The Agony and the Ecstasy – 3rd Week of Feb.

The Agony

The weather cooperated last week, so the class moved outside to the football field. Man, that's a different work out than inside the gym! The best part about being on the field is that you can really get a good stride going. In the gym, you are changing directions as soon as you reach top speed so there isn't a lot of sustained sprinting. Since we're on the football field, our warm up sprints really start feeling like the actual workout. The important difference about moving outside is Ryan's ability to get us moving in one direction for longer distances. Thursday's workout instructions basically were, "Run half a mile then climb the bleachers. Rinse and repeat for 40 minutes." Thank goodness Ryan warned everyone to bring an iPod so we were mentally prepared for a distance run.

We did a lot of shuttles and circuit training this week. The 300 yard shuttles Ryan mentioned on Tuesday were a killer. What you do is start at the goal line, run to the 50 yard line and back, then 100 yards to the opposite goal line and back. Friday can mean a lighter workout some weeks, perhaps concentrating on abs or running relays and competitive games. This Friday was definitely a work day though. Ryan had us doing pushups, crunches, burpees and Mary Catherine's – think lunges combined with jumps – sandwiched between 100 yard sprints. After that, we did towel runs with a partner. A towel run is when a partner holds a towel around your waist and provides resistance as you're sprinting 30-40 yards. After the towel runs, we did sprints, lunges and bear crawls around cones spread out about 30 yards between each point. And that was just the first set! Do a couple circuits of those exercises and you'll sleep really well at work.

The Ecstasy

Sounds like a lot of hard work, right? It is, but each and every day I can do a little more, run a little faster, or sprint a little further. My fitness level increases every week so the physical limitations are subsiding and I can really push myself longer. When I started in December, for example, bear crawls were torture and I didn't make any bones about it in a previous post. I struggled to even bear crawl 55 feet across the basketball court once. Now bear crawls are probably one of the exercises I can push myself the hardest in and perform the best at. In a similar vein, I stayed away from mountain climbers and burpees for a while because my hip flexibility wasn't good enough to get my feet into the correct positions, not to mention my gut was probably in the way too. Burpees still give me problems but I can at least do a few no whereas I substituted body squats before.

I feel light years better, but what about tangible results? At the start of the January camp, I weighed in around 365 pounds. Friday morning I weighed myself at 348 after the workout and 350 after I got fluids and breakfast in me. 15 pounds since January started, and I think 10 of those pounds were dropped so far in February. Not too shabby! No doubt the nutrition plan that I followed to the T last week has been a huge boost. Thanks, Bethany! You probably know that I spent last weekend in Boston with Sarah, and she could definitely notice that I was slimming up, gaining muscle, and getting lean. She particularly liked the muscle mass building up in my arms and shoulders.

Want another reason to be ecstatic? It's 70 and sunny, and today is my diet plan agreed day to enjoy some frosty beverages! It's time to go enjoy a patio out in the Highlands somewhere. I'm playing golf tomorrow with some coworkers, so this weekend can't get much better.

Paul was a beast this morning!

Paul - You are doing a great job! Now that you have added the nutrition piece, the lbs will begin to drop faster and safely. Great job thi morning during the 300 yd shuttle runs.  You ran every yard!!  You are a true inspiration to the entire class.  See ya Thursday morning!

Exercise Analysis – Midterm Edition

In accordance with my nutritional goals, I weighed myself this morning and came in at 355 pounds. This is actually better than I expected because of the long weekend in Boston and the awesome Valentines Day dinner on Saturday. I mean, we waited so long the restaurant comp'd us a free appetizer of the best mac 'n cheese you've ever tasted! This leaves me at 11 pounds under my weight at the start of January, and I hope to shave off a few more pounds this week as the beer bloat exits stage left.

I slacked off about posting the results of the January Post-test/February Pre-test. In the chart below, I posted my baseline from the beginning of January, the results of the testing at the start of February, and my goals for the end of February test coming up in just under two weeks.

