Yeah! I mean, we'd already have something in common!  

Double gross.   Monday, October 21, 2024 Moon phase: Waxing 🌓 Day 9/10 Civil dawn: 6:55am Civil dusk: 6:52pm   My weekend -- really all of zero week-- went kind of sideways.  Last Monday my niece was hospitalized for pneumonia with some odd neurological symptoms that baffled the local doctors to the extent that she was shuttled off to the university hospital a couple hours away.  It ultimately lead to a diagnosis of a rare autoimmune disease.  In the meantime, while her parents were dealing with all that, there was a general shuffle of covering the responsibilities of their pets, their other child, and even my Dad when Mom drove up to bring them a change of clothes and a hug.  I believe my niece was discharged yesterday (that was the plan, but I have yet to hear it confirmed).   In addition to all that stress, we were gearing up to have a big farewell party for my son, who leaves for army boot camp in 2 weeks.  At the very last possible minute, we ended up having to cancel, because basically everyone who had planned to attend was sick.  So now we're have enough junk food to feed 15 people just floating around the house.  The party had to be rescheduled to the day before my son leaves, which I had not wanted to do, but there it is.   All that to say, my challenge goals got a bit wobbly over the weekend, but it was zero week, so I'm not going to get too bent out of shape.  Going to bed on time is happening, waking at the same time is a bit hazy.  Getting morning and evening sun is happening.  I did do some grazing after sunset on Sunday, though.  The other days last week I held to daylight hours.  I've been pretty good about waiting on coffee.     I was tired last night, so I went to bed about 45 minutes early and woke up about 30 minutes early, which is what it is.  I am sipping my fruity tea instead of coffee and waited for the sun to come up and now I think I'll have breakfast, then get my morning sunlight walk in.

Thanks Sal 🙂 I hope so too

Time for a check in again!    Goal #1: chin-up - I think this might be a lil scuppered now by me putting on a bunch of weight last challenge. We shall persevere though! Goal #2: measurements - done, everything's gone up a bit which is to be expected given #6 Goal #3: bang - COMPLETE Goal #4: will - COMPLETE Goal #5: job - COMPLETE Goal #6: 11 stone - nope... this challenge is going to hopefully rectify this! Goal #7: books - still in progress with four on the table, I'm SO close to re-finishing Wheel of Time though! Goal #8: crafting - things keep getting added as they need fitting in/fixing etc but I've got through the 'big' things for the most part   Oh, on #8 though - yesterday I replaced the ceiling light in the bathroom which was the actual last last thing to do in there, so woohoo! The hallway needs a final coat of paint, and I might replace the floor lino, but it's OK as-is for the moment.

I don't know if I feel called out or seen.

Scuppery food days: 25-27th Oct: singing convention 2nd Nov: playing the Witcher boardgame and potentially niece's birthday party after 9th Nov: 30th birthday party (check me out knowing young folks) 16-17th Nov: away to watch a concert, will likely affect standard foods 21st Nov: someone's leaving drinks 23rd Nov: might go to a friend's charity curry evening OK not too bad at the mo, though the first week will be tough with getting better plus going away for singing.

Oh hi! Hope you're all well   Last challenge as passed, but it was super minimal and now I am potentially half a stone up from where I was (I didn't weigh first thing so will confirm tomorrow) so I really need to get back on track with calorie counting and exercise. I started a new job at the beginning of the month and feel mostly settled. I managed to get covid last week so have been going a bit insane in the house by myself, but have had some video chats with people and focusing on getting better for the singing competition I have this weekend(!) So this challenge is going back to my older format of Food Exercise Sleep, so I'm just copying across from challenge 43 and will tweak.     FOOD Under 1600 calories for the day 🥗 = 10pts Going slightly over for emotional needs 🍫 = 5pts Overeating one meal 🍲 = 0pts Overfooding all day 🍟 = -10pts Hydration! 💧 = 5pts Maximum = 525pts   SLEEP Reading and light off at 11pm 📚 = 10pts Light off at 11pm 🛏️ = 5pts Bed after 11pm 💡 = 0pts Scrolling instead of sleep 📲 = -10pts Maximum = 350pts   EXERCISE Morning exercise before work 🏃‍♀️ = 10pts Walk at least 30mins 🚶‍♀️ = 10pts Unspecified other exercise = 5pts Daily Darebee 🐝 = 5pts Maximum indefinite but should be at least 500pts   ⭐ 5pt bonus for brave things or where I feel I deserve it.   Maximum ~1500 and as I'm starting recovering from covid, I'll put pass rate at 1000

