Veggie Challenge: Day 8

So I'm a little perplexed today.  Okay, I'm really perplexed.  I stepped on the scale today and it read 192 lbs.  You might say, "Hey... that's great, you put on weight like you wanted to".  But, here's the thing:

1. I weighed in at 188 a week ago.

2. I haven't been consuming anywhere near 3500 calories.

3. I've been going to the bathroom a lot.

4. I put up a lot more weight today than i normally do.

5. My body fat percentage has gone up almost 2%.

Either i'm severely miscalculating my calories or there is something weird thing going on.  Given the fact that i'm on a veggie diet (mostly vegetables) i find it hard to believe i'm eating 3500 calories.  Not to mention all the bathroom trips should of done the obvious but, that would also account for fluid loss too.

I think this deserves...

For the bro's...

Veggie Challenge: Day 5

I think I figured out what the gas culprit was...

No not the crackers but the hummus dip.  Main ingredient is garbanzo beans.  I've had beans before but this stuff... good golly miss molly.  I'm probably going to toss the rest because i don't want to suffer that torture again.

Last night i also popped open a bag of pistachios.  Haven't had those in like a decade but damn i couldn't crack those shells quick enough.  Eating those things was like trying to eat just one Dorito... ain't gonna happen.

Overall, so far so good ... it hasn't been as torturous eating this stuff as i thought it would.  I have noticed my energy levels seems a little down but, it has been only a few days.  This is a morning picture:

Veggie Challenge: Day Two

I don't know what to say other then... all these veggies cleaned me out today.  The porcelain gods were laughing at me!

It's all okay though.  I still hit up the gym, ate some food, and popped open a bag of these:

One thing that I didn't mention before was that to continue any gains I still need to figure out how to consume 3500 calories and at least 200-250 grams of protein in there somewhere.

As of right now the scale says i dropped a pound (not significant) and my body fat percentage went down a little (also not significant).  But a picture nonetheless:

Veggie Challenge: Day 1

So last night i had some of these:

It actually tasted pretty good.  I didn't really taste like a burger by any means but for what it was it was good.    Some other things i had were:

- Flaxseed chips
- Hummus
- Steamed vegetables
- Cashews

All was good but i had one side effect the next day.  I was a little gassy.  Ya i know... TMI... but, that's important information in my opinion so STEP OFF.

Here is a picture of me at 190lbs, 6'1, and 11.5% body fat.

Month Long Vegetarian Trial

For a long time I've heard people bash this way of eating.  I do find a little humor in people calling vegetarians hippies... hah... but, there is a lot of real nonsense out there as well.  Things like, "Oh, it's not healthy", or "You can't make muscular gains eating like that", or "You need meat".  After watching and reading a lot of information on various diets I've decided to try the one that I really haven't come close to trying before... and that's this one.  There is no information like self information... so I will try this a month and see how I feel and do a little updates along the way.

Right now these are my current stats:

190lbs
10-12% body fat
Athletic
6'1

My goal is to drop body fat, put on muscle, lower my resting heart rate, increase my VO2Max, and see how i feel at regular intervals through the whole thing.

I am going to modify this diet a little bit by:

1. Keeping breads, pastas, fruits, and processed foods at a low.
2. Supplementing protein.
3. One cheat meal a week.


Basically this diet will consist of nuts, fruits (minimal), vegetables, and meat substitutes.  I will also try and make a daily update if possible.  Heck, I might even go get blood work for the hell of it.

Free Will

Free Will ... this is something I believe everyone has but, I don't believe it's something everyone uses.  Actually, I believe most people hardly exert free will at all.  Now you might be thinking, "Come on, I make choices every day, all day, and they're mine!"  No, I'm not sure I really agree with that.

I don't believe choice really quantifies free will.  The reason I believe this is because our environment and conditioning dictates our choices 99.9% of the time.  A little thought experiment if you don't mind:

Suppose you just got done running a marathon and the race just so happened to finish in a small town with only four restaurants.  The four restaurants are: McDonald's, Panda Express, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.

1. Of the four which one did you choose?  Why?

2. Suppose I take away McDonald's.  Now which have you chosen?  Why?

3. Suppose I take away Panda Express as well.  Now which have you chosen?  Why?

4. Suppose I take away Pizza Hut too.  Now you're left with only Taco Bell.  What's your choice now?  Why?

As you can see, I limited your choices by environment.  Slowly, I made the environment smaller and therefore your choices more limited.  Eventually, I left you with only one choice.  Now... I threw the 'why's' in there because that was a test of conditioning.  Did you choose McDonald's because that was your favorite place to eat as a kid?  Did you choose Panda Express because you're lactose intolerant and can't eat pizza?  Did you choose Pizza Hut because you had bad experiences at the other places?  Finally, I left out the most important conditioning factor of all... hunger.  You just ran a marathon, you're starving for food, and your body is constantly sending your brain signals saying, "feed me".

Now, what does all this have to do with free will?  It's my contention that a myriad of forces are directing your choices.  Your choice isn't so much based on what you actually want but, what your entire existence up to that point has conditioned you to choose.  Seems kind of 'bleh' ... but ... if free will is a gift it only makes sense that you don't get to open it every single day.

