(Oct 27th-Nov10th) The Bye Weeks Challenge

[Balthazar]

@rxlady - last challenge I used the d20 Table of Sadism.  I ranked punishments and then rolled a d20 for a punishment when I didn't follow a particular goal.  You could do the same for the reward. 

 

I did like your table

 

 

3) Creative? I designed a tattoo on Friday, 

 

gotta pic?

 

 

Lovely day up in the north woods - so I went and grabbed a quick geocache. 

 

Nailed it!

[Balthazar]

My "try something new" quest was suppose to be swimming, but sat week the pool was closed for rain and it's looking like the 1 available day I have to swim the pool is booked for a day of water polo meets. Blarg. HOWEVER, I did go to my first ever yoga class today, so I have tried something new. Therefore, Mission: Accomplished.

 

Great way to not be put out by things you can't control! how was the yoga?

 

 

Update...

 

Mission 1: my venture into belly dancing will have to wait until Friday

Mission 2: I practiced swings and Get Ups for 3 out of 5 days last week, and I did wussy (wrist) conditioning and handstand practice 5x. Since I aim for at least 3 kettlebell practice days per week and 5 minutes of handstand prep work every day, this is a win.

Mission 3: Went to the play with my friends yesterday, and we had a blast!

 

Great work across the board! HERO MODE

[DarK_RaideR]

You are a full on beast! Deadlifting my bodyweight is one of my Life Quests, now that my hips have sufficiently healed I can start incorporating them back in to my life.

 

Question I have wanted to ask for sometime, when folk say burpees what do they mean? because I have the impression that what Burpees are in the UK isn't the same as the rest of the world

The way I've learned them, you

1) Bend over to plant your hands in the ground

2) Kick your feet back and lower your body down to the ground

3) Instead of doing a pushup, you kick your feet back into the bent-over position

4) Rise up and do a jump, clapping your hands behind your head

 

Also on my path to awesomeness, went to my first tricking lesson yesterday. Another milestone conquered, cartwheels!

[Charlie_Quinn]

1. I brought loads of carrots to make a carrot cake, but forgot to buy any of the other ingredients I needed. Who would have though making a cake would be so complicated! So instead of carrot cake, I made some brownies with coconut flour. They were so easy and tasted amazing! They aren't going to last long at all! Going to make some again but this time I'm going to substitute some of the cocoa powder for melted dark chocolate to make them a little more gooey.

 

2. Handstand training is going well. I found it's a lot more comfortable to bring my legs further up the wall and my hands a little closer to the wall. 

 

3. Not much to do here, might pre-book some tickets for London Tombs. 

 

 

The London Tombs are pretty cool, and also not as busy as other places in London, you going to get anything else in whilst in London?

 

 

Other than visiting Hamleys toy shop to play with all the toys? No other plans yet! I've lived just outside London all my life and have only visited a handful of the big attractions as an adult. I want to do the Tower of London at some point as I only vaguely remember it from a primary school visit.

[Balthazar]

The way I've learned them, you

1) Bend over to plant your hands in the ground

2) Kick your feet back and lower your body down to the ground

3) Instead of doing a pushup, you kick your feet back into the bent-over position

4) Rise up and do a jump, clapping your hands behind your head

 

Also on my path to awesomeness, went to my first tricking lesson yesterday. Another milestone conquered, cartwheels!

 

Ok that's what we call them to, I got the impression some people do a press up once the legs have kicked back and out, in the UK that move is called a Bastard

[Balthazar]

1. I brought loads of carrots to make a carrot cake, but forgot to buy any of the other ingredients I needed. Who would have though making a cake would be so complicated! So instead of carrot cake, I made some brownies with coconut flour. They were so easy and tasted amazing! They aren't going to last long at all! Going to make some again but this time I'm going to substitute some of the cocoa powder for melted dark chocolate to make them a little more gooey.

 

2. Handstand training is going well. I found it's a lot more comfortable to bring my legs further up the wall and my hands a little closer to the wall. 

 

3. Not much to do here, might pre-book some tickets for London Tombs. 

 

 

Other than visiting Hamleys toy shop to play with all the toys? No other plans yet! I've lived just outside London all my life and have only visited a handful of the big attractions as an adult. I want to do the Tower of London at some point as I only vaguely remember it from a primary school visit.

