Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Facebook, Schmasebook + Crossfit

I get into the good habit of posting things relatively regularly, but have the unfortunate side-effect of liking this posting method and not having a way to distribute to anyone of consequence. So now I'm able to post my ramblings on blogger, and have them magically show up in facebook through the magic of facebook, notes, rss import thingymajig. I guess that's pretty positive

Here's a recent conundrum of mine. I'm getting pretty good at this regularly scheduled gym thing. Cross-fit is hella fun, the people are most excellent, and it seems like a good idea. I'm feeling better generally and I have the soreness to prove it. The one stumbling block for me now is I know that if I don't make some sort of effort to control my nutrition, then it's almost in vain. Not totally, but it seems like I'm only selling myself short at that point.

My paradox is that over the summer I started riding a motorcycle, yay. It's just about the most entertaining activity that I've taken part of and the closest thing to an addiction that I've ever felt. As part of that I made the conscious decision that instead of the normal 1-drink, 1-hour rule for driving, when I'm riding my motorcycle or potentially riding, it's more like 1-drink, 12-hours. And you know what, I haven't budged an inch. I've been to plenty of parties with friends, out socially, everything and not drinking, knowing that I get the satisfaction of riding, there's no problem.

Now extend my thinking to working out. I know that working out, eating right and everything go hand in hand. So if I want to be able to improve more in my workouts and fitness, I know that I should make better decisions on what I eat. The biggest problem for me then I guess is that I don't get such an immediate gratification for the work. Choosing not to drink for 12 hours, I know for a fact then when I'm going to be able to ride my motorcycle. Choosing not to have that cookie, or piece of candy from that huge basket they just put out at work... Well that's not a 12 hour payoff, or a 12 day payoff for that matter. If I'm lucky, 12 weeks of staying away from that candy basket will have made some sort of difference.

I'm not that patient, at least not when it comes to myself. If I want to do something, I'll go for the route that promises the most immediate gratification possible without sacrificing any of my original goals, within compromise of course. It just makes it that much more frustrating. The one motivating factor that I still have is the gym that I go to and the people there that I am fortunate enough to train with. Their motivation is my motivation, and trust me, they're damn motivated. There's a guy there, 30+ pushup / situp combo, after fatigue, in under 40 seconds. He's almost twice my age and looks way great. Plus the women that show up to train aren't eyesores themselves, but it's rude to stare ;)

There's a little challenge that's coming up for the next month, a little motivator if you will. The whole details of which haven't been announced yet, but I'm just a little more than interested to join in on the fun. I think giving myself a nice reasonable 30 day goal will be much more to my style than some indefinite goal off in the distance.

It's wel past my bedtime, so toodles.