A Nation of Snowflakes

I just read an article reporting that some cancer risks directly correlate to obesity. In short, the more overweight you are, the greater your chance of dying from a fatal cancer (because there are apparently a lot of non-fatal cancers). Further in the article, physicians and policy makers bemoan the nation's snowflake tendency to walk away from insulting labels, no matter how aptly clinical they might be. As in, if your doctor labels you obese or morbidly obese, instead of formulating a plan to address this issue, you walk away and find another doctor. Seriously? Because your feelings got hurt? When I was pregnant with my son at 44, my doc stated I was of "advanced maternal age" because I was older than 35 years. Okay. I rolled my eyes at him because most of my friends had kids in their early 40s, but he's still the Ob/Gyn who delivered my son. He's still my Ob/Gyn now.

This ridiculous insistence on not having our feelings hurt is leading us down a path to ruin. Isn't this where Fat But Fit came from? No, we don't all need to starve ourselves to Twiggy-thinness so we can look Heroin Chic in our fab clothes, but lately the health news has come this close to stating as much. Futurity.org lists an article that states very low calorie diets can reverse diabetes. My first thought is, uh, that's called starvation. But I'm a wise-ass, and what do I know anyway? Calorie restriction has been promoted for years and is now trendy, and known as IF or Intermittent Fasting. Those of us who do it (no, I'm not one of them) can feel righteously pious. The rest of us try hard to ignore the beckoning call of marketers. Sometimes they're just blatant advertisements, other times they ply us on social media with photos, and discounts, promises of free shipping and "buy one, get one not free."

Okay, I'm done with my rant for now. I went to the gym and did cardio. Lots of cardio. And push ups and pull ups, and some core stuff. I still have sciatica, which didn't really bother me until the last 10 minutes of the 2nd cardio session when my lower back felt achy. But since my right foot, (the one with the bunion and hammer toes and sciatica) hurt more than my back, I focused on foot positioning more than anything else. My bunion got chafed, but the real issue was the amount of pressure on what appears to be the 4th and 5th metatarsal heads (the pinky toe side of the ball of the foot). I'm sure the hammertoes have something to do with this. Replacing the insoles of the trainers might be an option, but since I was wearing my oversized Brooks with the super cushiony liners, I'm not sure how much that will actually help. Next time I do a Cardio Day, I'll wear different trainers just to see if it's my footwear. I have a lot of shoes that don't work for me any more. Sometimes I wish I could just rent shoes for a few months, but that would be kind of icky.

I'm also toying with the idea of just doing cardio, pull ups, push ups and core as a regular routine just until my body recuperates... Hopefully I won't get too bored. I was expecting to be exhausted when I got home from the gym, but I was just a little tired and totally disfocused. I'd like to be more tired, but with better focus. I'm disappointed in how easily I get distracted. Every little physical thing eats into my time, and before I know it, my son is home from school needing help with a homework project, and then I'm working on dinner...

The vertigo isn't much of an issue except when it fools me into wondering why I'm getting carsick while driving. Sometimes I get that feeling when I'm not in the car! The vague nausea is very disconcerting and I have fleeting thoughts of food poisoning and stomach bugs. Until I realize that it's my head that's making my stomach queasy. Ugh. I forget to dose myself with fresh garlic and olive oil, which means I'll probably get sick now. I have a drippy nose, and my sinuses tell me that they're unhappy as well. Good grief. I feel like such a goddamn snowflake.

Taking Wednesday off to get stuff done around the house... Back on Thursday.

Tuesday
7.59 cardio miles

35 xtrainer
Calories 168
Miles 4.58
Average Heart Rate 146

HGPU 26
Push Ups 60
Scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Crunches 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s

35 elliptical
Program 1
Miles 3.01
Calories 342
Average Heart Rate 147

HGPU 26
Push Ups 60

Stress-Relief

I had a quick workout today to relieve my anxiety. Well, quick for me. I skipped the weights since mornings are crowded and I'm coming directly from dropping my son off at camp. Oddly, the cross-trainers are mostly free and I manage to get on the one I favor, the only machine that has the monitor built into the console instead of perched over it, and the only machine that allows you drop the resistance to zero. It's easier on my knees and ankles. My foot still gets a bit tingly during the last 5 minutes, but overall, my feet don't go numb.

