Day 87 March 7th

 

If you take my ball away I will eat
your pillow...

            So tonight I gave Gideon (the 7 ½ month old) a blue racquetball because he’s a boy and boys like balls (and things that are blue, I suppose).  He immediately tried to wrap his entire mouth around it because that’s what babies do, right?  Then I started to think “I hope he’s not allergic to latex” then “wait, is there latex in a racquetball?”  I took the ball away from him and he seemed upset so I gave it back (he loved it so much…I hope he doesn’t get brain damage).

...or my hand...

...or your hand...

...or your hand again.

           

Today was a good day overall.  My headache went away after a couple of hours and I had plenty of energy for the rest of the day.  I went to the track at about 6:15PM (where it was even windier than the day before, but way less people so that’s a plus).  I walked 6 laps and went home because it was late and 6 laps are fine for me right now.  When the walk started I was having chest pains that unnerved me a little bit but I just wrote them off as probable indigestion and not an impending heart attack (fingers crossed).  I’m sure if I fell out my walking partner would call 911 (oh I don’t have one of those…never mind, maybe I’ll get a life alert bracelet).

            

I ordered the shakeology on Monday March 5^th and it shipped on Tuesday March 6^th but the tracker says it won’t be here until Monday March 12^th so that kind of messes up my plans because I had decided I was going to start the cleanse thing on a weekend (if you’re only supposed to drink one shake a day and they send them in thirty day supplies, but you have to drink 9 of them the first three days won’t that put you 6 days behind at the end of the first month?)

            I wasn’t all that hungry today but I did eat the absolute last box of crackers that I will ever have tonight (because they are all gone and I won’t be buying anymore…my wife might, but I will not consider them as foodstuffs).  Also, we ate fish for dinner and that is disgusting (I only do it for nutri-zilla)

Eric Anderson

P.S. If anyone out there knows the chemical makeup of a racquetball I’ll be waiting for you to tell me why I’m a horrible father (hopefully the adorable pictures of the cutest baby in the world [shup up, you know he is, don't fight it] will help my case some)

Day 86 March 6th

            Alright, today sucked all the way through, I woke up tired, was groggy all day, super hungry, found out that I probably have a tumor (Dr. Google says so), and realized that I’m not aerodynamic enough to walk around the track with gale force winds.

            Okay, yes I did go to the track and I only walked 5 laps-for several different reasons.  First, it was crazy windy and I am like a human parachute. Second, I had to pee super bad (which kind of helped me to walk faster). Third, my wife needed to get back home because there was a chicken cooking in the oven.  The fourth and final reason was that I’m super lazy and will look for any excuse not to keep walking around in circles like a crazy person.  Also, those ladies were back again taking up the whole track…again.  Fortunately for them they didn’t get in my way this time or we might have had words (the words would probably have been “please move”)

            For the last few days I have been getting headaches after I go walking (not my usual weird one side of the head headache, but a whole entire head headache).  I Googled “headache after exercise” and came up with a Mayo Clinic link that called it an “exercise headache”.  Exercise headaches can be anything from “normal” to “tumor”.  Believe it or not, I have actually exercised before in my life and even earlier this year (a little bit last year as well), but no headaches have ever come out of it.  Also, this morning (Wednesday March 7^th) I woke up with my normal weird right side of the head headache which has been mostly gone for over a month, and very intermittent over the 6 months or so prior.  The internets also say that tumor headaches are the worst in the morning (just saying).  Okay, I know that I had an MRI a year ago and they didn’t find anything (also this headache started almost exactly a year ago), but no one who is healthy should feel like I do.

