When plans go wrong

WHEN PLANS GO WRONG




I know i've written a few pages about planning, making adjustments , and scheduling when it comes to meals /training etc. -- yesterday we even dipped a pinky toe into physiology

But today is a real life tale about making the necessary adjustments -- as disaster struck last week

In late February, the insurance company that keeps me busy has an annual conference in the Texas hill country , (about 500 miles away from  central Oklahoma) -

     I've been trying to travel with style (style?)  by pre-packing a big 50 qt cooler full of most of the necessities i need on the road , and since it was going to be a short trip,  enough pre-made meals to take care of the 3 or 4 day trip too


                                                                               Enough stuff that it took a husky gent to load up for me

MMM MMM Good ! 

  I spent an hour or so the night before preparing rubbermaid containers full of pre-cooked chicken, broccoli, fresh homemade soups, - even some scrambled eggs for breakfasts if the breakfast bar turned out to be a disaster --- this along with a small bag of fresh fruit and my big jug of protein powder and i was ready to survive a few days -- just needed to pick up a couple of pre-made lunch salads along the way, like you find in the deli area at a grocery

From a nutritional perspective, what could go wrong?   I just needed a solid place to get in a workout or two if the conference ran long and this little trip wouldnt even be a blip on the radar

Disaster struck when, after all this prep work and planning (really wasnt that much) -- on the day of the trip i got sidetracked and pre-occupied , looked at the watch and realized it was time to go ,  and left

Left all my preps sitting on the top shelf of the refrigerator  ready to load up  -- typical

Wasnt until i was about 90 miles down the road that i realized i was facing a barren nutritional landscape   ----- every other roadside off-ramp contains a tragic kingdom of fast food enterprises

Thankfully, Subways sandwich shops also are a mainstay of the roadside gas station --- I picked up a turkey sandwich and a couple of their chopped salads to stick in the cooler  ----  I dont like the sodium content of Subway's sandwiches- plus i try to stay gluten aware (not gluten free really) - so i wound up throwing away half the bun  -- but in a pinch, that'll work for a while

         The travel stop had 2/1.00 bananas and apples by the register, so i loaded up on these and  the road portion of the trip was taken care of  

        I wont bore you with the details of every crumb i ate on the rest of the trip, but i will add that meal frequency and timing took a backseat to classwork when i got there.  Thats just the way it goes , but its easy to down an apple during break periods


The moral of the story is that sometimes you can lay the groundwork, do your prep work beforehand, and be completely ready for a task,  but  Murphy's Law can still kick in ,  and Mr Murphy does not sleep

          Make a few adjustments , and make the most of it --- its tough out there,  but its no excuse to loosen the belt a notch and head to a Chinese buffet

These fast food people make it too easy to roll through a drive through --
                                             

-  even the Subways like i mentioned earlier , are full of plenty of things that are  not so good  -- meatballs, Italian subs, and chicken marinated in mystery ingredients (salty)  -- and thats in addition to all the bread

     Even if you tip toe through their menu carefully, you are still eating more sodium than you need  if you get a sandwich --- but a few meals like this here and there should not be much of a problem for an otherwise healthy person
        Then when you get to your destination,  locate a corner grocer and round out the rest of your forgotten preps  with some more greens , fruit, and maybe a rotisserie chicken

     



   IF your faced with a group outing --- for instance , my company sponsored a fajita dinner one night ----  try to load up on some fruit or a pre-made salad (or both) an hour or so before you go if you can-
This way, you dont go to the dinner famished , but you can still enjoy a small plate of something or other --

        I will add this though --- while i think the world would be a better place if we all sat around discussing macro nutrient profiles and comparing the idiosyncrasies of the Zercher squat vs regular front squats ,  --

-- most of the world doesnt care  ------ so dont be the type of guy who puffs his little chest out and pontificates about how he cant have any of the expensive catered in dinner because he's on Doug McBride's program (or PAleo , or gluten free , or this or that)

 Nobody cares, and your peers and colleagues now think your a weird duck-- especially when there are workable solutions


(Pics of more weird ducks for your viewing pleasure -- although the bottom 2 may be in disguise )

       

            Trust me , i know --- because i have been that weird duck a time or two before -- showing up at functions and not eating a thing because i didnt trust the preparation methods , or because i had declared myself to be 100% PAleo for the month or whatever

