Onward

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 12 Hrs

Weight: 242.6 lbs 

Water: 4/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

10:30am - Egg white omelette, cereal

1:30pm - Frito pie

5:30pm - Frozen custard

7:00pm - Wings, fries, veggies

12:00am - Peanut butter

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Treadmill

 

Notes: Got through the treadmill today. Looking forward to getting my metabolism going to match my deep love of frozen custard and other assorted junk food.

 

Last bit of Christmas shopping completed with minimal stress. Now to wrap everything and settle in for the next couple of days as ReturnOfTheDad Jr. continues getting better. He’s definitely on the mend and though he was still coughing he was also bouncing off the walls today, which is a good thing.

 

Had my check in with the Psychiatrist on my med regimen. We’ve been on a medicine update for the last 3 months after feeling off for several months before that. Finally have me acclimated to the appropriate dose in the right mix, which is a wonderful thing after a hard road of meds not being right. It’s nice to be in an even place and have relief from bipolar symptoms. I wondered for a long time if I would ever find the right combination, but I did my best to stay positive, listen and be honest with the doctors, and not give up. Thankfully I’ve been rewarded with the best quality of life I’ve had since the onset of the disease when I was very young.

 

Have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 12 Hrs

Weight: 242.8 lbs 

Water: 4/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

10:00am - French Toast

1:30pm - Wings, Fries, veggies

6:00pm - Turkey burger, veggies

8:30pm - Peanut Butter

 

Fitness: 

Lifting - Legs

 

Notes: Lifting happened, took me a while to get there (because I didn’t want to) but got it done. Also managed to get to some work. I’m off for the holiday but still have some projects going that need attention, so doing some quick check ins every couple of days.

 

Tried my hand at making an eggnog latte, needed a little extra sugar, but wasn’t too bad.
 

Also did some French toast this morning, the only thing I slacked on was buttering the pan on the last one, but otherwise they came out pretty good.

I know it’s not the healthiest thing I could be eating but gave myself a little bit of a pass since it’s legs day.

[KB Girl]

On 12/22/2021 at 4:46 PM, ReturnOfTheDad said:

 

Had my check in with the Psychiatrist on my med regimen. We’ve been on a medicine update for the last 3 months after feeling off for several months before that. Finally have me acclimated to the appropriate dose in the right mix, which is a wonderful thing after a hard road of meds not being right. It’s nice to be in an even place and have relief from bipolar symptoms. I wondered for a long time if I would ever find the right combination, but I did my best to stay positive, listen and be honest with the doctors, and not give up. Thankfully I’ve been rewarded with the best quality of life I’ve had since the onset of the disease when I was very young.

That’s excellent  

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 12 Hrs

Weight: 242.8 lbs 

Water: 4/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

10:00am - Protein shake, Cereal

1:30pm - Pasta carbonara 

3:00pm - Bread, cheese

6:00pm - Chili, bread

10:30pm - Peanut Butter

 

Fitness: 

Lifting - Shoulders/Arms

 

Notes: Another pretty chill day, lifting got done. Been playing Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville as something to pass the time and something my kids and I can play together. Have to admit it’s a pretty challenging game! Story mode is good and tons of side quests as well as a solid multiplayer PVP. High marks.

 

Christmas presents are all wrapped, which is a huge win, since normally we are staying up till the wee hours on Christmas Eve wrapping things. No big plans tomorrow other than trying to squeeze in 2 workouts. Will report on how that goes.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 6.5 Hrs

Weight: 243.6 lbs 

Water: 3/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

5:30am - 1/2 muffin, clementine

9:30am - Greek yogurt

12:00pm - Prime rib, potatoes, salad, pie

5:30pm - Pizza

8:30pm - Peanut butter

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Treadmill

 

Notes: Rallied today and got up at my normal time of 5:30am. Been getting up as late as 9am and 10am which has been aggravating my bipolar. One positive thing about having this disorder is it forces me to live healthy lifestyle: Good nutrition, exercise and most importantly good, regular sleep. Used the extra time to do some reading and play some video games.

