Urgan Shows Up, Does the Thing

[Urgan]

12/14/2018 - 12/16/2018

Wut is going on I don't understand

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2283 : 2014, 2683, 2442

 

Aikido

Jo. 6/8

Tech Review. 8/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

 

Friday

OHP

45         2x5

50         3

60         3

70         3x1

76         5x2

 

Bench

45         5

60         5

70         3

75         3

85         1

96         3x3

 

A pretty solid Friday session, nothing that I recall as being particularly standout, unless you call exercising restraint and not trying to spring for a chip PR when I couldn't get 5 sets last month timely a standout point. And I didn't feeling as disgustingly, miserably tired at the end of the day, which is also something. I worked on the pantry shelves a bit more, which is only fitting and proper given I brought in more junk to fit in there, lol.

 

Saturday

Squat

45           10

115         5

135         3

145         3

165         1

185         2x1

190         2x2

196         2x2--2RM PR + 1!!

196         3--3RM PR + 1!!

 

Deadlifts

135         5

150         5

185         3

205         2

227.5      2

227.5      1--failed 2nd rep

227.5      2x2

 

The theme of this session is positioning is key. Squats felt just awful all the way up to the 190lb doubles. I narrowed my stance and magically 196lbs shot up like NBD, so I went for a Hail Mary 3RM PR, too. I feel optimistic that I will be able to clear 200lbs before being forced to do a serious deload. I may opt to do a small one anyhow at the start of the year, but I don't feel like I'm being pressured to do so for this lift. Deadlifts, same story. Kinda. I adopted an unfamiliar stance and it cost me the 2nd set of 227.5lbs. I got my old shoes, adopted old stance, and cranked out two more sets. Not sure if this is an issue with the shoes themselves or if I'm starting to outpace my ability to recover. Not worrying about it 'til the New Year.

 

I continued to wage war on both the fridge and pantry shelves, which resulted in bringing balance to the universe. I can say with authority that the letter and spirit of that goal has been met. Also reshuffled the savings transfers to be easier to follow, stay tuned to see if I managed to screw anything up.

 

Winter makes too much laundry to hang up to dry, it needs to stop that.



Sunday

I felt like such an Adult getting all the stuff done and not scrambling at 8PM on to make up for poor choices earlier in the day. Husband was sniffly and couldn't breathe, couldn't get a project on my car finished due to part unavailability, broke a plate while doing dishes because wet dishes were slippery, cut himself in multiple places, bemoaned the plate as it was apparently a favorite, and caught a cold. So he had a day. I salvaged the only part of it I could by finding a replacement pair of plates that were identical to the one that died. That seemed to help his feelings a little bit. 

 

My macros have been doing pretty well, all things considered. Weight is hanging in the 117s, I am fairly satisfied with the way things look and feel lately.

[Mistr]

On 12/14/2018 at 1:14 PM, Urgan said:

I would be giving that garbage can the side eye until it goes in the dumpster, lol. Sketchy. But there's nothing as liberating as a clean pantry. I need to do the shelf below it as well, it's in need of assistance also.

 

Oh yes, the trash went out not long after that. There were packaging materials from fresh meat that needed to go OUT.

 

Seriously, why did we even have canned fruit? None of us eats it. Canned fruit in jello is observed in the historical foods of my people, but we modern types don't eat those foods any more.

 

On 12/14/2018 at 1:14 PM, Urgan said:

I did a thing today. I paid off the loan for our security system, which saves us $327 per year over the next 3.5 years. AKA Too Much Money. It just occurred to me that we might be treadmilling that bad boy or might as well be, at that rate. So I fixed it. This combined with the surgery cost is a bit of a blow, but we'll cope. And we have the money for the climate control replacement anytime we want to schedule that, so. I realigned our savings plans to take this into account. 

 

Yay for successful adulting!

 

5 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

I felt like such an Adult getting all the stuff done and not scrambling at 8PM on to make up for poor choices earlier in the day. Husband was sniffly and couldn't breathe, couldn't get a project on my car finished due to part unavailability, broke a plate while doing dishes because wet dishes were slippery, cut himself in multiple places, bemoaned the plate as it was apparently a favorite, and caught a cold. So he had a day. I salvaged the only part of it I could by finding a replacement pair of plates that were identical to the one that died. That seemed to help his feelings a little bit. 

 

My macros have been doing pretty well, all things considered. Weight is hanging in the 117s, I am fairly satisfied with the way things look and feel lately.

 

And look, more adulting. You rock.

 

Congratulations on figuring out your macros and making them work. That took a LOT of effort and determination. Go Urgan!

[Urgan]

12/17/2018

It's going down

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2336 : 2336

 

Aikido

Jo. 7/8

Tech Review. 9/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

Bench

45         3

70         3

80         3

85         3

90         2x3

100      4x3

 

OHP

45         3

50         3

60         3

65         3

74.5      3--3RM PR + 1LB!!

