Brometheus

I'm one of the 'special' 2 % of the population that broke their lower back while crawling as a kid and then the bones fused. Usually it's just a fun, sharp, shooting pain [i say that in the most sarcastic sense possible]. Instability usually accompanies it. Sometimes it doesn't exist for weeks, other times it's a daily thing. I've noticed recently that it decreases the more core stability I have, and kettlebell swings seem to help it as long as I do it regularly. Part of my reason to lose weight is to work towards a life where I don't have to deal with that pain, or at least less than I ever have done before. I just ended up lifting a lot more cases of beer than usual, and lifting into and out of carts isn't exactly made for perfect form So I have a doctor who does some specialty nerve manipulation [think more gentle than chiropractic], some back reset stretches that I use, and I pray and workout for the best...

So it's day 9. Doing my random daily update... Excuse me, I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep and if I seem distracted, please excuse me. Usually I'm a sleep expert, but it didn't quite happen last night. So diet: I did eat veggies today. Actually contemplating a paleo + milk diet. Any suggestions on how to cut processed carbs without serious withdrawals? Or am I just going to have to suffer through the first several weeks? Yes, I realize that would require me eating more veggies... Workout: went from a 7 'ouch, I wish I could die' back pain status yesterday to a 1 which is totally survivable. I didn't do any swings or snatches to avoid any major stress on my back, but did several sets of suitcase lifts and cleans/presses with my kettlebells.

I'd pay good money to see that...

I figured that if I'm having issues with this last week, a daily post might make it easier to figure out what I did or didn't do right. Workout: None [well, I was at work]. I work as a cashier at Costco, and I end up usually lifting a lot of stuff [water, dog food, you name it]. Today was one of those 'my back hurts' days, so I'm finishing up the day with some yoga poses and active stretching. Hopefully tomorrow is better. I wanted to do some kettlebell swings, but I would rather preserve my back than injure myself so early in the game. I need to survive another 11 challenges after this one for the year Food: I ate veggies! Roasted asparagus and a salad with some balsamic vinegar. One of my favorites if I do end up eating salad. I might just end up with that as my normal daily veggies till I find something different that I like...

If you say so. My illustrious and fearless leader has declared war, and as the resident barbarian warrior, I say bring it! The silly rangers are going down... All in good fun of course

Agreed. I'd probably die, or collapse of exhaustion. You are a shining example of awesomeness among us...

I'm sorry, I messed up, I put 5 and meant 2 I'll have to try that for veggies. I did roasted asparagus today, and had some tomatoes w/ lunch. It seems a lot easier to me to just lift weights, incorporating veggies into my diet is becoming a challenge. But I will throw down and take it on!

Well, it's almost to week two and I realized I forgot measurements, so I took some and some pictures! Now I can at least track things for three out of the four weeks! I'm not sure what I want to do with such pictures, but at least I can now say I have before and after ones. Grade for week one: Exercise: I'd say a B or B+. Did 4 different workouts, two different days of snatches, one of cleans/presses and holds at the top [to build shoulder stability and strength] and then some farmer walks, and another day of swings. Need to increase my swing time, but other than that I am satisfied with how I am pushing myself. Pant fitting: well, my pants aren't quite fitting as well [or badly?] as they used to, so my increase in belt usage should be a positive Veggies: I loathe veggies, and my somewhat 'oh, I need another goal for joining the challenge' has fallen flat on it's face. I did eat veggies today and yesterday, but will give a solid F for Fail on only being serious about eating veggies 2 [*edit* --ooops I put 5 originally] out of 7 days. It didn't help that this last week was the new year and I had a bit of...fun. Now that it's over, I at least feel better about pursuing a lifestyle change...

Thank you , and I'm sorry? And, we [well, at least I] have to be. Otherwise there would be only one option left, and that would be boredom. I would rather flaunt my sarcastic wit all day than face being bored. That and everyone here is quite entertaining. Who knew that talking about fitness, goals, music and life could be so entertaining. Facebook is oh, wait, boring! compared to this board... Now I must abandon you all for a while, I need to go to the store and buy veggies [gasp! the horror!] and figure out some creative way to cook them.

