concretecavewoman

Dubai: was there in April for four days. If you have a free morning Arabian Adventures (a subsidiary of Emirates Airline I think) offers an early morning "desert safari". It sounds cheesy (and it was) but it was also very fun. The driver loads you into an SUV, drives you out to the Dubai Desert Reserve, tells you about various endangered fauna that are being housed there, and then takes you for some not-quite-as-eco-friendly dune bashing. This is followed up with a camel ride and breakfast. Touristy but fun. Also, there is excellent Lebanese food to be had. The old souks were a nice way to beat the heat midday. Lots of shopping if your interests lean that way. Dubai museum has some interesting info on the history of the city too.

Oh protein fluff, where have you been all my life? With raspberries from the farmer's market it's pretty much manna from Olympus. Also, y'all might be interested in this website which had some surprisingly tasty (and relatively paleo-ish, if you lean that way) recipes for leangains-friendly meals via creative uses of protein powders. The pancakes (made with coconut flour) were divine.

I think kind of sums it up, especially the Yeah I Get It factor. That said, I'm still a sucker for the loveliness of Skyrim/FF/et al.

This. Kicks. Ass. I mean, everything else in your recap kicks ass, but holy cow man, you got a reason to be proud.

Killer bench! awesome that you're liking fasted training. Are you doing BCAAs too?

Thank you!

A Proper Update at 48 Point Font Day four of recovery from PRK and for the 20 minutes or so that I can tolerate staring at a screen I'm using it on full mega-font mode. Still been super lucky in that I've been virtually pain-free (very rare with PRK). Lots of light sensitivity, but slowly/surely my vision is creeping back. Very glad that I took the week off work because there is no way I could safely commute or hope to do my job given my current vision. On the plus side, I've caught up on about a years' worth of sleep. Since I was under strict orders to lay low the entire weekend (light walking was ok) I'm pretty much giving myself a pass for the previous four days since I made a very good effort to eat all the nutritious things and rest a ton. Thursday June 28 Fitness LeanGains: Macros Unknown PASS 9/11 ate lots of salad and protein Lifts/Exercise: NONE Walk: PASS 8/11 No walking here. Sleeping Life The Red Baron: N/A Friday June 29 Fitness LeanGains: Macros Unknown PASS 10/12 ate lots of salad and protein Lifts/Exercise: NONE Walk: PASS 9/12 No walking here. Sleeping Life The Red Baron: N/A Saturday June 29: First day up and about in any marginal way. Took an easy walk at dusk (wearing sunglasses) and listened to some paleo podcasts and an Adam Carrola book on tape. Fitness LeanGains: Macros Unknown PASS 11/13 ate lots of salad and protein Lifts/Exercise: NONE Walk: PASS 10/13 An actual walk! 11k steps Life The Red Baron: N/A Sunday July 1: Finally not super light sensitive. Two more days before the bandage contacts come off! And tomorrow I can go to the gym for the first time, woo. Going to take it easy since I've spent four inert days. Fitness LeanGains: Macros Unknown PASS 12/14 ate lots of salad and protein Lifts/Exercise: NONE Walk: PASS 11/14 17k steps. Went for a long, easy walk. Life The Red Baron: N/A

Surgery went perfectly. I can't really see (and prob won't be able to drive/work for another week or so) but doc says I'm healing up magnificently and am super lucky to be PAIN FREE. That said, PRK == 3 most boring days ever All my body wants is sleep so I've prob slept 80% of the time since Thur morning. I've been eating all the healthy things: salads, omelets, protein shakes, etc. Prob not enough calories since I'm inert and have little appetite. And learning to enjoy books on tape. Still pretty light sensitive so back to sleeping yet again!

