Titanium Bulwark

Hooray for joining NF!

So the pre challenge weekend didn't quite go as planned. Had primal breakfast, lunch and snacks on Friday, then went to get Mexican food with friends from out of town (no big deal, I planned to have a cheat meal here). Saturday again, primal breakfast, snack and lunch, then we hit our going away party. I was manning the grill and doing good, until one of my friends with the best intentions brings me out a plate of food. Desserts, pigs in a blanket, king ranch chicken, you name it. I caved. Damn. Sunday, primal lunch and breakfast again, did have some soda on the trip back to the new location and then ate pizza. So, not great, but not terrible either. I need to just tighten it up. Took the dog for a walk on Sunday and kept up with the stretches and shoulder exercises, doing ok in that regard. Monday - primal meals and snacks, did end up having one primal adult beverage during the football game. A success in my mind, even if I didn't meet my goal. Coffee and water otherwise, and that's been going pretty good. Walked for 30 mins on the treadmill on Monday (pretty crappy weather outside), did my shoulder exercises. Forgot my workout clothes today to workout at lunch, so a missed opportunity there. As far as the white knuckles goes, I think that's been going good so far. My stress levels have gone up a bit (still moving and sorting out utilities and the like, as well as starting my new job) but as a whole, I haven't freaked out yet. "You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet." Psalms 18:39, thank God for lowering my stress levels.

Thursday - Primal eating was pretty good. Breakfast: 3 eggs Snack: almonds Lunch: Blackened tilapia and veggies Snack: Milk with protein powder Dinner: Chili and veggies I did have an approved adult beverage last night and a soda, but since we technically haven't started I'm ok with it. I was watching the bowl game last night and watching K State get crushed, and got to hang out with my brother and one of his friends. I actually did a workout too, yay. Small one, but enough to get me moving a bit. I know it's a step down from my previous workouts, but I've got to restart somewhere. 60 BW squats 40 lunges Did my stretches for my shoulder and it's feeling ok. I still can't really put any load on it, though I really, REALLY want to lift heavy things again . I'm going to try to get a walk in today, it's freaking cold out here. Then I hit the road back home to see the wife and daughter . I did pretty good with the stress of starting a new job yesterday. Thankfully my new boss wasn't here yet, so I had time to unpack my stuff and get settled in before having to get down to business. I actually felt useful even, during a meeting AND got to use my degree knowledge to help with a problem. How bout that, ha. Thanks for the encouragement everyone, I've seen that XKCD before and that's totally how I feel. Like a kid masquerading as an adult and kinda snickering inside, "haha, they trust me with a house? haha!". In our new house though, I may need the NF collective help though. It has a 16x20 workshop that's already airconditioned that's going to be my Lair (man cave). Studs are still exposed so I can pretty much start from the ground up and figure out what I want to do with it. The weights are still going to be in the garage and the tools and all on the other side. Do I want to go Ron Burgundy (rich mahogany and leather bound books), comfortable (futon, recliner, etc)? Do I want to put in wood floors, the garage epoxy or just stain the concrete? So many options but so exciting! Until next time.

Hi everyone, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all the folks at NF! For Christmas, I got some sweet NF gear AND some Minimus shoes, so I'm looking to USE the gear to get myself back on track. With my shoulder still in rehab and the holidays, I need to buckle down and get back to basics. Today was actually my first day in my new location for my job, another 3 weeks or so and we close on our new house! So, the goals this time around: Goal 1 - Lift what weights you can! My shoulder severely limited what I could do on the 5x5 program I had been following, so I need a new plan. To get the points for this goal I need to do the following: -Create or list the workouts to be performed (modified for my shoulder if need be) -Continue doing shoulder rehab work (3x week) and stretching (2x day) -Perform said workout 2x week +3 STR Goal 2 - Move! I really liked the primal movement from the previous challenge but this time with a twist. I'm running a 5k with my wife and brother/sister in law and I need to start doing some running as well (and getting back into sprinting). So this is the catchall walk/run/sprint category. I'd like to run once a week (~3 miles or more), walk 3x week (~30 mins or more) and sprint once a week (10 sprints minimum). +3 STA, +1 DEX Goal 3 - Eat like a caveman! With the holidays, I got to eat lots of good food cooked by my mom, wife, grandmas, mother in laws, etc, who I see only a handful of times per year. However, these are not usually Primal foods (banana pudding, candy cane pie, etc) and it's showing. 1 cheat meal per week (MUST BE PLANNED, no getting somewhere and then just calling it a cheat meal) Only coffee/water during the week and only primal beverages allowed on the weekends Dairy is acceptable (whole milk and incidental cheese) I will make an allowance for soda during road trips (due to the move), as I have a feeling there will be multiple during this time frame and it helps keep my stress low(er). +5 CON Goal 4 - No white knuckles! With everything going on with the move, and a new job and everything else going on, it's easy for me to get caught up in stress so much that I end up gripping my truck steering wheel so hard I end up with white knuckles. There is absolutely no reason for me to get that stressed out and panicky about life. God is in control and I need to let go. This is subjective, but I'll have the wife let me know when I'm getting too worked up. Grading scheme is below: A: zero B: 2 C: 4 D: 5 +4 WIS Looking forward to this challenge and the new year! Until next time.

