Still, I’ve been down this road before and it’s important to me to be mindful of my level of fitness. More so than the weight gain, I was really unhappy with my endurance when I started. The first week of this fitness push really hurt me. I haven’t been that out of shape in years. While I want to say that it’s nice to be back, I honestly don’t feel I’m “back” yet. I’m still feeling rather unaccomplished.

According to the gym scales, tonight I weighted in at about 172lbs. My weight, for the past few years, has always floated around the 165lbs +/- 5 range. According to those gyme scales, since day 2 of this routine I’ve lost a mere 6lbs. That’s less than 2lbs a week. However, my clothes are fitting differently and my frame is looking different, as can be seen in the attached photo. I believe that a significant part of the difference in the photos is due to muscle tightening back up. My overall strength has definitely increased a bit.

I’m curious about what’s going on as my Target scale was reading well over 180 (I believe it hit 185) near the beginning. A few times I’ve weighted in around 168. I don’t know why it would vary so much more than the gym scale. Perhaps my weight changes through the day? The scales at the gym are like those at the doctor’s office, with the sliding weights. I would assume that those scales must be more accurate.

I had hoped to hit 165 before Burning Man. I don’t think I’ll be dropping 7 pounds in the next two days. I can only assume I’m eating too many calories. Today I had my cereal for breakfast, a large salad (no dressing) for lunch, and an energy bar for dinner. That and some beef jerky were the only calories I consumed. Still, I didn’t snack on raw veggies but instead crammed a rather large salad down quickly at lunch. In my experience, continual snacking seems to go a long way.

I don’t know that I’ll lose any pounds at Burning Man; however I can’t imagine that I will gain any. Our camp has regular meals of healthy food. With the heat and constant activity, I expect I’ll burn calories. This fitness effort was intended to get me to Burning Man, but I think I’ll keep pushing hard for a while when I get back. The snowboarding season is coming on in just a few months and I want to be in solid physical shape when the time comes.

I’m a bit ashamed to post these photos, but after spending a whole day with pink hair recently (long story), I guess it’s not that big of a deal. Regardless, they’re here for the record. I look forward to posting something more significant somewhere down the line. I still would like to develop that 6-pack I’ve never been able to obtain.

Editorial Commentary

It seems I like to post on Wednesday nights. Actually, since I do Yoga on Wednesdays, it gives me a chance to weigh in on the scales at the gym – which I assume are considerably more accurate than the Target scale in my bathroom. Speaking of weight, tonight I was 171… and a half. I could round up to 172, but I was actually close to 171… but since I was so close to the exact halfway mark, it seems like cheating.

Nino headed out the Burning Man on Saturday. I spent 3 hours helping to load the traier that day. I did some mountain biking the next. Monday I hit the gym hard with a 2.5 mile run, solid floor routine, and wrapped it up on the weight machines. Tuesday I struggled to make it through my day and didn’t get any exercise in. Tonight I did my yoga and some weights. I’m slacking a tad more than I wanted, but I’m actually keeping a fairly good rhythm.

In terms of food, I’ve been doing really well. I did have a donut Saturday morning. It hit my stomache like a rock. Yesterday, I made up for no exercise by not eating much. It wasn’t on purpose, they day flew by. By 4pm, I realized I’d only eaten a bowl of cereal all day. I grabbed a granola bar to hold me until I had a bit of meat and spinach for dinner. But, otherwise, I’ve maintained a fairly good diet. Oh yeah, sometime last week I had a beer… Oh my, it was so good.

Diet

Breakfast: 1 cups generic Grapenuts (not as good), 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 shots espresso

Lunch: Mandarin chicken salad from Wendy’s (minus some dressing).

Afternoon Snack: Nutrigrain blueberry cereal bar, 2 shots espresso

Dinner: 1 bowl chicken veggie soup, some beef jerky, 1 kiwi berry (NOM!), 1 glass mixed water, cranberry juice, vitamin water, and Emergen-C

Exercise

1 Hour Yoga

Few minutes of free weights

Measurements

Weight: 171.5lbs

Editorial Commentary

My server time was off. My last post was dated a Thursday but actually made on a Wednesday. But, whatever, I’m pretty sure today is the 16th day into this thing. This past weekend I took an amazing backpacking trip. We hiked several hours a day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That makes me feel a little better about not getting any exercise on Monday and Tuesday. And the fresh cutthroat trout we snagged out of the lake and ate made me feel better about those yummy smores. Nom.

Today I got back into it with some Yoga. Tomorrow, I hope to get some rock climbing in. I had a biking adventure planned yesterday, but I was at the office until after 7pm. Between being busy at work and trying to prepare for Burning Man (attached pic is from food prep for BM) at the end of the month, I’m staying pretty darn busy. This fitness thing has proven a challenging commitment to keep, but I’m making progress.

Diet

Breakfast: 1.5 cups Bare Naked Peak Protein, 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 shots espresso

Lunch: 1 fat plate of Indian food – mostly grilled chicken and steamed veggies.

Afternoon Snack: Just another cup of coffee.

Dinner: 3 strips grilled chicken breast,1 scoop wild rice, 1/2 grilled zucchini, little bit of onion, red bell pepper, and squash

After Workout Snack: I don’t know yet… popcorn? I think we’re out of fruit.

Exercise

1 hour yoga

Measurements

Weight: 174lbs

Editorial Commentary

I took Sunday off the eating cycle as per Tim Ferriss’ recommendations. I didn’t eat “what I wanted” so much so as what was available. I had 3 bagels that day. Otherwise, I’ve been keeping the diet very close to the meal plans I’ve shown in previous posts.

