Incline Hike-Runs are Great!

I have been working out more often than not and more importantly following my diet. Read “diet” as the way of eating that is both reducing my caloric intake and I can live with for life. Simply calling this my diet is an easier way of saying this.

This last week was good for me. I ate out at Joe’s Crab Shack at the end of the previous week without apparent negative consequences but this is not surprise as I do not eat that way all of the time. This weekend the wife and I went out to the Old Spaghetti Factory in the Gas Lamp district, downtown San Diego! It is kind of funny but I had the same spaghetti with clam sauce dish that I had 30 years ago but no Italian restaurant has made it half as good over the years (and I’ve checked!). But enough with the food reviews – this could go against the theme of this diet and fitness website.

In this post I will talk about my latest fun exercise I mentioned  in an earlier post about hill running. I have also dropped two more pounds but do you remember back to high school when football players were trying to put on weight? I found this old Soul Train commercial about a new “Get Fat” product for your perusal.

Funny but who would have guessed that this product would not be needed in the future?

I named my hill runs ‘incline hike-runs’ because I wanted a descriptive name that was meaningful to me. What I do is to run down hill, flat, and up inclines that are not too steep (for my fitness level). I’ll be able to run steeper grades as time goes on but for now I would guess it is about 25% grades I can make.

When the grade is too steep I switch to climbing/hiking. A couple of variations I do is to practice my kata at the top of the first hill. I’ll take some pictures of the views up there but suffice to say it is breathtaking. I really get into doing my karate forms (kata) and I think this is one way to ensure I vary my exercises.

Another variation I have started doing a little is rock throwing. What? you might be thinking? Yes I said rocking throwing. Santee, California is known for its rocky soil. In the hills there are tons of rocks of all sizes just laying around. Boxing workouts that I learned included road work with running front, back, sideways, and picking up pretend rocks! Well here in Santee, I can pick up real rocks and practice my rock throwing (arguably a self-defense skill too)!

Eating right and working out has kept my weight-loss (read fat loss) on track as you can see in this chart.

John's Weight Loss 2009

I am finding that I am having no problem not overeating because I know what the extra snacks will do to me. Most times, especially toward the end of the week, I will not eat any snacks because I want to make weight! Now that I am in reach of 220 pounds and my goal of just being overweight (instead of obese), I should make it and hold it this time. I mean my pictures are out there for the world to see now.

I hope everything is well in your neck of the woods and something of what I said here is helpful.