"Bad Habits"
by Jaala Thibault
Establishing good habits is sometimes hard to do because first one needs to break the bad ones! Breaking bad habits usually dies hard, even for the most self-disciplined.
For
example, a very close friend of mine tried to quit drinking coffee
recently. A few weeks after he had stopped, while telling me that he
banished his caffeine addiction, I noticed that his breath smelled like
cigarettes.
Rule #1: Do not replace a bad habit with another one!
Another
example comes from the annals of my friends as well. In an attempt to
curb television consumption, said friend got rid of her cable
television service. Although she had good intentions, she quickly
discovered Hulu (online T.V.) on her computer. Let's just say that her
appetite for juicy reality shows has grown.
Rule #2: Doing the same thing in a different way does not mean one has kicked the habit.
Last
month, in an attempt to purge my diet of all refined sugar, and stick
to the zone i.e. a healthy, balanced diet with controlled portions, I
tried to keep the above rules in mind. My goal was to eat healthier and
to see whether or not my athletic performance would improve measurably.
The results are indeed interesting.
On
most accounts I succeeded. I did not replace my love of sugar and baked
goods with a smoking stick of tobacco or pole dancing, however I did
discover a new treat...soy milk with about 2 tablespoons of honey. I
relished the times when I could scrape the cooled honey off the bottom
of the glass. I pretended it was ice cream. I often thought, "Am I
violating rule #2?" Usually that thought was immediately followed by
this one, "I don't give a crap, this tastes good!"
As far as
measurable improvements in my performance, there were definitely
strides made. My maximum kipping pull-ups have gone from 3 broken to 12
in a row (possibly because I am 5 pounds lighter). My squat clean
increased 50 pounds. I dropped 2 minutes on the benchmark workout
called Michael.
As a present for last month's strict adherence
to the zone, I have given myself permission to eat whatever my heart
desires until the 4th of July, after that, I will go back to the zone.
The funny thing is, my first "freedom to eat crap" day was yesterday
and I still ate in the zone (except for two peanut butter cups given to
me by a fellow crossfitter Lindsay). Today, I went to the store and
didn't even go for the sweets.
Why, when I am now free to eat
whatever, am I not choosing the sweet stuff that I missed and vowed I
would eat as soon as I could? The reason is this: now I have a new
habit--eating healthy.
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REMINDER - CFV will be only be running one class tomorrow, Saturday, July 4th at 10am.
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Ban is Advised for Percocet and Vicodin
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Workout of The Day
(compare to Friday, January 2nd, 2009)
For time:
15 "L" Pull-ups
1 Handstand Push-up
13 "L" Pull-ups
3 Handstand Push-ups
11 "L" Pull-ups
5 Handstand Push-ups
9 "L" Pull-ups
7 Handstand Push-ups
7 "L" Pull-ups
9 Handstand Push-ups
5 "L" Pull-ups
11 Handstand Push-ups
3 "L" Pull-ups
13 Handstand Push-ups
1 "L" Pull-ups
15 Handstand Push-ups
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