Final recap: Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str Overall, not good. Shoulder kept my upper body workouts completely out (other than PT). I was diligent with the PT workouts though. And I really avoided DL and squats, as I didn't want to torque my shoulder any more than I needed to. That doesn't excuse me not doing ANYTHING though. +1 Str. Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta Complete. Averaged nearly 3 hours per week without really trying. If I take the stairs at work everyday and walk at lunch twice a week, I'm there already. I liked the goal and I was diligent about it, but it helped that I didn't have weightlifting sessions to schedule around. +3 Sta Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con Rolling average: 23 oz per week. Complete. I didn't like this goal very much as it really just drove me to drink other things than soda. And with all the road trips, this was an undue stress in my opinion. Next goal will be coffee/water only. After the challenge I really didn't have cravings for soda, I drank it when I felt like it. *shrug*, I'll have to modify it for next time. +4 Con Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 40/42. The two days I missed I just totally forgot about it. I may keep this goal again though, made me very conscientious about reading everyday. +4 Wis Other than Goal 1, this was a pretty good challenge, all things considered. Overall, 12/15 points, a solid B. Hopefully next challenge, my shoulder feels better and I can get back into the weight lifting. The holidays put a cramp on my primal eating though, so next challenge will actually be a diet one. With all the moving and packing and starting a new job, it's been put a little on hold, but that's my fault.

Final recap: Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str Overall, not good. Shoulder kept my upper body workouts completely out (other than PT). I was diligent with the PT workouts though. And I really avoided DL and squats, as I didn't want to torque my shoulder any more than I needed to. That doesn't excuse me not doing ANYTHING though. +1 Str. Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta Complete. Averaged nearly 3 hours per week without really trying. If I take the stairs at work everyday and walk at lunch twice a week, I'm there already. I liked the goal and I was diligent about it, but it helped that I didn't have weightlifting sessions to schedule around. +3 Sta Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con Rolling average: 23 oz per week. Complete. I didn't like this goal very much as it really just drove me to drink other things than soda. And with all the road trips, this was an undue stress in my opinion. Next goal will be coffee/water only. After the challenge I really didn't have cravings for soda, I drank it when I felt like it. *shrug*, I'll have to modify it for next time. +4 Con Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 40/42. The two days I missed I just totally forgot about it. I may keep this goal again though, made me very conscientious about reading everyday. +4 Wis Other than Goal 1, this was a pretty good challenge, all things considered. Overall, 12/15 points, a solid B. Hopefully next challenge, my shoulder feels better and I can get back into the weight lifting. The holidays put a cramp on my primal eating though, so next challenge will actually be a diet one. With all the moving and packing and starting a new job, it's been put a little on hold, but that's my fault. Until next time.

