What a difference a day (or 3 weeks) makes...

WOO!!!  Guess who is back?!

This guy! Well, not Leo, but ME!  Fat-Man-DO!

That's right! It's time to get back in the saddle and hit the blogosphere with my workout missives!

I needed to take some time off. Well, that's not entirely true. You NEVER need to take time off from being healthy and whatnot... but I was in a bad headspace for a while and I needed a reset so to speak.

So now, after nearly 3 weeks of inactivity and a REALLY poor diet of candy, carbs, and and more carbs.... with a side of carbs and a healthy sprinkling of carb-related sprinkles... I'm ready to get back out there and do the thing!

Let's just call it what it is - I was being lazy for a few weeks and enjoying the sweet, sweet reward of instant gratification through eating.

Always easier said than done, I know... but still. This time I have a new workout partner... my lovely wife. (Seen here eating some noodles.) She's decided to give it a go and we will be starting a new journey together tomorrow morning at 6:00am.

I'm not actually sure when the last time is that she was awake at 6:00am... but we're doing this! (She is not a morning person... but I love her anyway)

I will not be relying on a scale for this. I no longer care what I weigh... more or less. I just know that I want to FEEL better... and my body should be able to do that one way or another. Honestly - I feel pretty freaking great right now. I've been sleeping, more or less, well for the last few weeks. My diet hasn't been AS bad as I've let on above.  I have had too many donuts and potato chips... but I've pretty much stuck to similar eating habits I've developed in the past 6 months. I'm going to call that a win.

Progress, for me anyway, will be tracked by improvements on certain abilities, measurements, stamina, and just how good or bad I feel overall... which, like I said before, I feel pretty great these days. Might just be the warm, spring air... but who knows.

With that, I welcome you all back to my journey!!  Wish me US luck!!

Energy!!

I feel like I am about to write some "Food Babe" bullshit post about crystals and cosmic alignment - but I assure you, this will not happen.

Ever.

Following a lackluster 2-week stint of cowering on the couch I finally made a somewhat triumphant return to the gym this week. And the energy level was good!

It's difficult to maintain that positive energy sometimes. And when you lack energy - they last thing you want to do is go strain your muscles at the gym. And I mean the cardio killed me. I had no desire, no energy and a big middle-finger for that stair-machine....

But, what can I do to get a boost on the energy?  I mean - other than energy drinks, speed, meth, and cocaine? 

Well...

• Sleep
• Clean eating
• Less (or no) alcohol 
• Eliminating stress 
• Yoga
• Crystals....Wait... No... Not this. 

Sleep - It's important... and I think we all know this. But, at the same time, we're all human and have other things to do. So, as much as we would LOVE to sleep more... sometimes that's not going to happen unless we cut some other things out of our lives. For example - I could go to bed at 10:00 instead of staying up until midnight to watch Handmaid's Tale on Hulu... but I don't WANT to...

Clean Eating - This could also be said as "balanced" eating. You need to know how much fuel your body needs... and know that that 20 Twinkies might be awesome - but it's shit. Protein, Carbs, Fat - and in the proper ratios... get your macros right. (Jazz hands!!!)

Alcohol Consumption - Well, shit. Here we are again... I wish I knew how to quit you. What?  Don't judge. I'm a bourbon guy. And a whiskey guy. And a gin guy... and tequila... probably vodka too... occasionally beer. And sometimes when I'm staying up until midnight watching Offred take on the patriarchy, I like to have some bourbon! This is my vice. My kryptonite. My final boss stage weakness... my... one vestigial crutch upon which I lean that will probably prevent me from ever being "super fit and healthy" - who knows.  All I know is that I'd probably have a much better, consistent, energy level at the gym if I maybe cut back on the bourbon.



Eliminating Stress - HAAAAA!!!!HAAAAAAA!  Seriously - if you know any person who has found found a legit way to rid their life of stress that doesn't involve millions of dollars, or lack of kids, or some phrase along the lines of "Then I quit my job" crap - I'll be all ears.

Seriously... all ears.

Yoga - Just kidding. I've tried Yoga... all it has done for me is make me want to murder people. And I think that goes against my "try to have LESS stress" thing.

My point to this rambling post is that if you're not paying attention to all of the things in your life - you can't have the energy you need to go to the gym and be a better person. I know that in 1 week of eating poorly, drinking too much, and sleeping about 3 hours a night - I gained 3-5 lbs and felt like shit. Not cool. SO, It's back to all things being in moderation, making the sacrifices needed to see/be the change I need...

Until Next Time - Stay positive, keep the energy up!

You are what you eat.

How was your weekend?

*waits for answer*

Great!

Moving on....

Let's talk about diets... and by "diet" I mean - What you eat breaks down and becomes your body. Let that sink in... you LITERALLY are what you eat.. If you eat nothing but Tacos - you're a taco. And that might actually work for some people. But eating and dieting is not a "one size fits all" kind of thing in my opinion.

So... are you "big boned"? Mediterranean? Tall and skinny? V-Shaped? High Blood pressured???  We are not all the same. Let's be honest - not all of us have the same genetic makeup. Some people have ancestors who probably ate nothing but nuts and berries... some of us might have come from a colder region and nothing but fish and seal meat!(?)... But over time and generations and more time - those groups of people would tend to make better use of their food sources. Thus - a Keto diet for an Endomorph who puts on and stores fat easily would be good... a high carb for a very athletic person who is constantly on the move would be good.

The point is - you have to see what you are, how you operate, and what you want to get out of it.  The "Everyone needs to eat _______" method of blanket statement dieting is a terrible thing.  As are most blanket statements and ideas.

I've tried to the low-fat/no-fat thing. I've tried the "eat what you want but count your calories" thing. And I've tried to standard "60/20/20 Carbs to Protein to Fat" thing... And while all of these have their merits - they didn't work for me all that well. So, after looking around and reading and then trying it out - I've found that the lower Carb intake approach works very well for me. I'm ingesting 196g of Protein every day 93g of Carbs and 83g of Fat... And Since July I have dropped inches while putting on muscle and I feel great.

You can diet or you can exercise and you'll see results... but if you "Diet AND exercise" together - you'll see even BETTER results. And in less time.

So - There ya go.

Until next time - Eat well and lift heavy things.

So... WTF is a Macro??

Buckle-up, readers... it's a long one... a little "light reading" before the weekend.

I have spent the last... 3 months or so FOREVER reading up on nutrition. Words like MACROS! and Keto! Low-Carb, high-fat, SUPER PROTEIN!!!  All get tossed around like we're in some sort of political commercial for food. From what I gather - you can basically lose weight by doing about 8,000 different things and nobody has 1 specific way of doing things - or at least no good way that they’ll all agree on. 

But the thing I've been trying to wrap my head around is the idea of:  “What the Fuck is a macro and why should I care?”

Before we dive into that - We will need to figure out a few things about ourselves first. Like - what body type am I?

This is GROSSLY oversimplified... but it'll work for now

Ectomorph - Tall and lanky, difficult to gain fat
Mesomorph - Lean, gains muscle easily
Endomorph - Big, straight bodied/pear shaped, gains fat easily - difficult to gain muscle

I am 100% Endomorph... I'm a big rectangle with a head on it.

Endomorphs store fat easily and should avoid carbs like pasta and white bread. Luckily I'm already a whole grain person. So a low-carb diet with some whole grains is perfect!

But, aren't carbs energy? If you're not eating carbs for energy... what does that leave? 

Protein... and Fat.

Calories come from the macronutrients (and alcohol) - I need to find the appropriate ratio of macronutrients to support my end goal of calorie intake vs overall plan. Those macronutrients are: Carbs, Fats, and Proteins.

• One gram of protein yields 4 calories.
• One gram of carbohydrate yields 4 calories.
• One gram of fat yields 9 calories.
• One gram of alcohol yields 7 calories.

Fat is an essential nutrient that our bodies require to live; it assists in vitamin absorption, hormone regulation, brain function, and more.

Protein intake will help build muscle and/or prevent muscle loss if you are in a calorie deficit.  It controls appetite and staves off hunger better than fats or carbs as it causes you to feel full longer.

Carbs are stored in the liver, brain, blood and muscles as glycogen. Our bodies use carbohydrates for energy.

So - there it is. Holy trinity of body requirements (at least the ones that aren’t water, sunlight, and oxygen)... BUT... in which quantities do I eat these things?  33-33-33? 40-20-40? 60-20-20??? 