Spider Grandpa is on the stretch cage so I skip that and go directly to knee-ins, push ups and crunches. After planks, I do one more set of push ups. The cage is free so I do a set of pull ups too. But I'm a bit winded so I only get 26 reps. I have to take off my hoodie to use the elliptical because I don't like the zipper bottom hitting me in the thighs as I pedal. After that, another set of pull ups, and this time I get my full 31 reps. Then a quick stretch before showering. Creepy PJ Pants, Frankenstein and The Mayor are all here this morning. Luckily there are a ton of other people here as well...

The gym scale reads 112.0 lbs but I was expecting worse since it's been 4 days of drinking and eating junk like hot dogs. Doesn't help that my hair is drenched either... meanwhile, my bluetooth headphones are acting up today and refuse to connect with my iPod. It pairs with my phone so I know it's not totally busted. I don't really have time for this so I shove them back into my gym bag and use the back up: my old iPod and wired asymmetrical Sony hanger earphones. Once I get home, I have to hard reboot everything, and eventually, everything works again... Sigh.

Over the holiday weekend, I tried the gel toe spacer. It's comfortable as long as I'm not wearing shoes and walking around. What?! With shoes on, the top of the spacer imposes unexpected pressure on the top of my other toes, and that's even more painful than having my big toe cross over my pointer toe. I'm wondering if cutting the top off will resolve that issue, and still allow the spacer to sit in place. The package came with two, so it's worth the experiment. I can use the other one when I'm wearing sandals around the house, although I don't think my toes cross when I'm just padding about...

What's a bit disconcerting is that the big toe also seems to roll outward instead of sitting flat. I can see that the toe nail faces 20° outward instead of laying face up. Ugh. Meanwhile, the little bone that sticks out on the outside of your foot midway (aka, the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal) is starting to get sore. But only on my left foot. The "good" foot. Double ugh.

Bugs have discovered my existence and I've been bitten in spite of wearing long sleeves and spraying my clothes liberally with picaridin, and eventually, DEET. I even got bit on the palm of my hand as I was filming my son lighting up sparklers in our driveway yesterday. Ugh. It doesn't help that my skin seems even drier than ever and liberal doses of the hydrating and scale-dissolving lactic acid creams leave me smelling like old milk. Plus, I think biting insects are attracted to lactic acid. Ugh again. The stronger creams (most commonly used for softening tough heel skin) contain urea. But at least they don't smell like piss. Or at least I don't think they do.

I still have half my work to finish framing, but at least I have time for a few workouts this week. And I just ordered the invitation post cards through a vendor I've never used before. I could get them delivered by Friday. It's a bit cheaper if I get them by Monday. As long as I can get some out before the actual reception date, I'm good. Once this show is up, and eventually over, I can concentrate of finding legit work... Sigh.

Wednesday
6.4 total miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 142
Miles 3.84
Average Heart Rate 158

Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Push Ups 50
HGPU 26

30 min elliptical
Program 1
Miles 2.56
Calories 290
Average Heart Rate 148

HGPU 31

The Mostly Cardio Workout

I dabbed my knuckles and elbows with dit da jow last night. My hands are a bit achy, and because my joints sometimes seem to catch, I'm concerned about losing mobility. Yesterday, as I was opening a bottle, the fingers to my left hand seemed to spasm with the digits almost locking criss-cross. That was scary and I immediately shook out my hand and flexed my fingers. I'm constantly flexing my fingers at the gym. My grandmother, who was shorter than me, had larger hands with knotty arthritic knuckles, ostensibly from years of sewing, knitting and other hand work. She was employed for a time in a factory making thick flannel children's pajamas. My mom had bony hands and fingers and she developed arthritis too, in spite of not doing anything at all with herself.

