The necessities

[Tobbe]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I have a scary idea as a batcave goal - remove your scale.  

 

Hmm. This is serious. Not sure how to interpret the wink-smiley...

(Don't worry. No toes stepped on. No offence taken. Just genuinely wondering what to read in to what you wrote) 

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Jett said:

find a personal trainer

 

I would so love to have a PT! Unfortunately it's not something I can prioritize to spend that kind of money on right now  (If ever...)

 

1 hour ago, Jett said:

It's your relationship, so I don't feel like I can say a lot about how you should live it.

 

Never hesitate to write whatever comes to your mind. I'll filter out what I feel doesn't apply to me, or is applicable in my personal situation. And I'll take to heart what I do feel I can learn from, or what could be something I'd be willing to try  

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Jett said:

NF is honestly one of my big distractions at work, too

 

Yeah, no kidding, this stuff takes time! But right now it'll have to be worth it. I feel I get a lot out of it, and I need to really work on my issues. And I've finally found a place where I can write/talk about it!

[Mad Hatter]

9 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

 

Hmm. This is serious. Not sure how to interpret the wink-smiley...

(Don't worry. No toes stepped on. No offence taken. Just genuinely wondering what to read in to what you wrote) 

Haha didn't mean anything particular with it, it was simply me issuing a challenge.  I just had a feeling it might be a tricky one for you!

[Tobbe]

24 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I just had a feeling it might be a tricky one for you!

 

Yes, it would be a struggle. I wouldn't want to make it part of my batcave upgrades, because that would imply that it's a permanent change. But for a limited time it would probably be good for me.

[Mad Hatter]

I honestly think it would be great for you, to focus more on how you feel and how much energy you have rather than how much you weigh.  Especially when eating more food and even trying to gain weight. For many people that can be scary so shifting focus from weight to fitness could potentially help! But yeah, it wouldn't have to be permanent, but hiding the scale could be a good experiment. If for no other reason than to see how much it pulls you to use it.

[Tobbe]

18 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

hiding the scale could be a good experiment.

 

I have thought about asking my wife to hide it, but that was some time ago... We'll see...

[Tobbe]

So, now that the challenge has officially started it's really about time to set proper goals! Please don't hesitate to give any kind of feedback!  

 

Nutrition

• Eat at least three meals every day
• Eat nut butter at least two times every week
• Eat at least two fruits per week
• Focus on getting enough protein (How do I make this measurable? I don't want to weigh all my food and count every single gram of protein in everything)

 

Fitness

• Learn warm up by heart
  • Perform once every day that I'm at home
• Learn cool down by heart
  • Perform once every day that I'm at home

 

NerdFitness Academy Quests

• Week 1
  • Complete 10 Assisted Squats - 25 XP
  • Mindset: Gimme The Loot! - 25 XP
  • Nutrition: Determine your starting NF Diet Level - 25 XP
  • Nutrition: Pack Your Lunch - 25 XP
• Week 2
  • Mindset: NaNaNaNaNa BATCAVE! - 40 XP
  • Nutrition: Don't drink liquid calories - 60 XP
• Week 3
  • Do 10 Elevated Push Ups - 25 XP
  • Go for a 15 Minute Walk - 40 XP
  • Plank Practice – Intermediate - 40 XP
• Week 4
  • Nutrition: Cook More - 40 XP
  • Complete the NF Beginner BW Workout 1x Per Week - 60 XP
  • Bonus quest: Nutrition: I Hate Vegetables #2 - 60 XP

 

[Jett]

6 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

Focus on getting enough protein (How do I make this measurable? I don't want to weigh all my food and count every single gram of protein in everything)

 

Hmm. Maybe start by looking up the amount of protein in the common protein-rich foods that you eat often. Write it down for your "standard" amount (so weigh it the first time) and then estimate a rough fraction based on that. So if you're eating 1.5 times your normal amount of chicken breast, and you know that the normal amount of chicken breast is 40g of protein, then you just had about 60g of protein. It's not a very precise method, but if you have a minimum amount of protein you want to eat in a day, you just need a rough tally to make sure you got at least that amount - the precise number of grams isn't necessary. (This, but with calories, is more or less how I keep a rough estimate of how many calories I'm consuming.)

[Elastigirl]

My advice on the goals is to narrow them down. YOu actually have about 15 goals.  It is really hard to make new habits, and it is easier if you prioritize your habits.  I would choose one thing from each category and make that your goal. You can always work on the other stuff too, but if life gets hectic or stress, or you aren't in the mood, if you just a few things it is much easier.

 

Protein, look online and you can find approximate measurements, something like a palm's worth is x amount of grams. Or you could measure it for the first week (if you have a scale) and then you have an idea to just eyeball measure it later

[Mad Hatter]

 

2 hours ago, Tobbe said:

• Focus on getting enough protein (How do I make this measurable? I don't want to weigh all my food and count every single gram of protein in everything)

The simplest is to focus on getting some protein heavy food in most meals and not worry too much about numbers. You can make it more specific later on if you want.  

