Ensight - Jeremy Wright
A Personal Blog
Week 1, Day 3 Program
Dec 12th
Over the first part of this week you should have begun developing core habits for living a healthier life. You might have experienced some weight loss, but more realistically you’ve simply experienced a bit more energy, a bit better sleep and a bit less depression about your weight.
This first week really was about setting yourself up for success, instead of most diet and exercise programs which are designed to set you up for failure by requiring too much of you at the start (which is why most folk only last about 2 weeks).
During the first couple of days we focused on drinking more water. During the next couple we focused on eating better breakfasts. Over the next couple we’re going to focus on something that’s just as core but just as simple: getting a better sleep.
There’s a very simple truth to weightloss: if you aren’t sleeping properly you aren’t setting your day up for success. Read through this article on weightloss and sleep. While sleeping won’t cause you to burn a tonne of calories (400-800 depending on your weight and sleep habits), a solid 7-8 hours will setup your metabolism, keep your hormones in balance and ultimately keep you happier (which will result in less binging, more balance and more weightloss overall).
So your goal for the next 2 days is very simple: make sleep a priority. Given that this should be your Friday, basically try and catchup on lost sleep this weekend. If you haven’t been sleeping 7-8 hours, you may need a couple of 10 hour days to reset your system. Don’t be afraid of that, or of any lost work time, because in a couple of weeks your body will be rocking and you’ll be quite happy at 6-7 hours once you’re working out more, eating better, etc.
In addition, if you haven’t already done 2-3 sets of crunches (here’s a video on how) and haven’t yet taken 1-2 light walks (break a sweat but don’t come home panting), you’ll want to try and catchup on those things this weekend.
And if you haven’t yet taken your measurements, suck it up and get them done now. The biggest reason for doing this is so that you know exactly how well you’re doing. The longer you wait, the less dramatic your results will be, so get it done ;-)
If you have taken your measurements, feel free to update them this weekend. You probably won’t notice a significant difference, but as with everything in this program: building the habit is key!
So have a great weekend, don’t eat junk food at the theatre, stay away from fast food altogether, try and eat soup instead of steak (you’ll be surprised how filling it can be), sleep well, drink lots of water, eat your breakfasts and have fun. The weekend is the time to recharge. If you’re going to eat poorly, keep it to one “free day” (I use Sundays). Don’t spread it over the weekend.
And if you’ve completed your first week, celebrate! It wasn’t the hardest, but this is the first step in a very successful journey to weight loss, a healthier life and better eating!
Week 1, Day 2 Program
Dec 10th
Hopefully for the past 2 days you’ve been focussing on the basics: more water, less junk, healthier snacks and a touch of exercise.
Today’s focus is very simple: eating a bit healthier. As you should know by now, it’s easier to not put calories in your mouth than it is to work them off. So you should (slowly, it takes time, I’m still working on this) learn to eat better vs learning to exercise more. Both are important, but to save yourself hours in the gym (and lots of frustration), eating better is key.
For most people, the easiest meal of the day to fix is breakfast. You’re (generally) at home. You have (most of) the things you need at home (hopefully). And you have total control. The hardest meal is generally lunch because it requires eating at the right time, not overeating, planning your meals, not “upsizing” when you eat out, not buying dessert when you eat out, etc. It’s a minefield.
But breakfast is easy.
Now you’re likely in one of 3 camps for breakfast:
- You eat chocolate frosted mini wheat flakes with marshmallows
- You eat some kind of cereal, with milk and sugar
- You don’t eat breakfast
If you aren’t eating, start. It kicks off your metabolic process. What we want to work towards is to having your body constantly digesting food all day long. It’ll burn calories, but more importantly it’ll supply a constant amount of energy, vs the peaks and valleys you’re probably used to now. And, contrary to popular early weight loss program belief, eating less doesn’t mean losing more.
Eat your breakfast. It’s the best way to start things up.
