“If you haven’t got your health, then you haven’t got anything.” – Count Rugen (The Princess Bride)
2010 was a banner year for fitness, personally. I had set a goal to hike the entire John Muir Trail — plus some — and backpacked over 230 miles in three weeks, culminated by summiting Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. In my training for this, I climbed many major peaks in Southern California, even starting a website devoted to covering the trails around Los Angeles and Orange County. I published a training guide used by many to prepare for Mt. Whitney, called the Six Pack of Peaks.
I accomplished it all, and when I returned from the JMT, I was promptly swamped with work. I immersed myself in work, and though I still walk, hike and run, I’ve been woefully inconsistent about it.
And so my girlfriend and I have joined Richard and Elaine Gjonovich’s Fit Challenge at San Clemente’s Outdoor Fitness Adventure Club. I did one of these challenges a couple years ago and it really helped me get back on track with exercise and healthy eating. Now after a busy winter, it’s time to come out of my work-induced hibernation and kickstart my health again.
The Fit Challenge is a five-week program designed to help you get a jump on your fitness goals. It begins with a body composition assessment and nutrion plan. The first 3-5 days you follow a “detox” nutrition plan — no caffeine, no sugar, no processed foods or crap. Lots of “detox soup,” chicken breast, brown rice and mint tea.
My plan is to follow this until I exhaust my current pot of soup (probably 3-4 days) then switch to Tim Ferris‘ “Slow-Carb” plan as outlined in The Four Hour Body (lots of protein, veggies and legumes… and one “free day” to eat whatever the hell I want).
My current clothed weight is 233 lbs, with a 24% body fat. My goal? 215 lbs and 18% body fat in five weeks. I’ll post again on March 12th with the results.
I realize this post is a departure from my oft-erratic subject matter, but I wanted to throw the gauntlet down. If any of you wants to join me in my crusade for personal health and fitness, drop me a line and we can encourage each other along the way.
Jeff, its Gina, Elaine’s partner in crime for Fit Challenge. Great post. We may have something to barter in the near future. Stay tuned.
Thanks for the comment, Gina. The soup has been great, but man I am looking forward to something else. I think I’ll stay on it I empty my pot. It should last through Friday.
I am on a similar challenge, but just intend to change my workout habits and see what happens. I am aiming to do all three King of the Hill trail races and train like crazy for them. I don’t have any weight goals, but they are more like fitness goals. I will push my body to see how far it can go. I wish you luck!
My preference is to “recreate” rather than “workout.” Hiking, walking, tennis, running… any form of active recreational activity that helps me break a sweat counts.
There are two problems with this. First, recreation typically takes more time than a workout. Second, it can be challenging to work the entire body purely with recreational activities alone. Not that at can’t be done, but it’s more challenging.
As I discovered yesterday (the day after doing a TRX suspension workout), I really need to do more to exercise my upper body strength. I’m still sore!
Good luck with your King of the Hill trail races! I ran cross-country through high school and still enjoy trail running versus any other kind of running.
Looks delicious! I am so missing my january detox, that I’m planning to go back on again this week…..
http://lifewithlizzi.wordpress.com/
“I am so missing my january detox…” You say that as though it’s a regular thing for you! How often do you do that?
For me, this is a once in a while thing. I just finished the last of my “detox soup” last night, thank God! Four days of that soup, three times a day was plenty for me, thank you.
As for the soup, it actually came out okay. You don’t use broth in this recipe, so it’s quite bland. I added red pepper flakes and jalapeno slices to jazz it up, but even so, it’s nice to move on to other food for a change.
Incidentally, Tim Ferris makes an interesting statement in his latest book: “There are 47,000 items in a supermarket, but only a few of them won’t make you fat.” So true.
Hi Jeff,
I just started the slow carb diet on Wednesday, and my first blog posts today. How has the first few weeks been? Results at all?
My posts are here: http://benpappin.wordpress.com/
The first few weeks have been great so far! I wrote a post after the first two weeks: http://www.www.jeffhester.net/2011/02/21/fit-challenge-week-2-results/ and I lost 4 lbs per week. I make a point not to weigh myself daily, choosing instead to weigh in on Monday nights. This coming Monday will be the end of three weeks, and I’ll post an update to let you know how it’s going.
In general, I’m finding the food to be satisfying, although I do look forward to my free day. I really do go wild on those days.