June 11th, 2012: Something in the universe is throwing me a bone, and I’ll take it. Short of sending the chocolate chip muffin down the road awhile back, I haven’t changed anything in my diet, yet I lost two more pounds. 257 today! The 250’s are awesome, but what’s even awesome-er, is that the .257 Weatherby Magnum is one of my favorite rifle cartridges. There are priorities…
This isn’t a bad way to start a week. This week, in fact, represents a brand new way of life for me. Starting this week, I’m 1) no longer employed outside of the home, 2) a full-time stay-at-home father, 3) a master’s degree student, and 4) an online math/science teacher.
In addition to all that, the half-marathon looms, 5 days and some change and some counting are all that remains. For that, all I have to do is stay excited, and not get sick or injured. For the former 4 things, I have to adjust the noodles in my packet so they’re oriented toward slowing down in some ways, speeding up in others.
I hate change, but here I am instigating it again. I wrote in my book Fire Crew how I must have some nasty little secret crush on change. I think what it really might be is that I feel like change will find me if I don’t find it first, and action is always quicker than reaction. Always throw the first punch if you know the fight is inevitable. Always make sure you’re the predator and never the prey. Always be the one who is thinking a step ahead.
June 11th, 2020: I always hear about high-level athletes considering food as fuel. I take this to mean they only eat what runs that engine to peak performance year-round. But I read an article about Olympic athletes eating every meal at McDonald’s when the Olympics were held in Brazil. Does this run counter to the first sentence I wrote?
The answer, I’ve learned, is not really…
…As with so many other things in my life, the more I learn about diet, the more complex it becomes. Diet was simple back in the day: want big muscles – eat your steak for protein; want lots of energy – eat pizza, spaghetti, and lasagna; want strong bones – drink milk; want to stay lean – don’t eat fat; want to do what momma said – eat your vegetables; and so on…
Also, eat/drink lots of protein shakes with creatine – they said. And so I got strong, big, and uncomfortable.
What am I supposed to eat then? What does the program tell me about diet?
I know this: diet is just like exercise, if you don’t like it, chances are you won’t stick with it. I feel like I’ve got as much willpower and stick-to-it as the next guy, but things change. My attitude changes, my appetites change, my focus and my motivation and my outlook change. All of these changes lead to shifts in the base sections of Maslow’s Hierarchy.
There are navigational beacons the program has laid out for me. Stray too far into the rhubarb and I’m a goner. However, within those beacons I can paint whatever diet and exercise picture I feel like. After reading about those Olympic athletes and doing some further research and experimentation on myself, I know that, while I don’t care to eat at McDonald’s, it’s still perfectly fine to use as fuel.
I asked my friend Jeremy King one time if I should be putting high octane/premium fuel in my truck. He first replied with a question – “Does your dad pay for your gas?” And then, “If he does, then of course you should.” I think the same thing could be applied to food. And I miss Jeremy.