Some healthy choices for breakfast:
- Oatmeal, skim’d milk. Fruit on top (I find frozen fruit the easiest, you can buy 2 week’s worth of breakfast fruit for 5-10$). No sugar.
- Kashiik cereals (specifically the Go Lean variety). They taste quite decent and have a metric tonne of the vitamins you need early in the morning. They’re more expensive though. Eat with skim’d milk (noticing a pattern here? Heh). Some blueberries will round this meal out.
- One piece of whole wheat/brown toast. One poached egg. A bunch of fruit. This is my favourite because it gets me protein early which staves off all kinds of cravings, it’s fast and easy and it tastes really, really good.
- Have other suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
Your other goal is to continue exercising. During the last 2 days you should have done at least one ab/crunch routine. If you’re able to, do another round of 3 sets of 10 crunches again. It’s not a huge amount of exercise, but getting your muscles moving the right way is the hardest part of crunches and pushups, so the practice really does help and you’ll see rapid improvements by doing these simple exercises every couple of days for 5 minutes at a time.
In addition, try and take a medium-paced 20 minute walk. A treadmill is fine if you want to go to the gym, but outside is best if it isn’t too cold where you are. Your goal is to basically break a light sweat. So whatever pace has you hot and bothered about 20 minutes in. Feel free to bring music, a book (if it’s early enough) or better yet a book on tape you can play from your iPod. Whatever it takes so you don’t get bored and think about the time passing or how much work it is.
And again, that’s about it. A bit more explanation this time, but the goal for your next 2 days is pretty simple: drink more water just like before, eat a better breakfast and try and get 1-2 very light workouts in, just to get your body used to the idea.
During Day 3 we’ll deal with eating out, whether it’s lunches or dinners, and start to prep for the beginnings of an exercise routine in Week 2. At this point, you probably aren’t noticing any specific changes in your body, so to stay motivated focus on the changes in what you’re able to do. Are the crunches easier the second or third time around? Do you feel more energy due to starting a better breakfast and more water? Are you drinking less pop and eating less junk food?
Celebrate these milestones. Once the weight starts coming off it’ll be easier to focus on that, but the first few weeks your weight loss won’t be huge. Your goal here is to build habits that will last, will give you more energy and will make you feel better about yourself. The actual weight loss is always secondary to personal fulfillment. And when it isn’t, the weight always comes back on.
Good luck, and have a great week!
As always, any comments, questions, suggestions or tips let me know in the comments!
Week 1, Day 1 Program
Dec 8th
As I noted in my Week 1 notes, our first few days together will be fairly low key. Focus on basics and building good habits. Don’t overload yourself. Start nice and slow.
Your goals for today/tomorrow are:
- Buy your water bottle, and get through at least 1L of water per day while at work.
- DON’T EAT JUNK FOOD
- Buy some nuts (unsalted) for the office, cause if you’re hungry, a handful will keep you going until your next meal and will ensure you don’t binge.
- Take your measurements
- If you’re going shopping, don’t buy chocolate/ice cream/desserts/cookies/etc. Buy protein bars instead, they’re yummy, and give you gobs of energy.
- Do one group of 3 sets of 10 half-crunches (ie: 30 crunches, with 2 minute rests in between).
And those are your goals for the next 2 days.
A bit of changes to your eating. A couple of exercisy things. A few minor lifestyle changes. Doable? If not, this could be a hard road to losing 25 pounds ;-)
But your focus?
Drink more water and less pop. If that’s all you do, it’s the core habit you want to build.
Week 1 Notes
Dec 5th
Before I get to the daily workouts, diets, tips, etc, I wanted to supply some guiding principles for Week 1 and what we’re really looking to accomplish. In a nutshell Week 1 is about:
- Dropping REALLY bad eating habits
- Improving SOME dietary things
- BEGINNING to build a regular exercise routine, but nothing too stressful
- Setting a baseline for how you’re doing, because without metrics it’s hard to track progress
Remember, Week 1 starts on Monday, so read Week 1, Day 1′s Program beforehand so you know what to be ready for. Cause it’s soooooo hard ;-)
Bad Eating Habits
If you’re anything like me there are probably 2 parts to your diet that really suck: 1) you eat out/eat fast food too much (anything more than once a week is too much) and 2) you don’t prepare your own food ahead of time.
