TimovieMan respawns! (with half a challenge)

[TimovieMan]

TimovieMan respawns! (with half a challenge)
 
 

 
Hey guys, I'm back, needing to respawn.

 

Who am I again?
 
Well, three years ago I wanted to lose weight and get fitter. Soon after I started, I found this place (because whenever I did ANY dieting or exercising research, Steve's blog was the one that made the most sense). This place did wonders for my lifestyle and motivation, and after several months I felt I was ready to keep going on my own. And I was right!

 

This was September 2018, when I started, weighing 112 kg:

 

  

 

 

When I quit the forums and went "my own way" in February 2019, I was at 95 kg. I got that down to 90-92 kg and remained there for pretty much an entire year, even "peaking" at 88 kg just before Christmas 2019.

 

This was me in March last year, at 92 kg:

 

 

 

The idea three years ago was to go all the way down to 78 kg, but frankly, the 90-92 kg was easily maintainable without requiring "extra effort", and I was *really* happy with how I looked so I didn't really feel the need to "do more".
 
 

 
So why am I here? What happened?

 

Well, Covid-19 happened.

 

We had a first lockdown here in the middle of March last year, and everything's gone to hell since then.
Suddenly I was working from home instead of going to the office, and that was disastrous for me. Why, you ask?

Because I often bike to work, and I work at a pretty big place with regular meetings at different far-off meeting rooms, and my lunch break mostly consisted of going for a walk with a couple of colleagues. While an average of 8000-9000 steps each day isn't all that much, it's actually pretty good for someone whose work consists of sitting at a desk with a computer all day.
Working from home? Well, no more bike rides, no walks to far-off meeting rooms, and even my lunch break walk got replaced with sitting in front of the TV to watch the news. My average steps dropped to 2000-3000 each day.

 

Couple that with the fact that during the first two months of the lockdown the schools were closed here. So both me and the missus were working from home with a 5 and 6-year old running around needing help with online classes or just needing to be kept busy. This felt like a full-time job on top of a full-time job, which rendered me without energy to do any exercising at night. So that got cut too.

 

Add to that a cupboard with sweets and whatnot within reach and tempting me all day long, and I was on a slippery slope that saw me regain a good portion of the 20+ kg I had previously lost.

 

 
 
But why didn't I respawn on my own? Well, I tried...

 

All I managed was to stop the upwards trend of my weight, but I wasn't lowering it.
I needed more accountability.
I needed this place again.
 
 
Since I have no desire to wait until the next challenge starts, I'm respawning here now with half a challenge...
 
 
 
Main goal

 

At the end of July, I'm taking a two-week vacation with the family to Spain (if the Covid-measures allow it by then). The plan is to be back at 95 kg by then.
90-92 kg would be perfect, of course, but since it's only three months away and I'm at around 106 at the moment, I want to be realistic, so 95 is the main goal.
 
 
Challenge goals

 

Week 1: April 19th - April 25th

 

 

Sugar detox!

 

Avoid sweets and chocolate for an entire week. Get the sugar out of my system so the cravings go away.
There's very little Easter chocolate left in the house, so just endure this for a week.
 
 

 

Intermittent fasting AND caloric deficit!

 

Get a 16-hour fast period each day. Average under 2000 calories/day.

Wednesday and the weekend should be the only ones where I have to pay attention for the fast period.
I also won't be doing strict calorie counting, just ballpark figures rounded up. Should be close enough.
 
 

 
Move more!

 

My average step count has been dismal. So get off that chair, go outside and purposely go for walks again.
Specifically: average more than 8000 steps each day again.

 

 

Week 2: April 26th - May 2nd

 

 

Turn up the intermittent fasting!

 

Get a 16-hour fast period each day. Get at least one 24-hour fast period this week.

 

 

 

Start burpeeing!

 

Two 15-minute burpee workouts* this week.

 

(*) 5 x 2 minutes of burpees and 1 minute of rest. Finish with a plank hold.

With my current shape, those two minutes will be pitiful AMRAPs and rest. But the idea is to build this up again. Even if I have never once been able to do an AMRAP that lasted two minutes... 😋

 

 

[TimovieMan]

I'm officially only starting tomorrow, but now that I've got my mind set to doing this properly, why not start immediately, at least with the dieting?

