The new normal

Well friends, the dust seems to have settled a bit after the wild wild summer we had.  The moving boxes have all but disappeared, most everything has been placed, the school year has started, the job is steadying...In other words our lives are going back to normal.  However, the new normal is quite different, and that is what I want to discuss a bit today.
The biggest change has been my employment, as in being employed.  My daily schedule has to be a lot more managed.  For starters, I get up early.  I mean early early, like 4:30 am.  I get there before my guys and leave after they do, adding about 45 minutes to my 10 hour days. Yes we work 4 days/week [with a few Fridays here and there in the summers for good measure]. So on most days I get home a shade before 5:00 pm.  I may not have an event to train for [at the moment], but I made the commitment to stay active and fit no matter what. I run or elliptical during the week, around 40-50 minutes and shift my longer drills for the week-end.  I envision doing more indoor activities as the days get shorter, and I hear the High School pool is set to re-open very soon after renovations for evening  public lap-swim sessions.  My legs will be happy for that! I'm also planning on getting a bike trainer so I have variety. The seasons also dictate what I'm able to do.  I have been doing more running during the week now that temperatures are no longer ridiculous...
The new logistics of my workdays have also challenged my eating, after all there are only so many hours in the day...However, much like my fitness and activity, my commitment to healthy eating has not wavered. We have had to plan a lot more because there is no Costco in town, the nearest one in Wenatchee is about an hour away. We still have the same basic plan, whereby breakfast and lunch are always the same [bar & smoothie for breakfast, ginormous salad for lunch] and dinner varies. We have reduced the size of the salad somewhat, making 3 salads when we used to make 2 with the same amount of stuff.  We haven't noticed any changes in hunger, and it has the added benefits of reducing our cost a little AND affording us the luxury of not having to make them each and every day.  It really helps the precious post dinner / pre-bed time we get after Tristan goes to sleep and it is just the 2 of us. We found a big enough insulated lunch carrier and so I lug my heap of food to work every day...I swear I have at least one person every day that comments on either my smoothie or my salad.  I think most people aren't as blown away by the size of the salad as much as the fact that I have it every day.
We are also having to adjust to our new surroundings, especially how dry it is around here.  It's a desert climate, and you can pretty much count on it NOT raining, which for us is a huge change. There is also much to do outdoors.  We had a taste of it after we rented a kayak a while back and went to the lake [not Moses Lake, there are better ones nearby] and we can't wait for next spring to start going again! Coupled with 3-day week-ends, there is a real potential for some serious fun!
So that's about it in a nutshell.  The new normal still has all the same components, they are just adjusted a little bit. In the end the most important thing is that it works!

Until next time,

Oliver P.

Post race #2 [and then some]

After my first triathlon back on June 22nd, I had exactly 3 weeks to get ready for the next one, the Olympic distance event in Ocean Shores. 3 weeks to recover and basically get ready for twice the distance. I did plan it that way from the start, in essence using the sprint distance event as part of my training for the 'main event'. What I didn't plan for, however, was the madness that insued...I was going to explain a bit later, but I might as well do it now: in the weeks leading up to the competitions, I got a job that required us to move. There is more to the story, but I will leave it at that for now. The kicker was the starting date: July 14th. Yes, 2 days after the Olympic event. So during the 3 weeks I had to train, I also had to plan for a move, arrange logistics for 3 people, 2 cats, finish a bunch of house work, rent the house and about a thousand other details. In other words, it was crazy!
Ok so on to the report.
If the first event was about getting the 'first time' out of way, it also showed me that even though I trained more than adequately, I didn't quite have enough intensity about it. So I decided to go all out (after a couple of rest days of course) until it was time. Given how things were shaping up with the move and everything, it worked out nicely; whenever I had some time I would go for an hour or so and work really hard. I ran in much hotter weather than before, took longer bike rides and swam in the lake exclusively. I felt my fitness was there, I just needed to bring some toughness.
Fast forward to the morning of the event. The weather was grey and somewhat chilly, I thought that would work in my advantage for the longer effort. I got to the transition area early, got my stuff all set up, feeling good. The air was cool but the water felt great. As the time grew closer, I didn't feel nervous like last time. I just wanted to go. Pre-race briefing, a few more minutes then it was time. Right away I fell in my rhythm: breath, 2 strokes, breath, 1 stroke, sight. I did have a little trouble with my goggles fogging up a bit and the lack of color contrast (due to the misty foggy weather it was all grey), but it was minor. I found the ramp, got out of the water and checked the time: right on pace, sweet. Liza was right there, somehow she spotted me on the water! I got to the changing area, chatted for a few seconds, feeling great. Time to ride!

Ocean Shores is pretty much all flat. I thought that would be just fine for the run (though I would have to run on the beach, more on that coming up), but it did present some potential issues. For one, all flat means there is no downhill sections to coast, the effort is pretty well constant. I took that in account during training, especially in my spin classes (stationary bike) leading up to the event, basically pedaling like a mofo for an hour straight. Another issue is that if there is any sort of wind, it could get interesting...I guess it'd be like having a hilly course I suppose. With all that in mind, I set off on my trusty Roo. I had my water, my homemade goo (which I had tried plenty of times in training and found to be just awesome) and 26 miles in front of me.

