Atrytone - Challenge 1: Wading Pool Fitness

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

So my personal fitness and health has been something I've been wanting to get into for a while now. In the past year I've taken about 4-6 months of kick boxing training but will unfortunately not be able to continue due to scheduling conflicts and cost. That means I have to be responsible for my own health now.

 

Since I'm new to this I'm going to be adapting from the "LEVEL 1 SUGGESTED CHALLENGE QUESTS" posted by spezzy.

 

Diet (2):

This is a little difficult since I already do everything suggested on this list. I rarely drink pop or eat fast food, I love eating fruits and vegetables, I drink a lot of water, I take my coffee black and have recently reduced my overall caffeine consumption.

 

Cut back on the amount of bread I eat:

• A - 0-2 slices of bread per week
• B - 3-4 slices of bread per week
• C - 5-6 slices of bread per week
• D - 7-8 slices of bread per week
• E - 9-10 slices of bread per week
• F - 11+ slices of bread per week

Include two fruit and vegetable snacks per day:

• A - 14+ fruit/veggie snacks per week
• B - 11-13 fruit/veggie snacks per week
• C - 8-10 fruit/veggie snacks per week
• D - 5-7 fruit/veggie snacks per week
• E - 2-4 fruit/veggie snacks per week
• F - 0-1 fruit/veggie snacks per week

 

Fitness (1):

I am already in the process of trying to go to the gym twice a week so I think maintaining that is probably good for this first challenge:

• A - 8+ gym trips in total (2/week)
• B - 6-7 gym trips in total
• C - 4-5 gym trips in total
• D - 2-3 gym trips in total
• E - 1 gym trip in total
• F - 0 gym trips in total

 

Level Up Your Life (1):

Since I'm still in the bad habit of going to bed late (picked up over the holidays) I'd like to go to bed earlier each night (by 9pm for the first two weeks and by 8pm by the last two weeks).

 

Go to bed on time:

• A - 6-7 nights per week
• B - 5 nights per week
• C - 4 nights per week
• D - 3 nights per week
• E - 2 nights per week
• F - 0-1 nights per week

 

I believe that's everything. I'll attempt to post weekly updates on Mondays. Thank you for bearing with me and good luck to everyone working on their own challenges!

[CJ the (soon-to-be) Mighty]

Congratulations on starting your challenge!  Good luck to you!

[Pat]

Good challenge! I think you chose well. Unlike me, you didn't aim for the sky at your first challenge lol.

 

Going to sleep at 9pm and 8pm, ouch, that's early

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Congratulations on starting your challenge!  Good luck to you!

 

Thank you!

 

Good challenge! I think you chose well. Unlike me, you didn't aim for the sky at your first challenge lol.

 

Going to sleep at 9pm and 8pm, ouch, that's early

 

I know if I aim too high, and fail, I'll burn out. Starting slow seems like the best way to keep with it. As for the early bed times, I need to get up pretty early (5-6am) a few days a week. It's easier to keep on that schedule if I do it everyday. On top of that I have a really hard time falling asleep, so if I want to get 8 hours I need to go to bed about 9 hours before I plan to get up. :/

[Briniel]

Welcome to NerdFitness! Glad to have you on board These look like nice goals for a first challenge. It's awesome that you're already doing all the suggested lvl 1 diet quests, I like the ones you chose to do instead (or in addition). I hope your first week went well

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Congratulations on starting your challenge!  Good luck to you!

 

Thank you!

 

Good challenge! I think you chose well. Unlike me, you didn't aim for the sky at your first challenge lol.

 

Going to sleep at 9pm and 8pm, ouch, that's early

 

Thanks! I want to start small so I don't burn out and quit.

 

I know those bedtimes seem super early out of context. I have to get up pretty early most mornings (5-6am) and it generally takes me about an hour to fall asleep. So accounting for that these bedtimes are a little more reasonable.

