Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Do not eat diet chocolate, and other holiday woes.

Hi.

     This is a short public message to alert and advise all interested citizens of the known world,  that if you plan to enjoy any chocolate at all, please do so with moderation,  and the hope that you will consume the real deal.

     This summer I was sugar free but one of the things I didn't want to give up was chocolate, dear chocolate. Ah, chocolate....

     But yet and still, I stuck to my diet, much to my dismay. I was saddened by two ideas: one, that I had no chocolate. Two, that not having chocolate saved me no calories in the end, and I was still needing to lose weight. so I guess I'm making a new pledge to honor my craving no matter what silly regimen I may be on.
   
     Let me tell you what I did to satisfy my chocolate fix: I ate that fake chocolate from Russell Stovers. Of course it was delicious and low in carbs! The problem was that it was filled with those sugars that would have been okay had the sweetener not twisted my system to the point where it was no longer fun to eat something that questionable for my system. I'm also thinking that it depletes essential nourishment from our bodies. Plus, there are so many wonderful nutrients in chocolate that it is a crime not to eat when the mood hits (unless you cannot control yourself, new topic). Let the lesson be the one where, if you don't have six hours to spend on the toilet,  diet chocolate may not be for you.

Break up to make up.

Okay intestines.

     Now is the moment of truth. Let's see if you can stand being empty long enough to manage some other new cleansing processes the body would someday like to undergo, if only you would allow it that. Do you think you can manage it? Or will you fill it soon after with the highest, yummiest, fattiest food possible? Sure it isn't "bad" food, but zucchini smothered in Romano and butter may after Awhile start to register as the good ole fat you know and love. Yes. There is a limit that everyone needs to find, especially if the goal is fat loss....

     I know that we spend our whole vacation trying to undo all the good work we've done. We spend our holiday eating ourselves into a certain oblivion. But before that, we were sure that we were gonna make it this time, that we would be good and true to ourselves. Then what gives?

     We step into this universal arc of surrender and we begin to think we need to do this poor eating thing because it's our last chance  and that we will be unable to ever eat this crap again, because at no other time in the  year will it be acceptable to consume. ..and that gives people stress...because they implant such unrealistic ideas that they make themselves tired and give up soon after. The whole idea of the diet becomes obsolete. ..but it doesn't have to.

     Some of us like the diet roller coaster. It gives us something to strive for in an otherwise dismal world of "dirty food ." Or we can stay happy and faithful to a relationship with food that will never let us down, if we can manage moderating our excessive desires to lose control at every holiday. 

Sunday, December 21, 2014

The Search for Truth and Justice in the American Diet.

Is it fair to assert that we the people use food as a tool for merriment in an otherwise bleak, cold season of hibernation and solitude? It's no time to get lost in the woods. But the season also speaks to a higher incidence of calorically challenged foods, usually involving sugar, fats and an abundance of such food frivolity.

Is it the best idea that we constantly assert that we eat these foods and consider the food connects us to some level of joy and peace? All it really does is make us feel we are further away from our goal instead of closer.

Do we continue to celebrate such debauchery with fattened glee? How do we celebrate if our minds work like mine in the sense that everyday is another chance to be lean? Is it really a distortion of my mind and those who think this way? Or is it a distortion to have holidays that celebrate lack of control and restraint? Ask yourself these questions and reflect on which one has caused more of the problem. Maybe the opposing ideas have worked in concert to create the state of affairs our society could possibly be in.

It seems that the most successful food participants learn to cook and find a way to consume healthful paths of purpose that do not blow health goals out of commission.

We can do this. We can learn to adapt and overcome. Carry on, holidays.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Just random thoughts I should consider trying to answer.

Does anybody ever REALLY admit how imperfect their diet really is?

Can bodybuilders afford to screw up their diet, or is that the ultimate test of discipline and diligence?

Can a fitness maverick or maven truly still get their results if they are indulging too much? Is there really this extra room for error, even in their diets?

Am I a health coach and specialist who will ever claim to know it all? (The answer is no.)

Is any one diet really going to deliver the benefits that are promised and supposedly proven in trials?

Will I ever get this right? Will any of us?

Why do people think that their leadership is or should be perfect, in order to help them? Doesn't it matter what the goal is?

Should we choose our trainers, fitness experts, health coaches and training partners based on the diet and the body we want to have?

