Follow-Up Friday

Wow! Friday seemed to take it's own sweet time getting here this week, yet, the week blew past! Granted travel and a silly busy work week will do that. LOL!

Anywho, it occurred to me that I'd touched on a few things over the last week or so that I've been wanting to follow-up on so figured today was as good of time as any. :)

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You had me at ATP...

SO... last week, I made this sweeping announcement about exploring life in "The Zone" and I really felt conflicted about it. In the midst of the trauma of losing my friend, and the self-reflection that followed, I was basically doubting my own abilities to make proper choices to get me physically and health wise to where I wanted to go. I also knew that it was time to focus my efforts even more. Basically, it came down to deciding if I was ok with my general results achieved through my general approach, or if I was willing to be more specific about both.

I decided it is time to be more specific with my nutrition to achieve a specific goal. After reading Jess' blog about starting the Atkins induction phase as part of her pre-comp diet plan, it really drove home that point.

But in reality, it's all about the ATP, baby.

I know, you're scratching your head at that one... I've brought up ATP before, and I think eyes glazed over. ATP is the molecule that stores energy in a form that can be used for muscle contractions, and is the energy source for all muscular movement. There's a series of chemical reactions that happens that I won't bore you with. The important thing to know is, it's the happy stuff that is released to allow you to lift heavy things, but when it's gone, fuggitaboudit. You couldn't squeak out another rep if someone held a gun to your head. It's amazing stuff and it does replenish sort of quickly which is why, after you rest for a minute or two, you CAN squeak out another set without your limbs locking up.

How the two things (ATP & Zone) connect is the theory that the zone way of eating helps the body replenish the ATP supply quicker. Quicker replenishment leads to being able to handle more weight loads and higher reps.

Sign. me. up!

Yeah, I know. Total geek

Now that I'm mostly readjusted back to my routine, I've been doing more reading and implementing the requisite tweakage to my eating plan to make it more in line with the Zone principles. What I'm learning is that I was already on the right track - like the universe is reassuring me that I can, indeed, trust myself. I am just being even more mindful of portion sizes, and what sort of starchy carbs vs. veggie carbs I'm consuming.

And looking to reap the ATP rewards, baby! LOL!

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Let them eat LUNCH!

Lunch at Claim Jumper on Wednesday was an interesting adventure - it was my actual bossman, B, (I work for 3 people, but he's the person I actually report to), the birthday girl, D, and our co-worker, S that went.

It was fun - and wished that my spark friends could have been there with me!

The interesting part is that B & D got burgers, and S & I both got salads. I opted for the Chinese Chicken Salad - Num-O! But OMG messy to eat. I think I amused everyone at the table trying to get the 'slivers' of lettuce in my mouth, not on my lap. S, on the other hand had the soup & salad, and then proceeded to make several comments about how it was more than she's used to eating and how she's not going to need dinner, etc. I interjected with the occasional "really?!" and "seriously?!" after making a mental comparison that I had at least 2x the volume of food she had on my plate.

The best part was when they brought out the dessert - the red velvet cupcake (WOW NUM! and actually reasonably sized; There was /just/ enough for each of us to have a couple of bites.) S would have none of it, and made little jabs designed to make us feel bad about eating it, and also interjecting the occasional "really?!" and "seriously?!" . We ignored her and dug in.

I didn't realize that it was going to be the trend of the week - people blatantly being judgemental about what other people are eating. But I am proud of the fact that I didn't go on a tirade or prattle off key nutritional information. Wasn't the place or time, and definitely wasn't the audience.

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Cakey goodness & more thoughts on therapy

Since I was asked, I got the recipe for the Chocolate Blackout Cake from, where else? King Arthur Flour

It turned out fantastic - yummy and slightly rich/sweet, but not overpowering.

Here's my confessions:

1) I didn't have a piece. This isn't a "I'm better than everyone" statement, just wasn't in the mood for it. When I made it, I did sample a bit that I sliced off for the topping for quality control purposes (a very important part of the process!) and that was enough.

2) I used canned frosting. ::blush:: I know! Mainly because I didn't have time to order it, and I had some after my mom's brownie baking extravaganza a few months back... either way, the cake was a hit, my bosslady loved it and hopefully her family did to.

As for the sweat therapy... I'm sure my co-workers are happy that I got my gym time in this morning - it was an 'easy' day (aka more weights, less cardio) but was nice to get up and move heavy things around.

It's odd that I do fine on planned rest days, but if I have a planned workout and it doesn't happen, I'm all out of sorts. Yes there's a slightly addictive property to it, but not to the level of it having to be an all the time/long hours type of thing, but more of it being part of the routine - like taking a shower, brushing my teeth, feeding the cats - and when I miss one part of the routine, it throws everything off. There IS the physical benefit from a short burst of exertion - an endorphin rush that helps get my brain in the right place but considering the thought of an hour workout makes me want to hide under my bed (hence why I'm dragging my feet, so to speak, about making the commitment to an 8K in October) AND exhausts me - her, being hypothyroid is almost like having a built in 'off' switch sometimes - I don't think I'm at risk of being an over exerciser.

Oh! And my tweaky knee - it's doing better today, even after last night's run fest on the treadmill. As long as I consistently do my stretchies every night, and do a few other things, it's fine. Since I slacked in that area over the weekend and while traveling, it's been acting up. For the time being, I'm good with what I'm doing, but sooner, rather than later, I will most likely look into physical therapy and/or acupuncture to keep things in top condition.