joedog comes back for April

[joedog]

Okay, since week 1 is winding down, seems like I should post goals or something. I really hadn't planned for this one so my goals are probably not going to be all that SMART. I just had such a huge crash and burn at the end of last year. I just need to rebuild some habits and then really attack my long term goals once I get a plan going. 

 

The long term goal is to do the things I need to do to continue playing rugby into my 40s. The first 2 steps to that are to get my weight down and my cardiovascular endurance up. I also have a problem with glute activation so I need to work on that too. Turns out it's hard to push 1500 pounds of scrum off you when your glutes don't want to participate. 

 

Goal 1) I've got a gym routine that is Coach approved. I will do it 3 times per week. It involves weights and long, slow cardio. 

 

Goal 2) Attack the lazy glutes. I've got a routine set up to attack this whole area of my body. It's drawn from Joe DeFranco's Limber 11 and a website I found about hamstring dominance. I'm not sure how many days a week I need to be working on this. Will check that out.

 

Goal 3) Food. Sigh. The neverending problem for me. For this challenge I'm going to work on getting back to tracking using MyFitnessPal. Just starting to track usually helps me cut down on a lot of stuff. I also want to work on identifying the triggers or habit cues that are causing my binges. 

 

That seems good for now. I need to take some new measurements. I haven't done that in a while. I know that my weight is roughly the same but clothes are fitting me differently so it seems like the fat is moving around a little. 

[sarakingdom]

Yaaaaaaay.

[joedog]

Joedog plays rugby if you're interested in some extremely mediocre to poor rugby. I'm number 17. I come in at about 4:20. We started this match with 2 veterans in brand new positions and 13 virgins. So it's okay that we did extremely poorly. 

[Kishi]

Hey, good to see you again!

 

And don't worry, there's plenty of time.

[starpuck]

Awesome!  I have zero idea what's going on in that video, but I am SO THRILLED to see you out there!  *big big big hug*

 

 

[SevenFootGeek]

You are glorious and I am happy to see you back.

 

Also I really thought your tag said fairy SQUATmother and I thought there were some Warrior shenanigans going on in here.

[joedog]

22 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

Yaaaaaaay.

 

 

19 hours ago, Kishi said:

Hey, good to see you again!

 

And don't worry, there's plenty of time.

 

It's good to be seen! 

 

19 hours ago, Starpuck said:

Awesome!  I have zero idea what's going on in that video, but I am SO THRILLED to see you out there!  *big big big hug*

 

 

 

Slightly less than half the people participating in the video didn't have any idea either so no worries. It was awesome. I'm in a tournament this weekend and I'm really excited about it. 

 

13 hours ago, SevenFootGeek said:

You are glorious and I am happy to see you back.

 

Also I really thought your tag said fairy SQUATmother and I thought there were some Warrior shenanigans going on in here.

 

My rugby children have dubbed me their fairy squadmother after some tumblr post thingy they found. Just because I'm literally old enough to have borne part of them and I give them important wisdom like "shave your legs before the match". I will be doing some strength type stuff but machine based so probably not warrior approved. 

 

[RisenPhoenix]

[PinkNinja]

Yay! Glad you're back. I've been loving the rugby shenanigans!

[joedog]

18 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

 

I did that to a few girls this weekend. It was fun. Right up until I got kicked in the nose. Nah, who am i kidding, that was fun too. 

 

13 hours ago, PinkNinja said:

Yay! Glad you're back. I've been loving the rugby shenanigans!

 

Apparently when I carry the ball, I make small women shout profanity. It's sort of my purpose in life. 

[joedog]

This weekend was incredible. I played in a rugby tournament in St. Louis. My legs look like I was used for a pinata. I played well for an extremely out of shape and somewhat aged rugby player. 

 

Still haven't had much chance to plan out exactly what my goals are but my long term goal is to get my body ready for next fall so I can continue to play and make small women reconsider their decision to play rugby instead of softball. 

[chickie.monkey]

Hello, my long lost twin. I'm back for April, too! Let's see what we can do with this mug.

 

Glad to see you! *hugs*

[starpuck]

12 hours ago, joedog said:

This weekend was incredible. I played in a rugby tournament in St. Louis. My legs look like I was used for a pinata. I played well for an extremely out of shape and somewhat aged rugby player. 

