EternalJourno is a "No Limit" soulja; I thought I told ya

[FatboySuave]

Introduction: Third time was NOT the charm. I really struggled during my previous challenge, which was my third official full challenge, but I'm feeling determined to do better this time. I think I've definitely learned from my mistakes. The question is whether I can adapt. And that is the key word for this challenge.

 

Bruce Lee has been a source of inspiration for me for many years. As a kid I was really into martial arts — movies and junk, not actually practicing. I still find myself attracted to martial arts though, so someday I want to take a class and embark on that kind of quest, but for now I'm more concerned about my mental and emotional health. That's why I want to stick with the Druids for a while longer to learn how to incorporate more yoga and meditation in my routine to find some balance in my life. One of Bruce Lee's most famous quotes, or his mantra, was, "Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation." I think for some people that can be confusing or misleading. When he says to use "no way," he doesn't mean to not establish goals or to not establish a direction. It really means that you shouldn't be so single minded. Don't adopt one way and stick to it no matter what. Instead, you should be able to adapt and use the way that fits the moment/challenge in front of you. At least, that's how I've interpreted it. And of course the "no limitation" part should be pretty self explanatory. For this challenge, I will channel Master P and become a No Limit Soldier, lol.

 

 

 

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 212.5, which means I only lost about 1.5 pounds during the past month. I fluctuated a lot between 214 and 208. I need to overcome this mental plateau. My publisher has wagered $300 if I can achieve my goal.

 

Quest 1: Complete my assigned Bodyweight Level 3 exercises three times a week and complete a cool down afterward. I update these daily on my battle log if you want to see details and follow along.

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

 

Quest 2: Walk and/or jog every day and complete a cool down afterward. I usually track these with the RunKeeper app on my battle log as well.

 

A = Walk/cool down 6-7 days a week

B = Walk/cool down 4-5 days a week.

C = Walk/cool down 2-3 day a week.

D = Walk/cool down 1 day a week.

F = No walking/cool downs.

Quest 3: Drink less alcohol.

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. 

Life Quests: I've been struggling to come up with a solid fifth quest, so I'm just going to delete it for now. Instead, I'm going to make yoga/meditation part of my life quest. I don't have any benchmarks here, but I will try to incorporate more yoga/meditation into my daily routine. And as usual, I'd like to watch less Netflix and read more. I got a compliment from one of our "competitors" complimenting me on the column I wrote Saturday. My editor likes my columns too and wants me to keep them up. So I'll be focusing on these for my writing quest. It's work related, but I want to work on making my stories more personal or creative. I'm really trying to find my voice.

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. 

 

With Bruce Lee serving as my motivation for this challenge, I will focus on unleashing my inner dragon.

 

[Kvedulf]

Following! I'm starting to think you're slowly becoming a samurai too  

Bruce Lee has some great quotes as well. Every time you quote him it reminds me of one of Musashi's quotes. In this case, when you talk about the way of no way, one of Musashi's "rules" for his Way is: 

Become acquainted with every art. Know the Ways of all professions.

To me  it feels very similar to what Mr Lee was saying.

[Jormungand]

Definitely following. I hope for the best for you as you continue the journey towards your goals. I've been where you are, and I know how tough it is to be so close. However, I also know from following these past few challenges that you will be able to accomplish what you've set out to do. You could do much worse in finding a motivating figure for this go around.

[Bee]

Yes!  Allowing yourself to have more than one way and be without limits is awesome.  Meditation and mindfulness has really helped me.  I recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn, either reading his books or listening to them on tape.  He has a lot of great ideas about mindfulness -- just about being present in the moment (not in a carpe diem sort of way, but just in a "this is life and I'm living it" way).  Good luck!  

[SomeGuyFromScotland]

Following. Good luck!

[Bookish Badger]

Following!

[FatboySuave]

19 hours ago, Kvedulf said:

Become acquainted with every art. Know the Ways of all professions.

 

I like this a lot! I feel like I've already been practicing this by taking bits and pieces from all the guilds, lol. It's like a fitness buffet and I came hungry! And I think I'm definitely part samurai too! That's what I like your challenges so much. 

 

@Jormungand, as always, thank you for the support! You are the Patient Zero of my followers, so I appreciate you sticking around. 

 

15 hours ago, Bee said:

I recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn, either reading his books or listening to them on tape.  He has a lot of great ideas about mindfulness

 

I will definitely check him out! 

