164 Days Left

Went for a late evening jog last night with the Mrs. through scenic Coral Gables. South on Ponce de Leon, past Miracle Mile, and around Ponce Circle Park. The night life was winding down, but people still dotted the sushi restaurants and convenience stores. I wore my Vibrams which led to some foot pain since I don't wear them enough, but as a Primal practitioner I swear by barefooted-ness. I don't think I'll be running 13.1 miles with my five finger toe shoes, but who knows. The heart and lungs held up better than expected for a 2.8 mile 10:20PM run an hour after eating dinner. Upon arriving back home I did some foam rolling which exposed some pain in my quads around the knee. This is due to weightlifting and not running, but I really want a rumble roller to work out those knots. I can't substantiate the $60 price tag so I'll continue to search for a used one or beg my friends who don't use theirs to let me buy it for $30. Overall I feed confident about this upcoming running reason.

My Why

When you first join as a Beachbody coach. You are asked to determine what your "Why" is. Your why is an emotional motivating factor that drives you to do what you do. To finish arduous workouts. To deny tasty junk food. To go outside your comfort zone and accept rejection. To do the seemingly inconsequential, mundane, or repetitive things that over time if done consistently can yield significant emotional, physical, and financial rewards.

I knew that as a Christian, my why for everything should be God centered. So my why was something like "To glorify God by helping others achieve their fitness goals" or something like that. But to be honest, that didn't stir me up. Maybe that makes me a heathen; I don't know. I do know that it didn't make me want to do pushups and pullups while hungry at 10PM after a long day at work. After a few weeks, I accepted what I always knew my why to be. Freedom. 

Freedom to do whatever I want. More specifically, freedom from having to have a sedentary job in a 70 degree environment where there is even the slightest hint of having to obey for fear of losing my only stream of income. Don't get me wrong, I don't not like my job. But "not not liking" my job is different from liking my job and VERY different from loving my job. I get treated alright at work; pizza parties on Friday, short commute, reasonable hours, decent amount of time off. But ultimately, I am out of the house from 8:50AM to 6:45PM everyday. Look at this chart. I spend 251 days a year at work, 2,510 hours, 40% of my waking life.

Doing this analysis gave me a sickening feeling. That's 40% of my time I could be spending with my family who are all getting well along in years. 40% more time volunteering building things for at risk children. 40% more time with my girlfriend. 40% more time reading the Bible, exercising, writing, staring at the sky. You see, I currently trade hours for money. It isn't the best deal. But, my dream is to trade hours for an ever increasing amount of money. Multilevel marketing may give you the heebie jeebies (it still kinda does for me), but it is a business that has a very low cost of entry that you can build and instead of earning at a linear rate (e.g. $10.75 an hour), you can earn at an exponential rate (e.g. -$90 first month, -$60 second month, $30 third month, $1,200 13th month). At my current job, when I work more efficiently, produce more, and work harder, I get paid the same. With BB when I do all those I (hopefully) get paid more. 

More money = more time 

More time = more flexibility to travel 

more time = richer relationships 

more time = more exercise = longer life expectancy

more time = more reading = higher emotional health 

more time = ability to help others in need

What if I made enough money that I could hire a car service to drive my grandmother around town so that she can visit friends and her remaining years are stimulating and fun. What if I had enough money so that there are never financial reservations when it comes to providing emergency medical care for my next pet when he isn't doing so well. What if I made enough money to pay off my car and my condo so that the bank could not take them away from me. The thought of having to sacrifice in one of these areas because of limited resources sucks. Don't believe that "that's just the way it is". Why? It doesn't have to be that way. 

What is your why.

197

I've been weighing myself a lot at different times of day. I was as low as 193 this week. I guess it is just water weight, when I've had food in my stomach, or my bathroom patterns. I did pretty good on the week with exercise. Monday was Chest & Back, Tuesday I did some Plyo Legs and Ab Ripper X and a 1.1 mile run/walk. Wednesday I played basketball for like 3 hours with co workers and thought I was have cardiac arrest which I guess is good, Thursday I did Shoulders & Arms with Tyler, and today I did 32 minutes of Yoga X, Ab Ripper X, and I will soon be heading to Tropical Park to play some basketball with strangers.

