Week 8 Day 1

Seven weeks have gone by.   My eating habits have changed, my exercise routines have changed,  my outlook on life has changed.    This past weekend I was able to jog 2 miles constant, 2 days in a row.  That is something I have not been able to do in a long while.  Today during my afternoon workout I jogged faster for a mile than I have in years.   I am not desined for Olympic Gold,  but I am heading in the direction of 5k fun runs.   Today while I was bored and had a few minutes I was looking up hydration back packs for hiking and jogging.   That is for days I have not even planned or imagined yet.   Five months ago I would not have done that.  I would not have the need to do that.   I am changing.   Behavior and desires are changing.   I am desiring to do more.  I want to do the Army Ten Miler again.   It may not be this year (but it might), but next year looks like there is no way I would not be ready.   I bought a fitness magazine and read an article about a guy that decided to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.    That was amazing.   That is not going to be me, but it was inspiring.   I want to do great things.  I want to do what others may not see me as being capable of doing.   I want it all, and I want it now!   It is not going to happen over night.  But it is going to happen a little bit each day as I push just a little harder,  As I try something new, as I eat to feed my body, as I struggle to get better at being fit.     It is a struggle.   It is only as hard as you let it be.   You are the sole competitor in your own life.  You are also the sole judge as to when you have done enough, or if you need to do more.   It is easy to put things off till tomorrow.  But there is no reason to do that.   Spend the time today to make things easier tomorrow.  Or to make things better, or faster, or stronger, or just to complete what you set out to do.   How is that for some ramblings of a mad man!  WOOHOO!   sometimes you just got to say what you are thinking, even if you are the only one listening.

Well today is Monday and that means time for the scale.

Not to bad.   I am 6/10ths a pound up from Friday.  That is a negligible amount.  I feel great and will continue to do my thing.

My morning workout started on the treadmill.  I decided to get the sweat going with 13 minutes of jogging followed by 17 minutes of walking at 5% incline at 3.2 mph.   I planned to jog for my afternoon workout warm up so I did not push it or want to go beyond a mile jogging.   I then moved to the stair stepper and sweat some more for 20 minutes.   A solid effort and a good feeling once I was done. 

My work meals were all packed.  I enjoyed my burger, baked potato fries and asparagus for lunch.  It was only outdone by today’s dinner.  Total calories for the day are 2,273 calories.   A good place to be since  I was lite on calories yesterday.  I do not want my body to think it needs to start storing fat!  That would be bad.  The fun happened again after work with a great workout. here is what I did:

jogged 1 mile at 4.8 mph then wanked the 2+ minutes to complete 15 minutes of cardio for warm up.

Squats:

Smith machine squats  115lbs- 2 sets of 6.   I did these waiting for the squat box to be free

Squats  135-7

185-5

225-5 ( hardly any squatting at this weight but I got to get used to the weight on my shoulders)

185-6

135-7

Deep squats with 45lb plate held on my chest  2 sets of 10

Dumbbell bench press

50-10

60-10

70-8

80-7  I could not get 8,  I was too weak to get it!

bent over rows station

45-10

70-5,5,6

45-10

At this point I was tapping out.  I had it, my muscles were done.  No Mas!

I made it home and enjoyed a hot shower.  I got started on dinner and cooked some steak and decided it was going to be a Mexican style meal.  I cooked peppers,onions and portobello mushrooms.  I also boiled some rice and added a can of fire roasted tomatoes and a small can of sliced black olives.    What a meal.   Take a look for yourself.

I wish I could have eaten more.  It was delicious!    At first I was going to put it over a bed of lettuce, but once I started to look at each of the components I decided to eat it like a regular dinner.  Not everything I eat needs to be over a salad.  What I have left over will be split into 2 meals tomorrow over salad.  There was too much for it to be one meal, and I did not want to put myself in the situation of leaving some as a snack for tomorrow.  It was as easy to pack it with two salads and not have to think about it when I might be to hungry and not have the will power to not devour it.    It is far simpler to not put myself in a situation where I might over eat.   Planning!  Just like for retirement, studying for a test, a vacation, whatever,   do the work before you need to and things will turn out better for you.  Here’s to making it another day filled with enthusiasm to work towards being my best.   I want to be my best,  do you?