The first few minutes served to center me, you know to clear my mind. Everything was great, especially as I suddenly realized that the foggy misty weather hadn't lifted: that meant little to no wind. I honestly can't remember too much about the ride other than thinking to just keep grinding. I would pick a rider in front of me and reel him or her in. Sure I got passed, but I passed quite a few people too. Every few miles I would take a sip and then just grind. My mind did wander at the end and I started to think about how I finished the goo a while back and I still had to run. I felt hungry and a bit weak and by the time I got off the bike I was rattled. As I changed into my running gear I was still agitated, right up to when I started running. I told myself to leave it behind and just run. Besides, the way  my legs felt after this long-ass ride instantly took my mind off whatever my stomach was trying to say. Much like after the swim, the first mile or so worked to square me up. The first 1.5 miles were on the streets, the next 3 on the beach and the last 1.5 back on the streets. I was plugging along just fine, reeling people in until I got to the beach. There, because of the very foggy misty weather, I couldn't see the turnaround. I did have a few tense moments but then I thought "wait, you're already beyond a quarter of the way, only about 40 more minutes all day".

I started to pick off runners that were pretty far and reeling them in. I remember this young gal in particular, I saw her before the turnaround but she had already got there and was running towards me. I figured it was lofty, but she was going down! And so I got to the halfway, told myself "only about 25 minutes to go, that's it, one 5k run all day".  By the time I got back on the streets, I felt stronger and stronger. By then, I only had 1.5 miles to go, and I had all but caught up to the gal. I finally overtook her with a little less than a mile to go. I knew I was going to be tired but at that moment I knew I had done it. I looked at my watch and realized I was going to be under 3 hours! I came around the corner to the finish line, heard my name and saw my friends. I can hardly describe the feeling. I had done it.

The end of the race was really the start of the crazy summer for us.  As I mentioned earlier, I started my job in Moses Lake 2 days after the event, we lived in a furnished apartment until last week-end [8/17] and I finally got our computers back up yesterday!  But it is done now, we are settled in our new home [a rental for now, we aren't committing to anything for at least 1 year], school starts on Wednesday and I am slowly finding my groove at work.  I did have to cancel the 3rd triathlon last week-end, it was just too much to have to drive 350+ miles round trip in the middle of it all, we just wanted to take breather and work on unpacking our things [that had just got delivered a few days earlier].  I miss seeing my friends on the Island, especially those who I trained with this spring [Elise, Nick] but I will make up for it next summer, I promise!

So there it is and there you have it! I set out on this crazy journey a little over a year ago and I DID IT!!! So what now you ask? Well, that's a very good question...First, I plan to celebrate my 42nd Birthday on Tuesday.  After that, it's wide open, though I have some ideas already.....

Until next time, 

Oliver P.

Post-race report

Well friends I did it! I swam, biked and ran for the first time in competition!
As I described in my last post, I was pretty nervous about it and it got worse with each passing day.  On top of it I was taking it easy the last week, so I felt like a caged animal not being able to release the pent up energy.  Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep on Saturday...Oddly, though, I woke up feeling rested.  Still nervous a little, but ready. We got there in plenty of time [of course] so I got my stuff all set up in the transition area.  At that point I was still feeling good.

Shortly after, it was time for the race briefing.  Nothing new there from what I read on the event website, except that there's a bunch of people around me this time....Started to feel the butterflies. So I went to check the water temperature, 71F so no wetsuit. I felt it would be one more thing to deal with trying to get the thing off.  Turned out to be a good decision.  Ok so after that it's go time. I'm focused now, and butterflies are out in full force.

8:00, off we go! It's actually me on the left edge of the picture at the bottom of the group [Great job Liza for getting me in there]

If I didn't [obviously] know I was in water, I could have sworn it was quicksand. I think the adrenaline and the nerves got to me.  I couldn't find my rhythm, I couldn't get the breaths right...I felt like I was swimming backwards. But I didn't panic, I knew it was a quick swim [1/2 mile], so I just went into grinding mode. I started to calm down a bit, and more when I got in sight of the shore.  I knew to expect to feel out of sorts after the swim.  I had practiced. But this was, as Emerill says, another notch! As I ran out of the water, I saw Liza shortly after she took the picture.  I had only 2 words: "Oh Shit"

She later said that she was really concerned as I really looked out of sorts.
Get to the transition, put on the bike shirt and shoes, grab a drink, put on helmet, grab the bike, all good, go go go. That's all I thought. I heard Liza encouraging me.  Her voice, like a beacon. So nice to hear. Go go go.
I knew the first part of the bike course would give me a chance to center. Nothing too steep, nice and straight. A couple of miles into it, I was good.  I had a good cadence, I felt good.  As the course got off the main road and into a loop around a small lake, the hills came.  I drove the course on Saturday, so I knew what was coming.  It was tough, lots of short, steep hills.  Up and down, shift the front, shift the back, again, again. Out of the saddle, back down, again. Again. I only made one mistake: I thought I was in first gear but I was still in second on the steepest hill. No biggie, I still made it, just realized at the top and laughed it off.  Back on the main road, only about 5 or so miles to go.  People passed me, I passed people.  I felt good about that, not just being passed.  Saw the leaders, man are they fast! Gave them a shout out.  Back at the park, I felt good still.  Focused.  16 miles, Not tired.  2 down, 1 to go.

Park the bike, take off the helmet, sit, take bike shoes off, socks, running shoes, take off shirt, running shirt, grab a drink, another, look around, here they are, smile, say something silly, go go go. Off to the 5K.

