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[Ashes]

I've got ya covered http://www.onlineclasses.org/2011/01/20/the-50-best-short-stories-of-all-time/


Well my fitness goals will be pushed back a few weeks to a month as I got foot surgery yesterday(on bed rest for a few days) and it seems as if it'll take some time to heal so damn painful..but on to other goals

I completed 2 games from my backlog; Dragon Quest 4 and Dragon Quest 5. I'll probably continue Chrono Trigger or Wild Arms next.

I've knocked out 7 out of my 47 movies to watch on netflix.

well I'm off to netflix to watch a few movies, and also to my fellow "contest" participants good luck, it's gonna be a long month and two weeks

Cheers for that.

By the way, Chrono trigger is as you most likely know, one of the all time great games. The game following that is gonna have a hard time competing...

 

[Master Milk]

Gah, you've removed my link in the op... Basically i embedded the list of 50 stories webpage under the sentence, 50 stories. Lol, i didn't have webpage with the list bookmarked on the iPad. I had been using the link in the op. Never mind, I will find my original post...

Sorry about that, man. I didn't realize you were actually using. I put it back yesterday when I read the post, but it seems you've found a few other alternatives.

My week has been crappy since Wednesday, I haven't touched math in days. I'll get back into the swing of things Monday.

 

[Buckethead]

Well this fucking sucks.

I worked my ass off in the gym cardio and weights, nutrition was on point (even no pizza compared to weeks past), and NO change in weight.
I generally feel better. I'm faster. I'm stronger. And I thought I looked better, but this awesome development has caused me to reevaluate shit.

Only deviations in diet were a blueberries snack, sometimes coleslaw with lunch, and on some days *slightly more* carbs although the no pizza should have more than counteracted that.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Well this fucking sucks.

I worked my ass off in the gym cardio and weights, nutrition was on point (even no pizza compared to weeks past), and NO change in weight.
I generally feel better. I'm faster. I'm stronger. And I thought I looked better, but this awesome development has caused me to reevaluate shit.

Only deviations in diet were a blueberries snack, sometimes coleslaw with lunch, and on some days *slightly more* carbs although the no pizza should have more than counteracted that.

Numbers can lie, bro. You can still change in appearance without having your weight in pounds noticeably change--for a couple years I got tons of compliments on losing weight, and I was baffled because the scales never said I'd lost it.

Your body just readjusts in unique ways. Just use numbers as markers for your progress, not as the entire measure.

 

[Buckethead]

Good advice, but I do not see why I couldn't have lost one pound.

I was even under my calorie deficit all week and fuuuuuck.

Doesn't help I just got some terrible personal news. Just bummed.

 

[Meatpuppet]

(minor) Update: I've submitted my PhD thesis, and while I've yet to viva, I now have the free time I need to start working towards my goals.

 

[KScorp]

Good advice, but I do not see why I couldn't have lost one pound.

I was even under my calorie deficit all week and fuuuuuck.

Doesn't help I just got some terrible personal news. Just bummed.

Rather than think about your net weight loss, think about how much of that weight is now muscle rather than fat. It seems people are WAY too concerned about the numbers on the scale, which are generally very poor indicators of fitness by themselves since they don't tell you where your weight is distributed. Don't worry about the scale that much, if you feel better, you probably are better. Body is generally very good at telling you what's good and what isn't. (Except for the tongue, that bastard is a rebel.)

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

For this summer is my CISSP to be finished. Well probably get it done in September/October but get the main crux of revision out of the way. I already have completed my 1st year in my InfoSec MSc, so that's going well so far

Also my other goal is to get some Python out of the way. I did Java and C# a while ago in uni but never kept it going after I graduated, so hopefully by summer I can get some more out the way

 

[Buckethead]

(Except for the tongue, that bastard is a rebel.)

This is true.

I weighed myself again this morning and lost weight.
Maybe I was carrying water weight, I downed like 10 diet cokes at the bar last night.

Who knows.

Thanks for talking me down off of the ledge everyone.

 

[Ashes]

10. "The Rockinghorse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence: This twisted tale will stick with you long after you’ve read it, documenting the strange relationship between a spendthrift mother and her son, who only longs to make her happy.

11. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An early work of feminist literature, this story follows a young woman as she descends into psychosis, becoming obsessed with the pattern and color of the wallpaper.

12. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates: This short story was inspired by the murders committed in Tucson, Arizona, by serial killer Charles Schmid.



I didn't really look at any of these stories in depth. I think I was getting bored saying: Nice story, five out of five, or 9/10. Perhaps I should have with The Yellow Wallpaper. I didn't quite see the feminist angle at first in that particular story, till it was pointed out to me.

I think it's worth mentioning that the stories in this list seem to be American centric or ones that have appeal to American audiences.

All of three stories were easily found via googling; there was college, that even had the story 12, downloadable pdf, as part of course materials I presume, even though the story was published in the nineties I believe.

Lawrence wrote his story in way that even a child would understand. Very simple, clear, and effective writing. The gambling moral, and the take on luck was very interesting. And the whisper of money, was a really good touch.

Whereas Gilman went the other way, and wrote a far more subtle story about depression, and psychosis. We have a few threads on gaf right now on depression, and clinical depression at that, so it was interesting to see, how depression was perceived before it got its label.

Oates story has to be read in her voice. It has it's own rhythm, its own tones, and was dark if not darker than the two before it. It didn't make my heart beat faster nor did particularly fascinate me, but the power struggle was done very well. I felt almost that the author was feeling something I was not and by that measure, I thought about the author placing herself in the character's shoes. Her heat beating etc. It's the first story I think, that would work better if the reader was a female. Is that sexist? A lot of the storyline dealt with a pretty young girl growing up. And it's not that it touched on female issues, like dealing with mothers etc, which I liked, but that last third of the story. I felt detached rather than drawn in. It was the playing out the wolf on its prey, which I felt should get to me, but really didn't.

Maybe I got distracted by the slow pace, and the setting of the story, which made my thoughts wonder more than usual.

12 down, 38 to go.

 

[Ashes]

Oh! I've just realised that I've reached the end of the first section of the fifty story list.

Sad and shocking Tales.

1. "Signs and Symbols" by Vladimir Nabokov #128
2. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O’Connor #143
3. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway #154
4. "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield #184
5. "In the Penal Colony" by Franz Kafka #216
6. "A Hunger Artist" by Franz Kafka #218
7. "The Lame Shall Enter First" by Flannery O’Connor #258
8. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson #283
9. "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams #292
10. "The Rockinghorse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence #311
11. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman #311
12. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates #311

End of section thoughts

I have to say first and foremost, I'm pretty glad that I decided to do this. I don't think I would have read these stories had I not entered this thread. And for the most part, I didn't read them lightly; I really tried to get what the story was about, and got a measure of literary criticism under my belt.

Another slightly unforeseen perk, is that I'm learning to read styles better, in other words, read how the piece ought to be read, and by that measure, read better. The audio versions helped in that regard I suppose. Not to mention reading up on some of the authors in this section.

And lastly I spent not a penny! Even though some books were harder to find than others.

The next section is on story collections. Which in one way is unfair on a list of 50 stories. But in another, it makes sense. Looking down the list, I can see that I will probably have to get the wallet out.

In terms of pure length, this will I think constitute the largest body of reading. It's the equivalent of reading 8 novels. If I read a novel a week, that is still eight weeks. Hmm... now that I think about it, I'm going to have reshuffle their list so that this section becomes a backbone perhaps. And these would be short novels so to speak.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Some Updates:

-Gain 10 Pounds - I've started to snack inbetween meals on things like nuts. No change so far but I plan to go hardcore on my eating regime shortly.
-Get more strict with my gym regime - Working out 2-3 times a week on a regular basis (only once this week so far)
-Gain more muscle - No real difference so far

-Start learning Japanese again - uploaded all my beginner Japanese learning tracks on to my Blackberry! Went over some old stuff today.
-Spend a weekend somewhere in Europe - booked a weekend off in August and I'm just waiting for my manager to authorize it
-Purchase less crap and things that I don't need - haven't purchased L.A Noire yet and I'm holding myself back a bit more on small things
-Save more money - see above

-Go out more and do more things during the day (only really go out at night) - still the same as usual
-Catch up on some old shows -started some new shows :/
-Cook something from my recipe book - not yet!

