When you know you're back.

Sometimes when things start clicking, you know you're back. Well this evening was one of those times when I felt like I was back into it. Everything fell into place efficiently, and my diet and workout were coordinated perfectly. This is how I did it - and I made a really delicious meal while at it:

I came home from work and grabbed a pork tenderloin out of the fridge. It was a pretty lean cut, but I pared away any extra fat. Then I cut the pork into cubes, poked them with a fork, threw them in a ziploc, and added about 1/8 cup Iron Chef General Tso's sauce. I threw them back in the fridge and went to the gym where I had my 8th day in a row of light to medium cardio.

I burned ~400kcal in a little over 30min, then did 3 sets each of 3 range of motion exercises on machines, using ~50% of the amount of weight I normally would. Then I did some light stretching of my abdomen and went home.

I grabbed the pork out of the fridge, threw it in a bowl, sprinkled it with tenderizer and massaged it a little. Then I threw the meat on a hot skillet sprayed with fat free Pam and simultaneously started cooking some rice. While everything was cooking, I made a vanilla protein shake with a 1/2 banana, a little fiber and teaspoon or two of flax seed oil, blending it all into 1.5cups of skim milk. About the time everything was done cooking, I opened a can of chick peas.

I put a scoop of rice, a 1/2 can of chick peas, and 1/2 the pork on my plate and enjoyed it with my tasty protein shake. I saved the rest for lunch tomorrow and cleaned up. Everything fell into place, and I thought to myself that this is how every day should go. Today, I was back.

Fat quails and omega-3 fatty acids.

Here's a fascinating article in a recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology:

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/212/8/1106

A pretty good explanation can be found here:

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/212/8/i

Basically, these researchers hypothesized that high endurance birds rely considerably on their diet to meet their goals and needs. One such bird, a sandpiper, eats lots of shrimp that have high omega-3 fatty acid content. So the researches decided to feed sedentary quails diets high in the omega-3 fatty acids and compare various parameters to quails not on that diet. It's pretty astonishing that simply changing their diet to include high levels of DHA and/or EPA led to an increase/stimulation in the capacity for aerobic metabolism as measured by the activity of oxidative enzymes in the Kreb's cycle. In simpler terms, the diet led to birds that were more fit to undergo aerobic exercise. They write: 

"As they prepare for long migrations, semipalmated sandpipers improve their physical fitness by eating! Choosing n-3 fatty acid doping over endurance training strikes us as a better strategy to boost aerobic capacity when rapid storage of energy is critical."

The study is interesting on several accounts. Clearly diet and supplements can have an effect on performance, endurance, and athleticism. It is surprising, though, that omega-3 fatty acids might have such a profound and specific effect in this one regard. It will be interesting to see how and whether and the extent to which it can be applied to people. I will have to read more about the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on people - most of what I am aware of revolves around the cholesterol lowering effects. The researchers did not nail down a molecular mechanism for the effect, but it will be interesting to see how these birds actually become more "fit."

I'm back to my workouts, after I took a week's rest - again because I wanted to let my abdomen heal more. I am going slowly - only about 30min of cardio a day. I also started stretching my core and tensing my abdominal muscles [as if to do a sit up] when stretching, but without inducing any pain. I have lost ~10lbs since my surgery [I am 176-178lbs currently]. Some of this is decreased caloric intake, and some is decreased muscle mass since I have not been lifting weights. While sticking to cardio, I have been trying to decrease my body fat. I've been cooking lots, and this weekend I might just have to go out and buy some omega-3 fatty acids. I will report whether I notice any difference over time in my cardio endurance. :)

I am considering taking my blog more public soon, for more friends and family. We will see how that progresses. Until next time - stay fit and stay free... -cb