Client Profile: Jason, Week of 11/20 – 11/26

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I’ve been very busy studying for a career development course I’m taking. My exam is about two weeks away and preparing for it has been monopolizing my time. Thankfully, the bulk of the reading is behind me now and I’m into the review portion. For the next couple weeks it’s just a matter of reading through my notes and working the practice exams. Once I complete this test I’ll be taking a break from studying until I get back from Arizona.

As you know, I’ve been having some knee problems that have been preventing me from doing as much running as I’ve wanted. I’ve been pretty depressed/frustrated about it and was even starting to  doubt if I’d be able to complete my goal time for the half-marathon. I’ve lost some motivation and both my running and nutrition have been suffering.

I am trying to stay positive. The reality is I still have seven weeks of training before my half-marathon. I’m just going to need to be creative to make the most of the time I have. Walk more if necessary, get on the exercise bike if necessary, strength training to prevent injury, whatever is necessary to get the starting line healthy.

I spent some time this week looking through some motivational images online. I’m sure this doesn’t work for everyone, but I really dig this stuff. Makes we want to get out there and kick butt. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
• Today I will do what others won’t so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.
• I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.
• Someone who is busier than you is running right now.
• When the zombie apocalypse actually happens, we’ll all be in good enough shape to survive.
• Hard work will pay off.
• Fast food does not make fast runners. (I need to print this one out…)
• The second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half. Approaching my mid-30’s I need to get habits in order.
• It never gets easier. You just get better.
• The perfect time to start something never arrives. – This is something I struggle with all the time.
• Running, cheaper than therapy.
• I used to run with doubt. Now, she can’t keep up. – Poignant, considering my knee struggles.
• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.
• A year from now what will I wish I had done today?
• Determination will get you through this.
• Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.
• You can feel sore tomorrow or you can feel sorry tomorrow. You choose. – This one and the previous one are variations on the same theme, but man, they are so true.
• We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit. – Nothing quite like a little Greek philosophy to brighten your day.
• A goal without a plan is just a wish.
• If you focus on results, you will never change. if you focus on change, you will get results.
• Patience. – Things don’t happen overnight. I struggle with this too.
• Commit to be fit.
• What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
• Yesterday you said tomorrow. – I try to avoid worshiping at the altar of Nike, but this is perfect for procrastinators like myself. Apparently this was a billboard in New York.

To be serious for a moment. I know I haven’t exactly been performing at my best (or anything close to it) for these past few weeks. The bottom line is I’m making some changes to get through the challenges with my knee and will plan better in the future with my studying so that it doesn’t interfere with my fitness and nutrition goals. Don’t give up on me yet.

Weight Update:
Original weigh-in (9/19/11): 216.2
Week 9 weigh-in (11/26/11): 209.2 (-7.0 pounds total, +1.2 pounds from last week)

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Client Profile: Jason, Week of 11/13 – 11/19

Just a quick update this week. I took most of this week off in an effort to rest my left knee and calf that have been giving me trouble. I went out today (Sunday) and ran 3.5 miles. I added a one minute walk break at the start of each mile (I was using the garmin’s autolap feature). Even with this I was still having some knee pain by the end.

I’m pretty frustrated as I was hoping this would clear up with the rest. It’s still a minor issue at the moment, I can run on it but I know as my mileage increases it will become more of a problem. I think I’m going to have to drop back into more of a run-walk philosophy and see how that goes. Maybe walk one minute and run four or five or something (roughly twice as much walking as I did today). Hopefully I can baby-step my way through this without it getting worse (and ideally getting better, I still want a 2:30 or better half).

I made a great soup today, Ancho Lentil Soup With Grilled Pineapple. I’m generally not a soup person but this is amazing and vegan too. I think next time I’ll add some tomato and maybe some kidney beans (or black) to make it more “chili” like. The homemade chili powder in this recipe is really good, much more flavorful than store-bought. The pineapple is an interesting twist.

I gained some weight because of my lack of activity, but I have the soup and lots of salad veggies prepped for the coming week and looking to make some big gains. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.

