Asalto

As I may recall, this is the term when friends visit a person about to celebrate his birthday on the eve of the date. Usually a surprise visit. (It sounds weird, though. Too close to the term "assault". hehe)

It was so sweet of PC to do the Asalto earlier. A short, meaningful visit to greet me before everyone else does.

My own assault on myself will come via some ruminations.

I'm closing in on the Golden age. And yet I feel I am in the prime of life. My PT took a reading earlier. And I was so happy with the results. I'm down to 16.4% Body Fat, from 18.6% a month earlier. I have burned 3 lbs of fat and gained 4 lbs of muscle. This is a personal best, ever! Better than the time I was under nutrition monitoring.



The diet I have followed, though not as religiously. The main difference is my cardio workout. I have been closely monitoring my heart rate, getting it up to 90% and above of the target heart rate for my age (around 145 - 160bpm). I maintain that for at least 20 minutes, sometimes more. This consciousness is key to making cardio workouts work for me. So it's not even the endless running. Because somehow, our bodies can get very used to the running pace and adjust. Keeping the stress level up and varied will keep the body in a burn mode.

I still have flab in the ab section. That is part of age, a loss of skin elasticity. I think that will stay there for good (hence, no abs shots this time!) But I'm still challenging myself to go for 15% Body Fat. Yeah, I'm crazy that way.

I have started to get birthday greetings from family and friends. And an oft-repeated term is 'blessed'. But before that, I have also come to realize that I will never be super-wealthy. I'm comfortable. I'm able to provide. I think my future state is taken cared of. But I won't ever be 'rich'. No mansions. No European luxury cars. No regular foreign trips in first class or even business class. A lot of luxury brands will remain beyond my reach. And this time, I'm not going to be challenging myself to aspire for more. I've made it this far. And because of that, I truly feel blessed.

But the best blessing of all is the love of family and friends. Though this sounds really cheesy, it really is true. I cannot ask for anything more.

So I assault myself with gratitude. A grateful heart for all that I've been through. It has been a happy and wonderful 46 years.




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