Application

I'm not a scientist. I read about science from my forays into diet, fitness, and animal husbandry. I also have farm experience. In short, science could have really helped me out. I may have stuck with my original science major in college. I ended up in History.

I just never could get the theory down. There was nothing in science class that helped me to understand much past photosynthesis. (I haven't spelled that one in a long time.) Chemistry was particularly hard for me. Physics was easier. Biology floats somewhere in the middle. I have a hard time understanding science that I can't see. Physics was all about using what we observed - probably why I did rather well.

For my entire life, as far back as I care to remember, application has been the hardest thing for me to do. I have a lot of knowledge stored in my brain. The humanities were the best place for me to excel; however, I am able to handle learning anything. When it comes to applying knowledge, I always have struggled, even with simple expectations: taking out the trash, folding the laundry. I knew how to do it, and I knew it had to be done... but doing it.

That's the problem with my Paleo/Primal adventures, attempts, and efforts. I have all the knowledge I need to have a successful Paleo/Primal/WholeFoods/Ancestral lifestyle. It's just doing it that makes it so hard!

I love to work out. The satisfaction of being able to squat 100 lbs was so cool. That was me before the Marine Corps. Now, nearly three years, several chronic inflammation-based injuries, and two weight-control stints later, I can squat 65 lbs. My overhead press is now at 40 lbs. I only love to work out when I'm the one working me out, instead of a crazy sergeant or staff NCO. My most recent achievement was trying and succeeding at 18-in box jumps. I'm not as fast as I am doing 12-in jumps, but I can jump for 18 in. I know what I like to do, and I know what works. So do it, right?

I'm only committed to one "Slay-N-Play" Day a week at the gym. I'm not a huge fan of spending hours at the gym, but I really like my Slay-N-Play workout. It's heavy on leg work, but hits the upper body too. I don't just do free weights, though that is my focus. I do some kettlebells, I squat, I press, I row, I deadlift, and I even bench press. If I'm not too dead, I throw some plank work in too. There's a reason I only do this one time a week. First, I work four twelve-hour shifts every week, and my hours start at 3 AM. I'm typically exhausted at the end of a day sitting at my desk. It's hard to find time to get to the gym those days. That means I have three days off every week, and I hit the gym pretty hard one of those days. I can find time one day to kill myself on the weights. I am going to add another committed day to the week, but I haven't come up with anything as catchy as "Slay-N-Play" yet.

I had a mentor tell me that once you identify your sticking point, you have to act on it. For me, I've discovered it's application. I have the worst application record probably ever.

So here's the point of this ramble: Why is it so hard to apply the principles of Paleo, etc. to my life? I hope I'm not the only one. Given some time to think, here's what I've come up with:

• Sugar addiction, and sugar is in everything.
• Convenience of food.
• Failure to plan accurately for needed food.
• Failing to take the time to eat.
• Mass cooking days!
• Preconceived notions of exercise and time.

It's hard to make changes, even when you've learned the science behind the changes you need to make.

Love

Oh Hi!

I am drinking an obscene amount of white wine and watching TED videos. I am really not a big fan of white wine, but as long as I feel warmth in my toes, I am doing fine.

Today's post is entitled Love because I am getting married in, oh, three months, and I am still madly in love with this man I'm getting hitched to.

Here are ten proofs in the pudding:
1. Chris doesn't complain when the monthly visitor comes around.
2. He always laughs at my jokes even when they're really, really, really bad.
3. He got me a teddy bear when he picked me up from the airport five days after we officially started dating.
4. He rubs my feet.
5. He helps with the dishes, even when he really doesn't want to.
6. He is actually very smart even though he wants to hide it.
7. He tries to encourage me every way he can (mostly successfully).
8. He just enjoys getting me drunk.j
9. He likes my cooking even when he doesn't.
10. He feeds me all the time.

Don't worry, there are more reasons I am in love with this man. I have three more months to find more things to love!

Foam rolling

Foam rolling is the devil. It has been helping, but it can be so painful!

I use it primarily on my IT band and butt muscles, with a little bit on my low back. I guess it's helping, but how in the world do people do it every day? I try, and it makes my legs hot.

Last night after karate I spent some serious time on the roller, especially my IT band. My legs were hot to the touch after about ten minutes when I finished up. I wonder if this is normal or if it is a sign of inflammation.

Time to do some research!

