How to Get to Inbox Zero
- Log into Google Mail and choose the “Select All” option by clicking the selector box and choosing all.
- Click on the link that says “Select all conversations in Inbox” (the number will vary).
- Choose “Archive”.
- Profit!
(Listen: Archive lets you search your messages later. And if you are nervous of “I should get back to some of those people”, get over it. You won’t.)
Hopelessness is a real cause of failure.
How bad do you want it?
What will save your life?
Make Knowledgable Food Choices
My buddy Jeff sent me a tweet earlier today from OMGFacts that got me thinking (and probably not in the way you’d expect):
Yes, the Snickers fact is true and so is the cheeseburger fact. This actually comes from a NY Times article that annoyed me just as much. It completely misses the point.
When I started my diet, I used a book called The Best Life Diet which is ultimately a set of rules on what to eat. I followed up with Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules” which covers some simple rules on what to eat. But ultimately it all boils down to a few facts:
- A calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie.
- You need to know what is in your food and their key nutritional facts.
- Make the best food choice you can make given a situation.
Several studies came out this year describing that the normal thought of “calorie is a calorie” is not longer true. You cannot measure only calories in your fight to lose weight or get healthy.
While the McDonald’s oatmeal (which I do eat when I travel) has roughly the same number of calories as a Cheeseburger from McDonalds, I do not recommend you just have a cheeseburger instead. Why? Look at the nutrition facts: the cheeseburger has way more fat, a bunch more saturated fat, far less fiber, no vitamins from the fruit, but… equal calories. Given a travel choice, the Oatmeal should come out on top every time.
The McDonald’s oatmeal does have some weird issues with it though. For example, the light cream that they put into the Oatmeal has a ton of ingredients that aren’t actually… well… cream or dairy. Yes, you can leave it out, but my point here is to be informed. McDonald’s oatmeal could be just oatmeal. One ingredient: whole food oatmeal. So making oatmeal at home is better for you than going to McDonald’s but if you’ve looking for a good travel food, the oatmeal is a good example of making a knowledgeable choice while traveling.
Not all good-for-you food is created equal though. Dunkin Donuts has a Multigrain bagel that actually has more calories and a few more worse-for-you ingredients compared to a normal bagel. A breakfast bagel from Dunkin could cost you about 450 - 500 calories with cream cheese. Or a Subway lunch: take a read on your meats and bread. Their bread has high fructose corn syrup in it which really bothers my stomach. Its important to learn a lot about the food you eat just so choosing the “healthy thing” doesn’t turn out being the a worse-for-you.
Home-made oatmeal is better than McDonald’s oatmeal but don’t try to tell me that instead of the McDonald’s Oatmeal I should eat a Snickers or a McDonald’s Cheeseburger
ING Hartford Half Marathon: Complete
After starting in March of this year, I wanted to set (what I thought) was a semi-impossible goal: run a half marathon this year. After a few 5Ks and a cancelled 10K, today I was able to sock away basically the perfect-for-me performance on my first half marathon in Hartford.
We got in a bit early because we were concerned about the road closures. That gave me more than enough time to get read. I forgot, though, I didn’t have a coffee! We tried to go up to Dunkin Donuts in two locations but… alas, no coffee. How is this even possible? I took a few caffeine Sport Beans instead.
Got up to the starting line and I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am. The last two months of training have been complete trash. Work travel wreaked havoc on my training so I probably should have been a bit more nervous than I was.
Off the start, felt great. The first few miles were amazing. It really hit me that running is such a unique sport. Yes, there is a first place, second place, and third place. But all the runnings, logistical staff, and residents all support the runners. Even in little old Hartford.
I knocked out the first 5K at a pretty easy pace that was a lot faster than my race plan. I was lucky to really add to that over the next 7 miles or so. At about 10 miles, we were coming out of Elizabeth Park and I had to fight a little hard for those near 9 minute/miles. But I was able to hold it together and get it done. I fought by a few groups of people and tried to really turn it on toward the last mile.
