Moving along
Matthew Nixon
Operation status: Active.
Duty Assignment: Local patrol.
Notes: Recommend further training and attention to diet.
It has been several months since my last report. As my training regimen has stabilized, I no longer feel the need for weekly updates. That being said, writing helps me order my thoughts and prepare for the next mission—so greater frequency may be in order.
I began training back in May of 2013. I try not to use my statistics from then as a guide since it tends to make me feel more comfortable than I like. The good news is that I am now fully capable of patrolling my neighborhood. Back then I had difficulty covering any significant distance. I was lucky to cover 15 miles in a week. Now, with the help of my Charge HR mission tracker/fitbit band, I have that up to more than 30 miles on average. The charge HR tracks pulse, steps, and provides vibrating feedback for alarms. It sends the data securely to my iPhone where I can compare my information against fellow agents like the brunette and Lisa S. I find myself getting up during the day just to add steps to keep up with peers and lighten the load I will need to hit my daily goals. I get off at earlier bus stops to force myself to walk further. The wrist mounted band has the advantage of more accurately counting my punches as well as steps compared to the previous pocket carried version.
Physically I am in excellent condition. I go to the gym/training three times a week. Tuesdays I attend boxing/hand-to-hand cardio from 6:30-7:30 followed by a strength and conditioning class from 7:30 to 8:00. Thursdays I take 45 minutes on the elliptical followed by a half hour with the previously mentioned strength and conditioning class. Sunday’s agent Squish and I do an hour and a half of upper body/core work followed by either an hour on the elliptical or an hour and a half patrolling the streets. I have had to balance the desire to push myself further with the fact that my joints in particular can only take so much. This seems to be the right balance—variable exercise in the classes backed up by a hard routine of cardio and upper body work the rest of the time.
I am satisfied with my progress so far. I am down from a size 50 jeans to a size 40 since April. They are relaxed fit, but progress is progress. I can wear an honest 2x now, not a large 2 or a small 3. I am considerably stronger in terms of raw power and endurance.
As my trainer likes to say, there is always room for improvement. By mid September I was down to 236 pounds. Now I’m between 245 and 250 depending on the day. Part of that first number came from stomach problems and dehydration—so I expected to gain some weight—needed to actually. Unfortunately while I was bulking up for muscle building and rehydrating I fell into bad dietary habits. This was entirely my fault. I tried a system of eating called intermittent fasting in which the subject (me) takes several days out of the week and eats essentially nothing or so little as to be the same thing. Short term I lost a huge amount of weight. Long term I became very tired, my joints started hurting, and when I stopped the fasting my appetite returned tenfold. I gave myself license to indulge with predictable results. I could have prevented this if I had brought more than a 120 calorie yogurt for lunch and convinced myself week over week that I could handle the hunger pangs. Turns out I can, but only for so long.
Until further notice I am bringing a sandwich and yogurt for lunch each day—or the equivalent there of. My breakfast is a banana and some fruit salad—usually a mix of grapes, strawberries, and pineapple. This hasn’t reduced the cravings entirely but I’m back down to a manageable level. The holidays are bad enough without me going gonzo for a cheeseburger every 8 hours.
Upcoming training items:
· Develop some new recipe templates for dinners to increase variety.
· Work to hit my 8k step goal each work day.
· Get the Aria scale back online.
· Develop a firm strength training program.
· Visit the range at least 4 more times by the end of the year.
Today’s Recipe:
Chicken salad Requires 3 diced chicken breasts, half cup lemon juice, diced celery, ½ yellow onion diced, 3 bell peppers diced, half cup light mayonnaise, ginger, Montreal steak seasoning, hot sauce, and 1 cup water.
Instructions:
Season the chicken breast with the steak seasoning, quarter cup lemon juice, and water. Cook chicken in the skillet until tender and juices run clear or in the microwave for 25 minutes. Drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
In a small batter bowl, mix mayonnaise and quarter cup lemon juice. Add ginger and hot sauce to taste.
Combine everything and mix thoroughly.
"You can fight, but it's our wits that make us men...Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it."
***Brave-Heart***
Donna Smith
diet. I'm particularly impressed with the training. Do you find that
it is still hard to make yourself do the exercise? Does 45 minutes on
the elyptical get easier to start?
