web analytics

JerseySmarts.com

When Working Out Doesn’t Quite “Work Out” Over The Long Haul

Posted on by

As I wrote at some point over the last two months, I’ve shifted my focus from paying off my student loans (mission accomplished) to becoming healthier. The main method that I’ve employed to become healthier is going back to the gym. My routine to hitting the gym is going on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – usually before work each morning. Going to the gym before work means that I’m waking up around 5:00am, getting myself together and reading the morning news until about 5:30am, and then starting my workouts at the gym around 5:45am. It’s a pretty regimented and somewhat grueling routine, but it’s generally okay once you make a habit out of it. This week is my eighth week of getting back in the gym.

In an effort to reduce this mess, I wound up adding to it.

In an effort to reduce this mess, I wound up adding to it.

Oh – and all of those realities that prevented me from going to the gym at 5:45am over the last several years… well, they still exist and they are still a problem. I deal with it by getting a little bit less sleep each night and a lot less high quality sleep throughout the week. Again, no one has invented a workout routine made for the honestly busy person or the long commuter, so I just have to do what I can and deal with the consequences (i.e. general exhaustion).

Along with the vague goal of getting healthier, I’ve opted to focus on my health in an attempt to reduce the number of medications that I take on a daily basis. Those medications include 8 pills each morning, a shot in the stomach each morning, and then another pill each night. The picture above is a quick snapshot of four mornings’ worth of pills (minus the shot in the stomach). I should note that 3 of the 8 morning pills are optional (they are my brown-colored multivitamins and the orange turmeric pill). The majority of the remaining 6 pills that I take each day (and the shot) are all related to controlling my Type 2 Diabetes. Since I was diagnosed back in August 2009, I’ve been on a rather unsteady amount of daily medication – sometimes the number of pills has been higher, sometimes it has been lower. And other times the amount of medication that I’m taking changes based on other factors including my weight and level of physical activity.

And it’s those weight and physical activity factors where I can make a real impact on my daily pill intake. So I’ve been working out consistently for the last eight weeks and trying to drop weight, get mildly stronger again, and reduce the amount of medication that I take each day. I bet you’re wondering what the results of that activity are, right?

The results not good.

In addition to having a poor quality of sleep like I noted above, I’ve only lost about 10 pounds. Now granted, I understand that if someone else were to lose 10 pounds, they may have a massive celebration. I get it. For me and my physical state, though, I should have lost 10 pounds in water weight during the first week that I started working out. That didn’t happen. Instead, it took me about eight weeks to drop those 10 pounds and I truly feel that if I stopped working out for a week or so, then those 10 pounds would come rushing back. But that’s just the weight part of the equation. My bigger aggravation and bigger frustration right now is that in addition to only dropping 10 pounds, my doctor decided to increase my daily pills by 1 each morning starting last week.

After having worked out for so many weeks and feeling better and stronger overall, you can’t imagine what my face looked like when my doctor prescribed the additional pill.

What’s worse is that he prescribed it for high blood pressure. My response to that diagnosis was, “What?! I’ve never had high blood pressure. I’ve always had low blood pressure.” And that’s the truth. I (like so many other overweight people) have marveled each of my doctors over the years because my blood pressure has always been low. And then, randomly, my doctor tells me that my blood pressure is high because it tested at 118 over 94? Really? I was at the gym earlier in the day for goodness’ sake!

Very frustrating. For me, working out hasn’t really worked out. I don’t know what the problem is, but I know that buying into the bullshit in the healthcare and gym industries isn’t going to help – my doctor just managed to prove that outright. So where do I go from here? Well, in addition to not losing a substantial amount of weight, disrupting my sleep schedule, and increasing my daily medication I have to admit that I’ve actually enjoyed going back to the gym and lifting weights. My entire workout regime is based around lifting weights and I enjoy that aspect of working out. So I’m going to keep at it, but not because of any health benefits (clearly, I haven’t realized any yet). Instead, I’m going to keep at working out because it’s fun and waking up at that ridiculous hour is now a habit that I wouldn’t mind keeping for the foreseeable future. Why not?

