Fitness Quest: October 2016

The past three months seem to have been a blur of activity. Which is probably a good thing since it is an indication that I’ve had energy to do things, and given my normal state of anemia (in part due to the Crohn’s) that’s a good thing. One concern I haven’t had is my Crohn’s as that continues to be under control by most accounts. The Humira appears to be doing its job and that’s a very good thing.

Exercise: Since my last update I did complete my personal “100 Push-Up” challenge. A few friends joined me which helped as we kept each other honest. At the end I was able to do 100 Push-Ups in less than three minutes which by most standards is a sign of excellent physical fitness and strength. I noticed huge benefits in a short time just by being consistent with the push-ups. Triceps are larger, arms are “harder” overall and I have definition and size in my chest and delts that I don’t think I’ve ever had (I can now “roll” my pecs which is pretty cool actually). However, in some ways they did take a toll and the last couple days were as much an exercise in mental toughness as physical strength. I took a break this past week and will be putting a lower number of push-ups into my regular routine going forward.

Another thing I discovered with these last two push-up challenges is the support I’d get from friends and family by going “public” (I posted daily on Facebook my progress). I learned that I actually inspired a few others to try and improve their own fitness, and I never thought I’d be a fitness role model, and I didn’t mind the comments about my weight loss and increase in overall “buffness” (the occasional “hey, you’ve got some tricep action going on there” while wearing a long sleeve shirt and “wow, you can tell Dave’s been working out” while wearing a short sleeve shirt and “you lost a lot of weight” from people who haven’t seen me in a while).

The next challenge is going to focus on core strength and tightening up the middle. I may never have a true six-pack but by golly I can have a flat midsection. I’ve also got a side challenge already in the works with another friend who works out but has been lax lately. He was lamenting that his shirt sleeves were getting too loose. So we’re going to see who can put the most size back on his arms by the end of January. Sadly, I’ve got a long way to go to fill out my sleeves again, too!

Weight workouts are going well. We, my brother-in-law and I, got back up to a 250 pound bench press and now backed down to about 180 to focus on increasing reps. I want to start getting some weight training with the legs going again. I just need to figure out how to get this back into my schedule.

Cardio could be better. I haven’t been running but for the most part I’ve been walking and at least getting 10,000 steps in each day. I did participate in a 5K Fun Run/Walk during the annual NACAS Conference and was only a couple minutes off my best time earlier this summer. Not bad considering I hadn’t planned on running at all during it!

Nutrition: Despite my research and trying new things I still struggle with getting the proper nutrition and keeping fat off. Most of this is discipline – I need to stay away from the drive-through – some is lack of planning. I find myself too often not packing lunch or having a dinner plan. I’m starting today to fix this. You can’t control your weight (i.e. bodyfat) without complete control of your diet. Only I can change this.

I had an interesting conversation with a fit young man at the annual NACAS Conference and he suggested I try a “keto” or low-carb diet. This is something I’ve been sort of trying on my own to a small degree anyway, lower carbs and upping the protein, but I also reduced fats which he suggested may be the wrong way to go. I’m doing some research and will be giving a more hard core low carb diet a try this week. Giving up carbs will be difficult – but I’m tired of looking at this belly.

Mental Health: Overall, attitude is good. Like everyone else I do have those moments of doubt and worry. However, in general, life is fairly good. A lot of people have it a lot worse than I do and I do remind myself of that every day. I do need to make time for some regular prayer/meditation however to clear my head at the end of the day (or maybe the beginning).

So, in keeping with accountability, I’ll be posting more often here on my Fitness Quest and hopefully other things as well. Until next time…

Onward!