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View Full Version : Althanas Fitness Thread, Redux Edition



Shinsou Vaan Osiris
04-20-2018, 04:29 PM
Sponsored by Shin and Breaker!

One of my major goals in the next year is to lose 59 (yes, 59) pounds in order to make weight for my sister's wedding in October next year. Currently, though I might not look it, I weigh a f*cking ridiclous 254.1 lbs. Before my daughter was born, in 2015, I weighed 198 lbs and was regularly attending Jeet Kune Do sessions, which kept me very fit. Then, due to no time, I gave it up, and this morning (after reading Storm's Ketosis adventure) I finally got sick of being 4 stone overweight.

After talking with my wingman Breaker, we decided to bring back this thread. I know he has wanted to get back into MMA and commit himself to getting fit for a while, so a sacred bond was struck and now we are going to build a goal orientated thread not just for us but for anyone else who fancies a community driven support network.

My first real challenge is starting. I am carrying an injury at the moment, a small muscle tear in my knee, so I need to find exercises to do that don't place stress on it. But I am looking forward to it very much!

Breaker
04-20-2018, 05:09 PM
Let's do this!

My main goal is to get back to practicing jiu-jitsu and MMA. I'd like to become the best student of martial arts I can, so that I can eventually become a teacher and a coach. My biggest barrier to this is my overall fitness. I am easily in the worst shape of my life, to the point where I wouldn't last through a warmup at my old gym. I'm not too concerned with my weight, but my body composition could definitely do with some changes and my endurance is virtually non-existent. I have a number of old injuries that I need to contend with, and be extra careful when working around. A lot of experts seem to agree that the best diet and exercise routines are the ones you can do consistently, so I'm planning on starting extremely slow and progressing even slower.

In keeping with that, I'm going to be setting myself a lot of easily attainable short term goals that will trend toward the long term goals mentioned above. If I do it right, it'll be pretty underwhelming.

Fitness Goals for This Weekend
-Go for a short walk (minimum 10 minutes) at least once a day after a meal
-Do at least one hill run prior to a meal
-Perform some resistance exercises prior to a meal

Diet Goals for this Weekend
-Stop eating refined sugar of any kind
-Only eat between 12pm and 10pm

The hardest part of my goals for this weekend will undoubtedly be cutting out sugar. I've been severely addicted to it recently. But I think mixing in a little more exercise will probably encourage me to eat a bit healthier.

Shin and I plan on helping each other stay true to our goals and pushing each other when the going gets tough. Anyone else who wants in on this, feel free to post your goals!

Storm Veritas
04-20-2018, 05:16 PM
Well, I'm already keeping a diary on track, although I think I'm about to slow down the rollout of updates because weighing myself every day makes me want to commit seppuku. Either way, I'm going to stay on the Ketosis diet (although from what I've read, I'd probably be better served to stay on for a few months at the very least, rather than 1 month as originally planned). I've already captured one belt buckle back, I've got one more to claim in the way of fitness before I'm feeling good.

Supplementarily, I want to take advantage of something eating like an animal brings: POWER. I noticed yesterday I was able to knock out fifteen pull-ups; that's a few more than I'm ever able to do. I'll also be working quite a bit to try to continue doing 100 pushups a day and work in some squats, sit-ups, and whenever possible some actual weight lifting. This will slow weight loss, but not fat burn, which is the actual priority here.

Breaker
04-20-2018, 09:33 PM
Well, I achieved all of my fitness goals for today. I'm so out of shape that a few hill runs and some resistance and isomteric exercises before dinner nearly killed me, but I somehow survived and did a little yoga to boot. I also went for about a half hour walk after lunch, so thus far I'm crushing it :P

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
04-21-2018, 02:06 AM
Day 1

Starting weight: 253.2 lbs
Weight: 251.2 lbs
Weigh in time: 7:02am
Total loss: 2 lbs.

I'm quite surprised that i'm coming in at 2lbs lighter than yesterday given the food I ate, but whatever. 252 lbs is a red line for me so anything under that is good news. I'm going to try and weigh myself at the same time for consistancy.

My goal today is to exercise whilst preserving my injured knee. I am actually part of a working party who are spending the morning demolishing my old concrete garage with sledgehammers, so hopefully that will help burn off some calories without the need for heavy lifting.

I'll try not to eat 2kg of jelly beans today.

Meal plan

Breakfast: 2 x Weetabix with semi skimmed milk

Lunch: Mushroom omelette

Dinner: Chicken with cajun seasoning and mixed peppers

Drinks: Trying to stick to sugar free flavoured water. I have some friends round tonight so there is the possibility of a cheeky beer, but hopefully the work and diet I stick to today will negate that and A beer doesn't become SIX beers.

Storm Veritas
04-21-2018, 05:40 PM
6.5 miles on my run today. Ate really healthy with my only snack being a home made yogurt (crush a few blueberries in greek yogurt with a stevia). Feeling very strong.

