Tei gets strong like bunny

[tei_]

Hi!

 

I'm Tei! I am a halfling Assassin who is going to get hella strong this challenge because it turns out that

 

This challenge, I want to re-focus on strength building because I believe it's going to help me the most right now in gymnastics and climbing. Also because  Mr. Tei and I climb with two dudes both named Ian who are both stupid strong and I want to be stronger than them. Schedule-wise, I'm hoping to be able to do the occasional two-a-day because my gymnastics practices tend to be in the evenings and quite short. So instead of doing conditioning at gymnastics, which would be a waste of the equipment I'm paying way too much $$$ to have access to, I'm going to do my strength training, conditioning and stretching in the mornings and just work on gymnastics skills that I can't practice anywhere else in the gymnastics gym. 

 

Lifting:

Image by RickGriffin on deviantart

 

I started a 5/3/1 program before, but that was right before the holidays and I didn't get into the gym often enough for it to really stick. Now, I have read the original 5/3/1 book thing (which is here, but now that I've read it I wouldn't really recommend reading the whole thing since it's full of all sorts of mysogyny and body-shaming and similar grossness and the basic info is available from other sources...) and I am going to do the 4x/week w/ bodyweight assistance version (on pg. 52 of the book) which looks like:

 

 

I lift at a climbing gym, so climbing will also be on the menu; I don't really have any specific goals for it, because I tend to either just do a bit of it while I'm there lifting, or go with the group and do an all-climbing session. 

 

Food

 

I had considered doing some sort of calorie-counting for this challenge, but I decided that ultimately, I want to do more, not less, so I'm not going to eat less, at least not by that particular method for the time being.

 

Do not want. 

 

Instead, my food goals are:

1. Only eat breakfast in the morning after doing a 1/2 hour of something bassoon-related. I've been trying this and it works great both from a pseudo-IF standpoint and a getting-stuff-done-in-the-morning standpoint. My new morning routine seems to be: herbal tea after shower, tea latte while practicing, then omelette after first half hour of practicing. Obviously, if I'm doing something in the morning, at an hour that would make playing the bassoon before it impractical/ rude to the sleeping Mr. Tei, I am exempt from this. 

2. No chocolate under 85% cocoa. (Unlimited chocolate that meets this criteria, but one of the great things about super dark chocolate is that I eat one or two squares and then spontaneously think, "Okay, that was good, I've had enough now."!!!!)

3. My old standby:

Only food from home! 

 

Meditation

Last challenge, I tried to use Kit Laughlin's lying meditations. Unfortunately, they were waaaaay too long for a (currently) very fidgety person like me. So this time around, I am going to spend 10 min with Headspace every day and see how it goes.

 

Stretching

 

My basic goal for this challenge is "stretch every day," which is vague but I know what "stretching" is and what "cheating because you want to meet your Challenge goal" is  I bought the Stretch Therapy "Master the Full Backbend" series, so I want to incorporate more exercises from that into my routine. 

 

Okay assassins! Let's do this!

Image by tartii on deviantart

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Manarelle]

A) I found you!

B ) ZOOTOPIA! Squee!

C) Nice challenge. I like the overall-ness of it, not super focused on anything, but a bit of everything. I might have to steal the chocolate goal - it is neat that dark chocolate is self-limiting, but I keep finding myself with milk chocolate around, which is emphatically NOT. 

 

Looking forward to seeing you rock this challenge. 

[tei_]

17 minutes ago, Manarelle said:

it is neat that dark chocolate is self-limiting, but I keep finding myself with milk chocolate around, which is emphatically NOT. 

 

Yeah, I find they're kind of the opposite of each other, in that when I buy milk chocolate I'm like, "No, it's fine, I'm just going to eat one or two squares and then this will last me for days! Really!" and then eat the whole thing. Whereas when I buy dark chocolate I'm like, "well, I guess it's okay if I eat the whole bar since I already know I have no self-control" and then after a little bit I'm actually satisfied with my chocolate intake and don't need any more!

