JK_Mom teachers her sons the basics!

[Aquamom]

So, I really don't have much to detail my challenges because I'm at work.  BUT I wanted to add a quick bookmark thread to save my place and let you guys know I'm here!

 

In a nut-shell my current Master Quest is to complete 1 unassisted pull-up.

 

Challenge 1:  Stay on pull-up program on phone doing band-assisted pull-ups.  If I can stay on track this will garner me 3.0 Strength.

 

Challenge 2:  AMRAP dips every day.  If I can stay on track, this will garner me 3.0 Stamina.

 

Challenge 3:  Sit-ups program on phone.  I've decided I'm going to work on planks.  Every day.  Initially, I might just see how long I can hold it and then (hopefully) progress up to wall-planks!  For this I have 3.0 dexterity points on the line.  I will give myself whatever percentage of 3.0 points based on the percentage of days I did this.

 

I'm really just getting back to basics with this challenge.

 

Fitness Quest:  Get back on track with protein & veggies!  Keep protein over 100g/day and keep sugar under 30g/day.  I will track this on the LoseIt! app (feel free to friend me, send me a PM).  I will give myself 3.0 Constitution points.  Again this will be a percentage of 3.0 based on the number days I kept my numbers between those lines.  

 

Life Quest:  Finish the biography on Rutherford B. Hayes.  (Part of epic quest that I really need a thread for!)  I will give myself 3.0 Wisdom points for this one.  I'm starting the challenge already on page 225 and I have 340 left!

 

To keep track of my progress, I'm keeping a spreadsheet on Google Docs.  I <heart> spreadsheets!

[SkiBlue]

Pull-ups! I'm excited to see you accomplish this task. 

[Silo]

Great master quest! I'm subbing to watch your progress.

 

In a fit of "my mouth sometimes moves faster than my brain" I told my daughter that the next time we go to the local zoo, which has a various exercise stations running through it, I will do a pull-up. I figure I have about 8 months to get there so I'll be watching to see how you do it in the hopes of getting a plan in place.

[Bard]

I am such a big fan of pullups (yet strangely so useless at them!) but I remember how good it felt to do my first one, and you will get there too!

 

Wanted to follow as well since I was interested by your teaching your sons the basics - I've got two girls and they're still quite young (but very keen to join daddy in his "exercise shop"!)

 

Also re the situps, Not to put you off, but after reading a few articles about the dangers of situps (here's one: http://www.livestrong.com/article/483473-are-situps-crunches-bad-for-the-spine/), I'm trying to get into doing more planks and pushups (I'm no expert though so don't necessarily take my advice!)

[Aquamom]

Pull-ups! I'm excited to see you accomplish this task. 

 

Thanks!  And so sorry about being MIA for the first day!  

 

Great master quest! I'm subbing to watch your progress.

 

In a fit of "my mouth sometimes moves faster than my brain" I told my daughter that the next time we go to the local zoo, which has a various exercise stations running through it, I will do a pull-up. I figure I have about 8 months to get there so I'll be watching to see how you do it in the hopes of getting a plan in place.

 

Thanks!  Yeah, sometimes I say stuff to my kids that I shouldn't (like too much mac & cheese will turn them orange).  Oh well.  I always tax it up to "mommy is silly".  You will totally make it in 8 months!  I believe!

 

 

I am such a big fan of pullups (yet strangely so useless at them!) but I remember how good it felt to do my first one, and you will get there too!

 

Wanted to follow as well since I was interested by your teaching your sons the basics - I've got two girls and they're still quite young (but very keen to join daddy in his "exercise shop"!)

 

Also re the situps, Not to put you off, but after reading a few articles about the dangers of situps (here's one: http://www.livestrong.com/article/483473-are-situps-crunches-bad-for-the-spine/), I'm trying to get into doing more planks and pushups (I'm no expert though so don't necessarily take my advice!)

 

You know I was actually thinking of re-doing this objective because I have noticed an old hockey injury effecting my back start flaring up!  So, yeah, I think I'm going to practice planks and wall planks - like using Steve's Jedi workouts!  Thanks for the link to the article!

[Aquamom]

Any fans of Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D out there? I think the show just keeps getting better and better.

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away

[Aquamom]

Ugh. Sugar fail already today. . . [emoji13]

But I did 9 band assisted pull ups

30 tricep dips (with a 2 year old in my lap) and

64 sec plank!

I think I just need to focus on the victories!

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away

[SkiBlue]

Ugh. Sugar fail already today. . . [emoji13]

But I did 9 band assisted pull ups

30 tricep dips (with a 2 year old in my lap) and

64 sec plank!

I think I just need to focus on the victories!

