The future is plastics

If you are easily offended, leave now.  If you live in the real world, where people sweat and there is less than desirable consequences resulting from it, read on.

The statement (when applied to polyester, which is a plastic woven into a fabric) is both more and less true today than when it was uttered as a joke in the 1967 film, The Graduate.  More true in that we use more polyester today than in the 60's, less true in that you can no longer get a polyester leisure suit from the mail order catalog company of your choice.  Today, polyester is marketed to athletes and wannabees as technical clothing. I'm not into the hype, so I'm calling it polyester.


http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens/apparel/tops/shortsleeve/pid1000382-Men-s-UA-Tech-8482-Shortsleeve-T/1000382-090

Speaking of the hype, "technical clothing" touts its "moisture transport" properties.  Meaning: when you sweat in polyester, the sweat moves through the fabric so it can evaporate.  I am a sweaty beast.  I grunt, I sigh, I sing along to my music in an endorphin soaked trance/rage, all while sweating through my clothes.  The "moisture transport" is the big benefit of polyester over cotton.  Cotton gets heavy with sweat, polyester really doesn't.

"Moisture transport" does have its downside.  It's not just water that's being drawn through the fabric, your funk is coming with it.  That's right, I said "funk".  I don't have another work to accurately describe what comes off a sweating body.  It's bad and we all know it, so we'll move on.  "Moisture" is a vehicle for your "funk".  "Funk" gets inside the "technical clothing".  Inside.  Cotton comes clean with a wash.  All of the bacteria and other general badness in your sweat comes out of cotton, polyster leaves a "funk residue" after a wash.  You don't notice the "funk residue" at first.  Over time and with repeated wears, the "funk residue" grows.  Then you sweat on it again and it's like a activating a chemical agent.  It's bad.  Really bad.  If you think this cannot happen to you, you are wrong.  It can and it will, but there is hope.


http://www.windetergent.com/
There are other products, that do the same thing, but WIN is what I can find at my local Dick's Sporting Goods.  WIN washes out the funk.  Period.  No funk.  My wife uses it on my cotton towel and washcloth, for good measure.

I love my polyester.  It's great in the summer for outwear.  It's great in the winter for a baselayer (a less sissified way of saying underwear).  It's great all the time in the gym.  I do use cotton,  (If I did not plug cotton, some of the farmers who harvest 92,000 bales of white gold in home town in 2008 might be disappointed) I just use it for other things, like every other non-athletic clothing item I own.

Overcome a bad diet?

In case you can't read my handwriting, it says "Nothing can overcome a bad diet."  Its attached to my monitor on the lower right side.  This keeps me out of the vending machine at work.  I don't remember where I read, but it struck a chord.  The late Jack LaLanne said "If it tastes good, spit it out".  I'm too firm a believer in joy de vivre to agree with that.  I believe in a short list of dietary non-negotiables coupled with moderation in the rest. I know some people who have sworn off donuts.  I get that, but I'd rather put some rules around it so there is moderation in donut consumption.  I only eat donuts from one place and I'm not telling you where for fear that some well intentioned person or a competitor in my workplace's Biggest Loser Contest could derail me.  It's not a place that most people I come in contact with buy their donuts, so it really is a limiter.  The reason I picked the one place is that those donuts are the best I've put in my mouth.  I know that foodies will say that I must get out of West Tennessee to experience the Platonic Form of Donut, but I'm just fine with my moderate approach and having experienced only the limited offering available in my area, which happen to find more delightful than words can express.

Speaking of Jack LaLanne, one of my oldest friends, Scott Haynes*, posted the following link.  I could not come up with anything better or more fitting, so I'm including the link. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/01/eight-lessons-from-the-life-and-work-of-jack-lalanne.html

*We were born within a few days of each other, literally one of my oldest friends.  Myth+ says that our mothers passed each other at the hospital on my birthday, Mrs Peggy leaving, my mom arriving.  33 is coming up fast, bro.

+Myth, Lore, and Legend refer to things I've heard in my life and don't necessarily believe just as they were told to me.  They refer to specific people who tend to exaggerate, but I'm not getting any more specific than that.

The workout you can get...

The workout you can get is better than the work out you wanted.

I didn't achieve my goal for my run this morning.  I woke up late.  Not exactly late.  When I was budgeting time last night and setting my alarm, I did not allow enough time to do my whole run.  When I woke up, I knew the run was going to be shorter than what I hoped for.  When I got the gym (because it was cold and wet, not because I enjoy the dreadmill) I found that my iPod had a dead battery.  I watched the local news and shuddered at a lack of newscasting talent.

That being said, I got a workout in.  I have the rest of the week to get in the mile I didn't do this morning.  It will be OK.  I will not gain weight for the missed workout.  I will not lose progress on my running.  I will try again later in the week.

I also have more workouts this week to enjoy my playlist on my iPod.

I will however find something different to watch on television if this ever happens again, anything but WBBJ in the morning.  For coming to that realization, I count this a victory.

Do you hear me programmers?

http://www.loseit.com

If you are not counting calories, you have no idea what's really going into your body.  I found this to be true at least.  I use the free Lost It! app for iPhone (if you have a Droid or something like that and you love it and its better than my iPhone, I'm really glad for you.  Really, I am.  Just don't tell me about it because someone has already beaten you to it.  Like, lots of times.).  Enter your current weight, desired weight, number of pounds you want to lose a week, gender, age, activity level, and you're set.  Enter your food accurately (which can be challenging--it should not be so hard to determine if a potato is small, medium, or large, but it can be.  I think Jason's Deli and the like with their two potatoes smashed together and labeled "dinner" has skewed my judgment.) and you can see how much more you can eat for the day.  It also lets you input your exercise, then deducts calories from your total based on your activity.  There are tons of these kinds of apps and website, but this is what I use.

There is a feature that would make me jump to new program in a minute: UPC code scanning.  If I could just scan the label on my nutrition bar with the camera on my phone (a la free Red Laser http://redlaser.com/) instead of figuring out which "bar" it is my food list, I'd be a happy camper.  I've heard there is an app from Droid that will do this, but it's not a feature on an iPhone app that I've been able to find. 

Another "jump ship" feature for me would be detailed data on my workouts. (think Mapymyride.com or mapmyrun.com) Like mileage totals for bicycling and running by week.  Average calories burned per week would be sweet, also.  Mapmy has a GPS portion on their free mobile device app that will track route, speed, times, ect. 

So, what I really want is the offspring of Red Laser, Lose It, and MapMyRide.  I'd pay for that app.

Things of worth take work

Success!  Well, a little success.  A small victory.  I've checked something off my list.  Three weeks into picking up my journey again, I've lost 20% of the weight.  10 lbs so far.  40 more to go. 

I should note that the first steps are always the easiest.  My feet are fresh.  My way is clear.  I'm not fatigued. 

A few of the things that have helped me get here are:

• no caffeine
• lots of water
• oatmeal for breakfast (from whole oats with a little Splenda and salt)
• lots of exercise

I should note that these small steps took time to develop.  I did not give up caffeine overnight, or love drinking water immediately.  Things of worth take work.  You've got the energy to do the work, too.  You can achieve your own goals if you plan for success, put in the effort, and keep the goal in sight.  Go out there and get your own first ten.

I will post some of my athletic goals for the year and other nutrition tips that have worked for me in later posts, because there is more to my past accomplishments and more will go into my future successes than four bullet points in my first blog.  I'll also list some of the gear that I love and some the gear that I would love to replace.
 


Now to rest so I can destroy a spin class tomorrow morning.