Starpuck Awakens the Force

[starpuck]

 

"Your doubts will become your failure.   Your failure will lead to anger.    Soon, the dark side shall have power over you, and you will welcome it's embrace."

 

It has been some time since I have truly run a challenge with focus, sincerity and commitment.    I need to get on game here.    I don't need to aim for perfect execution; though that would certainly be welcome- but aim for perfect effort.   While the goals are getting monotonous, I need to keep them where they're at until it's my routine life, and not something that must be reached for and tallied.    I want to continue to try new things though as well, so I will set my weekly goals and also have a 'to do during the challenge' list.   

 

    Conquer Defeatism

"Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try."

Young Jedi also learned that defeatism was just as dangerous as overconfidence. Although it might have seemed contradictory to the goals of conquering overconfidence, a Jedi would first plan for success, then for failure. Jedi who always plan for failure expected to lose, and usually only used minimal effort—enough to say that they had tried.

 

#1 - Write weekly schedule on Sunday night or Monday morning, planning the week ahead.

#2 - Track calories for food daily.

#3 - Keep track of progress on excel sheet, because visible progress encourages me.

 

** Stop telling myself that I cannot do these things.  I CAN do them.  I WILL do them.**

 

    Conquer Recklessness

"Learn to recognize when speed is not important. Race when being first is important; move at your own pace at all other times. It is not necessary to always strike the first blow, to provide the first solution, or to reach a goal before anyone else does. In fact, it is sometimes vital to strike the last blow, to give the final answer, or to arrive after everyone else."

Many young Jedi lacking in self-restraint were always ready to ignite their lightsabers and plunge straight into battle. They perceived a goal and rushed towards it, without any consideration for unseen dangers or other options. And so Jedi were taught that speed did not necessarily lead to success.

 

#1 - Approach lifts and exercise slowly as I get back into routine.

#2 - Strength train 2-3x/week.    *Pending hockey schedule.  IE, do not be reckless.

#3 - Move 2x/week.   *Hockey will be extra.   As I shift from biking season to running season-> Start. Slow.

 

** Legit reasons are valid.   All other reasons are excuses.   Start slow, aim for reasonable improvement.  Patience I must have.**

 

     Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

             “There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.” 

No longer will one act on ignorance, but search for true knowledge of a given situation. Do not act on assumptions, but rather from facts gained  from learning. Find calm so that you might study and learn about a scenario instead of acting without learned information. Do not become lazy, lest you end up lacking the knowledge needed to complete a task correctly.

 

#1 - Continue to practice drawing/art.  3x/week

#2 - Find a book or tutorial to start really learning Manga Studio.

#3 - Work on sewing/costuming.   1x/week

 

** Playtime must come after personal improvement time.   For the jedi, there is time to game as well.**

 

List of things to do during challenge:

- After Oct 1st, eye doctor (We are getting a vision plan on Oct 1st!)

- Go through old pictures, retake kid-friend pics and send collage to my dad.

- Finish costume.

**More to come.  It's wicked late right now.

 

 

 

 

Let's get this training started!

 

Starting Data

Weight 154.4 (ugh)

Measurements (to come)

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Here to keep you on the light side of the force.

[mightstone2k]

Here because Chicago and Grey Jedi

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I like the update with the goals. This is a good challenge. The force will flow through you, and you will become stronger.

 

 

[karinajean]

❤️ and in!

Sent from my iPhone while riding a unicorn through the cosmos.

[obax]

Following, as always. I like how you've structured your goals, reading it felt like a slight shift in focus from the things themselves to a broader frame of mind that will help you achieve the things. Can't wait to see how it goes!

[starpuck]

Go figure that week zero, while all you lovelies are at camp, is shaping up to be a pretty good thing.

 

Sunday - Hockey Practice.    Burned tons of calories, had a blast with my teammates, and am very excited for the season.

Monday - Strength @ Whse

Tuesday - 8.5 mile bike ride

Wednesday - Strength @ Whse

 

Food is slowly getting better.  The at home snacks/shakes/cookies are still a struggle, but with getting the other side of things in order this week, I should be able to tackle food more next week.

