I’m still working with an excellent trainer, named Kirstyn and she wants me to try something new which she once explained will happen in a three-month program she’s trying to test. She believes in only weight training for the first month. This will help your body build muscle, which helps burn more fat. She doesn’t favor the thought too much cardio during this time since it can potentially decrease muscle as your body may tap into some of your muscle stores while doing cardio if you aren’t properly fueled beforehand. She said she thinks cardio should not be introduced until the second month, after a person has been able to put on muscle. In a way, it’s too bad I’m training for the Honolulu Marathon at this point in time, since her plan sounds pretty interesting, but there’s no way I can cut out all my cardio and hope to complete the marathon. My longest run of 2012 was last Saturday, a 12.5 miler. That distance will increase to about 18 miles max in October, then I’ll taper down before the Honolulu marathon in December.
I’m trying out a modified version of Kirstyn’s plan by doing four weight training workouts (PT) a week, instead of two. Previously, I was doing four days of cardio, and two of PT, but now it’s reversing.. or I find myself having days where I do both. I work on four major muscle groups during the first two weeks, and by the third week, I should be doing five PT workouts a week. With my modifications, I’ll end up doing at least one long run on the weekend, and try to squeeze in a couple other runs throughout the week. She had told me I can totally rest as far as she is concerned for three days in the week after doing four of PT, but knows I’ll probably run since I’m training for the marathon.
A Photo from a long run I did recently:
I feel like I’m always at work, or working out. I’m not where I want to be physically, so I accept that I’ve got to put in the work to reverse years of not paying attention to nutrition and exercise. This is a lifestyle change that will hopefully mellow-out a little bit once I’m in maintenance mode as opposed to weight-loss and muscle building mode. It’s doable.
I count calories, total carbs, fat, and protein in about everything I eat whenever possible. It’s rare that I eat bread, cakes, cookies, white rice or pastries these days. I don’t really miss them much. When I eat out, I try to order foods that are simple… Salmon, sashimi, soba, steak with greens, chicken with greens, etc. No curries, heavy sauces, or dishes where I can’t tell what’s in them. That way I can look up nutritional content online and log what I’ve eaten. I’m getting pretty good at judging food quantities in ounces since I weight a lot of my own food at home.
Dieting’s the worst in social situations when I feel pressure to eat food I wouldn’t normally. A couple weeks ago, I went to lunch at a Thai restaurant, and the person I went with wanted to eat family-style and share all dishes… he ordered green papaya salad, a noodle dish, sticky rice, and a curry dish. I’m sure the curry was really rich, but I had no idea exactly what was in it, and the noodles and white sticky rice were nothing but empty carbs, so it was way out of my comfort zone, but I ate it out of politeness, and also a desire to not be a downer. Argh. Those situations are hard for me. I’m sure this person would have understood if I’d explained my diet, but I didn’t say anything. Diet has been the biggest obstacle in my weight-loss. I cheat on my diet a lot. I know they say I can have one cheat day, a week, but it ends up being two or more.
I’ve started curbing my meat consumption. I bought Sun Warrior vegetarian protein powder instead of the whey protein I’d started out with. The Sun Warrior chocolate tastes kinda malty, like an ovaltiney flavor. I felt affected by Dr. Terry Shintani’s lecture I attended recently, and the documentary, “Forks Over Knives,” where connections between cancer and animal protein sources are strongly referenced throughout.
Here’s some video of Dr. Terry Shintani I found on YouTube:
Hopefully, all these changes help me beat the heart disease and cancer prevalent in my family. I do feel better these days – more confident in my abilities strength-wise, and happier that I’ve begun to think more about the food I put into my body. I wish good health on everyone. It really is your most valuable asset.