Hello friends! Welcome to another edition of Heavyweight, a monthly report of my fitness journey.
Disclaimer: the contents of this post are for informational or educational purposes only and do not substitute professional medical advice or consultations with healthcare professionals.
Well, that was fast. The first month of 2025 has come and gone, and here’s where I’m on my fitness journey.
Nutrition
Getting back to Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) after Christmas was rough. I didn’t complete a 36-hour fast until mid-January, and I rode the struggle bus all the way. The last week of January, I decided to pivot to doing a 20-hour fast daily. I also cleaned up my diet, and that helped a lot.
As I said in last month’s update, I decided to do Dry January; you can read my thoughts on that here. Unfortunately, not having the crutch of alcohol made me turn to junk food when I was stressed or overwhelmed. Like my friend Brandon says: “You can't out-exercise a bad diet,” and he’s right.
My weight throughout the month was like a rollercoaster. I was doing okay Monday through Friday and really bad during the weekends. It was a one-step forward, two-step-back kind of progress.
I’m back to tracking my macros with MyFitnessPal. So far, shrinking my eating window to four hours seems like a good deal, something sustainable. I’m getting into a groove where I do a lunch workout, break my fast with a big salad and a good portion of protein, and then have a light dinner.
The cravings for sweets are still there. I don’t think my sweet tooth is going anywhere. I’ve been looking for healthy treats made with dates, nuts, and other stuff that’s better than demolishing a pint of ice cream. I’m still in the research portion of this. If you have any recommendations, drop them in the comments.
My goal for February is to continue with a 4-hour eating window, except on the weekends, when I skip breakfast and fast either 16 or 18 hours, depending on how I feel that day. I’ll also continue to track my food and focus on getting adequate protein and fiber. I’m also aiming for less processed food.
Movement
I restarted The Pete Plan again. I took it easy on Week 1 of the program and only did the three main workouts. I channeled my inner Viking after Week 2 and did five workouts a week for the last three weeks. I logged 91,839 meters in January.
I didn’t break my personal best from July 2024 (92,400 meters), but I think February will be the month I start ramping up on the distance.
If you look at the image above, I’d like to point out my 2,000-meter row from January 3rd (9:16.0) to the one on January 25th (8:59.5), that’s 17.5 seconds faster in three weeks. I like the variety of workouts in this program. I know that on Mondays and Fridays, I’m working on distance; Wednesdays are for interval work, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’ll be either easier intervals or a short row, which makes it challenging and engaging. Plus, I’ve been catching up on a lot of podcasts.
Shout out to
who I’ve been playing workout tag with. Every day, whoever gets their workout in first sends a text message to the other person. The other person has to reply before midnight, saying they have completed their workout. It’s an extra layer of motivation that I get to tell Scoot things like: “Your move, ya dingus.”Results
I lost the 5.6 lbs I gained over December and then some; this makes me happy. An 8 lb loss with a 1 lb muscle mass increase makes me happier.
Four weeks down, 48 to go, 106 lbs left to obliterate. I hope to keep the momentum and get under 300 lbs in February; that would be a significant mental boost.
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Before you go
Do you have any ideas for healthy treats that don’t suck? i.e., protein bars made with chickpeas, we don’t want that.
What’s your favorite protein powder flavor and brand?
Should I yell “This is Sparta!” and kick the scale when I reach 300 lbs?
Also these Protein Balls
2 cups rolled oats
3 scoops chocolate protein powder
3/4 cup raw honey
3/4 cup nut butter
1/4 cup flax seed
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp maple syrup or vanilla
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
I make this bread every week for breakfast for the kids and I along with our bowls of Greek yogurt. I substitute canned pumpkin for the bananas, mostly because I don't like mashing bananas or they aren't at the correct ripeness for bread yet. https://www.haylskitchen.com/amazing-100-calorie-chocolate-protein-banana-bread/