Do already fit people need to lose more weight?

Does Hollywood exacerbate our quest for perfection?

Do we do too much in an effort to be, look or attain "perfect?"

From Chinese Wood to Ayurvedic heat...

Here I go again....

Summer comes and goes and my carbs were virtually nonexistent. So the autumn time was a moment of reassessment for my diet and with an Ayurvedic doctor, was beginning to think she'd be the answer. I hated the fact that she was telling me to slowly revert back to grains. I didn't want to! But my palate fought me, and before long I was exercising my right to a slice of sprouted grain bread, even to the point where I'm concerned that I can't get enough due to taking this supplement called GX Assist, with six different essential oils and caprylic acid, all designed to heal the intestines and digestion. So basically I've been working on my digestion since the fall. Doc put me on this long pepper, ginger and fennel blend, and we happily discussed herbs, oils and possibly the over potency of the oils at a time when she thought I should treat the system gently. Here I am thinking that my system needs a more aggressive cleansing, due to the previous low carb abuse I must have somehow done to it. I simply think that I let my induction go on too long, and suffered the low carb flu and mood/energy swings, finally finding "normal" again.

But did I? Doc suggested that low carbing is just an extreme thing to do, and for years I would agree. But I think that the diet industry now takes on what the bodybuilding community has done for years: carb cycling. However, food pundits such as Dave Asprey, Dave from PaleoHacks and PaleoPeople in general still feel pretty well attuned to a no grain, no dairy lifestyle. Some say it is the only way. I say give me enough fat to smile and everyone will be okay.

But I wasn't agreeing with the influx of grains. While it didn't change my weight drastically, I do remember a noticeable amount of brain fog leaving. How do you know you aren't functioning at optimal levels when you simply aren't that? It's like telling a person who isn't smart, to see that he or she isn't. Can they really see that? So once I felt clarity, it was an education, an awakening that I wanted again.

Even though there were these great therapeutic advantages with the different Ayurvedic massages she offered and the herb therapy she wanted me to sign onto, I'm still interested but have since tried a few other supplements to my benefit. I was thinking that since I work for doTERRA I should try their digestive aids, as they are fully formulated by doctors, chemists and botanists as a team working together, using the best technology and highest data measurement methods. The only problem is that I'm doing something I fully disagree with, right alongside the digestive protocol, and that is the consumption of deli processed meats. Somewhere in my head I thought they were easy and cheap, and that is exactly why I'm eating them. I have these momentary lapses in sanity....










Let's just try one...more...thing...

...before I do something crazy, like take something special, for fat loss. It's the taboo subject in a clean eater's mind, that gets frustrated after a long stretch of attempts that leads to the chaotic desperation within...it slowly creeps up and takes over your brain, then you start to wonder what your goals are and why...

What's so wrong with wanting to be leaner, fitter and lower in body weight? Why am I a bit concerned at what people think of me? Why has my yoga button, though pushed, not seem to be working properly? I'm really wanting maximum advantage in this game, and trying just one more method, one more food, one more exercise, one more supplement, more restriction...until the balance is lost, and now time will be spent crawling back to the cherry spot where fat loss was the norm.
Now I'm questioning my thyroid because of not even incremental weight loss, fatigue and exhaustion, although I could have caused my endocrine system a lot of stress by heavy dieting. People just say to go to bed at night. 

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Overeating while supplementing for fat loss

You start this awesome new way of organizing your food, and you begin making fabulous progress on your fat loss goals. You're exercising hard, you're looking great, and even though you began with some great strides, you feel a touch fatigued because you're in a caloric deficit.

You start to satisfy the extra fat burn with calories after some time. It's easy to do, especially if you aren't being neurotic about food intake. So very slowly you begin sneaking in way more calories than you expect, because your food volume seems exactly the same.

That's where most of us get lost in an eating plan. We start to see the advances and then we want more. We supplement until we can no longer tell which supplement is doing what. This vexes our chances to be the epitome of all we wish to become, which is fitter.

We must at this point, become comfortable with discomfort...with what a mild deficit feels like, and understand that there is no change without struggle. Ask any fitness competitor or bodybuilder, how they feel on a regular day of restrictions, and how great they feel on their typical "cheat meal." It's the difference between staying on diet and completely blowing it. Here is a nice moment to consider that success lies somewhere between the extremes, though it still might be uncomfortable. I know. I've experienced it.

