artemiscuous hits the road

[artemiscuous]

So I didn't lose much weight last challenge (like a pound or two maybe), although I did gain a good amount of strength and was able to level up on my climbing (from onsighting a 5.8 to a 5.9). I'm very happy with that, but I do think that to break the 5.10 barrier I need to drop some poundage. So I am going to try Tim Ferris's Slow Carb Diet from the 4 Hour Body. Other goals remain. Main Quest is to (free) climb a 5.10.

 

1. Climbing skills: climbing-specific workout 2x/week.

A - 2x

C -1x

F - none times :-(

 

2. General fitness: workout each day. I've got a good rotation right now between climbing, HIIT, a spinning class with weights, and yoga).

A - all 7 days (including active recovery day)

B - 6 days 

C - 5 days

D - 4 days

F - 3 days or less.

 

3. Nutrition: Follow Slow Carb Diet. Rules are as follows:

 

1. No white carbs (dairy, grains, potatoes, etc.)

2. Eat the same few meals over and over again.

3. Do not drink calories (Tim makes an exception for red wine, and I am going to make an exception for coconut milk in my coffee).

4. No fruit. 

5. One binge day per week (woo!). This will be Saturdays for me.

 

A - Perfect week.

B - Cheated on a non-cheat day.

C - Cheated on 2 non-cheat days.

F - Cheated more than 2 non-cheat days.

 

I have my first week's meals ready in the fridge and freezer. Looking forward to giving this a shot!

[Aeryn]

Hey, nice challenge! The no fruit thing would kill me… bananas are so tasty. Good luck working towards that 5.10!

[Lilith]

Good luck on getting better at climbing! Weighing less will definitely help, I can feel that my body is weighing me down too. I second Aeryn, the fruit thing would kill me. Anyway, go smash! 

[artemiscuous]

The fruit thing does suck, you guys. But the reason I believe can do it is because I can eat whatever and however much I want on Saturdays. We shall see!

 

So I'm thinking about leveling up. I guess I will divide the points for the goals the same as last time:

 

1. Climbing goal  (+1 STR, +2 DEX, +1 STA)

 

2. Workout goal  (+2 STR, +1 STA)

 

3. Nutrition goal (+3 CON)

 

On the life quest front, my New Year's resolutions are as follows, after considering opportunities for improvement from last year:

 

1. Do not embarrass or criticize others in public, even in jest.

2. Be aware of this moment.
3. Stay in touch with friends and family.
4. Practice good self-care.

 

My physical goals are better accomplished with shorter-term goals, so I never resolve anything related to diet or exercise. However, when I find myself indulging character defects or falling into unhealthy or inconsiderate habits, I try to keep those in focus for the year.

 

I'm also going to add a life quest that reflects one of my New Year's resolutions. I'd like to focus on both "Be aware of this moment" and "Stay in touch with friends and family" and resolve not to check my phone when in the company of others, including and especially my son. Ever. This might be difficult to do, not only because it's like a compulsion, but also because other people (*cough* my husband *cough*) do it all the time, and I usually respond by doing the same thing. So it's going to be interesting to try to strike a balance between not criticizing that kind of behavior in others (in public - the point of this goal is to have tough, honest conversations one-on-one, in private) while simultaneously not ignoring it or engaging in it myself. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this gently? 

[Aeryn]

Ah, the Saturday reset is a great way to make the rest of the week doable - good plan!

 

For not phone-checking, can you talk to your husband ahead of time about how this is one of your goals, and see if he'd be on board with joining you in it? Then you can set up a code-word or something for when you catch each other doing it automatically, so it's not public criticism, just the two of you keeping each other on track. My only other idea is to come up with really interesting conversation-starters, so when someone else starts to look at their phone, you can say "hey, tell me all about that awesome thing you were doing" and derail the phone-looking.

 

I generally tend to just ignore when people get sucked into their phones - if the shiny screen is more interesting than I am, so be it, I'll go talk to this person over here instead. And if I have to check my phone while I'm out (important phone call, uncontrollable need to check Facebook, etc.) I excuse myself and step outside/into a corner where I'm not being an obvious rock in the middle of everyone else's conversational flow. It is tough, though!

[artemiscuous]

Good ideas, Aeryn! I will have to see if we can have a chat about this. I don't know if he will feel like he needs to stop (I have to remind myself that it's not really my call, as much as I may want him to), but maybe he will at least support me in trying to stop. You are probably right about just ignoring it and talking to someone else or doing something else. I just have noticed that I have developed a Pavlovian response to it - "Oh, an opportunity to check Feedly/FB/whatever!" and BAM I'm reading a Dinosaur Comic before I have time to say "Stay in the moment." Anyway, I will have to work on breaking that link.

