Shukar Gets Back to Where He Once Belonged

[Shukar]

That's right folks, I'm back. I took a challenge off, the first I can recall actually taking off a challenge instead of just flaking one since I started these things like 25+ challenges ago (dear lord I've been here a while haven't I?). But, I've used that time to do some reflecting and some refocusing and I'm back, from outer space perhaps?, to start getting back to where I used to be (and beyond).

 

So the bio info. I'm Shukar, I'm a Scout (and a Guild Leader somehow), and I've been here long enough I don't recall how I found the place or any of that anymore. NerdFitness is my home, and the folks here are like family to me. Some of that family I know and talk to often, some of them I've heard of but never really thought much about, but a family. I used to be a good Scout, running regularly and even doing some lifting; I also used to weigh a good deal less than I do now. I was recently back up to almost my heaviest weight and I've been slowly turning things around. 

 

Things I've been working on:

• Getting active again, running a couple times a week, trying to expand my daily streak from just bodyweight squats to some more stuff like some pushups and some handstand work when I can manage it (I have trouble breathing when I'm upside down for a few reasons and I'm trying to work on that a bit).
• Eating better. I've been far too long eating whatever food I could find to shove in my face. That has included far too much breaded/fried and other junky food, and not enough vegetables. The other annoying feature of my diet has been that for too long now I don't ever really seem to get hungry, instead just eating when it's meal time because it's the time I eat. As a result I kind of just eat whatever I usually eat without much thought into the matter. That's a bad place to be and I'm working on changing those default behaviors to be a bit better (but more on the specifics of that below).
• Keeping, usefully, productive. I spend a lot of time just sitting around on the couch after work not doing much. To some extent, that's not really a problem. But there's almost always something more productive I can do than just sitting in front of the TV watching shows. Like right now when I'm posting on NerdFitness, or tinkering around with some projects. 

 

So how about them goals eh?

 

1. Move yourself: 6 runs during the challenge. Apart from that, getting in some lifting and possibly some rucking is on my list, but not specifically a goal I'm grading.
2. Eat Better: Working on changing the defaults of my food choices. One aspect of that is that by the end of the challenge I want to have 4 new "default" meals that I can prep from just stuff I keep around the house, that way when I get home from work and don't feel like cooking I can have something easy to deal with instead of grabbing fast food on the way home. The other aspect of this is that my default lunch options are 1) usually fast food that's not great, 2) usually things I'm eating too much of because that's the default. So I need to change that default to smaller portions, and when possible better options. I've been working on that for a while, but I'll have to continue working on it if I want to actually make any progress in the long run. So the measurable there is 3 days a week of making good lunch choices.
3. Productive: Spend at least 3 nights a week working on projects, be they home improvement, cleaning up things on the server, or just tinkering with things. Find puzzles and work on them.
4. Post more: I used to be in the habit of daily posting on my threads. I want to be back there again. So, I will be. Post as many days as I can in this thread, and at least once a week in somebody elses. 

 

So there you have it, 4 goals, all of which should be achievable. Just have to do it.

 

Bis Morgen!

[emineminator]

Hi Shukar - I hope this challenge is successful for you! I can totally relate to the flakiness...let's not let that happen this time, together!! You got this! - E

[Calanthia Cobbin]

On 5/5/2016 at 2:13 AM, Shukar said:

The other annoying feature of my diet has been that for too long now I don't ever really seem to get hungry, instead just eating when it's meal time because it's the time I eat. As a result I kind of just eat whatever I usually eat without much thought into the matter. That's a bad place to be and I'm working on changing those default behaviors to be a bit better

This is a HUGE problem for me! I'm always trying to determine what I'll be eating for the next meal, and I'm often searching for snacks when I'm bored just because "it's meal time" and "it's snack time." I'm excited to see how you do in your goals!

[The Tin Man]

Hey, I'm the megaflake so you got this! I like the goal of being present on NF, I'm going for that too.

[Shukar]

Eminator: Hooray! Someone to not be flakey with!

 

Calanthia: So far I've been doing alright on this one I think, mostly by just eating smaller portions of things as the "I'm bored" option. It's started to result in actually being hungry at some meals and being able to judge somewhat based on that. Course, I'm still not used to that so the judging is tricky, but baby steps.

 

TinMan: Being Present is a good goal in general, and especially around here.

 

So, Days -whatever to Day 2

 

Sorry I've been off the grid for a bit, was at Disneyland from Friday for a race this weekend. However, that means lots of walking, and run 1 of the challenge off the list. Did the Tinkerbell Half marathon and while my time wasn't anything good, we finished and felt good afterwards and that's always a good thing.

