Deis

I'm a vegan, so full paleo would be difficult for me. However, though I've always assumed that I can digest wheat, I've never actually tried living without it, and I'm curious to know how I'll feel. Besides, I ate dairy for years while knowing that I'm lactose intolerant; I'm stubborn, is what I'm saying. I can't cut out all wheat at this point - a great deal of my protein comes from seitan, made with from vital wheat gluten. But, I can cut out the rest of it. At the very least, it should stop me binging. When I binge, it's almost always on white flour. I'm going to call this week, from the 13th to the 20th of July, an experimental week. I've never paid much attention to how much wheat I actually consume on a day to day basis, so I have absolutely no idea how hard it will be. Any tips?

Silly question; what does nRM mean? I have a feeling of being quite impressed, but very little understanding of why.;p

Cycle to the gym?

Would homemade baked beans be Paleo? Fry onions, then add vegetable stock, four chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic puree (or, fry chopped garlic with the onions), and cannellini or butter beans, then simmer for twenty minutes? I also tend to add in some chopped seitan (which I know isn't paleo, but you don't need it to be vegan). If any ingredients are a problem, I'm sure you could figure out a substitute. Plus, that recipe makes four portions, and it heats up well. Keeps for about a week in the fridge. You could add eggs and sweet potato hash browns, and make it more like a full fry-up.;p Oh, btw, DarkKent, one thing you've probably thought of, but didn't mention; I would highly recommend not using food as a reward, in any context. At least, not junk food. It strengthens the idea that junk food is a reward, and that it's something pleasurable that's only for special occasions. Which kind of contradicts the whole mindset of the GIGO attitude towards food.

That's a good point, it's just a bit difficult to see which workouts I can do with no weights to lift, and with pull-ups not an option yet. Also, I don't know what deadlift, thruster or clean mean in this context. Edit: But, bonus, I just learned what a kipping pull up is, and they look like they'd translate really well into PK. Ignore the smilies, the forum has been doing very odd things to them lately.

So today I went running, and did the Angry Birds workout again. Running was fun! As above, I did the following; r5, w3, r8, w3, r5, along with 5 minute walks to warm-up and cool down, so the entire thing took 34 minutes. I'm not in the habit of hitting a 3 mile/5k distance during my runs, but this time, I decided to set SprintGPS for 3 miles, and see how long it took. 44:40 seconds, it gives, which isn't too bad considering that only 18 minutes of that was running. It'll be interesting to see what kind of times I get when I'm running for 20 or 25 minutes in one go (which should be next week, hopefully!). My first mile took 13:52 minutes, my second took 12:42, and my third took 18:06. I was running for almost 6 minutes of that first one, 9 minutes of the second, and only 3 minutes of the third, which I think seems promising. Incidentally, I first started running/walking at sixteen, on a treadmill. I gave that up when I travelled in the US at eighteen, and got back into it when I was nineteen. Since I tend to be interested for a few weeks or months before going bored, I've never actually run ten minutes in one go before now, and I've never reached further than week 4 of Cto5K. I'm finding that my battle is mostly mental. I run with headphones, which I know is something that I need to train myself out of to run marathons. However, I'm not going to worry about that until after the half. Incidentally, any tips on that? Anyway, yes, as I said, my difficulty is in having the mental strength to run for minutes at a time. I find distracting myself is what really helps. After running, I did another 15 negative pull-ups, in loose sets of 2 or 3. I found my first one went really well; I lowered myself slowly and evenly. However, after that, they become rougher, and I was almost falling on some of them. After resting for a few hours, I did the rest of the Angry Birds workout. Scores as follows; Level 1: 30 Bodyweight Squats (3 sets - 5, 18, 12): ** Level 3: 50 Push-Ups (4 sets - 20, 15, 8, 7): * Level 2: 2 Minutes of Planks (4 Sets - 40, 40, 23, 17): * This time, I rested for a minute between each set. I was also much more careful with form on the squats, and did my best to go AtoG, which is probably why they tired me out more! I'm a bit nervous about getting pierced tomorrow. I'm going to run in the morning, so I don't have to worry about it for a few days. I'll also be skipping my regular two Krav classes, which I've spoken to my instructor about. I'll see how I feel about running on Friday and Sunday, too.

