The Palindrome Week Started Yesterday

One of my friends posted on social media that yesterday began a week of numeric palindromic dates. What? Well, yes, today is September 11th, also known as 9/11. But it's also 2019, and in American, we write our dates Month Day Year (as compared to other countries where the date is written Day Month Year). So yesterday was 9/10/19 and today is 9/11/19... which if you love patterns, looks like 9119. My husband and I had wanted to get married on October 11 so that our wedding date would read 101101, but we didn't think we could get anyone to attend on a Thursday.

Today, of course, is also the 18th year anniversary of the infamous destruction of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, 4 passenger jet planes, and countless lives. A solemn remembrance of all the individuals lost is televised for several hours in the gym locker room. All the flags are flying at half-mast. I remember walking through the train station in the following days, weeks, and months where hundreds of posters of missing people were plastered to all the concourses. "Have you seen?" "Missing!" "Please come home!" I remember all the photos with desperate pleas attached to them. There is nothing worse than not knowing.

Today is still Wednesday and it's still a Pull Day workout. A tiny voice in my head tries to convince me to do one of the elliptical fitness programs instead of HIIT cardio. I do the Norwegian 4 x 4 program anyway. I'm tired and my legs feel like logs, but I'm not yawning. Yet.

A quick refresher on what the Norwegian 4 x 4 is: warm up for 5 minutes, then go full tilt for 60 seconds, slow down slightly for the next 3 minutes, then slow down a lot for 3 minutes. Repeat going as fast as humanly possible for 60 seconds again (you'll be slower and it'll be harder), drop your speed slightly (so you can catch your breath) for 3 more minutes, then drop to a jog for 3 minutes. Repeat two more times. So it's basically 4 strenuous minutes done 4 times with 3-minute rests in between.

Outside it's positively summery with temps hitting 86F by late afternoon. Tomorrow the numbers invert and temps peak at 68F. Crazy, right? The humidity makes me sweat with everything I do. I have to count aloud to keep my place while doing Core. I do two sets of pull-ups too, although the second set was at the very end and my arms were kind of spent. I'm happy that I'm strong but really unhappy that jeans I wore two months ago are so tight I can barely button them close. Ugh. I feel hungry when I'm doing my second cardio session, then realize that I might be experiencing acid reflux instead. Yuck. Solution? Swig more water.

Super comfy clown shoes

Tomorrow will just be another "mild cardio" day but I'm already thinking of light shoulder exercises that don't involve me laying on my belly. Friday is supposed to be a Cardio Plus Day, which is just three sessions of cardio machines with pull-ups interspersed. So maybe I will do shoulders tomorrow... it's hard to keep a gym rat out of the gym!

9/11 Wednesday Pull

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 289
Miles 2.65
HR 136-195 (112, 93, 84)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 21

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches Legs Up 60
Bicycles 60
Crunches knees bent 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Lat Pull Downs Close Neutral
70 x 12 warm-up
85 x 12
100 x 12
115 x 12

Seated Cable Rows
70 x 12
85 x 12, 12, 12

RG BB Curls
40 lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Calories 231
Miles 2.06
HR 152-200 (131, 87)

HGPU 20

Mat Stretch

Another Link Between Exercise And Happiness

I got an hour more sleep last night but I still don't feel rested, mostly because I am falling short of the proverbial 8-hours everyone needs. At least I didn't yawn during cardio today. I'm guessing most gym-goers adhere to the three-day-a-week routine that constitutes most gym class schedules. There's barely anyone here when I show up. Even regulars trickle in an hour later than I expect. Today is a "mild" cardio workout, with no pullups or weights. I don't want to get sick now that flu season has started: naturally, it coincides with the beginning of the school year.

I can't help myself: I get on the elliptical, select Program 2 and cross my fingers. My knees don't whinge and I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm not pedaling super fast so none of this counts as HIIT cardio, but I am going at a consistent speed and almost make 3 miles in 35 minutes. Clearly, this qualifies as endurance cardio. After a cage stretch without any pull-ups, I march off to the classroom to do core. I'm clenching my abdominals during the 60 seconds of plank stillness, but I space out while counting to myself during the rest of crunches and leg lifts. A lot of the regulars show up while I'm high up on the Step Mill. Because I change my footing every 60 seconds, I don't really have the mind to watch anyone. I'm mostly staring at the clock on the dashboard and mouthing the words to my tunes.

