Gittit's Experiment - Page 2

Gittit Shwartz · 03-13-2008, 01:41 PM

I decided to put the V-Diet on hold for a few days while I hunted around for a non-artificially sweetened protein powder.
On Monday night I had a bowl of fruit salad (with yogurt and honey). I don't do dairy at all and fruit usually makes me stuffy, but unexpectedly I woke up Tuesday morning feeling GREAT. I was energetic and focused throughout the day, good food choices and small portions. I let go a bit too much at night though, more out of habit than anything, and it was all downhill from there. On Wednesday I just ate too much and felt like crap, and today I have a headache and runny nose and am back on the V-Diet.
Once again I proved with my own flesh that the combination of bad food, no exercise and no sunlight is the shortest route to mental depression...

On to more positive things, the gym renovation is finally finished so this was today's workout:

(A) Deadlift 5X5 - 55kg
Superset:
(B1) Overhead squat 5 reps with 25kg
(B2) Skin the cats 3 reps
and
(C1) Weighted pike stretch - 3X30 sec with 20kg plate

After 3 days of nada I was ready to chew up the iron. I bounced around doing light snatches and handstands for fun.
Several gym veterans who were watching me lift walked up individually to make casual conversation, making sure to drop the word "deadlift" and look me in the eye - like a code word for special agents to identify each other (OK, I've been reading a book about the KGB!)

Conclusions:
1. I didn't find an alternative protein powder. Unless things get really weird, I think it's worth it to just push through another 14 days. I may permit myself a metcon right before my solid meal.
2. My grip is woefully weak right now, to the point where it's a bottleneck for deadlifting and Skin-the-cats. Seems like it's the first thing I lose too.
3. My shoulders are much better for the break from Capoeira. They used to kill me in OHS'ing.
4. I can't wait to get back to Capoeira and Gymnastics! I really miss DYNAMIC stuff.

Garrett Smith · 03-13-2008, 01:58 PM

Gittit,
Two things.

You might gain a lot of benefit by mixing in just a tiny amount of yogurt into your V-diet (dairy-based) shakes.

Also, food allergy testing (by blood, not skin-prick) could be very helpful for you at this point.

Gittit Shwartz · 03-13-2008, 01:58 PM

At the end of the last episode (yesterday) I sent this email to some friends. For what it's worth:

I read this a while ago on a random website (Jonathan Wong):

"...the most interesting thing I read was about elephants. Thai elephants in particular and how they are domesticated.

When the elephant is very young and weak, it is prevented from running wild by the owners tying it to a stick stuck in the ground and teaching it that it cannot escape.

Makes sense.

But when the elephant is older, the fully grown, powerful animal that can uproot a tree can still be held captive by the same small stick stuck in the ground!

Same thing happens to people doesn’t it. Negative experiences, negative words from others and failed attempts often prevent us from reaching our potential. That last diet didn’t quite work? That last personal trainer got you injured? That last fitness fad (swiss balls anybody?) not quite as good as advertised? Now isn’t the time to give up on your goals.

The stick is not as intimidating as it seems once you really try to rip it out of the ground."

It came to my mind again because I was thinking of something along the same lines (but different):

If you have a habit, the habit is still part of you even when the thing that caused you to form the habit is long gone. Don't expect it to disappear along with the original cause.

(I won't give an example, I'm sure you can all come up with one from your own life or somebody you know.)

This is different from the elephant's predicament because the elephant can easily rip out the stick... He just doesn't know it. But habits aren't as easy to change or get rid of.

So in summary, there are two steps to getting rid of a bad habit:

1. Get rid of what made you form this habit - if the force is still there then the best you can do is to replace one bad habit with another.

2. Address the habit in itself.
Both parts are required.

I think this applies to every type of habit - habits of motion, eating patterns, emotional/thought patterns. Let me know what you think.

Gittit Shwartz · 03-16-2008, 07:38 AM

Dr. G,
Why yogurt? Will probiotic pills do?
I'm looking into food allergy test centres in Israel - thanks for the suggestion!
I still have the knee-jerk reaction "Suck it up!" to these issues... But having realized that this approach didn't get me very far... Trying to get to the bottom of things, and to stop beating myself up about it.

Gittit Shwartz · 03-16-2008, 08:21 AM

I have very "closed" shoulders - limited ROM (when it was bad I would struggle to pull my shirt off or scratch my head). I've accumulated a lot of minor injuries doing things like back limbers through the pain.
I think the route to solving this problem eventually, will require me to work on 3 aspects:

1. Rehab - breaking down scar tissue.
I use a tennis ball to work on the rotator cuffs where they can be reached. Unfortunately no ART in Israel yet, but I will definitely look for it when I'm in the US.