65         4x3

 

Alrighty, that bench session started off really rough, in that I nearly failed the first set due to the second rep trying to get away from me, but I leg drove that sucker out of the jaws of death. Then the other sets were a lot better. Also an OHP 3RM PR that was a titanic struggle, but ya know. That's a given at this point lol. 

 

Still doing my Japanese lessons, some stuff is starting to stick a bit--not like I know much yet, but it's something. 

 

Sensei took a break from leading the class to hang out with his visiting mother (she drove from NY...), so we did tanto dori and it was painful. Afterward, I went home, did jo kata and reviewed two-hands-on-one nikyo. Chocolate + olives + salami + chocolate-mint hummus.  Moar Japanese practice, then bed.

 

Making holiday-related logistics plans. Tuesday is stocking shopping + late meal prep (not dinner, as I will have hubs pick that up to avoid the panic drill), Wednesday is Present Wrapping Pt. 1, Thursday is Present Wrapping Pt. 2, and whatever else remains gets done over the weekend. Last Aikido session of the year is Wednesday. There's no testing in January, so if I can get my mess together soon, I might be able to convince myself to test. Gawd. We'll see. Trying to decide between staying over Christmas Eve with my parents or not. Also to be determined. Lifting will happen as normal (ish) Wednesday and Friday, given as I am off from 3PM Tuesday afternoon until the 26th where we make our not-quite-so-triumphant return for three days that week lol. Holiday gym hours are a thing, I will probably do my upper body lifting on Sunday instead of fighting the crowd during abbreviated hours. I'll be going New Years Eve, though, given the spectacle of lifting on the last day of 2018 much as I did in 2017.

[Urgan]

18 hours ago, Mistr said:

Oh yes, the trash went out not long after that. There were packaging materials from fresh meat that needed to go OUT.

 

Seriously, why did we even have canned fruit? None of us eats it. Canned fruit in jello is observed in the historical foods of my people, but we modern types don't eat those foods any more.

 

That one time someone bought a thing thinking it would be a good idea, they eat one serving and then Never Again. Flash forward 3 years later....

 

That stuff has a hard "skin" on it that's like the worst kind of Crème brûlée, except that's supposed to require stabbing with great force. 

 

18 hours ago, Mistr said:

Yay for successful adulting!

 

On 12/17/2018 at 9:40 AM, Urgan said:

 

I felt like such an Adult getting all the stuff done and not scrambling at 8PM on to make up for poor choices earlier in the day. Husband was sniffly and couldn't breathe, couldn't get a project on my car finished due to part unavailability, broke a plate while doing dishes because wet dishes were slippery, cut himself in multiple places, bemoaned the plate as it was apparently a favorite, and caught a cold. So he had a day. I salvaged the only part of it I could by finding a replacement pair of plates that were identical to the one that died. That seemed to help his feelings a little bit. 

 

My macros have been doing pretty well, all things considered. Weight is hanging in the 117s, I am fairly satisfied with the way things look and feel lately.

 

And look, more adulting. You rock.

 

Congratulations on figuring out your macros and making them work. That took a LOT of effort and determination. Go Urgan!

 

I am still hanging out at 117lbs so far this week, which is optimal, I think. Unfortunately, Shark Week should be here by now, but it is ominously absent. Should be any time now....

[Urgan]

12/18/2018 - 12/20/2018-ish

Ringing in the holiday "break" feels

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2424 : 2411, 2524

 

Aikido

Jo. 10/8

Tech Review. 12/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

 

Tuesday

A sniffly snotty day. A forced 2.5 hour meeting. Part-day PTO. WHO WILL WIN??

 

 

PTO.

 

 

PTO won. I snuck out of that meeting (having informed the organizer via email....) and went shopping for stocking stuffers. Japanese lessons, cooking for the next day, packing after that.

 

Wednesday

Squat

45           3

135         3

145         3

165         3

175         1

185         3x3

 

Deadlifts

135         3

150         3

170         3

205         3

215         3x3

185         3x3

 

I was so busy in the evening on Tuesday that I completely forgot to do my jo and other technique review.  Did a morning and late night session to make up for it. Japanese lessons morning, afternoon, and late-late at night. I went lifting in the afternoon and it was a small garbage fire as far as squats went. I just don't think 185lbs should qualify as "heavy"... Deadlifts were better. Then I ran home, ate rice and chocolate (as you do), then drove across town to do that Aikido thing for the last time of 2018. It as me and two black belts, which shares much in common with the analogy of democracy as two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. I maybe did 2nd dan kumi-jo work and it was a little frightening, I won't lie. Anything that begins with "attack the black belt and then immediately block + lift your forward leg or else you'll lose your foot" is a little terrifying lol. Then we talked a while and called it a year. Sigh. The long, cold two week "break" commences. 

