Month: June 2018

It doesn’t matter how good the food is in terms of nutrition if you eat too much of it. That’s precisely what I’ve been doing: eating too much.

This morning, I’ve managed to over-eat again in terms of calories. Sure, the food I ate was perfectly Paleo, but the amount? Not so much.

I’m going to do my best to manage that for the rest of the day, but now that I’m not expending as many calories due to not being able to do the ruck marches and PT coupled with me sitting most of the day, if anything, I should be eating fewer calories. Yet, here I am.

My weight is up right now: 180 lbs. That’s a full 3 lbs up this week from the lowest, and 15 lbs higher than my goal. I have a lot of work to do to get my weight back down, and it all relies on me eating properly (which I haven’t). Like most people, I too struggle with portion sizes and portion control.

My plan is to make sure my portion sizes are reasonable, and when they are too big, to split the dish before I eat so that I am not tempted to just finish clearing my plate. This is probably the biggest reason I overeat: learned behavior.

As a kid, like most others, I was told to clean my plate regardless. There were many days, in my childhood, where I just wasn’t hungry, yet I was told to clear my plate. And clear it, I did. That translates into a life-long obsession with clearing my plate, no matter how full I am. When I did my first Whole30 and went Paleo, I was able to overcome this because my wife was very strict with portions. Now, since I control my own portions, I tend to put a little too much on my plate, and due to that learned behavior, I will clear my plate no matter what.

So, it’s back to eating boot camp for me. I need to re-learn the right-sized portions and I need to stick to them.

It happened. I’ve been pushing myself far too hard during this AT, and I pulled a nerve in my right lower back. This has resulted in me now being given a medical order (known as a temporary profile) to sit out running, push-ups, sit-ups, or any stretching. I asked the PA how long this pain will last; he said it could be a few weeks up to a few months.

That’s unacceptable to me.

Of course, there’s nothing I can really do to force my body to heal, but I’ve learned there are a few things I can do to help it heal faster.

Avoid stretching. As much as it feels like it’s alleviating the pain, it’s actually stretching the nerve and causing further inflammation which could extend the amount of time it takes to heal. Instead, I have to use a foam roller.

Foam Roller. I will sit on the foam roller with the affected side (right side for me) and roll back and forth with right my leg crossed over my left knee. I will do this a few times a day for five minutes. This is supposed to help the inflammation subside.

Cold packs. Although heat feels good, again, it’s not actually helping things. I will continue the cold compresses. I have some ice on my lower back right now, and it does feel good. I just hope it helps reduce the inflammation quickly.

Ibuprofin. Any inflammation that’s going on could be helped with ibuprofin.

In the nearly three years I’ve been exercising solo, I’ve avoided injury. This is my first sports injury in many years, and I have to admit that I don’t like it at all. I really want to get back to my running and mountain biking.

I have to remember my own advice when it comes to exercise: don’t overdo it. I’m in the Army National Guard, and I am on my Annual Training (AT) right now. Part of AT is doing physical training (PT) every morning. As an older soldier, and as an NCO, I have to put in extra effort as I am an example to my soldiers. I have to maintain my appearance, height, weight, and PT scores when I am tested. What I also need to do is to be careful to ensure I remain injury-free.

I didn’t do a good job of that last point this past week. While I didn’t sustain any injury, per se, I did overdo a sprint which resulted in my thighs becoming very full of pain. Every step I take is now painful on the tops of my thighs. This is such a strange sensation, because the rest of my muscles feel fine; it’s just the tops of my thighs.

As the days have been going on, my thighs are healing ever so slowly, but the fact remains that I shouldn’t have pushed as hard as I did. I didn’t have the, “You ran hard” pain. I had the, “You ran way too hard and tore muscles” pain.

It’s possible to train hard without injury. You have to know your limits, push up against them, and then back off. Pushing past those limits should only happen in emergencies. This incident was nowhere near an emergency. It was something silly: pride.

I was racing a Captain, and I didn’t want him to beat me. Let’s not count the fact that he’s about 15 years younger than I am. I just wanted to at least keep up (which I did) and not get beat (which I did, but barely). The cost wasn’t worth it, though.

I hope to be pain-free by next week. We have some ruck marches and a lot more runs coming up. I need to be able to perform at a higher level than I have been able to this week due to the pain in my thighs.

This is my reminder to you to be careful when you exercise, and when you do, if you push, don’t push too hard. The pain afterward will be far more detrimental than any perceived benefits.

I’ve tried Whole30, Paleo, Keto, and Intermittent Fasting (IF), and I thought it might be a good idea for me to do a quick write-up about my experience and feelings about them. Note: Bear in mind that these are my opinions based on my experiences. Your own may vary and may even be 180 degrees different from mine. My experience and opinion doesn’t invalidate your own.

