TimovieMan's Daily Struggles on the Road

[TimovieMan]

So I biked to work on Friday as well (23 km total), and I *started* a cardio workout by jumping rope.

Unfortunately, the kids weren't in bed yet, and they interrupted me because they were fascinated by the jump rope, and wanted to try it too. So I did like a fifth of a workout before stopping to give the kids a shot at jumping rope, and I didn't restart after they'd gone to bed...

 

Saturday was a busy day with my daughter's swimming lessons in the morning, my son's gymnastics in the morning, my daughter's birthday party in the afternoon, fast food in the evening and then getting lost in The Bad Joke Thread and not getting any workout in.

 

Despite today being another overeating feast at some friends' house, I did the Bodyweight Level 2 boss fight and my dumbbell routine.

 

Result:

 

 

 

At least I did two dumbbell workouts this week, but I have to do something about these "off" days. I pretty much did nothing on those days. Not good.

 

 

Weekly weigh-in:

 

Weight: 106.7 kg (+1.1 kg but variance, imo, trend still very much down)

Body fat: 30.3% (-1.6% but unreliable)

Visceral fat: 14% (no change)

 

 

I'll have my work cut out for me this coming week.

[TimovieMan]

This week will be better!

 

I biked to work today (23 km total), and I did a couple of minutes of rope jumping this evening (although with the amount of errors I make, I was probably only jumping for about 30 seconds) before doing the Water Series B yoga session.

 

And while I was at it, I checked to see if I had any quests that needed marking. So...

 

 

 

And I'm less than 100 XP away from Level 10.

 

[TimovieMan]

So, I took a look at the Level 3 exercises, and there are going to be two that are going to pose problems, because I don't have access to a pull-up bar (yet).

Among the exercises are assisted pull-ups and dead hangs.

Anyone know of any replacement exercises that more or less target the same muscle groups?

I can mimic the assisted pull-ups by lying under our dinner table, and using its edge to pull myself up. The polished edge might pose some grip problems, but it would probably be a workable alternative.

 

It's especially the dead hangs that are an issue. I have no idea which exercise would have a similar effect, but can be done without any equipment.

 

Anyone have any ideas? 'Cause I don't...

 

[Jean]

Congrats on the levels!

 

Children's playgrounds usually have one of these:

 

Otherwise, trees ?

[TimovieMan]

Heh, I already have issues doing workouts in front of the kids or the missus. Going outside in public for them is something I'm definitely not ready for...

Having said that, playgrounds aren't really an option. The closest one is 1 km away, which isn't the issue, but my workouts happen (late) in the evening, and I pretty much have to do them in the house because I can't leave the kids unattended yet.
That, and doing them in the house is less of a hurdle to actually do them. Gearing up and going outside would cause me to skip them more easily. Now I mostly do them in my pajamas.
 
 
I can always default to burpees for the exercises I can't do yet, until I get a pull-up bar to install in the house.
I already have a spot for it in mind, I'll just have to convince the missus that this exercising thing isn't a fad.

[TimovieMan]

Didn't do anything yesterday (went to bed early to recover from a few shorter nights), so tonight was workout time.

 

Did the bodyweight 3A routine. Underestimated the push ups and the band stretching. But had enough energy to tack on a few minutes of rope jumping at the end.

Managed 5 series of 12 and 13 single under jumps, and 1 series of 19 jumps, which is massive progress for me (last time I kept failing after 5-6 jumps).

 

That's 2 out of 3 for the week, so definitely on schedule.

[TimovieMan]

Biked to work yesterday (23 km total), and held a small workout at home with about 5 minutes of rope jumping and 1 minute of burpees.

 

I'm making progress with the rope jumping. Managed 2 sets of 23 consecutive single-unders before failing, 1 set of 29 and 1 set of 36.
With a bit more practice, I'll hopefully be consistent enough to build a workout around it.

 

I want to make rope jumping my off-day cardio exercise. And it wears me out fast, so I can probably use it for a 10-minute HIIT routine. Just not right now. Yet.
Practice every day?

