BlamedCat

Okay, so, Tank, I procrastinated allllll night long, BUT... before going to bed, I made myself do the body-weight exercises. I even typed up the workout routine & warmup and put it on the wall in my bathroom, so I have to look at it every morning.

Oh and last night for dinner, the wife and I went out to Chipotle. I doubled up on the veggies.

I've been giving some thought to how I'm going to win that friendly challenge... I think I'd like to drop grains and/or dairy from my diet, but I'm trying to think of a reasonable way to go about it with the family groceries/meals. I did well on the Atkins diet years ago, the only dairy I had on that was cheese.

I might go back to having breakfast for dinner again, that way I can guarantee I'm eating decently at night and I can gauge what's cooked for dinner (my breakfast) and adjust accordingly.

Thanks for all the advice!

Was anyone else bothered by the list of 101 that had several repeated items just worded differently?

I must confess, I didn't read the entire list of 101, but that's a good catch. It does bother me when that happens in lists.

Sweet! I LOVE random loot! Thanks, ihulke!

It's always fun to get a real life friend to get into NF (I've only done it once, but I'm assuming it would be fun if I repeated the experience). Good job on challenging the friend, and now what are you going to do to insure you win?

Of course it's fun. I'd like to have someone closer to actually meet up with on a weekly basis though, now THAT would be awesome.

However, what am I going to do? Well, I'll give you the FIRST thing that popped in my head... "stop being lazy". But honestly, I'll come up with some viable goals when my brain isn't mush from work

Okay, to recap, I went to lunch with a friend today, but it's just now sinking in that I actually challenged us to something...

I finished lunch with him and we were talking about getting together more frequently since it's been a couple of months.

So the ending convo went something like this (as I was getting into my car):

Me: "Okay, see you sooner rather than later. Actually see you LIGHTER, right?"

Friend: "Yeah!"

Me: "How much lighter?"

Friend: "Well, what time frame are we talking about? A month from now?"

Me: "Yeah, how about 10 lbs. lighter from month from now."

Friend: "Okay, lets do it.."

So I've basically given us a 30 day challenge to lose 10 lbs. we're both in the 250's, so this should be doable. I'm writing this down here because I need to keep myself accountable to my crazy random "lets get fit together" thoughts.

On a side note, I did tell him about NF, so hopefully, he'll come on here and check it out and then join. Hehe.

Very cool Yeah, well I figure if we get into the SCA thing, my wife can enjoy some of the other things. However, I do have to say it would be cool to craft my own bow and arrows...

Thanks, today I met someone for lunch, so I didn't walk. I'll be attempting to get the strength training in today, wish me luck!

I've been looking into trying coconut oil lately for cooking and in my 'epic' search, I stumbled across this article. I figured I'd share a little info before asking my questions

I recently learned the differences in olive oil, but I'm rather confused about what brand I should probably get for coconut oil. What brand do you use? Where do you get it? Is it worth justifying 20 bucks for a pint?

Is there an advantage over cooking with coconut oil over unfiltered, cold pressed evoo?

Thanks in advance for all the feedback.

(sorry for the typo in the title... ugh)

ihulke - Check out this link, that'll get you straight to the apps section: https://www.youversion.com/mobile They are on android and iphone

Drummer Dan -

She taught me that its about pursuing the relationship with God. It's not about the hymns, or church functions. You read to word, you pray and you meditate not because you have to but because you WANT to, You do it to get to know the one who made you. It was a real eye opener for me.

Amen! That's the truth right there. That's exactly what Jesus said in Mark 12:29-31

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

If you have a smart phone or a tablet device, download an app called Youversion. It not only have practically every version of the Bible available for reading, but also offers a wide range of study plans. You could choose one that helps you get through the whole Bible in a year, or maybe just focuses on New Testament. There are also lots of daily devotional plans, or subject specific plans (depression, joy, relationships). Some are as short as three brief lessons, others are, as I said, a full year's worth of readings. You can go at your own pace, but they break it up into a manageable daily chunk. I need to get back into it (grad school sort of took over this semester), but for the summer I was pretty consistently reading 15 minutes each night before bed.

PH is right, this is a GREAT app. I have it on my phone and use is virtually everywhere. Not to mention they do have a website too, so you can always pick up on you reading plan or what not wherever you are. The bookmark feature is also nice for remembering where you were last.

