amberdisa wants to be again the person she remembers being

[Terinatum]

Set a timer for five minutes. Clean one dish. Pick up one thing off the floor. Put one thing back where it goes.

Turn off alarm and celebrate!

[Chris2Brooks]

I like Tim Ferriss's attitude, but he does gets a little breathless, doesn't he? I've been following a 16/8 intermittent fasting protocol for several years now, which means only two meals a day within an eight-hour window. I find his 4HB limitations *really* difficult to stick to in just those eight hours, day after day.  I can do one or two fully compliant days (have done a few times for this challenge, might do a few more), but it takes all the willpower I have, and I feel crappy, and I'm much sorer for much longer from the Armstrong exercises after pure slow-carb days. I'm sure my waffling "one compliant meal a day" plan is why I'm not losing weight, though...  That said, his concept of the "minimum effective dose" of exercise is awesome!

 

Tim Ferris is most definitely a little breathless. I got some amazing inspiration from him. If it wasn't for Tim and Steve I would probably still hate working out. 

 

I'm gradually going into slow carb and will focus on slow carb breakfast from next challenge and will only focus on that part of my diet, because I currently do not eat during the day. I only have dinner. Very unhealthy and it's starting to catch up on me. I'm a bit concerned about being sorer for longer when going pure slow-carb. You think that's a negative thing or a positive thing?

 

Please will you explain the "Minimum Effective Dose" to me, because I tried to wrap my mind around the concept but I can't figure it out. I went back to the book to see if I didn't perhaps miss something, but I think his weird writing style bumped me over on that concept. How do you determine the MED for yourself or an exercise?

 

 

Set a timer for five minutes. Clean one dish. Pick up one thing off the floor. Put one thing back where it goes.

Turn off alarm and celebrate!

 

That's a brilliant idea, actually think I should do the same for a few things I procrastinate with. Love it. 

[starsapart]

Set a timer for five minutes. Clean one dish. Pick up one thing off the floor. Put one thing back where it goes.

Turn off alarm and celebrate!

 

I second this!

 

I also sometimes just set aside time for cleaning (like, put it in my calendar) and when the alarm goes off, it's like, "okay, it's time to clean right now, for the next hour, that is what I am scheduled to do."  Somehow, that helps get my brain in gear.

 

Keep on being awesome!

[oromendur]

I'm a bit concerned about being sorer for longer when going pure slow-carb. You think that's a negative thing or a positive thing?

 

Honestly, I think it's because I don't eat enough calories on those days. If I committed to the diet 100% I would have to figure out beans at every meal (which is more of a faff than I'm willing to deal with right now) and I think the problem might go away.

 

 

Please will you explain the "Minimum Effective Dose" to me, because I tried to wrap my mind around the concept but I can't figure it out. 

 

The example he uses in the book is a good one: there's a "minimum effective dose" of daily exposure to sunshine to get a suntan. Exceeding it does not make you tan faster, and if you exceed it too much you'll burn and then have to start over from the beginning. His concept is that there is a MED for exercise too, and it's what most of us would consider ridiculously low. That's the whole idea behind the "four-hour body."

 

 

How do you determine the MED for yourself or an exercise?

 

This I don't know. I imagine you'd have to do the kind of detailed experimentation Tim Ferriss describes. Or you could just use his work, which is what I'm trying to do. Sort of. Partially. Not completely. Oh, there's too many variables....AAAAAAAARGH

[oromendur]

End of Week 5? Already? Yikes!

 

Guess it's time for an update.

 

Quest #1 (Armstrong): Success! I chugged along every day, Mon-Thu. I took Fri off (in addition to the programmatic Sat/Sun) because my elbows were getting twingy. I also dropped one of the resistance bands with only a small dip in numbers. Small bits of progress. Points: 4/3.

 

Quest #2 (4HB exercise): Success! I did the five-minute cycle of three exercises Mon-Fri. I probably could have done it every day, but I'm already exceeding the previously-discussed "minimum effective dose" of this protocol. (Don't judge. I need the extra points.) Points: 5/3.

