DrFeelgood

Well the evil has somewhat subsided, and I've managed to wrangle my eating back in. I'm still not going to be working out until I'm more fully recovered--no estimate, I'll just take it a day at a time. After three weeks on the sidelines my weight crept back up to 241.6. This week it's back down to 240 on the nose. Not an overly successful challenge given what I set out to do, but I'm not dead and there's movement in the right direction again. Sorry to have dropped out on y'all--even though I wasn't making gains I still tried to keep up with your threads, but the Cloudflare thing really doesn't like my office network. I'm sure at this point I've successfully trained whatever AI is going to nuke us all how to recognize every low-res bus, boat, plane, train, horse, and dog picture on the entire web.

That poor bottomless Tay-Tay... I'm okay, just on a slight hiatus. I was doing well to shake off a tough weekend, then I was sidelined by a "flare-up" and in an effort to not further anger the Grapes of Wrath™ I've stopped doing everything strenuous. Unless you count the way I've been eating, I suppose...

Shaking off a couple of not-wins, will be back to regularly scheduled program momentarily...

W2D4 was a better day. I broke my fast around lunch time with a bag of Cheeto's puffs. For dinner MFG made a sheet-pan of roasted veggies, sausage, and spam; and for dessert she made a no-bake cheesecake in a GF crumb crust. I ate two slices of that because I'm a good person and I deserve a little happiness from time to time. Move goal was a beast (well, relatively speaking. It's not like I'm power-lifting 1000 lbs anymore). I did two full circuits of the BBWW, with extra pushups (+5), longer planks (+15 sec), and heavier rows (+10 lbs); then I did a bonus set of 20 or 25 pushups--I legit can't remember. Sleep was a touch late since I was busy carrying a couple of Diamonds in a 3v3 tournament that ran long, but we won and I had a good time playing while watching some shows. Rituals were cursory and bedtime was pretty immediate. Not feeling super great this week; I don't know if I underdid it last week with food, but I had regained a belt notch by Sunday only to have lost it again already this week. As much as I feel stuck in terms of weight (really just "size") loss it is still good to be rebuilding my physical stats and making steady gains.

I like to think that if I had a rack then I'd be able to to lift my feelings away instead of eating them. I sure do like eating, though. Today is better, thanks. I think I may have solved the paint problem in a cool way, just gotta run it past Butch first.

W2D3 was an okay day. I broke my fast early when I was craving some potato chips. Lunch was a small portion of smoked meatloaf with mashed potatoes from the deep freeze followed by a Hershey bar (with almonds) from the mini-mart. For dinner MFG made GF pasta with meat sauce, and if I had stopped there like I planned then the day would've been green. Later in the evening I ate two huge bowls of rice krispies, and the rest of the leftover pork with barbecue sauce. Even then I would've counted it reasonably okay if it had been due to genuine hunger, but I was irritated at the day's events and was just trying to drown my feelings. Build is where it mostly went wrong. I got out in the shop and applied another coat of finishing oil to the guitar neck, then I got started level-sanding the clearcoat on Butch's bass body. That was going awesome until the palm sander got away from me for less than a second and burned through the finish on the edges in two of the most obvious spots on the whole guitar. Frick. With the accumulation of flaws in the finish these were just a bridge too far, and now I'm going to have to take it all the way back down; so that's many dollars and several weeks wasted. And on the fitness front it was the only green goal for the day, but it contributed to the others turning yellow. Because I was so annoyed afterward I just sulked at my desk for the rest of the night eating food, watching videos, and playing games. I went on a super-rad losing streak in Rocket League and just had to stay up long enough to undo the damage and regain my rank. That meant I didn't power down until a bit after midnight, when I paid lip-service to the rituals then got under the covers for a decent night's sleep with a few crazy dreams--in one I was my current age (44) but had gone back to high school and was participating in football camp as a player for the team. Weird.

W2D2 was a good day. I started with my morning smoothie then fasted until I got home from work. I had a small handful of pecans and a string cheese for a quick afternoon snack. For dinner MFG made pulled pork in the slow-cooker, so I piled that high on a few slices of GF white bread and covered it all in my favorite sauce. Before dinner I completed my exercises, doing two full circuits (verbatim) of the BBWW. Those lunges are brutal. I definitely need something heavier for rows, the 10-lb dumbbell is practically nothing. Sleep is green. I powered down at quarter to 11, completed the rituals, and was in bed with lights out well ahead of schedule.