 

Here's a super simple way to estimate: https://www.precisionnutrition.com/calorie-control-guide-infographic

[Tobbe]

6 hours ago, Jett said:

Maybe start by looking up the amount of protein in the common protein-rich foods that you eat often. Write it down for your "standard" amount

 

6 hours ago, Jett said:

if you have a minimum amount of protein you want to eat in a day, you just need a rough tally to make sure you got at least that amount

 

Yeah, this sounds like a pretty good approach. Record some standard values, and then use those to make sure I reach my minimum amount.

Just need to formalize it in a quantifiable way so that I easily can say every day "Yay, I did it", or "No, didn't reach my goal today"

[Tobbe]

6 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

My advice on the goals is to narrow them down. YOu actually have about 15 goals.

 

I agree. I have a lot of goals for this challenge

 

6 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

It is really hard to make new habits, and it is easier if you prioritize your habits.

 

Only a few of these goals are habit building. Most are specific goals for just these four weeks.

 

6 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

You can always work on the other stuff too

 

Yeah, I feel that this is exactly what I would do. If I remove some of the goals from this challenge I'd just end up writing them down somewhere else and complete them anyway. I feel it's easier if I just have everything collected here in one spot.

 

6 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

but if life gets hectic or stress, or you aren't in the mood, if you just a few things it is much easier.

 

For this I'd rather build some slack into the goal, to perhaps allow me to "slip up" a few times, and still call it a success

 

6 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Or you could measure it for the first week (if you have a scale) and then you have an idea to just eyeball measure it later

 

Ohh, I have a scale. I've lived by that scale from time to time... But yeah, I'll record the numbers for what I eat most often and try to eyeball it for the rest I think.

[Tobbe]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

The simplest is to focus on getting some protein heavy food in most meals and not worry too much about numbers.

 

Yeah, that's simple. But it's also hard to know if I reached my goal or not. "Ohh, I ate a tablespoon of hummus! I've heard that chickpeas have so much protein! Yay success!". Except, not really... Or "I had an egg for breakfast" "Proteinz!". Err, no, not enough!

 

For this to work for me I think it needs to be more specific. Otherwise I can get away with anything and still call it a success...

[Tobbe]

@Jett, @Elastigirl and @Mad Hatter. Thanks a lot for your input on the protein matter  Truly appreciate it! I'll see how I can combine all the great suggestions in to something that'll work for me  

[Arkania]

I am so bad at eyeballing something so I made a small list of proteins that I eat often (1pckg salmon, 1 egg, 1 serving Whey, etc) and 1. eat protein in almost every meal, 2 look up the list (I don't have to anymore because I know most of the values now) and if it's not enough in the evening, I drink a whey shake. Done. I am aiming for 1,5g/kg and most of the time this works.

And on days I can't measure it (birthdayys, going out,....) I don't care One day doesn't ruin everything.

[Tobbe]

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

I am so bad at eyeballing something

 

Me too! My wife is so annoyed with me about this! I've eaten the same breakfast countless time. Putting the same amount of quark in the same bowl sooo many times. I still use a scale to get the same amount every time because I don't trust my eye measure.

 

Now that I mention it, it would be a fun experiment to first put as much as I think is a good amount in the bowl, and then weighing it, just to see how close/far off I really am! Might have to do that just for laughs  

[Tobbe]

So, about that protein...

 

Breakfast

 

 

My regular breakfast, quark, kefir, nuts and berries contains 27 g of protein

 

Sometimes I'll have oatmeal for breakfast. If I make sure to add a scoop of protein powder to that it should come out to be about the same amount of protein.

 

Lunch

 

 

Three eggs and mixed vegetables. That's about 28 g of protein.

 

Dinner varies a lot more. But if I eat my standard meals for breakfast and lunch I've already gotten about 55 g of protein.

I'd like to work my way up to more than twice that. But for now, if I get about the same amount of protein in for dinner I'm calling it a successful day!

 

So now I know I should aim for 25 - 30 g of protein for dinner. That could be for example 150 g of meat (chicken, pork, beef, fish), or 200 g of chickpeas and 100 g cottage cheese.

 

All in all - if I get three good meals in per day, I should be good with the protein as well  

 

[Jett]

8 hours ago, Tobbe said:

Now that I mention it, it would be a fun experiment to first put as much as I think is a good amount in the bowl, and then weighing it, just to see how close/far off I really am! Might have to do that just for laughs  

 

Yeah, you should do that! It might help you to get better at "eyeballing" your amounts, and give you confidence if you are already pretty close.

 

I like how your 3 meals goal and your protein goals go well together. They support each other to encourage you to do both. And you're taking steps to figuring out how much you need to eat without necessarily measuring everything, so that's great.

