Offday trends

There seems to be a few interesting trends occurring on days that I do not workout. I tend to eat refined foods, lack motivation and feel a little less enthused about the entire day. My plans for the day included a list of 22 things to finish. Thus far I have completed 13, and plan to finish at least 5-6 more before I go to sleep. It was a fairly productive day, and I took some detours from the known path, but it seems that my exercise directly affects my productivity and willingness to adhere to my set plans.

One of the things I accomplished today was for my future development. I bought a jump rope. If you have been following, it has become a portion of my cross training workouts. It’s an incredibly fulfilling exercise and incorporates cardiovascular, coordination, stamina, and lots of concentration. By the end of this training I want to continuously jump for 30 minutes. Maybe run a couple miles while jumping rope, that would be a pretty awesome feeling to accomplish. I’ll try it at the next track workout, maybe you’ll see me, and wonder WTF is he doing, and I’ll just be happy in my own little zone pursuing one of many short term goals. Never stop exploring and experimenting, you haven’t tried everything.

I am excited for tomorrow’s spinning and yoga, which will take a toll on my presently EXTREMELY tight and sore muscles. After 8 miles yesterday at around 8:30 pace my legs are very happy for 2 days off from running. I am curious/scared/excited for the longer runs which will challenge my perseverance and help me set personal goals. The biggest mistake yesterday was not drinking enough liquid. I looked at some websites and they repeatedly emphasized the importance of flushing your body with liquid, which is one of the 22 tasks today, though it may be too late.

Another odd observation is that I consume more calories on days that I do not workout. It can be partially explained from a book I recently read called Younger Next Year, in which they state that when you don’t exercise your body thinks that you are sick or dying. After these crazy workouts my body feels almost to this state of being, but this could explain why I have no motivation, because my body is conserving everything for the day in which I can continue my exercise and be “living” again.

I have still been receiving some questions and skepticism towards my new diet which excludes meat and dairy products. I am not doing it because of the running, it just happened during a period when I need to be conscious of my consumption and the evidence against those products was great enough to push my will power behind a vegetarian diet. I also promise you that the complete proteins are being consumed, though not by way of meat (whole grains and seeds/nuts, whole grains and legumes).

I’ve also come to the conclusion that it is near impossible to overeat if the consumption is based on food that is recognizable. These foods keep the appetite at bay for longer, and are more easily processed by your entire digestive system. Plus they don’t cause drowsiness like the sourdough rolls I’ve been eating. They taste incredible, but make me feel lethargic, which is why at this very moment I will be banning them from my diet until the day that I succumb to their appeal.

Being interested in food and nutrition has led me to another highly understated point. Stay away from empty carbohydrates. If you’re interested in apple juice, eat an apple, orange juice, eat an orange, etc. You’ll be getting much more nutrition, it will taste about the same, and may be cheaper (unless you’re buying sugar juice, in which case, have you read anything I’ve written thus far?). But seriously, stay away from soda and other useless drinks.

I encourage people to check out my nutrition diary, located here:

http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=nutritionfitnesshealth

Keep in mind that everything I am doing is not just for this marathon, but for an overall life goal of changing society towards the prevention of unnecessary diseases, prolonging satisfactory life, and staying active until the end. If people choose to ignore me, so be it, at least you’ll feel the benefits.

In other news, in the very near future I will be helping a friend with a lifestyle change and am excited about the passion and dedication being shown thus far.

If you’re interested in ways to become fit in the next 2 months and forever, please let me know. I don’t have enough time to help everybody all the time, but I’ll do my best to provide some kind of advice to help you achieve some goals.

I hope everybody is enjoying these journals and passing them on to friends. I really enjoy hearing about how they are impacting lives and providing incentive for accomplishing goals, or just simply a “hi” or “good job”. It brightens my day and helps me run or train a little harder and faster.

Also, if you’re interested in getting my opinion on other topics I’m always happy to share. Discussions and knowledge are what I live for, though I may not be educated whatsoever in the topic, they are fun and provide at least a bit of entertainment as long as both parties are open to the other side, which I may choose to discuss just because.

Anyway, hope you had a great weekend, now have a great week,
Ryan