I am struggling to control my snacking. I really need the physical
exercise. I'm not winning at either.
Your chicken salad recipe now lives in my recipe folder! Thanks for
sharing. It contains what is known in New Orleans as the Holy Trenity,
celery, bellpepper and onion. I just came back from New Orleans and so
this recipe looks like a good one to try.
Thanks for the update. I need the model of your behavior!
Donna
On 10/14/15, Matthew Nixon <jous...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Operation status: Active.
>
> Duty Assignment: Local patrol.
>
> Notes: Recommend further training and attention to diet.
>
> It has been several months since my last report. As my training
> regimen has stabilized, I no longer feel the need for weekly updates. That
> being said, writing helps me order my thoughts and prepare for the next
>
>
> I began training back in May of 2013. I try not to use my
> statistics from then as a guide since it tends to make me feel more
> comfortable than I like. The good news is that I am now fully capable of
> patrolling my neighborhood. Back then I had difficulty covering any
> significant distance. I was lucky to cover 15 miles in a week. Now, with
> the help of my Charge HR mission tracker/fitbit band, I have that up to more
> than 30 miles on average. The charge HR tracks pulse, steps, and provides
> vibrating feedback for alarms. It sends the data securely to my iPhone
> where I can compare my information against fellow agents like the brunette
> and Lisa S. I find myself getting up during the day just to add steps to
> keep up with peers and lighten the load I will need to hit my daily goals.
> I get off at earlier bus stops to force myself to walk further. The wrist
> mounted band has the advantage of more accurately counting my punches as
> well as steps compared to the previous pocket carried version.
>
> Physically I am in excellent condition. I go to the
> gym/training three times a week. Tuesdays I attend boxing/hand-to-hand
> cardio from 6:30-7:30 followed by a strength and conditioning class from
> 7:30 to 8:00. Thursdays I take 45 minutes on the elliptical followed by a
> half hour with the previously mentioned strength and conditioning class.
> Sunday's agent Squish and I do an hour and a half of upper body/core work
> followed by either an hour on the elliptical or an hour and a half
> patrolling the streets. I have had to balance the desire to push myself
> further with the fact that my joints in particular can only take so much.
>
> I am satisfied with my progress so far. I am down from a size
> 50 jeans to a size 40 since April. They are relaxed fit, but progress is
> progress. I can wear an honest 2x now, not a large 2 or a small 3. I am
> considerably stronger in terms of raw power and endurance.
>
> As my trainer likes to say, there is always room for
> improvement. By mid September I was down to 236 pounds. Now I'm between
> 245 and 250 depending on the day. Part of that first number came from
> rehydrating I fell into bad dietary habits. This was entirely my fault. I
> tried a system of eating called intermittent fasting in which the subject
> (me) takes several days out of the week and eats essentially nothing or so
> little as to be the same thing. Short term I lost a huge amount of weight.
> Long term I became very tired, my joints started hurting, and when I stopped
> the fasting my appetite returned tenfold. I gave myself license to indulge
> with predictable results. I could have prevented this if I had brought more
> than a 120 calorie yogurt for lunch and convinced myself week over week that
> I could handle the hunger pangs. Turns out I can, but only for so long.
>
> Until further notice I am bringing a sandwich and yogurt for
> some fruit salad-usually a mix of grapes, strawberries, and pineapple. This
>
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>
Matthew Nixon
it is still hard to make yourself do the exercise?”
Actually, doing the exercise is easy. I enjoy the boxing and the group
training classes. It helps that there are people there who expect me to
show up. Peer preshure is a wonderful thing;) It really helps when you
involve other people in your efforts, especially people who you know will
push to show more often than you will.
“ Does 45 minutes on
the elyptical get easier to start?”
45 minutes is easy now. I just did an hour averaging 10 minute miles. The
45 minutes is just the time available to me between when my ride gets me
there and when my class starts. The larger limiting factor for me besides
time is that my knees can only take so much work in conjunction with all the
kicking, squatting, and walking associated with my programs. I have the
physical endurance to do closer to 2 hours (as I’ve done in the past) but
spending too much time in hard cardio of any kind is cumulative over time—my
knees and hips can only take so much before stiffness swelling, and pain
start to become constant.
So I try to push myself harder in shorter sessions now.