Hit the gym this morning. Was a little nervous because it was bench press day, and last bench press day I had to do the roll of shame. One of the gym regulars offered to spot me when I loaded the bar up to 110, and he said "you always come in here and bust your ass!" Was going for a PR and wasn't expecting much since I failed out at zero reps last week. This week? FOUR reps, hells yeah! High fives all around. Then a longish day at the office wrapping up the loose ends. Also... Tomorrow is surgery day, holy cow! Doc said that I'll be able to exercise Monday at the soonest, but I'll have to go all Richard Simmons and wear a sweatband and sunglasses. In preparation I baked up two huge high-protein cheesecakes so that I'd have something protein-loaded and easy to eat over the next couple days (tweaked the recipe to lower the fat and increase the protein). Also stocked up on salad fixings and there's a restaurant down the street that sells tasty rotisserie chickens to-go. Fitness LeanGains: Macros 58F 190C 150P PASS 8/10 Lifts/Exercise: PASS 10lbs/25lbs woo hoo! Bench 45/5 55/5 65/5 95/5 105/4 110/4 100/5 90/7 One-Arm DB Row 50/8 50/8 50/10 Face Pull 50/15 50/15 50/9 Tricep Pushdown 50/9 50/6 50/6 Military Press 25/8 25/6 25/7 Farmer’s Walk @ 45lb 88’ 80’ 72’ 60’ Walk: FAIL 7k 7/10 Found my fitbit again. Mostly sitting in meetings today so not super surprising. Food The Red Baron: ON TRACK 1/3 No update. Prob no class for me for two weeks.

Yeah, can't say that I love using protein powder, I'm definitely more of a real-foodist. Maybe it was the 10 years of vegetarianism, but even though I love meat I still struggle to be able to eat it in large quantities (or large enough to hit 150-170g of protein in a day). I find it laborious in a way that I don't find eating large amounts of veg or starch. So maybe 70% of my daily is coming from meat and the remainder from a mix of dairy/supplementation. Maybe the whole voluminous meat consumption just takes practice Hehe, and thanks! I think whatever trepdiation I had about PRK is gone after two months of being annoyed at wearing glasses. Hm, you know I wouldn't be surprised if there were some posterior chain nonsense going on here. I noticed that when I really make an effort to squeeze my glutes through the entire squat the pain abates substantially, but once the weight crosses some threshold, I lose the ability to keep glutes/high hamstrings contracted at the bottom of the squat. Is this what all your RDLs are about? Any other lifts that you did to combat the squat pain madness? Also, what kind of protein targets do you shoot for? I find 150-170 just mind-boggling in terms of hte amount of food required (but damn I do love me some 5 egg omelets)

150 paces carrying 90lbs today for a grand total of... 13500 / 76500 18% there.

Oh it's the little things.... like mattress toppers and clean sheets. Seriously, how can something so small make life so awesome. I'd wash and fluff my sheets every day if it wouldn't take a ridonkulous amount of time. Looks like your challenge is going super awesome! Also, how did you make those insanely-delicious-looking little peach bombs?

Aggggh long day. Rest day. Wanted to go for a run this morning but I needed to get into work early because I had to prepare for a product demo midday. Spent like 12 hrs at the office, ran some errands to get ready for my extended absence from work and then got home and MADE DINNER. Was so proud of myself for not just slacking and buying a roast chicken at the grocery store or something. Also, I thought I lost my (new) FitBit this morning, so I was all kinds of obscenity-making while I tore apart the apartment to find it. I came home, and spotted it within two minutes of arriving. T-2 days til I get my eyes zapped and the glasses go bye bye! Fitness LeanGains: Macros 49F, 105C, 123P PASS 7/9 A little low on protein and high on carbs but overall I'm pretty ok with these numbers, especially since I had zero time for lunch and ended up snarfing a couple scoops of protein powder and a sweet potato I found in my desk for (a very late) lunch. Lifts/Exercise: Rest Day. Walk: PASS 7/9 Though my fitbit was temporarily lost, I am CERTAIN I hit 10k steps (ive been tracking steps for a long while now so i have a pretty good feel for it). I was running all over the place today while demo prepping to and from my building to a nearby conference center. Life The Red Baron: No updates

Also I need to upload my photos and see if I actually got a clear pic of batman in all his glory.

Thank you! Haha, I asked my instructor if I could be a dork and take pictures. She was more than happy to take the yoke while I snapped away like a tourist. You're right on about the protein -- Courtesy of this most recent emergency I stocked up on some extra protein powder at work. I've been trying to get all my protein from the meats but I should just be realistic about these things. Thank you!! Doooo eeeeet! One of my friends just snagged an awesome groupon for 50% off flying lessons (which is worth $$$). Maybe you can find somethng similar? The hip has been a bit of a saga. Didn't have hip pain when I first started squatting last Sept, but after about 4 months of volume with Strong Lifts 5x5 I noticed my left hip flexor getting really sore as I got to the bottom of the squat (this was when I was squatting about 140). It just got worse as my weight progressed. I ended up taking off like 8 weeks due to work (right before this challenge). WhenI went back to squatting the pain was gone, but after two squat sessions at 30% less weight it's back Thanks much! Thanks Honestly the choice to take flying lessons was super impetuous. I'd never even thought it was feasible til I talked to one of my former managers about it at work and I realized that it was more accessible than I'd thought.

