Tag: exercise goal

I Overslept

Today is Sunday and I did what many of us do on random Sundays… I overslept. My alarm was set for 5:30am. I got out of bed a couple of minutes before 7:00am. I also had a minor hangup that kept me from getting the day started for about 20 minutes and both of those things together mean it’s way too late for me to tackle car music today.

My exercise is done for the day. Yesterday I bumped my four mile morning jog (pronounced “yog” with a soft j) to five miles. Mostly because there were many days over the last month or so where I was not reaching my move/calorie goal without doing extra exercise, so for now I am just going to build that into the morning routine. I am eating breakfast right now and when I am done I will take a Covid test. I have been symptom free since my two exposures on Monday and Tuesday so I am confident in another negative test, but I am still going to test for another couple of days. Just to be sure. I have to go into the office on Wednesday and I don’t want to risk passing anything on to anyone.

What does the no-car-music-today change mean for the music project? I still have five songs that need lyrics, so I can take care of some of those. I think I might also try to add another song or two. Yeah, it’s overkill but I am seeing guitar leads on the horizon and my playing is so incredibly rusty that I could really use an excuse to just play/practice a little. That would be a good thing.

I did something silly yesterday. I started watching the directors cut of Star Trek the Motion Picture. Shatner’s Star Trek V is often considered the worst of all of the Star Trek movies, and while that may be generally valid, that first movie is pretty awful. I’m only halfway through the director’s cut but I haven’t seen anything obviously different. The endless exterior establishing shots are still endless. Endlessly endless. The acting is often less than stellar in Star Trek movies with the original series cast, but this one… this one is bad. Overall though, the movie isn’t quite as awful as I remembered. Maybe #5 really is the worst of the bunch.

Okay, let’s get the ball moving. I need to get myself something for breakfast that is more substantial than the protein bar I just finished. I’ll probably post a film pic too before I really get the day rolling. For now, talk to you all later. Good Day.

Sweaty

You know something? Running in place for 45 minutes is a whole shit load more difficult than walking in place for 45 minutes.

I upped my workout settings from 40 minute indoor run to 45 minutes yesterday. The reason being that I wanted to guarantee I close my move ring, which counts calories, at the same time I close the exercise ring. The exercise goal is 30 minutes. I think we’re getting to the point where that needs to be increased to 60 minutes. I actually hit 60 minutes the last two days. Maybe December 1st. Maybe January 1st. We’ll see. My move/calorie goal is set to 1000 calories. I haven’t missed that goal in over 150 days. I think the time is coming to raise that goal too. Maybe raise it to 1500. I had it set to 1250 for a while last year. 2000 seems too high. 1500 might be a better challenge. January 1st. Maybe. Anyway, jogging in place for 40 minutes wasn’t getting me up to 1000 but it was getting me close. 45 minutes today gave me 1020. Perfect. We’ll stick with this setup for a while.

What else is going on? I still haven’t played the guitar since the end of September. I do have a couple of song ideas going for national solo album month though. I haven’t given up yet. I just need to find the time to play. The calluses on my left hand are gone, and there is something wrong with my left arm that is causing me a lot of pain. I don’t know what it is. I don’t remember doing anything to cause it. Is it tendonitis again? Last time that was in my left thumb. I don’t know. I haven’t been lifting the dumbbells since it started. Maybe I should? I don’t know. I don’t think it will stop me from playing, but we’ll find out at some point.

I started a time lapse video of a candle next to my desk today. I figured you all missed that stuff. You do, right? Wait… don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Let me remain deluded.

Okay. Time to go make breakfast. Assuming my post-running legs can still move.

Flake Day

Today is the last day of my four day weekend. I’m thinking of making it a mostly flake kinda day. I have an errand or two to run, and I want to visit mom. It’s her 82nd birthday today. Join me in wishing my mother a happy birthday.

I’m going to bring my camera with me when I go out, but I am not going to go out of my way any where. If I am out of the house and in the neighborhood I might pull over and snap a pic or two, but no exploring for a while. It’s time to start focusing all of our financial efforts on the Disney trip in January. No more wasting gas for a while.

Other than that, it’s music again. Guitars, guitars, guitars, and writing crappy riff songs. That’s my thing for a while. When I start burning out, then I might go camera nuts again. Until that day, it’s shitty rock and roll time again.

My exercise is done for the day and my calorie goal is about 70% complete. It’s time to start exercising like a madman again. I had three days where I took it easy. Now we’re back on the wagon. Let’s go!

Also, with October starting this coming weekend, it’s just about hockey season. I am going to make an attempt to be a UMass Lowell hockey fan again, for the first time since 2003. I’m going to try and catch games on the radio when I can. I don’t think they are on my old station anymore (good, the athletics department is unworthy), but I think they are on Lowell’s AM commercial station, WCAP. The Lock Monsters and the Devils games used to be broadcast on that station. I wonder if it’s the same team? We’ll see.

Here’s the schedule. Unfortunately both games against Vermont are in Lowell, so no hockey road trip to see the kids this year. Bummer, though a part of me is thinking about going to one of the games and sitting in our old Lock Monsters/Devils seats. Section G, Row 19, seats 3-6. Maybe we’ll see if Boston University is playing at Vermont and use them as an excuse. Or maybe Merrimack College? Hell, I drive through their campus when I visit mom. That could be a good enough reason.

Bike Day

It was about a month ago that I stopped closing my exercise ring every day. I stopped doing my 30 minutes of walking. My back was killing me around the clock and I would walk for 2-3 minutes and have to stop. I also stopped doing the Intermittent Fasting thing. That was 25 days ago, if the app I track the fasting in can be believed.

My back doesn’t feel any better, really. I think I have gained 30 pounds in those three-plus weeks. I haven’t weighed myself, but I definitely gained a ton of weight in that short period of time. I can see it, Jen can see it, and I can feel it.

When we put up the Christmas tree we had to find a new, temporary home for our exercise bike. That new home ended up being next to my side of the bed. Right across the room from my work desk. As I felt my weight climbing at a rapid pace, it almost seemed like the bike was mocking me. For about two weeks I have been telling myself to just ride the friggin’ thing. Today I finally did. I only rode it in 5-6 minute intervals. I closed my 30 minute exercise ring, but I didn’t close my 1,000 calorie move ring. My back was okay with the whole thing. My legs weren’t. Ouch. That was a trade I can handle in the short term.

I’ll try again tomorrow. I will shoot for more than just the 30 minutes and see if I can close the 1,000 calorie ring too (I wasn’t even close today). I need to do something before I turn into a Monty Python sketch*.

Oh, and I started tonight’s intermittent fast at 7:30pm. It’s supposed to be 9:00pm, but I guess I was a little anxious. Fingers crossed I can keep myself from falling off the wagon, or from crashing it in to a tree.

I am leaving work a couple of hours early tomorrow. I’m thinking of trying to put new christmas lights on the side of the house. Maybe going up and down the ladder will gain me a few exercise minutes and burn off a few calories. Every little bit helps, I hear.

I am freaking out about my weight. Frankly, it’s so out of control and hard to reign in that it’s scaring the ever loving shit out of me. One step at a time, I guess.

*Just a wafer thin mint, sir.