Urgan Shows Up, Does the Thing

[Sam Ashen]

40 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Followed up. No news is good news?

 

I don't know.  The last time I was looking, no news is no news.  After a few weeks, it was pretty obviously that no news is NO.

 

41 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Straight talk time.

 

Sorry.

 

On the other hand, I don't know how long you have been waiting for news.

[Urgan]

36 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

 

I don't know.  The last time I was looking, no news is no news.  After a few weeks, it was pretty obviously that no news is NO.

 

 

Sorry.

 

On the other hand, I don't know how long you have been waiting for news.

 

<1 week, I don't hold out hope long, I am fluent in Rejection.

 

Better to face facts when your body sends a signal this loud, yeah?

[Sam Ashen]

Just now, Urgan said:

<1 week, I don't hold out hope long, I am fluent in Rejection.

 

This sounds like my social life!

 

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

Better to face facts when your body sends a signal this loud, yeah?

 

Too early.

[Urgan]

6 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

This sounds like my social life!

 

RIP.

 

6 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

Too early.

 

I'll still be taking it, I'm just not hanging my hopes on it. What I do know for a fact is it lets up when I've had a Bad Time (stress and illness being Exhibits A and B). 

[shaar]

Surprise!Migraines are literally the worst.  Oh, you want to be a functional human today?  NARP

[Urgan]

32 minutes ago, shaar said:

Surprise!Migraines are literally the worst.  Oh, you want to be a functional human today?  NARP

 

The severity was the surprise, lol. But it was Not Happening yesterday, for sure.

[ixaera]

Hopefully today is much less NARP and a little more YARP

[miss_marissa]

On 4/25/2017 at 10:18 AM, shaar said:

 

#DirtyBulk

 

Whenever I see this, I say it in my head like that song where they say "dirty bit" real fast. I think it's a black eyed peas song.

 

On 4/25/2017 at 3:02 PM, Mistr said:

 

Um, the active ingredient in willow bark is salicylic acid, closely related to acetylsalicylic acid in aspirin. Aspirin is safer than willow bark tea because the dose is known and acetyl form of the drug has fewer side effects.

Isn't that the active ingredient in acne washes also?

 

20 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

 

Those backoff sets look like an excellent idea to me.

[Urgan]

3 minutes ago, miss_marissa said:

Whenever I see this, I say it in my head like that song where they say "dirty bit" real fast. I think it's a black eyed peas song.

 

I think "dirty" is half a syllable long, right?

 

5 minutes ago, miss_marissa said:

Isn't that the active ingredient in acne washes also?

 

It is one, yes. Retinol is another and is a permutation of vitamin A. Chemistry is weird.

 

7 minutes ago, miss_marissa said:

Those backoff sets look like an excellent idea to me.

 

I figure if the most common complaint of 5/3/1 is insufficient volume, well that's a problem we can fix easily enough. Hopefully the balance is right.

[Urgan]

4/27/2017 - 4/28/2017

Me on Thursday around 2

 

Lift

 

BP = with DBs

 

Aikido

Bokken - 3/4

 

Words

Writing - 4/4

 

Follow up with recruiter 

Pick an Orange Belt test date I decided that the next month's testing (after May) would be a good target to shoot for. 1.5 weeks just doesn't feel like enough prep time. 

 

Thursday...wasn't the best. I just kinda muddled through it, made food, and that was about it. The egg cups with ham and tomato really were not very good. They tasted like disappointment and, not to put too fine a point on it, barf. So...yeah. 

 

Friday was better. I did the next to last gym session on this program. It was forearm murder. Then all the job-shuffling at work. Groceries were got. And I wrote things. I did some thinking about the part I'm on over the course of the week, so it was easy. In a rare moment of clarity, I sort of have some ideas for the next month. Huh.

[ixaera]

16 hours ago, Urgan said:

They tasted like disappointment and, not to put too fine a point on it, barf. So...yeah. 

 

NOT what food should taste like :| At. All.

[Urgan]

4/29/2017 - 4/30/2017 + WEEK 4 DEBRIEF

#mayday

 

Lift

 

Yasss. Last session, smoked. 

 

Aikido

Bokken - 4/4

 

Words

Writing - 4/4

 

Follow up with recruiter 

Pick an Orange Belt test date 

 

I'd say Saturday was a pretty good day. I got a haircut, picked up Yooka-Laylee (anybody who has a bad word to say about Banjo-Kazooie, FIGHT ME), had Chick-fil-a fries, and lifted the mess out of 170lbs. I swear there's a pattern to my strength levels and this was decidedly on the upswing. Came home, played entirely too much Y-L....then went to bed. Some laundry happened in there somewhere.

