Orcwarrior's first challenge

[gomezkun]

Mmmmmm......cake

[orcwarrior]

 !!!   Like I said.....

 

Seriously, today is ..... Half-way-through-the-challenge-day!!!  Time to take stock and assess.

 

So far I'm surprised and pleased how I'm doing.  I think the two factors that are helping me to do well, and to do better than I've done many times in the past, are (1) the support and encouragement I'm getting from you guys, and (2) focusing on behavioral goals rather than results I can't directly control, i.e., how many reps or cycles I'm able to do today, how much weight I've lost, etc.  But just doing healthy behaviors and letting the results come from those, I'm staying focused on what I can control. 

 

So far on goals:

 

Keeping food log - faithful, every day.  "A"

 

Workout - have actually progressed by 3rd week to full BBW, now pushing to increase reps/duration.  Doing that faithfully 3x/wk, and doing cardio on other 3 days, with one rest day.  "A"

 

No late-night binges - have had only one small one, cut even that off quickly.  "A"

 

Keeping caught up at work - helps tremendously with my morale to feel on top of things.  Have noticed momentum building to keep ahead on other things as well at home and with teaching side-job.  Feeling good!  "A"

 

So just a brief moment for celebration....

 

 

 

And so...  Thanks, guys, for all the support and info.  I deeply appreciate it.

[orcwarrior]

Cruising through week four - going well.  I haven't missed a workout yet, and the eating is going well.  Survived a very emotional day the other day and several short nights without crashing.  My confidence in being able to maintain without falling into old habits is slowly growing, and it feels good!

 

Maintaining 1600-2000 calories/day, only had one day up to 2400 which is close to my 2300 max daily goal.  Noticing weekends are definitedly hardest due to variable schedule, being home much of the time, and easier access to food.  Trying to stay busy and productive.

 

Only minor snag is a nagging sore quad after my BBW workout the other day, afraid I pulled it again.  If so I'll just modify and keep going.  Every week I'm seeing noticeable gain in strength, some parts of the workout getting easier and needing less effort, other parts increasing reps for each cycle.

 

Not part of my main goals, but it's good to see the weight coming off, too.  I'm down 21 pounds as of yesterday, and I've tightened my belt two holes.  Didn't take measurements before I started, so my belt is my only specific measurement for this challenge.  I'll try to track the next one more closely.  Did take some pics at the end of the first week, maybe will post a pre and post-challenge comparison at the end.

[Caution]

Great job on the weight loss so far! I know weekends are pretty rough for me for the same reasons, I get bored easily and when I get bored I tend to eat and drink to occupy my time. 

[ThunderSnail]

Nice job with the straight A's!  I am particularly impressed by the way you cruise through the rough days.  Hope the quad feels better.

[gomezkun]

Excellent work amigo!

You are doing incredibly well resisting temptation! A lot better than I - and at the end of the day, your results will show stronger than mine. *jelly*

Keep it up and looking forward to the last two weeks results

[orcwarrior]

Great job on the weight loss so far! I know weekends are pretty rough for me for the same reasons, I get bored easily and when I get bored I tend to eat and drink to occupy my time. 

Thanks for the kudo!  I've always consumed more with with boredom and other emotions in the past, too, that's one of the things I'm really working on changing.  I've worked hard on staying busy, distracting myself when I start to feel bored/frustrated/discouraged, and finally with SUBSTITUTION, i.e., finding something that tastes good but doesn't derail me.  Best thing I've found is the little Crystal Light envelopes (and Walmart equivalents) you pour into water bottles - taste great, five calories.  On an evening I'm having a harder time, I'll have up to three.  Makes my body feel like I'm getting some taste stimulation, hydrates me, and doesn't derail my diet.

 

 

Nice job with the straight A's!  I am particularly impressed by the way you cruise through the rough days.  Hope the quad feels better.

Thanks much!  I'm learning a lot about diet, exercise, and coping by surfing through Steve's old posts and others' challenge threads.  The whole community thing is helping me immensely.  And the quad did recover after a day or so, thanks! 

 

Excellent work amigo!

You are doing incredibly well resisting temptation! A lot better than I - and at the end of the day, your results will show stronger than mine. *jelly*

Keep it up and looking forward to the last two weeks results

 

Thanks, I'm actually somewhat shocked by how well I'm doing.    I also think my options are probably a little better, food-access-wise, than the chow hall is probably providing.  And my results are a little easier to produce dramatic changes, too - kind of like it's easier to pull an "F" up one letter grade than a "B," because there's more room for improvement.  Actually, I read your and Caution's workout regimens on your threads and think, "Wow - I want to do that someday..."    Truthfully, I feel little like a first-grader who walked into a high-school classroom by accident.     When I was reading class descriptions upon first joining, I kind of missed the whole Adventurer/beginner thing and jumped into the Warriors because that's what I wanted to work toward, although not anywhere near there now.  But you guys have been great, and very welcoming!  Thanks for all the support!