Chelley
04-22-2018, 02:45 AM
Maybe this time I'll actually manage to stick to something. I've been clear for normal activities for a few weeks now (had to take the first 6 weeks after delivering my daughter easy, per normal delivery recovery orders). I've been trying to stick to the healthier eating I had to do while pregnant. I developed gestational diabetes (again) and thus had to severely cut back my carbs. I love them a little too much to be able to stand cutting them out entirely, but I'm gonna try to get back to cutting back more than what I've been eating recently.

I have managed to keep from getting all the way back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 172lbs. I'm a short person, so according to BMI charts I'm quite overweight (yes, I know not to fuss about them, tis just a point of reference). My end goal is 125-130lbs.

Starting weight: 166lbs
Planning to get an exercise program going. I have the 21 day fix program, just gotta find the DVD. In the meantime, I'm gonna use my dance games for a cardio (it doesn't take much to get my cardio going lol) and walks through the neighborhood pushing the stroller now that the weather is warm again and the streets are clear.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
04-22-2018, 03:17 AM
Day 2

Weight: 252.6 lbs
Weigh in time: 8:13am
Total loss: 1 lbs

After five hours of upper body manual labour and good weather, I was hoping for a loss but it seems I actually gained a pound for some reason. Actually, if I take into consideration I was 253 lbs before Day 1, you could argue I actually have still lost a pound but that's not the point of the exercise. Could be something simple like water retention (I drank a lot yesterday as it was really hot) so not too worried at this point but quite annoying for day 2.

Breaker
04-22-2018, 11:46 AM
How to Program Your Mind for Fitness - The Power of Creating Momentum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8K7ifs2Db4)

I found this video completely in line with my goals and very helpful and inspirational, so I thought I'd share it with y'all. Firas Zahabi is a world-renowned MMA trainer and from everything I've seen in his videos, a very wise person. There's also a part 2 of this video which you can easily find on youtube if you like part 1.

Storm Veritas
04-22-2018, 02:42 PM
Weight was back down to about 184 this morning, which was a little relief. MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, I was thrilled with my running ability. Knocked out 7 miles in beautiful weather with relative ease, which made me feel fantastic. Probably could have done ten today!

Breaker
04-22-2018, 07:49 PM
Great work everyone, and thank you! Knowing I'm going to make this post helps me keep on track with my goals. I think I'll make Sunday my "weekly update" day, so this post may be longish.

Current Weight: 170 lbs. That's completely reasonable, one might say average, for a man of my age and height. I'd be fine with this going up or down by 5-10 pounds so long as my body composition improves. I'll make an effort to weigh myself once/twice per week, because this will help me track changes to my body composition (i.e. if I stay the same weight but tighten my belt by a notch, it will mean I've lost fat and gained muscle.)

Past Goals


Fitness Goals for This Weekend
-Go for a short walk (minimum 10 minutes) at least once a day after a meal
-Do at least one hill run prior to a meal
-Perform some resistance exercises prior to a meal

Diet Goals for this Weekend
-Stop eating refined sugar of any kind
-Only eat between 12pm and 10pm

I achieved all of my fitness and diet goals for the weekend! As predicted, not eating sugar was/is the hardest part. I'm actually cheating on it even now with a gluten free beer, but since weight loss isn't a goal I'm not worried about the extra carbs/calories. The best parts were the leisurely walks and the post workout endorphins, which seemed to last all day.

Goals for 4/23 - 4/27

Daily Fitness
-Go for a short walk (minimum 15 minutes) after a meal
-Do at least two hill runs prior to a meal
-Perform some bodyweight exercises prior to a meal. Stretch and foam roll after

Daily Diet
-Only eat between 12pm and 10pm
-Don't eat sugar (my diet is otherwise quite restricted)
-Try to eat "the right amount", not more or less

I'm turning things up, but only a tiny amount. I'm actually doing a longer fast tonight, from 8pm-12pm tomorrow, and that should help my body adapt to the new regimen. I've got a little bodyweight routine going which I'll most likely detail in shorter, daily posts. Even the small amount of exercise I've been doing has been enough to make me sore, and that encourages me to eat healthier. I did the most nutritious grocery shopping I've done in about a year today!

It'll probably be 2-4 weeks before I'm ready (or even close to ready) to go to the MMA gym. In the meantime, I'm really thankful for YouTube, as it gives me the ability to study the arts I love almost endlessly. I was watching Coach Zahabi's jiu-jitsu videos when I stumbled on the inspirational one posted above. I guess I should wrap this post up now before it also becomes endless :P

Train on!

Breaker
04-23-2018, 10:18 PM
Exhausting day, but I found time for a workout and made some healthy food, which should help me stay off sugar. I find my body functions completely differently when it doesn't contain or crave sugar, but it'll take a week or two of dealing with the cravings before I get there.

I accomplished all my fitness and diet goals today! I ate vega one, chicken breast, salad, and fries.

For my workout I did the (rather gentle) bodyweight set I'm starting with:
-10 minute movement and resistance band warmup
-4 hill sprints
-20 cocorinha squats
-20 pushups
-30 second forearm plank
-30 second wall sit
-Foam rolling and yoga

It's not a lot, but it's more than enough to get my body sweating, break my anaerobic threshold, and deliver a healthy dose of endorphins. In keeping with the lessons I'm learning the more I research the psychology of building healthy habits, I'm focusing on exercising consistently every day rather than making maximum gainz. It feels good to be moving again.

