Seabright's 6-Week Challenge of Uber-Awesomeness

[LynnyLee]

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!

Hooray for awesome!

[Seabright]

Day 14 (Mon, June 13)

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade workout A.

Push-ups: 4 x 10

One-armed rows: 4 x 15 @ 17.5 lbs

Overhead squats: 4 x 15

Side planks: R-L-R-L 52 seconds each side

Hey! I just did 40 push-ups! Coo-well. Think I will level-up in the squats and add more weight to my one-arm rows. I'll need a bigger suitcase.

Diet:

Breakfast - Fail. Didn't have any. No bueno.

Lunch - crispy chicken with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. No lettuce because it was disgusting.

Snack - fruit bowl with bananas, strawberries and blueberries

Late afternoon snack - banana, tangelo

Dinner - grilled apple-gouda sausage with broccoli, onions and red bells, currently being prepared by my sainted husband

Have noticed that I have been feeling a tad down at the end of the day lately, and I think it is because I have missed a meal here and there over the last few days. Well, that don't do nobody no good, and it is just plain not awesome. No matter what, I will chow down big time at the right times, and get back on track with eating enough food.

Life:

- Vocal exercises on the drive to my riding lesson.

- Riding lesson! Galloped here to hell and gone on big 16 1/2 hand Mouse like it was nothing! Having a nice solid core and feeling like I am strong and in control of my body is a huge help. Worked on the turn-backs and am getting the hang of them. Found out my little pony pal will be out for the rest of the year. Very sad about that, as he is my one true love. Am playing the lottery regularly so that I can buy him one day and call him my own.

All in all, a pretty good day. Staying awesome and on track.

[citabean]

Hey! I just did 40 push-ups!

GREAT Job!!

- Riding lesson! Galloped here to hell and gone on big 16 1/2 hand Mouse like it was nothing! Having a nice solid core and feeling like I am strong and in control of my body is a huge help. Worked on the turn-backs and am getting the hang of them. Found out my little pony pal will be out for the rest of the year. Very sad about that, as he is my one true love. Am playing the lottery regularly so that I can buy him one day and call him my own..

I've always admired those who ride. I've done it in the past, it just wasn't my thing. Good luck on the lottery!

[Seabright]

Thanks, 'bean! I just realized that I may already have won millions of dollars - need to check.

Day 15 (Tues, June 14):

Tried to work and get packed and prepped for music fest at the same time. Crazy melt-down at around midnight, but otherwise not too bad.

Fitness:

Non-workout day. Ran around like a chicken sans head here-and-there.

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/bacon.

Snack - tangelo

Lunch - salad w/roast turkey, cukes, maters and onions

Snack - almonds and fruit salad

Dinner - turkey burgers seasoned w/chili powder and cumin, topped with avocado, served with sauteed spinach and onions

Life:

Other-half-of-the-partnership made scratch recordings of missing songs for playlist.

Day 16 (Wed, June 15)

Fitness:

Workout B from BWB - stayed pretty much status quo on everything. I think this is the result of 4 hours of sleep.

Diet:

Breakfast - same

O-tay! Leaving now for camping-in-the-dirt music fest. Will be incommunicado for a while. This was originally the Wed-Mon mini-vaca w/husband, as both of our bands are playing at different times at this one. However, kitty kat now kritical, and needs constant attending (two different kinds of topical meds 3 x day, plus painkillers 2 x day, plus the dreaded CONE).

So. Here's the plan:

I drive up today and set up camp. My gig is tomorrow afternoon, and then I pick all night long, leaving Fri a.m. (4 hour drive each way). Then, husband takes car, drives BACK up there, plays his gig on Sat, picks all night, then breaks camp and returns Sun afternoon. This way we both get to our shows, and we both get some jamming time in. But --- oy! The good news is, I got my upright bass, guitar, mic bag, plus ALL camping gear in a Prius, including tent, roll-up table, four chairs, ice chest, blow-up mattress, double sleeping bag, extra blankets and pillows, and a pile o' snacks on the front seat. Room to spare so added my bass cart, a modified golf cart for rolling the bass around the campground. Unbelievable.

Will check back in when I hit the ground! Stay awesome, everyone!

[LynnyLee]

The good news is, I got my upright bass, guitar, mic bag, plus ALL camping gear in a Prius, including tent, roll-up table, four chairs, ice chest, blow-up mattress, double sleeping bag, extra blankets and pillows, and a pile o' snacks on the front seat. Room to spare so added my bass cart, a modified golf cart for rolling the bass around the campground. Unbelievable.

