ManicSpider's Fortress Siege #3

[ManicSpider]

2016 was hard for me. I came in at the beginning of the year wondering how the hell I'd get through it, because I already gave 2015 everything I had. I did get through it, but it was mostly paddling to stay above water rather than making much progress. 

 

Things that went better than expected: 

• My job (even though I don't feel I did great, they keep giving me interesting work to do so I must be doing something right) 
• My kid (he did much better at school and at Italian) 
• My uni studies (only three more units to go after this one! I finish in January 2018, wooooo!) 
• My cycling (I cycled about 4 times more than I did in 2015 - even I'm impressed when I say it like that, but it was just from 30 kilometers to about 120 kilometers) 

 

Things that went much worse than expected: 

• My mental health (I had too many I can't do this anymore moments)
• My lifting (I injured my knee, then was sick a lot - I think my numbers went backwards) 
• My writing (I barely wrote anything all year) 
• My weight 

 

My weight is a big one because a lot of my weight gain was mental. Here's a chart: 

 

 

I hit 106 kilos around March. At 105 kilos, I would have lost a total of 40 kilos. And when I realised that I completely freaked out. Soon I'd be under 100 and then guys might start hitting on me and if they were guys I didn't like that would make me uncomfortable. I wouldn't have my safety barrier anymore. So I just started eating whatever I felt like, give or take some attempts to put order back in my eating habits. I'm still not sure how to get over this problem. I think maybe if I do a martial art I may feel safer even if I lose weight, but it's not really my scene. And it's not even that I feel physically unsafe, I just don't like being made to feel guilty or awkward. Is there a social martial arts equivalent? I need to think about this more.

 

 

In any event, 2016 was a mixed bag but I feel 100% more positive coming into 2017!  

 

Here are my goals for the year (and so also for this challenge scaled appropriately): 

 

• Eat an average of 2000 calories a day across the year. I think this will help me with my cravings. I've made a spreadsheet which tells me how many calories I am up or down for the year. 
• Ride 1825 kilometers (that's 5k a day) 
• Submit 12 short stories to publications (1 a month, so 1 for this challenge) 
• Go to lifting 2-3 times per week 
• No McDonalds or KFC whatsoever. I let down my guard and then it becomes a habit because of the drive-through convenience. Other takeaway is fine as long as I stick to Goal 1 above. 
• Start my Italian tumblr using nerd stuff to help myself remember Italian words.
• Do a Powerlifting Meet. 
• Do a Strongman Event.

 

Woo yeah 2017! Bring it on! 

 

 

 

[ManicSpider]

Also I just joined Rising Heroes - I think it looks like fun and I love the ARG element

[Doaheem]

Dear lord you got a big appetite! Get to eating!

(Metaphorically!)

 

Also please give us tid bits of how you feel about Heroes. I really want to do it but can't afford it at this time

[ManicSpider]

I know, I eat too much and 2000 calories is probably too much long term but I need to move downwards in stage otherwise I end up wanting a whole bunch of foods that aren't good for me

 

And I'm enjoying Heroes so far - I like the ARG elements, and we all got sorted into teams which was nice. I'm just about to go for a walk because that is one of the things I have to do today to help gain points for my faction towards completing the monthly quest

[Doaheem]

Noooo I meant that as in you had a lot of stuff to do. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

Oh you joined as well? I found that immediately I got sucked into the world and everything else dropped to the background for a bit. How're you feeling about it?

[ManicSpider]

14 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Noooo I meant that as in you had a lot of stuff to do. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

Oh you joined as well? I found that immediately I got sucked into the world and everything else dropped to the background for a bit. How're you feeling about it?

 

Ha, sorry, completely misunderstood  

 

I'm really enjoying it! The Facebook page is too crazy to keep track of though. There are so many people who look nice but it's so hard keeping up I found a wingman on there though so that's good. 

[ManicSpider]

My 0 Week has been going really well so far. I eaten within my calorie limits, I've done some writing, and I haven't eaten any KFC or Maccas. I have also made some awesome spreadsheets that I'm very proud of with some automated functions. If you're interested, you can have a look here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eUnN03B_WFKhue1q_fxwG5l51gPBi21KGVZy8kFUaF4/edit?usp=sharing 

 

It looks like I've lost a lot of weight this week, but it's mostly I've been eating less processed food and so less salt. 

 

I had bench press the other night, and it was a good session, though a little disappointing because I my 1RM is down a lot because my training last year was very disrupted. We were working off an estimated current 1RM of 45 kilos (my previous 1RM was 53 kilos) and I managed 45.5 kilos for my final set. I hope to be back up to 50 by the end of this training cycle, and aim to have a new 1RM by the end of the year  

[Blocky]

Spreadsheets!!!!!!!!!

[AugustaAdaByron]

Following along!

[Emerald_Dragonfly]

Three cheers for new 1 rm goals!!!

[ManicSpider]

I've had a great start so far to the year  I took my spreadsheet off line for a little to fix a problem with the cycling tracking formula but it's back now. 

 

Cycling is the thing I am doing worst at at the moment because it is SO HOT. Pictured - Australia ATM.

 

It's been over 35C alot (over 95F for Americans). I went cycling yesterday evening for half an hour and almost chucked. I was meant to be riding again today, but it's going to get to 38C today (100F) so I'm going to wait and catch up cycling when it starts cooling down a little. 

 

On the dating non-official part of the challenge, I opened and read some messages on OK Cupid. Then fought the urge to delete my entire profile (even though the messages were good, and from smart guys). So that's definitely a win on my trek back to attempted romantic interactions

 

I've added "Learn some Mandarin" to my list of things to do this year and I can say "hello" and "thank you". Everything is going so well that I am in fact nervous something terrible is about to happen. *looks around nervously*

 

 

 

[Blocky]

Where abouts are you? It got to 36 in Brissy yesterday and I nearly died. I really hope we don't get to 38...

[ManicSpider]

1 hour ago, Blocky said:

Where abouts are you? It got to 36 in Brissy yesterday and I nearly died. I really hope we don't get to 38...

 

I'm in Canberra. It's currently 37.9, but there are clouds all over the place so I suspect there will be a storm shortly

[Blocky]

I was in Canberra between 1999-2001 and I don't remember it getting hotter than 20... All I can remember is the ice...

[miss_marissa]

So much winning here already!!! Badass goals for the year! I'll definitely be checking in.

 

You will for SURE hit a bench PR this year, no problem