Returning to the Gym on a Regular Basis & Changing Routines

Posted on by

Back in June it became apparent that the end of my student loan repayment was in sight and that I needed something new on which to hyperfocus my time and efforts. The only area of my life that made sense to hyperfocus on was improving my health. Several years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and a few years before that I managed to lose 125 pounds only before gaining 100 of those pounds back. I’m not even close to being at a healthy weight for my age or body type and the diabetes diagnosis is proof. On top of that diagnosis, the last time I worked out on a regular basis was in 2004 and 2005 when I lost those 125 pounds. Before 2004 and 2005, the last time I worked out in earnest was when I was participating in high school sports – primarily between the years of 1996 and 1998. And that was a long, long time ago.

There are dozens of different reasons for why I wasn’t able to get into the gym and maintain my health. And unlike the arrogant, self-important, idiotic blogs out there who go crazy telling people that they are their own worst enemy, I fully realize and accept that nearly every single one of my reasons for delaying the focus on my health was valid. I realize and accept this because I’m a realistic person who understands that not everyone is in a personal, professional, or financial position to drop everything and work out like a maniac every single day. If you read any “health” blogs that tell you that all of your excuses for not working out are bullshit, then I highly recommend that you stop reading that website and find a blog where real people congregate and talk about fitness. For my part, just as I realize that not all excuses are bullshit I also realize that many of the excuses that prevented me from working out in the past are no longer valid.

I go to a gym in the basement of the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown.

I go to a gym in the basement of the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown.

And since those restrictions are no longer in place, I recently started going to the gym again on a regular basis. I had to make some big changes in my approach to working out since 2004 and 2005. For example, I lost those 125 pounds by going to the gym once each morning for a swim and then again each night to do either cardio or weightlifting before taking another nighttime swim. Those were probably two of the healthiest years that I had as a young adult and even after losing 125 pounds I was still probably 80 pounds away from the government suggested “healthy” weight for my age and height. Unfortunately, the gym with the massive swimming pool is no longer in business and so swimming is not part of my new workout routine. In fact, I can’t even go to the gym after my workday is over because of other employment and volunteer obligations. And the truth is that the long commute and spending most of my day sitting behind a desk is absolutely exhausting, so I’ve switched my primary workout time to the morning… early in the morning. Very early in the morning! I always woke up early, but now I’m getting up at about 5:00am and leaving to go to the gym at about 5:45am which allows me to workout from about 6:00am until about 7:00am. I’ve found that the hour I give myself in the gym in the morning is all that I really need to get myself pumped up and going for the day.

On that topic, I’ve decided to change up my approach to going to the gym. For instance, instead of trying to find a few free moments to go and work out everyday, I’ve committed myself to going to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only. Can I go on another day if the feeling hits me? Sure. Why not? Am I crazy if I can’t go on one of those three days each week? Well, I haven’t missed one yet so I don’t know. However, I know that I’ll be in Washington, DC for work next Monday and that I obviously won’t be able to go to the gym that day – so I guess we’ll see! Of course, I’ll probably try to use the gym in the hotel where I’m staying, but that’s another story because some hotel gyms are a total disaster.

The other big change that I’m doing this time around at the gym is I’m moving my focus off of cardio for now. I’m a big guy and one of the reasons why I’m a big guy is because I used to lift a lot of weight when I was in high school. At one point, I was bench pressing 385 pounds and squatting 660 pounds. No normal-sized high school student is able to put up those numbers – especially some 15 years ago when I was doing it before these silly supplements became popular. The only supplement that I needed was the pasta and meatloaf that my Dad used to make for dinner. That’s it! Anyway, I’m a big guy and every time that I’ve attempted to lose weight since those high school days I’ve hyperfocused on doing much more cardio than weight training. I’m not doing that this time for two reasons. First, I always enjoyed lifting weights. Maybe it was because I was always lifting a lot more weight than my peers or maybe it was because I enjoyed the pumped up feeling that you get after a good weight training session. But for whatever reason, I enjoy weightlifting and if I’m going to the gym at 6am, then I’m doing something that I enjoy, period. Second, over the last decade I haven’t been the most successful in losing weight by just sticking to heavy cardio with light lifting except for when I was swimming twice a day. Proper weight training not only builds and works out your muscles (a side effect of which is making it easier to move this big body around each and every day), but it also helps burn calories to aid in weight loss.

If you’re interested in seeing the weightlifting routine that I’m doing, then you can check it out by clicking here. If you scroll down on that page to the Version 2 workout, then you’ll see the routine that I’m using each week. Much different from the approach that I thought I was going to take back in June. What you’ll notice about the workout routine that I’m following is that it is a short workout. I try not to spend any longer than an hour in the gym between lifting the weights that are noted in that Version 2 workout and doing between 10 and 20 minutes of cardio (split with half at the beginning of my workout and half at the end).

