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When deciding to undertake the journey of competing in the 2012 Ore2Shore I knew I needed to get in better shape- beginning with losing a lot of my extra weight. And there is plenty extra!

I’m slightly over 20-years away from my former “young, relatively fit, and active guy” that still lives in my mind (dreams), and spirit. I’m currently an early 40′s married guy who has spent most of the last twenty years sitting behind a computer for 10-12 hours per day. Over the years I packed on the pounds a little at a time. Before I knew it my weight maxed at around 240.

Every few years I would ‘care’ and focused my energy on diet and exercise, resulting in a yo-yo between the max and just over 200, never breaking through the evasive sub-200 lb goal. For most of the last 10 years my weight hovered between 210-225.

When I decided to set out for my O2S goal I knew the first thing I needed to do was lose weight. It would be the key to the rest of my plans.

70 Days on the 4-HB Diet (click for larger image)

By dropping the weight I knew I would feel better, have more energy, build my endurance quicker, build my stamina, be more efficient in my training, and be far less injury and heart-attack/stroke prone. As side benefits my blood pressure, cholesterol, and risk of diabetes and heart disease should all be significantly reduced.

For my weight loss plan I’ve chosen to use Tim Ferriss’ Slow-Carb diet, which he outlines in his book “The 4-Hour Body”.

The Slow Carb diet is so effective and simple to follow, it’s really amazing and hard to believe it’s real! In 10-weeks I’ve steadily lost at least 20 pounds of body fat.  I actually lost more than 20lbs because some of the fat weight was displaced with lean muscle.  For the first six weeks I did no exercise at all, outside of 20-minute lunchtime walks I’ve been doing for years.  Over the last four weeks I’ve been adding lean muscle by incorporating the Wii Active 3-5 days per week and (very) occasionally some barefoot running on the treadmill.

In a nutshell, the 4-Hour Body Slow-Carb Diet consists of five basic rules.  The rules are Tim’s, but the descriptions and meal examples are my own personal adaptations.  They have been working for me and are simply presented as a real-world example.

Rule 1- Avoid “white” Carbohydrates, or anything that can be made white

- This includes things like breads, wheat flour, all rices, oats, sugar, cereal, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, breaded fried foods, pastries, etc.

Rule 2- Eat the same few meals over and over

- During the week, I eat the same breakfast- two eggs scrambled in a little olive oil, topped with salt and pepper. 1-cup (or there abouts) of microwaved frozen spinach, and (sometimes) a couple of pieces of sausage or bacon.

For lunches I often eat a chicken and veggie stir fry, made with baked chicken, red, orange or yellow peppers, onions, canned bean sprouts, (sometimes) canned stir fry veggie mix, and an assortment of fresh veggies that we have on hand (celery, broccoli, carrots, etc.), tossed in an olive or toasted sesame oil with some Italian seasoning.  I’ll also toss in a 1/3rd can of a legume when I pack the lunches- usually a tri-bean, black bean, or great northern. (We make the stir-fry in bulk and divide for several days’ lunches)

For dinners, if not eating the stir fries we prepare for lunches, I’ll often have taco bowls- taco seasoned ground beef, hot sauce, black bean and corn salsa, onions, chopped romaine hearts, and chopped tomato.

Another personal favorite that’s fast to make is a frozen shrimp, frozen edamame, and fresh mushroom stir fry- with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Snacks during the day include carrots and celery, cucumber, and/or small handfuls of raw almonds, cashews, or sunflower seeds.

Rule 3- Don’t drink calories

- Drink a lot of water, morning noon and night. This helps the body flush out the toxins and other crap that’s being emptied from the fat cells and helps the digestive system work more efficiently.

Drink as much unsweetened coffee or tea as you like.  Just don’t drink sweetened soft drinks, milk, or fruit juices.  I also avoid all carbonated beverages, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners.

Rule 4- Don’t Eat Fruit

- This rule is about as straight forward as it gets- the exceptions to this rule are tomatoes and avocados (the latter in moderation).

Rule 5- Take one day off per week- and Binge!

- This rule makes the whole process work.  By having a binge day once per week you can postpone anything you want during the rest of week, simply add it to your ‘I’ll have it on x-day ‘ list.  Nothing is off limits, so go crazy! Think big and go for it. After doing this for a few weeks I eventually settled down- you quickly realize your eyes are bigger than your stomach.  Don’t deprive, don’t measure, and don’t worry about it.

That’s it in a nutshell.  There’s not much to it- no measuring, counting, etc.  Eat good food, eat as much as satisfies you, and look forward to your binge day.

Note- I prefer to log my data every morning, upon waking.  This helps confirm the incremental progress is being made and keep you motivated during the first few weeks.  Once the weight starts (and continues) to drop, the routine fuels itself.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions- please leave a comment on this post or email me at steve at enjoytimeoutdoors (dot) com.

Looking for more 4-Hour Body Slow-Carb Recipes?  Please stop by EnjoyTimeCooking.com and subscribe.  You will be the first to be notified when the new Slow-Carb recipe section goes live.

What diet related post would be complete without a cool disclaimer?  Well, here’ s mine!  Please be sure to consult your doctor before beginning this or any diet or exercise program.  Have a great day and get out and EnjoyTimeOutdoors!

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One of my 2011 personal goals is to go kayaking at least ten times throughout the year.   Here it is mid-June and the count still stood at zero.

I’ve been wanting to get on the water all season.   Between the weather, rain, various home projects and occasional laziness, I just haven’t ‘gotten around to it’- until this morning.

