Feeling a bit slow/sluggish today

Dave, Val and I went for a walk around the fields and in the woods this morning.

Then I ate 5 macintosh apples and a glass of veggie juice (romaine, celery, carrot, apple) - there was some juice leftover from Dave making Val's lunch.

Around 1:00, went for a 25-30 minute bike ride. Felt really tired and sluggish (jet lag catching up?).

Came back and ate a banana smoothie (8 small bananas)

took a nap

snack - some pineapple (maybe about 2/3 to 3/4 of a pineapple). hurts my teeth when I eat too much of it.

Dinner - 1.5 glasses OJ. lots of romaine, with some veggie pate (very little pumpkinseed in this - dave put maybe .25 cup in the whole recipe, and I didn't have half of it...). one ounce of Val's avo

Totals for the day
Calories: 2069 (86%C, 6%P, 8%F)

Ah, emotional rest

Last night I arrived at Dave and Val's house, where I'll be staying for the next week. Words cannot express how glad I am to be here, and how grateful I am to be among family. I'm so grateful to be in Ohio, which in a lot of ways feels like home to me, as I went to college here those were some wonderful years. Autumn is my favorite season, and I'm so grateful that I get to see the beautiful colors on the trees - I was worried I'd missed it, being out in the CA desert. It is wonderful to be with, for a change, people who are role models for the lifestyle I live. For a change, I have physical companionship in this - I'm not living this lifestyle among people who are doing something else. I'm not with people who wonder why anyone would want to do this (and occasionally, when lonely, I must admit I think that myself). It's really nice. Val's pregnancy is going along very smoothly - no morning sickness or fatigue. She feels great. Dave told me that their friends don't believe them when they tell them. Sigh =).

This morning I got to sleep until I woke up (7:30 a.m. - not bad, considering I am in Ohio, and was in California yesterday).

We played with some of their toys to warm up for going for a walk (Val stopped running at about 4.5 months in. They still rode bikes while it was warm, but lately they've been walking). Then we went for a walk nearby. The leaves are so beautiful. Dave brought along some hand weights and he did some lunges and footwork and stuff during the walk. Then he handed the weights to me and I played with them for a little bit.

We stopped and took some photos.






When we got back to the house, Dave and I went out into the garden. We picked a few concord grapes and raspberries. I snuck into the greenhouse and picked a couple of ripe cherry tomatoes (shh, don't tell!).

Then we continued our breakfast inside. I had a pineapple, a few sips of OJ, and two stalks of celery.

In the afternoon I had the chance to catch up on some things, like sending photos to people.

I walked to the track (about a mile and a half away). Then did some running (sprinting the straightways, walking or jogging the curves, for about 15 minutes). Then walked back to the house.

Ate - 1 pineapple

Dinner - Banana blueberry smoothie (about 4 bananas, 1 cup blueberries?), some dates (about 10 maybe?), some lettuce (1/2 a head of romaine?) and....

I tried durian for the 4th time...and this time I actually liked it! I've never liked it before. Usually I just couldn't get past the "oniony/garlicky taste" - I didn't want my fruit tasting like that. But today (maybe because I've been craving onions and garlic lately?), I LOVED it.

Just goes to show...be willing to try things you didn't used to like, because you might change your mind. For example, before I went raw, I didn't like papaya or celery at all, but now I love those foods. So be willing to try =).

Totals today (approximate, since I didn't measure everything and I am guessing):
2203 total calories (88%C, 5%P, 7%F)

Going to bed...hope to sleep well tonight!

Back to Blogging!

Ok. Back to blogging. Time for some nutritional self-awareness =). time to do it well. No better time than now.

Today's food -
lots of grapes all day at the airport while traveling (maybe 5 pounds worth)? - 1 meal on the first flight, one meal on the 2nd

Arrived at Dave and Val's!

evening meal - 1 barhi date. 1.5 cups pineapple. big salad - romaine lettuce, tomatoes with tomato-red pepper-orange dressing.

Numbers for the day:
Total calories - 1901 (92% C/5% P/3% F)

Time for sleep, since I got up at 2 a.m. Welcome back!

Woke up around 7 this morning.

Did a bit of strength training before breakfast: 100 ab things (combination of different stuff). 6 sets push-ups to failure (knee). 3 sets rear delt raises. 2 sets table-top triceps. A bit of stretching and movement.

How do you cut costs? Go where the food is!

From: harley (cpe-139-168-195-246.sa.bigpond.net.au)
Subject: go where the food is..
Date: April 21, 2007 at 4:20 pm PST
In Reply to: How do you cut costs? posted by herbi on April 19, 2007 at 4:30 pm:

i watch the parrots in my area. i follow their calls and feast on fruit with them. or is it that they follow me on my bike?

i had grapes off the vine yesterday, persimmons off the tree for lunch and a salad mix at wholesale price cos i did some painting at my organic groccers shop. and i also give him tips on optimum eating and trainig from the skills i learnt at dougies events. everybody wins.

this lifestyle is so cheap. i have people on this board that life in my area. they complain that its too exspensive to be raw. yet i feast on free fruit daily..i guess people will look for excuses to justify doing what they really want. my excuse for not eating cooked food is that it takes up too much time, resources, money and makes me feel like the cooked goop it really is.

i hear oats are cheap from the pig farmer co-op. same thing but we pay 10-100times more for it at the shop.


And here's what I posted, about my bulk buying experience in Colorado:

From: Bethany (host-72-174-33-204.gdj-co.client.bresnan.net)
Subject: Just one of me...
Date: April 22, 2007 at 11:09 am PST
In Reply to: Re: can you buy in bulk? posted by herbi on April 19, 2007 at 6:57 pm:
I just moved to a small agricultural town in Colorado for the next 5 months. I immediately made friends with the owner of the local grocery store, who is quite helpful and was happy to order produce by the case for me!

I got a case of organic bananas (40 pounds) for $22! That will take care of much of my breakfast and lunch calorie needs for the better part of a week (I'm pretty active...I train a bit and now I'm working on a farm). He also got a good deal on those tomatoes-on-the-vine from his distributor, which he passed on to me and gave me an 11-pound box of tomatoes for $7! Also, he gave me a box of 18 ataulfo mangoes for $9 (which was half of what he was charging if you bought them individually)!

Since he is giving me such good prices by the case, I will continue to buy by the case. When I placed my next order, I made sure to thank him profusely =).

If I don't QUITE make it through all that food...there are plenty of other people here who eat produce, and I can pass along my savings to them, too!

Hope this helps...

it doesnt really matter how you feel when you put the first step from your bed to the floor, what matters is how you feel after an hour hard running!

From: harley (cpe-139-168-195-246.sa.bigpond.net.au)
Subject: Re: Dr. D, please help with bananas/fruit at night
Date:
April 21, 2007 at 4:06 pm PST
In Reply to: Dr. D, please help with bananas/fruit at night posted by Andie on April 21, 2007 at 3:07 pm:

the more tired i wake up, the more energy i will have that day. i learnt this from one of the best marathoners in the world. he said' it doesnt really matter how you feel when you put the first step from your bed to the floor, what matters is how you feel after an hour hard running!'
he went on to explain how the body has been storing and refueling overnight and that going from fully laden to full flight can feel awkward but youll get used to it.
the best races ive ever had are when i wake up the 'tiredest'. sure ive woken up in the morning when ive been fasting and jumped out of bed, but i wont be jumping around after a 30 mile run like i do when i eat sufficiently. yet when i did that 30 mile run recentley i was looking for all the reasons to stay in bed that morn. but all i found was excuses. the reasons where all ready up the mountain waiting for me.

are my facts backed by science? no.do my beliefs let me ride my bike for days on only 3 hours sleep a day. yes.

we just have to ask what matters more. how we feel that first few minutes out of bed or middle of the day when we are calling on the carbs we ate the day before?

as what we eat today, powers us tommorrow. carb up today and carve it up tommorrow.

maybe try eating early before going to bed.i used to worry about how i felt in the morn. but as long as nobody stole my legs and arms whilst i was sleeping, im only focusing about how i feel when im out on the road. cos to me that is all that counts.im a road warrior, not a carb load worrier.

One of the best mornings I've had in a long time!

The rest of last week was mostly spent recovering. I was very sore and stiff on Tuesday morning, and I ran anyway. It was hard. I loosened up a bit during the run, but afterwards I was more sore and stiff than I had been before! Farm work is more tiring than I thought it would be, and I realized that I REALLY needed to catch up on sleep.

So that's what I did for the rest of the week...no morning workouts, just sleeping in until it was time to start working.

Last night I was feeling a bit discouraged...I felt like marathon training wasn't fun, and that maybe I should not run a fall marathon this year. I knew that I needed to run 5-6 miles this morning, and that last weeks 4-5 miles felt really difficult, so 5-6 would probably be more so. I went to bed...

Today was my day off, which was why I planned the long run for today.

When I woke up, it felt good to lay in bed as long as I wanted. When I finally got up, I looked at the clock: 8:07 a.m. And it was the strangest thing...the sky was blue, it was bright and sunny...and I felt like going for a run! So I said, "ok, I'll do my 5-6 miles...no need to make any final decisions about a marathon yet, and I don't want to close any doors."

Here in Colorado, I really don't have a way of gauging the mileage, so I'm just going for time. Assuming a 12 minute mile, that would mean I need to run for one hour to do 5 miles. If I was REALLY slow (15 minute miles, which I highly doubt), it would be only 4 miles per hour. So my mileage is really just rough estimates. So I figured that in order to ensure that I ran 5-6 miles, I'd need to run for 1 hour and 30 minutes. So that was today's goal.

Well, I got outside, and I was determined to take it nice and easy to start, since I hadn't done any running in the past few days (just recuperating from being stiff and catching up on sleep!). I enjoyed it right away.

What a wonderful run! I discovered a trail along the Colorado river about 45 minutes into the run, so instead of turning around and going back at that point, I just kept going! I couldn't believe that it felt so easy today, after weeks of having running feel very difficult! Even though my goal was to run for 1:30 today, I didn't even turn around until 1:17! So my total run was 2 hours long today...somewhere between 8 and 10 miles, instead of the 5-6! And I thought that 5-6 would kill me =)!

