Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and it certainly was a long time in coming this year. Between a worn out pair of shoes with holes in the soles letting my socks get soaked daily from record rainfall, some pretty big bouts with seasonal depression, and some employment ambiguity, it has been a rough spring. But with 75-degree temperatures and mostly sunny skies, a new pair of hole-free shoes, and the kids out of school for the summer, things are looking up.

An Opportunity in the Making

One of the summer activities we have planned is to go camping with my wife’s extended family in mid-August. Her family has an annual family camping reunion each summer, and it generally involves lots of activities during the day, a fair bit of lounging and visiting, and not just a little food and drink. We always have an absolute blast, but I remember last year how it really would have been so much nicer to be a little thinner when we’re hiking around the mountains or swimming in the rivers.

With all of that on the roadmap, it occurred to me that this is one of those golden opportunities to use an imminent event to my weight loss advantage. Some folks will recall that I lost about 20 lbs at the beginning of the year using a combination of intermittent fasting (IF), whole foods, and reasonable indulgences. But the biggest motivator? An event – a weekend getaway trip with my wife to central California. I used that event as a focal point to lose weight, and it worked. Couple the food plan with exercise, and I was able to lose that weight pretty quickly.

Once the event was over, I wondered how well I would do with keeping the weight off. And to my surprise, I have kept most of it off since then. I say surprise because a) I wasn’t sure whether the quick loss of 20 lbs with IF would be a permanent thing, and b) I’ve taken my eye off the ball exercise and moderation-wise for the last few months. I think what is saving me here is that I’ve developed better food habits over the last couple of years, so my default foods are now whole foods rather than the junk I ate when I was younger. I have crept back up on the scale between 3 or 4 pounds from my low this year, but I can guarantee that its a direct result of a few too many craft beers combined with a lack of an exercise plan, and a whole lot of stress (stress and boredom eaters of the world, unite!).

But that ended earlier this week, with a conscious decision to make some changes to meet my family camping trip goal.

The Plan

With a little planning, I have already started to get my weight loss goals recharged. I would really like to be about 25 lbs thinner by the time family camp comes around, which is roughly 7 weeks. That would bring my year’s total to 40 lbs lost. And if I’m successful with this push, that will leave a final 35 lbs for the fall to reach my goal of 75 lbs for the year.

So how am I going to do it? This is the basic idea:

My Personal “Lose 25 lbs for Camping” Plan

Minimums per day:
6 glasses water
50 push-ups
30 crunches
5 minutes of “wall sit” strengthening exercises
30 minutes walk/run/cycle outside per day

Eating guidelines:

There are a few things I should clarify: First, this plan starts by using the principle of using minimums rather than goals for my basic daily habits. One of my usual reads is a site called Dumb Little Man, where they recently posted an article on this concept. The article was “Thinking Small without Guilt: Setting Your Minimum Goal Standards“, and it made a lot of sense to me. Rather than making success contingent on reaching a higher goal, view it as a bare minimum that must be met. Is 6 glasses of water enough to maximize my weight loss? Probably not – but it is certainly more than I drink on average, and a good minimum with which to start. And that is the idea – are 50 pushups enough after two weeks to really tone up? I doubt it, but it doesn’t matter. As long as I’m hitting my minimums, anything I do above that is cake. Mmm. Cake.

And once the requirement becomes comfortable and habitual, I’ll likely raise the minimums. I also have a set of exercise options to try for fun, but I am not making that a requirement – yet.

Second, you’ll notice that there is no calorie counting in this plan. My objective is to generally reduce my intake on a weekly level and not drive myself insane trying to account for every crumb (which for me has never worked). The plan is simple: eat reasonably on non-fasting days by eating whole, seasonal foods while limiting my sugar intake (including natural sugars). You might have noticed that there’s no “carbohydrate” day, and that is primarily because with my love of carbs I could easily undo the work of two or three other days if I ate bread all day. I’m generally keeping the carbs to a minimum, replacing them with vegetables, protein, fats, and some complex carbs/whole grains.

Third, the core of this plan in many ways is Intermittent Fasting. I enjoy fasting for a variety of reasons, though I know it’s not for everyone. This approach worked well for me in January, but this time I’m adding a little more structure to make planning easier.

Finally, on weekends I’m not going to worry too much about what I eat. I’ll still maintain my habits of moderation and real food, but if I want to have a beer with friends, I’m having that beer. Dessert? Definitely – just not 3 of them.

There are of course a lot more details involved, like what exactly I will eat on each day – but you’ll have to wait for the next few posts to find out. Will it work? Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed the article, please consider subscribing – it’s free, as always.

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Disclosure: This post is not a paid review or endorsement, but Sony did send me the product to get my thoughts. I am in no way affiliated with Sony and have received no compensation for my impressions. And also, the legal bit makes me feel weird, like going to the principal’s office for something I actually DID do this time, but it turns out it wasn’t as bad as I thought. OK I feel slightly better.

Several weeks ago I received a note from Melissa, a Community Ambassador for Sony letting me know about a product line that they are promoting: the Sony W series cord-free mp3 players. I receive a fair number of these notes and offers to review products, but to be honest I rarely give them a second thought. In general I don’t do product reviews, mostly because 9 times out of 10 the offer is for packaged/processed foods that I already know how I feel on principle, so I don’t think it would really be fair. (The other exception has been cookbooks which I do review on occasion.)

This product on the other hand, since I’m not eating it , seemed like something I could check out – and the words “cord-free” piqued my interest. Plus I’m kind of a gadget junkie, though I usually take forever to buy them. (Note to Apple: I will gladly write up a review of the iPad or one of the new Macbook Pros if you want to send one to me. No, seriously.)

To provide a little context, lately when I run I use my iPhone with some 3rd party ear buds to listen to music or my ever growing list of podcasts. As many readers know, I am also an active iPhoneography enthusiast, so I generally have my phone (a.k.a. camera/ipod/everything-I-need-in-one-gadget) with me wherever I go. So, my iPhone with headphones is my primary source of comparison, though I am a product of the 80′s Walkman generation, so I have a long history with portable music. In addition, I am also an amateur musician with a home recording studio, so I do use studio-grade headphones for music production – which means I’d like to think I have a reasonable ear for audio quality.

Overall, for readers of Almost Fit I think this product has value as a good workout tool, and as you will see in the review I LOVE not having to deal with headphone wires. The ear buds that I usually use with my iPhone are great both sound and comfort-wise, but I am continually fighting with them pulling during exercise routines. I also find it tough to do things like take photos with my phone along the way, or use exercise tracking applications (of which I’m a fan) while listening to music on my phone. So a separate device makes sense to me in some cases. That said, this device is not without it’s flaws.

With that, here’s the review.

The Product

Sony W Series Walkman MP3 Player (2GB model NWZ-W252)

Suggested Retail: $60

A few features: Holds approximately 470 songs (rough estimate), and is water resistant. The highlights on the packaging include “Up to 11 hours of music playback”, “3 minute charge for 90 minutes of playback” and 2GB of storage (though the fine print says it’s actually less).

Pros

Overall there are a lot of things to like about this device. Here are the biggest positives:

• The sound quality is pretty good if you use the correct ear bud size. The player comes with 3 sets of ear buds (small/med/large), and is set up with the medium size by default.  I tried all three, and noticed a big difference in sound quality by switching ear bud sizes to find the one that fit me best. Specifically, the sound had a lot more low end when I had the right size. With the wrong size, the sound was definitely “tinny”, lacking bass. I don’t see an option for adjusting the sound quality (an equalizer), but overall the preconfigured balance was as good or better than my iPhone/headphones setup.
• The headphones stay firmly in place. I wondered about this when I first received the product, primarily because it feels a tad heavy in your hand for something that your ears are essentially going to hold up. Surprisingly, the weight didn’t bother me when I wore it, and the ear buds stayed firmly in place even while running, wearing it around the house doing yard work, etc. The flexible tension wire that connects the two sides seems to counter balance the weight, and I found it easily as comfortable as just earbuds with wires.
• Having no wires should be the law. Not having to deal with wires is really, really nice. I loved it, and this feature alone probably overshadows just about everything else. If you listen to headphones while working out, you know it can be a pain to have to manage the wires. Not in this case – no wires here. It’s awesome to be wire-free. Did I mention I really like the cord-free idea?
• The controls are easy to use. I found the jog lever very intuitive and responsive, and the volume buttons easily accessible. I also liked the “Zappin” function that lets you hear snippets of songs so that you can navigate to the track you’re looking for, though truth be told I used this much less than I expected.
• The power on/off mechanism is “neat”. The player is equipped with a magnet that holds the right and left earpieces together. When the two sides are put together, the player powers down. When you separate the earpieces, it powers up. While I like this/it feels pretty cool, it also means you need to have a separate case to keep the sides together in a gym bag or purse. Not a big deal, but it is one more thing to keep track of and in my case, possibly lose. having a little rubberized lock/connector that is built into the device would solve the problem.
• The media storage size is acceptable, though a little less than advertised. Specifically, the fine print points out that the 2GB includes 16% of the drive that is reserved for operations (meaning you lose 16% of your drive space, which isn’t trivial to me). Although I find this acceptable for a workout device, for a general purpose MP3 player i find the size pretty lacking relative to a device like my phone. Suggestion: Instead of wasting space with the nifty voice notifications, just give me more room for more songs.
• No trouble in the rain. Living in Oregon, this is a factor. So far I haven’t had any trouble.
• Charges quickly, and lasts for approximately 11 hours. I didn’t notice any battery issues, and the 3-minute charge for 90 minutes of playback is a cool feature (and works).

