I guess it’s time to
start tooting my own horn. Everyone likes to brag a little, and I haven’t been
doing so lately. I don’t know what to call this “health kick” I’m on, and I’m
not about to call it a “journey” or “quest” - that implies a finish line. I guess
it’s a “lifestyle” change more than anything.
I think my starting
weight around graduation was between 165-170lbs or 75-77 kilos. I’m 5’7”/1.5m tall, so I was my
version of "fat”, certainly the fattest I’ve ever been. I attribute this
to less than normal exercise after my shoulder operation and eating crappy
food. I was in college, so boiled pasta with sauce was a normal lunch,
especially when I tried to go vegan to lose weight (a story for another day).
After swim season I was drinking beer everyday (anywhere from a few bottles of
craft to a case of “college” beer) and
continuing to eat crappy food. My spare tire inflated to a full-size up from a
space-saver. That was in May of '13. Today, I'm about 140lbs/63.5kg.
Mostly, since then, I've
just been eating real food. Since September I've been relatively “strict”.
Every now and then I have some ice cream (chocolate brownie with a few spoonfuls
of peanut butter. It’s vital that the peanut butter be from the jar and not in
the ice cream already), and most weeks I have 1 or 2 beers in social settings,
I usually keep it under 3 per week. I also have a finger or two of whiskey
multiple times a week, sometimes as many as 4 or 5 nights. I enjoy it. I go in
and out of eating dairy and nuts. What I find is that when I have nuts, I don’t
have dairy. So it works itself out. I’ve even had black bean chips a few times.
I have heavy cream most days in my coffee, whether or not I’m trying to cut out
dairy, but this morning (like most) I wasn't hungry and I didn't have morning
practice to coach and I don’t work today, so I just had it black. Most
mornings, I wake up, have a cup of coffee with HC and go coach and/or workout
so I'm out of the house 5am-8am. I come
home, make some eggs and head off to work by 9:20. Usually I just eat the eggs
for lunch. And for dinner I always have a ton of veggies. I don’t usually have
a ton veggies in the morning or with lunch. I just don’t enjoy them in the
morning; I much prefer eggs or just a little extra something in my coffee. I
think it is because I tend to have late dinners and very early mornings.
So my eating “schedule”
looks like this. By the way, I’m not someone who like scheduling. I eat when
I’m hungry; this is just how it usually goes.
4a: coffee black or with
heavy cream.
9a: sometimes nothing,
or if I’m hungry I’ll make eggs with avocado and veggies.
2p: sometimes nothing,
sometimes lunch, it just depends on breakfast and workout. Usually I eat either
lunch or breakfast, not always both. So lunch is either eggs/veg or cold
cuts/fruit (lately apples and baby oranges) and side salad with EVOO.
8p: I’ll always eat
something around this time. Veggies and some kind of meat, and if I’m still a
bit hungry or have a long day coming up with a morning workout I’ll have a
fruit or veggies smoothie or heavy cream/berries made in the vitamix -
something with healthy carbs in it.
Here’s what on my
grocery “list” if I made one. Note: I tend to shop multiple times a week in
small quantities. Two reasons: sales and fresh fruit/veg.
- · As healthy meat I can afford. When my paycheck is a little bigger, I always get salmon and cut the fillets in half or thirds and use it over a week. That works well because I naturally have to increase veggie intake.
- · Fruit - what ever is in season
- o Baby oranges
- o Apples
- o Mango
- o
- · Veggies - whatever is in season. Often I buy frozen bags, it’s just easier.
- o Spinach
- o Broccoli
- o Squash
- o Brussel sprouts
- o Anything green, no fruit or veggie is off limits for me!
Not much of a list.
Something green from the ground, something dead and something sweet from a
tree. Avoid the inner aisles except for coffee and it’s easy.
Sure, I could cut out
the alcohol, and the other “no-no’s” and get to my goal faster. That’s
something I do in small spurts (5-10 days at a time just super clean) when my
schedule doesn’t allow me to be social (that’s when the indulgences happen
mostly). But for now I’m happy with what I’m doing. Allowing for the occasional
indulgence makes it easier to be “good” 90% of the time and not beat yourself
up about the 10% that wasn’t.
\\
Reading this, I guess I
should write about what I do as far as exercise. I don’t spend a lot of time
all at once in the gym, my schedule doesn’t allow for it. I coach a swim team
from 5:30-7a and often work at 10a. Doesn’t sound so bad, but the drive to/from
each place can be 15-30 or sometimes 45 minutes. Luckily the Y is on the way
home from the pool, which makes it easier. So I try to get to the Y by 7:15a
after practice and leave by 8. That means in the 40 minutes I have to workout I
hit it hard.
Here’s my standard “don’t
have time to think of something new” workout
Upper body
- · 3 times through
- o 30 second slam
- o 30 second alt arm fast
- o 30 second twist
- o 30 second jump rope
- · Bicep big guns (rep 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 4, 6, 8, 15. Add/subtract weight with rep count)
- · Tricep big guns (same as bicep)
- · Pull ups to fail. I almost never do chin ups. Not interested in them.
- · Abs
- · 30 front
- · 30 side
- · 30 other side
- · 30 front
- · Rest
- · T push ups add rotation - to fail x2
Legs
- · Squat (always deep)
- · Lunge squat
- · Deadlift
- · RDL
- · Good mornings
- · Cleans
I can get through each
workout efficiently and safely in the time I have.
In addition to the
weights, I’ve been doing cold runs and bikes outside. I’m tired of being cooped
up indoors, so I’ll run outside for anywhere from 10-60 minutes. I’m not a runner,
and I don’t really like running, but I love being outside. That trumps the
dangerous icy trail I have near me. If I feel like stopping and climbing a
tree, I do.
I’m not training for
anything specific, and for someone like me who has never had the option it’s an
amazing experience. I’ve been swimming competitively since I was 6 or 7 years
old. That means my daily exercise was
dictated by a practice schedule, right up through college. Right after
college, I pressured myself to do a half-ironman. I hated most of it and even sold
my bike after the race. I realized I wasn’t burnt out physically, but I needed
a break from structured, scheduled training. So I did the better part of
nothing from September until December or January.
In college, our weeks
looked like this (20-22 hours). You can see why I am sick of structure! Keep in
mind that I was taking 13-18 hours of class and had 3 on campus jobs and
freelance clients to take care of as well. Slept not much, 2-6 hours max.
·
Monday/Wednesday/Friday:
o
5-7a
§
60-90
minutes dryland
§
30-60
minutes swim
o
1-3p
§
2-2.5 hour
swim
·
Tuesday/Thursday
o
1-3p
§
2-2.5 hour
swim
·
Saturday
o
6-10a
§
0-120
minutes dryland
§
2-4 hours
swimming
·
Sundays
o
Off or swim
meet. Meet’s could be Friday Saturday or Sunday, or we could have a meet each
day (or one spread over three days).
How was I not lean with
0% body fat? I ate like crap and partied most Saturday’s if I could. Combine that with no sleep...that’s the
only thing I can come up with.
Hopefully this helps, I
know I’m not the best at moving from one idea to the next in writing. I tend to
let it flow consciously and write it down. Something I can work on.
