Jarric

Monday - week 1 day 1 Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit first thing was an interesting little workout of • 25 toes to bar • 20 deadball shoulder to overhead • 15 muscle ups • 20 deadball shoulder to overhead • 25 toes to bar. I used a 20kg (44#) ball for the S2OH, and practiced muscle up transitions instead of full muscle ups, finishing in 10'40". Most everyone was using a heavier ball than me, so I'm half second guessing my choice there, but 30kg would have sucked so ?‍♀️. We did some assistance work of chinups and dips to finish off the session. At lunchtime I went out with a colleague for food and a chat, which was really nice. He's a good guy to chat to, and I think we both needed to talk. Work was busy. I managed to get a couple of my meetings postponed, in order to get some work done, but I still ended up working late and going home having not achieved what I wanted to achieve. It was a really tough day, and I was bloody exhausted by the end. When I got home I inhaled 2 jam doughnuts, sat on the floor for a while contemplating dinner, and eventually got up and made enchiladas with Sunday's leftover roast chicken. They were really good, but that was 100% of my remaining energy for the evening. I sat in front of the TV for a short while and went to bed early. As I was walking up to bed I contemplated whether I had hit my goals, and decided I probably had. That shows how tired I was, as I actually managed 1/4 for the day. Calories were way over, thanks to lunch out and jam doughnuts, though at least protein was also high at 226g. I didn't even think about essay writing or language learning at any point during the day. Teeth were done, which is the one saving grace for the day.

Zero week wrap-up Calories: 6/7 days on track, and 19,235kcal consumed against a target of 19,264kcal. I only came that close thanks to a concerted effort to eat lots on Sunday, but we got there. Lots of Christmas partying in week 1 to come, so I don't think coming under target will be an issue again. Teeth: 7/7 - still going strong here. Duolingo: 7/7 - streak kept alive. Essay: Submitted! Glad it's done, now on to the next one!

Sunday - week zero day 7 Sunday was a good day. We slept in really late, and then I went out for a run. In the afternoon we put up the Christmas decorations with a minimum of arguments, and did a stock take on the presents we have so far and those we've yet to buy. It was a very chilled day. In the evening we watched Questing Time, which was nice to do again. I was absolutely exhausted, and the show went on longer than I could manage, so I gave up a little before 11 and went to bed. 3/3 goals done. I had to eat a ton of snacks to break 3,000 calories and fill my target for the week, which was actually quite difficult. Teeth done and Duolingo streak alive.

Entirely reasonable

Yeah, it's not ideal! And it could, but 1am bedtimes don't pair well with 6am starts To be fair, I get up at 6am anyway, I just usually have time to go to the gym and get ready at a fairly reasonable pace, rather than rushing around in order to do a short run and scramble to get out of the door.

Always pleased to have you here ❤️ I love GMB as a resource, and I've read loads of their guides for pullups, handstands, and the like. The reason I put off getting a programme is that a lot of it seems to be locomotion exercises, and I don't have the floor space to bear crawl/monkey walk/whatever around the house. Literal Immortality seems to do less of that (bearing in mind I've only done 3 sessions), which is why I chose it. It also gets me doing stuff that I've been meaning to do but never got round to, like learning how to fall over correctly. With that said, there's still stuff that I'm struggling to do in the space I have, so we'll see how it goes. And you're right, I should have mentioned the tea advent calendar! New goal, I'll include reviews of my daily tea in my challenge posts. As a preview, yesterday's tea was called Snowball Hot Cocoa.

