Are you one of those people who does New Year's resolutions? THIS! is going to be the year I become the person I want to be. I'll start (pick new habit) or I'll quit (pick bad habit). I'll lose X lb. For 2 weeks you'll be motivated and by Martin Luther King day, you're back to your December persona.
Do you have a case of Screw-it-itis in December and let the foot off the pedal at work, hit the party circuit, and let the diet go?
Have you ever finished the year at 100% capacity with momentum to fly into the next year. Or done both depending upon the year?
I answer yes to all these questions. This year I'm choosing finishing the year with momentum and at full throttle.
The catalyst to this is Hawaii in Mid-November. Went to a benefits/labor convention. It was my 2nd time out there in 4 months. I had a FANTASTIC time. My room faced the Pacific Ocean with a balcony at the Waikiki Sheraton. Post convention there were parties galore with all the free food and drink you would want. Weather was 80 degrees with sun showers every day. I had the best steak of my life at Signature Prime. And finally, went to Pearl Harbor and saw my great uncle's plane at the Aviation Museum. Pro tip, go to the USS Missouri first.
It was great, and yes I did go to the gym every day. Walked 20,000 steps a day between the treadmill and too and from the convention center. I wore out a path on Kalakaua Avenue. But by day 4 I had had enough of the parties. Let's put it this way. The first full day was Sunday and my buddy and I found a sports bar to watch the NFL. We were drinking beers at 8 AM. At the convention, there is a LinkedIn photo of me. My best friend called me after it posted saying, "Love knowing you were 4 beers deep when that was taken." Terrific. So the 4th night, we are at a rooftop bar and they were handing out complimentary Mai Tais. I took 3 small sips and said, "I'm not doing this tonight,." and pounded water. Woke up feeling great.
Traveled home and arrived at my house on a Thursday and was junk for a couple of days between lack of sleep, fun and on an airplane for 11 hours. Decided middle of the month to turn it around.
1. No alcohol. Been 3 weeks. Feel great, workouts off the charts good, hyper focused, and sleeping great.
2. A regular sleep schedule. I always sleep 7-8 hours a night, But I wanted a consistent schedule. Meaning I'm in bed by 10 PM at the latest. Read 2-3 chapters of my Kindle, hit the bathroom one more time, and lights out by 10:30. In the last 3 weeks the only time I've broken this was last Monday watching the Patriots game. This includes weekends. I awake naturally without alarms. Had 9 + hours sleep Saturday night.
3. Really focusing on my workouts. Having a plan, not being lazy because I don't want to load the barbell to deadlift, and focusing on every rep. Stopping with one rep in the tank and without pain. Focusing on my conditioning using sleds, Ski Erg, Echo Bike or treadmill running. Not mailing it in.
The numbers are going up in my lifts and my conditioning is excellent. Running 5 miles on the treadmill with a 1 degree incline in 44 minutes. (sub 9 minute miles), finishing 10 rounds of Ski Erg/Echo Bike sprints (more on that in a minute.) and pushing the Prowler combined with 300 two hand swings with a 70 lb. bell.
I received a great tip from my work colleague about the Echo Bike. He is Captain CrossFit in Kansas City and tries to break Assault/Echo Bikes. I was complaining my quads get the shakes when I'm done. He advised me to lift the seat up one more rung. The higher the seat, the more it focuses on hamstrings and glutes vs. quads. THIS is a complete game changer. My wattage for sprints are at least 25 % higher with the higher seat. Sure it still is a gasser, but it alleviated a lot of fatigue.
I ended up going back to me old gym as it is obvious to see from above. Ran into a guy there who is older but always in good shape. Saw him for the 1st time in 5 months and he looked great. Slimmed down. I told him he looked awesome. He told me he quit drinking and lost 20 lb. He became my inspiration. I actually thanked him last week and told him so. The only thing I'm not doing as much is outdoor walking. I can deal with cold, it's the wind I can't stand. Moving South next year is an active conversation that my wife and I are having.
How's the diet? Well, about a 6 out of 10. Not terrible, but not great. I've lost 2-3 lb. I eat too much. Not crap, because we don't have any in the house. I only eat out once per week. Would like to push this to about a 7.5-8. I have some lunches coming up and a party with friends, so that's realistic. If I don't booze, I let myself eat at parties. Decided today was the day to start on cleaning up the diet. 23 hours into a 40 hour fast, 18 of which will be dry. From just before Noon today, until I wake up around 6.
I've incorporated 24 hour dry fasting this year 3 or so times. I like it from the time I start until, I go to bed. I'm not thirsty and get through it easier than with water. But it's bloody awful from when you wake up until the 24 hour mark. Say at 9:30 AM. So I'm adjusting that down to 18-20 hours. When I wake up, have a glass of water. let that settle in so I don't feel lethargic and then black coffee. So I'll get 75% of the benefits vs. 100. Live to fight another day.
Next big trip is Sales Kickoff in San Diego on January 4. It will be the 9th time since June 2024 that I've surpassed 2 time zones flying across the country. I wish it were in Las Vegas like our meetings in October, but what can you do? The weather will be nicer than the 21 degrees we have her in Massachusetts as I type on December 8. Hopefully I'll be under 190 lb. Stay tuned. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!
