Urgan Shows Up, Does the Thing

[Kishi]

Sometimes being alive to fight another day is victory enough. I hope you managed to get good sleep and that today is not quite so heavy.

[Urgan]

1 hour ago, ixaera said:

 

I guess I'll take it. Sucks your body is waging a bloody war against you, though.

 

It appears your world is full of ow and why and WTF, too. We will survive this week. Somehow.

 

52 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Sometimes being alive to fight another day is victory enough. I hope you managed to get good sleep and that today is not quite so heavy.

 

Yeah, I went to bed a smidge early and did not have issues with falling asleep in the slightest. Altho for SOME reason my body is waking me up at 4AM and I wish it would STAHP PLZ.

[CourtnieMarie]

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

Now to figure out how to make fiber happen on weekends when everything falls apart.

burrito bowls and halo top  

[ixaera]

25 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Altho for SOME reason my body is waking me up at 4AM and I wish it would STAHP PLZ.

 

This is me forever. I used to think it was overhydration but stopping water before 8, then 7 didn't help and I discovered that it's just a quirk that if I wake up, I can't sleep if I have even the tiniest bladder occupation. I wake up 2-4x per night, unless I'm just flat out exhausted. (I'm lucky, though, because I can just get up, go, and get right back to sleep.)

[Urgan]

1 minute ago, ixaera said:

 

This is me forever. I used to think it was overhydration but stopping water before 8, then 7 didn't help and I discovered that it's just a quirk that if I wake up, I can't sleep if I have even the tiniest bladder occupation. I wake up 2-4x per night, unless I'm just flat out exhausted. (I'm lucky, though, because I can just get up, go, and get right back to sleep.)

 

I used to have this problem when I was unemployed, because I entered the Not Exhausted state you describe, and therefore the slightest twitch of my gut would wake me up. I no longer have this problem...or didn't anyway. Bathroom issues weren't the culprit Sunday or last night, at least? Because I just rolled over and never needed to get up. I will pay closer attention if it happens again, but it may just be a result of the bizarre sequence of events this month.

[Mistr]

Hang in there! I hope things get better. If they continue, beat them with a stick.

 

[Urgan]

4 minutes ago, Mistr said:

Hang in there! I hope things get better. If they continue, beat them with a stick.

 

 

More like 

 

But really, it's slow so far, which is as good a turn of events as I could ask for. Still, I may well shelve fighting with routers and nonsense for Thursday, because the whispers of migraines past are starting up again.

[Urgan]

10/24/2017

Minimum effort

 

Lift

Bench

45    5
55    5
60    3
70    3
80    1
89    2x3

 

OHP

45    2x5
55    3
66    1
60    2x3

 

Sleep

Curfew: 5/10

No naps: 3/4

 

Food

Calories: 8/14 - 2491 / 2518

Protein: 7/14 - 103 / 107

Fiber: 8/14 - 27 / 24

 

Deload week by force of demand. Not a shining moment of killing it pretty much anywhere in my life, but I made it. My head didn't let me forget it is capable of great wrath, but decided to go on vacation this time instead (due to the cold weeks earlier, no doubt). The security system tech support thing wasn't that bad and I managed to double-task it, packing clothes for the next day, AND the beginnings of dinner while on hold/speaking about the issue. So. That's pretty much it.

[ixaera]

Here's hoping the deload gets you where you're needing to go~

[Urgan]

10/25/2017

Dat inner monologue

 

Lift

Nada

 

Sleep

Curfew: 5/10

No naps: 3/4

 

Food

Calories: 9/14 - 2431 / 2310

Protein: 8/14 - 103 / 103

Fiber: 9/14 - 24 / 20

 

It was cold and I was feeling like a dumpster fire and so I did not go to the gym. I am not super proud of the process by which I determined a rest day was in order, but there it is. Hoping ditching the 2nd highest stress day of the week will square the circle that is my energy levels such that next week will feel more normal. Work would be pretty unremarkable, except my headache is stretching across a week instead of nailing me for a couple days then leaving, which is contributing nothing to my morale. Friday I will hit upper body as per usual and proceed from there. I did think about making up for Wednesday's fail to gym, but then I realized that would result in 5 days of strenuous activity with no break should we actually go horseback riding this Sunday. Nevermind the shiny new weight sled toy sitting in our garage, finally assembled as of this past Sunday. So that didn't make any sense, not even to me. I did not even manage to make curfew, but it was because of Adulting, not me just messing around at least.  I did the Aikido, it was a shihonage variation and yonkyo. Proud I only really needed a reminder of how to start them in order to get going--not well-polished or consistent by any means, but at least it wasn't a case of the technique falling out the back of my head and having to utterly relearn it from scratch. Again.

