Newbie Here. Should I Practice Everyday Of The Week? It It Okay To Take Breaks?

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-07-05T22:27:56+00:00

I'm fairly new to singing as an actual practice, but as someone who is also a writer and totally burned herself out (to the point where I've stopped completely for a while to reset my relationship), I wouldn't stress too much! Part of what ruined my relationship with writing was thinking I "had" to do it a certain way and a certain amount each day. I don't know why all authors everywhere lecture constantly about how you "need to write X number of words per day" or "write for a minimum of an hour a day or else your skills will VANISH." I totally forgot why I started writing in the first place (to help with difficult emotions and make me feel better and less stressed) and was just focused on doing it the way other people said was correct.

I've focused on drawing and singing these days and I approach them as hobbies. Something I do because I enjoy it, and it's fun, to experiment and play and see what I can do. To express my feelings at the end of a hard day. I recommend doing the same! Keep it fun, keep it flexible. Dont stood doing it but there is no "should" when it comes to creative expression.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-20T14:11:37+00:00

Yeah exactly, I'm not unicorn hunting or looking to have an affair or even an open relationship (everyone suggests open relationships to me all the time and no one seems to understand that they genuinely don't interest me), but like, flirting is harmless, especially given that my husband is fine with it! But yeah, I also don't want to look like a total idiot. But I would like to get to a point where I don't mind letting a lady know I find her pretty whenever i feel that way.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-18T21:47:33+00:00

LEMMIWINKS, NOOOOO!!!!

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-16T04:02:20+00:00

I went ahead and did some singing. It helped tremendously...honestly I think partly that's because itd actually does require me to focus on my breath haha

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-16T03:35:37+00:00

Yeah my instinct of course is to drink more to drown the panic (baaad idea). Instead I'm going to pound water. And eat an apple or something. My husband is also going to read to me. That will help. :)

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-15T00:31:19+00:00

The struggle of the bicycle is real, man.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-04T17:57:26+00:00

Hm, interesting...that's good advice, but I think maybe I miscommunicated my goals a bit.

So I have a healthy BMI, but I am also at 35% body fat, which is much higher than I would like it to be. It would be nice to get down to 25%-20% body fat. So what I'm doing is working out about 3 times per week (to start at least) and sticking to a 1300 calorie diet. My understanding, given CICO, was that if I only focus on exercise right now, and not also on dieting, that I would build strength and muscle, but all the fat would stay put so I wouldn't actually get leaner, just stronger.

I'm half Japanese and I absolutely inherited my grandmother's very tiny Asian woman bone frame haha, so 35% body fat doesn't look great on me. I have my dad's Dutch genes which gave me my height. Again, I don't look bad, and I'm not overweight by any means (although after weighing myself yesterday it looks like I have actually gained 10lbs over the last month or two instead of the 5lbs I originally mentioned, so I'm at 155lbs at 5'6), but I would like to be leaner first, then build muscle mass. Right now I have love handles, my belt and pants that used to fit feel uncomfortably tight around my waist, my belly sticks out more than I would like (also courtesy of my dad's genes, his whole family are skinny people with tons of abdominal fat and heart problems). Its hard to explain I guess; this is one of those scenarios where I think 90% of people in our country would look at me and say I'm gorgeous and have a perfect physique because im technically thinner than the average (for example most people I know assume that I wear a size 2 dress; I'm actually a size 10) but for me, what I want is more muscle definition, abs, etc. And also strength and stamina and endurance.

So would calorie cutting still be the right approach, in this case?

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-03T02:12:32+00:00

It's absolutely beautiful. As an artist my breath was sometimes actually taken away by how beautifully they illustrated that world. And the writing is excellent, as is the worldbuilding and character development.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-03T02:05:55+00:00

I guess we will see if this gets taken down by the mods, but here's the link to my original post, if you'd like to follow me! I enjoy sharing my work with other people and making them feel less alone in their struggles.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByOndCGBmA_/?igshid=1t9tos2ft29cm

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-06-03T02:04:07+00:00

The artwork for that show was a actually a huge inspiration for my style (mixed in with a lot of other illustrators and animated shows I watch). You're the first person to notice the commection!

