Since I have not made or met any REAL running or fitness goals over the past few weeks, it has been hard to update this thing. Story/struggle of my life, I guess. This lack of progress is definitely hitting home because my COVID Chunk (aka Pandemic Pounds) is no joke.
But that was then, and this is now because I think that I have a new plan on life.
Over the weekend, I read this amazing book, “The Obesity Code” by Dr. Jason Fung.
This book provides quite a bit of information regarding weight gain and (more importantly) weight loss. According to Dr. Fung (and other folks in nutrition), most diets will be unsuccessful unless you manage insulin levels.
Quick bio lesson: Insulin is responsible for pulling glucose (and other sugars) out of the blood and sending it into the liver. Insulin levels tend to increase right after we consume meals and snacks. In the liver, glucose (a very small molecule) combines with other glucose molecules and is stored as glycogen (a large molecule). Glucose is such a small molecule that it can easily move in and out of cells; whereas glycogen is too large to do this and must be broken down into smaller units. If glycogen is not broken down into its smaller subunits of glucose and moved back into the bloodstream, glycogen will eventually be converted into fat. At the end of the day, one should aim to reduce the frequency and amount of insulin that the body produces.
Since this book kind of lit the fire under my evergrowing ass, here are some things that I plan to do to get back in shape. Or rather, things to start my journey to a healthier lifestyle. Hopefully, I am not trying to do too many things at once. Every month, I plan to revisit this list and add or modify things.
Move from 16:8 to 18:6 intermittent fasting. Eventually, I would like to get to a point where I can do one 24-hr fast per week.
Get to bed (on weeknights) by 11:30 pm at the latest. No more watching Unsolved Mysterious or other random crap on Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime till 2-3 am. Hopefully, this will give me a better chance to wake up early, run my morning miles and, do HIIT workouts. Since gyms are still closed, I plan to incorporate some weighted resistance band training.
Speaking of gyms: I have learned that NYC is planning to slowly ramp up the reopening of gyms; however, I'm still a bit hesitant to visit my local New York Sports Club. I mean, my home gym was pretty yucky and a hot mess before this whole pandemic mess. I do not want to even think about the gyms and our new normal.
Actually follow the hubby's Whole 30 diet; however, I will give myself one (maybe two) cheat days a week. Let's not get too crazy here. ;)
Take more mental breaks during the workday. During these breaks, I plan to go on 10-15 minute walks. If it's too damn hot outside, I'll do a couple sets of planks instead of taking these walks.
I think that is a good place to start for now.
Lets’s see how this goes.
