Katawa Shoujo Forums

Gandara: WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE

Been a while, bros. Happy New Years to you all.

Some updates on my end: with the cold weather and holidays my schedule has been mucked up, so my diet and exercise have been continuing to stagnate. However, I am no slave to excuses so back on the train I go.

1) I weighed myself in again today, and I'm at 352 lbs, which means I'm actually a tiny bit lower than my final weight when I was really sticking to my guns. The easy part is over, I think - I've not been gorging myself but I haven't been avoiding bad food either. Thankfully I'm still off soda (six months strong) and sweets are few and far between. But fast food... god damn you, fast food.

2) On the plus side, my folks got me a juicer for Christmas. I've sampled it once, making a large batch of juice that lasted me a couple days (replacing dinner). I'm not going on a full-fledged liquid / juicing diet, but I'd like to start replacing a couple meals a week with juice, at least.

3) I've finally grabbed my balls firmly in hand and went to my work's workout center. It's decent and there's never more than one other person in there the hours I attend (see: around or after midnight) so my poor confidence about performing gratuitous acts of "fat guy workout" in front of the multitudes is sated. Today I broke a personal record: I jogged for 5 minutes straight. Not much of an accomplishment to all you RUNNERS in here (hmm, Walrusfella? HMM?!) but an accomplishment nonetheless. I've also started doing a little iron pumping, hoping to convert some of that disgusting fat into delicious muscle. Perhaps not the best initiative when my goal is to LOSE weight, but it'll do for now.

Sorry about being afk for so long. The anniversary of KS sort of reminded me about you guys and I miss the company. To everyone else, keep up the good work! You're all big inspirations to the guys like me with a hell of a long way to go.

Did w2d3 on Friday of last week, and did all 3 days of w3 on Monday, Tuesday, and Today

Also to whoever recommended Coconut Water earlier in this thread, thanks I picked some up last week since I happened to see some at the store I went to (was a bit surprised to find that they sold it); didn't really like the taste of it initially, but it eventually grew on me.

Gandara wrote:...Thankfully I'm still off soda (six months strong) and sweets are few and far between. But fast food... god damn you, fast food.

First off, congrats on your accomplishments! I recently read about the bad effects of drinking pop/soda, and decided I would try not to drink it. I used to also rely on energy drinks too, which I think I'll try not to drink anymore too.

I mainly liked drinking pop/soda since it was conveniently there when I wanted something to drink (other than water), but I'll try looking for some alternatives. Tea and Coffee are things I like drinking

Espionage724 wrote:I recently read about the bad effects of drinking pop/soda, and decided I would try not to drink it. I used to also rely on energy drinks too, which I think I'll try not to drink anymore too.

I mainly liked drinking pop/soda since it was conveniently there when I wanted something to drink (other than water), but I'll try looking for some alternatives. Tea and Coffee are things I like drinking

I've had really good luck with those flavor packets in water. Crystal Ice does a good low-calorie one, it makes regular ol' water taste radically different, and you can get an awful lot out of one little packet.

I don't drink coffee, so if I have a super early start I'll drink a Monster Absolutely Zero. I know it's still not very good for me, but at least it's got caffeine and no calories. And I drink these rarely (maybe 2-3 a month, tops)

SemisoftCheese wrote: If you think you can't obtain something, you'll never get it. Simple as that. While it may be impossible for you to get younger, or grow a foot taller, there are other alternatives.

Your question itself is exactly what the characters in KS are trying to do. Rin will never gain arms, Lilly will never see, and Emi will never have legs. But they don't let those define them--Rin paints, Emi runs, and Lilly does origami. They take what others thought was impossible and do it themselves. Because that's what you have to do to better yourself--redefine your expectations of yourself and who you are.

If you want to "feel" younger, maybe you should try Emi's couch to 5k, or start doing Pilates (it really wakes you up). If you want to feel better in the mornings, try eating light carbohydrates at night, or drinking coffee. Instead of marking the things you want to do as impossible, find a way.

I'm a competitive tennis player, and I worked with blind kids who play tennis. How do they do it? They play with a soundball, which lets them hear where it bounces, and they move and swing to it. You would think it impossible, but they play just fine. Even better than most, I'll bet.

So, as Xanatos said, "Get them."

