Just as I began my cutting diet six weeks ago, duty called.
I have now been on the road for six weeks -- not just 3 or 4 days a week, but seven days a week. Indeed, this is the first time I've been home in six weeks and I'll be here all of four days. Then it is back to wars for two more weeks.
The lessons I've learned are important . . .
- If you are working 10 - 12 hours a day, there is no way to stay in "condition." Sure, you can stay in "shape," keep the weight down, but no way, no how, can you work out enough and with enough intensity to build muscle, or carve up.
- I have learned to get two workouts in every weekend on the road, and then squeeze two into the week, usually finding a gym that stays open late and showing up about 9 p.m.
- The other mornings (and sometimes evenings) I find the workout room in the hotel and climb on the elliptical trainer just to burn calories and keep the metabolism going.
- I eat clean on the road but don't always get all my meals and find myself developing a bad habit -- getting most of my calories after 2 p.m. Not good. I can do better there.
- I am within a pound of the weight I was six weeks ago, but that hard, etched look is nowhere to be found. Not surprising and easily correctable when I can get back into my groove at home . . .
So, here's some advice to you road warriors . . .
1. Don't expect to be entering any physique competitions -- you will lose to those who can stay at home, keep strict on their diets, not eating out, and working out hard five days a week.
2. You can stay in shape by always working out on the weekends and squeezing two, maybe three, workouts in on the road.
3. When you can't work out, at least do 30 or 40 minutes of cardio a day -- keep the metabolism boosted.
4. Eat clean, watch your calories. DietController, the software I use, has been very valuable because I can watch my calories and protein intake as I go through every day and keep it within the speed limit.
5. Try to get your sleep. This is very difficult for me. I am an 8-hour sleeper, if given a chance, but I almost never get that on the road, oftentimes subsisting on 5 or 6 hours a night for a week at a time. To help me when I am wound up, I have found a natural compound called "Lean Dreams" that includes L-Tryptophan that promotes deep sleep as well as a compound that helps reduce cortisol.
In the four days I'm at home I am working out, not surprisingly, all four days. Monday finds me back on the road, returning home May 28th, after which I intend to stay put, get back in the groove, without too much damage having been done living in various Hampton Inns across the country.
Train hard; diet harder!
Jim
No comments:
Post a Comment