Well I decided to dedicate an entire post to health and fitness. As most of you are aware, last April (2011) the doctor discovered that I had a build-up of plaque in a couple of the arteries in my heart. It apparently was a hereditary thing, as I had no symptoms whatsoever. The only thing that was slightly elevated was my overall cholesterol number which was 225. This wasn't a real concern for the doctor because my HDL (good cholesterol) and my LDL (bad cholesterol) numbers were so good. But as it turned out, there was still a couple of arteries with significant blockage.
They decided to do a heart cath, and once they got in they decided to put in 2 stents to fix the blockages. All of this came as a complete shock, to say the least.
After the procedure the recovery time was quick, and I was back playing softball within a week, and basketball within 2 weeks.
My cardiologist also changed my diet (which really wasn't too bad to begin with) to a very low fat diet. My maximum fat grams for a day I am allowed is 30, which is difficult at first to get to. I decided that I was going to go all the way with my health so I took it upon myself to adjust my diet even further. Which leads me to this blog post.
I have had so many people ask me what I'm doing I decided to cover everything.
Let's start with nutrition. A lot of people go to the gym, but never adjust their eating habits and get minimal results. You have to eat right. I track everything I eat using MyFitnessPal. My main concern is my fat intake, but I monitor everything anyway.
Over the last eleven months I have lost approx. 12 lbs. but it's not because I'm not eating. I'm just eating the right foods. I pretty much eat all day long. My personal target calorie intake is around 2,000 calories, which goes a long way when you're not eating junk.
I have cut from my diet all fatty foods, fried foods, beef, processed foods, cheese, ice cream (I do have fat-free yogurt), cake, cookies, candy, pizza, fast food, butter, margarine, regular mayonaise, regular salad dressings, potato chips, high sodium foods.
I do eat mostly chicken or turkey breast, venison tenderloin, fish (all of these are grilled only) I will sometimes eat lower fat, lean sliced turkey deli meat. I eat a lot of fruit. I can have all the veggies I want, unfortunately I don't like most veggies. I do eat a lot of salads (Low fat dressing), brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat pita bread. I have a Myoplex lite protein bar daily as a meal replacement. For breakfast I eat Kashi cereal with raisins and skim milk.
As far as supplements, I take a daily multi-vitamin, fish oil, and on weight training days I will have 2 protein shakes with skim milk. I use ISO-100 because it's fat and carb free, and it tastes awesome!
Although I keep track of carbs and protein, the main thing I focus on is my fat and cholesterol intake.
Now let's talk about fitness/exercise.
Most of you hear me talking about P90X. I am a huge fan. Over the years I have done my own thing, and I have also done Body For Life, but in my opinion, P90X is hard to beat. I do not follow their program exactly. For instance, because of my cardiologists recommendation, I bypass the P90x eating plan. I also substitute basketball in place of P90X cardio routine. If I don't play basketball or if I don't feel like I played with enough intensity, I will do P90X Plyometrics routine (which is a beast).
Here's what this looks like for this week coming up. Monday: Basketball, and P90X Ab ripperX in the evening. Tuesday: P90X shoulders/arms. Wednesday: Basketball and P90X ab ripperX in the evening. Thursday: P90X back/bicep. Friday: Basketball and P90X ab ripperX in the evening (Possibly also Plyometrics) Saturday: P90X Chest/shoulders/triceps. Sunday: Rest (play softball).
The average P90X routine takes approximately 50 minutes. it is high intensity with few breaks. It is awesome!
I purchased my P90X DVD's on Craig's List for $55.00 new in the box from someone who got them as a gift, but didn't use them.
I can honestly say that I am in the best shape of my life. I have never been overweight, but I have not only dropped pounds , but also a couple of inches off my waist, and my body fat is less than 8%
My cholesterol has dropped from 225 to 128 in the last 11 months.
I had to go back to the cardiologist a couple of months ago for a follow-up visit for a nuclear stress test. Basically, they shoot you up with medicine and put you on a treadmill to try to see what your heart does under stress. The people doing the test said that they couldn't get my heart rate up enough because I was in such good shape!
My latest fitness challenge is that I have ordered the Insanity DVD's and plan to do a hybrid P90X/Insanity/basketball routine.
Here's the bottom line. Anyone can do this! It takes hard work, and dedication. It's not easy, but it's worth it. I have added links to a lot of the stuff that I am doing, but there are lots of other good ways to get healthy. I would also recommend Upstate Bootcamp. Pamela helps people acheive their fitness goals, She is a member of Foothills Community Church and has helped hundreds of people!
I probably left a bunch of things out, so if you have any questions, just ask.
