Hangrybear's journey from chonk to stronk #2

[Hangrybear]

Hello everyone!

 

Excited to share this journey with like-minded people and both give and receive mental support throughout these challenges.

You can read my introduction and see some progress photos right here.

Currently am 4-5% higher in bodyfat due to struggling with a difficult few weeks during challenge #1.

 

I work out 4-5 days a week, and have for couple years, which is not part of the challenge, as its second nature by now.

Am  very fortunate to have a small home gym  and calisthenics parks around the house.

 

Physical:

• 3x hiking prehab (stretching, strengthening) per week
• 5x core or accupressure mat per week.
• 1hr daily standing desk during vacation, thereafter only on workdays and for couple hours.
• periodically increasing distance walked outside per week

Mindset:

• 1x daily ask someone close to me how their day is going

Nutrition:

• 1x daily anti-inflammation smoothie
• avoid binge-eating at all costs, this is the prime objective
• no milk products as they have been proven to be terrible for my skin genetics

 

Tracking of the last and current challenge in Spoiler.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Hangrybear]

Breakfast:

800-1000kcal

Puffed Buckwheat 

Puffed quinoa 

Double chocolate fudge protein isolate 

Crunchy oatmeal

Almond milk 

 

2x Afternoon snack:

300-400kcal

Anti inflammation smoothie:

Skin:
Ginger powder
Kurkuma powder
Flaxseeds crushed
Chia seeds
Chili powder
red beet powder
pepper

Consistency, Taste, Nutrition:
cinnamon
oatmeal ground
spinach powder
psyllium husks
hemp protein

to turn dry ingredients liquid:
liquid artificial sweetener (important, or it tastes vile)
almond puree (only as a treat, when I can afford it)
Oat Milk / Almond Milk

 

Dinner:

1500-1700kcal

250g Buckwheat pasta 

400g vegetables 

500g beef tartar 

[Hangrybear]

Since striving for perfection has never worked for me, I need to have an array of food items to treat myself and have some solace during emotional eating in order to diminish the urge to binge.

 

Treats:

70% chocolate 

Energy drinks zero

Coca Cola zero 

Occasional Kebab 

Potato croquettes 

Vodka, white whine 

[Elastigirl]

I like your idea of having some treats  for yourself.

[Hangrybear]

3 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I like your idea of having some treats  for yourself.

 

At the end of the day the only way to stay at a desired body weight long-term is adherence to whatever diet model you've chosen.

Too restrictive and you will not stick to it, no matter how ideal the micro- macronutrient and satiety factors are on paper.

 

Diet plans developed by nutritionists, researchers, authors can work, but your specific set of genetics will have a major influence on how you react to a diet.

These things work for me, but may not for others.

 

But I do think giving yourself a break and having a fallback mechanism in case of diverging from a diet is important for anyone, since only the rarest humans can stick to a meal plan 100%.

[Hangrybear]

TRAINING TODAY
60min Shoulder & Core
140min walk

Overheadpress sitting

20kg x 30

40kg x 12

60kg x 8

70kg x 5

warmup end

80kg x 5

80kg x 5

60kg x 12

60kg x 12

Reverse-Flies

22kg x 10
22kg x 10
22kg x 10
22kg x 10

pullover with weight 

15kg x 12
15kg x 12
15kg x 12
15kg x 12

hip rotation with weight 

15kg x 12
15kg x 12
15kg x 12
15kg x 12

Flutter Kicks

40 seconds x 4

[Elastigirl]

1 hour ago, Hangrybear said:

 

At the end of the day the only way to stay at a desired body weight long-term is adherence to whatever diet model you've chosen.

Too restrictive and you will not stick to it, no matter how ideal the micro- macronutrient and satiety factors are on paper.

 

Diet plans developed by nutritionists, researchers, authors can work, but your specific set of genetics will have a major influence on how you react to a diet.

These things work for me, but may not for others.

 

But I do think giving yourself a break and having a fallback mechanism in case of diverging from a diet is important for anyone, since only the rarest humans can stick to a meal plan 100%.

I hear you on that.There was a time when I tried to be super strict Paleo.Then when I veered off it, my mindset was I already failed, so I might as well go big time fail. Now , my mindset is more that most of the time I eat a certain way, but  sometimes I don't, and that is fine too 

[Harriet]

On 3/28/2021 at 6:38 PM, Hangrybear said:

Hello everyone!

 

Excited to share this journey with like-minded people and both give and receive mental support throughout these challenges.

You can read my introduction and see some progress photos right here.

Currently am 4-5% higher in bodyfat due to struggling with a difficult few weeks during challenge #1.

 

I work out 4-5 days a week, and have for couple years, which is not part of the challenge, as its second nature by now.

