Ocelot

The rings are bigger than I thought! I packed them up ready to take out today, then as I was almost at the tree, I got a phone call reminding me I had a skype meeting in 15 minutes. Doh, had to dash for home.

So, no climbing adventures yet. But still, it's only day 2.

I have, however, been on a dragon taming expedition! 1 down! The horses have been out all in a wild, shaggy herd all winter and were not very keen on the idea of being caught. I trekked around the 28 acres of hillside til I found them, then tempted mine in with a bucket of nuts which he eventually fell for. He was very wild and jumpy, so I just gave him a good brushing and fed him and let him go. Hopefully he'll settle down once he's back into a routine.

More pictures of his hairiness!





Trust me, he'll look a lot less like a woolly mammoth after I'm done with him...

No progress on the other two goals... no time for art yet... and I had a terrible day nutritionally yesterday when I forgot about my rule about carbs upon being given biscuits at 11am. Whoops. And then of course I went on to eat chocolate, biscuits and doughnuts literally all day because I thought 'well, today doesn't count any more anyway!' Drat, I've got myself another 'all or nothing' goal... Oh well, how hard can it be to remember not to eat them til after 6?? It's not really like restricting. It's just about being aware of what I am doing, lol. Lesson learned. I hope.

I guess what I mean by 'simple carbs' is 'junk'! And also things like bread and potatoes if not eaten with protein. The reasoning behind it is slightly iffy broscience. I got this idea from a mixture of reading Carb Backloading and Potatoes not Prozac. It's also practical for me. If I start the day with biscuits or whatever, I have blood sugar spikes and then I have to keep going with the carbs or I'll crash. It makes me very tired. I also sleep better if I eat loads of carbs later on. Also, if I can't fill up on nutritionally void things all day, I'll naturally eat better without having to watch protein grams or anything - and I function best when following a small amount of nutritional rules! I once tried to stick to a set number of protein, carbs AND fat grams... it was a nightmare.

Where I am going in Scotland: Lanarkshire! Never been before. Exciting.
 

Well I'M gonna go for Baratheon (and I did so before I read this discussion!) I like Robert and Renly. And Stannis is supposed to be quite funny (in the books.) We'll just be over here in Dragonstone... hanging out... in and with the awesome

Thank you both, I really appreciate the support <3

Yup to the challenge! Oops - better put it in my signature... derp.

There are zero rock climbing gyms near my house - I'm in the middle of nowhere and can't drive! The bouldering clubs are hard enough to get to, but there is a lot of adventure sports in the area so there are more of those than gyms. (Not kidding - literally zero gyms. The little, 3 mile away town has an awful machine filled room of deathly boredom and that is it)

This is my nearest mountain - Pen Y Fal

Its only 596m, but the view is really spectacular and it's a steep climb for the last 100m or so. Definitely an adventure.

As for finding more mountains, I'll have to look further afield... I'm going to Scotland in May so maybe up there I will find something... Here is the first tree I'm planning to try and hang my rings on:

I think I can scramble up the gnarls on the trunk and get them onto the lower branch... It's about 15 feet up so should be high enough.

Ooo... Exciting

Thanks! I'm working on that now. I want to re-climb our local mountain and I am going to go looking for trees this weekend. I live near a forest so it shouldn't be hard. I haven't had any other ideas yet, except to look into local bouldering clubs to find good rock faces to climb on.

Crouching in a small cupboard, where Ocelot had flung herself to evade detection, it was hard not to groan aloud: her entire body ached with the tension. Her thumbs rubbed against the newly formed calluses on her palms in futile distraction. She could hear the guards’ conversation - snatched words, at least. They were wondering aloud about the identity of the assassin who had been haunting the fortress for over two months now. Imagine if they knew it was the new maidservant to blame, the small red-haired girl who looked as if butter wouldn’t melt, who concealed her powerful weapon-skilled arms under a brown cloak and kept her sharp eyes turned downwards to hide their rebellious flashes.