[TimovieMan]

NF Bodyweight Level 3B + my dumbbell routine completed, so that's 3.5/5 for this week.

 

The Level 3 workouts are noticeably harder, especially because they make the dumbbell routine harder (despite that being the same amount of sets/reps/weight every time). But I finished it. And I now know the warm up routine by heart, and most of the stretching routine (with some modifications to make it more arm-heavy and less leg-heavy since I have naturally strong legs already that need less recovery).

 

But now I'm completely spent, so off to bed.

 

Weigh-in tomorrow morning.

[TimovieMan]

Just in: my weekly weigh-in results:

 

Weight: 105.1 kg (-1.6 kg)

Body fat: 29.1% (-1.2%)

Visceral fat: 14% (no change)

 

[TimovieMan]

I've successfully completed my level 1 challenge, and will now look to join the Ranger guild.
I'm all for functional fitness, and I practice archery IRL, so it'd be a good fit, imo.

In other news, the missus has nixed my pull-up bar idea. She's not opposed to me creating a little fitness corner in our veranda (once our 12-year-old rabbit passes), but she doesn't like the idea of me drilling a few holes in the wall for something she believes "will be collecting dust in a few months".
She wants to talk about the idea if I'm still doing exercises multiple times per week a year from now. A year!
I kinda want that bar now.

 

To be continued.

[TimovieMan]

My new challenge is up. It officially starts next Monday.

 

 

[Sylvaa]

On 10/9/2018 at 7:06 AM, TimovieMan said:

It's especially the dead hangs that are an issue. I have no idea which exercise would have a similar effect, but can be done without any equipment.

 

Depends on why you are doing them honestly. Also, hi! Stopping in for a second!

 

Both are working you towards your first pull-up; the dead hangs are generally the next progression after suitcase carries (I believe that is what the Academy has as part of Level 2 workouts), so you could potentially do heavier suitcase carries if the goal of this is additional grip strength. 

 

For future loot ideas though, if a traditional doorway pull-up bar (re: not one that needs screwed in) is out of the question; you can find freestanding bars!

[TimovieMan]

38 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

Depends on why you are doing them honestly.

Grip strength, mostly. I want to do pull-ups eventually...

 

38 minutes ago, Sylvaa said:

For future loot ideas though, if a traditional doorway pull-up bar (re: not one that needs screwed in) is out of the question; you can find freestanding bars!

Actually, it's a wall-mounted pull-up bar that's out of the question right now. But it's probably my best option (I have a location for it, a bit out of sight, and in a wall that's more than strong enough), since I'm not too convinced about the quality of the doorway woodwork in the house. And at my current weight, that's going to be some pressure. 

On the other hand, I could probably convince the missus of getting a doorway pull-up bar.

 

I'll see.

Like I said: to be continued...

[TimovieMan]

I've convinced the missus and I'm getting a doorway pull-up bar!

I'm looking at the Iron Gym Plus bar, which is probably going to be my pick. I already know which door I'm going to use it on, and I've been reassured that the woodwork will be able to handle it.

 

The only compromise I had to make was waiting until we get our paychecks at the end of the month. Fair deal, imo.

 

Soon, I'll be doing pull-ups like a pro hanging there like a rag doll!

 

 

 

In other news, my planned workout last night fell through, because the forum exploded with activity and I spent all night reading and posting instead.

Note to self: work out first, THEN turn on the computer. No "just five minutes" excuse. It's NEVER "just five minutes". 

[TimovieMan]

While I did my workout (including the dumbbell routine) yesterday, I did nothing today. Because I'm hitting the sack in a few minutes.

 

I had a large meal this evening, but I'll be biking to work tomorrow, and I have an appointment with my psychologist and I'll be biking there as well, which should account for 32 km total.

And since I'm giving intermittent fasting a go, I'll be doing all of this in a fasted state, because my next meal is tomorrow evening.

Maybe even squeeze in a workout while in a fasted state.

And archery practice afterwards.

 

Yeah, good decision not to do anything today. Rest is important too.

