EternalJourno battles, levels up and evolves

[FatboySuave]

Introduction: I completed my second successful challenge and I feel like I have a better grasp on the new habits I'm forming, but I want to continue in this direction because it's definitely working and I want to make sure these positive changes are not just temporary ones. Here's an introduction to who I am and why I'm doing this. I've decided to stick with the Druids because I still want to investigate meditation and yoga more. While I'm primarily focused on losing weight and getting healthy, I'm very interested in finding peace and balance in my life as well.

 

Like many other Rebels (I'm assuming), Pokémon Go has consumed my life the past week and a half, but in a good way. Since I got the app, I've been walking every day with my dog Booklet — the Pikachu to my Ash — to try to catch 'em all. And like the theme song from the Pokémon cartoon says, "I want to be the very best like no one ever was." Except I'm not really concerned with competing against others. I want to be the very best like I have never been. I guess you could say I aim to conquer as many battles as possible to level up until I evolve into my stronger form. I'm so close to being down to my college weight and becoming more fit than I've ever been in my life. It's really exciting. 

 

 

 

Main Quest: My 30th birthday is in October. I'd like to weigh 200 pounds or less by then. As of this morning, I weigh 213-214, which means my goal is well within reach. It didn't seem so easy to grasp when I started. I'd like to smash this goal and just keep losing as much weight as I can. My publisher has wagered $300 if I can achieve my goal. It's so fucking on! 

Quest 1: Complete my assigned Bodyweight Level 3 exercises three times a week (I've leveled up my workouts). I update these daily on my battle log if you want to see details and follow along.

A = Complete workout 3 times a week.
B = Complete workout 2 times a week.
C = Complete workout 1 time a week.
D = Complete 0 workouts in a week.
F = No physical activity.

 

Quest 2: Walk every day and work in the occasional jog/sprint. Booklet and I are gradually working our way up to 1-hour walks. I usually track these with the RunKeeper app on my battle log as well. Pokémon Go is making this goal so much more enjoyable! 

 

A = Walk 6-7 days a week.

B = Walk 4-5 days a week.

C = Walk 2-3 day a week.

D = Walk 1 day a week.

F = No walking.

Quest 3: Drink less alcohol. I'm getting better at saying no all together or moderating myself when I do drink, but this is definitely still a big challenge for me.

A = Have no more than 3 drinks per week.
B = Have no more than 5 drinks per week. 
C = Have no more than 7 drinks per week.
D = Have no more than 9 drinks per week.
F = Anything more than that. 

Quest 4: Cook paleo meals more often, eat out less. If I do eat out, I will find healthy/paleo-ish options.

A = Eat out no more than 2 times a week. 
B = Eat out no more than 4 times a week.
C = Eat out no more than 6 times a week.
D = Eat out no more than 8 times a week.
F = Eat out more than 8 times a week. 

 

Quest 5: Investigate yoga and meditation and find a routine that fits into my life. I dabbled in yoga my last challenge and enjoyed the one regular class I tried. Hot yoga was a nightmare, lol. I'd like to look into the Nerd Fitness yoga program because I think a home-based yoga instruction would fit my life better. I failed to look into any form of meditation my last challenge, but I've got some good ideas on where I want to start thanks to tips from other Rebels. This goal is still kind of nebulous though, so for now I will focus on completing cool down routines after I workout and walk. My current cool down has a few yoga moves, so it's a nice little intro, but I tend to forget or skip it sometimes. I need to make this a regular habit because my body feels so much better the next day when I do it.

A = Complete a cool down 6-7 times a week.

B = Complete a cool down 4-5 times a week.

C = Complete a cool down 2-3 times a week.

D = Complete a cool down 1 time a week.

F = Complete 0 cool downs. 

Life Quests: Netflix has become much less attractive to me in recent weeks. I'm currently catching up on Orange is the New Black, but I usually only watch it while I'm cooking/eating.

 

I bought another Cesar Millan book, "How to Raise the Perfect Dog," to help me with Booklet. She can be a bit rebellious sometimes, so I need to learn how to be a better leader. I also like his books because he focuses a lot on being in the moment and maintaining a calm and assertive attitude, which I feel falls in line with my meditation/peace/balance goals. I also bought a bunch of other books while I was on vacation. I don't have a bookstore in my town so I tend to go overboard when I find one elsewhere. I will read Millan's book along with at least one other book that I bought during this challenge. Two books in one month should be no problem. Three books would be really cool, so I will aim for that. 

