The Gryphon's Lair

[Quilly]

Welcome to the gryphon's lair, home of your friendly neighborhood wolf-bird, Quilly! Awooo~ooo!

Stats (14th July)

Sex: Female
Race: Gryphon (Wolf/Hawk)
Class: Assassin
Weight: 66KG/145lbs.
Height: 5'8
Body fat: Approx. 25%.

Background (Diet, exercise)
 

About two years ago I threw myself into strength training, and made solid progress lifting weights at my school gym. I've come a long way from not being able to do a single push up (I completed a total of 40 yesterday)! The weight and fat has quite literally fallen off me, and I've become stronger than I've ever been in my life. I also discovered the paleo diet, which fit in nicely with my many, many food intolerances. However, I was unable to use a gym anymore due to money concerns and accessibility, thus forcing me into body weight exercises and 

. I discovered my love for both body weight exercises and exercising outdoors, as a result. However, this is near impossible for 3/4 of the year, as I live in Dubai - and no, it does NOT get any easier at night, what with the 80% humidity. 
 

As of right now, I'm eating strict paleo with no dairy,legumes,fruits or nuts. I've cut out dark chocolate for the time being, as I was going overboard with them. I do intermittent fasting every day from 7PM to 11AM (if I'm going out to dinner late, I scale it accordingly). I exercise 3 times per week, and my workout consists of a game that I like to call "Body weight Solitaire". With a deck of cards, I'll pick a card at random and perform the corresponding no. of reps for three exercises (push ups, squat jumps and rows using anything heavy), until I have completed 4 rounds for each movement. This nicely addresses my past issues with consistency, as I can literally play this game anywhere and finish within 15 minutes - whilst still getting a killer workout. 

I'm on summer vacation right now and I'll be moving from my current location (Dubai) to attend university (in Cardiff,Wales for a Wildlife Biology major) on the day this challenge ends. A complete change of scenery that I'm very much looking forward to (I get to live somewhere with actual greenery and stuff,yay!) I'll be able to exercise and walk around outside rather than being cooped up in my house all day, which will do wonders for me, both mentally and physically. I'm having considerably more fun working out the way I currently am as opposed to being in the gym. I love being outdoors, like I said, but the weather doesn't really permit it here. I want to make some gains before I move to Wales,though. I dislike the thought of just stagnating whilst I'm waiting to move.

I've achieved a body I can be proud of, that is healthy, and is stronger than it has ever been. I thank Nerd Fitness for all of this. And yet, I'm going to keep pushing on and testing my limits, to see if I can pull off the fitness dreams I've only considered just that - dreams.
 

Here's to the future, fellow rebels.

- Quilly

[Quilly]

Righty, so you can tell I'm really PMSing because I ended up making this today as a one-off treat. 

 

 

 

Bloody delicious, but not conducive to my goals. I gotta be on the watch out for chocolate creeping into my diet, even if it is homemade and made with only two ingredients (raw cacao powder and coconut oil). 

 

Lunch today was great,though. Tuna cakes, broccoli and carrots. 

 

These tuna cakes I've been making are deliciouuuuuuuuuuus... 

 

[Quilly]

Off-day, today. Going for a walk in the evening with a friend and the dogs, regardless of how bloody humid it gets. I'll just sweat this one out. 

 

Also, after years of not doing anything even vaguely salsa-related, I've gotten right back into it after watching a few videos on how to perform some of the moves. It was so much fun.

 

Been IFing from 8:30PM last night. Gonna keep it up 'till 11:30AM for a total of 15 hours.  Ignore that. It took me 'till 12PM to finish cooking, so that's 15.5 hours. Lunch was grilled salmon and a yummy salad of sweet potato, scrambled eggs, blueberries, flaxseeds and lettuce, with olive oil on top. 

[Quilly]

Okay,update time! 

 

So I think I've discovered the root of this tired, fatigued feeling I've been getting behind my eyes for the past few months. I believe it stems from not taking frequent enough breaks from staring at the computer screen, which really seems to tire my eyes, now that I've experimented with how I feel when I spend a few hours not looking at my phone or laptop screen. So yes, even more reason for me to cut down on screen time. By nature, I'm not the type to spend hours in front of a computer, but this heat outside makes it nigh impossible to do anything these days besides bum around at home. 

 

I'm going to be making some tweaks to my diet today, and after 6 weeks I shall see if it has made any difference to my strength/appearance. 

 

The first, no nuts and fruit. Period. No dark chocolate, either. After 6 weeks, I can try introduce a small bite of dark chocolate on special occasions. 