Actually, I'm at 320. I want to be 250 or so and hit 18% body fat [well, if the numbers don't match up I'm sorry...I want 18% bodyfat, I'm not sure what that looks like in terms of weight. I just gave myself a random number of 70lbs to lose]. Right now my scale has me pegged at 40 something. Sigh... You know, I haven't worked out with the deadlift enough to give you a good number, and with the absence of a gym membership, it'll be a while before I get back to it. My old trainer had me going for high reps and low weight, but with my current kettlebell program I could 'probably' smoke my previous weight of about, oh, 80lbs or so... October 2009 I was able to leg press 800lbs, if that gives you a reasonable idea of my insanity [yeah, what was I thinking?] level. I'm back down to about 350 the last time I hit the gym... Now I'm down to kettlebell swings, snatches, cleans and presses, and farmers walks. I enjoy working out at home. Loud music, my desires, my training schedule and my sadistic cruel nature to push myself harder than I've ever done. Now if I could just figure out how to convince myself that veggies taste good...

Yes, bravo to working out while injured. I'd probably just make up an excuse. Even more so to doing things that sound absolutely awe-inspiring with a broken foot. So why not just make up a crazy story about how you broke it? Might as well exasperate them with shenanigans if they're going to keep asking. I'd have a different story for every day...

Well thank you. I was inspired by an Adam T. Glass post once where he had blaring music [yes, Disturbed] while lifting really heavy stuff...

I'm currently on no-weight turkish getups. Hopefully my shoulder stability and strength should improve in the next couple weeks to start somewhere...I'm just mainly worried about destroying my floor if I have to drop it, so I'm just going to have to be careful...

Well, it looks like we failed on 'name our team before our fearless leader returns'. Sorry Spezzy, I did try... So Dantes, welcome back, though I wasn't here when you left. How was vacation? As for my intro: Name: Jake. Call me what you like within reason, though as a barbarian warrior I would caution you to choose your words carefully... Age: 29. Height: 5' 9'' Weight. I'm hovering around 320. Hoping to get that down to 250 and 18 % bodyfat by the end of the year, and then 2012 will be the adventure of dropping down to 10 % bodyfat. I'd like to see abs sometime in this lifetime [rolls eyes]. That and defined biceps...and for everyone out there, I realize that I could probably lose the weight faster, but am trying to be sane, sensible and I'm not sure I WANT to give up carbs at this point. Please be somewhat patient. If I don't see progress by March, I will change more dietary habits... Favorite lift: Kettlebell snatch, farmer walks. Most disliked lift: Cleans w/ a barbell. There's something evil about that arm position. The carpal tunnel does not like you! Though because of the weight position, I don't have that issue with the kettlebell clean... Due to current budget restrictions I am stuck with several pairs of dumbbells and kettlebells [honestly, I hate the gym. I can play my music as loud as I want when I'm working out at home -- disturbed anyone?]. I'd love a challenge, but can't even lift my bodyweight for a pull-up quite yet. Give me a couple months, okay? You can read about my challenge in my post in the forum...well, this link 'should' work: http://nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?1541-I-am-a-lumbering-Ogre-Warrior-Barbarian!

I have the book, and have tried it. It's hard for the first time. The second or third time were a lot easier. I put it off for a bit just because I saw myself losing muscle and fat. I don't know if my testing was bad, if intermittent fasting is bad, or what. I have a very physical job, so perhaps me fasting when I needed to eat instead was bad. I've had a lot better success just fasting one day a week on my day off. I think the program is worth the money, definitely for the amount of info you get. Some people out there think fasting is a joke, take it as you will. I don't have any issue with the science behind it, or my personal beliefs [i'm a Christian and there's a whole lot about the need to fast in the Bible]. I would recommend purchasing the book and reading it before attempting any fasting, he does it a lot differently than many of the other ideas of fasting out there. Leangains is another method of fasting that might work as well. Don't know how much his services are, but if you look around the whole program is available on a couple webpages. http://www.leangains.com/ I've had a lot more success breaking the fast in mid afternoon after following his program for a week or two, but the issue I have with his method is the sheer amount of protein you're supposed to be eating. That and it's more difficult to fast every day than once or twice a week. If I may give some advice, the one thing I've taken from all of my research into paleo, dieting, IF, and the like is that these processed carbs at least appear to be a weight loss inhibitor, and that we don't eat enough fat. As such, I've sort of gone mid line protein and carbs, with high fat in the form of butter, lard and coconut oil; I've had a lot more success with that change than any of my dieting over the past 5 years or so. I'm trying to figure out if going completely low carb would be even more successful [read: if I can give up carbs, that is]. Hope this helps, Jake

I was going to say. Wow, they run a gym? Spezzy, you have me giggling at home reading the owner's idea of training. People like that are why I bought a bunch of kettlebells and train at home. At least if I damage something [or myself], it's my fault...