 

Exercise did not work out today. I was planning on meeting my climbing buddy at the gym after I put my son down to sleep, but he just...wouldn't sleep. I didn't get him settled until after 9:30 (bedtime is usually 7pm). So I'm just now organizing myself, and it's already past my bedtime! I seriously hope he sleeps okay tonight, or tomorrow is going to be rough.

 

Diet was great, though. I was able to pre-cook a ton of meals yesterday for the week. Here's my breakfast:

 

I have no idea how to make this photograph a reasonable size. Anyway, I did a 10-egg bake yesterday and divided it into 4 pieces - so I have about 2.5 eggs per serving, along with red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms, and bacon. That was frozen for the week. I guess I can do eggs on weekdays if only if they involve nothing more than defrosting in the microwave for a few minutes. Fry eggs on a skillet? Moi? Don't we 'ave help for zat? (The answer is non. We do not.) I warmed that up along with ranchero beans to go with my coffee and coconut milk. In a related story, a canned food made my week: these "ranchero beans." I bought them not fully understanding that they were pre-spiced pinto beans, which is perfect.

 

Anyway, this meal was so filling that I wasn't hungry for lunch until 1pm. I didn't take a pic of lunch, because of the hunger monster - as you can see from the bestial bite marks in the above meal, I barely got this pic before it was brutally devoured by a creature mostly made of teeth and stomach. It's truly disturbing. As a result of said ungodly creature, you'll have to take my word for it that lunch was even prettier than breakfast - a spinach salad with tomato, avocado, lime juice, spicy black beans, and three chicken drumsticks (I got like 20 of them for $3.50 at the store - so the drumsticks are on the menu much all week).

 

 

Then I made a chicken for dinner, along with zucchini and yellow squash. I don't even want to know how far these poor squash traveled to get to my plate. Probably from like Chili or New Zealand or something ludicrous like that. I usually try to stay somewhat seasonal, but the heart wants what it wants, I suppose. I got hungry after dinner, so I ate the rest of the chicken and some leftover slices of red and green pepper, followed now by my nightly cup of Kava tea. Very de-stressing. I can keep this up for four more days, I reckon.

[artemiscuous]

Today was pretty much yesterday, but to add to it, I was exhausted. I didn't get to the gym, as I had planned, because my husband begged me not to go out in the cold. Instead, I planned on doing yoga, but a friend called and needed to talk, which I am happy to do - but by the time we got off the phone, it was 9pm and I also realized that my yoga mat was in the car, which is parked about four blocks away. The temperature, as you all likely well know, is subzero. And I wanted to be in bed by now. So it didn't happen. It's a little frustrating on the first week, because more than anything I just want to be able to move around a little.

 

I ate the same thing as yesterday but with a pork roast instead of chicken for dinner. Here's what I'm having for lunch until I die:

 

It's good. I like it. But I haven't left the house in two days (I guess that's what happens when you telecommute 9am-5pm then work as a mom 5pm-9am without any help for a couple of days). I'm really not feeling good about that at all. It's making me want comfort food - ice cream, pizza, television. Television! That's laughable. I'm sacrificing sleep to take a shower right now.

 

Hoping tomorrow is a little better.

[Elastigirl]

Hopefully the deep freeze ends soon so you can get out.

[artemiscuous]

Hopefully the deep freeze ends soon so you can get out.

 

Thanks. Looks like we are firmly in the the above 0 range today - it's 14 degrees right now with very little wind. Never thought I would be excited about 14 degree weather in the Mid Atlantic! But I'm hoping to get out tonight for a workout. Fingers crossed.

[sueperstars]

Hello!

 

Great goals!

 

 

Those beans you had look delicious! I'm going to have to look for them when I'm at the grocery store next time - I hope we have them! And your eggs, too! I have eggs for breakfast every morning, too, but I usually scramble them in the morning. Preparing them in advance sounds like a great idea... can you share your recipe please?

 

I'm not sure where exactly you are, but I"m in Toronto, so we've been suffering in the cold, too. Craziness, isn't it? It was -22 ºC (felt like -40 with the wind chill) yesterday for my lovely 45 min walk to work, and on Saturday, it'll be +5 ºC and raining!

 

Oh small suggestion for you - if you can't get out to do your normal, planned workout, maybe you could try doing a few body weight exercises at home? That way you're still getting exercise in, but it doesn't have to take as long, and you're still around if your son needs you. Not ideal, but maybe as a back-up? LOL sometimes, when I'm really feeling like I need to do SOMETHING and I just haven't had an opportunity, I'll do squats or lunges or something while I brush my teeth! Something is better than nothing!

