State of the author or Where the hell are the story updates, you lazy bum?! · 2:01am Jul 17th, 2015
Get the lazy bum!
Woah! Hold on there! Put down the torches and pitchforks folks.
None of my stories are dead, I Pinkie Promise. I’ve just been really busy with real life stuff. The picture below explains everything.
I feel for you, Rarity.
Short version: I’ve been at the gym. A lot.
Long version: Late last year, I was in bad shape. I had constant heartburn, my doctor put me on blood pressure meds(the lowest dose, but still… not good).
His assessment for my height: borderline obesity.
That. Sucked.
I realized something had to change or given my family’s history I was headed to a bad place.
Underground.
So I removed all the obstacles and self-sabotages I'd tripped over in the last time I tried to get in shape, and approached it as a I do a work project, systematically.
Since January I reallocated my free time, including the time usually reserved to producing fanfiction to reinvest in myself. I throttled FimFic back to prereading for only a few people and leaving lots of comments on stories.
Got a trainer. Got a diet plan. Got committed. Started as two days a week. Then three. Now five.
It sucked. Halfway during the first session I could barely do anything, ran out of gas and limped home. Being a couch potato is so much easier.
Fast forward to today, I’m down a little over 15lbs(and that’s including the muscle I’ve gained). I’m off my blood pressure meds. I can jog and sprint again. Bench-press a bit more than my own body weight. I can do a reasonable amount of push-ups without collapsing.
My clothes fit better. I have more energy. Everything is better.
I’m not an Adonis….. yet. 
Make no mistake, I’m still chubby, just less so now. I’ve got a long way to go. It took years of bad habits and junk food to get to where I was and it’s going to take just as much time to undo all of it.
It’s not fun. It’s not easy. It’s not quick, for me at least. But I can’t quit. Consistency is the key, or so I am told.
My trainer(he's mean to me. Push-ups shouldn't be a "Do as many as you can in ninety seconds" activity!) and I still have goals to meet:
Lose ten more pounds.
Be able to successfully do a single pull-up unaided.
Get over my phobia of being seen without a shirt on. Let’s just say that middle and high school locker rooms sucked for me.
Anyway, I really want to thank my friends on the site for keeping me motivated. There were a few times where the scale wasn’t moving and I thought I was wasting my time.
So thanks to xjuggernaught - He always has my back and was nice enough to let me sound off when I was frustrated.
Calm Wind - Thanks for the fitness tips and extra encouragement. Nice to have an actual fitness expert to turn to for advice.
All well and good you say, but how does that relate to my stories? I was just getting to that.
Sigh… so impatient.
The good news is that I’ve got more energy and my trainer is changing my workout schedule. Bad news, he’s switching it conditioning vs lifting so I’m going to be run ragged. Or at least run around a room with a weight over my head.
Good news, end of this week marks the end of fasting season and my schedule opens up again. I’m getting back the saddle(hold your tomatoes) next week. 
So in order of priority, this is my work plan:
Ms. Pie, take down this list.
Lullabies Unsung - Already started the next chapter before I went on break. It will focus on Pinkie and Rainbow and what they’ve been up to. As this story has the most demand it’s at the top of the queue. I’m still surprised at the reception. I thought it would have very limited appeal given the subject matter.
The Wonder Years - Next chapter, we are going to focus back on Scootaloo and her new teammates. Get some basic training in and see how many military people I can annoy with my butchering of protocols. 
Big Macintosh and Gilda romantic comedy - I’ve wanted to write a romance for a long time and this is my attempt at the genre. I already had two chapters of story written before my break and the rest is outlined but I’ve decided to hold off on publishing anything until I’ve penned at least a rough draft of the whole story. I will say that I’ve had a lot of fun writing the exchanges in this one. The Apples are always a delight to write for and I get to write some Gilda(best ponygriffon).
Ah, my oldest story and my first large project. I need to revamp the outline for this one. I have an incomplete draft of the next chapter but it needs a rewrite and future story points need a bit of tweaking. I looked at my notes and they are bit of a mess. But worry not, the story is not dead in any sense.
Also, I think I need to engage with you guys more. To that end, expect more blog posts from yours truly on various topics in the future. Feel free to drop me a PM or leave a comment on my user page.
On writing, can anyone recommend a decent writing program? I'm going to try ZenWriter first. Something to produce raw text to and lock out distractions as I need to web surf a bit too much. Maybe Scrivener?
