Finding peace at the eye of the storm.

[Arcanis]

Greetings to the Nerd Fitness monks!  I'm respawning here after nearly 4 years of inactivity and I hope you'll welcome me to your ranks.  I've respawned as monk because I've recently started taking Muay Thai and rediscovered my passion for the martial arts (former Tae Kwon Do and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner).  IRL I work a desk job with a fairly unpredictable schedule (litigation attorney, for those who might be familiar with that lifestyle), so I often feel like my life is tossing me around like a ship in a storm.  Combined with significant turmoil in my romantic life, exacerbated by a tragic death in the family, it felt more like a hurricane. 

 

Long story short, I'm here because I've had enough.  I am getting this ship through the storm, one way or another.  This begins with accepting two things: 1) there are things I cannot control, and 2) there are things that I can control.  For the time being, I must accept my job (though I am looking for good exit options).  But, chief among the things I can control are my diet, my fitness, my gear, and MY CREW.  I hope you'll help me in this journey, and I will endeavor to help you with yours.  Without much further ado, I present to you my goals for this challenge.  But first, a bit of motivation:

 

 

Alright, we all know the old adage "you are what you eat."  Fortunately, my previous quests have instilled great habits when it comes to nutrition (I eat mostly paleo), but what I eat these days is, frankly, uninspiring.  I've resolved to make my first objective a three-prong cooking challenge!

 

1) Triple-New Cooking Quest= New Ingredients, New Utensils, New Recipes.  Once a week I aspire to cook a new recipe, using a new ingredient, requiring a new utensil.  I get all three, an A; only two, a B; only one, a C.  None?  Fail.  I'll be posting once a week to let you know what I've cooked, whether I liked it, and whether there are any tips I can offer based on my experience.

 

Next up, managing my beverages.  Again, my previous quests have instilled good habits when it comes to avoiding drinking my calories, but the exception remains to be alcohol.  I've improved a great deal on the total amount that I drink, but the fact remains that I still drink virtually every day.  I've resolved to limit alcohol to limited number of days.

 

2) Alcohol Allowance= No more than half of the week.  I know, a week has seven days; how do you track 3.5 days of drinking?  I'll distinguish between the grades as follows:  Only 3 days a week, no more than 1 day of heavy drinking (more than 3 drinks) is an A.  Only 4 days a week, no more than 1 day of heavy drinking is a B.  Even if limited to 3-4 days, 2 days of heavy drinking is automatically a C.  More than 4 days or more than 2 days of heavy drinking is a fail.  I track my food and drink consumption, so this will be fairly easy to report.

 

Moving along to fitness, I want to keep up with my martial arts training AND strength training!  My minimum amount of exercise will be martial arts, and strength training provides my grades:

 

3) Training Montage= Minimum 2 nights a week of muay thai and 1 night a week of strength training = C.  Add another day of strength training = B.  Three nights of strength training = A.  Anything else is a fail.  I'm going to start tracking exercise on top of my food, so this'll come in handy to improve my mindfulness too.

 

Finally, my wardrobe is better lately, but largely an antiquated mess.  Thus,

 

4) Gear Upgrade = Once a week I aim to donate a clothing item that does not work for me and upgrade it with another.  This is pass/fail.  I do it or I don't.  

 

With that, I hope to report back at the end of next week.  I wish you all the best of luck in your challenges, and I expect great things from all of you.  Feel free to reach out if you'd like to go on this quest together.

 

Arcanis out! 

[Kishi]

Nice! Welcome to the Monastery, and welcome back to the Rebellion at large. We're happy to have you and we look forward to seeing what you do.

 

Anyway, you seem to have done a good job with picking your goals. I wish I had something highfalutin to say about them, but they look good to me. We have a recipes thread up and running, and anything you want to throw out there to us would be well and truly appreciated.  Alternately, if you want to try some of the stuff we've got compiled, feel free.

 

Also, I feel you on needing to update my wardrobe. Lots of things I need to get cleaned and pressed in addition to just looking better. It's a challenge, for sure.

 

All that said, things look good here. Can't wait to see how this goes. To it, then!

[Toshimi]

Welcome back!

 

 

5 hours ago, Arcanis said:

1) Triple-New Cooking Quest= New Ingredients, New Utensils, New Recipes.  Once a week I aspire to cook a new recipe, using a new ingredient, requiring a new utensil.  I get all three, an A; only two, a B; only one, a C.  None?  Fail.  I'll be posting once a week to let you know what I've cooked, whether I liked it, and whether there are any tips I can offer based on my experience.

 

In addition to the thread, if you need ideas let me know. I might have a problem with acquiring kitchen gadgets/utensils, and am more than happy to share some of my favorites!

[Arcanis]

Alright monks, starting week two and here to tell you how I've done on my first week.  Long story short: pretty good!

 

 

 

Triple New Cooking Quest:  A!  I made this:  https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/09/east-sauteed-squash-zucchini-tomato-chilies-herbs-recipe.html

New Knife, New Vegetables (Zucchini and Yellow Squash), and New Recipe.  Pretty good.  Lemon and spice did wonders for this.

 

Alcohol Allowance: C.  I didn't fail, but I didn't do so great.  Kept it to 4 nights, but I drank too much on 2 of those nights.  I'll have to come up with a strategy to limit myself at events with heavy drinking.  Don't get me wrong, this is an improvement on how much I normally drink, so I'm pleased.  Gonna shoot for an A or B this week!

 

Training Montage:  A!  Two Muay Thai workouts and three strength training workouts.  I'm particularly proud because I managed to squeeze workouts in during work hours when work was being uncooperative with my evenings.  Hope it keeps up.

 

Gear Upgrade:  Pass.  Hopefully not TMI, but I was able to upgrade the crappy half of my underwear.  I'm a big fan of Uniqlo activewear, including their underwear.  Would recommend:  https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/men/underwear

 

All in all, I'm happy.  I'll need to do a better on drinking less at parties, as well as partying less overall, but I'm glad I've cut back on days where I'm just drinking for fun.  I found that cooking and shopping fits nicely into my weekends and gives me something better to do with my day than sitting around drinking.  I hope you all had decent success with your first week.  If not, we have this week to do better.

 

Til next time monks!

[Kishi]

Hey, man, as long as you're moving forward. More things went right than wrong, and as long as you can keep that up consistently, the right things will have a tendency to bring the wrong things into line. Keep working on it and you'll get there.

 

Good first week! Hope the second goes awesome!

[Toshimi]

10 hours ago, Arcanis said:

Alcohol Allowance: C.  I didn't fail, but I didn't do so great.  Kept it to 4 nights, but I drank too much on 2 of those nights.  I'll have to come up with a strategy to limit myself at events with heavy drinking.  Don't get me wrong, this is an improvement on how much I normally drink, so I'm pleased.  Gonna shoot for an A or B this week!

 

Club soda with a splash of cranberry (or other juice) and a lime wedge is my go to not drink drink. Make it easier when you have a plan for something you enjoy drinking that doesn't make you feel like you're left out. 

[Arcanis]

Beginning of Week 3 Update:  Drinking improved, and otherwise holding steady for Week 2!

 

Triple New Cooking Quest:  A+! Experimented with a sous vide to make pork chops (new tool/new recipe) and roasted brussel sprouts (new ingredient/new recipe).  Good grade for going out there, but I don't think any of these recipes will make my standard rotation.  Oh well, more experimenting to come in the following weeks.

 

Alcohol Allowance: B.  I did it!  Only drank heavily once this week, though I did have alcohol on three other days.  I'm going to go for the A this time and keep it to three days!

 

Training Montage:  A!  Another good week of getting my exercise in.  I've also started to add more calories to my diet as the amount of exercise I'm doing was taking a toll on my physique.  Turns out I struggle with eating enough calories on the days I don't drink, so I'm experimenting with nutritional shakes to maintain weight.

 

Gear Upgrade:  Pass.  This week I donated two pairs of shorts and a pair of sweat pants and replaced them with athletic wear that will actually fit me from UnderArmour.  Helps to have clothes that are actually designed for working out.

 

I'm happy I improved on my  drinking this week while maintaining the rest of my goals.  I'm hoping I can do even better this time and limit my drinking to three nights this week.  Also, working from home to go to the higher level Muay Thai sessions is super rewarding... Don't tell my boss.

[Kishi]

Tell your boss what? Dunno what you're talking about. :'D

 

Anyway, looks like Week 2 ended up better than Week 1. That's what we hoped would happen. You're on the right track with the ETOH allowance, and everything else is holding where it should be. It's just a little bit closer and you got it.

 

Glad to hear that everything is going well. Hit it again!

[Arcanis]

Beginning of Week 4 Update, Labor Day Edition:  What a week!  Straight As!  

 

Triple New Cooking Quest:  A! Homemade hummus (new recipe with new ingredient = tahini) with my new Ninja food processor (new equipment).  Simple, healthy snack food that helps me keep my calories up in a healthy way.  This may stay in my rotation as it is super easy.

 

Alcohol Allowance: A+.  I not only kept my drinking to three days and only drank heavily once, one of those days I only had one drink.  It was a social beer and I didn't feel the need to have three to justify drinking on that day.  This is really huge progress, so I'm giving myself the A+.

 

Training Montage:  A!  Keeping up the good work on this front.  I'm really loving the afternoon classes.  They kick my butt, but they're so much fun.