 

Something that struck me funny this morning.  I've been reading Steve's old posts on different subjects, and yesterday caught the one on cardio vs. weights vs. intervals, which notes that steady low-level cardio doesn't produce afterburn.  So this morning I did my first HIIT workout per Steve's suggested time intervals (Note:  finally found out what "HIIT" meant after being puzzled when I first saw it on Caution's thread), and came upstairs from the basement all sweaty and panting.  After recovery proudly told my loving, caring wife what I'd been doing, and how I'd recently found HIIT produces afterburn while cardio doesn't.  She looked at me a little pityingly and told me, "Everyone's been talking about that the last several years.... intervals, intervals, intervals..."  That's why I love her.  She loves me deeply, and keeps me humble at the same time! 

[gomezkun]

There's a nice little delicate formula to everything.

Unfortunately, said formula is often a pain to figure out (and it's a shame because I'm usually good at Algebra,

 

Thank you for the kind words. But it's funny you mention that because I feel the same way about that with many of the members here and their abilities (ex. Some of the girls doing multiple sets of 1 pullup - I'm not even at that level.)

 

No worries about learning - there are many things in this world to learn about. Rebel against the common norm and make your own decisions based on the knowledge. Find out what does and doesn't work for you

 

Keep up the awesome work as always. Lets finish the last two weeks strong!!!

[orcwarrior]

Thanks!  Two more weeks! (chant) Two more weeks! (chant) Two more ....  (lost in sound of crowd going wild...)

 

I like your comment about formulas.  You're probably already familiar with this (reference my wife's comment above, I'm catching up in this area  ), but I ran across Steve's blog series from some time back about the formulas for losing weight, i.e., calculating your body mass index, then your metabolic rate, calories consumed per day on average to maintain, and what size calorie deficit will help you lose at a given average rate.  Very interesting stuff.  Practical application - the higher above your ideal weight you are, the faster you will lose when you eat a healthier (i.e., lower) number of good calories.  So the current rate will slow.  Until then I'll just enjoy it. 

 

Had a good bodyweight workout yesterday, but plateauing a little.  Think it's because I've been short on sleep this week - mostly related to teen daughter's busy schedule with athletics, and then staying up late tutoring her in Algebra II.  Talk about your challenges - each night, read relevant section of her algebra book, try to remember what learned 30 years ago, and then tutor her in concept of the day and help with homework.  Makes workouts seem easy in comparison!

 

Mini-goal this week - get adequate sleep so can keep advancing in workout progress.

 

Note:  made new recipe yesterday for "lazy cabbage rolls," actually sort of Italian-tasting cabbage casserole in crockpot.  Surprisingly good, super easy, and very healthy - liked it so much I posted it immediately. 

 

Italian cabbage casserole recipe

[Caution]

Looks yummy, I do love crock pot recipes, I may give that a shot soon. Also, you are a pretty awesome dad, good sir! 

[orcwarrior]

Thanks, caution.  Parenting teens is definitely the hardest job I've every done, bar none. 

 

Challenging week, hanging in there.  Had blah day on Sunday, culminated in couldn't-sleep night and first real binge of the challenge.  Felt like crap afterward.  Talked to wife later and she pointed out that she and I had very intense emotional conversation earlier in day, which I had totally forgotten.  Oh, yeah....  Those are stressful.

 

But worked at recovery - did after-action session in my head and pinpointed bad choices and thinking in my process on Sunday, put on lessons-learned list.  Got right back on horse, continued workouts, have had four successive good days with diet - 1500-1800 calories each day, 90% paleo.  Feeling good about that.  Bodyweight workout was HUGE effort yesterday, my "what's going on" thinking afterwards led me to suspect that I've been combining short nights and over-enthusiastic workout routine.  Have been doing bodyweight 3 days, alternating with HIIT other three days, one rest day.  I think I've just been pushing too hard, so decided to experiment and suspend HIIT workouts until I can get rested and see if the bodyweight routine gets easier again.  So rested today, second weekly bodyweight workout tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes.

[MostlyHarmless]

Wow!  Congratulations on your consistency!  You seem to have chosen some excellent (and achievable) goals!  I think I might copy your food journal one for my next challenge, if you don't mind.  I've been thinking about shifting my diet to be a bit more paleo (not 100%, since I love beer and cheese way too much) as well.  How difficult has it been to make that shift?

