GregT.

I am glad you are all still here. Elize just keep going, it will all work out. getting upset over things that people do on FB or other social media platforms will not be helpful to you or the other person. I am looking forward to coming back and following you all again. I am finally repatriating this week, and I have really let things go. I am so happy to see so many of the folks from the past. \ Are you still going to the range and practicing? Have you started competing again?

Hey Hazard, Great work man. Sorry i haven't been around, but I am following. Life just getting in the way again. Sounds as if you have an excellent handle on what you need to do to achieve your goal. I expect that you will make it to your target, but just curious, is this also a challenge to see how low you can go regardless of hitting your target? Will you go lower if you can ? TANSTAAFL!

Caught up! I am following. I hope that you are able to come to a conclusion with Snippie, seems an appropriate name. The bites are an issue. I hope that the anti-boils have the upper hand now and that it gets better quickly. If not I hope on Monday the medical center can help you.

If that happens let me know and I will be glad to meet up. Would be nice to meet someone in person. In down in Abu Dhabi but this country isn't that big.

ODIN! The gains is happening. I went to the gym this afternoon and for the second time this week I was the only person, so no bench press. I was scheduled to do a 5 kg increase in weight on the deadlift and when I pulled it, I thought I could do more. I was right. I made a 15 kg jump today for 3 sets of 5. In tiger news, I was able to get into the correct squat position today! I watched a few videos and tried a tip they had of placing your hands together in front of you and using your elbows to press your knees out. Worked like a charm. I did a set of 10 body weight squats, and then walked around the gym and did it again without the hands just telling my knees to move out and it worked again. So with a big smile and as little shout of triumph, I went to the squat rack and thought I would hop under the bar and see if I could do a bar weight squat see if it was still correct. That is where the biscuit wheels fell off the gravy train. I was not able to get my left shoulder to flex back far enough to get into the squat position. the left is the one I injured last fall, and had to re-hab. I am going to start looking at shoulder mobility exercises to help. Overhead press was also a win, I went up to 55 kg, so on Sunday I am confident I will hit 60 kg, 135 overhead press, that is my previous max before I hurt my shoulder. I am really looking forward to he incremental gains approach and having a goal each workout and each week as well as an overall goal. Kinda like what NF professes. Anyway, ODIN|\

ODIN! Well Tuesday Lift went well. I was able to move up on all lifts and I am getting better at the squat position. My goal this weekend is to get it down, by intensively watching how to get in squat position views, using a box to get my positioning and just doing a bunch of body weight squats to get the movement down. I was not able to do bench press yet, hopefully today, due to no spotters available. I don't want to try and push my max to see what my working load will be if I have no one to pull it off my chest if I fail lol. Today is a lift day and it is back to the old gym. I like the old gym, I mean the new one is really nice but the old gym gives me a better feel. Like it is a place to work not be seen. Anyway, I will be moving up on deadlift again today and seeing how that goes. I have been having gastro distress for about a month now, since I switched to a ket type diet, and Tuesday I decided I was going to modify it. I just couldn't take disaster pants anymore, I barely made it in the house after the gym Tuesday, and the almost constant cramps were a problem. I am going to go more Whole 30, with increased calories. When I did whole 30 at teh beginning of the year it was a good satisfying eating plan, but I am glad I tracked it. I was still not eating enough food. So, I will try doing that again but with an increase in fat and protein to get the calories up. I don't think I could eat more veggies than I was on that plan to get the calories up. I have done Keto diets in the past with good success, but this time it is not working out. I gave it a month, and I didn't go into Ketosis according to two different batches of ket strips. So, something new. I don't think increasing the amount of leafy greens and such is going to be a real downside. I have not been updating the thread or visiting my friends on NF and I apologize. Since I~ have no internet at work, I am having to work at home to do all the corporate stuff that should be able to do when I am at work, but alas. It is not an excuse it is just reality. I get done doing the corporate training, and replying to a full day worth of emails, and researching them and I just want to get off teh magic box. I have been doing more reading though, since I spend about 12 hours a day on a PC I just can't take any more. Thanks for teh support, and to Ghost, great plan man, great videos on the flips. Elize you are doing great and don't worry about the fall out from your mom, there is bound to be some and it will diminish with time.