 

Gear Upgrade:  Pass.  Casual pants acquired!  I'm actually quite pleased about this one.  I'm pretty short and most malls in the US don't carry my size.  I decided to roll the dice anyway and was rewarded with excellent fitting jeans!  I should be able to order from this store online and expect a good fit.  Yay!

 

Hard to do better than I did this week, so here is to hoping I can keep it up and finish the challenge strong.  I'll have to come up with an incentive.  The holiday makes for a tempting time for unhealthy practices.

[Kishi]

YUS. Excellent work! Finish strong!

[sarakingdom]

When I see the title, I keep expecting this thread to break into Hamilton lyrics.

 

 

 

[Treva]

hey, sorry to tune in so late to your challenge.  Welcome to the monks!

I get the time crunch business.  As anyone can tell you, my challenges mostly involve void screaming about med school.  I imagine litigation attorney is just as hellish, if not more.

 

Congrats on the wardrobe turnover and all the great progress you're doing this challenge!  I like your positive changes, especially the hummus.  I love homemade hummus.  It is best.  

 

Also go you for cutting back on drinking, especially since it seems like it's a social thing as well.  Good on you for finding ways to be healthy.  Also, if you find protein shakes that are delicious and Not A Fortune, would you care to share your findings?

 

Congrats again on all the good work you're doing!

[Arcanis]

Fellow monks, I am proud to report my first completed challenge since I was in law school in 2014.  The holiday and other circumstances proved to be a bit of a derailing to my exercise and drinking goals during the week, but I managed to make up for it over the weekend and come in with passing grades!  Here is how it went:

• Triple New Cooking Quest:  A! Roasted medley root vegetables at 425 with olive oil, including beets (my new ingredient), boniato (aka batata), and yuca (aka cassava).  My new tool was a vegetable peeler (so basic, I know, but it was an essential purpose).  I think the beets were probably the star of the dish, adding color and flavor.  I think they'll be added to my assortment of veggies that go into a roast.
• Alcohol Allowance: C.  All things considered, I could've done better.  I drank too much on the holiday, and I drank too much when my friend was in from out of town.  To make matters worse, I had some casual drinks two other nights during the week.  That made me hit 4 nights with 2 heavy drinking for a C.  Still, I faced the weekend with determination, chugging sparkling water and non-alcoholic beer even when others were drinking.  It may not be the best grade, but I think this represents a lot of growth on my part.
• Training Montage:  A!  Somewhat similar to drinking, I slacked during the week for my strength training.  Still, I improvised with what I had at home to do some strength training with my bodyweight and lighter weights.   
• Gear Upgrade:  Pass.  I got rid of some button-down shirts that were plain old, ugly, and ill-fitting and replaced them with some casual button-downs from Untuckit.  Now I can look decent in casual settings with m new jeans!

 

IN CLOSING:

 

 

 

 

NF Friends, first and foremost, I'd like to thank you for your time and attention in supporting my endeavor to get healthy.  I have never had more success in doing so than when I hopped on these forums for a challenge, carefully planned out my goals, and received the kind and caring support of this community.  This challenge was no exception.  I want to share what I've learned in these four weeks in order to memorialize what worked, what didn't, and hopefully provide insight for future challenges for both myself and any readers.  Without further ado:

 

Cooking Lessons:

 

In order of most motivating, the biggest drivers of cooking have been 1) the tools, 2) the ingredients, and 3) the recipes.  Cooking is an endeavor in which having the right tool for the jobs pays in dividends.  When you get tools that make cooking easier, it becomes less of a chore and often improves the end-result.  And, it helps unlock new ingredients and recipes you've never dared to try before.  The star of my purchases has to be the food processor, which has been indispensable in streamlining most mundane of cooking tasks.  Plus, it is dishwasher friendly.  Nothing like making healthy habits easy to keep them in your day to day.

 

Alcohol Lessons:

 

 

Limiting drinking by days was an exercise in willpower, but I don't think it did the best job of encouraging moderation.  For example, on drinking days, I often drank three alcoholic beverages to "make the most of it."  Similarly, on heavy drinking days, I often drank a great deal to "make the most of it."  I think I'll stick with a weekly drink allowance for my next challenge to better navigate a social beer at a party, and mitigate heavy drinking that'll exhaust a beer here and there during the rest of the week.

 

Exercise Lessons:

 

 

Martials arts have been in and out of my life intermittently, but I don't think I've had as much fun and success getting fit as when I'm doing martial arts.  It hits all my buttons:  It is social, it is scheduled, it gives a meaningful sense of progress, and above all, it feels useful.  Plus, it motivates me to do strength training for reasons other than "bulking."  I want to be strong to improve my fighting.  All in all, my closing thoughts on my exercise regiment is that this seems to work for me.  I hope everyone finds their rewarding physical pursuit in their quest for fitness.

