Distractions

For good reasons, I didn't do anything active today.  So why am I grumpy with myself?  I skipped a pilates class I like but thought I would make it up with a run.  How do good reasons pile up or become more important than something I considered 'most important' when I started my day?

You must have heard that story about how to get the most stuff in a jar...big rocks first, then smaller rocks, then sand.  Sometimes all the big rocks don't fit.  You can keep shoving, but eventually the jar breaks.

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191 this morning.  Pho for lunch.  It tastes so I good there must be something killing me.  What do you think that plum sauce rolls up at?  Snuck a couple of meat balls in yummy sauce at the Dental office.  We got some pizza for visitors at the house tonight, but I only had two pieces where I usually eat, no kidding, a whole medium pizza.  Pepperoni and Bell Pepper...mmmmmm.

Then I tried a recipe I saw on the Barefoot Contessa.  That woman knows how to cook with everything forbidden (or as my friend Ty says...poison).  This seemed safe enough.  Fresh shrimp, a little olive oil, a little lime juice, a little garlic (ok, a lot of garlic) and some S&P.  Bake at 400 for 8-10.  Tasty.

I skipped the homemade Thousand Island she demonstrated...mayonnaise, add some mayonnaise, sprinkle some mayo, pickles, capers and lard...never mind.

The Shining

Yesterday was the first inkling of the shine coming off the rose.

I made my plans.  I read some new books.  I got my new running socks.  I tried some new foods.  I started my blog.  I have been at it since late January and a lot of the newness has been driving me and the newness ran out.  So I am very interested to see what happens next.  I wonder if I am going to keep going or repeat past patterns where I maintain for several months then make my first trip back to Jack in the Donald's and slather myself...for four years.

Stay tuned.

I was re-reading The God Father.  Never tell anyone outside the family what you are thinking again.  :)

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194 and holding steady.  I had a great run yesterday...about a mile and half and felt good and strong the whole run.  Annette ran with me which is a miracle.  She doesn't like to run so I thought it was cool she came along.

I went to the gym tonight right after work.  Bosu push ups, squat rows, Bosu curls, squat one arm deadlifts, standing kickbacks and some funky lay-on-my-back hip lift whack-a-doodle.  I really liked the circuit but I just felt weak.  I remembered that I forgot to eat something before the workout.  I made that mistake a lot several years ago when I was working out early in the morning.  Hopefully, lesson learned.  Car can't go on an empty tank.

Feast or Famine II

Getting ready to write part two makes me nervous since it seems less amazing than when I set up the cliff hanger a few days ago.  So I will start with some good news, I found my old Ben Harper CD's and I am doing a BH marathon while I type/watch the Giants game.  Oppression you will not get me!

Here it is:  if you believe in the data/theory that severe calorie restriction sets your body's genetic memory against losing weight, then you might also believe that periodic high calorie meals remind your cells that there is plenty of food so they can stop hoarding.  My health guru at the gym told me this.  He admitted it was an undocumented piece of urban hearsay...but I liked it.  When I get around to really researching this, I will tell you what I find out.

In the mean time, I'm going to call unplanned high calorie meals "metabolism lifters".  It sounds very positive to me.

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193 today, same as a week ago.  I cancelled some early morning tennis cuz it was blustery.  But I got a good run in around 3p.  Now, don't laugh, but it was only a mile.  Gym cardio and running seem to have nothing in common.  I was just happy to be outside, feeling the orchards pass by, talking to some birds and frogs.  Good times.

"You look like gold to me."  Ben Harper.

UFC

Many moons I ago I was visiting with a young couple from church in their home. We were just getting to know each other and I asked the young husband what his hobbies were and he busted out a tape of people beating the living day lights out of each other. He called it UFC, a form of mixed martial arts where the only thing that could stop a fight was unconsciousness or submitting by tapping out.

I forgot about it for a while until the last several years where it seems to be making a comeback. The format seems modified...they seem to stop things sooner. They probably needed to follow some rules to get more sponsors, etc. I am still not sure what UFC stands for, but I use it when I am abusing something to the point of destroying it. I use tapping or choking out interchangeably. So, when I say I am choking out my alarm clock, I am smashing it against the floor trying to get it to submit.

Or I might say I UFC'd some zucchini when I mean I was trying to lightly steam it but forgot about it while watching reruns of Family Feud with dead Richard Dawson and ended up making baby food style zucchini. You could say that the zucchini 'tapped out' or 'submitted'.

By the way...Feast or Famine II is postponed again, where I will reveal some ground breaking speculation on the subject.

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193 this morning.  Great circuit work out last night.  Great adult pinewood derby.  Then a late night visit to Chili's.  My daughter is home from school and her cool boyfriend and my sister and her cool husband and my wife and her cool son went and and and I didn't want to miss the fun.  So I went.  Chili's will grill salmon and steam some yummy broccoli, so the plan was good.  But then I went off on the chips and salsa, the cheese fries and when my niece wasn't looking I was gulping her chocolate shake.

Spooky

Honest, I have attempted to publish every comment submitted but they are not all showing up. I must be doing something on the 'don't do it that way' list. Or I am a blogmoron? bloron? morgon? blogtard?

Business Travel...

...is irksome. I didn't get up early enough to get my yoga on. I UFC'd the alarm clock but being stuck on 4a doesn't seem like punishment enough. I forgot my breakfast banana. The best news is that I stopped when I was full at Benihana's. That has never happened before. I left a lot of awesome, perfect steak, veggies and fried rice. I know I am not all the way home in my mind because I keep thinking about leaving my little friends there. They were meant for me, and I was meant for them.

I got home in time to run down to the gym for a swim but I just didn't feel like it. Now I am grumpy with myself. It has been working pretty good to go do SOMETHING especially when I'm not feeling it.

But I left my meat friends on the plate, so I claim victory.

Part II of Feast or Famine tomorrow.

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191 this morning. Yes! And I commit to some shoulder bumps before I go to bed.

Feast or Famine

Since I keep crappy notes, I have very slim ideas of where I get what passes for knowledge in my world. For example, when my daughter was young I shared a quote, "Well behaved women rarely make history." I told her that Eleanor Roosevelt said it. Nope. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said it.

For a long time I have believed the idea that our bodies have a cellular or evolutionary memory of famine and if you want to achieve a healthy weight you won't fight gene power. In practical terms this means that starvation diets are rarely successful because the body recognizes the signs of famine and adjusts metabolism and fat storing mechanisms appropriately. As soon as the artificial famine is over, the body knows that famine is more likely, keeps the metabolism low and turns every calorie in sight to fat.

This ain't no research journal and I have no idea if this is true. I just know that when I have tried extreme calorie restrictions in the past I feel terrible and pork up like hippo even if I go back to moderate eating. I heard a new twist on this idea that seems to be coming true. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting finish.

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191 today. I feel great. I had a tough interaction with a coworker and seemed to have more energy to let it go. No reason to get to sappy. Last time I thought I had let something go, I dreamt of going on 12th century crusade and chopping a lot of serfs up.

I had a great functional circuit training session last night. My favorite section was laying on an incline bench and pulling my legs up to my chest and back. Really cranked my abs. I was grunting like hog chasing gold plated truffles. And tonight Annette and I went to the free (yes!!!) mat pilates/yoga. Very energizing and the leader busted out a meditation at the end that I enjoyed.