| A new goal to set ... | Week 12 of 12, Day 80 of 84
... is to listen to a BodyChangers interview every day!
I was just contacted by my old friend, Tom Roehl, and received an incredible update ... he actually won his first bodybuilding competition back in December 2002 at 45! He is a stellar guy ... he also won the Bodylogix contest, a company that was around a few years ago and founded by Drew Avery from Body+of+WORK fame. At any rate, check this out:
Check this out!
How inspirational!!! I'm fired up. 5.3% body fat, here I come!!! HOOAH!
(All of the interviews there fire me UP)
posted by Jeremy on 6/18/2003 2:00:23 PM | | Heather - that muscular look | Week 12 of 12, Day 80 of 84 cont...
I love my wife's definition, and she currently isn't weight training at all and doesn't have plans to.
In reality, yes, you can get a lean, defined look without heavy weight training, but only so far. In order for your muscles to be firm, which is toned, they must be stimulated. When you stimulate them, they begin to contract all day long in anticipation of work, and that is what makes them hard rather than flaccid. Simple calisthenics is enough to tone the muscle - push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc.
As for size, of course, weight training is necessary for this. However, if you are concerned about health, and especially if you keep having injuries, then calisthenics are probably ideal. You want to strengthen the muscle somewhat, because strength is far more important than muscle size. Muscle size just gives an appearance of largesse and increases metabolism. Strength, on the other hand, protects your joints by allowing the muscle to react and absorb impact rather than having that full force travel through the joint itself.
My wife maintains a lean figure with zero cardio, zero weight training, and simply nutrition - in fact, she lost about 3 - 4 percent body fat doing this, so I know it's possible. I also reduced my body fat drastically, not on purpose, when I was juice fasting for spiritual reasons. My concern would be (and I share this concern with my wife as well) is simply what I mentioned above - the healthy, injury prevention aspect of strength. I know a guy who is 175 who can bench press 500 pounds, I'm 197 and can barely eke out a few reps at 240, so size is definitely *not* a prerequisite for strength.
Heather, what type of injuries do you keep experiencing? There are so many forms of resistance training and many can circumvent or event prevent further injury. I see so many people train heavy without addressing their core muscles - sure, they strengthen abdominals, but how many people here really spend a lot of time doing back-specific exercises such as hyperextensions or good-mornings? Probably not many, and the core is critical to all of your body - I would venture to guess that having a strong, stable core could even prevent many rotator cuff, hip, and other injuries that result from imbalances due to overcompensation from a weak core.
You can always work with light weights and a SLOW tempo - muscle is stimulated by tension and overload, and that overload doesn't necessarily have to be a lot of weight. Sure, I can pound my chest with 2 reps at 240, and the time under tension will be several seconds (those are SLOW reps) ... but if I load only 120 and perform 10 second reps (5 to lower, 5 to raise) then I'm actually introducing plenty of tension there as well, and can equally build tone. If I take the light weight and train explosively (controlled, but focusing on acceleration) I generate force and improve strength. Some of the top power-lifters train at only 50% of their max but focusing on acceleration for strength generation - it's this side of the curve I'm most interested in.
Basically, I'd say that proper nutrition and cardio are THE foundation for good health, as they address your body's ability to recover, grow, fight disease, etc. However, I think the strength aspect of weight training in lieu of protecting your joints is also crucial to enjoying quality of life in old age ... there are so many options such as calisthenics, resistance bands, light weight/slow tempo or light weight/acceleration training, etc, that I'd hate to see you neglect this aspect at all.
When addressing your muscles, I think at a minimum you should:
(1) stimulate, somehow - calisthenics, slow weights, whatever. If injury is a concern, use really light weights, do it under supervision, etc, it doesn't take a lot of weight to stimulate the muscle, just just have to do something with it!