600 Calories?

A day, people. 600 calories a day. With the exception of one 1200 calorie day, in the past five days I've eaten about 600 calories every day and maxed my water consumption.

It hasn't been a great five days. See, I have weight control issues. I've been half-assedly trying to control my weight using Primal/Paleo style eating. The problem with that was that I was eating too much, period. Then, to add insult to stupidity, I kept cheating, to the point that I may have eaten Primally at breakfast. So now, at the end of my second assignment to weight control, I'm cutting weight once again.

What this week has taught me is that I am strong enough to say no to grains, one more time. I am strong enough to count my calories and truly keep a mindful eye on my food. I am able to eat less meat and more veggies when I am hungry. A little bit of mayo makes six ounces of canned tuna go down a lot easier. I may not eat tuna for a month after these few days of almost all tuna.

But the first thing I do after I make weight will be to go get a gallon of water, a big Gatorade, and a milkshake to go with my breakfast of a slice of bacon and two large eggs scrambled with diced green peppers. I personally love the nightshade family, even potatoes in small quantities. What would I do without chili?

I am back in love with Sprouts grocery stores. I went to fresh & easy, but the meat is just not as good. Might be something to this fresh-ground nonsense.

Turkey Trot!

I ran my very first Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving in Oceanside, CA (conveniently close to where I live). I finished in 29:30 or something close to that. I've wanted to run a Turkey Trot for a long time but never really got up the gumption.

My dad in his heyday (thirties, I guess) ran 7 miles 5 or 6 days a week, and Turkey Trot shirts were once in abundance at my house. They seem to have all faded into transparency after more than thirty years of wash and wear. Now I have one to continue the Turkey Trot family tradition!

It was the biggest race I've ever tried to run, with thousands of people running, walking, or getting in the way of the runners.

I don't exist on Mondays!

Today is Sunday, a sabbath for many people, and often a harder day than most others for me, and not always because I work (which I don't, anymore). It's all the things I do for my "culture" in the Marines.

Monday, in the real world, is the start of the workweek. It's typically the start of the garrison workweek as well, but it means field day for my unit. Lately, there's been some "issues" with field day, and as usual no one even knows what they are. The current company gunnery sergeant can't drive on base because he got a DUI. Yet he's in a high-profile billet and allowed to judge other (junior) Marines on their choices that don't get people killed, typically. I speak of field day and room cleaning. Unless, of course, your shop approves of bleaching the room with enough bleach to force me, living three rooms down the hall, to leave the barracks due to choking on fumes or to leave a corporal sick enough to be unable to work for a day. Common sense, people. But it's also the day of private lesson and karate class. These are far more important for me than my room being sterilized for that next day's inspection. The company guns wants all evidence of human habitation removed from sight. I of course, refuse. I have to cook my meals, execute bodily functions, and otherwise live in my room. I refuse to disappear for one to two days of every week so that my room looks like I don't live there.

So I clean up on Sunday to make sure I'm good for Monday evening and Tuesday inspection. Things to do, people. Things to do.

Fitocracy plus simple workout

I'm typically wary of many fitness or nutrition or meal-tracking sites. I think they're useful for many people, but I'm not great at getting workouts put into the online trackers.

Well, a few days ago I stumbled onto Fitocracy, and so far, I've logged what I've done. The point of Fitocracy is that you get points for each workout you log (so don't cheat and log fake workouts- it's tempting). I don't really know how They calculate the number of points each exercise is worth, and some exercises are hard to find matches for, but in the beginning, it's quite easy to level up with regular exercise. My hour-long karate classes are worth quite a number of points. As the usual with these points-based levels, the lower levels require fewer points to achieve. I'm already level 6!

It's not been inspiration to go run three or four miles at a time yet, but it certainly helps me stay on track with my little exercises. Since I checked this morning and had 27 points to make level 6, I thought "This is a great time to do a simple pre-breakfast workout that just gets my blood moving a little and wakes me up! Then I'll level up!"

I hope that I continue to level up and earn points. I also came up with a workout idea that is really flexible, simple, and probably not new. You take 3 exercises, any that you want, and you do three sets of ten repetitions in a circuit. This morning I did pushups, squats, and planks. It's not a hard workout, I suppose, but it's a great format for a beginner, I think, or someone like me that isn't great at designing or sticking through long and involved workouts. I imagine you could make this quite challenging, by doing high repetitions or putting on a weight vest, and you have lots of options for including sprints.