Seabright's 6-Week Challenge of Uber-Awesomeness

[LynnyLee]

Sounds like such an awesome day. So glad the Rebel Strength Guide is helping you in so many ways.

[Seabright]

Busy busy busy!

Here is the quickie catch-up report:

Day 32 (Fri, July 1):

Diet:

Breakfast - same

Lunch - same

Snack - same

Dinner - turkey burgers w/veges. Split a torpedo on the back patio.

Fitness:

Can't remember, but it was a non-workout day, so prolly nada.

Life:

Went over a few of the new songs. Realized that we, um, don't know them.

Day 33 (Sat, July 2):

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/bacon

Lunch - grilled chicken salad

Snack - banana & walnuts

Dinner - chicken fajita stuff w/extree broc

Fitness:

Walked - probably about 3 miles

Life:

Bad movie watching. Will need an antidote.

Day 34 (Sun, July 3):

The movie antidote was to go see the matinee of Super 8.

Diet:

Breakfast - very late, but had same w/bacon

Lunch/snacks - banana and almonds and licked the cinnamon-apple cake batter off of the spoon

Dinner - had friends over and hit 'em between the eyes with a paleo dinner. Broiled salmon marinated with basil, oregano and garlic, mountain of sauteed broccoli, red bells and onions for dinner and then for dessert served Crooked's cinnamon-apple cake (no flour, made with almond butter and eggs and super-moist). Friends brought watermelon and wine. Fan-freakin'-tastic!

Fitness:

Not much, unless I get to count the mad scramble to clean the house before people got there so that they don't know how we really live.

Life:

Played music in the living room with friends after dinner. Took a couple of the new songs out for a spin.

Day 35 (Mon, July 4):

For those of us in the U.S., the holiday to celebrate the birth of our nation. And, to eat bbq and drink beer. Oh, and in our neighborhood, to blow stuff up.

Diet:

Eating-wise, fairly challenging with two different potlucks to go to. I stumbled, but it could have been worse.

Breakfast - very very late. Same w/bacon

Lunch - didn't really have any.

Dinner - a bunch of chicken taquitos, bbq chicken and three different kinds of green salad. A sip of marguarita, a sip of beer and a sip of whiskey. I'm going to give myself a gold star for skipping all of the creamy-cheesy salads and for smiling indulgently while those around me ate four different desserts all at once. It actually wasn't hard not to have the sweets, but the peer pressure from others was really incredible.

Fitness:

BWB Workout A. Felt like I was back on track and finally nailed those side-planks again after days of struggling.

Life:

Power-napped.

Okay! Back on track for awesome! This is the last week of the challenge and I feel like I just got my second wind! Woo hoo!

[Crooked]

Well done getting back on track fitness-wise AND avoiding all the desserts. At last night's cookout, I didn't have any peer pressure to eat bad things, but my host did insist that I explain my diet to the rest of the guests, which was a bit awkward. Sounds like a lovely weekend!

And because I have to know, how did the cake go over?

[Seabright]

And because I have to know, how did the cake go over?

My friend is battling cancer and cannot have any grains. She and her husband stood there in my kitchen with their eyes welling up when they found they were going to get to have CAKE for dessert. And there was not one single crumb left at the end of the evening. :-)

[Crooked]

That's so wonderful to hear! Best wishes to your friend. And if she and her husband are interested in more desserts, I got that recipe from dessertstalker.com, and http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes/ is also a great place for grain-free options. Finally, the following pie recipe is amazing; I made it for Thanksgiving and it was gone that day, even though there were several flour-and-sugar options available as well:

Preheat the oven to 375 and mix 2c almond flour, 1/2c honey and 6tbsp melted butter, then press the crust into an 8-9" tart pan. Try and press as evenly as possible. After, with about five medium-sized apples, slice them into eighths and saute in butter, honey, a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg. Lay in overlapping circles in the tart pan. Drizzle with honey. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the crust turns golden brown (keep an eye on it, if it looks like it is going to burn, cover with foil). Let sit for 5 minutes (or more) and serve.

[Seabright]

Ooooh, thanks for the recipe!

Omnomnomnomnom...

[Seabright]

Day 36 (Tues, July 5)

The day started with the Best. Freakin'. Email. Ever. :-)

Diet:

Breakfast - scramble w/bells, onions and spinach

Lunch - turkey sal w/cukes and maters

Snack - banana

Dinner - at the gig - wild salmon topped with lobster of all crazy things. Happy day! I mis-read the board, though, and thought is was being served with spinach. Turned out it was being served with a spinach-cream-sauce. Duh. Scraped it off and chowed down on the lovely pile o' zukes and cauliflower they gave me instead of rice and bread.

