[Stronkey Kong]

Hi all! I'm Stronkey Kong. I started on NF 9 years ago and am still fat, but making the best of it, and grateful for the community here regardless.

 

Main Goal: Find my 'Best Weight'

 

My ideal weight is probably 180 lbs. going by the numbers and pictures. I recently (today actually) came across the idea of best weight, the weight that lets you live the life you want to live. So that's the real goal. Mine is probably about 220-230, which is halfway between my current 285 lbs. and my 'ideal.'

 

Goal 1: Run.

 

I'm still following the program in Run Your Butt Off (RYOB). I had some trouble tho, once I hit the run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes workout, and these last two weeks I've only got 1 walk or run/walk workout per week.

 

I'm going to redo the run 1 min./walk 4 min week, then increase 20 s per week until I hit 2 min, then pause and reassess there.

 

 

Goal 2: Eat 99% Vegan

 

I tried to go vegan back in the spring. I  was thirty days in and it was going very well. Lost a few pounds, had fewer GI issues. Then I got Covid (probably) and went off it since.

 

I'm going to try again for 100 days (July 24 - Halloween) of 99% vegan eating. I call it 99% to allow for mistakes and variation in practice. I will probably forget at some point that most pestos contain cheese, or that some vegetable recipes have beef/pork/chicken broth etc. But I will not: eat a steak, put cheese on salads, eat baked goods that have eggs... yada yada. If I can see an animal product on my plate, or on an ingredient list, I have to start over. Otherwise, I can keep on going without a restart. Halloween is good, it's right before the holiday season when the temptation to have animal products based solely on tradition is highest... and there's a good chance I won't be able to refuse polish sausage, ham , and cheese pierogies as part of my family's Christmas Traditions.

 

I've read most of the book Vegan for Life (VFL) which is written by a couple of Vegan R.D.s and will be following their plan and recommendations. Doing so, it will be hard to go over 2500 cals/day which is a good goal given what RYOB  recommends for daily calorie intake on their program (per my individual calculations based on their program).

 

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First? (addit: No. RES beat me.)

[RES]

Short and to the point! I like it!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I'm worried you may have too many goals  

[Maggie-Miau]

Stopping by to say hello because I saw the vegan tag 😊

[Stronkey Kong]

1 hour ago, RES said:

Short and to the point! I like it!

 

I may have underdeveloped my goals in order to get them posted quickly.

 

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I'm worried you may have too many goals  

 

One is ideal. But, if we never push our limits, how do we progress?

[Stronkey Kong]

1 minute ago, Maggie-Miau said:

Stopping by to say hello because I saw the vegan tag 😊

 

Welp. I'm trying at least.

[Maggie-Miau]

1 minute ago, Stronkey Kong said:

 

Welp. I'm trying at least.

 

Hey, whether you find vegan eating is great for you, or that it isn't a good fit, whatever works best for you is what's most important 

[Stronkey Kong]

Running: I did the thing.  4 min walk, 1 min run, 5 times... I forgot to warm up, (shake out, rollout joints,  and squat to get the muscles going) before hand and was feeling it before I even got to the first run segment. Never again. Despite that, it went well. But I need to slow down. I stay my runs fast and use up my energy in the first 20-30 sec. I did better with this in the last two runs, but I really need to work on it. 

 

Eating plants: After the run I had frosted mini wheats... which I realized have gelatin in them... probably the frosting... But this is why I'm only asking for 99% and not perfect. I'll let this slide and try not to buy them next time I'm at the grocery store. I only bought them because they were out of (cheap) raisin bran anyway.  I had these with soymilk, walnuts, and blueberries. I made a quick, vegan protein shake to take to work. I have frozen beans/ veggies/ rice blends, a pack of ramen noodles, and a can of vegan chili... I'm wishing I spent some time prepping yesterday 😕

[RES]

1 hour ago, Stronkey Kong said:

which I realized have gelatin in them

I don't eat them but I had no idea they did either

[Stronkey Kong]

8 hours ago, RES said:

I don't eat them but I had no idea they did either

 

Well... they're all gone now

 

But, I also found out the grain/bean/veggie mixes with the  sauces in the bags have "2% or less of... butter/cream..."

 

Thing is, I'm not sure I give a shit. I'm not trying to be a 100% vegan. SMH.

 

I'm probably going to use those to inspire some instant pot recipes tho.

[RES]

3 hours ago, Stronkey Kong said:

 

Well... they're all gone now

 

But, I also found out the grain/bean/veggie mixes with the  sauces in the bags have "2% or less of... butter/cream..."

 

Thing is, I'm not sure I give a shit. I'm not trying to be a 100% vegan. SMH.

 

I'm probably going to use those to inspire some instant pot recipes tho.