Weight Update:
Original weigh-in (9/19/11): 216.2
Week 8 weigh-in (11/19/11): 208.0 (-8.2 pounds total, +3.0 pounds from last week)

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

 

This post is about an ancient seed. You may be thinking that early 80’s “as seen on TV” ads don’t seem that ancient. You would be right. I’m thinking more along the lines of the Ancient Aztecs. Yes that’s right. Before the Chia seed became woven into the tapestry of American pop culture, it was used by ancient tribes as life giving energy. So let’s get to know Chia as something other than a crazy green hair-do shall we?

The Chia seed is tiny. Miniscule in-fact. Don’t let that fool you. This tiny seed is absolutely loaded with energy packed nutrients. It is truly a superfood. The ancient Aztecs ate Chia for strength and considered it one of their staple foods along with corn and beans. Chia is an excellent plant-based source of omega fatty acids as well as an easily digestible source of protein. It contains many minerals, soluble fiber and has more antioxidants than flaxseed. I think the term superfood gets kicked around a lot, but I consider Chia to be among the true superfood players for sure.

So let’s crunch a few numbers as far as nutrition goes. A full serving of Chia is 2 tablespoons. This has a total of 70 calories, 3 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber. This amount of Chia contains 10% of your daily allowance of calcium. So if you throw 2 servings in a smoothie, you are knocking out 20% of your daily calcium needs in one shot. Here is the big stat though. One serving of Chia contains 150% of your daily Omega 3 fatty acid requirement. That is huge! Omega 3 is something that most people don’t get enough of and Omega 3 is what really protects your heart.

I discovered a really great way to get in a huge serving of Chia seed in one shot. This is a recipe that I got out of Brendan Braziers new book called Thrive Foods. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was to make. It’s called Chocolate Chia Pudding with blueberries. I think you could put what ever kind of berries you want in it though. In this recipe he calls for cocoa powder, but I used roasted carob powder instead. I just love the taste of carob. Chia seeds do a weird thing when you soak them. They actually absorb water, and turn into a gel like substance. It’s pretty cool! So here’s how to make it.

You’ll need: 4 Tbsp of Chia seed, 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of hemp milk (I used my own homemade hemp milk, but you could substitute any non-dairy milk), 1 Tbsp of agave nectar, 1 Tbsp of roasted carob powder and frozen blueberries.

First, soak the Chia seeds in the water for about 15 minutes. They will soak up all of the water and form a dense Chia gel brick. Dump the Chia into a bowl and add the hemp milk. Stir the Chia and hemp milk together until a pudding like consistency is reached. Now stir in the agave, carob powder and blueberries. Enjoy!

For all of you endurance athletes out there, I can’t think of a better pre-workout fueling protocol than this pudding. Very easily digestible, low in calories, and packs an enormous nutritional punch. Should keep you going for hours. Give Chia a try today. Who knows, you may wake up with green hair.

Client Profile: Jason, Week of 11/6 – 11/12

I’ve begun to implement my plans for the goals I laid out last week. I think it was beneficial to refocus myself as this past week has gone pretty well. I started taking salads to work for lunch. Kale, romaine, veggies, sprouts and some BBQ tofu cubes with salsa instead of dressing. On more than one occasion one of my co-workers asked where I ordered the “chicken” salad. It was funny to watch their reaction when I told them it was homemade…and tofu, not chicken.

Running continues to go well. I did a 7 mile long run and I’m proud to say that I was able to hold my half-marathon goal pace (11:30) for the entire distance. Unfortunately, I am still having some knee problems and I think I’m probably pushing things a little bit too much…just barely, but still a little bit too much. I told Jake that it’s hard to slow down because it seems like just about every time I go out I’m seeing improvement with my running. Faster times, longer distances, sometimes both, sometimes just a better heart rate, whatever, everywhere I look I’m seeing improvements. On the other hand, I still need to keep things in perspective that every long run I do from here on out is going to be the longest I’ve ever run. I mean that in the literal sense. Last year when I was training (and during my half-marathon itself) I was walk-running. This year I’m running with no walk breaks. It does seem to be taking its toll on my knee. I may need to start mixing in some short walk breaks or slow down a little (or both) to avoid things getting out of hand.