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away

 

Awesome! I can't do dips unassisted yet, but I'm working on it. And I feel you on the sugar. There's so much in the house for my husband, I have to bang my head on the wall to keep from eating it. >.<

[jstanlick]

Weighted dips, sweet!! What is that, an extra 25-ish pounds?

The sugar is in the past. Focus on the victories and move forward with your sugar plan as if this morning didn't happen.

[Aquamom]

Weighted dips, sweet!! What is that, an extra 25-ish pounds?

The sugar is in the past. Focus on the victories and move forward with your sugar plan as if this morning didn't happen.

 

Yep 25 on the dot!  (That kid cannot gain weight!  It's really funny considering his brother is a behemoth!)

 

This morning was no pull-ups, did 34 dips and instead of weighted dips, my same son first did his own plank (for like a half a second) and then climbed on my back!  So, yeah, plank + 25 lbs = 34 seconds.

 

Protein was awesome yesterday, the final number was over 100 g!  We won't discuss the sugar.

 

This morning is off to great start!  I'm just itching to get to the gym and/or go for a long-ish run!  I feel silly having someone come watch my boys while I do that though. . . 

 

Oh yeah, I'm up to page 262 in Rutherford B. Hayes.  This author really likes the minutiae!

[SkiBlue]

Love how your kids just add extra weight for your exercises, and you're just like "psht, I can beast that." I wanna be like that when I have kids (eventually, so not ready yet).

[Aquamom]

Love how your kids just add extra weight for your exercises, and you're just like "psht, I can beast that." I wanna be like that when I have kids (eventually, so not ready yet).

 

Thanks!  I try!  Didn't work so well yesterday. . . 

 

I woke up with my upper back feeling out of whack.  I think I slept funky (had nothing to do with my boys being in bed with me - nope, nothing).  Anyway, I woke up a bit late so didn't have time to squeeze everything in before work.  I was worried that my back would prevent me from doing all of my stuff.  I did my pull-ups program last night which was a "test" - I managed 4 band-assisted pull-ups in a row!  I managed 31 dips.  Not very impressive, but it was the end of a long day and I'm definitely a morning person.  Plank was a fail.  Every time I tried I had both my boys jump on me WWE-style, and by the time they were asleep, I was half-way to dreamland myself!

 

Today, I'm not sure what to do.  My back feels even worse than yesterday, so I'm thinking that maybe I should just take it easy today.  I am planning on swimming with my boys at the Y.  

 

Protein has not been good the last two days, but my sugar has gone down consistently.  Lesson:  It's very hard to eat how I want to while being alone with the kids.  Lesson 2:  I need to plan out my meals better the next time my wife is away!

 

I also here is a link to my spreadsheet.  I feel that if I make public then maybe it will help!

[SkiBlue]

I also here is a link to my spreadsheet.  I feel that if I make public then maybe it will help!

 

Sounds like a good idea. I should probably do the same. >.<

[Aquamom]

Alright, so I managed to get in dips and planking!  The plank was "weighted" (i.e. my younger son was on me - and this time using me as a jungle gym!).  My protein was a bit short with only 91g (and that included the protein shake I downed after the boys were asleep).  BUT the big win was only having 18.7 g of sugar!!!  I've found that the majority of it comes from the raisins I like having with my oatmeal in the morning.  If I can find a way to add protein to the oatmeal that would be best.  

 

Today is the *final* day solo-parenting!  My wife comes home late this afternoon/early evening!!!  I have missed her so much!  It's funny the last couple times she was gone I missed her in terms of co-parenting more than just as my wife; this time, my heart has been aching I've missed her so much!  It's been killer having my wife gone!  I can't believe we did a 2-year long distance relationship before we got married!  I can't wait to hear how her week at grad school has gone and I can't wait to tell her news from week.  Less than 12 hours!!  

 

ETA:  My wife sent me via Amazon The New 52 Justice League Vol. 1: Origin.  It was awesome and perhaps cut into some of my Birchy reading time.

[Aquamom]

Good Monday Morning Rebel Rangers!

 

I'm so happy that my wife is home!  Yay!!  

 

So something happened with the pull ups app on my phone and I had to re-start.  So I did AMRAP band-assisted pull-ups and got 4.  

Dips = 34

Plank = 1:13.64 (almost exactly the same time as Saturday)

 

Protein - 112 g

Sugar - 15.?  g

 

So that felt pretty good.  Not sure what I did with my back though.  It's still feeling funky like right below my shoulder blade, but toward the side of my body.  I'm pretty confident that I can get my dips and plank in, but I decided against running this morning (it hurts if I take too deep a breath).  Also I did a poor job of pre-planning for a morning workout last night.  

 

Anyway, I hope I can keep up the momentum!

[SkiBlue]

Anyway, I hope I can keep up the momentum!

 

Roll with it! You're doing great! Glad to hear the wife is back. I can definitely sympathize there.

