Dr. Horrible

I just watched the Dr. Horrible DVD yesterday, and I am happy to report it's definitely worth it. One traditional commentary, which was entertaining, and "Commentary: The Musical" which was hilarious. I haven't even gotten to the extras yet, but I'd recommend the DVD for anyone who liked Dr. Horrible to begin with.

Library Report

Despite the fact that I had to dig through to-be-shelved carts for two of the three books I was looking for, this trip to the library was a success. I still need to get through the third volume of the FDR history, but I have a few treats waiting for me afterwards :)

I picked up The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Taking On the System (about the way the internet is affecting politics) and a Suze Orman book just to find out why some people hate her. Plus I came across a novel I was waiting for in paperback - that was a nice surprise.

It's really sort of funny - I never read nonfiction unless I'm in one of my go-to-the-library phases, but when I do, I read a ton of stuff on a whole variety of topics, and it's probably good for me. I just don't like actually buying them, I guess.

Rosemary Kitty

Part of getting my budget in shape is cutting down on the truly absurd amount of money I spend on food, and that means actually *gasp* cooking for myself. Last night's project was beef stew, based on a random recipe off the internet that matched what I had on hand. It came together just fine but was a touch bland, so I decided to throw in some rosemary. That worked perfectly.

It also received the intense interest and apparent approval of my oldest cat, who ADORES rosemary (and likes beef just fine, too.) This is the one who, at a prior residence, used to dart out the back at every opportunity to hide behind the rosemary bush and graze. Ever watched a cat try to graze? They're really not designed for it, and it's adorable. I gave her a smidge of broth and a bite of beef and she was content, but I suspect I'm going to have to fend her off every time I open a container of this stuff. She's an odd one.

Mint.com

Last night in a fit of responsibility I paid a couple bills and realized that I need to get my budget under a tight rein until I have a new income stream locked down. I used to use Microsoft Money and liked it very well, until my installation CD... um, disappeared, and one of my many hard drive disasters killed it. I bought Quicken last year but never really liked it, so I didn't really want to bother reinstalling it. So I hopped over to one of my favorite financial sites and saw a new partnership with Mint.com. I generally trust the Fool, so I checked it out - and I love it.

My financial situation isn't all that complicated, really - checking, savings, credit card, car loan, mortgage, two 401ks, employee stock account... well, ok, it is sort of complicated. What Mint.com does that I REALLY like is it pulls directly from all of my online accounts - including the investment accounts - and presents the results in an eminently simple and readable one-sheet. (The downside: this meant that I had to look at my investment accounts... ouch.) It has a very basic categorizing system and budgeting tool, and does some simple pie charts to help track spending. All I needed, really - plus it's online, so I don't have to worry about my next hard drive failure.

It's not perfect - it doesn't have access to my car loan or my nearly-forgotten gas card yet, and if it has bill notifications, I haven't found them - but I like it a lot better than Quicken, plus it's free. I'll stick with it for a month or so and see how it works out.

Library Day

Actually, it wasn't a full library run, since I had to renew the second two New Deal books. I looked for a few other things off the top of my head but it seems that everyone's thinking along similar lines, and everything was out. One success, though, was finding the HBO documentary on Air America, which I commented earlier sounds like a much more interesting story than the collection of transcripts I got last time. While I was digging in that section looking for it (turns out it was mis-shelved) I picked up An Inconvenient Truth as well, which I haven't seen. So those should occupy me for a week or so, and then I'll bring my ever-growing To Read list and do it properly.

Drinking the Kool-Aid

Part 2 of the Massive Gamer interview with me is up. I wanted to expand a little bit on one of the bits in it. actually.

Massive Gamer: What do you think is most important when it comes to doing good community?

Preacher: Honesty - not just in the sense of conveying true information to and from the players and the devs, although that is very important, but also not getting so caught up in the emotions of the moment - whether it's the players upset about a change or the devs excited about a patch - that you lose sight of the facts and misrepresent the situation

I talk about "drinking the kool-aid" a lot in community - internally, that is. What I mean by this is when you've bought in to a project, a feature, or the overall company line to the extent that you no longer have any perspective on it. A large part of a CM's value to their team is their ability to provide an outside perspective - not just a customer's perspective but a synthesis of all possible customer perspectives. How will the players react to this change? What should our highest bug fix priority be? Is this ad campaign going to have an effect on our existing playerbase? These are all questions a CM should be able to offer an answer to.

A problem arises when you, as a CM, have adopted the official line to the point where you begin to believe it. This patch will be great - look at all those bullet points! These bug fixes will be perfect because we say so, despite having our most junior programmer tackle the five easiest fixes regardless of severity! This ad campaign will bring in people by the thousands, and no matter that it promises things we've been promising since beta and can't deliver on!

The marketing team can say these things, because it's their job to be perky. CMs - good ones - are not perky. As a matter of fact, they tend to be the most cynical and jaded - and usually drunk - folk I've ever encountered. It's our job to see the downside as well as the upside. It's our job to anticipate criticism and plan how to react to it. Yes, we have to be upbeat and optimistic in public - hence the drinking. But to our teams, we should always be trying to make sure people see both sides and plan for them.

And in order to see both sides, we have to seek out both sides. We have to look for criticism, find the pockets of negativity, and welcome the flames. We have to get our hands on them in order to weigh them, judge them, then translate them into fluffy bunny terms for the delicate artistic temperaments on the dev team, so that next time the public has to find something different to bitch about. If your game just biffed a publish, you better know how, and why, and how many people noticed. Likewise, if your company has an image problem overall, you better have a report on who is bitching, what obscene nicknames it's been given, and how exactly the corporate logo has been photoshopped.

This is totally why we all drink so much, and why we burn out so fast. But it's still the job. And it does make it easier to live with when the company fucks up in exactly the way you predicted it would, and pisses off precisely the set of people you forecasted, and lays you off. Satisfaction in a job well done is almost as good as health insurance.

History Repeats

Schlesinger's history, The Crisis of the Old Order was published in 1957, but it sounds like it was written about the past ten years. The governmental enthusiasm for deregulation, a rapidly spiraling overvaluation of a particular market, rumblings of worry without any clear warning - sound familiar? Sure does to me. I'm only about halfway through - it doesn't go quite as fast as the latest Anita Blake mystery, although it's very readable - but I am pleased with my pick. More to come.

Books To Get

The Shock Doctrine
DMZ: Body of a Journalist
Team of Rivals
Taking On the System
the new Malcolm Gladwell
something by Suze Orman

Updated as stuff crosses my mind. Third Term is done - wasn't bad, although as I think I mentioned it felt like stuff that I've seen covered in detail in a billion places in the past couple months. Taking a brief fiction break now, then it's on to the FDR bigoraphy.

Air America and Big Fat Idiots

Two books on my library list down: Air America: The Playbook and Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot. I'm not entirely satisfied with either of them.

The Air America book didn't have any real problems - I just found it sort of unsatisfying. It's about two years old, and therefore sort of dated, but I wasn't paying a lick of attention to politics two years ago so it was still mostly new stuff. The real problem was that it consists of either fairly fluffy satire pieces and one-page tidbits (like a series on evil corporations presented ironically as good investments,) or transcripts of radio interviews. Don't get me wrong, the radio interviews were neat, but a ten-minute interview takes me a minute and a half to read and really doesn't contain that much information. I think, on the whole, I would have preferred a book about Air America, because from the introduction, there's a story and a half there.

The Al Franken book - well, I picked it up because he's still in the running for Senator of Minnesota, and I don't know a thing about the guy other than that he was on Saturday Night Live. After reading the book I know two things: he's a liberal, and his jokes don't translate to print. Like, at all.

I didn't realize that the "Big Fat" part of the title was the main theme of the book, but fat jokes don't do it for me. It's not one of my hot button issues - I just don't find it funny or ironic or remotely relevant, particularly because their subject, Limbaugh, is a radio personality. I sat there after the first three pages of fat jokes and thought as hard as I could, but could not call to mind even a dim picture of the man. I gather he's a big fella. *shrug*

The rest of it - I guess I just prefer my politics straight. I find having to guess whether a given line is satire or truth more tiring than anything, and I'm already sold on most of his basic premises. I don't regret picking it up - it was a quick read - but I'm not going to rush out and pick up more from this genre.

Next up, Paul Begala's Third Term, which is similar to Franken's in many ways except all the statements and facts have citations and I find the humor much more effective. It reads like a compilation of MSNBC campaign punditry, but it's nice to have it all in one place.

Interview with Massive Gamer

Part 1 here

Community Management and the Closet

I am not in the closet, and haven't been for many years. I'm queer as a three dollar bill (and female, if my readers haven't actually met me. The whole "Jeremy" thing is a long story.) But I was thinking last night about what I'd say if someone asked me if I'm out to my community.

The answer is... not really. I mean, I don't hide it - I'd be hard-pressed to do so convincingly anyway, and I have no desire to. But it's just a non-issue at work, and it's never come up. (Well, confession time. When I told my L2 forum suitor who played a male Light Elf "I prefer my women a little more butch," I meant it literally. Sorry.) The more I thought about it, though, the more I felt that it was *important* that it was a non-issue - that it *shouldn't* come up.

I think it comes down to this: players are not sex objects. At all, period, regardless of orientation. Some of the most cheerfully lecherous men I know are CMs, but when they're working, they're working. It's a different mode, and sex doesn't come into it at all - and so sexuality doesn't. (I'm not making claims about what happens in the privacy of people's heads - or even my head - just that the actual communication between a CM and his or her players is outside of all sexual considerations.)

And this is important, because we have a very specific relationship to our players. The somewhat tortured analogy I made in my head last night was that we are, in many ways, like priests. The players come to us, share their troubles, their concerns, and - you'd be surprised how often - their sins, and we intercede with the dev team on their behalf. It's a very particular sort of intimacy, and it's really very impersonal in many ways - they don't need to know anything about what kind of single malt I drink or whether I favor UT or Texas Tech, but they do need to believe in my relationship with my dev team and my willingness to act on their behalf. The minute a players starts to believe that a CM is interested in them for some out-of-game reason, that relationship breaks down. And when it does, word gets out - this is the internet, after all - and that relationship breaks down on a much larger scale.