I’ve also decided to throw the training plan out the window and start over. I had originally wanted to do five days a week of running, then cut back to a goal of four days, but at this point I think I need to embrace doing three *quality* runs per week. If I’m feeling really good maybe I can throw in a fourth easy run, but if I can hit my three quality runs I’ll be happy. Then it’s a matter of getting back on track with my cross training on my off days. My core workouts have been non-existent the last couple weeks as I’ve gotten busy with a work project and have been cutting corners to save time. I know that core (which also includes some hip exercises) is critical and I need to get into the habit of doing it three days a week.

On the nutrition side of things Jake wants me to try to mix in some healthy fats as a way to curb some of my junk food cravings. We talked about ideas like adding some avocado to my salads and taking some nuts and seeds to munch on as a snack. I’ll be putting that into practice this coming week. Sorry for the short update this week, but things are busy.

Weight Update:
Original weigh-in (9/19/11): 216.2
Week 7 weigh-in (11/12/11): 205.0 (-11.2 pounds total, -3.4 pounds from last week)

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Client Profile: Jason, Goal 3: Complete My Second Half-Marathon

Of my three main goals this is the one that is most well-defined, but it could still use some improvement. If you’ve read my prior posts you know that I completed my first half-marathon in January of 2011. I’m now training for my second half-marathon and I’m going back to run the same race (Rock and Roll Arizona) and want to beat my previous time (2:43:51).

Something I don’t think I’ve mentioned is that my father has decided run the same race. Now things get interesting here because my father has no running background whatsoever, but he does have the advantage of being at a healthy weight and in reasonably good shape for his age (he’ll be 64 on race day). Sure he has some arthritis and whatnot, but he’s also retired law enforcement (corrections) and if you know anyone who’s worked in that industry you’ll know what I mean when I say he’s a bit of a type A personality.

Basically, he’s faster than I am at the moment, but I’ve got more distance than he does at the moment. It will be an interesting match-up coming down the stretch because if he can hold his pace as he gets into the longer distances then I’m going to have to really work hard to get my speed up. My expectation is that he’ll have to slow down as he goes longer or he’ll face an injury. I’d say I’m a (slight?) favorite, but if you asked him he’d tell you he’s going to run my fat butt into the ground and never let me live it down.

We’re a bit competitive, but it’s all in good fun….just in the sense where two hockey players who will throw down the gloves and beat the tar out of each other and then go out for a beer after the game sense of fun.

In all seriousness though, my main goal is to finish below 2:30 which would be about one minute per mile faster pace than my race last year and a great improvement I’d be proud of whether or not I finish ahead of my dad. Frankly, I think a 2:30 will be enough to also gain the satisfaction of crossing the line before my father but we’ll see what happens, in the end I won’t let our competitiveness prevent me from running my own race…mostly.

I had originally planned to try to follow a plan where I was running five days per week, but I’m going to cut that back to four and do cross training on my off days. I want to build up my core strength and flexibility as I know those are critical factors in improving my running and five days of running are just a little bit too much for me at my current fitness level and with my work schedule.

Analysis for Completing My Second Half-Marathon

• S – Specific – Answers the five “W” questions
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Finish my second half-marathon in 2:30 or less.
• Crush my father’s soul by crossing the finish line before him and making it look easy…and then the next day when he’s lying on the couch moaning and complaining about how sore he, I’m going to go do a recovery run to rub it in. 😀
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal
• To improve on my previous time, because it’s there, to lay the foundation to build to the full marathon distance.
• Who: Who is involved?
• Myself, my nutrition coach Jake and my friends/family/co-workers (my dad especially) who will support me.
• Where: Identify a location
• On the running trails, gym and race course
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints
• Winter is coming, get ready. I want to run outside as much as possible, this means in the dark with a headlamp now that the clocks are changing. I don’t mind cold but if there is snow or ice I’ll be on the treadmill at the gym. Must be flexible with scheduled runs to take advantage of the best weather days. Eating right and losing weight will be a big factor in improving my speed.