 

Sunday was a low-key chore day. Laundry was did, cat brushing and flea medicine was administered, to the utter disgust of all involved. Dishes were cycled. Food for dinner (salmon, spinach, black-eyed peas and field snaps) was obtained while a micro-monsoon passed over us. More fries because clearly I'm not an adult and my macros are not looking awesome. Clothes are packed and ready for the busy Monday shenanigans. I did my final bokken review session here, too. Bought some iron supplements... 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 4 Averages:

          Cals   /   Carbs   /   Fats    /  Protein /  Sugar

AVG    2273         242         97          110             63

TGT    2500         281         97          125           100

 

 

...kind of amazing I did as well as I did at the gym, considering these numbers. But we know why that happened. 

 

A mixed month, to be fair. Most of it was beyond my control (or at least, based on what I knew at the time!). Magnesium isn't the miracle I'd hoped for, wonderful though it may be for what it does in fact do to regulate muscle tension. A spirit bomb of pain dropped on my head Wednesday and blew up my appetite. I've decided I need to make finding other employment a back burner priority--now is not the prime time for positions of this nature, but it needs to stay on the radar. Another Aikido belt test is looming on the horizon. I broke out of the log jam on my writing and may have a way to bridge the arc I was stuck on to some sort of main plot point. I'm writing the outline and started with more of an initial premise than a central plot thread, so....having to make that shit happen eventually, yeah? So all in all, each of my goals did give me answers I needed, even if they weren't the ones I wanted. Onward to May!

[Urgan]

May 2017 Goals!

 

 

You were there, you saw April. If not, the above post sums it well. It's May now, let's get at it.

 

 

Lift

This will be the start of 5/3/1. I have modified the mess out of it and am giving this new program a two cycle trial to see if I have a viable option here. 

 

The mission: log workouts. Brag or b*tch as necessary.

 

Recover

Last month it was all about the magnesium. But that was so last month. This month I'm focusing on sugar/crap from the vending machine and my monthly strength cycle. Those damned hormones. I eat entirely too much junk from the vending machine in the name of bolstering my calories on days where I don't have enough to eat. Seriously, I don't even like poptarts but I eat them because 400 calories is where it's at. SOOOO...obviously the solution is to pack rice and protein bars. Daily. Solves that easily enough.

 

The mission: This month I'm cutting allowed sugar in half--50g on average. Bring more real food to work. Log when I feel really good and when I feel like garbage under the bar. The purpose is to determine if there are factors beyond my control at least partly responsible for a week 2 crash. 

 

Log rolling sugar AVG: 7/wk

Log when lifts are a struggle: as needed

 

Aikido

More bokken work, but this time I'm adding shadow-aikido-ing to the list. It really helped me get iriminage down at the last minute. I am approaching this from the perspective of preparing for test day. That I need to determine...

 

The mission: Review techniques by myself. It may look silly, but like I said, it works.

 

Bokken - 1/week

Shadow Aikido - 2/week

 

Words

Can I write twice per week with the limit on what part of the story I work on removed? We shall see.

 

Writing - 2/week

 

Weekly To-Do

Bonus: Put weekly one-off things I need to remember to do here! The name says it all.

 

 

Weekly Debriefs: 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

[Jord]

9 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

Recover

Last month it was all about the magnesium. But that was so last month. This month I'm focusing on sugar/crap from the vending machine and my monthly strength cycle. Those damned hormones. I eat entirely too much junk from the vending machine in the name of bolstering my calories on days where I don't have enough to eat. Seriously, I don't even like poptarts but I eat them because 400 calories is where it's at. SOOOO...obviously the solution is to pack rice and protein bars. Daily. Solves that easily enough.

 

The mission: This month I'm cutting allowed sugar in half--50g on average. Bring more real food to work. Log when I feel really good and when I feel like garbage under the bar. The purpose is to determine if there are factors beyond my control at least partly responsible for a week 2 crash. 

 

Tracking Methods:  TBD

 

 

Recovery is bae. (God I had that term, but NF has made it seem less lame and all the kool NF kids are doing it and fuck it here I go, and now it's a thing.). 