I considered going vegan years ago, but RA makes finding non meat protein sources challenging. Legumes tend to be inflammatory for me  

[Strickland5]

On 7/24/2022 at 5:37 PM, Stronkey Kong said:

Goal 1: Run.

 

I'm still following the program in Run Your Butt Off (RYOB). I had some trouble tho, once I hit the run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes workout, and these last two weeks I've only got 1 walk or run/walk workout per week.

 

I'm going to redo the run 1 min./walk 4 min week, then increase 20 s per week until I hit 2 min, then pause and reassess there.

Here to cheer this on! 

[Maigs]

Following along. I'm not vegan, but would be about 95% plant based if I wasn't married to an omnivore that is already gracious about being vegetarian at home

 

On 7/25/2022 at 5:43 PM, Stronkey Kong said:

After the run I had frosted mini wheats... which I realized have gelatin in them

I think gelatin is a sneaky one that gets forgotten about, I know a lot of vegetarians that don't take it into account. Technically frosted poptarts aren't vegetarian either (....I write as it just dawns on me that I have generic frosted poptarts in my house right now that I wasn't even thinking about...)

[Stronkey Kong]

Okay, so life just threw a couple wrenches into the gears... one good, one bad.

 

The good one: My boss offered me a new work schedule of noon-10pm, M-Th, regular... which for me is ideal.  I hate mornings, and if I have to get up and rush into work, I quickly become unreliable. I can have a normal person sleep-wake cycle (in bed by Midnight, up around 8 am) with a nice long easy morning with time to get workouts and prepare good meals etc. I start next week.

 

The bad one: my left eye has been irritated and is possibly injured... I blame poorly fitting contact lenses, as this has been an intermittent issue since I started wearing this brand/type. I took Wed. off because I could barely open my eye and it needed to rest. It was fine on Thursday, until late in the night, and it has been acting up the last two days. This is the reason I've missed workouts. Weirdly, not being able to use an eye properly is just as bad as having the flu, and I'm just not functioning well.

 

With all this, next week is going to be tough. I have to adjust my sleep wake cycle for the new schedule... scratch that, I can make it to work by noon just fine without much adjustment. But if I want to get morning runs in, I"ll have to be up by 9 am. Currently I sleep until noon-1pm, or sometimes as late as 2 pm if I'm catching up. And starting work at 3:30 pm. So I might struggle with getting workouts done because of this. So this coming week I'm going to focus on diet, and if I can get up and do the workouts great, but if not, it is what it is.

 

Speaking of diet... what I'm going for ultimately is being a 'bad vegan.' Eat mostly plant based, ignore minor shit like gelatin, and occasionally have a bacon cheeseburger (ideally made from pasture raised animals and such). I like plant based foods, they make me feel good. I have a strong dislike of industrial agriculture, especially when it comes to poor treatment of animals, but being real, though gelatin is a readily available byproduct of that industry, the industry isn't going to grind to a halt, or even alter its practices because we stop eating small amounts of gelatin.

 

 

[Stronkey Kong]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:01 AM, RES said:

I considered going vegan years ago, but RA makes finding non meat protein sources challenging. Legumes tend to be inflammatory for me  

 

This is also why I'll never be a zealous vegan. There are too many variables for everyone to get it 100% right. We're as entitled to live well as the cows are.

 

On 7/26/2022 at 7:04 PM, Strickland5 said:

Here to cheer this on! 

 

Thanks man! My running sucks... I'll need all the support I can get.

 

1 hour ago, Maigs said:

Following along. I'm not vegan, but would be about 95% plant based if I wasn't married to an omnivore that is already gracious about being vegetarian at home

 

I think gelatin is a sneaky one that gets forgotten about, I know a lot of vegetarians that don't take it into account. Technically frosted poptarts aren't vegetarian either (....I write as it just dawns on me that I have generic frosted poptarts in my house right now that I wasn't even thinking about...)

 

I think all effort to eat more plants and less animals are valiant, and everyone has to find their own balance.

[Maggie-Miau]

For what it's worth, I've been vegan since 2016 and while I was at my most recent job i ate pop tarts more than once despite both knowing about the gelatin and being gluten sensitive + moderately allergic to wheat, just because that's what was available at the time 😅 

 

Nobody is ever going to be 100% perfect, and effective changes are more likely to stick when allowances are made. 

 

I hope your eye feels better soon! Sounds awful, sending you good vibes. 

[Maigs]

Congrats on the new work schedule! I worked nights in college and I know it's hard to be so out of line with "normal people schedules"

 

Hopefully the eye issue clears up with new contacts

 

1 hour ago, Stronkey Kong said:

Speaking of diet... what I'm going for ultimately is being a 'bad vegan.' Eat mostly plant based, ignore minor shit like gelatin, and occasionally have a bacon cheeseburger

 

1 hour ago, Stronkey Kong said:

I think all effort to eat more plants and less animals are valiant, and everyone has to find their own balance.