Whole30: This is the best way to get away from sugar. It’s not easy, and it’s not designed specifically to lose weight, although weight loss is common among those who do a Whole30. It is great to teach you about the benefits of whole, natural foods and also great in getting you away from grains, dairy, sugar, beans, soy, and alcohol. However, there’s a cost: the first week or two can be especially difficult with many experiencing flu-like symptoms for up to two weeks. It’s also a very different way of cooking, and you have to change your relationship with food. Once you complete a Whole30, chances are you will feel better, have more energy, sleep better, and generally feel more mental acuity.

Paleo: This is how my wife and I eat 98% of the time. To us, it seems to be the most natural progression from Whole30, as it feels like Whole30 Light. There are a few natural sweeteners allowed back in the diet, but you have to remember to use them in moderation, and to continue to eat well. The emphasis on the Paleo Diet is not weight loss but eating better, more natural foods. Once again, many people (Sherry and I included) experience weight loss on Paleo, and I lost a total of 150 lbs after one round of Whole30 and then going Paleo. It can be difficult to get used to at first, and ingredients can be expensive, but more and more stores are carrying Paleo-friendly ingredients, and as the diet’s popularity grows, the prices for Paleo-friendly foods continues to decline.

Keto: This is a great diet, but it is the most difficult to get into out of the three listed so far. This diet is where you force your body into ketosis (not be be confused with ketoacidosis which is very bad). Ketosis is the process in which the body stops using carbs for energy and starts using lipids as energy. It is a very effective diet, and while it was first used to treat epilepsy and to reduce seizures, it is also very effective for weight loss. It can be difficult for some people to get into ketosis, however, and it is difficult to maintain ketosis. It requires a strict adherence to the diet, and in tracking macronutrients. It has recently become a little easier to get back into ketosis with the use of exogenic ketones, but this is controversial, and some people don’t believe that they are effective. Regardless, the few times I tried the Keto diet, I lost a lot of weight and I felt great. There is a burst of energy you feel when you are in ketosis, and while I liked how I felt, it was difficult for my wife and I to track and maintain the right balance of macronutrients to remain in ketosis. We stopped doing keto and went back to Paleo, although we do allow some keto concepts into our diet now.

Intermittent Fasting: This is something I dabbled in, and to be fair, I didn’t do long-term. I tried it, but I didn’t give it the same chance I gave the previous three. It’s not really a diet, per se, as much as it is a schedule for eating. I have read many accounts of IF working, and I don’t doubt its efficacy and as far as I can tell, it holds up well scientifically. However, I feel that it’s quite difficult, and I personally felt that Whole30, Paleo, and Keto were all much easier to adhere to on an eating schedule I’m accustomed to and that fits in well with my family, friends, and co-workers.

So there you have it: three diets and an alternate eating schedule. Do some research, and once you find one that makes sense, give it a try. That’s what I did, and I am much healthier, lighter, and more fit now because of it.

This AT, I’ve been eating more than I thought I would. This is because of the lunches I’ve had for the first four days. Starting today, I am going to have to cool my jets and eat lighter for lunch. Breakfasts have been similar, but likely also a bit more calorie heavy, and dinners have remained the same.

I try to justify the extra calories due to all the extra active hours and active PT I’ve been doing, but the net result is that I’m not losing weight. I’m still at 178.2 lbs which is 2 lbs more than I am allowed, and 12 lbs more than my goal weight.

To be fair, I also know that I am experiencing inflammation of my muscles right now from doing exercises that I don’t normally do as well as doing it more often than I normally do. So there’s that.

Starting today, I am going to stick to what my last AT diet was: Epic Bars, RXBars, and nuts. That contains all the calories and nutrients I really need, and doesn’t overload me. My goal is to lose 12 lbs within the next two months. I’ve not made any progress in the last four days. I need to reverse that.

This will be the last regular update of my post-trip food, because I think it’s been a good representation of what I eat.

Breakfast

• I ate at the armory and had scrambled eggs and two slices of some kind of breakfast sausage that tasted like it had sugar in it.

Lunch

• Carnitas and grilled vegetables at Mamacita’s

Dinner

• Eggroll in a bowl. This is a Whole30 recipe that we found a while back that we really enjoy

Don’t you just love the military and all the acronyms we use? PT means Physical Training, also known as exercise time. AT means Annual Training, the two weeks of duty National Guard and reserves perform every year. I am currently on my AT, and as such, we’re exercising daily. Today was the first day.

I was in charge of the run portion which means I had a group that I would take out for a run that wasn’t too hard, fast, or long: about 4/5 of a mile at a 9:30/mile pace, or so. I had to do this three times, so while everyone else ran 4/5 of a mile, I ran about 2 miles overall.

After running my easy runs, we had to do sprints which really was more difficult for me than I expected because I don’t run sprints. Ever. I don’t get chased by many people (which is the only reason I have for doing sprints), so this was a wake-up for me. I will be implementing sprints into my routine from now on. I couldn’t believe how much my upper thighs burned after these sprints.

