Random Babbling Thread 119

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Extra rations.

For the owner of the dungeon, high bookcases.

 

So, I've decided to back Exploding Kittens.

I don't usually buy party games, but I just needed to have it.

With the way things are going, it could very well end up being the biggest hit on KS.

I guess everyone loves cats (and sometimes goats).

 

Well I've done my first week of daily exercise, which means I can begin my chart. Y'know for things like weight loss, amount of time spent exercising, that kinda stuff. I do about 20 ish minutes of stuff every single day. I've got one of those big ball thing with some weights, so far so good, I even begun to like doing it. Don't like the sweat though, it's just annoying, and unhygienic.

Now I'm at a slightly over my "healthy" weight at 85.6 kg.

Also, I've always liked playing halflings in DnD back in the day, though never a rogue. Why ? Too common, nah I preferred playing a halfling barbarian ! Frothbaägr the halfling barbarian ! People, obviously, underestimated him. Though I can see why, not many people would be intimated by a 115 cm skinny hobbit. Way more fun that way. I tend to do that a lot when creating fictional characters, to deliberately go against expectation for any given stock characters. "Oh yeah an wise, stoic, and haughty elven wizard, gee that's original"

Also also, I utterly despise the very concept of alignment, I mean "good" people can do "bad" stuff and vice versa, the whole concept just seem dumb. This is why whenever I was the Dungeon Master I tossed that silly nonesense away, no alignment ! Screw that noise ! You want to be a "good" character ? Then act good. I also didn't use skills such as persuasion or intimidation or ... whatever else there was in DnD 3.5. Same reasoning really, you want to persuade an npc of something ? then persuade him, don't roll a dice -- that's just silly.

 

You're using a Swiss ball to exercise? That's kinda.... meh.

Alignments in D&D are actually pretty robust (not counting paladins), they allow for a reasonable amount of aberrant behavior and don't necessarily reflect some cosmic ethics and morality. There are also official subsystems allowing for dynamic changes in alignment.

I generally just direct my players toward "real alignments". Official descriptions of the big nine don't really make for very organic characters.

Dice rolls have their place. I support pure roleplay, but there are just situations that call for a dice roll. I usually ask for one when there is an obvious disparity between what's being said and what the character is capable of saying. Maybe the player is presenting a far more eloquent argument than his barbarian with Cha 5 should be able to make or maybe they can't really find the right words even though they're playing a Sorcerer with Cha 22 and max ranks in Diplomacy. Sometimes pure roleplay simply isn't a feasible option, like when a character is leading the peace talks between two rival kingdoms that last for days, so I just ask them to sum up their argument and make a complex skill check.

Most often, I ask for Bluff rolls simply because Sense Motive requires an opposed roll. I don't always roll Sense Motive though.

 

I concede your point here, that's a valid point. A charismatic character shouldn't be penalized by its player's well, lack of charisma so to speak. Still, I'd favor persuasion through persuasion, but given certain circumstances I might allow for a dice roll.

However I remain unconvinced with the whole alignment thing. People are more complex and cannot conveniently be put into strict boxes. Moreover, circumstances affect a person's action far more than a vaguely defined world view. As far as the article itself is concerned, it's well argued I'll give it that, and it's definitively better than the old system but still. I just don't understand the need to characterize a character's motivation or philosophy, why bother at all ? What are the gaming advantages to it ? Let the character's world view be shown through action, not through some silly arbitrary alignment written on a sheet of paper.

I should say though that this is all academic, I haven't played any table top rpgs in year, and I don't really see myself doing so in the near future.

Also, what's wrong with a "swiss ball" ? (is that really how English people call it ? what's swiss about it?) I enjoy mine, it's a great tool to exercises.

 

Alignments, and other more esoteric aspects of a character, allow the player to fully envision and define that character. Without those lines and boxes, people are generally prone to slipping back into their own personalities which they are comfortable with and become indecisive and confused when they think about what their characters are supposed to do. Fully fleshing out your character's personality has no real mechanical value (although some minor systems are related to alignments), but it allows you to portray and grow into that role. It's also why we give our characters names and histories. Of course, none of that should be constraining within the game itself. Real people are rarely so simple and predictable that they wouldn't be able to color outside the lines.

As for the Swiss ball, it's called a Swiss ball because that's where it was originally used. It's just a colloquial term. A more generic term would be an exercise ball. It's an alright tool for basic exercise when used right, but there's really not much that you can do with it that you couldn't do as well or better with standard calisthenics and a proper set of dumbbells and/or barbell. I'm kind of allergic to any set of exercises involving a Swiss ball. It's usually how personal trainers make a lot of money off people who make new year resolutions to start working out and have no idea what they're supposed to be doing.

Also, the biggest part of fitness is actually a proper diet. If you're gonna start making a chart of anything, it should probably be your calorie and protein intakes.

 

I know all that -- I eat healthily enough as it is. I don't believe in dieting honestly. I allow myself some unhealthy food such as chips, cookies and other sugary things once in while. I exercise because I want to be a good shape, not to loose weight, well not really. I mean, I'm not fat I just have a little extra weight around the waist.

Thing is my exercise routine is based on the counsel of my old high school gym teacher. Granted that was ten years ago, but I still have notes laying around. I can reasonably assume that what he told me was legit, right ? He also was professional fitness trainer as well as a high school gym teacher. Y'see Back then I really was obese (can't really remember my exact weight but I wore 4XL shirt -- to give you an idea). I stopped exercising for various reasons (laziness being chief among them) some years ago and now I've begun anew. So no, I'm not a gullible idiot who just fell to some quack program meant to squeeze money out of me.