Storm Veritas
04-24-2018, 07:33 AM
On my run yesterday I worked interval sprints in. Basically my modified intervals consist of me running HARD for three telephone poles and then a lighter jog for three poles. Although you look like a complete dickhead doing this, it's a hell of a workout. On the net, I found my average pace per mile was significantly quicker than normal (7:20), which tells me I need to warm up better and push a little harder in my daily runs.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
04-24-2018, 08:12 AM
Missed the last two weigh ins, so will resume service tomorrow, but been feeling good the last couple of days. The knee is feeling a lot more flexible, and I haven't been shovelling endless pies into my face. All positive!

Breaker
04-26-2018, 09:58 AM
4/25: Did the same workout as the previous day, and stuck to my diet.

4/26: I allowed a little sugar to creep into my diet last night. Staying off of it is pretty much still a pure function of willpower, but I now don't have any sugar left in my cupboard, so that should be a little easier. I modified my workout a little bit yesterday because it was pouring rain, so I did some shadowboxing inside instead of my hill runs, and then added a set of thrusters at the end of the workout, before my yoga.

Today I feel pretty okay! A little tired from not getting quite enough sleep, a little sore from the exercise, and a little drained probably from eating sugar last night... but not bad. I've now gone six days in a row exercising every day. Today will be day seven, which puts me one third of the way to 21, which is apparently the magic number of days wherein it'll become a habit. I'm looking forward to that, as exercise still takes a fairly massive emotional effort.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
04-26-2018, 10:24 AM
It's all gone a bit to hell for me. I haven't weighed myself in a few days but I think it's best to get Krakow out of the way before I start any serious dieting. Come tuesday next week, I'll be on it.

Storm Veritas
04-26-2018, 10:31 AM
I can't tell if Keto is failing me or not. I'm certainly not losing any weight, but I must confess I feel fantastic. My running has completely rebounded, my strength is really good, and my hunger is very manageable except for 3 PM when I want to eat an entire barn full of animals. I'm thinking I may come off it a little to reincorporate small amounts of fruit, but otherwise stay pretty much on.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
04-26-2018, 11:12 AM
I can't tell if Keto is failing me or not. I'm certainly not losing any weight, but I must confess I feel fantastic. My running has completely rebounded, my strength is really good, and my hunger is very manageable except for 3 PM when I want to eat an entire barn full of animals. I'm thinking I may come off it a little to reincorporate small amounts of fruit, but otherwise stay pretty much on.

It depends what you want from the diet I suppose; if it's purely weight loss then I can understand you being frustrated but it seems to be helping in other areas!

Breaker
04-26-2018, 11:20 AM
Shin: We're here to support you pal, you and I are both going to get back to our marital arts.

Storm, my first guess would be that your weight isn't changing because you're gaining muscle as you lose fat. Have you noticed changes in body composition? If you started eating more protein when you went keto, that would make sense to me. If you're really determined to lose weight reliably and rapidly, you may need to take a closer look at calories in vs calories out. I'm glad you're feeling so good, you're an inspiration!

Storm Veritas
04-26-2018, 10:30 PM
Shin: We're here to support you pal, you and I are both going to get back to our marital arts.

We talking sex here, or just learning to say "yes, honey" all the time?

Thanks for the words. I haven't felt a significant change in body composition, but my shirts feel a little better. The improvement is equitable with the 8-9 lb loss I've experienced, so it's hard to say I've gained muscle per se. If I -am- burning some fat and gaining muscle while not noticing it, then I'd take that in a heartbeat. I can start tracking BF% on my scale to see if there's anything going on there. I'm not sure those measurements are worth a damn (particularly since I don't understand how they measure body fat; some electrical impulse/resistance type situation?), but it won't hurt.

Breaker
04-27-2018, 07:30 AM
Thanks for the words. I haven't felt a significant change in body composition, but my shirts feel a little better. The improvement is equitable with the 8-9 lb loss I've experienced, so it's hard to say I've gained muscle per se. If I -am- burning some fat and gaining muscle while not noticing it, then I'd take that in a heartbeat. I can start tracking BF% on my scale to see if there's anything going on there. I'm not sure those measurements are worth a damn (particularly since I don't understand how they measure body fat; some electrical impulse/resistance type situation?), but it won't hurt.
Keep in mind that "gaining muscle" doesn't necessarily mean getting bigger. Especially considering the type of exercise you're doing, I wouldn't expect it to make your muscles much bigger, but they may grow heavier/denser. The easiest way I know of to notice changes in body composition is to measure the circumference of your stomach each time you weigh yourself. You can also measure your waist, quads, biceps, chest, and hips, but belly is usually where the biggest changes are seen.

Yesterday was day 7 for me of exercising every day... I'm one third of the way to 21 days, which according to science is when it will become a habit!

I went for a short run instead of doing hill runs before my regular workout, and I kept sugar completely out of my diet. Avocados are my friends... I'm thinking I may ramp up my exercise today, but we'll see how I feel this evening.