 

I'm still not writing anything in my free time, and it bums me out fiercely. However, my publisher assigned me a story this week about Pokémon Go, of course. It was my first real article in quite a while. I had a lot of fun interviewing people and writing in a more creative/free style (I'll try to share it as soon as I can). My editor asked if I missed writing and I definitely do (even though it can be more stressful with the deadlines). So we talked about me doing 1 story a week but in a first-person column type form. Not necessarily an opinion piece, but just bringing my personal perspective to local stories. I think this will help satisfy my desire to write as a personal/creative activity but I'll have more push to actually do it since it'll be a work assignment. 

Motivation: I feel like my lack of self confidence is a big obstacle that gets in the way of enjoying life and taking chances. I'd like to look good, so I can feel good and live life to the fullest. 

 

[Jormungand]

I'll definitely be here for this. You attacked your last challenge in a manner that could only be described as unmerciful, so I'm looking forward to see how things go for this challenge. When I first started working at my hometown newspaper, the managing editor there wrote a weekly article that was mostly his take on things around town or just things that he found interesting. It wasn't necessarily an op-ed, but it was a regular feature that helped keep the local flavor. I'm not sure how big your newspaper, but ours was a M-F daily that had a circ of roughly 3,000. I believe that keeping stories and features as local as possible is something that the smaller papers have always had the edge on over the metro papers and is also one of the keys to their sustainability. I'm interested to see how your article turns out. 

[Kiki Dee]

EJ Fan Club, reporting for duty!   

 

I have to admit I was surprised you're still under 30!  Might be because of your job title but I always saw you as older!

 

You've really got heaps going on this challenge!  Pretty sure you'll smash it though, if past record is anything to go by.   

[SaltyDragon]

I'm glad to see you seeing things through and building on your goals from last time. It looks like you're really discovering what works for you! Congratulations on the writing assignment. I know having deadlines can make it feel like the pressure is on, but maybe that'll be just the thing to motivate you!

[Kvedulf]

EJ Fan Club Vice President reporting for duty!

 

Nice challenge, and obviously following along. You got this!

 

[FatboySuave]

EJ Fan Club... You guys are ridiculous and I love it, lol.

 

On 7/16/2016 at 6:54 PM, Jormungand said:

I believe that keeping stories and features as local as possible is something that the smaller papers have always had the edge on over the metro papers and is also one of the keys to their sustainability. I'm interested to see how your article turns out. 

 

I agree 100 percent! Our paper is a 10K-ish daily with one weekend paper. Our paper is very, very local. We only put local stories on our front page, which I help design every other day. Even if something super big or crazy happens nationally or internationally, we still keep it inside and reserve the front for local. We're currently prepping stuff for our annual contest and we're in the same category as all the other large dailies in the state. Even though we're clearly out-matched, we manage to steal a few awards. We try our best to put out good work and hold our elected officials accountable, even though there's plenty of haters, lol. Our paper has quite the colorful history, including the time the publisher got in a fist fight with the mayor.

 

Day 4 Challenge Update: I kicked off this challenge with a bad start foodwise. I wasn't feeling well Saturday, and for some reason I decided that pizza would make me feel better. Boy, was I wrong. I ate half the pizza in one sitting that night along with a few brownies. Then Sunday I finished off the pizza for breakfast and lunch as well as a few more brownies, but then I threw away the leftover brownies. I did get in a good workout Sunday though. So it was a mix of good and bad. Curious, I weighed myself the next day and my weight shot up 3-4 pounds to 217, but after a few clean days I'm back to normal. I feel guilty about the food binge, but at the same time I know I'm now capable of getting back on track, so I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself.

