Big_Show in #OperationWeddingSuit

[darkfoxx]

Oooooooooohhhhh ... dat brunch, though .... [emoji1786][emoji1786]

 

Also: way to go on kicking ass in the gym pre-holiday!

 

 

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[Big_Show]

I'm back!

 

Had a fantastic week away in the sun in Gran Canaria - a couple of days' worth of rain that originally threatened thankfully failed to materialise, so it was just plenty of relaxing, good food, and plenty of drink.  So now I'm ready to get back to it!

 

Spent the day unpacking and doing general housework, but I just finished prepping my lunches for the week (bacon & spinach frittata) and I have my week's workouts all planned out too.

 

I ventured in to the gym this afternoon and it was hard work.  I decided a few days to restart rowing again and this seemed like as good a time as any - I rowed loads while I was living in the sandpit, including a half-marathon rowing challenge with @wovercast , but after that I kinda let it slide entirely.  So I'm a fair bit out of practice, but I figure the lack of impact will be handy subsitute for the running until I'm light enough to do that more often.

 

I went for a simple workout to star - 2mins on/1min off, for 20mins.  Turns out I have a lot of progress to remake, as it kinda kicked my arse!  Will be back at it later on in the week again.

 

Right to go get dinner started.  Bacon omelette time!

[Big_Show]

Quick Tuesday update (I'm in the middle of cooking dinner)!

 

Yesterday was an rubbish day at work, and not just because it involved going to work.  But I made it through eventually, and afterwards managed to drag myself out for a very short run.

 

It did not go well.  I only managed 1.5miles, it was slow, it felt awful, but it's done and now hopefully the next time it will be easier as a result.

 

Today was much better!  Work was fine, and afterwards I came home to meet the Welshman and then we both went to the gym together!  I did Legs and it kicked my arse, but seeing as I put up several of the weights for this session that's no surprise.  Very pleased to have done it!

 

Weighed myself this morning for the first time in a month - despite getting lax with the diet & drinking, as well as going on holiday for a week (where we still averaged 14k steps per day) I've only put 1.2kg back on since the beginning of March.  To be on target for the end of May I should have been around 3kg lighter by now, but I've got 7 weeks to see how far I can catch up with so there's my challenge to focus on.

 

Tomorrow's training plan is try rowing again (assuming my post-Legs legs will allow me) and do 2min on/1min off intervals for a full half hour this time.

 

TIme to go finish dinner garlic & herb chicken with roasted sprouts, and various other mixed veg.  Absolutely starving so cannot wait!

[Big_Show]

Time for another sporadic update!

 

Yesterday I went to the gym after work for my next attempt at rowing.  2mins on,1min off for 30mins.  It felt a bit easier than last time, although I still didn't particularly enjoy it.  But perhaps I will next time?

 

Tonight was another trip to the gym, this time for my Chest, Shoulders & Triceps session.  It was a bit hit & miss due to tiredness, but I made progress on a few lifts so I'm pleased I went.

 

Also notable was the Welshman joining me again - because he was still on the cross-trainer when I finished and the gym was quiet, I finally had a go playing around with the heavy bag!  Found a simple workout through Google and spent about 10-15minutes punching that damn thing and it felt good.  Will definitely be doing that again whenever possible!

 

Foodwise I've been pretty good this week - less snacking at work than earlier in the week, no taking biscuits and sweets available in the office, and evening dinners have been good too.  Had a couple of drinks last night, but only one schoolnight a week is the goal and I'm back on the tea tonight so that's still fitting to plan.

 

Having a fairly quiet (and cheap!) weekend, but I'm definitely going to make it to the gym for my Back & Biceps session at some point.  Also packed my kit for tomorrow in case I fancy a row on the way home - we're away over the long Easter weekend so I kinda want to get next week's workouts in early seeing as I'll probably have to miss one or two.

 

As for now, it's time for bed as I am a tired bear.  First week back from holiday is always a killer!

[Big_Show]

Weekend update!

 

On Friday I popped to the gym on the way home again for another row - this time it was 3mins on/1min recovery for 30mins.  It definitely felt easier than it did earlier on in the week (possibly because it wasn't the day after Leg Day this time...) and I even got distracted by my music and accidentally worked through one of the later recovery intervals too!  Followed it up with another little bit of boxing on the heavy bag, because why not?

 

That evening we popped out for a pint, and then instead of getting a takeaway we actually bothered going to Tesco and getting easy oven food from there - much cheaper, and also slightly healthier (relatively).  The deal there was that we could go out for a cheap brunch on Sunday instead.

