My apologies for not doing an update sooner. Things have been getting a little bit hectic in my life, as I’ve been starting a few more side projects.
The weather has also been absolutely gorgeous here in April, so I’ve been making the most of it by spending my free time outside enjoying the cherry blossoms.
Site Updates
First things first, some of you may have been checking out the site over the last few weeks and noticed that there’s a lot of stuff missing. I’ve been doing some spring cleaning (both online and offline), and one of the things I’ve been putting off for a while now is cleaning up this site.
What I’ve effectively done is I’ve taken down all the old 60 Day Transformation as well as the old 60 Day Challenge posts from last year.
For those of you that have been reading my site and following along, let me just say, first and foremost, that a.) I absolutely appreciate the interest and b.) those posts will go back up at some point soon.
The reason I’ve taken them down is I want to touch them up a little bit.
During the first 5 or so months that this site’s been active, I was in a bit of a frenzy to get content up on a regular basis. And while I’m glad that I did post that much, the quality was definitely…lacking.
Basically, I’m going back through all those old posts, and I want to see if I can find a way to make them more useful (and applicable) to those of you reading them. It’s great that I’m documenting my progress and all that, but at the same time, I’d like to do it in a way that’s informative and actually helps people (rather than just patting myself on the back).
So, don’t worry, those posts will go back up 🙂
I’m also in the process of rewriting some of the how-to articles I wrote last year as well.
My (Newish) Diet
At this point it’s now been almost a month since my (failed) 60 Day Transformation ended, so I wanted to touch base and let you all know what I’ve been up to.
As of the beginning of April, I’ll be doing a fairly long, prolonged “lean muscle building phase” (which is basically just a fancy way of saying I’m lifting heavy in the gym and eating slightly more calories).
The plan is to do this throughout the spring and summer and see if I can a.) make some strength gains on my main lifts, and b.) put on a few pounds of quality muscle.
Currently I’m hovering around 12% body fat, and later this fall, I’ll go back on another short cutting diet and see if I can get rid of the last 10 pounds (still chasing those abs).
The thing that I have been putting a lot of emphasis on over the last month is the quality of my diet. I talked about this a lot during my 60 Day Transformation, but one of the realizations I’ve had over the last few months is just how bad the food choices I’ve been making are.
For the last few years, I’ve been incredibly judicious about tracking and managing my calories and macros. That part isn’t the issue, and I feel like it’s a part of my life that I have completely handled and under control.
HOWEVER. Just because I’ve got the actual quantity of food that goes into my mouth under control…doesn’t necessarily mean I’m as healthy as I can be.
Don’t get me wrong- being lean is a super important part overall health, and, given my history of overeating, it’s something I’m glad that I dealt with.
But, as I get older (just turned 31 this month), I’m starting to notice more and more issues cropping up. I’ve noticed recently that I’m getting really tired during the day (eating chocolate for lunch probably doesn’t help).
I’ve also been dealing with a lot more joint pain, and it’s taking me longer and longer to recover from my workouts.
What that means for me is it’s time to take nutrition a lot more seriously.
So, over the past month, I’ve done a little experiment. I’ve essentially reduced my food intake down to a paleo diet (basically meat, oils, vegetables, nuts and fruit) plus white rice and sweet potatoes for carbs.
In doing so, I’ve eliminated both wheat and sugar from my “regular” diet. I allow myself to have dessert twice a week, plus one cheat meal where I can eat whatever I want.
In making these changes, I’ve noticed two major changes:
Number one, I feel so much better. Seriously, I should have done this years ago. I’m sleeping better, I have more energy during the day, and my performance has gone up in the gym.
Number two, I’ve had a bit of dieting “epiphany”. I’ve discovery that (at least for me), it’s really helpful to create a diet that’s flexible…but not too flexible.
There’s a lot you can do with paleo plus rice (Asian food, Mexican, etc). But by introducing that constraint of not eating wheat and sugar regularly, it’s forced me to make better food choices.
Here’s why. Although I suspect that I’m mildly intolerant to wheat, I don’t think that it’s inherently unhealthy…it’s just that a lot of unhealthy things are made from wheat.
And by eliminating it altogether (except for the cheat meal), what I’ve found is that I’ve stopped myself from justifying a while lot o the bullshit I used to consume regularly. Because let’s face it- if the option of eating pizza, fettuccine alfredo and garlic bread is even remotely on the table, I’ll find a way to convince myself that it’s ok to “be flexible” and eat it…every…single…day.
Yet, at the same time, there’s still enough available to me that I enjoy my meals and I don’t feel deprived. Plus, I have the cheat meal every week to look forward to, so I always know that I can still eventually have my favourites.
So, that’s what I’ve been up to. In the next few weeks I’m going to try to do a gym update as well as a “full day of eating video” to give you guys an idea of what my new diet is looking like.
And always, thank you guys so much for all your support