So, am I out to my players? Well, they have Google, and I'm sure they can find this post or other evidence. But the real answer is, it doesn't matter. It just doesn't come up.

Note to Self:

When eating delicious mint truffle Hershey's Kisses while reading in bed, make sure all Kisses are accounted for before going to sleep.

It smelled lovely all night, but the stickiness was... unexpected.

Of Course He's a Holy Priest

Renewing My Library Card

I have a very firm line item in my budget for books and bookshelves (although I'm running out of space for the latter) because I read fast enough that I reread novels all the time, and I'm happier just having them on hand. I very seldom buy nonfiction books, though, because I generally have no desire to reread them, unless they are how-to books of some sort. I don't usually read all that much nonfiction in book form anyway.

However, the election has spurred me to do a bit more digging about a few things, so I hauled out my faded old library card and picked up a three-volume biography of FDR, a book by Al Franken, a random and probably worthlessly partisan book about how Bush <3 McCain 4EVA, and the Air America Playbook (as well as two or three entries in a couple of series that I haven't been able to find used yet.) I'll probably comment on these as I read them, if any are worth commenting on.

Meritocracy on the Internet

Listening to an interview with Rachel Maddow, her comments about the value of blogs got me thinking. Maddow says,

"There is a bit of a meritocracy in terms of rising to the fore with opinion... in the blog world, you're going to get more attention, you're going to get more clicks, you're going to rise to prominence if what you are writing is provocative, interesting, or accurate, occasionally."

Now her job, and the job of any pundit, is to take information from various sources, synthesize it, analyze it, and present it in a digestible fashion to a specific audience. Sounds substantially similar to what community managers do when looking at player feedback, no? The difference is that pundits are looking to be interesting and provocative in order to retain their audience. CMs are looking to present accurate information on which to base critical decisions. So are "provocative, interesting, and accurate, occasionally" the criteria by which we want to sort player feedback? Is that really "merit" for our purposes?

Probably not. It is helpful to be able to see what the playerbase finds interesting or provocative - keeping tabs on that is a very important part of the job. You can earn a lot of goodwill by leveraging highly visible issues that cost little to address, and filtering the information you have by those criteria is a good way to get that pool of issues. But getting base issues - the sort of issues that make people quit, rather than rant in amusing fashion on the internet - really requires an approach that *doesn't* take into account whether or not they've been, shall we say, "politicized."

There's another point here to be made about how actual politics get done, but I'll save that one for later.

Hello, World!

Welcome to the megablog. I've merged in content from my diet-and-fitness journal, my long-moribund MMO journal, and the few posts I wrote for a multi-author online community management blog. Keeping these bits of my life separate has been handy, but it's time to move them all to one place so I can feel free to ramble about whatever's on my mind. I've also opened a Twitter account, and might possibly give in to trendiness and start a Facebook account. Look out, internets - I'm here!

Still Fuzzy

The general headaches and malaise seem to be getting better, but I'm definitely not 100% yet. I went to conditioning class last night and survived, but I don't have a ton of energy.

On the plus side, the water is pouring off - down 4.6 pounds from Monday. That leaves me only a few pounds up from where I had stalled out. My pants are still distinctly looser from where they were earlier in the year - I actually bought a pair of shorts at my old waist size and they are too loose to wear without a belt. This is heartening, even if my actual weight isn't where I'd hoped it would be at this point in the year. Hopefully with a few more months of clean eating I'll be able to break through and get down another waist size or two :)

Fuzzy

I haven't had any caffeine this week, and it hasn't been fun. I'm definitely feeling the effects of withdrawal. This usually strengthens my resolve - I don't like being so dependent on anything.

Went to karate last night and ate tolerably well yesterday. I think I do need to find a way to get back in the gym without feeling utterly wiped, but I haven't decided how yet. I need to make it through the week first!

Sun Going Down

Well, I haven't been posting much, obviously, but it's time to get back into it before winter drags me down. I don't generally have much enthusiasm these last couple of months of the year, so I'm going to try to rely on routine to help out.

I put on a few pounds from the last time I weighed in, although it'll take another day or two to shed water from last week's business trip. I'm not that far behind, but I certainly haven't gained any ground. I'd like to get back into the Zone, but this week I think I'm just going to try to cook for myself a bit and avoid fast food. I think I'm starting to get a cold or something, so I don't want to make drastic changes.

I'm also still debating going back to Crossfit. I really like it, but four days of karate in the evenings is a fair bit of exercise, and I'm not sure if I can sustain more than that. I may try, but again, not til next week at the earliest.

One thing I haven't been slacking on is my karate practice. I haven't pulled many two-hour nights, but I've been going consistently M-Th every week that I've been in town. That being said, I've missed two weeks of the last three for work reasons. There's another belt test coming up next month, but I don't believe I'll be testing. It seems a bit early to me.

Wednesday Already?

My sense of time is way off this week. Nevertheless, it's Wednesday, and I skipped Crossfit this morning so I can go to conditioning tonight. As much as I love Crossfit, the schedule as written isn't working all that well for me - I think this weekend I'm going to sit down and try to think about what I need to do that will work better with karate.

Back in the Office

I had fully intended to go work out this morning but got rousted out of bed for a work emergency, and haven't had a moment since. I will be going to practice tonight, and may try to go to the gym first, but I'm not going to count on it

I had a great trip this weekend, and was thoroughly bad. I actually didn't eat all that much - it was all the drinking that did me in. I haven't managed to get on a scale yet, but I'm sure I didn't make any progress!

Resting

I was definitely right to skip Crossfit yesterday - conditioning was hard, but I had enough gas left to stay for practice afterwards.

I spent most of yesterday dealing with various feline crises before I go out of town, and will probably have to do the sametoday. My diet was more or less fine - I ended up in the tub with a protein shake for dinner, which is my oh-god-that-practice-sucked resort, but it's still reasonably healthy. I have sparring practice then meditation tonight, which should be nice, and then I have to pack for my trip tomorrow.

Conditioning

This morning I am skipping Crossfit because I'll be going to conditioning tonight - the workout was a hard-and-fast one that is just too similar to what I'll be doing this afternoon.

Karate last night was actually quite relaxing - it was basics class, so we didn't do anything new to me and the pace was not too challenging. I really enjoyed it.

Yesterday for lunch I had my weekly cheat meal, so I should be good for the rest of the week. This weekend will be erratic because I'm traveling, but it shouldn't be too horrendous.

Sore Quads

The price I pay for slacking for two weeks is terribly sore quads if I even look at them funny in the gym. I don't really lose strength, it's just that they hurt for two days after I use them. It's sort of odd, because karate is very quad-intensive, but it doesn't seem to forestall the soreness. Of course, sore or not, I did my front squats this morning.

Karate last night was fun - I got to learn a few new things, including a whole new kata. I'm still going to go to white belt class tonight - it's not like my basics are so solid that I can just forget about them now - but it's very nice to have some new stuff to think about.

I had a pretty good day yesterday, diet-wise - I went to the store and got plenty of good food, and had healthy meals. It was remarkable how much better I felt in karate, too - by the end of the first hour, I was sweaty, but not really tired.

My weight held even from yesterday to today, which wasn't a huge surprise - I figured I didn't have too much water to shed. Looking forward to getting that train rolling again, though.

School Starts

Not for me, specifically, but school started in town today, and since I live across the street from an elementary school I tend to notice these things. In one respect, though, school's back in for me - my week of indulgence while I got the caffeine out of my system is over, and I'm back to the grind. Crossfit this morning was a "warrior workout" - always a very tough workout named after a serviceman who was killed in Iraq. Crossfit is very popular with the military, and the community seems to feel that sweating very very hard is an honorable way to remember their fallen brethren.

I was shocked and amazed to get on the scale this morning and discover I really haven't lost any ground. I was expecting to be at least five pounds up, but apparently I can pretty much pick up where I left off. I'm out of town this weekend, which will throw me off a bit, but it's only two nights.

I'm off to make a proper, Zone-appropriate breakfast and get to work. Have a good week!

Blue Belt

As of last night, I officially have my blue belt. This means I get to go to some new classes (sparring and kata) which makes my scheduled a bit more flexible. I'm pleased, and the test itself wasn't too bad (although wearing the gi jacket in August is cruel and unusual - it wasn't mandatory, but everyone was doing it anyway, and I was VERY hot.)

I've also successfully avoided caffeine all week. I'm not worrying about the rest of things this week - it's busy at work, and I had the test to prepare for, and there's only so much willpower I can bring to bear - but next week I plan to get all the way back on the wagon.

Slacking

So this past week has been a stressful one for me - not even for personal reasons, really, more on behalf of other people. But as a result, I haven't been going to the gym and my diet has been terrible. I have been going to karate, but it's been more annoying than anything.

Last night I went to the half-hour meditation class that is all I'm eligible for on Thursdays, and towards the end of it I realized that outside influences or no, caffeine really messes me up. I was having trouble just sitting still - my nerves were tight as wire. I don't think that's the whole of my issue, but it's certainly not helping, and I need to get back off it in order to be productive anywhere else.

So that's the goal for the weekend - wean myself back off of caffeine, so I can deal with the rest of my life.

Too Much

Conditioning practice was great, but on top of the Crossfit workout, I was completely exhausted. I am taking this morning off to recover, and in the future if I go to conditioning I'm going to skip Crossfit that day. They're too similar, and just too much for me to handle right now.

My belt test is in two weeks - I got official word last night. I have the paperwork and the essay portion to do between now and then, and I'm not terribly worried about the test itself. Two weeks should be plenty of time to get totally used to the new shoes, and be able to execute everything I need to do during the actual test.

I'm not terribly hung up on advancement, but getting my blue belt opens up quite a few classes for me, which will make my schedule much more flexible. I'm very much looking forward to sparring class, and having a kata class once a week will also be good.

