Just keep swimming... just keep swimming

[MariahSnow]

Hi all,

 

I'm an underpants gnome and I'm a shiny object chaser. This is a brutal combo because I'm always reading about new things and wanting to try them in the middle of my current plan. Last fall, I kept reading articles about heavy lifting and wanted to try it, but I was in the middle of marathon training. D'oh! It's like I have workout ADD.

 

Right now I'm really struggling with my motivation, as is everyone who made resolutions. I'm doubting my diet choices. I'm doubting my workout choices. I'm thinking about going paleo (note: I'm a pescetarian). I'm thinking about trying CrossFit. Everyone at work is talking about "the best way to get in shape", but most of it is crap, but what do I know? One of my coworkers is particularly condescending about my workout choices (namely, they aren't the same as hers which I did try for 6 months and didn't see the improvements I wanted). Help! I need a Jedi Council but I'm not finding it at home or at work. I'm nervous because of that "you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with most", and those people are mostly coworkers who eat a big bowl of pasta for lunch. I guess what I'm looking for here is a little affirmation that I'm doing it correctly and I need to stick with it longer to see results.

 

Here are/were my resolutions:

Back off the cardio

Lift heavy

Eat as healthy as possible (this means every meal contains a veg and a pescetarian-friendly protein. Stay away from white carbs, like white bread. No fried food).

Do a full pushup - following the Nerd Fitness article on "how to do a pushup"

Do a pullup (this has been postponed to work on the pushups first, but I did buy a pullup bar and I do one arm dumbbell rows often)

 

Here's what my current plan looks like:

 

Exercise

MWF - Strength training with weights. I alternate upper and lower body, so one week will be M-upper body, W-lower body, F-upper body, and the next week will be M-lower body, W-upper body, F-lower body. I also alternate between 2 different upper body workouts and 2 different lower body workouts. The rationale for this is that I can work the same muscle with different exercises and then come back to a specific exercise weeks later and see how I've improved. I did deadlifts for the first time a few weeks ago and I'll do them again Friday and try more weight. I always do 12-15 reps, typically Set 1 is 12 reps, Set 2 is 10 reps, Set 3 is 8 reps.

 

Pushup Challenge - I do them every other day and try to avoid double-ing up on chest exercises.

 

Sometimes I'll do some random sprints for 5-10 mins after a leg workout to clear out the lactic acid. I always start with a 10 min warm up. My workouts are rarely more than 45 mins, including the warm up.

 

Tues/Sat - Cardio. Typically this is a 1500m swim Tues with drills and an easy paced ~12mile bike ride on Sat. I'm recovering from a metatarsal stress fracture and I just got this sweet bike with clipless pedals and I'm terrified of it.

 

Thurs/Sun - Rest.

 

Food

5:15ish AM - Banana (pre-workout)

6:30 AM (leaving the gym) - protein shake (ON protein), sometimes with water sometimes with almond milk. I think it's ~50 g of protein.

7:30-8AM - oatmeal or toast with pb or almond butter.

10 AM - carrots, snap peas, mixed nuts (unsalted cashews and walnuts)

11:45ish - typically salad with tuna/eggs/chickpeas/tofu and half a sweet potato. Sometimes leftovers like minestrone.

3 PM - apple, orange, and some kind of yogurt-like product - always low or no fat like greek yogurt or kefir.

6PMish - I switch this up a lot but it always contains a veg and a protein, sometimes a carb, e.g. baked salmon with roasted vegs and half a sweet potato.

 

The food has been ok but it's been a month and I'm getting sick of some stuff and struggling to find alternatives. Work has also been hard because my coworkers always want to go out to eat and then tease me when I don't want to go. And if we do go it's hard to find choices that are both pescetarian and healthy. My boyfriend is also a struggle because he loves crap like potato chips, pizza, popcorn, etc. He does rotation work so he's gone for like a month and then suddenly there are potato chips in the house and he wants to order a pizza for dinner. Ugh. He is pretty good though when I laid down the law about food, and specifically didn't offer me any popcorn the other night.

 

Improvements

I do lat pulldowns quite often. I started at 45lbs and Wednesday I did 60lbs for a set. I've also had small improvements in most other areas. I upped the weight on my squats and lunges recently, too.

Pushup challenge - I've moved down to a lower incline since I started.