Because my right shoulder was particularly troublesome last night, I decide not to whack the machine today. Instead, I'll make it a Cardio Day. And then I'll have time to do some core work as well. And finally do those much neglected band pull exercises. The cross-trainer I like is vacant so I'm happy. Most of the gym is empty because it's actually fairly nice outside. As in, it's not raining. I forgot how long 30 minutes is because I've adapted so quickly to the shorter 15 minute warm up. Oh well...

The fat Indonesian man who always wears a lifting belt no matter what he's doing is in the Stretch Cage. I've never actually seen him there before. But he's not stretching. Instead he's sort of pulling on rubber tubing that have handles affixed to both ends. People like to drape the tubing over all sorts of equipment, and then walk away. This guy never actually lifts so I suspect he wears the belt to help his back support the overflowing gut. He's been at the gym for a few years but he never seems to be any thinner. Or any stronger. Maybe if he actually busted a sweat? But I guess that he at least walks on the treadmill is a big step for him.

I'm always worried that I won't be able to do as many hammer grip pull ups as the previous day, but then I do. I'm always so relieved when that happens! Before I leave the Stretch Cage, I pull out the green silicone band I got from physical therapy and wrap it around the center bar to do mid-level band pulls. Those feel okay. But when I raise the band to near face level, then my right shoulder starts to complain. And it's only my right shoulder, not my left. Once that's finally done, I retreat to the Mats to do push ups, crunches and planks. I hear The Mayor intermittently. He's actually across the gym giving instruction to a young man. Of course. And of course I can hear him.

There are a few young women here today. I know they're looking at me, but I can't read their expressions because I'm not looking directly at them. One girl has tattoos all the way down her left arm, and I wonder if that's Animé Hair Girl. Except she's taller and thinner and her brown hair is tied up in a bun. I feel like she wants to talk to me, but she doesn't and I've got my own agenda. After Animé Hair Girl's blue hair faded and lost it's luster, she got discouraged and stopped coming to the gym. But I remember she was amazingly strong, doing Alternating Seated Curls with 30 lb DBs.

I strip off my hoodie and drape it over a flat bench so I can do my T, Y and I raises with the tiny 3 lb and 5 lb DBs. The 5 lb ones are actually a lot harder than one would think. At physical therapy, they only use 1 lb DBs, and those felt silly. I'm dressed in a clingy tank and fairly comfortable sports bra that unfortunately does nothing for my figure. I don't care. It's comfortable. But the tank tucked into my sports pants makes me look really straight. I'm shooting for lean, but I'm not a lean person, so perhaps straight is the best I can hope for.

Yesterday I saw a girl on the Step Mill in a peculiarly unique stance. Some people can't bear to hold themselves upright while they step, or pedal. I see them drape themselves over the handles or the front monitor panel. This girl had her arms at right angles to the machine handles so that she literally looked like a spider straddling the upper bars. I'm not sure why you would do even do that. 

I try to talk myself out of doing Intervals. Then I try to talk myself out of doing 30 minutes of Intervals, mostly by giving myself an out: I can always just do 45 seconds or 30 seconds of All Out if I'm too tired to do the full 60. But I do the full 60 seconds of over 200 Strides Per Minute for each 4 minute section, followed by 60 seconds at 160-175, followed by 2 minutes at 120. Repeat until 30 minutes have passed. Well, it didn't kill me so that's good!

Of course, now new literature suggests that too much exercise, or too much intensity will also kill you faster than not doing exercise. Too much oppositional information. You need to move at least 30 minutes a day. Walking is good. Walking isn't good enough and you need to move 7.5 miles a day. Intense Intervals is good and cuts your exercise need down to 2 hours a week. Intense exercise is bad and will destroy your heart muscle. Lack of sleep destroys your memory and ability to recover. Too much sleep suggests you are in the beginning stages of dementia. Intermittent fasting prolongs your cells' longevity. Late night eating wrecks your metabolism. Eat lots of small meals to keep your blood sugar steady. Fasting increases insulin sensitivity. Makes me want to put my fingers in my ears and scream La La La...

