Letter From a Soldier & introducing my training SLASH diet log

Training Log
Wednesday 6/18/08
with a 20# weight vest
max reps of pushups, rings dips, strict pullups: 4 rounds
r1: 22, 8, 7
r2: 12, 6, 7
r3: 12, 4, 5
r4: 12, 4, 6
extra round of pushups: 11 reps
total pushups: 69 w. extra round 58 w.out
total ring dips: 22
total s-pullups: 25
next time I do this im starting with ring dips, then pullups, pushups

From this point forward my training log will include a diet log as well. The reason being that many people have been asking me about my diet since they caught wind of my digestive condintion, ulcerative colitis, and also noticing my getting much thinner. I recently posted my losing 15-20 lbs since January, but not having lost much strength if any in some places at all. Let me tell you now that it's over 20 lbs. But the only noticeable weakness I've seen has been my max deadlift dropping below 500 lbs and I'm also guessing my max clean and snatch has gone down, but I attribute that more to my lack in consistently working those lifts. What has been really consistent is my squatting and that has not seemed to wither in strength at all as I actually continue to make gains. Same with my overhead strength.
Anyway, I know not everyone will be interested in this and most of you, when you see how ridiculously boring, plain, and lacking in pleasurable food this diet is will think I've gone completely goofy in the head and will wonder how the hell I'm able to maintain this diet. The truth is I have no choice, I have too. No, I'm not crazy about getting so much skinnier and losing all this weight. But if it means my being well again, and conquering this immune deficiency for good, which I have been battleing off and on since I was 17 years old, I'll stick it out and do what is best. And believe me I have tried the medicines before, I'm all set with that dead end route. I'm a very fortunate person in that I have an amazing support system around me, involving family, friends and medical professionals. I'm very grateful for everything I have.
The diet I'm following after a boat load of research on my part is one formulated in a book by David Klein, Ph.D. The book is called Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's. Klein was diagnosed with colitis at 17 as well and long story short he has been symptom free since 1984, when he altered his diet and lifestyle. The diet in the beginning is going to be more ridiculous than you could imagine because this is how simple it needs to be during the healing phase of colitis in which there is intestinal bleeding. So please bare with me and don't think I've gone fruity even though I'm eating a shit ton of fruit. Especially bananas.
(my diet log will be continually updated throughout the day or by the next day. I'll try to keep up depending on how busy I am)

Training/Diet Log
Thursday 6/19/08
830am
1 scoop of primal defense (primal defense is a mixture of healthy bacteria for the g.i.)
9am
Banana
1015am
2 bananas
1145am
2 bananas

12pm
WOD
1min-1:30min rest between sets
1x10 ohs 45#
1x10 ohs 95#
1x5 ohs 125#
1x4 ohs 135#(failed my 5th rep so I did it again)
1x5 ohs 135#
1x3 ohs 155#
1x3 ohs 165#
1x3 ohs 175#
1x3 ohs 185#(very cool Ive never done more than 170# for 3 reps. havent ohs in over a month)
2x3 front squat 225#
3x3 front squat 245#
2min rest between front squat sets

130pm
1 banana
145pm
Smoothie containing: 1 banana, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 apple, 16 oz water, 1 tbsp approx 5 grams fish oil(yum!)sarcasm of course.
345pm
Banana
5pm
Banana
7pm
Banana
830pm
steamed pureed sweet potato, spaghetti squash, carrots, celery

This was an email that was forwarded to me back in November of 2007. It is from a soldier over seas and it was passed along by his sister. The title of the email is "Proud to be Pat Carney's little sister." It's a good read, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.