Oh, My Aching Legs

Heavy squats yesterday, squat snatches today - my poor quads are REALLY trashed. And today is the first session of karate conditioning class - I may die. In a good way, I mean. Well, at least I hope so.

At Least It's Not Monday

This morning's workout was heavy squats. I did pretty well, but completely burned out by the last set. I feel like I put a lot of effort into it, but it is frustrating not to be able to complete the set properly. I suspect I'll feel it tomorrow, too.

Otherwise, things are chugging along. I regret to admit that I'm back on the caffeine - I did really well, but during all the dojo work I had a couple Red Bulls to keep going, and that got me started again. It's not the biggest crisis ever, but it does tend to mess with my eating habits - it makes me less hungry, and also increases my overall carb intake, throwing off my balance. It's something I'll have to work on, again - just as soon as I finish this soda.

I Hate Mondays, redux

I love that Firefox's auto-fill reminds me when I re-use a post title, but I really do hate Mondays. This one was unpleasant mostly for work reasons - it was a rest day, so I got to sleep in, and my shoes arrived in the nick of time, so I got to use them at practice.

I was 95% pleased with the results. The 5% is solely due to pride - my very strong roundhouse kick was slowed down quite a bit by the extra stickiness. Otherwise, it was very nice to be able to control my movement, and with just a little practice I think I'll be in very good shape. I was also invited to watch sparring class on Thursday, which I think I will do - at least for a little bit. Thursday evening is meditation class, which I'm very much looking forward to.

It's Hot

Really, really hot. I don't hate the heat as much as I hate cold, but it's still kinda draining.

I ran this morning, as directed, then had lunch and ran some errands with my usual weekend workout buddy. I have no major ambitions for the day other than to get the house marginally closer to "clean" than it has been these last few weeks. It's quite a chore.

Saturday

I slept in - and in, and in - this morning, but did drag myself to the gym. It was a near thing, though. I haven't done the late night partying thing in a looong time, and my body resents it. Deeply. It was a good workout, though.

I'm still pretty light despite a fairly epic cheat meal last night, which is good, I guess. It'll be nice to break my current best and feel like I'm really moving again. I've still got a long way to go even to my next milestone. But my schedule is pretty settled for this month, so I should be able to get back in a groove.

Catching Up

Yesterday was a rest day, and I managed to lose track of my morning and forget to post. Now, of course, I don't really remember anything I had intended to post about. So it goes.

This morning was pullups and dips, which is quick and painful, and I always feel pretty good about. Looking over the July Crossfit spreadsheet (yes, I keep a spreadsheet) I was perfectly consistent, with the exception of the planned triplet off and the expected two days of running around a convention rather than working out. That's just what I was hoping for, and I plan to keep my streak going in August.

Karate the last two nights has been more annoying than usual, since the A/C got turned off at some point and so the dojo was hot and I was sweaty. My new shoes should get here on Monday, and I cannot wait. I'm sure training in shoes will present its own challenges, but I'm sick of sliding around the floor and straining my joints trying to stay upright.

Weight-wise, as I mentioned before, August was pretty much a wash. I'm a couple of pounds below my July starting weight, but far from the 8ish I was hoping for. I don't regret it, exactly - ten days of vacation will have that affect, and I probably should have set my expectations a little lower - but I am slightly annoyed. August should be a much better month for me in that regard - I'm looking forward to a solid month of progress.

Jogging

Just for variety, today's workout was a long jog. I've got another 5k coming up in September, so it's good to have some time to run. It's hard for me to fit in half an hour or more of running in the morning, though - I really prefer it when those workouts fall on the weekend.

Karate last night went reasonably well - I do better on the days where we're moving around more. My feet seem to stay dry enough as long as I'm not keeping them in one place all the time. My new shoes are in transit, though, and should be here by Monday, so this should be the last week I'll have to worry about it.

Sprinting

Sprinting plus some other exercises was the order of the day this morning. It was hard, but it felt good to go all out. It's looking like a pretty normal day - I am going to try to get back in the habit of posting in the mornings, so this is going to be a short one. Have a nice day!

Home Again

The trip went well overall, but it's nice to be home. The cats seem to agree.

I slept in this morning, but I did go to the gym. The workout was the Crossfit Total, and while my poor legs made a poor showing on the squats, I put another five pounds up on my deadlift, so I came out even on points.

I went to the store today and I'm determined to be good about my diet for the next month or so. July has been pretty much a total wash in terms of weight loss, which... well, it could have been worse, but I need to keep moving.

Sensei told me today that she thinks I should just wear shoes in the dojo, so I ordered another pair of my spiffy Vibram Fivefingers - in white, this time, and in the model with an ankle strap so they're a bit more secure. I think it'll solve my problems. That's good news, as far as I am concerned, because sliding all over the place has just been stressful.

A Brief Note

Just posting to say I'm in San Diego, eating whatever I can get my hands on (which tends to be not much all day and then a lovely expensive meal at night) and walking a LOT. Tomorrow I'm flying home, so may or may not post. Monday all will be back to normal.

Day Before

The day before I leave for a trip is always nuts, and today is no different. I have a million things to do, and then a million more come up, and I always end up running out of the house in the morning with the bed unmade.

This morning was one of the benchmark workouts - Fran - and I dropped about 15 seconds off of my February time. That's not too bad, although I still have trouble with lots of consecutive pullups. I'm expecting not to work out for the next two days of this triplet - I've never once managed to work out while in a hotel - but the hotel is three miles away from the convention center, so at least I'll get plenty of walking in.

Karate last night went moderately well. I'm getting a little more confident, if not much less annoyed, with the floors and my sweatiness. I figure another few weeks and I'll be back in top form, or whatever passes for top form for me :)

Bleary Eyed

I went to a late showing of Dark Knight last night, because I really wanted to see it before I spend three days at a convention where EVERYONE will be talking about it. It was a good movie, and worth seeing (although I think they could have trimmed half an hour off of it) but I'm paying the price this morning. Fortunately, today is a Crossfit rest day, so I got some extra sleep.

Karate last night went well enough - it's white belt class on Tuesdays, which is always interesting. Ironically, it tends to be one of the harder days just in terms of keeping up, as the instructor moves very fast and seldom pauses to explain. I think all the instructors are going to shift around starting in August when the schedule changes, and I'm interested to see the results.

Back on Track

I'm pleased to report that I've hit a new low this morning - the first since I went on vacation. I seem to be pretty much back in the groove, and while the weekend out of town will stall me out for another few days, I don't think it will stop me.

Crossfit was another strength workout this morning - it went quite well. I always enjoy those.

For the first time, I went to karate for two hours instead of one, last night. It wasn't easy, but I felt pretty good about it. The different floor makes my legs have to work harder, and in some new ways, so in some ways it feels like I've had to go back to the beginning, but my overall endurance is much better than when I had started.

I'm sorry to say that I don't think the tea is working at all. I am just going to keep the little towel around and hope that eventually I adapt to the conditions. The A/C wasn't at full blast yesterday either, although it should be soon - getting the temperature below 85 will probably make a big difference.

Happy Monday!

It's either a 4 or a 7-day week for me, depending on how you're counting. This weekend I'll be in San Diego for work, so while I'll get to do some fun stuff and see a bunch of friends, it won't exactly be relaxing.

This morning was a 2k row on the rowing machine. I haven't done enough rowing to be all that good at it, but I don't mind it at all. It's less stressful than running, and feels like a pretty efficient workout. I suspect tomorrow is going to be a tough workout, though - this one felt like an easy one to make sure we're well-rested.

Tonight will be the real test of my black tea experiment at karate - all the info I found said that after 5 days I should see the effect. I have just enough left in the box to do one more batch, but then... well, we'll see. I hope it works.

Filthy

The Filthy Fifty was the workout for the morning - it's a long, intense circuit that wipes me out with marvelous effectiveness. I'm glad it's Sunday and I don't have to do anything else of any import today!

I'm having dinner at a friend's house tonight, but it should be a pretty reasonably healthy meal, and the rest of the day isn't going to pose a problem. I'm slowly getting back on track!

Dinner and a Movie

Or, rather, brunch and a movie, and with different people, but today was a fun day nonetheless. I don't know that barbecue is really the best stuff in the world when I'm trying to be virtuous, but it's not the worst, either. Today was a Crossfit rest day as well, so it was really quite relaxing.

I'm off to soak my feet in tea!

Friday!

I'm not sure how it got to be Friday so fast, but hey, I'll take it! It's been a weird week for me, and I'm just as happy that it's over.

Crossfit this morning was "weighted" pullups - which, since I can't do a pullup at all, let alone with added weight, means I just see how little assistance I need to do one. I'm very happy to see that I've gotten considerably stronger since the last time I did this workout in January (being about ten pounds lighter helps quite a bit, too.) I am confident that by the time I hit my next weight milestone I'll be able to do at least one unassisted pullup. That would be a pretty major feat, and I'm looking forward to it.

Karate last night went really well, compared to the rest of the week. I'm still sweating pretty badly, but I'm getting better at dealing with it, and the instructor pointed out that because the head instructor is out of town, the A/C isn't being turned on until just about an hour before my class - it was still 84 degrees by the time we were finished. If it's cooler in there, my sweat glands won't have to go into overdrive and I might be able to have something like a normal practice. Rumors of an upcoming belt test abound, and I really want to be able to test for my blue belt without making an utter fool of myself.

Better

I'm feeling a bit better today, although now I'm pretty sore for the usual reasons. This morning's Crossfit was an absolute killer.

Last night was still pretty slippery and irritating, but it's getting a little better as I get used to it. I still have hope in my tea solution, but I probably won't be able to tell for sure until next week.

I haven't been really good about my diet these last few days - it's hard getting back on a regular schedule - but it's coming along. I'm hoping to really get back in the groove by the end of the week.

The Bad Kind of Ow

I get mysterious joint pain in certain kinds of weather... such as the weather we're having today. Fortunately, it doesn't happen all that often, but unfortunately, when it does happen, it's been getting worse. It doesn't really restrict my movement, but it sure makes me grumpy and distracted.

