sledge_antilles standing by

[sledge_antilles]

Greetings fellow rebels:

 

I need to break the passive cycle I've lived in for some time now; probably a few years if I think about it honestly. Leaving a job I loved in a collapsing industry, and bouncing around in what feel like less-than, placeholder positions since then has allowed me to drift into a comfortably uncomfortable rut. 

 

My main goal in terms of getting this process started is (the currently amorphously defined) gaining strength, with the hope that other goals will see progress as a result of the six weeks of concentrated focus. I imagine/hope this will be refined as I work through the process. I have always been a lanky guy, and it's difficult to put on weight, so I'm not going to think about that or work on it for the time being.

 

My initial goals are small, as I have a tendency to 1) bite off more than I can chew and 2) make perfect the enemy of good. I don't necessarily give up easily, but I also won't generally take action without thinking I have the "perfect" plan. These seem small enough to me to get the ball rolling. 

 

Goal 1: Go to the gym twice a week. I've had a globo gym membership since the end of last year. I think I've been five times. Eventually I want to start the Stronglifts regimen, but I'm not comfortable enough in the gym yet. The purpose of this goal is to help me familiarize myself with the various parts of the gym, including learning the layout/etiquette of the free weights section. It doesn't matter to me particularly what I do while there for this first challenge. Rowing machine, treadmill, yoga class, whatever. I just want to get into the gym enough that it becomes normal to be there. I'll probably make trips at different times of the day to see if I can find less crowded periods.

 

Goal 2: Sleep in silence. For as long as I can remember I've used music or talk radio to fall asleep. Lately (past several months) for whatever reason it's become a nuisance at times. While it might still help me fall asleep it also wakes me up at times, and sometimes distracts and keeps me up longer than I want.

 

Goal 3: Find a staple meal. I stopped eating animals and animal products almost four years ago for a few reasons. While I'm a pretty good cook, my meal planning and kitchen time is sporadic. I want to find a dish that's easy to prepare year round without much prep time. I'm thinking something beans/greens/grain that allows for substitutions depending on what's seasonal and fresh. Cooking for one can be a hassle so the easier this is to prepare and store on the shelf the better.

 

Life Quest: Process and cataog photo archive. I have a huge backlog of photos that need to be processed and archived according to my current workflow. This is something I've worked on in fits and starts over a couple of years. It needs to be done so I can move forward in business and stop adding to the burden with every new image. My plan is to devote three full work days per week until this is finished.

 

I think that's it for now. Your questions and suggestions are most welcome, and in the spirit of getting underway I'll sign off until next time.

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

So for goal 3 you want to try out different easy vegan recipes and settle for one to be cooked all year round? I'm no vegetarian at the moment. But I used to enjoy vegetarian recipes and have a book with easy recipes. If you are intrested, I could have a look, if there are a few easy vegan recipes, too.

Sorry, if I misunderstood you. English isn't my first language and I wasn't sure, what staple meal ment.

I like your life goal. I should archieve my stuff properly, too.

Your goals look achieveable. Best wishes and good luck.

[annyshay]

Welcome! Your challenge seems really well grounded in small, specific changes that will build into awesome habits. I tried going veggie for a few months a few years ago (sadly, not for me), and was surprised by how hard staple meals were. I don't have any brilliant ideas, but I have found a few tasty veggie blogs (some vegan posts, but not all). One is called "Naturally Ella" and another "Cookie + Kate". Maybe poke around and see if there is stuff you can steal? In any case, much luck and nice moniker!

[sledge_antilles]

Luciana - Yes, you understood correctly, I'm looking for something that's vegan and easy to prepare year round. Another way to say "staple" meal might be "routine" meal. A staple is anything that's used consitently or routinely. It doesn't have to be food, it can be a manufactured commodity, or something more abstract like an idea or technique. Maybe for instance we could say that the painter Degas used ballerinas as a staple subject matter. What's your native language?

 

I appreciate the offer to look through your veggie cookbook - if you have it handy and feel like giving it a once over I won't say no.

