Accountability

Today I remembered to pack my gloves but forgot the scissors. Ugh. Luckily I have a small pocket knife that I use to score the moleskin so I can affix it to my knuckles. My left index finger still hurts when I grab heavy things, like the frying pan. Ugh. I wrap my hands in white tape and put my weight-lifting gloves on while I warm up on the elliptical for 10 minutes. A quick stretch and then I use cotton wraps before stuffing them back into my old pink Everlast kickboxing gloves. My neck and left shoulder are still stiff but feel better when I work out and everything loosens up. I tap in 7 Rounds Beginner, and then 5 Rounds Intermediate to get 12 rounds total.

I'm wearing my new Saucony walkers and they are a tad too big for kickboxing the machine. There's just a bit too much room in the toe box so my (left) Lead kick doesn't always land correctly and the machine counts it as a missed strike. Ugh. But my hands feel okay and my shoulder doesn't really bother me when I throw jabs and cross punches. Uppercuts are a bit more troubling and I have to be extremely cognizant of my hand and wrist placement so that I don't hit with a bent wrist. That'd really hurt. The machine is still flaky and the Intermediate program glitches more than once. Of course, I'm still hitting too hard. Of course.

When I'm done, I climb onto the elliptical for anther 10 minutes, but do 5 minutes of HIIT instead of a full 10 minutes of steady-state. I haven't done HIIT in months, and it's just as painful as I remember it. But oddly, I'm able to hit close to my max speeds (272 SPM) for each peak so perhaps time away from this was a good thing.

I've installed a new app on my phone called MyFitnessPal. It's helping me track my calories, and nutritional breakdown. It's less helpful when I have to punch in my exercises since it only seems to take cardio seriously. This app tells me that I'm not eating enough protein, and ingesting too much fat and sugar. Figures. So today I don't eat oatmeal with an egg in it for breakfast. Instead I toss a scoop of mocha flavored whey protein into my instant coffee. It does NOT mix well, and I wind up sort of eating my coffee this morning. At least I'm not hungry during my workout.

However, I'm ravenous by the time I get home, and I make myself a tiny sandwich (3 oz Boars Head Honey Turkey deli meat) on 2 oz of baguette bread with a tsp of hot and spicy mustard. Dessert is a whole ruby red grapefruit with a scant spoon of sugar on it. I still have 1490 calories left for dinner and snacks, according to the app. Since I've been tracking my food, I'm finding subtle changes to my behavior, because now someone, even though it's just me, is "watching". Being accountable for my food makes snacking much harder. I'm not overweight by any means these days, although I was taken aback by an old photo I found of me and my husband, shot a year after we got married. My face is round like the moon although you can't really see the rest of me.

I'm much more aware that the older we get, the harder it is to maintain an athletic build. At odds with my quest for lower body fat and a leaner look, is the idea that high amounts of protein can lead to bone loss. The studies seem mixed but the latest one I found online suggests that with adequate calcium supplementation, higher protein intake (from food) and the alkalizing effects of fruits and vegetables, bone density can be improved. Sure, I'll bite.

Thursday Workout

10 min steady state elliptical = 0.86 miles

7 rounds Nexersys Beginner Follow Me
  Accuracy 88% / Strikes 95% / Avg Power 134%
5 rounds Nexersys Intermediate Follow Me
  Accuracy 85% / Strikes 96% / Avg Power 116%

2 min steady state / 6 min HIIT (15 sec On / 45 sec Off) /2 min steady state = 0.76 miles

Crunches: 3 x 35


photos for actual stats: