I'm back...and on a mission

I am going to get into a crew shell this Spring. And row. At 5:00am. With the DBCC Masters Crew. (D.v.).

The boys took a learn to row class followed by a learn to race class at the boat club this summer, and they love it and want to continue it. But for me it did three things
1) made me realize how much I want to row again
2) made me realize how out of shape I completely am
3) and made me realize how old I am.

I can help # 1 & 2.
I discovered #3 (as well as #2) when I rowed in a quad one day with Sam, Andrew and Coach Benz. I was sore for a week. Muscles I hadn't used in quite a while! I used to recover pretty quickly from a workout when I was a 20 year old....

So - onward and upward.

While at laser tag...

...a group of tall high school aged kids came in, and I recognized something in them before I noticed a sweatshirt.



High School Crew team from the Detroit Boat Club.



Sigh - the old days....



Sam turns 13 this May, and has expressed an interest in trying rowing. They have a 1 week 'try rowing' camp. Sam will certainly have the better build for a rower than I ever did - long and lanky.



Perhaps if he gets interested, and I have to drive him down there in the mornings...and I am down there anyway.....

But I have a lot of conditioning before that could happen

Metabolic appraisal

While on the trip Jennifer and I splurged and had our metabolism tested.

The good news was that a very large percentage of my mass is muscle. The trainer was impressed by that number. The bad news - lots of fat and water retention too.

His suggestion was 2 cycles of a 3 month detox program using suppliments from Elemis, combined with exercise. Of course, they had the suppliments for sale at an outragrously high price.

Now home, we are looking into getting the suppliments locally, at a 20% reduction in price.
The suppliments are for colon cleansing and liver detox, using micro algae. Will have to do more research before we splurge.

I know my gym has the same electronic metabolic test machine (runs electrodes through your body to evaluate muscle, fat, water). It is good to have a baseline number. from the cruise.

broke through....

Today I did not want to run.
Out of bed at 6:35am (about 35 minutes later than when I first woke up).
Sore legs, tight back.
Lingered checking email, news-websites.
Finally changed and out the door after 7am.
Thought "I am just going to walk today - too sore"
Then decided to do a little 2 minute run.
Sore. Decided I would walk the rest.
Then decided to do a 3 minute jog. Still sore - ankle throbbing.
Made a turn towards home and would walk the rest.
Thought I would do another short jog toward and then up my street.
Started running - 5 minutes.
Then while walking turned a block before my house.
Started running again around the next block.
Another 5 - this one felt a little better.
Ended up with 15 minutes of running, 7 walking.
The last 5 it felt like I had conquered my urge to not run.
Hurrah!

monday and today

Yesterday it was another 1.5 hours of yard work - trimming bushes (all work at shoulder level or higher), edging, etc. Worked up a good sweat in the early morning sun

Today - 28 minute bike ride. Really humid - good and sweaty!

FYI - Jennifer has been running 4 or more days a week and doing well! She is forming a marathon relay team for the Free Press Marathon. I am really psyched for her!

Two runs in a row - not a good idea

I like running. Yes, it is painful, etc. But there is something about human beings that we were created to move, and I think running is a part of our nature. And it feels like a workout. I like swimming too, but after a swim you are fatigued but clorinated. After a run you feel like you have worked out. Legs wobbly, sweat dripping off of you!

I know one of the liberating, wonderful dreams I occasionally have (while sleeping) is that I am running, everywhere, flawlessly and without effort.

Reality isn't like that! I am old, heavy, and slow. My knees and ankles have seen better days.
Yet I am drawn to run, no matter how poorly I do it.

I ran yesterday. 2,3,4,5,4, with 7 minutes of walking interspersed in the middle. It was a good, sweaty workout.

Today - sore, stiff. Tried to run anyway. Ended up doing a 20 minute mostly walk, some jog.

Two days in a row is not good for me (knees, ankles, legs in general), at least at this time.

An early start, and an early hump day

On Sunday I did a Sweat workout. I don't usually work out on Sundays, but Jennifer was working out, so Meg and I went downstairs and did so as well.

