It's frustrating when you are heavy. You move slower, you burn out quicker, and you hit harder with any kind of impact exercise you do. It's a battle I've been fighting for a while, and one that is not easy.
Running, while great exercise is hard on the body when you weigh as much as an asteroid. I still have the benefit of power, and plenty of it, but to pound trails, treadmills and streets for hours at a time hurts. It really fucking hurts.
I've been quiet the last couple of weeks while nursing a back/hip issue. Yet another challenge to overcome and problem to solve. The clock ticks and have been limited to short runs during the week and my long runs. Thankfully those long runs have been OK, and with the help of a few massages have just about kept going. But there is something going on with my body and i think I know what it could be...
It has been a mission keeping weight off the last few months. I've fasted 2 days a week and haven't been overly reckless but the weight has been creeping on. After doing some research it could be that i have a form of candida. The funny thing is, the minute I thought this, my scalp got terrible, my ears got an infection and a few other nasties that come with the candida infection. It is stubborn to get rid of, but I absolutely need to go shock-and-fucking-awe to get rid of it. It wreaks havoc with sugar cravings, recovery, energy levels and weight management. And holy shit has it hit with a vengeance! I've felt dreadful and I know when something is not right.
I've taken to creams, lotions, bark of pau d'arco, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and high dose pro-biotics in order to tackle the problem HARD, and i think I am turning the corner. But it is not a pleasant situation with my guts presently!
I have to admit, though, that Christmas is the single worst fucking time of year to get this. It's carbs bloody everywhere. Cocktails, dinners out, dinners in, and snacks on tap. So I'm limiting myself to Christmas week then that is it! Carbs will be almost entirely stripped out of the diet, apple cider vinegar drink each morning. Green tea and misery for a few months just to see what changes.
It'll be back to salad, chicken, broccoli, early morning runs, evening HIIT sessions (that's another beauty that I'm going to add in twice a week) and plenty of sleep to go hard to shift the unwanted pounds.
Middle age spread is a thing. It's definitely not the thing you want when training to do something as challenging as i will be. I've shifted weight before and will do so again, but need to be smart about it. Back to both fat adapting, while also looking at adding in more of the following:
Green tea
Apple Cider Vinegar
Omega 3 oil (flaxseed oil as i detest fish)
Higher protein
Coconut oil
Vitamin D & C
Boron (good for helping body increase natural testosterone production which dips with age)
I'll be adding in a couple of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions per week. I was leanest when I used to sprint and play rugby (lots of short sprints in a match) and respond well to this, historically. It's taxing on the body so recovery will be important and i also have to take care of my tendons, etc as they get hit hard. I'm lucky to have a static bike in my home gym so a couple of sprint sessions followed by bursts of mountain climbers should do the trick without putting too much force through the ankles and risking injury.
My plans are generally good but until i start testing them I won't know how much it'll take out of me or compliment what I'm doing. I will be making sure I don't push too hard too soon though as I'm getting pretty sick of frustrating injuries presently. The aim is that in cleaning up the diet and working smart with exercise it should help keep the body in good shape for the year to come.
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