Stepping Up, with Heavy Feet

I left the house without much of a plan other than to do some cardio and core at the gym. I'm still nervous leaving the pups home alone. One has starting nibbling the holiday lights we have hanging in the window that serves as a type of nightlight for the livingroom. Those got tossed in the trash immediately. Mostly the dogs are good and just sleep on the sofa.

I did bring brand new expensive (for me) sneakers to test out: Brooks Adrenaline 13 size 7 extra wide. Brooks seems to cut their sneakers narrower than New Balance. I've got some decently comfortable NB 6.5 2E sneakers, but I need a second pair to alternate with. I've already tried on and returned 4 different pairs of sneakers. What surprises me about these sneakers is how heavy they are. Seriously. Really heavy. Like work boots. Glad I'm not actually running in these!

They are also oddly shaped with a protruding sole under the heel. There is adequate padding under the foot, but I'm not sure why the tongue needs so much, or any at all. It makes for a tight fit to the top of the foot. But the heel is loose, and that's probably because I have small boney feet with tiny heels. Manufacturers infer that buyers of wide shoes have fat feet. A lot of us, especially Asians and Native Americans, have wide feet that taper into narrow little heels. I could try padding it with heel strips but I've never found that to work well.

On the elliptical, the shoes are comfortable enough so that my pinky toe doesn't go numb and my hammertoes don't spasm. I have to be mindful not to trip over my own feet though because they ARE a half size too long. I knock out my pull-ups and core. After the StepMill, I think about trying a wider grip on the HGPU but the Stretch Cage is occupied. I hate waiting around so I just go straight to the Mat Stretch.

I've dropped all my holiday and post-biopsy weight in a week, but not in a healthy way. Still, it's nice to not have such uncomfortably tight clothes! It's hard to eat properly when your spouse has a completely different eating philosophy and practice -- the sharing of food is communal and social. Navigating this terrain is fraught with difficulties. I can't digest certain foods, especially fats, and he's on a keto-type diet that has him eating a lot of grease, protein, and salads drenched in dressing but shunning breads and grains. I like an egg on an English muffin or curried lentils over rice. Pasta and pizza are not off the table! Yeah, we're still figuring this out.

Minimal Thursday New Sneakers

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Miles 2.91
Calories 327
HR 163-196 (86)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

Elbow Plank 60s
Sideway Scissors 60
Crunches 60/60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 Step Mill
Level 4
Calories 127
Total steps 834
Floors 52
HR 140

Mat Stretch