Hammer Time

So a fair share of the people that know me know that I can get a little overzealous with some of the projects I undertake.  My mom calls it the family rotational gene and I can see it in my youngest daughter as well.  We fully commit ourselves to the task at hand I like to say, but in reality it is a little OCD kicking in.

Staying true to form (and my genes apparently).  I've taken my quest to exercise and lose weight to the next level.  I've set the following goals for my exercise program:

1. 1 year goal - To get to 12% body fat without losing muscle mass, and be able to run a whole 10K race by June 1st, 2009
2. 3 month goal - lose 6% body fat and 20 pounds while maintaining muscle mass

In order to achieve these goals I started doing some scientific research on weight loss and tried to avoid fad diets.  I wanted to find something that forced me to make some lifestyle changes (eating better.. fruits, veggies, cut out sugar and high-fructose corn syrup) and didn't make me feel like I couldn't ever enjoy food again.  So across the web I scoured and I thought I'd share some of my finds:

Essential sites:

Calories per Hour .COM - jam packed with good info on proper eating and some very handy calculators

Zen Habits is a staple of my daily blog consumption.  Here are some of the articles I sent to Evernote to save:

• Start Running 
• Increase workout effectiveness
• Minimalist Fitness
• Building blocks of a healthy diet

The IF life - site dedicated to intermittent fasting.  Might be some controversy about this, but it has worked for me.  I currently perform two 24 hour fasts Sunday night to Monday night and Tuesday night to Wednesday night.  Draw your own conclusions, but it is the core of many religions and the scientific evidence makes "sense".  You need to make sure if you do IF that you are eating PROPERLY the times you aren't fasting.  I still count my calories to make sure I'm eating enough calories and not sending my body into starvation mode.

Fitness Black Book blog - good source of information on workouts and especially incorporating interval training into your routine.

Currently I've been watching what I eat, counting calories with the Absolute Fitness app for my iPhone, and working out.  I started doing a 3 day a week workout on M,W,F but have recently pushed that to 3 days on 1 day off to accelerate my fat burning.  I always do my workouts in the morning (fasted state) and have been working the 100 pushup program every other day.  I've incorporated AB workouts (planks and sit-ups) usually on those days as well.  I do at least 1 set of intervals (usually running hills.. sprint up a hill, jog down the hill, set of 5 reps) in those 3 days.  I go for reasonable jogs on the other days and try to incorporate one longer run (up to 15 minutes straight running at the moment) at least once a week.  I've been following a little hybrid of the Zen habits running plan to increase my time and running effort.  Notice nothing I've mentioned involves a gym membership.  I have no desire at the moment to join a gym even with winter coming.  I plan on running indoors at a local community facility and taking advantage of open swim at the local high school pool.  No excuses for me not to get my workout in.  I hope to in the future be able to start Crossfit on a daily basis, but think I need to get some more endurance and strength under my belt.  My goal is not to get muscular but very tone and fit.

Sunrise before my run at the beach

This is what works for me and I've been very happy with my results.  A couple major things I've found.. IGNORE BMI.. it is a horrible measurement of fitness.  According to the magical BMI system I was obese when I was in high school in the absolute best shape of my life wrestling and playing football (yeah right).  Focus on muscle mass, body fat %, how you look and FEEL!  There are a couple ways to measure this, but the best thing for me was getting a scale that used Bioelectrical Impedance to calculate these.  Whether it is 100% accurate or not doesn't matter if you take a baseline and see PROGRESS from that baseline.  I got the Omron HBF-500 and have been very happy with it.  I take my measurements every Friday morning and track my progress through Google Docs.  Since I've been enjoying running so much my wishlist gift is the Garmin Forerunner GPS watch.  This is an insane piece of technology that helps you track your runs automatically by just wearing it.  Right now I've been using MapMyRun to track my daily running activities and it works well for beginning.

Yeah ok maybe I do suffer from the rotational gene syndrome slightly, but if it keeps me running and losing body fat I can't complain.

Get off the couch!

Ian

I forget the original blog post that turned me on to classic shaving (making your own lather, using a straight razor, enjoying a shave) 6 months ago, but thank you to whoever it was.  Sure I have been to a barber and gotten a nice shave, what I didn't realize was that I could get close to that same experience at home every time I shaved.

First off.. become educated on wet shaving by going to the Badger and Blade forum

Next check out these awesome video's by Mantic59 on YouTube on how to wet shave

Use the Badger and Blade forum to scope out some initial equipment and make a list of supplies.  I started out with the following (Starter Kit Link):

Taylor Shaving Cream, Merkur DE Razor, Omega Pure Badger Brush, Merkur DE Razor Blades, Nivea for Men Shaving Balm (buy this at Target/Walmart)

This order cost me around $120 from Amazon and another great side benefit of wet shaving is the amount of money you save from traditional gel and cartridge razors.  I just ordered more shaving cream, but haven't purchased anything else since that original order 8 months ago.  At the price I paid each razor costs me $0.50 and I get 3-4 shaves per razor.  The only other item I did eventually pick up was a ceramic soup bowl from Target to make my lather in.

Couple of tips on wet shaving:

1. Learn how to make a good lather.. it is worth wasting a little cream early on to figure out the right amount of water to use to get a nice smooth lather.
2. Pay attention to the areas of your face and learn about the grain.  You will see a couple of different styles in the videos (With the Grain (WTG), Against the Grain (ATG), Across the Grain (XTG)), learn which technique to use for different areas of your face.  For me under my chin is best done with some XTG, and ATG strokes.  I always start with a WTG to remove the majority of the whiskers, but those XTG, and ATG passes are what make my wife chase me around to house after a good shave.
3. Don't feel like you have to get everything off in the first pass, lather up again and do another pass.  Your face will thank you for it.
4. After you are done shaving make sure to splash cold water on your face before you apply the after shave balm.  By far this is what has kept me hooked on wet shaving.. it is the most refreshing thing in the world!
5. Take your time with the shave and enjoy it.. don't feel rushed, get up a little earlier to be able to spend the 30-40 minutes getting a great shave.
6. Don't forget the PREP!! I always get everything ready in the sink before I jump into the shower.  I make sure to use some of my wife's "fufu" shampoo with conditioner on my beard while in the shower to soften the whiskers up (yes I get yelled at for using her "stuff").
7. Share this advice with others when you get hooked!  I certainly got on my father and grandfather for not sharing this information with me earlier!

Enjoy a REAL Shave!

Ian

So this year has been my year of new habits.  I finally started a new exercise habit and routine in August.  Two great articles I found to start off easy inspired me to get off the couch and hit the pavement.  The running routine I believe is the last piece of motivation I need to kick the smoking habit as well!.  Enjoy these two great articles:

Go from couch to 5k in 6 weeks

100 pushups in 6 weeks

What a great blog entry to talk about in my first official post.  I've been following Zen Habits blog for a few months now and love some of the ideas posted about.  The starting one habit a month has been a good inspiration for me and has worked well so far.  December was my month of trying to get up earlier and was a great success.

I happened to be reading through the blog again today over lunch and found this post in the archives.  Being a great Dad has been a big focus in my life lately.  I have two darling little girls 16 months apart (oldest is almost 3) and they have been a great source of joy in my life.  Check the original blog post from Zen Habits below and see how great a Dad you can be!

Ian

How to be a Great Dad - 12 Awesome Tips | Zen Habits

Just getting things setup and customized before I start using this blog full time.  Stay Tuned.

Ian