I see. It looks really interesting but I don't actually go to a gym, and can't do pull-ups yet. I'll have another look when I can.

Okay, I started reading, and I think I get the girls thing. These are goals to aim for, right? Does "N reps/rounds for time" mean, do the exercise or series of exercises N times, as fast as you can? And so on?

Oh no, no need to apologise. I was just offering an explanation as to how I stumbled in here. I'm still a bit confused, but thanks for the link. I'll go research.

What is WOD and the girl benchmarks, if you don't mind me asking? I had a look at the new posts screen, and it seemed a bit cluttered.;p

Okay, this week's schedule; Monday: Rest Day Tuesday: Cto5K D1W6, that is, run 5 minutes, walk 3, r8, w3, r5. Wednesday: Cto5K D2W6, that is, r10, w3, r10. I'm also getting a new piercing on this day. Thursday: I'll be missing Krav due to that piercing, but I'll try some gentle yoga if I'm up to it. Friday: Cto5K D1W5, that is, run for 20 minutes with no walking. Saturday: Rest day, although I'll actually be at work. Sunday: Cto5K D3W6, run 25 minutes, no breaks. There may also be a Parkour class. Those runs on Friday and Saturday, and the PK will, obviously, depend on how I'm feeling and healing. This week, I am aiming to; Run 400m in under 1:45. Run 800m in under 4:30. Run a mile in under 12 minutes. Run a mile in under 11 minutes. Run a mile in under 10 minutes. Run 5k in under 30 minutes.

I wish Steve hadn't had to take the OMFG forums down. I was using those; I wanted to make some of the skills my running goals for tomorrow. Now I feel kind of lost, and it seems a bit less fun. I know I can set my own goals, but I always worry that I'm being too easy or too hard on myself. I like having a target set by someone else to aim for. Took today as a rest day. So drained.

I love those ideas Carjack. Thank you for understanding what I'm getting at! ...I'm talking about a time split, not a gender split. I never once said it wasn't appropriate for both genders. I did say that I don't feel it covers scenarios I am likely to face in this day and age. I'd probably be dead through lack of some other skill long before I'd need to use dips, pulls, or swimming for half a mile to save myself. Does that make more sense? Please, guys, have more faith in me than to assume that my thought process was "women can't do hard stuff like this, lol!". I hope I don't come across that way. I must say, I'm really a little...surprised that you all assume, as if it's totally obvious and natural, that all women are going to need to do any of this carrying babies. Seriously? I would like to think that the majority of women have a lot of life going on outside of any children they may have, or may decide to never have, or may not have for a very, very long time. Why is it suddenly the defining factor? Edit: Oh, wait, I think I see where the confusion lies! The title is 'fitness benchmarks', but I'm not looking at that. I'm looking at the bit that says that a man should be able to save his own life. That's what I'm going for, not fitness benchmarks.

Oh yes, it could be, but the scenarios mentioned would seem to apply more in some kind of wilderness setting, rather than in a modern city. I think, on a practical level, I'd probably be called upon to use different skills, for different dangers, and I assume I'm not the only one.

I think most people here are familiar with the five fitness benchmarks for men, as decided by the Art of Manliness. I'm trying to figure out how a list for modern women would look. The only idea I have at the moment is keeping the run 200 yards at top speed. I'm thinking that most women today are more likely to face a mugger than have to pull themselves up, or swim across a river, so I'm trying to think of some basic self-defence techniques that fit that kind of scenario. I mean, I know a few ways, but not one definitive one, that will be most useful. Any ideas?