Breaker
04-28-2018, 06:58 PM
Daily update... the diet is back on track... so far. And I had a great day for fitness.

This morning - 25 minute yoga practice
This afternoon - 20 minute walk
This evening - 5 minutes tension band warmups
3x5 minute rounds of hard shadowboxing, 2 minutes rest
20 cocorinha squats, 30s rest
20 pushups, 30s rest
30s plank, 30s rest
30s wall sit, 2minutes rest
25 cocorinha squats, 30s rest
25 pushups, 30s rest
45s plank, 30s rest
45s wall sit, 30s rest
5 minutes stretching

I decided to push myself for an extra set today, and I'm glad I did. My lungs got a decent workout today even though I didn't feel like running in the rain, and I'm sure I'll have sore muscles to look forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow being sunday I'll probably do a lighter workout, a thorough review of where I'm at, and make some plans for the upcoming week.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-01-2018, 10:52 AM
Well, I survived Krakow (barely). So, a promise being a promise to myself, I'm going to smash it from today. My goal is to get something healthy down me for my main meal and do a combination of a long walk and 50 sit-ups tonight, after work.

Breaker
05-01-2018, 06:57 PM
For the past couple days I've had very low energy, so I've just been going for walks and doing yoga. There seems to be an issue with my hips which is causing issues with my knees, so I need to be really careful about injury until I get that corrected. Trying to get my hands on a book on corrective exercises and such.

Storm Veritas
05-01-2018, 09:06 PM
Great 5 mile run today. Knocked out a good 6.5 on Sunday. I'm currently testing OUT of Ketosis with no solid rationale as to why, but my best bet is excess protein. Fuck it. I feel good, I'm not gaining weight, and I'm strongly considering just adding in some fruit, kiboshing ketosis altogether, and just resuming my normal "tight" diet discipline of plenty of healthy carbs through fruit only.

Either way, I feel strong and pretty healthy. Could be a lot worse.

Chelley
05-03-2018, 01:48 AM
Finally found my workout DVD!! Gonna get a starting weight and measurements tonight and tomorrow. Also trying to cut back on carbs and do more veggies instead. I'm not gonna cut back quite as far as I had to while pregnant (that was torturous! I loooooove my pasta/potatoes/rice), but I am going to stop indulging as much as I have been. Elijah is officially a toddler now, so gotta get healthier to be able to keep up with him!

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-03-2018, 09:31 AM
One of my friends, a personal trainer, has offered to put me through six weeks of hell in order to shift as much weight as possible and kickstart me onto a proper fitness programme. Usually I would be reluctant to part with money to train, but this guy knows what he is doing and just getting a bit of external motivation is enough to tempt me into doing it.

From Tuesday next week I'm going to get whipped into shape, so I'll be keeping tabs on here as to progress. From previous sessions I did with him years ago, I remember crawling home a broken man but the guy gets results.

Looking forward to making some tangible progress on shedding four stone!

Storm Veritas
05-03-2018, 11:09 PM
How much is a stone?

Yvonne
05-04-2018, 12:16 AM
A bit lighter than a boulder.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-04-2018, 08:26 AM
How much is a stone?

14 pounds.

Storm Veritas
05-04-2018, 09:38 AM
That's at least a rock.

Humid weather has hit Boston - nice heat helps loosen up all the muscles. When I was younger it drove me crazy because I'd sweat too much; now I relish in the heat because my old bones won't pull a muscle or break a goddamned hip.

Gonna take a crack at 6 again today.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-04-2018, 10:55 AM
That's at least a rock.

Humid weather has hit Boston - nice heat helps loosen up all the muscles. When I was younger it drove me crazy because I'd sweat too much; now I relish in the heat because my old bones won't pull a muscle or break a goddamned hip.

Gonna take a crack at 6 again today.

If this carries on, I'll have to enlist you into my five a side soccer team.

Storm Veritas
05-04-2018, 03:05 PM
If this carries on, I'll have to enlist you into my five a side soccer team.

Don't laugh too hard. I played soccer as a kid, from 6-14. Had to stop because my body changed from "skinny kid" to "butterball". Worked for American football, not the international version. Now that I'm old and in some sort of shape, I can run again and would be... eh... marginally better than most average American adults, I guess.

Granted, I'd need at least 45 minutes to warm up or just cut my hamstrings NOW.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-04-2018, 03:07 PM
Don't laugh too hard. I played soccer as a kid, from 6-14. Had to stop because my body changed from "skinny kid" to "butterball". Worked for American football, not the international version. Now that I'm old and in some sort of shape, I can run again and would be... eh... marginally better than most average American adults, I guess.

Granted, I'd need at least 45 minutes to warm up or just cut my hamstrings NOW.

To be fair, most of my players need 45 days to warm up, so you'd be a significant improvement.

Breaker
05-04-2018, 03:50 PM
For me it has been yoga, yoga yoga. I've worked my way up to doing about an hour of it a day, usually broken into two 30minute-ish practices. The issue right now is that my hips seem to be misaligned, and the more I work my lower body, the worse it seems to get. Because of that I've called a halt to most of my resistance training and running, sticking with medium and short distance walks and like I said... lots of yoga. I think I'll start adding in some upper body resistance training where I can.

