Marbres - The last mile is the longest

[Marbres]

Hello everyone!

 

Since this is my first Challenge, I'll get right to posting my goals. You can read more about me on my character page.

 

Main Quest: Lowering my body fat percentage

My goal in the past was to lose weight. Since I am getting closer to my 'perfect' weight, I'd rather focus on body composition.

 

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week

I exercise every morning, and I feel like my body is getting used to it. Since I can't really increase the frequency of my workouts (without quitting my job), I will increase their intensity.

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions

The past few weeks, I've found myself skipping workouts with lame excuses (It's still dark outside!). This month, I'm going to stick to my program and only skip 2 workouts for the whole month.

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week

Just like I was skipping workouts, I was cheating with my diet (One cookie won't hurt, right? So another one shouldn't either?). Aside from planned 'cheat' meals with friends - which are not really cheating, in my opinion - I will not cheat more than once a week.

 

Try 2 new foods every week

The cheating was partially caused by a lack of variety in my food, so I'm going to spice things up and try new things.

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation

I'm getting married in June! I really want to design my own invitation, but I've been putting it off and my fiancé is suggesting we take it to a professional designer. If I manage to finish this in time, I'll be able to send out invitations I'm really proud of.

 

Submit building permit request

Aside from getting married, we're also building a house! In Belgium, getting a building permit can be a hassle. My goal is to complete the request documents (there are a LOT of them) by the end of the month, so we can file our permit and hopefully start construction by the end of the year.

 

Motivation: Getting married in June and going on a honeymoon to Florida.

I want to look great in a bikini by the time I reach Miami beach.

 

Any tips and tricks from fellow Questers are more than welcome!

[petefeet]

Welcome Marbres!

 

First off my normal disclaimer:

 

In the two-ish years I've been on the forums one very important thing has made itself clear to me. You get out of it what you put in! Saying that, I encourage you to seek out a couple other members here and follow along with them and offer support when and where you can, together we are all stronger!

 

Wow, it certainly seems like you have a lot going on. Congrats on the weight loss and looking to increase your workouts.

 

I doubt getting a building permit and building a house is headache free in any part of the world, I'm sure you'll get your permit sorted out. Making your own wedding invites sounds like an amazing idea, I have no doubt you'll pull it off!

 

Have a great challenge!

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

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!  Good luck to you on your first challenge!

[Marbres]

@Petefeet: I do have a lot going on, but I've noticed that I'm at my happiest when my schedule is full. Thank you for the confidence!

 

@CJ the (soon-to-be) Mighty: I'll definitely need that luck, so thank you!

 

 

On to the serious stuff: My very first update! Things have been hectic at work, but I did okay:

 

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week: I've set the baseline today and can up the difficulty on Wednesday and Thursday

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions: I've already skipped once (Monday), so I'll be extra diligent in the coming days

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week: I haven't cheated yet. I did deviate from my meal plan though, because the smoked salmon I was going to have with my veggies was stolen from the office fridge. Lunch today was veggies only.

 

Try 2 new foods every week: I made a low-carb chocolate cake, which I'm very proud of!

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation: I've made a new draft version, but I need to get it printed out in order to get feedback from my fiancé.

 

Submit building permit request: No progress, since we're waiting for the building company to send us some paperwork

 

Conclusion: Still on track, but I need room in my schedule for unexpected work tasks, so my workouts don't get cancelled. On to the next few days!

 

Bonus for people who actually want the details:

My current workouts:

Arms day: 

3 reps of the following circuit, followed by 10 minutes on the elliptical in 'surprise' mode, level 10:

- 10 push ups

- 10s of making tiny fast circles with my arms extended to the side

- 10s of the same but backwards

- 10 'reversed push ups' (with my belly upwards and my hands pointing towards my feet, no idea what this is called) tricep dips

- 20s plank

- 10 times extending one arm and the opposite leg while on hands and knees, making sure to maintain tension in the deep abs and back muscles (again, no idea what this is called but my physical therapist recommended it for my back)

 

Legs day:

3 reps of the following circuit, followed by 10 minutes of spinning in 'surprise' mode, level 15:

- 20 squats with knees together

- 10 walking lunges on each side

- 20 squats with feet apart

- 10 times bending one knee (leaning to the side) with feet wide apart, repeat on each side (no idea what it's called)

- 10 times lying on back with legs in the air (90° angles), lowering one heel to the floor and back while maintaining tension in the deep abs and back muscles, repeat on each side (physical therapy excercise)

 

Chocolate cake recipe:

150ml coconut flour

150ml coconut oil

150ml pure cocoa powder

7g baking powder

3 eggs

dash of salt, dash of cayenne, dash of cinnamon

 

Mix it up, put into the oven until done (at about 180°C). I think this will last me at least a week!

