Jarric

Tuesday - week 4 day 2 Tuesday was a good day. I slept in until 10 after the late night on Monday, and then stayed in bed browsing the internet until 11. Then up, breakfast, and got my couch to 5k run done. I actually felt fine; I'm starting to wonder if I was drinking reverse beer, and I had a hangunder on Monday morning in preparation for Monday night. I managed to finish painting the hall too! Because I started so late in the afternoon and had to wait for that to dry, I did the final coat between 8 and 10 in the evening, but I'm very glad it's done. I didn't take any before pictures, but I've got a couple from when we moved in/were doing other things which sort of show how grey the hall was: This is during, when everything painted white: And how it looks now: 5/5 goals for the day. Calories were good and low, thanks to a late start leaving me only wanting a protein shake for lunch. I did a chunk of essay work between coats of paint. And I ticked off everything else so I guess I did it!

Yeah, you're right. Thank you mate. Thank you, I shall try.

I beg to differ . Whether I retain the number for more that 2 minutes is another matter though I agree with @WhiteGhost though; you're earning/losing points based on your adherence to the process, also earning losing/earning points based on the result feels a bit odd. I suppose you get an average of both that way?

Thank you. You're right about watching him change being hard too - he used to be so sharp and so tech savvy; he built all of our computers and did all of our home networking growing up, so seeing him struggling to work a smartphone is really sad. And I know! As horrible as it was, the guy was clearly deeply unwell, so I hope someone gives him the help he needs. Thank you. He's only 71, so I was hoping to avoid dealing with aging parents for another decade, but such is life. Thanks man, it helps to see you say that. Thank you mate

Monday - week 4 day 1 Monday was a good day. I woke up feeling awful, like a horrible hangover despite the fact I hadn't been drinking; headachy, weak and anxious. I went to Crossfit, which was intervals of bench press with rowing sprints, followed by strict ring dips and strict pullups. It all felt rubbish, but as I was saying to someone on the Discord the other day, just because it feels rubbish and you have to drop the weight it doesn't mean the workout isn't doing something. When I went home I went back to bed for an hour or so, and got up feeling a bit more human. I had a quick breakfast, and finished painting all of the woodwork in the hall and stairs. As I was wrapping up, I got a call to say my dad was having trouble with the tickets for the gig we were going to that evening, so I had to drop everything to go and sort that out. I got myself a supermarket meal deal on the way, as I wouldn't have a chance to eat anything else. I don't think I've talked about this before here, but Dad is losing him memory, and getting increasingly confused about things. It scares me, but also I find myself not wanting to do things with him because it's such hard work, and then I feel guilty for neglecting him because I know it's not his fault. It's come on quite rapidly over the last year or so - we think it's some kind of dementia but we're waiting on test results. So that was why I had to go and sort out the gig tickets, which could only be on an app on a phone. It also made for quite a long day of looking after him travelling to and from the gig, worrying about him getting lost, explaining things to him gently but repeatedly until either he retained the information or I gave up, and trying to steer him away from negative and upsetting lines of thought. On top of that a (self-described) mentally ill person threatened to kill us on the train to the gig (and I genuinely believed he was going to pull a knife at one stage), and on the way back the trains were fucked and I ended up getting an expensive cab to drop Dad home and then get myself home at 2.15am. The gig itself, at least, was great. It was a double bill of Within Temptation and Evanescence, both of whom put on an amazing show. I hadn't realised, but there was also a support act - Veridia - who I'd never heard of but were brilliant as well. At one point the singer from Veridia was explaining the motivation for a song, and as she was doing so a piano rose from the centre of the stage. She then said she'd invited a friend to come on and play with her, and Amy Lee of Evanescence came on to play with the support band. The whole gig was very, very cool, pleasingly. 3/5 goals for the day. Thanks to the extra trip to sort out gig tickets I didn't get a chance to do stretching or essay writing. Calories were bloody high, thanks to copious amounts of alcohol, but food choices were sensible and as long as I don't drink for the rest of the week it fits (though blowing that budget on a Monday creates a challenge). I got some Dutch in whilst lying in bed in the morning, and somehow summoned the energy to do a token French lesson before bed at 2.30am. Teeth were, miraculously, brushed.

I take this as a massive complement

That sounds like a great climbing session! I love dynos, on the rare occasion that I land them What's the grading system there; font?

