Sunday, July 31, 2011

Movin' Along


180.8 lbs. Spike plus plateau broken.



And the blood blister on the big toe is rapidly fading, so the après dance class post on Tuesday night will cover the class from one who can actually finish the damned thing. Order is being restored to my personal Universe.

1.       Torpor: A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility.

2.   Lethargy; apathy.

“Endless football + couch + Bud Light induces a state of torpor in Bill every Sunday.”



According to the Law of Attraction, I am calling these spikes and plateaus to myself by virtue of the fact that they bug me so much. I should therefore not take them personally and, “Oh, dear, well, let me focus on something else and it’ll go away.”

This is ME we’re talking about. I do not claim to have OCD but I do know that when something catches my attention, like a spike and plateau, my brain gnaws and paws at it like a Schnauzer with a marrow bone. And neither one of us lets go until the object of our attention is picked clean. I’m an American and I think one of the things that distinguishes an American is that we believe the problem doesn’t exist that can’t be solved, especially if there’s duct tape handy (In my case, over the mouth to prevent food from getting in. Also makes a very cheap facial hair removal system). And, of course, 6 lbs. gained and held for 13 days claims some serious attention.

My conclusions: my exercise program, once at 2-3 hours per day 6 days per week was seriously disrupted and shrunk and I didn’t adjust my caloric intake accordingly. I was also eating stuff that “didn’t agree with me,” not so much in terms of stomach upset, but in terms of adverse effect on my system. I had been feeling “full” all the time, a bit bloated and like things were not functioning at full efficiency. These are indicators that your body is not dealing well with the type of food you’re ingesting.

Time to adjust. Again. Sugar DEFINITELY out and now, all grains are out. We’ll see what that does.

I’ve also started a semi-annual Bowel Cleanse (Yeah, this is gross, but making sure that your gut is in good working order is a FANTASTIC idea). It’s a two formula program (made by a company in Marina Del Ray) that gets the smooth muscle of the intestines working again to (ahem) “move things along” and uses a charcoal, pectin, bentonite clay blend to absorb and remove toxins. This is NOT a weight loss shortcut: I have done this cleanse several times and never had significant weight loss. What it does is make me feel “lighter” (for want of a better word), make me feel like my digestive tract is working better ,faster, more efficiently and make me feel better, not so sluggish and my skins clears up (great barometer, your skin.  It’ll tell you if something’s amiss. Think of a zit as the Sarah Palin version of  Paul Revere shootin’ guns and ringin’ bells. And, in this case, YOU are the British and heed the warning to nip that shit in the bud). Again, no weight loss during the cleanse period (5 days), but getting rid of retained waste is always beneficial. There’s a reason your body doesn’t want to keep that stuff.

I’ve also advocated for adding fiber supplements (Like fiber gummies) and acidophilus/bifidous regularis to the diet. I like a good cheeseburger as much as the next carnivore, but I know that they’re calorie-dense, loaded with saturated fat and hard to digest. Added fiber and “good gut” bacteria (plus drinking those 8 glasses of water per day you’re always hearing about) helps your body cope with the heavier load. (Look, I’m not a scientist or nutritionist, okay? I just know what works for me, what makes me feel better).

I got the chance on Friday to finish my work a lot earlier than usual so that I could get to the gym at a time more to my liking: no issues with getting to weight equipment, no lines for cardio equipment. I had noticed that lately, I’ve been going through the weight training than I had when I started out  (45-50 minutes instead of 60-75 minutes). Same number of sets and reps, but it is my understanding that working more slowly is more of a challenge. I want the greater challenge; my muscles need the extra work. We have about 20 years of torpor (And you thought I wasn’t going to use it in a sentence) to overcome and with the slacking off of exercise, they need to be reminded who’s boss (my brain is such a control freak).  Saturday was welcome soreness (lactic acid burn; drink water to flush it out) and the drop on the scale.

Back on track.




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