This was so encouraging to me. I had a little trouble hitting the ground running after returning home from Costa Rica. I pretty much had a week and a half of very poor sleep (due to stress) that really took it's toll on my energy levels and on my recovery, and so running and training felt like huge chores and seemed to break me down even more. So having a fabulous run after a few days of good rest and recovery (and a week and a half of catching up on sleep!) reassured me that I did not lose all my endurance...my body was just plain TIRED. And now it's catching up! Excellent! And I didn't even carry any food/water with me...imagine if I had food/water! I probably would have gone farther!

Look how much I ate!

Yesterday's training was supposed to be 4-5 miles. I had no way of telling the mileage, so I ran for 60 minutes and hoped that got me enough (don't see how it wouldn't...unless I was really THAT stiff). My hamstrings were REALLY tight and it took me a while to get into it.

My hamstrings are really tight today as well. I'm moving pretty slowly...I feel like an old lady! Farm work is TOUGH! =) But I'm sure I'll get used to it soon. Training is specific...so since I've never really done this type of work, my body will take a period of time to adjust.

I hope I feel loose enough tomorrow morning for my training run...the bending over and weeding is tough on the hamstrings after a while.

But enough complaining. Other than feeling stiff, I feel fabulous. I feel as though I'm in better health than I've ever been in (and I probably am!). It feels great to be so active...and now I REALLY enjoy my food.

Speaking of food...it's been a bit of an adjustment there, too. For the first few days on the farm, I was eating something along the lines of this: watermelon for breakfast, bananas (sometimes with celery) for lunch, tangerines followed by a huge salad for dinner (tangerine juice for dressing, usually). Or maybe instead of the salad, a blended veggie soup (toms, cukes, pepper, celery). Then I would crave dried fruit late at night before bed. So I realized that even though I am eating "as much fruit as I care for" during the day...it's not enough calories for my much more active lifestyle here on the farm! I didn't see how I could cram in many more bananas at lunchtime, since I was already pretty much at my limit (11, 12, 13 bananas...how much more can I eat in one sitting, haha)...so for the past 2 days I tried replacing the watermelon with more bananas at breakfast. Works like a charm! 9 bananas down the hatch in the morning! And no nighttime cravings! Perfect =).

So, today was a "rest day" in terms of training...but my job was hard work! I ate:

Breakfast - 9 bananas blended into a smoothie
Lunch - 13 or 14 bananas and 2 stalks celery blended into a smoothie
Dinner - 10 large honey tangerines. 4 or 5 tomatoes. Did some evening chores, then made a HUGE salad: 2 romaine hearts (shredded fine), 5 tomatoes (chopped), 1 orange bell pepper (chopped), a few leaves cilantro (chopped), and 1 haas avocado (chopped, and the first overt fat I've had in a week). Tossed that all together, than ate it inside whole romaine leaves, like a taco (used 2 more romaine hearts for the shells!).

I can't believe I ate that much! But it doesn't feel like "too much", and I probably won't have any cravings tonight, haha. Seriously, though, I don't feel like I'm going to burst at all! But it took a damn long time to eat all that food. It was SO good though.

Can't wait until height of season, when I get most of my produce for free and fresh from the farm!

I feel so happy, grateful, and good!

Today I feel better than I have in my whole life, I think! Now that I'm in CO, and all the stress of the past few weeks is gone, I've finally been able to sleep again.

I can't believe how good I feel.

Today I just walked...no running, but a fair bit of walking. Probably at least 4 miles.

A lot of resting today too.

Watering plants in the greenhouse with a watering can is a good anterior deltoid (front shoulder) workout! =)

I'm blogging again (may take a few false starts though!)

Ok! I'm finally settled in Colorado, and head-over-heels in love with it! My marathon training is starting! After 2 weeks of no sleep, I'm finally able to sleep through the night again! Good news all around!

Gotta get used to eating more again...I'm a lot more active than I was in my office job! Weeding for hours works your back and your biceps and doesn't feel hard while you are doing it...but afterwards you are TIRED! =)

Yesterday:

Before breakfast - Did a jog/walk, just for enjoyment, into town. About 50 minutes round trip. Stretched.

Breakfast - 1 personal sized watermelon

We mostly did greenhouse work and a bit of walking around the farm in the morning. Nothing too strenuous...

Before lunch - 3 sets push-ups (it may just be my imagination, but these felt easier than they had in a while!), 3 sets jump squats, 3 sets ab work.

Lunch - 11 bananas, 1/2 a large bunch celery.

Afternoon - greenhouse work and about 2 hours of weeding the strawberries and garlic.

Dinner - 6 large honey tangerines. 2 large bowls veggie soup (tomatoes, cuke, pepper, celery). More tomatoes (they needed to be eaten).

Later - 1 head cauliflower, 1 pepper, more tomatoes. Finally I realized it was sweet that I needed...will need to get used to eating more fruit during the day! Had some dried figs.

Woke up this morning not sore at all from the weeding! I feel great from all this activity!

Back from Costa Rica!

Back from Costa Rica! Been catching up on sleep, and swamped with the holiday, but here are a coupl'a photos!

I'm in Costa Rica!

Be back in April.

One last building session before Costa Rica!

Morning training (a total body building session):
3 sets step-ups on bench
3 sets romainian deadlifts
3 sets walking lunges
3 sets swiss ball hamstring curls
3 sets barbell squats
3 sets seated calf raises
3 sets assisted chin-ups
3 sets chest dips
3 sets assisted pull-ups
3 sets push-ups
3 sets straight arm pull-downs
3 sets flat bench dumbbell flyes
3 sets posterior delt raises
3 sets upright rows
3 sets anterior delt raises
3 sets dumbbell shoulder presses
3 sets preacher curls (dumbbells)
3 sets rotating biceps curls
3 sets triceps kick-back
3 sets dumbbell curls with lift
3 more sets triceps kickbacks
3 sets cable crunches
3 sets hanging abs
3 sets roman chair oblique crunches
3 "sets" (one each!) decline bench sit-ups.

If that's not a workout, I don't know what is! Last lifting before Costa Rica!

After workout - 10 or 11 or 12 bananas
Second meal - 4 mangoes. 1 pint grape tomatoes. 1 orange bell pepper. 1 head cauliflower
Third meal - 3 pints grape tomatoes. 1 head cauliflower.

Steak knives are good for slicing mangoes.

Morning "training"

3 sets sit-ups (2 with twisting)
Close to an hour of shoveling snow! That's a tough workout for the back!

Breakfast - 1 large papaya. 3 mangoes.
Ate pretty much all day the rest of the day. No overt fats, but plenty of dried fruit...

First post in 3 days! Did a lot of walking on Friday and Saturday (several hours). Friday, I'm sad to say that I had a bit of an evening almond extravaganza...probably due to not enough fruit in the daytime. So, I spent Saturday recovering a bit from that.

Morning training today:
Indoor cycling class at my mom's gym. Wasn't nearly as fun as indoor cycling in Chicago...but a very good workout. Then, I ran 10 sprints (one track length each).

Breakfast - 5 bananas, 1/2 a papaya.
Lunch with my brother - lots of pudding: banana/papaya and banana/date
Dinner - some baby bok choy. 2 mangoes. 1 small orange. lots of salad (baby spinach, tomatoes, red peppers).

Being out of Chicago is doing me SO MUCH GOOD. The sunshine and fresh air is awesome. My skin is glowing! Can't wait for Costa Rica.

What an active day!

Today I went for my first long run in a while. Probably somewhere between 8 and 10 miles. Went on the bike path here in NJ. Included some hill training too. Took a few walk breaks (there were some icy patches!).

Breakfast - 7 bananas.

Then I went into the city. Carried a heavy backpack around.

Lunch at Caravan of Dreams with a friend - 2 live pink lady smoothies (orange, apple, mango, strawberry, plantain) and a large mixed green salad.

More walking, carrying.

Dinner at home - 7 fuyu persimmons. 1 large bowl tomato-basil-celery soup (.75 pounds tomatoes, 2 stalks celery, 4 leaves basil, blended in food processor). 1 date.

Today is the 6th day in a row of meals as opposed to grazing. It feels excellent! It's amazing how easy this is to do now that I'm not trying to distract myself with food from an office job! It feels so effortless. When I was working, it felt like such an effort.

No training today.

Walked to bus stop to visit friend. Walked a bit around the city today, carrying groceries and such, but no "training".

Lunch - 8 medium-large bananas

Dinner - 11 small tangerines, 4 small oranges, 1 grapefruit. 1 pound tomatoes, 1/2 pound baby spinach.

Just DO it!

Ok, now that I've had a chance to breathe, after moving out and driving, I'd like to write about a conversation I had with Dave on Saturday night. I think we were talking about how my weight had actually gone up since Health and Fitness Week (september 2006), not down. Dave would have guessed that I had lost weight, he said. Since I've been doing a lot of strength work, I said that of the 8 or 9 pounds I had gained since then, I was willing to believe that 4 or 5 (at most) of those pounds are muscle, and the rest was fat, due to emotional eating, etc.

Dave then told me about a friend of theirs (him and his wife, Val) who had trouble keeping weight off on different raw food programs. He said to this friend, "you really should try to do 8-1-1." She responded that she had tried it, and it didn't work for her. To that, he said, "[insert friend's name here], you really have to DO it. Most people who think they are doing it are actually not. Unless you've experienced it at an event or something, it's hard to REALLY understand how to do it." She said, "ok, I'm willing to try it. Tell me what I have to do." Long story short, she's been following the program to the letter since Thanksgiving, and she's lost 3o pounds!

Hearing that story really made something click for me. Yes, I've been living healthfully, but have I actually been DOING 8-1-1 these past few months? Probably not. The emotional eating nut extravaganzas are one aspect that isn't serving me well (and probably the main reason I've packed on a few pounds this winter!). But another key aspect I haven't been following is that on days when I've been working in the office (5 days per week), I often eat 4, 5, or 6 times per day rather than the 2 or 3 times per day that would be much better for me.

So, hearing the story of Dave's friend caused me to remember something in Doug's book, and then it came together why I was struggling with this. Here's the excerpt from Doug's book, The 80-10-10 Diet (page 239, in the FAQ section, under "why didn't the 80/10/10 diet work for me?". hope he doesn't mind the quote!):

Why didn't the 80/10/10 diet work for me?