I knew that I was going way faster than my race plan which had me getting in at between 2:15 and 2:20. I didn’t click my watch to the actual time until I only had about .75 mile to go. I realized I *might* be able to sneak away for sub-2:10 but I didn’t quite have it in me. I fought all the way down the hill and into the arches at 2:10:43. I was ecstatic with that time.
This was my first half marathon but I was really impressed with the race logistics compared to my other races. ING did a great job of getting the crowd excited, almost all of the water/Gatorade stations were well staffed, and there were a ton of signs and ING staff/volunteers at our disposal. My wife was also happy with the overall organization and it wasn’t too boring for her given they have a 5K and a Half Marathon. She had more than enough to watch.
This November I have a 10K and a 5 mile road race. Then I have a bit of downtime (will probably pick up a few small races) before what may be one of my A races which is the Ragnar in May in Cape Cod.
Thanks for everyone’s support while training, running, and organizing for this race!
Run, Run, Running
Well, its been a bit since my last running post but I think its about time to add some more.
Susan G Komen 5K in Hartford
This was my first ever 5K and boy was it fun. The race had thousands of people (which, later, people told me isn’t a good idea for your first 5K). I found myself trying to just get into a stride for the first mile because there were so many people of different skills and speeds. I got into my stride after the first mile but… I realized I’ve only been training on completely flat surfaces. So when I got to my first hill, then second, then third… I realized I wasn’t mentally or physically prepared for hills. But, thankfully, because this was a Breast Cancer fundraiser with survivors all over the place creaming my time I felt like it was impossible to go slower than them.
My second big mistakes was that I didn’t really know the course before I started. This led me to thinking that we were coming into the finish line when we actually have another .75 mile loop to do. I was so defeated on that last loop… I gave everything I had way before that so it was a lot tougher than I wanted it to be.
I ended up finishing in an all out sprint with a final time of 34:57. My coach was happy, I was ecstatic that I even finished, but I went back to training.
A special note to everyone that helped me raise money for this cause: thank you SO much from the bottom of my heart. As a first 5K, I wasn’t even sure I was going to finish but I’m happy to have finished and supported such a great cause. We raised $670.01 and it all went to Komen CT!
GE Petit 5K
This was my next race but SO much hotter than the last one. Luckily, the residents of the area were super nice and put out sprinklers and hoses to cool everyone off. Before I did this 5K, my Coach at www.prsfit.com told me to essentially “run as hard as you can until you puke”. Well, thats basically what I did. I memorized the course before I left and it was relatively flat which helped.
I ended up coming in at 29:23 totally obliterating my previous 5K. This was my second 5K so I was so excited to kill my previous PR.
Moving Forward
My big “A” race as people call it is the Hartford Half-Marathon. I’m going to be working up to a 10K in August and then the half in October. So far its been pretty great. I’m hoping that the heat will give me an advantage so when it (hopefully) cools off in October I’ll be better prepared.
Also, today marks 197 lbs for me. I’m just so excited about this that I have to keep writing it down. I have 17 more lbs to go for my goal weight as given to me by my Doctor. I started this March and its just been a huge ride losing about 50 lbs so far. Between my exercise, lifestyle changes (brought on by The Best Life Diet), and perseverance I’ve been able to get into the best shape of my life. Thanks to my wife Jamie and my coworkers James for helping me push along when I’ve wanted to give up.
Pizza on the Grill
My friends Peter & Christine suggested we try to make our home-made pizza on the grill instead of the pizza stone. It was a great success! I’m going to replicate their strategy here to share but ultimately it is their recipe (so thanks to them).
Grilled Home-made Pizza
- Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (pre-made; ours is from Whole Foods)
- Olive Oil (we did flavored Oregano Olive Oil)
- Your toppings (cheese, tomato sauce, veggies, meats, etc.)
- Heat up your grill on low or medium-low depending on the grill.
