but if you're used to just eating slices of delicious specialty cheeses on crackers it is definitelyyyyy not going to do the job.

 

I agree 500%!!!  The texture is pretty cool but on its own it just..... doesn't hold up.  Well.  At all.  I put the shredded kind in my salads, and I've tried a block of the jack style and it's not bad... but yeah, NOT cheese board and crackers level at all!!!  (I'm hoping the more I eat Daiya in everyday things, the more luxurious real cheese will start to be...!)

[ninjakitten]

I do love my gifs and my avocados, so you've come to the right place! Here's a 2-for-1:

 

 

You know how to keep your followers happy.... 

 

 

We got super flooded a few years ago and I considered taking my kayak out on the streets until I remembered this is all overflow from the sewer drainage not...draining so that would be a super mega ew.

 

If you think about it like that it is a definite no-no. But add some chlorine and it does sound like the average pool party with kids.   (I will hide in a corner now and think about what I just said.) 

 

That does remind me of someone skiing down a steep street in the centre of town some winter day, though. No cars anyway, so I guess he just went for it. But it did sound like he might have had to throw away his skis afterwards. I still thought it was kind of cool to just do it. Don't go swimming in the sewers though. I wasn't trying to encourage that. 

[Raxie]

If you think about it like that it is a definite no-no. But add some chlorine and it does sound like the average pool party with kids.   (I will hide in a corner now and think about what I just said.) 

 

LOL too true. 

 

That does remind me of someone skiing down a steep street in the centre of town some winter day, though. No cars anyway, so I guess he just went for it. But it did sound like he might have had to throw away his skis afterwards. I still thought it was kind of cool to just do it. Don't go swimming in the sewers though. I wasn't trying to encourage that. 

 

That sounds fantastic. Probably worth a pair of (cheap) skis for a once in a lifetime experience lol

[Raxie]

When my beloved was going through a vegan period, she made this nut-spread that was sort of like a spreadable cheese. It was totally not cheese but it was actually pretty good. I mean, I liked it and I'm super picky. I'll ask her for the recipe. 

 

Oooh that would be awesome! Spready deliciousness is always on my radar.

 

I agree 500%!!!  The texture is pretty cool but on its own it just..... doesn't hold up.  Well.  At all.  I put the shredded kind in my salads, and I've tried a block of the jack style and it's not bad... but yeah, NOT cheese board and crackers level at all!!!  (I'm hoping the more I eat Daiya in everyday things, the more luxurious real cheese will start to be...!)

 

I haven't actually tried their block-styles yet.  I was eyeing up a havarti with jalapeno and garlic which sounds semi-promising.  Because garlic makes everything better.