Running, lifting and working on losing some weight

With my first half marathon behind me and no races - long or short - upcoming in the next 5 months, my focus is now on general fitness and health.

While training for the half marathon I allowed myself to slide a bit on my diet.  In hindsight that wasn't smart.  While I can't say that poor diet had an impact on my half marathon results (because the biggest impact was the lack of training and the psychological unpreparedness for the cold), I do know that it will hurt my efforts in the long run.

I'm going to use the next 2 months (December and January) to focus on some general fitness and health goals.  February 2011 will mark 1 year of getting back into shape.  My goal is to weigh in at 190lbs (I'm at about 210lbs now - maybe a bit less).  In the process of reaching that goal I intend to get stronger and build more stamina through strength training and running.  Over the next two months I'm going to get back to a healthier eating regimen as well.

Day One of 12 Day Mini-Program

I have a short-term program that I'm focusing on over the next 12 days.  The goal is to drop about 8 to 10 pounds, to get back on a rigorous exercise and diet regimen, and to re-focus my mind on my fitness goals.

Why a 12 day mini-program when I'm already on an 11 week (now down to 10 weeks) half-marathon training program?  Why a mini-program given that I've been on a successful "health kick" since February of this year?  The reason is "results".  I want to see concrete, tangible results.

There are many types of goals - long term, intermediate term and short term - and even within those broad ranges there can be goals that vary in length.  I've been able to stay on track with my fitness efforts in large part because I've pushed myself along using short term goals.

Over the years I've tried to get back into shape on many occasions and in all of the previous attempts I simply set an intermediate term goal (or long term depending on one's perspective).  I'd tell myself I want to run a half-marathon in 8 months and then I'd start running.  I'd set a goal for losing 60 pounds in 8 months and then I'd start dieting.  But my "achilles heel" in these previous efforts was time.  I've always deluded myself with the notion that I had plenty of time.

So, if my goal was to lose weight and the only benchmark was 8 months off, I found it very easy to splurge with ease knowing that I had 8 months, or 7 months or even 6 months to drop the weight.  And then eventually I'd be 4 months or less away from the goal and I'd realize that I was way behind.  And at that point there might be a few weeks of crazed and extreme dieting and exercising but it was often unsustainable.  And the goal was regularly scrapped.

This time around my long term goal has been supplemented with bi-weekly and monthly benchmarks.  I've set targets for my body weight, for the distance I wanted to be able to run or the weight I wanted to lift and then went about working towards it.   It was hard to procrastinate when the goal had a 14 day deadline.  And then, by day 14, the success of hitting the target objective fired me up to set a new goal.

Over the past 2 months I've gotten away from this tactic.  I've dropped a lot of weight, my strength training and running have been very successful, and frankly, I've gotten a bit complacent about making further improvements.  But I realize that I'm not yet as healthy as I should be, and I also know that complacency is a ticket to reversing all of the positive life-style changes I've made.

In the past 10 days, having come off a fairly hectic fasting and running regimen (Ramadan plus my "Running for Relief" effort), I've allowed myself to binge eat.  And my workouts have been a bit less focused too.

The 12 day mini-program is my way of re-energizing myself.  It's a short period of time.  I can push myself extra hard because it's a short time frame.  And then, if I hit my goals (I will) then I can use the momentum to work on some other short term goals.  The cumulative impact of these short-term goals is to get me ready for the 11/27 half-marathon.

Day One of the 12 day mini-program was very good.  The eating was balanced and my workout was good.  I ran my planned 2 miles.  Instead of the strength training though I rode the stationary bike (while watching Monday Night Football) for about 45 minutes at a moderate intensity level.  I feel good.  I'm tired and now a bit sleepy.  Time to go to bed - I hope to get a good night's rest for another great day tomorrow!

MIA from the Blog but not from the fitness effort!

I've been bad about keeping up with the blog - that's bad! But I've been right on top of my diet and work out - that's great!

I am down to 234 (from 249 at the end of January 2010) as of 3/16/10! In past efforts that amount of weight loss was had in half the time but I feel like this go-around is more sustainable. I've had some very fattening meals here and there (mostly the result of family gatherings featuring fat and starch rich Indian foods) and I've still managed to drop the pounds nonetheless!

I'm lifting weights and jogging on the treadmill about 5 (sometimes 6) times per week. I don't actually jog that much - it is usually 3 to 4 times per week - but I do get some form of cardio in each work out day. My alternatives to jogging on the treadmill are the stationary bike and the elliptical machine.

I've started eating protien at breakfast. I'm making 2 or 3 eggs (cooked without any fat) and drinking 8 to 12 ounces of skim milk in the morning along with my vitamins. During the day I eat some unsalted/raw nuts (usually almonds, sometimes walnuts and cashews too), I drink a bunch of water and I also consume a bowl of Quaker Oats "weight control" maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal (made with water) and a protien shake made with 12 ounces of skim millk.

My dinners are very good - lean meats (usually chicken or fish) and a large serving of green veggies (usually steamed). This has worked well!

The only drawback I'm seeing is that I feel very tired during the day and sometimes it distracts me from getting into the gym. I have been excellent about getting into the gym and I haven't let my feeling of tiredness get in the way yet! I'm guessing that the tiredness is the result of the low carb, limited calorie intake.

My goal is to be down to 225 by 4/15/10 (which means I need to lose another 9 lbs over the next month)!

Lack of focus leads to crappy workout

I had a lot on my mind yesterday. Usually a good workout can clear my head but alas the little things tripped me up in the end and resulted in a very crappy workout.

I signed up for laundry service at FFC. When I got to the gym my laundry bag was, as expected, in my locker. Great!

But wait - the clothes were all damp and smelly - not so great. I almost allowed myself to walk out of the gym without working out. Instead I put on the damp clothes and did some of my work out.

Yesterday was my day to lift weights. Specifically, to work on my legs and chest. I started with my legs and did all the exercises I needed to do. I was able to hit the right level of intensity during this phase of the workout. It took me about 20 minutes. But then, rather than moving on to dumbbell chest presses, I jumped on the exercise bike for a mild 25 minute ride. The heart rate monitor said I got my heart rate to where it needs to be for my age for a cardio workout (I have my doubts about that because I hardly broke a sweat).

I'm glad I got through the workout though. I weighed in afterwards and was surprised to see that I had lost 5 lbs. since I first weighed in at the beginning of the month. Not bad.

The positive feedback from the scale was enough to keep me motivated through the rest of the day. I had a couple of sandwiches for dinner - tuna w/ dijon mustard and roast beef w/ dijon mustard (both on whole wheat bread) and some skim milk. It was a lot better than the tradition rice and fatty/rich Indian dishes I'm often tempted with most nights.

Overall, 2/18/10 turned out to be a good fitness day.

Some weight loss would be nice...

For the first time in a long time I didn't make a resolution to get in shape at the start of the new year. Oddly enough, this year has been the best start in a long time vis-a-vis my exercise and diet regimen.

Even though I've started to eat better and my workouts have been consistent throughout January and to date, I am not losing any weight. I know this because the scale doesn't lie. I'm tempted to convince myself that I'm losing fat and building muscle and that's the reason for the constant weight, but my clothes don't lie either! They fit the same as they did at the beginning of the year.

I've resisted the urge to do anything extreme like the 14 days diets advertised at stores like GNC (see here and here for examples) and I've avoided the Atkins Diet (which worked marvelously well for me a few years ago but only as short-term fix). But a little weight loss would be nice. Most importantly at this stage, a little weight loss would help me stay motivated.