That Orc Ranger's Challenge the First

[The Battle Chef]

MAIN CHALLENGE:
Spent at least 5 hours per week crafting something.  I have access to metal and wood working facilities on the farm but I've never been able to set enough time aside to do anything.  I have a few minor projects I'd like to get done so we'll see what I can crank out.

Secondary Challenge: Drop some weight.

Looking to lose at least 5 but preferably 10 pounds.  I've been starting to pay more attention to portioning and whatnot, got my calories and macros figured out to a reasonable degree.  

Secondary Challenge: N00b meditation.

Or other form of secular mental de-stressing.  Just like, let it go, man...  Aiming for every other day, 10-15 minutes.  Seems manageable.

 

Secondary Challenge:  Keep training 5 days per week.
I've set up a proper battle log to record this stuff because it'll be recurring.  Should be in my signature.

[shaar]

Oh wow, your crafting challenge sounds fascinating! I've always dreamed of running away to the mountains to become a blacksmith or something cool. :DDD  What are you looking to make? 

[Elastigirl]

Great challenge. Hopefully you will share some of your projects with us.

[WhiteGhost]

Howdy, following for the crafting

[The Battle Chef]

7 hours ago, shaar said:

Oh wow, your crafting challenge sounds fascinating! I've always dreamed of running away to the mountains to become a blacksmith or something cool. :DDD  What are you looking to make? 

I actually do have a coal forge set up, but carpal tunnel really curbs my ability to use it.

I need to make some storage options for my home gym (wall barbell rack, some misc shelves), a rolling pin hanger for a friend, will probably think of others.

[jonfirestar]

Yeah carpal tunnel really sucks! I'm following for the crafting  

 

[Seraphina]

MAIN CHALLENGE:
Spent at least 5 hours per week crafting something.  I have access to metal and wood working facilities on the farm but I've never been able to set enough time aside to do anything.  I have a few minor projects I'd like to get done so we'll see what I can crank out.

Secondary Challenge: Drop some weight.
Looking to lose at least 5 but preferably 10 pounds.  I've been starting to pay more attention to portioning and whatnot, got my calories and macros figured out to a reasonable degree.  

Secondary Challenge: N00b meditation.
Or other form of secular mental de-stressing.  Just like, let it go, man...  Aiming for every other day, 10-15 minutes.  Seems manageable.
 
Secondary Challenge:  Keep training 5 days per week.
I've set up a proper battle log to record this stuff because it'll be recurring.  Should be in my signature.

Good goals! It would be cool to see a before and after of the project(s) you're working on.



Following!

Sent from my E6603 using Tapatalk

[deftona]

I love your crafting plans! 

[The Battle Chef]

HOOOOOO BOY am I starting this challenge off terribly.  Big ol' stress/emotional eating binge 'cause my old, loveable grumpy shepherd dog has another cluster of seizures today.  Epilepsy's a bitch.  Lot of panicked rushing around getting him to the vet before the rest of the seizures get him.  He's home now, trying to calm down (country dog, hates the city).  I still feel like shit because he's getting in worse and worse shape as time goes by (epilepsy, severe arthritis, co-ordination is going, etc.) It's depressing that I can't go on long walks with him any more.  His mind wants to but his body can't keep up.  

ANYHOO ENOUGH SAD CRAP!

Tomorrow will be the official weigh in for my weight loss quest, it'll also be a gym day and I will rage clean the forge, 'cause people have been using it as a dumping ground for their misc junk.  I say Nay-Nay!  

And something silly to finish this post.
 

 

[Seraphina]

4 hours ago, Azukmul gro-Dragnar said:

HOOOOOO BOY am I starting this challenge off terribly.  Big ol' stress/emotional eating binge 'cause my old, loveable grumpy shepherd dog has another cluster of seizures today.  Epilepsy's a bitch.  Lot of panicked rushing around getting him to the vet before the rest of the seizures get him.  He's home now, trying to calm down (country dog, hates the city).  I still feel like shit because he's getting in worse and worse shape as time goes by (epilepsy, severe arthritis, co-ordination is going, etc.) It's depressing that I can't go on long walks with him any more.  His mind wants to but his body can't keep up.  

ANYHOO ENOUGH SAD CRAP!

