The Version Patch

[theversionpatch]

Don't Diet, Moderate

Now, when I say "diet", I don't mean a temporary measure to try and lose weight. I'm talking about all the food I eat and the things I drink. That's my diet. And if you're serious about losing weight and keeping it off, or simply about getting into better shape, then you can't just "go on a diet". You need to change it.

I would say that the vast majority of people who are overweight are due to either overeating or simply eating poorly in conjunction with a sedentary lifestyle. That's how it happened to me. So if you want to make a change, you need to make it happen.

I promised with the last post I wrote that I would talk about the changes I made to my diet. And while I can't simply write out a day-by-day of what I eat for you to follow, I can provide some examples of what I did and what you can do that might work for you.

First and foremost, as I said, the changes you make you should make for good, and the easiest way to make those changes is to embrace moderation. Moderation is simple. On it's face, it just means to do the things you do, but do them less. Do them in moderation.

I can't come on here and tell you to cut out anything from your diet completely. That's foolish. Unless you enjoy deep-fried butter, in which case... yeah, let's cut that out. But if you enjoy sugary snacks or salty chips, you still can... but in moderation.

Let me give you a practical example. Many months ago, I took the step of cutting soda out of my diet. Can I say that, over the last several months, I haven't had a drop of soda? Absolutely not. But I can say that the decision I made was huge. I went from a regular routine of drinking 2-3 cans of Coke per day to 0. Instead, I drink water, and I may have soda when at a party or if I decide to get some quick food.

Wanna hear something even more interesting for your brain? I had McDonald's recently. Oh yeah, that's right. A Big Mac AND medium fries. AND a medium soda. Best part? I still lost two pounds from when I had that meal to now.

Do you know why? That's right. Moderation. It's been months since I last had anything from McDonald's and it'll be even more months 'til I have it again, IF I decide to have it again. It's been months since I had a soda, and it will be months 'til I have it again. The key is that I don't go there every day, I don't drink soda every day, and I understand that the strides I make week to week allow me these indulgences.

I can also say that, even after a Christmas dinner with dessert and New Year's party with wings and veggie dip... I've still been losing weight. I've still been making progress, because the effort you put in pays off in the long run, and you can indulge every now and then.

Now, it also comes down to being sensible. This works for me, but it may not work for you. Everyone is different and the way everyone gets fit or loses weight is different. I can't guarantee any results, but if you've never tried this method... well, if you safely can, give it a shot.

Let's talk about my regular diet now. As I said, I take the indulgences in moderation. I don't snack all the time, and if I need a snack, I choose a smart alternative. I go with a salad or maybe a piece or two of whole grain toast, or even a rice cake. Those are ways to help with that. But snacking is minor, I'd say.

When it comes to meals, I try to make sure I prepare everything I eat. I cook my protein or at least prepare it myself and put forth that extra effort to not just get something out of a box or package, even if it's as simple as a tuna fish sandwich. But servings of proteins are great, alongside veggies or a salad, make for excellent major meals. Even putting lettuce on your sandwich can help fill you up without being a penalty, and it adds great texture and crunch!

Lastly, the biggest and most difficult thing for some folks is to learn WHEN to eat. If you're overweight, you possibly deal with the idea of eating at times when you aren't necessarily hungry. Bored, tired, or just need a snack, those are all reasons we eat. But those are bad reasons, as you probably know and have probably heard indefinitely. One of the changes I made was to acknowledge those times when I wanted food and wasn't hungry, and instead of eating, I would occupy myself. Finding a project helped take my mind off the food and got me focused on something else. Spending time with people, writing, recording an audiobook, whatever it was. It helps.

And also, don't eat just because you feel you need to. Additionally, don't NOT eat when you should just because you're trying to lose weight. Starving yourself is the worst possible way to try and lose weight. Eat right, don't NOT eat.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll be back again with more as I progress, and my goal is coming up a lot sooner than I thought, and we'll need to set another one. Until then!

[theversionpatch]

Day in the Life

My typical workout routine focuses on the 5-day week, with Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Tuesday/Thursday being the same basic program. As for the weekends, they're a bit of a grab bag. Whatever I fancy at the time. So with that being said, here's what this past week looked like.