Eric Anderson

P.S. I miss carbs

Day 85 March 5th

            Today was a super stressful and completely draining day and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the track, but I did it anyway.  I was not feeling it at all even when I was on the track I was trying to make excuses to just quit and even though I pushed myself as hard as I could I felt that it wasn’t my usual push.  The track was crazy crowded but that’s cool because it’s easier to get lost in a crowd and at least pretend that no one is paying any attention to me.  There was a group of “boot camp” exercisers that were moving around from the stands (running up and down the steps) to the side field by the track (looked like jumping jacks) to the fence (weird stretching exercises) and so on, but at one point they all decided to stand in the middle of the track taking up 6 of the 8 lanes walking in a spread out formation doing some kind of cabaret style leg kicks and walking super slowly and blocking the crowd of people who were trying to mostly run (some of us were walking though).  I realize that they have as much right to exercise on the track as everyone else but when they blocked the lanes I and several other people had to just stop and wait while all the runners were funneled into the tiny hole that those selfish women so graciously left for us.  Okay, I’m done.  That was lap 3 of the 8 (part of the crucial first 4 when I “push” myself as hard as I can).  It took me 46 minutes to do a tiny bit over 8 laps so I’m not improving but it does still tire me right out so that counts for something, right?

            As far as the diet goes, I ate a tiny bit of crackers that I had left over from last week (about ¼ of a box) and I’m not buying anymore because that money is designated for the Shakeology that’s in the mail (fingers crossed that it’s not a scam).  My buddy Lori says it’s the awesomest thing that has ever happened to her in her entire life so that’s cool but I have tried thousands of the “awesomest” things in other people’s lives over the years and they rarely ever benefit me much if any (hope it works, I’m keeping an open mind, but I am extremely skeptical).  I’m going to give it a month and the first week won’t count because the first week of every new supplement I believe that my life has been permanently changed for the better (so look out for a week 2 review, I’ll probably start this thing on Monday just to have a clear starting point on a work day and not a weekend.  I’ll let you know how that goes

Eric Anderson

P.S. After my walk yesterday I was the hungriest I have been in a really long time, I was so hungry that I was sure that I was about to throw up and I had a headache.  I ate some Fage (Fa-Yeh) yogurt (that stuff is freaking awesome) and that helped a little bit but it wasn’t the same as a pizza.

Day 83 & 84 March 3rd & 4th

                Saturday was a wash, I woke up super late, went to work for a couple of hours, came home and watched a bunch of TV and played a whole bunch of video games (just one game but a lot of it [also, someone made me watch the screaming easily bored baby]).  I think that the exercise might actually be helping my stress levels more than I had originally thought.  That night I had, what I felt like was, an anxiety attack just lying in bed staring at the ceiling.  It’s only been two days off, what the crap is wrong with me?  Usually during the walk I’m only thinking about walking, trying not to pass out from an asthma attack, whatever podcast or music I’m listening to, and why I’m so damn thirsty.  Then after the walk I’m too tired to care about anything else in the world so it is kind of a stress reliever.  As for the anxiety attack, I don’t know, I started taking GABA back in December and they went away until now.  I’ll be lying there trying to fall asleep and my heart will beat really hard (not fast, just one deep hard beat).  Then I’ll start to panic that there’s something wrong with my heart which makes it start to beat faster on top of the weird deep beat that’s still happening every thirty seconds or so.  The way I combat this is to take deep breaths until I pass out.

                Sunday was a good day as far as diet and exercise are concerned.  I got up early and went to work for a couple of hours, as is now my routine (yay, no days off ever), then went home and decided I should go to the track because I hadn’t been since Thursday night instead of going to church which I wouldn’t have made it to any way (needed a shower and clothes weren’t clean).  I walked 8 laps (4 where I was pushing myself and 4 where I was just walking, but not that slowly) at about 45 minutes.  It was nice out and there were very few people, a couple of old dudes going slower than me, an old dude going much faster than me (and he was walking), and two kids who were racing each other on the straights and walking the curves (that was entertaining to watch over and over as they passed me several times [sarcasm!])  It was a pretty decent walk that didn’t tire me out too much but I did have to keep bargaining with myself to motivate myself to keep going.  I’m so weak.