 

Annyshay - It took me a few attempts to switch my diet. The first time I tried was while I lived in the middle of nowhere in Texas - probably isn't too surprising that it didn't stick, right? Anyway - I don't think it's right for everyone, but it's been good for me. I'll check out the blogs you mentioned, thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks for the welcome and well wishes, both of you - right back at you for this upcoming challenge!

[haganemix]

Your goals are achievable and smart.

 

I can relate to not being comfortable in the gym yet. Need to really make it a routine and just get up and go. I'll be on the same page starting tomorrow

Good luck =)

[annyshay]

Thanks for the welcome and well wishes, both of you - right back at you for this upcoming challenge!

Hey thanks!  I forgot to show you the way to the rest of the assassins if you're curious and/or sneaky...

 

Guild Announcements and FAQ

 

Guild Chat aka "The Den"

 

 

Come play! It's full of adorable gifs... you've been warned

 

Here's a hang-out specifically for Recruits that may grow up to be Assassins

 

Lemme know if any questions come up!

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Vegan meals (not paleo): I'll shorten the instructions. If you want to try out something, I can give you the full recipe later.

 

Crusty bellpepper mix: 4 spoons caper, 3 bellpeppers, 50g black olives, 50g grinded wheat, 50g sunflowerseeds, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, oliveoil

--> The bellpeppers, capers and olives belong salted into the oven.

--> the wheat and seeds are roasted in a pan and than they are added to the vegetables and everything is baked for 20 minutes on 220°C.

 

Wheat pan cakes: 200g flour, 150 ml cold water, sunfloweroil, salt, caraway, coriander. At the end add Basil and oregano.

--> You mix the stuff and then let it rest for 30 minutes at a cold place.

--> Than you form the flat small pizza like pan cakes and bake them in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

I think roasted vegetables would fit well to this.

 

Cauliflower Curry with potatoes: one cauliflower, 250g potatoes, 4 spoons oil, black mustard seed, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenpepper, garlic, onions, salt, 250ml water, one big tomato, lemon juice

--> You can substitute the spices with a curry mixture. I usually don't mix these myself.

--> Curry is good for batch cooking. My recipes usually use cocoanut milk instead of water. Of course it has some more calories than.

In fact I really think curry could be a good stable meal, because you can cook it with different vegetables or even fruits and there are a lot of vegan recipes. And you can add rice, if you aren't paleo.

 

There were also some lentil dishes, but I wasn't sure if you like these. I can note down some more recipes later. But I just realised, that I haven't tried out most of them, because all my favorite recipes from the book seem to have milk or other not vegan stuff in them. And I haven't cooked from this book for a while, because my bf doesn't seem to like the recipes. But it's good for getting started. I learned cooking with it. ^^

Unfortunately it was only published in German and I couldn't find an English version.

 

 

------------------------------------

 

Jay. It's Monday. The challenge starts

[Blaidd]

good to see your goals are simple and that you know where you're downfall might be

 

You might notice that someone has added a tag to your post.  This is not to box you into a corner but rather because your goals or lifestyle have links to the guild you've been tagged and we'd like to bring you to the attention of one of their guild ambassadors. These ambassadors will be able to offer you advice, encouragement and support on your goals.  You don't even have to wait around for them to come introduce themselves to you, you are more than welcome to pop into the Adventurers' board and introduce yourself to the guildies there. I am also around to answer any questions that you might have so do not hesitate to PM me.

 

Good Luck with your challenge

AB xx

[Elastigirl]

How are your goals coming?

[theophilus]

Awesome goals!

 

I went veg for a short season, and found myself cooking more at home out of sheer necessity. This meal was a life-saver for me. Even though I'm back to eating meat, this one still shows up at least once every couple weeks. It's as easy as it gets. And it's a perfect meal for one.

 

Baked Sweet Potato with Beans

- Cook a sweet potato, in the oven if you have the time, otherwise in the microwave, 4 minutes one side, flip, 4 minutes on the other side, or until cooked.

- Heat up a can of beans of your choosing. May I recommend black or pinto?

- Open potato

- Scoop some beans into said potato.

- You can add a little cinnamon for a little zing.