 

Thursday-so-far
MOAR Japanese, chores such as dishes, laundry, and dusting every single thing lol. You want a challenge, try dusting everything you own then attempt jo work. Good times. 

[Urgan]

12/20/2018 - 12/25/2018

Spontaneous repose

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2397, 2159 : 2273, 2265, 2552, 2418, 2310, 2008

 

Aikido

Jo. 12/8

Tech Review. 14/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

 

Alrighty, long time no type. This update straddles two weeks, which is a little awkward. Also, can't be fussed to type out all the numbers of the lbs I lifted over this period. The only points anyone would care about is I failed a 108lb bench attempt when 105 looked fine and I only managed one set of 193lb triples on squat before backing down again--no fail, because I surrendered before that could occur. Shark Week was two weeks overdue and decided to start at dark o'thirty on Christmas Day. Ho ho flippin' ho. This and lowered gym performance are no accident. Last month was stagnant/stalemate and this month has proven to be a month of backsliding overall. Not a complete and utter landslide, but noticeable backwards momentum is evident. I've got half of one more week and then the first proper deload in what may be a year and a half--at least, it's a break in the usual formula for a week, a slight reduction of weight for everything but bench (it got deloaded last month because it wasn't really an option...may need to adjust it down a bit further, but I'm not sure that will be necessary), along with plans for a gradual shift down to one top set followed by backoff sets if the weight reduction doesn't feel like it's giving me the relief I need. At least I've managed to stay on top of my Aikido and Japanese stuff. Actually overperformed, given the obstacles holidays present for us to jump over. Macros were good every day but Christmas Day itself, a day which stressed me out and makes me gravitate to sleep/motionlessness over food with the power of a billion white-hot burning suns.  My goal is to fix my kotegaeshi tenkan footwork with the aid of hamper-sensei (stepping around a bin to give me something solid as a standin for a bored human who isn't getting thrown or a terrified one who is) and remember how the techniques go by looking at their names. AMBITION.

 

Christmas happened. Mom got her pressure cooker/air fryer combo, husband got his Pip-boy kit, and dad got sanding blocks lol. I got a Switch, an iPod, and lost 5lbs by getting a new bodyweight scale LOL. So apparently I'm 113.5lbs now. Well okay then. Holidays like Christmas and New Years are so hard to deal with when you have to go back to work the next day. It is the worst, it will never not be.

[Urgan]

12/26/2018

This is fine

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2117 : 2034

 

Aikido

Jo. 12/8

Tech Review. 14/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

 

The alarm clock was like a kick in the head when it went off. I went to the gym, did some squat singles, and just sorta survived until it was roughly time to go home. Didn't do any Aikido stuff, but I did Japanese practice. This might have been due to the fact that I never really completely woke up all day.

 

This morning marked the glorious return of the migraine. Yeeeee missed that. My hormones are running amok and it's just great. 

[shaar]

On 12/26/2018 at 10:31 AM, Urgan said:

Shark Week was two weeks overdue and decided to start at dark o'thirty on Christmas Day. Ho ho flippin' ho.

 

3 minutes ago, Urgan said:

This morning marked the glorious return of the migraine. Yeeeee missed that. My hormones are running amok and it's just great. 

 

Drop kick me Santa.

[Urgan]

18 minutes ago, shaar said:

Drop kick me Santa.

 

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if all of us had stable hormones?

[Mistr]

7 hours ago, Urgan said:

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if all of us had stable hormones?

 

Hmmmm, I can't imagine. Mine are on some sort of mystery schedule.

 

Glad to hear that you survived Christmas and did not hit anyone with a jo who wasn't asking for it.

 

I look forward to the day that I think a 185 lb squat shouldn't be heavy. Right now an 80 lb squat feels iffy to me.

[Urgan]

12/27/2018

Be more flexible with your expectations

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2147 : 2134

 

Aikido

Jo. 13/8

Tech Review. 15/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

 

Two days ago I forgot to factor in some rice noodles, so add 100-odd calories to that total. The above average is correct. 

 

So the Flood passed over the Southeast over Thursday evening into Friday, which made for some soothing storm noises. Overall Thursday stunk less than Wednesday. I felt somewhat half alive, but there was the mega headache that persisted over most of the day, but I did have some work to do amazingly which helped distract me from that. Did jo and kotegaeshi tenkan footwork review. I'm going back to normal old general review soon, I just want to be very sure I don't set foot on the mat and revert to stupid happy foot shuffle. 

