EternalJourno is surrounding himself with his Z-Power!

[FatboySuave]

Introduction: I'm struggling to get back on track, so this time around I'm focusing on getting back to basics for a hard respawn. That means not only completing my quests but keeping my battle log updated. I need to hold myself accountable, which gives me a way to grade myself. That has helped in the past, so I should get back into it. I'm also focusing on staying positive. I think I have a tendency to beat myself up if I'm not meeting my goals. I'm still going to be real with myself, but I'm not going to be so negative. 

 

I've recently been playing Pokemon Sun and I really love the game! It brings back a lot of feelings of nostalgia while keeping things fresh with new game mechanics and Pokemon. One of the cool things is the introduction of Z-Moves. Pokemon holding a Z-Crystal basically go Super Saiyan and unleash a powerful Z-Move. In the game there's a character named Lillie who isn't a trainer but comes of age and evolves into her own sort of Z-Powered form. By the end, she sets out on a new adventure to become a Pokemon trainer. I felt inspired by that, so this is me surrounding myself with Z-Power! Time to step things up a notch! 

 

Main Quest: I've gained some weight back. I'd like to get back to 200 pounds by the end of the year. I want to start the new year with a During Photo, which I haven't taken since I took my Before Photo. 

 

Quest 1: Complete my assigned Bodyweight exercises three times a week and complete a cool down afterward. I will 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 with my dog Booklet 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: Money is tight these days, so I'm going to look at my expenses for the past few months and come up with a real budget for the new year. 

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.

[Bookish Badger]

Following!

[Vibrantella]

Great challenge! Z-Power FTW!   

[FatboySuave]

I ran into an interesting new problem last night. It's been snowing here and getting quite cold. Usually the cold doesn't bother me that much. I've always felt like my jacket was sufficient. But last night I felt colder than usual and I'm thinking it's because of my lack of insulation since I've lost so much weight, lol. I also get cold in the office sometimes, which didn't used to happen. So I think I need to rethink my winter wear collection. I've never been one to layer up, but I think I'm gonna need to.

[Infinity.Creates]

There are a few things that change that I never would expected. Since I've lost some weight, my shoulder's are no longer the super comfy cushion they once were, and my friends are more hesitant about falling asleep on them But its a sacrifice I'm willing to make to get stronger and more capable.

 

All the best, and you can power up soon! (I need to play Pokemon Sun .... )

[Jormungand]

Solid goals as always, brother. You continue to inspire with your ability to keep picking yourself back up after getting knocked down. Let's put a boot on this thing's neck and finish out this year strong.

[Butternut]

Woop woop! I'm so excited for ya! 

 

ive been falling off my band wagon too, so I'm following for inspiration

 

if you get winter clothes, get Booklet a scarf!! Does Booklet like the snow? 

[FatboySuave]

20 hours ago, Jormungand said:

Let's put a boot on this thing's neck and finish out this year strong.

 

Yessir! Let's go!

 

3 hours ago, Butternut said:

if you get winter clothes, get Booklet a scarf!! Does Booklet like the snow?

 

This is a great idea! I tried to dress her up for Halloween. The best I could do was a cape. She might put up with a scarf. At first she was confused and curious about the snow, but now she seems to love it!
 

 

[Bookish Badger]

Yay for puppy photos!

 

(P.S., if that's your place, I can see why you struggle with cutting down on alcohol. I wouldn't be able to resist it either with it displayed and looking at me all the time! Of course, I often don't resist it even with it hidden away in a cabinet....*grumbles back to her own battle log to document alcohol fail*)

[FatboySuave]

@Bookish Badger, actually, and perhaps surprisingly, the home bar is not a temptation at all. The real temptation comes from hanging out with friends. If people come over for board games, they bring lots of beer and I'm more likely to drink with them. But when my fridge is filled with beer and I'm alone, I'm not tempted. I encourage people to take their beer home because I would never drink it on my own. And then I'm also likely to drink a lot if we go out to a bar or to dinner somewhere. I'm strictly a social drinker. But once I start drinking, it's hard to limit myself.

 

Last night is a good example. My friends and I were planning to go to zumba. We were all ready to go, but it turns out the session was canceled. Since we were all out anyway, we decided to get dinner and drinks at the bar nearby. I already had dinner at home, but for some reason I still ordered food. Not sure I can count this as a win, but I ordered a chef salad. Then my friends got a pizza and I had three slices, but they were small slices and the crust was thin, for what it's worth, lol. Then I had one beer. I shouldn't have gotten a beer, but it's just one of things. When I'm out with friends, I can't help myself.

 

This would have been our first zumba session in months. We're counting it as a semi-win though because we made the effort to put on workout clothes and get out of our houses, lol. We're promising each other that it's going to become a weekly thing though. No excuses next week!

