(Day 229 / -112 lbs.) Steve's Crackpot Theory of Human Conditioning

Excellent workout this morning! How crazy is it that I've actually come to enjoy repetitive, monotonous effort? Would I continue to do it six days a week if I didn't believe that my ends didn't justify my means? One might say I've conditioned myself to the process of weight loss- that my body is adapting to the task and achieving results that are momentarily satisfying.

So I find myself developing a theory in an attempt to explain what I believe I've been going through over the past seven months- and here's what I've got so far:

By eating six small meals spread throughout the day, I've conditioned my body to function on fewer external calories without feeling hunger pangs or the energy spikes and crashes that were so common before. Exercise becomes easier over time; conditioning has enabled me to run farther and lift more.

The human body is an amazingly adaptive physical machine. Over time it changes shape to accommodate it's environment. My ass got plump to adapt to sitting for long periods of time. My belly grew to provide ballast and a shelf for catching crumbs. My thighs developed to support my belly. My appetite grew to support fat production in the effort to condition my body for sitting. I became quite adept at sitting- physically, I was certainly becoming built for it.

But what happened when I changed tasks and environment? Walking, while difficult at first due to all the belly ballast and thigh friction became easier as my body conditioned itself to the task by shedding fat and toning leg muscle. As I started running, my body adapted by shrinking the belly fat that initially threw off my balance by flopping every-which-way. Lifting weights grew muscles required for the task and shed fat that was just getting in the way.

Thus by conditioning itself to the new set of tasks and eating habits I had adopted, my body changed shape and shed weight. It was merely adapting to its' environment. As I continue to increase activity levels and physical requirements, my body will continue to adapt. That is what conditioning is all about.

Conditioning is a gradual process. My personal experience in evolving from athletic to olympic-class couch sitter (a 190 pound accumulation of ballast) took twenty years. I suppose I could have done it faster but I just wasn't that ambitious. My level of ambition and focus is re-directed and exponentially higher now and my body is conditioning itself proportionately. Do I expect to reverse twenty years of prior conditioning in one year? Frankly, I don't think of it in those terms. I expect my body to condition itself to the environment I've created; one where activity is the focus. We'll just have to see how long it takes to adapt.

I must say that I like what's happening so far.