Though it harks back to antiquity, eudaimonia’s a smarter, sharper, wiser, wholer, well, richerconception of prosperity. And deep down, while it might be hard to admit, I’d bet we all know that our current habits are leaving us — have left us — not merely financially and fiscally broken, but, if not intellectually, physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually empty, then, well, probably at least just a little bit unhealthy. Eudaimonic prosperity, in contrast, is about mastering a new set of habits: igniting the art of living meaningfully well. An active conception of prosperity, it’s concerned not with what one has, but what one is capable of.

after a mere 7 year hiatus, I’ve signed up to train at Fairtex Muaythai (Thai kickboxing) again. i’m fortunate that there’s a location a mere 2 miles from my office.

back in the day (2003), Dr. Jon and I trained at their original gym on Clementina Street in SF. workouts are exactly 1 hour long, and grueling every minute of the way. at various points in every workout you’d feel like you were going to keel over and have a heart attack. but there’s something eminently satisfying about punching and kicking the hell out of things, and there’s an incredible high afterwards.

that level of intense training was matched when my baby and i took shaolin kung fu class in NYC for a few months.

both times, i got incredible conditioning and felt fantastic. and both times, when i stopped i completely lost the benefits.

i just had my first class and feel pretty good about how i did and how much i remember. and yeah, i did feel like dying a few times. i hope i can keep it up.

Ok, I am flexing a little in the after pic…but still. Not quite as impressive as the success stories on the their site, but I’ll take it. In fact, I wasn’t even sticking to the diet part that strictly, though I was good about getting in the gym 5-6 days/week.

Oh yeah, I really didn’t lose that much weight either – only 5 lbs. That’s weird.

Anyways, I’ve already jumped right into the next 12 weeks, and this time I’m modifying the workouts to do cardio and weights every day.

pros:

• I’m definitely way stronger than when I started
• definitely have more muscle tone
• cardio ability is also way up. I no longer dread the 20 min interval training, and since I discovered midfoot strike running, I’m running faster and without pain. throw in a pair of New Balance 800′s (made for midfoot) and Superfeet Insoles, and I actually look forward to my runs.

cons:

• I haven’t lost a pound! which is odd, because I’ve got to be burning a lot more calories than usual with these workouts, and I’m still mostly watching what I eat. I’m sure this is partially offset by muscle gain, but I would expect to have lost some weight.

To try and get some weight off, I’m going to switch up the routine a bit. Before, it was cardio 3 days + weights 3 days (alternate upper body/lower body). Now I’m going to do cardio every day, followed by a shorter weights session. Will split the weights into 3 different workouts so that it’s shorter: chest/triceps, back/biceps, legs/shoulders.

Self rating:
- Weights: A. I look forward to hitting the gym on weights day, and have had intense workouts where I always break a sweat. Prior to this program, I’d never sweat when lifting.
- Cardio: B. even though it’s only 20 mins, I dread cardio day because the interval training is so painful. But I’m making progress and running faster on the treadmill.
- Diet: B-. I’m sensitive to what I eat and portion size, since I record everything in LoseIt. And my luv cooks me nutritious meals. But I still need to start planning my meals more carefully and sticking to the approved foods list.

Green X’s are days I didn’t exercise. I’m only supposed to take 1 day off a week.