This has been a weird week of maintenance. I started up World of Warcraft again with my friends Joel and Amy, and this, I fully admit, has taken up the time I normally allot to updating this blog. (I *did* mention in the past that I’m a total OCD game junkie when it comes to RPGs, right?) We are running around on the Shadow Council server as a mini-herd of Tauren in the evenings, laying waste to all of the newbie level 10 and under critters around Thunder Bluff, LOL. Taurens are probably the silliest looking Horde characters out there. Playing one virtually demands that you choose a silly name. That is my rationale for the goofy names we are using: Surloyne (Joel), Tinderloyne (Amy), and Pocowhontas (me).

My observation about gaming for myself is that I tend to do a lot of mindless snacking when I’m whacking and blasting away at monsters. I’ve been at maintenance for the past three days because of this stupid habit, and my P&P tally is now back at 0. :crazy: I know my weakness now, though, and am armed with plenty of sugar free Jello and sliced raw veggies to tide me over. I’m also setting up the in-game timer/alarm so I don’t play until 2 am anymore.

It sucks, but gaming and fat loss are not particularly the happiest or most efficient of pairings.

Another change that is impacting my life this week is an internal transfer at work. Since my scripting tasklist for Geist was pretty much empty, I have been moved over to the Nintendo DS game development team to do what I was originally hired for: concept art and writing. I am terribly rusty at the drawing, but I’m picking it back up quickly. I am thrilled to have a reason to draw again, even if it’s stuff like military weaponry, vehicles, and soldiers rather than fantasy-based subject matter.

The transition hasn’t been bad at all since the new team is on “normal” hours of 10 am - 7 pm instead of the hell schedule of 10 am - midnight (or worse) of the Geist team, but the extra evening time has gone to my head a bit. The freedom to actually run errands and visit friends and family after work had me out and about a lot more this week than usual. Combine that with the Warcrack, and you’ve got one AWOL fitness fanatic in the Land of Blog.

:whistle:

The good news is that I have a lot more leeway to tweak my workouts now, including bringing back double cardio if I feel like it.

And my final bit of news: I am going on vacation Saturday through Wednesday to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and will probably not have Internet access during that time. I plan to stick to my plan as much as possible while out there, but I may end up doing a combination of 50/30/20 and the SGX eating patterns since SGX really is easy to take on the road. P90X and my resistance bands will be coming with me as well, and cardio will most likely be in the form of beach running. I have a feeling that said cardio will suck in a big way, but I have had enough of a fitness break already this week. I’m not going to extend it through next Wednesday, vacation or not.

Thank goodness the hotel room includes a full kitchen. The NASM course materials will arrive tomorrow via UPS, too, so I’ll have plenty to read while I’m out there. :prop:

Another elbow update: The elbow was feeling a lot better this week so I did a few test pull-ups. Now the stupid thing is sore once more. I’m going back to regular lifting for the next month and then I’ll see how the elbow is doing.

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6/15/05 P&P Challenge Report

Consecutive Perfect Days = 0
Total Perfect Days = 42/62

- 1977 calories eaten / +284 surplus
- 39.6% carb, 48.1% protein, 19.1% fat
- 1 unauthorized meal
- All supplements taken
- 16 cups water
- All planned workouts performed

Weekly Weigh-In:
5/1/05 - 135.4
5/7/05 - 135.0
5/14/05 - 134.8 lbs
5/21/05 - 135.8 lbs
5/28/05 - 134.4 lbs
6/4/05 - 135.6 lbs
6/11/05 - 135.0 lbs

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Nutrition: 1300-1500 calorie low zig zag day

1: 1/2 c. FF cottage cheese, 3/4 c. mixed berries, 2 T. oatmeal
2: 3×1 omelette, 1 c. spinach, 1 apple
3: Oatmeal tuna salad
4: Strawberry banana yogurt protein shake w/ flaxseed oil
5: Thai chicken pasta salad
6: 1/2 c. FF cottage cheese, 3/4 c. mixed berries, 2 T. oatmeal

Total: 1402 calories, 43.6% carb, 36.5% protein, 22.5% fat

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter
Water: 16 cups minimum

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Workout:
12:00 PM P90X X-Stretch
7:30 PM LISS Cardio - Treadmill (4 mph / 10% incline / 45 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Hit maintenance calories for the past 3 days due to game time snacking.

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Brownie Points:
1. Stuck with approved foods for game time snacking.
2. 6.5 hours of sleep.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Make forms for P90X module.
2. Cook remaining chicken breast in fridge.
3. Write up packing list for trip.
4. Finish the laundry.
5. Buy some potting soil so I can plant my newly-arrived strawberry plants in their growing bags.
6. Buy/make containers for growing other fruits and veggies from seed.