Cheat Meal? I wish!!!

As a runner that is wanting needing to lose about 10 lbs, I have really been focusing on my diet. Right now I am about 193 lbs, and I should be around 183, so I can either lose weight or I can focus on being a Clydesdale next year when I take on Brad D at Redman (might make it fair huh?) Just today in my Triathlete magazine it had an article that says when someone loses 10 lbs, they can expect  their marathon time to be 10 minutes faster!! (At least that is how I read it, I did not read the whole article, just the chart to the side) So that told me I was in the right mindset.

Dieting is hard.

Eating right is harder.

During the week I feel I do better than the weekend. My wife usually cooks fairly healthy meals for us, so I can only blame her for the 10 lbs I picked up. Just kidding. The weekend is usually where I stumble. (Sidenote: while laying here in bed typing this, she literally just offered me a piece of Belgium chocolate!  No lie!!) So anyways, as I was saying, the weekend is tough for me. It is easier to eat out, their are usually donuts at church, I work in the yard so I feel I can justify it, and I could go on and on.

So eating right is tough and I know about cheat meals. In fact, I support cheat meals, and maybe even cheat days, but I had a cheat weekend last weekend! My wife and kids were out of town, so I was a bachelor all weekend. And, I ate like a bachelor! I went to the store and here was what I bought (and I am not proud of this!) I bought steak sauce, Fruity Pebbles, Double Stuff Oreos, cream cheese (for a dip I love), tortilla chips, a 6 pack of Reese's peanut butter cups and a Dr. pepper 2 liter.

So this weekend I ate steak or cereal for meals and I had Oreos, Reese's, ice cream and chips and dip for snacks.

There, I feel better that it is out, so now that the food is gone, or close to being gone, I can get back on track!

No Excuses Here.

I am really getting sick of blogging about lack of motivation and piling the excuses on, so hopefully this post will be different. I have decided to give myself a grade over the first 2 months of 2014. It is not going to be pretty either. I am going to break it down into 5 areas. 1. Strength 2. Rest 3. Swimming 4. Biking 5. Diet  and 6. Running. So here we go...

1. Strength- A

• Normally I do not do strength workouts except for maybe some crunches, but this year I signed up to workout with a trainer, and I have been for the last 5 weeks. The workouts have been tough and more focused on balance, core and triathlon related exercises, so I have loved it. I have loved it so much that I am looking at doing an additional 7 weeks! The only downside that I can see is that I am not dropping weight like I hoped. I think I am adding muscle tough and my grades on the other categories will have something to do with the weight.

2. Rest- A

• Nailing it! I think I have been in bed before 10 more this year than ever before. I have enjoyed the Saturdays where I do not have to get up at 6 to ride or run. It has been great!

3. Swimming- B

• It really has not taken me long to get back into the swing of things. 2,000 yards is pretty easy right now and my pace is about where I want it. I know I could focus on my swim and drop my pace down even more, but I am solid, and can come out of the water not winded.

4.Biking- B

• Today was the first day I got my bike out on the road and I loved it, all other times have been on the trainer/drainer. My longest ride has only been 18 miles, but again, I have felt good afterwards. I finally removed all the Redman stickers off my bike today, which was kind of sad in a weird kind of way. It felt great hitting 26 mph on the road though, for real!

5. Diet- C

• Shocker huh? I went on a 3 week kick without Cokes awhile back, but other than that, I have not really focused on my diet. I think I eat smart, but I know I can eat better. Really not a whole lot to say, other than I just haven't been hitting it coach.

6. Running-F

• My relationship with running is so bad right now that I do not even want to type about it! The treadmill sucks. The weather sucks. I am not sure what I need, but it just does not interest me at all. Two of my good friends are running their first marathon this month, and while I love to talk shop with them about it, I can't get the excitement to transfer over to me. So I am looking for answers, or suggestions. I am thinking of ditching my training plan (that I haven't really been following) and making this next week a run focus week. The next race (which I have yet to sign up for) is an Olympic, so it is only a 6 mile run, so I have plenty of time to prepare for it right?

Today was the Day...

12-23-13 and I ran.

Today was the day I started back with my training. I literally have done nothing since late October. I have not even wore my running shoes since Ragnar. Have wanted too, so I didn't. I figure the lack of desire to run meant that my body was tired. A lot of people asked me if Redman took that much out of me, and at first, I thought yeah, it did. But now as I look back, it was much more than one race. If you are a regular follower of this blog (meaning my mom who reads and my wife when I make her), you know that I have been going pretty good the last couple of years. Sometimes racing up to 14 times a season, which is a lot I think. So the break has been good for me, but it is time to get back to it.

