With Wooden Sword and Shield in Hand

[Emma]

I am a backpacker (rather than purse, ick). I love that backpack. Maybe for Christmas? Santa, you listening?

Congrats on the blood pressure, that is nice and low. 

I understand how frustrating it is to do the right things and not lose weight but eating healthy and exercising are good for your body even if the weight and inches aren't coming off like you want. Keep it up.

[The Most Loathed]

Been struggling mentally lately. Keep thinking with the changes I've made to my diet and exercise I should be losing much more than I have. Figured I'm not losing pounds so I took measurements that would surely show my progress. Depressingly my numbers are the same of even slightly worse than they were 6 months ago. 6 months! Half a year wasted. So Wednesday last week I just gave in and didn't do anything. Thursday I pulled myself out of my funk and got my walking in. Friday got walking and kb workout in, though I forgot to do sit outs. Sunday I got my physical done for life insurance company, but I'll have to wait a week and a half to see the results of my blood work. Hopefully even if I'm not seeing results on the outside that my blood work will have improved. Though I was a little insulted when the person that performed my physical said he was surprised that my blood pressure was 118/74. Wanted to tell him that's a little high for me .

I feel you man. I've spent the last year struggling. I'm feeling like maybe I finally have the nose pointed up but we'll see. This is where you really test yourself. Reps, named workouts, metrics are all helpful but they are just minor indicators of whether we're helping ourselves. When we preserver through these moments, that's where the real progress happens.

[Sloth the Enduring]

It seems like everyone is struggling.  What we need is a competitive PVP to get us back on the right track.

[Bearlee]

It seems like everyone is struggling.  What we need is a competitive PVP to get us back on the right track.

What you have in mind? I'm not struggling so much as frustrated. Eating around 2500 calories and burning off around 3500 to 4000 per day. Walking five miles plus and climbing around 40 flights of stairs per weekday. KB training 3 days per week (more like 2 the past week and this week). Eating 7 or more servings of vegetables every weekday (weekends need some improvement). All that and I'm barely losing a pound per week or even less. I like the old days better when the only thing I did was stop drinking soda and lost thirty pounds while still eating crap. The only thing I can think of that I need to improve is my sleep, but with my current schedule there's no way to improve that.

[Bearlee]

I feel you man. I've spent the last year struggling. I'm feeling like maybe I finally have the nose pointed up but we'll see. This is where you really test yourself. Reps, named workouts, metrics are all helpful but they are just minor indicators of whether we're helping ourselves. When we preserver through these moments, that's where the real progress happens.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I know I'm doing the right things, I would just like to see the results that go with them. Just got to keep repeating to myself keep the faith and good things will happen. Now it seems to be more of a mental challenge than a physical one to get me through.

I am a backpacker (rather than purse, ick). I love that backpack. Maybe for Christmas? Santa, you listening?

Congrats on the blood pressure, that is nice and low. 

I understand how frustrating it is to do the right things and not lose weight but eating healthy and exercising are good for your body even if the weight and inches aren't coming off like you want. Keep it up.

A backpacker, check, another item to add to my stalker spreadsheet. It'll be coming soon, just promised the wife that I would wait a little bit to see if it would go on sale. I'm a medical enigma to my doctors. With my weight they all think I should have higher blood pressure but it's always been pretty low. I've always attributed it to my mello ways (and staying away from news channels).

[Bearlee]

So Monday I PRed my walking with 19,500 steps and 9.32 miles. Got mostly by accident. Started the day by listening to the latest episode of Fat Burning Man podcast where they were interviewing Steve Kamb. That resulted in a 40 minute walk. Did a bit of walking for work related things. Walk the kid to school and back twice for an additional 1.25 miles. I woke up early to get a half hour of biking in. Then had unbelievable good luck with weather being in 63 degrees so took advantage of that to mulch the leaves in my yard. And finally adding several minutes at the beginning of my shift to make sure I hit the new PR.

Add to that my new PR for climbing 58 flights of stairs last week, I'm doing pretty good.

Due to my frustration I tried to think back to when I was losing weight what was I doing. That was when I was biking the most. So even though I'm losing a half hour to my already slim amount of sleep I'm trying to add that back into the routine. Plus it helps that Netflix released Marvel's Jessica Jones for me to watch while I'm biking. Though I started on a bad week since I'll only be able to do it twice this week due to the holiday and family staying at my house till Monday.

I'm also starting to freak out a little bit because I'm going to hit a real rough patch soon. I won't be at work from mid-December until mid-January so I can stay home with the kid while my wife heads back to Vietnam to see her family. That means no time for walking or workouts and a disruption to my diet schedule. Trying to figure out what to do with the cub for a month other than sitting on our butts watching TV and playing video games. Possibly thinking about traveling but it's the dead of winter and who knows what the weather will be like. And most of the places I want to go to seem to be in the Northernly areas.