 

Things to track:

 

- Intermittent fasting period length

- Calorie intake

- Soda, snacks, chocolate, pastry and other foodstuffs high in sugar content

- Step count

 

 

Sunday, April 18th (preliminary)

 

- Intermittent fasting: 20h - 13h = 17 hours

- Calorie intake: just 100 calories in cold cuts while my kids were eating

- No sugar intake yet

- Steps don't need to be followed up throughout the day, I have a Fitbit Charge 4 doing that for me. 🙃

[TimovieMan]

It's amazing how a little accountability here boosts my motivation. I only needed a gentle nudge, it seems...

 

Sunday, April 18th

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17 hours of fasting, then lunch at 13h, dinner at 19h30

- Calorie intake: +/- 900 total - a mere 100 at lunch (half a slice of young Gouda cheese and a slice of salami) and around 800 at dinner (560 total of chicken, maybe 750 with the butter used for pan-frying, but the kids ate half of it as well, so 400 tops for me, and a salad for around 100 in vegetables and 200 for the yoghurt dressing, baked onions and bread croutons)

- No sugar intake

- Steps: 8015 - I had to pace around the house a little just before midnight because I was at 7950 😋

 

I need to take advantage of my high levels of motivation, so I went beyond the call of duty. Less than 1000 calories for the day, going for an hour-long walk even when that part of the challenge only starts the day after, and even doing a burpee AMRAP just before going to bed (a pitiful 9 burpees, but still).

[juliebarkley]

Welcome back!

 

10 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

Less than 1000 calories for the day, going for an hour-long walk even when that part of the challenge only starts the day after

I get that you are trying to lose weight, but sub-1000 calories for a man and physical activity on top of that... Just be careful. Stay healthy and don't overdo. You want to improve your health, not wreck it.

 

10 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

even doing a burpee AMRAP just before going to bed (a pitiful 9 burpees, but still)

Pitiful, he says. Good job!

[TimovieMan]

2 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

Welcome back!

Thanks!

I'd have preferred it if I didn't have to come back, though. 🙃

 

2 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

I get that you are trying to lose weight, but sub-1000 calories for a man and physical activity on top of that... Just be careful. Stay healthy and don't overdo. You want to improve your health, not wreck it.

I know. This won't be a habit. I'm going to be aiming for around 1800 calories on most days, and I have MORE than enough reserves for maintaining that for a while.

I'm not doing a Christian Bale / Machinist diet where I'll be living on an apple and a can of tuna for an extended period.

It's just that I know that a tough week of dieting has the effect of killing my sense of hunger and my cravings, and it's easier after I've reached that point. And this is a way of kickstarting that a little.

 

2 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

Pitiful, he says. Good job!

I did 20 consecutive ones when I was at this same weight 2-and-a-half years ago, so I'm in relatively poor shape...

 

 

 

Monday, April 19th

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17.5 hours of fasting, then lunch at 13h, dinner at 19h

- Calorie intake: +/- 1800 total - 600 calories for three tortilla wraps and 500 calories for the chicken and vegetable/tomato sauce filling for lunch, and for dinner 250 calories for carrot sticks and hummus, 100 calories of cold cuts and 350 calories for 4 hard-boiled eggs

- No sugar intake

- Steps: 11211 - went for a walk with my weighted vest on, to make it closer to cardio than just walking.

[juliebarkley]

35 minutes ago, TimovieMan said:

I did 20 consecutive ones when I was at this same weight 2-and-a-half years ago, so I'm in relatively poor shape...

That was then, this is now. Now you have a target to beat.

[TimovieMan]

7 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

That was then, this is now. Now you have a target to beat.

It's just disheartening to see how far I've fallen in a year.

 

I did 9 burpees the day before yesterday, and now I have DOMS.

While that's certainly a "get back in shape" motivator, it's also a "how could you let yourself slip?" reminder...

[juliebarkley]

14 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

It's just disheartening to see how far I've fallen in a year.

 

I did 9 burpees the day before yesterday, and now I have DOMS.

While that's certainly a "get back in shape" motivator, it's also a "how could you let yourself slip?" reminder...

I get that, but you can't beat yourself up over the past. You can only work in the now. And in the now, you did nine burpees and challenged yourself to the point of DOMS.

