Two Weeks Down (Up) – Active August

Two Weeks Down (Up) – Active August

Well two weeks of August have flown by. Too fast. That means I did my second weigh in today and have a quick update on how #ActiveAugust has been treating me.

Before I talk about me, it’s great to see all the progress by everyone with their ActiveAugust updates. Click the search above and hit the twitter search for it. Lots of active people impressing the heck out of me. See the inagural ActiveAugust post to learn more about it’s genesis.

How did week 2 go?

The Good

  • I thought I paid attention to what I was eating and I am pretty sure I ate a lot less than I would have had I not been “celebrating” active august.
  • Activity was definitely up:
    • Pool Each week day for a min of 30 minutes and one day of probably 75 mins or so. This included some fast (for me) interval swims that had me breathless and at a max heart rate of 160-180 (probably a bit high but I was doing interval training so would do 50 yards high, 25 yards slower, etc.).
    • Walked when I wasn’t at the pool, even tried to work more walking into normal daily events where possible.
    • Did a full body strength workout on Thursday hoping to kick off a 3 days a week routine. Doing compound movements that work multiple muscles and the core at the same time (Deadlift, Squat, Incline Bench Press, Overhead/Military Press, Barbell Row, Chinups – eventually –  and a warm-up of some sort with a cool down walk to follow.. Hoping to do my second day of that today…
    • Walked to lunch when the schedule allowed (it’s close but normally would have driven someplace with less healthy choices/fast food)
    • Stuck pretty much to water and Milk for the drink department.
  • I feel better and I feel like some fatty areas are starting to slowly become less so.

The Bad

  • Last week I lost a pound. This week I gained 2. Now based on the comments from last weeks post, I can see a certain rockstar out their saying it’s because of swimming ;-). I actually think that the couple times I made poor choices were both on Friday (day before the weigh in) and I didn’t drink as much water (or any beverage) yesterday. I bet that 210 will be down tomorrow to 208 or even a bit less. Normally through swimming (when not overeating after a swim as the urge often is) I lose weight. I actually think that you will find the same as long as you watch what you eat. Any studies I have seen where calories were not watched, swimmers gained more fat than runners/bikers. When the diet was controlled swimmers were often among the higher fat burners. After running/biking I can’t think of food. After swimming I could eat a horse (or at least a side of beef
  • Even though I am eating better than I would normally have, I still made some stupid choices due to being lazy/tired/bored. No big deal, this isn’t a diet it’s an attempt to change the lifestyle but I really want to make a decision on a food based on what is naturally good in it. I want to cut down the processed/packaged food and eat foods that are closer to where they started with the original nutrients God packed into them.

Goals for Week 3:

  • 5 days at the pool, 45 minutes minimum each time. Get at least 1500 yards in each time and shoot for some specific goals for some of the days:
    • Do more kick/flip turns… They are fun and stop those 5 seconds of cheating rest I get. I want to increase my endurance, be better with my breathing in the pool and see my resting pulse decrease over time.
    • Do at least one workout really focused on intervals/speed (at least 10x50yds on a minute or better and some all out 25 yard sprints)
    • Do at least one workout focused on distance. No more rests after 200/100/50. I want to try and see how far I can go without resting at a moderate pace. Over time I would like this to increase, I really want to someday do an open water distance swim to prove to myself that I can.
  • All 3 days of the strength workout. Thursday’s were lower weight to get back into it and get the form (bodyweight (210lbs 🙂 ) for the 60 squats). I will keep that lower initial weight and if I feel good ramp the weight up on day 3.
  • Do some fast walks. Once I lose 10/15lbs, I would like to try for a couple runs/run walks this fall. I want to help get the knees and my right foot (plantar fasciitis last year when running) feeling good on the walks.
  • More raw or less processed foods. Less simple carbs and more high fiber/complex carbs with nutritional value. Cut down on the fake stuff.
  • While I am not going for weight loss only

 

 

 

Subscribe for Updates

Name

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share This