Am  very fortunate to have a small home gym  and calisthenics parks around the house.

 

Welcome and good luck! That seems like a fair bit of exercise activity, which is awesome. What's in the anti-inflammatory smoothie, and does it work? I want to un-inflame.

 

10 hours ago, Hangrybear said:

At the end of the day the only way to stay at a desired body weight long-term is adherence to whatever diet model you've chosen.

Too restrictive and you will not stick to it, no matter how ideal the micro- macronutrient and satiety factors are on paper.

Yeah, my experience has been the same. Gotta tread that middle path between going on an eating spree on the one hand or cruelly restricting on the other.

[Big_Show]

17 hours ago, Hangrybear said:

Since striving for perfection has never worked for me, I need to have an array of food items to treat myself and have some solace during emotional eating in order to diminish the urge to binge.

 

I find that too, bit of a fine line to tread between having something feel like a treat/indulgence without then destroying the calorie count. Too much restriction just leads to it all spilling out somewhere though. 

[Hangrybear]

10 hours ago, Harriet said:

 

What's in the anti-inflammatory smoothie, and does it work? I want to un-inflame.

Hey, it's the second post of this thread, where you can find an example meal-plan.

It definitely works, and significantly improves my acne. But it tastes a little bit vile, because I am allergic to fructose and cannot add any fruit.

Some ingredients, like the spinach, psyllium husks, chili , protein and pepper are optional, and are added for health reasons rather than purely anti-inflammation.

 

9 hours ago, Big_Show said:

 

I find that too, bit of a fine line to tread between having something feel like a treat/indulgence without then destroying the calorie count. Too much restriction just leads to it all spilling out somewhere though. 

 

19 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I hear you on that.There was a time when I tried to be super strict Paleo.Then when I veered off it, my mindset was I already failed, so I might as well go big time fail. Now , my mindset is more that most of the time I eat a certain way, but  sometimes I don't, and that is fine too 

(Quoting both of you since it's a similar topic)

Yeah, especially if you have a history with obesity and/or eating disorders. I wouldn't say it's impossible to be 100% on point but it creates unhealthy pressure and is quite unrealistic for most people.

It's also a dangerous mindset, since you tend to go off completely once you steer from the course. Planning for failure and allowing slips without abandoning the program is a rather new thing for me and feels promising.

[Hangrybear]

Training Tuesday :
60min Legs & Back Outdoor @ Calisthenics Park
15min Core
30min Hiking Prehab
40min Biking

Adductor /w Band
4 Sets x 12 Reps

Abductor /w Band
4 Sets x 12 Reps

Side Steps /w Band
3 Sets x 10 Reps

Paloff Press /w Band
3 Sets x 10 Reps

Horizontal Lat Pulldown /w Band
5 Sets x 12 Reps

-----
Single Leg Hip Thrusts
3 Sets x 12 Reps

Plank Switches
3 Sets x 40 seconds

Flutter Kicks
3 Sets x 40 seconds

-----

Hiking Prehab
30min

[Harriet]

13 minutes ago, Hangrybear said:

Hey, it's the second post of this thread, where you can find an example meal-plan.

 

Oh yeah 🙃 I tend to skim over lists

 

13 minutes ago, Hangrybear said:

It definitely works, and significantly improves my acne.

That is a really nice outcome.

[Hangrybear]

Diet and challenge are on point.

All outside factors that lead to binging are good right now.

No work, lots of contact to friends. Enough sleep. Not worrying about the number on the scale but rather how I look in the mirror. 

It feels easy like this.

 

The challenging part will be to find a solution once work starts ramping up again.

But I'm in the lucky position to have so much accumulated overtime that my boss

will force me to take one day per week off the entire spring, which should keep stress

at a manageable level. 

 

Training Wednesday:

30min Football

30min Speedminton

20min Biking

140min Walk

[SkindianaBones]

6 hours ago, Hangrybear said:

Diet and challenge are on point.

All outside factors that lead to binging are good right now.

No work, lots of contact to friends. Enough sleep. Not worrying about the number on the scale but rather how I look in the mirror. 

It feels easy like this.

 

 

Glad to hear that you are in a good place mentally with all of this right now. Quality relationships with friends and family are extremely important, and we should try not to forget that.

[Hangrybear]

Everything is going splendid. 

Went 47/47 on my weekly challenges, seen within spoiler of initial thread post. 

Expecting the same for next week, as it's still vacation time - afterwards I will absolutely put a hard limit on my daily work hours in order to fit the challenges. Planning for max 9 hours a day, preferably 8, no matter what. And one day a week off whichever day fits best. 

