This is Red Six beginning my attack run

[Lord_of_Annandale]

Soooo my first plan was way too complication.

 

This is going to be basic. I'm going to lose 10 lbs in 4 weeks. This comes out to be a reasonable 2.5 lbs per week.

 

It will take me from 297 lbs to 287 lbs. I'll post before and after pictures for my own edification.

 

Goal:

 

Lose 10 lbs

 

Intermediate goals:

 

Week 1: Weigh in at 294.5 or lower

Week 2: Weigh in at 291.0 or lower

Week 3: Weigh in at 288.5 or lower

Week 4: Weigh in at 287.0 or lower

                    (Saturday weigh in, no clothes, before breakfast. I wont take pics I promise haha)

 

Daily goals:

 

Sunday 9/17: Active Rest TBD

 - First day went well. I played in the park with my niece and nephew for a couple hours and it was surprisingly good exercise. 

 - Unfortunately I did less well on eating. We ordered pizza for lunch, and I only had two pieces with salad, but its not exactly in my diet plan. I'll do better on Monday.

Monday 9/18: Back and Bicep 

 - Today went well. The gym was not as crowded as I thought it would be (I couldn't go until 4:00) and I got through my workout without any major obstacles.  I had a little trouble motivating myself to go, but I pushed myself over the hump and enjoyed the workout afterwards.

• Lat Pull 3x10 at 85 lbs
• Row 3x10 at 45 lbs each arm
• Low row 3x10 at 85 lbs
• EZ curl 3x10 at 55 lbs
• Hammer Curl 3x10 AT 17.5 lbs

 - Eating went better today than yesterday. I still didn't quite follow the plan. There was a memorial for a family friend today and a meal was provided. I decided to eat the food but make good choices. They had lean chicken, salad, and pan fried vegetables. The only thing I ate outside of my plan was ravioli and a brownie, so on the whole it wasn't too bad.

Tuesday 9/19: Cardio

 - I stuck to the plan today and did my cardio. I'm proud of myself. However, the real test will come on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, that seems to be when I fall off track with new workout commitments. I decided to extend it to 20 minutes instead of 15 because I can do 20 and if I can, then I should. Babying myself accomplishes nothing.

 - I didn't do as well with eating today. As expected, I was much hungrier today than I was yesterday. I was also very sore, so I expect my body was looking for calories to help my muscles repair. The way I feel hunger is strange, and maybe I need to address it. Many times I get hungry just after I've finished a meal and it doesn't start in my stomach, the feeling starts across my back and then moves into my head. I don't mean mentally, I mean the physical muscles that surround my skull, especially those that clench my jaw and pull my eyebrows back (occipitofrontalis and temporalis if you want to get technical). It feels similar to my fight or flight response, and It requires that I eat something immediately. It's an extraordinarily hard feeling to ignore. I can power through it, but it really knocks the wind out of me. I'm going to try to confront it directly tomorrow, if that doesn't work I'll try to figure out another strategy.   

Wednesday 9/20: Chest and Triceps

Thursday 9/21: Birthday Cardio

Friday 9/22: Legs and Core

Saturday 9/23: Active rest TBD (weigh in)

 

Sunday 9/24: Active rest TBD

Monday 9/25: Back and Bicep 

Tuesday 9/26: Cardio

Wednesday 9/27: Chest and Triceps

Thursday 9/28: Cardio

Friday 9/29: Legs and Core

Saturday 9/30: Active rest TBD (weigh in)

 

Sunday 10/1: Active rest TBD

Monday 10/2: Back and Bicep 

Tuesday 10/3: Cardio

Wednesday 10/4: Chest and Triceps

Thursday 10/5: Cardio

Friday 10/6: Legs and Core

Saturday 10/7: Active rest TBD (weigh in)

 

Sunday 10/8: Active rest TBD

Monday 10/9: Back and Bicep 

Tuesday 10/10: Cardio

Wednesday 10/11: Chest and Triceps

Thursday 10/12: Cardio

Friday 10/13: Legs and Core

Saturday 10/14: Active rest TBD (weigh in)

 

Definitions:

Cardio:

Week 1: 20 mins elliptical

Week 2: 25 mins elliptical

Week 3: 30 mins elliptical

Week 4: 35 mins elliptical

 

Weight Training: Too long to specify, but I'll be adding 10 lbs to every set each time I cycle back to a muscle group.

 

Active rest: Hiking, yard work, Frisbee, swimming, adventuring in general, etc.

[Kae]

Hey Lord_of_Annandale,

 

Also being a newbie, I've noticed how much people emphasize diet/nutrition on here to help you either gain or lose weight. I'm wondering how what you eat plays into your goals?

