Over the weekend we went to visit our friends at Ma Petite Maison in Port Orford, Oregon (I wrote previously about their beautiful place here: “A Taste of France on the Oregon Coast“). Port Orford is a tiny town with about 1100 people, no stop lights, a handful of restaurants, and a lot of virtually empty beachfront. It’s an exceptional spot to visit if you want peace, quiet, long uninterrupted walks on the beach, and more than just a little local quirkiness.

Port Orford has it’s share of 4th of July weekend activities not unlike most places: a morning parade of local groups ranging from muscle cars and fire trucks to a family of 4-wheelers with kids dressed in camouflage shooting high-powered squirt guns (I was not aware that this was a symbol of patriotism, but I now know better); a man who wakes the town each year by driving a truck around with loudspeakers attached, proclaiming, “GOOOOOOOOD MORNING PORT ORFORD. SEVEN AM ON YET ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL FOURTH OF JULY!”; A craft fair and quilting exhibition; a pretty good fireworks display, and a variety of weekend food-related activities.

I decided to get up early with my almost-6-yr-old and take him to a pancake feed that was being presented at the community center. I didn’t think much about the food that would be available; I was more interested in doing something just as father and son, since his little sister being a feisty 3-yr-old often grabs much of the family’s attention.

When we arrived, we stood in line for a while waiting for the food, stomachs rumbling and my son hopping on one foot from time to time. I eavesdropped that the griddles were not getting very hot, and thus the wait – but folks didn’t seem to mind. Eventually we were handed our Styrofoam plates which laid the foundation for pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a slice or two of ham. From all appearances, this is a reasonable meal – unless you are a 5-yr-old in Real Food training.

I should pause for a moment to mention that our kids are not at all picky eaters. My son will eat almost anything, although he doesn’t care for mashed potatoes for some reason. He eats any kind of salad, beets, broccoli, fish, all cheeses including goat cheese and feta – and loves to try any hot sauce that I have, no matter how hot. We don’t cook separate meals for our kids; they eat what we eat (and yes, we count ourselves lucky).

After we sat down, I put the standard pat of mostly-frozen butter on my son’s pancakes, added a little syrup, and cut up a few pancake bites for him. The pancakes were what you might expect from a “pancake feed”; certainly made from water and generic pancake mix (consisting of a lot of I-don’t-wanna’-know-but-I’m-eating-it-anyway ingredients), and cooked completely through. On the other hand, the syrup was, to be honest, pretty awful. It was the cheapest you can get, and tasted like what I imagine burnt corn syrup and food coloring with a motor oil chaser tastes like. Not so good. It was incredibly sweet however – In fact I thought to myself, “ya know, if you just want ultra-sweet and can ignore the chemical aftertaste, this stuff is just the thing.” And lest I sound like a total snob here (oh who am I kidding), let me just say that nobody of any economic strata should eat that syrup, although I suspect it does keep dentists in business.

After a few minutes of eating, my son put his spork down and looked up at me.

“Dad…” he said quietly and with crinkled nose, “…Do you…like…the eggs?”

“They’re OK. A little undercooked I’d say.” The eggs were clearly “egg product” out of a carton – something he’s really never had before.

“Dad, I don’t like them. Maybe they need salt.”

He shook a little salt from the shaker onto the eggs, took a bite, and made a face like he was eating salty cooked dirt (probably the face he saw when I ate the syrup). At this point I noticed that he was right – these runny scrambled eggs were not only undercooked, but had almost no flavor at all. I added salt too.

He moved on to the ham.

He put the 4-inch medallion of glazed ham on his spork and started eating around the edges. I took a bite from my ham too and noticed that it was incredibly sweet – at home we eat a fair amount of pork that we buy from a local farmer, but never canned or honey-glazed from the grocery store.

Without saying a word, he looked at it as if examining a new species of pink floppy tropical fish that he had just caught on an improvised spear, and before I could stop him he removed the ham and chucked it like a Frisbee several feet across the end of the table and into the Rubbermaid 40-gallon garbage can. This is certainly not behavior that I endorse, but it was all I could do not to laugh. He was right – the meat was questionable at best compared to the  pork he’s used to.

Finally, he dug into the pancakes. After 5 or 6 bites, he said, “Dad…I think I’m getting a stomach-egg…” – That’s stomach ache, for those not familiar with the vernacular. Stomach egg indeed.

