Staying Strong!

[EnbyFitness]

New check-in thread. Hello again, everyone :] Daily check-ins were not for me, so I'm going to start over and make this more of an occasional thing... maybe every month or so, maybe more often than that. Who knows?

Anyhow, I finished the Epic Arms challenge three days ago!! I hadn't finished a full, well, *anything* from Darebee yet, so I'm super proud of myself! Seriously, I printed it out, dated it, and plan to put it on my wall soon. People are also telling me that my arms look more defined, which has been a point of pride for me. I feel a lot stronger, for sure! I'm also about to finish the Zero Hero program in about two days...!! After that, I'm going to do 30 Days of Change!! Wish me luck, all!

I started doing Warrior Abs, but my feet won't stay on the floor during my sit-ups. By that, I mean my legs go waaaay up in the air in order for me to lift myself up. After doing some googling, I decided that I'm basically fine with that, and I hope that my feet get a little more stationary throughout the month, but as long as my abs are getting some exercise, it's okay with me. I chose to do the Path of the Hammer after my sit-up days. Stronger abs, here I come!

In other fitness news, I got myself a fitness watch: the Xiaomi Mi Band 8. I've had it for a month and I like it so far. I'm trying to reach my active calorie goal by doing some chores throughout the day, something I'm notoriously terrible at. The watch has basically shown me that I don't move all that much during the day, and given that my internship involves sitting down and taking calls, my school is 100% online, and my job involves editing my friend's novel... well, it's not that surprising, but I'm trying to change it. I got a yoga dice to stand up between calls, so that's been nice. The watch also reminds me to stand up, which I needed more than I realized.

In food adventures, I made two things from Darebeets: Chickpea Chocolate Chip cookies and Banana Chocolate cookies. The chickpea cookies were... alright. The texture was pretty weird, but I think that might be because I used a blender and not a food processor. I made the banana chocolate cookies today and they were pretty good; very fudgy and a little bitter, but not too bad. I think next time I'd cut back on the cocoa powder and wait until the bananas are even riper.

In grad school adventures? I'm almost halfway done with school!! Then I'll go be a social worker!! Once I graduate and get some money coming in, my partner can go back to school, too, while I take care of him for a little while. And somewhere along the way, we will get married. I love him so much... anyhow, I still don't know what my internship will be for next year. They're having a hard time finding me one, given that I don't have a car in a car-centric city, and that I'm transgender and have safety concerns, but... we'll see where I end up. I do hope to leave the suicide hotline. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did it and got the skills and I'm happy to connect with people, but it's a lot of emotional labor and I'd like to do something besides crisis work... it's intensive, to say the least.

Anyhow, I have an midterm for Research Methods I should be studying for, and a few discussion posts for my Intersectional Justice class to write... but watching some TV before reading a book in bed is too tempting to resist, so I'll work on that tomorrow. I hope everyone is having a good day. Stay strong, DareBees!! Bye for now!!

 

[graoumia]

welcome back, congratulations, and good luck for your next program !

 

[Fremen]

Welcome back

 

[Haleth]

Welcome back!

 

[Anek]

Welcome back!

 

[Obsinosterous]

Welcome back to the Hive!

 

[MadamMeow]

Congrats for Epic Arms!

 

[aku-chan]

Welcome back!

 

[ConcordLegend]

New check-in thread. Hello again, everyone :] Daily check-ins were not for me, so I'm going to start over and make this more of an occasional thing... maybe every month or so, maybe more often than that. Who knows?

Anyhow, I finished the Epic Arms challenge three days ago!! I hadn't finished a full, well, *anything* from Darebee yet, so I'm super proud of myself! Seriously, I printed it out, dated it, and plan to put it on my wall soon. People are also telling me that my arms look more defined, which has been a point of pride for me. I feel a lot stronger, for sure! I'm also about to finish the Zero Hero program in about two days...!! After that, I'm going to do 30 Days of Change!! Wish me luck, all!

