I am Jester. Hear me whimper.

[Jester]

Fuck This Shit Update: Day of Procrastination

So today after work, I sat down and had a small meal with a beer, mainly because I hadn't eaten since the start of the shift, and the beer in question is a seasonal beer that we are almost out of and I really like. Played some video crack while I was eating/drinking. Finished up, drove home, fiddled on the computer for a bit. Glanced at the clock, realized the gym would be closing in 68 minutes, so, being the procrastinator I am....

I said "Fuck this shit!", changed into workout clothes, drove over to the gym, did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 25 minutes on the stationary bike, finishing bathed in sweat, with jelly legs and a feeling of accomplishment.

Hey, I may never completely beat my procrastination, but I am NOT going to let it beat me, damn it! This is a "MISSION FROM GAD!"

So now I'm cooling down, ready to jump in the shower (since I am rather, how shall we put it politely, fucking rank), and then do some online research and recipe writing for my chicken wings cookoff.

Probably carb crash in a day or so, but that's a good thing not a bad thing.

Carb crash?

Yeah, I'm somewhere between 4'2" and 4'5"...

You're HOW TALL?

(Yes, I'm sure you get this a lot. I don't mean it rudely.)

[firecat88]

You're HOW TALL?

(Yes, I'm sure you get this a lot. I don't mean it rudely.)

XD Strangely, the only time I get it is from people online. And, yeah, I'm ridiculously short for a 24-year-old. Spina bifida, fused spine, and all that good stuff.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Carb crashing is when your body runs out of it's stockpile of sugars and has to start burning fat in order to keep your energy up. It takes a couple days for your body to start switching from carb based metabolism to fat based metabolism. And it will punish you for making it do that. That's the crash.

When you are in the no man's land between, you will feel like shit. This is where people who do low carb diets and have not bothered to learn how they work and what to expect fail because they eat a box of twinkies and say "Atkins' made me feel like shit so I have to eat twinkies now to save my life."

Well, if you sack up enough to push through the "feeling like shit phase", at the end of that tunnel is the "feeling like a bulletproof rockstar" phase. I'm looking forward to that.

Already my cravings are gone. The ironic thing is that the harder you cut out sugars and starches, then after a point, the less you want them.

[Jester]

XD Strangely, the only time I get it is from people online.

Well, that's because we can't actually SEE you, silly.

Kink, got it. I am familiar with those cravings, as I have been cutting down on carbs myself in recent times. I refuse to switch to low carb beer. Hell, I'd rather go without beer than drink that....that....whatever the fuck that crap is. It sure as fuck is not beer. And while I will be cutting down somewhat on my beer intake simply by going to the gym more and the bars less, I am not eliminating beer from my diet. Bob and Jillian can kiss my liver. Other than that, I am doing very few carbs overall. We'll see how that works out.

[firecat88]

And, because of my height, I also get the "You're how old?!" IRL. XD Basically, I can't win.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, Jester, hard liquor is very low carb. I'm just sayin'.

[Jester]

Kink, some is, some isn't. I prefer rum. You know, liquid sugar. I imagine that is not carb friendly. Perhaps the light (clear) rums are, but I am not a huge fan of those. Vodka? No. Gin? HELL no. The real problem with hard liquor is that generally it's the mixers that do you in, and other than rum, I don't usually drink my hard liquor straight.

[Sapphire Silk]

So, I'm starting by going to the doctor. So, in about a week I will likely be adding either Flovent or Atrovent to the list...I can't remember which.

Once we get my breathing under control and get the results of my blood tests back then I get to work together with my doctor to figure out a plan of action for getting me back into better health. And by health I mean the whole picture - weight, fitness, everything.

My goal is that by my 39th b-day this October that I will drop at least 30lbs.

By my 40th birthday next year I hope to be down to about 150-160lbs, which for me will be the lowest I've weighed in close to twenty years. My fingers are crossed!

Flovent is a cortocosteroid, and so is Ventolin. Ventolin and Atrovent are often used together. I think your doc will look at how well your asthma is responding to just the Ventolin. He might also consider a long term medication along with a rescue medication (which Ventolin is).

I think your goals are very reasonable and doable. Going to the doctor, since you have known health problems, was a great idea. He can monitor your progress and intervene if you run into problems.

I did the same thing, especially when I started having problems with one heel and with my knees. I went to my orthopedist and my regular doc, and am now getting physical therapy to strengthen weak muscles in my legs that should (already is) reducing the knee pain I was having when I started my program. My regular doc is monitoring my blood pressure (which was up in January, but is back to normal now).

Kink, some is, some isn't. I prefer rum. You know, liquid sugar. I imagine that is not carb friendly. Perhaps the light (clear) rums are, but I am not a huge fan of those. Vodka? No. Gin? HELL no. The real problem with hard liquor is that generally it's the mixers that do you in, and other than rum, I don't usually drink my hard liquor straight.

Actually, rum is low carb. The trick is whether the alcohol is fermented or distilled.

Distilled alcohols like rum and vodka are very low carb. There's actually not a lot of sugar in them. Rum is made from a sugar BY PRODUCT, but is not sugar itself. The distilled result from the mash (which does have a lot of sugar in it) has no sugar or carbs in it.

Beer and wine are fermented, not distilled, and tend to have more sugars and carbs.

[Jester]

Some rums are made from fermented molasses. Some from cane juice. Honestly, rum is all over the place, so while I don't know MUCH about the whole carb thing, I imagine there are some rums higher in carbs than others.

