Body Accounting and The Quantified Self

Thinking about one of Kevin Kelly’s blogs, The Quantified Self, has me thinking about what those of us who start to get serious about our personal fitness begin to do. We take up some forms of body accounting, maybe starting with using a digital scale to record our weight each morning, or a tape measure around the waist. I record this data for reference and to create a trend line as to where my body mass is going. I also weigh and measure much of the food I eat, or at least gage the calorie amount. This is entered in a sort-of double entry bookkeeping model in my head, where I know that if I fill my body beyond a certain energy level, it will begin to store fat for my future needs. I track my sets and reps and poundages at the gym, and when I do steady-state cardio I record the times and settings. I know there is a dose-response effect curve with exercise, and I measure how much I need verses fatigue and mood variables. Sleep also gets measured, at least in terms of hours in bed.

I suppose I am becoming more of a self-tracker, and I plan to do more of that as technology improves. If better tools existed, we could reach more of our human potential. Check out Kelly’s site – it will give you something to think about.

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Not sure how I missed the release, but there is a new book out by Doug McGuff and John Little, who are prominent advocates of high-intensity (single set to failure) weight training. It’s called Body by Science and it looks like it might be worth checking out. Not sure when I will have time to read it, but I will post a review when I get a hold of a copy.  I’m partial to many of the HIT tenants, although I am “self-experimenting” with slightly higher volume right now. One thing I think about every day: I wish I could exercise in a professional noise-free, effort-focused environment like the ones the HIT and SuperSlow advocates favor. The local gym chain where I work out is full of distractions and multiple blaring TV sets, and idle conversations. Not to mention equipment picked for its low cost, and not its superior functionality.

Save Money By Drinking Better Coffee

A while back I started to get disgruntled with my morning coffee routine. I’m a habitual coffee drinker who has a good tolerance to the effects of caffeine and I drink multiple mugs full daily. But, I found myself unhappy with the sour, off tastes of my morning brew, and relying more and more on buying mediocre coffee at work or from local by-the-cup shops.

That’s where saving money comes in. Even if you don’t regularly waste calories on lattes and cappuccinos (calorie bombs, anyone?), a large regular coffee or two bought outside the home can add up to a $2-5 expense, per workday. $10-25 per week. That’s roughly $45 out of pocket, and usually much more, especially if you are buying a high-calorie breakfast (extra large bagel or muffin) with your coffee.

I did a lot of reading and researching online, visiting the CoffeeGeek forums among many other websites. Making good coffee doesn’t take much work. Here’s what it does take.

1. Fresh, good coffee.  Fresh means whole bean. I resisted this at first, because it seems inconvenient.  You can’t get around it. If you don’t grind your own beans, you are drinking a stale tasting cup of coffee. You don’t need an expensive burr grinder, even though they heat and degrade the beans less when breaking them down.  You also need to grind right before you brew to avoid oxidation and the development of staleness.  Also, if you can find a local roaster, use them.  Even premium whole bean coffee from a fancy marketplace has probably been sitting around for more than a month before you purchase it. Consider mail ordering fresh whole beans weekly.
2. Hot water, 200 degrees F.
3. Freshly ground coffee in the hot water for about 4 minutes.  7 grams of coffee for each 6 ounces of water. It’s much easier and more consistent than measuring with a tablespoon or coffee measure.  If you are reading blogs about diet and fitness, you need to pick up a quality digital kitchen scale.  Weighing my coffee instead of measuring was one of the most important changes I made to my coffee routine.
4. Filtering out the grounds, which your quality automatic drip coffee maker does for you, along with heating the water to the right temperature and managing the contact time.  You can use a gold-plated filter to save money and the hassle of stocking paper filters at home.
5. Not heating the coffee pot, preferably using an insulated pot and no warming plate. If you don’t have one, then set the warmer on low.

So, how can you make it healthier? Coffee’s full of antioxidants, the largest source in the average US diet. Most people tolerate caffeine well, although a few can’t drink coffee due to GI upset or irregular heart rhythms.  To make it healthy, stop putting high calorie cream or half-and-half or trans-fat laden whitener in your drink.  I drink mine with skim milk, which I think improves the mouth feel by adding a small amount of protein, slightly sweet carbohydrate and a trivial amount of fat for depth and richness. I don’t use sugar, or artificial sweetener, since I enjoy the taste of coffee and don’t want the calories.  I count the skim milk in the day’s calories and also get some protein and calcium for my efforts.