Today I did two half hour yoga practices, about an hour long walk, and I've been fasting all day. I'm no longer so certain that fasting makes much of a difference in fat burning, but there do seem to be a number of physical and mental benefits to it. I've been doing 16 hour fasts daily, but today I bumped that up to 18 hours and I'm still feeling pretty good. It's actually really convenient to only have to eat once or twice a day within a certain window of time, and I really enjoy the meals I have this way. I'm actually ten minutes away from breakfast at the moment and rather looking forward to it.

Storm Veritas
05-04-2018, 09:32 PM
Well, I said I was going to go for six miles. That didn't happen because I physically ran out of time. Instead, I did another interval run of 4.5 miles, with high pace for sixty seconds broken by sixty second jog recovery intervals. I was flying! In the humid weather my joints and muscles felt great, and I was averaging under 7:20 per mile for the whole pace. Really strong finish and glad I got it in.

This will be a tough weekend because my eldest daughter is getting her first communion, so we have a ton of shit to do around the house. I probably won't be able to run at all unless I'm on the street before 6AM, which is the plan. Blech.

Breaker
05-05-2018, 08:15 PM
An hour and a half of yoga today, and about the same amount of walking at a slightly brisk pace. Since I'm trying to avoid anything that'd make the muscles in my legs bigger, I figure I won't be gaining much overall mass, and because of that I've decided to see how fast I can lose ten pounds. This kind of a challenge is probably the only thing that will get me to kick sugar. Coincidentally, some of the research I'm doing is indicating that low intensity exercise in a fasted state is fantastic for fat loss. It will be interesting to see if this pans out. I last weighed in at 170 lbs, but that was awhile ago so I'll try to get my weight tomorrow. For now though I'm setting my target at 160. Consider me on the weight loss bandwagon!

Storm Veritas
05-06-2018, 05:52 AM
What's the impetus for a drop from 170 to 160? If memory serves you're a fairly tall guy, so I'd expect 170 is pretty ideal.

Breaker
05-06-2018, 06:57 AM
All in the name of progress!

At 5'11" I'm definitely within an acceptable BMI range, but my body composition is still sub-optimal. When I was in the beset shape of my life, I weighed 155. Right now I'm probably carrying close to 10 lbs of fat on my stomach. I was just thinking about that while walking the other day, how much lighter I'd feel without it and how much better I'd be able to move. Plus, I'll be sexier. I wouldn't hate being able to see my abs again. But the big reasons, which I think I mentioned, are that I need the extra motivation to stop eating sugar, and I want to test out so-called cutting edge weight loss methods. Pretty much every night for the last week I've had the same conversation with myself:

"That sugar looks pretty good."
"But I don't want sugar..."
"YESSSSSS YOUUU DOOOO!"
"But I..."
"Why deny yourself the pleasure? It's not like you're trying to lose weight!"
"Okay, fine..."

Having a weight loss goal should make me more committed to eating right. I also find exercise and nutrition science fascinating. A few years ago it was all about keto and high intensity interval training... now people are talking about low intensity exercise in a fasted state. I want to see if it actually works.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-06-2018, 03:37 PM
I'm 5'10" and 256 lbs so that puts it in perspective. Jesus.

Six weeks and hopefully 28lbs off. This time next year I'm hoping to be around 196lbs, which is really my ideal weight for my frame. Perhaps a solid 180.

Once (if) I hit 180lbs i'll be back doing Muay Thai, but no chance at my current weight.

Breaker
05-06-2018, 09:06 PM
Sunday, slow day. I felt a little burned out after doing an hour and a half of yoga yesterday, so today I just did a thirty minute practice and went for a few walks. I checked my weight after 20 hours of fasting and came in at 170 lbs again, which means I probably actually gained a bit of weight since the last time I checked. This gives me a good baseline to start working toward my goal. My plans for this week are:

-fast 18 hours per day
-cut out sugar entirely
-do at least 30 minutes of yoga a day
-do at least 60 minutes of walking a day
-Do 1-3 high intensity upper body workouts throughout the week

I think as long as I cut out the sugar, it'll be easy to stay at a slight caloric deficit and lose weight at a measurable rate. I'm doing some research on a different, more time-sensitive kind of time-restricted feeding, but I want to try my current method for awhile first. Fasting 16-18 hours a day (or 20 hours, like today) actually feels great to me. I don't really get hungry and I find it easier to stay focused on the task at hand. I think I'm going to devise a fitness test I can do to track my muscular endurance. It'll probably look something like this:

15min warmup

20 cocorinha squats
2min rest
95% Max set cocorinha squats (record result)

20 pushups
2min rest
95% Max set pushups (record result)

30s plank
2min rest
95% Max set situps (record result)

30s wall sit
2min rest
Max time wall sit (record result)

I may do this tomorrow in the middle of my "feeding window", and try to do it once a week to monitor changes in my strength and endurance.