 

Quest #3 (4HB food): Success! Three fully compliant days (meaning both meals were slow carb and I didn't snack) on Mon/Tue/Fri and one compliant meal Wed/Thu/Sat/Sun. I'm glad I didn't make this more strict than one meal a day, because between the pizza and beer on Wed, the party last night, and the (especially lovely) champagne brunch today I would have been a total failure. Points: 10/7.

 

Life Quest (clean up): I, um, yeah. Hello, Resistance, my old friend. I see this is where you've managed to get to after I drove you out of the other quests earlier in the challenge. Won't you please just go away?? Sigh. Points: 0.

 

Point progress: 70/90. More of that unpleasant math in public tells me that I need a 20-point week to be successful by next Sunday...I did 18 last week and 19 this week, so it should be doable...except...except...

 

I'M TRAVELING MON-THU and I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep this up! Argh. I'll be staying with friends who are amazing cooks. They're both disgustingly fit and can eat anything they want -- and they are NOT going to be interested in hearing about any weird amberdisa diet restrictions or mysterious internet challenges. You should have seen the difficulty I had on my last visit convincing them I wasn't going to starve to death if I didn't eat breakfast. I'm not sure what will happen if I refuse homemade Pad Thai...especially because they know I love Pad Thai and intend to make it special for me, and will be offended by any balking on my part, no matter how sincere I try to be...

 

There are certainly worse problems to have, but still -- this means my easy pool of extra points has dried up and the daily diet quest is going to be quite a challenge next week. They do have a pullup bar, so I should be able to keep up the Armstrong stuff, and I'm pretty sure there's a kettlebell buried somewhere in their condo. (I could also go running or hiking or biking with them, if I decide I'm feeling particularly masochistic).

 

The saving grace is going to have to be the Life Quest, I guess. It may come down to the wire and I may be cleaning all weekend once I get home, but I'm not going to give up! I'm too close to the end. And I *really* want that massage.

 

This is the home stretch, everyone! I wish you all a strong finish in your challenges -- wish me luck in return!

[starsapart]

Good job planning in advance!  That's the first step to smashing success.  You will rock this.

[Windranger]

Hey amberdisa!

Somehow my low knowledge of english is stopping me a bit from shouting out what I want to say. Or maybe it's because I'm speechless now after having read what you achieved. [emoji43] You frickin rocked that week!! Woot!! [emoji322] [emoji1]

I hope your travelling is going well

Gesendet von meinem ST27i mit Tapatalk

[oromendur]

Somehow my low knowledge of english is stopping me a bit from shouting out what I want to say. 

 

Magnhild -- dein English is so viel besser als mein Deutsch -- ich würde nie in Forums auf Deutsch zu posten, wie du so leicht auf English tun kannst! Und dein Ermutigung ist wunderbar und bedeutet viel, in welcher Sprache

 

 

I hope your travelling is going well 

 

I survived the trip and even managed ten points (we went hiking twice, running once, and I even sneaked in one compliant meal with no one the wiser). That leaves me three more days to get another ten.

 

I can do it. I might have to actually clean the house, but I can do it!

[starsapart]

Magnhild -- dein English is so viel besser als mein Deutsch -- ich würde nie in Forums auf Deutsch zu posten, wie du so leicht auf English tun kannst! Und dein Ermutigung ist wunderbar und bedeutet viel, in welcher Sprache

 

 

 

I survived the trip and even managed ten points (we went hiking twice, running once, and I even sneaked in one compliant meal with no one the wiser). That leaves me three more days to get another ten.

 

I can do it. I might have to actually clean the house, but I can do it!

 

Woohoo!  Finish up strong!

[oromendur]

Wow -- it's the Monday after the sixth week! When did that happen? Where has October gone?

 

Week 6 update; BLUF: I did it!

 

Quest #1 (Armstrong): I did the full pushup/pullup routine on Mon/Fri and pushups only Tue/Wed. My friend's pullup bar was awful; it was super fat and twisted in its setting as you pulled, and I didn't have any resistance bands. I decided to go without assistance and measure my progress -- BUT I ONLY DID THREE. Sigh. I was so disheartened I gave up until I got home again and could berate myself hard enough that I got back onto a bar that didn't move Points: 3/3. 

