Been taking it easy over the winter here, but March 1st is my traditional game to get off my @ss. Think that comes from years of running where from Nov-Feb the outdoor activities are limited here in the northeast.
Body Fat measurements this morning: ab/chest/thigh -> 20/8/8 mm -> 12.4% body fat at 150 lb.
Also want to shout out to a cubemate who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Check out her blog here:
Heather's Update Spot. Wishing her the best thru the start of this difficult journey.
01 March 2011
29 December 2010
Making Strides
Ok, not quite the success with the super strict December challenge, but the worst has been a few more nuts and more dark chocolate than usual. Also interesting is how much caffeine that chocolate has. The stuff keeps me up at nite making it tough to get to sleep. Yet another reason to dial that back. But overall, been a little better than average all considered.
Knee rehab coming along. Did some light squats yesterday along with some leg presses and lunges. Muscles were limiting factor as they have not seen those exercises in 5 months. Feeling it today, but still erring on the conservative side.
Also, before getting back into sprints, been doing some easy treadmill work. Mainly consisting of 0.25 mile walk at 4.0 mph + 0.50 run at 6.0 mph + 0.25 walk at 4.0 mph. Been expanding the running section time each time.
What's more interesting / challenging is transitioning to running solely with the vibrams five fingers. Been tough transitioning from the heel striker slap to ball/instep strike. Think I am finally getting the hang of it. Yesterday's effort definitely felt more natural landing on the mid-foot and ball. And the sound of the strike on the treadmill was more like a THOCK THOCK THOCK as opposed to previous heel striking SLAP SLAP SLAP. Feeling the effort much more in the calves than the quads.
Knee rehab coming along. Did some light squats yesterday along with some leg presses and lunges. Muscles were limiting factor as they have not seen those exercises in 5 months. Feeling it today, but still erring on the conservative side.
Also, before getting back into sprints, been doing some easy treadmill work. Mainly consisting of 0.25 mile walk at 4.0 mph + 0.50 run at 6.0 mph + 0.25 walk at 4.0 mph. Been expanding the running section time each time.
What's more interesting / challenging is transitioning to running solely with the vibrams five fingers. Been tough transitioning from the heel striker slap to ball/instep strike. Think I am finally getting the hang of it. Yesterday's effort definitely felt more natural landing on the mid-foot and ball. And the sound of the strike on the treadmill was more like a THOCK THOCK THOCK as opposed to previous heel striking SLAP SLAP SLAP. Feeling the effort much more in the calves than the quads.
20 December 2010
Food Pics, Dec Challenge Update
Pretty standard issue quiche I make about once a month. Vary the recipe a little here and there but the basics are:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Fry 4 strips of bacon. When done remove and let dry on paper towel.
Sautee half an onion and some mushrooms in bacon fat.
In a large bowl, add 2cups of shredded cheese, and some chopped spinach (about 4-6oz, I usually get some prepackaged stuff there)
Crumble up bacon and add to cheese and spinach.
When onions are carmalized and shrooms are done, add those to bowl: mix together.
Grease a 9" pan with butter lightly.
Then I sprinkle maybe 2-3 tablespoons of almond meal and shake pan so it sticks to sides and bottom; this makes a small but effective crust.
Add spinach/cheese/bacon/onion/shroom mix.
Then take 6-8 eggs and beat them separately.
Pour ontop of mix in pan.
Put in oven for 45-55 min until top start to turn brown.
Top with tomatos if desired and enjoy.
Beef roll up with cheese, spinach, bacon + sauteed squash:
3 lb chuck roast seasoned and awaiting braising followed by slow cook in crock pot. Didnt' take pictures of the final product but there was none left after dinner.
So, on to the December challenge. I have cut way down on fruit, nut, chocolate intake. And of course tried to avoid the Holiday pitfalls. Cant say I have been 100% compliant as a relative's wedding derailed me for a day or two, but nonetheless scale is indicated about a 4lb drop in weight and 1% drop in body fat. Calipers will tell the tale in a few weeks, but it is interesting.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Fry 4 strips of bacon. When done remove and let dry on paper towel.
Sautee half an onion and some mushrooms in bacon fat.
In a large bowl, add 2cups of shredded cheese, and some chopped spinach (about 4-6oz, I usually get some prepackaged stuff there)
Crumble up bacon and add to cheese and spinach.
When onions are carmalized and shrooms are done, add those to bowl: mix together.
Grease a 9" pan with butter lightly.
Then I sprinkle maybe 2-3 tablespoons of almond meal and shake pan so it sticks to sides and bottom; this makes a small but effective crust.
Add spinach/cheese/bacon/onion/shroom mix.