Thanks! I've had mild issues with eggs in the past, so it wouldn't surprise me to find that this particular carton was especially egregious. I'll leave them out of my diet for a while and see if those stomach symptoms (easily distinguishable from gluten symptoms) don't recur. I'm perfectly okay with not eating eggs, but it's just another restriction that makes planning more difficult for MFG. _______________________________________ W2D1 was a very good day. I fasted through the morning at TX Bro's house, then for lunch they wanted to go to In-n-Out, which I'm always happy to oblige. And since Sunday is my free day I had a magnificent meal--4x4 with grilled onions, light spread, protein-style; fries with ketchup; and a chocolate milkshake. We drove back to Oklahoma and got settled back in at home, then MFG made tacos for dinner. Later in the evening I ran out to the mega-mart with MFG and scored a pint of Cherry Garcia for my weekly ice cream. All good for a green Eat day to start the week. My Build goal I pushed from Saturday got done after my ice cream. I applied another coat of finishing oil to the guitar neck, then I took Butch's bass body off the paint rig to check the coverage--it'll need a couple of touchups. After that I sat at my studio desk for another half hour and did some refresher playing, mostly just noodling fun riffs to keep my callouses after not playing for almost an entire week. Sleep is yellow. I had a lot to catch up on when I got home from the trip, then after the boys went to bed I took an extra hour to play some games, watch a few episodes of my current show, and generally unwind before beginning the workweek. I powered down at midnight and skipped the rituals to just get right to sleep (don't worry, I caught back up on them this morning).

Hopefully with more to come! __________________________________________ W1D5 was a good day. I fasted until lunch then ate a bag of Cheetos puffs and a Hershey bar with almonds--not the most nutritious, but still within standards. For dinner MFG made oven-roasted potatoes, bacon strips, and garden salads (I think the idea was BLTs, but the boys ate all the bread and didn't tell her). I ate some of all that then added a couple of scrambled eggs with ham, cheese, and tomatoes. Once again my stomach exploded a couple hours after dinner. The common denominator seems to be eggs, so I'm going to cut them out and see how it goes (so far so good). That was all for Eat, so it's green. For the Build goal I applied another coat of finishing oil to the guitar neck in my shop. I didn't do anything else after my stomach exploded, but I'm still counting it green for the day. The rest of the evening was spent packing and getting everything ready for a weekend trip to Texas. No Sleep goal since I took Friday off work. W1D6 was a great day. I fasted until lunch when we stopped at In-n-Out and I ate a Double Double with grilled onions, light spread, protein style. I also dad-taxed the kids' fries a bit. For dinner my brother grilled huge strip steaks and served them with roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes (yum!). Later in the evening we all went out for dessert, and I had a small rocky road milkshake. All compliant for another excellent day. I juggled all other goals since it was mainly a travel day. W1D7 was an excellent day. I fasted until dinner, for which Texas Brother baked a trio of gluten-free frozen pizzas from Costco that were actually really good, and I ended eating an entire one by myself. Only other thing in my day was ice water. Fully green. I woke up earlier than everyone else on Saturday, so I found a nice clear spot by the back window and did my exercises. I started with a thorough dynamic warmup since I hadn't been out of bed very long yet. Then I did a full circuit of 20 squats, 25 pushups, 20 lunges, 2 lengths of farmer walks with a 5-gal water bottle (~40 pounds), a 40 second plank (super-strict), and 30 jumping jacks. That I deemed adequate to finish out Week 1 on course to begin pursuing 2 circuits in W2. I considered doing a little more work, but we were planning to go to Topgolf so I counted hitting balls as a bonus workout. I shuffled the Build goal to Sunday, and even that's going to be a little abbreviated since I only got home from our trip a little over an hour ago. Week 1 Check-in: Traveling preempted my usual check-in, so all I can do this week is summarize my goals. I got 14 out of 16 in the green, and only missed with Sleep goals during the week. I'm fairly confident that those happened because I'm really resenting my job right now, and I'm irritated that it's monopolizing all of the best hours of my week. If I could have mornings at home to work in my shop then go in and spend all the deathly hot hours in my office then that would be ideal. No progress photo or weigh-in until next week. I'm feeling pretty good and it looks like the man in the mirror is slimming down nicely, but we all know that mirrors are liars. On to more Lean & Strong in Week 2.

