Darkfoxx 3: With A Vengeance

[Pookie]

It shouldn't be entirely clear. Very pale is healthy.

[Ordimoi]

Your goals are awesome DarkFoxx! And you have a very solid start on your hands (not that you need me to tell you that..... since you probably already know). Anyway, *claps hands* Spreadsheet= Awesome! I have a list of things I ate in a notebook..... because I like hand writing things 

[darkfoxx]

Week 1 Day 2 Update

 

Goal 1: Drink Like A Fish. 

 

After consultation from you guys yesterday, I amended my goal to drink lots of water but not all the water. And I'm glad I did. I had my morning tea, 1 bottle of Smartwater, and a 16 ounce unsweetened Acai tea with dinner. Much more reasonable on the water front and I felt much less like a baby hippo all day. 

 

I also woke up less thirsty today. 

 

 

Goal 2: I See Those Workouts. Let's Take Them A Little Further. 

 

I did my Yoga Meltdown Part 1 workout and worked on spider pushups - got my knees up today to where they're supposed to be, even.  

 

 

Goal 3: Metrics! All The Metrics! 

 

Metrics. Spreadsheet. Lurve.

 

I had my usual DH's green smoothie for breakfast; my favorite kale & edamame salad from Trader Joe's for lunch; and had a Power Mediterranean Roast Turkey Salad from (the hidden paleo menu at) Panera Bread with an unsweetened Acai berry tea. And a bite of bread crust I'm not counting. +1 tortelloni of my hubby's. 

 

Ok, so mebbe getting protein isn't as easy as I first thought - especially if I'm eating a single serving at a meal. Granted, I am the world's worst at portion control at home so this may not be an issue unless I decide to make it a challenge goal next cycle, but when I'm eating out "healthy" it can be problematic. I only got 44 grams of protein yesterday out of the 70 set out as ideal. I had slightly less carbs; 114 (well within the maintaining band - not the losing weight band); and fats were at 61 grams (fine). Total calories were 1109. I felt a little hungry before bed, but not bad, and not hungry enough for a snack.

 

 

Goal 4: Finish What You've Started.

 

I did no work on this goal.

 

I'm pretty pumped that I managed to get a great workout in before heading to Best Buy for hopefully the last time. I still haven't plugged the latest new hard drive in to check it and I'm a little scared to. I really don't want to have to go belligerent redneck all up on Geek Squad. And we walked around the crappy mall housing Best Buy for about half an hour, so that was good. 

 

 

[Pookie]

I'm glad you felt better with the water issue! Feeling like a baby hippo, while they are cute and all, isn't the greatest place to be!

 

Could you add some protein somehow into the breakfast? Would some kefir or plain yogurt mix in perhaps?

[darkfoxx]

It might, but I'm also keeping with limiting dairy (not an official challenge, just to the point where lots of dairy creeps me out). I think on the days I eat leftovers with meat I'll be fine and on the days I eat at home I'll be good too for the most part. I guess it's just when I eat places like Panera that really portions out their meat carefully where I will run into trouble. 

 

And it's not even "real" trouble, since this cycle I'm just supposed to be monitoring what I eat and not stressing out trying to fit into a plan I'm not sure is any good. 

 

I will think about the kefir, though. I remember absolutely loving it back in the day. 

[Pookie]

You could also blend some edamame beans into the green smoothie as well? I buy bags of shelled frozen ones, easy to chuck in! (and very green!)

[darkfoxx]

That might be quite nice. Which reminds me ... I think I have some leftover and they would probably be awesome in the concoction I'm thinking of making for lunch.  

[Fonzico]

Ahhh, I love tracking things! Your spreadsheet is beautiful. Although I must confess I'm with Ordi on this one... handwriting things is where it's at for me!

 

Protein can indeed be a difficult one. Like you've already said, the easiest fix is really just eating at home, as far as that goes. I'm always shocked at how much meat I buy every week, but it's totally necessary!

 

Good job with the spider push ups! That's no laughing matter, it's a hard position to get into, for sure.

[darkfoxx]

Thanks! I'm debating on whether to have a cardio/strength night tonight per usual plan or if I should go ahead and do my second yoga day instead -- I have a feeling we will be heading out tomorrow night to grab some last minute things for the trip (like my hubby's hair goop - which is only sold, of course, in 1 salon 45 minutes + 2 train transfers away). 

 

If I do cardio, I think I'm going to try and kill myself with a second 30 Day Shred workout (level 1 this time) instead of jogging/walking. We shall see how today goes and what the evening holds. 

[BlamedCat]

I'd say, go ahead and implement your plan ahead plan.  The worst that can happen is you do awesome with the workout of your choice tonight, ya know?  The important thing, as you know, is consistency.

[Ordimoi]

I'm with BlamedCat on this one. Go for Murphy's Law *chuckles* Not that I'm saying anything is going wrong just to be prepared in case you end up running around and can't get a workout in. 

[Fonzico]

Always expect the worst, then you will usually be pleasantly surprised! (I'm way too much of an optimist to actually follow this.. but in this particular case...)

[darkfoxx]

Bwahaha. I'm totally not an optimist. I will make sure to absolutely shred it with whichever workout I choose tonight in preparation for the possibility of not being able to tomorrow. 

 

And maybe I can at least fit in a few moves *ahem* *crowpractice* tomorrow even if I don't have the time to do a full workout. A run-through of the harder balance moves I can do would be a nice start, along with more spider pushup practice (plank if my arms aren't working) and some squats or something for legs. 

[darkfoxx]

Week 1 Day 3 Update

 

Goal 1: Drink Like A Fish. 

 

Had my morning tea and 1 Smartwater bottle of water.

