Late, but don't want to wait for the next challenge

[artemiscuous]

Hello, world! Very excited to be starting my first challenge on Nerd Fitness. I have been searching for this site my whole life as a jock-y nerd (nerdy jock? it could go either way, probably). I know there are only a few weeks left in this challenge, but I've just started getting back into shape post-baby, and I'm anxious to start gathering some momentum. I will try to tailor my goals to fit the shortened timeline and then kick into full gear next challenge, probably as an Assassin, since my sport is rock climbing.

 

My Main Quest is to be climbing a solid 5.10 in a few months. Once I'm there, I'll be focusing my quests on discipline-specific goals in lead-climbing, bouldering, and different types of rock (shale, sandstone, etc.) - ultimately, I'd like to be able to climb 5.13/v6 on most types of rock. To do that, I need to focus on three points: sharpening my skills on the rock, regaining flexibility, and most importantly, targeting my body comp (which has dramatically altered with pregnancy!). I estimate my current body composition via eyeballing around 26-27% (gulp) and would like to improve that to 19-20%, although I recognize this will not happen this challenge.

 

So, a SMART objective on each of these points:

 

1. Sharpen skills on the rock: Get to the rock-climbing gym (or even better, outside!) at least twice per week for at least 90 minutes (to allow for rest between climbs). 

2. Regain flexibility: Practice yoga at least twice per week.

3. Target body comp: Keep carb count below 100 g/day by adhering 90% to Paleo guidelines (I do consume limited dairy and tolerate it well). 

 

Four workouts per week is probably the best I am going to do with a two-month old baby, but they're the kind of workouts I love to do, so I have lots of motivation to make them happen. I do live in the city, so I walk a good bit (probably about 2 miles per day, if it's nice out). This is a habit I picked up from my first bout with going Primal (Mark Sisson's rule: "Move frequently at a slow pace") and it has served me well. 

 

My declaration of motivation is a Google Keep list of reasons I want to do this. My son Harley is one of my biggest reasons. It is so important to me that he looks at me and sees a happy, healthy, and strong Mom who can keep up and play with him. I want him to have a fun childhood - the most fun childhood! - and to see by my example how important and possible it is to be happy, healthy, and driven for his whole life.

 

I'm also going to get my husband to take a before photo, but I probably won't post it until I have at least one progress photo to hold up next to it. :-)

 

Looking forward to sending a few routes tonight when I hit the gym with my sister!

[quietmuse]

Greetings from one newbie to another newbie! :-)  And hooray for another climber joining the Rebellion, though I'm also mostly banished to the gym.  I'm a reasonably solid 5.9, 5.10 on a good day, so I know your pain.  Your goals look solid!

 

I'm glad you're starting now rather than waiting.  No time like the present, right?

[artemiscuous]

Thanks for the support! I used to be a pretty solid 5.10a, but that was before I got knocked up, haha. But as for being gymrats - it's better than nothing, IMHO. Maybe we can push each other to get outside more in future challenges :-)

[artemiscuous]

Grading update:

 

1. Sharpen skills on the rock: Get to the rock-climbing gym (or even better, outside!) at least twice per week for at least 90 minutes (to allow for rest between climbs). 

Weekly grades

A: Climbing gym 2x or more

C: Climbing gym 1x

F: Climbing gym 0x

 

2. Regain flexibility: Practice yoga at least twice per week.

Weekly grades

A: Yoga 2x or more

C: Yoga 1x

F: Yoga 0x

 

3. Target body comp: Keep carb count below 100 g/day by adhering 90% to Paleo guidelines (I do consume limited dairy and tolerate it well). 

Weekly grades

A: 700 g or less

B: 700 g - 800 g

C: 800 g - 900 g

F: 900 g or more

 

If I can do some yoga today and climbing tomorrow, I think I will get A's in both of the exercise columns, but it's looking like a C for my carb count - I'm at 571 g with three days to go. We shall see.

[Nymeria]

It's great seeing even more climbers here!  There are already quite a few of us over in the Assassin guild (well, we're almost all boulderers and not top-rope climbers)    I have a fairly similar workout routine, too, with climbing twice/week, strength one more day, and yoga stuff the rest of the time.