Then take 6-8 eggs and beat them separately.
Pour ontop of mix in pan.
Put in oven for 45-55 min until top start to turn brown.
Top with tomatos if desired and enjoy.
Beef roll up with cheese, spinach, bacon + sauteed squash:
3 lb chuck roast seasoned and awaiting braising followed by slow cook in crock pot. Didnt' take pictures of the final product but there was none left after dinner.
So, on to the December challenge. I have cut way down on fruit, nut, chocolate intake. And of course tried to avoid the Holiday pitfalls. Cant say I have been 100% compliant as a relative's wedding derailed me for a day or two, but nonetheless scale is indicated about a 4lb drop in weight and 1% drop in body fat. Calipers will tell the tale in a few weeks, but it is interesting.Getting back to the gym a little more often as the major crunch at work has finally passed - like a kidney stone. Doing a little bit of treadmill time and the knee is feeling good. Maybe 90% recovered; still erring on the conservative side.
03 December 2010
December Challenge
Utter madness at work over the past few months. Knee recovering well from surgery. Only been making to the gym about 1x/week and started doing about 0.5 miles of walking. Had been revisiting the old Devaney 15/8/4 protocol and had seen some gains. Been so sporadic at the gym, I am unworried about falling into a routine.
Interestingly, despite zero cardio since July (5 months now), through stricter adherance to proper diet the body fat percentage has been falling a bit. I think in October it was around 15%, November 14%, December readings 13.5%.
So made it thru Thanksgiving with minimal fallout from all the temptations. Obviously the month of December is a challenge for all. So this month I am seeing how long I can do 100% Paleo compliance. Meaning zero refined carbs and obvious sweets. I am taking a break from dark chocolate, dairy, fruits and nuts. While the latter are less non-compliant, for me the fruit and nuts seem to keep that body fat up.
Going to be very busy at work thru the end of the year, so gym time will continue to be sporadic at best. A few good food pics lurking around on the hard drive from Hawaiian vacation, so I'll post those when I get a chance.
Interestingly, despite zero cardio since July (5 months now), through stricter adherance to proper diet the body fat percentage has been falling a bit. I think in October it was around 15%, November 14%, December readings 13.5%.
So made it thru Thanksgiving with minimal fallout from all the temptations. Obviously the month of December is a challenge for all. So this month I am seeing how long I can do 100% Paleo compliance. Meaning zero refined carbs and obvious sweets. I am taking a break from dark chocolate, dairy, fruits and nuts. While the latter are less non-compliant, for me the fruit and nuts seem to keep that body fat up.
Going to be very busy at work thru the end of the year, so gym time will continue to be sporadic at best. A few good food pics lurking around on the hard drive from Hawaiian vacation, so I'll post those when I get a chance.
02 October 2010
Post Op
Ok 10/1 body fat measurements:
ab: 24 mm
chest: 12 mm
thigh: 10 mm
bf%: 15.4%
Still higher than what I'd like. I still advocate that a high percentage of fat loss etc is dependent on diet, but to get below that 10% threshold mandates a certain level of activity. So this summer was a big miss due to one thing compounding on another. Like a two week hedonistic beer guzzling vacation in May/June which rolled into insane work hours through July which rolled into knee injury and subsequent surgery.
After work calmed down, seemed like things were trending in the better direction when the knee injury occurred. Gym time was down and there were a few occassions of drifting off of the paleo reservation.
OK, so knee got scoped, and stiches come out tomorrow. Finally getting around without crutches; still hobbling at a reduced pace. Wont be doing any sprints or squats for quite some time still, but plan on getting my ass back into the gym more faithfully and clamp down on diet miscues.
Got 3 weeks til vacation in Hawaii, so have to look decent for the pics! :)
One thing I am scratching my head about is picking a exercise modality. BBS? 5x5 stronglifts? Return to Devaney 15/8/4? Huge in a hurry? Even after hearing all the arguments and trying them, I still struggle to find one that fits how I roll.
ab: 24 mm
chest: 12 mm
thigh: 10 mm
bf%: 15.4%
Still higher than what I'd like. I still advocate that a high percentage of fat loss etc is dependent on diet, but to get below that 10% threshold mandates a certain level of activity. So this summer was a big miss due to one thing compounding on another. Like a two week hedonistic beer guzzling vacation in May/June which rolled into insane work hours through July which rolled into knee injury and subsequent surgery.
After work calmed down, seemed like things were trending in the better direction when the knee injury occurred. Gym time was down and there were a few occassions of drifting off of the paleo reservation.
