I’ve steadily improved my activity over the past few years, but I can tell a marked improvement since getting a smart trainer and Trainer Road subscription in April. I went from around 500 miles last year to 1200 and I still have a month and a half to put in work. Activities are up by about 25%. Although I had done a phenomenal job losing about 20-25 pounds last year, the impending stress of a new promotion, baby on the way, and COVID made for a perfect storm that resulted in a steady weight gain despite the increased activity. I’ll be the first to note that I have not made nutrition a priority, and have used it as a comfort in the last year: a habit I’m about to re-structure.
Instead of falling into the trap of enjoying the holiday foods to the fullest, and then repenting with an annual resolution on Jan 1, this year I start a new resolution to cultivate an awareness of the food I put into my mouth.
The first step: taking a snapshot of the door with the app ATE. As this becomes second nature, then I’ll work on logging calories in my fitness pal, and finally, I’ll dial in the granular analysis of my shopping and food prepping habits. In 2007, I used Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT as I trained myself into the best shape of my life, and I’m getting to a point where I’m structuring my work and getting a better handle on sleep as pillars to help support this change.
Without managing sleep, my greatest weakness currently, I know I can’t expect to be successful long term. This is exemplified by years worth of start and stop cycles of 1-3 weeks on training, 1-3 weeks off. This unstructured training was also plagued by the idea that I could pick up where I had left off. Once I put my training in the hands of a program based on power, I can tell that I recover quick and am more sustainable. With discipline, I took advantage of the fall time savings to solidify my 4:45am alarm clock that allows me to spin for 30-60 min before my toddler is up and I need to get her to school and then make it to work.
If I don’t start early, there’s no hope to remake that time in a day. I pair this urgency with excitement to spin as I save a fun show or audiobook as ‘my time’ where I’m uninterrupted.
I used to define myself as an Ironman triathlete, but now my identity has changed. First and foremost I’m a father who does triathlons as a way to practice a balanced life, rich in healthy habits that I aim to instill as the norm in their upbringing.
To be honest, I really do hate running, but there’s nothing like the satisfaction of taking the first step towards a huge endeavor and celebrating bringing that adventure to a close as one sets their sites on the next day’s horizon.