Storm Veritas
05-07-2018, 03:52 PM
5 Miles and a walk to pick up my kid from school today makes for a perfectly average workout day. Feeling great, diet is in control.

Tomorrow I leave for 8 days for work travel and then a quick family vacation. See you fifteen pounds! #fuck

Breaker
05-07-2018, 09:55 PM
Thirty minutes of yoga today, and about an hour and a half of walking. The fasting still feels good, although I did have some hunger pangs early this morning. I had two really great meals during my eating window (including a venison sauce!) and feel fully satiated. No sugar so far, and no plans of having any. I ended up having a friend visit for the evening so my fitness test got moved to tomorrow night.

Storm Veritas
05-08-2018, 08:10 AM
First travel test this morning in my LGA connection. For my obnoxiously expensive breakfast, got an omelette served with golden brown potatoes. Proud to report I returned all (but one) of the potato squares! My $4 coffee is absolutely putrid; LGA really is just the worst.

Probably no run today. I land in Orlando at noon, and running in Orlando at noon in May is suicide.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-08-2018, 09:00 AM
Judgment day is here!

Today marks the start of a six week journey to lose 28 lbs (or as close to it as possible) and to get fit for football before my ultimate goal of reaching 182lbs. My friend is standing by as my personal trainer, and now all I have to do is stick to what he tells me to do!

I won't be doing daily weigh ins on here because that'll be ridiculous, but I will be checking in weekly to ensure I'm keeping tabs on myself between staff work and writing!

So, here goes.

Week 1 weigh in: 251.6 lbs

My starting weight is a depressing figure but I know I'll have that down soon enough. Today I've eaten porridge, a three egg mushroom omelette and I plan to have lightly spiced chicken breast with peppers, rice and mushrooms for dinner. I'm trying to significantly cut down my dairy intake, so drinking green tea instead of normal tea / coffee. I abhor bananas, but one an hour before my PT will give me energy I need.

I know that Jack is going to have me on the back foot tonight doing all sorts of mad shit, and having attended one of his sessions before I can guess that it'll be high-intensity excercises and that I'll resemble Gomer Pyle by 9pm.

Remember, pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-08-2018, 04:27 PM
Update:

I am dying.

Tonight's session consisted of:

3 minutes rowing
10 lateral stretches with rubber band
10 rotator stretches with rubber band

Then three sets of:

45 second shuttle runs, straight into 20 seconds of kettlebell swings and then 20 seconds of ball slams.

2 minute break.

2 sets of 20 seconds of battle rope, 15 seconds of kettle thrusts (right arm) and 15 seconds again (left arm).


Top with 3 sets of lateral flies and bicep curls.

I am so unfit but the burn feels amazing. You should see the diet plan I've been given......

Breaker
05-08-2018, 08:53 PM
Oof, I would not have made it through such a workout. Nice job Shin.

Today I did a half hour of yoga and I walked hard in the sun for three hours. Not quite in a row, but close enough. My stomach is sore the way it got when I went to cross country events as a kid. I weighed in about halfway through the walking and came in at 167 lbs. I think most of that was water because I was a little dehydrated at the time, but it still feels like a kick in the right direction. I'll weigh in again in the next day or so to see what's up.

I had breakfast at 4pm; some grape tomatoes and a couple small bowls of rice pasta with venison sauce. Just before that, at the end of my fast, I did my little fitness test. I wouldn't really recommend resistance training while fasting to anyone, but I wanted to find out what I was capable of in that state. Here was my result:

Warmup: 10min shadow boxing, 5 min band exercsies
Coco squats: 20, 30
Pushups: 20, 25
Plank: 30s, 45s
Wall sit: 30s, 45s

I haven't really improved since the last time I did this workout, but I haven't been training for strength, so the important thing is I didn't go backwards. I will make it a goal to improve my results in all four exercises, however. I wasn't feeling satisfied by this, so I threw in twenty situps at the end.

Now I'm enjoying some scotch and perrier picked up on my journey and figuring out what to eat for dinner. I'm actually not that hungry... but I'm sure it will come.

Chelley
05-08-2018, 09:51 PM
Day 2... my legs (quads in particular) are still whining at me over yesterday's workout. I'm doing the 21 day fix exercise program from Beachbody. Day 1 was a total body cardio, today was upper fix (so much shoulder work, I expect my shoulder's to be crying tomorrow as hard as my legs were today)

Starting weight: 166.6lbs
Goal: 125-130lbs (a much healthier weight for my height and age of 61" and 34yrs)

The plan to cut back on excess carbs is doing well thus far. With tomorrow and Friday being paydays, I should be able to stock up on veggies. Yum!

Also: working out around a toddler is just hard mode. Little Man thought it was great that Mommy was on the floor and proceeded to pile his stacking rings on me while I was doing crunches and plop on my back while doing a plank (1 min) /pushups (think i got 14 in a minute, which is great for being the first time in forever!)!