2. Developing rotator cuff strength throughout the ROM and especially at the weak extended position.
I've never noticed any benefit from traditional rotator cuff exercises. Perhaps I was not targeting the right angles. One thing that has been very helpful is isometric pull-over stretches, and the "bodyweight" version - bridge pull-outs from the wall (that is, both feet elevated against the wall, gradually lowering the starting point). Bridge walking (limb by limb) is a good exercise; bridge "hopping"/see-saws - dangerous, to be practiced carefully and gradually.
One thing I have found to be very detrimental is pushing through the pain. Not only does it aggravate injuries, it also builds bad coordinative patterns as the body tries to protect itself. Which is partly why I decided to take time off from gymnastics/capoeira and work on this very gradually and carefully, putting ego aside.

2. Changing coordinative patterns involving the scapulae and more.
Many people say that Feldenkrais makes them feel good for a short while, but the effects don't last. They won't, if you go back to your old movement patterns. To get long-term effects, to change the harmful or limiting patterns of movement that led you to seek therapy, requires constant awareness and self-correction, in the simplest, most everyday of movements.
I don't even presume to connect the work I've done so far with my grandmother (my Feldenkrais teacher) with back bridges yet... Just working on things like reaching for the top shelf! I think I'm starting to see some connections when doing handstands, but I guess it's going to be a long journey. (My grandmother says "years" so easily. I try not to think about it or I feel rebellious. I guess perspective is different when you've been around for 75 years...)

Garrett Smith · 03-16-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

On Monday night I had a bowl of fruit salad (with yogurt and honey). I don't do dairy at all and fruit usually makes me stuffy, but unexpectedly I woke up Tuesday morning feeling GREAT.

I said that because I thought the yogurt (or probiotic pills) might help you digest the dairy-based protein shakes better than you have been.

If you can find someone who uses the ImmunoLabs or Alcat food allergy tests over there, that would be great. I'm very close to running a 200-food panel on myself.

Robb Wolf · 03-16-2008, 08:49 AM

Gettit!
Are you SURE you want to take in the bulk of your calories from shakes? Can I warm you up to a CLC with some paleo foods instead?

Gittit Shwartz · 03-16-2008, 09:23 AM

Robb,
I decided on the V-Diet because of the psychological aspect for the most part. I really needed to get rid of as many stress-inducing aspects of my life as possible, and with my long history of yo-yo dieting and binge eating... Well, I just didn't want to have to deal with food at all, as the only thing that freaked me out more than trying to do Capoeira with a built-in 20 pound xvest (that's what it felt like because I had gained the weight so fast!) ...was obsessing about WAM.
By now I'm feeling more psychologically robust (I honestly feel ketosis has been my best medicine) so I'm thinking as my transition I may do a very strict rotation diet - one protein source, fat source and vegetable for each day. It's a near no-brainer (hence low stress) that has worked for me before.
CLC=cyclic low carb? Any recommendation as to where to search to read up on it?
I'm open to new ideas as I try to find what works best from me. Thanks for your suggestions!

Gittit Shwartz · 03-16-2008, 12:29 PM

I went to the gym late today (8PM). It was full of curling boys and cardio suffering.

WOD:

3 cycles of
(A1) Weighted Pistols - 5kg X 5 reps
(A2) Pull ups - 2kg assistance X 5 reps
(A3) Dips - 2 kg assistance X 5 reps
(A4) Straight hanging leg raise (aka jacknives) - 5 reps

(B) Shoulder prehab with bands
(C) Isometric splits - 30 sec. each variant (front, side, side) X 3 sets

Actually I grabbed 10kg for the first set of pistols... I stayed at the bottom on the third rep.

Gittit Shwartz · 03-18-2008, 04:45 AM

7 sets of
3 X Pull ups (2kg assistance)
3 X HSPU assisted with legs hooked on a ladder - this doubles as a hamstring exercise, haha...

The pull ups felt strong to the last set. Next time I will use less assistance.
HSPU - concentrate on shrugging the shoulders and sticking in correct handstand position before lowering into the next rep.

Note to self: Never try to use pushup handles as parallettes!

I haven't been in an ordinary commercial gym in years. I never cease to wonder. Those people on the floor doing various twisted ab exercises with zero ROM look like they are in paroxysms.