nanako

This matrix is great, I've seen it before but forgotten about it. Thanks Neph. 

Ooooh it's like they put the like button in just for posts like that ^!

Well done! I love the long term tracking. It makes me feel better about my ups and downs seeing what you have achieved over time.

This! Excellent job losing the 10kgs and good tracking to boot! 

Thank you guys, appreciate the support!!

I had a really bad reaction to some tortillas yesterday and have spent the morning on the internet (never a good idea) researching food intolerances.  

It's like giving yourself cancer by Googlechondria! Aargh! 

There some genetics in my family wrt this, my brother has a few severe intolerances (he almost died on one account ) and I have some mild histamine intolerance (I go to sleep after eating too much seafood - sounds funnier than it is really - but not serious from a health perspective).

So although I know it's not all fantasy I am usually very sceptical towards these things. Still, I feel ALOT better when I don't eat wheat so I might get myself tested for coeliac disease. Or not - seems like wasting NHS resources, when I know I want to eliminate it from my diet anyway!

On top of this I think it got worse when I came to the UK - that might have to do with some additives that are used here, or the different types of wheat commonly used. The former is easily remedied by only buying artisan bread but the latter, I'd have to do some reading into other grain types ... not sure it's actually worth the effort! 

Personally I'm happy to not eat bread but it's different for the kids. I don't want to impose any unnecessary dietary restrictions on them, but I feel bad giving them something that makes me sick. My sons is very thin and he has light sensitive eyes, frequent mouth ulcers, enamel problems, tummy aches and some behavioural problems, all of which are commonly associated with coeliac. But then these might just be what they are, and completely unrelated to anything nutritional.

How would I know! 

Ah well. So much information these days, and so little idea which source to trust.

TDRL; stop eating crappy grains

I think eating regular meals is part of my problem (but not snacking, I'm not one for snacking...which is why I struggle now with eating something small to be hungry again soon).  Right now, I eat by the clock, so at noon I eat lunch (even though I'm not usually hungry) and then eat dinner at 5:30 with the family (even though I'm definitely not hungry then, either).  And the problem with eating when not hungry is that it is almost impossible to tell when to stop without some artificial measuring of food.  I want to develop a more intuitive system for regulating my food intake, if that makes any sense. 

 

I suppose in the end I will ideally be using enough portion control that I will be hungry at the right times, but I think that will take some experimentation and fine tuning.  For now, I just want to start with finding hunger and fullness.

I try to eat with the family too once a day and I think it's important ... but it takes a lot of discipline to not eat what they eat if it's non-paleo!

I'm surprised you don't get hungry - but I remember I had phases like that too, especially at work when I'd be like, oh I can't eat later better be safe and eat enough now ... always dangerous!

Well done for doing the hunger thing then, you need to break the cycle of being full all the time. That can be harder than it sounds ...

6 days down - 44 to go.

Less than ideal day yesterday. 

Went to a friends' house for dinner. Tried to make good choices but got a really bad reaction to tortilla wraps (additives, or wheat ? I have been eating small amounts of bread over the last week but these were all artisan w/o additives). The less processed foods I eat, the worse the reactions become.

Kcal 2222, fat 105, carbs 154, prot 93.

I re-read your thread today and was thinking, what about regular meals, and no snacking?

Have you tried this?

I know you've tried a lot ... maybe it's against your plan?

I find it really helps me - it takes a while to get into it but after 5-10 days or so you'll be timed to be hungry at the exact right times. And then it's really really simple to not snack because it's just not 'on'.

For me it really saves me a whole lot of thinking: "should I eat this? Should I eat this now? Should I eat something else?" etc.

No more. I wake up ravenous and wolf down my breakfast, the I sit at my desk at work and get really really hungry until it's finally lunchtime, and then I hurry home and whip up something really quickly because I'm starving. And then it's 7pm and that's my kitchen curfew, so I can't eat anymore. Repeat.  

It's much harder on weekends when we're all at home and everybody get hungry at different times. 

*chuckle* at the North-o-meter. It's a bit Yorkshirecentric but I scored 39%. I've clearly been dine sithe too long.

And don't do anything that makes your back funny. Get better first, then do press ups. Is there something else you could do instead? Maybe lie on your back and push dumbells up as a pushup proxy?

Chin-ups? I could do chin-ups ... *scratches head* .

For the PvP challenge I mean.

I can do incline push ups nicely for my (non-existant) triceps, these work well, but incline push ups for a challenge ...  I don't know. Less motivating. 

Hey rebels,

I'll hit forty in about 6 months and I want to be in good shape when I do.

So I figured I'd list a few meta goals here to remind me what I want to achieve until then.

Not so long term & epic but hey, semi. 

It's very much weight loss oriented but I would also like to increase my running speed. These should go hand in hand beautifully.

I'm a bit vain so I'd like to get "good" at running (i.e. hit the "local class" age grading, which is 60%). 

