lolsroyce

Felt pretty good after my first 6 week challenge. I met everything except my side quest goal. http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/35052-adventure-time-with-lolsroyce-and-pull-ups/?p=693297 My goal was to do a pull up. At the end of week six, I got myself all the way up kicking and grunting the whole way. I tried again a couple days later and got all the way up in control. I wanted to eat out less during lunch. I was able to stay at an average of 1 lunch out a week which met my A requirement. My usual lunch friends were very supportive and it encouraged them to bring lunches too! I wanted to do HIITs because at this point I was still trying to lose weight plus I figured the less I have to lift the easier the pull-up will be! At the end of the 6 week challenge, I am down to 167 lbs. I don't remember where I was at exactly when I started the 6 week challenge (guessing 180). My side quest was to play guitar regularly. I started out ok, but by the end of the challenge, I wasn't even picking up the guitar. I knew I should have gone with the learn to dance side quest. Maybe for the next challenge!

End of 6 Week Challenge Update (Skipping Week 5 Update Since Challenge is over): Mission 1: Do a Pull Up article progression I did a pull up, well sort of. I got myself up kicking and fighting with my legs all the way up. Using the pad to assist with only the starting level weight (10 lbs of support) I was able to do one in control. A couple days later I tried an unassisted one and was successful. Going to call this an A. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be done with this in 6 weeks. Mission 2: Eat out less often for lunch I ended up going out to lunch once each week on 5 and 6. That means I averaged 1 lunch out each week for the challenge period. I was pretty stoked and my wallet thanked me too. Calling that an A Mission 3: HIIT 2x per week I started doing running HIITs at the beginning of the challenge but switched to an exercise bike later on because it was less stress on my knees which were giving me problems on the challenge. I didn't miss a single HIIT, but I had a couple close calls where I was doing my second HIIT of the week on Sunday night. I met the goal, but I don't know if I am going to keep up with these in the future. It was surprisingly hard for me to fit them into my schedule along with regular strength training and giving myself some rest. Side Mission: Play more guitar I definitely didn't do so hot on this one. It started out ok, had 1 good week but the last two weeks I do not think I even picked up the guitar. Summary: Pull-up: A Lunches: A HIIT: A Guitar (side): Did not pass

A Very Late Fourth Week Update: Had a busy week this week and barely had time to make it to the gym. Also why these updates were all so behind. Mission 1: Do a Pull Up article progression Didn't do dumbbell rows. 3 sets of 8 overhand and inverted rows at around a 45 degree angle. About the same progress as last week. (Sneak preview: I stepped this up in week 5) Tried a chin up and a pull up: -Can nearly pull myself all the way up to do a chin up. Might be able to do one next week. -Got about halfway up on a pull up. Much better than when I started. Mission 2: Eat out less often for lunch No lunches out, but I did make a store run to pick up something I needed that I left at home on accident, so I am counting that as an out. Still on track. Mission 3: HIIT 2x per week Two running HIITs (barely). One Tuesday. One Sunday. Was glad when this week was over. Side Mission: Play more guitar Played no guitar this week. :-/

Yes, I have started being more liberal with my use of oils and fats. I've also added some fruits in where as before I ate little to no fruit. These two things have helped me increase my overall calorie intake.

Whew! Haven't gotten around to updating. Here's where I'm at. I'll do a Week 4 Update soonish. Third Week Update: Mission 1: Do a Pull Up article progression 3 sets of 8 dumbbell rows at 30 lbs. 3 sets of 8 overhand and underhand inverted rows at around a 45 degree angle. About the same progress as last week. Mission 2: Eat out less often for lunch Went out and got Sushi on Friday with a co-worker. Still within expectations of no more than 1 time out per week. Mission 3: HIIT 2x per week Did 2 HIITs but I did not run for the first one. The weather was crappy and I didn't want to drive out to they gym, so I tried it on my rowing machine on Tuesday. I could not go fast enough to tire out really hard on the high intervals. Knees getting sore after doing HIITs. Especially because the one I did Friday was out and about in the neighborhood and not on a track I usually run at. Iced knees. Felt fine after a couple days. Side Mission: Play more guitar Got 3 sessions in this week. Aww yeah!

Hehe the hip hop dancing is going well actually. I should have picked that as a side challenge over the guitar. At this point, I could not even imagine playing an actual song on the guitar. I am having so much trouble just switching between chords even ones with little hand or shape positioning changes are taking a while. Thanks for checking in.

I drink my coffee black. If it's worth drinking, I don't think it really needs anything to mask its natural flavors.