 

I'm incredibly impressed that you're ready to be so physically active 2 months after having a baby.  It took me quite a bit longer to feel ready for fitness after mine.  Good luck with this challenge!

[quietmuse]

Climb outside more some time in the future? Sounds great! Currently I'm too reliant on friends with gear to make that happen reliably, but still, it'd be fun. 5.10a - that's no kidding around. :-) And now you have something (someone) else to be proud of, so slacking on your climbing seems just fine...

Nice grading system!

Apparently we've attracted attention and are now being recruited - there you go!

Good luck on this next week!

[artemiscuous]

@Nymeria - nice handle! After the most bad-ass direwolf, natch. I definitely boulder quite a bit, since I can't always count on a belay, which I think helps a lot with developing strength and power for dynamic moves, so I'm excited to check out the challenges over at the Assassins.

 

I guess it is pretty soon post-baby. But I have been kind of anxious for my midwife to clear me for activity - I kind of think of exercise as my mood medication, and it's been so long since I felt like I could get a real workout in, between pregnancy and the newborn haze, that I really felt like I was going crazy. I'm also pretty lucky because my boy started sleeping well a few weeks ago (I don't tell people that IRL so as not to get punched in the face by a sleep-deprived new mom), so I think I have more energy than I probably should.

 

@QuietMuse - Good luck to you as well! Hope you don't mind that I stole your grading idea!

 

Last week's grades:

 

Rock climbing skills: A. Got to the gym 2x. I was able to send a few 5.8s on my top-rope day and start a v3 project on my bouldering day. Also got some QT with my sister, which was great.

 

Yoga: A. 2 classes - one intermediate and one beginner. They went okay - but I can see that I am going to have to work on arm balance and inversions!

 

Nutrition: C. 836 g according to MyFitnessPal. I had a Hot Pockets fiasco on Wednesday.  I had forgotten to get lunch and had to run across the street to the convenience store between meetings!  Hence, steak and cheddar Hot Pocket. Both of them. Because is anyone capable of only having one Hot Pocket? But planning and grocery shopping shall triumph.

 

Overall: B+.

[artemiscuous]

So this week has been kind of challenging on the working out front, so far - I was feeling nauseated on Tuesday, and Monday and Wednesday were late work nights for my husband, which meant I was on babywatch. But I am going to be heading to the rock gym for some bouldering tonight, then I'll be doing some yoga tomorrow, and top-roping outside Sunday. I want to try to work in another yoga class on Saturday, as well, to bump myself up from a C to an A on the flexibility goal.

 

My carb goal is going relatively well this week, though. I haven't purchased anything non-Paleo at the grocery store, and budgetary constraints have prevented me from going out or ordering takeout, so I'm below my carb goal so far. I think I might be going a little low on calories, though, in the interest of staying so strictly Paleo - I guess it's a little pricier to buy enough good Paleo food. I usually think I'm buying enough, if on the conservative end of "enough," but I always end up a little bit hungry at the end of the day. I usually have nothing left in the house to eat except yet another apple with cashew butter, which I typically just forgo, because one of those in a day is really enough. I guess the good thing is that because I'm becoming fat adapted, I don't feel dizzy or faint or anything when I'm hungry. I also don't really have any cravings (which is nice, after a pregnancy full of ice cream cravings!). But I get so frustrated with the extra weight I'm carrying around, not to mention having no clothes that fit, that I'd rather be a little bit hungry than to have overindulged (or to be forced to buy processed "convenience food") and feel guilty about it. I can't really tell if that is unhealthy or if I'm just stopping at 80% full - it has just not ever been my normal pattern. My tracking shows that I'm eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. Rebels, do you have any insight for me?

[quietmuse]

Of course I don't mind you "stealing" my grading scale - I ripped it from an average of challenge threads I liked. :-) 

 

Hot Pockets...there's a Jim Gaffigan reference in there somewhere.

 

I understand "challenging" - I'm moving this week and am tempted to consider carrying boxes up/down stairs as a workout.  Still, keep on it, especially if you get to go outside this week!

 

Wish I could help on the "enough Paleo" part - I'm also noticing how much omitting "empty calories" affects my daily intake...  Hopefully you can find good answers.

 

Have fun tonight!

