ElRoberto

I used to drink at least a soda a day, and if we went out to eat several more when taking into account refills. For the last few years it is rare for me to drink a soda and when I do it doesn't usually taste very good to me anymore (too sweet). What helped me get off of soda was switching to sparkling water and flavored sparkling waters (Ritz, Syfo). I found the carbonation and light flavoring were a good substitute for the feeling of drinking soda.

The Domestic Man is my favorite site for paleo recipes https://thedomesticman.com/

I agree with Halo, protein from meat sources is always the best. Shakes are good as a supplement but shouldn't be a main source of protein for your diet. Keep in mind that to keep your calorie count in check as protein goes up carbs or fat counts will have to go down. So your meals will likely be unbalanced with an emphasis on protein over carbs. Also if you are really overweight or under weight the gr of protein per lb of body weight may not work. Personally for me I try to get my protein intake around 170-180g a day.

I really enjoy the recipes from Russ Crandall at https://thedomesticman.com/ Surely there is something on there everyone will like.

Thanks for the encouragement. I don't know anyone that has ever wished they never took martial arts...only those that wish they never quit or those that wish they would have started sooner...for what its worth. I think its harder when you let yourself slip because not only do you deal with the disappointment of your current state but also the disappointment of letting yourself lose it. It is a great feeling though to start to get back on top of things.

Hello all, My name is Robert and I am a longtime reader of Nerd Fitness but haven't ventured into the forums much. I consider myself a fairly active person. I train reguarly in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3-5x a week, do some MMA training, and also try to make it into the gym a couple times a week. My journey started several years ago when I just kind of had a personal revelation that I had let my health slip on my list of priorities for too long. I started working out regularly, tracking my nutrition, and after a few months I had lost 25lbs and was in really good shape. I took the foot off the proverbial gas a few years ago and slowly my weight started to creep back up and I realized that my health wasn't something I could just take for granted and I had to work on it. About 3 years ago I started to track my fitness journey, exploits, musings, and advice on a blog. This has been great for both my own accountability and also for me to look back periodically and see how far I have come. Also it has been pretty cool to see that there are some people out there that actually read it (I never thought anyone would actually be interested in reading it) After a few years of lurking around the forums I decided to try to be a little more active here and spend some quality internet time with like minded individuals. As far as the nerd part of my nerd fitness intro...I love Star Trek, the Simpsons, and most things comic book. Also my wife tells me I have an unhealthy obsession with Batman.

Even though it's been 5 years if you keep working out outdoors you will eventually get used to it. I actually prefer to workout outside with the humidity and the heat, but you do have to be smart about it. I normally go for short runs during the middle of the day in the summer and mountain bike all times of the day. Also if you are just starting to workout or still trying to develop a base for fitness you may need to start very slow with short workouts and work your way up. I would suggest trying to get your workout in in the morning before it starts to heat up, or at night when it cools down (just watch for mosquitoes).If you are going to sweat it out in the heat of the day just remember to wear sunscreen and hydrate throughout the day rather than try to chug a gallon of water immediately following your workout.

First Challenge Wrap Up 1) Lose 10lb in the next 6 weeks -"My current starting weight is 185lbs with a height of 5'6". Most of my weight is carried in my gut/luv handle area which I would like to rid myself of shortly. I think getting down to 175 will nearly eliminate that. My strategy will be to continue to log my food intake on myfitnesspal and try to hit my protein/carb goals the majority of days. Also I will be experiminenting with some Intermittent fasting as well. You can find me on myfitness pal here if you want to follow along or are looking to add some a friend" -So this could have been easily achieved had I not slacked off and went into "vacation mode" the last week of my 3 week vacation. There were just too many parties, restaurants, and free alcohol for my willpower to take. I did end up with a final weight of 178lbs meaning I did lose 7 lbs but not quite the 10 I was looking for. I did however make some new friends on myfitnesspal. Overall for this one I would have to give myself a solid "C" 2) Log a minimum of 4 workouts a week -My goal is at a minumum to get in 4 workouts a week, preferably 5 workouts, resting on the weekends. I think 4 is a good place to start for now. Lately I have been hitting about 3 workouts a week with some weeks being more consistent than others. My plan is to continue logging my workouts on my blogger site here -I was pretty proud that I was able to not only keep up my workouts (most weeks I hit 5 workouts/week) but I was able to effectively mix up my workouts including hiking, traditional gym, functional fitness, and running. One night I missed my workout before work and made it into the gym at 3AM after I got off just to get it in. Overall for this one I would rate myself a solid "A" 3) Finish 100 burpees in under 10 minutes -I have attempted this a couple times over the past couple weeks. Currently my times are running in the 11:00-11:30 range. My goal is to bring that time to under 10 minutes in 6 weeks with plans on shaving a minute every 6 weeks until I am in the 7:00 minute range. -This was much harder than I thought it would be. My best time I was able to manage was 10:44. 44 seconds off from my goal but about half a minute faster than my previous best. I underestimated how hard it would be to push this number lower. Overall a "C" for the effort 4) Read 3 books -I keep telling myself I need to start reading more but just haven't started for many reasons. My plan to improve my knowledge and wisdom is to read 3 books over the next 6 weeks. Given the fact that I normally work between 55-70 hours a week plus my family constraints of having 2 children under age 5, this may be the hardest goal yet. My plan here is to pick interesting books and use some of my downtime at my in-laws focused on reading. I will be posting here which books I am reading when I start and when I finish. -This goal was surprisingly difficult. I did manage to finish 2 books, but I thought for sure I would be at least well into the 3rd by the time the challenge ended. Truth is I didn't really make this much of a priority for much of my trip. I did however manage to get 2/3 with one of those being quite legnthy. Overall a "B" for getting 2/3. I could have done better. In summary I found this first challenge to be pretty interesting. It was certainly harder than I thought it would be. At first you look at 6 weeks as alot of time but when you get to the last 2 weeks - week it seems like the end is coming so fast and there was so much I hadn't completed. I really liked the idea of doing this and measuring my gains over a short period time. I think sometimes I get lost in the long term goals and the end of the rainbow looks so far away it gets frustrating. Next up for me is a 30 day strict paleo diet.... I think overall I'd have to give myself a B- for the overall effort and results. Thanks to all that read along, commented, checked my blog, or sent messages. I appreciate all the support. Hope to see you on a future challenge.