 

Quest #2 (4HB exercises): I did the 4HB routine Mon/Tue/Fri/Sat. On Tuesday all I had was my friend's tiny little 8kg kettlebell so I had some fun with one-armed swings, switching hands on the fly. Plus, we went trail running on Tue (2.8 mi) and hiking on Wed (5.3 mi) and Thu (5.2 mi) so that's three legitimate extra points! Points: 7/3.

 

Quest #3 (4HB food): One compliant meal Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri, two meals on Sat. Much better than I'd hoped. Points: 6/7.

 

Life quest (clean up): I needed the points to finish the challenge, so I spent a good four hours on Sat morning cleaning up the disaster in my front yard. I had bought a patio table and two chairs a while back, and I had pruned and raked out half of the small space, but I ran out of motivation and energy and left it unfinished. I have been looking at that half-finished job -- the pile of rotting leaves, the table tipped on its side with two chairs jumbled on top of it, and the bushes carefully pruned along half of the wall -- for almost three months. It was every bit as miserable and unpleasant as I expected it would be, but the idea of posting a successful challenge kept me going and I got it done. I pruned and raked and set up an outdoor rug and a cantilever umbrella I'd bought at the same time (and which were taking up space inside my messy house) and I now have a very nice breakfast nook outside my front door. It looks SO much better! And then, since I *really* wanted one of the fancy new Kindles, I boxed up the pile of "give to charity" junk that was taking up space in the dining room and took it to a donation station on Sunday Points: 5.

 

Week 6 was a 21-point week! Overall points: 91/90. I've already bought the Kindle and I'll schedule the massage for this week! YAY!

[oromendur]

Obligatory challenge reflections post, which is much less celebratory than the last one -- when I actually look at what I did (and didn't) manage to accomplish, the facts are more sobering. 

 

Main Quest: 8 pull-ups for my PFT in March

When the USMC switched from the bent-arm hang to pull-ups for women, I was all for it. It needed to happen. It’s a change for the better. Hell, *mumble* years ago I could do 10 of them! No problem, right? Well, in last spring’s PFT I chose to do pull-ups (we still have the option until next year) and to my utter disgust barely managed the minimum of 3, and that only because the young Sergeant doing the counting felt sorry for the old lady and gave her a pass on the somewhat questionable third one. I walked away with sixty points fewer than normal. It was by far the worst PFT score of my *mumble*-year career. I came to the very sobering realization that if I was going to stay in I needed to do some work. 

 

I really don't feel like I made any progress on this, which sucks. When I barely eked out three pullups this past Tuesday I felt as useless as ever (sigh). I know my assisted numbers have gone up, I know my pushup numbers have gone up, I can feel that I'm getting stronger -- but when it came right down to it, I hadn't made any progress at all. I guess that's what I get for not really committing to it all the way

 

Quest 1 (18 points): Complete the Armstrong Pullup Program exercises (link) using Rubberbanditz resistance bands for assistance as necessary, at least three times a week. Five would be better, but I travel so much for school that I’m going to give myself some leeway. One point per successful day; any days beyond three count as extra points.

 

Weekly points breakdown: 1.5/3, 3/3, 3/3, 4/3, 4/3, 3/3. The numbers look good, but allowing myself to count pushup-only days obscures the fact that I really never managed to find a way to fit this into my life. I think I need to re-visit this next challenge.

 

Quest 2 (18 points): Do 50 kettlebell swings, 20 glute raises, and 15 flying dogs at least three times a week (as described by Tim Ferriss in The 4-Hour Body). One point per successful day; any day beyond three, or any time I hike at least five or run at least two miles at any speed, counts as an extra point.

 

Weekly points breakdown: 2/3, 2/3, 1/3, 5/3, 5/3, 7/3. Once I broke through the stupid Resistance preventing me from even attempting this, I realized how quick and simple it really was. It's really very little effort for what could be a significant reward. I am going to retain this three-times-a-week habit (as long as I am somewhere there's a kettlebell).