[otterbyte]

I've never been able to get into the dark chocolate, but I've found the same is true for high-cacao milk chocolate (think 37%). It's pricey, but sooo good. And since I only need a bit at a time, a bar lasts at least 2 weeks.

[raptron]

So much goodness here. I followed 5/3/1 with bodyweight assistance for a while. I really enjoyed how short it made my gym sessions while still feeling like I was progressing. Good choice.

[tei_]

13 minutes ago, otterbyte said:

I've never been able to get into the dark chocolate, but I've found the same is true for high-cacao milk chocolate (think 37%). It's pricey, but sooo good. And since I only need a bit at a time, a bar lasts at least 2 weeks.

 

I didn't even know that was a thing! Sweeeeet! (Literally :P)

 

8 minutes ago, raptron said:

So much goodness here. I followed 5/3/1 with bodyweight assistance for a while. I really enjoyed how short it made my gym sessions while still feeling like I was progressing. Good choice.

 

Yay! That's what I'm hoping, since it'd be nice to have since time for climbing after most sessions

[Jonesy]

Love the challenge and totally get the "stretching" just to meet a challenge goal cheat! 

 

I had to google Stretch Therapy "Master the Full Backbend" series and that looks interesting. 

 

[RogueLibrarian]

1) I am pro dark chocolate

2) One of my oldest friends is a Disney animator who worked on Zootopia.

3) Following!

[tei_]

On January 4, 2017 at 2:35 PM, Jonesy said:

Love the challenge and totally get the "stretching" just to meet a challenge goal cheat! 

 

I had to google Stretch Therapy "Master the Full Backbend" series and that looks interesting. 

 

 

If you're interested in the whole Stretch Therapy thing, I highly recommend listening as a podcast or watching the video of Dave and Kit's Coffeeshop Conversations! Some seriously good stuff there. 

 

20 minutes ago, RogueLibrarian said:

1) I am pro dark chocolate

2) One of my oldest friends is a Disney animator who worked on Zootopia.

3) Following!

 

1) Om nom nom 

2) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3)

 

 

Week zero update:

I am not really doing week zero, mostly because I am driving down to NYC with my family this weekend for my grandfather's memorial. However, that requires spending a night in Toronto first, and it happens to be FRIDAY NIGHT which is the night that the Toronto Circus School has their drop-in flying trapeze class. TRAPEZE TOMORROW YAY! (There's also an adult gym class I could go to tomorrow night in T.O, but I don't need to go to Toronto to do gymnastics, and coaches' night starts up again at my gym on Monday, so I'm gonna go with the trapeze instead :D)

 

I did rep-max two days ago testing to have an idea of where to start my 5/3/1 and I am STILL HAVING SIGNIFICANT TROUBLE WALKING.

[Manarelle]

Have fun on the trapeze! So if people ask why you're having trouble walking, do you just say "Nudge nudge, wink wink, you know" and then walk away, secure in the knowledge that they are totally incorrect?  

 

Hope you feel better. 

[raptron]

OH MAN! ENJOY!!! I've been wanting to do flying trapeze forever but the only places that do it around here closed.

[tei_]

On January 6, 2017 at 8:42 AM, Manarelle said:

Have fun on the trapeze! So if people ask why you're having trouble walking, do you just say "Nudge nudge, wink wink, you know" and then walk away, secure in the knowledge that they are totally incorrect?  

 

Hope you feel better. 

 

On January 6, 2017 at 9:52 AM, raptron said:

OH MAN! ENJOY!!! I've been wanting to do flying trapeze forever but the only places that do it around here closed.

 

Aw, that sucks!

 

Unfortunately, I did not get to do trapeze, because after inviting my brother along, borrowing our parents' car and driving to buttfuck nowhere in the northwest corner of Toronto, we discovered it only opened next week. OOPS. Sorry bro. 