I don't weigh myself (and honestly weight isn't the issue, strength is, so if I did weigh myself I'd be looking for increases). I do notice some changes in the mirror, but they are minor.

 

 

So... am I doing it right? Do you all have any suggestions about food? Is it worth it to go paleo? Should I be working out more? Should I try CrossFit? Should I just keep going for another 2 months and then make changes if I want to? Should I be measuring my body to keep track of those small changes? Should I get a trainer? Should I get a therapist, haha.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!

[Book]

Heh... I can get behind a Nemo theme.

 

First of all, welcome. I fear that one of the issues you will face here isn't so much that you won't find acceptance, but that you'll find acceptance for such a wide variety of healthy things! Many people will tell you it is *absolutely* worth it to go paleo, although that's challenging as a pescatarian. But you'll also find people who can help you tailor something around that.

 

As for your workouts, I am far from an expert, but I do find it worthwhile to find a program you like and really stick to it for a while, so that you can see the improvements, and share information with other people who do that program. But then, it sounds like you've got a good start on that already.

 

So, I'll just stop talking and say welcome again.

[Thilde]

So... am I doing it right? Do you all have any suggestions about food? Is it worth it to go paleo? Should I be working out more? Should I try CrossFit? Should I just keep going for another 2 months and then make changes if I want to? Should I be measuring my body to keep track of those small changes? Should I get a trainer? Should I get a therapist, haha.

 

Are you doing it right?  Looks to me like you have a great plan laid out.  Re: food and paleo - that is entirely up to you.  Paleo is not a magic bullet, just like no other diet or exercise regimen is a magic bullet.  There is also an infinite number of ways to "do" paleo.  Paleo is a big change (and would likely be a big change for you, based on the average meals you posted in your intro), and there are tons of ways to make the transition.  I happen to be paleo because it works for my goals.  I've been paleo since August 2012 and I am committed to it for life now.  My body functions best on a paleo diet with heavy lifting and slow endurance training (i.e. hiking).  Conversely, my body reacts very badly now when I go off my paleo nutrition plan.  Your body will almost definitely function best on something a little different, because that's how people are.  We're all different.    The same with CrossFit/personal trainer.  A lot of people swear by CF, but it's not a magic wand.  I don't do CrossFit myself...I don't live near any CF boxes, and I couldn't afford the cost of CF even if I did.  I still get great results.  The important thing is to do your N=1 research to find out what works for you.

 

I will say that I think measuring your body is a great idea, and preferably with something other than a scale.  Body fat % and actual measurements of body parts is a great way to track your progress.

 

Welcome to NF!  We're glad you're here.  

[Yiscard]

hey there!

 

I really liked how your goals are very clear and you know exactly how you plan to achieve then. As I've notice,the first few weeks/months of a diet change are hard because most of the time you didn't even need to think about saying no. Now you have to over analyse everything single food(or it feels like it). But after a while you won't even think about it.

 

So in my opinion your doing great! lol 

Power to the elf's BTW ;-)

[MariahSnow]

I will say that I think measuring your body is a great idea, and preferably with something other than a scale.  Body fat % and actual measurements of body parts is a great way to track your progress.

 

 

I actually hopped on the scale at the gym today and I was 160lbs. Granted, I haven't weighed myself since like October and then I think it was like 158lbs. But to me, scales are useless because they're often wrong or have some slight error. Or maybe (like this morning) you just drank 32 oz of water while working out. So I'm thinking body measurements is a better way to see progress.

 

Re: paleo. I've always liked the idea of the paleo diet because it just makes sense. It also seems super healthy if you do it right - full of veggies and unprocessed foods. I have coworker who is doing the CrossFit Paleo Challenge and he was downing coffee today during a lunch meeting while I was eating a whole wheat, veggie-filled wrap. I don't think coffee is paleo, but that's beside the point because he was likely skipping a meal while I was eating something healthy. I'm never interested in a diet that forces you to make unhealthy choices (like skipping a meal). Which is actually why I'm a little frustrated with my pescetarian ways. If I got to a mexican restaurant, I'm usually forced to order like a cheese enchilada. But if I ate chicken or beef, I could get fajitas and just not eat the tortillas. What's healthier? Protein with a bunch of veggies or cheese melted on carbs?