 

Last night and tonight, I finally finished up the sith drawing.   It's not one of my best, but I have learned that taking long breaks between the art, and spreading ONE piece out across several weeks, diminishes my inspiration and motivation to finish a piece.   I get antsy to just start a new one and so the current one suffers.   Good to know for the future.

 

But here she is.  Darth Cestis.     And that tricksy illusion, doppleganger, mist thing she's thrown at us!

(I totally took an existing background and threw it in there behind her... see above laziness on wanting to just be done with this one.)

 

 

[Mr_Willes]

I'm seeing a lot of Rebels that can draw beautifully, and i'm at the level of:

 

 

Seems like 0-week is shaping up great! For me this usually is a sign that i got super-motivated and the rest of the weeks will fly by and will be aces. Goals are all super solid and i really like the mentions of "slow" because of changing routines, very wise.

 

So, i'm here to add some accountability, you can never have too much of that!

[alienjenn]

yo

[Jarric]

On ‎19‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 10:53 PM, Starpuck said:

Stop telling myself that I cannot do these things.  I CAN do them.  I WILL do them

 

Love this, keep telling yourself that because it is true!

 

Great start to the challenge, following along again of course!

[Mr_Willes]

Day 1 of the Challenge!!!

 

[karinajean]

nice job on week zero!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Well done on week zero, now force lift week 1 and twirl it around in the air till it pukes!

[Raxie]

Hey-o! Following along :]

[starpuck]

Day 1.

 

Fighting a blergle mood monster this morning.   Not sure why.   Sun is finally out so I should be peppy.   Was looking forward to kicking ass this challenge so should be motivated.   Trying to dodge all the obstacles just now.

 

 

Lifted at lunch today- it was a better session than the last two, and while it didn't feel overly difficult I did burn a nice chunk of calories based on my Polar HRM.   The new Fitbit Charge2 is getting closer to bridging the gap during weight sessions, but it always plugs my heart rate at like 90 when I am doing pull ups, and it is in fact 150-ish while doing them.     

 

Tracked calories for the day.   Realized I needed a protein bar on top of my grapes at afternoon snack time due to calorie burn.  Everything is plotted except for dinner's pot roast, but that shouldn't be over 500 calories (I don't think) so all good there.

 

Hoping to get  Got some art time in tonight before hopping on to SWTOR for some master/padawan mission my guild is running.

 

In other news, my dad's gofundme page is up, and I have been completely flabbergasted by the support.   It makes me want to cry.    My family struggled with this idea for almost two weeks before finally going through with it.    We didn't want to share our struggle outside the family- but several of my closest friends got very upset and adamant about allowing others to help.   They said simply that my dad had been such an influence/difference maker/supporter in THEIR lives, that they wanted to return the favor.    It has hit me so deeply, I find myself wanting to, every day, be a betterer and betterer person.       (And of course I start off this morning all miss gloomy britches.)    It's been a real ... I dunno.  It's just ... touching on a very deep level. 

 

Alright.  Day 1 is just about in the books.   So long as I get my art in I will be looking sharp.   Art accomplished.  Will post tomorrow.   

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Sorry about the blergle day. Regarding how you should feel and how you should be motivated. A wise person once told me, "Don't should on yourself." (Say it fast and out loud for a giggle). Just as there is no try, there is no should. All that does is set up unrealistic expectations about emotions. How you should feel is how you actually feel. You may want to feel something else, but should has nothing to do with it.

 

[karinajean]

I'm so glad that your dad's fundraiser is so well received. We did something like that to support my sister when she underwent cancer treatments for a year, and it was beautiful to see the response. it's a shame that sometimes it takes a struggle to see people's true feelings and generosity, but I've also found that if you give people a reason to be generous, they will almost always come through. <3

[starpuck]

"Learn to recognize when speed is not important. Race when being first is important; move at your own pace at all other times.