“You don’t have to finish. Let’s get going.”

We cleaned up our spot, dropped the remains in the trash, and headed to the car. My son settled into his booster seat, buckled up, and looked out the window.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“I’m hungry.”

UPDATE: One little bit to clear up: Despite my attempt at some levity here, to be clear I am tremendously grateful for the work that is accomplished by the organization that put on the event. I deliberately left their name out of the piece originally because I didn’t want to offend, but turning it to the positive I think some good can come of mentioning the details. Specifically, thank you to the Rotary Club of Port Orford who generously put on this event and according to their President, Rick Francona, has “awarded almost $100,000 in scholarships through fundraisers just like this one.” Thank you, and my sincere apologies to any readers who found this offensive – that was far from the intent. (Maybe next time I’ll just bring my own syrup and keep my trap shut (see there I go again with the humor thing). )

Taking it a step further, I strongly and sincerely recommend donating to your local and national Rotary Club, or even better, volunteering – they are a secular, volunteer-run organization that does immensely good work globally. Here’s a link to their national Contribute page: http://www.rotary.org/EN/CONTRIBUTE/Pages/ridefault.aspx. From their site: “Since 1947, Rotarians have contributed more than US$2.4 billion to The Rotary Foundation to help Rotary do good in the world.”

Consider donating, won’t you?

Thanks for reading Almost Fit.

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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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The good news is I have used the break to work on some new pieces that I’m excited about. At this point they are little more than a pile of notes and a lot of ideas, but hopefully they will be something that you’ll be interested in reading, and if I’m lucky, sharing your thoughts on as well.

On the personal health side, my weight has been reasonably stable; I have gained back a few pounds since my last post, but I am not too worried about it. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not thrilled about it; but I’m ready to get back to business, and am very pleased that I’m still 15 lbs lighter than I was at the start of the year.

On the plus side I’ve started a new simple exercise habit that seems to be sticking, all based on keeping my laundry in order. What does laundry have to do with weight loss? I’ll get to that in a future post.

On the real food side, this is the time of year when things start to get easier food-wise in the Pacific Northwest. Every week that goes by in my neck of the woods, more and more farmers markets come back to life; more fruits and vegetables start their journey from the soil to my plate , and the sun starts to make the acquisition of vitamin D much, much easier. All in all this is a great time of year, and I am really, really ready for a break from the winter doldrums.

One last thing: My little family has had a slight change: we find ourselves with a few additions to our house…Nine of them in fact. We’ve adopted a small troop of baby chickens. The chicks are about 4 weeks old now, and are one of the things that has kept me a little busy lately (though truth be told my wife has done most of the work – though I am building a chicken coop this weekend). The goal with the chicks is to eventually harvest eggs, which is a staple in our house. If you are interested in keeping chickens feel free to drop me a note, as I have a few online resources that have been helpful. And tips are very welcome.

All in all, things are on the upswing. Thanks for continuing to read Almost Fit, even if the posts have been few and far between over the last couple of months. Good things are coming. Thank you as always.

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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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I love thrift store shopping.

And not just to save money.

In addition to being pretty frugal on certain things, I enjoy shopping at thrift stores for more than just the savings. Don’t get me wrong – I love finding that amazing deal, but that’s not quite enough to keep me coming back to the mysterious color-coded tagging systems, “vintage” kitchy glassware, and dusty late ’80s electronics bins. And although you might question how this is connected to improving my health, I assure you there are logical reasons.

There are also a few gigantic, impossible, James-Cameron-like stretches of reason – but hear me out.

Before I get into that, let me be clear that there are a few things I don’t buy ever at thrift stores. Old non-stick cookware is out. Old electronics? Very rarely, if ever. Underwear? No way ever ever ever. And the king of things to never buy? Intimate items for your significant other, which amazingly they do sell (never never ever, gentlemen).

Reasons I love shopping at thrift stores – oh yeah and that health tie-in thing

Here’s a list of some of the reasons why I love shopping at thrift stores when you’re trying to lose weight.

- Rewarding yourself with clothes that fit – on a budget. One of many great tips I come across repeatedly (and use to my advantage) is to “reward” yourself with clothes that fit as you get in better shape. Similarly, you can set up a goal by buying something that you love but that is a little too small – Its a great motivator for me.

However, clearly this could get expensive if you’ve got a lot of weight to lose, and especially if you’re eating higher quality food that may force you to rethink your budget priorities a little. And that’s where thrift stores come in.