On a more cheerful note, I did my deadlifts this morning, and they went well. It was a higher-rep workout than the heavy singles I'd been doing a lot of, which is good - somewhat more reps will build up my strength more efficiently. After all the lifting and carrying over the past couple weeks, I'm doubly determined to work on this kind of lift - it's just so practical.

Last night was just as slippery as Monday, although I did bring a towel and wiped my feet every few minutes. It helped, but was terribly distracting, and I was not at all satisfied with it as a long-term solution. I did some research and found a trick that I'm trying out - soaking the feet in strong black tea. Apparently the tannins in the tea are astringent and will make them sweat less, and the effect lasts for a while. It should take a week or so to see final results, but a box of cheap black tea is $3, and sticking my feet into a pot of it for twenty minutes a day is not much hardship. Here's hoping!

Horrible Tuesday

Not that kind of horrible... THIS kind of horrible. I know it's not health- or fitness-related, but it's still awesome.

Last night at the dojo was exceedingly frustrating. The floor has been sealed - it hadn't been, last Thursday - and my sweaty feet just could not get a grip on it. It felt like practicing on black ice - very stressful. I expect that with a little wear the floor won't be so slick, and I think I'm going to bring a little towel to try to keep my feet dry, but I'm still nervous about slipping and injuring myself.

This morning was a Crossfit rest day, which I'm grateful for - my knees and ankles are a little sore in a way that makes me grumpy, rather than the usual soreness which I actually enjoy quite a bit.

Back to the Grind

Happy Monday! I've caught up reading my work email, and I'm beginning to cope with the idea of being back at work. It'll take a day or so before it really sinks in...

I did yesterday's Crossfit today, because I figured I got my legs and cardio workout yesterday, but needed the arm workout. I'm plenty sore from volleyball and all the heavy lifting on Saturday, but I still feel pretty peppy.

Looking forward to karate tonight - we're in the new dojo, and it's the beginning of the first regular week of class there. We're on the old schedule for the rest of the month - starting in August, we'll be using a different schedule. I am not sure exactly how much that will change things for me - if I recall, one or two nights will be at 7:30 instead of 6:30, but it's mostly the same.

I need to hit the grocery store, but my diet's back on track as of this morning. It was nice to relax about it for a week, but I really didn't feel all that good - all the salt made my hands all puffy, and my more egregious cheats had plenty of MSG and artifical stuff, which gave me wicked headaches. I'm perfectly happy to go back to clean living :)

Catching Up

It's been a long, long week, with a lot of fun stuff as well as a lot of hard (non-work-related) work, but the vacation is just about over. Tomorrow it's back to the grind, and frankly, I'm more than ready.

I haven't posted in a couple of days (hey, vacation!) but I'll hit a few of the high points:

- The dojo is, as far as I'm concerned, finished. Everything's installed, painted, cleaned, etc, and we actually practiced there Thursday night - it was lovely. I spent way more hours than I intended yesterday helping clear out the old dojo, taking stuff to the dump, to storage, to Goodwill - but it's done.

- I went up 5 points on my Crossfit Total on Wednesday, and I think I'm on the verge of going up a whole bunch more. Today I subbed in two hours of volleyball with some friends for the official workout, and I think it was a more than fair trade. I hurt in places that haven't hurt for years...

- My diet has been on vacation all week - really the past two weeks - just because my schedule's been so off (and my social calendar's been so full, what with all the dinner-and-drinks after working at the dojo.) I haven't lost any weight, but it doesn't appear I've gained any either - I've had some impressive water-weight spikes, but as of this morning I'm just about exactly where I was pre-deviations. That's fine - it'll probably push the next milestone out of September, realistically, but only by a week or so.

- It has been a good vacation overall, primarily because I've not had to think about work at all for then days. I've kept busy, had plenty of social time, stayed physically active, and if the house STILL isn't really clean, well, it's the only real problem.

Vacation? What Vacation?

Yesterday was a VERY long day. I got to the dojo around ten, worked until 3, came home for a few hours, went back at six, then went to dinner with the usual suspects. (It's only been a week and a half, and there are already "usual suspects.") I didn't get home til 11, and went straight to bed.

I haven't heard for sure if they need me today - they may not. I'm actually going to go into the gym today, because it's the Crossfit Total - always fun. That means I'm sticking with my original schedule, even if Crossfit itself isn't. There's definitely no practice tonight, but we're planning to hold it tomorrow, so that will be nice.

Otherwise, today is a house-cleaning day, this time for real. What fun!

Closer Now

The floor is very close to being done, and the trim is almost entirely painted. I have a splendid sunburn, but I will survive :)

Crossfit mucked with its schedule this week, and the next triplet starts tomorrow instead of Wednesday. I'm going to go ahead and take this one off, I think - I might change my mind, but I'm anticipating at least one more day on my feet.

We had our last class at the old dojo, and it was very nice. About twenty people showed up, and after some practice we all sat down and people told stories about the building and their experiences there. It was fun to hear, and good to see everyone saying goodbye to the place that has, for many of them, been important for many years.

I got nothing else done, of course - the house is a mess, I need to go grocery shopping, etc - but I just can't wait to get everything done.

Only 4 Hours

...A nice short shift, today. Unfortunately, we're not done yet, and I'll be spending at least some of my vacation helping out. Fortunately, I don't really mind - it's actually pretty relaxing work at this stage. It's satisfying to see things really start to come together - I think, ultimately, it will be work we can be proud of, and use for many years.

That being said, I need to take some time to get stuff done around the house, too, because it's a mess. I've got a whole week to get the place together, but I'd like to have at least some of it done in the next day or so. I keep saying I will, then spacing out or going to bed at nine :P

Floors

Another day at the dojo... didn't manage to update before, and it's been a loooong day, so I'll just say that I think 8 hours of painting and laying flooring is sufficient workout, and go to bed.

Happy 4th!

Today is a Crossfit rest day and the beginning of my vacation. I'm going to try to keep my diet in check, but I'm taking the next Crossfit triplet off, so my exercise will be a little lower than normal. Of course, we still have the new floor to lay in the dojo, so I'm not going to be a total couch potato this weekend!

Today my only plans are to play video games and clean the house. We'll see how that goes.

Last Day

As I expected, I dropped about two pounds of water yesterday, and probably have another two to go. I'm PMSing like mad, so my food choices are not ideal, but I don't really have terrible food in the house, so my options for cheating are limited.

Crossfit this morning was Death By Pullup - one of my favorites. I really haven't been doing that many this past month or so, but I still beat my best score handily. I feel pretty good about that :) I'm taking the next triplet off, and possibly the one after that, depending on how recovered I feel and how bored I am.

I spent last night at the new dojo painting, but I think I'm going to go to practice tonight - I don't want to go a whole week without practicing.

Water

...retention, that is. Between this weekend's nonstandard diet, Monday's cheat meal, Thai food last night for dinner, and it getting to be that time of the month, I'm probably about four or five pounds bloated. Not my favorite thing, but at least I know it'll pass.

Another challenging workout this morning - I really won't be able to lift my arms above my head if this keeps up. Tonight I'll be doing more work at the new dojo - we're trying to get everything done this weekend, so we can move in next week. It's still sort of fun, but I'll be happy when it's all done and I can go back to practice :P

Another Month

I'm officially eight pounds down from the beginning of June - which is precisely where I want to be. It's sort of funny, because my June 1 weight was pretty bloated, and today's weight is equally bloated, but it works out. Now I'm beginning my third month of stubbornly healthy living, and I hope the trends will continue.

This morning's Crossfit was a terribly long and difficult set of overhead presses - none of the bits were hard on their own, but dealing with the fatigue of the relatively few muscles involved is the point of the exercise. I kinda like it.

I went to karate practice last night, and it went reasonably well. I'm starting to get to the point where I can move in horse stance for ten minutes and not die, although it's still difficult. Tonight I'll be back in the new dojo texturing the walls, which will be interesting if I can't lift my arms overhead...

End of June

June was a pretty successful month - I didn't miss a Crossfit workout, nor a karate workout, I was pretty good about what I ate, and I lost just about the right amount of weight - possibly even a little more than I'd expected. I'm planning either a one- or a two-triplet Crossfit break next week - I try to do that every 8-10 weeks to give my body a little extra time to recover. With the amount of physical work I did this weekend, plus the fact that I didn't have a full rest day last week at all, I think I could use it.

July will have some interesting challenges - I'm taking a week of vacation, so my normal routine will be disrupted, and the last weekend of the month I'll be out of town, and I fully expect to eat horribly and drink a fair bit of alcohol over those three days. But the real test of a plan like this, for me, is whether it can stand disruptions in the routine. I travel pretty regularly, and over the last few years, travel has been what's broken my rhythm - I feel pretty confident that I'll make it through this time, though.

All in all, I'm very happy with where I am at the moment. I'm looking forward to being able to say that at the end of July, too!

More Drywall!

I went ahead and did my workout - it was just pullups and pushups, and I need as many of those as I can get. I had planned to sleep in a bit, but apparently all this clean living is too much for me, and I was up at my usual time. I'm off to go hang more drywall!

Drywall is Fun!

I did my Crossfit workout this morning, and did make it to the Farmer's Market, but then went and hung drywall for eight hours, had pizza, beer, and a popsicle. I think it was perfectly justified under the circumstances. :)

I may decide to skip the workout tomorrow, since I know we have plenty of work ahead of us. I'm going to wait and see what it is, first. I'm pretty bushed.

Incidentally, even after the cheat meal yesterday, I'm still solidly below Thursday's weight - actually perfectly on the trend. I'm pretty happy with that.

Ow.

Yesterday's karate workout was killer, as Thursdays usually are, and I had trouble sleeping because I was so sore. Then, of course, this morning's Crossfit was a pretty brutal circuit. Fortunately, I have tonight off, and I may or may not work out tomorrow, because I'm going to be helping paint the dojo most of the weekend. In all likelihood, I'll work out tomorrow and then take Sunday off.

