Brr, Working out, Diet, & Smoking

Today is December Eighteenth Two Thousand Oh Nine and it is nippy out. Not just brrr I might need a sweater, but holy shit do I have my gloves, hat, fleece, vest and why is God doing this to me cold out. I walk about a mile from my house to the Alewife MBTA station and I get to walk by some athletic fields where there is always a sweet wind blowing across it. Then when I turn a corner an get on the bike path there is another awesome headwind to contend with. At least I can tell my nephews and possible children that I did indeed walk a mile in the cold every morning.

Even tho I was sore from Tuesday night I went to the gym last night and something amazing happened. I am not sore this morning and all I can blame it on is the fact that I worked on my sore muscles. I did not know that. I am really weak in the arms so Nancy has me doing exercises that don't allow me to cheat with my shoulders. I guess that it is a natural reaction that the stronger parts of the body will make up for the weaker part. Makes sense. This is my third week riding the deathcycle on level ten for twenty minutes and it is getting easier so I think I may increase my length of time in five minute increments. I make sure my heart rate is in the 120 - 140 range and I sweat profusely. I won't say I sweat like a pig because I read once that pigs don't sweat and I don't want to be passing along bad information. Anyway I feel much better today and I cannot wait to work out tomorrow morning.

So I am watching what I eat and reporting everything to Nancy every week. It is really sobering to take a look at what you eat in paper from day to day. I lost almost twenty pounds in the first five months of my sobriety but gained it back this fall. I had the thought that since I was sober I could eat anything I wanted to do. Pints of ice cream, twix bars, sugar cereals with whole milk, munchos, steak and cheese calzones, non diet energy drinks, donuts, gravy, breakfast meats, the list goes on and on. Well I have stopped all of that last week and I am hoping that my diet will aid in my weight loss. I see my physical fitness a puzzle that I need all the pieces for in order to be successful. I am planning to write a book about my experiences in sobriety with chapters on health and wellness.

Here is a sample of what I eat every day by time o' day:
7:30am
12oz black coffee
16oz sugar free energy drink
8:30am
16oz oatmeal w/ 3tbl brown sugar
Bagel w/ 3 52% veggie oil packets
16oz black coffee
12:00pm
Either a chicken salad sandwich or one portion with side of an entree at the CHBCafe
7oz Dannon vanilla yogurt
32oz water
2:00pm
16oz black coffee
4:00pm
3 cups Special K cereal w/ 2 cups of lowfat milk
32oz water

As you can see its a fair amount of food but I don't think its too much. I know that I drink too much coffee and energy drinks and use way too much salt but I will work on that later. One thing I have learned in sobriety it not to try and do too much at once or else I will fail. Too many times I have tried to change my life all at once rather than being patient. One of the many and aggravating mottos of AA is the venerable "One Day At A Time" which I don't totally agree with. When I first got sober going from day to day was important but now I tend to look towards the long term. The same goes for diet and exercise, it takes months not days to change yourself physically.

One thing I am going to really regret giving up is smoking. I love cigarettes. I love everything about them, the smell, taste, effect, the process of lighting and smoking. I even like going outside a smoking for a breath of smoky fresh air and socializing with the other smokers. I like smoking when I first get up, after meals, before and after working out, and before I hit the sack. Alas I have to give this wonderful habit up if I ever want to get into good cardio shape. So I have a plan. I purchased four cartons of cigarettes over the internet and am smoking every single cig till they are gone. When that happens I will stop smoking on a regular basis. I plan to use the nicotine lozenges so I don't freak out and kill someone but my regular smoking days are over. I have roughly twelve packs left and whats funny is that corresponds with me quitting on NYE. Great. Maybe I will have to push it out al little bit.