-Spend a little less time on the Internet to accomplish my goals - this one will be tough..
-Spend more time with my friends - been to nice meal with a lot of people this month and spent a lot of time with a couple of good friends recently

Was about to post some more but I didn't think they were realistic targets. I genuinely believe I can accomplish these.

 

[KScorp]

I think I'll use this thread, it might keep me motivated in finishing this project.

Username: KScorp
Type: Computer programming.
Specific Goal: Finish a simple 3D game engine using C++ and DirectX (Direct3D 10). Bonus points for creating something that plays like a game. Treat myself to cake if I manage to port the thing to OpenGL.
Updates: Weekly minimum. I plan to update whenever I have made significant progress from the previous update, so if things are going good I might manage daily updates on occasion.
Daily Goal: Try to do something which progresses development. 1/2 hour of work per day minimum.
Written Out: No. This early, I'm focusing on basics, so as I learn more I'll write something out and get a better picture of where I want to go.
Deadline: 12/31/11 - Finish the engine. This is the main goal. 8/31/11 - Have very simple movement implemented and be able to somehow interact with the world. (Having a character that can move, run into walls, and jump is one way to fulfill this.)

Where I'm at right now: I have Direct3D up and running, and a basic world structure.
Next checkpoint: Get my world to render, finalize a way of representing the world efficiently.

Update: I've figured out most of the rendering parts, but there are still a lot of hurdles to jump over. (Testing my method on my laptop, it performed about 80% worse than my desktop, although the video card should be only about 20% worse than my desktop... Definitely didn't expect THAT much of a difference.) Luckily, I'm testing extreme cases that I don't think will even be possible to achieve in a real scenario, but since this is mostly a learning experience I'm going to spend a lot of time optimizing.

Things are going to be slow while I think through solutions for this. Cleaned up code and added a few utilities to make my life easier while coding though.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

I love writing. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted write professionally. Life, however, beckoned me down another path... then proceeded to beat me over the head, fill me with roofies and have its wicked way with me.

Now unemployed, broke, and fed up with the state of gaming journalism, I am going to master the craft of writing about videogames. I want to be a part of that melting pot of information, speculation and analysis, and hurl some decent writing into it.

I'm a bloody fool, I know.

Username: Mister_Bubbles

Types of Goals: (A Lot Of) Writing, Journalistic Employment, Inevitable Self-Destruction

Specific Goals:

1. Build up a modest collection of articles.
2. Find some websites brave enough to sully their good names by printing my words.
3. Repeat the previous two steps until somebody says 'Would you like to write for us?'

By the time I've reached the third step, I think it's safe to say that sufficient time will have passed to necessitate laying down some new goals

Updates: Daily. Starting tomorrow, I will outline an article subject and post when it's finished.

Daily Goals: I'll begin by writing an article a day. Get the ol' cogs turning.

Deadline: By the end of summer, I hope to be writing a modest stream of content and making at least a little bit of money.

------------

I fully realise how difficult this will be, so I'm not going into this lightly. Having my goals set in GAF stone, and the motivation (and potential admonishment) of you fellow Masters-In-Training should

Spoiler

in theory

keep me on the straight and narrow - and away from strange metaphors that stand in dark alleyways, promising good times.

 

[Attackthebase]

Update time!

Well, my most important goal, becoming fit, is going quite well. I've gone to the gym at least three times this week. I went to the beach this weekend, and I probably spent a hour and a half simply walking the beach yesterday and today. So, my path of becoming fit is going really well. I also (finally) bought gym clothes, albeit I look like a total homosexual when I wear them though. Gotta match up my colors!

I am probably going to drop my goal of learning Japanese. My interest concerning the language has gone down, since I decided not to pursue the path of a translator. I might pick it up later down the road, but I'm not too concern about it.

My alternate goal of dating women, being sociable and meeting new people has actually been excellent. I didn't expect much to happen when I made this goal, since I'm back in my hometown, but I thought I would try anyway. This past week, I have been social as hell, and next week seems just as busy. I went on a date last week, met this (smoking) woman a few nights after my date; I'm seeing her again tomorrow at my place. I've been hanging out with some of my hometown friends a lot more. I'm even going to a bar with a friend on Wednesday! I expected to be a hermit this summer, but it seems like I'll be a social butterfly. Hell, maybe a woman will get lucky and have her a stellar boyfriend.