I really should have walked the run course on Saturday.  I swear it was the Grandpa special: uphill both ways! First mile I didn't feel anything.  I knew I wouldn't, so I just had to keep going until it came.  And it did. After about a mile, I started to get into it.  Lots of hills, up, down, up, up. But I felt good. Bring it.  Caught glimpses of the people on their way back, a smile, a nod, maybe a high five [yes I know]. On the way back, Feeling better even. I started to pick up the pace a little bit.  Now I could hear the PA system at the finish line.  Now I could see the finish line.  Wait that's my name he's saying.  I was there.  I did it.  Big smile at that moment, and Liza caught it.

Yes the dude passed me right at the end.  I heard him catch up to me, but he was too fast.  Next time, friend.
So I stepped on the blue timing mat and looked at the clock.

So that's it.  It was over.  In the end I came in 89th overall, 8th in the 40-44 age group.  Total time 1:41:13. swim time: 17:16, bike time: 52:24, run time 26:59. The swim was about 2 minutes slower than my regular pace. The bike time was better than normal by a little bit and the run time was way faster than normal, almost 30 seconds a mile faster! So now I know what to expect.  I'm so happy to have done it.  Almost one year of training.  I did it.
I love my family for cheering me on, I heard them and it really really helped!
So on to Ocean Shores in 3 weeks.  It'll be even more fun, a bigger challenge.  BRING IT!
Until next time,
Oliver P.

Nervous

According to the information at the bottom right corner of this here screen, my first triathlon is in 11 days.  I've been a little on edge the last few days for many reasons [many indeed], but this morning it came to me: I'm nervous about the triathlon! I've been working my ass off for almost a year now, working my way up to it.  [for the record I have about 2 months' worth of spinning and all my early swims that aren't shown, as well as the mileage being all screwed-up since my app stopped recording spinning miles. Don't get me wrong, I really like Runtastic, they just changed the interface]

I've swam many times before sunrise, after sunset and everything in between.  I even swan in the lake to make sure that my phobias [and there are a couple at play here] are in check.  I've biked when I could, went to spinning class the rest of the time.  I've run in the dark, in the cold, in the rain and also in perfect weather [like today]. I've done quite a few bike-runs, hell I even did all 3 [at the distance of my first event] just to  make sure.  I've been mindful [to say the least] about my diet, made sure to eat the right kind of foods to fuel my effort.  I've even dabbled with making my own food for the race [not for this event but for the next one in July, the longest one where I will need to eat on the bike or else] with great success. I'm pretty sure I'm ready.  I'm finishing up the hard training Saturday [after 14 days in a row] and then next week I'll take it easy.  Maybe a few swims in the lake to get that out-of-breath feeling due to the wetsuit to subside, possibly a light run and a don't-listen-to-the-instructor-and-just-ride spin class.  I'm not done training after the first race, I'm just ready.  I'M READY! I'll be sure to update for my first post-race, quite possibly the first one ever.
Until next time,
Oliver P.

The Away Game

We've all been there.  Be it for business, pleasure or anything in between, there are times when we have to go.  It could be a short week-end getaway, a week-long conference or even a temporary assignment.  Anyway you slice it, the routine is gone.  How do you stay on track?
It just so happens that we just spent the last 2 week-ends away from home.  As an added bonus I didn't even get back into town until Tuesday this week.  Overall, though, I did pretty well.  I managed to keep my meals within the 90/10 rule and I got all but 1 workout done.  So let me review the steps I took to make the 2 week-ends away successful.
Scheduling: It may seem a bit OCD, but since I am training pretty hard for my first triathlon only a month away I wanted to make sure to miss as few workouts as possible.  In this case [and for both week-ends], I decided up front to forget about swimming and biking and just run while I was away.
Internet search: We went to a couple of different locations, one familiar and one not so much [or at all even].  So we fired up Google and looked to see what the new place would have to offer, see what our options were. In this case, we saw that there would be at least some options for food, so we decided to pack up the breakfast bars and the smoothies and fend for the rest.  On the activity side, we saw there was a great network of activity trails so I knew I could get a run in for sure.  We also checked the forecast to pack the appropriate gear.
Travelling: Fortunately, we didn't travel very far so we were able to have breakfast and lunch at home, leaving only dinner there. The return trips were a bit trickier, but both week-ends we had the breakfast covered and found that those chopped salads at Subway work just fine.  I also grabbed some fruit and a package of rice crackers to fill-in the blanks if needed.
Once there: The first week-end was pretty easy.  It was just an overnighter so we found a great Thai place for dinner with excellent veggie bowls and whatnot, and at the end of the day I went for my run right around sunset.  Of course I could have picked a better route [more well lit actually] but it was great. The second week-end was a longer excursion, but we know our way around Portland! We took our breakfasts for the duration [it did take a bit of work to get it all together but a small cooler is all we needed to take with us] .  Sweet Tomatoes is great for a gynormous-like experience, and that's probably what I would recommend [or any other good salad-bar] if one was going to a decent size city.  For smaller towns or faraway places it's a bit more of a challenge...I remember last year I went to Chihuahua Mexico for a week [work], and let me just say that I came home a bit hungry...But again researching as much as possible will help.  I got to run on Saturday morning early so the rest of the day wasn't going to be disrupted, it worked out nicely. I did have to extend my trip and go back to Moses Lake on Monday, so I packed 2 running outfits and planned for Monday evening.  I got there and made sure to get some fruit and lots of water [dry as hell there] and did it.  In hindsight I could have waited a bit longer until it cooled off, it wasn't the best run but I take it as a learning experience. But it did the trick, kept me on schedule.
The takeaway: These 2 week-ends really turned out well.  First we had a great time, discovering a new place and also visiting friends and family.  Second I was able to keep on track and so I didn't have to stress about anything.  We had a plan.  So I had to scratch Tuesday's workout, so what?  I knew I was going to spend some time in traffic coming home [fucking Seattle traffic, it never fails] so I ended up stopping by Costco for our weekly run, it killed a bit of time and got me out of the car!
So there you have it.  A little bit of planning went a long ways.  We ate well, I got to run, we had a blast, what more could we ask for?
Until next time,
Oliver P.

