ArgSki77

GASP...Youve had a deprived childhood...Eggos are frozen waffles. The older cinnamon toast ones were my childhood breakfast almost everyday if we couldnt have toaster strudels

Who stomped on my foot while I was sleeping?!?! I woke up at 5:15 to go to the gym this morning and could barely stand so I held off and tried to stretch it out and did a hot water soak. This put me in a kind of bad mood (which has been remedied with my noise cancelling headphones and music and coffee at work) since medical issues have been a real hindrance recently. I have a surgery needed that is looming which I am pushing out until spring in order to preserve my ski season since recovery could be anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months until full physical activity is possible and feels good again. That has had me in a kind of sour mood as I don't know what I am gonna do without activity for even one week let alone possibly many. For the foot pain, I actually think it was a fallen arch on my right foot because of the shoes I was wearing the last two days. I revived an old pair of dress shoes and they are very minimal with no support and I was doing a lot of walking in them. Wearing my hiking shoes at work today that have some custom orthotic inserts that I got for long hikes and rucking. That plus an advil and foot is feeling much better. Going to the work gym to make up my bench day. Need to ask coach what it entails. Food is trending towards the positive. I was able to convince fiance to skip out on an unhealthy restaurant choice last night in exchange for mongolian hot pot. Dinner was fresh and light as I stuck to meat and greens in my spicy broth. This choice let me maintain the no overly proccessed foods for the day and check off one of those boxes for the day. On track to do the same today with breakfast being my eggs and sausage, lunch being a salad and dinner already planned out to be haddock and broccoli. And best of all weight was down 2lbs this morning so definitely trending well! Goal 1: ☑☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ Goal 2: ☑☑☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ Goal 3: ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐

Can't you just hear that intro music now?!?!(Im very excited for season2)

(note not actually doing low carb...just less than usual which is too high) The whole no boxed pre-processed food is proving to be a bit harder than I expected. The candy temptation at work is real and breakfast yesterday was takeout sandwich. So despite not hitting this yesterday, I am trying to battle back today. Spent some time before bed, despite wanting to just go to sleep, making a couple of egg white and sausage scrambles for breakfast the rest of the week and eliminate that source of failure. Today has been on track because of that and the previously prepped lunch although calories are a bit low still which I don't have a solution for currently since I haven't had time to go to the store. Along the same lines, I am doing my tracking on MFP. The only thing that I want to improve is the timing of the tracking. I want to challenge myself to do it more real time as I have been waiting a while to track, like last nights dinner was tracked this morning. That has lead to some overeating where I assume dinner calories or something of the sort and then have a snack later while watching TV and then once I track later, I realize that the snack put me a couple hundred calories over goal. More on time tracking or better yet pre-planning meal with MFP would help me cut down on those little excesses. Back to the gym tomorrow morning for bench press day. Also since fiance is gone at a work event Wed-Fri, I may be able to squeak in a Thursday night workout which would be a Kettlebell class which would be a nice change of pace from typical powerlifting/crossfitty workouts. Goal 1: ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ Goal 2: ☑☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ Goal 3: ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐

Odd, I always treated it as a lower back accessory...

Did I miss which program you are running? I'm interested in program that has a 1RM attempt followed by 5x5x90% (sounds like my kind of program!)

I was missing out on PL comp prep and fall boozing event updates...not any more!

What do you use for food delivery and do you like it? I have been contemplating using Instacart but I could never tell if it was going to be good, especially for produce and meats. Like I assume its up to whomever is shopping to pick out the say apples I ordered, so there is nothing stopping them from picking an apple that's all bruised if they are not feeling like spending too much effort.

I did thin sliced pork chops which I chopped into strips/chunks like you would get in a restaurant's pork fried rice. I could see this working fine with any kind of protein really though. Whilst I like bacon, it didnt really scream Asian food to me but I am sure it would be good. Although, not sure about reheated though either.

So I am lazy and get the pre-riced cauliflower from the freezer section of the super market(I think from whole foods but Ive gotten it from trader joes before too). But you can just chop a head of cauliflower and put it in a food processor. But strangely I think the frozen cauliflower stays more dense and less watery and acts more like rice than the fresh cauliflower. Which is almost exactly the opposite of most frozen veggies. I loosely based my version upon something I saw on Nom Nom Paleo except I didnt want to chop veggies so I used a frozen blend of veggies that I had on hand and added eggs, soy and fish sauce, and spices. http://nomnompaleo.com/post/3195098303/asian-cauliflower-fried-rice

