Halfway Through Phase 1

I've just completed my first month of training, which means I've made it halfway through Phase 1.  During Phase 1, I'm really working on building mass.  That means lots of reps to failure in the gym and focusing on getting enough protein and carbs to keep my energy level high for training and recovery.

I'm noticing, though, that as I add inches of muscle without focusing on getting lean (yet), I feel uncomfortable in my clothes.  Everything fits a little tighter than I would like.  It's like the muscle is pushing my fat outward from underneath.  Ugh!  I weighed myself this morning and saw that I'm at 209 pounds!  Time to slim down or risk looking like a puffed up meat head!

I've also been feeling like I'm letting stress dictate my diet.  Things have been hectic at work and at home.  As a result, I recently realized that I'm shoveling into my mouth ANYTHING that is put in front of me.  Eating without discretion may be fun for awhile, but I actually get tired of eating after a bit.  I'm at that point now.  Last night as I mindlessly munched on my last few bits of pizza and drank a glass of wine, it dawned on me that, not only was I not being mindful of the tastes and textures of my meal, but I was actually ignoring that fact that I was not enjoying it.  Time to turn this bus around!

So, starting today I'm cleaning up my diet.  For how long?  Permanently!  I've the done the 28 days to this and the 30 days to that.  I'm ready to commit myself to an entire year of mindful eating and increased nutrition.  In fact, I'm so ready that I'm not waiting for the old New Year's resolution phase.  I'm jumping in now and foregoing all the sweets and goodies that surround the upcoming holidays.  With two weeks to the new year, I'm looking forward to waking up January 1 ALREADY feeling slimmer and trimmer and cleaner throughout!

I'll keep you posted and maybe I'll put up some embarrassing pictures soon.

Cleansing and Nutrition

Last year, my wife, Anita, and I returned from a long trip in India feeling stuffed and lethargic. While we were traveling we were force fed in home after loving home. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the food was very nutritious and we did an awful lot of walking, but still we came home feeling beat and ready for a sea change in our eating habits.

We immediately committed to a 28-day health and wellness program created by Ti Caudron at Cambiati Wellness Programs. We had been hearing a lot of good things from friends and relatives that had tried the program and figured we were finally ready to take the plunge.

One of our big concerns was whether the program would be flexible enough to accommodate our different goals. Anita wanted to slim down to her pre-pregnancy weight from before our daughter Sonia was born. I wanted to lose some fat while gaining some lean muscle that would improve my athleticism in activities like running, soccer, and yoga. We were amazed at how well Ti's program fit both our objectives! So amazed, in fact, that we followed up our initial success with another 28 days because we felt great and were still losing weight. In the end, I lost about 20 pounds and Anita lost about 15. I also gained about eight pounds of muscle by shifting my diet a little based on the Cambiati principles.

Since then, we have done versions of the program that we have tailored to our needs for maintenance and spot-training with Cambiati's help and support. I completed another 28-day session just before the holidays and we've both done short one to three-day "mini cleanses" whenever we have felt low energy or out of balance nutritionally.

As part of my current goals, I'm sticking to a diet that is similar to the first week of the Cambiati program and I'm giving myself a little break here and there to have drinks with friends or a dessert after a nice meal out. As a result, my energy level has been high (despite exercising seven days a week: yoga - Mon., Tues., Fri.; resistance and running - Wed., Thurs., Sat., Sun.; soccer - Thurs. nights; and golf on occasion). I'm also seeing the signs of changes in body composition...my muscles in my chest, back, shoulders and arms are getting more defined while my pants are getting loser in the waist and thighs.

I'm contemplating stepping it up and adding either intermittent fasting along the lines of the Eat Stop Eat program created by Brad Pilon and heavily touted by Rusty Moore (who created my current resistance training program) or the slow carb diet demonstrated in Tim Ferriss's book The 4-Hour Body. I'll add one of those regimens after my first two months of mass building are complete. Until then, I'm happy to maintain my current weight and watch my body composition slowly adjust.