End of February review, March challenge

March 1, 2015 epicureasian

Feb 16-Feb 28 Challenge goals:

SL5x5 3x weekly: check
5×20 pushups daily: check
3×5 assisted pullups daily: check
10k steps on non-lift days: inconsistent due to weather restrictions
Calorie plan 1221 kcal non-lift, 1526 kcal lift: first week did great, 2nd week went off plan.

Mar 1-Mar 15 Challenge goals:

21 day challenge review…and the next challenge

January 31, 2015 epicureasian

Upon reflection, cleaning up the 21 day diet of processed and mostly-industrialized foods didn’t gain me much (I ended the challenge with a 3 day binge). My hormones kicked in during the last week and my skin began its dreaded breakout cycle. Avoiding added sugars only lessened the severity to one or two patches, but it’s annoying nevertheless.

What was beneficial was again the eye opening revelation about some of the junk that goes into store-bought food. Preservatives, industrialized seed oils, high fructose corn syrups, and gluten ingredients are in there to cheapen the quality of the final product and negate any nutritional benefits that food might have. In cases where individuals are particularly sensitive, these fake ingredients can be harmful. My man, who washed out in one week, was enjoying some normal blood sugar readings. When you’re diabetic, maintaining glucose levels are absolutely important.

Jan 31 marked the end of my 5 assisted pullups daily. I’ve been doing 1 set every morning to gauge my upper/core strength. While I switched to a new set of bands for the latter half of the month, I realize I still have a long way to go. And dropping some poundage will hopefully aid in that endeavor.

Feb 1 to Feb 15 challenge goals:

Stick to a calorie plan: 1221 kcal non-lift, 1526 kcal lift. with 1 free-feed day a week, and Feb 14 free day
100 pushups daily
2×5 assisted pullups daily

In addition, I am sticking to my 3x weekly StrongLifts sessions.

Fitness

7 down, 14 to go

January 9, 2015 epicureasian

I successfully achieved 7 days good, healthy eating this past Thursday. My man celebrated his 7th on Friday, due to a error reading labels early on.

Takeaways from the first 7 days:

1) Little to no rosacea. Any redness on my cheeks have pretty much disappeared. (But some breakouts are still occurring, which I’m attributing to hormonal changes.)

2) Dropped the 5 extra lbs of holiday weight that I gained in December. I’m back to my pre-holiday weight, holding at the 145# mark.

3) Hewing close to my calorie cap. Yes, it’s only a number but it’s getting me where I need to go. I’m working on my macro goals and starting to plan and log my meals ahead of time.

4) Spent more time shopping at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and discovered a wealth of cool snacks and foods. Grass fed and pastured products at TJ’s? Heck yeah!

5) Spent more time reading nutrition labels and researching different additives and ingredients. Definitely learned to stay away from industrial and seed oils, sugars and many of its various forms, embraced more raw foods, and got more selective our current “artificial” sweetener, i.e. stevia.

6) While nearly most of December was spent dining out, the first 7 days was conspicuously marked by eating in. Cooked lots of food, ate lots of fruits and vegetables.

7) Job stress and life stress are major contributors to cravings. When those cravings aren’t satisfied; people get cranky. Trying to get my mate to recognize that when the “meenies” hit, recognize it and do something about it (create new coping mechanisms). For me, I’ve been diverting my energy to exercise and shopping!

8) More sleep!

9) Getting a chance to catch up on my book reading.

10) Took the StrongLifts Android app for a whirl. So far so good–but what’s with all the annoying pay-for-addons crap??

11) Added a new goal to my 2015 objectives: lose 15# in 15 weeks (130-135 by mid-April). I think it’s doable!

Fitness

Hello 2015 and a 21 Day Challenge

January 2, 2015 epicureasian

My man and I decided to launch the new year with a 21 day Primal challenge/system reboot of sorts. In our dietary choices, we’re ditching sugars and processed grains and consuming whole foods like meats and vegetables.

There’s a lot of Paleo-style clean eating challenges out there, and of course, lots of questions about what’s allowed and not. I’m not a fan of plans that make you neurotic/anxious about what you put in your mouth, and over-think your meal choices, so our “primal” challenge isn’t probably going to adhere to the letter of the stricter challenges. For example, we’re not doing Whole30, because frankly that protocol is beneficial for folks that have yet to determine their sensitivities and immunologies to certain food groups.

I’d like to think I’ve discovered most of the foods/consumables that my body rejects or doesn’t react very well to. Although, I can’t say the same for my man; the major reject on his list will have to be sugars, since he’s diabetic and needs to control his blood sugar.

To summarize, here’s the 21-Day Challenge In 30 Seconds:

Eat real food.
Avoid sugar, grains, unhealthy fats, beans/legumes.
Align your carb intake with your weight goals and activity levels.
Move frequently at a slow pace: Get between 2-5 hours per week of moderate aerobic exercise.
Lift heavy things: Conduct 1-3 brief, intense sessions of full-body functional movements.
Sprint: Go “all out” once a week.
Get 8 hours of sleep every night.
Get 15 minutes of direct sun exposure each day.
Play! Find time to let go, disconnect, unwind and have fun each day.