Challenge 5 - Tobbe fights the dinosaur

[Tobbe]

 

That, right there is the main goal of this challenge. To beat Tyrannosaurus Flex! That's why I'm posting this in the Warriors guild.

 

So I've been doing the Nerd Fitness Level 4 Bodyweight Workout routine since September 12th last year. I've been making progress pretty much every workout, either adding reps, or increasing difficulty. But there has always been a couple of things I've struggled with that has stopped me from trying the boss battle. Slow negative chin-up and jump rope.

 

 

 

The december pull-up PvP really helped with the negative chins, but I'm still not sure how slow of a negative I can do.

Haven't really practiced jump rope enough though, so that's going to be the most difficult part. I have been working on my jump endurance a lot though, so it's going to be all about the technique.

 

To win at this I need to do a few things. I need to fix my nutrition. I need to practice jump rope (and possibly negative chins). And I need to properly rest/recover between workouts. All of those are things I've neglected for too long.

 

Nutrition

 

This past month (December) has been crazy

 

 

My sweets cravings is through the roof! So that's the first thing I'm going to tackle.

 

I've also been skipping meals/proper food in order to fit all the sweet things in to my days. Not eating lunch and/or dinner, even though my stomach's been screaming for food, just to eat gingerbread cookies etc in the evening.

 

 

I'll reset my sweet cravings, and start honoring my hunger cues again by doing a mono diet cleanse/detox.

 

After the sweet tooth reset, and getting back in tune with my hunger signals I want to get back in to the habit of drinking my protein smoothie.

 

Fitness

 

 

This one is simple. Practice jump rope!

 

The pull-up PvP was pretty crazy, with doing a lot of work on the pull-up bar every single day. My arms took a real beating that I'm still feeling. So I need to make sure I rest between workouts. No working out two days in a row. And keep doing alternative exercises that are kinder to my arms, but still work my back.

 

 

Renegade rows feels like a good option, for example. 

 

 

So, let's try to summarize this with some SMART goals

 

Nutrition

 

For three to seven days:

• Eat only Kitchari all day
  • Eat until you're full
  • Eat whenever you feel hungry
• Drink only water, water+lime+salt, or water+kitchari spices

 

After the mono-diet

• Drink protein smoothie at least three times per week

 

Fitness

 

• Practice jump rope at least twice every week
• No workouts on consecutive days
• Try to beat Tyrannosaurus Flex 11th or 12th of January. Keep trying every Friday or Saturday until he is conquered

 

Level Up Your Life

 

• Do one task from the TODO 2019 PvP every week

[Arkania]

4 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

Drink protein smoothie at least three times per week

You then still eat mono (+ shakes)? Or back to normal (+shakes) again?

Kitchari sounds really nom.

 

Following as always

[The Battle Chef]

Kitchari is an interesting choice for a mono-diet.  I am curious why?

[Arkania]

1 minute ago, Rusk said:

Kitchari is an interesting choice for a mono-diet.  I am curious why?

 

Didn't know it either, googled it, found out it's a "detox" cleansing diet.

http://www.lovetruefood.com/what-to-expect-with-kitchari-cleanse/

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-do-a-kitchari-cleanse

etc

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

You then still eat mono (+ shakes)? Or back to normal (+shakes) again?

 

No mono diet after I'm done with the first three to seven days.  But I haven't decided exactly what my diet will look like.

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

Kitchari sounds really nom.

 

First time I've had it, but yes, it tastes good  At least for now. We'll see how I feel about it in three days   

 

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

Following as always

 

Thank you! (How did you even find this thread so fast? Stalker! ) 

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Rusk said:

Kitchari is an interesting choice for a mono-diet.  I am curious why?

 

I chose it because it sounded like something that was both tasty and actually good for you. It has the carbs, the fat and the protein. Also the "marketing talk" doesn't mention weight loss (or weight gain) a single time. Which is really unusual when it comes to diets! And it has spices in it so it's not too bland.

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

 

Didn't know it either, googled it, found out it's a "detox" cleansing diet.

http://www.lovetruefood.com/what-to-expect-with-kitchari-cleanse/

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-do-a-kitchari-cleanse

etc

 

This is true. I can't remember when exactly first read about it, but it was probably about six to eight months ago. I didn't save the link to the post I read, but for some reason the idea stuck with me. I have now found that original post I read, but that's not the recipe I ended up using. In fact, I didn't use a specific recipe at all but rather combined a bunch of different recipes to something that sounded good to me. This is that first post I read: https://www.mynewroots.org/site/2018/01/kichadi-realistic-reset/

 

I don't really believe in detoxes or cleanses. I don't think it's something we need. Our liver does all that work for us, every day.