(2) control - control drills are very important to be able to selectively activate your abdominals, leg muscles, etc. These are drills designed to contract the muscle but not fatigue - I have a full list in the training encyclopedia at my web site, if you don't have it then let me know and I'll repost the link. These include rotator cuff drills, scapular retraction drills, etc - very light weights (I never do them with more than a 5 lb dumbbell, and don't even break a sweat) but really give your central nervous system control over your muscles
(3) length - lengthening the muscle is important. If it can't lengthen through the joint, then it becomes tense and is more prone to tear/sprain/etc. So stretching is HIGH priority on my list.
Heather, you might look into some form of cardio that stimulates your muscles as well - for example, Tae Bo, while mainly cardio, involves stretches and kicks. To punch/kick you must generate force and that is enough to stimulate your muscle and generate tone. Another example is both Pilates and Yoga (which is based heavily on Yoga). Both of these not only address control and length, but because you are supporting your body weight in many of the positions, they also stimulate by applying resistance, so they meet all of the criteria as well. You can be lean, defined, and healthy without ever lifting a free weight ... but I wouldn't go the route of a cardio-only person, that can lead to ankle, hip, knee, back, etc problems without reinforcement of the muscles via some other regimen such as those discussed above.
Hope this helps!
posted by Jeremy on 6/18/2003 9:34:13 AM | | Hey, hey ... whatcha sayin'? | Week 12 of 12, Day 80 of 84 cont...
Kim congratulations, you not only feel great, you look terrific from the most recent pictures I've seen posted! And those are knockout stats, no surprise with the great coach you had! Don't ever forget, though, that Sue made the route, but you traveled it - it was your hard work and sweat and execution of a well-laid plan that led to the success!!!!! GREAT JOB!
Dianna - 6 hours of sleep? Wow, I wish I could catch that much! LOL! Nice way to avoid temptation. I used to love bacon, now I just look at it and see fat and pork meat, bleck!
Sue - thanks for the kind words. Yes, fortunately, I am a fast typist ... between 120 - 140 words per minute, so these posts don't take to long (that's also why there's so much rambling ... not too much time to waste between the thought sparking up in my noodle and getting out to the keyboard!)
Emma - that's a GREAT rant, don't apologize!!! My wife and I have been very careful to avoid using food as a reward/punishment system with our daughter ... it's that behavior that ingrains an almost Pavlov-dog type response - "I accomplished something, where's my TREAT?" ... I think looking for praise, affection, and a fun outing is a much more appropriate reward!
Sharon - ouch, makes my already-sore legs smart just looking at those workouts! Good luck with the clean and jerk, I might get into some more explosive/Olympic style movements in my next routine!
Jason - evolution is right, sir! THOSE ARE AMAZING STATS!!! Way to keep it up despite all of the business in your life!
Heather - is that truly the longest one? HRM. LOL. Well I hope I don't necessarily change perspectives, but rather provide new ones to take in .... and no problem, obviously these are topics I feel passionately about, I'm just thankful for a forum to vent my thoughts and feelings in! Thanks!
Michael - beautiful post. Gotta LOVE the journey!
Everyone - keep up the terrific work! What a community of hard-working transformation champions we have here, all of you!!! THANKS FOR THE DAILY INSPIRATION!
posted by Jeremy on 6/18/2003 7:10:17 AM | | Why it's so hard | Week 12 of 12, Day 79 of 84
No, this isn't THE answer, it is just some ramblings.
As a personal trainer, having worked with literally dozens and dozens of individuals over the last few years, I can say one thing: to maintain a healthy weight, you must monitor your calories.
Nope, you don't need to exercise. I know plenty of people who have successfully dropped weight simply through juice fasting or raw nutrition or extreme restriction of calories. Some of those nutrition regimens are even healthy. My wife, who practices food combining, rarely exercises - she is active, but she doesn't do specific cardio or weight training. Is she "healthy"? Sure - nutrition IS what we are. However, her heart probably could use some additional stimulation, and I'm concerned about her joints - that's the big advantage I see with weight lifting, is protecting joints as we age to prevent injury from falls, etc.
So it comes down to nutrition.