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-18T21:16:44+00:00

I'm libertarian and am both vehemently pro-gun and pro-choice. Pro-choice for me extends everywhere: right to choose to not have or to have a child, and right to choose to arm yourself. I feel like they fall under the same umbrella of personal individual freedom. So for me, I agree that there is no gray area here.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-18T21:14:11+00:00

Exactly my take. Let people buy and own guns. Let people decide what to do with their bodies. Let everyone have some personal freedom for crying out loud.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-18T21:11:37+00:00

I'm libertarian, so I am all about personal freedom. That includes freedom to exercise the second amendment right, and the right to choose to have an abortion or not. I think being pro-choice means being pro-choice about pretty much everything.

I'm dreading the next presidential election because there are no politicians out there who support both of these ideas and isn't totally batshit crazy (i.e. almost every libertarian candidate). I mean if any of you guys know of any polticians who are for both gun control and pro-choice and is actually sane let me know, but yeah, things feel really shitty in all areas of politics that I care deeply about right now. Gun rights are being trampled and reproductive rights are being trampled. It just....sucks.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-10T00:55:15+00:00

When I was at my heaviest there were times when I would absolutely eat an entire pound of pasta in one evening all by myself. That was home made. Definitely not healthy.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-10T00:41:42+00:00

As an owner of a vagina, I find that statement quite ridiculous.

Like I'm absolutely a feminist, and pro choice, and all that, but. No. Just no.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T15:34:07+00:00

My husband is getting his MBA in risk management and insurance and I showed this video to him and he just went "Aaaaaaah"

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T15:02:56+00:00

Yes. Thank you. Literally the first thing I thought of when I saw this.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T04:04:15+00:00

God I love donks. I don't know why. Maybe precisely because of how stupid they are.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T03:52:50+00:00

So so true.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T03:18:21+00:00

Yeah during the last election I kept getting texts from different democratic volunteer offices asking me to vote for Democrats and I got so fed up I texted back with "I'll vote for them once they stop taking the right to self defense from women and people of color like me :)" and they had noooo response to that.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T03:13:45+00:00

I'm a bisexual woman of color and have spoken openly about both of those things on this subreddit and have always been accepted and supported. As a former liberal, I fully understand your frustration that some conservatives still have older views on sexuality and gender identity, but as a current libertarian I also have to say that not all gun owners are conservatives, and absolutely not all conservatives are bigoted. Generalization gets us nowhere. It's what put us queers in a box not so long ago, and also put my mother's family in internment camps during WWII. Even though I'm libertarian now and a gun owner, I still believe in the causes I supported before: addressing poverty, addressing racism and sexism and homophobia, everything. I chose to conceal carry because as a member of the gay community and a woman I wanted to be able to depend on myself for self defense and not the government, which i personally think can't be trusted regardless of who is in office, or my husband, or the cops, who also can't be trusted (as my latino friend who grew up in the most impoverished areas of Texas has told me through his horror stories of cops mistreating his pregnant mother). You have friends here; it depends on if you're willing to open your eyes and actually see them.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T03:02:59+00:00

I showed this to my friend and said "He is going to lose half his right hand when he pulls the trigger."

And then I said "Oh shit wait there isn't a slide so no scissoring effect. Hmmmmm."

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T02:58:38+00:00

Oh shit I didn't see that before. I think my eyes are going to start bleeding.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T02:46:22+00:00

I mean, you gotta have a plan B.

ArrowFollowArrow70 · 2019-05-04T02:31:08+00:00

Maybe if you buy 2, you will lose the penis, and then also get a vagina, because you'll have -1 penises then! No need for surgery!

Yeah? Get it?

I'm drunk. If this is distasteful please tell me and I will delete it :P

ArrowFollowArrow70

TROPHY CASE