Fitbits new Alta HR activity tracker

I've been a Fitbit user for years. I have an original flex and I can honestly say that considering its primary job is as a pedometer, I tend to use it very differently than its original intent. Its primary purpose in my case is as a silent alarm clock. I don't want to wake my family up with my phone or an alarm clock at way-too-early o'clock, so this little vibrating band has been a godsend. The thing is, other than that purpose, it's really the software and not the hardware that I use this for.

Sure the sleep monitor is kind of cool, but to be honestly I tend to find it out of whack. I tend to switch between totally active sleeper (think running in my sleep) to log to laying there without moving for hours while suffering from an absolute random bout of insomnia. Sometimes Fitbit picks this up, sometimes not, and honestly I can't say that I've looked at my sleep metrics much after the first couple of weeks.

I will say that the guilt trip I get from not wearing it for a couple of days or for spending a few days totally sedentary while working seems to be pretty good, especially with the weekly report. It does give me a little push to try and be active for the next week. Being able to look back and actually see which days I was active and which I wasn't is good. So is keeping track of my weight and other measurements.

The thing is... most of what I use this for is not the hardware... and there is good reason for that. The location on my wrist tends to interfere with lifting gloves or straps. I have had it get caught on the lip of my chalk bag and either drop into my chalk bag or tumble 40 feet almost hitting my belayer in the face.

Fundamentally thats the problem with my Fitbit flex though, its really good at measuring a couple of things and mostly for running, and not quite so good at measuring the activities that I do. Now to be fair I have no idea how you would measure reps on a leg press with a wrist worn device. Or how the same wrist worn device could ever hope to tell how my clean my movement was while I was climbing (though some kind of altimeter in there would be kinda neat to tell how far I had moved up and down over the course of a day).

Some of this looks to at least be changing with the Alta. Being able to track my heart rate is far more useful to me than number of steps. It will give me some visibility into when I'm ACTUALLY working out hard and when I'm giving it a half assed effort. I may get some metrics into how hard a route or boulder problem actually was for me.

The band design actually looks like it may be helpful too. Having a latching band versus the one on the flex should solve my catch and drop problem, I also may be able to wear it a little higher up on wrist to deal with lifting straps. Plus I still get all the awesome things I use my current Fitbit for.

I guess what I'm saying is, come on April, and just go ahead and take my money now!

Being Vegan in a Hostile Environment

For those of you outside the United States you have to understand that when I talk about the South I mean Florida, Georgia, The Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia . I grew up in the South. At age 11 I decided to become a vegetarian. My parents were supportive, although I'm sure they thought it was just a phase and it was probably a pain in the ass for them to figure out meals.  

The interesting thing about growing up in the South is that there is literally meat products in EVERYTHING. I mean traditional southern cooking involves vegetables being cooked in pork fat! So as you can imagine being a vegetarian posed some problems. There have been times when I have been unable to eat at a restaurant because even though they had vegetables on the menu, they weren't vegetarian vegetables.

The fact that I even had to write the phrase "vegetarian vegetables" kind of epitomizes the idea of a hostile environment to a vegan diet. When you have to question the green beans at a restaurant, you really do have to wonder how the hell you can keep a animal product free diet.

There are two ways to go about handling this. One is to question everything, and I mean literally everything. You will be a royal pain in the ass, but you also will only have to ask the questions once. If you don't want to ask at a restaurant then call ahead and ask. We live in a wonderful age where we have the Internet in the palm of our hands. Usually you can look up a menu and a phone number within a few minutes, and take care of your dietary needs even before you walk through the door. It's a lot easier than what I had to do growing up, and you can feel safe in knowing that you actually talked to someone who knows, versus the waiter, who depending on their mood may lie to your face (I've had that happen).

The second way to handle it is to just not go out to eat. Pack your food and bring it with you. I'm pretty sure I could live for two days with the food I have at my desk at work, and not necessarily in a totally unhealthy way! I have a fruit bowl, soups, protein powders, soy milk, raw vegan meal replacement bars, and cereal. My work bag always has a vegan meal replacement bar in it, as does my workout bag.

Bottom line, like everything about living a healthy lifestyle, you have to plan ahead a little bit. Know what you are getting into, where you are going, and think of your needs. Don't be afraid to be a pain in the ass, and don't be afraid to say no. It's your life and your health, choose what's important to you!

