Diet secrets - Part One

I started last year to talk a little about ,my change of life style, diet and overall pacing. As all changes, good ones and bad ones, there is always a trigger, usually a fundamental one. Coming into Maui, starting working remotely and gently exiting the rat race, was a certainly a big step for me. It allowed me to reestablish myself on new basis and redefine my goals, personal, and family related. Maui, a Surfer's island and Kitesurfer's paradise helps you to get on tracks, and stay on tracks. 

Not so brief encounter with the "BoneYard".
Glad I had my gloves and wet suit.

Stepping outside, the reef is there to remind you the right of way.

I still believe it is possible to change your diet and lifestyle anywhere, but there is obviously some atmosphere that helps, and having a better way of organizing my time, balancing personal life, work life and fun stuff without too much struggling, made it easier. I don't think that coming to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific is an easy choice, and it has its inconveniences, obviously, it is not made for everyone, but when it is made for you, it is definitively a good kicker to change things.

Shark Repellent

Ok, Now we are done with the philosophical stuff, let s go back on the subject. 

Checking back those posts, /relatively-easy-diet-explained-1-fears, I went through the basics fears I had to go over, before even considering changing my diet. Let's say, you have the time and the will to try it too. Where do you start ? Not sure, but I can say where I did start.
Google. Everything started with "Surfer Diet" keywords. Yeah, I know, I consider myself as a surfer. Presumptuous ?

Surfer Diet Website

Super simple. But there is a lot of truths in those simple evidences. No Junk food. Not too much fat. Some proteins, some carbs. Carbs ? what do you mean? One link after another, you begin to get the terms, hidden truth behind the fad diets and weight watchers b***t.
Eventually ....To my point, today I was during a quick run through this book at the supermarket. 

A Texas Firefighter , professional Triathlete, Vegan .. Unusual.

Guess what. Did not see anything new. Except the setup. I think at this point, we can assume we know what is good and what is not.
The only question is, are you ready for it ?

Another book that I am reading (full time this one) and that covers more in details the diet profile I am using:

I discovered it AFTER I was already deep into my diet, and just got a more scientific explanation about why it is working and how you can push it further. But the basics, I grabbed them on Google. As would say my wife, I am pretty good at diagonal reading and filtering the crap on the internet. I think this is a skill of survival in the 21th century.

What is my point ? The information is there, free and available. You have books too. I will explain my tactics, but you can have yours. Beware the easy path, it is the way on the dark side. And if you start dig into that , you will understand pretty fast :

Stop talking about diet as a losing weight method. A diet is a way of eating, and will evolve into a way of life. Someone said (I am pretty sure - people have said everything and its opposite- But I am too lazy to google it - too late - I did - hey, this guy was french) - You are what you eat. Kind of obvious to me that you cannot change yourself - and your body is part of your self -without changing what you eat. 

Then, stop looking for an easy route, a quick way of losing 5 pounds, stop losing weight, just change your diet.

The best for the end :

Ridiculous picture, And , yes, I kept the T-shirt on purpose. 

But yes, it is working. Figures to prove it. 5 inches - 13 cm to prove it.

And frankly, before .. I was not what people will consider fat... and miles from obese.

I regret this picture already ;)

2013 - Part 4

Back to sailing. In this last post about "2013 resolutions" here is the new - or is it old news already- one. Sailing never really went away. Always present in some corner of my twisted mind. I guess the fact that I am doing a monthly check to the Napa Valley Marina is a good reminder as well.
Heard a story about a guy that forgot he had a boat. He was doing automated payment or something, and totally forgot about it. After a couple of years, the marina had really hard time to track the owner of this rotting boat, even if the bill was payed on time every month.

Landing pad for bird poo.

Anyway, If you followed this blog, you know that our "Mobylette" is laying up on the ground, still in the San Francisco Bay. In case, you did read this blog, you may have noticed we do not live there anymore. More like 3000 miles and 5 hours plane from there. Funny, no ?


A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, what felt an eternity, we had some good times together.

Couple of years ago.

We sailed at sunset.

We sailed at night.

We sailed during the day.

We did sail. Not too much. As often as we could. Always in the bay. One time we went under the bridge. In the open ocean ;) - That was something. Back to our blog. Wipe away this nostalgic tear. I have been thinking a lot about this situation, Us here, Her over there. As you noticed, I think a lot ;).


Maybe this book , helped to take a decision.

Breaking Seas: An overweight, 

middle-aged computer nerd buys his first boat, 

quits his job, and sails off to adventure

by Glenn Damato

The end is quite surprising, but you will have to read it, to make your own opinion.

First he did the Ha Ha too. He pointed the legal disclaimer.
“The Ha-Ha is a high risk activity open only to those gladly willing to risk injury and death in the pursuit of adventure.”
He became a little philosophe.
"I believe we are not humans who occasionally have a brief spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a brief human experience"

Frankly, If he did it, why not me ? And guess what... I already have the boat, and already know how to sail ... In the bay, at least.

...

This decision, like a bet. I am lowering her price down to what we bought here, 3 years ago, and getting ready to let her go for a little less, let s say, maximum 10% off the listing price. Seems like a deal. If she goes, she goes. But there is a dead line, not sure yet, certainly early May. If in May, she did not sell, she goes to Mexico. We go to Mexico. I will outfit her during this summer and we will go down the coast to join the Baja Ha Ha in San Diego, and go off for two weeks of sailing along the Baja coast, certainly aiming to another lay-up in Mazatlan.

What does that mean ? I will certainly post more details about the actions and consequences of this choice - bet. But that would be a challenge. At least for me. But I begin to fell I want - I need to be challenged again. Push the boundaries of what I can do. I begin to dream - and fear it at the same time - that she does not sell.
In the mean time,

Back to the books

Wait and see. What fate is saving for me for this year.