[Emma]

California! If you're going to travel, go someplace where the weather's decent. Don't you have a cousin in the area? Has the cub been to Disneyland? Lots of walking there.

congrats on your most intimidating PR

[Sloth the Enduring]

Head south until it's warm enough to wear short sleeves. Put on short sleeves. Explore.

[Bearlee]

Have to come out and say it, I've been having a horrible week or two. The day before Thanksgiving I only got 2 hours of sleep because was talking with a contractor about doing bathrooms and getting ready for guests coming over. Worked the night before Thanksgiving and was looking forward to a few hours sleep before family came over for dinner. When I pulled up to my house my BIL also pulled up and I almost started to cry because I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep (he traveled all night from Minot to KC to show up at 7AM to stay ahead of an ice storm that was coming, I wan't expecting him until 5PM or later). After getting them settled in I was able to get 3 hours of sleep in due to my sister coming over to finish the preparations on the dinner. To say I was barely functional at dinner would be an understatement. After dinner when we were sitting around I finally passed out, not much of a host.

Spent the rest of the weekend entertaining BIL and taking him to all the restaurants that he's missed. So the eating stupidity continued. And the four days of stupid eating has continued to now.

Monday I got a decent amount of sleep (5 hours) but went to sister's new house to help her move in. No workouts but did a ton of heavy lifting and walking up tons of stairs. I even set a new PR for stairs either Monday or Tuesday with 90 flights. And according to my Fitbit I've been burning 4,000+ calories everyday this week due to helping my sister move. Took Tuesday night off to help my sister move the big stuff all day Wednesday. I did get a compliment from my nephew that was appreciative of my help saying that I more helpful than my younger brother who wasn't moving much heavy stuff and instead was unpacking small items. Might be petty of me to say this but it made me feel proud.

Thursday I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. Sister could still maybe use help unpacking but until she figures out where she wants things to go there is not much for me to do. Perhaps I'll take Thursday off and send time with the cub since he has been a real sport with helping and not complaining. Takes a little extra work to find things he can move and do but he's been enjoying it and I'm possibly enjoying it even more seeing him want to pitch in.

Now if I can just figure out how to get back on track. Hopefully when things settle down I'll get back in my grove. Unfortunately I'll be off from work for one month here in another couple weeks and I don't really have a plan about what to do about that.

[Bearlee]

Forgot to mention that Tactical Rush 24 just came in the mail Wednesday. Rucking will commence again . Also got it for half price at $80, woot.

[Shello]

I feel so left out not having purchased a real rucksack yet.  That Rush 24 is on my Christmas list and I can't really buy it in case someone else has.  I did see the price drop briefly.  I'm glad you were able to get that deal.  

 

How to get back on track?  Just DO IT!   For the Doodlies, dance gifs always seem to help. 

 

In honor of Sloth's return to yoga I chose this one for you.

[Emma]

You have my permission to screw up with eating over Thanksgiving week. There has been a lot of everything going on except for sleep. 

Now you WILL get back on track. Or else we will come over and stare at you unrelentingly if you eat "junk" food.

Congrats on the compliment about helping move! Yay for strong muscles and a willing spirit! Let your sister know you are taking Thursday off to get some sleep. She will understand. 

Plan out your month off a little bit and a daily eating routine for the road. Since I am on the road at dinnertime I keep a mental list of reasonable meals that are available at Subway and Starbucks and Burger King and KFC. I just stick to what I planned and don't allow myself to order extras.  I like Sloth's idea about just heading south until you can wear short sleeves. (Road trip!) Just meander south until you get to New Orleans perhaps? Sample some beignets but keep the portions small, yes? And do lots of walking and music listening with the cub. It could be a really good time.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Emma is wise. Follow her vacation advice.

Getting back on track simply by getting back on track? That plan is so crazy it just might work.

[Bearlee]

I feel so left out not having purchased a real rucksack yet.  That Rush 24 is on my Christmas list and I can't really buy it in case someone else has.  I did see the price drop briefly.  I'm glad you were able to get that deal.  

 

How to get back on track?  Just DO IT!   For the Doodlies, dance gifs always seem to help. 

 

In honor of Sloth's return to yoga I chose this one for you.

Having a real ruck sack is nice. Before I was using a travel backpack that had a hard back, wheels, and extending handle; real uncomfortable. Hopefully you can find a deal also, or even better get it for a gift.

Was that your victory dance after we beat Sloth in the PVP last year?

You have my permission to screw up with eating over Thanksgiving week. There has been a lot of everything going on except for sleep. 

Now you WILL get back on track. Or else we will come over and stare at you unrelentingly if you eat "junk" food.

Congrats on the compliment about helping move! Yay for strong muscles and a willing spirit! Let your sister know you are taking Thursday off to get some sleep. She will understand. 

Plan out your month off a little bit and a daily eating routine for the road. Since I am on the road at dinnertime I keep a mental list of reasonable meals that are available at Subway and Starbucks and Burger King and KFC. I just stick to what I planned and don't allow myself to order extras.  I like Sloth's idea about just heading south until you can wear short sleeves. (Road trip!) Just meander south until you get to New Orleans perhaps? Sample some beignets but keep the portions small, yes? And do lots of walking and music listening with the cub. It could be a really good time.

