Followed by a bath and a gluten free beer, which is surprisingly good. Not a bad night at all.

Today was a solid 2 point day! If you’re not following and participating in Lindsay’s challenge, check it out! Two possible points per day: one for exercise, one for eating right. Today, I got them both covered. Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta! :)

Yep!  :)

swimbikeren:

I see so many reblog’s if you don’t do..  x,y,z..  I wanted to start one on my own.  It’s Memorial Day.  And isn’t that what our holiday is all about???  No, I know it’s about people who died for our freedom.  But also..  BBQ and BEEER!!!!!

There’s a lot of great advice out there for fitness, weight loss, performance improvement; you name it, and there’s an expert out there who can tell you a way to achieve it.  The key here is that there are many different ways to get where you want to go.  But there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to the human mind and body.  I know this, because I’ve tried a lot of different things…some of them work, some of them don’t (for me).  Some of them work sometimes, and don’t work at other times.  And that’s ok.

Recently, my workouts have been mostly focused on running.  I’ve seen some good progress in my stamina and I’m getting there with my speed as well.  This has been in spite of very little in the way of cross training.

I’ll come on Tumblr and other websites and see all of the awesome work that everyone is doing and think, “maybe I should be doing that too.”  Crossfit looks like a blast and I could definitely see myself being a big fan, but right now I’m not willing to make the investment of money and time.  I feel strangely guilty about that - like everyone else is doing it and loving it, I should be too.

Or strength and weight training in general.  I already have gym memberships through my work and the Y (where my wife works) so there wouldn’t be any money out of pocket.  I’ve done weight training in the past and I know it works.  I’ve seen it firsthand.  But for whatever reason, I’m just not up for it right now.  Again, I feel guilty about this at times, like hey, I could get better if I’d just get started in the weight routines that have been successful for me before.

Even with other types of cardio cross training - whether it’s biking, swimming, hiking, elliptical, walking, stair climbing, whatever - I haven’t been doing many of those things lately.  For biking and swimming, I have a specific reason to be concerned.  I’m doing an international distance triathlon in two months, and a 100 mile bike ride at the end of June.  And for those reasons, I will be increasing my biking and swimming training through the summer - starting this week, in fact.  But still…I’ve been feeling like I’m not doing enough, that I should be doing more and different things.

Same thing with various eating plans - I see a lot of people who are doing paleo, vegan, raw, vegetarian, and other great ways to focus their eating.  For me, right now, I’m keeping it simple.  Watching my calories, eating more fruits and veggies, little (mostly no) fried food, and trying to limit processed foods as much as possible.  I know what works for my body generally.  But STILL - I find myself thinking, wow, what if I tried paleo or vegan or whatever - how much better could I be?

I guess the point is, if you don’t want to do those things for the right reasons, you won’t be successful.  I know the things that I’m doing right now will make me healthier and stronger, and I’m enjoying doing them.  A lot.  I’m back to where I crave running, and I shun foods that I should avoid (for the most part).  

Ultimately, I’ll probably want to try some other things, but for now, I’m doing what works for me.  And it is working.  I can’t wait to see where I’m at by this fall - maybe I’ll be doing Crossfit and eating paleo.  Or maybe I’ll be running and watching my calories.  As long as I’m doing what feels good and I know is healthy, it works for me.