Padfoot

Getting good protein intake is hard even when you're not a vegetarian, let me tell you. Congrats on making it for the first time, and keep it up!

Congratulations! I'm still typically stymied by things like broccoli and cauliflower, so I may have to try your way of beating the beast.

Update 5: 10/5 - 10/6 Goal 1: Got into the gym just fine yesterday, though it was crowded as hell! Usually the place starts clearing out around six, so that's when I got there...which is when two groups of 3-5 people dumped into the gym and started lifting. Good grief. I got everything done, though, it was just a pain in the ass. I'm up to 130 lbs on the squat, 55 lbs on the overhead press, and a 115 deadlift. Deadlift is still easy as hell, though the other two were starting to burn a bit. Very proud of myself that I got through strong despite still being sore from the chopping wood adventure on Saturday. I need to be careful on things NOT the lifts, though--I nearly tweaked my back hefting a 35lb plate for the squat, and that was just stupid. Goal 2: Stretching went well, and it seems to be getting easier. Just doing both the workouts with emphasis on form, and the stretching, seems to be increasing my range of movement. I do need to look at buying the warmup guide portion of the StrongLifts app, and doing that as well. Goal 3: As usual, I hit the baseline pretty easily, but going high above it is hard. Sunday I was ravenous, and ended up basically emptying my fridge in an attempt to find high-protein food that satisfied--ate everything from yogurt to some risotto my mom sent me home with. Monday was protein shake, fish fillets, and a hefty breakfast of peanut-butter toast, milk, and cereal. I'm getting there, but it's still a struggle some days, and I'm kind of up to four meals most days--breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed. Still, I'm getting a passing grade on everything so far. Very happy with myself.

I feel the same way, Keannis--like, if I've updated my challenge, and nobody comments on it, that gets discouraging. BUT, you seem to be doing great overall, making progress, and there are folks here who pay attention. We just don't always know what to say. =)

Well Fed? I don't think I've heard of those. Who wrote/created them?

Well, the good news is that I'm practically a carnivore, so eating meat is not the problem. However, preparing things that aren't prepackaged...I'm not so hot at. I definitely need to learn to deal with raw beef/chicken. Magess: I'm following a semi-specific plan. My goal is to eat a baseline 60g protein per day, working up to the 120-160 range that's needed for serious lifting.

I'm going to weigh in as someone who has done CrossFit, but not stuck with it, and only in a single gym--so take this with that grain of salt. I think it can be some really great training. You'll get endurance, you'll get lifting, you'll get body-weight stuff--and I admit, the dedicated crossfitters I knew were some of the best overall athletes I knew. Done properly, it can also cultivate a real mental toughness, and the ability to both know your real limits, and know how to push past them and expand them. On the flip side, every CrossFit person I've known has struggled with injuries. There is often a heavy emphasis on pushing harder, heavier, faster at any cost, with all the downsides associated. It was not uncommon for even the dedicated, long-term members to puke during/after workouts, due to exertion, and having pushed that hard was lauded and even recorded in the gym as a mark of a "true CrossFitter." Workouts frequently left me unable to stand for 15-20 minutes after, due to exhaustion and overheating. I would say there is some truth, as well, to the 'cultish' descriptors--other gyms and athletes were frequently disparaged as just not good enough, and there was some degree of shaming of people who had left or changed workout styles. In the end, I couldn't do it. I want to be fit and strong, but the extreme intensity and competitiveness simply rubbed me the wrong way. I much prefer having it be that the only person who I need to beat and satisfy is myself. I'm not much of a fan of "no pain, no gain" either. "No effort, no gain," is one thing--but if it hurts, you're doing it wrong. However, if you can keep up with the intensity, and you like that competitive edge, it can be really great for those who stick with it.

