Big Show returns to his roots

[Big_Show]

Happy New Challenge, rebels!

 

I'm really excited about starting the first challenge of 2021.  After a few experiments last month, I seem to have successfully walk/ran a few times and think I can finally start running regularly (slowly, and with a very gradual build-up of volume) without injuring myself yet again.  And with all gyms closed as Suffolk has made it into Tier 4 of the Coronavirus restrictions, now seems like the perfect time to pick it up again and move myself back into the Ranger guild!

 

My main goal for the year is to get myself back down to under 110kg and then reassess.  With this in mind, I'm keeping my first challenge very simple and ramping it up slowly rather than shooting for perfect from the outset and setting myself for failure by not running myself into the ground.  My focus will be mainly on calories and steps:

 

1) Keep total calories within an acceptable range of my weekly calorie total (exact figure depends on my weight that week) - I had the last few weeks of 2020 completely off my diet as I'd been tracking for 24 weeks in a row and fatigue understandable set in.  I'm going to start tracking and phase in the restrictions a bit more gradually:

- Week 1: +/- 1000 calories

- Week 2: +/- 750 calories

- Week 3: +/- 500 calories

 

2) Hit my weekly step target - also going to ramp this up gradually as we're out of the habit of going out of the house regularly at the moment:

- Week 1: 5,000 steps/day (35,000/week)

- Week 2: 6,000 steps/day (42,000/week)

- Week 3: 7,000 steps/day (49,000/week)

 

3) Run 2-3 times per week -  this one very much depends on how I feel at the time, as I'm few pounds heavier than I was a few weeks back (thanks to an excellent Christmas period that I regret not a single bit), so as the weight comes off again I'll feel more comfortable running for longer distances.  I have order myself a new pair of offroad running shoes though, so I can head over to the local playing field and run round the outside of the rugby pitches there instead of accumulating all the impact from roads & pavements instead.

 

LQ) Read more books - this is my only formal resolution for 2021.  I was very disappointed with how long I often went without picking up a book in 2020, despite spending half a year unemployed thanks to the first lockdown, so this year I'm making a continued concerted effort to get through the pile I have in my office so I can buy some new one guilt-free!  First ones up are Loose Head: Confessions of an (un)professional rugby player by Joe Marler and a re-read of Not a Diet Book by James Smith.

 

I'm really hoping that we move back down a Tier after a month and the gym opens again so I can carry on with Wendler's 5/3/1 programme, but until then I'm not pushing myself to do any formal home workouts.  I've found out from previous lockdowns (because that's essentially what Tier 4 is) that I don't enjoy them and therefore my compliance is rubbish, so I might as well focus my energy on something that I'll actually stick with.  I might grab the dumbbells or jump on the Ring Fit periodically as and when I fancy it, but there's no formal structure for it this month.

 

So that's it, my first challenge back in the Rangers!  Hope you all have a great 2021!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome back to the Ranger Corps. Rangers Gonna Ranger!

[Big_Show]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Welcome back to the Ranger Corps. Rangers Gonna Ranger!

 

I am Ranger. See me Range.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

46 minutes ago, Big_Show said:

 

I am Ranger. See me Range.

[shaar]

Hello Mother Ranger Fulkerson!!!

 

6 hours ago, Big_Show said:

but until then I'm not pushing myself to do any formal home workouts.  I've found out from previous lockdowns (because that's essentially what Tier 4 is) that I don't enjoy them and therefore my compliance is rubbish, so I might as well focus my energy on something that I'll actually stick with. 

 

And insert lightbulb moment for me, here.  Possibly why I'm fed up with home workouts too, and have been absolutely TERRIBLE at compliance...

 

Fuck off Rona, we got fitnessing to do! (That's not in our own homes.)

[Rurik Harrgath]

7 hours ago, Big_Show said:

I am Ranger. See me Range.

 

This inauspicious occasion calls for a resurrection of this classic too:

 

[Big_Show]

20 hours ago, shaar said:

Hello Mother Ranger Fulkerson!!!

 

 

And insert lightbulb moment for me, here.  Possibly why I'm fed up with home workouts too, and have been absolutely TERRIBLE at compliance...

