My nitty gritty 6 week challenge

[theanne]

Turns out I was kind of in a time crunch by the time I got started, so my workout was much shorter and I didn't get the chance to do my static stretching:

Workout For Today

Warm up: Dynamic stretching, 60s jump rope

Shoulder presses @10lbs x 13

Shoulder presses @15lbs x 7

Body weight squats till failure --- I stopped @ 100 for time reasons. I was starting to get shaky around 60+ but I had a nice methodical pace going so I was able to keep it going for quite a while.

Weighted squats 32lbs x 6 --- I think I could have gone heavier but this was already loaded from last time and, well, time crunch!

Intervals:

Body weight hangs @30s x 1 **

Assisted pullups @30s x 2

Down-position pushup holds @30s x 2 ** --- I wasn't able to hold this position from my feet, but even just holding my upper body up with my arms was workout enough for me!

FIN

So this eggs+tuna is a crazy protein rich breakfast that may become a staple for me. DailyBurn says including my protein shake I'm at 72g protein for breakfast, which is awesome.

** EDIT: Note that I wasn't actually able to sustain these for the entire 30 seconds for these intervals but I'd pop back up as soon as I could after super quick breaks during the interval.

[citabean]

Body weight squats till failure --- I stopped @ 100 for time reasons. I was starting to get shaky around 60+ but I had a nice methodical pace going so I was able to keep it going for quite a while.

Didja do them inna row or break them into sets?

[theanne]

My sister caught me in the hallway this morning while she was toying with her new camera and took this. I enjoy that my face is thinning out. I feel a lot happier about how I look in pictures these days. Still not to where I want to be, and I definitely still have bad angles but its a nice change.

[theanne]

Didja do them inna row or break them into sets?

All in a row.

[citabean]

Awesome... also one other question that I thought of as I hit submit... egg & tuna breakfast? Explain! I could get down with that!

[theanne]

Fried Tuna & Eggs

What you need:

• 1 Can of tuna (6oz) - better if you get canned in oil (tip from Alethea)
• 2 eggs
• Spices - recommended: garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, montreal steak seasoning
• Mixing bowl/fork or whisk
• Frying pan/spatula
• Stove

Directions:

• Frying pan on stove to medium heat
• Put both eggs in mixing bowl and scramble with fork or whisk
• Drain tuna minimally (tip from Alethea) and put tuna in frying pan
• Season and fry until desired crispiness
• Pour eggs over tuna
• Cook like scrambled eggs

You could also add veggies to this if you wanted to make it even more full of nutrients but I've just needed a huge protein boost for the morning.

Nutrient breakdown:

352 calories

150 calories from fat

Total Fat: 16.4g

- Sat Fat: 4.5g

- Poly Fat: 3g

- Mono Fat: 6g

Carbs: 3g

- Sugar: 2g

Protein: 46.5g

[Alethea]

That tuna thing sounds *amazing*. I must try! Fun fact - try to find tuna canned in oil, not water, and don't drain it all off - these are very good fats for you. But everything seems to be canned in water nowadays. Boo!

So, for bottom position holds, do your knee pushups as per normal, then finish with the hold. You wont be able to do it as long, but it really finishes your muscles. It's not AS important in knee pushups, but concentrate on keeping your spine and legs on a straight straight line. This will be vital for full pushups.

Kick ass, my dear. You're doing amazing! How're you feeling about it?

[theanne]

Alethea, where would I be without you?? I will take your words into action next I work on my pushups

Also, I updated my recipe to reflect your tuna tips!

I'm feeling a little bummed at how often I stray from my macros but I feel pretty pumped about my exercising!! Thanks for the encouragement, I really do want to kick ass each and every day!

[citabean]

One word. YUM!

This will be my breakfast tomorrow. I've always gotten tuna in water, I shall buy the tuna in oil next time!

Thanks!

[theanne]

One Life Level Up thing that I should have put in my original challenge is keeping my bedroom clean and straight consistently, which so far I've been doing. Cleaned up tonight and created homes for my new workout equipment!

Pullup bar to the left, barbell underneath bed, and dumbbells under the side table.

[Crooked]

Haha your bedroom is so aggressive. There is hardcore workout equipment stashed all over the place!

[Brometheus]

Haha your bedroom is so aggressive. There is hardcore workout equipment stashed all over the place!

That and the bedspread is awesome! Love the design

[theanne]

Haha I know! Now when friends visit they'll know I'm not (%^$ing around muahaha...

And thanks CB - I LOVE it.... courtesy of my friendly neighborhood Ikea!