 

I'm truly doing this to try to get rid of my cravings for sugar and to get me back to eating what my body needs, in the amounts it needs it.

I know from experience that when I eat sugar I just keep wanting it more. If I don't eat it for a while, eventually I'll stop wanting it so badly. And it's not even that I think sugar is all bad. It's that I eat cookies/cake/etc instead of proper food. I think I'll make better progress with my workouts if I eat more nutritious meals than just sugar and white flour.

 

 

[Arkania]

I think this is a good idea (I also don't believe in detoxing/cleansing-stuff.

I just found a recipe for my aryuveda type (Pitta, made a test ) and will try it in the last week of January/first week of February.

I want to make another challenge (living with only the amount of money you get when you are on german welfare) then so it would fit great in my budget

[Tobbe]

10 hours ago, Arkania said:

I just found a recipe for my aryuveda type (Pitta, made a test )

 

I'm apparently Vata, which means I should have more rice and more fat (ghee/coconut oil) in my Kitchari. But I didn't care about that. I just followed a standard-ish recipe.

 

I'm generally not a huge fan of the (black) liquorice flavor, but in the kitchary the fennel seeds were really tasty. Would not want to skip those! I also had swiss chard (or collard greens, not 100% sure) in my kitchari, and especially the stalks added a nice taste and texture change to the recipe

 

10 hours ago, Arkania said:

I want to make another challenge (living with only the amount of money you get when you are on german welfare) then so it would fit great in my budget

 

You'd think this would be a really cheap recipe, but the yellow split mung beans were actually more expensive per kg than the meat I usually buy... I also used turnips and Jerusalem artichoke which are both fairly expensive as far as root vegetables go... And that chard isn't exactly cheap either, at least not here!

[Tobbe]

Challenge goals update for 5th of January

 

Nutrition

 

For three to seven days:

• Eat only Kitchari all day (1/3)
  • Eat until you're full
    • This was more difficult than I thought it would be! 
  • Eat whenever you feel hungry
    • This was also more difficult than I thought it would be, having to take the rest of the family into consideration...
• Drink only water, water+lime+salt, or water+kitchari spices (1/3)

 

Fitness

 

Didn't work on any on my goals per se, but I did get a workout in!

 

Bodyweight 4B	Modification	2019-01-05
4 rounds
Assisted Pistol Squats	Elevated pistol squats	reps: 8
Dips		reps: 14
Wall Slides	Renegade rows 12 kg	reps: 24
Finish: One Arm Bar Hang	Scapular retractions, 2 sets	reps: 23

[Mad Hatter]

Ohai!

 

13 hours ago, Tobbe said:

The december pull-up PvP really helped with the negative chins, but I'm still not sure how slow of a negative I can do.

I did my first pull-up when I could do a ~30s negative if you want a point of reference.

[Tobbe]

22 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ohai!

 

Yello!

 

22 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I did my first pull-up when I could do a ~30s negative if you want a point of reference.

 

Thanks for the reference   I haven't timed myself beyond 10 sec, so I'm not sure where I'm at currently. We'll see on Friday or Saturday when I take on T-Flex!

 

 

[Tobbe]

No need to post photos of all my meals, since they all look exactly the same  But this was my very first bowl of Kitchari that I had for breakfast yesterday

 

[Salinger]

Hey Tobbe, good luck with your goals <3 

 

Will try to remember to pop in each day to check on you xx

[Tobbe]

3 minutes ago, Salinger said:

Hey Tobbe, good luck with your goals <3 

 

Will try to remember to pop in each day to check on you xx

 

Thanks Sal! Great to have your support  

[Arkania]

2 hours ago, Tobbe said:

 

I'm apparently Vata, which means I should have more rice and more fat (ghee/coconut oil) in my Kitchari. But I didn't care about that. I just followed a standard-ish recipe.

 

I'm generally not a huge fan of the (black) liquorice flavor, but in the kitchary the fennel seeds were really tasty. Would not want to skip those! I also had swiss chard (or collard greens, not 100% sure) in my kitchari, and especially the stalks added a nice taste and texture change to the recipe

 

 

You'd think this would be a really cheap recipe, but the yellow split mung beans were actually more expensive per kg than the meat I usually buy... I also used turnips and Jerusalem artichoke which are both fairly expensive as far as root vegetables go... And that chard isn't exactly cheap either, at least not here! 

 

I just bought the stuff Not sure how long it will last. But should be enough for 4-7 days,

And since i usually spend a lot of money on food, i found it relatively cheap. (5,10 Cocoflakes, 6,98 500g yellow split mung beans, 9,99 500g Ghee, 11,44 for 3kg Basmati)

I think it could have been cheaper but I am lazy and ordered on Amazon.