 

Fuck off Rona, we got fitnessing to do! (That's not in our own homes.)

 

H*CK to the YEAH!

 

19 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

This inauspicious occasion calls for a resurrection of this classic too:

 

 

A mighty gif indeed.  Now can I have the same in Momoa flavour please? 😉

 

----------------------------------------

 

It is Week 1 Eve for me over here - my weeks work best for me when I track from Wednesday-Tuesday (I find this makes it easier to plan for and then compensate for the weekend) so I've spent the day getting in the last of my snacking on the remaining Christmas treats we have in the house; my weight's been fairly static for the last few days since I started weighing myself again post-Christmas so I have a good idea where I'm starting from.  I put on about half a stone over the last three weeks, and had a lot of fun doing in the process!  Back to MFP tomorrow though - our plan for NYE is to finally treat ourselves to a Dominos (we've been trying to find an excuse for months and finally found one), so that's what I'll be working around this week.

 

Other than the snacking, today would have been a pretty good day for my challenge - after work I went for a 40min walk catching up on some podcasts, then read a chapter of each of my books.  Tonight I'll be cooking up all the leftover gammon from the joint I cooked last week and putting in a tomato sauce along with all the veg we have leftover in the fridge too (tomorrow's our big weekly shop).

 

This evening I'm having a poke around the internet looking for virtual running challenges - there are obviously no actual races being held anyway, and both of us fancy finding something to enter and complete outselves in order to keep us motivated/challenged.  We have different goals & needs though, so while the Welshman is looking for something that rewards the cumulative total achieved, I'm looking for events that'll encourage me to build up to being able to complete a specific distance all in one go.  Obviously as soon as I googled they started turning up in all my social media sponsored ads, so I've already got a nice little list to work through!

[Rurik Harrgath]

Ask and ye shall receive!

 

[Terra]

Hi!   Good to see you back with the Rangers! 

[miss_marissa]

Glad to see you've started running again! I will say I was quite jealous of your Christmas spread!

[Big_Show]

On 12/29/2020 at 8:14 PM, Rurik Harrgath said:

Ask and ye shall receive!

 

 

 

On 12/30/2020 at 12:03 AM, Terra said:

Hi!   Good to see you back with the Rangers! 

 

It's good to be back!

 

On 12/30/2020 at 3:21 AM, miss_marissa said:

Glad to see you've started running again! I will say I was quite jealous of your Christmas spread!

 

Just remembering that roast leg of lamb is making me hungry again... we've still got a tub of leftovers in the freezer, and one of my jobs for the weekend is to find the perfect recipe to use it all in 😋

 

---------------------------------

 

First day of tracking done!

 

Wednesday weight: 119.5kg - my weight jumped up by 1.4kg overnight for no apparent reason, but whatever, that gives me my starting point, and this week's daily calorie target therefore becomes 2612.

 

Thursday weight: 118.1kg - back to where it was on Tuesday.  Go figure,

Wednesday steps: 7514 (2514 over target for the week) - knowing that Wednesday evening is our big weekly shop (plus I'm also still shopping for my parents too), I set my alarm for half an hour early and headed out for a morning walk before work.  Unfortunately this also coincided with an appalling night's sleep (always assumed that I'd be the loud snorer in a relationship.  I was wrong...), so I spent the day feeling quite tired and run-down but I got the steps in and that's what matters!

Wednesday calories: 2517 (95 under target for the week) - a solid first day.  Got hungry surprisingly early on, but from what I remember these pangs will stop turning up and soon as I get back out of the habit of eating every half or so like we have been for the last fortnight...

 

For New Year's we are having the night in together (obviously) and there shall be board games, Switch games, funny TV shows, and of course the Domino's I've been looking forward to for months! (Other takeaway pizzas are also available.)  This will be washed down with copious rum and then wine - all the calories tonight shall be tracked, but I won't be giving a damn about them as I then have five more days to balance them out, and you only celebrate seeing the last of 2020 once!

 

Our wedding got postponed to 2022 and I spent six months unemployed, which kinda sucked massive donkey balls.  But we're all set to make the most of 2021 no matter what it throws at us!

[Big_Show]

Friday weight: 118.4kg

Thursday steps: 6717 (4231 over target for the week) - that little work after work took me nicely over target for the day.