Week 3 round up The chosen - Only 4/7 days on plan, and calories ended up at 17,809 (2,544 per day) against a target of 16,486. I still lost a pound, bringing me down to 12 stone 2 (170lbs, about 77.3kg). I'm sticking with the same calorie target, and trying to stick to it a bit better this week. The wronged - 6/7 sessions stretching/foams rolling etc., and I think this is gradually working as both my knee and shoulder feel a bit better. The expert - 3/7 writing sessions. I got one big session done on Thursday, and some good editing on Friday, but I really need to get on this and get it submitted. The monstrous - 7/7 for the week! I don't know why I'm suddenly now consistent with brushing my teeth, but I'm trying not to question it too much. The spell-slinger - 6.5/7; I missed a session of French but got all of my Dutch practice in. Dutch adjectives are confusing, but after quite a bit of googling and some pretty unhelpful articles I think I'm getting my head round them. Overall a pretty good week, though with 2 days off work and the weekend I would have hoped to be further on the essay. I did get a chunk of painting done though, which is quite pleasing.

I'm still here, believe it or not, it's been a busy few days so going to try and catch up with posts over the course of today. Sunday - week 3 day 5 Sunday was a good day. I got up fairly late (having stayed up stupidly late Saturday night, but D&D was cancelled so I had time to go for a run before I started painting again. It was impossible for me to salvage the week's calories after all of the beer and chicken on Saturday night, but I did my best to keep everything reasonable. Lunch was just a protein shake, which helped (and getting up later seems to make eating less easier too!). Dinner was roast pork with Yorkshire pudding, parsnips, potatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beetroot, and lots of homemade gravy - rather excellent if I do say so myself. Pretty sure I didn't do any studying, but hit everything else, so 4/5 goals for the day.

High praise indeed! Food has been less exciting for the last few days, though I did do bangers and beans with cheesy potato skins last night - they weren't bad. "There is a curse. They say: May you live in interesting times." Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times

Totally understandable given the stress and lack of sleep from the week you've had. Hope it eases up quickly as you get a chance to relax.

Friday - week 3 day 5 Friday was a good day. Crossfit first thing was push press, which I kept fairly light as my shoulder didn't feel great, and then a workout of kettlebell swings, sumo deadlift high pulls, dumbbell push press, and burpees. It was quite good fun really. I did manage to start painting, and did a first coat of white on all of the woodwork. In the evening I cooked a big ass bolognese, and then did a bit of essay editing before bed. 5/5 goals for the day. Saturday - week 3 day 6 Yesterday was a good day. I went climbing with Hopalong first thing, I had fun, climbed a few things, and didn't aggrevate any injuries, Most of the day was spent painting and listening to the rugby. I almost finished all of the coats of white paint, and it's amazing how much brighter everything is rather than the dark grey we had before. When I went to bed in the evening I almost felt like I was being summoned to heaven, looking up at a plain white door at the top of a plain white corridor. In the evening WW and I went to Hopalong's house for a few beers, a lot of chicken, and to watch the rest of the rugby. It was a bit of a last minute decision, so I hadn't planned the calories for it, and I pretty much managed to blow my week's calories as a result. I also didn't get round to essay writing, or studying any French, but I did do some drunk Dutch practice to keep my Duolingo streak going. I stayed up vastly too late watching the whole series of Mammals, not because I was massively enthralled with it but just because I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and I didn't want to go to bed. I had a whiskey, and a whole load of water, and eventually dragged myself up the glowing white stairs to bed. 1.5/5 goals done - no essay writing, physical maintenance, and calories well over the top. Only points were 1 for teeth brushing, and half a point for Dutch but no French.

Oo yeah, bocorones are really good

This place do amazing croquetas, so I always have some of them. They're on the menu as croquetas del dia, so the fillings vary, but they're always great. The tortilla is always good, and I live some patatas alioli. (I'm hoping I've spelled everything right, but I don't speak Spanish) Thank you ?. I'd like to get back to where I was before I hurt my knee at the start of the year, which was a little over 100kg for 3. Fingers crossed! To be fair I'd settle for something really boring to be honest.

Well done on the stuff culling; I can't imagine what I would decide to keep if I only had 1.5m2 of storage space to work with.