If you have an insulated mug, you can bring some of your morning brew to work and not have to buy any coffee out.  Since making a decent cup is difficult at work, I often drink tea during the day.  Now that I’m used to decent tasting coffee, most of what I purchase by-the-cup tastes stale and full of off-flavors.

If you are thinking about upgrading your set-up, first try to clean up your current machine, or even use a commercial descaler to get it in better shape.  Here’s what I use and recommend:

Cuisinart DCC-1200 12-Cup Brew Central Coffeemaker

• This is a basic, quality automatic drip coffee machine. It isn’t perfect, including brewing into a glass container on a warming plate rather than an insulated mug. But, it has held up to my hard use without breaking or breaking down.  You will want to purchase replacement charcoal filters when you buy the machine, as they get changed every 60 days.

Swissgold Gold Foil Filter 12-c.

• Better quality than the one that comes with the Cusinart machine, not necessary until you decide you prefer to brew with a mesh filter vs. paper.

Salter 11-Pound Square Stainless-Steel Digital Kitchen Scale

• If you don’t have one yet, this is an essential part of a diet and fitness oriented kitchen. You can put the grinder on it, zero it, and pour in your beans until you get the canonical 7gm per 6oz water. It’s faster than measuring with a scoop and more accurate.

Krups Fast Touch Coffee Grinders

• The cost is so much less than using a burr grinder, it’s hard to justify the small increase in quality you would get with the burr.  Only use it for coffee, you don’t want various seed or spice flavors to intermingle.

If you can’t find a local roaster, try ordering beans online.  If you don’t know what you like, start with a medium roast, like a city roast, or talk to your roaster about your preferences.  You can adjust from there, now that you can brew a decent consistent cup for comparison.

Let me know how it goes!

February going by fast, almost Spring!

If you have been following along, I’m still around 180 pounds at 6 feet 2 inches. Normal BMI.  Exercising three times per week with weights, and doing steady-state cardio 1-3 times as time permits. Work has gotten busier, and I have been eating a little more than usual. Probably some combination of winter blahs, job related stress, and increased muscle driving my metabolism to burn a little hotter than in past months.

I’m following a program from Tom Baechle & Roger Earle’s fantastic Fitness Weight Training.  Except for an editor naming the programs “Body Sculpting” and the like, the information is solid and conservative. It isn’t single set to failure, which is an effective and sensible way to train. However, I decided to add volume to my workout, and periodize variables, to see how I respond. If you are thinking about starting to exercise, that book is written by two highly respected exercise scientists, who have held leadership positions in national organizations. They have program descriptions that allow you to use a variety of equipment, and nothing exotic that you won’t feel comfortable doing at your local fitness center.  If you are heading north of 50 years old, you might find that latest edition of Wayne Westcott’s Strength Training Past 50 to be useful instead.

So, the above program, plus a somewhat low calorie maintenance diet of mostly healthy foods (whole grains, 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables, nuts, making some attempt to reduce saturated fats  in meat and dairy) along with sensible lifestyle habits.  It’s working well.  I’m still going to try to tear it up and get down to around 170 lbs. by summertime just for the experience of having a near six-pack, but I am certain that will be a hungry ordeal.  Full details to follow, as they become available.

Still here…

I’m still around, and doing well. Weight is around 178. I’m entering it into “Weight Bot” a cool iPhone tracking app.  I’ve started to add more volume to my workouts, in the form of some low-intensity cardio and a second set of strength training exercises.  I’m not sure where that will go, it’s an experiment.  Eating has been mostly on track. I’m eating much more in terms of vegetables now, but also more “cheat” meals.  That’s a wiggle word isn’t it? I’ll rephrase- I’ve had more frequent high-calorie indulgences, like pizza and BBQ than when I was trying to shed 50 pounds. For the most part, I can handle these without weight gain. Consistency with exercise seems to help with that. But mainly, not going on tilt after a single big meal. It’s important to get back to sensible eating right away.

