Happy New Year!

New Year's Day seems like a good day to start a blog about diet and exercise, right?

I've been eating a generally low-carb diet for the past three years, but I cheat. Alot. Cokes now and then, pasta, potatoes, bread, etc. Not all the time, not at every meal, not every week -- but way too much. So one of my new year's resolutions is to stop cheating.

I also love snowboarding -- but I live in Texas. I don't get out to the slopes that often. I've decided to take up running because what I want to improve is my cardiovascular fitness and stamina. I stay fairly busy either at work or with friends, so I wanted to find a sport that would fit a solo exercise regimen.

I live in Houston and I live about a quarter mile from a park trail. I don't have any good excuses to not get out and get exercise. I just bought a good pair of running shoes, and I plan to pick up a chrono watch here soon so that I can time my running.

I'm a guy in his mid-thirties, 5'10" tall, and I weighed 253 pounds this morning. My goal is to hit 180 pounds and be fairly muscular. Runners tend to be scrawny :) but that's not the physique I'm looking for. I have a feeling I'll wind up pursuing short runs -- 5k races, for example. But we'll see. Getting to this goal will require losing weight and putting on more muscle.

My plan is to blog daily, Sunday through Thursday nights, with what I eat, how I work out, thoughts, and plans. That means you should be able to check this blog every day, Monday through Friday, and catch a new update.

--

Today I slept in! It's national hangover day so I felt like getting a few extra hours of sleep. I'm normally up in the mornings before 6am (because of my job). For breakfast, I had an ounce or two of smoked raw-milk cheddar, 4 ounces of bacon, and a green (sugared) Monster energy drink.

I know from Nutrient Timing ($4 at your local GNC!) that after fasting is the best time to consume sugar, since glycemic stores are low. This is one of my cheats -- I know it's the best time to consume sugar so I do. I'm going to have to stop drinking sodas, even if my glycemic stores are low. There's sugar in milk, but there's also lactase and/or maltase in raw milk. I'll have to find a source for raw milk -- more on that on Saturday.

I'll be going for a 3.5-mile walk this afternoon, and I'm going to try to integrate spurts of running into it. I don't know if walking that much is the best use for my time or not. If I haven't been exercising much, would a 30-minute walk be just as effective? I've made the same walk a couple times before (most recently two days ago), so I know I can do it. Again, my goal is stamina, not just aerobic fitness. I want to get the most from my snowboarding trips, and that means being able to handle a full day of exercise.

I'll post more when I get back from my walk.