BludEvil

Hey there! I didn't die! I just disappeared from the internet for a while. I had originally typed out my final update but I screwed up and forgot to save it. So here is a short version of it: I kept up with most of my goals, minus the cardio one. My halfway (level 1) stats look like this: STR - 2 DEX - 2 STA - 0 CON - 1 WIS - 3 CHA - 2 Going by my initial goals, the level 2 point distribution looks like this: Paleo Diet: I had changed my goal after 2 weeks because of the immense pain eating was becoming while I was getting up at 7:30 for my classes and having no time to cook (And getting tired of eggs). I changed it to "No junk food". A total of 3 points to CON. I did fairly well, only indulging once while at an engineering competition out of town. I give myself a final mark of B. 2.25 points to CON. Couch to 5km: I gave up on the cardio/stamina part of my challenge after I decided I wanted to build strength/muscle instead. I give myself a F out of 4 points to STA. 0 points to STA. Bodyweight Training: I had set out to so lots of this body weight circuit and up the reps of everything to double the original posted by Steve in the blog. I assign 4 points total to STR and 1 point to STA for number of reps. I give myself a final grade of A on this! I managed to keep up and boost my reps to the 40 squats, 20 pushups, 40 lunges, etc that I had planned. 4 points to STR and 1 point to STA. Life Goal; Ask a Girl Out: My life goal was to finally go on a date with a girl. I assign a total of 3 points. 2 points to CHA and 1 point to WIS. I accomplished this goal! I asked her out and we went skating on the Rideau Canal, then this past Friday we went to the movies. I give myself an A for this! 2 points to CHA and 1 point to WIS FINAL TOTALS STR - 2 + 4 = 6 DEX - 2 STA - 0 + 1 = 1 CON - 1 + 2.25 = 3.25 WIS - 3 + 1 = 4 CHA - 2 + 2 = 4 Upwards and On-wards! BludEvil

Oh! Additional update, I've started doing handstands! They're so much fun. My arms shake a lot when i do them (still doing wall planks/wall hand stands) but Its awesome! I can really feel it! That's all.

Day 20! I worked from 10-5 today, so I was on my feet all day. I had lunch that was semi-healthy, I chose something with protein in the restaurants around my work. Got a burger, no fries, no pop. I had a couple of oranges and a banana with it. I'm also going to play ball hockey tonight to keep myself in good cardiac shape. I tried a bunch of the exercises my accountability buddy gave me. Tricep raises are pretty awesome. But I'm a little iffy on the form, because my right wrist is hurting every time I raise the dumbbell. I did some wrist curls, as well as some shoulder presses. Really feeling it in the arms today. I also did some rows for my back, and tried some dead lifts. I need to up the weight for them because I'm not feeling a whole lot doing them. I also want to make sure I have good posture with lighter weights before I move on to bigger weights. Pushups and dumbbell presses are on their way. Taking breaks in between sets to type this. Signing off BludEvil

Day 19 I taught swimming this morning, and it went really well. All the kids in my classes who only speak french dind't show up so it was a smooth lesson Side note to the above, I don't mind teaching in french, its just switching back and forth is time-consuming. Went to an all-you-can-eat event for engineering after that, ate all I could, then I slept for a solid 4 hours, until 7 pm. I'm happy with that nap. Went to a party (More of a get-together for our camp councilor group) and drank lots of cider. Cider is tastier than beer. In any case I did some lifting when I got back, lifted my new 15 pound dumbbells (more like 20lb because of the handle.) and I felt like I couldn't do another lift at the end of every set of 10 (a good sign according to my gym teacher back in grade 9). Tomorrow Is gonna be an actual workout day. I'm gonna try and do my circuit with all the ugraded number of reps that I've been working on. Almost at my goal (And the halfway point). I'll weigh in then, hopefully I'm closer to the 185 I'm aiming for. Signing Off BludEVil

Day 18 was yesterday I think. In any case I had a lab in the morning, went out for tea and bagels with a girl in engineering and then...the rest is fuzzy. i think I worked that night. and went to a party. I didn't work out because it was waaay to late, so I just got my sleep in. BludEvil

Day 17: School all day today. Sore arms, sore legs, but that's a good sign, right? Can't wait to do more exercise, I don't know, why. It's a new feeling for me. But I'm not complaining. That's pretty much it for today. Tomorrow is another circuit day. Signing off BludEvil

Day 16: Bought me some new dumbbells! The handles, along with four 5-plates, and Eight 10-plates. Much better than the 10 solids I was using before. Also very nice to own something new Did my circuit with all my updated reps, but I only managed to get through the legs part of it twice. I completed my third set with only the arms exercises, still at 20 reps with the 15 pound weights. Feelin' good! Signing Off BludEvil

