April 1st, 2012: Wow, a pound back down is a real victory for me. Hard fought and hopefully not the last for awhile. 291 today. It’s like fuckin swimmin in mud.
I can’t believe I’ve been on this program, blogging every damn day, and I’ve never listed out what I like to eat on the program. I’ll do it now for records purposes and maybe some of you guys can see if your tastes are similar to mine. 1st choice is my favorite, 2nd choice, obviously, second favorite.
Bear in mind that I’m not at the point in this war where I think much beyond how many calories things are, so if it makes you wonder why the hell I would eat what I eat and expect to lose weight, remember that the program I follow is only concerned with daily net calories, and is no deeper or complex than that – for now.
Breakfast
1st choice – oatmeal
2nd choice – protein pancakes
Lunch
1st choice – Junior cheeseburger, 1/4 baked potato
2nd choice – Lean cuisine
Snack/Dessert
1st choice – Banana
2nd choice – Apple
Dinner
1st choice – Chicken and asparagus or chicken and broccoli
2nd choice – Sirloin steak and rice
Snack/Dessert
1st choice – cherry or lime jell-o (butterscotch pudding on the weekends)
2nd choice – Protein bar
Today’s Daydream: I entered (even paid my $$ dues) for a half-marathon for August. That is all I’m thinking and dreaming about today. I will feel SO GOOD about myself if I can finish it. My goal is to never stop running the whole time. No walking.
April 1st, 2020: Age is just a number. However, second only to my weight, it’s the one that does concern me more than just in passing, from time to time. Rolling over into the 40’s, 5 years ago, actually granted me some measure of serenity, rather than what I’ve heard most people feel about it.
When I turned 40, there was actually a palpable and weird feeling that all of a sudden I had a lot less to prove to the world. Not being required to do something actually makes me perform much better at it, ironically enough. Without a constant deadline or timeline imposed by someone else, I can usually tear into something and get it done much better. When I’m on my own terms, I can be successful. I don’t live in that reality as far as my career goes, but I do when it comes to my physical-fitness.
I also now try to live according to George Foreman’s words after he won boxing’s heavyweight championship of the world when he was 45 years old: “The age of forty is not a death sentence.” As such, I pretty much kicked my physical training to the next level only after I entered my 4th decade.
There have been reality-bridges I’ve had to cross, though, and crossing them at full-throttle has resulted in setbacks, a hip-replacement surgery and a ruptured distal-bicep tendon that also required surgery are a couple of examples. Setbacks to me have usually turned into learning experiences, though, and that’s my favorite thing about getting older. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten much wiser and more disciplined. Upstairs I’m much stronger, which I think will keep me stronger downstairs for a few more years at least.
Here’s to another trip around the sun.
