Ælfric’s Diary

Ælfric

Ælfric

New member
I’m a 56 year old male, and I’m carrying significantly more spare tyre than is good for me.

After life threw me a couple of curve balls in quick succession a few years ago, my depression got the better of me, and one of the side effects of this was that I’ve packed on more than a few kilos, and all of it as body fat. Due to some changes in my circumstances, my depression is somewhat improved. While the depression is playing nice, I have the chance to improve matters.

I’m starting at 86.9 kg, but more importantly I’m sitting at something like 26/27% body fat. Equally, with a waist of 103 cm and hips or 101 cm, I have a waist/hip ratio of 102% and a waist height ratio of 57%. All of these numbers are red flags indicating I’m on a collision course with some serious health issues, particularly given a family history of diabetes.

I’m not concerned with a specific weight loss goal per se, except as it’s a means to the end of reducing body fat and fixing the other metrics. Long term targets are a body fat percentage of less than 15%, a waist/hip ratio of less than 90%, and a waist height/ratio of less than 52% (these would all be considered healthy values).

Food

I’ve done a couple of Whole 30 detoxes in the past, and both times I lost some weight, even though that isn’t the purpose of Whole 30. So my idea is to base the eating on a less restrictive form of W30. So what’s in (or rather, what’s out):
  • sugars and sweeteners;
  • alcohol;
  • grains;
  • legumes: W30 bans all legumes, I’m modifying to allow some legumes, not as the main ingredient of a dish, so tamari would be allowed, but a bowl of chilli beans would not.
  • dairy: W30 bans all dairy, I’m modifying this to allow one cup of non-homogenized milk per day, as I feel having some dairy helps with the depression (it’s a source of L-tryptophan, which is a precursor for seratonin)
  • MSG and sulfites: W30 also bans carrageenan, but I don’t think this is an issue for me (on the other hand, I’m not gping to actively search it out).
  • baked goods and junk foods (even if made with ingredients that would be approved): this is what W30 refers to as “sex with your pants on”, the point being that a pizza crust made from cauliflower is still a pizza crust.
Most of what is out are high carb foods, not because I think carbs are fattening per se, but because I know I have control issues with carbs (why eat one biscuit when you can eat the whole packet).

Exercise

In addition to whatever exercise I would normally do, I’m adding 300 kettlebell swings per day for the duration. These should take about 20 minutes (including rests). I had planned on 100 swings, but it only took a few minutes to do them. If the set up and tear down takes longer than the exercise, it’s not going to happen.

Starting date: yesterday (Sunday 2nd August).
 
02/08/2020

Weight: 86.9 kg
Waist: 103 cm
Hips: 101 cm
Body fat: 26.7% (± some significant margin of error, hopefully held in check by averaging three different ways of measuring this)

This gives:
Lean body mass: 63.7 kg
Body fat: 23.2 kg, of which 15 kg is surplus to requirements
Waist/hip ratio: 102%
Waist/height ratio: 57%

Food

Meal One: Scrambled eggs with grilled chicken tenderloins and herbs.

Meal Two: Chicken and vegetable broth.

Meal Three: Chicken and vegetable curry (no rice).

Meal Four: Banana and berry smoothie (this is where the milk comes in). I would previously have used the larger blender container, however I’m now using the smaller container, which limits the amount of milk.

Snack: Four figs.

Exercise

Kettlebells

There’s arguments back and forth in the kettlebell community over the relative benefits of one handed and two handed swings. One handed applies twisting forces to the body which the core has to resist, while two handed can use heavier weights. I decided to split the reps 50/50 between the options.
  • 8kg × 50 alternating swings (25 each side)
  • 12kg × 50 two handed swings
At which point I decided 100 per day was going to be far too little exercise compared with the administrative overhead, so I did:
  • 8kg × 40 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 40 two handed swings
  • 8kg × 30 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 30 two handed swings
  • 8kg × 20 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 20 two handed swings
  • 8kg × 10 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 10 two handed swings
The result of all this a a great big blister that I’ve ripped the skin off on the outside of each ring finger. I only put three fingers into the handle, which puts the ring finger up against the handle, and I seem to have lost the rhythm for the changeover (it’s been years), so the fingers are rubbing against the metal. This should resolve itself as I get back into the swing of things (pun intended).

