So I have just about completed the first two weeks of doing unweighed and unmeasured paleo and I was kind of curious how I was doing. I had hidden away the scale and not used it for 2 weeks, which has been sort or liberating.
I was a little nervous because I had stopped weighing everything and only had a general record of how much I was eating. I just ate until I was full when I was hungry. This has usually been 3 times per day, but sometimes 4. Some days I have felt hungry and I've eaten more as a result.
I was pleased when the scale showed 202.6lbs, which is down 4 since the 1st, or 2 lbs per week. So for now I don't need to do anything different I think, as it seems to be working fine.
I've also finished my first week of the basic program from "You Are Your Own Gym". The program is pretty challenging, especially for my upper body days. My legs are fairly strong so the lower body days are easier in comparison. For upper body I hit a limit where I will fail and have to go back down the ladder, and sometimes back up and down and up and down. For my legs though, I haven't hit a top of the ladder yet. The workout is challenging, just I am strong enough to keep going and increasing reps.
It will be interesting to see how it goes in weeks 3 and 4 when it is interval sets where you should hit muscle failure in one of the 3 sets for each exercise. I may end up needing to add weight to see that happen in the lower body.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Unweighed Unmeasured Paleo
So I've completed my fist week going with an unweighed and unmeasured approach to my diet. Just keeping to paleo choices (wild caught fish, grass fed beef, pastured pork and veggies) as much as possible. I do still eat some amount of chicken and grain fed beef and pork, but as much as I can I am shifting towards the better choices.
It is quite a change for me in a lot of ways. A little nerve wracking and a little freeing as well. I am not getting caught up in how many calories, or how much protein or anything like that, at least not specifically. I just try to have a good amount of meat at each meal and eat when I'm hungry. Some days that is 3 times, other days it is 4, but I try not to get too worried about it. I feel that at this point after being pretty low carb for over 2 months, my body is maybe a bit more in tune with what I need (or rather I am more in tune with my body) so that if I am feeling hungry (that ache in the pit of the stomach feeling) then I probably do need to eat something.
Couple other changes I've started. At the same time I started the new eating strategy, I also put away my scale. Haven't stepped on it in over a week. My goal is to only drag it out the first of each month when I do my progress photos. I feel like I really need to get away from using the scale to quantify my results. Each week I do try on the next size smaller of my clothes to see how close I am getting to being able to wear them. This week I was able to pull out a pair of shorts I have not been able to wear for several years, so I know progress is being made.
On exercise, I've changed things yet again, hopefully for the last time for a good long while. Came across the book "You are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren, which appears to be a nicely periodized program using just body weight exercises or using equipment you can find in your house (box of books or a backpack for example). I really like the variety of exercises and the progressive nature or the programs. The book contains for programs ranging from basic to pretty advanced. Each program has 4 phases: Muscular endurance, strength, power and undulating periodization. The exercises and how you group them change from phase to phase which should keep the programs challenging and interesting. I've committed myself to at least doing the 10 week basic program and we'll see how that goes.
Ah, almost forgot. Also started taking some Gotu Kola each day (2 450mg capsules, one in the morning and one in the evening) after coming across a comment about it on the Robb Wolf forums. It is supposed to help with collagen production and restoring elasticity to skin, among other things. Hopefully this will help the loose skin I have from weight loss to snap back so it isn't hanging around. Literally.
Also, tested my blood pressure the other day. It is basically the same as a month ago, with a reading of 119/67 compared to 121/66 last month. Not much difference I'd say.
It is quite a change for me in a lot of ways. A little nerve wracking and a little freeing as well. I am not getting caught up in how many calories, or how much protein or anything like that, at least not specifically. I just try to have a good amount of meat at each meal and eat when I'm hungry. Some days that is 3 times, other days it is 4, but I try not to get too worried about it. I feel that at this point after being pretty low carb for over 2 months, my body is maybe a bit more in tune with what I need (or rather I am more in tune with my body) so that if I am feeling hungry (that ache in the pit of the stomach feeling) then I probably do need to eat something.
Couple other changes I've started. At the same time I started the new eating strategy, I also put away my scale. Haven't stepped on it in over a week. My goal is to only drag it out the first of each month when I do my progress photos. I feel like I really need to get away from using the scale to quantify my results. Each week I do try on the next size smaller of my clothes to see how close I am getting to being able to wear them. This week I was able to pull out a pair of shorts I have not been able to wear for several years, so I know progress is being made.
On exercise, I've changed things yet again, hopefully for the last time for a good long while. Came across the book "You are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren, which appears to be a nicely periodized program using just body weight exercises or using equipment you can find in your house (box of books or a backpack for example). I really like the variety of exercises and the progressive nature or the programs. The book contains for programs ranging from basic to pretty advanced. Each program has 4 phases: Muscular endurance, strength, power and undulating periodization. The exercises and how you group them change from phase to phase which should keep the programs challenging and interesting. I've committed myself to at least doing the 10 week basic program and we'll see how that goes.