 

Training Thursday:

140min walk

Resting otherwise 

 

Training Friday:

30min Indoor Cycling 
70min Chest & Back
30min Accupressure Mat
10min Walk

=2h20min

 

Training Saturday:
30min Indoor Cycling 
50min Back & Shoulders & Triceps Outdoor @ calisthenics Park 
15min Core
30min hiking Prehab
120min walk
20min Accupressure Mat
=4h25min

[Hangrybear]

Also am 250 hours deep into valheim and probably finishing this second, modded, playthrough soon. Then letting the dedicated server expire, as most of my friends have moved on. 

 

Planning to check out Satisfactory afterwards, hoping to find it more appealing than Factorio, it definitely seems promising but the bright, upbeat industrialized sci-fi is putting me off a bit. Typically prefer grim, dark or at least somewhat reasonable science fiction closer to what we can expect from the dystopian path planet earth is on. 

[Hangrybear]

Had the urge to binge today.  Instead drank a little too much wine, cleaned the apartment for 4 hours and  am cycling now. 

 

Feeling very self-conscious about my receding hairline since for my entire life hair has been a real strong point. I'm also vain and never go out the house without styling it.

 

In the short-term I will conduct my general physician to ask for blood work and subsequently finasteride if my SHBG, E2 and DHT levels warrant pharmaceutical intervention. Also ordered castor oil, a dermaroller and a shampoo that's been proven to be helpful. 

 

But more than likely, in the mid-term I'm faced with the decision to either cut it off, and stay bald for my remaining time or accumulate thousands of euro for a hair transplant in turkey. And honestly that money is better invested in paying off student loans than into vanity. 

 

I could just cut it all off prematurely to not have to go through any of the expenses or anxiety but I want to at least try for one year to stall this process and find out of I have the genetic predisposition to actually reverse it. 

[Hangrybear]

Joined a subreddit and whatsapp for discussing binge eating disorder. Community, honesty and self-awareness should go a long way.

 

Training Sunday
40min Indoor Cycling @ 143bpm
10min walk

 

Training Monday
60min Indoor Cycling @ 131bpm
15min Core
30min hiking Prehab
180min walk
30min Accupressure Mat
=5h15min

[SkindianaBones]

5 hours ago, Hangrybear said:

Joined a subreddit and whatsapp for discussing binge eating disorder. Community, honesty and self-awareness should go a long way.

 

 

 

Subreddits can be really awesome and supporting communities for specific things that people wish to break.

[Hangrybear]

On 4/6/2021 at 2:08 AM, SkindianaBones said:

 

Subreddits can be really awesome and supporting communities for specific things that people wish to break.

Have you joined any and successfully kicked a habit or such after interacting with them? 

[Hangrybear]

Skipped my first item of the challenge today. Chose not to go on a 15km walk as I find it extremely boring to walk around the neighborhood for several hours 4x a week. 

 

I'll reduce the walks to twice weekly 20km for weeks 3&4 and increase to twice 25km in week 5 in preparation for my long distance hike in June. 

 

It's important to adapt these challenges to your life and not have them consume you entirely I would say. 

 

Training Tuesday

60min Indoor Cycling @ 132bpm

20min walk

 

Training Wednesday:

35min Indoor Cycling @ 135bpm

30min Accupressure Mat

60min Chest & Back

[Hangrybear]

So far so good 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[SkindianaBones]

2 hours ago, Hangrybear said:

Have you joined any and successfully kicked a habit or such after interacting with them? 

 

Can't say I have "kicked a habit" as I did not ever have a drinking problem, but I did lurk in r/stopdrinking because it was honestly a really supportive community in general. There are lots of people on the sub who did completely kick drinking problems and have been sober for years, and others who are just getting started. Everyone is supportive no matter what stage someone is in.

[Hangrybear]

All is good. Had some very helpful conversations in the binge eating whatsapp group.

Heard of a concept that applies entirely to me and has lead to many of my issues going off-diet called "Ego Depletion".

 

I'll just throw his quote into the spoiler:

Spoiler

 

 

Training Thursday:
80min Indoor Cycling @ 125bpm
70min Shoulder & Biceps 
30min Hiking Prehab

 

Training Friday:
80min Cycling Outdoor
90min Chest & Back & Triceps @ Calisthenics Park

[Big_Show]

Is there anywhere else you can get to for the weekly walk?  I get bored walking round the streets here, but when we get further out into the countryside it seems much more palatable.

 

29 minutes ago, Hangrybear said:

I'll just throw his quote into the spoiler:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I've seen this before, I know it as "decision fatigue".  Willpower is a finite resource, so it definitely helps me to not have things in the house that I'm trying to avoid eating.  Why give yourself needless temptation, after all?