 

Welcome to NerdFitness! Glad to have you on board These look like nice goals for a first challenge. It's awesome that you're already doing all the suggested lvl 1 diet quests, I like the ones you chose to do instead (or in addition). I hope your first week went well

 

Thank you! I was happy to see that as well. My diet can definitely be improved but it looks like I'm already doing something right which is good news.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

So it's a day early but I feel like posting my progress so far.

 

Something I completely forgot to note when setting out the parameters of this challenge is that I will probably never be able to conform to my Leveling challenge on Tuesdays. I have a mandatory night class to attend that doesn't get out until 9pm and then a long drive home on top of that. However, I will do my best to adhere to my goal outside of Tuesday nights.

 

As I started this challenge on Wednesday the 6th rather than Monday the 4th I am missing data for Monday. I was able to recall my actions from Tuesday though so that will be included. I also didn't include a photograph the first day but will include one today. Henceforth I will take weekly update photos on Sundays. I'm not expecting to see a lot of change right away but hopefully it'll serve as a better indicator than the scale; which I distrust.

 

Diet (2):

• I had four slices of bread on Tuesday (2 sandwiches) but no more bread for the rest of the week to date. I have, however, had bread-related products. While I am not deliberately counting them I will own up to them: a cinnamon bun and a scone on Friday and 3 pieces of pizza on Saturday.
• I had one piece of fruit on Tuesday, no fruits or veggies on Wednesday, one piece of fruit and one veggie snack Thursday through Saturday. I have had one piece of fruit today and plan on at least one veggie snack later today.

 

Fitness (1):

• I went to the gym and worked out for approximately an hour on both Tuesday and Thursday. I also went for a short walk Thursday and a slightly longer walk Saturday.

 

Leveling Up Your Life (1):

• On Tuesday and Friday I went to bed after 9pm, managed to go to bed at approximately 9pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and went to bed before 9pm last night (Saturday).

 

I will include today in my next progress report since it's still early and I have the whole day ahead of me. While my first week wasn't perfect I feel like it was a step in the right direction. I'll grade my progress each week in addition to posting my overall Challenge Grade at the end. So, for this week: Diet - C; Fitness - A; Leveling - C. (Edited in a later post to include Sunday)

 

Like I said, not perfect but definitely a start.

 

[Thom Stépan]

A great first week Atrytone. Good basic goals that will get the habits building up.

Don't stress about the Tuesday night thing. We learn to be flexible with our goals. For the sleep goal you could write it thus:

Asleep by 9pm

6-7 nights per week

4-5 nights per week

2-3 nights per week

0-1 nights per week.

Then you can grade yourself based upon your performance. See how you are going and track your improvements.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

A great first week Atrytone. Good basic goals that will get the habits building up.

Don't stress about the Tuesday night thing. We learn to be flexible with our goals. For the sleep goal you could write it thus:

Asleep by 9pm

6-7 nights per week

4-5 nights per week

2-3 nights per week

0-1 nights per week.

Then you can grade yourself based upon your performance. See how you are going and track your improvements.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

 

Thank you. I hadn't thought of that. It's much more specific. I'll edit that into my original post.

[Marauder]

Welcome to the Rebellion.  It looks like you had a great week 1.  Love the goals!  Bread... argh!  So hard to resist.  

[Thom Stépan]

No problems, that sort of thing comes from experience. As an ambassador it is my role to help newbies out when needed.

Now go out and kick week 2's backside.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Welcome to the Rebellion.  It looks like you had a great week 1.  Love the goals!  Bread... argh!  So hard to resist.  

 

Thanks! Bread is a convenience for me mostly. I'm not especially attached to it unless it's homemade. But it's so much easier to make a sandwich in the morning than it is to plan ahead. Need to break that bad habit.

 

No problems, that sort of thing comes from experience. As an ambassador it is my role to help newbies out when needed.

Now go out and kick week 2's backside.

 

Thanks! I'm pumped to do my best!