Will check back in when I hit the ground! Stay awesome, everyone!

You must have the world's only clown car Prius.

[JohnnyConfidence]

Have a great weekend! And hope your kitty cat is getting better.

[Seabright]

Aaaaaaand...we're back!

@LynnyLee - we put the bass in the front seat, if you can believe that! Don't worry, it had the seat belt on for safety.

@JohnnyConfidence - thanks for the well wishes. Kitty is much better, and while still requiring constant care, it looks like he is out of the woods. (Out of the woods, but still in that cone.)

The Report: Days 16-19 (Wed - Sat)

My half of the festival was GREAT - heard some terrific music, my band's show went well, and managed to get in some fun jamming. Coo-well.

Diet Round-Up:

Didn't do as badly as I thought I might.

Wednesday

Snacks - tangelos & almonds; had a beer after I got the tent set up.

Dinner - big salad with roasted turkey, cukes, maters and scallions.

Thursday

Breakfast - tagged along with a friend in to town to the iHop and had bacon and eggs and really terrible coffee.

Snacks - apple, banana and almonds

Lunch - ate late, after show. Forced into the festival vendor row. Had some extremely bizarre chicken-on-a-stick thing with rice and some sort of odd orange-colored noodles. Yick.

Snack - had a beer while jamming with friends.

Snack - found some coffee in vendor row. It, too, was horrible. Sipped while packing up the car.

Dinner - drive-thru on the way out of town. 9:30 p.m. and everything was closed, but Carl's Jr. was there for me. Chicken strips, fries and a diet coke. Disgusting, but did last me throughout the four-hour drive home.

The gross dinner on top of the gross lunch precipitated a wide variety of, um, intestinal...issues. Luckily, the worst of which held off their onslaught until I got home.

Friday

Breakfast - coffee and a bear claw. Because I really wanted it.

Lunch - turkey salad

Dinner - eggs scrambled with broc, bells and onions and bacon.

Saturday

Breakfast - same as dinner above

Snack - handful of walnuts

Lunch - turkey sal

Snack - tangelo

Dinner - turkey burger w/mountain of broc

Okay! I feel like I am back on track! (I also feel much less intestinally tortured and digestively angst-ridden.)

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade Workout A this morning. Upped the weight in the one-armed rows to 20 lbs and upped the squats to pistol squats. Which, it turns out, are pretty hard. :-)

Life:

- Listened to the playlist of potential songs to-and-fro the fest. I really like all the songs on there, but now am thinking of more. The other-half-of-the-partnership is doing the same on his to-and-fro drive. We'll get together on Monday and see what we see.

- Vocal exercises up-and-back, too.

- Made a point of playing my guitar instead of my bass in jams. I even picked a couple of fiddle tunes in front of people.

Side note: I unpacked the car and set up the tent and the camp all by myself. This is a first-ever moment. I felt strong and confident the entire time. I am crediting the workouts and my brand-new tiny muscles for my growing confidence.

It was fun, but so glad to be back! I hope you were all rebellious while I was gone!

[Crooked]

Side note: I unpacked the car and set up the tent and the camp all by myself. This is a first-ever moment. I felt strong and confident the entire time. I am crediting the workouts and my brand-new tiny muscles for my growing confidence.

This made me so happy to read! Sounds like a truly successful couple of days for you.

Okay! I feel like I am back on track! (I also feel much less intestinally tortured and digestively angst-ridden.)

Isn't it amazing what a difference a few dietary tweaks can make? Especially since I've been eating better, I'm so much more attuned to variations in what I put in my body.

[citabean]

Body Weight Brigade Workout A this morning. Upped the weight in the one-armed rows to 20 lbs and upped the squats to pistol squats. Which, it turns out, are pretty hard. :-)

Yes, yes they are! I did, or tried to do them, last challenge. I always felt I was using my arms too much to help pull me up. I ended up doing them the last workout with one leg on the couch behind me instead. Yeah, that hurt

Side note: I unpacked the car and set up the tent and the camp all by myself. This is a first-ever moment. I felt strong and confident the entire time. I am crediting the workouts and my brand-new tiny muscles for my growing confidence.

Awesome job! You are strong and confident. Way to go!

[Seabright]

Thanks, you guys! Someone told me they took pics of our band on-stage, and I'm really curious to see if my mini-muscles show up or not. :-)

Day 20 (Sun, June 19 - yesterday)

Fitness:

Rest day. Up and down the stairs 8 zillion times doing laundrey.