Excellent post, but I only wrote about impossible things to get a counter-argument vs Xanatos.

Xanatos wrote: Enter cryogenic stasis until such time that humanity develops the technology to both revive you and reverse the aging process.



Didn't think I'd have an answer, did ya? Ha!

I underestimated your seemingly infinite wisdom. But since it actually isn't impossible things like that which I want, I'll just take your advice

I've had to restart my routine from scratch after the injury and a hellish bout of insomnia and ruined sleep cycles set back some of my progress. And I'm not sure if the latter is over yet.

Gandara wrote:Gandara: WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE

GANDARA. Welcome back, you magnificent Wisconsinite!! I was wondering how you were doing. Glad to hear all your good progress hasn't reversed, and congratulations on starting your weightlifting. That's something I haven't been able to seriously maintain - just can't seem to take to it. Don't worry about how you look - you look much cooler than all the people not doing that. Do let us know how it goes.

Gandara wrote:Today I broke a personal record: I jogged for 5 minutes straight. Not much of an accomplishment to all you RUNNERS in here (hmm, Walrusfella? HMM?!) but an accomplishment nonetheless.

Good on you! Don't knock your accomplishment - I couldn't run five minutes before I started all this; took me a few weeks to get to there, and even then it could best be described as "lumbering".

Speaking of drinks that are bad for you, I've had to severely cut back on beer, which has been difficult. Not because of the alcohol really, it was just something of a "comfort food" for me. Whenever I've been tempted too often, I have to think "this will interfere with my running, it will make me heavier and it will slow me down. I do not want to be slow". Alas, it doesn't work every time.

I'm still losing weight, albeit at a much much slower rate now. I'm at 216 lbs, for an even 40 lbs lost. The last five took a few months to come off.

Espionage724, I'll have to try that coconut water sometime. I think I know a shop that probably stocks it.

Xanatos, I've been there - insomnia's bloody frustrating, and I'm not sure how to beat it. Being awake for no reason when you should be asleep is horrible. Mine's only been better because I've been put on day shift. Good luck.

Walrusfella wrote:Xanatos, I've been there - insomnia's bloody frustrating, and I'm not sure how to beat it. Being awake for no reason when you should be asleep is horrible. Mine's only been better because I've been put on day shift. Good luck.

Yeah...And as a result of it, I've been waking up at 2-5 PM which only feeds into the inability to sleep when I ought to sleep. Vicious cycle...I only know of one way to counter it: Pull an all-nighter to insure being tired as fuck when the next night arrives. And even that tends to backfire.

I guess I kind of did W1D1 of Emi's Couch to 5k last night. I jogged / walked for 20 minutes. I didn't do exactly according to the plan, but I tried to keep it close-ish: I walked at 3 mph for 1 - 1.5 minutes at a time, then jogged faster with each 1 - 1.5 minute increment. I started at a 4.5 mph jog, then went up .1 mph with each increment, topping at 5 mph. Not that fast, but it's a start I suppose.

Oh, and due to them getting a new scale at my work's gym I've been weighing myself with my shoes on. I suppose I've -actually- lost a couple pounds more than I listed, but I'll be weighing myself shoes on for now.

Have been busy since school reopened. Just started week3 of 5-to-10k.
Because of my schedule, I have only two days per week to work on the 5-to-10k program, and I'll be running 30 minutes on one extra day.

Just a question, do you guys feel that runs are better in afternoon/evenings?
Any tips to improve performance for morning runs?

Ave Emi

Xanatos wrote: Yeah...And as a result of it, I've been waking up at 2-5 PM which only feeds into the inability to sleep when I ought to sleep. Vicious cycle...I only know of one way to counter it: Pull an all-nighter to insure being tired as fuck when the next night arrives. And even that tends to backfire.

I was the same for like month or so, couldn't sleep, but it's easy to beat. You just have to sleep for shorter time. I set alarm always that i sleep for 7h30min(some stuff bout sleeping phases, you wont wake up so tired). It takes few days and then you are ok. If you have to work or sth and sleep less, just add that time to next sleep to balance it. Like yesterday sleep was 6h long, so tonight i'm gonna sleep for 9h..

