SO IT'S ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The only way I know? GW students in bright green are bar crawling all along M Street on this one day of the year I'm embarassed about my mostly Irish heritage, mostly. The rest of the year I really don't think about it. On this "holiday," if I'm really bored and so sick of winter that I could kill myself with the handle of a butter knife, I pull out my LETTERBOX copy of Finian's Rainbow and marvel at the breeziness of this 1968 movie musical. The flick was produced at a time when the major studios were smashing themselves over their heads with sledgehammers trying to make money out of a dying art form (just try to watch Dr. Dolittle, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Star!, Hello Dolly! and Camelot to see what I'm talking about). Francis Ford Coppola of all people lensed this 40's property on a relatively small budget and delivered the goods. I remember seeing it, first run, at the Rialto Theatre in New Hampshire over summer vacation, and it added about 2 billion DNA strands into my musical comedy homochromosome. Notice how REAL SINGERS were engaged to play the parts (not like Camelot!) Notice how the whole thing TAKES PLACE OUTDOORS. Notice the not-so-subtle take on RACE RELATIONS through 60's sensibilities. And revel in the BEST 11PM SONG EVER TO GRACE THE BROADWAY STAGE when Tommy Steele's (annoyingly overacted) Og the Leppercon sings to Susan the Silent. And not a mug of green beer in its entire 141 minutes. (Oh yeah, Fred Astaire's there too.) That's entertainment. I'm turning into such an old fart.

PERSONAL BUTTKICKING CONTINUES
PD put me through his workout today, and the amazing thing about it is: he doesn't spend all day throwing weights around! And he's training for a major bodybuilding competition! We worked out each body part once... in massive sets that blew the muscles out. I think it has something to do with the miracle of DYNAMIC mic mic mic TENSION shun shun shun... I mean, Hyperacceleration and Hyperadaptation. He's keeping me on the edge between stagnation (undertraining) and chaos (overtraining). It has something to do with the body's natural inclination to stay at whatever weight and musculature it already is. Although why the body seems naturally inclined to put on massive amounts of adipose tissue and not fast- and slow-twitch muscle in response to even minor amounts of Krispy Kremes is beyond me, since Krispy Kremes take so little effort. But PD is huge, while I don't look like Jason. But it's only been a little over a month. And even Charles Atlas wasn't built in a day.

BUT WILL IT KEEP GOING?
So far, the combination of
Blogging
Protein-enhanced diet (3 meals/3 snacks per day)
PBK (personal butt kicking w/Pump Daddy)
and two (2) vacations in warm climates this year so far
Equals:
Less television zombie-ness
Less alcohol consumption
Less food cravings
and...More NRG!
(plus I've gone down one belt loop but I'm sticking with my usual weight.)
Let's hope this all continues!

A LITTLE BIT OF DC IN FORT LAUDERDALE
Was denied entry into the Fort Lauderdale Gold's Gym because "you don't have a transfer pass and you can't come in." The front desk guy there could not have been ruder. He mentioned something about "franchises," but did not say anything close to "why don't I give a call to the DC gym and verify that you're a member there. This'll just take a minute." No, he chose to say "If you get your gym to fax you a transfer card, we'll let you in. Otherwise, you can't come in." Checked the Gold's web site and can't find anything that says you need a transfer card to visit any other Gold's. But I keep forgetting the #1 rule of customer service: Make the customer memorize every single detail about your operation, even the ones you don't have written down.

Even though it's Presidents Day (Observed) and I have the day off, that doesn't mean it isn't PERSONAL BUTTKICKING DAY. So, I have a session with Pump Daddy in just a couple of hours. It's low weights/high reps, and I will be reduced to sugar-free Jell-O.

I've been training with PD for a week now, and following the meal plan he gave me. It looks like this:

Meal 1 - Breakfast: Myoplex w/banana
Meal 2 - Whey protein
Meal 3 - Lunch: usual foods, just keep it healthy
Meal 4 - Myoplex or Myoplex bar
Meal 5 - Dinner: see lunch for regulations
Meal 6 - Whey protein or cottage cheese (nonfat)

So far this meal plan has been very effective at reducing my intense food cravings (especially during prime couch potato hours), as well as reducing my overall appetite to normal levels. PD said "if you follow this plan for two weeks I'll give you a day where you can eat whatever you want." I have until Friday of this week.

Also...I haven't had any alcohol since getting back from vacation (oh, allright, I did have a beer a couple of days after I returned but that was before I started PBK.) I've gone out, and ordered nothing strong than diet soda. And I keep telling myself "summer's gonna get here...summer's gonna get here."

TODAY AT THE GYM: It was Day 1 of Personal Buttkicking with Pumpdaddy. I went in thinking "this is gonna be painful," and the session was as I expected. Except for the lightheadedness and nausea, which, if I really think about it, I experienced last year when I started training under Dustin. But I survived, and with good form - so said the trainer himself. The endorphins kicked in about an hour after I got back to work. I was happy.

Didn't get my butt kicked today at the gym. It was merely a consultation. With Jerry. Who used to be a WWF or WWE wrestler. Under the name: Lucian Bagwell. He gave me a diet to follow and briefed me on the kind of workout he'll be leading me through in the next six weeks. I am full of excitement at the possibilities ahead...which I felt last year at this time when I was going into Personal Training with Dustin. After the first workout, however, I was singing a different tune. IT HURTS! One thing I did notice last year - I was having to wash my workout wear more often. Since I was sweating. Buckets. So, in preparation for next week, I'm going to Sports Authoritah this weekend and loading up on inexpensive gym clothes. With my name on them in big block magic marker letters. Just like gym class in 7th grade. With Mr. Menninger. Blond, muscular, tall, tanned Mr. Menninger. More about him later. For now, I will follow Mr. Bagwell's instructions to a T. Even if I lose all my mon-nah and it kills me. First workout: Monday.