Week 4 Day 2 Into it Again

This morning is beautiful.  608 calories on the elliptical in my 31 minutes.  Felt almost nauseous before I got on the machine, like I’d drank too much water.  Feel great now.

Breakfast is rice, chicken breast (skinless of course), Chinese greens, cooked up with a bit of water and added a dollop of cottage cheese for variety.  Delicious.

Why do I get such a kick out of making my own cottage cheese?  I think it’s because cottage cheese has always been a mystery, and I thought of it as something exotic and difficult to make.  It’s all part of taking control of my life, understanding mysteries, learning.

My banjo fingers aren’t even sore this morning, even though I practiced a lot yesterday.  My fingers must be toughening up.  I almost have “Cumberland Gap” up to speed, which is pretty damn fast.

Does anybody remember Jack Lelanne?  I didn’t realize until I just Googled him that he died last year at the age of 96.  But here he is at the age of seventy one.   Age will get us all eventually, but Jack proved that you don’t have to lose your body when you hit middle age.

I remember my mother watching Jack, and I think exercising along with him though she may have just been having sexual fantasies about his body,  when I was in grade school.  I remember being very impressed by his biceps.  Jack continues to be an inspiration to me.  Not that I want to make fitness and my body the most important thing in my life, but that I realize there is no necessity to look like a bag of shit.  Not at any age. If you don’t know what an incredible guy Jack Lelanne was, check out this link, paying particular attention to his publicity stunts.  I read once that Jack had a standing challenge, with a large cash prize, for any professional athlete who could last with him through his workout.  He never paid out because he never lost.  At at 54 years of age he beat a 21-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger “badly” in an informal contest.

Right now, I’m on the program because my birthday is coming up in October, my sixty-fifth, and I’ve been letting my body slide for at least ten years now.  When I get to my weight and fat/muscle ration goal, I’ll ease back on the obsession.  I won’t be quite so constantly thinking about this body.  I’ll relax.  But hopefully I’ll also make some lifestyle changes that will prevent me from sliding back into the state I was in when I started this program, this time.  I never want to have a belly like my before pictures again.

One of the big things about being on this program is that it’s a break from all the bad habits I’d developed.  It’s a reboot of my lifestyle.

Oh yeah, dinner this evening was poached salmon with a small potato and lots of broccoli.  Ruth poached a tiny amount of red onion, some green onion, and some straw mushrooms with the salmon.  We had some of my cottage cheese on the potato.  All together it was a very filling, very tasty and satisfying meal.

And here’s the big news.  I realized this afternoon that I had my belt cinched at the third hole from the tip today without being uncomfortable.  So I’m obviously making progress, even if I still feel fat and far from my goal.  I must remember that this is only the start of week 4, which isn’t even half way through the eleven weeks.  I am a bit worried that the 80/20 rule will come into play here, and that it will take 80% of my effort to gain the last 20% of my goal.  But that is to be seen.

What is my goal?  I’d like to have a six pack when I turn 65.  Hey, not a bad slogan.  A six pack for sixty-five.  But this may not be possible.  I’ve never had a six pack, not even when I was a teenager.  I may not be the type to ever have one.  Our fitness trainer friend, Kat, told me that some people just don’t ever have a six pack, no matter how healthy and athletic they are.  She said to take a look at Olympic divers.  They all have great bodies, and are all in peak physical condition, but some of them have rippling abs and some don’t.  I suspect I’m the type that don’t and won’t.

Anyway, that’s the extreme goal.  The outrageous success.  The realistic goal is simply to have no bay window, no pot belly, and to be wearing my belt comfortably where it was 30 years ago.

2 thoughts on “Week 4 Day 2 Into it Again

  1. Weighed in this morning: After one week on the program, I’ve lost 1.9 kilograms. Yay!!! That’s encouraging. And now day one of week two and all is going well. I’m not exercising as much as you do David. Just my cycling around town or to and from work. But so far so good. Elaine

    • Good going, Elaine. But don’t get too fixated on your weight. It’s not a reliable measure of success. Having my belt cinched in two holes since I started is much more indicative of progress.

      I realize that not everybody wants an elliptical trainer in their living room. The amount of exercise really doesn’t matter. You can’t lose weight or shape up by exercising, as the video you linked us to says. It would just take too much time. It has to be diet. and it doesn’t matter how much you eat, as long as you are eating the right food – lots of greens, no oils or fats, unprocessed carbohydrates and lean protein.

      As for the exercise, I think a brisk walk before breakfast is all anybody needs to do. I’m told by my body shaping guru that doing the walk before breakfast makes your body eat fat. And he should know. I’ll try to find his picture and post it soon.

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