People come to me at times having tried this method of eating unsuccessfully. Upon examination, I found almost invariably that they were not actually doing what I recommend. As I truly desire to help people succeed, I want to mention here several key factors that people often overlook when adopting the 80/10/10 lifestyle.

You are not following 80/10/10 if:

• Less than 2% of your total calories come from vegetables and leafy greens. For true health, I recommend consuming 2 to 6% of calories from leafy greens. For 4% of your calories to come from vegetables on a 2000-calorie diet, you would have to eat roughly a pound of greens per day.
• Your caloric intake is insufficient to maintain your desired body weight.
• You burn less than 1/5 of your total calories through physical activity (at least 400 calories per day if you average 2000 calories).
• Your habitual sleep pattern doesn't meet your body's needs.
• You eat all day long rather than one to four meals a day.
• You lack emotional poise (your lifestyle is sufficiently stressful to cause your system ongoing adrenal exertion).
• You expose your fully (or substantially) unclothed skin to moderate sunlight less than 30 minutes per day. (Our bodies require approximately 15 minutes of sunlight exposure per day to produce sufficient vitamin D. I would consider 30 minutes a day a healthful minimum...remember, our species wasn't designed to live indoors.

So, that's the excerpt. Anyway, it really hit home that in order to distract myself from a job I didn't enjoy, I would eat...munching and grazing all day. Dave's story about his friend inspired me to "just do it." I know from experience that the program works really well, when I actually follow it!

The past 4 days, I've actually been following the program (eating meals, not grazing), and it feels great! I feel like the digestive load is much lighter when I'm not constantly eating.

Today's workout:
25 minutes on elliptical machine to warm up
2 minutes rowing machine
arm circles
Upper body strength workout (almost all sets to failure within 5 reps):
3 sets negative assisted pull-ups
3 sets assisted chest dips
3 sets negative assisted chin-ups
3 sets push-ups
3 sets straight arm pulldowns (7 reps failure)
3 sets flatbench dumbbell flyes
3 sets upright rows
3 sets rear delt flyes
3 sets front raises
3 sets preacher curls
3 sets assisted triceps dips

Today was a recovery day for my legs/core, which surprisingly aren't too sore! Hooray for fast recovery, facilitated by sleep!

No breakfast
Lunch after workout - lots of persimmons and bananas. 2 stalks celery.

Went for a bike ride in the afternoon - short and easy (I can tell my legs are not fully recovered from yesterday!). Rode to the grocery store and back. (About 1 hour 10 minutes total, including about 20 minutes in the store?).

Dinner - 2 small papayas. papaya-tomato-basil soup (yum!!!!): 2 small papayas, 1 pound tomatoes, four leaves fresh basil. nappa cabbage-papaya-lime wraps (yummm!!!!!): 1 small head nappa cabbage, 2 small papayas, juice of 1/2 a lime.

Fourth day in a row of meals, not grazing. It feels really good, and light. =)

Breakfast - 2 small papayas

25 minutes on treadmill (hill intervals)
Leg workout/core workout:
3 sets step-ups
3 sets romainian deadlifts
3 sets walking lunges
3 sets swiss ball hamstring curls
3 sets step-ups
3 sets barbell squats
3 sets cable crunches (is that the right name? I don't think so)
3 sets hanging abs
3 sets roman chair oblique crunches
3 sets sit-ups on decline bench
3 sets roman chair extensions

Lunch - lots of persimmons

Took a nap in the afternoon.

Dinner - 1/2 a pineapple. 3/4 large papaya. 1/2 pound baby spinach.

Snow training with Dave!

Snow training with Dave!
Running/walking/racing/backwards/hills in snow, for about a half hour. What a tough workout! Dave is such an inspiration.

Drove all day.

Breakfast - persimmons
Lunch - persimmons
Dinner - tangerine juice (almost a half gallon), huge salad (lettuce, pepper, tomato, cabbage)

Packed car, drove all day

Packed up the car, drove all day. Packing the car was probably the extent of my physical activity.

No breakfast
Lunch - persimmons
Dinner with Dave and Val!- Tangerine/orange/grapefruit juice. Salad (nappa cabbage, red cabbage, mixed greens) with dressing (avo/kiwi/tangerine).

In the evening, Dave demonstrated some olympic lifts for me, and I tried them without weight (just to learn the form).

I'll just be logging workouts for the next few days, not food or food for thought. I'm in the middle of a move!

Morning training:
walk to gym
walk on treadmill 10 minutes to warm up
45 minute cycling class with Tony - last one!
walk home

I earned my breakfast this morning (!)

Woke up around 3:30. Got up around 4:15, and was able to get a bit done before my workout this morning.

Morning workout:
Walk to gym.
Upper body-building session. Involved some serious chunks of metal! Worked back, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps:

Flexed arm hangs/negatives chin-ups on the assisted chin machine (I think I did 5 of these, with 30 pounds assistance on the negative.
Flexed arm hangs/negative pull-ups on the assisted chin machine (don't remember how many of these)...
Lat pull-downs (3 or 4 or 5 sets...I really gotta log this earlier in the morning next time!)
Straight arm lat pull-downs (3 sets)
Decline bench dumbell presses (5 sets, 3 of which were to failure in under 5 reps)
3 sets push-ups (from knee)
3 sets flat bench dumbbell flyes
3 sets each posterior delt raises (on incline bench), lateral raises, and front raises.
3 sets upright rows
3 sets triceps kickbacks
3 sets dumbbell curls
3 sets overhead triceps extensions
3 sets hammer curls

Whew!

7:30 a.m. - 1 papaya (before I left the house)
8:45 a.m. (after I got to work) - Huge banana-date smoothie (7 bananas and 7 medjool dates). 5 more medjool dates. 1 head green leaf lettuce.

Wow! I was soooooo hungry for that breakfast!

11:30 a.m. - 2 pounds grape tomatoes
1:10 p.m. - small salad at restaurant (romaine, cukes, tomato). 2 papayas, 1 ugli fruit when I got back to the office.

Way too many nuts/avos at night...

More of "what you think about, you bring about"

Check this out:

If you believe in your workouts, they may just give you that much more benefit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17136113/wid/11915773?GT1=9033

I had set my alarm for 6:30 this morning, since I got to bed late last night. Got up around 6:00 a.m. (before the alarm). After yesterday evening's fiasco with getting home late, I didn't want to trudge through the snow to the gym.

Morning training:
Spent a half-hour or so doing yoga, mostly sun salutations and standing poses.
Spent another 20 minutes or so doing core work: crunches, reverse crunches, bicycle crunches, oblique crunches, planks.

9:00 a.m. - banana date smoothie (6.5 medium bananas, 8 medjool dates). 5 more medjool dates.
2:45 - a few chunks pineapple. 1 ugli fruit (!). 1 pound grape tomatoes. some plum tomatoes (maybe 8?)
3:30 - 1 pound grape tomatoes. lots and lots of baby bok choy. 1 small haas avocado.
6:30 - 3 navel oranges

Snow!!! Lots of it.

And wind, too.

Woke up to alarm. Didn't feel terribly well rested, as Justin got into town late last night for his auditions so sleep was interrupted, and I had trouble getting back to sleep. Went to the gym anyway, and I'm glad I did, because the workout felt great!

Morning training:
Walked to the gym. This was more challenging than usual, as it was very windy, and the wind had caused a lot of snow drifts, so the "terrain" was uneven.
Treadmill workout (1.0 incline throughout) - 10 minutes jog (4.5 mph, increased a bit towards minutes 8, 9, 10). Followed by 4 10-minute miles alternated with 3 minutes walking in between each mile. 5 minute cooldown, for 65 minutes total. Felt great not to run sprints, hahaha.
Lower body strength work:
3 sets step-ups on bench, to failure (the left leg failed before the right, every time, so I stopped at left-leg failure).
3 sets romanian deadlifts (I hope I did them right!)
3 sets barbell squats.
Stretching in between sets.
Walked home. After the lower body work, the walk home in the wind/snow was definitely challenging.
Stretched a bit at home.

7:30 a.m. - 4 or 5 small fuyu persimmons
9:00 a.m. - 1 large fuyu persimmon. 3 medium bananas.
11:30 a.m. - 4 bananas (Justin is meeting me for lunch at one, but I was ravenous, so I ate a few bananas to hold me over).
1:15 - big bowl of persimmon-date pudding: 5 large fuyu persimmons (frozen and thawed), blended with 10 soaked medjool dates (I coudn't finish it all, but almost). Big bowl chopped romaine lettuce.
4:10 - 1 romaine lettuce heart
Got home really late...
8:10 p.m. - 1 large papaya. 2 pounds campari tomatoes. 1.5 florida avocados. A few fresh mac nuts (maybe 8?) that Dan brought back from Hawaii. 4 valencia oranges.

Bed around 10:30.

Didn't sleep well last night. Had a lot on my mind, with my friend in the hospital, and my upcoming move, among other things. Slept in this morning instead of going to the gym. I'll go tonight (not planning on sleeping well anyway, since I have a friend coming in late tonight, so may as well get in my workout...).

Morning food - 16 apple bananas. 2 romaine hearts. a bit of nappa cabbage. 1 papaya. 8 medjool dates.

Afternoon food - more apple bananas (maybe 8 more). 1 papaya.

Didn't end up training in the evening (thought it was best to catch a few hours sleep before Justin got into town).

What you think about, you bring about. =)

Slept in this morning!

Morning training in the apartment (chest, shoulders, triceps):
Lots of push-ups, in sets, most from the knees, some of the later sets in box position.
Shoulder raises (3 sets each side, front, and rear delts) (used a tote bag with papayas in it for a weight!)
1 set triceps extensions with bands.
Experimented with kicking up into a handstand next to a wall a few times, just to see how it feels. No handstand yet...

10:30 ish - 2 large papayas
11:55 - 13 apple-bananas
3:00 - 8 persimmons. 2 pints cherry tomatoes. 1 haas avocado. 1/2 a florida avocado.
6:00 - 3/4 head nappa cabbage.

