A few months ago Jason Calacanis started a flatblogging revolution. He challenged bloggers to work on their health and fitness, writing about it along the way. Well, I’ve been working out consistently for over a year now and haven written about it in awhile. Back on February of last year, I wrote about my weight nearly hitting 200. Today I’m just shy of 175 and have been there consistently for the past 4-6 months.

Getting fit has made me a lot healthier in many areas of life. My total cholesterol was 191 and my HDL was 39 a year ago. At my last check 2 weeks ago, those numbers were at 154 and 48. On Friday I had my body fat tested with the caliper pinch things. They took a measurement from my chest, abs, and thigh. I only have 8.5% body fat which was pretty surprised to find out. My mom bought me a new scale for Christmas which tests body fat and that thing is constantly giving me numbers in the 18% range, which just goes to show how horrible they are.

So how have I dropped over 20 pounds and turned to a healthy life style? What does my routine incorporate?

Probably the biggest factor has been the change in what I eat. I used to eat out all the time. Two double cheeseburgers, a small fry, and a 6 piece nugget from McDonald’s? Sure, that sounded like a good lunch to me.

Breakfast

I will usually have one (or a combination) of the following:

• Bowl of some type of whole-grain cereal.
• Waffles with low fat syrup.
• Bagel with cream cheese.
• Oatmeal

Morning Snack

Almost always some type of fruit. Either 2 bananas, a couple of apples, pineapple. or cantelope.

Lunch

Either a turkey sandwich, leftovers from a previous dinner, or breakfast style burritos that I make on my own.

Afternoon Snack

Usuualy trail mix, granola, almonds, or walnuts.

Dinner

I eat a lot of chicken and fish these days. I cook it several different ways to keep it from getting old. Once in awhile I’ll whip up some pork chops, steak, or some other type of beef meal.

Night snack

This is usually where I cheat and eat something bad for me. Although I do try to eat some fruit at night as well.

Eating breakfast every morning and spreading food out throughout the day helps a lot. I try not to stuff myself during any one meal. You don’t have to be religious in your eating habits, you just have to realize what you are putting in your body. Eat something “fatty” once in awhile to keep yourself sane. I also use whey protein to get some of that extra muscle building power. I use it in smoothies (which I always have after weight lifting), milk, and oatmeal.

Workouts

Two or three times a week I lift weights which usually includes bench press, curls, triceps skulls, close handed bench press, and dips. Sometimes I’ll do a few other movements. Ab work is done three times a week for about 10 minutes each time. You don’t need to kill yourself doing thousands of sit ups a day. Make sure to use good form in your movements and target all areas of your abs. Keep rest periods short and crank out the workout to get it over with.

I do cardio 5 or 6 times a week with one of two of those days being some type of high intensity interval training (HIIT). I run, bike, and use my elliptical machine. I’ve also started to do a little swimming in preparation for a couple of summer triathlons I’d like to do this year. I bought Total Immersion after several recommendations and reviews, so I’ve been slowing going through the drills learning correct form and how to swim. I’m not so good at the whole head under water and breathing part.

So there you have it…this is how I do it. What type of workouts do you like? Any tips you’ve found useful in your own quest to become healthy?