[Lord_of_Annandale]

1 hour ago, Kae said:

Hey Lord_of_Annandale,

 

Also being a newbie, I've noticed how much people emphasize diet/nutrition on here to help you either gain or lose weight. I'm wondering how what you eat plays into your goals?

 

Hi Kae,

 

Nutrition plays a huge role in my weight loss battle strategy =) My meal plan is as follows:

 

Breakfast:

2 egg yolks

6 egg whites

2 organic whole wheat toasts

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp olive oil

 

Lunch:

8 oz chicken or lean beef

1.5 cups of vegetable of choice

          - Brussel Sprouts

          - Broccoli

          - Green Beens

          - Asparagus

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

 

Snack

Rx Bar (you should really try these, they're so good!)

 

Dinner

8 oz chicken or lean beef (occasionally lean pork)

1 cup brown rice or diced potatoes

1 cup vegetable of choice (see lunch)

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

1 tsp fish sauce

 

The key is that I'm not overly strict about it. If I still feel hungry after breakfast I might have some grapes, or a yogurt. If my afternoon snack didn't fill me up, I might have a spoonful of peanut butter. Sometimes, if I haven't done a lot of physical activity, I'll pull some of the oil and the honey out of lunch and dinner. It's fairly fluid and adaptable, which means I don't beat myself up too badly if I don't follow it exactly.

 

The reason I didn't include this is that I've been following this lifestyle for more than a month now and successfully losing weight with it. What I haven't been doing is going to the gym. Almost at all. So I wanted to do something new for the challenge.

 

Hope that answered your question =)

 

 

[Hazard]

22 hours ago, Lord_of_Annandale said:

Goal:

 

Lose 10 lbs

 

Intermediate goals:

 

Week 1: Weigh in at 294.5 or lower

Week 2: Weigh in at 291.0 or lower

Week 3: Weigh in at 288.5 or lower

Week 4: Weigh in at 287.0 or lower

 

 

Hello Lord_of_Annandale.  Welcome to the game!

 

Your Challenge setup is a bit different than the traditional NF setup, but I've seen plenty of people lay out their challenges in similar fashion before.  I do like that you have your main weightloss goal for the challenge split into defined interval goals for each week.  Having weekly targets to focus on, knowing that hitting each weekly target successfully will result in an overall victory for the challenge, will act as a good weekly feedback to tell you whether what you're doing daily is working or not.  And that, in turn, will let you make adjustments to your plan of attack after each week, if needed. 

 

 

[Lord_of_Annandale]

1 hour ago, Hazard said:

 

 

Hello Lord_of_Annandale.  Welcome to the game!

 

Your Challenge setup is a bit different than the traditional NF setup, but I've seen plenty of people lay out their challenges in similar fashion before.  I do like that you have your main weightloss goal for the challenge split into defined interval goals for each week.  Having weekly targets to focus on, knowing that hitting each weekly target successfully will result in an overall victory for the challenge, will act as a good weekly feedback to tell you whether what you're doing daily is working or not.  And that, in turn, will let you make adjustments to your plan of attack after each week, if needed. 

 

 

 

Hi Hazard,

 

Sorry I didn't follow the format exactly. I find if I don't plan things out precisely I tend to dick around and procrastinate, then try to do it all at the end. It hasn't been a good strategy, haha. 

 

Plus, having a daily goal lets me focus only on that goal so I don't get overwhelmed by the whole project =)

 

Good luck on the trail

[Hazard]

7 hours ago, Lord_of_Annandale said:

Sorry I didn't follow the format exactly. I find if I don't plan things out precisely I tend . . . .

 

You're fine.  The format you're using is 3-tiered, rather than the 2-tiered shown in the guide.  There's nothing wrong with that.  The point of the challenges is to create defined Main Quest and then break it down into clear, smaller, actionable quests/goals where completing those leads to succeeding at the Main Quest.  And that, ultimately, is exactly what you've done.  Completing your weekly intermediate quests will lead to completing your Main Quest.  And your plan for completing those weekly quests actually does include the "2-3 smaller queats/goals" that we talk about.  Your "2-3 (4 in your case) smaller actionable goals/quests" can be articulated as:

• Eat my planned diet
• Perform my weight training as scheduled
• Perform my cardio as scheduled
• Peform my active rest days as scheduled

 

[zeroh13]

Hi Lord of Annandale, welcome!

 

On 9/13/2017 at 1:13 PM, Lord_of_Annandale said:

What I haven't been doing is going to the gym. Almost at all. So I wanted to do something new for the challenge.

So, you're going from barely going to the gym, to going 5 days a week? It's ambitious, but there's nothing wrong with that. And it sounds like you have a solid workout program, so be sure to just listen to your body. It's always good to do, but it can really make a difference when you start changing your activity level. (It's so easy to be all gung-ho and then over train and possibly hurt yourself!)

