L'irlandaise : always a bit stronger and braver

[L'irlandaise]

Main Quest: Continue to replace 10kg/22lbs of extraneous glop with lean muscle over ten months.

 

Sub- quest 1:  The workout one. Currently I follow a weekly programme of three strength training sessions and two interval sessions, and an active recovery day. Strength training days see me all excited to get working. Active recovery is fun too. Interval session days …have interval sessions.

Continue the workout schedule. Gradually ramp up both strength and interval sessions in terms of intensity.

Grading: A = all workouts completed B= one session missed C = two sessions missed etc.

 

Sub- quest 2: The Warrior one.  I’m new this year to strength training and I’m currently collecting equipment for a home gym. So far it’s kettlebells and resistance bands. I’ll be reading through Warriors forums too to get ideas about weight progression. I may be brave and post questions. I may even – gasp- be brave enough to go to a real gym to see if their free weights section is an option for me.    At the moment I feel like I’m pootling about in the shallow end but if I stay in the Adventurers, I'll continue to pootle.  I’ll also post my weights to chart progress.

Grading: A = 1+ strength post per week. F = the rest.

 

Sub-quest 3 :  The kitchen one. I started overhauling my eating habits last challenge  and now it’s time to unveil my shameful secret: I’ve done very little cooking in the last 4 years and before that I rarely cooked for anyone other than me. I can cook but cooking for other people stresses me rather.  My other (better) half is a good cook but I can’t really keep demanding that he cooks to my dietary requirements. I’m not a diva therefore I’m going to address my cooking hang-ups this challenge.

 

How? Well, I’m going to aim to cook more shared meals. Simples.

Grading: A= 3+ shared meals in the week, B = 2 shared meals , C = 1 shared meal. 

 

Life-quest  The scary one.This challenge is all about bravery for me. At least once a week I plan to go do something with people. The main aim here with be to communicate in French because I’m still struggling to meet people socially in my new home town/country

 

Grading A = 1+ primarily social activity.  B = 0 social activity but contact made with concrete plans for social activity  F= I wussed out, was trapped under an unfeasibly heavy object or was suffering from something infectious and unpleasant.

[starbon]

hello sparkly woman ! nice goals you got there !

 

It;s gonna be fun watching you ace all of em ! You go !

[CakeBanisher]

I like your goals!  I totally understand the kitchen one - if I  have to cook dinner for multiple people, it tends to be mac and cheese, or something that's easy to microwave...so good for you, deciding to cook more  And I think it's cool that you're liking your strength workouts!  It's awesome that you're thinking you might go exploring a real gym!  As ever, I think you are pretty amazing    I agree with starbon, it'll be fun watching you dominate this challenge!

[Nephaisys]

If you need help with french, just ask moi*

 

Sounds like a pretty solid set of goals! Loads of people around here have talked about doing social goals before, I've done them in both my previous challenges and it's really not as scary as you think it'll be. The Scariest one for me was meeting a bunch of strangers that I didn't even know the names of before in a pub courtesy of meetup.com. I literally started shaking - I read the NF article on 'Beast Mode' - 20 seconds of sheer power and adrenalin. By the time I walked in the pub, brought a pint, I figured I may as well of stayed. It gave me a weird satisfaction knowing other people have chickened out - there was supposed to be about 20 people - turned out only being about 8.

 

Can't wait to see you win this battle, as always!

 

* = seriously, don't ask me. Unless you're stuck asking where the library is or if you're allowed to take your jacket off.

[WonderNatarella]

I love it chérie!

 

Go Baby warrior, go! )

 

Btw : there is ways to cook quick, simple, healthy! If you need help with this, ask as well

[Sulinar]

Aha, here you are good woman. Signing up to cheer you on this time too.

 

Re: the kitchen challenge, I understand completely. When I first got to France we ate soup and salad for about a year because the things I used to cook weren't available (I can't even remember what they were now!) If you like them, haricots verts are a great help. Melt some butter, fry some garlic in it, then bung in a tin of haricots, and heat for 5 minutes (stir carefully otherwise they break up). Serve with steak and a tomato salad and have a bit of cheese afterwards. Can't get much simpler than that. Speaking of which, if you can stand him, Jamie Oliver has been doing some good programmes with quick recipes (Jamie's 15 minute meals).

