Week 2 Recap } Week 3 Goals

Need a firm reset on things - blog formatting, sleep journal, food journal, all of it. This week got away from me. We had house guests for three days which involved lots of ice cream, the weather has been horrible, and general female not-wellness killed 2 days of walking.


Soo, here we go

• - Cook at home at 4 nights every week and if eating out the other nights, keep calories to under 500 and drink 4 large tumblers of water a day
• Monday: Ate at home, Chicken Florentine Pasta, with salad and bread. Large Ice Cream for dessert = +1
• Tuesday: Ate out at request of guest, Hibachi Chicken, with salad and Miso soup, and having had pre-gamed with Ice Cream = +0
• Extra Credit: I tried a piece of sushi while out. I didn't die. This is an achievement = +.5
• Wednesday: Grilled Steak, potato salad, grilled asparagus, homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches = +1
• Thursday: Chicken patties and Mac 'n Cheese (x2 helpings). I felt like shit and was not able to go to the Church event that promised me lovely finger sandwhiches and veggies platters. = (technically) +1
• Friday: ate out at request of Boys, Caprese Chicken = (because I am sure that it was over 500cal) +.5
• Saturday: Herb Chicken Tortellini and a Cesar salad = +1
• Sunday: Homemade Lasgne = +1
• Score : 6 out of 7
• Walk at least 10 minutes a day at work
• Monday: 12 minutes/.65 mi = +1
• Tuesday: 12 minutes/.66mi = +1
• Wednsday: +0
• Thursday: +0
• Friday: +0 for walk
• Extra Credit: Went to gym and worked out for about 45 minutes = +1
• Extra Credit: Thai Chi on the xbox = +1
• Saturday: +0 for walk
• Extra Credit: smashed walls!! Good work out, lifting heavy things! = +.5
• Sunday: +0
• Score: 4.5 out of 7
• Work way up to doing the Nerd Fitness Body weight workout out 3 times a week, over three weeks (1st week = 1 time, 2nd week = 2 times, 3rd week = 3 times, 4th week = 3 times) **ADDED SPECIFICALLY TUES AND THUR**
• Tuesday: = +1
• Thursday; = +0
• Extra Credit: did one circut sunday night = +.5
• SCORE: 1.5 out of 2
• Start bed time process at 10:30 every week night
• Sunday: +0
• Monday: +1
• Tuesday: +1
• Wednesday: +.5
• Thursday: +1
• Score: 3.5 out of 5
• FINAL SCORE: 74%

Other Challenges:

- Bat cave: I ended up adjusting my incomplete bat cave goals to make them something more immediate and effective. I added barriers by (1)moving cookies to top shelf  (2) put the sodas in the downstairs fridge (3) started keeping healthy snacks at my desk/in the car so I am no so hungry leaving work that I cave for drive thru. I have removed barriers by (1) keeping walking shoes at my desk so I can walk every day (2) put air conditioners in the living room and bedroom so that it is not 'too hot' to work out (3) set up the hold Xbox 360 so that I can start to do work out games. THIS QUEST IS NOW COMPLETE!! Wooohooo

- Hack your sleep: sleep journal was even less done this week

- Personal quests: Completed "Upgrade your quest: paint backsplash quest"

Revised and New Goals for next week

- Get at least a 90% on my challenge

- complete "Hack your sleep" quest by ACTUALLY keeping a journal

- complete NF Diet level 2, keeping calories under 1800 for the day

- complete NF benchmark test
- BBWW Monday, Wednsday, Friday

Week 1 Recap } Week 2 goals

So, we are at the end of Week 1.

I am still not in love with the formatting, and honestly, despite the ease of putting everything in one place, I am hating have to blog daily. It's making it a chore. I barely do my *actual* chores. SOOO, I might switch this to once a week, with occasional daily updates for something spectacular. Who knows, will continue to mess with it until I find a formula I like. . .