 

Quest 3 (42 points): Eat one fully “slow-carb†compliant meal a day (as described by Tim Ferriss in The 4-Hour Body). I really only eat twice a day so this shouldn’t be that hard, but so far I haven’t been managing very well. The funny thing is, it’s easier to do pull-ups if one isn’t overweight... One point per successful meal; any compliant main meals beyond this one per day count as extra points.

 

Weekly points breakdown: 3/7, 6.5/7, 8/7, 9/7, 10/7, 6/7. Although the numbers look pretty good, this was so much harder than I expected. I wasted a lot of willpower to get success on this one, which left me with very little energy to apply to the things I really need to do, like, you know, schoolwork. It's not even that I eat that badly; I never have pasta or white rice, and only rarely have bread or potatoes, but the constant worry about whether something was cooked with cream or had carrots in it really wore me down. No squash? No sweet potatoes? No cheese? No fruit? Never mind toast with butter and jam, or a latte macchiato, or chocolate, or the occasional crepe. I'm going to have to review this one carefully, I think -- maybe for next challenge I'll make it a single point pass/fail each day for ONE MEAL and take off the all-or-nothing pressure of two meals to earn extra points. Sort of a slow-carb-before-six sort of thing. We'll have to see. 

 

Life Quest (12 points): Host friends in my house at least once in the next six weeks. My place is an utter disaster. I need to do some outside work, get rid of some clutter, and generally clean up the pigsty. I spend most of my time here -- it’s no wonder my life is such a mess with this environment surrounding it! 4 points for getting the house clean, 4 points for sorting out the yard mess by my front door, and 4 points for having friends over at least once. I get extra points on this one for every 1’x1’x2’ box of excess crap I donate to a charity thrift store.

 

Weekly points breakdown: 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 5. This one did not go so well. The only thing I really accomplished was cleaning up the yard, and that only on the second-to-last day of the challenge because I wasn't going to be successful if I didn't. I really don't know why this is so hard. I definitely need to re-attack this one in a future challenge, although probably not the next one because I'm not going to be home anyway.

 

My goal for this challenge is 90 points. To make it easier on myself this first time, I’m going to allow extra points in one area to make up for failures in another. If I earn a total of 90 points, I get to level up and create stats for my NF character, and I’ll treat myself to a spa day with a deep tissue massage somewhere nice. If I get more than 90 points I get to do all that AND buy a fun new tech toy (to be determined later -- a new Kindle, maybe, or perhaps a smartphone upgrade).

 

Regardless of all the failure outlined above, I still managed to be successful. Because I specifically said I'd allow it, I'm going to give myself full marks for all the quests, even if I don't feel like I really earned it. I guess that in most RPGs you're allowed to use experience points any way you like, right?

 

Quest #1: +2 STR, +1 STA

Quest #2: +1 STR, +1 STA, +1 DEX

Quest #3: +2 CON

Life Quest: +1 WIS, +1 CHA

 

I also earned +1 WIS (week 1), +1 CHA (week 2), and +1 WIS (week 4) over on the mini-dungeon thread, and my signature has been duly updated.

 

What an interesting experience this has been! Many thanks to those who took time out of their days (and energy away from their own challenges) to post encouragement here. I said it before and I'll say it again: publicly defining ourselves is one of the most powerful things we can do, and having a community like this to hold us accountable to the stories we tell about ourselves is something that is nothing short of amazing. I'll do this again, and hopefully I'll do it better next time

 

Thank you all!

[Windranger]

Wow -- it's the Monday after the sixth week! When did that happen? Where has October gone?

 

Week 6 update; BLUF: I did it!

 

Quest #1 (Armstrong): I did the full pushup/pullup routine on Mon/Fri and pushups only Tue/Wed. My friend's pullup bar was awful; it was super fat and twisted in its setting as you pulled, and I didn't have any resistance bands. I decided to go without assistance and measure my progress -- BUT I ONLY DID THREE. Sigh. I was so disheartened I gave up until I got home again and could berate myself hard enough that I got back onto a bar that didn't move Points: 3/3. 

 

Quest #2 (4HB exercises): I did the 4HB routine Mon/Tue/Fri/Sat. On Tuesday all I had was my friend's tiny little 8kg kettlebell so I had some fun with one-armed swings, switching hands on the fly. Plus, we went trail running on Tue (2.8 mi) and hiking on Wed (5.3 mi) and Thu (5.2 mi) so that's three legitimate extra points! Points: 7/3.