What's the KEY? Keith Klein's "GetLean" program? David Greenwalt's "Leanness Lifestyle"? Bill Phillips' "Body-for-LIFE"? BodyRX? Atkin's? The Zone? Actually, all of these will work to reduce your weight. They each have their degrees of "healthiness" associated with them. Some advocate exercise, others don't. It's ironic to me that the majority of people who have found fitness through Body-for-LIFE scoff at people "without muscle" such as marathon runners because suddenly muscle is an indication of "health". In truth, it isn't. Does weight training make us healthier? Absolutely, and some runners are unhealthy, but so are some weight trainers. But the size of muscle has never been linked with any positive health condition - if anything, it can be linked to reducing life expectency. WHAT?!?!?!?! Sure - more muscle means faster metabolism, so a propensity to eat more. Reducing calories or consuming low calories is the only method proven by science to extend your lifespan - that's right, in general, those who consume less calories live longer. Hmmmmm.
Where am I getting to? What is the point?
The point is that everyone must decide what their goal is. The people who I see struggle the most have physical goals. This is not saying physical goals are WRONG or even VAIN (hey, as I lean out, I look in the mirror a lot, I LIKE to be lean, so I have my own vanity streak) but those goals are the toughest ideals to attain. See, somewhere along the line, a lot of people confused seeing their abs with "healthy weight." I can guarantee you are just as healthy 10 pounds over the weight you see your abs at ... so we have to realize losing that last bit of fat is a cosmetic goal.
So let's talk about "why it has to be so hard." How hard does it have to be? Ironically, I find that a lot of my clients felt they were bordering on eating disorders because of their obsession with food. I know I do. But the interesting thing, to me, is that they associated eating CLEAN with the disorder ... that constantly eating nutritious foods was a bad thing, that avoiding social occassions centered around food was a bad thing, etc. Ironically, the converse is typically true - we start with the eating disorder, the obsession with food, and that's WHY it is so damned difficult to eat clean ... because we are constantly nagging ourselves about eating crappy foods because of the addictive taste. Nature built into us a propensity for fat and sugar, as these are major sources of energy and in the million year history of mankind, year-round abundance of food has only been known to the general population for the past few centuries, and to the elite for an estimated 5,000 years or 0.5% of our history (no, I'm not getting into a Creationist versus Evolutionist theory here, I believe that God created man but I believe that the clues discerned by science teach us the rules by which our bodies operate).
At any rate, throw that aside - we like sugar and fat, and we get fat easily. It is important to get fat easily, because who knows when the next famine will be, right? Well, now things are different and we haven't had time to adapt. We can easily get sugar and fat. These should no longer we "pleasing" stimulus, because they aren't NECESSARY ... but we're stuck with it. And being fat should no longer be our genetic predisposition, but our bodies are designed to gain fat and moderate muscle size. It is hard to gain muscle size because the body would rather get really EFFICIENT with the muscle to generate strength than grow the muscle and then have to take in more calories!
So what I'm getting at is that we are all out of our element. We have bodies designed to eat fat and blessed with a propensity for the wrong foods. Then we're stuck in the modern society that has built so much around food, but again, this has backfired. Society tied to food goes back to when hard labor was performed throughout the day, and then the family gathered at the dinner table to enjoy their company. We still have that stigma of socializing over food even without the hard work and without the need to necessarily "gather" for that amount of time, as communication brings us so much closer together today through modern technology (just look at our online community).
So now we get back to this concept of image and appearance, etc. Generally, the remarkable, striking appearance is the rare one - if it were commonplace, it wouldn't be striking. So in societies where famine is rampant, it is the plump, robust person who is considered attractive - this isn't just associated with ethnic groups, but periods of time, as the rubenesque period shows us. Our very vocabulary is impacted by food - when sugars were first refined, only the rich could afford them - therefore they only reached "refined people". Of course, those people also were stuck with higher rates of disease, obesity, diabetes, and other conditions, even at the turn of the century when these refined foods were becoming available to the general population. And why are refined foods so popular in lieu of the less processed materials (some people wonder why the food is cheaper when it goes through more processing)? Because it lasts longer - see, insects and bacteria don't like refined food as much as wholesome, natural food, so those foods last longer on the shelf. Ironic, isn't it, we are more concerned with shelf life and profit than the fact that the major food items out there aren't even fit for germs, yet we consume them like crazy!