 

Fortunately it was still early enough in the evening for me to make it to the Friday night adult gym in Toronto.

 

Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent driving, eating and having out with family, then last night I arrived back home just in time to make it to gymnastics again. Which was physically frustrating because I felt weak and stiff and useless, but since it was Coaches' night it was nice to see everyone again. Also, i did my trampoline coaching course a few weeks ago and was actually really inspired to learn trampoline skills. So I spent some time on trampoline (most of it bouncing all the wrong ways and shrieking) but I am excited to have goals on a new apparatus!

 

 

[raptron]

Bahaha, those foxes are great. Too bad about the trapeze gym, but yay for more gymnastics always.

[tei_]

Yesterday was not great goals-wise.

 

Lifting, yes! Unfortunately I got to the gym and realized I had forgotten the book I calculated my maxes in. And it was military press day, which I don't do often enough (UNTIL NOW) that I had much of an idea. I guessed 80 lbs, failed at the 85% reps, knocked it down to 75 and then got home and realized the formula had actually given me 73 and THEN you're supposed to calculate everything from 90% of your max. WHOOPS. 

 

Food, failed. Gymnastics classes started this week, and I realized an hour before my shift started that I wanted to go in early to lesson plan and remembered that my shift was FIVE HOURS long, not 3.25 like they were last session, as I have three classes in a row instead of two. I currently have no food in the house so I went to the grocery store on my way to work and got some snacks. Today, I should... get some food in the house. 

 

The actual classes were excellent. No crazy kids and out of all six of my weekly classes, only one is the 6-8 age group, thank gawd. The rest are all 9-12, which I love, with one Teen group yesterday. The teen group was hard/awkward because I was kinda expecting them to be more self-directed than they actually were. Which will be fine, it just means I need to structure the classes more like I do my 9-12s and less "tell me what you are working on on this event" because they do not seem to know.

 

Meditation and stretching, nope. oops. WILL DO THOSE TODAY.

 

[Manarelle]

How did the weekend go for you? Hopefully the new classes are settling into a routine so you can get back to being a sly, strong bunny? 

[tei_]

I am honestly a mess. I mean, everything has been a mess since November, but since the inauguration especially, I can't think about anything else. I constantly have a running list of worries in my head, and the kind of worries they are make me feel even shittier because they're not even legitimate worries about the people who are in danger and dying right now, they're all about ME and how ~MY country~ will be affected. When global warming goes above 2 degrees and every coastal city in the world floods, where will be put all the displaced people from Halifax and Vancouver? Which Canadian city would be least likely to be hit with radiation if the US engages in nuclear warfare, and can I realistically move there? Was Trump inevitable, and if so, is Canadian Prime Minister O'Leary just as inevitable? Why can't I shut up and do something useful instead of randomly bursting into tears every five minutes? I went to a small march on Saturday, as I was working in St. Catharine's, and while it was better than not going, I couldn't understand how people were going up to the microphone and saying hopeful and inspiring things instead of just shouting "FUUUUUUUUCCCK" into the microphone, which was honestly the only thing I would have been able to think of to say. I keep trying to focus on the resistance and feeling even worse when I can't keep my focus on that.

 

My fiance suggested that my level of anxiety maybe would be helped by making an appointment with his therapist. Then he came back from an appointment this morning and reported that she's just as big of a mess as we are. Yay.

 

Oh, and this may or may not be related to the fact that I flying to Texas tomorrow and I'm fucking terrified. I'm terrified of flying, I'm terrified of Texas, and I'm auditioning for a grad program and don't feel prepared at all. I didn't even think I was going to do this-- before the election, my decision was, "Well, I'll send in a tape for the pre-screening, and then obviously if Trump wins I won't go to the audition if I get one." But I did get an audition, and this is the best grad school for bassoon probably in the world, and I just... ended up booking a flight for the audition anyway.