Don't mind if I do!   Cursed AI indeed. Although it did make me think, given the horrors this can produce, it might actually be a useful tool in coming up with new sorts of Dnd monsters and depicting them     It's weird because I was never too hyped up, or struggled with screens keeping me up etc, just lived in a place where it's culturally the norm to stay up till very late. Sadly, without a later start to the day as well, which just ends up reducing one's sleep.     Welcome everyone, it's Day 1 of the new challenge and as expected, I'm off to a good strong start. The real question is whether this is going to last, which is why I made Sustainability one of my three pillars. I'm intentionally taking it slow for this reason, don't want to take up too much too early and fall off quick. Furthermore, I'm a bit rusty after some time off workouts and there's also the wedding which I expect to create a mid-challenge gap, so I don't want to go hard for a couple of weeks, then do absolutely nothing for a bit, then try to pick up from where I left off for the remainder of the challenge.   I had a bit of inspiration last night, as I remembered a Meal Plan diary I'd found in deffy's cupboard. I pulled it out and we more or less planned the week's meals, thus ensuring we'll be eating up all the Oddbox veggies. As an added bonus, it only takes a bit of time to think and plan everything, so we don't have to get creative every evening and wonder what's left and how to cook it, we have a pre-determined roadmap to stick to. Today's meal is tomato and courgette fritters with an assortment of dips. One of them is made of beetroot, yoghurt, garlic and walnuts, so I've already boiled and peeled the beetroots after my workout, before typing this.   I began with Setup A and a conservative approach to load/reps. Arbitrarily assigning a weight of 10kg to the barbell and 1.25kg to each dumbbell handle, here's a mini-spreadsheet for all you kinky people:   Exercise Total Weight Moved (Sets * Reps * Weight) Comments Barbell Overhead Press 3 * 10 * (10+10kg) = 600 kg Felt pretty ok, but it was also the start of the workout and I was fresh Dumbbell Rear Delt Flyes 3 * 15 * 2 * (1.25+5kg) = 562.5 kg Felt just about right Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 * 15 * 2 * (1.25+5kg) = 562.5 kg Struggled to pull off the last few reps of the final set with good form and range of motion Weighted Sit Ups 3 *10 * 20kg = 600 kg Used a 20kg plate, feel like the range of motion was smaller than it should have been Barbell Bench Press 3 * 15 * (10+10kg) = 900 kg Surprised to notice my left side is more well developed. The lifts were easier that side and also the bar hit my chest before it hit the right pec Hip Thrusts/Glute Bridges 3 *10 *20kg = 600 kg Used the 20kg plate again, these did feel quite easy Barbell Biceps Curls 3 * 15 * (10+10kg) = 900 kg Struggled a bit to pull off the last few reps of the final set Barbell Front Squats 3 * 8 * (10+10kg) = 480kg Rather easy, but it's ok. Going low and maintenance on the leg exercises, I already struggle to find pants that will get past my thighs Pull Overs 3 * 8 * 20kg = 480kg Used the 20kg plate, focused on technique to ensure I was pulling with my chest/back rather than arms Barbell Calf Raises 3 * 20 * (10+10kg) = 1200 kg Much like the front squats, not emphasizing this bit much as I'm already at a good level Dumbbell Skull Crushers 3 * 15 * 2 * (1.25+5kg) = 562.5 kg Barely able to move my arms by the end of sets 2 and 3. I remember being better at this and with more weight/reps, so it was likely exhaustion. Might have to consider moving this exercise further up the order. Romanian Deadlift 3 * 8 * (10+10kg) = 480kg More of a Stiff Legged Deadlift than RDL, but I'm not sweating the details. Another leg exercise I'm going real light with. Wrist Curls 3 *10 *(10+10kg) = 600 kg Used the barbell, the final reps were much harder than I expected.   Overall it was a good start and I already started feeling a bit sore after my shower, roughly an hour after the end of the workout, likely a sign of being a bit rusty after being absent from the gym. You might have noticed I've got the exercises in an order that allows muscle groups to rest (so it's usually a leg exercise after an arms/upper body one) and it served me well, save for that note to push the triceps one higher up.   Last but not least, I'm expanding the Simplicity-Sustainability-Spreadsheets triptych to also include Sick playlists (bro!). Here's what I had on today on shuffle to help me pump that iron:  

Ooh, sounds like a good one.  Will add to my list

Did much sorting yesterday. Clearing, cleaning spider wrangling and generally getting very dusty. The whole asian adage about having to get something dirty to get something clean is very true, and that something was me in this instance.    most of it was the boxes my mother pulled from under the eves when they did the spare room conversion. Most of it hasn't been touched since we moved in (so about a decade) or possibly much longer in some cases. We did find their skull collection though, which would be nice to see out again.    for added fun, we have come to the conclusion the rayburns temperature gauge is broken. not just a little broken sadly, it is 50’c (122’F) out. Annoyingly this wasnt figured out til after my mum burnt the Christmas cake in it yesterday. So we are getting this cake now and making another.    finally did the weekly. Was so simple i wish id done it earlier, but there we are. Looks good though. Trigger warning: artistic gore and blood   finished Vesselless by cortney L. winn. Wow that totally blindsided me. I got this free and Really enjoyed it book. Its got good worldbuilding, nicely complex characters and a really good plot with lots of twists. now i need the next one in the series as it ended on a cliffhanger.  The weather this week is looking good so I'm hoping to get some sea time in. It is going to be so cold after not getting in for ages but its worth it….or at least thats what I'm going to tell myself