Nice hair dryer looks a monster 😆 mine was from Wilko and the handle is held on with tape now lol 🤣
No one get my name. We do this at school and it's a total nightmare! I never know what to get people. I usually end up getting a bear or sweets... But it's not like I don't try. I spend ages in the shops browsing and trying to decide but in the end I go for the simple option.
Last year, I had a Secret Santa thing at work and we all had to fill up a form on what we wished to get (everyone else can see too). But my Secret Santa didn't even give me what I wanted. Like not even close. 😂😂 I got so mad. 😑 Partly could be that I actually put it in a lot of effort to find my Santee's wish and was hoping someone else would do the same for me.
So, with this bad weather in the US, I’ve had to postpone my Christmas trip to my brother’s. We were supposed to leave tomorrow, but now have freezing rain in the forecast, some snow, and temps in the single digits (Fahrenheit). It warms up some Saturday, so if the roads aren’t icy, we’ll go then. If not, I’ll be Christmas Day. Stay warm and safe, folks.
So, with this bad weather in the US, I’ve had to postpone my Christmas trip to my brother’s. We were supposed to leave tomorrow, but now have freezing rain in the forecast, some snow, and temps in the single digits (Fahrenheit). It warms up some Saturday, so if the roads aren’t icy, we’ll go then. If not, I’ll be Christmas Day. Stay warm and safe, folks.
If you had a million dollars, and you could only use it for a gift to someone else, what gift would you get and who would you give it to?
I would get my mom a new kitchen (and I guess technically me too cuz I will be baking in it). Like a super duper spacious modern kitchen. But I guess that wouldn't be a fun gift since it won't be much of a surprise considering we would have to move out for a bit during the renovation. LOL.
The whole kitchen counter top will be used by me when I'm baking. Cuz this is what it looks like every Sunday when I bake. XD
😆 Yuck! What are the black and white layers in the middle?
Just out of curiosity, I notice the tin is manufactured by Game. Is this Photoshopped (and if so, cool!) or is this an item available within a game?
Candy canes crushed up and mixed with chocolates? Can we do that?
I have to face the fact that instead of relaxing on Christmas Eve, I must now go and wrap a huge pile of gifts I hadn't had time to wrap yet. Just what I need, another chore to do on my time off. But that attitude will not help make it better so here goes nothing, cranking on the tunes and trying to be festive about it at the last hour!
What is your fav present you got this year/or what gifts you got (if you don't feel like picking favorites)?
I got nothing. 🤣 But that's fair cuz I also gave nothing to no one. LOL.
I got a few gift cards and gave out a few. It's a lot easier than trying to guess sizes and colors or whatnot. The best part is I don't have to fight crowds and they don't have to hassle with returns.
Best of luck @ignominiusrex I hope you got everything wrapped and it didn't take too long in the end
Thank you, Luna! In the end I finally had enough at around 2 a.m. and let a few things just not be wrapped. It was because it was almost all left til Christmas Eve to do. We had a good Christmas in the end, though.
What is your fav present you got this year/or what gifts you got (if you don't feel like picking favorites)?
I got nothing. 🤣 But that's fair cuz I also gave nothing to no one. LOL.
Hope you had a nice cozy time of it anyway, @DaniRose2143!
This year, I was given a bluetooth speaker for work, a pair of electric socks that have to go back because they are too tight (socks seem to be being made with less stretch to them these days, anyone else notice that?)
A set of hand exercisers I asked for, and some nice leather gloves (maybe synthetic? Not sure) that are touch screen compatible all over and work very well with my phone.
We had way too many treats, but my favorites were imported chocolate hazelnut pralines/bonbons, and a rum Christstollen imported from Germany, sehr gut!
I also made a crumb-top tart cherry pie.
That along with other candies, dates and figs, fine cheeses, it was a lot.
I even had a couple of strong IPAs, but am going back to nonalcohol versions hereafter. They were too strong for my taste and health, and I don't want to become habituated to it again. Nonalcoholic brews now exist that are quite tasty and hoppy.
Thank goodness I had no office party to go to.
Hoping to hear about everyone's holidays and/or New Year plans.
Do you guys have any new years resolutions? If that's something you do. I try to every new year but I'm not very good at sticking at them lol.
