Creepy Old Guys

Before my workout

There was a two-hour delay before school opened so I got to sleep in a little. But I also had the plumber stopping by before 9 so not really sleeping in a lot. I got up at 7:20 instead of 6:30. The dog hasn't been feeling well and left a mess in the newspapers under his food and water bowls. Poor guy. He has a very sensitive stomach and reacts badly to change. Might be the Chow in him. Luckily, I got that cleaned up and him walked before the plumber knocked on the door. He managed to replace the problem fitting in about 30 minutes. Just in time for me to get my son up for school. Then to sweep and salt the walkway and driveway so that it's not a sheet of ice when temps drop into the teens tonight. Sigh.

I trail behind buses for the elementary schools because they run an hour behind the middle and high school. Which means I get to the gym at nearly 11. But the gym's not crowded either. A smattering of regular folks on the cardio machines, and a few old guys in street clothes wandering through "machine city". There's one senior who wears a long-sleeve button down with jeans and boat shoes to work out. I guess he doesn't sweat. There's another fellow wearing a polo shirt and board shorts, like he's going to smack a few balls on the court. I guess I can see the appeal to wearing a collared shirt if you're putting a barbell across your back. But otherwise, I'm not comfortable with sleeves (too binding).

As it is, the straps to my sports bra and tank top constantly need re-adjusting. Ugh. It makes me fantasize about designing the perfect workout wear for women. Seriously. I feel like I'm either tugging my pants legs down off my thighs, pulling the waist up, pulling the band of the sports bra down, or moving the straps off my traps. And trying not to catch the wire to my headphones in anything. The wire that's caught in my hair clip when I don't have to lie on a bench. Otherwise, the braid is loose and the wire sticks to the back of my neck and pulls on either one ear bud or the other. I see the attraction of Apple's completely wireless Air Pods!

Too much hair!

I do my cardio, and while it's not the worst I've been, it's definitely not great. But I'm warm when I'm done! Move on to basics and finish with core. By this time, the Smith is vacant. Yaaaay! I do my Inclined Presses, which feel okay. I stay light with the BB super sets because the shoulder was a tad twingey. Oh well. It's not like I'm competing or anything. I move to the DB area and drop my hoodie on the one Inclined Bench there. Two old guys are working out there. One of them is LoudMouth. I don't recognize the other one. I do three super sets which consist of DB Laterals with 20 lb DBs immediately followed by Reverse Inclined Flyes with 25 lb DBs. The old guys are one end of the rack. There are several empty flat benches between me and them.

But they don't want to share benches with each other. I don't know why not. One guy moves to the bench closest to me instead of the bench right next to his buddy, ostensibly because it's a shorter distance to walk to that end of the DB rack. Uh, if that 10 foot walk is going to kill you to get a DB, then maybe those DBs are too heavy for you. But I don't actually want to talk to them so I just get my sets done as quick as possible and move on to Rip Skulls. The old guys hover near the breaker bench where I'm doing my sets. I'm done in a few minutes and can't wait to escape their hovering. I do a full Mat Stretch, and then it's off to shower.

The gym scale hasn't budged in days: 110.8 lbs. I'm not sure what's going on. I am still tracking my food with MyFitnessPal. My hubs is still doing the no-carb keto diet. It's making him very adventurous with all sorts of different meat products, although he's reliant on boiled eggs because I can buy them cheaply. Today he tried andouille sausages. I might give them a try... I did splurge on D'Artagnan duck bacon. I'm saving that for Sunday brunch, when we can savor it with eggs and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Yum...

Tuesday

30 x-trainer
Calories 141
Miles 3.76
Average Heart Rate 144

HGPU 26
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Push Ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12
90 x 12
60 x 25
50 x 25

BB Front Raises s/s Upright Rows
20lbs x 15/16 reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3 sets

The Briefest of Workouts

I actually left the before 9 am today! But of course, I had to squander some of my gym time doing things only a "good mom" would do. Like stopping off at the movie theater where my son met his friends yesterday for a birthday celebration — they watched Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. My son liked it enough to see it again. Most of his friends actually hadn't seen it but wanted to. Afterwards, we went to the pizzeria a few doors down. Once at home, my son took careful note of which friend gave him which gift card and for how much. He likes to reciprocate exactly in kind when that friend's birthday arises.

We were missing one card. That friend was at the theater with bright yellow card envelope in hand, but I never saw him give the card to anyone. That particular child also tends to lose things quite easily. His mom said he lost his winter coat this year. It's probably in the school Lost & Found. Probably. So this morning, I stopped by the theater (which is two doors down from the gym) to ask. The doors were unlocked, a cell phone was charging. Glasses and a purse on the counter. But no actual warm body anywhere. I walked around calling out "Hello! Anyone here?" even in the restroom, but no answer. Ugh. Waste of time. I went to the gym.

The gym is not actually as crowded as I thought it would be for a Monday. The cross-trainers are busy but no one's on the ellipticals. Let's get the dreaded Intervals (HIIT Cardio) out of the way. I have just enough time to do 30 minutes, a quick leg and lower back stretch and knock out a few pull ups before showering. It's not my best workout. I feel sluggish for the first 12 minutes. Seriously. Then, I need to shower because I have a dermatologist appointment at 10:40. It takes 15 minutes to drive to the office, and an additional 5-10 minutes circling for parking in the vast hospital parking lot. And I spent another 10 minutes at the movie theater again, this time with an actual person who walks me through the seating where the boys were. Nope. Nothing. No one turned in any birthday card envelopes. Figures. So, do I mention this to the child's parent? Ugh.

This is the quickest workout I've ever done and I feel a little guilty. But at least I got a prescription for the fluocinonide cream from the dermatologist. It's a topical steroid and the only thing that works when the delicate skin on my throat and neck get irritated, red and itchy. My dad had psoriasis and my sis has some eczema. So that's in my family and my skin is extremely sensitive. The doc tells me that he and his daughter also have ichthyosis vulgaris. I know it's a heritable condition but I didn't know if my son was capable of passing it on to his children, should he one day have any. Apparently not. The doc tells me it's a dominant trait, so if you don't have it, you don't pass it on. Yaaay!

I'm happy when I fill the prescription because two tubes only costs me a $10 co-pay. The doc warns me that it's a very strong cream, but then reasons that my tube of cream actually expired in 2012. I tell him that it worked fine, and I've only used it sporadically — I used up the last of it just last week. He also does a quick mole check, and says to keep an eye on that black birthmark on my foot. Well, duh. Not only is it hard to ignore, it's right under my bunion, so I'm super careful not to aggravate it with any undue friction.

Tomorrow the plumber says he can stop by before 9 am to look at the leak in my basement. My hubs got a replacement fitting for the piece that broke an hour before we were to go to the movies. Of course, it only sort of fits because the water softener installer used some weird device to fit 3/4 tubing to the fitting instead of the standard 1/2 inch. Of course. So there's a clamp that's not tight enough, with a ton of black electrical tape holding it together. But I really need a plumber to fix this right. Because when it broke, we lost the connection between our well tank, and the water softener which feeds the kitchen, laundry and bathroom. There's no way to by-pass it without major re-piping. My contractor neighbor tells me my copper pipes look stressed (what? they're 20 years old!) and I should replace them all with the plastic thermal PEX pipes: blue for cold and red for hot water. Sigh.