Cons

While I generally liked it, there were a few things that really bugged me.

• Installations instructions are terrible, and incorrect: One of the things that is not immediately obvious is that you have to install software from the device onto your computer. I can live with that; however, the installation instructions were completely incorrect. Step 1: the installation path is incorrect. Step 2: I had to manually copy the folder over to get it to work, which I only tried because I work in the software industry and it’s a pretty common defect. Step 3:  wrong folder. Step 4: I declined the automatic content transfer (I wanted to control this manually), but I had no instructions on what to do if I chose this option. Step 5: I had to reboot my PC to make the Content Transfer app recognize it’s own device (it kept telling me that the device was not connected, even after reconnecting, closing and reopening the app, etc. etc.).
  This bothers me personally because I write software documentation at my day job, and this was so far off that it was unusable. I eventually figured it out after trying a reboot as a last resort, but I kept thinking to myself that if I didn’t routinely do this sort of thing for work, it would be insanely frustrating to figure out.
• Not a fan of having to install yet another desktop program on my PC just to use an mp3 player. From a computer perspective this device is little more than a thumb drive with some controls built into it. Given that I have to sacrifice 16% of the memory in the device already to onboard instructions, I don’t want to have to install an application on my desktop just to use it.
• Slow media transfer: I did find the time involved to move media onto the device to be painfully long. With 1.48GB free (so it’s clearly not a space problem), I added a single album via iTunes – 15 songs from a single CD – and it took over 18 minutes to add. I tried it again with a different playlist, and similar results. That seems really long to me. I tried it manually as well (outside of iTunes), and it seemed nearly the same (did not time it this time, but I was able to walk away from the computer, go check the mail, make some toast, check email, etc., and it still wait for it to finish a single album transfer). My computer did have a browser open, but it wasn’t taxing the resources of the system. I’m not sure what is up with that. By contrast, to add music to my phone, multiple albums, usually takes less than a minute or two.
• The package should answer the most important question: How many songs does it hold? When I’ve mentioned this review to friends, the first question that comes up, always, is “So how many songs does it hold?” Although I don’t think it’s purposefully withheld, it feels a bit disingenuous somehow to not disclose this info on the packaging (as if the product has something to hide). They have room for a “Napster” icon, but can’t put “holds [this many] songs”?
• It should be simpler to charge: I didn’t much care for having to open up the rubber protector and insert the USB connector to charge the device; for whatever reason this seemed a little more involved than just setting my phone on a cradle to charge (by contrast). I would much prefer a cradle or a more simple connection for charging. This one is a little ambiguous, but I’d prefer to set this on a pad on my desk and have it charge from the pad, which I’ve seen for some of the newer devices.
• Nitpick: For safety, the ear buds were a little “too” insulated from external sounds: This is a tough one, because I really do like the sound quality. However, because they fit tightly inside my ear, I found that I couldn’t hear much else even when the device was at low volume. I am not an industrial designer, but the best of both worlds would be to be able to get good sound quality while being able to pick up important ambient noise, like cars approaching. I know this is kind of the holy grail of earphones, but I’m thinking of noise reduction headphones that are able to accomplish this – technology that is literally more than a decade old. In a sense, the ear buds are a little “too good” – but it may be an unwinnable situation; not really sure. All I know is I was somewhat uncomfortable running on the street with this, versus not having that problem with my other ear buds.

Conclusion

Overall I like this device, and will continue to use it for running. I think for a general purpose MP3 player it still will not replace my phone or a larger iPod, but compared to a wired device like the iPod Nano which I would put in the same class, for workouts I’d take this one and ditch the wires in a heartbeat. I think the media storage is pretty small, but it is the same as the entry level Nano and in the same price bracket. Visually this looks a lot like a phone earpiece, so I wasn’t self-conscious about how it looked; it felt pretty natural.

Thanks for reading Almost Fit. Hopefully you didn’t find the review too terribly obnoxious. Comments are welcome.

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To begin this post, I have two choices for an opening sentence – I’ll leave it to you to choose which you like better:

“It was a dark, stormy, sawdusty and bloated night…”

- Or -

“Once upon a time, in a far away land, I was an overweight cabinetmaker.”

(I’m leaning toward the latter.)

During college, I worked as a cabinetmaker in a small shop in the San Juan islands. One of my shining moments as an apprentice (and by shining, I mean horribly painful and incompetent) was during one of my first installations.

As the apprentice my job was primarily to fetch tools, carry heavy things, and clean up, leaving the real installation work to the more experienced installer I was helping. On this fateful day however, things went slightly different.

“Here. Take this screw gun, get under the counter, and when I tell you it’s in, sink a screw to hold it until I can get down there.”

“No problem,” I said confidently.

However, apparently by, “No problem,” I was trying to say, “Great – when you say GO I’ll put a shiny new 3-inch nickel-plated screw right through the visible surface of the brand new countertop for all the world to see!” …which I did. A very expensive custom countertop, I might add. The mistake was a not a cheap one, and could not be fixed on site. It would cost us at least another day, new materials, and a week’s delay to fix my basic mistake.

In the grand scheme of things, this really wasn’t a big deal – after all, nobody got hurt, and although it was going to be expensive to fix, it was a recoverable error.

However, as the new kid I was shaken up by it, partly because I wanted to keep doing this work, and probably mostly just out of embarrassment at having made such a simple mistake. I spent much of the afternoon kicking myself, and had a tough time focusing on much else.

Later in the afternoon as we drove back to the shop, I apologized again. “I’m really sorry about the countertop. It was so stupid.”

By contrast, and to my surprise, the journeyman installer seemed fairly nonchalant about it.

“Don’t worry about it – you’re doing fine. Do you know what the difference is between experience and inexperience?”

“Uh, you don’t put screws through the surface of countertops?”

“Nope. The difference is an experienced person recovers from their mistakes quicker. That’s it. That’s the big cabinetmaker’s secret. Congratulations. I’ll teach you the secret handshake another time.”

This lesson has stuck with me ever since, and I’ve tried to apply it in almost every facet of life where I’ve made mistakes. And to tell you the truth, I can’t think of an area of life so far where I haven’t made mistakes to one degree or another.

But one area I hadn’t thought about until today in which this applies is, of course, what I choose to eat.

Your Dieting Experience Counts

As a result of years of pop culture guidance and companies with products to sell, for a long time most people viewed weight loss as a “dieting” exercise. The result? Many of us are what you might call “seasoned dieters” – for better or, in my case, for many pounds worse. In fact, you could say we’ve got experience up the wazoo on both sides of the scale: how to lose weight – and how to gain it back with a vengeance.

So like me, you may have won a few (lost 60 lbs as a teen; ran a 1/2 marathon, etc.), and lost a whole bunch (South Beach, Atkins, Pritikin, ad infinitum). But guess what that is?

Experience.

Just because your experience may include more failed attempts to lose weight than successes does not mean that those missed attempts don’t count. You learned things through that experience. You learned what hurts. You learned what feels great. You learned what’s embarrassing, and how it feels to beat that embarrassment.

You also probably picked up more than a few good habits or ideas here and there, even if they might be at times overshadowed by the ones you need to conquer.

But they all count as experience. Each one.

So own that experience. Draw from it, and use it to push yourself forward.

How to Use Your Experience to Your Greatest Advantage

There are hundreds of ways to draw on the wealth of your own experience when you are focusing on diet and exercise. You may know you are more likely to exercise at certain times of the day. You may know that you have a weakness for refined sugars if they are available in your house. You may recognize that you put too much emotional emphasis on food as a means of escape.

But today, I’ll focus on just one way to use your experience to your advantage:

Lean on your experience to recover from your mistakes.

When you make a poor food choice, don’t waste time lamenting it. Don’t spend time kicking yourself over why you chose poorly; Admit your mistake – to yourself, or someone you’ve made yourself accountable to – and get on with the next step. That is powerful way of using your experience to your advantage, because having confidence in what you already know, you can immediately dismiss the past and get on with making the right choice now.

