Toshimi jumps in with both feet

[Toshimi]

Little steps have worked some, but I've decided no matter what I am jumping in with both feet and finishing everything this challenge. I keep hitting days where I don't feel like I care, and it's the wrong mentality. I know I can do 4 weeks... Right?

Less than 100 days until the wedding. Super excited, but starting to get really stressed out with wedding+ work+ school.

 

Fun stuff going on this challenge:

This coming weekend doing the food tasting with the caterer

wine tasting

Belt test March 12

Ending the challenge with a long weekend camping trip in Death Valley!

Now for the goals:


Workouts:
Bringing back the Kung Fu vitamins from a few challenges ago-  at least 1 set/ 2 days a week outside class.

 

Kung Fu Vitamins set 1:

all in horse stance, (2) 10 counts

Shoulder height knife hands

low knife hands

Shoulder/low knife hands

Falling backfist

Rising back fist

Front punches

angle punches

 

Kung Fu Vitamins set 2:

Alternate legs

10 count slow front kicks x5 on each leg

2 part front kick x5 on each leg

continuous front kick (20)

10 count slow side kicks x5 on each leg

2 part slow kicks x5 on each leg

continuous side kick (20)

 

Kung Fu Vitamins set 3:

Wall kicks-

Front/front angle

Front/side

low/mid round  house

Hook/flick kick

Front/back kick

 

Kung Fu Vitamins set 4:

10 crunches in each of the following positions

Feet flat on the floor, knees touch, toes touch, heels apart

bottom of feet touch knees apart on the floor

knees bent in the air, knees touch, toes touch, heels apart

bottom of feet touch knees apart in the air

Legs straight up

legs in a V

Right leg out, left leg bent, both off the floor 6"

Left  leg out, Right leg bent, both off the floor 6"

Both knees to the right

Both knees to the left

 

 

want to come up with an additional strength routine. Will be mostly body weight, I don't have access to many weights (I think i have a 3, 5, and 12 lbs free weights, and a 7.5lbs kettle bell, and some bands)

 

Biking: 2 days at least 20 mins, either on the trainer or outside


Mobility:
2 sessions of NF yoga per week
5 mins of foam roller work 5 nights a week before bed

 

Eating right
Life is crazy, and it's only going to get worse. Eating bad is easy, and sometimes the only thing that sounds good, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Made a month long menu (see posts below) and I"m going to stick with it. Need to figure out breakfasts, but at least dinners are taken care of.


Sleep:
This should be way more of priority than I've been making it lately. Hoping stress at work will allow me to get to sleep earlier, but this should help

electronics off by 10:00, lights out by 10:30

[Toshimi]

So I thought others might be interested in what the menu has. I'll post notes on the recipes as I make them. Blank days are open for left overs, or grilled meat/veggies. 

 

Monday 2-29- Grilled pork shoulder steak & Veggies

 

Tuesday March 1

Dinner at parents?

 

Wednesday March 2

Beef stroganoff with rice nooodles & Veggies

http://thedomesticman.com/2015/10/13/beef-stroganoff-2/

 

Thursday March 3

Salisbury steak & leftover cabbage

http://thedomesticman.com/2012/02/28/salisbury-steak/

 

Friday March 4

Chicken Parm & Salad

http://thedomesticman.com/2015/01/13/chicken-parmesan-grain-free/

 

Saturday March 5

Curry shrimp

https://elanaspantry.com/curried-shrimp/

 

Sunday March 6

 

Monday March 7

Kalua pig with cole slaw & Veggie

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/10031990774/slow-cooker-kalua-pig#more

http://www.billyparisi.com/vinegar-based-coleslaw/

 

Tuesday March 8

Leftovers

 

Wednesday March 9

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-pecan-crusted-salmon-with-sauteed-spinach-and-purple-potatoes-recipes-from-the-kitchn-48779

 

Thursday March 10

Flank steak with garlic chive mash potatoes  and green beans

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bourbon-brown-sugar-flank-steak-with-garlic-chive-mashed-potatoes

 

Friday March 11

Bobotie & Veggie

http://thedomesticman.com/2015/12/29/bobotie/

 

Saturday March 12- Belt test

Dinner out!

