More Trouble Than I Am Worth: Chaos Is The Plan (T3hPwnisher Log)

[T3hPwnisher]

@unicornsandrainbows Hey thanks so much! Always a fan of your support, and I appreciate your observation regarding the flexibility of the meals. As my mind heals, I find myself able to appreciate more and more the love I get, and also just baffled at myself for how long I spent worrying about stuff that didn’t matter. It’s awesome to be in a place where I can truly look forward to all of this.

Speaking of…

---

Operation Conan nightly SITREP

I actually only have a picture of the sides. Valkyrie cooked up a venison ring bologna from the Iowa family farm and we all got some cuts of it, but on the side I had 3 sunny side up pastured eggs with some grassfed ghee, 1 hardboiled pastured egg, some cracklin’, a little of the lefover kalua pig and some grassfed cottage cheese. And then, 5 of my Valkyrie’s monster cookies, made with peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chunks and a bunch of peanut M&Ms from halloween, all with some of that raw honey from Costa Maya and a mug of fairlife skim. Very good for the soul.

[BrandonCrawford]

@T3hPwnisher

grassfed cottage cheese

Do you know the brand of this offhand? I am having a hard time finding it near me, even though I’m in a fairly metropolitan area.

[T3hPwnisher]

Kalona “Supernatural”

Ideally, I’d get the full fat version, but my local grocery store doesn’t carry it. A few closeby do though.

[T3hPwnisher]

AM WORKOUT (0357 wake up via dog)

Roll out on LAX ball
95x320 reverse hyper
60 min/3.63mi treadmill walk. Incline 4.0, 3.5 mph for first mile, then 3.6, 3.7 and finish at 3.8
2:28 hang from bar, pull up every 30 seconds

No walk w/dogs due to rain

Notes:

• Still feeling healthy, so decided to push the pace on the treadmill

• Reverse hypers are really getting stupid. Soon enough I up the weight and cut the reps.

• I have Tang Soo Do tonight, so some more activity on the horizon

[simo74]

@T3hPwnisher

Still feeling healthy

happy to read this mate

[T3hPwnisher]

@simo74 Thanks man! 2 days in a row is a new PR, haha. I need one of those work safety signs “X many days without a hip issue!”

---

Operation Conan nightly SITREP got interesting

I made a frozen lasagna for the Valkyrie and the kiddo, and despite my norse heritage I DID warm it up, but I also decided I wanted to play along, so I made my own.

I took 11oz of the leftover kalua pig. I did a layer of half of it on the bottom of that glass container, then whipped together 2 heaping tablespoons of goat cream cheese and 2 heaping tablespoons of grassfed sour cream to make a sauce, spread it on thick on top of the layer, put down another layer of pork, another layer of the sauce, then topped the whole thing with some shredded mozzarella. I then sprayed some duck fat on top and air fried it at 390 for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Paired it with 3 pastured eggs and some grassfed ghee. This was a little bit more diary/cheese than I like (well, no, I REALLY like dairy and cheese, but it’s more than I would want to use for my current goals), but I dug how this was a more socially adaptable solution to have lasagna night with the family.

Ended up skipping Tang Soo Do: work crisis needed resolving.

[simo74]

@T3hPwnisher

“X many days without a hip issue!”

lmao, I need one of those for various body parts.

[wiseman83]

Me too.

Back. Knee. Shoulder. Brain.

[simo74]

@wiseman83

Brain.

Your sign would always read Zero days.

[wiseman83]

Harsh.

But fair.

[T3hPwnisher]

AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm, set it incorrectly)

OPERATION CONAN Occupation Phase

Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol Grey Man-Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 2

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL: Grey Man-Cycle 3, Week 2, Day 2

WARM UP
Roll out on LAX ball
50x180 reverse hypers
Sets of squats with bar, 85, 175, 225 and overwarm walkout w/335

MAIN WORK

Buffalo bar Squat
4x6x300

SUPERSET

Axle strict press
4x6x133

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER giant set

(3) Incline DB bench
4x10x65

Weighted NG chin
4x10x12.5 (straight 10s on first 2 sets, 7+3 on final sets)

Hanging leg raise
3x10

SUPPLEMENTAL

GHRs
4x30

TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 49.5 minutes

BREAKFAST

Short walk w/dogs

Notes:

• Best squat day I’ve had in a LONG time. Came in pain free and stayed that way through the end. Because my knees felt good, I could move quick, which kept my hips feeling good. It’s funny how absence of pain perpetuates pain free training and presence perpetuates pain. Definitely thinking reducing ab rollout frequency is the right call.

• Kept rests close to a minute, and was able to really crush training time here as a result.

• Relearning technique on the leg raises. They’re really feeling solid.

[Friedrich]

That is a super set and a half. Good job.

[T3hPwnisher]

@Friedrich thanks!