 

My car has been doing this thing where it throws car engine air through one set of vents even if the A/C is switched off. At first it was the dash vents, but now after a couple weeks' tinkering by my husband it has now decided to blow engine air out the front vents when the A/C is OFF. When it is turned ON, it will not blow out the front vent unless directed by me selecting that set of vents OR choosing an option that includes TWO sets of vents. Go figure. I think he's losing patience with it because apparently if this last effort doesn't work that's just my life now, I get bonus engine heat. Lolno. Truth to tell it was better off blowing on the dash....

[Urgan]

15 hours ago, Mistr said:

Hmmmm, I can't imagine. Mine are on some sort of mystery schedule.

 

I think if it ever happened, it might herald the End Times, actually.

 

15 hours ago, Mistr said:

Glad to hear that you survived Christmas and did not hit anyone with a jo who wasn't asking for it.

 

Helps our asshole relatives have succeeded in isolating themselves in an effort to hurt us/me by deprivation of their presence. #youredoingitwrong

 

And I have also somehow managed not to destroy anything in the process of practicing on a normal day, either. COUGH. Not a lot of real estate for flinging jo around in our house. 

 

15 hours ago, Mistr said:

I look forward to the day that I think a 185 lb squat shouldn't be heavy. Right now an 80 lb squat feels iffy to me.

 

That's the ironic thing, technically 185 is working weight, but I had tricked myself into assuming it was a given I should be hitting triples no problem. TECHNICALLY I should be able to do them any day of the week, buuut they aren't easy weight. Key distinction.

[Mistr]

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

My car has been doing this thing where it throws car engine air through one set of vents even if the A/C is switched off. At first it was the dash vents, but now after a couple weeks' tinkering by my husband it has now decided to blow engine air out the front vents when the A/C is OFF. When it is turned ON, it will not blow out the front vent unless directed by me selecting that set of vents OR choosing an option that includes TWO sets of vents. Go figure. I think he's losing patience with it because apparently if this last effort doesn't work that's just my life now, I get bonus engine heat. Lolno. Truth to tell it was better off blowing on the dash....

 

That sounds like one of my grad school cars. I went through a series of elderly vehicles. One was a Mazda 323 with 200k+ miles that I bought from a friend. It passed a mechanic check with flying colors before I bought it, then immediately started falling apart. The heater fan was the first thing to go. The motor was fine but the bearings were giving out. It made a variety of noises: wildebeast mating call, mothership take-me-home-beacon, star ship background noises and the something-in-the closet noise. Of course this happened right at the start of winter in Minnesota. Not using the heat was not an option. It would have cost more than I paid for the car to replace it, so me and my carpool lived with it for the six months that car kept running.

 

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

I think if it ever happened, it might herald the End Times, actually.

 

Menopause and a hysterectomy. The bright side is that I can't get cramps or have an unpleasant Shark Week surprise. Hopefully the End Times are many years off for you.

 

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

And I have also somehow managed not to destroy anything in the process of practicing on a normal day, either. COUGH. Not a lot of real estate for flinging jo around in our house. 

 

Jo are not house-friendly. I keep saying I will practice outside in nice weather. I haven't actually done that since I was working on learning the 31-count kata. Luckily I do get regular indoor practice in the aerobics studio at work.

 

4 hours ago, Urgan said:

That's the ironic thing, technically 185 is working weight, but I had tricked myself into assuming it was a given I should be hitting triples no problem. TECHNICALLY I should be able to do them any day of the week, buuut they aren't easy weight. Key distinction.

 

Point noted. I worked with 55 lb today. That seems ridiculously low, but it feels just right for getting my balance and form issues sorted out. I think part of the problem was that I was arching my back. Concentrating on tucking my tailbone helped. I also noticed that my knees don't hurt doing squats even on a day when they are generally achey (like today).

[Urgan]

12/28/2018 - 12/31/2018

Bye bye 2018

 

Nutrition 

2300 Calories. 2193 : 2219, 2307, 2237, 2592*

*count NOT final

 

Aikido

Jo. 13/8

Tech Review. 15/12



Adulting

Measurements - 12/8. 

Do the Can-Can.

Declutter the Kitchen Table.

Dust All the Things.

Drain the Shoe Swamp.

 

Well this is it, I suppose. Last report for 2018. We made it. I have done so much Aikido this month. I have made a lot of progress in the gym over the year (see handy chart below). 

 

 

We have finally drained the shoe swamp, I have marked about 4 pairs of shoes to go out the door, one of them in the trashcan. One pair needs to be modified in order to be worn. All in all, they're off the floor of the bedroom and either hung up on the behind-the-door organizer or in the closet. New life goal: keep it that way. Unfortunately the post-Christmas clutter has overtaken several surfaces, which is slowly being dealt with. 2019 is here. Onward, y'all.