Hours had passed - they must have, for her counting of breaths had lost itself at over a thousand. She had lost all sense of time and place. But in the darkness, in the solitude and forgottenness, a plan was beginning to form.

Goal One: Ascending

She would escape using her best skill - her small size and relative strength, meaning she could climb to freedom.

For this goal I’m going to go on climbing based adventures!

An adventure counts if I climb something to a significant height (rock, tree, hill, mountain, building, etc) and I get photographic evidence. I need to learn to use my climbing harness and I need to get into positions from which I can hang my new rings. Time to put those pull-up muscles to action.

0-6 climbing adventures: 0 points

7-12 climbing adventures: 1 STR, 1 DEX

13-18 climbing adventures: 2 STR, 2 DEX

19+ climbing adventures: 3 STR, 3 DEX

Goal Two: Dragon Taming

And at the top of the tallest tower, who knew what she would find… except that she’d seen it through her window: a huge, burnt umber scaled beast, with long black tail and huge black wings… a creature she could only hope to tame with patience, time - and plenty of tempting morsels of food.

My dragon (aka, my horse) has been out to grass all winter and its about time I started his spring-grass fitness regime again… For this goal I need to go on a ride or do groundwork with him for at least 20 minutes building both our muscles up to some good long rides.

0-6 taming sessions: 0 points

7-12 taming sessions: 1 STA

13-18 taming sessions: 2 STA

19+ taming sessions: 3 STA

Goal Three: Feeding the Fires of the Mind

Then, with pure exhilaration they would take flight - but would she find the endurance to turn around and continue the battle for the Castle of Consistency, or exalting in freedom, leave it behind for more varied and unpredictable lands?

This is a strange goal I’m afraid. I’ve been reading about neurotransmitters and their role in improving mood and emotional wellbeing. Interestingly, even if vital proteins are in the bloodstream, apparently its no use to the brain unless given a hit of carbs in the evening to enable the uptake of neurotransmitters like serotonin etc. Having also read some interesting analysis by various authors regarding nutrient timing for muscle growth, I’m doubly interested in shuffling things around a bit. My idea is to save all simple carbs until after 6pm, or at least 1 hour after a protein based meal. I’m still going to eat the same way - ie, mostly chocolate - just change the timing and see what happens.

So, a day will count as successful diet wise if I:

• Get enough protein pre 6pm

• Save simple carbs for after 6pm

• Drink 2 litres of water

• Eat fruit and veg

• Track everything on MFP

Seems simple enough except for the timing thing which might require some mental endurance! So, we’ll see...

0-25% of days successful: 0 points

25-50% days successful: 1 CON

50-75% days successful: 2 CON

75%+ days successful: 3 CON

Life Goal: Translating dreams to reality

Adventures with art! Another goal all about having fun. (Are we sensing a theme?) I’m determined to rekindle my drawing habit, and find some new enthusiasm for the illustration work which I’m pretty sure is my calling in life. (Not gonna quit the day job though. Yet)

This goal is simple: go on art adventures! This means at least 20 minutes, preferably more of drawing in an unusual/public/awesome place. At least one sketch per adventure must be from life and be posted here.

0-6 artistic adventures: 0 points

7-12 artistic adventures: 1 CHA

13-18 artistic adventures: 2 CHA

19+ artistic adventures: 3 CHA

Mini Challenges:

Game of Pwns

I'm in House Baratheon!

LOVE the pushup chain idea. Not boring - little steps lead to big things and PRs! Keep going!

Thursday 9th April

Relaxation: 2

Stretching: 1

Food and drink: All OK.

Workout: Squats! Goblet and box squats with varying foot widths today.

Report:I like Thursdays in my new plan. I really feel all the different squats. Also did about 10 mins HIIT unplanned but felt like dashing around outside. Walked a lot as well today shopping with my sisters. Pretty active today! Been working on my next challenge too. Should be a good one I think...