---

Operation Conan nightly SITREP. This was leftovers night

14oz of kalua pig, 4 pastured hard boiled eggs with grassfed ghee and sour cream, grassfed cottage cheese and pork rinds

[T3hPwnisher]

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

Roll out on LAX ball
50x360 reverse hypers
3.5 mile/60 minute treadmill walk at 4.0 incline
2:30 hang from bar (pull up every 30 seconds)

BREAKFAST

2 mile walk w/dogs

Notes:

• Continuing with my trend of chasing the squat workout with a lighter walk workout. I meant to log this earlier, but this seems to marry up to the rest and recovery model Dan John put out in “Mass Made Simple”, where you had a “rest” day and a “recharge” day. I have 2 walking days, but one is more intense than the other, and the one that isn’t intense is there to get me back into the training game for the next day. Always fun figuring out where the pieces fit in the program.

• Tang Soo Do last night was pretty light, minus the physical testing requirements. I push those hard, to make the most of it. But otherwise, we stepped through the one-steps, since my Mrs is still nursing a neck injury. We have another class tonight, which will be similarly paced. And then I get the next 4 days off work, so schedule will be a little nutty, but all good things.

• On Sunday, I’ll have to slightly re-arrange the gym, since we’re getting new garage doors. That’s always a good workout. I’m also going to make myself some beef chuck bone-in short ribs for lunch tomorrow, since I’ll have the time to do so…so I got that going for me…which is nice.

• Actually, on that note, been eating a lot of pork this week due to the leftovers and not much beef/ruminant meat, and I’ll have to say I’m noticing the difference in terms of physique. I’m a bit puffier than usual. I figure it’s a little it of inflammation. I think my Operation Conan principles of staying closer to red meat when possible is a good idea, but I’m not going to act like I haven’t been enjoying the food this week. And the porkening will continue, because tonight is “Chef’s Night Out” at Texas Roadhouse, and I’ll be getting my ribs-on there, which will mean another 2 day streak of ribs…which is awesome as always. It’s actually going to be a “feast forward” weekend, as we’re going out for dinner tomorrow, and then my Valkyrie is going out with her friends on Saturday, so I’m taking the kiddo out to Texas Roadhouse AGAIN so I can try out my free steak dinner for November. After that, I’m thinking of trying my hand at my first brisket for Sunday. We’ll see how that goes.

[T3hPwnisher]

As I go further and further down the “High speed/low drag” rabbithole with the Velocity Diet “Intermittent feasting” protocol I’ve adopted, I thought about really making the whole process simple and making the HSM at the end of the day a “Ketobrick”, a creation from Robert Sikes.

Let’s say I wanted to continue the carnivore kick, and I pick the most Carnivore option: the “Bell’s Brownie Brick”, from Mark Bell. Described as

Here is the macro breakdown and ingredients

It costs $12.

Metabolic Drive runs about $1.80 a serving.

Going off the Velocity Diet RX of 4 meals with 2 scoops (I’m a little guy), that shakes out (PUNS) to $14.40 a day. All of this is assuming without discounts/deals.

$26.40 for a full day’s worth of nutrition, with macros breaking down to 96g of fat, 46g of carbs and 208g of protein, for a total of 1880 calories. Damn, that’s actually pretty wild: you’d STILL be in a deficit at that point. And $26.40 is about the price of ONE ok steak dinner (it’s about the cost of the full rack of ribs meal at my local Texas Roadhouse, not counting tax and tip).

Week’s worth of “groceries” would run you $184.80. We can call that $185. Monthly grocery budget of $740.

Now, yeah, you could absolutely get those macros from the Ketobrick from cheaper sources and DIY, or just eat real food like an actual human being…but I honestly dig this idea if I were ever in an extended travel situation with limited cooking/storage options. Pack a bunch of powder and a bunch of bars and shut off your brain.

I don’t think you’d be able to be necessarily ketogenic with those macros, primarily with the protein so high and the carbs creeping up like that, but I’m sure you’d still be quite satiated ending the day with a big fatty meal like that.

EDIT: I realize, of course, BioTest ALSO makes a bar, so it’s fair to do a cross compare there. It’d take about 4 chocolate Finibars to get 1120 calories, which would also cost about $11.56, so we’re pretty close to cost and calories. Macros are, of course, quite different here, looking at 28g of fat, 160g of carbs and 64g of protein with this approach, totaling 36g of fat 192g of carbs 232g of protein, for 2000 calories exactly. That’s a very satisfying number, but the fats are too low for health. Although one SHOULD be taking Flameout alongside all this, which can help boost the fats.

[T3hPwnisher]

Time for the Operation Conan nightly SITREP

3 sidekicks of ribs, no sauce, which I topped with grassfed ghee and sour cream, alongside 4 pastured boiled eggs and grassfed cottage cheese.

[sirdanoman]

100% should be the preferred test for gall bladder disease! You could still be in ketosis with this but I don’t know if I would use it in clinical practice.

I used to do that. Ketogenic diet for seizure disorders as a cross practice thing with neurology. But we usually topped them out at 20 grams of glycemic carbs per day if it didn’t demonstrate a resurgence in symptoms. Had one beautiful case of full remission with full medication withdrawal on diet alone. It’s not common but wonderful to see.

