That Orc Ranger can't get his shit together

[The Battle Chef]

It's been 5 years in the making, but I'm getting carpal tunnel surgery a little bit after the end of this challenge.  No more numb hands, no more randomly losing the ability to hold things, and no more stabbing pains whenever I try to use a door knob.  

Surgery postponed until Januray.

 

CHALLENGE THE 1ST: LIFT STUFF!
- Very much strength focused until I go into surgery.  I am close to a 200# Deadlift and damnit, I am going to get it.   BLAM!  300# deadlift single!
- Fix my damn warmup routine.  I am guilty of being half-assed with it. (WIP)

- Re-read "Becoming a Supple Leopard" by Kelly Starrett.  I have a few naggy bits to sort out.

CHALLENGE THE 2ND: EAT STUFF!
 I have been dealing with The Gout for most of my adult life.  While I have not had a flare up in a few years, I've felt like I have been at the cusp of one for a while lately.  I want to shift my diet to a mostly vegetarian one for this challenge, going to aim for 6 servings of meat per week (eggs & dairy are permitted.)  My sister is coming for a visit this summer and her boyfriend is of Indian descent, both are vegetarian as well.  I do love me some dal, so I will be delving into the wonderful world of Indian cuisine for a base.

CHALLENGE THE 3RD: PREP STUFF!
- Read "Ready to Run" by Kelly Starrett, and break in my running shoes.  This is going to be extra silly because I'll be replacing my laces with zip ties, as I could not get velcro closures for my giant feets.
- Fill up the freezer with portioned meals.  I'm ok with not chopping much with one hand.

CHALLENGE THE 4TH: CLEAN STUFF!

More relevant towards the end of the challenge (less time to mess things up again), but I want to get my office and kitchen as cripple friendly as possible.  Most of my dry food items (grains, pulses etc.) will be portioned in one litre containers, relocated to lower shelves, etc.  

 

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

Following!

 

How long is recovery expected to take for that surgery?  I can't imagine your work is particularly one-hand friendly...

 

[The Battle Chef]

31 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Following!

 

How long is recovery expected to take for that surgery?  I can't imagine your work is particularly one-hand friendly...

 

I'm off for 12 weeks.
They operate on one hand at a time, recovery is expected to be 4-6 weeks per hand. Not looking forward to it, but it has to be done.

[shaar]

5 hours ago, Azukmul gro-Dragnar said:

I'm off for 12 weeks.
They operate on one hand at a time, recovery is expected to be 4-6 weeks per hand. Not looking forward to it, but it has to be done.

 

Oh wow.  Yeah that is some recovery....

 

But man I can't even imagine the quality of life change you're gonna have!!

[The Battle Chef]

3 hours ago, shaar said:

 

Oh wow.  Yeah that is some recovery....

 

But man I can't even imagine the quality of life change you're gonna have!!

It'll sure make pull up progression & grip work easier.

I'm a huge fan of Brian Alshrue, and he recently posted a video about his own lengthy injury recovery process.  It was both timely and encouraging.
 

My biggest worry is that I am going to be told I cannot drive.  I'm not sure what local laws are about driving with one hand not useable, I am having a hard time finding out.  If they tell me I cannot drive I am screwed- I live way out in Cow Land where the Necks are Red and it's a very long way to the nearest bus stop.

But that's a worry for the next challenge.

[WhiteGhost]

Ugh, that's a long time.  Hoe it completely fixes the CTS and you can once again move your hands pain free

[ladymorella]

Hope the surgery goes well.

 

Sounds like an awesome challenge. Deadlifts, Supple Leopard, and Ready to Run?! I love deadlifts. I have been trying to regain my 200# DL, but can't seem to do it and now I'm not allowed to do it for a few weeks. Good luck to you. How close are you? 

 

Supple Leopard and Ready to Run in one challenge? I have skimmed through these books so many times, but never read either. I started Ready to Run, but stopped at some point a year and half ago and probably need to start over. 

 

Also Indian food as some great vegetarian options. I have never had interest in vegetarianism, but if I had to I would probably have to learn how to cook Indian food. 

[The Battle Chef]

4 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Ugh, that's a long time.  Hoe it completely fixes the CTS and you can once again move your hands pain free

Thanks, Success rate is supposed to be high.  Here's hoping.

 

 

25 minutes ago, ladymorella said:

Hope the surgery goes well.

 

Sounds like an awesome challenge. Deadlifts, Supple Leopard, and Ready to Run?! I love deadlifts. I have been trying to regain my 200# DL, but can't seem to do it and now I'm not allowed to do it for a few weeks. Good luck to you. How close are you? 

 

Supple Leopard and Ready to Run in one challenge? I have skimmed through these books so many times, but never read either. I started Ready to Run, but stopped at some point a year and half ago and probably need to start over. 

 

Also Indian food as some great vegetarian options. I have never had interest in vegetarianism, but if I had to I would probably have to learn how to cook Indian food. 

