I came through for myself on Tuesday.  If anyone came to my house, they definitely would say, it is an urban rain forest, smells and all.  Luckily, I have a good friend that helped out with the smell of bananas that permeated my kitchen.  But regardless, my stockpile of fruit and veggies worked out very well these last two days, considering Atlanta has seen a shift from the picturesque fluffy-white snow to that perilous “black” ice (Don’t you just love all the hidden assumptions in the English language).  I have been eating good for the last two days–bananas for days, kale and green-leaf lettuce all day.

My workout was tame, as I had to buffer my load because of my creaky lower-back.  I did the best abdominal routine known to man, in my opinion, Beachbody’s p90x: Ab-Ripper X.  I really enjoy separating the abs program and doing it on its own day because my abs deserve special attention.  Building core resistance strength allows the body to improve its overall strength by releasing small stabilizer muscles from performing tasks that are normally designed for larger muscles to do.  Case in point, when doing a push-up correctly the main muscles involved are the chest and triceps.  If one’s core is out-of-shape, many different muscles start to take up for the lack of support from the core.  People report lower-back pain or neck issues, and some people have even said they pulled muscles in their legs.

Tony Horton may have the absolute most annoying voice and ridiculous amounts of energy at times that do not call for that type of encouragement, but his abs program is something special.

I still have been trying to negotiate my timing for dinner and sleep.  I have read that you do not want to go to sleep before you have digested your food because you will not have the restful sleep desired by many bodybuilders and raw-food athletes.  Sometimes I am not really that hungry at night, so instead of counting calories, I go to sleep.  My rest has been good during the snow nights, but I can really see I still have to wrestle with my mental issues before I can fall into a deep and peaceful sleep.

I am hitting most of my marks for food, and I am encouraged with energy levels throughout the day.  Man, I cannot believe how much coffee and tea I drank to stay up and keep pace with this absurd East-Coast pace of life.  Nas’ famous line from NY State of Mind, “I never sleep/Cuz sleep is the cousin of death” was not something to aspire to, but rather a harsh observation and condemnation of the pressure black youth, and American society as a whole, are under to stay alert to the inherent deceptive nature of people with unabashed capitalistic and materialistic aspirations.

On to the next day…