Sober October Challenge, Week 1 -- Action Items and Accountability

FITNESS AND RIDING TECHNIQUE
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Starting mid-week, which is throwing my brain off a bit, but here we go

Action Items:

  1. Post here the daily must-do’s you are committing yourself to for the length of the challenge.
  2. Post your initial, starting point metrics, whatever those are for you.
  3. On Sunday, report your wins, losses, progress for the week, in this thread.
  4. Ask questions, encourage, disparage, talk smack to others, it’s all good fun :zany_face:
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My Daily / Weekly List:

  1. Weigh-in, progress pic → will start tomorrow morning, using a very accurate body composition scale at my gym. Will then weigh myself every day at home and use this gym scale every Monday. I’ll post my end of the year goal after I see the initial numbers tomorrow.
  2. Min 3x resistance training sessions per week
  3. Min 3hrs Z2 cardio per week
  4. 1x Vo2Max session per week (ugh)
  5. No alcohol for no reason (ie, date nights are the exception but no GnT cuz it’s 1p somewhere)
  6. Maintain daily prioritized task list and track all business KPIs
  7. Track and log all calories in and out

May add to this list as I go.

Headed to gym now for max pullups, bench, and farmer carry for time

+++++

Starting Metrics

19 deadhang pullups
Chest press 265 x 11
194lb farmer carry for 59’

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For me it’s hard to follow a really structured plan. I haven’t been to the gym in like 3 years and eat like crap. So I’m going consistency more than specifics in the beginning. Here’s my weekly list.

  1. 3 weight training sessions per week
  2. 3 cardio sessions per week
  3. Stretch 15 minutes daily
  4. Buy more food at grocery store and pack for work rather than stopping for crap food
  5. Eat the right amount of protein

I started this over the weekend and have been successful so far. Weighed in today at 194 even

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My notes:

  • Log what you eat. It will be real eye opener when you see the calories of the shit you eat, daily
  • Log your exercise, as calories burned. Estimates are good enough, as long as your bias towards the low side.
  • Choose nutrient dense vs calorie dense.

Over time you’ll develop an awareness of how “Eat what I want Dave” basically fucks “Workout Dave.”

That is, you’ll lift, exercise for an hour and burn 600-700 calories, for example. Then you’ll see how eating 2 donuts negates that hour of work.

In addition, you’ll gain the perspective that training, daily, burns calories that allow you to eat more and not be hungry. That is, you can:

  1. Adher to a diet, without exericse, and create a ~500 calorie deficit each day by eating 1500 cals and be hungry all damn day, or…
  2. PT for 60-90min, burn 700-1000cals = earning the ability to eat ~2500 calories and still create that 500cal deficit.
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What helped me a year ago was 30 min on the treadmill: 12% gradient and 3.0+ MPH. Lost 15 lbs!

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Yep, however…

You can’t outrun / out train a bad diet.

Which is to say, it takes seconds to take down 300-400 calories, shit-canning the 30-40 minutes of cardio you just did.

“That which is measured and tracked, can be improved.”

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First, Rich thank you for sharing the challenge!

I have not been on a specific program in several years and have lacked motivation recently. Started on the 1st.

  1. No Alcohol or Ice Cream (I love good beer and ice cream!)

  2. Track food intake

  3. Increase food quality - vegetables & good protein (NO BK & TACO BELL!)

  4. Consistent resistance training (3x/WK)

  5. Consistent cardio training (3x/WK)

  6. Read in the evening… have some training and leadership books to start / finish.

I did 1:40 on my gravel touring bike with the BMA Wed ride at Boulder Valley Ranch as a kick start yesterday.

Detailed training goals in progress.

204 on my home scale. Thinking I want to get to 185.

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Nice! Notes:

  • A moderate daily calorie deficit of 250-500/day = .5-1lb weight loss per day is, in my experience, sustainable. IE, take the patient, long term approach. Every time I’ve tried to do more per week, starting on a Monday, by Wednesday I can be struggling to stay on track
  • Within this guidance, work to hit 1g of protein per 1lb of bodyweight. This decreases the likelihood that some % of weight loss will be loss of lean mass. Preservation of lean mass is more important than a simple weight loss goal. Think body composition improvement vs simple weight loss.
  • For this reason, I recommend you use a scale that gives % body fat and bonus if it tracks muscle mass. I have a Renpho scale. Not sure it’s 100% accurate but it’s been very consistent over the years which is good enough.
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Want to add a goal and sign up a group for an assault on Mt. Audubon next July or August Google Maps

Let me know !