[theanne]

Ha! So yesterday in the middle of the day I was possessed to see how bad my cheat day was going on the scale. It turned out I was at an all time low (all-time meaning I haven't weighed this since I saw the number on my way up)!! 165.8lbs!

Completely blew my grains resolution yesterday. Pancakes in the morning, burrito (albeit organic wheat tortilla) next, followed by half a Little Caesars pepperoni pizza, and then corn tortilla burritos for dinner.

Oops.

However, I did try out some bench presses for fun, and realized that I'm incapable of counting plates so I'm sure anything I've posted so far is off. Sigh.

Did the ice-pack on the neck for 30ish minutes instead of a cold shower, since it was easier than a cold shower and I could do it while I caught up on the new season of Covert Affairs online since I don't have TV.

WIN: Caught up on my freelance client work with relatively NO procrastination!! YAY!!!

This allowed me to relax and do just about whatever so I played a bit of Mario Bros Smash Brawl and then worked a ton on my business plan for what I hope can launch sometime next year.

[theanne]

So for today...

Went on a 2.6 mile hike - baby hike, I know, but it was pretty and this weekend got really crazy so I'm thankful we got to make time to go at all.

After getting home I decided to start working on a project I've cooked up for myself: we have an area in the backyard that's got half-dead plants and ugly dirt where the dogs go to the bathroom. I'm going to be ripping it all up and putting down some sort of black terrain cloth and putting rocks on 3/4 of it and then smaller gravel on the rest. Today I began by gathering rocks on the lower acre and dragged them in a wheelbarrow up the driveway. Which is LONG. And those rocks were HEAVY. It was a about 2.5 trips, the last time my little sister helped by pushing as I pulled.

Talk about a workout!

Then I took the first cold shower that I actually enjoyed!! That's right, I took a cold shower and I liked it!! So excited.

The rest of the day is hanging out with various friends, celebrating a friend's daughter's birthday then celebrating my friend's birthday and then hanging out with yet another group of friends for bowling later tonight. Way busy and a little confusing.

[Crooked]

Congratulations on the weigh-in! That is a fantastic accomplishment.

I took a cold shower and I liked it!

Not sure I'll ever get there, but your success with the cold showers has made me more inclined to try them...

[theanne]

Thanks!

As for cold showers, based on my experience yesterday I recommend getting in a good workout outside on a hot day, then trying it. That will help you gain confidence that you could work towards being able to enjoy it -every- time. Cold showers in the morning take a little more mental stamina but it will give you some motivation for them.

[theanne]

I'm experimenting with the following macros now:

Calories 1790-1855

Protein 140-170g

Carbs 50-110g

Fat 65-80g

----

Diet

Yesterday I got:

Calories 1768 (just shy)

Protein 153.6g

Carbs 103.1g

Fat 86.9g (over but I'm not too concerned)

Fitness

Yesterday I...

Worked out with my personal trainer, got lots of full body exercises. Also did box-jump style leaps up a huge flight of stairs. PHEW. Only skipped on stair at a time, so probably leaping about 2/3ds my shin height but this is from someone who used to practically fall over just hopping up one step only 3-4 months ago

Life

Yesterday I officially was handed my first project to be lead developer on. This is very cool for me! I'm a bit nervous and I have a feeling I'll be required to work later hours now *sigh* ...it's a shame it doesn't also come with a raise haha

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Today I got my stretches in, ate breakfast and got in a cold shower. This time I didn't do anything gradual. I started warm, then BAM I switched it to cold. Oh. My. Gosh. Definitely the way to kickstart all those things it kickstarts. Very uncomfortable!

It will also be tricky to meet protein today. I have been told I shouldn't chow down more than 15oz of tuna every week or else I risk mercury poisoning... and I can only handle so much chicken at once. Need to find a 75g protein meal that isn't just a CRAPTON of chicken!

[Crooked]

You are killing this challenge. And I think your new macros are much more in line with your level of exercise. Congrats on the vote of confidence from work!

As for protein ... I'm discovering fish for the first time, so here are some easy protein recommendations:

eggs

sashimi, especially wild salmon (actually a weaker fish taste than cooked fish)

sardines (I love sardines)

canned crab (I made a super easy crab hash - meant to be a crab cake - from Nom Nom Paleo that was delicious)

smoked fish (Trader Joe's makes smoked trout that is delicious)

canned smoked oysters

Those should help you switch it up a little. There's also turkey and other meats, but I haven't had those in years and can't really speak about them as well.