Meanwhile, my son gets home two hours after school started, because the water pump broke at school and there's no water pressure, hence, no water for bathrooms or the cafeteria. Ugh. If they don't get it fixed, there won't be school tomorrow either. I'm still going to the gym though.


Monday

30 min elliptical
Intervals
Calories 299
Miles 2.62

HGPU 26

A Workout is a Workout No Matter How Quick

I always plan to leave the house earlier than I actually do. Today was no exception. I still got to the gym as the hour neared 11 even though I'd hoped to get there closer to 9. I'm not sure where those two hours went! I'm super pressed for time today: it's my son's birthday and I have a lot of things I need to do. Short on time, I sacrifice half my whack the machine rounds. Well, it's better than not working out at all, right?

I skipped the gym yesterday, updated my resumé, and scanned the job listings again for potentials. I'm ever hopeful, but it worries me that I can't seem to finish the exam to Book 1, which I started some months ago. After half a dozen questions I get distracted by the real and imaginary. Maybe I've developed mid-life ADHD? That would explain why the only times I feel focused are in the gym, when I can blot the world out and just be physical. Sticking to a workout routine is a lot easier than sticking to a mental routine of studying and composing, especially at home where household tasks seem urgent. How can I not do the dishes, the laundry, feed and walk the dog, cook meals and shop for groceries? Physically doing is much easier than most anything else. It's a different mode of thinking, more practical and reflexive. At least for me.

I get to the gym, do my warm ups and set down to whack the machine. But I don't have time for a full 14 rounds. I settle for 7 rounds Beginner, alternating between Sparring and Follow Me. It's a good workout. My knuckles are pink and bruised afterwards. I get 30 hammer grip pull ups at the end so I'm happy with that. Then after a quick shower and change of clothes, I rush off to get my son a single serve chocolate lava cake and other groceries, and negotiate a contract with the movie theater for my son's birthday celebration on Sunday. We're going to see Jumanji again, but with a slew of kids for his birthday. And then we'll go for pizza, even though my hubs has decided to go "no carb" because his clothes are getting too tight. I'm not arguing with him. No carbs means he can't drink beer either, and I'm willing to make zoodles (zucchini noodles) to help him drop weight, and alcohol.

I'm still logging my calories in to the MyFitnessPal app, but I'm not losing any weight. Of course, the scale is just numbers and I'll feel better once my clothes fit a bit looser, no matter what the numbers say. Today they say 111.0 lbs. Ugh.

Friday

10 x-trainer
Calories 48
Miles 1.33

T, Y & I
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys
7r Beginner
4FM 3Sp

HGPU 30

Quickie Full-Body

I admit that what I consider a quick, full-body workout is not what most people consider quick. But it is full body, encompassing cardio, core, back, arms and shoulders. I could add air-squats to make it complete, but I hadn't thought of it at the moment. Maybe next time. The gym was too warm yesterday as no one is going to turn the A/C on in January in spite of temps going to nearly 60. Of course, I also got a bug bite yesterday! Ugh! Today, it was 35F and plenty cold. I kept my hoodie on for most of my workout!

I decide to do Program 3 on the elliptical because I probably hate that one the most. And I haven't done it in weeks. Maybe even months. I also do the 5 minute cool down because I'm not planning on doing any more cardio afterwards. Instead, I have my routine: hammer grip pull ups, push ups and then assorted planks. I hate to agree with all the online fitness articles, but I feel like I'm getting much better results with the variety of planks than I ever did with crunches, sit ups and leg raises. I do miss doing the alternate bicycle crunches though. But I don't miss having to take my hair clip out. Because my hair is such a messy pain, even braided and pinned back.

I do some quick stretches at the Cage, and because I forgot to do them earlier, two sets of Band Pulls. Soooo done! We had store-bought fried chicken yesterday before kung fu class and Boy Scouts. Even though it's loads better than KFC (which is basically a deep-fried salt lick), there's still enough sodium in it for me to notice. I'm not happy with the gym scale (111.0 lbs), and a little surprised looking in the mirror. I'm not seeing puffy water-retention. I see big. So that's a good thing...


Wednesday

30+5 x-trainer
Program 3
Calories 331
Miles 2.94
Average Heart Rate 151 (210 max! Ugh!)

HGPU 26
Push-ups 60

Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

When You Start the Week With Intervals, Everything Else is Cake

It's not suppose to be 55F in mid-January. At least, not in New York. And pouring. It could've been worse. Could've been snow. But we're not out of the proverbial woods yet. Long-term forecasts suggest a brutally cold end to winter that runs into May. May? I thought it was bad in 1996, when we had 3 wet snow storms in April alone. Wet snow that took down power lines, caused my sump to fail and my basement to flood. It was that April that I decided to invest in a generator with an automatic start. So while I'm not unhappy about the ridiculously warm weather, I'm not about to assume Spring is just a few quick weeks away.

I get to the gym really late. It's nearly noon. I'd spent most of the morning trying to piggy back an appointment for myself onto my son's dermatology visit later this week. Because I've just about run out of the only thing that keeps me from scratching the skin off my neck: fluocinonide, a topical steroid used to reduce itching, swelling and inflammation. Over-the-counter hydrocortisone creams do nothing for me. Every few weeks I feel as if my neck has become allergic to my hair and the baby-fine strands that escape my braid irritate my skin. Neck skin is particularly thin. I developed this condition a few years ago and asked my GP about it. She suggested taking a mild oral antihistamine like Chlor-Trimeton® but that didn't do anything for me. This acute itching also occurs on my right big toe, but just on the first middle phalanges. Weird. It's probably some sort of eczema. There's psoriasis in my family but I don't have those scaly patches. My appointment with the skin doc is for next Monday. Sigh.

Lots of morning folk are leaving the gym just as I'm entering. That's good for me! I do 30 minutes on the cross-trainer and then some pull ups. As guilty as I feel about not doing core, I skip right over to the Smith because today is a Pull Day. I only did sets of 80 lbs last week. This week I'm able to go higher. My back is fine, except right after the 100 lb set, when I'm sitting on the bench tapping into my phone. Then there's a little discomfort. The 120 lbs feels okay. But just okay, at least for my back. It's my knees that are complaining a little. Not great. I decide not to push my luck, and drop down to 90 lbs for the last set. Then I stick with the low weight of 80 lbs for the RG BB Rows. I feel as if I'm doing better than I did last week.

I can't find the handle I like for the Seated Cable Row. There are several single handles of varying thickness and weight. Of course, with my tiny hands, I want the thinnest, lightest one. I use gripper pads because only they offer enough padding between my bony little fingers and the metal handle. (Gloves just don't have enough material in the fingers!) I surprise myself by going heavier, but of course, I'm also allowing myself to only get 6 reps. That's one thing I have to train myself out of! The 12-rep set has been so ingrained that it's automatic and I have to make a conscious effort to accept doing less.