And I really want to be able to do a single muscle up just for the hell of it.

weight loss 

fit into a US size 0

fit into a US size 2

fit into a US size 4

fit into a US size 6

upper body strength

do one muscle-up

do 10 pull ups

do 5 pull ups

do 3 pull ups

do 1 pull up

do 10 chin ups

do 5 chin ups

do 3 chin ups

speed

do 10K in under 52' (60%AG) under 8.20min/mile

do 10K in under 54' (57.8%AG) under 8.40min/mile

do 10K in under 58' (53.8%AG) under 9.30min/mile

do 10K in under 62' (51.2%AG)

do 5K in under 25' (60% AG) under 8min/mile

do 5K in under 26' (58.6% AG) under 8.20min/mile

do 5K in under 27' (56.5% AG) under 8.40min/mile

do 5K in under 28' (53.25% AG) under 8.55min/mile

do 5K in under 29' (52.6% AG) under 9.15min./mile

...So as we used to say in Blackburn, once upon a time, "Come an' 'ave a go if you think yer' 'ard enough!"

Blackburn eh'? 

http://toys.usvsth3m.com/north-o-meter/

I'm still undecided. I can do two (real, nose-to-the-carpet, arms tucked to side) before my back starts feeling really weird. 

That's not great but not too far from where I was last challenge (6 I think). I'll do a bit of yoga over the next couple of days and let you know on Monday. 

Thanks guys!

I'm a bit confused how to log my challenge. I'm logging daily but probably better do it here right, instead of the daily battle log forum? Guess I'll move to logging here from Monday then.

My successes over the past two days (less hungry!!!) have led me to think that I might (gasp) reduce my caloric intake even further. I am a reckless glutton, so if I allow myself to eat 1850 kcals I will do it whether I'm hungry or not. Maybe I could lower that threshold to 1700 kcals? Think about it. Being me, I suspect that it will backfire the day I write it down and then I'll be eating 2500 kcals before I know what hit me.

I'll continue my almost-habit of doing just a tiny little bit of upper body and core strength exercises every morning - you know like, 10 minutes, a few pushups, planks, and dips (*small voice* no I hate dips no pleaaaaase don't write dips *small voice off*). I'll try and do some deadlifts although I think they look silly with dumbbells. But then only my kids will be watching and they think I look silly anyway.

By the way I just realized that if I continue 'dieting' after Christmas I might just hit my long-term weight goal by the time I turn 40 (half a year from now). Now that's a nice goal innit? Very motivating. Although I suppose with all the exercise I do now, I will hit my ideal size at a much higher weight than, say, 3 or 4 years ago. Ah never mind I just want to be a reasonable size before I hit the big 4-0.

... Thinking about it ... Maybe I should design a fit-at-forty meta challenge for myself, with all (some) of my mid-term fitness goals (50 push-ups,  10 pull ups, 1 muscle-up, sub 50 10K, sub 25 5K) rolled into one?  Tempting! ... wanders off muttering ... 

@Nanako Thanks very much! How did you get on? I had a look at your challenge too and see you have taken the laser-like-focus-on-one-goal approach, which is something I considered too, in my efforts to reframe the role of NF in my life.

Oh and it's Brighton. "Brighton" doesn't sound as badass as any of the crazy countryside runs you've signed up for but I daresay it'll be a challenge!

Yeah, laser-like! I so wish I could use one of my son's light sabres to burn off the fat. Wouldn't that be so much easier?

Brighton to my ears always sounds very lovely and sea-sidey and posh and civilized!

I can see you in my mind, jogging along with your tweed hat on, sipping Lucozade from china cups at the water stations.

Wow, Boston sounds nice! 

I don't do marathons (too much pain) but that one's quite famous even, innit?

Best of luck for you goals and for getting a number too.

Yay bragging rights! 

I like the idea of  Thanksgiving 10K runs. Probably because I like 10ks and I like stuffing my face with turkey, yumm!

Best of luck for your goals! 

5 days down - 45 to go! 

This week was a carbs desaster, I'll admit it. 

Yesterday I ate BISCUITS ffs at a workshop. Still managed to keep the calories below 1850. 

I'm not as hungry anymore! I remember hitting that milestone in my last paleo challenge. 

Yesterday evening I had eaten under 1500kcals and wasn't starving. 

But I figured I'd messed up on the carb front anyway (bad thinking!!) so I treated myself to some hummus and had another glass of wine.

Anyway makros: 

kcals 1669 fat 68 carbs 148 prot 66

Too much fat for a carb refeed day I'm afraid! But hey, at least I'm eating less. That's a good thing.

The cold-on-top-of-the-cold-I-had-anyway is better. Maybe one of these days I'll work out again. 

Stats update: weight is down to 74.25kgs I guess. My scale doesn't have digits though so it's very much interpretation at the sub-kg level.