So the first thing I did was go get a physical. I am 42 and have not been to the doc in...I cant remember when I was at a Dr last, except for a clinic for a cough or cold. I really expected the doc to do a lot more than he did, but really all he did was take some blood and run some tests on it. He said everything came back as normal, so I guess that is good!

Step 2 was to make out a plan. The first race is and always will be the Memphis in May triathlon... in May. I really like this race. It's fun. It is a race that my family can go to and hang out at the pool while they wait for me. This is one of the first races I did, and I swear I thought I was not going to make it out of the swim! So I made a plan for MIM.

I used the custom plan from BT (www.beginnertriathlete.com), which will have me doing two swims, three bikes and three runs a week. Plussssssssssssssssssssss I am going to be working with a trainer twice a week. Yeah, I am going to be doing like weights and stuff! this part excites and frightens me a little. She is totally going to kick my butt. My wife has been working out with her for awhile and my wife is fit! She can probably do more pushups than I can, so I know I will get some good results.

The last thing I have done is start working on my diet. I know, it's Christmas time and probably the WORST time to worry about what you eat, but I seriously need to drop about 15 pounds. I want to get lean and mean again.

Other than those things, I have not planned out 2014 race wise yet. And I am probably only go to look at MIM and a HIM, but 2015 is all about beating Brad. (scroll down a few posts).

With all that said, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!  And remember, a new year means the gyms will be crowded again!!!!

There Is More Of Me To Love!

Every December, after my marathon, I usually go into what I like to call a "rest phase" or "recovery phase". In this phase, I typically will use the remainder of December to let this old bag of bones heal up from all those little aches and pains I have gathered throughout the year. My S/B/R workouts become very sporadic, or really hit or miss. Mainly miss. I also quit worrying to much about my diet and what I am eating. Holiday snacks are never helpful either, and there are a lot of snacks around the Holidays at my house this year. The extra trips to McDonalds have not helped either! ($1 Egg McMuffins are hard for me to resist).

So you may want to call that a confession, or whatever, but I have added about 12 pounds since my marathon on Dec 1. I am fluffy and feeling fine. My aches and pains are healed up, but I am not happy with my gut that has taken over. I know that once I get back into my workouts, I will lose some of the weight, but it is one of the first times that I realized just how easily it went on! I want to be in under 180 for this race season, so I have some work ahead of me, but I have a plan.

Step 1: I am going to journal what I eat on a daily basis. I doubt that the actual food log will make it to the blog, but is is mainly for me to be able to look back at and see how well or how terribly I ate. I am afraid that this will be very eye opening, because you know how you tell people "Oh, I don;t eat that" or I am trying to eat healthy all the time, but then you grab a few cookies or candies, or a cheeseburger?? I think I will find that while I think I am eating pretty good, I most likely am not.This should be evident after a week or two. It also might make me self conscience enough to not eat crap because I do not want to write it down!

Step 2: I am going to read a book about healthy eating called, You Are What You Eat, The plan that will change your life. This book is not really a weight loss book as I understand it (I haven't read it yet remember) as much as it is a book about making better decisions on the foods I am putting into my body. It also at first glance seems to be a big proponent of eating raw foods. So I think this will be an interesting read and definitely something that I need to be more educated about. I will admit that I do not know about refined foods, processed foods...I know fast food is bad for you. I know that I need to fuel my body with good foods, and I know that I need to learn what foods are best for me.

So this will be a learning battle for me and I am hoping to learn a lot from the food logging I will be doing. So let me know if you have any tips for logging what I eat, or if you learned anything valuable from doing it yourself!

April Abs Update (We're Not Young)

Well, you might have noticed that Daily Trainings has been quiet for a few days. This was due to somethings happening at work that required alot of attention. I am talking about 14 hour days and overnight type of attention, so blogging kind of got lost in the fog I was in. it also really messed up my S/B/R workouts alot. I was so happy to come off a big month for me and had high hopes for April, but what are you gonna do? I have to pay the bills right?

The one thing I was able to keep up with were the ab/core workouts I had planned for April. I made the commitment, wrote it down for all to see, so I had to follow through, and I am glad I did. I have been able to see some gains from doing these extra workouts. I am not seeing the six pack, but there are other things to celebrate!