Thursday calories: 4754 (2047 over target for the week) - we had a great NYE!  Domino's wasn't delivering for some reason, so we tried a little local pizza shop that turned out to be DELICIOUS!  I had a tandoori chicken pizza, and we shared some onion rings, popcorn chicken, and mozzarella sticks.  While this was being prepared we did some more of the Marvel jigsaw we've been working on, then sat and watched Soul and finished it off with various NYE shows on TV while toasting out the year with prosecco, wine, and a glass of whisky to ring in 2021.  The calorie count reflects how much we celebrated the end of 2020!

 

Today was the beginning of the Virtual Challenge we've entered - cover 1000 miles in the year to get a nice shiny medal!  I'm doing it solely through specific indiviual runs & walks, whereas the Welshman is using his overall Fitbit step count (he doesn't run and has different goals to me).  So today I went out for a nice little walk/run to make a start on it!  This week's plan is just 2mins run/1min walk to get back into the habit, and as my new Mudclaws arrived a couple of days ago I headed over to the local rugby pitches and ran round the outside of there.  2.07M in 23:33 @ 11:20/mile av. - I don't really care about the speed, first target it simply just to get up to running 5k without stopping again.

 

We also went for a bit of a walk round town before it got dark.  Most shops are shut due to Tier 4 rules right now anyway, with it being January 1st the whole place was pretty much deserted, so it was actually kinda eery!  That's just shy of another three miles towards the target done though, so not bad for a first day.

 

As for this evening, the first plan is to read through the recipe book I pre-ordered which finally came out yesterday - Twochubbycubs Fast and Filling: 100 Delicious Slimming Recipes.  We really like their blog and their first book, so this one should have lots of nice food in it too.  Plan is to pick one out and make it for dinner tomorrow night.

 

Tonight's dinner will be a traditional geordie dish called Pan Haggerty, albeit a diet version from the Hairy Bikers' slimming recipes books.  It is absolutely delicious and perfect comfort food for while watching TV - probably going to settle in on the sofa together and give The New Mutants a go!

[shaar]

21 hours ago, Big_Show said:

tandoori chicken pizza

 

Wowowow. Wow.  what a glorious world we live in.......

[Big_Show]

Saturday weight: 118.1kg

Friday steps: 13,102 (12,333 over target for the week) - that little wander added up to a decent toal in the end!

Friday calories: 2451 (1886 over target for the week) - clawed a little bit of the surplus back.  The pan haggerty was absolutely delicious (as always) - I definitely recommend you try it!

 

Today was a nice lazy morning finishing off this year's viewing of World's Strongest Man (essential Christmas viewing every), and then we headed out for a nice walk.  We identified a new footpath we haven't tried before and headed off on a nice loop across some fields, and in the process found a nice route over to a little town that's not too far away.  Should be good to walk over there for some lunch when the pubs eventually re-open again.  With also heading back via the supermarket to get a few bits for tonight's dinner, that took us up to 5.75 miles in total so today's step count should be a doozy!

 

I selected Honey & Garlic Beef for dinner tonight, and then afternoon I go for another run tomorrow morning I'll be making us Shaksuka from the same book.  I've made other versions before so it sounds like a safe option to go for.

 

Tonight is a Zoom  games night with the Welshman's family - we'll playing Outsmarted which is really fun, although the app was a bit buggy at first.  It's kinda like Trivial Pursuit, but while the actual physical board will be on our floor with a laptop camera pointed at it, everybody can answer the questions on their go through the app on their phone/tablet/whatever.  There are kids questions too, so it should be pretty even!

[Big_Show]

Sunday weight: 117.8kg - first time back under 118!

Saturday steps: 14,585 (21,918 over target for the week) - smashing this week!

Saturday calories: 2937 (2211 over target for the week) - maybe it's because we had a very light breakfast, but I did not anticipate that after walking for a few hours I would be So. Damn. HUNGRY!  Tried to make good choices but couldn't help but carry on snacking, especially after drinking wine and playing quiz games (we carried on together after the Zoom session finished for another few hours).  Still, got three days to repair the average now!

