Despite my addled brain and injured body, I managed some positives on the project this week. The new undertaking for the week was HTML self-education, which I decided I would further by producing video tutorials on the subject. First off, the general review went well, and I developed a clear picture of how the videos will flow. On the other hand, I did not adequately prepare for the actual recording process, and found myself, to my surprise wishing for a script. Certainly, it would have been trivial to record myself haphazardly throwing together the sample HTML and ramble on with improvised audio, but first, there are hundreds of coding/programming tutorials like that already, and I find them a nuisance to watch. Second, part of the advantage of doing these videos is that it also allows me to practice video and audio production techniques; the thing about editing is that it's always easiest and most fruitful when you start with solid material. I'd rather take the time to put together a good video. So, with that in mind, I've started writing out scripts for the first two videos. It's best to get into this habit now, because this will be especially helpful when I start working with actual programming languages and their significantly greater complexities.
I conducted my first strength benchmark test yesterday. Admittedly, the intensity and regularity of my workouts have been variable, so I was not expecting to put up huge numbers. What I was expecting, however, was different ratios than what I got. I managed a bench press of 54.4 kg (~77% bodyweight), a deadlift of 59 kg (~83%) and a squat of 63.5 kg (~89.6%). My understand is that the squat should be MUCH higher relative to the other two, but then I find myself wondering if that ratio is often possibly skewed; while I have seen many videos of heavy lifters working through full range-of-motion on both bench presses and deadlifts, the videos I see of big squats tend to involve very wide stances with small range of movement, often not even reaching parallel, let alone going below it. The difficulty of the motion takes a sharp increase as you reach parallel and continue down further, so the fact that I always squat with a full range of motion may be reflected in the lower weight I was able to work through. Even so, it also reflects that I have probably not challenged my legs and lower back as much as I should. Something to learn from.
I was able to actually get a complete Sunday cooking session in, but the results were a mixed bag, and the whole process took too long, in my estimation. With prep time accounted for, the whole thing took 5 hours. With cleaning time accounted for, it took 6 hours. This was less than ideal as it had to come at the end of the day, and I was feeling sluggish after a big meal. Of course, this was the first time I'd actually been able to do it. Now that I have a sense of the scale of the undertaking, I can start to build new efficiencies here and there. First, some time was lost to half-hearted dawdling as I found myself uncertain of what to do with my last two dishes, a breakfast hash and a tempeh stir fry. I was committed to using the older veggies in my fridge, which would have gone past their date this week otherwise, but had not even given serious thought to what those were or how they might be best used until the last minute. Laying out a clear recipe itinerary will help with this, as well as with my concerns about the flavor and texture of the resultant dishes. Dicing up sweet potato was also a failure point in the design; peeling and dicing these tough tubers completely took nearly 20 minutes unto itself, a process which could be cut down significantly. My resultant haste with the sweet potatoes led, in turn, to my rushing with peppers, mushrooms and onions, blitzing them in a food processor, which produced unfortunately uneven results.
The biggest problem, however, is the burgers. Grass-fed beef or bison burgers, depending on availability, are a staple of my diet, a key source of the protein I need to achieve my goals. Sometimes they smoke the kitchen into oblivion and mark the grill pan with scorched leavings, sometimes the process goes completely smoothly, and I've yet to observe any meaningful correlation between factors and outcomes. I'm sure it's something obvious, staring me in the face, but every time I have to wipe down the pan between rounds of burgers, I'm losing between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on how bad the layer of crust is. Last night, I lost 35 minutes to pan cleaning. Between these bigger, obvious time-wasters, and the smaller inefficiencies in my approach, I would honestly not be surprised at all if there were as many as 2 hours to be recovered from the process working as I did. With sufficiently understood recipes, I could cook more in parallel, in which case I suspect I could find 3 hours freed up. That means some free time this week must be given over to recipe research.
Despite my grumblings, this is actually what I enjoy about maintaining this journal and undertaking this challenge. Holding myself up to scrutiny is something I have always done, but it has been the kind of aimless, derogatory self-scrutiny that someone who vaguely wishes to punish one's self without admitting to any particular failing undertakes. No, this is a concentrated criticism which can only humble my heart and hone my being.
No new endeavors to add, this week. Just going to take this week to build on what I already have laid out before me.
Still learning,
~L
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