Finding Motivation

I wake up at 5:30 AM every weekday morning to get my ass to the gym. I REALLY DO NOT LIKE GETTING UP IN THE MORNING. This is usually compounded by the fact that I have a toddler who I'm convinced could keep himself awake for a week straight if we didn't force him to lay down in a dark room, and by my teenager (I mean he's a teen... need I say more?). It really isn't uncommon for me to finally hit the bed at 11:00 PM, and sometimes even later.

So every morning when that fucking alarm clock goes off (and I do hate that fucking alarm clock), I immediately start dealing with my brain saying "what the fuck?" That's right, the first thing in the morning I have to deal with is my inner monologue coaxing me back to sweet slumber. And the first thing I have to do is to tell that inner voice to go to hell. You know what? It's really fucking hard. Every. Single. Day.

I wish I could say I always come out victorious in that battle, but the reality is I lose sometimes. That's OK, as long as I don't let it happen to often. The thing is, in order to truly beat that inner voice, the one that tells you that you can't do something, you have to find some reason to latch on to that says you can. I know, it sounds completely cliche, but its the truth.

Steve Jobs said (and I'm paraphrasing, but I included the video below) that in order to achieve amazing things as an entrepreneur you have to have passion. Passion for what you do, passion for what you are trying to create. The reason you need that passion is that being an entrepreneur is hard! You have to be a little crazy to be successful, because otherwise you would just give up!

The reality is that finding your motivation to be healthy, and make lifestyle changes is a personal thing. You have to make the time to find it for you. You have to believe it, totally and entirely, because in reality that's the thing that will get you to achieve your goals. That's the thing that drives you to get out of bed at 5:30 AM and hit the gym. That's what makes you say no to the birthday cake being passed around the office. Willpower alone just isn't going to cut it.

[I decided to embed the Steve Jobs YouTube Video]

The Unhealthy Vegan

I've heard many people say being a vegan is unhealthy. As a general rule I find this to be an odd phenomenon. Generally when you dig into this person's statement about veganism being unhealthy, it usually ends up being due to one of two things. Either they have are completely misinformed about nutrition and veganism in general, or they have a friend/family member/acquaintance who is a vegan and is unhealthy. They then proceed to base their entire outlook of this lifestyle on this unhealthy individual.

There are some seriously unhealthy vegans out there. Being a vegan does not directly equate to being healthy, just as being an omnivore does not equate to being healthy. The human diet is far more complicated than that. If you are going to "go vegan" for health reasons, just cutting out the animal products is not going to make it so!

Look, I've met the unhealthy vegans too. The ones who live on white refined bread, candy, white rice, semolina pasta, french fries and processed soy products. Refuse to eat any kind of vegetables because they don't like the taste. You know what? If you added meat to that diet it would still be unhealthy!

The bottom line is this, just being a vegan does not make one healthy. It helps as usually it does force you to eat more vegetables. However if you do not cut down on processed foods and continue to eat like crap then not eating animal products is not going to help. So next time you meet someone who has a friend/acquaintance/coworker/family member who is a vegan and is unhealthy, ask a little bit more about their dietary habits. Perhaps you can educate them a little more about the importance of a balanced diet, even as a vegan.

No Sugar Added Gluten Free Protein Vegan Waffles

1/2 cup of gluten-free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill - Gluten Free "Sweet" White Sorghum Flouror Bob's Red Mill Organic Buckwheat Flour)
1/2 cup of Vanilla Pea Protein Powder (I use Pure Vegan Pea Protein Dietary Supplement - Vanilla )
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of Milk Alternative (I prefer soy, but this works with Almond and Coconut as well)
1 Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar ( I like Bragg's Apple Cidar Vinegar)
1/4 cup of Ground Flax Seed
1/4 cup of Bakeable Blend Stevia Sweetener
2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

Sift all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Place milk into a separate bowl and add apple cider vinegar. Whisk the wet ingredients and leave for a minute. This makes a non dairy buttermilk. Proceed mix all the wet ingredients into the milk mixture, and then add that to the dry ingredients.

Follow the ingredients for your electric waffle maker. I personally have the Oster Belgian Waffle Maker.

