Atrytone Has a Goal

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

 

So I was planning on coming back once my new laptop arrived since at the moment my internet access is spotty at best. However, my new laptop can’t connect to our current router so I figure what the heck; I’ll do a challenge anyway. Don’t expect to see daily updates but I’ll do what I can to stay connected.

 

I’ve spent this past challenge thinking a lot. After the failure that was my last challenge I was in a pretty low place and was considering joining the Druids for a challenge or two to work on my mental well being in the hopes it would translate to physical well being.For the record, this is still something I might do for a future challenge. I was also trying to figure out what I’ve done since I joined NF back in January. I feel like I haven’t changed all that much. I’ve been flitting around trying to work on fitness while also trying to figure my life out. I feel like I’ve found more stuff that I don’t like than stuff I do unfortunately. Or perhaps fortunately because now I’m not wasting my time with exercises that I hate (*cough* running *cough*). I don’t know really. Depends on my frame of mind any given day.

 

One thing I’ve picked up that I do enjoy is hiking. The more I do it the more I adore it (although it’s still a trial to get myself out the door once I’m on a trail I love it). I’ve been thinking about life goals since that’s always the advice given to newbies (myself included): have a goal and take baby steps each day, each challenge, to reach it. I’m bad at life goals. The more I thought about it though the more I realize I’d love to hike the West Coast Trail (I’ve mentioned this goal in some little detail on my battle log).

 

Hiking the West Coast Trail (WCT) is a huge goal to work towards. There are a lot of factors to consider (also posted in my battle log). That being said - hiking the WCT is a well-defined goal to aim for. So I’ll be starting small and working my way up. I’ve already emailed a local orienteering club regarding instruction in that skill. Hopefully I hear back from them soon.

 

Goal One: Walking

I need to get used to walking a lot. For now I’ll aim for walking at least a little everyday. Work days count automatically since I’ll be on my feet for a minimum of four hours. For a walk to count on my days off it needs to take at least ten minutes - to the mailbox and back doesn’t count. I’ll get one point per day that I walk for a total out of 28. I’d also like to begin rucking. On days that I ruck I will award myself 1 bonus point in addition to the initial walking point. Needless to say I’ll start with a low weight and track it. Optimally I’d like to be able to ruck with 50lbs before I attempt the WCT but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

 

Goal Two: Squat Progressions

This doesn’t really have to do with the WCT beyond the fact that strengthening my lower body can’t be anything but helpful. I just really like squats. I’ll be following the Start Bodyweight Training progression list. There are 13 steps for a total of 13 points. I’ll be starting this with at least 4-5 points out the gate. I just want to see how far I can get with these. I’ll aim to practice squats every other day.

 

Goal Three: No Junk

I’ve been feeling pretty shitty about myself for the past couple months and as a result I’ve started turning to crap food for comfort. This needs to stop. I’ll start this goal with 10 points and subtract one every time I eat junk food. The goal is to stay in the positive. Hopefully it goes well and I can reduce the amount again next challenge.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

These look like some good goals. I'll be following along.

[Muir]

Nice to see you doing another challenge, @Atrytone! Following.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Thanks Muir, I'm happy to have you.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

12 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

These look like some good goals. I'll be following along.

 

Thanks Tank, I appreciate it. 

[Terra]

And she is back, Wahoo!!!

 

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

3 minutes ago, Terra said:

And she is back, Wahoo!!!

 

 

Thank you. I wasn't sure for a little bit there.

[jonfirestar]

Love your goals. Following along.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

4 minutes ago, jonfirestar said:

Love your goals. Following along.

 

Thank you and welcome!

[DJtrippyT]

I love the idea of the West Coast trail hike. It looks extraordinary.

 

Following!

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

3 hours ago, DJtrippyT said:

I love the idea of the West Coast trail hike. It looks extraordinary.

 

Following!

 

Thank you, it'll be a feat and a half that's for sure. Luckily my family is super supportive and both my parents have been offering training suggestions.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Who doesn't like squats.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

2 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Who doesn't like squats.

 

Right?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

16 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Who doesn't like squats.

This person, apparently

[Maggie-Miau]

Heyoo, Atrytone! Lovely to see you back in action!

 

Great goals. The West Coast Trail sounds like an excellent thing to work toward.