Fitness and Exercise

I'd like to offer a different point of view regarding the importance of fitness and exercise.
As I discussed in an earlier post, good Health embodies aspects of physical, mental and social well-being.
Undoubtedly, it is very important to put in the right kind of fuel in the 'machine', however it is equally as important to take the 'machine' for a good spin every day to keep the motor in good shape [by the way I semi-apologize for the car-type references, I know a lot about them and I can relate to a lot of body processes as a result].
Of all the muscles in our body, there is one that really, really is important.  The motor.  You know which one I speak of:

Yes the heart. It is a lot of things, but first and foremost it is a muscle.  The cool part, I think, is that not only does it pump blood to the entire body, but it also pumps blood to itself.  Anyway as a muscle, it needs to be exercised and kept in tip-top shape.  Eat well, great.  Do what you like, awesome.  Reduce your stress, go for it.  Be a good, well-liked person, super.  All those are great, but your heart needs one more component to be happy, and that is exercise.  So let's talk about exercise, shall we?
Before I get into more specific details, I would like to back track a bit and put this line of thoughts into context.  As I started to make changes, I knew that exercising was going to have to play a big role, so I read up on it.  I really wasn't sure what I would like to do, so I started by swimming.  I was heavy, just quit smoking so I figured it was probably the best way to get moving without stressing my body or doing too much.  Right around the same time, I knew a couple of coworkers that ran marathons so it got me thinking about doing more than just swimming.  I wasn't a runner, as I was made to do it as a kid [thank you French education system], but I thought maybe when I got a little bit smaller I could give it a try.  Of course, if I was going to do that I might as well get on the bike too.  And so the challenge started to take shape: why not do all 3? And so I decided to read a little bit about triathlons, what the deal is, how to train, what to expect, those sorts of things.  I found one author particularly interesting, Brendan Brazier, a world-class Canadian triathlete and ultra marathoner [not to be confused with Brendan Fraser, also Canadian but not involved in endurance sports, that I know of anyway :)], who since his competitive days has [among other things] advocated for better health through better nutrition, particularly by ways of a vegan diet.  He also has a little something to say about training for endurance sports, specifically about the heart.  His point of view, albeit simplified a bit, is what I would like to share.
It really struck a chord in me and it goes something like this: Training too hard will degrade your performance.  Furthermore, the additional energy required to complete a task, when done improperly or too much, is very costly as it could be used on the back side to do it longer.
It is nothing more than a statement of the law of diminishing returns, that is at some point, whatever effort going into a task will no longer provide any benefit or even make it worse.  Mr. Brazier talks in length about the topic in his book and how he tailored his training to focus on quality and not quantity.  It is especially important for endurance sports, where energy management is paramount.  Here is how this thinking applies to the heart.
The average resting hear rate is about 72 bpm [beats per minute].  Below is a chart showing the spread based on age and fitness level [for men. women's looks just the same, just a few beats difference]:

Let's take 2 people in the 36-45 age group, one in the below average category with a resting rate of 78 and one in the excellent category with a resting rate of 60.  Here are my assumptions:                                          

- 8 hr sleep at resting rate
- 60 bpm individual exercises for 1 hr around 145 bpm average, rest of the time [15 hrs] spent at around mid to high 70s on average
- 78 bpm individual does not exercise, rest of time [16 hrs] spent at around mid to high 90s on average
- The difference between the 2 'rest of the time' rates is explained like this: the healthy heart will not beat as fast during the regular daily events compared to the less healthy heart. It may have a spike here and there, but it will recover faster and stay lower throughout the day.
Graphically, it looks something like this:

With a little arithmetic, it looks like this:
- 60 bpm individual: [60*60*8]+[145*60]+[78*60*15]= 107700 Beats per 24 Hrs
- 78 bpm individual: [78*60*8]+[98*60*16]= 131520 Beats per 24 Hrs
Let's think about this for a moment.
That's about 22% more heart beats for the below average individual.  For that 'cost', he has nothing to show for, day in and day out his health and fitness level will not change.  Not only that, but in 5 days his heart will have beaten twice the number of beats compared to the other individual. Twice.  5 days.
The other individual has worked out pretty hard each of those 5 days, he has something to show for: each day his health and fitness levels improve.  During the hour of hard work, he will gradually cover more ground, or go faster.  I'm not going to qualify those numbers any more.  For me, twice the beats in 5 days is enough to get my ass moving.  It may not be medically proven but in terms of energy used to do the same task [living our lives for 5 days], I'll take half the heart beats. There has to be a tally somewhere, and it seems to me it's one to keep low.
Now I realize that it isn't always feasible to workout 1 Hour each day.  That said, I bet 30 minutes can be done easily, and the result will be the same: a great improvement in heart and overall health.  And that's the point, a small payment for a large return.
Don't just take my word for it, check out the links, read up on the stuff.
Until next time,

Oliver P.