Wednesday - week 3 day 3 Wednesday was a good day. Crossfit was squats, and my knee felt alright, but I kept it fairly light at 80kg (176#) x 3, 72.5kg (160#) x 5 and 65kg (143#) x 7. Shoulder was still not great, but foam rolling my lats seemed to help, and I was ok with rope climbs in the WOD. The WOD was a 4' AMRAP of 400m air bike, 2 rope climbs. I got 3 rounds, plus 137.1m on the bike. Work was mental as I tried to push through everything I needed to clear before a few days off. I got the most important stuff done, though not everything I wanted, and then it was 6pm and time to go for dinner. Dinner was some excellent tapas from the local tapas place with WW, my mum, and WW's mum. It's really excellent there, a lovely independent place run by a Spanish couple; I'd go every week if it weren't for the cost and my waistline. I'd planned for tapas calories, with the idea that I'd take them out of the beer budget for the week, but I hadn't planned for the extra beer I brought home and had in front of the TV. I was mentally exhausted from work, which I think is part of why a few extra beers were so tempting. Anyway, I think the weekly calorie goal is still technically achievable, but I'll have to mark the day as a fail. 3/5 goals for the day - no studying as I rushed to get work done and rushed off afterwards. Thursday - week 3 day 4 Yesterday was a good day. Went for my second couch to 5k run - another 8 minutes of running over a 30 minute period. The plan for the day was to get on with painting the stairs and landing, which we've been planning pretty much since we moved in 18 months ago. Here's what I actually did: Went to buy sugar soap, to wash down the walls, and a handle for the shed Put said handle on the shed, so that the door is slightly easier to open Took some pictures off the walls, and discovered holes that needed filling Made up some filler and filled said holes, as well as some new ones I noticed in the ceiling Opened my post and discovered I've been called up for jury service. Stopped doing everything to be anxious about that for a while. Had lunch, and watched Twitch, whilst the filler dried Spent a couple of hours working on my essay, whilst the filler dried Did the washing up whilst WW made soup Ate dinner Lounged on the sofa for several hours, and went to bed So it's a win for essay writing, if not for home maintenance. 4/5 goals for the day - I got snacky and had a mince pie without checking I had the calories for it, and ended up going over as a result.

Well done on sticking with your food goals man - sounds like you've had a hectic few days so that's a real achievement. More Lich pics!

I did, thank you for sharing the recipe! Oo, now you've got me interested. I might have to give these a go...

Monday - week 3 day 1 Monday was a good day. Crossfit first thing was farmers' picks and carries, dumbbell deadlifts, dumbbell snatch, and handstand palm raises. I felt really beaten up from Saturday's race, so I kept things relatively light. I had been second guessing whether I should go, but I was glad I did. Work was busy, and I worked latish until my brain fried out. I can't remember what we did in the evening - I imagine we watched TV. I do remember that WW cooked an excellent Chicken and Mooli curry, with leftovers for Tuesday lunch, while I filled the slow cooker for Tuesday's dinner. Oh yeah, I remember, I spent over an hour cleaning the bathroom, while WW hoovered the house, as the MIL is coming over tonight. I was hot and tired and pissed off by the time I was done, but at least the bathroom looks a little better. No essay writing, so 4/5 goals for the day. Tuesday - week 3 day 2 Yesterday was a good day. I went for my first couch to 5k run - 8 minutes of running spread over a 30 minute workout. I'm getting quite a lot of stick from a mate at work about how little I'm doing, but I'm sick of re-injuring myself so this is the way it is. I've also got shiny new zero-drop running shoes (which arrived yesterday evening), so it gives me a chance to break those in/get used to them. Work was busy again. I've got a few days off after today, so I'm frantically trying to put out fires before that. It'll be worth it when I'm not here! I did carve out some time to work on my essay at least, and I left somewhere near on time as we had Pathfinder. In the evening I had my version of a @deftona recipe steak and Guinness stew. Deffy - it was bloody lovely. I fried up 800g of Irish stewing beef, an onion, 3 stock cubes (Kallo, not OXO, sorry), and a 500ml bottle of Guinness extra stout, and chucked it in the slow cooker on Tuesday night on top of half a dozen carrots and a few hundred grams of mushrooms. I turned it on at half 7 Tuesday morning on low, and came home at 6pm to a delicious stew. I tried to add some corn flour to thicken it up but failed to get it thicker than a thin gravy. Still tasted delicious though; I did some mash to go with it last night and had the remainder for lunch today with ciabatta. Pathfinder was fun - we killed some bloody skeleton horses, and then we killed some bloody skeleton dogs. When we got home we put the washing up and then collapsed into bed. 5/5 goals complete.

Thank you! Tough but really good fun! I mean, if you eat nothing else but that you might lose weight... In all seriousness, I tracked calories for a few weeks to get a baseline of how many calories I burn each day (relative to how I track calories), and then I took quite a substantial number off that and set that as a weekly goal. I have high calorie days and low calorie days but as long as I get somewhere near the goal for the week I'll lose weight. I think the big thing though is that I don't need it to be sustainable. This is a 6 week cut, and then I start slowly bulking up again, so by the time the novelty wears off and I get bored of it I'll already be out the other side. I think that sounds disgusting, but there's a small part of me that's intrigued to give it a go. The thought it so horrible I can barely look away. The blanket is made of bacon, I'll have none of this pastry blanket malarkay here! It's pig in pig - pigs all the way down!

It's it feasible to switch between styles throughout? I've read done things where chapters alternate between 1st and 3rd person, which was interesting.

The big ones are boars in duvets

They look like... mini frankfurter sausage rolls? Yes