Diet:

Breakfast - same.

Lunch - berry bowl (bananas, strawberries, blueberries)

Dinner - turkey burger w/a teeeeeny bit of bbq sauce, and mountain of broc, onions and red bells.

Snack - leftover berry bowl and a shot of whiskey.

Note: Shot of whiskey last night = coughing this morning.

Life:

Played my guitar a bunch.

Figured out the chords to the off-the-beaten-track songs on our list. Also, looked up songwriters for a few of the non-public domain songs and calculated potential royalty fees. Hmmmmm...we may want to keep these to a minimum.

Moving forward!

[Seabright]

Day 21 (Mon, June 20)

Took one more vacation day. I'm sure they will all be fine without me.

Fitness:

BWB Workout B - feelin' good.

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/bacon

Snack - banana and tangelo

Lunch - fail. argh. Prawns in a yummy fish sauce was okay, but ate two pieces of my husband's quesadilla and downed a beer and a half. Feeling pretty yukky right now, I don't mind telling you.

Dinner - will probably skip or scramble an egg. argh.

Life:

- Went riding. Since our vaca was scrambled, I skipped the lesson and went for a ride on the beach with my man (the stables where I do cattle work also takes folks out for rides at a local beach). Freezing cold, lots of wind and fog...we had a blast! Galloped over the wet sand and splashed in the waves of Monterey Bay. Mighty fine!

- Discussed recording project and laid out a few basic practice-arrangement-harmony-work ground rules, i.e., we try ALL the songs; you get to say you think something sucks without having to fall all over yourself; if you think it will work with more practice, the other person has to sincerely try to get it. oh, and we try out ALL ideas to see if they work - no pre-attempt poo-pooh-age allowed. :-)

- Played guitar while the other-half-of-the-partnership had a post-festival power-nap.

On track! Well, except for the awful lunch.

[Seabright]

Day 22 (Tues, June 21)

The longest day of the year and half-way through this challenge! Three more weeks seems like a looooong time. :-)

Fitness:

Off day. Still recovering from yesterday's mega beach ride.

Diet:

Breakfast - same

Lunch - out to lunch with the boss at an Italian place, as she tried to soften the blow of all the extra work I am about to inherit. While everyone else was groaning and bloated by the end of their huge pasta-oriented meals, I felt GREAT after grilled salmon with a garlic-white wine sauce on a bed of spinach (hold the potatoes, extra spinach, please). For dessert, I ate the fresh strawberry off of the plate of tiramisu. A first for me - normally I would do a face plant in a plate of tiramisu.

Snack - a couple of handfuls of walnuts

Dinner - turkey burger w/mountain o' broc, onions and red bells

Life:

- Flat-picked the guitar and sang for and hour and a half or so, all on my lonesome. Fingers starting to limber up again after all this time.

Keep on keepin' on!

[citabean]

Lunch - out to lunch with the boss at an Italian place, as she tried to soften the blow of all the extra work I am about to inherit. While everyone else was groaning and bloated by the end of their huge pasta-oriented meals, I felt GREAT after grilled salmon with a garlic-white wine sauce on a bed of spinach (hold the potatoes, extra spinach, please). For dessert, I ate the fresh strawberry off of the plate of tiramisu. A first for me - normally I would do a face plant in a plate of tiramisu.

Congrats on not face planting in the tiramisu. Your lunch sounds tasty! I may have to make this for myself.

[Crooked]

While everyone else was groaning and bloated by the end of their huge pasta-oriented meals, I felt GREAT after grilled salmon with a garlic-white wine sauce on a bed of spinach (hold the potatoes, extra spinach, please).

YES. I've found that to be so universally the case - food makes me feel great, rather than bloated, stuffed, tired, etc. Good for you for sticking to plan!

[Seabright]

Thanks for the kind words you all!

Day 23 (Wed, June 22):

Fitness:

Body Weight Brigade Workout B

Push-ups 4 x 12

Pistol squats 4 x 7

One-arm rows w/20 lbs 4 x 10

Side planks 55 / 55 / 55 / 55 (argh these are hard)

Diet:

Breakfast - same with chicken apple sausages

Lunch - salad with roast turkey, cukes, maters, scallions and a bit of avocado

Snack - banana

Dinner - turkey burger w/broc...again. Haven't felt very creative lately and this is an easy-peasy good-for-you meal.

Life:

Didn't do a ton of stuff, but sang songs from our list while making dinner.

Staying on track!

