Let’s Get Physical: Week 2

 

On 06/09, I wrote about my decision to get in shape in a post entitled “Lets Get Physical.” My decision was based, in part, on the fact that I was out of shape to the point that walking up multiple flights of stairs winded me.

I’ll be using a combination of diet and exercise to accomplish my get-in-shape-semi-quickly goal, and I’ll be following the Couch-to-5K Running Plan (starting with week 4), and “Nutrition and Hydration for Runners.”

This is a continuation of Lets Get Physical tracking my progress after week two of my program.

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After week 2 of following Olivia Newton-John’s advice and getting physical, I’m still feeling pretty good. The jogging regiment started out better than week 1, but ended up sucking (though this is primarily due to me and not the program or jogging itself). Apparently, if you deviate from the program, even a little bit, it can come back and kick you in the face.

Stats

Weight: 192 lbs.

Still holding strong at my starting weight. I am hoping that this starts to pick up as the weeks go on, but I may need to actually be able to run 3 miles before I start shaving the ol’ pounds.

Active Heart Rate: 170/60

This is about the same as week 1, so I must have waited to long to take my initial active heart rate.

At-rest hear rate: 70/60

Assuming that it is correct, this is an improvement of 10 beats per minute, meaning I am getting in better shape.

Run

As the week started, I was feeling pretty good. As I continued my running regiment, I still felt pretty good. I was confident that I would have no problems with the 2 mile, 20 minutes of non-stop running madness that was the last day of week 2. And then I just didn’t run.

I didn’t run on Friday (which I should have according to the program). I didn’t run on Saturday, when I had plenty of time to make up for Friday’s skip. I didn’t run on Sunday, when I had yet another chance to make up for it. So now I find myself in week 3 of the program without completing week 2. I decided that since Friday’s workout was a little tougher than usual (i.e. no walking), I would simply do it in place of my workout for day 1 of week 3.

And then I didn’t run on Monday.

So by the time I get around to starting week 3, its been almost a week since I have run, when I am used having 1 day of rest during the week, and 2 on the weekend. Needless to say, when I finally got around to finishing week 2′s regiment, it sucked. When I finished, I felt like I had been hit my a million dollars, packaged together into 10.75 pound bricks. I know 10.75 pound bricks sounds ridiculous, but that’s what it felt like. Seriously.

Eat

Despite my less than stellar running performance this week, I feel that my eating habits have improved. I am still not eating a large breakfast, but I am eating at more regular intervals, and in more conservative portions.

I am finding that I need carbs before I run, and protein after. So, I plan on working in pasta and cereal before I run (and on my off days), and more meats and vegetables after.

So far its been pretty easy to go without soda. I’ve continued to drink more water, and I have discovered this wonderful drink called Vitamin Water. It’s basically flavored/colored water with vitamins added to it. It has a third of the calories in soda and is a lot less harsh than a sports drink. My favorite flavor so far is b-relaxed. It is truly and simply amazing, almost as if there were a raging party taking place in your mouth.

Less than 2 weeks in, and I am already slacking off. It’s time that I stepped up and got myself in gear. As my high school soccer coach would say (minus the preceding and following arbitrary string of obscenities): It’s gut check time… $%@#$&*!

Let’s Get Physical: Week 1

On 06/09, I wrote about my decision to get in shape in a post entitled “Lets Get Physical.” My decision was based, in part, on the fact that I was out of shape to the point that walking up multiple flights of stairs winded me.

I’ll be using a combination of diet and exercise to accomplish my get-in-shape-semi-quickly goal, and I’ll be following the Couch-to-5K Running Plan (starting with week 4), and “Nutrition and Hydration for Runners.”

This is a continuation of Lets Get Physical tracking my progress after week one of my program.

…

After week 1 of following Olivia Newton-John’s advice and getting physical, I am feeling pretty good. The jogging regiment went pretty much as expected: it sucked. Apparently, I was more out of shape than I realized. However, each workout went a little better than the previous, indicating that I am in better shape than when I started, albeit very little.

Stats

Weight: 191 lbs.

