Don’t Have a Keg…

No good news to report with my weigh in this week. But, my decline is very slow at least. I’m hoping the new work out helps to turn things around. Diet, of course, remains my biggest challenge.

Have a good week everyone!

Okay, how do you keep from laughing out loud when you are sitting at a table next to an out of shape guy, in this case a man pushing probably 300 lbs, and a guy so lean you could see every vein in his arms, which were about the size of my thighs by the way, and the "robust" man starts to give advice on diet and nutrition to the bodybuilder?

I managed not to laugh, though my Diet Coke did start to make it’s way to my nose…

And yes, this was at a place I probably should not have been given my diet and nutritional needs but I was treating my neice and nephew to lunch (no excuse I know).

Okay, I went to Cedar Point yesterday. It rained most of the morning and early afternoon, the late afternoon and evening was nice though and we got in most of the coasters - all that were on our top must do list at least - and several other rides as well. Walking around the park took care of my cardio for the day.

But the victory is that I easily fit into the restraints (i.e. seat belt) of the Millennium Force againt his year! So that goal is achieved and crossed off the list. Now on to some of the bigger more difficult ones.

Isn’t it funny how we can be motivated by such small things? And how sometimes that these seemingly inconsequential and trivial motivators, at least to other people, are often in reality the biggest motivators of all? Not everyone needs to be aiming to become the next Mr. Olympia in order to acheive goals!

Okay, I’m off of work the remainder of this week. I don’t have any big plans, yard work (got a new hedge trimmer!), house work (bathroom needs painting), hopefully a trip to Cedar Point to see if I fit into the Millennium Force - I’m sure I do - and other such stuff.

It should also give me a chance to really focus on my nutrition since I won’t have the excuse of eating out for lunch - okay, I will have one corn dog at Cedar Point - and I’m starting a new workout routine so I’ll have time to make sure I’ve got that down solid before gettting back into the regular work day routine.

Keep on keeping on everyone!

Yeah, I missed my weigh in last week but I’m back this week. I’m always a little surprised that my weight doesn’t go down more after a bout with my Crohn’s given that I don’t each much but I think that’s because when calories are drastically reduced the body goes into "starvation mode" and the metabolism lowers to conserve as much mass as possible. That’s my theory at least - I don’t know if it’s true but it might also explain why I get so lethargic during these times as well.

Bodyfat is creeping up again. Not sure why as I’ve been keeping up with my cardio as best I could. Oh well, no major changes in any event I suppose (i.e. within potential daily fluctuation).

Strength seems to be doing well overall. My only minor concern now is that my right ankle has started to ache. Almost like something is not aligned properly with my foot (does anyone know what I mean?) but clearly nothings broken or sprained. Could be the start of arthritis? I don’t know…I’ve been wearing sandals a lot in the evenings so I’ll go back to athletic shoes for a while and see if the extra support helps.

Looks like a nice weekend on tap - I’ll be spending it at meetings for the state community theatre association. It’s not a bad way to spend the weekend, we’ll have some meetings, get dinner as a group, see a show, and go to a cast party with the local theatre group of the town we are at.  Always fun!

Take care everyone!

Warning: this post may be filled with whining, self-pity, excuses, and a general sense of despair. So don’t read any further if you don’t like that kind of thing….

Okay, I was really happy today. For the first time in about two weeks I didn’t suffer from gut wrenching pain in my…well….gut about three hours after a given meal. Once again my Crohn’s has been active and though I keep reminding myself my case is extremely well controlled and I’m fortunate as many who suffer from the same disorder have actually had sections of their bowels removed, can’t ever gain weight, etc. I find that when I suffer through a relatively long "attack" that my mood shifts from hopeful to despair. I lose energy - which is actually one of the symptoms of the "attack" as I literally become anemic - and it’s all I can do to get through the work day let alone a workout. Plus, when food causes pain it’s tough to keep the diet consistent. The only good side is that I don’t over eat.

But, today there was no pain. The worst of this latest attack is over, I can feel my energy return and my diet can get back to normal levels. Plus, I know that I’ll do better during my workouts again too. So, back to building muscle, losing fat, etc.

Also, I’ve just finished ready "Huge in a Hurry" by Chad Waterbury (Men’s Health Books is the publisher). I’m a sucker for the latest workout book and this one had a title I just couldn’t resist. I was pleased that the workouts and the thinking behind them made a lot of sense. So, I’m going to give it a try. Instead of keeping with my light/high rep workouts I’m moving to a full-body workout utilizing big compound movements as opposed to a lot of specialization work. I’ll be sure to let you all know how the workouts go!

Onward!

A belated happy 4th to everyone in the good ol’ USA - which just happened to be my weekly weigh in day.  I was at my brother’s house and didn’t have access to a bodyfat monitor so only weight is recorded this week. And my weight was essentially flat - no real surprise I guess.

Good news is that I fit into all the safety straps during my visit to Kings Island (a large amusement park near Cincinnati, Ohio for those that don’t know) without any fuss or sucking in of the gut.

I did overindulge and had a funnel cake at the end of the day - but it was surprisingly easy to avoid all the usual amusement park treats. The prices were an additional motivator in this case (my funnel cake was $7.00!).

This week I’m going to really focus on diet and see if I can keep building on success. Wish me luck!

And "achievment" may be the wrong word. What I’m wondering about is how does reaching a goal effect your training from a mental standpoint. Does reaching a goal stop you from making further progress or does it push you on to the next level?

For example, let’s say you want to have 18" arms (okay, I’m using one of my goals as an example and but I know I share this desire with a least a couple of my friends here at Bodyspace, btw). You work for years to build your arms up and finally one day you wrap the tape around your upper arm and find you’re there. Do you stop now? Do you say to yourself I’m big enough now and move to a maintenance mode in your training - or do you say to yourself "finally - now let’s go on to 19! Or maybe you want to be able to bench 300 pounds. Do you stop when you get there or set the next goal at 350? Does there come a point where you say to yourself "this is it, I can’t do any better than where I’m at right now?"

I guess I’m asking because I also wonder how self-perception plays into your attitude. As another example, recently, when my training partner and I discovered that our arms had grown again and that his arms in particular are now larger than they’ve ever been he made the comment "hmmm….they don’t look that big." Where from my point of view they look huge (which is why we measured). So if hitting your goal doesn’t match to how you thought you’d look and/or feel does that change how you react to reaching it?

Am I making any sense? I’d love to hear everyone elses thoughts…

Good news - or bad if you get tired of seeing my random blogs and musings - my computer is fixed. But sadly, I lost a lot of information. Let this be a lesson to everyone - back up, back up, back up (on another device and/or a disk).

But it feels good to be back able to check in on Bodyspace as often as I like - of course I really should be asleep now - and other things online too. On the other hand while I was off the air (okay, I did keep using other people’s computers to check in every now and then obviously) I worked out more than usual.

That then must be the paradox of Bodyspace. On one hand it helps to keep me motivated - a lot actually - and on the other it distracts me from the actual workout.

Oh well - guess I’ll just have to learn to live with it.