 

If I actually manage everything (the biking is a given, the missus needs the car) tomorrow, I won't be doing anything on Friday either.

[TimovieMan]

The good thing about a Week Zero in a challenge is that you can use it to reassess things a bit.
 

With the amount of overlap between this battle log and my challenge thread, I'll be changing the way I use them a bit.
 
The battle log will be more about my daily logging (tracking how much I slept, what I ate and drank, what I did that counts as activity, and when I got to bed). Basically a public record of what I've been tracking privately for a few weeks.
The best part of this is that there's a NF quest coupled with it, so I'll gain some XP after doing this for two weeks.
 
I'll still spike this thread with comments, of course, because otherwise I'd just have to link to my log spreadsheet. And where's the fun in that?
 
 
I've also changed the thread title somewhat, so it's more distinct from the title of my challenge threads. Basically I dropped the "AwesomeDad™" reference.
 
 
 
 
 
I'm not going to dump everything I've logged for the past few weeks on here. I'll just start with my log for yesterday:
 
 
Sleep
 
Slept 6 hours and 30 minutes.
My youngest got into bed with us in the middle of the night. *Again*. But at least he didn't really disturb our sleep.
 
Food
 
- Breakfast: skipped
- Lunch: a bowl of carrot soup, 3 slices of 'Maya'¹ bread with garlic sausage and ketchup, and an additional garlic sausage (because they're awesomely delicious).
- Dinner: one-and-a-half pancakes with white sugar², and a large plate of Spaghetti Bolognese (with oat pasta, and lots of bell peppers in the sauce)
- In-between meals and snacks: none.
 
1) 'Maya' bread is a type of wheat bread with a lot of sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and linseed in it. The kids love it because of Maya the Bee, and I like it because it's very tasty.
2) Leftovers from the kids.
 
Intermittent fasting
 
Fasted for 17 hours and 50 minutes
 
Drinks
 
3.4 liters of water
No other drinks
 
Activity
 
None, a sedentary day.
 
Bed time

 

0:10 am

[TimovieMan]

My log for yesterday (Thursday October 18th):
 
 
Sleep
  
Slept 6 hours and 40 minutes.
My youngest got into bed with us in the middle of the night. *Yet again*. But he didn't really disturb our sleep this time either.
Well, at least he won't be doing this anymore when he's 14.
 
  
Food
 
- Breakfast: skipped
- Lunch: skipped (!!!)
- Dinner: a handful of carrot sticks dipped in hummus* and a plate of leftover Spaghetti Bolognese (oat pasta, bell peppers) from yesterday
- In-between meals and snacks: none.

 

(*) A colleague at work who is very much into healthy food treated us to a variety of "healthy" snacks a few weeks ago. Instead of cake or pie, he made a crunchy breakfast bowl with lots of raspberry, blueberry and a variety of nuts and seeds. Instead of a few bags of crisps, he brought a bag of dried vegetable slices. And he had some "snack" vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes) and put hummus next to it to use as dip (instead of cocktail sauce).

I thought this last part was a stroke of genius. The snack veggies are a lot more appetising when you can dip them in something, but cocktail sauce (or a mayonnaise-and-ketchup mix) is unhealthy as f%#@, so hummus is a great alternative.

I've taken this idea to heart and will now always provide carrot and celery sticks and hummus as snacks when we have people over. (We will still provide regular crisps and the likes, of course, but there'll be a healthier alternative from now on.)
  
 
Intermittent fasting
 
Fasted for 22 hours and 45 minutes.
And the best part is that I wasn't very hungry. My body is already growing accustomed to longer (16+ hours) periods of fasting?
 
  
Drinks
  
3.5 liters of water
No other drinks
 
This includes a liter of water at archery practice. I'm ordering water at a bar like a boss now.
 
 
Activity
 
Biking to work and to psychologist for a combined 33 km total. Took about an hour and 45 minutes. And in a fasted state.
Archery practice. I didn't count the amount of arrows I shot, but it's going to be in the 54-60 ballpark.
 