 

Gear Lessons:

 

I've often rejected buying new and fashionable clothes as materialistic and vain.  I don't know where I picked up this belief, but it isn't one that serves me well, so I'm ditching it.  Having a sense of personal style in which I feel comfortable and happy with my appearance is beneficial to my continued motivation to get fit.  Regardless of my quests, I think it is important that I continue to make adjustments to my wardrobe (more than once every 8 years).

 

With that, I declare this a successfully completed challenge. 

Until next time friends!  I couldn't have done it without you.  Thanks so much.

[Kishi]

Woohoo! Nice work!

 

7 hours ago, Arcanis said:

Alcohol Allowance: C.  All things considered, I could've done better.  I drank too much on the holiday, and I drank too much when my friend was in from out of town.  To make matters worse, I had some casual drinks two other nights during the week.  That made me hit 4 nights with 2 heavy drinking for a C.  Still, I faced the weekend with determination, chugging sparkling water and non-alcoholic beer even when others were drinking.  It may not be the best grade, but I think this represents a lot of growth on my part.

 

I'd say so. FWIW, this is something I struggle with too. If I'm on my own? I can't be assed to touch the stuff. I have access to this really neat sweet red wine that I'll indulge in every now and again on account of it being from a local vineyard, but I tend to drink the whole bottle in a day and that does funny things to my heart on account of hydration and such.

 

But the real bear is social situations. I'm definitely a social drinker; I seem to have a subconscious switch that tells me to "cut loose" with company. Doesn't matter whether my friends drink or not - if I'm meeting 'em, I'm drinking.

 

It sounds like you definitely took some steps forward here, and while you didn't finish as strong as you might have liked, I can see a lot of effort in your reports overall. It seems like strong growth, and like you're forward of where you were when you started. And is that not why we are here?

 

7 hours ago, Arcanis said:

In order of most motivating, the biggest drivers of cooking have been 1) the tools, 2) the ingredients, and 3) the recipes.  Cooking is an endeavor in which having the right tool for the jobs pays in dividends.  When you get tools that make cooking easier, it becomes less of a chore and often improves the end-result.  And, it helps unlock new ingredients and recipes you've never dared to try before.  The star of my purchases has to be the food processor, which has been indispensable in streamlining most mundane of cooking tasks.  Plus, it is dishwasher friendly.  Nothing like making healthy habits easy to keep them in your day to day.

 

Nice~! Now we have to induct you into the cult of the InstaPot. "What is the sound of no hands cooking?"

 

7 hours ago, Arcanis said:

Limiting drinking by days was an exercise in willpower, but I don't think it did the best job of encouraging moderation.  For example, on drinking days, I often drank three alcoholic beverages to "make the most of it."  Similarly, on heavy drinking days, I often drank a great deal to "make the most of it."  I think I'll stick with a weekly drink allowance for my next challenge to better navigate a social beer at a party, and mitigate heavy drinking that'll exhaust a beer here and there during the rest of the week.

 

Well, as I said, live and learn. You found an approach that helped you get some forward progress, but not as much as you would have liked. Now you have a new plan to go forward with. Good!

 

7 hours ago, Arcanis said:

Martials arts have been in and out of my life intermittently, but I don't think I've had as much fun and success getting fit as when I'm doing martial arts.  It hits all my buttons:  It is social, it is scheduled, it gives a meaningful sense of progress, and above all, it feels useful.  Plus, it motivates me to do strength training for reasons other than "bulking."  I want to be strong to improve my fighting.  All in all, my closing thoughts on my exercise regiment is that this seems to work for me.  I hope everyone finds their rewarding physical pursuit in their quest for fitness.

 

Nice. I never found a way to love chasing weights for their own sake. They had to be tied to something for me to get something out of 'em. I'm glad you found something to tie your training to, and I'm glad it's something that lets you hang with us.

 

7 hours ago, Arcanis said:

I've often rejected buying new and fashionable clothes as materialistic and vain.  I don't know where I picked up this belief, but it isn't one that serves me well, so I'm ditching it.  Having a sense of personal style in which I feel comfortable and happy with my appearance is beneficial to my continued motivation to get fit.  Regardless of my quests, I think it is important that I continue to make adjustments to my wardrobe (more than once every 8 years).

 

Yeah, man, I've got a pretty strong anti-materialistic bent too (even though my apartment is covered in boxes of crap, shhhhh). Truth is, you can be stylish and have a minimalistic closet. It's something I'm working on too; money's kind of tight, so I'm trying to figure out classic looks on a budget, which has been fun when I could take steps toward it. I'm honestly kind of shocked at how fun it is to dress well for a body that's changing shape. I'm glad you found this too.

 

So! On the whole, it's good work this time around. I haven't got over to the new challenge forum as of posting this, but I hope we see you next round!