 

On 12/28/2018 at 4:32 PM, Mistr said:

That sounds like one of my grad school cars. I went through a series of elderly vehicles. One was a Mazda 323 with 200k+ miles that I bought from a friend. It passed a mechanic check with flying colors before I bought it, then immediately started falling apart. The heater fan was the first thing to go. The motor was fine but the bearings were giving out. It made a variety of noises: wildebeast mating call, mothership take-me-home-beacon, star ship background noises and the something-in-the closet noise. Of course this happened right at the start of winter in Minnesota. Not using the heat was not an option. It would have cost more than I paid for the car to replace it, so me and my carpool lived with it for the six months that car kept running.

 

We will rebuild it. We have the technology.

 

On 12/28/2018 at 4:32 PM, Mistr said:

Menopause and a hysterectomy. The bright side is that I can't get cramps or have an unpleasant Shark Week surprise. Hopefully the End Times are many years off for you.

 

There are days where those things don't sound so bad an idea lol.

 

On 12/28/2018 at 4:32 PM, Mistr said:

Jo are not house-friendly. I keep saying I will practice outside in nice weather. I haven't actually done that since I was working on learning the 31-count kata. Luckily I do get regular indoor practice in the aerobics studio at work.

 

LOL. Same. 

 

On 12/28/2018 at 4:32 PM, Mistr said:

Point noted. I worked with 55 lb today. That seems ridiculously low, but it feels just right for getting my balance and form issues sorted out. I think part of the problem was that I was arching my back. Concentrating on tucking my tailbone helped. I also noticed that my knees don't hurt doing squats even on a day when they are generally achey (like today).

 

Just keep at it, you'll be in triple digits in no time.

[Urgan]

January 2019 Goals

Toshi no Samurai

 

New scale, new me. Okay not really, but it's going to be interesting seeing what it tells me this year. The old scale was at least 10 years old after all! I'll be rolling with it for the time being, since my performance in the gym has been faltering somewhat. NO MIGRAINES. I do have shoulder/neck tension and regular headaches, however. Could stand to see that go away. Speaking of Shark Week bizarre-ness brought on said same, December waited 2 weeks to spring it on me and I don't know why? MYSTERIES.

 

2019 is going to be something special. This is going to be my Year of the Samurai. It's going to be difficult, it's not going to always be pretty, but that's how it goes, right? Buckle up, because this is a journey that is uncensored and personal, East-meets-Western morality and philosophy. I'm using Bushido: the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe as my primary guide, so when in doubt that's my reference point. January is a 5 week "month," which is good because I'm going to need that extra week for sure.

 

武士道   (ぶしどう)

Bushido.

This goal is going to be the centerpiece of this year. I am going to tackle one aspect of Bushido per month and build on the months that came before. You can't do the Samurai thing without keeping up a good foundation. January is that foundation. I'm planning on  having an internal and external goal attached to each aspect of Bushido. One is more about reflection of my thoughts and the other a practical application.

 

Justice/Rectitude 

Defined as "morally correct behavior or thinking; righteousness."  Samurai would define Justice or Rectitude as deciding on a certain course of action by way of reason, and never wavering from it. If death is the result, so be it. A component of this is Giri, or Right Reason, Duty. This isn't "just following orders," but the backstop of morally correct behavior in the absence of love in connection to the people a samurai interacts with. So even if your boss is a jerk and your parents are overbearing, you still have that Duty to do the right thing in relation to them. 

 

I talked to Sensei about this idea from a modern perspective, and we had a conversation that was useful to get me thinking about the concept more broadly. He suggested another way to think of it is we don't get what we deserve, and that cuts both ways. We are all born under different circumstances--we could be born in the US or in a third world country, with health or with illness. True justice is something we will probably never encounter in a legal sense--we can't count on earthly justice to make things right. What goes around comes around, or so we hope--we may never know the good we do in this life and how it impacts those around us, but we still need to give it our all in good faith that it does good if only to keep our moral compass pointing true north. It's not all about us in this life, that's good to always keep in mind. Do unto others...

 

Within: Samurai Don't Complain

Whether it's guarding the front gate or deep inside the master's house or out in the field, when a samurai has been given a job to do, he does it without back talk or complaining about it. At work or at home let's try not to whine about things that I have to do but don't want to--it doesn't change anything and it isn't very bushi of me. If I do, journal it so we can talk about why I feel the need to vent this way. This may be particularly tricky at work where it's easy to moan about whatever, especially as relates to inter-departmental issues. It also means keeping my head down and making a pledge not to worry about what other people are or aren't doing right at work or in the gym. I'm only in charge of what I do or do not think, say, feel, or do. There is no hard criterion for success here, it's a mindset game that will continue all year, after all, so I will be getting lots of practice at it! 

