fitness challenge

atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Atlantis!

I love me some Atlantis stories. And I like how my role as a character changes mission to mission. Sometimes they do a riff on the number 5 and sometimes they just give me a new job like in this one; which is a hunter of sorts. It’s a classic with a silly professor and the guy who hired ‘me’ is shady as fuck and we’re after some magical macguffin. I’m enjoying it!

I used up the rest of the dumplings and rice for lunch and – since the fridge clean out is still in progress – I added broccoli from the freezer. I used more of it with dinner which was lemon pasta with spring garlic and parmesan. I made enough to pack for lunch tomorrow and dinner for the kid (if he eats it). I used an olive oil, butter, and pasta water mix for the sauce with that lemon olive oil from Trader Joe’s. That stuff is so great for cooking. I may need to find a cheap way for me to make it myself.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Back to the Home Front

I was looking through the app again and I saw I hadn’t finished the Home Front workouts. I’m not really a D&D person but it’s still interesting to me that they tied in Sam’s adventure with the workout. I needed a day off from running since I wasn’t feeling up to it and this was a perfect fit. I snuck in some arm work with my kettlebell, too. I still need to run a couple more times this week but I’m glad to get some muscle work in.

When I prep my lunches, I usually do them two at a time and end up eating the same thing. It works out well since I don’t use an entire ramen package; I break the block in half, pack everything up in the fridge, and grab it before I leave in the morning. Dinner was very random. I’m still working on getting rid of stuff in the fridge and I had some corn and pork dumplings hanging around. There’s some basmati rice, spring garlic, and some kimchi. The kimchi wasn’t the best, it was kinda bitter, if it makes any sense. Not tart like something pickled usually is. I’ll stick with chili crisp with the dumplings from now on.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Switch up

Another side story marked complete! I think for tomorrow I’m gonna give one of those bodyweight workout missions a try. Sometimes it’s nice to have a workout where I don’t have to put on a bunch of gear. What I have been noticing lately is that my knees will feel fine on the treadmill but when I walk downstairs to get dinner after, that’s when they decide to hurt. It’s really fucking annoying to feel amazing and strong after a run then feel decrepit and old moving around my own home.

I decided to change things up (and have less salt) by having lemon chicken instead of soy sauce. I even used the Trader Joe’s Lemon olive oil instead of regular olive oil and I really enjoy the extra flavor. Dinner was the leftover hand-cut fries and steak I’d made Saturday. Making fries at home is definitely a weekend type of activity because this time I’d let them soak for HOURS and they turned much better than only soaking for the minimum amount of time. Or I’d have to prep them to soak before I go to work. It’s probably for the best that they take so much time since I probably shouldn’t be eating fries too often anyway.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Taking advantage of laundry day

It’s probably not a good idea to admit how many workouts I’ve done that were spurred on by dirty clothes. Back when I only had one decent sports bra, I would literally put the damn thing on first thing on the morning to make sure I felt gross enough to do a workout to justify a shower because I let that filthy thing touch my skin. This isn’t the case these days but still, if I’m gonna have a morning to kill, I might as well mess up a sports bra with the promise that it would be clean by the end of the day. The method to my laundry madness is I do my bedding first since making the bed sucks. Hey, I’ll take any type of motivation. I’d used that back in lockdown; I’d put on my workout clothes first thing, then make sure I’d had a reason to put them on. Using my aversion to being filthy to workout is a little hack I’ve discovered. I dunno if I’d recommend it to anyone else.

I will freely admit that part of my motivation to run in the morning was that once I was done, I’d pop by my favorite bagel place for that and an iced coffee, only to find that they were closed. Look, my very Pagan Witch self forgets what non-Pagan holidays are happening sometimes, but I hid my very inconsequential problem by having a salad after my run. I did chores for the rest of the day and had the very lame victory of an empty hamper by bedtime. I had some steak and a potato laying around. I made myself some hand cut fries that were damn good! It’s pretty easy to have fries soaking and drying to fry properly when you’re doing a bunch of other cleaning around it. I even double fried them! Gosh, I’m so fancy. Or I’m seeing what cost-cutting measures I can take as the world burns down around me….

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout, And Yesterday’s

I should probably post the workouts day of, but I don’t always have time. I also figured it’d be doing people a favor to not put the image with the spider as the featured one. As I was fishing around the app to see what to do next, I noticed some of these side missions are body weight workouts, not running missions. I can’t believe I didn’t notice that before! I should be doing those on the weekends or something.