I do a set of Wide Hammer Grip Pull Ups at the Stretch Cage and then attach my band to the bar to do another set of mid and high band pulls. The right shoulder is still not happy with the latter movement. A quick stretch on the Mat and I'm done. Tomorrow afternoon is my son's Boy Scout Troop Court of Honor at a nearby park. I'm thinking I might want to whack the machine in the morning after all... Because Saturday, my son and I will be at the library for my photo show reception. And I still don't know how much food and beverages to provide. Sigh.

Thursday
Cardio Day
6.59 total miles

30 min x-trainer
Calories 143
Miles 3.87
Average Heart Rate 118?

Knee-Ins 50
HGPU 30
Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15 Rt shoulder
Push Ups 50
Crunches 3 x 50
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s

T, Y & I Raises
3lbs x 15 reps
5lbs x 15 reps

Mid-Band Pulls 15
High-Band Pulls 15

30 min elliptical
Intervals
Calories 312
Miles 2.72
Average Heart Rate 143

WHGPU 20

And The Forecast Calls for...

I got the call at 5:02 am. And the text, and cell phone call. School is on a 2-hr delay due to snow and slippery road conditions so I don't need to get up at 6:30! I can get up at 8:30! But I still need to walk the dog, and heat up chicken and rice for his breakfast so I can mix in his meds. My son stumbles out of bed and grumbles when I make him wear his winter coat. It's 34°F outside and even though it'll be a balmy 44 when he gets home, I worry about things like Fire Drills and him standing outside without a coat. I still need to shovel the dog ramp, walkway, driveway, and most of my car because I am not one of those people who drive by just peeking through what the wiper cleared on their windshield!  They have no side vision and snow will come flying off their roof. I hate those people. Seriously.

I get to the gym late and realize I've forgotten to administer my eye drops. Ugh. I'll have to do it when I get back to the house. Even though I slept in, I feel tired. And I still have this cough! It takes longer for it to manifest itself which tells me it's deeper in the lung tissue. But I still feel as if I'm getting better. It's just taking a really long time. Sigh.

Monday is considered Universal Bench Press Day but I'm good with not doing those if the Smith's not available. It's not. So I just muscle through chin ups, push ups (I lose count around 70 and do an extra 10 just in case), crunches and planks. And then I'm back on the cardio platform for round two. A last set of pull ups and I'm done! I might bench tomorrow, or just do Inclined Benches. Those are easier on the shoulders, but then again, I am using less weight. I've ordered another pair of earbuds from Amazon because nothing is as good as my old pair of Sony earbuds that I got from Kmart for $6. I actually find them again, but now they're over $29 on Amazon. I put those into my Later Basket, and instead order a completely different brand, Rovking, which got great reviews and are half the cost. We'll see... hearing my tunes makes all the difference in whether I have a good workout or not.

I've talked my hubs into going to a party at a bar this coming Friday. It'll be the first time we've ever gone to a "gym party". They're sponsoring the eats, but it's a cash bar. I'm not much of a mingler, but since we're missing out on hubby's company Holiday Party (he'll be in Houston for that) and my son has a sleep-over party, well... it's good to do something different every now and then. I'd really like to go dancing actually. There might be a DJ later on. Maybe even dancing. I don't care about the gym people who might or might not go. I just want to have a drink and go dancing with my hubs.

Monday Workout
6.26 total miles

30 min x-trainer
Miles: 3.69
Calories : 140
Speed: 7.36
Pace 8:09

HGPU 31
Knee-Ins 50
Push Ups 100 (110?)
Crunches 3 x 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

30 min elliptical
Prgm 1
2.57 miles
291 calories

HGPU 36 Yaaay!