Archive for diet
These Almonds are Nasty
Posted by: | CommentsYes, these almonds ARE nasty… there is no salt, they haven’t been cooked, or infused with flavors, or have any flakey taste that comes off your fingers when you eat them. But this means that they are “healthy”.
I am back at it, working out, eating right, trying to blog. I am going to try to just be better this year, and not get off point, even if I get injured again this year (fingers crossed that I don’t) but “a new year, a new you” is what I strive for. Now that I write that line, I think of what it actually means, and how it is not a new me, it is the same me, just Version 2.0! If my friend reads this, it is more than likely that it is closer to Version 11.8 or something of the like.
Crossfit
Last year, late in the year (November) I started what is called Crossfit. This, for those of you that don’t know what it is, is a high intensity short workout that focuses on the strength of the core and the overall fitness of the human. This is fun. This is hard. This is helping me get back into shape for Triathlon. It’s funny that in the prior years I barely made time for a single workout, but now am trying to get 2 or 3 in a day. 5:30 am, Crossfit, then at night, some endurance training to keep up my anaerobic threshold, and in a few weeks starts the swimming at lunch again. The Crossfit Workouts of the Day (or WOD’s) include, but not limited to, kettle bell swings, Push Ups, Double Unders, Box Jumps, Front Squats, Back Squats, situps, sprints, chin ups, Turkish Get ups, and my favorite… burpees. (plus many more).
I have noticed since I have only been doing it for about 1.5 months now, that I can tell the strength of my core has increased dramatically. One of the things in Triathlon that I never know how to “do” was to stay down in the Aero Position for long bouts of time, and recently read somewhere about the “core” and helping your lower back and stomach muscles. Well, just in this short time, I have been on the bike 3 times and each time I have been able to stay down in the Aero Position for longer each time, and longer than I ever have before.
Weight Watchers for Men
This is where those damn almonds come in. I like Chinese Buffet, I like burgers, I like fries, and I really like anything that has cheese. I knew that just adding an intense workout would help me get to my goal of losing weight, but also need to really focus on Nutrition. I am trying to buy into this whole Primal Diet thing, and it has been pretty good so far, I get to eat eggs and meat and beef jerky and protein, I like Protein!
But when my endurance training builds up to higher miles or time on the bike, I already crave carbs, I might have to work some of those in to keep up my intensity. That is for a later post though.
UPDATE:
I am back under 250, 215 here I come!
Crossfit and Diet
Posted by: | CommentsCrossfit is pretty awesome!
I want to give a quick shout out to the guy that put me in this position and harassed me into actually doing it, Rylan. I am still the FatTriGuy, but still on the Tri hiatus…
I am putting together my schedule for next year and incorporating quite a bit of the Crossfit with my endurance training to see how that works out, and my hypothesis is that it is going to go swimmingly! My only concern is the fact that I have not actually been riding the bike/swimming/running much this year, and even though my bike is setup, making the time to actually do it! With the time that I go to Crossfit so early in the morning, that is easily the best time for me to work out, but want to continue to do the early morning workouts at Crossfit Dallas Central, and be able to get some endurance right afterwards or that night. I am starting to think that I will only be able to bike in the evening and run in the mornings and swim at lunch.
Either this whole plan is going to be the best thing to happen to me, or one of the worst.
One of my favorite sayings to my kids is that “Patience is a Virtue”, however I must not be a virtuous person, as I have no patience. What hurt me last year was trying to build up my mileage quickly and ended up injuring my heel. I have worked 2011 into trying to be a more front footed striker but with limited running at it. Walking on my toes a lot more and low, low mileage with the forefoot striking. My heel still hurts on the norm, but I don’t know how my form or how the heel will hold up when going over 1 mile. Time will tell, and I will need to learn patience.
My diet is something that concerns me as I am trying to focus to more of a Paleo Diet and eating a lot more protein and less complex carbs, but my body is most definitely craving those. I still can’t say no to fries, to sea salt bread, pasta, and others. For this I need willpower, and something that I will focus on throughout the year.
