More on Shin Splints

I have been running 3 times a week at about 3.5 miles per run. It feels good to be out there running again. It took a while to build up to this distance and frequency because I am trying at all cost to avoid shin splints. Well, late last week, one leg started showing early signs of a shin splint.

I have been keeping them warm with wraps and the improved diet I have been on has helped recovery, I believe. I really think the added protein helps. But because I felt the beginnings of a splint, I backed off my pace. I notice that as I increase my pace significantly, I tend to lean forward and my center of gravity shifts forward. An article in wikipedia about shin splints mentions this can cause splints so I tried running upright and backing off the pace a bit. Seemed to work, but the next few days is the real test.

Getting Through a Rut

One thing I cannot seem to avoid is the bit of a downer feeling when my daily measurables (weight, fat%, etc.) show no improvement or even decline. I have been tracking data every day for nearly a month and I have seen steady progress, but it is those days where you weigh in a bit heavier and start to wonder if it is just water or is it your body kicking into starvation mode and shutting down your metabolism. It seems silly, I know .... I mean, I have only been tracking data on a daily basis for a month.

I think the key is perseverance. Keep trying hard and you come out of it ... usually for the better. I am dedicated to reaching my goals. It just can be tough on you mentally when you feel you have taken a step back.

I feel better for sharing that.

Avoiding Depression

On my mother's side of the family, there is a pretty significant history of depression. As happy a person as my mother was, depression tormented the last 10+ years of her life. The depression led her to seek medical assistance in the form of drugs. She also found comfort in "comfort food" and had difficult battles with her weight. She passed away in 2004 of pancreatic cancer about 6 months after diagnosis. It was very sad and way to early for someone who was such a dear, sweet and loving person. I can't help but feel, though, that it might have somehow been brought on by her internal torment and poor eating habits.

After my mom passed away, I learned a lot more about my maternal grandfather. He died when I was not even two years old, but I didn't know much about the later years of his life. In talking to my aunt, I found out he, too, suffered greatly from depression. My uncle on my mothers side suffers somewhat and so does my brother. When I was younger, I remember having occasions of terrible mood swings and feeling like black clouds were hanging over me for seemingly no reason. I was a teeneager at the time and I attribute it to hormonal changes ... but I am fully aware of my family history.

I think about this topic a lot. I am extraordinarily happy (wonderful wife and kids, beautiful house, good health, good job and great friends) and have not had any feeling of depression in many years. I was sad when my mom and father-in-law passed, but I would never call it depression.

I feel like, for me, exercise is a big key to staying happy. It isn't everything as I feel I need balance, but the act of exercising is good for the body in more ways than one. One of my hopes on my quest to be a healthier adult is that I never need to take any medication to keep me happy.

Evolution of the Diet

For someone with a history of not-that-great eating habits, getting to the point where all my meals are "clean" per the Burn the Fat book takes time. I think doing the best you can for a week and then reevaluating your meals and working to improve them is a healthy way to go about it.

When I started back in the first week of May, the biggest problems were my 4pm meal (which was plain tuna at the time with carrots and tomatoes) and breakfast. For breakfast, I was eating and energy bar (Clif Bar) and fruit. Not bad, but not great either. Then I progressed to find a protein shake I liked and I started drinking those after my morning cardio. Now, I have started eating plain oatmeal and a protein shake. That is an excellent, "clean meal".

i am also taking a protein drink immediately following the lunchtime lifting. I think that will help long term as well.

Another progression is the dropping of coffee in favor of green tea. This is a big step. The antioxidants in green tea seem to have all sorts of benefits.

I wish I was dropping fat a bit faster (I am about 1 pound per week), but I think I am finding I can eat and function well this way.

Drained

Today is the first day since really focusing on diet when I feel completely drained. It might be a stomach bug ... it might be the diet changes this week ... it might be the intense workouts from this week ... but I am feeling it. It was the first day I was tempted to get somethign from the candy jar, but I didn't. I had a small peanut butter sandwich as a meal ... a cheat meal for sure, but it helped. I think I need to get lots of sleep this weekend and rest. Swimming with the kids all weekend ... nothing better than that for relaxing for me.

It is just interesting to note, beacuse today has been uncomfortble. I think I need to realize what is causing it and go from there. Reading my goals helped as well. Plus, I have a planned cheat meal of our favorite pizza with my wife and kids tonight. Should be fun.

Fitness Magazines

I have definitely ripped on fitness magazines before in conversation. They seem like the same ideas over and over. Back in the 90s I subscribed to Men's Fitness for a couple years. Those years just happened to be the fittest of my life. Although I do not currently subscribe, every couple weeks I am picking a new one up at the grocery store. It is the same topics ... bigger chest, rock-hard abs, drive her crazy in bed, etc. But I am finding each issue provides inspiration even though it is basically the same information with sprinklings of new research. To see pictures and hear stories of people meeting their goals ... living healthy, it is inspirational. There are ads for supplements but they don't seem to push them in articles at all. I think I am going to subscribe to Men's Health. It has a good balance of fitness, style and finance.

Not Just Fat Loss Goals

The first post I did on losing fat came after I read an article on the power of using the mind to really take yourself to places you have never been. It was one of the side articles that came in my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book. I wrote down a draft of my goals and they were basically appearance-based but there is a lot more to it. I think to reach the fat percentage goals and such I really need to have other strength and conditioning goals simultaneously.

I read an article in Men's Health that had the title "A Fit Man Can ...". The idea was a number of physical feats a "fit" man should be able to accomplish. Some are dealing with pure strength (like bench pressing 1.5 times your body weight), some with conditioning (running/swimming) and others with flexibilitiy (touching your toes). Some of them have become good goals for me and I have some others to add to the list.

1. Run a 10K in under 48 minutes. This goal is one I created for myself and the date is the date of the Capitol 10K next year (first week of April, 2007).
2. 40 pushups. This one came from Men's Health. I have started working on this the last couple of weeks. The suggested workout in the article had someone doing a set of 40 pushups no matter how many sets it took them but the idea is to lower your rest time each time so eventually you get 40 done in one shot. I have seen great progress. I started at about 20-25 in one shot and after a week I was up to 35 before needing a break. I should have this one complete in a couple of weeks.
3. 10 front-grip, shoulder-length pullups. I made this one up. I have never at any point in my life been able to do 10 pullups in any grip. Back in '96, I got to 8. I weighed 180 then after doing ridiculous amounts of cardio. My muscle tone was not great. Anyway, this is a big one for me. I bought a power-deck to practice them.
4. Run a mile and a half in 10 minutes. This on is also from Men's Health. It goes along with #1, but I think getting my speed up will help my fat burning as well.
5. 20 dips. Another weak exercise for me, but I can get 12-14 now in one shot. This one should fall in line as I get #4 in order.
6. Bench Press 1.5 Times Weight. This one is from Men's Health. This will be difficult without a workout partner, but is a good goal. Once I get to 180 lbs, that means I should be able to get 270 to reach this goal

This is a good start. I suspect more goals will come to mind as I make improvements. Sometimes I think about swimming goals or biking goals, but I am not ready for that yet.