[TimovieMan]

1 hour ago, juliebarkley said:

I get that, but you can't beat yourself up over the past. You can only work in the now. And in the now, you did nine burpees and challenged yourself to the point of DOMS.

Thanks, I actually need this reminder every now and then.

 

Before I lost that weight two years ago, the most disappointing thing in seeing myself in the mirror was remembering how I looked when I was at my fittest at age 19.

It seems I'm doing the same now. I remember what I looked like just over a year ago, and the comparison stings...

 

 

Anyhoo...

 

 

Tuesday, April 20th

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17.5 hours of fasting, then lunch at 12h30, dinner at 19h

- Calorie intake: +/- 1600 total - 600 calories for the fish gratin and vegetables for lunch, and about 1000 calories for the bacon and eggs at dinner.

- No sugar intake

- Steps: 13547

 

No weighted vest for my walk this evening (not ready for that yet), but I did get to snap this picture at sunset:

 

And I did 8 burpees. One less than two days ago.

And then I rested a bit and did two more because the Daily Dare thread had a 10 burpee dare just now... 😁

[Elastigirl]

Welcome back! You are off to a great start.

[jonfirestar]

On 4/18/2021 at 1:40 AM, TimovieMan said:

Well, Covid-19 happened.

 

Hey welcome back fellow respawner! 

 

Yeah I hear you. Covid ugh. I've struggled with my weight my whole life and if I'm honest the only reason covid hasn't lead to rapid weight gain for me is because I've been really sick. 

 

On 4/20/2021 at 12:06 AM, TimovieMan said:

I know. This won't be a habit. I'm going to be aiming for around 1800 calories on most days, and I have MORE than enough reserves for maintaining that for a while.

I'm not doing a Christian Bale / Machinist diet where I'll be living on an apple and a can of tuna for an extended period.

It's just that I know that a tough week of dieting has the effect of killing my sense of hunger and my cravings, and it's easier after I've reached that point. And this is a way of kickstarting that a little.

I also understand this  Just remember it's also not a bad thing to completely refeed your body from time to time.. Extended periods of dieting is hard on the body and mind, even if you do have enough reserves to maintain it. It's still a physics equation at the end of the day, energy in vs energy out, but your body isn't a static entity and will adapt in an attempt to maintain balance (aka starvation mode but I really dislike that definition because it's misleading and the actual mechanisms are very nuanced). 

 

Going to stop before I go into a long nerdy tirade about weight management  

[TimovieMan]

1 hour ago, jonfirestar said:

Just remember it's also not a bad thing to completely refeed your body from time to time.. Extended periods of dieting is hard on the body and mind, even if you do have enough reserves to maintain it. It's still a physics equation at the end of the day, energy in vs energy out, but your body isn't a static entity and will adapt in an attempt to maintain balance (aka starvation mode but I really dislike that definition because it's misleading and the actual mechanisms are very nuanced). 

Let's just say that last Friday was probably a day in excess of 4000 calories, so if I go a little lower afterwards, it's not going to be an issue. Also, define "extended periods of dieting". A week, two weeks, a month?

There's probably going to be a cheat day once a week anyhow. Some of those I already know in advance.

 

Fridays, for instance, are always going to be high calorie days. Friday evening has become a "takeaway evening" here. It's already bordering on tradition. 😋

And since the kids also have a say, that means we see our fair share of French fries and the likes then. The healthiest option on Fridays is probably sushi, but that's also very rich in calories...

This week it's been voted that Burger King will win. Not a fan, but at least it's preferable to McDonald's for me. I'll probably be having a large Double Whopper menu which is around 2000 calories, soda included. I'd skip the soda, but Burger King is one of the few places where you can get Vanilla Coke here, so I'll be having one.

 

And on Mother's Day, May 7th, I've ordered a "deluxe" breakfast package for the family, so not only will I be having breakfast that day, it's going to be a 3000+ calorie day for sure.

 

All I'm trying to say is that during these first two weeks I'm going to be a little tougher on myself, and more restrictive in calorie intake, precisely because I'm just respawning again. I need to reach the point where I'm no longer hungry in a fastened state, and where I'm no longer craving sugar or snacks. I just need a period of a week or two of endurance for this, and this two-week challenge seems perfect for it.