[Evicious]

I actually hopped on the scale at the gym today and I was 160lbs. Granted, I haven't weighed myself since like October and then I think it was like 158lbs. But to me, scales are useless because they're often wrong or have some slight error. Or maybe (like this morning) you just drank 32 oz of water while working out. So I'm thinking body measurements is a better way to see progress.

 

Re: paleo. I've always liked the idea of the paleo diet because it just makes sense. It also seems super healthy if you do it right - full of veggies and unprocessed foods. I have coworker who is doing the CrossFit Paleo Challenge and he was downing coffee today during a lunch meeting while I was eating a whole wheat, veggie-filled wrap. I don't think coffee is paleo, but that's beside the point because he was likely skipping a meal while I was eating something healthy. I'm never interested in a diet that forces you to make unhealthy choices (like skipping a meal). Which is actually why I'm a little frustrated with my pescetarian ways. If I got to a mexican restaurant, I'm usually forced to order like a cheese enchilada. But if I ate chicken or beef, I could get fajitas and just not eat the tortillas. What's healthier? Protein with a bunch of veggies or cheese melted on carbs?

 

Honestly, your better bet would probably be the fajitas sans tortillas: better overall nutritional intake for the meal, and probably fewer calories for a bigger portion than the cheese enchilada.

[MariahSnow]

My thoughts exactly Evicious. I started introducing small amounts of meat back into my diet.

[sumdawgtwigg]

Welcome to the rebellion!

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Fajitas without the tortilla shell, that is a brilliant idea for making a meal paleo! I have really be craving enchiladas, making them myself by the way, and have been brain storming tortilla shell alternatives. Lettuce doesn't really hold up well, I might try cabbage to make it a cabbage roll hybrid, or maybe just bake the veggies. I like food ideas!

 

I think you are doing great in your goal setting MariahSnow. I have been handling my reps a little bit differently then you. My goal has been to do the same amount of reps per set, and give my last set 500% effort, and if I can up my rep by one, then the next time each rep gets one added to it. I'm still starting out so I don't know if that is the best way, but so far so good.

[marybelle]

I actually hopped on the scale at the gym today and I was 160lbs. Granted, I haven't weighed myself since like October and then I think it was like 158lbs. But to me, scales are useless because they're often wrong or have some slight error. Or maybe (like this morning) you just drank 32 oz of water while working out. So I'm thinking body measurements is a better way to see progress.

 

Re: paleo. I've always liked the idea of the paleo diet because it just makes sense. It also seems super healthy if you do it right - full of veggies and unprocessed foods. I have coworker who is doing the CrossFit Paleo Challenge and he was downing coffee today during a lunch meeting while I was eating a whole wheat, veggie-filled wrap. I don't think coffee is paleo, but that's beside the point because he was likely skipping a meal while I was eating something healthy. I'm never interested in a diet that forces you to make unhealthy choices (like skipping a meal). Which is actually why I'm a little frustrated with my pescetarian ways. If I got to a mexican restaurant, I'm usually forced to order like a cheese enchilada. But if I ate chicken or beef, I could get fajitas and just not eat the tortillas. What's healthier? Protein with a bunch of veggies or cheese melted on carbs?

 

How do you feel about shrimp? A lot of Mexicali restaurants have shrimp fajitas. I have a friend who is mostly vegetarian but she eats shrimp, and when we go out together we often spit shrimp fajitas. Its usually really good. I do the fajita thing at Mexican restaurants, or I will order tacos or taco salad and not eat the tortilla. Sounds like you are off to a great start, good job! 

 

 

 

Fajitas without the tortilla shell, that is a brilliant idea for making a meal paleo! I have really be craving enchiladas, making them myself by the way, and have been brain storming tortilla shell alternatives. Lettuce doesn't really hold up well, I might try cabbage to make it a cabbage roll hybrid, or maybe just bake the veggies. I like food ideas!

 

I think you are doing great in your goal setting MariahSnow. I have been handling my reps a little bit differently then you. My goal has been to do the same amount of reps per set, and give my last set 500% effort, and if I can up my rep by one, then the next time each rep gets one added to it. I'm still starting out so I don't know if that is the best way, but so far so good.

 

I found this recipe on OMG paleo, and am planning on trying it in the next week or two. Could this be the solution to your problem? http://paleomg.com/sweet-potato-enchiladas/