 

The Pikachu to my Ash: I had a thought the other day that Booklet is just like a Pokémon in a way. If you remember the cartoon or even the game, certain Pokémon won't obey their trainer if the person hasn't reached a certain level or strength. In the games, you need gym badges in order to control higher level Pokémon. So I've decided that I'm not at a high enough level to have Booklet obey completely. But that's OK because I'm determined to level up. I've been looking up videos and advice online on how to take Booklet on better walks. She's mostly good, but she pulls a bit. I really want to break that habit. She's starting to understand that she needs to be calm in order to get what she wants. When it's time for breakfast or dinner, I wait until she's calm. Then I'm trying to do better about entering/exiting rooms or the house only when she's calm and I try to exit/enter first so she learns to follow.

[FatboySuave]

Oh, and I forgot to share my Pokémon Go story. Here's the text along with an image of how it looked in the paper: https://ello.co/richardreyes/post/epoa8vzwjne46zms-qtzxa

 

New game breathes life into heart of Gallup

 

By Richard Reyes aka EternalJourno

City editor

letters@gallupindependent.com

 

GALLUP —A new gaming sensation is helping breathe more life into downtown Gallup, but whether that success extends past the summer may depend on city leaders and business owners learning to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

Unless you've been hiding in a cave on Mount Moon, you're aware that the smartphone app "Pokémon Go" has become a huge hit, inspiring players to go on adventures around their communities in search of pocket monsters.

 

For Gallup, that means trainers are scouring for hot spots where they can try to catch 'em all. As a lifelong Poké fan, I got the game immediately, and I've walked nearly 20 miles in search of rare creatures.

 

In particular, the game has players congregating around landmarks such as murals, churches, parks, sculptures and memorials that are featured as Pokéstops or Pokémon Gyms in the game.

 

Downtown Gallup is rife with gyms — where players can battle each other — as well as stops — where players can obtain in-game items for free. Downtown has become a haven for trainers who want to be the very best like no one ever was.

 

As the resident Pokémon expert, I hit downtown several times this week to find other players. Thanks to a feature called a "lure module," which attracts Pokémon to an area for 30 minutes and benefits others nearby, several young people immediately flocked to the Blessin' of the Corn mural across from City Hall Wednesday. Siblings Monte and Michelle Chee, of Chinle, Arizona, usually only come to Gallup to shop along U.S. Highway 491, but the game brought them downtown, which they had never really explored before.

 

"It's amazing that you can travel here and there to catch them and be competitive with others," Michelle Chee said.

 

As a former city and arts reporter, I'm very familiar with downtown Gallup, but thanks to the app, I found myself becoming more aware and appreciative of all the art and architecture that abounds. Another great thing about the game is the camaraderie it builds among players.

 

"You walk up to people you never met before and have something to talk about and connect with," Garrett Stolz, a Gallup-McKinley County Schools teacher, said.

 

Stolz said he likes the fact that players get to interact with their environment via the augmented reality feature. The app uses your smartphone camera to make it appear as if wild Pokémon are in front of you, so it creates fun opportunities to find them at your favorite local restaurant or shop.

 

Gallup Coffee Company co-owner Tiffany Benson, a proud Pokémon fan, has been playing the game and brainstorming ideas to capitalize on its features. The shop is across the street from a Pokéstop, so she did the math to figure out how much it would cost to place a lure there: $1.19 per hour. That could potentially attract a steady stream of business.

 

"I think it's cool because it's bringing people downtown," Benson said. "I think the city should run with it."

 

Anne Price, the new youth services librarian for the Octavia Fellin Public Library Children's Branch, is also coming up with ideas. She's planning to host a Pokémon-themed event on at least one Saturday in August. In the meantime, Price encourages players to come to the children's branch to hang out and catch Pokémon.

 

Other players gathered around the Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce parking lot Wednesday as three more lure modules popped up. Brothers Charleston and Jalen White, of Window Rock, Arizona, set up the lures and caught Pokémon from an SUV.

 

"What really interests me is that you actually do what you did with the (Game Boy Advance), but you do it yourself and go to those places," Jalen White said.

 

"It's not something we knew we wanted until they gave it to us," Charleston White said.

 

As a lifelong fan of Pokémon, I can attest to that sentiment. I know this is silly, but even in my adult years, I've wished Pokémon were real. I wanted to immerse myself in that realm to explore, catch creatures, train them and battle at gyms. Now, this game is inspiring me to gallivant around Gallup, get more exercise with my dog and meet new people. And I'm not alone.