 

The next challenge will be about consistent exercise and more sleep while maintaining a more balanced diet. Also because I know that I won't be able to sustain this "gung ho" style of these first weeks (nor would I want to)... 😇

[TimovieMan]

Wednesday, April 21st

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17.5 hours (lunch at 12h30, dinner at 19h)

- Calorie intake: +/- 1900 total (1600 calories lunch, 300 calories dinner)

- No sugar intake

- Steps: 11985

 

Exercise:

- went for a walk during my daughter's judo class

- Did a late-night mini-workout: 30 torso twists (DailyDare), 9 burpees and 54 seconds of planking

 

[TimovieMan]

So, I don't know if any of you guys still remember this, but during my previous passage on the forums, every time I had a good day I tended to post a song from my own "all-time top 300" list that I had made back in 2016. Perhaps it's time to revisit that tradition a little, but with a twist.

 

 

I'm currently in the process of making a full fledged top 2000 (!!!).

I'm going over a list of 13000 songs or so, compiled from personal favourites, and collected from a slew of top 100s/1000s/2000s online. Every time I discover something interesting, I add it and assign it a score, while going over the rest alphabetically.

I'm about halfway through 'D' (just passed Belgian rockers "Diablo Blvd").   It's a long term project. 😎

 

The idea is to post a song that would be a new addition to the list, especially a rather high-up new addition, to "celebrate" a good eating and/or exercising day.

 

My 2016 "All-time top 300" looked like this:

Spoiler

300. Carl Orff - O Fortuna
299. King Crimson - The Court of the Crimson King
298. Supertramp - The Logical Song
297. Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising
296. 10cc - The Wall Street Shuffle
295. Sturm und Drang - Heaven (Is Not Here)
294. Juno Reactor - Samurai
293. Praga Khan - Luv U Still
292. Elvis Presley - Hound Dog
291. Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
290. Judas Priest - The Green Manalishi
289. Queen - Who Wants to Live Forever
288. Bush - Letting the Cables Sleep
287. Warmer - Inside
286. Queen - I Want It All
285. Guns N’ Roses - You Could Be Mine
284. Clawfinger - When I Grow Up
283. Veldhuis & Kemper - Ik Wou Dat Ik Jou Was
282. Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott - Hero
281. Pain - Shut Your Mouth
280. The Troggs - Wild Thing
279. Van Halen - You Really Got Me
278. Simple Minds - Belfast Child
277. Godsmack - Saints & Sinners
276. Twisted Sister - We’re Not Gonna Take It
275. Metallica - One
274. Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
273. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
272. Scorpions - Still Loving You
271. R.E.M. - Bad Day
270. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
269. Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite
268. Yum - Day One
267. Kan Gao - For River (Sarah & Tommy’s Version)
266. Genesis - I Can’t Dance
265. Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want
264. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Old Time Rock and Roll
263. Oasis - Live Forever
262. Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
261. Peter Gabriel - My Body Is a Cage
260. Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun
259. Patti Smith - Because the Night
258. The Doors - Light My Fire
257. Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends
256. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
255. Link Wray - Rumble
254. U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
253. The Waterboys - Glastonbury Song
252. The Beastie Boys - Sabotage
251. Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
250. My Vitriol - Always Your Way
249. Lou Reed - Perfect Day
248. Semisonic - Closing Time
247. The Police - Message in a Bottle
246. Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
245. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
244. Alice Cooper - Poison
243. 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite
242. Gorky - Lieve Kleine Piranha
241. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Ship Song
240. Status Quo - Whatever You Want
239. Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar
238. Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills
237. Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
236. Disturbed - The Sound of Silence
235. Nirvana - Lithium
234. Golden Earring - Radar Love
233. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside
232. The Blasters - Dark Night
231. Type O Negative - Everything Dies
230. Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name
229. Intergalactic Lovers - She-Wolf
228. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
227. ZZ Top - Tush
226. Aldo Nova - Monkey on Your Back
225. Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl
224. Faithless - Insomnia
223. The Immortals - Techno Syndrome
222. Fatboy Slim - Right Here Right Now
221. The Cure - A Forest
220. Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
219. De Kreuners - Verliefd op Chris Lomme
218. The Scabs - Hard Times
217. The Monkees - I’m a Believer
216. Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild
215. Coldplay - Yellow
214. Staind - It’s Been a While
213. Arno - Les Yeux de Ma Mère
212. Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
211. Motörhead - Ace of Spades
210. Stan Ridgway - Camouflage
209. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
208. Sunna - 7%
207. Toto - I Will Remember
206. Yevgueni - Zo Donker
205. Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight
204. Eminem feat. Dido - Stan
203. Manau - La Tribu de Dana
202. Therapy? - Trigger Inside
201. The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

200. Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn
199. John Hiatt - Have a Little Faith in Me
198. Bachman-Turner Overdrive - You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
197. Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
196. Rammstein - Rammstein
195. Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name of
194. Aerosmith - Love in an Elevator
193. Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
192. Eddie Vedder - Society
191. TC Matic - Oh La La La
190. The Pogues - Fiesta
189. The Levellers - Liberty Song
188. Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere
187. The Waterboys - Peace of Iona
186. Guns N’ Roses - Paradise City
185. Evanescence - Tourniquet
184. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat
183. Porcupine Tree - Lazarus
182. In Extremo - Herr Mannelig
181. Krezip - I Would Stay
180. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Up Around the Bend
179. Simon and Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair (Canticle)
178. Damien Rice - 9 Crimes
177. Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
176. Klein Orkest - Over de Muur
175. Warmer - Don’t You Worry Love
174. Roger Glover - Love Is All
173. Europe - The Final Countdown
172. Soulwax - Much Against Everyone’s Advice
171. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
170. Tool - Lateralus
169. Porcupine Tree - Radioactive Toy
168. Paradise Lost - Erased
167. Alice Cooper - School’s Out
166. Electric Six - Danger! High Voltage
165. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
164. Pearl Jam - Man of the Hour
163. Rammstein - Stripped
162. Raymond Van Het Groenewoud - Twee Meisjes
161. Foo Fighters - My Hero
160. Mike Scott - City Full of Ghosts (Dublin)
159. Dio - Holy Diver
158. Faith No More - Epic
157. Cliff Richard & The Young Ones - Living Doll
156. Mystery - She Likes Double Trouble
155. Foghat - Slow Ride
154. The Gone Jackals - Legacy
153. Monty Python - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
152. Andrew W.K. - Ready to Die
151. Men at Work - Down Under
150. Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
149. Gorky - Mia
148. Tool - Schism
147. The Trashmen - Surfin’ Bird
146. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Sorrowful Wife
145. The Soggy Bottom Boys - I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow
144. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
143. In Extremo - An End Has a Start
142. Oomph! - Supernova
141. Black Sabbath - Iron Man
140. Liquido - Narcotic
139. Boston - More Than a Feeling
138. Live - The Dolphin’s Cry
137. Frank Boeijen - Kronenburg Park
136. Audioslave - Show Me How to Live
135. Silverchair - Anthem for the Year 2000
134. David Bowie - Heroes
133. Beck - Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes
132. Paradise Lost - Mouth
131. Clawfinger - Biggest & the Best
130. Godsmack - Awake
129. AC/DC - Highway to Hell
128. Black Sabbath - War Pigs
127. Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
126. Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know
125. Coldplay - Trouble
124. Counting Crows feat. Bløf - Holiday in Spain
123. Andreas Johnson - Glorious
122. Kristin Hersh feat. Michael Stipe - Your Ghost
121. Bløf - De Schaduw van de Brug
120. Billy Joel - We Didn’t Start the Fire
119. Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)
118. In Extremo - Villeman og Magnhild
117. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In
116. AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie
115. Linkin Park - Crawling
114. Deep Purple - Child in Time
113. Coldplay - The Scientist
112. The Connells - ‘74-‘75
111. Bruce Springsteen - The River
110. Moby - That’s When I Reach for My Revolver
109. Counting Crows - Colorblind
108. Chumbawumba - Mary Mary (Stigmatic Mix)
107. Bon Jovi - Livin’ on a Prayer
106. Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
105. Bløf - Ze Is Er Niet
104. In Extremo - Küss Mich
103. Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
102. Linkin Park - Numb
101. The Who - Behind Blue Eyes
100. Stiltskin - Inside
99. Therapy? - Diane
98. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You
97. Pearl Jam - Alive
96. Staind - Outside
95. Placebo - Pure Morning
94. Disturbed - Down with the Sickness
93. The Doors - The End
92. Sisters of Mercy - Temple of Love
91. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
90. Puddle of Mudd - Blurry
89. Rammstein - Sonne
88. Peter Gabriel - Book of Love
87. Novastar - Because
86. The Levellers - Another Man’s Cause
85. Filter - Take a Picture
84. David Bowie - Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
83. Radiohead - Creep
82. Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home
81. Godsmack - Serenity
80. Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al
79. Counting Crows - Angels of the Silences
78. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand
77. The Scene - Iedereen Is van de Wereld
76. R.E.M. - It’s the End of the World as We Know It
75. Razorlight - Wire to Wire
74. Damien Rice - The Blower’s Daughter
73. Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
72. George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Bad to the Bone
71. In Extremo - Flaschenpost
70. Huey Lewis and the News - The Power of Love
69. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
68. Aerosmith - Livin’ on the Edge
67. Falco - Jeanny
66. Nine Inch Nails - The Day the World Went Away
65. Tool - Parabol / Parabola
64. Witt & Heppner - Die Flut
63. Tenacious D - Tribute
62. Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
61. HIM - Wicked Game
60. Eagle-Eye Cherry - Save Tonight
59. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
58. Blue Öyster Cult - (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
57. Porcupine Tree - Blackest Eyes
56. Metallica - Enter Sandman
55. The Housemartins - Caravan of Love
54. Godsmack - I Stand Alone
53. The Eagles - Hotel California
52. The Scene - Blauw
51. In Extremo - Poc Vecem

