September 6, 2016 Lifestyle update!
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Hey Folks!
Well, I bet you thought that I had bailed on the “getting fit” message that I’ve been preaching since the inception of livedeckerscolorado.com? Good news my friends, I have not! I’m here today to begin the second half of this blogging mission I’ve created for myself, by sharing with you my recipe to achieve optimal health and wellness. Catching those back up to speed who have been following along, and just to give those that are reading for the first time, I’m in the process of trying to shed 100 pounds in one year’s time. I am trying to accomplish this enormous, life-changing task by completely changing my lifestyle, implementing a consistent daily exercise routine, and taking control of my diet by eating mostly a plant-based diet, with minimal protein intake from red meat and poultry. Back in October of 2015, I was seen by my Cardiologist after having a third battle of congestive heart failure, due to an out of control arrhythmia and my hearts inability to regulate it’s own rate. After getting the situation under control, medications adjusted, a clearance from the Doctor to get back into a fitness routine, and the desire to really change the way I thought about food and daily life, I was ready to get rid of this life-controlling 100 pounds! On this date, October 21, 2015, I weighed in at a whopping 289 pounds! As you know, I live in the mountains of Colorado, and cycling in February typically isn’t the most opportune time to get a 20 mile daily bike ride in each day, so I basically let the physical activity diminish to a casual walk along the river, as I fly-fished for physical activity through the winter months. This simply did nothing for the message I was have supposed to have listened to in October, resulting in poor energy, painful joints, and an overall “bad attitude” in general. In April of this past year I was fortunate to attend Major League Baseball’s Spring Training, in Clearwater Beach, Florida. Upon returning from this trip and looking at the pictures of myself on the beach, I was frightened at what I saw! I saw someone who didn’t look happy in his own skin! I saw a guy who desperately needed to change “his ways” when it came to eating and exercise, or I was going to simply going to continue to gain weight, most likely develop diabetes, or worse yet, succumb to the heart condition.
The first week of May, 2016, I began to take daily walks on forest roads surrounding my community, and shortly after, those “daily walks” turned into 3 hour hikes, climbing upwards to 1,000 feet in elevation, 3 or 4 times a week. After getting my legs back and some cardio work in for a month, it was time to get back on the road bike that helped me lose the 100+pounds I had lost between 2012-2014. Around the first week of June, I began to ride my daily route from Decker’s/Trumbull, to Nighthawk. This is a 10 mile stretch of road that offers an excellent training route, comprised of a 5 mile hill climb section and a 5 mile valley section that both follow the South Platte River. I am currently doing this ride each morning at about 8:30am, and finishing by 9:45. I’m currently on a training schedule of 7 days on/ 1 day off. After the bike ride, which I am keeping interval numbers from, that I’ll be sharing periodically, I am using an “Old School” aeROBICRider. This is one of those early/mid-90’s pieces of exercise equipment that looks like a stationary bike seat with a cross-bar to pull yourself up with. You are basically doing a pull-up with your own body weight, while doing a pseudo crunch at the same time. Check out the picture in the gallery! Ok, enough background, let’s get to some of the results of all this work! As of this date, I’m currently weighing in at 220 pounds and have lost about 7 inches off my weight. This is a total weight loss of 69 pounds since October of 2015, with the last 50 pounds coming off since about the beginning of May.
In this paragraph, I would like to share with you some of the dietary changes that I’ve made, along with some of the reasons I have chosen my new, mostly plant-based diet. In July, I attended a culinary demonstration with a message, by Chef Mark Anthony.http://www.chefmarkanthony.com You may have seen him on the Food Network. http://www.fooodnetwork.com. After listening to Chef Mark speak about the mind blowing numbers of Americans suffering from diabetes, heart disease, and as Chef Mark likes to say, “the killer diseases” I decided that I was going to give his way of eating a try. The “message” that I eluded to earlier is pretty simple. By taking care of the body, you are also taking care of the mind. In return, you will be closer to your higher power, ultimately taking care of the soul! As a Chef of over 25 years myself, I found it refreshing to actually spend the time to create MY food for MY health reasons and focus on what I should be putting into my body each and every meal. Planning my meals around my exercise and workout routine has been key to the successful weight loss. Each morning, I’m up by 5:30am and begin my morning routine of feeding the dogs, checking the river flow reports, and assembling my “already made’ meal components for my morning power breakfast of good carbohydrates such as brown rice or barley, protein from beans or lentils, one over-easy egg, 1/2 of a whole wheat bagel, single banana, and about 2oz. of non-fat vanilla yogurt! This usually gives me enough energy to make it back from my ride and eat again, usually before noon. I then usually have a small mixed green salad, with about 4-6 oz. of deli turkey or some grilled chicken breast, sometimes just the greens and raw vegetables. For the rest of the afternoon, I like to snack on mixed nuts, dried fruits, raw celery and carrots. My evening meal is mostly just some assorted pieces of fruit, a remix of the breakfast components, less the egg! more raw or grilled vegetables and that other half of whole wheat bagel from breakfast! That’s basically it my friends! This is how I’ve been losing the weight! I will add that I am drinking about two and a half gallons of water each day! My goal is to give you a weekly update on the weight loss and dietary choices. If you would like to join along, please do! Subscribe to my blog and you’ll be emailed whenever I publish a new post!
Chris