So bit of whirlwind longgg weekend but I will keep the update short and sweet. I had DRs appointment Thursday so ended working from home so it feels like I have been away from work for a long time and the weekend felt very long. Pretty solid weekend though...lots of relaxing after gym on Friday, Saturday went down to the Head of the Charles Regatta and then played golf yesterday. Speaking of gym, Friday was a long ass deadlift centric workout. The main set was 5x3x80% which was 360lbs for me. Pair that in with a heavy conditioning set with 300+lb sled pushes and heavy KB Swings and Clean and Jerks and I was in for some sore legs on Saturday. Food was good this weekend as I was on my own most of the weekend so I made mindful decisions. Didnt track but the mindfulness of my food choices kept me grounded when it came to junk. Just splurged a little on Saturday with some dessert and a couple beers. But this morning the scale was down a couple pounds since last week so nothing I did this weekend was very detrimental to the goals. On to a good Week One! Already started tracking for the day and looking pretty good. I meal prepped some cauliflower pork fried rice. It is a pretty big portion but when I plugged it into MFP the calories are really low for a typical lunch, 370cal for the whole tupperware. I am balancing that a bit with 300 calories of snacks through out the day of apples and greek yogurt. Still a bit concerned that it may not be enough food but it is day one of the week and I can adjust as necessary the rest of the week if I need to alter the meals.

Apparently. I find it funny because the first picture of one of the boxes I could find has the most bro of the workout gear besides a curl bar...the grip trainer.

So using zero week to ease back into the challenge mindset. Goal 1: Trying to be mindful of processed foods but work is kinda crazy this week still. Ended up grabbing a smoothie with protein powder after the gym this morning to stay away from commercial breakfast sandwiches or similar. This is my last day at the office for work this week so looking to make more homemade meals as still on a spree of takeout food. Goal 2: I am kind of half heartedly tracking. I am good about tracking while at work despite food not being the best...but at home I start to slack...as evidence by my few weeks of breakfast and lunch tracking with no dinners included. Need to get the MFP app put on my new phone so I less excuses not to track from wherever I may be. That'll be goal by end of zero week. Goal 3: Workout this morning was pretty solid. I was a little disappointed that coach went away from the official Box Programming supplied...but I also understand the tailoring for the entirety of the gym population. The intended programming was to find a 1RM close grip bench press which I agree is a bit overkill considering last week was find a 1RM floor press. But both of those movements, even at 1RM, are not up where a 1RM bench press would be so its not like we are operating at max tilt for two weeks in a row. Plus he swapped out volume snatch work for dips and band face pulls as accessory because of a lack of olympic lifting knowledge. Its those little things like olympic work and such that I was looking forward to on this program so I was a bit bummed that he took them out. Either way though...I enjoyed the work out and got a good response from it(although I can feel that my working out has been slacking over the past few weeks). It however was a total bro sesh and shoulders are a bit smokey as I sit here at work. Did you know there was a Bro Box subscription...because I didnt until right now. Wednesday 10/18

Yeah I finished my degree at the end of August. That frees up a couple nights a week which is a nice time for sleep which I haven't been getting enough of.

Have fun with the tune of this song stuck in your head all day

Lift all the weights! Along for the ride.

Following Along!

Welcome to my return challenge! The last 6 months have been crazy...long work hours, neck injury, capstone projects for school work, and a general lack of motivation for health related activities have kept me away from NF and other health-centric things. I tried a challenge to no success in August again before falling off. All of this has has led to a pretty large weight gain and I am really starting to feel uncomfortable in clothes that fit great at the beginning of the summer and things like knee pain and other injuries are starting to rear their heads again. Current feelz: I am returning to challenges with the hope that it helps get me thinking about little things to get the ball rolling and getting back on a healthy plan. With that said, what I have done in the past are not necessarily going to work so going to have to think outside the box in order to get back in a healthy rhythm. There will be two main categories for this challenge, Nutrition and Exercise(I know...really out of the box concepts here!). Nutrition: Goal 1: Dont eat from the box - 3 Days per week no boxed(processed) foods My comfort after long work days or busy times is to throw some pasta in a pot or heat up some boxed foods from Trader Joes. When I originally lost weight 2 years ago, I succeeded by prepping my meals and keeping focus on eating fresh healthy foods and even going as far as being strict paleo for 4-5 months. Having three days where the focus is to avoid these processed foods should help start shifting the mindset back towards cleaner eating. Plus I do love cooking and haven't had that much time for it recently so this will get me back in the kitchen experimenting with healthy cooking. Goal 2: Fill out the boxes - Track foods 5 days per week MFP was my friend when it came to losing weight in the past. It helped keep me a bit more honest than when I kind of wing it with nutrition. I find that when I am not weighing and tracking my food, I do a poor job of measuring portion sizes and determining the nutrition of certain foods(This should improve with the less processed foods...double win). So the goal is to track during the week and if I track on the weekends then that is a bonus. Exercise: Goal 3: Embrace the Box - Workout 3 mornings per week For those who dont know my workouts/gym experience, I basically do Crossfit except there is a stigma against it from gym owner/coaches so we are not an official box. One of the things that drove me away from the gym a bit these last few months was lack of variation in workouts. Every Wednesday was 5/3/1 Bench press, some accessories, and a quick conditioning set and Fridays were the same but with Deadlifts. I ran 5/3/1 in the past and didnt like the progress I was making so I wasnt that excited to do it as part of gym programming. Well...I wasn't the only one to complain about it after doing the same thing for 10months and now the gym has new programming, written by Box Programming(original intent of the box theme). The main basis of their programming is the Conjugate Method for Athletes which has a strong focus on accessory type lifts as well as incorporating different reps and workout schemes. Some highlights so far have been floor presses on the old bench day and EMOM style sumo deadlift workouts for the old deadlift day. Plus with these new rep/set schemes we actually have like 30min for conditioning instead of the 8-10min after-thought tabata conditioning that we've done in the past after 5/3/1. These new workouts have gotten me excited to go to the gym again. Just need to get back on a schedule now that work has calmed down and get back to lifting 3 times per week minimum at the 6am class before work. And what would a box theme challenge be without checkboxes! Goal 1: ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ Goal 2: ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ ☐☐☐☐☐ Goal 3: ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ ☐☐☐ Onward to victory!