 

The brownies sound delightful, may be a stupid question but did they taste coconuty?

[Charlie_Quinn]

The brownies sound delightful, may be a stupid question but did they taste coconuty?

 

No, not at all. Not sure if it's just because the flour doesn't taste coconuty or because the recipe had half a cup of cocoa powder in it and that masked the taste. 

[Beaucastle]

5 am run was a one hit wonder.  Have not been able to duplicate since.  Weather is turning cold.  Not sure how that will factor in when running.  I'm not a morning person and I avoid being cold.  Working on this, but not very successful so far.

[Shello]

DnD is a recipe for disaster, ever year we run a whole day Halloween D&D spectacular, complete with food, snacks and drinks. To give an example yesterdays when we did it for breakfast we had Chocolate coated belgian waffles, topped with Toffee Apple Sausages, drowned in maple syrup

 

That sounds like a spectacular idea.  Once my kids are grown a bit more and are 'too old to go trick or treating' we'll need to start entertaining ourselves grownup style.  That just might need to be in order.  

 

This Halloween was a bust as far as my fitness goals are concerned.  We had tons of pizza leftover from the night before so I had more.. and more...and MOAR.  At least I finished it up so it will stop taunting me.  I was also at the point where I just say F-it, I've already blown any healthy eating plans so let's dig into the candy as well.   I also skipped another YAYOG workout.  To punish myself, well not really,  I doubled up on Sunday and did some rowing on the rowing machine during rest periods.  

 

As for my Bye week goals...

1 - something new.  I did make Firecracker chicken with quinoa.  I suppose I liked the quinoa didn't  dislike the quinoa.  It was a fine substitute for rice and it was super easy to make since I used my rice maker.  It's a strangle little food though.  The chicken was pretty amazeballs but i literally thought there might be fire coming out of my mouth with every breath.  i did take a pick but I can't post it yet.  Actually, I forgot to take the pic until halfway through.  

 

2 - Fitness.  still 1 behind on YAYOG but I went for a run/walk with the family.  This actually might count for goal 3 as well.  My knees have been a bit sore from this so I might reconsider making running part of my challenge.  I might not quote be ready for a regular running schedule.  Perhaps I should still drop a few pounds first.  

 

3 - Fun.  Went for said walk with the family.  Also all went to the gym and I spent some time in the pool with the kids.  That was quite fun.  Also took both kids to the pet store to get their new pets.  We, as a family, already have 2 cats and dog but now my son is the proud new owner of a gecko and my daughter the very excited owner of a parakeet.  Hopefully this will not end badly for anyone.  

[DarK_RaideR]

First week of the break was straight A's on all goals. I'm mainly experimenting with stuff before I set up my next challenge, so far I've learned things through trial and error, hope I can keep the momentum going this week and all challenge long. If not momentum, at least the discipline (yes, reading Steve's latest blog post has affected me. Again)

 

Today I made a weekly diet plan, in order to organize my shopping, spare me the trouble of thinking about recipes and ensure variety in my dishes. For the 7 days, I've included 2 days of veggies, 1 chicken, 1 beef, 1 pork, 1 eggs and 1 fish. Started today by making ground sausage and carrot omelette.

[Brekketechie]

Great way to not be put out by things you can't control! how was the yoga?

 

 

EVERYTHING HURTS OMG!

 

The class instructor was pretty "meh." I won't be going back to her. But OMGeezy did I get a good workout in. My abs & shoulders have been whimpering all day...

[NicTheRugger]

gotta pic?

 

I'll redraw it tonight (on paper that isn't from my torts notebook, hehe)! I'll even try and color it. I'm awful with the uploading pictures thing, though, so it might take a couple of days. And re. the sunchoke soup, I found a recipe that calls for sunchokes, broth (either chicken or vegetable), onions, thyme (I'm switching this out for herbes de provence, since it's what I have on hand, and since I didn't want to buy an ingredient that I'd only use once), and some garlic. Some recipes call for potatoes, but since I'm part of the anti-potato group, I ignored those recipes.

