Dave's Journal: Getting in Shape

[Instan00dles]

how are you liking that meal plan? I am in need of something where my meals are planned so I dont go out and buy pizza or something like that.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Instan00dles
how are you liking that meal plan? I am in need of something where my meals are planned so I dont go out and buy pizza or something like that.

From first post:

I'm not interested in a diet (short-term) so much as a healthy lifestyle (long-term). After doing some research online, I found a personal trainer named Anthony Catanzaro who sells customized diet plans online for $30. You list your allergies and other foods you avoid and he works out a 7-day rotating menu for you, with 6 meals a day. The meals are easy to make and the supplies are readily available at a local grocery store. It is clear, specific, and easy to follow. Because it is a rotating diet, you can re-use it every week for the rest of your life and never get sick of the food and never have to design your own foods in, if you choose to do so. Here's a link:

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

I was interested in his system for several reasons. I had read some of his articles on body building websites. He doesn't promote the use of drugs or supplements; instead he focuses on natural foods - animals, vegetables, grains, and fruits. Pretty much he was the only guy I found who did that and who actually had a product that laid out exactly what meals to eat every day. It's all there, step-by-step, all you have to do is follow it. Rather than starving yourself or eating yucky food, you eat normal stuff, just healthier versions - whole wheat instead of white, fiberous cereal instead of sugar bombs, etc. I've decided to try this menu for 6 weeks to see if a healthy diet really impacts me the way I think it will.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Instan00dles
how are you liking that meal plan? I am in need of something where my meals are planned so I dont go out and buy pizza or something like that.

Love it! Having a meal plan is great for exactly that reason...you have a fallback so you don't cave. Plus, I haven't been hungry in over a month and a half. That sounds funny, but if you think about it, hungry -> craving -> junk food. I've found that cravings are MUCH easier to control when you're not hungry. For example, the other day after I got back from my trip, I hadn't gone shopping yet and I was out and about and picked up some fast food instead of going to the store. Boy was that a bad decision, haha. End result was that I didn't feel good; I caved because I didn't have a sandwich or something with me. So yeah, I'd highly recommend getting a meal plan. Even if you don't plan on sticking with it forever, it gives you that discipline you initially need to make a change and learn the ins and outs of creating a healthy meal plan.

 

[Kaido]

Went on an hour ride today with my biking buddy and covered about 12 miles. I could hardly walk after that, lol. I don't know how I'm going to handle brick training at the end of the summer! New York is MUCH different from Connecticut...my 11-mile ride in NYC felt like nothing because it was all flat. The hills here in CT will kill you! :Q

I discovered the nation's oldest running ferry, between Glastonbury and Rocky Hill, which has been running since 1655. It's only a dollar to ride...when I've built up my endurance I'll go for a ride and check out the roads on the other side of the river

I'll have to remember to bring my camera and take some pictures along the way, there's a lot of picturesque places out in the countryside - old barnes and tractors, fields, houses from hundreds of years ago, etc.

 

[Kaido]

Went on a quick ride today and got my wife re-acquainted with the bike. She hasn't ridden since she was a kid, but she did pretty well! My sister went out for a ride with me the other day and is going to go out a few times a week, and my neighbor came over today and told me how he used to ride, so he might join me too. Looks like I have my Ironman Training Squad for the summer :thumbsup:

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Went on a quick ride today and got my wife re-acquainted with the bike. She hasn't ridden since she was a kid, but she did pretty well! My sister went out for a ride with me the other day and is going to go out a few times a week, and my neighbor came over today and told me how he used to ride, so he might join me too. Looks like I have my Ironman Training Squad for the summer :thumbsup:

That's awesome! GO GO GO!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

Originally posted by: Kaido
Went on a quick ride today and got my wife re-acquainted with the bike. She hasn't ridden since she was a kid, but she did pretty well! My sister went out for a ride with me the other day and is going to go out a few times a week, and my neighbor came over today and told me how he used to ride, so he might join me too. Looks like I have my Ironman Training Squad for the summer :thumbsup:

That's awesome! GO GO GO!