I've edited the challenge to extend the muscle goal. The other part of this goal, which I forgot, is to write down how many grams of protein I eat every day. The plan is to eat at least 150g, which I think should be fairly straightforward as long as I get in a protein shake every day. No requirement to actually hit that, but writing it down so that I know I'm intentionally monitoring it. Friday - week zero day 5 Friday was a good day. Crossfit was a series of intervals of seated sled pulls and max reps log press, which was really good fun. Got up to 80kg (176#) on the sled pulls, but only 37kg (81#) on the log press - the difficulty I found is that the bigger log is not only heavier, it's also wider, and that makes you lean back further and changes the biomechanics of the movement. Nice to play with some strongman stuff though. Followed up with some seated dumbbell press and some ring support holds. Work was busy, but I was working from home so I got a chunk of stuff done, and finished not too stupid late. WW was working late, so I cooked myself an oven pizza and played Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II for a while. It was really nice, and reminded me how long it's been since I just played a proper computer game on my own. All 3 zero week goals nailed. Calories were good, I had a single gin as someone at work had given me a miniature, and that was well within budget, teeth were done and Duolingo streak maintained. Saturday - week zero day 6 Yesterday was a good day, Went climbing first thing with Hopalong, and had a really nice time. Managed to tick off some reasonably difficult climbs, and fall off some much harder ones. Got a chance to have a good talk as well, which is always a good thing. When I got home I couldn't be bothered to do anything, so I didn't. In the afternoon I went to my parents house to try and sort out my dad's finances; thankfully everything is fine, he just has some bills going into an account that doesn't have income going in, so it should be easy enough to transfer stuff from one to another. Also confirmed that mum's taking him to get the results of his brain scan in a couple of weeks, so we should at least have a diagnosis to work with after that. In the evening I played some more Dawn of War II. I'm now remembering why I don't play that much; I ended up getting sucked in and staying up until 1am playing 3/3 zero week goals done. I'm going to need to eat a fair bit today to not end up under calories; I didn't anticipate that this would be a hard target to hit. Teeth done and Duolingo streak alive.

It does sound civilised. And thank you! Arse o'clock is just very early. Although to be fair, I might be being dramatic; I need to leave home for the meeting about 07:20, so I can probably get up at 06:00, run, shower, change, and leave on time. I just don't want to wake up before 6 to get in Literal Immortality as well as a run.

I don't think so. Not necessarily authentic if you're going for a particular cuisine, but I think it would taste good.

Maybe it would help to have non-internet times, rather than non-internet days? So say, 8-12 is art time, so it is not internet time. Maybe pick another block of time where you don't go online? Personally I watch TV whilst eating because I can't be bothered to eat and operate my phone, but I've never got into mindful eating. I eat what's in front of me regardless of how much attention I pay to it, and I don't like eating enough to enjoy eating mindfully. Although I get your point that as an exercise it might make sense to use simpler colours, I really love how this looks - really cute.

I need this on a t-shirt. You can use them in most recipes in place of onion to be honest. I also quite like a leek in a carbonara.

Yeah, I think in the very long term, as we move towards an eventual post-capitalist society, rather than people not having to work everyone will just find themselves working less. In the shorter term, I can see more people like me getting fed up and choosing a 4 day week. Particularly with the way tax and NI brackets work, losing a few hours once you enter the 40p bracket is much less expensive than losing them otherwise (though I didn't quite manage to hang on that long in the end). I'll be cutting hours. Currently I'm paid for 36.25 hours per week (though I'm not paid hourly, so that's a bit arbitrary when work needs to be done). I'm hoping they'll let me add half an hour to my remaining days, so I'm only dropping to 31 hours. If not I'll drop to 29. Hopefully we can inspire each other! I think I've only done 3 sessions, and it feels like a waste having bought the programme. It certainly sounds it, and it seems like more and more people are doing it.

Out of interest, what constitutes 'lots' in this case? Because anecdotally, and obviously based on a small sample size, I don't think I know anyone in person who's had it twice. I haven't had it at all (yet), although I do seem to be in the minority amongst people I know with that.

Thank you! I'm gonna!

Zero week update It's been a good week so far. On Monday I had a good chat with my manger about my workload, which has been a bit silly for a little while now. I feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm definitely going to have some work taken off me at least. We also talked about my career longer-term and some of the changes I would like, which will take a while to be discussed internally but could lead to really good things. I've been working absolutely stupid hours this week, but part of that has been gathering information to try and get some career changes so that's good. I also told her that I'd like to start working 4 days per week, and to my amazement she just accepted that without question. It has to go through a formal process, but she was really supportive. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, given that she works 4 days and has been through the same process. I've stuck in the paperwork for that; it wouldn't be effective until September if it is agreed so it's not an instant fix to anything, but it'll hopefully be something to look forward to. I also set some basic goals for zero week, here's how those are going: Submit essay: done! Glad to have this off my plate, and I'm doing no study for the rest of the week in celebration. Calories (bulking): 3/4 so far. It's weird suddenly having an extra 350 calories per day to play with, and I haven't quite found the balance of fitting them in yet. I'm pleased I can start eating fruit again though! Teeth: 4/4 so far - the habit keeps going. Duolingo: 4/4 so far - the only goal this week is to keep my Duo streak alive between challenges The other thing I did was buy Warhammer: Dawn of War II, with all of the expansions and DLC, in Steam's cyber Monday sale. I play computer games so rarely, and I'm really looking forward to it, so now my challenge is posted I'm gonna go and do that!