I missed my afternoon snack yesterday, and really felt it. I'm also waaay low this morning, weight-wise - another 2.5 pounds down - which means I'm probably at least a little dehydrated. I'm going to have a cheat meal for lunch, I think - I've earned it!

Pictures From the Dojo

One of my fellow students has some pictures from the old dojo - the one without A/C - up here.

I don't have the emotional connection to the place that the more senior students do, but I do like it. It's got a very authentic and unpretentious feel to it. I don't think moving to a new location will change that too much, even if the new location is in a strip mall - but I will miss this place.

A little. Only a little. Yay, A/C!

Milestone #1

Finally, I've broken through that pesky little number that's been bugging me all week. This marks 16 pounds (actually 17.2 pounds) since I started this plan on May 5th - just under eight weeks. I've got 30 or 40 pounds to go, but this is a significant step. Milestone #2 I'm going to set a bit further out - 25 pounds - and expect it to take about three months instead of two. So, my initial estimate will be the very end of September. That will put me in close range of my goal weight (although that goal is sort of fuzzy, depending on how I feel when I get there. My weight always used to range over about 15 pounds depending on how much I was working out and how much muscle I was carrying.)

In other news, the bison ribeye I'd gotten at the farmer's market is divine. I could easily have eaten the entire pound of meat, but I decided to hold off to spread the enjoyment over a few days :)

Once Again

I'm sitting .2 pounds above my current milestone. The good part is, it means that this weekend's unusual bump is over - the bad part is... .2! Again! Really quite annoying.

White belt class is always interesting - the instructor who usually teaches it moves very fast. We tend to cover a lot of ground, but I don't generally get time to focus and perfect the new stuff until one of the general classes. Sort of the reverse of what I expected, but it works out ok anyway.

The morning's Crossfit was one that had a bunch of different exercises back-to-back, very fast - circuit-traning style. I tend not to like them very much, but they're probably pretty much ideal practice. My overall progress at Crossfit is fairly slow these days, but I'm getting so much exercise overall I really can't bring myself to worry too much about it.

Another Day

My theory was correct, and yesterday's spike was entirely water - by noon, it was almost all gone. I'm still up about half a pound from late last week, but I'm not worried about it.

Snatches - proper full-depth snatches - were the order of the day. It's a difficult, very technical lift, and I'm still not very good at it, but I got through it, and even added a little weight. Now if the gym would go back to playing music instead of having the radio with the morning show on, I'd be perfectly happy. I don't particularly enjoy listening to commercials when I'm trying to concentrate.

Karate went reasonably well last night. I feel like I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to really buckle down and concentrate, because I'm having to do more complicated things, and I don't quite have the basics fully grooved in yet. It's a pretty normal phase for me when learning some new physical activity, and it's not a fun one, but it won't last all that long.

I was looking yesterday at a program for working on pushups - it's sort of interesting, and looks like something I could probably add to my day without killing myself. I may try it starting in July. I'll link to it later if I do decide to commit!

Monday Again

It just keeps coming around, doesn't it? This morning's workout was the dreaded "Run 5k" - I went to the gym and used the treadmill, because there's no point in torturing myself if I don't have to. It was actually a good opportunity to try out my fancy new shoes. I only ended up running 2 miles, because after about a mile and a half my calf started twinging - the new shoes force me much more onto my toes than I'm used to - and I decided not to push my luck. Other than that, though, it went pretty well.

Never did make it to the store last night, but I'll go today during lunch. Instead, I made a garlic shrimp soup, and it was delicious - fresh shrimp from the farmer's market are delightful. I'm even more bloated this morning, but if my body fat calculator is to be believed (which it really isn't) it's just bloat. I looked back through my entries and it's a bit early for my monthly water retention and cravings, but my cycle has never been anything like regular, so I guess we'll see.

Looks like this weekend we'll be preparing the new dojo - it's a no-rest weekend for me, but depending on how much help they need I may swap out painting walls for one workout or the other.

Real Rest

I've got the entire day off today, and while I may go splash around a bit in a pool, that's all I'm going to do, physically. My legs feel better today, but still tired, and they need the recovery time.

I need to tighten up my Zone plannning - I've gotten way too half-assed about it. I'm going to hit the grocery store today and make sure I have everything I need, and try to hit every meal this week with the correct amounts and proportions of everything. I don't regret cheating an extra bit this weekend, but part of the reason for that is I've been really bad about cooking vegetables, and so I just haven't been getting all the carbs I'm supposed to.

Ah, The Weekend

So I'm not below my milestone weight this morning, because yesterday I ended up having not one but two cheat meals (the second being, well, cheating.) I'm not that far off of it, but half a bag of cheese popcorn generally makes me a wee bit bloated. So it goes.

Pullups yesterday and today, en masse, answering my grumbling about not doing enough of them this past month. I suspect I won't be able to raise my arms above my head tomorrow. I don't mind that much, though, because it's my legs that desperately needed the rest.

The rest of the weekend is dedicated to vegging out - I didn't do nearly enough of that last weekend.

Still On the Edge

I'm still hovering just above my milestone - of course, as soon as I start really caring about the daily numbers, they misbehave :P I'm still essentially on track, I just want to cross that line!

Crossfit was not easy this morning, but I did the whole sweaty 15 minutes of it - 90 assisted pullups, 90 thrusters. It's been a while since I did that many pullups, but at max assist they weren't too bad. I could do quite a few with less assist, but the workout was very clearly designed as a light-weight very fast one, so I didn't try to push it.

I was thoroughly trashed for karate last night - it's been a really long week for my poor quads. I'm getting better at getting through the workouts without my legs turning to jelly, but last night was kind of pathetic. I'm hoping we'll get our move date soon - I think that not having to train in 100+ degree heat will improve my endurance overall.

About Crossfit

(I figured I should do a general-purpose explanatory post or two about the things I mention every day, just in case someone other than my mother ever encounters this blog. Hi, Senpai Amy!)

I don't remember where I first encountered Crossfit - probably ask.metafilter.com - but at first glance I was wildly intimidated. The workouts, as written, are HARD. They're aimed at professional athletes, firefighters, Marines, and the like, and my doughy little ass is not of that caliber. But as I read more about the philosophy of it, I decided I liked it.

I've been lifting weights since my freshman year in high school. I've always done some variation of a bodybuilder-style workout - moderate reps, heavy weight, either a three-day split or a full body workout three times a week. It always worked out reasonably well, if I stuck with it, but as I got older (and didn't have regular athletic competitions to keep me motivated) I found it harder and harder to stick to it. I'd been following John Stone's site (worth checking out - his accomplishments are pretty incredible) but I wasn't really finding that philosophy of diet and training to be that successful with my no-longer-teenage body.

Enter Crossfit - a very different style with very different goals. Where John Stone is a bodybuilder, with aesthetics being his primary motivation, Crossfit preaches functional fitness - which is why it's so popular with military and law enforcement types. Instead of worry about "symmetry" and "definition," Crossfit talks about "power" and "endurance." After thinking about it for a while, I decided that I was much more interested in being fit than looking fit, and started doing scaled-down versions of the workouts back in October of last year.

They were hard. No, REALLY hard. But I discovered that I looked forward to the challenge every day, and the variety kept me from getting bored. I worked out consistently through the end of February, and really enjoyed it. I wasn't worrying about diet at all, but I was happy to see my times go down and my weights go up every morning in the gym, and that was good. Then I went out of town for a week, joined a WoW guild, and proceeded to order way too much pizza and drink way too much caffeine through March and April, and lost my rhythm.

There was no question, though, when I set my current goals in May, that Crossfit would be my conditioning program. It challenges me, keeps me interested, and it's also really efficient - I'm in and out of the gym in 20 minutes, most mornings. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking to get into shape.

Argh

.2! Just .2 away! Most annoying, although I'm pretty confident I'll get it tomorrow. I also did the Crossfit Total this morning, and I went up ten pounds on my squat and five pounds on my press (finally) although my deads were rather pathetic - ten pounds less than my last effort. It's a net gain for the purposes of scoring, but still frustrating.

I'm looking forward more and more to my week off - I'm going to take at least a triplet off of Crossfit that week, possibly two, depending on how I feel. I'm pretty beat up at the moment, although that's mostly because of the 5k throwing my schedule off. But that week will be 8 or 9 weeks into it and that's usually when I take a bit of time to make sure I'm fully recovered - it always helps. Overtraining is not a good thing.

Half Rest

I'm glad of the morning off, as usual. My legs are sore in some new and interesting ways, and they'll be better for the time. This morning's weight drop wasn't exactly precipitous, but it's about half a pound better than anything so far - I'm .8 away from my first major goal. I'm only a little impatient about it :P

Had a good time at karate last night, even if my legs hate it - days where we do mostly slow stance work are getting easier, even if they're not easy yet. I'm feeling pretty good about my progress as a whole, and I just hope that my work schedule doesn't do anything drastic to make it impossible to continue. I think at this point I'd rather cut back on Crossfit than karate, if it comes down to it.

Tired

Adding the 5k this weekend really took it out of me. Fortunately for once Crossfit didn't have any leg component at all, so I got through that just fine, but I'm pretty tired. I confirmed my upcoming vacation, which I'm very much looking forward to - I doubt I'll take time off from working out, but it'll be nice to be able to do whatever I feel like during the day for ten days, sleep in, etc.

I'm holding steady, weight-wise, and this would suggest I'm due another precipitous drop. We'll see how it goes - I've been playing fast and loose with my diet. I've still really only eaten healthy stuff, but I have been moving more towards small amounts of fruit and away from large amounts of greens. Greens are either boring or require cooking, and I have not been feeling energetic enough to cook much lately.

Another Monday

I'm not super excited to start the week, to be honest - I'm looking forward to scheduling some vacation. I have lots and lots waiting for me if I can ever get away long enough to take it.