 

The only good thing about going to Texas now is that I'll get to see two friends who are living there, one from McGill and one from the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, so it won't be as lonely as the last time I was there (I auditioned for this same school two years ago and was waitlisted.)

 

Anyway. That's how I am. I have been keeping up with 5/3/1, although it might slip this week, but not really anything else.

 

[Jonesy]

I'm so sorry you are feeling this way. You are not alone.

 

I have that same terrified feeling and the urge to just yell FUCK and cry, every time I see something new and horrifying that Agent Orange does or says. I was feeling hopeless and downtrodden after the election and ashamed to be an American. I could not and still don't, understand how people could overlook the hate and complete disregard that man has for anyone who is not an old, rich, white man. Up until the actual march, I struggled with those feelings and still do, but to a lesser extent. Now I choose to focus on what I can do. Whenever I start slipping into that hopeless feeling, I make a plan to get involved and I just do it. 

 

My marching in Seattle on Saturday might seem pointless to some, but you know what, it wasn't. You know what it did do? It made me feel hopeful for the future. It gave me ideas on how to get involved and gave me a place to start. It also fired me up and now I'll use those feelings of hopelessness and shame and let it fuel my fire. This is what America was founded on, it's how we started. Honestly this is the type of government that warranted adding in the 2nd amendment in the first place.

 

I'm not sure how much of the marches you watched but I spent a good deal Sunday watching the Washington DC's speakers and looking at some of the pictures from around the world. They do help.  

 

As for your audition, focus on being awesome and nailing it. When you start to get anxious, think of what your plan is. Think about the music. Also I've heard Texas is not so bad. We have lots of Texans here in NF.  

[Manarelle]

17 hours ago, Jonesy said:

I'm so sorry you are feeling this way. You are not alone.

 

I have that same terrified feeling and the urge to just yell FUCK and cry, every time I see something new and horrifying that Agent Orange does or says. I was feeling hopeless and downtrodden after the election and ashamed to be an American. I could not and still don't, understand how people could overlook the hate and complete disregard that man has for anyone who is not an old, rich, white man. Up until the actual march, I struggled with those feelings and still do, but to a lesser extent.

 

All of this is exactly how I felt, too. Unfortunately, life circumstances meant I couldn't feasibly go to the marches. I did spend a lot of time reading up on them, and then joined the 10 actions in 100 days follow-up. I'm spreading the word to help people be informed and encourage those who aren't sure what to do. Action counters fear, although it is often scary in and of itself.

 

Another tactic to combat it is to refocus. You mentioned a couple times that you can't focus because of everything going on. It is hugely overwhelming to try to keep track of everything going on, especially when it's all bad news or discouraging, and the big bad ideas are bulked up on what-if steroids. It is absolutely okay to block everything out for a while - refocus on what is in front of you and what you can take action on. I know there are people out there who don't have that benefit, but losing your mind isn't going to help them, either. Take a break, take an hour, take a day, and just close out the chaos; look for what's good in life to bolster you, then go out and spread that good to others. 

 

I've been to Texas a few times (my gentleman lived in Texas for a number of years), and the people there tend to be polite and very supportive of personal freedoms. You are as safe there as anywhere these days. As far as the audition - you got this. Even if you can't believe in yourself, believe in the fact that other people think you're good enough. 

 

Take a deep breath, we're in this together. Just like the nf rebellion, we will endure, we will reach out, and we will improve. You are not alone. 

[raptron]

Yeah, I am just trying to do work where I can. <3 It's hard, my friend. 

[tei_]

On 2017-01-24 at 5:22 PM, Jonesy said:

Now I choose to focus on what I can do. Whenever I start slipping into that hopeless feeling, I make a plan to get involved and I just do it. 

 

11 hours ago, Manarelle said:

 

All of this is exactly how I felt, too. Unfortunately, life circumstances meant I couldn't feasibly go to the marches. I did spend a lot of time reading up on them, and then joined the 10 actions in 100 days follow-up. I'm spreading the word to help people be informed and encourage those who aren't sure what to do. Action counters fear, although it is often scary in and of itself.