[Seabright]

Ack! Must. Get. Act. Together.

Day 24 (Thur, June 23):

Fitness:

Non-workout day.

Diet:

Breakfast - scramble with extrees - and coffee, coffee and more coffee

Lunch - same

Snack - almonds, very berry coffee cake from Starbuck (argh) - got too far away from home, too hungry, and caved. Note to self -- do NOT leave home without supplies!!! If I had had my bananas, apples, tangelos at my side this would not have happened. Lesson learned. (The hard way, too -- HUGE stomach ache about 20 minutes later.)

Dinner - chicken fajita mix w/bells and broc

Life:

Played guitar and sang songs from list while making dinner.

Felt a bit off today. Trying to find my feet with sudden additional workload (and associated conference calls with team mates in Asia at weird hours for a California dweller), part of my office at home, part of my office in Cupertino, trying to do this and that and hold it all together with grace and a smile. Too much coffee not helping! Tomorrow will buy a drawer organizer doohickey and this should help quite a bit, believe it or not. My emotions are influenced by new office supplies!

Forgot to check and see if I won millions and millions of dollars in the lottery. Will do tomorrow. Stay tuned.

[Seabright]

Okay! Definitely officially a killer-great day!

Day 25 (Fri, June 24):

Fitness:

Workout B from the Body Weight Brigade. Upped my one-arm rows to 22.5 lbs. Felt good! 3 X 65 second full planks, too!

Diet:

Breakfast - the usual scramble with chicken-apple sausages.

Lunch - same

Snacks - walnuts and tangelos all over the joint

Dinner - chicken breast grilled with basil accompanied by a mountain o' broccoli, onions and red bells. Can you tell I like broccoli?

Life:

Sang in the shower. No one can hear me when the water is running, right?

Knew where I was at all times.

Settling in to watch that 'Falling Skies' in a few minutes.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

[Seabright]

Such a lovely afternoon here in Santa Cruz. Feeling extremely mellow and content and thought I'd do a quick check-in.

Day 26 (Sat, June 25):

Diet:

Breakfast - finally made that apple-cinnamon cake-y thing of Crooked's - fantastic! Plus, I baked, which I haven't done in years. That coffee cake with black coffee (5 parts decaf to 3 parts regular) was just a mighty fine breakfast!

Snacks - snacked on aforementioned coffee cake most of the day.

Lunch - gigantic banana, strawberry, blueberry berry bowl. Yum.

Dinner - about to make scrambles with bacon. On-my-owning it tonight.

Fitness:

Non-workout day, but not really. Spent hours pruning, weeding, chopping and hacking. Up on ladder to whack back our boisterous California native grape Roger's Red. Roger is quite vigorous and put up a fight. Now drenched in sweat and heading for the shower before making the above scrambles.

Life:

Gosh, I feel so happy and mellow right now. After dinner, I'll sing and play the guitar for a while before settling in for TV and/or hitting the hay. Kitty cat almost all better (no cone and he is now outside lounging on the patio) and not a care in the world. :-)

Stay groovy, all!

[Seabright]

Day 27 (Sun, June 26):

Tuckered out. Quick check-in.

Fitness:

Non-weight day. Did a Tai Chi short form for the first time in many a moon. Done outside on the back patio at dawn. Felt good.

Diet:

Breakfast - scramble w/broc, onions and red bells, plus 2 pieces bacon.

Snack - almonds and banana

Lunch - fish tacos at the gig. I unrolled the tortilla and just ate the fish innards.

Snack - two tangelos

Dinner - grilled chicken

Life:

Gig day up in Stinson Beach - 2 1/2 hours away. Lots of vocal exercises and random singing there and back. Gorgeous day, too - another bonus!

It's 8:30 pm and am in my jammies, ready for bed!

[Seabright]

Yesterday - Day 28 (Mon, June 27)

Diet:

Breakfast - at work cafe. Scrambled eggs, bacon and turkey sausage.

Snack - apple

Lunch - at work cafe, eaten at desk in a hurry. HUGE salad with roast chicken, broccoli and grilled brussels sprouts. Hooray for the new work cafe!

