Those of you that have Tivo know that when you watch TV without one, it just seems wrong. Your thumb twitches, you pine for rewind and pause, and you just generally realize that TV is broken without Tivo.

Don’t you wish you had one for life?

Life goes on, no pause feature, and while that’s a good thing, it does make us prioritize things. I’m certainly not going to complain — my dog is doing well after a scare, I got to head out to the World Baseball Classic last week, and the Team Health Reports are done at BP. What isn’t done is my plan, but it hasn’t gone by the wayside.

While I haven’t been in the gym as heavy as I like, putting me slightly behind plan on that, the diet is still in effect and I only had one small conscious lapse — In-N-Out Burger. Hey, I was in Anaheim, I had to do it. It’s okay to blow out a diet now and again, you just have to pay for it later. Right now, I’m still down 22 lbs, WAY ahead of where I thought/hoped I’d be. I even had to buy new jeans and even those are loose (the next size down was a bit tight and I’m not a fiscal optimist.)

One of the neatest side effects of the workout came up in Anaheim. While waiting on the van to the airport, I literally ran back inside to use the restroom, then ran back. As I sat down — of course the van came while I was gone — I realized I wasn’t out of breath, my knees didn’t ache, and a smile came to my face.

I’ll get my measurements up for next month — doesn’t make sense to do it now. Life intervenes, but staying on plan means that not only is the plan working, it’s becoming life itself.

(Next time – more on supplements, pink drinks, Jamba Juice, and cardio.)

Forgive the break. Lots happening on the field and off, pushing this project back. The dog is doing much better, but the last week spent focused on it, Mark Prior, and Barry Bonds has slightly pushed me back. I’ve adjusted, not able to make time for the heavy weights, so picking up the frequency of the core work and watching the diet closely.

Alex, a great reader with a job nearly as cool as mine, had a great question. I’ll share as today’s post.

Alex asks — "I trust that everything is going well for you.  Between the Cubs  incident, the Barry Bonds scandal (can it be called a scandal at  this point?), and what I?m guessing is the busiest time of the year  for you, I hope you’re holding up okay.

I’ve looked at your blog and haven’t really seen an answer, so I
thought I’d ask.  I’m sorry if this question’s been answered
elsewhere- like, say, in The Juice (which I’ll be picking up next
week). I don?t doubt that I?m wrong about this.  I’m just curious
about the reasons why I’m wrong.

Will: Great question! The answer is that  percentage gains are harder as someone nears a genetic maximum —  except no one’s ever hit that genetic maximum. Look at body  builders, or sprinters, people we would say are much closer to that  maximum than Bonds. He certainly didn’t look or perform like them; he  performed like a baseball player. Now, the flip side to percentage gains is that 1%  of Bonds is much larger than 1% of Armando Rios (who tested positive in 2003 and has been implicated in the ongoing BALCO saga), so he actually  doesn’t have to do as much to make those type of gains performance wise.

As Jay Jaffe showed in "The Juice" and Nate Silver showed in "Baseball Between The Numbers," there’s no statistical evidence that performance-enhancing drugs of any type show up in the numbers. I’m not saying there’s not an effect, just that people smarter than me can’t find it statistically. If Bonds and others risked their health and reputations for a gain that could be seen as statistical noise, that’s not an advantage, that’s stupidity.

Off to the World Baseball Classic. Save me a seat, Mr. DuPuy!

Things are still going well — between the Mark Prior controversy, the World Baseball Classic startup, and the Team Health Reports over at BP, I’ve been busy. I’m scheduled for my first month’s re-measurements on Monday and will have a full update then.

For those linking over from Fitness Buff Radio, welcome! Catch up, then take a look around MLBlogs. There’s always something worth reading around here.