Day 15: Lots of school today. I don't think I'm going to get enough rest until at least friday, if even. Haven't been able to do any circuits because of time constraints and homework and everything, but I'm going out to get my new weights tomorrow (fingers crossed). Diet has been good. Still healthy, no chips, pop, fast food, holding strong for 18 days now. Still keeping with stretching every morning and night, almost touching toes, almost. Knee has been bothering me for the past 2 days, don't know whats up with that. Short post, bedtime now. Signing off BludEvil

Day 14: Today is the end of week two! I'm proud of myself, I've seen some visible change, I feel a lot better, and I'm less out of breath doing everything like stairs all around school, all the inclines, and the big walk from car to school buildings. Overall, I've done a good job at cutting out crap from my diet, although I have, of late, been starting to eat grains again, just because I really don't have a lot to eat in my house other than grains. I've decided to modify my goal to be reasonable in terms of eating before school, so I'm allowing myself SOME grain (I'll use my discretion, but bread is huge in my house). My big modification is all non-household grains, fast food etc. This means at home anything home-cooked is fine, but chips, Tim Hortons (Donuts, Sandwiches, etc...) soft drinks (processed sugars) and microwave dinners are all still out. Assuming I keep strong on the no fast foods diet, I'm going to give myself a B on this part of the challenge, when the time comes. I've been getting lots of helpful tips from my buddy on weightlifting, and strength training. Its good to have someone to teach me all this stuff and answer questions I have. Thanks Stephen! Signing Off BludEvil

Day 13: Skated for about an hour today, brief sprints down the canal included in that. Note to self, use better skates next time. I forgot how much my skates hurt when I use them. Had broiled tilapia, green peas and asparagus for dinner after the skate, that's pretty much all. Getting lots of comments about my weight, apparently its starting to be visible. I'm noticing myself that I'm not as flabby anymore, especially my gut, though I've a long way to go! Arms are getting bigger, which is nice, and my legs are looking quite fine. Definitely encouraging! Tips on buying free weights? Is there a better style to get? or is there a well priced set that I should buy? (Canada, so fitness depot, or something) Signing off BludEvil

Day 12: It has now been OFFICIALLY 2 weeks of paleo. I can say honestly that I only cheated twice. I feel deeply ashamed, and will never do it again. On the other side of things, I have upped my reps for my circuit! Tonight's circuit was a bitch, but I'm happy I am where I am! The original circuit: Quote The circuit I completed tonight: Set 1: 20 Squats​10 push-ups20 walking lunges10 dumbbell rows20 second plank30 Jumping Jacks​Set 2: 30 Squats​10 push-ups25 walking lunges20 dumbbell rows 20 second plank45 Jumping JacksSet 3: 30 Squats​15 push-ups25 walking lunges20 dumbbell rows20 second plank45 Jumping JacksAveraging this out means I'm approximately 75% done my goal! Moving up to bigger weights with my dumbbell rows is the next step. I'm off to the showers, then to bed! Signing off BludEvil

Day 12: It has now been OFFICIALLY 2 weeks of paleo. I can say honestly that I only cheated twice. I feel deeply ashamed, and will never do it again. On the other side of things, I have upped my reps for my circuit! Tonight's circuit was a bitch, but I'm happy I am where I am! The original circuit: The circuit I completed tonight: Set 1: 20 Squats​10 push-ups20 walking lunges10 dumbbell rows20 second plank30 Jumping Jacks​Set 2: 30 Squats​10 push-ups25 walking lunges20 dumbbell rows 20 second plank45 Jumping JacksSet 3: 30 Squats​15 push-ups25 walking lunges20 dumbbell rows20 second plank45 Jumping JacksAveraging this out means I'm approximately 75% done my goal! Moving up to bigger weights with my dumbbell rows is the next step. I'm off to the showers, then to bed! Signing off BludEvil