Most of us, in the moments after making a bad choice, go through that cycle of thought where we think that if we focus on the mistake, we’ll learn why we did it, as if we’re on a quest for that unknown, mysterious golden bit of knowledge that will stop us from doing that again. But is that really true? Is it of great value to spend inordinate amounts of time focusing on what we could have done better?

My assertion with diet specifically is that if you’ve been doing this for a while (you’ve got experience), it doesn’t generally require a lot of analysis when you make a mistake; it requires action. You already know why you ate it – it’s what you do next that really matters.

In fact, I think it’s fair to say that if you focus on the mistake for all of 5-10 seconds, you will have learned everything from that experience that you didn’t already know. I’m betting that 99% of the time you already knew it was not the greatest idea to hit the drive-thru.

For most of us in this process of rethinking our diets, focusing on our dietary mistakes for much longer than a few seconds only leads to frustration, negativity, and eventually apathy.

Most importantly, spending your time focusing on what you did wrong prevents you from focusing on this moment, right now, when you can chose to do things right. And by doing so, you’re not giving yourself the credit for years of experience. Credit that you deserve.

Epilogue

I worked as a fulltime cabinetmaker for several years during college, but I eventually left it for a job in software. And I believe that being trained to have a cabinetmaker’s eye for detail has really helped me in my seemingly unrelated career since. In particular, this principle of using your experience to your advantage always made sense in an industry that is perpetually seeking uncharted territory and new ideas. As I built experience, my goal was always to find ways to recover quicker from my mistakes, of which there were of course, many.

Now however, it’s time to apply it to my eating and exercise habits, because I want the end of this story to read,

“And the fit, formerly chubby writer, lived happily ever after.”

Thanks for reading.

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It occurred to me this morning that we are now in the “teens” of February, and I have yet to post anything on Almost Fit this month – not exactly in alignment with one of my year’s goals of regular posting, but so it goes. Time to get back on track.

Illness finally finished – I hope

As I mentioned in my last post, I fell ill to the flu at the end of January – illness of the swine variety apparently. It knocked me down much more  than I expected, considering nobody else in our family had symptoms as severe (we each got sick to some degree, but it really hit me the hardest especially in the lungs). I felt like I was recovering a week later, but even walking up a flight of stairs made me have to stop and sit down, sweating and out of breath. As it has turned out, it has only been this week that I feel that I’ve completely returned to normal. And hopefully that means a short run – my first in February – is on my itinerary today.

I decided to go easy on the diet and exercise while I recovered, which as you might imagine was pretty darn easy, right? Actually that is not strictly true – while doing “nothing” is certainly easier than working out regularly, for me it was frustrating to be making such progress in the “feeling good about exercise” department only to be held back by my own health. It’s a good lesson though – I can’t afford to take my health for granted. I plan to use that as a key motivator.

Ahem – did I just say “go easy on the diet”?

Really what that means is I didn’t focus on weight loss while I was ill. I focused on eating well, avoiding refined sugar and so forth, but I also had a couple of “planned” indulgences.

When I took my wife on a weekend getaway with our closest friends, I knew it would be several days full of enjoying the company, eating great food and not just a few drinks. Secondly, although I’m not really much of a Superbowl person, we were invited to a small Superbowl party that included 3 versions of award-winning chili – far be it from me to resist a bowl or two of that kind of goodness. There may also have been a beer or two.

Bottom line on weight loss however? I have gained back all of 1 lb from my January weight loss, which I consider negligible since I haven’t been able to exercise at all, and have been eating “normally” (meaning whole foods with a few indulgences, no fasting, and so forth).

I’ll take it. And here’s why.

January results

For the record, January was a great month on the weight loss and exercise front.

• Total weight loss for January: 19.6 lbs (+9.6 OVER my January goal of 10 lbs)
• Total Almost Fit posts: 4 (of 5)
• Total 3-mile runs completed: 7 (of 9), with one recovery walk and one 5-mile run

Of those stats, the only one that I’m disappointed with is the number of posts for the month. But I’ll get that one nailed. The others – the weight loss and the running – I am thrilled with. As I’ve mentioned before, I am well aware that the first lbs of weight loss are the easiest, but what a way to build some momentum.

February goals

While I’m really only left with the last half of this month to resume some of my weight loss and fitness goals, I’m going for it anyway. No time like the present.

• Weight loss: lose at least 6 lbs this month (5 lbs plus the 1 I gained back)
• Exercise: 5 3-mile runs (A longer run will be a bonus this month, but will resume in March)
• Exercise goal 2: Add in resistance training just once a week (baby steps)
• Writing goal: 4 total posts by the end of the month

Of these goals, adding in the resistance training is the one that is most challenging, but will also reap great rewards. I’m a firm believer in exercise that is not only fun, but that does not require excessively expensive and complicated equipment. I’ll be writing a post in the near future on resistance training using body weight as the primary means of weight training, which is what I plan to do.

With resistance training I’m shooting for just once a week to start. While that may seem like barely a goal at all to many readers, for me the real purpose of this goal is to start to form a habit rather than reaping rewards in fitness. I need to start making moderate resistance training part of my life – and for me, starting with small, reachable goals and then building on that success is the way to do it.

Finishing up

Lastly, a note on fasting: I was really curious to see if I would lose ground on weight lost when I wasn’t fasting regularly. In fact, my sister echoed the thought in a conversation last month.

“But won’t you just gain it back when you stop doing that?”

A great question. Well I think I have the answer now: First of all, after having been sick for weeks, I have only gained back one pound even with a complete lack of exercise while eating without regard for weight. Second, I actually miss fasting, and plan to resume as a regular part of my dietary habits – not just for weight loss, but for general health. Compound that with returning to regular exercise, and I feel like I have a path for success that I can actually follow.

Now I just need to get back to work.

Thanks for reading.

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• Year goal: Complete at least one major running event this year.

Sub-goal: Beat my aversion to running in the Oregon rain.

Milestone for January: Return to running 3 miles 3 times per week, with one 5 mile run by the end of January.

• Year goal: Lose 75 lbs this year – and if I lose it early, keep it off.

Milestone for January: Lose 10 lbs this month.

• Year goal: Start writing at least one meaningful post per week for Almost Fit.

Milestone for January: you guessed it – 5 Almost Fit posts.

So how am I doing so far?

Return to running

Grade so far: A-, but satisfied

What I’ve done so far: Running has been going really well for the most part. As you may know if you’ve been reading Almost Fit for a while, I am a big fan of interval training particularly for those of us who are overweight. It’s a great way to safely increase your workouts without as much risk of injury.

This month so far I’ve completed:

• Five 3-mile runs
• One 3-mile speed walk (recovering from a mild heel injury after my last run of 2009 on New Year’s Eve)
• One 5-mile run

By my count I should be at a total of 9 runs so far this month (including the one recovery walk), but I’m only at 7. And yet I’m satisfied. Why? In a word, illness.

Down for the count

I’ve been sick this week with what started as minor chest congestion and sore throat, but concluded the week with a major asthma and fever attack. Without exaggeration, Friday night was nearly a visit to the emergency room. In fact I’m writing this post from bed, where I’ve stayed by direct order from my amazing and wise wife for the last two days. So the fact that I’m a little behind on the number of runs doesn’t bother me at all. It’s the smart thing to do not to push it too hard. I’m starting to feel much better today, but I’m going to lay low for a couple of days to be sure.

Oh and my sub-goal of beating my aversion to running in the rain? Check. Most of those runs were in rain and wind, and believe it or not I actually enjoyed the stormy Pacific Northwest winter weather on my 5-mile run. There is something thrilling about jamming out with your ipod while the world rages wind and rain around you – I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Weight loss progress

Grade so far: A+

My goal this month was to lose the first 10 lbs, which for me have always been the easiest. So how am I doing?

As Gary Vaynerchuk says, I am CRUSHING it.

Weight loss so far this month: 16.2 lbs, and counting

How am I getting there? Two things:

• First of all, I have a specific objective for the end of the month. I am surprising my wife with trip (she knows we’re going somewhere, but I’ve kept the destination a secret), and I’m using that to fuel my motivation. When we head out in whatever transportation fashion we are taking (sorry love, no clues here ) I want to feel as good as I can feel. Losing weight is the principal way for me to achieve that.

• Second, I am controlling what I eat, but in a slightly unusual (I think) way: I’m trying out what I’m calling the “keep my body guessing” technique. I’m using a combination of eating methods: I’ll practice intermittent fasting (IF) one day, then eat primal foods the next, then eat all things moderately the next, then have an IF day with an evening of indulgence – in good, real food, including on one night, (good heavens) beer.