• M – Measurable – Allows specific measurement of progress and success.
• How much? How many?
• Follow a written plan to build mileage and do some basic speedwork to improve speed. Build to running 13.1 miles at 11:27 pace to finish in 2:30 or less.
• How will I know when I’ve accomplished my goal?
• Crossing the line in less than 2:30.

• A – Attainable – Goals must be realistic and attainable.
• Is this possible? Too extreme?
• A 2:30 is very realistic for where I am with my fitness.
• How can the goal be accomplished?
• Follow the plan but be flexible. Try to run outside for as many miles as possible, especially for long runs.

• R – Relevant – A relevant goal is one the goal-setter believes is possible and is willing to work towards.
• Does this seem worthwhile?
• Absolutely. I want to improve my time and taking a minute per mile off my pace is a worthy goal.

• T – Time-bound – Goals should have a time-frame so the goal-setter can commit to a deadline.
• What can I do in 6 months? 6 weeks? Today?
• Race day is 1/15/2012. Every decision between now and then will either get me closer to my goal or increase the distance I must travel to reach it. Managing my running days around the weather will be key in order to run outside as much as possible and avoid the treadmill, but using the treadmill when necessary is important too.

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Client Profile: Jason, Goal 2: Transition into a Vegan Diet

I’m in a strange place with my nutrition right now. I’d estimate about 80% of the foods I eat are veg*n. Many are purely plant-based (vegan), but a few of the pre-packaged foods I use (e.g. Morningstar Farms products) include eggs and/or dairy. I don’t personally buy meat, diary or eggs when I go to the grocery store.

The reason I’m in a strange place is that I still struggle with some fast food/junk food demons I’ve had for years. When I’m eating junk food I’m eating all the things I try to avoid at home (meat, diary, eggs, etc) and I’m consuming the absolute worst of the worst of those industries. Factory farming, super processed junk, ugh. It makes me sick to think about it, but I still have a compulsion to gobble cheeseburgers (and pizza, and whatever else I can get my hands on).

I used to smoke cigarettes and in a lot of ways I look at this issue the same way I did when I was trying to quit that habit. You hate yourself for wanting one but at the same time it’s extremely difficult to stop yourself from lighting up. Or you promise yourself that that, “This is the last one” but then that turns into, “The next one will be the last one,” or you’ll just buy one more pack (…or carton). I did eventually quit smoking so I know I can do this too, but damn it’s hard.

My main desire to move to a vegan diet centers on my own personal health. I believe that it is the best diet for me, period. I know I always feel better when I’m eating plant-based. From an exercise and energy perspective I always seem to recover faster and have more motivation and better concentration. I do share some of the concerns regarding sustainability that many other people are starting to figure out, but it’s a secondary issue for me. I’ll also admit I don’t identify as much with the animal rights beliefs many vegans have, perhaps I’ll get there eventually, but the animal issues are a very distant third for me personally.

My focus for this goal has been somewhat hazy during the first few weeks I’ve been working with Jake. I haven’t set specific time goals for my transition to becoming vegan, it’s just been a nebulous idea I want to do “eventually.”  Well, why not start now?

I’ve decided that, effective immediately, I will eliminate meat from the foods I eat and commit to a vegetarian diet. During the last two months of 2011 my focus will be on learning to read ingredient labels to identify animal products and learning to cook plant-based meals. While I will continue to eat diary and eggs during this transition period the idea will be to go completely plant-based (vegan) starting 1/1/2012.

Analysis for Transitioning to a Vegan Diet

• S – Specific – Answers the five “W” questions
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Commit to a meat-free, vegetarian diet and use the next two months to learn how to identify animal products in the foods I eat and find plant-based alternatives. Transition to a fully plant-based diet by 1/1/2012.
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal
• I believe that a plant-based diet is the best option for me. When eating plant-based I always feel better, have more energy and motivation, and have better concentration.
• Who: Who is involved?
• Myself, my nutrition coach Jake and my friends/family/co-workers who will support me.
• Where: Identify a location
• Anywhere I am consuming or purchasing food
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints
• Eliminate meat immediately, learn to identify animal products and find alternatives, think ahead and have a plan when faced with situations like dining out at business lunches or visiting non-vegan friends who may be serving food.