I started doing Warrior Abs, but my feet won't stay on the floor during my sit-ups. By that, I mean my legs go waaaay up in the air in order for me to lift myself up. After doing some googling, I decided that I'm basically fine with that, and I hope that my feet get a little more stationary throughout the month, but as long as my abs are getting some exercise, it's okay with me. I chose to do the Path of the Hammer after my sit-up days. Stronger abs, here I come!

In other fitness news, I got myself a fitness watch: the Xiaomi Mi Band 8. I've had it for a month and I like it so far. I'm trying to reach my active calorie goal by doing some chores throughout the day, something I'm notoriously terrible at. The watch has basically shown me that I don't move all that much during the day, and given that my internship involves sitting down and taking calls, my school is 100% online, and my job involves editing my friend's novel... well, it's not that surprising, but I'm trying to change it. I got a yoga dice to stand up between calls, so that's been nice. The watch also reminds me to stand up, which I needed more than I realized.

In food adventures, I made two things from Darebeets: Chickpea Chocolate Chip cookies and Banana Chocolate cookies. The chickpea cookies were... alright. The texture was pretty weird, but I think that might be because I used a blender and not a food processor. I made the banana chocolate cookies today and they were pretty good; very fudgy and a little bitter, but not too bad. I think next time I'd cut back on the cocoa powder and wait until the bananas are even riper.

In grad school adventures? I'm almost halfway done with school!! Then I'll go be a social worker!! Once I graduate and get some money from payday cash advance app, my partner can go back to school, too, while I take care of him for a little while. And somewhere along the way, we will get married. I love him so much... anyhow, I still don't know what my internship will be for next year. They're having a hard time finding me one, given that I don't have a car in a car-centric city, and that I'm transgender and have safety concerns, but... we'll see where I end up. I do hope to leave the suicide hotline. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did it and got the skills and I'm happy to connect with people, but it's a lot of emotional labor and I'd like to do something besides crisis work... it's intensive, to say the least.

Anyhow, I have an midterm for Research Methods I should be studying for, and a few discussion posts for my Intersectional Justice class to write... but watching some TV before reading a book in bed is too tempting to resist, so I'll work on that tomorrow. I hope everyone is having a good day. Stay strong, DareBees!! Bye for now!!

Welcome back!

 

[EnbyFitness]

I am really behind on schoolwork and need to get so much done. I'm hoping maybe writing will clear my head a bit... that and my Ritalin...

Friends, I did not end up doing 30 Days of Change. Last minute, I decided to do 30 Days of Cardio Blast. I started strong.... and then stopped and did it so infrequently that I was on day 8 when I should've been at day 20. So I started over. So far I'm on day 4. I'm pretty glad I didn't jump into Change because Cardio Blast is labeled as being a lot easier, and maybe I'm just super unfit but it's been super challenging! I feel so out of breath when I'm done that I sometimes just lay on the mat after my cooldown and have trouble getting up. But hopefully my heart will be stronger and it'll get easier.

I've also been following the Mediterranean diet with my partner. It's been pretty good so far! A lot more salads than the two of us are used to. He told me last week that he really enjoys salad now, and we started reminiscing over when we first met and he said he hated vegetables. He has come a long way.

Speaking of, I've been packing him bento boxes every night before he goes to work. He's a manager and works 10+ hour days, and he used to just... eat, like, a small packet of Goldfish for that whole time. So I've recently started packing him lunch and I started getting really into it, making everything look pretty and leaving him little notes. I got fruit cutters from Amazon and I used it to make his cucumbers in his salad look like little stars. It's dorky, but it's also weirdly calming.

In social work news--I have finals coming up for my summer semester! I have to take an exam for my Research Methods class, which has probably been my least favorite class so far in my MSW. It's a lot of math and technicalities. It'll probably be helpful when it comes to doing Program Evaluations--something I really want to do--but it's also just boring and I don't like it. For my Women & Gender class, my final is a research paper, and I chose to write about non-binary employment discrimination. I have a friend who's a professor and they were telling me about some of the harassment they received at the most recent university they worked under. I want to write the paper in their honor, and also be a social worker to help others going through the same thing.