Morning training:
Walked to gym.
Back/biceps workout: hanging from the bar and pulling myself up a couple of inches, lots of times. lots of flexed arm hangs/"negative assisted pull-ups". 3 sets dumbell rows (one arm). 3 sets each overhand grip dumbell curls, dumbell curls, and hammer curls.
Indoor cycling class with Austin.
Walked home.

Breakfast - 1 large papaya.
Lunch - 6 large bananas
Snack - 5 cara cara oranges, 1 pound tomatoes
Dinner - 2 papayas, 1 pound tomatoes, 1 head nappa cabbage
Later - 1 avocado (haas), 1 pound tomatoes.

What you think about comes about...

...so I'm thinking about how I'm burning through the excess body fat and building strong, beautiful muscle tissue!

Woke up at 5 a.m. Not very well rested. Haven't been sleeping well (I wake up in the middle of the night).

Morning training:
Walked to gym. Wanted to take indoor cycling class but I got there too late and class was full.
Assisted pull-up training, flexed arm hang/negatives. Just did a little of this.
Treadmill workout: hills!
Warmed up for 10 minutes (1.0 incline). Then alternated 2 minute hills by toggling the incline like this (1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-7-1-8-1-9). The 9 almost killed me, haha. Then cooled down by jogging for 10 minutes, then walking for 4 minutes.
Spent 10 minutes stretching.
Walked home.

7:30 a.m. - 1 papaya
10:00 a.m. - smoothie made fromm 4 frozen bananas and 3 medjool dates. 6 medjool dates. 3 fuyu persimmons.
11:45 a.m. - 1 small head green leaf lettuce
2:30 p.m. - 2 papayas

Took a nap this afternoon.

5:00 p.m. - 6 temple oranges. some pistachio nuts (.5 - .75 cup?)

Positive day!

Didn't sleep that well last night (was awake from 1:30 until at least 3:30).

Got up at 5:45 though. Was tired, but determined to work out, since I've been sitting around all week.

Morning training:
Walk to gym (in more layers this time).
Lower body/abs workout today:
3 sets squats, alternated with 3 sets deadlifts
plyo - jumping up on a step (with 4 risers) (2 or 3 sets of this, can't remember)
a couple sets calf jumps (straight knee - first time trying this and not good at it, yet. but will get better!)
1 set hamstring curls on a ball.
3 sets reverse curls (holding a swiss ball between heels and butt), alternated with 3 sets bicycle crunches.
3 planks
2 sets swiss ball crunches
Walked home.

7:30 a.m. - 1 large papaya. Mmmm!
10:20 a.m. - 4 large bananas. 6 soft medjool dates. 1 head green leaf lettuce.
1:45 p.m. - Huge plate salad from a meeting (mixed lettuces, tomato). 5 small fuyu persimmons. 6 soft medjool dates.
2:50 - a bit more salad. 1 baby carrot, dipped in avo-orange mix (offered by coworker).
5:45 p.m - 1 large papaya. Yum!

Bed at around 8:45. I discovered something dangerous - you can stream ABC Shows online. So I got to bed later than I should have.

Building another base. One meal at a time.

This morning I didn't train. I also didn't eat until noon, as the thought of eating turned me off.

It's still cold out, but quite sunny. I actually got out a bit before lunch and walked around a bit in the sunshine. I can feel my spirits lifting...

First meal (12:20 p.m.) - 12 RIPE bananas, blended into a smoothie. 3 RIPE fuyu persimmons. 3 soft'n'squishy medjool dates. 1 head green leaf lettuce. No cravings for me this afternoon!

Dinner - 6 temple oranges (Juicy!). the flesh from a few (4?) organic mangoes.

Went to bed around 8:30ish.

Roe Gallo, Marjorie Newlin, Ruth Heidrich

A couple weeks ago, I listened to a very inspiring podcast on raw vegan radio: Roe Gallo. I'd never heard her before, but her story is inspiring.

In this podcast, she talked about a woman named Majorie Newlin. Check her out: http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur28238.cfm. Majorie is an 86-year-old woman who started lifting weights at age 72. Now, at 86, she enters bodybuilding competitions!

When I heard Ruth Heidrich (70+ year old ironman triathlete and vegan) say that she didn't even start running until she was 33 years old...something clicked for me. Marjorie's story helps drive home that point.

If these women accomplished these things after starting so late in life...imagine what I can do! I'm 25! I've got my whole life ahead of me to do amazing things!

This is a tough time.

Too cold to go outside. Been breathing heated, dry air, cooped up indoors.

I'm going to take it one meal at a time, starting NOW. =)

Took a few days off...

...from training, and as it were, from low fat (rolling eyes...).

Trained on Sunday (speed work on treadmill, followed by indoor cycling class), but it was very clear that I still needed more recovery time. I can't keep up training that intensely all the time without recovery. i guess it's like Doug says...it's a delicate balancing act between training more intensely, and recovering from that. You can't get into a routine because there is none!

So I decided to take a week off from the treadmill, and any intense training. May still do cycling later in the week. We'll see how I feel.

It's been FREEZING in Chicago. I've been cooped up, and WAY overdoing it on the nuts (as I always seem to do when I'm lonely and cooped up...). So I don't feel like working out much.

Three weeks until Costa Rica! Hopefully I'll be able to get myself back on track soon.

Oh yeah...Monday was my birthday! Happy birthday to me!

Today is a recovery day.

Today is a recovery day. No morning training. My body needs it.

Breakfast - sucked the juice from 13 AMAZINGLY sweet valencia oranges. 3 large fuyu persimmons.
Lunch - 2 huge bowls of salad (TONS of baby spinach, 2 lbs grape tomatoes, juice from 2 of those amazing valencia oranges). 5 fuyu persimmons.
Dinner - 5 large bananas, blended.

Bed at around 9:30. Wanted to sleep earlier, but I was out.

A quote that applies to many things worthwhile.

"Before you've practiced, the theory is useless. After you've practiced, the theory is obvious."
-David Williams, Ashtanga teacher

I received that quote in an e-mail newsletter from a yoga studio today.

In my experience, it definitely applies to the 80-10-10 lifestyle, so I thought I'd post it here.

Almost the end of the week.

I set my alarm for 7:00 a.m., with the intention of sleeping in this morning. I woke up before my alarm, and got up at 5:30. Went to the gym. Today was an easy day. Didn't really give it "my all", since I need some recovery time.

Walked to gym.
Treadmill warm-up - fast walking/slow jogging for 20 minutes
Abs exercies (sit-ups, oblique crunches, hanging abs (2 sets each).
Spin class w/Austin - 45 minutes (left early to get to work on time).

Unless I feel absolutely phenomenal tomorrow, I think I will take the day off.

Breakfast (8:45 a.m.) - 8 persimmons.
Lunch (11:00 a.m.ish) - About 3/4's of a bunch of celery, and 4 persimmons (there could have been 5 five persimmons, but I can only find "evidence" of 4).
Lunch II - 1 p.m. - Sucked the juice from valencia oranges (a four pound bag, minus 2 oranges).
3:00 - some fruit from a fruit plate (office party) - watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries (not a whole lot of fruit)
4:00 p.m. - 2 pounds grape tomatoes.

Today I gave a persimmon to somebody at work. I make it a practice that if someone comments on what I'm eating, and I have enough to share, I offer them one. Way to spread the fruit love! So I gave a persimmon to someone, who took it back to her desk. A few minutes later, she called me and thanked me, and told me it was really unusual, and that two other people who work near her desk had never tried one either, so they shared it! She said "so, thank you for enlightening our taste buds." Hehehe. So, I'm always glad to quietly spread the "eat more fruit" message. What better way than by being an example and sharing the wealth?

In the evening, I stopped by the produce shop. The last few times I went there, one of the cashiers kept noticing how I buy so many persimmons, and she kept saying she's been meaning to try them. Last time I was there, she said "I'm going to try one today!" So today, I asked her if she tried one, and she said she hadn't, but she meant to. So I gave her one, and she said, "I'm going to try it right now." She did, and she was like "oh my god! This is amazing! This is so good! I can see why you buy so many of them!"

So today was a fruit sharing day.

Went to bed at 7:30 p.m.

An article from an e-zine I read today

Here's an article from an e-zine I read today. Maybe this will be useful to some people?

The Top 5 Best Exercises
Secret Weapons to Get Stunningly Fit
by Frederic Patenaude

What if I told you that you could get in the best shape of your life even if you didn't have time to exercise, even if you were busy, and even if you didn't know where to start?

I'm talking about developing an enviable physique, whether it means increased endurance and heart function, tight and sexy thighs, butt and legs, or muscular arms.

There are tons of exercises that can give you results, but if you want those results fast, why not focus on the very best exercises - the "secret weapons"? Although these exercises are well-known, you might not have realized their importance or how to incorporate them into your routine - until today.

#1 Squats: The squat is one of the most basic all-around fitness exercises that you can do, and it is one of the best. It works several body parts at once, including your core, quads, hamstrings and calves. There are many different types of squat. For an intense workout in 5 minutes a day, I suggest trying the squat-based Lightning Speed Fitness Program, from Roger Haeske, click here for a free report.
No matter what you do, you should incorporate squats into your routine. If you train for strength, squat using a barbell or holding dumbells in your hands. If you want to train for endurance or cardio, use body-weight squats such as in Roger's Lightning Speed Fitness Program.

#2 Pushups: This exercise is no secret, but not enough people take advantage of it. Many women and even men still have weak, flabby arms and chests. The best way to develop them is by starting to incorporate daily pushups into your routine. They work the chest, shoulders, triceps, back and abs (core).

The key with pushups is to incorporate different kinds of pushups into one routine. If you cannot do a standard “man” pushup, start with the “girl” version on your knees. Then work your way toward doing regular pushups.

EVOLUTION OF THE PUSHUP:

#1 Wall pushup: Stand facing a wall. The farther your feet are from the wall, the harder it will be. Lean in toward the wall.
#2 Counter Pushup: Pushup leaning from the edge of a counter.
#3 Knee Pushup: the standard “girl” pushup on your knees
#4 Feet Elevated: you've now reached the regular pushup level, congratulations!

Other pushups that rule:

Wide Hands - place hands on the floor at a greater distance apart (past the shoulders). This works even more back muscles.

