INSAIYAN

Eh... I remember why I left in the first place. Outie.

I'll be updating this weekly. I do my tracking elsewhere and will report results on either Sunday evening or Monday.

I have a date with someone I met online tonight. It's not the first time that I've done this, but there are a lot of crazies in Los Angeles. I'll give myself the point for showing up if she flakes. If she shows, I'll give myself the point for staying the whole meal, even if she's a succubus (thought we'll probably skip dessert and after dinner drinks).

Thanks for stopping by! May you have great success as well.

Thank you, Blaidd. Hey adventurer's. At Blaidd's suggestion, I'm doing this challenge with a guild. I did three challenges under another name, injured myself, and disappeared for a little while. Since my objectives are mostly weight loss oriented, I thought the adventurers would be just the diverse type of guild that I need.

Make it so, Blaidd. Instant Transmission to the Adventurers!

What's up guys? I'm not a newcomer to Nerd Fitness. I joined up back in February under a different persona. An injury threw me seriously off track and it was hard to stick to any challenges following it. After several months away, losing weight and working out my injury in physical therapy, I am ready to return. Let's get to the challenge: Main quest: Get down to 200lbs. This was the weight that I was at before my fitness really started going to hell and upon reaching it, I will have lost 50lbs from my heaviest. I am about 215lbs at the moment. Once I reach 200lbs, I will reevaluate my goals. Goal 1: Track my net calories I have been using myfitnesspal religiously, so this should be second nature. I am primarily concerned with and will be evaluating myself on calories, but I will be mindful of my macros, particularly protein. I will allow for one cheat evening per week, but must log everything prior to going out. This will be the primary mechanism by which I lose weight. Scoring: Percentage Score X/42 +2 CON, +2 CHA Goal 2: Hit the gym 3x/week, with each session incorporating both a cardio and strength training phase. For the past few weeks, I have been using the elliptical trainer for 30-40 minutes followed by an upper body workout. I haven't been cleared for squats or deadlifts yet. The three upper body workouts consists of an upper body power day, a back and shoulders hypertrophy day, and a chest and arms hypertrophy day. By lifting, I help to preserve my existing muscle mass while in a steep caloric deficit. Percentage Score X/36. +2 STA, +3 STR Goal 3: Get outside and walk/run at least 2x/week. This will help with excess calories, build up some cardiovascular strength, help strengthen my knee, and mostly get me outside. I am usually cooped up in my office and have come to enjoy some light outdoor cardio. Scoring: Percentage score X/12. + 4 STA Life Goal: Develop better control of my anger I know this one is hard to quantify, so I'll provide weekly examples of how I was able to quell my anger and not fly off the handle. I'm sure plenty of opportunities will present themselves. I've been utilizing a pause->breathe->think->act technique that has been working very well with road rage and dealings with my employees. Scoring: Diffuse at least three situations per week and document them. Percentage score X/18. +2 WIS Motivation: Overall I want to be a better looking, stronger, calmer person with more energy to accomplish the tasks that are set before me or that I set out before myself. I'm stoked to be back in the Rebellion.

Dropped in to see what's going on with NF. Punched in my numbers (still tracking, just elsewhere). I hope you all are doing well. You might be seeing more of me

Just dropping in to say "whats up?" (and see how much I weighed when this thing started). You all are doing great. Keep at it!

Dropping in here, because several of you have added me. Adding the others. MFP is my current hangout.

Well it wasn't the resumes that did it, but some strong networking: I landed the job. It will require a lot of travel, but I am ready for it. I'll have to reevaluate my strength routine, but I'm glad that I'm equipped to work the diet. May the force be with you all... and I'll probably come back here someday. In the meantime, if you want to follow my shenanigans, check out myfitnesspal in my signature.

It happened: I was offered a position that will see me traveling a lot. I'm excited, but I won't be able to keep pace with updating the forums and what not. I plan to return in the future. It's been great everyone and good luck!!! Thanks to Darwin for putting this together. Farewell!

Workout from Wednesday, October 2, 2014 These higher rep hypertrophy shenanigans are taking some getting used to. Dumbell Incline Row: 1x3x35, 1x3x45, 6x3x50 Cable Rows: 3x12x80 Dumbell Shrugs: 2x15x50 Close Grip Pull Downs: 2x12x60 Dumbell Press: 1x12x55, 2x10x55 Up-Right Barbell Rows: 1x9x65, 1x8x55 Lateral Raise: 1x15x10, 1x15x7.5, 1x12x7.5

