DrFeelgood

Poor Scotty was late twice in T2SC's thread. I'm calling foul. That's what I've been having, only not so slight.

C15-4 W6D4 complete: Spreadsheets Not-so-clean misses today. Both goals were failed so hard they left impact craters. And judging by how late it currently is, tomorrow's bedtime goal isn't looking terrible strong, either. Way too much caffeine today. I still fit comfortably in my 32W jeans, though. I'm clinging to sanity with that thought.

What squadron(s) were you with, Seeker81? Did you do MRT at Luke?

And how can I make sure to always miss them in the future?

C15-4 W6D3 complete: Spreadsheets Clean misses with bedtime and eating goals today. Eating was only a little over, though--MFP has my goal set higher than my plan spreadsheet and I thought I was on target. Oh well. Tomorrow's another day.

Nope. All of our day trips since moving here have been to Chicago.

I got out in 2000 and went to college then grad school, but it wasn't until after my kids arrived and taking a desk job with DoD that I really started plumping up. I didn't see it coming on, then one summer vacation (2012) my wife caught me in this picture and I knew it was time to change: Life just creeps up on you when you're not paying attention. Crewing Vipers was its own workout, so I never really needed the discipline of exercise. Now I've got it, and I'm developing self-control with my eating, too. Took me a few years to finally "get" it, but thanks to determination and NF I'm already in better shape than when I separated from active duty.

I always enjoy the Ed Norton Hulk, but I think Ruffalo is a better fit in the Avengers. I only wish Tim Roth had been given some better material, he was vastly under-used in that movie. You've got Thor and Cap coming up next--I liked both but not as much as Iron Man. Cap is my favorite character, by far.

C15-4 W6D2 complete: Spreadsheets Many thanks to everyone for your support. I don't have to imagine trying to do this without you because that's how I used to do, and I failed terribly. Y'all really are the key to my new-found success. I appreciate you letting me vent and bounce my hair-brained ideas off your collective expertise. Let's end this day on a positive note. Bedtime. Didn't get it. I was up a bit late designing the improvements I need to make to our storm drainage here at the homestead--MrsFeelgood has decided she wants to do another vegetable garden next year, so that's getting factored in as well (might as well dig it all at once). Good news is, it wasn't a huge miss and I didn't do any snacking after my mega-eating day. Workout. Killed it. Gym buddy left work early, so when I got the gym alone I just put the headphones on, lowered my head, and destroyed my previous lifts. It was madness fueled partially by irritation at my current attitude toward fitness and partially by the Diet Pepsi I chugged about a half-hour before getting to the weights. Whatever the combination was, it was great--I enjoyed it so much that I may ask Gym Buddy to leave early from now on. Not only did I blast my previous reps at those weights, I did it in record time with great form and then I went and increased my pullups, too. Now I can do a set of five, so I'm halfway to my year-end goal. I'd credit the music, too (since I don't normally listen to anything while working out), but it was all soft worship-type stuff. I've added a Week 7 to the spreadsheet for workouts. It's just a rehash of Week 5. If the challenge schedule doesn't change, then I'll get a week to deload and rest before the next challenge starts. I've already got my workouts planned for the next cycle. I'm still really enjoying this lifting regimen at twice a week, and I intend to keep it up. Eating. After running the numbers this evening I'm now aiming for maintenance for the rest of the challenge, and I'm going to pretend to be ignorant of macros for the duration as well. Maybe I need to re-train my body to recognize satiety by actually sating it (wild concept, I know), so that's the way forward. The calculators are giving me between 2200 and 2800 daily, so for now I'm going to err on the low side and slowly increase only if it becomes necessary. As it stands now, I ended up low for the day anyway because this is where I felt good to stop. It remains to be seen if that's enough to carry me through to breakfast tomorrow. So with much improved attitude and a reasonably amended plan I launch into this final week ready to accept whatever outcome. For now, it's enough just to succeed at the process.

Same. I don't think I ever did any discrete exercise during my entire enlistment, mostly because I didn't need to. I only recall having to do the fit test once, and it was a joke. Working out now is it's own new brand of "military mode" since I'm an Army civilian and I use the gym on post.