This year I think I'm going to go for working harder at my singing and creating a new workout routine and sticking at it until March or April - and cutting out snacks, if possible 😆
Yeah, mine is to get 11 line abs (been trying to get this for 5 years LOL) which means I need to lower my body fat %, and also bigger delts. Maybe also be more patient and less snappy with people (this one is so hard cuz I always try and always fail... 😅) I'm good at sticking to trying to achieve my resolutions but I'm so slow with my progress, they always get passed to the next year and so on. 🤣
Creating workout routines are so fun! I always create my own and change them every 3-4 weeks after my muscles adapt. 😁 If you need any ideas, I can help!
Hey thanks @DeKay that’s nice of you – and yes, please, I need a lot of help. LOL. I’ve tried several routines in the last year but I think I try too hard ones or do too much straight away because I end up in agony, like my muscles are on fire. I tried one earlier in the year and legit couldn’t even sit down properly without moaning in pain, it was that sore. I’m totally determined but I think I start too big. So if you have any tips for a starter routine for me then I’d be grateful for it I do morning and evening walks and jogs. I mind what I eat now, trying to get a good balance of calories and basically just keep fit – which I am. But, I want muscles as well, so that’s what I am aiming for now ^^
I swim as well, which helps but no muscle gain which is why I want to start a workout routine that will work and grow the right muscles.
Sounds like you’ve got some great routines going for you. Great goal to work towards. You’ll get there in the end for defos, don’t give up. People can be a total major pain keeping on all the time... I have people like that and it can be frustrating. I think it makes you feel more pressured which might be why snap back at times. Why can’t they just leave us alone? LOL. Maybe next year (tomorrow for me now) will be the year you get what you’ve been after – good for you sticking with them tho... That’s something I struggle with, tho the mass pain might be the reason lol.
Ooohh and new thing I tried this year is having shorter hair and I looovvveee it so far. It’s easier to manage and look after, the wind doesn’t blow it all over the place and I think it actually looks better shorter than it did long so I’m pleased I gave it a try ^^
Congrats on a new haircut!
Congrats on exercising and I hope it continues to give you good health.
If your muscles are in that kind of pain, I wish you could talk with sports doc or physiologist or trainer because that's not normal if it's that bad, and it is possible to injure your ligaments, tendons, and cartilage from going too hard instead of building gradually, and set yourself way back, as those take a long time to heal.
I have injured myself going too hard so I learned the hard way.
Usually it's much less of a risk to injury, to use your own body as resistance, by doing planks, push-ups, that sort of thing.
Hey thanks DeKay that’s nice of you – and yes, please, I need a lot of help. LOL. I’ve tried several routines in the last year but I think I try too hard ones or do too much straight away because I end up in agony, like my muscles are on fire. I tried one earlier in the year and legit couldn’t even sit down properly without moaning in pain, it was that sore. I’m totally determined but I think I start too big. So if you have any tips for a starter routine for me then I’d be grateful for it I do morning and evening walks and jogs. I mind what I eat now, trying to get a good balance of calories and basically just keep fit – which I am. But, I want muscles as well, so that’s what I am aiming for now ^^
I swim as well, which helps but no muscle gain which is why I want to start a workout routine that will work and grow the right muscles.
Sounds like you’ve got some great routines going for you. Great goal to work towards. You’ll get there in the end for defos, don’t give up. People can be a total major pain keeping on all the time... I have people like that and it can be frustrating. I think it makes you feel more pressured which might be why snap back at times. Why can’t they just leave us alone? LOL. Maybe next year (tomorrow for me now) will be the year you get what you’ve been after – good for you sticking with them tho... That’s something I struggle with, tho the mass pain might be the reason lol.
Ooohh and new thing I tried this year is having shorter hair and I looovvveee it so far. It’s easier to manage and look after, the wind doesn’t blow it all over the place and I think it actually looks better shorter than it did long so I’m pleased I gave it a try ^^
May I know what routines you did last time? When I first started out, I would ache a lot too especially after doing bodyweight squats. And I only did those for 45 secs. 😅 I was not in agony but just had trouble walking. I felt like I was waddling like a penguin. LOL.
