Where The Hell Have I Been

Honestly?

Being lazy. Trade shows. Work. A little bit of exercise for fun, but I'm not writing it all down here. 

I discovered that not buying groceries in advance makes the planned menu harder to follow, especially at first. And traveling makes it incredibly hard. And being a good sport at trade shows while not drinking is even harder. 

That being said, I did drop weight. 209 lbs, and bodyfat down to 21%. 

To be continued. 

Portlandia

Just got home from four days of travel in Portland for a trade show. As you can imagine, its hard to stick to diet while traveling, even more so when you have to stay in hotels and eat out. But I did ok.  I ran for three of the days.  But I also had several stumbles - like the Bavarian Creme doughnut from Voodoo Doughnuts.  And I'm sure this is a low-balled food diary.  Here it all is:

Monday:
3 cups of coffee
Bagel with cream cheese and lox
Pad Prik King with Beef
Rice

Total Calories In - 1246 1446

Run - 3.7 miles, 34 minutes, about 650 calories

Dinner is definitely low-balled here - we actually split a plate of Pad Prik King, Green papaya salad, and a coconut curry with chicken, and I'm sure the portions I ate are listed smaller than what I think most restaurant provide. So I added 30% to dinner to come up with the new number above.

Tuesday
Coffee
Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich from Starbucks
Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap
Small bag of Potato Chips
1 1/2 Sushi Rolls
about 7 pieces of Nigiri

Total calories in - 1854

Run - 2 miles, 20 minutes, 340 calories

Wednesday
Coffee
Espresso
Ham and cheese sandwich
Small bag of potato chips
Glass of red wine
Grilled snapper with vegetables and refried beans
Chips and salsa
Powerbar
Clif Bar - White Chocolate Macademia Nut

Total Calories In - 1999

Thursday
2 cups of coffee
Espresso
Chicken Katsu Bento Bowl
Roasted Turkey Breast with provolone, cheese, tomato and mustard
Luna Bar - Chocolate Peppermint Stick
Bavarian Creme Doughnut
2 mandarin oranges
2 hard boiled eggs
A handful of olives

Total calories in - 1444

Run - 4.7 miles, 51 minutes, 700 calories

Scale

I'm counting on three weeks of data before I'm claiming success. Today's measurements aren't looking good.  Here they are:

Weight: 213 pounds
Bodyfat: 23%
Water: 52.4 %
Lean Body Mass: 159 pounds
Basal Metabolic Rate: 2187 calories

Its hard not to get frustrated by this, but I'm reminding myself that it will take three solid weeks to see a trend, I just started this 4 days ago, and I just started being active again two days ago.

Breath.

Patience.

Go DO SOMETHING.

Calories In

Cup of coffee

Two demi's of turkish coffee

Oatmeal with raisins and almonds (see below)

Pho

Grilled Salmon with Rice and Broccoli

Pear

This was a definite learning experience.  I was worried that I was skipping too much, and it turns out that the above list equals about 2300 calories.  Shit, that's way too much - 800 calories above my 1500 limit.  It's the Oatmeals fault - the proportions for the raisins (3/4 cup) and nuts (1/2), made this whole thing add up to over 1000 calories.  I'm going to cut both back to 1/4 of a cup in the future.

The only saving grace was today's activity, creating a net difference of 1400 calories.  But my goal is to create a true caloric deficit, and I'm failing at that right now.  At this rate, I'm barely loosing any weight!

Calories In:  2300

Activity

Trail running again, this time with the missus. 5.6 miles, 630' gained and descended, in 71 minutes (12:50/mile).  About 900 calories burned.

Calories In

Coffee
Eggs and Broccoli scramble
Yogurt and strawberries
Lune Bar Blueberry Bliss
Lentil Bean Soup
Toast & jam
Seaweed Salad
Nigiri - 7 pieces
Sushi Roll - 1 1/4

Notes:  Well, went over my 1500 calorie goal on account of a dinner date with my wife and friends.  But I'm proud that I didn't drink any alcohol (which I was entitled to for a Saturday night).  And at least my run (est. 550 calories), canceled it out, making for a net zero.  Sigh.

Activity

SUCCESS

Trail ran 3.5 miles, climbed/descended 331', in 37:20 (a 10:40 average pace).

Estimated calories out - 500.

Food

I did accomplish something, at least with organizing myself. I have my menu and recipes posted on the fridge, right alongside the cutting-board counter. So I can see immediately what I get for the day, look ahead, and decide what needs to be done for groceries. Maybe I'll post pictures of it later.

Activity - FAILURE

I've already broken one of my own rules, and I need to address this immediately.  For the first two days - I haven't done a gods-damned thing. Haven't run, haven't gone to the gym, haven't gone skiing. I suck.

Calorie Count

And for today;

Celery and Peanut Butter
Coffee, 1 cup
Double espresso
Limonata
Pulled Pork Burrito (1/2)
Macchiato
Fish, rice, and broccoli
Pear

Total Calories: 1415

A little explanation seems to be in order. I'm working on launching a new website for my personal business, and I had a working lunch with an old friend and code writer / designer who does freelance work and some website hosting on the side. So I took him out to lunch to his favorite near-work place. I'm kind of pleased that my restraint at lunch worked out.

