This Getting in shape thing is tough. I know, let’s blog about how tough it is!
This week I attempted to do some nutritional experimentation to get ready for an all out assault on my own fitness goals for this year. What has taken me so long? Well, in a previous blog, I indicated I was taking my time in this process. I wanted to sort out and try a few things. I wanted to make sure my life could handle the stress test of getting health.
This past week I stress tested my nutrition plan to make sure that I understood the bumps in the road a bit before I decided to put the full fledged plan into action. What does that mean? I wanted to try and focus on just eating healthy without needing to complete a weigh in or measurement on the table. So, essentially I tried to follow my guidelines (Slow Carb is the plan, by the way) and determined where I found difficulty following the plan.
This may seem like a stall. I decided to take another week before I started REALLY following the plan, etc. etc. I assure it was not. I have attempted to hit the ground running with a lot of dietary plans over the years, and within the week I am back to my old eating habits. So, I decided to try and follow the plan and track where things went off the rails. This proved to be a valuable exercise as now I have to plan around those events more cautiously.
For example, on Thursdays I have this appointment that requires me to drive across town, meet for an hour, and then drive across town back. It occurs right around lunch, and in my rush to get back to the office, I often stop at a drive thru to grab a bite. This is a great example of poor planning. On the days, where I have this appointment, I should make sure I have a lunch prepared that I can eat either before or after I return from the appointment.
That was what the stress test told me. I showed me the points where my plan would falter, so I could prepare for that ahead of time. This week! We go LIVE!
This is the year 2016. While I have been trying to find a healthier lifestyle since 2007, it feels like I have been doing the New Years Resolution thing for a ga-jillion years. Once or twice I actually made progress.
Going in to 2016 I had to have a good hard long talk with myself. I asked a few hard questions? Am I healthy? No. Am I physically fit? No. Why? …. um… yeah.
Why? What is it that keeps me entrenched in my own failure? Failure may seem like a harsh way to look at it, but let’s be honest, if you are not meeting your goals, you are failing, and failure is okay. You learn from failure. So, what have I learned.
Schedule is too busy? Probably. Don’t buy great food? Yes and No, home pantry is well stocked, it’s the eating out that kills me. Time to talk care of myself? Oh, shit, what’s time?
And so there is the excuses of a lot of folks in my position. Over-weight, over-worked, and over-whelmed. So, I decided to NOT do the same thing I have done every year. I decided to NOT create this incredible life changing plan that left me exhausted by Day 3. Sorry Tony Horton, I can’t keep up with the Crazy 6 day a week work out schedule. I just don’t think I am a 0 to 60 in one day kind of guy.
Every year, I start out too ambitiously. I try to exercise, change my diet, blog every day, track progress, log meals… oh Lord, it’s a full time job. How about I start simpler. How about I start with some healthy habits first, then we can start building? How about I create a mentality of intention before enacting some huge plan.
Let’s just try to form a few healthy habits.
- Drink (2) Glasses of Water before I go to work, and all the required water each day.
- Walk or Ride My Bike Once a Week.
- Start writing a journal every day.
That’s a lot slower, but it’s doable. Here I’m forming a habit about what I’m putting in my body. I am integrating exercise back into my weekly routine, and I am getting used to the idea of daily tracking.
This is what January Looked like. And for the most part it worked. I have no idea how much I weigh or measurements or any of that, but I’ll kick that off this weekend. And next week we start working in MORE healthy habits.
My Journey towards a healthier me begins slowly and intentionally.
Label it Failure. Why not? I had those wonderful good intentions, and this blog is a graveyard of good intentions and clean starts, followed by the eventual confession of failure. I started the #BlizzconSlimdown in April, and it started off very well. I dropped some weight, was re-focused and felt good about thing through May.
Then crazy happened. June and July were wastelands of stress and exhileration and a pace of life I find myself woefully regretting, becasue that break neck speed swallowed my focus. It swallowed my drive, and it distracted me with excuses and empty promises. It cost me. It cost me time and committment, but then suddenly I came out the other end and realized with regret, that I lost about two and a half months. So… we move on. We re-group. We re-focus.
