Strawberry Squatcake Is Crashing Tanner Family Fun Night!

[Brometheus]

Well, there's always a last-minute decision to come to Texas. Texas forever!

 

 

 

Obviously we just need every single nerd at TTTT.

[Brometheus]

I'm glad I'm in good company. I'm feeling a lot less old!! I used to do lunges all day with no issues. So I figured it was oldness leaking into my aching joints. But if this is a normal symptom for badasses, I'll carry on. One step closer to my goal! 

 

You can't be old. Really. 

 

Also, try cutting out all veggie oils and gluten and see if the knee stuff gets better.

 

Or buy voodoo floss and wrap the knee!

[Morrigainz]

I still need to do voodoo floss.

 

Also, I'm in with the reverse lunges and BSS. Fuck forward lunges. In the ear.

[Hermione Gainser]

Add me to the reverse lunge club.  I don't do well with regular lunges either.  I can sometimes do walking lunges, which is weird, but regular ol' lunges are no bueno. Go figure.

[PrincessHeather]

I want to say that it the transition to getting back up on the forward lunge that's the problem. For me , I feel like I'm jerking myself back up, can't ever really be as controlled as the other variations, and that jerking make my knees hurt.

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Obviously we just need every single nerd at TTTT.

  

Yes! Every one! Did Steve say that's 150k? A real rebellion!

You can't be old. Really. 

 

Also, try cutting out all veggie oils and gluten and see if the knee stuff gets better.

 

Or buy voodoo floss and wrap the knee!

 

I avoid gluten. Not 100%, but it's pretty rare. I never cook with veggie oils, but I have eaten out this week, so that could be it. It's weird, I used to kick some lunge ass (and actually LIKED them), it feels like something is over or under-trained now.

 

I still need to do voodoo floss.

 

Also, I'm in with the reverse lunges and BSS. Fuck forward lunges. In the ear.

 

Yeah! The ear!

 

Add me to the reverse lunge club.  I don't do well with regular lunges either.  I can sometimes do walking lunges, which is weird, but regular ol' lunges are no bueno. Go figure.

 

What Ph said below.... I wonder if the forward momentum makes up for something? Hmmmmmm.

 

I want to say that it the transition to getting back up on the forward lunge that's the problem. For me , I feel like I'm jerking myself back up, can't ever really be as controlled as the other variations, and that jerking make my knees hurt.

I think that's how I'd describe my issue. Like something is off-balance as far as how I'm trained. But I'll do dips/reverse lunges. And step ups. And hopefully that'll do a body good!

Glad I'm not alone or falling apart!

So, today sucked. So many ughs. Didn't workout. Instead went to my sister's. Brought beer. My bro in law and I had a few beers with dinner. Taught my nieces and nephews "cheers." And then suggested we go out for ice cream.

Best Friday (or any day) I've had in a long time! Worth skipping the workout. Just what I needed. I'll workout first thing tomorrow and do a later Sunday workout to catch up.

Got in four walks this week. So 80 minutes of cardio. I pushed up the HR with incline. So I'm pleased with it, especially with this lingering cough. Just gotta get in some body rolling this weekend, and I'm good!

[Max Power]

Sounds like you made the right choice. Beer and ice cream sounds pretty awesome (not together though). One of the powerlifting guys I listen to likes to do something he calls vice Friday, and he suggests eating a big crazy meal and a pint of ice cream. It's not a meal plan I can argue with.

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[Morrigainz]

Absolutely. Sometimes you just have to have those kinds of things. I support occasionally skipping workouts for such things! Especially when dealing with motherfucking Cox

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Sounds like you made the right choice. Beer and ice cream sounds pretty awesome (not together though). One of the powerlifting guys I listen to likes to do something he calls vice Friday, and he suggests eating a big crazy meal and a pint of ice cream. It's not a meal plan I can argue with.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Absolutely. Sometimes you just have to have those kinds of things. I support occasionally skipping workouts for such things! Especially when dealing with motherfucking Cox

 

It was an excellent night. Much-needed. After trying to workout Saturday and Sunday with this cough, I think I would have just added more disappointment to my Friday had I tried to workout. So I'm really happy I didn't do it!

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Well Pin A Rose On Your Nose

·         Lift 3X a week. I’m doing NROLFW. I’ve already started it, so my goal is 2-3X a week. 3X a week if I can keep workouts under an hour. Otherwise 2X a week.

·         Cardio 1-2X a week (no more than 30 minutes).

·         At least 1 hour of body rolling total per week.