Ah, almost forgot. Also started taking some Gotu Kola each day (2 450mg capsules, one in the morning and one in the evening) after coming across a comment about it on the Robb Wolf forums. It is supposed to help with collagen production and restoring elasticity to skin, among other things. Hopefully this will help the loose skin I have from weight loss to snap back so it isn't hanging around. Literally.
Also, tested my blood pressure the other day. It is basically the same as a month ago, with a reading of 119/67 compared to 121/66 last month. Not much difference I'd say.
Friday, July 01, 2011
The past week
So this week I've been listening to a ton of Robb Wolf podcasts, which I find very fun and informative. I especially like that his take on most things (other than gluten) is a try it and see type view. His view is once you have a baseline of cutting out all the problematic stuff (grains, legumes and most dairy) and are eating a lowish carb diet from whole foods, then you can start "tweaking" things to suit your situation. I find this a very cool approach.
This week I also worked out my own strength training routine with two workouts to alternate between. This week I did each one time, though next week I think I will do 3 workouts a week and just alternate back and forth. I am using body weight and the few dumbbells and kettle bell that I have, so on some movements I am almost certainly not getting enough stress to build a lot of strength, especially for my legs. For upper body stuff, I definitely weigh enough and am untrained enough for that to be good for awhile.
This current routine I am focusing mostly on upper body strength, so where I can I choose the variation of body weight exercise that limits me to 3 to 6 reps per set. For those exercises I do what reps I can for 5 or 6 sets, resting for about 2 minutes between sets.
My two workouts are:
Workout A
Elevated push ups (feet on a chair, hands on Perfect Push up handles) - 6 sets of ~5 reps
Lunge with Rotation with 20lb dumbbell - 2 sets of 15 reps
Bent over rows with 30lb dumbbells - 3 sets of 10 reps
Single leg Romanian dead lift with 30lb dumbbells - 3 sets of 10 reps
Front and side planks
Workout B
Inverted press (feet on chair but butt high and hands close to the chair so it is almost like doing a handstand push up but easier) 5 sets of ~4 reps
Goblet squats with 53lb kettle bell - 2 sets of 15 reps
Pull ups - 5 sets of 3 reps (one leg assisting as little as possible to get out the 3 reps per set)
Dumbbell dead lift - 2 sets of 15 reps
Mountain Climbers for 1 minute
Both workouts take about 30 minutes.
Food wise I been doing mostly the same, though trying to slowly ramp up the carbs a little and add more protein as per Robb Wolf's recommendation of 1g protein per pound of body weight. This has upped my calories a bit, though I am dropping the fat a little now. My calories are about 120 per day higher (more or less) but that is all from increased protein (40g more per day on average) so I'm not worried about that.
All in all things are going well and I feel like I'm making progress.
This week I also worked out my own strength training routine with two workouts to alternate between. This week I did each one time, though next week I think I will do 3 workouts a week and just alternate back and forth. I am using body weight and the few dumbbells and kettle bell that I have, so on some movements I am almost certainly not getting enough stress to build a lot of strength, especially for my legs. For upper body stuff, I definitely weigh enough and am untrained enough for that to be good for awhile.
This current routine I am focusing mostly on upper body strength, so where I can I choose the variation of body weight exercise that limits me to 3 to 6 reps per set. For those exercises I do what reps I can for 5 or 6 sets, resting for about 2 minutes between sets.
My two workouts are:
Workout A
Elevated push ups (feet on a chair, hands on Perfect Push up handles) - 6 sets of ~5 reps
Lunge with Rotation with 20lb dumbbell - 2 sets of 15 reps
Bent over rows with 30lb dumbbells - 3 sets of 10 reps
Single leg Romanian dead lift with 30lb dumbbells - 3 sets of 10 reps
Front and side planks
Workout B
Inverted press (feet on chair but butt high and hands close to the chair so it is almost like doing a handstand push up but easier) 5 sets of ~4 reps
Goblet squats with 53lb kettle bell - 2 sets of 15 reps
Pull ups - 5 sets of 3 reps (one leg assisting as little as possible to get out the 3 reps per set)
Dumbbell dead lift - 2 sets of 15 reps
Mountain Climbers for 1 minute
Both workouts take about 30 minutes.
Food wise I been doing mostly the same, though trying to slowly ramp up the carbs a little and add more protein as per Robb Wolf's recommendation of 1g protein per pound of body weight. This has upped my calories a bit, though I am dropping the fat a little now. My calories are about 120 per day higher (more or less) but that is all from increased protein (40g more per day on average) so I'm not worried about that.
All in all things are going well and I feel like I'm making progress.
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