Thanks for the words. Perhaps we may have to set up a Skype session while we're eating badly. Ha! Vacation might be a little stranger than I'm hoping. First two weeks I can't do anything since the cub will still be in school and when he is off Momma Bear will still be around until Christmas, so no travel possible until the 26th and need to finish by the 4th when cub is back in school. Then from the 4th until the 17th sitting around home again. Thinking about doing a stay-cation and hitting a lot of places I want to check out but haven't for a long time. Could also take sister and/or nephew out on the town to show them around depending on their job situations by then. Still there is that week from the 26th to the 4th that travel could be a possibility.

Emma is wise. Follow her vacation advice.

Getting back on track simply by getting back on track? That plan is so crazy it just might work.

I've got some of the wisest of the wise giving me good support. Though one is a wise-ass, but I won't say who . Simple is a good plan. Though I think I get most of my super-powers from routines and I haven't been following them lately. Routine=simple=win.

[Bearlee]

After I posted yesterday I realized that I had my new rucksack in my car so took it on its initial ruck at work with a 12 pack of water that weighed 10 pounds and did 30 minutes of walking and 12 flight of stairs. It's a really nice bag, lots of pockets and much more comfortable than what I was wearing before. Also wore when I picked up cub from school. First time we've walked either to or from school this week either because of bad weather or taking him directly to sister's house to help out.

Took the day off from helping sister. Didn't really need to since she was over at my brother's house cleaning it up before she left there for the last time. Told she could spend a night at my place if she would clean up also, but she said she would just put back into the state she found it in which wouldn't help me much .

Will be a long day Friday. Need to get several task done and several things I want to do also. May also head to sister's house after school but I'll let her decide if she wants help or not. Have all weekend to help also which might work better for her.

Eating like an ass has continued. Perhaps I should set up a live stream of myself and when any of you see me eating crap you can buzz in to know I'm being watched. No, mainly just need to get to the store and get my normal food to get back to my old ways. Really kind of kicking myself for sabotaging myself so close to the finish of my work's weight loss challenge. I wasn't doing great but was doing better than most and was in the running for the win.

[The Most Loathed]

It sounds like you really made a good week out of something that could have been bad. I wouldn't have the mental fortitude to keep up with you with the lack of sleep and everything.

 

I getting a little jealous of all the kicks with their fancy new backpacks.

[Emma]

How are you doing Bear? Do I need to PM you?

[Sloth the Enduring]

You'll have to send out a search party - he's lost in a bayou of Loyosiana.

[Bearlee]

So I'm finally limping back. During Thanksgiving and until my wife left for Vietnam I was super sad (actually scary sad) and I just withdrew from everything and everyone. Due to a combination of lack of sleep and wife stressing out over her trip. After she left I was alone with cub for three weeks and didn't do a dang thing movement wise let alone exercise. During that time I was averaging 2,000 steps or less per day. Same kind of numbers I had pre-Nerd Fitness. During that time I went back to too many old habits and packed on 15 pounds. It continued that way until I got back to work and got back to regular routine. The only bright point during that time was that Steve Kamb's book "Level Up Your Life" came out and got me re-energized about doing something.

I got back to riding my bike and I'm currently up to a 24 day streak. I've been walking more. Trying to eat better but that hasn't really happened until Febuary. Meditating. And I've actually gotten around to reading more. I actually find myself turning off the TV at home to get some more reading time in.

When I was reading the part of the book about Jedi councils I was on the verge of tears because I have such a great support group and I turned my back on them. I hope those of you that follow me can forgive me for being gone for so long and not being there to support you. Thank you for reaching out to me and sorry for the lack of response, I was just too embarrassed to talk about what was going on (or lack of what was going on).

Last week was my 42nd birthday. And I realized how far I am from where I want to be. My total weight loss for 2015 was a wash out. Was I expecting too much from myself? Did I let little set backs affect me too much? People make New Year's resolutions but I reflect on what I've done and what I want to do on my birthday. My big goal is to finally get down to the weight I want of 250 by my next birthday. That means I will need to lose 62 pounds over the next 52 weeks, which is 1.1 pounds per week. Before when I was losing 1 pound a week I was discouraged that I wasn't losing more. Now I'm re-adjusting my view and just want a slow and steady march toward my goal.

To start in that direction I started a new challenge: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/78213-bearlee-emerging-from-hibernation/. I will be over there for at least the next month and see how the challenge format works for me. If it works well I can do a 12 part breakdown of my goals.

[Shello]

Sorry you had such a rough time.  We are always here and we're rooting for you.  We all fall down too; it's about getting back up every single time and that's exactly what you've done.  

[The Most Loathed]

Welcome Back!!! I'm super glad to see you again. I was about to start bugging you on your cell but was worried that'd be a bit too much.