To compliment Matt’s Sensible Diet Plan.
I’ve learned a lot through my trials with personal productivity. I used to be terribly unorganized until I discovered Getting Things Done. I’m not going to get into it in detail (there’s more here), but one thing I’ve become very disciplined at is being keenly aware of friction, which causes breakdowns in systems.
At this stage of my life, I have to be sure any diet plan, exercise plan, or any other personal betterment plan is without friction that could serve as a impediment to continuation. I used to be able to work out hard, diet extremely, but I don’t even want to go down those roads now. It has to be simply, not too time consuming, and practical.
So far my Sensible Diet Plan is working out like a charm. More details are in the link above. Basically I’m not denying myself anything at all. I’m just making much better choices. And eating less. It’s called mindful eating. And it’s paid off . It’s no sacrifice at all. And not hard work (will power or effort).
I do use one meal replacement supplement though. I’ve been using the original Myoplex for breakfast during weekday mornings (with skim milk) and on run days (with water) as my meal before my run. On my run days, I split my lunch in two and get solid food in at about 4pm (the other half is eaten at noon). Since I run at night, I had digestion (burping) issues when trying to eat a solid meal before my runs–even over 2 hours before. This made it difficult to time a good meal. I figured a meal replacement is the healthiest and easiest option. Also, besides eggs, a healthy protein rich breakfast is challenging to find.
The Myoplex is the one thing I’ve strayed from the original plan of “no special food or extra money.” But it’s healthy and I have no other good options right now. Ideally at some point I’ll work in some natural options instead (if they are not too much work).
That said, my exercise plan is going to follow a similar laid back approach. No more “no pain, no gain” machismo. Instead, whatever I do will be better than nothing. Much better than nothing.
I’m going to have to figure out something to do indoors during the cold winter months as a substitute for C25K (cardio). Other than that, my plan can all be done from the comfort of my living room. I should note that at one point in my life I swore off ever exercising in the house in favor of a well equipped gym. Now it’s the complete opposite. You see, getting to and from the gym and the money spent (and the entire gym culture that I’ve grown tired of) serve as friction.
So here it is. My Sensible Exercise Program:
- Cardio (3x a week): Jog 30 minutes.
- Chest (3x a week): 100 pushup program.
- Abs (3x a week): 200 situp program.
- Legs (3x a week): 200 squat program.
- Biceps (1x a week): Bodylastic band curls.
- Triceps (1x a week): Bodylastic band tricep extensions.
- Shoulders (1x a week): Bodylastic band shoulder press.
- Upper Back (1x a week): Bodylastic band rows (I need to look into a chinup bar!).
- Lower Back (1x a week): Don’t know what they are called, they are like reverse situps.
That’s all folks. It won’t be rigid. A week might be 7 days, it might be 10. It might be more. Just as long as the movements for each body part are done in a reasonable amount of time, it’ll be “much better than nothing.” I figure each will be 45 minutes max.
I’m going to look into P90X’s Plyometrics, Stretching, and maybe Yoga DVDs. I don’t want the entire program. The plyometrics would serve as a substitute for cardio in the dead of winter. The other two for some much needed flexibility.
My long term plan with cardio is to get into HIIT (high intensity interval training) at some point, although I’m going to dial down the “high” quite a bit. At my cardio level riight now and with winter approaching, this might have to wait until Spring.
In addition to health nutrition, here is a simpliar look at my exercise program and from a high level overall health view:
- Cardio: Jogging (must find indoor substitutes).
- Resistance: Bands and pushups, situps, and squats. Maybe chinup bar.
- Flexibility: Need P90X Yoga and Stretching DVDs.