Probably all of the above in terms of the low-fat bulk. As far as I'm aware it really is as simple as calories in and out. And you obviously work off a lot in your busy life! Maybe you need to eat more junk if you want to really bulk - but cut/bulk cycles are meant to be harder work than steady maintenance/lean growth. And the latter is less stressful on the body. So I'd keep going with the high protein low junk thing, honestly it sounds like you are doing it exactly right as you are! The IFing is a good exercise in willpower and does have good physiological effects, but I will make the point again - make sure you don't end up eating too little, because of having a shorter window to get it in... It's good to learn to get through hunger but too much hunger is starvation and that will have knock-on effects.

Following for Buffy, push ups and new clothesss :] I need to do exactly the same thing... clear out, buy in... What specifically are you looking for? Pics!

I LOVE your fourth goal. "Anything that I remove from my house that causes my house to be a cleaner place simply with its absence" - Brilliant.

Goal One: Stretching

Days completed: 33/42 - 78%

Points earned: 2 DEX, 2 STR

Missed mainly because of tiredness. Am getting better at doing it at random intervals during the day.

Goal Two: Protein, fruit, veg and water drinking

Days completed: 33/42 - 78% (weird, and not the same days missed!)

Points earned: 2 CON, 2 CHA

Although I most often missed this goal because of the protein, I actually averaged 10g per day of protein over my goal! So, did OK here.

Goal Three: Visualisations daily

Days completed: 41/42 - 97%

Points earned: 3 WIS

Missed only the one day because of oversleeping. This has become a definite habit

Lessons learned:

-> Trying to get enough protein every day is more stressful than averaging it out over the week. And I found I was on average 10g over my goal anyway. So I could have eaten under on some days instead of flurrying around trying to find some instant protein.

-> Coffee at work is better than sweetener-laden fruit squash at work. Which is what I replaced it with and it made me feel awful and have sugar crashes all the time. Back to coffee for now I think.

-> Doing SOMETHING active daily at the same time is fine. It doesn't mean I have to overtrain, some days it can be restful activities like walking or stretching. The habit is the most important thing and planning a 'workout' daily is not going to kill you. Doing it at exactly the same time of day is very good for consistency and controlling energy spikes.

-> Sleep is even more important than previously thought. When training, 8+ hours is sometimes necessary for recovery.

-> Detailed planning of exercise and nutrition in advance makes it harder for me to wriggle and excuse my way out of things!

-> I need more fun in my life. A LOT more fun.

Huge congratulations all who finished the challenge! Keep grinding for the next one!

Ha! I got to the end of your first goal and I was surprised to see another one below. I thought goal one encompassed your entire challenge! But no, there was so much more to come.

Driving driving driving. I want to do this too. I have had a terrible time with my theory test. I passed my first one, then it expired before I got around to passing the practical. I've taken it twice since and failed twice. For stupid reasons. Very frustrating!

Fasting - I did 14/10 for a while and it definitely helps with recomping if that's a goal. I also like it just because it really teaches you to recognise hunger signals and eat more intuitively. I found the best effects came from 24 hour ones, sometimes I'll do this if I think my digestive system needs a reset. It's supposed to be quite good for it. Only works if I really do eat enough when breaking the fast though! Else I find I crash and feel awful. If you are good at stuffing yourself, you'll be fine!

Week 15 2015 (...where this documentation will begin)

This week I will be working on supersets, ie doing exercises back to back during workouts without rest.

Monday 6th April

Relaxation: 2

Stretching: 1

Food and drink: All OK

Workout: Completed (20 min bodyweight, plus split squats)

Report: Work work work. Derp.

Tuesday 7th April

Relaxation: 2

Stretching: 1

Food and drink: All OK... (although I ate a huge amount today, I also cycled roughly 16 miles and worked 10 hours! So I doubt it'll have any effect at all)

Workout: Complete (20 min bodyweight) No HIIT though I was supposed to - felt too exhausted.

