It’s now my fourth day of my recovery week. I had a deep tissue massage this evening, and I feel fantastic. No cardio today, no weight training, just pure unadultered laziness. It’s amazing how much time I have in a day when not working out two to three hours a day.
The deep tissue massage could not have come at a better time. I have another one scheduled for Saturday evening. I am hoping I wake up Monday morning ready to kick some serious ass.
Friday I have two workouts scheduled a training session with Ali, and then an hour of treading. I feel I’ve made good use of my rest period, yet have been able to stay active enough so that next week I won’t struggle during my workouts.
I am no longer working with Zap. The gym I belonged to where he works is no longer financially feasible, I’m sure I can afford it but the level of work provided is no longer the best place for me. There once was a time and place, but I believe I am past their methods, and to be quite honest I am tired of doing the same 4 sets of 30 reps. I appreciate all the help Zap has given me, and wished we could workout every once in a while but it’s no longer possible.
Getting a chance last week to do some heavy weights with Ali gives me confidence that he’s capable of getting me stronger, and if it’s not going well with him there is another resource I’m going to tap. Doug Miller is a local natural body builder who has some sound methods, I just bought a book he wrote which isn’t particularly complex, but provides the average guy like me much needed information on how the body builds muscle, and how the muscles function. His book is one of many new books I’m reading to advance my knowledge about the human body in relation to nutrition and workouts.
Another book I’m reading the Omnivores Dilemma makes me realize that as a consumer I have to make smarter choices, and question where my food comes from. I’m still in the first part of the book which outlines the industrial food complex that delivers our food, and it’s disgusting.
An example from this stage of the book, the author Michael Pollen purchases a calf, and then follows the calf from the stockyard to the table. The calf at about 1 year is shipped to a feedlot run by a large multinational corporation, where for a $1 a day a farmer can have his calf housed and fed before it gets slaughtered. These cows are put into overcrowded pens where they stand and lie in their own shit.
Furthermore they are fed a mostly corn diet, and have to be fed antibiotics and antacids because cows aren’t naturally able to digest corn. For hundreds of years cows ate grass so they have to be fed tertiary products to make it possible for them to live, also feeding them this corn diet along with the antibiotics, causes the cows to develop damaged livers which isn’t a concern to cattle producers because livers are in low demand, no biggie a liver isn’t that vital of an organ, and I’m sure it doesn’t have any adverse effects on the beef we eat. Pollen’s cow also gets injected with estrogen to help plump it up.
Why would farmers sell their cows to such facilities or pay a lease to such organizations, because our perverse farm policy makes it impossible for farmers to make money, and it’s cheaper to sell or lease to these feedlots run by large corporations. Furthermore the farm policy keeps the price of corn so low that it’s sold at a price below the cost of production, therefore these companies use it in everything including feeding our beef.
We have reached a point where the farmers no longer deliver goods directly the consumer, but go through an industrial food system which is almost as daunting as the military industrial complex which drains our government. So I say again as a consumer we have to vote with our dollars. I plan to choose grass fed beef whenever I can, and make sure the place I am buying my food from whether it be a restaurant or supermarket, know that I want grass fed beef. If stress is harmful to the phsyical state of being for humans, isn't it natural to assume that stress on the animals we eat produce similar types of stress which could be toxic for us who rely on them for food. (end soap box moment here)
My day in terms of eating was mixed. For breakfast I had my Kashi fix, with a banana, and my first snack was an orange. Then I had some nuts an hour before lunch. For lunch I had tilapia at a restaurant called Sea Pearl in Falls Church. This place is good; they describe the menu as California American. It has many Asian Influenced dishes, the steak salad my brother in law had green mango, and fish sauce. When I tasted his lunch I wished I had picked it instead of my tilapia. Not that my fish wasn’t good but tilapia Is pedestrian, when did tilapia become a staple of American cuisine. Most likely it’s farmed.
The service at Sea Pearl was a bit slow for lunch, and the price point a touch on the expensive side for noon. I’m sure we will eat there again at some point, it has a nice atmosphere very Vegas like, and the staff is friendly. It’s in an area that is under development, so it seems out of place but could become a staple when the 1000 other units gets built behind its building.
In the afternoon I had another orange and some samples at Costco. Why is getting free samples of bad food is so much fun, I don’t even like half the shit, but I end going to each station purely out of some twisted joy. I did pick up a new book which Dwayne talked about, it’s a cook book by Rocco Dispirito, I think he’s a douche bag but the recipes and calorie counts were interesting enough that I bought it. I am getting really tired of salad and broiled fish. The book is titled “Now Eat This Diet”, it’s such a douchie title, Rocco is a douche bag did I mention that, I don’t know what it is but to me he just exudes Douche Bag, “Hi I’m Rocco Douche Bag”. I will post more about any recipes I cook later.
Doesn't that photo just say douche bag?
For dinner I met up with a friend I haven’t seen in a while, he’s a good guy going through a rough time so I took him out to dinner. We ate at Liberty Tavern. This is my favorite restaurant in Clarendon. Always consistent, they use high quality ingredients, and provide a reasonable portion at a reasonable price. They also have fantastic service, and a good bar scene. It’s consistently ranked in the top 100 Restaurants of DC. If I was in my 20’s I’m sure I would know all the bartenders there, and be have my own seat next to the bar.
At dinner I ate swordfish, with Asparagus, spinach, and a fava bean puree. The Fava bean puree was awesome; I wanted to swim in it. Okay maybe not swim in it but for sure wanted to bathe in it. I’m sure the entrée had more than 800 calories, I asked for no oil, or butter but that’s my physical impression of the calories from how I felt.
My calories for the day exceeded 2000 but I know were still less than my RMR. It’s becoming a challenge trying to find the balance between eating for myself, and eating with other people. I know I’m making good choices, yet it’s hard to know the overall impact because I’m not at a maintenance level. There will be many days of trial and error; hopefully today was a day of trial and not error. The workouts truly are the easy part of my weight loss plan; the real battle is the daily struggle to provide my body sustenance. Unfortunately there is no course in life on how to eat like our bodies want us to which is intuitively. I am trying my best to develop the habits that will allow me to eat innately, but it’s like an alcoholic teaching a teenager how drink in moderation.
Hopefully this week will have proven to be beneficial and I continue to make progress next week. If I can just keep my weight the same on Sunday that will be a big win.