With eating however, there are three significant undercurrents:

• I am only eating real food, meaning well-sourced proteins and fats, moderate whole grains (with the occasional whole wheat English muffin), lots of vegetables, and some fruit, though I keep that to a minimum. Also no more half and half in my morning coffee (but that is more for digestive reasons). I’m also very water conscious, and have eliminated juices.
• I’ve all but eliminated refined sugar from my diet. Here’s an article at one of my favorite sites, Mark’s Daily Apple on why this is crucial to good health: The Definitive Guide to Insulin, Blood Sugar & Type 2 Diabetes (and you’ll understand it)
• I’ve limited indulgence in alcohol to one evening out this month (so far), and occasionally a small glass of wine with dinner (particularly on IF days).

For me, sugar is one of my worst addictions. Even fruit sugars (meaning the sugars in a piece of real fruit) activate strong cravings for more and more sugar, so I am keeping fruit consumption to a minimum. Literally an apple a day, if that.

I love this approach so far, partly because I’m rapidly growing fond of intermittent fasting-but don’t want to overdo it. By eating moderately across the board (sans sugar) on non-fasting days, I ensure that I’m getting the nutrition I need, I’m getting food satisfaction, and the pounds are dropping. And as I mentioned in the previous article, fasting brings a whole different set of benefits that I am increasingly enjoying.

Third goal: Writing regularly to stay motivated

Grade so far: B+

By my count, this is article number four of five for this month. Whether this particular piece is meaningful or not (part of my goal) depends on your perspective of course; but for me, it’s personally important, so I’ll take it.

Preview of coming attractions

I’ve been having some interesting conversations about calories, fats, and so forth (thanks Jen for the inspiration) via Facebook that have challenged me to dig deeper into the science of calories, so look for a post soon on that. I’ve also been studying more on the science and lore of primal and paleo eating, which I find interesting as well.

I also have an upcoming guest post from a friend who is on his way to losing 80 lbs by his birthday in just a few days, which is incredible considering he is a gourmet chef. Definitely stay tuned for that.

One more post this month and I’ve reached my goal for five in January. That said, I have room for improvement as I feel that its gone a bit too long between this post and my last. I’ll get there.

Wrapping it up

So far, January of 2010 has been a great, great start to reaching some major life goals. I hope you are finding success as well. Have you had success with fitness goals this year so far? What has worked? What hasn’t?

Thanks for reading.

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On Saturday I decided that it was the right time to try intermittent fasting (IF). As I explained in part 1 (“20 hours without eating: the intermittent fasting experiment“), IF is essentially giving your body a break from food for a set period of time, and then eating the calories and nutrients you need during a specific window. If you are trying to lose weight, the key is during your eating times you take in the appropriate nutrients while maintaining a reasonable and healthy caloric deficit.

In my case I chose to fast for 20 hours, starting at 9PM the previous evening and having only water (and a cup of coffee) until 5PM the next day. I also asked my wife to make dinner for the family to be ready at 5 or so, just so that when the fast was over I could actually eat something substantial and more importantly, planned (in my mind, no plan might equal disaster food-wise). I also asked her to make something extra tasty .

Of course, I wasn’t sure if I could even make it that long mentally. Could I actually last 20 hours without giving in to cravings of, well, anything? How would I do physically and more importantly, emotionally? I decided to go for it, knowing that if things got too out of hand I could always stop. The results were pretty surprising.

Play by play experience of 20 hours of intermittent fasting

These are some of the highlights of how I felt throughout the day. To be fair, I did write this after the fact, but this is what I remember.

9AM: The morning went well, but I discovered right off that bat that the smell of toast makes me instantly hungry. Even burnt toast, which is what happened when I was making some toast for my 5-year old. However I resisted the urge to make a piece for myself and moved on. Small victory, but victory nonetheless. Other than the momentary desire for buttered toast, hunger was no problem. Reasonable energy, and my head was on straight.

10AM: Stomach was definitely starting to grumble a bit, mostly stimulated by the breakfast we made available for the kids (papaya slices, apples, and whole grain toast). Emotionally I was doing OK with it; no desperation for food at all. But I also realized I needed to get busy with the day’s work to take my mind away from food.

11AM: Definitely starting to feel hungry. Oddly I had forgotten until this point that I was allowed to drink water, so I had a large glass and that instantly helped the hunger. Emotionally I was definitely starting to get grumpy, but to my surprise the water also helped with that almost instantly.

Noon: Hungry, but staying busy and drinking water. A little bit of sweating, but I believe it was more from the work I was doing than from blood sugar, though I could definitely feel some jitters from either the cup of coffee I had (first thing in the morning before I decided to fast), or from lack of food – truly not sure. Energy was good otherwise. The rationalization head games tried to take hold (“just one cracker?” kinds of thoughts), but I just kept moving and drinking water.

1-2PM: Similar to noon, but I remember clearly thinking a lot about the fact that I only had 4 hours to go until I could eat. Having a solid goal helped quite a bit. Energy was fine, and emotions had settled a little. No desperation feelings surprisingly.

3PM: Feeling a bit lightheaded once or twice. A little foggy mentally, but not bad (it could be that I was simply more focused on it – I’m probably foggy normally ). Energy was up however, and a perceived feeling of calmness was also very distinctly present. I had to run to the local home supply store to pick up a few things, and was able to navigate the checkout aisle with no interest at all in the junk food that normally tries to jump into my cart (another small victory).

4:00PM: Time for my run. Energy was excellent – I would go as far as to say abundant – and motivation was high considering I only had an hour to go before eating (I was definitely looking forward to that).

The run (4:15-5:15 or so): Before running I wondered if I would experience any physical effects from having not eaten all day. Cramping, lightheadedness, lack of energy? None of the above. In fact, the run went really well. I finished and did a handful of crunches and push-ups for good measure.

5:30PM: Time to eat. I gave myself a one hour window to eat for the evening so that I didn’t overdo it, and that seemed to work. I had promised myself that I could eat as much as I wanted at dinner as long as I started with a large salad. Fortunately my wife was prepared with a great salad of greens, dried cranberries, her excellent vinaigrette, a little blue cheese, and some chopped hazelnuts. Salad never tasted so good. And that was actually a good point – my lack of food all day really sharpened my enjoyment of the salad – I had two servings. After that, a family recipe of thick cut lean pork chops (from a local sustainable farmer) with vegetables was dinner, with a small glass of white wine and a large glass of water. Finally I had a cookie for dessert – and although this was refined sugar, it was a limited indulgence.

by 6:30, I was finished eating for the day, I was stuffed, and felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

Evening/Post-fast: On a normal eating day, by suppertime I am generally really, really tired. I sometimes feel like I could fall asleep at the table. Today it was the opposite. In fact, by 7:30 I had exceptional energy – possibly from the run, and possibly from the experiment – I can’t be sure. I did the dishes and was energized to write this post.

All in all a great day.

Takeaway on IF

This was certainly not easy, yet not nearly as difficult as I thought either – especially on the emotional front. Hunger was there without question, but the water really helped. A few mental tricks also worked (like keeping in mind that I could eat anything I wanted at 5, thinking about the positives of getting back in shape) to keep going. I was feeling so good by the end of the day that I considered doing it again the next day, but I would rather use it as an intermittent motivational tool rather than a daily routine at this point. Instead I’ll practice “clean” eating habits by focusing on whole foods for a few days – and then possibly another fast. We’ll see.

Benefits:

• True sense of accomplishment: By the end it felt really, really good not only to demonstrate to myself that I had the willpower to do it, but it really kickstarted a week of healthful eating.
• A distinct feeling of serenity late in the fast: This really surprised me, but was a tangible benefit. I felt as though I was flowing through the day rather than fighting my way through it.
• Abundant energy: I have not felt that much energy in a while, particularly without caffeine being involved.
• No ill effects on exercise: No cramping, great energy, and the will to keep running until my goal was reached.
• Greater enjoyment of the foods I ate after the fast: The foods I ate tasted incredible, from the salad to the wine. The lack of food during the day I felt really sharpened my enjoyment of the meal. Granted, my wife’s meals are always excellent, but the fasting really accentuated her cooking (yes, that was a shameless suck-up. Never hurts. ).
• Hydration was excellent. I estimate I drank easily 12 glasses of water, particularly with the run.
• [Update: I had very little soreness from the run, which is a good sign. I also did a mild fast the next day, limiting my eating window from 2-6. I also successfully said no to pizza and cake on Sunday in favor of waiting for better food later - another victory.]

Downsides:

• I will leave room for the possibility that it could have had some adverse effect on my metabolism, but I doubt it. Time will tell.
• Required mental focus: It did require a fair bit of focus to make it through, but I would say no more than it does to prepare 6 meals for a single day (a common approach to healthful eating). I also think that it had a lot to do with trying to be very conscious of the experience to track how I was doing. I have a feeling that the next time will require much less mental energy having one under my belt.
• Some occasional lightheadedness, and possibly a blood sugar low early in the day (not sure). On blood sugar however, if that was the case, I suspect that has more to do with my body expecting sugars (because I’ve trained it to expect excess sugar) than an actual need. More research however is in order.