Wow, impressive squat time. Did it take long to work up to that amount of time A2G?

Holy cow, running in 100 degree weather?! I don't think I could lift a glass of icy lemonade to my mouth in that weather, let alone rapid movement. Killer.

That sucks! Sneaky, sneaky gluten. It's seriously in everything. I was buying these adorable little crustless quiches for a while from a cafe and found out months later that they are loaded with gluten.

Cowl, cape, and rollerskates. I did manage to snag a photo of pants-less Joker.

Alright day. Got up at the appointed hour of five, hit the gym. I felt rather uninspired in my lifts, the squat to be specific. I've had some nagging issues with hip pain over the last few months trying to squat and I'm not sure how to sort it out... Work was pretty stressful, lots of project juggling going on right now, then errands after work. Just 3 days til I get vision correction though! Pretty stoked about that. Fitness LeanGains: Macros 67F 175C, 150P PASS 6/8 Woo hoo, even got enough protein. Lifts/Exercise: Barbell Squats 45/5 55/5 65/5 95/5 85/6 75/7 Barbell Lunge 45/5 70/6 65/8 60/9 Overhead Press 30/5 40/5 70/2 65/3 60/4 One-Arm DB Row 50/8 50/6 50/10 YTI Raise 8 8 8 Waiter's Carry @ 25lb 120' 120' Pushup 6 5 4 Walk: PASS 10k Life The Red Baron: ON TRACK No updates

Skynet will make disparaging remarks about everyone's BMI. I have been using a FitBit for over a year now and I've debated getting the scale but I wonder if it'd make me too obsessive about that kind of self-quantification.

a full 45 minutes of hip work on saturday night for a total of 90 minutes, +1 DEX

Super quick Update #2 Great sunday. Got lots of sleep last night. Today was Seattle Pride Festival so I went to the pride parade and I was happy to see that my company had a great showing with our LGBT employee group. Also, there was a naked Batman on rollerskates, and that's always fun. Then just hoofed around Seattle for the normal stuff like getting eggs at the egg shop and what not. After that I walked most of the waterfront since the weather was killer today. And closed the day with some video games. Kinda miffed I skipped out on my squat session but I'll do it tomorrow morning. Fitness LeanGains: Macros 70F, 60C, 100P PASS 5/7 Not great on the protein but not bad either. Lifts/Exercise: Was ok. Didn't get to my lifts but also walked a ton. Walk: PASS 5/7 24000 steps Life The Red Baron: ON TRACK No updates

Not much time to post but I want to be consistent. Off day of all fun, no work. Guess I'm calling it an unofficial LG break. The silver lining is that I got right back on track today. Other than the food fail, I did have a good bit of fun. Walked all over the city to run the weekend errands and then went to the Rat City Rollergirls Derby match, which was awesome. Fitness LeanGains: Macros TERRIBLE. Don't even know. Don't wanna know. Party, ate and drank too much. FAIL 4/6 Lifts/Exercise: Fine, guess it was a rest day. Did some mobility work and walked a lot. Walk: PASS 4/6 11400 steps (finally got to use my fitbit ) Life The Red Baron: ON TRACK 1/3 No updates needed here.

Alright day. Didn't sleep well so I ended up sleeping through my workout, then work, which was absolute crazytimes. I didn't get a chance to eat for the entire day so I was absolutely famished by the time dinner rolled around. It was a good way to flex the IF muscle. On the way home from work I swung by my favorite Mediterranean restaurant for some kebab to bring home and had some folks over for dinner and . Fitness LeanGains: Macros 82F, 40C, 72P PASS WITH ISSUES I'm glad that I didn't end up stuffing my face with carbs when I got home but I was way short on protein. Lifts/Exercise: FAIL Didn't hit the gym. Slept instead. Walk: FAIL running around the office does not count. Life Aviatrix: ON TRACK 1/3 lessons for the challenge. Now I just need to get started with ground school