Dave's Journal: Getting in Shape

[Kaido]

Day 7 Progress Log:

And today...the magic happened! I woke up at 4:22am and was like, are you kidding me? This is waaaay too early - so I went back to sleep. Then I woke up again at 4:45am. So this time I thought, okay, my body is telling me it's had enough sleep, so I'll roll with it. I popped out of bed and...hey...my eyes aren't burning...I don't feel tired...woot! I'M AWAKE EARLY WITHOUT AN ALARM CLOCK!! Score 1 for persistence!

I'm curious to see if my "awake" feeling lasts all day or if I'm going to get a fade later on from waking up too early. Either way, I'm not going to take a nap, so this should definitely help me fall asleep quicker tonight. Last night it still took me a good 2 hours to fall asleep...I'm pretty sure it was before 11pm because my wife came to bed about 10:30pm and that was the last time I checked the clock. I'll keep up with my 6 meals today, that will keep my energy going all day long even if I get tired. I still can't believe I woke up this early without an alarm and that I DON'T FEEL TIRED! I feel like Superman! haha.

Update - I do have a slight sore throat. Not bad, but it's there. I'm not sure if this is a remnant leftover from trying to wake up too early last week or what. I'm willing to bet it will go away once I really start falling asleep at 9pm instead of 11pm. I've heard of studies that say that simply laying in bed, in the dark, with your eyes closed (not moving) counts like 75% as good as sleep to your body, so I should be making progress even if I haven't fully fallen asleep yet.

Update 2 - The sore throat is mostly gone, still no burning eyes. A teensy bit tired but not like how tired I normally feel. It's more of that "it's only 8am tired" feeling. Hardly noticeable.

Update 3 - I got really tired sitting in class the last hour or two. Physically I was fine because of the food, but I could have used a nap right then. Thank goodness I was in class and not next to a bed

Update 4 - Got pretty tired around 4:30pm, luckily I was out and about, not home. My body is definitely still adjusting to the new schedule, lol.

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I also noticed that my Acid Reflux is gone. Usually when I go to bed, I have to sit up for awhile because of acid, especially if I get a drink of water before going to sleep. Last night, nothing. Laying flat down on my bed was exactly the same as standing up! I believe this change has to do with what and how I eat, as well as including some daily exercise into the mix. I do not eat within 3 hours of bedtime, 2 at the latest if my schedule is funny, and I don't drink anything within 1 hour of bedtime. That coupled with smaller portions of healthy food and getting my body moving on the exercise bike or a walk have made it so I don't have this problem anymore. Woot again!

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I feel so much better on a regular basis during the day that I have decided to add in my PT Program early. The PT Program's exercises are simple yet difficult to execute. They are all self-resistance exercises that require no machines of any kind, just enough floor space to lay out on. My dad developed this program after being in the Marines and it has served him well ever since. This is the only form of exercise he does on a daily basis and, at 55+, he is bigger and stronger than most men I know. So here it is, starting on your back:

1. Back Push
2. Crunches
3. Self-resistant Curls
4. Leg Raises
5. Knee Press (I HATE this one lol)

Flip over onto your stomach:

6. Leg Raises
7. Back Arch
8. Pushups
9. 1/2 Squats
10. Low-impact Jumping Jacks

In addition to those exercises, I would like to add one more:

11. Pull-ups

I'm adding that partially because I want to improve my upper body physique but mostly just because I want to be able to do pull-ups, hehe. I can do about 1/3 of one pull-up right now. If I can get to the point where I can do one full pullup in the next month or two, I'll be pretty happy. I would like to work up to 10 or 15 by the end of the year, so I'll start doing 10 wanna-be pull-ups every morning. As for the rest of the exercises, I am starting with 10 reps each and will work up to 15 reps each when the time is right, all except for the push-ups. Pushups are kind of the heart and soul of this exercise system. The ultimate goal is 210 pushups per day per session. The way you achieve it is starting at the level you are presently at and doing a high-countdown. I can just barely eek out 6 pushups right now, so I would start at 3 and do 3-2-1, 2-1, then 1. Then next week week I would move it up to 4 (4-3-2-1, 3-2-1, 2-1, 1) for a total of 10 pushups.

Realistically I'm not sure if I can do that kind of increase every week, so I'm going to take it as it comes. I would like to hit 210 by the end of the year, so a little over 6 months from now. I'm going to say that I'll increase the rep count every 2 weeks, but if I go over no big deal and if I go under (like a week instead of two) then great. I also want to start adding a late afternoon exercise set in on a more regular basis, in order to get my body prepared for doing 2 exercise sessions a day and to get a jump start on my exercise goals for next week. I've been able to add in a 10-minute exercise bike session a few times in the last week, so I think with proper time management I should be able to add it in consistently this month. So here is my new exercise routine:

Morning: (committed goal)
1. PT Program (approx. 15 minutes)
2. Exercise Bike (10 minutes)

Late Afternoon: (if time is available, i.e. optional)
1. Exercise bike

The PT Program will also serve as a good warm-up for using the exercise bike. If I feel up to it, I'll add it into my late afternoon exercise session as well. I would say these are my new end goals to maintain throughout my life: (subject to change based on the experience I get)

1. Daily PT Program (210 pushups, 15 pullups, 15 of the other exercises)
2. Morning - 30 minute machine session (bike, elliptical, treadmill)
3. Late afternoon - 30 minute machine session (bike, elliptical, treadmill)
4. Swimming - 2 or 3 times a week, 30 minute morning sessions to replace machines

If all goes well, I should hit my goals by the end of the year. So by 2009, I will be doing an hour of vigorous machine exercise a day, 210 pushups, 10-15 pullups, and doing my daily PT Program. In addition I will have a 9pm bedtime habit and keep my daily 6 meals of healthy, small portions. That should change my health picture quite a bit. From the little I've already changed, I'm already seeing and feeling improvements in my body, mind, and energy level. I've only been doing this week and yet the ball has started rolling to the point where I am willingly adding in more daily exercise. Yippie!

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Morning - 10 minute walk
Morning - PT Program
Morning - 10 minutes on elliptical (about 3x as hard as the bike! lol)

Noonish - 10 minute walk
Noonish - 10 minutes on bike

Late Afternoon - 35 minute walk

On my first walk this morning, I felt like I had a little motor in me...I've never "power walked" willingly before, but I'm starting to feel like the Energizer Bunny lol. Also, I cut the Knee Presses and Leg Raises on my back down to 5 reps; those are hard to do!

I'm starting to understand "The Snowball Effect" - I've only committed to 10 minutes of exercise a day, but in just a week it's grown into (willingly) going on walks, doing some extra exercise, and just feeling good enough all around to DO things during the day. It's still a push, especially towards the end of a walk or machine session, but the pain means the muscles are growing. Whoohoo!

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Day 7 Complete, yay!

 

[gramboh]

Congrats on the progress so far, that is a lot of changes to make at once.

It looks like you are putting a lot of time into exercise which is good, but you could probably be more efficient with your time if you went to a gym (not sure if this was discussed earlier in the thread). With your goals of general fitness/health, probably the optimal solution is to start a novice weightlifting program and supplement it with cardio, I think you will see results faster doing that than what you are now. I'd recommend the www.stronglifts.com beginner program and buying the Mark Rippetoe Starting Strength Volume 2 book from Amazon (these are mentioned in the sticky). You would spend about an hour three times a week lifting weights, which will do more for muscle development (and hence fat burning) than your current routine, and you can then supplement with cardio as you like (high intensity intervals aka HIIT being the most time efficient). I'm not sure if this is what you want to do, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Congrats on the progress so far, that is a lot of changes to make at once.