 

Good luck!

[obax]

Great goals, and I'm a fan of the food pics, they're making my mouth water. You've reminded me that beans are a thing, and not only that, that they're a thing I like. I should eat more.

 

I shall be following along for climbing awesomeness. And also food awesomeness. Your pics may even inspire me to cook some things...

[milythael]

You are completely justifiable in asking someone not to check their phone while they are talking to you, just as asking them not to interrupt you is reasonable.  If they have an urgent or pervasive reason they need to check their phone frequently (E.G. on call, have to check for messages from children or babysitter, etc), then you should probably be accepting of it, but checking your phone beyond a casual glance mid conversation without excusing yourself is rude to your conversational partner(s).  I would try saying something like, "why you play with your phone like that while you are talking to me, I feel like you aren't paying attention to me and like your phone is more important than talking to me."

 

Even though I'm anti-resolutions, I love the resolutions you chose.

[Nymeria]

Exercise did not work out today. I was planning on meeting my climbing buddy at the gym after I put my son down to sleep, but he just...wouldn't sleep. I didn't get him settled until after 9:30 (bedtime is usually 7pm). So I'm just now organizing myself, and it's already past my bedtime! I seriously hope he sleeps okay tonight, or tomorrow is going to be rough.

I'm sorry about the sleep issues. Normally, I would try to reassure you that your son will go back to sleeping through the night, but unfortunately, children's sleep cycles are a bit of a roller coaster, where kids who were previously sleeping well will have weeks at a time of crappy sleep. I really hope you get some sleep tonight.

Do you have a pull up bar in your house? You could somewhat compensate for lost climbing days by making a super efficient bar workout. 3 circuits of pull ups, flex hangs, toes to bar, dead hangs, push ups, and squats could easily be squeezed into a 20 minute workout after getting your son in bed.

[Elastigirl]

Thanks. Looks like we are firmly in the the above 0 range today - it's 14 degrees right now with very little wind. Never thought I would be excited about 14 degree weather in the Mid Atlantic! But I'm hoping to get out tonight for a workout. Fingers crossed.

Wow, that just still seems so wrong and cold. Hope it is a balmy 18 degrees so you can go out  

[artemiscuous]

 can you share your recipe please?

 

I'm not sure where exactly you are, but I"m in Toronto, so we've been suffering in the cold, too. Craziness, isn't it? It was -22 ºC (felt like -40 with the wind chill) yesterday for my lovely 45 min walk to work, and on Saturday, it'll be +5 ºC and raining!

 

Oh small suggestion for you - if you can't get out to do your normal, planned workout, maybe you could try doing a few body weight exercises at home? That way you're still getting exercise in, but it doesn't have to take as long, and you're still around if your son needs you. Not ideal, but maybe as a back-up? LOL sometimes, when I'm really feeling like I need to do SOMETHING and I just haven't had an opportunity, I'll do squats or lunges or something while I brush my teeth! Something is better than nothing!

 

NP, I used this recipe as a guide: http://justjessieb.blogspot.com/2013/11/sausage-egg-breakfast-bake-paleo.html  But I used 8 strips of bacon instead of chorizo (only because my grocery store didn't have chorizo, I fracking LOVE chorizo) and canned, full-fat coconut milk instead of the So Delicious "coconut milk beverage" which is a little more expensive. I also only used 10 eggs so that it would fit in my little round baking pan. 

 

You are so much more hardcore than me! I live in Maryland. I wear two coats when it's 20 degrees. I can't imagine walking 45 minutes in a -40 windchill...I didn't know humans could survive that, tbh.

 

As to the bodyweight thing, yes. I could have done that on Monday. Should have. At the time, I just kind of shrugged and figured that Tuesday would work out. Of course, this lesson is that I can't count on that, since Tuesday I was super busy until I posted, at which point I was so tired it would have been a miracle to muster a downward-facing dog. But hopefully I will get better on not taking my energy or time for granted anymore! 

 

Great goals, and I'm a fan of the food pics, they're making my mouth water. You've reminded me that beans are a thing, and not only that, that they're a thing I like. I should eat more.

 

I shall be following along for climbing awesomeness. And also food awesomeness. Your pics may even inspire me to cook some things...

 

Well. Maybe I will keep posting blurry camera phone pics of my food, then. :-) I know I need inspiration to cook sometimes, too. And I hope very much to post some climbing awesomeness! Probably no pics, though. I always feel cooler than I look when climbing. I'm not at the "hero moves" skill level yet.

