Jarric

Both songs are also in the same key, and if you play them back to back they fit together really well. I don't think that this is a coincidence.

Tuesday - Week 2 Day 2 The decisionist: 2/7 The muscle: 1/7 The face: 2/7 The cartographer: 0/4 The hoardsperson: 2/7 Yesterday was a good day. Running first thing, and though I didn't massively feel like it, I got out and got in 6.5 miles (10.4km). After a mile warm-up, the next 5 were allegedly going to be just under my 10k pace, but between it being cold and wet underfoot and not feeling like I had anything in my legs it ended up being fairly leisurely. Work was ok - working from home which gave me a chance to get some longer, gritty jobs out of the way. In the evening WW heated up a quick dinner and we headed out to see out D&D group. We didn't actually play anything as we were a player short, but it was nice to catch up with everyone. By the time we got home I was absolutely exhausted; I think this cold/sinus thing is still getting to me. I totally blanked on doing my shoulder exercises, and I didn't do any art either (though I didn't plan to do art to be fair). Calories were at least on track (only 30kcal from the weekly buffer), no money was spent, and teeth were done, so the day wasn't a write-off challenge-wise.

Ok, as soon as I draw something that isn't just a quick, scribbled sketch, I'll share it here. Everything so far has just been putting pen to paper for the sake of building the habit, rather than actually drawing anything properly.

My worry is that the rope is so short it won't really help build that skill. I'd argue that rope climbing is just one movement over and over again, so as long as your rope is long enough to do one rep you're still training it. It's a bit less fluid if you have to get off the rope after every rep, but I don't think it would make a measurable difference on how quickly you acquire the skill. It's so, so hard to know when to push and when to rest. If you figure out how people do it successfully, please let me know . The guilt thing is tough too - but it makes me thing of the 'days and years' thing that Steve talks about in the NF blog. You're going to be working out for years to come, and a few days will not make or break the outcome of that. All you can do is do the best thing on the day, and if you're ill or just had a hard workout the previous day, sometimes the best thing is rest.

That makes a lot of sense, and I can relate when you put it like that. It doesn't help that games are designed to be addictive - if you play a game and you just can't put it down, as far as the developer's concerned they've made a good game.

I find the same thing with tracking food - I eat better if I have to write it down. What gets measured gets managed I suppose? Out of interest, why don't you consider game time to be time well used? I struggle with this too, I think I need a technique to remind myself of the things I want to be doing sometimes.

Hope your sinuses clear up soon, that sounds rough. I've been half deaf in one ear from blocked sinuses (I think) for about a week now, and it sucks, but I think I'll take it over the nosebleeds! Be kind to yourself, do what you can, and don't stress about the things that you can't do until you're better.

Monday - Week 2 Day 1 The decisionist: 1/7 The muscle: 1/7 The face: 1/7 The cartographer: 1/4 The hoardsperson: 1/7 Yesterday was a good day. Got my new bench press 5RM as mentioned. Work was ok; had another chat with my manager about adjusting my workload - it looks like there's going to be a bigger piece about matching client book sizes to individuals so we'll see what comes of that. In the evening I cooked a halloumi and parsnip turmeric tray bake. Well, except we had not halloumi. And no parsnips. Once I'd subbed out almost all of the ingredients it was a chicken, feta, carrot, sprout, and potato tray bake, and it was bloody great. Calories for the day were 2,262, so I used an entire 12 calories from my weekly buffer*. I totally blanked on rolling my shoulders or doing any drawing, ironically because I was distracted catching up with people here. I managed to remember in time to do my shoulders, but art wasn't done. Teeth were done however, and I spent no money yesterday. I do know that I'll miss my money goal on at least one day this week, and one day next week. We're doing a 'shit shirt' night next week, so I have to buy a stupid shirt for someone at work in advance of that, and then I'll be out drinking that evening. All the more reason to stay frugal for the rest of the week. *I don't think I've explained my calorie tracking this challenge, so for those interested my calorie goal is 18,000kcal per week. That's split as 7 days at 2,250 per day, plus an additional 2,250 as a 'buffer' for the week. The idea is that 2,250 is a minimum every day, to make sure I'm not significantly under-fuelling, and then I have the extra allowance for the week for special occasions. Special occasions tends to mean a few beers of an evening, a day when someone brings food into the office that's too good to ignore, or energy gels on long run day.