It looks like you are putting a lot of time into exercise which is good, but you could probably be more efficient with your time if you went to a gym (not sure if this was discussed earlier in the thread). With your goals of general fitness/health, probably the optimal solution is to start a novice weightlifting program and supplement it with cardio, I think you will see results faster doing that than what you are now. I'd recommend the www.stronglifts.com beginner program and buying the Mark Rippetoe Starting Strength Volume 2 book from Amazon (these are mentioned in the sticky). You would spend about an hour three times a week lifting weights, which will do more for muscle development (and hence fat burning) than your current routine, and you can then supplement with cardio as you like (high intensity intervals aka HIIT being the most time efficient). I'm not sure if this is what you want to do, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks! Mostly it's one big change with an extra 2 - (1) 6 meals a day, as pre-defined by the customized diet plan I purchased. Buying the pre-made version took the headache out of figuring out what to eat; all I had to do was make a shopping list. So now I just shop once a week and I know exactly what's for dinner every night! (2) 9pm bedtime, because sleep is all-important and (3) daily exercise, because I never do ANY. So the only real changes to my day are:

1. Turn off the lights and hop in bed at 9pm instead of midnight-ish
2. Sit on the bike and pedal for 10 minutes in the morning
3. Go shopping once a week from a pre-defined shopping list, make food from a pre-defined daily diet list

My current goal is simply to increase my energy level. I want to feel good all day long. I don't care about losing weight, gaining muscle, eating healthy, etc. at this point in time - my singular goal is energy. In less than a week's time I have achieved that through those 3 simple changes. The main one for me was the diet; once I picked up a pre-defined plan that told me exactly what to do, it was easy to follow because I had decided that I really wanted to follow it. Feeling good allowed me improved control over myself, which meant that I could more easily choose to go to sleep earlier and force myself to exercise without feeling that it was too hard.

Now that I am feeling a lot better, I am considering weights. However, as I mentioned earlier in my thread, I don't want to get huge because then that's a maintenance headache and when I decide I'm sick of pumping iron, I'll turn into a flab fest like Arnold at the beach on the tabloid covers. So pretty much my goal is to build up to an hour or so of vigorous exercise a day using a treadmill, bike, and elliptical. Beyond that I'll see. Just doing the small commitments I am doing now - slowly - are enough to make me really do them

 

[gramboh]

I'm actually thinking about buying a pre-made diet plan from the guy you used (based on your post) because I'm in a similar boat. I have a poor diet (not horrible, but I binge eat crap a few times a week, breakfast is really the only thing I do remotely right). I don't mind cooking but I hate the planning and preparation involved, taking that out makes it more appealing to me.

Re: strength training, don't worry about 'getting huge', the results you will find (at least that I am finding) are more fat loss and strength increases. I definitely have more muscle tone and definition after a few months, but to get huge like Arnold it takes genetics, years of insane amounts of hard training and a specific diet. I think strength training has a bad rep for this for some reason, probably because when people first go to the weight room they focus on a few massive dudes grunting out 120lbs bb curls hehe.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: gramboh
I'm actually thinking about buying a pre-made diet plan from the guy you used (based on your post) because I'm in a similar boat. I have a poor diet (not horrible, but I binge eat crap a few times a week, breakfast is really the only thing I do remotely right). I don't mind cooking but I hate the planning and preparation involved, taking that out makes it more appealing to me.

Re: strength training, don't worry about 'getting huge', the results you will find (at least that I am finding) are more fat loss and strength increases. I definitely have more muscle tone and definition after a few months, but to get huge like Arnold it takes genetics, years of insane amounts of hard training and a specific diet. I think strength training has a bad rep for this for some reason, probably because when people first go to the weight room they focus on a few massive dudes grunting out 120lbs bb curls hehe.

Hey, I figure you'll spend more in a week eating out at McDonalds than you would on this diet plan, so what the heck. He gets results and he doesn't use drugs, so obviously his system works (if he really does it! haha). Plus...he spells it out for you. Really that's what it all boils down to. You're paying him $30 to create a customized diet plan for you, that you can re-use week after week after week. To me that seems like a steal, compared to what you would normally pay locally.

If you buy the plan, do youself a favor and buy the following appliances:

1. George Foreman grill (small if you're cooking for yourself, large if you're cooking for others or if you want to cook lots of food at the same time)

2. Electric steamer ($30ish) - add water, set timer, dump in food, walk away.

3. Rice cooker (optional) - this makes perfect rice, every time, provided you use the right amount of water. For long grain brown rice, which is what I use, I do double water plus a little extra. The extra water helps it fluff up a bit - I hated brown rice before but it's very edible now. I say optional because a lot of steamers come with a splitter, so you can do rice + veggies or two different kinds of veggies if you don't want to mix them. They also cook oatmeal extremely well (I use steel-cut oat because I don't care for the regular flakey kind).

4. Blender or shaker (plastic liquid/powder shaker) - for the protein shakes

Also get a set of Tupperware and a set of Smart Spin containers (the "As Seen on TV" mini containers, available at Target, Walmart, etc.). In the morning I cook the day's food in about 45 minutes, mostly automatically. I have to watch the Foreman grill and the stove, if I'm cooking whole-wheat pasta, but that's about. Surf the Internet and read Engadget or something for that, hop on the exercise bike and take a shower for the others since they don't need paying attention to. If I think of more stuff, I'll add it!

 

[Kaido]

Day 8 Progress Log:

I DID IT!! One full week on my new diet! A mere "one week" feels like an eternity - I feel like I've been doing this forever already, lol. I'm starting over on Day 1 of the diet today. I will continue this diet for 5 more weeks before I start rotating in my own foods. Basically I'll be using the same food, just cooked in different ways. Also, Anthony has a list of "approved" foods that you can use as alternatives which are OK to use as replacements for carbs, protein, etc., on your personalized diet, so if you're creative about cooking you don't have to feel "stuck" with the same menu week after week (but since it's rotating you don't get sick of it!). But for now I am sticking with it very strictly to get my body cleaned out.

I went to bed at 9:00pm last night and I think I fell asleep before 10:00pm! So I'm down to an hour to fall asleep, woot! I slept in until 6:15am, so I got at least a good 8 hours of sleep. I'm still a tad tired, but I'm starting to feel much more rested. My mind is clearer during the day instead of being foggy from being sleepy.

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I've started going on a quick 5 or 10 minute walk before using my exercise machines. This gets my blood pumping and it's WAY easier to keep up a better pace on the bike. Normally my peg on the quasi-speedometer on the bike is between 2.5 - 4, but it goes to 3-4 after a walk by default. Pays to do that warmup, I guess!