Day 11: Today I got up super early (like 7:00 am! WOW!) and I got ready. Had some plain steel-cut oatmeal (yuck, but I had no time and it was in the fridge), as well as some apple juice. I feel like I may be running out of creative and tasty things to eat on short time, and materials. I still live with my parents (cheaper than rent or residency at uni) so I only have small say in groceries as I have a younger brother who seems to thrive off of grains and milk, but doesn't eat anything else (beats me). Then again he does a ton more exercise than me. I keep wanting to make a couple of different smoothies to drink throughout the day, but I never have the time or the fruits.I want to make my peach smoothie but peaches are definitely not being in season (though pretty close, have you seen our weather lately?). Bananas run out really quickly, and whenever they are replenished, it takes about 3 days to ripen enough to blend nicely. So I'm pretty much living on eggs, bacon, peppers, and water. I need to start eating WAY more veggies. I snack on carrots, celery, peppers and some broccoli, but not enough to counter the cholesterol from everything else. I finished class at 5:30, then i had an interview to be a councilor for next year's frosh week. My buddy and I rapped and danced to "The Bad Touch" by The Bloudhound Gang. In our underwear. Yes this is a classy institution. Then was comedy night with the Engineering society. Went to a comedy club, laughed my ass off, but I was super hungry (it had been roughly 10 hours since I ate last) so I looked at the extremely overpriced menu and figured I was craving nachos. They came and were FULL of peppers, tomatoes, onions, but the cheese was overwhelming, and honestly the chips were gross. I ate enough to fill me, but I didn't really feel great eating it. I guess my body has realized that grains don't taste great in bulk anymore. Didn't overeat those nachos, ended up giving them away. That had been only the second time I had broken the diet in my two weeks, but the first time where I probably could've avoided it. (They had wings, burgers (could have not eaten the bun), or just water. But you know, I'm still happy that I didn't eat until I hated myself. Just got home and had a big glass of water, and finished the carrots I had in my bag. No workout tonight, i walked home about 45 minutes from downtown. Mostly uphill. That's leg muscles and cardio. I GET TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW!!! (And it will be two weeks since starting paleo and exercise regiment) Signing off and going the hell to bed BludEvil

Day 10: Don't remember much from today. Early morning physics tutorial and then a late night music class. So in between I did lots of walking around campus. I've been walking a lot lately. Still going strong on the paleo diet. No grains nor milk for a solid 12 days (I started before the challenge did). I wanted to go for a run but I had an early class the next morning and I don't think running until 11:30 would be good, considering I almost always oversleep. All in all, not a hugely productive day. More to come, stay tuned!

Day 9: Still lots of class today. Boring stuff. I did a strength circuit and it felt easier than normal. I was still out of breath from it but it didn't seem as strenuous as usual. I played my bass for the first time in a while. Still remember the entirety of Kansas's "Carry on Wayward son", and "Slow ride" by Foghat. Good stuff. I feel like I should pick up my cello again, but I don't really want to hear how bad I've gotten over the 7 months of not playing it. Ah well, I'll probably try again some time. I've continued watching Dexter. I haven't watched any of it since I stopped partway through the 3rd season. I've got 1 more episode to go in the 3rd season now. I just hope I don't lose track of time and fail all of my courses. That would be bad. Signing Off BludEvil

Day 8: Didn't do a whole lot today, just school, labs, the usual. Got home and did 3 sets of 20 push-ups, but I didn't want to work out. I don't know, I guess I just had an off day. like not a day off, but a meh day. I broke 200 pounds, so that's good. currently sitting at 198 (relative to every other time I've measured first thing in the morning). Still sticking strong to Paleo. Almost everything I eat is good, except the occaisional ingredient in dinner that I have no control over (some parmesan cheese in a sauce, or maybe some bread crumbs in a salmon loaf) but otherwise 95% paleo. I need more suggestions for things to bring for lunches or snacks throughout the day at Uni. I can only sit through so much physics on an empty stomach. I've considered bringing pre-made smoothies to have, but anything other thoughts? Edit: Day 9 to come, in about 4 hours

Day 7: The end of the first week! I feel awesome! Today I worked from 10-5 at my retail job, standing around helping people with boring stuff. Ate a varied recipe of stuffed peppers which was pretty much just meat sauce in a pepper. Then I played an hour of intense ball hockey. (Our team won). Lots of running, out of breath a lot, so I know I was working hard. Came home, watched a bit of telly with some meatballs, and now I'm in bed. Tomorrow will be strength training again. Classes don't start until about 11:30 Signing off BludEvil

Day 6: Early start today. Woke up and taught swimming after a scrambled egg with zucchini and peppers. Got home and lazed about, ran errands, got almond flour, so I'm gonna try out some new recipes. Crap its Icy here. It isn't supposed to be 8 degrees Celsius in January... (at least not in Canada) Staff training tonight, substituted one night of running for an intense swimming session. Got off work at 10, got to a party, didn't drink (yay?) and now I'm sitting here with beer-soaked socks writing this. But I'm almost at the one week point. Man it feels like a Loooooong time. (Granted I did start my paleo on the 3rd.) Signing off BludEvil

Thanks! I'm not worried about the pizza, it wasn't good enough to be overly tempting to return to the dark side. But I figured as long as I'm mainly good it should reflect on my health. Since starting the challenge, I think (roughly) I'm down about 3-5 pounds. Something like that. The loss of processed food from my diet has been amazing. I would still LOVE to devour a bag of chips or eat an entire pie, but I don't. So I'm happy.