A well intentioned follower on twitter told me to not sweat it. Why was I trying to lose weight by Blizzcon? I didn’t have anyone to impress. What a lovely thing to say. Really, that’s great to hear that people will accept you no matter what. I own this is my own issue though. It’s my problem, and it’s not that I want to impress people with a sweet six pack of abs. I just simply want to be LIGHTER.
Last Blizzcon I came home on Friday night, completey spent, exhausted, tired. I had gone hard from 7am – 12pm and I was feeling every bit of it. I strolled into Blizzcon at 299 lbs. Big for me. I could feel everyone of those extra 99 lbs from my ideal weight. This year committments look to be the same if not worse. I cannot walk in there at a near 300 lbs again.
I have to drop some weight. Time to re-group, again. I have been eating Slow Carb now this week and last week. I have started doing DDP Yoga again and incorporating walks and swimming 2 – 3 times a week. We make mistakes, we move on, we get better.
That is the Goal. I am hopeful. Stats tomorrow.
Fear NOT Blizzard Fans. While Blizzard may have pooped in your soup yesterday with their news that Flying may never return to future Blizzard Expansions, I bring you good tidings of Joy! The #BlizzconSlimdown keeps on rolling down he track! This week really good progress was made for me personally! Despite an already documented disaster, I recovered nutritionally and delivered another drop on the ole’ scale. I also finally kickstarted another phase of the #BlizzconSlimdown! Let’s get to the stats! Four weeks in, and we’re doing fine!
- Weight 302.9 (Down 2 lbs)
- Chest 50 inches (no change)
- Waist 52 inches (no change)
- Hips 46 inches (no change)
- Thighs 29 inches (down .5 inches)
- Biceps 17 inches (down 1 inch)
- Neck 17 inches (no change)
- Calves 18 inches (no change)
- Body Fat 31.87%. (up .16%)
So, I’m down 2 lbs and 1.5 total inches across my body. Since the Body Fat % stayed mostly the same you could say I lost only minimal body fat. I choose to see progress! This now means tht I’ve dropped 6 lbs in about three weeks. A good steady drop in weight. My goal was to try an maintain pace of 2 lbs dropped a week, and I seem to be getting there!
This week I added more exercise as I fired back up on #DDPYoga! DDP Yoga is kind of a combination of Body Resistance Training with Cardio and Yoga. It’s not a pure yoga, but it’s a great workout. And what I need to do is focus on flexibility and health now that I’m pushing into my late 30’s. My Power Lifting Days are well behind me. I picked up on the DDP Yoga Intermediate Schedule. So, I’ve completed Week 1, and I’m excited about it! I’ll be adding a day of crossfit & kettlebells as well. I’d like to get an exercise Bike to have at the house, but I really cannot afford it. However, I need a little extra cardio as well.
These are things to work towards though. This next week, I stick to DDP Yoga and (1) extra session of Crossfit / Kettlebells and see how this builds! I’d love to break the 300lbs Barrier this week! That’s my ‘stretch goal’. Oh, and I saw BOB on Friday. So, I’ll be writing a piece about taking care of your body as you transform it, and how that often times is painful. Pain is a part of this process. You cannot over-look it!
Let’s talk about Failure. As I said on my last #StatsDay post, I have become a bit more forgiving of myself for fairly significant mistakes while trying to maintain a more healthy lifestyle. When creating my former regiments, I made the mistake of setting unrealistic expectations for my ‘performance’, and thus I would often beat myself up mentally when I made a mistake, missed a work out or had a mid-weak cheat. My plans previously looked like this.
- Follow Diet Program X Perfectly six days a week with one to two Cheat Meals on the 7th Day
- Exercise Six Days a Week
- Drink Preciisely 150 oz of Water
- Stay Postive All the Time!