 

Saturday morning I got up and headed to the gym in the morning for Back & Biceps.  Tweaked something just below my right lower rib on my first deadlift work set so abandoned them right there, but completed the rest of the workout fine.  I think it must be one of my core muscles (an intercostal perhaps?), but it has been feeling better each day and I only really notice it when lifting something heavy off the ground rather than any other movement.

 

Sunday was a total rest day.  Brunch was understandably awesome - I had the sticky brisket on sourdough toast with a poached egg on top, and it was so worth the hype!

 

 

The rest of the day was spent mooching round and relaxing, although I did get my meal prep for the week done:

 

 

 

Monday I felt kind of crap after a rubbish night's sleep again, but I was determined to go out for a run after work anyway.  I recently reread the part of Atomic Habits that talks about making things a part of your identity, and how every time you perform an action that stands as some evidence to your brain that you are the kind of person who does that.  I am trying to convince my brain that I am a runner once more, hence I went out and ran.  And took a picture because my Garmin was playing up:

 

 

This morning I weighed myself and I have lost 3.75lbs since last week - that's all of the holiday weight gone again plus a bit extra, and puts me at the lightest I've been since the beginning of November 2017.  I am understandably pleased by this, and it served as motivation to keep things up - tonight neither me nor the Welshman could be bothered to go to the gym, but we did so anyway.  Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (adapted to avoid hurting that muscle strain again) and now it's time for dinner.

 

Tomorrow at work is a bit of an Easter themed buffet - I made some Chocolate Cheesecak-filled eggs which I believe should go down a treat...

 

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Serious beard envy.

[Big_Show]

Had an excellent relaxing long weekend away.

This week has been christened Cardio Week for various.

More later.

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[Big_Show]

Ok, I've lost track a bit of where I was so I'll just update from this week and carry on from there.

 

Had a lovely Easter weekend over at the Cotswolds with the Welshman's family.  I went for a short sunny run on the Sunday morning (although it felt quite long) to scout out the location of the pub, but other than that there was basically four days of little exertion and much relaxing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday it was back to work.  I went to the gym on the way home for Random Cardio Week (still giving myself chance to properly heal from random deadlift injury a fortnight ago):  30mins of rowing in the form of 4mins on/1min rec., followed by 5mins of 10 kettlebell swings EMOM (thanks again [mention=3909]Sloth the Enduring[/mention]), then 15mins of heavy bag time again.

 

Wednesday I went out for a run.  It feels like such hard work again - I think I have finally run out of the residual fitness I built up in 2012 doing the Ironman, so I'm basically back to being a total beginner again.  Which explains why just under 4M at 9:00/mile pace felt like such a hard slog!  (I stopped a couple of times for a breather.)

 

Made a decision off the back of it though - on Monday I am back to the running club, and the Tuesday of the week later I shall be doing a little local 5k to find out exactly the state of my lack of fitness.

 

This evening was the gym again - I expanded on Tuesday's cardio a bit:  30mins of rowing in the form of 5mins on/1min rec., followed by 5mins of 10 kettlebell swings EMOM, 5mins of 30s skipping/30s rest, then 15mins of heavy bag time again.  Definitely feeling nice and tired now!

 

 

Tomorrow's a rest day as we have tickets for Endgame, then at the weekend I intend to run on Saturday and finally give Back & Biceps a go on Sunday when the gym's nice & quiet.

 

 

[RisenPhoenix]

Dammit @Big_Show!

 

While I was away on holiday I met two Brits who I then spent the next several hours drinking with.

 

Kinda reminded me of when I met you.

 

You bastard.

[Big_Show]

On 4/29/2019 at 8:44 PM, RisenPhoenix said:

Dammit @Big_Show!

 

While I was away on holiday I met two Brits who I then spent the next several hours drinking with.

 

Kinda reminded me of when I met you.

 

You bastard.

 

Good times

[Big_Show]

This week saw my return to running club.  Kinda nervous, as I haven't been there since July last year, but my plantar fasciitis seems to have finally cleared up and my achilles tendinitis is as under control as it can be while I'm at this weight, so it was worth a try.

 

After the warm-up and drills the main session was 16x300m with 1min recovery (conveniently back to the start of the track).  I got sorted into Group 4 after the first rep (of four groups) and concentrated on just running consistent times without any legs falling off.  I'm pleased to say I managed this, and my times even crept gradually faster from 90s to 75s by the end of the session.  It was good to be back there again!

 

 

On Tuesday I went to the gym after work for a Back & Biceps session, but all the equipment I wanted to use always seemed to be in use by someone else so I ended up doing various random cario exercises again like last week.  Still got a good session in though, and then we went off to see Avenue Q in the evening so the day ended very well!