Since, I am giving up Japanese, I decided to add another goal, quitting cigarettes. Originally, I thought about moving to E-Cigs, but that costs money and has its own health issues. I want to become a healthier human being. I can at least quit for the summer.

My boss and I are becoming really good friends. I am liking how my arrangement with him is going, I feel like he is (and will) giving me the confidence I need to ask out people and assists me in experiencing the world; he's taking me to New York City sometime in the summer. At this point, I consider him as a second father.

I am making slow progress on my backlog. Next game up is Fallout New Vegas for the PC. Though, I might play that once I set up the man-cave in the extra room I have in my house.

I think that's everything I have to report for this week. Until next week, I hope everyone is doing well for their goals!

 

[Ashes]

Sorry about that, man. I didn't realize you were actually using. I put it back yesterday when I read the post, but it seems you've found a few other alternatives.

My week has been crappy since Wednesday, I haven't touched math in days. I'll get back into the swing of things Monday.

Ha ha, it's cool man. I guess I might still use the op, now that the links are back!

Woh! Loads of updates! Good going folks....

 

[Master Milk]

Updates, everywhere! I love this, so awesome guys!

It's a holiday for some, so make what you will of that. It's still a new day for all though, so get busy if you can!

*

Whoa, what a lofty addition! With daily updates, no less. Lovely! Glad to have you with us man. We'll be sure to make you thoroughly feel like crap if you don't report in, so no worries there.

 

[Bradlums]

Good advice, but I do not see why I couldn't have lost one pound.

I was even under my calorie deficit all week and fuuuuuck.

Muscles weighs more than fat. It's a simple enough concept, but people rarely pay attention to it. People set on losing weight are always glued to how much they weigh and not how they feel. My advice to you would be frequent the scale much less often and just focus on becoming more active and eating healthier. You'll feel better gradually like you previously mentioned, your workouts will feel more rewarding, and before you know it you'll be in great shape.

Spoiler

Then you can check the scale

 

[Bradlums]

Good advice, but I do not see why I couldn't have lost one pound.

I was even under my calorie deficit all week and fuuuuuck.

Muscles weighs more than fat. It's a simple enough concept, but people rarely pay attention to it. People set on losing weight are always glued to how much they weigh and not how they feel. My advice to you would be frequent the scale much less often and just focus on becoming more active and eating healthier. You'll feel better gradually like you previously mentioned, your workouts will feel more rewarding, and before you know it you'll be in great shape.

Spoiler

Then you can check the scale

Edit:
Bradlums

Types of Goals: Fitness, Music, Social

Specific Goals:
Get in shape for Cross-Country season
Grow a beard

Spoiler

:{D

Get over social anxieties and make a/some new friend(s).
Re-learn the piano, practice guitar and bass more seriously, i.e. practicing scales, writing stuff, learning stuff as opposed to noodling around constantly.
Make some money.

Updates: Once a week

Daily Goals: Run er' day. Play an instrument at least 1 hour er' day. Swim when taking a break from running.

Written Out: No

Deadline: 8/22/11

 

[thcsquad]

Update:

Not much this past week, as on a few days I've been working on projects for work at night, and this weekend I'm completing the move from our old apartment to the current one. All in all, not much free time. But thankfully, they are both temporary and should be 100% done by the end of tonight or I have much larger problems.

Livecoding: While I was sleeping at my old apartment without internet, I decided to up and actually start learning Fluxus. I had compiled it when I was still here, and saved the documentation, so I had everything I needed. I wanted to at least construct a cool looking animation, but didn't quite get that far. Partially due to the docs having some errors, and partially because I had some questions on how to do things in Scheme (the language Fluxus is in) that weren't in the scope of the docs. Next time I get to it, though, I'll have internet so I should be able to overcome these problems.

Fitness: I ran once in my new neighborhood for the first time, and the crazy hills took it out of me. My street averages a 10 degree incline for a good 0.1 to 0.15 mile, so...yeah. I'm hoping it will be like a medicine ball when it comes to running on realistic terrain.

I've yet to see what will happen with my strength training. I'm embroiled in a complicated situation with Boston Sports Clubs, and staying with them is too expensive. If I have to pay the cancellation fee, I might not even be able to afford Planet Fitness. My pullup bar doesn't work in our new apartment, because the door frames are too big. This leaves me with just stuff like pushups, and I need to do pulling training more than pushing training, according to my one-time personal trainer.

