Mir's adventure to hulk-like strength

[Morrigainz]

Okay, so I'm 30 years old, 140ish pounds. 63" tall...had my bf% measured recently with one of those handheld electronic things and it put me around 26%. No idea how accurate that is, but it's what I got. Right now my squats are at 125, DLs are at 135, and press is at 20/25 lbs dumbbells. I just finished stage 2 of New Rules of Lifting for Women and have started in on Starting Strength since my home gym doesn't have the equipment I need for NROL. I just started lifting in January after someone showed me Spezzy's success story. I immediately fell in love. With the barbell, not Spezzy. I'm also participating in the Under Armour What's Beautiful Challenge, which is 9 weeks long.

Goals:

1) Increase squat and DL to 200#+ (1RM) - STR - 5

2) Do a (proper) power clean OR a pull up -

3) Eat paleo or don't drink as much - I need to choose one; what are your opinions?

4) Increase focus on finances, tracking spending on Mint, not going over budget, and actually saving some money. Any ideas on what % to use for my grades? - WIS - 3

UPDATE:

After some discussion and thinking, I'm revising my goals somewhat.

1) Increase squat and DL to 200#+ (1RM) - 5 STR (this is the same)

2) Do a proper power clean - 3 DEX (I decided that power cleans != pullups, and they are not even in the same category since pullups are really a strength issue and power cleans are more technique-driven)

3) Eat paleo INCLUDING less drinking - 2 CON, 1 STA and 1 WIS (con for health, stamina for willpower, and wisdom for being smart about it)

4) Save $200 (I think - must evaluate finance situation today) a month - 3 WIS

I plan to get here using SS and finding new and awesome recipes for myself. And not being lazy about my finances. And using Mint to track said finances.

Measurement for drinking and eating Paleo: I will allow myself 6 drinks the first week, 5 the next, etc etc etc. I will use a 10 point scale. For every drink I go over my allotment, I will deduct 1 point. At the end of the week, I will calculate my percentages. At the end of the challenge, I will average these percentages for a grade. For the eating, I will use the same scale, but allow myself 1 non-Paleo meal per week throughout the challenge. This one is going to be tough!

Character sheet:

Name: Mir

Title: Goddess of Sexy Sheep

Race: Half-Dwarf

Class: Warrior

STR: 2

DEX: 2

STA: 2

CON: 2

WIS: 2

CHA: 5

Now I really want a drawing of myself.

What do y'all think?

Anyway here are some pictures:

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And some from yesterday's workout:

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Aaaand here is the TERRIBLE VIDEO everyone has been clamoring for:

[Teneris]

I'll be cheering you on this challenge, Mir. Best of luck to you :^)

[joeyb]

Set a goal for how much you want to save. 100% gets you an A, 75% B, 50% C, 25% D, 0% E.

Paleo isn't for me, but I also couldn't give up drinking, so I'm not the best person to ask. However, If I were to do this, I would say 0-6 drinks (1 per week avg) is an A, 7-12 is a B, 13-18 is a C, 19-24 is a D, and 25+ is an E. But, you'd also have to keep track of standard drinks. A pint of beer is 16oz and a standard drink is 12oz. So, 3 pints = 4 standard drinks. That's how I'd do it anyway (and kind of how I did it during lent). It holds you to drinking only at events so that you can have more than one drink at that event.

[Morrigainz]

Good point. I'll have to think about this a little more. And I've got all day tomorrow to do so!

[klaybae]

I am soooo excited to see you meet your challenge goals! And to see the video on here over and over and over

[tigersheart]

excellent video! not terrible at all...and great job! Yeah maybe you should warm just a tad before starting next time...but you survived!

[Bumblebee4]

Hey Mir. Since you asked for opinions I'll give one. I'd say go for the drinking less. Not necessarily cutting it out completely but cutting it down. I hear you talk about how drinking beer is your one vice you'd like to improve so I'd think it might be a better goal to have for the 6 week span. And hey, it's only 6 weeks so if it really sucks to cut down on it, it'll be over soon.

[Loren Wade]

I'm loving all the pics and videos, Mir!!! Great challenge!

[Max Power]

When the warriors come out to play, I'm sure something exciting will happen, but for the life of me I can't think of what. Anywho, I dig the video, and I have no doubt you will succeed, I'm pretty stoked to see the outcome. Good Luck!

[joeyb]

You could also just set a challenge to not drink a boot for 6 weeks.

[spezzy]

love the video, and i have the exact same sports bra.

eating paleo requires less drinking.

just saying...

[Snake McClain]

You can do it. Good luck. Also the video made me laugh. But in a good way. Not a mean way.

[cline]

Ranger support here! You can do it!

Go for the beer goal - with me! I'm doing that goal too.

