First challenge to get back on track

[Arkania]

Sooo, want to start this challenge NOW otherwise I won't ever do it.
Done is better than perfect! So I will push the perfectionism far away and start this challenge as the first challenge from today on until 9th September (12 days).

 

Here you can find my introduction and here you can find my battle log.

 

Because it's the first challenge, I will start with a relaxed one to get back on track.

 

Main quest:

Loose weight (best: fat)

Side quests:

1. Have a total calorie deficit of at least 6000kcal

2. Do the first 12 days of the 90 day challenge by Mark Lauren

3. Follow the macro (1,5g/kg protein a day) at least 75% of the time (9 out of 12 days)

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Following! Best of luck on the challenge  

[Tobbe]

What a great first challenge! I'm sure you'll do great!

 

3 hours ago, Arkania said:

Do the first 12 days of the 90 day challenge by Mark Lauren

 

Do you have the book, or the app? Have you tried it before?

[Arkania]

1 hour ago, Tobbe said:

What a great first challenge! I'm sure you'll do great!

 

 

Do you have the book, or the app? Have you tried it before?

 

I had the app, was not convinced. Now, years after that, bought the book

I heard about it and read some pages of the "You are your own gym"-book and it was ok, but "something for later".

Now I cleaned up my amazon wishlist so I bought this together with an animal athletics book.

(Funny note: I had a nap today and dreamed about one of the exercises for today and how I failed at it really bad )

[Mad Hatter]

1 minute ago, Arkania said:

 (Funny note: I had a nap today and dreamed about one of the exercises for today and how I failed at it really bad )

Haha usually I have the opposite problem - I dream I can do something really cool and then get thoroughly disappointed when it turns out that nope, I didn't magically learn the skill during the night.   

[Tobbe]

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

bought the book

 

Cool! What is the programming like? Since it's called a "90 day challenge" it sounds like it has you do exercise/workouts every day. Is that what it's like? Could you give an overview of the first week?

[Arkania]

Day 1:

123/6000 Deficit

1,5g/kg protein

Day 1 Mark Lauren Challenge

 

Next time I'll wait with eating something after setting the goals

Already had eaten a bunch of calories before starting this thread here so had some problems to get a deficit. It may be one today, but I am not sure about that.

I am hungover from last night so I had also some issues with the challenge. The initial workout. It looked so easy but wasn't that easy. Not very difficult but not as easy as I expected.

For getting enough protein for today (this morning I had very little) I cooked a skyr-noat-plum-porridge was awesome! But that was not enough protein, so I also had an egg and some mozzarella with tomatoes.

The cat also wants some

[Arkania]

4 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

 

Cool! What is the programming like? Since it's called a "90 day challenge" it sounds like it has you do exercise/workouts every day. Is that what it's like? Could you give an overview of the first week?

 

Sure.

Today was about the initial workout. Had to do a short warm up, then 4 exercises (e.g. 25reps of "Bodyrocks in plank" in 30 secs, then a pause of 30 secs, then the same and that 4 times, then the next exercise). After that a short cool down.

There are three levels for each exercise, from beginner to pro. Important is to do the exercise clean and not on the highest level possible.

Weeks 1-4 look like this: Workout - Knowledge - Workout - Lifestyle - Workout - Lifestyle - Regeneration

Weeks 5-13 look like this: Workout - Workout - Knowledge - Workout - Workout - Lifestyle - Regeneration

Every week has a theme, week 1 is all about nutrition and how to buy and eat best.

 

This week:
Today: Initial workout
Tomorrow: "The perfect nutrition" -> Optimize your nutrition, from now on keep a nutrition diary

Friday: Workout

Saturday: Clever shopping -> protein based foods

Sunday: Workout

Monday: Check your food storage

Tuesday: Regeneration (e.g. sauna, maybe mobility workout,...)

[Tobbe]

 

8 minutes ago, Arkania said:

Weeks 1-4 look like this: Workout - Knowledge - Workout - Lifestyle - Workout - Lifestyle - Regeneration

 

Good, so there are rest days as well. Seems like a really complete program. Kind of similar to NF Academy, but more strictly laid out/planned. If you can keep up with it I'm sure it'll be great!

 

8 minutes ago, Arkania said:

from now on keep a nutrition diary

 

Looking forward to food photos!  

 

8 minutes ago, Arkania said:

Regeneration (e.g. sauna, maybe mobility workout,...)

 

I love sitting in a hot sauna. Unfortunately we don't have one. So I usually only get to enjoy it like once a year when I go to a spa or something

[Tobbe]

22 minutes ago, Arkania said:

I cooked a skyr-noat-plum-porridge was awesome! But that was not enough protein, so I also had an egg and some mozzarella with tomatoes.