My food has kinda been all over the place? Maybe? I dunno. I’m enjoying it. In the Itaki, I tried out using a chopper like this one for the garlic and ginger to save time and mix it with the meat instead of the vegetables. It was okay. I do like that it takes less time to prep but sometimes it’s fun for me to have that random big ole chunk of garlic in a bite. The flavor is more even this new way, though. And there are days where I just don’t want to do a ton of chopping. Cooking is fun for me but it can also be tedious. 

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atthequillsmercy

Today and Another Day’s Workouts

Yeah, I procrastinated the fuck outta that initial workout post and just ended up forgetting all about it. Then I took the weekend off and picked things back up today. They were both really good runs where I felt that I could possibly keep going but I’m sticking to the plan.

These were the meals I’ve been having. I’m still working on cleaning out the old fridge which is why things like those random pork belly bites and hot pot are still happening. It’s gonna take a few more rounds of hot pot to eat all that meat… But, I’m slowly working my way through it all, cleaning stuff out, and also enjoying some high-protein meals. And this set of side missions in Zombies Run is are so silly and fun. Just the most random stuff is happening and it’s so overdramatic. I was never a theater kid but these are total theatre kid vibes. I end up laughing during my workouts.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Better Numbers!

I did my run after I got back from the doctor and while I don’t have the bloodwork results yet, my blood pressure is so much better. Still a little high but progress! I think being active more often is helping even if the scale doesn’t move. I can tell my endurance is improving and I’m having fun with these side missions.

Since I was up early enough (I like to schedule my appointments first thing in the morning to get them over with) I ate an actual breakfast before my run. Then I held out for my little hot pot for dinner. Obviously, I didn’t eat all of the beef/pork in that package and I went heavy on the veggies. I’m till working on getting all the food in the fridge eaten in preparation for the new fridge that… I haven’t heard about being delivered yet. Those people better not screw me over… Anyway, I have a little pot to boil the broth and had some meat and bok choy. There’s some white onion under there and I dipped the meat in sesame oil and garlic like yesterday except this time, I used a bit of spicy sesame oil. It’s just fun to eat hot pot and I can’t afford to always go into the city to hit up the good places. But, two nights in a tow is a lot. I’ll have to give myself a break and have some salads tomorrow. Not as a punishment, of course. I love me a good salad.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Things and Stuff

The runs are getting easier and easier and I’m actually kinda proud of myself for sticking with it. It would have been so easy to sleep in longer but, I think it made my day better to be active right away. The runs are going to get longer now and I’ve already been contemplating doing the 10k training once this is finished. We’ll see how it goes.

I should probably be eating before I do my run but eh, I’m used to skipping breakfast. Lunch was more of the garlic scapes and pasta and dinner was the usual as well. I’m gonna shake it up next week; maybe treat myself since I sold an item in my shop after so long. Another small step closer in stashbusting! I have so much to get through but much like the weight loss, it’s a little bit at a time. And if I can get out of debt by selling these things along with my writing, I’ll take whatever I can get.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Yikes on trikes

I try not to talk too much about the missions to avoid spoiling something for the 2 people who read this blog but, I gotta say, I’m not sure I like Evil Sam. The main story has him as this loveable, competent guy that hearing him be unhinged was off-putting. Props to the voice actor because, WOW. As for the workout itself, it went fine despite my knee hurting at various times of the day. I mean it would feel fine the entire run but once I went to walk down the stairs to make dinner, I’d get a twinge of pain. Very annoying…

I’d gotten a bakery set from Weee and decided to try the melon bread for breakfast. It was really good and perfect to just grab and go. Lunch was my usual but for dinner, garlic scapes are back in season and I LOVE those. I made pasta and cut up some Italian sausage, added olive oil, and put some flaked salt on top. Absolutely delicious and satisfying after a run and I only used one pot. All together, it was all under 1000 calories so, my caloric deficit is doing very well.

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Today’s Workout: It happened again

I got so little sleep last night. I was up tossing and turning with terrible gas pains because I restarted my Saxenda. If I go out with friends, I stop taking it so I don’t end up sprinting for a bathroom randomly; particularly if I’m spending the day in the city. The downside is when I restart, the side effects are worse than normal. As I’d gotten no decent rest, I didn’t trust myself on a treadmill and finally dusted off the ole kettlebell.

I’m not ashamed of the fact I snagged a doughnut at the morning meeting at work but since it’s April Fool’s day, the calories don’t count since I didn’t take a picture. Lunch was normal but I was not going to bother cooking when I got home and didn’t want too many calories. Popcorn was my solution; just a small bowl with Trader Joe’s Garlic Citrus Seasoning on it. It took way too many gas pills to get through the day but I’m still declaring it a success.

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