Second Week Update: Mission 1: Do a Pull Up article progression 3 sets of 8 dumbbell rows at 25 lbs. Felt a bit too easy and I am now concerned I may not be doing them properly. 3 sets of 8 overhand inverted rows at around a 45 degree angle I think. It's hard to tell when lying there. Surprisingly, I had more trouble with the underhand ones and could not finish all 8 on the last set. For fun, I tried doing some lying completely flat at the starting position. I did one. Almost got a second one in but couldn't quite get high enough without breaking form. Mission 2: Eat out less often for lunch I went out to lunch 1 out of 5 times last week. Friends took me to some greasy diner. Probably the least healthy thing I've eaten in a month and honestly didn't really miss it. My stomach was also not happy with me. Stayed on course for the week though. Mission 3: HIIT 2x per week Did 2 HIIT sessions of running this week. First one on Tuesday. Second one on Thursday. 5min warm-up, stretch, 30s high, 2 min low (repeat for 6 highs), 5 min cool down, stretch. On the second HIIT of the week, I managed to jog for the full duration of all lower impact sections. My knees and legs were so sore the next day that it hurt to stand up or sit down. I'm a bit worried that the impact from the sprints is stressing out my knees. It went away after a day for the most part, but the spot on my knees are still a bit tender if I press on them with my fingers. Does anyone have a good alternative that I can use to keep up on doing HIITs but give my knee a bit more recovery time? Side Mission: Play more guitar No real improvement over last week. I got 2 sessions in for about 40 minutes total again. I find that as work gets busy, this is what seems to get pushed to the side.

Hello and welcome to the Rebellion! I saw your challenge post. I'll shoot you a message on there later in the week and ask you how you're progressing. You can also find more people on the accountibilibuddies thread for the challenge.

I had similar feelings as you did when I decided to eat more healthy. Do you have a way to calculate how many calories you're eating? What your eating sounds ok, but if you're eating large portions or snacking very frequently you may be eating a lot more calories than you think. Even if you don't stick with it, I would suggest tracking your calorie intake even just for a few weeks to get a feel for what you're actually consuming. I use myfitnesspal to track my daily intake. It may provide some valuable insight into your situation.

I've pretty much stopped cooking steaks on a grill. I feel that a cast iron does a better job of getting an even sear on the outside. Finishing it off in the oven gives me more control over the temp of the meat, but generally I eat my steaks rare-medium rare. Depending on the cut and thickness, I usually don't even need the oven. I'll still use the grill if I have to cook a lot of steaks at once or when using cuts of meat that really benefit from a marinade. My cast iron gets used for all of my high heat meat cooking. Beeler's is also my go to brand for bacon. I need to start saving the bacon grease. Usually I just get lazy about cleaning the pan I cook the bacon in and use it everything I cook for the next day or two. Do you use/save duck fat? It's useful and delicious. I ran out, so I need to roast a duck or buy some duck breasts to stock up on more.

Thanks! Things are going well. I was going to post an update tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty pumped about this week.

When I feel like I am getting tired of meat normally I discover that I am actually getting tired of the style of cooking rather than the components of the meal. I will usually venture into new preparations and take inspiration from different cultures. For example, look up some Ethiopian food recipes watch a youtube video, and try to adapt as necessary so it's more paleo friendly if it is not. Also Steven Raichlen is awesome. He is a name I look to if I feel like barbecuing anything, need a spice rub, or marinade.

I have similar problems where I would eat a significantly under what MyFitnessPal recommends and never feel hungry. I incorporated more fatty foods into meals to help bridge the gap such as avocados, almond butter, and bacon. I still have some trouble eating sufficiently, but it has helped me increase my calories without feeling like I had to force myself to keep eating all the time. I'm not really much of a snacker, but I do always have a bag of almonds to eat if I need it too.

First Week Update: Mission 1: Do a Pull Up article progression Performed some dumb bell rows. I am trying to figure out what weight is appropriate, so I generally pick a conservative weight and scale it up with each set. This week I was able to do a set at 25 lbs. Next week, I will try 3 sets of 8 at 25+. I am pretty confident I can do it. Also did some body weight Rows using the bar on the Smith machine. I picked a fairly safe angle. Maybe about 45 degrees and tried 3 sets of 8. Could not do all 3 but got pretty close! Will try again after a few days of rest. Mission 2: Eat out less often for lunch I went out to lunch 0 out of 5 times last week. I brought a lunch every day. I was pretty pumped because now I'm ahead of the curve. I need to switch it up though or I'll burn out on salads. I practically at the same thing for lunch every day. Mission 3: HIIT 2x per week Did 2 HIIT sessions of running this week. First one on Monday. Second one on Thursday. 5min warm-up, stretch, 30s high, 2 min low (repeat for 6 highs), 5 min cool down, stretch. I am having trouble trying to find an appropriate speed for the lower impact periods of time. If I walk, my heart rate drops, but if I jog (even a slow jog), my heart rate stays pretty high. This also really pushed my endurance. I couldn't keep up a jogging pace during most of the rest periods. I found myself walking for about 30s of the lower speed intervals and even more so toward the later ones. Side Mission: Play more guitar I did not do too great here this week. I got 2 sessions in for about 40 minutes total. Life seemed to get in the way of this one.