My Husband Is Making Me Fat

Yep. I'm going to blame my husband for my weight gain. My clothes are too tight and now I fit comfortably in a pair of jeans I never used to wear because the waist was too big. Uh oh. I'm unhappy and uncomfortable so no time like the present to start a new program. Well, not technically a new program -- more like some tweaks to an existing routine. Tweaks are easier to implement and therefore easier to sustain. Sustainability, i.e., consistency is the key to success.

My son starts school tomorrow which means I'm once again solo at the gym and can follow my own routines without feeling guilty. I'll have more time to combine lots of cardio with a decent amount of weight-lifting. As much as I'm afraid of losing my vision to glaucoma, I find weight-lifting integral to reducing anxiety and stress. (Lifting heavy is prohibited in glaucoma patients because a few early studies have shown IOPs to rise several points. While the pressures normally return to pre-exercise levels over time, those spikes in pressure might lead to permanent optic nerve damage and are best avoided.) I can probably achieve the same stress-relief with an all-cardio routine, but I suspect it would be a lot of cardio. Probably more than what's actually healthy.

I've already cut out pushups and dropped my Inclined Bench Press to 70 lbs, but for loads more reps. I need to revise the Core routine since it's beginning to feel mundane and a tad too easy. My only recourse is to increase my cardio and to give a serious look at my eating habits. When I'm solo I usually eat healthily. I'm perfectly happy with a single meal of savory oatmeal with nuked greens and a poached egg or two. I stock the house with fruits for my son to snack on. Mindful that he's a teenager, I also have cereal, nuts, crackers, cheese, yogurt, cookies, granola bars and candy in the house because he likes variety.

It's when my husband is home that I run into trouble. We like to eat out occasionally and restaurant food is chock full of salt and fat. Why else would it be so tasty? My husband is on the keto diet which means he's given up bread, potatoes, pasta, crackers, and fruit. But he hasn't given up beer and wine. So he's not skinny by any means. He eats a lot of fat, i.e., cheese, olives, nuts and their butters, eggs, bacon, salads laden with dressing, and a bit of meat, which is how the keto diet works. When he's home, he wants to share because we all enjoy the camaraderie that shared meals bring. It's biological. So my husband will make a platter of olives, cheese, and meats, like an Italian anti-pasta tray. Everything is fatty and salty. He's not salt-sensitive, but I am. I should refrain but I don't.

I'm putting on a pound or two each weekend before I've had the chance to work off the weight from the last weekend. Part of that is my own fault. I like the way good food tastes and I like to eat. I'm not blessed with the rail-thin runner metabolism either. What I haven't learned to do yet is to partake in a small amount and allow myself to be satisfied with just that. I'd be thinner, my clothes would fit better, and in the long run, I'd probably live a lot longer. Calorie restriction has been shown to increase longevity in a variety of organisms, but it's too damn hard. It makes you mean and hungry all the time. More promising is intermittent fasting. Yes, it's become all the rage.

I find that I'm the happiest, and presumably, the healthiest when I skip breakfast (except for my cup of coffee, sugar, and cream), have a protein shake for lunch and then a small dinner. The hard part is feeding others. Normally, it's just my son and myself. He's fine with whatever I give him, as long as there's enough meat or chicken for seconds. It's harder when you also have to include a keto plate. But maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe I'm overthinking this. It wouldn't be the first time.

The gym scale put me at 114.4 lbs, which is the heaviest I've been in years. I need to drop 6-7 lbs if I'm ever going to fit into my winter clothes! And so it begins. I did cut my second cardio session down to 15 minutes and skipped stretching just for today because I forgot I had a phone appointment that I needed to be home for. But before I could do that, I had to buy AAA batteries -- my son told me that the calculator he needs for his math class appears to have shipped with dead ones. Ugh. So it's rush rush rush...


Solo Again Sept Push

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 303
Miles 2.73
HR 142-180 (91)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 22

Crunches 50/50
Bicycles 50
Horizontal Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press (big bench)
Bar (30) x 12
50 x 12
70 x 25, 20, 15

DB Laterals s/s Rev Inclined Flys
20 lbs x 12/15 reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40 x 12 x 3

15 elliptical
Program 1
Miles 1.25
Calories 141
HR 150-171 (97)