The second, eat only until satiated. I have a tendency to eat more than I need sometimes, and lately I've realized that I simply don't expend enough energy nor have the muscle mass to merit eating a 12oz steak every other day, or two cans of tuna in one sitting. So yes, portion control. I had gotten this idea into my head when I started Paleo two years ago that I can eat however much I like and still see results,but I realize now that simply isn't the case. 

I'll take a progress photo sometime today, and then one 6 weeks from now on the 27th of August. 

 

In other news, I ended up fasting for 17 hours (a record for me) because I'd started my workout late today and I really wanted to try working out in a fasted state. I broke the fast with some cauliflower rice stirfried with a bit of fish, a quarter of a sweet potato, and a fist-sized portion of tuna. I then supplemented today with Vitamin A and D3 and a clove of garlic. 

 

Here was today's workout:

 

PUSH UPS

 

Round 1: 2 

Round 2: 6 

Round 3: 10

Round 4: 6 - all one legged this round. 

 

Total = 24

 

SQUAT JUMPS

 

Round 1: 2 

Round 2: 6 

Round 3: 10

Round 4: 2 

 

All of these were knees to chest - just because I wanted an ass kicking today! 

 

Total = 20

[Quilly]

Fast from 7PM tonight to 11AM tomorrow. Dinner was lamb, carrots, tomatoes and broccoli. Lots of water throughout the day.

[Quilly]

Off-day. Had chicken, leeks and cauliflower for breakfast at 11. Had a little more chicken as a snack at 12:30. Going shopping tomorrow, so I'll have more vegetables to work with this upcoming week.

[Quilly]

Fast began at 7PM. Dinner at 6PM was a broccoli and chicken frittata, and then I snacked on some smoked salmon and baba ganoush just before 7PM. Gonna do my card game workout in a fasted state again.

 

It's really tricky not snacking on fruits, but I've managed so far. I'm replacing fruit with herbal tea, atm. It seems to be tiding me over. I've got a bunch of dinner parties this weekend that I know will be a challenge, especially since I'm baking a really yummy chocolate dessert for one of them, but I'll just fill up before I go to them, and then nibble on some of the things I will be able to eat (probably very,very few things).

[Quilly]

In fasted state:

31 pushups.

26 squat jumps.

This weekend, I'll fast from 9PM to 12 noon.

Had a taste test of a chocolate pudding mix I was making today for the party - it was out of this world.

[Quilly]

Okay, so a change of plans. I didn't end up fasting last night due to staying up late with some friends at a hotel. Today, at the second dinner party,I had a bite of some chicken wings cooked in soy sauce. I obviously wasn't aware of this, but still, I should've asked. Otherwise, my eating has been clean this weekend, regardless of the amount of junk food present - and the fact I baked chocolate coffee cakes for the party.

Fasting tonight from 9:30pm to 12:30pm tomorrow. Gonna sleeeeep to recover from the hectic weekend.

[Quilly]

So, progress pics. 

 

 

Hopefully I'll see start to see some changes after these 6 weeks are up. I'm remarkably proud of that tiny bit of definition going on with my abs. 

[Stonie]

 

Righty, so you can tell I'm really PMSing because I ended up making this today as a one-off treat. 

 

 

 

Bloody delicious, but not conducive to my goals. I gotta be on the watch out for chocolate creeping into my diet, even if it is homemade and made with only two ingredients (raw cacao powder and coconut oil). 

 

Lunch today was great,though. Tuna cakes, broccoli and carrots. 

 

These tuna cakes I've been making are deliciouuuuuuuuuuus... 

 

 

 

Fooood porn... *drools*

Hang on, I did have something to say a moment ago...

 

Oh! Hi! And, I like the way you plan your days; sticking to fasting, eating healthy food and resisting cake. (how do you do that I don't even know)

 

I will have resolve like that one day! And that's definitely the beginning of ab definition. That's awesome! 

 

Enough exclamations now, I'm going! bahaha. 

[Quilly]

Today's workout (whilst fasted):

Pushups: 24

Squat jumps: 23

I notice moving around takes the edge off my hunger pangs that I'm in the process of overcoming whilst I do my intermittent fasting. 16 hours is a big step up for me from my previous 14 hours.

[Quilly]

Uff. So yesterday, I ate more than I should've for dinner. I didn't pig out and go into a food coma, but I ate enough to be able to feel it hanging around in my belly. I'm aiming for my meals to disappear cleanly into my belly when I eat, so that I'm just satiated.

Also, I forgot I was fasting, and had a forkfull of a friend's lasagne. It was delicious, but the bloating and gas afterwards will deter me in the future.