 

Yay! Food photos!  

 

It does look very good. But I can't stand skyr myself. To me it has an after-taste that almost tastes like puke  Quark is better. It has a tiny bit of the same after-taste. But if I eat one that is flavored, or mix it with something else it's alright  

 

Do you mind sharing the recipe for the porridge?  I'll just switch out the skyr for quark, or maybe cottage cheese, and I'm sure it'll be delicious.

[Arkania]

For me it's the opposite I hate Magerquark (<10% fat), other Quark (e.g. 20%) is ok.

I also can eat Skyr only with flavour (or in a porridge), but also have problems with most flavours because most of them taste very chemical. I only like on brand.

Most of the time I eat skyr with flavour and some fruit and some sparkling water to get a better texture.

 

Here is the recipe (2 portions):

450g Skyr

100g rolled oats (I had Apple-cinnamon and vanilla-poppy seed Noats (they are from mymuesli but you can also use normal rolled oats instead)

200ml Cashew drink and about 100ml water (as you prefer)

a bit cinnamon

some chocolate sprinkles

1 tablespoon homemade plum puree

 

Cook the oats with the milk/water, mix it with the skyr/quark, season it and put the sprinkles and purree on it.

Enjoy <3

[Tobbe]

We don't have quark with more than 10% fat. The quark I use has 0.1% fat (and 13% protein!)

So you don't cook the skyr? Doesn't the porridge get very cold if you don't?

I had never heard of noats before, so I had to look it up. Sounds delicious, but at least here it's super expensive!

[Arkania]

7 hours ago, Tobbe said:

We don't have quark with more than 10% fat. The quark I use has 0.1% fat (and 13% protein!)

So you don't cook the skyr? Doesn't the porridge get very cold if you don't?

I had never heard of noats before, so I had to look it up. Sounds delicious, but at least here it's super expensive!

 

For that I like Skyr a lot because it has so much protein. (The texture of our german Quark with less than 10% is meh....)

There is also greek yoghurt with just 0,2% fat but this one has not that much protein in it. But tastes good.

No, I don't cook the skyr. I don't need my porridge to be hot, lukewarm is ok for me. The second serving is for the next day so I don't care, if it's hot or not.

One serving of this has 400cals and 41g Protein because I put in some Whey (15g per serving) as well..

Yeah Noats are expensive here to, I got some as a gift. It's just rolled oats with some fruit and flavour. Wouldn't buy it.

(And isn't everything expensive in Sweden? )

 

[Arkania]

Good morning everyone.

Slept very bad that night dreamed and thought about my challenges and quests here the whole time

But that's ok. Today I only have to work until approx. 2.30pm and since I am still recovering from the stress problems I had in April friday is a free day for me.

Planned my meals for today, thinking about taking photos of everything like @Tobbe does (besides tracking with an app).

Just had a small coffee with some cashew drink, two Knäckebrot (crisp bread) with an egg, some Dijonaise (Mayonnaise with Dijon mustard), one slice of leftover salami and the leftover from yesterdays mozzarella.

Snack is the second serving of the porridge from yesterday. For lunch I am meeting a colleague in the canteen and want to have the chicken with herbed lemonsauce and some veggies, have to see what are the choices (maybe ratatouille).

Dinner should be a biiig salad with some feta after bouldering.
And I have to check in the supermarket, if they have the harz cheese with jalapenos someone told me to buy.

 

Breakfast: 320cal, 23g protein

Snack: 400cal, 41g protein

Lunch: 350cal, 49g protein

Dinner: approx. 250kcal, 15g Protein

 

Already read the Day 2 Chapter in the book, so can mark that already as done. (Eat clean, it enough protein and fat, less sugar!)

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

There is also greek yoghurt with just 0,2% fat but this one has not that much protein in it. But tastes good.

 

We just got low fat Greek yogurt in our stores like a month or two ago. And I agree. It tastes much better than the quark and skyr. But it's more expensive, has less protein, and isn't made with Swedish milk. So I mainly use it for making sauces for dinner when I want something like a garlic sauce or tzatziki.

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

No, I don't cook the skyr. I don't need my porridge to be hot, lukewarm is ok for me. The second serving is for the next day so I don't care, if it's hot or not.

 

I've never tried quark/skyr with hot porridge. But I use it when making overnight oats. And the overnight oats I of course it cold

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

One serving of this has 400cals and 41g Protein because I put in some Whey (15g per serving) as well..