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-09-2018, 02:52 AM
Good work, both of you! Chelly, I know how difficult it is having a little one running round scuppering everything but could be onto something there by involving them in the routine ;)

I'm aching a little after last night but not as much as I'd expected. The way my schedule is laid out puts me (almost completely accidentally) on a one day on, one day off routine with training. I have another PT session tomorrow (happy fucking birthday to me :rolleyes:), 45 minutes of bootcamp on Saturday morning, an hour of football on Monday evening and then back on the PT on tuesday. Rinse and repeat for six weeks.

Weight this morning was 249.8 lbs. I expected that I'd lose a little, so i'm happy with that. The hard bit is to come when I hit the 200 lbs mark and things start slowing down, but I'll get there.

Storm Veritas
05-09-2018, 08:17 AM
In Florida. Ate much better than I typically do on travel, avoiding carbs still and having one michelob ultra (gross) and a few whiskeys. Great 5 mile run in mild temperatures with very high humidity this morning. Wrung my shirt over the railing in my hotel - sorry for the rain below!

Breaker
05-10-2018, 09:31 AM
Beh. I ate sugar last night (only because I ran out of healthy calories) and today I feel pretty gross. I must make sure to have good foods in the fridge at all times so this doesn't happen again.

Everything else is on track - yoga, walking, overall diet, intermittent fasting all good.

Storm Veritas
05-10-2018, 03:10 PM
Still traveling. Have been eating very, very little because there simply aren't many options for carb-free food. Also went out with the team last night and got WASTED on whiskey.

I was in a bad, dark, painful place with no glucose to metabolize the alcohol. Felt like I got kicked by a mule.

Didn't run this morning, but plan to tonight when it cools down a little. Pray for me.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-10-2018, 04:05 PM
Just done the most painful but physically rewarding PT session I've ever done tonight.

On tuesday I jarred my back slightly but it made every movement painful. My PT helped me with a little physio before the session and tailored it to my injury, but god damn it was difficult.

Session consisted of:

2000m rowing with 20s full power, 10s rest interval training on a hard setting.

Shuttle runs in a boxing ring from corner to corner in a Z pattern, 30s on, 10s rest. 5 sets, then a further 3 after a 2 minute break.The floor (being cushioned) helped the injury as it was low impact but still felt it.

Stretches on the pullup bar to help stretch out the affected muscles.

It was a well managed session but I'm feeling it. Resting tonight and tomorrow before going back to bootcamp on Saturday morning for high intensity cardio.

Weight this morning was 248.3 lbs, so lost 3 lbs since Tuesday and I suspect after tonight there will be a result at tomorrow's weigh in.

Happy days.

Storm Veritas
05-10-2018, 08:01 PM
Great job Shin, keep it up!

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-11-2018, 01:55 AM
Great job Shin, keep it up!

Thanks man. How did the run go?

Breaker
05-11-2018, 09:24 PM
Great job to both of you!

I had a pretty typical day. About an hour of walking, about twenty minutes of yoga. I weighed in today at 165.5 lbs, so despite my continued issues with sugar the trend is going in the right direction. I haven't had any sugar today though, and I'm not going to. I'm actually stuffed.

For breakfast at 4pm I had a banana, an avocado, and a serving of jasmine rice with a massive salmon portion. Between meals I had some chia seeds with water, and then for dinner, my recent dietary staple; venison tomato sauce over rice pasta. Right now I'm sipping scotch and soda, and when that's done I'll have some vega one and then call it a night. I've been working on getting as much sleep as possible.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-12-2018, 03:51 PM
Weighed in this morning at 246.8, which brings my total weight loss since I started on Tuesday to 5lbs. Five days, five pounds. I'm reasonably happy with a pound a day off the body as that will put me at a half stone off at the end of the week. Assuming that kind of steady rate, I can predict perhaps 35 lbs off by June 19th, which is 7 more than target.

I didn't make it to bootcamp this morning but did manage to just finish a makeshift PT session off my own back at the gym. Whilst I'm sure I burned a few calories, it wasn't as intense as my PT with Jack and I feel I went too easy on myself. It's hard to be motivated to push that extra mile or do that extra set when you don't have a six foot monster screaming encouragement at you, but at least I got out and did something.

Consisting of:

6 sets of 20s on, 10s off high intensity rowing
10x 15kg Kettlebell "shotput" lift on each arm
20 ball slams
20 situps
3 sets of 30kg bench press at 5 reps per set
10 leg curls at 15kg
10 mins cooldown on bike

It looks a lot but it isn't, especially as I wasn't putting the same level of intensity in as I would with Jack. However, I at least did something and my next hour of exercise is an hour of football on Monday night before I hit PT again on Tuesday.

Food wise, I have been sticking to an extremely strict diet. An example is today's catering: Breakfast is greek yoghurt with oats (protein and carbs), with mushrooms. Lunch tends to be 185g of rice (carbs), a seasoned chicken breast (protein) and mixed peppers and mushrooms. Dinner is cod (protein), green beans and 60g of mixed almonds and pistaccios for the fat I need. No carbs at all after 1pm and I genuinely feel amazing for it, although I do suffer sugar withdrawal like a heroin addict. Last night at 9pm I was shaking like a fucking leaf!