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I hate this oh so much, I hate Four Leaf Studios for creating this game. While I only have completed Emi's playthrough, I have the sudden urge to exercise! I don't like exercising! I didn't want to exercise! But now I do! Thanks a lot for that! The sad thing is? I am in college! I don't have shorts or shirts to exercise with! I don't have running shoes! It is the middle of winter in South Dakota! AND I WANT TO RUN!

Okay, hysterics aside I really want to exercise. I am hoping to go to either France or Japan in two years time for Foreign Studies for a year. So the 2014-2015 Years will be me studying abroad (hopefully). I want to be active, exploring and engaging with people that have lived different lives than I and seeing how they measure up... but I live in South Dakota. For those who don't know: South Dakota has TWO things: Cows and flat land. So exploring? Boring here. People? Just as boring (so far anyway). I am starting a new path for my life this year. This is my first full year as an Adult. I am 19 bloody years old and I will take control of my life! I will do as Emi did, not sit around and piss about with my free time! However I will still play games (sorry, it is my hobby. I love it as Emi loves to run).

I am going to be going to far more club activies. The "Computer Help Night" I will go to every Tuesday, Computer Clubs on Wednesday, Game Nights on Thursday, and Anime Club on Friday. With that I will be studying more, both for my classes and Japanese. I also plan on going to the gym every day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (hopefully) as I only have two classes and have free time past 10:00 all day.

Adding to this, I am going to try to eat healthier. Carrots! Celery! Both shall be eaten with some Veggie Dip as both taste horrendous. ANYWAYS! I need to go out and explore. I am tired of this boring old South Dakota (Both Figuratively and Literally, seriously people. All we have is Flat lands and Cows. THAT IS IT!) and want to take control of my life. I no longer want to simply be stuck in a dead end job, wasting time away (figuratively, I haven't worked a day in my life). I want to live my life to the fullest. CARPE DIEM!

Goals: Weight Around 170-180 (currently around 210) lbs by middle of 2014.
Goals: Remove Soda from my life (might go try a V8, those are good for you right?)
Goals: Finish Katawa Shoujo and learn to draw better!
Goals: Study Japanese!
Goals: Meet New People! Explore New Clubs!
Goals: Run a single Mile without stopping by middle of 2013!
Goals: Run a marathon in 2014!
Goals: BE LESS OF A DICK!
Goals: Stop having Sleeping Issues! No, seriously, I have some wierd issue with sleeping. Like I over-think. Constantly. It sucks. So. Freaking. Much.

Anyways, Hi! I can't wait to start this!

EDIT: Also, not sure if this is the right place to ask: Where can I find High Resolution Pictures of ACTs 2, 3, 4 for Emi? You know the ones that are on those cut pieces of Paper?

CaptPonyholder wrote:...I don't have shorts or shirts to exercise with! I don't have running shoes! It is the middle of winter in South Dakota! AND I WANT TO RUN!

Pft, I run in a hoodie, t-shirt, sweatpants, and some random shoes I have, at 5AM :p

CaptPonyholder wrote:Adding to this, I am going to try to eat healthier. Carrots! Celery! Both shall be eaten with some Veggie Dip as both taste horrendous. ANYWAYS! I need to go out and explore. I am tired of this boring old South Dakota (Both Figuratively and Literally, seriously people. All we have is Flat lands and Cows. THAT IS IT!) and want to take control of my life. I no longer want to simply be stuck in a dead end job, wasting time away (figuratively, I haven't worked a day in my life). I want to live my life to the fullest. CARPE DIEM!

Yeah I'm not a big fan of veggies by theirself (probably not using the right word there), but with some dip, they're ok As for some exploration, I mentioned a few pages back that I got an invite for a game called Ingress (for Android devices); gives me great motivation for exploring

CaptPonyholder wrote: Goals: Weight Around 170-180 (currently around 210) lbs by middle of 2014.
Goals: Remove Soda from my life (might go try a V8, those are good for you right?)
Goals: Finish Katawa Shoujo and learn to draw better!
Goals: Study Japanese!
Goals: Meet New People! Explore New Clubs!
Goals: Run a single Mile without stopping by middle of 2013!
Goals: Run a marathon in 2014!
Goals: BE LESS OF A DICK!
Goals: Stop having Sleeping Issues! No, seriously, I have some wierd issue with sleeping. Like I over-think. Constantly. It sucks. So. Freaking. Much.

