Seabright's 6-Week Challenge of Uber-Awesomeness

[Seabright]

Very excited to be taking on another 6-week challenge!

Fitness:

Am training for a 10K on July 25. My goal for the 10K is just to finish, uninjured, with a smile on my face, arms held high for the camera. I don't care how long it takes me.

- Walk or Walk/Run 3 x per week, gradually increasing distance. And I mean gradually.

- Body Weight Brigade Workouts (RSG) 2 x per week. Will be easing off of the squats/lunges in response to increased walking/running.

- Build up to 4 sets of 10 25 lb one-arm rows by end of challenge.

- Build up to 4 sets of 15 regular push-ups by end of challenge.

- Build up to 4 sets of 10 close-hand push-ups by end of challenge.

Specific way of eating:

- Paleo here to hell and gone, including gig days.

- Exception: planned easing-off-on-strict-paleo from June 16-20 (I'll be at a big music festival, camping in the dirt, and food will be hard to come by. Will have to eat whatever comes my way.)

Life Goals:

- Select 30 songs to work on for eventual 2-set duet show with husband. (Long-term related goal: CD and gigs.)

- Practice either bass (slaps and scales) or guitar (flat-picking) 15 minutes, 3 times per week. Gig day does NOT count as practice day.

- Do my freakin' vocal exercises 5 times per week (week days). This will be a challenge as I start working from home starting on Tuesday. Usually I do these in the car, to-and-from work. Will have to overcome self-consciousness on this one. (Oh no! The neighbors can hear!)

- Be able to do 180 degree turn-backs against the fence up to speed, fearlessly. No holding on to the horn!

Other useful info:

- I am learning to ride western, with the goal of doing cattle events (penning/sorting), which hopefully will explain that last life goal up there.

- I am fairly new to strength training, but am love love loving it.

- I own neither weights nor a gym membership, and am going for it on the body weight workouts.

[Seabright]

Okay! Getting started!

Day 1 (Tues, 5/31)

Fitness:

Took my little miniature 2.6 mile walk before breakfast. So far so good.

Diet:

Pre-breakfast - Apple before walk

Breakfast - scrambled eggs w/spinach, bell peppers and onions

Mid-morning snack - banana

Lunch - chicken salad in new building cafeteria. No dairy, not bad.

Afternoon snack - two tangelos.

Dinner will probably be scrambled eggs or some such.

Life:

Did vocal exercises in the car, one last time.

Listened to play list of possible songs. Didn't really like any of them. Keep looking.

Bass for 15 mins after work.

On track!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

What type of songs are you looking into? Are they originals or covers? I would love to hear something if you have anything recorded.

[Seabright]

My husband has a few originals we'll be doing, but we'll need to flesh our little project out with others. We are currently, you know, um, discussing what the vibe/genre is going to be. We mostly do bluegrass or country-ish stuff, and, well, one of us would like to mix it up a tad.

For this first pass, we decided that we would each write down 20 songs that we just would love to do, and then compare notes. Baby steps. We have a marriage to keep together at the same time. Ha ha.

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

A couple of good Irish folk tunes would probably go great in a bluegrass/country type set list. They both have Irish/British Isles roots, and use the same three chords and the truth type of song structure. I am partial to good songs that tell a story that everyone can sign along to.

[LynnyLee]

Looks like you're starting out strong.

I'm with CapN, if you have any recordings, I'd be jazzed to hear them.

[Seabright]

A couple of good Irish folk tunes would probably go great in a bluegrass/country type set list. They both have Irish/British Isles roots, and use the same three chords and the truth type of song structure. I am partial to good songs that tell a story that everyone can sign along to.

Ooh, good idea! 'On Raglan Road' just went on my list (um, not the Van Morrison version). This must be why you sit in the big chair, O CapN, my CapN.

No recordings of the two of us at this point, other than the one we made in the living room for my mom's birthday. Awesomeness awaits, though, if we can get our act together and stay on track. :-)

Okay! Now on to the report for...

Day 2 (Wed June 1)

Diet:

Yikes! Had to drive over the hill to the new office in Cupertino at 6:30 am, then had an appt in SF, then back to Cup. Food a challenge, but did pretty well, with the help of the new building's AWESOME cafeteria! Raw almonds! Salad bar with fresh grilled chicken chunks! Bacon and eggs and turkey sausage! Fresh fruit! Black coffee!

Am home now and just polished off a dinner of scrambled eggs with veges, my go-to dish when I'm on-my-owning it.

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade Workout B. Upped the ante to overhead squats.

Life:

Practiced bass for 1/2 hour.

Put 'On Raglan Road' on song list. Found several others from our distant past that I had forgotten about, too.