Thank ya, and yes they are. I'm already following the Warriors forum, at least loosely, as I hope that my next challenge is in that class. I've definitely been getting a lot of food for thought. Thanks for the stretching links, too! Update 4: 10/1-10/4 I've been busy as hell with work, hence the lack of updates, but I've been sticking with the plan--with one minor exception, which I'll ask you all to judge on. Goal 1: I made sure to get off work early on Thursday so I could go to the gym, before having to go work at the rodeo event we were hosting this weekend. Hit 125lbs on squats, and 75lbs on bench and row, no problems. The squats are starting to feel heavy, but they're still under control, and I'm in no danger of missing anything. I also took the opportunity to try out what I've learned of proper bench press form, and it seemed really...easy...off the bat. Uncomfortable, odd, but easy. And then I got out of bed on Friday morning, and realized that I'd worked out my chest better than any other time before this. Despite being able to lift the load more easily because of the form changes, it worked out things that had never been touched before across the whole range of my chest. Definitely pleased with that progress. I was supposed to go to the gym today, but didn't--but I'll let y'all judge whether it was truly a failure or not. You see, there was a fall festival in town today, and I had to go because the college I work for had rodeo and timbersports demonstrations there--I was needed to take pictures. Somewhere along the line, I got convinced into attempting to hack through a 2'x2' log (that I was standing on) with nothing but an axe, competition style. Have you ever spent twenty minutes using your entire body to chop three-inch chunks of wood off a log, until it breaks in two beneath you? With an axe that felt at least ten pounds in weight before I got tired? (I'll spare you the pictures of my blisters.) I think it counts, even though it wasn't strict lifting, but I'll leave that up to y'all's opinion. In my opinion, I worked out and then some. Goal 2: Easily completed, though I think I need to do more reading on stretching--I feel a little more sore in my knees and right ankle after stretching than I do after lifting. I definitely need to start more intensive warmups on the lifts, as well. I suppose I fail today, because I didn't do a normal workout and therefore didn't do the normal stretching after it, but again, I'll let y'all weigh in on that. Goal 3: I definitely made this across all four days, though not by the margin I'd like. Wednesday was the leanest, and if they hadn't had free pizza (again) at work, I wouldn't have made the 60g limit. Thursday, being a workout day, was another easy one, even though my eating schedule was thrown all the hell off due to that damned rodeo. Friday, I was ravenous all day--had a huge breakfast of yogurt, cereal, milk, and bananas; followed by a salad with bacon and hard-boiled eggs, and two more pieces of (healthier) free pizza. I think that's the first time I've made the limit before noon. Today was much the same--huge breakfast, brats for lunch, and a shake after the chopping. I suspect, however, that I also need to start tracking calories, just to see what my real intake is. I'm not going to set a goal for myself to meet--just establish a baseline. I need to know where I am on the fat/protein/calories axes. But that'll start Monday. Overall, I did very well, and I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym Monday--even if I have to wear gloves to guard the blisters all over my hands.

Though I'll never be like him, mine is Makoto Nagano. The man is an absolute beast, and his attitude is just as fantastic as his performance.

1. Pinpoint the quest in your journey that is giving you the most uphill (or one that you're struggling to achieve) For me, it's nutrition--I'm well aware I'm on the low end of protein intake for serious lifting, and it's hard to find a way to eat enough that's also tasty and in-budget. 2. Search through NF (forums or articles) to find one that is able to offer some assistance For this challenge, I've been raiding a variety of forums and articles--everything from the "Shit Warriors Eat" thread in the Warrior forum, to the full-on recipe forum. 3. Apply it to your challenge (no collecting underpants here). I'm already looking at changes I can make to diet and habits. I'm probably going to up my protein shake intake, and buy in bulk as advised in a post that I can unfortunately no longer find the link to. Definitely looking at investing in a slow cooker and George Foreman grill, too. This one's rough, and slow, but I think I'll get around it. =)

Amen. And that I do, without fail. For me, that's the fun part. =)

I loved Sheridan, Marcus, and Ivanova...but my favorite was always Delenn.

A Ranger, eh? B5 fans are always welcome, in my mind! Hop on in, sounds like you know what you want to do!

Updated my challenge yesterday--workouts are going good, but I'm struggling on the nutrition end. I really need to learn to cook. =/

Fair enough. You're right, the last seven months haven't been a waste. I got off my butt, into the gym, created good habits, worked on my technique, and I have made some gains in strength, definition, and size. I've set a baseline, and I'm working up from there...and I don't have to go 0-60 in one swoop, do I? I start with a minimum and go up from there. And I am pulling in more than the bare minimum of protein, even if it's not optimal--so my workouts in the days ahead aren't wasted. I need to remind myself of that more often. =) Thank you, by the way, to everyone who has given me input and encouragement. It's a huge help, and I'm so glad I discovered these forums.

Yeah, I suppose. I'm just kind of bummed out by the fact that I've basically wasted seven months of work that I put in prior to starting this challenge, because I was eating too little protein to actually grow muscle and I didn't realize it. And now I'm trying to figure out how to triple my protein intake in two days, so I don't waste another workout.