The Annoying part of dieting.

Ugh!! So many annoying points to make about dieting!! Yes I'm plenty done with the dang thing. But really, when it comes down to it, I'm more annoyed with my thought process when it comes to the extra fats I want when I take my carbs low. Truth is, maybe my carbs were too low for too long. I have been warned against it in studies and continuing research on low carb and primal eating plans.
But the extra fat is customary to a diet with carbohydrate restrictions. Something has to give, and the truth is that everything so far, seems to still boil down to calorie totals, to a large degree. Calories are still the measurement upon which we determine our food wonderland of choices. 

We can choose low to no starch, green and watery vegetables, but we have to make strong choices with them. For example, if we choose to mash parsnips, which come in at 24 carbs per cup and have a naturally sweet taste that stifles sugar cravings, then we have to monitor our butter and cream usage and let me tell you how much cream and butter I want to use! Parsnips satisfy like a potato, but with less calories and starch.

So I'm annoyed because I love fats and I want to intensely indulge in them if I can't eat too many carbs. Anyway I gave up and made the most satisfying mashed sweet potatoes. It tastes like pie, it's so amazing! Now I have to make sure I eat lighter meats like chicken and fish, something I've naturally migrated to, as I increase my healthy carb sources.

Maybe I'll divulge my fat grams and carb totals in this next post.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

My bio hacking, is bio lacking.

On this fine day, I make the realization that my summer of very low, watery green vegetables acting as my carbohydrate intake, has ended. As the season changes, it clearly dictates my return to a simpler time: carbohydrate intake. No this does not refer to the standard American fare. Not even a little bit… It relates to much of the opposite. While the summer has turned me into a gratefully carbohydrate clean body, there is still the trouble of living in the world, and being constantly inundated by peoples carbohydrate dreams.

Upon starting school this season, I realized how many moments I dealt with a ridiculous food regimen that didn't go too well last year. Once breakfast in the classroom started, I was daily faced with carbohydrate-laden meals that asked me if I wanted to have coffee cake more days than I care to remember. Then they started serving these energy bars with sesame and sunflower seeds, cranberries, wheat flour and made with honey. It was so sweet that it was barely edible, and yet, I was first in line some days, to eat this thing. 

Anyway, those days are long gone, and I am happy to have seen those days disappear...meanwhile I've made the jump to meals with high amounts of seasoned vegetables...and it is the best thing I think I've ever done.

Meanwhile I can't fool myself into believing that a cauliflower is a potato. Having said that, if you want a potato, have a potato. In fact, you may find you need it just then. But most people do not know how to monitor their consumption, or control their portions, on food that simply tastes good to them. 

The bio "lack" comes in when I know that my body is feeling unwelcomingly tired, and I need more nutrient intake. This is where I need to know where my next food cue is coming from...because the answer may be in my needing to up those carbs, in vegetable form of course, but from starchy vegetables. That still doesn't mean that the flour tortilla you had around your sausage egg and cheese burrito was acceptable for your cheap meal.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Holiday Parties Gotta Get Primal.

Holiday parties in the middle of summer, over an open flame in the barbeque pit, make for excellent primal fodder. Think of all the times of the year when you don't want to increase the internal temperature of your home and you just want to relax with the mesquite in your "grill," pound on the ground with rocks and grunt a bit for your meal...anyway I digress. Labor Day is coming. Seems like a wonderful time to fire up the grill and get the food cooking.

Let's go over some delicious and very nutritious primal ideas for your summer palate. Then let's look ahead to fall, where spooky goblins, pumpkins, turkeys and santas try to bring you every sugared delight imaginable. Makes me think of the sweet and delicious Turkish Delight Edward and Peter would delectably describe in the Chronicles of Narnia. But again, a second digression...


Body Wrestling#3: Supplementation sometimes changes things.

Hi.

I meant to write this blog a long time ago, but my life decided to get a little bit busier than it had originally been. NO lazy summer this year. This has so far been the summer of planning and making money, building my professional skill sets to an all-time high, waking up my ability to understand my world a bit better. I had better be the smartest lady on the planet!