Studying: Looked at my 'Words for the GRE' book some more on the subway going to work. I didn't get through much, but slow progress is still progress. Haven't gotten into the math in a while, though.

One main goal for this week is practice bass, because I have my first gig in the last 12 months coming up in a week. Playing a friend's wedding. It should be lots of fun, but I need to practice the hell out of jazz bass in the next week and that might supersede my other goals.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

Whoa, what a lofty addition! With daily updates, no less. Lovely! Glad to have you with us man. We'll be sure to make you thoroughly feel like crap if you don't report in, so no worries there.

Much appreciated mate - on both counts

My first update is not the update I was expecting to make. In some kind of grand cosmic joke, I'm already at my third goal. Well, that bloody scuppers things, doesn't it?

However, articles need to be written. Like fevered junkies do they fucking need those words. So, without further ado:

Article #1 : A 'What If?' speculative piece.

Spoiler

I know; if that was any more vague it would be a blank bit of page, but there you go.

Edit:

i.e. practicing scales, writing stuff, learning stuff as opposed to noodling around constantly.

Now there's a worthy goal! Best of luck; I'll be interested to hear how you get on, and will be taking taking copious notes ¬_¬

Edit 2: Article word count: Finished at 752 words. May expand tomorrow.

Good luck, CyReN.

 

[CyReN]

My goals

• Cut down my coke/pop addiction
• Lose some weight
• Get a job

So far:

• 6 days no coke
• Eating healthier
• Have a interview tomorrow

Good luck everyone!

 

[Master Milk]

Holidays suck! The day after holidays suck! Get to work people!

*

I got you up yesterday. It's awesome that you're joining us! I hit the character limit throwing you onto the list. If no one else can be added I'm going to shift the blame to you. I wish I could realistically set the goal of growing a beard. And, that last goal is awesome. It's not "get a job", but just "make some money." How scandalous.

Edit 2: Article word count: Finished at 752 words. May expand tomorrow.

You're off to a good start.

My goals

• Cut down my coke/pop addiction
• Lose some weight
• Get a job

So far:

• 6 days no coke
• Eating healthier
• Have a interview tomorrow

Good luck everyone!

And so are you! Hopefully that interview will turn into something.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Fuuuuuck, so much beer yesterday. Had thousands of calories over what I should have, haha.

On the bright side, my waist is getting slimmer. Skinny jeans are getting looser on me. Gotta count for something.

 

[Master Milk]

On the bright side, my waist is getting slimmer. Skinny jeans are getting looser on me. Gotta count for something.

I'd say that's the most important thing. Great work, keep it up.

 

[KScorp]

My first update is not the update I was expecting to make. In some kind of grand cosmic joke, I'm already at my third goal. Well, that bloody scuppers things, doesn't it?

When you said goal 2 was to find websites that will put up your articles, do you mean that they say they will, or they already did? That would be fast if they already put up your articles for all to read.

 

[Dark Phoenix]

Update:

Got a new blog post with art: (Warning: Artistic Nudes) http://natedimock.blogspot.com/2011/05/vignettes-and-figure-drawings.html

Writing hasn't been going so well.

This whole week wasn't good, I've slipped last week. I need to get myself back on track.

 

[Master Milk]

Update:

Got a new blog post with art: (Warning: Artistic Nudes) http://natedimock.blogspot.com/2011/05/vignettes-and-figure-drawings.html

Writing hasn't been going so well.

This whole week wasn't good, I've slipped last week. I need to get myself back on track.

Oman! You've got to stay on track now! There's no way you can not with a blog that we'll be checking regularly!

Those look really cool. I want to do figure drawing, too. =(

 

[Miletius]

This weekend was pretty bad in terms of my goals. On Friday we went out to my favorite Chinese restaurant and as a result I overate (of course). On Saturday, a brand new bakery opened up near us so we went, and they had the most delicious bread I've ever had. We also dropped by the deli and picked up some absolutely fabulous cheese and some smoked ham, so I snacked on that all weekend. Monday was Memorial Day here and I was invited to my girlfriend's parents house for the traditional BBQ.