Tomorrow will be the official weigh in for my weight loss quest, it'll also be a gym day and I will rage clean the forge, 'cause people have been using it as a dumping ground for their misc junk.  I say Nay-Nay!  

And something silly to finish this post.

 

 

Oh damn, I'm sorry :[

 

Taking care of an aging pet with health conditions is really, really tough. 

[The Battle Chef]

Alrighty then!  

OFFICIAL WEIGH IN: 312 pounds.  Damn.  Lean body mass has been measured at about 240 pounds, should put my body fat % at 23.
I moved the scale to my gym, because it's the only place on the property with a level floor (I hate old houses.)  I guess the warp in the floor threw the scale off over the years.  Sad Orc is Sad.

As far as weight loss is concerned, I have devised the following strategy:

I hate, Hate, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE tracking food, logging calories, macros or meals.  I used a few different websites to calculate calories and it averaged out to 2900 calories for a moderate weight loss.  I broke down the macros and devised a meal plan template that I can use as opposed to breaking down every single thing I eat, and I programmed a few safeties and controls into it.  I'll give it a try for this challenge and see how it goes.

I'll' be the first to admit I have a debilitating dark chocolate addiction.  So first thing I did was factor in 50 g of chocolate into my eating plan.  Bam, craving accounted for.

 

Next I accounted for one pint of gatorade (powdered mix) that I drink during my workouts.  I find it does make a difference in getting through the session so I might as well budget for it.  Now here's the kicker, I'm only having 3 or 4 of these guys a week, that's giving me at least 3 days where I am not consuming them, yet I'm not intentionally eating more to compensate, so that gives me a little insurance policy in case something else is off.

I took the remainder of my macros and divided them between 5 meals:

> One protein smoothie (since I am up stupid early for work most days.)
> One cold meal (typically plain skyr, chopped fruit and hemp hearts.)
> Two hot meals typically being:

   - 5-6 oz lean cooked meat( or 4 eggs), 2 cups cooked veg, 2 tsp added fat

   - 4-5 oz lean cooked meat or (3 eggs), 1 cup cooked veg, ½ cup brown rice, quinoa, or root veg, 2 tsp added fat

   - 1 ½ cup cooked oatmeal with maple syrup, butter, 1 scoop whey (or 4 eggs)

   - 500 ml soup solids. (I am a master soup maker.  Roughly speaking 500 ml of the solid ingredients is 500 calories, and the broth isn't calorically significant)
> One casein & nut butter shake before bed.
I have the recipes standardized for the smoothie, shake and cold meal.  Didn't feel like cluttering this post up with more numbers.

This is doable for me.  I'm a banquet chef for crying out loud, portioning meals is half my damn job.  The key to success is going to be packing the cold and one hot meal for work so I have no excuse to be near the deep fryers at work.

I'll be weighing myself twice per week and noting the overall trend.  If nothing is moving I'll adjust food on the fly.

[Legionary]

Following, glad to see you're keeping it up after challenge 1. I'm over in monks this month. Looks like you've got really good programming for the diet and stuff. I might have to steal you're system because I also loath food tracking. 

[mediaguy99]

I like the simplicity of the catch-all meals, rather than trying to figure out how many grams of this or that.  

 

Good on you

[shaar]

Your portioning plan is killer.  Tracking makes me go nutso too, I just can't do it for more than a few weeks.

 

RAGE CLEANING THE FORGE sounds amazing and like something that would be right up my alley.

 

Hope pupper is ok. :[ <3  My cat just turned 11 this weekend and man, pets aging is so stressful and hard, you just want them to be comfy but it's so heartbreaking to know they can't enjoy the things they used to when they were young and spry...

[Scaly Freak]

Poor dog... my own dog, that isn't even old yet, was diagnosed with arthritis recently, and it's heartbreaking to see her limp through the house in obvious pain, but still so determined to follow me around and be close to what is going on.

 

A couple in my neighborhood "walk" their dog in a stroller. It's a medium sized dog, grayed so probably old, and it rides in one of these strollers you can hitch to a bicycle and they go around the neighborhood and park a few times every weekend. The dog seems like it's having fun, unsurprisingly... it gets all the fun parts of being on a walk, without having to work for it!