MONDAY: My usual routine here is to do either the Energy or Fat Burner programs from DDP YOGA. This involves a lot of what DDP calls "dynamic resistance". Essentially, you constantly flex every muscle in your body as you perform the poses and moves in the program, and it creates weight resistance without weights. This helps keep your heartrate up so it helps your cardio as well as build strength. On Monday, I did Energy, which is a 20-minute program that is fairly low-stress but helps keep your heartrate elevated.

Once Energy is done, I began the Couch to 5K program. This program is designed around a 9 week timetable where you go from running no more than a minute at a time to being capable of jogging a full 5K, roughly 30 minutes. The first day of this involves alternating between 60 minutes of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. For day 1, I followed this plan to the letter, but I made some adjustments as the week went on. This gave me a grand total of approximately 41 minutes of workout time, with only a brief minute or so break in between Energy and the running.

TUESDAY: Two days a week, I really stress myself and do the Diamond Cutter DDP YOGA program. Diamond Cutter is a 51 minute workout with the same kind of focus as the rest - elevate your heartrate into your zone, increase your strength, and improve your flexibility. This workout, the first time I did it, kicked my ass. I felt like jelly by the time I was done, but it was great.

WEDNESDAY: After Monday's routine, I felt that Energy + C25K wasn't really stressing me enough and I felt like I could go further and do more. So I decided to elevate the program a bit, and went with Fat Burner as my workout of choice. Fat Burner is a 24 minute program that reduces the time transitioning between individual poses to keep your heartrate high, and it can be really beneficial.

With that done, I went back to the C25K program. This was the same as Day 1, but even so I wasn't feeling completely worked, so I modified a few steps. I took it a bit slow, and instead of waiting the full 90 seconds on a few of the walking breaks, I started jogging about 10 seconds sooner, and did that all the way to the end. The final run of the day, I even pumped a bit harder to get my heartrate going, and it paid off. I felt great!

THURSDAY: Back to Diamond Cutter. It was a brutal routine once again, but I found that I was able to perform some of the pushups a little bit more and I didn't feel quite so "jelly-like" by the end. It was still great, and I was still exhausted, but I can tell my body is adapting to the routine. I can't wait 'til next Tuesday to see how I fare!

FRIDAY: Once again, I went with Fat Burner, because Energy just wasn't cutting it for me anymore. After Fat Burner, I went right into the running regime and decided to take it up a notch or two. Instead of transitioning into a run for the final 90 seconds, I decided to remain running for a solid two and a half minutes. As someone who has never run before - or at least not in a damn long time - I was really happy with myself! The workout was great and I felt great.

SATURDAY: Since the weekends are usually my cooldown period, I took it a bit slower and instead of working out, I cleaned my house. Did a lot of heavy duty scrubbing in places, lots of trash runs, and I got a good bit of workout in without even really meaning to. I even made a fairly gentle 30 minute walk to the store to pick up some extra trash bags. All in all, it was a low intensity day and I still felt good.

SUNDAY: Sunday was certainly a bit of a different day. I started off the day by having lunch with a lovely lady that I'm quite fond of, who after weeks of chatting online, we finally met up. After meeting with her and heading home, I logged another very simple 30 minutes of walking time. Not much. However, I was feeling bored and wanted to get something else in.

Early that evening, I decided to test my endurance a bit, and took to running for as long as I felt comfortable. I didn't want to fully stress myself, but I wanted to see how far I could go. Amazingly, I logged 10 minutes of jogging, which is roughly 1 mile of distance! With that said, I also got bored later that night, and decided to start the Week 2 routine of the C25K program - 90 seconds jogging, 2 minutes walking, alternate to 20 minutes. It was good, easy, and I felt great.

So with that being said, my week was in the bag. As it goes on, I'll be increasing my run times, increasing the intensity of the DDP YOGA sessions, and getting closer to my initial goal and - hopefully soon - my perfect fitness goal.

Soon, I'll talk a bit about my diet and how I've changed things around to make it easier for me to get in better shape. Thanks for reading!

[theversionpatch]

Goals and Progress

My updates have been a bit sporadic lately, but hopefully with some new goals (and some new progress!), I can start making these posts a bit more frequent.

