Born Again Gym Rat: You Don't Win Every Day

Friday, October 16, 2015

You Don't Win Every Day

30 min of exercise for 37 min energy!

I finally gave up and decided to start taking the proton-pump inhibitor med omeprazole magnesium (generic for Prilosec) because eating yogurt shouldn't give you heartburn. Normally I eat a cup of plain Greek style high-protein yogurt (22 gms) with a drizzle of maple syrup and that sits fine. I even have a cup of instant espresso with sugar and half and half. Still okay. But lunch is where my stomach seems to be vulnerable. Yesterday I had a cup of Fage Fruyo just past noon, and it gave me heartburn that lasted until I managed to eat a Quest bar later on. There's something really wrong when yogurt gives you heartburn. I'm undecided about whether to continue taking the Apple Cider Vinegar. I bought a different brand, an organic unfiltered brand. It tastes milder, but the bottle seems defective: every time I pour out a tablespoon, the bottle dribbles a bit. Ugh. Since instructions are to take the acid-blocker once a day in the morning, I could just take the ACV at night.

Because the med is in a capsule, I can't actually break it in half to lower the dosage. I could pour some of it out, but how much? I'm a small person and the dosage appears to be the same for all adults. I take the pill at 7:30 am and hope for the best. I get to the gym at 9:30 and proceed with my standard body weight routine: 30 min of cross-trainer to warm up. Then I stretch a bit at the Cage, hold my breath and grab the overhead bars to do hammer grip pull ups. Yaaaay! I can do them without feeling any stress in my abs! I'm not quite recovered from Monday's Push Up festival but that never stops me from trying. I can't quite complete the same amount of reps. Monday's total was 271. Today is 250, and I grimaced (silently) through the last reps for the first and last set. Altogether though, I've done over 500 push ups in a 5 day period. Pretty good!

Planks are almost like a rest break compared to push ups and pull ups. Maybe that's the way it should be? What I really like about pull ups, besides the fact that doing them is totally Bad Ass, is that they don't hurt your lower back. Mine is still stiff from Tuesday's mild spasm during RG BB Rows. After push ups and planks, I decide to give the delts some love and grab a pair of 20 lb DBs for Lateral Raises, and then Reverse Flyes. No super sets. Just reps. The Mayor and a few other regulars are chatting loudly in a corner. I turn up my iPod. And do another set of pull ups. But before I can do another round of cardio, I feel my bowels gurgle and I have to run off to the restroom. Okay, that's literally 4 hrs for the first magnesium reaction.

Bad Ass pose

I feel okay the rest of my workout, doing Intervals on the elliptical, stretching, another two sets of pull ups, and a set of Pistol Squats that I forgot to log into the JeFit app. Oh well... My weight is still lower than I expect because I always expect my weight to skyrocket up on days I don't work out. Of course, working in a commercial kitchen involves a lot of standing, and although the movement's not strenuous, there is almost constant activity. It's a far cry from a desk job. And for those of you interested in sinfully delicious, gourmet caramels and toffees, here's the link.

Once I get home, I have to run off to the bathroom again at 2pm. That's 3 hrs. My stomach is still hinky. I toss half a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream flavored whey protein with half of Mocha, and mix it with lactose-free, fat-free milk. It tastes great, but my stomach can barely tolerate the coffee or chocolate flavors. Maybe that's why I'm losing weight? That and not drinking sangria or hard cider for the past few weeks. Hmmmm.

Friday Workout
(6.68 miles total cardio)