Until next time, I've got more of this to do.
Strengthening your core is important.
between bouts of this:
Writer's block and me.
Sounds like you are making your overall quality of life improve. I hope you have learned to embrace and enjoy the burn of exercise to some degree.
That you have been working out to prevent medical problems is a perfectly acceptable reason to not update for a while.
Anytime, man.
(sharpens the old editing quill)
Just let me know when you need me.
3244498 Little known fact: editing quills can also be used for stabbing the poor sod should he make too many mistakes
Good job on the training.
And you should know that I speak from experience when I say that running among other endurance workouts are the best to have more energy.
They drain you the most; but that is how you increase your stamina levels and endurance.
It can also help you focus more easily and for longer, you know, mental endurance.
~Leonzilla
3244613 Also, if you can find a place to do it, Parkour/ Free-running is a really good way to get your entire body in shape, as well as hone your mind.
3244613
I only really have time for cardio during my lunch break so I try to do about 45 minutes on the treadmill on a hilly setting. Sometimes I mix it up with speed intervals. I used to be terrible, but now can get it up to 9.0 for 30 seconds, but that is my limit. My knees don't like it and I tend to have very tight hamstrings.
Keeping it simple. Lifting and simple cardio. Nothing complicated for me. Once I have time, I'll get my street bike back out and do that again.
What I want is a stepmill/infinite staircase. Those things burn tons more calories than a regular treadmill but HR refuses to buy one for our the company gym and the gym I have a membership with doesn't have one either. Too expensive to buy one for the house.
3244678
That is a big nope. I'd would get injured. I have zero athletic ability or balance. I can't even skip a jump rope.
If others are anything like me, it appeals because of the subject matter: we wanted to see if someone could actually pull it off.
3244733 I know you probably hear this a lot, but just keep it up.
A lot of people think that the key to working out is how much you can lift. It's not. The key to working out is if you will CONSISTENTLY lift. Like you said, sometimes you feel like quitting because you're not seeing much progress, and a lot of people DO quit.
And that's the difference between fit/healthy people and couch potatoes. It's easy to start. Lot's of people start with all kinds of motivation and goals and dreams and fantasies, but at the first plateau they feel like they're wasting their time and quit. They want instant results and are easily discouraged when they don't get them.
I know this is your blog post, and therefore your spotlight, but I want to say that you're not alone in this. I've had my issues with weight and health. My doctor told me that I was starting to head into High Blood Pressure, and I already had Prehypertension. So, I got my ass to the gym and started working out, and I've cut out junk food and started eating healthier.
In 1 month I managed to drop 15 pounds.
It sounds like a huge deal, but it's not. Health is something you have to micromanage. Sure, it's a SMALL win, but I can do better. I can BE better. So, I have a long way to go.
And even once you cross that final finish line. Once you reach your target weight, it's not over. Then, you have to KEEP it off. In the end, it MUST become a lifestyle change, otherwise, you end up going back to who you were.
Good luck, and I believe in you
Great work, man! I should get to train too.
3244911
Oh I know it's a lifestyle change. I agree there. Congrates on losing 15 in one month. Wish I could do that, but my body is the type to be resistant.
But, on the plus-side, the fact that I'm losing slowly over a long period means that I'm more likely to keep it off with the changes over time I've made to my habits.
Going figuratively cold turkey never worked for me. And i micromanage too. It's the only way I can keep myself honest. Combination of a Fitbit and Myfitnesspal.
You have my respect and congratulations on changing your lifestyle for the better. I hope you reach those goals, one arm push ups rely a lot on abdominal muscles!
Looking forward to some possible updates.
Congrats on the progress, can't wait for the updates :D
I'm trying to jog regularly myself. I'm not losing much weight, I should also be dieting, but if nothing else I've noticed that I'm quicker to catch my breath afterwards than when I started, and it no longer leaves me completely useless for the entire rest of the day.
Congrats to you on the health front!
Glad to help out!
Great to hear about Lullabies Unsung and how it involves my favorite duo of characters in Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
It is also good to hear you are trying to improve your health. I have done the same for a while and lost quite a bit of weight mostly by removing sugary drinks, slight weight training, and a LOT of work on the elliptical. I have seen many of the same effects so I wish yo9u more good fortune on your journey.
I did not have a trainer but for me it helped having things to concentrate on while I was working. Thinking though stories let me get through those long sessions where I would be tempted to stop.