 

I was a little thirsty when I woke up. 

 

 

Goal 2: I See Those Workouts. Let's Take Them A Little Further. 

 

I did the 30 Day Shred Part 1 workout and fared pretty well, despite being viciously attacked by a wiener who was "helping". Ended up doing the boat curls from last cycle's mini-challenge instead of some of the crunches because I had a dog under my head. I think I lost, too. 

 

 

Goal 3: Metrics! All The Metrics! 

 

Metrics. Spreadsheet. Lurve.

 

I had my usual DH's green smoothie for breakfast; a tuna/apple/red pepper/kalamata olive/horseradish/curry/avocado concoction for lunch; a mixed nut snack; and too-salty pork & celery stir-fry for dinner.

 

Back to my original thesis. I got 142.5g of protein; well over my 70g goal. Even less carbs today (84.65 - just a hair over the weight loss band); and 56 grams of fats (fine). Total calories were 939.5, which I've had to re-read 3x to make sure was accurate. I didn't even go to bed hungry. I was hungry when I woke up, but not 'omg i'm going to die' hungry. Sodium for the day was 2398.5mg - probably way too much. I should watch that business.

 

 

Goal 4: Finish What You've Started.

 

I did no work on this goal. Packed all my clothes for the trip, though, so that's something. I'm not packing the skinny capri pants - I can get in them, and can even sit down for a bit, but they give me slight muffin top still. And I looked at the weather in Scotland, and it looks like for most of the trip we'll be dressing in warm layers - pretty much not capri pants weather. I did pack a now too-big pair of hiking pants, a pair of nice dark wash jeans, and a pair of very loud orange skinny chinos to go along with my pretty much exclusively grey & black shirt wardrobe. 

[Fonzico]

Yeah, that much protein can sure be filling eh? Maybe a little more fat to edge up the calories if you need?

 

Well done with banging out the workout in full pessimism! Hehehe now there's no pressure for today, right?

[darkfoxx]

Yes, it can. I thought with all the avocado I ate yesterday and the mixed nuts I was getting waaaayyy too much fat, but I guess (probably) not. Go me  

 

Yeah, I'm glad I rocked out a good workout. The hubbs has decided that he is going to go 'au naturale' on vacation (rocking his unruly curly fuzziness, which he absolutely never does), so it looks like we will be staying put and packing tonight. And I'll be attempting to rock out my 2nd yoga workout of the week, providing my arms don't fall off. 

 

And it looks like we will have the opportunity to clean out the last of the fresh food in the fridge for dinner. I threw out way more waste than I like to yesterday and need to resolve to do better with that. At one point I was down to next to zero waste from leftovers and/or uneaten veggies/herbs/etc. Yesterday, I threw out a huge batch of very tasty sausage ragu, a really primo quality sausage, 2 butt ends of a beef filet, some eggplant dip, a ton of egg yolks, and a fair amount of once-fresh veggies and herbs. Not my favorite. 

 

I'm hoping to use up the head of broccolini we have tonight and send my hubbs to the market up the road for some quick meat to make with it + a head of garlic for the roasted garlic & white bean hummus I'm hoping to make as a plane snack. 

[BlamedCat]

Oh cool, so optimism and pessimism won out then, eh?  You got your workout in and we figured he'd not make you drive all the way over there for hair gel

[darkfoxx]

Yeah, so, worrying wasn't helping. Someday I might actually *learn* that lesson.  

[BlamedCat]

Yeah, so, worrying wasn't helping. Someday I might actually *learn* that lesson.

LOL, it takes a lifetime, but just like leveling up everything else, baby steps

[Pookie]

Oh I hate hate wasting food, its why I plan my meals ahead to use up stuff, or use the freezer to freeze full portions of things when I cook bigger than for two, rather than keep leftovers and wonder what to do with them.

 

Today's spiced red cabbage was using up some after making red cabbage slaw, and a very lonely courgette got thrown into the huge vat of chili I made.

 

Where are you going in Scotland? Both of us used to live there on different coasts. (before we met!)

[darkfoxx]

I usually do 1 week planned recipes; 1-2 weeks 'clean up the fridge' cooking - but these odds and ends I guess I just forgot about. Sucks, because that was a fabulous ragu! 

 

We are doing a week long tour of Scotland of sorts - flying into Edinburgh, staying in Inverness, going up to Isle of Skye, heading down to Cairngorms (Aviemore and Blair Atholl), doing a castle stay near Glasgow, and rounding out the trip with an overnight ferry to Amsterdam and day of Amsterdam stuff. 

 

It will be a bunch of traveling, but hopefully will give us a chance to see lots of what Scotland has to offer (as well as some great picture-taking opportunities). 

[BlamedCat]

We are doing a week long tour of Scotland of sorts - flying into Edinburgh, staying in Inverness, going up to Isle of Skye, heading down to Cairngorms (Aviemore and Blair Atholl), doing a castle stay near Glasgow, and rounding out the trip with an overnight ferry to Amsterdam and day of Amsterdam stuff. 

 

It will be a bunch of traveling, but hopefully will give us a chance to see lots of what Scotland has to offer (as well as some great picture-taking opportunities). 

That sounds awesome!

[darkfoxx]

We are hoping I've been planning/overplanning/stressing/listmaking my heart out about it for the last few months, and think it will shape up to be a great trip. We'll have both city and non-city places to visit, hopefully some good hiking along the way, and most definitely some adventure. 

[Pookie]

My fiancé went to University in Edinburgh, and I lived just outside Glasgow (Ayr).

[BlamedCat]

Okay, I'm gonna stop geeking out now... >_>  I've always wanted to travel overseas to Scotland. <goes back to lurking>