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Took all the long routes around campus and parked in the furthest spot available to get in some more footwork. Had my late class tonight, so I'm going to bed in a few minutes at 10pm. I missed my last eating period and my stomach started growling a bit about 30 minutes after (3:30 from the last time I ate), so it seems my metabolism is starting to get used to the new eating schedule. Since I have about a 20 minute drive home, I sat in the parking lot and ate my natural peanut butter and rice cakes. Since it's not very tasty and I wanted to get home quickly so that I could go to bed before 10pm, I ate fast. When I got home, I got the hiccups. I was curious about what caused hiccups and sure enough, eating quickly is one of them. Check out the Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccups

So I was late on my last meal but I decided to eat it anyway, despite the fact that I'm not supposed to eat within a couple hours of bed. This gives me about 45 minutes. I also drank about 1/3 of my water bottle with it (it's pretty dry and not very tasty stuff!). So I'm curious to see tonight if my acid reflux will kick in or not tonight. In hindsight, I probably should have just skipped the meal instead of letting it turn to fat overnight. Oh well. I'll have to choose my eating schedule to work around my class times better in the future - I only have 10 minutes between classes and most of that is walking to my next classroom; eating PB & rice cakes takes a little while because it's dry and thick-sticky. Plus apparently eating fast gives you the hiccups

Day 8 complete! I still can't believe I've made it a full week! As the saying goes, I feel like I've been given a new lease on life. EVERYTHING is easier to do because I feel good ALL DAY long! I chose to take long, round-about routes to class just to get exercise, something that I would have struggled just thinking about and questioned myself down to not doing just a week ago. As humans we look for the easiest, most convenient route; with my newfound energy, things are now easy! The lesson here is, if you really want to do something, make it easy on yourself, which means take super-good care of your body - then everything is really easy!

 

[TallBill]

Congrats on the week. Once you hit a month you should see some big changes throughout you body, inside and outside. Stick with it.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Congrats on the week. Once you hit a month you should see some big changes throughout you body, inside and outside. Stick with it.

Ahh definitely, I'm looking forward to it! And thanks! I don't look any different, but I feel WAY different - solid energy the whole day! I've started printing out my food list for the day to carry around with me; this both helps me to know when to eat and what to eat, as well as what I need to cook for the day. I'm going to start making this a part of my 8:30pm pre-bedtime prep so that I don't have to worry about it in the morning.

The diet spells out the portion size, which I have adjusted since last week (basically I cut everything in half lol). And stuff like the sliced chicken sandwich includes lettuce, tomato, and whole-wheat bread so that I'm getting my veggies and grains for the day. All of the meals are yummy and easy to make. Because he sends you a rotating menu, you never get sick of a certain meal or type of food because you usually only have it twice a week. And you can swap out any Meal # with another Meal #, so if you don't feel like having a Grilled Chicken Salad for Meal #5, you can swap in another Meal #5 like a Tuna Wrap. He also has a list of other items you can cook (proteins, carbs, etc.) so if you want to toss things up a little it's no problem. But you could easily stick with the default 7-day menu for the rest of your life, not get sick of it, and enjoy every meal!

This is absolutely the best $30 I have ever spent on my health...all I have to do is follow the meal plan for the day and I'm set - I feel good, which makes everything easier (including going to sleep early, exercising, and even doing my homework!). I would 100% recommend this guy's diet plan to anyone who wants a simple yet super-healthy rotating diet plan spelled out explicitly for them. I've been trying for such a long time to do this and I could just never make it work. For some reason, having it spelled out to me, on paper, by someone else (especially someone else who got results from his plan), made all the difference. Since food is such a large part of the health balance, it really gave me what I needed to jumpstart the sleep and exercise parts.

 

[SKC]

bump for you. I'm going to start with a small plan. And thanks again..

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: SKC
bump for you. I'm going to start with a small plan. And thanks again..

np small plan = right track. All this posting I've been doing boils down to 3 things:

1. Going to bed at 9pm
2. Eating 6 good small meals a day
3. Pedaling on the bike for 10 minutes

I can handle those things. Those are small things, within my realm of do-ability right now. Next month I'll add on an evening session of using the bike, and the month after that bump my sessions up 5 minutes to 15 minutes total. By the end of the year I'll be where I want to be, without any terribly hard last-minute giant changes.

I'd really recommend picking up a customized diet from Anthony, unless you already have a diet plan in mind. All you have to do when you get it is (1) make a shopping list and (2) cook the food. Then go shopping once a week. Every night before bed, review the food list for the next day and write down when you're going to cook and eat each meal (cooking it all in the morning is the easiest for me because my day is used up for work or school). Taking the roadblock of "what should I eat?" away is what made this all happen for me.

Good luck!

 

[gramboh]

You should take weekly and monthly pictures of yourself, it's hard to see the progress because you see yourself every day, the pics will be motivating. Congrats and keep it up, also thanks for the info on the meal plan and stuff I'll need, I think I have a foreman grill I got for a gift and never opened somewhere around here, I just need a steamer/rice cooker which I should have anyway!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: gramboh
You should take weekly and monthly pictures of yourself, it's hard to see the progress because you see yourself every day, the pics will be motivating. Congrats and keep it up, also thanks for the info on the meal plan and stuff I'll need, I think I have a foreman grill I got for a gift and never opened somewhere around here, I just need a steamer/rice cooker which I should have anyway!

I'll probably stick with monthly pictures, that's a good idea! I'll post before & after pictures 6 months from April 1st, so September 1st I guess. I figure 6 months ought to get me where I want to be, so that's a good time for a side-by-side comparison.

Glad the meal plan tips helped! I think automated cooking is something people think of as still being in the future, but we have most of the tools already - we just don't realize it. Nearly every morning I use the George Foreman, Rice Cooker, and Electric Steamer. My cooking time has almost cut in half as I've learned to multi-task in the kitchen better. Here is my new routine: (subject to new improvements!)

1. 8:30pm at night - look at my diet plan for the next day. Write down what tools I need to cook the day's food, then write down which to do first starting with what takes the longest and doesn't need paying attention to. Usually this is the brown rice; my rice cooker takes about an hour to do the rice and has a built-in timer (one of those neato fuzzy logic models), so that goes first. Second is the steamer - broccoli, cauliflower, whatever veggie I am having (I am going to see how steamed potatoes turn out too; usually I microwave them). Before I start up the rice, I plug in the George Foreman grill so that it can get pre-heated. After setting up the steamer, I put the meat on the grill and then make my sandwich and wrap or whatever is the quick-make stuff on the menu for the day. Pasta is the only thing I haven't figured out how to cook fast, it's 10 minutes of stirring on the stove. I'm wondering if I can steam it or cook it in the rice cooker, hehe. A crock pot might also work but will probably require more time (i.e. overnight possibly).

So anyway I write down WHAT TO DO first - exactly what to do - in what order and how much food I need. That way when my brain is in the half-awake state in the morning I can just follow the directions quickly.

2. Morning - cook all of the food ASAP. Treat it like you're on a deadline and you're late - go fast! I was running on a tight schedule a few days last week and had to do that, and it really improved my cooking times, so now I just do that every morning. My goal this week is to get my food prep time down to 30 minutes per day.

Clean the machines up as you go and clean up after yourself. That way any mess you create disappears as if you were never there, instead of sitting for you waiting to be cleaned up when you get home. Make cleaning as you work part of your cooking process. Rinse stuff out right away and dry it. I get out a new dish towel every morning to dry my equipment (knives, steamer, rice cooker, cutting board, etc.).

