Sure felt good to get back to the gym today.
I missed my workout yesterday because I was having my first ever colonoscopy. The prep that cleans out your system was BREW-TALL. Please tell me I'm not the only person to have this experience. The procedure itself, however, was quick and easy (I was asleep the whole time). Funny trivia: The unit of money in Costa Rica is called the "colon." It's named after good ol' Chris Columbus (Colón). What's even crazier is that in Ancient Greek, a kōlon is a single unit of thought or, in poetry, a line that functions as a rhythmic member. I spend a lot of time talking about kōlons (or kōla) in my journal articles like the ones on Phil. 2:1-4 and Rom. 12:9-21.
At any rate, one thing I'm learning as I engage in strength training is that muscle growth becomes naturally harder over time the more overall mass you put on. Talk about the law of diminishing returns! The same thing is true for fat loss. The leaner you become, the harder it becomes to lean down further. I kid you not. Once you hit around 15% body fat, for each percentage point you begin to drop lower than that it's going to to get increasingly harder. That's because our bodies are genetically hardwired to carry a certain amount of body fat for basic survival purposes. The lower body fat percentage you aim for, the more your body is going to fight back. When it comes down to basics, fat loss is primarily just a matter of maintaining an ongoing calorie deficit that stimulates your body to break down its fat stores for use as energy. This will probably mean you're going to have to either slightly reduce your caloric intake or else increase your activity level. Sometimes you need to do both at the same time.
In the end, it's mostly a matter of self-discipline and being willing to dial in your training and your nutrition. In most cases, it's just a matter of being more deliberate with everything. You're going to be on relatively low calories and you're going to have to increase your activity level as well. So it really comes down to basic discipline and hard work if you decide that getting leaner is worth it for you.
Thanks for reading about my journey. Exercise is so much more than physical. It's about determination, discipline, accomplishment, success, and especially complete dependence on the Lord for strength and energy. It makes you a better person.