So, lets break down my challenges and see how I did:

• - Cook at home at 4 nights every week and if eating out the other nights, keep calories to under 500 and drink 4 large tumblers of water a day 
• Monday dinner: Hassleback Chicken with lightly sauced veg and potato, with and indulgently delish beer                                   
• Tuesday - make at home Tacos - healthy pulled salsa chicken, beans, lettuce, guac and a touch of sour cream and cheese with homemade lavender jasmine iced tea                            
• Wednesday - ate out 1. the boys rioted and voted Pizza. I stuck with a small veggie sub - under 500cal                                           
• Thusday - Grilled steak, big green salad, potato salad and more homemade iced tea
• Friday - left over steak, over a large salad and since it was a weekend a little soda treat  
• Saturday - ate out 2. Burrito Loco, which is basically a less hipster Chipotle. I ordered a steak salad, calculating calories around 540, but I had intentionally eaten lighter earlier in the day to make up for it and made sure to leave off any chips, etc
• Sunday - bacon & cheddar pork patty with some fries. Ok, so my cooking chops were worn out and it was a freezer roulette kind of night. Kept my portions smallish at least. 
• CHALLENGE SCORE = 6.5 of of 7 ✓
• Walk at least 10 minutes a day at work
• Monday - 14 minutes, .72 miles
• Tuesday - 19 minutes, 1.07 miles *note; had to be after work because of weather and general work ickyness, but I still made sure to walk
• Wednesday - 15 minutes, .8 miles
• Thursday - 16 minutes, .79 miles
• Friday - 14 minutes, .78 mile
• EXTRA CREDIT: Friday, again - 16 minutes, .82 miles
• EXTRA CREDIT: Sunday - 19 minutes, 1.01 miles
• CHALLENGE SCORE: 6.5 out of 5 ✓
• Work way up to doing the Nerd Fitness Body weight workout out 3 times a week, over three weeks (1st week = 1 time, 2nd week = 2 times, 3rd week = 3 times, 4th week = 3 times)
• So this one time, in eighth grade, I waited til the night before to do my science fair project, and the next morning I rolled in with a sheet of cardboard covered in computer paper and some sharpie drawn charts on how much I liked tea, and if I felt relaxed afterwards. I basically only even put that much effort fort so they had to give me some kind of grade, rather then flat out fail me. This, is kind of like that. I kept putting it off, cause I always had some other day this week to do it. It was easy to do, because in order to do the work out I also had to complete part of my bat cave quest which is to clean out the sunroom to get some floor space in which to work out. 
• CHALLENGE SCORE = 0 out of 1 ❌
• Start bedtime process at 10:30 every night
• You will note, that I am in fact posting this AFTER 10:30. Take that as a sign of things to come. However, the sleep journal I did keep kind of showed a trend that the earlier I started my process, the longer it took me to fall asleep. Going to keep gunning for a 10:30 start time, but thinking of adjusting goal to be an 11:00 actual bed time 
• Monday: 10:45
• Tuesday : 10:35
• Wednsday : 11:00 
• Thursday: 11:00
• Friday: 1:00
• Saturday: 12:30
• Sunday: 11:30 (till I get done writing this up and posting etc)
• CHALLENGE SCORE: 2 out of 7 ❌

Other Challenges:

• - Bat Cave: the moving the soda and cookies has helped. The walking shoes at my desk are the only reason I was really able to push through walking every day at work. Still have to do the stinking sun room
• - Hack your sleep: my sleep journal was dodgey over the weekend. Basically... I didn't do it. So while I have a few days journaled under my belt, this will still be a work in progress
• - Personal quests: Continued work on my "Upgrade your keep" quests and spent all day Saturday digging out the jungle that was growing in my front garden and pulling the weeds from my patio. Also, not a formal quest, but unlocked achievement 'help friend in need' and got said friend moved in to our second spare room until she can get back on her feet after making some life changes

Revised and new challenges for Week:

• - Continue with 4 main challenges
• Adjust: Start bedtime process every WEEK night at 10:30
• - Specify!: Complete Bat Cave quest by Friday afternoon
• - If Bat Cave has not yet been completed, still do BBWW, in the bathroom if that is the only available space. Other possible locations are in the living room (AM, before everyone is awake so they don't see me blubbering every where), Front porch, back patio area, laundry room
• - Specify!: Do BBWW Tuesday and Thursday

12 July 17

Maybe I will just keep doing these as day after accounts, since doing it before bed like the lowest thing on my priority list.

It was quite the day here on Wednesday and threw me some challenges. Work stress and pea-soup humidity made me not want to work AT ALL. Then after picking up a free grill, the men-folk decided unanimously they wanted pizza.

I WANT pizza too y'know. But I also want to NOT FAIL at something for a change.

I triumphed. Toasted veggie sub.

Certainly not as thrilling as Ultimo Pepperoni, but I felt good about the choice in the end, because it was healthier, kept under my 500 calorie challenge, and was closer to keeping the Wednsday fast.