The stretch area by the weights is full already so back to the classroom. Normally, at this time on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday, there's a class, but not today. It feels really odd to be skipping out of the gym so early! My new plan to is to get to the gym 5 days a week, but to only do mild cardio on two of those days so I don't totally wear myself down. I tried only going 3 days a week, and while I did get stuff done on those 2 non-workout days, I never quite felt as good. I've resigned myself to doing a lot more cardio than weights not just because of my glaucoma, but also because I need to exercise to a certain point in order to reap the mental benefits: anxiety relief.

An online article about the effects of sugary diets on the brain mentions a tryptophan metabolite called kynurenine (KYN) which is associated with levels of depression when it doesn't break down to kynurenic acid (KYNA). Endurance exercises (over weight-lifting) appear to promote KYNA, which has been linked to the protective effects of exercise against stress. This makes me less mournful about giving up a lot of my former exercises. Gotta move forward!

Mild Cardio Tuesday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.90
Calories 325
HR 153-198 (85, 97, 87, 91)

Cage Stretch

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Leg horizontal scissors 60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 Step Mill
Level 3
Calories 113
Total steps 710
Floors 44
HR 135

Mat Stretch

The Crowds Are Back

I wish I could say that I got caught up with my sleep deficit this weekend, but that would be a lie. I almost got 7 hours Saturday night but I was up until 4 am compiling Boy Scout awards for our upcoming Court of Honor this week. The BSA changed its website over the summer: it has always been difficult to navigate.

The update makes it seem bright and friendly, but in reality, it's even more challenging to find and do the things you need to do, mostly because now everything is position-sensitive. If you don't hold the proper authorization due to your rank in the unit (troop for Boy Scouts, den for Cubs), you can't access areas that are critical to your function. Bureaucracy prevails! Even when permissions are granted by the Unit Leader, it will take up to three days for the change to take effect. Meanwhile...

Again, the Sleep Cycle app baffles me by stating that even though I got nearly 7 hours of sleep Saturday night, it rates my sleep quality at 80%. Friday night, which saw me awake for nearly 2 hours of my time in bed, rates 89%. I don't get it. Which means there's no way in hell I'd ever consider buying their premium app because I can't trust their free one. It's also the way I feel about the grammar-spelling-checking app Grammarly. It catches typos and adds and deletes commas, but a lot of the time, it flags errors that aren't. Worse, the word it wants you to use to fix this phantom error makes absolutely no sense in the context of the sentence. I've been noting them with screenshots and at some point, I'll actually write a post about them. Yeah, that'll be one of those "slow news" days.

Pants will be a hard fit

I'm tired enough to catch myself yawning during both core exercises on the mat and at the Smith machine. I've already done HIIT cardio as a warmup! I should be well-oxygenated so there's no excuse, except I keep having to bump up the volume on my tunes. School is fully in session; all the seniors and regulars are back from summer vacation. It is damn noisy this morning with all the chatter. I do remember to start my core exercises with a 60-second elbow plank. Even though I'm fairly fresh, my abs ache a little, but at least my arms aren't shaking.

I move through all the sets in my Push Day routine without any issues. My right elbow has some residual soreness that benching and pull-ups only make worse. Afterward, my elbow seems fine. My left knee twinges while I'm on the elliptical and it's worse when there's barely an incline. It's the vastus medialis, an inner quad muscle that ends in a lovely teardrop-shaped curve just over the inside top of the kneecap. It doesn't bother me much except when I'm stepping off the elliptical, and then I have to catch myself because the sudden stab of pain buckles my leg and takes me by surprise. I'll be doing a different cardio machine tomorrow.

It's been about a week since I returned to my normal routine and I feel fairly strong. I just wish my body wasn't so happy at its newer, heavier weight. But I also hate being hungry. Lately, there's been a movement among some "social media influencers" to stop being famine hungry and anorexically thin. One has subscribed to a program called "All In" where you eat until you feel full, which for some people is thousands of calories. She puts on weight but continues to work out. And then, her body decides that it's finally satiated, she loses her ravenous appetite and drops down to a normal, healthy body weight. She has to buy bigger clothes, but she feels better. Frankly, it's not a program I could do, but it might be right for others. If you're curious, check out Stephanie Buttermore's YouTube videos.