Today's weigh in: 217.4lbs I'm back on track

Haha, I've got purpose and barge on through when I need to. I'm like if Boba had a wife, and I'm pretty sure he did at some point in the EU.. but that's all non-canon now or something... I've simply been keeping my counting to myself. I've been working out and eating late, so we've been having separate meals. She said that she's OK with one cheat meal per week because she wants to drop weight too. What frustrates her about my counting and I loosely quote, "You're a very smart person and it annoys me that you think you have be this anal with your dieting. Just eat less than when you were obese, you are capable of making judgement calls and estimating. Not everything has to go on a spreadsheet. I don't like how it ruins our dinners together because you're on your phone between bites". We talked last night and essentially it's come down to the following: - I agreed to not discuss calorie counting with her, and finish with my phone well ahead of time before we sit down if we are eating together. - We've agreed to 1-2 cheat meals per week, Friday and Saturday. She's on board for dietary reasons this time. This works out, because we're too busy during the week and this is a good time to catch up. Also: I feel like I should put that on a sticky note on my computer. I've heard that line so many times lol, but it's true. Job hunt is stagnant, but my laptop is being fixed so that I go at it double time this weekend. Thanks for checking in!

Get that money! Get that protein! Glad to hear it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Solid advice and the part at the end made me laugh because I used a 16oz plastic cup from the kitchen at work to measure out my lunch the other day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 I made it to the gym. I started the routine from the beginning and here's how it went: Dips: 1x5xBW - half dips, 2x10x(BW-120lbs) Both benches were occupied when I arrived, so I jumped into dips first. Starting to get the hang of these and going to BW-100lbs next time. The fact that I started these fresh helped. Bench Press: 1x8x135lbs, 1x3x205lbs, 1x1x205lbs These hurt and it drives me nuts that I was comfortably doing 5x5 of 230lbs a few months ago. Alas, my strength will return... Overhead Press: 1x10x95, 1x8x95lbs - Almost got both sets of 10. My muscles were on fire during at the end of the second set. Dumbbell Incline Row: 3x5x45lbs - These continue to be easy, but I can probably bring my shoulder blades together more. Pull-ups: 1x5x(BW-140lbs), 1x4x(BW-140lbs) - These were brutal, but like dips, I feel like its an exercise that I'll slowly but steadily improve at. EZ Bar Curls: 3x10x55lbs - Completed the sets and felt the burn. I may increase the weight next time. Skullcrushers: 1x10x55lbs, 2x5x55lbs - These still feel awkward and I was exhausted as this was the last lift of the routine. Did 25 minutes on the stationary bike for knee rehab.

I'll just leave these resources here: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ - Great resource for calculating your calorie and macro goals http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ - This is an awesome way to track your intake

Monday, September 29, Week 2 In Summary: Goal 1 - Counting Calories and Protein I started using myfitnesspal and I love it. I tracked on Monday and Tuesday using my spread sheet and started tracking there on Wednesday and tracked through Friday. I did not track on Saturday, because my grandfather took my wife and I out for our belated birthdays. The martinis were strong and the food was salty. Sunday was just a mess. I shot back up to 221.0lbs as of this morning, but I expect that number to fall somewhat rapidly now that I'm back in my eating routine. As I said in the 20lbs,10 weeks thread, that was the last major party event before Thanksgiving, so I stay consistent all week. Week 2 Score: 5/7 Goals have been updated slightly to allow for a little more food. My starting diet was a bit extreme and this allows for a sanity snack. Calories: 2,000kcal Protein: 175g Goal 2 - Lifting 3x/week I feel ashamed as a warrior, but hell, at least its a new week. I couldn't get myself there for a second and third time. It's a new week and all three workouts will happen. I'm going tonight, beginning with the one workout that I did last week. Week 2 Score: 1/3 Goal 3 - Sleep 8 hours/night Track Sleep Nightly I don't know what exactly to make of some of my Sleep Cycle results now that it's calibrated, but I do feel a little more rested when I wake up generally. At the very least it's waking me up early and encouraging me to be mindful of my sleeping habits. I'm changing this goal from sleep 8 hours to simply track my sleep. I've been sleeping about 7 hours pretty consistently and have been tracking every night. Week 2 Score: 7/7 Goal 4 - Job Search Dropped the ball again - just have to move forward, I have the time to do two weeks of 6 apps per week or however I want to split it up. It will happen. Week 2 Score: 0/3 Today marks a turning point in this challenge. It's time to start taking it seriously - particularly my gym routine and the job search. I have the sleep tracking on lock down and only need to rein in the diet goal a bit.

Haha I've encountered that batbase before!

Hmm... that's tough. Before my injury, I was starting to plateau and was about to do a 10% deload as prescribed by StrongLifts. I'm on a different program now - a combination of upper body and PT - but I intend to return to deloaded StrongLifts when I'm ready for heavy leg work. I've performed a 10% deload on bench press before and I did push through the plateau.

Lwow.... thanks for some great advice there! You nailed it right on the head here. She's made it clear that she's sick of hearing about it all the time. I can be considerate by being more of a "stealth logger" or doing it when she's not around. I really like your method for getting her to go on walks. So much good stuff in there... thanks again!

Impressive streak! Added.