50. Led Zeppelin - Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
49. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
48. Queen - Don’t Stop Me Now
47. Neil Young - Rockin’ in the Free World
46. Urge Overkill - Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon
45. The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
44. Salif Keita - Tomorrow
43. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - O Children
42. Paradise Lost - One Second
41. Korn - Freak on a Leash
40. Bløf - Hier
39. Willy DeVille & Mark Knopfler - Storybook Love
38. Hooverphonic - Eden
37. Scorpions - Wind of Change
36. Rammstein - Ich Will
35. Radiohead - Karma Police
34. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Jubilee Street
33. Aerosmith - Dream On
32. The Proclaimers - I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
31. Counting Crows - A Long December
30. L’Âme Immortelle - Aus den Ruinen
29. Nine Inch Nails - We’re in This Together
28. Paradise Lost - Isolate
27. Oomph! - Augen Auf
26. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
25. Bløf - De Hemel Is de Aarde
24. Lemon - Stay with Me
23. Dave Matthews Band - Gravedigger
22. Elvis Costello - I Want You
21. The Crüxshadows - Return (Coming Home)
20. Die Toten Hosen - Hier Kommt Alex
19. Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction
18. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
17. Porcupine Tree - Nine Cats (Acoustic Version)
16. Rammstein - Mein Herz Brennt
15. AC/DC - Thunderstruck
14. Counting Crows - Round Here
13. Craig Armstrong - Wake Up in New York
12. Godsmack - Re-Align
11. The Verve Pipe - The Freshmen
10. Gary Jules - Mad World
9. Pink Floyd - Time
8. Johnny Cash - Hurt
7. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
6. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
5. Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
4. In Extremo - Vollmond
3. Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
2. R.E.M. - Leave
1. Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here

 

So, to start, I'd like to post the song that is currently slated for inclusion in my top 30 which would for now make it the highest new entry.

I discovered this band pretty much by accident. YouTube Music started playing this song randomly (well, somewhat based on my history, I hope). Fell in love with it instantly, loved the clip itself to bits as well, and took an interest in the band too. They now have 4 likely entries in my top 2000. Preliminary, of course. It's a fluid process.

 

Here's the Finnish band 'Poets of the Fall' with 'Carnival of Rust':

 

 

[TimovieMan]

Thursday, April 22nd

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17.5 hours (lunch at 12h30, late-night dinner at 23h)*

- Calorie intake: +/- 1900 total (1300 calories lunch, 600 calories late-night dinner)

- No sugar intake

- Steps: 10024

 

* I was planning on doing a 24-hour fasting, because I wasn't really hungry in the evening. But I started getting hungry at 22h, so I decided, meh, eat something now and then skip lunch on Friday. Should be a 19-20h fasting then. Small steps.