I was able to do my workout at the park this morning instead of going all the way to the gym, which saves me a ton of time. The gym's only a few miles away, but it's still faster to walk across the street. I did lots and lots of situps and some other bodyweight exercises (lunges, squat thrusts, etc) and while the workout felt almost too fast, I need the ab work - it's one of my weakest points.

Yesterday I decided to try to make up for the carbs I'd been missing in a more-or-less controlled fashion, and I think it helped. Even after that, I'm only up a fraction of a pound, and I feel less drained than I did this time yesterday.

Loooong Days

Yesterday was a extraordinarily long day. Up at 6AM for the race, then to karate for the practice/announcement, then to the farmer's market, then to IKEA for a few things, then a few hours at home before going to see some live music. I slept til noon today, and boy, did I ever need it.

Crossfit this morning was an interesting challenge - a long set of heavy squats in different positions. I pulled it off reasonably well, although I had to drop a couple of attempts towards the end. My legs haven't gotten much of a break lately, but they're getting substantially stronger.

Otherwise, today I'm just going to rest, recover, and possibly do some laundry.

Running

Got up at an outrageous hour this morning and ran a 5k. My time wasn't anything special, but I'm not too displeased, given the heat and the hilliness of the course. It should be within a minute or two of my previous time, which was in much cooler weather and on an almost entirely flat course.

We had a special all-school karate practice and meeting afterwards - the practice was predictably hard, since I was so wiped out, but the meeting revealed the welcome news that the school is moving to a space that a) has air conditioning and b) is actually closer to my house. So overall, I'm very pleased. The only down side is it looks like we won't actually move in for another month or so, so we'll still get most of the summer heat.

Stopped by the farmer's market after that and was tempted into a bison ribeye, which won't be particularly healthy but it will definitely be delicious. The sirloin I got last week is incredibly good, and a fattier cut will only taste better! I'm not terribly worried about the extra fat, though, since my weight loss is still very much on target.

Unexpected Rest

Today wouldn't normally be a rest day, but the workout is mostly running, so I'm just switching it out for tomorrow's rest day - tomorrow, I run a 5k. It would be silly to run a mile and half today and then try to do twice that tomorrow.

I made a point of eating more salty stuff than normal yesterday, and it helped a lot at karate - I need to keep an eye on that, because I'm just sweating so hard. I drink a lot of water anyway, but if I don't have enough salt, my blood pressure gets too low and I get dizzy, which is a bad thing.

Otherwise everything is looking good - happy Friday!

So Close

I'm actually a little disturbed by the speed of my weight loss the last couple of days - I think I'm not eating enough. I'm half a week ahead of schedule as of this morning. I'm not going to make any drastic changes - water retention is just too variable, especially in this heat - but I am going to keep an eye on things.

Last night in karate I was whining about how my quads are not strong enough to do some of the moves at the proper depth. This morning, my karma came to bite me - the Crossfit workout involved single-leg squats. If they're not strong enough, I guess I better get them strong enough, or I'm going to spend a lot of time whining!

I ordered a new pair of shoes yesterday - I tried to buy them at the store so I can maybe use them Saturday in the 5k, but only one store in town carries them, and they didn't have my size. I should get them early next week - I'm excited! They're Vibram Fivefingers - sort of the logical next step in my increasing fondness for barefoot-style shoes. I would have cheerfully stuck with the Nike Free 4.0s but no one carries them any more, and I'm not nearly as happy with the 5.0s.

Late!

I had a pretty typical morning, but somehow got distracted and didn't do any of my morning logging and blogging. This morning's workout was heavy deadlifts, and I was in very good form - my last set of three was only ten pounds under my best single rep in May. That's right about where I was in February, I think, and I should be back up to my previous single-rep max. I really like heavy lifting days - I tend to be better at them, comparatively, than the lighter and faster workouts.

Karate was good last night - I got to learn the first kata. It'll take me a while to get it completely down, but it won't be too difficult. I also decided to run a 5k this weekend with one of the senior students - I ran one back in February, which went quite well, and it's time for me to do another.

I need to get myself to eat more at meals - I've been really bad about getting all my carbs in, and I need to crack down on that. Otherwise, though, I'm very pleased with my progress.

Another Low

Surprisingly light this morning, although I wonder if it doesn't have something to do with missing breakfast yesterday. I went to do the dishes after working out, and discovered that the dishwasher hadn't drained properly - had to call a plumber. Turned out the dishwasher drained into the disposal, which was shot, and I had him just remove it and replace it with regular pipes. I never liked disposals anyway, and I'm happier without one.

This morning is a rest day for Crossfit, which is always nice. Karate wasn't too bad last night - we did enough varied things that I didn't get too tired in any one area. It's really nice to have something to look forward to every day, and it's also nice to be able to get up and walk away from work at the end of the day - it helps with the separation, which is something I've had trouble with, working from home.

Anyway, I should go do those dishes now so I don't miss breakfast again!

Dripping Sweat

This morning's workout was all running, so instead of going all the way to the gym I ran on the little gravel track across the street. It's nice enough, but man, it's hot outside - even at 8AM.

Ended up having a sufficiently relaxing day yesterday, which I enjoyed. I still need to do a few chores today, but it's easy enough to do laundry when I sit around the house all day anyway.

I'm looking forwards to hearing the black belts' stories about their training weekend in New York tonight! They were so excited before they left - I'm sure they'll have good ones.

Sunny Day

Worked out this morning, although I didn't start my timer correctly, which is annoying - if I don't get an accurate time, it's hard to compare the next time I do the exercise. Looking forward to another mellow day today.

I cooked fish last night, although I was too tired - and still full from lunch - to eat any of it, so I'll have that today. It smelled lovely, and I'm looking forward to it. I need to hit the store as well and pick up a few things. Other than that and a bit of housecleaning, I don't have any major plans - and I like it that way!

Ah, Saturdays

Got up this morning, went to the gym with my usual buddy, then went to the pool and swam a couple hundred yards, then had a lovely lunch as my cheat meal for the week. The workout was more legs... sigh. Well, they'll be hard as rocks by the end of the summer, at this rate.

I have plenty of yummy food from the farmer's market, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend!

Rest Day

Yay for rest days! I definitely need it. The way the timing worked out, I didn't get a full rest day last week at all, so I'm pretty tired.

I'm at another new low today, weight-wise - it's going down steadily on average, even when the day-to-day weight has its ups and downs. Only four pounds to go to my first milestone! I'm hoping to hit it by the 20th or so.

Karate last night was not very stressful, which was a relief. I'm not sure if I could have handled another hour of stance work. I worked with some instructors I've only seen once before, so that was nice. They are all very different in their teaching styles, so it gives me a mich wider perspective on all the things I'm learning.

Just What I Needed

...more leg work. And cramps. I'm going to keep this short, because I'm just wiped out.

I did my squats, unfun as they were, and Karate last night was good. It was actually much less taxing than Tuesday, because the instructors were switching nights this week. I'm not sure who's teaching tonight - it should be interesting.

Tomorrow is a full rest day - much needed!

Progress

Tomorrow is the official one-month mark since I started this blog - I'm doing pretty well. I'm coming along reasonably well in Karate, and should qualify for my advanced white belt by the end of this week. I haven't missed any Crossfit workouts, and I'm getting back to where I was in February (although it seems like my progress is a bit slower than I expected, probably because I'm dividing my efforts.) I've stuck to the Zone pretty well, and I've only had a couple extra cheats here and there. My weight is actually right where I'd hoped it would be. If I can keep this up for a couple more months, I'll be in really good shape.

A New Low

Officially ten full pounds down today, from my starting date of May 5th. That's perfectly on target, and I'm quite pleased. The morning's workout was heavy snatch singles, which for me is mostly practice on the technical side, since I'm not very good at it - I can barely add weight to the bar at all. It went just fine, though, and I actually feel pretty good about it.

I was very grateful last night for the kinds of intense Crossfit workouts I'm used to, because we did a very similar kicking drill - basically kicking as fast as we could on one target, then running across the room to another target, then back again, for two minutes or so. We divided up by weight class and while my actual kicking was much less competent than my more senior fellows, I kept up with the pace without much difficulty.

I finally used the ground bison I had gotten at the farmer's market a few weeks ago, and the resulting chili is delicious. I may actually get a steak next time, just to try it out.

I Hate Mondays

Even rest day Mondays - I'm just all groggy and confused. I had my usual shake with whole milk instead of skim today, because the dairy stall at the farmer's market was out of skim - man, it's really yummy that way. I was actually adding oil to the shake to make it zone-correct so I just skipped that part, and I'm assuming it works out about the same.

Karate tonight, if I can stay awake that long!

June

I recalculated my blocks using a higher activity factor and my current weight and body fat, and I got 15 blocks - up from twelve. I'll try that for a week or two and see how it goes. The other new thing this month is that I'm doing John Stone's 100 Challenge - the idea is you plan out your food and workout goals, start with 100 points, and deduct one point for each deviation. I'm not sure how much I need the reinforcement right now, but I've done this a few times in the past, and it's been helpful.

This morning's workout was the same type as yesterday's, although I found it slightly less taxing. Lunch yesterday was not particularly clean - a hamburger and grilled potatoes - but it was certainly yummy. I need to get back on the wagon this week, though. My PMS should be mostly over by now, anyway.

Down about 2% body fat in May, according to my (not terribly accurate) scale. That's a good number, although I have quite a ways to go yet. I'm still hoping to hit Milestone 1 in mid-June-ish, and then I'll be able to see where Milestone 2 should fall.

Late!

Slept til 11:30, so I got my day started fairly late. Hit the Farmer's Market, then met my workout buddy for a brutal, albeit brief, workout, and then had lunch. Tomorrow will either be the official workout or another hike, depending on the weather and the state of my legs.

I just wrapped up my workout spreadsheet for May, and I'm proud to report that I didn't miss a single one - nor did I miss any of the weekday Karate workouts. (I have never had any intention of going to the Saturday ones unless there's a specific reason.) My diet hasn't been quite so perfect, but it's been pretty damn good, and I'm pleased with my overall progress.

