Big_Show Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hello everyone, long time no see! This is my sixth challenge here at NF. Unfortunately the last one got derailed a couple of weeks in when I got sick and took a while to get myself back on track, but that's all sorted now and I'm properly raring to get going again. I have a very specific focus for this challenge - at the end of the six weeks I fly back to the UK for a month-long holiday (finally get access to my holiday allowance!), and I'll be seeing my family and also friends that I haven't seen in well over a year. Unfortunately I'm also currently sitting at the heaviest I've been in years - 108.5kg as of this morning. So my goal is simple - lose as much weight as (safely) possible over the next six (and a half) weeks so that I feel better myself when I fly back, but more importantly so that my nice clothes will fit properly when I wear them! The specific challenges I'm going with are: 1) Just this once is always too often.No inventing creative excuses for over-eating. Draw up a diet plan for the week, stick to it, and improvise with healthy options where necessary. 2) Lift heavy things - twice a weekGym sessions or bodyweight workouts. Get them done. 3) Keep moving - quickly if possible - three times a weekCardio three times a week - preferably some form of intervals or competitive sport. I realised that 3x weights & 2x cardio was the wrong mix for me, as a) I really like running, and sports are a very good way to have a social life over here when possibilities are limited. So football & squash are firm fixtures in my calendar. LQ) Waaaaagh!!!Finish painting my 500pt Ork army - currently 20 boyz painted, need to paint another 20 or so, plus a Warboss & a Weirdboy. I've had them sitting around for months without putting any proper time in to it, and my mates are getting impatient for a game. So I will finish painting my fledgeling horde and then unleash the green tide on my foes by the end of this challenge. Quite simple targets, but I need to keep focussed. Time to get moving with it! 6 Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
Endor Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Nice time of year to be heading back to the UK I found out (again) last challenge that weight loss is all about the food but you probably already knew that Seen this before? Pretty good article for motivation. 1 Quote Endor, LVL 45 Half-Elf Ranger PR and Motivation Log | Current Battle Log Feb-March 2022 Challenge Link to comment
Balthazar Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 hey bro, welcome back! Also weather in the UK right now is gorgeous! 1 Quote Link to comment
DarK_RaideR Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Subscribing for Gork and Mork! 2 Quote Lvl 54 Multitasker Link to comment
goodbye_farewell Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 You got this! Hopefully, I'll be cutting right along with you... 1 Quote Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Day -6: 108.5kg Made a good start to the pre-challenge. Ate sensible at work all day, had a litttle snack before my run, then cooked myself a nice pork chop & stir-fried veg when I got back in. A decent calorie deficit for the first day. The run was slow as it was particularly hot today; if it's this bad again tomorrow I just won't be able to do the track session, so I'll find something else to do. Luckily it's supposed to cool down a bit again towards the end of the week; my (shiny new) car's thermometer said it was 48 degrees while I was on the way home this afternoon, so that might explain a few things! Got a squash game organised for Wednesday evening though - me and two mates, so we'll rotate round 2 games on, 1 game off continually. The extra recoveries should mean a pretty good workout! Currently hunting down people's new threads to subscribe on. This may take some time as I'm a bit out of practice... 2 Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
shaar Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 YEAH!!! BRO!!! Subbed. Mmm, squash game.... oh, not that kind of squash. That would be messy. (But delicious??) 1 Quote i am not waiting for a hero. i saved myself long ago. Level 58 Bard & Monk of the Furious Heart STR.55 DEX.43 STA.48 CON.51 WIS.53 CHA.65 "Well...in the end, it boils down to two simple choices. Either you do or you don't. You'd think with all the problems in this world, there'd be more answers. It's not fair... ...But that's the way things are. The choice is yours." Link to comment
Buff Brogan Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 2 Quote LEVEL: 7 Furyan Ranger - Battle Log - in lieu of this challenge don't look back, we aren't going that way: Rebirth - Wrestlemania Dark Raider vs KZacher From Tartarus with Love - Wrath of the Furyan - it's a secret! - FIGHT! - You can go your own way - The Rational Gaze - Rise from Death to Knife this Beast(part 3-the agony) - Demonized(part 2) - By Demons Be Driven(part 1) - Link to comment
Balthazar Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Day -6: 108.5kg Made a good start to the pre-challenge. Ate sensible at work all day, had a litttle snack before my run, then cooked myself a nice pork chop & stir-fried veg when I got back in. A decent calorie deficit for the first day. The run was slow as it was particularly hot today; if it's this bad again tomorrow I just won't be able to do the track session, so I'll find something else to do. Luckily it's supposed to cool down a bit again towards the end of the week; my (shiny new) car's thermometer said it was 48 degrees while I was on the way home this afternoon, so that might explain a few things! Got a squash game organised for Wednesday evening though - me and two mates, so we'll rotate round 2 games on, 1 game off continually. The extra recoveries should mean a pretty good workout! Currently hunting down people's new threads to subscribe on. This may take some time as I'm a bit out of practice... back on form 1 Quote Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Day -5: 108.2kg Yesterday ended up being one of this irritating days when life got in the way, so I didn't get chance to do any training. Still, never mind; I managed to recruit an extra body for squash tonight, so the downtime between individual games should be pretty minimal. And I forgot that there's a 5k fun run on Thursday that I'm doing, so that's a chance to see what I can do in this heat! Thankfully it doesn't start until 7:00pm, but that's still going to be quite warm (low 30s) by that point. My sister's also currently aiming at the family holiday in eight and a half weeks' time, so we've struck up an accountabilibuddy system over FB messenger. Always handy! 3 Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