 

Mike and Jessie Diaz, siblings from Jamestown, took shelter in the shade of the trees near the chamber to catch whatever came close Wednesday.

 

"As a little kid, you want to go out and do that, and now you can," Jessie Diaz said.

 

"I walked a mile for a Clefairy," Mike Diaz said. "I wouldn't have done that before."

 

Once the lures wore off, Richard Shepherd, of Gallup, set up three more.

 

"Everyone was here, so I thought it'd be cool," he said. "Obviously a lot of people came out, so that's good. I think Pokémon fans are notorious for not coming out of the house."

 

On Friday afternoon, a group of Southern Californians who were in the area to complete mission work — Ben Snow, Jackson Keesal, Danny Spaeth, Sam Jameson and Ryan Steyee — joined me to catch Pokémon in the chamber lot as they waited for their train home.

 

I encouraged them to walk around downtown to get more items, but I hope they took in the sites of the heart of the city as well. I hope others — tourists and locals alike — will take a moment to look up from their phones every once in a while to appreciate Gallup's art and historic sites.

 

And hopefully city officials and business owners will realize what a sensation this game is and can learn ways to use it to their advantage to promote downtown.

[Kvedulf]

Don't worry too much about slipping food wise. You've achieved so much and have made so many changes that you already know that you're not going to completely fall off the wagon. Like you said, you're already back on track. Nice article too. I'm a little disappointed though that you couldn't find anyone called Ash, Brock or Misty to interview

[Kiki Dee]

3 hours ago, Kvedulf said:

Don't worry too much about slipping food wise. You've achieved so much and have made so many changes that you already know that you're not going to completely fall off the wagon. Like you said, you're already back on track. Nice article too. I'm a little disappointed though that you couldn't find anyone called Ash, Brock or Misty to interview

 

You're showing your age, Kvedulf.  If you ask Miss 4, it's all about Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Clement!   

[SaltyDragon]

Well done on the article!!

[FatboySuave]

I've got good news, and I've got bad news. I'll start with the bad because I'm super pumped about the good news and want to end on a positive note. 

 

Better (read Stressful) Newspaper Contest: As I mentioned before, our newspaper is facing the deadline crunch for our annual contest, the New Mexico Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. Per usual, I was put in charge of compiling everything and submitting it all. And per usual, the entire process has been stressful. One person who said she would help hasn't helped at all. And my usual go-to helper has been on vacation this week. Luckily, we have an intern who was willing to help and one other person who helped while I was on vacation. As a result of the stress, I've been turning to food that I shouldn't be turning to. Yesterday was especially weird. After I had my usual healthy lunch, someone walked in with french fries and the smell, at first, made me gag a little. But then the smell brought on all these old, good feelings — false though they were. I tried to resist, but my brain fixated on the fries and I had to get some, so I got a chicken sandwich and fries from a local burger place. Later I then had a chocolate bar. Then that night I got chicken nuggets and more fries on my way home. I just felt so terrible about it, and not just mentally terrible, like I felt guilty. I mean, my stomach hurt and I just felt blah. But today has been much better, although it was a co-workers birthday so I indulged in a few too many slices of chocolate cake. But I WILL get back on track. Now for the good news...

 

Just Move It: Guys! I just completed my first official 5K event! I've been planning to do a 5K in the back of my mind for a while (not sure if I've mentioned it here before). So I've been on the lookout for notices in the paper because there's ALWAYS events in our area. There are a lot of great groups geared toward fighting diabetes on the reservation. So I saw one this week called Just Move It out in a nearby community, but I figured I would make the time to travel and participate. Then I found out the same group/organization was also doing an event at the same time in my city. So I decided to just sign up and go for it. I figured I've been walking around 3 miles almost daily lately, so it should be no problem, but I also wanted to test out my jogging legs. And in a weird coincidence, right after I signed up I ran into a buddy and his wife who I hadn't seen in ages. They were not there for the event, but just to run the track. They ended up signing up too. And oh man was this track awesome. It's outdoor with gravel and plenty of hills, so it was a nice time to test out my new loot that I got in Colorado, a pair of trail running shoes. I've been on the track before and forgot about it, but now I might schedule a visit/walk at least once a week. As soon as we started walking it began raining and thundering, but not too bad. The an awesome rainbow appeared! In Navajo culture, the rain is a blessing from Father Sky and Mother Earth, so it felt like a positive sign. I did a big of jogging throughout, but I mostly walked and tried to keep a steady, fast pace. I ended up doing 3.09 miles in 44:23! I felt so proud of myself and my buddy was laying on the congratulations. The last time he saw me I was 25 pounds heavier and I would've been the last person to do something like this. There are two more Just Move It events this summer, so me and my buddy are going to go to the next one and maybe even the finale next week. I'm so excited! 

