Let's Do This!

[Dio]

Hey Rebels!

So I've spent much of my life ballooning back and forth from being "uber-weekend warrior" to "gee this couch is comfy" and I think it's time to finally commit to the full on "being healthy and active is nice" wagon.

My wife saw Stacy's story, showed me around the site, and told me she wanted a change in herself. I guess I only needed the slightest nudge, because I think I've been feeling this for quite a while and want to make a difference in myself again, this time one that will last.

So I'm down to join the rebellion, pick my occupation, and be a superhero.

I will say I'm really happy to find this site. I'm by no means a "joiner" but I love a community. I can't see myself joining a gym (read crossfit) but I would definitely love support, advice, and inspiration through this process!

Thanks everyone for being here for people like me.

Much love,

Dio.

[bigm141414]

Dio, welcome! Plenty of support and advice to be found on this site. We're all in this together and the more the merrier. Let us know how we can help you get to where you want to be.

[Crooked]

Welcome to the Rebellion! We're here to help. What kind of diet and exercise goals do you have?

[Dio]

So NF ate my post the first time, so this one may be less verbose. Don't know if that's a good or bad thing!

Process and my Big Hairy Audacious Goal (bhag):

• Three Times a Week: Strength Training. Right now I'm looking at things like Beginner Body Weight Training and Angry Birds. I don't know if I'm the Crossfit gym kinda guy, and can't afford it regardless, but that's the kind of activity I'm looking for.
• Once or Twice a Week: Interval Running. I used to run cross country and we used to run interval/race training, so I've got a few routines in mind. I both want to get my endurance up to snuff and want to work on more explosive activity.
• 80% Paleo Diet. I've cooked for paleo people before, so as long as I can keep my laziness down, I should enjoy this. I am reserving the right to splurge (not in a "eat everything for one day" way that a lot of people talk about, but just the occasional "treats) on three of my favorite things: pbj's, chips and salsa, and my wife's baking. I figure as long as I eat small portions of each, don't do it often, and that's the only way I "cheat" on the diet, I should be fine.
• Check-Point. The above are my plans for six weeks. At that point I am going to look at where I am and where I want to go from there. So in September, I will be posting more pictures and asking a LOT of advice from the people here. The next check-point will be 12 weeks out in December.
• Occupation: Ranger/Scout. I would love to work towards overall strength and fitness. My first goal is just getting to the point that I feel healthier. I want to get my energy level back up and be able to just keep up with some of my other friends. I used to love running and it came fairly easy to me once I really broke myself into it, so I'm curious to see if I can catch the bug again.
• Other Physical Goals. While I would love to lose my gut and look "better", I really am not concerned if I end up looking wiry and scrappy or huge. Two things of importance to me are improving my body mechanics/posture as much as possible and getting whatever upper-body flexibility I can. I'm into spinning arts/fire spinning, so I don't want to lose any range of motion on my shoulders and would like to actually increase it.
• BHAG. Now here's the big one. If all goes well, I want to run the Tough Mudder in May. I am going to do a final reevaluation in December. If it looks like I'd be able to give it a realistic go, then i'm going to start training specifically towards it. If not, I would settle for a Warrior Dash. I know I could easily push myself to a 10k in a few months, but I want something more challenging to prove to myself that this is actually working.

So that's my plan and my goals. Feel free to give criticism or suggestions on any of it!

Thanks for the support,

Dio.

[Dio]

Also, I'm keeping a Battle Log here.

[Loren Wade]

Incredible goals. I look forward to seeing you achieve them. I can't wait to see where you go. I share a few similar goals. I plan on doing a 10k and the Tough Mudder. I guess the Warrior Dash too. Haha.

Welcome!

[Dio]

Thanks for all the support! First day workout kicked my butt in all the right ways and the diet change so far hasn't felt like a sacrifice at all! only worried I'm not getting ENOUGH calories.

[Crooked]

"BHAG" is hilarious.

Those look like really great goals to me - measurable and achievable, but they'll definitely push you. If you're interested in Crossfit minus the financial investment, here's a link to a bunch of Crossfit bodyweight workouts you could try to do on your own. http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=50739 The Tough Mudder is an excellent thing to strive for; I'd like to be strong and fit enough to do one myself next fall. What have you been eating recently? Like what does a sample day look like? Generally if you're worried about calories, adding extra protein and fat (from sources like avocado, coconut oil and macadamia nuts) is a good bet.

[Dio]

Hey Crooked,

I just started yesterday, so I only have one day as an example, plus what I'm planning for the next couple of days...

I will be logging everything in my Battle Log here.

Yesterday I forgot breakfast, half pint of chicken and some guac for lunch, 3 oz. of salmon (couldn't eat more than that!), mushrooms, and broccoli for dinner, half a cup of cashews and half a haas avocado for snacks. That's it.

Breakfast was 2 eggs and 3 oz of sausage (not 100% paleo sausage, but it's all I could get at the store. Will eventually make my own). Lunch today is leftovers of last night dinner, dinner tonight is pork tenderloin, peaches, and spinach.

Breakfast tomorrow, not sure... need more options to keep my cholesterol down. 14 eggs a week and 3 lbs of sausage sounds risky! Lunch will be leftovers of tonight's dinner, dinner will be pulled chicken-stuffed peppers.

For snacks I'm buying almonds and cashews, although I've been told to keep the nuts/seeds to one cup total per day, celery, apples, and sweet potato and kale chips (cooking those tonight I hope.)

I also plan to do Spezzy's recommendation of grilling up tons of chicken breasts and pre-packing them for meals/snacks throughout the week. I don't KNOW if I should be worried about minimum calories, though. I've got plenty of fat to burn, but I don't want ketosis/rabbit fever either! Probably should just REALLY boost my veggie intake, which I also plan to do next week.

[Crooked]

Starting out with breakfast is a good idea (unless you're into intermittent fasting). One cup of cashews or almonds would definitely boost your calorie intake for the day. In terms of eggs and cholesterol concerns, I eat a minimum of 28 eggs per week (and usually more than that). I don't think 14 is a cause for concern, though others might disagree with me. I think preparing chicken (or really any good protein source) in advance and having it on hand to snack on is a great idea. In terms of minimum calorie intake, if you don't get enough calories, you will not see the kinds of strength gains it seems like you are hoping for.

[Siha]

I am reserving the right to splurge (not in a "eat everything for one day" way that a lot of people talk about, but just the occasional "treats) on three of my favorite things: pbj's, chips and salsa, and my wife's baking.

Good thing for you, your wife is learning how to bake paleo.

[spezzy]

welcome! and yay boston! (me too )

if all goes well with my bhag of tough mudder in november, maybe ill see you at the one next may!