Do Your Research!

I’m sick of writing. Seriously. Before I go any further, let me clarify that this blog doesn’t count as “writing”. No, this is me talking to you via the mystifying power of the interweb. I would do a video blog, but I’m pretty sure everyone would just think the fat kid from the sandlot was trying to make a comeback. Plus, I’m not very funny in person. Instead I’ve decided to put this one sided conversation in paragraph form so it’s easier for you to sit through. But I’m getting off topic.

If you didn’t know, I’m on the downhill side of graduate school. I honestly think it’s a little easier than undergrad for a couple reasons. For instance, you are limited to taking only two classes per term, and, if you do it right, you will finish in two years. Each class only meets once per week, and that’s cool so long as you can stay awake for the eternity of four hours. What isn’t cool is the unbelievable amount of literature reviews, reflections, journals, and responses that are required of every class. If anyone even cares to wonder why I don’t post very often on here it’s because at this point I’ve got carpal tunnel and bleeding fingers, not to mention CHEST TO BARS AND DEADLIFTS CROSSFIT WTF!!! I’m writing at least ten pages a week of the absolute worst kind of literature: peer reviewed, scholarly, 3^rd person, APA formatted… you get the picture. If you don’t, imagine watching C-SPAN in black-and-white on mute and multiply that by soggy bread. It’s the print version of whatever horribly boring product you get from those two factors.

What does any of this have to do with fitness or diet? It’s really simple actually. Over the course of writing these papers I spend countless hours in front of a computer finding, reading, and analyzing scientific studies, journals and research. This is tedious, but there is a lot of very good information out there to find. The same thing is true for figuring whether or not you want to try a diet or exercise program; what are the risks and rewards, what can you expect, does it work for people like you…. There are all very real and very answerable questions. The thing is, you have to be willing to do a little digging. Either that, or trust some trainer, coaches’, or friend’s word who I promise you doesn’t have a full understanding of the scientific concepts they’re preaching (except for me… I don’t know everything, I know ALL OF THE THINGS). I’m sure they know the basics and that their idea “works”, but have you ever asked them why or how it works? Just because they look the part doesn’t make them an expert on the subject. Yes, I know I might be throwing some people under the bus, but I really don’t care. If people are giving nutritional and exercise advice they should absolutely be held accountable for understanding what they are talking about. If they don’t, they should be willing to direct you to resources to get the information they acquired. Then you can make an educated observation on whether or not that information makes sense, or whether you think its garbage wrapped in bologna. You also have to be willing to admit that some things actually need an advanced degree to understand it completely. If the resources you are directed to can’t explain it in plain language it’s either highfalutin or completely BS. And for goodness sake, do not trust anything that markets itself as a “miracle”.

With all of that have been said, here is my offer. I’m going to give you the shortcuts to some of the research I have followed: CrossFit, paleo, intermittent fasting. This isn’t a comprehensive list, nor is it a full scope of everything I have learned. It’s a start. Take this and run. Get out and make some life-changing decisions. AND BE SMART ABOUT IT.

CrossFit

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/what-crossfit.html

http://www.25idl.army.mil/PT/U.S.%20Army%20CrossFit%20Study.pdf

Paleo

http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/

http://thepaleodiet.com/faq

http://thepaleodiet.com/published-research

Intermittent Fasting

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting/#axzz1sPgJ4mqs

http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Research

I Am Still Alive!

First off, let me apologize for not posting in over a week.  I would have updated everyone sooner but, you know, life.  That, and my computer got to close to my lunch during a "feast" session last week and I inadvertently ate it.  I'm back now, though, with wonderful tales of joy and woe (mostly woe) from my adventures with intermittent fasting.  It's been just over a week now, and I'm still keeping up.  I've broken down what that first week was like in a list, because everybody loves lists. 