Dessert - orange.

Also, am taking note of the hydration efforts of others, and realizing should do the same. Lots and lots of water today.

Fitness:

Non-workout day, but had a gig, which is actually a bit of a cardio workout with these guys.

Life:

Gig at the fish market. We sounded good, but in the excitement of having lobster, totally spaced on doing any of the new stuff. Duh.

Oh, and, well, (eyes cast down humbly) I came in third in this contest thingie. No, seriously, so thrilled and honored! I've been walking on air all day. I was so jazzed that I tried to hoist the 50 lb main speaker up on the stand by myself. (Luckily, one of the guys brought me to my senses before I crushed my foot.)

[Lowenna]

Massive congratulations on coming third in the greatest contest in the history of the world. The change is so noticeable, you're looking great. I found your story particularly inspirational because your starting waist/hip/thigh measurements are almost identical to mine right now. Your story and Steve's 'all the inspiration you'll ever need' were the arse-kicking I need to get exercising again and get back on to the boards. Thank you, keep up the good work.

[JohnnyConfidence]

Congratulations on the win! So Very exciting, you did amazing work. Thanks for being such and inspiration and supporter.

[LynnyLee]

Big congrats! You earned it.

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Great job on everything. As a bassist that used to have a ridiculously large amplifier (200 watts, 2 x 15" speakers (way too big for the 300 person clubs we were playing) -- traded down to 150 watts and 1 x 15" speaker), I know all about trying to lift those by myself (even when you are walking on air, those things are heavy). The worst was when we had to deal with stairs. Fortunately, you had help (and I usually did, as well).

[Seabright]

You guys are so cool. Thank you so much for your congratulations. Seriously. I'm getting all weepy and clutched.

@Mr. Confidence - seriously??? You totally inspired me! And still do, dude.

@LynnyLee - your constant support and well-wishes keep me going.

@O CapN my CapN - no kidding about the over-ampage/speakerage. Stairs - ack! We are ready, though, if we ever get to play Time Square.

@Lowenna - that's some avatar you've got there, girlie. :-)

But all of the contest stuff aside! We've got a challenge to rock!

Day 37 (Wed, July 6)

Hubris. The neighbor is remodeling and the contractor drove off and left a smoke alarm beeping. What to do? Why, I'll just go over there, thread my way through the footings, open ditches, nails and miscellaneous wooden projections of the job site, climb into the building, find the alarm and disable it. Of course. I'm a rebel, why wouldn't I?

Gigantic inner-thigh gash later, I got another neighbor to come and save me. It's great to be brave, but probably better to be sensible.

Hubris.

Fitness:

Workout B of the BWB. I felt great! Killed those freakin' planks, oh yes I did. Will probably not make any of the fitness goals, but having fun trying. Did the workout before the alarm debacle.

Diet:

Breakfast - vegetable omelet and mountain o' bacon

Lunch - roast chicken on lettuce with broc and brussel sprouts

Snack - orange and walnuts

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

Might have shot of whiskey later, to go with my new wound.

Life:

About to settle in for some guitar picking and singing for 30 mins or so...until 'Men of a Certain Age' comes on.

Bought some Innovation Silver Slaps for my bass today. My action is way-high and I've been using spiro's this whole time, forcing me into true psychobilly mode - and impending arthritic finger joint pain! Love that big, dark sound and resonance of the spiros, but it is probably time to stop being macho and join in the low-tension slapping fun! Stay tuned.

Keep rocking the last few days of the challenge, all!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Bought some Innovation Silver Slaps for my bass today. My action is way-high and I've been using spiro's this whole time, forcing me into true psychobilly mode - and impending arthritic finger joint pain! Love that big, dark sound and resonance of the spiros, but it is probably time to stop being macho and join in the low-tension slapping fun! Stay tuned.

Get that action adjusted! No point in hurting yourself. The worst time I ever had was after a show where I went a bit crazy at the end. Our final song of the night ended with a huge jam section. I broke my A string, and tried to compensate for the remainder of the song. I got fed up with hitting too many wrong notes (plus, I was a bit out of tune), so I ripped the other three strings off my bass and slammed it into my amp. I then walked off the stage and straight to the bar. It took me about two weeks of tweaking to get it back to where I liked it. I did have several people come up to me after the show and tell me it was amazing: "I've never seen a bassist break strings before! You rocked!".

[Crooked]

Eek! Hope your gigantic gash heals quickly. Clean that up well. Glad to hear your workouts are continuing well. I'm also going to fall short of some goals, I think, but I'll try to imitate your positive attitude about it!

