Vacation and IF.

Current Weight AM: 231

My wife and I had a little weekend getaway with no kids for the Memorial Day Weekend.  We normally don't do this, so it was a really nice treat.  It is hard to keep on a "diet," plan when you are on vacation, but I did use Intermittent Fasting (IF), which I think helped some.  If you don't know what IF is, it's not a diet, its a tool that if done correctly with tracking your calories, can be an effective way to burn off fat and keep your lean muscle. Some experts have done research on different IF protocols such as 16/8, where you fast for 16 hours then eat your calories in 8 hours.  There is also 5:2 diet, where you eat normally for 5 days and fast for 2 non-consecutive days where you only ingest 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men.  I have tried both for about 3 months now, and at the moment I enjoy 16/8.  It is usually over 16 hours of fasting for me though, more like 18-20.  I push breakfast out till about 1:00pm, sometimes longer and eat a nice big lunch usually a 3 egg sandwich, which will keep me feeling full till dinner, than I will eat a nice big dinner and my eating window will close until 1pm the next day.  My weight loss has been slow, but I have seen some results in the mirror with this eating style.  I can go long stretches without eating and feel comfortable.  You must stay hydrated while on this fast, mostly nice clean filtered water, this will help hunger pains. Coffee helps me as well and suppresses my appetite till it is time to eat.  You must track your calories though, you cannot just eat anything and everything you want, it will not work!  I use a MyFitnessPal app on my phone to track everything I eat, so that helps a lot. www.Leangains.com  is a website I recommend and explains more about intermittent fasting as well. So far I am happy with how I look, building my muscles and feeling good strong with no injuries.  The thing about weight loss in my experience is that it's slow, with many ups and downs, and it's hard.  I put on this weight over years, so likewise it will take a long time to take it off.  A healthy way to lose weight is 1 to 2 pounds a week, anymore than that and you will lose muscle, which for me, I don't want to do.  I think I will end here:

BE AWESOME!!

My Fitness Journey.

HELLO!! Welcome to my fitness blog! I am excited to get started, and hope I can motivate you to be happy with fitness and your body.  This blog is for me as a diary to track my fitness goals and just share them with you, if you care to read.  Anyway, a little background of my fitness:  I am a happily married 41 year old Amer-Asian. I was a swimmer since the age of ten and swam through college on a Division 1 scholarship.  I have swam on a couple Masters Swimming teams after college for a couple years on and off.  I am currently weight lifting/bodybuilding 4 to 5 days a week and still swim off and on. I only started weight-lifting a couple months ago, and I want to continue lifting for the long-term.

Now that my fitness details are covered, lets dive into some measurements for tracking purposes.  I love statistics and measurable data, so as my own lab rat I will share with you some of my current stats.

Height: 6 foot 1 inch

Weight: 228.6

Waist size: 39.5 inches

Bicep size: 17 inches

Looking at these stats, I am happy with my body right now.  I look good in a size L shirt in the mirror and I feel good. Yet sometimes I feel insecure about my body, looking and comparing my body to other people who are completely different then me.  I think that's normal in today climate of selfies and social media, pictures are everywhere, and so is comparing.  I will not let this get me down though, confidence is key and I do want that beach body this summer or to be comfortable taking my shirt off in public.  Comparing yourself to other people is pointless and you will fail at your goals if you do this.  You can use others for motivation to keep on track, but compare yourself to the mirror you look into everyday, love yourself, and stay motivated to the body you want.

Now onto my goals for the year.

Goals:

#1: Lose 15 lbs. I want to be at 215 or lower.

#2: Workout 5-6 days a week either cardio or strength training.

#3: Be more present with my family.

Anyway, kind of a long first post, but I will blog frequently, so I can keep you in the loop of my goals:

BE AWESOME!!