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

So I'm just amending my first weeks score in light of my performance on Sunday.

 

I only had one piece of fruit Sunday, no bread (although I had bread related food; one slice of pizza), and I went to bed after 9pm. I did do a body weight circuit though, with the exception of the third set of jumping jacks, which was unnecessary but felt good to do. While I'm not getting any bonus points for that I'm definitely proud of myself.

 

Week 1 Final Score:

Diet - C; Fitness - A; Leveling - D.

 

I've been pretty good about restricting my bread intake although I'm having some trouble with increasing my fruit and veggie intake. That's going to have to be something I crack down on. I'm pretty bad for not always eating when I'm hungry which needs to change. I've also been having a surprising amount of trouble going to bed earlier. I think the key issue there is my laptop. I spend too much time on the computer and either forget what time it is or brush it off. I'm going to try to turn my computer off an hour before bed so I'm not tempted. Hopefully this will help with my Leveling challenge.

 

My goal is to attack Week 2 with renewed ferocity and bring my Diet and Leveling scores up to at least a B if not an A.

[Briniel]

Nice work on week 1! It looks like you've pin-pointed the areas that still give you trouble and have a good idea of how to conquer them this week. Good luck with that!

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Nice work on week 1! It looks like you've pin-pointed the areas that still give you trouble and have a good idea of how to conquer them this week. Good luck with that!

 

Thank you very much.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

When I finally managed to get to the gym today (an hour later than usual - thanks homework) I had a pretty good time.

 

It might not be much but I bumped my dumbbell row up from 15 lbs last week to 20 lbs this week and my dumbbell incline press up from 10 lbs last week to 15 lbs this week. It wasn't easy but I'm super happy/proud of myself. This is concrete evidence that I'm improving!!!

[Thom Stépan]

Not much? Who are you kidding? That is awesome! You are gaining in strength. Flaming fantastic work.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

[StarRuby]

You are kicking some butt, non-gender-specific-dude. Be proud! You're going to get to the point that you can swing a claymore and take out goblins before you know it!

(Cell phones are fantastic posting weapons. Posting ahoy!)

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Not much? Who are you kidding? That is awesome! You are gaining in strength. Flaming fantastic work.

 

Thank you! I was a little embarrassed about my starting weights but I feel better now.  

 

You are kicking some butt, non-gender-specific-dude. Be proud! You're going to get to the point that you can swing a claymore and take out goblins before you know it!

 

Thanks! I don't know about a claymore (although I do have a little Scottish in me so it's apt) but I'll look into it. Maybe a nice bastard sword.

 

(I'm female but I'm totally cool with being called "dude" in the future if you don't feel like typing out "non-gender-specific-dude". Although really, either is fine.)

[Thom Stépan]

Go highland broadsword. Get the nice basket hilt to protect your hand and punch people in the face with.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Go highland broadsword. Get the nice basket hilt to protect your hand and punch people in the face with.

 

Well I do like punching things.

[Thom Stépan]

These guys teach highland broadsword.

https://cateransociety.wordpress.com/

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

No locations near me just yet but I'll keep an eye on them. Thanks Thom!

[NeuroPunkNonsense]

Week Two went better than Week One. Bumping up that willpower slowly but surely.

 

This week I made plans to go to the gym with a friend who is doing barbell training and asked her to show me her program. She was really helpful and it was a lot of fun to go to the gym with someone rather than alone. She showed me how to do high back squats, the overhead press, the bent over row, bench press (which I was already familiar with), and deadlifts. I immediately fell in love with the squats. I don't think I've ever been quite so aware of my own body. They are most definitely making it into my gym routine. The overhead press made me really uncomfortable and I know I'll be too scared to do it on my own. I'll probably do dumbbell shoulder presses instead. The bent over row was pretty straight forward but I'm not sure I'll incorporate it into my own routine. I've already been doing dumbbell presses so I'll likely continue with those; especially since the bar is still a little heavy for me to be doing a proper bench press with. Deadlifts were my nemesis on Saturday. My first two sets were incomplete as I was struggling with my grip. After waiting what felt like a ridiculously long time between sets (but was in reality only somewhere between 3-5 minutes) I managed three full sets of five. Right before my third set (after my second failed set) I glared at the weights and told them that I was going to beat them. Oddly, this helped. I was pretty ecstatic after I managed to accomplish a full set. I may continue deadlifts out of spite. We'll see how energetic I feel next week though.