That would put me under the 300 mark for the first time in a very, very long time, and it would set me on the right path toward bettering myself. So with that goal set, I decided that I'd stick to my dietary changes and that I would work out once a day for at least 30 minutes. I'm still following the DDPYOGA program, but I'm pacing it a bit to my own needs.

The first week, I did the "Energy" program once a day, with only a couple days of break. The following week, I changed the schedule to include the "Fat Burner" program for 3 of the days and "Energy" for the two in between.

I'm glad to say that, with that progress, I've already lost 6 pounds toward my goal. It's a very real, very tangible reward. But the best part? There's more to it.

A lot of people get discouraged from diets or workout programs because they don't see immediate, tangible reward. Their pant size doesn't get smaller, the number on the scale doesn't drop as far as they thought. But there's another reward to changing your lifestyle this way, and it involves the little things.

Some of the little things I've noticed: When I stand up from my chair, my legs push my body up easier. My muscles are getting stronger, and I can tell; when I walk to the store, I don't have to slow down and my breath doesn't get ragged; I can see the muscle definition starting to show in my arms and legs a lot more.

Now, I'm not where I want to be. Not even close. But the toughest part is sticking to the change, and I feel like I'm on the right track. For anyone out there who may be struggling with weight loss or fitness, let me give you a few tips that maybe can help:

1.) Don't go on a "diet". If you're serious about getting better, losing the extra weight, and getting in better condition, you need to change your lifestyle. Go gradual if you have to, but don't radically change your diet for a short period of time. The reward might be immediate, but it won't last because your personal habits won't change. Start to design a fitness plan around your life as best you can. I'm lucky because I don't have kids and I work from home, so I can work with my time very easily. I know it doesn't apply to everyone, but do what you can and ask for help if you need to.

2.) Go gradual, not harshly: I mentioned this in step 1, but any changes you make to your lifestyle should be gradual if you don't feel as though a more sigifnicant change will help. Change your diet one meal at a time if you have to, work out once a week, then twice, then three times, then maybe a little longer each day. Adjust to your own self, your own schedule, and your own body.

3.) Don't burn your money. Getting into shape doesn't require spending $1,000 on the latest workout equipment that'll just wind up collecting dust in a corner in a few months time. You don't need to buy a weight collection or spend hundreds of workout tapes. Use the internet, find some basic and easy workout steps you can take, and once you've shown that you can stick to that - and stick to some dietary changes, too - THEN you can invest in something a bit more, because THEN you know you'll use it. Spend your money wisely.

4.) Lastly, don't punish yourself and don't do it for anyone but yourself. Falling off the wagon or having moments of weakness is bound to happen, but don't let it drag you back into old habits. Identify those points, and then overcome. They'll happen, but you can beat them back and work even harder the next day. Don't hate yourself for actions or instincts that are natural. And at the end of the day, make sure you're not doing this for anyone but yourself. Do it because you want to look better for YOU, you want to feel better, you want to wear different clothes or do different activities. Don't do it because you don't like how people look at you, because you want a date, or because you're afraid of how OTHER PEOPLE feel toward you. It's easy to let that happen, believe me, but try to remember that the first person who will feel and see the results of your new changes is you.

Now, I'm certainly not a fitness guru or anything, but I know what worked for me. The things I say above might help you, they might not. But if they help someone, then that's all I care about. Good luck to all of you, and I'll keep you updated on my progress!

[theversionpatch]

Off the Wagon

Yeah, I fell off my diet plan. I fell off my workout plan. Due to real work and just a general lack of motivation, I'm sorta back to square one. However, I've not lost any progress... I don't know how that is, but it is.

But, things start to change today. Time to get back on the horse, back into hitting my goals, and hopefully shedding some of this excess weight before I head to New Orleans for WrestleMania 30 in April of next year. I don't have a number goal, just a physical goal. I want to be fitter, I want to be slimmer, I want to be healthier, and I want to do it before WrestleMania.

