After a weekend of peanut butter popcorn balls (6), chocolate chip cookies (who knows how many), dairy, carbs, and very little sleep (about 3 hours at a time), I am ready to begin anew. Today marks day 1 of a challenge put on by members of my team at work. The rules are simple. Lose the most weight out of everyone in the 30 days and beat any one of the three managers and win $25 for each one you beat. Seems simple enough right? There are currently about 12 people signed up for the contest so it could be a challenge. Oh yeah, this is challenge number 1 of three. The opportunity to win some money is great. I like winning money.
In honor of this challenge and as a way to help me win this thing (to help pay for my new ipad) I have decided to start a somewhat strict paleo diet. I thought about doing the Whole30 challenge again but there are some items I just do not want to give up this time (protein shakes for one). Since I couldn't do the whole30 challenge in its entirety I decided to just call this one a Paleo challenge. It's simpler that way and I don't have to worry about copyright infringement. Here is what I will try not to eat over the next 30 days:
Diet
- Sugar of any kind, real or artificial. (I am going to allow myself to add some sugar free coffee creamer to my morning coffee. With a newborn at home and very limited sleep, I am in need of some coffee in the morning and try as I might, I just cannot drink the crap straight up black.)
- Processed foods. (I will allow myself to drink protein shakes on this challenge. With my lack of time right now, I need to be able to grab something quick to fuel my workouts.)
- Alcohol, in any form. (I don't even know the last time I had alcohol so I don't think this one is going to be a problem.)
- Grains.(Already had some rice tonight. Whoops. It looked good and I was hungry)
- Legumes.
- Dairy. (Dairy hurts my stomach anyway so I have been trying to cut this out as much as possible.)
- White potatoes. (It's cool. I am a sweet potato fan anyway.)
I am also trying something new calorie wise this time around. I have been doing the Leangains approach to intermittent fasting the last few months but with very limited success. I am going to attempt to do that same approach this time but may limit the capacity on it a bit. I am also going to reduce my calorie intake to around 15oo calories a day. When I try and do the recommended daily intake based on my fitness levels, I never seem to lose weight. In fact, I usually feel like I gain some. So I am hoping that by cutting my calories down, if even just for the next 30 days, I can really shed some of the fat that has built up around my midsection. I will also do carb cycling. Lifting days will see a higher amount of carbs while cardio days will see a lower amount of carbs. Today I consumed just about 150grams so I was right on track of where I want to be.
Workouts
This week my workouts are going to be a bit different. Next week I might start my Visual Impact workout again or I may try to find something new. For this week though, I am doing some density training. Basically I work a set of muscles in a push/pull fashion for 7 minutes straight with limited rest. This weeks workouts are as follows.
- Monday - Biceps/Triceps/Abs
- Tuesday - Cardio (5k combined with some hill sprints)
- Wednesday - Legs/Shoulders/Abs
- Thursday - Cardio (not sure what its going to be yet)
- Friday - Chest/Back
- Saturday - Cardio (again, not sure)
I like this format for now. It works for me, doesn't take a lot of my lunch break and I don't feel the burnout from going everyday that I was feeling a few months back. I am hoping the next workout program that I find will allow me to weight train on 3 days a week with light to no cardio on the other days. Any suggestions out there on what I could do? I have heard great things about the Adonis Index and I listen to their pod-casts quite a bit. If anyone knows them and would be willing to put a good word in for me so I could obtain some free training or be a case study on new programs, that would be swell!
That is all I have for now. Later.
I haven't had the chance to read much of your blog but have you tried High Intensity Interval Training on your cardio days? Not sure what it is you do on those days.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the challenge!
You must have read my mind. I actually did some HIIT today and plan on posting on it tonight. I used to do HIIT all the time before I injured my foot. I then started the Leangains protocol and started to do low impact cardio during the fasted state. Since I am shaking things up a bit now, I thought I would throw it back in. I am also training for a 5k race in July (post to come on that too) so I thought I should start hitting the pavement again.
ReplyDeleteCool! I have been doing some forms of HIIT for a while and after months of trying to break my body fat plateau it seems to have helped. I have been working with a trainer for about a year now. He's the one that introduced me to HIIT. When I first started I wanted to gain weight and gained 20 lbs during my newbie phase. Now we're focusing on body recomposition and I'm including some of the leangains theories into my eating habits to see if that helps things.
ReplyDeleteI have never been very good at running, and wish I was, I've hurt my ankle trying to do it before, but probably because I've been doing it wrong. My HIIT is mostly keeping my heart rate up for a sustained period of time with exercises that not necessarily require running.
We're trying a split of 2 weeks of "bulking" and 1 week of "cutting" and see how that works. Seems to me the more I read that there is no cookie-cutter method for anyone. It's all trial an error. Some people seem to find the right combination right away, and sometimes it takes a while.
You are absolutely correct about it being trial and error. I think that is what makes it so frustrating for me. I try something that seems to work for everyone else but I don't achieve the same results. Like Leangains. I must be the only one that has not gotten good results from doing Leangains. I am pretty sure I am doing it right. Maybe not though. You will have to let me know what kind of results you get from it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kudos on the pics. Much appreciated!
I'll definitely let you know. The trick I think is obviously in daily caloric intake, depending on if it's a workout day or not, and the percentage of things eaten. I am trying to do 40% Protein, 30% Fat, 30% Carbs on workout days, and on rest days I'm reducing the carbs and increasing the other two. I don't have specific numbers, so that's where things will get tricky. The one advantage I have found about IF is that I can eat a lot more. When I was trying to do the small meals every so many hours I would struggle because I wasn't hungry enough. With IF when I break the fast or after workout it's a lot easier to eat a lot.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday I'll know if the Omron shows a drop this week (do weekly measurements with the trainer). On the leangains site they seem to say that everyone drops fat every week, but probably depends a lot on where you start, the leaner you are, probably the more difficult it is to drop more.
I have decided to go back to what worked for me last year before I started leangains. I was getting pretty lean but then ran across the leangains site and switched over to that style. I have a post half written about me taking it back which I hope to get up before the end of the weekend. That totally depends on the KU game this afternoon though. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I too have been struggling with my results with leangains (probably due to overeating) I also will try to incorporate p90x &insanity with it (with some days not IFing & other days IFing) Should i increase my carb intake on cardio day or resistance day?
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the post! Leangains is tough and although Martin has a lot of great info on his site, I feel like he leaves out the really good stuff for his paying clients. I cannot put too much blame on him though. He does need to make a living too.
ReplyDeleteYou should increase your carb intake on your resistance days only with the largest amount consumed right after your resistance workout. Cardio days should be relatively low carb.
okay thanks! do you think i should continue with leangains or just eat paleo with 3 square meals? (i have been IFing lately but with really BAD binges.. like i am really regretting all the food i stuffed in my mouth today.) i feel like i won't even eat tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIf IFing is causing you to binge, then I would just do paleo right now since Leangains is a actually a daily fast. There is nothing wrong with just doing paleo meals. Once you get the hang of that, then maybe through an IF day in there once in awhile.
ReplyDelete