 

I made some pretty good food choices, I feel, during that weekend but avoiding the convenience foods available in the park and taking a walk to get some soup and salad for lunch one day, and filling up before our drive back so we could get dinner at the Subway on the drive instead of the fast food places that were closer. Could I have done better? Probably. Could I have done worse? Most definitely. I've had weekends for races where weird timing resulted in grabbing fries and other stuff from the local Jack in the Box rather than eating anything actually tasty (though curly fries come close).

 

Was out of town so I didn't do that much in the way of productive evenings, but I've been eyeing a lock pick trainer as something I'd like to get because it seems a fun skill I could pick up during my evenings at home.

 

As for posting around here, not much over the weekend but I did post on a number of threads before leaving town so yay for that!

 

All in all I'm doing alright so far. This week I wanna get a before photo taken, and figure out and take a few before measurements, so I can track some progress besides just scale weight and the BMI it reports.

 

BIs Morgen!

[Shukar]

Most of week 1:

 

So, I can already tell ya the regular posting isn't going so well. Haven't got another run under my belt yet this challenge either. Have been doing alright with food choices. Making good options about lunches at work for the most part, and restricting myself to reasonable portions. Also tested out a couple meals this week of stuff that's easy and able to be kept on hand; thai omelets with rice and veggies for one, and a bibimbap variant for the other. The former basically only uses stuff I always have around, and the other is that plus some stuff I can pick up at the grocery on the way home, but it similarly quick. Both meals worked out well so I'm gonna go with that being 2 toward that goal.  So all in all decent news on the goals front, just gotta get some more activity in and keep you guys more up to date. 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

On 5/14/2016 at 2:06 AM, Shukar said:

thai omelets with rice and veggies for one, and a bibimbap variant for the other. The former basically only uses stuff I always have around, and the other is that plus some stuff I can pick up at the grocery on the way home, but it similarly quick.

 ooh would you happen to have a recipe for these???

[Shukar]

I sure would! 

 

For the thai omelet I use the recipe from the NomNomPaleo cookbook, but this one should be close enough. Khai Jiao I usually serve it up over rice and with some veggies, mushrooms are always a popular option here, though a tray of roasted broccoli or brussels is never out of place. As for the bibimbap it uses this recipe as a base but the specific veggies involved change, and I like to add some furikake to the eggs (which I tend to fry in the fashion of the Crispy Eggs from NomNomPaleo, so in a pan with hot oil that you spoon over the eggs to cook the tops while you cook up the bottoms to a crispy edged deliciousness).

 

So, outdated update to how things are going.

 

Haven't done any running since the last update, but I got the squat rack cleared out so lifting should resume soon. I've been making some good food choices recently, though it has yet to be reflected on the scale so things will happen as they happen on that front. I've also found 2 more recipes for my project of easy stuff to make, salmon cakes and pizza veggies (from the NomNomPaleo and Well Fed 2 cookbooks respectively), and the Pressure Cooker Salsa Chicken (from NomNomPaleo's blog). Both of them were pretty quick to prep and were able to be made with stuff I can easily keep around or pick up on the way home from work. As far as projects go I've been cleaning up the media server, and now playing with my new lock pick trainer. I've been doing much less well with the regular posting. Gotta try and keep up on that.

[Shukar]

Yeah, haven't done much since that last update. I've been slacking far too much this challenge. The food isn't going half bad, but the activity and posting goals haven't been going so well. I'm still here, I'm still trying. I just need to get my ass in gear and convert trying into doing.

[Shukar]

The posting has obviously not been great, but the food goals have been going pretty well. I've been keeping my lunches to reasonable levels, and I've added to my dinners reproitore a MaPo Tofu recipe that was super fast in the wok. Had a win tonight on the dinner front wherein we used one of the default meal options (thai omelets) instead of going out to grab fast food. So that's a win I'll take. Still not doing great with the activity, but at least the squat rack is now clear enough we can do some lifting this week if we don't get out the door running. I've been keeping busy in the evenings doing some cleanup on the server and gaming with friends. Good times were had by all. 

[Shukar]

Well, the challenge kind of ended and I kind of did pretty poorly at the activity and posting goals; though I was here more than the previous couple challenges so that's at least an improvement. One I hope to keep up with. I also did pretty well at the food related tasks above so I've got that going for me too.

 

Didn't get a run in this week, but I did get some lifting done which was long overdue. Also made a last minute "I should make better food choices" meal by throwing together some tuna and anchovies from the pantry with some rice, frozen spinach, an egg, and some spices. 

 

So this challenge wasn't a massive success, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. Now I just have to make some more steps in that direction and I'll be off and running. 

[Pat G]

"We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to Survive!"

 

This is me to you, standing on the tray of a ute, while you get into a plane about to fight alien invaders with shields that you can't break.