Perhaps the only thing preventing me from obesity and health problems has been the grace of genetics. Of course, for several years I was not doing myself any favours, and at some point it would have been inevitable that bad habits would trump the genetic advantage.
For a lot of my 20s, I ate like a conventional 20-something; that is, quite poorly. If it came in a box, bag, was high in carbs, smothered in cheese, loaded with salt, deep fried, and had the nutritional value of cardboard, chances are that made up the majority of my diet. And then, of course, add on to that a 1.5 pack a day smoking habit, and a viking tolerance for high volumes of alcohol on a regular basis, and you have the very portrait of student life. After my wife passed from a two year struggle with lymphoma, some of those bad habits just escalated. It was completely understandable that one might just give up caring about the self at that point and engage in self-destructive behaviours. However, at some point in that dark place, something in my brain kicked in. Call it the Spartan, survivalist, or rationalization part of the brain, but I simply had to take control over the one thing that was still mine to direct: health. By November, I ramped down the drinking, and by the end of December, all but cut it out completely except for the occasional beer every few weeks. I bought some free weights and eventually a home gym to get my strength and size back, going back to a gym regimen that I had stopped almost three years prior. I cut down on breads and pastas, started eating clean, incorporated more fruits and veggies, and loaded up on an assortment of vitamins and high fibre/low sugar protein bars (I eat two Quest bars daily - I recommend the brand). To complement a life-diet, I also boosted physical activity and would now be considered "highly physically active." This includes sports, daily hikes/walks, and a highly disciplined weight training regimen. I'm already seeing the benefits since I started in November: my tiny beer belly is gone. All my muscle groups are noticeably bigger and toned. I don't huff and puff at all anymore. I no longer get the afternoon fatigue. The dark circles under my eyes are fading. I've got the energy and metabolism of what I enjoyed at age 20, if not better. In fact, I don't think I've ever been this healthy as I crest towards the big 4-0. Eating well and frequent exercise is a habit, and as my daughter sagely said, "once you do something three times, it becomes habit." In November, I started doing bicep curls of 3 sets of 8 reps @40lbs. My previous high was 45lbs three years ago. I'm now curling 3 sets of 55lbs. I can safely say that I can bench 300, but a better chest workout are flies where I am doing 3 sets of 8-10@260lbs. Sit-ups, which were difficult at first, got ramped up from 3 sets of 10 to 4 sets of 25, but then I was getting bored, so now I do 3 sets of 12 with a 40lb weight behind my neck for added resistance. And when I could barely do 2 chin-ups, I do 3 sets of 7 with relative ease and will need to add more weight. Last summer, I took 10-25km daily walks. That fell by the wayside, but is back in force. The regimen, in full, is split into two parts: activity and consumption: ACTIVITY: *Heavy weight and strength training: 2 days on, one day rest/repair *Hiking/walking (daily - long distances and/or challenging grade terrain at brisk pace) *Basketball, frisbee, volleyball, baseball, etc., optional and pending weather. DIET: *2 Quest bars (protein 20g each, ~130% daily intake fibre) *Low to no carbs *1 beer / week average * Upper end RDI of all vitamins, including vitamins A,B6,B12,C; chromium picolinate, omega 3-6-9, zinc (50mg), green tea extract (400g) - all for optimizing tissue repair and metabolism *Lean meats *Epic fruit smoothies (1.5 litres) using between 12-20 different types of fruit derived from fresh, frozen, and juices. *Extra veggie helpings. A diet and exercise regimen is only as good as it is sustainable. Lots of people go on crash diets or start working out only to find the time between workouts widen until it fades out completely. For me, it has been six months without letting up, and it just feels natural. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything food-wise, nor do I find the exercise a burden. Comments are closed.
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Kane FaucherJust an ongoing wee blog on fitness stuff for my over forty self. Archives
November 2019
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