jarlaxetherogue Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 Hey all, while I’m no stranger to Nerd Fitness (been lurking around here for a couple years), this is my first NF challenge. I'll consider this a respawn since my quests below have been extremely difficult to maintain. Actually I haven't made a point of doing diet/fitness quests for quite some time and we all have to start again somewhere! I'll be short and sweet by stating I would like to strengthen my back and shoulder muscles while losing a few pounds around the waist. Why? So I can be strong and show off to friends and family when I can finally do a pull-up! A bit about me: My professional background is in IT, I have been traveling and adventuring over the past year, and you have my nerdy attention if you're commenting about World of Warcraft, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, LOTR/Hobbit, or Harry Potter (I'm a Slytherin). Maybe even a bit of Marvel too. Jarlaxe's LEVEL 1 Challenge (Sept 16 - Oct 20): Diet Quests: 1) Drink at least one 16 oz bottle of water per day 2) Eat a vegetable with one meal every day Fitness Quest: 3) Start doing Steve’s Level 1 Pull-Up Workout (3x per week on Mon, Wed, Fri) https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/do-a-pull-up/ Level Up Your Life Quest: 4) Develop and document 2 or 3 daily meal plans based on foods and portions(calories) that have helped me lose weight previously. My best wishes to all of you on your challenges, and thanks for reading! 2 Quote Link to comment
Hazard Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 Welcome to the forums, Jarlax. Always glad to see people joining the social side of NF. It sounds like your main quest for now is to get that pullup! The quests you've laid out for this challenge period should be good for making some forward progress toward that. If you don't mind telling us, what's your height, and how much do you weigh at the moment? Also, out of the Star Wars movies, LOTR movies, and Harry Potters movies ---> If you could only watch 1 of those movies again ever (not 1 series, just 1 movie), which one would it be? Quote You haven't seen my Final Form I Stand With Gina Carano Link to comment
Harriet Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 Welcome! Those goals look simple but useful. Good luck! Oh, and... On 9/10/2019 at 1:06 PM, jarlaxetherogue said: (I'm a Slytherin). 1 Quote Let cheese and oxen and mead crowd out our secret desires for power and domination - Harriet the Viking Just be bold, fluid and unapologetic, not small, hairy and indecisive - Harriet the Artist You can absorb me! - Harriet the Contextless Guru Link to comment
BloodyBunnies Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 Welcome! This is my first challenge as well, and I'm also a Slytherin! Best wishes in your challenge! Quote Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 5 hours ago, Hazard said: Welcome to the forums, Jarlax. Always glad to see people joining the social side of NF. It sounds like your main quest for now is to get that pullup! The quests you've laid out for this challenge period should be good for making some forward progress toward that. If you don't mind telling us, what's your height, and how much do you weigh at the moment? Also, out of the Star Wars movies, LOTR movies, and Harry Potters movies ---> If you could only watch 1 of those movies again ever (not 1 series, just 1 movie), which one would it be? Hello Hazard, Thank you for your comments! I am a 5' 4" female and currently 147 lbs. I would like to get down to 130 but have been stuck in the 140's for the past couple years, like I've hit a plateau or something. I came down from 160 though so I'm pretty happy about that. Yes I would love to be able to do a pull-up, this would be my main quest for I think at least a 6-12 month goal. As for the movies, wow that is a difficult question!! How am I supposed to pick just one?!!! As amazing as all of these movies are to me in their own way, my answer is going to be Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I absolutely loved Rogue One as the perfect lead-in to Episode IV. It gave me chills!! It told a great story that needed to be told, something Star Wars fans had been wanting to know about in more detail for a long time! I loved the new characters that were introduced, and I thought the actors who played them did a fantastic job. Now I can't stop thinking about it and may need to watch it again! Certainly not for the last time ever though 1 Quote Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 2 hours ago, BloodyBunnies said: Welcome! This is my first challenge as well, and I'm also a Slytherin! Best wishes in your challenge! Thank you, best wishes to you as well! And from one Slytherin to another: "We got this!!" 2 Quote Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 4 hours ago, Harriet said: Welcome! Those goals look simple but useful. Good luck! Oh, and... Thank you, if only they could be as simple as they look, haha! Always nice to hear from another Slytherin! Quote Link to comment