Welcome! One of those green days was iffy to begin with, the other was premature. Spreadsheet is telling the truth now.

W1D4 was an okay day. I fasted all day until I got home from work, then I had a quick handful of pecans before doing my exercises. For dinner I made a salad (lettuce, tomato, cheddar, and salami) and cooked a 3-egg omelet with ham, cheddar, and tomatoes. In the evening I had two bowls of cereal, some more cheese and salami, and a small pack of trail mix. That's green for Eat, but it's not quite where I want to be. Seems like right as I started having success with intermittent fasting MFG stopped planning large and heavy dinners. I don't want to be bulking out every meal with tons of cereal. Before dinner I did a full circuit of the BBWW in the backyard, using a concrete block for the rows. I need a kettlebell. After a brief rest I did 20 more bonus pushups and called it good. I probably could've done more, but I'm building up slowly to the full 3-circuit BBWW with whatever extras I can tack on by challenge-end. Sleep cratered pretty hard. I finished watching a movie around 10:30 and was going to power down and get settled, but I ended up going on a Frasier binge and gaming spree that ran until nearly 3 am. I guess I just wasn't ready to go back to work. That's a big red Sleep goal, but I'll recover and make it work next time (no more Sleep goal until Sunday).

Thanks for the well wishes, and welcome, Def--always an honor to be followed by the queen! I'm feeling better today, thanks. I think it was just a passing stomach bug or a mild FBI since MFG and the boys all had similar issues that are pretty much gone now. I'm nearly done with my exercises and about to tempt fate again with an omelet for dinner.

Generally works pretty well as long as you don't have Bermuda grass. Back in Iowa I used to put 3 or 4 layers of newspaper on top of my whole 10x10 garden plot then cover it with grass clippings (rye and fescue). Really helped with the weeding, and it seemed to keep the soil from drying out. Not sure I could do that now here in Oklahoma with the wind and aggressive lawn grasses and the death of print media.

Glad to have you aboard, sir. W1D3 was a decent day. I fasted all day until I got home from work, then I ate some cheese while waiting for dinner. MFG made fried rice with chicken, so I had a big bowl of that with a couple of extra scrambled eggs. After dinner I ate some pecans, a bit more cheddar, a bowl of cereal, and then a string cheese wrapped in salami. That's a solid green Eat day. For the Build goal I spent some time in my shop working on the guitar neck, which is coming along nicely. It probably wasn't a full hour, but I only stopped because I was going to do some guitar practice. Alas when I got inside my stomach decided to explode. I'm blaming the kids--surely they brought some infectious nonsense back from camp, as they usually do. At least this year it isn't covid. Anyway, I was down for the remainder of the evening due to no fault of my own, therefore it counts. I only stayed up because (most of) the kids are home now and that means I'm readjusting to having noises and activity in my house. Still, I powered everything down at 10:30 to complete my rituals, then I shooed everyone off to bed so I could lie down and fall asleep before 11 pm. All green for Day 3.

W1D1 was a very good day. I woke early, ate a bowl of cereal and got ready for church. Lunch afterward was a makeshift stew with some beef chuck that MFG canned and a few leftover roasted veggies from dinner the night before. I snacked on nuts and cheese a bit here and there, then I made smashburgers on the Blackstone for dinner and ate a double with a side of home fries prepared by the lovely MFG. I had my customary Sunday pint of ice cream in the evening: B&Js Phish Food, which was very good but very rich. I powered everything down around 11:30 pm and completed my bedtime rituals, getting down and out just ahead of the midnight goal. I didn't sleep particularly well owing to some crazy dreams, but I did my part to meet the goal. W1D2 was a good day. I made my Monday-morning smoothie and sipped it on the way to work. I was planning a fast, but I broke it to grab a bag of potato chips with Work Buddy who'd been gone for a few weeks and wanted to hang out a bit (worth it). When I got home I had a handful of pecans, then dinner was beef in gravy over rice, which I followed with a couple bowls of cereal. Not the most nutritious day, but still within standards. Since I took the Week Zero off (exercise-wise, that is; diet-wise I kicked butt and managed to lose 1.9 lbs) it was a bit of a chore to goad myself in to commencing the BBWW, but after deferring for a couple of hours I did a quick warmup then completed one full circuit in the living room, using a 10-lb dumbbell for the rows. One circuit was enough for a start, so I called it and got on with dinner. My squatters and lungers are griping lightly at me today, so I know I did good work. Definitely still in better shape than I was at the beginning of 2015 when I couldn't even complete one circuit after which I could barely move for three solid days. The rest of the evening was uneventful. I did some banking (first of the month and all), watched a few videos, put another coat of finish on the guitar neck I'm working on out in the shop, and then played a little too much Rocket League before bed. MFG was already sawing logs, so I powered down and quietly completed my rituals before hopping in beside her a little late; but I'm counting it anyways because I'm not just a player, I'm also the rule-maker and referee.