Meanwhile, I'm working on adapting back to an early morning schedule. It's wreaking havoc on both my sleep and digestive systems, but I have 10 months to adjust before sliding back into my natural nocturnal state. Coffee helps but it's still a shock to wake up in the dark right now.

Monday Push

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 290
Miles 2.66
HR 146-180 (111)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 21

Elbow Plank 60s
Crunches 60/60
Bicycles 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 12
50 x 12
70 x 25 x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Inclined Flys
20 lbs x 12/15 reps x 4 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12 x 3

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Miles 2.07
Calories 232
HR 150-180 (91, 98)

Mat Stretch

Happiest When I'm Moving

I had a cup of Irish Black Breakfast tea in the early evening so I could be alert for a committee Troop meeting last night. Since the half-life of caffeine is approximately 5-6 hours (meaning that your body will process only half of your intake after 5-6 hours) I was wide awake when I should've been sleeping. Lately, I've been drinking a cup of French press coffee in the morning. That's about 107 mg of caffeine right there. Instant coffee, like Cafe Bustelo Instant Espresso, contains 14 mg per ounce, which translates to 112 mg in a standard coffee mug. But honestly, instant coffee, even ones as good as Bustelo or Medaglia D'Oro, doesn't seem to have the same buzz to it.

The recommended daily limit to caffeine intake is 300 mg. A cup of regular coffee can contain anywhere from 80 to 130 mg whereas tea, even strong black tea, only contains 40 mg. Still, it was enough to keep me tired and restless well past midnight. Apparently, I'm not only sodium-sensitive but caffeine-sensitive as well. According to my Sleep Cycle app, I spent 6 hours and 20 minutes in bed, but only slept for 5 hours and 42 minutes. Ugh. Well, at least I slept. What I don't understand is how the app determines that I slept the same amount the night before but achieved lesser quality sleep (67% vs 76%). My husband will swear that the app is just randomly assigning values. He might be right.

Eventually, I'll get used to early mornings. I like that the gym isn't very crowded. This is going to be horrible once winter and daylight savings coincide so that we're all waking in the middle of the night. Friday is my cardio routine day. I don't even pretend to lift any weights, but I do a lot more pull-ups. I've also finally replaced pushups with a single 60-second plank at the end of the Core routine. I might move it to the beginning though when I'm less likely to quiver through it due to fatigue.

I do a set of T, Y & I Raises with 5 lb DBs. I used to do two sets of this in my warmup before whacking the Nexersys kickboxing machine. The exercise itself isn't hard, but as I'm lying face down on the bench, I worry about whether my head is above my heart. Glaucoma patients are told not to let their heads drop below their hearts because that increases IOP (intraocular pressure). Some patients don't even put their socks on anymore unless they can use a grab-it stick so as to keep their heads elevated. Keeping my head up puts a lot of strain on my neck and I'm still worried about my IOPs. Ugh. Not doing those anymore.

In total, I do 75 minutes of heart-pounding cardio, three sets of pull-ups, some ab work, stretching and a few rounds of seated leg curls. I'm tired when I start, even stifling a yawn during crunches, but oddly and happily energetic when I finish. Maybe even annoyingly so. It's a combination of the body's endorphins kicking in, a revved-up metabolism, and increased blood flow, i.e., there's more oxygen getting to the brain. In the 2014 Fast Company article "What Happens to Our Brains When We Exercise And How It Makes Us Happier," Leo Widrich succinctly explains the function and importance of the BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) protein and the impact of endorphins in our bodies.

Those of us who are gym rats know that the quote (from a student paper at Bryn Mawr College) Widrich ends his article with is all too true: "The release of endorphins has an addictive effect, and more exercise is needed to achieve the level of euphoria over time."--MK McGovern. The only solace is that it's good for you. The adage that "20 minutes of daily exercise is all you really need to reap long-term health benefits" is also true, but your happiness levels will be at their highest if you're just coming off the couch. Gym rats have to work so much harder.