 

So, enough working out that I feel good. Not THIS MUCH working out:

Cut It Out

Get rid of the scale. I weighed and measured myself on 12/30. And I’m not doing either until the end of the challenge. The scale is a constant source of insanity for me.

 

How Rude!

My new year’s resolution is to NOT argue with people or try to give them a different perspective. It’s a fruitless effort that results in ME being more frustrated. I don’t need to change people, or convince someone else of anything. So no more talking about religion or politics. I’ll be employing my smile and nod technique. On the flip, I’ll be saying yes to every cool opportunity that comes my way (this is an extension of a 2013 goal I started late in the year).

Have Mercy!

I’m also tracking food. Not restricting, just making sure I stay under 2300 since I’m not weighing for six weeks. I’m also tracking my blood pressure. I’m not sure if it was a fluke or what. Six or so months ago it was way normal (100-110/60-70). I think MSG is making me have a weird reaction, and when I checked my BP the few days after eating it, it was in the 140-150/80-95 range. Yikes.

 

This means no more restricting and weird diets for me!

But, don't worry. I'm not under the impression I'm a three year old with a metabolism for cookies, cake, chips and ous-cream. Instead, my focus is on plenty of movement and health.

Alright, week one in review:

 

Lifting - I got one good lift in. Two false starts. This cough is killing me, Smalls. 

Cardio - 80 minutes. Technically over my limit of an hour, but this is walking (with the goal of raising heart rate), so I'll take it, especially since lifting was kind of a bust.

Ball Rolling - 30 minutes. So, half. 

 

I'll give myself a C for workout for the week. I'm still recovering from this sickness. I either can't fall asleep or wake up most nights in a coughing fit. I hope I'm on the end of that this week. 

 

Scale - I did weigh myself. But it was for science when I was sick. OK, and then once after. Sigh. But I'm not doing it daily. And I really felt more curious than emotional about it. Easy to say when the scale's going down, huh? I'll give myself a B. 

 

Politics and Religion - I failed at this once. Back on the wagon! I'm still giving myself an A-. It was at an emotionally annoying time of day and I only have one friend who writes about this crap still in my FB news feed b/c we're good friends. It was like a perfect storm. I didn't reply to replies. So win.

 

Food - I don't know how to gauge this since I was sick. In a past life, this week would be a gigantic win. I had to struggle to get to 2000 calories, and a few days I was at 1500 and gave up. I assume the cold meds were suppressing my appetite. Anyway, I stayed under 2300 for sure. So I'll give myself an A because, well, who cares, right?

 

 

Overall week one I'll say a B. Not a terrible week. Not a great week, but most of the "not so great" was coming from being sick. I set one main goal each night. On workout nights, that's simply a workout. On non-workout nights, it was random stuff around the house. One goal. So simple. Who knew? So I'll keep that up this week. And hopefully with more sleep I'll be more motivated to be more active. 

[Melaynah]

Feel better, SS!  Coughing is teh suck!

[Strawberry Squatcake]

I don't even feel sick, I just have random coughing fits. During the day it seems to be limited mostly to about 3:30-4:30PM, strangely enough. But then at night I usually go into a fit as soon as I lay down. Then when I finally get to sleep, I usually wake up a few times coughing. Then it's hard to get back to sleep. 

 

So hardly terrible, just wearing on me sleep-wise. I spent most of last weekend napping to try to catch up. Hopefully by this weekend I'll be considerably improved! 

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Ugh. I had a day yesterday. It's funny how these things sneak up on me.

 

First, I was dreading working out. Dreading it. Twice this weekend I tried to do my workouts 3&4 from NROLFW, but failed on both the squats and DLs. Those workouts are 15 reps. And I gave up after the squat and DL portion. So last night I told myself I'd go into workout 5 (12 reps) and if I still struggled with squats, I'd move on to the rest. It was still defeating. I don't know what's wrong with me. Less than a month ago I did 95X10X5 (so 10 reps, 5 sets). And last night I tried 75X12. Fail. I got to about 8 reps. So I dropped the weight down to 65 (same as my 15 reps before I got sick), and still struggled to get the 12 reps. I know it's probably because I'm sick. And tired from being sick and waking up coughing. But still. COME ON, BODY!

 

So here's what I did:

 

Squats

45X8

65X6

95X5

75X8

65X12

65X6

65X4

Gave up. Sigh. I hate giving up. But I felt defeated. 