 

Keep up the fantastic work!

[gomezkun]

Left Right Left. We all fall down.

Then we get back into the game!

 

Keep at it. Learn from mistakes and move on right?!

[Caution]

Sleep is very important for proper recovery and giving max effort. I'd definitely back off on the 3 x HIIT, maybe do 1 x HIIT and 2 x steady state a week. 

[ThunderSnail]

I've been there on the sleepless nights.  I'm a total zombie the next day and crummy willpower to boot.  Hang in there!

 

One tip if you're worried about overtraining: Check your resting heart rate on a day you should be fully rested, ideally the morning after a full rest day.That should be you're fully rested heart rate.  After a training day, if your resting heart rate is significantly more than the "full rested" heart rate, you're probably overtraining and haven't completely recovered.  I forget where I heard this, but it has worked for me.

[gomezkun]

Even when resting, without proper rest that will wear your body down because it's getting what it's not used to.

Keep up the good work! You are doing awesome ^^

[orcwarrior]

Wow!  Congratulations on your consistency!  You seem to have chosen some excellent (and achievable) goals!  I think I might copy your food journal one for my next challenge, if you don't mind.  I've been thinking about shifting my diet to be a bit more paleo (not 100%, since I love beer and cheese way too much) as well.  How difficult has it been to make that shift?

 

 

Thanks!  Focusing on goals I can directly control has been very helpful - I've learned that for me this is crucial.  I'd be happy for you to use the food journal goal - it's definitely not original to me, either.    But it's been core for me - it makes me much more aware of what I've eaten and is helping me make better decisions.  Shifting to (mostly) paleo has been easier than I expected.  The key for me has been making it doable - I eat the same thing for breakfast every day - 3 scrambled eggs with a little mozzarella cheese mixed in - 300 calories, good protein - and keeping healthy food on hand.  I eat some things which are not paleo by purists definitions but are healthy.  I buy a large container of peanuts and measure a quarter-cup each into a bunch of sandwich bags - 200 calores, low GCI, keeps you from getting hungry.  I often grab one in mid-morning to keep my blood sugar up so I'm not starving by lunchtime.  I also grab one if I'm going out and know I might not be able to catch my next meal in good time, eat it so I don't get too hungry and be tempted to hit a drive-through.  I also grab a sandwich several times a week when I'm in a hurry, usually turkey or chicken on wheat (Nickles Light, two slices 70 calories and 4 grams fiber) with lots of lettuce, pickles, and hot mustard (I know it sounds weird, but I like stronger tastes and it's healthy - comes to about 200 calories with good protein and fiber.  Overall, I've done 80-90% paleo and kept it doable for me by having go-to foods - that feels maintainable and healthy for me.  So make small changes and keep it doable.  You can do it!

 

 

Left Right Left. We all fall down.

Then we get back into the game!

 

Keep at it. Learn from mistakes and move on right?!

 

Absolutely - I've recently skimmed back over John Maxwell's "Failing Forward," which is about handling and learning from failures.  Full of awesome stories from high achievers.  It's helping me to be much more problem-solving-focused when I do less than perfectly.  Thanks for the encouragement!

 

 

Sleep is very important for proper recovery and giving max effort. I'd definitely back off on the 3 x HIIT, maybe do 1 x HIIT and 2 x steady state a week. 

 

I think you're very right - I sometimes find my self falling into the macho "I can handle short nights and just keep going because I'm so tough" mindset.  Unfortunately my body often disagrees with me. 

 

I did the first HIIT workout this week, then cut back to the three bodyweight workouts.  I noticed by this morning (3rd one) it was coming much easier again.  So I think I'll follow your advice and slowly work HIIT and cardio back in as my body tolerates it - more quickly if I can work a few longer nights in!  Newbie question - by "steady state," you mean just a lower-intensity cardio workout, right?  Thanks!

 

 

I've been there on the sleepless nights.  I'm a total zombie the next day and crummy willpower to boot.  Hang in there!

 

One tip if you're worried about overtraining: Check your resting heart rate on a day you should be fully rested, ideally the morning after a full rest day.That should be you're fully rested heart rate.  After a training day, if your resting heart rate is significantly more than the "full rested" heart rate, you're probably overtraining and haven't completely recovered.  I forget where I heard this, but it has worked for me.

 

Thanks for the tip!  I'm definitely going to try this and see whether my body gives me good feedback with this.  Should be interesting.

[orcwarrior]

Even when resting, without proper rest that will wear your body down because it's getting what it's not used to.

Keep up the good work! You are doing awesome ^^

 

Thanks for the support!  I've been off the boards for several days due to demands of RL - it was humbling to come back and find all the encouragement and support.  It really makes a difference for me!