 

Getting back to some functional training a couple of times a week. From a quality of life standpoint I feel a lot better when I do Calisthenics, Kettlebell and Sandbag exercises. Throw in some shadow boxing for mobility and it’s a pretty complete workout on non-weight lifting days.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Nerd Fitness Fam!

???

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 8 Hrs

Weight: 244.2 lbs 

Water: 3/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

8:30am - Clementine

10:00am - Cinnamon roll

12:00pm - Sushi, yakisoba noodles

4:30pm - Deli tray, cookies, soda

 

Fitness: 

Rest Day

 

Notes: Been down and out with a cold the last couple of days, so glad to be back and posting.

 

Finally watched the end of Hawkeye, so many thoughts, not how I would have hoped it would go on some areas, so I’ll keep the rest of my opinions to myself and just look forward to Book of Boba Fett and Spiderman No Way Home, which l both look AWESOME.

 

Finally trying for a family activity tomorrow that has been postponed twice. Feeling kind of frustrated since it cost a lot of money and can’t seem to get peoples schedules to line up for it. It’s a very expensive lesson to learn that I probably don’t need to be organizing something that costs this much for this many people, when doing a get together at our home is much less expensive and just as memorable.

 

Hopefully will get back to the gym tomorrow.

[KB Girl]

A good lesson!

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 9 Hrs

Weight: 245.2 lbs 

Water: 6/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

6:00am - Cup of Cereal, coffee

8:00am - Cup of yogurt, strawberries

12:00pm - Dim Sum, crispy duck

4:00pm - 1/2 PB Sandwich

7:00pm - Protein shake, cup of cereal

8:30pm - Peanut butter

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Treadmill

Strength - Chest/Back/Core

 

Notes:  Finally went to the holiday event today, it was a minor disaster. The event itself was hokey and really only for little little kids that have seen the movie Elf (my 3 year old was entertained but not the 6 year old, and neither cares for Elf). Then they had a bunch of cooler stuff like a sledding hill and ice skating (all extra charges of course). We did one of the activities but it didn’t go over well with the kids, tried snow sledding but was just too much for them speed wise, older kids seemed to enjoy it though. Anyhow, lots of time and money spent for kids to be bored, noted to self to not to that again. 

 

Upside is lunch was good, went to a very authentic Chinese place where they make their noodles by hand. Had dim sum and Peking duck, was awesome. It’s one of our favorite places and was glad to share it with the in-laws, who seemed to really enjoy it.

 

Nailed it today on fitness. Hit the treadmill this morning knocked out weights this afternoon. Catching up from being sick this week and my primary lifting gym being closed for the holiday, so hitting it hard today and tomorrow.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Steadfast

Sleep: 12 Hrs

Weight: 243.6 lbs 

Water: 4/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

9:30am - Cup of Cereal, coffee

12:30pm - Egg white omelette, toast, guava nectar

4:30pm - meat, cheese, crackers snack

6:00pm - Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Elliptical 

Strength - Legs

 

Notes: Knocked out a double workout today, which surprised me as wasn’t sure I was going to be able to hit the gym for 2 hours. Did an hour of legs then an hour of elliptical. Pretty wiped for the rest of the day. Good way to wrap up the year.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Consistency

Sleep: 9 Hrs

Weight: 245.2 lbs 

Water: 6/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

6:30am - Cinnamon roll

10:00am -  Chicken, egg, mashed potatoes, tomatoes

1:00pm - Chicken curry, quinoa, spinach

2:00pm - Cookie, mocha

4:30pm - 1/2 PB Sandwich

6:30pm - Chicken, dumplings, veggies

8:00pm - Peanut butter

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Treadmill 

Strength - Functional Circuit

 

Notes: Happy New Year!