[Nymeria]

@Nymeria - nice handle! After the most bad-ass direwolf, natch. I definitely boulder quite a bit, since I can't always count on a belay, which I think helps a lot with developing strength and power for dynamic moves, so I'm excited to check out the challenges over at the Assassins.

 

I guess it is pretty soon post-baby. But I have been kind of anxious for my midwife to clear me for activity - I kind of think of exercise as my mood medication, and it's been so long since I felt like I could get a real workout in, between pregnancy and the newborn haze, that I really felt like I was going crazy. I'm also pretty lucky because my boy started sleeping well a few weeks ago (I don't tell people that IRL so as not to get punched in the face by a sleep-deprived new mom), so I think I have more energy than I probably should.

 

Wow.  You are really lucky!  My daughter woke up every 2-3 hours until she was almost a year old, and both of my kids woke up 1-2 times every night until they were about 2 years old.  I was an incredibly sleep deprived mom.  It's great that you can take off the "mommy hat" once in awhile and have a chance to do things that you enjoy, like climbing.  It ultimately helps keep a new mom much more sane. 

 

As far as the food/calorie consumption goes, how are you feeling?  If you don't feel particularly hungry, you're not feeling headachy, dizzy, or fatigued, and you feel as if you're either gaining or maintaining strength, you're probably eating the right amount.  For what it's worth, I tried going low carb last challenge, and I found that the low carb vs. high carb thing made no difference at all with respect to weight loss for me, providing that I was eating at an overall calorie deficit in either case.  I know everyone's body works differently, though.  Unfortunately, postpartum weight loss seems pretty unpredictable and weird. 

[artemiscuous]

Wow.  You are really lucky!  My daughter woke up every 2-3 hours until she was almost a year old, and both of my kids woke up 1-2 times every night until they were about 2 years old.  I was an incredibly sleep deprived mom.  It's great that you can take off the "mommy hat" once in awhile and have a chance to do things that you enjoy, like climbing.  It ultimately helps keep a new mom much more sane. 

 

As far as the food/calorie consumption goes, how are you feeling?  If you don't feel particularly hungry, you're not feeling headachy, dizzy, or fatigued, and you feel as if you're either gaining or maintaining strength, you're probably eating the right amount.  For what it's worth, I tried going low carb last challenge, and I found that the low carb vs. high carb thing made no difference at all with respect to weight loss for me, providing that I was eating at an overall calorie deficit in either case.  I know everyone's body works differently, though.  Unfortunately, postpartum weight loss seems pretty unpredictable and weird. 

 

Aaaaah that was me until 6 weeks, and I can't imagine how I would have survived if it went on for almost a year! That was the worst. I started using the Dr. Karp Happiest Baby on the Block tips and nothing worked...until I discovered the baby swing, which was like a freaking tranquilizer dart. If I had not found that, I probably wouldn't be in any frame of mind to be exercising.

 

On the food consumption...I guess I've felt pretty good, kind of hungry but not starving. Definitely not fatigued, and I know I am gaining strength based on my workouts. I think that's probably why I haven't seen the scale move too much despite running a pretty mean caloric deficit, but I do feel like I'm starting to shape up a bit. The belly fat isn't budging, though. That's going to be a pain for some time, I can already tell. But I am glad to hear that you just kind of go by your body instead of worrying about numbers of calories too much. MyFitnessPal occasionally (like once a week) chastises me about eating too little, which makes me second-guess myself.

 

Anyway, last week was kind of a shitshow for exercising, as I had childcare issues and medical bill issues that ate up a lot of my free time. So:

 

Rock climbing: C, went climbing outside one day, never made it to the gym.

Yoga: C, attended one class.

Nutrition: B, under 800 g carbs. Would have been an A but my husband tempted me with Cold Stone ice cream Saturday. Still. Not too bad.

 

So, overall for the week: C+. 

 

Just to feel a little more badass despite my poor showing this week, here I am climbing a 5.6 outside yesterday! All is not lost.

 

[18ck]

Hello!

Just parachuting in at random. Climbing is really cool. I've only done it a couple of times but I can Def see the appeal. I hope you enjoy your career as an Assassin!

[quietmuse]

Sweet!  Outside climbing!  Life does seem to happen...I'm fighting my own set of tedium the last few weeks (moving-related, new routine, etc.)

