The beginning of the year part of my goal was to work on my fitness level, and until recently I had done very little to get moving on it. I hemmed and hawed, I made excuses. It wasn't that I did not want to lose the weight, it's that in large part I did not want to give up some of the awesome Texas food that I was indulging in. Yes, I know it was wrong, but Tex Mex, BBQ, Lobster Rolls, there was so much I knew I'd be giving up, and honestly I kept making excuses to not give it up. Well, finally excuses are over.
In mid-May I realized that I hated to work on the treadmill, but that I needed Cardio work, and I needed to do some weight work, just to get into a semblance of shape. I was not looking to build muscle mass, just get fit, and I ended up picking up a used Bowflex Xtreme SE, and a Schwinn 230 Recumbent Bike.
For now the workout schedule is fairly easy, 30 minutes, three times a week on the bike, followed up with 30 minutes do a full body work out on the bowflex. My plan is to keep it this way until I start upping my fitness level, and then I'll add a couple of days with the bike, as well as increasing the time on it, and then adding a day or two to my workout, and spend different days working different parts of my body. It's a bit of a ramp up, but I'm confident that I'm doing the right thing, and this is a big step in the right direction. No more excuses now not to work out.
Dieting:
Working out is only part of the equation, getting my eating habits back on track is the other key component to what I'm trying to do. I'd made a false start earlier in the year with some shakes, but with my travel it just was not working out, I needed something simple, and that I could replicate on while I was traveling for work.
Right now, I'm a 1500 calorie a day diet, which is pretty nuts, and every two weeks I'll drop it, down to 1400, then for the final two weeks to 1300 calories. At that point, I'm human, I'll take a week break, and eat more normally, go out, hit some of the things that I miss, I won't go crazy, but I need the cheat week, and then I'll reset and start all over again and repeat until I'm near the weight that I want to be. So what does a 1500 calorie a day diet look like?
Breakfast:
1 Cup of Cereal (Basic 4)
.5 Cup of Milk
.5 Cup of Orange Juice
300 Calories
Lunch:
2 Pieces of Wheat Toast
8 slices of chicken
1 slice of low fat cheese
1 tsp butter
300 calories
Dinner:
A Healthy Choice Lasagna TV Dinner
2 Slices of Wheat Toast
1 tsp of butter
1 Glass of Milk
500 Calories
4 Snacks:
1 Bannana
1 Cup of Low Fat Yogurt
1 Bag Popcorn
All 100 Calories Each, 4 Total.
16 cups of Water
That's it, that's what I'm eating. It's the diet that is listed in the Bowflex manual, but I'd read in a few other places. It's a high carb diet (60% of calories come from carbs) and should help me lose maximum weight. Despite the Bowflex claims, I'm going to be happy with 10-12 pounds a month, last time I did this and just counted calories, I lost about 10 pounds a month, for five months. I think the weight, and fitness focus will help, but I also think that helps build some muscle, and muscle is heavier than fat. It's a good trade off, and I think my overall fitness level will go up quite a bit over the next 5-6 months.
Last time I did this, I was on a treadmill every single day for 5 months, I blew my descending calorie goal once in 5 months, and when I finally hit a wall, I crashed, it was way too easy to fall off the wagon. I'm not going to make the same mistakes this time. I'm going to let my body rest a little between workouts, I'm going to take little diet breaks (not ridiculous, within reason) and I'm going to love how it makes me feel. I already love how I feel after a workout, it makes me feel ready to dig into a day.
Shooting in 95 degree heat is going to be a chore, but I'm hydrated, and will continue to be that way, and I'll be better prepared to deal with some of the physical challenges of the sport. I think it will also help me fight the debilitating mental effects of being out there for a long day.
Motivation is high, and at the end of the year, I really hope to have dropped 50-60 pounds, and I really believe that will help my shooting game as well.
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