 

Without: Giri

WOO. Here it is, time to tackle things I've been ignoring for an embarrassingly long time. Time to take some pride in domesticity, because no one else is going to come in behind us and do these things. This is our job. I fully expect more things will be added to this list, this is only what I can think of up to now. The purpose of this goal is to tackle things head-on that need to be done instead of deflecting and putting them off unnecessarily. 

 

Deal with electric razor batteries
Clean shower
Clean toilet
Clean sink counters 

Clean under bed

Mop the floor

Buy (and use) daily shower cleaner
Sign up for paperless sewer bill
Declutter nightstand 

Clean stubborn pot stains 
Clean kitchen table
Clean microwave
Pop the cork on the cooking wine bottle or throw it out

Declutter coffee table
Remove Christmas stuff
Replace A/C

Research automated testing for work

Follow up on Mom's foot and leg pain

Verify whether chipotle pepper is the cause of Husband's heartburn

Budget for HOA fee payment

Bring in parents' dumpster - 0/4

Nutrition 

That scale will be my new guide as to what my body is doing. For the first week, I will ease up and allow 2500 calories while deloading in the gym. Week 2 I will drop it back to 2400. Depending on what my weight and lifts do, I may cut back to 2300 or hold there for the remainder of the month.

 

2500 Calories. 0 : 0

 

Aikido

Jo. This is going to stay here until I get my purple belt and it becomes Jo Kata II, lol.

0/10

Tech Review. December was a good month, let's keep this up. I may be testing in February or March, this will become very, very important.

Monday and Tuesday reviews Monday's lesson, Wednesday and Thursday reviews Wednesday's. AKA 4x/week. 

0/16

 

 

Weekly Debriefs: 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

[Urgan]

12/31/2018 + 1/1/2019

Gone fishing

武士道   (ぶしどう)

Justice/Rectitude 

Within: Samurai Don't Complain

....except for when they do.

- New Year's Eve provided opportunity for the customary Discussion of things our spouses do lately that defy understanding. It did underscore a communication gap we have, which was useful, I suppose.

- The gym was Nutso during the New Year's Eve Last Minute Session Extravaganza and Stupid Happened, which upset me a lot more than it had any right to and I said some Words. Technically this happened before I formally started the challenge, but keepin' it real, y'all

 

Without: Giri

Deal with electric razor batteries

Declutter nightstand

 

 

 

 

Deal with electric razor batteries
Declutter nightstand
Clean shower
Clean toilet
Clean sink counters 
Clean under bed
Mop the floor
Buy (and use) daily shower cleaner
Sign up for paperless sewer bill 
Clean stubborn pot stains 
Clean kitchen table
Clean microwave
Pop the cork on the cooking wine bottle or throw it out
Declutter coffee table
Remove Christmas stuff
Replace A/C
Research automated testing for work
Follow up on Mom's foot and leg pain - 0/2
Verify whether chipotle pepper is the cause of Husband's heartburn
Budget for HOA fee payment
Bring in parents' dumpster - 0/4

 

Nutrition 

2500 Calories. 2579 : 2690, 2467

 

Aikido

Jo. 2/10

Tech Review. 2/16

 

12/31

So the gym was cray-cray, as mentioned above. This is normal and expected. What wasn't expected was the convergence of this with a cat that needed to go to the vet. Logistics of getting  gym done at a not-breakneck pace before 1 and getting the cat vetted before the clinic closed at noon was a source of stress, let's say. It happened, Harley is fine--no broken bones, no joint problems, but he had some tenderness on his back end that got antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to help cope with and he seems to be no worse for wear ATM. That was an unfortunate expense that set back our savings a bit. On the plus side, it forced me to not pack all my stuff in a big rush before going to the gym (going home after going to the gym then traveling to my parents' house involves backtracking) so I went a little slower between retrieving the cat and driving across town to spend the night there. We can only hope the fireworks did not give the cats PTSD (no idea how noisy the neighborhood gets so this is wild speculation). 

 

Mom has been having random knee, foot, and general leg pain and was worried about arthritis, but I'm preeeeetty sure her choice of footwear--particularly while on her feet all day long-- involving squishy, open-heeled shoes is the culprit. Reason being it wasn't consistent in any way, no pattern to it--isn't joint pain a thing that's hard to shake? And she was pointing to more muscular areas, which always makes me suspicious. We changed that right then and there, and I assaulted her quads, calves, and feet. I feel confident she thought she was going to die when I was messing with the bottom of her foot and all those little bones, but she immediately noticed a difference because she essentially unlocked toe/ankle ROM after I got done. So. Gonna keep following up on that shizz to make sure we have resolved it. Lots of water was consumed as well.

 

The New Year definitely makes you take goal-setting a bit more seriously. It's safe to say I needed the kick in the pants. Smarter choices need to be made.

 

1/1

What is life. Holidays discombobulate me and it's entirely self-inflicted emotional nonsense.