[Tobbe]

13 minutes ago, Arkania said:

I just bought the stuff Not sure how long it will last. But should be enough for 4-7 days,

 

I made a batch yesterday morning with 250 g beans and 250 g basmati. I think I will eat the last of it for lunch today. So about one and a half day worth of food for me.

 

13 minutes ago, Arkania said:

500g Ghee

 

I once bought ghee, couldn't stand the taste of it! Don't know if there was something wrong with that package of ghee, or if it's supposed to taste like that. I love the taste of regular butter... I didn't want to spend the money on another package, in case it really does taste that bad, so I just used odorless coconut oil instead that I already had at home. So I'm curious to see what you think of it  

 

11 minutes ago, Arkania said:

6,98 500g yellow split mung beans

 

By googeling I found a store that's just 20 km from here that focuses on organic foods. And they had organic yellow split mung beans for 7.80€ / kg. So I went there to buy it. And while browsing the store I also found miso and some interesting seaweeds, so I'm looking forward to go back there to buy some ingredients for some kind of Japanese soup   They also had live (i.e. not pasteurized) sauerkraut that I couldn't resist, so I bought a jar of that. Can't wait to try it as soon as I'm done with this mono diet 

[Tobbe]

So I totally thought the biggest challenge with the mono-diet would be that I was going to grow tired of the food. Boy was I ever wrong! By far the most challenging thing is not being allowed to drink tea!

 

 

Especially when the thermometer looks like that (61 F indoors, 30 F outdoors) a big cup of steaming hot black Earl Grey tea would be really nice!

[The Battle Chef]

I like me some black Yunnan tea, especially after lifting in an unheated garage gym is similar weather.  How long until you can drink tea again?

[Tobbe]

7 minutes ago, Rusk said:

How long until you can drink tea again?

 

I'll get back to it as soon as I'm done with this mono-diet. So at the earliest the day after tomorrow. But I'm hoping I can stick it out longer than that! I'm thinking that part of it can very well be caffeine withdrawal symptoms too. So once those start to go away I hope everything will be a little easier  

[Endor]

On 1/6/2019 at 8:02 AM, Tobbe said:

Practice jump rope at least twice every week

What helped me the most to get my double unders was to have a specific target to aim at, for example 10 double unders in a row.

 

Practice for 15 mins and see what the most you can do in one go without stopping is, next time try to beat that. Once you get to 10 increase the target to 20 etc. 

 

[Tobbe]

10 minutes ago, Endor said:

Practice for 15 mins and see what the most you can do in one go without stopping is,

 

Plan is to have a first go at it tomorrow. Then we'll see where I'm at 

[Tobbe]

Just did jump rope a while ago. 24 skips was the max I could do   But... Practice makes perfect! I'll have another go tomorrow I think  

[Harriet]

On 1/5/2019 at 1:02 PM, Tobbe said:

 

 

So I've been doing the Nerd Fitness Level 4 Bodyweight Workout routine since September 12th last year. I've been making progress pretty much every workout, either adding reps, or increasing difficulty. But there has always been a couple of things I've struggled with that has stopped me from trying the boss battle. Slow negative chin-up and jump rope.

 

The december pull-up PvP really helped with the negative chins, but I'm still not sure how slow of a negative I can do.

 

 

The tea-less mono diet sounds kind of rough! It also sounds like a good way of banishing sweet cravings, though.

 

So, are you working up to being able to do full pull-ups? I'm really struggling with my pulling strength and am trying different things (inverted rows, barbell rows, assisted pull-ups) and nothing seems to be working, but I haven't tried negative chin-ups because I don't think it would even be possible. How not-weak does one have to be to do a useful negative chin up?

[Tobbe]

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

The tea-less mono diet sounds kind of rough! It also sounds like a good way of banishing sweet cravings, though.

 

Yeah, it's still the tea part that's the worst! It's been three days now, and I have no problem going at least one more day with the food  

 

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

So, are you working up to being able to do full pull-ups?

 

I'm not actively working on pull-ups right now because my arms are still feeling it from the pull-up challenge. But I am working out, and yes, it is a goal of mine to be able to do pull-ups!

 

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

I'm really struggling with my pulling strength and am trying different things (inverted rows, barbell rows, assisted pull-ups) and nothing seems to be working, but I haven't tried negative chin-ups because I don't think it would even be possible. How not-weak does one have to be to do a useful negative chin up?

 

I think it's very individual when you're strong enough to do negatives. And also when you can go from negatives to doing full pull-ups. I've always been able to do negatives. Not as many as I could towards the end of the challenge, but one or two has never been a problem.

 

If you try to do a full pull-up, where in the motion do you struggle most?