FGB, 16k run, and some Diet and Nutrition ramblings

Went to my first Saturday Group Crossfit session today and we did the infamous workout "Fight Gone Bad". Five Stations, a minute at each station to do as many reps as possible for 3 rounds. You get a point for each rep or each calorie burnt on the rower.

1. Wall Ball: 20 lbs men/16 lbs women (Reps)
2. High-Pulls: 75 lbs men/55lbs women (Reps)
3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
4. Push-press: 75 lbs men/55lbs women (Reps)
5. Row (Calories)

Last time I did this one I score 178 points. Today I scored 248 which was good for third in todays standings, woot!

I want to take tomorrow as a rest day so I decided to do my running base training this afternoon. Did an hour and 45 minutes covering a distance of over 16km. I do have to say I was regretting this decision on the way home my legs felt like wooden stumps. Still when I can sleep in tomorrow morning it will be worth it.

Lately I've been feeling pretty good about my performance. I still have room to improve but most importantly I am improving. Consequently, I was thinking about how far I've come since my 20s and decided to right down some of my diet and nutrition philosophies to share. Bare in mind that I am far from an expert and definitely not trained as a dietitian. This is simply a short little blurb about where I started physically and how I got where I am. So enjoy or skip it and go surf something more interesting :).

After I graduated from University I entered the corporate world of eating out and working late hours at a sedentary desk job and my weight flew from under 200 to around 280: I quit weighing myself around that time so don't know exactly how bad it got. This lifestyle went on for probably close to 4 years and I can honestly say that during that time I thought maybe I was a little heavy but really it wasn’t that bad, In my latter 20s two things happened that made me snapped out of it and realize that was heading towards a bleak future. One, I was in a paddle boat with my step daughters and started having chest pains. This scared the hell out of me because there is a lot of heart issues in my family. Two, I overheard one too many remarks about how it was a shame that someone so young let themselves go so bad. Long story short I seriously started to work at losing weight and having a healthier lifestyle.

Over the next few years I tried almost every diet philosophy out there. When ever I plateaued I switched to another methodology and overtime did Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, The Testosterone Diet, ... on and on … Good news is that in about 2 years I dropped myself down to 195 and now in my later 30s I’m 188lb and without a doubt in the best shape of my life. What was the golden ticket? Answer hard work and a commitment to a long term change in life style.

You always hear claims that "enter diet here" is the key to changing your life and will give you 6 pack abs. Sadly this has created a giant industry of yo-yo dieting and people throwing their money away on bizarre eating habits with extremely short term and limited benefits. The magic ticket is a lot simpler than most people think in fact it’s so simple no one wants to believe it’s that simple. It is quite simply, eat less then you burn.

It is true a lot of people find success with different diets. However, I would argue that it wasn’t so much the diet but what happens as a side effect of following the diet. The one thing that most diet philosophies have in come is that they result in reduction in someone’s calorie intake. All the scientific hype and rational behind the majority of the popular diets are for the most part smoke and mirrors. Yes, proper macro-nutrient balances are important when it comes to fueling physical activity, and I’ll come back to that, but in general if you want to lose weight you need to burn more than you consume regardless of what you consume.

First thing anyone who wants to lose weight should do is figure out their Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the calories your body burns just existing, not counting exercise or work. I built a little calculator here, http://darcyguy.com/CalCalc.php, that will help get an idea of your BMR based on age, weight, sex, and height. Once you have that number log what you eat everyday on a website such as www.fitday.com or www.sparkpeople.com and see how many calories your taking in. The general guide is that if you consume 500 less calories than you burn each day you will lose a pound a week. This does not apply to everyone but it’s a start and you may need to reduce or add calories to get the desired results.

Less is not always better. The biggest mistake I made and a lot of people make is they don’t eat enough calories. You don’t want your body to think your starving or guess what, your BMR goes down. I gained some weight over winter and was plateaued a few months ago. Guess what I added 300 calories (yes added) a day and the pounds started melting. Food is our friend, the body needs food.

Exercise is the best way to burn calories above and beyond your BMR it can also increase your metabolism which in turn increases your BMR letting you eat a bit more and/or lose more faster. Cardio or Aerobic exercise is great for burning calories but if you want to increase your metabolism and just plain look better as the weight comes off you have got to do Anaerobic (resistance) exercise. I would say do both types of exercise every week. You can lose weight without exercising but you will lose weight faster and look better after losing the weight if you exercise. If your goal is to simply lose weight and you don’t care what you look like after or how you feel you can accomplish your goal by simply eating less then you take in. However, if you actually want to change your lifestyle and be fit and healthy you need to not only exercise but make sure your body is getting the fuel it needs to keep you energized: you need to eat Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins. Omitting any of these is like sawing the leg off a 3-legged stool.

Personally I aim for 30% of my calories coming from Protein, 30% from fat, and 40% from Carbohydrate. I also think the less processed the food is the more you’ll get out of if so whole grains Carbohydrates are the preferred source. I suspect the protein percentage could go down. If memory serves me correct the Canada Food Guide says 15% of your calories should come from Protein. However, I exercise a lot and I do mean a lot so figure my body needs way more than 15% to build and repair muscle. Fats are important and go a long way to keep you feeling full. I don’t watch my fat sources to carefully but I do know that they should be oil based rather than meat or diary based. There is a lot of debate on this stuff but I honestly believe you need to get all three macro nutrients in each day to feel good and function at your best. For example, when I was on Atkins I had so many migraines and was super moody I think this was my body saying, I WANT CARBS.

In summary, exercise and make sure you do Anaerobic and Aerobic exercises, eat less than you burn each day, don’t starve yourself, and make sure you get all your macro nutrients. Pretty simple right but I know it can be hard in today’s society and people tend to ignore their own health and actually feel guilty taking the time to eat right and exercise. Don’t forget that it is okay that you do things for yourself and making a change to a healthy lifestyle is the best gift you can give yourself.