Case in point: The pants in the picture.

I bought these pants today knowing full well that they do not fit – YET. They are about a size too small in the waist, but the quality was too good to pass up. So, these pants become a great weight loss tool: they are an affordable source of motivation to get down another pants size.

And these pants are luscious. Yeah, I just said “luscious”.

They are pants that normally retail for easily more than I’d spend on 3 pairs of pants, but being a find at the thrift store means they’re within my inner cheapskate’s boundaries. And the best part? Today was blue tag day at the thrift store, so they were marked down by an additional 50% to $7.47 – an almost 95% discount off of retail, and never worn as far as I can tell. But they will be soon, proudly.

- It’s a hunter gatherer thing: I love the thrill of the style hunt – even for styles meant for thinner folk. My wife and I both love to find and share things that are visually interesting or unusual, from innovative ads to well-designed kitchenware. Fashion is no exception. It’s not uncommon for me to rush from one side of a large store to the other only to extoll the virtues of the triple stitching in a jacket, or the rare-but-highly-sought-after hand-stitching of vintage Italian leather shoes.

Personally, I think it’s good for our marriage. Unfortunately, most of these great finds are for people of, well, slimmer physiques. But turning that into motivation works for me, even if I don’t buy it (I will never be a size 28 waist. No way.). It doesn’t help me with fine leather shoes much, but pants, shirts, and jackets? Definitely.

- Exercise equipment graveyards – Or, “things at which you should not throw your money”. Thrift stores almost always have piles of grungy, junky fad-driven exercise machines. The piles of junk are good reminders not to waste your money in the first place. There are better ways to exercise than overpriced, poorly made fly-by-night contraptions that wither and die in the closet or under the deck.

- On the other hand, exercise equipment graveyards are good places to find new things to try – on the cheap. Occasionally buried in those piles of ab floggers and thigh blasters you can find high quality items that are made to last and might give your exercise routine a change – at a fraction of the original price. Good examples of quality items I’ve found are cast iron dumbells, kids’ sports gear, and sometimes bicycles (if you know what you’re looking for).

Today was a great example: Thanks to some personal knowledge of bike gear and my iPhone I was able to check the original price as well as the reviews for a bicycle that had just been put out, and it was a good deal: It retailed for over $400 dollars several years ago, not including the improved seat and rims that it came with. My price? $19.95. Sold.

- Haunting thrift stores is a good way to stay grounded. This might sound terrible to some, but it’s honest: If you visit thrift stores often you will quickly encounter a huge cross-section of people ranging from those who are pretty “together” just looking for a bargain, to those who…well let’s just say that in the Texas Hold ‘Em game of life, so far they either a) haven’t been dealt much by way of face cards, or b) wasted more than a few good hands by indulging in some of the more destructive vices of life – for much too long.

I point this out because there are a few immediate internal results each time I leave a thrift store. First, with regard to patrons clearly down on their luck, it’s a good reminder that hard times can befall anybody no matter what station you think you’ve reached in life, or what good fortune you’ve had so far. It reminds me to be thankful for what I have in health, in my family, and in my work. It also reminds me that we’re all just people, and it takes all kinds.

But it also reminds me that my life choices matter. If you continue down a path of self-destructive behavior (i.e. smoking, eating junk, drinking excessively), in all likelihood it’s going to catch up with you sooner or later both in form and function. And some of the rougher folks at thrift stores, sadly in my opinion, are living proof.

In my case, that means being as healthy and “put together” as I can be. Seeing someone at the opposite extreme is frankly a good reminder that I’m in control of my own fate, regardless of the circumstances or in some cases, the choices, of others. Does this make me better than them? No. It means every day I make a good choice, I took responsibility for my life in that moment, and I was really fortunate to have that option.

- Buying quality products is synonymous with buying quality food. While I don’t recommend ever, ever buying a snack at a thrift store (yikes), being surrounded by piles of plastic disposable junk reminds me that we are bombarded with the “more, and cheaper, is better” philosophy in everything, and we as a culture continue to buy it over and over again.

But we don’t have to. You can buy quality things that last, even on a budget. Finding good quality items in a thrift store requires time, including both the search and the research beforehand. But the investment of time pays off in big ways, and affords me the “luxury” of putting my money into better choices in other categories, like food.Thrift stores have piles of cheaply made, worn out clothing. But occasionally you find something that you could never normally afford that has little if any wear (my wife once found a pair of women’s pants that were from an exclusive designer – they were $400 dollars originally!) But knowing what you’re looking at of course involves learning a bit more about what to look for in brands, in construction, and so forth. And that may not be your cup of tea.