3. Evening - Toss all of your Tupperware and Smart Spin containers plus your fork and spoon into the dishwasher and run it right then. If the dishwasher is full, unload it quickly (again like you're on a deadline) and load it up and run your stuff. If you're just cooking for yourself, it's much easier - just use your sink to rinse out the containers (they should never be very messy since they're just holding the food) and dry them off with your dish towel from the morning. Easy 5 minute process when you feel good!

Optionally in the evening you can also lay out your machines, non-perishable food items (whatever cereal you're having that morning, box of oatmeal, etc.), and cookware (knives, cutting board, Tupperware, bowl for cereal, spoon for cereal, etc.). That combined with the To-Do List you make for prepping your meals in the morning make it super easy to get started. I live with other people who don't share my diet plan, however, so this doesn't work for me sometimes, but if it's just you or you and a S.O. then it works out pretty well.

 

[Kaido]

Day 9 Progress Log:

Woke up at 5:00am today. I remember something I had learned from experience back in high school - during the first 5 minutes of waking up for me, the bed acts like a tractor beam. If I get back in bed, I go back to sleep; it's that simple. To avoid that, I do 2 things:

1. Put the alarm clock on the other side of the room (I don't use the alarm anymore though)

2. Go SOMEWHERE ELSE and SIT UP. Sit at your breakfast table for 5 minutes. Sit on your exercise bike for 5 minutes. Get away from your bed and force yourself to sit up on a non-cushy surface (no couches, you might fall asleep again!).

I don't know if waking up is like that for anyone else, but if I can stay past the 5-minute "rite of passage" then I'm up for the day. So I have to play these little games with myself to get the results I want, and they work!

Speaking of rites of passage, this first week was definitely one for me. Scientific studies say that it takes 3 weeks - 21 days - to adopt a habit for life. If you can do it for a solid 21 days straight, then it's yours forever and you own it! I'm feeling a lot better this week than I was last week - not 100% better - but my falling-asleep times are down to 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours. That first week was pretty rough at times, though. So it seems like the 3-week habit adoption principle is broken down into 2 sections: the rite of passage (1st week) and "gluing it into your psyche" (2nd and 3rd weeks). If the 3-week habit theory is really true, which I'm pretty sure it is, then your first week is the toughest and then you just continue on for the next couple of weeks to really get it stuck in your brain so that you personally adopt it as something you just "do".

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Went on a 3-mile walk today. Legs hurt but I feel like I haven't even walked out the door! This is absolutely amazing!

My eating schedule got a bit messed messed up at the end of the day; I ate meal 5 at 8:00pm and just had the natural PB without rice cakes at 8:30pm. I'm going to bed in a minute here, but I feel okay and my acid reflux hasn't kicked in yet. I'm not sure yet if it's better to skip the meal and sleep or eat the meal then go to sleep. I'm learning that life doesn't have interruptions, life IS interruptions! I just have to plan my meals inside of them. Guerilla eating warfare!

Did my PT and bike this morning, ate all of my meals, and went on a couple walks during the day. Feeling good, body hurts everywhere but in the good "I've exercised!" kind of wy (but it still hurts!).

Yay Day 9 complete! :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Day 10 Progress Log:

I hit the hay at 9:45pm last night; I had something pop up at the last minute that I had to take care of. Now that I'm feeling (much) better on a daily basis, I starting to see the need for more effective time management - with some prep work I can avoid pretty much everything that will create obstacles to my goals, like going to bed at 9:00pm. Luckily my second late class tonight is out early, so I will be able to go to bed at 9:00pm tonight and just leave my two "late" nights to Tues/Wed this week.

I woke up at 4:22am (same exact time as the other day, weird!). I tried to go back to sleep, telling myself that this was an hour earlier than I wanted right now (especially since I was up an extra 45 minutes last night), but I couldn't go back to sleep. So I woke up, cleaned the kitchen, and started cooking! This isn't Sparta...this is madness! I did notice a change today - after my 5 minute "wake up funk", my body and brain were 100% online. The morning grogginess and stiffness are gone. I did some quick stretches and my body didn't hurt like usual. Awesome!

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The first week was difficult, but doable with determination and a clear, specific, step-by-step plan. Since Week 1, I have noticed the following improvements:

1. Dropped 5 pounds
2. Regular, solid bowel movements (quick in-and-out trips to the bathroom now, too)
3. Clear urine
4. Consistent energy throughout the day
5. Improved falling-asleep times (down to 1.5 hours or less)
6. Seriously reduced cravings (no snacking!)
7. Never hungry (constantly eating)
8. Acid reflux has disappeared

Dang, Gina! I don't really feel like I've given up anything, either. I want to say that I miss sugar, but (1) I feel so good and (2) junk food cravings are so easy to manage now that the point is moot. Sure it'd be nice to have a cookie, but having a strong will due to getting enough sleep and just being full (stomach-wise) relegates it to a manageable idea instead of an action.

Before I just ate whatever I wanted, which was usually processed food. I didn't think it was too bad for me and I was right - it didn't kill me. But it sure didn't make me feel good! I think the hardest part, aside from the first week "rite of passage", is simply getting the motivation to get out of the cloud of poor health that you live in. Eating bad food, staying up really late, and not exercising gives you tunnel vision - it's hard to see past where you are now and it's hard to see how much of an improvement doing those small, simple changes will give you. Once you're on the other side, you never want to go back! But if you're on the poor health side, it's hard and it's just not very motivating. It's easier to say "yeah, better health would be nice" but not doing anything about it because "it's not too bad". Well I'm here to tell you it IS way better on this side of the fence! Don't give into the lies you tell yourself, haha.

I've also learned something about goals and motivation and achieving them. You can probably compare this to quitting smoking or drinking - you may have seen people do it 100 times before they quit. I've been trying to improve my health since high school and I just flat-out failed every time. I tried making myself menus, I tried ramping up to do some exercise every day, and I tried to go to sleep early instead of letting myself get sucked on the Internet and waste the night away. I tried and I tried and I tried and I just got nowhere. For whatever reason, the stars aligned and I was able to actually DO IT this time! So my first message is, don't quit, no matter how many times you fail. Like the saying goes, it doesn't matter how many times you fail, it matters that one time that you make it - no matter how long it takes. Eventually you WILL be successful and all of that "trying hard" will pay off.

The second thing is not to be too hard on yourself. Cut yourself some slack. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and have negative thoughts which turn into poor actions as a result. For example, if I set my bedtime before at 9:00pm and I didn't get in bed until 9:15pm, that wasn't good enough for me - I had failed. I had flat-out failed. I would get so frustrated that I would tell myself it wasn't worth even bothering to do if I couldn't do it perfectly, so I would quit. Rather than realizing that 9:15pm is WAY better than 2:00am, I would just quit and stay up late the next night. I know that sounds silly, and it is, but it's the way we work. I didn't make it into bed until 9:45pm last night, and yeah I could have done better with more effective time management, but that extra 45 minutes is still WAY better than midnight or 1:30am. And even with staying up the extra 45 minutes, I still woke up before 4:30am - without an alarm! So my second message is, cut yourself some slack and just stick with it, even if you're not perfect at it. At least you're trying, which is lightyears better than what you were doing before!

