Rolling with Jiu-Jistu Zombies? What Do You Dream?

I've been having these very odd nightmares over the last two nights. Nightmares that bring me back to my childhood mainly, where monsters are chasing me or reaching for me or trying to grab at my back from behind. I've also had the under-the-bed monster reaching up to grab me, etc. etc. And, I wake up in a sweat and with goosebumps all over.

Why the goosebumps? Is it fear? Sure it is. Dream fear, I guess. I wake with no covers, but as soon as I reach for them I feel just like I did as a kid, getting that sense of security from the blankets.

Man, I wonder if I'm burning calories thrashing around having these nightmares? Doubtful, but hey, wishful thinking.

I also had a Jiu-Jitsu zombie dream where I was actually rolling on the mat with a zombie. A nasty zombie. It's funny, but in my dream I some how become this magically transformed flexible and incredibly quick Jiu-Jitsu guy, which is completely the opposite of my true Jiu-Jitsu game. I rely on my top game due to my size mainly, and still struggle with guard. Being overweight and having short legs hurts your guard game, as stupid-obvious as that sounds. But, it was still cool to transform into something in my dream that I'm normally not, even though I paid the price of having a zombie nightmare.

I normally dig zombies and anything zombie-film related, but it was pretty strange whipping my body around on top of a zombie chest, taking the arm into a standard top armbar from mount and snapping the arm right in half. Yeah, that's right. Completely in half, with zombie blood flying all about, gooey, black blood.

Man, I hope these dreams stop.

I posted my bad dream deal on facebook and here's what a few folks had to say:

• Did you change your diet or take some medication maybe?
• Check out one of those dream interpretation websites... interesting stuff.
• Are u falling asleep while the TV is on?
• Are you on pain meds from the back issue.
• Go to church.
• Blame it on the rain.
• Sexually frustrated.

I'm not sexually frustrated. Is it the rain? Maybe, but that's more of an inside joke. Falling asleep with the TV on? No. Diet change? Yes, eating much less over the last week, but I think it's been the pain pills and medicine I've been on due to the injury, IF I'm picking any of the above reasons.

Interesting, to say the least.

Here's to wishing I could burn 500 calories a night thrashing around in my dreams.

The Value of a Good Sandwich

I'm a huge sandwich guy and always have been. I've realized over the last day or so that I have underutilized the value of a great homemade sandwich. Sure, I'd love to be like Jared and grab a Subway every day, but right now that's not really in my budget. Every once in awhile? Sure, but not every day.

The homemade sandwich can either ruin you, or help in a huge way. It's like with anything, you need to count calories and account for everything you put between those two pieces of bread. If you slather on the mayo, add a ladder full of meat and cheese and go with nasty white bread, you're going to hurt yourself more than help. Stay away from ranch, bleu cheese spreads and anything with too much oil.

The bread is probably the most important thing in building a fine sandwich and keeping the calories in check. The key is to find good tasting whole wheat bread that has a decent amount of fiber. There are a million bread makers out there, but Milton's is my favorite although a bit pricey. The taste is good, plus there's 5 grams of fiber in each slice.

Next, snagging lean meat from your deli at the grocery store is highly important. Ham can be a bit high in sodium, but it's an underrated meat calorie-wise. Roast beef is another meat I love lately and it's starting to get much better support than it ever did. You don't have to be a strict turkey guy or gal to keep your sandwich calories down. Be sure to look at the calorie content when buying, but most servings of lunch/deli meat are very low in calories...about a 100 calories per serving.

Cheese! Oh, how I love a good slice of Swiss, which is usually the lowest calorie cheese in stores today. Cheddar is a bit higher. American? Blech. I try to avoid American cheese. To lower your sandwich calorie count you can eliminate the cheese altogether, which can save you anywhere between 50-100 calories.

Mustard and mayo is a must for me, with mustard having no calories and lite mayo with canola oil having half the calories of regular mayo.

Add copious amounts of lettuce, tomato, pickle and any other veggie you want to, mainly because the calories don't hurt you at all.

Overall, you get good healthy carbs, protein and veggies. If you're smart, you can keep your sandwich right around 500 calories!

As I try to get back into the swing of things with exercise and Jiu-Jitsu (second day in a row with almost NO BACK PAIN...yeehaw!), I intend on using the sandwich as a main staple in my diet for awhile. It's a balanced meal, easy to make and tons of options to choose from for variety every day. Plus, you can't beat the price.

Wow...

I can't believe I've been away for TWO months! Just crazy. In that time I've dealt with a bad virus, hurt my back, and have not trained Jiu-Jitsu for over a month now.

I'm still dealing with the back injury and hope to get back on the mat and into the gym to hit the treadmill and weights over the next week or so. I can't sleep and I can't get comfortable half the time I'm sitting on the couch, but I'm working on putting this injury in the past.

Saw the doctor and was prescribed some pills, but that only seems to temporarily take the pain away.

It's driving me nuts.

The diet has suffered as well and I'm afraid to get on the scale, but I will soon. I need to get back onto a calorie counting food intake that lets me lose weight regardless of exercise.

I'm not near the weight I used to be, but it's still frustrating to see all my hard work fizzle away.

This blog meant so much to me in the past and I need to get back into the groove of it. I'm going to try to post everyday, regardless of how busy I am.

I need this.

A Jiu-Jitsu Promise to Myself

I haven't been going to the gym much at all lately and I've slacked in my calorie counting as well in a huge way, but I have been going to Jiu-Jitsu of late.

Getting away from this blog was a mistake, even if I was tired of writing in it every day or every other day. I've come to the conclusion that I'll never lose the weight I want to lose and get out of this status quo position (actually weight gain with my laziness over the last few months) I'm in if I don't change something.

Besides getting back on my calorie counting ways, I made a promise to myself that I would get on the Jiu-Jitsu mat 10 times this month. I already went Monday and Wednesday of this week, so that's a huge start, but I need to continue along. I've only been training 4-5 times a month over the last few months and that's just not enough.

Also, my weight has climbed back up to 354.8lb. Not good. I never really had a setback like this before, but I feel like I'm finally coming out of it. Food has always been a battle for me and I know mind over matter, you've got to be strong, all that stuff, but I've been going through some heavy moments of weakness.

I'll be back in a few days to update.

Update

I went to Jiu-Jitsu yesterday for the second time this week. I love being able to take a break in the middle of my day to train, and I love it even more when my brother Mike trains with me. Other than getting knocked in the head three times yesterday - I was a bit dizzy after the class was over - and having a slight accident on the mat the day was great.

Have you ever seen the movie "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell"? Well, it has a very interesting and disgusting scene where the main character, Tucker, has an "accident". It was one of the nastiest things I've seen in a very long time.

My "accident" wasn't quite like that, but still ...not a fun feeling.

Getting through yesterday's instruction was a bit tough, but so how worth it.

How's the weight loss stuff going right now? Nothing major to report. No gains, no losses of any significance. I'm staying away from the scale now, not weighing myself as much, but plan on getting back to my weekly updates soon. I'm not quite as burnt out on the blog as I was before.

I will say this....my T-shirts are starting to fit me much better of late. Pretty cool. I don't have to stretch some of them out anymore. I put them right on and away I go.