Jarric's ADVENTure Because who doesn't love a particularly strained pun? Here's how I fared last challenge: Well, it's the last few weeks of the year, and I'm up for finishing strong. With that in mind, let's meet our cast The lich +3 STR This challenge I'll be working on Literal Immortality. Literal Immortality is a GMB programme that I purchased a month or so ago, and I've not had much luck at making time to actually do it. I want to give it a proper chance, and want to not have wasted my money, so the plan is to do this 3 times per week, after I run. Exemption for Tuesday, week 1, as I have to be up at arse o'clock to go to a meeting. The muscle +2 CON Having spent last challenge cutting, I'm now on a slow-ish bulk. The aim is to increase my body weight by 0.25% each week (about 0.4lbs at the moment). In order to do that I will set my target calories for the week, and divide by 8 to give myself a daily target plus a floating 8th day for beer/snacks/whatever. I don't have a way of weighing myself that precisely, so the plan is that if I lose weight in a given week I'll up my calorie target, and if I don't gain at least 1lb for 3 consecutive weigh-ins I'll also increase my calorie target. My weight increase goal will also technically increase over time, as it's a percentage of my body weight, although realistically because it's such a small percentage it'll always be pretty similar. ETA: the other part of this goal, which I forgot, is to write down how many grams of protein I eat every day. The plan is to eat at least 150g, which I think should be fairly straightforward as long as I get in a protein shake every day. No requirement to actually hit that, but writing it down so that I know I'm intentionally monitoring it. The documancer +3 INT I submitted my essay during zero week! Which is good news, as it was due in by 6th December and I was getting dangerously close to that. I now have 2 more essays to do, and then I get some new letters after my name and can take a break from study for a bit. The goal, then, is to work on my next essay every day. Some days I should be able to do an hour, other days it might be 10 minutes of edits and that's fine. I found last challenge that little and often was definitely the way forward, as it kept it in my mind and my brain could passively work on it between times. The translator +2 INT I've been working on Dutch and French, and both are going pretty well so I'm going to keep doing it. Dutch will be Duolingo. French can be Duolingo, Language Transfer, or the Duolingo podcast. Or something else really, now I think of it, but I will work on both every day. The face +2 SAN Brush my teeth, twice per day, interdental brush in the evenings. This went absurdly well last challenge, and I'm going to stick to it for a few more challenges until I'm absolutely certain this is a proper habit. Well, looks like we've got a classic D&D adventure cast ready to go. Roll for initiative!

Hope Ghostess gets home safely today mate. Sounds crazy over there; just focus on what you can do and don't worry about the things you can't control.

A weary looking range strolls into the bar, and slumps heavily into his usual bar stool. Pint of the dark stuff, barkeep, he says, and watches in interest as the Staffordshire bull terrier behind the bar pours and presents his drink. The ranger turns his gaze slowly to the speaker, and lets out a sigh. Sounds like a terrible idea, he says, a hint of a smile crossing his face. I'm in.

I'm glad you said that, because this song really creeps me out. I like the format of the goal though. Doing one song's worth of anything is a really good measure of time. Now I just need to think where I can apply this...

Awesome job on this challenge man, but particularly on this bit of it. Once you've got the habit of bringing home-cooked food, it makes it so much easier to stick to any nutrition plan because you're in control of what you eat.

It's fascinating, isn't it? I'm genuinely loving Language Transfer, just for little nuggets of information like that. Etymology is fascinating.

Thank you! I'm pleased with how it's gone.

Thank you! I'll definitely be around for the next one, though it might be a few days before I write it!