 

I like your life quest. I need to do that too, but I never seem to stay in one place for long enough to get to know people! Are there any evening classes you can do nearby? (Something that you can already do would be a good idea, then you just have to worry about the social/language aspects.) 

[Erick the Red]

Welcome to the Warriors.

 

I sympathize closely with your main goal.

Looks like you are on a good track so far.

(This Viking didn't need to learn French when she came to visit.)

Stay strong.

[The Borg Queen]

Great goals and a nice, easy grading system I love your social life goal, and your cooking goal. Good luck with it all.

[sicil]

What up! Great to see you again! How's that new elliptical working out for you?

 

Any reason why you're starting with a weight collection instead of trying to do a few exercises with your bodyweight? It looks like it might be easier on the budget if you didn't need to amass a collection or pay hefty gym fees upfront!

[L'irlandaise]

Thanks folks!!

 

@ sicil The elliptical is good, especially for September evenings masquerading as November evenings with rain lashing against the windows etc.

 

I like bodyweight exercises a lot, just practising the form for a single leg romanian deadlift keeps me entertained for some time. And truth be told, I've spent a lot of my life more as a Ranger than a Warrior - cue lots of photographs of hiking, wild camping and kayaking holidays . But I find lifting weights very meditative, more so than a push-up (see challenge 1) or starfish planks. With more advanced bw exercises I feel more like I'm battling with myself.  Inner calm comes from focusing on something outside me.

 

That's the philosophical answer. The short, queenly answer is...weights amuse me

 

Currently resting on the sofa after an intervals session and my homemade thai green chicken curry. Twas très tasty and also quite fun to watch my  partner cope with a 'mild' Thai curry. Hehehe.

[sicil]

Thanks folks!!

 

@ sicil The elliptical is good, especially for September evenings masquerading as November evenings with rain lashing against the windows etc.

 

I like bodyweight exercises a lot, just practising the form for a single leg romanian deadlift keeps me entertained for some time. And truth be told, I've spent a lot of my life more as a Ranger than a Warrior - cue lots of photographs of hiking, wild camping and kayaking holidays . But I find lifting weights very meditative, more so than a push-up (see challenge 1) or starfish planks. With more advanced bw exercises I feel more like I'm battling with myself.  Inner calm comes from focusing on something outside me.

 

That's the philosophical answer. The short, queenly answer is...weights amuse me

 

Currently resting on the sofa after an intervals session and my homemade thai green chicken curry. Twas très tasty and also quite fun to watch my  partner cope with a 'mild' Thai curry. Hehehe.

 

Whatever floats your boat and gets you there! I can understand that it's much more amusing to pull/push against something that you can see and grasp.

 

Haha, the first time I cooked curry for my partner, he sweated buckets. Not even polite sweat. All around sauna sweat.

[CB3]

Look at You, you lovely woman you!!  Joining the warriors (so did I)!! I'm so glad you chose to post your weight!  I'm excited for you!! 

 

And the socialization thing is a huge one. I think its awesome that you are pursuing it, as I need to as well.  I at least speak the language around here, I can't imagine how daunting it would be not to.  You ARE super brave and inspiring! I am anxiously awaiting your results, may be it will encourage me to get out and find more social opportunities!

 

If I can be of any help with the weight lifting thing, don't hesitate to ask, ok?

 

Glad your back!

[starbon]

lol as long as your SO doesn't start howling on the throne the next morning...wink wink

 

well..i could say weights do not amuse me in the least..i seem to remember spewing out obscene language with each rep of a heavy squat. even newly minted previously unheard of combinations

[Sulinar]

Ah no, cooking real curry for a French person is not fair!

[L'irlandaise]

Whatever floats your boat and gets you there! I can understand that it's much more amusing to pull/push against something that you can see and grasp.

 

Haha, the first time I cooked curry for my partner, he sweated buckets. Not even polite sweat. All around sauna sweat.

This was polite sweat, thankfully but he was definitely discomfitted.

 

Look at You, you lovely woman you!!  Joining the warriors (so did I)!! I'm so glad you chose to post your weight!  I'm excited for you!! 

 

And the socialization thing is a huge one. I think its awesome that you are pursuing it, as I need to as well.  I at least speak the language around here, I can't imagine how daunting it would be not to.  You ARE super brave and inspiring! I am anxiously awaiting your results, may be it will encourage me to get out and find more social opportunities!

