Um, I guess I could have done better than “Daily Log…”
I’m here to jump on the public log train. I figure every ounce of motivation is worth it, and knowing that I’m going to be posting results here periodically will help keep me in line. I do keep a paper log, but it’s more in the details, I plan to make this a higher-level view so that I don’t lose perspective. I’m also here to sponge up any advice and criticism you folks throw my way, since there’s no one in my life that’s really a “fitness buff.”
First, the gory details.
Height: 6’2"
Weight: 225 (my scale changes readings depending on how I place my feet so this is an average…). Fat is stored all over but mostly in my lower back and gut.
Age: 28 (29 in September)
Primary Goal (i.e., the rabbit I’m currently chasing): Fat loss
How I’m achieving that: Cut the booze, monitor diet, move more. Sounds easy, huh?
My name’s Chris, and I’m a software engineer. The first thing people always ask is, “What’s the difference between a computer programmer and a software engineer?” Well, you’re only a programmer if the hardware works. We’re a research & development company, so I spend about a quarter of my time doing electrical engineer kinda stuff-- chasing down signals on circuit boards, debugging bus protocols, exciting stuff like that. The rest of the time I bang on a keyboard. What that means is I spend on the order of 40-50 hours per week in front of a computer or at a lab workbench. I’ve read the “Computer Guy” series and have started to apply much of it (especially the “Other 23 Hours” part) at work. I’m real good about not computering at home. After staring at a monitor for 8 or 10 hours at work, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer at home playing video games or something.
I’m married and have a two-year-old boy, and my wife is pregnant with another, don’t know the sex (probably won’t find out until the Big Day). I have to admit that my reasons for finally jumping on the fitness wagon are a combination of my kids and vanity. I don’t want my kids to have the “fat dad” who teaches them to surf with his shirt on. I don’t want to be that fat dad. I refuse to. In addition, I refuse to raise fat kids. If a person wants to destroy his own body, it’s one thing. Wrecking the body of a kid who doesn’t really have any say in the matter is… well, part of me thinks the parents should be criminally liable. So I’m going to get myself in line so that they have an example, and so I actually know that what I’m teaching them is correct. That’s what parenting is, when it comes right down to it.
I’d somehow managed to read T-Nation for months (if not years) and make absolutely no progress at all, thanks in part to burying myself in minutiae and spending all my time planning but never acting. On April 1 I had a mini-New-Year’s breakdown moment and went out and bought a little notebook. Since then I’ve been writing down every bite that goes in my gob, every weight I lift, and weekly measurements (obviously there’s only been time for two of those). I went to Costco and bought big bags of meat and vegetables and three dozen eggs. I did the same thing this past weekend. Sunday is cooking day (3 meals per day at work * 5 days = 15 protein sources and 15 vegetables for the week. My barbecue’s never been this busy!). Since I’m in an office/lab setting and can take breaks whenever I want, it’s actually much easier for me to eat well when I’m at work than when I’m at home. Here’s a (very) typical day. Pretty much exactly what I’ve been eating every day for the last week and a half:
7:00 - Wake up & jump in the shower
7:30 - 4 eggs with spinach or asparagus, fish oil caps
10:00 - 1/3lb turkey burger patty, stir-fry vegetable mix
12:30 - Steak, big bowl of broccoli
3:00 - Chicken breast and salad (spinach, broc, cucumber, etc.) with a balsamic vinaigrette
5:30 - Dinner with the family, varies and may be as late as 6:30 depending on the day, but I keep carbs to a minimum and make sure there’s meat involved. For example, if we make chili, I don’t sweat the beans but I skip the cornbread or tortilla chips. If we make salmon, I skip the garlic bread my wife will make. Like that. More fish oil gets downed here.
8:00 - Handful of almonds and a scoop of Metabolic Drive, maybe some sugar-free Jello.
10:00 - Bedtime. My sleep habits are worthy of a post of their own.