 

Serve it with a spinach salad for your greens.

 

Done and done.

[annyshay]

Awesome goals!

 

I went veg for a short season, and found myself cooking more at home out of sheer necessity. This meal was a life-saver for me. Even though I'm back to eating meat, this one still shows up at least once every couple weeks. It's as easy as it gets. And it's a perfect meal for one.

 

Baked Sweet Potato with Beans

- Cook a sweet potato, in the oven if you have the time, otherwise in the microwave, 4 minutes one side, flip, 4 minutes on the other side, or until cooked.

- Heat up a can of beans of your choosing. May I recommend black or pinto?

- Open potato

- Scoop some beans into said potato.

- You can add a little cinnamon for a little zing.

 

Serve it with a spinach salad for your greens.

 

Done and done.

Mmmmmmm... May have to steal something like this...

[sledge_antilles]

At the moment it seems like the weekend is the best time for me to check in here; may change later

 

How are your goals coming?

 

Some better than others.

 

I made it into the gym twice last week and used the rowing machine for 20 minutes each time, and I also made some laps of the free weights area to get my bearings. I went once right after work Wednesday and once on Friday night (it was dead inside!). I was concerned at first because I couldn't find any smaller plates to add the small increments for Stronglifts, but I did track some down eventually. For the next couple of times I'm shooting for going in the morning. It can be hard to get out of bed some mornings but I really am a morning person once I'm up and at 'em, so I want to give some morning times a try. 

 

I've left the radio and podcasts off at night all week. It's been a little more difficult to fall asleep but I know that habit will change eventually. Right now it still feels unnatural to turn everything off, but I know I'll appreciate it later. While this has been the easiest to implement, it has on some nights felt like the most challenging goal of the bunch. I'm sure it will become easier, though.

 

I haven't made any progress on finding a staple meal. I barely needed to cook this week so I really didn't think about it too much. Some family birthdays and barbecues/get-togethers meant plenty of leftovers and food in the fridge. I'll need to spend some more time experimenting on this goal (more below).

 

Last but not least I didn't make any progress at all on archiving my backlog of photos. Three full workdays is probably too much, and I wasn't able to put any time in on this in the mornings, so I abandoned it entirely by the end of the day. Are we allowed to revise goals in this process? I think I need to cut this back to two hours a day instead of three full days. Small chunks every day sounds more manageable. And I can always go overtime if I'm booking it, right?

 

 

Cauliflower Curry with potatoes: one cauliflower, 250g potatoes, 4 spoons oil, black mustard seed, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenpepper, garlic, onions, salt, 250ml water, one big tomato, lemon juice

--> You can substitute the spices with a curry mixture. I usually don't mix these myself.

--> Curry is good for batch cooking. My recipes usually use cocoanut milk instead of water. Of course it has some more calories than.

In fact I really think curry could be a good stable meal, because you can cook it with different vegetables or even fruits and there are a lot of vegan recipes. And you can add rice, if you aren't paleo.

 

 

This sounds pretty tasty and easy to make - I'd be glad of the recipe if you have it handy, thank you!

 

Baked Sweet Potato with Beans

- Cook a sweet potato, in the oven if you have the time, otherwise in the microwave, 4 minutes one side, flip, 4 minutes on the other side, or until cooked.

- Heat up a can of beans of your choosing. May I recommend black or pinto?

- Open potato

- Scoop some beans into said potato.

- You can add a little cinnamon for a little zing.

 

Serve it with a spinach salad for your greens.

 

Done and done.

 

This also sounds tasty and simple - I will be giving it a try soon.

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

Okay, week one check-in down - think I'll head out and look at some other folks' threads.

[Elastigirl]

Awesome start to the challenge! Your challenge is to help you succeed, so it is fine to tweak it to make it work for you. I find it easier to break things down into chunks myself.

[mom2sjm]

Updating your thread once a week is a good plan.  How did week two go?