[artemiscuous]

@18ck: Thanks for the random props! Hope your challenge is going well also. Rowing is super cool as well. I always admired the crew team at my university - they were hardcore.

 

@quietmuse: Ah yes, life happening! It does that sometimes, apparently to us all. I'm trying to learn something from it and not get super down on myself for not being able to meet my goals.

 

In fact, I'm beginning to see that my goals were a little unrealistic, at least the exercise ones. As much as I would like to have 2-3 hours 4 days per week to walk to yoga, do a 90-minute class, and walk back, OR drive to the gym, climb for 90 minutes, and drive back, I do not have 8-12 hours per week to do this (and then also try to squeeze in a 4-5 hour outdoor excursion). At least, not if I also have ANYTHING AT ALL going on in my life (surprise, that NEVER HAPPENS when you have a baby). So. This is a good lesson to take into the next challenge. I'm thinking that I will keep the goal of 2 days per week for climbing and probably replace the yoga classes with yoga in my living room. That will reduce the time commitment from 2 hours to 45 minutes or so per session and I should be able to get it done during Harley's naps. And if I get the chance to go to a class, that's a bonus, but it won't take over a climbing day.

 

Anyway, this week I'm traveling for work Tuesday-Thursday, so I hit up a climbing gym in this town. It's not as nice as my gym (the top-roping is maybe five feet higher than the bouldering cave so nobody does it), and it's CRAWLING with young, shirtless hotties, all of whom are bouldering v5+. So I show up with my c-section pouch and struggle on v1s - humbling and frustrating for someone who was projecting v4s and 5.10s a year ago. HOWEVER. I scored a climbing workout on the road, so go me.

 

So okay. I'm kind of not the most forgiving person about this town that I travel to, where the office is located. I gave up on going to AA meetings here a year ago after trying like a million of them and hating them all. Apparently I also dislike the climbing gym. I probably would like it more if I could get someone to go with me. But my coworkers always chicken out. I know, I know. World's smallest violin.

 

STOP COMPLAINING, ARTEMISCUOUS. LIFE IS NOT SO BAD. 

 

So I saw this GIF and I could not stop laughing:

 

I KNOW, IT IS SO MEAN. A little prank-ish joy for your Wednesday night. 

[quietmuse]

First, I laughed at the GIF too.  Maybe we're all terrible people...but it's funny!

 

Glad you have some perspective on your goals.  Yeah, maybe they were unrealistic, but you did something for the last handful of weeks, probably more than you would have otherwise.  That's a win, however you count.

 

How'd you finish out the challenge?

[Nymeria]

I agree with Quietmuse.  Doing much of anything when you've recently had a c-section and are dealing with a young infant is amazing.  You're already way far ahead of the game.    I think yoga in your living room during naptime sounds like a great idea.  I'm a huge fan of doing yoga at home, anyway, since you can then choose your workout program/app/video based on what you feel like doing and what helps you achieve your goals much moreso than you can if you're at the mercy of a formal yoga class.

[artemiscuous]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I like this place.

 

Final week and overall scores:

 

Final week:

Climbing: A, once on the road and once at my gym.

Yoga: C, one class. I think I'm going to grab a couple of yoga DVDs.

Food: F (Pizza two nights in a row. Not even sorry).

 

Overall:

Climbing: A-

Yoga: B-

Food: C-- (I refuse to give myself an F, lol.)

 

Overall: B-. I'm okay with this, for now. I think it shows my priorities and tendencies, for sure - I love climbing, yoga is kind of secondary, and eating well is a bit of a stretch for me, but worth paying attention to. Even with a somewhat low score on that count, I've managed to lose almost 10 pounds since beginning my slow diet/exercise ramp-up 6 weeks ago. While I feel like I have to be honest about how I'm measuring up to my own standards, I don't think I'm being too hard on myself for not acing everything right away. I'll get there. I think I'll probably take a progress photo next weekend for my own motivational purposes. By then I think I will be able to see some changes.

[quietmuse]

Looks awesome.  I think the greatest value I found from this challenge was diligence/consistency and seeing what I actually found important.  I think you and I will both have tighter goals next time.

 

Take pictures!  I forgot to do it at the beginning, kinda wish I would have.  Next challenge...

 

Glad you like this place.  Me too.  See you in a guild next time?

[artemiscuous]

Assassins ahoy!! :-)