Balthazar Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 family holiday time sounds awesome Quote Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 family holiday time sounds awesome Cannot come soon enough mate. I'm really looking forward to a nice chilly week by the beach in Lincolnshire! Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
Noname123 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Wooo welcome back 1 Quote Spaz Ranger BATTLE LOG You can have results or excuses. Not both Link to comment
Buff Brogan Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Day -5: 108.2kg Yesterday ended up being one of this irritating days when life got in the way, so I didn't get chance to do any training. Still, never mind; I managed to recruit an extra body for squash tonight, so the downtime between individual games should be pretty minimal. And I forgot that there's a 5k fun run on Thursday that I'm doing, so that's a chance to see what I can do in this heat! Thankfully it doesn't start until 7:00pm, but that's still going to be quite warm (low 30s) by that point. My sister's also currently aiming at the family holiday in eight and a half weeks' time, so we've struck up an accountabilibuddy system over FB messenger. Always handy!don't feel so bad. i haven't trained at all this week. damn shift in work schedule. 1 Quote LEVEL: 7 Furyan Ranger - Battle Log - in lieu of this challenge don't look back, we aren't going that way: Rebirth - Wrestlemania Dark Raider vs KZacher From Tartarus with Love - Wrath of the Furyan - it's a secret! - FIGHT! - You can go your own way - The Rational Gaze - Rise from Death to Knife this Beast(part 3-the agony) - Demonized(part 2) - By Demons Be Driven(part 1) - Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Day -4: 107.6kg Another good day. Ate well at work, cooked myself a nice tea when I got home - I'd forgotten how nice pork chops & stir-fried random veg is! This fuelled me up nicely for squash with a couple of mates, and I definitely worked myself hard for that hour. We played (what felt like) some epic points in that match! Good craic. It was weird catching sight of my reflection and seeing so much round my waistline. I realised that my mental image of myself is now much smaller than this, and therefore much, much smaller than I used to be. In my mind's eye I'm in really good shape, and I'm really looking forward to reality matching this. Tomorrow I've got this 5k-ish fun run in the evening, so I think I'll give running club a miss on Friday morning. Might head to the gym instead. Got to do something, as I've got a leaving brunch for a friend that day, and in the evening I've been invited to a beer pong party! Squash on Saturday may be a bit painful after that... 5 Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
Endor Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Day -4: 107.6kg Another good day. Ate well at work, cooked myself a nice tea when I got home - I'd forgotten how nice pork chops & stir-fried random veg is! This fuelled me up nicely for squash with a couple of mates, and I definitely worked myself hard for that hour. We played (what felt like) some epic points in that match! Good craic. It was weird catching sight of my reflection and seeing so much round my waistline. I realised that my mental image of myself is now much smaller than this, and therefore much, much smaller than I used to be. In my mind's eye I'm in really good shape, and I'm really looking forward to reality matching this. Tomorrow I've got this 5k-ish fun run in the evening, so I think I'll give running club a miss on Friday morning. Might head to the gym instead. Got to do something, as I've got a leaving brunch for a friend that day, and in the evening I've been invited to a beer pong party! Squash on Saturday may be a bit painful after that...Man I'm missing my squash We'll have to get a game if the stars align and we're in the same place at the same time. I'll be in the UK next year, probably June. Quote Endor, LVL 45 Half-Elf Ranger PR and Motivation Log | Current Battle Log Feb-March 2022 Challenge Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Man I'm missing my squash We'll have to get a game if the stars align and we're in the same place at the same time. I'll be in the UK next year, probably June. That would be great man, unfortunately it's looking unlikely that I will be too! Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
DarK_RaideR Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Looks like I'll be in Qatar around the start of July. I have no idea about squash, but if I get the time, I'm up for pretty much anything else 2 Quote Lvl 54 Multitasker Link to comment
Charlie_Quinn Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome back! Hopefully the weather in the UK will be nice for your visit. Though, is a British summer going to feel cold to you now? I used to love playing squash with my OH, but we had to stop as the competitiveness started to get a little ugly! 1 Quote Current: Assassins / Instagram Previous: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 2020 Races: CANCELLED! Spartan Trifecta: Beast: 18-APR / Super :11-JUL / Sprint: 12-JUL Summer Nuts: 5/6-SEPT / Nuclear Blast: 12-SEPT / Nuclear team race: 04-OCT "You have the heart of a Rebel" "I'll take that as a compliment" Link to comment