ODIN! Well it appears that I am not getting better at posting lol. In my defense one of the main ways I was able to keep up was that I could check from my work. well as of Last Thursday, my Friday, I was informed that I needed to take my WiFi hotspot home and I could not bring it back, which means I have no internet at work except my phone. the reception is horrible since I and in an RF shielded building. So I am trying to figure out how to arrange my day so I can get on here and keep up with all you amazing folks. I am planning to start coming on in the evening before I go to bed and use this like a journal. People say journaling is good, well I will find out. It will also give me a good excuse to turn the TV off earlier. So Sunday I started the new workout, and it was good. I got a baseline for overhead press of 47.5kg ( 105 lbs) and deadlift I settled at 100 kg ( 220 lbs). I can do more on deadlift but I was feeling it even though I was nearly 100 lbs below my max (45 kg). I need to make sure my form is perfect and I need lighter weight to do that. The program is going up in weight every workout, even if it is a minute amount but always up. So I feel that I will be able to make bigger jumps on deadlift toward my previous max and it will all work out. In the past two months I have really felt I have not been working hard but going through the motions. I have had some good workouts but it was not what it was before the New year. Squats still are kicking me in the ass. I can do them but I am having difficulty getting into the correct position. I am planing to do squat portion from hands and feet today and see if I can get my body to recognize the correct position. I am currently doing about 40 to 50 body weight whatever I am doing for squats. I say that because I am trying to get in the correct position with correct depth with no weight. Until I can do this I can't start doing real sets. Today I am not doing overhead presses but benchpress if I can find a spotter. I need to find my max so I can figure out my working weight to start. Food has been meh. I was doing good until yesterday she I went off the reservation, by going to another country. I had pasta, which is about as not Keto as you can get. Screw it, I haven't gone into Keto being under 50 grams a day or 6% total calories fro carbs in almost a month. I think I am going to go back to a whole 30 based diet with more protein. I don't know. I have to be careful changing to many things at once because then I won't know what is making the change. My weight has been consistent within a couple pounds for a month, regardless of exercise. Well time to head to work. I will dome best to catch up with everyone tonight. ODIN!

Hey everyone, 
 Sorry I have been MIA. I have just not been up the last week or so. My workouts have been terrible, my nutrition has been excellent but other than that it is has just been terrible. I am a bit depressed and have been taking the chance to re-evaluate what I am doing. I took this week off of training completely after my workout partner bailed on me permanently. I have been wondering if he was holding me back a bit and I am now certain he has been. The weight loss has just not happened. I am strongish. I am not seeing gains in the gym and I am tired, like real tired all the time. So I am changing my plan. I don't care about weight. I have said it before and this time I mean it. I am 321 lbs, and I am more interested in being strong and fit than I am in being skinny. 
 Starting on Sunday, and as quickly as I can master the movements, I am going old school and going to develop strength. I am going to be trying to do the Starting Strength program by Mark Ripetoe. I am reading the book now and trying to get into the squat which is still proving problematic, but I am going to Fing do this. 
 I am not doing challenges. I am going to make a progression goal of strength. If I lose weight great. If I gain weight fine, as long as my strength numbers are going up. I am tired of dealing with non-linear models of success. I can't make my body lose weight. I ate to little for 6 months and had nearly nothing to show for it. I am currently trying to do Keto and have been eating less than 50 grams of Carb or 5% of my calories per day and I have not entered Ketosis yet. If it doesn't happen so be it. I may bump my carbs up s I train, but I am no longer going to exercise, I am going to train. 
 My goals, are simple. I want to get my 250 lb (115 kg) bench press to 350 lbs (160 kg), my dead lift from 315 lb ( 143 kg) to 500 lbs (227 kg). I want to be able to do Low back full squats period, with a goal of squatting 405 lb (184 kg) and press over my head 220 lbs ( 100 kg) My timeline is infinite, I will be succeeding as long as I am progressing, even if it is only lifting 50 grams more the next workout. With these 4 exercises I will be able to work my entire body and it will build strength. I have done it before I just need to do it again to change my body composition. Once I get strong if I decide that I want to lose body fat I will have the means to do it. Right now I do not think I have the strength to accomplish it. 
 Last week I made a training trip to Al Ain again, and the person I am working with is a big cross fitter. I am trying to get ready for the OCR in April, and even with my limited cardio and such, I did a program that was 3 circuits that included, 3 mins of bike, 5 pushups, 5,50 meter bear crawls ( I did side steps with crouch in middle , Like I was fielding a ground ball in baseball), 5 burpees, then 5 snatch clean press with 60 kg. The next two cycles decreased bike by 1 minute and increased rep of other exercises by 1. The finish was 75 walking lunges and 100 squats capped by a 800 m run. I had to break the lunges into 3 25 sets, and the squats into 4 25's as well as having to stop a few times to let my heart rate get out of the high 180s lol. But when we finished, her in 43 mins and me in 51 mins, she told me a good complete time for it is 60 mins. I am not saying I am in great condition but I didn't die and I did it faster than average. We then went on to do a full body weight training regime. It took me two days to recover from this. She is a trainer and has been telling me for a while I am doing to much and I was to stubborn to listen. This workout proved it. I am done with lifting 4 to 5 days a week, ding splits and also swimming . I will lift 3 days per week, and do light cardio on the off days. On the weekends I will do healthy activities like hiking, swimming , etc., for fun. 
 Work has also taken a toll of late. The new commander is asking for a great deal of what can be construed as busy work. I spend more time writing reports and in meetings than actually doing the physical stuff they want me to do, and it is not getting done. There is no option of staying longer or anything else. One of the reasons I did not post was I was doing research on a 3800 line item list I was given a week ago Wednesday that had incorrect model numbers, or catalog numbers from manufacturer catalogs and I needed to determine if we had the capability to calibrate these items. It was very time consuming and I spent 65 hours in the next 6 days getting it done, including at home, but I got it done. The commander then sat and asked me if I was sure and what about this one and this one. He is not a technical person he is an administrator. This convinced me that I am going to prepare my resume this weekend and apply for a position that is one pay grade higher than me, but out of calibration. It is a Field engineer position in direct support of one of my companies systems. More money, same location and I get to be outside more often. 
 Anyway thanks for checking up on me. It had actually started to get in that spiral of I had missed it so long that I was dreading coming back as I had let it slide to long and ended to explain. Sorry no GIF's or pics. ODIN!