[Seabright]

I broke my A string, and tried to compensate for the remainder of the song. I got fed up with hitting too many wrong notes (plus, I was a bit out of tune), so I ripped the other three strings off my bass and slammed it into my amp. I then walked off the stage and straight to the bar.

Oh man! Wish I could have seen that! I've been walking straight to the bar after a gig lately, too, but it has been to get some ice for my throbbing hand. :-)

Crooked, once I braced myself to actually look at the thing, I had to admit it was really more of a 'bash' than a 'gash'. The bruise is about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. No miniskirts for me for a while. It won't stop me from being awesome, though. :-)

Day 38 (Thur July 7)

Diet:

Breakfast - vege omelet, bacon, too much black coffee

Lunch - bbq chicken and green salad and not enough of any of it

Snacks - apples and bananas

Dinner - didn't get to eat until 11:30 pm...no bueno. Scrambled eggs with onions, bells and some chopped turkey, one slice bacon

Fitness/Life:

These two go together on horseback riding days.

A seriously killer time at the sorting practice. Rode yet a different pony pal - a tall zebra dun, who doesn't get to go to the fairgrounds much or run cows very often. He was so curious and silly and obviously having a great time, as witnessed by the fact that he would drop his head and toss it at the cows while running at full speed. Major upper body workout for me to keep from going ass-over-teakettle. I chased a cow down the length of the arena (a first!), but chickened out when it came to backing Dunny up into the roping chute and starting a run from there. That one will have to wait for next time...baby steps...baby steps. Everyone was having so much fun that we went extra long. Got home at 11:30 pm. Starving, exhausted and covered with dirt and manure. Fantastic!

Upper body very stiff today, though. Will spend time trying to loosen things up before my BWB workout this afternoon.

More later!

[Seabright]

Day 39 (Fri, July 8)

Diet:

Breakfast - scrambled eggs w/broc, bells and onion, two pieces of bacon (should have been 3, but had the extra slice last night for dinner)

Snack - banana

Lunch - had some chicken strips at 3pm - too late in the day!

More snacks - walnuts, apple, two oranges and a banana

Dinner - still to come, but it will be turkey burgs w/either broc or sauteed 'til crispy brussel sprouts and leaks. (Now that I just wrote that, the sprouts thing sounds pretty good).

Dessert - it's Friday and gorgeous outside...I can almost guarantee red wine will be involved.

Fitness:

Was going to bail because of the hideous leg thingie, but shamed into doing it by JohnnyConfidence. Damn you, Mr. Confidence!

Body Weight Brigade Workout A - so GLAD I did this today! Ended up really pounding everything out. I may still hit my goal for push-ups. The one-arm row weight will be short, but I might get up there with reps. SooooooooOOOOOOOoooooo close to doing a minute each side on the side planks. Maybe Monday?

Life:

Worked out new harmony parts on one of the songs - an old Louvin Brothers. We committed to picking the final 30 by tomorrow. After that, we are going to do scratch recordings of all of them, so we can start working on phrasing and harmonies. Starting to look forward to phase deux.

Stay awesome this weekend, all!

[Lowenna]

, Yeah, my avatar girlie quite impressive, she's one of my current inspiration pictures, I think it's good to get a little kick to do exercise instead of just talking about it every time I come here.

Your horse riding sounds like a great fun. It's a way more intense work out than people realise, right? When I used to go, I think I found new muscles in my legs every time.

[Seabright]

Day 40 (Sat, June 9)

Life:

Sang an old friend back home today. One of the boys in my cowboy band. :-(

Diet:

Breakfast - same w/chicken-apple sausage

Lunch - salad w/turkey, maters & cukes

Snack/Dinner - same category today. Ate the good lunch to help me through, but fell apart at the picture table and dove head-first into the chocolate cookies. Two beers and 48,922 cookies later, it was time to go. Had a fruit bowl later in the evening. It could have been worse, but it could have been better. ;-)

Fitness:

Rest day, but nada.

At breakfast we did nail down the final 30 songs. Moving forward...

[JohnnyConfidence]

Oh no! No shame here I promise! Haha hope your leg is doing better. I find the days I least want to do my workout, are the days I feel the best after getting it done. Funny how that works. Thanks for setting me straight on the end of challenge too. It says right up there " - July 12th" and I still got messed up. One more day to go! Wheeee!

[Seabright]

Day 41 (yesterday, Sun, July 10)

Still recovering from the great chocolate cookie massacre.

Fitness:

Tai chi short form in the a.m.

Diet:

I couldn't believe that I would ever be hungry again, but I was.

Breakfast - same w/bacon, black coffee

Snack - banana

Lunch - slices of turkey, pastrami and salami, tons o' baby carrots and a handful of cashews (sandwich bar, w/o the bread); drank bottled water, even though I was at a jam. Win!