I had planned a workout between getting back from my psychologist and picking up the kids, but after cleaning the cats' litter boxes and taking out the trash and the PMC waste and paper and cardboard for recycling, I didn't really have enough time for a workout (or I'd have to skip warm up or stretching). I kinda overestimated the amount of time I'd have.
But since I'd already biked for over an hour and a half, I don't mind. Two off-days after a bodyweight workout AND dumbbell routine combo is perfectly acceptable to me.
 
  
Bed time
 
0:30 am
 
I got home from archery practice pretty late (23:20), and I filled in my log spreadsheet and checked the NF Quests to see which ones I had completed over the past week. Turns out there were quite a few (including some about completing a 4-week challenge here), especially since there were several that I had overlooked earlier. Hey, there are a LOT of quests.
 
Anyway, it took me longer than I expected to go over that, hence the bedtime. But at least I wound up with these:
 
 

 

[TimovieMan]

My log for yesterday (Friday October 19th):
 
 
Sleep
  
Slept 6 hours.
Would've been at least half an hour longer but my eldest was in bed with us because she had stomach aches (she fell sick yesterday, so we were seeing the beginnings). That wasn't the problem, but as usual my youngest got into bed with us in the middle of the night as well, and then it's just too crowded. Having only 20 cm of bed to yourself destroys the quality of your sleep...
  
  
Food
 
- Breakfast: skipped
- Lunch:  a bowl of Thai broth and 1/2 brown baguette with meat salad filling (ham and sausage bits in mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, carrot and egg)
- Dinner: a plate of chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and potato wedges
- In-between meals and snacks: none.

 

 
Intermittent fasting
 
Fasted for 18 hours and 15 minutes.
 
  
Drinks
  
3.0 liters of water
Other drinks: 2 small vials of rum*

 

(*) Pirate-themed Halloween event at the kids' school. The kids got a cup of apple juice at the entrance. The adults got a small vial of rum. Arrrr!

Since my mom was supposed to go as well, but was at home taking care of my daughter that had fallen ill, I got her vial.

Each vial contained little more than a sip, though. About the amount of a thimble.
 
 
Activity
 
8 minutes of walking

Gym Level 3B (incl. warm up and stretching)
 
  
Bed time
 
1:30 am

[TimovieMan]

Weekly weigh-in:

 

Weight: 103.9 kg (-1.2 kg)

Body fat: 30.1% (+1.0%)

Visceral fat: 13% (-1%)

 

Dropping under 104 kg means that I'm currently under the weight I had at my wedding 6 years ago, and at the lowest weight I've had in about 9 years.

 

[TimovieMan]

Monthly measuring:

 

Measurements:

Neck: 43 cm (-1 cm)
Chest: 105 cm (-5 cm)
Left biceps: 33 cm (-1 cm)
Right biceps: 34 cm (-2 cm)
Waist: 107 cm (-9 cm!!!)
Hips: 110 cm (-4 cm)
Left thigh: 56 cm (-1 cm)
Right thigh: 58 cm (-2 cm)
Left calf: 39 cm (-1 cm)
Right calf: 39 cm (-1 cm)

 

[TimovieMan]

My log for yesterday (Saturday October 20th):
 
 
Sleep
  
Slept 6 hours 30 minutes.
The kids were at their grandparents, so no kids in our bed this time. I woke up half an hour earlier than I could have. Best guess is that I'm adjusting to the 6 hours and 15-to-30 minutes of sleep schedule, because I don't usually wake up before my alarm goes off. Could pose issues if I want to increase this average sleep length with another fifteen minutes.
  