• M – Measurable – Allows specific measurement of progress and success.
• How much? How many?
• Learn to identify all animal products in foods so that I can eliminate them.
• How will I know when I’ve accomplished my goal?
• When I have developed the habit of reviewing the foods I eat for animal products and am confident I am not consuming any animal products.

• A – Attainable – Goals must be realistic and attainable.
• Is this possible? Too extreme?
• Very possible. Comes from an animal? Don’t eat it.
• How can the goal be accomplished?
• Research animal products online, get a list of animal based ingredients, read food labels for animal-based ingredients, cook your own food that you are certain is plant-based.

• R – Relevant – A relevant goal is one the goal-setter believes is possible and is willing to work towards.
• Does this seem worthwhile?
• Absolutely. I believe this is the right choice for me and I’m ready to commit to it.

• T – Time-bound – Goals should have a time-frame so the goal-setter can commit to a deadline.
• What can I do in 6 months? 6 weeks? Today?
• I believe that taking the next two months to develop the habit/skill of learning to identify animal products is sufficient. Certainly there will be new things I learn after this period too, but two months is enough to remove the very large majority of animal-based products from the foods I regularly eat.

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Client Profile: Jason, Goal 1: Reach a Healthy Weight

I’ve mentioned in my previous posts that I’m defining “healthy weight” as less than 165 pounds. I’ve based this on the fact I’m 5’8″ and weighing less than 165 would put me in the “normal” BMI range. As I think more about this goal I realize it’s not a very good one.

Don’t get me wrong, of course I want to lose weight, but right now I weigh 208.4 pounds so getting my weight down to 165 seems like it’s a million miles away. Honestly, I can’t even really imagine what it would be like to be there. Estimating a time goal for losing 43.4 pounds would be very difficult as well, chances are good I’ll lose weight more quickly in the beginning, while those last few pounds might be really difficult to shed.

I think breaking this goal down into smaller segments and taking a few steps to get to my long-term goal is the way to go. Let’s plug things into the SMART system.

Analysis for Healthly Weight Goal (Stage 1)

• S – Specific – Answers the five “W” questions
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• I want to lose weight at a realistic, but challenging and aggressive pace.
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal
• To be healthier, look better and become a faster runner.
• Who: Who is involved?
• Myself, my nutrition coach Jake and my friends/family/co-workers who will support me.
• Where: Identify a location
• My home and workplace, the gym, running trails, etc – wherever I’m eating or exercising
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints
• One of my other goals involves transitioning to a vegan diet. I want my nutrition to be primarily plant-based to start and eventually completely plant-based.

• M – Measurable – Allows specific measurement of progress and success.
• How much? How many?
• Weigh less than 190 pounds by 12/25/11, a weight loss of 18.4 pounds in 7 weeks (~2.6 pounds per week)
• How will I know when I’ve accomplished my goal?
• My bathroom scale will say 189.9 or less on Christmas morning (best present ever, eh?)

• A – Attainable – Goals must be realistic and attainable.
• Is this possible? Too extreme?
• Admittedly this is borderline, but I don’t feel it’s too extreme. Most weight loss advice says shoot for a maximum of 2 pounds per week and my goal is ~2.6. I believe there are several factors in my favor that will make my goal possible including that I’ll be doing a significant amount of running during this time period and I’ll have the “fat guy” factor which will allow me to drop some of the initial pounds more quickly.
• How can the goal be accomplished?
• Crowd out unhealthy foods with nutritionally dense (and calorie light) alternatives, avoid emotional eating, exercise regularly, etc.

• R – Relevant – A relevant goal is one the goal-setter believes is possible and is willing to work towards.
• Does this seem worthwhile?
• Absolutely. I had previously focused on getting my weight to below 165 and while that remains my long-term goal, focusing on a smaller short-term goal makes this seem much more achievable and realistic. I 100% believe that if I put in the time and effort I’ll reach my goal by Christmas…maybe before.