Snack - apple

Dinner - chicken fajita mix with mountains of broc.

Life:

Picking at a friend's house. Took a couple of the songs out for a spin, but mostly stuck to the tried and true.

Hey! My silver slaps came in the mail! Hmmmmm...they seem very light. Will be putting them on tonight so I can start getting used to them. Given how very different they are from the spirochores, that may take a while.

O-kay! Today's the last BWB workout for this challenge! Will be doing tonight when I get home from work. Will take measurements and pics on Tuesday morning. The cookies and beer did me no good at all, so am braced for not being quite as awesome as last time.

[Seabright]

Day 42 (today, Mon, July 11)

Last day o' the challenge!

Fitness:

BWB workout B. A couple of last-minute after-work conference calls did not deter me, and I just finished pounding this out. Did the best I've done pretty much across the board - yea! Will post starting & finishing numbers for all in tomorry's wrap-up.

Diet:

Breakfast - coffee and banana and vegetable omelet and bacon.

Lunch - gross-out chicken on salad with broc and brussels. Yik. But the sprouts were grilled and good.

Snack - banana

Dinner - turkey burgs w/broc, onions and bells.

Life:

Conference calls sucked up my string-changing time. Will have to do tomorrow. Gig on Wednesday so that may not be that smart, but they've gotta get on there some time. There is just plain going to have to be a pain period. Probably better at a casual gig than at the high-paid wedding gig next week.

Big wrap-up report tomorrow, along with new less-than-awesome measurements. ;-)

I hope you all did GREAT in this challenge!

[Seabright]

Okie dokie! End of the challenge report!

Fitness:

Goal - Walk or Walk/Run 3 x per week, gradually increasing distance.

Results - Meh. I changed this a few days into the challenge to be less of a focus, as I realized how much I dislike running and that serious 10K training was going to be taking away from body weight training and riding. Still, even with that change, I pretty much bailed on the off-day walking. Although, you know, I thought about how I wasn't doing it all the time.

Grade - Fail

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

Results - went back to 3 x per week, 'cause I just love this stuff. Went back to doing lots of squats and lunges, too.

Grade - A

Goal:

- 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.

Results:

- 4 x 13 one-arm rows @ 22.5 pounds. Still, very thrilled with progress!

- 4 x 14 regular push-ups. So close! Very happy, though. That's 56 push-ups!

- 4 x 10 close-hand push-ups. Hey, I did it! They aren't particular pretty, but getting there!

Grade:

I'm going to give myself an A- for Almost Awesome, even though I technically missed it a bit, just because I made steady progress every time out. So thrilled to keep moving forward!

Diet:

Stayed Paleo the whole time, except for the recorded cookie massacre. Very comfortable with this way of eating. A

Life:

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

Results - Songs selected! This is huge for us, as we usually just sit around drinking wine talking about how we should really do something someday. Between now and next challenge I'm going to work on a plan on where to go from here.

Grade - A - woo hoo!

Goal - Practice either bass (slaps and scales) or guitar (flat-picking) 15 minutes, 3 times per week.

Results - Er, well, not so much. After first 8 days, just didn't really happen. Need to do better next time! Am now psyched to start working with strings actually designed for the purpose, though.

Grade - Fail

Goal - Do my freakin' vocal exercises 5 times per week (week days).

Results - Did these about 1/2 the time. Never did at home, but snuck in every time I had a solo drive somewhere. This is still more than I was doing before, though, so that's good. Need to work on this one.

Grade - C+

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

Results - Yes! Done! Not only did I did these 'dry', I added cows into the mix. Not just yer jerseys, but some seriously twisty roping cattle. Getting braver with every Body Weight Brigade workout!

Grade - A+

Other stuff:

Weight - no change

Body Fat - went from 19.4% to a bit north of 17.3%

Waist - 27" (about the same. damn you, chocolate cookies and beer!)

Hip - 36" (down! woo hoo!)

Upper right thigh - 22 1/8" (down a tad!)

Upper right arm - 11 3/4" (down a tad!)

All in all, very happy with progress on all fronts except the practicing. Between now and the next challenge, will work on getting to my original goals in the BWB workouts, and crafting a where-to-go-from-here plan on the songs-for-the-CD-project. Will also work on using fewer hyphens. Har har.

For the Rebellion!

[JohnnyConfidence]

Great progress! Measurements went down and your reps all went up. I think that's a resounding success. Way to go!

[Crooked]

SOLID work. Well done on your diet and fitness challenges especially. You really rocked it and definitely were inspiring to me.

[Wolfman]

Awesome job!