New word for the year is Consistency. I realize that small consistent changes yield big change and that’s what I want to effect this year, predominately the following:

1. Fitness

2. Language

3. Reading

 

Will be keeping a tally of activities toward these priorities starting tomorrow. Goal for fitness this year is to lose 80 lbs, Goal for Spanish is to be fluent enough to start working with my companies Latin America team next year, and reading is to get through 3 books by the end of the year (I’m a very slow reader).

 

Started off a little late today. Sore as all get out from the last couple of days, but pushing forward with some light activity today to keep the body moving. Took some before pictures to compare with same time next year. Working towards a big change. Will unveil the before and afters at the end of the year.

 

Finished morning cardio feeling a little better than when I started. Had a hearty brunch to refuel for my functional workout later in the day (calisthenics, kettlebell, sand bag). Brunch of cowboy chicken cutlet with a fried egg, mashed potatoes and stewed tomatoes:

Had some friends over to play dominoes as well. Going to try and do more of that this year.

 

Today was first crack at my functional strength training circuit, custom designed by one of my professional MMA coaches with several devious additions of my own. Best shape I’ve ever been in was doing 10 rounds of roughly 300 body movements each round (Calisthenics, Kettlebell, Sandbag, and Shadow Boxing), today barely survived doing one round (took 40 minutes) and that was trying not to pass out. Goal is to get each round down to 9 minutes, looooong way to go. 

It’s a process, would really like to get back into MMA by the end of the year (pandemic permitting) and this will be a good barometer on my fitness capacity for that particular endeavor.

 

Also working on getting back into music motivation. Rediscovering some classics as well as finding some new favorites.

 

Daily Music Motivation:

The absolute majesty of Fantasy Power Rock - Gloryhammer: Power of the Laser Dragon Fire

Into 2022!

[KB Girl]

Consistency is a very good word! Love your plans. Want to share the circuit? Im curious now.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

20 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

Want to share the circuit? Im curious now.

Sure, here it is:

 

20 Bodyweight Squats

5 Sprawls or Burpees

10 Push-ups

20 Mountain Climbers

20 Kettlebell Swings (25lbs)

20 Kettlebell Clean and Press (25lbs)

20 Kettlebell Sumo Squats (25lbs)

10 Sandbag Rows (100lbs)

10 Kettlebell Jackknifes (50lbs)

10 Kettlebell Crunches (50lbs)

10 Kettlebell Turkish Getups (15lbs)

100 Dumbbell Punches (8lbs/hand)

3 Min Shadow Boxing or Jumping Jacks

 

I’m curious if anyone else finds it as challenging. Please feel free to try it and let me know how it goes!

My goal is to be able to do all this 10 times in 90 minutes to simulate a 90 minute MMA workout. I’ll be doing it twice a week along with my other workouts, so I’ll be doing this workout 100 times this year and will keep y’all updated on my progress towards the 10 round/90 minute goal.

 

Would also be cool to have some kind of name for the circuit. Open to recommendations.

 

Feedback and suggestions welcome!

[KB Girl]

Wauw that’s a lot to pack into essentially 6 minutes… I’m kinda curious to try now ? dadbodkiller for a name maybe? 

[ReturnOfTheDad]

12 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

dadbodkiller for a name maybe? 

I like it! ?

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Consistency

Sleep: 12 Hrs

Weight: 245.0 lbs 

Water: 4/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

10:00am - Egg white omelette, toaster strudels

12:30pm - Sliders and chips

3:00pm - Latte and cookie

6:00pm - Chicken curry, veggies, quinoa

8:00pm - 1/2 PB sandwich

 

Fitness: 

Rest Day

 

Language:

Made the decision to switch from Duolingo to Babbel after some research and personal recommendations. I liked Duolingo but after using it for a year I don’t feel like I was able to translate what I learned to conversational Spanish, especially for work. Decided to try Babel for the next month. Downloaded and will start lessons tomorrow.