So here it goes:

• - Sleep: actually slept ok despite weird dreams about having brain surgery in my sister's old bedroom at the house we grew up in
• In bed by: 11:05 - husband tempted me with the xbox controller at 9:30 and Thedas needed me!
• Asleep by: 11:15 - all that inquisting must have worn me out.
• Tv was  OFF
• Last caffeine consumed: 9:30ish (creature of habit, me)
• Number of times up over night: 0 that I recall, so if I did get up, I was at least asleep for it
• Alarm time: 6:45
• Snoozed: 3 times, until 7
• Food
  
• Exercise: 15 minute walk out work (possibly consider it a swim taking into account the high humidity?), just under 1 mile
• Water: 3.5 tumblers at work, final last .5 to hit goal drunk at home
• Note: loot for completing 4 week water challenge is totally going to be a britta filter. I've been spoiled on the filtered water at work

Wins for today:

- got grill, got it mostly scrubbed down and cleaned up

- walked, kept under 500 cal goal for eat out/take out food, and the Fast (mostly), despite challenges

Goals for tomorrow:

- cook out! Celebrate Roxie's homecoming and me and the Commanders' 8th year together anniversary with steak and salad! - low carb, high protein, plus a heap of veggies? WINNING!

-  get all of Roxie's stuff moved in

- ACTUALLY get to cleaning out the sun room as part of my bat-cave quest

- Start house cleaning now so it's not a marathon on Sunday, the day before houseguests return . .. 

11 July 2017

Day late on posting, but here was my second Monday - er, um Tuesday.
Was an ok day-  between the stupid humidity and scattered storms, and my job just generally sucking out my will to live, I didn't get to walk at work, but made up for it with a longer walk in the cool of the evening once I got home.

Also, dinner was a yummy win. Got love something as easy as "step 1; dump chicken into crock pot. Step 2; dump salsa into crock pot. Step 3; turn crock pot on and leave for work. Step 4; profit"

• -Sleep; less up and down, but didn't feel any more rested
• in bed by: 10:45
• asleep by: 11:00
• TV was OFF
• Last caffiene consumed: 9:30ish
• Number of times up overnight: 0
• Alarm time: 6:45
• Snooze: 3 times, until 7
• Food 
• Exercise: 19 minute walk, 1.07 miles with husband and dog
• Water: 4 tumblers

Wins for today:

- the bat-cave barrier I set up to keep cookies on top shelf and box stays and I bring serving out on plate worked to control portion! Actually ate the real serving size of 2 cookies, rather then SAY I am going to only eat 2, take the box with me and then eat the whole thing. 

-despite it being hot as balls making me skip my workday walk, I walked later on in the evening once it cooled, showing that I can be flexible but still stick to the spirit of the plan

- didn't eat my body weight in tacos, and when I wanted a little more, I just got my self a touch more chicken/beans/guac and left off a tortilla

Goals for tomorrow (today now, technically):
- pick up grill we are being given
- pick up last of foodie bits needed for cook out on Thursday
- CHORES to get house ready for new house guest and cook out
- finish bat-cave quest by cleaning out sun room

10 July 2017

Mondays are tough for me. OK. Mornings in general are not my thing. That thing where people wake up at all Maker-forsaken hours to exercise, drink coffee, watch the news, paint a masterpiece, put on make up and somehow look like an adult? Yeah, they disgust me. It's a good morning when I only snooze three time and manage to squeeze in some prayers before running out the door. In the past it hasn't mattered how early I go to bed, what my bed time procedure is, I never wake up easily. 

Microwave scrambled eggs will be my saviour. Darling husband always tries to make me breakfast, but it's usually a bagel. I love bagels. He loves bagels. He is not happy unless he has like 4 carbs on his plate at one time. I mean while am basically turning into a bagel with every delightful carby bite. I plan on giving up carbs over my dead body, but bagels, I have come to admit, need to be an occasional treat, not an every day staple. So this morning was "do you want me to make you a bagel" (I can't so straight out 'no'. . . he's too cute, it would be like kicking a puppy) so I just sweetly said "Can you put 2 eggs in a mason jar for me". Zapped it in the kitchenette at work while I made my coffee. Done, and done.

Also managed to get a good 14 minute walk in before the rain started. Is dodging goose poop considered additional difficulty?