First challenge back was a success, time to raise the dial just a little bit. Goals will be mainly the same with a couple of tweaks, as follows: EAT: 100% Gluten Free (the gut demands it); drink only water, at least 2 glasses per day; morning fruit smoothie twice per week to keep nutrition up; no more than one candy item (<250 kcal) per day M-F, plus as much ice-cream as I want on Sunday; incorporate intermittent fasting a few days per week, eating nothing before dinner. MOVE: 3 days per week (MWF) complete the NF BBWW, starting with 1 and eventually working up to 3 full circuits. I'll gradually multiply the pushups just because I've already made gains there. BUILD: 3 days per week (TThSa) spend at least an hour in either the shop, the studio, or the household; goal is to make/learn/fix/maintain something in need of my attention. SLEEP: Power down the house NLT 11:30 pm, complete all rituals and be in bed by midnight. This is more of a "spend time on self-care" goal as opposed to a deadline. I'll track progress with my usual spreadsheet, everything should be fairly straightforward this time around. And away we go...

W5D7 was a good day. I started with a bowl of rice krispies (the generic ones that are GF) with a sliced banana. Lunch was leftover chicken-veggie stir-fry over rice. I had a string cheese for a snack in the afternoon. For dinner MFG and I worked side-by-side in the kitchen to make tacos. In the evening we ran out to the store and I added a Hershey bar just because. An excellent day. As this challenge drew to a close I decided to let the Golf goal slide. I hadn't done nearly as much practice as I wanted to, and I wasn't really interested in playing an actual round at any point--especially since I'd be out there alone. Instead I allocated that time and energy to working in my shop for the last few days. Yesterday morning I built the wooden base plate for a new set of towel hooks to be installed in the Minions' bathroom (I also replaced their broken TP holder, but that didn't require me to build anything) before they all get back from summer camp, and I also carved a custom handle and epoxied it to a cut-down metal file to be used for guitar fretwork. I have a few more tools and jigs I want to build, plus I'm designing a mobile cart to use as a stand for my table saw which will do triple duty as an outfeed surface and a router table. And I still have guitar projects out there making slow progress since comfortable shop hours are super rare right now--basically any time after noon is like working in a giant oven. Plus MFG has plans for raised garden beds that I'm trying to help her with. All that to say, Shop over Golf for now. Challenge Wrap-up I was feeling really good pulling in to the station on this one, then I hopped on the scale this morning and got punched: 239.4 lbs, for an increase of 1.3 over this final week and a total increase of 1.7 over the course of this challenge. Certainly not where I feel like I should have been. The positive takeaway is that I've grown stronger than I thought since my final Pushups set was 46 in a row at a weight slightly higher than when I started. Another positive takeaway is that my belt still seems to be slimming, albeit agonizingly slowly. I feel slightly leaner and significantly stronger, so all is well and moving in the right direction. Eat: Once I got in to the groove I stuck to my standards and managed to more-or-less maintain. A Move: Accomplished every workout and achieved my goal of at least Forty Four pushups in a row (twice). A+ Sleep: A few misses here and there, but I made definite improvements and saw good results. B Golf: Made good efforts despite the weather and before recalibrating; swing is improving, but I still want to play more (I need golf buddies). C+ Anyway, it feels good to be back. This is the first challenge I've completed in a long, long time and I'm remembering the benefits of making my fitness a priority with measurable goals, a proper schedule, and good accountability from y'all. Going to have to figure out what I want to do for the next challenge so I can keep building without overdoing things and burning out. But first, there's steak and ice cream in my fridge...

