sarakingdom Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 I'm taking a short Discworld break, because Star Wars has finally properly crossed the streams with its martial arts origins. Spoiler Also, I am super-impressed that they had the guts for that ending in a Hollywood film, let alone a kid-friendly Star Wars film. I'm easing back into real challenges. I need satisfying, but nothing too demanding. Step 1: Fighting Okay, not real fighting, but my super-fun kung fu conditioning workout, three times a week. Before work for preference. I want to enforce a good morning routine, and also test a good morning workout on the ADHD. The goal is partly to ease back into stuff the fun way, and partly to give everything a quick tune-up before I look for a new dojo. I'm a little extra-out-of-shape from a few month of life craziness, and I've had some injuries since I last was on the mat, so I want to make sure everything's strong. The challenges: 1) getting out of bed early, and 2) I'm so not warmed up first thing in the morning. My body doesn't do that shit till it's had a few hours to wake up. But we'll give it a shot. This is going to be my only planned workout, because... Step 2: Resting I don't sleep enough, and I overplan the workouts. If three is good, six is better, right? Well, maybe not. I need to learn to rest. Really rest. So I'm going to limit my workouts. I'm going to try to spend nine hours in bed. (The challenge: I hate sleep. Well, no, I hate going to sleep.) And... Step 3: Being One with the Force I'm going to meditate. Five minutes is fine, but I'm going to aim for ten. Because I need to rest my brain. Step 4: Stretching Because to move like that, you need to be limber. Did I say only three workouts? Well, yes, but also one stretching session a week. I could use the flexibility, and it'll help me relax more during the resting portion of my challenge, so it's sort of multi-functional. I don't know how much stretching I'll need in the end, but one a week is better than zero a week, so we'll start there. Probably on the weekend. 7 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Week 0: Day 1 Fighting: 2/5 points (15 weekly) I did not do my workout this morning. I had other things on my mind, and did those things instead. But I did use my wait for the train to do some incline pushups. (I would have done some horse stance or squats and called it a completed minimalist workout, but that crosses the line of what I'm too embarrassed to do on a train platform, so.) Resting: 2/5 points (35 weekly) Okay, this is a slight inflation of what I actually did, but I totally had Right Mindset last night when I went to bed, so I will reward that. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) I did really well on this one. I did timeboxing (aka, generic pomodoro) on my day, and I used something like five of my rest periods for meditation. So that's 25-30 minutes of meditation today. The first few, I was exceedingly tired. Like, hallucinating sleepily during my five-minute meditation. Then I was more alert and stuff, and quite focused. So I think this comes down to my brain needing more rest, and the meditation helping. I totally need more rest. Stretching: 1/5 points (5 weekly) I didn't do a lot, but I did get out of the chair for a few hours and stretched on the floor while I worked. I needed that. Weekly Total: 10/85 points Challenge Total: 10/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) Today's timeboxing plus meditation worked out really well for me. I was doing some difficult stuff, and I got a better day out of it than I would have otherwise. Also, the change in how alert I was after a few bad periods of meditation has taught me that 1) I should ignore bad meditations, even if they seem bad because I'm too tired for them, and just wait for them to straighten out, and 2) my brain really is tired and needs lots of rest, and meditation counts. IF is pretty easy when you don't work from home. It's seriously nice to not worry about packing lunches or finding time for meals. I'm staying pretty well hydrated, too. Eating back the calories at the end of the day is tough. I did today, and it was too much. I dunno, either I just eat till full and undereat my BMR, or I try to hit my target and it's just a matter of retraining myself. I don't know which is best. And it takes some time to see any change on the tape measure, so it's sort of faith either way. I think this challenge, I'll pick under-eating, and trust how I feel. You've got to trust your instincts, once you start listening to mystical space monks. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Watching to see just how stupid the places the force leads you happen to be. Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 28 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: Watching to see just how stupid the places the force leads you happen to be. Hopefully nowhere as stupid as the places it led that poor bastard. I mean, he and his space husband partner just sort of accidentally ended up in the middle of shit going down in a big way. Like, that was a weird chain of events for them. But hey, the Force, right? 