I'm Back, Baby!

[Dyego]

In the [not-quite]immortal words of Bender B. Rodriguez:

My last challenge was December of 2016. In the mean time I've actually not done too bad for myself, so this challenge is not a restart. This challenge is about me keeping the habits that I've begun to build over the last two months, and then building on those habits.

 

As such, my goals for this challenge are simple:

1) Keep my daily habits going

I have six daily habits that I work on, but they are kept specifically vague so I don't ever have to feel boxed in, which is what tended to happen with my old daily habits of even something as simple as "walk 5 minutes." What if it's too hot? What if I don't feel like walking? So here are my six daily goals, which I will be keeping track of on a spreadsheet probably.

[0 - 0 | W0] Exercise

[0 - 0 | W0] Creative

[0 - 0 | W0] Spiritual

[0 - 0 | W0] Veggies

[0 - 0 | W0] Vitamins

[0 - 0 | W0] Stretches

 

Updated Rules: This will be a Win / Loss schedule, with a trailing Current Winning (or losing) Streak, as well as an explanation of what was done for each. I have 4 Bye Days per this challenge. During a Bye Day, anything I don't accomplish doesn't count as a loss, but anything I do accomplish keeps my wins going!

 

2) Increase the potency of my daily habits

More days than not I simply do the minimum required of the habit, IE I drink V8 juice as my veggies. And while keeping the habit going is excellent, I'd like to start increasing my thresholds. Under my stretches, I've been doing a pseudo-yoga set for awhile that includes planks, and I've been keeping them pretty steady at 20-30 seconds. By the end of this month, I'd like to be able to hold a 60 second plank just once, but get my average up to 30-40. This #2 goal of increasing potency, however, will not override my #1 goal. If I have to do the minimum to keep the habit, by golly, I'm going to do the minimum. Keeping the pace is more important right now.

 

3) Lose some weight!

I'm at 267.7 according to Today's Weigh-In. Through a combination of "More Paleo!" and "More weights!" I will lower this number. By the end of the four weeks I'd like to be in the 250s.

 

4) Get my wife and I to the doctor

We both need checkups and need to deal with current issues, so this is an important goal.

 

5) Work on Menu    

I need to make a large menu of Paleo and Paleo-ish meals, one from which I can draw at random for a week's menu planning to make things easier. So I'm going to scour the web for recipes and ideas that I can then compile for this.

 

So that's my plan for this challenge. Prep Week will involve planning some meals, buying the right groceries, and getting my Workout Jams playlist in order!

[Annabelle]

I've seen so many returning rebels in this challenge so far - it's honestly giving me a lot of hope that I'm not a solo failure.. LOL

 

Really digging the vibe of vague goals. I know the preferred goals are concrete, but as someone who also gets nervy when boxed into a 'have to' situation, I applaud you finding a way to work both 'systems'.

 

And high five on goal #4! I need to get my husband into the doctors office for a checkup. He's convinced he doesn't need to, but I'd beg to differ. I finally did it myself last August for my annual and I'm so glad I did.

[Rookie]

This is awesome! Love your approach and kudos to you for doing what works FOR YOU. I am getting to a part of my life where I do things my way.... I used to be easily swayed by "you should do this" or "Well this is how everyone does it". Now I know what works and doesn't work for me and even if its not conventional I am going to keep doing it my way. 

We have the same starting weights more or less! Go us I am more of a repeat offender in the NF world though lol so I am taking it slow and aiming for 260lbs by the end of this challenge.

[Dyego]

Woot for same(ish) starting weights! Also, woot for all of the Returning Rebels this challenge! I've been crushing it finding some recipes, now I just need to compile them properly. Chicken's on sale this week, so it looks like I'm going to be trying my hand at some new recipes my first week.

[fiddle-on]

Yet another returner!

 

I like the vague goals. I've usually got a mix of specific and vague. Like right now, I've got a clear calorie goal (300-500 calorie deficit, no added sugar), but a vague exercise goal (do it and include strength training sometimes). Also, I think I need to copy the doctor's visit: I'm past due for one.

