WhiteBeltBrowncoat says Hello World

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Hi there, I'm a white belt browncoat, just getting started with my first challenge. I'm 31, married and have a five-year-old to try and keep up with. I've read Nerd Fitness for a couple of years now but never got into the forums.

 

In the last two months, all three of us signed up for our first martial arts class and we are hooked. The Monks' Guild looks like my home in the near future.

 

Main Quest: Lose 50 lbs in a year. To be more specific, 4 lbs every month.

 

Quest 1: Martial Arts Classes

Attend three martial arts classes a week (since I'm jumping in the middle of this challenge, it works out to attending 13 classes)

Grading: A=13; B=10; C=8; D=6

 

Quest 2: Homework

Do two workouts at home on non-class days, the TMNT workout is preferable, but I'll settle for doing some air squats and pushups while making dinner (eight workouts for the duration of the challenge)

Grading: A=8; B=6; C=4; D=2

 

Quest 3: Sweettooth

I have a bit of a sweet-tooth and there is a large bowl (not mine) stocked with candy next to my desk. Let's limit this to one piece of candy a day (21 days)

Grading: A=21; B=15; C=10; D=5

 

Motivation:  I want to have lots of energy to play with my son and like the way that I look. 

 

Here's to the Rebellion.

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Ok, quick updates. Friday I met my goal of only one piece of candy at work. Definitely felt the siren call but knowing that I had just posted here that I was sticking to one or less really helped tame that craving. Then this morning I made it to my kajukenbo class. It really kicked my butt. It's been a long time since I've had that little shakiness after a good hard workout.

Progress:

Quest 1: 1/13

Quest 2: 0/8

Quest 3: 1/21

Next up I'll get around to adding the progress bars to my Sig but this works for now.

[sozzielou]

Oh good luck with the family martial arts classes, that sounds like a great idea.

Posting here for accountability is awesome for staying on track, isn't it? Why is there a bowl of candy by your desk, who does it belong to? Could you try chucking a few apples or bananas in there?

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Thanks sozzielou. The family all going to class has been really great for all of us. The accountability is really great. I hadn't been expecting it to have such an impact. The bowl of candy is kind of a department thing. One person had passed out from low blood sugar before, so she makes sure to have some candies around just in case. Then the rest of the company caught on to the fact that we had candy and people started refilling it. I like the idea off keeping some fruit. I'll have to try that.

[Kilyra]

I really love that fitness is a family affair! You're not just setting a great example for your son, but setting him on a great path too. 

 

Oh, I know all about the office candy bowl. We have subtrades that often bring by doughnuts and all sorts of tempting goodies too. There are days I try to avoid the break room altogether haha

[Toshimi]

Kenjukenbo looks really interesting (I had to google what it was) ! Been learning so much about different types of martial arts this challenge! 

 

Welcome to the NF Challenges

 

If you get a chance you should come stop by the Monks Courtyard

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Thanks wanderingcavegirl! It is really neat to me to see just how many different disciplines are being done throughout the forums. I'm going to wander on over to the courtyard next.

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Ok, quick update. Yesterday went well. Managed to avoid the candy bowl at work except for one piece of caramel. Then after work I managed to get a workout in. Turns out trying to use a push mower with a five year old "helping" push (in reality telling you to run faster to make the grass rain) will get your heart rate up. After that while waiting for dinner to cook, I was able to do a Simple and Sinister workout. I don't have a kettlebell (though it is on my shortlist of things that I would like), but I do have a bag of tire chains that weighs about 25 lbs. It works and I haven't sent it flying through the french doors into the backyard yet.

 

Today is looking to be a good one. It's cool out this morning which is nice for things to start feeling a little fallish and I have my kajukenbo class tonight. Can't complain.

[Teirin]

Heh, congratulations on the lack of window damage :-D

 

We will indeed be delighted to have you in the Monastery.   Making martial arts classes a family thing is great, as noted by several others. 

 

Your main quest and sub quests all look very manageable and there's nothing wrong with how you're tracking them.  You are very welcome to make progress bars but they're not required.  Excellent use of waiting time while cooking!

