Kingmuzza

I'm in. I need a week of lifting weights, so perfect timing for the challenge.

Signing in - beginning of week 3. Progress Report: 6 Week Challenge: Run twice a week - Weekly goal accomplished. Lift twice a week - Fail. Lifted once (Warrior mini-challenge), didn't get a second one in. Paleo - Generally going strong - frequent cheats, but eating 90% Paleo. Also I'm nearly 200 pages into the 290 pages of "It Starts with Food". As soon as I'm finished that Paleo is going to morph into a Whole30. Looking forward to starting that. Mini-Challenges: (Note: These are nice. I think next challenge I need to break the 6-week challenge into bite-sized pieces to be achieved every week, or even every workout.) Warrior Mini-challenge - Carry own bodyweight 500 paces. Mission accomplished. My shoulders are aching from it though. [+1 STA] Scouts Mini-challnege - Run 10km over the course of the week. Mission Failed. Ran my usual 8.6km in 2 runs, didn't get a third one in. Went for a walk with the family yesterday though, which I'm sure would cover the distance, but I think that would count as cheating, so, mission failed. Emotive crap: Feeling good about this challenge so far. I'm not achieving what I'd hope, but I am getting exercise in. I feel like I'm at a sustainable level, just wish I could get that 4th workout in every week. The Week Ahead: I have a monster week. Wedding anniversary today, so date night and no time to workout (maybe sneak in some weights before we leave). Bible Study on Wednesday night always throws off my chance for a workout then. At least 1, possibly 2 evening meetings for work take up another 2 evenings. + I've got a course on Friday evening. Its too cold and dark to work-out in the mornings. Result - I'm screwed. Gonna see when I can get time here and there, but this is going to be a tough one.

Success!!! After doing half the distance with farmer's walks yesterday, today I took the family for a walk and carried daughter (31kgs) on my shoulder for at least 1000 paces (I only needed 438 paces). So, success.

Holy Crap!!! Ranger reporting in sir! I heard the call for support so I came running (after just completing the scouts 10km challenge). I got dumbbells with 22kg on each (44kg is just over half my bodyweight). Managed 613 paces this afternoon (= 329 at bodyweight). Man I'm exhausted. We're gonna have to make camp here and go the rest of the way tomorrow, I'm too old for this, can't go any further today. But hopefully should still complete the challenge tomorrow morning.

Great! I'm in. I'm half-way through reading the book and now I'm mostly eating Paleo. As soon as I finish the book I'm going to do the Whole30 really strictly, but from what i can see so far this is how I'm going to be eating for the rest of my life. Thanks for the thread - I'm gonna be back here a lot.

Quick note - Mini-Challenges Week 1: Rangers Mini-challenge - do 2 extra workouts - completed 1 of 2 extra workouts - zero additional points. Scouts Mini-challenge - Run 4 x 100m sprints - completed. +1 DEX. Updated stats are: STR: 4 DEX: 3 (increased by 1 - scouts mini-challenge #1) STA: 3 CON: 2 WIS: 3 CHA: 2 Week 2 mini-challenges: Warriors - Carry own bodyweight 500 paces (for +1 STA) Scouts - Run 10km over the course of the week (for +1 STA) Rangers - No news yet on a Week 2 challenge for the Rangers. There's trouble afoot. Bands of refugees need rescuing (and hence carrying home); and the scouts are going out on information gathering raids (hence the running). Technical note: No idea how to organise farmer's walks with heavy weights - maybe see how much I can pack onto dumbbells. 10km of running will mean getting in a 3rd run I think - as my current preferred course is only 4.3km, but that's easily doable. Late addition: Rangers have gotten off their ass and have their own weekly challenge. I'm a bit curious what to do - on the one hand doing farmer's walks is the same as the warriors challenge, so maybe I do double to get both challenges. The other option is to build my own gym. Now, I already have a home gym, but its lacking a pull-up bar (and a heavy bag which I might be getting pretty soon), but organising a pull-up bar somehow around my house would be completely worthwhile. I just don't know how to do it. I've got to be careful that doing mini-challenges (especially the strength ones), doesn't throw me off course from my 6 week challenge (the great benching 10 x 62kg monster on my shoulder). So I mustn't give up on bench training at the same time. Gonna be a busy week, and I had to take Monday off sick, and I've got no time tonight!!! Gonna have to make the most of every other day.