 

 

[Dyego]

This should be called The Challenge of the Returning Rebels!

[Rookie]

13 hours ago, Dyego said:

This should be called The Challenge of the Returning Rebels!

omg yass lol I LOVE that its a lot of returning Rebels <3 

 

17 hours ago, Dyego said:

Woot for same(ish) starting weights! Also, woot for all of the Returning Rebels this challenge! I've been crushing it finding some recipes, now I just need to compile them properly. Chicken's on sale this week, so it looks like I'm going to be trying my hand at some new recipes my first week.

Waaht lol stock up. Chicken is very rarely on sale here. I love trying new recipes <3 if you find some real winners be sure to share!

 

[ladyofthebog]

following! i'm a health professional and i avoid the md too!

[Dyego]

Spent about three hours yesterday combing through hundreds of Paleo recipes. To my credit, despite still being a rather picky eater, I added the majority of them to my recipe grab bag. Today and tomorrow I have several more recipe sites to go through, and then it'll be off to my other recipe sites to take the ones I already love and make them Paleo-ish.

 

For the record for anyone following: I do not follow a strict Paleo diet just yet, so don't get mad at me when I have rice once or twice a week My goal is to eat less and have what I eat be healthier in general, but I live in the middle of the Second Great Mexican Food Land so that's not always going to happen. (Corn tortillas are still less evil than other grains though, and if they aren't I don't want to hear about it )

[J3NN]

3 hours ago, Dyego said:

but I live in the middle of the Second Great Mexican Food Land

Is there a map of these lands? I'm wondering where I live now! I did an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities earlier this year and Mexican was thing I missed most through that experience.... although I did discover how to make my own tortillas using brown rice flour, and a great chicken recipe with pomegranate juice as the marinade. So good!

[LightMotif]

I wonder what my area is known for. On one hand, our most known restaurants are pretty unhealthy but then we also have a famous market with tons of fresh fruits and veggies for cheap (and there are a lot of farms here) 

 

Anyways, welcome back, and great goals! I will be following this one

[Dyego]

Day One Weigh-In: 266.8 lbs. I lost a pound in prep week, probably just from all the prepping!

 

I'm going to be editing my primary post to contain my "rules" for this challenge, basically turning this into a tournament. (Yes, I've been watching some basketball )

 

[1 - 0 | W1] Exercise

[1 - 0 | W1] Creative

[1 - 0 | W1 ] Spiritual

[1 - 0 | W1 ] Veggies

[1 - 0 | W1] Vitamins

[1 - 0 | W1] Stretches [35 second plank included]

[0 - 1 | L1] Diet [Ate way too much sugar and didn't follow meal plan]

 

I will mostly be updating my thread the following day, but I will keep track of certain things as they happen.

 

Edit 1, 10:48pm: Added my veggies (salsa!) exercise (a bunch of arm weight exercises) and creative (worked on story elements for my novel and future projects). Going to tackle spiritual tonight. Woot!

 

Edit 2, 1:31pm Tuesday with Final Tallies

[Rookie]

Have you checked out nomnompaleo? I follow her on instagram and even though I don't really plan on following paleo, I have thought about getting her cookbook... and an instapot lol or pressure cooker thing. Her stuff looks amazing. 

 

And I think its okay to not go strictly paleo 100% of the time as long as you are being responsible.  

[Annabelle]

1 hour ago, Rookie said:

Have you checked out nomnompaleo? I follow her on instagram and even though I don't really plan on following paleo, I have thought about getting her cookbook... and an instapot lol or pressure cooker thing. Her stuff looks amazing. 

 

And I think its okay to not go strictly paleo 100% of the time as long as you are being responsible.  

 

Doooo it! I have zero issue admitting I'm one of "those" people about the Instant Pot. It's just so freakin' handy! I can make rice for the family in it while my cauliflower rice is in the microwave, or I can steam veggies super fast, steam potatoes for mashed potatoes.. frozen chicken in like 20 minutes.. it's my baby. I even took it camping earlier this month when I was in charge of feeding 20-ish people and browned sausage in it before making sausage gravy for breakfast. It really is just that versatile.