 

Quest #3 (4HB food): One compliant meal Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri, two meals on Sat. Much better than I'd hoped. Points: 6/7.

 

Life quest (clean up): I needed the points to finish the challenge, so I spent a good four hours on Sat morning cleaning up the disaster in my front yard. I had bought a patio table and two chairs a while back, and I had pruned and raked out half of the small space, but I ran out of motivation and energy and left it unfinished. I have been looking at that half-finished job -- the pile of rotting leaves, the table tipped on its side with two chairs jumbled on top of it, and the bushes carefully pruned along half of the wall -- for almost three months. It was every bit as miserable and unpleasant as I expected it would be, but the idea of posting a successful challenge kept me going and I got it done. I pruned and raked and set up an outdoor rug and a cantilever umbrella I'd bought at the same time (and which were taking up space inside my messy house) and I now have a very nice breakfast nook outside my front door. It looks SO much better! And then, since I *really* wanted one of the fancy new Kindles, I boxed up the pile of "give to charity" junk that was taking up space in the dining room and took it to a donation station on Sunday Points: 5.

 

Week 6 was a 21-point week! Overall points: 91/90. I've already bought the Kindle and I'll schedule the massage for this week! YAY!

 

It's damn fascinating how motivated you got through that challenge, how great your amount of achievements grew from week to week and that you really got all the missing points, even plus one. You just pushed my motivation to continue fasting although I am thinking about giving up all the time the last several hours. 

 

You have done an awesome job and you can be so proud of yourself Congrats on finishing in such an amazing way, shield-sister You really showed what you are able of and that giving up is no option for you. I am happy you rewarded yourself, you deserved it very, very much!

 

Time to celebrate

 

 

[oromendur]

It's damn fascinating how motivated you got through that challenge, how great your amount of achievements grew from week to week and that you really got all the missing points, even plus one. You just pushed my motivation to continue fasting although I am thinking about giving up all the time the last several hours. 

 

Thank you, shield-sister! Knowing that I would have to post here, success or not, really pushed me to make it happen in the end. Thank you very much for all your encouragement.

 

Hang in there! Halte durch! Bald wirst du fertig!

[Terinatum]

Congratulations on you challenge!

 

Where do you see yourself going for the next challenge?

[oromendur]

Where do you see yourself going for the next challenge?

 

Assassins, I think, for bodyweight- and mobility-centered work during a six-week travel marathon I have coming up that pretty much exactly coincides with the entirety of the next challenge (sigh).

 

I posted a long, navel-gazing examination of this decision over in the Level 1 thread, which prompted some legitimate challenges and replies; those interested in reading about me getting called out for feeling sorry for myself can check out this post and those following

[Trembriele]

Assassins, I think, for bodyweight- and mobility-centered work during a six-week travel marathon I have coming up that pretty much exactly coincides with the entirety of the next challenge (sigh).

 

I posted a long, navel-gazing examination of this decision over in the Level 1 thread, which prompted some legitimate challenges and replies; those interested in reading about me getting called out for feeling sorry for myself can check out this post and those following

I look forward to seeing you over in assassins next challenge! Even if it's not your 'forever guild' I hope you'll have fun and grow with us while you're there!

[oromendur]

Over on the Level 1 boards I discovered we get an extra five points to allocate at the end of the challenge! Yay unexpected attribute improvements!

 

I thought I'd post my thought process here, because I'll never remember in a few weeks where these magic points came from I added 1 each to STR (all those pushups), DEX (you try alternating flying dogs without falling over), CON (extra points from dieting), WIS (lots of community-prompted self-examination), and CHA (lots of forum participation, for me anyway).

 

STA got no love and I now see I should put some work into it next time, if I can. DEX too. Hm.

 

(wanders off, already designing the next challenge in her head instead of doing her schoolwork)

[oromendur]

My new challenge thread is up now. I guess I got hooked -- I'm probably a Rebel for life now

 

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to cheer me on. See you around the rebellion!