I only have time for a quick Mat Stretch. I've been trying to upload photos from this weekend's Boy Scout Klondike event but I'm not sure if it's FaceBook, my iPhone, the internet, or Apple iCloud that's giving me problems. I upload the first 30 photos just fine. Everything after that is painful. Because the tablet has lost it's internet connection? WTH? Or FB can't handle the videos. I try emailing them to my desktop, asking the email system to use a cloud service. It appears to acquiesce, but nothing shows up at the other end. Ugh. Things just disappear into the ether... Grrrr...

I keep hearing that the flu has hit NY and that it's brutal this year. I always get my son vaccinated because he's in school and on the school bus. But I haven't had a flu shot since I stopped commuting on public transportation. Still, I take precautions and wash my hands often. And every day (that I remember), I mash up some fresh raw garlic with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and slather it on bread to eat. The garlic hurts my stomach if I don't put it on bread or crackers. And I have garlic breath for a few hours afterwards. But the odor seems to dissipate overnight, which means my body is getting used to processing it. I've given up on taking apple cider vinegar: it gives me horrible heartburn! So no more "cold & flu tonic" either, because I can't handle the vinegar base. But I can handle garlic on a bread base! 

Well, at least my workout was good. Debating as to whether I want to whack the machine or just do cardio and core tomorrow. I guess I'll know when I get there...

Tuesday

30 x-trainer
Miles 3.80
Calories 142
Average Heart Rate 133

HGPU 26

Smith RDLs (super light)
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12
90 x 12

Smith RG BB Rows
80lbs x 25reps x 3 sets

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
30lbs x 12
45 x 12
52.5 x 10
60 x 6 Yaaay me!

Pushing the Push Day

Like my son, I really need to "sleep in" at least once a week to put a dent in the sleep deficit we run from getting up during the school week. I don't care what anyone says: being at the bus stop at 7:05 am is totally awful, especially in the cold. This weekend there was no sleeping in. Saturday we had to be at the park for the annual district Boy Scout Klondike event. Opening ceremony was at 9, but we had to be there a good hour earlier since we were the hosting Troop. We didn't get to leave until 3ish. The event itself was over at 2 pm, a series of 8 stations that tested Scout skills. Our Troop wasn't as prepared as they should've been, but that's mostly because few of the Senior Scouts showed up. The younger Scouts don't really know what they're doing, and the two senior-most boys are shy and quiet types that have a hard time being heard. Or listened to. Snow ball fights erupted at the end, which all the boys greatly enjoyed since there were 13 Troops represented. It's rare that my son gets to play with so many other boys outside.

Sunday we went into the City to see the Shen Yun dance troupe. It's been called a cult vehicle, and it might actually be. But we still enjoyed the performances. Except for the soprano. I could do without that. And the intermittent cries of persecution. My hubs and I agree that they are probably being censored by mainland China, and yes, they're probably a cult too. But, we're ardent anti-Communists so neither of us has a problem with seeing the show at Lincoln Center. Afterwards, we walked a few blocks to a tiny dumpling house with a modern take on fried dumplings.


The soup dumplings were more traditional, but with original fillings like pork and kimchi. I didn't care much for their version of scallion pancake with the beef and hoisin sauce, but the spicy beef noodle soup was quite good with large slices of well-seasoned meat. My hubs got the chili beef soup and he kept raving about how fresh it all tasted. The slender strands of meat were quite tender and flavorful, but with with a scorching kick that catches you in the back of the throat at the end. Click here for the link to the Yelp review of the La Salle Dumpling Room. My son looked sullen the entire time and wound up ordering pork fried rice. I'm sure he was just tired. We got ice cream at Grand Central Station and took the train back. At least there's free parking at the Metro North stations on weekends.

Once we got home, we relaxed by streaming The Toxic Avenger, which we all greatly enjoyed. It's grossly violent in a totally non-believable way, but perfectly captures the feeling of 1980s NYC. Seriously. Here's a clip from the movie:




So I'm obviously tired today. And what's better for a dreary Monday morning than starting off the workout with Intervals. Ha! But I did them. And pull ups. Even added 2 more reps! After push ups and core, I see that the Smith is free. It really needs to have the tracks cleaned though as they seem a bit gummy. I'm tired enough so that I don't want to do more than one set at my max weight of 90 lbs. I know that's not a lot of weight, but that's where I'm at and I'm okay with it. Besides, I feel as if the following two super high rep sets makes up for it.

As I settle into the BB super-set routine, I realize that the background din has gotten exponentially louder. It's not that the gym has become more crowded: it's just that The Mayor has arrived. Good grief. He's giving pointers to the middle-age couple who are at the cable stations. She's tall and thin, but with a lagging gait and a useless hand curled up to her side. He's shorter, with a large face and Bugs Bunny cartoon Tasmanian Devil proportions. They come to the gym at least two or three times weekly. At some point The Mayor will quiet down because he won't have anyone to talk to. He always looks pained when that happens.

I'm keeping my routine fairly light because I haven't had enough sleep, and I'm actually a little tired from the 30 minutes of Intervals. Otherwise, I'd be doing slightly heavier weights. Tomorrow I'm toying with a light Pull Day. We'll see... there's also suppose to be lots of rain and thunderstorms. My sump pump is still connected to a hose leading out of the basement window and snaking down the yard. Of course, the ground is still frozen and a "skating rink" has formed behind my house. There's a pool of ice under my bedroom as well, frozen ground water between the concrete supports of the cantilevered back end of the house. (Yeah, the old guy who originally cobbled this house together really had no idea what he was doing.)

Monday

30 elliptical
Intervals
Calories 305
Miles 2.67
Average Heart Rate 139 (191 max)

HGPU 28
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Push-ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

Smith Inclined Press (sticky)
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 13
90 x 12
60 x 25
50 x 25

BB Front Raises s/s Upright Rows
20lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3 sets

Twofer Friday

Thursday I was too busy to post anything. I went to the gym and did my 14 rounds of whacking the kickboxing machine. Then some grocery shopping because if I wait until Friday, a lot of items are sold out before the weekend rush. Barely had time to put stuff away, walk the dog and shovel the alternate parking spot out past our hedges before I had to run off and pick my son up from his Archery class. Luckily, I'd also made and packed "turkey, swiss and spicy guac sandwiches" since I wouldn't have any time to make dinner. From Archery we went to Kung Fu where my son finished up his HW in the car before class. We always get there too early if we leave directly from school, but it doesn't make any sense to go home since we'd only have 10 minutes before having to leave for Kung Fu. So we sit on the parking lot and my son either does HW, or takes a nap. I'd like to take a nap, but I'm too paranoid to sleep in my car. Probably comes from being born and raised in NYC.

Back from kung fu and I had all of 15 minutes to drop my son off, wolf down the remainder of my sandwich, and rush off to the middle school for the annual Curriculum Night. We have a new principal so this was the shortest presentation yet, explaining what choices our 7th graders will have to make upon entering 8th grade. Some choices need to be made this year though, as they require qualifying entrance exams, like Advance Science. Ugh.

