exercise

It strikes me as I sit at the end of a (nearly) four mile hike that my "diet walk" bears certain similarities to my spiritual walk.

This may ring a familiar tune: "Dear God, if you just grant {this,} then I will...{that.}

If I can {this} then I can {that}

If I do the Rotary Furnace loop in 1:30 or less, than I can sit and enjoy a smoke at the end. (by the way, I did the loop in 1:25, and yes, I'm enjoying a Partagas 1845.)

If mapmywalk says I burned 400 calories, I can eat 2 Cadbury Cream Eggs.

Some days it seems like a reward system, other days it seems like a bargaining system.

Maybe the reward system works: As long as the "treat" doesn't impinge on my "bad foods" list (gluten, potatoes) maybe the system works. As a bargaining system, I think...not so much.

Does the mindset make a difference?

If I use {that} as a reward because I did so awesome on my workout (tomorrow's plan is an 8 mile, Quicksilver end-to-end hike) then my goal is still the workout, with the treat at the end.

Turn that around...I want {that} so much, that I'm willing to do the difficult workout in order to get it. The goal is the treat, with the workout as the obstacle. The {that} is controlling my behavior.

"All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “ All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12 ESV)

I don't know how to tell the difference. I might need to work on that.

Cycling

GOAL:  Ride a "Century" by the end of the cycling season  - perhaps "Apple Cider Century" or "Middle of the Mitten", both in October

I most likely will not be riding outdoors until March or April (I don't have a snow-ready bike), so some of this will be indoors.

Objective: Ride 50 flat miles by May 1 and 50 hill miles by June 1.

At home (winter work)

  1. Watch one movie each week while riding a stationary bike
  2. Three times each week, listen to 20 minutes podcast while "sprinting" on stationary bike
  3. Strengthen "core muscles" using Pilates

As soon as roads are clear and dry:

  1. Get out on Musketawa Trail (flat work)
  2. After 50 miles on Musketawa Trail, begin with 20 miles of "hill work"  (route on Mapmyride and including Grand River Ave and Five Mile Road.)
  3. Beginning May 1 (because of sunrise times) ride to work 3 days per week.

GOAL: Ride my bike to my parents' house (180 miles) by July 4.

That should fit in with the rest of the bike work.

Financial piece:

  1. need panniers and trunk bag

Notes:  for riding to Mom and Dad's house, a good idea might be to either have a "volunteer" ride with me, or have Tom drive ahead and "camp" at a hotel.  I'd like to do the ride in 3 or 4 days.

I like it.

I benefit from the flexibility building of yoga type exercises, but don't like the spiritual aspects.

This DVD is really good.

Praise Moves: The Christian Alternative to Yoga Dvd! Laurette Willis

(if you click through here and buy thing, I get a credit)

I did the warm up, including several marching in place segments where you recite Bible passages that come up on the screen.

The stretching was good and hit my target spots - and the positions were named things like "rainbow" (and while we were holding the position, we were reciting Revelation 4:3 (And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.)

and Genesis 9:13 (I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.)

And so forth...

Arm circles and stretching went along with the passage about the armor of God.

I will most likely get the other DVD's in the series.

(I run from Saturday to Friday, but I think I'll change from Frida to Thursday, so that "Fit Friday" will cover all seven days.)

Weight...stayed even.

Weight Watchers:  was within points (but this is my last weight watchers week, since I'm going more low-carb -again- and I can't eat the higher fat and stay within weight watchers points)

Exercise:
General Road Cycling,
06/14/2009 (Sunday), time, 01:56:53, total distance:24.25 mi., calories burned, 1,063

6/16/09 (Tuesday); time 1:58:48; distance, 25,09, calories burned 1080

6/18/09 (Thursday); time 1:25:03; distance, 17.46, calories burned, 773  (I had a flat tire and Tom came to pick me up in Conklin)

Total exercise: 5 hours, 20 minutes and 44 seconds.  Total miles on bike: 66.77.  I have a 40 mile ride tomorrow, which will go on next week.

My triglycerides are up and my gynecologist suggested I try to get some exercise in.

I covered this topic in another post...but I wanted to relate it to the diet topic...

"The map is not the territory."

I have a shelf-full of diet and fitness books. Some of them are very good...some of them are not. Many of them say the same thing, only with a different author, different name, only slightly different stuff.

From Atkins...it's only a little way to South Beach...to The Glucose Revolution...to Sugar Busters.

Next verse...same as the first.

I have another one on the way - I hope this one is different.

"The map is not the territory."

Pain Free Running... to Marathons for Beginners... to Running for Pleasure and Fitness.

"The map is not the territory."

All of these books do nothing if I never get off the couch. They do nothing if I hang onto my chips and cheese...and oreos.

"The map is not the territory."

I keep a diet and exercise log.  Having all of those lines to write my consumption in does NOTHING if I don't fill them in!  Having boxes to check won't make me healthier if I don't practice the territory that the map tells me to explore.

"The map is not the territory."

I custom wrote my log, with columns for whether or not my food is peanut-free.  The answer is not to look at the "map" and add more "map" (another column).  The answer is to live the territory.