 

Please let us know if you have any questions or need anything.

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Day 4
Made it through the whole day of work with no candy! It probably helps that the candy bowl is all out of chocolate. I think next challenge I need to work on cleaning up my at home eating. Kaju class was fun. There was only one other white belt tonight so when we split off into beginner/intermediate/advanced groups it was like a private lesson. Plus the instructor is one that I really like. very energetic and gives real world examples of how the technique could be applied. Apparently one of the other students was overheard making the comments that " don't like the all the kicking drills. I'm not good at them" so the instructors focused on kicking drills in warmups to push everyone out of their comfort zone. I appreciate that, but we  haven't learned the kicks yet so it has been a rather slapdash introduction to the different kicks (front, side, roundhouse) with very little pointers on technique. Mostly monkey-see, monkey-do style learning. I look forward to learning the little intricacies and details of how to really make them work. So now my hips are really sore. Darn this exercising new muscles =).

 

Thanks Teirin! This has been a totally new approach for me (sharing on the forums). I'm really loving it and will be doing my best to make it stick.

 

Progress:
Quest 1: 2/13
Quest 2: 1/8
Quest 3: 3/21

[Macha]

Congrats on jumping into classes already! Also I love your username.

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Day 5 - 9/30/15

No Candy for me again. But I gotta work on opening my mouth. Not 15 minutes after I posted that it was easier because there was no chocolate, someone refilled the bowl with nothing BUT chocolate. Well, guess this just means I get to practice making the good decisions. 

Unfortunately I didn't get a structured workout in yesterday. The little one came home sick from after school care and my wife took him tot he doctor and she didn't make it to her Kaju class. Usually I try to exercise while she is in class. Lately I've become a huge fan of Pavel Tsatsouline, especially after hearing him on the Tim Ferriss podcast (You really should try listening to this episode!), and have been reading his books The Naked Warrior, Simple and Sinister, Relax Into Stretch. Throughout the day I've been trying to use his Grease the Groove method so I have been practicing my pistols and inclined one arm pushups (usually at lunch and on my breaks), but I don't really feel that this completes my at home workout goal. So I have the rest of the week to get another at home exercise in.

 

Also, sorry for being so link happy. 

 

Progress:
Quest 1 – Attend Kaju class: 2/13
Quest 2 – Exercise at home: 1/8
Quest 3 – One piece of candy at work: 4/21

 

Congrats on jumping into classes already! Also I love your username.

 Thanks Macha! Now I just need to work on finding a suitable abbreviation for the username. WhiteBeltBrowncoat is a bit of a mouthful. 

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Day 7 - 10/1/15

Did pretty good yesterday. Only one piece of candy and made it to Kaju class. Only three of us and I got to work with a new instructor. Definitely sore afterwards. I need to work on making time at home to exercise. 

 

Progress:
Quest 1 – Attend Kaju class: 3/13
Quest 2 – Exercise at home: 1/8
Quest 3 – One piece of candy at work: 5/21

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Great progress so far.

Are you taking any healthy snacks with you to work?

[Teirin]

Ah, nice chance for some extra details from your instructor :-)  Big classes are great, but the small ones can do great things for your training too.

 

Seconding Luciana's suggestion for snacks of your own.  Sugar snap peas or little oranges maybe?

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Hey guys. Things are going ok. I need to step up the exercise I think. I still have to get one more practice/workout at home. I know I'm not going to be able to make kajukenbo class today. Saturday class is difficult because it is mid morning and if we want to do anything as a family, Saturday is the easiest day to do it so we can recover Sunday. Disappointing to miss class but family time is important too.

Food at work has been pretty good. I've managed to stay away/limit sweets at work and have been bringing various and celery sticks to snack on. Now I need to work on less sweets and breads at home. Thanks for checking in on me. It definitely helps me stay on track.

Progress

1.1. 3/13

1.2 1/8

1.3. 6/21

[starchild]

Great goals and super that you're following your progress every day!