Have to jet and watch 'The X-Men' on TV. Will check in with y'all in a bit!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Luke Kelly (from the Dubliners) did the most incredible version of "On Raglan Road" ever, in my opinion. It is a song that I want to record soon, but I cannot compare to his greatness. I had to find it on Youtube and listen to it immediately.

Here is the link:

[LynnyLee]

Have to jet and watch 'The X-Men' on TV. Will check in with y'all in a bit!

Caught the end of it last night. It's good to remember how much I love Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

[Seabright]

Caught the end of it last night. It's good to remember how much I love Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

I love Hugh Jackman as anything, truth be told. :-)

Day 3 (Thur, June 2)

Fitness:

Did my little walklet - 2.6 miles. Will edge things up on Saturday.

Diet:

Breakfast - scrambled eggs, spinach, onions and red bells

Lunch - salad with chopped turkey, scallions, cherry tomatoes and cucumber

Snacks - banana and two tangelos

Dinner - chicken fajita stuff (seasoned chicken with red and yellow bells) with tons o' extree broccoli. Eaten out of a bowl - nor tortilla, because grains are for sissies.

Life:

- Up to 14 songs on my list. 6 to go. Wait! I just thought of another one! 5 to go.

- Practiced bass for 20 minutes.

- My first day at home and I really clutched on the vocal exercises. Maybe take a really long shower tomorrow? I dunno. I have to get over this one. I just have plain never done these in front of another person. Tomorrow I have a big ol' drive up to Oakland, so I'll be doing them on the road, and also on Sat, when I have a gig up thataway, so I'll stay on track with the number of days per week, but, well...argh. Mental barriers suck!

Stay tuned for more action on this one! It should be hilarious!

[Seabright]

Day 4 (Fri, June 3)

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade - did four more one-armed rows @ 17.5 pounds than last time. Backed way off on the number of lunges and found that I really loved doing them! I think I must have been overdoing it last time.

Diet:

Breakfast - same, except w/3 chicken apple sausage links.

Lunch / Dinner - okay, here is the reason I am reporting in early. I have a band practice with a pick-up group in Oakland (an hour and a half away from me) at 1pm, followed by a gig up there at 8pm, with a 6pm load-in time. I'm just sorta scared about the food thing. I plan on having a HUGE lunch before leaving here at 11:30 am, toting tons of paleo-friendly snacks, and then trying to find a place where I can get some sort of a salad-y thing. Food is part of the pay tonight, but this is a new venue for me, and I don't know what to expect. I'm always ravenously hungry post-gig, so I'll need snacks for the ride home, as well.

That's a lot of food schlepping.

Anyway, I won't hit ground again until about 1 a.m. I'll check back in with the diet report madness for this day. If this is to be our end, then let us make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance.

In the meantime I will say over and over again:

For the Rebellion! For the Rebellion! For the Rebellion!

[LynnyLee]

Good job planning ahead. Hope the gig is fun & the bar has paleo friendly food.

[Seabright]

Thanks, LynnyLee! Here's the report for the rest of Day 4:

Diet:

Lunch - giant chopped turkey salad.

Snacks - bananas and tangelos all over the joint.

Dinner - very strange bar, with a grill thingy. I had a turkey burger without the bun and a side salad. They thought I was nuts, and the waitress laughed when she put it down in front of me. Good times.

Drive home - more almond and fruit snackage on the drive home.

Safe!

Life:

Vocal exercised in car on the way up.

Day 5 (Sat, June 4);

Fitness:

Got to bed at 2am the night before and was raining this morning. Saving the walk/run for Sunday.

Diet:

Breakfast - same scramble with bacon.

Lunch - well, another gig up in Oakland this time. Had to be there by 2pm. Banana on the way up, craft table had fruit salad and black coffee.

Post-gig snack - 2 squares of dark chocolate (75%). Could have been worse. You should have seen the cookies and brownies and candy bars and croissants and sodas they had!

Dinner - husband is making chicken and veges. Give that man a Klondike Bar!

Life:

Vocal exercises on the drive up to Oakland.

Gig was FABULOUS! I looooooove playing with these people! Bummer that I was just filling in for their absent bass player, but really a thrill and am going to savor it.

Am now toast. Completely fried. In jammies, watching 'What Not to Wear' reruns.

I can't believe I just got through the last two days and stayed paleo-riffic. Whew!

[LynnyLee]

I didn't think a burger with no bun was that uncommon. Maybe I'm just losing touch with society at large though.

[citabean]

I didn't think a burger with no bun was that uncommon. Maybe I'm just losing touch with society at large though.