Because it is so close my starting weight (192 pounds), it doesn’t really mean much

Active Heart Rate: 170/60

This is up considerably from my first workout, so either I didn’t workout for 20 minutes, or I waited to long to take my heart rate)

At-rest hear rate: 80/60

An improvement of four beats per minute. Not a big deal, but people in excellent shape (i.e. professional athletes, etc.) can have a at rest heart rate as low as 60/60, so lower heart rates across the board show improvement.

Run

I prefer to run outside to inside, and on a “road coarse” than around a track. This generally leads me to run in and around the my neighborhood. The roads around my apartment are pretty hilly, which I never really paid attention to until I was running up and down them. After realizing that running up-hill pretty much killed me, I altered my route.

Generally speaking, getting in shape involves improvements in 2 separate areas: cardio (breathing, heart rate), and muscles (arms, legs). Usually your muscles improve faster than your cardio, leaving you feeling winded after workouts, rather than with muscle fatigue. For me, this generally alternates as I push myself to run longer distances or at faster paces. Through the first week, I experience more muscle fatigue during and after my workouts than feeling winded. This is probably because of the hills, so sticking to flat ground should help.

Eat

What really surprised me about my first week was that running was easy part. The hard part was figuring out how to follow the nutritional plan. The water wasn’t really an issue (though I could probably use more), and neither was avoiding soda (I’ve been drinking water). The real issue has been altering my eating habits.

Prior to this, I had been eating very little, if anything for breakfast then eating a medium lunch, and a bigger dinner, while the program I am following calls for just the opposite. In addition to the portions, I generally don’t eat at regular intervals, so following the nutritional program completely alters my eating habits. It means that I have to take the time to prepare things, and I’m not always motivated to do so. It also means that I have plan out what my meal options are, which I am also not accustomed to.

It turns out getting physical is going to be harder than I thought.

Changing the world, one perception at a time.

Changing the world can be a fairly idealistic and impractical task. Few who seek to change the world live to see it on a large scale. But change doesn’t need to be on a large scale to be affective. It doesn’t have to happen quickly.

Perhaps the best definition of change that I have heard comes from the film Life as a House.

“You know the great thing, though, is that change can be so constant you don’t even feel the difference until there is one. It can be so slow that you don’t even notice that your life is better or worse, until it is. Or it can just blow you away, make you something different in an instant. It happened to me.”

…

In summer ’05, I read this article in Relevant Magazine (now available on RelevantMagazine.com) which followed photojournalist Scott Harrison as he experienced change on a Mercy Ship.

From the article:

“What started out as an exciting and easy way to earn back college money I’d blown in the stock market, (shorting YAHOO! of all things) turned into a decade of world travel, social climbing, selfishness and materialism, and left me with an appalling value system and skewed world view.”

This is the realization that sparked a change in Scott — his journey of redemption and compassion.

He spent the better part of the next 2 years photographically documenting life on a Mercy Ship before founding the non-profit Charity:. Charity:’s first project, Charity: Water, seeks to provide clean water to the people of Africa. Though not the first (and hopefully not the last) to do this, Charity:’s approach is a little bit different. They are selling bottles of water for $20, all proceeds of which go directly to digging wells. They are able to do this through the help of donors who cover costs of bottling, packing, and shipping each bottle of water (about 45 cents per bottle).

But it doesn’t stop there. In celebration of Scott’s 32nd birthday, he is asking for $32 donations to provide clean water for at least one hospital in Kenya instead of presents, and he is encouraging other’s to join him. 12 years old = $12, 64 years = $64, and so on. “If 1,000 people gave just $32 each, we could build a water system for this hospital and help thousands of people” (Scott Harrison, from the website).

Why would we do this? Put simply, because we can. Like Scott’s experience on a Mercy Ship, Charity: is all about exploring how to live differently.

Change.

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I find myself both inspired and humbled by Scott’s personal revolution. Granted, the contrast of his former and current lives is much greater than mine, greater than most, but even the smallest of revolutions are still revolutionary. As my friend Jake says, we might not affect change in the world, but we do affect change in ourselves (in so many words). Scott’s perception changed when he asked, “What [does] the opposite of my life look like?”