      I can laugh at myself now --- like i've said before, i'm my first customer and #1 Guinea pig for this operation --- but i've already made painful and awkward mistakes so you dont have to


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Thats all i got ------  closing out the day with shots of devil may care ducks wearing capes,  ducks disguised as turtles , and dogs disguised as ducks seems like a good way to end that chapter


But wait -- i would be remiss if i did not mention another pond dwelling animal -- thats the Beaver ---

specifically  Buc-ee Beaver

If any of you get to South Texas and are short on your preps --  Buc-ee's roadside travel plaza is an awe inspiring side trip --- this is a pinnacle of American excess and one of the reasons the terrorists hate us so much ---
        Row upon row of stuff --- some is typical travel plaza bs -- but they have an awesome deli, a huge selection of fruit - plus cheap ice, beverages and gasoline (gas is not so cheap)

 This place is massive , and covers some acreage

                                 I wonder if the employees pray to the Golden Beaver every morning before work?

Big deli section,  buyer beware -- some of this stuff is not great , but some is --  just like i said about Subway

- there is sodium and hidden fat lurking behind every corner , but if your careful and know what you need-- you can get a few good platters of food to stuff your coolers with 

 

     
I dont know if Buc-ees is the largest convenience store in the world, but its definitely the biggest i have ever seen -----  its enough to make you scratch your head and say ... seriously?    LMAO





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       Just a quick reminder, if you like what you read, forward this email to a friend, or use the little tab at the bottom to link it to your facebook page.  

 Thank you very much in advance for your support and send me an email at   Dougmcbride@fitclaimspro.com   to be added to the hard subscriber list

---- Doug

_______________________________________________________________________________
disclaimer:    The information contained here is not intended to replace the medical advice of your physician and is not intended as medical advice.  This newsletter/blog is a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of the staff of Fitclaimspro.com and professional colleagues unless otherwise noted

I play real sports !

I PLAY REAL SPORTS, NOT TRYIN' TO BE THE BEST AT EXERCISIN'



A friend asked me about that quote today , and I readily admitted it was not mine  -- but rather attributed to the fictional character, Kenny Powers, portrayed by Danny McBride (no relation)

Kenny is a down on his luck ex pro baseball player who returns to his hometown after a seemingly failed career , now he's about to  begin a job as a substitute teacher


                                   

Kenny's return to his alma mater, and his outlook on life, is summed up in this relatively quick YOutube clip below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De7rbB2bteE



We are not all ex pro ball players,  or ex pro at anything necessarily,  but isn't it irritating for some that, no matter how hard we work out, pump iron, run coolies and gassers, do fascial stretching, pilates, windsprints, and rope climbs,  ------
--that some dude who looks like he shouldn't even be out there shows up and pushes up 315 x 10 in the bench press, or runs a 5:45 mile, or a 4:52 40 yard dash ?

     The Cutler character represents the everyman -- the 30 something or 40 something who is fixated on age group rankings and personal bests  ---- while the chubby schlub, Kenny, has already reached the top of his mountain and is on the downhill slide  (although he claims to be on a comeback)


          There are parallels to real life

In real life , we can figuratively work all the angles , do all the drills , all the daily workouts and windsprints and all the group bicycle rides  ----

Then metaphorically speaking,  there is always one guy who shows up, takes off his jacket , and drills a 100 mph fastball , or does any number of wild, seemingly outrageous things we can never train enough to do

Welcome to the world of the naturally gifted,  vs the rest of us who have to work at it

K Anders Ericcson came up with some theories about the hourly toll of achieving expertise, and that hourly toll is 10,000

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book  Outliers , also expands on that notion  -- the unspoken 10,000 hour rule to achieve greatness


 -- Gladwell notes that success "is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky"

----------  I will unashamedly promote Gladwell's books whenever I can  --------   but

David Epstein (also a Gladwell admirer)  recently published his book  "I The Sports Gene" - not as a counterpoint , but as another view that there is much more to it than just mindlessly putting in the time -- and for some , it may take much less than 10k

              For those interested , these books are true gems  --

Gladwell's volume is full of the promise that, if we expend 10,000 hours at anything, we can achieve excellence

       I have some friends who are aircraft technicians -- this is a heavy job -- if we apply the 10,000 hour rule to this ,  and guess that  the average  man works a solid 250 days a year at his job -- we would see that it would take a diligent man roughly 5 years to achieve mastery  ----
       --- now if we also then assume that the average man really only applies himself half the time at work, -- that stretches out to 10 years 
    ---- I think if you ask a journeyman 20  year wrench how long it takes to "get good" he would probably agree that between 5 and 10 years is a good place to start


