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Hi all! I'm Stronkey Kong. Umm... yeah... still here. If you don't know by now, just ask... This is part 2 of a year long (or at least multi-month) challenge aimed at losing weight by training like a boxer. It's all about calisthenics and cardio with boxing training mixed in for fun and because hitting a heavy bag for 10x3 min intervals is an awesome workout. I have it themed and organized after "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" on the NES. Here's how this will work... I have 3 Major goals (a catch all goal for the minor/tangential stuff): FIGHTING WEIGHT (FW): Hit 199 lbs (CRUISER WEIGHT, in the next 1-2 years. I'm 37 (almost 38) and 285 or so pounds... I want to get rid of the excess before 40. BOXING SHAPE (BS): I want to be in the kind of shape that boxers and other fighters are in so I'm going to train like them... lot's of cardio and calisthenics for foundational strength and conditioning, and bag work and boxing/martial arts drills for developing speed, coordination, balance, power etc. METABOLIC HEALTH (MH): Be able to burn whatever I put into my body: carbs, fat -- metabolic flexibility, learn to maintain the balance of calories in vs. calories out, and develop good eating habits. I'll be using LUMEN and BODY TEMP for metabolic feedback, and tracking diet with MFP. LUMEN is a gadget that uses the breath (O2 in vs CO2 out) to estimate whether you're burning carbs or fat BODY TEMP: I'll take my temperature with an IR surface thermometer around the same time I measure with LUMEN. My baseline/normal temp is 97.4 deg F. MFP: I'm using my fitness pal to get the macronutrient data I need to compare to what LUMEN suggests OTHER minor GOALS (OmG): All the other projects and things that I'm going to make the rest of life good. These things show up on my fight scorecard as little 15 min tasks that add points here and there. ======================================================== As the year progresses, I compete in successively more challenging FIGHTS. The GOALS are the basis for SCORING POINTS and getting KNOCK-DOWNS and KNOCKOUTS in the fights. Just like PUNCH OUT, Each fight will be 3 ROUNDS (weeks) in length. There will be 1 REST WEEK in between fights to rest, readjust goals, cut for weigh-in etc. WEIGH-IN will be the morning on the day before the fight and this will be my official weight for tracking weight loss in the fight. For each fight I will identify 3 KO techniques -- one for each of the first three goals. These are impressive and worthy enough to constitute a KO singularly. Then, I will have 3 TKO criteria -- again one for each of the three major goals that together (all three) constitute a TKO. Finally, even if I fail to KO or TKO, if I go the distance and do more good effort than bad, I can WIN by DECISION -- wherein I track good habits on the FIGHT SCORECARD for each round. There's a lot on the scorecard, and it includes things from my OmGs. Throughout the course of the year and 13 total fights, I will track my W-L-KO stats. For any W to count, regardless whether it's KO, TKO, or W by Decision, I have to track all three rounds. Adjustments for current challenge: Added a REST WEEK between fights Dropping prize purses ($$$) from fights -- I don't think these incentives are necessary, and I need to focus on budgeting other things. Expanding the FIGHT SCORECARD (ongoing) This challenge is currently scheduled as follows: Week 0: REST WEEK WEIGH-IN: Saturday, February 12 at 12:00 pm (-ish) Week 1: VS. Von Kaiser Round 1 Week 2: VS. Von Kaiser Round 2 Week 3: VS. Von Kaiser Round 3 Week 4: REST WEEK Week 5: VS. Piston Hondo Round 1 I'll keep the current fight, future fight schedule, and fight record on the second of each of these challenges so you (and I) can find it and figure out what the hell I'm currently doing at any time.