**************************************************

I have come across a sneaky trap and I have a tip to avoid it. The trap is the "explosive growth effect". At the end of the first week, I felt so good that I started doing like 10 times as much exercise a day and was trying to do a whole bunch of other things to improve my life. But then I found that I hadn't exercised that morning, so I had to buckel down and do it later that afternoon or evening to make sure I hit my goal for the day. The trap is that you can get so sucked up in your newfound good health that you fall right back into the pattern of trying to do everything at once (one of my biggest personal problems, which NEVER works). It's really hard not to get sucked into that trap once you start feeling so good every day. My tip is this: stick with your original goals and make them your #1 priority. Once you kill your daily goals, you are free to add on more if you choose to. BUT, do not neglect your original goals. Those are your most important priority - everything else is just icing on the cake right now. The regular goof inside of you is still trying to sabotage yourself for failure and you have to pay attention and take steps to avoid that fate!

The bottom line is, it's really easy to get so motivated that you pile on everything all at once, but again - that doesn't work even if you feel good. One step at a time, and baby steps. I really want to accomplish everything on my list, but I know if I try that method then I'll keep screwing up and fail. Doing everything at once simply doesn't work. Doing one thing a time works. Doing one thing for 3 weeks until you own it as a habit works. My current goal is to improve my energy, and that means my sleep-diet-exercise habit change. It's kind of a big change that I've lumped together, but I've made the pieces small (like only 10 minutes of exercise on the bike) so that I will actually DO IT on a daily basis. If I adopt one single, solitary little habit every 3 weeks (3 weeks to own a new habit), then in a year that's 17 NEW habits. These three smallish habits that I've changed - going to bed a bit earlier, eating better, and pedaling on the bike for a few minutes a day - have already made such a tremendous change in my life. Keeping up the small & simple changes on a regular basis has the potential to make some even more awesome improvements...it's just hard to buckle down and just do one at a time

**************************************************

I got a Post-it note and wrote a routine reminder, which I stuck on my computer monitor:

8:30pm Bedtime Routine:
1. COMPUTER OFF & TV OFF
2. Brush & Floss Teeth
3. Refill water bottle & put in fridge to chill
4. Do dishes & Run dishwasher if necessary
5. Put on pajamas
6. Lay out a towel
7. Lay out clothes for next day (shirt, pants, shoes, socks, etc.)
8. Review meal plan
9. 9:00pm LIGHTS OUT

This way I won't leave something out due to forgetting about it, it's all spelled out right in front of me every night. When I wake up, my detailed meal plan is waiting along with my clothes and towel for after I exercise, then I can grab my water bottle and get on with my day. Plus the kitchen is clean!

**************************************************

Busy day today, only did my goal exercises. Going for a quick walk and then hitting the sack.

Day 10 Complete, yay!

 

[Kaido]

Day 11 Progress Log:

Went on a nice walk last night and ended up going to bed at 9:30pm.A little later than I wanted, but it helped the late-night meal go down :thumbsup: Feel asleep around 11:30pm, about 2 hours. I suspect it has to do with the late-night meal & exercise. I think a large part of my problems come from stress. I'm learning the "Getting Things Done" system; the author, David Allen, says, "Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action." I need to start managing my time and actions more effectively so that I'm not worried about things and not stressed out over responsibilities I've left unattended or unfinished.

I've decided to ditch eating late at night; if I miss my 6 or 7pm window then I'll just cut it so that I can sleep better and not have to exercise in order to help the food go down. I've learned that sleep is the #1 thing you need, not food, so the sleep goal is my main goal and focus now.

I've also noticed I'm getting FAT. It looks like I've added 2 inches to my gut! I am cutting my meal portions in half again, down to about 1/4 of the original recommend amount. I don't work out all day and therefore I'm not burning all those calories. I'm still about the same weight (211 pounds), but my stomach is visibly pushed out more. Oye! Again, to re-interate the 3 keys of eating:

1. What you eat
2. When you eat
3. How much you eat

That coupled with (1) not eating fast and (2) not eating within 3 hours of bedtime make up the basics of healthy eating theory. I'm doing pretty good on the what and when, but the "how much" just needs some tweaking.

**************************************************

Went on a walk for an hour, about 3.5 miles. Nice to feel good enough to do that!

**************************************************

Pulled a 10-hour shift at work; after that walk this morning my feet are killing me, haha! I spent all day at work walking around and lifting boxes; it's my new personal variety gym

I got out after 8:00pm, so I skipped Meal #6. My body felt better not eating that late before bed. I managed to make it in bed at 9:00pm!

Day 11 complete!

 

[Kaido]

Day 12 Progress Log:

I woke up early around 4:00am, but went back to sleep until 4:50am. I'm still pretty wiped out from yesterday; my legs and feet hurt and I feel worn out. I want to find a hot tub somewhere and relax for about 3 hours in it lol. But I still have energy, yay!

I'm having dinner at a friend's house tonight, so my Meal #6 will be a bit different, but I'll be sure to avoid sugar. It's hard to stick with a meal plan for a long period of time perfectly because of social events, but one meal out of six during the day is doable if I am careful about what I eat.

********************

Got in a nice day at work (9am - 8pm) and walked around a lot and tried to unload as much merchandise as I could. Got my 6 meals in today too! Ended up having to work late so I didn't hit my friend's place for dinner, but I won't be hitting 9pm tonight because my wife is sick, so I'll be up for a couple hours taking care of her. No biggie tho, church isn't until 1:00pm so I have all day to sleep in.

Day 12 complete!

 

[gramboh]

10 days until the magical 3 week mark.

Are you measuring your waist size? It's hard to see changes in your body because you look at it all the time, especially when you are undergoing change sin your life. Try not to get super stressed if you 'feel' good and remember it's only 11 days in, you don't have to make drastic changes on a daily basis, take measurements/weight on a weekly basis (at the same time) and make changes based on those. After a few more weeks, when you are fully adjusted to your sleep and diet changes, you should look at a strength training program like Rippetoe Starting Strength or Stronglifts.com 5x5, I think you have the motivation to learn to do those exercises and it will cause you to lose fat and tone up very quickly since you have a good diet.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: gramboh
10 days until the magical 3 week mark.

Are you measuring your waist size? It's hard to see changes in your body because you look at it all the time, especially when you are undergoing change sin your life. Try not to get super stressed if you 'feel' good and remember it's only 11 days in, you don't have to make drastic changes on a daily basis, take measurements/weight on a weekly basis (at the same time) and make changes based on those. After a few more weeks, when you are fully adjusted to your sleep and diet changes, you should look at a strength training program like Rippetoe Starting Strength or Stronglifts.com 5x5, I think you have the motivation to learn to do those exercises and it will cause you to lose fat and tone up very quickly since you have a good diet.

Hah, I think I'm fatter! I cut down my portions again so I'm only eating 1/4 of what is recommended, and I'm still full. Too many calories is still too many calories, no matter WHAT you eat. I am honestly not expecting to see any changes for a few months. I'll post my before & after pictures in 6 months, but I'm not to worried about progress. It took me years to get the body I have now, so I'm fine with being patient to get back to where I want to be. I am only weighing myself once a week and taking photos once a month.

Again my focus is energy and I have achieved that, for the most part. I am still trying to nail down the sleep issue, but within a few weeks I will be falling asleep within 15 minutes or so, I'd imagine. 9:00pm is the single most important part of my plan, I've come to realize. Miss that and bring on the tiredness, which absolutely screws everything else up. Sleep is the bottom line for the human body.