 

Only one more week for the challenge.  Heads up to finish strong!

[Caution]

by "steady state," you mean just a lower-intensity cardio workout, right?  Thanks!

 

More or less. It is a cardio workout that is a continuous, steady effort. For example a 15-20 minute treadmill run or biking would be steady state instead of interval based cardio, as long as you don't vary the speed/intensity. 

[orcwarrior]

Thanks for the info.  I tried that yesterday and did notice more energy for my bodyweight workout this morning.  Weight loss has slowed in last ten days since reduced non-bodyweight workouts but energy up. Feeling good cruising to the finish line of this challenge.  Just have to stay steady and consistent on the gun lap here and this one goes in the win column, baby!

[orcwarrior]

Closing on the finish.  Doing well in goals, feeling good.  Got up this am and did 25-min steady cardio just because I felt like it, on what was scheduled to be a rest day.  Realizing exercise is becoming my "caffeine," i.e., wakes me up and makes me feel good going into the day - and I've gradually been cutting back on the caffeine, now down to 1-2 cups/day in the am (for someone who used to drink 10-12/day).  Ate light and healthy despite it being a busy travel day.  Took my jr. high son to state track meet where he pole vaulted, came in 6th overall and 2nd compared to other 7th graders.  Got some awesome pics. 

 

Feeling good.  Will post closing summary tomorrow.

[gomezkun]

Looking forward to seeing the closeout report =D

[orcwarrior]

The end of my first challenge! Overall I'm fairly pleased (and pleasantly surprised!) at how I did.  I think being acccountable here, getting support, and having made goals that I could directly control were key factors.  Learned something important there - feels good.

 

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time and effort to post here.  It was EXTREMELY helpful and encouraging.  Gomezkun, Caution, Aerandir9, MostlyHarmless, and a couple others - THANKS MUCH!  I appreciate the answered questions and the continuing encouragement.

 

Final goal report:

 

(1) Keep a food-eaten and calorie log - I did this every day without fail.  Score an "A".  Became increasingly motivated as I could feel how much it was helping me.  Daily calories usually fluctuated between 1700 and 2200, probably averaged around 2000.  Made me very aware of my eating, and helped me to make better eating decisions in the evening (historically my worst time for poor eating) because I knew where I was for that day, calorie-wise.

 

(2) Incorporate Beginner's Bodyweight Workout into my workouts 3x/week, increase from initial partial to doing full workout by end of challenge.  Score an "A".  At first I was gasping my way through most of the first cycle (couldn't do 10 full pushups) and about 1/3-1/2 of the 2nd before having to transition back to cardio to finish out workout time.  I was able to do three full cycles by the end of the 3rd week, and have continued to do it completely since with increasing speed.  The hardest part is the pushups, and I think my form could still be better there - maybe incorporate that into my second challenge.  I also experimented with doing cardio or HIIT workouts on 3 of my off days, doing this more initially, tailing off on it during weeks 4 & 5 when I was struggling with fatigue, and then back again on this past week.

 

(3) No late-night eating binges - historically another weakeness, I did well on this one.  A small binge in week 2, a bigger one in week four, but processed and reacted well to both.  This gave me a weekly average of 6.67 binge-free days, so scores an "A".

 

(4)  Life goal of staying caught up on my reports at work, ending each week with two or less left undone each Friday.  I do 7-10 reports weekly at work, and if I get behind it's easy to feel overwhelmed and depressed and then self-medicate with food.  Key day was end of week 1, when I had 10 reports on my desk that Friday.  I stayed late, and worked hours after everyone else was gone to get 8 of them done so I could reach my goal - I was VERY proud of me.  So reports undone on those six Fridays was 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 - and score an "A". 

 

I did not set a weight-loss goal as I wanted to focus on what I could directly control, which I think was wise.  But working on the above, I lost 24 (308 to 284) pounds and gained strength - two very good results!

 

I guess the thing I feel the best about is not only the above goals, but that I could see myself thinking differently as I practiced the above habits - more positive, less helpless (false thinking), more problem-solving-focused.  I think that's probably the most important piece of growth, as that will help me keep making progress. But as for today..... somewhere in an alternate dimension a flabby, weak orc warrior feels that indescribable something as he suddenly becomes stronger, more enduring, wiser, and more experienced - advance to level 2! 

 

Thanks for everything, Steve and fellow NFer's - you've all given me a hand up this challenge, and I DEEPLY appreciate it. You're the best!          

[Caution]

Great job and great challenge man! Keep doing what you are doing and we'll see around for challenge 2.

[MostlyHarmless]

Excellent job!  I'll be looking forward to your challenge 2 goals!