So when I hear, "Why is it so hard" I really have to wonder WHAT is hard.
Because staying ripped with a six pack and benching a lot of weight IS hard. I agree. But that isn't making me healthier. And you know what? I think an earthly, vain tradeoff should be hard. If we're going to spend so much time worried about trivial, physical features, why not struggle a little bit? Why not make it HARD because it is a fleeting exercise - our appearance can change at any instant, and aging is inevitable.
When looking at health, however, it doesn't have to be hard at all. Nope. You might have to live with carrying a few more pounds than that cover model, but, hey, that's life. Just because you can't see your abs or can't bench press 300 pounds doesn't mean you're less healthy. If you are exercising at least a little bit and consuming healthy foods, you ARE healthy. You ARE doing the best thing for your body ... so why does it have to be hard?
Take my wife and food combining, for example. She doesn't count a single calorie, she doesn't weigh her food, she just eats what she chooses. She makes sure the food is properly combined, and she mainly eats fresh, wholesome foods. That's it. And she has energy, she looks great, and she's HEALTHY. It's not hard at all for her - she found a solution. Is she 8% body fat or rippling with muscle? NO. But she doesn't want to be - she is happy with her body, and I think she's a knockout, so who cares about the rest?
Now, if you look at my pictures, you'll see that I am NOT shredded. There aren't any ripped abs there. But do I really need to drop another pound for health? Absolutely not. I could stop right here, go back to eating just based on food combining and not stuffing myself, and it wouldn't be hard at all. Why am I going the distance? Because I WANT something hard. It's the same reason I hike to the top of tall mountains or run hard in cardio - I like pushing myself to the limits because I learn something new about myself. Sure, the net result is a vain pursuit where I get to smile with self-satisfaction in front of the mirror and might be noticed more at the poolside, but those little vanities are trivial compared to the sense of accomplishment and self-esteem I get NOT by the end result, but by the PROCESS of arriving there - by the practice of sacrifice, consistency, persistence, pushing myself and looking long term instead of short term. And when these things happen, I find that it affects other areas in my life, helping me tackle work and organize my personal life and a million other things.
See, it's no mistake that true transformations start on the inside. And the truth is that the successful people are able to make it more than just the food or the thoughts, the struggle. I'm right with Jennifer where there have been times I've obsessed about food all day long. It's a part of it. But the reason I did it was to prove that I COULD exert control, that I could master those emotions and get over that obession. When I say "obsessed" some might mistake it for obsessed with eating healthy, but it's not true - I am obsessed with FOOD and by eating healthy I'm controlling that obsession, not creating one. Going back to eating junk wouldn't be ending an abnormal behavior or giving up an obession, it would be giving INTO the obsession for food.
Food is a funny thing. So many people acquired a taste for beer when their first sip made them gag, but because it was a social thing, it was acquired. So many people grimaced and spit out their first taste of coffee but acquired a taste because it helped them get that jumpstart. So why can't we acquire a taste for healthy foods? WE CAN! It just takes effort. You have to stop looking at it as a diet and a struggle and start finding the things you like. You might have to compromise. I'm not talking about going from pizza to chicken and broccoli overnight. I'm talking about going from Ruffle's to baked corn chips and fatty burgers to homemade lean burgers and veggies slathered in butter to veggies steamed with a little olive oil drizzled over them. I HATED raw veggies, but by introducing veggies, trying different recipes and dips, etc, I allowed myself to acquire a taste for them over time and now I love them. I am losing 3 pounds per week on my current program, but am I dying for anything? NO! Why? Because I allow it. If I want a little piece of chocolate, I have it - organic, healthy chocolate, and enough to taste it but not stuff myself. I just ate a cup of soy chili that was out of this world. I would have hated it a year ago but I've acquired a taste for it and it doesn't taste like a diet meal ... it's just how I eat.
