Loving Yourself and Body Consciousness

Is my body a reflection of who I am? Or is this simply a meat-robot that carts me about from here to there?

I see a paradox forming; on the one hand, we are spiritual beings that merely inhabit this plane of existence for a brief moment...

And yet, we are animals inextricably intertwined with the DNA of our reptilian ancestors. We share the same Fight-Flight-Freeze instincts that all animals have.

Or is there a third way? Another alternative that encompasses both paths?

Can you be a spiritual animal... or an animalistic spirit?

More to the point, what does this have to do with losing weight and getting healthy?

Well, it seems to me that everything in life can be a spiritual journey. I certainly believe that about business! Why not diet and exercise... after all - what is Yoga or Tai Chi? Every religion in the world has some sort of dietary dogma, why not me?

I worked out Friday morning. I started out with a warm up of stretching and limbering, went to the treadmill and did 10 minutes of inerval training. Easy for a few minutes, then faster and steeper, then easy, and again for two more cycles. By the end, I felt warm and my breath was threatening to start huffing.

On to the weights. I've been reading Elsworth Darden's High Intensity Training. He makes a lot of sense.

The Cliff's Notes:

Work large muscle groups first, starting with the legs.

Use multiple joint exercises first, and then move to more isolationist exercises. Use short range of motion to protect the joints, one single set to complete failure and heavy enough weight that you can't possibly get past 10 reps. If you feel you've got more in you, do 6 reps, drop the weight, keep going. Burn yourself out completely until you are consumed by white heat and death would be a relief.

Lower Body

• Squat Machine
• Leg Extensions
• Leg Curls
• Calf Raises

Cry, whimper, sniffle and beg for mercy... then keep going

Upper Body

• Bench Press
• Back Row
• Lat Pulldown
• Chest Fly
• Military Press
• Shoulder Raises
• Bicep Curls
• Tricep Extensions
• Ab Machine

That's it. Drink lots of water during the workout. Drink a Creatine shake immediately afterwards. Take a sauna, shower and walk tremblingly toward you car. Promise yourself that this is worth it.

The entire trick is to recruit as many muscle fibers as humanly possible. That means you must have ultimate intensity.

My challenge is that I must gradually ramp up the intensity because of my blood pressure. I don't want it to go too high. So we are starting out with less intensity than I would prefer, but I trust that time will be my ally.

On my off days, I will be continuing my aerobics by biking, walking the dogs, and later in the summer, swimming in the local pool.

My goal is to be at 235 lbs. by August 12th 2008.