Update 3: 09/29-09/30 Got back into the gym tonight, and was grateful for it. Felt good, even though I had to battle two guys who were doing a weird row-lift-thing in the squat rack, where I need to be...y'know...squatting. Hit 120 squat today, 50 overhead press, 105 deadlift--and the deadlift was easy. Lots of room to grow there. Stretching went well, again--did my ten minutes, and as before, focused on things I'd worked and thus tightened up. Nutrition-wise is a little hairier. Both yesterday and today they had free, delicious pizza at work...which makes four days in a row that pizza had made up the bulk of my food for the day. I hit the goal with a bit of a margin yesterday--thanks be to 1% milk--and cleared it easily today, but as the rest of this thread has shown...well...it's probably not enough. I'm starting to fret about my nutrition goals, both whether I'm lowballing it...and what I'm going to do to raise it up. I admit, I worry a lot about doing it wrong. I'm a crappy cook, and I'm working on fairly limited funds, and I have to factor that in, but...it seems like I'm really falling short. I'm making MY goal...but I'm starting to feel like it was the wrong goal, and now I have to figure out what to do about that--and whether or not to downgrade myself on my challenge because I was too conservative. Going to keep on keeping on, but I definitely feel very unsure at this point. Not sure what my next step is.

I could also use those recipes--I don't do paleo, but I need high-protein, easy, cheap, and most of all, not processed. The investment in a slow-cooker would be easy to justify if I knew I had a reliable "cache" of things to make.

Okay, I took a step back from this, took a deep breath, thought about it again. (Sometimes I have to do that.) I want to get stronger. Raw strength is my first priority, and whatever it takes to get there (within some limits that I am nowhere near hitting), I am willing to do. Second priority is size--I'd like to get bigger, much bigger...eventually. If that comes later, that comes later, and I'm fine with that. A far distant third is the cosmetic. I'm not looking to get ripped, not looking to be on the cover of Men's Health. A little excess around the edges, in the pursuit of priorities one and two, is perfectly acceptable. Knowing that...I'm assuming my first goal is protein intake, my second is staying within the fat intake bounds, and the third is watching calories. I think that's correct, but I'm willing to be corrected.

My hesitance to experiment is twofold--one, I don't want to go the wrong way. I want to get it right the first time, if possible. But the second reason is I don't want to get too embroiled in worrying about it. Right now, I am not at an unhealthy weight, even if I've got a little extra around the edges. But I know my brain, and I know my body image issues. I worry that if I start...dieting, for a lack of a better word, I'm going to run into really nasty mental places. Changing eating habits to fuel my workouts is mentally "safe." Not sure if a weight loss push would be. =/ What I want to do is get stronger, and get bigger muscles. If the price for that is extra fat around the edges, I'll take it. 120-180 grams of protein a day though...I'm not sure how I'd manage that in current budget. I currently eat for cheap, and I worry about that too. I'm just...I mean, I'll admit it, I'm scared of that calorie number, and what changing it, and the ratios within it, will do to my budget and my relationship to food. If the only way to get what I want is to face that, I will. Just means I have another battleground to work on. I apologize, I know this got...messier...than it probably needed to. If the best recommendation is to set a calorie "subgoal" along with my protein intake, and track that as well, I will. I'm just hoping, probably futilely, that there's a shortcut.

At this point...the pizza is more "it's free at work" than "it's a good source of protein." Okay, so my question at this point is this: If I'm going for strength (and some nicely cosmetic size as a bonus), what am I looking like, calorie and protein-wise? Because I've heard seven different things from seven different people/books. Is "a gram of protein per pound of body weight" a guideline or an absolute? By going for 60g per day, am I horribly undershooting what I need, or is it a good start? Do I need to worry about fat intake, keeping it low; do I need to not care as much, but still keep an eye on it; or do I need just not care and go for calories/protein? Every time I read an article on this, I get something else, and so I'm just mightily confused at this point. @_@

This thread has been a huge wakeup call--until I watched the videos suggested by SpecialSundae, I didn't realize how much I was doing wrong. My bench on Thursday is going to look a LOT different, thanks to this.

Impressive! I can definitely see the difference in your shoulders, chest, and abs. Great job, Paul!

If it's any consolation--eating right is HARD. I'm going for a different type of food focus--gain, not loss--but even then, it's remarkably difficult. There's so much easy, cheap crap out there, and it's hard to resist the temptation to just grab something, to shut up your stomach, and just go on with the seventeen other things that need doing. It's hard enough when I'm shopping and cooking only for myself--living with someone else, and not doing your own shopping adds another layer to it. That said, it sounds like you're trying to be aware of what you're eating, that you're making steps to eat right, even if it's hard. It's a good step, and it sounds like that increased awareness is already turning into action. Keep it up, m'lady, and Odin's will be with you.