5) THE HUNGER
When I started this deal, I knew I was going to be hungry.  Two or three hours was just about my limit when it came to meal time, so going 16 per day seemed unfathomable.  This is, by far, the oddest thing that I have discovered: I do not get hungry until 11:00am.  The first day I thought it was a fluke.  The second day I chalked it up to excitement.  At about day four I started to realize that this was going to be a lot easier than I though... at least up till 11.  As per my fasting cycle I only get to start eating at 1pm.  That means that for two hours, every single day, I experience the most primal hunger pangs I have ever felt.  I get on edge, irritable, and I'm generally unpleasant to be around.  I went to a BBQ this weekend over my girlfriend's friend's house, and when the grill broke (I am most definitely not making that up) they became genuinely concerned that I would eat one of the other guests. To give you an idea of what it takes to quell this storm of tummy grumbling, here is a list of what I had for my first meal yesterday: 3 hamburger patties, 5 bratwurst, 4 eggs, 1/2 lb. of broccoli, and 6 oz. of guacamole.  This is not a game. Luckily for me, though, my first workout of the day usually happens at noon, so I only have an hour to get through before my mind goes somewhere else.  Unluckily for me I still have to get through the workout....
4) WORKOUTS
My first two workout on an empty stomach sucked. I was terrible. Not only that, but I was in a bad mood before I even started working out. That's a recipe for disaster.  I needed to get my mind right... embrace the suck, if you will. A funny thing started happening on my second workout though (after I had eaten). I would go in to the gym and be in the best mood ever. I was like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde if, instead of science, Jeckyll lifted heavy ass weights and Hyde was less of a beast and more of a whiny brat.  I've pr'd on three different bench marks this week: one lift and two girls. One of those even happened during my first WOD! I don't think that's all the diet, but I do think it's worth pointing out that it's possible to operate at optimum capacity on an empty stomach. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon yet, I'm just saying that it can be doable.
3) RECOVERY
Even with some questionable workouts, it still seams like I'm getting the most out of training. I have been crazy sore all week long, but not in a bad way. It's that special kind of sore where you're sensitive to the touch, but can still get into your workout when properly warmed up. Again, I don't know what this means... but I can't say it's good or bad yet.
2) SLEEP
My sleep has been the same, but on the third night I had a dream that I was at a Sloppy Joe and chili cheese burger buffet. Damn it, now I'm hungry again.
1) RESULTS
I have been dieting long enough to know that you don't see results overnight. I mean, I thoroughly understand the time-frame that I should expect results in and I know it's going to be at the very least a full month. Things take time, you know? But......... that doesn't stop me from checking the mirror to see if it's working yet. That has never stopped, ever. I've lost close to 100 lbs. in my adult life, and I still look at myself and go "man, I wish this thing would work already!" You think I'm joking? Ask anyone who's lost weight and kept it off. It's insane. I'm really sorry if you're one of the people who have heard me bemoan the fact that I'm "not lean enough". I know that seems preposterous, but I do you think Michael Jordan or Jerry Rice were ever like "yep, got that down. Time for a break!"? Absolutely not. But I digress. My whole point is that I don't expect to see a big change in a weeks time, and neither should you if you so choose to take up a diet or learn a new hobby. Even a month seems short in the bigger picture. So if you know somebody going through a lifestyle change, accept the fact that you might not know a lot of the why's and how's and be supportive. And at the very least, please don't be destructive. They have enough to deal with without their friends trying to sabotage their goals. Good luck to everyone walking a similar path right now, and just remember to give it some time.

Intermittent Fasting

If you know me, you know that my diet is very important to me.  If you really  know me, you know that's because I used to be built like the Michelin Man. Over 3 years of dieting has led me through all of the fads, supplements and miracle diets that you have all possibly considered.  Not that they all didn't work- every step that I took was a big part of the transformation that I have been able to achieve. It was an evolution. I recommend that people should be Paleo if they want to be healthy... but I got to that understanding by reading literature, asking questions and trying it out. 

 I understand that when people see me, especially those that don't know me very well, they see a muscle-bound jock that likely daydreams about barbells all day (which is true). What they don't see is the fat kid deep down inside me that still has to decide whether or not to wear an undershirt to hide my rolls, because that's the kind of thing fat people worry about. So I cannot expect a reasonable person to fully understand my conviction when I explain why diet is so important; they don't get a time-lapse camera of me losing 90 pounds. I promise I can see the moment in the conversation when I start explaining why I don't eat grains and dairy, and their mind goes "Fu*k that, cheesecake". And I understand that, because I used to think like that.

