Day One

This morning marked the official beginning of Katy's 4HB. I had a hard time sleeping last night as if it were the night before the first day of first grade (I was a nerd back then, and still am).

This morning I woke up at 6 AM and took a FIVE MINUTE COLD SHOWER! Invigorating. I am still cold from it but that's a damn good thing because I'm triggering my metabolism to kick into overdrive.

For breakfast, eggs & turkey bacon (although I wish I had remembered the carrots I set aside to juice). The breakfast lacked some legumes and it also lacked veggies. It was better than a bagel though. I also drank my coffee black with cinnamon! Tasty till the last drop. Then when I had a mouthful of crud, I nearly vomited. Life goes on.

Just finished my delicious and nutritious lunch that I prepared yesterday - chili loaded with beans and lentils and grass-fed beef. I would have used bison but I was limited to my shopping locale yesterday so beef it was. Yummy!

I will probably have chicken stir fry for din din tonight and I feel inclined to test out the kettlebell swings Tim keeps going on and on about. I will eventually start training for my triathlon season again but this month I'm focusing on losing body fat and feeling more in control of my body.

I'm looking forward to the first 'weigh-in' on Saturday. Come hell or high water, I will see an improvement in my total inches and weight.

Plus I picked out the prize for the 'winner' of our 4HB trio. The winner of the biggest percentage lost gets a little Moleskine journal - one page dedicated to each day so she can keep track of her progress on a daily basis. It's not a food journal, as we're not journaling. It's just big enough to keep little notes.

Mine looks something like this:

5-min cold shower
black coffee w/cin
need more veggies at breakfast
great lunch

Thanks for reading!

This is the Day

I was at work one morning when the idea hit me to start a research project, where I would read and attempt to follow all of the diet books in the store so I could write one book as a guide for consumers. After I had written down the first 23 titles that came my direction, I was introduced to The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss.

Turns out he's already done that research project.

Thank you Hannah Dale for recommending it, and thank you Borders Rewards +; I bought the book at 40% off the list price.

This man is brilliant.

As an Exercise Physiologist myself, the book was both intellectually stimulating and motivating. It reminded me that not only do I know shit, I know a lot of shit. And it's time that I apply it.

Two of my friends joined me in my efforts to make a solid difference in our bodies, and this morning we gathered at 8 am to take 'before' pictures and measure 5 areas of our bodies to get our 'total inches'.

Every week we'll re-measure, and every month we'll take photos to track our changes. And in the meantime, we'll be working hard to follow Tim's advice to lose fat and gain muscle.

He's got a website: www.fourhourbody.com. And he's also on Facebook. But I'm using my blog to make my efforts conscious. I am taking the bold action of posting this very unflattering photo of myself on my blog for everyone to see. This is the first time I've ever wished for no readers.

Here goes!

Wish me luck. The official diet starts Monday because I'm not prepared to start till then. Have you ever done something you weren't prepared for, knowing that you weren't prepared? It's hard to succeed - and I am determined to succeed.

Starting Monday, I will be eating nothing white (no sugars, nothing with flour, no potatoes, nothing 'enriched').
Starting Monday, I will eat no fruit. (Read the book for the explanation).
Starting Monday, I will eat lots of protein and lots of legumes and LOTS of veggies.
And starting Monday, I will get one day off each week to eat whatever and however much I want (including fruit, sushi, pasta, Nutella, donuts, etc).

I will keep updating my blog and I will update my photo every month. I will update my measurements every week.

Today, my total inches were 148.25 and my weight was 155 lbs. This is the heaviest I've ever been and I feel disgusting. This is part of the process: make it conscious. Here it is!!! Everyone read it and weep! I know I did!

Please post comments to the blog. And stay tuned.....

Thanks for reading and also for not judging.. This was much harder than I thought it would be.

Under the Weather

A lot of die-hard runners and endurance athletes struggle with taking days off when their bodies really need to. It's so hard to miss a crucial training day. I understand. Right now I'm so far from fit that my crucial training days are in the distant future. But I'm here to tell you now that if you're feeling under the weather, you'll be doing more good than harm by taking a rest day - let your body catch up with itself. Training is brutal on your body - that's the whole point of it. While runners are typically healthier than non-runners, it does actually dampen your immune system. Don't push through it. It's more than OK to take a day or two - or sometimes a whole week - depends on how sick you are - to recover.

