Jarric

I know which I'd choose - those look great!

I know that feeling - I spent too long mindlessly playing games on my phone rather than doing something fulfilling. I think that prioritising other things sounds like a great goal. I'm going to disagree with the others on house stuff though. Don't feel pressured to buy a house, but if you find somewhere you like then go for it. It doesn't matter that the market is bad right now, or that it may or may not get better. If you're going to buy somewhere and have it for a good few years any fluctuations in price will be minor in the long term. To put it another way, if you buy a house now I don't think you'll regret it in 6 months time, even if house prices are cheaper then, and I'm sure you won't regret it in 2 years.

Yeah, I think mine was a similar situation - I sucked at running as a kid, and I hated being forced to do it. Being able to go out now and just be alone with my thoughts, and stop to take pictures if I want and run as fast or slow as I like, is a completely different feeling.

Tuesday- Week 3, Day 2 Wormy - HP: 154/175 I started my day with some running, doing the running training session that I got from the course I went on the other week. Lots of skipping type drills, some strides, and then a fairly fast run to finish. I covered over 4 miles in total and it felt good. With the longer training session I was a bit short on time afterwards, but I got in a very truncated hangboarding and handstands session. I might have to get up slightly earlier on Tuesdays, particularly when I'm in the office, to accommodate this. Still, I hit the bear minimum to tick off the goal. 3/10 for the week so far. Wormintrude - HP: 93/175 Managed to stay well on track for another low calorie day yesterday. Lunch was the leftovers of Monday's curry. Dinner was split in two - when I got home I had a couple of hot cross buns with jam, and then after I finished my evening meeting I had soup which WW made. She did somehow manage to set off the smoke alarm during my meeting, which is quite impressive when cooking soup. Slimey - HP: 175/175 Nothing today, 0/1 for the week so far. Tiberius - HP: 175/175 No time for this today (though I guess I could have doodled a little?) 0/2 for the week so far. Plan is to do some tonight when I've finished wrapping WW's birthday presents. Sir Reginald - HP: 145/175 Yep, teeth done, 2/7 for the week so far. William - HP: 155/175 Checked in yesterday - 2/7 for the week so far Yesterday was a good day. It was busy, but I was in the office so at least I had people to talk to whilst rushing through stuff. I also spent an hour and a half on the phone to my professional body, who apparently don't know where the exams they run are being held. So that was frustrating, particularly as I still don't have an answer and have had to e-mail their complaints department. I made sure to finish work on time, as I had a meeting from 7-9pm. This was for a bit of market research I've volunteered for (and am being paid a little money to take part in). It was actually quite nice, being paid to be opinionated for a couple of hours! By the time the meeting was finished there wasn't time for much of anything, so I ate my soup and went to bed.

Night Dancer was very much appreciated! And @WhiteGhost I agree with Willy, time spent creating characters is never time wasted.

Yes, get on the bath train! It's funny, I used to hate running. Then I got injured, and couldn't run for a few weeks, and I really missed it. I hadn't been able to accept that I liked running until I was forced to stop. Brains are weird.

Ah, that's a shame. Keep working at it man. Yeah, I can see that being an issue. My current bath I can't fully stretch out in, but it's close enough to work. My old bath was horrendous - it was really short, but also l-shaped so that there was a square section at one end to shower in. That meant despite being too small, it took longer to fill than a big bath. I can see how that would be inconvenient - I'm impressed you persevered with baths with all of those issues. I basically gave up at the old house because of the bath shape.