Hi all! I'm Stronkey Kong. Umm... yeah... still here. If you don't know by now, just ask... I just did a long, rough draft outline of this challenge at the end of the last one hidden in the spoiler because of its length: tl;dr -- I'm kicking off a year long (or at least multi-month) challenge aimed at losing weight by training like a boxer... really tho, it's all about calisthenics and cardio with boxing training mixed in for fun and because hitting a heavy bag for 10x3 min intervals is an awesome workout. I have it themed and organized after "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" on the NES. Here's how this will work... I have 3 Major goals: FIGHTING WEIGHT (FW): Hit 199 lbs in the next 1-2 years BOXING SHAPE (BS): I want to be in the kind of shape that boxers and other fighters are in so I'm going to train like them... lot's of cardio and calisthenics for foundational strength and conditioning, and bag work and boxing/martial arts drills for developing speed, coordination, balance, power etc. METABOLIC HEALTH (MH): Be able to burn whatever I put into my body: carbs, fat -- metabolic flexibility, learn to maintain the balance of calories in vs. calories out, and develop good eating habits. I'll be using LUMEN for metabolic feedback... might start tracking body temp too... smh, and tracking diet with MFP. OTHER minor GOALS (OmG): I will also be doing some writing, meditating, and home improvement projects throughout the year. Right now I'm in a warmup phase where I assess a few baselines and set goals for the first 'fight.' Each fight will be 3 weeks (rounds) in length. The morning on the day before the fight, I will 'weigh-in' and this will be my official weight for tracking weight loss in the fight. For each fight I will identify 3 KO techniques -- one for each of the first three goals. These are impressive and worthy enough to constitute a KO singularly. Then, I will have 3 TKO criteria -- again one for each of the three major goals that together (all three) constitute a TKO. Finally, even if I fail to KO or TKO, if I go the distance and do more good effort than bad, I can WIN by DECISION -- wherein I track good habits on the FIGHT SCORECARD for each round. There's a lot on the scorecard, and it includes things from my OmGs. Throughout the course of the year and 13 total fights, I will track my W-L-KO stats. For the first Minor Circuit Bouts, I'm just diving from one into the next. After that I might decide to take breaks between fights and title bouts. And I won't be sticking completely to the NF Challenge Schedule. Some Fights will straddle Challenge breaks, I may decide to take week long breaks to sync them up, or just as I need a break here and there. We'll see. I'll keep the current fight, future fight schedule, and fight record on the second or first post of each of these challenges so you (and I) can find it and figure out what the hell I'm currently doing at any time. Stay tuned.

Hi all. Stronkey Kong here. I'm back. For anybody new stopping in on one of my challenge threads for the first time... I've been doing this for over 8 years now. I'm still fat, and either trying to figure things out and/or make the best of it. THE BIG LIST RETURNS Last year for the holiday challenge I made a list for Santa of all the things I really, really wanted for the next year, and did a lot of reflection and planning. That was really useful for the majority of my challenges this year since it helped me stay focused on goals and planning. So I'm gonna redo/repeat it, and that will be the main focus of this challenge. WEEK 1: REFLECTION Reflect on the old list. I need to go back and think about my old goals. Why/how did they succeed/fail? Should I keep pursuing it or move on? Etc. Then think about ideas for new goals. Here's the old list... just as I left it three challenges ago. WEEK 2: DROP/ADD Next, I'll decide what the new goals are for the year and decide what's going on the list. This means deciding which old ones are staying, which are going, and what new ones I can include. WEEK 3: PLANNING Here's where things come together, and I decided how I'm going to achieve my goals. For example, if want to lose weight, and I also want to learn how to box, then I'll set a goal to practice boxing and get better at it so I can get more exercise and lose weight etc. I think you can all see where this is going now. ========================================== Here are some other non-goals that I'll be talking about during this mini challenge... and that will probably influence the list heavily. BOXING: As I mentioned in the very last post of last challenge... I bought a 100 lbs. heavy bag and hung it in my basement, and I very much enjoy punching it for exercise. So I'm gonna plan on centering my training on boxing for the foreseeable future. No doubt, some boxing training regimen will make it onto my big list for 2022 YOGA: I'll be doing this on my active rest days. NOOM + LUMEN = I'm spending too much money on fitness gadgets. Anywho, I started using NOOM in the summer. What I was hoping for was some kind of AI in the app or something that gives useful feedback based on your habits and progress. Following it was helpful at first, but in the end it just boils down to a food/activity tracker app, with some mildly educational/inspirational articles chock full of nerdy fun and a support group that you can share your victories and setbacks with... which means it's not much more than I was getting with NF anyway, so I'm quite disillusioned with it. However, I paid $200 for it so I might as well finish what I can in the articles and such. It would be a good place to start for a weight loss noob, but I've been in the trenches for years. I want to try something else. Enter Lumen, the metabolic tracking breathalyzer. I bought one of these yesterday and downloaded the app. It measures your O2/CO2 ratio in your inhale/exhale to figure out what your metabolism is doing. Then it gives you suggestions based on your fitness goals on how you should eat for the day. I'm hopeful for this thing to be at least useful since I think it will be able to at least tell me what my intuition is likely missing. Here is a detailed review of the device if you're interested in learning more than I feel like discussing here: https://latestfuels.com/reviews/lumen-review/ If it inspires you to buy one also, DM me and I'll give you a coupon/code. JOB/CAREER STUFF: I need to set my sights on moving up in the world, at least a rung or two on the ladder. My house and the upkeep expenses it has are stretching my dollars more thinly. Not to mention gas prices, food prices, and the overall post-covid inflationary economy... I need more money. I need to research some certifications to boost me on my current career path (quality inspector--> technician--> engineer) so I can either move up at my company, and more easily secure work in the uncertain future. I should also get back into programming on the regular and pick up more skills in other programming languages, operating systems, etc. ===== I had something else, but I stepped away to do some chores, and now I forgot. I'll add it later. Good luck surviving the holidays to all!