Snack - banana, apples, almonds and a bit of dried fruit (cherries, I think)

Pre-dinner snack - red wine in the lazy warm evening on the patio

Dinner - chicken fajita with tons o' extree broc, no tortilla, eaten out of a bowl

Fitness/Life:

Both in same category today. Went to work at 6:30 am and ate lunch at desk so I could get in a cattle lesson in the afternoon. It was awesome! Another new pony pal named Cisco, who is a cow-chasing fool. Seriously, here is a real honest little cow horse, who obviously loves his job. Those cattle didn't stand a chance with Cisco around. First time EVER for me: chased a cow down the fence and turned it back 180 degrees. Did it fast, if not full-out. Ol' Cisco has an extra gear that I didn't know a horse could have, and it seriously took my breath away. Also, in the past I've always gotten really tired and had to call it quits. Yesterday, I just let the cows keep coming through the gate until they ran out of them to send to me. It sure pays to get in shape! True, my butt wasn't solid in the saddle consistently, but I did a lot better than last summer with keeping from flying ass-over-teakettle. I don't think I stopped grinning the whole time. Such a blast!

Exhausted when I got home and legs like jelly today. NICE.

Today, Day 29 (Tues, June 28)

Fitness:

BWB Workout A - Starting to really push the one-arm rows (22.5 pounds) and the push-ups (13/13/12/12). I still may be able to hit my goals by the end of the challenge. Really exhausted from yesterday's ride, so huge, ugly fail on the side planks (40/30 secs, instead of the 55 secs each set last time. Dang.

Diet (so far):

Breakfast - STARVING! Freakin' starving!! 3-egg scramble w/broc, bells and onions and 3 chicken-apple sausages.

Snack - 1/2 orange, handful of almonds

Planning on the usual turkey sal for lunch, copious fruit-oriented afternoon snacks, and turkey burgers for dinner.

Life:

Took off a couple of songs from the list last night, and added a couple more this morning. Plugging away at this.

[Seabright]

Day 30 (Wed, June 29)

Fitness:

Tai chi slow form in the a.m.

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/bacon

Lunch - shrimp with grill broc and cauliflower

Snack - orange, two apples

Dinner - grilled chicken breast with salsa, green salad, one beer

Life:

Vocal exercises on the way to work.

Will be chasing my blues away by playing the guitar and singing shortly.

Trying to be awesome instead!

[Crooked]

Sorry about your blues! I think it's really cool that you incorporate such disparate forms of exercise: body weight, weights training, that cattle business that sounds suuuper exhausting to me, tai chai, yard work - you have such a well-rounded approach to fitness.

[Seabright]

I think it's really cool that you incorporate such disparate forms of exercise: body weight, weights training, that cattle business that sounds suuuper exhausting to me, tai chai, yard work - you have such a well-rounded approach to fitness.

Well, I'm really just trying to eek out Fitness Credits by doing stuff that I would be doing anyway. :-)

[Seabright]

Day 31 (yesterday, Thurs, June 30)

Fitness:

BWB Workout B. Ack. Had no energy today. It seems like those planks are getting harder, not easier. I think my brain is getting in the way.

One-arm rows @ 22.5 lbs - 4 x 9. Working up to 25 lbs...maybe next week!

Close hand push-ups - 4 x 9. Geez. Pretty sure I'm doing these wrong, otherwise why would they be so tough?

Lunges, each leg - 8 / 8 / 7 / 7.

Planks - 65 / 65 / 65 secs.

Diet:

Breakfast - scrambles w/onions & bells, but we were out of spinach.

Lunch - massive turkey salad.

Snacks, snacks and more snacks - bananas, apples, almonds, and a snicker's bar. :-( I caved at the gas station on the way to my ride. I panicked about getting hungry and fell back into an old habit. I did NOT buy a diet coke, though, so half-of-a-win there.

Dinner - burger with bacon and grilled onions, no bun.

Late night - whiskey, but not as much as it could have been.

Life:

The very best and most satisfying of days.

Went to the big ranch sorting practice with the folks from the stables and had an end-to-end blast. I swung up not one but two heavy ranch saddles by myself, prepped three horses, and generally helped load the boys into the trailer. This would really have been simply not possible before my encounters with the Rebel Strength Guide. At the sorting I was excited and confident, instead of the usual filled-with-trepidation-and-insecurity. Rode little pony pal Cisco again and we did not suck. Or I should say, I stayed out of his way so he could do his job. :-) The last run, my team mate and I got all of the cattle out in under 90 seconds - another first for me. Ate bar-b-que'd burgers and bacon (no bun...yes, even in front of all the bad-asses) with the ranch folk and then drove back to the ranch in the big truck where I helped unload, unsaddle, brush down and put up all horses. Left Prunedale at 10pm thrilled and glowing and feeling, well, totally awesome.

[lapetitelionne]

That sounds like incredibly hard work...but super fun!!