Cardio Friday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Miles 2.89
Calories 323
HR 155-196 (91)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20

Crunches 60/60
Leg horizontal scissors 60
Bicycles 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s
Elbow Plank 60s

T, Y & I Raises
5lbs x 15 reps

20 Step Mill
Level 3
Calories 112
Total steps 708
Floors 44
HR 135

HGPU 20

15 Elliptical + 5 cd
Program 2
Calories 183
Miles 1.64
HR 156-180 (134)

2:1 Seated Leg Curls
15lbs x 12
30 x 12 x 3

HGPU 20

Mat Stretch

Pulling Day Three

Six hours just isn't enough sleep for me. As a night owl, it's too easy for me to stay up at night tending to chores that could be done later in the week. But I'd rather get things done when I think of them instead of forgetting to put them on a list to do later. So when my son finally tried on new shoes for school that I had ordered online, I remembered that he hadn't tried on shoes I had bought him last Christmas. They're the same style but a different brand. Both are the same size, same color, both are supposed to be a D width. And both are too narrow.

He went to bed. I got a return label and credit from Zappos for the first pair of shoes. And then I had to call LLBean for the Christmas shoes. Luckily, since they'd never been worn, I could return them for full credit. I had used a lot of Bean Bucks to reduce the price from over a hundred dollars to about $25 so I was quite pleased that the store will be sending me a gift card for the total Bean Buck amount. Then I spent an hour packing the shoes and affixing the proper return labels so I could ship them back today. Yes, it could've waited until the weekend, but why would I do that? That means I don't actually crawl into bed until just past midnight, and the alarm sounds while it's cold and dark out. Ugh. Winter is going to be so much fun. Not.

The school bus is only six minutes late this morning. I get to the gym just 15 minutes later. I'm really tired but I persist in doing my routine, starting with HIIT cardio. I might not rack up as much mileage today, but at least I'm doing it. The problematic right foot is rebelling against the increased activity with the pinky toe going numb sporadically. The hammertoes also seem bent on curling into the sole of my sneaker, as if I had Dr. Scholl toe grip sandals on.

I do a Cage Stretch but skip the pull-ups since today is a Pull Day and there'll be plenty of opportunities to aggravate my elbows and forearms. I'm wearing leggings with phone pockets that I never use. I'm always a tad self-conscious when my clothes are snug, especially since I have highly impressionable skin and a slight connective-tissue issue, i.e., I can always see all where all the underwear lines, waistband lines, bra-strap lines are on my body as if my flesh had no firmness whatsoever and was just a wad of memory foam. It's not pretty. I feel downright pudgy. I'm going to take a lesson from Arnold Schwarzenegger who famously used to wear cut-off pants to work out because his calves were his weakest body part. Don't hide your weaknesses. Use them as an incentive.

There's no class yet so I'm able to do my Core workout there. I've increased my reps to 60 because it's easy to just do sets of 20 three times. At least the leggings aren't causing me any tailbone discomfort yet. Back in the gym, I see a lot of regulars from before Summer Recess. They spend way too much time chatting. I'd rather be moving. Lat Pull Downs followed by Seated Cable Rows hit back and biceps, while RG BB Curls handle forearms. I have tiny ones and nothing I do will make them grow. It's genetics. I'm forever impressed by women with great arms because they usually also have wonderfully muscular forearms. Check out IFBB pro, Dana Linn Bailey.

I finish with another session on the elliptical, and then a Mat Stretch. Tomorrow is definitely going to be a Cardio Day with some Walking Lunges and 2:1 Seated Leg Curls. Don't think that all this isn't having a potentially adverse impact on my health: I noticed a weird taut spot on my upper lip the other day and I'm not going to wait until it starts to tingle. When I increase my workouts, my immunity gets blown out, especially when I'm not sleeping enough. We all carry dormant viruses hiding inside our bodies, like the varicella-zoster which causes chickenpox and shingles. I've had shingles more than once. My immune system is not the most robust. Now I'm trying to prevent a full-blown cold sore and once a day, I'm dabbing on a little Abreva cream (docosanol) although I should probably do this more often. I'm also adding lysine to my vitamin routine.