I picked up the Skinny Guy e-book and I'm reading through that. Now that I have lots and lots of energy all day long, I am starting to consider doing a bit of weightlifting. However, my dad only does his personal PT program and he has a great body, especially for being 55+, so I'm thinking about sticking with that for my 6-month duration before introduction any serious weight training, if I choose to do so. Nice, small bites on a consistent basis - that's how real progress is made. I knew it before but I comprehend it now that I'm living the principle!

 

[Kaido]

Day 13 Progress Log:

I managed to make it into bed at 10:30pm, which is earlier than I thought with my wife being sick and all. I woke up around 4-4:30am, but decided to sleep in because I was feeling pretty tired. I woke up around 8:00am instead. I feel VERY rested

********************

Went on a 3.5 mile walk; there's a nice little loop in my neighborhood that works out great for walking and has sidewalks for about 3/4 of it. When I got back, I felt like i hadn't even left - no asthma, no tiredness, didn't feel the least bit exhausted. My legs were just wanting to push forward still! This is crazy - I can't believe the results that have happened in the last week and a half just from a few small changes to my habits!

I'm hoping that by the end of next week I will be falling asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed. The combo of sleep and diet is what makes exercise and everything else doable. Sleep is the bottom line for health, while diet keeps up your energy throughout the day. If you don't get enough sleep, EVERYTHING is difficult. You can be fine without food for the whole day if you get enough sleep the night before (and have overcome your sleep deficit, haha). On the flip side, if you don't get enough sleep but you're constantly feeding yourself small, healthy meals, you can keep your energy up the whole day even if you're tired, and push through work, school, etc.

The combination of both makes your body energetic and your mind clear - the result is that everything you try becomes EASY to do! Things that I would build up in my mind and create obstacles for to rationalize myself not doing have disappeared - it's easy to just do things. I can do the dishes, do the laundry, get up and shower and get dressed quickly, clean up my desk area and room, maintain my car, and work on personal projects. Work is easy - I've pulled 9 to 11 hour shifts for the past couple days and came home without any problems (aside from being a bit stiff and achy from being out of shape! haha).

The difficultly comes in two parts: first, if you don't feel good it's hard to care enough to do these small thigns, two, it's hard to be consistent at new habits. I've tried since high school to change my sleep, eating, and exercise habits, but it was always super difficult and I was never successful. Persistance paid off though, and at the age of 24 I have finally buckled down. It's hard to care if the grass is greener on the other side of you're behind the power curve! The second thing is, once you do start doing those small changes, it's hard to keep yourself doing them consistently. Eating a healthy salad once a week isn't a change, it's a rationalization to ease the guilt from your mind and say at least I'm trying to eat healthy. The same with diet soda, diet foods, etc. You have to do them consistently to get any real payoff.

That's why I've chosen small, bite-sized chunks that I feel are personally doable to me. They may be hard, but I can do them every day. Like I said before, I can easily commit to 10 minutes on the bike a day - pedaling in front of the TV for a few minutes is something I feel I can really, realistically do every day. Next month I'll add on 2 sessions of 10 minutes a day. By the end of the year I will doing an hour of exercise a day, split into two 30-minute sessions, and it won't be like cramming for a final exam - I'll have built up to it piece-by-piece, so it will be easy! I think this is the reason everyone fails and the reason I have failed at doing what I want to do for so long - packing in too much at one time. Cramming doesn't work and is stressful; doing small bites every day works but takes much longer, so it doesn't appeal to our human sense of "gotta have it NOW". The bottom line is: don't expect fast results, do small doable pieces every day, and...well that's it as far as I can tell! If you want to be healthy or muscly or whatever for the rest of your life, you simply have to do it every day. And you have to sign up to the fact that you can't do it all NOW because it doesn't work like that, and if you do that you will only get short-term results.

Signing up to that is hard, but it's working. This is the first time in my life that I've actually adopted this mindset and it is actually producing results! My mood is better and is easier to control, my energy level is up and is consistent all day, I'm doing more things that I want to do...I just feel better all the way around! My life is so much easier because I am sticking with it. It's easy to rationalize that since it's so small, either (1) you can skip it, no big deal (hey, it's only 10 minutes on the bike, I'm not gonna miss it, or (2) that it's not even worth doing - instead you try for 45 minutes on the bike, but you don't do it the next day because doing 45 minutes two days in a row when you're out of shape is hard, and on the days that you're not feeling motivated it just doesn't happen. I mentioned this in an earlier post as well - do the tasks you've committed to FIRST, then if you want to do more you're free to, but at least - at minimum - you've completed your goals for the day before you've done anything else. That is success!

It's interesting to learn the nitty-gritty details of how the mind actually works in relation to changes, habits, and other behaviors. By understanding them, I can make real changes in my life which produce real results, instead of just talking about them and thinking about them, with nothing happening on a regular basis. And these things I'm learning are really things you need to learn through experience, because you'll read them and say yeah that's great, but then you won't actually do them. Until you attempt it yourself and learn the pitfalls on the first few habits, it's pretty hard to really learn them and make them a part of your life.

 

[Kaido]

Day 14 Progress Log:

2 weeks today, woot!

Went to bed about 9:15pm last night, 15 minutes later than I wanted but still pretty close. I'll do better pre-planning tonight so I hit my 9:00pm goal. I got a blister on my pinky toe, so I'll be skipping out on my daily walks for a few days, but luckily I can still use the exercise bike just fine. I'll pick up some new, more comfortable shoes for work this week (black tennis shoes) instead of using my dress shoes, which caused the blister.

Well, one more week to go and I'll have hit my 21 days, which is supposed to make it a habit. I already feel like it IS a habit - I wake up, cook, exercise, and then get on with my day until I come home and crash early. This routine has brought so much more freedom in my life. Previous I resisted the changes like crazy...I hated going to bed early because that was my personal "play" time to watch TV, surf the net, or do whatever I wanted; I didn't eat healthy because I felt I deserved some junk food, i.e. happiness; and I didn't exercise because it was too hard - it was work and it hurt. Going to bed early has given me tons of time in the morning to myself to take care of things I want to do, like cook for the entire day, and the few hours I have between work/school and going to bed are now filled with energy instead of me dragging along, so I have the freedom to pursue whatever I want in a more efficient and effective manner. And the exercise is much easier now that I'm feeling better!

********************

Down to 205 pounds! Averaging 5 pounds a week - awesome! I don't know if it will keep up in a linear fashion because I have never consistently exercised and ate right, haha. But again, I'm not expecting instant results and I'm amazed that I've lost 10 pounds already! That's like cutting a bowling ball off my gut! My goal isn't necessarily weight loss though, that's just a side effect of changing to a healthy lifestyle for more energy.

This healthy lifestyle is definitely addictive...there was pizza and brownies in the house, and while I wanted them really badly (despite the milk allergy, haha), I didn't want them bad enough to trade my new-found energy. Nothing gets between me and my diet now. I'm careful to go to bed early, and this is the week I hit 9pm except for Tues/Thurs. I do my exercise first thing in the morning now instead of later in the morning or possibly the afternoon.

Day 14 complete, whoohoo!

