Day 01 of Jedi training.....

[bjornwilde]

 Yes, I am a complete dork for calling the workout/diet lifestyle change Jedi training. I had thought of going with Project Rebirth but I'm looking for more jedi than Captain America as far as my fitness level goes.

Food is going well, though I am noticing it's harder to get your calories when you avoid quick carbs; i.e. mass market foods, breads, and such. A fried egg on a kale salad is yummie!

Work out was good. I did the first workout for the Zombies, Run C25K program and then did one set of this Jedi workout. I stopped after one as my legs kept feeling like they might cramp. I think I'll switch body weight workouts to non running days in the future. ETA: Actually, I think I will shift to this foundation work out to get going.

I still need to work out my goals, short term to long term, but for now I am getting started and I am feeling good about it.

Comments

[thisisnotajournal]

You're off to a great start! I especially like how you're committing to workouts and avoiding processed foods. I would like to point out that not all carbs are "bad"- if we're continuing the "stock car" analogy from last time, carbs are like gas in the tank - just as essential to your diet as protein and lipids. It's just the simple ones like candy, white rice, soda, jams & jellies, etc. that you should strive to avoid - and even those have their place if you're competing at an endurance event or something and need energy fast. What you should strive for is complex carbs like whole wheat, brown rice, potatoes, beans, etc. A classic bodybuilder's meal (to the point of being parodied) is boiled chicken and brown rice. Here's a handy little blurb for simple carbs vs. complex.

Just a few other things that stick out in my mind:

-you're definitely going to want to incorporate flexibility and mobility drills into your workout. I don't mean to knock your age, but as you get older, you become less flexible and more prone to injury, and what injuries you incur you take longer to recover from. Dynamic stretches are where it's at - a foam roller, if you can afford one and know how to use it, is also a good tool. Here's a link for that.

-make sure you're getting enough water throughout the day. Your tender glutes/calves sound like delayed onset muscle soreness to me (which, if it gets to be too much, can be treated with a slow walk, a massage, or a hot bath) but it can't hurt to make sure dehydration isn't also playing a factor.

-the dude doing the vanilla planks in the .pdfs? Yeah, his form's wrong. This is what you want to go for.

I'll edit as I think of more stuff. Keep up the good work!

[bjornwilde]

This all sounds great and good. I'll respond in more detail later. :)

[bjornwilde]

Yes, flexibility is an issue for me. Always has been, and now I am already noticing a lot of stiffness in the morning. A big part of this working out is for me to get more flexible and spry. I will definitely be looking at that link and incorporating things.

I am drinking a lot of water and keeping my urine a weak looking lemonade. This will be easier at work when I've got a liter water bottle to drink from.

I thought those planks looked wrong. I just figured they were modified or something.

Oh and yes, simple carb vs complex carb is a much better way of looking at it. I was using quick carb as bodies digest it quickly. I do have Oroweat bread now (two days ago we only had sour dough in the house so I avoided it) and I've been working on eating more protein and fiber, as well as veggies.

[thisisnotajournal]

Excellent! A diet high in fiber and protein will keep you satiated longer, giving you that same satisfied feeling with fewer kilocalories. You're doing great with the water intake, too - just don't get to the point where you're chugging gallons at a time, because water toxicity is a thing and (in exceptionally rare cases) you can die from it. When possible, go for evenly spaced sips, not random chugs.

Now for some random-ass ramblings:

-during meals, keep in mind that you're not aiming for that "stuffed" feeling, just that "not hungry anymore" feeling. If "stuffed to the gills" were a 10, and "starving" was a 1, you'd want to consistently hit around 5 or 6 at every meal. Do your best to eat slowly until you're satisfied (I know, hard to do when you're hungry) at every meal. It's okay if you slip up once or twice, just do your best.

-fruits and veggies make for great snacks - you can fill a respectable bowl with some grapes and carrots (as I often do) and get a good amount of fiber and antioxidants out of it for comparatively fewer kcal than, say, a bowl of M&Ms. If you've access to a fridge at work, I'd see what you can do about putting a steady supply of some fresh fruit and veggies in there.

-a note on condiments/salad dressings: I don't like it any more than you do, but they do have calories, and they do count. That doesn't mean you have to give them up entirely, though - ketchup, mustard, and oil-based stuff like vinaigrettes are all great choices (though by no means the only healthy ones). Personally, I take my salads without dressings, but that's just because I'm a purist.

-try to include each of the following at each meal: 1-2 palms of protein dense foods, 1-2 fists of fibrous vegetables, 1-2 thumbs of healthy fats. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but my daily breakfast is a pretty good example of this:

-2 slices of Orowheat Double Fiber toasted, with one tablespoon of peanut butter apiece
-2 eggs, scrambled, cooked in one tablespoon of olive oil and mixed with two ounces of ground turkey
-one baked potato (I literally just wash it, throw it in the microwave, and press the "potato" button)

Good protein, complex carbs, healthy lipids - all you need to start the day. If red meat is more your thing, you can use that, too - just look for cuts with fat content at 10% or below. This is more a template, anyway.

-I have no idea what's up with SparkPeople, but I'm inclined to think your BMR is far below 3200 kcal. If there's an activity level, I set it to "sedentary" - that usually gives a far more reasonable BMR.

-don't stress about the FitBit not tracking your elliptical run. I think it probably has something to do with the thing just not being designed to track the motion the machine forces you into, or something.

-don't forget your rest days! Conventional wisdom is that you should rest a muscle group for at least 48 hours before working it again. This'll sound dramatic, but you're literally tearing your muscles apart (on a microscopic scale) with each workout, and you'll need to rest those muscles in order for them to repair the damage, adapt to the motions, and therefore become stronger. If you're really serious about these bodyweight exercises, I'd also advise you to have one "general-purpose" rest day to recover from the past week's bodyweights - once you're done with the 30-day program, that is. I say "resting", but what you should be hearing is "active recovery" - avoid the temptation of the couch and go for an easy 30-minute walk or elliptical workout.

Keep at it! If you stay consistent, these next 30 days are going to churn out a whole new you.