 

With a goal focusing on how many pounds you lose during a set amount of time, don't be too hard on yourself if your body doesn't cooperate. There are so many variables that go into it, you can follow a plan perfectly and not hit the numbers you "should" be hitting. Adjust things as necessary, but be patient with the process.

 

Best of luck!

[Lord_of_Annandale]

23 hours ago, zeroh13 said:

Hi Lord of Annandale, welcome!

 

So, you're going from barely going to the gym, to going 5 days a week? It's ambitious, but there's nothing wrong with that. And it sounds like you have a solid workout program, so be sure to just listen to your body. It's always good to do, but it can really make a difference when you start changing your activity level. (It's so easy to be all gung-ho and then over train and possibly hurt yourself!)

 

With a goal focusing on how many pounds you lose during a set amount of time, don't be too hard on yourself if your body doesn't cooperate. There are so many variables that go into it, you can follow a plan perfectly and not hit the numbers you "should" be hitting. Adjust things as necessary, but be patient with the process.

 

Best of luck!

 

Hello zeroh13!

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind. I'm starting with pretty low weight and working up. I used to play football so weight training isn't totally alien, I just haven't done it in a while. 

 

As to my weight loss goals, I won't be too hard on myself. However, I've been losing roughly 2.5 lbs a week already just from changing my diet, so I'm really just trying to keep it going.

 

Good luck on the trail =)

[Lord_of_Annandale]

Sunday 9/17: Active Rest TBD

 - First day went well. I played in the park with my niece and nephew for a couple hours and it was surprisingly good exercise. 

 - Unfortunately I did less well on eating. We ordered pizza for lunch, and I only had two pieces with salad, but its not exactly in my diet plan. I'll do better on Monday.

[Lord_of_Annandale]

Monday 9/18: Back and Bicep 

 - Today went well. The gym was not as crowded as I thought it would be (I couldn't go until 4:00) and I got through my workout without any major obstacles.  I had a little trouble motivating myself to go, but I pushed myself over the hump and enjoyed the workout afterwards.

• Lat Pull 3x10 at 85 lbs
• Row 3x10 at 45 lbs each arm
• Low row 3x10 at 85 lbs
• EZ curl 3x10 at 55 lbs
• Hammer Curl 3x10 AT 17.5 lbs

 - Eating went better today than yesterday. I still didn't quite follow the plan. There was a memorial for a family friend today and a meal was provided. I decided to eat the food but make good choices. They had lean chicken, salad, and pan fried vegetables. The only thing I ate outside of my plan was ravioli and a brownie, so on the whole it wasn't too bad.

[Lord_of_Annandale]

Tuesday 9/19: Cardio

 - I stuck to the plan today and did my cardio. I'm proud of myself. However, the real test will come on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, that seems to be when I fall off track with new workout commitments. I decided to extend it to 20 minutes instead of 15 because I can do 20 and if I can, then I should. Babying myself accomplishes nothing.

 - I didn't do as well with eating today. As expected, I was much hungrier today than I was yesterday. I was also very sore, so I expect my body was looking for calories to help my muscles repair. The way I feel hunger is strange, and maybe I need to address it. Many times I get hungry just after I've finished a meal and it doesn't start in my stomach, the feeling starts across my back and then moves into my head. I don't mean mentally, I mean the physical muscles that surround my skull, especially those that clench my jaw and pull my eyebrows back (occipitofrontalis and temporalis if you want to get technical). It feels similar to my fight or flight response, and It requires that I eat something immediately. It's an extraordinarily hard feeling to ignore. I can power through it, but it really knocks the wind out of me. I'm going to try to confront it directly tomorrow, if that doesn't work I'll try to figure out another strategy. 

[zeroh13]

On 9/20/2017 at 0:32 AM, Lord_of_Annandale said:

The way I feel hunger is strange, and maybe I need to address it. Many times I get hungry just after I've finished a meal and it doesn't start in my stomach, the feeling starts across my back and then moves into my head. I don't mean mentally, I mean the physical muscles that surround my skull, especially those that clench my jaw and pull my eyebrows back (occipitofrontalis and temporalis if you want to get technical). It feels similar to my fight or flight response, and It requires that I eat something immediately. It's an extraordinarily hard feeling to ignore. I can power through it, but it really knocks the wind out of me. I'm going to try to confront it directly tomorrow, if that doesn't work I'll try to figure out another strategy. 

As the feeling starts in your back, it might not actually be hunger, especially since it's after you eat. There are many things that can mimic the feelings of hunger (the most common being dehydration, but there's also more serious conditions that cause it too). Have you talked to your doctor about this?

[Hazard]

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