August 29, 2022

I’m beginning the long process of preparing for my 2023 racing schedule, so I’ll need start with the basics. First, I’ll need to drop weight. As I there’s less of me to carry around, it should become easier to train for a longer period of time at a faster overall pace. So the first few weeks are planned out to burn significant calories and maintain a rather consistent state of calorie debt. In order to create this calorie deficit, I’ve developed a few rules of the road:

  • No eating after 8pm
  • No eating until at least 12pm – so intermittent fasting for 16 hours
  • No alcohol
  • No soda
  • No bread
  • No sweets
  • 2 packets of oatmeal for lunch
  • 2 Workouts a day
  • Drink at least 8 cups of water
  • No carbs with dinner

So the goal is to score a passing grade each day. Since a passing grade in school is 70%… I need to get at least 7 of these 10 items done each day. Today wasn’t a bad start:

SCORE: 80%
Stop eating at 8pm the prior evening. – DONE
No eating until lunch – 12pm – DONE
No alcohol. – DONE
No soda. – FAIL
No bread – DONE
No sweets – FAIL
2 packs of oatmeal for lunch – DONE
2 workouts a day – DONE
At least three Yeti’s of water – DONE
Lite dinner – no carbs – DONE

I was able to get some cardio in after work, and then some yoga right before bed. The weakness today was the soda and the sweets. I’ll need to figure out how to take the edge off of the hunger pangs that hit around 2:30pm.

Monday, June 27th 2022

Last week was chock-full of good stuff. It began with a vacation day on Monday, in observance of Juneteenth. A short yet busy work week was balanced with continued studying for the Investment Advisory Certified Compliance Professional (“IACCP”) exam, as well as completing my Certified IRONMAN Coach re-certification.

One evening, however, I was able to take a few hours for myself and do a little wine tasting in Mission Viejo – always a nice way to decompress. Was also able to take in some sun as well as the sounds of the Pacific Ocean.

Early evenings like this, spent tasting different wines from a series of automated dispensers while nibbling on some cheese and crackers serves a dual purpose: to allow me to decompress and, at the same time, serves as study prep for my upcoming WSET Level 1 exam on July 6th. WSET stands for Wine and Spirit Education Trust (https://www.wsetglobal.com/), and one of their goals is to help shlubs like me learn just enough about wine to be dangerous at dinner parties. I, for one, am using this foundational knowledge as a first step toward earning a Certified Sommelier designation in the future. I’ll then use my credentials once my days as a CCO are done and I’m ready to retire…by scoring a position as a Somm at a fantastic restaurant or working as a bartender at my favorite bar in Orange County, CA. I can see myself at 70-72 years young, applying for a position at Disneyland serving lots of little drinks with paper umbrellas on top, spinning old tales of life, the universe, and everything.

Everyone needs a long-term game plan.