[Bookish Badger]

Yeah, habits are hard to break in whatever form they take.

 

Maybe you could take one or two friends into your confidence that you want to hang out with them but the beer/pizza are contrary to your health goals, so don't be surprised if you don't partake? Not making them responsible for policing your eating but just let them in on the plan so you've got at least one or two in your corner if the group-think turns to "oooo, look who's getting all healthy & shit!" razzing. Just a thought.

 

And getting out of the house and trying to go to Zumba, and ordering a salad, definitely counts as a win!

[Jormungand]

On 11/30/2016 at 2:49 PM, EternalJourno said:

At first she was confused and curious about the snow, but now she seems to love it!

 

Both of our dogs absolutely flip their lids over snow. It's definitely worth it to get out and play in the snow (for both the dogs and the ally and I). Not exactly sure what it is about it, but they can't get enough of it.

[FatboySuave]

@Bookish Badger, all of my friends know I've been trying to lose weight and there's never any peer pressure to drink when we hang out. It's just my own temptation I have to contend with, lol. Everyone's been super supportive. They've noticed my weight loss and regularly check in on how I'm doing. My brother visited over Thanksgiving and he made a comment about how good I look, so that was nice.

[FatboySuave]

I forgot to mention that yesterday, Dec. 1, was my Rebelversary! It's been a year since I joined the Nerd Fitness forums. Back then I weighed 240. I'm currently around 207!

[Vibrantella]

Congrats on your Rebelversary and your weight loss to date!  

[Bookish Badger]

Congratulations! That's a great accomplishment!

[Jormungand]

Congratulations, man. Onward to the next step. 

[FatboySuave]

Week Zero Update

 

Quest 1 (Exercise): D (No workouts. Still being lazy. But I got in a lot of dancing at a friend's Christmas party).

Quest 2 (Walking): F (I WILL walk with Booklet this week. Even if they're short walks around the neighborhood).

Quest 3 (Alcohol): F (Non. Stop. Drinking. lol)

Quest 4 (Cooking): D (Non. Stop. Eating.)

Life Quest: No progress on my budget.

 

I'm glad I'm getting back to my daily battle log because it helps to track what I've done and eaten so I can accurately grade myself. I think that lack of accountability has allowed me to stray too far from my quests. This was not a great week, but seeing how bad it was gives me motivation to correct things. I will do better this week.

 

I've already made a bit of progress by doing my meal prep Sunday. Breakfast and lunch are good to go for the week. Just need to make sure I'm not lazy and actually cook good dinners.

 

I need to get back into walking and working out. I'm going to delay my plan to hit the gym and instead stick with my bodyweight workouts at home. I just don't think I can afford regular visits to the gym right now. Plus, with my lack of workouts lately, I'm probably not as strong as I was a month/two months ago, so I feel like I need to rebuild my stamina before I think about changing things or leveling up. As for walking, I splurged a bit (I guess early Xmas gifts for myself) on some new winter workout clothes. I was at Walmart and my eye caught some superhero gear. I found a Batman workout-type sweatshirt that I plan to use on my walks/runs with Lil' Book. There was also a Captain America light jacket that would be good for wet weather that I could possibly wear over the sweatshirt. And then I got some sweatpants. With the new gear, I'm excited to get back into walking/running/hiking again.

 

And my zumba friend just texted me right now about dancing tonight. My mind hesitated for a moment but my fingers committed with a big fat "Yes!" lol.

 

Let's go!

[Vibrantella]

Glad to hear you're getting back on track.  

5 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

I just don't think I can afford regular visits to the gym right now

I have seen a lot of improvement in my health & fitness levels after I decided that they are worth investing money and time into.  Just saying.

[Jayniana Jones]

Congrats on your nerdiversary.  

 

I'll be following along this round. In catching up on my reading of your posts, I want to throw something out for you to ponder. Is there a way to make them more meaningful to you? There are things you have definitely done right in the past to be able to lose just over 30 pounds over the last year. How did you do it? Are those things you can repeat again? I get that in social situations it's hard to turn down temptations, but I'm wondering if you can figure out some ways to protect your goals.

 

Maybe playing the "would you rather" game where you ask yourself (for example) "would you rather have one more drink and bump yourself to a C OR would you rather pass on the next drink and possibly make progress towards your goal of being 200 by the end of the year?" "Would you rather drop $15-20 on dinner OR put the money in your savings to give yourself breathing room for the future?" 

 

Maybe giving your goal more dimension. Post a progress chart of your weight loss where you see it often, post the why you are doing what your are doing where you see it, put reminders on your phone, on your computer, pictures of something you will do when you reach your goal, do whatever you need to do to make it real. Think about the temptations you have faced recently and come up with strategies to work around them in the future. 

