April 22, 2009

Today was kind of a bust. Not really surprising after yesterdays high. I rowed for 10 minutes, did some lack luster OHS, and Dumbbell Snatch, gave up and did some stretching. My shoulder was tender too, so that kinda damped things down a bit.

I'm sure that like everyone else I struggle with the whole eating thing. On one hand I know for all sorts of good reasons that losing another 10-20 pounds would be a great thing. Tain't easy McGee. I'm intrigued how all sorts of emotional things play into the equation. If my calories are too low to get a satisfactory work out, then that is negative feedback on the whole eating less thing. If there is chocolate, or tortilla chips around, it is really hard to keep my eye on the ball. I think that evening time is the hardest. I can see that I'm eating cleaner and with a greater variety of vegetables and fruit and that is cool. But, it is interesting how hunger, and emotional need are closely related. Any emotional fragility and eating seems the first recourse for filling the hole in my soul. Sure it is easy to say, "Oh shut up and tough up." But in truth that is as much a rationalization as anything else. In that case I would be ignoring the very thing that might be at the root of my trouble. If instead I spend some time struggling with the hole in the soul, perhaps, I can be even tougher on the far side?

I've been focused lately on lifting heavy. I wonder if I shift to an emphasis on endurance if I can burn more calories at the same time I'm restricting them and so hit the goal? It seems 16-17 blocks is a maintenence level for me, 15 is just too lean to sustain high intensity lifting, at least until I've adapted to it a little more. What if workouts are 15 minutes of rowing, a Tabata cycle of calesthentics and 15 minutes of treadmill? That should get me in the realm of 600 -800 calories burned, roughly a weekly deficit of 2100 calories through exercise. That leaves 1400 calories to eliminate through diet to create the 3500, or 1 pound per week loss. I don't know, nor do I really want to spend the time converting calories and blocks. I know that 15 blocks leaves me a might peckish and that is probably good enough. The point here is to take off the fat and leave it off so slow and steady is better.