Pretty awesome goals as well I have some huge hill near my house, which is a pain to walk up... for now anyway. I have a goal to be able to walk (maybe even be able to jog) up said hill without much issue. I too want to loose some weight, and remove soda from my life.

I want to also study Japanese too, really need to get some kind of motivation for this though... I have all the material needed to basically just start studying it, but never actually get to it. I'll either play Dota 2 for some hours, surf the internet, or find some other random task to keep me occupied for a good while, it's kind of annoying :/ If anything though, I do have Japanese TV set-up to just stream to a dedicated HTPC nearby (usually on TBS), so at least I'm getting some exposure to it

Well, it has been about... 3? 4? hours since I beat Emi's story 100% and I can't stop thinking about it. While it hasn't depressed me as much as "To The Moon" has yet, it is still depressing. Not for the characters or the message. Just that it is over. I loved that character and her story is now just... over. Will they all be like this? I hope not T~T I don't think I could take it!

Anyways, I am going to start:
Emi's Couch to 5k Challenge
Emi's 100 Pushups Challenge

On Monday, hopefully I can stick with it. I plan to do it every Mon, Wednesday, Friday. I might do weekends, unsure about it so far though. I want to enjoy running and I want to try out for my College's Cross Country team, maybe next year. Who knows, I might be in the Cross-Country Team when I am in Japan XD I would most likely get my butt kicked their though!

Does anyone still use fitocracy?

https://www.fitocracy.com/profile/completesky/

Here's mine.

CaptPonyholder wrote:Well, it has been about... 3? 4? hours since I beat Emi's story 100% and I can't stop thinking about it. While it hasn't depressed me as much as "To The Moon" has yet, it is still depressing. Not for the characters or the message. Just that it is over. I loved that character and her story is now just... over. Will they all be like this? I hope not T~T I don't think I could take it!

Anyways, I am going to start:
Emi's Couch to 5k Challenge
Emi's 100 Pushups Challenge

On Monday, hopefully I can stick with it. I plan to do it every Mon, Wednesday, Friday. I might do weekends, unsure about it so far though. I want to enjoy running and I want to try out for my College's Cross Country team, maybe next year. Who knows, I might be in the Cross-Country Team when I am in Japan XD I would most likely get my butt kicked their though!

Awesome! Going for the team will be great motivation to keep training. You really don't need special clothes to run, though I'd buy running shoes (on sale if possible, pay no heed to how they look) if you can. Decent shoes help prevent injury.

Your drive to improve yourself shines through. Your goals are all admirable, but there might be too many of them to keep to all at once. I've found that willpower/motivation is a limited resource that can be spread too thin. I certainly don't mean to tell you your business, but I worry that there might be something of a "hangover" once you take in how difficult all of that is. Perhaps it might help to narrow the list down a bit and add goals back on once you've accomplished one or two.

Espionage724 wrote:I want to also study Japanese too, really need to get some kind of motivation for this though... I have all the material needed to basically just start studying it, but never actually get to it. I'll either play Dota 2 for some hours, surf the internet, or find some other random task to keep me occupied for a good while, it's kind of annoying :/ If anything though, I do have Japanese TV set-up to just stream to a dedicated HTPC nearby (usually on TBS), so at least I'm getting some exposure to it

I've been studying Japanese for 4 months now; another of my KS sparked self-improvement things. I've found it a beautiful and fascinating language, though utterly alien. I have been taking lessons in a small class with a proper teacher. I was lucky enough to have a good one locally with fair rates. I think that is probably the best way to learn it. I would find it almost impossible on my own. Since it's a means of communication you'd be learning, having other people around to practice it on would be invaluable. Your motivation would be much easier to come by.

I do realize this might not be an option for you; not every town has a Japanese teacher, apart from other considerations, but that is the way I've been learning and I recommend it.

CaptPonyholder, studying that would also tie in nicely to your "meet new people" goal.

Completesky wrote:Does anyone still use fitocracy?

https://www.fitocracy.com/profile/completesky/

Here's mine.

Yep! I've lapsed with my entries while I was sick a couple of weeks ago, but I'll be starting again. Ook and some of the others are on there too. Mine's here if you like. I've taken the liberty of following you.