 

Exercise:

- light archery practice (it'd been a year due to lockdowns)

- short walk afterwards to get my step count up

- 20 single leg Romanian deadlifts right, 20 left (DailyDare)

 

 

 

This calls for a song. Here's one that got blatantly overlooked for my previous list. Or perhaps I just wasn't into Alice in Chains enough back in the 90s. There's a lot of songs that I only started appreciating in recent years. This is one of them: Alice in Chains - Man in the Box

 

[TimovieMan]

Friday, April 23rd

 

- Intermittent fasting: 20.5 hours (dinner at 19h30, snack at 22h)*

- Calorie intake: +/- 2400 total (1800 calories dinner, 600 calories snack)

- Sugar intake: a cup of Vanilla Coke and a couple of handfuls of M&Ms

- Steps: 4323

 

Exercise:

- 20 table bridges (DailyDare)

 

 

Fridays are difficult to get a lot of exercise in. My brother-in-law always comes over for an evening of board games or to watch a TV series together, but he usually gets here shortly after I'm done working. And since I'm working from home, that leaves me with an entire sedentary day.

I tried my best to get my step count up during the day, and 4000+ is respectable for a day where in previous weeks a mere 2000 steps was the average.

 

Dinner on Friday is takeaway these days, and the kids really wanted Burger King. Fortunately, the nearest Burger King doesn't have a "super size" option, so portions were more reasonable than I'd have feared.

When watching TV, the missus broke out a bag of M&Ms (salted caramel ones), and I had a couple of handfuls.

This, combined with the Vanilla Coke I had from Burger King, has been my only significant sugar intake in an entire week, so there are no regrets whatsoever.

 

In fact, even though the 22 o'clock snack will make me miss my 16/8 intermittent fasting rate for now, I had a 20+h fasting period yesterday. So if it's only 14h30 now doesn't bother me. I'll even enjoy some crisps this evening. And then as of tomorrow, we'll be eating healthier again. Not that the chicken, vegetables and rice wok dish at lunch now wasn't healthy. 😇

[Elastigirl]

Sounds like a lot of wins!

[TimovieMan]

4 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Sounds like a lot of wins!

 

A lot of the things I started doing two years ago, I continued doing.

Intermittent fasting may have been a bit more spotty this last year, but I hardly ever ate breakfast, so even if I didn't make a 16/8 fasting schedule, it was still a 14/10 one.

And I've been snacking a bit more but never *too* extravagantly.

 

I figure that most of the weight gained came from the lack of activity this last year.

I checked my Fitbit, and my weekly averages corroborate this: the calories I spent each week were about 2000 lower during the "work from home" year. That more or less corresponds to gaining a kilo (just over two pounds) per month, which explains the 12+ kilos.

 

Getting my activity up again and being just a tad stricter with my food should lead to rapid weight loss, imo.

Even on cheat days like yesterday and today, I still ate far fewer calories than I spent for the day.

 

The most important part of my challenge was getting started again. I'm guessing that most days will be wins now. 😇

[TimovieMan]

Saturday, April 24th

 

- Intermittent fasting: 14.5 hours (because of yesterday's snack at 22h)

- Calorie intake: +/- 2400 total (about half of that were crisps, though 🤫)

- Sugar intake: none

- Steps: 18077

 

Exercise:

- a walk during my daughter's judo class in the morning

- a walk to an outdoor fitness point with the kids (their idea!!!) and back again, while wearing my weighted vest. For extra effort: my kid went by bike, my daughter by step, so it wasn't a casual stroll for me.

- 30 cross crunches (DailyDare)

 

 

 

The benefits of collecting a slew of top 100s/1000s/2000s from various sources online: they often contain things I've never heard of before.

The following is a Dutch band I didn't know, and a 1975 song I had never heard before checking it for the purpose of my all-time top 2000 project. Let's just say that I recognize a great song when I hear it...