 

Today has been really nice - after a bit of lazy sofa time drinking coffee I headed out for my run.  Same route as last time, just a walk/run over round the rugby pitches and back, but making the most of daylight at the weekends to get offroad and therefore minimise the impact (did I mention I'm still 117.8kg?) while I can.  2mins run/1min walk felt pretty much the same as last time - if Tuesday's run goes ok I might up the run by another half minute or so.  Overall 2.07M in 23:28 @ 11:20/mile average - looking forward to that number coming down again!

 

The rest of the day has been clearing up the house and taking down all the Christmas decorations.  Popped out for another little walk (mainly to drop the last of the empties off at the nearby bottle bank...) and the Welshman has just finished prepping us most of our lunches for the week, so it's now my turn to go make a Keem pie for dinner and the other remaining lunch.  Back to work tomorrow, and I'm on a refresher course all week (via Teams) so it's going to heavy going I think.

[Endor]

16 hours ago, Big_Show said:

Keem pie

What's that when it's at home?! I searched... it seems to be some sort of spicy shepherds pie?

[Big_Show]

6 hours ago, Endor said:

What's that when it's at home?! I searched... it seems to be some sort of spicy shepherds pie?

 

Oh yeah, just spotted my typo - it;'s the *Keema pie from the Pinch of Nom cookbook.  Basically a curry-fied cottage pie, and it really is damn tasty 😋

 

-------------------------------------

 

Monday weight: 118.4kg - always jumps up on a Monday so not concerned.

Sunday steps: 11,034 (27,952 over target for the week) - not bad

Sunday calories: 2090 (1689 over target for the week) - chipping away at that surplus again, should be nicely on target again by the end of Tuesday.

 

Today was spent almost entirely on Teams - doing my refresher course through work, which other people seem to kinda dread but I actually quite enjoy.  It's easier than my actual job as all the questions are in the idealised theoretical world where you actually have all the information you need (think the equivalent of those high school physics questions where spheres were perfect and surfaces were frictionless).  Also, I am (spoiler alert) a massive nerd, and also kinda low-key competitive to see if I'm better at my job than my coworkers...

 

After that I went out for my walk.  Another 2.13 miles done for my 1000 mile challenge, and now I'm going to read on the sofa for a bit.  Want to have a good look around online to find a good recipe for our leftover roast lamb from Christmas (it's safely in the freezer), and at 8pm Boris will be on TV again announcing another national lockdown, so there's that to look forward to.  Literally won't change our current lifestyle one bit, but still feel the need to tune in...

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Big_Show said:

After that I went out for my walk.  Another 2.13 miles done for my 1000 mile challenge, and now I'm going to read on the sofa for a bit.  Want to have a good look around online to find a good recipe for our leftover roast lamb from Christmas (it's safely in the freezer), and at 8pm Boris will be on TV again announcing another national lockdown, so there's that to look forward to.  Literally won't change our current lifestyle one bit, but still feel the need to tune in...

I just keep wondering what the Boris years are going to look like once they are depicted on The Crown.

[sarakingdom]

5 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I just keep wondering what the Boris years are going to look like once they are depicted on The Crown.

 

"And you're certain we no longer have secret assassins?"

 

"No, ma'am."

 

"One is the queen, you know. That should have some perks. It can't all be opening supermarkets and posing for stamps."

 

"I know, ma'am. No secret assassins."

 

"They would be secret. Probably not listed under 'assassin' in the civil service directory."

 

"I... I'll contact MI5, ma'am. But I wouldn't get one's hopes up."

 

"One did not serve in the war simply to watch one's country get turned into an international pariah filled with endless streams of breadlines and coffins by a grasping little oik with pretensions of adequacy who can't keep his hair combed or his flies zipped, Thewlis. It is not to be borne. One has had cleverer things served on a platter with horseradish and a garnish of parsley, and would that that had been how Johnson were presented to us, rather than in the formation of, and one uses the term loosely, a 'government'."

 

"I'll get on it, ma'am."

 

"Do that. If MI5 cannot be of assistance, one still has a service revolver somewhere."

 

 

[Big_Show]

Tuesday weight: 117.3kg - big jump back down!  Suspect it's because last night's dinner was carb-free.  But I'll take it!

