Weight Training really does make a huge difference. With the ab workout this morning, I have completed one round of "break-in" training on all major muscle groups. Yes, everything is sore - but it's not debilitating pain... nothing I can't work through.

Thank You. Sincerely, Your Body.
I have a feeling today that is really hard to describe to people who just do cardio (or don't exercise). It's like all of my muscles are humming. When I am training my whole body, every muscle feels "alive". Everything just sort of feels "good" - even the parts that are sore. This is my body's big "thank you" for moving again and it really makes me want to keep going.

Early to Bed, Way Too Early To Rise
I made a mistake last night that I have made in the past and I have always regretted it. We were all wiped out by 8pm so we went to bed. I thought, "Hey - this will help me get up at 5 to eat something, then train." but I knew better. At 12:45am I was wide awake.... and piddled around until 3:30. It was nice having some "personal time" but as expected, I woke up groggy at 6:30am instead of 5am. At least I was awake and together enough to get my ab work and cardio in.

Midnight Snacking
Of course being up for nearly 3 hours in the middle of the night, I started to get really hungry... I measured two servings of goldfish crackers and a cup of milk... Not satisfied. I broke out the left-overs from Mimi's Cafe (some chicken and bread) a few hours later plus milk. Then I ate more of those #&*$ #&*&#$ *&#*& Cadbury Eggs. Those things are off limits.

Addictive Behavior
I really can't afford cheat foods that are too sweet because I start to eat them all the time. I have found that if I get into a regular pattern with certain types of food, I get used to it within two or three weeks. Its as if at some point my body goes "Okay, this is what we have to eat... I guess I'll start enjoying it!"

Brien's Stew
For example, Almost every day at lunch you will see "Brien's Stew" made up of 1 cup of Imagine (brand) Organic soup, potato (amount varies depending on the carbs I need), 4 oz of chicken and another veggie (cauliflower or broccoli for fibrous carbs; corn or peas for starchy carbs. (Sometimes I'll vary the meats or the last veg, but the stew always has Imagine and Potato.

Your Taste Will Adapt To Almost Anything
Because this stew is 80% home made, it is very low in sodium. After coming off of lunchtime meals that had sometimes 4000mg of sodium, Brien's Stew tasted unbelievably bland. But, just yesterday, I had a bowl full of creamed corn, chicken, potato and peas and thought it was extremely flavorful.

I have had the same feeling with fruits. Until I reintroduced the Cadbury Mini-Eggs into my diet, fruit and protein powder were the only sweet things I'd eat. The only way to get there is to cut the bad stuff out completely for a few weeks. After a few weeks you will forget how "good" it tastes. If you feel the compulsion to go back after two weeks, there may be more going on. Consider this story.

The Food Addict
This is a post that I left (on some other site) shortly before I started using CK. I thought you might find it interesting:


December 18, 2007

The Need to Have a Craving Satisfied
I've always battled sugar addiction. With the holidays, sweets are everywhere at my office. The administrative assistant wandered by my door and said that there were a few oreos left if I was interested.

I didn't really feel a physical craving for sugar (since my diet and exercise are on track), but psychologically I wanted a treat. I walked over, picked up the oreos, and walked back to my desk.

After I sat down, it hit me...

I didn't want oreos; I wanted to want oreos, so I could feel better after eating them!

Isn't that nuts??

This is the sort of talk you hear from recovering drug addicts! They don't want the high anymore, but they wish they had the need that would be fixed by a fix.

When you are a simple carb junkie, the need for satiation is almost impossible to ignore... but even with only a few days of following (Tom Venuto's advice), I had a grip.

Sugar didn't have the same "promise of comfort" that it used to have. I let the Oreos fall into the wastebasket beneath my desk and wiped the crumbs off my hands.

The Elements That Make It Work
I've been lean before, but I did it the wrong way. I ate almost no fat, and dealt with daily cravings because I was cutting my calories back too far.

This time, the formula is different... and I think these are the parts that keep my cravings in check

* Eat meals every 2-3 hrs
* Keep 20-30% fat in your diet
* Do cardio as often as possible
* Zig-zag calorie intake (3 low calorie days, 1 or 2 high)

I realized that these points were helping me when I screwed up my foods last week. I ate 4 times, but the first two meals were large and the second two were essentially snacks. I was out of calories for the day by 4:30pm. As soon as I missed my 6 normal size meals, my stomach was growling and I started thinking about sugar again.



I re-read this post every now and then so I never forget what it was like "wanting to want to crave" food. That is food addiction and it is emotional, not nutritional.

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The Cottage Cheese Factor
I took cottage cheese out because I felt it had too much salt, but unfortunately, I didn't replace it with anything else. I need to eat protein at every meal... without the cottage cheese at snack time, I have been getting hungry before lunch. I think I'll bring it back, but at half the quantity - 4oz instead of 8oz at each meal.