I don't think I've gone manic, but I really cannot figure out why things are suddenly so much more difficult. Seems like I was plenty satisfied on 13,000 calories per week, and I was able to burn fat at a steady and healthy rate. Then I took my vacation to break from deficit eating and now I can't get it back on track. So what's changed since the last challenge? - Working out only two days per week instead of three - Allowing a few more starches and grains in the diet - Allowing an occasional diet soda or sugar-free dessert - Eating has been far less consistent and predictable - Weighing in more frequently I didn't think I'd been that streaky with my eating, but the last couple of weeks looked like this: I can't objectively say that's bad--after all, I'm still below maintenance and above my Extreme Fat-Loss levels from previous challenges on a weekly basis; but something just isn't quite working. At least it's not working the same as it used to. When I reoriented this challenge a couple of weeks ago, the idea was to get back to things that had worked before and see if I could even out. Instead, that only made things crazier. I'm thinking (on y'all's advice) that I should write this challenge off in terms of weight loss (which wasn't really a primary goal at the outset anyway) and see what I can do about maintaining for the next few weeks. I'll finish up with my planned lifting regimen this week, and I'll get my end-of-challenge measurements for body composition. Then I'll re-evaluate all of it in the off-weeks.

Gotta do some catch-up: C15-4 W5D7 complete: Spreadsheets Saturday was a bust. I was up late watching Interstellar with MrsFeelgood and went a bit high with snacking. It wasn't so bad, but then I couldn't get to sleep and pounded a great-big bowl of cereal. Since it was well after midnight, I just counted that toward Sunday's breakfast. Even though I failed the goal for that day, it was still under maintenance and I had a decent deficit for the week. Or so I thought... Week 5 Check-in: Stupid scale. My deficit predicted a weight loss of 1.6 pounds. Instead I gained 1.2 pounds. Talk about demoralizing. I worked my butt off last week to make up the deficit, but the scale has betrayed me. I tried not to let it derail my day, but... C15-4 W6D1 complete: Spreadsheets I pretty much gave up on the Plan for Sunday. I scrubbed the bedtime goal since we'd already been to church on Saturday evening. I know my late-night movie snacking didn't help my weigh-in, but that knowledge didn't assuage my hurt feelings any. I figured if my mood was already in the tank, then I might as well enjoy it. By the time I quit counting I was more than a thousand over for the day, and it was predominantly empty, worthless, delicious carbs. After going back and filling in the day from memory, I counted almost 500 665 grams (2000 2660 cal) of carbs out of 3700 4500 total calories! I got back on the scale just before bedtime for some damage assessment--203.4 lbs. I gained five spite-pounds in a single day. Take that, stupid jerk scale. On top of that, neither of my old soccer teams returned my text. I'm recovering (so far) today, but I wouldn't say I'm over it all. I'm going to will myself to stick to what's left of my plan after missing bedtime last night, because my heart just isn't in it right now. Edited to correct counts after remembering that I also ate an entire sleeve of Walmart's fig newtons. It's still not a competition, Presea.

Occupied.

Thanks a lot. Now I want mashed potatoes.

C15-4 W5D6 complete: Spreadsheets Bedtime and calories on target--just need to hit my calories tomorrow to close out a pretty good week. Got a little more bonus cardio today because mowing. I really just wanted to come home, eat dinner, then sit on the couch; but it's supposed to rain for a week and tonight was the only realistic opportunity to cut the grass. Oh well, it's done now and I can sit and watch the last Hobbit movie with MrsFeelgood for the rest of the night--no snacks though.

C15-4 W5D5 complete: Spreadsheets Bedtime. On-time. I forewent another episode of Firefly in order to get down on time. Workout. Complete. Big lifts let me down just a little today. Maybe I didn't have enough in the tank, or maybe I'm just finding my current upper limits. Either way, I wanted more reps. Bodyweight stuff went well. I've amended my plan to push the deload week until the second off-week, so next week (and the week after) will continue the run of heavy barbells. I'm counting on it to help with my sprint to the finish line for this challenge. Eating. Hit the target bang on the nose. It's been a good day. Now I've gotta stave off the snack demons that seek havoc after sunset.

C15-4 W5D4 complete: Spreadsheets Bedtime. Made doubly sure to get this one. I was in bed before 10:00 pm, and I actually got to sleep pretty easily but then I had anxiety-ridden dreams all night. It wasn't a particularly restful night, but it's progress. I'm going to follow the same routine and see if I can get some better sleep tonight. Eating. I'm super proud of this one today. I had extremely light (but high-protein) meals for breakfast and lunch, then I came home and prepared a nice sensible dinner for the whole family--with enough leftovers for my lunch tomorrow. Ignoring the lone Jolly Rancher I enjoyed this afternoon, today was the "cleanest" eating I've done in a long while. And, as you can see on the spreadsheet, I totally made up yesterday's binge calories and scored the retro-pass for a two-day average. My deficit is back on track for the week: currently sitting at -3503 calories. For the first time this year, I'm not already planning my next challenge. Sufficient to this challenge are it's own troubles.

Welcome back! Seems like return-trip shenanigans are the theme for summer vacations this year.