 

Sunday March 13

Pan fried steak and veggie

http://thedomesticman.com/2013/05/14/ribeye-steak-with-caprese-salsa/
 

Monday March 14

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-chicken-tikka-masala-recipes-from-the-kitchn-211284

 

Tuesday March 15

Left overs

 

Wednesday March 16

Spaghetti squash carbonara (add peas) http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-baked-spaghetti-squash-carbonara-recipes-from-the-kitchn-200313

 

Thursday March 17

Sausages & veggie

 

Friday March 18

Salmon

Spagehetti squash with asparagus ricota lemon & thyme http://www.thekitchn.com/winter-into-spring-recipe-spaghetti-squash-with-asparagus-ricotta-lemon-and-thyme-186415

 

Saturday March 19

Family dinner

 

Sunday March 20

 Left Overs

Monday March 21

Slow cooker cheater pork

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/8425643634/slow-cooker-cheater-pork-stew

 

Tuesday March 22

Left Overs
 

Wednesday March 23

Garlic shrimp scampi

http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/recipes/seafood/garlic-shrimp-scampi/

 

Thursday March 24

Chipotle steak and grilled lettuce

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/grilled-chipotle-rubbed-steaks-with-lime-butter-recipe.html

 

 

[Kishi]

I like the menu! The hard part being, of course, that you have to stick to it. Good luck!

[Toshimi]

I like the menu! The hard part being, of course, that you have to stick to it. Good luck!

 

that was the idea with posting it!

[Maeghaan]

I've finally settled into a weekly rotation of meals. It takes forever to find a good combo, but it's so convenient once you do. Makes grocery shopping super easy. If I want to try a new recipe, I sub it for one of the weekend meals since I usually have extra time on weekends.

[Toshimi]

Water- done

Foam roller done

food- didn't do the recipe ( moved it to Thursday) but did eat well tonight. 

 

Plan for tomorrow is to walk in the morning, doing yoga tomorrow night. 

[Cheechoe]

A month long menu???

 

I'm impressed! You may be busy, but this is the way to keep your shit together!

 

So much excitement coming your way! You had me at wine tasting.

 

I think the sleep challenge you tacked on the end is super smart. If there is one way to keep your momentum during all you have going on, it's to get a healthy amount of sleep.

 

But yes! Only 4 weeks!

 

You got this!

[Toshimi]

Last night I got to bed late. I wish i could say I was at least being productive the whole time, but I wasnt. I did get a lot of work done to catch up at work. My project manager is gone until early next week, so that means a lot of field time instead of staying mostly in the office. Great to get out and not sit at a desk all day, but not so great for all the office/desk things i need to get done. Got the most pressing stuff done, but then stayed up too late trying to catch up with arrow.  To make up for it slept a little late this morning (630, instead of 6) but going to try and make up for it tonight by lights out at 10. It's sometimes hard on Wednesdays since my fiance comes over for dinner, and doesn't always leave super early, but still going to try and be in bed as early as possible

 

 

A month long menu???

 

I actually like month long menus. I've found it helps me keep a rotation on the protein I eat. I tend toward a lot of pork and beef, but I know fish/seafood is good for me, but not always my favorite to eat. 

 

pintrest has made menu planning a lot easier. I have my things I want to try board, which I pin quite a bit to as I wander some of my favorite blogs and sites. Then there is also the food favorites, which is an easy go to for recipes. 

 

 

So much excitement coming your way! You had me at wine tasting.

 

I think the sleep challenge you tacked on the end is super smart. If there is one way to keep your momentum during all you have going on, it's to get a healthy amount of sleep.

 

I love going wine tasting! We went a few weeks ago to Amador county California which has some great wineries. The wine tasting this time though is going to just be at BevMo. They have a wedding package that we're going to try and see if it's cost effective, or would it be better to go to some of the local ish wineries (within 6-7 hour drive) which could be a fun weekend get away. 

 

Switching things around on the menu a little. Doing the chicken parm tonight, shrimp tomorrow and stroganoff on Friday. then maybe the salsibury steak Saturday, although I used up some of the beef for last night. Still a few days away so plenty of time to get it figured out. 

[Toshimi]

The scale and I have not been friends lately, finally got so frustrated with it I signed up for MFP to help me track. Even though I feel like I'm eating well, i think there might be some hidden things that are preventing me from loosing what I would like. put in lunch and my snack, then added my martial arts class tonight. I'm not sure how accurate it is, I should find my sport watch and HR monitor and wear it sometime. 

 

going to spend some time tonight adding in the month's recipes, hopefully it wont be too hard to figure out. 

 

Missed a little on my water yesterday was about 16 oz short of my 80 oz. Which i guess still makes my minimum goal, but trying to hit the top end of it consistently. Got 8 hours of sleep last night, but that's because I slept in, not because I was in bed on time. 

 

foam rolling... I've come to realize in the last few days, 5 mins is a lot. It's super needed, and I'm barely getting through it, but rarely does 5 mins feel so long. 