Like what Iggy said, body weight workouts can be good for starters, tho I didn't grow a ton of muscle from them especially on my arms. I was too weak to even do pushups so that's pretty much useless for my arms. XD Granted, I didn't know much about exercise at the time and so I think my diet wasn't that great for muscle growth too. I was mainly just trying to lose weight so I was just eating really little.
But now that I have had a bit more experience thru experimentation, I'd suggest this:
Abs:
I think this vid is pretty good. I loved standing ab workouts back then cuz I had a very bad lower back and most laying down ab workouts threw out my back. 😅 Just make sure to really squeeze your abs while doing all of this. It makes a lot of difference. https://youtu.be/QKCkO9fy9O4
Now, separate each of these muscle group workouts on separate days. So since you're a beginner, you'd probably want to work out 3 times a week. You can still do your daily walks/jogs everyday.
Basically, you want to give each muscle group at least for 2-3 days of rest for beginners. I used to train all my muscle groups every day without rest except on Sundays even when I was already at an intermediate level, and felt it wasn't so effective and I was just sore all over non-stop.
After about 3 weeks, you'll start to feel stronger and the workouts would not cause much soreness. This is when you can add more difficulty to it by doing variations of the workouts, or if you have access to weights or resistance bands, you can add those too. I loveeee resistance bands and pretty much use them for all my leg and arm workouts now. But when you add weights, don't increase the reps to much.
For diet: You have to add more protein. I wouldn't suggest counting your macros cuz it might make you really obsessed like myself 🤣😥, but you should aim to eat about 0.9-1g of protein per pound of your current body weight. As a guide, 100g of lean meat is about 30g of protein. For me, I need about 100g of protein tho now I'm trying to hit about 115g a day, so I usually incorporate 100g of chicken breast/beef/fish for every one of my meals. The rest of protein would usually come from Greek yogurt, the breads I make, etc. I don't use any protein powder whatsoever.
Tell me how it goes if you wanna try this routine. 😁
Comments
Last year, I had a Secret Santa thing at work and we all had to fill up a form on what we wished to get (everyone else can see too). But my Secret Santa didn't even give me what I wanted. Like not even close. 😂😂 I got so mad. 😑 Partly could be that I actually put it in a lot of effort to find my Santee's wish and was hoping someone else would do the same for me.
Tales From The Myst
The Blue Moon Jukebox
Hope the weather gets better soon!
Tales From The Myst
The Blue Moon Jukebox
I would get my mom a new kitchen (and I guess technically me too cuz I will be baking in it). Like a super duper spacious modern kitchen.
The whole kitchen counter top will be used by me when I'm baking. Cuz this is what it looks like every Sunday when I bake. XD
Candy canesssss!
😆 Yuck! What are the black and white layers in the middle?
Just out of curiosity, I notice the tin is manufactured by Game. Is this Photoshopped (and if so, cool!) or is this an item available within a game?
Chocs for me, especially dark ones. 😋
Magicomedies:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/1006334/magicomedies#latest
I have to face the fact that instead of relaxing on Christmas Eve, I must now go and wrap a huge pile of gifts I hadn't had time to wrap yet. Just what I need, another chore to do on my time off. But that attitude will not help make it better so here goes nothing, cranking on the tunes and trying to be festive about it at the last hour!
```
I got nothing. 🤣 But that's fair cuz I also gave nothing to no one. LOL.
Magicomedies:https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/1006334/magicomedies#latest
I got a few gift cards and gave out a few. It's a lot easier than trying to guess sizes and colors or whatnot. The best part is I don't have to fight crowds and they don't have to hassle with returns.
Thank you, Luna! In the end I finally had enough at around 2 a.m. and let a few things just not be wrapped. It was because it was almost all left til Christmas Eve to do. We had a good Christmas in the end, though.
Hope you had a nice cozy time of it anyway, @DaniRose2143!
This year, I was given a bluetooth speaker for work, a pair of electric socks that have to go back because they are too tight (socks seem to be being made with less stretch to them these days, anyone else notice that?)
A set of hand exercisers I asked for, and some nice leather gloves (maybe synthetic? Not sure) that are touch screen compatible all over and work very well with my phone.
We had way too many treats, but my favorites were imported chocolate hazelnut pralines/bonbons, and a rum Christstollen imported from Germany, sehr gut!