So that’s a pretty typical day’s food. Any major mistakes jumping out at anyone so far? At work, I stick to water and green tea, maybe a cup of coffee in the morning. At home, I like carbonated water (Perrier kind, not flavored kind) and will have a diet, caffeine-free soda once or twice a day.
A few months ago, I bought a nice squat rack and bench on craigslist for $100 (turns out the guy’s wife bought a new set of equipment “that matched hers” so he was just getting rid of it). My little brother and I split the cost of a 300lb olympic weight set and have been hitting them regularly, if not with the best planning in the world.
Here’s the thing about the lifting. After a day of work, my motivation and energy levels are shot, so I need a workout partner (the aforementioned younger brother). He’s a skinny bastard, though, so we’re trying to settle on a workout we both like that will meet both our goals-- impossible, I know, but inarguably better than doing nothing at all. I think we decided on a three-day full body split like to Waterbury’s TBThttp://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=508031 . That will give me plenty of “off days” to squeeze some extra cardio into while dealing with the whole “losing muscle” problem. I’ve been a bit of a program whore to this point (he and I actually went through about 6 weeks of ABBH prior to this, but since I considered a six-pack of beer to be “post-workout carbs,” it was less that effective), but I’m looking forward to sticking with a program for 8 or 12 weeks with a dialed in diet.
Generally speaking, I’ve been trying to just move more. Rode my bike to my grandmother’s house the other day, someplace I would have driven to just a couple weeks ago. Bike rides around here (especially on a beach cruiser) are by no means a stroll-- it’s a fairly hilly area. I’ve been making extra trips to the zoo with my son (you try pushing a 35-pound-kid-plus-stroller up that hill that runs from the pandas up to the polar bears!). Little stuff like that. We live four blocks from the beach in San Diego, so it’s not like it’s hard to find an excuse to go outside and move around. I used to scuba dive a lot, so I’m going to wait until I drop the majority of this weight, then buy a new wetsuit and get back underwater. That’s another little bit of motivation-- a 6.5mil wetsuit runs about $400+ so it’ll be a little material reward for myself come September or so.
The booze hasn’t been as big an issue as I thought it would be. I should clarify that I love beer. I brew beer, I try every beer I can get my hands on, I go to beer tastings and seminars. I could easily go through a case and a half over the course of a Friday-Saturday-Sunday. I also haven’t had one since April 1. Turns out that knowing I’ll have to write it down in my notebook is enough to turn me off it. I don’t want to have to stare at that glaring smudge on an otherwise clean record. If I’m going to blow my streak, I don’t want to do it on a crappy Mexican lager. The only style I’m really craving lately is a good Belgian saison. Maybe a Saison DuPont or an Ommegang Hennepin (the best non-Belgian Belgian I’ve ever had). I did have a small bourbon on Tuesday night while I was out barbecuing some steaks and chicken breasts (Maker’s Mark on the rocks, for those interested), but that’s the only booze to cross my lips in a week and a half-- the longest stretch since I turned 17, probably. A bourbon on the rocks once a week is a smudge on the record I can deal with.
I was a little disappointed when, after one week, the tape measure reported no change. I know it’s a gradual process but I was hoping for something. Ah well, I’ll stick with it and just be patient. Waiting is.
You might have noticed that I didn’t really say anything about my fitness history, and that’s because I really don’t think it matters. My baseline for comparison is my body as it was April 1, not when I was 10 years younger. Suffice it to say that I wasn’t always a big tub of goo, but the collegiate and corporate world conspired against me (how’s that for blame shifting!).
If anyone actually made it through all that, thank you. Talking helps me focus and organize. Even at work, I sometimes have to think at talking speed so I don’t blow right past what’s important and go off into the weeds. Any criticism, advice or comments are more than welcome. This whole body transformation thing is something I don’t have a lot of experience in, and I’m never beyond accepting advice when it’s offered.