Yup, that food is a funny thing. See, the person who is truly NOT obsessed is the one who CAN eat healthy all day. Why? Because they're NOT giving into food, so they simply choose what is healthy for them. I have seen so many people point to healthy eating as a cop out, it's not even funny. I've been accused of being abnormal for not taking my children to fast food restaurants or because my daughter doesn't know what a Happy Meal is. Give me break! She's eating healthy. She has her share of sweets, they're just all natural, healthy sweets. And I don't reward her or punish her with food, because I want her to grow up seeing it as healthy fuel. I associate enjoyment and fun with healthy foods, not crappy foods.
When I went on vacation to my grandparents house, I went to the store and bought my own chips, sprouted grain bagels, juices, etc. Was it disrespectful not to accept their juice, etc? Not at all. Some might make it to be, and make it a part of that crazy obsession, right, for healthy foods? Heh. Well, to me, high fructose corn syrup with apple flavor is an obsession. If someone truly isn't obsessed with foods, let them drink all natural apple juice. If they are, then I guess they'll have to stick with their own kind. Me? I think health is the important issue, so I'll stick to mine.
Food can really get down into our emotions and mess with us. But in the end, please recognize it's NOT the food or even the exercise that is the issue or the obsession. It's NOT the difference between chicken and broccoli or pizza. It's an issue of morality and of control. Morality? Absolutely, because I think it's immoral to pollute your body. It is easy for someone to say it is wrong for a man to cheat on their wife - why, that's immoral - it's just wrong - they're giving into an earthly urge over love and family. But why is food any different? Giving into unhealthy foods is doing the same thing as giving into lust or drugs or any other urge - it's placing more importance on the immediate satisfaction of those 5 seconds of flavor than the long term satisfaction of living healthy. People can go to whatever extremes they want to justify it, but that's it, plain and simple: drugs feel good, but can harm the body. Crappy food tastes good, but can harm the body. The problem is that drugs aren't illegal and don't have an immoral stigma so now we're in a situation for the drug addict is someone bad but the food addict? Well, they're "normal" and it's the person breaking their addiction and choosing a healthy lifestyle that's weird.
I know I've come a long way but I just want to conclude with one more thought that might help. The one thing I've seen in common amongst people who have conquered this and truly made it a lifestyle was one simple thing - selflessness. That's it. It seems strange, what does selflessness have to do with weight management? I think everything. I don't think it's a coincidence that Bill Phillips focused on "living by giving" or that a dozen of the 2000 Body-for-LIFE Top 2000 Finishers were all at the same inaugural charity event in Evansville, Indiana. See, it takes selflessness to manage your weight.
WHY would someone cheat on their wife? A selfish urge to satisfy their sexual pleasure.
WHY would someone risk their health with drugs? A selfish urge to enjoy the buzz, the kick, the escape.
WHY would someone struggle with weight management? A selfish urge to eat what they want, when they want.
It all boils down to selfishness. And we are a selfish society - we hoard our money and glamour and build our double standards and make it easy for someone to suffer and struggle. But when you start to worry about the OTHER person - when you start to live by giving - guess what? It's okay to get up and exercise even if it's going to be a struggle, because it's not just about YOU. It's about the example. It's about health. See, it's okay to struggle a bit to pass up that chocolate chip cookie because it's not only about YOU ... sure, YOU want it, but can't you stop and think about something else for a change? Come on.
Really, I'm not saying ignore yourself. No ... but I'm saying sometimes we have to struggle, and that's what makes us more of a man or woman. My teenager, boy, he sure can talk big. He reads about rappers from the ghetto and talks big but he's never had a gun held to his head or lived in fear of being evicted and living on the streets. There is such a huge gap in today's society between talking and doing, and I think that's what really separates boys from men, women from girls. So it's not about forgetting who you are or ignoring your own needs, but it's about doing what you KNOW is right and facing up to the possibilty that the right thing might not be the most comfortable thing.