Psykamaholik Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 Good luck! I can relate to the struggle of not being able to do pullups so it makes me want to see you succeed more. 1 Quote Focus on the doughnut, not the hole. Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Today's weigh-in: 148.1 lbs at 30.1% Body Fat (I'm using the Etekcity Smart Body Fat scale with VeSyncFit app) I did the one arm dumbbell rows from my weight bench, 3 sets of 12 reps each, and I suppose I should have tried this before the challenge started because I wasn't sure which weight I was going to start with. For dumbbells I have 1, 3, 5, 10, 12, and 15 pounders. Well, I tried 10, then 12, then 15, and did 15 comfortably and quickly without even breaking a sweat! I did feel it a bit in my upper arms and heard bones and/or cartilage (?) cracking with every lift, but it did not hurt at all. So I guess now I'll need to get a heavier weight or figure out how to maybe place multiple dumbbells in some sort of bag or container so that I can lift something heavier...? Although that might be awkward, I don't know! Pretty sure I won't be feeling today's excursion later on or tomorrow, but there is that to consider. Also made sure that my form was like the picture from Steve's article. 3 Quote Link to comment
BloodyBunnies Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Good job! Quote Link to comment
Psykamaholik Posted September 17, 2019 Report Share Posted September 17, 2019 Maybe you could use a bucket to hold the weights until you get some heavier ones? Another thought is you could up the intensity of the rows? Quote Focus on the doughnut, not the hole. Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2019 On 9/17/2019 at 12:54 AM, Psykamaholik said: Maybe you could use a bucket to hold the weights until you get some heavier ones? Another thought is you could up the intensity of the rows? So I have a bucket but it's a bit too big and awkward to lift... Then I found a cooler bag in my pantry that fit a 15 lb and 3 lb dumbbell together perfectly, except I was afraid the handle on the bag would rip when lifting it over and over again.... And THEN, I discovered I can hold the 15 lb and 3 lb dumbbells in one hand at the same time!! And the 18 lb total weight might just be about right, going forward. It definitely felt better, like I was getting a bit of a workout. I wanted to attempt lifting the 15 lb and 5 lb dumbbells together but my hand is too small (or too weak?), so I may be off to find a 20 lb dumbbell soon. For now though, I think the 18 lb weight will work! Today's one arm bent over dumbbell row workout: 3 sets of 12 reps each arm 4 Quote Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2019 Today's one arm bent over dumbbell row workout: 3 sets of 12 reps each arm, 18 lb weight Heading out of town now for the weekend (comic & toy expo time!) Will be eating out all weekend but intend to still be mindful of my water and vegetable quests. I've missed one day on veggies this week to date. Back home on Sunday in time for the start of Fall floor hockey season. Have a great weekend everyone! 1 Quote Link to comment
KeysMcGee Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Ravenclaw myself. Looks like some awesome goals. Pull-ups are no joke. 1 Quote "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." -Henry Ford "The older I get, the more I understand that the only way to say valuable things is to lose your fear of being correct." -Malcolm Gladwell Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 Jarlaxe's LEVEL 1 Challenge (Sept 16 - Oct 20): WEEKLY UPDATE (Sept 16 - Sept 22) Diet Quests: 1) Drink at least one 16 oz bottle of water per day = 6/7 days. I'm going to add that I must make a specific effort to drink the 16 oz bottle of water and not attempt to think of how much water I may have drank throughout the day. If I drink extra water because of this, then great. 2) Eat a vegetable with one meal every day = 4/7 days (Mon-Wed, Sat success, Thurs, Fri, Sun were a FAIL) Fitness Quest: 3) Start doing Steve’s Level 1 Pull-Up Workout (3x per week on Mon, Wed, Fri) = COMPLETED Mon/Wed/Fri: One arm bent over dumbbell rows, 3 sets of 12 reps each arm, up to 18 lb weight Level Up Your Life Quest: 4) Develop and document 2 or 3 daily meal plans based on foods and portions(calories) that have helped me lose weight previously. = Created a new spreadsheet and started a list of items with measurement and calorie amounts On a side note, ball hockey season started yesterday. Haven't played since Spring season and I'm actually feeling a bit stiff today in the arms and glutes, weird. I don't recall ever being sore after the start of a season; usually I'm dying during the game from poor cardio (which I still was), but then that's the end of it. Doing the dumbbell rows this morning made the arms feel better though, maybe it stretched them out, hopefully I don't feel worse later. Starting next week I'll be doing ball hockey 3x per week for Fall season. Today: Today's weight: 146.8 lbs @ 30.1% body fat One arm bent over dumbbell row workout: 3 sets of 12 reps each arm, 18 lb weight Got the 16 oz water down immediately after the workout 1 Quote Link to comment
jarlaxetherogue Posted September 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 Today's one arm bent over dumbbell row workout: 3 sets of 12 reps each arm, 18 lb weight Water down, veggie success on Mon, Tues Quote Link to comment
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