If you ever need to do any in depth study, you can also go to www.studylight.org It takes a bit to get used to navigating around there, but they have links to several commentaries that can also help out too as you go through verses.

Tank, you just heard about what? SCA or the new Star Trek movie? lol

Oh and I just finished my walk for today

Workout: Lunch Walk

Date: Dec 6, 2012

Distance: 1.39 mi

Duration: 28:03

http://www.mapmywalk.com/view_workout?w=210588097

On a side note... I'm nerding out over the new Star Trek movie! http://www.aintitcool.com/node/59897

Oooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!! Wow, yeah it's something like that, but I like the idea... OH WOW.. there's one in Denton.. Glaslyn I'm in Little Elm, so that should be closest. But yes, it is a totally different mechanic (foil to broadsword), but I'd still enjoy it I'm sure. Thank you for sharing!

Oh and I didn't fair so well for dinner last night, it was my daughter's 5th birthday so pink and purple castle cake abounded along with pizza from papa johns! I ate moderately, but that's also why I pretty much just ate a big ol bag of steamed broccoli for lunch yesterday too

I'm gonna go for another walk in 15 min here at work, these lunch walks are getting addicting, even if I keep getting distracted at home from doing the body-weight workouts.

Baby steps... I'm gonna keep working at it.

Hello and good morning!

I like all the steps you're starting with to reach your goal. Like Tank said, the six week challenges are a great way to take those baby steps to get where you want to be. I can speak from experience and say that you've picked a great community to become a part of.

Welcome to the Rebellion and don't be afraid to ask any questions. All of us are here to help.

Sounds like you've got a great start! Welcome aboard!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking I should stick with walking and the body weight exercises for now. I'll keep on the lookout for alternatives for sure. Tennis is an interesting alternative, but I haven't seen any open tennis courts around our new area. I did find the rec center for the city, but it requires a membership fee.

I'm going to hit up craigslist and freecycle to see what I can drum up otherwise.

Oh, I went on a walk at lunch today, here's my stats for it:

Workout: Power Walk

Date: Dec 5, 2012

Distance: 1.58 mi

Duration: 31:50

http://www.mapmywalk.com/view_workout?w=210309197

In the meantime I'm trying to take to heart the point "you can't outrun your fork", and keep focusing on eating healthier.

Hmm.. maybe I should look into, umm, what's that one thing called. It's the medieval reenactment fighting that Steve referenced awhile back... I think it starts with a B.

For the longest time, I had a bad work schedule so that hosed up any free time, but now it's pretty good 7-4 (45 min drive to work)

Fencing - No equipment or any places around here that I know support/conduct it. The only place I did Fencing was in college @ UNT, Denton. And I gotta work on my knees before I can get back to that. That's ALL about lunges and my leg/knee is weak.

Racquetball - I knew of a place where I used to live that had them, but don't know of any locations offering it in this city.

MA - Finances. (There's a LOT of martial arts studios around here oddly enough. I've counted 5 within 15 min of my house, but that requires funds I don't have right now.)

I wasn't great at Fencing or Racquetball, but they were addicting and fun and the competition was great. The same went for Taekwondo, but with that I ended up dislocating my knee badly (see reference above) in our belt test (got my yellow belt, but a word of advice, never try throwing a back leg roundhouse and planting your foot to stop your momentum when you realize the target is out of range, that'll twist your knee faster than you can scream like a little girl), but by the time I got healed up to where I could confidently resume it, the dojo had shut down for financial reasons.

I guess ultimately it boils down to finances right now. Unless there's someplace I can do any of those three for free, it's not likely to happen.

Nah, I was a premie, so weighting in at 3lbs. 3oz. I had a lot to make up for. I was a skinny kid and would eat like it was going out of style. I gained weight in middle & high school and didn't really care for physical activity. I REALLY started eating like crap in college, one or two meals a day, fast food or gas station burritos, that kinda thing. Then I got on a diet with my mom and dropped a lot of weight down to 205... then got off the wagon a couple of years later and steadily gained weight again till 2010 I was 289lbs. I've been working to get it down again, down to 260 lbs.

Hello Travis!

It seems you're already on the right direction and you've got a great goal there!

Welcome to the Rebellion!

Okay, here's my walk during lunch:

Workout: Lunch Walk

Date: Dec 4, 2012

Distance: 1.59 mi

Duration: 30:15

http://www.mapmywalk.com/view_workout?w=210003063

...if you are not liking your exercise, you're not doing the right exercise. What is fun to you?