Willpower, Patience, Endurance, Focus, Strength. One word goals for 2012
Wake Up Call
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday I had a wake up call… not like the kind that I enjoy, where they say “Mr. FatTriGuy, this is your wake up call, your car will be here in 45 minutes, enjoy your day”. I think I had a dream about that once, anyway, back to the real one.
520. What does that number mean to you, credit score (I hope not), yards of your swim, time that you get off work, what?
For me, it means my cholesterol score. Yeah, I am pretty sure I just heard a gasp. 5 hundred and 20. I am literally close to a heart attack or a stroke. No longer can I live off the fact that I “used to be” a triathlete, and I “was” in shape, I “did” a Half Ironman. I am now back to the FatGuy, instead of FatTriGuy.
Things have to change, I need to do the changes to my diet and exercise not for me, but for my family. I want to see my kids graduate from elementary for goodness sake!
I woke up this morning and went on a short run. I got in 1.5 miles before I was about ready to come in and get ready for work. With that, I was focusing on my stride and my footstrike, so it wasn’t necessarily “short”, but it was. Then at lunch today, I went and did a short swim, 500 meters. Grabbed Subway on my way back to the office, and staying the F away from as many carbs/sugars as possible (well, and red meat).
520, the number that I have to decrease, my life depends on it. Good news about it is that it will also motivate me to eat right and exercise more, which I wanted to do anyway. Hopefully you will see more of me again! I’ve missed you people, all 2 of you that read! :-)
Tennis and Diet
Posted by: | CommentsAnyway, no excuses, no “maybe tomorrow”, no ouchie…
Yesterday I went out and played tennis in the 106 degree heat of Texas. Sweat bucketloads and most definitely did not have the hydration that I needed, and was not “tennis fit”. I use those words because Tennis is more of a quick sport that doesn’t require the same slow twitch muscles that Triathlons require, they are fast twitch muscles that help you explode into the ball and dominate your opponent! Being as that I was a tennis player for the better part of my life, including “extremely competitive” in my younger days, it was great to get out there and get back to what my body used to know, what it has been acclimated to do since I was 4 years old.
I am not fully out of Triathlon, but while I am trying to change my run form for the next few months (everything says that I need to do at most 1 mile every other day for a few weeks, and then build up by small increments), I will be doing the tennis thing! It will be great to get out there, get my butt off the couch, have a scheduled time that I go and play (league) and it will also fuel my competitiveness as well!
On the diet thing, I am just about done reading “Born to Run” (GREAT BOOK), and in it, it talks a lot about Chia Seeds and some other organic raw foods to help with fitness and diet. I also downloaded the Rich Roll Organic Vegan Cookbook, although not going Vegan, but excited to try out a bunch of the recipes!
It’s been a lazy (hot) summer, but time for me to sweat, get out there, do it, keep it up if you have been doing it!!!
Thanks for reading!
Been a While
Posted by: | CommentsYes, I am lazy… that is the point of this darn website! I am “wanting” to change that!
First, the bad news, that heel issue that has been bugging me for a while, which has been one of the main reasons of my decline in activity (working out)… well, it was/is a heel stress fracture. This caused me to miss the Big D Half Marathon, the Rock’n'Roll Half Marathon, and my first Tri of the season (CAPTEXTRI). Disappointed, yes, of course I am, but not so much that it has got me down! I just needed rest and some relaxation, which is always nice!
Now the first excuse, work, it has been busy (always good), but keeping me from also working out.
Good News, in terms of weight loss and diet; I have stayed very constant over the past few weeks with minimal working out and some REALLY bad diet decisions! So that is good for when I do get back into hard working out and running! Texas Longhorn 70.3 here I come!
More excuses: moving, selling house, did I say work, golf, birthday parties, kids, etc… la la la la la!
I’ll see you all really soon, thanks so much for the awesome inspiration everyone, and keep on keeping on!