I bought the kindle version on the weekend. Loving the book so far. (I've never read any Paleo stuff other than just internet browsing before now). Its nice that it gets technical about whats going on my body - my psychological approach to food; my hormonal response to food (insulin; leptin; glucogen; cortisol). I find the science-y approach much more convincing that the caveman approach to choosing what I eat, so I'm pretty convinced so far. And the experiment on my body is pretty amazing to be watching. Needs some tweaking, but thats how experiments go. Massively recommended from my side.

Damn it! Failed! The plan was to do an extra cardio and an extra weights session. I got the extra cardio in on saturday morning, but I missed friday night's weights session, so I only managed 2 weights sessions this week. 1/2 point for the mini-challenge. I did at least get 5 workouts in, which is 1 more than my 6 week challenge goal, so not all bad, just not good enough for the mini-challenge. Oh well, try harder next time.

Thanks again everybody! Nice to have the support. I downloaded the "It starts with Food" ebook from Whole30 - fantastic book - so far I'm learning all the technical ins-and-outs about Paelo. It talks about psychological responses to food; hormonal responses to food; what goes on in your intestines - that's as far as I've got so far. I massively recommend this book. I like their theory that what what you eat either makes you more healthy or less healthy, so its a no-brainer that every bite you put in your mouth, you need to figure out if its good for you or bad for you. So it seems I'm taking the Paleo thing to the next level - dairy has now been cut from my diet. I've cheated quite a few times, which I'm going to need to work on - someone offered me cake yesterday and I didn't hesitate to take it; then on Saturday night I went to watch rugby at the pub and had many beers and a tequila, which probably isn't very Paleo, but otherwise generally its going really well. (except for beer, man I love beer). Fitness wise - I got 5 workouts in last week - 3 cardio (2 runs and a swim), and 2 weight-liftings. A little bummed because for the mini-challenge I was supposed to do 3 x weights sessions, but I got caught up in family life on Friday night and missed my workout. But all round I'm completely happy with 5 workouts - not pushing too hard though - I think I know from experience that I've got to ease into these things. So all in all feeling pretty good about life. Looking forward to another week of making myself (and my family) more awesome.

Fantastic. Thanks for your help everyone. I'll give these a try.

Howdi folks, A friend of mine just offered to give me a punching bag (what I think martial-art-types call a heavy bag). They offered it to me because they know I'm a fitness fanatic, but in truth I don't do any martial-art/ boxing type things. Currently I do weights 2 - 3 times a week, and run (or swim) 2 - 3 times a week, but if I get this bag I'd substitute in 2 punching/ kicking days instead of the third day of the other stuff. But I'm clueless. What do you do with a heavy bag? Are there routines to be downloaded? How long is a workout? What does a workout with one of these things entail? I figured you martial-art types could help me out.

Ranger Signing in - Friday update "Good morning sir", the gruff ranger seemed bright and cheerful - full of energy - which was completely out of character to what the drill seargent had seen so far. "What the hell happened to you Ranger!", Seargent was confused. "Paleo, I believe, sir. I haven't eaten any grains or legumes the whole week, well almost, I snuck in 2 beers and a croissant on Wednesday night. I've cut sugar out of my coffee, but I've had a few pieces of dark chocolate, and this morning I had honey in my smoothie. But really, its the whole grain/ carbs thing. I feel completely different. In the mornings I wake up ready to go, and at by the end of the day I've still got tons of energy. I can't believe I didn't try this years ago! Wife even went out and stocked up on coconut oil and ghee for cooking with, and a massive pile of veggies." "Good to hear Ranger, keep it up. What about your other goals?" "Well sir, I've been running twice this week and lifted once, with one day off. I've got weight training again tonight. That will achieve my challenge goal, but for the mini-challenge I need to do another 1 cardio and 1 strength, I'll fit them in on the weekend. And I helped out with the Scouts mini-challenge, so I did 4 x 100m sprints on yesterday's run. Fitness-wise its been a good start to the challenege, so long as I keep consistent this is going to be a pretty awesome 6 weeks."