[GothicBeeza]

Sounds like you are doing an awesome job! Keep it up

[Owlet]

Hi there! Sounds like a solid battle plan you've got there. 'reversed pushups', could be tricep dips? Or maybe you just invented a new exercise?! Tough on the arms either way, nice. Good luck!

[Marbres]

@Owlet: Just looked it up, they are indeed tricep dips. Thank you! If you know the names of any of my other mystery excercises, feel free to share :-).

 

My progress:

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week: I've upped the difficulty of my legs workout today (see below).  I think I was just going trough the routine without it having much of an effect, since I can't remember the workout being this hard. I'm very sore, but it was worth it!

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions: No skipping for Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week: No cheats yet!

 

Try 2 new foods every week: I made new dish with fish, carrots, fennel and leek (stewed and put into the oven with cheese on top), which garnered the ultimate compliment from my fiancé: 'It's even better than my Mom's'. Succes!

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation: I've yet to print out the new draft, so I'd better get moving on that!

 

Submit building permit request: Still no progress. I'm going to check in with the building company tomorrow.

 

Conclusion: On track! My Level Up Your Life Quests could use a boost, though.

 

Bonus:

Legs day - upped difficulty:

3 reps of the following circuit, followed by 10 minutes of spinning in 'surprise' mode, level 15: combined with 15 minutes of running (including 5 sprints) in the evening:

- 2025 squats with knees together

- 1015 walking lunges on each side

- 2025 squats with feet apart

- 1015 one-legged side squats (needs a better name)

- 1012 physical therapy abs excercise (needs naming)

 

Fish dish recipe (feeds 3-4 people):

Slice up 2 carrots, a fennel and a leek, stew them with some olive oil until they're done

Add 200ml of water

Add 500gr of sea food (can be anything from shrimp to small pieces of fish) and let simmer until the fish is done

Seasoning: add salt, black pepper, dill, and other herbs to taste. Make sure the taste is strong, since you'll be adding cheese at the end

Put into an oven dish and cover with grated cheese (I use Emmentaler)

Put into a pre-heated oven at 200-220°C until the cheese is melted. Optionally: grill for a few more minutes to get a cheese crust.

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

It sounds like you are doing an awesome job this challenge and I will definitely be trying to pull of that fish and carrots recipe.  Keep up the great work!

[liz1729]

Well done so far! Keep going with the wedding invites - my husband and I designed our own and they were just perfect for us. By the final iteration they looked like the sort of thing people pay a fortune for. The first few versions were crap! 

 

I'm pleased to have found another daily morning exerciser, it's such a lovely way to live. 

 

Keep updating!! 

[GothicBeeza]

I remember sitting down with my mother in law, and my bridesmaids, and hand making all of my invitations! I think designing them might just be easier! And feel free to ask us all for advice

[bambooroo]

Congrats on getting married soon and on building a house, there are lots of level-ups in your future!

 

I'd love to visit Belgium sometime, my list of places to go is longer than the Dr. Suess book already, haha. 

[Marbres]

@CJ the (soon-to-be) Mighty: Thank you for the encouragment. Let me know how the fish turns out!

 

@liz1729: I'm really lucky to be working on a project for a company that has its own free gym. I don't know how I would pull off morning excercise otherwise, so kudos to you for managing it!

 

@GothicBeeza: I'll definitely take you up on your offer for advice - once I have a decent draft, I'll post it here!

 

@bambooroo: Thank you, I'm looking forward to those level-ups. If you ever plan a trip to Belgium, you're welcome to stay at our house (which will hopefully be finished by then)!

 

My progress:

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week: This time, I upped the difficulty for the arms workout. I didn't quite manage to finish it without breaks, but I'm glad I finished it at all! I guess I don't fit the stereotype; I would choose legs day over arms day anytime. Not really looking forward to making this workout even harder next week, but it's called a challenge for a reason.

