Fitness Dichotomy

So, I realize that those of us who frequent this site are in the minority. People who make fun of infomercials and quick fixes, aspiring to lift frighteningly heavy weights, and performing “energy systems work” (or cardio to the rest of us Humans). We go home and have more jugs of protein powder on the countetop, than coffee mugs, and we wonder if canned tuna will mix well with peanut butter, for a tuna-nutter sandwich.

But I’m sitting here at work, where I’ve got my shaker bottle and 2-pound container of “will-have-to-do-for-now” protein powder sitting on the side of my desk, and I’ve got my gallon jug of water, which I drink directly from…because them’s the manners Momma taught me, sitting an arm’s reach from the computer.

And I just now happened to glance back at Crazy Dr. Bob who sits at the desk behind me. He’s a stocky fellow, to be polite. Probably 5’9", at least 275, with a 20-something %bodyfat, I’m sure. And I realize that he’s drinking Pepsi, straight from the 2-liter bottle. That just struck me as funny. Not “ha-ha funny”, but “that’s kinda sad” funny.

Suddenly I get a cartoon scene in my head (like in that John Cusack/Demi Moore movie I can’t recall the name of right now, with the fluffy bunnies beating up the rhino). My gallon of water and his 2-liter of soda grow little arms and legs, pick up pencils to use as spears, and battle in a nutrition battle royale. I wonder who’d win. (My money’s on the water. All that carbonation has to effect the soda’s anaerobic endurance).

Anywho, I just had to tell someone about that. If anything, it’s served to reinforce my willpower. Lunch is going to be a grilled chicken on whole wheat with extra tomato, tonight’s workout is power cleans, 7x5. I’m betting that Crazy Dr. Bob’s lunch is (once again) 3 glazed doughnuts and a triple-grande frappachino, and his workout is, well, hefting his large body out of the car, and walking up to his door. Let’s be glad we’ve picked the right team to play for.

One Crazy Summer (1986)

Sounds a lot like my life.

I have an entire cabinet in my dorm dedicated to Biotest collection and energy gels.

Next to it an entire cabinent filled with high fiber / lower gi carbs. Oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes. One nice bottle of olive oil covered in aluminum foil to keep out the light. Some Costco cans-o-tuna. There is one box of cinnamon toast crunch which is his.

The freezer is piled to the top with frozen veggies, salmon, chicken, and berries. There is one gallon of ice cream which is his.

The fridge is stacked on the door with healthy fats, nuts, seeds. There is one packet of lunch meat which is his.

Bottom drawers are filled with a huge assortment of veggies. The shelves are covered in all the seasonal fruit. There is one Sprite that is his.

The top shelf is filled with cottage cheese and eggs. There is one gallon of OJ and one gallon of whole milk that is his.

One comes home from a desk job and needs a nap. One comes home from a 12 mile run ready for more. Go figure.

Yeah-not everyone wants to be or necessarily should be ‘hardcore’ (if you want to call i that) like people on this site. But it would be nice to see more people take a nice, balanced middle-road instead of becoming the nutritional and fitness disasters most adult Americans seem to be.

One box, one gallon, one packet…Not much to live on. Let me guess…He takes one look in the fridge, shuts the door, scratches his head and orders a pizza…often.

Thanks Zepplin, that was bugging me.

[quote]TriGWU wrote:
One comes home from a desk job and needs a nap. One comes home from a 12 mile run ready for more. Go figure.[/quote]

But…I like naps. :wink:

Funny addendum to the story, which I couldn’t make up. I was in the break room, having my grilled chicken sandwich and water, and 2 of the receptionists come in with their bacon cheseburger deluxes (one complained because the restaurant forgot to put on the lettuce and tomato “If I’m going to cheat, I want the whole experience” How’s that for a dichotomy…being pissed off because your bacon cheesegurger didn’t have lettuce and tomato).

Anyway, apparently the 2 of them are going down to Peurto Rico in a few weeks, and they’re “just cheating on the diet today, then right back to it.” I hear them talking about going to step classes 3 times a week, maybe they’ll ad a fourth class. I haven’t yet publicly announced at work that I’m a trainer, though I do have my business card hanging on a wall of my cubicle-thing.

I don’t think I’d have the energy to deal with the bombardment of questions (and the general non-compliance that would follow…people asking for advice that they don’t really want, and getting tips they’ll never use). I had enough of that when I was working in the gyms. It’s not that I’m down on people with sincere goals, or anything, by far. I like people (generally speaking), and good on them if they decide to commit to a nutrition and exercise plan for a specific goal.

