Business

I attended yoga this morning at my office. A coworker is a trained instructor in Kripalu yoga, which I think is an Indian word meaning, “Kick Chris’s Ass.” Everything seemed like it would be okay, but I found myself dying at the strangest points. Downward facing dog, for one. This is where you are folded up like a tipped over “L,” with your hands on the floor and your feet on the floor, and your butt in the air. My shoulders were KILLING me.

And then there was this youchy pigeon pose business:

And I’m sweating my head off. There’s three guys and five girls, and one of the guys must’ve been a secret yoga junkie, because he looks just like our instructor in how he’s doing things. One of the other guys looks more like me, wondering just how the hell we should be able to do this. The girls? They were flexible as all get out.
Anyhow, I came away feeling like it didn’t matter a lick, all my weightlifting. That yoga stuff is killer. It proved that you can do all the strength and power training in the world, but when it comes to holding a position where you’re supporting your body weight for a length of time, you’re still doomed.
That’s really it, I think. When you lift weights, you move a bunch of metal for a certain amount of time, and then you release. In this yoga stuff, you hold things for much longer. What a DIFFERENCE. And which might be more realistic? I don’t know. What if you’re helping someone move? Won’t you have to hold whatever you’re holding for much longer than, say, eight reps?
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In other news, I attended a lecture by a local personal trainer who wrote a fitness and nutrition book. I’d read her book a few weeks before, so I thought it’d be neat to listen to her presentation. The book had lots of good information, and I didn’t disagree with any of what she wrote. I felt her presentation was a little off considering the audience, but that was mostly a matter of her probably needing to keep sharpening her presentation skills. The book itself was good. Her message when given live just needed toning.
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Thanks for everyone’s kind words yesterday. Today’s much better, and Kat helped make yesterday a better day than it started out to be. I never really mind the down days, but it’s important to throw them into my journal with the good, to show that no one is 100% on their game at all times. It’s what you do when you’re down that matters.
Are you satisfied with how you make it through your bad days? What are your little tricks and tips for getting through?
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There’s a guy at work doing South Beach. He’s in Phase 1. I only know a little about South Beach, because there’s a popular diet program comparison in a really neat cookbook I bought for dirt cheap at Barnes & Noble the other day.
Anyhow, he’s miserable. He says he’s feeling anemic all the time. He gets peanut M&M’s out of the vending machine when he feels he’s going to pass out from it. I’ve read that Phase 1 is like that. I’ve heard Phase 2 is much better. Not my bag, but some people see results, so I don’t knock anyone for their method.
But yesterday at lunch, I had a steak dinner. Oh yum. It was just perfect. Only a few ounces of steak, some steamed broccoli, and a little rice pilaf (that might’ve been a little high in sodium, but whatever). Delicious. I loved the protein, as I’d lifted hard that morning. I needed the pilaf for energy. And broccoli? Mmmm. And, it was a fairly good lunch portion, which is so rare. Usually, you get 3 meals worth of food on a plate.
I’m watching every little thing that goes into me. This nutrition business isn’t painful or exceptionally tricky, but you really have to stay vigilant. I’ve upped my fiber intake even more, and I think that’s helping. I’m back up to 1 gallon of water a day (which is just slightly over my daily recommended, but not so much that I’ll drown). And I’m seeing progress. I should be able to post another pound of weight loss for this coming Monday’s weigh-in, all things being equal.
The US Government changed it’s dietary guidelines and it’s really getting closer to making sense. I’m told a new version of the food pyramid (or whatever new shape they choose) is coming out, too. Atypical of the government, they actually spelled out (in the fine print) that we should be cutting down on refined sugars, salts, trans fats. They didn’t fall prey to the typical lobbying groups who water down such recommendations. I’m happy about this news.
I’m finding the following is working really great for me, eating wise:
*Smoothie for breakfast, loaded with fiber, some protein, yogurt, and lowfat milk, oh yeah, and chocolate flavoring and today, bananas.
*Slice of multigrain toast w/peanut butter for snack.
*Decent sized lunch, focusing on more carbs, some protein.
*Small afternoon snack, lately a small bowl of oatmeal and nuts.
*Dinner heavier on protein than carbs, as I’m less likely to need energy in the evening.
*Snack before bed of something filling. Either popcorn, oatmeal, or two tsps of peanut butter. (The natural stuff, not crap).
This mixed in with a mountain of water (and other beverages like fizzy water and green tea) seems to be doing me well. Oh, and a multivitamin and extra B-complex stuff. I keep trying to remember to take Omega-3 capsules too, but one day I took one and it melted in my mouth and grossed the HELL out of me.