For me, it has become a hobby of sorts that I enjoy. I love looking at sites like The Sartorialist for style ideas (though some are a bit too “out there” for me), as well as guidance in understanding why some clothes look better than others (where a jacket should fall on the shoulders, what a tailored shirt looks like vs. a cheaply made shirt, etc.). Again, it may be a little too “chi chi” for you, but there is nothing that says you have to follow what sites like these suggest; you can pick and choose some of the advice, or none at all.

The soapbox – You knew it was coming, right?

Believe it or not, I am increasingly of the belief that consumerism is one of the root societal causes of obesity – even beyond our food choices. Walk down the aisles of a thrift store and look at pile after pile of broken, branded, unnecessary junk, from giant candy-shaped plastic toys to junk food-themed cookie jars, and you will start to see how this mirrors what we are being continually told to put in our body from a food perspective.

And while I may be waxing philosophical a bit here, I think there is merit to the idea that we can easily look at our food like we look at a pile of cheap plastic goods. Buying cheaply solves an immediate problem/hunger, and on occasion is necessary – but more often than not a better choice can be made by reprioritizing where we put our dollars and planning ahead for what we need. And in the end, whether it’s plastic thrift store items or cheap industrial food, the junk adds up.

As I mentioned, thrift store shopping may not be of interest to you. But that’s OK. It just means more bargains for the rest of us.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it via Twitter, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. I do appreciate it.

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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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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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Let me start out by saying this post is not about food, moderation, eating, exercising, or just about anything else that normally appears on Almost Fit. In fact, this post has more to do with the state of this site, and some non-food inspiration that seems to be working it’s way into my mind.

To be brutally honest, over the last few months or so I reached a burnout point as the sole writer of Almost Fit, and I didn’t even realize it until it was in full swing. And to take it a step further, the burnout goes beyond this site: although I haven’t abandoned the principles of eating real food by any means, I’ve certainly let a lot of things through the gates that I have not allowed in quite some time. Quantities have crept back up, types of foods that I’d normally avoid have slipped back in (read: too much bread, beer a little too frequently, and more than a few restaurants and food carts that I’d probably do well to moderate, if not eliminate for a while).

So what does that mean? Have I given up? Failed, even?

It means, I think, that I’m human. Just don’t tell my kids quite yet – I still would like them to think of me as exceeding that bar at least for another year or two.

“So there’s this thing called Work/Life balance. Ya’ mighta’ heard of it.”

I think the heading here says more about where I’ve been than probably anything else. In the current economic climate, you don’t need to be reminded about how things are, but sufficed to say I do not take anything for granted with my current contract work in my day job. I am focused, effective, but more than that – mildly obsessed with exceeding expectations. I work many more hours than I should (and than I bill for), but these days I think it’s what you have to do to stay valuable when there are a dozen others in line behind you who would gladly fill your shoes. I freely admit I might be wrong, but frankly, the consequences of failing are not worth the risk of giving less right now. You have to hustle, no two ways about it.

However (and this is a BIG however), I also realize that things have gone a little too far. Too much work, whether it be the actual doing of the work in front of the computer, or continually solving problems in my mind in the “off hours” of the day. Too much working, not enough living. My ultimate fear is that I will burn myself out on this contract by working excessively, and it will be at the sacrifice not only of the income but of my health as well. And of course, above all else, to the detriment of my family, which I cannot ever afford.

So, it’s time for a few changes. Minor adjustments, but changes nonetheless.

The first thing? Take weekends off. I haven’t really done that in months – at least not mentally. I am one of those people who checks their work email at all times of the day and evening 7 days a week, fearing that there will be a minor disaster (and amazingly, there never is). Well that needs to change.

Second, I have GOT to renew my focus on exercise for mental health. Exercise helps me to keep things in perspective much more so than any other activity. Sadly, it’s also the hardest to do for me and the first thing to go when a deadline is approaching. My exercise plan is to start small of course, but I have an idea on how I’m going to get myself back on track – but more on that in an upcoming post.

Third, of course, is diet. Getting back to the basics of moderation and proactive choices. I’ve got a pretty big library of ideas here on this site to review; I’ll be doing that in the coming weeks and hopefully sharing what I find with readers.

