Thursday, October 27, 2011

194.4, the bounce back

The score a few moments ago was 194.4 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  Interestingly enough, my weight has bounced back from the low of 189.8 we saw a couple of days ago.  Despite some of the noisy details I will give you in a few moments, this strengthens my hypothesis that 194.4 is my new set-point. It's a strong set point also.

Just to color in this fact with a bit of background consider the following life-facts that factor into this bounce back.

  1. I got hammered with Superior Court jury duty yesterday, which broke my normal workout schedule, and will continue to disrupt my routine workout schedule for several days to come.
  2. Jury duty has also disrupted my eating habits.  I actually ate a dreaded hot dog from a street vendor yesterday.  It wasn't a Hebrew National Koshur Polish either, so there is no telling how bad that was.  
  3. I completed my first 4 CrossFit workouts as of Tuesday 10/25/2011.  The last workout--Tuesday noon--was followed by a full-cycle ROM workout in the evening.  That was clearly over-doing it, and I paid a high physical price for it yesterday.
  4. I was so blown out and sore yesterday, especially in the region of my right knee, that I could not have done any exercise anyway.  I was in a lot of pain yesterday; so much so that I actually had to reach for the dreaded Lortab so I could walk on that right knee.  I called off all workouts, and made it a complete day of rest.  This morning, I feel much better, and I will train today.
  5. CrossFit has produced a new level of physical hunger for me.  I am hungry for actual, real food again.  I have very specific cravings for eggs.  Nothing else seems to satisfy.  I'll take 'em any which way I can get them: Boiled, omelet, burrito.  I just want my eggs.  Chicken won't do it at all, and neither will steak.
  6. A recovery drink of 1% fat chocolate milk, 25g extra whey protein, and some omega-3 fatty acids oil is now my recovery drink of choice.  I mix this drink myself in one of my two bullet blenders.  Every other workout drink feels like a piss-poor substitute.  I'm still not satisfied by this drink, but it is the best I can do right now.  Specifically, whey protein feels like a poor substitute for egg protein.
  7. My arms & shoulders look different now.  There is no mistaking it.  The push-ups, pull-ups, ring-dips, and kettle bells are having an impact on my muscularity.  I know for a fact that I am packing more muscle now. This will show up on the next Bod Pod test, I promise you.
  8. CrossFit is affecting my sleeping habits.  I feel very, very sleepy these days.  I feel sleepy by 10:00pm, which is extremely unusual for me.  In the past, I usually had to force myself to go to bed around 12:30pm or 1:00am.  Not true anymore.  Now I can go to bed as early as 10:00pm, and I am usually in bed around 11:00pm.  I am just flat-cold exhausted and out of gas.  Also, I sleep like a dead man.  The lights go off, and I am unconscious in seconds.  I don't rouse at any point during the night.  I wake up without any memory of dreams, or sense that time has passed.  It's almost like Propofol sleep.
Next time, I will blog about my experiences in the CrossFit gym.  This is a very interesting way to train.