Nuts and bolts

Alright alright I know it's been a while....Life has been just plain crazy lately!  More on that in a later post...
Anyway I wanted to touch a little bit on just what our daily meals look like, specifically breakfast and lunch.
As a reminder, we follow the Eat to Live principles pretty tightly, which is the foundation of my increasingly good health.  It's not just about the food, as I discussed before, but putting in the right fuel greatly helps all the parts of the puzzle fit together better.
As with most of our past efforts, finding a good routine to keep things going was pretty high on the list. At first the novelty of it all carried its own momentum, but after a while it was evident we were going to have to come up with something for the long run. I felt we needed to make sure we could streamline as much as possible, both for economical as well as practical reasons.
Somewhere around the start of it all, we purchased a Vitamix [aka the Obliterator], and with it came a nice book of recipes.  We tried a few smoothies, and pretty soon we found ourselves just making the one, day after day.  We gave others a few more attempts, but we knew.  So the Breakfast smoothie was born.  

The breakfast smoothie

It's pretty basic, but no less delicious.  In it are the following:

- 1/2 C Almond milk [any non-dairy will do there]

- 1 C Water

- 1 Banana

- 1 Apple

- 1 Orange

- 2 Dates

- 2 Handfuls of Spinach

- 7 Slices of frozen Peaches

- 7 Frozen Strawberries [a couple more if they are small] 

We like to call it a Seagram's smoothie [...], and it makes 3 servings for us.  I like to augment mine with 2 Tbsp of Chia seeds and generous 1/2 C of Soy milk. I generally have it a bit later in the morning as I like to work out first and then enjoy the smoothie.

We still had to come up with a bit more breakfast.  We both love Oat Meal so we decided to try different flavors with it.  We settled on mixing in a banana and some of Costco's 3-berry mix [1 C or so].  It was good [we still make it], but not delicious like the smoothie.  What really did it was coming across one of Dr. Fuhrman's recipe for an antioxidant breakfast bars.  They basically have the same base ingredients, but somehow the combination is about as good as it gets for us.

Breakfast Bars

We modified it just a bit, and this is what we ended up with:

- 2 ripe Bananas

- 3 Dates

- 2 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds

- 4 Tbsp ground Flax Seeds

- 1/4 C Craisins

- 1/4 C Zante Currants

- 1/4 C chopped Pecans

- 6 dried Apricots

- 2 Tbsp Goji Berries [optional]

- 1/2 dozen Almond [optional]

- 1/4 C Pomegranate Juice

- 1 C Frozen Blueberries, thawed

- 1 C Frozen Costco 3-Berry mix, thawed

- 2 C Oat Meal

Oven 350 F.  Using a food processor, blend bananas first until near liquid. Add all but the Oat Meal, blend thoroughly.  Pour in a bowl, add Oat Meal and mix well by hand.  Pour in an 8x8 pan, bake for 40 minutes.

One batch will make 8 bars, we each get 1 [you can see one to the left of the plate in the picture].  And that's breakfast! Like I mentioned earlier, I will typically have a bar with a cuppa joe, go work out about an hour later and then have the smoothie.  We'll have the regular Oat Meal breakfast when we forget to make bars, but by and large it's all about the bars!

My next idea came from reading the Eat to Live book itself.  I noticed there was a 'baseline' quantity of greens, veggies, legumes, seeds and others that the good doctor recommends to have throughout the day, so I said why not make a salad out of those?  It was going to be big, but that's the idea anyway so we gave it a try.  As we made our first, its name emerged right away, The Gynormous!  I struggled to finish it at first because it is so much food! It didn't take very long to get used to it, and nowadays the only thing I have to worry about is how long it takes to eat it [lots of chewing!].

The Gynormous

Here is the breakdown:

- 1/2 head of Romaine, chopped [we use the Costco package, you would have to use less than that if using one from the store or the farm, like 1/4 head]

- 1 large handful of spinach, chopped [any dark green will do there]

- 1/2 Red Pepper, chopped

- 1 Carrot, chopped

- 1/2 beefsteak Tomato, chopped [use a whole for smaller types]

- 1/2 Cucumber, chopped

- 1 handful of Sugar Peas, chopped

- 1/4 Avocado, sliced

- 4 Mushrooms, sliced

- 15 grapes, sliced in half

- 1 can of Garbanzo Beans [any will do]

- 1 1/2 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds

- 1 Tbsp ground Flax Seeds

- Dressing: Costco Mango Peach Salsa [a smattering usually], Balsamic Vinegar [to taste]

I find that it is also a great place for leftovers to go...A bit of rice, steamed veggies, salmon...I also like to put in some heat, like a chopped fresh jalapeno or some Chipotle Peppers.

And so there you have it, a tasty breakfast and a delicious lunch!  It has been more than a year and a half so far, and we both feel the same way we did the first time, we love it!  As a matter of fact we don't feel quite right if we miss them, especially the Gynormous.  The streamlining made a big difference both in the amount of money spent on those meals as well as the time to make them.  No longer do we have to come up with something new day after day.  We get most of the stuff from Costco [less in the summer] and we'll make batches at a time.  I usually make a batch of bars along with dinner, it doesn't really take any more time.  We make the salads the night before, sometime 2 or 3 days' worth [think about it, nothing goes bad and as long as we don't put in the 'dressing' nothing wilts].  We do make the smoothies daily, but that has become part of the morning routine [it only take a few minutes anyway, but it does taste better freshly made].  This approach may sound weird, but it really works well for us.  The way I see it, doing it this way locks in the good habits and keeps the temptations away.  I'm no longer terribly worried about those temptations anymore, but just the same I enjoy sticking this well established routine.  Like I said before, we both have tried all sorts of ways to eat well in the past, this one's sticking!