How feasible does this sound to you? At the time, I thought it was PERFECTLY logical! Set high expectations! Shoot for the Moon, because if you falter you’ll hit the stars! Even if you manage to get through week 1 with those expectations, you will burn out by week three. Perhaps, I should be more specific. If you are like me, you will burn out by week three. So, what do we do? Give up? Hell, No! We just need to have a healthier attitude towards failure. Setting goals and creating schedules is great. It’s helpful to put you in the ballpark of where you want to go. However, Goals or at least failing to attain goals, can also lead us to over-look progress.
Take my goal. I want to lose 50lbs by the First Weekend in November. Now, if I only hit 90% of that goal, I will have lost 45lbs. If I hit only 50% of that goal, I will have lost 25lbs. That is all still progress. The point I am trying to make is simple. When we set big goals and we encounter failure we have to evaluate the failure, instead of mourning it. Morning it can result in shame spirals and before you know it, you’ve given back the 5 lbs you lost and you are at square one. However, if you step on the scale for your weigh in and you see you gained a pound. Stop. Don’t panic. Take a deep breath and say, “Well, I failed this week.” Then examine your week and determine what was different that may have hurt you. Then change it.
I had a big failure this week. It happened yesterday. I ate two donuts. Yep two donuts were consumed. You would think after donut one, I would have stopped myself, but then I saw that Apple Fritter, and we all know what happened next. So, what did I do? I assessed my problem. I could have avoided the donut box probably all day. I chose not to avoid it. That was the mistake. I have to adjust for next time.
Will this day of failure affect my stats at week’s end? Probably, but all I can do is adjust for next time. And that is my philosphy for this version of the Spare Tire Project. Focus on the moment, not the end result. Make choices that are positive and pat myself on the back for the times I do succeed and allow those moments of success to grow into the norm. My new plan looks like this:
- Eat Whole Organic Foods when feasible
- Move and Exercise when feasible
- Sleep more
- Be Gracious to yourself.
That last bit is important. You need to be good to yourself and forgive yourself for the mis-steps. Essentially, that is what livign a healthy and fit lifestyle is about, being good to yourself.
The stats are in for May 16, 2015 and it looks like there is more positive progress to report. This week I did not get the amount of exercise I had hoped to get this week. I had high hopes that were not met, but I kept true to the eating schedule (minus a few cheats) and that made the difference. As my old Trainer used to say, weight loss is about 90% diet and 10% training. Well, that was the case this week. Here are the stats!
- Weight 304.9 (Down 1.5 lbs)
- Chest 50 inches (down 1 inch)
- Waist 52 inches (down 1 inch)
- Hips 46 inches (down 1 inch)
- Thighs 29.5 inches (no change)
- Biceps 18inches (no change)
- Neck 17 inches (no change)
- Calves 18 inches (no change)
- Body Fat Est 31.61%. (down 1.16%)
As you can see I lost another 1.5 lbs and droped 3 inches off the core of my body (chest, waist, hips). I also dropped 1.16% body fat. This is all good news. My approach to my eating has shifted quite a bit from th 2011 philosphy. While I ascribe more to PALEO vs SLOW CARB, I focus less on the FAILURES in my eating now and more on the success. For example, If I eat a great breakfast, lunch and dinner and then have a cookie for dessert, I don’t consider the day a failure because of that one cookie. I used to approach eating that way. I would strive for perfection instead of performance. For some reason if 100% of my meals were not perfect, then that was a failure. What a stupid way to approach eating.
I read his article early on in the week with Tony Horton (yes, the p90x guy), and he explained that he has a treat almost every day. In his mind a gluten free chocolate chip cookie is a treat. He feels if he ate healthy all day, why not have a treat at the end? Now, I know what you’re thinking, that can get dangerous. It sure can! Becuase for many of us, that one cookie leads to a box of cookies. However, the point I am trying to make is that I need to focus more on successful eating, and that is where my mind goes now! I like to celebrate that healthy lunch I had at Asian Box (pork, rice, fermented and grilled veggies), because I made the right choice. I don’t say to myself, “Ah man, now I have to have that pork box from Asian Box,” I now say, “Looking forward to that awesome Pork Box from Asian Box today!” (seriously, they are awesome).