 

Reading:

Personal- 1/2 Chapter

Professional - 1/2 Chapter

 

Notes: It’s been a weird day. Got up late due to massive soreness from the last few days of exercise. Had some volunteering this after noon that got cancelled due to people getting COVID or being exposed to it. Ended up not going to church either as Mrs. ReturnOfTheDad has a cold and we don’t want to spread that around. Overall been pretty lazy and restful, which I suppose is a good thing.

 

Getting ready to go back to work and goal of doing 2 workouts a day for the next 6 days. I feel like I’m ready physically after getting ramped back up over the last couple of months. Haven’t trained like this in years, I think it’s going to be more of a mental battle more than anything else.

 

Daily Music Motivation:

A little chill music for a chill day, Sigur Ros - Hippipolla:

 

[Jupiter]

8 minutes ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

Made the decision to switch from Duolingo to Babbel after some research and personal recommendations.

 

Let us know how Babbel works out. I've tried Duolingo a few times and I always feel like I don't get much out of it (or maybe it's just me). 

[Aquarii]

On 12/25/2021 at 7:24 AM, ReturnOfTheDad said:

Notes: Rallied today and got up at my normal time of 5:30am. Been getting up as late as 9am and 10am which has been aggravating my bipolar. One positive thing about having this disorder is it forces me to live healthy lifestyle: Good nutrition, exercise and most importantly good, regular sleep. Used the extra time to do some reading and play some video games.

 

I was diagnosed with bipolar II earlier last year (after years of being misdiagnosed with depression), and I agree, mood disorders really do require one to take good care of themselves if they want to be functional. I have had to learn to be a lot more cognizant of my sleep schedule, especially.

[Aquarii]

On 12/30/2021 at 7:09 AM, ReturnOfTheDad said:

Finally watched the end of Hawkeye, so many thoughts, not how I would have hoped it would go on some areas, so I’ll keep the rest of my opinions to myself and just look forward to Book of Boba Fett and Spiderman No Way Home, which l both look AWESOME.

 

I 10/10 recommend seeing Spiderman NWH. I really enjoyed it.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Consistency

Sleep: 12 Hrs

Weight: 244.4 lbs 

Water: 4/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

10:00am - Cereal, blackberries

1:30pm - Turkey, broccoli, Mac & cheese

3:30pm - 1/2 PB & Nutella sandwich

6:30pm - Chicken, veggies, tater tots

8:30pm - 1/2 PB Sandwich

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Treadmill

Strength - Chest/Triceps/Lower back

 

Language:

Babbel - 5 min

Scheduled time with Tutor
 

Reading:

Personal- 1/2 Chapter

Professional - Zero

 

Notes: Accidentally slept in today. Pushed my schedule into a weird place. Nothing to do but push forward. First day back at work so less than enthused (even though I really like my job). Going to try and make the best of it and stay on track with meditations, exercise and my goals as best I can. It’s not a crazy amount of stuff to do, just going to take focus and consistency. Because of the late start missed my window for language and reading but did what I could and will try again tomorrow.

 

Raised my cardio a bit today from what I’ve been doing the last month or so. Been running for about 40-45 minutes and raising the time to an hour. It was a grind through the last 20 minutes but finished! Curious to see how the rest of the week goes with that continued increase each day. Also increasing my lifting time by an extra 10-15 minutes and adding in some more exercises. Should be an interesting week, just have to keep on pushing and try to be mindful enough not to over extend myself.

Depending on how this goes I think I’m going to challenge myself each month to increase my capacity in some way on my cardio (which has never been much of a focus). Of course strength I’ll be shooting for heavier lifts each month.

 

Been getting back into Elder Scrolls Online for Xbox, and been questing with Mrs. ReturnOfTheDad. Been playing an Elemental Warden/Ranger, that has been fun. I rigged him as a fast fighter with a double handed sword for close in and bow/arrow for ranged along with a few spells to augment both. Haven’t played the character in like 6 months so taking a little time to get back in the game. Doing some light questing before joining in any massive PVP campaigns, though I would really like to join a guild and do one this year. Any other ESO players out there?