[sledge_antilles]

A little late, but week two update:

 

- Made it to the gym twice. Used the rowing machine one day and walked/ran on the treadmill the other day (reminded me just how much I hate running...). I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable there. Sure, there's people in better physical condition than me but I'm less worried about them at the moment, and hope that just keeps decreasing as a mental hangup. I'm thinking about going to a yoga class for one of the days either this week or next. I've never been to one and am not very flexible in my legs, but it might be worth trying. Need to track down a mat first, probably, though...

 

- Still keeping all the devices off when I sleep. Some nights continue to be more difficult in terms of actually falling asleep. I find that I've also spent a couple nights staying up later on my devices to listen to something or watch something before sleeping rather than sticking to my normal schedule. Need to cut that trend out now before that becomes the habit.

 

- Haven't tried preparing anything new in the kitchen yet, but I did pick up the ingredients for cooking a couple of the options others have suggested so far. Should have time this week to try at least one.

 

- Still no progress on archiving my photos, which frustrates me. It has taught me something about myself though: I can't work at home. Far too many distractions available. But I have a hard time working at the library or a coffee shop, either, when I'm working on my business, as I usually have one or more pieces of expensive electronics out. It's annoying to have to pack up everything to avoid theft when you simply want to grab a snack or use the bathroom. Potential solution I'm tossing around in my head right now is to track down a "coworker" who can meet semi-regularly. Outside of that I just need to pick a spot to work and get to it.

 

That's it for now, I think. Hope everyone else is making some good progress!

[mom2sjm]

Did you cook up anything new?  Hope week three is shaping up to be another success!

[sledge_antilles]

Did you cook up anything new?  Hope week three is shaping up to be another success!

 

I had a sweet potato, bean, cruciferous veggie, and avocado burrito last night. It was tasty, and I have leftovers for tonight.

 

It probably wouldn't be something I could make every week to stock the refrigerator with, but it was simple and tasted good.

[sledge_antilles]

I failed to read thoroughly and didn't realize there would be multiple mini quests during the challenge. Better catch up...

 

Mini Quest 1 -

1. Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)?  Is it reasonable?  Becoming stronger is achievable and reasonable, and I'll refine the main goal as time progresses. I'll more than likely pick some challenge event to work toward as a goal at some point.

2. Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on? All three are small enough and should help directly and indirectly with my main goal.

3. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? They seem realistic to me. I may be naive, but at the moment they seem feasible.

4. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked?  What will you use to track them? Long term I will be able to track weight/reps with an app.

5. How are you grading your goals?  Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€)?  Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€? I didn't decide this ahead of time, but pass/fail seems the most appropriate to my goals. (Either I made it to the gym or I didn't. Either I slept with devices off or I didn't.) I didn't plan on a reward this go round, but I'll incorporate those into a future challenge for sure.

6. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Haven't thought through any contingency plans yet; it doesn't seem totally applicable to my current challenge, but will in the future.

7. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge?  What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I have a six day trip coming up at the end of the challenge, but it cuts between two different weeks, so I should be able to maintain the challenge uninterrupted.

8. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? Not as far as I can see.

9. Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set?  If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? Yes I have enough time, but the discipline of scheduling them out has been a problem so far.

10. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? Right now I'm working on setting in smaller habits that will eventually be routine enough that I won't need to focus on them at all when working on a main quest. That's the plan at least.

[sledge_antilles]

Mini Quest 2 -

 

I've made a (brief) signature that I plan to expand as I figure out how the roleplaying fits into my plan/personality.

 

I've also started following Sager Rager and Jiang.

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

This sounds pretty tasty and easy to make - I'd be glad of the recipe if you have it handy, thank you!

I won't be back at my own kitchen until Monday. So you'll have to wait a little while longer. I'll try to translate the recipe than in more detail and give you more suggestions for variations.

[annyshay]

I love your focus on building small habits!  It's clearly paying off since the gym is feeling more comfortable and you are troubleshooting the photo quest.  Keep rocking!

[sledge_antilles]

I love your focus on building small habits!  It's clearly paying off since the gym is feeling more comfortable and you are troubleshooting the photo quest.  Keep rocking!

 

Many thanks!