 

 

[TimovieMan]

I only had my start weight from last week, so the other metrics are new, but it won't hurt to keep track of them from week to week:

 

Sunday, April 25th - Weigh-in

 

Weight: 105.1 kg (-1.7)

Body fat: 29.8%

Visceral fat: 14%

Waist: 114 cm

Blood pressure: 148/108

[TimovieMan]

Sunday, April 25th

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17.5 hours

- Calorie intake: +/- 2800 total (there was an unforeseen piece of apple pie)

- Sugar intake: one (rather large) piece of apple pie

- Steps: 15927

 

Exercise:

- a walk in the afternoon

- 50 side kicks (DailyDare)

 

 

Week results (April 18th-25th)*

 

* challenge was started a day earlier, because once you plan on starting, why wait?

 

- Sugar detox:

5 consecutive days of compliance, 1 cheat day with a can of soda and half a bag of M&Ms, then another day of compliance, and another cheat day with a (large) piece of apple pie.

Overall I'd call this a success. The 5 consecutive days of compliance already feel like they were enough to get the sugar out of my system and stop the cravings. Biggest success was on Saturday when the kids wanted some candy (they're allowed some in the weekend) and I prepared them a small jar, and I didn't take a piece of candy for myself...

 

- Intermittent fasting:

7 days of compliance (with 17+ hours), and only one day with 14.5 hours. I'm calling this a definite success!

 

- Caloric deficit:

Average of 1963 calories/day so perfectly in line with my "less than 2000" goal. And according to my Fitbit, I've been spending over 3500 calories/day on average. Win!

 

- Move more:

Instead of averaging 8000 steps/day, I averaged 11638 per day. Win!

 

 

 

 

That deserves a song, imo.

Here's a song that I learned about on these very forums. I think it was Tobbe that posted it. Loved the song, and only grew fonder as time passed.

It's The Dead South and "In Hell I'll Be in Good Company". 🙂

 

[TimovieMan]

Random stuff that makes me laugh:

 

 

 

[TimovieMan]

Monday, April 26th

 

- Intermittent fasting: 17 hours

- Calorie intake: +/- 1300 total

- Steps: 14888

 

Exercise:

- a walk in the evening

- 50 jumping jacks (DailyDare)

- a 15-minute burpee workout: 10-6-5-6-5 burpees (32 total), 1'04" planking*

 

(*) Two minutes of burpees (or as much as I can do) and one minute of rest. Repeat 5x. End with a plank hold for as long as possible.

 

 

 

Here's another song. This is one I got to know through my (then-)4-year-old son. He stumbled on this while watching YouTube videos at my parents' house. Neither me nor my dad had ever heard of this band, but my son liked it a lot (although given he was FOUR at the time, the appeal lie mostly in the cowboys and guns, I think 🙃). Still, if he likes this very much, then I'm probably raising a metalhead, so I'm doing something right. 😇

It's Orden Ogan with Gunman:

 

[Jarric]

Amazing job on your first week man, I see you're crushing all the goals! It's getting me inspired to start counting calories again next challenge.

 

On 4/26/2021 at 9:05 AM, TimovieMan said:

Here's a song that I learned about on these very forums. I think it was Tobbe that posted it. Loved the song, and only grew fonder as time passed.

It's The Dead South and "In Hell I'll Be in Good Company". 🙂

 

I forgot about these guys, cracking song! I'll have to listen to some Dead South when I get home...

 

On 4/26/2021 at 11:07 AM, TimovieMan said:

Random stuff that makes me laugh:

 

 

 

 

I love this

 

[TimovieMan]

53 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Amazing job on your first week man, I see you're crushing all the goals! It's getting me inspired to start counting calories again next challenge.

Thanks!

After a couple of half-hearted failed attempts, it's obvious that I needed these forums again. Nothing like some accountability to get you going.

 

As for the calories: I'm just ballparking them. When I can, I check out the amount that's indicated, but since I don't weigh anything, I just make a guesstimate. If all my wok ingredients amount to a 1500 calorie dish and both the kids and the missus have some too, but I have by far the largest portion, then I'd assign something like 600 calories for the meal.

As long as my Fitbit's estimated calories spent (which aren't going to be accurate either) are on average 1000 more per day than my intake, then that should lead to weight loss even with an 800 calorie error margin... 😇

 

I want to put some effort into this, but not too much... 😅

 

Quote

I forgot about these guys, cracking song! I'll have to listen to some Dead South when I get home...

Have fun! 😎

 

Quote

I love this

It has ruined the song for me a little, though. I keep getting the lyrics wrong now... 🤣