Close Hands - Place hands on the floor closer to each other (maybe a foot apart or less). Very difficult. Feet Elevated - Place your feet on a chair or other object and push up from the ground. More difficult.

Handstand Pushup - This is my favorite pushup EVER and the ultimate exercise to build strong shoulders. If you're a man, you need to be able to do this one.
Go to a handstand, your feet against the wall, then lower your head to the floor and push up. If you can do a few of those, you're good. To help you succeed in mastering this pushup, you can first use your toes to help you “crawl” the wall, or have a friend hold your feet and help you through it. At first, your goal should be to simply stay in a handstand with your feet facing the wall.

#3 Walking or Running Hills: You want extreme health, a fit body and a healthy heart? Try walking or running up hills. This is one of the best exercises for overall fitness. So go find hills in your area, and dare to walk the hell out of them!

#4 Pullups & Chinups: Many women lack upper body strength. Unfortunately, this can lead to injuries and lack of ability, as many common movements such as lifting a box (or a child!) require strong upper body muscles.
It's wise for all women to strengthen these muscles by working on the two best exercises for them: pushups and pullups. Just because pullups and chinups are hard, it doesn't mean women can't do them! In fact, you *should* be able to lift your own body with your arms. In nature, this sort of movement is very basic and in fact a matter of survival.

And for men, the benefits of pullups and chinups cannot be emphasized enough: you will build a strong back and enviably muscular arms.

For women, I would set a goal to do at least 1 complete pullup and 2 complete chinups, with a future “ultimate” goal to do at least 3 pullups and 5 chinups.

To get started, use the assisted pullup machines at the gym, or follow the following routine:

1. Hang for 30 seconds or as long as possible in the position of having pulled your body up all the way from a bar. You can use a chair to get in that position. When you feel you can't hold yourself any longer, lower gently in a slow and controlled manner. Do this 5 times.
2. Get on a chair and check out what kind of a bend you need in your arms before you can successfully pull yourself up. Then do it five times from there. Improve from there.
3. Hang from a bar and see how far you can pull yourself up 5 times in a row.

Do these three exercises 2-3 times a week and make sure to warm up properly beforehand (by doing some jumping jacks for a few minutes, for example).

For men, a good benchmark for strength would be to be able to do a few series of 5 pullups with 10% of your weight attached to your body (as extra weight).

#5 The Plank: This is a powerful isolation move used in "Pilates and Yoga and it works the abs, back, arms and legs as well as your internal abdominal muscles, which is your core strength!
To do it, lie face down on mat with your elbows resting on the floor next to your chest. Go to a pushup position while resting on your elbows or hands. Then squeeze the abs and keep your body in a straight line. Hold on in there for 30-60 seconds and repeat as many times as you can. Start by doing the plank on your knees and gradually work your way up.

So there you have it, 5 powerful exercises that *everyone*, man or woman, should include in their routine for functional fitness and strength. Now, get started and tell me about it!

Frederic Patenaude, is the author of the best-selling e-book "The Raw Secrets". He is currently giving away free access to his private library of over 100 exclusive articles along with a subscription to his newsletter Pure Health & Nutrition. Visit http://www.fredericpatenaude.com while charter subscriptions last.

COLD.

It is COLD today! Brrr!

Got an ok-night's sleep last night. Woke up around 11:30 and I think I was up for a while...mind thinking about all kinds of things. Woke up this morning before the alarm (4:45 ish). Legs didn't feel ready for training today at all, so they got a recovery day while I trained upper body. =)

Morning training:
Walked to gym. Holy cow, was it cold!
Warm-up - 20 minutes easy elliptical trainer. For the last 10 minutes of it, I waved my arms around like an idiot (aerobic-like arm movements) to get my upper body warmed up, too.
Then did 70 minutes of some serious upper-bodybuilding.
Workout was structured into 5 groups of supersets (or giant sets or whatever you call them...). Did 4 or 5 sets of each exercise. Each set to failure. Most sets to failure within 3-5 reps. An odd set here or there may have been to failure in 8, if the weight was too light. Some rest in between sets, but didn't time the rest.

Group 1: One-arm dumbell rows (30 lbs). Flat bench dumbell presses (25 lbs each arm)
Group 2: Assisted pull-ups (70 lbs assistance), push-ups
Group 3: Assisted chin-ups (70 lbs assistance), push-ups
Group 4: Front lateral raises (10 lbs each, dropped to 8 lbs each after a couple of sets), upright rows (15 lbs each), posterior delt raises (on incline bench - some sets 5 and some sets 8 lbs each)
Group 5: Concentration curls (15 lbs), triceps dips on bench (bodyweight)
Walked home.

Breakfast (8:30 a.m.)- 5.5 large bananas. 3 fuyu persimmons. 10 oz. baby spinach.
Lunch (12:45 p.m.) - 9 fuyu persimmons
Dinner (around 3:00 p.m.) - 2 lbs. grape tomatoes. 1 stalk celery. 1 haas avocado.

My body is doing some housecleaning - I'm breaking out all over my neck and chest.

Didn't get to bed until 9 p.m. or so - did laundry and talked to a friend.

Lip balm makes a good anti-chafing agent...

...ah, the things you learn when you just moved into a new apartment and can't find the bodyglide. ;)

Woke up early, around 4 a.m. Lay in bed until 4:45 or so. Realized that I didn't know where the bodyglide was, and I wanted to run today. Got up and spent a little too much time looking for it.

Ever notice how you get used to how you look in one mirror, but when you look in a different mirror, you are surprised by what you see? I've noticed that in my new apartment, I look like I'm getting some results! My upper body is definitely more built up than it was! My chest, shoulders, back, arms, and hips definitely look sexier ;). Very cool. Especially since the scale still remains stuck =P.

Morning training:
Walked to gym.
Speed day on the treadmill (1.0 incline, of course)!:
10 minutes warm up (jog 5.0 mph).
Ran 6 one-minute sprints (7.8 mph) with 3 minutes jogging in between.
Jogged/walked 10 minutes to recover.
Ran 4 more sprints, with longer periods of jogging/walking to recover in between.
That made for 60 minutes, total. Walked to cool down for five minutes.
Then, hit the hardwood floors for some yoga stretches. Stretched for 15 or 20 minutes. That felt REALLY good.
Walked home.

I'm definitely beat =).

Breakfast (8:40 a.m.)- 5 HUGE bananas. Perfectly ripe. Yum.
Lunch (11:00 a.m.) - 6 fuyu persimmons.
Lunch II (1:00 p.m.) - 15 oz. baby spinach, 2.5 lbs grape tomatoes.
Lunch III 3:45 p.m. - 5 fuyu persimmons

Bed around 6:15.

I saw this today and found it really encouraging.

http://health.msn.com/healthnews/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100154198&GT1=8971

Sunshine may be vindicated sometime in the future!

In Response to "Where Can I Read Testimonies of Long Term 80/10/10 Eaters?"

From: harley (proxy7-14.adl2.internode.on.net)
Subject: not many out there..
Date: January 29, 2007 at 8:37 pm PST
In Reply to: Where can I read testimonies of long term 80/10/10 eaters? posted by Daiva on January 29, 2007 at 7:17 pm:

eating low fat raw is hard and possible. like anything worthwhile, initially it aint easy. but over time we learn the skills, believe in them and put em to practise and reap what we sow..

how many people have done sculptures like rushmore?

how many people have raced the tour de france drug free?

how many people have lived in a tree for a year or more to protest logging..

how many people live a life worth living and eat a diet that supports full human potential, whilst serving the animals and planet in a profoundly positive and responsible way..

not many people fit any of the above criteria. just cos its a minority does not make it not possible.

ive had 3 people last year have heart attacks. one a fellow racing cylist. one a vegetarian high fat advocate and one a classic meat eater.only the vego is still alive and mending his ways. the other 2 had fatal ones. the cyclist was 32. he sent me an email the morning of his last ride. he wanted to talk about eating better cos of knowing me for a few years and seeing how healthier i was getting. but it was too late.

no time like now. if not now when?

im sure we all have examples of skeptics whom missed the boat to the tropical island. and are stuck in the grind of a coffee fueled life long tail chase.

i just showed a friend where to get organic durians from. on the way i spotted a peach tree and we grabbed 10 pounds of tree ripened goodness.we passed many stuck in the hot dog mindset, complete with cigarette and sweat beading over the face that needs air conditioning.

glad you are looking for examples. like free,organic, tree ripened, squirel selected, water god durians in the malay jungle..they are rare but so totally life changing when you meet them..

dr doug is one of them.
any of us can be one too.

If you eat, the task doesn't magically get done.

I pretty much spent Sunday eating nutty things to avoid moving to the first floor. It wasn't a great idea, but it's what I did. Also ate lots of tangerines, and some lettuce and dates that day. I didn't train.

I felt really alone, moving out of my apartment, and really displaced.

I gave away my nuts/nut butter =P. I figure I have an emotional few weeks coming up, and it doesn't help me to be eating those things instead of dealing with issues.

Today I slept in (no training). Food today:

Breakfast - persimmons
Lunch - persimmons
Mid-afternoon - lots of baby spinach, grape tomatoes, persimmons.
After I got home (around 6:00 p.m.) - sucked juice from 10 valencia oranges.

Went to bed around 7:30 p.m.

When you've EARNED your food...

...NOTHING tastes as good, or is as appealing, as a mono meal of fruit. NOTHING.

Got up this morning at 7:25 a.m. Felt sort of low and down - I'm feeling kind of emotional about moving out of my apartment (I've lived here for 2 and a half years).

Morning training:
This morning's workout was probably the most dripping-wet, drenched-with-sweat workout of the month (or even of the past 2 months, or...).
Walked to the gym.
Treadmill (1.0 incline) - 10 minutes jog (worked up to 5 mph). Then did 6 one-minute sprints (7.7 mph, increasing to 8 mph), with 3 minutes jogging (5mph) in between. The whole treadmill workout was about 33 minutes.
Then I went to a 1-hour indoor cycling class. While I was adjusting my bike, I asked somebody if he knew who was teaching today. When he said "Austin," I said, "umm...maybe I shouldn't have run sprints before class, haha." Needless to say, it was an INTENSE workout. Sprints, 2 TOUGH hill climbs, speed work while climbing hills, etc, etc, etc. I was DRIPPING when we were only 15 minutes in. But I was able to push and stick it out for the workout, especially since he played some really good tunes. I'm really glad I did. (And I'm even glad I ran the sprints before class, haha).
Walked home.