 

[imported_nerve]

good job, Kaido

You are inspiring me to make these same changes.

I work a 10/4 schedule. work 7-530.. Its hard for me to do anything in the morning with my hour commute!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: nerve
good job, Kaido

You are inspiring me to make these same changes.

I work a 10/4 schedule. work 7-530.. Its hard for me to do anything in the morning with my hour commute!

Thanks! What's a 10/4 schedule? Is that 7:00am - 5:30pm or the other way around? I understand long commutes, my last workplace was 2 hours a day

My only advice really is to start small...I'm only doing tiny changes (heck, 10 minutes sitting on a bike watching TV?) but the results have been PHENOMENAL!

 

[imported_nerve]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: nerve
good job, Kaido

You are inspiring me to make these same changes.

I work a 10/4 schedule. work 7-530.. Its hard for me to do anything in the morning with my hour commute!

Thanks! What's a 10/4 schedule? Is that 7:00am - 5:30pm or the other way around? I understand long commutes, my last workplace was 2 hours a day

My only advice really is to start small...I'm only doing tiny changes (heck, 10 minutes sitting on a bike watching TV?) but the results have been PHENOMENAL!

10/4 is 4 days a week 10 hrs a day

Mon-thur 7am to 530pm

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: nerve

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: nerve
good job, Kaido

You are inspiring me to make these same changes.

I work a 10/4 schedule. work 7-530.. Its hard for me to do anything in the morning with my hour commute!

Thanks! What's a 10/4 schedule? Is that 7:00am - 5:30pm or the other way around? I understand long commutes, my last workplace was 2 hours a day

My only advice really is to start small...I'm only doing tiny changes (heck, 10 minutes sitting on a bike watching TV?) but the results have been PHENOMENAL!

10/4 is 4 days a week 10 hrs a day

Mon-thur 7am to 530pm

Ah, gotcha. In that case, I would DEFINITELY recommend the 9:00pm bedtime! Within a week, your schedule could be like this:

4:00-5:00am: Wakeup (without an alarm!), cook, workout, shower
6:00am: Leave for work (travel time)
7:00-5:30pm: Work
5:30-6:30pm: Leave for home (travel time)
6:30-8:30pm: Free time
8:30-9:00pm: Prep
9:00pm: Bed

If your work would allow it, you could eat 6 meals a day at your desk and use your lunchbreak to go on a walk. Here is an eating schedule you could start out with: (adjust as necessary, depending on when you're hungry)

5:45am: Meal 1 (quick meal right before work)
8:30am: Meal 2
11:00am: Meal 3
1:30pm: Meal 4
4:00pm: Meal 5
6:00pm: Meal 6 (stop eating within 3 hours of bedtime)

Remember (1) eat until you're full, (2) you should not be hungry after a meal, and (3) you should not feel stuffed. Don't forget that you are eating again in about 2 hours, so you only need to eat enough to stay satisfied. That may mean not eating everything on your plate, which can be hard to do because we're trained to clean off our plates. I had to adjust my portion size down 1/4 of what was recommended simply because I am not burning those kinds of calories yet and I was getting too full. Also, drink LOTS of water every day - don't ever let your water bottle leave your side!

Meal #1 is usually a cereal or oatmeal, so it's pretty quick to make (if you have a rice cooker, you can make the oatmeal automatically while you're working out and in the shower, since it takes longer). Also I prefer steel-cut oats; you can cook those ahead of time and store it pre-cooked in the fridge for a good week or so.

Meal #3 is a protein shake, available in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry; there are also some more unique flavors like banana, apple-cinnamon, etc. Since I don't have a blender at work, I use a shaker bottle. Bodybuilding.com has a good "Gen 2" model that (1) fits in your car's cupholder, (2) has liquid measuring notches on the side, (3) has a secure, screw-on lid, and (4) has a strainer built-in to disintegrate your protein powder. I tried just using a thermos before but my soy protein powder is too chunky. They did the trick and only cost $1.95 (I bought a few; I use one for water, one for my protein shake, and have a couple extras in case I lose them or they break or whatever). Here's a link:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/shaker.html

Be sure to snag a coupon off here: (I think I used "whp10peroff" to get 10% off, so it was under $15 shipped for 4 bottles)

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/bodybuilding.com

Here is the link to the custom diet plan for $30:

http://www.anthonycatanzaro.com/dietplans.html

When you get it, make yourself a shopping list. First, write down all of the ingredients on a piece of paper or on your computer. Now that you have a full ingredients list with quantities next to them (ex. 1 cup, 8 ounces, etc.) and don't forget olive oil, salt, pepper, ketchup, and other seasonings and condiments. Next, write them down again but group them this time - ex. cereals, grains, meat, vegetables. If you write in down in Microsoft Word or Notepad or whatever, you can print out a new list every week to help you go shopping.

Once you have made your list, the first thing to do is to see what you have. Walk around your kitchen/pantry and check off supplies that you already have, provided you have them in sufficient quantities. For example, you may have chicken but you may have only 6oz when you really need 20oz for the week. Next, go shopping and buy everything on your list. Do not buy anything that is NOT on your list (aside from shampoo, razors, band-aids, that sort of thing - non-food items). Having a shopping list mades shopping so much faster and easier. My trick is, I wander up and down every single aisle. In addition to giving you some exercise, it ensures that you do not miss any of the ingredients on your list.

I get enough food for the rest of the week and then I keep an eye out for sales on items that I can stock up on. For example, the local store-brand Natural Peanut Butter was on sale for 2 for $4. The last couple times I've gone I've picked up a pair, so now I have a nice little supply of peanut butter so that I don't run out and don't have to shop for it every week. You can also freeze meat and most bread items; a lot of veggies are sold pre-frozen too, which can be convenient if you can't make it to the store every week.

That's pretty much it for food - Anthony's diet plan will tell you what to eat; all you have to do is take steps to follow it. Again a George Foreman grill, electric steamer, and rice cooker have helped speed up my cooking times in the morning immensely. Be sure to get some good Tupperware. The meals are pretty good so you're not going to feel like you're missing out too much, and you can definitely have a cheat day once a week if you feel like it. Personally I feel so GOOD on this new diet that I never want to get off it, lol.

As far as exercise goes, since you're in a time crunch in the morning you will have to limit it to something quick such as the PT Program or 10-15 minutes on an exercise machine, or perhaps a walk or jog outside if the weather is good. I do recommend doing some exercise in the morning because it helps you wake up and feel good during the day, instead of stiff from being in bed all night then sitting in a chair at work (or whatever you do there). You can also do some longer exercise in the evening, but don't exercise within 1 hour of bed because it will get your heart rate up and you won't be able to fall asleep easily. Again I am only doing 10 minutes per day minimum and it really does help a lot!

The bedtime was and is the hardest for me. I am down to 1-1.5 hours or less to fall asleep and it has been a real struggle. I don't like feeling like I'm giving up my free time at night, but the payoff within just a week has been tremendous. Feeling good all day is more important than surfing the new or watching a TV show for a few extra hours into the night, but it was hard for me to realize that when I was behind the power curve. Once I did it though, I never want to go back! If you're really bored while you're trying to fall asleep, get some headphones or a stereo and put on an audiobook. Listening to someone talking while you're in bed, in the dark, with your eyes closed can help lure you to sleep.