It starts again today. I'll keep you all posted. <3

[theversionpatch]

Cheating

So, let me preface this by stating the obvious: I'm no fitness guru, nor any sort of fitness anything. But I will say, that as a person who has been large and out of shape for most of my life, when you finally start to take those large steps toward getting into shape, there's one big hurdle that a lot of folks struggle with.

When I decided it was time for a change, I knew that if I tried to go too drastic all at once, I would sputter out and it would fail. So, I went gradually. I stopped drinking soda - and I mean ALL soda. Then, I cut pasta out of my diet. Then, I started to buy ingredients, not just food. Processed or prepared foods are the enemy. I started to make my meals every day.

So now, I drink water all the time. I cook my meals, from scratch, every day. I work out, either by doing DDP Yoga or by walking for a mile and a half or maybe some Dance Central. I make sure I get my heart beating, sweat dripping, and body moving for a minimum of 30 minutes a day. And throughout the day, I may do a few moves from the Diamond Dozen, just to get those muscles working.

But, there's still one obstacle that I deal with and that I'm sure many of you have dealt with - cheating. You finally get a meal plan on track, but then you're tempted. Maybe you NEED chocolate. Maybe you NEED a burger or NEED some pizza. Or a bowl of pasta. Or a sandwich. Or whatever it is that you've tried so hard to cut out of your diet. But you can't cheat! It's a vicious cycle! You cheat once, you'll cheat again, and then you'll stall in all your efforts! Right?

Not necessarily.

When it comes to making radical changes to your diet, every person is different. The advise I'm gonna give here works for me, but it may not work for you. Fitness is not a one-size-fits-all program. It doesn't even work for everyone to just do the basics: eat right, work out. Not everyone is the same.

So, with that out of the way, here's my story: I cheat on my diet. I've had pizza since I started this diet plan. I've had burgers from McDonald's. I've had a Coke - yes, a soda. I've even had some salty snacks. Do I regret it? Nope. Why?

Because I'm still making progress. The key word to anyone whose diet goals are simply to eat less and eat right is MODERATION. You can have treats, you can have those unhealthy foods, you can have a night where you aren't counting calories or adding up points... but you need to moderate yourself. One night every month or even every two or three weeks will not stilt your progress. Might you have to work a little harder that night or the next day? Maybe. But will it save your sanity?

Almost definitely.

So take it from me when I say that, for some of you, cheating on your diet is not the end of the world. Keep yourself in moderation, be mindful - always - of WHAT you're eating, and make it a part of your plan.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've gonna finish this bottle of water and my banana.

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My First Milestone

But since then, I've made that walk many times. And every day I do that, every day I work out on Dance Central, every day I go through a round of DDP Yoga... I can tell it doesn't faze me as much. Those little steps of progress, I feel, have gotten me to this point.

Today, I discovered that since my last weigh-in, I've lost 16 pounds. While it hasn't shown up much in what I wear or how I wear it, I know it will in time. I feel confident, satisfied, and I feel like the entire process has been easier than I expected. I've fallen to a couple temptations here and there, but I've turned aside many more. And now, I'm ready to reach more.

So, ultimately, my goal is to drop another 125 pounds or so - minimum. As I get into better shape, I also plan to transition my workout. One workout I had seen - but that is FAR out of my league at the moment - is Insanity. This is a 60 day program that is perhaps one of the hardest workout plans ever. I feel, when I'm ready to get to the next level, that's the next step I'm gonna take. But I need to get ready for that, and just get myself in better condition.

I'm two days down in the DDP Yoga program, sticking to the meal plan as best I can, and tracking my workout activity on Fitocracy. I'll keep you all posted here. 'Til next time!

- S

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DDP Yoga Trial Run

Now, of course, I won't go into all the details of the workouts, but I will say that I was immediately impressed by not only how many of the moves I could do fairly well, but also how effective they were! I don't mean this to sound like a shill for DDP Yoga, but as the first workout plan I've ever tried, I think I made a wise choice.

The interesting part is just how engaged your muscles feel throughout most of these moves. Of course, they all target particular areas, but it seems the majority of the time, they're engaging just about every muscle you have. It takes a bit of practice to learn how to coordinate engaging ALL of your muscles at once sometimes, but it pays off. Believe me, when I was just standing there and could feel my heart start pounding, I knew things were working.