Overcast Thursday Pull

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 291
Miles 2.65
HR 141-186 (91, 81, 100)

Cage Stretch

Crunches Legs Up 60
Bicycles 60
Crunches knees bent 60
Horizontal Scissors 60
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Lat Pull Downs Close Neutral
70 x 12 (warm-up)
85 x 12
100 x 10
115 x 8

Seated Cable Rows
70 x 12
85 x 12, 12, 12

RG BB Curls
40 lbs x 20+5 reps x 3 sets

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 3
Calories 227
Miles 2.04
HR 150-180 (147)

Mat Stretch

Day Two

The school bus was 9 minutes late. The school wants you to be there at least 5 minutes beforehand, just in case some kid doesn't show up at his/her stop and the bus arrives quicker than planned. But that means you're standing out there on the road for a good 15 minutes while morning traffic rushes by. I put my son in the car and we wait at the bus stop with my car heater and hazards on. It's 59F which isn't horribly cold, but compared to the 80F that's forecast later on, well it is a tad nippy and I have the heat on.

After the bus leaves with a trail of motorists behind it, I proceed to the gym. This is the earliest I've ever arrived and I'm a little surprised at how empty it is. All the ellipticals are vacant! I hurry to stash my gear in the locker room and find, to my dismay, that Lazy Pedals has commandeered the first elliptical. Oh well. I get on the second one. The third and fourth ellipticals have mechanical issues that make the ride less pleasant. There are three old men on the stationary bikes directly in front of the ellipticals. They speak loudly in spite of the fact that there's no ambient music. They're ancient and virtually deaf. I pull my hoodie up over my head and tap the volume higher to my tunes.

The gym is a very social place for a lot of people. It's like going for coffee. In fact, some members buy coffee at the front desk and pedal while sipping their morning brew. I had half a cup this morning, but because it was day-old coffee, I had to add a spoon of Hershey's cocoa powder to the cream and sugar I normally use to make the beverage tolerable to my acid-sensitive stomach. Cocoa powder is high in anti-oxidants, adds great flavor and no calories. I've got the sugar and cream for that.

I'm a little sore from yesterday's workout. Today is a cardio day even though it's mid-week. I need to get my body out of this rut, so mixing up the usual routine, even just a little, is one way to kickstart this journey. Of course, I'm conflicted about pull-ups. Common wisdom dictates that pull-ups shouldn't be done every day. I agree, especially since my tiny and weak forearms are prone to tendonitis. Normally, I'd do a set after every cardio exercise but I also did a set yesterday. Ugh. I do two sets today anyway. (I still feel guilty about giving up pushups.)

I would've done three sets except after I got off the Step Mill, the Stretch Cage was occupied in quick succession by broken old men who used the cage as support while chatting with people on the treadmill on the platform. I'm not aggressive or pushy at the gym, especially with seniors. In general, they're fairly civil and extremely frail. Instead, I see that the Cross-Trainers are available so I hop on one and pedal for another 18 minutes. Pedaling on this machine reminds me that my hands and feet will fall asleep if I'm not careful in spite of the SuperBeets I drink nearly every day. I know it's my weird physiology and anatomy. (Those hammertoes are starting to get really annoying: a few weeks ago, I was vacuuming with my house sandals on and got blisters on the tops of my toes! That's never happened before!)

I finish with a Mat Stretch in the gym stretch area. There's a fitness class in the classroom. I actually don't mind because I'm not worried about those little black foam mats sliding underfoot when I'm in the gym. There's a thick rubber flooring that prevents unexpected slips. Not so in the wood floor classroom and I've suffered muscle strains from accidentally sliding awkwardly. What I really miss are those big thick blue gym mats that gymnasts use, and this gym used to house until they got too expensive to repair and replace. 

Later, I find myself persistently hungry. I wasn't at all hungry after yesterday's workout. This hunger is annoying and I wonder if it's because I didn't push any weight today. Since tomorrow's a Pull Day, I can test out my theory. I still need to find some alternate core exercises though. I'm developing a bruise on my tailbone again. It was perplexing since I've stopped doing actual situps. Today, I realized that the back seam to my fitness pants is to blame, especially when I'm doing horizontal scissors. Normally I alternate my gym clothes, but my favorite super-soft yoga pants have lost all elasticity in the waistband so I've been wearing the same sport-pants for every gym workout. Of course, I haven't tossed the yoga pants even though they're totally useless for doing cardio.