And that’s what it’s really about: changing the world, one perception at a time.

Megan Takes On the (Wal*Mart) World

Two weeks ago, my sister and brother-in-law kicked off one full year without Wal*Mart with this post on my sister’s blog, That’s Swell. It seemed like smashing-good idea, so I decided to join them (shouldn’t be too difficult for me, as I generally try to avoid Wal*Mart as it is).

Now, this particular post created quite a stir, with all sorts of questions popping up over what this was all about and whether it would make a difference, etc. In response, Megan started a series of posts explaining the motives behind this particular exercise. She cites Sam Walton’s autobiography, Sam Walton: Made in America, and an episode of PBS’s Frontline entitled Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (Google Video) as sources, basing her and David’s decisions reasonably and responsibly.

I could get into my reasons now, but I’ve already commented on the post here, so read that for my thoughts on the matter.

Admittedly, the reasoning that goes into something like this isn’t instantly formed and thus can’t be easily explained, even over a series of blog posts. It is seeded in a gradual realization that the so-called American Way isn’t necessarily the best way, that like the Romans and Brits, American capitalism is very much an empire.

Given that neither Megan and David, nor myself came to this realization all at once, I don’t expect anyone to be instantly converted by a single blog post, or a series for that matter. But what amazes me is just how far off people are from getting it.

From the comments:

“[...] WalMart is no different than any other major retailer. The name of the game is profits and that’s the beauty of free enterprise folks.” (full comment)

“[...] With regards to a boycott, honestly, WalMart is such a retail giant it won’t make a bit of difference.” (full comment)

Sure, it would be great if something like this made changes on a large scale, but that is not the point. The point with any exercise is not to feed the machine, so-to-speak; to point out in justice, and maybe open a few eyes in the process.

In addition to the handful of folks who aren’t getting it, I am also amazed and impressed by the number of people who are following this whole thing. On top of the regular readers commenting (whether affirming or dismissing), there are a few blogger’s following Megan and David’s “journey” (as they call it) on their own blogs (Maté Tea for the Mind, The Writing on the Wal).

What can I say, I’m proud of my little sis, the swell revolutionary.

Note:

To change your perspective, check out Irresitable Revolution by Shane Claiborne, and the documentary film The Corporation .

Let’s Get Physical

Well, I’ve decided it’s time to heed the advice of Olivia Newton-John… time to “get physical.” You might be wondering what prompted this decision, and asking “Wouldn’t it just be easier not to?.”

The answer is yes, it would be easier not to. And, yes, I am aware that Olivia wasn’t talking about working out, but for the purposes of this post, I am taking in her words with ears of innocence.

As far as what prompted this decision – well, that’s a little hit to the ol’ ego. Suffice to say, that when you don’t have the abs you always convince yourself you do, you get winded walking up multiple flights of stairs, and you realize that your thighs occasionally rub together when you walk, Olivia’s advice starts to make a lot of sense.

As it turns out, the Internet is your best friend when you are looking for a get-in-shape-semi-quickly regiment of jogging (that’s yaw-ging, it’s a soft J). I’ll be following the Couch-to-5K Running Plan, and “Nutrition and Hydration for Runners.”

After my first run yesterday wasn’t too bad, I’ll be skipping ahead to week 4 in the program, making it a 5 week commitment. I have decided to cut out soda for the duration, and to follow the nutrition/hydration article as best I can. This means lots of carbs, protein and water.

As of this morning, I am weighing in at a gentleman’s 192. I Googled “ideal weight“, and according to a quick survey of the results and throwing out the highs and lows, my ideal weight is somewhere between 150 and 180 pounds (Apparently there isn’t a universal formula/chart for ideal weight, which make sense I guess because everyone is different, etc). I’ll be shooting to lose somewhere near 15 pounds, putting me between 175 and 180 pounds.

I’ll be tracking my progress via weekly updates of diet, weight, heart rate and general in-shapeness. Look for the P.E. tag to follow how I am doing.

Update:

After my first 20 minute workout, my heart rate was 140/60, while my at-rest heart rate is 84/60.