[theanne]

thanks! The exercise is coming WAY more naturally than I expected it to. I'm putting in a lot of effort into the eating but it's a lot harder than I expected it to.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess if I want something other than chicken I need to stop by the grocery store on the way home!

[Crooked]

I'm putting in a lot of effort into the eating but it's a lot harder than I expected it to.

What about it has been harder? Have you considered reducing the number of macros you're tracking? For me, when I get too bogged down in numbers, I find it difficult to maintain (or get a bit obsessive, which is also bad). You could try keeping track of just carbs and calories and just try to keep protein above a certain threshold, or some other combination that worked for you.

I guess if I want something other than chicken I need to stop by the grocery store on the way home!

That's generally how it works If you need recipe ideas:

http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/category/recipes/

http://www.chowstalker.com/ — this one has a lot of variety, but they don't require recipes to be strictly paleo, so you have to check the ingredients more carefully

http://www.civilizedcavemancooking.com/ — some of his recipes look really good - I haven't tried any yet

http://everydaypaleo.com/ — she just came out with a book, which I'm considering buying

Mark Sisson also has a lot of recipes, but his website is more difficult to navigate: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

[theanne]

Hm, thanks for those sites! Those should be helpful. I mostly try to make do with what's already available to me (eating primal can get costly...) so it's a bummer to me when there's no magical solution gotta pony up and get my own food!

What about it has been harder? Have you considered reducing the number of macros you're tracking? For me, when I get too bogged down in numbers, I find it difficult to maintain (or get a bit obsessive, which is also bad). You could try keeping track of just carbs and calories and just try to keep protein above a certain threshold, or some other combination that worked for you.

It's mostly hard finding combos of meals that all add up to the right macros without always eating exactly the same thing. I get burnt out on eggs pretty fast and I can only eat so much chicken without something else (like a potato) that it tastes really good with in one bite.

Well, at first I was just keeping track of carbs and protein, I have to say the fats I care very little about, but DailyBurn tracks all four macros so it's hard for me not to notice when something else is different. So I started on calories too.

Mostly I want to do it until I feel naturally capable of guesstimating macros and being generally right when I go to log it. Right now I don't really have a clue what is in what and it's hard for me to keep track of it. Once I at least get comfortable with the foods I eat most often then I may wean off tracking so meticulously. But this is the first time in my life I've ever consistently tracked so I'm pretty proud of myself. I am HORRIBLE at starting new habits and HORRIBLE at sticking to routines. All of this consistency is very new to me.

[theanne]

Good news this morning! New low today: 164.5lbs

Here's the stats for yesterday:

Diet

Calories 1798

Protein 142.5g

Carbs 103.7g

Fat 94.6g

The only thing I didn't hit right on was fat, which I feel I've established doesn't REALLY matter to me.

I tried salmon for dinner last night and was definitely excited about how much I liked it!

Fitness

Other than stretches, I took it easy. Since I got in an intense full-body workout on Monday, I felt pretty sore and it felt right to take the day off.

---

Another cold shower this morning! I was pretty much ASLEEP so I went kind of wimpy but I did make myself stand with my back in the freezing water for almost a minute. And now I'm very much awake.

Today I may or may not be working with my trainer, I have a meeting at work that conflicts with our regular schedule.

Then after work I'll be going to the San Diego County Fair! Yayyyy!

[Crooked]

So it sounds like things have been hard but they're also going well - in that case, stick to what's working for you. Salmon is awesome for you and a good balance of nutrients, so if you like it, definitely introduce it into your rotation!

I know the feeling of wanting to go with what's available. I also have been struggling with some of the costs of paleo. I think of it as a long-term investment for my health, which in turn will hopefully reduce my expenditures on actual healthcare down the line - after I spent about $200 on copays in one month, I realized that eating cheaply can wind up being just as expensive as spending a bit extra on quality food.

[theanne]

@Crooked I definitely understand the health benefits long-term. It's just hard when I also have a lot of other pretty important things to pay off in the immediate future and since I can still do BETTER than I ever was even though it's not totally optimal as a long-term plan, it's hard to justify going all out until I can make a bigger budget for it.

--

Today's macros will be hard for me to match. I totally forgot I wasn't going to be able to get dinner normally tonight and will have to grab a quick bite to eat. Outside of the grains, Subway is the best bet I have around here since I can double up on meat and such. Turkey Bacon Avocado... mmm...

Also will be doing a short session with the trainer tomorrow instead of today. How late I get home and how exhausted I feel will determine whether I push myself for an at-home workout this evening. Sometimes sleep may be more important!