Gluten Free Vegan Protein Pancakes

1/2 cup of gluten-free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill - Gluten Free "Sweet" White Sorghum Flouror Bob's Red Mill Organic Buckwheat Flour)
1/2 cup of Vanilla Pea Protein Powder (I use Pure Vegan Pea Protein Dietary Supplement - Vanilla )
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of Milk Alternative (I prefer soy, but this works with Almond and Coconut as well)
1 Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar ( I like Bragg's Apple Cidar Vinegar)
1/4 cup of Ground Flax Seed
2 Tablespoons of Agave ( I like Agave In The Raw )
2 teaspoons of Coconut Oil

Sift all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Place milk into a separate bowl and add apple cider vinegar. Whisk the wet ingredients and leave for a minute. This makes a non dairy buttermilk. Proceed mix all the wet ingredients into the milk mixture, and then add that to the dry ingredients. Mix until non lumpy. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Losing Weight

When I first tell people that I used to be 320 lbs (145.5 kg), the usual reaction is: No way. You couldn't have been that big, you're so small! At 5 foot 8 inches (1.72 meters) I don't really like being called small, call it a Napoleon complex or something, but in general I understand what these people are saying. They have a hard time imagining a person my height weighing that much, and who now weighs quite literally half of that. Usually the next question is: How did you do it?

How did You Do It?

Wow is that a question I sometimes dread. Not because I mind answering it, I'm an open and honest guy. I'll happily tell you what I think about most any subject and I'm not afraid of offending someone. The reason I dread the question is because sometimes it's from someone who wants to use my secret themselves, or who wants to pass it on to the friend/family/coworker. The problem is that there is no secret. They already know the answer, they just may not know how to implement it.

The truth is I busted my ass and changed my entire lifestyle.

I'm not trying to come off like a pompous ass, or to discourage anyone, but in total honesty that's what it took! Try telling that to someone who is looking for help, who wants something, anything to help them change their bodies. Sometimes its fucking heartbreaking. In all honesty that's one of the reasons I started writing this blog. I want to help!

It All Happens Over Time

Now I don't know about you, but I didn't gain weight overnight. I mean it's not like I was sitting there with six pack abs as a teenager, went to college and fucking ballooned up to 320 lbs on pizza and beer as a freshman (though admittedly, the college lifestyle didn't help my situation). It was a gradual process compounding year over year over year. 

So if it takes that long to do the damage to yourself, and to create the body that you don't like, then quite frankly you can't expect any pill or magical formula to take it off that fast. It's a process, it takes time. You know why most diets fail? Unrealistic goals. If you expect to lose 5 lbs (2.2 kgs) a week for the next four weeks, then let me tell you right now you will be sorely disappointed. If anyone promises you these kinds of results (short of life-endangering stomach stapling surgery), just walk the fuck away. Losing weight is easy at its core: Burn more calories than you take in.

So Where Do I Start?

Well what got you here in the first place? What's your motivator? I know what mine was, I remember the exact story when I hit rock bottom, and I know that fueled my initial drive to make changes. If you can't find something to drive you, then you are going to fail. You need that motivator, that story, that memory to keep you going when the going gets tough, because it is going to get tough! It also can not be superficial. If you are doing it for some guy, some girl, because of some ephemeral "Life will be better if..." this is not going to work. Period. End of Story. Find your motivator, stick it on your phone, your mirror, make it your drive.

I've Got My Motivator Now What?

Well I'll give you a hint, your current diet and exercise routine aren't working. So how about we start there! Now remember this is a marathon not a sprint. Don't try to make a bunch of changes at once, because guess what? You will fail. When I first started I began by only starting on the exercise routine. Here's the thing though, I sat on my ass all day. Not totally my fault, I'm a Software Developer, and before that a college student who majored in Computer Science, loved video games, and delivered Pizza to make money. All of those things kind of largely involve being really good at sitting on one's ass for an extended period of time. I am quite exceptional at sitting on my ass, I've had a lot of practice, and I get paid to do it.

So first thing I did was to get off my ass. I joined a gym. I signed a fucking year long contract, and got a years worth or personal training. I didn't have to do it, and quite frankly when I started I didn't even have the money to do it. I went in to debt to do it! That's how powerful my motivator was for me. I was an entrepreneur and I was investing in me, and I was going to give it all I had.