Although it was a short 45 minute outing on Cedarville Reservoir, (shortened by quickly approaching storm clouds which never developed into any rain- better safe than sorry), as always it was an incredibly relaxing and spiritually healing experience.   It is always wonderful to get out on the water and be fully surrounded by nature!

Even thought the trip was short I saw a wonderful assortment of wildlife- various small birds, turtles, fish, ducks, chickens (in a backyard), and the highlight of the day- a Great Blue Heron!   Although not the best video I’ve ever shot, I was able to capture it taking flight!

Now that the kayak has gotten wet for the first time this season, many of my projects are getting wrapped up and the summer solstice is just around the corner, it’s time to start planning some more outings.

With so many rivers and small lakes in the region it should be a fun and eventful summer!

What a great way to start the day!  I didn’t see another person during the 1-1/2 hours I was on the water at Cedarville Reservour.

As we near the end of October there won’t be too many more Sunday mornings like this.

An awesome morning on the water- click to enlarge photo

I’ve had ‘Go Kayaking’ on my to-do list for several weeks now.  This isn’t something I would normally put on the same list with household chores and random things to-do, but for the last couple of years I’ve had the bad habit of letting everything else take priority over kayaking. 

I would make excuse after excuse as to why everything else was more important, how I couldn’t find anyone to go with me, how the weather wasn’t ‘just right’, etc.

Recently, my weekend rides would coincidentally include a rest stop at one of the many public boat launches in the area.  It’s as if my kayak and bike had a secret agenda to get me on the water.  It worked!

Sunday morning, after letting the dogs out at 06:30, instead of going back to bed I opted to put ‘operation kayak fun’ into action.  I checked the weather- all clear (well, clear enough- a bit windy and a slim chance of rain).  After eating a good breakfast I proceeded to load the kayak in the truck, gathered some gear and headed out for the water.

Living literally two minutes from one of our town’s small boat launches on Cedarville Reservoir, it didn’t take more than five minutes to go from garage to water.

It was wonderful!  It’s as if I had the entire reservoir to myself.  I didn’t see another human on the water for the hour I was out.

Being the first time out in several years and the first time on a new body of water I decided to keep it short and close to shore.  Even though I only spent an hour out in nature, my outdoors soul was quickly refilled with peace and tranquility.

It’s taken a long time for me to finally realize that ‘go kayaking’ doesn’t have to be a big deal or over-planned event.  There’s nothing keeping us from going out for an hour or two whenever the batteries need recharging. 

 After I got home I did a quick Google Earth search which revealed all types of paddling opportunities in the area- rivers, reservoirs, state parks, etc.

This is going to be a fun summer…

Sunday Morning Ride

To help condition for some of the epic mountain bike rides I’ll be taking later this summer I’ve implemented a combination of interval and endurace riding routines into my regular fitness program.

These rides are both quick and convenient, and most importantly, not dependent on the trails being dried out- a major issue here with all of our spring and early summer rainfall.

The interval rides consist of a sub-twelve minute, three mile loop around our neighborhood.  For these rides I essentually sprint as hard and fast as possible (while maintaining a safe max heart rate). 

The weekend endurance rides usually last at least an hour and are random courses which weave throughout the other neighborhoods of our town and through the surrounding countryside.   I set out on a randomly selected street and take every right turn for the rest of the ride.

It’s nice to get out and see the rest of the town, particulary areas I never knew existed.

To log my rides and conditioning progress I use a Garmin Edge305 GPS with a  heart rate monitor.   This provides plenty of heart rate, distance, speed, elevation, and course telemetry.

This telementry is a great tool to help monitor progress in my conditioning program, with the added bonus of a Google Earth map to chronical my explorations.

I’m back to flats- after a failed clipless experiment.

First off, let me state- I’m no pro MTB rider, nor do I claim to be.  I’m a weekend trail rider who, up until the last few weeks, didn’t do much core/ interval or mountain bike skill training, other than occasional trail or road riding.

I always had a bad habit of tearing up my shins when my tennis shoes would slip off the stock pedals during intense trail riding.

Last summer some local trail riders  introduced to clipless pedals.  I thought this was going to be the perfect solution to my problem.  Not only would I be able to keep my feet on the pedals, I would get better power transfer into the pedal, etc.

After a visit to the local bike shop I was the happy owner of a pair of Crank Brothers Candy C pedals and Specialized clipless shoes. 

While the clipless pedals did keep my feet on the pedals, I did not like the restricted range of motion that was forced on my knees and the loss of natural instinct to step off the pedal without thinking.  I would have to force myself to remember to twist my foot or risk falling over with the bike attached (which happened more often than I would like to admit).

I can definitely see where the benefits of a clipless setup would be for roadies or more advanced trail riders, but for me, the risk of knee injury (or worse) just wasn’t worth the gain.

My solution was to switch to a pair of cleated BMX style pedals.  I ended up with a pair of StevenHamiltonPedal Animals.   These pedals provide a large non-slip area to keep a good grip when wet or muddy, plus a large pedal face to drive power. 

After a week of training/conditioning rides I really love the natural and comfortable feel under foot.

I can’t wait to get out on the trails and give these pedals a good test.

If you have any problems with slipoffs, or are just looking for more foot-on-pedal control, you might want to give a pair of BMX style flats a try.  Their cheaper than clipless, don’t require special shoes, and don’t require any training to use.

Note: I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned in this post (or any other post, unless specifically stated, which as of yet, is none).  I am a cash paying consumer and do my own unbiased, independent research and spend my own hard-earned cash for stuff that interests me.

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