 

My b-friend's got a similar candy situation at his work... as soon as he made his no-sweets plan, it turned out there were x birthdays, x farewells and x promotions during the next week. He's also on a fitness challenge - he gave away his stash and started turning down his colleagues when they offered him cakes&co.

 

One day I hope to get into martial arts myself - so I'm also here to hear smth new

 

P.S. Also got a tip to follow Pavel's work.

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Ok, here's the revised weekend update. Saturday was a wash. We skipped my kaju class with the intent of going hiking at Point Reyes, but that didn't happen. Rather disappointing to end up missing my class for nothing. But I did end up being able to work out at home. It was a bit of a hodgepodge thing that I cobbled together, but was enjoyable I thought. Two things to note, I've been working a bit on one-arm pushup progressions (right now I'm working on one-arm pushups from my knees) and pistol squat progressions (holding a weight in front of me to help balance), so I've been trying to use those in my workouts both for the skill progression and the strength building. The other is that we have been working on sparring footwork in kaju class. So I thought why not combine the two.

 

Here was the format

• Warmup:
  • from the NF Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles workout
• Strength:
  • 5 one-arm pushups (from the knees) each side
  • 5 pistols (weighted) each side
  • 2 minutes shadow boxing
  • 4 one-arm pushups
  • 4 pistols
  • 2 minutes shadow boxing
  • 3 one-arm pushups
  • 3 pistols
  • 2 minutes shadow boxing
  • 2 one-arm pushups
  • 2 pistols
  • 2 minutes shadow boxing
  • 1 one-arm pushup
  • 1 pistol
  • 2 minutes shadow boxing
• Cooldown
  • 5 minutes stretching

This kicked my butt. Plus it was nice being able to combine the calisthenic skills work and martial arts. I need to work on my flexibility for sure. I'm hoping that my wife and I can work on that together at night while watching some tv.

 

Quest Progress:

1.1 – Attend Kaju class: 3/13
1.2 – Exercise at home: 2/8
1.3 – One piece of candy at work: 6/21

 

Ok, so for this coming week, I'm hoping for three kaju classes (I'll accept two, but would much rather three); keep going with the no snacking at work (not going to worry horribly about desserts at the moment, focusing on building the healthy work eating and go from there); and getting two more workouts at home in. 

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Quick update. Got a shortened workout in at home last night. Yay! Can check one more off. Had more than one piece of candy at work though. Had a piece of chocolate after lunch and then they go and get birthday cake for the October birthdays. Wasn't going to go downstairs to the break room, but then a co-worker brought a plate up. Couldn't really say no at that point. Oh well, today is a new day. Got Kajukenbo tonight, looking forward to that.

 

Quest Progress:

1.1 – Attend Kaju class: 3/13
1.2 – Exercise at home: 3/8
1.3 – One piece of candy at work: 6/21

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

So I came into the challenge a couple weeks late and never really got going on the Mini Challenges. So here is my attempt to catch up.

 

Mini-Challenge One: Get SMART

Quest 1: Martial Arts Classes
Attend three martial arts classes a week (since I'm jumping in the middle of this challenge, it works out to attending 13 classes)
Grading: A=13; B=10; C=8; D=6
S = Specific YES
M = Measurable YES (Boolean, I go or I do not go)
A = Attainable/Achievable YES
R = Realistic/Reasonable YES
T = Timeous YES

Quest 2: Homework
Do two workouts at home on non-class days, the TMNT workout is preferable, but I'll settle for doing some air squats and pushups while making dinner (eight workouts for the duration of the challenge)
Grading: A=8; B=6; C=4; D=2
S = Specific YESish (doesn't define the workout)
M = Measurable YES (Boolean)
A = Attainable/Achievable YES
R = Realistic/Reasonable YES
T = Timeous YES

Quest 3: Sweettooth
I have a bit of a sweet-tooth and there is a large bowl (not mine) stocked with candy next to my desk. Let's limit this to one piece of candy a day (21 days)
Grading: A=21; B=15; C=10; D=5
S = Specific YES
M = Measurable YES (Boolean)
A = Attainable/Achievable YES
R = Realistic/Reasonable YES
T = Timeous YES

