No need to get fancy, drop, and start doing push ups.
I’m a little late getting the March update out, but April has been extremely busy on many fronts. I do have some good news to report though, another five pounds gone!
To warm up and cool down, I ride the 8 miles to Spooky Nook.
With March, a goal was to get back out and train on the bike, but also work on strength in the gym. I love riding my bike, and I despise the gym. I’ve never been into lifting. I always said I don’t go because I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t have anyone to help guide me along. That excuse doesn’t work anymore with a wife who is a personal trainer and fitness instructor.
We started my first lifting session with a trip to BA Athletics, a sponsor of our cycling team, LancBike. Bad Andy put us through a circuit and I guess I got my first introductory dose of crossfit. I left the gym feeling good that my form was actually pretty good for not being a lifter. My weights might have been low, but I didn’t want to go too hard, too quick, and injure myself or just not enjoy it.
Attacking the sled was one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever done.
The following week, Vee started training me at Spooky Nook (I get a free membership through Vee working there, so why not use it?) after her classes on Monday and Wednesdays. When I can, I ride the 7.8 miles there as a warm up, then we start working out, and I ride home. The training Vee is putting me through is a little different than what you would typically think of doing at the gym. Instead of your typical squats, bench, deadlift, etc., she was putting me through functional training. Things like wall balls, walking lunges, and pushing the sled all help me build strength, but also have a cardio aspect to them. You do feel like you are working out, but it keeps things more interesting. Something that I desperately need.
Cross training with running should payoff in the end, plus, it’s something that Vee and I can “enjoy” together.
On the nutrition front, we both are continuing to use MyFitnessPal to monitor our calorie and macro nutrient intake. It continues to be a great tool to make sure I’m staying on course. Vega continues to be an important part of my diet with the Vega One shakes filling me up for breakfast, and providing me with what I need nutritionally.
Wall balls help to develop explosive power by driving the ball with your legs, not your arms.
Being vegetarian has been a struggle at times though. Between some traveling and lunch meetings at work, options can be pretty slim at times. I’m still craving things like a hamburger, or a steak or chicken burrito with bacon from Roburitto’s, but I’m staying strong and eating my greens. To try and help replace the meat, Vee introduced me to tempeh and seitan. Neither can truly replace meat for carnivores, but for those converting, it helps. Tempeh is a soy product originating from Indonesia that provides a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins than tofu. Personally, I prefer the taste and texture of tempeh over tofu. Seitan is wheat gluten, which is the main protein of wheat. Its consistency is even more meat like than tempeh, to the point that some vegetarians will not eat it, because it is too meat like in texture. The great thing about either is that you can use either in so many different ways, it really does seem to replace meat. I’m looking forward to preparing them in some of my old favorite meat recipes, like Belgian Beef Stew.
That’s it for now. Soon, I want to prepare an article with Vee on setting goals. They need to be realistic, and you need to keep things in perspective of what you want your final outcome to be. Vee and I will share some of our goals for 2016 with you in that article, and we’d love to hear the goals you have created for yourself.
