Chris.Derecola

For the last two months, I’ve been going to the gym five days a week. I haven’t done five every week, but my general rule is if I work that day (even if I work from home), I go to the gym. This means I skip on days like Thanksgiving, but I’m averaging over four with the holidays, so that counts in my mind. It’s become a part of my weekday routine and I’m willing to adjust my schedule to accommodate the need to be at work early, stay late or do some other random thing after work. Going to the gym is now my default position and if you know me, you know how monumental that is.

When I started my campaign more than four years ago, I never really had a goal to be “one of those people.” In fact, I always thought of exercising as something I was sacrificing my free time to do, so spending that much time there wasn’t even a consideration. This all changed for me two months ago while discussing my efforts with a friend. I said I was exercising three days a week and he very bluntly responded “that’s only enough to maintain, not lose.” In the seconds following that statement I thought about how much I love good food/alcohol, how unlikely that was to change and realized he was absolutely right. No more excuses, three days was not enough.

Interestingly, five days a week is easier than three days a week. Yes, there is a larger time commitment… but not having to figure out which day I was going and to how to fit it in my schedule makes it a lot more brainless. It has also become easier to motivate to go in the morning (when I do) because the excuse of “oh I’ll go tomorrow” is no longer an option. Yes, I will go tomorrow… but I’m also going today.

What’s next? Well, it’s only December and I’m really looking forward to riding outside again. The gym is a nice way to not freeze my ass off, but it’s fairly boring. Beyond that, I’m thinking of trying P90X when the weather gets too hot next summer. At this point it’s just talk, so we shall see.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I wrote this post before our vacation, but never got around to publishing. The sad thing about reading it now is that I haven’t exercised in about a month. I don’t know if it’s psychosomatic or what, but I definitely feel like it’s catching up to me. I don’t have a lack of energy and my clothes still fit, so I haven’t jumped off the deep end yet. If I had to place it, I’d say it feels like a transition from muscle to fat in the same sized package. Like I said, it could all be in my head.

Either way, not exercising in a long time and then watching a friend carve out a 2.5 hour ride amongst a hectic schedule this weekend really made me think. Although I (usually) exercise regularly, I’m not serious enough about it. I talk a pretty big game and I’ve lost over 30 pounds, but that was long enough ago that I need to move on. I have more free time than a lot of people I know so most of my reasons boil down to excuses. If I really want to reach my goals, it’s time to shut my mouth and refocus my efforts. I need to get back to the stuff I detail below and make physical activity a part of life instead of just forcing myself to exercise.

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So, one year since my last update and it’s been a doozy.  You probably don’t need an update on everything I’ve been doing (biking and joining a gym) so instead lets talk about my Eating Healthy campaign. I am not obsessed with being a food hippie, but I do try to make smart choices in my daily life. I’m not afraid to eat crap when the situation warrants, but for the most part I work to make sure the food I’m eating is natural and good for me. There are several rules that I tend to follow in an effort to make sure my calories are as beneficial as possible. Again, these aren’t hard and fast laws, but rather building blocks to a healthful diet.

• Never drink calories. The one exception here is coffee, of which I only have one cup a day and in which I put Splenda and low-fat/fat-free milk. If I need some flavor, I will drink a Coke Zero or Powerade Zero.
• Eat when you’re hungry; five times a day for me.
• Keep meals under 600 calories. My two “mini-meals” are far lower because they’re usually fruit or nuts. Dinner is higher and is generally the “big meal” of the day.
• Choose foods that are high in fiber and absent of trans fats.
• Eat local, where possible. It’s amazing the difference local produce and protein have in terms of flavor and satisfaction. Processed and shipped foods are either overly bland or overly flavored (salted) so you end up eating to compensate. This fall will mark our first foray into the world of CSA.

How does all that translate into foods that play a recurring role in my diet? Here are some of the things I’m putting in my body:

• Morning – banana, oatmeal with raw walnuts and a bit of maple syrup
• Lunch – vegan dishes with brown rice, tuna, or healthy vegetarian soups
• Snacks – raw almonds, dried figs, raw cashews, random piece of fruit

Dinner is more complicated and where I could stand to make improvement. It’s usually pasta with home made sauce, a stir fry or a random piece of meat (never beef) with a veggie and a starch. I generally try to stick within the poultry or lean pork realm, so portion control and carbohydrates is my greatest enemy here. I’m hoping all the CSA veggies will help clean this menu up and decrease my pasta intake, but that’s a hard habit to break. We’ll see.

Back to Reality. Our vacation is over; I’m happy to report everything went well and we had a good time. I have a lot to talk about but I also have a feeling it’s going to take me awhile to decompress and digest it into readable bits. My calendar is somewhat full for the next 10 days but I’m hopeful I can get stuff on here before you lose interest. In the meantime, here a few things off the top of my head.

• 19 days is a long time. It was actually long enough that I caught myself thinking a few times that living out of a backpack and moving around all the time was my normal life… like I got used to it or something. Travel/vacation never felt that way for me before and it was pretty cool. I was definitely ready to come home, but I appreciate the experience.
• The weather was somewhat crap but kinda awesome. We didn’t count, but our best estimate is that it rained for 13-14 days of the 19. I’m not talking 5 minute sprinkles surrounded by sun, but rather gray with on/off rain or just plain rain all day. Rain on vacation sucks, but it didn’t get to me as much as you might think. We were prepared for the most part and given that most places didn’t have A/C, I was okay because it rarely went above 65°. The days it was sunny were absolute perfection, so I’m not really complaining.
• I shot 791 pictures and 35 movie clips. I really thought I was going to shoot more, but the weather ran interference with that. Some days it was just so wet and gray that I didn’t feel it worthwhile to pull the camera out. Still, those counts are nothing to sneeze at and I’m sure it’ll take some time to get them online.
• I managed to cross two things off my Life List. I was thinking it would be three, but the timing and logistics just flat out didn’t work. As with several things on the trip, we felt it better to dial it back a notch and not force it.
• I ate a ridiculous amount of most everything I try to avoid on a regular basis and only gained two pounds. I truly feared the scale after all the beer, foie gras, chocolate, pork, wine, bread, bone marrow, butter, beef and ice cream I had but was pleasantly surprised. The significant amount of walking we did – averaged nine miles/day in Paris, where I stopped keeping track – must have compensated for the caloric intake. This fuels my belief about why Americans are fat; more about that in another post. The unwanted side effect of this food appears to be the resurfacing of acid reflux. It went away four years ago when I stopped eating crap, so I’m pretty sure it’s related. Bah.

That’s it for now. I apologize if the thoughts aren’t entirely coherent or ramble on – I’m still six hours ahead. I should also probably apologize for the overuse of the word but. I didn’t count but I usually end up with far too many if I don’t make a conscious habit not to. More later… and with less buts!