 

If I can be of any help with the weight lifting thing, don't hesitate to ask, ok?

 

Glad your back!

Thank you! And boy will there be opportunties for you to give me advice - I need lots!

 

 

 

well..i could say weights do not amuse me in the least..i seem to remember spewing out obscene language with each rep of a heavy squat. even newly minted previously unheard of combinations

 

I thought of you a lot during today's workout. See below for why.

Ah no, cooking real curry for a French person is not fair!

I know, I know. But sometimes I can't help playing dirty!

 

 

Okay. I said I'd publish a workout so here was this evening's. I use kettlebells in kg but for my US readers I've adapted to lbs. That way you can have a giggle at the puny weights.

 

After foam rolling and warm-up:

 

Group 1: 4 rounds

Side planks 45 secs each side

 

 

Group 2: 4 rounds

Bavarian split squats             10 reps/side  4kg  (9lb)  These are complete gits - creative swearing and flexing toes to get rid of   cramp  -urgh

High incline dumbell press     10 reps/side  6kg

Lateral squats                       10 reps/side  6Kg  (13lb)

 

Group 3: 3 rounds

Romanian deadlift                 10 reps ( I have an el cheapo resistance band for this - it's "high" resitance but I have no idea what this equates to. *sigh*)

3 point kb row                       10 reps/ side 12kg (26 lb)

 

 

Looking at this, it looks weird. My best weight is on dumbbell rows. I've been working on deadlift and squat form and I must admit I am a bit nervous about weighting up on these (see, Starbon?)

 

Otherwise I am pleased because I'm keeping to one minute downtime between rounds and go from one set to another smartish - definitely gets the heartrate up.

 

 

Dinner # 2  Red kuri squash (potimarron) and fennel soup. Nom nom nom. Boyfriend wanted to know what spices I'd used (he's understandably nervous about the chili paste) Just a bay leaf and some pepper but gosh darn it, it was TASTY!

[Nephaisys]

I have a 6kg kettlebell. My other half chucks it around the living room like it's a tennis ball. He swings with a 22 / 24kg. It doesn't matter, everyone has to start somewhere, right?

 

Lookin' good as always chick-a-dee!

[L'irlandaise]

@ Nephaisys Thanks for your suport, my lovely. I've been feeling bad about posting where I am with the weights - you know, not feeling like a "real" Warrior. But you're right: everyone has to start somewhere.

 

And if I think about the things I have done and the fact that I have never been afraid of starting something (or seeing it through) in my teens, twenties, thirties and now forties then I think, maybe, that I deserve to be in this Guild after all. We'll see.

 

Okay, Week One was rough. I was under the weather with allergies and an accompanying headache that stayed for three days. Better now but it dented my confidence about this challenge a bit, along with the aforementioned self-doubt.

 

All in all I did okay.

 

Sub- quest 1:  The workout one. Currently I follow a weekly programme of three strength training sessions and two interval sessions, and an active recovery day.

Grading: A = all workouts completed.  Started to weight the single leg romanian deadlifts with kettlebells.

 

Sub- quest 2: The Warrior one.

Grading: A = 1+ strength post per week. Did it. Made me feel extremely vulnerable. I'll get over it.

 

Sub-quest 3 :  The kitchen one.

Grading: A= 3+ shared meals in the week Cooked up a big pot of vegetable of soup today for the rest of the week. Also made hummous for the first time in 20 years. Watching the beloved tuck into it with enthusiasm made me feel very chuffed.

 

Life-quest  The scary one.

 

Grading A = 1+ primarily social activity. Spent yesterday with my "belle-fille" and her boyfriend exploring a town about an hour and a half south of here. Was good even if I was exhausted.

[sicil]

I think you did more than okay with all those A's across the board! Great job!

[Erick the Red]

Good first week.

[starbon]

wheee look at all those A's ! you're acing this

[The Borg Queen]

What a great Week 1, l'irlandaise! Sorry that posting the strength routine made you feel vulnerable. You know, I was just thinking about how impressive it is, those are some serious moves you got going on there!!!!!!!!

 

The squash and fennel soup you made sounds amazing. I am always looking for savory things to put fennel in, squash soup sounds perfect. And it's the right season!

[IrishAmazon]

This was polite sweat, thankfully but he was definitely discomfitted.

