stay in shape

Working out at least an hour every other day with an hour of yoga on alternate days. Even during my recent holidays I managed to keep up somewhat of a workout schedule (although abbreviated).

Worked out 22 of the last 31 evenings and slowly increased the load/duration/complexity of the exercises. My muscle tone is definitely getting better. Stamina could use some more work.

Based on the previous month’s data, I worked on my water intake (putting a nice decanter of water on both your eating table at home and on your desk at work helps). Adjusted the potassium and some other guidelines a little based on FNIC recommendations but overall the targets feel right and I have no problem hitting them by eating normally, three meals a day with in-between snacks.

Have to watch the fat intake, the beautiful-weather BBQs are taking their toll. I’m not really storing it, but it is messing with my skin :) Other than that, doing great and feeling great.

Nutrition Summary
1st of May 2009 to 31st of May 2009
Daily Averages over 31 days
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.5

General

Energy	2513,7 kcal	100%
Protein	96,5 g	77%
Carbs	323,6 g	92%
Fiber	31,4 g	83%
Fat	82,0 g	98%
Water	3513,2 g	95%

Vitamins

Vitamin A	8705,0 IU	290%
Folate	527,8 µg	132%
B1 (Thiamine)	2,2 mg	182%
B2 (Riboflavin)	3,1 mg	242%
B3 (Niacin)	26,6 mg	166%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)	8,7 mg	173%
B6 (Pyridoxine)	3,5 mg	271%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin)	7,4 µg	309%
Vitamin C	238,2 mg	265%
Vitamin D	147,4 IU	NA
Vitamin E	14,3 mg	95%
Vitamin K	128,6 µg	107%

Minerals

Calcium	1216,9 mg	122%
Copper	2,1 mg	228%
Iron	16,8 mg	210%
Magnesium	491,1 mg	117%
Manganese	7,0 mg	303%
Phosphorus	1780,4 mg	254%
Potassium	4320,4 mg	92%
Selenium	121,9 µg	222%
Sodium	2869,4 mg	191%
Zinc	14,6 mg	133%

Lipids

Saturated	26,9 g	134%
Omega-3	2,2 g	138%
Omega-6	13,6 g	80%
Cholesterol	233,4 mg	78%

Successfully restricted calories consumed while keeping up mineral and vitamin intake without supplements and without “missing out” on fine food – just keeping track of how much you are eating and especially what.

As a result I’ve lost a nice sustainable bit of weight (my break-even point is at 2700-2800 kcal or so) and have been in a great mood throughout April. Worked out around an hour at least five days each week, trying to dedicate days to strength, endurance and flexibility.

And look at the awesome report this free software gives you! I guess I need to work on my fiber and water intake but overall I am really happy with the results. Over the past few months I have lost some 15 Kg, I’ve quit smoking a month and a half ago, and I am still losing weight.

Nutrition Summary
1 april 2009 to 30 april 2009
Daily Averages over 30 days
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.5

General

Energy	2477,1 kcal	96%
Protein	93,6 g	97%
Carbs	314,1 g	80%
Fiber	27,4 g	86%
Fat	77,6 g	90%
Water	2958,1 g	80%

Vitamins

Vitamin A	10772,6 IU	359%
Folate	639,3 µg	213%
B1 (Thiamine)	2,9 mg	241%
B2 (Riboflavin)	4,0 mg	310%
B3 (Niacin)	31,2 mg	195%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)	10,3 mg	206%
B6 (Pyridoxine)	6,3 mg	483%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin)	13,6 µg	568%
Vitamin C	232,2 mg	258%
Vitamin D	205,9 IU
Vitamin E	24,5 mg	207%
Vitamin K	156,9 µg	131%

Minerals

Calcium	1130,7 mg	113%
Copper	1,7 mg	186%
Iron	17,1 mg	190%
Magnesium	398,6 mg	133%
Manganese	6,7 mg	291%
Phosphorus	1440,7 mg	206%
Potassium	3729,3 mg	107%
Selenium	120,9 µg	121%
Sodium	2564,6 mg	171%
Zinc	14,1 mg	128%

Lipids

Saturated	20,7 g	103%
Omega-3	1,3 g	80%
Omega-6	8,7 g	51%
Cholesterol	160,8 mg	54%

I don’t know, I think this calorie tracking is not for everyone but for me it has been invaluable – seeing how different foods fill different needs has given me a great handle on weight control and even (to an extent) mood control – a well-fed body which gets some workout is a happy body. And I must say this software has an extensive food database and is easy to use.

_{Note: I’ve found that recommended daily allowances/recommendation vary a bit by country and even institution. The ones from my country are different from the US FDA and different again from the EU ones. Weird. The ones indicated here (the last row in the tables expresses % of daily allowance/recommendation) are based on what works for me.}

It is amazing that we book expensive holidays which take us thousands of miles from home when a short distance from here you can find sights worthy of any far-off tourist trap.

The weather has been good lately – perfect for loading some sandwiches and drinks in your backpack, heading out into a random direction from where you live, and finding a nice place to have a picnic.

that Wii Fit is really helping me here. Yes, it is very low-impact (for the most part, there are a couple of hard exercises). Yes, if you do any kind of (semi-)strenuous physical activity every day over a period of time your health, strength, and endurance will improve (unless you overdo it, obviously). That just means the challenge for any given fitness system is to actually get people to follow it.

The Wii Fit does it for me. The fun is in the game-like format (not to mention the dirty trick of making your mii/avatar fatter or thinner depending on your real-life weight) and the semi-competition where exercises are awarded points for a variety of metrics like # of repeats, balance, weight distribution and so on – a top-10 list is kept for each exercise and competition can get… intense, especially in the balance games area.

Speaking of metrics, Wii Fit keeps track of your performance and weight over time and gives you pretty graphs which any statistics geek is going to enjoy.

Finally, the elementary yoga exercises have really helped my back – it hasn’t felt this good in the last five years. Straining my back is what led to reduced physical activity is what led to couch potato syndrome in the first place. Poses like the cobra really helped reduce back strain over time. Good stuff.

This is going poorly. A while ago I almost strained my back and its still not in tiptop shape, so I don’t want to strain it too much. It feels sore after a day of work now and then. I pay much more attention to my posture which is a good thing I guess.

All I want to do is curl up and sleep ‘till spring. I let 5 days slip. Do I feel bad? Hell no! ‘twas christmas and new year’s eve, and I had a blast. Now it’s time to shape up and pick up the slack again.