• T – Time-bound – Goals should have a time-frame so the goal-setter can commit to a deadline.
• What can I do in 6 months? 6 weeks? Today?
• As mentioned above, my goal is to lose 18.4 pounds in the next 7 weeks and weigh less than 190 pounds when I step on my bathroom scale on Christmas morning. The clock is ticking.

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Client Profile: Jason, Week of 10/30 – 11/5

The clocks are shifting back this weekend and I’m taking the opportunity to reflect on some areas where I’m struggling. When Jake and I first started working together I explained to him that I feel as though I have a pretty good foundation of knowledge about nutrition and fitness. That is to say, I understand the basics, but in the past I’ve always struggled to put things together into a concrete plan and make permanent lifestyle changes.

Working with Jake is definitely helping improve my nutrition knowledge, he’s already introduced me to some new foods and new ways of thinking about my nutrition I hadn’t considered before. Unfortunately, I’m still struggling to execute my plan and that’s my fault not Jake’s. It’s extremely frustrating sometimes. I understand what I need to do but “real life” gets in the way.

My personality tends to be that of a planner. I like to sit down and work out a plan (often with a ridiculous amount of detail) to reach my goals. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s good to have a guide to get you where you want to go, but my problem is that when things don’t go according to plan I tend to fall apart. (OMG! One tiny part of the plan didn’t work, abandon ship! We’re doomed!) Real life never goes according to plan, so I’m often in a cycle of planning and re-planning and never really get anywhere…

Goals

Traditional goal setting advice tells us to use the SMART System.

• S – Specific – Answers the five “W” questions
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal
• Who: Who is involved?
• Where: Identify a location
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints

• M – Measurable – Allows specific measurement of progress and success.
• How much? How many?
• How will I know when I’ve accomplished my goal?

• A – Attainable – Goals must be realistic and attainable.
• Is this possible? Too extreme?
• How can the goal be accomplished?

• R – Relevant – A relevant goal is one the goal-setter believes is possible and is willing to work towards.
• Does this seem worthwhile?

• T – Time-bound – Goals should have a time-frame so the goal-setter can commit to a deadline.
• What can I do in 6 months? 6 weeks? Today?

If you look back at my previous posts the only goals that I’ve talked about are reaching a healthy weight, transitioning into a vegan diet, running a half marathon in January and eventually building to a full-marathon. Some of these goals have elements of SMART system, but all of them need work. I’m going to break my goals down in individual posts to avoid one enormous post, but will include my stats with this first post.

Weight Update:
Original weigh-in (9/19/11): 216.2
Week 5 weigh-in (10/29/11): 208.4 (-7.8 pounds total, +2.2 pounds from last week)

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.

Let’s Get Weird People!

Show of hands.  Who likes to be weird around here?  My hand is raised (even though you can’t see it).  Yes, in the world I live in outside of the plant-based food and endurance junkies I run with, I am a weird guy.  I embrace my weirdness.  I am the dude with the crazy green goo in a recycled glass jar that i am more than willing to pour into my system following a 2 hour bike ride.  When I open the community fridge at work, all of my crazy vegan food is ostracised to a corner of the fridge all alone while everyone else’s food is at least a foot away.  Like my foods vegan-ness may infect their food (I’m not even kidding about this).

This is a true story about eating at work once. For a short period of time, I worked with a more senior gentleman than myself, who like most older Mainers, was quite stubborn and set in his ways.  Especially in areas of nutrition.  We would usually eat dinner together just to have some company.  One night I had brought in some Vegan ravioli called Soy Boys to eat.  These things were so well disguised as to their vegan-ness, that even my coworker commented on how good they looked, and how happy he was that I was finally eating something “normal”.  So I of course asked him if he would like to try one.  His eyes lit up for a split second, but then a look of suspicion washed over his face.  Yes, he suspected that the crazy hippy (that’s me) was trying to get one over on him.  We crazy hippie vegans are crafty like that.  Always trying to slip healthy food into the mouths of unsuspecting passers-by.  I had to come clean, and admit that the filling was in fact the T word.  TOFU!  Oh the horror!  The humanity!  He coward away from the Soy Boy’s like Dracula to an organic head of  garlic.  It was priceless.  He went back to enjoying his nitrate filled bologna (in a perfect circle), nutritionally vacant Wonder bread, and yellow waxy cheese (it was dairy at one point in it’s life) sandwich.  Who is scared now.

