[DrFeelgood]

Last challenge had a ton of obstacles, and I didn’t manage them all that well.  Lean and Strong 7.0 is still the program of choice, but I ended the preceding run somewhat less lean and only a bit more strong.  I’m going to try it again with a few adjustments.

 

 

My same three goals are loaded up as follows:

DRINK - one 12-oz Dr Pepper each morning, no more no less.  Diet drinks are out; I did not do well after reintroducing them.  I specifically want the calories and the caffeine from just the one can each day.

EAT - 1950 (+/- 10%) calories per day, no additional restrictions beyond what my system already imposes.  Energy is energy, and if my mood insists on “spending” calories on a bowl of ice cream for dinner then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.  I will generally emphasize good nutrition since that helps me be able to stay low.  Backup parachute for this goal is to stay under 2350 kcal which is maintenance TDEE at my goal weight of 185 lbs--that'll earn me a yellow square on the grid.  Anything above that is a big fat red.  This is an increase from the last run just to guard against bottoming out again, but I'd rather start a tad high and reduce as the body permits.  I'm also making a point of not eating anything after dinner since that's when most of my overages have been happening recently.

MOVE - 3 days per week (MWF) do 20 consecutive minutes of strength training.  Cardio will still happen, especially as I get to play more golf this year, but it won't be a component of my Move goal.  I’m going to try and do as much bodyweight stuff in the backyard as possible so I can go topless and get some periodic sunshine for the nutrition benefit.

As usual I'll track everything in my spreadsheet and post daily updates.  I've noticed how easy it is for me to go off the rails when I'm not keeping myself accountable to y'all here, so I appreciate you following along again.

And away we go...

[DrFeelgood]

[DrFeelgood]

W0D1:  started the morning with the very last DPZ--I'm glad they're gone, and now I have a large stockpile of regular Dr Pepper that should easily carry through the next six weeks.  This was the day of the airshow that Brick has been looking forward to for months, since long before he blew out his knee, and I wasn't going to let him miss it.  I loaded up the car and drove the two of us an hour south to the Air Force base, and since he was on crutches I was basically a pack-mule all day helping him around the various displays and carrying all the gear.  To keep my load manageable I only brought the one chair for him to use, so I spent the whole day on my feet even when we weren't walking.  For lunch the only GF food I could find was a small bag of Cheetos, so I ate that and drank a ton of water.  By the end of the show I'm sure I had walked at least five miles, and I still had to go get the car and pick him up.  On the drive home we stopped for large chocolate shakes and waters, and that took 70% of my day's calorie budget.  For dinner MFG made the boys chicken nuggets which I can't eat, but that was fine since I already had a plan:  I still needed to cook my weekly meal-preps for lunches, and I was able to snack on the extra pork sirloin steak bites while in the kitchen.  Once I finished my meal preps I logged my foods and needed a few more calories and a whole lot more protein, so I settled on a couple of beef snack sticks to close out the day at 1976 kcal--not the most nutritious start to this challenge, but at least it was close to target.  With all the bonus exercise I'm certain that Sunday constituted my first significant deficit in quite a while.

 

I don't know why I seem to do all of my best work in Week Zero--maybe I should take more of them. 

[DrFeelgood]

W0D2:  one DrP in the morning.  This week's lunch prep is pork sirloin steak bites with mashed sweet potatoes and a veggie medley of green beans, bell peppers, and onions that were all sauteed together in the  pork fond, which I deglazed with a bit of white wine and then dressed with a bit of butter at the end for extra richness.  Super delicious, nutritious, and compliant with my digestive system.  For dinner MFG made a pot of tomato sauce that was meat-heavy with ground beef and Italian sausage.  I boiled 2 servings of GF spaghetti, ladled on a generous amount of sauce, and ate that along with a bit of cheese to get close to the day's target at 1945 kcal.  No snacking at all for the day earns an easy green on the grid.

 

Move was excellent!  I got home from work, changed straight into gym clothes, and took over the living room for a 20-minute bodyweight strength video.  I was able to do the more advanced progressions for some of the movements.  I've taken several weeks away from this video because the final exercise (walk-out planks) was aggravating a muscle injury to my right forearm, and I wanted to give it time to heal.  As of last night everything seems to be right as rain.  Today I'm feeling just the right amount of sore in all the places that I want to get stronger.  It's still not as satisfying as barbells, but it's better than the treadmill. 

[Shello]

Count me in!  Nice green start to the challenge.  Nothing like the fresh start of a week zero!  

[DrFeelgood]

22 hours ago, Shello said:

Count me in!  Nice green start to the challenge.  Nothing like the fresh start of a week zero!  