Inspired – again

When I started Almost Fit, I had many inspirations, but one or two blogs in particular really convinced me of the value of creating something meaningful in this format. As I’ve mentioned many times, Zen Habits is certainly one of those sites. In some ways I think Leo (the creator of Zen Habits) and I have developed different views on specific subjects (I like Apple products, but I don’t believe they are the solution to simplicity necessarily, nor do I believe they’ll be shaking Microsoft’s hold on the personal computer any time soon – but I digress), but it is still essential reading for me daily.

Another site that absolutely continues to inspire me is Chris Guillebeau’s site, The Art of Nonconformity, which energizes me like few others. Chris is attacking his business in incredible ways, and is consistently hitting the ball further and further out of the park. I subscribe to his site via RSS and email so that I don’t miss a post.

But where I’m really headed with all of this is a specific post on one of my essential reads: Get Rich Slowly. The particular post to which I’m referring is titled simply, “Failure is Okay.” In it, J.D. describes his experience trying to ice skate, and relates that to his experience with Get Rich Slowly. This particular section really hit home:

It’s never too late to change direction, to start making smart choices. If you’re 40 and don’t have retirement savings, you can start saving tomorrow. If you’re 30 and staggering under the weight of credit card debt, you can cut up your cards and make a commitment to change direction. The wonder of the future is that it can be built upon the ashes of the past.

I have reread this article several times, reminding myself that leaving Almost Fit dormant for a while does not constitute permanent failure; it has been a chance for me to recalibrate my views, and now to build upon the ashes.

Hopefully this is the beginning of great, new things in these parts. I hope you stick around to find out.

Best to you,

Metroknow

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Note to Almost Fit readers: This photo is, surprise surprise, ME, from a while back. I rarely post photos of myself, but I think I’m going to try to change that over the coming months to increase my level of accountability. At any rate, this is what I looked like – 4 years ago after having run 13.1 miles .

That’s not physically possible for me to do

When my wife and I trained with a group for a 1/2 marathon a few years ago, part of our motivation was to spend time together. That worked sometimes, but the truth be told when we ran together, my wife was always holding her pace back a little, and I was usually pushing harder than was healthy for my body at the time. Essentially I was trying to “catch up” even though my body really wasn’t ready for it.

When we trained, I was put in a slower pace group. When I expressed my wish to catch my wife’s pace group to our coach through extra training, she looked into my eyes, put her hand on my shoulder, and quietly said, “I hate to break this to you, but…you’re not going to. I know you think that if you just work harder you’re going to get there, but the truth is? Not possible.”

I was rather shocked.

I mean, wasn’t she supposed to say, “Great Goal, Big Guy! You can do anything you want to do! Why, you can be President someday if you just put your mind to it! Go Team Go!”

But realistically? She was right. Part of me thinks that given a longer stretch of time and some really consistent training, I could eventually have caught up with her. But one obvious problem with the aspiration was that our event was only 3 months away, and there simply wasn’t time for me to get there in that short of a training window. But beyond that, I had to remember – my wife was literally less than 1/2 my weight, and in good shape. Secondly, for every hard run with my slower pace group, she was logging a hard run with her faster group. In other words, with every day we trained, we each got faster and stronger.

So what was the lesson? The coach was trying to help me to see that overtraining would not help me accomplish my goals, and with such a limited timeframe, my goal was truly unrealistic. If I wanted to complete the task, I was going to have to forget about the competitive aspect of trying to catch up with someone much faster than I, and just focus on where I’m at, and where I’m going.

Lesson learned.

Catching up – on Reading: Part 1

It has been months since I’ve made the time to really catch up on what folks around the Web are writing about, particularly when it comes to health, fitness, and overall well-being.

That ends today.

To all of my fellow writers, bloggers, and scribblers (you know who you are), this is for you. This is part one of a list of my favorite articles over the past couple of months, as well as some blogs that readers of Almost Fit will probably find interesting/inspiring, as I have. Note that most of these are diet and fitness related, but there are some great food blogs in here too – they may require an extra bit of moderation though, so consider yourself warned.