I just feel like everyone should understand that this diet thing isn't easy. Not even a little bit. My closest friends all think that it's a walk in the park for me. Like I'm some sort of diet Jedi that can somehow make a daily serving rinsed tuna and raw almonds taste like the most decadent delicacy that Wonka could dream up. Trust me, I love all of the same foods you do, if not more-so. I used to make a ranch and bacon-bit dipping sauce for my stuffed-crust meat lover's pizza that I would eat the day before football games. Probably because I had some sort of vendetta against my heart for tricking me into falling for girls that wouldn't date me because I was fat.

But I saw the error of my ways (that's a much longer story), and through trial and error I have become a physically fit, healthy individual. But like I said, it was and still is a process... which is why I have decided to try a new philosophy: Intermittent Fasting. I am making this decision because I want to see a change. I want to be leaner, I want to be smaller and I want to be faster. I have done my research and I feel this might give me a pretty good chance. I have tried to explain my thought process to friends and fellow fitness folks, and I have already been met with the same questions- 1)What fat? You don't have any to lose, and 2) But isn't skipping meals (breakfast) unhealthy? To which I usually give a very convoluted answer, because I need to get a more firm grasp on the science. But trust me, I wouldn't be trying this if I didn't think it was healthy. And I definitely wouldn't be trying it if I thought it would hurt my CrossFit performance in some way. 

Here are the basics - I'll still be Paleo, because I'm 100% on that. I will eat every day... this isn't a calorie restrictive diet. I will eat after I workout everyday from 1pm to 9pm, then fast until after my workout the next day. Also, I get to eat my normal amount of food in that eight hour window (which my inner fat-child is seriously pumped for). I absolutely do not think that it will be without it's downsides. Here are a few of the "side effects" I can look forward to over the next two-weeks:

1. I will be very hungry in the AM for a couple weeks, which will lead to...
2. General grumpiness - and I don't like that guy
3. Sluggishness
4. Moodiness

After two weeks, all of the bad should start to fade. I am supposed to see energy, focus and strength increases shortly after. Also, I should start losing the fat I want to as well,which will help my gymnastics and cardio and... you get the picture. The most important thing to take away here is that this is a trial run. I'm not going to go around preaching about it, because I personally don't know if it works. Science has got its back, and so do a few well respected scholars. At worst, I lose 2 weeks of training... not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

In order to see a change you have to make a change. I feel like this is where everyone falls off the boat in regard to diet. Consequentially, this is also the reason why people can get rich off of diet pills, shakes and exercise machines. If it was easy, everyone would have a "rockin' beach bod". Nope, the easy way isn't for me anymore. I have made the decision to punish myself into success. Call it what you want to call it; trial by fire, the path of most resistance, or as our fellow firebreathers say, choosing the wrench. IF might not work, and if that's the case I'll move on to the next idea. But until then I'm giving this all I've got. 

Wish me luck.

It just got real

This is where I begin.  It is one day following the release of CrossFit Open wod 12.5.... and I am frustrated.  Being a big dude does not help my chances at this sport. I'll be honest - I whined for about 12 hours, but that isn't what this is about.  I understand that it's up to me to get better.  That part is simple.  The difficult part, and I'm not alone here, is figuring out how to improve.  What's it going to take to be one of the best?  I'm going to try to find out.  I want the whole damned thing. Top 4%.  I'm the first person to point out that the people who win these things are genetically blessed.  All pro athletes are.  The difference is that we can all compete in this sport we call CrossFit.  Even better, some of the workouts even favor me.  You don't get that in other sports.  There isn't a single center in the NBA that I could back down, let alone attempt a shot. It'd be like watching a young kid play basketball with their dad, except their dad is seven feet tall with gang tattoos on his face.  No, we all get a shot.  Even better, I believe that hard work can pay off.  Let me make myself perfectly clear: even though I talk as if I'm going to win the Games, I know I don't stand a chance. There's a better chance Mitt Romney will be selected first in the NFL draft.  I know what my limitations are.  But do I think I can be in the top sixty? Can I get better by 6 burpees, 30 box jumps, and 8 muscle ups?  If I didn't think so there wouldn't be a point to CrossFitting.  So here I go. The 2012 season is just starting, but my eyes are on 2013.  I'm changing my diet, changing my workouts, and changing my attitude.  I will not be outworked. 3...2...1.........