• Sleep: up often, didn't feel rested, muscles were stiff
• in bed time: 10:50
• fell asleep time: 11:20
• TV was ON until 11:15
• last caffeine consumed: 9:30ish
• number of times up through the night: 5, none for the dog
• Alarm time: 6:45
• Snoozed: 3 times
• Food
• Excercise: 
• 15 minute walk around office buildings
• Water:
• 3.5 large tumblers

Wins for today:
- 14 minute walk!
- dinner was delish - more then likely caloric death, but cooked at home and realatively unprocessed.
- Friends! Horray I have Friends *insert Zoidberg like whooping and clicking of  claws
- left walking shoes in my desk as part of my batcave quest

Goals for tomorrow:
- don't overcook the eggs
- maybe do an apple instead of another mushy bannana - seriously,  I feel about bannanas the way some do about avocados; they are only delicious in the 2 seconds immedieately after they turn the right color and then they are gross.
-Make progress on cleaning up sun room so I can work out in there by Wed.
- don't binge eat all the tacos

"Into darkness, unafraid." Challenge 1 - 9 July to 5 August

So, here I go!

In addition to working my way through the mindset and nutrition modules on Nerd fitness, I have set myself the following goals for the next 4 weeks:

- Cook at home at 4 nights every week and if eating out the other nights, keep calories to under 500 and drink 4 large tumblers of water a day
- Walk at least 10 minutes a day at work
- Work way up to doing the Nerd Fitness Body weight workout out 3 times a week, over three weeks (1st week = 1 time, 2nd week = 2 times, 3rd week = 3 times, 4th week = 3 times)
- Start bedtime process at 10:30 every night

I also want to log all meals every day. Since punching them into a calorie tracker on my phone makes me want to punch my phone, I am just going to start with taking pictures of them. I also will be trying to log my sleep.


Current quest progress:

- Bat cave: I have moved all sodas to downstairs fridge so my lazy ass won't bother going so far for them. I have put the cookies on the top shelf so I have to get a step stool to get them down - I will also be getting a jar to put them in so i can't just carry the box to the living room with me to binge eat them all. I have installed an app blocker on my phone so I can't waste so much time at work. I still need to clean up the sun room to make room to work out; need to take a pair of walking shoes with me to keep at work, so I can walk every day even if I am wearing heels; and when I do my grocery shopping tomorrow I will be getting healthy snacks to leave in the car so I am not tempted by the after work starvation to hit  a drive through rather then go home and cook.

"As of this moment, I declare the inquisition reborn"

How does a completely sedentary gaming addiction help one get inspired to get fit.

Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena Pentaghast that's how.

I had been binge playing Dragon Age: Inquisition for like a year straight and realized that I have a friend who is the spitting image of Lelianna. It started as a joke - I said we should cosplay together and I would be Cassandra.

But then I realized - I don't just want to dress up like  Cassandra. I want to be like Cassandra

Cassandra is everything I want to be - a better version of myself.

She is the super tough, strong amazing fighter (like seriously, one of the best tanks you can roll with), and yet is also a complete sucker for totally girly things like romance novels. Gotta love a kick ass bookworm!

She is adamantly no-nonsense, doesn't take shit from any one and is a force to be reckoned with when she see something that needs doing. And yet, she is also willing to admit she was wrong about something, change her opinion on people.

She has a quick temper, but is ultimately driven by kindness and wanting to good. Her dedication and faith in the Maker and the Chantry is both realistic in acknowledging it's shortcomings, but absolute in the most sincere of ways.

She has a disgusted noise and an eye roll that is par excellence!

She is all the characters I have read, written, RP'd and played my entire nerdy life. She is what, looking back, I have realized I always wanted to be, and could be, if I had an ounce of her determination.

Surprisingly, when you google, 'Work out that will make me look like Cassandra Pentaghast', not much comes up in the results. 'Warrior Workout' leads to all kinds of crazy 90 day shreds and spartan work outs. I would probably die if I tried jumping into that cold turkey. But left to my own devices I will do what I always do - have no idea how to really get started, half ass something, get frustrated after a day or two and eat my body weight in cheese to spite the universe (which actually doesn't care how much cheese I eat)

Then I found something amazing. Nerd Fitness is this awesome website, geared towards the (obviously) nerd crowd. It basically translated fitness, all the things I theoretically know about it already, into relatable and understandable terms.

Messed around with the free resources for a week. Lurked on the forums. Did some basic challenges, and realized, yeah, this is a fitness formula I might be able to stick with. Took the plunge and actually paid for the Academy program.

And now here we are.

So begins my personal Inquistion. To become more like her - to become a better version of myself. To not be content just reading or writing about the strong warrior women, but to be one.


This blog will be my journal as I seek to become more like Cassandra - what I eat, how much I work out, how much I sleep, how much I better myself as a person, along with inspiration, failures, funny stories and anything else I discover along my way.