 

Still haven't had much chance to plan out exactly what my goals are but my long term goal is to get my body ready for next fall so I can continue to play and make small women reconsider their decision to play rugby instead of softball. 

 

I especially love this comment in blue.    Girl, you sound so hyped that I can feel it through the text pixels.    And that makes me smile so so so so much.    Being able to do something you love is such great motivation for all the other parts.   My FB memory feeds are full of years of posts and comments that sound just like that, from when I first got into hockey.    I am so excited for you!!!!

 

[Teirin]

Excellent, you do indeed sound happy and excited :-)

[joedog]

On 4/5/2016 at 10:03 PM, chickie.monkey said:

Hello, my long lost twin. I'm back for April, too! Let's see what we can do with this mug.

 

Glad to see you! *hugs*

 

We got this thing, twinsie! Glad you are back too!

 

 

On 4/5/2016 at 10:33 PM, Starpuck said:

 

I especially love this comment in blue.    Girl, you sound so hyped that I can feel it through the text pixels.    And that makes me smile so so so so much.    Being able to do something you love is such great motivation for all the other parts.   My FB memory feeds are full of years of posts and comments that sound just like that, from when I first got into hockey.    I am so excited for you!!!!

 

 

I've been talking to this girl from another team that we played with over the weekend. I said something about being a huge introvert and she said she would have never guessed that about me. Rugby is the only place where my anxiety doesn't get totally away from me. To be honest, despite my extremely poor fitness, I'm playing some of the best rugby I've ever played. It feels great. 

 

On 4/5/2016 at 2:07 PM, Teirin said:

Excellent, you do indeed sound happy and excited :-)

 

I really am. It's so hard for me to do fitness-y stuff without some big thing to work toward. Somehow that vague notion of being healthy isn't enough. Even if I don't play much anymore, I need to be fit enough to coach. I might also end up being a ref someday which requires quite a bit of fitness to be in position to call the match. I have a reason. It's very good.

 

[joedog]

I sort of started this challenge without any plan so the first week has been a little discombobulated. Now I've got a plan so I can charge ahead. My anxiety/depression has been incredibly bad this week. I'm going to have to get with both my therapist and my MD to see if we can figure something out. I can't keep having mood swings like I've had over the past few days. Especially since it is happening to some degree every 2-4 weeks. 

 

I just don't understand how I could feel so certain the world was crashing down yesterday and wake up today and feel so much better. Yesterday there was no point, today everything is manageable. It's exhausting. 

 

I missed you all so much while I was away. I'm one of those people who doesn't handle change well, so as soon as I figure out how to navigate the new design of the boards I'll be around to say hello to you all! Much love! 

[starpuck]

I struggled with the changes too, and after a week or so tantrum, I am getting used to it.  I was especially won over when I realized I could just copy a gif or image link and then .... RESIZE IT IN THE MESSAGE!

 

Though I do miss the other fonts.  

 

Good plan on seeing your docs.   I'll keep ya in my T&P's that things even out a bit more for you.    And keep up on the rugby!

[karinajean]

JOEDOG I am so glad I found you. and you sound AMAZING and super happy. YAY.

 

[PinkNinja]

 

I sort of started this challenge without any plan so the first week has been a little discombobulated. Now I've got a plan so I can charge ahead. My anxiety/depression has been incredibly bad this week. I'm going to have to get with both my therapist and my MD to see if we can figure something out. I can't keep having mood swings like I've had over the past few days. Especially since it is happening to some degree every 2-4 weeks. 

 

I just don't understand how I could feel so certain the world was crashing down yesterday and wake up today and feel so much better. Yesterday there was no point, today everything is manageable. It's exhausting. 

 

I missed you all so much while I was away. I'm one of those people who doesn't handle change well, so as soon as I figure out how to navigate the new design of the boards I'll be around to say hello to you all! Much love! 

 

I have also been having crazy mood swings. I go from loving everything to contemplating murder to wanting to crawl under my stupid bed to cry. (seriously, my bed is stupid, don't even get me started)

 

I'm slowly adjusting to the new boards. Just type @The Shogun  and it somehow makes them better.

