Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Progress and Regression

There was a hail warning this morning and then it rained hard. But it was all over by the time I got the dogs to the park. Although showers threatened the rest of the day, it was mostly an empty threat with temps rising into the 80s and a blazing hot sun peeking through the clouds. It should cool down the rest of the week with rain forecast everyday. 

Because I don't want to be at the gym while it's full of seniors, I try to get chores done. Yesterday I spent a lot of time in traffic due to all the roadwork while I was trying to get to the Home Depot to buy a replacement smoke detector, and a new fluorescent tube for the fixture over the kitchen sink. Gotta have light there! Today I try to install both items. The smoke detector doesn't show you installation instructions until you rip open the packaging. 

The detector requires a drill to install the holder and it isn't activated until it's screwed into the holder properly. I'm not sure where the battery-powered drills are anymore since my husband has a tendency to squirrel tools away like a hoarder prepping for the end of the world. I think we have 3 different drills (Ryobi, Milwaukee, DeWalt) but I can't find any of them. Ugh. That'll have to wait until the husband returns from Boston. 

The fluorescent fixture over the kitchen sink is another matter. While I'm tall enough to reach the tube standing on the step stool, I'm not tall enough to actually grab and manipulate the tube so that it releases out of the holder. Ugh. Sometimes being short really sucks trying to get house chores done. 

I get to the gym late. Much later than usual. And of course, there's those other folks on the first two ellipticals. So I'm on #4. Which is fine. But I'm tired. Probably because again, I had trouble falling asleep in spite of drinking chamomile tea. I think it's because I've stopped eating cheese and crackers before bedtime. Because my LDL level is much too high. My BP has been borderline lately. 

The only good news I have is that my home scale shows that I'm finally losing weight. If I believe my scale, I've lost 5 lbs in the past 2 months. (Only 4 more to go!) I'll take any progress while being careful not to self-sabotage. I haven't really made any dramatic changes,  except to push my gym time to later. Which means I'm getting home later in the day, which means there's less time to be hungry and snack. I don't like to eat before I exercise, so I'm really hungry by the time I get to the gym. And because exercising kills the appetite (as well as sipping water), I'm not hungry again until I leave.

I've lost strength to do pull-ups and can only get 14 today. I tell myself that anything over a dozen is good to keep me from feeling too sorry for myself. The Aerobics Room feels warm and humid so it's quite an effort to get through my routine. Even push-ups are stressful to the shoulder joints and lower back. WTF? Air Squats are okay but I skip Walking Lunges. I'd rather spend the effort to get a full 2 minutes for Wall Squats. I add a forward back stretch to the neck rolls: sit cross-legged and roll yourself forward until your face is inches from the crossed ankles and you can rest your forearms on the mat next to your knees. Then slowly straighten the spine one vertebrae at a time until you are sitting up. Not recommended if you're having a sciatic flare-up.

I can't import any pictures or diagrams or videos, unless I've copied them from YouTube. And then it's not import but embedding the code. I didn't learn HTML coding but that's what it would take for me to post pix. Unless I want to created a video and upload it to my own YT channel and then copy the code that arises... but that's getting too complicated already. So I've embedded a video from Ze Frank here about The Mantis. Enjoy!



8 May 2024 12:39-1:59
Dreary Wednesday (113.6! Yaaay!)
Not sleeping well

Precor elliptical #4
Wobbles at higher spms
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5540)
Distance: 2.81
Cal: 311
Avg Hr: n/a
Fitbit: 50-140

HGPU 14 (losing my reps!)

20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5
10 Hip Bridges & 20 one-leg
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Fire Hydrants 20 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25 (knees)
Arm rotations 20
    Skip Walking lunges 36 steps total
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 120s !!!

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