Well, at least I enjoyed my workout. Those 3 rounds of Sparring between the 4 rounds of Beginner Follow Me are quite intense! I admit that by the 3rd Sparring round, I'm not quite as feisty, but I'm still scoring fairly well with multiple hits and combinations. I don't even bother trying to "block" the punches because it just stops the action. And I punch and jab through all the blank screens, figuring what's the worst that could happen? I accidentally score? Win-win! Between rounds I note the presence of regulars, and newbies taking the requisite tour of all the equipment. I see The Mayor and then I don't so I think he's left. But I'm wrong. He's just moved over to a new station to chat with someone else. I don't think I've ever seen The Mayor not talking. Ever. He probably even talks in his sleep. Seriously. But at least I haven't seen the creepier guys lately, like PJ Pants and Frankenstein.

Pull ups were fine, and I probably could've done more, but I didn't. I just wanted to stretch and shower. I seriously spend too much time at the gym.

Thursday

10 min warm up elliptical
Calories 94
Miles 0.83

T, Y & I DB Raises
3lbs x 15
5lbs x 15
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys
7r Beginner 4FM / 3Sp
7r Intermediate FM

HGPU 26

Most of the newbies are really, really old. Today, I saw an elderly couple examining the cardio machines with a staffer while I was on the Step Mill. He looked patiently disinterested, but she had such a look of puckered disdain that I almost burst out laughing. Of course I didn't. The fellow on the Step Mill next to me spent more time fiddling with his phone than he actually did climbing. Well, at least he wasn't talking. I've seen him before. Maybe a college kid? He's athletic, but losing his hair. Which means I really have no idea how old he is... No real eye-candy at my gym. Oh well...

I started out my workout with Intervals, which always worries me. Because I'm not really warmed up. But you don't get better at something unless you tackle it head on. And I suck at Cardio. So not a bunny. I did manage to do pull ups okay, and then push ups (where I spaced and lost count) and the core workout of planks and more planks. They feel more effective than the crunch and bicycle variations I'd been doing. And I don't have to take my hair clip out so that's even better!

While I'm on the elliptical, I see a kid in a hoodie and shorts with a weighted belt doing chin ups in the Stretch Cage. I smile to myself because I like it when other people use the Cage to do chin ups and pull ups, and it's not just me. I have yet to see any other women doing pull ups or chin ups. I absolutely don't count the Assisted Pull Up machine. No one who uses that has ever graduated to doing real full-body pull ups.

I decide to finish with a short ride on the Expresso. The new bike used to face the backs of the 3 older bikes, but now sits perpendicular to them, facing the back of the Cable station in the Cross-Fit area. It's okay, except that I try to do the "ride of the week", which is a night ride. And the glare from the overhead lights and front windows means I can't actually see the darkened course, only the reflection of my face staring back. I have to switch to a "daytime" ride instead. I'm getting better at this as I pass my pacer! Of course, I'm only pedaling for 11 minutes, but I've started sweating again, so there was some effort here! Here's a YouTube video (commercial) for the Expresso bike if you're curious...



I do a full Mat Stretch but I'm still undecided about the Pistol Squats. The last thing I need is for my legs and butt to get bigger. My weight is at the mercy of the sodium gods. Yesterday I sucked down my entire 1.5 liter bottle and weighed in at 112.0 lbs. Today I drank half my water, and the gym scale said: 110.4 lbs. I'm still logging my meals into the MyFitnessPal app, and still managing to squeak over my calorie limit. Of course, I'm not logging any exercise whatsoever, so I think I'm still on track to lose some of this body fat. I'd really like my clothes to be a tad looser... I guess I should be a tad more zealous with the calories?

Friday

30 elliptical
Intervals
Calories 305
Miles 2.67
Average Heart Rate 133 (max 196)

HGPU 26
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Push Ups 60

Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

20 StepMill
Calories 139
Flights 58
934 total steps
Level 5

Expresso Bike
Mini Mayhem
2 miles
55 calories
11:13 min

Feeling Yesterday

The automated call came at 4:45 am announcing that school had been cancelled due to icy roads. My hubs still had to go to La Guardia for work, and later to Boston. My son actually got up before I did and went out to our unheated garage to pedal on the elliptical for 30 minutes. He says his arms still ache from Sunday's workout with my hubs, but that hasn't stopped him from video gaming. I, on the other hand, definitely feel my Pull Day with some stiffness in my lower back. Weirdly, I also feel my lower abdominal sides, which is probably from those few sets of One-Arm Seated Cable Rows. Glad to know that the exercise actually worked those muscles! 

Of course, what concerned me the most this morning was the deep yellow hue to my pee. At first I got paranoid, wondering if the lower back stiffness was in any ways kidney-related. But after the morning cup of coffee and subsequent bathroom time, I finally remembered that I'd made roasted beets for supper last night. I knew beets can make your poop purple. I'd just forgotten they also discolor your pee as well. My hubs swears by the instant powdered Superbeets® that he mixes with water and drinks every morning. I've tried that once or twice. It's mild tasting, but I can't say I feel any better because of it. My hubs says you have to let it build up in your system before you feel any effects. It's suppose to improve energy levels and your heart health. I'm not quite sure I believe it although the internet positively overflows with websites calling beets a super food. Hmmm...

I had added the beets to the salad along with avocado chunks, carrots and baby spinach leaves. I've never cooked beets before and relied on a Bobby Flay technique: wash and trim beets, coat in olive oil, wrap in tin foil and place on baking sheet, bake at 375F for 40 minutes. Peel and slice when cooled. Next time I'm going to try a different technique that calls for peeling the raw veggies first, then coating with olive oil, salt & pepper and thyme, and roasting in a pan. My hubs and I both like beets, but my son left his behind on the plate. Oh well...

We got a few inches of really wet snow, so I mostly swept the walkway and shoveled around my car. Then salted everything because it's dropping to 9F tonight. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of icy spots. I still plan to hit the gym though. I'd like to whack the machine and get myself loosened up. Today, I read that the Mayo Clinic recommends a workout include 5 elements. Click here to access the Run Hundred website which lets you sample music by BPM (beats per min) tempo. It's run by Chris Lawson, a music DJ who is also into fitness and puts together cardio playlists.

I'm just pleased that my routines seem to incorporate all 5 elements. Not quite sure about the balance part. Maybe I should toss Pistol Squats back into the mix?

Easing Into the Pull

I really didn't think they'd cancel school today for the flurries we had this morning. Instead, they dismissed an hour earlier than usual. And all after-school activities cancelled. So no kung fu. And no Boy Scouts tonight. Because the school buildings will be closed. Well, at least the message from the School District admitted that they were taking an abundance of caution to be safe. In this litigious society, it's the only recourse.

I did go to the gym to do a super light Pull Day. First my 30 min cardio warm up, and then some core. Because no one ever says you can't do core every day. I know my forearms get sore when I do pull ups, but since I usually don't work out on weekends, or whenever we're stuck at home, I figure I'm not doing myself any real damage. I am a strong believer in getting thoroughly warmed up with cardio before doing any strength movements. Just doing a few warm up sets with a light bar isn't enough, in my opinion. I see people do this all the time at my gym, and I used to do it too when I was much, much younger. But I also got injured a lot more back then. Of course, it's no good if the warm up tuckers you out so much that you can't perform your routine correctly. You have to really listen to your body to gauge just how much you can do, and how much you need to do.