2013 - Part 3

If you followed the previous posts, in this serie, I go over my goals - intentions - resolutions for 2013. Pretty lame , isn't it ? Last weel, I explained my fitness goals. Could have been worst, at one point, I was thinking to prepare for the Maui Triatlon. Well, I do not have a bike, then, I bailed out.

Truth is I really like surfing, and all related activities. No kidding.
Anyway, this week is a transition week between no wind at all and good surfing with relatively small waves (4-6 foot) to crapy wind )15Knots from the north and huge swell (20+). Unfortunately, that makes poor surfing, poor paddle boarding and poor kitesurfing. Which did not stop me, of course.

-Surfing-
On Tuesday, I went to Hookipa. Totally misjudged the size of the waves from the shore. Thought it was doable. Made it outside, thanks to a huge R.I.P. current that send you offshore , between Middle and Pavillon waves. Once outside, to my amazement, I realized: Well, there was not so many people in the water. Has to be Big. F***, It is big. Believe me or not, but I saw some 18+ waves, when the forecast was calling for 12+ Max. Which is way over my skill level. Obviously. Couple of face plants and one missed bottom turn. Lot of salty water swallowed and lot of desperate swimming to avoid tons of white water. Double overhead ready ? Not at all.

No wind. 10mph. One guy got a 17m flysurfer. On Maui ?

Certainly a tourist. But why did he pack a 17m for Maui ? 

Did he read the wind charts ?

-Paddle boarding - 

Friday, I went paddle boarding. It was choppy, and windy, as I said. But overall, I am doing poretty good and hold my place in the line-up at Kanaha. Not yet ready for Hookipa or Lanes, but, well, double overhead waves are in my reach. Yes, I found paddle boarding way easier than surfing. Certainly due to the fact, like in long boarding, you can take the wave way earlier, and the drop is not that steep. Plus, the size of the board give you a lot of stability.

I did not have my camera on my board.

But I saw the stripes. And the body seemed to be at least 6ft long.

Did not wait long enough to see the tail.

Anyway, after a couple of waves, saw my first tiger shark, chilling in the line-up , doing turns between the set, maybe 10 feet from me. Of course, stressed, I fall down in the water. Which is not what you want to do when a 6-8ft shark is wandering around. It was only 3pm in the afternoon (yes, I took half the day off - I can see you coming), but tiger sharks are well known to not respect the common rule for  Sharks that only eat in the sunset or at dawn. Did not seem to be aggressive to me, but as he did not go away, I went home. Told the couple of guys that were surfing too. They seemed happy to go home as well.

Hard to say on this picture, so far away, but there is already 12+ waves.

And is picking up.

-Kitesurfing-

As I may have said in this blog, the last couple of months, we had good winds and waves, and except I am often overpowered on my 7m, I made tremendous progress in my strapless kitesurfing. Don't think I am very comfortable in 12+ waves, but in 6-8ft, definitively. Maui is maybe not the best spot in the world for kitesurfing (or is it?), but it is pretty damn close. Next week, the forecast seems very good.

Today was light again, And I tried for the first time to use my kite with my paddle board. I was able to go around in 12mph winds (??!!??) with my 10m and my 9' paddle board. Funny. 

The low that will plague our beaches with 20+ waves.

Cool.

Overall, I am pretty happy with my progress those past couple of months. My increased fitness and diminishing psoas pain allow me for longer session, more often. I think that's all I wished for.

Nothing surprising for 2013. More of the same. 

Of course, a french one. Bandit 6 !

But I will buy a 5m ;). Oh yes, it is already ordered !

2013 - Part 2

The fitness part.

What do I target for 2013 ? Easy more of the same and a little more of different.

Nothing surprising, I liked to lose weight. Feels way better. Looks better. Very satisfying. If you followed this blog, you will now that I was counting calories. Well, in 2013, I am not. I think I got a good understanding of what a 2000 cal /day is, at this point. But I will continue to track my weight. It is very satisfying too. Really.

Maybe I will go down to a weekly weighting, instead of daily ;) 

It sounds less crazy. 

Then, I will continue to eat the same and will try to exercise more. Theoretically, I should be able to continue to lose weight, for a target of 140 pounds, i.e.less than 64 Kg. Coming down from almost 80kg, not too bad, as a goal , right ?
Anyway, no hurry, my only real constraint is too stay below 150 pounds, 68 Kg.

Post-workout snack. (fruits, Vegetable, Coconut Water)

Slowly replacing those proteins energy bar when I can.

Exercising. No surprise either, I will try to continue to stretch daily at work (eh eh, I know, I know). And get up my chair. I will do at least one sport activity a day, surf session, kite session, or swimming, running. I will do a t least 3 endurance session a week (swimming, Running more than 45 min). I consider surfing and kitesurfing as taxing activities, not building ones.

What's new, then ? Yoga. I have started already "Sun Salutations" in the morning, and I really like it. But overall, I want to improve my flexibility. I came to the point than I think I do have the stamina to surf or kitesurf the waves I want to (not yet as long as I want to, come back to point 2), however, I do think I am stiff like a Rock.

The strapless song:

To begin to take some serious air Strapless,

I need to grab this board,

And to Grab this board, 

I need to bend my body.

And to bend my body,

I need some flexibility ....

.

3 keys for 2013:
Stronger, Flexible-er, Lighter.

Sounds like a plan, alright ?

-Interlude - Are you fit to run ?

I wish I did that for years. Awesome sequence from Runner's world.

Runner's World : Fit to Run ? Workout



Sitting too much ?



Yes, I know. But I said 'Except exceptions", right ?