May 9th, 2012: I had what I consider a non-scale victory yesterday. As much as avoiding all foods not called out for the program would seem preferable, it really isn’t in the long term plans for me. Therefore, when I only ate two of the mini-Famous Amos cookies out of the snack-bag my little boy had been working on, I was pretty proud of myself.
I wasn’t stealing his snacks, there was a whole box of those little bags in the pantry, which makes it all the more of a victory for me. I’ll admit, I almost, almost, gave in, and busted into the box. Then I would’ve eaten every last crumb. But I didn’t. I ate those two little cookies and said, “mmm, those were good.” Then I had that little mental battle and moved on with my day. In like 10 minutes, the urge had passed. This is big-time for me.
Also had a single-pound scale victory. I’m at 267 lbs. for the day, and I feel light as a feather.
So on that note, and this may be a pipe dream, but it’s something I aspire to: On that Middle Fork (Salmon River) float trip I want to go on someday, there should be beer and good food, there will be beer and good food. I would like to partake, but partake like I did yesterday, Famous Amos mini-cookie style. That would be so cool. Have a few, have some, then be done. I realize of all my dreams/goals, it’s probably the most unrealistic, so both the float trip and the measure of moderation may just remain fantasies.
May 9th, 2020: I grew up lifting weights – mostly for football, and mostly just bench presses and curls until I got into high-school and realized I had legs that probably needed some work as well. Abs? What the fuck are abs? I didn’t realize the functional reason for core strength until I was in my 40’s.
I once had a girlfriend go to the gym with me. To impress her, I bench-pressed 300 lbs. for 10 reps. That’s a pretty good lift for me. When I racked the bar, she did not appear to be the least bit impressed. This forced me to finally ask, “So, that was a lot of weight, huh?”
To this, she replied, “Well, I guess, but none of that matters when you don’t have 6-pack abs.” Well, alright then, thanks for pointing out my weakness, I guess. And she was true, but her timing was quite a ways off. I haven’t talked to her in at least 15 years.
I’ve come to realize how critical core strength is, and as such, include it in every one of my workouts. No core work, no exit ticket from the gym. I won’t ever have a 6-pack, maybe a 2 ½ pack, but as it is in my 40’s, I’m almost always happier with form over function now. I can, and have still been able to get to the gym and work around or through sprained ankles, torn ligaments, shredded cartilage, osteoarthritis straight from Satan’s bakery, and torn biceps tendons, but when my back has gone south on me, I’ve just had to stop and wait for days and sometimes weeks. And that just sucks.