 

You are completely justifiable in asking someone not to check their phone while they are talking to you, just as asking them not to interrupt you is reasonable.  If they have an urgent or pervasive reason they need to check their phone frequently (E.G. on call, have to check for messages from children or babysitter, etc), then you should probably be accepting of it, but checking your phone beyond a casual glance mid conversation without excusing yourself is rude to your conversational partner(s).  I would try saying something like, "why you play with your phone like that while you are talking to me, I feel like you aren't paying attention to me and like your phone is more important than talking to me."

 

Even though I'm anti-resolutions, I love the resolutions you chose.

 

Thanks, you are right, milythael. My problem has been my method of calling people out, which is why I made that resolution not to criticize or embarrass - when I feel like someone is being a jerk to me, I desire public shaming in retribution. I will have satisfaction! But I want to be more compassionate about it and confront it a little more honestly, in a private conversation. I think you make a good point, though - if I am honest and speak from a place of how it makes me feel, it doesn't necessarily have to wait.

 

I'm sorry about the sleep issues. Normally, I would try to reassure you that your son will go back to sleeping through the night, but unfortunately, children's sleep cycles are a bit of a roller coaster, where kids who were previously sleeping well will have weeks at a time of crappy sleep. I really hope you get some sleep tonight.

Do you have a pull up bar in your house? You could somewhat compensate for lost climbing days by making a super efficient bar workout. 3 circuits of pull ups, flex hangs, toes to bar, dead hangs, push ups, and squats could easily be squeezed into a 20 minute workout after getting your son in bed.

 

He has definitely been going through some crazy changes. It started about a month ago. The weird thing is that it's been getting better - he doesn't wake up when we are asleep as much as he did a few weeks ago - but I still do! So I end up just awake for no reason at 1am, 3am, 4am...then he'll do his one night waking at 5am, lol. But yeah, hoping to break that habit.

 

I do have a hangboard, actually! It is helpfully sitting on my side table in the living room. :-/ I need to get to a hardware store so that I can mount it. I have the perfect place and everything.

 

But yes, I think I will start implementing those circuits the minute I realize a climbing trip is falling through. Great circuit you've laid out, too.

 

Wow, that just still seems so wrong and cold. Hope it is a balmy 18 degrees so you can go out  

 

Haha yes, looks like it's almost 30! Truly, we are blessed with tropical weather tonight.

[obax]

Wow, that just still seems so wrong and cold. Hope it is a balmy 18 degrees so you can go out  

 

14F (-10C) IS balmy, I dunno what you're talking about

 

We got up to that today after it being -14F (-26C) for the last few days, and I was like, holy, it's warm today!

[artemiscuous]

Obax, how come you are still a recruit with 1871 posts??

[obax]

Obax, how come you are still a recruit with 1871 posts??

 

Not a clue. I always just assumed you got randomly assigned those designations and that they didn't have anything to do with anything...

[artemiscuous]

Not a clue. I always just assumed you got randomly assigned those designations and that they didn't have anything to do with anything...

 

So weird. I thought I had detected a pattern of a sort of "leveling up" based on number of posts - for example, when I hit 100, I went from Newbie to Recruit, and I noticed that 100-post threshold was fairly consistent...but now you've thrown my entire hypothesis into question.

[obax]

So weird. I thought I had detected a pattern of a sort of "leveling up" based on number of posts - for example, when I hit 100, I went from Newbie to Recruit, and I noticed that 100-post threshold was fairly consistent...but now you've thrown my entire hypothesis into question.

 

*shrug* sorry... I've never been very good at following the rules. Maybe I'm just an aberration sent by the sysadmin to keep you on your toes.

[Elastigirl]

14F (-10C) IS balmy, I dunno what you're talking about

 

We got up to that today after it being -14F (-26C) for the last few days, and I was like, holy, it's warm today!

This almost makes me stop complaining about our rain.

[obax]

This almost makes me stop complaining about our rain.

 

I actually like the rain, provided I have proper gear. I like the sound of it on my hood. I like the snow too, it's just wind I'm a baby about...

[artemiscuous]

I just have to say that I hate wind so much. I feel like it's intentionally harassing me, like a bully that won't stop lightly pushing me and messing up my hair. "Leave me alone, wind! I hate you!" 

 

Moving on. I finally went climbing tonight, and I wasn't even planning on it! Such serendipity - my sister stopped by to see the baby, and she just so happened to be free to go climbing. And my son went down with little to no struggle right at 7. A series of fortunate events. So I'm feeling a lot better tonight. Especially because I also got out for lunch - first time in days I set foot outside (auuugh I hate that this could even happen).

