Urbanhomesteader's Journal

[UrbanHomesteader]

@CalamityJane, Yes, definitely. Have you joined the Signal channel for the fest?

[calamityjane]

No, I haven't yet...

[UrbanHomesteader]

[/b]A bit of a quarterly update:[/b]

Travel:

Where I left off this summer, I was hesitating on going to ERE Fest due to my upcoming travel plans. The week after ERE Fest I went to Italy for 5 weeks, so I ended up only doing the Italy trip and not ERE Fest. I do wish I could have planned better to make them both happen!

There were a lot of great aspects to the trip to Italy. I found my new "Happy Place" in Sorgeto Bay off the course of Iskia. It is a beautiful protected bay with hot springs on one side, and a lovely mellow swimming area on the other side. The water was super clear and I could watch the fish and tiny crabs swimming. It doesn't get better than that!

My brother and his wife have been living in Italy, and I was happy to see them on the trip as well. Visiting them was my original motivation for the trip.

From an E.R.E. perspective the trip was a bust. Partly this was because I had agreed to do a joint trip with an older woman who had always wanted to go to Italy, and I settled for a mid-range budget rather than my usual cheapskate ways. We were not well matched travel partners in many ways, in terms of our physical capacity or our confidence as travelers. This resulted in a trip that was much more structured and convenience based than I would have liked. When I travel alone, it is not unusual for me to walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day, just sightseeing, and this was just not possible for my travelling companion. It meant weighting for transportation in order to avoid 10-15 minutes walks on multiple occasions. It also meant eating in restaurants near tourist attractions instead of walking back into the neighborhoods to find the local places. I did break away on my own whenever I could, but it was tough to do because my travelling companion was not comfortable being on her own. Coming away from this trip, I now have a policy of being primarily a solo traveler, with the exception of travelling with other travelers who are happy to break off and do their own thing if needed.

Home Again:

I still have a lot of items on my "To Do" list, and overall I have less energy and drive to complete each of them than I would have expected before I left my corporate job. On the other hand, I'm putting plenty of energy into general life stuff that doesn't involve completing "To Do" list items though, like making nice meals, exercising, language learning with Duolingo, spending quality time with people, going into deep chill mode (a high priority for me these days), learning to play guitar.

Lately I've been embracing the engrained sentiments around the workweek/weekend. So, on weekdays I try to put in a few hours on my "To Do" list (usually between 9 am and 1 pm), unless I have another activity scheduled (like a day hike). Then, on the weekends, give myself full permission to take it easy and go into weekend mode, with low expectations. I still do productive stuff on weekends if I feel like it, but with a weekend vibe. I guess this is a sign of being a bit institutionalized, but this way of thinking of the days is giving me a bit less existential angst than thinking of everyday as being the same. When the days are the same, I have to really ask myself whether I am doing enough, or resting enough, or what am I doing with my life anyway?

[UrbanHomesteader]

Fitness:

I want to document here that I just did 8 hand release push ups (full length, knees off the ground). When I started doing these again in mid-November, I was only able to get 5 in a row, so that's improvement!

Having recently turned 40, I'm interested in getting back to a place where I could easily do 20 push ups. I remember doing these commonly when I was participating in Roller Derby in my 20's, but I can't remember when they started getting hard.

For 2024, one of my main priorities is continuing improvement of my fitness, nutrition, and general health routine. I'm using the book Outlive by Peter Attia as a basic framework for this. DH and I have been following an exercise routine from YouTube that is designed to prepare a person for the firefighter CPAT test, which is a good functional fitness routine.

According to the book, some of my goals should be:
Rucking with a 50 pound pack (35 feels easy to me now, will gradually add weight).
Farmer carry with 75% of my body weight, divided between 2 arms. Right now I can do 30 pounds comfortably on each side.
Getting up off the ground with no hands, this one is easy for me now but I'd like it to stay in my routine long term.
And more, but I'll have to find my notes!

[AxelHeyst]

Yeah congrats on the pushups!

I'm interested in the firefighter prep routine when you find your notes/links. I'm still casting about for a structured approach to fitness that clicks for me...

Lately I've been embracing the engrained sentiments around the workweek/weekend...

I'm glad to hear you say this, I also found rejection the concept of weekends altogether to be... not as fun as I imagined it to be. Some structure to differentiate the days is actually good, and going along with the weekend/day split makes interacting with the rest of society smoother.

PS you've got 9 months to plan for EREfest2024... no excuses this year.

[UrbanHomesteader]

Thanks AxelHeyst!

I’m not sure how to add a proper hyperlink, but the YouTube video is called Beat the CPAT Part #1 The Workout, the channel is called 12 minute at home workouts. The CPAT workout takes 15 minutes, so it’s short enough to feel like an easy commitment.

See you in September! ERE fest is on my calendar.

[AxelHeyst]

Found it, thank you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQnNdlGsfIs

[UrbanHomesteader]

Probably the biggest life update this year is that we adopted a puppy!