Jennifer, it doesn't have to be hard, it really doesn't. I think you KNOW what the right thing is, and sometimes it's a trade off between the right thing and the thing we want. For example, to me, the right thing is just to be healthy, and that's easy. The right thing is also to challenge myself, so hence this challenge, but since it's NOT the abs or the muscles that are goal - it's the challenge itself - then the struggle is something I ENJOY. But if I were doing it just for the sake of appearance, which is exactly the case when I started, it would be very, very hard. When I started, it was almost impossible, because I was after a LOOK and after something FLEETING. I just wanted to impress people. I'm NOT saying that's what you're after, I'm just relating my own experience to see if it can help. When I realized that I needed to focus on HEALTH rather than just the LOOK, and that sometimes other things in life - my wife, my children, Christ - would be more important than the muscles or body fat, it was like setting myself FREE. The struggle comes from being a slave to ANYTHING material, whether it is money, power, drugs, sex, or, as so many people suffer from, food. It is HARD to break that addiction, but once it is broken, realize that you will rize above the obsession. The obsession may remain with you, but please don't look at it as being HARD to eat the right foods or HARD to exercise. I hope you look at it as a struggle for the ultimate reward of proving yourself to be HUMAN in that you have this obsession which, instead of giving into like so many others, you choose to STRUGGLE and enjoy the struggle because it helps define who you are.
Does that make sense? Maybe not, but that is how I feel about it all. Sometimes struggles are necessary to experience, and live a fulfilling life. I think many people lose their way because they are looking at the final result, and see the struggle as some hurdle to get through - they don't want the discomfort, so they look for that magic bullet to get to the end, but believe me, it's NOT the end that is the prize, it IS the journey - it IS the struggle that makes us overcome and become more human. But since we can be selfish, if we flee the struggle to the comfort zone, then we will always be stuck in that hard place - but when we become more selfless, we can appreciate the struggle and make it. Jesus sat with nails driven through his joints suffocating in pain for all of our sins. Millions overseas starve, struggle with poverty - when in Jamaica, I saw people living in homes that were literally pieces of metal with sticks propping them up and pits for cooking and urinating in ... wow, now that is a struggle. When I take in the world, I realize that my struggles are trivial in the long run, and that by overcoming them, it helps me become a little more selfless so that maybe I can contribute in a postivie way to some more important things happening elsewhere in the world. I think this is one of the defining moments of transformation, that Cory alluded to - he has reached the point where he has overcome through selfless sacrifice - a cause that really improved who he is but has at last taken him to the point where he realizes we are here to help others. WOW, what an amazing thing!
Okay, rant off.
posted by Jeremy on 6/17/2003 3:40:04 PM | | Shouts and what-not | Week 12 of 12, Day 79 of 84 cont...
Sue - I like the new competition piccies posted! Well, they're probably not new but new to me! Keep up the heavy training!
Emma - I love green tea and coffee, so I guess I'm set! Seriously, I think it was John Berardi who was describing his early morning (pre-workout) shake to me ... sounded disgusting but hey, whatever works - he said he'd get some protein powder and oatmeal and then blend it with coffee and put it in a big 44oz container to drink on the way to the gym and sip throughout his workout! I always bring whole beans into work so we can grind them fresh and have that killer pot of fat burning juice. Also have plenty of green tea bags in my drawer!
Leann - "you won't be needing this" ... nice attitude. It's people like that who make it tough for the general public to exercise. So many myths, and then you have someone ready to perpetuate a stereotype that women should just do step aerobics and use machines. LOL. Show him up, honey!!! When you're lean and mean and warming up with more weight than he has ever maxed out on, he'll change his story for the newer clients!
Jeff - wow whatta awesome time! CONGRATULATIONS!
SSG. Bjorklund - I will look forward to experiencing the abundance today!
Tracy - it's great that you can recognize your successes and share them with us. May they spur you on to new levels of success!