I also need to figure out where my internship will be next semester. I don't want to be on the suicide hotline anymore; I don't mind the emotional intensity of it but at this point I'd like to try and do something else. I'm having trouble finding something because I don't have a car, but I think I might call my local rape crisis center tomorrow and see if I can work something out with them. If not... well, I guess I'll keep on the hotline. At least I've been getting up between calls to stretch and do a level 1 Darebee workout, which has been good for my mental health on shift.

Alright, my Ritalin is kicking in now, so I'm going to do school. I'll see ya'll later! Stay strong, DareBees!

 

[EnbyFitness]

Guess who just hurt themselves by going too hard during exercise? (It's a sarcastic smile.)

I was doing day 13 of Cardio Blast again. I say again because I was trying to do it yesterday but didn't get through my sixth set, and I thought to myself, That won't do. I'm aiming for Level III! So I stretched last night and was in the middle of my 8th set, sweating it out and panting for air, when I set my foot down during my high knees--

twisted my ankle and fell to the floor in pain.

I don't think it's serious. I can still walk and I'm not, you know, screaming to the top of my lungs in agony, so I know I'm going to be okay. But I'm also thinking I'm probably not going to be exercising tomorrow--or if I do, it'll probably be some very, very gentle stretching, or something I can do while sitting down. Even if I feel like I'm completely okay, I don't think it's smart to push it right now.

It still kind of sucks, because I've been trying to finish something since I did the Zero Hero program for well over a month now, but I haven't been able to. I'm thinking once I'm up to it, I'll do something besides Cardio Blast... maybe Foundation. I also really enjoy exercising, since all I do involves sitting down at a computer all day, and it's been way too hot/rainy to go out and take a walk. (Seriously, I've had heat wave warnings in my area all last month. I forgot what sunlight feels like.) So it's going to suck to have to skip.

But I'll be okay. Maybe I'll catch up on reading... or I'll just keep bingeing tv. I have a two week break from internship and classes, and my brain needs a serious rest. I'm doing the suicide hotline again next semester, and I'm going to take on even more hours. I love helping people, but it's also a job where mental health days are a necessity, not a luxury. And sometimes those days involve doing absolutely nothing, and I'm totally okay with that.

Take care of yourselves, Darebees, and stay strong! I'll update ya'll on what I decide to do next. See ya'll later! (And if you have any workout ideas for while I'm healing, please let me know. Thank you!!!)

 

[MadamMeow]

I'm glad you are ok, but I hope your ankle feels and stays better!

 

[EnbyFitness]

Thank you @MadamMeow!

My ankle is definitely doing better. I was couch-bound the entire day after the sprain, mostly as a precaution but it also just hurt to walk. I have managed to get to day 7 of the Recovery Program, though. Yes, I know it's for post-COVID and the like, but it just so happens to work perfectly for a very slight ankle injury, too. I'm combining the box breathing days with the Ankle Recovery workout--only I use just regular calf raises. I also went for a walk today

I'm thinking that by the time I finish this program, I'll be good to go for the Foundation program. In the meantime, I might also start the Daily Walk Challenge to go with it. I'm fortunate to live right beside a park that's got an excellent mile-long walking path, and I know I don't take advantage of that enough. It's just difficult with how hot it's been all summer... maybe now would be a better time, though. I also know that walking in particular seems to help me manage my ADHD better and help me be just a bit more productive. Basically, I'm talking myself into doing it, and it's working, so the challenge shall start tomorrow!

Even though I have only a few weeks left, I applied for an internship yesterday. If I get it, I'll be able to do more macro social work, which is what I'm interested in. In SW terms, micro is working with individuals and families--think therapy--and macro is working with communities and groups. I'd love to help with non-profit program development and evaluation, help on the government level with advocacy work, and do some health education as well. Jobs like that can be difficult to come by in this field, but it's what I'm hoping for!

In food news, I've tried a bunch of Darebeets desserts. I have a huge sweet tooth, so they're a great way to beat the craving for sugar. The truffles were a hit at the non-binary tea party, and the banana bread muffins are delicious. I also have a food processor now, so that's been helpful. Also, quick question: what are everyone's thoughts on food journaling?

Goodbye, fellow Darebees! Stay strong, and I'll see ya'll later!