 

Well, dieting doesn't really mean some weird specialized menu and routine that supposedly allow you to lose weight, it just means watching your intake and staying away from processed junk as much as possible. It doesn't matter if you're bulking, cutting, or just trying to keep in shape, it all comes down to one thing—You gotta burn at least as much as you eat to lose weight or less to gain weight. Which is why I'm saying you should start with putting that into a chart, otherwise I don't really see a point in charting your exercise unless you're trying to maintain a strict routine and you need a reminder.

 

Strict routine or just maximising certain groups of muscles. One day arms, one day legs, then the next day abs, and you can have lots of different excercises, all for different muscles and different purposes. I can see the use of notes for excercises like this.

Even for for instance swimming or running I can see the use of notes. Go faster for a minute, then ease up for a minute, repeat ten times, then do a longer run at moderate pace. It all has its uses. And a schedule may make you finish it instead of just saying "good enough" half way through.

And taking care of what you eat and what not works differently for different people. Some people can eat whatever they want, their high metabolism will take care of it (up to a point and generally also up to a certain age). Others need to take care of what they eat more, but even then there are certain regulatory systems.

For me, if I don't eat a lot, my metabolism goes down and I will lose muscles, then maybe at some point I'll start losing fat as well, but it's not very effective. I've found that for me the best way is to just eat normally and then excercise regularly. Swimming, running, biking, it all works. Not that I generally will lose much weight that way, I'll just gain muscles and lose some fat and still weigh the same in the end.

As for sweating being unhygienic, then I can't do anything without being unhygienic. And better live in the arctic. I just can't do much without sweating and certainly not at any higher temperatures. Not even pulling weights or something like that, not if I do it with any intensity.

 

Yep, keeping a chart helps you maintain a routine, and if you're working toward a specific goal (like when lifting or preparing for a marathon), you can see the progress.

Actually, it works exactly the same for every single person. Some people simply have an easier time burning through the calories because they either can't process food as well (extract less energy from it) or they waste more energy on the same tasks. These hormonal imbalances do exist, but the difference is not as big as people with "bad genetics" would have everyone believe.

I have literally never seen a person, no matter what shape they were in, that needed a special diet in order to lose or gain weight. There are some differences in daily intake, but it's a matter of a couple hundred kcal a day. Regular exercise and a healthy diet should properly maintain the hormone balance in virtually everyone.

 

I wasn't being serious there, merely stating that I don't like being all wet, sticky and stinky after exercising. I know sweat is perfectly natural. Showering takes care of that "problem".

Also I'm aware that muscle actually weights more than fat, I don't care much about the exact figure. My goal, if I have one beyond "to be in better shape", is simply to get rid of that damn fat around my stomach.

 

Well, love handles and inner thigh fat are generally the last to go. If you wanna burn fat, you should just do steady state cardio. Even LISS (low intensity steady state) exercises, like walking, are very effective at burning fat.

Oh, and don't forget that it's impossible to just burn fat in one place. I know it's common knowledge, but I still see people recommending specific exercises to help burn off fat on the abs or thighs.

 

Generally this is true, but there's multiple factors. Like marathon runners that want to lose that last bit of weight actually need to eat a little bit more in order to crank up their metabolism in order to burn more fat.

What actually works pretty well is to build up muscles. More muscles is higher base energy consumption. Also muscles can reduce flabbiness, so it seems like you get more in shape.

 

Ok, but that's an extreme case. Once we start talking about dropping fat below 6%, it's an entirely different game. For anyone doing standard workout, a normal healthy diet with the proper caloric and protein intakes is all there is to it. "Proper" meaning about 20-40% reduction from the amount you need to maintain weight, although anything above 25% will generally have bad side effects, like being hungry all the time and not being able to think clearly.

Obviously, building muscle while losing weight is not only recommended, but highly important. If you don't do any resistance training while cutting, your body is likely gonna start cannibalizing your muscles, and you'll just end up skinny with the same amount of fat. Cardio alone won't really get you where you want to be unless you've got a lot of body fat and you just wanna cut some of that before you start any serious training. SS cardio exercises are a great way to supplement resistance training if you need to burn off extra fat.

A light jog or a walk after the standard set of muscle exercises can work wonders. A bike ride is cool too, so long as you don't push it.

I don't know why, but RBT seems to have transformed into a /fit/ thread. I find that mildly amusing, considering the participants.

 

I feel responsible for turning RBT into Random Fitness Thread, so... here's a couple random thoughts.

I. I really like Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon. Yeah it isn't exactly a new game, but damn I got it for like 5$ a couple of months ago and it rocks.

II. I'm eating fish for supper ! Wooo ! Love fish. Sole filet if you're wondering.

III. I wonder why so many people where I live don't like fish.

IV. Some roman numeral clocks uses IIII instead of IV so people won't confuse it with VI.

V. According to one Titus Livius Patavinus (more widely known as Livy) source, the first roman emperor Augustus died on August* 19 14 AD.

*Mea Culpa.

 

Blood Dragon is indeed awesome.

I don't like sea food in general. I find the smell of the sea revolting.

I like freshwater fish though. I also enjoy some types of sushi and fish sashimi.

And yeah, people neglect resistance training all too much. Popular media has given them a skewered perception of what good exercise is supposed to be. They associate weight lifting with body-builders and mainstream information would have them believe that special diets and/or endless jogging/running is enough. This is also the reason why so many fail.

 

The smell of the sea is great. The salt gives it that extra adventurous taste.

Seafood is underestimated and expensive.

 

Oh I love the smell of the ocean

I guess it depends on the kind of seafood. Shrimps, salmon, trout, and sole for example really are inexpensive. Well, at least in my local super market.