So yeah, setbacks. But alas, I will persevere and continue my fast till 11am. Tomorrow I will make up for yesterday's less than optimal eating with my usual clean diet.

[Quilly]

Fast from 6pm tonight to 10am tomorrow. Will workout fasted.

[Quilly]

Okay, sleep wasn't the greatest. I went to bed a bit too late because my boyfriend came over and we wanted to watch anime. Plus, I had to wake up early to say goodbye to him. I was feeling very sluggish. I slept till 10:40, so my fast exceeded 16 hours, but I was waaay too hungry and sluggish to work out whilst fasted. Today's workout killed me:

29 pushups and 31 squat jumps.

Sister is home today so I'll practice handstands with her.

[Stonie]

Handstands! Yay! What's your handstand practice like? I've been wondering how to attempt to teach myself; but my upper body strength is pretty poor at the moment.  

[Quilly]

Handstands! Yay! What's your handstand practice like? I've been wondering how to attempt to teach myself; but my upper body strength is pretty poor at the moment.

Well, my kid sister has been doing gymnastics since she was very young, so she's very helpful in teaching me. She HD me practice kicking up against a wall today - we made a LOT of progress once she told me to try 'lunge' into the kick-up as if I were about to dive into a pool. Then I was able to kick up MUCH more easily. I'll now be practicing every day until I can do one without a wall!

[Quilly]

For some reason, I was very hungry part night at 10pm, so I ate a can of tuna in olive oil. Listening to what my body needs takes priority over intermittent fasting. I think I shall start fasting at 7pm every night instead of 6.

[Stonie]

Well, my kid sister has been doing gymnastics since she was very young, so she's very helpful in teaching me. She HD me practice kicking up against a wall today - we made a LOT of progress once she told me to try 'lunge' into the kick-up as if I were about to dive into a pool. Then I was able to kick up MUCH more easily. I'll now be practicing every day until I can do one without a wall!

 

Oh that's handy! Yeah, that sounds like it would work quite well. One day I'll start working on my fear of being upside down and try some handstands. 

[Quilly]

I'm preparing for my first 6 week challenge! I'm in the process of deciding my main quest right now.

It'll probably be something like "Be able to perform 20 consecutive push ups", or "Do a handstand push up". The life side quest will probably involve my lucid dreaming efforts.

[Quilly]

Today's workout near killed me. I added rows using my guitar amplifier, but that wasn't the issue. What WAS the issue was that I got 3 10s back to back, and then a 9 - for PUSH UPS. HOLY CRAP my arms are ready to snap off!

My fasting lasted 17 hours,because I spent the last hour using what little energy I had left to cook my post workout meal (broccoli, sweet potatoes, capsicum pepper and an omelette).

39 Push ups

17 Squat Jumps

26 Guitar Amp Rows

I shall savor these two recovery days like never before. AND I've gotta practice handstands today, too!

[Stonie]

Ahahaha, I was always bad at solitaire.  

 

And your meal sounded tasty. One day when I get all my dishes done I will go back to making myself tasty breakfasts. I was naughty today and didn't cook breakfast because there was no bowls, and suffered for it for the rest of the day. 

 

I should just do the damned dishes. 

[Quilly]

Uff, Quilly was a bad gryphon this weekend, girls. 

 

I ate WAY too much on Friday night. It was healthy, but I went overboard on chicken and moutabal for dinner. :c Fasted for 15 hours. 

Then, on Saturday, my boyfriend and I decided we wanted to try Iftar (the time of day at which people who are fasting in Muslim countries such as Dubai can resume eating) on a dhow (an Arab boat). We found a coupon via a voucher website, and booked it. The experience was novel, but the food was eh. The website made it seem much better than it truly was, and listed numerous healthy options that just weren't available, such as grilled meats. I had been keeping an empty stomach all day so that I could enjoy the buffet, but when I saw there weren't any healthy options, I was so hungry that I ate a shit ton of chickpeas, curried potatoes, chicken curry and a few bites of an Arabic bread pudding. So, poor eating choices AND gorging myself. Sigh. At least I'll be fasting 'till 12 tomorrow for a total of 16 hours.

 

I won't let this set me back, though, ESPECIALLY with the 6 week challenge around the corner. I'll be wiser next time and I won't allow myself to be bullied into poor eating choices because of my own poor planning.  

[Quilly]

Yikes, today's workout was:

 

34 Push ups

35 Squat Jumps

30 Guitar Amp Rows

 

MURDER! But I feel like a million bucks. <3

[Stonie]

Agh, that's sad that it didn't meet your expectations, especially offering healthy things and then not providing. I'm glad you're going to get right back to normal though, because I often give up after a binge and then it lasts for days.