After cardio, pull ups, band pulls (to warm up the shoulders), push ups and lots of planks, I see no one at the Smith although there are still plates on the bar. People just walk away as if their mothers are going to clean up after them. Ugh. I know that 120 lbs caused me some worry last time, so I swallow my pride and just do a few sets at 80 lbs. It doesn't feel too bad, and I'm tempted to add a pair of 10s, but I resist. Let's see how my lower back feels later. However, I do a few sets of RG BB Rows at the same weight. Because that I can't resist. I'm also used to going heavier on this movement, but my lower back is actually just barely okay with this weight. No actual twinges, but I'm not going heavier right now. When I do a few sets of Seated One-Arm Cable Rows, I can feel tightness on either side of the back corner of my hips. Good thing I'm just doing a super light workout today.

I have some time so I add 20 minutes of elliptical Program 1. It gets me nicely warm again, because I've actually cooled down doing Cable Rows. My right foot is still an issue. This morning I felt my 3rd and 4th toes curl up slightly as I walked through the house. Ugh. I've been wearing my toe sock to bed and that helps a little. Online, I come across diagrams for neuromas and specifically Morton's neuroma, an inflammation of the nerves between the 3rd and 4th metatarsals. This probably explains the numbness I get when I'm on the cross-trainer too long, or have the wrong footwear. I need super padded insoles! Hammertoes only exacerbate the situation. Well, this foot's a mess, but I'm so disillusioned with the medical specialty field that it's going to take more than some temporary discomfort to get me to see a podiatrist. I had been wondering if I didn't have a runaway plantar's wart pressing on the nerves in question. I still might...

I get on my home scale this morning and I'm bummed to see that I've put on weight (110.4) but relieved that my body fat still says 15.9%. The only other change suggest I'm adding muscle mass, but all these numbers are too small to take too seriously. What I'm looking for are trends over a period of time. What's really weird though is that my measurements are all larger by 1/2 inch. It's a vinyl tape but I find it highly unlikely that it's shrinking in the cold... Very weird. I'm trying not to get discouraged. Seeing progressive weight and body fat loss is always encouraging. Less so when measurements seem to rise and fall like the temps around here.

More snow promised for tonight. We'll see if there's a school delay by 5 am. If not, then I'm going to whack the kickboxing machine for a few rounds.

Tuesday
5.46 total cardio miles

30 x-trainer
Calories 141
Miles 3.75

HGPU 26
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Push-ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith RDLs super light
Bar (30lbs) x 15
80lbs x 12reps x 3 sets

Smith RG BB Rows
80lbs x 25reps x 3 sets

One-Arm Seated Cable Row
30lbs x 12reps
45lbs x 12reps x 3 sets

20 min elliptical
Program 1
Calories 193
Miles 1.71
Average Heart Rate 137 (178 max)

HGPU 26

Another Twofer Post

The ground up here in the Northeast (but well south of Canada) is so uncharacteristically frozen that a lot of people are having problems with their septic systems. Our problem is that the drain pipe for our sump pump froze, which meant there was nowhere for the incoming groundwater from Friday's torrential rains to go. I had to call my neighbor who called a plumber he knows. (All my plumbers were too busy to respond. Now this new guy is my new plumber!) He brought a new sump pump to drain the basement and discovered that my old sump was actually working. (I thought it'd failed. And there was no way of checking it without wading into a foot of water, and no one wants to do that while there's live currents.)

Miraculously, the oil burner fired right up and it was amazing to watch the steam it generated as it dried itself off, but the computer chip controller card for the water heater was fried. It didn't mean I had no hot water. What it meant is that the water going to the tap was now 200F, the same temp as the oil burner heating system. I had to call another guy to fix the hot water heater. It cost me a lot of money, but at least I have heat and hot water that won't scald me when I do the dishes. (Whoever said money can't buy happiness was lying, or didn't have any. Money buys heat and hot water, which makes me happy.)

Of course, it's only mid-January and winter is months away from being over. So I hope I don't have to pour more money into the basement for now... My oil burner is down to 1/4 tank. Sigh. A delivery is scheduled for Thursday. They'd better come! We're usually pretty good with our fuel, keeping our house around 60-63F. My hubs gets a little crazy with the wood stove though, and had us at a roasting 75F, which made me sweaty in my flannels. Yuck. I'd rather have the house at 63F.

Sunday, since we didn't have safe hot water, we all decided to go to the gym to work out and then avail ourselves of their plentiful hot water, and great water pressure. My hubs worked out with my son. My son always looked kind of bored, or intimidated. Working out with my son is a new thing for my hubs. He's not really used to it but I figure it's a good bonding experience, like Boy Scouts. (We rarely take our son to the gym because most weekends are reserved for Scout events.) I saw other parents with their kids at the gym. On weekends, people can bring their 8-14 year olds for free. I did a Push Day with a 30 min cardio warm up. I didn't really push it too hard, and as it was, I was still the last person out of the locker room. But of course, washing long hair and patting it dry takes forever. I do miss my old wash and go haircut!

I'm kind of bummed when I spot the sign affixed to my favorite Life Fitness cross-trainer. It's going to be replaced! I don't fit into a lot of the equipment so I'm always a bit apprehensive as to whether this will be a good new thing, or a bad new thing. But of course, there's a gal at the front desk who's 2 inches shorter than I am, so if she can use it, then most likely I can too. We'll see...


Sunday

20 x-trainer
Calories 96
Miles 2.64

HGPU 26
Push-ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12
90 x 12
60 x 25
50 x 25

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25 x 12/15 x 3

Rip Skulls
40 x 12 x 3


Monday is a school holiday although everyone else (except banks and the post office) appear to be open. Our road is so icy (from the underground stream runoff from a property two houses past ours) that a town bulldozer came this morning to scrape up all the ice, and then dumped salt and sand all the way down to the main road. Ah winter! Walking to the bus stop is going to suck tomorrow morning, so I really might have to drive my son down. Ugh.

I got to the gym at noon today and I had a lot of things to do afterwards so a quick cardio workout. Intervals, pull ups, push ups and a fairly standard core plank routine. I keep reading that you shouldn't do push ups and pull ups every day because your body can't recover quick enough. I guess I don't really believe that — I do them whenever I'm at the gym. My pull ups were better today than yesterday. They always feel weak after a few days off. Or after a particularly grueling workout, like kickboxing the Nexersys. Which I might do tomorrow since the forecast is for snow tomorrow night into Wednesday, and that's going to affect school. Of course...

Monday

30 elliptical
Intervals
Calories 295
Miles 2.60
Average Heart Rate 144 (max 205)

HGPU 26
Push-ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

Enforced Rest

I had such a bad headache yesterday that I took the day off from the gym. Today, I find that my sump pump has failed and I'm patiently awaiting a plumber (doing overtime because it's Saturday) to bail out my basement and see if my hot water heater will restart once it's dry. Ugh. No hot water means no heat! There's a foot of water in my basement due to all the heavy rains yesterday. And while it was nearly 60s yesterday, this morning everything was blanketed with snow. Pretty, but cold. Ugh.

