Still not feeling great, but I am progressively feeling better by the smallest increments. I am beginning to wonder how much of what I feel right now is how I felt for the past 7 years of my life. I think the combination of being sick, and teetering on the verge of burnout from work and personal lives all sort of crashed at the same time.
Much of what I feel is reminiscent of the bad old days. I am hoping that I can get enough sleep the next two nights to start resuming my regular routine. I can feel the fat guy in me wanting to just hang it up for a couple of more weeks, but it’s not what I need to do for my long term goals.
The idea of auto regulation is driving me insane, because emotionally I feel I need to start working and moving to get my blood flowing again, but physically I am run down. It’s a fine line between sick, and ill. I haven’t had much time to go to the doctors, and at this point I feel good enough that the idea of sitting in a fucking waiting room for an hour after my appointment time, then listening having some medical student practice doctor on me doesn’t sound like fun.
If this general feeling of sickness continues through next week then yes I will go to the doctor, but I think most of it is from the cold, and then pushing through the tradeshow, and work when I was already past the “E” mark on my fuel gauge.
For now it is what it is, and I am doing the best I can for now…
Thursday 10/13/2011 Recap
In the morning I went to WSC to do some cardio, my legs felt weak and I was still coughing from this cold that won’t go away. When I got there I didn’t feel like working out, but I knew I had to get my body in motion again.
I did an hour of cardio on the Arc Trainer. I started by doing a session of treading, 5 minutes of high intensity followed by 5 minutes of active recovery, then moving downward in time by one minute until you reach one of each. Halfway through the treading I started repeating sections of the cycles. I wasn’t sweating, not wearing my heart rate monitor I didn’t know how hard I was working. My legs were like lead so trying to gauge my work based on my output wasn’t going to happen.
In the end I was able to break into a good sweat, enough that I felt for the first time in a couple of weeks I had done some work.
Most of the day was spent working, trying to get caught up from a lack of production during my prolonged cold. In the evening I went to bed later than I wanted to but it was early enough that I woke up this morning with plenty of time to workout.
Friday morning 10/14/2011 Workout Recap
When I woke up this morning, I could have easily just stayed in bed and said fuck this working out thing. I am not mentally unfocused just spent, I’m tired, coughing, and just have a general lack of strength. It’s a feeling I only have when I’m dealing with an infection or a major cold. I just don’t know why it’s lasting this long.
I went to WSC this morning and did a pseudo Crossfit workout. It incorporated eliminates of the Crossfit method, with circuit training I’ve learned along the way.
After 5 minutes of jumping rope which felt just awful, if I were the Easter Bunny I would have hopped my ass right to the retirement line. I started with an Every Minute on the Minute warm-up of 3 power snatches, 3 presses, and 3 good-mornings with a 45 lbs bar, I did this for 10 minutes.
I then stretched and started my work.
My first area of work was to do squats. I warmed up with 5 reps with the bar and then 5 reps with 135 lbs. I then moved up to 185 lbs and did 3 sets of 5. I got good depth in my squat, but the last couple of reps in each set were a struggle. I just didn’t have any power to work with…
In between my sets of squats I did 5 push-ups.
From the squat rack I moved to the dumbbells, and did dumbbell chest presses. I warmed up with 50 lbs dumbbells doing 15 reps, then moved to 60 lbs to do 10 reps, then 70 lbs and did 8 reps, and 80 lbs and did 6 reps. I then did a set of 25 with the 40 lbs dumbbells.
In between each set of chest presses I did 10 sit ups.
I finished my workout with an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of 5 deadlifts at 135 lbs, 10 kettle bell swings at 45 lbs, and 10 walking lunges. I did this for 5 minutes. I ended up doing 3 full cycles and 21 reps.
I walked away from my workout satisfied but not excited about.
It has alleviated my fear that I have lost all my overall strength, but I am still feeling drained in general.
Meals for Mr. Shady…
So that Shady Poster Number 1 understands that I’m not a glutton for shitty food this what I’ve eaten the last two days:
Wednesday
1 Labrada Lean Body Protein Shake
1 Orange
6 Figs
4 bags of Nuts (proportioned to equal about 150 calories each)(snacks)
Half a Rotisserie Chicken with a bit of Eggplant Salad, and Cucumber and tomato Salad (Astor Mediterranean)
5 oz of Chilean Seabass White Miso Marinade I Made
4 Cups of Green Leafy salad no dressing
2 Cups of Korean Soup (kimchee and pork pieces)
Thursday
1 Labrada Lean Body Protein Shake
1 Apple
4 bags of Nuts (proportioned to equal about 150 calories each)(snacks)
6 oz of Grilled Pork from Thai Place and Green Salad
10 oz of Chilean Seabass White Miso Marinade I made
3 Cups of Green Leafy Salad no dressing
1 Cup of Korean Soup from night Before
So here goes, my OPINION on nutrition based on my research and clinical experience over the last three years (i.e. 300+ crossfit clients utilizing the methods I preach and seeing success):
1) Lose the Labrada shake, it’s terrible for you. View the ingredient listing here, we cant pronounce a single ingredient (http://www.labrada.com/moreinfo_leanbodyrtd.shtml). Also, shakes are terrible for fat loss, as is ALL liquid food. Digestion is key to absorption of vitamins and minerals, when you flood the system via liquid food instead of CHEWING, the digestive enzymes don’t get to their job.
2) Breakfast is super important. It should contain meat, vegetables and fat. Perfect breakfast: Eggs with spinach and peppers mixed in, bacon, avocado.
3) 600 calories of nuts is not optimal. It’s a large caloric hit, but does not satisfy the appetite well or provide many nutrients.
4) 2 to 3 meals / day is optimal. No snacking, no 4-5 meals. The myth that you need to eat often throughout the day is exactly that, a myth. It does not keep your metabolism high and it does not aid fat loss. The body responds well to intermittent fasting (i.e. 2-3 meals / day).
5) Each meal should contain: animal protein, vegetables and some fat. Fruit is an OK substitute when you don’t have time for veggies, but should not be a daily staple. Fruit is just nature’s candy and at the end of the day is just sugar.
take my ADVICE as you wish.