The swings took about 10 minutes of actual exercise time, and about 15 minutes or so of elapsed time. Nice and quick.

Yoga

Just over a ½ hour of yoga. That’s time spent in the poses, not clock time. Probably 45 minutes all up.
 
03/08/2020

Woke up stiff and sore this morning. I guess that means I'm on schedule.

Food

Meal One: Smashed eggs with herbs. Think of a cross between scrambled and grilled eggs: drop the eggs into the pan, then start stirring them about so they break up, but you don't end up with anything as homogenous as scrambled eggs.

Meal Two: Chicken and vegetable broth.

Meal Three: Chicken and vegetable curry (no rice).

Meal Four: Banana and berry smoothie.

Snack: Four figs.

Exercise

Kettlebells

  • 8kg × 50 alternating swings (25/side)
  • 12kg × 50 two handed swings
I decided to add a few low rep exercises into the mix between blocks of swings:
  • 16kg × 10 racked squats (5/side): having the bell in the racked position creates a twisting force that the core needs to counteract
  • 8kg × 40 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 40 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 10 rows (5/side)
  • 8kg × 30 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 30 two handed swings
  • 8kg × 10 presses (5/side)
  • 8kg × 20 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 20 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 10 racked squats (5/side)
  • 8kg × 10 alternating swings
  • 12kg × 10 two handed swings
  • 8kg × 10 presses (5/side)
The cheap crappy bandage strips that came with the first aid kit parted company from my fingers halfway through, but I don't seem to have done any significant new damage to the blisters.

The swings and the extra exercises took about 12 minutes of exercise time, and about 20 minutes or so of clock time. This seems to be about where I should be aiming.

Yoga

Just over a ¾ hour of yoga. Probably took the full hour including faffing around between asanas.
 
04/08/2020

If I felt stiff yesterday, then more like concrete today. This will resolve itself as the body adapts to swinging the bells.

Food

Meal One: Herb omelette with salsa.

Meal Two: Corn kernels in chicken and vegetable broth. Treating the corn kernels as a vegetable and not a grain is an allowable deviation from W30.

Meal Three: Chicken and vegetable curry (no rice). I don’t have a big freezer, so if I make a crock pot of something, it has to be eaten until it’s finished. There’s plenty of veg in the curry: orange sweet potato, broccoli (I’d normally put spinach in, but the broc was cheap and that wonderful blue-green colour, and I couldn’t resist), cauliflower, plus tomato and onion in the curry gravy.

Meal Four: Banana and berry smoothie.

Snack: Four figs.

Exercise

Kettlebells

  • 8kg × 50 alternating swings; 12kg × 50 two handed swings; 16kg × 10 racked squats
  • 8kg × 40 alternating swings; 12kg × 40 two handed swings 8kg × 10 presses
  • 8kg × 30 alternating swings; 12kg × 30 two handed swings;; 12kg × 10 rows
  • 8kg × 20 alternating swings; 12kg × 20 two handed swings; 16kg × 10 racked squats
  • 8kg × 10 alternating swings; 12kg × 10 two handed swings; 8kg × 10 presses
Better fabric bandage strips and paper tape kept the blisters covered, but I’ve started to wear a new one on the left finger on the next joint up.

Other than the ’bells, this was a rest day.
 
Hey Ælfric welcome, and you are off to a great start!

I had to look up the swinging exercises you are doing, never heard of them. Looks like a great way to train.

Keep up the good work, I am looking forward to following your progress!
 
04/08/2020 continued.

Got hungry late at night, so had a small serving of mixed seeds with some vanilla mixed in.

05/08/2020

While the legs, and particularly the hamstrings, were still very sore and stiff today, from the hips up things were much improved. The body adapts.

Food

Meal One: Smashed eggs.