This is exactly how I feel as well. Work on reducing the amount of animal products you consume, don't freak out if you accidentally have some, and if the occasional burger (or fish in my case) makes you happy then have it and don't feel guilty. Too many people act like it has to be an all or nothing and it really doesn't. Find what level works for you

[Stronkey Kong]

 

I stayed up all night to help force my time switch for tomorrow. Around 6:30 am, as the sun was coming up, I did my first RUN for the week. 1 min run/4 min walk. Then I walked a bunch extra, and the total distance covered was about 4.5 miles. The running felt easier. I did consciously go slower than the previous ones to conserve my energy. On each run segment I wasn't gassed at the end and felt like I could keep going at that pace, so I think I've found my right pace. Morning runs are nice. The air is cool and refreshing. I can get used to this.

 

After getting cleaned up, I went grocery shopping. They were still out of store brand raisin bran, so I said fuck it, I'm getting more mini-wheats. And I bought two boxes. Gelatin be damned! Everything else was vegan as far as I can tell... but just now realizing I haven't ever made scones from scratch, and I'm wondering if the ones I bought as a post-run treat might have something in them, but whatever.

[RES]

On 7/30/2022 at 9:54 PM, Stronkey Kong said:

We're as entitled to live well as the cows are.

 

I try to do my part by only eating meat I get from Butcher Box, it makes my wife nuts how much I try to incorporate more plants into our meals, she likes the side effects of feeling better though  

 

[Everstorm]

On 7/24/2022 at 8:37 PM, Stronkey Kong said:

I started on NF 9 years ago and am still fat, but making the best of it, and grateful for the community here regardless.

 

Same, man.  Same. 😔

 

On 7/24/2022 at 8:37 PM, Stronkey Kong said:

I recently (today actually) came across the idea of best weight, the weight that lets you live the life you want to live.

 

That's an interesting thought.  Where did you run across it?

[Stronkey Kong]

On 8/1/2022 at 8:11 AM, RES said:

I try to do my part by only eating meat I get from Butcher Box, it makes my wife nuts how much I try to incorporate more plants into our meals, she likes the side effects of feeling better though  

 

 

I'm posting this here for my own future use, but if you're looking for more ideas:

 

https://thegreenloot.com/vegan-casserole-recipes/

 

16 hours ago, Everstorm said:

 

That's an interesting thought.  Where did you run across it?

 

Best Weight is "whatever weight you achieve while living the healthiest lifestyle that you can enjoy."

 

I came across this in my Vegan for Life book in a chapter titled "A compassionate approach to weight loss." They cite the Canadian Obesity Network.

 

And I just now found this: https://obesitycanada.ca/managing-obesity/

 

[Stronkey Kong]

 

Running: is not happening, I haven't adjusted to my new schedule at work. I'm staying up too late and/or not sleeping well, and sleeping in in the morning.  Weirdly, shifting one's schedule to 3-4 hours early is harder to do than 12 hour flip.

 

Vegan: I need to start doing better than a can of vegan chili on top of ramen noodles for lunch. It is delicious, but ramen noodles are just stupid empty calories, the can of chili is high in sodium, and the heartburn... dude... antacids for dessert every night.

 

I have a zoom meeting at 6 am to discuss a super-top-secret mission for the future. I am planning to do another early morning run/walk afterward, and maybe grab a quick nap before I head into work. It'll be a long day, but if I can stick it out I'll be tired enough to sleep early and I should re-adjust by next Monday.

 

I'm also looking at budgets, work hours, and planning ahead for my super-top-secret mission. If I can manage the full schedule, M-R 4x12=48 hours, I can probably pay off most of my extraneous debts (credit cards, and a lot of student loans) within 2-3 years.

[RES]

15 hours ago, Stronkey Kong said:

I'm posting this here for my own future use, but if you're looking for more ideas:

 

https://thegreenloot.com/vegan-casserole-recipes/

There are a couple I can have that I've saved for future use  Thank you!

[KB Girl]

On 7/25/2022 at 2:37 AM, Stronkey Kong said:

I'm still following the program in Run Your Butt Off (RYOB). I had some trouble tho, once I hit the run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes workout, and these last two weeks I've only got 1 walk or run/walk workout per week.

 

I'm going to redo the run 1 min./walk 4 min week, then increase 20 s per week until I hit 2 min, then pause and reassess there.

Looks like we learned the same running lesson last challenge. I'm working with small increases now too  and might work on decreasing the walk interval length after this. 

[Sovalis]

Solidarity about the financial goals and super secret projets. We are tackling those in my house, too. You've got this!