My husband seems to have stopped drinking for the past two months and I am ever hopeful of repairing our relationship. Last year, my brother gave us several gift cards for fast casual dining, something we rarely do. But since we were in Connecticut last night, we decided to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse, only one of two restaurants out of five that I recognized. The other one was Olive Garden, and I'm not really a fan. Still, better than AppleBees.
Granted, I know that there's a bucket of salt in fast food and maybe just as much in any restaurant meal. I ordered steak tips with mushrooms, a side of Brussels sprouts, and a mixed greens salad. There was soft warm bread on the table that definitely tasted like supermarket pop-in-the-oven rolls: distinct baking powder aftertaste. Bread has an enormous amount of sodium in it, but non-salt bread is disgusting and not worth eating. The steak tips arrive smothered in a wine gravy with submerged button mushrooms.
The first bites were good, but the meat got chewier and overcooked as time went on. The gravy was so salty I started blotting the meat on a slab of bread. The Brussels sprouts had a bitter char on the outer leaves but were tasty enough once peeled. My husband fared so much better with a perfectly cooked rare ribeye steak, steamed broccoli, and asparagus. One gift card covered the bulk of it (we didn't order any beverages or dessert) so we were fairly happy (my brother gave us three).
Or it could be both. I'm skipping the B3 today and taking my reading later tonight. Tomorrow I'll take the B3. It's a matter of eliminating all the variables, right? I have a glaucoma doc appointment on Wednesday and I'll ask her about what I've read about B3 and optic nerve repair. It's better to ask in person than over the phone since I never know if the message gets relayed, and I never get a callback.
The gym is surprisingly quiet when I get there, but more crowded and noisy when the HS lets out. I feel really tired and it shows: I can't even make it to 2.9 today. Pull-ups are okay for the first dozen, and then they are hard. There are two many people in the free weight area and both Seated Cable Stations are occupied, so I skip that and move directly to the Aerobics Room. I get cold really fast (another symptom of fatigue) and put my hoodie back on by the time I get to push-ups. Walking Lunges and Wall Squats both suck today.
When I exit the Aerobics Room, one of the cable stations is free. Now's my chance to do a few rows since tomorrow I have a class, and on Wednesday I have the doc appointment. Best to get stuff out of the way. Seated across from me is a big, muscular dude. He's wearing a tank and all I can see are his arms and shoulders. Like me, he's very quiet controlling the weights and there's no slamming of plates. There's no noise at all and he's in and out like a ghost. I appreciate that and also always aim to do the same. Like I've said before, if you're slamming the weights, they're too heavy for you.
I have noticed my biceps lately. Not that I've never had them since I have unusually big upper arms for a small woman. But adding the rows has definitely perked them up -- just a few pull-ups a week hasn't done anything for arms that I can see... Or maybe it's just me.
At the front desk, there are little postcards advertising the Tri-State 100% natural bodybuilding competition. Oooh, I'd love to check that out. But of course, that's the same day as the William Shatner documentary. And as it turns out, we're not even going to be in the area because we'll be driving to Buffalo to see the total eclipse. Buffalo is directly in the viewing path, which starts in Texas and ends in Maine. My husband is eager to witness this since the next one won't be for another 20 years or so... I'm game.
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