 

That's a lot of protein in one meal! I have heard that 20 g per meal is enough, and that anything above 30 g is pretty much wasted. But before going out and yelling "You're doing it wrong!" I did some quick googling and found this: https://examine.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-can-i-eat-in-one-sitting/ and it actually seems as if my knowledge was outdated. It seems as if the body will just store the extra protein and use it later when needed! That's awesome! Thanks for making me learn something new today  

 

That article also linked to this: https://examine.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need/ Reading that it reaffirmed what I already knew about total protein. (2+ grams of protein per kg body weight when trying to build muscle. Up to 3 g of protein per kg body weight when trying to loose fat but keep muscle). I'm afraid I'm doing really bad here with my current diet  

 

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

And isn't everything expensive in Sweden?

 

It probably is  But not as bad as Norway. OMG, that place will ruin you!

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

Slept very bad that night dreamed and thought about my challenges and quests here the whole time

 

Haha, that's funny

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

since I am still recovering from the stress problems I had in April

 

Sorry to hear about that  After having your first burn-out you're so much more sensitive for your next one! Take it easy 

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

thinking about taking photos of everything like @Tobbe does

 

I do it because I enjoy it, of course. But also to help me keep track. Makes it much easier to remember what I actually ate and drank, and at what time. And I hope some of my meals can inspire others

 

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

For lunch I am meeting a colleague in the canteen and want to have the chicken with herbed lemonsauce and some veggies, have to see what are the choices (maybe ratatouille)

 

How do you know/track the macros when eating in a restaurant? That lemonsauce for example; is it made with a roux? or cream (full fat, or low fat)? And the ratatouille, how much oil do they pour in that thing? Etc...

 

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

harz cheese with jalapenos

 

That sounds delicious! Cheese and chili are like two of my favorite things! Combining them can only make it even better

 

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

Breakfast: 320cal, 23g protein

Snack: 400cal, 41g protein

Lunch: 350cal, 49g protein

Dinner: approx. 250kcal, 15g Protein

 

Looks like a good split! And reading exactly what you'll be eating sounds really yummy too! I'm sure this will be a good day for you! 

[Arkania]

I was in Stockholm last year in January to speak at a conference and I was fascinated about the fact that the streets were so empty, can't imagine that for a capital city here in Germany :D

And it was not thaaaat expensive but more expensive than Germany (no great feat though).  I was just there for two days and just saw the streets near the hotel but I liked it. Need to come back and see some of Sweden's nature next time (and maybe not visiting in winter :D ).

Thank you for the links, I read a lot about macros the last years and to get to at least 1.5g/kg (ideal weight) and not eat the whole day I have to put it like that.

I tried the HSD (High Speed Diet) once, where you have to eat 3g/kg a day and I HATED chicken and skyr after day 2 :D

[Tobbe]

Eating out at restaurants is super expensive in Sweden. Like seriously, 7 euro for a falafel roll!? WTF? But I guess that's a good thing when trying to stay healthy. Makes it more motivating to bring your own lunch to work!  And yes! you should come back to Sweden. But please don't go to Stockholm. It's like my least favorite city. Don't like the "feel" of that city at all. I much prefer Gothenburg or Malmö if I want to go to a bigger city. Or, if you just want to experience nature (which is great!) anywhere is good! What's so cool is that we have a lot of different nature here in Sweden. Going outside of the cities in the southwestern parts between Malmö and Ystad is totally different than what you'll see just a few hours northwest (in Småland (Emil i Lönneberga country)) which again is very different from the northern parts of Sweden. I did a south to north trip through Sweden with my brother some years ago and it was awesome! Really recommend it  

[Arkania]

Yeah, I was sooo hungry after the flight and went to a burger restaurant (not McD or sth like that ) and got one burger, some fries and a coke and that was about 25€!
And they were looking at me like I was an alien because I wanted to pay cash Didn't know that paying with card is so common in Sweden. You can pay everything with you credit card even the 2€ for parking , I love that!

A trip from south to north sounds great!

 

Even here in Germany I (most of the time) bring my own lunch to work. It's somehow expensive and tastes not that good most of the time.

[Tobbe]

Yeah, I stopped using cash a long time ago. I pay for everything with my card or with my phone.

 

I want to go to Germany again. I've been there before, but it was too long ago! I've been to the Mosel valley. So beautiful! But when I was there I was too young to enjoy wine. Now I want to go back to visit some vineyards and taste their wines! Last time I was in Germany I was in Berlin. Took the train from Copenhagen. That was a good experience too. But also a very long time ago

[Mad Hatter]

2 hours ago, Tobbe said:

I much prefer Gothenburg or Malmö if I want to go to a bigger city.

LOL at bigger city.  

 

Stockholm is alright, I find it's beautiful, but it lacks character.

 

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

Need to come back and see some of Sweden's nature next time (and maybe not visiting in winter ).