OK, so knee got scoped, and stiches come out tomorrow. Finally getting around without crutches; still hobbling at a reduced pace. Wont be doing any sprints or squats for quite some time still, but plan on getting my ass back into the gym more faithfully and clamp down on diet miscues.
Got 3 weeks til vacation in Hawaii, so have to look decent for the pics! :)
One thing I am scratching my head about is picking a exercise modality. BBS? 5x5 stronglifts? Return to Devaney 15/8/4? Huge in a hurry? Even after hearing all the arguments and trying them, I still struggle to find one that fits how I roll.
22 September 2010
Out of Action
Wow, been really slackin off lately on the blog. But a few changes of note.
- after getting back onto a normal working schedule, been getting to the gym more regularly. Been trying some different combinations of regimes. I like the intensity from Body by Science slow mo, but also enjoy the variety of exercises from more conventional workouts. I know that the BBS basically dictates one exercise per body part and that secondary muscles aid in hypertrophy. My stubborn desire is to work those secondary muscles as well. That said, I have been performing multiple exercises per body part. However, I have been striving to high intensity (never as high as BBS, though). Last week or two has been down time which will roll into this next week....segway
- knee getting scoped tomorrow. I think this is a result of a skiing injury about 15 years ago. The knee has steadily been getting worse and it finally popped when I was doing interval sprints in July. Convenient timing since my health care benefits at work will drastically change next year.
- Also, been much better with the diet. Not like I ever was way off the reservation. But to get back to 10% body fat from current high of 15-ish, I notice that too many nuts, beer, dark choc def keep that up. A couple of weeks of being super pure, and the tanita scale numbers have dropped.
- a couple new food pics to post once I down load them from the camera, but not available right now.
- after getting back onto a normal working schedule, been getting to the gym more regularly. Been trying some different combinations of regimes. I like the intensity from Body by Science slow mo, but also enjoy the variety of exercises from more conventional workouts. I know that the BBS basically dictates one exercise per body part and that secondary muscles aid in hypertrophy. My stubborn desire is to work those secondary muscles as well. That said, I have been performing multiple exercises per body part. However, I have been striving to high intensity (never as high as BBS, though). Last week or two has been down time which will roll into this next week....segway
- knee getting scoped tomorrow. I think this is a result of a skiing injury about 15 years ago. The knee has steadily been getting worse and it finally popped when I was doing interval sprints in July. Convenient timing since my health care benefits at work will drastically change next year.
- Also, been much better with the diet. Not like I ever was way off the reservation. But to get back to 10% body fat from current high of 15-ish, I notice that too many nuts, beer, dark choc def keep that up. A couple of weeks of being super pure, and the tanita scale numbers have dropped.
- a couple new food pics to post once I down load them from the camera, but not available right now.
07 September 2010
Updates
Ok, been slacking posting updates for the last month or so. So standard food p*rn pics for those who care:
Ordered this salad at Pizzaria Uno of all places, but duplicated it myself the other night. Consists of spinach salad, watermelon spears, blueberries, red onion, goat cheese, walnuts and a splash of evoo. Top with balsamic if desired = fantastic.
Finally picked up some real farm bacon from my favorite spot. Halfway through the 4 lb order. Interestingly, the jar of bacon grease has contributions from store bought bacon (bottom) and the more naturally raised pig (top). Interesting stratification. Draw your own conclusion.
Paleo scramble with roasted cauli. Grass fed beef, bacon, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms. Quick, filling, satisfying.
Other updates. Knee outlook not good. "significant" tear most likely means surgery within the next month. Actually it is an old injury that has just got worse and worse. Still trying to get to the gym several times per week.
One of the interesting parts is that since I am unable to do really any cardio exercise, i will have to rely solely on proper diet to drift back to my usual 150-ish weight and back to single digit body fat numbers. Stay tuned.
Ordered this salad at Pizzaria Uno of all places, but duplicated it myself the other night. Consists of spinach salad, watermelon spears, blueberries, red onion, goat cheese, walnuts and a splash of evoo. Top with balsamic if desired = fantastic.
Finally picked up some real farm bacon from my favorite spot. Halfway through the 4 lb order. Interestingly, the jar of bacon grease has contributions from store bought bacon (bottom) and the more naturally raised pig (top). Interesting stratification. Draw your own conclusion.
Paleo scramble with roasted cauli. Grass fed beef, bacon, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms. Quick, filling, satisfying.
Other updates. Knee outlook not good. "significant" tear most likely means surgery within the next month. Actually it is an old injury that has just got worse and worse. Still trying to get to the gym several times per week.One of the interesting parts is that since I am unable to do really any cardio exercise, i will have to rely solely on proper diet to drift back to my usual 150-ish weight and back to single digit body fat numbers. Stay tuned.
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