Week 5 recap: Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str 3 PT sessions this week. 2/5 weeks total. Did a few push ups to test the shoulder out, we'll see how it feels Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta 5/5 weeks done. 135 minutes this week. Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con 1 soda this week on a long road trip (on purpose). Rolling average: 22 oz/week. Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 34/35, counting today. 7/7 this week . I'll take it . Lots going on this week. Went to look at houses again this weekend at the new location, and put in an offer. We had to go back and forth with the person, they weren't really seeing what we were and how the market has changed, but found out this afternoon they accepted our last offer, so woot! We also had a few showings of our current house and are supposed to see some offers in the morning (keep this one in your prayers if you could please!). Had a clay shoot on Thursday, shot like crap, but it was fun. This was the first time I saw the "rabbit" clays, the ones they roll on the ground. We had a blast and it was much better than working Thursday evening. Then of course, as we get on the road to the new work location, all heck breaks loose, crisis at work, blah blah blah. So I'm dealing with the fall out of that and just trying to keep the stress levels down. Looking back at the soda goal, it may be better for me just to drink the soda. I find I drink more adult beverages in lieu of soda and that's not good in any case. Might be something for next challenge though (hopefully in a new house and new location!). Until next time.

Had some soda on purpose on Thursday (long road trip again). I did the math on my overall and found out I was ok still . It's bad though, if I'm not drinking soda I'm more inclined to drink a beer or other adult beverage, just to have something other than water. Might be better for me just to drink the soda... Walking was worse this week. Most of my time has come from shambling around work and the few outdoor activities I had this week. Shoulder is feeling ok. Got cleared to do push ups, so that's good.

Week 4 recap: Physical therapy on the shoulder is going ok. Got some stretches I can do every day, 3x week for the strengthening exercises. My shoulder feels so good after the stretches but pretty crappy elsewise. I'm hoping it just takes time to get it sorted. Eating has not been so good. I'm still trying to stick with Paleo but I'm learning something interesting. Without the incentive of working out, it's much easier to eat garbage. When I was lifting weights, if I wanted to eat garbage, I'd feel like I was undoing the good work I had just done. Without working out, I don't have that incentive. Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str 3 PT sessions this week, plus a run. 1/4 weeks total. Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta 4/4 weeks done. 174 minutes this week. Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con 1 soda this week. Rolling average: 20.5 oz/week. I'll take it as a win. Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 27/28, counting today. 7/7 this week . Until next time.

So two physical therapy sessions down, stretching every day.... I feel much better already. PT said I could try some push ups on Saturday (doing one session at home) and see how it went. I can physically feel whatever tendon/ligament is causing me trouble pop back into place when I stretch it out, so weird. I actually went for a run last night, 1.5 miles. I jogged/sprinted the last half mile. It felt good, dont' know why I wasn't doing this instead of my weights for the last month... but it was done last night, so I'll take it.

Good luck! You can do eet!

Ah shoot. Just saw this thread and sadly will not be competing this time around. Good luck to all participants! As a side note, I learned something new about why olympic weights are sized as they are (so they don't squash your noggin when you fail and drop the weight). Amazing.

I reread the primal blueprint which said THREE hours per week, not TWO like my goal said, so not great there. Had a soda yesterday on purpose, it was a long day. Overall it's good, just wish I could be doing more with my shoulder.

Had my first PT today, it was great. Nice just to feel like I was doing something actively to promote recovery. Loved the trainer I was assigned, got some exercises and stretches I can do everyday. I have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow . The guy did say I was able to handle more weight naturally than most of the other folks he sees, and had a hard time getting to my "landmarks" (?) on my back due to musculature, so that was nice to hear. He was a Rippetoe believer, an olympic lifting coach, etc. Perfect . So we'll see. If I get through the exercises this week, I'll start back with basic stuff next week and hopefully get back on track. Until next time.

I know I'm not posting here, but I am keeping up with things. Still just frustrated at losing progress because of my dang shoulder. Rehab starts tomorrow, so I'm grateful I'll at least be able to do SOMETHING. Anyhow, Week 3 recap: Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str ON HOLD. I'll be counting my physical therapy as workouts, so I may yet have something to post here for next week. Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta 3/3 weeks done. 148 minutes this week. Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con ZERO soda this week. Woot. Rolling average: 22.6 oz/week Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 20/21, counting today. 7/7 this week . Until next time.

Yep. Diet stuff. Must be the chemicals. Updated the spreadsheet for this week

It's funny, it's not even a craving for caffeine. It's specifically "soda". Weird.