My first week going to bed early was REALLY tough. It took 3-4 hours to fall asleep and I was tempted to get up and surf the net, watch TV, or turn on the light to read a book. Don't give in - within a week you will get better at it and you will start seeing amazing payoffs. Combined with a little bit of exercise (again only 10 minutes for me right now) and a good eating plan (with no eating within 2-3 hours of bedtime, no drinking within 1 hour of bedtime), things will start coming together really fast. I've felt like a completely new person this past week and it's only getting better!

Good luck!

 

[Kaido]

Day 15 Progress Log:

Arg, 9:15pm again last night! I procrastinate at night and end up running out of time; I can't get everything done by 9:00pm if I do that. I'm setting an alarm on my phone for 8:30pm; when that goes off, that means computer OFF and get to work ASAP to review my meal plan, schedule my day, lay out my clothes & towel, etc. I've also started brushing and flossing my teeth after Meal #6 at 6:00pm just so I can speed up my bedtime routine a little bit.

Change: Set phone alarm to 8:30pm to remind me to disconnect whatever activity I'm doing (this is usually surfing the net, which sucks me in and makes me lose track of time). Setting my alarm to 8:30pm will remind me to unplug, do my bedtime routine, and thus be able to be in bed by 9:00pm with LIGHTS OUT.

I've found that even going a little bit over 9:00pm affects me. I can have a fudge factor of 10 minutes or so, but beyond that my day is not as much fun as it could be if I had nailed 9:00pm or a bit earlier. Then again I am more sensitive to sleep than most people and have had a major sleep deficit since probably middle school, so sleep is incredible important to my well-being. If you can get away with 10:00pm, great, but 9:00pm is the magic number for me since I'm tired during the day.

********************

In the interest of efficiency, I'm working on specific cooking instructions for every day of the entire week, as well as a nightly prep list. All the stuff that doesn't need to be cooked in the morning (i.e. filling up my water bottle, putting some protein powder in a container to take with me, etc.) will be doing at 8:30pm. I am also writing down what needs to be set out for the morning - the George Foreman grill, steamer, rice cooker, frying pan, cutting board, chopping knife, etc.

This way my morning is more steamlined - I just have to do the actual cooking instead of finding all of the equipment and tools, and all of the little things like putting the baked chips in a container are already done from the night before. This will both give me more incentive to unplug at 8:30pm and help me go faster in the morning. I'm already doing this with my towel and clothes for the next day - instead of searching for them in the dark and in a groggy state, they're already laid out on the chair for me to grab and go.

I am also adding an eating plan with time ranges (ex. eat Meal #5 at 4:30pm, ranges between 4:00pm-5:00pm depending on my schedule and when I'm hungry) as well as a specific exercise time (6:30am) to help me nail down a routine. I've always been very resistant to routines because they make me feel trapped into doing certain things, but thinking about a routine is very different from actually doing it - since I'm the one calling the shots, I feel much more in control of my day, even though I'm tying myself down to specific times. It's a weird quirk that I have, but I've learned that it's all in my imagination - it's great when you actually do it lol.

So my Day Plan now looks like this:

1. Evening Prep List (what tools to lay out and parts of meals to prep)
2. Morning Cooking List (what to cook and in what order)
3. Eating & Exercise plan for the day

Usually cooking in the morning takes me a good hour because I'm fumbling around for things and don't get certain processes started when I should. By writing it down, I've been able to arrange the tasks in such a way that I am maximizing the efficiency of my cooking preparation (boy does that sound geeky), so instead of wasting time waiting for things to cook I can multi-task much better. For example:

Evening Prep: (I use Tupperware and Smart Spin containers)

Box baked chips
Box protein powder
Box rice cakes
Box natural peanut butter

Bottle water (for drinking during the day, put in fridge)
Bottle rice milk (for protein shake, put in fridge)

Lay out George Foreman grill
Lay out Steamer
Lay out Rice cooker
Lay out Frying pan

Lay out Tupperware (large round, long rectangle, small box for sandwich)
Lay out cutting board
Lay out chop knife
Lay out steak knife
Lay out fork
Lay out spoon

Morning Cooking List:

Plug in George Foreman grill
Heat Frying pan on medium

Rice cooker - 1/2 cup brown rice
Steamer - 1 cup cauliflower
Microwave - small red potato

George Foreman - grill chicken
Fry fish in olive oil

Make sandwich
Put all meals in Tupperware once finished (exercise while waiting for rice cooker etc.)
Make breakast and eat at 7:00am-ish
Clean everything up (appliances, tools, counters)

Eating and Exercise Plan:

6:00am-ish: Cook and exercise (6:30pm-ish)
7:00am: Meal #1
9:00am: Meal #2 (8:30-9:30am)
12:00pm: Meal #3 (11:30-12:30pm)
1:30pm: Meal #4 (1:00-2:00pm)
4:30pm: Meal #5 (4:00-5:00pm)
6:00pm: Meal #6 (stop eating 3 hours before bed)
8:00pm: Stop drinking
8:30pm: Computer/TV off, prep for next day
9:00pm: lights out

This combined with cleaning up the appliances and tools in the morning and throwing the Tupperware and Smart Spin containers in the dishwasher in the evening will make things go really smoothly. I figure if I'm going to be following this for the rest of my life, I should get my act together and make it efficient. Also, I can use this as an aid to help me develop a better routine in the mornings and evenings. So the advantages of doing this are:

1. The kitchen is ALWAYS clean (no big messes to clean up EVER!)
2. Obstacle-free mornings thanks to the Evening Prep
3. Speedy morning cooking thanks to the Cooking List
4. I know exactly what and when to eat and exercise during the day

No more wondering, no more trying to put things together on the spot. I've removed the hassle!

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I walked the 3.5 mile circuit by my house again. My blister flared up and my left heel started hurting; I think it may be time to look at some new sneakers too!

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I made a huge mistake and procrastinated on my taxes. This has resulted in my bedtime being completely shot. If I make it to bed by 12:30am, I'll be happy. Obviously health does not equal success, lol. I'm pretty ticked off that I let myself ignore my problem until the last minute (taxes confuse me and I haven't had much energy previously to attack them, blah blah blah excuses excuses) and now it has come back to bite me. I'll get my taxes in but I've lost 3+ hours of sleep thanks to my poor performance...never again...

Oh well. We're here to learn how to grow up. The next habit I am adopting is simple: "Work first, play later." I've made it a habit to put play first and told myself I'd do my work later; "later" never comes. It's a mental excuse supplemented by a sub-concious elimination handoff - I tell myself I'll do the work later when I'm done playing, while sub-consciously I know it's a way of making the problem disappear from my current radar. Er, in other words, I tell myself I'll do it later when what it really means is I'll never do it, but I'll make myself feel better for now by ignoring it. I eliminate the problem temporarily so that I can focus on playing. While I don't mentally recognize this because it's dealt with sub-consciously, the results are the same - I didn't get what I needed to done. In light of this problem, which has shown itself tonight in the form of staying up late due to procrastination, I am adopting a new habit as of now:

New Habit: Work first, play later

Well, one good thing did come out of the day - I'm up to 10 push-ups! It's mega hard, but I started the 4-3-2-1 countdown today. Yippie!

Day 15 complete!