C15-4 W5D3 complete: Spreadsheets Bedtime. Bit of a stumble with this one yesterday. I was a little wired from soccer, and I got rolling with Firefly and let too many episodes roll. Fail. I'll get it tonight though, I'm whooped because... Workout. In spite of a still-cramping quad, I made a strong showing at the gym today. I saw increases in both my overhead press (slight) and deadlift (substantial), and I really pushed myself with all of the assistance work, both barbells and bodyweight. Then I put in a really good session of static stretching. I hope that helps the cramping subside before Thursday's lifts. Eating. After yesterday's update I blew it again with snacking. A handful of popcorn from my wife's bowl turned into a bag of my own, which then opened the floodgate to cereal and quesedillas. By the end, I'd eaten almost an entire day's worth of energy in one sitting. So I counted most of it toward today and have only eaten one small meal at lunch to try and rein it back in. That made the workout tougher, but I still feel I did well. Even with skipping breakfast and dinner I'm well beyond my target for the day, so today is a clear fail. At the challenge outset I allowed myself to use a two-day average once per week, so tomorrow I'm going to try to balance it out. If I'm successful then I'll get to retcon today's failure to a pass. So I've got a bit of work ahead to keep on track, but I also have some lifting successes to help propel me through the eating stumbles. I don't know why it's suddenly such a struggle to stay on Plan, but I seem to have depleted my willpower stores over the first three NF challenges. I'm just going to keep my head down to power through the rest of this one and then take the off-weeks to analyze and re-evaluate my way forward. I think I've claimed all of the low-hanging fitness fruit, and now the real fight for improvement is only just beginning. I'm going to need to level up my dietary game if I want to get through the next phase of my quest. Time to do some reading...

C15-4 W5D1 complete: Spreadsheets Sunday was on target with bedtime and calories. It was an uneventful and lazy day at home. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I managed to avoid a Sunday binge on both food and staying up late. Which led directly to... _____________ C15-4 W5D2 complete. Bedtime. I got under the covers with the lights out just in the nick of time. It counts. I spoiled myself with a Diet Dr Pepper on Sunday, though, and that messed up my sleep again. I need to quit doing that. Workout. Gym Buddy had to leave early and wasn't available for lifting, and by the time I got out the office door the thunderstorm was so heavy that I sprinted straight to my car and drove directly home. Instead of weights, I took my new soccer gear down to the indoor field for some drop-in practice. I don't know what I was dropping-in to, because I was the only one there. I spent an hour doing drills and working the ball with both feet--at least the indoor field allows me to pass off the wall, and it contains stray shots extremely well. By the end I was cramping up pretty good in my right quad, so I did a bit of easy running and then called it quits. MFP wanted to credit me with over 600 calories burned--I took a little over half. I'll roll the barbell program to tomorrow, so today was a bonus for the week. Eating. My planned eating for the day went without a hitch. When I got back from the soccer field I added a protein bar and a string cheese, so the daily total is 260 calories above target, but I'm still counting it as a pass. Without accounting for exercise, my deficit for today is still a respectable -835. Now I'm off to do some stretching, take an NSAID, and watch Firefly.

Week 4 Check-in: I'm going to have to stop checking the scale between official weigh-ins because instead of being thrilled this morning I was bummed that it was almost a full pound heavier than Friday. I have to keep consciously reminding myself that I lost almost 2 full pounds this week. Official weigh-in was 197.3 for a total loss of 1.8 lbs this week. Interestingly, that's exactly what my deficit predicted, so my data gathering and spreadsheet formulas gain a little more confirmation that way. Measurements are all even or down, and everything's looking improved--albeit slowly. I kept my promise during fireworks last night and only had a single-scoop of butter pecan ice cream, and I let MrsFeelgood eat the cone (that's her favorite part). Today I'm taking it easy after a busy three-day weekend of festivities. My lovely daughter is making a baked chicken dish for dinner tonight (with her mom's help), so I'm looking forward to coming in on target for the day. The pork trimmings from Friday's spareribs made outstanding BBQ sandwiches for lunch, and I'm thoroughly stuffed. Tonight we'll watch the Women's World Cup final match between USA and Japan. I was rooting for England in the third-place match yesterday, and they managed to pull it off. That's a huge win for your ladies, and big congrats to them. I've ordered the rest of my personal gear (and a bunch of stuff for the kids' upcoming season) to get back in to playing, and most of it should be delivered in time for me to make tomorrow evening's drop-in session at the indoor field--which is great since it's supposed to thunderstorm again tomorrow. I was feeling pretty good yesterday when I took the Minions out for drills, but the legs are a bit stiff today. Still, I'm enjoying the game again; and that's a great step forward. On to Week 5! This is the week wherein I can finally get back to pre-vacation weight and get the line on the graph moving to new lows again.