I am glad you are well. I am confused though. Why are you still living in that country? I know it is where you are from, and all, but there are much safer places to live. You want to keep your firearms, move to the US. We would love to have you.

Hey Cat, I did whole 30 for the month of January. It was not a big change for me as I was pretty much eating the same stuff. I tracked while I was doing it, but it was not to try and reduce it was just my own curiosity to see how close my previous measurement of food compared. It of course was still to little food for me but hey. It was good. It is easy and stress free. It is much easier to live with than Keto I am doing now. On my previous challenge I had pictures of meals I did that were whole 30. None were complex all were tasty if you want to see any for inspiration. It is a good way to get reset. It is absolutely a healthy style of eating. If you are at an impasse and don't know what to do I recommend it as it will put you in a good place nutritionally and let you decide where to go later. If you decide to track, ignore the calories. Just eat. Just measure it out after you follow the selection process of whole 30. It is a visual method of portion control. Weigh your plate empty. Fill your plate and weigh it again, as you put things on it. Read the books if you haven't and go for it. I would be happy to help if you questions. I have only done it once but it was recent so I might be able to answer some of he questions you have. I did lose weight on it, and I felt good doing it. They also say do not work out heavily while on it, but I did anyway as it is just part of my lifestyle now and I saw strength gains in the gym as well. Good Luck.

That was a good month Def. You have so many metrics that you are following that when you report 95%of them are 100% accomplished you just make the world seem small. You make me believe I can do more too. Thanks. I am willing to wager that if you did put BBP up month to month you would get honest reports from your fandom.

Glad you are back. Making it theme oriented seems like a good idea. As for the nutrition, there is no reason to throw it out, just open it up. I don't know if you were just trying to do a certain number of calories a day or if you have fat, carb and protein goals as well. Keeping track of what you put in your body should help you with the theme as well. If you are going to play tennis or do a cardio workout maybe adjust the macros for that day or day before to increase cars lower fat. Keep protein he same just so you have enough. I know it can be stressful, but if you made it a minimum number not a maximum number you are trying to achieve, based on what you know you need to do your theme it may be less stressful. You had trouble eating enough before but maybe with the added theme info, I need X today because I am going to play tennis for 3 hours. Instead of I need to eat X because I need to X and my plan says so. Anyway, keep it up and of course we are interested in what's going on, and I am glad your Uncle is doing better. Coughing hard enough to pass out is pretty awesome when you thik about it. I mean how many people can say I coughed so hard I lost consciousness?

WHOO HOO! Congrats to both of you. It will be better for your family and for her as well. See if you had not taken the initiative you wouldn't be here now! Good for you going and asking. You are not going to know what to do with the time you are going to save and how wonderful the stress relief will be., Yes I think this counts as a challenge in itself. You have been working on this for at least a year yes? So Completion BIG BOSS DOWN!

