The Joy of Fitness Toys

We had a delicious prime rib supper last night, made better by the fact that the meat was purchased on sale for $4.99/lb. That's ridiculously cheap for beef. The artery-clogging aspect of the meal (steak, asparagus, baked potato, sauteed mushrooms) was only made apparent when I started cleaning up afterward. The amount of tallow scraped off the plates and pans could've made several candles. But of course, the best part of the holidays is the gift giving. I asked for and received a way to track my heart rate by way of a Fitbit 6. I got my husband an air fryer. And we used the Instant Pot for the first time a few days ago (I'd bought that some years ago). The only kitchen machine we still haven't unboxed is a Cuisinart food processor we got for trading in a 3-pot slow cooker from my in-laws. Gosh, that was years and years ago!

A few days earlier, I had purchased a blood pressure monitor for home use because I've been concerned about my rising BP, and the fact that my brother (who also has glaucoma) is on medication for hypertension. Never mind that he has a stressful job and other health issues. Hypertension runs in my family and several deaths have been attributed to strokes due to high blood pressure, including a cousin who was just 2 years older than me but passed away before she turned 50. I had to download an app for my phone and take readings at different times of day. No matter when, even though readings might vary by 20mm Hg, it's indisputable that I have hypertension. 

I don't think I have a venous malformation, but a doctor (who did an MRI) once told me that there were an unusual amount of tangled blood vessels on the right side of my neck. It's a reason I don't do overhead presses: my right ear clogs up and that shoulder goes numb. So I'm wary about problems with blood vessels and increased blood pressure. It's not true that hypertension is silent: I can feel that my BP is too high. I intermittently have a vague headache and a congested feeling that's hard to describe. During a routine colonoscopy this past summer, my pressures was a whopping 170/110. That's definitively hypertension stage 2.

I made an appt with my primary care physician for next week. Meanwhile, I need to be more consistent with my exercise. Over the weekend, I reread the article about Wall Squats and managed to do the recommended 4 sets for 2 minutes apiece. What I hadn't managed was the mere 2 minute rest between sets. But, having not done any cardio earlier in the day, I found the 120 second sets to be much easier than the single 90 second set at the gym.

I charged the Fitbit and put it on yesterday. I want it primarily to check my heart rate since the cardio machines are notoriously unreliable. Reviews suggest that the Fitbits are also unreliable, but I've managed to cross-check the heart rate data from it with the blood pressure monitor and so far so good. What I didn't realize was that the Fitbit could automatically deduce that I had gotten on the elliptical. There are discrepancies: I was on it for 35 minutes and it read 33 minutes. But it added most of those steps to my daily count and monitored my heart rate. When the elliptical tells me my HR is racing along at 190, the Fitbit says 150. When the elliptical dips to 87, the Fitbit says the HR is steady at 135. I'll trust the wearable. 

I particularly like being able to watch my HR in the phone app while I'm exercising and comparing it to the machine monitor. There's is a slight lag with other info, like my time on the elliptical and all my "steps" but eventually, it all updated. That data actually surprised me. It's definitely a new toy. I occasionally flip my wrist just to see what my HR is at the moment while I'm doing different things. Or not doing anything at all. 

Because I have more melanin than a white person, I wear the sensor on the inside of my arm where the skin is lighter. I can see at a glance, and also in the app if I keep it open on my phone, what my HR is while I'm doing different exercises. Air squats gets my heart racing the way that push-ups don't. The only thing that requires more exertion is the cardio, as it should.

It's a bit depressing knowing that genetics can be so overwhelming that no amount of diet and exercise will keep you from having to take medications. Not that I won't try. I don't think I can do the intermittent fasting though. Well, maybe on off days? But on days I don't go to the gym, I could do the four sets of Wall Squats. I have a week to see if any of it makes any difference. Meanwhile, I went to the gym today and the parking lot was crowded because school is closed for the week and there are several movies playing in the cinema next door. It's noon when I enter and 2 pm by the time I've showered and changed to leave. The gym was crowded with teens draped all over the free weights and machines and I tell myself that I need to start earlier this week. 

I need more sleep!

I'm hoping to avoid medication but I've researched what my brother has been prescribed. He says the calcium channel blocker gives him neuropathy and his feet go numb from it so he only takes it on alternate days. I look up amlodipine and don't see that side effect listed, but he cites a lone paper referencing a middle-aged white woman who suffered from numbness from this particular medication. Well, I suppose it's possible. And that would suck. He's only on one glaucoma medication and I'm on three. He only has it in one eye but has other health issues. We're related but our genetics aren't necessarily the same. After all, he's over 6 feet tall and I'm under 5, and we're only a year apart in age. 

26 December 2023 12:08-1:26
Balmy Overcast Tuesday
(after an artery-clogging Christmas supper)


Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5712)
Distance: 2.87
Cal: 321
Avg Hr: NA 161, 190-124
Fitbit: 161 max

HGPU 15

20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5 alt/ss = 100
20 Hip Bridges & 10 one-leg bridges
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper stretch w side bends & twists
Walking lunges 43 steps total
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 90s

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23 December 2023 2:00 pm
Christmas Eve Sunday

Omron BP 5250
148/107 pulse 58-64
Hypertension stage 2 ugh
(I can feel my BP is too high: right ear congested, throat, unease not quite a headache)

Recommended: 4 sets of 2-min WS with 2 min rest between sets.
I’ll have to work up to that!

2:00 Wall Squats 120 seconds
2:21 WS 120s
2:30 WS 120s
2:34 WS 120s