Rest day rambling

I'm in need of finding a bunch of primal eating/paleo recipes. I really want to greatly reduce the amount of grains that I'm eating, and I'm having a tough time figuring out how to assemble complete meals without them. The damned things are such an insidious part of our diets it's ridiculous. I'm confident that I'll be able to easily shave 15 pounds of fat off my body in no time if I stop eating that crap. It looks like I have some homework to do, huh? Fuck yes. I need to give myself an ass spanking and get my nutrition righted. Enough is enough!

Rest day today. I've hit my workouts hard this week. My calve is a bite sore, but in the DOMS way, not the pulled muscle way. That's fine. I'll do the walk home again tonight like I did last week. I think the second day off each week will do me good.

I've been happy with the way my strength is progressing for the most part. That being said, I am bit impatient. Until I hit certain strength levels, I don't want to revert to Crossfit only workouts. I want to do both, but that just isn't realistic....so I'll keep on going with the strength workouts and the metcon as I'm doing it until I've reached my strength goals.

It's time for action, dontcha think?

My weight this morning was 220 lbs. My last weigh in was 216.8. From that it seems like I'm going backwards. I do think that my 216.8 was not my peak weight, and I can visually see that the love handles appear to be a bit smaller than they were, so I'm not that upset about it.

All that being said, it it past time for me to get my food house in order. I need to plan my meals and start cooking and bringing food with me. Take out and ordering in is screwing me up on so many levels. Hopefully the scale today will be my wake up call.

Kick me in the ass...please

I've had nearly five months of fits and starts and various ailments that helped to derail my progress. I've worked out when I can, and have been doing reasonably well with that. My eating, on the other hand, has gone to shit. It is showing up both around my waist and on the scale. I know I'm the one that has to motivate myself, but please don't hesitate to kick my backside a time or two if you notice me slipping up.

The time for action is now.

I never thought I was

but I guess I am....at least a little.

I guess I have the smallest bit of being an emotional eater in me.

I was pissed a bit the other night. I picked. A small bag of Sun Chips. A small bag of cookies. A small bag of Doritos. Some other stuff I guess.

I've been eating like shit for far too long now. It's showing up on my body. I'm getting sick. I hadn't gotten sick at all when I was eating right.

I need to do more than just get pissed about it.

I need to address the issues...and I need to get my shit together with eating. It will be good for me and good for my kids.

3

2

1

Go......

I need to do some reading

In my attempt to combine IF with a more Paleo friendly diet, I need to do some research. I don't intend to go to a 100% Paleo diet at all. For one thing, I'm not sure I want to eliminate all dairy products from my diet. Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are staples of my diet, and I'd be hard pressed to replace them with something else. Although I will take most of my carbs from fruit and veggies, I will still eat some complex carbs. I'm not going to shy away from some pasta or brown rice or a baked potatoe or a bowl of oatmeal. What I will do is eat much less of these than I've eaten in the past. I really think people underestimate just how how much of this stuff they're really eating at a sitting.

I need to do a bit of homework in terms of fruits and veggies. If I try to maintain Zone like balances in terms of protein/carb/fat intake, I need to have a better understanding of how much of each I need to eat. I'd also like to try a bunch of different veggies too. I find that I limit myself to always eating the same 3 or 4 things, which gets pretty boring.

I've got some work to do.

Sprinting day

Today I decided to do some running. I alternated a moderate jog with a fast one, one minute intervals each for 16 minutes. Then I finished up with a set of Tabata Sprints. I did some TGU sets yesterday on rest day. I know it was rest day, but I really like how the TGUs work the entire body. I needed to get my blood moving.

I indulged in a few extra carbs yesterday, which is probably what I will always do on a Saturday. That's part of my plan; a bit of a BFL holdover and an understanding that I do have to get along in the real world.

I should note that I really don't think I'm carb starving myself. I'm just getting the majority of them from fruits and vegetables, and eating the amount I SHOULD eat, rather than the excessive amounts I was eating. It makes you realize how crazy the diet of the average person really is, and how it is pushed on us at every turn.

One interesting observation is that I am really feeling lean and...I don't know...primal? Feral? I won't say that I'm constantly hungry, because I'm not. But I do feel much more alive for lack of a better way of explaining things. Interesting.

I feel lean and mean

I've been limiting carbs for two days now, and I feel lean. Okay, I know it's a bit silly to think I'm going to have immediate results, but it is how I feel. At least initially, I won't be eliminating all grains/carbs enitrely. I do need to live in teh real world, you know. I'm not going to say I'll never have a bowl of macaroni or oatmeal or rice or a baked potato or an ice cream cone. That just isn't realistic. What I will do is limit these things dramatically. I will rely on most of my carbs coming from fruits and vegetables. I'm sure it will take a bit of adjusting too but I'll get there.