The core to losing weight due to food is very, very simple: eat 6 smaller meals per day (it takes getting used to, but it means your body is constantly metabolizing, which prevents those huge highs and lows before/after eating … like the post-lunch energy crash), prepare as much of it ahead of time as possible and don’t eat junk food.
For this week, our goals are very simple:
- Get a decent water bottle (stainless steel is best, less toxins and bacteria) and drink more
- Cut out the worst of your eating habits
- Start exercising a little bit
- Figure out where you’re starting and where you’re going so you can track your progress
Bad Diet Habits
Diet is at least 2 times as important as exercise. Most people in my condition (and maybe yours) consume 3000-4000 calories per day. Your body burns about 3000 calories per day. A pound of fat is 3500 calories. It also takes the average person 60-90 minutes of reasonably intense exercise to burn 1000 calories. So you can either cut 500 calories per day from your diet to lose 1 pound per week or you can work out for 4-5 hours per week. Which is easier?
- Limit your “junk” fast food intake to once a week, no matter what (I walk by a McDonald’s and a burger king every day, so this was very hard for me)
- If you are going to eat fast food, find the healthy option
- STOP EATING WHEN YOU’RE FULL
- Drink 1L of water per day (typically 2 of your water bottles)
- Switch from regular to diet pop
Exercising
Exercise for weight loss is a cumulative thing. The better your body gets, the easier it is to burn fat. So your initial workouts won’t help a lot and they won’t hurt alot. This is compounded by the fact that the more you exercise the EASIER it is to exercise. So starting now, starting light, will make it easier farther down the road.
Your goal with exercising is very, very easy:
- Take 1-2 light 20 minute walks
- Do 3 sets of 10 half crunches (here’s a video if you don’t know how) 3 times during the week (ie: once a day Monday, Wednesday, Friday). I used to do these at work. They’re really easy to do, very quick, you don’t break a sweat. If you’re having problems, put your feet on the floor, put your hands on your legs and “crunch” up until your wrist goes to your knees.
And that’s it. Your walk can be while you’re checking your blackberry, listening to music, whatever. Preferably outside, but a stairmaster/elliptical/treadmill at home will work just fine too. Your goal is basically to develop a light sweat. So don’t job, but don’t dawdle either.
Metrics & Milestones
Alright, the goals for this week are to basically figure out where you are, and to develop milestones you can celebrate. So:
- Open Notepad or Excel or Word or something, and take note of stuff
- Get a measuring tape and measure your waist, stomach, chest, arms, neck, thighs, etc
- If you belong to a gym or have a fancy electronic scale, get your bodyfat % and water % (ie: inverse of your Lean Body Mass), otherwise have your doctor do it or buy a cheap bodymass gadget for 20$.
- Using your bodyfat and/or LBM, calculate how much you’d weigh if you were 10% lower than your current bodyfat. And also calculate how much you’d weigh at 15% bodyfat and 10%. 15% is a realistic goal (Vin Diesel is 15% give or take), 10% is a totally ripped goal.
- Set milestones for weight (like “I was X pounds 2 years ago, when I left college, when I started gaining weight, etc) and write those down. Set milestones for your waist (ie: “I”d LOVE to be a size 36″) and write those down. Set milestones for your weight (for me it was 240 pounds, 230 pounds and 225 pounds). Set milestones for your workouts (what weight you’ll get to, how long you’ll be able to do cardio for, how LONG of a workout you’ll be able to do, how many calories you’ll be able to burn, etc).
Basically, data, data, data. Every datapoint you capture is one that will be able to encourage you when you’re feeling down and fat. Cause when you feel down and fat is when you’ll give up if the only thing you’re tracking is your weight and it’s going up and down.