Monday steps: 7608 (30,560 over target for the week) - bosh.

Monday calories: 2296 (1373 over target for the week) - Inching closer to the 1000 mark - I would be well within this goal for the week if NYE hadn't been involved, so pleased with my progress.

 

Lockdown 3 was indeed announced last night, so we're now on strict stay at home orders until probably mid-March I'm guessing, or at least until they've offered all the most at risk people a vaccine.  Pleased my most elderly aunts & uncles have apparently had it, and my Mum should get it soon (she works in a care home), as well as several of my friends who are frontline doctors & nurses in hospitals.  Definitely helping me stay positive about things, even when there's a background layer of tension in the back of my head (just like during the last two lockdowns, just this time I know where to look for it and how to treat myself accordingly).

 

Goal progress - I read another chapter of each of my books last night.  After the announcement came plenty of doomscrolling, so I'm actively avoiding that tonight.

 

Day 2 of my refresher course is now in the bag, and even though I'm enjoying it I'm still kinda knackered from it.  Still managed to make it out for my walk/run after work this evening though.  Still 2mins run/1min walk, and today I covered 2.21M in 24:23 @ 11:01/mile av.  These first three runs seem to have gone well so for Week 2 I plan to up the running segments, but I'm still wary of trying too much too soon so I'll probably just go to 2:30/1:00 split and see how that goes.  It's definitely not a race...

 

This evening we plan out next week's menu ahead of doing the big shop tomorrow after work - got some more new nice-looking recipes to try, so hopefully we should eat very well indeed this week!

[Big_Show]

Wednesday weight: 117.3kg - first week done!

Tuesday steps: 6462 (32,022 over target for the week) - that's a healthy total!

Tuesday calories: 2597 (1358 over target for the week) - didn't quite manage to get back under the 1000 after all, but still pleased with that for a week involving NYE. 

 

 

Very pleased with Week 1!  The changes for Week 2 are:

- the daily calorie target goes down to 2582

- the weekly error margin goes down to +/-750

- the daily step target goes up to 6000

 

Nothing else to report today as it's just shopping and no exercise this evening.  On with Week 2!

[Endor]

16 hours ago, Big_Show said:

background layer of tension in the back of my head

This is definitely a thing for a lot of people, me included.  How do you deal with it? 

[Big_Show]

2 hours ago, Endor said:

This is definitely a thing for a lot of people, me included.  How do you deal with it? 

 

We definitely deal with it differently - the Welshman pottered round the house doing jobs and keeping busy, whereas for me going for my run definitely helped. Then I settled in to catch up on Discovery a bit and tried to avoid Facebook...

[shaar]

20 hours ago, Big_Show said:

Definitely helping me stay positive about things, even when there's a background layer of tension in the back of my head (just like during the last two lockdowns, just this time I know where to look for it and how to treat myself accordingly).

 

Yeeeaaahhh, this is a thing... but you're right in that now, at least we know how to work to mitigate this because it's not super new anymore but also spring is coming and gosh that better be a light at the end of this shithole tunnel we've all been in!  Stay strong, friend!!

[Big_Show]

Thursday weight: 117.5kg

Wednesday steps: 4692 (1308 under target for the week) - weekly shop day.  Easily recoverable.

Wednesday calories: 2533 (49 under target for the week) - not a bad start to the week.  Really focussed on not going more than 750 over this week.

 

I am still on my refresher course for work at the moment.  All day on the Teams call again today, answering questions and doing exercises.  Tomorrow's the final evaluation, which should be easy enough if I'm careful because the theory paper's all open book and the practical is, well, the same job I've been doing daily for 13yrs but with all the necessary information actually included in the question.  But I'll still feel relieved when it's all done with for another 3yrs!

 

After today's session was done I headed out for my run.  Same route as last time, but this time I increased my running intervals to 2mins30 with 1min walk in between.  Covered the 2.22M in 24:47 @ 11:09/mile average, and by the end of it I was definitely looking forward to the walk breaks!  Looking forward to getting to run offroad and during daylight at the weekend though.

 

Tonight will probably involve catching up on another episode of Discovery and then getting a decent night's sleep ahead of tomorrow's assessments.  Nearly at the weekend now though!