I've been weight training on and off for over twenty some years. I've come close to having the physique I'd like, but have never really gotten over that last five or ten percent of stubborn belly or love handle fat. Some would say that I'm bordering on exceptional fitness for a man of fifty, and that I'm nuts. As I've written before, I will not accept that kind of excuse from myself. Age is NOT a limiting factor as far as I'm concerned. Many people blame age for destroying their bodies, when age has nothing to do with it. Anyway, having gotten serious again about three years ago with the BFL program and now morphing into a modified CF routine, I still seem to be unable to get over the top with this. I know part of it is that I have the occasional food breakdown on weekends or on vacations. But I think the real culprit is excessive carb intake...and carb intake of the wrong kinds.

Don't get me wrong. The biggest reason for what I do is health based, not image based. I have made significant improvements in my health, and I plan to continue to do so. I also want to be able to maintain a high level of perfomance. Of course, there is a strong correlation between these things...and improving in one area often helps improvement in another.

Here's one more bit of reading about the Paleo diet. I encourage you to read it. You'll actually think twice before sticking another hunk of bread in your mouth.

I'll be strength training today...and I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow will be fast day again.

Interesting article

Interview with Art Devany

I'll be doubling up tomorrow

I missed my workout today due to something much more important that I was tending to....and I'm not sorry.

The more I read about IF and The Primal Blueprint, the more it makes sense to me, and the more interesting it gets. I'm going to remove all but a very small portion of grains/starches from my diet. I'll get my carbs mostly from fruits and vegetables. I know I'm doing something a bit dumb here. I should IF or eliminate these nasty carbs one at a time, so I can figure out what effect each of them has. By doing them both at the same time, I won't know whether it's one or the other, or the combination only that works. Oh well. I'm doing it anyway. I've been known to do a stupid thing or two on occasion.

Munch munch chew chew

That was an interesting experiment. I had a reasonable dinner last night, and a good breakfast this morning. For the most part, I had a fairly easy time of going an entire day without eating. I actually feel more alert than usual today. Maybe it's just my imagination.

In response to Wigan, this kind of fasting is quite different that what those anorexic girls might do. If you read about the primal blueprint, you get an idea of what it's all about. Theoretically, throughout history, our bodies have gone through periods of fasting due to lack of food. By fasting on occasion, we are behaving as our bodies evolved. We teach our bodies to better draw upon fat reserves for energy. It's an interesting concept. I think I'm going to try it for a while and see what happens. I certainly won't starve to death if I don't eat for one or two days each week. If I find my performance begins to falter badly, I'll know it doesn't work for me. If I get more lean and muscular and maintain or increase my performance, I'll know I'm onto something.

Anyway, I'll be working my legs today. Another light day.

I'm getting a bit frustrated over the past couple of days. My shoulder is feeling great. I'll have to be careful to bring it back slowly. However, that forearm tenderness/tendinitis is still there. I'm staying away from pullups entirely for now...and that is irritating the hell out of me. How long do I have to rest, dammit? On one hand, i tell myself to push through. On the other hand, going through the rest of my life with pain in my forearms every time I do a curling movement is a bit unacceptable, no? Grrrrrrr.

Yet another Tuesday post

Right now, this IF thing is a piece of cake. After getting over a brief rough spot this morning, I'm finding this relatively easy. I've done this a few times before in the past...just because....but it was never a planned thing and I didn't really even think about the concept of what I was doing or why.

There's a Seinfeld episode where Kramer is driving Jerry's car, and he wants to see how far he can go without putting gas in the car. I'm feeling like that right now. Can I push it another 24 hours? Okay...I'm not talking hunger strike or anything, and I don't want to have my body start eating into hard won muscle tissue, but I am curious. It will be interesting to see what I feel like this evening. I'm reasonably sure I will eat tonight, but maybe sometime in the future, I'll push the limits a bit more.

I'll be doubling up my workout today

I'll combine some light weight training with some running. I'm still pissed that I missed yesterday's workout. I feel like I'm rapidly shrinking with these light workouts. I know I need to let my body recover, but it is frustrating as all hell.

This is part of a paragraph listed on this blog:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

Simple, really. I eat too much. Most of the time, I eat the right foods. But I eat too much. It's time to focus.

I'm going to start experimenting with intermittent fasting. I think once or twice per week, I'll go a twenty four hour period without eating. Yes, I'll drink water, but nothing else. I've been reading a lot about it as part of the primal blueprint. I think I'd like to give it a try. Today is the first day I'm doing it. Forgive me if I'm a grouchy bastard later on.

Pop quiz

As I was doing a light leg workout today, I started wondering. Is it better to do a light workout for a couple of weeks, or is it better to do nothing at all? Okay....still be active, but nothing with weights or intense running? What do you think?

I did four sets of squats, three sets of deadlifts, and three sets of step ups onto a bench followed by walking lunges.

I need to plan my nutrition better. I'm not talking about vacation damage. I'm talking about everyday nutrition. I think I'm eating too much, and carrying unnecessary weight. I need to tinker a bit and get it right. Hmmm. Seems I've written these words before.

This seems to be a week for action. Action is past due. With interest. There are many action words, but only one that really matters.

One step up and two steps back

Having been away for a few days, there was a danger that I was going to be missing workouts. Fortunately, I got them all in and worked them pretty good too. I was back in the gym today, and had a very strong UBWO, even though I was lacking in motivation today.

