Pathology

Pathological, mental, addictive and unhealthy behaviors run in my family. I know, they run in a lot of families, but I can only speak with any authority about my own.

I'd give a litany of who has dealt with what but that might get into family business relatives would rather I not blog about. Suffice it to say, we're not a moderate bunch, given to sticking to the middle of the road approach to anything.

This is something I confront a lot. I flatter myself by noting that I've never become addicted to drugs or alcohol, then I have to admit that's because I likely transferred that kind of compulsiveness to food. Is there another explanation for nearing 300 lbs before I decided I didn't want to be fat anymore? Well, yeah, there are several--but let's keep this simple for now.

What I'm getting at is one of the issues I've always wrestled when it comes to exercise and nutrition (and by extension, appearance) is determining what is healthy and relatively normal and what is behaving in a pathological way.

Today I had to wonder if I was being wise or pathological. See, last night I spent a bit of time being disgusted that I didn't do any exercising at all. I'd excused this by telling mys elf, "hey, it's Sunday. CHILL OUT." But late on Sunday night I found myself feeling fat and gross and vowing to do a solid workout Monday morning.

And I did--a medium pace 1.25 mile run immediately followed by a 25-minute kettlebell workout.

Then I thought, "is this normal?" Is it normal to kick myself so hard for skipping a day? To go from being pretty happy with my waist getting a little smaller and my muscles getting bigger to skipping exercise for a day and suddenly feeling flappy and flabby and horrible?

Yes, I think, and no. It wouldn't be normal if I only did it to assuage a gnawing dissatisfaction with my appearance, something I do still feel. However I didn't end the workout in pain or so exhausted I was throwing up. I still had something "in the tank," which is the optimal way (at least I think it is) to end any workout session. (I don't believe in working out to "failure," but many people do.)

So I guess my point is my efforts to get the weight off and keep it off have perhaps always been a blend of the healthy and normal and a touch of the crazy. The two sides fight each other daily and maybe some of that internal tension works itself out in a run or a kettlebell swing or a set of torso dips.

I don't know. Some people would say it's crazy to bother at all.

But I'm pretty sure I'm less crazy for the bothering. Considerably.

So.

To make sure these posts aren't entirely pointless I've decided to include a video as often as possible. The video below is of one of my favorite strength-building kettlebell exercises (this guy uses a dumbbell), the Turkish Get Up. I don't know why kettlebell enthusiasts call it that. I do know I can totally buy the claim that if you get good at these alone you will have developed some halfway decent total body strength, because it works everything. I've worked up to doing just 3 on each side with a 53-lb kettlebell and want to push that up to 10 at least. Careful if you try these--to anyone unfamiliar with the form they look easier than they are.