Hey everyone. I've been on another fitness site for about 3 yrs. I've made significant progress there, but the site is dying from lack of input from others and lack of keeping up the site from the admin. I stumbled on this site a couple weeks ago and could feel the energy. Lots of things going on, lots of input from users, and the admin keeps the site up to date. Looking forward to being very active here, getting motivation from all of you, and contributing the things I've learned so far. About me: To put me in a box, I'm a 54 year old, 5'10", 171lb, married, male, social liberal/fiscal conservative engineer from Illinois who wants to hang on to 50 as long as I can. Genetically, I've always been on the lean side. My "ideal" wt is 163lbs. 185lbs has been my highest wt. I'm very active in whitewater kayaking and dabble in indoor/rock climbing. I also enjoy hiking, camping, and downhill skiing. Adrenaline is my drug of choice. Motivation: I'm reasonably fit for 54, but I want to make sure I stay that way for as long as possible. If I can paddle whitewater at least till I'm 80, I'll be happy. Here's a video of my friend and I kayaking whitewater in Wisconsin in the winter. https://vimeo.com/65000507 Major recent life change: Toward the end of Dec 2014, I listened to an audiobook by Charles Duhigg called "The Power of Habit". It was the magic bullet for me. We all know what we need to do, the challenge has always been consistently doing it. Duhigg teaches how to break old habits and start new ones using the same cue/routine/reward habit loop that advertisers use. Once created, habits do not require will power. They are automatic, similar to brushing your teeth. In the past 3 yrs, I would normally cycle between working out intensely for a couple months, then losing focus and not exercising for 3 months. Since I started using Duhiggs system, I've exercised everyday this year. That's everyday, not most days! Keystone Habits created and fully kept so far this year: KH1 - As of Dec 23, I started keeping my work desk clean and organized (Work related habit which requires me to put away all papers at the end of every day and spray clean my desk at the end of each week). KH2 - As of Jan 1, I started exercising every day (Combination of high intensity days, low intensity days, sport days, and placeholder) KH3 - As of Jan 2, I started managing home records and limiting my postits (No more than 2 postits on my desk,, bills recorded daily, finances updated monthly) KH4 - As of Jan 14, I eliminated night time crap after 9pm. Exercise: I have 4 current workouts: 1. Blitz (3 days/wk) - A combination of strength and cardio + stretching. It consists of 5min treadmill + 12 exercises (6 basic strength + 3 full body movements + 3 core strength + stretching all done with no rest between sets. 2. Stretching (2-3 days/wk) - 8min treadmill + 15 stretching movements. 3. Sport (1-2 days/wk) - Whitewater kayaking, climbing, or hiking. 4. Placeholder (1-2 days/month) - 10 freebody squats. This is for days I'm too sick or busy to fit in anything else. It has no fitness value, but keeps the mind programmed to the fact that I exercise daily no matter what, even if it is just 10 squats. Diet: My diet is very consistent (and boring). A typical day consists of: Breakfast - protein shake (every day) Lunch - (weekdays) chicken/egg salad sandwich, fruit/vegy bag, (weekends) salad. Dinner - Salad (at least 6 days/wk) + whatever meat product my wife cooks up. Late night - PB + hone on toast or yogurt w/ nuts added Snacks - 1 soda/day + 1 sugary snack My salad - romaine and spinach, 3 grapes, 3 cherry tomatoes, mandarin orange, cottage cheese, vinaigrette dressing. Favorite quotes: Diet is 80% of losing wt, but exercise is 80% of motivation (Peel) We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit (Aristotle) We have freewill. Therefore, we have personal responsibility (Peel) Main Quest: Develop and maintain sufficient full body fitess levels need to continue whitewater kayaking and other sports as I age. My current goals to be reached by end of 2015 are: 1. Reduce wt from 171lbs to 163lbs, 2. Be able to touch palms to floor w/o bending knees (currently within about an inch of that), 3. Perform 5 pullups from full lower position, 4. Be able to climb "baby poop" w/o a take (difficult climbing route at Upper Limits in Bloomington, IL, 5. Improve my 360 (kayak spin, currently I get it about 1 out of 10 tries) Challenge goals: Goal 1 - Fitness - Drop wt from 170.4lbs to 168lbs by end of 1st challenge (Started challenge late). Goal 2 - Fitness - Perform 1 set of pullups on both Blitz days and Stretching days (currently only do on Blitz days). Goal 3 - Life - Spend 1hr/wk on a career related training task outside my normal job related workload, even if it means doing it on the weekend. This will be a new Keystone Habit (KH5).
