The Spider Becomes Capable (so this is what going mad feels like)

[The Spider]

My previous challenge I more-or-less finished, though I'm not giving myself points for it because 1. I fizzled out the last week or so, and 2. a lot has happened to me since then, so part of this challenge will be fixing what broke between now and then.

 

Goals:

1. No meals, television/tablet/computer screens after 10pm, and melatonin at 10pm.

This is an absolute must.  If this is NOT the means of making me sleep better at night, I will need to have a sleep study done, and I don't want a doctor trying to push any kind of prescription on me for sleep at only 25 years old.  My goal here is to make myself wake up earlier and with more energy so I can get out of bed to carry out with success...

 3 failings = +2 CON +1 INT, 5 failings = +1 CON +1 INT, 7 failings = +1 CON

2. Wake up at least 1 hour prior to needing to leave for work (If I have to leave at 8:30, I wake up at 7:30) so that I can stretch and eat a proper breakfast.

This is a two-fold goal:

Stretching: I have had an issue with my shoulder joint for a few years now.  I was washing dishes one day at work and the arm that WASN'T doing any work began to sting in a severe manner.  Wasn't scrubbing or tensing with it, wasn't using it to lift heavy objects... it just felt like a hot needle went between the bones and made its home there.  I saw a physical therapist and the pain went away for a time, but has since come back because I never continued to do the exercises I was given.  I am now seeing a good chiropractor who does work on my shoulder joint along with my bad hip and I have seen improvements there.  My plan is to work alongside my chiro and get this shoulder problem out of the way to make goal 3 "go smooth," to quote Captain Mal.

Breakfast: This has been an excruciatingly long process to figure out.  I have woken up and eaten hot breakfasts, cold breakfasts, small, large, carb heavy, protein heavy, gluten free, dairy free, etc... and none of them have given my stomach any leniency in the morning.  On the mornings that I eat before leaving, I end up with a cramping stomach ache that lasts 1-2 hours.  Those 1-2 hours depending on when I'm at work can make all the difference of how much more work is going to suck that day.  My goal here is semi-experimental still, but my primary focus is getting out of bed and waking my body up before eating, and then eating before running out the door and driving for 20 minutes so that my body can process before diving into the customer service extravaganza that is my life.

I will gauge the success of this goal on waking up, stretching, and eating.  Failing to wake up late/not eat/not stretch will determine how many points I lose.

3 failings = +2 STR +1 AGI, 5 failings = +1 STR +1 AGI, 7 failings = +1 AGI

3. Go to the gym 3 days a week.

I have a gym membership.  I have rapport with the people there.  I have basic understanding of power lifting and core strengthening exercises, and I have been wanting to be a better swimmer for years now.  My gym has all of the mentioned things available to me, and I've wasted 6 months of membership fees now.  I even have a guest pass for my wife and I excuse myself from going there for a 20-30 minute treadmill walk/chat (which she has begged me to do with her since before we got married).  The workouts aren't especially important right now, because I'm not certain of my current fitness goals, so I'll also update on here exactly what I do when I go to the gym.  To prevent myself from making the excuse that I "don't know what to do" when I get there, I will refer to the Spartan Race WoD in some manner or other.

3 failings = +3 STR, 5 failings = +2 STR, 7 failings = +1 STR.

 

And if you guys want to add any suggestions for any of these, PLEASE do!  I'm open to suggestions from anyone either in my situation or who has defeated these issues before.

 

[obax]

I feel ya on the bedtime routine being key. I struggle with staying up later than I should/getting up later than I should, and when I stick to the routine on the regular I'm always amazed and how much better I feel. I'll be following along, and hopefully we both find some success!

[Elastigirl]

Bedtime routine really helps me. I hope giving yourself time to wake up helps your stomach cramps-those are miserable.

[The Spider]

Thanks guys! I ate a really small breakfast because we have almost nothing in the apartment. Crackers (whole grain) with peanut butter and jelly. Good news is that didn't give me a stomach ache, so work has been decently good which means i should be able to go to the gym when I get home if wife is up for it. If not I'll hit the gym after work tomorrow.

[The Spider]

Got rear ended on the highway... neck is sore but me and wife are alright. Seeing the doctor tomorrow. But I went to bed on time last night, and woke up on time and with an appetite! Didn't eat breakfast yet though so needless to say I don't have stomach cramps.

[obax]

Aw man, that sucks, glad to hear you're ok. Hopefully you don't find anything lurking when you go to the doc, and that you heal up quick-like!

[The Spider]

So because of the bull I dealt with on Tuesday through Thursday, this week was shot.  I still got out of bed when I needed to and did my stretching, etc, but I had very good reason to not bother with the gym.  Thankfully though, doc gave me a clean bill of health aside from some muscle strain, and I haven't noticed any new symptoms, so this week I'll be able to hit the gym 3 times this week just like I've intended to do.  And I have some prescription strength naproxen if I do something stupid and live to tell the tale.  That's what Rangers do, right?

[obax]

Glad to hear there's no serious injury after your collision. And way to go sticking with all the other things despite all that!!

[The Spider]

So since the rear ending on 12/6/2016 there has been a large accumulation of snow, which has prevented me from really making it to the gym.  And the acute depression from said accidents has kept me from really getting myself moving.  I had to call into work last Monday because me and my wife were just getting so frazzled about getting into a car, regardless of who was driving.  There was a severe snow storm the day I had scheduled a long overdue appointment with my chiropractor.  He was nice enough to not only get me from work with his 4WD SUV but also gave me my adjustment for free.  However, he didn't get any time to work on the muscle strain of my neck and shoulder, thus making it a lot harder to even bother working out in the first place.  So the whole 3rd challenge has been about moot.  However, I'm going to make one last shot of getting something done this month and so I'm going to try to at the very least do 30 push ups twice a day.

[The Spider]

Did I say push ups?  I meant squats.  Every day is leg day if you're brave enough.  And if your shoulder hates you. >_>;

[The Spider]

Well as Captain Mal once said: Why doesn't it ever go smooth?  Most of my challenge wound up being put on the back burner because of the car accident.  Not just myself struggling with it but also having to help my wife get through it as well.  She still gets really tense in the car regardless of who does the driving and I still get fidgety in the worst ways even as the passenger.  Either way I stuck to my plan as best as I could and I hope that I can do better next time.

 

I definitely did the best with my first goal -- going to bed.  I still struggle a lot, and still if I stay up for even 10 minutes after my eyes say "go to sleep," I'm WIDE awake for HOURS.  My body doesn't just suggest, it warns.  Go to bed or you won't get any sleep.

 

Second goal was a little rough especially with only one car now.  I would wake up, take my wife to work, but my shift wouldn't be for a couple more hours.  I did an awful job of taking advantage of being up two to three hours before my shift at times and would wind up just going right back to bed until I said that I "needed" to get up for work.  You would think that when I wake up, go out into the frigid cold air of a winter in CNY, and drive for about 20 minutes, I'd be wide awake, but that wasn't the case.  I would hop right back in bed and be out like a light.  Even still, I did o.k., but I have a lot of room for improvement here.

 

And the third goal was nothing.  Never made it to the gym once, did 60 squats about 3 days ago.  That was it.  Definitely need to fix that.  Especially since my wife has been asking to go to the gym again.  What am I spending this money for anyways?

 

So my bottom line is that I definitely have things to think about and work on, but I can proudly say that I have improved myself in some manner since the beginning of this challenge.  A really, really, short win, but a win either way.

 

"We're still flyin'.  That's a good day."