Food
 

Annual archery club championship this day, and the 50th Anniversary of the club, so a heavy eating day. Reception at city hall, sandwiches at the club, club tournament in the afternoon (with cake), and an elaborate dinner in the evening. Definitely not a good day calorie-wise, despite me eating far less than I usually do on a day like this.
- Breakfast: skipped
- Lunch:  a bowl of tomato soup, two sandwiches (one with filet américain and pickle filling, one with minced meat, pickle and mustard filling)
- Dinner: an entree plate of cold fish (with cod, salmon, shrimps, scampi, halibut, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, grape and lemon), a plate of côte à l'os with fries, lettuce and green beans, and a slice of strawberry sponge cake as dessert
- In-between meals and snacks: various snacks (crisps, cheese, salami, appetisers) at noon and in the evening, and a small slice of rice cake in the afternoon

 

 
Intermittent fasting
 
Fasted for 17 hours and 40 minutes.
 
  
Drinks
  
2.1 liters of water
Other drinks: 2 cups of coffee in the morning, 3 glasses of orange juice at noon, and 2 glasses of aperitif in the evening

 

The choice during the reception at city hall was either sparkling wine or orange juice, so I went for orange juice.

 
 
Activity
 

Biking to the archery club (26 km total)

Walking from the club to city hall and back (2x 8 minutes)

Archery tournament (42 arrows)

 
  
Bed time
 
2:30 am

[Arkania]

7 minutes ago, TimovieMan said:

filet américain

 

So good!

I made some a few weeks ago

[TimovieMan]

2 hours ago, Arkania said:

 

So good!

I made some a few weeks ago

Oh yeah. 

I've been tracking my food for less than 30 days, and this was filet américain's sixth appearance.

[TimovieMan]

My log for yesterday (Sunday October 21st):
 
 
Sleep
  
Slept 6 hours.
With the kids still at their grandparents, this was a good night. I just got in bed a bit late. Let's blame the archery club dinner.
  
Food
 

My parents brought the kids back early because we had to attend a Birthday Breakfast Party for the daughter of our closest friends. Their daughter is only two weeks younger than mine, so they're best friends. Because they have to be, because we tell them to.

Nah, they get along fine.

They have to, or else. 

Anyway, intermittent fasting didn't happen because of this. Can't go to a breakfast party and not eat breakfast.

After that we'd be getting home late, so the missus didn't want to do any cooking and instead told the kids we could go to McDonald's. Since that would've been a detour and there was a Burger King on the road, we went there instead. I tried to weasel out of eating fast food myself but the missus started a whole "you can't go to Burger King and just order water" farce, so I had to have a burger. 

- Breakfast: a croissant, two sandwiches (one with ham and cheese, and one with strawberry jam), and a donut
- Lunch:  a Burger King Whopper and a handful of fries (that the kids didn't finish) with mayo and/or ketchup
- Dinner: a handful of carrot sticks and half a bell pepper (I originally wanted to skip dinner but decided against it, although this is not all that different from skipping dinner )
- In-between meals and snacks: none

 

 
Intermittent fasting
 
Fasted for 11 hours and 15 minutes, so no 16/8 schedule this time. But I had a social excuse.
 
  
Drinks
  
1.4 liters of water
Other drinks: 2 cups of coffee in the morning, 1 can of Ice Tea

 
 
Activity
 

None.

 
  
Bed time
 
0:40 am

[TimovieMan]

Whoops, forgot to log here yesterday.

 

 
 
My log for Monday (October 22nd):
 
 
Sleep
  
Slept 6 hours 10 minutes.
The kids are at home, so one of them got between me and the missus again in the middle of the night. Once again, I'll start off the week tired.
 
   
Food
 
After a rather food-heavy weekend, I'm now back to the old routine of watching what I eat. And my challenge started, so I have to step up my game anyway. I've been doing rather well for two months now, can't break that stride.
I had a course on Project Management to follow at work, but that also meant lunch would be provided.
 
- Breakfast: skipped
- Lunch: 5 small sandwiches (with different fillings)
- Dinner: a plate of pan-fried potatoes and bell peppers, and grilled sausage
- In-between meals and snacks: none
 
 
Intermittent fasting
 
Fasted for 17 hours and 55 minutes.
 
 
Drinks
 
2.6 liters of water
Other drinks: none
 
 
Activity
 
Bodyweight Level 3A + dumbbell exercises (including warm up and stretching)
 
  
Bed time
 
0:45 am