4 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Week 0: Day 2 Fighting: 0/5 points (15 weekly) But hey, it's a rest day. Resting: 2/5 points (35 weekly) I was in bed early last night. That was good. I didn't sleep till the normal time. That was not as good. Then I didn't sleep well at all. That was bad. But I was in bed early, so some points. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) I didn't get as much meditation in as yesterday, but it must have been four sessions of five minutes, and that's not bad. I was not too tired for it today. A little distracted, but good. Stretching: 0/5 points (5 weekly) I got nothin'. Weekly Total: 17/85 points Challenge Total: 17/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) Today was not quite as focused a day as yesterday. I had real trouble concentrating on the same things as yesterday. I seem to have a one-day-on-one-day-off thing going on when I work hard on a project. But I eventually got into it enough to make progress, and I nearly got the whole day's ambitious goal done. So I'm not that displeased. Now there are Ip Man movies and leftover Chinese food. 4 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Daryl of the Pines Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Can't go wrong with some Ip Man and good food. Sent from my LGMS330 using Tapatalk Quote Daryl of Barbaria - Ranger / Footpad "Smart-aleck jaybird!" Link to comment
Mistr Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Great start to zero week! I hope you are able to get the sleeping sorted out. That seems to be central to making progress on everything else. Quote Level 71 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 On 2/8/2017 at 11:37 AM, Daryl of Barbaria said: Can't go wrong with some Ip Man and good food. You really can't. And there are some really good Chinese places around here. On 2/8/2017 at 0:12 PM, Mistr said: Great start to zero week! I hope you are able to get the sleeping sorted out. That seems to be central to making progress on everything else. It really is. A night or two of not sleeping well, and there are all sorts of knock-on effects on everything. I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight, I haven't been sleeping too well this week, and I'm really feeling it. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 Week 0: Day 3 & 4 Fighting: 0/5 points (15 weekly) Not so much. I've been running late in the morning, I don't have my schedule sorted out. Which is the purpose of zero week, finding out where the failure points are. Being behind schedule in the morning is going to be the big one. Resting: 0/5 points (35 weekly) I can't remember, so I'm gonna say no. I do know I haven't been sleeping well. So no. Meditating: 10/5 points (35 weekly) This one I have been doing, every day. I hope that starts to make some brain things easier. We'll see. It's interesting which days my thoughts seem distracted, and which days I actually seem to start falling asleep while meditating. It doesn't correlate logically to days I'm more tired or have slept less. I'm really starting to think that the drifting into the more REM-type state is trying to address a certain type of brain fatigue. Stretching: 1/5 points (5 weekly) Nope. Oh, wait, one point for stretching out my upper back when it needed it. I did a lot of hangs to pop those vertebrae. Weekly Total: 28/85 points Challenge Total: 28/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) Lack of good sleep is really hitting my ability to focus on work, and headaches, and mood. I need a good way to get more sleep on week days. I don't waste a lot of time, but, man, I'm already having trouble finding time for the stuff that needs to get done after work. 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Mistr Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 17 hours ago, sarakingdom said: Lack of good sleep is really hitting my ability to focus on work, and headaches, and mood. I need a good way to get more sleep on week days. I don't waste a lot of time, but, man, I'm already having trouble finding time for the stuff that needs to get done after work. Yeah, that is a tough one. Being stressed makes it hard to sleep and being tired causes stress. You are already doing meditation to help get your brain to let go. Do you have any options for evening exercise? It seemed like late-night swimming helped a lot last summer. 2 Quote Level 71 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
Treva Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 Love your challenge! (obviously). If you're ever on tatooine hit me up, I know some jawas with some sweet robot parts. I like how balanced your challenge is; I think it's super well planned and maybe the meditation will help with the sleeping issues? 1 Quote Current Challenge Battle Log Breathe deep. Seek peace. Bring a sword. ---Kishi Link to comment
Carpinus Posted February 12, 2017 Report Share Posted February 12, 2017 Great challenge. You bet I'm following! 1 Quote Level 0 Human Adventurer STR - 1; DEX - 1; STA - 0; CON - 0; WIS - 1; CHA - 1 Link to comment