Welcome aboard!  I was definitely in need of a hard reset, and the timing of this new one couldn't have been better. 

[DrFeelgood]

W0D3:  one DrP in the morning.  Lunch was the meal prep.  For dinner MFG chucked a bunch of potatoes in the oven so she could take Brick to physical therapy, then on the way home she picked up a couple of rotisserie chickens from the mega-mart.  I ate measured large portions with a huge chunk of butter on the potato and capped the day at 1958 kcal.  Easy green and we're on a streak!

 

Most of the evening was spent catching up on household stuff and helping MFG prepare for her road trip--she's going to visit her mom for a week, so the Boyz and I will have the house to ourselves.  I should be able to sustain some good fitness progress, but I'm going to be very busy while she's gone.  Later in the evening the weather went crazy and I spent several hours monitoring the alerts in case we needed to take shelter, but eventually everything moved off or subsided and I was finally able to get to bed.

 

Body is mildly sore from Monday; the extended pause of strength work set me back a little but it's not too bad.  What's crazy is how easy I'm finding it to manage my appetite again all of the sudden.  Granted, I am all fueled up after a prolonged gorge fest and I seem to have finally kicked 98% of the respiratory crud, but I think that the lion's share can be attributed to eliminating the diet sodas again.  Something about them just seems to ramp up my appetite to 11 in a way that can't be sated.  I'll have to remember this next time my brain gets seduced by the promise of sweet caffeine without calories--it's just not worth it.

[DrFeelgood]

W0D4:  Drink and Eat was a carbon copy of D3 until later in the evening when I got hungry and ate a bag of trail mix.  That didn't quite cut it so I ate another one.  That didn't do it either so I ate two more, then I made a bowl of nachos that I completely didn't need.  3089 kcal, and that's what I get for daring to think I might be on easy street again.  

Move was outstanding!  I did the same video as Monday and was able to push a bit harder through the whole thing.  That's the first time I've done this workout twice in a row, and it's still a blaster, especially in the legs and core.

Evening was busy with household stuff since MFG is away.  I stayed up late monitoring thunderstorms with tornado potential again--thankfully it was just a bunch of rain with some moderate wind.  The lightning was pretty impressive for a while there.

 

I always miss my beloved when she's away, but I have to confess that I really enjoy having the whole bed to myself sometimes.  

[DrFeelgood]

W0D5:  one DrP in the morning, then lunch was the meal prep.  After that I decided to not eat anything else and count most of the previous day's overage toward my Eat goal.  So now Wednesday has been retconned to 2099 kcal and Thursday came in at 1940 kcal.  Moving the trail mixes and tortilla chips from Wed to Thu also let me avoid MFP's standard lecture about not eating enough. 

 

It was a good day for a dinner fast since I had a lot to do after work, which meant no time for cooking.  I ordered pizzas for the Boyz to pick up on the way home, then I stayed busy until bedtime.

 

Sneaky weight check this morning shows that I've bailed a lot of bloat from the preceding weeks, and I'm feeling leaner and stronger!  Today should be another good one.

[DrFeelgood]

Whew, that weekend got away from me a bit, time to reel it back in:

 

W0D6:  one DrP in the morning, then lunch was the final meal prep.  For dinner I made ground beef tacos with cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  Throughout the evening I added a bunch more snacks and ran the total up to 2922 kcal.

 

Move was excellent again!  This is the first week since reinstating the Lean & Strong protocol that I've managed to hit all three strength sessions.  Friday's session was a bit of a struggle-bus, probably owing to my dinner fast from the day before, but I still completed the entire thing.

 

W0D7:  one DrP in the morning, then another with lunch.  I ate the last of the leftover rotisserie chicken and baked potato with butter for a big lunch, then for dinner I pan-seared pork loin chops.  Those were served along with steamed broccoli and a side-dish I cobbled together using sweet potatoes, apples, and pecans.  It was excellent.  For dessert I ate a few Jello pudding snacks, then I made the Boyz split a carton of chocolate ice cream with me so I wouldn't eat the whole thing.  3232 kcal

 

I'm not at all bothered by that number for Saturday since I woke up early, got moving right away, and basically didn't stop until a late bedtime.  Household chores and several projects kept me busy, and I'm pretty confident I burned that entire day.

 

Week Zero Check-in:  Friday I saw 213.9 on the scale, but after a couple days of bigger eating and my digestive system locking up that number was 215.9 on Sunday morning.  I'm splitting the difference for my official this week--214.9 lbs for a loss of 3.2.  That feels about right.

