Category Archives: Lean2014

Still not much progress. Last week was a waste – I came down with a cold which lasted all week, resulting in no gym time.

Diet has been OK, but still not tracking daily. What seems to happen is that I start off the day tracking everything, and then by the time I make it home, I eat whatever and don’t go through the effort to enter it on MFP. That needs to stop.

I’ve also noticed that I need a snack at 3:00 every day. Since I don’t have something healthy close at hand, I grab M&Ms from the company’s stash. I need to have something better available.

I also had a few drinks during the week, which is not part of the plan.

What I’ll do (differently) this week:

• I plan to make it to spin class tomorrow AM to kick the week off on the right note, and will work out every day during the week
• Track everything in MFP
• No alcohol during the week

I’m going nowhere fast. After a month of trying to be good, I’m up 0.2 lbs as of this AM.

Here’s the good and the bad:

GOOD

• Gym – I’ve stepped up the exercise in the past week or two. I’m lifting 3x/week, and the boys have been going with me (which helps motivate me to go after a long day at work). I have also started doing spin class 2-3x/week, which kicks my ass.

• Lunches – mostly lean chicken breast which I bring in from home, along with avocado or green veggies. If I do buy lunch, it’s high protein/fat and low carb.

BAD

• Not tracking diet – it has been 9 days since I last updated MFP, and I know I’ve been going over my limits. I just don’t know by how much. Tracking calories and macros makes you much more aware of how much you’re eating/drinking, as well as the contents of the food.

• Alcohol – the plan was to not drink M-Th, and I haven’t been sticking to the plan. It may only be a drink or two (or three), but my body processes the alcohol before the fat, which is not good.

• Snacking – I’ve been snacking too often, and even worse, I’ve been reaching for the carbs. M&Ms at work, popcorn at home. Not the end of the world, but it’s not helping.

• Dinners – my wife is a great cook, and I’ve been eating what she makes for dinner. Problem is it’s not always what I should be eating. This goes along with tracking – I need to ensure that I’m eating the “correct” number of calories, and that it fits my macros.

Time to correct!

Overall, my first week went well. High points include:

• Weight descended from 183.8 down to 181.8 M-Th
• Abstained from alcohol on all weekdays except one, and limited alcohol to one glass of red wine
• Managed to lift twice, and learned that the gym at the racquet club that I belong to is mostly empty after 7:30 PM.  Makes January at the gym easier to deal with
• On a side note, I also talked my 15 year old son to lift with me, and now my 13 year old also wants to go

Low points:

• Still haven’t figured out how/when to incorporate stretching and body weight exercises into daily routine
• Sunday turned into a mess. I ran 2 miles in the afternoon, fasted until 5:00 PM, but then binged on alcohol and carbs later that night while watching TV
• Weight at week end was back up to 183.2, for a net loss of 0.6 lbs. Definitely not the 1.5 lbs I was shooting for

Lessons learned:

• Must track diet every day for entirety of plan
• Weekends cannot be a free for all. Must stick to plan as much as possible
• Fasting for too long in the day can often backfire, resulting in binging
• Need to solve the riddle of when to do stretching and bodyweight exercises
• Need to get into ketosis and stay there

I had planned to start on January 2nd, but life got in the way. Our dog, Bart, passed away and stress levels in the house made it impossible to focus on exercise and diet. I decided to hold off until Monday January 6 to start.

The day began at the gym, where I did C25K w5d1 (decided to skip weeks 1-4). It went…OK. I did 2 miles in 27 minutes. Not as bad as I had thought, but I still couldn’t sustain running for more than 4-5 minutes. When I run again on Wed, I may take a step make to week 4, or push through on week 5 (probably the latter). The running was followed by plenty of stretching.

I’m currently at 183.8 lbs, and roughly 18% body fat. The plan is to lose 1.5 lbs per week, which is definitely doable. Today I also start abstaining from alcohol during the week, and will keep it to weekends (Fri-Sun) only.

Back in April of 2012, after months of working out and eating well, I made it down to 159 lbs and <10% body fat. I kept my weight down in the mid-160s for the next 12 months. During the summer of 2013, a work project consumed most of my free time, and over indulgence in snacks and alcohol contributed to my weight climbing back up to 185 lbs. This work project is approaching completion, and now that I'm having a difficult time fitting into many of my clothes, I've decided to get back into shape. As is traditional, I'll start on January 1. My goals and rules are as follows:

• Drop to 165 lbs by May 2014.
• Long runs up to 10k.
• No alcohol on week days (Mo-Th).
• Reflect back on week on Fri. Plan next week.
• Run 2-3x per week.
• Lift 2-3x per week.
• Morning stretches and body weight exercises.
• Pics every 5 lbs.
• Track every day. Can be forgiven if miss weekends.
• Weigh in every Sunday.

I am also signed up for the Cohasset Tri in June 2014, so I need to ensure that I’m in excellent shape for that event.

It’s almost time to begin, and I can’t wait to get into the groove. I would start right now, but tomorrow we’re heading up to Loon Mountain in NH for a ski trip, and won’t be back until the evening of January 1st. I’ll do my best to take it easy until then, and will obviously be getting plenty of exercise while skiing. I know I’ll be drinking plenty of alcohol while there, and it’s hard to eat well at a ski resort, so the weight loss won’t start until I return.

I’ll be posting updates here as I progress.