Day 5: Woke up at 7:00 for my 8:30 elective (psych 1002, hurray.) Not as fun as you'd think. I have to drive all the way to the parking lot across the street from school, walk through campus to the far side of campus and then find a seat in a packed auditorium. On the bright side It's exercise and my prof is a funny guy. Found out that I have 2 midterms, both Saturdays, one on the Saturday of an Engineering Competition that I'm going to. For the uninformed, Rick Mercer (Canadian comedian who is like Stephen Colbert) does a segment on it . Managed to sort that out. I went and hung out with people in the Engineering office. Then I went home, went back out and bought berries and bacon. Ate eggs and bacon. Bacon was too salty. Ate it anyway. Now I'm waiting to go to a movie night with engineers. I plan on doing my Circuit today because I missed the last two days. Get that out of the way before I go and watch movies. I also weighed in at 200.2 lbs Down about 10 from the last time I weighed myself in 2013. (roughly early December.) Signing off BludEvil

Day 4: (Only a day late) What was day 4...Oh right my long-ass day of school. Got up at 7:30, ate a quick breakfast of...I don't remember but I know I didn't give into cravings. I think it was just some orange juice. I remembered to bring a packed lunch of paleo-friendly stuff (campus is a bad place for paleos who are really hungry) I sat through mechanics (understanding everything up to the second lecture!) then programming (1606 as it is called) while munching on pomegranate seeds. Then physics. I'm still unsure of whether my prof has started teaching the course or is still just talking about how much he loves physics and how we'll need all this math stuff to use in the unit. Then was the 3 hour break in between phys and math. Math is easy. i understand everything going on. no problem.. Training for my volunteer position for an hour, and i'm friggen starving. I had nothing left to eat and couldn't last until I got home. I ate the free pizza that went with the training. Pizza pizza is crappy pizza. The crust has the density and feel of cardboard. But it was food and I needed to eat. I haven't given in to anything else before or since so it didn't go out of control. Went home, ate real food, then I was too tired to update this so i'm doing it now.

Day 5: Woke up at 7:00 for my 8:30 elective (psych 1002, hurray.) Not as fun as you'd think. I have to drive all the way to the parking lot across the street from school, walk through campus to the far side of campus and then find a seat in a packed auditorium. On the bright side It's exercise and my prof is a funny guy. Found out that I have 2 midterms, both Saturdays, one on the Saturday of an Engineering Competition that I'm going to. For the uninformed, Rick Mercer (Canadian comedian who is like Stephen Colbert) does a segment on it here. Managed to sort that out. I went and hung out with people in the Engineering office. Then I went home, went back out and bought berries and bacon. Ate eggs and bacon. Bacon was too salty. Ate it anyway. Now I'm waiting to go to a movie night with engineers. I plan on doing my Circuit today because I missed the last two days. Get that out of the way before I go and watch movies. Signing off BludEvil

Day 4: (Only a day late) What was day 4...Oh right my long-ass day of school. Got up at 7:30, ate a quick breakfast of...I don't remember but I know I didn't give into cravings. I think it was just some orange juice. I remembered to bring a packed lunch of paleo-friendly stuff (campus is a bad place for paleos who are really hungry) I sat through mechanics (understanding everything up to the second lecture!) then programming (1606 as it is called) while munching on pomegranate seeds. Then physics. I'm still unsure of whether my prof has started teaching the course or is still just talking about how much he loves physics and how we'll need all this math stuff to use in the unit. Then was the 3 hour break in between phys and math. Math is easy. i understand everything going on. no problem.. Training for my volunteer position for an hour, and i'm friggen starving. I had nothing left to eat and couldn't last until I got home. I ate the free pizza that went with the training. Pizza pizza is crappy pizza. The crust has the density and feel of cardboard. But it was food and I needed to eat. I haven't given in to anything else before or since so it didn't go out of control. Went home, ate real food, then I was too tired to update this so i'm doing it now.

Day 3: I took today off, completely rested and am ready for tomorrow. No Bodyweight workout, no cardio, no school, just sleep and Cards against Humanity, Tomorrow is school all day again so I'd better get to bed soon. 8:30 am mechanics isn't something most people look forward to. It's gonna be a long day. Breakfast today was an omelette and a shake made from all the different fruits I could get my hands on. Bananas I just bought aren't ripe yet, so I have to find something else to snack on while I wait. Dinner was some turkey soup with sweet potato and chicken broth. pretty straightforward. Not much else to say, so I'll end it here. Signing off BludEvil

Day 3: I took today off, completely rested and am ready for tomorrow. No Bodyweight workout, no cardio, no school, just sleep and Cards against Humanity, Tomorrow is school all day again so I'd better get to bed soon. 8:30 am mechanics isn't something most people look forward to. It's gonna be a long day. Breakfast today was an omelette and a shake made from all the different fruits I could get my hands on. Bananas I just bought aren't ripe yet, so I have to find something else to snack on while I wait. Dinner was some turkey soup with sweet potato and chicken broth. pretty straightforward. Not much else to say, so I'll end it here. Signing off BludEvil