My BodyBlog

This month has been the most stressful I’ve had in a long time, both from the point of view of work and my personal life.  I know that I coped with the stress a lot better thanks to working out 3 times a week.

Here’s what I’m happy about for the month:

• Continued clean eating, mirror tells me fat is continuing to diminish on my stomach and hips.
• Started doing HIIT cardio after weight lifting, something which I knew I should be doing but for some reason just couldn’t get into it, until now!
• Had a Personal Best Deadlift of 340.
• Had some excellent workouts, especially legs and shoulders.  Every muscle group was sore sometime during the month!
• Weather is improving, I was able to walk more often than March.

Here’s what I’m not so happy about:

• Cardio was skipped a couple of workout days…I have to push myself to do cardio.
• Weight is unchanged at 210…I know I’m offsetting fat loss with muscle gain, but I still hope to reach that magic number of 200.  When my busy season at work is over and I can refocus, I may do a cut to get down to 200.

All in all a decent month in spite of challenging circumstances.

I easily resisted all food temptations on Saturday as my wife and I hosted an 80th birthday party for her Mother.  We rented the church hall for the afternoon and held an open house where we provided sandwiches, cookies, cake etc. for all the well-wishers.  I was around the food and serving the food all day and I’m proud to say I had no desire to indugle myself.  During the event I had a cup of tea, glass of water, glass of diet ginger ale, a peanut-granola bar, and one small raisin tea biscuit with a little Becel butter.  In times gone by an occasion like this would have given me an excuse to partake in all the food to excess and I would have been able to justify it in my mind because it was a special birthday celebration.  I can now see the folly in that way of thinking!  How can me eating that food (that does no good for my health and that does not contribute to me reaching my goals) contribute in any way to giving happiness to my Mother-in-law on that special day?   The important thing is that I spent time with her and I provided her with the means to celebrate with her relatives and many friends.  In most cases, the traditions we have developed around eating food to socialize and celebrate do not do us any good and in fact for many in helps to contribute to continued weight and health problems.  I care about my health too much now to ever let myself fall victim to unhealthy social eating.  How about you?

Everyone of us who is fit should get down on our knees every day and thank the Good Lord that we have been blessed with the knowledge, physical abilities and motivition to make the best of the gift that is our bodies and our health.  It is unfortunate that we are among the minority in western society, where lack of physical activity and poor diet are making an increasing number of people obese and causing numerous health problems.  Tragically, an increasing number of young people are in this category.

I am disturbed by the number of times I have read blogs where fit people are putting down unfit people.  This attitude that somehow fit people are better or smarter, and that unfit people are lazy and stupid, is an attitude that has no place in a community like bb.com where people from all backgrounds come for knowledge, motivation and support.  I feel that all of us who have some basic knowledge of exercise and good diet have a responsibilty to show some kindness and compassion to anyone we encounter in our daily lives who is struggling with weight and fitness.  If someone asks a question, answer it truthfully.  If someone has a misconception, give them the facts if you know them.  Don’t be pushy about it, just be willing to share your knowledge if the opportunity presents itself and someone wants to know.  Sometimes a very small act of kindness can make a huge difference in a person’s life.

Most unfit people don’t get that way because they want to be.  I know I sure didn’t.  It has a lot to do with the knowledge we are given, the habits we learn, and the circumstances we face early in life, just to name a few things.  If you’ve had a healthy lifestyle since birth, great for you.  You’re among a select few, since most people have to learn how to do it and it can be a struggle.  Some people never learn how to do it, and honestly don’t realize the high quality of life they are missing out on.  I feel very lucky to have discovered the fit person that was hidden behind years of misconceptions and bad lifestyle habits.  I will never criticize the character of someone who hasn’t been fortunate enough yet to discover the fit person inside of them.

If your life circumstances were different, that unfit person could be you……

To add some variety to my diet I bought a tin of sardines last week.  I had them for lunch today.  I’d eaten them occasionally over the years, usually smothered in mayo on toast.  This time I ate them straight from the can, washed down with skim milk.  Not the tastiest thing I’ve ever had, but I didn’t eat them for pleasure, I ate them for their protein and healthy fats!  Here’s the nutritional facts for 1-83g can of sardines in water, strained: 130 cal, 7g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, .2g Omega-6, 1g Omega-3, 3.5 g monounsaturated, 90mg cholesterol, 240mg sodium, 250 mg potassium, 17g PROTEIN.  These little fish sure pack a punch!

Legs are very sore today after doing squats and lunges two days ago.  Did more reps and used higher weight on squats than I’d done before, and my legs are telling me they love the punishment!  A long walk today, with power-walking up a hill at the end, adds to my pleasure!

I did an abs-only workout last night at home, while watching the Boston-Montreal hockey game.  I’m off to the gym shortly, where I’ll do shoulders and chest, and probably throw in calves for fun (may as well add to my legs’ suffering!).  Have a great week everyone! 

You hockey fans out there will know what that means!  As I watch the Canadians finish off the Leafs in their last game of the year (and listen to the Caps get into the playoffs on the internet) I am reminded of what incredibly conditioned and fit athletes hockey players are.  Just look at Sydney Crosby’s spread in Men’s Fitness Magazine.  In my opinion, no other major sport has such tremendously fit athletes.  They have to be, to compete at such a high level through so many regular season games and then to go through a grueling post season in their quest for the Stanley Cup.  Many hockey players jump on the stationary bike to do their post-game interviews!  Now that’s fit!  I’m looking forward to a great couple of months of playoff hockey!

Another personal best on deadlift tonight!  I did a lift of 340 lbs, 5 pounds more than last time.  Not bad results I think for a 42 year old who only learned how to do deadlift 5 months ago!  Better yet, each time I do deadlifts I seem to get more comfortable with it.  My 340 lift tonight was easier than my 335 lift 2 weeks ago.  My plan is to do them every 2 weeks, going for a max lift each time that is 5 pounds heavier than my previous best lift.  When I started, breaking 300 was daunting.  When I accomplished that it was a great achievement for me.  Now I can hardly believe I’m on my way to 400, and I know with consistent work and dedication I will get there.

My lifts tonight were:

135 x 10

225 x 6

315 x 2

340 x 1

245 x 4

Cool! 

Time for my monthly look back on how I did.

Things I am happy about for March:

• Worked out 15 out of 31 days; I included 3 workouts in a five day business trip, I’ve never worked out during a business trip before.
• I had personal bests in deadlift and shoulder press, and I’m almost back to where I was on bench press before sprained wrist and arm injury.
• I had an intense leg workout that left me sore for 2 days, first time ever.
• Overall I was more consistent this month with having intense workouts, and I feel stronger than ever.
• I was consistent with eating clean.  I even did it while travelling!
• I think I am continuing to lose body fat on my mid-section, so the mirror tells me.

Things I am less happy about for March:

• I am still 210, unchanged from February.  Hopefully this means I lost the same weight in fat as I gained in muscle.
• My waist still measures 41″ - but I look leaner in the mirror?  I also tried on some clothes and 36″ jeans fit me.  Maybe I’m not measuring correctly?
• I did not do as much cardio as I should have…mostly just did a warm-up, intending to do HIIT after I lifted, but I always ran out of time or was too tired.  I must go back to doing HIIT before lifting if that’s the only way I can get it in…need to work on this!
• I did not walk very much due to a combination of bad weather, work and travel…I am looking forward to the summer when I have much more free time!

I don’t ever expect to do a self-evaluation where I was happy about everything I did during the month.  I think no matter what I accomplish, I will always push myself to do a little more…and that’s a good thing!  It was a good month for lifting and diet, not so good for cardio.