We're ALL on a diet!

I'm immediately finding some personal benefits to this blogging thing.... First, sometimes when you write things down or say things out loud, even though they're things you are already very cognitive of, they take on a whole new perspective. A perfect example of this comes from the last comment of last week's blog. "I know 30%+ calories on beer is way too much!". I knew that to be true but it didn't really mentally resonate as an actual problem until after I wrote it. I'll mention the second major benefit a little later on.

I therefore NEED to adjust my diet accordingly. But while I'm thinking of the whole diet thing, I'd like to step onto the obligatory "Bloggers Soap Box" for one minute regarding the whole topic of diet and dieting. When did the term "diet" ever become a verb? Whenever people tell me they're "dieting", I want to put on my smart -ass cap and reply; I've got news for you, you've been dieting all your life... It's been a really crappy diet, and your performance in attending to your "diet" has been really negligent!

The whole concept that a diet is something that you only temporarily adhere to in order to fix your previous neglect of diet (noun) is a major red flag that indicates you will not solve your problem. You will only (at best) remedy its symptoms only to return to your previous habits and weight problems. It seems like the very acknowledgement that a temporary fix as valid nullifies the concept of treating diet with a fundimental, inherent, ongoing strategy or philosophy. Whether we like it or not, we have a diet to maintain.... How's it going to look is the real question.

A diet needs to be something that describes our over all continual strategy towards food and fitness. It requires some thought, some experimentation and it is by nature, nothing less than the way we continually look at the food we eat. It doesn't really matter to me if a persons diet is "The South Beach" diet, the "Atkins Diet", the "Clean Foods" diet, the "Zone Diet" or the "Paleo Diet", etc, etc; As long as it works for you. It is my belief that our physical makeups are so varied individually that what works for me would not necessarily work for someone who responds well to a low carb diet. My personal diet is primarily one where I try and balance my macronutrient levels to 40% Carb, 30% Fat & 30% Protein. I try to eat only whole grains with a medium glycemic index, organic when possible. I also try and split my meals into smaller "mini meals" 6+ times per day.

Regarding my personal need to work out as much as I do; I know little about my ancestors on either my mothers or fathers side but, I've determined that at least on one side, I must come from a family of n'th generation miners, loggers, military or any family oriented occupation where there was long hard work. You can't even imagine what would happen if you were to take someone with such a family background, where his genetic code is programmed to burn 5,000+ calories a day, and set him in a position where his entire daily activity levels were minimal. The result in my individual case resembles what I can only describe as two different Darylls. This is one clue to my extreme propensity towards exercise.

Stepping off soap box....

The second major personal benefit to blogging is accountability. I'm now publicly stating that there will be no brewskis' for me this coming week and I'm now going to HAVE to follow through.

My overall plan in getting super lean (160lbs) is so that I can increase my strength training and my participation in crossfit. This should then enable me to put on some extra muscle mass. Knowing my body as I do, I'm aware that I can only either lose weight or gain muscle at any one time... so it's time to ratchet back on my weight so I can replace it and end up at my ideal "fighting weight" of 162lbs.

This week:
I've run 140 floors of stairs
Rowed 22,157 meters
Ran 13 miles
Biked 90 minutes
Swam 2,600 meters

Performed 4 Crossfit workouts:

1. Poopy Diaper - AMRAP (as many rounds as poss.) 20min. 5 Thrusters, 7 Hang Cleans, 10 Sumo- Deadlift High Pull (PR'd I think at 14 rounds.)
2. Clean & Jerk 5,000 lbs., Team workout for two people to do 10,000lbs combined. 
3. The "Filthy Fifty" Fifty Each - Box Jumps, Jumping Pullups, Burpees, Push Press (45lbs), Wall Balls, Knees to Elbows, Lunges, Double Unders.
4. Back Squats 3x5. (125lbs Yeah "buttercup" I know... It'll get better!)

My Current Weight is 164lbs.
18,534 kcal Consumed
7,262 kcal Burned During Exercise
112,72 kcal Net (Consumed - Burned)
Daily Goal 2,088 (maintenance)
Weekly Goal 14,616
Deficit 3,344 (about 1 lb of fat)