That being said...I am cutting down in carbs, not eliminating them. Holding off on pastas, going easy on breads, avoiding potatoes for a while. Not avoiding fruit or fruit juice, or all sugars (I need my Gatorade!). I am avoiding sodas. I am not avoiding beer.

So yeah, not going totally Atkins, but am eating more protein and less carbs than normal. And for me not to eat pasta....I almost cry.

[Jester]

I've been thinking a lot these last few days. (Duh! Obviously.) And initially I was focused on how badly I did on Saturday in the sprint biathlon.

I am going to keep those times posted on my screen saver as a reminder. But beyond that, I am done looking back. I am all about looking forward.

Saturday, I biked ten miles in 28 minutes and 9 seconds. And I ran a 5k (3.1 miles) in 44 minutes 54 seconds. (Technically probably less than that, as there is the transition fro bike to run, and I have no idea how long that was. Might have been a minute, might have been ten. I was gassed. But whatever.)

September is the next sprint biathlon. I am focused fully on that. The bike is the most important part to me, but I want to do better on both parts. My goal time on the bike is 23 minutes or less. My goal time on the run is 30 minutes or less. Meeting or beating both goals would give me a time of 53 minutes or less.

I don't know if either of these goal times is realistic. I don't know if I can chop 5 minutes off my bike time. I don't know how long the transition time was, or would be. I have to believe it would be faster, since if I am in shape, I won't be nearly as gassed in the transition as I was Saturday. I don't know if, even without factoring in the transition or the bike ride before it, I can run a 5k that fast. Just because I did it in 28:30 years ago doesn't mean shit. I am older, thicker, and more out of shape. In September I'll be more in shape and possibly thinner, but I sure as hell won't be any younger. Hell, I don't even know what the fastest split times were for the people who won.

I don't know any of this. And honestly, I don't care. I've said for years that you can't get to the moon if you don't shoot for the stars. Maybe these times are too low. Who knows? Who cares? My new mantra is 23/30. Just those two numbers. 23/30. It has a nice ring to it, and it's what I want. It would shatter the times of Saturday, and allow me to bury them forever.

So as for the potential unrealisticness of my goal, I say simply this: Fuck that shit. Fuck it to death.

23/30, baby. 23/30.

See you in September. Bring a shovel. We're gonna be burying some times....

23/fucking 30. Hoo-ah! Here we go!

[raw456]

Jester - you're a motivational god

I had my fortnightly session with the personal trainer on Monday - She is really starting to push me through my barriers. Tuesday I was back doing my regular workout, but bumped the speed/incline on the treadmill and added extra weight to my resistance work.

Today (wednesday) I hit the walking track down by the river (despite the 31'c temp). 4km in 35min and I even managed to more bursts of running than last time. I think I managed 100m in one burst, usually I have tried for 25-50m

[Jester]

Jester - you're a motivational god

Actually, I'm a lazy slob with a procrastination streak wider than the Grand Canyon. I'm just doing what I can to try to counter that. My rants are as much to convince myself as anything. Whether or not this will work over the long term is very much up in the air. I've not been known in my life for being able to maintain anything like this for any length of time.

We'll see.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, so far no crash, but my blood sugar is better. I can tell by how I feel. Maybe even when I'm being sloppy I dont' eat enough simple carbo to crash hard anymore.

Well, I'm not complaining.

Okay, the best low carb pasta out there is Dreamfields. You can order it online, and many regular grocery stores carry it (Publix and BilLo come to mind). Most people can't tell the difference between it and regular pasta...little longer cook time a bit more slippery on your fork, but other than that, no difference. They make all sorts of types, including lasagne sheets. I like the penne and the rotoni, but they have elbow and linguini, too.

[tollbaby]

I had a major carb crash around days 5 and 6 of South Beach. Ugh. But that part is over now, and I've been reintroducing some higher-fiber carbs. (The more fiber a carb has, the longer it takes your body to digest it, makes you feel fuller with less food, and the extra work to digest it gives your metabolism a bit of a boost).

Last night, I fully intended to jump on the treadmill after I did my homework. I often talk to my boyfriend on the phone while walking on the treadmill, because it keeps me accountable. But I fell asleep WHILE doing my homework, and he just never called last night. Hrm. So needless to say, treadmilling did not happen. However, I'm still on track eating-wise, and there's nothing stopping me from getting on the beast tonight! (Migraine? Pshaw! that's what drugs are for!)

[Sapphire Silk]

So yeah, not going totally Atkins, but am eating more protein and less carbs than normal. And for me not to eat pasta....I almost cry.

I know what you mean. I love my pasta too; it is my achilles heel. And my rice. God, I love rice. I'd eat it every day if I could.

I went back to Tae Kwon Do class today for the first time in a week . . . have been getting over a very nasty cold and haven't been working out. It went better than I expected. Good work out, didn't have too much trouble keeping up. Did notice my ankle cords have tightened up again (have short cords, very painful sometimes). The left knee is doing much better, the right knee still hurts a bit if I do a stance too deeply. I've got PT again tomorrow.

Testing for Yellow Belt is tomorrow. I'm very nervous. I've got my form down pat. Kicks and punches are down. I'm a bit weak on my Korean vocabulary, so I'll be studying that tonight and tomorrow.

My 3 step sparring is where I'm worried, I kept messing up the blocking techniques. But I felt better about it after class was over, but I regret not going for a week while I was sick . . . it shows. I have to break a board too, and today's practice is only the 2nd time I've done it. But I broke the practice board without any trouble, and the instructor says my technique is good, but I'm still nervous.

Jester, I think your goals are probably realistic as long as you keep up the routine you've started. Sounds like you're already making some progress! Keep it up!