[Teirin]

*All the hugs*  Hope you got those appointments and they had something helpful to offer. 

 

 

 

I struggled with the changes too, and after a week or so tantrum, I am getting used to it.  I was especially won over when I realized I could just copy a gif or image link and then .... RESIZE IT IN THE MESSAGE!

 

 

 

..... it works.

[joedog]

 

I struggled with the changes too, and after a week or so tantrum, I am getting used to it.  I was especially won over when I realized I could just copy a gif or image link and then .... RESIZE IT IN THE MESSAGE!

 

Though I do miss the other fonts.  

 

Good plan on seeing your docs.   I'll keep ya in my T&P's that things even out a bit more for you.    And keep up on the rugby!

 

I don't like change. I just don't. I'm adapting to it. I'm still rugbying but the rage-anxiety-cry for no reason is persisting. I'm a bit like Kathy Bates' character in Fried Green Tomatoes. I'm going to have a bad menopause. Lol

 

 

JOEDOG I am so glad I found you. and you sound AMAZING and super happy. YAY.

 

 

Yay!!!! It is good to be found! Now I need to come find you back!

 

 

 

I have also been having crazy mood swings. I go from loving everything to contemplating murder to wanting to crawl under my stupid bed to cry. (seriously, my bed is stupid, don't even get me started)

 

I'm slowly adjusting to the new boards. Just type @The Shogun  and it somehow makes them better.

 

I fully understand that your bed is stupid. @TheShogun makes everything better, right?

 

 

*All the hugs*  Hope you got those appointments and they had something helpful to offer. 

 

 

 

 

..... it works.

 

I approve of picture experimentation in my thread!

[joedog]

Week 1 was a week of dreadful rage-anxiety-crying-depression. I survived as did most every living thing around me. (I did kill a wasp. It failed to live up to our peace accords.) 

 

Week 2 I have been on nights. Again. Seems like I just stopped being on nights. I haven't made any strides toward my specific goals but I've been having a lot of good conversation with friends about my happiness and how I'm not very good at sticking up for it. I've gained some real insight into myself and what I need to do to keep me a glued together human. So goals as laid out, fail but long term life goals have been win. 

 

I have been doing a little better with food, at least being present about what I'm putting in my facehole. I tend to eat less overall when I'm on night shift but it's a lot of empty calorie junk. Nights will be over after this week for a while. Hoping to get to the gym some in the near future.

 

[Kishi]

You know, given how your job tends to upend, I'm wondering if it might not be a bad idea to make a sort of dual challenge - something for when you're on days, and something for when you're on nights. Just because, it always seems to be a struggle to adapt the one to the other. So, like, night work would be about maintaining, and day work would be about advancement.

 

It's just a thought, though.

[starpuck]

 

 I haven't made any strides toward my specific goals but I've been having a lot of good conversation with friends about my happiness and how I'm not very good at sticking up for it. I've gained some real insight into myself and what I need to do to keep me a glued together human. So goals as laid out, fail but long term life goals have been win. 

 

This here is good stuff JD!    Sometimes it takes just barely treading water to figure out things out, and it sounds like you had some good aha moments.   That's the critical first step to anything!    So I'm really cheering you on that you've had them and even more so that you identified having them.     Just keep hanging in there and it'll come.

 

 

You know, given how your job tends to upend, I'm wondering if it might not be a bad idea to make a sort of dual challenge - something for when you're on days, and something for when you're on nights. Just because, it always seems to be a struggle to adapt the one to the other. So, like, night work would be about maintaining, and day work would be about advancement.

 

It's just a thought, though.

 

Kishi has a good idea with the Plan A Plan B shctick here.   Listen to Kishi.  He is wise!    And by having two angles to approach from, you might be able to avoid any sensation of 'failing this intricate plan I laid out in detail because I couldn't stick to it exactly' - by having the ability to say, "Life happened, I flipped the switch from track a to b and I was able to keep the train functional because of it!"

 

[Teirin]

Long term goals for the win!  Kishi and Starpuck are right.  It's not reasonable to demand that one plan work when circumstances are alternating or change.

 

You're back to day shifts now? *all the hugs*