OH GOD!! SO MANY OPTIONS!!! WHAT DO I DO!!?

I have to ask myself - “Self, what is your goal?” - Then I whine about how I want to eat ice cream and pizza and magically get a 6-pack.... BUT... then it turns out my ACTUAL goal is to lose fat, maintain muscle, and not become a beefy muscle-head.

Sounds easy enough... right?

Based on what I have researched - my body weight, age and overall daily activity level should require around 2,362 calories for daily maintenance - and to lose the weight I'd like to lose, I'd need to cut that down to 1,862 calories a day... but what about the almighty MACRO breakdown? 

The “If It Fits Your Macros” people are all over the place... Some say you can eat as much as you want - so long as it is within your Macro range. Others say that everything that enters your body must be macro-perfect...  There is “Low-Carb” “Moderate Carb” “Ratios for cutting” and “Ratios for bulking”... I mean, seriously, there are a lot of different rations and everyone I’ve talked to has given me their opinion on what I should eat. And while I do appreciate their opinions - I’m not looking to bulk up and I’m not looking to get “shredded” - I just want to drop some fat, maintain and build lean muscle, and not die going up the stairs.

So - I’m choosing a low-carb approach with a high protein and higher fat content for my daily macro counts. This is, in theory, a macronutrient ratio that will help me to maximize fat loss while not sacrificing muscle growth.  Will it work?  Fuck if I know!

For a 1,862 calorie/day diet - I am planning on actually running this with 40% Protein, 40% Fats and only 20% Carbs... So, on a daily average I’ll get: 186g of protein, 83g of fat and 93g of carbs...

Which is a pain in the ass to try and do. I’ve spent hours adding food to MyFitnessPal in various configurations and amounts trying to find some way to remain fed - while still meeting these “MACROS” - I also feel that whenever someone says that word it should be with jazzhands or something - and I know it seems counterintuitive to eat more fat, but it works. When your body lacks carbs, which it stores as fat, it burns fat. So - you give it fat to burn to basically "teach" your body to burn fat. This is Ketosis - the state in which your body burns fat and releases Ketones into your blood.  Ketones are the byproducts of the body breaking down fat for energy that occurs when carbohydrate intake is low.

And to date - it's actually been working.

HOWEVER... LOW CARB DIETS RESULTING IN KETOSIS WILL RESULT IN HALITOSIS... Like... seriously. You'll need some gum.

ANYWAY... I think I’ve found a good starting point. My dietary needs for the coming weeks are being looked at... and my hope is, by the start of April, to be at or below 220 lbs... 

Until Next Time - EAT MORE PROTEIN!!! 

Getting fat on Fat Tuesday

Ah... Mardi Gras... or "Fat Tuesday" in the vernacular... is the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of the Catholic Lenten Season of fasting and something... Sorry, I'm not Catholic so I don't know what all goes on other than a lot of commercials for fish and a lot of people swearing off of sweets and or Facebook until Easter.

Anyway.... I DO love traditions, though. And I'm a sucker for sugary cakes. So, I bring in a King Cake every year on Fat Tuesday and share... and I ate a piece and it WAS AMAZING.  It was, in one bite, more sugar than I've consumed in a month. Which means I've totally blown my carb intake for the day week... but it was good - And totally worth it.

But that's the point of my post today - It is totally acceptable to occasionally indulge in your sweet tooth.

Let me say that again. Slower. And with emphasis on the proper words:

It is totally acceptable to occasionally indulge in your sweet tooth.

This means that, from time to time, you can eat that piece of cake or chocolate and not freak out about it. As long as it is A: OCCASIONALLY and B: In moderation. It does not mean "Oh man, what a fun workout - I'm going to eat this whole cake today because I earned it." or "I've lost 1 lb this month - I've earned a 3,000 calorie Frappaccino every day this week."  It DOES mean that once every 3 weeks or so - I'll eat something that totally blows my calorie and carb count out for a day... and that's it. I'll enjoy it, it's good, and then it's gone. Allow me to think back to that post where I talk about it NOT being a diet and being a decision to live a better/healthier life... That's it! You can be healthy and still eat sugar from time to time.

Unless you're allergic to sugar - and that would just be awful.



So - there ya go, kids!  Enjoy your Fat Tuesday... but remember that it's one day - and next week you're back to FIT Tuesday