I admit I've been sleeping a lot the last two days. Which means I'm not ravenously hungry anymore. Whew! I've also resorted to using my toe sock to keep the cramping at bay. I felt my toes twinge a bit yesterday, which is very alarming. Muscles cramps are really painful, but I think they're worse when they occur in tiny digits that are hard to massage. Seriously.

Monday is another school holiday. I might go to the gym tomorrow though. Because they have great hot water! And I should take my son with me to do a little mother-son exercise bonding. Seriously.

If It's Got a Muscle, It Can Cramp!

I got to the gym at noon today. Not what I had intended, but I had a lot of stuff to sort through this morning. And somethings take forever. Literally forever. Like finding out whether our health insurance covers the cataract and glaucoma surgery. And whether the hospital my doctor plans to use is actually in our network. One customer service person claimed that not only did we not have insurance with said company, but we must be on Medicaid or Medicare! WTF? If she were standing in front of me, I might've been tempted to punch her. Seriously.

Never mind the fact that I'd just spoken to a nurse who could bring up our info just fine. Ugh. After 20 aggravating minutes, where I politely asked to be transferred to another service person and she was unable to do even that, I hung up and redialed the toll-free number on the back of our insurance card. The nurse stayed on the line to make sure the next benefits service person could access our plan, and then she told me that the number on the back of my card was wrong. Well, it was good two months ago! And they haven't issued new cards either. Ugh.

As far as I can tell, there's not been any massive influx of newbies at my gym, desperate to make good on New Year resolutions. I warm up but still haven't decided exactly what programs I'm going to run. I've been getting to bed later than is good for me, and even though I tell myself I'm going to take a short nap after I get my son on the school bus, I never do. Because once I'm up I feel compelled to do all the morning things I normally do... The Nexersys seems a little different today. It's still too sensitive taking a right Cross during Sparring rounds, but it only blanks once during the entire 14 rounds of my kickboxing workout! Cool! I only do 3 rounds of Sparring during the Beginner session and I'm plenty warm by round 4.

Truthfully, I'm too tired to do combo Follow Me and Sparring for the Intermediate session, so I just do Follow Me. The machine is still erratic enough during Intermediate to make this challenging, with phantom ghost prompts and intermittently not registering Power Body jabs and kicks. But who's keeping score, right?

I get my pull ups afterwards, and because I skipped yesterday's workout, I get all my reps and they don't feel too bad. But I've sucked down all my water! The gym scale is not kind: 112.8 lbs. Worse, when I get in the shower, two toes on my right foot inexplicably start to cramp. Ugh! There are HS girls chatting loudly in the locker room so I'm not about to risk embarrassing myself by hobbling out of the shower, clutching my foot. What I'm really worried about is slipping, even though I have my flip-flop shower shoes on. I press my foot as flat as I can to keep the toes from cramping more, but I'm not sure if that's helping or making it worse.

I can't pick my foot up without the toes going crazy. I'm covered in hot water and soap as well. Eventually, I get my hair rinsed of shampoo and all the soap off. Lifting my foot over the edge of the shower basin is difficult. I feel like I'm limping slightly trying to keep my flip flops on. Once I sit down on the bench in front of my locker, the toes calm down. Ugh. I have to pick up a few items at the grocery before heading home and the foot behaves itself like a normal foot. WTH? I'm relieved but once home, I search the internet and get absolutely nothing helpful or relevant. Seriously? One article in Prevention magazine online suggests tight footwear, over exertion and mineral imbalances as possible causes. My only issue with the article is where the author states that "nerves provide nutrition and messages to your muscles." WTH? Nerves provide nutrition? Since when? Click here for the article.

There are some helpful suggestions about foot stretches. I stretch my feet and toes at the end of all my Mat Stretch routines. I don't wear tight shoes. I don't think my exercise routine is excessive. But maybe I should consider replenishing my electrolytes? I think this is more a problem with the nerves since I'm linking a old ankle surgery to remove a schwannoma (a non-cancerous nerve sheath tumor) on (I'm guessing) the medial plantar, which wraps under the foot and branches into the toes, to my bunion as well as the occasional problems I have with the third and fourth metatarsals. Like cramping. But they've crossed painfully before. And issues appear to be occurring with greater frequency. So age is probably a factor too. Sigh.

I keep missing my protein goals. It's hard to eat enough without blowing the calories. Today, not only did I drink skim-milk with whey powder for breakfast, I drank an Ensure before I went shopping, and I was still so hungry I had to chow down a Quest bar while waiting for my son's kung fu class to start. Lately, I feel hungry ALL THE TIME. It's crazy! Ugh. Got chicken thighs roasting in the oven, and a nice side salad of arugula. At least there's no e. coli warning for that. Yet. 

Thursday

10min x-trainer
Calories 47
Miles 1.23
Average Heart Rate 149

T, Y & I @15
3lbs
5lbs

Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15

Nexersys
7r Beginner: 4FM 3SP
7r Intermediate Follow Me (cuz I’m tired)
HGPU 26

Taking a Rest Day

I suppose I could've gone to the gym today. I'm not that tired or sore although I'd be lying if I said I'd gotten enough sleep or that my glutes, back and shoulders weren't the tiniest bit achy. Because they are. But I find that I spend enough time at the gym to seriously eat into my day. It's not just working out, which I enjoy immensely (and could probably do every day), but the drive there and back, and the changing and showering that adds no less than another hour to the time.

It's colder than I expect at 14F when I take the dog for his morning walk. His wart has changed in appearance yet again, and seems to be melting. Is that even possible? I'm debating whether to apply another smear of Bag Balm to the wart. Just a month shy of turning 15 (105 in dog years), the old guy's entitled to sleep most of the time, lying on his new dog bed in the chilly sunlight of the full-length storm door. He's also, as old dogs tend to be, lumpy with new bumps under his thick fur. When I leave the house, I have to close the front door and he grudgingly goes to sleep in his crate. While I'm home, I leave the front door open so he can sleep with his nose facing the driveway, ostensibly keeping half an eye open for cats and delivery people. I'll go to the gym tomorrow to whack the kickboxing machine.

Today, after my morning coffee and bathroom time, I get on the home scale just to see how much damage my inability (lately) to (strictly) adhere to the MyFitnessPal caloric guidelines has caused me. (Last night we polished off the pecan toffee for dessert and I had to guess at the calories. MFP has a large database, but "homemade" items have to be guesstimated.) Perhaps the fact that I don't add any exercise to the MFP calorie tracker helps? I'm happy to see that the scale is slowly inching downward: 109.4 lbs and 15.9% BF.

