Lentil Spaghetti

When I started my "physical transformation" I started two blogs. The first was called The Fleet Vegan. On it I was looking to develop alternative recipes to common favorites that could be made quickly and easily for busy people. I got rid of the blog because everyone started associating me only with vegan food (and I'm not a vegan). Plus, I wanted to be inclusive of other things besides just recipes. I was changing my exercise life and my way of thinking (I've become Mr. Life Affirming since those out of prime shape days). The Fleet Vegan format just was complementary to work out posting. It was too food concentrated.

When I started the blog, I made a few silly little cooking demonstration videos. This guy is one of them:

Week 12?

I've been so busy that I've missed some posts. I had the new issue of Luchaskate (my magazine) to put out (plus the website to work on). I had an article to write for an upcoming issue of Memphis Health and Fitness. I had a two day volunteer project going on. I have the best kid in the world to spend time with...

...things got busy for a minute and I missed posting the last picture. So, without further ado, here is the 12 weeks of exercise/low sugar dieting picture:

The physical changes have slowed down, but I continue to notice some slight changes. I've not done well on my diet, however, and I really need to readjust how I'm eating. Sugar, I'm staying away from, but that doesn't mean that I'm eating my healthiest. I've been giving in to a lot of un-heart healthy foods lately and this blog isn't about how much of my abs I'll see. It is about being my fittest when I turn 40 in a few months. I'm looking to add some vegan meals back into my diet to start consuming more beans and fresh veggies.

I'm also looking forward to posting some more soul fitness blogs in the near future, and I've been thinking about men and body image lately. I may pursue that line of thought more in the future.

Sugar, Protein, Pictures, and Circuits

I've been thinking a lot about my diet and the effects of different foods on my body. After all, I am now one week away from "picture day." In one week I have to post a picture of my shirtless body (gotta keep my word). I need to make as many smart (i.e. fat-burning) decisions as possible. Not that I haven't seen some great changes over the first few weeks. I feel like I'm much more toned, and I can see improvements in my belly.  Still, I want it all and I want it now.  Yeah, that is impossible, but I don't want to sabotage getting the maximum results by eating the wrong foods.

I've been eating a lot of fruit and flavored yogurt. Fruit? Sugar. Yogurt? Sugar. One thing I've not eaten is meat. If I'm trying to cut down on carbohydrates, I should cut them out even further. I've stopped eating most breads and almost all refined sugars. So, if I cut out a large chunk of the sugars in the yogurt and limit the fruit (no, I'm not giving up something as healthy as fruit) I should be able to cut down further some of the calories.  In their place, I'm going to add some low fat meats. I went with chicken and turkey sausages. They're easy to cook, portion controlled, and darn tasty while still being super low in fat and carbohydrates. Perfect.

Chicken sausage with fresh, vine ripe tomato, kale and some herbs.

Since my rough day, things have picked up. I'm still running for distance (I haven't switched to sprints yet), but I've started hitting my body in different ways in my workouts. I've found that I really like to work out in a circuit. My first leg workout went well in a circuit routine (Wednesday is now leg day). I've changed my weights workout to be a weight/body-weight resistance circuit. I like to keep moving quickly from exercise to exercise, it makes me feel like I'm maximizing my workout time with efficiency. Plus, the addition of new body-weight work moves my muscles in a little different way. I'm also thinking about adding some isometrics and some plyometrics after week four (I'll write about those when I start them). I've read about using new and different workouts to keep stressing your muscles in new ways every so often.

So, in one week from today we'll see the results of the first month!

Sifting and Drama

I've been doing some research on physical fitness. Well, I started out doing some research. I ended up sifting through all the differing opinions people have about what is right or wrong in diet and physical fitness. I read  vegans who said that we eat too much protein to bodybuilders saying we don't eat enough. I read something about aerobics causing cancer. I read about how eating too much fruit is bad for you.  I read so much that I gave up reading.  It seems everyone has a million different reasons why they're right, and it was all just too much for me.

One thing that made sense: Taste the rainbow! We're talking whole food fruits and vegetables (not candy). Red peppers, pink grapefruit, purple grapes, green asparagus...basically, eat a variety of fruit and veg. Well, that makes sense.

Another thing that made sense: Figure out what you want to look like and see what people that look like that do. Well, that makes perfect sense, and it totally makes me rethink running. I don't want to look like a runner, really. Well, at least HOW I run. I'm thinking about sprints. Look at a distance runner. Look at a sprinter. I'd rather have a sprinter's body than a distance runner. Hmmm....maybe sprints tomorrow morning? Perhaps a bit of both? I'm prone to hamstring problems so sprinting might be against me.

I'm hoping I get up early tomorrow. I'd like to begin doing all my training in the early a.m. starting tomorrow.

Oh, drama. After the inspirational night at the theater Friday, I went into total theater mode. I listened to a recording of a play, watched the film adaptation of two plays, and finally watched the blockbuster film version of Les Mis. I feel like I need to continue my long forgotten theater education over the next months. Perhaps this is one of the key aspects of my mental/spiritual fitness (becoming one with too much forgotten part of myself)?

Taking Shape

The schedule, that is. In my first full week of exercise I ran three times, skated every damn chance I could (including a great session yesterday afternoon), did weights/bodyweight work three times, and did yoga once. Not too bad for a first week, I think. I would like to try and start getting up earlier and getting my workouts in before work, but I've never been a morning person. Who knows, we'll see. It didn't happen today. I'm looking at the rain fall down right now, and thinking about running.

This morning I had a great chat with an old friend, Kevin, about this project. I told him some of the goals, and we talked about other options. We discussed trying a month of Crossfit, but, as I said in my last post, I don't want to join anything. I want to come up with the workout/exercise plan that works for me. The best exercise is the exercise we enjoy. I can't tell you what YOU should do for exercise. I can share what might work for me. I know most people won't start skateboarding for fitness. Maybe they'll bike instead. Exercise is a personal thing. More personal than it gets credit for being.

Some of my week:

Tuesday made me feel a little more positive about running. I didn't walk much, and ran over 2 miles. I even started to feel like my old self again for a minute. That is LITERALLY one minute. Not to seem too positive, I learned that my additional weight has brought something new to my running adventures. It is a thing called chafing, and it sucks. My legs never rubbed together when I weighed 150 pounds and could run for an hour. 25 pounds changes the game a bit.

I worried about Wednesday. I have my son for the night on Wednesday, and I have called it "pizza night" forever. Well, he went for something other than pizza pretty easily and all was good.  I also never get any exercise on pizza night, er, "something healthier than pizza night," but this time I threw in a DVD after the kiddo went to bed and Rodney Yee and I got our yoga stretches on.  I just can't do any of the neck twists. If I try to twist my neck, I won't be able to turn my head sideways for a week.

Thursday was the real 1 week but Friday works better so Fridays will be my week's end posts.

So, one week down and 30-ish to go. Oh, I decided that at the end of each month (meaning 4 weeks, not calendar month) I'll post a progress picture of the damn near 40 year old body and we'll see if there is any progress.  Starting next week I'll begin posting some food/recipes/nutrition items. I'll also begin to discuss another item of fitness, namely mental fitness. After all, what good is having a fit body without a fit mind?