Exercise	January 3	January 31 (Goal)	% Change	Goal for Feb. 25
Fifty-Fives (55s)	10	11.5 (12)	+15%	13
Regular Pushups	24	35 (30)	+45.83%	40
Assisted Pushups	10	10 (--)	0.0%	10
Regular Dips	18	23 (20)	+27.78%	30
Assisted Dips	6	10 (--)	+66.67%	10
Sit Ups (in 1 minute)	18	17 (30)	-5.55%	20
Planks to failure	55 sec	1:04 (1:15)	+16.36%	1:15

For the uninitiated, Fifty-Fives refer to the width of a basketball court from sideline to sideline (in feet). The test is a cardio replacement for the mile run when it's cold. The number listed is the highest number of sprinted, one-way trips across the court completed in one minute. Across is one, back is two, etc. For a frame of reference, Ryan says a prospective high school basketball player must complete 16 trips under a minute to be eligible for the varsity squad.

I must have eaten my Wheaties on January 30^th! I made substantial improvement in every category except sit-ups, even if I didn't quite make my goals. I am still getting used to how much improvement to expect on a month to month basis, so the targets are more art than science. I think I'm still in the finger painting era.

Anyways, January was a weird month, coming on the heels of the Holidays and then Snowpocolypse barricading us in our homes for a full week. All in all, I feel good about where I'm at and the workouts we've had the last 2 weeks. I suppose we'll find out if my optimism is warranted on the 25^th!

You are what you eat – Part II

Last Wednesday, I met with the SIU Nutritionist and Dietician Bethany. We had a great initial consultation. She started off by taking a general inventory of my vitals, current eating habits, and other things a nutritionist finds interesting or needs to know. It evolved more into a conversation about food, and how I can use it as a means to an end as opposed to guilty pleasure or comfort. I'm an analytical person and micromanager of my money, so her analogy of sticking to a daily budget for calories just like I try to stick to a budget for my wallet hit home.

So what is the game plan? She deduced, by calculations assuredly influenced by complex derivatives and multiple regressions, that I would need 3,500 calories a day to maintain my current body weight. Who wants to exercise and stay the same weight though? The goal for my diet will be to take in around 2,200 calories per day spread over 5 or 6 meals a day.

Next, she walked me through creating two full days worth of meals. Bethany was great creating meals that fit into my schedule and I will enjoy eating, and in some cases I already am. The problem in my head was portion size. Bethany suggested only eating four ounces of meat for lunch and dinner. I'm sure my old habits are probably twice that! The idea is that even though the meals are smaller, I can fight hunger cravings by eating more frequently during the day. She was a big advocate of measuring portion sizes in measuring cups and bowls until I am used to it and I think they will help keep me honest.

Bethany was really understanding that nutritional changes are a difficult lifestyle change to undertake, and that the dieter must be completely sold on the changes or else they're not going to follow the guidelines. There were a few times during our meeting where she frankly asked, "Would you really do this?" which I think was great. It got me actually thinking about the ramifications of each meal we put on the sheet. While a breakfast chock full of eggs each morning sounds delicious, I don't see myself willing to clean the pans every morning so we re-evaluated and went a different direction. The end result is a plan that I really am excited to follow.

Bethany really compromised with me about alcohol use. We decided to cut back, but not cut it out entirely. On a normal weekend, I am out with friends and coworkers drinking beers on Friday and Saturday nights. She offered up a plan of limiting the quantity both nights but I proposed cutting back to one night a week where I can consume as usual. I really do think I would prefer to just cut it out entirely for one night a week so long as I could catch a buzz the night that I do allow myself to drink. I'm sure we'll re-evaluate how this plan works for me down the line.

