Archive for the 'Fitness Journal' Category

Food/Diet
If you follow this thread, you will know that I was always the really skinny kid who could never put on weight. I’m not sure if it was that my parents wanted me to grow bigger/stronger, or if it was just that I was raised as my parents were raised with the “clean your plate” mentality when it came to eating. It made sense at the time, and to a degree I really enjoyed it. I could eat HUGE amounts of food for my size and never really put on any muscle or fat weight. My step mother used to ask if I had a wooden leg where I stored all of my food when I would go back for a 3rd helping of dinner. This was fine when I was younger and had a metabolism that was running 100mph, but as I grew a few years older this became a problem. You see, I made it a habit to eat until I was full (stuffed actually) every time I ate. I didn’t eat until I wasn’t hungry, I ate until it was painful to take another bite. My regular meal when I went to McDonalds was 2 Big Mac’s, Super Sized French fry, Super Sized Coke (according to their webpage that’s 2160 calories using large drink and fries since they don’t have super sized anymore). I would eat like that 2-4 times a day and also snack like any good red blooded American kid, and had no problems. My weight was fine, cholesterol was fine, and was in good health. When things started to slow down, this became a huge problem. I had been eating like that ever day for years, and that is a hard habit to break.

When I started to learn about nutrition and what was necessary to burn fat, one of the first things I had to figure out how to do was how to cut calories out of my diet. I realized that I could work out like a madman, but unless I cut my calorie intake way back, the changes in my body would happen slowly over a long period of time. The obvious things that I did to lower my calorie intake: I learned the basics of how many calories were in a given food and where to obtain that information (almost all fast food places have this info published in their places of business as well as online). I tried to eliminate extra liquid calories that didn’t really give me anybenefit(when I was in Grad school, I was taking in close to 1000 calories in soft drinks and beer every day, and that was usually no more than 2 beers a day). I also learned to moderate the extras (junk food?) that I ate in accordance with how I was wanting to change my diet. If I was really trying to lean down (like now) I cut the chips, fries and that type of thing out of my diet all together. If I’m trying to maintain I still eat them, but try to keep tabs and make sure it’s not excessive.

One of the most important things that I learned when I started getting back into shape, was that I could train myself to only eat until I was no longer hungry, and not until I was full. I was surprised to find out that in most cases it did not take that much food to keep me from being hungry. This was a key point, because it meant I could eat just about anywhere I wanted to eat, and still lean down or maintain my weight. Instead of eating a foot long sub, bag of chips and soft drink at lunch, I learned that I could have a 6 inch sub, and large diet Coke and be totally satisfied. I can have the Big Mac, or the Chicken Selects or Whopper with cheese and be fine if I switched to diet drinks or water and didn’t eat the French fries. In doing this I could cut my meal from 1200 or 1300 calories down to 350-600 calories. It would take me 6 miles, and about an hour on the treadmill to burn of the calories that I saved just by eating smaller portions, cutting out the chips and going to diet (or unsweetened tea or water works too).

I don’t think that you have to be a health nut in order to change your diet so that you can lose weight. I don’t’ think you should have to eat grilled chicken at every meal, salad or tofu, avoid all fried foods and fear restaurants and fast food. If you understand what is in all of the food, do a little research to learn what you are eating, come up with a general goal for how many calories you want to take in per day or per meal, you will find that there are lots of foods you can eat and still achieve your goal. Like I’ve said before, I’m a real guy with a real life. I work behind a computer like many of you do and can’t maintain a diet that doesn’t allow me to eat where normal people eat.

I think it’s about time that I detail my plan and what I’m doing to achieve my resolution. It is important to note that the first step (2-3 weeks) of what I am doing is NOT a maintainable diet/exercise routine. I simply don’t have the backbone, time or determination to be this strict for the long term. Remember, I’m a real person and have real life (or so I keep telling myself) I took measurements with a tape measure and did an official weigh in the morning of the 5th. It seems I packed on a few more pounds than I thought I did (weighed in at 182).

Right now I’m trying to burn fat, and burn it fast for the first 2-3 weeks. I’m also trying to do so in a way that I don’t lose any of the muscle mass that I have. Once I lean down, I will change my diet again to help promote muscle growth. My basic strategy right now is low calorie and high protein. The low calories help me create the deficit I need to burn fat, and the high protein will help me keep from losing muscle mass. My goal is no more than 1200 calories a day, with at least 120 grams of protein. I am supplementing with protein shakes (give me about 50 grams of protein per drink, and 350 or so calories), and trying to keep each meal to 350-500 calories with at least 25 grams of protein per meal. That may sound complicated but it’s really not. In general I eat just the main portion of a fast food meal (like the burger, or sandwich) no sides and no soft drinks. Make sure and cut out all extra calories like snacks, soft drinks, beer (thank god for liquor!). I eat fast food almost every day, and soon I’ll write another post on how you can eat like a normal person (fast food and such) and not gain weight. For lunch today I will probably have a burger from McDonalds, diet drink and no fries McDonalds Nutritional info . Or I may go to Subway and get a 6 inch sub, water or diet drink no chips.
Subway nutritional info. We’ll see.

So I don’t eat much, and have to pay attention to everything I eat to make sure the calorie/protein balance is where I need it to be. I’m not counting carbs, but checked last night and was actually in Ketosis without even trying. This might be an added bonus if you believe in the Atkins philosophy. This is not a diet that I can maintain long term. It’s too much work, but very effective for short term results.

Exercise: I’m trying to work out at some level every day, and go to the gym at least 6 days a week. Again, this is short term and not something I can maintain. My workouts are cardio intensive, but also have a lot of heavy lifting. I’m starting off with at least a mile on the treadmill, then going to the weight room and doing a heavy set of 1 or 2 muscle groups. Heavy meaning I try to lift so that I can only do 6-8 reps at a time, for 3-4 sets. After I finish my time in the weight room, I go back for more cardio on the elliptical (20-30 mins). I have a bench and dumbbells at home, and I try to do a few workouts at home every night also(curls, tricep press, shoulder press etc.). I’m also doing push ups and sit ups every day. Man I hate sit ups.

The early numbers are looking good. I’m down about 4lbs and my strength is holding strong. Four lbs. is good considering I started creatine again and that usually adds a pound or two of water weight for me. The only measurement I checked was my gut, and it’s down an inch already. Not bad for 4 days! I’m happy so far. I’ve never done this combo of trying to lose fat and also maintain/gain muscle weight. Just losing fat is a lot more easy!! Same low calories, dont’ worry about protein. Do more cardio and don’t worry so much about the weights.

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