Tag: exercise

Lunch Break

It’s been a busy day today. Lots going on at work. I’m trying to squeeze in a lunch break, but it started half an hour later and it’s been interrupted once already.

Last night I was dreading coming to work today. I think everything that went on over the weekend, with my aunt’s funeral and my parents health situations, was starting to really weigh on me and I didn’t feel up to anything. Now that I am neck deep in work I am sort of glad I didn’t call out because I would be swamped tomorrow. Still. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. Not completely overwhelmed, but a little overwhelmed. I’ll manage.

I’m having a little trouble with lunch today. My stomach is a little unhappy. I had a little trouble with breakfast too. It’s the first time in three days or so that I haven’t eaten just protein bars for breakfast and lunch, so maybe that’s part of it. I’ll manage.

In good news, I asked the kids when they were starting their Thanksgiving break and it turns out they have all of next week off. I figured they would still have school right up to the day before the holiday, but nope. Harry said he’s coming here on Friday. How awesome is that? We don’t have Bellana’s schedule yet, but they go to the same school so she’s off school next week too. The question is, will she be off work too. However the cookie ends up crumbling, it’s going to be awesome to see the kids. I can’t wait.

Sunday, five days from now, will see the final episode of The Walking Dead on the air. I watched the second to last episode while doing my exercise yesterday. I was hoping my favorite zombie podcast would release it’s recap episode today, because it always releases on Tuesday, but nothing yet. The only Walking Dead podcast I have in my feed is two guys who constantly bitch about how they don’t like the show anymore. Why do I bother following them?

Did I mention that I’ve shot a little film over the last week or two? I took dad’s camera with a roll of cheap black and white film around town last weekend, and then this weekend I figured I was going to get to the church early for the funeral so I brought it with me and took a couple of exterior church shots for happy thoughts. I think I have 9-10 shots left on the roll. Where should I shoot next? When should I shoot next? It was 25 degrees out this morning so methinks the days of going out before work are probably over for a while.

Okay. lunch is wrapping up. Time to get back to work.

Good day.

Off Track Morning

I threw off my morning routine before I even went to sleep last night. I forgot to start the dishwasher. The little blender I use to mix my protein shakes was in the dishwasher. That means I couldn’t have half a shake like I’ve done every morning for the last two weeks.

To further the fails, I started doing my 45 minute trotting in place thing. After 30 minutes I stopped. I did the 5k, I did the whole exercise ring. I did not finish the calorie ring and I did not hit the five miles. I had actually told Jen this morning that I was going to close the exercise ring by walking over the weekend because my legs are hurting and I thought they could use a break. I decided on the fly today to start that break a smidge early.

Changing the subject, I’m saving this for later. It’s my Aunt’s obituary. I’ve already saved off the service information somewhere else, but I want to keep it all here too just in case.

Change of subject again, it is Friday. I could really use an easy day today. Fingers crossed. Happy Friday, everyone. It is also Veteran’s Day. I tip my hat in thanks to all who served and serve. It’s also a date that can function as a math problem. 11/11/22. 11+11=22. Get it?

I Don’t Recognize Myself

Most of yesterday sucked. So far today has been better. I had one mile on my faux jog that had a much slower time than the other four. I only needed about 46.5 minutes to get to 1000 calories. That’s not as good as Tuesday’s 45, but it’s tons better than yesterday’s 60. I think if I stay in one place the numbers line up. If I move around a little, like say from my one jogging spot to my desk and back, then the numbers get screwy.

I also rebelled against the scale. After only losing 0.4 pounds over five days I broke my rule and stepped on the scale again. I was down a pound from yesterday. Sounds like a karmic adjustment of some kind. It made me feel a smidge better. I didn’t log it. It wasn’t an official weigh in, but it did lessen my self-pissyness. A little at least.

