CG - First steps to a new year

[clawguard]

Seeing as my birthday is in a couple weeks and this is my first challenge I'm using this as a way to kick off changing my life for the better.

So, getting to the goals.

Wellness/Exercise

• Barbell Battalion Goals listed below.
• Eat a minimum of 3 full meals everyday.
• Bring lunch to work at once a week.
• Sleep 8 hours a night. (Curse you Netflix ;; )

Life

• Cut down on expenses (tho with purchasing more food, not sure if I'll see any savings ; )
• Study Korean (1 Rosetta Stone lesson or 4 episodes (4 hours) of k-drama)

Okay, now that I'm starting to get some numbers.

Starting:

Squat: 135#

Push Press: 70#

Deadlift: ? 90# ? (most done so far, friday will determine correct weight)

Pullups: 3 unassisted

Goal:

Squat: 165# (~ body weight)

Push Press: 100#

Deadlift: ? + 30# (for easy calculation's sake ; )

Pullups: 7 unassisted

Translates to an increase of ~7.5# (or 1 pullup) per week. (and now something that's easily quantifiable )

[Kishi]

Netflix does that: takes away the sleep. What kind of stuff do you like to watch?

[Sanjh]

Cool, another BBB nube, good luck to you!

[clawguard]

@Kishi, My watching habits vary as I make my way through what is offered by Netflix. I can't remember everything as of late, but I'm waiting for new episodes of Stargate Universe, Doctor Who, Lie To Me, Leverage (need to check if the new season is there). I've been watching Numbers and... Boys Over Flowers (k-dramas are a guilty pleasure ;; (one of the reasons for learning Korean))

@Sanjh, good luck to you as well.

Went through a "B" set yesterday, made it up to 90 lb deadlifts before running out of weight (was using the fixed weight barbells). I called it at that though because they were difficult enough at the time (it was getting hard to get through a set of 10) and my form had slipped a couple times (probably just due to being tired... I have no idea how many deadlifts I ended up doing at that point).

Today's my start day, so pictures will be taken later, and that'll really be my only metric (asides from the lifting numbers).

Although just for a couple more numbers that won't really be tracked.

Weight: 161.5 (which is 5-7 lbs more than a week or two ago )

Body Fat %: 14.3 (through the gym's electrical impedance device, planning on going to a bodypod or similar at the end of the challenge)

[Loren Wade]

Do you have any more specific goals in mind? Do you want to lose weight? Gain muscle? What kind of diet are you following?

[smedly]

Sure looks like our squad likes the Barbell Battalion. I can't wait to see how we do and look forward to the next six weeks! Also Lauren made a good point.

[Seabright]

Hey, welcome to your first challenge, CG! Learning a foreign language = awesome. I have a feeling that once you start really digging in to your training, your appetite will rev up. Nothing like flinging around heavy stuff to give you the hungries.

Go get 'em!

[clawguard]

My only real goal is to get stronger (a couple more inches here and there would be nice, but secondary to strength) to that end, once I figure out a baseline (what I'm up to this week as the program's starting) I'll add some number goals to my first post.

My diet, is something that could use some better thought (of the planning variety), but over the past few weeks it's gone towards mostly a Paleo+Dairy, grains have been becoming less frequent as of late.

As far as just plain eating goes, I have been eating more as of late (mainly since I've been more hungry as of late as well). It's really a mixture of a remnant of how I had been eating and... laziness ; Before (a few months back, for the past few years) I was probably taking in somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 calories per day averaged... across the week (some days I ate just lunch and a few snacks). That's been changing, I had nearly a full rack of ribs sunday night. ;

Getting to today's progress:

• Push Press: up to 65x10x5, the last ones were hard, but the weight's defiantly going up next time.
• Squats: got up to 105x10 (the gym was closing, so I was just upping the weight each set) this will also be going up.
• 2 Korean lessons (each little dot in Rosetta Stone is a lesson)

Thoughts: Haven't found my baselines yet, but I'm getting closer.

[Kishi]

Getting closer is great. Once you figure out your baselines, you'll be able to chart and walk a specific path versus having something vague and undefined. You want to be able to say you met your goal, versus looking to a feeling to validate it.

[Foolishnostalgia]

Pick things up and put them down. Go strength squad. Can't wait to find out what your baselines are!

[clawguard]

Great way to start off the challenge. I came down with a cold yesterday and was fighting it today. :-/

So...

Tuesday:

• Food:
  • Omelete, Fage, OJ
  • Chicken Cesear Salad (this was like 1/3 - 1/2 chicken)

    ... Then I was sick and just huddled up in bed ;;

• Life:
  • While I didn't do any lessons... I did watch about 4-5 hours of the k-drama I've been watching ;;
• Exercise:
  • This was a rest day anyways... so... good timing? ;

Today (Wed):

• Food:
  • 2 Fage
  • A bunch of peanuts
  • A number of glasses of milk (almost a half gallon so far)
• Life:
  • No lessons so far... but have been watching the k-drama all day
• Exercise:
  • Saw my trainer (hour)

So, havn't eaten well (I've been wanting congee all day, but no places around me serve it ㅠ_ㅠ ) but at least I'm feeling better.

[Kishi]

Congee is pretty awesome, or so I've heard. Would you recommend it?

[clawguard]

As comfort food, of course. Just don't expect anything that special out of it (after all it is just rice porridge ; )

[clawguard]

Okay, so things fell apart after I got sick but now that I've almost completely shaken the stuffy nose, time to get back in line. About the only thing that hadn't gotten pushed aside completely was studying Korean... but that's just because k-dramas are way too addicting to put down.

Today:

Saw my trainer, and then had a 7oz burger with ham, bacon, grilled onions and cheddar... not paleo, but stock full of protein. ;

[smedly]

Good to hear you've past your first speed bump, now full speed ahead!!

[clawguard]

Okay, now I'm finally getting somewhere.

Did "workout A":

• Squats
  • 95x10x2
  • 115x8x2
  • 135x5x5
• Push Press
  • 50x10x2
  • 65x8x2
  • 70x5x5

Baselines found well enough for these two! Next time A comes around, I'll be pushing 1/2 my weight above my head.

Time to make myself an omelet... after I do the dishes from the brownies I made... ... last week ;;;

[Sanjh]

Nice work! I'm at that exact same push press weight (of course, that's not nearly half my weight).

[clawguard]

Now that I have a better concept of my goals this will serve as a retrospective sum up.

Week 1:

Exercise: F, Baselines not found, thus no gains could be measured.

Food: C-, I have been eating more, but that cold took away my appetite for a couple days.

Korean: A, Lessons done 2/7 days, but finished a k-drama (20 hours -> 5 lessons)

[Kishi]

Well, the good news about this is that you have a starting point. With a starting point, you can have a finish line. It'll be cool.

[clawguard]

Week 2:

Exercise: D, 1 baseline set found, only worked on the program once (saw trainer 2 or 3 times)

Food: C, Food intake is overall okay (amount and type wise (mmm... 4 egg omelet, .25# ham, 1/4 spanish onion, 1/2 large green pepper)) I have still failed to cook lunch for work though.

Korean: F, listening to Korean music (although I do it everyday for numerous hours) does not count.

Quick entry for today:

Pull ups: Worked up to body weight, managed to do 3, but my shoulder started bugging me, so I went back to -30 to finish.

Deadlifts:

95x10x2

115x10x2

135x10x2

155x5x3