That leaves dinner open.  We try different things and experiment there, but it keeps it reasonable.  I will share some of the recipes and ideas in a later post.

Until next time,

Oliver P.

Labels

There is no shortage of labels in this world...Everywhere you look, people brandish them, wear them, argue over them, kill for them.  It's really quite crazy.  It seems our lives are driven by labels, believe in this, belong to that, oppose those guys...I said it before, this World is crazy and it's out take it all from us, that's probably why people want to feel like they belong, stand out of the crowd a little bit.
I know that the good doctor coined the term 'nutritarian' to encompass the practices described in the Eat to Live book, but I'm not into it.  I don't feel the need to wave that flag. Since I've started this whole thing, I have come to think of myself as just 2 things: Healthy and Active.
If we want to get down to it, I am gluten-free sugar-free oil-free egg-free dairy-free pescatarian triathlete [in training], 90% of the time.  Talk about labels!  I would rather say that I make my choices based on a long term plan to stay in good shape, minimize preventable diseases [especially in the cardiovascular area] and maybe even stay clear of others [I may be genetically predisposed for certain diseases, such as cancer, but being in great Health sure can't hurt anything, can it?], and generally keep sharp. I don't have any condition that requires me to do any of things, I choose not to have them.  I'll break it down quickly:
All of those foods that I am avoiding are, in my opinion, far too calorie dense.  They tend to associate with less-than-healthy habits.  I don't want to pick on anything in particular, but let's pick Italian food in general.  It pretty much has all of the things I avoid [gluten, oil, sugar, eggs, dairy, meat] because any given plate of just about any dish has just too many calories, too much fat and far not enough nutrients.  So instead of trying to compromise I decided to exclude.  I feel that it is more productive to concentrate on a Healthy habit rather than modifying an unhealthy one.  Keep in mind that I will still have those from time to time, that's what the 90% is for.  Because a glass [or two] of great wine is only better with a slice [or two] of Brie! I am French after all!
Now certain labels I do pay some attention to, like the ones in the grocery store.  They can get pretty confusing, especially with the ever-changing serving size deceit, and I don't buy too many things I don't prepare but just the same it's always good to see what's in them.  If it goes in a recipe, I may alter the amount or keep some information from it in the back of my mind.
Overall I think it makes more sense to keep it simple, makes it easier to focus on the task.  I'm sure that my activity won't always include training for triathlons, but I will always be active.  There may be times when I won't be able to eat this way, but I will always make the healthiest choice.
Well that's it for now.  Please send me some feedback, let me know how I'm doing!
Until next time,

Oliver P.

Food for thought

As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, the road to Good Health is a multidisciplinary effort.  While the physical aspect covers a lot of ground, we can't forget the others.  Remember the others, right? Yeah the mental health and the social well being.  This is a bit delicate to talk about, but it can't be ignored.  There are hard questions and there sure as Hell aren't any easy answers.  This is the being honest with yourself part of this.  I mean if you have tried to make improvements in the past, in any form,  and didn't stick with it or didn't succeed, there is probably some underlying reason for it...And at some point, you are going to at least have to acknowledge it, otherwise you are doing something over and expecting a different result.  There is a word for that.  I know that this time around looking at these issues certainly has made a difference.  That kind of inward look takes time, but the way I see it I'm in it for the long haul anyway.  I'm not going to go into any more details here, that's not the point.  The point is to say that part of my success has come from broadening the spectrum of my changes, and that includes my mental health.  I strongly believe that both social well being and mental health are strongly connected.  As you start to feel good inwardly, you start to exhibit that feeling, and the quality of your interactions starts to increase, and that feeds the good feelings inside, and so on...
This part of the journey is very personal, so I won't spend any more time on it.  Know what it plays a big role and it can't be ignored.
Until next time,

Oliver P.

Let's talk nutrition!