 

 

Wednesday night was a solo run on legs that were still achey - just my regular 5k loop, although I stopped to take a photo to prove I had actually gone out:

 

 

The plan for Saturday morning is to head over to the Parkrun and give that a go.  Should be horribly slow, but that gives me space for improvement on my first week back running properly!

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Your smile is getting happier, must be a result of those runs!

[Big_Show]

It has been a good long weekend!

 

Saturday morning turned out to be awful weather, so I changed my plans and headed to the gym for a Back & Biceps session.  I haven't done a proper session like this for a few weeks but I'm pleased to report that the injury I had appears to to be cleared up, and there were no more twinges in my rib cage when I tried to lift heavy.  All means I get to try heavier stuff again on Thursday for my Chest, Shoulders & Triceps session!

 

Sunday morning I headed out for my run.  A 5k plod round the waterfront and back in just over 27mins - still found it pretty tiring, but that gives me my target for the 5k race I'm doing in a fortnight.  Sub-27 or bust!

 

Speaking of 5k races, we've entered a little local one tomorrow night.  It's a 2 lap course with a wicked hill at the end of each lap so I'm not expecting a fast time, but it'll be nice just to get round without stopping and actually complete a race for the first time since August last year!

 

The rest of the weekend involved my Mum's birthday meal, lunch with friends and their baby, a little pub crawl, a rugby 7s tournamet/beer festival, and a bit of shopping today + a gin festival.  And also some housework and adulting.  So we've packed a lot in to three days, but sadly it's back to work again tomorrow!

[Big_Show]

Well it was an eventful week - last Tuesday we went off to do a 5k race in the park and it went pretty well!  Last time I did this was around a year ago, and I was only 10sec slower this time round so all that time off running injured apparently didn't do too much harm!

 

...which is handy, because on Saturday I managed to injure myself again...

 

2 miles into a nice easy gentle run my right calf randomly twanged and I had to hobble home.  Long story short, I'm off running for a while again while it recovers.

 

So tonight after work I headed to the gym for a Back & Biceps session to figure out what I could actually do in the gym.  Upper body stuff predictably seems fine, and I had a go for a couple of minutes on the rowing machine and it didn't seem to hurt much?  Not in an injury kind of way, just that I was aware of it.  So it looks like I'll be doing a fair bit of rowing for the foreseeable future.

 

And also properly dialling in my diet again.  Need to lose weight to stop this happening yet again in a month or so...

[darkfoxx]

Saw this and thought of you - there are some great cues and things to think about re: squat form here:

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[Big_Show]

***NEW 12 WEEK CHALLENGE ALERT***

 

***RESPAWN KLAXON***

 

Since my last post I went away on holiday with my parents, sister's family, and the Welshman for a week.  Quite an active holiday at Center Parcs from which we came back slightly tired than when we left, to be honest...

 

Since we got back I have been tracking everything I eat & drink on MFP and it has been a bit of an eye-opener again.  It has highlighted that, diet-wise at least, my major downfalls are:

- snacking at work when I'm not actually hungry, just bored (see also: many previous entries from the Sandpit days featuring my nemesis, the Vending Machine)

- midweek booze (who would have thought beer had so many calories?)

- weekend "treats" (weekend beer also has calories.  As do pizzas.)

 

I also adjusted my workout programme - I've been working on a 3x8 rep pattern since last November or so, but in the last fortnight I've transitioned back to a 5x5 rep pattern because I just plaing want to get a bit stronger again, and this lets me lift heavier weights.

 

Cardio-wise, I started rowing again but it appears that my calf might now cope with running again after a month off, so I plan to gradually introduce that again starting next week.

 

IT IS NOW 12 WEEKS UNTIL I HAVE TO BUY A SUIT FOR THE WEDDING WE'RE GOING TO.

 

THIS MEANS I HAVE TO GET DOWN TO A WEIGHT I'M COMFORTABLE WITH BUYING EXPENSIVE CLOTHES TO FIT.

 

I couldn't weigh myself today as the batteries in the scale were dead, but they've been replaced now so I intend to be 9kg lighter in 12 weeks than whatever it says tomorrow; by my estimates this should have me down to where I was in June 2017, which I am absolutely fine spending good money on a suit for.

 

The plan for this consists of:

- weekly weigh-ins, generally on a Wednesday.

- 3x weights sessions : Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs.

- 2x cardio sessions: initally 1 run and 1 row, and take it from there:

- daily yoga: I have started cycling through the NF Yoga mini-sessions daily with the goal of injury prevention

- no drinking on schoolnights (and starting later on a Saturday)

- check in with this thread as often as possible for accountability!

 

That's the gist of it all; I'm probably going to continute tracking all of my food & drink in MFP for a fair old while too, because it makes me more aware of what I'm consuming.

 

So that's the plan!  I'll check in tomorrow morning with my starting weight, then take it from there!