Winter in Stockholm is mostly unpleasant, but if you go out in nature winter can be spectacularly beautiful!!

[Tobbe]

1 minute ago, Mad Hatter said:

LOL at bigger city

 

Yeah yeah. Whatever   Big for Sweden! 

[Arkania]

11 hours ago, Tobbe said:

Sorry to hear about that  After having your first burn-out you're so much more sensitive for your next one! Take it easy 

 

Thank you
Yeah, I have to be careful that I am not slipping back in this extreme perfectionism I had with eating and work and hm.. everything?

But I think I am on a good way

 

Quote

I do it because I enjoy it, of course. But also to help me keep track. Makes it much easier to remember what I actually ate and drank, and at what time. And I hope some of my meals can inspire others

I love how they look. I am not sure why this is but when I look at scandinavian food plates I slobber. Maybe it's the light? Or your food looks different? Or scandinavians can take better photos? I don't know

 

Quote

How do you know/track the macros when eating in a restaurant? That lemonsauce for example; is it made with a roux? or cream (full fat, or low fat)? And the ratatouille, how much oil do they pour in that thing? Etc...

I track it via app so most of the time you find a selection fpr everything. Then I estimate the weight, round that up and put some calories as buffer on top.
I don't go to the canteen very often and when I am eating outside I try to eat as less processed food as I can. (I loooove love love love burgers and I have a place I go everytime with organic meat and everything and there I know what weighs how much, what they use as oil etc so I know what I eat and how many calories it is) Most of the team a piece of meat and some salad or veggies.

Unfortunately this sauce today was pure roux without any flavour. *brrr* The chicken was okay-ish and the ratatouille also.

 

Quote

That sounds delicious! Cheese and chili are like two of my favorite things! Combining them can only make it even better

There aren't many people that like harz cheese

 

 

[Arkania]

Day 2:

1017/6000 Deficit

1,5g/kg protein (105g) -> 138g

Day 2 Mark Lauren Challenge

 

Soooo, how about today?

(Btw, I love to be in this forum because this trains my english skills (hopefully ). I use it  often at work but I don't talk and write everyday life stuff)

Now I am at about 2600cal out and 1650 in. Out should add up to 2750, so it would be a 1100 cal deficit today. Will adapt that tomorrow. Or this night. Depends on how long I stay awake today.

 

This was macro-related a great day, nearly perfect.

My calculated macros: 137g protein, 71g fats, 160g carbs

Todays macros: 138g protein, 86g fats, 140g carbs

Day 2 of Mark Lauren I read this morning. It was about the protein intake

And about weighing. ("You can weigh yourself today, but the weight doesn't matter for this program")

Todays weight: 71,1kg (156,7lbs) A bit shocking.

 

I just ordered my grocerys for the week at REWE (a supermarket), will be delivered on saturday morning. I normally don't do that, but this time I wanted something special (I live in a small village that has just one very small supermarket) so I also bought everything for the week there. A lot of protein and veggies

Almost everything. There are a lot of things I only buy in the farm shop nearby (bread, meat, eggs, some veggies, milk,...).

 

Todays food log:
5 am - crisp bread with egg, salami; mozzarella & tomatoes + coffee

 

 

11.45am - Chicken with "lemon herbed sauce" (don't think so.....), ratatouille and 3 mini potatoes. Now you know why I normally avoid the canteen.

 

3pm - Noats-Skyr-Porridge with plum purree, plums and chocolate sprinkles (sososo good!)

 

5pm - Muesli Bar Black Forest Cake

 

8pm - Salad with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, egg, feta, pepperoni, red radish, black olives, corn; the last plums I got out of my mum's garden, Cinnamon Bun flavoured tea (the mug says: I hate people)

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

Maybe it's the light?

 

Could be. I've been able to take some photos outdoors, and that's always the best light for food. But now it's getting rainier and darker, so It'll be indoor photography from now on

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

I track it via app so most of the time you find a selection fpr everything.

 

What app do you use? MyFitnessPal? LifeSum? Something else? I've had good success with LifeSum in the past. Seems to work better/be more accurate here in Sweden than MFP. In USA everyone seems to be using MFP though.

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

I loooove love love love burgers

 

To be honest I'm not the biggest fan actually. I've had a few too many burgers that are either over cooked, and/or just a sloppy mess. I want my burgers with lots of taste, the right amount of sauce, but also with something crispy, and that's where a lot of burgers fail. Give me some crispy vegetables on my burger and I'm way more happy than with too sloppy and greasy fried unions. But yeah, when a burger is properly done, it's really good

 

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

There aren't many people that like harz cheese

 

Why? What's so special about it?