With my job/career change and adding another kid to the mix, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to be where I want to be physically.
I still have the drive and motivation, but as a dad, my priorities have changed and my day-to-day situation is not as conducive to reaching my goals as it has been in the past. For example in 2015:
- At work, I had access to a multi-million dollar sports facility.
- I was required to take a one hour lunch break. For those doing Leangains/Intermittent Fasting/Fasted Training, this is an ideal time to work out.
- I had multiple training partners/coachees, which meant someone was always depending on me to show up at the gym.
- I was able to hike multiple times per month
In contrast to 2016:
- I’m slowly piecing together a home gym
- I typically work through my lunch. I do not have a place to lift at lunch when I go into the office.
- No training partners or coachees
- I only hike a handful of times per year
Over the last few days I’ve been really thinking about the things that I did back in 2015, but still have some level of control over. I don’t know which of these following things are essential, but I’ll hopefully to able to figure that out in time.
- Nutrition
- tracking calories and macros
- Even though no one is really looking at this, the thought that I’ll have write down that I ate a Snicker’s bar into my log can be enough to keep me from eating it.
- staying hydrated
- My goal was to drink 100+ ounces of water per day. In addition to the obvious benefits of staying hydrated, it also helped with staving off hunger pangs.
- I prefer to use a bottle that holds around 50 ounces. I would typically drink 1 bottle before lunch/my workout (around 1 pm). Refill and drink 24+ during my workout, then finish off the bottle before leaving work.
- protein intake
- If I eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, I don’t have much room for junk food
- I’ve also found that if I get my protein in today, tomorrow I wont’ be hungry until later in the day, helping me consume fewer calories overall
- 1 cheat day per week
- The mental break seems to be very helpful. If I’m struggling, it helps to know I’ll be able to eat whatever I want later in the week. Since I am not hiking as much though, I will need to keep this under control . After a 15+ mile hike back in 2015, it would not be uncommon for me to consume 2000-3000 calories in one sitting.
- controling hunger
- If I am fasting, one of the best distractions is exercise. Since I am working out alone and have a flexible schedule when working from home, maybe I create a 2 hr window where I’ll exercise? I should start somewhere between 11 and 1.
- I have also found that warm chicken or beef broth can help me delay my first meal until later in the day
- tracking calories and macros
- Exercise
- Free weight training 3 days per week
- I’ve put together a decent home gym, although lifting will need to wait for another 10 weeks (torn bicep tendon.
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) 2-3 days per week
- 3-4 long distance (10+ miles) hikes per month
- This just simply is not going to happen in my current situation. At most, I could see myself getting in 1 per month
- Could some of this ‘benefit’ be replaced with using a standing desk and/or under desk exercise equipment? Look into 180 bpm – Age to become fat adapted (Mark’s Daily Apple)
- Free weight training 3 days per week
- Lifestyle
- out of sight, out of mind
- it helps to have a shelf or drawer where I only keep low-carb foods … that way when I’m hungry for a snack on low-carb days, it will be easier to fight the urge.
- sleeping 6+ hours per night
- This has always been one of the toughest parts of this for me and has only gotten harder with kids.
- out of sight, out of mind