W5D5 was a good day. I started the morning with a banana at home then added a small trail mix at work. Lunch was a much-too-large serving of leftover chicken and rice. I had a couple handfuls of pistachios for a snack when I got home. MFG made breakfast sandwiches on GF buns for dinner, and I stuck to just the one. Later in the evening I mixed a small bowl of pistachios, pecans, and chocolate chips. We actually had a break in the heat wave with temps near 80ºF and a nice overcast drizzle when I got home, so I forewent Golf and spent that time in my shop constructing and installing a pair of diagonal braces to my workbench since it's been slowly losing rigidity over the last year or so. Naturally as soon as I got in to the project with the garage door fully open the clouds rolled back and the sun hit my garage full bore, so by the time I was done I was absolutely soaked in sweat. I'm still calling Golf yellow since I watched another video tip. Sleep was fine, I powered down at 11:30 and completed my rituals before midnight. I tried out a different new pillow and slept pretty good despite a few weird dreams. W5D6 has been a great day. I ate another small trail mix in the morning. Lunch was a single leftover GF breakfast sandwich. I had more pistachios for an after-work snack, and MFG is making a chicken-veggie stir fry (with rice) that smells absolutely delicious. That will be it for today. I just finished up my final round of pushups. I got 29-33-29-29-40+4! That's the full Forty Four I was aiming for during this challenge, so now I don't even need to do tomorrow's final exam. I might anyway, but it's nice to know I already crushed it. One more day of rigor before Sunday morning's final check-in. It's been a good challenge. 👍

W5D4 should have been an outstanding day. I had a small trail mix in the morning, then lunch at work was leftover chicken & rice. When I got home I ate a handful of pistachios to hold me over until dinner. After I finished my pushups I made a pan of scrambled eggs with ham and cheddar cheese, and that was it for the day. I was so pleased with my pushups that I just had to share the hype yesterday. I got 25-29-25-25-36+6! Vast improvement over last week. No lower body or bonus golf stuff--I'm staying focused on finishing the program strong and therefore avoiding distractions--even the beneficial ones. The rest of the evening was paying bills, helping MFG with a few chores, tackling some guitar practice (new picking drills to try and improve my right-hand technique), more chess lessons, and a little bit of gaming. I powered everything down at 10:30, completed the rituals, and was in bed by 11 pm. Alas, the good night's sleep I intended proved elusive when a new pillow made it difficult to find a comfortable position, then I was disturbed for a while with stomach pains. Even after I did eventually fall asleep I had to get up a couple of times through the night to pee. Not restful. Still all green for the day; I made good choices whose consequences were entirely beyond my control. Despite dragging butt a little this morning I'm feeling pretty good about yesterday, and I'm optimistic for the rest of this challenge. I'm also looking forward to a week off to plan the next one, but no need to get ahead of myself.

Went Beast-Mode on today's pushups and literally growled the last one out after it stalled halfway up. Just one of many benefits to working out at home--if only I had a good setup for barbells...

W5D3 was a good day. I started the morning with a small pack of trail mix. Lunch at work was the last 4 of the leftover spareribs with some bbq sauce. I didn't eat anything else until I got home, and started with a few small pieces of a GF focaccia that MFG had made (really tasty) while waiting for dinner to be ready. We had chicken and rice, then we ate more peaches. I also ate the rest of a bag of cheese puffcorn and added a small bowl of cereal to end the day. Green feels a little generous since I couldn't quite seem to rein it in (actually the last two days I've been hungrier than usual), but I'm feeling generous and willing to show myself a little grace. As forecast it was hot as balls in the afternoon. My car was reading 115ºF when I began the drive home, and I saw a news blurb that claimed we were the fourth-hottest location on the entire planet yesterday. Naturally that forestalled any interest in Golf practice. When the sun was sufficiently low I smacked the dog's tennis balls around the backyard again for about half an hour, this time using my 5-wood which was far less cooperative than the 7-iron. The rest of the evening I did pretty much nothing. No guitar practice since I didn't want to annoy MFG. No shop work since the garage faces west and is a bazillion degrees. I didn't even do the dishes. I sat at my desk watching shows, browsing the web, playing games, and taking a few chess lessons until it was time to shut everything down and hop in bed. Can't say it was the most satisfying day, but I'll move on from it.