 

[FatboySuave]

Back to my new self: I'm feeling really good today because I'm off to a great start and the challenge hasn't even started yet. Maybe it's too early to gloat, but I feel like I'm getting back to my new self. I haven't had any chocolate or other treats since Monday, other than the occasional fruit. I feel like I'm getting a grasp on controlling the cravings. Yesterday was especially successful because we took a new job candidate out to lunch and I ordered a salad! Then I had friends over for board game night and I didn't touch any beer. I drank a bunch of water and stuck to mostly fruit as a snack. At one point, I absent mindedly picked up a few Triscuits because some friends brought over some humus that I wanted to try. I had like 5 or 6 when I realized what I was doing and immediately stopped, lol.

 

Weight, weight, do tell me: Because I'm obsessed with checking my scale even though I know I shouldn't do it so often, I weighed myself over the past few days. On Wednesday I was down to 209.5 pounds, then this morning I was down to 206.5! I know it's just a number, but it genuinely helps my self confidence when I can see changes like that. If I slip up and see an increase, it helps me get back on track. I feel like I have these moments where I stray from my diet and get bloated and see an increase on the scale, but it usually just takes two or three good days to get back down to "normal." I feel like that's what's happening this week, but then again it's tough to say how solid of a number 206.5 is, but I'm feeling good and determined. My published asked today if he's gonna be a loser. He seems genuinely excited to see me meet my goal and lose his money, lol.

 

I guess I'm just really pumped right now. Hopefully it's contagious for everyone reading this!

 

And I think another thing adding to my good vibes is the fact that I won a game of Cities and Knights last night. Here's a nerdy photo of my victory, lol:

 

 

 

[Bookish Badger]

1 hour ago, EternalJourno said:

On Wednesday I was down to 209.5 pounds, then this morning I was down to 206.5! I know it's just a number, but it genuinely helps my self confidence when I can see changes like that.

 

Yes!

[Jormungand]

Very well done all around, especially sticking with water on board game night. I know how you've struggled with that for the past couple of challenges, and it is awesome to see your victory (both in alcohol and the actual game). I know how we shouldn't obsess about what the numbers on the scale say, but I completely understand your excitement. I try to find a balance in both: if the number is lower than I expected, I try to remain calm and content; and if the number is higher than I expected, I try to remain calm and resolute. Either way, keep up the good work, and those numbers will soon become an affirmation for your healthier lifestyle. 

[Bee]

Awesome that you're starting to feel the cravings diminish!  

[FatboySuave]

Week 0 Evaluation

 

Quest 1 (Workouts): C — I missed my workout last Sunday because of an epic hike. I missed Thursday because I stayed up late the night before and took a long nap.

 

Quest 2 (Walking): B — No excuse here. Just being lazy.

Quest 3 (Alcohol): D — Even though I drank a lot, I feel like I'm moderating myself pretty well on days when I do drink.

Quest 4 (Diet): D — Went out to eat quite a bit, but I'm making mostly good choices. Not always lol.

Life Quests: Read some comic books for my comic book club this week — Princeless and Sexcastle, both of which were good. Princeless was particularly awesome. It plays with the Disney princess stereotypes. It's about a kick-ass princess who decides to rescue herself and her sisters. Sexcastle is a parody/homage to 80s action movies, so it was really just a fun, violent one-off. My column got pushed back this week, so I ended up staying up late last night to finish it for today's paper. Staying up late is not conducive to my goals because I tend to take naps when I should be exercising, which happened twice this past week. So we'll see how I feel today.

 

Week 0 Grade: C-

 

Even though I didn't really hit my benchmarks that strongly this week, I still felt good overall. The grade may not reflect it, but I feel like I'm on track. I'm planning to weigh in tomorrow morning, and I think I may actually be down a few pounds. We'll see.

[SaltyDragon]

Here to follow along!

 

On 8/22/2016 at 0:07 PM, EternalJourno said:

The grade may not reflect it, but I feel like I'm on track.

 

I definitely think you tend to be harder on yourself than you deserve – something we all do from time to time. But I've seen you make a lot of progress. Regarding weight loss – man that can just be a frustrating demon to battle. Sometimes it just happens at its own lazy pace regardless of what we try, and even as we are getting fitter (actually sometimes because we are getting fitter). You're doing all the right things. Stick with it, keep working on the fitness, keep pushing yourself, and I have every confidence that you'll get there!