Eventually, I’ll move on to an intermediate workout, but not yet. I’m enjoying getting reacquainted with the gym and the different machines that I haven’t used in ages. It’s fun. Once I feel like the gym is a second home again like it used to be, then I’ll begin expanding my “beginner’s workout” into a more intermediate routine (and beyond). And when that time comes I’m sure that I’ll write about it and discuss it here. For now, though, I’m content with the beginner’s routine so don’t look for that entry any time soon.

That’s the update for now. I’ve gone to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in September. The soreness that comes along with starting to lift weights is all gone and I feel stronger and more able to move around. I’m definitely not close to “mid-season form” (a reference for all of the current and former athletes out there), but I feel good; I feel much better than I did even just a month ago. Will I be able to maintain these Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning workout routines over the long-term? I don’t know for sure, but I know that I’m enjoying them right now. I have no intention of stopping the workouts, so I guess we’ll see how far this thing goes and whether it does anything to move the bar on my health. I have a doctor’s appointment next Friday – so we’ll know soon.

Reviewing Michael Pollan’s 7 Rules For Eating… Again

Posted on by

While I was reviewing some of the bookmarks in my “blogging topics” folder, I noticed this link to a page on WebMD regarding Michael Pollan’s 7 Rules for Eating. You might remember that I read and reviewed Pollan’s books The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Both of those books are absolutely phenomenal if you’re a person who likes to understand exactly what it is that you’re putting inside of your body.

Those rules seem pretty simple, right?

With yesterday’s entry where I wrote about how I’ve been losing weight (see the weight loss monitor on the bottom right side of the sidebar) I felt compelled to complete this particular entry – which I began writing back in February. But, before I offer just a few comments, I thought that I should provide those seven food rules that Pollan promotes:

  1. Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. “When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can’t pronounce, ask yourself, “What are those things doing there?” Pollan says.
  2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
  3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.
  4. Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot. “There are exceptions — honey — but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren’t food,” Pollan says.
  5. It is not just what you eat but how you eat. “Always leave the table a little hungry,” Pollan says. “Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, ‘Tie off the sack before it’s full.'”
  6. Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It’s a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. “Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?” Pollan asks.
  7. Don’t buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car.

While Pollan’s rules seem very simple, some folks might think that they are exceptionally hard to follow. Well, they’re not. In fact, they’re very easy to follow. All you have to do is use your head and think twice before you pick up certain items in the grocery store. For example, don’t pick up something that is made with a ridiculous list of ingredients. Instead, opt for some fresh fruit or vegetables (which have a single, rather obvious ingredient). And stay the hell away from fast food joints. Talk about a combination of chemicals and stuff that isn’t really food!

From my perspective, I like the second rule the best because it leads to so many other great rules/laws for eating healthy. If you shop around the perimeter of most grocery stores, you’ll be confronted with fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, milks and eggs, etc. That’s the kind of stuff that you should be eating! Of course, you should always opt for the organic version of each of these foods – and don’t worry about the additional dollar or so that you’ll spend on the organic foods. You’ll make that money back by buying less food overall and saving on costly medical care for overweight-related conditions (what’s up Type 2 Diabetes?!).

Anyway, I don’t really have many comments on the rules above, but I did want to share them with you. And if you haven’t checked out either The Omnivore’s Dilemma or In Defense of Food, you should do yourself a favor and get a copy of those books right away!

How Many Pills Do YOU Take Each Week?

Posted on by

Yesterday, I did this thing where I tweeted all day. I don’t know why – I just wanted to get that vapid, share-every-minute-of-my-life feeling that all of these stupid kids seem to have as they run around on their smart phones all day. Honestly, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but I still don’t get the fascination with Twitter. Seems overrated to me.

At some point yesterday, I tweeted all of the pills that I take each day. Here is a cropped version of that picture for you to take a look at (and be sickened by, I would guess):

This is the collection of pills that I take each week. Yummy!

Want some explanation on what all of that stuff is in those boxes? Okay – here we go!

Well, the pills at the top of the picture are the ones that I take each morning either right before or right after breakfast. Thus, the pills at the bottom of the picture are the ones that I take each evening either right before or right after dinner. Thankfully, I don’t take any pills during the day.