Speaking of smart, let's chat for a bit about supplementation in a dieting biome. I personally find it to be excessively useful, to actually give my body what it needs to optimize the pipes. What could be better than eating this beautifully clean food and giving it an extra log for the flames, than to throw a terrific, fat burning, metabolically high revving supplement on top? Here, let me tell you what I am taking, in addition to my protein and vegetable lifestyle this summer.

My top favorite supplements have so far proven to give me physical advancement on the journey of balance. I'll give the list and then give a breakdown of what I know to be most important to understand about the supplement.

L-Glutamine: This amino acid is the fix-it amino, essential for rebuilding, protecting and strengthening joints, tissues, and improves gut health. It helps the body to repair and recover faster from tough workouts and any past traumatic injury the body has undergone. It's also good for focus, very important for those with an ADHD approach to life, if you know what I'm saying. When you have too much mental activity going on, this one can help. I take 1500 mg per dose, and I don't think about sugar, really at all much anymore. Thank goodness.

BCAA and basic aminos: I've recently just started taking BCAAs in powder form, and let me tell you, it is not delicious by any stretch...but it seems to be integral to muscle recovery and strength boosting. It also helps to prevent fatigue, increase concentration, and prevent loss of muscle mass through catabolism. I take 5000 mgs of powder before and after exercise, with at least a tablespoon of lemon juice, to help it go down.

Beta Alanine: This is a nonessential amino acid produced naturally in the body and works alongside carnosine to allow the muscles to work longer before fatiguing. But you'll want more when you take this supplement and you start to feel the tingly effects of muscle power. For me, it has tremendously improved my strength and endurance gains. When I take correctly, meaning 3200 mgs before and after exercise, it produces a powerful fat burning, leaning out effect. Studies aren't convinced of beta alanine's effectiveness, though they do show beta alanine being most effective when athletes are performing interval-intense activities. Anyway, I feel different when I take them, versus when I don't, versus when I use the ones produced by Labrada Systems, which I so far deem as the best. Meanwhile, beta alanine can be naturally found in meat, fish and poultry. That's one reason I enjoy having some protein before hitting the weight room.

African Mango Seed: African mango is being touted and heralded for weight loss in the fact that it reduces cravings, reduces appetite, stabilizes blood sugar levels, fills up the tummy with a fibrous substance, moves food through faster, assists with metabolic and insulin resistance mechanisms. Other than that, it's a pretty mango from a faraway land...I also notice that in the carb transfer supplement I sometimes take, it is pretty good at keeping me from feeling like eating more carbs, though the white bean may also help with this function, and especially in carb sparing, where all the carbs are not absorbed by the body. That's cool, because I stopped eating the most offensive carbs, though this supplement worked tremendously for me. But then, when I started using this next supplement, I used it instead of the African mango, because the two just seemed too strong together....

Forskohli: I just recently found this Ayurvedic herb this summer. Eastern medicine has much appeal to me, and I think it resonates with the body more readily, especially when you attune yourself to the theory and philosophy. Once you begin using herbs in synergy, they seem to give a much more pleasing effect in the body, with the results you want. With this herb, it is said to break down adipose fatty tissue and prevent fat from forming. It mildly stimulates metabolic processes because of a diterpinoid called forskolin, found in the herb. Since terpine usually denotes a type of oily substance in the herb that promotes an action such as enhanced metabolic activity, and a hydrocarbon usually plays out in being the active component of fossil fuel, one could say that the herb puts one into a hyperstate of fat burning activity. Anyway, I don't feel compelled to use the two together, forskohlii and African mango. 'Nuff said.

CLA: Conjugated linoleic acid is a fatty acid component found primarily in meat and eggs, and some dairy. It always inspires my metabolism to kick up, while acting as a bit of a fat blocker. It supports lean mass and promotes healthy weight loss. It is also said to promote exercise recovery. It may even explain why people lose weight and fat in particular, when increasing our proteins. And when you escape calories and potential allergy inducing substances such as grain products and starchy vegetables, something else CLA can assist with, I'm thinking it's a good thing.

MCT oil: This thermogenic, immune-boosting oil has me buckling at the knees. Although MCTs can only be extracted in a laboratory, putting them together into a bottle and pouring them into your bullets or on a hot skillet for cooking is exceptional and ideal for calorie wasting, higher energy, better mental clarity and performance, and fat loss. Much of the MCT oil is not even used by the body! It sounds to me, magical indeed.