 

Sticking to something isn't easy. You aren't going to be perfect. You don't have to be super disciplined or rigid. However, giving yourself the chance to do something meaningful for yourself because you truly want it is worth the sacrifice.

 

As a side note, I love chocolate chip cookies. They are one of my weaknesses. I eat them by the handfuls and don't count how many I consume. However, last year I lied to myself and told myself that I don't really like the taste of them. I told myself that they don't have much flavor besides sugar. The only time chocolate chip cookies are made is when my grandma makes them at holidays. This year, I ate one at Thanksgiving and I actually didn't like the taste. So I suppose lying to yourself could be another strategy to reach your goal?  

 

I hope this week results in a better goal week for you. Your adorable super heroes are waiting for their walks. 

[FatboySuave]

18 hours ago, Vibrantella said:

I have seen a lot of improvement in my health & fitness levels after I decided that they are worth investing money and time into.

 

I've definitely invested a lot already and know I need to continue investing, but I'm just in a weird financial situation right now. I have a house and rent out two of my rooms. I don't know that I could afford my house without renting out the rooms actually, lol. But one of my roommates left suddenly last month and it's hard to find good people to rent to. So that's the primary reason why "now" is not a good time. I'm getting desperate and about to open my room to anybody willing and able, lol. I know it sounds like I'm making excuses and like I'm putting off the gym (and to be honest, that's probably true to some extent), but I genuinely feel like I just can't afford to do some things right now. I love giving gifts this time of year but I think I'm gonna have to put that off too. I definitely need to learn how to make better decisions with my money. That's really the hard part. But then I splurge on workout clothes when I should be saving, lol.

 

13 hours ago, Jayniana Jones said:

However, last year I lied to myself and told myself that I don't really like the taste of them. I told myself that they don't have much flavor besides sugar. The only time chocolate chip cookies are made is when my grandma makes them at holidays. This year, I ate one at Thanksgiving and I actually didn't like the taste. So I suppose lying to yourself could be another strategy to reach your goal?

 

You know, there are times when I'm feeling lazy so I start thinking about getting fast food, but when I think about my choices, I realize how much I don't really like any of them, but then I still go out and then I hate myself, lol. For a while I realized how terrible they were just in terms of taste and quality. But the more you eat it, the more your brain gets tricked into liking it. It's scary how that works.

 

It's early, but I'm already feeling like I'm off to a way better start this week despite a few setbacks. I snacked a bit too much when I got home from work yesterday so I skipped dinner. Then zumba was canceled because my friends flaked on me, and I just don't have the nerve to go solo yet, lol. They guarantee they want to do it Wednesday, so I'm gonna hold them accountable. I really, really, really want to do a bodyweight workout today when I get home. I WILL do a bodyweight workout when I get home. I will NOT play Pokemon Sun until I've done that and taken Booklet on a walk and cooked a healthy dinner and done the dishes.

 

[Jormungand]

It's easy to overextend yourself with funds, especially this time of year. Only do what you can afford to do. Maybe some of the gyms will have discounts next month to take advantage of all the New Year resolutions. Might be worth looking into.

[FatboySuave]

Yesterday was a really good day! I did almost everything I said I would do. The only thing I skipped was the dishes because I was really tired, lol. But I did my bodyweight workout, which confirmed that my strength has slipped a bit. My pushups were tougher than they were two months ago. But I was glad I could still do my bar hangs. And my leg lower downs were brutal, lol. Then Booklet and I went on a walk. It was supposed to be a bit less than 3 miles, but a loose puppy started following us. I thought it would turn back the farther we went from its home, but nope. So then I called the number on the tag and doubled back to take the dog home. Nobody was home, but a neighbor girl saw us and took the dog into the backyard for me. I didn't want to be a creeper by going into a stranger's yard, lol. So our walk actually turned into 3.75 miles, which really wore me out, lol. Then I had a steak and asparagus for dinner. I did eat some snacks in the afternoon, but not too much to make me feel guilty. I'm definitely sore today, but I feel good. And I'm looking forward to taking Booklet on another walk. And zumba! Zumba will finally happen, I promise.

[Jayniana Jones]

3 hours ago, EternalJourno said:

 

Yesterday was a really good day! I did almost everything I said I would do. The only thing I skipped was the dishes because I was really tired, lol.

 

Hmm. I wonder... could dishes count as a body weight workout?  I think the bonus distance was more fun than washing dishes would've been. 

[Butternut]

1 hour ago, Jayniana Jones said:

Hmm. I wonder... could dishes count as a body weight workout?  I think the bonus distance was more fun than washing dishes would've been. 

 

Agreed!