Nice. If all you're doing is swings and stuff that doesn't involve throwing it overhead, this looks cool: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/tim-ferriss-superhuman-kettlebell.htm

I'll vote for Team Conan. And there's nothing wrong with barbarians. Just push us out in front, cower behind your sissy shields, and watch the mayhem commence! However, I might be biased since I'm a barbarian AND a warrior. So, take it as you will

Sounds like my old cat You'd be surprised. A couple weeks of consistent swings can quickly move from 'oh, that's too heavy' to going and buying something a lot heavier. I remember the UPS guy handing the 32lb'r to me and I was wondering if I could even swing it. I like the dragon door stuff because they stick obnoxious stickers on the side of the box like 'play with pain'...

I like roasted asparagus. Break the spears at the natural breaking point, coat in olive oil, some salt/pepper, and then roast at 400 on a sheet pan for about 10-12 minutes until tender [more or less depending oven type, act of God, or how big or small the spears are in thickness]. I like mine more black with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar after they come out of the oven. I did see a recipe for roasted brussel sprouts w/ bacon that I was going to try. I'm not a fan of brussel sprouts, but anything with bacon can't be bad I realize I might actually have to eat salads [oh no, the horror!]. But for the time being, I'm trying to find roasted, satueed, or otherwise interesting preparations for things I otherwise try to avoid...

Well thank you Kettlebells are awesome! Though if you're new to it, I'd recommend looking up an rkc to help with form. My trainer saved my shoulders from an eternity of pain...

Hello all! I realize I'm a bit late posting this, I didn't realize the actual start date, and what with the party to bring in the new year... This is my first time joining a fitness forum, but I have faith that my fellow nerd fitness geeks are absolutely awesome. Reading the different posts just inspires me in ways that I normally well, don't usually care about. I'm hoping we all hit our goals for the next 21 days. So this is 2011, and a new year has begun. My goals of 2010 weren't completed due to a complete disregarding for actually having to work at losing weight, general issues with my thyroid [which now appear to be fixed], and now I'm ready to change 2011 into a year where I am faster, stronger and in shape. I [right now] am about 95 pounds over where I want to be, and I need to lose about half of my body fat... However, I realize my goals for this 28 day challenge [well, I started on the 27th, but at this point I have 23 days left] are more obtainable than any sort of year long stretch I think I can beat. So without further ado: Race: Ogre Class: Warrior, with Barbarian thoughts thrown in for good measure. Stats: 5' 9'', 320 pounds. Never going to run a race, but I do enjoy lifting lots of weights. Goal 1: Snatch my 53lb kettlebell. Currently I can do 15 snatches w/ each hand w/ my 32lb kettlebell, but I want to reach this goal this month. Goal 2: Swing my kettlebell 120 times per workout session. Currently I'm okay w/ about 60-80 swings in a 10 minute period. Obviously I need to get serious... Goal 3 [semi-fitness related]: Drop a pant size into my size 40 jeans I have sitting in the closet. Currently everything is fitting better, and I have some stuff in my closet that hasn't seen the light of day in months. I just need to see the rest of my wardrobe. I actually care more about clothes fitting than any number on the scale or fat percentage, which is why I haven't listed any body fat or weight loss goals for this challenge. Goal 4 [food related]: Actually incorporate veggies into my diet. I'm just not a fan, and have to figure out different ways of cooking them to make them interesting... I'm already working out about 3-4 days a week w/ 15-30 minute sessions and am happy w/ the slight changes that have started occurring. I just need to up intensity and volume, fix my eating habits, and I'll be set. ~ So here's to a new 21 days to a slightly different stronger me ~ Jake