 

The week itself was solid right up until the end, and honestly if I can keep it within reason then that's not a terrible pattern to live with.  I might have to adjust my weigh-ins though, otherwise weekend shenanigans are going to make the Sunday numbers swing harder than reality.

 

I think my goals are working well for me, so no adjustments going in to the challenge proper.  This calorie target feels pretty comfortable, the Drink goal is always going to be a thing, and strength training is helping to improve the way I look and feel even when the scale numbers are bouncing around.

[DrFeelgood]

W1D1:  completely off the wagon for this one.  I had to get up extra early for church duties, and after Saturday's grind I just didn't have it in me to add fitness disciplines to the pile.  3 DrPs, two bags of Cheetos, and 3 Snickers bars might actually be the worst possible breakfast ever.    Naturally I didn't want much lunch, so I just ate a small bowl of leftover sweet potatoes in the tiny gap between getting home from church and having to go back out to buy groceries for the week, where I added some un-necessities to the cart--including a six-pack of Reese's that I foolishly thought might last all week in my lunches.  Once I got back home and put everything away it was time to do meal preps for Sunday and Monday dinners.  That kept me busy in the kitchen for several hours, during which I ate five of the six Reese's (moderation, yay!) and a couple of string cheese snacks.  Dinner itself was grilled ribeye steaks and homemade oven-frites, which were divine!  That was a nice treat for me and the boys.

 

After dinner I still needed to do my lunch preps for the week, for which I planned BBQ chicken thighs and steamed veggies.  The thighs went on the grill right after the steaks came off (efficiency!) and I got the steamer going after we finished eating.  All together it was another hour of work before everything was cooked, chopped, and packed up; then there was another hour of cleaning the kitchen.  I finally got to sit down for the third period of the hockey game (go Stars!) and tucked in to my ice cream for the evening.  Sunday's eating finally came to a close at a very-impressive and extremely-red 5,437 kcal on the grid.

 

We'll count that as fuel for the week ahead. 

[DrFeelgood]

W1D2:  one DrP in the morning.  Lunch prep is surprisingly good and filling even without a starch this week.  For dinner at home I had Boomer put the prepared pasta-bake in the oven to get it going as I left the office, and a little over an hour later we had an excellent meal.  I don't eat much pasta anymore, and I forgot that it continues to expand well after it's been swallowed.  One portion would've been plenty, but since it was so good and I didn't really feel "full" yet I ate another one which was a huge mistake.  That pushed my calories way over budget and also made the rest of the evening uncomfortable.  Despite being bloated almost to death I still needed something sweet and soothing later on, so I ate a small bowl of applesauce with a bit of maple syrup.  2639 kcal.

 

Move was satisfied with several hours of yard work, which was a good reminder of why I usually make the Boyz do it.    I trimmed the backyard right away when I got home, then we paused for dinner.  After that it was on to the front which required way more effort and nearly made me catapult my dinner a few times.  But I pushed on to finish up before sunset and MFP says I burned well over 1,000 extra calories, which should help to ameliorate the last two days eating.  Earlier in the day I had intentions of doing my strength training after finishing the yard work, but that was before I pasta'd myself.

 

My throat has been on angry mode for a few days, and the yard work didn't do any favors.  An antihistamine helped somewhat, and the applesauce was soothing, but I woke up feeling even cruddier and so decided to go get it checked out at the doc-in-a-box.

[DrFeelgood]

W1D3:  one DrP in the morning, then another with lunch.  I ate the prep with an extra helping of leftover sweet potatoes since they've been lingering in the fridge.  In the afternoon I snacked on a couple of string cheeses and a beef snack.  For dinner I made green chile chicken enchiladas.  Throughout the evening I snacked lightly on some pecans, then I finished the day with another bowl of applesauce and maple syrup.  2359 kcal.

 

I took the morning off to go to the doc, where they did a rapid strep test that was negative.  They took a swab and sent it off for cultures, so I should know by tomorrow if there's something attacking me.  I went ahead and stayed home for the rest of the day which let me get a few things done.  I'm not feeling any better today, but at least I don't feel any worse, and since the first test was negative I'm back to work for today.

 

Eating has been big lately, but activity levels have been high, too.  This week has mushroomed on me, so I'm just going to roll with it, do the best I can, and let things land where they fall.

[Shello]

Hoping you start to feel better soon!  That isn't usually helpful when you are trying to get eating back to normal range.  Food is so comforting.  

[DrFeelgood]

1 minute ago, Shello said:

Food is so comforting.  

Even more so when the swallowing isn't so painful--not that it's stopping me, mind you. 

[Shello]

24 minutes ago, DrFeelgood said:

Even more so when the swallowing isn't so painful--not that it's stopping me, mind you. 