Still riding on the wings of compromise, Bethany was awesome to not put any pressure on me this weekend. We had talked about my plans to come to Boston to see Sarah for Valentine's Day (aww, he's so romantic!). We decided that I would start my new diet when I get back to town this evening or tomorrow morning. Ryan was worried but I actually don't think I did half bad this weekend! I was able to relax and indulge a little on vacation but I did try to eat clean whenever possible. We did a lot of walking this weekend so I don't even feel that out of shape! I'm sure tomorrow morning's workout will be the judge.

Check out my goals for February 14 – March 14:

1. Reduce calorie intake from alcohol by one-half by limiting alcohol to one vs. two days on the weekend.

2. Weigh portions of cooked meat at dinner during the week and measure out portion for lunch meal next day.

3. Post photos of each dinner to Twitter and/or Step It Up Blog 7 days per week starting Monday, Feb 14. Bethany will be a follower on Twitter.

4. Weekly weights, same time/day each week.

All in all, Bethany set me up with a plan that I can stick to. Now it's just time to get back to town and get started!

You Are What You Eat

Sorry it's taken me two weeks to blog again! Work ramped up and it's been kind of crazy between billable project work and studying for a technical certification in my field.

It's a ridiculous thought, but the 4:45am wake up alarm doesn't seem as crazy any more. It's amazing how things can change in a few months. Sure, some days are worse than others but at the end of the day (start of the morning?) I know that I'm going to make it to Smyrna by 5:30. Ryan may be right to say you get used to the early rising – not that I'll ever particularly enjoy it.

My goals for the next month are focused around my diet because it seems I've gotten the consistent exercise moving in the right direction. The Regular Guys on the radio have a contest called the "Fat Guy 5000" going on right now. For the first week, contestants were not told to exercise at all but ate 6 meals a day of different shakes provided by the contest's nutrition sponsor. All of the guys were around 300 pounds and they lost 15-25 pounds in that week, without exercise, by focusing on their intake. I am not interested in something as extreme as only eating shakes because I don't think that's sustainable, but it did hit home about how important of a role diet plays in weight loss. I've been working out a ton but only have about 10 pounds of weight loss to show for it, and that's because I'm still eating poorly frequently enough that it negates the positive work I do at boot camp. Weekends, I'm looking at you. Last Friday morning, after eating decent but not great all week, I weighed in at 354 pounds. Monday morning, I was up to 358 from all the weekend beer and Super Bowl deliciousness. Because graphs and Microsoft Paint are fun, here's a rough sketch of my weight the last few month or so based on the bathroom scale readings when I hop on it (thanks Mom!)

My thoughts Monday through Thursday tend to wonder about "What if I didn't shoot myself in the foot every Friday and Saturday?" Then Friday afternoon comes around, I'm tired of the work week, and its party time. At least the general trend is downward and 10 pounds is still a good achievement for a month, but there is definitely lost opportunity in that graph.

I'm going to break my rule about making specific, measureable goals for a few days. I'm meeting with the Step It Up Nutritionist/Dietician, Bethany, tomorrow afternoon. Bethany is actually a fellow Boot Camper, so she feels my pain! We spoke briefly last week about what I wanted to get out of our meetings, so I'll repost them here:

• I have the most success eating well when there is structure in place. I've proven time and time again that I do not make sound dietary decisions when I have to make them on the fly. For example, cooking a healthy dinner with enough for leftovers at work the next day keeps me from going to the food court across the street. I think a schedule of meals for the week will do me a lot of good. I want to know that "Breakfast is A, morning snack is B, lunch is C, etc" so that way I'm not tempted to wing it.
  
• I have no idea how to create variety with healthy snacks. I couldn't count how many carrots I've eaten since December since they always seem to be the most accessible snack in my apartment. I'm waffling whether or not this coincides with or contradicts the first bullet, structure in my diet.
  
• Help me create specific goals that I can measure to keep myself in line.
  

I'll update again after we can hammer out a nutritional battle plan that I can follow. It probably won't start in earnest until next week because I'm heading to Boston Friday through Monday to see Sarah. Who worries about their diet on vacation?