I absolutely believe in the I.S.S.A. concept of good, better, best: It’s good to workout (any workout), it’s better to workout with a plan/goal in mind, it’s best to workout towards a specific goal, while following a well-designed program. But don’t put on the show of “working out”, only to crap out at the end (you’re stepping into a bikini in 3 weeks, and lunch is a bacon cheeseburger with fries??). I don’t know. I think I’m just in a grumpy mood, but right now, this kind of thing is getting on my nerves.

I like the women who have to lose weight because they’re getting married in X number of weeks. Then what? Pork out again now that the chase is over?

I keep telling people it’s a journey, not a destination, but they just can’t cope with that.

Then they say shit like “well, it’s easy for you, look how fit you are.” And I want to scream at the top of my lungs “HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I GOT THIS WAY? DO YOU THINK I WAS BORN LIKE THIS? I WORK MY FREAKIN ASS OFF TO STAY THIS ‘FIT’.”
Morons.

Seconding jsbrook… For chrissakes, at least have a moderate level of awareness that what you put in your mouth and how you move (or don’t move) will affect your quality of life … don’t become a train wreck!

It’s hard being back in an office environment. I spent the last two years doing a ton of travel (freelance work does have perks) and while it wreaked havoc on any ‘routine’ I may have wanted, I could at least still make decent, normal, everyday choices (take the stairs, ordering lean meats and salads, etc). But having been back in an office environment now, the queer looks and murmurings are beginning…

Why does she eat so much (read often)? Doesn’t she know she’s going to get fat? I’ll just eat my cabbage soup…
What’s that gross stuff in that shaker cup? It doesn’t look like my shake…
Who calls almonds and a little bit of hamburger “lunch”?

Warning: Vent
I’d like to know who decided staff meetings were all out assaults on our dietary health?

I work with 25 people, mainly women in their mid-40’s to mid-50’s that are a good 40-140lbs overweight. They celebrated the July birthdays a last week. Called everyone into the conference room except everyone couldn’t fit their rotundness in the room at the same time so some stood outside in the hallway. There were two dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts and 5 13x9 pans of various brownie and cake type desserts. The room [b]reeked[/b] of sugar… I almost got high just standing there.

So after the “Happy Birthday” cheer, everyone digs in… except me. I’m sipping my green tea chatting casually with people as every single person loaded up with at least one “serving” of each dish. They’re chitchatting about how yummy this is… How bad that is for you… How they just don’t have willpower… When someone notices I’m not eating any of it. I watch a murmur spread and eyes dart to me, evaluate, then look quickly away before leaning over to pass the condescension on…and so the stink eye passes around the room. Even the two other females roughly my age (who didn’t quite indulge as much as the others) were soft, pudgy, sallow, slouchy and at least 3 sizes larger than they would be in a healthy condition.

I just don’t get it. Was I tempted by all the gooey sweetness in my face? Hell yeah! I LOVE donuts and other pastries. But the direct correlation between those things and their size 24 asses was soo, soo glaring - that delicious Krispy Kreme glaze melting on my tongue would have made me toss my breakfast.

Afterward, three different women stopped in at my cube inquiring why I hadn’t eaten anything and commented on how my willpower was phenomonal.

No…not willpower. Awareness. It doesn’t take willpower not to swim in shark infested waters, it just takes awareness that there are sharks in the water.

At some point every one I know that doesn’t see any value in eating well or lifting has asked me- How did you get like that? Any more I just shrug and say “Ah, just lucky I guess. I watch what I eat and lift a few times a week, but thats about it.” More than that usualy gets a deer in the headlights look.

The foodbattle cracks me up. I bet my chicken veggie stir fry on a bed of lentils would stomp a bacon cheese burger any day.

Great post, Karma. Really, it’s not funny. More sad in fact. Still, it cracked me up…

[quote]Minotaur wrote:
I’m betting that Crazy Dr. Bob’s lunch is (once again) 3 glazed doughnuts and a triple-grande frappachino, and his workout is, well, hefting his large body out of the car, and walking up to his door. Let’s be glad we’ve picked the right team to play for.[/quote]

I hate to say this but guys like Dr. Bob give me more inspiration than all the body builders in the IFBB.

The stick or the carrot? For me, the stick works best.

RB

[quote]~karma~ wrote:
Warning: Vent
I’d like to know who decided staff meetings were all out assaults on our dietary health?