 

Went for a run on my lunch break.   I have not run, really, all summer - I prefer busting out the bike and riding that instead when it's hot and humid out.   My face can only hit so many shades of purple before I get stopped by random EMTs worried about my well-being.   I was also fighting sore glutes from the weighted glute bridges and single leg kettlebell deadlifts from yesterday.     So I stuck to this plan:   Run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute for just shy of 3 miles, and walk out the last 5-6 minutes of the mission to cool down.    The new Fitbit Charge2 does something neat, and I am able to see my run time pace vs my walk time pace!  This is exciting!

 

My run paces are anywhere from 9:50-11:00 when I'm running.     Which is something!   It means I haven't digressed back to the point of newbie runner - because my first 5k ever?  Official time was like 36:35 and I did not walk at all.   That means my running pace is still much better than the old running pace; I just need to slowly build back up the endurance of maintaining that pace.      And it will come in time.   (And also losing 10-15lbs should help too!)

 

So, lists and calendars and trackers galore!   

My monthly "Schestimate" - that's... my word for estimated schedule.

 

How I will keep track of each week so I don't have to scour through old posts to see what I did when! 

(I am super excited about this one.)

 

And lastly, my list that I write up each week so I can focus on the things per week I need to do, and what comes up on what day.     Enough lines too that I can plot out special things during the day too if I wanted.

 

 

Home tonight for some pot roast that has been slow cooking all day.  Then after that's cleaned up, some artwork, then some gaming.   I also need to start prodding the internet for some tutorials on how to make this mock inner tunic for my Jedi costume.   The Rebel Legion needs me!

 

 

Oh also guys, big news here.  

I WILL NOT BE EATING A SINGLE OREO OVER THE NEXT 4 WEEKS!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

That's a great tracking sheet. I feel you on using pen and paper for stuff. With all the fancy apps I still use a small notebook and pen to plan out my lift days and know what my next set should be. It's easier than unlocking a phone screen a thousand times a workout.

[Sloth the Enduring]

No Oreos is a boss level fight. You're going to kill it.

[starpuck]

Aight.   Got some art done but I am really nervous about this one.  Definitely need all the tips, critiques, etc.    My friend just lost her dearest kitten boy, and she's asked for people to send little stories and tidbits of how they remember him.   I never met him in person, but I've seen all the adorable photos.    What I attempted to do (and this is the first time I've ever tried it) was capture my friend and her cat, but in the art style I've mostly been working in; anime-ish.

 

So this is my friend and her kitteh, Munch.

 

And this is the current rough draft.    (And omg, hands are ridiculous hard.)

 

What looks off to ya'all?  

[Red1263]

Hey hey Starpuck! I figured I'd follow you on your escapades on here since we don't have the same games to play together. 

 

No oreos is a BEAST to conquer, you got this!

 

In terms of your drawing, the mouth looks like it's too far forward, if you imagine a line going down from the top of her face to the chin, the mouth sticks out more than her forehead does.

[obax]

I'd agree with Red's assessment of the mouth position, and there's something off about the edge of the hand that's in behind, the angle looks weird but I can't say exactly how. Overall it all looks great, though! My brother agrees with you about hands, by the way, he's constantly complaining about drawing them...

[Raxie]

I saw the mouth as kind of having a kissy face and hence the forward position actually, but I am no artist so feel free to ignore me.  The cat in particular looks hella awesome!!! It's so sweet of you to be drawing this to commemorate your friends kitty.  So sad to use a fur (or in this case skin) baby.

 

Love your tracking/to-do lists.  Also nice job going on a run even though you were sore and haven't been doing it for a while.  You're a rock star.

[Jarric]

Love your trackers, so organised! I've just started trying to keep track of my goals in a journal, but nothing that fancy!

 

With the picture, I'm no artist but the glasses look a bit flat. It might just be that it's not shaded yet, in which case ignore me, but they kind of look like they're painted on the face at the moment?

 

Seconding that the cat looks beautiful though!