A few things learned:

• Do NOT work on your food journal while you’re fasting. I tried this for a few moments, and not only did it make me feel hungry, but I could feel the groundswell of emotion coming up. Yikes.
• Set a goal: When fasting, use the simple strategy of reward when the fast is over. Know what time you are shooting for, as that marker will help pull you through.
• Avoid food aromas that turn on your hunger switch if possible.
• When you return to eating, take it slow. You might be inclined to scarf down your food, but don’t – it may make you feel ill.
• Likewise, when you start eating for the day, make sure you are getting the nutrients you need.
• Take natural supplements if that is right for you. In my case I’ve been taking whole food supplements from Whole Food Nation (thanks Robin), and I experienced no nausea or ill effects from taking them only with water, though your experience may be different.

Healthwise I also tend to think there is nothing wrong with occasional fasting. [Warning: Soapbox alert] In this country especially our food-obsessed pendulum really swings toward hyperfocus on eating in my opinion. The idea that the body needs to be fed all day long seems a little extreme to me, and says more about a culture of abundance than actual science (yes, them’s fightin’ words, I know). There are plenty of studies to prove either view; but for me, I don’t really want to be that food-focused with every aspect of life. Not to mention, obsessing over every crumb and calorie is an approach which for me has never worked.

Likewise I don’t subscribe to the “a calorie is a calorie” or “food as fuel” mentalities either. Food should be pleasurable, not just raw energy. It is one of the most meaningful ways that we communicate across cultures, and it says a lot about the spirit of a person and their home. When I eat a meal, I want to enjoy it thoroughly as a sensory experience that satisfies not only caloric or nutritional needs, but is a true experience in the pleasure of eating. And ultimately that is the mission of Almost Fit: figuring out how to enjoy food without it being to the detriment of health. Seems simple enough. [end Soapbox]

The bottom line? I loved it, and I’m definitely going to do it again between days of eating normally. I may also adopt a more moderate fasting style, where I limit my daily eating window to 6 hours. I’m not sure yet, but it sounds like another great experiment.

Oh and one last thing: What was the result weight-wise, considering my goal of losing 10 lbs this month? You’ll have to wait until the next post to find out.

Ed note: Thanks for reading Almost Fit. If you enjoyed this series, please consider sharing it with one of the buttons below.

And one more time with the Heavy disclaimer: Note that I am not a doctor, and this is not a recommendation as such. If intermittent fasting is something that interests you, you should do your research, talk to your doctor, etc. Fasting is certainly not for everyone, particularly people with known or underlying health conditions, eating disorders, and so forth, so use caution and think it through. Thanks again.

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Equally as important, with the new decade upon us it’s time to set a few goals, and start knocking those pins down, one at a time if I have to.

The Good

On the positive side, I’ve done one thing really well: I’ve maintained steady income for a year – though the impact on my diet hasn’t been so great. For some this idea of having a consistent income is an assumed fact of life, but for many of us it is far from assured. Along the lines of work I’ve also greatly downsized the number of side projects that I was pursuing at the beginning of the year (in January of last year I had 9 personal, full-time projects/business beginnings – and was coming up short on all of them). Taking a quick mental inventory I’m down to 3 enjoyable part-time projects, including Almost Fit.

This is progress.

Another positive includes dramatically improving my cooking and prep skills (in my opinion at least); my wife and best friend is an excellent cook, and I’ve been under her culinary wing for a few years now. I feel that in the last 6 months I’ve really started to develop stronger culinary instincts – meaning I pair food together better, I cook more efficiently, I burn or overcook food much less often, and have good ideas on how to improve a dish I’m cooking by taste. I’m getting to know the flavor profiles of foods and seasonings much better, and I have a clearer understanding of herbs and spices that balance flavors.

These advances in cooking have made cooking at home that much more enjoyable. Of course, it also makes overindulgence a bit too easy at times, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Other positives (that are no less important) include keeping up with my ever-changing children – solving problems and setting them up for success (no small feat); remodeling my wife’s painting studio from bare bones to finished product (finishing this weekend); several small family vacations; and I’ve greatly improving my photography skills and knowledge – as well as starting a new project on the subject.

The Bad

On the negative side (and again, I’ll keep this brief), I have lost a lot of ground in both eating habits and general fitness. Cardiovascular training has been a rare, rare thing over the past 6 months, and resistance training of any sort, be it basic calisthenics or light weight training has been nearly non-existent. Food-wise it’s not much better – although we still eat the best quality we can afford, the expense is increasing because I’m eating too much of that food. Moderation has been lost at sea for a while now, drifting along aimlessly in a leaky life raft with regular exercise, both waiting to be rescued by a passing motivation freighter.

I’ve got an encyclopedia set full of excuses ranging from a sprained ankle in October to excessive work hours and stress, but in the end it comes down to the choices I’m making. The old “taking personal responsibility” saw was never more appropriate. (For you kids who don’t remember what an encyclopedia is – think of printing out all of Wikipedia and putting it in a set of leather-bound books. Yeah, weird – I know.)

The Determined

For 2010, I’m renewing my efforts to take charge of my health. I don’t really like “New Year’s Resolutions” – for me they are just associated with failure to keep those resolutions a month later. Rather, I like the idea of taking the opportunity to set and evaluate long range goals for the year (with a tip of the hat to J.D. at GetRichSlowly on the subject of goals vs. resolutions), or as I like to think of them, goals for a new decade.

However, I also believe that while long range goals are key, you’re only going to get there with short term, reachable objectives. At my day job we actually account for every 24 hour period (we use SCRUM methodology, for my fellow time management geeks out there). I find the daily meetings a bit tedious/unnecessary, but it does keep the ball rolling. For me, I’m going to use a bit of a hybrid approach. I am not inclined to manage my personal time by the hour; but I know that having a big goal will do me no good if I don’t map out the route to get there.

I’ll talk more about the specifics of the approach I’m adopting in a post in the near future, but for now here are a couple of my “big” health and fitness goals for the year.

Year goal: Complete at least one major running event this year. I’m still defining this goal by researching upcoming events in my area, but I will make a choice this month. I may shoot for the Portland marathon, or possibly Seattle, or who knows – Maui? And I should add it may not even be a full marathon – it may be a 1/2, or even a handful of 10k races. I want to push myself, but with a few recent injuries I don’t want enthusiasm to take me out of the running (pun intended). Stay tuned.

Sub-goal: Beat my aversion to running in the Oregon rain. Although we do have a treadmill, I really enjoy getting outside for exercise. I find it much more rewarding on multiple levels. However, when it comes to running in the rain I’m a bit of a baby. In an upcoming post I’ll outline my strategy for this, but in the meantime suggestions are welcome. I’ve already had a handful of suggestions from folks on Twitter, so keep them coming.

Milestone for January: Return to running 3 miles 3 times per week, with one 5 mile run by the end of January. Very do-able, and besides, our new 1-yr-old pup needs the exercise .

Year goal: Lose 75 lbs this year – and if I lose it early, keep it off. I am risking a lot by adding this goal, but I think that this is the year to make it happen. How will I get there? You guessed it – a future post will describe the path. Hint: Real food in moderation will be an integral part of it, but I’m expanding my horizons this year to combine moderation principles with a few dietary ideas that intrigue me, from whole food-based carb reduction to moderate, intermittent fasting. More to come.

Milestone for January: Lose 10 lbs this month through portion reduction and regular exercise. The first 10 are the easiest for me, so I’m shooting for a reasonable goal.

Year goal: Start writing at least one meaningful post per week for Almost Fit. By the end of 2010 I should have at least 52 new entries, and hopefully more. I may “cheat” a little by allowing a few guest posts, but I’ve accepted that as within the boundaries of the goal. Writing regularly for Almost Fit is important for me because of one word: Accountability. That has helped me to stay on track in the past, and I expect no less this time.

Milestone for January: you guessed it – 5 Almost Fit posts. One down. Victory starts today.

I’m in

Those are the three core goals I’m shooting for this year. I may add one or two as I complete my personal annual review, but for now I know these are the ones that are at the top of my list. A few other goals (some more loosely defined than others) include getting outside with my kids more, continuing my daily posting of iPhone photos at LintLife.com (my new site and one of my part-time side projects), improving my programming skills to make me more efficient at work, starting to produce artwork again, and finishing some music that has been on the back burner for way too long.

In other words, I’ve got a lot to do this year, but all good things.

I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a very good year.

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Last night we had a great evening out. The idea was to get a babysitter for the kids, have dinner with friends, then go to a parenting class, and finally head to a pub for a well-earned drink or two.

Mission accomplished.

However, in the midst of all of that fun, I learned something tremendously useful that I thought Almost Fit readers either a) already do (and I’m clearly in the dark again), or b) might find really useful, as I have.