                I don’t think that I had that many carbs all day except for some corn tortillas for lunch (only on weekends).  I think I’m giving up crackers all together now for two reasons, first, they are way too high in carbs and two, to help pay for this new Shakeology thing that I might be trying out for a month (first month is guaranteed and if it’s as awesome as some people keep reporting I should give it a shot).  I read the ingredients (and there are a lot of them) (see attached picture, where I highlighted the things that may conflict with the diet that I’m not) and I didn’t see anything that seemed harmful to my health but you can look it over too if you want.  I got the go ahead from my nutritionist to try it out and see if it has any adverse effects on my overall health, plus it will replace the breakfast that my wife has been getting up early to make every day for 84 days now (thanks for that, charlotte, by the way).

                Sunday night we watched the new episode of the Walking Dead (very awesome) and went to bed, where I laid there having another anxiety attack (what?!? I exercised today…damnit).  There are two possibilities here, one, these are not anxiety attacks at all and there is something actually wrong with me or, two, they are anxiety attacks and my stress level has escalated to a point that exercise and GABA can’t help (the third option is that The Walking Dead scared the crap out of me [I don’t think that’s it though, there was nothing scary on Saturday]) 

Eric Anderson

P.S. It’s hard to take pictures while walking

Day 82 March 2nd

            My knees hurt…I don’t know if this is good or bad but it concerns me.  Last night was the 4^th walk of my possible 21 days in a row of walking (and hopefully at some point running [at the least jogging]).  All week my legs have been sore as well as my back, calves, shins, and butt (yes I said it), however this pain is different.  My knees hurt like I’ve been standing of them all day or something.  I know that walking is high impact and not really good for your joints but I have thick shoes with plenty of support and I’m walking on a rubber padded track so I don’t know what else I can do to combat this.  I know I should probably just join a gym and use some low impact exercise equipment, but that costs money and walking is free.

            My energy level today has been at about a 5 (that’s from a new scale I just made up and I’m not going to say what the range is…let’s just say that a 5 is low).  I was groggy and incoherent when my alarm went off and I blacked out into some kind of weird trance while I was in the shower but I still made it to work on time (not sure how).  I’m pretty hungry this morning but I’m combating that by drinking a ton of water (more like 2 liters or so).

By the end of the day today I’m totally drained but I know I have to go to the track so I get dressed, put on my new shoes, put my headphones in, drive to the track, turn on the Nike tracker and walk to the entrance only to find a sign that says that they are closed for the next 24+ hours (what the hell? Was that sign there yesterday? I didn’t see it) for track meets.  There’s no one here except for 2 dudes with ice chests and attitudes pointing at their fancy sign (I really didn’t see that sign yesterday [it wasn’t all that fancy either…2 pieces of paper printed out with the info on them).  Needless to say I am ecstatic about not having to torture myself tonight. This does bring up a problem though.  I said earlier this week that if I didn’t do 21 days in a row I would just quit.  I can’t quit now though.  I guess I’ll just start back on Sunday…if I can find the motivation…if.

Eric Anderson

P.S. No I couldn’t just go walking on the pavement, my knees hurt badly enough from walking on the rubber.

Day 81 March 1st

            I woke up this morning (again, obviously) and I felt super super awful.  I was tired, sore, a little sick and completely drained of all energy.  I don’t know if this is because of the exercise or just life in general wearing my down.  Recently my hours at work were cut because either I don’t do anything anyway or probably because overtime is expensive (a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B…hahahaha, that was my old friend Jeromy Harrison’s joke and I just stole it…except he did it in a funny voice that doesn’t translate to the blog screen, but it was hilarious take my word for it…oh well).  It was kind of nice having a couple of extra hours every day to chill, but now the track is eating up that time (maybe I need a treadmill…you know, to store things on).  Everyone keeps saying that exercise is a stress reliever and I have noticed that I am way less stressed after I’m finished, but that doesn’t seem to last forever.  I really thought that it would magically make me a happier person, but maybe that will come later (if I can manage to keep it up this time…if).