[jstanlick]

Nice protein/sugar numbers!!! Seriously, 15g of sugar is impressive and I know the protein hasn't always been easy for you. That was one good looking day!

[ShadowLion]

Keep at it! You're doing great so far.

 

You've set up a good back-to-basics challenge that will build some muscle and really clean up your diet!

[Aquamom]

Nice protein/sugar numbers!!! Seriously, 15g of sugar is impressive and I know the protein hasn't always been easy for you. That was one good looking day!

 

Yeah, I have no idea how I did that one!!!  Yesterday was hard because I like oatmeal in the morning (I know an exception to the paleo thing) and instead of sugar I've been adding raisins, but there's a bunch of sugar in those too. . . .   hmmm. . . .at least it's natural sugar. . .   Protein has been a bit easier because I'm not hesitant to supplement with a shake.

 

Keep at it! You're doing great so far.

 

You've set up a good back-to-basics challenge that will build some muscle and really clean up your diet!

 

Thanks!!  I'm a little worried because it appears that I have pulled my right lat.  So instead of powering through on my pull-ups I think I really need pull-back and baby my injury.  I slept with an icy-hot patch on last night and it already feels a bit better.  

 

Due to said injury,  I will be doing planks and dips today.  I believe I am (finally) meeting with my trainer as well today so I'm going to request a leg day. . . 

[jstanlick]

Woot! All hail Leg Day!!!!

[SkiBlue]

Leg days are good days. Sorry to hear that your injury isn't getting any better. Hope it heals fast!

[Aquamom]

Leg day was awesome!!  I leg pressed 300 lbs!  A new record for me.

 

My lat started feeling better yesterday, but then the fire alarm went off last night and I think really re-injured it by picking up my 5 year old (60ish lbs) and running downstairs with him.  (My wife grabbed the 2 year old).  So today I'm really sore.  I'm not doing anything, because just putting my car in reverse and turning around to look out the rear-window hurts.  Gggggrrrrrr.  I'm really going to take it slow and try to let it heal.  That might mean not really meeting my goals but doing something else - focusing on cardio (bike/running).  

 

Protein and Sugar is going well.  Sugar is between 25 - 30 g per day.  While I'm really trying hard to keep under 25, I'm not freaking out if eating carrots or zucchini is going to push me over.  The yogurt I've been eating has about 9 - 11 g. of sugar, but it's all natural - nothing is added.  

 

Protein is going well, especially because I'm not afraid to pound a protein bar or chug a shake.  

 

Ok.  My conference call is about to end and now I need to head on to my meeting with girls varsity basketball team!

[jstanlick]

Leg day PR FTW!!!! Awesome stuff. Taking it easy and missing goals is not fun and takes vigilance to let yourself heal. But, its a far better choice than making an injury worse.

Great job on the food stuffs! Keep it up!

[SkiBlue]

Oh no! Hope everything's okay. Any idea why the fire alarm went off?

 

Sorry to hear about your back. I think as long as you focus on moving, like you said cardio, while letting your back heal will definitely be a suitable substitute for your daily challenge goals. Keep going with the food though! That's really awesome! 

 

I'm about 0.5 miles from our mini-challenge goal. I should definitely hit it today sometime. I only have a few pictures from work to post (giant metal dinosaurs), but if you have anything cool looking, let me know and we can post that one!

[Aquamom]

Leg day PR FTW!!!! Awesome stuff. Taking it easy and missing goals is not fun and takes vigilance to let yourself heal. But, its a far better choice than making an injury worse.

Great job on the food stuffs! Keep it up!

 

Thanks!  Yeah, I'm working hard on not over-doing it!  I canceled my appointment with the trainer because we couldn't really do anything with my lat being so sore.    I usually am very impatient with injuries, but I'm committed to taking it easy.  

 

Oh no! Hope everything's okay. Any idea why the fire alarm went off?

 

Sorry to hear about your back. I think as long as you focus on moving, like you said cardio, while letting your back heal will definitely be a suitable substitute for your daily challenge goals. Keep going with the food though! That's really awesome! 

 

I'm about 0.5 miles from our mini-challenge goal. I should definitely hit it today sometime. I only have a few pictures from work to post (giant metal dinosaurs), but if you have anything cool looking, let me know and we can post that one!

 

Turns out the alarm went off because a girl on Girls 3rd (high school junior) burned popcorn.  It's times like that when we repeat our mantra "No rent.  No rent."

 

Yeah, I have not been diligent about keeping up with the mini - I'm sorry!  It's 20 F degrees here  . . . I'll try to find some cool pics.  Although you should the natives around here: 

 

(That's my 2 year old - he was supposed to be in bed, but came in wearing that - he put the mittens and hat on all by himself!)