I’m going to get back to regular posting. For some reason I get a fair number of visitors per day even when not writing, so it will be motivating to record what I’m doing and the results.  As you know, the “six pack” didn’t happen by January ’09.  I can see the top row of abdominal muscles, and when I was at my leanest (173 pounds) I could see a “four pack” with flexion.  I did get to a normal weight and a 32″ waist, and I’m happy with that. I’m trying to put on a little muscle and build up a track record of consistent exercise before I try to shed down visible abs.

Merry christmas!

Happy holidays everyone!

175 pounds this am before Christmas dinner. Writing from my iPhone – which I have had for a week. I’m loving it so far.

Update Sun 12/7

For those who have been stopping by, sorry about the lack of updates.

This morning, 173 pounds. The (worthless) Tanita scale has had me in single digit bodyfat for a while now, but I am guessing I am around 10%, looking fairly athletic with visible musculature.

Progress has not been too brisk, since I have been enjoying holiday food and dining out 1-2x per week.  I seem to have a little outpost of adipose tissue over my mid-abdominal region which is dissapointing. I can see the upper set of abs now, but I think I would have to get to a crazy level of lean to get rid of that little “pooching” over the mid-trunk.

I’m reading Sharkey’s Fitness and Health right now, which is basically an Exercise Physiology 101 text. I’m not sure how it will shape my training in the new year yet. Dr. Dan asked a while back what I thought of In Defense of Food and I have to say that it was just OK.   I’m still a fan of Willett for a 200 page overview of what is known via science and epidemiology about what it means to eat healthy. He’s an honest writer, and you can read between the lines on carb intake, but he doesn’t run off into speculation. Marion Nestle’s What to Eat was better than IDoF because it delves just enough into food marketing and politics while still touching on the health aspects. It’s written (like IDoF) from a U.S. middle/upper-middle class urban perspective. Take that as you will, but it sure gets entertaining at times.

I’ve read all the usual: Protein Power, New Diet Revolution, Good Calories, Bad Calories, and more.  I’ve followed Art DeVaney for years, and I’ve read lots on Crossfit and paleo eating. It all makes a lot of sense, and maybe it’s ideal. That doesn’t make it practical or even possible for most people. Most people’s access to food resources don’t allow a good simulation of ancestral foods. Most people also live in the real world of going out with friends and eating with non-orthorexic family members. In my opinion, getting active and controlling one’s propensity for overweight do not at all require experimental or fringe methods, or withdrawal from mainstream living. If someone eats right (avoiding chronic calorie poisioning and indulging in calorie bombs too often) and lives an active life, and wants to experiment with paleo, and has the money and time to track down grass fed meats and a cornucopia of local vegetation, I think it’s great.

Apologies for the ranting, just some thoughts this morning. I’m heading out for Dim Sum!

Sun Nov 23

175 pounds this AM.  I must have been a little dehydrated. I had some BBQ today, and some Mexican yesterday, and I’m drinking a ton of water now. I’m sure I’ll be up a little by the morning.  I have Thanksgiving holiday plans with family, which, as for many, involve consuming tasty foods in large quantities.  Stay tuned for the outcome.

Update 11/18 (Tues)

179.4 today.  I enjoyed some of the local culinary culture over the weekend, korean BBQ and a new bakery-cafe with delicious goods and the best coffee I have had in a long time.  Didn’t take me too far off track, I was back to my usual the next day.

Sun Nov 9 Update

Weight: 180.6 pounds

Still on track.  Recently read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.  Before that it was: Eat Drink and Be Healthy, What to Eat, The CR Way, and The Longevity Diet. They primed the intuition pump a bit better about what healthy eating means.  I’m making some small changes already, I’ll update the plan when I see what works.

I’ve started a new 6 week exercise cycle:  leg extension, leg curl, seated chest flyes, seated row, seated overhead press, dumbell hammer curls, triceps pushdown, crunch machine.  Not making fast progress, probably due to low calories. I thought about doing more exercises 2x/week, but since I just took out leg press for this cycle, it is less taxing systemically.  We’ll see how it goes.  I’m probably not going to go below 170 lbs., so it will be time to increase the calories soon enough.  I’m thinking I’ll start that in the New Year, after the holiday splurges.

Calories In vs. Calories Out

Calorie counting back in vogue? From the NY Times.