By Tyson on July 21, 2010
I have a confession to make. When I finally got around to posting my Journey to Abs post, I was already about 2 weeks into my refeed experiment. I just hadn’t had the time to actually proofread the post and get it out there. With that said, my first few weeks on the refeed didn’t go so well. I think I jumped in a bit fast and didn’t get as much research in as I wanted. I basically turned every refeed day into a cheat day and I found that I was eating way more of the wrong stuff than I should have been. I wasn’t eating junk food, just not the right ratio of the right foods. My fat intake should have been around 50grams a day and I found myself continuing to eat my primal way and was eating well over 100grams a day. My carbs where right on and my protein intake was high though. I also found myself justifying a constant feeding of my face as a “refeed” day, even on cardio days. Tack that onto the 4th of July weekend and it spelled disaster.
Needless to say, I quickly gained about 5 lbs and about 2% bodyfat in those few shorts weeks. Since then I have done a lot more research on the process of refeeds and I think I may finally have a handle on it. Of course, I have not started it back up again. I am currently just doing my primal way of eating: low carbs and high fat. I thought about trying the refeeds again this week or next but I am going on vacation in 2 weeks and I want to look at cut as possible so I am not going to experiment until I get back.
My new approach is going to be a refeed every 4-5 days (and always on weight training days only). The other days, I will continue to go low carb. I am going to give it a try again for a few weeks but if I don’t see any noticeable results then I am going to chalk it up to refeeds not working for my body.
Posted in Fitness, Nutrition | Tagged carbs, fat, Primal, protein, refeed |
By Tyson on July 14, 2010
I struggled with the name of this post for some time. I thought about calling it the Ripped Challenge but that just didn’t have the right feel. Plus I used the word challenge in my last long term posts. No, this time its all about getting abs. Something that has eluded me forever!
The other day my oldest daughter asked me if I had a six thing under my shirt. I asked her if she meant six pack and she said yes. I told her unfortunately I do not but that I was working on it. She then asked me how many more years it was going to take. I laughed it off but deep down I knew she was right. I am 32 years old and have never had anything that could be considered even close to a six pack. If I haven’t had one yet, what makes me think I can do it now?
Truth is… I don’t know. I really don’t. But that has never stopped me from trying. I never thought I would be at 10 percent body fat but here I am. Now I just need to figure out a way to get down a few more percentage points and I will be set (I hope).
I have done P90x more times than I care to remember. It has been good to me but never great. This time around I am sticking to basic weight training combined with HIIT. For nutrition I am going to be doing some intermittent fasting. The program I am going to try is based on Martin Berkhan’s refeed approach from leangains.com. It’s basically a 16 hour fast followed by a 8 hour feed. Not being a stranger to IF, I don’t see this as being too hard for me to follow. Martin goes into further details on his website so I won’t bore you with the details here but if you are interested I suggest checking out leangains.com for yourself. It’s pretty impressive stuff.
So here is the challenge for myself. I am giving myself 6 weeks to do the leangains challenge. I will have weekly updates and progress photos as I see fit. At the end of the 6 weeks I will post my thoughts on the program. I think it’s going to be a great challenge and I hope to debunk some of the common misconceptions about frequency and number of meals required to not only lose fat but to gain lean muscle.
Posted in Fitness, HIIT, Primal | Tagged abs, bodyfat, Intermittent Fasting, leangains |
By Tyson on July 6, 2010
I received this letter from my Congressman today in regards to my concern over genetically modified foods. I am not really sure what to think about it. I really didn’t think that a congressman for a largely agricultural based state like Kansas would knock the hand that feeds him but it really appears that Congressman Moore is in favor of genetically modified foods.
What do you think?
Dear Tyson:
Thank you for sharing with me your concerns regarding genetically engineered crops and foods. I appreciate hearing from you.
Since the first genetically engineered (GE) crops became commercially available in the mid-1990s, U.S. soybean, cotton, and corn farmers have rapidly adopted them. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food, including that from biotechnology, primarily to ensure that it poses no human health risks, mainly under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and the Public Health Service Act. Under the FFDCA, all food and feed manufacturers must ensure that the domestic and imported products they market are safe and properly labeled. All domestic and imported foods and feeds, whether or not they are derived from GE crops, must meet the same standards.
There are concerns that the GE foods include genes that could prove allergenic, introduce increased toxicity, or otherwise be harmful to human health. Some critics contend that the FDA regulation process lacks transparency since the agency places all the responsibility to generate safety data on manufacturers instead of conducting its own tests. Supporters of the current system, on the other hand, argue that additional testing and oversight are unnecessary because all foods currently must meet the same federal safety standards regardless of whether or not they are genetically engineered.
Stemming from some of these concerns regarding GE foods, Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D-OH] introduced H.R. 6636, the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, on July 29, 2008. H.R. 6636 would have required that food manufactures provide labeling information informing the consumer if a product had been produced with a genetically engineered material. Additionally, this measure would have subjected violators to civil monetary penalties. This measure was referred to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development, and Foreign Agriculture and the House Energy and Commerce Committee for further consideration. Unfortunately, H.R. 6636 was not considered prior to the adjournment of the 110th Congress. It must be reintroduced in the 111th Congress before it can again receive consideration. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind should I have the opportunity to vote on this bill or other legislation related to GE foods during the 111th Congress.
Thank you again for contacting me. I hope you will continue to keep in touch and please feel free to let me know whenever I may be of assistance.
Very truly yours,
DENNIS MOORE
Member of Congress
Posted in Health | Tagged congressman moore, genetically modified foods |
By Tyson on June 26, 2010
I really hate to admit this but I am done with P90x for awhile. Week 10 was a hard week to get through. I have done this workout so many times that I didn’t have the passion that I used to. The workouts became so mundane and I felt like I was just going through the motions rather than giving it my all. I was modifying the workouts to the point where I wasn’t even doing them right anymore. I was skipping plyometrics and swimming instead and I was doing Biggest Loser Yoga instead of YogaX.
The biggest disappointment for me came in my body fat. If fluctuated a little bit up and down but never went on a continuous decline like I was hoping it would. This week I am going to start something new. I am not sure what that is going to be quite yet but you can bet that I will post it on this here blog.
Thank you to everyone that commented on my progress and continued to support me.
Posted in Featured, P90x, Primal | Tagged challenge, P90x, pictures, Primal |
By Tyson on June 24, 2010
Neale
This week has been tough staying on schedule with all the activities and my weight has fluctuated and is now at 166 this morning. It’s time to buckle back down and get busy. I want to be under 160 by next week.
Tyson
Last week was my last week of P90x. I hit a wall and no amount of pushing was going to get me over it. I also have managed to jam the bones in my left foot so all forms of intense cardio were out the window. This week I am taking it easy with some light swimming as my cardio and not weight training. Next week I hope to start a new training program. As of right now, I am not sure what that is going to be. I may join my wife in doing Turbofire or I may do the “300” workout.
Posted in Featured, P90x | Tagged challenge, P90x, pictures, turbofire |
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