 

i think part of the problem is that I haven't had the time to really research what I can be doing on a regular basis. A lot of great "action plan"-y things have popped up in the US (i.e. Swing Left, 5calls.org, the 10 actions from the Women's march) but a lot of it involves directly contacting your representatives in government, and while I technically am a US citizen (because my mom was born in a hospital in Philadelphia, for no reason other than that her grandfather worked there and made her parents drive down from Montreal to his hospital to give birth...) I can't really afford to be calling politicians long-disatance all the time, and they would have no reason to believe that I was a citizen anyway. I want to start doing a similar thing with my MPs, but haven't really gotten it together in terms of figuring out what I'm actually going to say that would constitute Canadian resistance to the Trump administration. Possibly something about Keystone XL, possibly a suggestion that Canada join the Dutch anti-abortion resistance? But since the issues in our political system at this point in time are (thank God) more complicated than just "there are Nazis in charge and you need to make it stop," I feel like I need to put a lot more research in.

 

On 2017-01-24 at 5:22 PM, Jonesy said:

As for your audition, focus on being awesome and nailing it. When you start to get anxious, think of what your plan is. Think about the music. Also I've heard Texas is not so bad. We have lots of Texans here in NF.  

 

11 hours ago, Manarelle said:

 

I've been to Texas a few times (my gentleman lived in Texas for a number of years), and the people there tend to be polite and very supportive of personal freedoms. You are as safe there as anywhere these days. As far as the audition - you got this. Even if you can't believe in yourself, believe in the fact that other people think you're good enough. 

 

Thank you! I have now arrived in Houston! Because of where I grew up and the places I've lived in the past, both the idea of people around me owning guns and the reality of pedestrian-unfriendly urban spaces make me super nervous, so that's where a lot of my aversion to this city comes from. But the people are super nice, with the caveat that I find being called "honey," "love," etc, extremely rage-inducing which does not set me up well for pleasant customer service interactions in the South.

 

11 hours ago, raptron said:

Yeah, I am just trying to do work where I can. <3 It's hard, my friend. 

 

<3 Thanks! and your march outfit was awesome, btw

[Manarelle]

13 hours ago, tei_ said:

i think part of the problem is that I haven't had the time to really research what I can be doing on a regular basis. A lot of great "action plan"-y things have popped up in the US (i.e. Swing Left, 5calls.org, the 10 actions from the Women's march) but a lot of it involves directly contacting your representatives in government, and while I technically am a US citizen (because my mom was born in a hospital in Philadelphia, for no reason other than that her grandfather worked there and made her parents drive down from Montreal to his hospital to give birth...) I can't really afford to be calling politicians long-disatance all the time, and they would have no reason to believe that I was a citizen anyway. I want to start doing a similar thing with my MPs, but haven't really gotten it together in terms of figuring out what I'm actually going to say that would constitute Canadian resistance to the Trump administration. Possibly something about Keystone XL, possibly a suggestion that Canada join the Dutch anti-abortion resistance? But since the issues in our political system at this point in time are (thank God) more complicated than just "there are Nazis in charge and you need to make it stop," I feel like I need to put a lot more research in.

 

Gotcha, that makes a lot of sense. I'd say give yourself some mental space then. Determine what you can and can't do (feasibly), and then start working on it. Even if you don't feel like you've "accomplished" anything yet, being aware and working on it still helps dissolve the feeling of being overwhelmed. Just like we take little steps with our fitness here on the forums, take little steps to help combat the issues that are important to you. It adds up.

 

13 hours ago, tei_ said:

But the people are super nice, with the caveat that I find being called "honey," "love," etc, extremely rage-inducing which does not set me up well for pleasant customer service interactions in the South.

 

Heh, yeah, that can be frustrating. Think of it as a culture thing, like an accent or tendency to bow or shake hands. Hang in there!