I wouldn't think so either. When I ask for mine without buns I don't get funny looks. Yesterday after the bike ride they were serving hot dogs and hamburgers. I saw more than one rider eating without buns.

[Seabright]

Well, it could have been the nature of this particular 'establishment'. When I walked in with my bass, 8 grungy drunk guys in a line at the bar turned toward me to stare. There were no other patrons. :-)

Day 6 (Sunday, June 5)

Fitness:

Nice walk in the redwoods. Right around 3 miles.

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/bacon

Lunch - breakfast was eaten very late, so had banana, tangelo and handful of nuts

Dinner - just came home with my first little bag of coconut flour ever. Am going to make citabean's yummy chicken dish she described on her thread.

Life:

Am up to my 20 songs. I think I'll go up to 25, and then prune the list a bit before getting together with the other half of this venture. (He says he's at 14.)

Staying on track! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

[Seabright]

Day 7 (Mon, June 6)

Fitness:

Rest Day.

So, I'm thinking of bailing on the training for the 10K in July and returning to a strength-training focus. I really enjoy the strength training and I really enjoy hiking, and really really do NOT enjoy running. The 10K training is going to suck away all of my hiking time. along with my horseback riding time, and has impacted my body weight brigade work. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I'm starting to think that if I just plain don't enjoy it that much, and am longing to be free, it might be best to focus on what I really DO enjoy, which is the BWB stuff from RSG. I think I might have a little bit of, you know, pride messing with my head right now ("Ooooh, I'm quitting! What a loser!" You know the drill...). I'd welcome the thoughts of others who have walked this road...

Diet:

Breakfast - same with sausage

Lunch - roast chicken salad with loads of veges

Snacks - almonds, apple, orange

Dinner - turkey burgers on the menu (no bun), along with tons of broc.

Life:

Vocally exercised on drive over-the-hill.

Sent my list of 21 songs to partner-in-crime, and he sent his to me. Next up: comparison study after dinner tonight, followed by creation of quickie play lists of the survivors for us to ponder.

Moving on!

[citabean]

Dinner - just came home with my first little bag of coconut flour ever. Am going to make citabean's yummy chicken dish she described on her thread.

So glad you enjoyed them!! I actually never found coconut flour. I got some unsweetened coconut and just stuck it in the food processor until it was flour-like. Hee.

So, I'm thinking of bailing on the training for the 10K in July and returning to a strength-training focus. I really enjoy the strength training and I really enjoy hiking, and really really do NOT enjoy running. The 10K training is going to suck away all of my hiking time. along with my horseback riding time, and has impacted my body weight brigade work. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I'm starting to think that if I just plain don't enjoy it that much, and am longing to be free, it might be best to focus on what I really DO enjoy, which is the BWB stuff from RSG. I think I might have a little bit of, you know, pride messing with my head right now ("Ooooh, I'm quitting! What a loser!" You know the drill...). I'd welcome the thoughts of others who have walked this road...

I did a 10k this spring... I ended up having to give up my 10k training due to an issue with my knee... but I didn't give up the 10k. I just walked it. I really do enjoy walking... I really do NOT enjoy running. I, however, love strength training.

Is it possible to do a walking 10k instead of a running one? That way you still do the distance, you just change HOW you're doing the distance.

[Seabright]

Is it possible to do a walking 10k instead of a running one? That way you still do the distance, you just change HOW you're doing the distance.

Thanks for the comment, citabean. Changing the focus to a strictly walking 10K is a good idea. That way, I can do my regular weekend hiking and mid-week strolling, and just incorporate the distance into that. That allows me to refocus on the strength training, and spend my weekend hiking and riding, instead of slogging along, mile after boring mile, longing for the whole thing to be over. Stick with what you love!

Day 8 (Tues, June 7)

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade A. I did 39 real push-ups!

Diet:

Breakfast - scram with bells and onions, 'cause we ran out of spinach

Lunch - grilled chicken breast seasoned with basil, steamed broc

Snack - 1/2 banana

Dinner - at fish market gig - blackened salmon topped with crab and served with a mountain of broc and cauliflower. Yum.

Post-gig carb binge - banana-strawberry-blueberry bowl I am about to eat in front of taped Law and Order: LA.

Life:

- Combined the two song lists and came up with 37 possibles. Tomorrow - create playlist of the ones we've got and plan to do quickie recordings of the ones we don't.

- Gig tonight. Practiced jaw exercises in the car on the way there, instead of vocals, but they actually have the same effect on your voice.

- I now have a vocal-exercises-at-home plan: wear my head phones, lock myself in the bedroom with doors and windows shut, and just freakin' do it.

- I will make it so.