Alternate: Take Selfies/Photos with iPad and block everyone else's view This challenge is prime for funny stock photos...

So classic weekend absence. Thus this will be long so bear with me. But it was an adventurous weekend...well Friday really. Started off the morning at the gym to test out 1RM deadlift. The number I was working off was Recap as follows: Warmup 5x135 5x225 2x275 1x315 1x365 1x405 Attempts 435 - Success - This was 90% of estimated 1RM as what would be an opener 455 - Success - Super fast and easy. 5lbs less than previous PR 475 - Fail x 2 - Coach picked the weight jump based on how easy 455 was. First attempt was incredibly close(video below). Second attempt not so much. The first attempt came off the ground a bit too slow and when I got it above my knees I had no momentum and started wobbling a bit. That killed my ability to completely lock it out. FYI Video has swearing So despite failing these, I am making progress. That would have been a 15lb increase in 1RM and was super close so that would definitely indicate that I am making some strength gains. Inching closer to the 495 lift I have been hunting for! After deadlifts, my fiance and I went up to the White Mountains in NH for some hiking. Did not think that one through fully and my legs are still a bit sore today Full hike stats in garminlink below but highlights were 6.4 miles with almost 1200ft elevation gain. Views were totally worth it! https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1881785749 Food has still been an up and down battle. I tried to eat mindfully most of the weekend since I was home by myself most of it while fiance worked. I did have a few small slip ups but all in all not a bad weekend. The only thing I wish I did was workout out but I was a bit wiped from Friday and gym is only open in the morning on weekends which was the time my fiance was home so I was doing stuff with her. The scale was decently friendly this morning with only 0.4lb gain from weekend. I blame the tacos from yesterday...delicious delicious tacos I ended up making the Nom Nom Paleo kalua pork for lunches this week. I am not overly thrilled about how it came out though. I was thinking the salt and garlic would give it a bit more flavor but tasting it when it came out of the crockpot it seems a bit bland. For lunches, I doctored it a bit with some teriyaki sauce to give it some more flavor and put that over some veggie fried rice which was premade on sale this week so super easy prep! Despite it being week 4, adding one new goal. Work snacks have been messing with me the most mentally. Especially ones that I buy at the cafe. I'm trying to save for a wedding and lose weight so buying a slice of pizza or other snack 2-3 times per week is just hurting both those goals. So I am adding in the goal of "No work snacks that I didn't bring to work". The stuff I brought is just about perfect with my macros so I dont need any supplements to that. Plan operates too close to maintenance for me to be adding in little things that bump me above calories. Id rather have to macro cap at end of day if I am a bit off rather than have to super restrict my dinner or go over goals. Checkboxes! Goal 1 - Figure out nutrition plan ☑ Goal 2 - Track foods every day ☑☑☑☑☐☐☑ ☑☑☐☑☐☐☐ ☑☑☑☑☐☐☑ ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ Goal 3 - Return to workout schedule ☑☑☑ ☑☐☐ ☑☑☑ ☐☐☐ Goal 4 - Track weight ☑☑☑ ☑☐☐ ☑☑☑ ☐☐☐ Goal 5 - No work snacks ☐☐☐☐☐

How did you escape a hangover while drinking lime-a-ritas?!!? They are like hangover in a can for me...everytime I go to a concert we end up drinking them but the sugar and malt alcohol content leaves me gross the next day.

Have you looked into bulk stores(costco etc)? We recently started buying much more stuff from there and its saving us a decent amount of money each month. I been buing things like frozen chicken breasts that are good quality and even cheaper in bulk(6lb boxes) and now have even been getting a bunch of my produce there since its not unreasonable for us to go through 3 or so cucumber or zucchini in a week. There is kind of a shock when getting the bill from the shopping at the start of the month but since the trip lasts us a couple weeks it balances out to cheaper over the long run.

I also guess for all the previous summers, I was living in my own apartment all alone in NH so I was not the most social...we have had many more events now that my fiance and I live together. Hmmmm I successfully outlasted the big box of donut holes this morning. I was tempted but waited long enough to the point where they were all gone. Only treat I had all day was a mini twix bar so holding strong especially given its a workout calorie day.