Tomorrow I'll get my official June starting stats and re-run my Zone numbers based on them. I don't expect a significant change - my overall body fat percentage has only dropped a point or so - but I want to make sure I've got it all done right. It's been a good month, and I look forward to stretching it into a good summer!

The Crossfit Total

The CFT is the strength benchmark for Crossfit - it's best of three attempts at three different lifts. It comes up every month or so, and today was the day. I'm happy to report that despite my slacking since February, I actually got a new personal best score.

The squat was one I'd been having technical trouble with - I wasn't going deep enough - but I got past that in January. This time, I did ten pounds better than January and I think I could have gone higher. All that leg work in Karate is paying off! The overhead press went well, too - I matched my personal best, although I couldn't quite pull off the attempt at 5 pounds higher. The deadlift was a bit lower than my best, but only a bit. My first attempt was 185, which was fine, then I tried 205 and failed it, then tried it again and succeeded by the skin of my teeth. My best on the deadlift is 215, although my best in the CFT was 210, so between that and my successful squat I actually scored 5 points more than my last CFT.

The best part is, I did this the morning after a particularly brutal practice. Thursdays practice is run by an ex-football player who's really into the conditioning side of things. Lots of leg work, both stances and kicking. I like her practices, but they really wear me out. I was a little nervous about making heavy attempts this morning, but it all turned out ok.

My diet is still a little ragged - I went out for lunch yesterday and it was definitely a cheat meal - but I'm half a pound down again this morning. Looks like I might hit my target after all! I only have 6.5 more pounds to hit my first milestone, and I think my target of mid-June might prove to be pretty reasonable after all.

The Scale Moves In Mysterious Ways

Despite having given in to cravings and eating an entire bag of (organic, all-natural, at least) tortilla chips yesterday, I'm at a new low this morning. *shrug* I'm glad, but it's hard to get that excited when I really don't understand the reason, nor can I feel confident that it won't all come back tomorrow.

Today was a rest day for Crossfit, so I got to sleep in an extra hour and a half - much appreciated. Karate last night was fun, pretty active, but not as painful as last Wednesday, which is nice. I suspect tonight will be the hardest night. I have managed to learn to count to ten in Japanese, which earned me some surprise and praise last night - it's not all that hard, but I guess white belts usually don't.

Having slept in, I'm now way behind on my breakfast - I should go take care of that!

Hump Day

Ah, strength training. I much prefer it to cardio or circuit training. I'm not far off where I was for the shoulder press, either, which felt really good. My shoulders are sore from punching targets last night, but it didn't stop me from putting up some decent numbers.

I'm definitely PMSing - I was hungry all day yesterday, in a way that's typical for this part of my cycle. I definitely didn't eat as correctly as I should have, but as there's no really unhealthy food in the house, I'm not too worried. I keep good dark chocolate on hand for just such emergencies :)

Speaking of being hungry, I'm going to go make something to eat!

In the Dark

I set up some new bookshelves in my bedroom in such a way that they block the light from the window. It's lovely when I'm sleeping, but there is a downside - I found it unusually hard to pry myself out of bed this morning. Of course, it didn't help that I had a particularly brutal circuit planned at the gym. I got through it with good form, but my endurance still isn't that high.

It occurs to me that I'm just about due to start my period, and that is probably contributing to my overall slow weight loss. Water retention for hormonal reasons is no joke! I am going to re-run my Zone numbers next weekend, as it's been about a month, but otherwise I think this is a pretty reasonable plan so far.

Looking forward to karate tonight. I was thinking last night that as physically ready as I was for the extra time off, I would have gone had there been class.

Cheating

I had a dinner last night that almost wasn't a cheat meal, but not quite. I'll have to forgo cheats during the week. I regret that extra two pounds of water retention, because today's workout would have been easier without it - although in retrospect I'm glad I skipped the pullups on Saturday, because it would have made today's workout doubly difficult. Today's workout involved muscle-ups, which are a pullup that transitions into a dip - so you start hanging below the bar and end up braced above it. I had to cheat like mad to do it - I sat on the floor with the bar above me and used my legs to push up through it. I just don't have the strength to do anything like an unassisted pullup, let alone a full muscle-up. Even with the modification, they were damned hard.

I got a lot done yesterday around the house, and today my goal is to give it a thorough cleaning. I went to the store yesterday as well, so I should be set for food for the week. I am glad I don't have karate today, although I'm looking forward to going tomorrow. White belt class has been very productive - and fun!

Rest Day

I did end up taking a 8-ish mile hike yesterday, so I'm doubly excited to have a full rest day. The extra day off karate tomorrow will help, too. The most strenuous thing I'm going to do today is go to the gym and get in the hot tub.

Nothing else of note happened yesterday - I ate reasonably well (fresh peaches and cottage cheese - yum!) and otherwise was lazy. I look forward to repeating the performance today.

Long Weekends Rock

They just take so much of the pressure off of Saturday mornings. I hit the farmer's market first thing, and, although it's not a rest day, skipped the workout (mostly running) in favor of a nebulous plan to go hike town lake later today. It's been so nice, and I could definitely use the sunshine!

This weekend my goal is to get the house really clean, and to stop by Lowe's and pick up a bunch of things to make bits work better. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) I have no intention of having any cheat meals - or at least none worse than the egg-n-cheese breakfast tacos I had this morning.

Finally Friday

Yesterday was just as bad as Wednesday - lots of slooooow kicking, lots of stance work. Thankfully, this morning's crossfit was a simple core strength workout. I used the lowest scaling and am infinitely grateful, because my legs are fried.

I felt better yesterday - went out for sushi for lunch, actually - but still oddly un-hungry. I'm not exactly complaining, but it is strange. My water loss does indeed seem to be over, and I'm down just half a pound from yesterday, which is about normal. I'm still hoping to get another pound and a half or so off this week, to catch up to where I'd be without the massive salt spike, but I'm not going to die if it doesn't happen. I'm also not going to have another cheat meal quite that epic for a while - it was fun to indulge, but I don't think the second drink and the chocolate peanut butter shake were worth the extra couple of days of mild annoyance.

Happy Thursday!

Last night's practice was brutal - lots of stance work, lots of kicking. Good stuff, but I could barely walk by the end of it. I felt a lot better this morning, though, and fortunately my crossfit workout wasn't leg-focused. Still quite tiring, and I'm glad Monday I won't have karate, but I'm doing ok.

I had an omelet for breakfast yesterday instead of my usual shake, which was lovely, but I felt vaguely nauseous and un-hungry all day. I had a small lunch, forced down a snack so I wouldn't faint during practice, and then had a shake for dinner (while soaking in the bathtub, actually.) I feel a little better today, but definitely not super-hungry as I would expect. I imagine my body's just adjusting to the workload.

Finally dropped the last of the water from my cheat meals, and I'm back down where I was the end of last week. It looks like I'm still right on target overall, which is what I'd hoped. I finally got around to fiddling with my chart so it actually shows my trend line correctly, and it looks good - other than the one spike from Saturday's adventures, I'm solidly dropping. I should hit my first milestone by the second week of June, at this rate (16 pounds down.)

Resting!

Mmm, the extra hour of snoozing was most welcome. I'm still going to karate tonight, so it's not a full rest day, but it's lovely nonetheless.

I had my week's cheat meal yesterday - Indian food - and as a result I'm still holding steady, weight-wise. I'm hoping that I see a pretty substantial drop over the next couple of days as I eat nothing but good stuff and get rid of a lot of the water I'm holding.

I'm probably going to have to hit the store again some time this week - it appears I overestimated how long my salad greens would last, and I'm running low on green stuff in general. Guess I should finish the broccoli...

Happy Birthday?

That wasn't a very happy workout... ow. I'm pretty well wiped out - very glad tomorrow is a Crossfit rest day.

Karate last night was fun - I can see that I'll be able to go longer once or twice a week within a month or so, as my endurance improves. For now, an hour is plenty, particularly when it's supposed to hit 98 degrees today.

I spent half the day yesterday... ah, "shedding water" is probably the delicate way to put it, and I'm about halfway back to where I was before Saturday's epic saltfest. The extra block with dinner seemed to work fine, and I think I am going to hold here for a week or two and see how it goes.

Ow.

That was the most efficient trashing of my upper body that I've every participated in. I'm not going to be able to raise my arms tomorrow.

Still bloated from the weekend, but I expect most of it to drop off today. Weekends are always a little iffy for me, food-wise, because my schedule is just so much more irregular. Yesterday was lovely and relaxing, though - something I desperately needed.

I thought about my blocks and realized that I really haven't been doing 12 blocks, I've been doing 11. I'm going to add another block in, either as another one in my midafternoon snack or one more at dinner, to bring me to 12, which was my target in the first place. Next weekend I'll re-evaluate.

The Morning After

Last night's cheat meal proved somewhat more epic than I'd anticipated, with not only dinner but pool and a movie after, so I'm quite substantially bloated this morning. Sprinting wasn't exactly the most fun I've had with my clothes on, but at least it's over now.

Other than dinner, yesterday's food as a whole was pretty nonstandard, with breakfast tacos (eggs, meat, cheese) and fruit for breakfast, a snack in between, then Mexican for dinner. I'm not worried about it, because it was planned, but I'm looking forward to climbing back on the wagon today - I could definitely feel the difference.

Going to revisit my blocks at some point today. I'll post the results tomorrow.

Rest Day

Ironically, I'm out of bed by 8AM on my rest day, but I slept like a log for nine or ten hours, so I'm not complaining. Today is going to be physically relaxing and I have a substantial cheat meal planned tonight, which I'm looking forward to.

One other thing I get to do today is go to the Farmer's Market, which I desperately need, because I'm out of just about everything. The timing is pretty much perfect, actually.

My weight seems to be following a surprisingly consistent two-steps-forward, one-step-back pattern. I'll drop a bunch, gain half of it back the next day, hold for one more day, then drop a bunch more. Sort of odd, but hey, it's working! I do expect all the salt from tonight's dinner to throw me off, though.