Get with the program

Our friend K. runs a very successful business, and he has done quite well despite the current economy. That in itself is a feat given that I’ve heard of several of his peers that have gone out of business recently in Oregon, but add to that a full docket of family responsibilities, and I have wondered how he does it all.

As we ate dinner, in passing I described what feels like a slightly new philosophical direction for Leo at ZenHabits.net – one of the few blogs I read every day. Leo has made a few fairly “radical” moves lately, including attempting to eliminate email from his life altogether and bucking the popular productivity trends of heavy long and short-term planning in favor of going with the flow, with a focus on being present. Not exactly common ideas in productivity and motivational circles from my admittedly limited (but interested) experience, but the concept of being present really resonates with me.

In that context, K. described how a seminar he attended has really changed his life toward being present, organized, and effective without a lot of expensive planning tools ruling his every move. His wife also noted that this has made a huge difference for K., so much so that friends have asked what has happened to him lately. [Ed. Note: At this point I'm going to leave out the name of the system until I can get a few more details, but sufficed to say I think the readers that are interested in motivation and productivity may have heard of this. I'll update the post when I can verify the facts.]

I was intensely interested in this, not only because I’m working on a variety of personal projects that have stalled in some ways (including reviving Almost Fit to a level I’m happy with), but I really believe that the concepts of motivation and organization contribute to success in achieving health goals.

The ideas behind the system are not revolutionary; basically it involves using a log to capture thoughts, and then organizing those ideas at an established time each day. The system relies on using a calendar as a repository for thoughts and actions. As I said, these things are not new; however as part of this system they suggest a series of simple techniques that are all designed to free your mind from the clutter of a fast-paced life.

I need that.

One simple tool

To help organize myself a little better, I do what I think most of us do: I keep lists. Lots of lists. But to be honest, this often fails to be enough to motivate me to actually do the things I’ve written down.

It turns out that this is a common challenge (who knew?). To help make lists more powerful, here was his suggestion:

Rather than just writing down a task that must be done, rephrase the task to include the “why” of the task. This is similar to the concept of “positive phrasing”, but feels more practical (and useful) to me.

For example, rather than writing “do laundry”, or “Rock the laundry” (my version of positive phrasing ), I could rephrase it to “wash shirt to feel good at dinner tonight” – and then put that on my calendar. I know it’s a subtle difference, but the idea is to quickly state the reason that I need to do a thing, not just record the idea that it must be done. The trick of course is to keep it simple; it should be one sentence that captures the value of doing that one thing today. The power of that is then compounded when I actually schedule a time for it during the day.

So why bother? Why spend the extra few seconds to write out the reason? Ultimately, there are two key reasons that immediately come to mind: First, it’s so I don’t have to carry that reason around in my head any longer or rework through the reasoning later. My head is chock full of things I really need to purge that float around in there for years on end, and this is a good way to do it. Second, providing a reason not only frees your mind from having to recall the reason later (which for me leaves room to justify procrastination), but forces you to pause, be present, think about and concisely state how important it is to get the task done.

So I decided to try it straight away – no excuses. Here’s how it went.

Testing the technique

Big picture goal: Complete the first draft of my super-secret new book.

Task: Write a rough draft of one chapter of my new book – Today.

A little context: I am currently writing a book, but it’s been slow going. I have the outline formed and the concept is ironed out (it’s evolving as I think it through), but getting to the actual writing has been a real challenge. I know that I’m passionate about the subject, and have been thinking about it for a couple of years now, so it should be coming together. Unfortunately, it is my easiest task to procrastinate.

So, today here’s what I wrote:

“Complete rough draft of one chapter to get one step closer to November completion.”

Maybe its a little cheesy (I can admit I need to practice this idea) but it seems to be working. After I thought about whether I wanted to do this today, whether it was attainable, and WHY it’s important to me, I could let it go and focus on my other tasks without the nagging distractions of uncaptured thought on this subject. Each time I look at that goal I feel a small charge of energy realizing that I have a really, really good reason to work on this today. Since I wrote the reason out, I am essentially telling myself that I’ve already gone through the “why do this” phase and now have little excuse but to just do it. And then by allotting time to do it, I’ve suddenly got a workable, reasoned plan that feels good.

Applying this to exercise and health

I think the practical application of this idea is pretty clear: Probably most of us have written on our daily list “exercise”, but for me that is rarely enough to get me to actually do it. If you want to exercise today, why not write out a very concise reason why, and then schedule it?

Here are a couple of other ideas: Do you want to eat a light dinner? Why not write that down as a task for the day, possibly saying something like, “Eat light tonight to prepare for a DECADENT meal with friends on Saturday”. Or, preserve your sanity with this: “Eat a reasonable sized piece of chocolate to stay satisfied with what I’m eating.”

I am going to keep trying this technique as well as a few others over the coming months, and will report back on the success. I hope it works. I have a lot that I want to get done, and could use a simple (and free) tool or two.

One last thing on motivation

As I mentioned earlier, I’m a big fan of ZenHabits.net. I read it daily, and have recently purchased Leo’s new book, “The Essential Motivation Handbook“. If you are looking for a very straightforward set of ideas on motivating yourself to accomplish your goals while simplifying your life, I highly recommend the book.

I’ll be doing a more indepth review of the book soon (I’m still in the midst of reading it), but I highly recommend it if you are looking for help to get up from the couch and back on track. It is based on many of the articles on Zen Habits as well as Eric Hamm’s site, MotivateThyself.com (Eric is coauthor), and is well worth every penny.

Thanks for reading Almost Fit.

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Last week I had what I consider a significant fitness accomplishment – I visited a personal trainer to get information on whether one-on-one training is right for me, and whether it’s something I can afford. As I mentioned in the previous article, I feel as though right now I need a little help with the diet and exercise routines, including a primer on whole foods in moderation, ideas on good substitutes for the simple carbs that I crave, and a workout regimen that will really stick.

Unfortunately, this trainer is not going to “work out” for me (sorry for the bad pun – wait – no I’m not. G’head. Savor it.). Long story short? He charges approximately $68 per session, and would like to see me in the gym 4 times a week.

Folks, as much as I loved the facility and jived with the trainer, I cannot swing $272 a week/$1000+ a month on a trainer, especially since I’m looking at 4-5 months of training easily to lose the weight I want to lose. So I’m looking for alternatives.

However, I am giving myself credit for the effort. Going to a gym is not something I’m very inclined to do – sad to say; particularly in a one-on-one situation. But I did it – I made myself go admit to a chiseled, smooth-skinned, tanned and toned stranger that I’m really overweight, totally out of shape right now (can you say easily winded?), have needed to strengthen my upper body since oh, I don’t know, high school (please God kill me now), and generally need some help from the ranks of the toned-to-the-bone. These are not things I like to talk about with anybody, particularly someone who is my height and in Greek Mythological shape.

Oh, and yes, he had all of his hair. The bastard.

But I got over myself and did it, and I count that as a win.

I am sure that some of us can’t help but think that this would have been more of a win if I’d actually signed up – and I can see the point. But for me, it is that first step that was the hardest. I’ve been fighting it for a long time, and I feel confident that I can walk into another gym or two and be much more open to the possibilities.

I’m still going to check out other training alternatives, but I don’t want to wait for the perfect situation to hit me. So in the meantime, I’m going to check out a fitness workout DVD or two and see how that goes while I continue to investigate. I am also looking into local 5k and 10k races, which are great motivators as well.
At any rate, I am on the move again, and it feels good.

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Ed. note: This entry is about working toward lifelong dietary goals by eating real food in moderation. The list of techniques will change over time, but this is where I’m starting from. This is actually an update from an article I wrote a little over a year ago, including my observations, corrections, and a handful of new ideas. Your constructive feedback is always appreciated. If this is your first time here and you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing via RSS. Thanks.

“Action Feeds Motivation.”

This thought occurred to me as I finished my first run of the year today, in the rain and wind. Yes, you read correctly: my FIRST, as best I can recall. As many readers have noticed, I’ve been a little scarce lately. I’ll write another post soon with my theories (and a few personal facts) on why that has been so, but for now I thought it was more important to simply do something about it. And as it turns out, that phrase, “Action Feeds Motivation” is going to be one of my recurrent themes for Almost Fit in 2009.

A year ago I was fully motivated to pursue these techniques. I didn’t need a whole lot of inspiration; I was ready to go. Over the last few months however, I haven’t been “feeling it” like I was. That tide however, is changing. So in an effort to really rekindle that fire I decided to review some of what I wrote a year ago to try to learn from my successes and mistakes, which is one of the great side-effects of writing your thoughts down in a public format like this one. For this analysis, I came back to one of my all-time favorite posts: 33 tips on how to lose weight without dieting, and one that I now think, after a year of trying out this approach to eating, needs a little revision.