Alcnedlor Posted February 13, 2017 Report Share Posted February 13, 2017 Lack of sleep is really something that gets you down really efficiently. Hope you'll find peace and rest (in a positive way of course) About the stretches, maybe you should look for other movements as hanging generally only relieves the shoulders Quote Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 On 2/10/2017 at 3:33 PM, Mistr said: Yeah, that is a tough one. Being stressed makes it hard to sleep and being tired causes stress. You are already doing meditation to help get your brain to let go. Do you have any options for evening exercise? It seemed like late-night swimming helped a lot last summer. Late night swimming is great, if a bit time-consuming. I don't know, we'll see. There are options, but none that seems to fit quite as well. (I'm still not quite used to the new schedule, though, so something could fall into place when it all shakes out.) On 2/12/2017 at 9:29 AM, Treva said: Love your challenge! (obviously). If you're ever on tatooine hit me up, I know some jawas with some sweet robot parts. I like how balanced your challenge is; I think it's super well planned and maybe the meditation will help with the sleeping issues? I am all about the sweet robot parts. Meditation can help with that. Less with the relaxation, and more with keeping the adult part of my brain in control. Usually by the time bedtime rolls around, I'm tired and it's not my adult brain in charge. On 2/12/2017 at 2:44 PM, Carpinus said: Great challenge. You bet I'm following! Yay, glad to see you! Do you have a challenge this month? 18 hours ago, Alcnedlor said: Lack of sleep is really something that gets you down really efficiently. Hope you'll find peace and rest (in a positive way of course) About the stretches, maybe you should look for other movements as hanging generally only relieves the shoulders Lack of sleep is the root of virtually all evils, I'm convinced. Er, my challenge doesn't have hanging in it, I think that's someone else's. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 Week 0: Day 5-7 Fighting: 1/5 points (15 weekly) I got up early to reinforce the habit, basically Resting: 15/5 points (35 weekly) Oh, hell yeah, all the resting. I was sick this weekend, and basically I slept an extra 7-10 hours a day. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) I missed Friday and Saturday, but got back on it Sunday night, when I needed to get my head together and do some work. It was good for that, and I got the work done. So I've just about trained myself into turning to meditation when the work or brain-space gets tough, which is a good habit. Stretching: 0/5 points (5 weekly) No. But I slept a lot... Weekly Total: 49/85 points Challenge Total: 49/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 The Chinese trailer features a little more of the Chinese actors, go figure. Week 1: Day 1 Fighting: 3/5 points (15 weekly) I got up and did some yoga. I didn't really have time for the workout I'd planned. Resting: 2/5 points (35 weekly) I got the standard amount of sleep, which was... enough, but not really enough. But given that I worked late Sunday night, it was impressive, so some points. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) I've only done five minutes so far today, but whatevs, I've been good about it, so I'll count that. Stretching: 2/5 points (5 weekly) Sure, I did yoga, so partial points. Weekly Total: 12/85 points Challenge Total: 61/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
'BoutThatActionBoss Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 Hey hey, just checking in! What did you think of the movie? I adored it but haven't spoken to many other people about it. I would put it in the top two, maybe three: Empire Rogue One or Jedi Star Wars Force Awakens The Prequels Quote CURRENT CHALLENGE Link to comment
Alcnedlor Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 4 hours ago, sarakingdom said: Er, my challenge doesn't have hanging in it, I think that's someone else's. My bad, I think I misunderstood you when you said: On 10/02/2017 at 4:46 AM, sarakingdom said: I did a lot of hangs to pop those vertebrae It seems you are feeling better and was able to start the week normally. I'm glad for you Quote Link to comment
Daryl of the Pines Posted February 14, 2017 Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 So how does the usual kung fu/fighting routine go? When as planned? I also meant to follow up and ask what kind of dojo you are looking for. Specific art? Or something new? Sent from my LGMS330 using Tapatalk Quote Daryl of Barbaria - Ranger / Footpad "Smart-aleck jaybird!" Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2017 17 hours ago, 'BoutThatActionBoss said: Hey hey, just checking in! What did you think of the movie? I adored it but haven't spoken to many other people about it. I would put it in the top two, maybe three It's way, way up there. The dialog wasn't great, but that's a common failing of Star Wars movies. The story was fantastic, and they had a lot of balls doing what they did with it. Fantastic characters all around, and it looked amazing. It's one of those movies that's good enough to live up to your memories of what a Star Wars movie is, and that's always better than what a Star Wars movie actually is. 15 hours ago, Alcnedlor said: It seems you are feeling better and was able to start the week normally. I'm glad for you I'm glad, too. It's not too demanding a challenge, in part because life has been demanding lately, and I'm kind of getting back on the horse, so to speak. The goal is to size the challenge right for where you are, something that's an achievable