 

Pokémon: And I'm sorry, @Kiki Dee, but @Kvedulf is on point. It's all about Ash, Misty and Brock, lol. But ever since Go came out, I've been watching way too many Pokémon videos from the movies and new shows on YouTube. And I started playing Leaf Green on my computer. And my usual Go buddy and I are planning to buy the new games when they come out so we can trade and be even bigger nerds than we already are, lol. I'm officially PokéObsessed. 
 

 

 

[SaltyDragon]

Congratulations on the 5k – that's really awesome!! Already planning the next one, huh? Sounds like you may have the addiction!

 

22 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

so it was a nice time to test out my new loot that I got in Colorado, a pair of trail running shoes.

 

Oooo, cool. What kind?

[FatboySuave]

I don't know exactly, lol. I think the brand is Saucony. 

[SnowOwl]

Way to go that's awesome! I'm planning for my first 5k in September - https://www.facebook.com/The-Rebel-Run-903236796451748/

[FatboySuave]

@SnowOwl, I saw that from one of your posts and I liked the event! I totally wanna get to the point where I can do one these by jogging the whole way. 

[Bee]

You have awesome goals and it looks like you're making some progress!  I'm also turning 30 this fall and am on the path to continue improving my wellness so I can start a new decade a little healthier.  

 

And I agree - hot yoga is a nightmare!  Good luck!   

[Jormungand]

Nice work on the 5K. Sounds like you're still moving forward despite the less-than-ideal meal choices. Anymore, I just attribute things like that as part of the overall portion of it. We're not going to eat and train perfectly for the rest of our lives, but we can continue to make improvements over the course of time. My wife has a pair of Saucony Peregrine trail shoes and she loves them. (You'll have to ask @SaltyDragon about his pair of dragon shoes sometime. They are pretty awesome.)

[FatboySuave]

Week 1 evaluation

 

Quest 1: A — I genuinely enjoy doing these workouts, so this one is a relatively easy quest to accomplish.

 

Quest 2: B — I haven't been tracking these as well as I should, but I know I had a few off days this week.

Quest 3: A — I didn't drink at all this week! Woot!

Quest 4: F — Again, I didn't keep track as well as I should have, but the week as a whole felt like a failure. I ate out a lot and indulged way too much. I will correct this in the coming week.

 

Quest 5: C (probably) — Without an accurate battle log, it's hard for me to give myself a grade here. I feel like I missed some of my cool down sessions though. As far as yoga/meditation, I did look up some info on the Nerd Fitness yoga program. I think I'm going to sign up for it. I just haven't pulled the trigger yet. And I will work on updating my battle log daily.

 

Week 1 Grade: B-

[Kvedulf]

I think you're probably being a bit harsh on giving yourself an F there. Not saying you did perfectly, but I know that I often feel like I completely failed part of my challenge until I look back on it at the end of the week and realise that I may have slipped up a few times, but I achieved at least half of what I wanted to.

 

In other news, awesome work on the workouts. Are they bodyweight exercises? I haven't looked at the academy stuff at all.

 

And no alcohol at all? Holy shit, that is absolutely brilliant! I know that's been a sticking point for you since the first week of the first challenge. That's brilliant work

[FatboySuave]

@Kvedulf, you're probably right about me being too hard on myself, but at the same time I'm not too concerned with my grades as long as I'm seeing results overall, particularly with my weight. I'm willing to admit when I've made mistakes so I can learn from them and adapt. I think the main reason for the F was the fact that I ate out way more than I usually do and it was all bad choices. But I'm definitely on track this week!