 

Week 2 Mini - Making Friends

Update signature YES

Join accountabilibuddy YES

Support fellow recruits YES

chimed in on TexasDawn, SnowOwl, and Macha's challenges as well as some of the Monk's

 

Week 3 Mini - The Library

The hardest quest for me will be staying away from the candy bowl at work. So I searched for snacks that I could bring with me to eat instead of the sugar. This post had a lot of ideas. Now I've been bringing veggie sticks to work with me. This has helped keep me occupied and putting healthy food in my mouth instead of junk.

 

Week 4 Mini - Checking Your Starting Credits

1.1 – Attend Kaju class: 3/13

1.2 – Exercise at home: 3/8

1.3 – One piece of candy at work: 6/21

 

1. Goal allocation:

1.1 – Attend Kaju class: +3 STR, +3 DEX

1.2 – Exercise at home: +3 STA

1.3 – One piece of candy at work: +2 CON

 

2. Mid Challenge Summary:

1.1 – Attend Kaju class: (3/4; 75%)

1.2 – Exercise at home: (3/3; 100%)

1.3 – One piece of candy at work: (5/6; 83.3%)

 

3. Challenge allocation:

1.1 – B (75%) = 2.25 STR, 2.25 DEX

1.2 – A (100%) = 3 STA

1.3 – B (83.3%) = 1.67 CON

However, since I started two weeks late, I'm going to wait until the end of the challenge to assign the stat points.

 

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Class night was fun. Only three of us beginners working with the instructor I like. He definitely pointed out some stuff for me to work on. Apparently I keep myself very tight when we're working on learning the sparring drills and need to keep myself looser. Got tagged on the hand while we were doing some stick work and that smarts this morning. A good reminder to get my hand into the right position when blocking. Also only one piece of candy at work, so back on track there. Now I need to knock off the dessert/after dinner snacking. 

 

Quest Progress:

1.1 – Attend Kaju class: 4/13
1.2 – Exercise at home: 3/8
1.3 – One piece of candy at work: 7/21

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

You're making progress

No helpful advice this time.

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Day 13 - 10/7/15

Just finished my improvised kettlebell (i.e. bag of tire chains) simple and sinister workout. Feels a little sore. Plus I got laundry and a bunch of food prepped tonight. Looking forward to relaxing on the couch.

 

Progress:
Quest 1 – Attend Kaju class: 4/13
Quest 2 – Exercise at home: 4/8
Quest 3 – One piece of candy at work: 8/21

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Day 14 - 10/8/15

Did good with the eating at work today. Managed to keep myself away from the doughnuts in the breakroom. Was really tempted when I saw one or two still in the breakroom at lunchtime. Then I got to thinking that if they were good, there wouldn't be any left. Which makes me glad I skipped them. 

 

Kaju went well. Didn't really learn anything new, but there were some tweaks to some of the techniques. One thing that did make me happy was the instructor was able to help me figure out why my finger joints had been hurting (turned out I hadn't been making a tight enough fist and some of the punching drills I would be leading with the second knuckle). Makes sense now why that joint was more tender and felt bruised.  

 

Progress:

Quest 1.1 – Attend Kaju class: 5/13
Quest 1.2 – Exercise at home: 4/8
Quest 1.3 – One piece of candy at work: 9/21

[WhiteBeltBrowncoat]

Day 16 - 10/10/15

Bit of a wash yesterday and today. Yesterday the wife surprised me with cookies at work and they refilled the candy bowl with reeses cups (the big ones). So the one piece of candy at work went out the door. Didn't get to Kaju class today. I'm thinking that until we get our home life into a better routine of getting things cleaned, put away, and prepared ahead of time, Saturday class probably won't be happening.

 

Progress:

Quest 1.1 – Attend Kaju class: 5/13
Quest 1.2 – Exercise at home: 4/8
Quest 1.3 – One piece of candy at work: 9/21