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Body Wrestling, part two: Food Feeling.

     Greens and proteins....animals and grasses. That is all anyone needs. I know. I've just used a form of subjective fallacy, and offended a lot of vegans. Yet and still, I persevere in this idea of ancestral eating being closest to our unique DNA structure. Lately. Though can I really say this is accurate anymore if I also claim that we can change the structure of our DNA? Look at how my writing changes between part one and two because of a little green intake, and now, protein.

     Over the course of the past hour, I have been slowly loading food. I've taken one supplement and I'm on my second cup of coffee (since before returning to slumber for a bit longer). I am taking careful stock in how food moves me. We as a society are far too involved in how food makes us feel. We are often looking for extreme, euphoric sensation from our food. But how about if we took it a little further and allowed the food to move us, but through healthy means? Bottom line in my body is that food is a Shamanic experience and possibly a tool for self realization when used with intention. White flour and sweet desserts are a whole different intention in itself. And also, if form follows function, we have to look at the reasons why a food is the way it is, why it is eaten, what benefits are obtained, and why they are important (or not so important).

     When I eat_______, it makes me feel like ________. I use this sentence frame repeatedly, in the effort to think closely about each bite. So here's my recent one.

When I eat high amounts of greens, it make feel clean as a whistle.
When I eat high animal proteins, I feel sated and clear.
When I eat erythritol, it runs through me like a freight train.
When I eat white flour, it makes me feel like a big sack of lumpy coal in the freezer.
When I drink coffee, I feel neurally stimulated and sharp.
When I eat sugar, I feel foggy and muddy, like a dull blade.
When I don't eat for more than six hours, I feel hollow, empty, and super lean.
When I don't eat for six or more hours, I start feeling giddy and silly, light and floaty. But NOT HUNGRY.

     So this not hungry phenomenon started to make me think I had something going on with my thyroid, as this was accompanied by some minor symptoms...but I found almost all of the symptoms to some small degree. I have since scheduled an appointment with the doc to get a Thyroid blood panel done. As the thyroid hormone goes, it does not suggest it will show it as less than normal. That's common.
     Meanwhile the thyroid really could use some extra thyroxine, to make sure a goiter doesn't form, if it can be helped. So far I have been very blessed, as well as just smart, because I take care of the bugger. Looks also like I've kicked my ghrelin addiction, and possibly my leptin resistance, as I see my body leaning out. But really, again, sensations, sensations, and more sensations rock our world as we sense our way through our food and its effects. I'm gonna say that I'm experiencing more of the Low Carb Flu, and less of an actual issue with my endocrine system, as I am producing some kickass workouts. I should talk about thyroid hormone and the endocrine system in another blog.

     What's funny is that I haven't been feeling hungry, no matter what I do. I'm just not feeling hungry. I just eventually feel the need to consume, and then I do. I don't have many cravings anymore for anything. It's fascinating how, after dropping grain carbs and really oatmeal and brown rice (because those were the only carbs I was allowing myself to have for two weeks), I only craved them for like two days. After that, done. The cravings were gone. I had a craving for erythritol and stevia for a moment, but that seems to have subsided as well. L-Glutamine helped me tremendously with that, which we will discuss in part three.


Sunday, June 29, 2014

Body wrestling to greatness. Gotta Do this in Parts...#1

     The time is about 1:44p, as I restlessly stumble sideways through my kitchen, blurring past my teapot, while reaching backwards to hit the on button. I realize that I've had a rough morning, rough night, rough week. My teenage dreams of joining the army suddenly pop into my head, having passed the ASVAB but not pushing forward (because mom said no). But I was up at 4am!! Yes, but I could hardly see straight enough to be awake. Driving was an interesting option for the morning...imagine having to eat in five minutes, five mile run, and do five hundred push-ups immediately in the cold air of the morning. Sounds refreshing! So does sleeping, in that cold air...

     I like life rough, to some extent. Maybe it would have done me well to have gone into the service. I've taken easy for granted too long. It's not always the best when people have an easy life, because they never learn how to triumph through adversity. Here's where dieting starts to make sense to me again, for the first time in years, and why I've resisted for so long.