Things I did good this week: Had absolutely no rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta. Only had bread once. Did not eat any sweets. Cut down on coffee and the sugar that goes with it dramatically.

Things I could have done better: Finish the rest of Yoga X, try harder on all my exercises, avoid eating late, even if the food itself is OK.

Also, my knees have been bothering me. I've been taking Glucosamine, but that has never done anything for me. I do not want to wear knee braces to play basketball; I'm only 25.

198.6

Approximately two hours ago I completed P90X Chest & Back. I have not seriously exercised in many months and felt a little winded during the 4 minute warmup. I had to do some push up sets on my knees and had to use a chair assist for nearly every single pullup I completed. I feel a little bit of muscle fatigue even now though, so I'll take that as a sign that I accomplished something. I really wanna stay consistent. I'm an all or nothing kind of guy, but when results don't come quickly, I tend to lose interest.

I am the heaviest I have ever been. One pound and six ounces short of 200lbs. In 2010 I once saw 149lbs on the scale. True that my family thought I just emerged from a concentration camp, but I was eating like 3000 calories a day and had made friends with 45lb dumbbells. Now 15 and 20 pounders are more in my comfort zone and I look like Jasmine's dad from Aladdin. I'll post some pictures up later, but I was pretty disgusted with myself and my Day 1 pictures look even worse than my Day 1 pictures in June of 2010.

Food to cut out: white rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, yuca, candy, cookies, sugary cereal, cake, icecream, brownies, ramen noodles, taquitos, alcohol. In my exercise glory days, my pristine eating was the predominant factor in my rapid weight loss and under 10% body fat. My entire mindset was transformed and at one point I sincerely thought that I would never again know the taste of chocolate. Now, two years later and 40lbs heavier I find myself having eaten not one but two left over Dove chocolate bunnies from Easter.

Tomorrow calls for Plyometrics, but I want to substitute for an Insanity cardio or maybe a Tony Horton One on One DVD.

On the Bandwagon

Earlier today I did Tony Horton's One on One series: P90 Road Warrior. I must confess that I hadn't done a workout in quite some time. What made me get off my butt and do it was some inspiration from a Beachbody corporate event last I attended last night. There were people there who had survived cancer and lost over 150lbs. I realized that though we may not want to exercise, it will ultimately save us from impending crises in our life. By exercising I reduce my risk of injury, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol. I know I'm only 24, but I imagine that establishing a healthy habit like exercise only become more difficult as one ages. (Some of you older people can let me know)

I've seen myself go from a 160lb 6-pack wielding endurance machine to a 175lb love handler over the past few months. Even my students have observed some of my food choices and have rightfully accused me of "relapsing". I decided that maintaining a level of fitness is easier than attaining a certain level of fitness. What I mean is that I have not yet given back all the gains I got from doing P90X and INSANITY last year. When I started last June I was around 190lbs and couldn't even run 2 miles to save my life. If I start exercising now and get serious about a program I can be in even better shape than I was at my prime.

Exercising today did not feel good. I was sweaty after the third set, wanted to quit after the fifth set, and started feeling a little dizzy after the tenth. I was watching the DVD on mute 'cause I was listening to something else, but every time Tony started a new set I hoped it was the last. But anyone who has done any of his workouts knows that it only gets more grueling as you go. It wasn't pretty, but I finished and felt better because of it. Not just because I worked out, but because I exercised my will. By doing something you do not want to do, you build self-discipline that flows over into every area of life. Besides the obvious physical benefits, this exercise in will power is how I improve the most through rigorous workouts. My advice is: just start the workout. Even if you attempt an hour long workout and can only get through half of it, you are doing way more than millions of fat indolent people nationwide! That's why a common Beachbody slogan is "keep pushing play" and not "keep doing pushups even after you're done and the credits are rolling". They know that if you determine to at least START you dramatically increase your chances of finishing.

~ Andy

insanemiamifitness.com

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