That does not mean life does not de-rail me completely. Thursday was a good example. I over-slept, ended up doing Drive Through McDonalds on the way to dropping off my kid at school. Then I forgot about a cross town meeting, ended up getting Jack and the Box… wow… back to back poor food choices. So, how did I fight back? Healthy snack and an awesome dinner of Turkey Meatballs and Veggies with Tomato Sauce. I ended the day in a good spot with a Glass of Water and some games of Heroes of the Storm!
This week I have to get back and track on fitness, and maintain this style of eating. That is the goal! Let’s see how I do! I hope you’re journey this week was solid and you took some great lessons from it. I wish you success and health as always!
If you read my blog post from yesterday, you know I was a little concerned coming into Stats Day today. I had been sick for most of the week. I was so tired, I simply could not exercise. Luckily by week’s end I am feeling about 95% better. Despite the illness, I shifted my focus a bit. I focused on eating well and getting well deserved and needed rest. I slept A LOT! So, I was thinking I would see no change coming into today, or worse, probably some gains. I did not.
- Weight 306.4 (Down 1.6 lbs)
- Chest 51 inches (no change)
- Waist 53 inches (no change)
- Hips 47 inches (down 1 inch)
- Thighs 29.5 inches (down .5 inch)
- Biceps 18inches (no change)
- Neck 17 inches (no change)
- Calves 185 inches (no change)
- Body Fat Est 32.77%. (up .11%)
Now there area lot of things you can take from these subtle changes and differnces. The most significant of which is I probably mostly lost water weight. The Body Fat index barely changed at all. However, you have to make that first start and get the ball rolling, and thankfully, the ball is rolling DESPITE my ‘Crisis of Health’. I got through the first two weeks with some positive gains, and while I didn’t hit the 4lbs down goal I should have hit. I made some progress despite being ill.
Now that I’m nearly back to full health, time to start getting back on track with regular work outs! This week’s goal is to kick off my new DDP Yoga Cycle and finish a complete full week. If I can, I’ll squeeze in a session of Kettle Bells as well. Diet wise, there is room to improve, but I can make those adjustments! #PALEO BABY!
In order to stay somewhat mentally focused on the #BlizzconSlimDown, I decided to do little fitness journal entries at least once a week around the middle of the week, just to kind of take stock of the week. As you will notice by the publication date, this is Friday. So, it’s not really mid-week now is it?
So how has the #BlizzconSlimdown been going? I would say POORLY. It’s been about 13 days since I started and I have been sick for 12 of those 13 days. The illness started slowly at first, but it built up over time into a juggernaut of yucky. I do not know exactly WHAT I did to deserve this, but to whatever higher power I have to say this to, to make it go away, “I’m Sorry!”
As a Full Time Wage Earner and Content Creator, I use my spare time very efficiently so that I can produce content and keep a roof over my head. That SPARE time has been completely yanked away so that I can basically sleep. Thankfully, I have slept more in the past 13 days than I have in a while. Unfortunately, it was all in an attempt to recouperate from the grossest of gross.
I have worked out twice in these 13 days. I have eaten OK, but I have definitely back slid into seeking comfort in food that would make the Paleo Disciples last me with wet noodles. In essence, I have done my best, learned some stuff, and still need to somehow recover from this icky grossness. Let’s see if we can make that happen soon. #StatsDay is tomorrow. Probably won’t be good. Live, learn, adjust, adapt.
How do I learn? Well, I need to improve my immune system, if I continue to go to big events or into networking situations. In essence, I got the Con Crud from some nerd at the Heroes of the Dorm finals. Others were also bashed over the head with this dang thing as well. Also, when I start getting sick, I now know I have to stop, get some medication and get to sleep. Sleep is my ultimate recovery tool.
So, that’s it! Room to improve as always. However, I am not giving up on this! Gonna make these adjustments and keep on keeping on!