On Positive Goals.

I think it’s easier to work towards positive goals than it is negative goals. I like generalizing things.

I hang around the Fitness & Weight Loss circle and such, and it’s fascinating to contrast the personas at work. I spend far too much time around the Men’s Health Forums. (Don’t read the magazine, it’s crap.) It seems that anybody that’s trying to add something positive to their body gets nothing but positive reinforcement from continued progress. You get stronger, which lets you get even more stronger. Yes. More stronger. MORE BETTER.

I’ll reiterate that I don’t always read words, I feel them. And what I get from a lot of girls trying to lose weight is a sense of fear or desperation. There’s almost a light-hearted masochism to weight loss. Your body becomes your enemy. Every pound lost makes you terrified you’re going to gain it back. And if you DO maintain or gain a pound or two one week, you feel like a failure. Maybe it’s not always the case, but I feel it often enough to worry me.

Which leads me to believe that a positive pursuit (addition of lean body mass) is more emotionally fulfilling than a negative pursuit (reduction of fat body mass). I can’t say I lack any motivation to hit the gym or avoid eating crap. We (guys who like lifting) seem to get addicting to the gym. Why do you think I keep a log? Every single time I hit the gym, I’m doing something I’ve never done before. Whether it be a single added repetition, or adding more weight to the bar, I’m constantly improving. That kind of visceral improvement is very motivating.

I haven’t much of a solution. I reckon I’m annoyed at how afraid of the weights girls are. Don’t think you’re some special case that will explode if you touch a dumbbell larger than 5 lbs. If you’re losing all that fat, what kind of lean body mass have you added to your body lately? It’s not about the goddamn scale. A lot of girls set their goals far too low and end up losing lean body mass (read: muscle) as a result of their obsession with the scale. You’re feeding your body less, so it has less to work with. Just what are you letting yourself live on?

I hate cardio. There is such a thing as gradually making your bouts more difficult. But I’m fully convinced you don’t need cardio to lose weight. Heavy lifting increases your metabolism after you’ve lifted, whereas steady-state cardio tends not to have this effect. Ha ha. Maybe I should just be a trainer and whip some fat chicks into shape. SQUAT, I SAY, PUNY FEMALE!

I should also mention that my heartrate gets pretty high when I’m lifting. Trust me. Maybe I’ll take up swimming. I know a guy that does HIIT using swimming. HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training. Eh. If I want to lower my resting heartrate, I’m better off keeping it low-intensity so there’s not much CNS strain.

I’m amused when I read stories about guys who were having trouble losing weight. You know, the confounded plateau. They’d describe their average daily intake, and the general response would be, “You’re eating too little.” The reply would be, “HOW THE HELL CAN I LOSE WEIGHT BY EATING MORE?” Given a couple weeks, the guy will them come back and state, “I don’t believe it. I increased my caloric intake a little, and I’m losing weight again.” I can’t fully explain it myself, but I do know that if you drop your caloric intake low enough, your body will do whatever it takes to prevent wasting away.

I’m not done gaining weight. I will laugh my ass off when I actually decide to drop my bodyfat a little bit. Because it takes a lot of dedication to eat as much as I do. Cardio, my ass. One of my goals in life is to be obese according to my BMI. Because, we we know, BMI is bullshit. I’d have to get up to 190 lbs. I doubt I have the motivation to get up that far. Erik said he’s around 180 lbs. I think. Or was it 170. I think 180. Whatever. Another one of my goals in life is to weigh more than Erik. Because it would amuse me greatly.

My prof for Kinesiology said we could take the quiz from home today. Woo. I swear, I always drag my feet getting out the door, unless it’s to the gym. This is a plus for me, as it lets me get in more food. I have an A&P lab later on, anyway, so I’ll be getting out of here soon. Yes. I have things to do. So I should… go do them?

Heh. I ranted. But yes, time to eat again.

DateATimmy VI: Would you like to date me?