My big brother wrote this and he will probably be mad I posted this but it was one of the most moving I have ever read... please take a few moments to read..
"Today, Veterans' Day, 2007, I have done a lot of reflecting about our country, the war we're fighting, the wars we've fought, the people who have done it, the bravery and heroism they exhibited in doing so, and my own life as an American soldier. I hope that you will take a few minutes from your busy schedules to read what I have to say…
We are currently engaged in a desperate struggle against forces of hate and repression all around the world. This is a struggle that will, most likely, last for years or even decades to come and it is one that we must win or risk losing everything we've gained as a nation and a civilization. As I write this, the focus of this great struggle is our ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I feel passionately that Americans simply don't realize the good work being done in their name in these two countries. I get to see it firsthand every day.
I am convinced that Americans need to know that we're doing the right thing over here, and that the war that terrorists have declared on us has only just begun. It will not be limited to Iraq and Afghanistan, for even as I write, Iran and Syria are carrying on a proxy war of terror against Israel in Lebanon and Gaza. There is so much that American people do not realize, and yet feel the need to speak freely about or against everyday. And that's ok. That is why we fight.
In writing this, I'm speaking only for myself. But, indirectly, I hope to serve as an advocate for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines that I have met overseas and at home, men and women whose motives are the same as those brave, aging former soldiers we salute as part of our "greatest generation."
Why don't we cherish today's soldiers as we did during World War II? Take a look at some of those old newsreels from the mid-1940s - the media really understood and appreciated the GIs in a way they don't today. I think some of us are just scared by what's going on in the world today, and I understand that. I'll be the first to say that I am no hero. I get scared. I was scared on 9/11. I was scared when I signed on the dotted line to give 6 years of my life and possibly something much more valuable to my country, I was scared when I was told I'd be deploying to Iraq, and I'm scared every time I strap on my armor and set out of my trailor now that I'm here. But we live in a dangerous world at a dangerous time. It's OK to be afraid, as long as we don't give in to that fear, or make stupid decisions based on it.
We are in the middle of a fierce national debate about the course of the war on terror. Ultimately, we are going to have to decide as a nation and a people if we should continue our current military path or abandon these people and pull out. I believe it is imperative that the American people be allowed to make a fully informed and thoughtful decision. For that reason, I believe it is incumbent upon the news and media who regularly comment on the progress of the war to provide both the positive and negative aspects of the conflict (and I don't mean the left and right side of the conflict, the way CNN and FOX News do, I mean the positive and negative side. There's a difference.)
You have the right to know all the facts. And I believe if you know all the facts, you will come to agree, or at least understand why we are in Iraq and Afghanistan and that we will succeed if we have the courage, as a people, to see it through to ultimate “victory.”
Although our current struggle is being fought on many fronts and in many locations around the world, it is the same basic conflict regardless of our theater of operations. Just like the Cold War, our current conflict is not a struggle over geography – it is a struggle between two competing ideologies. I feel it is critically important that we view this struggle as our fathers and mothers saw the struggle with communism and as our grandparents saw the struggle with fascism and Nazism. Today, like back then, the idea of freedom and democracy is once again at war with the ideology of hate and oppression.
We entered Afghanistan to defend ourselves against the terrorist organization that launched the September 11th attacks and the Taliban regime, which harbored them and gave them sanctuary. This sanctuary enabled Al-Qaeda to train and equip its members in preparation for the attacks on the United States. Both of these illegitimate entities were responsible for the murder of thousands of our fellow Americans on 9/11, and our military action in Afghanistan was a legally and morally justified response.
While I honestly cannot say that I truly believe our decision to attack Iraq was completely justified the way that Afghanistan was. I will say, however, that inaction that appeared reasonable or practical prior to 9/11 seems completely incomprehensible and reckless today. Saddam Hussein’s regime had proven connections to Osama bin Laden as far back as 1993 and was still harboring terrorists like Iman al-Zarqawi, Abu Nidal and Abu Abbas… just like the Taliban had done for Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. It seems almost inconceivable how people could be behind the idea that we should allow Saddam to continue on the path he was and just hope for the best. Also, his refusal to allow the UN (an organization that, as a world leader, he was supposed to be a part of) to verify the presence or absence of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in his country was another red flag that simply could not be ignored in a post-9/11 world.