Tracking my weight and body fat every few days helps motivate me because I'm so easily distracted! It's the age of distraction between all our streaming devices, phones and other mobile devices! I don't even remember why or when I stopped using this app the last time around... I am getting annoyed though, by all the emails from Under Armour. Less than half are useful articles with one-pot recipes or "new" ways to prepare foods. The rest purport to cheer you on your fitness quest and try to encourage more activity. I don't need more activity, but I'm not about to track my workouts and everything else with them. They don't need to know so I'm not going to tell them. (That's the problem with most of these fitness sites: they're ultimately trying to sell you something. BB.com just changed their policy to now charge for access to training and diet programs, none of which I use anyway. I guess they're not making enough money by selling supplements online.)

Today, I also take my measurements with a tape. Hips and waist are easy enough, but I always have trouble with the bust, and not just because I've got a tiny one. No, the problem is that you need to hold the tape with one hand, which you can only do by bending your elbow and pulling your arm slightly forward. The measurement changes if you're standing straight with your arms to your sides! Well, at least mine does, because my back flares out slightly and the tape pulls out a good half inch. I finally put the tape end closer to my armpit so I could hold it without compression. For a small person, a half inch makes a lot of difference!

I finally ate the leftover sirloin steak and half a baked sweet potato for breakfast this morning. With coffee, and plain kefir to wash my vitamins down, I've used up 470 of my allotted 1380 calories. And no matter how hard I try, I never seem to make my protein goals. Oh well...

A Tad Sore

My hubs was feeling under the weather and took a rare sick day. I'm wondering if he hasn't caught flu as reports indicate a "bad" flu season. But doesn't the media always say that to scare you into getting a flu shot? Never mind the fact that it's another ineffective vaccine, due to viral mutations happening inside the eggs where the vaccines are spawned. If you caught flu last year, then apparently you're protected because you've still got immunity. And those who were immunized last year? Nope, out of luck I suppose...

Today's a Cardio Day. The gym is peopled by the same folks pre New Year although I do see one or two new faces. That's actually not a lot considering attrition. A lot of regulars don't show up much during the winter. I'm not sure if they've fled to Florida, where they wouldn't be enjoying mild weather anyway. Today it's almost warm out at 40F. Still, I have my hat, puffy down coat, fleece gloves and boots on. It's still January after all.

My glutes and hammies are actually a tad sore today. Not sure if it's due to the light RDLs I tried yesterday, or just the fact that I worked out after 4 days of relative inactivity. I'm dragging and I don't think my mileage will be very good. Pull Ups are again hard during the last 6 reps. Of course. I feel really tired! But I'm also stubborn so I keep going. To change things up, I add elbow planks today, and subtract any of the crunch, bicycle and scissors that would have me laying on my back, which would force me to take my hair clip out.

Yesterday I saw a gal on the treadmill with two pigtails and I thought I'd see if I could do that and not look ridiculous. It might take me a bit more practice to not have my braids stick out at 45° from the back of my head. I wound up clipping them together and that looked okay. This morning, my hair was crazy from all the braiding. I'm back to a single braid clipped to my head because that's so much easier. But when I'm really bored, I guess I'll try my hand at pigtails again.

After doing two sets of elbow planks, I could feel my stomach. Great! I guess I'll add those as a regular component to my workout now. Because it's a Cardio Day, I do Intervals. I'm tired so I really only want to do 20 minutes but I talk myself out of it, and punch in 30 minutes. I have trouble getting past 200 SPMs (Strides Per Minute) for the first two troughs. Yes, even though I just did 30 minutes on the cross-trainer, I still need to "warm up" for my legs to get to speed. By the third trough in the Intervals program, I'm able to hit 239 SPMs for almost 20 seconds before dropping down to 220, then 210. I figure I can keep the first minute of High Intensity up past 200 SPMs, then drop down to 170 to 180 SPMs for the second minute. Then the program peaks and I drop to 100 to 120 SPMs. Each bar lasts a minute and each cycle totals 4 minutes. Halfway through, I tell myself I should've just done 20 minutes. But I don't quit. Because that's not my nature. I make it through the entire 30 minutes.

I even do a full Mat Stretch afterwards to see if I can improve my horizontal stretch. Creepy Frankenstein keeps staring at me from 20 yards away as he sits in the pec deck. I rotate and put my back to him. Why do old guys think it's okay to stare? Yuck. But at least the gym scale is friendly today, reading 110.2 lbs. Of course, I've only drunk half my water. And sweated profusely. We'll see where I am in a week.

Tuesday 
6.45 cardio miles

30 x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.85
Average Heart Rate 152

HGPU 26
Push-ups 60
Elbow Plank 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

30 elliptical
Intervals
Calories 295
Miles 2.60
Average Heart Rate 151

Starting the Week with a Combo

Part of the central display at Cabelas

The weekend was cold, but sunny. Today it's warmer (25F) but overcast. Just as my son got home from school, I got the text, email and phone calls cancelling all after-school activities due to the threat of freezing rain and icy roads. I'm glad I'm waiting until tomorrow to get my car washed! Yesterday we decided to drive 1.5 hrs to East Hartford where there's a Cabela's Store. I've never been in a store that not only had giant displays of stuffed critters in various life-like poses (wolves surrounding a fallen caribou, mountain goats atop cliffs, etc.) but also a live trout and eel aquarium.

Of course, most of the good winter gear was gone before Grayson hit, but we did snag a decent pair of water-proof hiking boots for my son. It's hard to determine size without actually trying footwear on, especially with thick winter socks. The Cabela's brand boot, size 10EE, fit comfortably and my son was surprised since he normally wears an 8 these days. We got really hungry on the drive home even though I'd made fried egg sandwiches for lunch. It just wasn't enough, and my hubs had a hankering for the Texas Roadhouse. Click here for the menu, and calorie count!

The problem with using MyFitnessPal is that you need to be connected to its database. No signal at the restaurant so I had to enter all my food once I got home. And some foods were hard to figure because they were part of the Combo Appetizer, a whopping 1100-1530 calories, I guess depending on whether you substitute deep-fried pickles for one of the other three items: boneless Buffalo Wings (can we just call them chicken nuggets?); Rattlesnake Bites (deep-fried jack cheese with bits of jalapeno) and Tater Skins topped with bacon and cheese. I had two nuggets and a Tater Skin. I can't figure out how many calories that is because you don't know how big an actual serving is for the calorie content listed for each a là carte item. (Being accurate is boatloads of work!)

The rest of the meal was fairly easy to input, and a bit scary once I got home. A single roll with a bit of cinnamon butter was a whopping 180 calories! I'd ordered two low-calorie sides (mixed veggies, and green beans), a 6 oz sirloin steak and a side of ribs. I ate all the veggies first, figuring if I was bringing home leftovers, the meat would fare better. I only ate half the steak and didn't even touch the ribs. (Guess what I'm having tomorrow for dinner?) I wind up over my budget by 88 calories, and even though the sodium was within MFP's limits at 1636 mg, I thought the food was salty. I'm salt-sensitive so I'm not surprised that the gym scale reads 112.9lbs today. And that's after I drank my entire water bottle.