 

Guys, is this week over yet?? I swear, next week has to be better.

[Jord]

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

 

 

Guys, is this week over yet?? I swear, next week has to be better.

 

Buy yourself some ice cream and a fun t-shirt, the week will HAVE to be better? 

[Urgan]

11 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

Buy yourself some ice cream and a fun t-shirt, the week will HAVE to be better? 

 

I like where your head's at.

[Kishi]

Now now, sometimes it's okay to rest, as long as you're listening to your body and not excuses. To be clear, it sounds like you're listening to your body, and you need some rest. I hope you got some! And continue to get it on an as-needed basis.

[Urgan]

2 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Now now, sometimes it's okay to rest, as long as you're listening to your body and not excuses. To be clear, it sounds like you're listening to your body, and you need some rest. I hope you got some! And continue to get it on an as-needed basis.

 

I don't think I've ever had a longer layoff than 3 days. I'm beginning to wonder if I even lift. 

[Mistr]

Give yourself credit for keeping things going while you felt lousy. You made it through the week. That is indeed cause to celebrate. Get some rest and kill it in the gym this weekend.  

[Urgan]

10/26/2017 - 10/29/2017

Yippee ki yay

 

Lift

Friday 

Bench

45    5
55    5
60    3
70    3
80    1
89    2x3

 

OHP

45    2x5
55    3
66    1
60    2x3

 

Saturday
Squat

  45    5

100   5

135   3

150   1

160   1

172   3x2

 

Deadlift

135   5

150   3

170   1

190    3x2

 

Sleep

Curfew: 7/10

No naps: 4/4

 

Food

Calories: 12/14 - 2397 / 2658, 2822, 2235, 1769

Protein: 11/14 - 102 / 124, 114, 101, 68

Fiber: 12/14 - 24 / 35, 20, 12, 27

 

Soooooooooo...this week. Wow. Um, glad it's over?? Thursday and Friday were progressively worse than the earlier part of the week. Somehow. I know, you thought it couldn't get any more kvetchier, did you? Well I will skip it except to say that those days did indeed qualify for dumpster fire status. The only good thing about them was Friday's upper body session, and that was no crowning achievement by any means. I didn't fall asleep before dinner at least??

 

Saturday was a good bit better, but the damned headache was still riding shotgun. At least gym time felt more normal-ish, performance-wise. 

 

Sunday was ow time. We went horseback riding at a local park, which was fun. The horse, by sheer coincidence, shared my married name. He loves to eat: no vine, bush, or tree was safe from his horsey voraciousness. Was very prissy about riding through water, yet had no sense of personal space re: the horse in front of him. Animals are hilarious. By the time we got back my behind was so very Done with all things saddles and jarring motions. A good thing we stood around a while before walking much, because OW. Here to confirm DOMS + saddle soreness = bad. We went home and I basically didn't get up until I had to do chores. To the surprise of no one, I am still stiff today. Worth it. And that is why my numbers are so low for Sunday. I did a cost/benefit analysis of the situation and decided to Hell with eating, I wanna nap the rest of the afternoon/evening away. And I did. 

[CourtnieMarie]

oh cool to go horseback riding though! despite soreness. 

[Sam Ashen]

1 hour ago, CourtnieMarie said:

oh cool to go horseback riding though! despite soreness allergies.

 

There.  It works for me, too!

[Urgan]

Hi.

 

I am still alive, I just haven't gotten my mess together enough to decide what I should be aiming for this month yet. Hopefully that will happen by the 6th. Things of note:

 

1. I have a new bench 3RM of 93lbs, I 3x3'd that.

2. I am still conforming to curfew/sleep (sorta...) and nutrition goals that I have had for several weeks now.

3. Weight is at random, which I suspect has more to do with my gut contents than anything. 

4. I have been eating on a box of Swiss Cake Rolls since the weekend and finished off the last two packs last night. 0 regrets.

5. I had energy on Monday but it was nowhere to be found this morning. I actually slept uninterrupted PLUS I got a bonus hour of sleep, so. No idea what is up with that.

6. Nobody rang our doorbell for Halloween, which is good because the cats would think it was the End of Times should the doorbell ring. Might have something to do with the lack of lights or candy on the premises (other than my Swiss Cake Rolls, which yeah. Cold dead hands and all that.).

7. I like wheat-free pasta as much as the wheaty kind.

[Urgan]

Kids, don't ingest 78g of fiber in one day. Just. Don't.