 

Incline PushupsX12

Rows: 55X12 (increase from 45X15)

Incline PU X12

Rows: 55X12

 

Step ups: 30lbsX12Xleft, 30lbsX12Xright

JackknivesX10

Step ups: 30lbsX12Xleft, 30lbsX12Xright

JackknivesX10

 

 

So while the rest of the workout wasn't terrible, I felt like crap the entire time. I don't think it's low carbs that are the issue. I intentionally ate a bunch more carbs than normal the past few days. Maybe I ate too much? I also bought protein powder for the first time in over a year. It should arrive on Friday. It's also possible this is related to just being sick and not a trend, but i really do feel like my strength has declined like crazy over the past year and a half. I'm to the point I curse lifting and if i hadn't spent so much money on my home gym, I'd probably abandon lifting all together. Sad, right?

 

Anyway, then after that I got on the ETF FB page. There were some people talking about the difference between the main ETF group (which I left b/c I didn't like it) and the weight loss one, which I mostly like. I say "mostly" because it still feels like half the people are there to genuinely learn and be supportive and the other half are from the mean girls table. There's one know-it-all doctor who rubs me the wrong way. He makes these sweeping definitive (yet vague) statements, but if you ask him to expand, he gets defensive and more mean. He can't back anything up, and can't seem to deviate from generalizations for everyone. All he does is accuse people of not knowing how to count calories. Or still having disordered eating issues. If someone asks for advice on something he says generally, he gets aggressive and mean. And then accuses you of over-complicating it. Then he has all of these weird minions who jump in and tell you to respect him. I'm not disrespecting him! I'm asking a valid question. Sheesh!

 

Anyway, last night a few people were talking about the differences between the groups, and noting they were only part of the WL group. When others asked why, they explained a bunch of valid reasons: they didn't like seeing all of the nearly naked pictures, they didn't like the junk food promoting, they didn't like the off-topic posts, they didn't like the cursing, etc. Of course, all of tehse things were met with the mean girls table attacking, and those who had valid reasons retreating. I made the mistake of trying to play mediator (I have a tendency to do that), and tried to make each see the other side.

 

That resulted in ME getting Mean Girled. Ugh. So I cashed in my chips and left the group. (That's minimizing how it actually made me feel. They insulted me and were passive aggressive. And it did hurt my feelings, which is ultimately why I left.) 

 

Why can't everywhere in the world be like Nerd Fitness?

 

Anyway, it was a not-great night. I know it's nothing compared to real problems, but today's started out kind of bummed out. I feel a little lost, and don't know how to proceed. Sigh. I know that's dramatic. But that's how I feel. 

 

So, anyway. Not all sunshine and rainbows in the SS thread today. Sorry, nerds! 

[nightlight]

<3 you

[Hermione Gainser]

[weirdquark]

Yeah, the ETF group has it's own issues. I've been contemplating leaving for a while and finally did so; I enjoyed having so many people in favor of eating instead of going on about how 'good' they were or were not being but I don't need that in my life now. (I will also unlike anything that goes on about whether or not everyone should eat a certain way. Screw you diet police, I don't eat cupcakes because I don't like them, not because I 'shouldn't'.)

 

High reps is hard stuff in a different way from lifting heavy. I think being sick is much more likely to screw you over when you have to lift something 10+ times than if you have to lift something heavier for 5 and I always know that when my usually light feeling warmup is heavy I'm not going to have a good session.

 

But even though it felt like giving up, you did as much as you could, so go you!

[Morrigainz]

What WQ said. Doing something is better than doing nothing!

 

And sometimes you just have to hang it up for a minute. I know sometimes if I'm starting to get frustrated it'll really mess with my headspace and I'll be more likely to miss my next lifts.

 

I'm sorry you got Mean Girled. That really sucks. People on the internet suck (except for NF). That means you should just stay away from there and  spend more time in NF chat!

 

<3

[Strawberry Squatcake]

<3 you

 

Thanks. <3 you, too! 

 

 

Haha. Yes! 

 

Yeah, the ETF group has it's own issues. I've been contemplating leaving for a while and finally did so; I enjoyed having so many people in favor of eating instead of going on about how 'good' they were or were not being but I don't need that in my life now. (I will also unlike anything that goes on about whether or not everyone should eat a certain way. Screw you diet police, I don't eat cupcakes because I don't like them, not because I 'shouldn't'.)

 

High reps is hard stuff in a different way from lifting heavy. I think being sick is much more likely to screw you over when you have to lift something 10+ times than if you have to lift something heavier for 5 and I always know that when my usually light feeling warmup is heavy I'm not going to have a good session.

 

But even though it felt like giving up, you did as much as you could, so go you!

