Caveat Tomato Juice

The parking lot has lines painted to designate car spaces, with narrower slots close to the storefronts, with the exception of handicap spots. So I'm surprised when I leave the gym to discover a freaking huge Suburban awkwardly parked next to my Subaru. I'm in a normal spot. The Suburban is in a spot for a smaller car, as evidenced by the fact that the driver side of the "car" has overlapped its allotted space. It wasn't there when I drove up this morning. There are plenty of other spots, but somehow this driver felt the need to park their oversized vehicle in an economy car spot. Why? Too far from the gym to park a few spots further? Good grief. Maybe they should get more exercise...

My sciatica doesn't bother me today although my lower back twinged while I was on the elliptical but it only lasted for a minute or so. Overall, cardio was good although not as good as yesterday (less steps) but a great warm up. And as always, I was worried about whether I'd be able to do a decent amount of pull-ups before and after core. It's apparently only a problem in my head, not my body... 

I skipped the step machine today and replaced those 10 minutes with triceps. At first I start with Skull Crushers, a basic movement. My left elbow wasn't happy until I rotated my forearm slightly. The entire exercise felt incomplete. Just goes to show you how ingrained the Rip Skull movement is in me. I decided to alternate between the two and kept the weight at 30 instead of increasing to 35. It's more and yet less, so it could work in the long run. 

I can't test my blood cholesterol myself so I'll just have to wait until next year's annual to see if my experiment with a daily 8 oz intake of tomato (or V-8 juice, which is 90% tomato juice) has worked to lower my triglycerides and blood pressure. My husband drank it for a week and had to quit because it had a significant effect on his bowels at the most inconvenient times: while at construction worksites! It doesn't have quite as dramatic an effect on me, but there is an effect. 

However, if you search the internet for tomato juice benefits and caveats, most "health" sites only warn against high sodium (I buy the "low-sodium" versions) and potential stomach irritation due to acidity. You actually have to type in "tomato juice laxative effect" in order to find articles that extol this benefit. It would've been good to have known this before starting because you can't derive this from the label. That only shows a scant 2 gm of dietary fiber (not a huge amount) with no other indication of digestive effects for an 8-oz serving. But, I'm getting a good dose of vitamin C and lycopene, and my stomach hasn't been too bothered by acidity, so I'm not about to stop...

25 March 2021
Rainy Friday Morning

Precor elliptical
Program 2
Time: 30 min + 5 min cd (5838)
Distance: 2.91
Cal: 327
Avg Hr 158, 75, 83-203

HGPU 22

Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Child’s Pose
Push-Ups 30
Air Squats 25
Mild Mat stretch w 3 Eye Yoga

HGPU 22

Skull Crushers
30 lbs x 12 x 3
alternate each set with...
Rip Skulls
30 x 12 x 3