Balthazar Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Day -4: 107.6kg In my mind's eye I'm in really good shape, and I'm really looking forward to reality matching this. I get this sooo much! 3 Quote Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Looks like I'll be in Qatar around the start of July. I have no idea about squash, but if I get the time, I'm up for pretty much anything else Excellent news! That'll be the middle of Ramadan so quite a lot of places will be either closed or on reduced opening hours, but I'm sure we can find something to do! Welcome back! Hopefully the weather in the UK will be nice for your visit. Though, is a British summer going to feel cold to you now? I used to love playing squash with my OH, but we had to stop as the competitiveness started to get a little ugly! A British summer is going to feel beautiful in comparison! The temperatures are like that over here in December, and I found it soooo nice! Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Day -3: 107.2kg Eventful day! Busy at work, but in a good way - nothing particularly onerous, and the day went by quicker accordingly. In the evening was the Inside Out 5k at the Aspire Zone. An interesting Fun Run - they send you round the exterior of the Aspire for a couple of miles (full of football pitches, swimming centres, etc.) and they send you into the Dome for an undetermined length of time - this is an indoor training facility for athletics, football, gymnastics, and various other indoor sports. Then you head back out the other side and towards the finish line. Hence they also warn you that it is 5k-ish, probably closer to 6k. Thankfully it wasn't until 7pm so the temperature had cooled down a bit (this is very much a relative statement). I set off at what would be quite an optimistic pace for a 5k if I wasn't overweight and undertrained (I am currently both), and if the temperature was something I'm used to (it isn't). Hence the first couple of miles felt fantastic, but then... the wheels fell off a bit. The inside of the dome was amazing. And air conditioned, which was beautiful! First we did a lap of the underground car park. Then we went through a door to find a three-lane athletics track running round the inside edge of the car park, presumably as a warm-up track. We did a lap of that in the opposite direction, then headed up a level. Next we headed round one of the outside edges of an indoor 200m running track and passed the other end, then did a fulll lap of a basketball court before heading back to the 200m track, doing a u-turn and doing a lap round the inside of the track. I didn't realise how steeply those things bank at the corner, that really doesn't come across so much on TV. I can see it would be easier to deal with if you were running considerably further than me at this point! Then it was back down the ramp to a bit more of the car park. Here I saw a mate who was just entering the dome - found out later that he thought he must be nearly finished as he'd seen me leaving, not realising how far ahead I was! Out of the car park, and into... full-sized football pitch! Didn't even known that was there! And the b*stards made us do five lengths of the bl**dy thing as we worked our towards the exit up the stairs in between the seats. Needless to say, I was swearing quite heavily between breaths by this point. Anyway, out of the dome and back towards the start at the outdoor warm-up track. As I came into the last hundred metres I spotted someone trying to come up behind and overtake me, and somehow mustered a sprint finish (which absolutely wiped me out - tunnel vision and everything!) to finish in a time of- actually I don't know, as I forgot to take my watch and there was no official timer. So I don't know the exact distance either, and I'm quite pleased by that. We worked out afterwards that it's closer to 5 miles than 5k though. So plan for next time round:- be in some form of race fitness if I'm going to try to race,- assume that the entrance to the dome is at most the halfway point, rather than over 75% done, and- remember my damn watch! It may not come across, but I still enjoyed myself - any race, even one with a less than perfect outcome, is still better than doing no race. And they are few and far between in this country in the summer, so I'm going to make the most of them where I can. When I got back I had I stuck a (GF) pizza in the oven and had a coupleof bottles of ice cold cider from the fridge while watching the season 2 finale of GoT, and it was absolutely beautiful. I then had a full on bedgasm upon retiring for the night as I was so tired and it was so damn comfortable - a nice solid nine hours and I'm up and raring to go with my weekend! 7 Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
Xena Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Congrats on the race! Sounds like an awesome max effort workout. Quote Xena, Level 14+ Valkyrie Ranger January 2017 December 2016 Oct/Nov 2016 Link to comment
EricMN Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 The race sounds fun. Having to push for distance when your body feels like "Aren't we done yet?" is both the best and the worst at once, the mental challenge during a moment of fatigue. Well done, my friend. 1 Quote Rebel Scum - Current Challenge Link to comment
Big_Show Posted June 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 So here we are, at Day 1 of the new challenge! Well, I am, anyway - the working week over here goes Sunday-Saturday so it fits in best with my week to be a day out of sync with everyone else. I ended up having the weekend off training; a few niggles from the race, as well as a leaving do for a mate who's leaving the Middle East and heading to Shanghai, meant that it seemed like the most sensible option. All that means I'm ready and raring to go today; no more excessive social activities arranged for this week, and in a fortnight's time the country semi-shuts down for Ramadan so that means a lot fewer opportunites for temptation to hit. It should be an interesting time during Ramadan, actually - the entire muslim population will be fasting, and it's actually illegal to eat or drink in public between sunrise and sunset (even if it wasn't, it'd make you a bit of d*ck though...). Nowhere sells alcohol during that month, many places' opening hours are shortened... I've got a few projects I'm planning on working on during it, but it's generally going to be a pretty quiet time. Gym's still open though. 4 Quote Big Show: Human Swift Hunter Respawning. One day at a time. Battle Log: Operation Wedding Suit - Take 2 Previous challenges: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Link to comment
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