Monday I took off, and Today I did Sculpt in the AM

Having let my CCL (Critical Carbohydrate Level) creep up in the last weeks (this is an Atkins level), the weight loss has stalled. So I have dropped down to Induction again.

On Induction, in my experience, the third day is the 'hump' day. It takes 3 days to pare back and knock off any carb cravings. Sunday and Monday were relatively easy. This morning I felt a little out of sorts, but by this afternoon I feel like I have gone over the hump and slipping into hard-core ketosis. Bring it on!

"I can make you thin"

I saw this show on Sunday PM called "I can make you thin".

It was interesting. The host, an englishman named Paul McKenna, who I gather from his website is a hypnotist, leads this series over the next couple of Sunday eveings.
Jennifer and I watched the first one Sunday.

This episode dealt with his 4 Golden Rules. Quite frankly they are all common sense.

1) When you are hungry, eat. (duh). Learn to listen to your body as it actually tells you it is hungry. Don't eat if you aren't, and don't let yourself get extremely hungry or you will overeat.

2) Eat what you want, not what you think you should. This was interesting, as he told a woman to throw away all the low-fat foods (good for him). He claims as you go on your body will help you to realize what is good for you. I think this one could be a landmine since I am convinced that for me in particular, and for many Americans in general, starches (particulary refined ones) are addictive and VERY bad for us and cause health problems and cravings. - yes this is Atkins talking - getting carbs from veggies.

3) Eat Consciously. I think this is a very good one! He says a problem is people shoveling food into their mouths (guilty) and not actually enjoying it. Not only that, it short-circuits your bodies ability to know when you are full! I know we have to tell our boys after they have wolfed down their seconds and want thirds that they should wait 20 minutes to see if they are still hungry! His suggestion? "I cannot emphasise this enough. Put the knife and fork down whilst you are chewing your food and really enjoy it - savour the taste, and enjoy the wonderful textures and sensations as you thoroughly chew each mouthful of food at least 20 times!"
I have been trying this this week and it is tough to slow down this much! He also mentioned on the show to not be distracted by radio/tv/reading, and I am guilty of having the radio on in the background at breakfast, and reading through lunch.

4) When you are full, stop eating (again - DUH). Tear up the membership card in the "clean plate club". I think #3 helps to figure out #4.

In the coming weeks shows will deal with overcoming emotional eating, supercharging your metabolism, breaking cravings, and improving ones body.
More info from Paul can be found at http://www.mckenna.com/

On the website I could read ahead to the coming episodes, but I think I will wait and check it out each Sunday night. The TV station can be found at http://www.tlc.com/

New month evaluation

So I am a few days early. The Leap Year has me off.

February -

Pluses - pretty regular about working out. Increases in reps on weights, push-ups, and abs.
Minuses - input still not on track.

Looking to March -
Take up intensity on video workouts. Get next weight up on barbells by mid-month.
As weather improves, add in a jog or two a week IN ADDITION to video workouts.
Get in swim laps at least 1x per week.
Input improvement.

If I could set up a perfect workout schedule....

....at least for the next 5 months

February and March - Power 90 with at least 2x swimming and a jog or two a week bonus.

April, May, June - order P90x and go crazy with that....

Of course, one day/week at a time.

Working towards this?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about my rowing days. Yesterday at the gym I had a conversation with a guy who taught at my Prep School and was friends with my rowing coach. Today Andrew asked if he could learn to row. So we googled some videos.

This is a great winter scene!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGNkgB6XCJ0&feature=related

I haven't abandoned this blog....

...but I won't be posting for a few weeks.

Off to Disney with the family. With driving time we will be away January 6th (after Church) until Friday, January 18th.

Have packed the running shoes, watch, etc., to get in some runs and workout in the hotel gym. And of course there will be lots of walking. And I packed the baseball mitts to get some throwing and catching in in the warm weather (Sam and Andrew have a baseball pitching and catchers camp when we return).

I will keep track of workouts on paper and then update the blog when I get back.