[T3hPwnisher]

@sirdanoman Holy cow, I had no idea you had such a background: that’s awesome, and I really appreciate you swinging by my log to drop that knowledge. Funny you bring up the gall bladder: my father-in-law had his removed yesterday. He had a bunch of stones, and the bladder was just about to rupture. He’s an RN who actually went to medical school for 4 years before deciding he wanted to be a nurse rather than a doctor, and his wife is also an RN, so I’m doing everything I can to NOT give them any advise on the matter, haha, but I’m hoping for a good recovery for him.

And yeah, Robert Sikes is an interesting cat in the ketogenic space. He’s been living in ketosis for like 7+ years, and he made these bricks to help with his bodybuilding prep. He says he eats one of these a day along with a bunch of meat (he’s a hunter, so a lot of it is game meat) to stay in ketosis. Definitely an interesting approach.

---

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CONAN Occupation Phase

Tactical Barbell Grey Man Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 3

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL: Grey Man-Cycle 3, Week 2, Day 3

WARM UP

Roll out on LAX ball
50x180 reverse hyper
Sets of 135, 225 and 315 low handle trap bar pull

MAIN WORK

Low handle trap bar pull
4x6x430

SUPERSET

Axle bench press
4x6x211

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER giant set

Lever belt squat
4x10x205

Weighted dip
4x10x42.5

Axle curl
4x10x63

ASSISTANCE

Standing ab wheel
3x10

Lateral raise
35x10s

TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 54 minutes

BREAKFAST

No walk w/dogs

Notes:

• Got the day off work, schedule is a little different, but wanted to get this in. It’s the hardest thing I have to do today, so getting it knocked out first thing is awesome.

• Kept rests close to 1 minute. I beat last week’s training time for the main work.

• That very first set of pulls was VERY low back intensive. It’s a good sign that I’ve healed up enough that I can lift stupidly again, but maybe I should NOT do that so I can stay healed. In turn, I focused on leg drive for the last 3 sets.

• But on that note, I’m feeling good again post training. Really think I’ve turned a corner, and going to try my best to keep it that way.

• Playing around with pointing my feet out more on the belt squat, and it seems to be the right call. Knee feels better, and ROM is improved.

• I’m still burping up ribs from last night, and I was concerned it was going to be an issue on the pulls. Amazingly, kept chow down, but I’m thinking one of the racks may have been undercooked. One was particularly dry. That said, I’ve already got some beef ribs on the smoker, because this is Operation Conan.

• Tang Soo Do was actually quite physically challenging yesterday. It’s a shame that watches aren’t allowed to be worn during training, because we ran at least 40 laps around the Dojang, alongside various bodyweight exercises.

[T3hPwnisher]

Here comes a special lunchtime “Operation Conan” SITREP

I’m going to come right out and say it: steak and eggs are overrated. RIBS and eggs are king. Had the day off work, so broke out my Ninja Woodfire XL smoker and cooked up 4 piedmontese bone-in chuck short ribs. Grabbed the biggest one (which, seriously, look at how goddamn enormous that thing is) and a sidekick and paired it alongside 4 pastured eggs with grassfed ghee. Couldn’t ask for a more anabolic lunch.

[T3hPwnisher]

Full on Operation Conan SITREP to include an after action report

Got up around 0745, got in my 50 push ups and squats, Valkyrie made me breakfast. Took a photo of this one, just because it was particularly amazing.

2 omelets, each with 3 pastured eggs, grassfed ghee, grassfed swiss, and some leftover kalua pig, topped with grassfed sour cream. Alongside that is more kalua pig, beef bacon, grassfed beef hot dog and grassfed cottage cheese.

Walked the dogs for a little over 2 miles after that, did some chores, fasted through lunch, came home, walked the dog again, then went on a 2.1 mile walk with the Mrs, then took my kiddo out for Texas Roadhouse to try out my “free steak dinner a month for a year”

Spoilers: it worked

They hooked me up with my request of 2 bowls of hardboiled eggs with a side of sour cream for my sides, and then I got the 23oz porterhouse, cooked rare without seasoning. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to order that, but found the price prohibitive. It was absolutely delicious, lots of fatty pieces, cooked perfectly rare. …although in full disclosure, I was actually still a little hungry afterward. I had some of my kid’s leftover steak, but next time I might throw in a sidekick of ribs to go with it.

But I was totally shocked when it legit run up for free. I thought I would get something like “the VALUE of a steak dinner at $16.99” or something similar, but it was a legit free porterhouse.

So the next year is going to be pretty awesome for me.

Also, today is the best I have felt physically in a LONG time. No hip, back or knee pain. And I had to fight ALL my instincts to “fix” that with some hard training today. Instead, I just stuck with walking. I’ve got about 21.5k steps for now, and will see a few more before the evening is done. I think, if this keeps up, I may re-introduce mat pulls next week, but next week is ALSO the heaviest week of the program, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s nice to have that to vector me.