 

Thank you! And boy will there be opportunties for you to give me advice - I need lots!

 

 

I thought of you a lot during today's workout. See below for why.

I know, I know. But sometimes I can't help playing dirty!

 

 

Okay. I said I'd publish a workout so here was this evening's. I use kettlebells in kg but for my US readers I've adapted to lbs. That way you can have a giggle at the puny weights.

 

After foam rolling and warm-up:

 

Group 1: 4 rounds

Side planks 45 secs each side

 

 

Group 2: 4 rounds

Bavarian split squats             10 reps/side  4kg  (9lb)  These are complete gits - creative swearing and flexing toes to get rid of   cramp  -urgh

High incline dumbell press     10 reps/side  6kg

Lateral squats                       10 reps/side  6Kg  (13lb)

 

Group 3: 3 rounds

Romanian deadlift                 10 reps ( I have an el cheapo resistance band for this - it's "high" resitance but I have no idea what this equates to. *sigh*)

3 point kb row                       10 reps/ side 12kg (26 lb)

 

 

Looking at this, it looks weird. My best weight is on dumbbell rows. I've been working on deadlift and squat form and I must admit I am a bit nervous about weighting up on these (see, Starbon?)

 

Otherwise I am pleased because I'm keeping to one minute downtime between rounds and go from one set to another smartish - definitely gets the heartrate up.

 

 

Dinner # 2  Red kuri squash (potimarron) and fennel soup. Nom nom nom. Boyfriend wanted to know what spices I'd used (he's understandably nervous about the chili paste) Just a bay leaf and some pepper but gosh darn it, it was TASTY!

 

Bavarian split squats are a tool of the devil. Apparently, they are more difficult for women than men because of the way our legs angle inward from wider hips. I presume that's the reason I always feel like I'm about to tip over when I do them.

 

Great first week progress!

[Nephaisys]

@ Nephaisys Thanks for your suport, my lovely. I've been feeling bad about posting where I am with the weights - you know, not feeling like a "real" Warrior. But you're right: everyone has to start somewhere.

 

Hey! Don't be daft. You can't start by just throwing around a massive weight, and second of all - what is a real warrior? Someone that takes the ultimate control of their destiny, by lifting things heavier than they ever have before....? Yeah, I'd say you're a warrior. I feel the same; I hang with the scouts as I wheeze my way through week 4 of couch to 5 k whilst they run load marathons and 5ks by themselves in the morning 'for fun'.

 

It's not where you are now. It's where you want to be.

[WonderNatarella]

L'irlandaise! It is impressive what you are doing! How are you liking lifting? Are you working out at a gym or at home?

 

I love deadlift, it does feel like I am a wonderwoman !  I understand the nervousity… I guess you want the form to b really good so that you don't hurt yourself. Do you have someone checking on you?

 

You are again getting A's in spite of having been low in energy. I wish you to recover quickly !  

As from self-doubt, you are taking it slowly so there is no reason you will fail.

 

How is the cooking going?

 

Keep on rocking it!

[L'irlandaise]

Thanks folks for all the support and kind words. I was a bit wobbly lipped last week but am feeling more on top of things in week 2.

 

Update:

 

On the sofa now, digesting tonight's offering of chickpea and courgette stew. I prepped and cooked it before my workout, worked out, set dinner on heat and showered, then INHALED stew with fresh baguette and a goodly glass of red wine. Boyfriend cleaned his plate .  I 'd conscientiously reduced the garlic and harissa quantities in the stew  to suit his rather more delicate palate, winning good karma points,  I hope.

 

 

Tonight's workout - (at the moment all the workouts are at home):

 

Group 1 3 rounds

Low cable chops with medium resistance band 10 per side

Plank on stability ball 60 seconds

 

Group 2 4 rounds

goblet squats with pulse 10x6kg, 8x8kg, 8x8kg, 10x6kg

3 point db rows 10 per side 12kg

single leg romanian deadlifts - 10 per side  4kg

 

Group 3 4 rounds

Supine Hip and Leg extensions on stability ball 10

Single arm Bench press 10 per side 6kg

 

It was fun weighting up the squats and also working on going as low as possible on them. Mind you, my balance on the deadlifts were all over the shop afterwards.

 

LOVING "What I talk about when I talk about running". such a lovely read.