                  Epstein blows this apart in his book  though with the insinuation that even if you train 10,000 hours at your sporting event --- there will irritatingly enough be someone bigger than you,  faster than you, stronger than you, or more agile than you
        Bigger, faster , stronger    ----- 

I will add that I am not meaning my blog to be a book report --- but am pointing the individual towards some exceptional reading where they can make their mind up for themselves

     I will say this though -- despite all you 42 year old dudes who may think to the contrary ---- it is not wise to take up karate in your late 30's, get a little bit buffed up on creatine and Clif bars,  then enter your local MMA pre-cursor fights
        This type of thing happens often  -- and often with a series of rude awakenings  --  but real life is not like "Here Comes The Boom"

   That was a fun movie , but the fictional charater portrayed in it is an ex Div 1 collegiate wrestler , 20 years removed -----   I would dare say, in real life, a guy with that pedigree would be closing in on 10,000 hours


But for you guys who are out there trying stunts like that ------- I'm glad you are --- take your black eyes back to your cubicle at the insurance company and you will have stories to tell for years




---------  Like a lot of my blog entries , I am merely scratching the surface and perhaps giving you something to think about
         This has very little to do with time management and working insurance claims , but I am thinking that , given a few workouts --- some of my target audience will find their inner athlete, and decide that running on a hamster wheel and mindlessly working out with no real purpose is a losing proposition
          Unlike Kenny Powers though, I do think triathlon (and all the associated disciplines) are very real sports

       Give yourself a target  -------   

----- hell, even this guy allowed in his Academy Award speech last night that he couldn't live without some sort of a target , -- and his target is him in 10 years .... perpetually --- seems to be working out alright for him - in his particular craft
  

Thanks for reading again



____________________________________________________________________________

Just a quick reminder, if you like what you read, forward this email to a friend, or use the little tab at the bottom to link it to your facebook page.  

 Thank you very much in advance for your support and send me an email at   Dougmcbride@fitclaimspro.com   to be added to the hard subscriber list

---- Doug

_______________________________________________________________________________
disclaimer:    The information contained here is not intended to replace the medical advice of your physician and is not intended as medical advice.  This newsletter/blog is a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of the staff of Fitclaimspro.com and professional colleagues unless otherwise noted

Fat Tuesday? -- Naah -- how about pleasantly plump Tuesday instead

 ----------- Fat Tuesday is tomorrow

Would fat Tuesday be happier if it wasn't quite so fat?    How bout if good eating habits were encouraged early on in his life, would Fat Tuesday be Fit Tuesday? -- or maybe just Plump Tuesday?

  ---  I'll bet if we got Tuesday in a dim room on a comfortable couch with a therapist,  Tuesday would say , while choking back tears, that it is tired of being Fat --- tired of being sloppy, and constantly smelling of beer, gin and smoky piano bars

           Fat Tuesday wants to trim down and move away from Bourbon Street and maybe onto a nice open air ranch in Colorado where it can eat properly,  -- a place where the bison are naturally grass fed, the chicken are free ranging, and the veggies are grown without added pollutants ---- instead of swamps requiring airboats to get around ,   Fat Tuesday can just ride his mountain bike around and high five the other days in the week who are cheering him on like Rocky !

    In truth , the pelican state does have a bit to offer the athlete in training.   I was welcomed in by the Red Stick Racing Club from Baton Rouge, and the Baton Rouge Velodrome Association a number of years ago,  ------  plus participated in the fastest group ride along Lakeshore Drive on the Pontchartrain i have ever been involved in on my road bike --- I was sitting in with another trackie from Red Stick, -- managed to look down at my bike computer at one point and we were going 36 mph 

       Katrina devastated that part of the community (Lakeshore ) years back and i dont even know if that ride still occurs, but i remember a couple of  MAsters national champs being there plus some fast local guys

Then there is the trails along the levee system --- concrete sidewalks stretch for miles and miles with no traffic - making it easy to get in a run, a walk, or bike ride away from the cars 

Factor in other NEw ORleans are things like the unique architecture and the Garden District and visitors can quickly find out there is more to Louisiana than people shooting alligators out of airboats