The thing is though, I didn't expect miracles. I'm honestly not really sure what I expected at all. I hated the gym. I loathed cardio, and I had no clue what I was doing. None. I mean I didn't know anything about being physically fit, it had never been a concern before! So in the beginning I used a trick I had picked up when I first hated my job delivering pizza. I used mind tricks. 

Mind Tricks and the Importance of Exercise AND Nutrition

I used to hate going to deliver pizza. I mean it was boring, monotonous, and in the Florida sun, hot, sweaty and generally unpleasant. Top that off with living in a "rough" area, and you can imagine that it was neither lucrative or enjoyable. Calling it a job was not helping, so I began to refer to it as "my hobby". It kind of became a joke between my roommate and myself. But god damn if it didn't work. I started looking at it differently and it became bearable. 

I used that same trick in the gym. I hated going there in the beginning, but I played various mind games with myself and made it into a place I love to go. To this day I love the gym. I love hearing the clanking of iron. I love running on a treadmill for hours (Yes I have run on the treadmill for hours!). If I don't go to the gym for any length of time now, I actually get a really strong longing to go back! That's how powerful this trick is. I could fill posts with various mind tricks (and I probably will, in the future), but needless to say I had to find the tricks that worked for me, and everyone is different.

Convincing myself to go to the gym became easier and easier. It became a joy every day. My Personal Trainer at the time helped me through some of the initial learning curve, and to keep my on track in the beginning, but I soon came in regardless of if I had an appointment or not. I pushed myself, but not too much, after all I didn't want to hurt myself and then not be able to go back that week! 

From there I learned about what worked for my body. What I responded to and I saw weight drop off quickly. Probably because I was no longer JUST sitting on my ass. It was huge ego boost, and then I plateaued. 

That was frustrating. The weight was coming off but not as fast for a while, and then it just stopped coming off. I worked harder, but nothing happened. It was about that time I realized that I had been leaving out the other part of the equation. I was burning a shit ton more calories in the gym, but I was eating like a complete moron.

Ever try to lose weight while drinking two liters of soda a day and eating whatever sweet thing was in front of you at the time? I did. It didn't work out so well. So I made changes. Little ones. Substitute a salad for a meal here, switch out coffee for soda. Making sure that I ate vegetables, the Green Leafy ones! 

You can guess what happened, then weight began to slide off. Each little change made changes to the plateau until all I could think about was how to keep this awesomeness going! I read as much information as I could. I know more about Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Paleo, and god knows how many other diets than I should probably know. It's been a fantastic journey.

It took me a Year and Half

That's right a full 18 months. That means I lost a little under 9 lbs a month, or a little over 2 lbs a week. It was not a short path, but the reality is I have kept that weight off for the better part of a decade. I'll be honest, I'm a little up from lightest, but I still weigh less than when I did in high school. I've also had kids since then, and you try and keep up a daily exercise routine, and perfect eating habits with kids, it isn't easy. And that's just it, there is no easy way. It wasn't easy putting it on, you just didn't notice. Trust me if I actively tried to put on 160 lbs, I'm pretty sure it would take me more than a year, and I'd plateau a few times in the process, and I'm a professional Ass Sitter! So next time you feel like you can't do it, and that it's too hard, just remember it's all in your head. It's as hard as you make it to be. And if you need some help or motivation send me a message and I'll try to help as best I can.

Where do you get your protein?

A question that I get asked a lot when I tell people that I am vegan, is where do you get your protein? The truth is it really isn't that hard. Generally I don't eat crap food, and the crap food I do eat is usually some kind of protein bar.

So first of all lets focus on what it is that we do need. According to this study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academics, a grown adult only needs about .4 grams of protein per pound of body weight to basically keep breaking down muscle mass. So lets add .1 for good measure for the following calculation. As a 160 lb man, I would need 80 grams of protein per day!

So then how do we get to the magic number of 80 grams a day. Well for me, I always like to start my day with a protein shake. It was something I started when I began to focus on the nutrition aspect of weight loss, and I've just kind of kept up with it. I vary which one I use on a regular basis, but I usually rotate through the Vega One Nutritional Shake-Berry, Vega Sport Performance Protein Vanilla, Vega One Nutritional Shake-French Vanilla, Garden of Life Raw Organic Meal - Vanilla, Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Powder - Vanilla, and some other Hemp, Pea, and Rice proteins that I come across. So that's usually good for about 20 grams of protein in the morning. Hey look at that I'm already a quarter of the way to my daily protein intake and I haven't even chewed yet!