My wife just demands I clean the wall, apparently I leave toe prints.

Glad somebody picks up on this topic. I'd begun thinking my kids and I were the only ones with dirty toes!

5:2 can be really good and if you think about it it's perfext for the Xmas season.  

I like your goals and I can totally relate to the reconnect thing!

I used to be terribly lazy in the friend department because my husband is very outgoing and I like his friends ... what really helped was movin abroad where we didn't know anybody and  my language skills were better than his! May be a bit radical though.

Best of luck with your goals!

Thoughts: so it is likely that I will swim at least 3x per week, and walk 7000 steps per day anyway, so I am thinking of pairing this part of the challenge down to just be an encouragement to my bicycle conditioning. 

Sounds reasonable. You still got a lot on your plate there! Great goals, best of luck! 

Hey PB, best of luck with your challenge! 

I read somewhere that Japanese parents teach their children to stop eating when they're still just a tiny little bit hungry. Not sure if that's true, but it kind of stuck.  

Hi Assassins, my back's still not right although I'm getting there .... slowly ... will be doing a bit of running and rowing with the Scouts in the meantime!

See you after Christmas!  xxx

Really really happy that you stuck around.

Don't know if I can take on the push up challenge yet - I'm sat on the sofa now and I can't get up, so I don't know if I can actually do "real" push ups again. If I can still only do incline ones it's kind of anti-climatic ... I'll check tomorrow.

Nice straight goals - handstands rock and I love the speed goal. 

What marathon are we doing, don't say you got a place in the VLM?

Wow, well done on the 50K!

Oh, ok: I hear you ask:

What lovely wild English country trail races will you be doing, Nanako?

So my calendar says

• Bath Hilly Half (VERRRY tentatively) 24.11.2013
• Moorland Multi 10K 19.1.2014
• Longleat 10K 9.2.2014
• Rhayader Round the Lakes 5 mile 8.3.2014
• Forest of Dean Half 30.3.2014
• Sugar Loaf 11.2km 19.4.2013
• Wrington Woodand 10K (April-ish)
• Burrington Blaster 10K (May-ish)

and then it'll be time for the Towpath again and then I'll probably be going back to Germany already!

So nothing really wild this year / this challenge except for the Bath Hilly Half - not sure if I'm up for it though. If somebody drops out of the Christmas Cracker 10K I might snatch up their place - that's in early December but it's just a flat 10K.

Oi Scouts !

I really need to lose weight. When I stopped smoking, I gained around 12 Kilos / 26 lbs and I haven't been able to lose them again, yet.

I really enjoy exercise, especially running, but the weight is slowing me down. Plus, I get asthma from gluten and yeast (and I get nasty irrational tantrums) so I should stop eating it anyway. 

It was my New Year's resolution to lose weight, but it didn't really happen (sad evil laugh).  So I'm a bit pressed for time.

I managed to lose lots of inches by exercising a lot and eating clean, which is nice, but I never got around actually reducing my caloric intake all that much.

So this challenge I'm really focusing on losing weight. I've been eating lo-carb paleo for a couple of weeks now and it's working really well. I would like to lose around 5 Kilos until Christmas - preferably more - which would put me under 70 again, and to fit into a US size 2 jeans (now: US size 6). My long term weight goal is something around 62kg / 135 lbs - the same I was all my adult life basically.  

So I'm doing low-carb (ideally under 50g/day) paleo. If I can't do the carbs threshold, I will try and at least keep the calories under 1850kcals/day. To help me avoid bingeing I'll set a kitchen curfew at 7pm. 

My stats today are:

74.5kg / 163 lbs

waistline:   74cm 

tummy: 76.5cm

I'm doing a daily battle log which is here.

I realize this is a bit boring - only one goal and it's not even directly related to running! - but I promise I'll do my share of funny wild English countryside trail races, and I will finally, finally sign up for gig rowing next week when I get my pocket money. I might even do the Bath Hilly Half although this one's really tough! 

If I succeed with my weight loss goal I'll fulfil myself my secret dream and sign up for a gymnastics course at the local gym.

*waves*

MOAR HANDSTANDS!

Excellent!

I guess that means I'll have to do another challenge too to keep company? 

(I am actually posting this on Friday Nov 8th)

4 days down, 46 to go.

Good day calorie-wise, but again too many carbs! It was bread day after all ... 

Makros: 1771 Kcal, 81 fat, 111 carbs, 121 prot.

On the negative side, I feel like I caught a cold on top of the (really bad) one I had last week.

Will I ever exercise again?

Will make an effort today - tomorrow we are invited for dinner at a friends' house. The other guests are vegetarians which makes it dangerous ... hope there's a smart choice for me, otherwise I'll have to bite the bullet. That would be 4 cheat days in a week, a cheat-week rather! Anyway at least the calorie count is ok so that should have some effect I hope.