So I finally got all the results back today for my shoulder. No tears they could see in the rotator cuff or labrum, though they did say they saw impingement and bone spurs. So no surgery right now (good) and I start physical therapy on Monday. I'm glad to just hear what the news is, now I can actively work towards recovery. There is still a chance I'll need surgery, but it sounds like the PT may help enough to get me back to form. My concern is that I don't want to just get back to limping, I want to get back to top form and thankfully this doctor is a pro sports team physician as well as an orthopedist. So at least he understands what I'm coming from. My apologies to all for not being very active here or talking up the threads, just been a rough few weeks. I've been keeping track on my goals except the weightlifting one (and I'm very sad about that). Hopefully a little physical therapy and I'm back. Until next time.

Yep, still waiting to hear what the plan is. Good news is that on other fronts things are still going ok (not stress wise, because that's ever present). Had a pretty good thanksgiving and got to see lots of family. Ate my mom's cooking with gusto, making no plans not to eat what she cooked . Finally got to watch the Firefly 10 year anniversary special, I nearly cried. It was good just to see it getting some air time. Turns out the episodes they played throughout the day had little pop ups that had info on them as well (which I missed!). Such a good show. If you haven't seen it, DO IT. But be prepared to be saddened by the fact that Jersey Shore had multiple seasons but Fox couldn't keep Firefly on the air. /rant Week 2 recap Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str ON HOLD. Squats and DL aggravate the shoulder as well, so no luck there. MRI monday and hopefully good news by Friday. Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta 2/2 so far. 178 minutes this week and I still have tonight . Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con 20 oz total this week, rolling average of 34 oz. Definitely a conscious decision now, not just a reflex to grab a soda. Also made it 3 roadtrips without getting a soda (that was really my crutch and my avg. would be better, if I didn't count road trips). Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 13/14, counting today. 7/7 this week . Thanks everyone for the concern, will keep you posted! Until next time.

I'm here, just delayed from Thanksgiving. Good progress again (zero soda on 2 road trips) but I did have one at the movies (bonus: I actually got to see a movie!) and it was delicious. At least now it's a conscious decision, not a reflex to grab a soda. Walking was pretty good this week, been tracking it on my phone while out of touch a little bit. Spreadsheet is updated!

Torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder. MRI on Monday to see if it needs surgery.

Week 1 recap Goal 1 - Lift weights 3x week at a minimum. +4 str Made 2/3 due to injury and travel. Seeing the doctor today and hopefully getting a little more insight into this. Goal 2 - Walk like a Hobbit. +3 Sta 1/1 this week. Walked just more than 2 hours during last week. This week should be easier, as I'm off . Goal 3 - Cut down on Soda. +4 Con Didn't make my average this week, but definitely and improvement over my normal form. Did not drink any soda on the way home from my travels (though I did drink a big one on the way out). Week 1 was 48 oz, but only had soda twice (and zero times when not traveling, so that's a big improvement). Goal 4 - Read the Bible every day. +4 Wis 6/7. I was doing so good and completely forgot on Friday, just slipped my mind while we were trying to look at houses and stuff. Other work was a minimum, not real happy about that, but I'm trying to rest and get my shoulder the time it needs to heal. Getting ready to go walk and get my average up for this week . Looked at probably 20 houses in the new location this weekend, what a blur. Found 2 really that would do what we need, now just trying to see what we can get to work. This week WILL be better.

Went on the road trip to my new work location, didn't do as well as I'd like with the soda. Definitely a decrease in overall soda intake, but not to the level I want. I did great through the week at work (0!), and then blew it when the stress and familiarity of traveling set in. I did make it the whole way BACK without soda though, so that was a success. Barely made my 2 hours of walking this week. I'm off all next week though, so hopefully I'll kick it up a notch.

Wednesday - tried to do 5x5 20 BW squats 5x45 5x135 5x5x225 40 jumping jacks 4x60 sec plank 1x45 ovhd press 5 push ups 5x45 bench 1x135 bench 5x45 rows 3x135 rows Shoulder is pretty shot. Not sure what happened, but it sucks. No upper body workouts until I see the doctor on Monday. Did walk 35 mins throughout the day and didn't drink any soda. Still on track for reading the Bible every day, so in all other respects it's going good. Poop . I had finally made good progress and my shoulder craps out. I'll just have to up my walks and I'll still do the squats and DL.

You start realizing that if you could do a squat with your family on your shoulders. You recognize the difference between arms that do Bro curls and those that do compound exercises.