put on a happy face…

OW. Life loves to throw curveballs at well-laid plans. Thursday morning at 12:30am I woke up with extreme pain in my left hip. Ice it, walk around, mild stretch (to the point of tears), lie down and try to find a comfortable position (nope), ice again… rinse & repeat. Until 4:45 rolls around and I decide I may as well get up and get going for the day.

This puts a kink in my latest fitness plan (specifically, being only 3 days into the Starting Strength protocol). My hip has been slightly aggravated for awhile now, and I’ve been mindful of that while lifting, but rushing through yesterday’s workout is likely the main culprit. It has improved over the last few days, to the point where I can now sleep fairly well without the aid of Advil and IcyHot. But I’m holding off on the squats, deadlifts, and cleans for the time being. Bench & shoulder press it is, along with some light yoga/mobility work. Patience, now… put on a happy face, and move forward.

in solitude…

Wrapped up “Counterfeit Gods” by Timothy Keller today. Love his writing & speaking style. He never beats around the bush… he gets to the heart of the matter, but in a way that is not alienating. Profound thought of the day:

“idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything wrong.”

Our emotions, thoughts, actions are guided by that in which we place the most importance… our “heart’s greatest love.” If we sin, it is not just because we are depraved human beings. It is because we are trying to serve some purpose that we have made an idol in our lives (or a counterfeit god, if you will). One way to discern our idols is very simple:

“Your religion is what you do with your solitude” (Archbishop William Temple).

With no other distractions present, where do my thoughts effortlessly go to? Some good stuff to ruminate on. Next up is Keller’s “The Prodigal God”. I’m very thankful for the great Christian library I discovered recently… it’s rekindled the intention/action to read a lot of fantastic works.

the morning after…

Wifey put together a care package for me awhile back, consisting of several favorite treats of mine. She arrived for her visit around the same time I retrieved the care package from the post office, so I was good about rationing said goodies over the weekend. Then, as soon as she leaves yesterday I binge on what remained throughout the evening. And I wake up feeling like……. yeah.

So, to continue that horrible feeling, I decide to have a breakfast of the following:

- veggie omelette (not bad, off to a good start)
- extra scrambled eggs (yep, need the protein for Starting Strength workouts)
- turkey sausage (processed, but could be worse)
- bacon (maybe don’t need that kind of protein)
- biscuit & gravy (I’m a sucker for it)
- cinnamon roll (aw crap…)
- fresh strawberries (as if I can redeem myself at this point)
- really good coffee (I’ll just call this one neutral)

It tasted incredibly good… and the satisfaction is disappointingly brief. Yes, I’m in good shape. No, I’m not at risk of becoming obese anytime soon. But a few weeks of deteriorating nutrition choices has left me quite frustrated with myself. It all started with a week in the field, which gave me an “excuse” to eat poorly for one day upon return… which turned into a few days… which turned into a week+… which combined with likely excess cortisol release due to unique stresses of training creates a bad situation.

the lens of activity

“The body ‘reads’ its food in-take and hormone messengers in the context of its activity patterns, so the message contained in a biochemical messenger is decoded through the dynamic patterns of our actions.”

-Art De Vany, “Evolutionary Fitness”, pg 6

So important for folks to realize it does not come down to number of calories in vs. number of calories burned.

He continues…

“Inactivity not only changes the human body; it alters the very structure of our perception and understanding.  Sedentary life weakens the body image, which is the reference of an organized and autonomous self. The result of inactivity is a lack of purpose and will.”

Great stuff. I’ve had this ebook sitting on my computer for a few years now, and cracked it open on a whim during dinner this evening. At the risk of being further overwhelmed by fitness & nutrition theory, Dr. De Vany’s input seems well worthwhile. Despite temptation to jump around to various activity regimens, however, I plan to stick to Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program (started on Monday) for ~2 months and then re-assess. The goal: make profound strength gains over the next few months while I can afford to lose some metabolic conditioning. I’ll slowly ramp up accessory training as an adjunct to SS while monitoring closely for signs of over-training and diminished gains.