And, yes, I'm doing bodyweight exercises through the Academy. I'm on Level 3, which begins to give you the choice of either bodyweight stuff you can do from home or stuff you can do at the gym. And there are videos that show you how to do everything. Then it gives you two or three workouts that you alternate doing throughout the week. So mine is broken down into 3A, 3B and 3C. So I'll do 3A one day, rest the next day, then 3B the next, and so on. I post my workouts on my daily battle log, but here's an example of what I'm planning to do later today:
 

Bodyweight Workout 3B

4 sets of the following:

— 20 one-leg Romanian deadlifts (10 per leg). The Academy recommends 8 per leg, but these are not too difficult for me.

— 5 inch worms.

— 5 assisted chin-ups (I bought a chin up bar when I moved up to Level 3).

Finish with one-handed farmer's walk. 2 trips for 30-60 seconds. I use a 20-pound dumbbell.

 

Then before my workouts I'll do a warm up session, which is a workout in itself. And then I'll finish with my cool down, which is like condensed yoga-light.

 

And alcohol is losing its power on me! I went to a grill-out with friends Sunday and I showed restraint and only had 2 beers, which in the past would have been extremely difficult.

 

In other news: I did another Just Move It 5K event yesterday! The guy who I ran into last week wanted to do it again. Then another friend wanted to join us. He used to run competitively in high school and college, so he offered to help me improve my time. He kept pace with me the whole way and pushed me to jog more, and I believe I actually did more jogging than walking. We ended up finishing in about 39-40 minutes, which is 4-5 minutes faster than the last race. Then afterward we started talking about our favorite local restaurants and made ourselves hungry. So we went out to eat and I was good and ordered a salad. THEN we turned things up a notch and played basketball after. It was my first time really playing in a few years and it was a lot of fun, but I am so freaking sore today. We were at the gym for about 3 hours, so I played several games with plenty of breaks between games. They play every Monday, so that my be my new Monday night routine.
 

 

[SnowOwl]

I can't believe how many different things you are doing for exercise! It's awesome!

[SaltyDragon]

On 7/26/2016 at 7:54 PM, SnowOwl said:

I can't believe how many different things you are doing for exercise! It's awesome!

 

I agree! And the level of commitment and dedication you're showing (and enthusiasm!) makes it clear you really want to get better. Isn't it really motivating when you start to see the positive changes? You're building some really good habits, man – you got this! And way to chip away at your 5k times!

[FatboySuave]

Just Move It: You guys may be tired of me saying this, lol, but I did yet another 5K event yesterday! I had a bad day foodwise again. I want to blame it on the work stress, but I think I need to acknowledge the fact that it's really about willpower and discipline. I also tried to justify it in my head by telling myself the extra calories and carbs are OK because I would be burning them off during the 5K. My buddy and I teamed up again and we were both beat from basketball the other day, so we had talked about how we almost canceled and how we probably wouldn't go as hard this time. Right before the run, the organizers got everybody to do the Cupid Shuffle and stretch/dance (basically Zumba) and it was a lot of fun. I think it helped though because I actually improved my time by another minute or two! I finished in 37-38 minutes. Not sure exactly because I forgot to stop my timer right away. I'm especially proud because our other friend couldn't join us. He's the one who pushed me during the last run. So this time it was just me, myself and I, but I definitely had my buddy's voice in the back of my head. My feet and legs actually felt much better. I think tying my shoes not so tight helped. But I had a slight side stomach cramp, likely from the burger and fries I had before the event. Not sure why I did that. Such a bad idea. The crazy thing is I didn't think I'd be able to run like this yet. I didn't think I was fit enough yet or that I was ready yet, but now that I've done it 3 times in a week, I'm thinking that my body is actually capable of making this a regular habit. I'm going to try more jogging with Booklet, whom I've been neglecting as far as walks go. We're going to walk today for sure though.
 

 

[Jormungand]

Keep up the awesome work. You have done an amazing job staying active and working towards your goals. It's pretty amazing that you have so many opportunities to run these 5Ks. Running with Booklet will be great for both you and her. I've heard people talk about Couch to 5K programs, but I've also heard about a Pooch to 5K program. Maybe it will help - http://www.poochto5k.com/

[Kvedulf]

@EternalJourno Stop being awesome, you're making me feel bad Seriously though, you're an inspiration. Keep up the good work