A few months have passed since an update to this website. That doesn’t mean I have not progressed with my Lifestyle Shift. In fact, things seem to be accelerating. As for my contributions here, I have resolved to move to more of a daily progress report.
The site started as a collection of content that could later be shaped into a book. I first thought that at the six month point in my transformation, I would be ready to start putting that book together. Why six months? That is the point where the ‘experts’ say most weight loss and fitness plans die out and all progress begins to reverse.
At six months, it would be my time to tell the world that my plan works and your progress will not come to a screeching halt. Indeed, it won’t. But, now closer to a year than six months from when I started in October, 2020, I’m still learning, tweaking and progressing on a daily basis. A book is coming – maybe at the one year mark…
So, the pillars of my lifestyle shift are documented here in previous articles. Moving forward, I will simply document the daily journey, along with improvements and changes to the system.
Coming Soon…
I’ve committed to publishing something here every day that I am at home. If I’m away at the trailer or on some other adventure, most likely there will not be an update. I believe I can publish here through a cell phone app but my 50+ eyesight has no desire to struggle with that.
Interestingly, my eyesight is about the only thing (except for maybe my gray hair) that hasn’t reversed the aging process since I began in October, 2020. A fact that kind of sucks considering I was a perfect 20/20 prior to turning 50.
Things that will be discussed in more detail over the coming days/weeks:
- 50 km + walk completed
- increased running mileage and pace
- tweaks to breathwork
- fasting (beyond intermittent)
- future challenges
- daily strength training routine
- daily stretching routine
- 2nd dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
Quick Preview
My 22 year old son and I have made a ritual of doing a lengthy trail hike every second Saturday. We were pondering the idea of a 100km walk. But, after doing a little research, I thought we might need a little more prep for that challenge. And, the conditions might be much more optimal in the fall when it’s considerably cooler.
We did agree that a 50km walk would make a good trial to see just where we stand. This past Saturday, we pulled it off. Actually, it was a bit more than 50. The details will follow in the next post but, I can tell you, we felt great during and after. The 100km is definitely in our sights…
As for my running, I continue to put in 4-5 8-11km runs per week. I am running injury free and despite what feels like a slow pace, I am running considerably faster these days. Interestingly, my pace seemed to take a big leap forward after taking a few days off while at the trailer. They certainly weren’t sedentary days with lots of paddling. But, the break from running seemed to push me up a rung on the ladder.
After two weeks of vacation and a bit of straying from my new normal feeding pattern, I jumped back on the wagon hard. Along with some new research, I started into more extended fasting. I believe I want to go more in the direction of a single meal per day. I’ve even extended my fasting time past the 24 hour mark.
As for future challenges, obviously the 100km walk is going to happen. A 72 hour fast is something that I want to do. I want to really up my running distances, as well. The first new high water mark will be a 20km run. I plan to do that on the same trail course that we did the 50km walk on. Oh, 100,000 Fitbit steps in a day – after all, that’s the original goal that spawned the 50k and 100k walk idea.
My daily strength training routine is simple and not very exciting. It usually takes between 45 minutes and an hour. It is non-stop, without breaks. IT WORKS. I’ll get more into that soon.
David Goggins rants about stretching. I idolize Goggins but that initially didn’t start me stretching. I’ve never been one to warmup or stretch. We had a theory when running in high school and college that your warmup was the first couple of kilometres.
But then, I started to develop what could be called ‘runner’s knee’. I had no problem while running but afterwards, my knee felt like it was full and was painful to bend. I did my research and found that it was probably the result of a tight quad that was straining the tendons in the knee. Sure enough, that right side quad was definitely tighter than it’s counterpart. Stretching made the problem disappear. Stretching has now become a regular part of my day, several times per day.
Finally, I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. People close to me complained of basically having the flu for a couple days following the jab. I saw it as a chance to test my incredible immune system created from my lifestyle shift. I’ll tell you the results soon…
Optimum Health. Optimum Travel. 