            I feel tons better now, only a few hours after waking up (still super sore but much more focused on things that are going on around me).  It’s weird and unexplained.  I feel like I have to constantly work on making myself be happy or I will get depressed all over again (is that normal? Do regular people have to walk around thinking positive thoughts? That sounds exhausting)

            Okay, so I crashed pretty hard after lunch sometime and just felt kind of blech all over and was in no mood to go the track tonight, but I went anyway out of fear of disappointing my future self, the nutritionist and my reader.  I walked 6 laps tonight (4 as hard and as fast as I could go [about 19 ½ minutes according to the Nike graph] and two at a much easier to maintain pace [it took like 15 extra minutes for those two]).  I know it’s only been 4 days but is there a point in the future when this won’t hurt so bad and maybe even make me feel better?

            I was super hungry all day today (maybe from the “440+” calories Nike says I burned…or I’m just a fat guy who loves the foods).  I’ve decided to give up crackers all together for a while because they are my one crutch (even though they are completely diet compliant technically…just too many carbs).  I’ll try to replace them with celery; I’ll just be eating a ton of celery, maybe with peanut butter or something like that…who knows?

Eric Anderson

P.S. Davy Jones died on leap day and that very night there was a Monkees reference on a new episode of Modern Family…coincidence? Or Murder? Dum dum dummmmmmmm

P.P.S. RIP Davy Jones

Day 80 February 29th

            So I woke up this morning (obviously) and I was feeling pretty tired and sore all the way from my mid back down, but I figured that’s a good thing, right?  Although I don’t think that any human being should feel this awful just from walking in circles I know that it’s got to be done…or does it? Yes…or no? (This could go on forever).  With all my tired and soreness I still have more energy in different ways that I can’t really explain…I guess alertness is the word.  The foggy brain seems to have gone away a little bit, but not from the exercise because it was on its way out last week and I just didn’t say anything.  My body still feels awful (apparently I want both things to function properly…blah blah blah)

            I wrote a blog post this morning where I promised that I would go to the track 21 days in a row (what the crap is wrong with me? Why do I hate me so much?). I immediately regretted it but it’s out there so I went again tonight even though I felt like some sort of sickness was coming over me (are you happy, brain?)  I again walked a 21 minute mile (4 laps) which really sucks because I felt like I was pushing myself harder and getting more out of breath than the first 2 days (according the graph at Nike’s website I started out slower and pushed myself more at the end).  I don’t think I could have gone any faster because I was already having a mild asthma attack (I left the inhaler at home because I’m smart that way).  I know that I shouldn’t get discouraged or whatever and as long as it’s causing me serious physical pain then it’s working (that seems kind of sick to me).

            As far as the diet goes I was so so so so so hungry today.  I don’t know how to fix this (Nike said I burned 287 calories and I’m sure I more than made up for that with my crackers).  I know that if I let myself get too hungry I will cease to function as a “productive” member of society (some would argue I was never a productive member of anything).  I know I’m not supposed to be worrying about fat and calories, just carbs.  I probably need to stop buying those crackers…I’ll weigh myself on Monday and see if this walking has helped at all and then reevaluate the situation.

Eric Anderson

P.S. I’ve been told that I should be taking credit for the “cool down” lap because it is still technically a lap that I actually walked from one place to another with my actual legs.  Soooo, I guess I’ve walked 5 laps every day (so far) this week. Yay? This brings me to 3 of 21…ugh

P.P.S. want to hear something corny? Too bad.  Why is it called house training when you try to teach a dog not to go in the house but potty training when you try to teach a child to go in the potty?  I know I’m dumb.  This is what happens when my focus comes back. Sorry

P.P.P.S. Happy Leap Day!!!!!  Go out and murder a clown because today it doesn’t count. (that’s two references to hilarious things I saw last week…you figure it out)

P.P.P.P.S. I posted this the day after leap day because I don’t really want any clowns to be murdered (although they kind of deserve it)

P.P.P.P.P.S. I just wanted to see how many of these I can do.