How I Lost 15 Pounds (of mostly fat) in 100 Days

So as my last vacation approached, I decided that I wanted to have a nice "beach body"; not that I didn't have one, but I just wanted it tighter if you will. On June 28th, I began my workout and diet plan. It involved a diet filled with energy boosting smoothies, healthy yet smaller meals, an increase in water intake, a running program and an ab/total body workout. Yes, not a single weight was lifted the entire 100 days. I'm a pretty strong guy already and can run very fast (could probably clock a 4.4 40 right now), but I wanted to focus on being more lean and increase muscle later. I had no idea what to expect, as a result or with my performance, because I am built for speed, not distance. "I don't do distance" I remember saying to myself when I first got the bright idea to incorporate running into my workout program. I had done mini races before; The Harrisburg Mile, The In and Out (starts at the Art Museum). But in each of those, I had the same problem; I practically sprinted from the start line, led about half of the race and burned out at the end. I'll admit, I don't (didn't) know how to run for distance. Playing receiver and corner/safety for about 20 years involved many short bursts of acceleration. I wasn't equipped, mentally to pace myself while running. That all changed, and changed fast. I'll break down the plan that I had in two areas - Workout and Diet.

My Workout Program

My workout used an app on my phone (RunKeeper) for the running program, and two popular commercial workout programs (P90X - "Ab Ripper X" and T25 "Speed 2.0") I did, back to back, on the running program off days.

For the running program, you can find specifics on the RunKeeper website.. A high level description of the running programs is you are running every other day with a day break in between. Running is primarily made up of steady running (i.e. 5 minutes warm up followed by 45 minutes of steady running), interval running (i.e. 5 minute warm up followed by repeating the following 15 times - Fast running for 30 seconds, Slow running or walking for 2:30) and rarely a Fartlek run (Combine periods of near maximum effort with recovery, using your own ability to determine how long each period is). Here are a few maps of the runs I did on Day 1, 6 and 14:

Day 1 (3.45 Miles in 35 Minutes)

Day 6 (4.71 Mines in 45 Minutes)

Day 14 (5.64 Miles in 50 Minutes)

Distance and Time for Days 1,6 and 14

As you can see, my time per mile got better over the course of the program a full minute per mile. As I learned to control my body, I was able to get more distance with a more regulated use of energy. Now that didn't mean I sweat or worked any less:

After my run on Day 14. Poor shirt...

Granted this was helped by the timing of when I ran - the summer months. I worked out a lot of sweat (which is why water intake was so key to my success). On my running off days, I did the P90X Ab Ripper X workout, followed immediately by the T25 Speed 2.0 workout - yes, back to back! Needless to say, every day I shed via sweat and energy usage. You have to maintain discipline; meaning skipping a day here an there due to unforeseen circumstances is one thing. Missing a workout because you can't push yourself is another.

My Diet

If you've had the pleasure of dining or having a good time with me over the years, you know I love my medium / medium-rare steak, cheese steaks, muscles, wings, crab cakes and of course great beer, wine and scotch. You also know I can consume with the great ones in one sitting. However, to accomplish what I wanted, I had to make some changes to how and how much I ate. Below is a typical diet, but it varied occasionally:

Typical Diet throughout the workout

As you can see, I went with light meals to get my body used to burning off as much fat reserves as it had, while not adding much fat in. The Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars took a LOT of getting used to. Warning: They are dry! Very dry! But you get used to them and I love eating them now. But be forewarned. The yogurt I typically ate was Greek Yogurt from Chobani or Fage. The choice is yours. The cucumber I sliced evenly and dashed with salt (an old childhood favorite of mine). For the dinner the only things added would be something like peppers, garlic, mushrooms or broccoli.What you're really wondering is what's in the smoothie? Well I think this is the secret to all of the energy I had, despite consuming less and working out more. Here are a few smoothies I would make:

Smoothie 1:
- Raw Spinach (handful)
- Fresh Strawberries (handful)
- Frozen Mixed Berry Fruit (handful)
- Yogurt (full container)
- Peanut Butter (2 tablespoons)
- Cranberry Juice (arbitrary, depending on your thickness preference)
- Dash of Cinnamon

Smoothie 2:
- Fresh Strawberries (handful)
- Fresh Blueberries (handful)
- Yogurt (full container)
- 1/2 Fresh Avocado
- Peanut Butter (2 tablespoons)
- Grapefruit Juice (arbitrary, depending on your thickness preference)
- Dash of Cinnamon

Smoothie 3:
- Raw Kale (handful)
- 1 banana
- Fresh Strawberries (handful)
- Fresh Blueberries (handful)
- Yogurt (full container)
- Peanut Butter (2 tablespoons)
- Orange Juice (arbitrary, depending on your thickness preference)
- Dash of Cinnamon

You notice that the common ingredients are strawberries, yogurt, peanut butter and cinnamon. They all have different benefits from energy to digestive aiding, which is why they were in every smoothie. Now, I don't want to give the impression that I was a diet and workout saint. I wasn't. I had wine, scotch, and liquor, but I absolutely gave up beer and my liquor combinations replaced coke with ginger ale (a practice I kept). And I did skip 3 workouts due to travel in the middle of my plan. But it's important to stick to whatever your plan is as much as possible.

Hopefully this plan and diet will aide someone else to shed some fat and pounds that they are looking to get rid of. If you can train yourself to run for distance, endure the workouts on the running off days and stomach the diet you'll find that you have more energy, stamina (yep!) and a better body. I can't count the times that someone has said to me that past month, "You've lost weight?" - yes they question their own eyes. And I simply reply, "Yes, intentionally." The next phase is to gain 5-7 pounds back through weight lifting (muscle). Feel free to comment with questions, comments or your experience if you try this plan (or your variety of it). Good luck to us all!