Diet & Exercise

Our coach requires us to adhere to a strict diet consuming mainly "fuel" - excellent concept - practically impossible task, especially during the holiday season. I am starting to figure out what to eat, but attempting to limit what you eat to only the fuel required is much more difficult. Over-eating is very easy for me, and it kills my attempts at weight loss no matter how healthy my food choices. I am desperately trying to optimize fuel intake and minimize excess food intake to help cut some weight. I think the next step is to track calorie intake for about 3-4 weeks while continuing to monitor weight an exercise.

On a positive note, the exercise requirements for daily push-ups and sit-ups has not been nearly as challenging as I once expected. The initial goal is 500 of each per week, which equates to 100 per day 5 days a week. I have been doing quite well exceeding the current requirement striving for 700 a week. So far, I am up to 1800/1650 although I expected to be at 1900 per exercise. I plan to catch up by New Year's day.

Dehydration

Did you know that neck & back pain can be caused from chronic dehydration. Don't believe it? When was the last time you were truly hung over - this can really affect your head - sometimes just due to dehydration and neck muscle cramping. I found recently that my intake of water was not as high as it might need to be, especially during the holiday parties. One boxing class two days after a holiday party, I still hadn't adequately hydrated causing significant neck pain and an unusual lack of sweat.

If you have unusual cramping and massive headaches that pound as your feet hit the ground - consider that your water intake may be significantly under what you need. Drink a lot of soda? This could add to your pain. There are a lot of articles out there that state you need 32 "glasses" of water to counteract one 12oz. soda. I know this well because I used to drink over a six pack of Pepsi or Mountain Dew each day. Now, I drink only water and green and black teas. This alone improved my life. Please review your current beverage intake and determine a hydration plan; without this under control, you may needlessly suffer from aches and pains.

Brutal Exercise

The gym I attend does an excellent job of tearing down muscle to enable your body to rebuild for better fitness. Recently, I just started kicking, which has been a significant challenge - new muscles that haven't been used for years are targeted for repetitious movements. It is very rough to work through these initial aches and pains. Additionally, I have just started grappling. This is a whole new kind of tiredness and pain. Joints are a little more stiff when it is over, and muscles are a lot more exhausted. I will be in much better shape in about 4-6 weeks at this current pace.

Diet Changes

This black belt program requires that you monitor your diet such that 90-95% of your food intake is considered fuel. I have done this in the past, but I usually have a weight loss goal and a time period of 2-3 months. This is more of a permanent change, which is very difficult to cope with at this time. For now, I am just going to approach this as a two month weight loss diet and hope that I can sustain this for the long haul.

Quest for a Black Belt in American MMA

Week 1 - Almost five months of training down on the basics of boxing. Finally starting to feel able to get through a work-out without over exhaustion or heat stroke. The gym has helped me feel more open and energetic. The addition of grappling and kick-boxing have convinced me this is my new sport, and I will be dedicating a good portion of my time to improving my self while learning the techniques of MMA.

Step 1: Self Assessment - This began at the end. A quick eulogy exercise reminded me I have a long way to go to become who I want to be. I am working on solidifying my goals for personal improvement. In some cases, this has required deep inspection and commitment just to obtain the overall goal. Once complete with the main goals, I will begin breaking them in to smaller pieces of the elephant.