Cutting the (Cable) Cord…Would You?

Sitting around the house gives you lots of time to think about things that otherwise would not cross your mind.  As I lay in bed this morning, tolerating the miserable coughing fits associated with this cold, I started reviewing our budget in my head.  On of the first things that jumped out at me is how much we spend on Cable T.V. each year.  Even our special no frills package from Time Warner costs $29.95 a month- $360 a year.  At first I considered getting something less expensive like Dish Network’s $19.99/month plan, but I was not too thrilled about the idea of being locked into yet another contract.  But even more troubling was when I reviewed our T.V. viewing habits for the last year or so.   Sure, we use our t.v. to watch the regular stuff most people do (Sponge Bob, House M.D., Lost), but as of late the only real use we’ve been getting out of it is the cartoons our daughter watches- and she has most of those on DVD.    Just in case you were curious (and b/c break has left me with too much free time on my hands) I created this nifty 3-D pie chart:

See what I mean?  So it would be pretty foolish not to cut this from my budget.  Between Netflix and Hulu we can watch most things either through mail order rentals or direct play online.  We could also use 10-20% of the money saved to buy DVDs for our daughter- something permanent she can watch.  And lucky for us she isn’t picky with t.v. shows on DVD.  Her latest favorite is a show called Mona the Vampire which apparently is produced by and shown on Canadian Public Television.  DVDs of the show often end up in Walmart’s $5 DVD bin.   So even with $60 spent on DVDs we would save $300/year.

Now if only we could get this foster to adoption process going I could get rid of the overpriced land line phone and use Magic Jack as our sole line we will save even more.   But until the adoption is finalized the foster care system requires you MUST have a land line phone.

Involuntary Time Off

Thanks to the common cold I’ve been out of commission for the last few days- and for the next couple of days as well.  I am using this time to plan out my next steps to come back from my previous uninspired and unmotivated state of mind.  I’ll be back in a few days.  And when I come back..well, just wait and see.

Recovery…

I ache ALL over.  My legs hurt (especially thanks to those one-legged squats), my shoulders hurt (thanks to push presses), and my core huts thanks to pretty much every exercises I did yesterday.  Oddly enough, otherwise I feel great.   I have plenty of energy, my guts doesn’t quite feel as annoying (even though its only slightly less noticeable visually), and even when I wince with pain when I stand up or shift in my seat it is a good reminder of a workout that went better than expected.

I am not going to push myself too hard as I get back into the swing of things.  For the next three weeks I will stick to about 3 days of heavy training per week with one day off between workouts (and one day day off period each week).

But today is anything but a “day off.”  I almost titled this post something like “first day off,” but i deleted that title.  I deleted it for a reason.  There are no day offs in fitness.  While I won’t be lifting any weights today (with the possible exception of tossing my daughter around) I am working very hard on my nutritional intake.     Today’s meals include:

• Breakfast: 12-hour Elite Protein Shake
• Snack: Protein Bar with an Apple
• Lunch: 2 slices of whole wheat toast with roast beef, turkey breast, lettuce, tomato, spicy mustard, and spinach.
• Snack: walnuts, unsweetened shredded coconut, and dark chocolate.
• Dinner:  Function at church, so I have no clue what will be offered.   This will be my first real challenge.
• Before Bed: 12-hour elite protein shake with milled flax seed
• ***NOTE: Water is consumed in large quantities throughout the day with and between meals.

I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow’s meals.  I bought a bunch of turkey drumsticks and I will be putting them in the rotisserie with some herbs and spices.

Assessing the Damage (UPDATED)

It has come to this.  The metaphorical tornado that is my life swept through over the last couple of months and now I have to assess the damage caused by stress, apathy, inactivity, distraction, and gluttony.  I hate doing this, always have, but it is essential to starting over.  It’s hard to climb out of the hole when you don’t know how far down you are (not to mention which way is up).   It would be far easier to sulk and stew where I am, ignore the depths to which I’ve descended, and find comfort in a blissful ignorance of my current condition.  After all, if I am unaware of how much I weigh now or how many inches I’ve added to my waist then I can’t have any depressing thoughts about how much ground I’ve lost over the last few months.  Well, I can have those thoughts, but as long as they aren’t confirmed by the scale and the tape, I can push them to the side and ignore them with much more ease.