The hills are killing me and I'm sure will continue to do so all summer, but with each ride I feel less and less like puking after, so that's encouraging When I started in April, just 5 minutes on my exercise bike made me completely sick and almost lose my lunch, so I'm definitely making progress here! I am still fighting to go from a total couch potato to a lean, mean Ironman machine, but I've seen some good gains in the past couple months. Here is my current plan:

1. Lose weight
2. Bulking
3. Cutting
4. Maintenance

That way I can get the figure that I want and then work on endurance. So I've got 25 pounds to go, then I'll get myself a nice little weight set and build up these scrawny arms, cut off the excess body fat and get myself some six-pack abs, and then just maintain it through diet and exercise and start doing more endurance training for Ironman. Pretty simple and easy to follow, like anything else it's simple a matter of doing it. I am learning how to "do things" slowly but surely, so I'm pretty confidant that I'll be able to follow through on this. Baby steps coupled with a solid plan = success!

 

[Kaido]

Almost completed a quarter-century today, but it got dark outside haha. Went on a bike trail that does about 30 miles in a loop. I was planning on doing the whole thing, but at about mile 23-24 it got pitch black. We had ourselves a little adventure...my buddy went off full-tilt to make it to the car before dark and I kept up my ~13mph pace on the trail until it got so dark I literally couldn't see anything ahead of me. I found a nearby school to wait for the pickup, and as I was giving directions (yay for Google Maps on the iPhone!) my buddy's phone died. So it took awhile to get ahold of each other since it was kind of out in the middle of nowhere and I ended up getting home a few hours later than I expected. Lesson learned: always carry a mini-flashlight, and invest in some headlights for the bike! haha

I made us a batch of Vegan energy bars from the Thrive Diet book and had them along with water every 30 minutes or so on the ride. They worked GREAT - tasted good and light, no headaches, no stomach or other issues. Way better than the store-bought stuff. Kept my energy level pretty much the same the whole ride, aside from the normal drop as time went on (which was surprisingly not much!). So 23 miles later, I'm still feeling pretty good! It's a miracle! lol

Boy am I gonna sleep well tonight

 

[NoStateofMind]

Great job Kaido! Been a while since your last post, where are ya?

 

[MegaVovaN]

Indeed, why no updates for 12 days? Don't tell me you suck and quit.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
Great job Kaido! Been a while since your last post, where are ya?

2 jobs + side projects. My Ironman training is actually on hold until I finish this big project I'm working on, so I haven't been long-distance biking for a couple weeks. Also, after reading about cardio, I've decided to bump it up to 6 days a week of 45 minutes on my exercise bike or elliptical. I'm still saving up for a treadmill. So my new summer system is as follows:

1. 6 meals a day
2. 9pm bedtime
3. 45 minutes cardio, 6 days a week

I'll start my new journal on Monday. I was going to do a blog, but I just haven't gotten around to it. I'm working really late tonight, hopefully I should have the bulk of this project wrapped up by tomorrow evening. Life really stinks without enough sleep. Really really really stinks. I believe that I have some sort of sleeping disorder or problem related to staying up late; my body just can't handle it, even if I get 8 or 9 hours of sleep the next day. Just doesn't work for me. 9pm or bust. I've even gone to bed between 8-9pm some nights. It's so easy to fall back into the trap of "mind fog" from lack of sleep/poor diet/lack of exercise, but all I have to do is step on the scale, see that I'm still at 200 pounds, and my motivation level goes right back up. Progress is such a huge motivation...going from 220 to 200 has really helped me want to keep going.

Regular updates starting next Monday, I'll post a link to the new thread

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Indeed, why no updates for 12 days? Don't tell me you suck and quit.

No, I just keep telling myself I'll make it official and do a blog, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll see if I can set one up over the weekend. I'm going hardcore on the last 25 pounds this summer - 45 minutes of cardio, 6 days a week. From what I've read, that much that often is OK. I got my Starting Strength book and I've been reading up in that, as well as doing a lot of reading in my Skinny Guy e-book and on the Six Pack Now website. I think that I am going to go the Skinny Guy route to bulk up initially since I have pretty skinny arms. I'm basically a skinny guy with a gut, and the gut has been significantly reduced so now I'm just a skinny guy.

Also, I picked up a mountain bike. I was going to get mine fixed, but my brother offered his slightly-used model to me for $100, and it would have cost more than that to get mine fixed, so I went for it. It's actually a nicer model than mine and even has front shocks, so I'm excited to put it to good use. I have a buddy who likes to go mountain biking (he's a bit into the crazy stuff like 3-4 foot drops and whatnot) that I'll have to go try out some trails with. My wife has been biking with me a few times; her asthma is pretty bad so she can only make it around the block right now, but it's a start. It's nice having two working bikes because she can go with me and can use the more comfortable mountain bike to ride on.