Yeah, thanks mate, it's still kicking me a bit Think I'm getting there, apart from being half deaf in one ear with blocked sinuses. Thanks, there does seem to be a lot going round recently; guess it's just that time of year. Thank you!

Here's how I think about it. There's nothing inherently 'good' about saving money, and nothing inherently 'bad' about spending it, so there's no reason to feel guilty for spending money. It's not a moral choice. What there is is priorities. When you spend money on things you don't particularly need and don't really want, you deprive yourself of that money to do better things with. And that's fine too, it's still nothing to feel guilty about, it just isn't very helpful for reaching your larger financial goals. On the other hand, when you spend money on stuff you really want, or stuff that is good for you, well that's exactly what your money is for. You work on being frugal precisely so that you can register for things like this trail run, which is both something that you want and something that is good for you. Obviously, there are things that are going to be tough to decide on whether they're really things you want or whether they're not aligned with your financial goals, but this one doesn't feel like that kind of grey area.

01/01/2024 174.4 08/01/2024 172.0 My first weigh-in was a big spike from previous days and weeks, so I'm not going to get too excited about a 2lb drop, but it's a good start to the year I really need to work on some strategies to keep to my calorie target though; I feel like I'm on a knife edge trying to meet my current calorie target with my current eating habits. It's doable, but there's no margin for error.

This is an absolute game changer, definitely doing this for all future kievs. Happy name day for yesterday mate. Hope you had a good trip, and you're able to come back soon.

Got through week 1 of this challenge with no discretionary spending, which is good. WW and I did go out on Sunday, and she paid for parking and lunch. It's not sustainable to expect her to pay for everything, and it all comes out of our household funds anyway, so I feel like there's an asterisk against this week's result. I know I've got to buy a thing for a work event next week, and I've got the event itself the following week, so I will have some spending days coming up. If I can restrict myself just to those though, it'll certainly help.

Week 1 scores: The decisionist: 6/6, and I stayed under target for the extra credit The muscle: 6/6 The face: 6/6, and every time standing on one leg for extra credit The cartographer: 4/4 - on target but no extra credit The hoardsperson: 6/6 The weekend had a bit of a pattern to it - get up, get active, totally crash. Saturday was running and bouldering, I didn't massively up for climbing after the run, but it was nice to hang out with people. I got home, did a tiny bit of studying, then walked into town to meet WW. Then I crashed, felt awful, and went for a nap before dinner. On Sunday I got up and went for a run, but cut it short as I wasn't feeling it. Then we went to a national trust garden and wandered around there for a bit. By the time I got home I was so, so cold. I sat on the sofa in my coat, slippers on, blanket over me, and almost fell asleep like that for a while. By dinner time I was able to get up and do the washing up, and then the evening was spent chilling on the sofa again. I didn't feel like drawing either day, but as I was updating my bujo with challenge results I managed to persuade myself to sketch some characters in the show I was watching for 5 minutes on Saturday, and sketch my cat on Sunday. Spending has been good. There's been a little allowed spending - groceries and medicines - and WW paid for our lunch and parking at the national trust place. Not sure how I feel about the latter, as it's still money out of our household, but it's not me spendiyit and that's all I can really control for this challenge. * * * This morning I had crossfit, and we did bench press. I hit a new 5RM at 75kg (165lbs), which is pleasing given how wiped I've been feeling. Body weight is currently 78kg (172lbs), so let's see if we can't get a body weight 5RM on bench press this year shall we?

Thanks man. That's not a bad bit of slang to describe it actually - my association with the word puny would be weak or small but that really applies to how I've been feeling recently.