KingMuzza, the grumpy old Ranger, was passing the Scouts HQ on his way to the tavern. Ranger training was going well, but what's the point of being in a rebellion when all you do is train. Through the window Muzza noticed the frantic activity inside. "What's going on?", he asked a messenger racing towards the Scouts office. "There's trouble afoot! We need help!", the messenger was clearly stressed. "I can run," said the ranger, "send me." Muzza ran back to his quarters - this is more like it, enough training, time to get out and help. There was no chance he could get out on the road tonight though, it'd have to be tomorrow, but tomorrow it would definitely be. Challenge accepted.

Woha! I was planning to ease into this whole thing again! I guess you've got different ideas. Fine! Be like that if you will. I was planning 2 running workouts, and 2 strength workouts every week. So to get the bloody mini-challenge done I'm going to have to do 3 x cardio and 3 x strength. Damn you! & Challenge accepted.

Hi folks, Wifey and I have just decided to dive straight into this whole Paleo thing, but I've got a few questions maybe you can help out with: Quinoa is basically the only grain that I'm keen on not throwing out. What are people's thoughts on eating Quinoa, is it as bad as all the rest of them? What about dairy? We normally only have milk in our coffee and eat yoghurt quite a lot (now that we've thrown out our breakfast cereal). Should we get rid of the milk in our coffee and the yoghurt as well? Breakfast! I like eggs, but I don't want to eat them every day. What do you guys eat for breakfast? Thanks in Advance, Kingmuzza

Thanks guys. I think I really need the support this time around. I got off to a good start though - ran yesterday 4.3km in 32min = 7:30min/km. Pretty slow I realise, but its my first run in over 2 months, and I pulled it off WITHOUT WALKING EVEN ONCE, which I'm massively stoked about. And Wifey and I just decided to dive straight into the Paleo thing and see what happens - so no grains/ legumes/ sugar from now on (we're skipping the dairy part for now.) I'm interested to see how this plays out. So far we've been through 1 dinner and 1 breakfast, and all was good.

Addendum #2 - Swimming is also acceptable cardio instead of running.

Oh yeah I forgot. And measure my tummy and try to get that measurement smaller. [CHA +1]

Wow! Epic challenge. Good luck with it. I thought I might help you a tiny bit - I love listening to lessons / sermons downloaded from www.biblicaltraining.org . You've got to register but its all free, and there's all sorts of lecture series you can go through. Have a look, see if its your thing. And good luck again with your challenge.

The drill seargent was spitting mad. 7 weeks ago he'd found KingMuzza sitting in a pub, loathing what had become of his life. Muzza signed up for the rebellion, started off with great gusto, logged workouts every day and was making good progress. Then he disappeared. W.T.F! A patrol found Muzza again yesterday, he was back to all his old tricks - still smoking (although now lying to his wife about it), didn't hit any of his goals for the last challenge. Still failing. The dejected, aging ranger returned with the patrol, but everyone was worried. He'd lost his spark. He said he'd sign up for the challenge again, but nobody believed that he'd pull it off, least of all the ranger himself. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!", shouted the seargent. "I thought you loved the whole fitness game?! I thought you defined yourself by always being fit enough to take on any adventure?! LOOK AT YOU!!!" KingMuzza was broken - work, kids, commuting, too many other projects in his life, too little money for new shoes, too much stress, home gym keeps on being rained out - miserable sod. "I've got to sort myself out sir", stammered the ranger, "I've got to get that spark back, get the spring back in my step somehow, but I don't know how to do it." The seargent softened a bit, "Don't feel so bad Muzza. If you're part of the rebellion, you've got all the support you need. We'll sort you out." The two of them sat down to plan out their goals - Class: Ranger Level: 1 (Yes, you've dropped a level! Fool!) Attributes: STR: 4 (increased by 1) DEX: 2 STA: 3 CON: 2 WIS: 3 CHA: 2 (No change from 7 weeks ago) (OK, I added +1 STR, because I did do a fair bit of work last challenge before fading out.) Fitness & Diet Goals: 1. Get back out on the road! Maybe a lack of cardio equals a lack of energy. So the big fitness challenge now is to start running again. Baby steps. Run at least twice a week, every week for the next 6 weeks, any distance each time. [sTA +2] [DEX +2] If the weather sux, a decent elliptical workout is an acceptable substitute, but only if running is impossible. Extra [sTA +1] for 1 run at the end of the challenge for 10km, no walking, any pace. Extra [DEX +1] for a solid mile run at the end of the challenge. Say, under 8 minutes to get a Fitocracy quest goal. 2. Don't give up on strength training. The Fitocracy "135lb (62ish kg) Bench Dead and Squat x 10 reps" challenge still evades me. 2 strength workouts per week to pull this off. [sTR +2] if I make it. This is a secondary challenge though. Running must be primary. 3. Paleo. So much good things have been said about this, now is the time to give it a shot. Research and devise eating plan. (I'm clueless right now). [WIS +1] 1 week hardcore trial (no cheats, etc.) [WIS +1] Launch long term eating plan (assuming successful trial) [WIS +1] If not now, when? If not me, then who?