I've talked about it a little in the earlier posts, but this time I want to dive a little deeper in the food aspect the health, shall we?
Going back to the health screening, the nutritionist talked to me about Eat to Live.  The first point that she mentioned is calorie density Vs. nutrient density.  Take a typical restaurant meal, let's say a small salad [standard fare here, so let's pick a Caesar salad, croutons, Parmesan, dressing], a medium sized steak with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, a couple of dinner rolls with butter, then a small scoop of ice cream and a soda to wash it all down.  Every part of this dinner is quite rich calorie wise, but as far as nutrition goes the count is pretty low.  And as far as I know, this isn't necessarily a huge dinner, meaning it would be safe to think that most could easily eat a lot more during this type of meal, you know throw in an appetizer, a bigger steak and some cake with that ice cream.  That's the point she was trying to make.  The original dinner was already way more than plenty as far as calories [way more] and nearly devoid of healthy nutrients, there is room to add the second part!  The food doesn't take up that much volume, so there is room to feel hungrier. Now, she says, imagine an alternate dinner, starting with a large [and I mean large, think bowl] salad mix [romaine with spinach or kale or chard] and then start piling on some tomato, red pepper, cucumber, carrot, avocado, grapes, beans, snap peas, seeds, mushroom and top it with a dressing made of apple, water, vinegar and spices.  For good measure throw in a couple of ounces of fish and a half of a baked sweet potato.  Wash it down with a tall glass of water.  When you do finish [it takes a while], there is no room for ANYTHING else in your stomach.  Calorie wise, this isn't even in sight of the restaurant meal.  It's at least half as many, more like a third.  Now nutrient wise, you get all that you need, protein, fat, carbs, etc...But you get them in a healthy format.  There is no added sugar in this meal, little to no saturated fats and enough calories to keep you going.  Your blood sugar won't spike, so there is no crash afterward.  This is idea behind the plan, to replace low nutrient/low volume/high calorie foods with high nutrient/high volume/low calorie foods.  Your body gets more nutrients and get them in healthy form.
Notice I didn't mention anything about weight loss.  That's right, the focus is shifted, the approach is broader.  There is no longer a fixation on the scale.  The goal is to bring the health indicators, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and the likes in the lowest ranges possible in order to just plain live longer and healthier! The weight is but a byproduct of this effort.  You can only go so far with proper nutrition, you also need to be active.  That only speeds up the process, and besides you have so much energy it's got to go somewhere!
Now I am of course paraphrasing here, there is so much more to this! But the main idea is that you have to make a real shift in what you buy, how you cook it and how much you eat.  By and large it is a plant based diet.  That may turn some people off, and there's a whole lot of stigma out there but that's just what is it.  The main point of it is this: you can achieve ALL of the nutrient and caloric needs to sustain a healthy and active lifestyle with a plant, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes and grain based diet.  In doing so, you will also achieve a much healthier physical state of being.  This is the argument that the author makes, and it is my position as well.
That is the path I took for my journey, and it has worked for me.  It was hard, it still is.  Because of my somewhat addictive personality, I had to make sure to go all 'OCD' on it, otherwise it wasn't going to last.  But that's just me. I have been taking great pleasure in cooking this way [since I do most of the cooking], trying new recipes, keeping things interesting and varied.  We have an accumulated [and growing] set of recipes that we all like that I keep in a rotation.  I shop and cook per recipe and that also has helped for 2 reasons: it keeps the cost reasonable and drastically reduces the waste from the fridge.  When it's shopping day, let me tell you it's bare!  We have the breakfast and lunch as set meals.  They are both portables [and we do take them when we go for a couple of days], leaving dinner as the changing meal.  We have snacks [and I need them these days as I am increasing my activity].  We use Costco as much as we can to keep the cost down on the staples.  In the summer we try to buy from the local farm and can some for the winter.  I don't shun meat, actually we have Salmon once a week or so, preferably the ones that I caught [there's just no other way if you ask me].  As for the rest, it's really gone.  No sugar, no oil, no eggs, no dairy [that was a tough one but worth a pant size!].  I did, though, just recently finally gave up cream in my coffee.  So I drink less of it now, and that's a good thing. All and all, it's about a 90/10 thing.  So over a week, that 2 meals I can have whatever, and I do.  But really, it ends up being a little bit more fish, or a bit of chocolate with a couple of glasses of wine.  Or maybe a couple of slices of a good pizza, or even barbecue for my [former] Big Green Egg.  Hell we even have an omelet in the rotation.
Anyway that's the short of it.  If you think it's tough, it is.  But the rewards are so great!  I had my blood drawn last fall, so about a year+ after my initial screening, and it was amazing!  All of my numbers that are nearly optimal.  The nurse that handed me the results said they were that of a man half my age, and a healthy one at that.  And it's only getting better!
I'll gladly share recipes, tips, motivation, whatever.
Until next time,

Oliver P.

On the topic of Physical Health

As I said in my last post, good Health isn't merely one aspect of our lives, but all of them.  Today I would like to focus a little bit on the Physical Health portion.
In my past efforts, the goal was nearly always to lose a set amount of weight.  Typically, as I was exhausting the 'low hanging fruits', I would reach a plateau and start to lose steam in my effort, ultimately resulting in failure.
This journey, however, was different from the very start.  No longer was I going to focus on the weight.  I will talk more about this real soon when I outline the Eat to Live principles.  It was quite a pleasant feeling when I started to see real results without going on the scale.  Being ever the Engineer, I did start to wonder how I would be able to quantify my progress.  After all, if I wasn't going to look at pounds alone, what could I look at?  What could I use as a benchmark?
The answer is this: Weight over height squared.  Sounds familiar?  Yes I am talking about the BMI.
Before typing these words, I have extensively researched the topic, read a great many pieces both for and against it.
I want to assure you at this point that by no means do I consider the BMI to be more than what it is: an index.  But much like the very succinct definition of Health from the WHO, I feel it is a very loaded number, one that reflects a lot of information.  
I think it is fair to say that if you calculate your BMI or look at published charts like this one, it seems unreasonable.  How can you possibly lose that much weight and be considered healthy?  You probably think you'll have to do something like starve yourself just to reach it.  Conversely, you can look at your current numbers and say that you are in great shape with a good weight yet the charts say you are at Death's doorsteps.
Here's my take on it:
You can lose quite a bit of weight using a specific diet plan. There are plenty out there.  But if your only goal is to lose weight, your focus is too sharp, there is no margin for error.  As you get closer to the "number", you work harder and harder.  This creates a huge stress on the body, and then, because you have such a small margin of error, something happens and you start to slide, eventually regaining most or all of it, and feeling like crap too.  However, if you instead don't put a time limit on the effort and start taking small steps but making sure the changes are fully in place, you start to feel good, it is no longer a challenge or deadline but rather just what you do.  Now this does not mean that it is easy.  Believe me, at some point you run out of little things to change and have to start taking a good hard look at yourself.  But at least by that time you have worked up some real confidence, the framework is in place.  How does that relate to the BMI you say?  By the time you start making some of the bigger changes, you know the ones that involve being honest with yourself, you realize that you are already almost there.  It's crazy but I am proof of it.  By the time I started to plan to begin exercising and quitting smoking, I had already lost more than half of the weight. That's right.  And that put me ever so close to the 'normal' range I couldn't believe it.  Now the rest wasn't any easier to lose, but I was in such a good place I had no problem keeping going.  Like I said the framework was in place.  That almost 'healthy' BMI meant that not only had I lost the pounds, I had taken the steps necessary to keep them gone for good.  As I added a healthy dose of exercise (sorry pun intended!), the rest of it just kept coming off.  I never really thought that I could be under 170 lbs and not be a walking skeleton.  On the contrary, I am in the best shape of my life, and getting stronger.
So take the BMI as a guide.  Get blood drawn, see where you are.  Change everything, but change it slowly.  Who cares about the pounds, they WILL come off.  By the time you are anywhere near that dreaded 'healthy' range, you will be amazed.  When you're right smack dab in the middle of it, you just plain won't believe it.
Until next time,