 

I feel like a lot of the people posting that stuff are doing what I was doing when I was trying to be healthy... Trying to convince themselves (by convincing everyone else) that they're doing the right thing. I also hate the diet police. You eat what works for you. I'll eat what works for me. The one thing I loved about ETF was "Eye on your own plate." So don't go shoving your plate in my face (said to the ETFers, not you)!  

 

 

And I hope you're right about endurance. I think it's partly the cough (although not hindering my breathing, I'm probably in "healing mode" with it) plus the lack of sleep because of it. And I think that lack of sleep is what's making me more emotional. 

 

And I agree. My incline pushups and rows felt good. I was surprised how good the step ups felt (even with increased height and weight). So I should focus on that and not the bummer squats. 

 

What WQ said. Doing something is better than doing nothing!

 

And sometimes you just have to hang it up for a minute. I know sometimes if I'm starting to get frustrated it'll really mess with my headspace and I'll be more likely to miss my next lifts.

 

I'm sorry you got Mean Girled. That really sucks. People on the internet suck (except for NF). That means you should just stay away from there and  spend more time in NF chat!

 

<3

 

I think I'm to the point I need to stop worrying about stupid stuff. I'm worried about TTTT - and people thinking I'm a fraud. I used to lift a LOT more. And it's just gone downhill the past year. Partly b/c of injuries. Partly because of loss of... Motivation? Faith? Focus? Who knows. And partly because I feel old. Ugh. I hate feeling old. 

 

I have been enjoying some cardio stuff a bit more. Like the challenge of the rowing machine. Incline walks at work. So I should just do what feels good for now, and let it come full circle. 

 

In the meantime, if squats and DL aren't there on NROLFW but I like th eother accessory stuff, I should just drop the weight (and ego) and get through that stuff. Then enjoy the new stuff I haven't ever done, or done in a while. 

 

Also, yes, the whole Internet sucks except NF. I've never chatted. I should learn how to do that. I wonder if I can on my iPad. I hate getting out my laptop at home if I don't have to work. 

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Alright, wanted to talk food for a minute. I've been trying to add back in foods I'd taken out or deemed evil, and how that's gone. Things I've craved for months and months but denied myself. Or things I avoided or felt guilty eating.

 

• Oatmeal - OMG my oatmeal cravings. Had some. Just OK. I realized I never really loved oatmeal (you know, unless it has a cup of brown sugar!) before so I wasn't sure why I was putting it on a pedestal. 
• Green peppers - Once I added peppers back after my first treatment, I ate as many as I could. Then I stopped and tasted sweet/bell/green peppers. As a kid I hated them. Then I taught myself to eat them. Then I LOVED them. I put them in everything. I loved them raw and cooked. But now? They kind of taste like sweat socks smell. Haha. Weird. Like bitter, but also... I dunno. Sweaty. Sorry, I know that's weird and gross. 
• Pizza - Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I crave it like a feign. I used to love any kind. Hot or cold. Guess what? I don't liek cold pizza at all anymore. At all. So why do I get more than I can eat in one serving? I'm learning the joys of personal sized pizzas. I mean, I still love pizza. But some pizzas I'm like, "Why did I ever love you?" So that's been very weird. Doesn't stop me from craving the good stuff, though.
• Frozen Pizza - I had to list this separately. I loved frozen pizza as a kid. Mom Squat HATED it when we ate them b/c of the mess in the oven and because "they're not real food, just go to <pizza place> if you really want pizza. At least their toppings are real food." Anyway, I craved one. Bought one. I ate it, but it was lackluster. I kept trying to add stuff to it - salt and pepper, parmesan, garlic powder, etc. I was like, "Why am I doing this?" So, frozen pizzas - you aren't as delicious as you once were! 
• Roast Beef - Walmart has this roast beef in their deli section. It's black angus. I think it's cooked rare. It's just lunch meat, but OMG, SO GOOD. Well, I DID used to love it. And I got it all the time when I used to buy sandwich fixings for a whole week. Then I cut out bread. And processed lunch meats. And I dreamed about that stuff. Bought some this weekend. Just OK. But.... what do I still like?
• Sandwich Bread - Wheat, especially with peanut butter toast. Or anything white. I love white sandwich bread. I can't help it.
• Cheese Sandwiches - Sadly, I still love these. Like love-love. Such a weird thing I suspected I'd grown out of, but nope! In HS I used to have two pieces of bread, a slice of American cheese, and a leaf of lettuce. Every day. My mom thought I was crazy. So did most of my friends. Then in college I graduated to Mr. Goodcents cheese mix sandwiches. I credit them for my original weight gain. Well, not totally. But I ate a LOT of them. Too bad I still love them. Mostly because there's a lot of carbs, not a ton of protein. Not very nutrient-dense. So OK on occasion. 
• Cookies - At Christmas my mom had a tray of random cookies. I tasted a few, all were relatively flavorless from what I expected. Just sweet. There were two cookies (and one wasn't officially a cookie) I liked. But I'd kept them off limits for so long, I'd built them up. I still love oatmeal spice cookies. So nothing earth-shattering has happened. But mostly, why was I so obsessed with missing them?
• Chips - What I don't miss in cookies, I make up for in chips. Sigh. They've always been a weakness. 
• Cheese Dip - Strangely, though, one of my favorite foods. I'm now picky on which kind is worth it. Don't get me wrong, I still like it, but it's not something I try to make an excuse to eat anymore. 