 

Also I really dig PaleOMG for recipes too. I've got a couple staples stashed away that I found there (the pumpkin chai bread is so..SO good).

[Rookie]

40 minutes ago, Annabelle said:

 

Doooo it! I have zero issue admitting I'm one of "those" people about the Instant Pot. It's just so freakin' handy! I can make rice for the family in it while my cauliflower rice is in the microwave, or I can steam veggies super fast, steam potatoes for mashed potatoes.. frozen chicken in like 20 minutes.. it's my baby. I even took it camping earlier this month when I was in charge of feeding 20-ish people and browned sausage in it before making sausage gravy for breakfast. It really is just that versatile.

 

Also I really dig PaleOMG for recipes too. I've got a couple staples stashed away that I found there (the pumpkin chai bread is so..SO good).

Everytime I pass one in walmart I pause lollllll maybe by the end of the challenge I will get one. I heard you can make whole chickens, yogurt, oatmeal, bread, rice, veggies, soup...like all the things lol. But that means the rice cooker might be retired lol or I'll need to actually clear out my cupboards and organize lol

[ladyofthebog]

YES! I AM ALSO AN INSTANT POT FANATIC. it's really changed my life. but yes, i must admit that we've kept our rice maker because it just works a lot better when it comes to rice or i haven't figured out the finesse to rice in the instant pot.

[Annabelle]

2 hours ago, ladyofthebog said:

YES! I AM ALSO AN INSTANT POT FANATIC. it's really changed my life. but yes, i must admit that we've kept our rice maker because it just works a lot better when it comes to rice or i haven't figured out the finesse to rice in the instant pot.

 

My husband refuses to admit my instant pot does anything BUT rice... LOL  When we make it, we do 1 part rice to 1.5 parts liquid* (water, chicken broth, whatevs), hit the rice button and it always comes out perfect. I do manually release the pressure though instead of a natural release. Maybe that's what it is? I know pressure release can effect whatever you're cooking in there.

 

I love throwing chicken bouillon powder, lime juice, all sorts of fun stuff into it when I make rice. It gives it just enough extra flavor but not so much added stuff that it throws off the cooking time.

 

I never had a rice maker before it, and I still use my crock pot (sometimes even in tandem with my instant pot!) so I didn't have to declutter any kitchen appliances when i bought it. I can see where I would've probably stalled on buying one myself if I already had a rice cooker

[Dyego]

Chalk me up as another Instant Pot Fanatic! For me, rice is what turned it from a dusty-in-the-closet to a use-it-every-week. I make Jasmine rice in it, and it always comes out perfect. For Jasmine, it's 2 cups liquid, 2 cups (unwashed) rice, 4 minutes on high, and then any release depending on how long I can resist the heavenly smell.

 

I'm definitely going to check out nomnompaleo and PaleOMG, thanks for the suggestions! And speaking of diet, I'm going to add diet to my daily score card because MAN did I fail it yesterday. In my defense, I played boardgames with my wife and parents all day and that makes eating healthy really hard, but I still didn't have to eat all that sugar....salt water taffy man, it's a weakness.

 

But I have vowed to follow the "Never Twice In A Row" rule and today I'm going to crush the diet! Woot!

 

Also updated my scorecard with the Final Tallies for Monday.

[Dyego]

[1 - 1 | L1] Exercise

[2 - 0 | W2] Creative

[1 - 1 | L1 ] Spiritual

[2 - 0 | W2 ] Veggies

[2 - 0 | W2] Vitamins

[2 - 0 | W2] Stretches [35 second plank included]

[0 - 2 | L2] Diet

 

Details tomorrow

[Dyego]

Yesteryday's report: a spiral of bad things happened, including family issues and technical issues, leading me to only get half my diet in order. Half is, in my book, still a loss so I counted it as such.