• Diet- If you remember, I said in my last post that I was not only going to add the workouts, but I also was going to pay close attention to my diet. Normally, my weight ranges from 187 to 193 on a weekly basis. In April, I am ranging now between 182 and 187. I contribute this to my lack of cokes and fast foods. I am totally eating fruits and nuts for snacks, salads and healthier choices for lunch and dinner and cutting out the late night snack/meal. I also contribute this loss to my drinking more water. I have not totally cut out Cokes all together, but I limit myself to one glass a day. I can't really say I am missing everything I cut out, so this might just become a habit for me.
• Core- I am totally feeling gains when I swim due to my core being stronger. I feel I have a more powerful stroke and that I am going just as fast with the same effort as before, and I think it is because my legs are staying up in the water and not dragging behind me once I get tired. I can even feel it when I run, and it feels good!
• Exercises- I have mostly been doing the P90X workout and the hanging leg raises workout. Both are equally tough and the first workout hurt for days!  Not a "man I pulled something" type of hurt, but more of a "I overdid it" type of hurt. I had forgotten how annoying Tony Horton can be! I still can't get through all the DVD, but I am getting closer. I am feeling an upper body benefit when I do the hanging leg raises as well, and that is kind of my favorite workout right now, but it seems to only focus on the upper abs, so I need to make sure I am working them all.
• Tone?- All I know is things are getting better. Like I said, there is no six pack yet, but I can definitely see some progress in the ab region. I know I have my work cut out for me, but April is not over yet. I think the biggest thing for me is to continue the ab specific workouts and my diet. I think the diet is more important that the workouts in a way. Either way, I plan on continuing to see what happens, so it might need to stretch out through May. Pictures might be included in May.

Now, I always like to include pictures on my blog, but I couldn't think of any that really fit this post, so I am including a video. This is a spoof of the song "We Are Young" by Fun. it is a great song and I have it on my iPod. Some group made a parody of it called "We're Not Young" and talks about being in your 30s and such (been there, done that) so enjoy,and listen to the words! Also, please send me any tips you have for ab/core workouts I can incorporate! I know a lot of people said that they may join me on the April Ab challenge, so let me know how it is coming along!

I Brought it...to the dinner table!

Last weekend, my wife and I had a nice getaway weekend together, then we had the Super Bowl, then I had some out of town meetings in Atlanta to attend. And I have to say this, I did not Bring it. Well, I did in fact Bring it to the dinner table though!  I ate so bad and so much this past week, and being out of town, it really threw me off my scheduled workouts! Here is the list of my meals:

Saturday I had a modest lunch, then I had a 14 ounce center cut Ribeye steak, cooked perfectly with mac n cheese and fries, chased down by 2 cokes. I also had for dessert a cookie sandwich! (A cookie sandwich was 2 chocolate chip cookies with toffee chips serving as the bread and a delicious cream, piled about an inch high in the center) No workout on Sat of any kind either.

Sunday morning started out with a big fat cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee, followed by McDonald's for lunch and another steak for dinner. Sunday was also the Super Bowl so there were plenty o snacks out and about for me to munch on. Now I did get a trainer ride in on Sunday night, but it was forced.

Monday started out with a swim, then to the airport to fly to Atlanta. Nothing really for lunch, but I had a huge Mushroom/Swiss cheese burger for dinner and a Kit Kat in the privacy of my hotel room.

Tuesday started off with coffee for breakfast and a big BBQ sandwich for lunch, which was then followed by dinner at PapaDuex  (sp?) (Cajun seafood place) in ATL. I tried to eat smarted at the restaurant and order the mixed seafood skewers plate, which had salmon, scallops, shrimp and other vegetables. Later, back at he hotel, I was able to get in a three mile run on the treadmill.

This treadmill was one of the treadmills that has a TV attached to it, so I tried watching the UK vs. Florida game, but with them running right and left  and my head bobbing up and down, it really made me queasy and I just couldn't watch. I was very happy to get in the 3 miles, cause I really thought I was going to be the one person that puked on a treadmill!

So I said all that to say all this, this week has been bad for me training wise. I am looking to get through the week and comeback swinging Monday, and hopefully weighing less!

Ammonia Smell???

This morning I went for a swim. Swam 200 yards, not real hard either. Nothing out of the ordinary either!

After work, I got home and did a quick 3.4 miles before the wife had to leave for church. Again nothing to hard or fast, did about an 8:40 per mile. Again nothing out of the ordinary...

When I was in the shower, I noticed a strong smell of ammonia. It was weird and fairly strong too. It was definitely coming from me though (and no to Driving Disco, I do not pee in the shower) It kinda had me freakin, so I googled it.

According to many websites, it says that my body was no longer burning fat, but instead was burning muscle. I did not have enough carbs in my diet apparently. So I started thinking back to what I ate today.

Breakfast-nothing
Lunch- personal pan pizza from Target
Dinner- only eat after running
I also had some bite size candy bars from the HR office and a root beer today.

So I have figure it out. My diet sux!