I’ve also kept the exercise going as well. The bike loop that nearly made me black out on Day 2 was much easier on Monday. So much so, that I hiked back up the trail and ran a little of it with Nino. Near the end of last week, I was feeling horrible. Today I feel pretty darn good. I figure that I was either a) fighting off a bit of sickness or allergies or b) explunging a lot of toxins breaking loose in my body from the sudden burst of exercise. Or maybe it’s c) something else entirely.

The big shocker to me came today when I stepped on the scale at the gym. Let me roll back for just a second and mention that I picked up a bathroom scale at Target. The scale from target has consistently shown my weight at over 180lbs – up to 188lbs once. Meanwhile, the scale at the gym has never gone higher than 179. Anyway, when I got on the scale today, I was 176lbs. I expected to have lost a little more than this.

The attached photo is from a meal the other day. This one was prepped by Nino, and it was pretty yummy. I also took a “week in” photo on Monday. I can see a bit of difference, but not a whole lot.

Diet

Breakfast: 1/2 cup Grapenuts , 1/4 cup Sweetened Almond Milk, 2 shots espresso

Lunch: 1 baked filet of Talpia (breaded on the top side), 3/4 cup cooked white rice (bad carbs, I know), big pile of mixed greens and spinach (eaten post workout)

Afternoon Snack: Strip of beef jerky, 1 fruit bar (120 cal), 2 shots espresso

Dinner: 1/4lb Carne Asada, 2 cups mixed sauteed veggies (green beans, red bell pepper, some other stuff), pile of spinach

Post Workout Snack: 1 Kiwi (nom!)

Exercise

30 minutes of indoor rock climbing over lunch

1 hour yoga in the evening

Measurements

Weight: 176lbs

(note: date stamp and title edited to adjust for a previous server time error)

Editorial Commentary

I feel like my fitness plan has officially kicked off. Today I maintained the regiment, finishing my third day. If can keep at it, I should see some change both in my physical appearance and my endurance. I didn’t take a photo of any meals tonight. Instead, I’m posting a photo of Nino’s birthday cake from last month – since it’s part of what I’ve gotta burn off.

Diet

Breakfast: 2 strips of turkey bacon, 1 2-egg omelet (almond milk, onion, red bell pepper, sirloin, spinach, and sharp cheddar), 1 calcium supplement, 1 Flexamin

Lunch: $8 worth of salad from Whole Foods (wide variety of veggies, oil & vinegar dressing)

Afternoon Snack: 1 Nature Valley granola bar.

Dinner (also after workout today): 1/4 lb bison steak, ~8 grilled shrimp, sautéed  veggies (squash, asparagus, red bell pepper), 1 multivitamin, 1 Flexamin

Exercise

1 hour yoga

~20 minute floor routine (crunches, wheel-o-death, leg lifts, etc.)

Measurements

Weight: 177lbs

Editorial Commentary

I’m definitely not going to blog about this every single day. Nor am I going to track calories for every single meal. If I had a handy calorie tracker, I might. Anyway, today’s food was much in line with yesterdays. The surgar cravings definitely kicked it, but I’ve been allowing myself an orange after each workout. This is definitely a higher calorie approach than the last time I did this. Still, with today’s bike ride, I nearly passed out. I was definitely at the edge of my envelope. I also got a chance to weigh in today, I’m definitely heavier than I have been in a long time.

Diet

Breakfast: 1/2 cup Grapenuts , 1/4 cup Sweetened Almond Milk, 2 shots espresso

Lunch: 1 plate at Indian buffet consisting of : 1/4 cup cooked rice, hefty salad, about 1 spicy grilled chicken breast,  2+ cups steamed veggies, 1 serving spoon of that yummy creamy spinach curry (noms!)

Afternoon Snack: 1 cup carrots & celery, 2 shots espresso

Dinner: large chunk of grilled salmon with onion and lightly crusted with ground oats, string beans, black beans, grilled zucchini, small slice of sharp cheddar, 1 emergency pack, 1 multivitamin, 1 Flexamin

Post Workout Snack: 1 orange

Exercise

3.2 miles mountain biking (accumulative 709 vertical feet of climbing)

Measurements

Weight: 178 lbs

Today marked day 1 of a journey to improved fitness. My goal, thus far, is to engage in a heavy fitness training routine between now and Burning Man. I still need to take measurements, such as weight, to fully track my progress. Nino took a photo of me this morning, so I’ll have before and after material.

Diet

Breakfast: 1/2 cup Grapenuts (208cal), 1/4 cup Sweetened Almond Milk (30cal), 2 shots espresso (4cal)

Lunch: 1lb Grilled Chicken Salad (Mixed Greens, Veggies, 1 Breast),  (~365cal), 2 shots espresso (4cal), 2 Flexamin, 1 multivitamin

Afternoon Snack: 1cup Raw Veggies (Broccoli, Carrots, Celery) (~35cal)

Dinner: 1/2 cup Quinoa (~423cal),  7oz Bison steak (408cal), 3/4 cup squash (13cal), 1/4 Bell Pepper (8cal), 1 Emergency (25cal)

Post Workout Snack: 1/2 Orange (18cal)

Total: 1811cal (Note that this is nearly the 2000 recommended amount of calories for a single day. )

Exercise

30 Minutes Bike Riding (15m to & from climbing gym)

30 Minutes Indoor Rock Climbing

50 Crunches