 

Climbing was good. I onsighted another 5.9; this one was called Frostbite, and it was pretty neat. It had slab, overhang, arete, and a crack that ran from the bottom to the top. I think it was called Frostbite because of the crack - it required a lot of toe jams and my toes definitely felt a little numb by the end! Haha, routesetters. You win this time. I tried a couple of moves on a 5.10c but I was gassed. Weirdly, the 5.8 I did to warm up for the 5.9 kicked my ass. On the crux move (which was on a roof about 60 feet up), I fell a couple of times and only got it on the third try. It was a weird route - in a corner, so there were a ton of drop knee moves, and the holds were all stupid little nothing holds because it was kind of stemming? I didn't like it, but now I have to do it again so that I can free climb and thoroughly defeat it. It was called Food Coma, for no reason at all.

 

Diet was on point as well. Same egg bake and chicken/beans/salad for lunch; two bunless hamburgers over salad for dinner. Yay!

[sueperstars]

NP, I used this recipe as a guide: http://justjessieb.blogspot.com/2013/11/sausage-egg-breakfast-bake-paleo.html  But I used 8 strips of bacon instead of chorizo (only because my grocery store didn't have chorizo, I fracking LOVE chorizo) and canned, full-fat coconut milk instead of the So Delicious "coconut milk beverage" which is a little more expensive. I also only used 10 eggs so that it would fit in my little round baking pan. 

 

You are so much more hardcore than me! I live in Maryland. I wear two coats when it's 20 degrees. I can't imagine walking 45 minutes in a -40 windchill...I didn't know humans could survive that, tbh.

 

 

Thanks for the recipe! How well did it freeze / reheat? I've never frozen and reheated eggs before.

 

As for the weather - I'm Canadian, its what we do.   But seriously - I was wearing 3 layers of pants, including wind breakers, a poly-pro shirt, thick sweater, wool socks, normal socks, big winter boots, my winter coat, a scarf, a neck warmer thing I also pulled up over my ears, a toque (woolen hat for you non Canucks out there eh), arm warmers, gloves and mittens. I, too, hate the wind - its the biggest problem with the cold.

 

Climbing was good. I onsighted another 5.9; this one was called Frostbite, and it was pretty neat. It had slab, overhang, arete, and a crack that ran from the bottom to the top. I think it was called Frostbite because of the crack - it required a lot of toe jams and my toes definitely felt a little numb by the end! Haha, routesetters. You win this time. I tried a couple of moves on a 5.10c but I was gassed. Weirdly, the 5.8 I did to warm up for the 5.9 kicked my ass. On the crux move (which was on a roof about 60 feet up), I fell a couple of times and only got it on the third try. It was a weird route - in a corner, so there were a ton of drop knee moves, and the holds were all stupid little nothing holds because it was kind of stemming? I didn't like it, but now I have to do it again so that I can free climb and thoroughly defeat it. It was called Food Coma, for no reason at all.

 

Great that you went climbing! Your gym sounds great! I'm jealous!

 

(Edited to add more layers of clothing!)

[artemiscuous]

Thanks for the recipe! How well did it freeze / reheat? I've never frozen and reheated eggs before.

 

As for the weather - I'm Canadian, its what we do.   

 

So that was the one thing about this - I had to defrost it for like 7 or 8 minutes, then just reheat on regular power for another 3. I feel like there is probably a microwave trick that I just don't know. It probably depends on your microwave, too - mine is 1000 watts. 

 

You Canadians don't get enough credit. I do the wool socks/normal socks thing very often, and it is usually not colder than 10 degrees F or so.

 

So today I had another good day! I had a meeting about an hour away, so I had to eat lunch and dinner out. Can I just say that you don't realize until you take away the grains what teeny portions of protein are on most restaurants' plates? I wished so hard for a Chipotle salad today.

 

I did a HIIT bodyweight circuit after putting my son to bed. Each round was 8 sets of 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest.

 

Round 1 (arms):

High to low to high plank (hands to forearms and back, basically - this one killed my pecs and abs)

Tricep dips (obvious and killer)

Pike press

 

Wall handstand planche (just held it for 30 seconds - ouch)

 

Round 2 (legs):

Jumping lunges 

Side lunges

Full ROM squats (keep it slow-ish for form)

Skater jumps

 

Round 3 (core):

Turkish get-ups (go from laying on your back to standing without using your hands)

Low plank leg lifts

Double leg lift (my goal here was for each rep to be extremely slow)

Reptile plank (high plank touching knees to outside of elbows)