Since 2001, Afghanistan has successfully drafted and enacted a constitution, elected a parliament and president, and rejoined the community of nations. Iraq is on this same sometimes rocky yet no less certain path to democracy. Iraq enacted a constitution, elected a parliament, and recently elected a president, two vice presidents and a prime minister. This newly formed government in Iraq is a sure sign, I believe, that true democracy is taking root and that the Iraqi people are well on their way to firmly establishing the rule of law in their country. A freedom that they have not known in decades.
These things take time and patience, however. In the months and years to come there will be pitfalls and roadblocks on the road to true democracy for Afghanistan and Iraq. New conflicts may arise elsewhere in the world, or in other nations in the Middle East. Does that mean we should hit the panic button and abort our mission? Of course not. These bumps in the road are not unusual, nor do they spell disaster for democracy and peace in this area of the world.We have seen other countries through this same journey. US occupation forces were in Japan for about ten years following World War II. At that time, Japan was an extremely fanatical enemy who believed that their leader was actually a god! Can you think of a more difficult challenge than enabling a society of this nature to embrace the ideology of democracy?? I am sure many critics of that day said it couldn’t be done. Sound familiar? Well, today, Japan is one of the world’s most stable and prosperous democracies, as well as one of our closest allies. The same holds true for Germany after World War II.
The thought that both Iraq and Afghanistan are failed or failing states because they are having trouble forming a representative government does not account for the example of our own great experiment in nation building at home. The United States declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776 but weren’t able to enact a Constitution until THIRTEEN years later in 1789. These two countries have only been at it for a few years, and they have had far more to overcome, when all we had to overcome was ourselves.
Make no mistake about it, we are succeeding. I see it every day. Concerned Citizen brigades (as they have been named) fighting back against Al-Qaeda and Jaysh Al-Mahdi and cooperating with coalition forces more and more every day, taking IED (Improvised Explosive Device) attacks down over 100% in the last 6 months, local Iraqi nationals cheering US convoys as they roll through their villages (I will admit that this is one thing that I always thought was bullshit and couldn’t possibly be happening, but I have seen it first hand, and it is simply amazing), along with many other positive things that I am able to see every day in Iraq that the news media would never report back home. It vexes me to no end that citizens of our own country would rather report on every negative aspect of this war rather than ever say something positive about the countless selfless efforts of the soldiers over here fighting for their right to put them down.
I often have lunch with a 78 year old Iraqi interpreter named Kabu. He speaks seven languages and has lived all over the world. He tells me stories about growing up in Mosul in northern Iraq, before the days of Saddam, and how nice it was. How he attended a Jesuit school, studied language and math, played football (soccer) and never lived in fear of anyone but his mother. He explained to me how the general populous of Iraq and most every country is not different from America. Every country has its leaders and its extremists. But the average person is just a person. A quote I’ll never forget. The average person just wants to live and work and love and be happy. And that’s all the people over here want. All religion and extremist ideology aside, we have to look at this situation as people. Every person in every society should have the chance to live in freedom, and to never live in fear. Whether it should have been our job to provide that opportunity to these people or not, at the end of the day, I’ve realized that they deserve it. And I, for one, am happy to fight for that any day.
In the end, when this struggle is over, the Michael Moore’s will be forgotten. We will remember instead our friends, neighbors, loved ones, and others who saw this struggle for what it was and who did their part, not necessarily by joining the military, but certainly by speaking the truth, and by being stout of heart, clear of mind, and pure of intent. I believe that “real” Americans recognize this new threat for what it is: another violent power grab by another would-be dictator: Osama bin Laden. But I think my thoughts on bin Laden and his regime can be best summarized by something I learned in Father Stephen A. Dawber, S.J.’s class at BC High circa 1999, a Winston Churchill quote delivered to Congress in the days following Pearl Harbor (and yeah I had to Google this one):
“What kind of a people do they think we are? Is it possible that they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?”
Well, some lessons are never completely learned. Sometimes we must learn and teach them over and over again. And that, is why we fight.
Thanks for reading.
Happy Veterans’ Day."