As regular readers know, my focus here on Almost Fit is to do one simple thing: Eat Real Food in Moderation. No low fat this or low carb that; just real, whole foods in moderate amounts. As simple as the statement is, the principle is much harder to apply, particularly if you live in what I think of as a culture of excess. Most of us have come to accept as normal the gigantic, oversized meals that are available at every restaurant you go to, and on every food commercial or ad you encounter. We’ve confused quantity with value, and we’ve also convinced ourselves that the cost of food should be minimal – meaning it’s common to think that we simply can’t afford to eat better. I disagree; however, applying it on a daily basis is a lot like trying to light a candle in a hurricane.

In the 2008 article, I stated:

“I don’t believe that moderation in itself is the answer; eating moderate amounts of garbage still means you’re eating garbage. If I eat real food, in moderation, I am convinced that the weight will come off naturally. Changing my diet to focus on vegetables first, and then moderate amounts of high quality meat, grains, and dairy, makes sense to me. And so far, its working with little or no negative side effects including the emotional struggle that I associate with every diet I’ve ever tried, and I haven’t had to buy a single pre-packaged plan or frozen low fat dinner to do it.”

I still very much stand by these statements, and my diet and current condition is living proof. And that’s because I’m now thin, right?

Not quite yet.

In the last year I’ve managed to prove these principles from both angles – “success” in a sense, and “less than stellar” as well; I still contend that it’s not smart to view diet habits in a pass/fail context. No, I definitely proved that it does work; but lately I’ve also proven that if you take your eye off the ball for a while, the reverse is also true. We still eat well; the problem is the idea of eating vegetables first has succumbed to carb-heavy eating habits, particularly in the Winter months when our garden isn’t producing anything other than Leeks. There is plenty of room in my diet for carbs, proteins, sugars, and fats, but they need to be very secondary to vegetables as the bulk of what I eat. When I achieve that balance and combine it with reasonable exercise, Real Food in Moderation simply works.

However, when carbs, fats, and sugars begin to dominate my diet, all hell breaks loose when I step on the scale.

With that in mind, this article is intended to revisit my thoughts from a year ago, and provide new insight where it applies. And to be frank, this is somewhat self-serving; I’m putting my axiom to the test, and taking action to generate motivation.

Let the games begin.

33 Scratch that – 44 Weight Loss Tips for 2009

1. “Eat real food.” This principle is at its core, simply true – my opinion has not changed after a year of testing this out. Every day I am increasingly convinced that our poor, industrially-driven dietary habits particularly in the West are largely responsible for most of the bigger health maladies we suffer today. Real food means to me minimally processed, preferably non-packaged foods. “Good” is organic at the grocery store; “Better” is organically grown (even if not certified) from a local farmer who you can look in the eye and ask intelligent questions; and “Best” is growing your own, right in that patch of ground that used to be your front yard.

2. “Eat smaller portions of real food.” As I’ve pointed out many times before, portion size in the West is out of control. And contrary to what we are told all the time, eating more of someone’s industrial product is NOT what’s best for us – It benefits the seller, but that’s about it.

3. “Eat slower. Take at least 20 minutes for every meal. One of the best tips I’ve read on this is to divide the amount of food on your plate into fourths, and then eat only 1/4 of it each 5 minutes that passes. After a while I’ve found that you do this by nature once you get used to it.” 2009 observation: I am going to do this tonight in fact. This is one area that has really eluded me in the last few months, but I know that it works.

4. Technique: put your fork down between bites. This is another habit that is easy to let go, as I have proved over the last 6 months. Time for an adjustment.

5. Use smaller plates, cups, and utensils. No change here; still applies in 2009.

6. Cut between meal snacking – using some smart techniques. This is one of those areas that still holds true, and if you play it right can actually be a benefit of a sagging economy. Rather than throwing in that $5 dollar iced coffee drink during the morning and afternoon lull, save the money and go with the following: First, try a glass of water. Second, if that doesn’t stop the craving, a small piece of the best dark chocolate you can afford. Third, if that doesn’t work, try a small, pre-rationed handful of almonds. If I follow these steps in order, I’m generally fine for another couple of hours.

7. When you’re eating out, skip the appetizer. This rule still holds true. With the portion size of a typical entree, there is simply no need for “frontloading” your meal with unneccesary calories. On the other hand, if you want the appetizer, order it – as your meal. But if I do, I sometimes tip a little better if possible, only because my bill will be less as a result of my food choice and the server will appreciate the good will. It’s not a rule really, but it feels right for me.

8. Limit certain types of foods to a few times a month. This is one aspect that is more true now than ever, particularly with our current economic state. While I don’t apply this to fruits and vegetables, I certainly do for meat consumption. In addition to the health benefits of a diet rich in vegetables, eating better cuts of non-industrial meat is not only healthier, but more feasible financially when you eat it less frequently. And despite what those beef industry commercials suggest, not everyone has steak 3 meals a day.

9. Be aware of how much you are putting in your mouth, and keep it small. Smaller bites, savoring each one. Sounds simple enough. And, still true.

10. Understand what it means to be not quite full, and be OK with that. I don’t believe that I’ve done an article yet on Hari Hachi Bu (the art of eating until you’re 80% full), but that is soon to come I hope. What are my observations on this now? It is undoubtedly difficult. And it becomes a true mental game, where we often hear that little voice in our head that says, “But I LIKE to eat a lot”. It’s difficult to overcome that voice, but it’s possible. On this, more to come.

11. Don’t eat in front of the television. This technique has really worked for me this year, and I stand by it. That said, I do watch Top Chef while enjoying a very small dish of the best quality ice cream I can afford. The biggest trick here is not eating it straight from the container – which is deadly to the waistline when you combine it with the distraction of television. If you’re going to watch while you eat, serve a small portion away from the television. Savor it; eat it slowly; and don’t go back for more.

12. Don’t eat in front of the computer. See the previous tip – the same applies. 2009 observation: As was the case in 2008, this is still my biggest weakness. In fact, I’ve let the “emergency nuts snack” get out of control on this one – I have a jar of nuts on my desk as we speak. I’ve got to change that.

There. Done.

13. Whenever possible, eat together as a family. This is still true in my mind, however there’s one big challenge for me. Having two small children, I spend more of my focus on what they’re eating and less than on what I’m eating. I’m looking for suggestions on this one, but I still maintain it’s a good principle not only for dietary health, but for familial emotional health as well.

14. Whenever possible, in addition to your family, take your meals with friends and coworkers. We have been moderately successful at this one, but I have found that it is easy to overeat in these situations as well. I think ultimately you can truly appreciate the food more in the company of others, but it requires diligence to not get carried away.

15. “Read the ingredients list of anything in a package, but pay less attention to the statistics. The general rule should be to strive to eat things that don’t require ingredients lists, like fruits and vegetables. But in real life, this is not always practical. That being said, the key is to focus on the contents, not the scientific descriptions. You should try to eat only things that are easily identifiable as real food, not chemically processed substitutes. If you focus on eating only real food, and in moderation, the other elements become less important (unless you suffer with food allergies of course). The emphasis should be on real food and less of it, not counting milligrams of any one element.” 2009: More true now than ever.

16. Use real sugar, preferably raw, even if only trace amounts of it. Don’t use chemical substitutes. Again, for 2009, this rule holds absolutely true. I just spent a year NOT consuming chemical sweeteners, and I didn’t suffer in the least. Actually, I do have one amendment to this: I now prefer Agave syrup for most sweetening. Agave is a great sweetener, and requires very little refining. It’s also a great substitute for simple syrup for the occasional mixed drink.

17. “Eat fat – but only eat real, high quality fats. [...] the key is moderation – if you eat a pound of Brie, you’ve gone to the dark side.” 2009 observations: I still strongly feel this is accurate. However, with one caveat: Fats, specifically great-tasting ones like real cheeses, are difficult to control on the moderation front. But my theory is the French succeed here because it’s awfully difficult to eat the stinkiest of cheeses. For practical purposes, take what you want from the block of cheese, and then put it away. This helps to prevent “nibbling” on the cheese left out on the counter.

18. Don’t rely on supplements – eat the real thing first, and supplement what you need. 2009? Still true, with one bit of advice: If you do take supplements, make sure they are not synthetic. For a great resource on the subject, see my fellow writer Robin’s blog, here: http://realnutritionsupplement.blogspot.com/.

19. Focus on the reasons you are overeating, and address those first. in 2009 I did a fair bit of work here, but even after a year of self-analysis, I still have yet to control my emotional eating patterns effectively. 2009 may be the year that I seek professional help with emotionally-driven overeating, which I believe is at the heart of most of my struggles with weight.