Challenge wrap-up The Chosen - +3 CON Score: 6, 7, 5, 4, 5, 7 = 34/42 80.95% = +2 CON Despite not being a perfect score, this was a resounding success. Splitting my weekly calories into 8 worked really well, giving my 7 daily targets and a floating beer/snack budget (I even occasionally used it for things other than beer). If I had hit my target weight loss of 0.75% of my bodyweight each week, my weight would have dropped from 175lbs to 167.27lbs. My actual weight after 6 weeks? 167lbs. Spot on. Next challenge I'll switch to bulking, using a very similar strategy The Wronged - +2 STR Score: 7, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 = 35/42 83.33% = +2 STR This started to slip as the weeks went on, but I definitely saw the benefit. My knee is substantially better (if not totally better), and my shoulder is on the mend. Next challenge I'll be switching this up, but hopefully bearing it in mind for my aches and pains. The Expert - +3 INT Score: 5, 4, 3, 3, 1, 6 = 22/42 52.38% = +2 INT So I started strong on this (well strong-ish), finished my first essay, and then lost a bit of momentum. The hard thing is that it's so close to what I do for work, that when work gets busy I don't feel like doing it. Then it got urgent in week 5 and I jumped right back in. I've pretty much finished the second essay, barring about an hour of editing and submitting it for marking, so the goal sort of worked? With that said, little and often and working on stuff every day was definitely the way to go. It helped to keep what I was doing in mind and stopped the idea of working on it being overwhelming. With 2 more essays to write, ideally in the next couple of challenges, this goal's here to stay. The Monstrous - +2 SAN Score: 7, 7, 6.5, 7, 7, 7 = 41.5/42 98.81% = +2 SAN This worked really well! I actually don't know why it worked so well; I made a rule with myself that I couldn't take my evening hayfever medication until I brushed my teeth, and I think that helped the evening habit (which is the problem one). I'm keeping this as a goal for a couple more challenges, because I'm finding it hard to believe how well it went and I want to be sure it's bedded in. The Spell-slinger - +2 INT Score: 7, 7, 7, 6.5, 7, 7 98.81% = +2 INT Some days I've enjoyed this challenge, some days I've made a token gesture, but it's getting done and I'm pleased with that. I'm finding it fascinating too, not least because I've been inspired by Language Transfer to spend more time looking at the etymology of words to help with remembering vocabulary. (Did you know that the French verb montrer, meaning to show, is linked to the word monster? Because monsters of old, which would have been deformed looking animals, were seen as a sign from the gods. The gods were demonstrating (another word rooted in montrer) something through the monster, hence the name). Anyway, this goal is here to stay. I'm liking the new Duoling layout too, which is handy. Overall a very good challenge, I'm happy how it all turned out. Work has been exceptionally busy, which has been an obstacle, but I've had some good conversations with my manger which I'll talk about more next challenge, and I'm hopeful for the future.

Week 5 - Thursday to Sunday Thursday was a good day. Ran my couch to 5k first thing, though I failed to get up in time to also do Literal Immortality. Work was busy as usual, and I worked late again. Part of the issue is that I'm preparing for to run some internal training, which is a big solo project that's quite a draw on my time. In the evening I made a big old toad in the hole. 5/5 goals. Friday was a good day. Crossfit was a really fun workout - 6 - 10 - 14 of heavy deadlifts and freestanding handstand pushups. This is an old Crossfit games workout which is supposed to be done at 180kg (396#) and has a time cap of 7 minutes or something stupid like that. We did it for quality rather than time, so spent about 25 minutes working through it and trying to make the handstand pushups look pretty with a proper handstand hold at the top. I worked at the women's Rx weight of 125kg (275#), and that was more than enough by the time I got to the set of 14. Work was busy, but I was knackered so I didn't work late. I did however go and do some more essay writing after I got home. Lunch was leftover toad in the hole and dinner was a lovely acorn squash paella that WW made, but somehow I managed to fit all of that within my calorie budget. I also had a few fancy beers from our beer box and stayed up late watching French TV. 5/5 goals. Saturday was a good day. I went climbing and though I was feeling a bit weak and achy I still had a really good time. Towards the end I tried out an excellent slab which was basically just a single hold that you had to somehow mantle on top of to reach the top. I held tight on the hold, pulled as hard as I could, and slammed my knee into another hold as hard as I possibly could. It hurt like hell! After a few minutes recovery I tried it again, and what's really annoying is that I then got it straight away, meaning I probably would have flashed it if I hadn't hurt myself on the first attempt. The rest of the day was pretty busy; we went Christmas shopping, and general stuff shopping, got some essentials like an enourmous Tony's chocolate advent calendar, and picked up a tiny Christmas tree. By the time we'd done all of that it was late-ish, but I still needed to work on my essay and on writing training for work. I did those bits, and finished my essay (barring a ton of final edits)!. I cooked up a quick carbonara and chilled out with WW and a bottle of Malbec. 4/5 goals, as I forgot to do any stretching. Yesterday was a good day. I had a bit of a lie in, and after breakfast went for my C25k run, After a bit of chilling I spent the afternoon editing my essay and finishing writing that training. In the evening I roasted a turkey thigh with potatoes, carrots, parsnip, acorn squash, yorkshire puddings, stuffing, and pigs in blankets, which was excellent. Then I spent the evening reading Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, which I really need to get to the end of so I can start running it! 5/5 goals for the day.