That's a good point. Well, what's actively fun would be stuff I used to do a long time ago... like fencing, martial arts, racquetball, etc. Or just having someone to workout or do something active with.

My workouts have become more fun as i've done them more, mainly I can see results and feel the awesomeness that is improved fitness, but the exercise you do is better than the best workout you don't do. What are you doing now?

Again, another good point. It's better to do SOMETHING than to do nothing, hence why I'm walking and trying to get in the groove with the workout thing. When I am working out I'm doing the 20-min Hotel Room Workout. Since I don't have a gym membership or really any free weights to work with, that seemed a good place to start.

Thanks for the support, Tank, I really do appreciate it.

When I actually get to it and do it, it's fine. It's getting to that point of 'yes, I am making time to do this, so lets do this' that's the issue atm. Exercise isn't to me like sunlight to a vampire, it's 'just there'. I wish I could convert this into something fun and have time to do that. Just sharing my thoughts. I need to exercise tonight or tomorrow, regardless, I'm going for a walk here at work in a few during lunch. I'll update my post accordingly with the results.

I don't suppose you know anyone in the Little Elm area that needs a workout partner, etc?

On a side note... someone brought in Panera bread pastries and muffins and goodies.. and I'm avoiding the break room like the plague. It's sad that I went in there and just lifted the lid on the box to smell the sugar... but at least I didn't take one back to my desk. Haha.

I didn't end up working out Friday, was still too sore after the fact, but glad I got the walk in.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I didn't do any walking or exercise. :/ I wanted to on Saturday at the least, but things came up. Sunday was a blur and Monday I was home with the kiddos a lot.

Food wise, I worked in fresh spinach into several meals. On Sunday night, I made hamburgers and had mine on a salad with a little bit of dressing and salsa. It was good! Monday, we had mac n cheese with veggies. At lunch I plan on having steamed broccoli with mac n cheese. (more broccoli than mac n cheese I assure you) and I plan on going for a little walk.

New week, gotta get going again.

Yes, very true. What I mean is to specify more than just 3x a week... more like say M, W, Tr and keep the weekend for flex. Just thinking out loud really..

Oh and updated my last post with my walk data

Thursday 29th

1. I've been eating leftovers of lasagna both for lunch and dinner here. I get the extra veggies in by tossing in a good handful of extra fresh spinach and eat the rest in moderation.

2. I didn't have an opportunity to walk when I got home, but I did have some exclusive time with my 1 yr old while the rest of the family was out doing a grocery run. He liked watching me play Borderlands 2... especially when there were explosions lol.

Friday 30th

1. I'm not sure what we'll have for dinner tonight, might be more leftovers, but we'll see. I know this weekend, my wife wants me to 'do my thing' with the chicken and broccoli.

2. I'm going to attempt to go for a walk here at work when my lunch comes (I have the luxury of eating at my desk, so that's nice if used for good instead of evil) and then work out once I get home.

Lunch Walk

Workout: Walk

Date: Nov 30, 2012

Distance: 1.17 mi

Duration: 21:22

http://www.mapmywalk.com/view_workout?w=208783977

-----------

I can already see that I'm going to need to be MORE specific with my goals next challenge. Maybe assign a day to everything so I stay on target.

Tuesday 27th

1. We had Panda Express for dinner, I had a bowl which consisted of steamed veggies and kung pow chicken. Mmm, spicy.

I must also note that while that was very healthy, I stayed up super late due to family obligations. Ended up picking up my sis-n-law dinner through Wendys and got myself two items off the dollar menu... 5 piece spicy nuggets & a jr cheeseburger... Good thing is, I don't normally get "the munchies" after dinner, bad thing is I got them that night.

2. I didn't work out or walk.

Wednesday 28th

1. We are having lasagna for dinner. I talked my wife into layering in fresh baby spinach along with the goodies. We'll also have steamed broccoli. We do have a Parmesan cheese and garlic bread wheel. I plan on loading up with veggies and having a small portion of the less healthy items.

2. I just finished my 20-Min. Hotel Room Workout. Kicked my butt properly. I am happy to report that despite my fears, I was able to complete four rotations without pulling anything.

I actually noticed my form improving this time around. I felt a bit more control as I was performing the exercises, so that's good.