 

 

Quest one: Making a soup is harder than expected! It's turned into a two-day process. Apparently making vegetable broth is a two+ hour process, so that was what I did yesterday. At the moment, I have the sunchokes roasting in the oven for the next 12 minutes or so, and then I'll transfer them into the broth, and then slowly get around to blending it. With all this work, this soup better be amazing! 

 

Quest two: So far, I've done yoga three times. I did a sun salutation routine this morning, and I ended up having a pretty good morning afterwards! I might have to make it part of my daily routine from now on

 

Quest three: Tonight, I'll be redrawing and coloring my tattoo idea. Unfortunately, that's all I've got time for, since the soup is taking up so much of my darned time!!

 

Loving everyone's progress so far!

[NicTheRugger]

Just finished the soup... and I'm rather disappointed. Sadness. Don't get me wrong, it's not inedible, but it's not mind-blowing either. Not quite sure what to do with it now.... It's too watery (too much broth! Oops!) And the taste is off. Maybe if I throw in some chicken and make some dumpling noodles (courtesy of Paula Deen) it'll be... better? If anything, I'm vaguely reminded of turnips, which I'm not fond of, but I think adding noodles at the very least will be an improvement. Maybe some salt, too.... Ah well. It was an experiment, and at least I learned something!

[Xena]

Nic, I'm incredibly impressed that you tried something so complicated. Huge points to you!

[Beaucastle]

Sorry your soup didn't become amazing, as for too much broth have you tried adding some rice to soak some of the liquid up?  Also a suggestion only: try adding some coriander to a small portion and see if that wont bring the flavor out a touch.  With new soups that don't really zing I experiment on bowl size portions and bring in other spices to see if I just missed a flavor.  Perhaps this will give you some ideas and flavor experiments are a good way to work through batches of soup.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Monday and today were kinda a holding pattern because I'd forgotten a lot of things that I needed to do in early November - and suddenly there they were on my to-do list!!  Thankfully, I HAD written them down and can hit them tomorrow.  

[tundralily]

You are a full on beast! Deadlifting my bodyweight is one of my Life Quests, now that my hips have sufficiently healed I can start incorporating them back in to my life.

 

Question I have wanted to ask for sometime, when folk say burpees what do they mean? because I have the impression that what Burpees are in the UK isn't the same as the rest of the world/

 

 

 

How was the hike?

It was great! Going to go out again this weekend before it snows.

[cn3wton]

Ok that's what we call them to, I got the impression some people do a press up once the legs have kicked back and out, in the UK that move is called a Bastard

 

Most people here consider the push up part of the burpee. 

[Swampling]

I might have to change the Simple & Sinister prep goal to something even simpler and less taxing for my buggy knee (seems to be a patellar tendinitis after all). Need to talk more with the physical therapist and other people who know more about this stuff than I do.

 

The handstand prep + skill work is still on, though. Yesterday I was playing around a bit with various hand balances, the "involuntarily crashing crow", among others. Maybe I should add some tumbling skills to my exercise repertoire, so that I can at least fall "with style".

[Balthazar]

No, not at all. Not sure if it's just because the flour doesn't taste coconuty or because the recipe had half a cup of cocoa powder in it and that masked the taste. 

 

Now I have to ask, does almond flour taste almondy?

 

 

5 am run was a one hit wonder.  Have not been able to duplicate since.  Weather is turning cold.  Not sure how that will factor in when running.  I'm not a morning person and I avoid being cold.  Working on this, but not very successful so far.

 

I think getting out in the morning at any time is really hard this time of year. What if you had some kind of reward system for if you managed it? I know it would have to be a pretty sweet reward to get me up at that time in the morning

[Balthazar]

3 - Fun.  Went for said walk with the family.  Also all went to the gym and I spent some time in the pool with the kids.  That was quite fun.  Also took both kids to the pet store to get their new pets.  We, as a family, already have 2 cats and dog but now my son is the proud new owner of a gecko and my daughter the very excited owner of a parakeet.  Hopefully this will not end badly for anyone.  

 

You're like Dr Dolittle! how's yayog coming along?