 

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

1 hour ago, MiaulinTheCat said:

Heyoo, Atrytone! Lovely to see you back in action!

 

Great goals. The West Coast Trail sounds like an excellent thing to work toward.

 

 

Thank you!

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

So I went for a decent length Pokémon Walk the other day (didn't catch anything interesting but I was out for ~40 minutes). I ate a bag of chips though which kind of negated the effect. I participated in Muir's 100 push up challenge as well. So yesterday was a decentish Week 0 day over all.

 

Today I did jack shit. I overslept, watched 4 episodes of Dollhouse, and then sat my ass in front of YouTube and haven't done anything but eat, drink, and knit a little since. Hopefully tomorrow goes better.

[Muir]

Sometimes just getting out of bed is an achievement. And you got some knitting done.

 

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Watched a bunch more episodes of Dollhouse today but I also got push ups in, squats, and even a short walk to the store (I ran out of milk for frosting a double batch of cookies that I also made today).

 

Also Muir; your positivity is my new drug.

[Muir]

8 hours ago, Atrytone said:

Also Muir; your positivity is my new drug.

 

It's non habit forming and doesn't leave a stain on your fingernails!

[DJtrippyT]

On 10/25/2016 at 8:58 PM, Atrytone said:

So I went for a decent length Pokémon Walk the other day (didn't catch anything interesting but I was out for ~40 minutes). I ate a bag of chips though which kind of negated the effect. I participated in Muir's 100 push up challenge as well. So yesterday was a decentish Week 0 day over all.

 

Today I did jack shit. I overslept, watched 4 episodes of Dollhouse, and then sat my ass in front of YouTube and haven't done anything but eat, drink, and knit a little since. Hopefully tomorrow goes better.

 

I find that my productive days are almost always followed by jack shit days, where I laze about and stare at the cat. I have no idea why but it seems to be a normal human thing.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

So it's the second day of the challenge already. Guess I should have posted yesterday. I was at work so I got my auto walking point and I get another today. I'm going to actually have to leave the house willingly the next couple days though. I'm also beginning to think I sabotaged myself by picking a junk food reduction goal around HALLOWEEN. Was I crazy? Usually I do something on the first of November that I like to call "Adult Trick-or-Treating" which involves going to the store and buying a big ass box of discounted, leftover Halloween candy. Now, I could still do that but I don't think I have the willpower to resist a giant box of candy for 4 weeks. In which case I shouldn't even buy it and bring it in the house. I know this is a good thing but it feels so bad. Stupid insidious junk food...

[Muir]

I over buy Halloween sweets every year. This year I bought 2 huge boxes of Haribo "spooky gummis" in addition to a bag of Tangtastics and Ghostbusters Candy Sticks. We'll probably have the vast majority of it left over by the end of the night.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

So Halloween is my favorite holiday. I wish I could have done more for it but oh well. I did willingly succumb to the temptation of a SINGLE chocolate bar. It was surprisingly satisfying and now I'm less tempted to go out and buy a box of the "fun sized" crap. Three cheers for calculated risks. I've marked my point loss in my signature to reflect this decision.

 

I didn't follow through with Muir's push up challenge yesterday so I'm playing catch up today. Amazingly I managed a single proper plank form push up! This is awesome! I've been attempting since the beginning and this is the first time I've managed it! (I think I just used up my exclamation mark quota). So I ended up with 6x6x4x4x7. I think I'll try and bang out my next squat progression before work too. I picked up a shift today so that's another automatic walking point.

 

As far as life stuff goes I got my first ever flu shot (semi-mandatory for work) yesterday. The nurse (a coworker) was very sweet and apologized, saying that it was probably going to hurt. I responded that it wasn't going to hurt worse than my tattoos. Besides, it's never been the pain that bothers me about shots. I really hate having foreign substances added to my system. I actually hate having my blood taken too. It's mine and it's weird to see it in vials outside of my body. I would think it was an issue with needles but I have no issues with piercings or tattoos so honestly I don't get my aversion to injections/blood letting. One of life's little mysteries I guess.

[Muir]

1 hour ago, Atrytone said:

Amazingly I managed a single proper plank form push up! This is awesome!

 

Well done! That is a huge achievement, seriously.