Fit Bottomed Girls: My Own End to Overeating (Well, for the most part)

Mark’s Daily Apple: How to Render Bacon Fat (Plus a Fennel and Dill Omelette Recipe)

Kelly the Kitchen Kop: Ten Tips for Building a Healthy Immune System

Fitness Spotlight (formerly Modern Forager: Are Low Carb Diets Overrated for Health and Longevity? The Kitavan and Okinawa Diets

Wine Guy World: I’m feeling super, man

Andrew is Getting Fit: A few questions answered [or, the secrets of one of the most inspirational fitness bloggers I've ever read]

Get Fit Slowly: Where I’m at

60 in 3: How Far are You Willing to Go?

FertileHealthy: Taking it to the next level

Cranky Fitness: Evil Non-Dairy People

Bohemian Revolution: How to send back food at a restaurant

Go Workout Mom: Beware of Limiting Labels

Gym Junkies: The Quickest Way to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

Gourmeted: As Basic as Choux Pastry, As Classic as Julia Child

Health Bolt: The Keeler Migraine Method Q and A

John is Fit: My Visit to a Sleep Clinic: Overnight Sleep Study

MizFit Online: Spotting 101 and Losing the Guilt

What’s Cooking: Blackberry Flan Ice Cream

Orangette: The whole point [and a recipe for salsa verde for potatoes]

Food Blogga: Healthy Cherry, Banana, and Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Food Wishes: Dry-Aging Steak at Home – The Final Chapter: I think it worked

That concludes part 1 – I’ll be back in a week with part 2. Again, thanks to everyone who has stuck with Almost Fit through some down time. I think things are finally back in gear.

Thanks for reading.

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“Why’s that?”

“Because I have two paper airplanes.”

It seems that I have a thing or two to learn from my soon-to-be 5 year-old, especially lately. I love paper airplanes as much as the next geek, but his simple statement resonated with me on a slightly deeper level – and hopefully woke me up a little. Let me explain.

[Warning: I'm about to get a little waxy and slightly philosophical here. You might want to change the channel for a few minutes if this sort of thing makes you squeamish or, well, bored out of your mind.]

Like most people these days, I have a lot going on. You probably do too. To me, the name of the game in an economy like this is one word: Hustle. I don’t mean card tricks, shell games, or a ’70s dance craze; I mean if you want to find some sense of financial stability, you’ve got to keep moving forward no matter what. If you stand still for too long, the world will pass you by. I’m currently very fortunate to have a great contract for which I’m very grateful, but it means I often work long hours in front of multiple computer screens. Along with that, I have several side projects on the Web, not including this one; I write for a community blog here in Portland; I am an amateur musician trying to take music seriously; I do design work on the side occasionally; provide ongoing Web support services to a non-profit arts org.; I have a book in the works (who doesn’t?); and the list goes on.

But clearly, there is nothing of greater importance than the care and energy that I direct toward my home relationships. Specifically, my amazing wife and my beautiful children. And I imagine that I should include myself in that mix. In a sense, it is a task at times to maintain a “relationship” with myself, keeping (or seeking) a vision of who I am now, and who I want to be. Of course, that concept of having a “relationship” with myself is a little flawed I think; it’s better to actually be me than to have conversations with myself over who I want to be. (I’m not crazy. Are you crazy? Nope, me neither.)

Perhaps I’ve said too much.

At any rate, my son’s insightful words reminded me that I’ve got to focus more on being happy with what I accomplish each day, and less on the things I haven’t finished, or the things that I’ve let slip, or the things I wish I would have started already. As many readers of Almost Fit have commented, sometimes I spend a little too much time being hard on myself about what I haven’t done, or how things have regressed from time to time, and I think that’s a fair assessment. How much better it is to look at each day as it’s own set of challenges and rewards, putting less emphasis on the history of successes and failures, and more on this question:

What am I doing TODAY?

Rather than falling into a self-defeating cycle of obsessing over what I haven’t been doing food and exercise-wise, I think the right answer is found in a familiar old song from the ’30s – I think a lot of us say these words internally, but today, I’m saying them to you.

“Nothing is impossible, for I have found, when my chin is on the ground, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again.”- from the 1936 classic film, Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

It’s cliché without question, but ya know what? There’s truth in it, and it’s what I’m doing today. Here’s the clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

What am I doing today? I’m finishing this post, making time to play with my kids, work out, and then going on a quiet date night with the love of my life. Sounds like a pretty good day to me.

What are you doing today?

[UPDATE: Just a quick P.S.: Apologies for the misspelling of "Astaire". I corrected it shortly after the post went out in email...Ah dang. ]

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