Then I hit the persimmons. Had 7 fuyu persimmons for breakfast around 10:15 a.m., as soon as I got home from the workout. Tasted like the best meal I had ever had. Nothing more satisfying than a mono meal after a tough workout.

12:15 - 8 more fuyu persimmons

Took a nap in the afternoon, then did some moving stuff.

5:00 p.m. - 1 pineapple, some tangerines (12ish?), 10 oz. baby spinach, 18 oz. tomatoes, 1 haas avocado.

I really enjoyed all my food today. It tastes good when you've worked hard. =)

Ate more in the evening, not because I was hungry, but in order to procrastinate...didn't want to be moving. ate tomatoes, tangerines, mac nut butter, tahini.

Back to it!

FINALLY got a much needed good night's sleep last night. 6:00 p.m. last night until 4:30 this morning. It feels really good to consistently go to bed early enough that I don't need an alarm clock in the morning. Feels great to wake up naturally and not to an unnatural noise.

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
Warm up on Treadmill - 23 minutes (2 miles). (Yesterday, I read that, in order to make up for the fact that there is no wind resistance indoors, you should set the incline on the treadmill to 1 if you want to make the speeds comparable to similar speeds outdoors. So, previously, I had been using 0 for the incline. Today I used 1.) Took a few minutes to "get going." Maybe it's because of the artic temps outside that it takes longer to limber up.
45 minute indoor cycling class with Tony. The first half was all speed work, which I'm not used to, so it was a good workout! I definitely had lactic acid collecting around my knees, ankles, shins. The second half was mostly climbing. I was pretty sweaty by the end of class.
15 minutes pull-up practice - 3 sets each (to failure) assisted chin-ups and assisted pull-ups, with rest/stretching in between each set.
Walked home.

Today at the gym, I was talking to someone I knew but hadn't seen in a while. It took her a few minutes to realize who I was! She said I looked so good, she didn't recognize me! Again, these types of interactions are reassuring, since I've actually gained some weight and not lost. Makes me feel more reassured that I'm still having visible results.

And besides, even though I may be no lighter than I was when I started doing this in July, I'm definitely fitter by leaps and bounds. I can push much harder, cardio-wise, and run faster, and cycle harder, and lift more, and hang from a bar, etc, etc, etc.

It is a happy morning!

Food:
7:30 - 5 small bananas (that's all I was hungry for at the time)
9:00 a.m. - 13 apple bananas (finally got hungry!)
later in the morning - more apple bananas
noon - sucked the juice out of some tangerines (8? 10?)
2:15 p.m. - some small sunburst tangerines (12? 14?). 2 lbs. grape tomatoes. 1 large orange bell pepper. 10 oz. baby spinach. more tangerines.
Around 5:30 p.m. - some macadamia nut butter (about 2 or 2.5 oz), a few more tangerines.
Later - 36 oz. tomatoes.

Went to bed a bit late (9:30 or 10 p.m.), since I worked a bit on moving down the the first floor.

Hate the treadmill?

Me too.

But I just found this article today. I'll plan on trying these workouts, to spice things up!

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100153587&GT1=8921

A happy recovery day

Today was a recovery day. Got up at 6:45 a.m. Feel really good and happy and exuberant and light.

9:45 - lots and lots of sunburst tangerines. (didn't count them...just ate 'em until I didn't want anymore).
11:30 - 1 pound grape tomatoes
12:15 - some small apple bananas (8, 9, 10?)
Afternoon - lots of leftover salad from meetings (iceberg, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes. the rest of the sunburst tangerines.

Bed by 6:00 p.m.!

Need a recovery day

Got up this morning and felt a bit stiff. Was torn between taking a recovery day, and burning off the adrenaline (I'm nervous about something that will happen at the end of this week...to be shared later). Chose to burn off the adrenaline by working out.

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
Warm-up - easy 1 mile on treadmill (13 minutes)
1 hour cycling class with Kim. It was the exact same class as Saturday and Sunday, which irked me just a little, but it was good because I wasn't feeling able to push it too hard this morning. Just kept moving. It was good in that it seems to have loosened my legs up a bit.
Walked home.

I will definitely need to get to bed early tonight. I'm dragging and need the rest/sleep.

7:30 a.m. - 6 fuyu persimmons.
11:00 a.m. - 6.5 small-medium bananas
2:00 p.m. - huge bowl of salad that was leftover from a meeting (lettuce, mixed greens, tomato, cuke, carrots) w/tangerine juice on top. 1 small tangerine.
3:30- 16 oz. tomatoes
4:30 - 1.5 oz. pistachio nuts

Definitely felt less draggy in the afternoon. Got the stress off my chest a bit early... I ended up giving my notice at work this week. My last day at my job will be February 16. I think they are pretty upset, but I know I am doing the right thing. I'll be moving out of Chicago at the end of February, then spending March in Costa Rica with Doug and friends, then doing an organic farm internship for the summer. Then, who knows?

Tried to go to bed early but felt really wound up. Ended up getting back up to call friends, do some dishes.

Ate a whole lot in the evening - oranges, tangerines, dried apricots, dates, mac nut butter. Too much of everything. I was bummed out that I didn't reach more people to talk. Should have just gone back to bed.

Ended up going to bed around 10:30.

You said it, Jinjee.

Beauty secret of the day: Enjoying your work! You spend a major chunk of your life working. If your work is fulfilling you’ll be happier and so healthier and more beautiful! If you don't know yet what it is that you love to do, then just love whatever you are doing! If you put your heart and soul into whatever it is you are doing now, that love will lead you to doing and refining the work that is the passion of your soul.

In Joy,
Jinjee

http://www.TheGardenDiet.com

Look at all I did this morning!

Went to bed around 6:20 last night. Got up around 4:30 this morning. Slept pretty well. Hamstrings are sore and tight this morning.

8th day in a row of training in the morning!

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
25 minutes on elliptical trainer. Not pushing it too hard, just warming up.
70 minutes serious upper body strength workout! 3 sets each (some to failure in less than 5 reps, others in less than 8):
-pull-ups (assisted negatives)
-chest dips (assisted)
-chin-ups (assisted negatives)
-push-ups (box position, diamond hand position)
-lat pullovers (w/lat pull-down machine)
-dumbbell shoulder presses
-incline dumbbell flyes
-dumbbell biceps curls, extended by raising arms to shoulder height
-bent-over rows
-flat bench dumbbell flyes
-lateral raises
-posterior delt flyes (on an incline bench)
-hammer curls
-tricep extensions (on a flat bench)
-leg raises on a flat bench (one set only)
-decline bench crunches (one set only)
-3 sets sit ups (2 with twists)

Wow, that was really a lot of work! It didn't feel like I had done much when I left the gym, but when I list it all...wow!

At the gym this morning, somebody told me "I've been watching you, and your weight loss looks good on you." That was really nice to hear, especially since I feel sort of puffy and don't see it myself. In fact, I'm about 8 pounds heavier than I was at the end of October (marathon time). I'm willing to believe that 3 or 4 pounds of that is muscle, since my upper body is definitely bigger and stronger, but the rest... Anyway, even after that compliment, I still didn't see it, and I still feel a bit puffy when I look in the mirror. Anyway, it felt good to know that someone else thinks I look smaller, not bigger. He's wrong, though...

Wasn't that hungry for breakfast.

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.)- 4 medium bananas. 2 hachiya persimmons.
10:00 a.m. - 20 fairchild tangerines
12 noon - 6 valencia oranges (cut up, sucked the juice out), 1 large head green leaf lettuce
3:00 p.m. - 48 oz. tomatoes

Have I mentioned that I feel puffy today?

6:00 p.m. - 2 cups blood orange juice

Evening bellydance class. was a bit grumbly about going, because I wanted to go to bed, but I ended up really enjoying it.

Bed by 8:15.

Today is the seventh day in a row that I've trained in the morning. Hooray for me. =)

Woke up at 4:25 this morning. Didn't sleep well last night...was anxious about things and had trouble falling asleep. So I didn't get out of bed until just before 5 this morning. Didn't feel particularly great, but I knew I'd feel better if I worked out (and that I'd sleep better tonight!) Still a little sore from yesterday.

Morning training:
Walk to gym
Treadmill - 2 miles total. Started really pushing it right from the beginning (6 mph, increased to 7 mph by end of first mile, and up until 7.3 or something). After 13 minutes, took a walk break, followed by another minute or so of running, followed by another walk break, followed by a one-minute sprint (7.7 mph!), followed by walking. 20 minutes total.
45 minute indoor cycling class with Tony. It was a really good class today! lots of sprints/speed work, as well as hill climbs. I was definitely challenged and sweating bullets. I've noticed I feel better and get a better workout in cycling class if I hit the treadmill first - I guess I'm just more warmed up!
After cycling class, I hit the treadmill again and did one mile (took about 11 minutes). This mile was really hard, as my legs were pretty well spent. But I figure this is good practice for when I eventually start doing triathlons or something...
Walked home.

Breakfast around 8:40 a.m. - 17 apple bananas.
11 a.m. - 12 apple bananas
1:00 p.m. - 20 oz. romaine lettuce. 24 oz. grape tomatoes. 15 valencia oranges.

Some photos

That was my breakfast this morning.

That's me and my friend Kay, at a restaurant last night.

A snowy Sunday

Got up about 7:30 this morning. Didn't sleep well, due to having eaten so close to bedtime.

Spent all morning at the gym:

Walked to the gym.
35 minutes hills on elliptical trainer
1 hour cycling class with Kim (same class as yesterday)
1 hour powerflex class with Joyce. This was good muscular endurance training (more endurance-oriented than most of my resistance training).

Walked home.

Breakfast - 21 honey tangerines
Afternoon - apple bananas (maybe 16?), fuyu persimmons (maybe 7?), lots of baby spinach.

Feeling lazy. Should be cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, but it's hard to make myself get up.

6:30 p.m. - 1 orange, 2 tangerines. Wasn't hungry, just "munchy"

"Do you ever get bored...?"