Today I am feeling very under the weather. I am not sick, and I am also not in denial. I just don't feel well. I know what I need to do to get over it and so I'm working toward it. Today, though, I won't be exercising. I felt the need to write about it because I figured I could also jump on the opportunity to debunk the myth of missing a training day...

But please, I'm curious.. tell me what it is that you did today to get some exercise. Didn't do anything? It's not too late. Walk up and down your stairs for 10 minutes. That will get the heart pumping. Ten minutes is better than nothing. That is, unless you are validly under the weather.

Excusology

Excusology (n.): The study of the reasons or explanations put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense.

1. Too Cold Outside - It is actually 6 degrees outside as I write this blog from the comfort of my own home, which is why it is making #1 on the list. I don't think this is actually the number one excuse people make. As my high school coach would say: "don't matta". While I won't be going out for run in these temps tonight (I'll save my lungs, thank you very much!), I also won't be succumbing to excuse #1. Instead I will crank up my iPod and dance like no one is watching (and hope that no one actually is, because otherwise I have a bigger problem on my hands!).

Did you know that you can actually lose weight and gain fitness without a gym membership? I've worked in the field long enough to understand the benefits of a gym membership, but in my situation right now, it aint happenin'. And frankly, I'm tired of using that as an excuse as well.

This is my plan for tonight's workout (PS - having a plan is a surefire way to achieve success).

20 minutes of dancing to my iPod

2 sets of the following circuit:
30-sec plank
10 standard push-ups
30 mtn climbers
20 reverse lunges - right leg
20 reverse lunges - left leg
20 kettle bell ab twists
15 1-arm row - right arm
15 1-arm row - left arm

15 mins yoga stretching.

And suddenly, the temperature outside don't matta.

Conclusion
As it turns out, I was being watched. Kitty cat does not like the sight of human being "dancing". Oh well. I don't like the smell of her litter box. We're even. I'm writing this conclusion the next evening and I must admit that I am actually very sore today. At the end of the workout, I felt like I didn't do enough. I ended up dancing for closer to 30 minutes and did all the strength workout with bare feet (too lazy to put on shoes maybe?). Today I'm feeling it.. my lats are sore, my abs are very sore, and I was told by a couple of co-workers that I'm walking stiff.. further proof that you do not need a gym membership to get in a good workout!

Go me. Today it's actually been snowing like a banshee out there. Perhaps 'it's snowing' is excuse #2 - but I also had a meeting this morning with a gym owner and it went so well that maybe I will have a platform for my life-changing efforts after all.

Even though I am sore, tired, and won't get home from work till after 11 pm, I will NOT be skipping my workout. I will be doing 30 minutes of yoga before I go to bed. Movement is movement and I cannot tell you how beneficial even the slightest moves are for your longevity, overall health & wellness.

So tell me, what did you do today to move around?

The Pursuit of Readiness

At the risk of sounding pompous, I was born to make a difference in this world. Knowing this, I'm sure you can understand how disappointing it is for me to feel like I have no audience for which to make that difference. I don't have a job [in my field]. There are no lives for me to transform because I don't have any clients. And every day that I spend looking for my platform on which to make a difference, I fall further away from where I want to be.

Suddenly, some famous words come to mind "...be the change you wish to see in the world." Those words finally have meaning.

Let me get one thing clear: I believe that in order to make a difference in this world, I not only need to be the change I wish to see, but I also need to share with the world how I made that change. Otherwise, the only difference I've made is in myself. Makes sense to me. Do you agree? If so, please keep reading.

This blog is now officially dedicated to my pursuit of readiness. What is it that I am getting ready for? A road race. A 5K. A marathon. A triathlon. An Ironman. An open water swim. It doesn't matter what I'm training for. The point is I'll be ready when I finally figure out what it is I want to do. All I know now is I am not ready for anything. Not even for the tiniest, flattest, 3.1-mile race I've done over a hundred times in the past. The not being ready part kills me. It even kills me more than not being able to make a difference in the world. I think I know deep down that if I were to find that job, I wouldn't even be ready to make a difference in your life because I'm not ready in my own.

So here goes: the change I wish to see in the world is fitness and readiness in all humankind - so that one day, if we want to be challenged by something adventurous and new, we can handle it. If someday our bodies are overcome by illness or injury, we will stand a fighting chance. And since that is the change I want to see in the world, it's what I must become: fit and ready.

Read along during the next few weeks, months, years. I have no idea how long it will take me to feel ready. I hope that my efforts will make a difference in your life and that being the change I wish to see in the world somehow morphs into something even more beautiful than its meaning. Thanks for reading - and please enjoy.