Am now toast. Will check in with all my homies in the a.m.

Stay rebellious, all!

[Seabright]

Yikes! No. Time. At. All.

Time to catch up with all my homies!

Day 9 (Wed, June 8)

All day meeting from hell. Followed by one-on-one meeting with my manager at her car wash (yes, really), followed by a gig at the BBQ place.

Fitness:

Walked quite a bit, but it was just sort of around a bunch of buildings looking for the right meeting room. I'm going to have to say nothing, but I did sweat up a storm at the gig in the evening. Big tippers that night woo hoo!

Diet:

Breakfast - same.

Lunch - turkey burger, no bun, salad on the side, with a dollop of pesto on top.

Snack - pathetic, but did track down some almonds at a liquor store on the drive over.

Dinner - chicken breast and salad at the BBQ joint.

Life:

Did vocal exercises on drive to gig.

Day 10 (Thur, June 9)

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade B! Close-hand push-ups are gonna kill me one day.

Diet:

Breakfast - eggs n' bacon.

Lunch - I don't think I had any. Nope. Yah, didn't have any.

Snacks - almonds here and there. A banana I think. God I'm tired.

Dinner - well, it was a huge, big fat disgusting fail. McDonald's. With a Diet Coke. The horror.

Still at work. Not feeling particularly awesome at the moment. A bit sick, very tired, hungry, and, you know, a bit sorry for myself. I'm a trained professional, though, and I will not cry. (sniff.)

Life:

Took new headshots.

Did voice exercises on drive up to Oakland.

Asked the other half of the partnership to make sketch recordings of his originals, so we can start honing down our lists.

Hope everyone is doing great!

[Seabright]

Day 11 (Fri, June 10)

Fitness:

Non-workout day. Babysitting our very sick kitty. No walkies until the other half comes home...which will be about 1am.

Diet:

Breakfast - scrambles w/spinach, onion & red bells.

Lunch - a bunch of almonds

Dinner - chicken fajita mix w/bells and tons o' broc, eaten outta bowl, no tortilla

Life:

Vocal exercises to-and-fro SF.

Will be playing guitar when I am done with my Nerd Fitness update. Trying out a couple of the songs from our list. Still feeling sickish w/sore throat, but decided that it is all in my head from stress and I'm just going to ignore it. Will be going to bed early tonight, and am planning on a day-at-home tomorrow taking care of kitty.

Hanging in there and feeling better!

[Seabright]

Day 12 (Sat, June 11)

Fitness:

Non-workout day, although I really feel like I should have gone for a walk. Wait a minute...it isn't even 6pm yet. Okay, going for a walk as soon as done with my update.

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/bacon.

Lunch - bowl o' fruit - bananas, strawberries, blueberries and some almonds (breakfast was pretty late)

Dinner - giant salad with gargantuan amounts of roast turkey, avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and green onions.

Still early. If I have a snack later, I'll probably scramble an egg or two.

Life:

Made the playlist. The only things missing are a few of the originals. The other-half-of-the-partnership is stressing about the paperwork for his band's trip to Canada, so have backed off of the could-you-please-do-some-scratch-recordings-of-these-things nudging. Have already swapped out a couple of my song suggestions, so still moving in a forwardly manner.

On track. Next time: fewer hyphens!

[Knightwatch]

Sounds like you're still on an ass-kicking roll. Keep it up!

[Seabright]

Sounds like you're still on an ass-kicking roll. Keep it up!

Thanks, Knightwatch! You know you are my hero, right?

Day 13 (Sun, June 12)

Fitness:

Supposed to be a rest day, but ended up doing copious weeding...and scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. I feel so...clean and refreshed.

Diet:

Breakfast - scram w/broc, bells & onions, and 3 chicken apple sausages. Man, I love those things.

Lunch - banana, tangelos and a bunch of almonds. Lots and lots, basically snacked on 'em all afternoon.

Dinner - gigantic turkey salad w/cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and scallions. I grilled the turkey for a few minutes in bacon fat. Oooh.

Life:

Interesting. Sort of a rough day, and found myself nearing melt-down status. Grabbed the whiskey bottle, but then decided to be awesome instead. Decided to sing the saddest song I know at the top of my voice. This led to other songs, and then to me focusing on the actual singing and I ended up getting a pretty good vocal workout. So, yeah. It pays to be awesome instead.

Tomorrow is another day to keep it all going! Can't wait!

[citabean]

Supposed to be a rest day, but ended up doing copious weeding...and scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. I feel so...clean and refreshed.

I love the feeling of getting down and scrubbing the floor every once and a while too!

Great job on pressing through the stressful day and getting a good vocal workout in.