Hi all
I have known about the whole primal thing for a while now and have been a follower for almost 4 years, however, I have never been particularly strict. Being a 3rd year student I have literally been SURROUNDED by opportunities to cheat – casual beers with friends a few nights a week, parties, meals out, meals with friends, stress, take aways, etc etc. The usual for most people then, but the pressure is high and the temptation to go along with it all is very hard to resist. Also I’m not very good at resisting…
After telling my self numerous times to just have a bit more self control and discipline, I’d be getting into a good routine for a while then having it interrupted by something (holidays, exams, deadlines). Any positives gained are quickly lost after a couple of weeks of heavy drinking, late nights, stress, lack of exercise…
Anyway, I’ve had enough of being overweight in my early twenties, unless I take a bit of control I’ll end up being this way forever and turn out just like my Dad and Granddad – both badly overweight. For the rest of this year, deadline is Christmas, I’ve signed an agreement with my Dad to both loose weight. The target is 2kg weight loss per month, I am at 87kg now and have set an end point of 78kg but I want to sustain the lean body mass I currently have. Failure to meet this target every month will mean I have to send my sister £50 – something I DEFINITELY do not want to do (he’s got to do the same to his ex-wife – an equally unsavoury proposition).
I consider myself to be a good cook with an adequate understanding of nutrition – my biggest issues are lack of exercise and giving in too much. With this in mind I’ve devised a solid meal plan:
Upon first waking – Protein shake
Breakfast – 3 egg omelette and black coffee
Lunch – Soup
Snacks – Hand full of nuts, tin of fish (mackerel, tuna)
Dinner – Meat and veggies
I’ve experimented with I.F. and the like however I have come to realise that I do far better with regular feeding throughout the day – fasting led me to binge and over eat in the evenings, however strictly primal and fat containing the food was. I followed the above plan for a few weeks at the end of last term and felt GREAT, unfortunately it was all interrupted by holidays, going abroad and giving in. Seeing as term has just started again and I wont have any upsets for the next 6 weeks (aside from EXAMS ahh!) I really want to get back to this and staying clean.
Exercise-wise, I was really getting into swimming, going to the pool about 4 times a week doing 60 lengths each time, depending on energy levels I’d either do a good sprint routine I’d found:
16×25 warm up, 8×25 (30 sec intervals), 6×50 (1:15 intervals), 4×100 (2 min intervals), 8x warm down (1-2min rest between sets)
OR simply moderate pace freestyle, stopping every 15 lengths or so.
This is something I am very much looking forward to getting back into now I’m back at uni again. Also with spring finally here (YES SUNSHINE!) I can get back out on my bike. I plan to cycle to campus a few times a week (7 miles each way) and at weekends just go out for rides. There’s a cool mtb club here that does weekly rides and a decent 4x track, which is basically sprint training! ([url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqzIjtSjwzg]Jordan Lunn Leamington Spa 4X 2012 – YouTube[/url])
To monitor it all (I’m an engineer, I like numbers) I’ve got myself an Ozeri electronic scale and a fat caliper, ill take measurements every day I can and using a great spreadsheet I found on Scoobysworkshop ([url=http://scoobysworkshop.com/how-to-weigh-yourself-accurately/]How To Weigh Yourself Accurately – Scooby’s Home Workouts[/url]) I can track weight and body fat. I was once into lifting weights and hitting the gym however right now the first target is to shed some of my excess fat – I am currently at approximately 21% bodyfat and 191lbs.
Long post for starters, Ill use this journal to keep track of my progress, post meals, write daily summaries etc. Also hopefully as another motivational tool to help keep things all ship shape.
If you’ve made it this far then thanks for reading and wish me luck!
Alex
The Primal Student 