Solo Cardio Wednesday

30 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 2
Miles 2.93
Calories 330
HR 163-192 (96, 86, 89, 93)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20

Crunches 50/50
Leg horizontal scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

20 Step Mill
Level 3
Calories 112
Total steps 705
Floors 44
HR 138

15 X-trainer + 3 cd
Manual Level 1
Calories 139
Miles 1.82
BPM 143

Cage Stretch
HGPU 20

Mat Stretch

My Husband Is Making Me Fat

Yep. I'm going to blame my husband for my weight gain. My clothes are too tight and now I fit comfortably in a pair of jeans I never used to wear because the waist was too big. Uh oh. I'm unhappy and uncomfortable so no time like the present to start a new program. Well, not technically a new program -- more like some tweaks to an existing routine. Tweaks are easier to implement and therefore easier to sustain. Sustainability, i.e., consistency is the key to success.

My son starts school tomorrow which means I'm once again solo at the gym and can follow my own routines without feeling guilty. I'll have more time to combine lots of cardio with a decent amount of weight-lifting. As much as I'm afraid of losing my vision to glaucoma, I find weight-lifting integral to reducing anxiety and stress. (Lifting heavy is prohibited in glaucoma patients because a few early studies have shown IOPs to rise several points. While the pressures normally return to pre-exercise levels over time, those spikes in pressure might lead to permanent optic nerve damage and are best avoided.) I can probably achieve the same stress-relief with an all-cardio routine, but I suspect it would be a lot of cardio. Probably more than what's actually healthy.

I've already cut out pushups and dropped my Inclined Bench Press to 70 lbs, but for loads more reps. I need to revise the Core routine since it's beginning to feel mundane and a tad too easy. My only recourse is to increase my cardio and to give a serious look at my eating habits. When I'm solo I usually eat healthily. I'm perfectly happy with a single meal of savory oatmeal with nuked greens and a poached egg or two. I stock the house with fruits for my son to snack on. Mindful that he's a teenager, I also have cereal, nuts, crackers, cheese, yogurt, cookies, granola bars and candy in the house because he likes variety.

It's when my husband is home that I run into trouble. We like to eat out occasionally and restaurant food is chock full of salt and fat. Why else would it be so tasty? My husband is on the keto diet which means he's given up bread, potatoes, pasta, crackers, and fruit. But he hasn't given up beer and wine. So he's not skinny by any means. He eats a lot of fat, i.e., cheese, olives, nuts and their butters, eggs, bacon, salads laden with dressing, and a bit of meat, which is how the keto diet works. When he's home, he wants to share because we all enjoy the camaraderie that shared meals bring. It's biological. So my husband will make a platter of olives, cheese, and meats, like an Italian anti-pasta tray. Everything is fatty and salty. He's not salt-sensitive, but I am. I should refrain but I don't.

I'm putting on a pound or two each weekend before I've had the chance to work off the weight from the last weekend. Part of that is my own fault. I like the way good food tastes and I like to eat. I'm not blessed with the rail-thin runner metabolism either. What I haven't learned to do yet is to partake in a small amount and allow myself to be satisfied with just that. I'd be thinner, my clothes would fit better, and in the long run, I'd probably live a lot longer. Calorie restriction has been shown to increase longevity in a variety of organisms, but it's too damn hard. It makes you mean and hungry all the time. More promising is intermittent fasting. Yes, it's become all the rage.

I find that I'm the happiest, and presumably, the healthiest when I skip breakfast (except for my cup of coffee, sugar, and cream), have a protein shake for lunch and then a small dinner. The hard part is feeding others. Normally, it's just my son and myself. He's fine with whatever I give him, as long as there's enough meat or chicken for seconds. It's harder when you also have to include a keto plate. But maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe I'm overthinking this. It wouldn't be the first time.

The gym scale put me at 114.4 lbs, which is the heaviest I've been in years. I need to drop 6-7 lbs if I'm ever going to fit into my winter clothes! And so it begins. I did cut my second cardio session down to 15 minutes and skipped stretching just for today because I forgot I had a phone appointment that I needed to be home for. But before I could do that, I had to buy AAA batteries -- my son told me that the calculator he needs for his math class appears to have shipped with dead ones. Ugh. So it's rush rush rush...


Solo Again Sept Push

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 303
Miles 2.73
HR 142-180 (91)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 22

Crunches 50/50
Bicycles 50
Horizontal Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Smith Inclined Press (big bench)
Bar (30) x 12
50 x 12
70 x 25, 20, 15

DB Laterals s/s Rev Inclined Flys
20 lbs x 12/15 reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40 x 12 x 3

15 elliptical
Program 1
Miles 1.25
Calories 141
HR 150-171 (97)