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.

“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.

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.

Move on, screw regrets. Eat well for lunch today, and go from there. As I said in my previous post, the next few months offer an as-ideal-as-possible opportunity to “dial it in” and attain some strength & wellness goals.

(By the way, the excellent coffee I had: Thomas Hammer Sumatran, a local coffee roaster here in Spokane, purchased at a steal of $7.99/lb at my new favorite store: Huckleberry’s)

Favorite quip from my morning reading comes from a man who says what he wants, how he wants, when he wants, which is why I like reading his rants: Mr. Fred Reed

But you have to understand that people are not born stupid. They have to work at it. When they come from similar backgrounds, and work in semi-isolated bureaucracies with distinct ideologies that don’t match how the world really works, you get bright, dedicated idiots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

update:
Listening to the Paleo Solution podcast always helps get me back in line. The most recent podcast (#68) featured organic chemist Mat LaLonde, and the last 15 min applies perfectly to my recent thoughts & goals. Insight gained that I’ll gradually apply to my plan of action:

- eat Paleo, plus occasional fermented dairy
- a bit of fruit, some nuts/seeds, moderate starchy & leafy vegg, lots of meat/fat
- DO NOT do metcon training while strictly adhering to Starting Strength
- gradually try throwing in Intermittent Fasting in the form of 16hrs off, 8 hrs on (noonish – 2000). LaLonde does this typically on weekdays, and then eats massive breakfasts on weekends. I’ll try throwing it in here and there once I’m off to a solid start with SS.
- once in a blue moon go low protein… non-training days? He discussed a process of giving our cells an opportunity to clean house. I need to look more into this concept before applying it, which would be much further down the road as I try to fine tune things. Now is not the time for significant experimentation.
- And though he had a negative experience with it, I’d eventually like to try fasted training in mornings 1 or 2x/wk (lift in am instead of pm). Perhaps combine with some BCAA’s or whey? Sounds like this is a reasonable approach if not taken to an extreme (aka doing it every day).

Glad to get these jumbled thoughts & musings down so I don’t have to keep them fresh in my head for later application. That was a great podcast with lots of info… bookmarked for future reference, especially 53min+.

“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.