Fitness Evaluation June 27, 2008 Change Age (Years) 36 Body Age (Years) 28 Height (in.) 62 Weight (lbs.) 102 -3 Body Mass Index (BMI) 18.7 -.5 Direct Value (Max VO2) 43 +.3 Biceps Strength (lbs.) 54 -2 Flexibility: Sit & Reach (in.) 12.4 +.5 Body Composition Body Fat Percentage 15.5% -.7% Lean Body Mass 86 lbs. -2 Sum of Skinfolds 38mm -2

Skinfold test, quadricep.

I still feel like I’m dragging myself through the day. I looked for ways to feel more energized, by eating bigger lunches and drinking coffee. But eating more vegetables and blueberries would only make me feel full and sleepy after every meal. And the murky water that I was drinking (instant coffee that I had left in the office a year ago) didn’t give me the energy burst that I was hoping for.

I know I must have looked desperate. Everyone in the office knows I don’t drink coffee. Last year Adrian and I decided to substitute our coffee drinking habits with healthier alternatives – Yerba Mate and Green Tea. But that didn’t stop me from pouring scoop after scoop of coffee into my to-go cup. It was so strong that not even “Juan Valdez” would have liked it. The instant coffee is gone now but my tiredness lingers.

On Friday we went back to the gym to get our body composition test. I was not looking forward to that. During the past 4 weeks I have not been exercising consistently. I also knew that I was eating more sugar (honey) than ever before. That alone slowed down any physical changes that I might be experiencing, unlike those that Adrian’s body was undergoing. I was feeling a little disappointed in myself.

I just prayed that I wasn’t in worse shape than when I started 4 weeks ago. That would have crushed my competitive ego.

I felt relief when Will (William Black, a fitness couch at Powerhouse Gym) said, “You did lose body weight and body fat.” YEA! On the negative side, I did lose lean body mass (muscle tissue), which I hope to reverse by returning to my regular weight training workout and by tweaking my nutrition. Will and I mapped out a plan for increasing my protein consumption throughout the day in order to maintain lean body mass, and to substitute the honey with fruit or vegetables. What was happening was that after eating honey, my blood sugar levels skyrocketed. That results in too much insulin being released into the bloodstream. When too much insulin is produced, blood sugar levels drop, resulting in tiredness, headaches, dizziness, confusion, mood swings, muscle weakness, and craving for stimulants such as coffee. Everything that I have been experiencing so far.

I knew all along the effects that excess sugar had on my body, but in the process of adapting to a local diet with limited starches and no simple sugars (except honey) I was easily seduced by the liquid gold.

Tomorrow I’ll be back into the swing of thing. My Goal for the next 4 weeks is to raise my energy levels through solid nutrition and to maintain my actual lean body mass while dropping my body fat percentage even more. Even dropping 1% of body fat in a month will be considered a success. Cheer me on as I take on this new fitness goal.

Fitness Evaluation May 27, 2008 Age (Years) 36 Body Age (Years) 28 Height (in.) 62 Weight (lbs.) 105 Body Mass Index (BMI) 19.2 Direct Value (Max VO2) 42.7 Biceps Strength (lbs.) 56 Flexibility: Sit & Reach (in.) 11.9 Body Composition Body Fat Percentage 16.2% Lean Body Mass 88 lbs. Sum of Skinfolds 40mm

Skinfold test, abdomen.

Six-Week Wrapup

It has been 6 complete weeks since we started eating a local diet. It feels like a long time, but if you start counting the weeks remaining, 46 to go, I start feeling nauseous… and it’s not for the amount of carbs that I’m eating.

I have to confess, during the first 2 weeks I had it easy, I was still pumped up and motivated by the whole 100 Mile Harvest endeavor. We were focused and busy working our 10 hour-a-day job and building this website. Who had time for food thoughts? After all I was still eating what we had left in the pantry so the reality of starch deprivation hadn’t hit me yet.

By the third week I was feeling dizzy and lethargic. During a break in one of my meetings I got out of my chair and felt like my world was spinning out of control. I had to sit down and take deep breaths to make everything go back to normal. In that moment I wished I had a protein bar to help me with the low blood sugar, but I had run out of them the day before. Somehow, I managed to get through the day without any major incidents.

All this time I was waking up at 4:00am to go to the gym. By the time I got to the office I had 5 hours behind me. Toward the end of the day my energy levels were dropping faster than a whore’s drawers.

When weeks 4 and 5 came around I was in honey heaven. We had found local honey and I was drinking it like fruit punch. I was delirious during my sugar highs…so much that Adrian had to hide the bottles to protect our honey supply. I had become unstoppable. Never before had I thought of gulping down honey, but these were extreme times.

Week 6 was jam packed with meetings and deadlines. I had so much to do at work that I decided to skip the gym and save some of that energy for the long days ahead. I had 11-hour days consulting off site, and on top of that I had to go home and be a mom. During those days I also had to face some unwelcome family news that put me on edge. Emotionally I was a wreck; it didn’t help that I was feeling tired, sleepy and hungry. Comfort food was all I wanted, and I didn’t have honey around. I must have had more than a thousand thoughts of quitting. By far this has been the hardest week to date. I’m looking forward to a fresh start on Monday.