 

Hit the gym 3/3 this week and felt okay (lower body felt too heavy, but I detected a general dip in energy during the middle of the week, so to be expected), did the Aikido--all the tai sabaki on both sessions--no naps. I've been hitting consistent bedtimes. My calories have gone back up after the dip when I started with the fiber, as happens whenever I make dietary changes, and my weight has followed suit.

 

I have a new toy that needs to be tried out: the prowler. It's been sitting in our garage for a bit and I need to push it on Sunday. I really need to. One problem is marking distance, I need to just do the thing and deal with that detail later. After I do 172lb squat for 3x3. Agh. 5lbs shy of the 3RM I hit nearly a year ago. Squats need to start moving again plzkthx.

[ixaera]

I should do more prowler! It's a lot of fun, just kind of a pain to dig out at the big gym. That is a shitload of fiber if you'll pardon my pun. I once made a similar mistake. I tried shiritaki noodles for the first time a few years ago and felt like I had a lump in my intestines ughhhhh. (Those things are pure soluable fiber, basically, leave it to me to not drink enough water after that.)

[Mistr]

Yay for still being alive, having a new bench 3RM, and getting enough sleep.

 

Sounds like you have worked out the bounds of too little and too much fiber. Testing complete, no need to do that again.

 

You've been juggling a bunch of dietary challenges and work stress over the last year. I know it is frustrating not to make progress. At least you can look back and see obvious reasons why your body has been in recovery mode. It sounds like you've figured out things to the point that you will be able to make better gains from here on out.

[Urgan]

On 11/3/2017 at 2:27 PM, ixaera said:

I should do more prowler! It's a lot of fun, just kind of a pain to dig out at the big gym. That is a shitload of fiber if you'll pardon my pun. I once made a similar mistake. I tried shiritaki noodles for the first time a few years ago and felt like I had a lump in my intestines ughhhhh. (Those things are pure soluable fiber, basically, leave it to me to not drink enough water after that.)

 

Did the prowler. Looked like an idiot discovering that it's not fun to push it on a slight incline. Took it back to the garage and that worked okay. 

 

I managed to back myself off the fiber ledge, now to hit the 30s regularly (harrrrrrr). 

 

On 11/3/2017 at 2:54 PM, Mistr said:

Yay for still being alive, having a new bench 3RM, and getting enough sleep.

 

Sounds like you have worked out the bounds of too little and too much fiber. Testing complete, no need to do that again.

 

You've been juggling a bunch of dietary challenges and work stress over the last year. I know it is frustrating not to make progress. At least you can look back and see obvious reasons why your body has been in recovery mode. It sounds like you've figured out things to the point that you will be able to make better gains from here on out.

 

Spoiler: I now have a new 5RM, too, as of this morning. 85lbs, get.

 

I've never been accused of managing stress super well. At least maybe one day I'll get this whole getting in bed on time thing nailed down. 

[Urgan]

November 2017 Goals

This is fine

 

October was rigged to explode. I got sick and afterward my body decided to sandbag the last two weeks of the month. Horseback riding and the biannual karate tournament volunteering happened. Another Halloween bit the dust.

 

EOY is coming.

 

 

Lift

Will my body cooperate and let me have 5s and 1s weeks proceed as normal? Let's find out.

 

Food

When last we left our heroine, she was working on fiber intake. 20 - 40 is probably a good range. Calories are slowly on the uptick over prior weeks now that fiber foods have been incorporated, buuuuut protein is kinda slipping. There are only so many plates one can spin simultaneously, but I need to do better, darnit. Also Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I need to be ready to eat all the things.

 

Here's what I need, on average, to keep this crazy merry-go-round on track:

Calories: 2300 

Protein: 116

Fiber: 25

 

As usual, will log these macros in average/daily format. 

 

Calories: 0

Protein: 0

Fiber: 0

 

Do the Thing

It's that time of year again. You know it, I know it. My skin sure as heck knows it. The first hint of cold/cool/not-hot weather and it's dry skin time. Locate some moisturizer and use it 2x daily or it doesn't count. Maybe file those palm calluses so they don't look like a train wreck? You know what would kill two birds with one stone? Putting a sword in my hands and practicing some freaking Aikido (seriously, bokken = palm file).

 

Winter is Coming: 0/28

Callus care: 0/4

Bokken time: 0/4

 

Weekly Debriefs: 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

[Kishi]

Hey, you survived the explosion. Lots of people don't do that. Most of the non-Rebels I know would have let one single event like what you dealt with derail them for weeks/month(s), but not you. You dug in and kept fighting. I respect how mundane that must seem to you, now, since you been at this for a while, but it's really something special, and FWIW I hope you realize that.

 

I'm sorry to hear that your awesome is such a struggle right now. But it also sounds like things are getting better too. I hope it gets better in leaps and bounds for you in the coming month.