As a bonus, if you’re able, take a weekly picture in your skimpiest clothes so you can SEE how your body changes. I haven’t been doing this, I really want to try, and I KNOW that SEEING the changes will help me stay motivated.
Notes
So these are our goals for Week 1. I’ll create 3 daily programs to help out with food ideas, exercise ideas, and to break you into these things slowly. The longest task is going to be the milestones one. The hardest will be food. Celebrate every single one of your wins, ignore your losses and find somebody to do whatever program you’re doing with. Doing it alone means guaranteed failure.
Hope this helps! If you have tips, thoughts, suggestions or complaints, either leave a comment or email me at jeremy@b5media.com so I can include them in future “episodes” :)
Developing a Workout Regimen
Dec 3rd
Every couple of days I post to my Twitter account (www.twitter.com/jeremywright) about how I’m doing workout/eating/fitness/weightloss-wise. Every time I get a couple of people (sometimes more) asking how I’m doing what I’m doing, what I’m eating, etc.
In the last 3 months, I’ve lost 25 pounds. I need to lose another 9 pounds to be at what I thought was my goal weight back when I weighed 255 pounds (I’m 234 as of this morning, but will settle back down to 230 quickly). For me it’s been a combination of baby steps, structured eating, public accountability and a program I can follow.
I’ll be really clear. 3 months ago, I was an out of shape, overweight, lazy geek. I could barely manage 5 pushups, I could squeeze out 30 half-crunches per day, I could barely do 1 minute of intense jogging on the treadmill and I could eke out 10 minutes of solid work on the bike. Now I’m hardly a pro athlete, but yesterday/today I did 60 pushups (including 25 or so consecutive), 500 crunches, I can do 5 minutes of jogging (I have asthma so this is the hardest) and I can do a solid 30 minutes on the bike.
So I thought it might be nice to share not just general stuff I’m doing, but the program I built for myself. This is designed for someone like me: slightly motivated, WANTS to lose the weight, doesn’t know where to start and who tends to be an “all or nothing” type of person; which ultimately means you burn out after a couple of weeks.
For me, the secret to most of this was to build habits. I’m FAR from perfect, but I get enough questions that I thought it might be useful to, instead of writing the occasional update post, actually start to publish some of my thoughts as a schedule.
If I manage to actually publish a full 6 weeks of food/workouts/stuff, I’ll probably create a full program based on starting abilities, etc. For now, I’ll just assume people are as out of shape, lazy, etc, as I was and sometimes still am.
Before We Get Started
Before we get started there are a few things I do recommend:
- Set a realistic goal. My recommendation is 25 pounds. If you have more than 30% body fat, this is achievable within 2-3 months (faster if you don’t slip, but we might as well be realistic, right?).
- Don’t buy stuff before you need it. Don’t sign up for the gym yet (if you already have a membership we’ll use it though). Don’t get expensive workout gear, diet pills, etc. You can load up on “stuff” once you’ve built your habits if you really want. Until you have, it’s just something to distract you. And what you really want out of this is the sense that you can do it. Not some random product.
- Take baby steps. The temptation will be to start everything at once. The more you load up on new stuff, the more you drop the ball on stuff you’re already doing. Doing 1 new thing right per week will add up very quickly.
- Buy a decent water bottle. Preferably stainless steel, as germs and toxins leak into the water less. It tastes weird at first, but you get used to it (note: wash it thoroughly, kthnxbai).
- If you travel, you need to develop a travel PLAN before you travel.
Let’s Get Started
As with my workouts, I’ll take baby steps. Ideally I’d like to get to 3 (so you have Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 plans), but it might start out slower at first. So feel free to start with the early stuff, but feel free to wait a few weeks for me to find a rhythm too ;-)
If you have any tips or tricks or thoughts, PLEASE send them to me at jeremy@b5media.com and I’ll include them, along with credit for you, in my posts. The smaller and simpler, the better. But collective intelligence is a Good Thing.