Week 2 Round-up Fading a little. 1. Smoked 5 smokes a day Monday - Thursday, then managed Friday - Sunday of no smoking. Until this morning. Monday mornings appear to be my nemesis. 2. 2 decent workouts - everything progressing slowly - maybe a little too slowly, but still progressing. Bench is now at 57kgx5 3. Only got 2 workouts in though. That's the bare minimum, and I can't really expect progress like that. Spent saturday digging a veggie garden at home though, which is a bit of a workout, so it's more like 2.5 workouts. Still need to do better. 4. Logged stuff on Fitocracy, haven't logged anything on MyPlate yet. All-in-all - pretty mediocre performance on my part, but still ticking forward. I'm going to need to put a bit more effort in if I want to achieve all of my challenges - and I really do want to achieve all of my challenges. Life is doing its best to get in the way though.

Hi, I just want to agree with everything said above - take it slow, make sure you buy some good shoes, and enjoy it. Also, I thought I'd make your life simpler by saying the couch 2 5km program is found at http://www.c25k.com/ My wife used it from being pretty unfit with absolutely no running experience, and it worked well for her. Good luck.

Sorted. Thanks a lot.

Week 1 Round-up I started late, so I haven't been doing this for a full week, but anyways: My challenges are: 1. Stop smoking. 2. Bench, dead, squat 62kgs x 10reps 3. Workout at least twice a week. 4. Log everything How it's going: 1. Smoked on Thursday and Friday, then managed to pull off the entire weekend without smoking at all. But then smoked this morning. Dammit. Nevertheless, a good weekend. Not giving up on this one. Mighty tough though. 2. Tried deadlifting 62kgx10, worked fine. Tried squatting below that - worked ok, but I got pretty stiff. Going to take the squats slowly, I'm a little unsure of my legs. But I used to be able to squat over that, so once I get my confidence back it should be fine. Focussing on the bench - benched 3 times so far and feeling strong - don't want to rush it though. Seriously focussing on form. All in all, if I keep consistent, I can blast through this challenge - its all really about keeping consistent. 3. Workout regularly. Noob excitement reigned this week. Worked out 3 out of 4 days since I joined, so all going really well. Even though some of those workouts were really short (like I only benched yesterday). I imagine the excitement is going to wane though, and then it'll be a struggle. 4. Log everything. Doing fine with exercise. But haven't logged any food yet. Not motivated enough to do it and life's pretty hectic. Logging food feels less important, but I must kick myself in the ass and get to it. I'll try to get started on this this week. Overall: Feeling good. Still feeling excited. In fact, I think I might go do a few sets of bodyweight squats in the office bathroom to get the excitement out. (That Angry Birds workout could be good for a laugh.)

Howdi, Can somebobdy tell me how people get that little ranger image/icon in their signature?