[Tobbe]

40 minutes ago, Jett said:

Yeah, you should do that! It might help you to get better at "eyeballing" your amounts, and give you confidence if you are already pretty close.

 

If I remember I'll do it already tomorrow  

[Tobbe]

Goal update for the first day of the challenge!

 

Nutrition

• Eat at least three meals every day (1/28)
• Eat nut butter at least two times every week (Week 1: 0/2 - Week 2: 0/2 - Week 3: 0/2 - Week 4: 0/2)
• Eat at least two fruits per week (Week 1: 1/2 - Week 2: 0/2 - Week 3: 0/2 - Week 4: 0/2)

 

Fitness

• Learn warm up by heart
  • I know the first two exersices
• Perform warm up every day that I'm at home (1/1)
• Learn cool down by heart
  • I tried to do all stretches, ignore the correct order. Missed two out of the 22, so pretty good  
• Perform cool down every day that I'm at home (1/1)

 

NerdFitness Academy Quests

• Week 1
  • Complete 10 Assisted Squats - 25 XP
  • Mindset: Gimme The Loot! - 25 XP
  • Nutrition: Determine your starting NF Diet Level - 25 XP
  • Nutrition: Pack Your Lunch - 25 XP
    • I got a head start on this one and completed this goal already last week  
• Week 2
  • Mindset: NaNaNaNaNa BATCAVE! - 40 XP
  • Nutrition: Don't drink liquid calories - 60 XP
• Week 3
  • Do 10 Elevated Push Ups - 25 XP
  • Go for a 15 Minute Walk - 40 XP
  • Plank Practice – Intermediate - 40 XP
• Week 4
  • Nutrition: Cook More - 40 XP
  • Complete the NF Beginner BW Workout 1x Per Week - 60 XP
  • Bonus quest: Nutrition: I Hate Vegetables #2 - 60 XP

[Tobbe]

19 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

My advice on the goals is to narrow them down.

 

56 minutes ago, Jett said:

I like how your 3 meals goal and your protein goals go well together.

 

Because they go hand in hand I decided to just get rid of the protein goal for now. It's going to have to be good enough to just eat three times per day. I always include a source of protein, so that will have to do!

[Tobbe]

Goal update for day 2/28 of the challenge!

 

Nutrition

• Eat at least three meals every day (2/28)
  • Had four meals yesterday  
• Eat nut butter at least two times every week (Week 1: 0/2 - Week 2: 0/2 - Week 3: 0/2 - Week 4: 0/2)
• Eat at least two fruits per week (Week 1: 2/2 - Week 2: 0/2 - Week 3: 0/2 - Week 4: 0/2)

 

Fitness

• Learn warm up by heart
  • I know the first five exercises now
• Perform warm up every day that I'm at home (2/2)
• Learn cool down by heart
  • I tried to do all stretches, ignore the correct order. Forgot about more exercises today than yesterday... So not great. Will have to think about how to learn this in a better way. 
• Perform cool down every day that I'm at home (2/2)

 

NerdFitness Academy Quests

• Week 1
  • Complete 10 Assisted Squats - 25 XP
  • Mindset: Gimme The Loot! - 25 XP
  • Nutrition: Determine your starting NF Diet Level - 25 XP
  • Nutrition: Pack Your Lunch - 25 XP
    • I got a head start on this one and completed this goal already last week  
• Week 2
  • Mindset: NaNaNaNaNa BATCAVE! - 40 XP
  • Nutrition: Don't drink liquid calories - 60 XP
• Week 3
  • Do 10 Elevated Push Ups - 25 XP
  • Go for a 15 Minute Walk - 40 XP
  • Plank Practice – Intermediate - 40 XP
• Week 4
  • Nutrition: Cook More - 40 XP
  • Complete the NF Beginner BW Workout 1x Per Week - 60 XP
  • Bonus quest: Nutrition: I Hate Vegetables #2 - 60 XP

[Tobbe]

So, let's talk about loot!

 

A few weeks, when I was in the States I bought some healthy food (and some not so healthy ) that's hard to get here, or that is much cheaper there.

 

 

I'm going to use this as my loot for this challenge!   Fitting, as there has been a lot of talk about food in this thread  

 

But who wants to wait four weeks?!?!

 

So this is what I'm going to do. Each week that I'm still 100% on track with this challenge I'll pick one or several of those things and cook a meal for me and my family with it. So, if after the first week I'm 100% done with everything needed for this first week, then, during the second week I'll cook one meal with the selected ingredients.

 

I'll then put any leftovers away.

 

Next week, if I'm still on track, I'll go back and choose some ingredients again and cook with.

 

When this four week challenge is over I'll get full access to all ingredients I've unlocked (used) during the challenge  

 

Are you confused about the rules yet?  If you are, just ask and I'll clarify  

[Tobbe]

So I tried this whole "eyeballing" thing this morning. All I can say is 

 

Target: 150

 

 

 

Target: 100