 

I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting into a roll with this challenge. We sized each other up and now it's starting to follow my lead. Not quite meekly yet but we're getting there. It's hard to believe this challenge is already half over. I'm already getting psyched up for my second challenge. I know I shouldn't get too far ahead of myself but I'm feeling pretty good right now. I joined NF with out anything more than the vague goal of "get fit" whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. I developed some short term goals for this challenge and, with help, made them less vague and easier to score. Last week I still felt kind of out of place since everyone here seems to have such good, focused, long-term goals. I still don't have that exactly but I'm working on it. I want to be able to do a pull-up for one thing. Small goal perhaps but it's something I've never been able to do. I'm not as worried about coming up with a long term goal as I was when I started though. I know that I'll develop new goals as I learn more and that there's no rush. I just need to do my best to keep improving at my own pace and stop measuring myself up against everyone else.

 

So, long winded intro to this weeks update aside here's how I did:

 

Diet (2):

• I haven't had any bread this week. I have had a couple bread-related products; a bagel on Monday and cake on Saturday (it was my birthday and a friend made cake so I figured it was okay to be a little unhealthy).
• I have had 10 fruit/veggie snacks so far this week. One piece of fruit on Thursday and Saturday and one piece of fruit and one veggie snack the rest of the days excluding today.

 

Fitness (1):

• I went to the gym and worked out for approximately an hour on both Tuesday and Thursday. I also went to the gym for about two hours on Saturday.

 

Leveling Up Your Life (1):

• With the exception of Tuesday and Saturday I went to bed around 9pm each night. I went to bed after 9pm on the other two nights.

 

While I wasn't perfect this week I did better than last week which is all I can ask for. I also discovered a new exercise I love and can't wait to start doing on the regular. This week amounts to the following grades: Diet - B; Fitness - A(+); Leveling - B. I managed to bring both my diet and fitness up to a level that I wanted. I will include Sunday's data into a later post which means that these grades may change a little but not by any significant amount.

 

This weeks photographs will be posted below. I didn't notice any changes this week but that's alright. I'm sure they'll be there eventually.

 

 

[Thom Stépan]

Well done on week two. It sounds like your friend is doing stronglifts as their weightlifting programme, based upon the lifts you mentioned. It is a great beginners programme for barbell work. I am glad that you love the squats, they are the king of barbell work in my opinion. Deadlifts are right up there too, and I am glad you psyched out the iron and completed your deadlifts. Maybe you could train regularly with your friend. She may like the company and you can motivate each other. Having a training buddy would be awesome.

Don't worry to much about long term goals, as you keep going you will think more about what it means to be fit to you. Then you will say, when I can do that, I'll be pretty fit. One of my earliest goals was to do ten pushups. I had never been able to do them, so they were a quest to achieve them. Pull ups are another quest that I have yet to complete, and running 5k is a third. There is an annual mud run near where I live, and I would like to enter and complete that sucker. I also have a bucket load of weight to lose (20kg, 44lb).

You have already started to develop longer term goals, a pull up is a great goal, longer term you could think about doing a set of pull ups. You love squats, you could set a goal of squatting a certain weight (your own bodyweight is a common goal). There are a couple of basic ideas, as I said as you work on your fitness and think about what a fit you looks like and does, you will form some long term plans. Those ideas can be broken down into smaller goals, then into challenge size steps for you to work on and achieve.

Now get out and show week three who is the boss.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.