[Jormungand]

9 hours ago, SaltyDragon said:

Regarding weight loss – man that can just be a frustrating demon to battle. Sometimes it just happens at its own lazy pace regardless of what we try, and even as we are getting fitter (actually sometimes because we are getting fitter). You're doing all the right things. Stick with it, keep working on the fitness, keep pushing yourself, and I have every confidence that you'll get there!

 

^

 

Words of wisdom, Lloyd my man. Words of wisdom.

 

Also, a friend of mine posted recently regarding trying this for some game nights that he hosts, and I immediately thought of you. 

 

 

The site offers a Tavern Style Menu to offer your guests. I don't generally get a chance to sit down with friends in this capacity, but I think it'd be a lot of fun if I ever did. I liked the part where the post's author acted as the tavern "wench" throughout the campaigns. 

[Kvedulf]

6 hours ago, Jormungand said:

The site offers a Tavern Style Menu to offer your guests. I don't generally get a chance to sit down with friends in this capacity, but I think it'd be a lot of fun if I ever did. I liked the part where the post's author acted as the tavern "wench" throughout the campaigns. 

My old gaming group did this a couple of times. The meal was based on what we were RPing. It was all good until one of the group decided to do bbq pork ribs and call it flamed heretic for a 40K rp. Was a little strange

[FatboySuave]

22 hours ago, SaltyDragon said:

You're doing all the right things. Stick with it, keep working on the fitness, keep pushing yourself, and I have every confidence that you'll get there!

Thank you very much for the support! I will take your advice and keep at it no matter what the scale says. I know it can be a fickle bitch. 

@Jormungand, that spread looks delicious! I'll definitely need to create a good game night menu. I once did a creative spread for a Catan night — probably inspired by some Facebook/Pinterest post. It was just a bunch of junk food in coffee filters, lol. There's chocolates around the edges to mark the sea and then I used Italian dressing for the desert, lol: 
 

If I do something like this again, I'll let you guys know! Tomorrow our crew is going to try our first game combining Cities and Knights with Seafarers. It's gonna get intense! I'm seriously crazy excited, lol. 

[Jormungand]

11 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

 

If I do something like this again, I'll let you guys know! Tomorrow our crew is going to try our first game combining Cities and Knights with Seafarers. It's gonna get intense! I'm seriously crazy excited, lol. 

 

Nice. 

[Jayniana Jones]

Following along. I totally love your Settlers of Catan board. 

[Kvedulf]

Hey EJ. How's the week going?

[FatboySuave]

Sorry I've been so quiet lately! I'm having a few hiccups here and there, but being this is the last month of my challenge with my publisher, I'm determined to get back on track.

 

To sum it all up, I've been having food issues (cheating quite a bit), I've been feeling lazy on some days and I've been having bouts with some mental weasels (to borrow a term from @Kvedulf. I can't grade myself for the previous week because I haven't been updating my battle log.

I don't want to dwell on that stuff too much though. But I'm ready to finish this challenge and this month strong. I'm so close to my goal. I know I can do it.

[FatboySuave]

Also, my notifications are messed up, so I'm not getting emails about other people's posts, but I'll try my best to get caught up with everybody.

[Bookish Badger]

36 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

To sum it all up, I've been having food issues (cheating quite a bit), I've been feeling lazy on some days and I've been having bouts with some mental weasels

Congratulations! You're officially human!

 

Welcome back and hang in there. A strong 2nd half is in your reach!

[Jormungand]

You've got this.

[FatboySuave]

6 hours ago, Bookish Badger said:

You're officially human!

I don't know how exactly, but this statement put me in the right frame of mind after my grumpy post this morning. I'm in a much better mood now.

 

I got stuck at work longer than I expected/hoped, so on the way home I was really craving fast food and ice cream. But instead I stopped at the grocery store and bought some veggies and eggs and stuff for meal prep. However, I did concede and still bought some ice cream, but somehow it felt like a better alternative than what I originally planned. So it felt like a nice balance/compromise. When I got home I had my regular prepped lunch plus some ice cream. But then I did a workout, and I feel so much better now. Now I'm going to take Booklet on a jog/walk. Or rather she's going to take me. 

[SnowOwl]

2 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

But then I did a workout, and I feel so much better now. Now I'm going to take Booklet on a jog/walk

Just the inspiration I needed to take my dog out for a short run this evening! Thank you