 

Mom and I talked a good long while and some of it might have been construed as whining, but a lot of it was talk about The Future with evolving trends in terms of online commerce and I think it was useful for both of us. Neither of us are particularly Change-friendly, and it definitely thought-provoking. 

 

I did manage a few wins on the Giri front the moment I got home--the desk full of clothes I didn't know where to put was cleaned off and dealt with, more donations were accumulated in the office, the coat closet was reviewed and I finally got rid of unwearable, non-fitting coats, and the night stand at last got the declutter it desperately needed. Oh and I washed the scarves I use most often because it has been quite warm lately. Pretty sure I didn't shrink them up.

 

 

 

 

1/2

Plan of attack for today is to get setup for the online sewer account. This requires a phone call to get a 4-digit pin you use as part of the online signup process for a sewer account. A sewer account. Alrighty, Water Company. I'm going to write the kanji for Giri on a sticky note for my office desk so maybe we can form some habits. Husband is going to schedule the A/C replacement appointments and it's my job to follow up and make sure it happened lol. I already sent a text inquiring about Mom's leg pain situation. ROLLIN'.

[shaar]

22 minutes ago, Urgan said:

This requires a phone call to get a 4-digit pin you use as part of the online signup process for a sewer account. A sewer account. Alrighty, Water Company. 

 

Wowsers.  The future truly is now.....

 

+1 to New Year motivation.  Sometimes we'll take whatever we can get.

[Urgan]

4 minutes ago, shaar said:

Wowsers.  The future truly is now.....

 

It does me a "...wha?" but once it was a thing where the closest to this you got was emailing a form to automate payments? So this is technically a step up.

 

5 minutes ago, shaar said:

+1 to New Year motivation.  Sometimes we'll take whatever we can get.

 

It's an arbitrary thing, but the time is right to start fresh so let's. 

[Urgan]

I did a thing and risked certain other people finding out about it, but decided screw them I'm going to live my life.

[Urgan]

1/2/2019

I could watch this gif all day

武士道   (ぶしどう)

Justice/Rectitude 

Within: Samurai Don't Complain

Other than talking about Certain People and the existence of carpet with a coworker when we were on the subject of home ownership. I think the solution is to not talk about Those People unless it's unavoidable.

 

Without: Giri

Sign up for paperless sewer bill 

Replace A/C - consultation scheduled for 1/3

Follow up on Mom's foot and leg pain - 1/2

 

Deal with electric razor batteries
Declutter nightstand
Sign up for paperless sewer bill 

Replace A/C - consultation scheduled for 1/3

Follow up on Mom's foot and leg pain - 1/2

 

Clean shower
Clean toilet
Clean sink counters 
Clean under bed
Mop the floor
Buy (and use) daily shower cleaner
Clean stubborn pot stains 
Clean kitchen table
Clean microwave
Pop the cork on the cooking wine bottle or throw it out
Declutter coffee table
Remove Christmas stuff
Replace A/C
Research automated testing for work
Verify whether chipotle pepper is the cause of Husband's heartburn
Budget for HOA fee payment
Bring in parents' dumpster - 0/4

Nutrition 

2500 Calories. 2485 : 2390

 

Aikido

Jo. 3/10

Tech Review. 3/20

 

So we have an online sewer account now and an appointment to have the A/C people size up the task of replacing our climate control--both heat and A/C will have to be replaced. Mom's more or less pain-free except for an unfortunate choice of napping position resulted in lingering pain from stacking knees. So not perfect, but a lot better and less random than before. Japanese and Aikido are proceeding apace--I'm still using Drops, DuoLingo, and LingoDeer for this purpose. I tried Memrise, but it was quickly pay-walled and I'm not in a position to fritter away 10s and 20s this week. Otherwise I'd buy access to Drops, it's a really good vocabulary app. 

 

Fooding is going fairly well, my scale had me at 118.6lbs on 1/2 and 117.5 this morning, which is consistent with different weigh-in times and losing any post-Shark Week bloat. Can't imagine what I did to piss off my hormones, what I said or what I ate. Clothes are fine, in fact some compression shorts are a bit loose while a couple older pair are fitting...tight. Bending over isn't a good time, let's say. 

[Urgan]

1/3/2019

Handing over $1000s is a

武士道   (ぶしどう)

Justice/Rectitude 

Within: Samurai Don't Complain

NOTHING.



