Well, it’s that time of year again. It may not seem like it now but in a few short months Spring will be here and that puts me in the mood to get in shape. Two years ago I did a low carb CKD diet along with a heavy lifting routine that showed great results but I don’t think it’s a very healthy way to eat. Last year Lianne and I did about 6 weeks of P90x, both the workouts and the diet, before vacations interrupted us and we never got back on track. This year I’ve got a new plan and the whole family is tagging along for the ride.
First, the diet. I’m going to go back to my low fat, healthy carb, high protein diet that I believe is the healthiest and the easiest to maintain. I’ll shoot for 1800 calories a day with a 40-40-20 breakdown between protein, carbs, and fat. One of the keys to this is to eat healthy, low glycemic carbs and healthy fats, and to drink plenty of water. I end up eating pretty much the same combination of things every day. We’re pretty good about this already, but we’re just going to start being a little more conscientious as a family. Dinners will continue to be healthy, family affairs, and breakfast will get the day started right. I’ll be tracking everything I eat on FitDay. Feel free to check out my profile at http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=brstev. Here’s what a typical day looks like, with the snacks thrown in between the meals:
Breakfast: Bowl of steel cut oats sweetened with honey, protein shake, coffee
Snack: Protein shake, green tea
Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken
Snack: Banana, Almonds
Dinner: Chicken/fish recipe with steamed veggies or a healthy soup
Second, the workouts. I loved the P90x workouts centered on aerobics, yoga, and abs, and I liked the focus on pull ups. In fact, we’ve got our pull up bar hanging in the doorway of the boys bedroom and we do pull ups every evening with the kids. I didn’t like most of the P90x weight training because he does a lot of high rep exercises. So, I’m going to combine the P90x aerobics and ab workouts with my own weight training. I’ll do 3 days of P90x, and 3 days of weights. As Summer approaches I may shift into fat burning, but my goal right now is to build muscle and get some aerobics in to round out the workouts. Here’s what a typical workout week may look like:
Monday: Weights, chest and biceps
Tuesday: Plyometrics
Wednesday: Weights, shoulders and back
Thursday: P90X Yoga
Friday: Triceps, abs
Saturday: P90X Kenpo
The kids are pretty active as well. They do 3 days of karate each week, tons of pull ups, and we just got a heavy punching bag and a speed bag for Christmas. Lianne is doing some of the P90x workouts with me and she’ll be hitting the Y with the kids 2 days a week. We just started this Monday, and I’m excited. Working out and eating right is about so much more than trying to look good on the beach. It’s about feeling good and stacking your health up over time. We don’t need nationalized or corporatized health care in this country, we need a lifestyle revolution. We’re going to live that revolution ourselves right here in this house.