[The Battle Chef]

2 hours ago, By365 said:

 I might have to steal you're system because I also loath food tracking. 

DO IT!  You'll probably have to recalculate macros once every 2-3 months just to be safe, but yeh.  Overall simplicity.

 

21 minutes ago, shaar said:

 

Hope pupper is ok. :[ <3  My cat just turned 11 this weekend and man, pets aging is so stressful and hard, you just want them to be comfy but it's so heartbreaking to know they can't enjoy the things they used to when they were young and spry...

Yeah, I had a cat hit 17 once.  Damn thing was still murdering mice until the very end.  Miss that guy.  He was so chill you could wear him like a scarf.
He's doing ok, had to take him back to the vet again for painkillers and more sedatives.  He's extremely arthritic and the seizures hurt him for a few days.  Anticipating a 3rd seizure within the next 12 hours (that's been the pattern so far).  Fingers crossed it doesn't come.


Also also, logging the workout thing in the Battle Log forum.  

 

[The Battle Chef]

17 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

Poor dog... my own dog, that isn't even old yet, was diagnosed with arthritis recently, and it's heartbreaking to see her limp through the house in obvious pain, but still so determined to follow me around and be close to what is going on.

 

A couple in my neighborhood "walk" their dog in a stroller. It's a medium sized dog, grayed so probably old, and it rides in one of these strollers you can hitch to a bicycle and they go around the neighborhood and park a few times every weekend. The dog seems like it's having fun, unsurprisingly... it gets all the fun parts of being on a walk, without having to work for it!

Mine's arthritic too.  I keep blankets folded on the floor in various rooms so he can lie down.  Sometimes he even manages to lay on them lol.  He's a good ol' farm dog, just wants to be handy to chase a squirrel or two.  He's greyed in the face a lot more since this photo was taken last year.
 

[The Battle Chef]

Rage cleaning complete, for now...  Some asshole ordered a bunch of gym equipment and left all the packaging all over the floor!  Ash catcher's emptied, few bits squared away and a few other bits found for projects.  I found my flatter!  I lost it a few months ago, turns out it was in the toolbox THE WHOLE TIME! (it hurts to smart.)

The forge is pretty basic, only really set up for smaller projects.  Suits me just fine, I don't take commissions, I just fart around at it when I can.

Photos are too big to be uploading here so I am linking a public folder on my GDrive for your perusal.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19ijQeDA2uPxyw9hDXQBc6bx0lz9RinAc?usp=sharing 
 

[The Battle Chef]

Well, a full day of eating wasn't exactly horrible.  Felt mildly hungry for a good chunk of the day, though I was able to bake a full batch of chocolate chip cookies for the vet staff without eating any.  That's something.

Today's gonna be a bad day.  Pupper's been up all night whining again so I'm running on 4 hours sleep over the last 48 hours.  Just gonna have to be kind to myself.  Took advantage of not-sleeping by catching up on laundry and roasting some veggies for future meals.

[Craftyviking]

I really like having crafting as part of the challenge and I look forward to seeing pictures. I am so following. 

[The Battle Chef]

26 minutes ago, Craftyviking said:

I really like having crafting as part of the challenge and I look forward to seeing pictures. I am so following. 

Too many for the forum!  Link a post or two up from here

[Craftyviking]

3 hours ago, Azukmul gro-Dragnar said:

Too many for the forum!  Link a post or two up from here

 

Nice set up. My brother has promised me to teach me blacksmithing, he'd be jealous of that nice anvil. He is struggling to find a nice one. Or at least has been. 

[The Battle Chef]

Pupper seems to be doing better, at least a little bit.  Hoping he lets me sleep.  Today was pretty busy, bit of a stress test for the eating plan.  The flexibility does help.  Snacked a bit out of neccessity but I ended up skipping a full meal so I think it balanced by the end.  Scheduling conflicts prevent me from packing my lunch, but I can make a good one at work easily enough.

[deftona]

I'm glad your dog is seeming better, I hope this continues to improve. 

[The Battle Chef]

Weighed in at 305 today.  I'm chalking most of this up to natural weight fluctuations, but it's good to know I'm starting on the right track.

We're getting another storm and it's hard to run the forge when there's high winds because it need a LOT of ventilation to deal with the smoke.  We'll see what happens.