Meal Two: Chicken and vegetable broth. Added some green Tabasco (the smoked one). This is the last of the broth.

Meal Three: Chicken and vegetable curry (no rice).

Snack: Four figs.

Meal Four: will be a Banana and berry smoothie after yoga.

Exercise

Kettlebells
  • 8kg × 50 alternating swings; 12kg × 50 two handed swings; 16kg × 10 racked squats
  • 8kg × 40 alternating swings; 12kg × 40 two handed swings 8kg × 10 presses
  • 8kg × 30 alternating swings; 12kg × 30 two handed swings;; 12kg × 10 rows
  • 8kg × 20 alternating swings; 12kg × 20 two handed swings; 16kg × 10 racked squats
  • 8kg × 10 alternating swings; 12kg × 10 two handed swings; 8kg × 10 presses
Just used paper tape, which worked OK. I'm rubbing on the two handed swings, not the alternating swings as I had thought. Because my form isn't 100% smooth, the handle is jiggling back and forth against the outside of the fingers. Hundreds of little jiggles makes for blisters. I'll keep taping the fingers until the swings are much smoother.

Yoga

I'm going to do 45 minutes of Yoga, drink my smoothie, and crawl into bed.
 
Ælfric said:
... Most of what is out are high carb foods, not because I think carbs are fattening per se, but because I know I have control issues with carbs (why eat one biscuit when you can eat the whole packet). ...
Click to expand...
if you have never seen this before...

insulin reaction to macro nutrients.jpg

this is the truly insidious effect of carbohydrates. not only will the high insulin level and associated crash trigger hunger, but a high insulin to glucagon ratio will block the bio-mechanism necessary to burn fat. a high(er) fiber level will serve to lessen this effect somewhat. eating a whole orange vs drinking a glass of OJ.... huge difference.
 
06/08/2020

Food

Meal One: Poached eggs.

Meal Two: The last of the chicken and vegetable broth.

Meal Three: Chicken and vegetable curry (no rice).

Snack: Seeds.

Meal Four: Banana and berry smoothie.

Meal Five: Kippers. Two tins (oops).

Exercise

Kettlebells
  • 8kg × 50 alternating swings; 12kg × 50 two handed swings; 16kg × 10 racked squats
  • 8kg × 40 alternating swings; 12kg × 40 two handed swings 8kg × 10 presses
  • 8kg × 30 alternating swings; 12kg × 30 two handed swings;; 12kg × 10 rows
  • 8kg × 20 alternating swings; 12kg × 20 two handed swings; 16kg × 10 racked squats
  • 8kg × 10 alternating swings; 12kg × 10 two handed swings; 8kg × 10 presses
Went grocery shopping, a process that should have taken about 90 minutes, and actually took 4 hours. By the time I go tback, all I wanted to do was eat (meal five) and crawl into bed, but I did manage to get a batch of vegetable broth into the crock pot.
 
07/08/2020

Woke up feeling like death warmed up, so crawled back into bed. Spent most of the day iun bed feeling physically below par, and with the depression playing silly buggers.

Food

Meal One: Banana and cocoa smoothie based on almond milk.

Meal Two: .

Meal Three: Poached eggs and salad.

Snack: Four figs.

Meal Four: Banana and berry smoothie.

Exercise

Kettlebells
  • 12kg × 50 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 50 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 40 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 40 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 30 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 30 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 20 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 20 two handed swings
  • 12kg × 20 two handed swings
Still did a total of 300 swings, but it took a good half hour, and I didn't try anything fancy.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
 
Hi, Ælfric. I'm sorry that you woke feeling so bad. Do you feel that you have something physically wrong with you, like a cold or is it your depression? I know, from experience, it can be hard to tell & to separate the two. Do the kettlebell exercises make you feel better mentally? I haven't commented on them as they sound like agony to me, rather than something to enjoy. I can only say what works for me and of course, it would not work for everyone. The best thing for me mentally is time spent in nature. I don't know where you live, but is it possible for you to go for a walk somewhere quiet & pleasant? Walking in itself can be quite meditative. Before I had my dog I would just walk & find somewhere peaceful, close my eyes & just do some deep breathing & listen to the birds or the wind in the trees. Having a dog has really helped me too. Now I don't get much of a chance to sit in peace in the bush (make that no chance) but I know that I laugh a hell of a lot more too.
I hope you feel better in the morning.
 