 

I'm sort of going through a similar thing but for different reasons. Got some calories back and was busy and burnt out and oooo look it's a brownie or a bagel or whatever else is free at work. I'm joining you in the healthy carbs extravaganza. Sort of minus today because I didn't meal prep yesterday so I have a Stouffer's Fit Kitchen TV dinner but then the rest of the week is real food I swear to all things gainz. 

 

 

I threw beef with some hoisin garlic sauce in the slow cooker this morning and left Mr. T with steamer bags of brown rice and vegetables (no sauce, just two bags of brown rice and two bags of broccoli cauliflower both plain) to have dinner so there will be leftovers for tomorrow (I'll be at barbell club tonight). Who can't make microwave steamer rice? 

 

I mean, this your thread so sorry for the hijack. Back to all things Urgan!

 

 

[Urgan]

16 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

Recovery is bae. (God I had that term, but NF has made it seem less lame and all the kool NF kids are doing it and fuck it here I go, and now it's a thing.). 

 

I refuse to use that word, however the sentiment is 100% echoed. 

 

18 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

I'm sort of going through a similar thing but for different reasons. Got some calories back and was busy and burnt out and oooo look it's a brownie or a bagel or whatever else is free at work. I'm joining you in the healthy carbs extravaganza. Sort of minus today because I didn't meal prep yesterday so I have a Stouffer's Fit Kitchen TV dinner but then the rest of the week is real food I swear to all things gainz. 

 

 

I threw beef with some hoisin garlic sauce in the slow cooker this morning and left Mr. T with steamer bags of brown rice and vegetables (no sauce, just two bags of brown rice and two bags of broccoli cauliflower both plain) to have dinner so there will be leftovers for tomorrow (I'll be at barbell club tonight). Who can't make microwave steamer rice? 

 

Rice and bagels are my macro fillers du jour. Hey, it beats Poptarts and Twix, yeah?? Just realized I forgot my protein bar. Oops. Oh well. Here's hoping for peppersteak and rice or something similarly macro-friendly at my parents' house tonight. Maybe she's takibg requests....

 

24 minutes ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

I mean, this your thread so sorry for the hijack. Back to all things Urgan!

 

No no, this is relevant to all our interests, I think. You're good.

[Urgan]

Week 1 To-Do list start:

 

1. Research high iron foods

2. Bring box of protein bars to work

3. Check up on the usual job sites

 

I'm iron deficient, guys. I didn't get a blood test done. How do I know I'm deficienct, you ask? Well. Is it normal to roll out of bed sockless and start snotting and sneezing by the time you close the bathroom door? Draining in the office even though I'm wearing a jacket? Every Sunday feel like roadkill? 

 

Got some iron supplements and both of these symptoms were greatly relieved. Still keeping watch, but so far so good. I'd like to get my diet cleaned up such that I don't have to supplement (but obviously I will if for whatever reason I need to).

[Sam Ashen]

12 minutes ago, Urgan said:

I'm iron deficient, guys. I didn't get a blood test done.

 

Now I'm really curious how you know this without a blood test to prove it.  (read the rest of your post)

 

Mine were caused by a history of regular blood donations.  When I discussed with the doctor, he quickly agreed and later explained that it is usually caused by bleeding.  Since blood donation is a controlled bleed, that was very likely the cause.

 

The number I worked out suggested I would have to eat two to three times the recommended amounts of iron to keep up with an 8-week donation cycle.  I also heard the Red Cross loses a lot of regular donors to iron deficiency.

[Urgan]

19 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

Now I'm really curious how you know this without a blood test to prove it.  (read the rest of your post)

 

Through the really scientific process of researching what causes cold symptoms if you don't ACTUALLY have a cold and anemia/iron deficiency came up. Post-supplementation difference is almost night and day. More data needed. 

 

Blood loss will do it....

[RedStone]

38 minutes ago, Urgan said:

I'm iron deficient, guys. I didn't get a blood test done.

 

Heyo, give it a go and see if it helps! You're a clever lady and won't do the biz that won't help you. Hope that's all there is!

[shaar]

/me watches your 5/3/1 journey with interest!

 

Rice is my preferred jam for a carb/calorie pick-me-up.  It's not uncommon for me to feel my intake start to falter mid-week, cook up some servings of brown rice before work on  Wednesday, and bring it all to store in the fridge.  With a little sea salt.  Omnomnom.

 

I actually thoroughly enjoy pop tarts but they're not good for my waistline too often. .___________.