Without: Giri

Replace A/C - happening on 1/8

Buy (and use) daily shower cleaner - on the shopping list

 

Replace A/C - 1/8
Follow up on Mom's foot and leg pain - 1/2 
Buy (and use) daily shower cleaner - on the shopping list
 

Clean shower
Clean toilet
Clean sink counters 
Clean under bed
Mop the floor
Clean stubborn pot stains 
Clean kitchen table
Clean microwave
Pop the cork on the cooking wine bottle or throw it out
Declutter coffee table
Remove Christmas stuff
Replace A/C
Research automated testing for work
Verify whether chipotle pepper is the cause of Husband's heartburn
Budget for HOA fee payment
Bring in parents' dumpster - 0/4 

 

Nutrition 

2500 Calories. 2366 : 2274

 

Aikido

Jo. 4/10

Tech Review. 4/20

 

We are go for the full A/C replacement on Tuesday, timed because the championship of footballs is on Monday and I reasoned that the best time to be at home all day for a man who hates being at home all day is the day after a late night of screaming at the TV alongside another grown man. My logic is flawless. Strapping my bank account in for a hell of a ride. 

 

It was gross and damp and after all this crazy scheduling I was totally wiped out and ended up sleeping for 2.5 hours in the evening before getting up and cramming eating dinner, prepping food for Friday, Aikido and Japanese practice, and cool-down time that included yet more eating into 1.75 hours. This is how it was a miracle I hit even 2200 calories, forget 2500. It's hard for me to hit that much in one week, usually it takes some re-planning of life to make that happen. Unless I just eat (more) chocolate, in which case it's a joke. Trying to live around that 50-ish g of sugar.

 

 

[shaar]

On 1/2/2019 at 2:09 PM, Urgan said:

I did a thing and risked certain other people finding out about it, but decided screw them I'm going to live my life.

 

FRICK YEAH HECK EVERYONE ELSE LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE YOU ONLY YOLO ONCE

 

sorry phew got a little intense there

 

Sometimes you gotta do you, screw 'em~

 

52 minutes ago, Urgan said:

We are go for the full A/C replacement on Tuesday, timed because the championship of footballs is on Monday and I reasoned that the best time to be at home all day for a man who hates being at home all day is the day after a late night of screaming at the TV alongside another grown man. My logic is flawless.

 

I snort-cackled - you're probably not wrong at all....

[Urgan]

2 minutes ago, shaar said:

FRICK YEAH HECK EVERYONE ELSE LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE YOU ONLY YOLO ONCE

 

sorry phew got a little intense there

 

Sometimes you gotta do you, screw 'em~

 

And pray you don' have to Answer Questions about it. I haven't told some people about my language-learning pursuit because they'll think they're cute by making fun of "oriental" language let's say (because there is no difference between oh, Chinese or Japanese as we all know), and I don't feel the need to put myself in a position of having to defend myself. Which is funny considering the person doing the making fun is half deaf from built-up earwax and won't get it fixed, won't acknowledge it as a fixable problem, and gets huffy when it is cautiously brought up that their hearing is subpar vs the rest of the world. #matureadultproblems

 

6 minutes ago, shaar said:

I snort-cackled - you're probably not wrong at all....

 

He loved this solution, because he was worried about how long it would take, i.e. how long does he need to tell his boss he needed to take off. Now it has been sanctioned as a holiday (see my insta post about the empty gym....).

[shaar]

26 minutes ago, Urgan said:

 

And pray you don' have to Answer Questions about it. I haven't told some people about my language-learning pursuit because they'll think they're cute by making fun of "oriental" language let's say (because there is no difference between oh, Chinese or Japanese as we all know), and I don't feel the need to put myself in a position of having to defend myself. Which is funny considering the person doing the making fun is half deaf from built-up earwax and won't get it fixed, won't acknowledge it as a fixable problem, and gets huffy when it is cautiously brought up that their hearing is subpar vs the rest of the world. #matureadultproblems

 

Ah yes, the delicate cultural insensitivities... I hear you though, the less you have to explain (and take uneducated flak for), the better.

 

Seems like said person has been identified as having a Defensive Ignorance Problem!  Hooray them!................

[Urgan]

1 minute ago, shaar said:

Ah yes, the delicate cultural insensitivities... I hear you though, the less you have to explain (and take uneducated flak for), the better.

 

They don't know how to relate to it, so the logical next step is to mock it. Simple as that. That's okay, they don't have to actively embrace it any more than I have to embrace the footballing, which is good because wow do I not do that that is a thing I will never, ever do.

 

I have told one person about it, who also doesn't relate but because other family members have an Asian Affinity, this has their blessing and it is observed to be a novelty that I would decide to do such a thing. They're lodged comfortably in the "that's weird, but okay" camp. Which is about what I expected and as much as one could expect in exchange given my level of interest in all things say, knitting (Observing that a knitting on an especially woolly sweater is definitely a seasonal hobby) is right around that same level lol. 

 

18 minutes ago, shaar said:

Seems like said person has been identified as having a Defensive Ignorance Problem!  Hooray them!................

 

My mom would say they have a "Tear Your Head Clean Off" Ignorance Problem, lol.