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Justin Wilson --- the  original  Cookin' Cajun -- lived to a robust 87 years of age -- born in 1914 , he passed in 2001   ------   but to look at him, I don't think he had his face in a pile of fritters and dumplings 8 days a week----- for an old Cajun, he looks relatively trim

           

                                 

Contrast that with pics of other stereotypical Cajuns who could stand to lose a pound or two

This gent has a massive pile of food in front of him

   

But here's a Cajun success story --- Chef Paul Prudhomme -- heavyset his whole life, finally said "enough is enough"    ----  he dropped 130 pounds  --- he said it was with dietary changes and not through surgical intervention as well

                                 

  Here's a more recent picture of Paul

Part of the issue with Cajun cooking is the culture of not exercising any discipline or restraint --- there's room in your diet for a lot of foods with restraint

 --- but if every  weekend is some sort of fest --- or your favorite restaurant's mantra is  "Gonna Make You Hurt Yo-Self"  ---- then that doesn't point to a lot of self discipline does it?

    

Here's a couple of Cajun mainstays --- Po Boy sandwiches  -------- but your basically getting a loaf of spongy white bread , something fried  (catfish, shrimp, crawfish tails, alligator tail , etc. - are all popular fillings)  with some type of tartar sauce

        Type-2 diabetes on a bun  

These are just a couple of things to stay away from --- others are Etouffe's , Remoulaide sauces, fried potatoes of almost any variety,   and fried fish should be consumed in moderation

 ------  all of this is common sense stuff --- we know a slab of fried catfish on a small loaf of buttered French bread isn't that great a meal , right?   And its usually paired with potatoes of some sort  ----- this means we negate the positives of the fish by breading it, then add in a heaping amount of high glycemic carbs in the form of tater's and hoagie buns  -- not to mention the mysterious awfulness the various creamy sauces are made of

So what would I suggest instead of the traditional Cajun/Creole favorites?   -

Clockwise below you have  :

  1)   grilled fish  with blackened seasoning on a bed of fresh green beans,    

---2) blackened shrimp skewers served with a side of greens and grilled squash   

 3) gumbo prepared without the fat laden roux and with chicken instead of boudain sausage (also good with shrimp)  - 

 4) lightly battered catfish and shrimp - rubbed with blackened seasoning, then baked, not fried -- served with asparagus

In truth --- Fat Tuesday is only one day out of the year --- and part of a once a year celebration   --- if you engineer it right , you can have a Po' Boy, or participate in a salty Crawdad boil , or have a heaping helping of saffron rice with Crawfish Etouffe' ----
     ----  As I have said before - a cheat day here and there is not going to kill you , and having fun on a regional holiday is part of what makes us human

 ---   Just be careful not to let the MArdi Gras eating style carry over into your everyday life  --- and if you love Cajun food anyway  ------ try some  selections that are prepared a little bit healthier  like I've pictured above

One good way to prepare fish is to take the same cornmeal fish fry solution and coat your fish fillet with it lightly  ----- Then  bake it instead of fry it

      -- I recently did this with some almond meal on a big salmon fillet and it turned out great
I am not going to lie to you and say it tastes the same as fried fish, -- it doesn't -- but oftentimes the problem with fried fish is the natural flavor gets lost with the richer flavor of the fried batter

With Gumbo or Jambalaya -- like the meal above, opt for chicken or shrimp in lieu of the smoked sausage pieces,  then substitute half the rice with Quinoa
       
  --  Like I said, I wont even begin to suggest that using the substitute ingredients I suggested will make the food "better" -- Cajun food can have such rich, complex flavors that its tough to bring out with lower fat , healthier fare -- but with my suggestions, you can enjoy food with a Cajun flare as part of your regular diet , without calling it a cheat day

--but knock yourself out on Fat Tuesday for sure

         


So as MArdi Gras winds down to a close , I wish you all a good one ---
thanks for reading ,  drive safe and stay sober (well, moderately sober, it is Mardi Gras after all )

  

_________________________________________________________________________________

Just a quick reminder, if you like what you read, forward this email to a friend, or use the little tab at the bottom to link it to your facebook page.  

 Thank you very much in advance for your support and send me an email at   Dougmcbride@fitclaimspro.com   to be added to the hard subscriber list

---- Doug

_______________________________________________________________________________
disclaimer:    The information contained here is not intended to replace the medical advice of your physician and is not intended as medical advice.  This newsletter/blog is a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of the staff of Fitclaimspro.com and professional colleagues unless otherwise noted