I also made a crumb-top tart cherry pie.
That along with other candies, dates and figs, fine cheeses, it was a lot.
I even had a couple of strong IPAs, but am going back to nonalcohol versions hereafter. They were too strong for my taste and health, and I don't want to become habituated to it again. Nonalcoholic brews now exist that are quite tasty and hoppy.
Thank goodness I had no office party to go to.
Hoping to hear about everyone's holidays and/or New Year plans.
```
Getting my hair washed at a professional hair care center. 😅 I still have like 16 more appointments to go. LOL.
Yeah, mine is to get 11 line abs (been trying to get this for 5 years LOL) which means I need to lower my body fat %, and also bigger delts. Maybe also be more patient and less snappy with people (this one is so hard cuz I always try and always fail... 😅) I'm good at sticking to trying to achieve my resolutions but I'm so slow with my progress, they always get passed to the next year and so on. 🤣
Creating workout routines are so fun! I always create my own and change them every 3-4 weeks after my muscles adapt. 😁 If you need any ideas, I can help!
Congrats on a new haircut!
Congrats on exercising and I hope it continues to give you good health.
If your muscles are in that kind of pain, I wish you could talk with sports doc or physiologist or trainer because that's not normal if it's that bad, and it is possible to injure your ligaments, tendons, and cartilage from going too hard instead of building gradually, and set yourself way back, as those take a long time to heal.
I have injured myself going too hard so I learned the hard way.
Usually it's much less of a risk to injury, to use your own body as resistance, by doing planks, push-ups, that sort of thing.
```
May I know what routines you did last time? When I first started out, I would ache a lot too especially after doing bodyweight squats. And I only did those for 45 secs. 😅 I was not in agony but just had trouble walking. I felt like I was waddling like a penguin. LOL.
Like what Iggy said, body weight workouts can be good for starters, tho I didn't grow a ton of muscle from them especially on my arms. I was too weak to even do pushups so that's pretty much useless for my arms. XD Granted, I didn't know much about exercise at the time and so I think my diet wasn't that great for muscle growth too. I was mainly just trying to lose weight so I was just eating really little.
But now that I have had a bit more experience thru experimentation, I'd suggest this:
20 reverse lunge (on each leg)
20 rear foot elevated split squat (on each leg)
30 normal squats. If you want to challenge yourself a bit, you can do squat jumps but maybe only do like 10 of those.
You can see the gifs for each move here: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/g29213972/bodyweight-leg-exercises/
20 hip thrusts
20 single leg deadlift (for each leg) You can do it without a weight first.
Arms:
I used to do this one and after about 1 month, I could see my delts getting a bit more toned, so I highly recommend it!
Abs:
I think this vid is pretty good. I loved standing ab workouts back then cuz I had a very bad lower back and most laying down ab workouts threw out my back. 😅 Just make sure to really squeeze your abs while doing all of this. It makes a lot of difference.
Now, separate each of these muscle group workouts on separate days. So since you're a beginner, you'd probably want to work out 3 times a week. You can still do your daily walks/jogs everyday.
So for example, your schedule could be like this:
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Arms
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Abs
Weekends: Rest
Basically, you want to give each muscle group at least for 2-3 days of rest for beginners. I used to train all my muscle groups every day without rest except on Sundays even when I was already at an intermediate level, and felt it wasn't so effective and I was just sore all over non-stop.
After about 3 weeks, you'll start to feel stronger and the workouts would not cause much soreness. This is when you can add more difficulty to it by doing variations of the workouts, or if you have access to weights or resistance bands, you can add those too. I loveeee resistance bands and pretty much use them for all my leg and arm workouts now. But when you add weights, don't increase the reps to much.
For diet: You have to add more protein. I wouldn't suggest counting your macros cuz it might make you really obsessed like myself 🤣😥, but you should aim to eat about 0.9-1g of protein per pound of your current body weight. As a guide, 100g of lean meat is about 30g of protein. For me, I need about 100g of protein tho now I'm trying to hit about 115g a day, so I usually incorporate 100g of chicken breast/beef/fish for every one of my meals. The rest of protein would usually come from Greek yogurt, the breads I make, etc. I don't use any protein powder whatsoever.
Tell me how it goes if you wanna try this routine. 😁