The more I read about nutrition, the more it confuses me. There are so many theories. The weight loss theory of choice at the very moment is basic: calories in versus calories burned, and trying to keep a deficit. But.. BUT… even that has some issues. People talk about making sure the deficit is spread out over the day. Meaning, you should never stray from any more than 300 calories deficit at any point during the day or your body will freak out and think you’re starving it. And what about all these recent calcium studies that say eating a heap more yogurt and drinking low or non-fat milk fights fat absorption rates?
It never ends, really. That’s a multi-BILLION dollar industry, you know. Mmmm, smell the money?
It’s like every time I see folks putting their boxed lunches into the nuke. I can always tell who’s just in need of convenient, balanced nutrition, and who’s trying to fix themselves via the prepackaged miracle. Hey, it *is* one way of measuring calories. But there’s so much more to the equation.
Man, I’m starting to sound preachy. I’ll just leave it at that. However you find your way across the finish line, if you’re even in the race, good for you!
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(First off, Blogger ate this post yesterday)
I started yesterday at 5:05 at the pine swamp. Too swampy. My new headlamp didn’t work. All I saw was fog in all directions. And the swamp was overwhelming the path for the first 1/2 mile, so I quit and turned around.
I went to Maudslay, starting at 6:10. Not bad, but HUUUUUUUMMIIIDDDD. God! It was so miserable that I was sweaty and ruined by the first mile. By the fourth mile, I had NO energy in the tank. I decided to call it quits and left after four miles.
So, cruddy sunday.
And this morning. Ah, yes. Feeling ashamed for missing my 13 miles, I decide to screw my schedule and run a few miles on the treadmill to make up for it. At 1.89 miles, I felt a weird twinge in my back. And then, OW! It was the same “throw my back out” feeling that put me out of business for a week a few years ago, only up higher on my back.
I got off the treadmill, hobbled through cleaning the thing up (because I’d already sweat all over it), and then slowly moved out to my car to head home. I got Kat out of bed and she nursed me through a shower, and then into bed. Thankfully, between six ibuprofin and some really decent home massage, I think we nipped it in the bud. I feel some weird pulls in my back and if I walk certain ways, I feel it more. So what the hell is that?
I’m not sure what I’m going to do differently. I’m going to take today and perhaps tomorrow off, and then see what happens Wednesday. I’m going to revert to fueling up more before my runs (I’d switched to just a few pieces of fruit). I’m going to pray like hell that the twinge was just a whoops. I’m going to re-enter my Core Performance workouts instead of the lighter stuff I was doing. It focuses on core muscle strength and stability, and this twinge is dead center of what core would’ve been working on.
But sheesh. I guess there’s something telling me to slow down a little.
Good news department: a friend is running the same marathon as me this November.
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As of today, I am officially back on the mental connection to my fitness and nutrition goals. I have been maintaining things fairly well, and I’ve been working out daily. But things haven’t really been there with me mentally. Today, the sunny weather, a great massage, and a new book have helped reboot me back into determination.
There’s no denying that many people react to good weather. I tended to think I was not one of them. Well, this year, I’m definitely reacting. I’m suddenly punching to get outdoors. I’m anxious to do lots of new things. We’re planning out the year’s vacation. It’s just generally amazing the way this year’s sunny weather is making me feel.
The massage was by a woman most of my friends frequent. She’s wonderful, well-centered, interesting, and just tough as nails. She worked out all of my exercise tension and this knot the size of a baseball that she said came from work stress. I’m surprised it wasn’t the size of a planet. The massage really freed up a lot of muscle tone that had been reserved for maintaining the stress of my other muscles. It didn’t hurt that she kept complimenting me on the change in my body since my last visit.
The book I picked up was . I’d read an article by this guy and everything just really clicked in place. Core Performance suggests that you work everything, that there are all kinds of differences between power and strength, and that power is more desireable. It’s a holistic approach to working your body. I’m really anxious to see how the program works out.
So, I’m in the game. I’m working at this. I’m pushing at my self-esteem residual issues. I’m breaking through the barriers. I have lots of motivation. There’s a lot in it for me, this good health business.
Side note: my birthday was yesterday, and lots of friends wished me well. I was thankful for every message I received. I got all kinds of neato stuff like books on archery, a McSweeney’s book, a video, the massage, and hey whatever. It’s kind of like a birthday holiday. I keep riding this particular horse until it conks out.
I wish you well.
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