I have already stolen this idea. By the end of the year I may have put 4 or 5 books on the shelf! To be fair, how long is a piece of rope anyway? Good on you for making sensible food choices, and not caving to Macdonald's. One snack off track (hot chocolate and marshmallows) will throw you off much less than a full day of being off track.

Week 1 - Thursday The decisionist: 3/3 The muscle: 3/3 The face: 3/3 The cartographer: 2/3 The hoardsperson: 3/3 Yesterday was a good day. I got up for my run first thing, and then judging by how crap I felt I thought better of it. Did a bit of gentle yoga instead, and got my shoulder rolling in nice and early. Also did a COVID test - whatever this is it ain't COVID. I sat around feeling sorry for myself for a while and seriously debated not going to work, but in the end I went in for my first day of the year. It was ok, I felt rubbish but generally I think being up and about helps. I went home at lunchtime for lunch, because I'd been running late in the morning and didn't bring anything, but I really wanted to stick to my no spending goal. Ended up with a cheese sandwich dipped in some french onion soup (courtesy of Mr Heinz). I also suddenly realised that I hadn't brushed my teeth on the morning, so as I was home I made up for it before going back to work. In the evening WW cooked a Gousto meal - chicken with tomatoes, spinach, a slightly cheesy sauce and crispy potatoes. Calories were on track - I used about 175 from my weekly buffer which is fine at this stage in the week. I really didn't feel like drawing, but in the end I did a quick sketch of a mermaid cross stitch that WW made and was hanging on the wall over the TV. That rounded out the day with all goals hit.

Thank you! It's still very much here, hopefully I'll kick it in the next few days.

I'm shocked that no-one has posted this yet...

I endorse this suggestion, though I never regret good whisky

In the UK employees have a legal right to request flexible working arrangements. Not that the company have to grant it, but they have to go through a proper process and give a reason if they decline. It's also good for the company (assuming they want to keep me) - it's easy enough for me to ask to change my days after working there for 6 years, it'd be much harder for me to find somewhere that would take me on starting at 4 days. That's interesting about the four-day week - I didn't realise it was gaining traction in the US so long ago. It's just really started to have some positive rumblings over here in the last couple of years. It does seem like such a simple thing though - people are happier, they work harder, and they deal with a lot of those little appointments that get in the way of work on their days off.

Week 1 - Tuesday and Wednesday The decisionist: 2/2 The muscle: 2/2 The face: 2/2 The cartographer: 1/2 The hoardsperson: 2/2 So having been all excited about starting this challenge on Tuesday, my cold got worse to the point on Wednesday that I spent half the day in bed, and the other half on the sofa. Still, challenge stuff went well both days. Calories have been on track - not hurt by sleeping through breakfast on Wednesday (though arguably the lack of movement for the day probably counteracts that). I managed to get into the gym on Wednesday morning before I realised how tired I was too, which gave me a chance to foam roll my shoulders. Teeth were done both days (standing on one leg for the extra credit ), and barely leaving the house on either day meant I spent no money. The only thing I didn't accomplish on Wednesday was drawing, but I'm only aiming for 4-5 per week so it's not a disaster. I did do a bit of pose sketching on Tuesday, so now I just need to do some this evening once I've caught up here to stay on track.

Always good to have you man. Thanks Rho! Good to see you Thank you mate ❤️. I really like the stats setup, it just makes sense to me.

Thanks for that. I don't do Facebook, but will definitely give the podcast a listen. Yeah, I gave up on 'retire early' in favour of 'retire gradually'. I'll never retire at 30 (not least because that was almost 5 years ago), but last year through a mixture of frugality and a bit of luck I managed to drop to working 4 days per week. Dropping from 4 days to 3 would be a much harder step, but who knows, maybe in my 50s?

Double post because my phone is stupid, but I find the multiple accounts thing works too. I have a joint billing account for all of the regular household bills (including groceries), a joint savings account for planned spends (holidays, Christmas and birthday presents, and bills that come out quarterly/annually), and then I have my current account for discretionary spending and bills that only relate to me. I transfer all of the money I need to to the joint accounts on pay day, and then I don't have to worry about bills bouncing.