I believe that what is considered normal in our society is in desperate need of reform.  Normal should be beautifully grown and prepared plant-based foods. High fiber, high nutrition, low calories instead of the other way around.  It is my sincere hope that someday we will look at all of the processed and fast foods as being weird.  Our nation as a whole needs that.  But in the meantime, let’s get weird with some kale!

Client Profile: Jason, Week of 10/23 – 10/29

I had an amazing week. The main change I made this week nutritionally was to swap out the rice in my “beans & rice” dish I eat for lunch for buckwheat. Buckwheat has a slightly better nutritional profile for my goals and it cooks faster than rice too.

This week I struggled a little with calories in vs. calories burned.  I’ve started my formal training plan for the half-marathon and I’m upping both the frequency and intensity of my runs and I’ve started doing speedwork. Tuesday was a fartlek workout which was a blast and then I put in another fairly fast/intense workout on Wednesday at a sustained pace (basically a tempo run I guess).

By the time I did a slower recovery run on Thursday I was starting to feel the wear and tear. I was never sore, just tired and worn down. I was surprised to see that I’d lost six pounds (from 209 down to 203) from the start of the week until Thursday. While I’m all about losing the weight that seems a bit too fast for me and was probably a factor in why I was starting to feel bad. I purposely ate a little heavier on Thursday night and Friday (rest day) to try and get some calories back into my body and allow it to recover. I gained a few pounds back but I wasn’t upset about it.

Saturday was my 10k race. While I’m fairly comfortable doing the distance, I’ve never completed a 10k race so I wasn’t sure what to expect. To make things even more interesting we had our first snow storm of the season on Saturday morning. It wasn’t too bad as we were just on the edge of the storm that went up the coast. By the start of the race things had warmed up to the mid to upper-30s and there was only an occasional light rain and no snow on the roads/path.

The 10k was a double of the 5k out and back course. The course was mostly flat with some strange parts where it felt like you were going uphill when you were actually going downhill and vice-versa. The event was related to the work I do so I got to see several colleagues and former co-workers. The double out and back was a cool format because all of my friends are also faster than me so I got to see them multiple times on the path as we passed.  On a loop course I would have seen them at the start and never again.

I’m not sure how the planets aligned to make it happen, but I finished in 65:33 (10:22 pace) according to my Garmin. This was about 10 minutes faster than what I was estimating would be a “solid” time for me so I was shocked at my performance. I’m still waiting for them to post the official results online but I don’t think I’ll be more than a few seconds off. Apparently the timer’s software crashed during the race and they had to redo everything at the end. Several of my friends placed (my buddy’s wife won the women’s 5k) and so we waited around for about an hour in the cold before they gave out the medals.

I’m thrilled to have this performance this early in my training. It leaves me wondering if I should alter my half-marathon goal time. I was planning to shoot for a 2:30 half and now I think I can do better than that…possibly much better, as I still have 11 weeks of training to go. I don’t want to go overboard or anything (to be clear, I’m thinking more like 2:20 not 2:00), but it’s definitely going to be in the back of my mind moving forward. If I can drop another 20-30 pounds by the race things could get really interesting…

For next week my main goal is to try to eat a few more calories during the week to have enough energy to get through my heavy running days and not have the (minor) crash that I did this week. Jake wants me to try going gluten-free (or at least cutting back on the gluten as much as possible) and I’m willing to try doing that, but before we go there I’m going to eat up the last of my whole wheat pasta and some other food I have in my cupboards. So this week will be somewhat of a clean-up week to get rid of some of the food that (while still healthy)  isn’t quite where I want to be nutritionally anymore.

Weight Update:
Original weigh-in (9/19/11): 216.2
Week 5 weigh-in (10/29/11): 206.2 (-10 pounds total, down 3.4 from last week)

As always, thanks for reading. You can follow my progress on dailymile or @jwmfitness on twitter.