No longer though.  This morning I braved the tape and the scale.  The knowledge I gained wasn’t pretty, but it was essential.  I have returned to a 37 inch waist and about 188.5 lbs.  This is still far better than the 209 or so lbs I started out at, but a far cry from my best weight of 166 lbs.  I did some chin-ups only to find I lost some, but luckily not a lot, of my upper body strength (down from 7 chin-ups to about 4).

But my workout for today isn’t going to be fun, nor will it be easy.  I designed it to be part fitness assessment, part penance for my previous apathy.  Perhaps it will be a cathartic exercise (pun intended).  

Tomorrow: Starting Over Again

There’s something about the seventeenth time you’ve made the same mistake that is humbling and tends to bring about a feeling of despair.  How could I do THAT again?  Of all the things, that’s the one thing I know NOT to do, the one thing I know how to avoid…and yet I do it.  You know exactly where it leads yet you often feel powerless to stop it.  Like a deer staring into the headlights of an approaching car you have plenty of time to get out-of-the-way if only you didn’t feel ensnared by gawking at your own error (not to mention the feeling “why bother stopping it in the first place”).

I’ve been stuck in this funk for a while now.  I’ve lost a lot of what I gained over the last two years.  My edge has dulled and my inspiration vanished.  The world seems a bit less bright and novelty has long since given way to monotony. 

Next Wednesday: I’m Back…

Comps came close to ruining me mentally and physically.  Too much stress, too little time, and almost no motivation for several months.  I packed on pounds, lost endurance, lost strength, and regained my taste for sweets of all kinds.  Now comps is over and I am ready to get back on track (once I finish grading that is).  See you all on Wednesday!

Pictures Coming Tomorrow…

I am planning to post some before and after photos of my 2 week transformation challenge tomorrow.  Stay tuned for more…

Going Paleo…

Results: in the past two weeks I’ve dropped 7 pounds and 4 inches from my waist (38″ to 34″)….Nothing more to report for now.

Colored Cards and Calorie Burning…

My New System…

I’ve embraced the simplicity of neon cards for recording all my workouts (not to mention the books I read for comps).  I am going to try to do a better job of keeping up with blog posts, but will still probably post twice a week or less.  Still better than I’ve been doing thus far.

So far those who are curious about my cards over the last several days…

Card 1 (09-14-2009)

On-The-Go: Avoiding Bread @ Subway Without Being Forced to Eat a Salad….

I’ve spend the summer neglecting every good bit of nutritional advice I’ve ever received, and as a result I feel bloated, tired, and “ick.”  So as of yesterday I got back on the nutritional wagon.  As per my trainers instructions:

“[Eat] fresh vegetables (no root vegetables or squash), berries, small amounts of nuts & seeds, unprocessed animal protein, unprocessed fats, salt, spices, coffee with cream, tea, water and 1 tbsp of fish oil per day.”

So I planned all my meals out for today.  But as we know the best laid plans often go straight down the toilet. My plans went down the drain thanks to a severe thunderstorm that left our family stranded in the local Wal-mart until lunch time today.  The only food place there was subway, and as we all know, if you want something that doesn’t come on bread (and isn’t a salad), Subway ain’t the best place to eat.  So after reviewing the menu several times, my frustration finally eased when I saw a steak and cheese omelet sub.  I ordered the sub with double steak, part-skim mozzarella, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and spinach.  I ditched the bread in the trash and laid out the omelet et al. on the table in front of me.  It was quite delicious, and despite the VERY user unfriendly nutritional info at the Subway website (they won’t let you deduct or add specific ingredients)   I was able, with a little math, to guesstimate my nutritional intake at around:

• 400 calories
• 9g carbs
• 37 protein
• 18g fat

Sounds good to me.  Not ideal, but the best alternative.