2004-08-19 - 1:28 p.m.
A day and a half, and counting…
Slowly, slowly, I’m going through my desk and throwing away things I won’t need. Four-year-old memos. Outdated process updates. Stale joke e-mails. There’s a lot of stuff I’m going to leave here, because my successor will find it useful. It’ll be strange to move over that ten feet to my new desk. I’ve been riding this one since 1999. My new one has higher glass walls. It’s not quite the corporate veal-fattening pen that you’d imagine, since you do get to see out. It also gives one a space to express some creativity. Most people put up family pictures and calendars, sports memorabilia, stuffed animals, and so forth. I’m not sure what I’ll put up; maybe some Addams Family cartoons or pictures of Miyamoto Musashi. Maybe a picture of Opus in his full Deathtöngue glory.
After four years on Carbohydrate Addicts, I’ve switched plans. I had thought that I’d be on CAD for the rest of my life, but apparently not. I’d hit a sticking point in my weight. I was exercising more often and more effectively, but the weight wasn’t changing much. No matter what, I kept orbiting around 220-225 pounds. Anyway, I’ve switched to Clarence Bass’s “Ripped” diet. Lots of whole grains, unlimited amounts of vegetables, small amounts of dairy and lean protein. So now I get to eat homemade bread and fruit and yogurt and brown rice and beans and onions and broccoli and apples and carrots and melons and all sorts of other good things that I was severely limited on with my other diet. I also eat every four hours or so. Nothing much, just a little snack, some celery and carrots, maybe a piece of fruit here and there. I’ve lost another five pounds, and since I’m constantly eating I’m not hungry the way I used to be before I started CAD.
(Incidentally, Clarence Bass is proof positive that you do not need to eat a cow a day to be a bodybuilder. Check him out at http://www.cbass.com. Dang.)
As far as training goes, I’ve added elements of John Peterson’s Transformetrics system to the whole Combat Conditioning thing. John Peterson takes Matt Furey’s ideas and mixes them with Charles Atlas’ Dynamic Tension concepts and tosses in Clarence Bass’s nutrition plan for good measure. I’ve started doing pushups at every break before I eat anything. Five sets of ten, switching among regular, diamonds, Hindu, and decline pushups. By the end of the workday I’ve done 150 pushups, and then I do another 50 at home, dipping down between two chairs. Add that in with the dynamic tension exercises and squats I do before breakfast, and I’m rockin’. Even after just a couple of weeks I’m seeing noticeable differences. At long last, my chest is bigger than my waist. I’ve gained a jacket size and lost a pants size. I’ve actually got noticeable pecs! Check out the site at http://www.bronzebowpublishing.com, especially the forums.
(Needless to say, J *really* likes the effects of my exercising. Really, really, really. She says she doesn’t go for buffed guys, but I think she’s lyin’.)