 

Been getting some cleaning out done, have another 4 bags to go to goodwill. 2 months before we're hoping to move, so i figured it would be a good time to start getting rid of some stuff. I read the art of tidying up over Christmas/new years, but i think I may go through it again. Great book, and trying to get the fiance to read it, but he's not quite there yet (or not realizing how much stuff we have to now get into 1 house instead of two) 

 

I'm running out of week, and realizing i still need to get 2 sessions of yoga and 2 bike rides in. I know one bike ride will be this weekend, we're going to a fun event called CicLAvia, they close down the roads in different parts of LA to motorized traffic, and open it to bikes, pedestrians and other human powered modes of transportation. we went once last year, and had a great time, so hopefully the rain gives us a break during the event!

[Toshimi]

Full update later, but also making a change to the sleep thing. 8 hours a night, not an exact bedtime. My wake up times vary slightly, so it gives me a little flexibility to get extra work/homework/workouts in the evening. 

[Kishi]

Someone who I've taken to listening to has said that the key to long lasting weight loss involves stripping away just enough, finding a sweet spot between satisfaction and deprivation. Hopefully, MFP can help you with that.

 

I hope you got all those activities in! I know that I'm doing something similar, and it bites me if I miss a day. Hate to see that happen for you.

 

Here's to a strong week 2!

[Toshimi]

week 1 wrap up:

Foam roller 100%

Biking 100%

menu- 100% (skipped the salsbury steak, but i feel like I kept on track with the overall eating plan) 

yoga 50% 

kung fu vitamins 50%

sleep- 80%

 

 

Overall i feel like not a bad week. a few days of staying up later than I should. Left yoga till the end of the week and didn't end up getting it in. I did NF water A, and it made me realize how badly i needed it. I before i stopped I was doing B, and even got to fire A which, was hard, but not undoable. I had to pause several times during the water A because of how hard it was.... which I know I need to get both sessions (at least) in this week. Yoga goal for challenge- be able to do water B. 

 

Fiance and I had a lot of fun at CiLAvia yesterday. they closed down just over 2 miles of streets in LA to motorized vehicles. We did the loop once, then took a nice little bike path that was near the event. About 9ish miles total. Short for a weekend outside ride for us, but i was super tired and we called it quits earlier than normal. 

 

went shopping after, and got my get away dress for after the wedding! and added even more to the to do list. going to try and knock a few of the emails out in the next 2 days. Invitations getting ordered this week as well. 

 

the MFP thing is going well so far. Not weighing myself until next week though. I just need to do one or the other, doing both wasn't working. 

[Toshimi]

This week is flying by!

 

The experiment with MFP is going well. Only didn't track 1 day since I started, and of the days I've tracked I've been under every day except yesterday. Weighed myself on Monday. down almost a pound. which is a great encouragement to keep going. I've been hitting my macros for the most part (under my "target carbs" most days but I'm okay with that) I like that I was able to change the macro percentages to align more with the Perfect Health Diet/Paleo thing. Although I've not really been doing the whole paleo  thing much. and it's actually been working out better. Used to not eat things, tell myself i couldnt eat things, then I'd have a day where i ate all the things. Felt like crap for a few days then it all started again. Not saying I'm back to eating bread and such every day, and still staying mostly away from sugars, and most other no no's, but not caring so much has made it a lot easier mentally. 

 

The water and the sleep things have slipped a little. Never noticed how much having a cup with a straw seems to get me to drink more. No clue why either. But since I broke it at the end of last week, noticed I"m not drinking as much water at work. will be getting a new one this weekend (if amazon doesn't come to the rescue first). been in bed at least for 8 hours a night, can't say I've gotten that much sleep. Going to try and get to bed early tonight. 

 

Been doing a combination of stretching and foam rolling. it's getting easier, somewhat. Going to get yoga done tonight so it's not all left for this weekend. Was hoping to get some biking in tonight too but had to schedule a late appointment, so not sure I can devote as much time as I'd like to working out. 

 

Kung Fu was a lot of fun Last night, Reviewed everything we'd done the past few weeks. Gave me a chance to catch up on my notebook. I'm getting really excited for my test this weekend! I need to go back and review my first form, but I only need to be able to do two of the three 

 

Hope everyone has a great week!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Nice job!!

 

I'm a bit concerned about how I'm going to fit in workouts when I return to work in a couple of weeks - so I sympathize with having a workout pushed off the calendar.  

 

And water intake .... for me, it works best if I buy bottled water and then keep reusing that bottle for days.  Beats me why ... but whatever works should be kept!!

[Kishi]

Glad to hear that MFP is working out for you! Even though I know that diet is the be-all-end-all of this kind of thing, it still blows my mind that how one eats is actually the deciding factor no matter how much one trains. It's pretty crazy, to me, but I'm glad to see it's working out for you.

 

Also, glad that you're finding yourself in a place of balance with regard to Paleo and Everyday Living. That's a good place to be.

 

Water is a funny thing. I know for me I have to have the bottle out where I can see it and remember, or else I just don't drink.

 

Good luck with the test! Knock 'em dead!