Jennifer Barkley - a great leg workout is a fantastic way to kick off the new program! Way to go!
Sharon - glad you like the DietPower. It certainly keeps me "in line" lol. Glad to hear your eating and supps are on target. Keep it up!
Kelly - at least you're willing to share the yellow and move on. Time to plan to succeed and not fail to plan ... you can do it!
MOM II - thanks for the kind words and great to be home again.
Buzz - yeah, camping is the greatest, is it not?! Week 7 can be tough on some people. Seriously, if you feel yourself continuously dragging, either build in an extra day of rest or purposefully go light for a week, you'll be amazed at how hard you can hit it when you start back full throttle again! Recovery is just as important as the actual training itself. In fact, I'd say too many trainers focus on the TRAINING aspect of designing a program, when they should start with RECOVERY. Recovery sets the boundaries, then training must fit inside those boundaries, while nutrition, therapeutic modalities (sauna, hot bath, massage, etc) can help extend those boundaries.
Tom - as always, I enjoy your wry sense of humor.
Zach - you are such a hottie. Er, uh, just kidding - got caught up in all the posts. Seriously, you look great, can't WAIT to see what competition day will bring! I will be getting lean myself, but it's goign to be awhile before I claim to be anywhere near as MASSIVE you are. I'm gonna start calling you TANK!
Well, vacation was wonderful. I just can't get over how great it was. Alyssa was fantastic despite the long flights and layovers. It really helped to have a laptop that plays DVDs. We bought her a few for the trip and she watched them on the plane and during the automobile trips. I forgot just how truly beautiful that land is, and it was a welcome break to be in a state whose entire population is only 1/3 of the city that I live in! Mountains, caves, fossils, badlands ... it was all good.
It was nice to find a local gym and continue my workouts and actually lose 3 pounds and an inch on my waist during vacation. There literally were shorts I could not fit into before the vacation that are now comfortable upon my return. Does it get better than that? And it's not like I was being totally restrictive. I had my share of buffalo ribs, chili, grandma's baked chicken, cookies, and chocolate. My last dinner there involved a big glass of red wine with some nice, black angus steak. But I kept the exercise up (man, that altitude KILLED me - I couldn't finish a 2.4 mile run in 20 minutes, but just last night I did 2.7 in the same time ... big difference when you actually get air when you breathe in!) and I watched the calories. If I splurged a little one day, I trimmed back the next. The biggest thing I noticed is that, being on the road, I was more confined to bars and bagels and items like that. I no longer had a bag of veggies every day, or even as much fruit. The result? My metabolism dropped a few hundred!!! It's right there in DietPower. Simply adding flax and a ton of veggies back into my diet increasing the amount of food I can eat and still drop weight by 200 - 400 calories. That's cool ... I'm happy to have my big bag of mixed veggies here today!
I had a great meal on father's day but that left a few calories in the bank I have to make up. This means eating slightly under budget for a few days until I balance the budget. My meal was healthy (vegetarian tamale, black beans, rice) but I just had a lower calorie allotment because I hadn't trained. I'll take up the slack and hit my goal of 194 by Sunday, then enjoy my week of active rest.
I have to take a moment to thank the Lord. I had a major meeting in Chicago on Friday, the day before I flew out. The company had a great interest and a lot of information needed to be gathered, resulting in some e-mails, etc while on the road. I may have mentioned this before, but I'm still amazed - I could have been so stressed out about the workload waiting for me on Monday, but I truly put my cares on the Lord. Jesus took care of me ... I came into work calm and confident, and was able to enjoy the vacation without any stress. When I came into work, I simply tackled my tasks one at a time and had them knocked out much faster than I anticipated. Here I am, day two, and things are pretty much back to normal! I could have blown the entire situation out of proportion, but my faith kept me firm - Christ truly is a rock! Thanks to Him, I was able to get home, get in some killer training last night, and go to sleep at a decent hour.
Take care, everyone, keep it green!
posted by Jeremy on 6/17/2003 7:14:57 AM |
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