You see, to me free will encompasses those moments when you sack up.  Those moments when you go against the grain, fight the fear, or take a bold stance.  Things like telling the truth when it would be convenient to lie, or not moving to the back of the bus when the law says you must and you risk jail time, or sacrificing yourself on the cross knowing full well the pain and suffering you must endure.  Maybe it's even the little things like fasting after a marathon, or saying no to unhealthy snack, or going out of your way to make someone feel better when you could of easily went on about your business.

Going against your conditioning, or rewriting your conditioning, or facing your fears... these are things that I would call real choices.  Step outside yourself, knock down some barriers, be bold, and live.  Unwrap that gift called free will.

/end RANT

My Top 5 Favorite Quotes

I love me some quotes.  The best ones in my opinion describe a lifetime of knowledge and experience in no more than a single paragraph and then leaves you reevaluating your thoughts and beliefs about your life and the world around you.

1.  “Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is...The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.” - Dan Millman

I first read this quote after reading this guys book (The Peaceful Warrior).  This quote sums up a lot of what this Dan said in his book.  One particular scene in the book stands out.  The teacher, the student, and a female friend were having a picnic and it started to rain.  The teacher and female friend embraced the rain and laughed about it.  The student got angry because he saw the rain as ruining the picnic.  Then, he got even angrier because the other two weren't angry... worse (to him), they were enjoying the moment.  The student questioned as to why they could be so happy by the ruined picnic and the master responded with:

"Neither your disappoint nor your anger was caused by the rain.  The rain was a perfectly lawful display of nature.  Your 'upset' at the ruined picnic and your 'happiness' when the sun reappeared were the product of your thoughts.  They had nothing to do with the actual events.  Haven't you been 'unhappy' at celebrations for example?  It is obvious then that your mind, not other people or your surroundings, is the source of your moods."

This passage and quote stuck with me.  Many times i've seen myself cursing Mondays simply because they are Mondays.  How dumb is that?  But honestly, we as human beings will look for everyone and everything to blame for our current state of mind other then ourselves.  No answers will be learned that way.


2.  "There are stories of people coming to the Buddha and saying, "I am leaving your teaching because you have not told me whether there is a life after death or whether there is another world." The Buddha says, "Did I ever say I would give you the answer to these things?" His follower responds, "No Lord you didn't." The Buddha says, "Why do you think that I never said that I would give you the answers to these things? Because these are not the things you need to know. The thing that you need to know is how to deal with suffering. Because at this very moment what made you ask that question was suffering." - Buddha

The last sentence of this quote slapped me in the face.  The Buddha understands that these questions stem from fear, attachment, and desire which lead to suffering.  Worrying about these questions will not add a single moment to your life as Matthew said in his Gospel.  Worrying about it won't do you any good.  Infact, your worrying is the problem.  Find out why and fix it.


3.  "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul?" - Gospels of Matthew & Mark

Simple-stupid is how i see this quote.  If you have to step on everyone and everything to get what you want, then you will have lost everything and gained nothing.


4.  "Nothing can resist the human will that will stake even its existence on its stated purpose." - Benjamin Disraeli

This is a quote i came across recently.  The wording of it is just perfect.  I interpret it as... your goals are only as real as your willpower to achieve them.  And if that willpower is as strong as your will to live then almost nothing can stop you.


5.  “When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.” - Tom Robbins

This quote really ties in with the first one.  We all want happiness and fulfillment but we never seem to give it to ourselves.  Yes i said, "give it to ourselves".  We all seem conditioned to believe that things and people will give it to us.  This is a problem i haven't cracked for myself yet, but i know that it is a major problem.  I mean where do you start with this one?  Drugs, cars, sex, toys, clothes, parties, money, fame, relationships, and on, and on.  Everyone has a vision of how 'badass' there life will be with all of these things... how much more happy/fulfilled they will be, and time after time we are proven wrong.  But we're all soooo stubborn.  We have been conditioned so much from birth to believe all these things will give us what we want, and when it fails to be true time and again we 'think' that we did it wrong somehow, or bought the wrong thing.

The Bible clearly states that Jesus relied on none of these things.  The Buddha relied on none of these things.  Yet, most of us would think it to be the end of the world if we didn't have a car, really nice clothes, lots of money, and many other things.  We're deluded.  Worse, most of us don't even question these obvious delusions.

The quote itself deals with what might be the most severe one.  I say that because it seems like it always has the most at risk.  You start mixing in kids, family, property, money, strong feelings, and you get some of the ugliest situations ever.  In this day and age more then half of all marriages end in divorce.  So flip a coin... .  Many of us believe that 'special someone' is going to be the solution to all of our problems.  That everything that pains us will be just whisked away.  Happily ever after right?  The problem is your working things the wrong way... just like quote two.  The truth is your relationship is most likely just covering everything up.  Eventually, that band-aid will fall off, old wounds will fester, and you will suffer.


Enough of that.  How about some Bruce Lee inspiration...