soundpreacher’s BodyBlog

Time Magazine had a cover story about exercise not making you thin.  I was curious, so I read it.  It correctly stated that people will not lose weight if they exercise a little and then eat more; the example was given of a couple of women who ran a mile, and then rewarded themselves with a muffin at Starbucks.  It also said that people might sit around after a workout, and thus burn fewer calories than if they hadn’t worked out.  Exercise stimulates the appetite, also; the author wondered why there are playplaces at McDonald’s.  I think it’s to keep kids happy and wanting to come back, more than to stimulate their appetites.  My little guy wants to go to Chick-Fil-A because of their indoor playground.

However - it said that self-control is like a muscle, that gets weaker the more you use it; if you make yourself work out, you will be less likely to keep yourself on your diet.  Have you ever thought about a muscle getting weaker the more you use it?  The more you keep yourself under control, the easier it will be to keep yourself under control next time.  Time, keep focused on the news, and keep the bodybuilding information to those who know what they’re talking about.

Had another one of those no-rest resting days.  Went to a local festival, and the Army National Guard had a rock climbing wall set up.  (I figure a recruiter will contact everybody who signed the liability waiver, because that’s about all the connection I could see.)  Of course, I had to go and give it a try; I’m a man, aren’t I?  I wasn’t completely crazy; I didn’t tell them to put me on the hardest course.  I get about halfway up, and I’m stuck; there aren’t any handholds in sight.  I try reaching way over, and slip; the belaying system lowers me down safely.  I try it again, trying a different route, and end up in the same place; once again, can’t make it.  The guy asks if I want to try it again, and I don’t see any reason.  He suggests a different course, and I give in.  I get most of the way up, and my grip strength is starting to go; this is, after all, my third try.  I take it nice and easy, get all the way up to the top where there’s a red pushbutton that doesn’t do anything, and climb all the way back down, a step at a time, instead of just jumping like they told me to.

When I reach the bottom, my forearms are so pumped that I can barely make a fist; this was probably the greatest forearm workout I’ve ever had.  I can’t wait to see what my arms look like in the morning!  If I ever have a chance to do it again, you know I will.  HOOAH!

The next time I complain about a "rest day," I give you permission to slap me. I forgot that Thursday is Tae Kwon Do day.  I got a cardio workout like I haven’t had for a while, and I’m sure that my hips are going to be sore tomorrow from all the high kicks.  Something gets a workout, every single day.  Tomorrow, back to Back and Biceps.  Keep the goal in mind - HOOAH!

I’m noticing new veins just under the skin and a new edge on my quads.  My right leg is almost square right now - the left one, just a little less so, but I’m working on it.  My calves are so much tighter, I can barely walk today.  Not DOMS, just larger calves! 

I get so psyched when I see some kind of change.  Hey, sure, I’d love to wake up tomorrow and be at 5% body fat, but get real!  My body has always responded quickly to training; I can put in a hard workout and see a real change the next day.  Any change, any difference, make working out tomorrow that much easier.

Since I’ve got a place to put this, I’m going to talk about my diet plan.  I say diet plan because "diet" implies something short term, to lose weight.  "The Zone" is a change of lifestyle, like bodybuilding.

People have the idea that the Zone is a typical low-carb fad diet.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s not low carb, low protein - it’s not low-anything or high-anything.  It’s all about balance.

First of all, for every gram of fat, you eat two grams of protein and three grams of carbs.  It should already be obvious that this isn’t a low-carb diet; you’re eating more carbs than anything else.  The idea is that the protein slows down the digestion of carbs; if your carbs digest quickly, your blood sugar shoots up (think about giving somebody in diabetic shock some orange juice or candy to bring their sugar up quickly).  For somebody in normal health (ie, not diabetic), this triggers a release of insulin, to lower the blood sugar.  The problem is, if it’s quick digesting carbs, it’s at least partly used up by the time the insulin is released, so you have more insulin than you need; your blood sugar plummets.  You crash, you get a headache, or (as my hypoglycemic wife calls it) you "go blonde."  If you eat a more balanced diet, on the other hand,  the carbs are digested slower (because they’re more complex carbs in the first place, and the protein slows digestion), then the amount of insulin is appropriate for the amount of sugar, and your sugar levels are more stable.

Here’s the short version:

A typical male will eat 12 grams of healthy fat, 28 grams of lean protein, and 36 grams of good carbohydrates in a meal.  (Hard training bodybuilders might need a little more, an average woman would need a little less, but the proportions are still about the same).  "Healthy fat" is something with little saturated fat, like almonds, macadamia nuts or olive oil.  "Good carbohydrates" are things with a low glycemic index, which unfortunately means that there is very little grain in this diet.  Most grains (except for oats and barley) get digested almost instantly; even "whole wheat" is nutritionally almost identical to white sugar.  The only vitamins in most grain has been added; you could grind a multivitamin in a sugar bowl for the same effect. 

The "low grain" part of this is hard to get used to, but, wow, is it worth it!  Everything that you associate with aging gets reversed - and I mean everything.  Don’t knock it till you try it!

Just finished a great workout.  I think BodySpace is responsible; I couldn’t stand the thought of posting a mediocre workout.

Between sets of bench presses, I posed in the mirror; I actually said out loud, "Look at those beautiful veins!"  I forgot my creatine, but still got such a pump that I was seeing veins that I’d never seen before.  I hit a personal best, also, just because I didn’t want to post small numbers; I usually put 90 lbs on the bar, but why stop that close?  I added 10lbs to my press because of bodybuilding.com - Thanks, guys!

Well, time to get this going.

When I was in college, almost 20 years ago, I spent a summer getting in shape.  I lost 60 pounds over a single summer. When I went back in the fall, even good friends didn’t recognize me.  It was a great feeling.

Over time, things slipped.  I decided to join the Air Force, which meant getting in shape again.  I bought another weight bench and got in shape.  Years later, things slipped again, and I gained the weight back, with a vengeance.

 About 2 years ago, I decided to go back to the military.  The problem: I was up to 350 pounds.  Sounds impossible, but it hasn’t been; I bought yet another weight bench and got to work.  For a while, I joined a gym across town.  I sold the weight bench (since I was going to a gym), and even ended up moving closer to the gym.  For some reason, I stopped going once it was more convenient; I didn’t gain anything back, but I stopped improving.  Moved again, bought yet another weight bench, upgraded my equipment (which means another bench!)

Now, I’ve got the best equipment I’ve ever owned, and I’m getting closer to my goal.  I figure that putting everything here means that I’m going to be working harder.  Who wants to tell the world he didn’t put everything into a workout?