Wanted to share this discussion that occured the other day on the Vegsource board. I found it very valuable and inspiring!


From: Christy
Subject: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet
Date: January 17, 2007 at 2:18 pm PST

Hey Doug, hope you are all having a fantastic time in CR! Think of you guys every day! :)

Q: I've heard you say several times you eat a lot of variety each year, though each days menu is kept simple. I cant remember the exact number of different foods you said you tend to eat each year, but I think it was over 100? Anyway, I looked at my diet over the last year and added up everything I could think of that I consumed, and came out about 35-40 different fruits and vegetables. For those of us who live in a Northern climate year round, is consuming what is seasonally available here sufficient year after year? I am guessing it is fine, but just thought I'd ask since you consume so much more variety than I do. Is this a case where 'more' is better? :) Should I work towards adding more variety into my yearly diet?
I can hardly wait to get to Costa Rica this year to try some new fruits!



From: Dr. Doug Graham (DrGraham.vegsource.com)
Subject: Re: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet
Date: January 17, 2007 at 6:51 pm PST
In Reply to: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet posted by Christy on January 17, 2007 at 2:18 pm:

Christy,
Variety in the diet is not an essential in the way you presented it, or the way you heard what I was saying, no. I was presenting essentially two concepts in one.The first is that there is plenty of variety available in the raw diet.The second is that I do not recommend eating a long-term mono diet of just one food, whatever that food is.

I think if you actually re-assessed your diet, you would likely find that you ate far more variety that that which you mention.For instance, most raw fooders eat at least 6 or 8 different types of grapes, 8 varieties or more of apples, 10 or more different types of citrus, and maybe 6 different types of melons in the course of a year. Heck, that is 32 different fruits right there. Add in 6 or more types of tomatoes and a dozen types of lettuce and you are already up to fifty. Are you really only getting 35-40 different foods in the course of the year? Some years I might taste that many different types of dates, and I hardly ever even eat dates.

Get back to me, I will respond to this one. :)

Meanwhile, if you are eating about 6 or more different foods per year, you are likely covering all your nutritional bases.

A diet that revolved around bananas, citrus, lettuce, celery, tomatoes, and mangoes would probably get you just about everything you need. I haven't done the math, and am not recommending such a diet, but I wouldn't be surprised that it did the job.
Dr D


From: Christy
Subject: A thorough answer and I'm thoroughly convinced
Date: January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am PST
In Reply to: Re: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet posted by Dr. Doug Graham on January 17, 2007 at 6:51 pm:

Yep, you are right Dr D. I really underestimated the variety I ate this year. I grouped together oranges and melons and grapes, and lettuces, etc instead of listing the varieties consumed within each food.
I know it makes for a lengthy email, but I had to add up the numbers a little more closely, just to see. A guesstimate of what I've consumed in the last year:

Acid Fruits
Tomatoes-7 Varieties
Oranges-3
Mandarins
Tangerine
Lemon/Lime
Grapefruit-2
Kiwi
Pineapple
Strawberry
Blackberry
Raspberry

Sub Acid Fruits
Apple-5
Grape-3
Blueberry
Mango-2
Cherry
Nectarine
Peach-2
Pear
Plum

Sweet Fruits
Bananas-2
Carob
Cherimoya-only once, wish it was more!
Date-4
Fig-2
Raisins-2

Melons
Watermelon-3
Casaba
Honeydew
Crenshaw
Cantaloupe

Nuts/Seeds, and Fats
Almond
Pine Nuts
Sesame Seed
Walnut
Pecan
Pumpkin Seed
Avocado
Young Coconut
Olives

Legumes
Edible Pea Pods
Garden Peas

Vegetables
Sugar Snap Peas
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage-3
Cauliflower
Corn-2
Cucumber-2
Spinach
Sweet Pepper-3
Zucchini-2

Lettuce/Celery
Butter
Green Leaf
Iceburg
Red Leaf
Romaine
Mixed Leafy Greens-6
Celery

Mild Herbs-6(includes dill, cilantro, basil, arugula, parsley, mint)

Wow!! Wow, wow! :) That made me very hungry. So, I've definitely WAY underestimated the variety I've eaten this year. Oh, writing this list made me miss the summer and long for it again!!!!! So thats 60 items I've eaten this year(that I can even remember, there may be more), and a nice 118 foods when you include the different varieties for each item. Several of these foods I have only eaten once this year, but I suppose that is fine.

I recalled also seeing fruits that were available that I didn't eat, that I could have. I passed them up because the expense at that time seemed too much. But now I am thinking-why didn't I make a least one meal of that fruit-surely it would have been well worth the expense. A mono meal of any of the summer fruits sounds AMAZING right now.

So the variety available is a real perk to eating 811-if you get bored, you actually have no excuse to do so, as there are hundreds and hundreds of new fruits to try!

Of course, what I run into is the cost of ordering tropical fruit, but it is so nice to treat myself to some cherimoya or paw paw here and there when it is available.
There are many that I haven't even tried yet that you have Dr D: Sapodilla, mammea, jakfruit, lychee, jaboticada, durian, fuongtong carambola, mamones (some folks know them as kanips), dragon fruit, niezeburra. I havent even heard of many of these, and have no idea what most of them look like.

I had to make a list of what I have eaten in the last month, approx 25 items:
Butter Lettuce
Mixed Leafy Greens
Zucchini
Tomatoes-2
Spinach
Celery
Corn
Sesame Seeds
Avocado
Oranges-2
Mandarins
Lemon/Lime
Kiwi
Blackberry
Raspberry (frozen)
Apple
Blueberry (frozen)
Mango(frozen)
Bananas
Dates
Carob (powdered)

I have felt limited this last month, and bored even-but this is a lot more than I thought it would be. I suppose it is because I am tired of bananas, as they are an everyday item and the bulk of my calories. What I wouldn't do for a fig! But i am thoroughly convinced I get enough variety in my diet. ;)
Yay for 811! ;)anything you want to add Dr D?


From: Dr. Doug Graham (DrGraham.vegsource.com)
Subject: Compare your diet to SAD
Date: January 19, 2007 at 6:38 am PST

In Reply to: A thorough answer and I'm thoroughly convinced posted by Christy on January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am:

A typical SAD eater has an EXTREMELY limited diet. It is becoming more limited as the years progress.

Breakfast is typically cereal and milk, or some fast food item that they eat almost every morning of the year. Usually, if they enjoy their breakfast, they want it to be reliably THE SAME, every time.Compare that to a breakfast of fresh fruit. Each week of the year, watermelon tastes a bit different. Almost every tomato I have ever eaten tasted different from all others. Fresh squeezed citrus juice is never the same from one day to the next, but citrus juice in a carton is guaranteed to taste the same, always, forever, as if that was a selling point rather than a drawback.

People typically slip into patterns for lunch, and raw eaters are not that much different. The difference for us lies in the fact that Nature and the seasons brings us different fresh fruit every month of the year. Compare that to someone eating a hamburger for lunch daily, or pizza, or some other fast food. Those foods are reliably the same, month after month after year after year. Heck, even if you ate bananas for lunch every day of the year you would notice that the same variety tasted differently at different times of year.

The world of food opens up to raw fooders at dinner time. The varietions available are HUGE. Compared to those on SAD, who have their "Tuesday night is spaghetti night, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are pizza nights, it's beef on Tues and Sat, and Sunday night is always chicken," regimen. I feel sorry for them.

The idea of suggesting that ketchup is a vegetable is absurd. Ketchup always tastes the same. The beauty of raw recipes is that you can almost never make them come out the same because each ingredient tastes a bit different depending upon the time of year, the growing conditions, ripeness, and a wide variety of other factors.
Dr D


From: Christy
Subject: Re: Compare your diet to SAD
Date: January 19, 2007 at 7:55 am PST
In Reply to: Compare your diet to SAD posted by Dr. Doug Graham on January 19, 2007 at 6:38 am:

You're right. I've been seeing peoples SAD diets in a new light lately. Its the excitotoxins that add the flavor and variation for them, not the actual foods for the most part. I think children these days have a horrible diet. Some kids I know for instance, will have cereal with milk for breakfast most days, and some variation of white flour and cheese for lunch and dinner, with chicken or some type of meat. They get an apple or banana here and there, a few pieces of lettuce or veggie here and there too. But they imagine they are eating something different when they have quasadillas one day and grilled cheese the next and mac and cheese the next-its all the same thing basically. Then for dinner its noodles with parmesan. :) Its all just dairy and grains.

I love it that fresh food always tastes different. The most amazing experience is to eat out of a garden. I had the best tomatoes in my life last summer out of our garden-some were indescribably sweet, some smoky. It was so good.
Thanks for sharing Dr D. :)

Christy's list inspired me, so I decided to post my own:


From: Bethany
Subject: Cool! My turn!
Date: January 18, 2007 at 10:22 am PST

In Reply to: A thorough answer and I'm thoroughly convinced posted by Christy on January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am:

Cool, Christy! This is fun! Here's what I've eaten in the last month (not counting a couple times eating "gourmet" raw at potlucks or restaurants):

Bananas (cavendish, apple, and red)
Oranges (navel, cara cara, valencia, moro)
Dates (medjool)
Tangerines (fairchild)
mandarins (satsuma)
tangelos (orlando and minneola)
Lettuce (romaine, red leaf, green leaf)
Mixed baby greens
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Celery
Tomatoes (beefsteak, grape, cherry, campari)
Avocado (haas)
Persimmon (fuyu and hachiya)
Cucumber
Bell Pepper (red and orange)
Papaya (gosa? or maridol?)
Baby bok choy
Bok choy
Carrots
Purple Cabbage
Pumpkinseeds
Macadamia nuts
Tahini
Kiwi
Red grapefruit
Blackberries
Mango
Strawberries
Pineapple
Honeydew
Cantaloupe
Basil
Grapes
Dried figs

Look at that! Who would get bored with all of that variety? So cool that even in the winter time, over the course of a month, we can really mix it up if we want.

If you made it to the end of this very long post, hopefully you are looking at your diet in a new light (no matter what your diet is! ) =)

Human beings miss the point

http://www.newstarget.com/021448.html

The above links to an article on how scientists are attempting to genetically modify animals to become more complacent to their surroundings, thereby reducing the pain and stress of factory farming.