I work with 25 people, mainly women in their mid-40’s to mid-50’s that are a good 40-140lbs overweight. They celebrated the July birthdays a last week. Called everyone into the conference room except everyone couldn’t fit their rotundness in the room at the same time so some stood outside in the hallway. There were two dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts and 5 13x9 pans of various brownie and cake type desserts. The room [b]reeked[/b] of sugar… I almost got high just standing there.

[/quote]

We had the July birthdays thing last week, sure enough there two huge cakes sitting on the table. After singing Happy Birthday I just quietly slipped away back to my desk, if the temptation isn’t there you can’t fail can you?

Since cleaning up my diet though I’ve noticed that things such as soft drinks, fatty fast food, cakes etc actually turn me off food rather than being an attractive meal choice, just shows that you can actually change your taste preferences.

[quote]th_underdog wrote:
One box, one gallon, one packet…Not much to live on. Let me guess…He takes one look in the fridge, shuts the door, scratches his head and orders a pizza…often.[/quote]

That or gets wendy’s

See…

I would have had my dozen donuts at that party. Just to confuse the f- out of them :-).

I eat healthy 99.9% of the time. Even on a 6,000 calorie diet it is all clean carbs. Mostly fruits, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes; don’t count veggies as carbs.

But when I break rules… I break rules. I usually break them after sitting down and explainign proper nutrition to someone. I run down to Dunkin Donuts (in the basement of my dorm) and grab atleast a half-dozen chocolate frosted donuts for myself.

You wouldn’t be able to tell… but I LOVE food.

I often tell my mom(I live with her, i’m 20) to not buy ice cream, chips, cookies. What 20 yr old has a grocery list such as this? boneless chicken breast, ground turkey meat, tuna, lettuce, apples, carrots, bananas, grapes, brocoli(!), green beans, pears, peaches, walnuts, oatmeal, bagels, milk, orange juice, bottled water, yogurt, shreaded wheat, I could go on and on, you get the idea.

I think the normal 20 yr old diet is: pizza, soda, beer, fast food, more beer.

[quote]TriGWU wrote:
See…

I would have had my dozen donuts at that party. Just to confuse the f- out of them :-).

I eat healthy 99.9% of the time. Even on a 6,000 calorie diet it is all clean carbs. Mostly fruits, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes; don’t count veggies as carbs.

But when I break rules… I break rules. I usually break them after sitting down and explainign proper nutrition to someone. I run down to Dunkin Donuts (in the basement of my dorm) and grab atleast a half-dozen chocolate frosted donuts for myself.

[/quote]

Sigh. There are definitely some things I miss about endurance training…

[quote]jsbrook wrote:

Sigh. There are definitely some things I miss about endurance training…

[/quote]

It’s a beautiful thing.

This is why I fail to understand the endurance athletes suffereing from anorexia. Too much focus on weight and not power-to-weight.

The hardest thing about being an endurance athlete is eating clean. You can get away with eating anything really. Poor eating will affect performance years before it will affect weight gain. Thats what really tosses up athletes. They don’t see weight gain so they figure it isn’t affecting performance.

But hell, a box of donuts is what I call performance.

Of course, you pay for it by looking like you never ate after breast feeding.

Where I work we have the custom of bringing donuts when it’s your birthday. Here in England we don’t have those huge donuts you have in the US; the most common are the jam/custard/chocolate/toffee filled donuts, which pack about 350 kcals each. They’re still delicious, though! :slight_smile:

I only eat one if I’ve been to the gym that day, otherwise I’ll feel too guilty.

And isn’t it funny how, when you don’t partake of these glorious bundles of fried dough with sugar, someone will invariably ask “but with that body, surely you can eat all the donuts you want???” [WTF!?!?!?] It’s always someone who’s out of shape, too. I don’t even try to explain, I thought it would be obvious that if I don’t have a gut, it’s because I don’t eat donuts on a regular basis. “Fitness Dichotomy” indeed!

People…

I don’t mind the staff birthday shindigs, because I DO eat clean most of the time, and so can indulge in public with friends once in awhile.

…but just before the party starts, I drink a Grow! shake in my office. I’m not so hungry AND at least there’s protein in my system along with the chocolate cake.

I’ll go in the lunchroom at the office and heat up my chicken and veggies and listen to people tell me how good that looks. Then they get their Ramen noodles and white bread ham sandwich.

People ask how I can eat that much. I eat all the time. 3 meals just at work. I tell them that I have to eat that much or I’ll lose weight. That gets some fun looks.

Tri, I don’t know how you can eat 6K a day. I have trouble with 4K clean.

-folly