Success and Failure - The Weekly Review

So, I've had more failure than success recently. . . but, nonetheless, I'll start with successes.

1. Rowing - Distance. I've already eclipsed the 500k mark on my rowing machine. I use it all the time and it's proven to be a great workout tool;

2. Rowing - Running. Indeed, the rower has worked effectively as a replacement workout for running -- which in my view -- allows me to participate injury free in international distance triathlon, on only 10 miles of running per week. I think it's a great substitute, particularly for those of us overweight triathletes;

3. Triathlon. I've had a productive triathlon season so far. I race hard and have lots of fun with it. Though I'd like to be more competitive, given my prior significant injuries -- I'm just stoked to be out there mixing it up. I do give thanks for the ability to compete it and try not to take it for granted.

FAILURES

I suppose, to begin with -- the entire purpose of keeping this blog and then underneath that, tracking the data to figure out whether I weigh more or less and where my body fat figures into it all -- well, there's one purpose to that: To monitor my progress.

Typically, when things improve (i.e., the weight number decreases) I celebrate the joys of keeping a detailed journal with these things. But when the numbers or stagnate -- it's easy to rationalize it and refuse to look at that trend. But it's time to acknowledge. My weight has been stable for the past 4-5 weeks (223.3, weighted 5 day average). Now, if I were comparing one day of raw weight today -- to one day of raw weight three weeks ago -- then maybe it wouldn't be warranted. But the whole point of maintaining a spreadsheet with moving averages is to filter out the noise and focus on the objective data.

In any event, I'm ready to simply call it what it is, and move on with a new plan of attack: It's a failure. The solution: Eat less (better calories) and move more.

My immediate knee-jerk response is quite simple: Let's amp up from 8 hours of exercise per week to 10 hours per week of exercise, or even 12 hours. Let's just increase my rowing by ~30,000 meters per week, and I'd go from 8 to 11 hours of workouts. T?hat would burn some calories.

But the smarter way to analyze it is to ask: What's so different now, and what could I do to change it so that I can eat more smartly.

Clearly what is different is the following:

1. New work environment (and, to boot, I'm much more sedentary in this assignment);

2. New work environment. Too much candy and crap immediately available to me. I'm going to have to knock it off. There's no way to say it but to say it. Perhaps another solution is to bring in some of your own food so that instead of eating what's on the table you eat what's on your table. The other solution (which I sort of love) is to make your own sign -- like food for KC with a line through it.

Here's an example of the offering on a recent birthday last week. . .




3. Lesser recording of daily intake on food journal chart in kitchen. I just have been much more inconsistent lately.

I still have every desire to build a body like this:



or like this:




But, alas, I'm staying the same weight these days due to, more than likely, relatively poor eating habits.

I would say the nuts I bought this week were a complete fiasco. See here:




Given these nuts (trail mix) added an extra ~5,000 calories to my diet last week -- plus the same sized container (minus the m&ms) trail mix I ate. . . ~7500 calories of "extra" calories. Without those, alone, I would have been short ~2 pounds worth of calories. . . and I'd be closer. I think it's time to admit to yourself no more buying those.