The workout was good and the gym not horribly crowded. No New Year newbies yet! Warmed up with 30 minutes of cross-trainer, figuring if nothing else, at least I got some cardio in. Did my pull ups (the last 6 are so hard!) and push ups and core stuff. Then saw that the Smith was free. Yaaay me! Did my Inclined Presses and added a few reps to my heaviest set. I had on the more-supportive Asics so I decided to ease back into RDLs. I got as far as 120 lbs before my back decided enough of that. I may have a disc issue after all — I'm not willing to chance it, so 120 lbs is all I did. Then skipped the BB shoulder stuff and went back to the DB superset and finally, Rip Skulls. I was a bit worried during the last set because suddenly my mind starts telling me I'm kind of tired and now I'm concerned about my left elbow failing. I've got to muffle that voice!

Meanwhile, I hear really loud whining and later discover it's The Mayor. Of course. No one else makes such a racket at my gym. I wasn't ready to call it done just yet though, and looked over at the ellipticals. Stinky Butt was on one right smack in the middle so I decide to do something else. I see the Expresso bikes and select a 2-mile ride without even logging in. I'm a little sweaty when I'm done, but I'm hoping warm enough to do some Mat stretches. Vertical splits are good (leg in front, leg in back), but the horizontal split (legs out to the side) has always been problematic for me. A tight tendon inside my left thigh and knee gets painfully achy if I push too hard or if I'm not properly warmed-up.

Speaking of stretches and splits, my hubs and I have been watching a lot of Jean-Claude Van Damme movies (Double Impact, Time Cop, Universal Soldier) because I introduced him to the new action/comedy series on Amazon, Jean-Claude Van Johnson. JCVD makes a lot self-referential remarks, so we wanted to revisit his classics before viewing episode 3. I never realized he had such a baby-face back in the late 80s! My hubs says, "He must be ancient now" and is shocked when I tell him that JCVD and I are the same age. He's still got a phenom bod though, and the Master of the Splits still has that amazing over-the-head kick. We're both amused to learn that not only did he master karate and kick-boxing, but he also studied ballet for several years. He also has two kids (in their late 20s) who are also martial artists in their own right. Cool!



Monday
5.82 cardio miles

30 x-trainer
Calories 142
Miles 3.82
Average Heart Rate 158

HGPU 26
Mid Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Push Ups 60
Scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Crunches 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
50 x 12
70 x 12
80 x 12
90 x 12, 10, 8
60 x 25
50 x 25

Smith RDLs (super light)
Bar x 15
80lbs x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20/25lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12reps x 3 sets

Expresso Bike
Campus Loop 2 miles
10:35
56 cal

No Gym But I'm Tired Anyway

Winter Storm Grayson cancelled school on Thursday, and road conditions were icy enough that Friday went from a 3-hr delay to just plain cancelled. And I was relieved. Because even if the road was decent enough to walk down, would my son and I really want to stand across from the lake with wind chills of -9F? My husband drove off to LaGuardia to check on construction progress there while I shoveled all the areas he didn't get to. We got about 8 inches of powder. And shoveling wasn't bad. Until the wind picked up. Ugh. Even with a hat on, my ears hurt. (It's hard to wear a hat AND earmuffs simultaneously but I'll figure out how to do that if this keeps up!) I wound up wearing my fleece hat, a fleece hoodie over my hat, and the down coat hood pulled up over all of it. Normally my hands and feet suffer from the cold, and the Raynaud's doesn't help. Luckily I had purchased some alpaca socks made specifically for really cold climes. Click here to visit the website for the Ideuma Creek Alpaca farm.

Insulated socks tend to be extra thick so I can only wear the Arctic Relief Socks with my LLBean super-insulated boots that I bought some years ago. The boots had been severely discounted because they were extremely stiff and hard to walk in. It's been a few years so they're more pliable now but I don't think I'd actually trust myself to drive wearing them. (They're too thick and clunky.) With regular wool socks, I still needed to slip chemical hand-warmer packets into the toes to keep from freezing. But with these alpaca socks, my feet were perfectly fine. It's a first! I just wish I could find something similar for my hands when I'm shoveling. Even Primaloft® insulated gloves aren't quite enough for my bony little hands. Oh well...

I shoveled a path around the house and up past our hedges where I could park my car not in our driveway. It's a pain to have to warm up your car for 15 minutes just to move it so another vehicle can leave. The path around the house is for the dog who is not terrible happy about the road salt. He'll be 15 next month and I'm sure he's got arthritis in his legs. The wart on his back is getting scary. A few weeks ago it started to flake a lot and I figure it was his skin getting dry from all the cold. The wart is a lot bigger now. I gently rubbed something on it I thought would be benign: Bag Balm, which is petrolatum, lanolin and an antiseptic. The wart looks different now, and not in a good way. Some of the edges look wet on the area I actually didn't put balm on. There might be a bit of blood but it's hard to tell with his fur. He doesn't act as if it's bothering him and he still has a good appetite and shows interest in barking at cats and delivery people so I'm thinking he'll keep until it gets warmer out. If it's something not benign, then I'll be the one who'll have to make that difficult decision, just like with the last dog. It's something I know is coming, I just don't want to rush things if I don't have to.

The dog is due for a check-up in April. And he hates traveling. Especially car traveling. He doesn't like new things, and never has. I bought him a new dog bed to put by the front door and he just stood there staring at it until I put his filthy, lumpy old bed on top of it. Mind you, the old bed is akin to a large pillow half-filled with cheap poly. The new bed is a bit more firm and cushiony, but he has stubbornly resisted anything resembling a fatigue mat. (Because of his damaged back knees, he can't really lift the back feet very high and tends to trip. Hence the butt/hip harness when we go out for walks and me shoveling a path through the snow all around our house.) I've been maneuvering the beds every day to get him to lay on the new on. He's very stubborn but today he actually did lay mostly on the new one (faux sheepskin topside), with his head and nose on the old brown one. Sigh.

My son's Boy Scout troop made plans to go on a 5-mile day hike. But my son doesn't have footwear that is both insulated and waterproof. He has hiking sneakers, but I didn't trust them for walking through calf-high snow in single digit temps with a wind chill of -10 to -20 today. So he stayed home and went back to bed. However, my hubs decided it was a point of pride to show up even though he was secretly hoping the trip would be cancelled. Another dad and my son's friend did show up though. As well as the Assistant Scoutmaster who planned the trip. My hubs has been texting me sporadically about how miserable he is. I'm glad it's not me.

I tried a new nutrition drink purely because I had a coupon and the carton said it had 20 grams of protein. It didn't say it was lactose-free. It said it was gluten-free and suitable for lactose intolerant people. So I bought it and drank one. And it was sort of gross because the chocolate was kind of thick. And after I drank it, I felt a bit queasy. Like maybe it's not really suitable for people like me... Ugh. So cross Boost®High Protein off my list...

Well, at least there's some good news... I got on my home scale this morning because I'm impatient to see some sort, any sort of results from my brief foray into food tracking. And I was rewarded! My weight is down to 110.6 lbs. Body fat still high at 16.3% but significantly better than the last reading of 113.4 lbs and 17.1%... What's my goal? Will I jinx myself if I actually verbalize it? Or is this just a handy excuse not to make a concrete statement so I can backpedal later? I haven't decided yet. Give me another week...