HAPPY NEW YEAR ... I hope!

Why the "negative" note in the heading? Well, I hope most of us have come through the Holidays with a minimum of "hurt"!

Probably quite a few of us have added a little fat to our bodies (I know I have). BUT unless we sit down and cry over that fact and let ourselves go, there is NO reason that Holiday-fat should stay on for long. It's an INTERLUDE, not a permanent state of fact!

In fact, the "fresher" the fat, the easier it seems to be to get rid of it. It's the settled fat that seems near impossible to get rid of. By reacting at once and changing our eating habits back to what we KNOW to be the best (lean protein, whole grains, vegetables, controlled amounts of fat, NO transfats or hydrogenated fats, plenty of water) we'll rapidly be back to pre-Holiday bodyfat.

Sometimes it seems that a small up-turn of the fat actually helps me get lower than before when I get serious again right away. As if the body senses that there is food out there, it just had a lot! A temporary, and controlled, calorie deficit right after a period like the End-of-the-Year Celebrations will make me plummet as well in bodyfat as overall weight - I can't build muscle as fast as the fat goes, but at least I don't lose any!

It was back in the gym again yesterday. The basement home-gym was happy to be of service :) the muscles glad to move again. For different reasons, it was back-of-body day yesterday, with a lat pulldown, one-arm Db row, one-Db pullover; an overhead triceps extension, a lying extension with two Dbs, using one of them for crunches in the rest period, and a French press; stiff legged deadlifts (120 lbs, new personal record!), lunges, leg curls and finally seated calf raises.

Today I feel my triceps in certain movements, glutes a little, and strangely my abs a little bit - normally I never feel my abs at all, no matter what I do, so this is great! My lats are present as well :) Nothing painful anywhere, I just have this good overall feeling of having used my muscles, and I missed that.

Being sick for 10 days doesn't really send you running to the gym! Even shifting in my seat made me cough like crazy, two days I had a well-above-average fever, and my whole head felt congested. Not ideal for a workout, in fact it was not an ideal way to spend the Holidays at all. Now that they are over, I'm fine!

Oh well, never mind. I'll just lower my head and charge full speed into 2007 and the lowewst bodyfat % I've ever had, without losing any total weight at all. In fact, I'd rather increase it, why not?!

Train, eat clean and be happy :)