Does anyone else find this appalling? I mean, on one level, I suppose this can be called a good thing, since it means that people aren't blind to the fact that factory farming causes animals considerable pain and stress. But...investigating this action as a solution shows the short-sightedness of looking at the issue from only one perspective (animal welfare). I mean, come on! Should we waste money, time, energy, resources, etc. just to get around the ethical concerns of eating whatever the hell people want to eat? If it takes this much effort/time/money/resources, why not consider that we weren't meant to eat it in the first place? Please tell me that there aren't better things to spend our money on...like energy efficiency and other climate change/environmental issues, education, or maybe even subsidizing fruits and veggies at least as much as we subsidize animal products and grains, so people can actually afford to be healthy and not run up such big health care bills???? I dunno, I just can't imagine that this is what God had in mind for how humans should treat their fellow creatures, the planet, and their own bodies. But, what do I know? I'm just a bad Jew who doesn't even go to synagogue on high holidays, so how the f*ck would I know what God wants? Bring on the animal zombie meat! (That's sarcasm.)

I am SO blissed out.

That's right. a week and a half ago, I just couldn't seem to get a grip. Now, everything is happy and good. Or rather, I made it that way by taking care of myself. When you love your body, it loves you back.

Last night I went to bed around 6:40ish (again!). Got up this morning at 6:20, so almost a full 12 hours of sleep!

This morning, even though it is a beautiful sunny day, it was too cold to even think about enjoying exercising outdoors.

Morning training:
Walk to gym
35 minutes treadmill hill course (!). The incline intervals were definitely challenging. Covered about 3.3 miles. Tough.
1 hour indoor cycling class w/Kim. There were a lot of sprints, and a lot of standing...I don't know whether it was being fully rested or what, but even after kicking my butt on treadmill hills, I was INCREDIBLY high energy in that class. Everything felt so easy (even the sprinting, which isn't my strong suit) - at one point, the instructor told us to take it down four full turns and I was like, "THAT was supposed to be hard???" So I didn't take it down at all, hahaha! I just kept going with the workout at that resistance level, and I didn't really feel like it was too hard until the very end (and even then, it was still doable. I even thought about getting back on the treadmill after class. Then, I came to my senses).

Then I walked to the produce shop, and it was bright and sunny, and I actually got to SEE the sun, instead of being cooped up in the office, since its Saturday.

Breakfast (around 10:50 a.m.) - 16 apple bananas (some were pretty small, some were almost as big as a small cavendish) and 1 hachiya persimmon.

Lunch (around 1:00 p.m.) - 10 fuyu persimmons

Dinner (around 4:30 ish, at a raw restaurant with friends) - salad made w/mixed greens, chopped apples, walnuts, and avocado. Then ate about 15 honey tangerines that I had brought with me.

Later at home - 2 pints grape tomatoes, 1 avocado, a lot of spinach, six more tangerines.

I'm really happy that I didn't have salt or spices at the restaurant. Today was a higher fat day, and I craved fruit afterwards, but I won't feel nearly as badly tomorrow as I would have if I ate the more complex food at the restaurant.

"Miles first, smiles later!"

Very well rested this morning!

Morning training:

Walked to gym.
Treadmill: 2 mile run (first mile started at 5.5 mph and worked up to 6.4 mph. Second mile started at 6.5 mph and worked up to 7.0 mph). Very sweaty and challenging, lung-wise, towards, the end.
Indoor cycling class w/Tony. Very good class today! Good mix of climbing/sprinting. Some cardio, some strength climbs. Definitely sweated bullets this morning!
A few sets of core work - hanging abs (2 sets), roman chair (2 sets, holding a 10 lb. weight), sit ups on bench (2 sets), sit-up with twists.
Walked home.

Wow! I should do this more often - go to sleep EARLY and wake up and kick ass in the gym! I felt absolutely awesome walking from the bus to my office. Harley once said to me "miles first, smiles later." I see what he means =P.

Bouncing off the walls at work - in a great mood!

Breakfast (around 9 a.m.)- 7 large bananas. 5 hachiya persimmons.
Dinner (around 3p.m.) - 12 small honey tangerines. 3 large sunburst tangerines. 2 BIG bowls salad (filled 2 huge bowls with mixed lettuces, 24 oz. grape tomatoes, juice of two sunburst tangerines).

Up early (not "bright" though...won't be light out for a while!)

Last night I went straight to bed after I got home from work/shopping for more tangerines (hooray for me!), so that mid-afternoon meal of spinach and tangerines was the last meal of the day. Bedtime was about 6:30 p.m.

Got up this morning at about 4:15 a.m. - just ready to get up, I guess. =) Early bedtimes are good. Perhaps I need to stop wasting time in the evening and doing this more often.

I can't afford NOT to train hard...

...because when I train hard, I actually enjoy eating bananas very much!

When I don't train hard, and don't work up an appetite, bananas don't appeal to me at all, and I choose more expensive fruits over bananas.

Given that money will be a bit tight soon...being satisfied with bananas will save me a lot of money on food, so training hard will help save me some money =P.

Not sunny anymore

My alarm went off this morning at 5 a.m. I wasn't ready to get up, so I reset it for 5:45. Wasn't quite ready to get up then, but I did anyway.

Morning training:

Walked to gym.
Treadmill run - 32 minutes:
First 5 minutes - between 5 and 6 mph
Then increased the speed to 6.5 minutes. Meant to only do one mile at this pace, then walk, then repeat, but decided to keep going. After 1/2 mile, increased the speed to 6.6 mph. Kept increasing the speed for 2 miles. On the third mile, I increased the speed every .2 miles (got up to 7.2 mph by the end). My heart/lungs were really pushing it for the last 1/2 mile. Legs felt fine. I was happy that I was able to sustain that run for that long, though, without walking in between.

Walked a few minutes to cool down, then walked home. Stretched a bit at home.

A training revelation in terms of my building speed/endurance: As a slow marathoner, my legs can certainly handle it...it's my heart/lungs that need to get used to sustaining a higher intensity level. My marathon pace wasn't pushing it at all in terms of heart/lungs.

Breakfast at work - 7 medium-large bananas. wasn't that hungry for it, but by the third banana, I was like "wow, bananas are SOOO good." (Kinda like Doug says that exercise can dull your apetite, which often then returns once you start eating).

Lunch - 6 medium bananas. I'm amazed by how if I push myself cardio-wise, I just LOVE bananas =P. 1 plate salad leftover from a meeting (mixed greens, with a bit of shredded carrots and purple cabbage).

Mid-afternoon - more leftover salad from a meeting (this one was mixed lettuce, tomato). LOTS of baby spinach. Honey tangerines (10-15? Most were really small, like clementines or smaller). Holy sh*t, were they amazing! I'll have to go buy some more!!!!

It's still sunny!

Woke up at 5:00 a.m. to go to cycling class, and actually felt rested!

Jogged to the gym (it was so cold!)
Did some pull-up practice, and pushups, and incline chest flyes, and shoulder presses, and dumbell curls.
Indoor cycling class - focused more on climbing than sprinting today.
Walked home.

Didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast.

Breakfast - 1 papaya
Mid morning - satsuma mandarins and medjool dates
Early afternoon - bananas, fuyu persimmons, and 2 huge plates of lettuce (romaine and salad greens, leftover from a meeting).
Dinner - 16 oz. blood orange juice. 32 oz. valencia orange juice. a few (six?) medium tomatoes. 1 avocado.

Went to bed at 9:30. Should have just let the phone go into voicemail...I was tired. Ah well.

FINALLY! It's sunny in Chicago!

Went to bed last night just after 9 p.m. Got up this morning just before the alarm went of at 6:45 a.m. Hit the building stairwell for a short morning workout:

Stair workout -
Started at the top, walked down 8 flights.
Walked back up, taking the stairs two at a time.
Down.
Jumped up all 8 flights (one step at a time)
Down.
Walked up, 2 at a time.
Down.
Jumped up, one at a time.
Took about 20 minutes, total.
Stretched.

Breakfast - 2 maridol papayas (they were on the smaller side for maridols, but still pretty big, since that's the nature of the beast). Delicious!
Lunch - fruit kabobs at a lunch meeting (melon, pineapple, strawberries, grapes), followed by 6 fuyu persimmons (those ones that are imported from Israel...)
Mid-afternoon - 1 head greenleaf lettuce
Before leaving work - 2 small mandarins

Went to a bellydance class

Dinner - 2 papayas, 1 persimmon

Went to bed by 9 p.m.

A strategy note: sometimes logic works wonders (i.e., reasoning with myself). For example, last night I told myself that even if I don't feel like going to the gym for a class after work, it was definitely a better use of my time than staying home, since all I'd be doing at home was surfing the internet, eating too much, and stressing out over everything. Sometimes when I don't really feel like pushing hard, I tell myself that it's only for a few minutes, and after that, I can sit down and be lazy the rest of the day. So, talking to myself sometimes works when I'm not feeling up to things.

Duh...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6248975.stm

From gasping for air to treading water

Last week was a rough, stressful week. Sad to say I didn't get enough sleep or do much training, which didn't help. I also ate a lot during the week in an attempt to cope. Didn't help - fruits and veggies don't exactly numb you out like rich, heavy comfort foods do.

Had a chance to catch my breath over the weekend. Did some bodyweight exercises on Saturday, but not a ton. Also did some bodyweight exercises in my apartment this morning, but not a whole lot there either. Also ate on a more regular meal schedule, which helped a lot.

Harley's post (see below - my family thinks I'm crazy) couldn't have come at a more timely moment for me. =)

Breakfast today - sucked the juice out of lots of tangelos, valencia oranges.
Lunch - minneolas and mandarins (raw vegan m&m's , ha!), medjool dates, and celery
Midafternoon - more dates and celery, 1 head green leaf lettuce

After work training- 10 minutes treadmill. some pull-up practice on the assistance machine, interspersed with dips and push-ups. Kwando class (cardio kickboxing?) at the gym.

Dinner - 1 quart fresh OJ. 3 large tomatoes. 2 bell peppers. 1/2 stalk broccoli. 1 avocado.

Feel much better after that intense workout! Hope to sleep well tonight...