     I lumber over to the refrigerator door, and I reach in. I find a bowl of fried kale I made yesterday. Having made this my cover photo, I ate some and put it away. I'm very grateful for having done this, as lunch meets my lips. After heating up my big bowl of greens, I stumble over to my flip flops, preparing to head downstairs to find my earphones and begin my binaural beat session. I type blogs, connect with friends and clients, create documents and work on my Huna lessons before heading to my workout with partners. I gotta plan my contribution to the session. With all of us having a goal to meet, plus a necessary stretch session, today will prove to be long and potentially injurious to participants!

     Still needing to have some caffeine and some protein (gotta have my eins), I decide to start typing because I want to document this feeling I'm having. I started a food chronicle so I could blather on about what food does in me, and maybe in someone who's reading this, and to just monitor my progress. At this moment, my stomach feels nice and hollow after being up for several hours on only coffee with cream, and back to sleep, awakening and having my greens. I'm noticing how surprisingly awake and fresh I feel, despite a little stumbling.

     Since I am devoid of grain carbs or even root vegetable carbs at this point, I am naturally inducing my body into ketonic states of fat adaptation. In order to joggle the body, sometimes you must do some crazy things, or go to some length, to force it into submission. I think that everything I do to my body adapts quickly, except for some things that change the structure and function of my energy, and how I output. But somehow I am pushing right through this phase and into some measurable success. The scale hasn't moved incredibly much, though my leanness factor is definitely improving. I'm taking serious strides to create nutritional deficits in ways I hadn't previously explored, and taking new supplements as well.

Visit part two to read on.


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Eating Right is a Full time Job.

Proper nutrition and home cooked meals deserve a salary of its own. With the fast food industry taking over our minds and waistlines, we need some recourse over the out-of-control healthy meal energy deficit our country is experiencing, and we have to do something to slow the downhill slide. It's time to do something about it, sometimes slowly, but surely.

It took me awhile for example, to get my head back in the game of buying food and getting in that kitchen. But I want my body and mind to be right, so I do everything I can, to make sure mealtimes at home happen. This includes not getting coerced into too many restaurant meals. After all, unless you have quite a lot of money to spend, both eating out and meals in don't often work due to the expense. It's often one or the other.

It makes for a lonely world. Sure I don't see my friends or family often, due to spending every available minute in the kitchen, but I'm skinny! No seriously, in order to be "skinny," I have to eat at home. Otherwise, every cupcake that wasn't nailed down, I'd probably consume. End of story.

So lately I've been able to break my addiction to shoveling excessive carbs down my Throat. So here's the truth: you really can't eat fats and grains in the same day, not the kind of luxurious fats I would load with in the morning. I see that life is low fats with grains, or high fats with no carbs. Yes, I'm currently on as low as I can. Really it's because there just isn't a reason for grains...not anymore. There are way too many poorly  processed ones. 

Let's go back to the Kitchen with this conversation. So because of my need to eat at home, I have to plan, shop, prep, and produce. I have been invited to so many events including a wedding to which I wondered, "how will this affect my food and training schedule?" I mean really, food and training has always consumed my life, but with this current goal, it has become more all consuming.

And then let's not even ponder what food plan to follow. Since I last blogged in Chronicles, I've done everything from Pescetarian to Warrior to carb cycling to crowding out with heavy roughage intake to 70% fruitarian to giving up and junking out on refined flours, deciding that there were some treats like burritos that I was unwilling to give up. But now I have decided that no craving is worth my health and figure. Especially not flour...or wheat, the evil thing.

My latest mealtime prep has consisted of proteins and veggies. I'm coming up with every version I can think of. So far this week, I've had bacon burgers and salad, bacon and cauliflower, cottage cheese, high protein low carb and sugar free cakes made with almond flour, Spanish "rice," eggs and avocados, avocado grasshopper shakes with avocado, cacao nibs, and DoTerra peppermint essential oil, pork loin with snow peas and bean sprouts, broiled baked chicken with cucumber nutribullets. Really I haven't had much of a desire to consume grains. I imagine that if there be a time soon where I want a grain, I'll carefully journal and examine my reasons why. To be ultra thoughtful of our food intake plays an important role in our food destiny. What we think about today, affects tomorrow.

I stand by my current justified choices but then I'm seeing a result. This means I continue pushing at all costs. Hopefully I can be some form of role model who set the precedent for you in your quest for greater physical results.