Monday - Week 3, Day 1 Wormy - HP: 154/175 Crossfit first thing today. We deadlifts, and I equalled my 5RM at 137.5kg (~303#). It felt heavy as fuck, but I lifted it, and it's cool to be over 300# again. Hoping to set a new 5RM in the next couple of weeks. After that we had a timed workout: in 40 seconds, two d-balls over yoke and 100ft yoke carry. I managed the 60kg (~132#) d-ball and 165kg (~363#) on the yoke, in 36 seconds. I went for the 75kg ball (~165#) with the same yoke, and I completed it but was over the time cap. I felt really good about the workout. D-balls felt a lot better than they ever have, I think thanks to looking at some instructional videos my coach recommended. Also, I usually shy away from the yoke for fear of hurting my hip, so this was probably the heaviest I've gone in about 2 years. It was probably about the sensible limit for my hip, but I feel good about it. 1/10 for the week so far. Wormintrude - HP: 93/175 Plan for this week is 4 days at 2,250kcal, and the remaining 3 at 2,880kcal. Yesterday I clocked in bang on target at 2,245. Slimey - HP: 175/175 Nothing today, 0/1 for the week so far. Tiberius - HP: 175/175 Didn't have a lot of time, so opted not to do this. 0/2 for the week so far. Sir Reginald - HP: 145/175 Yep, 1/7 for the week so far. William - HP: 155/175 Checked in here and wrapped up last week - 1/7 for the week so far Yesterday was a good day. Work was mental as per usual. I intended to work a bit late to get things done, only to realise at 6pm I still hadn't done half of the stuff I planned to do. I thought I would just do a couple more bits, and ended up working until about 7.30pm. I had planned to cook rissotto, but that takes an age and I'd left it far too late. Instead I made chicken curry from Sunday's roast chicken, with onion, red pepper, potato, and bok choi. It turned out sort of korma-y thanks to a lot of coconut cream and quite mild curry powder. Made enough for leftovers today as well, which is always good. By the time we'd had that it was late, so I watched Crit Role for a bit and then got an early night.

It seems good. I'm working through it slowly, but to be fair it's more about me drawing regularly than ever needing to finish the book. And I know, I'm sorry . How's your teeth brushing consistency going? I'll pass on the birthday wishes

Week 2 round-up Wormy - HP: 154/175 7/10 this week, so Wormy took an uzi to the face. One missed run because I stayed up too late drinking, a missed hangboarding and handstands session because it would have been tacked on to the run, and another missed run because I didn't really plan my weekend properly. I did still get 2 runs, 3 crossfit sessions, 1 hangboarding and handstands, and an awesome 2 hour obstacle course training session, so it's not the end of the world. Wormintrude - HP: 93/175 Average calories per day finished at 3,298/2,520, so poor wormintrude gets a stick of dynamite dropped on her hear. Piss poor planning, lots of beer and next to no impulse control featured heavily. Week 3 will be better. Plan for next week is 4 days at 2,250, and the remaining 3 at 2,880. I've got WW's birthday this week, which will involve a bit of indulgence, but I just need to keep it from going overboard. Slimey - HP: 175/175 Sorted the bathroom, so it's now fully unpacked. In a tough week getting 1 thing done was a major win, so I'm really happy with that. Tiberius - HP: 175/175 Still enjoying drawing, and it's a good way to unwind after a long day. Still working slowly through the book too. 3/2 for the week, including some scrappy sketches on Sunday night. Sir Reginald - HP: 145/175 3/7 days brushing teeth properly this week, and a landmine placed under Sir Reginald. Last week I said that it's amazing how easy this goal is, until it isn't. I've never quite worked out why there's such a strong relationship between my general mental state and whether I brush my teeth, but I'll keep trying to build this habit. William - HP: 155/175 5/7 - checked in here most days, but it's still a fire punch to poor William's face. Not that bad a result on a busy week, but I need to remember that a one-word check-in is a check-in for this goal.

I know, that would be nice! Yeah, I can see how that wouldn't be conducive to a relaxing bath! Thankfully we never had water shortages where I grew up, just a lot of power outages. I'm sure I had a few baths by candlelight! Ah, now there's a thought. The only issue there is that my bath has the tap in the middle, so a) I'd have to be quite flexible to change the temperature with my toes, and b) I'd have to be pretty accurate with the temperature as the water would be pouring directly on to my crotch! I think I used the 25 minutes the bath was running for to catch up on group chats, now you mention it. Oh, I didn't think of podcasts, that's a good idea. I generally watch TV/films on my phone in the bath, or read a book. The trouble with both of those options is that the bath steams up my glasses, and I end up having to squint without them. TV's better than a book for that reason, but a podcast might be perfect.