Ice cream does go down pretty well with a sore throat.  Just sayin

[Snarkyfishguts]

Oof to sore throats. I hope you're feeling a bit better today! 

[DrFeelgood]

23 hours ago, Shello said:

Ice cream does go down pretty well with a sore throat.  Just sayin

 

I blame you.

 

3 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Oof to sore throats. I hope you're feeling a bit better today! 

Thanks, it seems to be easing and hasn't turned into anything nastier, yet.  Doc-in-a-box called today with results of the culture, and it's negative.  They suggested it's probably viral, which sounds about right.  I'll just keep nursing it with ice cream until it's gone. 

[Shello]

59 minutes ago, DrFeelgood said:

 

I blame you.

 

Thanks, it seems to be easing and hasn't turned into anything nastier, yet.  Doc-in-a-box called today with results of the culture, and it's negative.  They suggested it's probably viral, which sounds about right.  I'll just keep nursing it with ice cream until it's gone. 

Oh, that looks like a very good choice!  

[DrFeelgood]

17 hours ago, Shello said:

Oh, that looks like a very good choice!  

Cheaper than a "pint" of Haagen Dazs and over three times the volume.  If only it lasted three times as long. 

[DrFeelgood]

W1D4:  one DrP in the morning, another large one with lunch.  I added a Reese's at breakfast, another at lunch, and a third on the way home from the office.  Lunch itself was the chicken and broccoli meal prep.  In the afternoon I ate a Hershey bar.  For dinner I made my signature pulled-pork tikka masala.  We watched the hockey playoffs in the evening, during which I snacked on some potato chips.  The aforementioned ice cream was a delicious and soothing follow up.  4143 kcal

 

Move was a beast.  I picked up some groceries after work then went home and got straight to cooking.  Once everything was finally assembled in the pot to simmer I went to the living room and did my strength video, stirring during the 30-second rests.

 

W1D5:  one large DrP in the morning.  Lunch was the last pair of leftover enchiladas along with some buttered tortillas to bulk it out and use them up.  I snacked on potato chips throughout the day.  In the afternoon I ate a bowl of cereal, then later in the afternoon I ate the last two beef snack sticks with a string cheese.  I had to go to band rehearsal before dinner, then I ended up staying late there to reconfigure the lights, so I raided the worship-team snacks to the tune of a bag of Cheetos, a Snickers bar, and a can of Sprite.  When I finally got home I had another portion of the tikka masala over rice.  During the hockey playoffs later I finished off the potato chips, snacked on some additional cheese, then killed off the ice cream.  4086 kcal

 

W1D6:  one DrP in the morning, another large one before lunch with a big bag of Cheeto's puffs and another Reese's.  Lunch was the meal prep again, after which I wanted more chocolate so I ran out to the mini-mart and got two Cadbury bars that were on sale 2 for $4.  Naturally I thought I might have one and save the other, and naturally I ended up eating them both.  Dinner at home was another portion of tikka masala--one batch goes a lot further now for some reason.  In the evening I ate a bowl of cereal with a banana, then during the hockey games I had more cheese and a huge bowl of ice cream.  5091 kcal

 

Move was a bust, I just wasn't feeling it.

 

Hopefully that concludes this week's shenanigans.  I wish I could say I tried my best, but what really happened is that my plans took a hit when MFG's return was delayed and I excused myself from discipline.  The sore throat didn't help, either, but I think I may have figured that out.  Since it manifests first thing in the morning and the severity seems to track linearly with the amount of food I've eaten the day before I suspect that it's actually reflux--I didn't initially suspect that because I'm not having any heartburn along with it.  Reducing my intake and getting back on program will help with all the things.

 

Today is a hard reboot so that next week can be more productive in terms of fitness.

[Elastigirl]

Yay for reboots! You got this!

[DrFeelgood]

W1D7:  one DrP.  Food was spontaneous throughout the day, but I kept track of it all and came in on target even with a big bowl of ice cream in the evening.  1956 kcal

 

Week 1 Check-in:  scale said 217.1 lbs for an increase of 2.2 on the week.  I'm choosing to believe that's all muscle gains. 

 

My calorie math predicted that exact amount of increase, so at least I know that I'm measuring things correctly and that my metabolism is still generally working the way it's supposed to.  I think it was just stress piling up until my brain invoked the old path-of-least-resistance (sweets) for coping.  I need to come up with something better and program that in, and unfortunately I think life is about to give me ample opportunity to try.

 

Week 2 dailies are going to be on hold for a while, but I'll do my best to keep running my program and updating the grid.