 

 

Mini Quest 3 -

The life quest/side quest of archiving my photos is giving me the most trouble so far. Part of the problem is that I wait until too late in the day to get begin. So I need to reschedule it as a priority and start the first task in the process. And, keep it as boring as possible, just chipping away. Also, as one effort to find a solution to this I've scheduled a "coworking" day with a friend who also works from home some days of the week. I'm at the library right now waiting for said friend.

 

-----------------------

 

A little late again, but week three update: Made it to the gym twice again. I was running an errand and realized there was a different location of the gym nearby so tried that one out, and didn't seem to feel too uncomfortable. I think it was familiar enough since it's the same chain.

 

As far as finding a staple meal, as noted above, I had sweet potato/bean/veggie burritos last week. They were tasty but probably not something I want to make and then stock up for leftovers. I did find a couple of recipes I feel like trying that seem easy enough, one of which is a soba noodle dish. Plans right now include a grocery run on Friday to pick up the ingredients. 

 

Still have been keeping the devices off when it comes to bedtime, but also still having some nights when I can't fall asleep. Fingers crossed it becomes easier. Didn't think this would give me as much trouble as it seems to be...

[Elastigirl]

Doing great so far on your challenge. Maybe white noise like a fan would help? It's not silence, but it isn't something that would disturb your sleep.

[sledge_antilles]

This might be a long post...

 

Doing great so far on your challenge. Maybe white noise like a fan would help? It's not silence, but it isn't something that would disturb your sleep.

 

Thanks for the suggestion - On the upside, It seems like I might be over the wall with this habit - have fallen asleep easier the last few days. Fingers crossed.

 

Week 4 report (now that Week 5 is half gone...)

 

- Made it to the gym twice. That's becoming easier. In fact, I'm even looking forward to moving on to free weights eventually. One step at a time, right now, though.

- I had to make some food for a potluck, so I made a double batch of a chilled soba salad with a tofu/peanut dressing. It's tasty, probably pretty easy to modify in terms of veggies, etc., and seemed easy to make. I think it's a possible candidate for a staple meal I can keep around throughout the year. I'm going to try another round of it at the end of the challenge (as I will be on vacation most of next week) and see if it holds up to another week. In the meantime I want to try one more option, a curry, probably, at the suggestion of some folks here.

- Still sleeping in silence, though probably need to turn the devices off earlier. As noted above I had an easier time falling asleep the past few days, so that seems to be going well.

- I haven't been as consistent/boring as I'd prefer with my photo archiving goal. However, I have been attacking it and making progress. And, I'm learning to be satisfied with making (even small) progress rather than beating myself up for not completing an entire huge project in one sitting. One huge folder of assignments is nearly archived and my workflow feels more natural now. Both of those are wins.

 

So I'm plugging along.

 

Yesterday: pretty much a failure. I woke up tired and was tired all day long. I started some work on photos and gave up after about half an hour, telling myself I would come back later. Instead I took a nap and finished a movie. And then took another nap. But, I've noticed a couple places on the boards here where people have mentioned the idea of "no two bad days in a row" or something to that effect. So I did my best to own it today: I spent time in the morning archiving and made good progress, finished a lot of chores, and then went to the gym where I pushed myself harder than I have during this challenge (using the rowing machine). It felt good, I must say, and I really like the "no two bad days in a row" concept. I would have normally beat myself up and let one bad day turn into two, and then three in the past, eventually leading to giving up a project. Will strive to let my bad days in the future fuel further good days!

 

Alright - a tangent to a practical consideration:

 

This may be a basic question but I'll ask anyway. How do you folks deal with wet items in the gym bag? When I used to play racquetball with some friends, I lived one minute away from the indoor courts, so if I showered there I could just drop my towel in the laundry when I got home. Right now I might go to the gym before work or meetings or what have you, long before I'll be home. I don't want my wet towel, shower sandals, and dirty clothes just hanging out in my (canvas) gym bag all day long in the car. The only thing I've thought of is a plastic grocery bag, but I'm not sure that's the best option either. Anyway, your suggestions or experiences are welcome.

 

Stay on target!

[Elastigirl]

Glad that sleep is getting better, And woot for not having two bad days , but choosing to own today