The blue or the red pill?

Making a quick trip to Red Deer this weekend to visit some great friends. It is amazing how fast time goes by between visits, and how little I get to see them. I keep saying it, but we have to make it a bit more of a priority to get together. That busy "life" thing keeps getting in the way:) Do the best that we can do I guess and let the cards fall where they may.

After ripping home early on Saturday morning Uyen and I will be heading straight to the box to compete in (myself) and help out with the 3rd of the 6 Crossfit Open WODs. It is going to be a doozy! 5 minute AMRAP (as many reps/rounds as possible) of a 165 pound clean and jerk. Or in Crossfit terms, pretty much ground to over head with a front squat somewhere in the movement. Regardless of how I tackle it, it is going to be great. And by great I mean hard as fuck:-) Throwing around that weight is pretty hard for me, and is one of my fitness goals that I will be working hard at all year in prep for next years CF games. How does that saying go? What does not kill you,  makes you stronger.

That brings me to what I was thinking about lately. Pill poppin'.

Every place I seem to turn, wether it be a magazine, sign somewhere, gym advertisement, or even the radio.................... there is some goomba telling me that if I take this/these pills that all my worries will fade away and life will be perfect:-) I use goomba in place of a more nasty term that I would like to use. 

Was chatting with a buddy of mine the other day about this and we both came to the same conclusion. Get your diet, sleep, and exercise on track. I mean really dialled in, and then maybe look at additional supplements if something is still askew. I would be willing to bet that 99.9% of people could cure whatever is wrong with them by really getting on top of those three things. Although all the self proclaimed pharmacists in GNC, Popeyes, and wherever else you find yourself, where they trying to shove pills and other shit down your throat............ would love to convince you otherwise.

Although the human body is a wonderfully complex organism that is capable of amazing feats, I like to dumb it down a little. Like I do with everything else. And I think that I am right on the mark.

Keep in mind this is me chatting with me. Opinions on most topics usually do not come up against much resistance. But I do try to keep an open mind about everything..........how else do you grow?
First, my body needs food for energy to go about my daily adventures, and to help repair damage that is done while on I'm on these adventures. This food is much like drugs at the end of the day, as it affects different parts of my body in different ways. Put shitty drugs in, and expect shitty things to happen. I do not think you would sniff anthrax expecting it to get you high like cocaine would ya? Hopefully you are picking up what I am putting down here. Secondly, I need to rest up and give my body a chance to maintain and heal itself from my adventures. I mean really rest up. Not like 2 hours a night, but like a minimum of 8 good, solid hours of nappy nappin. "I don't have time." Make it. I am sure you do not want to commit suicide, but robbing yourself of this precious nappy time is taking years off your life. Slowly wacking yourself. (Thanks grandma J for the saying) Third, I must be a little active. Use my heart, lungs, muscles, arteries, veins, eyes, nose, brain..............body each day. We were not designed to sit at a computer or on a couch all day long. Those 2 long sticks protruding from just below my waist are legs. Believe it or not, they are designed to transport the rest of me around:-)
That is me simplifying things. For me and you. Get those three things in check and watch and feel the magic your body is capable of creating.

Pill pusher/poppers are being extremely reactive. Period. No question about it. They see a problem and treat the problem with something else. That quite often can create other problems down the road. In which case they will treat the new problem with  something else and so on. Always reacting to the signs and symptoms that are being exhibited by the most recent issue. 

Fat burning pills vs. steroids. Is there a difference? I think not.

Let us back up to the beginning of that whole train wreck of events that just occurred, and see what put it all in motion.

It is quite obvious that making a "knee jerk" reaction to a problem we may be having with are body, has created a whole host of other problems, while masking/temporarily delaying, the underlying issue and not actually fixing it. 

Classic Example: I am a big fatty fatso and want to lose some weight. There are pills for this. So I go hard on these pills while not changing anything else. WALLLLLLAAA! I am losing weight. It is falling off me. I think I should be on the Biggest Loser I am doing so great. I hit my goal weight and I am pumped. Off the pills I go because I reached my goal and am sick of lining some drug pusher's pockets. KAAAABOOOOOMMM! 2 weeks later, I am fattier than the fatty fatso that I initially was! WTF!

"BING!" Hopefully the light bulb just turned on:-)

Why not be proactive and prevent the issue/problem in the first place? Or take the appropriate steps to rectify the situation. 

I can guaran' damn' tee you that it is going to take longer and be harder than stuffing your chops with synthetic crap that manipulates your body for a particular short term outcome, but the long term benefits will FAR out weigh the short term satisfaction. No questions asked.

Like I mentioned before, YOUR body is an amazing creature. It is capable of doing anything that you ask of it..................... as long as you give it the proper tools to do so, and the chance to do it.

EAT RIGHT, SLEEP RIGHT, EXERCISE/TRAIN RIGHT, and you will live right.