Week Two Begins

Well, I survived my first off day. I ate pretty sensibly, as I knew I would. I did have two beers at bowling and some ice cream afterwards. On the other hand, I walked two miles at lunch with my friend Robin. Way back when I started reading the book Body for Life, Robin told me she had read it and decided the Body for Life program was too complicated for her. She doesn't know that I'm doing it now. I wonder what she'd think if she knew she was helping me with the challenge. As for the program being too complicated, I don't think I could imagine anything simpler. I've even complicated the process by actually counting calories instead of portions and taking supplements instead of just drinking nutrition shakes, but I still see this as an elegantly simple program. Aerobic exercise, weight training, diet control...what could be simpler.

I did a lot of reading about creatine over the weekend. I wanted to make sure Cheryl and I were not overdoing it. I found out that, if anything, we were under the standard dosage. We've avoided the loading phase, preferring to spread out the buildup over weeks (and hopefully avoiding digestive problems that can develope during loading). I'm still very apprehensive about supplements, but I will say that my lower body workout yesterday was just about perfect. I was able to do more reps with more weight. This morning on the stationary bike, I actually extended some of my intervals because they weren't challenging enough. I don't know how much of that is the supplementation and how much is just due to having been working hard for a week. As this program goes on, I keep on researching the things we're doing. Even if I don't see any other positive results, I'll have gained so much knowledge about exercise, diet and physiology.

On Monday, we booked a beach house in Florida for a week in August. Cheryl and I thought after spending the Spring working on our bodies, we should go somewhere warm and show them off. It's our first vacation in several years and it just feels right to incorporate it into the challenge. Plus, the house is less expensive than staying at a resort hotel and gives us a kitchen to prepare healthy meals in.

Today, I heard a co-worker make the comment, "It's raining out, it's a good day to sit inside and eat." I almost laughed out loud because, less than a month ago, I might have agreed with her. But after one week of Body for Life, I recognize that statement for what it really is...an excuse. Yes, I know all about excuses. I've been making them my whole life. "It's okay if I eat that fattening dessert, I ran today." "I don't have time to exercise, I have too many other things going on right now." "It's okay if I gain a little weight over the Winter, I'll lose it in the Spring when the weather's nice." When I rode my first century ride (100 miles on a bike in one day, in my case, about six hours and eighteen minutes), one of my co-workers at the time was going to do the same ride. He spent the two weeks before the ride "carbo-loading" with pasta and bread and then didn't actually do the ride.

An interesting exercise is to restate those excuses as choices. "It's raining out so I've decided to sit inside and eat." "I've chosen not to exercise today because I have too many other things to do." "I've chosen to gain weight this Winter and then lose it in the Spring." They sound a lot different when you phrase them that way, don't they? Well, this is what many people say by their actions. In their language, these things are just happening to them, but in reality they are making choices.

Well, today, I chose to get up 45 minutes early and spend 33 minutes doing intervals on my exercise bike. I chose to avoid unhealthy food for breakfast when it was offered. I chose to have my Subway sandwich made as a wrap instead of on wheat bread, saving myself about 80 calories. I feel pretty good about those choices.