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions: Did not skip on Friday.

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week: 5 day streak!

 

Try 2 new foods every week: I'm planning on creating a new dish for lunch today, which will make the third new food this week. Turns out that this is not that much of a challenge for me.

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation: The draft is printed! Now I just have to fold it and get feedback.

 

Submit building permit request: We've made an appointment with our architect to get started on the paperwork, and we've signed with the bank for a loan!

 

Conclusion: Absolutely on track, and I'm feeling very good. I hope to continue like this through the weekend.

 

Bonus:

Arms day - upped difficulty:

3 reps of the following circuit, followed by 10 minutes on the elliptical in 'surprise' mode, level 10 15 minutes of jogging (including 5 sprints) in the evening:

- 1015 push ups

- 10s15s of making tiny fast circles with my arms extended to the side

- 10s15s of the same but backwards

- 1015 tricep dips

- 20s30s plank

- 1012 times extending one arm and the opposite leg while on hands and knees, making sure to maintain tension in the deep abs and back muscles (again, no idea what this is called but my physical therapist recommended it for my back)

 

Oven frittata recipe (feeds 1 person):

Crack 3 eggs into a small ceramic cooking pot (a muffin tin should work, too) and whisk them until mixed

Add 150g of slices of cooked ham, a diced tomato, season with salt, white pepper and herbes de provence

Put into a pre-heated oven at 200-220°C until solid (I might have to edit the temperature after I've actually made this)

[Owlet]

15 push ups! You have my admiration, I can only do 3 full ones before going back to knee push ups haha. Sounds like you are smashing this challenge, well done That is quite a steep increase on your reps, will you keep increasing at that rate? Congrats on the bank loan and house stuff!

[fleaball]

Congrats on the upcoming wedding! Looks like your challenge is off to a great start too. I may have to attempt that chocolate cake *-*

[Marbres]

@Owlet: Since I wasn't able to finish the arms workout without breaks today, I won't be upping the difficulty quite that much. To be honest, the push ups are okay but the tricep dips are killing me. I'm still considering using the same increase for the legs workout though, since that went fine (I really like finding out what my limits are).

 

@fleaball: Be warned, the chocolate cake does not taste like the real thing. It tasted great, in my opinion, but it's a lot more bitter because of the pure cocoa. Let me know how it turns out (and if I'm a freak for liking the taste)!

 

My progress:

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week: I'll be upping the difficulty on Wednesday and Thursday, to give my body some time to adjust. Arms day is still kicking my butt.

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions: I have not skipped since that first day.

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week: Still going strong! Technically, I did not cheat last week. However, I was forced to make a change in my meal plan because my sister wanted to get take-out. I had the healthiest option possible, but I'm still counting it as a cheat. So 1 cheat last week!

 

Try 2 new foods every week: I haven't planned anything new yet, working on this one! I edited last week's frittata recipe a little, since adding 150g of sliced meat just wasn't feasible in such a small pot. I also added pepperoni for extra flavor.

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation: I got feedback from my fiancé, and he wants to change the background color. Minor adjustment, so I should have a new draft soon!

 

Submit building permit request: We went to a building fair this weekend and now have a better idea about what we want for facing bricks etc. We'll need to make these choices before submitting a building permit request.

 

Conclusion: Slow start this week, but I'm confident I can achieve my goals.

 

Bonus:

Oven frittata recipe (feeds 1 person): Edited

Crack 3 eggs into a small ceramic cooking pot (a muffin tin should work, too) and whisk them until mixed

Add 50g of slices of cooked ham and pepperoni, half of a diced tomato, season with salt, white pepper and herbes de provence

Put into a pre-heated oven at 180-200°C until solid (about 20 minutes, it should rise a little bit)

[fleaball]

Thanks for the warning. I'm bitter enough as it is. lol if/when I make it I will certainly let you know. I'm really good at collecting recipes and never making them.

[bambooroo]

Loving your goals and how you track them. Don't tempt me, I'd love to go to Belgium and might take you up on it haha. If you find yourself on this side of the Atlantic, let me know! Great progress this week!

[GothicBeeza]

Great work so far. Good to see you are completely on track 

[beatrix]

 Congrats on the upcoming wedding!! Awesome goals. Awesome progress.

[petefeet]

Enjoying your adventures in cooking! I love to experiment in this area as well <g>.