All in all, it went well, and I did as well or better than I expected. We will be doing this every morning, so I will likely be in much better shape by the end of AT.

I’m on Annual Training again for the National Guard. That’s my two weeks of summer training we do every year. This year, however, we are not deploying to the field, which presents new challenges in the diet realm.

The food we are typically served isn’t what I would call healthy. It’s very carb and sugar heavy, and most of the carbs come from grains and very sugar-heavy fruits like bananas. This makes sense for soldiers who are deployed and need lots of easily convertible energy to get their jobs done in a combat environment. The problem is, we are still fed this way even in garrison.

Breakfast is usually some eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, waffles, cereal, and fruit and fruit juices with some coffee. Not all of these are available at the same time: it will be a combination of about three or four of those foods at any given time. Sometimes, I can eat something here that is okay, but most of the time, I can’t. For this reason, I’ll just keep it safe and eat my two eggs and two slices of bacon at home.

Lunch: MRE. No, no, no, no, and no. lol

Dinner: Most of the time, it’s very carb-heavy with spaghetti or some sort of noodles and meat. Often, the meat is something like Kung Pao Chicken or Chicken Parmesan or somehow coated in stuff I don’t eat. If they have something healthy, I’ll eat it. Otherwise, I’ll just wait to eat at home afterward.

I will be fortunate enough to be close to home during this AT, so I will be able to stay at home in the evenings and take food with me for lunch daily. I will be sticking to my regular breakfast and lunch routine, and for dinner, I will eat those at home as well. The funny part is that I will have to stick around for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the armory. I even have to pay for those meals! But it is what it is: I’ve made my peace with that. I will eat right, and I will keep my body healthy despite what they are feeding “Us.”

I sincerely and overwhelmingly enjoy my National Guard service and the time I spend with the soldiers. I anticipate with excitement my training later this year to become MOS qualified, although it will definitely challenge my diet as I will have no way to make my own food. I am certain I will find ways to eat right, but it will be a challenge nonetheless.

Pretty busy day for me yesterday being my first day at AT this year.

Breakfast

• The usual: two eggs and two slices of sugar-free bacon

Lunch

• I was getting hungry and wasn’t sure what I was going to do for lunch, so I ate an Epic chicken Sriracha bar.

We then decided to go out to eat for lunch, so I ate:

• Ceasar salad with no croutons
• 8 oz sirloin steak
• 6 grilled shrimp
• Green beans

This is more than I would typically like to eat at lunch, but I didn’t feel stuffed or over-full afterward.

Dinner

We went to a small get-together with a friend’s family where I ate:

• Pulled pork (two servings: absolutely delicious!)
• Raw broccoli and cauliflower
• Watermelon (about 1/3 cup total)

Again, more food than I would have typically eaten, but it was delicious, and again, I didn’t feel stuffed or too full.

18 lbs. That’s the damage. After two weeks of eating big breakfasts, big lunches, and big dinners that included alcohol, stepping on the scale when I returned home from Ireland and Scotland was a sobering experience. I expected it, however, and I had already made my peace with it.

This is important. In the past, I went on vacations and struggled with what to do and how to eat. I was emotionally wrecked many of those times, and it caused me to not be able to enjoy the trips as much as I could have. I also would give in around half-way through the trips and allow myself to eat whatever food or drink was available and representative of the location or culture I was visiting, but the guilt I would feel was immense. It weighed me down.

Not this time.

I let myself enjoy the food and drink without guilt, without self-doubt, and without remorse. The result was a more peaceful and enjoyable vacation, and now that I’m home, it is allowing me to tackle my diet head-on. I’m energized, excited, and smashing past the hurdles to drop the weight. As of today, I’m down 10 lbs out of the 18 I gained on the trip, and I’ve set my goal for another 12 lbs to get me to 165 lbs.

The most difficult aspect of a healthy lifestyle is the mental game we play against ourselves. We are married to these foods and the way they make us feel. It may be because we take comfort in the memories the food brings us, or just savoring the flavors is so pleasurable. But eventually, we have to push past what we think feels good in the short term to what actually benefits us in the long term and makes us feel better overall. What I’m trying to say is that pizza tastes great. It really is a comfort food for me, and while I’m eating it, it’s heaven. But afterward? I’m bloated, I feel sluggish and slow, and within a few hours, I’m craving something else. I don’t miss that at all. I much prefer the lean, satisfied feeling I have throughout the day, even after I eat.

So now, as the title says, I’m getting back to brass tacks. I’m bearing down on a proper diet, and I’m keeping my eye on the prize (how many more analogies can I write?). Whatever it takes, get your head in the game and steel your focus on a goal. My goal: 165 lbs and eating right. I won’t settle until it’s done.