20. Don’t eat fast food if at all possible – its not real food. This has been a great success for me, with one small exception: In Oregon and parts of Washington, we have a restaurant chain called Burgerville, which uses organic, grass-fed, locally grown products whenever possible. The bigger problem of course is it tastes really, really good. So it’s a little too easy to justify a stop at Burgerville on somewhat shaky “ethical” grounds. Granted, it’s not very often that we go here, but to be honest it’s more than it should be. This needs to change.

21. Avoid vending machines. Still true in 2009. If you work in an office or a building near these machines, it requires a small amount of planning ahead, but this is entirely possible, and entirely the correct choice.

22. “Don’t believe the “no pain no gain” philosophy. Regardless of what your gym coach told you, or what that aggressive personal trainer says, unless your goal is to be a body builder or a professional athlete, if you are practicing moderation, this philosophy is simply not true. In order to maintain health, eating should not be difficult. Exercise should be a pleasure, not a struggle. For those of us who simply want good health, if its painful, you’re not doing it right.”

In 2009, my opinion? Despite some disagreement among readers, I still stand by this statement. While pain can be a useful tool, I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. That said, there ought to be some “burn” going on; it just doesn’t have to be as painful as most “gung ho” advocates indicate. Let the disagreement begin.

23. Don’t apply the “if its not hard its not worth doing” philosophy to eating. 2009: Still true. This statement stemmed from a “diet counselor” who was clearly bitter in her feelings about diet. “Do you like Caesar Salad?” she asked. I replied, “Uh, yes I do…” She said, “Well get used to the idea that you’ll have to give that up. If you want to lose weight, forget eating Caesar salad again.” That diet, of course, didn’t work. And hopefully my embittered “counselor” moved on to a new career, perhaps in Credit Collection.

24. Learn to cook. Over the last year this has become, its fair to say, an obsession. My wife and I are systematically working our way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I truly think this is key, particularly if you want to wean yourself from the industrial food products that many of us are used to.

25. Educate yourself on the diets of cultures that live longer and are generally in better health. 100% true. I would add only that if possible, it’s best to go visit those cultures, which we hope to pursue further in the coming years.

26. Reduce your coffee size to enjoy real cream – not “creamer”. I absolutely believe this is true, but I must admit: working at home as I do, it is terribly easy to “overdo” it by drinking coffee throughout the day. In 2009, I am considering eliminating coffee in favor of Yerba Mate tea, which I also enjoy, and for which I don’t need cream.

27. If you are a coffee drinker, develop an appreciation for espresso. I am hopeful that in 2009 we’ll be able to pick up a quality espresso machine. I am a little particular on this and have my eyes set on one that I of course cannot afford, but with some planning and saving hopefully we’ll be able to pick one up sometime soon without breaking out a credit card.

28. Avoid packaged juices. Juice is one of my biggest weaknesses, because it feeds my inate and powerful sweet tooth. I find that when I drink juice, I stimulate sugar cravings terribly for the rest of the day. I really try to limit juice intake, even going as far as asking my wife to refrain from keeping it in the house. That said, there are a few juices that I do enjoy on occasion, including pomegranate juice from POM. I like the flavor, and it’s expensive enough that I rarely can justify the expense – a built-in moderation feature.

29. Buy the best food you can afford. After a year of doing this, I have to say that it is the most important aspect in my opinion of eating in moderation. A food budget is a balancing act. For the more expensive cheeses that we buy, we have reduced our coffee and packaged foods (we still eat a few) budget. This year we will continue to grow our own produce, which also reduces the overall cost of food for us especially with a family of four. I am hopeful that this year we will have a better handle on our food budget (and our budget in general) – once I find out exactly how much we’re spending, I’ll share the information.

30. Retrain yourself away from the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” mindset. 2009: THIS one, I think needs a little correction. After reading many, many arguments in favor of eating breakfast, I think I missed the mark on this one in some ways. My original reasoning was that if you overeat at breakfast, you’ll just overeat later. I still think that is true; however, I took it to the extreme and started skipping breakfast altogether, which is a big mistake. I am not entirely convinced of the metabolic reasons yet only because I think this is a matter of conditioning (considering the lack of heavy breakfast in many “lighter” cultures); however I am sure that if I reach lunchtime and am starving, I make bad choices. Better to start out with a whole, light breakfast, than to skip it only to be desperate for anything to eat later.

31. Eat at regular times. This is still true, though I am admittedly not good at it. I tend to eat breakfast sometime in mid-morning, lunch somewhere in mid-afternoon, and dinner at a regular time. I think this is one of my problems, and I need to work on a better morning and afternoon eating schedule.

32. Keep junk food out of the house. To me, this one is obviously true for 90% of us. If you are one of the lucky few who don’t have this weakness, good for you. But for me, this is a necessity.

33. Don’t be in a big rush to lose the weight. This is for me, in the top 3 lessons that carry the most, ahem, weight. I lost 25 lbs or so last year, which is what I would have shot for in a month on some of the crazy diets I’ve tried. Rather, I’m very happy with those results. This is a lifelong process of health improvement; not to mention, it took me 37 years to get to this point. It’s madness to think it will turn around, permanently, overnight.

NEW FOR 2009:

34. Skip the afternoon snack – in favor of afternoon tea. I think our friends across the pond have this correct – afternoon tea time seems to me to be a great idea. I did this today in fact, and it satisfied my slight hunger until dinner. Give it a try. Make the tea time an opportunity to sit quietly and contemplate where you’re at. Enjoy the moment – be present for your life, which will be one of the themes this year for Almost Fit.

35. Focus on broadening your tastes in food. There are so many cultures that eat incredibly healthy foods, often out of necessity. Broadening your taste can lead to tremendous, healthful discoveries. This is something that we are also passing on to our children, who these days will eat pretty much anything – a fact for which I am convinced is at least in part due to exposure.

36. Develop a better understanding of the ethics of food. Foods as they are presented by the food industry are just nice, tasty products that we shouldn’t worry our pretty little heads about – just trust the food industry and surely we won’t go wrong. Unfortunately, this is why we have an obesity epidemic, and quite bluntly, family tragedy from things like poisoned peanut butter – our misplaced trust in a) the marketers to tell us what we should eat, and b) the government to look out for us. Neither is even close to a good source of information on what we feed ourselves and our kids, as they always have an agenda that puts consumers squarely in the last position.

37. Use tools, like social media, to your advantage. I am an active Twitter user and have been for some time. One of the benefits? I follow a number of great health bloggers, inspirational/motivational writers, and generally just good people. I find great inspiration and motivation in their suggestions throughout the day. One great example is a Twitter user I follow posts “nudges” throughout the day to remind followers to get up and move around a bit, or grab a glass of water. This is useful for me, particularly working by myself.

38. Be careful with the calories in wine. I have found that surprise surprise – when one glass of wine at dinner is good, two glasses is often a little better. It’s easy to overdo it – not in an alcohol/sobriety sense necessarily (though that is certainly a reasonable concern), but in the unwanted calories in particular. One glass is usually all I need; I just need to remember that especially after a hard day.

39. Consider (as in think about) trying moderate fasting. Many, many cultures use fasting as part of their dietary regime. I am currently fascinated with this, and plan on trying it sometime this year as an Almost Fit documented experiment. But for me, it is fasting moderately; I don’t intend to go more than a day on a fast. But it’s definitely something I think may have health benefits beyond weight loss.

40. If you make enough for leftovers, pack the leftovers first. When you make a meal, before you serve it, set aside the leftover quantity you intend to eat the next day. I’ve read this tip in numerous places, and it really both makes sense, and works.

41. When possible, only bring to the table what you plan to eat. For me, if the bowl of pasta is on the table, it’s much easier to eat more than I need. If I serve myself in the kitchen, it’s one step more difficult to overeat on seconds.

42. Find the stress relievers that work for you – other than food. With the economy in the current state of disrepair, this for me is of critical importance. I will be exploring this over the coming year on Almost Fit, and welcome suggestions.

43. Don’t go to bed too late. This one is one of my most difficult habits to break, but one I’m set on accomplishing this year. When I stay up late, I eat more. Simple as that. If I go to bed early and rise early, I rarely eat much if anything before breakfast. This may be different for you, but I have a feeling that late night work sessions, or #afterhours as we say on Twitter, are not great for a healthful diet.

44. Action Feeds Motivation. I think the best thing you can do on the weight loss front is simple: get up and do something about it. It sounds simple, but I know for me, I spent an awful lot of time trying to find motivation to exercise, often with mediocre results. This year, I’m hoping to turn this on it’s head on a personal level – rather than waiting to be motivated to do something physical, I’m going to focus on getting up and doing it as a means of creating motivation. It’s a subtle distinction, but one that I feel is worth making. My intention is to feature great sources of motivation that focus on taking small, immediate actions that you can do with minimal planning. Plans are great. But action is what is always needed if you want to get anywhere.

Thank you for reading. Here’s to another great year of working together. Your comments and suggestions are, as always welcome and maybe more importantly, appreciated.

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