level up. I think this one will be. 8 hours ago, Daryl of Barbaria said: So how does the usual kung fu/fighting routine go? When as planned? I also meant to follow up and ask what kind of dojo you are looking for. Specific art? Or something new? I want to do all the arts. Well, half of them. But I'm looking for aikido. It won't be the style I used to practice, that's only found in certain parts of the country, so it'll be something slightly new, but not really that new. It's sort of a kickboxing conditioning workout, fast intervals of cardio and strength drills. Some kicks and punches, some plank and horse stance, some speed drills. It goes fast, hits a lot of the body, doesn't eat up a lot of my day, and I enjoy the mix of cardio and strength a lot more than one or the other. (One or the other is a bit "just kill me now, how tedious", and that's not something I want to fight this month.) 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Week 1: Day 2 Fighting: 0/5 points (15 weekly) Rest day. Resting: 2/5 points (35 weekly) Not bad, but not great. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) Yup. Stretching: 1/5 points (5 weekly) A little bonus point, because I did some serious work on my achilles tendons, which were getting very tight. Weekly Total: 22/85 points Challenge Total: 71/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) Week 1: Day 3 Fighting: 0/5 points (15 weekly) Oooops. I had a non-standard day, and that was part of it. I also got distracted, and that was the other part of it. Resting: 4/5 points (35 weekly) I tried to up the rest yesterday, and I slept pretty well. Meditating: 0/5 points (35 weekly) Not yet, and it's sort of silly to do it when I'm already in bed. Oops, I'm gonna break my streak here. Stretching: 0/5 points (5 weekly) Weekly Total: 24/85 points Challenge Total: 75/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) Today was sort of a routine-breaking day, so my usual routines, such as they are, did not happen. Oh well. But those days are gonna happen, so whatevs. The key is to get back on schedule correctly tomorrow. 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Alcnedlor Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Taking a break and letting the engine cool down is sometimes just what is required to restart at full power ! 2 Quote Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted February 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2017 Week 1: Day 4 Fighting: 0/5 points (15 weekly) Rest day. Resting: 1/5 points (35 weekly) Sort of a restless night. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) I did some. Not a whole lot. But some. Stretching: 1/5 points (5 weekly) A bit of maintenance on the back. Weekly Total: 31/85 points Challenge Total: 82/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) Week 1: Day 5 Fighting: 4/5 points (15 weekly) I didn't do the planned workout, or do it at the right time, but I did a kickboxing workout, so that is some points. Resting: 3/5 points (35 weekly) Meh. This is not, like, truly excessive amounts of rest. Meditating: 5/5 points (35 weekly) Yes. Could use some more, but yes. Stretching: 1/5 points (5 weekly) A bit of maintenance on the back and achilles tendons. Weekly Total: 44/85 points Challenge Total: 95/383 points (4 weeks at 85 points each, plus half for zero week) My adrenalin levels are through the roof right now, because of life things and general mood lately. I've been coping well, though, so the meditation has been doing its job. I definitely adulted through some confrontations today that, in the past, would have caused a lot more awfulness, and defused them. Now I just have the residual chemicals in my system. And I used the workout today to try and burn some of them off. (If I can keep it up often enough to see the cause-and-effect, like I have been for meditation, it might be useful. I should find myself some 5 and 10 minute workout chunks to use through the day for stress release. Maybe Darebee would be good for that? I'm feeling some Darebee urges.) Also, I've been dealing well with imperfection, and managed to pull some great performance out of a situation where that took some effort. So, like, it has been a good week in some ways. I'm just a bit drained by it all right now, and not totally sure how to recharge. 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted February 18, 2017 Report Share Posted February 18, 2017 Sometimes being the adult in a situation is scary business. That happens. But you get through it and get it over with and leave it behind. You'll find your recharge one way or the other. Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
Treva Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Congratulations on adulting through the rough bits; that is difficult, scary, and can sometimes require a recharge after (I know I usually need one). I think if you can do that, of course you've made progress. Props on dealing with imperfection as well; that's a hard struggle too, so your recognition and fixing it is a big deal. Kishi is right, I am sure you will find the right way for you to recharge. Sounds like you're doing great. 1 Quote Current Challenge Battle Log Breathe deep. Seek peace. Bring a sword. ---Kishi Link to comment
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