Here are some of the views I took on the walk this morning Looks nice but the water is freezing cold. trust me. Sea Lions hanging out on some rocks As far as my goals go... As of right now Clean Eating - I've stumbled into "vacation mode" eating the last week or so...not good Workouts - I'm killing this one...getting in a minimum of 4 per week and really starting to mix it up Reading - I'm stuck on 1 1/2 books right now. I been enjoying myself a bit too much at the pool Weight Loss - Unknown...I haven't weighed myself in a bit but I'm going to guess I still have a ways to go..... Burpee Challenge - Still stuck in the mid 10's...working on it... I fly back literally on the last day of the challenge so that will be put up or shut up time for the final grade.....

So me and the wife left the kids at the in laws and trekked down to Carmel and Monterey for the past 2 nights. Lots of good food and great wine meant my diet went off the rails but I got a lot of walking around town and some great walks in on the beach. I calculated I walked 3 miles yesterday without even leaving the beach. The water is frigid but the views are spectacular.

Awesome job not skipping any workouts. Keep it up only 1 more week to go

The 4th was a blast. For whatever reason maybe the beer, hike, or sleeping wrong I was running on fumes this morning at the gym. Got a quick weight session in and some cycling on the stationary bike. I guess something is better than nothing though. I'm going to try to watch the diet today and stay strict since tomorrow is the annual block party and there is going to be tons of food drinks and desserts all day

07/04/2013 Happy 4th Everyone. This morning was a nice 5.3 mile hike through Castle Rock State Park in Los Gatos, CA. Ive never been here before and quickly found out that Castle Rock is an actual rock formation and is popular for bouldering. There are also some sheer cliff drop offs and some spectacular views. There were small obstacles to get over at some parts also. It wasn't an ascent and descent like my last hike but there was some elevation to the hike. I ended the day with a nice long pool session to keep the muscles moving. Here are some photos from the hike Looking down one of the cliffs Scenic Views Me trying out some climbing Making it to an awesome cave And of course I can't forget my strength training

07/03/2013 Halfway through my second book. Which is also the halfway point for my wisdom goal of 3 books. The book I'm into now is The Story which is basically the NIV bible in chronological novel form. As you can imagine its a decent sized read. Its' been hot here in San Jose but not Florida hot. Either way I've been spending alot of time lounging in the pool and relaxing. It's nice to have some time away from work and I can't remember the last time I got this much sleep. Normally I work around 55 hours a week on a midnight shift and get roughly 5 hours of sleep a night (If I'm lucky). Right now I'm usually in bed by 11 and up at 7 which by my calculations is 8 full hours. Today's workout was at the gym and I did a more traditional workout focusing on upper body rather than my normal full body functional fitness/crossfit type workouts. Today I'm heading out to San Francisco to eat lunch and check out a few breweries. Also I'm looking to plan my next hike for this weekend, possibly Saturday morning.

07/02/2013 Today I ran a 3.25 miles around a county park near where my in laws live. Afterwards I went out to a dirt 1/4 mile track and completed a session of Tabata sprints. 20 seconds is a long time when you are giving it all out effort. One of the tricks I learned is to sprint and then turn around and sprint back. If you are covering the same distance then you didn't give it all your effort. Each sprint you should cover less and less distance due to fatigue. I used a handy app on my phone (iWOD fitness) to do my tabata timing for me. I was still feeling the hike in my legs though as I covered the 3.25 mile run in about 4 minutes longer than I was expecting. Yesterday I failed epically on the clean eating. While I didn't plan for it being a cheat day it turned out to be one. Mall Food Court+Starbucks+All You Can Eat Sushi Buffet = F for clean eating. I made up for it a bit today by running and then pairing the day with no cheat meals and upping the protein while keeping the carbs very low.