Dunno if you guys ever watch the Rachel Maddow Show, but if so, you will be familiar with her segment that she calls "Talk me down!", wherein she proceeds to get extremely incensed about some issue or another, then has a guest on the show "talk her down" out of her righteous liberal rage. Anyway, today I need to be talked down about my results (or lack thereof) so far.
This morning, I realized that during my first week on the PCP, I lost 4 pounds. In the 2.5 weeks after that first week, I have lost exactly ZERO pounds. In fact, I may have gained one back. Fer chrissake. Now, I've said before that I'm not really in this to lose weight, which is true - however, it seems like it would be an inevitable side effect of all the exercising and eating right we've been doing. On the positive side, I have noticed some (very subtle) changes in my body - I can see the veins popping out on my arms a little bit for the first time in my life, and my wife says she can start to see "dents" where my abs are (down there, somewhere) - so, I guess the beginnings of a...er..."4-pack"? Heh.
Pull ups continue to give me hives (although I'm sure I'm not alone in this). I mean, come on, Patrick, 4 sets of 6-8 reps?? I can't even do 2 sets of 5 in a row yet! I'd be happy to just fill the rest out with incline pull ups, but I don't have a good place to do those other than the gym - and if I'm at the park doing my jumps and pull ups, the last thing I want to do it head over to the gym to bang out a few incline pull ups. So I've been trying to hit the park on the way home from work and get a few more in before the day is done, but it's still; not adding up to the requisite number of reps. Sigh.
I should also say that there are a few things I have been allowing myself all along in order to make sure that I continue to feel like a human being and not some robotic dieting machine. I put a little half and half in my coffee every morning, as well as a splash of agave nectar. I still salt my food (although I have become MUCH more conscious and aware of my salt usage and intake, which I guess is at least half the point). Most of the time I don't steam my veggies - I fry them in a pan with some cooking spray, salt & pepper (when I don't eat them raw, that is). Parmesan cheese is my new best friend - it has less salt than salt, and it's low fat cheese, which I'm supposed to eat anyway. I ate a few chips with artichoke/jalapeno dip the other night at a party - and had a whiskey & ginger beer drink. I've been having trouble getting all of my egg whites in every day, as well as all my cheese.
So, the point/question is, are all of these "minor" "miniature" indulgences that I allow myself in order to feel like a person in the world actually putting the kibosh on the results that I'm expecting/hoping to see after all this damn jumping rope, exercising and (mostly) staying on point with my diet? Or am I just being impatient as usual? In looking through others' completed PCPs, I notice that most people start to see the most dramatic results after day 50-60. So maybe I just need to chill the fuck out, be patient, and keep on keepin' on. Or something like that.
On a more positive note, I decided to share the vista I get to take in every morning when doing my jumps (or one of the vistas, anyway - I just decided to turn around and face a different way this morning and saw this corridor of trees leading up to a very nice house across the street from the park). I decided to be thankful that I get to jump rope in such beautiful surroundings rather than be cross at myself because I mostly still can't get through 50 jumps without tripping. Obviously this new positive attitude is something of a work in progress. ;-)
Dude, muscle weighs 15% more than fat. So, if you're staying at the same weight while building all this muscle, what's the obvious conclusion?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you're seeing veins and "dents" is just further proof that fat is melting away day by day.
We certainly don't care how much you weigh, it's a useless number for the most part. How do you look and feel?
None of those daily perks seem too bad, just try to keep them to a minimum. How about low fat milk instead of half and half in the coffee?
Also I assume you're jumping on a smooth surface and not the dirt. Beautiful woodland vistas are great for looking at, not so much for jumping on.
Nice work man. Sharing your frustrations is the quickest way to get over them and move on.
There are two areas of the park where I jump - both are made of the same sort of odd stuff that sort of looks like roofing tiles. It's soft and squishy, designed to keep kids from hurting themselves when they fall down - yet still as flat as pavement. Perfect. I've decided that I like the surface and the scenery about 100 times more than the yoga room at the gym (my other option). ;-)
ReplyDeleteI feel frustrated at times that the scale hasn't budged much. And that I can't do a pull-up still. But it's only a third of the way in so I've got to give myself some credit and some time and some kindness. And other people see it working, so I try to have faith that it is. Took me awhile to get out of shape, gonna take some time to get in peak shape, no?
ReplyDeleteStay strong ;)