Breaker
05-12-2018, 08:17 PM
For the first twenty one days, showing up is really all that matters. And you more than showed up! Nice work mate.

I didn't weigh in today, but I've been wearing my cloth belt (no notches) for a few days, and when I put my leather belt on today it naturally went almost a full notch tighter. That's the kind of progress I'm really looking for, the weight is just a number.

Today while fasting I walked for ninety minutes and then did a half hour of yoga.

For breakfast I had a banana and my good ol' venison sauce on rice pasta. About three hours later I did a ten minute warmup and then a few sets of pushups and situps, just to keep my upper body working. For dinner I had another banana and a MASSIVE bowl of salad with tuna and avocado. Now... you guessed it... scotch time. Vega one later on.

Storm Veritas
05-12-2018, 08:57 PM
Runs have been slow and lumbering, since I've been getting 15,000-20,000 steps/day while on vacation. Managed to stay on a keto-based diet even with all this. Body is very sore; hard to stay hydrated when water is $4/bottle and I'm buying water for four. Running at hotel #2 sucks (different one for family vacation; it's more of a resort) because there is no sidewalk so I'm running more or less on a highway.

Feet are fucking sore. No actual problems, just hurting. Gonna power through this.

Storm Veritas
05-14-2018, 09:18 PM
Last night I took the bride out for a big Mother's Day Dinner at Disney World. We ate great, and even had dessert - the first conscious consumption of carbs in 2+ months. It was -incredible-, but I was swept by a wave of guilt.

Woke up to run hard in obscene Florida humidity. 20k+ steps on the tracker today. Wiped out completely. Tomorrow we walk the Magic Kingdom - taking my first day off from running in an age. Thanks be to god!

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-15-2018, 11:31 AM
Today marks the first week since this crash course in not being a fat bastard began. Having stuck to the diet and fitness programme to the letter, I was pretty happy to learn that I have lost 6.4 lbs in a week.

Having played football last night (with interesting effects - seems this diet isn't great for late night energy levels, so I'll have to ponder that one) I'm on a well earned night off tonight, choosing instead to go and see a potential new client before I haul ass back home and post for Storm in the Gisela. Wednesday and Thursday, though, are going to be killers - PT wants me in at 8pm on BOTH days, back to back. Ouch!

Breaker
05-15-2018, 03:33 PM
Well done Shin, keep at it!

The past couple days have been pretty uneventful for me. I had a slice of cake on Sunday in honor of Mother's Day, but other than that I've kept the sugar at bay. I weighed in yesterday at 165 lbs, so things are still headed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, getting back to combat sports has been pushed to the far, far back burner. I saw my doctor today and he's concerned I may have a torn ACL because of how loose my right knee is. I don't see how this could be possible with all the walking I'm doing, but he's the doctor, so I'll be getting an ultrasound on it soon. And I'm going to get some physio to try to straighten my hips out.

I took a couple days off from yoga, but I think I'll start that back up again today or tomorrow. I really wish I could do some more dynamic stuff, but preserving my knee is paramount at this point.

Storm Veritas
05-15-2018, 10:13 PM
Yikes. Fingers crossed on the ACL Breaker. I haven't done that myself; was lucky to "cap out" with an MCL sprain through college wrt to the knee. I know that it's pretty common to be able to walk on a tear. It's also an injury that athletes routinely recover fully from, but will take quite a bit of time.

No run this morning, enjoyed the day at Disney with my family. Still was on my feet all day, over 20k steps and 8 miles walked. Want a good, hard run tomorrow before returning to New England. Haven't been horrible on the diet this week; would be surprised if I didn't actually drop a pound or two, but could stand to sharpen things up and get more weight work in.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris
05-16-2018, 04:17 PM
Hope the ACL scan goes through soon Breaker pal and that you and the family are enjoying Disney, Storm!

Meanwhile I'M DYING OVER HERE.

Tonight my PT was a total bastard to me. "Yeah, it'll be a shorter session but more intense". I ate his lies from the palm of his hand.

3 minute row to warm up
10 rotator cuff stretches with a wooden pole
10 press ups (I am shit at these)
45s on, 10s off boxing (jab, jab cross, uppercut and body shots all alternating) for five f*cking minutes straight.

A whole minute of continual, full power body shots straight after the end of five minutes of the above.

A set of Z patterned shuttle runs across the boxing ring corner to corner, 30s on, 10s off. Five minutes of that bullshit.

3 sets of:

50kg weight push (traction weight I think its called) x 4 lengths
45s on, 10s off squats with bag lifts
45s on, 10s off 9kg ball slams

5 sets of 10 reps, 20kg weights.

I am absolutely and utterly f*cked. I know its done me good but jesus christ.

Elthas
05-17-2018, 10:27 AM
Chris turn that weight into muscle bro!

Hit them weights man you got mass you just gotta refine it now.

Yesterday I did about ten-fifteen minutes of crunches. (They are leg extension with a sit-up style thing) My personal goal is to work out everyday a little while. I went out for a small walk may go out again later today as well. But yes, I work out very regularly now and I'm starting to get some definition/etc. But yeah Chris/Shin bro I believe in you you can do it!