 

Daily Music Motivation:

Dropkick Murphys - I’m Shipping Up to Boston:

 

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Consistency

Sleep: 9 Hrs

Weight: 244.4 lbs 

Water: 5/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

6:00am - Cereal, coffee

9:00am - Egg white scramble, toast, guava juice

1:00pm - Chicken curry, mashed potatoes, chips

3:00pm - 1/2 PB sandwich, coffee

6:30pm - steak quesadilla, rice, beans, soda

 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Elliptical

Strength - Conditioning Circuit 

 

Language:

Babbel - 20 min

 

Reading:

Personal- 1/2 Chapter

Professional - 1/2 Chapter

 

Notes: Managed to get up more or less on time, but didn’t make it to the gym this morning as I have an 8am meeting for work I can’t miss and didn’t want to stress myself out. Feeling absolutely exhausted since this is really my first day back in normal sleep schedule. Usually takes a solid week to get back to where I’m popping up right when I need to.

 

Cardio got done, to pass the time during cardio I’ve started Naruto. I’ve always wanted to watch it but never had the time. 3 episodes down 230+ to go…

 

On Day 2 of 100 this year doing the DadBodKiller Circuit, as named by @KB Girl:

Round 1 - 22:30

 

Marked improvement from the first try last week, which took 40 minutes for 1 round. Tried for a second round but barely made it 4 moves in before my legs buckled. I think I’m going to try and increase one round per month until I hit my 10 round goal. If I’m feeling sparky I may increase a little faster than that, but that’s the goal for now.

 

Daily Music Motivation:

More Fantasy Metal (bit of trend lately on my playlists), Tyr- Blood of Heroes:

 

[KB Girl]

That’s a massive improvement  

[Big_Show]

17 hours ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

Word of the Year: Consistency

 

A very good word to have as a focus ?

[ReturnOfTheDad]

2021 - Year of the Warrior

Word of the Year: Consistency

Sleep: 8.5 Hrs

Weight: 246.2 lbs 

Water: 5/8 Gallon

 

Meals:

6:00am - Cereal, coffee

9:00am - 1/2 Egg white Sandwich

12:00pm - 1/2 Egg white Sandwich, pistachios, chips, coffee

4:00pm - Slice of pizza and peanut butter crackers, clementine, coffee

6:30pm - Salmon, veggies, pie

8:30pm - Peanut butter
 

Fitness: 

Cardio - Treadmill

Strength - Back/Biceps/Abs

 

Language:

Babbel - 0

 

Reading:

Personal- 0

Professional - 0

 

Notes: Had a delicious meal at a restaurant last night and over ate with some very salty food, which is showing up on the scale this morning. Will have some extra water today to try and even it out. Was making such good progress I guess it’s a reminder to stick to eating clean.

 

Cardio was a grind this morning, think I’m still getting used to doing things early in the morning as well as being zapped from yesterdays circuit training. Got it done though.

 

Got no language or reading done today. Was crazy busy at work which was nice but totally killed my lunch time when I planned on getting caught up. Oh well, was nice being busy today, especially since I have some cool projects coming up. Trying to keep it all in perspective.

 

Lifting went better than anticipated. Wasn’t feeling it but the pre workout meal helped me have the energy to get through it. Had a wonderful meal post lifting thanks to Mrs. ReturnOfTheDad, salmon, cucumber salad, and broccoli:

 

Of course I had to negate the extraordinarily healthy meal by having extraordinarily delicious pie afterwards, but progress not perfection. 

 

Daily Music Motivation:

Wiz Khalifa & Iggy Azalea - Go Hard or Go Home:

 

[Jupiter]

11 minutes ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

Lifting went better than anticipated. Wasn’t feeling it but the pre workout meal helped me have the energy to get through it. Had a wonderful meal post lifting thanks to Mrs. ReturnOfTheDad, salmon, cucumber salad, and broccoli:

 

That dinner looks delicious.