[Big_Show]

Starting weight: 116.1kg.

Pleased with that. Could have been a lot worse.

Target in 12 weeks is 107.1kg!

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[Big_Show]

Not much to check in with today - after a reeeeeeeeaaaaaaally slow day at work I got home and immediately got all my adulting done, including my daily yoga mini-session (Squat Mobility today).  Just planned out my food for next week and sorted out when I can get my shopping & meal prep done over the weekend; it's a bit of a busy one with a local Pride event on Saturday and then taking my Dad out for lunch on Sunday for Father's Day, so I'm making sure I plan ahead to fit everything in.

 

My calorie count for the day is comfortably within where I want it to be, and tomorrow's will be bit more indulgent (it is Friday, after all) but I am heading to the gym on the way back from work in order to mitigate it.  I haven't been able to go all week as my back has been playing up, but it finally appears to have settled down so I'll be heading for another #flexfriday instead of having a train beer!

[Big_Show]

It's been quite a full weekend!

 

Friday I hit the gym after work for a Back & Biceps session, then we had a quiet night in with a "takeaway" - you can buy a bag of themed ready meals from the supermarket that just go in the oven for 20mins and barely cost a tenner, so this week we had a thai variety pack with some extra garlic bread, because garlic bread.  Nice night in.

 

Saturday was Essex Pride!  A really fun day out, plenty of booze but not too much food.  But lots of hay fever.  But lots of Pride.

 

Today my sister & I took my Dad out for lunch, and when I got back I did all my meal prep for the week.  Looks like I'm about sorted for food & also got a solid plan for the week ahead too:

- Monday: I attempt running for the first ime in 5 weeks.  Think my calf should be healed by now.

- Tuesday:  Chest, Shoulders & Triceps session

- Wednesday: either a rowing machine session or another run

- Thursday: Legs

- Friday: Back & Biceps

- Saturday: Suffolk Pride!

- Sunday: possible hangover?

 

It's nice to have a plan.

[Endor]

Sorry to hear about your Calf, tore mine at squash a couple years back not fun. Hopefully you'll be back at it soon.

 

Ready meals are so much better in the UK, they're rubbish here. I miss M&S foodhall ready meals!! Not to mention the sausage rolls and scotch eggs...mmmm!

 

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[Big_Show]

On 6/17/2019 at 1:07 PM, Endor said:

Sorry to hear about your Calf, tore mine at squash a couple years back not fun. Hopefully you'll be back at it soon.

 

Ready meals are so much better in the UK, they're rubbish here. I miss M&S foodhall ready meals!! Not to mention the sausage rolls and scotch eggs...mmmm!

 

 

 

Well it was 5 weeks ago now and I haven't even had a twinge from it for the last 4 weeks, so fingers crossed?  Doing much better with my stretching & flexibility again now.

 

I can't believe you don't get M&S out there, I could even get it in the Middle East!  They do some really good bundles too for lazy weekend dinners.

[Big_Show]

Figure it's about time for a proper check-in, seeing as I weigh myself tomorrow morning!  I always seem to run out of time to do this at the weekend anyway.

 

The plan:

- weekly weigh-ins, generally on a Wednesday

- got my starting weight last week, this week the damn thing has batteries in so I'm all set for my next reading tomorrow!

 

- 3x weights sessions : Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs

- only did two sessions (no Legs) - my back was still playing up and the weekend was busy.  This week has also been planned round a busy Saturday, so I'm making sure I get all three workouts in before then.

 

- 2x cardio sessions: initally 1 run and 1 row, and take it from there:

- I wussed out of my run on Monday.  I got all up in my head and too nervous about injuring myself, so for tomorrow I've planned out an easier, shorter route and laid my kit out so I'll be straight out after work before I can overthink it.

 

- daily yoga: I have started cycling through the NF Yoga mini-sessions daily with the goal of injury prevention

- I have been doing my yoga mini-sessions!  Definitely already noticing an improvement on the Touch Your Toes on.

 

- no drinking on schoolnights (and starting later on a Saturday)

- didn't manage this very well last week, but for Monday & Tuesday so far this week the strongest thing I've drunk has been green tea.

 

- check in with this thread as often as possible for accountability!

- could have done a bit better, but it hasn't lain abandoned for as long as it has previously...

 

I'll check in again tomorrow with the result from the scales!

[Big_Show]

As predicted, the heavy weekend took its toll - 0.2kg down to 115.9kg. But it's still progress, and this week should be a better one.

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[Endor]

11 hours ago, Big_Show said:

I can't believe you don't get M&S out there, I could even get it in the Middle East!

Nearest is Hong Kong! 

[Endor]

Hey big fella, what's happening?

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