- Before putting it on the grill, allow your pizza dough to come to room temperature. Spread it out nice and thin. I did it on a cookie sheet. If you have a pizza stone, it should be larger than it (probably rectangular). You only want it about 1/4” or less in thickness. Spreading it out to cover the entire cookie sheet worked well.
- Spread olive oil on the top of the dough.
- Place your pizza dough on the grill, oil side down. Shut the grill and allow it to crisp for 4 minutes.
- Flip the dough over on the grill. On this side, place your ingredients. For us, that was tomato sauce, cheese, and prosciutto (in that order). If you do cheese, you do want it to be on as early on in the process as possible (so it melts well).
- Allow it to finish cooking and crisp for 4 to 5 minutes. Be sure to watch the bottom of the crust so it doesn’t get too brown. Keep the grill closed as much as possible so that the cheese melts.
We thought this was absolutely delicious and can’t wait to try it again. Thanks again to Pete & Christine for the great suggestion.
Help Me Run For Breast Cancer
(I’ve emailed this to close friends and colleagues. I’m hoping that, with social media, a few more my “digital friends” will help too.)
Its extremely rare that I would ask for help in my fundraising efforts so I’m hoping that you’ll read this email.
In my quest to get fit and lose some weight, I’ve been looking to run a 5K race. After a little inspiration from my colleague James Elwood, I’m going to be running the Komen 5K Run for Breast Cancer this coming Saturday, June 4th in Hartford. As some of you may know, cancer in my side of the family is an unfortunate common occurrence. The cancer fundraising organizations hold a special place in my heart as does Feeding America. Because the race is on Saturday (only 5 days away), I’m hoping I can reach my modest fund-raising goal.
I’ve decided to raise $250 dollars but would love to raise more. I’m hoping that, if its right for you, you can help me by donating towards my goal. Susan G Komen has a webpage specifically for me. Go to http://transaction.komenct.org/goto/kyledaigle and click on “Make a gift” on the right hand side. Any size donation will help me reach the goal by this Saturday.
I want to thank you in advance. Please feel free to share this with friends and family if you think it’ll be right for them. You can look at this blog for an update about my efforts after the race. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Diet For The Rest Of Your Life
Thats the question I think you need to ask yourself when you start a diet or fitness program. Most people think to themselves, “Oh I can do diet X for the next 4 months to lose my weight.” The first major problem with this is obvious: diets don’t produce results when you aren’t on them.
If your diet is a temporary choice, you will lose weight (most likely) up until you stop doing it. Then when you go back to your normal eating habits, you’ll regain the weight and lose all your gains.
Thats why diets don’t really work for most people. “No carb”, “High protein”, “All liquid” diets can work temporarily (at this point, I’m ignoring the nutritional issues with some of these) but if you do “no carb” can you really tell yourself you’ll never have bread the rest of your life? I doubt it.
The same goes for your fitness strategy. I’ve had several friends do P90X and fall off the wagon. I think this, again, is relatively simple: while a program like P90X can provide rapid results do you have the willpower to do it the rest of your life? I’ve personally never done the program, but it sounds like after doing a day of it you wish you were at the end of your life.
Its important to choose small steps that you can continue doing for the rest of your life. If you make incremental improvements, you can build and build and build until you reach the point where you answer “this is the most I can do for the rest of my life”.
For me, this ends with two choices: following the Best Life diet (a list of healthy eating guidelines essentially) and upping my activity levels. As I’ve written in my other post, I knew that running too much would likely kick me off the wagon. So I took small jumps… run a few more this week and then lift a few more the next week. At some point, I’ll realize that I’ve reached my fitness plateau. I can blast a bit more in the short term to make gains I won’t be able to sustain more than that plateau.
So now that we’re coming up to beach season, think about your diets as a choice during those hard times: holidays, five years from now, vacations. While its OK to bend the rules, these aren’t rules until you meet your goal they are rules for your best life.