I take two types of pills: those that are prescribed and those that aren’t prescribed. I’ll go over the prescription pills first. Those big white pills are 1,000 MG of Metformin. That circular pinkish pill is 100MG of Januvia (which is incredibly expensive). Those really small, circular green pills are 2MG of Glimepiride (two of those each morning – not sure if you can see both pills in the top boxes). Finally, if you look at the third box on top, you’ll see a small yellow pill – that’s 81MG of Aspirin.

And those are my prescriptions. Now, for the other pills in the boxes…

The bright orange pills are 400MG of Turmeric Extract and the orange/brownish pills are Ultimate Man Daily Multivitamins from The Vitamin Shoppe – I take two of them each morning.

So there’s my daily regime. Once I get rid of this Type 2 Diabetes, I should be down to just taking the Turmeric Extract and the Daily Multivitamins.

A Few Changes in My Approach to Getting Healthy This Time Around

Posted on by

Yesterday, I wrote about how I wound up so out of shape to the point where I now have Type 2 Diabetes and am required to take at least 6 pills each day. I also wrote about why I think that now is a great time for me to get back into the gym and to start counting calories again. Today, I intend to write about what I plan to do differently this time around as compared to when I first lost over 120 pounds back in 2004 and 2005.

Here are some things that I intend to do differently this time around…

Tracking calories on myFitnessPal

Tracking Calories Online. This is a change for me and one that I’m taking on for a specific reason. When I lost 120+ pounds a few years ago, I didn’t track my calories. Instead, I just ate less and worked out more. In fact, when people would come up to me and say, “Wow! Did you lose weight? How did you do it?” I would say, “It’s easy. Eat less and work out more.” And, in truth, that is the secret to losing weight. However, times change and so do perceptions.

For example, I tracked my calorie intake for a few days last week and I was shocked at the amount of calories I was taking in everyday. Sure, I knew that I was eating too much, but I had no idea that I was taking in that many calories! Without going into the gritty details, it was shocking.

In addition to the mini-experiment I ran last week I decided to track my calories for another reason. I only really lost weight once in the 4 or so years since I gained back the majority of the weight that I lost the first time around. When I dropped a few pounds, it was when I was using a calorie tracking website to track how much food I was eating. If I remember correctly (and I probably don’t), I think I dropped some 20 or so pounds in about a month solely by using that calorie tracking website – there was no working out to compliment the tracking efforts.

So between the mini-experiment last week and my successful use of a calorie tracking website in the past, I decided to sign-up at myFitnessPal.com. Soon, I’ll have a widget on the sidebar of JerseySmarts.com tracking the amount of weight that I’ve lost. I have to get more familiar with their system first and then get myself acclimated to using the tracking website multiple times each day. Be on the lookout for that widget, though!

No Pedometer. I used to always wear a pedometer – up until sometime last year. Using my pedometer, I tracked the amount of steps that I took each week and tried to notice trends over time. What trends did I notice? I walked more steps during the weeks where I was attending major events. Big surprise, right?

Keeping track of the number of steps that I take each day and each week was not a part of my big weight loss the first time around and I’m not including this time around either. Plus, the damn pedometers are prone to getting broken, lost, or just plain busted once in a while!

No Out of the Ordinary Scheduling. When I lost all of that weight a few years ago, I was going to the gym at ridiculous times of the day. I’d go first thing in the morning around 8:00am and then maybe go a second time at 5:00pm or 7:00pm – whenever I felt like my day was over. The reason that I was able to keep that type of crazy gym schedule was because I was working part-time at two different jobs and I was still in graduate school. It’s pretty easy to go to the gym twice a day and work yourself to the bone when you don’t have any large, major commitments that you need to attend to on a daily basis!

But, for all of the reasons that I noted yesterday, I don’t have that type of free and loose schedule any more. So no more going to the gym at random times of the day because there’s nothing better to do!

No Swimming. This change in my approach to working out really is a shame. From winter 2004 through summer 2005 I swam at least 5 times each week and for at least an hour each session (most weeks I swam 7 – 10 times each week for at least an hour each session).

But there are some issues you can do something about and others that you can’t and this one I can’t do anything about – there’s no pool at the new gym. No pool = no opportunity to swim each day after each workout.

And that’s really about it in terms of what I’ll change during my second big attempt at losing weight. The way my life is structured these days, I can’t do what I once did and at least I realize that, you know? I can, however, give this attempt a real effort and do what is within my power to make it succeed.

I guess we’ll see what happens!