[Toshimi]

Glad to hear that MFP is working out for you! Even though I know that diet is the be-all-end-all of this kind of thing, it still blows my mind that how one eats is actually the deciding factor no matter how much one trains. It's pretty crazy, to me, but I'm glad to see it's working out for you.

 

the one thing that has been the most interesting to me is the ability to make tweeks to my diet based on how much I train. I used to feel wipped on Kung Fu days, never felt I had the energy, Especially the next morning. With MFP i've been able to at least estimate my workouts and add some extra food in to balance it. So far for the week down 1.5 lbs. 

 

When browsing through threads stumbled across risen phoenix article he linked to on refeeding. Reading how it's helped him, I think I may have been doing it without thinking about it. I have noticed that on days that I  had like 1 major cheat, and kept it in check, the next day the scale did actually dip instead of increase. It's been the one "cheat" leading to falling off the bandwagon totally that has been an issue. Because of the not being able to keep it in check, refeeding is not something I"m going to incorporate into this challenge, but something I might look into for challenges down the road. 

 

So far been a great week. Got some yoga in already still need 1 though, water is starting to go better, Been practicing Kung Fu almost daily. 

 

Catching up on sleep is great. Been getting like 9 hours a night the last 2 nights. Will get to sleep in some tomorrow before my test. 

 

 

 

I'm a bit concerned about how I'm going to fit in workouts when I return to work in a couple of weeks - so I sympathize with having a workout pushed off the calendar.  

 

I've been trying to just stick to things i can do in about 20 mins. Most days I can at least get that in. Also having a challenge where I'm not working out every day helps too. Gives some flexibility. 

[Kishi]

Yeah, sometimes a refeed is necessary. It's handling it that's the trick.

[Toshimi]

weighed myself for the first time in awhile. Down 8.2 lbs since the start of the challenge. As much as I hate tracking sometimes, it's been really good. Drops like that make me wonder what it could've been like if I actually tracked over the weekend and ate like I should, but I'm still happy with how things are.

 

Passed my belt test! Need to start working more on my animals techniques, they were the weak part of the test, but over all feel pretty good about the test. Going to try and go in a little early so I can review things before class. A lot of times other people are around who I can ask questions of, and there's no distractions of things around the house

 

Biking is going to be on hold for a little while. Taking my bike in either today or tomorrow, it's doing funny things (Like shifting even when I don't touch the shifters) 

 

hope everyone has had a great start to the week

[Kishi]

Well, eight down is eight down. It's the direction you wanted and it seems to not have been a terrible thing to you, so huzzah! Congrats!

 

And also, huzzah on belt test! Good job! You seem to be moving through your chosen system really quickly, which I take as a sign of your dedication to training and doing it well. That's awesome.

 

Better not to ride the bike if it's being funny to you like that. No good! No good!

[Toshimi]

it's starting to really feel like a count down. 80 days left as of today until the wedding! I feel like it's going pretty smoothly. The biggest stress is finding a place to live for the both of us. The plan is to move the end of April, and move back in with my parents until the wedding. Started looking online a little bit to see what's out there, which there are quite a few options, but I've never had to go through this processes before. 

 

took yesterday off, was just wiped out. Went to bed super early, got about 10 hours of sleep. feeling mostly better today. Still just feeling tired a lot of the time. Makes me wonder if I might need to up my calorie intake a little. Going to try a little higher goal amount this week and see if it helps. 

 

Going to swap one of my NF yoga's out and do the p90x3 yoga, since i wont be biking until next week. I want to start doing some more strength work, even if it is just body weight. 

 

I know still a week left, but already looking to what my goals might be for the next challenge. 

[Kishi]

Just body weight?

 

Take it a day at a time. Constant fatigue is a bad sign. Pay attention like you are and adjust, and you should be fine.

[Toshimi]

Just body weight?

 

yes just body weight. Which I know there is a lot of stuff you can do with body weight. I miss the lifting I used to do at cross fit, but I started noticing pain in knee which has caused issues for years, I don't think heavy lifting is the best thing for me. Although I saw an interesting article on resistance bands being used for the same sorts of workouts as lifting... something to for sure look into. 

 

Once the fiance and I move in together I'll have access to some more free weights and pull up bar and some other stuff that should make it easier. 

 

We were actually talking the other day about a "dream workout room" and little steps we can take to get there. was fun to see how some of the stuff is the same, but many things were different (me wanting to set up a space for practicing Kung Fu, him making sure there's room left over for the rollers and bike trainer)

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Yay for you passing your belt test! That's awesome  

[Kishi]

Hey, I'm sure you're super busy right now, but I just wanted to touch base and let you know that we're rooting for you, even here at the end of the challenge. Whatever's going on, finish it strong!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]