I made some progress getting through Starting Strength. It is a technical read, so it does take some time. I want to finish the instruction postion of the book before moving on to programming. Once I start, I'll be (hopefully) moving weight up rapidly, and I want my form to be impeccable.

Once again, my eating was all over the map. I seemed to start evey day not eating anything for hours, then having a decent meal, and then the roof caved in. I ended each day looking at the effects of the past month and a half around my waist, and then start the same thing the next day. I'm really sick of it.

I have allowed situation and poor planning to derail me, and I've been making excuses for myself. It needs to stop. Now.

I was tired today

It took a lot of effort to head to the gym for squats and deadlifts. I did it and I'm glad, but I am looking forward to a week "off" in a couple of weeks. I'll be on vacation and I'll be active, but I won't do any lifting. I think these old bones need a little break.

I've been eating on the fringes lately. I've been cooking less and eating more food from the outside. Even though I'm making healthy choices, I realize my nutrition is not nearly as good when I do this. No wonder I'm feeling tired and a bit sluggish lately. I know I was sick for a week, but it's more than that. Nutrition really is a big part of the game.

Catching up

I ran over the weekend for the first time in a week and a half, and it felt like it. I had a very tough time, but I pushed through my HIIT run and was glad that I did.

Today, I did an UBWO. I added the CF WOD to my shoulder workout. Well, I kinda did. The WOD was:

Thruster 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Instead, my mind read that as push presses. Not the worst thing in the world. I did end up having a really good UBWO today. I was feeling lazy before I went, and I feel great now. I knew it was going to be one of those kinds of days.

My nutrition was horrible over the weekend, featuring too much of the wrong foods, and too little of the right ones. I need to focus a bit more on my eating.

Exactly HOW big is your hand?

I've probably added about 7-8 pounds of fat since I was at my leanest. Part of me hasn't been overly concerned, because I am trying to add muscle mass and I want to make sure I don't shortchange myself on nutrition. But part of me does care, because I can see fat that wasn't there nine months ago....and that's how it starts. When I reflect on what the issue is, I really think it comes down to portion sizes. I've not been as careful as I should be, and that starts adding up after a while. I'm giving myself another month, and then I'm going to get very strict. I'd like to be leaned out by the end of July.

I've given some thought to entering and official challenge, but I don't thing I will. BFL is first and foremost a bodybuilding competition. I'm more concerned about health and performance than pure asthetics. Even so, I'm pretty convinced I could win in my category...except that I just will not shave my body and do that whole oiling up thing. I have no desire. Show me one male BFL champion that didn't. The judges would toss me out because of it, no matter how amazing my progress. It's marketing, folks. And a somewhat hairy guy just isn't going to look right in their marketing materials. That could be a mistake on their part. The message of the ordinary guy succeeding and all that. But I just don't see it happening. I'll win in my own book, which is the one I really care about anyway.

I was all set

to write that I was dissatisfied with my workout today. I struggled a bit with the weights on my bench. It goes to show that eating right really does provide the fuel your body needs. Free day yesterday, feeling a bit weak today. No surprise.

Anyway, I did some extra work since it was high rep day, and I earned my stripes. I'm wiped, and can put a checkmark next to kicked ass in today's workout. I feel good.

BFL is in the Zone...kinda...

The Crossfit program suggests either the Zone eating plan or the paleo eating plan, also known as the cave man plan (I will NOT use the word diet here). There are a lot of similarities between the BFL plan and the Zone plan. In fact, the palm of your hand measurement is suggested by both plans. One difference is that the Zone plan recommends a bit more fat, and encourages fruit and vegetables as the desired form of carbs. The plan allows you to double the carb portion size if you're eating veggies instead of rice/potatoes/whole grains. The use of nuts are also recommended by the Zone. Honestly, it's what I've intuitively done under BFL anyway. The Zone suggests you eat very little in the way of pastas and rices and whatnot. I think one of the reasons for that is that it's very easy to overconsume these foods. Unless you're measuring everything, you're probably eating more carbs than you should. Anyway, it's interesting to note how similar the plans are in many ways. I'm guessing that based upon your body type and genetics, most people's optimum nutrition needs probably fall into a range between these two programs. Play around a bit and find out what works best for you.

Diet is a curse word

Diet. Such a simple, innocent word. Diet. I hate the word. The most basic meaning of the word is:

the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit.

Of course, that is the least used definition. The word diet is most often associated with the words “going on a”. It is a means to an end, most often associated with losing weight. Losing weight. There’s another loaded term. If I want to lose weight fast, I can chop off a leg. Is that what I really want to do? That’s a topic for a later date.

I read something recently about a study that indicated that most people who go on a diet end up gaining the weight back after they stop dieting. The study suggests it is mainly because people underestimate portion sizes. While I understand that logic, I think it’s a lot of bunk.

People gain weight back because they go off of their “diets”. If anyone really wants to maintain fat loss, they must make a permanent change in what they eat, how much they eat, how often they eat, and their level of physical activity.

The reason I hate the word diet so much is that it connotes, by it’s most common usage, a temporary change. Is it any wonder people gain weight back again? Do we really need a scientific study about that? I think not.