Step One: Remove Ass From Couch

[ziffy]

Hi all. Finally joining the rebellion for a lot of the same reasons that I'm sure you've all heard many times before. I was a college athelete (squash, don't laugh) but after a serious injury two years ago (achilles tendon rupture) the poundage has just been piling on. I live in the DC area now, but I was in NYC before that and with the easy access to bars and restaurants, things got way, way out of hand.

It was a slow roll back to actually being able to walk properly (I'm still not QUITE back to full strength in my injured calf) but after being able to walk I was really scared of doing anything too intense so I took up some more mellow hobbies such as fly fishing and fly tying. Low and behold, the LBS just kept piling on as fly fishermen as a group aren't known for their healthy lifestyles. Basically a drinking team with a fishing problem.

Anyway, I've got a much less stressful job now, free access to a gym, and no more f'ing excuses. So I've gotten really serious about getting in better shape over the last month and a bit, and I didn't want to dip my toe into this community without at least a couple weeks of actual change in my life.

Now I've reached the point where I could use some advice and encouragement about what steps to take next. Here's just a general overview of some of the things I've been doing. Check me?

1. Eating as close to paleo as I can manage right now. I travel a lot for work and though not an excuse at all, I'm doing what I can. All grain/gluten is out. No dairy. Stay away from the legumes. Just eating meat, vegetables, and berries. No alcohol.

2. For now, keeping a close eye on calories. I got a really handy Android app called Noom and while it doesn't really like that I'm eating so much protein, it is a good way to keep track of calories. It recommends a daily calorie allowance for me of about 2450 calories as I go to the gym (for now) 5-6 days a week. Is that too high/too much? I've been losing weight but want to make sure it's the right kind of weight.

3. I lift heavy. My gym workout consists of dumbell bench presses (3x10), deadlifts (3X10), and squats (3x10). I get more ambitious with the benches than the squats or deadlifts because I'm still nervous about my achilles but I'm progressing upwards slowly. I add about 5 lbs a week and am sort of stuck at 50 lbs because it tweaks my achilles a bit and I'm afraid to go higher right now.

4. I don't do a TON of cardio. Some days I'll run really hard for 15 minutes, or maybe 30 if I'm feeling like it. Repetitive motion like that tends to hurt my lower body for much longer. I know I should be doing sprints but...injury-wise I'm wary.

5. I switch it up with the ab exercises because I generally hate crunches/situps. I do the ab rollout which I like (3x10), and bicycles as well (usually 3x20-25), or planks for maybe 2 minutes and side planks for the same.

In all honesty, this is working pretty well for me so far. I've been working out with regularity for about six or seven weeks now and I've dropped about 10 pounds. I was at 214 and now I'm at about 204. I haven't weighed myself in a few days so that could be down. I'm shooting for 175 (the lightest I've ever been) by February or so. Realistic?

A few things I really could use some help with though:

The food. I'm a dude, and a creature of habit and while some people love variety, now that I'm not eating recreationally anymore, I just want to get the food in with as little fuss as possible. A normal day is like this:

Breakfast: Black coffee around 10 am. I'm not a breakfast eater. Should I be?

Lunch. Bigass salad with only veggies and greens. Some olive oil and vineagar (maybe a tablespoon of both?) and maybe some sunflower seeds. About a tablespoon if any.

Dinner: Perhaps 8-10 oz. of either chicken or beef, broiled or lightly sauteed, with some vegetable.

Snacks usually are an apple + almond butter (max 1x per day), nut-based trail mix (trying to phase this out) or a protein shake right after the gym (200 cal, about 45gs of protein, maybe 4g carbs I think in mine).

How's this looking? What should I be taking out/adding? Also, the protein shake. If I don't have one, I'm super sore after the gym but I know it's not paleo. Am I doing myself any disservice by drinking them?

On the exercise front, anything I should be working in? Anything I'm missing?

Thanks for reading and sorry for the novel...

This forum is fantastic and thank you all for sharing your stories as well.

B

[Kain]

I think you should turn the salad into chicken with some lettuce on the side honestly. Here is the deal though, what you are doing is working so keep at it for now. Also eat more eggs, maybe for snack/etc and add some more fat (throw bacon on the salad).

Other than that welcome and you are on the right path!

[The Purple Diane]

The food and exercise look great. As Kain mentioned, adding more fat could be a good thing.

What's in the protein shakes? You might just need to settle for using protein powder that's got as little chemical crap in it as possible; or just suck it up and be sore.

I use cottage cheese as my go-to thing after workouts, but if you're avoiding dairy, that's a tough one.

Good luck! And welcome!

[inittowinit]

First of all, congrats on the "remove ass from couch" step! Sounds like you've come a long way in the last few weeks. Awesome!

I don't think you should worry too much about whether your post-workout meal is paleo, since it's high in protein. For me, breakfast is kind of an essential; see if you can eat 1-2 eggs with salsa. I can't handle coffee and eggs together, though; I'm not a coffee drinker, fortunately. There are so many great paleo recipes out there. Start with basic stuff using ingredients you already have, then start branching out a little. There are some really unique ingredients that will a) let you imitate your favorite foods, so you aren't tempted to cheat, and make it easier to load up on protein.

I'd also recommend talking to a doctor and/or physical trainer about the achilles injury, so you make sure you don't overstrain yourself.

[wanderluck]

I second init's congrats - that's the hardest part! And congrats on doing it with recovery, as well. To the protein shakes: I have used unsweetened chocolate milk post-workout with great success in the past. Granted, if you're avoiding dairy, I'd suggest coconut or almond milk (depending on any potential allergies or desires you may have). Also, doing some searching because I remembered reading about paleo-approved protein powder somewhere in my research, this thread over at Active Low-Carber Forums has some suggestions, including Jay Robb's Egg White protein, vanilla (/gluten, /casein, /MSG, /sweeteners). Worth looking into?

[ziffy]

Hey you guys. Thanks so much for the insight. I finally bought a scale (I'd been using the one at the gym, which is crap). Looks like the story is even better. I'm down to 203! Boom. I also grabbed some bodyfat calipers and I'm at 20mm which is about 21% bodyfat. I'd love to see that significantly reduced as well.

Thing's I'm going to look at:

1. MORE EGGS

2. MORE FAT FOR LUNCH

3. Jay Robb's Egg Protein powder (probably once I finish the comically large tub of the one I have now...)

You guys ROCK.

Also, this coming week's mission: squat/deadlift much heavier and attempt some pullups even though the meadhead gym bros seem to constantly be hanging all over that thing. Also, don't snap achilles in half again. Wish me luck!

Best,

B