Report: Beautiful day, managed to smell some daffodils although I was working most of the day. Last day of intense work and then...

Wednesday 8th April

Relaxation: 2

Stretching: 1

Food and drink: All OK

Workout: (20 minutes HIIT, 20 mins plyometric/aerobic type stuff)

Report: Today was my first day off in over a week. I find myself exhilerated by the freedom. I spent the day cycling, running, buying music, listening to music and gazing happily at my horses being lazy in their field. I have another 5 days off to look forward to! Time to plan some adventures!!! I also ordered some rings today. I've never owned any before - I used to go on some at a friends'. I hear ring pull ups are way more effective than bar... and I can't wait to learn all kinds of other moves too!!

BASICS_______________________________________________________________________

Name: Ocelot
Age: 25

Race: Centaur
Guild: Assassin
Height: (human half) 5'3" (horse half) 13.3hh

Bio: I roam the British Isles taking down acceptable targets and fighting battles against evil. When I live as a human my horse half becomes detached and lives in a field. I call him Pony.

I have no idea if my current plan will turn out to be the best for me and I will probably change what I am tracking all the time in a highly irritating manner, but the main thing is that I will be improving. That is surviving many daredevil adventures, sweeping many attractive persons off their feet, defeating my adversaries and taking no prisoners. Obviously.


TRAINING STATISTICS_______________________________________________________________________


Assassin Moves. Personal records:

Pushups: 28
Chin ups: 6
Pull ups: 7
Pistol Squats: 5
Plank: 4 minutes

NF Stats (starting stats in brackets): STR 15 (3) | DEX 14 (1) | STA 14 (5) | CON 10.5 (4) | WIS 11 (2) | CHA 7 (0)


TRAINING RECORDS_______________________________________________________________________

Starting Stats (May 15 2012):

Fastest mile: 7 minutes
Plank time: 1min 30
Side plank: 1 min 30
NF stats: STR 3 | DEX 1 | STA 5 | CON 4 | WIS 2 | CHA 0

Update May 23rd 2012

Fastest mile: 6:34 (down 26 seconds)
Plank time: 1min 53 (up 23 seconds)

Update May 30th 2012

Fastest mile: 6:02 (down 32 seconds!)
Plank time: 2min 05 (up 12 seconds)

Update June 6th 2012

Plank time: 2:15 (up 10 seconds)

Update June 13th 2012

Plank time: 2:23 (up 8 seconds)
Chin ups: 10x inverted
Pull ups: 10x inverted

Update August 8th 2012

Plank time: 4 minutes (up a lot! Been working this for my adventure!)
Pistols: 10 halfway ones
Leg raises: 25 lying down
Pushups: 5

Update August 15th 2012

Pushups: 10 (up 5!)
Hanging knee raises: One (new exercise!)
Everything else: Still working on it

Update September 19th 2012

Pushups: 15 (up 5 again)
Steps jumped up: 3 (up 1)
Pistol squats: ONE! (Right leg only! Lol.)
Chin ups: 2.5 (up 2.5!)

Update December 1st 2014

A lot has changed since I last posted... here are some new PRs to report:
Pushups: 28 (up 13!)
Pull ups: 7 (up 7!)
Chin ups: 6 (up 3.5!)
Pistol squats: 4 (up 3)

Update January 1st 2015

My half-challenge in December led me to a new pistol squat PR! See below. I'm now embarking on a new quest, to infiltrate a warlord's fortress... wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.
Pistol squats: 5 (up 1)

Update February 23 2015

I am currently trapped in a cupboard after posing as a servant in the warlord castle and assassinating some of the murderous vassals. Luck did not go my way, but I will be escaping as the light returns - I hope.

End of challenge report!

Goal One: Stretching

Days completed: 33/42 - 78%

Points earned: 2 DEX, 2 STR

Missed mainly because of tiredness. Am getting better at doing it at random intervals during the day.