 

So I'm continuing to not limit anything (besides peppers, which I guess I am eating sparingly b/c of my last allergy treatment, and eggs). Just trying to be honest with how food tastes. Letting myself have cravings and giving in to them if they last more than a day or two or I'm compensating with other foods. I try to figure out what I'm craving with a certain food. For example, maybe I want spicy and that makes me think o fchips and salsa. Do I really want salsa? Or just something spicy? And is a little chips and salsa a bad thing? I'm also trying to have stuff and only eat until satisfied, which isn't a huge problem for me, but I have eaten for emotions in the past. And I have kept eating when I'm full, because it's good or it's on the plate. I'm tryign to get past that. Throw some plastic wrap over it if you don't want to waste it, SS! 

 

Anyway, I don't think my weight's changed at all since starting this journey. Up or down. At least my clothes don't say so. So I'll keep doing it. Getting some of the weird foods out of my "system" (like the roast beef and frozen pizza) have been good. While others (cheese sandwiches!!!) might be not-so-good. If you see me and I say all I've eaten for a month is cheese sandwiches, intervene.

[Morrigainz]

I bet you can! I don't have an ipad but I know there is an android app for chat. 

 

Also - you enjoy what you enjoy. It is fine. And NO ONE is going to think you are a fraud. I used to lift a lot more too You're our SS....don't sell yourself short.

[Melaynah]

Aw, SS.  I'm sorry your session didn't go great, especially because I knew you were amped going into it.  But good on you for not just saying "eff it" and walking away from it.  

 

I think it's really interesting how we build up certain foods in our minds as being so amazing, but in actuality, it winds up being much more lackluster.  I think maybe, like lifting, they're things that come in cycles.  Either it's something your body needs, so you can't get enough of something for awhile.  Come back to it six months later and, eh.  Or it's something that's tied to memory or emotion, so you're convinced that you'll be getting all of the "good" of a certain food every time--sometime's that's true, sometimes not so much.  I don't know, I'm rambling a little, but also thinking of my own emotional attachments to certain foods and how sometimes I will eat something constantly for weeks and weeks (granny smith apples, dried mango, chili lime almonds are all recent examples), and then I drop them again just as fast for months or years.

 

Finally, NO ONE would think you're a fraud.  Kelly, good gods, you're there for TTTT, but also for your pals.  I'm jealous to bits of the meet-up, and you need to enjoy it for all of us, dammit!  Erm, no pressure.  

[PrincessHeather]

Finally, NO ONE would think you're a fraud.  Kelly, good gods, you're there for TTTT, but also for your pals.  I'm jealous to bits of the meet-up, and you need to enjoy it for all of us, dammit!  Erm, no pressure.  

 

HAHAHA, this!

[Hermione Gainser]

Love the food list and the approach you're taking.  Yay for sanity and happiness and food! Huzzah!

 

Don't fret about TTTT.  It'll be an awesome time, you'll lift what you lift and you'll party with nerds.  and I'm so jealous.

[weirdquark]

Love the food list and the approach you're taking.  Yay for sanity and happiness and food! Huzzah!

 

Don't fret about TTTT.  It'll be an awesome time, you'll lift what you lift and you'll party with nerds.  and I'm so jealous.

 

Yes, this! Sounds like your figuring out food and not restricting kinds of food is working for you so far!

 

I'm not going to be able to make TTTT because we have a friend visiting that weekend and she's visiting for an academic thing so it can't be some other weekend. Like you I'm not thrilled with where my lifts are compared to where I think they should be, but I'm sad about not being able to hang out with everyone!

[Dom]

And, ipso facto, you don't lift, you're not gonna get a pump. You don't have a pump, you don't belong in the gym. Hit the treadmill.