Great work Hazard! It is an inspiration. In fact I thought of you yesterday as I weighed n and and was slightly higher than I had been the previous day and persevered as you show on your path. I weighed in today to a happy result. Thanks for being inspiring.

Your new Meme:

ODIN! Well I have not been keeping up with this part of the challenge. I am not updating daily. I am on and reading but not updating. Weekend was good, but un-eventful after Thursday night. Friday I went to a new market and was happy , very happy with the meat selection. Got plenty of bones for bone broth as well as some nice minced beef and lamb. I did more domestic stuff on Friday and other than going up my 47 stairs 10 or 12 times with laundry I went for a walk 5km in the afternoon. That was all of my workout. I watched some Netflix and then a movie on Amazon, that I don't even remember. Went to bed early, and got up late on Saturday, did a few more errands and laundry , went for a walk around the mall for about an hour and then started prepping food, and watched In Harms way for the umpteenth time Sunday was busy at work. The Soldier that works wit me is out so I was doing everything, and it looks like it will be this way for a while. We got rain and it was a pleasant 22 C ( 72 f) all day and all I wanted t do was go home and nap lol. I got to the gym and I have decided that I am tired of waiting on my partner. He gets to the gym about 30 mins after I do, and I am not satisfied with the intensity we are achieving when we are working out, so I mentioned it to him that we need to pick it up. Be safe but stop lollygagging around the weights. I also started doing body weight exercises for the type of work out we are doing that day before he gets there. As nice as it is to have a workout partner I am starting to think he is holding me back. Did a strong leg day, Body weight 3 sets of 30 squats, 3 sets of 15 lunges. Then went into weights, with Leg press, Romanian Deadlifts, pull troughs, and calf raises. got done in 55 mins. Then it was off to the pool. Did 45 mins in pool and completed my 1000m. Went home and felt like my energy tank had a hole in it lol. I was ebbing out motivation like you wouldn't believe. I grabbed a mug of broth and cleaned up. Dinner was spot on, and I finished the day 76/19/5 % on macros. Over slept this morning due to forgetting to set alarm so I drank my breakfast n the way to work ( bulletproof coffee) and upped the intake a bit. I had 1 TBSP Heavy Cream, 2 TBSP butter, 2 TBSP XCT oil. Tasty and filling. Lunch was also an adventure as I played the game of "I'll make it up in the morning since I am getting up early" Yeah so Eggs, are my friend. I threw it together and it actually looks like my Macros are perfect Gym day today is Upper Body, so we will be working that hard, and I don't know if we are hitting the pool today or throwing the ball around It depends on the weather. if it is rainy again, the astro turf gets really slick, and if it is too windy, the sand becomes an issue. Right now it is sunny and 19c ( 64F) so might be a football day. Have a great one, and thanks for coming by.

Welcome back and prayers for the interview to go well. Good for you on taking a chance on the home anyway. You never know until you ask!

Chuck Norris can. If he can nail water to a tree, and lead a horse ot water and make it drink, he can punch the internet.

I agree with the sentiments above. I was not saying that I disagree with your choice Sylvaa, I agree with it. It s good to remove oneself if possible from the situation. I did not express myself clearly, it was more a question or wonder at how things have changed since I was a kid. The cyber bully is something I never had to deal with and I have no idea on how to combat that and keep the freedom of the internet alive. I realize you can't punch the internet, and I have no idea what to do. I have seen physical bullies defeated by not punching but by just standing up to them and showing that you are not frightened. How you would do that in a virtual setting is a mystery. The Internet has ,since the beginning, been a place for the anonymous to say things that in a civil world they would never say to someone's face. I believe it has coarsened us but also that same anonymity has allowed more ideas to be put forward as well. I am a fan of Ghandi, and I was not aware that the quote was incorrect other than some scholars believe it was possibly not a direct quote from him. My belief that in the quote that may not be a quote now, is that Ghandi, after deciding that violence was not the right path still did something as a good man to affect change. He did not just go away. As for how all of this works in this world I do not know. I do not bring up the Sheep, Sheepdogs and Wolves to de-humanize but instead to bring up the differences in people. Sheep are not bad, it is not to say they are mindless. It is to mention that there are some people, that are trying to do what the can to pursue happiness but are unwilling or to confront bad people or not willing to see that they exist. I am not promoting that violence is the right answer I am saying that to stand up is often the right answer. Be it non-violent or not. I also believe that if you can avoid a confrontation avoid it. But it seems to me that many believe in a mantra of it must be avoided at all costs.

