Monday, January 18, 2016

Mission Update 001

Mission Update 001

The Mission got off to a rocky start. The early part of the Mission seemed like things were going well. I worked out Monday and Tuesday. On 2 separate occasions I was treated to Italian, my favorite food in the world, and chose a large grilled chicken salad over a carb-heavy pasta dish. I turned down a birthday cake. Things were looking great until mid week. That’s when my depression started creeping and I started feeling like crap emotionally. I was upset and bogged down with the feels and did what I always do in said situations: I sat around, dwelling on everything, and eating my feelings. Every good food decision I had made earlier in the week was undone by angry eating. It was horrible and I felt horrible doing it. It did not make me feel any better it just changed what was messing with my head.

By the weekend I had stopped working out and was eating all the crap. Honestly, other than the occasional snack size candy bar out of the leftover Halloween candy, what I ate was not all THAT bad I just ate for the wrong reasons and way too much. I began to think about why I was doing this I had an apostrophe. People who battle with depression tend to find a coping mechanism. Not everyone chooses a healthy mechanism. This is where cutting, drugs, alcohol, and other destructive vices come into play. Clearly my emotional eating is a coping mechanism but I am beginning to question the motive behind it. I am not eating to feel happy, because it doesn’t make me feel happy. Perhaps I am eating to have some kind of control in the absence of such.

Back to the Mission. Monday the 10th was better. I worked out, though I was not really into it. I did really well on the food but that was about it. My on-going depression was the biggest roadblock this week. I have done pretty well with my food, save for the belated birthday cake someone gave me. The deliciousness of that cake equaled the hate I felt for myself for having eaten it, but I did not want to be rude. It did not take me long to realize that I have lost the self-discipline needed to work out at home right now. I need some way to jump start a routine to help make it a habit. I have looked into a few options. I really like the DDP Yoga program but with my schedule, making the time is difficult. I need to do something soon since I am already behind schedule.

Looking at the specific Mission Objectives for Phase I, things are not going well to start:

Fitness
  • Complete DDP Yoga
    • I’ve only done about half of the workouts for the last 2 weeks
  • Complete C25K
    • have not even started
  • Get below 300
    • no idea, only weigh in once a month

Diet
  • Track as much food as possible
    • about 80% of everything tracked
  • Minimal sugar intake (including carbs)
    • not terrible other than a few emotional snacks and the birthday cake
  • No bored/stress/travel snacking
    • had a few setbacks as mentioned above and slipped a few times on breakfast

Life
  • Less frivolous spending
    • this has been really good, save for a few QuikTrip stops for breakfast/coffee
  • Improve time management/make better use of time/stay on task
    • not great, I am easily distra HEY LOOK A DUCK!
  • Do something creative just for me for at least 1 hour a week
    • not even a little bit, though I have a project to work on I just need to get the materials
The entire reason for the slow start is my depression. As I have explained before I have very bad seasonal depression and it is taking longer than usual to come out of it. I am not sleeping well so I am more tired than usual, and emotionally I just do not feel like doing anything. I just kind of am. Hopefully things will pick up soon, because Phase I Ops are vital to completing the overall Mission. Until next time may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

Monday, January 4, 2016

January Accountability Post

Each month I will post accountability pictures, weight, and measurement. These posts will come at the beginning of each month. Below are the starting photos and stats...

January Progress Photos




January Measurements

Neck: 17.5"
Chest: 56.25"
Waist: 56"
Hips: 54.5"
R Bicep: 15.25", 16.25" flexed
L Bicep: 14.75", 16.75" flexed
R Thigh: 30"
L Thigh: 29.5"
R Calf: 21"
L Calf: 20"


May the Force be with you and may the Power protect you

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

All New, All Different Captain


Welcome to the official 1st post of the newly relaunched This Is Your Captain Speaking. This blog will serve as an accountability system for my efforts to get healthier as well as an outlet to share my thoughts and creative endeavors. We will begin with my goals or Missions for 2016. These are not New Year's Resolutions. These are Missions. The structure of my Missions and how I will be reporting my progress is modeled after the Nerd Fitness 6 Week Challenge. I'll go into more detail on the awesomeness that is Nerd Fitness in a future post. For now let's get to the Mission Briefing.

I have over-all Missions for the year that will be managed quarterly with smaller Operations (Ops) leading to the overall Objective. Ops are broken into three categories: Fitness, Diet, and Life.

2016 Missions

  • Get down to 250 lbs - this is ~6 lbs per month
  • Complete Spartan Trifecta
  • Create something - this sounds vague but I know what it means and it is hard to put in words


Phase I Operations - Quarter 1


Fitness

  • Complete DDP Yoga
    • This is a 13-week program
  • Complete C25K
    • This is only a 9-week program but I am sure there will be weeks I need to repeat
  • Get below 300
    • This is completely doable and right in line with my over target for the year
Diet
  • Track as much food as possible
    • I will be using LoseIt, MapMyFitness, and Fitbit apps for this
  • Minimal sugar intake (including carbs)
    • Self-explanatory. Just cutting as much sugar out as possible
  • No bored/stress/travel snacking
    • This is my biggest problem. I bored eat. I stress eat. I drive a lot and tend to eat for something to do.
Life
  • Less frivolous spending
    • No stopping for snacks/drinks/drive-thru on daily commute
    • Basically only buy things I absolutely need
  • Improve time management/make better use of time/stay on task
    • I tend to get distracted easily, especially at work
    • Spend less leisure time on social media - big time waster
    • Multitask when possible
  • Do something creative just for me for at least 1 hour a week
    • Flex my creative muscle. This blog does not count.
I will post Mission updates regularly with the status of each Op. These Missions are flexible and can be updated and modified as needed. The Mission begins today (January 4th) my plan right now is to post Mission updates every other Monday so look for the 1st update in 2 weeks. Until then may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/