Hi Cate.

In hindsight I’d call it depression. Yesterday was overcast and rainy, so that was probably a big factor.

I quite enjoy the kettlebells. They’re almost like a moving meditation: once you get a flow going, it’s just focus, swing, and count. I’m not using a huge amount of weight, so there’s no strain, and now that I’ve been doing them for a week the soreness has gone.
 
I'm not the biggest fan of kettlebells but I quite enjoy the basic swings as well. The rhythmic movement is nice. I hope your mood/mental state improves. I struggle with anxiety and depression at times as well.
 
08/08/2020

Food

Meal One: Omelette with a tomato, mushroom, cucumber and avocado salsa.

Meal Two: Pineapple.

Meal Three: Soup followed by pie. The pie was based around the idea of shepherd’s pie, but using turkey mince, cauliflower and broccoli for the filling, and sweet potato for the mash. The soup was the excess liquid that the filling had cooked in (even so, I didn’t remove enough liquid, and I have a mess in the over to clean tomorrow.

Snack: Four dried figs.

Meal Four: Banana and berry smoothie.

Exercise

Kettlebells
  • 8 kg × 50 alternating swings; 12 kg × 50 two handed swings
  • 8 kg × 40 alternating swings; 12 kg × 40 two handed swings
  • 8 kg × 30 alternating swings; 12 kg × 30 two handed swings
  • 8 kg × 20 alternating swings; 12 kg × 20 two handed swings
  • 8 kg × 10 alternating swings; 12 kg × 10 two handed swings
Skipped the extras because they would have interfered with…

Weights
  • Parallel Grip Deadlifts:
    • warm ups: 30 kg × 5; 40 kg × 5; 50 kg × 5; 60 kg × 5;
    • work sets: 5 × 70 kg × 5.
  • Overhead Presses:
    • warm ups: 12½ kg × 5; 15 kg × 5; 17½ kg × 5;
    • work sets: 5 × 20 kg × 5.
  • Barbell Rows:
    • warm ups: 22½ kg × 5; 25 kg × 5; 27½ kg × 5;
    • work sets: 5 × 30 kg × 5.
I’ve not done any weight training for a few months due to moving house, so I wasn’t too sure what weight to pick. I’d planned on doing 60 kg deadlifts, but that was obviously too light when I lifted the first set, so I called that a fourth warm up set and lifted 70 kg for the work sets. The presses and rows were better guesses. These working weights felt heavy, but not excessively so (not working at the limit).

The sad thing about weight training is that, even though the workout takes the best part of an hour, it’s really only about 5 minutes of actual exercise. But it’s an important five minutes, as I don’t want to be losing muscle mass.

One issue I have with the new house is that there isn’t clearance to set up the power rack under the house. So I’m limited to exercises I can do safely without access to the rack. Eventually I’ll probably take to the rack uprights with an angle grinder and lop about 15 cm off the top, and drill new bolt holes. But I can work with what I have, and there are more urgent things to be done around the house.
 
Ælfric said:
The sun was shining today, which is a big plus. Today was much better.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it! Safe strength training is a great thing, especially when you're in a caloric deficit. Plus it always gives me a sense of accomplishment, which is good for the brain.
 
Hey AE, sounds like you are doing well with your food and exercise.

Sun can really help the mental health, I think we all need some minimum amount a day. I used to do some work in Alaska and knew people who installed a light wall to simulate sunlight in winter, I think it helps.

Your weight lifting is impressive!
 
alligatorob said:
Sun can really help the mental health, I think we all need some minimum amount a day.
Click to expand...

One bonus from the swings is that I'm standing out in the sunshine while I'm doing them, so I get that little bit extra vitamin S each day.
 
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