We've been in triple digits for weeks on end. Hopefully we'll get a little break on Thursday. It's not so bad, but it does make the afternoons unproductive. I need some cooler weather so I can get back in my shop and work on a couple of guitar projects that have stalled because of the heat. __________________________________________ W5D2 was a pretty good day. I made my weekly fruit smoothie in the morning, then for lunch at work I ate leftover spareribs with a bag of potato chips. Dinner at home was leftover Greek chicken with potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes. MFG sliced a couple of peaches for dessert and put a little bit of vanilla ice cream on them--not exactly compliant but I'm calling it good. I also snacked on a string cheese and some pistachios, then I ate a small bowl of cereal. I'll have a lighter day today for the sake of balance, so Eat stays green. Pushups went well. I did the recycled program and got 21-25-21-21-32+7. That's five more than last week, and I did it in 2/3 the time by taking shorter rests between sets. Optimistic that I'll be able to get to 44 by Friday. No bonus Golf; honestly when I left my office I was pretty sure I wasn't going to do anything else, including my pushups. After settling in at home I was able to force myself to do the work before sitting down to dinner with MFG. But that was it. I didn't do anything meaningful for the rest of the day. I powered down at 11 pm and got in to bed for a good night's sleep.

Thanks, Snarky! Eating light and catching a good afternoon nap on Saturday went a long way toward recovery. ___________________________________ W5D1 was a good day. I woke early and decided to make a couple of scrambled eggs with shredded pork (trimmings from Friday's spareribs), and ate a plate of that alongside a bowl of rice cereal. For lunch Butch requested Greek-style chicken, so MFG roasted a couple pans of thighs with potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes. Dinner was leftover spareribs, and I used the opportunity to audtion a couple of new-to-me bottled sauces from ALDI (one passed, the other went in the bin). In the evening I enjoyed my weekly pint of Haagen-Däzs (Rocky Road, very nice, but not worth the premium over Blue Bell), then I ate another half bowl of cereal as a snack. I also had some pistachios and a string cheese at various points throughout the day. I enjoyed my big Sunday and kept everything compliant--Eat is green. Slight bonus Golf goal in that I watched The Open Championship. Funny watching pros have a bad day and wishing I could be half that "bad". I played games, practiced guitar, watched TV, generally loafed around and relaxed, and took Butch to the store for some last-minute items he needs for summer camp. It was stupid hot here, and I made the most of this month's electricity bill by staying indoors to enjoy the A/C as much as possible. I powered everything down at 11 sharp to spend a little extra time on rituals, including a much-needed beard trim, then I was in bed just before midnight for a green Sleep goal. Gonna see if I can pull off a perfect week to close out the challenge. It'll be tough with the heat (forecast is for 112ºF on Tuesday) but I'm going to try and fit in some extra golf practice every day in preparation for playing 9 holes on Saturday morning.

W4D7 was a good day. I fasted through the morning, then lunch was leftover pork spareribs and mashed potatoes. I didn't snack at all during the day, and I wasn't even that hungry at dinner time, so I made and ate a nice salad and that was plenty. Green for Eat. In the morning I took Butch to the driving range for an hour or so to work on golf swing and do some putting practice. Golf swing is coming along, the work I did at home earlier in the week is paying dividends, but I'm still having to focus really hard to overcome my old tendencies. Putting practice was superb, I'm getting my stroke dialed in really well for speed. Green for Golf and all green to end the week. Week 4 Check-in: Scale this morning says 238.1 which is down 0.7 for the week but STILL a bit above where I started this challenge. With one more week to go and at my current rate of weight loss I should be able to get back down to start weight. On the other hand things do look quite a bit better in terms of progress photos: I'll happily take this 238 over Week Zero's 237. For goals this week I got 17/18 in the green and only one yellow. Pushups did stall a bit, but I'm perfectly content to recycle the week. 7 more days to finish this challenge nice and strong.