Well I'm not sure I've got a lot of wisdom, but I'm not about to argue with your dreams! I think the problem with baths is time. It took me about 25 minutes to run it yesterday, and then I sat in it for 40. Don't get me wrong, it was totally worth it, it's just not that often I can carve out over an hour to bathe. Glad I inspired you to keep your bathing streak alive though I can just hear that little worm voice yelling "Take cover!" As for a plan, no idea. My job is not going to get less stressful for a good couple of months at least, so I need to find a way to work with the situation. Part of that might just be reminding myself that eating and drinking loads doesn't actually alleviate any stress, so it's not helpful to do it. Also focussing on getting to bed in time will be a big help in getting through work better and not missing any more workouts.

I did think of you when I was in the bath - not in a weird way, but I know you love luxuriating in a warm bath and I thought you'd be shocked that I'd gone almost 2 months in the house before making the bath usable. I agree that you should have more baths though. And thanks. I'm going to stick with the goals - even if I don't hit the calories every week I'm probably better off tracking it and thinking about it. Equally I'm not going to give it mental energy that I don't have.

Well, it's definitely been a busy week! Work has been insane and that's affecting my mental resources for doing anything else. On Tuesday evening I met up with one of my Pathfinder groups for the first time in about 14 months. We didn't actually play, but it was really lovely to catch up and see everyone in real life again. On Wednesday I worked late as I was watching an online work event, and by the time that was over I was done. I went to the corner shop and got some (read: too much) beer, an oven pizza and some onion parathas. I stayed up late watching an excellent episode of Questing Time and drinking. Thursday morning I decided to skip my run and catch up on sleep after a couple of late nights. After work we had Pathfinder (Mummy's Mask campaign) which again was excellent and again involved a few beers. Rather than going to bed at a sensible time straight after, I stayed up drinking and watching stuff on Twitch. On Friday I worked late again, this time doing a separate job I volunteered for (and, to be fair, that I'm getting paid for separate to my normal salary). No beer this time, but I stayed up late watching Lucifer (I've never seen it before, but the first two episodes were great). After that I stayed up later just playing mindless games on my phone for no reason. Yesterday was a really good day. I started creating a character I'm very excited about for @jonfirestar's casual game (no spoilers about the character here yet though). Then I went to an obstacle course training session about an hour and a half away in Essex. It was an excellent session, I learned some stuff and I got to play on lots of obstacles that I haven't touched in months. When I got home I sorted out the bathroom so that I could have a bath for the first time since we moved in. I dropped in a bath bomb and sat in there for about 40 minutes watching Quest of the Muscle Nerd on my phone (a documentary about a guy starting a cosplay bodybuilding competition). It was lush. In the evening we went to the chippy and I got jumbo sausage and chips, and watched Crit Role before getting an early night. This morning I got up, and got out for a 10 mile run. Then ran my Ranger D&D game, in which the party killed a whole load of frost giants. Now I'm sat on the sofa waiting for a roast chicken to cook Wormy I missed my run on Thursday, which also meant I missed the hangboarding and handstands after the run. On Saturday I should have done a run as well as the obstacle training, but between it being an intense couple of hours of work and having not had enough sleep I didn't feel up to it. 7/10 for the week so far, and that'll be the final score I'm sure. Wormintrude I have been eating like a dickhead this week. Tuesday became a high calorie day thanks to a posh beer with the Pathfinder group. Wednesday I had about 4,600kcal thanks to being snacky in the day time, even more snacky in the evening, the pizza for dinner, and almost 1,000 calories of beer. Because she loves me very much and knows I've been stressed, WW bought me some Tony's Chocolonely chocolate on Thursday. That, plus beers, plus a bear claw that she also bought me, put me well over again at 3,600. Friday, whilst beer free, was still very high with lots more Tony's Chocolonely and general snackiness. Yesterday WW bought me chocolate chip shortbread, which I of course ate all of, and with the chippy dinner I hit almost 3,900 calories (even on another beer free day). Today may be a little better, but I've already blown this for the week. I weighed in today, only 1lb heavier than a week ago (and still 4lbs lower than the week before that. Slimey Yes! As I had to sort out a bit of the bathroom to have a bath I took the opportunity to do the job properly, and now the bathroom is fully unpacked. Tiberius Well this didn't happen every day, but I did a really nice pose sketching session on Friday evening to get my 2/2 for the week. Might do a third session tonight too. Sir Reginald It says something about my mental state this week that I'm only on 3/7 so far. I will make sure to do my teeth tonight though, to finish at 4/7. William I've tried to be here a bit, and this post will make it 5/7.