I'm attempting 190# deadlift today.  Lately I've been hitting a few plateaus and de-loading a few lifts.  We'll see how it goes.

And meat is an aggravator for gout.  I've cut out most other aggravators but I still feel like I'm pushing my luck.  So we'll see what happens.

[shaar]

20 hours ago, Azukmul gro-Dragnar said:

But that's a worry for the next challenge.

 

This is a V. Good Thing.  One worry at a time!  (If at all possible.........)

[ladyofthebog]

following along. and not to sound like a broken record but if you get an instant pot i have a bunch of indian vegetarian recipes to share. makes it super easy. i'm a vegetarian, though family is not, so i cook a lot of vegetarian fare. i'll try to post recipes! good idea on the premade meals.

 

wish i could help with your hand/car situation.

 

looking forward to see how things work out.

[The Battle Chef]

As far as the vegetarian transition goes, it seems easiest to leave the meat-eating to my staff meal at work.  Since I do all the cooking at home I set the menu.  There are always multiple options, mainly being:

1) Make do

2) Eat elsewhere

 

Tonight's menu is split pea dal, punjabi style roasted cauliflower and black rice.  Froze off a portion for the summer.

 

Dal recipe here:

 

[Seraphina]

I'm glad you're back! It might be a step further than you want, but I do a vegan recipe thread [link's in the signature] with pictures and notes. 

 

I'll be following along!

 

[The Battle Chef]

Sooo I fell asleep in my garage gym while getting ready to train...

...after taking 400 mg of caffeine an hour prior...

...and I was out for almost 2 hours...

I think I'm just going to read tonight.

[Seraphina]

Whoa! Sounds like your body needed the sleep badly

[The Battle Chef]

So today, during three separate incidences, I

A- Sprained my knee
B- Pulled most of the muscles in my back

and C- Spilled boiling gravy all over my hand and narrowly avoided second degree burns.

[shaar]

Boiling gravy, YIIIIKES!

 

(hope your muscles are ok too!!!)

[WhiteGhost]

Sounds like it was not the best of days...  Hope the spilled gravy burns don't impact your CTS surgery

[doctorake]

Following along. That last day sounds like it was rough.

 

[The Battle Chef]

I'm taking, at the very least, this entire week off lifting.  I'm thankful I didn't do any serious damage to my back, but I'm a little hesitant to push it too far too soon.

Add to that another extremely busy work week incoming and I'm still falling asleep despite caffeine intakes that would kill a lesser person, this probably is not a bad thing.  Guess I'll try to get some reading in and break in them shoes.

[Legionary]

Following, I love me some Indian food so I might try some of you're recipes to bring to work this summer. Best of luck on the recovery, sometimes it feels like taking it easy is more stressful than training like a beast. 

[doctorake]

Taking a break and letting things recover is always a smart choice

[crazykhajiitlady]

oof sounds like you've had a recent spat of misfortune - I hope you recover well from all of these trials and your surgery goes smoothly! 

[The Battle Chef]

Thanks folks, I appreciate it.

This weekend was so busy at work I easily walked 12+km per day in that tiny kitchen of ours.  Friggin' insane.  I'm ending Week 0 with a 4-pack of hard lemonade and some soup.

This recipe isn't worth posting, but I'm sharing as part of the challenge.  Really I was just throwing whatever was about to go bad into the pot.

 

Lemon & Chickpea Soup

Yields about 2 L

 

1 cup spanish onion, small dice

 

1/2 cup carrot, small dice

1/2 cup celery, small dice

 

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 tsp "tex mex" type spice blend (any mildly hot/smoky blend, really)
1/2 tsp cumin
 

2 cans chickpeas, with their juices

1 cup string beans, cut 1/2" pieces

Juice of 1 lemon
Veg or chicken stock, as needed

 

Salt & pepper to taste

Rough chopped parsley, cilantro or scallion to garnish

- Saute onion in a little oil until just starting to brown.  Reduce heat slightly and add in celery/carrot.
- Sweat the mirepoix until carrot and celery soften.  Add the tomato, garlic, and spices.  Stir thoroughly and continue to sweat until the tomato begins to stick to the pot.
- Add the chickpeas, beans, lemon and scrape the bottom of the pot thoroughly to remove any stuck on bits.  Add stock to cover the ingredients, if needed.
- Simmer on low, 20-30 minutes and season to taste with salt & pepper.  

Garnish as desired when serving.

[ladyofthebog]

man, now i have a hankering for hard lemonade and this soup! i may try later this week. i'll report back. i hope your hand is healing up. take care, dear orc friend.

[The Battle Chef]

4 hours ago, ladyofthebog said:

man, now i have a hankering for hard lemonade and this soup! i may try later this week. i'll report back. i hope your hand is healing up. take care, dear orc friend.

It turned out better than expected, not gonna lie.  I'm really not a fan of Mike's hard lemonade, but I just didn't have the energy to make lemon simple syrup and buy more vodka and limoncello to make a proper drink.