So far, so good! I'm pretty pleased with this round of getting myself together, and look forward to being able to sustain it longer than usual.

Friday!

I hate Friday itself, but I can't wait until tomorrow. It's been a strenuous week, and tomorrow is a full rest day, finally.

I did my running and core work this morning, and had the same feeling I've had all week - that I should be able to go harder, longer, than I am, but still feeling absolutely wiped by the end. I'm hoping my perception and my performance start to sync up better in the next few weeks.

Karate was fun last night. I'm really enjoying it, and glad I decided to follow up on that whim. I'm going to shoot for three or four days a week - I might take one day off to match my Crossfit off-day if I feel like I need the recovery time, but otherwise I like going every day.

Food was fine yesterday, although I definitely plan to re-evaluate my blocks. I need to up my exercise coefficient a notch or two. I'm down again, weight-wise, and while I have a salty cheat meal planned for tomorrow, I think I'll be right at two pounds if not more lost by Monday - I'm down three as of this morning.

One other thing I did yesterday was sign up for John Stone's June "100 Challenge" - it's been a useful tool in the past, and since I'm daily blogging anyway, I might as well use it.

Sound and Fury

I woke up some time last night to some horrendous banging - seems there was a hailstorm. Not the most pleasant thing in the world to try to sleep through. As a result, I woke up five minutes before my alarm went off, wondering if the power had gone out and if I should get up and check. Fortunately, it hadn't, and other than a tree branch that was drooping precariously over my car, all is back to normal.

Cindy was obnoxious this morning - my quads are plenty stressed as it is, and more squats, even unweighted, isn't what I was hoping for this morning. My pushups are also pretty pathetic. But other than that, it went about as I expected - about 25% off from my best on that workout.

Karate last night was good - it was a proper class, if a small one, and we did some interesting drills. Half the fun is actually seeing other human beings in person, of course.

Still ok on the food, although I was ravenous last night and my dinner and my snack sort of blurred into one another. I think I'll see where I am sometime next week and recalibrate - I may need to go up a block or two because of the extra workouts. I may have two cheat meals this week, depending on whether we make it out for lunch or not, because I have dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Saturday, and I'm not going to bother to worry about diet at Maudie's. It's fine, though - I'm definitely on track to be two pounds down this week, and that's all I want.

Hump Day

Heavy deads this morning - I'm not where I was, certainly, but I'm not completely out of range either. It'll probably take me a couple weeks to get back to my peak, but that's it.

Karate last night was a treat - it was entirely one-on-one with the head of the school. Not physically strenuous, really, but I feel like I have a grip on most of the basic movements now. I'll probably go either three or four days a week until I get to the point where the intensity is higher and I need more rest.

Had that chicken yesterday, and, like all chicken, it was tolerable. I wish I liked it more. Otherwise, nothing interesting to report on the food side. I'm getting pretty accustomed to the Zone and it's really easy.

I was somewhat surprised to see that I'm pretty much at the same weight I was yesterday - I'd expected to regain some water. I'm going to need to keep an eye on it and make sure I'm not losing too much, too fast. No knee-jerk reactions, though - I'll need at least a two-week pattern before I worry, and last week doesn't count because of all the excess water.

Something New

It appears that my concern about my weight was premature, as I'm two pounds down from yesterday. That's probably mostly water, again, and it's probably a bit low, but it's reassuring nonetheless. Today being a rest day, there was no workout this morning.

Yesterday was interesting - about halfway through the day I got a wild hair and decided to sign up for a free karate lesson at the local women-run dojo. The class was last night, and while it was incredibly uncomfortable to do the stance work on my sore legs, I had a good time, and I've signed up for two months. It's not super-cheap, but it's a flat monthly fee, and they offer classes five days a week. I'm thinking it'll be a good way to do my core work and get me out of the house and among people some more, and I've always wanted to study a martial art in earnest.

I cooked the chicken last night, but didn't actually eat any - by the time I got back from the class I was too hungry to wait an hour, so I just had sliced turkey instead, and wrapped the chicken up and stuck it in the freezer when I was done. I'll have some of it today instead.

Targeting My Weaknesses

So of course, I complain about pullups and promptly have to do many, many more. They still suck. It's a good thing tomorrow's a rest day, because I'm sore all over.

Yesterday's food was fine, if a few blocks short (I slept in and decided not to try to make up for the missed meal.) I've held steady, weight-wise, for a couple of days. If I do for another day or so, I'm going to re-run my block calculations and make sure I did them right. All told, though, I'm a hair over five pounds down from last week - probably four of which was water. Easy part's over, now I'm going to have to scrap for my two pounds a week. Bring it!

Lazy Sunday

Is any day really lazy when it starts out with heavy overhead squats? I dunno, but the squats felt pretty good, actually. Used the foam roller a bit afterwards, because I am, in fact, a masochist. I'm not sure what effect it will actually have, but anything that hurts like that has to be good, right?

The fish last night was splendid, and I look forward to finishing it for lunch. At some point I need to thaw the chicken breasts, too. I don't actually like chicken, but I really need to find a recipe I don't hate, because it's a good source of lean protein.

Coming to the end of the first week, I'm confident that I'm off to a good start.

Cheat Meals

So, here's my logic on cheat meals: I know I'm going to do them anyway, and it's much less frustrating if I plan to have one once a week. Today was this week's cheat meal, and it was awesome. I feel very full now.

I did my Crossfit this morning with my regular weekend workout buddy, and it sucked. Hard. I've lost a lot of ground on upper-body stuff, and the pullups were not all that successful. I'll get it back pretty fast - I've only been lazy for two months, after all - but in the meantime I'm cranky about it.

After brunch we went to the local farmer's market and I stocked up on fruit and veggies, got some lovely local milk, and got a filet of snapper for dinner tonight. It wasn't cheap, but it was such a fun environment - and the food looks sooo good - that I'm going to do that more often.

Steady As She Goes

Held steady, weight-wise, from yesterday - although dinner last night was a soup made with bullion, which is a LOT more salt than I've been eating all week, and I frankly expected to be retaining more water. Today is a rest day, so I lounged around in bed for an extra hour, which was most pleasant. I'm thoroughly sore.

It's been a very productive week for me on a number of levels. One of the reasons, aside from my long-term goal, that I wanted to get my act together was that when I'm eating crap and being a couch potato, my energy levels are nil and I get nothing done. I feel pretty good about the work I've done this week, and look forward to nothing but improvement.

Day 3

Not a morning filled with inspiration. I missed my last snack yesterday, and I think that's partly why I feel kinda woozy this morning. Did fine at the gym anyway, though - it was hard, and I had to collapse on the bench afterward, but I feel pretty good about it.

Sushi yesterday was yummy, although I think the rice was a little too carb-y and I got hungry pretty fast afterward. Dinner was steak and salad - no complaints.

Must eat now - I'm off.

Sprints!

Sprints are HARD. I'm not a terrible runner, considering, but it's been a long time since I did any sprinting, and I'm bad at it. It certainly felt like a workout, though.

Still shedding water, which is nice - the instant feedback makes these first few days easier. I finished the fish yesterday and had a nice cold dinner of deli turkey, fruit, and cheese. Tonight I'll be cooking the steaks, which should give me a few more options, and lunch is sushi!

I'm still feeling like I'm getting plenty to eat, and haven't had any overwhelming cravings yet. This is a nice contrast to the last "diet" I tried, South Beach, which had me nearly homicidal by the end of the first week. I have a day job in which I'm paid to be friendly and approachable, and that particular side effect was not at all helpful.

Children's Week

I did the Children's Week quests yesterday - both quests with my rogue, and the lower-level Horde ones on my belf. They haven't changed at all, but they're still a quick way to get a neat little pet and pick up a couple of flight paths if you've been lazy. I'll probably do it on my Alliance paladin as well, because... well, I have this extra ice cream, and it'd be a shame if it melted.

Instant Gratification

I love the for-once-I-didn't-eat-crap instant two-pound loss when I finally eat reasonable food. It's just water, but it feels so good!

This morning's workout was Elizabeth, who hammered home just how much ground I can lose in two months out of the gym. Even hang power cleans were nearly beyond me, let alone full cleans. I'll be blissfully sore tomorrow.

Yesterday was a good day overall - I got all my meals in, I believe I did them all correctly, and didn't feel hungry or in need of caffeine at all. I'm just on the far side of the physical detox from a two-a-day energy drink habit, so that's kind of a relief. The baked fish experiment last night went reasonably well, and I'll finish it for lunch. Next project - find something to do with chicken breasts that I actually like.

Off to finish my shake and take a shower!

Checking In

I haven't posted in months not because I haven't been playing, but because I finally joined a WoW guild, and they keep me busy. It's actually a RL friend's guild, and they're a crazy bunch of roleplayers. My rogue has been raiding Karazhan pretty regularly and is wearing quite a few epics, and my Alliance paladin has been recreated and powerleveled to the mid-thirties. My belfadin has been neglected somewhat, but gets Scarlet Monastery runs when we get sick of Alliance.

I may or may not write more regularly; I haven't decided yet. Our guild is blissfully drama-free at the moment, so it's not like I have a ton of great stories to tell.

Day One: Shopping

I just got back into town last night, so I had pretty much nothing at all in the house. I had protein powder, peanut butter, half a cup of blueberries, and some oatmeal for breakfast, and felt remarkably peppy for a Monday morning. For lunch I went to the grocery store after perusing the food lists in Enter the Zone, and lunch turned out to be some sliced turkey, a salad, and a glass of milk. I got a lovely-looking fish for dinner - now I just have to learn how to cook it.

I was all jazzed to start Crossfitting again, but today is a rest day. Ah, well, I'll probably be better off going tomorrow after a day of real food anyway.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a lot of work to get where I want to be, physically, but I'm going to get there. My short-term goals are to keep with the Zone for three months and not miss any Crossfit workouts if I can possibly help it for that long as well. That will put me at the beginning of August, and that's usually a good time for me mentally.