Oliver P.

So what does being healthy mean anyway?

According to the WHO, Health is defined as follows:  "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" Reference 
That seems to be about as good a place to start as any.  A little bit on the vague side, and not without its weaknesses but still a great definition, one that has been around for a while too.  It is also quite powerful because it encompasses so much with so few words.  It really is all there.  
My next step was to try and see if I could illustrate those words with pictures.  So I did a search using "health" and these are some of the images I got back:

I can see that the main themes of the WHO definition are present as expected.  However, it seems to me the message is starting to be warped a little bit.  I see a lot about food, and good habits, exercise, and more food.  Where's the rest of it?  
Of course the food aspect of Health is important, and I'll be the first one to admit that it is a focus, but certainly not the only one.  Since I started my journey, I spent quite a bit of time considering the subject.  To be truly Healthy means reaching into every aspects of our lives, not just the easy ones.  You can exercise all you want but if you don't change your diet it isn't healthy.  You can exercise and eat well but if your stress level is through the roof, it isn't healthy.  It is all connected.  I've made a lot of changes in my life that have contributed to my overall increase in Health, and I recognize that I am very fortunate in that our situation has allowed it to happen.  Leaving the Big Company was not an easy feat to accomplish, and compromises were made [and still are] as a result, but it needed to happen.  My stress levels were just out of hand, I just wasn't happy at work.  It permeated throughout everything, and threatened to ruin it all.  There are some things are certainly more difficult to change than others, but by no means are those things impossible to achieve.  I'm a big believer in plans.  As a household [and a couple], that's how we've functioned best.  Slowly but surely we've been able to tackle bigger and bigger issues and start getting somewhere.  
I'm not there yet, and I'm not entirely sure I ever will be [or want to be, after all isn't the fun in the journey?], but my road to Good Health is well underway.  
The world is a mad place and it wants to take it all, it's up to you which side of the car you want to sit in, driver or passenger...
Until next time,

Oliver P.

A little bit of background

I think it's fair to establish a bit of reference before I start spouting off about this and that.
I was born and raised in France, came to this country in 1989, spent the 90's working, travelling and goofing off [isn't that what the 20's are for?], got serious toward the new Millennium, got married & had a child [Tristan], graduated college in 2005 with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, went to work for 'a very large aerospace company', left it all in 2012, and pretty much here I am.  There's more to this [ya, lots more], but this isn't the place for it.
In my younger days I was reasonably active, but I tended to gain weight easily.  My mom did a pretty good job of keeping it healthy, but I had a bit of sweet tooth.  I put on some girth in my 20's, but mostly I picked the bad habits, like smoking and drinking and whatnot.  I certainly didn't think about what I was putting in.  My 30's is really where things got out of hand.  After we found out our son had a genetic disorder we really cranked it up a notch.  And by a notch I mean a bunch of notches.  By 2010 I had reached my highest weight, somewhere north of 270 lbs:

Oddly, that wasn't the time that I started to turn things around.  It came a couple of years later, on the eve of my 40th birthday. I had already started to take a few steps earlier in the year, and we had to go to a healthcare screening.  I got the results backs and they had a couple of people there to talk to about what to do next.  One was a nutritionist, and discussing things with her, she suggested read this book.  I remember her very well because she was really non-judgmental, just outlining the basic concepts with this lovely British/Australian accent.
Needless to say I read the book, tried the methods and never looked back!

  I am healthy, active, fit and most important of all:

So now you know a little more about me.  I'll be discussing all sorts of topics.  I learned a lot so far, and it's worth sharing.  Starting next time, I'll do just that!
Until then,

Oliver P.

Let's start the show...

Well this is the beginning of my blog.  I'll keep this short and sweet, for now anyway!
As the title indicates, I am going to emphasize aspects of what I consider a healthy lifestyle.  I've been putting out some thoughts via posts on G+, but I feel it's time to separate it a bit.  This way I can keep the information and whatnot together in one place, here.
I have been on an incredible journey for the last almost 2 years.  I went from being quite big and living a very sedentary lifestyle to being healthy, active, fit and 100 lbs smaller.  Yes that's 100 lbs.  Lucky for me, I hadn't gone so far out of hand that 100 lbs wouldn't be enough, on the contrary.  I am certainly not underweight, but one might say that I am quite lean.  More on that later.
I have pictures of before and after, of course, and I'll post some.  I suppose someone in MO might read this, so I better show proof!

So there's 100 lbs right there.
(The only reason I'm holding a spatula is that I didn't catch a salmon on the day of the second picture!)

I have lots more to say, but this will do for today.
You can find me on Facebook and Google+, I'll put up the links in the profile as I get used to this.

Oliver P.