Goal Two: Protein, fruit, veg and water drinking

Days completed: 33/42 - 78% (weird, and not the same days missed!)

Points earned: 2 CON, 2 CHA

Although I most often missed this goal because of the protein, I actually averaged 10g per day of protein over my goal! So, did OK here.

Goal Three: Visualisations daily

Days completed: 41/42 - 97%

Points earned: 3 WIS

Missed only the one day because of oversleeping. This has become a definite habit

Random Notes:

-> From now on, I'm going to track workout numbers and nutrition stuff in my (soon to be created) battle log. I want to make the challenges about fun things!

-> I looked at myfitnesspal statistics and they were pretty interesting. On average I was eating 2,404 calories a day which is about my maintenance I think (though according to MFP I should have gained 6lbs over the 6 weeks - I think they underestimate my metabolism)

-> Today (the day after the challenge ended) was my last day at work. I now have 6 days off, and after that I am reducing my hours. Finally, a taste of freedom!

Interesting week, in that Easter weekend led to me picking up a huge number of hours as people fell mysteriously sick or just begged me hard enough to cover for them.

So I still have two days of long shifts ahead of me - Monday and Tuesday - but I think I am definitely out of the cupboard and here's why.

Even while doing the most hours in one week I have ever worked, I have:

-> Tracked food every day and eaten well over my protein goal

-> Trained every day and recorded what I did properly! I did miss a few exercises, namely the HIIT on Friday, the burpees on Wednesday (my only excuse being that I had nowhere big enough/quiet enough to do them throughout the whole day) and most of Saturday (all I did was stretch, as I was exhausted)

-> Kept vaguely on top of socialising and real life AND managed to log into NF a few times

-> Slept enough

-> Worked on a few drawings!

-> Felt great

This is a victory like I never expected. Week six was insane, but I'm proud of me.

I might take the burpees out - they're just too hard to fit in. I can't quite do them in my room. I'm going to add pushups to Thursday instead. Apart from that I'm keeping the routine temporarily. At least until I have time to spruce it up! It's a good baseline I think.

Full end of challenge report coming soon.

I see progress in the photos and the measurements, so your determination has definitely paid off! The change that lasts the longest will be the most steady and sustainable so don't worry. You are going in the right direction!

Tracking diet goals is such a difficult area, and you found a way that didn't work for you, but try it another way next time and focus on the little changes and you will find your own way. The whole 'one slip up = day blown' thing has never ever worked for me. There are loads of things that do work though, and everyone's different. Keep trying and don't listen to anyone who says 'never do this' or 'always do that'.

Congrats on a great challenge, hope to see you back in the assassins next time!

Oh no! sorry you're in pain. Sounds like week 5 was fantastic though. Can you salvage the strength training this week? Sounds like fate has got in the way a couple of times, but hopefully you can still bring it back!

Sorry to hear that life has thrown you a curveball, is there no way you could salvage it? 3 sneaky late night BW workouts just to get those stat points? There are still days left- make the most of them as far as you can! Congrats on recognisnig your limits, too, though... Can't win 'em all! I had to do the same thing last challenge...

What workouts are you doing, cardio, strength training, HIIT...? Maybe you need to try training in the am so you can't put it off then not do it... (I can't follow my own advice there, but I know it works for some!)

Have fun away! Joining a gym with weights is a really, really good thing to do, if you can (you lucky thing). Make sure they have free weights and barbells!!

4 min tabata sounds like a worthy replacement.

Have fun in Cali!!

Ackkk! How is your shoulder? Good job that won't affect your running (?) You sound like you're soo close in many ways. Keep going, just a few more days left!

OH WOW wow, wow, congratulations on the 95%. I'm incredibly impressed.

Normalising the tracking thing is literally 80-90% of the battle in my experience. It makes it SO easy to tweak your diet to suit your life and energy ins and outs, and also it's just way more inspiring to log (awesome lovingly cooked homemade meal filled with great nutrition) than (another 5 blocks of cooking chocolate) lol.