Exercise is a Celebration of what you can do, not a punishment for what you ate!

Been a busy and stressful week since I came back from the US Vacation. This has meant that my time for adventures outside has been limited. So this week I thought I’d talk about Health and Fitness. I've been a sporty person all my life, played rugby, squash, tennis, cricket etc., but as I got older I developed the all too common father waistline. Tied to a desk you don't exercise enough. You eat badly. When you do get time, you prioritise the family. Your fitness reduces, your waistline expands and you get into an awful spiral.

Eight months ago, with my kids grown up I decided enough is enough. I started of slowly - walking, then adding more aerobic and strength things in. Dieting - specifically using Keto diets and fasting. Nothing to quick, as it's all to easy to burn out or seesaw on your weight. Consistency is key I find. Make it part of the day - not an extra chore.

About 5 days a week, I do aerobics in the morning for 25-45mins each day. Weights & Power things in the evening again for 45+mins. This evening session also helps reduce my food intake as I can't eat if I'm in the gym! I learnt it's easier to make it a process. I get up, gym clothes are there, just get in them & get to the gym. When I come home, before I stop, I change into gym clothes and go. Don't sit down, don't stop. When you do - you tend not to get back up!.

All that being said - if I want to eat something rich & high calorie - I do. If I want a lie in - I do. The key is to let these 'Cheat Days' be occasional, not the norm.

It's been working - as I said in an earlier post - I lost 25kg in 6mths. I've hit a weight plateau now, but are not too bothered as my strength & fitness in the gym are definitely still improving.

One benchmark is my deadlift - it's improved from 100kg to 140kg. The issue now is that the gym has run out of weight I can put on the bar! So while I try and convince the gym to get more equipment, I’ve started to learn the Snatch. This is the most technical Olympic Lift. It needs not only strength and power, but also flexibility and if repeated as a set, I'm finding its a great aerobic exercise as well. This week I started with an empty bar and a bar with just 10kg on it. Breaking it down into the discreet parts. Little did I realise how much I was using my quads. I always stretch, both during and after, with a light warm down as I've learnt it makes a difference to muscle soreness. But - on Tuesday night, ouch! Delayed Onset Muscle Strain (DOMS) with a vengeance ! Just touching my thighs was painful. You know that the pain will go and that it’s a sign the muscles are repairing and building, but it still hurts. My challenge for next week needs to be how to do Ice Bath's ! I also decided I did want to move through the weight plateau, so I went back onto a Keto diet. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101

The science of a Keto or Ketogenic Diet is a that it is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet that changes your metabolism to burn your fat stores for fuel rather than using the glycogen stored in your muscles. This allows your fat cells to begin releasing fatty acids, which your liver will then breakdown to produce what are called "ketones."

Ketosis is the physiological state that is achieved when your body breaks down ketones for energy rather than sugar. The increase in ketones helps lower blood sugar and balance fat-burning hormones, which enables the body to burn more fat for fuel everyday.

I personally find that when I'm on the diet, I am less hungry and eat less - fat is both richer & more filling. I also feel more alert.

Why not do it all the time? Well it is not that easy to maintain in a modern life. Not only no breads, rice, pasta, cereals like low carb diets - but also no sugars, so little to no fruit, only some vegetables, most processed food are a problem. People talk about it also creating a flu like effect. Personally I get that for a day as I transition, but that’s all.

I target doing it for 2-3 months st a time. This I feel is achievable, delivers results as well as allowing me to ensure I get a balanced diet over a longer period of time. The positives are the breakfasts - I can have it full of the foods I love ! Bacon, Salmon, Steak with lots of butter!

A friend of mine also started Keto. This was his first time, so I was helping with some practical tips. I find that for the first 3-4 days I track everything I eat to ensure I hit the right balance of macro's and calories. Then you get into a rhythm and life becomes easier.

Some tricks I use are;

• Coffee - I drink espresso mixed with a teaspoon of coconut oil.

• Green Veg to fill you up - Dark green good, colourful veg bad. Eat covered in butter or olive oil.

• Snack - Cheese!

• Bacon - how can you not like a diet where bacon is good.

• McDonalds - just don’t eat the bun!

• Combine with a 5+2 Fast speeds up the impact.

Now my mate likes to cook. So he’s been experimenting. He actually managed to make a type of pastry from ground pork skin, whey powder and egg! Filled it with an egg custard (not sweet) and you had a perfect Keto meal.

So, I'll let you know how I get on with my Snatch training in a later Blog. My target is to get a technically correct Snatch in 3 months. I'll worry about weight later. The same for the Keto diet - can I sustain it ?

#Fitness #Keto #Diet