I did a lot of walking yesterday; four or five miles, wandering about the city with my Anthony. Same today, though a bit less; closer to three or four. (Incidentally, I also got a free malibu and some nail polish. Could have gotten a free manicure, and hair styling too, but I got there just as they were shutting down. They did give me a free sample of spray-tan; my left arm is dark brown and smells of coconut, while the right is more olive-y and smells of paper, or so I'm told.) I missed the parkour class, although I'm not so fussed about that. Anthony and I spent some time yesterday practising vaults, and jumping between railings. Y'know, that thing where you stand and balance on one railing, then jump to and balance on one that's parallel? There are some wooden things that seem to be made for exactly that purpose in the reservoir. They're thicker and lower than actual railings, so much less chance of injury. I also practised jumping, and I can get much further now. Today, I was going to do Cto5k, and run 20 minutes in one go. I really doubted that I'd be able to do it, which may be why I couldn't. Instead, I ran for eight minutes, while checking my emails and resetting my passwords to things, which I thought was mildly impressive. Then I walked for a bit, before using SprintGPS to time my 400m; I managed 1:58, which I'm quite proud of. I alternated walking and running for another half a mile or so, but didn't time it, then did 15 negative push-ups. I'm able to hold myself at the top, but I'm still lowering myself a little fast. My arms are definitely feeling it, though. Came in, and did the other three angry birds exercises. Scores as follows; Level 2: 50 Body Weight Squats (1 set): *** Level 2: 20 Push Ups (2 sets - 12, 8): *** Level 2: 2 Minutes of Plank (4 sets - 36, 35, 25, 25): * I'm keeping myself at the same level for squats, since I think my form was weak, and I want to work on doing those reps with correct form, first. I can got my thighs parallel, but my back is parallel to them as well, and I think I should be more upright. I could do something closer to the Garland Pose, something like AtoG squats; they hurt more, but that's probably because the form is better. Actually, I think I'll take myself down a level and do AtoG squats instead, or at least aim to. The plank really hurt! And my arms were pretty tired from the negative pull-ups, so I'm quite pleased with those push-ups. I seem to be improving fast, now that I can actually do full push-ups. Also, I should probably try resting for more than 10 seconds between sets. That would probably help.

I meant fitness-wise, but, damn, those are good goals!

Well done for having the strength to decide to make a change. Any ideas about where you're going, apart from 'not there'?

Yesterday, I was going to run Cto5K, D3W5, but I gave it a miss. I did a bit of running, but it was more like a mile and a half of walking/sprinting, and then I went to jump on things again. By the side of the reservoir near me, there's three wooden bar things, arranged in parallel, about knee-height off the ground. I practised jumping between them. Then I tried negative pull-ups, for the first time. They went pretty well. For the first three, I was making a noticeable difference; after that, I was just falling. But I'm getting DOMS today, so I'm calling those a success. Also, you know how when your body changes, it looks the same day after day, and then you suddenly notice? Like with hair; one day it's the same length it's always been, maybe longer if you really think about it, but there comes a point where, one day, you wake up, and it's long. Y'know? Well, I have noticably curved and sculpted biceps now. Looking down at them, I can see how shapely the muscle is. Score. Also, working hard on drinking enough and eating right, and I'm noticeably more clear-headed, and I don't get dizzy every time I stand up any more. I did eat a lot of cake yesterday, because I was invited to the opening of a new veg*n restaurant, but I make no apologies for that, it was awesome.

I felt absolutely awful yesterday, because I haven't been taking care of myself. I didn't make it to my two krav classes, so I'll be making those up next week. I'm going to spend today eating right, drinking enough water, and getting an early night. My stamina may be through the roof (look at my character sheet! I'm the energizer bunny!) but I can't keep using that to compensate for good health.

I've recently been talking to a friend with an eating disorder, so I probably am overreacting a bit.

...this sentence sounds like a very, very unhealthy way of looking at food.

I do find that it really helps me to eat better when I plan out my meals in advance, so I need to start doing more of that. Getting more sleep will make me feel more like doing that every day.

You can see what I've been eating for the last few days here. I've been binging and snacking on a lot of carbs and fat, with some sugary drinks thrown in for good measure. I know what I need to do. I'm just making it public to keep myself accountable. So; No more soda. It leaves me feeling awful, and if it's not in the house, I don't even crave it. I don't know why I drink it.Whole grains. No more refined white flour. Cutting down on the white bread will also help me cut down on the vitalite.No more crisps. They don't even taste that good.No more biscuits (I haven't eaten any in a few days, and we shouldn't be getting any more, but I thought I'd add it in anyway).Most of my snacking seems to happen when I'm bored, or when I'm hungry after exercise. Any ideas? Vegan, but not paleo. I don't really need to worry about the calories, since I'm not gaining any weight, even at this rate (this whole snacking/binging thing has been going on for a while now, but it's only recently gotten really bad).More sleep, and more water. This will help me make proper meals, and avoid snacking. Any other tips, guys?

What are you up to now?