The current 13-week program I'm going to start will only take me through 4 or 5 different sets of DDP Yoga workouts out of the 13 or so he offers. The Diamond Dozen is a core component of it and really does a great job of getting you going while also providing you with the ability to lower your heart rate and keep yourself in what DDP calls the "fat burning zone", which is basically 180 minus your age for the top number and then minus another 20 for the bottom number. Keep the heartbeat in that range and you're golden.

I think next on the horizon is going to be picking up a heartrate monitor so I can keep a closer eye on that, but in the meantime I'll just proceed as I have been. Feeling excited, really enjoying these moves and I can tell right away that they're going to work wonders for me!

[theversionpatch]

Setting the Framework

As part of my fitness goals, I have a few points that need to be met if I'm going to actually achieve these sorts of results:

1.) Change my diet routines 2.) Be more active 3.) Be more motivated

I'm officially starting the DDP Yoga program full-blast on July 1st, including the food plan and workout schedule. However, I've already begun making changes to my habits.

For starters, I now work out at least 30 minutes every day. Sometimes, more than that, but it's a start. I'll either walk a mile or a mile and a half, do 20-40 minutes of dancing in Dance Central 2, or a little bit of both. That was the first big change.

Secondly, I eliminated soda and sugary drinks from my diet. Its been a couple weeks now and it was far easier than I expected. Now, I drink mostly water and occasionally a fruit juice or a lemon tea drink from Fuze. But anything other than water is kinda rare.

Finally, I started changing my eating habits right away. No more sugary treats, salty snacks, or generally unhealthy foods. In fact, here's a sample of my meal plan for today and how it matches up with the recommended DDP Yoga plan:

RECOMMENDED: Breakfast: 1 serving Fruit, unlimited Veg, 1 serving Complex Carb, 1 serving Protein, one serving Healthy Fats. Mid-Morning Snack: 1 serving Fruit OR 1/2 serving Protein plus unlimited Veg Mid-Afternoon Snack: 1/2 serving Protein plus unlimited Veg Lunch or Dinner: Unlimited Veg, 1 serving Complex Carbs, 1 serving Protein, 1 serving Healthy Fats

So, I had trouble finding a "healthy fat" on DDP's list that I really cared for, so I mixed it up a bit and added the healthy fat into my mid-afternoon snack. So here it is:

ACTUAL: Breakfast: 3 eggs, scrambled with very light salt; two slices whole grain toast, plain; cucumber slices; bottle of water Mid-Afternoon Snack: 4 oz Tuna Fish; 1 tbsp mayo; 1/2 green bell pepper sliced into sticks Dinner: 6 oz sirloin steak with light salt rub; 1 1/2 cups of green/wax beans; slice of whole grain bread

And there you have it. Delicious, filling, and not a bunch of processed stuff. Another thing? It was cheap, too, so I can recommend it for most people who are looking to start making changes and who are able to eat these sorts of foods.

So, we'll see how things go when I start, but beginning the transition early will make it way easier on me.

[theversionpatch]

Patch 1.0 > Patch 1.1

Welcome to a little blog on the internet that I'd like to call The Version Patch. I'm calling it that because this blog is going to serve as my personal fitness diary as I proceed to "update" myself. Time for a little background.

My name is Steve, otherwise known as Shalthis, and I'm a pretty big guy. Though my scale isn't here yet, I'd say I'm probably around 350 lbs. and 6 feet tall. Ever since my wife and I separated, I decided that I was long overdue for a change. And that change begins now.

I need to "update" myself. I have a goal - a long-term goal - of reaching 200 lbs. I know that is a long ways off, but it all starts with massive changes. A lot of those changes, as well as the steps I'm taking, will be documented here. I may even drift off-subject a bit and talk about the things I do on a day-to-day basis, but mostly this is going to be documenting my fitness plan and how I'm making the changes necessary.

Some of you may know that I also have another blog in which I will be documenting my travels across the country where I reference a "rocket to Mars" strategy. Now, I won't give that link out to just anyone, since the contents are a bit private, but if you ask, perhaps we can make an arrangement if I know you well enough (or if you know certain things already!)

But anyway, on with the blogging!