 

Looks like you're having a great challenge!

[Marbres]

@fleaball: If you have any recipes you'd like to share, I'm all ears! I need to keep up with my 'trying new foods' quest.

 

@bambooroo: I'll be in Florida this June/July, but I'm guessing that's a bit too far away for me to stop by. Thanks for the encouragement!

 

@GothicBeeza: I tried to make my quests small enough so they would be easy to stick to. I haven't really had trouble with it so far.

 

@beatrix: Thank you! I'll try to maintain that progress during this week.

 

@petefeet: If you have any recipes you'd recommend, feel free to share!

 

My progress:

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week: I've set the baseline for arms and legs, and will be upping the difficulty on arms day today. I'm still not sure how I'll manage this, but a quest is a quest.

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions: Still have not skipped since that first day.

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week: I did cheat yesterday, though I claim mitigating circumstances. After my volleyball match, the canteen offered us a plate of cheese and fried chicken for free. How am I supposed to turn down free food?

 

Try 2 new foods every week: I made my fiance a sauce to go with the grilled chicken, and I did have a taste myself. However, since it was only a sauce, completely out of bounds for my diet, and I only had a taste, I'm not counting this one. So still 2 to go this week.

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation: We've bought a brand new printer, so printing out drafts should be easier. I plan on making a new draft today.

 

Submit building permit request: We're going to check out a show room for facing bricks today, and are going to contact our architect for an appointment.

 

Conclusion: Okay, but not great. I need to get over my fear of wasting food (so I can refuse free food, or throw leftover that are about to go bad away instead of eating them).

[Marbres]

Another update, but this one is less positive than the previous ones: I had a major setback in my diet goal. I really feel like I'm letting people down, but I guess what this challenge is for: keeping me acountable. I'll do better for the rest of the challenge!

 

Fitness Quests:

Increase difficulty level of workouts twice a week: I've upped the difficulty on my arms and legs workouts, and arms day is getting near to impossible. Legs day is also reaching its limit, so I'm curious to see how much more I can take!

 

Do not skip more than 2 workout sessions: Still no skipping this week.

 

Diet Quests:

Do not cheat more than once a week: I only cheated once, but it was a gigantic cheat. So this quest is officially a fail. For some reason, I decided to have about 1,000 calories worth of cookies on Wednesday evening when I was home alone. Still not really sure why it happened. I'm going to prevent this in the future by brushing my teeth straight after dinner.

 

Try 2 new foods every week: Recipe for a delicious ratatouille-type dish below! I also added yellow turnips, which I've never eaten before.

 

Level Up Your Life Quests:

Complete my wedding invitation: With the printer installed, making drafts and checking if they're okay is much easier. I think I should have a draft that's ready to be reviewed here by the end of the week. Looking forward to your input!

 

Submit building permit request: We've got an appointment with our architect for the end of May, so timing will be tight! We're almost decided on what facing brick to use, just need to compare some prices now.

 

Conclusion: This week counts as a major fail, especially since the diet quest wasn't very hard in the first place. Any tips for getting back on track are more than welcome.

 

Bonus for people who actually want the details:

My current workouts:

Arms day: 

3 reps of the following circuit, followed by 15 minutes of running in the evening:

- 18 push ups

- 18s of making tiny fast circles with my arms extended to the side

- 18s of the same but backwards

- 18 tricep dips

- 30s plank

- 15 back excercises

 

Legs day:

3 reps of the following circuit, followed by, followed by 15 minutes of running in the evening:

- 30 squats with knees together

- 20 walking lunges on each side

- 30 squats with feet apart

- 20 times bending one knee (leaning to the side) with feet wide apart, repeat on each side

- 15 abs excercises

 

Ratatouille recipe:

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1 zucchini, cut diagonally into thin, long slices

2 carrots, cut diagonally into thin, long slices

1 large yellow turnip, cut into thin slices

a handful of pickles (stored in vinegar), cut into thin slices

a splash of vinegar

 

Just stew these in a pot until the carrots are done but still have a little bit to them. You can eat this with any kind of meat.

[Matrim_Cauthon]

Doing great! Experimental cooking can crank out some pretty amazing things... although I have had some experiments that were not so amazing.  The eggs in muffin cups are amazing!  I have done that a few times and they work out great for grabbing breakfast on the go.