Work has been really busy, and I've not been doing the best with my goals in the latter part of this week. I'm planning to do a proper update later, but I'm posting this so that I can at least tick the box to say I updated today. Baby steps.

I can't pretend to know what it's like to be where you are right now man, but I can speak to the sunk costs thing. I worked in law for about 3 years, and studied and picked up some qualifications (though I'm nowhere near as highly qualified as you are). And then I decided it really wasn't for me, and I left it. Now that basic grounding in law still helps me to understand things I come up against at work, and it still looks good on my CV and in interviews to say I have a background in law, despite the fact I don't work in law. The point that I'm meandering towards is this: don't think of it's a waste of your studies if you end up in a career which isn't exactly a product of your degree subject. Your studies will still inform your choices and still impress employers in all sorts of fields. Most people get degrees in things which are nothing to do with the job they end up in. Just because your degree has a logical career that follows it, it doesn't mean that that's the only career option available to you.

That seems like a reasonable approach - paprika is excellent.

and I'm quite sure it's how mine will end up too! Ah yeah, that's no good. Though my place is a bit different, it's either busy, too busy, or busier.

Monday - Week 2 Day 1 Wormy Yesterday morning was Crossfit. We started off with squats, and I hit 97.5kg (~215#) for 3 reps, followed by 87.5kg (~193#) x 5 and 77.5kg (~171#) x 7. I'm so close to hitting 100kg for reps, might even get there next week! That was followed by a 10-minute AMQRAP of 3 pullups, 6 box pistol squats with a leg raise, and 12 double unders. I weighted the pullups, adding 12kg (~26.4#) to make it worth doing so few reps, and I can't do double unders so I did each set as single unders with a DU attempt at the end. It was a good workout, and I'm always keen to work on my pistol squats until I can do them properly 1/10 for the week so far Wormintrude The plan for this week is 5 days at 2,310kcal, and 3 days at 2,800kcal. Today was a low calorie day, which started reasonably with a 600kcal breakfast and a 500kcal lunch. I got hungry mid afternoon and had 150kcal worth of snacks (mini chocolate fingers and pickled onion Space Raiders - not both at once!), but basically I was on track. Then for dinner WW made pork chops with apple, cabbage, and rice. The chops were fucking massive, and the meal ended up coming in at 900kcal! So with other bits and pieces I finished at 2,432 against my 2,310 target. Slimey Nothing today, 0/1 for the week so far. Tiberius A bit more doodling - I'd like to do a tiny bit of that every day if I can. 1/2 for the week so far. Sir Reginald Teeth done, 1/7 for the week. William Checked in here in the afternoon, 1/7 for the week. Yesterday was a good day. I was really struggling to focus at work, and despite ticking things off my todo list it feels like I got nothing done. After work I stayed at my computer to do some work on a project - I'm getting paid a little bit of money to be part of a research programme for one of our suppliers, but as I'm being paid separately for it I'm doing it outside of work hours. Annoyingly I didn't finish that, so I'll have to do more work on it later in the week. In the evening WW cooked the aforementioned fucking massive pork chops, I drew in front of the TV, and we watched Critical Role until bedtime.

This is something I could definitely get behind. Even the character creation sounds fun!