Now where do I get my protein when chewing? Well this part is easy. I eat food, mostly plants. That means I don't eat that prepackaged frozen food. and I really don't eat much pasta or bread! So lets look at some nutritional facts.

1 cup of spinach has a 1 gram of protein.
1 cup of kale has 3 grams of protein.
1 cup of chopped broccoli has 2.6 grams of protein
1 cup of chopped carrots has 1.5 grams of protein
1 cup of shredded cabbage has 1 gram of protein
1 cup of shredded onion has 1 gram of protein
a cucumber has 2 grams of protein
a tomato has 1 grams of protein
1/2 cup of corn has 8 grams of protein

HOLY CRAP IS THAT A 20 GRAM OF PROTEIN SALAD BEFORE DRESSING!?!  Now add some black beans (21 grams for 1/2 a cup!), or lentils (25 grams for 1/2 a cup), or even on the lighter side some sunflower seeds (7.25 grams for a 1/4 cup), and you have just made some protein awesomeness!

 But for the sake of this article lets not add beans to the salad because guess what were having for dinner! That's right, lentils and quinoa! If you've never tried it, its awesome and as easy to cook as brown rice. Give it a try its awesome. Anyway a cup of quinoa and a 1/2 cup of lentils, and boom! 49 grams of protein.

So lets add that up shall we? 20 grams from the morning shake, 20 grams from my awesome lunch salad, and 49 grams from dinner! Look at that I'm over my requirement! I'm not even taking into account the fact that I put soy milk into my coffee, or that I have a protein shake after I workout, or that I sometimes have a shake or a Cliff Builder Bar or ProBar Core Bar if I get hungry during the afternoon! I've also been known to eat an apple and almond butter as a snack! Trust me I get WAY more than 80 grams of protein a day and I don't even try!

That leads me to the athletics side of things. I've read in a few places that you should aim to get 1 - 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight if you are "an athlete", and that consequently that's why its so hard to be a vegan athlete... I submit the above as testimonial, that in reality its not that hard. It does however require planning and forethought. Now one other thing to mention is the fact that vegetable sources of protein don't have the "essential amino acids". These are the ones the body can't produce. But there's a simple solution to this! You eat a variety of plants, which each have different amino acids, and presto you can ensure that you get the variety of amino acids that your body needs! Well hell our salad was a good mix! In fact I don't think we had any protein from the same source all day today! So bottom line is that it can be done. So eat vegan and thrive!

A Quick Introduction

So with thousands of blogs about health and fitness already in existence, why did I feel the need to add my voice to the cacophony? I'm not a famous athlete, or coach, or personal trainer, or a nutritionist, or other health practitioner. So who am I to share knowledge, health and training advice? Let me to tell you a little story, and then maybe you will understand.

A long time ago (well maybe not that long ago, but stories always seem to sound better like that), there was a 5 foot 8 inch man graduating from college at a slightly hefty 320 lbs. There was no accident in getting to that point, no injury, no health issue, it just... happened. Now I know a lot of people wonder, how people can get to be so big. Well I'm sure you've heard the saying that if you put a frog in boiling water it will jump right out, but if you put him in there and slowly raise the temperature he will stay in there and get cooked. For me, getting that big was like that. I was a big child, a big teen, and when I graduated college, a big adult.

I'm quite sure if I hadn't had a little wake up call, I probably would have gotten bigger. The reality was I wasn't taking care of myself because I didn't see the need. I could play Ultimate Frisbee (not well), play basketball (again, not well), and swim. I was ridiculously flexible (I could perform full Chinese splits), and capable of running enough to do all the stupid things that you might do during college. My weight rarely impacted me (though breaking a toilet seat in the middle of the night should have maybe been a warning...), so I didn't see it as a problem. Sure I knew I was "big", but I didn't really realize how big.

Fast Forward 10 years and I am no longer "big". In fact, I am quite literally half the man I used to be. I do my best to take care of myself (although I may or may not have a small coffee addiction... I will neither confirm nor deny that one!), and I try to work out at least 3 times a week. I have learned a lot in the last decade, most of it the hard way, and all of it from experience. So what makes my voice useful in this case? I've been there, I understand, and I just hope I can help.