Calories Count

1 cup of coffee
2 tablespoons of olives
3 egg vegetable omelet
1 turkey sandwich
1 apple
Tenderloin steak with potatoes and chard
1 cup of apple cider
1 cup of strawberries

Total Calories:  1307

Food

So I'm not going to be a food nazi, but I'm going to crack down on my food portions, count calories, and eliminate a few things. Here are my ideas:

1. No alchohol, no sugar. Edit, 3 January. I just learned this morning that the Racing Weight guide allows for a bit of ETOH and sugar. Alcohol in the form of wine, once to three times a week (depending on activity levels), and sugar in the form of a little bit of jam, again once to four times a week. Fitzgerald's rational is 1) wine is good for you 2) everything in moderation and 3) if you get to have limited quantities of it, you're less likely to binge.

2. Count calories.
So my basal metabolic rate is approximately 2200 calories. I'm going to try to plan ahead and pick an appropriate caloric intake for the day: 3000 calories for days with 12 hours of activity (not too common mid-winter), 2500 calories for 8 hour days (more common), 2000 calories for 4 hours (more common still), and 1500 calories for days with no activities.  If I miss-estimate my activity level, I'll pay for it or get rewarded the following day.
I've loaded up MyFitnessPal on my iPad to count calories, and I'll keep using Strava to track aerobic activity.

3. Cook at home as much as possible.
Eating out is one of the biggest ways to gain calories - portions tend to be bigger, sauces are more common, and eating out encourages over-eating. But I will be traveling this month (3 days in Portland, 5 days in Salt Lake City), I like taking my wife out on dates, and I personally enjoy eating out, so I have got to come up with a strategy. When I have to eat out, I'm going to adhere to my menu as much as possible, including portion sizes - even if that means having left overs. And rule #1 still applies, so no Molly Moon Ice Cream in my near future.

4. Have a menu, and keep it simple.
I'm going to use the weekly menus in Racing Weight: Quick Start as a general guide, especially in portion sizes, but I will also be switching some ingredients as I prefer (i.e. switching brown rice for white rice).  I'll have to watch and see if it changes my caloric intake.

5. Have an end date.
I won't lie - if I tried to do this for 365 days, I'd likely fall off the wagon in 10 days. But I have a really good reason to fall off of the wagon at the end of the month - a two week trip to Japan.  So my goal is to keep to this diet for the month of January, then reassess.

The Scale

At a friends recommendation, I bought a body-fat measuring scale. I won't weigh myself every day - I'm not taking the scale with me when I travel. But I will post the results here every time. And I may get compulsive about it, so sorry.

First, my stats for today:
217.4 pounds
22.1% body fat
53.2% water
161.2 pounds lean body mass
2263 calories basal metabolic rate

Over the past few weeks, this is on the high end but within an acceptable range. I've been as light as 213 pounds, and my body fat has measured as high as 23% (almost a quarter of my weight - fucking hell).

In Racing Weight: Quick Start Guide, Matt Fitgerald has a formula for determining an endurance athlete's ideal competitive weight.  Since my first goal is simply to loose body-fat, this is less important to me in the short term but will be more important in the long term, and I think its an interesting metric to have and compare against.  Here's how he gets there:

Step 1: Calculate your body fat mass
current weight x current body fat % = body fat mass
217.4 x 0.221 = 48 pounds

Step 2: Calculate you lean body mass
current weight - body fat mass = lean body mass
217.4 - 48 = 169 pounds
Note how this differs from the scale measurement? Its likely because of water mass. Because I plan on using this as a reference, not a rule-stick, I'll keep going with the process. I just need to remember my first goal - 12% body fat.

Step 3: Calculate your goal weight
100 - goal body fat = goal lean body mass %
100 - 12 = 88%
Current lean body mass / Goal lean body mass % = Goal body weight
169 / 0.88 = 192 pounds

If I substitute my scale's measurement (161 pounds) for Step 2 (169 pounds), I end up with a Goal body weight of 183 pounds (a significant difference). This does jive with my no formula, back of the envelope calculation that I wanted to reach 185 pounds. I think, for now, that I can't dwell on the Racing Weight formula and just need to create consistency in action. Time to put the computer down and go do something. And have breakfast.

The Plan

OK, I already lead an active life. I rock climb, I ski, I run, and I practice yoga (although not in the last three months).

I also travel a fair bit for work, which can put a serious crimp in my plan. This month is going to be particularly challenging. And next month, I'm going to Japan for two weeks. Oh boy.

So my plan, at first, is to simply try to keep these two simple goals for January:
1. Do something active EVERY DAY, starting today.
2. Restrict my calories dramatically, but keep my protein intake up so that I don't burn out of energy.

Introductions

I'm embarrassed about my weight. That's no earth shattering news - a lot of my fellow citizens are, and if they're not they should be. But I'm especially embarrassed because by a lot of standards I'm supposedly an athlete. I work in a physically demanding profession, routinely on the move for up to 12 hours at a time. I can, and do, run a half-marathon distance about once every two months, although my times are pathetically slow.

I'm also in my early 40's, so this may be my mid-life crisis. But I know, from my first career and training in medicine, that my metabolism is starting to slow down and I can't keep eating like someone 20 years my junior. Or drink.

And I look around at my co-workers - most of whom are younger, but quite a few are my age or older - and realize that on the bell-curve of fitness, I'm on the far left side of weak, and a lot of that weakness can be attributed to the approximately 30 pounds of extra fat I'm lugging around every time I go for a run or head out to work. Admitting that number makes me cringe.

My cringing - and embarrassment - is why, for now, this is going to remain anonymous, and for the first six to eight weeks remain comment free. "Loosing weight" is the No. 1 promise for New Year's resolution, and the least likely to be achieved. But I'm going to document everything, right here. To be accountable, at least to myself.

My goal: 12% body fat.