So, yeah, 3 days of stuffing my face and not much else. At least I went to the gym today, eh?

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

When you said goal 2 was to find websites that will put up your articles, do you mean that they say they will, or they already did? That would be fast if they already put up your articles for all to read.

Heh, yes, that would indeed be mad. Basically, the first two steps were how I intended to reach my third goal, which have been bypassed completely by my being offered a position writing for a website; so I'll be involved in the content and promotion of that site. However I just signed an NDA, so can't talk about anything yet, and furthermore I won't be getting paid - at least for the time being. So articles still need to be written, and I still have the future goal of making a living from my writing.

Honestly? I could not be happier about this start that I've had, but there's a long way to go yet and I'm trying to take things one step at a time My inner Samwise Gamgee is still psychologically rationing for the journey home, as it were :lol

Article #2 : A 'key moment in my gaming history' tale. Final word count: 850. I did want to go back and expand yesterday's article as well, but I'm falling asleep. Gah.

Edit: I was falling asleep, and then I read Miletius' post. Damn, man. Now I'm fantasising about all that amazing sounding food...

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

I haven't updated in a while and pretty much been slacking off but that's by choice....NBA Finals got me right now.

I'm doing my cut and last week I lost 3.7 pounds, now I'm down to 183.2lbs. I'm getting close to the 170s and I'm happy. I'm hoping by the end of June I'll be 165lbs, but as long as I hit 170 I'll be happy.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Well this fucking sucks.

I worked my ass off in the gym cardio and weights, nutrition was on point (even no pizza compared to weeks past), and NO change in weight.
I generally feel better. I'm faster. I'm stronger. And I thought I looked better, but this awesome development has caused me to reevaluate shit.

Only deviations in diet were a blueberries snack, sometimes coleslaw with lunch, and on some days *slightly more* carbs although the no pizza should have more than counteracted that.

Don't worry so much about the number. I was stuck at 186 pounds for about 2 months while doing lots of cardio and weights. I lost A LOT of inches though and now I'm down to a 32 waist. Haven't been a 32 in years. Just keep in the gym and stick with it. Also how many calories are you consuming per day?

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

For this summer is my CISSP to be finished. Well probably get it done in September/October but get the main crux of revision out of the way. I already have completed my 1st year in my InfoSec MSc, so that's going well so far

Also my other goal is to get some Python out of the way. I did Java and C# a while ago in uni but never kept it going after I graduated, so hopefully by summer I can get some more out the way

Good luck on the CISSP. I'm taking mine June 11th. Feeling confident about the exam, but I def need to cram a little more. I'm hoping to get my CCNP Security by the end of the year too, but that might be pushing it.

 

[Buckethead]

Also how many calories are you consuming per day?

Hard to be exact but about 1500-1700 on most days.

Some days 1800-2000.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Hard to be exact but about 1500-1700 on most days.

Some days 1800-2000.

Get a digital scale and start measuring your food. Once I started doing that and being 100% sure of how many calories I'm consuming, it made weight loss a whole lot simpler for me. I was assuming I was only eating 1500 calories, but I was consuming up to probably 3000 calories sometimes without realizing it.

 

[Buckethead]

I'm meticulously recording what I'm eating and the scales in the mail.

The only inprecise thing is at dinner sometimes I forget to measure oils, etc.
Also some items don't have exact info so I have to estimate.

The variances would be slight.

 

[Master Milk]

Charge forward and conquer your day!

I wonder if anyone will jump in here trying to take their minds off The Contest.

 

[FallingEdge]

To all those losing weight, as mentioned earlier in the thread, I wouldn't worry so much about the scale. Weight can fluctuate very easily depending on how much water you drank, if you used the bathroom, eating something salty, etc. Focus more on how you look in the mirror and measuring yourself around the waist/neck. If there is a difference every week, you are doing fine.

 

[vocab]

I have no goals. I have no drive to do anything anymore. FML.

Most of my summer will be on the computer being depressed as usual.

 

[Cyan]

I think I'm going to have to put off the other goals until I'm finished with this damn triathlon. Just taking up too much time/energy.