 

 

First week of the break was straight A's on all goals. I'm mainly experimenting with stuff before I set up my next challenge, so far I've learned things through trial and error, hope I can keep the momentum going this week and all challenge long. If not momentum, at least the discipline (yes, reading Steve's latest blog post has affected me. Again)

 

Today I made a weekly diet plan, in order to organize my shopping, spare me the trouble of thinking about recipes and ensure variety in my dishes. For the 7 days, I've included 2 days of veggies, 1 chicken, 1 beef, 1 pork, 1 eggs and 1 fish. Started today by making ground sausage and carrot omelette.

 

I have found going down from a monthly 'big shop' to a weekly shop that we order online and get delivered for £1 has made a big difference to my nutrition, it stops my impulse buying crap and helps me to plan what I have for the week ahead then on a given day you just make a meal out of some of the things you have left.

 

I still haven't found a way to make fish tasty though. Other than deep fat frying the heck out of it, and I think makes eating fish pointless lol

[Balthazar]

EVERYTHING HURTS OMG!

 

The class instructor was pretty "meh." I won't be going back to her. But OMGeezy did I get a good workout in. My abs & shoulders have been whimpering all day...

 

Made me splutter my coffee over my desk when I read this. I once went to a one off yoga session that they ran at a gym that was entirely populated by body builders and power lifters - it was so funny. These huge blokes who could easily deadlift 450lbs+ where huffing and puffing and whimpering trying to do simple yoga balances and positions.

 

goes to show ya there is more than one kind of strength

 

I hope you find a better instructor!

 

 

Just finished the soup... and I'm rather disappointed. Sadness. Don't get me wrong, it's not inedible, but it's not mind-blowing either. Not quite sure what to do with it now.... It's too watery (too much broth! Oops!) And the taste is off. Maybe if I throw in some chicken and make some dumpling noodles (courtesy of Paula Deen) it'll be... better? If anything, I'm vaguely reminded of turnips, which I'm not fond of, but I think adding noodles at the very least will be an improvement. Maybe some salt, too.... Ah well. It was an experiment, and at least I learned something!

 

It took me forever to find out what a sunchoke is, over here they are called Jerusalem Artichokes! Whenever I need to thicken a soup I use flour or make like a really thick gravy out of chicken boullion, water and flour and that tends to do the trick.

[Balthazar]

Most people here consider the push up part of the burpee. 

 

so what do you call a burpee without a push up?

 

Maybe we just wanted an excuse to say bastard as much as we could?

[Shello]

You're like Dr Dolittle! how's yayog coming along?

 

 

Indeed.  We have our own little menagerie now.  Some days I don't know what I'm thinking.  

 

YAYOG is still going strong.  I seem to be in a habit of getting a little behind each week but always manage to catch up.  Starting week 9.  I'm really enjoying the last weeks of it as there is more variety and intensity.  And since it pulls in some of the techniques from earlier weeks (ladders for instance) you really get a sense for your improvement.   I'm going to continue using it for this next challenge (that I'll be posting shortly) but not quite as often.   it will become a supporting cast member rather than the star of the show.  Poor thing.  

 

What is your new training regimen?   Will you be outlining it in your new challenge?   I'm quite curious.  

[Beaucastle]

I think getting out in the morning at any time is really hard this time of year. What if you had some kind of reward system for if you managed it? I know it would have to be a pretty sweet reward to get me up at that time in the morning

 

So far no reward / self talk / remedial training / or punitive measures have worked... but I keep trying.   Today I got closer!  I didn't get up in time to run so I used the extra awake time to get some needed office cleaning done.  I had it all set out and prepared, but I have to have no less than 50 minutes today  I had 35.  I worry more about being late to work but I am pleased that I used that half hour positively.  Might explore a small bit of something fitness like for the days I don't get up in time to run.  Tomorrow is another shot at it. Bouncing exercises like Burpees are not going to work.  Yoga that requires me to be on the floor.. are Mutt signals Mommy wants to play and no exercise gets done.  I have to find something I can easily do without having to put on all the braces and support items, and does not involve me accidentally kicking and/or stepping on, or otherwise traumatizing my poor mutts.   (Small one is still traumatized by the last handstand challenge.  kicked her going up  piked out to see if she was ok and just about stepped on her getting down... She glowered at me from under the desk for almost an hour... poor thing)