It's your page, do what you need to. I am glad you are ok, at least well enough to get on today. It sounds like a heck of a week. I know I have been wondering what has happened. I am glad that your Uncle seems to have gone through surgery ok and is home recovering. Don't be to hard on Schatz. I know from his perspective what it is to be an insensitive ass occasionally to your spouse. Believe me he is torn up inside about it. It doesn't make you feel any less sad, but he still loves you. Don't worry about the weigh in. you may do better than you thought. Besides you have a new week to get on track if you have missed it. Glad you got some new shoes, I did the same yesterday as I have crushed my old ones. It seems I am a bit heavier than they are designed for . Just look at it as a reason to put them on and go out and do something today. Just do today. Have a great weekend.

That is fantastic Hazard. Y know you are at Epic level now and rapidly approaching HERO level! Keep it up man. You are an inspiration.

Not having any kids I guess I am just really out of touch or just to old now to understand this stuff. I guess Cyber Bullying is a different beast but I was brought up to fight bullies. If you could out snark them great but if it came to physical, you beat them down or tried too. I was brought up that there always must be people willing to stand up to bullies, in childhood and adulthood and that you can be either a bully, a victim or stand up for yourself. I got in a few fights growing up, but the bullying stopped. I have also stood up for others back when I was in school. I know it helped that I was 5'10" 155 lb in 6th grade but still. I am glad you got your daughter out of the school and I hope she does better. I am not suggesting that you do anything else. It was just the comments I have seen and talking to teachers I know I just wonder if preaching that violence never solves anything is truly the right message. Sometimes all a bad boy needs is a good Ass beating by a would be victim and it can change things. My best friend in school, middle school through High school got to know me by hitting me in the back of the head with a book on the school bus. I in turn reached over the seat and punched him for a bit. We then became best friends for 10 years until life swept us apart. Several old saws come to mind over this and I wonder how many have never heard them. and I used to think we raised our children with this belief: If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog. Ltc. D. Grossman Even Bugs Bunny got it. Have a great Saturday.

I don't either. I went because this is where my friends wanted to go. I brought a small bottle with my own salad dressing, 1 TBSP Brain Octane (MCT oil), 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil, 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, some cracked pepper and salt. I planned out the meal. I got the Asian salad with no dressing or fried bits of flour on top. Poured my dressing on it and anihalated it. then it was too orders of the Ginger steamed salmon, 450 g worth. I was low on my protein for the day and it was literally the only option on the menu for me. I had a baggie of nuts in my pocket, 25g each of Pecans, macadamia, walnuts and cashews that I planned to eat in the movie. The dinner was underwhelming, but the company was good. apparently the only thing the others were really interested in were Dynamite shrimp. Which are Fried shrimp served with a pepper sauce . I think I will skip any further excursions to PF Changs. I needed up not eating the nuts as I was so full of salmon. My friends did think I was a little odd though with my small spice jar with cling wrap around the top under the lid, and it in a ziplock bag. Then when I pulled out the bag of nuts to counter a comment on what I was eating, it got awkward lol. Only my workout partner didn't look at me like I was a loon. In the future I am going to try and steer them to places I can actually eat off the menu with minor changes, not basically asking them to make food off menu for me. I ended up sleeping through most of Black Panther lol. I was really tired. I should have just backed out of the night but other than game night I have not been social with this group much in the past 4 months. I am off today to a new market I was told about in hopes of finding better meat and actual bones to make broth with. We will see. Workout today is going t be setting up my TRX and trying it out, lightly. today is a rest day so... Then I am going for a walk, to where I don't know I'm just going for a friggin' walk! Get off my back! Wait sorry I think I need to de-stress a bit lol. I was gong to add in gifs and stuff but after 20 mins looking for stuff and only finding things I can't add with my freaking MacBook, I freakin hate this devil machine. I am giving up for today. Anyone want a lightly used MacBook Pro, I am going back to the Dark side. I know how to use those machines.

Glad to hear that you are still with us. Sounds like you have a lot going on and are , in your usual style, kicking it in the butt. Sorry that your daughter was having issues but glad you have found a solution. The fact that she want s to start eating better and exercising is great. Sending you good thoughts.

Glad to hear she is well. I am hoping that all works for the move of her Mom. This would be a great first quarter for her and her family if this comes through. It would also be a great thing for her Mom. As much as we hear about what is happening to Elize and her family there is another person involved here that needs help, I pray she gets it.