We have devoted a lot of time to training, as well as splurged on some dog stuff. The obvious expenses were getting his shots and food, the optional stuff includes building a really nice dog house and getting a DNA test to confirm breed type and possible hereditary conditions, as well as signing up for puppy class & ordering dog training books. I've had dogs before, but this is the first puppy I've lived with since I was a small child. The puppy story from my childhood ended in tragedy, so I am putting in extra effort to give this new dog the best shot at life with good training and a healthy environment. I'm not formally doing the 2024 skillathon, but informally dog training is one of my skillathon items, with the majority of the intensive training in the first month we had him.

The dog is taking care of the goat liver in the freezer, which was a dilemma I previously mentioned in this journal.

My informal skillathon has also included auto-mechanics. I replaced the fuel injectors on the Honda, after trying to just replace the seals several times (and still having a leak). The injectors themselves were pretty pricy for what small items they are (about $850 for a full set, plus $60 for new specialized bolts to hold on the fuel rail, after one of them broke). However, since the mechanic shop was quoting $585 to replace just the seals (which didn't even fix the problem), I definitely came out ahead by replacing the seals myself (for about $30 in parts each time), then replacing the injectors for less than $1,000. I'm guessing going with the shop would have cost more than the Kelly Blue Book Value of the car. The replacement was a couple of months ago, and the car has been going strong since then!

Another skillathon item is learning Quickbooks, since taking over the Treasurer role for a non-profit I've been involved with. I haven't really liked the interface of Quickbooks Desktop 2020. The old Treasurer is training me, and she is discouraging me from going to the Quickbooks Online, and I have no idea whether that would be more user friendly. This week we spent an inordinate amount of time fixing a typo where the $0.05 was left off an entry. Classic accounting bullshit I was happy to leave behind in my old job working with 401k plans.

I've kept up the CPAT work-out, and added in 4 x 45 minute Zone 2 cardio sessions per week (as per the Outlive book by Peter Attia). I was hiking and walking before, but recently bought a Fitbit so I can more easily track the heart rate zones and meet the targets recommended in Outlive. I'm now doing 15 hand release full length pushups as part of the CPAT work-out, that's triple what I was doing when I started last fall. It's nice to see measurable progress.

[UrbanHomesteader]

Got the results for recent blood work and found out my Vitamin D levels are "insufficient".

Low vitamin D can cause fatigue, among so many other problems. I'm hoping that getting my D levels up will help me feel more energetic.

I had started to accept that I just wasn't an energetic person, and that I would just have to have modest goals for each day, despite having a high degree of control over my time.

Low vitamin d is super common and can be cheap to check, I regret not checking sooner. There's even a $40 at home test. Daily supplements can be had for pennies.

I live somewhere sunny but I am careful to wear long sleeves/hat to protect from the sun. Now I'm sun bathing for 15 minutes in the middle of the day and using a Vitamin D supplement.

[ertyu]

I've heard virtually everyone is vit d deficient unless they work outdoors full time in a sunny climate. Taking supplements helps me as well.

[UrbanHomesteader]

I feel pretty privileged looking at my calendar now, I have a 4 hour block 3 mornings a week called "Spa Day". This time block includes walking the dog, going for a run at the track, strength training, yoga, showering and sun bathing. These are weekday mornings, so I still have the weekend free.

I've been enjoying the routine, especially when framed as a pleasurable indulgence rather than a chore.

Having it on the calendar prevents unnecessary schedule conflicts. It also gives me a sense of priority.

For context on the fitness regime, I am working within the framework of the Outlive book. I also need to get at least one Zone 2 hike in during the week, which is a pleasure.

For the sun bathing, I'm covering my face, neck and arms, and just sunning the torso and legs (which have received very sun exposure throughout my life). 8 minutes per side to limit any damage. I will reasses the sunbathing after my Vitamin D levels are up to a healthy range.

I'm also tracking my nutrition on the Cronometer app. I used to think weighing food was overkill, but I have started doing it lately and I just feel like a scientist looking for optimized nutrition. I like the phrase Nutritional Biochemistry from Outlive.

I'm grateful that I can make it a priority to do this stuff. One of my hiking buddies recently skipped out on an evening hike because of working overtime at her desk job, lamenting that self-care goes out the window when work gets busy. It's kind of tragic really, people working so much "for a living " that their own life gets put on hold. I used to prioritize getting a walk and some Yoga in when I was working long hours, and I'm glad I did. But there is nothing quite like the three big time blocks on my calendar, on the days of my choosing. That's the glory of pursuing E.R.E.!

[7Wannabe5]

I have a 4 hour block 3 mornings a week called "Spa Day". This time block includes walking the dog, going for a run at the track, strength training, yoga, showering and sun bathing.

What a good idea. The concept is flexible enough to include a great many activities. For example, you could also include foot massage, visiting a sauna, concoction of retro-spa ladies luncheon, and/or color analysis of your wardrobe.

[UrbanHomesteader]

@7w5 great suggestions. I'll have to look up at retro home spa day ideas to top this off!