[Morrigainz]

eating paleo requires less drinking.

just saying...

I know...haha. Up until now I've always kind of separated the two to allow myself the joy of drinking. However, now I realize how much it's really hampering my goals. And I really do like eating paleo..so I think I will go the paleo route but include the drinking in it! How's that for novel?

Like Bumblebee said, it's only 6 weeks I do have some special events coming up, but if I drink less when I'm *not* at those events, I'll feel less guilty.

How's that for shocking?

Joey - but I love Das Boot! Also that Monte Cristo was deep-fried deliciousness but I'm definitely feeling it today...

Bruce - I totes don't mind laughing I was laughing at myself!

Cline - we can do this!

[bigm141414]

Love the video Mir! Good luck on your goals. I am pretty sure you are gonna rock the power clean. I need to learn that one as well.

eating paleo requires less drinking.

just saying...

Eating paleo means more tequila....

just sayin.

[Hermione Gainser]

How long between those sets of photos? Your progress thus far is awesome!

Get your hulk on, girl!

[cline]

Yeah we can. My spouse said " no way during vacay" I said to not hinder my goals man. Get off my cloud.

We are going to do this.. Even w beer expo and beer week... (Gah!) oh yeah and my friend just got a job at a beer distributor....

[Morrigainz]

How long between those sets of photos? Your progress thus far is awesome!

Those were all taken the same day. I haven't taken progress pics in a while because I haven't really made any progress...after Easter I didn't work out for 2 weeks, plus my diet was horrible. Here's the last set that I had, taken a month ago:

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Yeah we can. My spouse said " no way during vacay" I said to not hinder my goals man. Get off my cloud.

We are going to do this.. Even w beer expo and beer week... (Gah!) oh yeah and my friend just got a job at a beer distributor....

OMG. You have your work cut out for you! But we can TOTES do this. When is your beer expo??? Ours is in 2 weeks...and I agreed to go before I knew I was trying to decrease my drinking I might give myself a little pass for that...not sure yet though.

[Pat G]

Smash those cleans. i'm joining you on that one.

[Bean]

Good luck on these goals.

My vote goes with less beer, more paleo (just 'coz I can't decide which you shoudl chosse)

Financial goals - you need to be very specific. Make sure you have a detailed budget and set a very specific savings target. $1000 is a very popular one unless you have that squirelled away already. If so, then aim higher!

[Morrigainz]

Day 1

Hokay. So. Here's the Earth.

Wait, let me start over.

I forgot today I am having a "Lunch and learn" about Citrix and iOS. They are providing pizza for lunch. And I'm pretty sure my husband has ravioli on the menu for dinner. So Day 1 and I will already be behind on my Paleo goals...haha.

Today is a lifting day; I plan to go after dinner.

Other goals for today:

Check out the finance situation and make sure it's feasible to save $200 a month.

Put away the summer clothes I got out of the spare closet yesterday.

Yesterday's goals:

I didn't actually make any goals yesterday, but I was sooooooper productive all weekend. Got lots of cooking, cleaning, laundry, and clothes-swapping done.

Food:

breakfast monster, 1 piece (I didn't cook it long enough so the center is kind of runny...gross)

1 oz (maybe a little less than) walnuts, 2 strawberries

2 pieces of BACON AND PEPPERONI pizza, 2 pieces STRAWBERRY NOM CAKE, 1 can Coca-Cola (uuuuggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

Muscle Milk Light protein shake (basically MM in a 100 calorie box)

Chicken, bok choy, and mushroom stir fry - this is delicious but make sure you actually use coconut aminos because "liquid aminos" are soooper dooper salty and taste just like soy sauce

1 beer

Food points: 10/10 (went to the gym during dinner time so avoided the ravioli! yay!) 0 cheat meals left

Beer points: 10/10 (mmmm beer) 5 beers left*

*I say this in the Unreal Tournament voice: "Five frags left!"

Workout:

5 min warmup on the treadmill at 5.2

20s prone cobra

20s superman

20 lb/25 lb goblet squats

65/95/115 squats (I think) for warmup

3x5 125 lb squats

somewhere in here a pullup attempt for fun

45/65 bench press for warmup

3x5 75 lb bench press

power clean practice

2x1 135 lb deadlift

40/60 lb lat pulldowns (warmup)

1x5 80 lb lat pulldowns

[Fink]

Good luck!!!!

[bigm141414]

Day 1

Hokay. So. Here's the Earth.

I don't care how this challenge goes, you've just won right here with this quote +10

[Morrigainz]

I don't care how this challenge goes, you've just won right here with this quote +10

Thanks Bigm. That's one of my favorite videos EVER.

[weirdquark]

Good luck with your goals! It'll be awesome!