 

Today is a Bye Day. I forgot to mention in my rules that I have a date day once a week so I have 4 Byes assigned to me to use for whatever I wish. On a Bye Day, any things I get accomplished will help toward my win records, but anything I don't accomplish does not break my record. After all, need to have a little fun every now and then without worrying about too much, right? After yesterday I needed a break, but I still managed to get some things accomplished anyway. Woot! I also forgot to mark as Accomplished one of my goals!

 

Day Three

Bye Used | Left: 3/4

[2 - 1 | W1] Exercise  

[2 - 0 | W2] Creative [Bye Day]

[2 - 1 | W1 ] Spiritual  

[2 - 0 | W2 ] Veggies [Bye Day]

[3 - 0 | W3] Vitamins  

[2 - 0 | W2] Stretches [Bye Day]

[0 - 2 | L2] Diet [Bye Day]

[Dyego]

Today turned out a lot better than the past few days, despite some very, very discouraging news in my inbox. I didn't let that keep me down and instead powered through my sorrow and have already accomplished a lot today.

 

Day Four

Bye Used | Left: 3/4

[2 - 2 | L1] Exercise 

[3 - 0 | W3] Creative  

[3 - 1 | L1 ] Spiritual

[2 - 1 | L1 ] Veggies

[4 - 0 | W4] Vitamins  

[3 - 0 | W3] Stretches 

[1 - 2 | W1] Diet 

 

I only managed to hold my plank for 25 seconds today, a low for recent times, but at least I did it! As for diet: Breakfast was a handful of cashews, lunch was Tuna Pickle Boats, and dinner was Triple Chipotle Chicken Tacos. Tacos may not be exactly paleo, but I only ate 4 instead of my usual 6-8 and I had refried beans instead of a mound of rice. I'm considering it a victory, and I have a nice paleo dessert waiting for me this evening.

 

Edit: updated totals

[Rookie]

A 25 second plank still sounds pretty damn impressive to me lol 

 

Great job with your diet yesterday! And great job on powering through the day despite some less than stellar news. Its so easy to use those things as an excuse.

[Annabelle]

I haven't planked in forever.. I feel like 25 seconds would be a major win for me right now. Don't downplay it - embrace it! ♥

 

I love your bye system. Sometimes you need to pump the brakes, and its good to factor that in so you don't feel bad for not getting something done you wanted to. I was preaching to my friend the other night about how perfection is a jerk and makes you feel like a failure when you don't get it - so don't look to be perfect, just look to be consistent. 

[Dyego]

Thanks for the support Yeah, I've learned the hard way the last few years that perfectionism really bites you in the butt. I still try, of course, because I'm me, but I've given myself permission to be imperfect. It helps a lot.

 

Today has started off amazingly, with a record 45 second plank! I was mad and used my Thor-from-Infinity-War mode: "Anger is a great motivator." Of course, now I'm sore as all-get-out, but woot! New record! Also, I'm at a five-day winning streak for Vitamins, one of my best-ever streaks since...ever! (I have such a hard time taking vitamins or medicine every day. So bad at it.)

 

Day Five

Bye Used | Left: 3/4

[3 - 2 | W1] Exercise  

[4 - 0 | W4] Creative 

[4 - 1 | W1 ] Spiritual 

[3 - 1 | W1 ] Veggies 

[5 - 0 | W5] Vitamins  

[4 - 0 | W4] Stretches 

[2 - 2 | W2] Diet 

 

Edit:

Got a big win today, my first Full Day!! Exercise: cleaning up around the house and my gparents house for several hours today definitely counts as exercise. Diet: I made fish & chips for the parents. Gluten-free since I have Celiac Disease, and it was delicious! My first-ever fish and chips, actually. I ate much less than usual, including only one serving of potatoes! (I tried to find sweet potatoes to fry, but there were none nearby ) Instead of a pile of GF brownies and cookies, I had one Paleo dessert and called it a day.

 

I count as a huge success! Woot!

 

[Rookie]

Yes! What a super finish to that day. Great job!