And we will be there at the same time as the Disney Marathon - it will be some inspiration.

The Challenge of The Holidays

Holidays are a challenge for this restoration project.

It is an upset in the routine.
Houseguests, travel, food choices away from home.

And in January there will be two weeks away to Disney.

Should be interesting.

Woosh!

On another board I used to frequent they talked about "woosh"s, those times that you seem to just flush off pounds in a short span.

The first few weeks of induction are usually like that. Yes, alot of water weight at the beginning, but water weight is weight none the less!

So today I step on the scale at the gym, mid-afternoon.
Woosh.
Down 11lbs since October 2nd.
Down 15lbs since my doctors appointment mid-August.
I know it will slow down (1-2 lbs a week is reasonable), but at my size it comes off a bit quicker at first.

Not a bad start.
Many more to go.
One day at a time.

The Scarlett Letter

Okay, so the "A" in the famous book of the above title was for "Adultress" and a mark of shame.

But as the low-carb diet craze has subsided, speaking the name of Atkins has once again been done in whispers. The new scarlett letter.

The problem with the low carb craze of a few years ago was that most people trying it never read the book (Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution) and were making it up as they went along, doing something not at all resembling Atkins. I was amazed at people who claimed that low carb didn't work for them, and when I asked them what they ate, they were eating all sorts of starches, etc. It wasn't low carb at all.

And there were also those who did it with what I call chemistry route: using all of the 'low carb products' that were made to taste carby but were lower in carbs. They never lose their sweet tooth or craving for starches. And God knows what the chemicals are doing to them.

My experience? Atkins really works and I feel great when doing it....

The key is...actually doing it!

More thoughts later....

Little hurdles, little victories

Went running again this morning. It was nice and cool! I put Meg in her jacket and wrapped her legs in a blanket!

My legs, however, were really stiff and sore this morning. They always are on Mondays (probably from all the standing I do, in dress shoes, on Sundays). And they were not only stiff, but a slight knee pain in the right knee at the start.

When I started, I told myself it would be okay to only do 2 on, 2 off 6 times. It would be less than Saturday, but I could justify it because of the sore legs.

But I got over the hurdle. The knee stopped hurting pretty soon after the start, and despite the sore legs, I did 2 on, 2 off SEVEN times, like Saturday, including running past my house and back instead of turning into the driveway and calling it a shorter day!

It was a small hurdle, and a small victory....but I will take it.

The rest of the day was pretty good as well. My day off this week was today (wedding rehearsal Friday so I will work that full day). My sister in law Emma is here so we went to Greenfield Village which means I walked, pushing the stroller, on and off for another 3.5 hours!

As for INPUT - a good start. Plenty of water, only allowable foods even at Greenfield Village. Could use more veggies, especially at lunch, but being at GFV made that hard (ate at the outdoor lunchstand).

Running program

When I was in seminary in 1992 my brother Dave had a subscription to Runner's World Magazine.

They had a program for those wanting to start running. Dave didn't need it (he was already a runner, running cross country at his high school).

It consisted of staring with 30 minutes of walking for a week.
Then each 4 to 5 days it changed, with a day off between changes.

1 minute run on, 4 off 6 times
1:30 on, 3:30 off 6 times
2 on, 3 off 6 times
Until after a few weeks you are running 30 full minutes.

It is a chance to incrementally increase your stamina without become discouraged.

I have used this program 3 times.

Once in seminary (ran for 2 years, lost 50 lbs, met wife, got first position, etc.).
Stopped running after severe strain of ankle.

Second time staring in Spring 2002 here in Detroit (did no real running in Charleroi, PA - too hilly). Lost 70 lbs, ran until I broke ankle in October 2004.

Third time - begun this week.

Of course, it wasn't just the ankle injuries that stopped me. It was stress, eating, insecurities, etc.

More to be explored as we go on.

By the numbers

215
269
124
98
52
48
17
47

41
24/7

All of the above, from 47 up, are due to change.
The bottom two are not up to me - the rest are.

Kyrie Eleison