And my swimming is still terrible. Well, worst comes to worst I'll do a resting stroke in to shore and then bike/run like hell. *shrug*

 

[KScorp]

To all those losing weight, as mentioned earlier in the thread, I wouldn't worry so much about the scale. Weight can fluctuate very easily depending on how much water you drank, if you used the bathroom, eating something salty, etc. Focus more on how you look in the mirror and measuring yourself around the waist/neck. If there is a difference every week, you are doing fine.

I think they mean food scales to help them figure out how much calories/nutrition they're taking in. It helps you keep track of intake.

I have no goals. I have no drive to do anything anymore. FML.

Most of my summer will be on the computer being depressed as usual.

The point of this thread is to help keep your drive. If you decide to take the first step and make a goal, follow the tips in the OP, they help. The worst that can happen is you end up back where you started.

 

[Master Milk]

I'm going a lot slower than I had originally planned, but I'm still getting in some Math everyday. I've forgotten how much I like being lazy.

 

[Master Milk]

It's too hot to do anything. Screw everything.

 

[Mangoverboard]

Update

Been super busy with work lately, got a load of extra hours so not much personal time. I'm managing to improve my social life like I wanted tho, been meeting lots of cool new people, last few weekends especially. Havent made much progress on my other goals but have some time off coming up so can hopefully get into a routine then.

 

[Buckethead]

MM just realized your thing was a horse...

Also yes... very hot... went golfing today. Poor me. haha

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

Today's article was going to be about Deus Ex. I started up the game to do some research and ended up playing a four hour buddy comedy with JC and a liberated basketball working their way through about five missions, until a cutscene took the ball away

Now there's the Konami conference coming up at 1, dammit. Must get writing!

Edit:

It's too hot to do anything. Screw everything.

Don't give in!

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Good news; bad news. Good news; bad news.

Good News: I'm down to 242 lbs
Bad News: I drank a lot tonight on our night on the town

Good News: If I can get down to 220 lbs or so by fall, I think I can escape the friend zone and bed some SEXY girls I know from college
Bad News: I ate a whole bag of popcorn tonight

gaf, you be the judge and see if the good outweighs the bad, because I cannot in my drunken state right now

 

[ReiGun]

Ugh. This is going terribly so far.

Username: ReiGun
Types of Goals: Fitness, Games, Drawing, Movies, Reading, Writing
Specific Goals: Lose at least 15 pounds. Finish at least three of the games in my backlog. Draw one picture a day. Go out and see at least one movie a week (alone is fine, but with a group is preferable). Get through my netflix instant queue. Read at least two books. Write a short story
Updates: Weekly
Daily Goals: A picture a day. Netflix movie a day. Go to the gym at least twice a week.
Written Out: Yes
Deadline: August 29 (when fall semester starts)

Fitness: Went to the gym once. My sleeping pattern being screwed up like it is ensures that I'm dead tired during the time it's best for me to go. (After work, that is. I work at my college, and we have a free gym.) Haven't changed my diet at all either.

Games: Haven't touched Persona. Training in Marvel and a project I'm working on is taking up most of my gaming time. On the plus side, almost finished Sonic Colors.

Drawing: I spent some time studying my anatomy book and examining and redrawing skeletal structures the other night.

Movies: Been watching some of the anime in my queue. Sengoku Basara mainly.

Reading and Writing: Nothing.

I don't really know what to say that wouldn't be an excuse. I know I'm just being a lazy ass. I need to find some motivation. This is frustrating. :/

 

[Master Milk]

Man, it's like everyone said "screw it" today. xD

Etrian, I think you'll be fine. One bad night and a bag of popcorn isn't going to hurt much.

Rei, step your game up. You're better than that.

 

[shintoki]

Work out daily, running at least 2-3 miles a day.
Get down to 140 pounds.
Finish at least 3 backlog RPGs(The Witcher, Mass Effect, and Last Remnant)
Start to finally learn Violin.
Take one summer course, and get an A in it.

Month in, down about 5-6 pounds. I started off slow, but finally got into a more active groove. I decided to go to the gym about 3 times a week, instead of every day too. Switch it up with some long distance biking or rollerblading. (20 miles for bike, 10 miles for blading). Running and so to be swimming a lot more too, now that its warmed back up again.
Couldn't get into any summer courses though, which is fine. Everything is handled for Fall.
Nothing on the Violin yet.
Finished Witcher. So one of the three are down. Hoping to at least do Last Remnant too.