I know what you mean - it's too easy to start loads of courses/projects and not finish them. ...but it is always tempting to get something new I might share some stuff if I make anything of substance. At the moment I've just been doing scratchy doodles of random stuff that comes into my head, but if I draw something I like I'll throw it up here.

I didn't set a goal for week 1, because I didn't want to add anything to my list of challenge goals. So for this week I'm going to add trying to draw consistently every day. A 2 minute sketch is perfectly fine, it's just a minimum amount to be doing something each day.

I'm trying to! I bought The Silver Way: Techniques, Tips, and Tutorials for Effective Character Design by Stephen Silver. Stephen Silver is a animation artist who worked on things like Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, and The Fairly OddParents, none of which I really watched as a kid as it happens! I saw it recommended by Paul Foxcroft, who is the dungeon master for Questing Time but also does all of the character art for it. I really like his stuff, and he really rated the book, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Week 1 round-up Wormy - HP: 175/175 10/10 for old Wormy - 3 Crossfit, 3 runs, 2 hangboarding/handstand workouts, 1 bouldering and 1 running training session. All of it felt fairly strong as well, so can't complain! Wormintrude - HP: 163/175 Average calories per day finished at 2,627/2,520. This was for a combination of reasons, including oversized leftovers from week 0 and an unexpected extra night out. Wormintrude takes 12 points of damage Plan for next week is 4 days at 2,310, and the remaining 3 at 2,800. Should be achieveable. Damage calculation for nerds: Slimey - HP: 175/175 Did some clearing of charity shop stuff and boxes on Saturday, 1/1 for the week. Tiberius - HP: 175/175 Really been enjoying drawing this week, and having my new character design book to give me some structure helps. 3/2 for the week (no bonus for going over the goal, but I'm pleased). Sir Reginald - HP: 175/175 7/7 days brushing teeth properly this week. It's amazing how easy this goal is, until it isn't William - HP: 175/175 7/7 - checked in here every day.

Sunday - Week 1 Day 7 Wormy Yesterday morning I drove op to Essex (about an hour and a quarter) to an obstacle training place, for a running training session. It was really good to have someone to look at my form and let me know what looks good and what I need to work on. They're going to be sending me through a workout of assistance exercises, and a separate session of running drills, to work into my training. I'm not sure where I'm going to fit them yet, but I'll work that out later! It was a group session, with about 16 of us there, but despite that everyone got plenty of attention and plenty of time to work through things. All in all I think it was definitely helpful. 10/10 for the week. Wormintrude The original plan for the day was 2,300kcal, but after the high calories on Friday the plan became as low as felt sensible. I had a fairly normal breakfast, and despite the fact that I ended up getting lunch from a service station I still managed to get a small pasta salad and keep that light. Mid-afternoon I started feeling sick with hunger, so decided it was sensible to have a hot cross bun as a snack. By the time I'd defrosted that I'd stopped feeling sick, so maybe I didn't need it that much, but there we are. Dinner was bigger; we had a Sunday roast pork with potatoes, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, and Yorkshire puddings. Also with possibly the best gravy I've ever made - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! The crackling on the pork worked a treat too. I spent the rest of the evening being extra calorie conscious, even swapping squash for green tea to shave off a few extra kcal, and finished the day at 2,173. Slimey Nothing today, but I was already at 1/1 for the week. Tiberius I read a bit more of the character design book and did some doodling, putting me at 3/2 for the week. Sir Reginald Teeth done, 7/7 for the week. William Checked in here in the afternoon, 7/7 for the week. Yesterday was a good day. The running course ran late - we were there for about 3.5 hours in the end, and then I got a bit lost with traffic diversions on the way back. Because of that I had to stop at a service station for lunch, which is a bit of a waste of money but at least I kept to plan with what I ate. If it wasn't for this challenge I probably would have gone for a MacDonald's. After I got back I pottered around for a bit until it was time to cook dinner, and then spent the evening doodling and catching up on here in front of Critical Role.