 

Spinach is A+ for iron!  I teeter on the fine line of anemia and took supplements once for a while... it definitely helped.  I don't get regular bloodwork so who knows if I'm still on that line (probably), maybe a supplement would help me too.......

[Urgan]

24 minutes ago, shaar said:

/me watches your 5/3/1 journey with interest!

 

So far, so good! It's not yet been a full day and I f'd up the number of reps I was supposed to do. Twice. Good times ahoy, y'all.

 

25 minutes ago, shaar said:

Rice is my preferred jam for a carb/calorie pick-me-up.  It's not uncommon for me to feel my intake start to falter mid-week, cook up some servings of brown rice before work on  Wednesday, and bring it all to store in the fridge.  With a little sea salt.  Omnomnom.

 

All of rice. Plus or minus veggie bits and egg. /foreshadowing 

 

26 minutes ago, shaar said:

I actually thoroughly enjoy pop tarts but they're not good for my waistline too often. .___________.

 

Tell you what, you can have the taste and I'll take the calories. Deal??

 

26 minutes ago, shaar said:

Spinach is A+ for iron!  I teeter on the fine line of anemia and took supplements once for a while... it definitely helped.  I don't get regular bloodwork so who knows if I'm still on that line (probably), maybe a supplement would help me too.......

 

If you notice feeling like crap running on empty too often to be Shark Week or not eating enough, maybe??

[shaar]

7 minutes ago, Urgan said:

So far, so good! It's not yet been a full day and I f'd up the number of reps I was supposed to do. Twice. Good times ahoy, y'all.

 

I remember when I was researching, that was the thing that got me... I need to write all this down or something?!!?!  Plate math is enough sometimes.

 

7 minutes ago, Urgan said:

All of rice. Plus or minus veggie bits and egg. /foreshadowing

 

EGG

 

Far East Beef and Rice Inc~

 

7 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Tell you what, you can have the taste and I'll take the calories. Deal??

 

SIGNED

 

7 minutes ago, Urgan said:

If you notice feeling like crap running on empty too often to be Shark Week or not eating enough, maybe??

 

Yeah, it's so hard to tell, 532 reasons why you could be feeling like a dumpster fire...

[Urgan]

13 minutes ago, shaar said:

I remember when I was researching, that was the thing that got me... I need to write all this down or something?!!?!  Plate math is enough sometimes.

 

In the first case, I just assumed warmup would start with 5 reps of empty bar. #nope

 

Second case, I lost count of my reps.

 

14 minutes ago, shaar said:

EGG

 

Far East Beef and Rice Inc~

 

And fried rice. Flavors made for one another.

 

14 minutes ago, shaar said:

Yeah, it's so hard to tell, 532 reasons why you could be feeling like a dumpster fire...

 

I like to start with the simplest--food, sleep, room temperature, before skipping down to oh, cancer, lol. A vitamin/mineral deficiency is down the trail a bit, but it can still be hard to spot until you don't wanna live anymore, you know?

[Urgan]

5/1/2017

 

It's about that time...

 

Lift

BP - 45 1x5--d'oh

        55 1x3

        65 1x3

        75 1x3

        80 1x3

        84 3x3

OHP - 45 2x3

           50 1x3

           55 1x3

           60 1x3

           51 2x8

           51 1x9--what is life?

 

Recover

Sugar AVG: 42 -

Lifting status: green

 

AVG will be tracked with ^, v, or - to indicate its movement relative to the day before.

 

Aikido

Bokken - 0/4

Shadow Aikido - 0/8

 

Words

Writing - 0/8

 

Weekly To-Do

1. Research high iron foods

2. Bring box of protein bars to work

3. Check up on the usual job sites

 

Bah. Went to look up gifs and NF ate my post. 

 

5/3/1 good. Right pec woke up pissed off when I stretch my shoulder, didn't care about pressing motions.Learn to count, Urgan. 

 

Work minded its own business for a change.

 

Aikido happened. Being uke for someone reviewing for a belt test somehow didn't bother my pec. Go figure. Did shomenuchi kotegaeshi, left and right, irimi and tenkan. Didn't suck. 

 

Pec is now at peace with the world. The end.

[Kishi]

Peaceful pecs are the best pecs. Just gotta learn to get along.

 

Also, hi! I'm back. Nice to see you.

 

If you're cool with red meat, that's supposed to be a good source of iron. Beans too, come to think of it. So beef and bean burritos? y/y?