After this morning’s little trot, my legs feel a little like rubber. Walking in place used to make me feel that way. It doesn’t anymore. That’s a good thing, right? Right. How long before faux running in place isn’t enough to get the heart rate up? What’s going to be next?

One other item to note on the post-surgery subject. I’ve been experimenting with something for the last day or two. I have been testing myself by eating meals without the stopwatch running. I doubt I’ve been waiting 30 seconds between bites but so far I haven’t had any issues. That 30 second rule was something I put in place, not something that I was told to do. At first they suggested 15-20 seconds and I just bumped it up to 30 out of fear. If I find myself getting nauseous during meals I’ll use the clock again, but so far I have been okay. We’ll see how it goes.

Right then. Time to punch in to work. Happy Thursday, folks.

Week 27 – Worst Weigh In Ever

Everything has sucked this morning. Almost everything. The election in Massachusetts went well, as if there had been any doubt. Today’s new episode of Star Wars Andor was absolutely fucking amazing. Kenneth Branagh in Henry V. That nazi piece of filth Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Now add Andy effin’ Serkis to the list of amazing inspirational speeches before a battle, fictional or historical fictional or otherwise. Holy shit that episode was giving me chills, and I am secure enough in my masculinity to say that I may have teared up a little. Damn!

Star Wars not withstanding, everything else has sucked today. I have said the last few weeks that I was waiting for a weigh in that leveled off. It came today. I am down, but only 0.4 pounds. It’s only been five days since the last weigh in so I should really get over myself and take it as the plus that I know it is, but for some reason it just pissed me off. I have been feeling like I was slipping into a really shitty bad mood for the last day or so and seeing the scale pushed me over the bad mood edge. It’s completely irrational but it’s true.

Exercise made it worse. For the last few days I’ve been running in place and going five miles in about 42 minutes. Today the same exercise needed 60 minutes to hit five miles. Why? My first mile pace was normal. The second was a little slower than normal. I don’t know why. The third was normal. The fourth was double normal. The fifth was also double normal. What the fuck?

So now here I am in a full blown shitty headspace. Maybe I’ll just watch Andor again and see if it helps.

Addendum: I should also add that another reason I was falling into a pissy mood was this blog had the worst day stats-wise that it has had in over four years. I had less than a fifth of my normal hits. That shouldn’t effect my mood at all because this page is completely and totally pointless, but it did so there you go.

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.

Week 26 Weigh In

For the second week in a row I was worried that my great big increase in my protein goal which resulted in a great big increase in food intake would lead to an underwhelming loss this week, or maybe even a gain. I was seriously nervy when I stepped on the scale this morning.

Nope, I lost almost as much this week as last week. I am down 4.6 pounds, which brings me to 273.4. Epic.

No weight loss milestones this week, but I’m nearly in position to hit a few next week, assuming this pace continues. Total weight loss since surgery is now 158 pounds exactly. Total weight loss since the first check in at the clinic is now 178.6. My BMI has dropped from 33.8 last week to 33.3 today.

I guess my change in exercise helped out this week. I have gone from ~45 minutes of walking, or a walk/jog hybrid, to jogging in place for ~40 minutes. For the second day in a row my exercise and calorie goals (as set on my Apple Watch, not by a doctor) were both closed before I started my work day. That’s ridiculous.

This is just me speculating right now, it’s not anything like a goal or anything. We are scheduled to leave for Disney World on January 4th. I am 21.4 pounds away from hitting the 200 mark since the first weigh in. Am I going to be able to hit 200 pounds by Disney? I’m exactly 42 pounds away from 200 since the surgery. I don’t see that happening, but the trip starts 10 weeks from today. If I average four pounds a week… it maybe could happen. Holy shit!

The next weigh in will be the six month weigh in on Friday 11/4. I don’t expect to be down four pounds again, but if I am down anything at all, 0.01 pounds even, then I will consider it a successful two days. Maybe I’ll do an extra 40 minute run tonight, just for fun. Or more accurately, just for “fun”.

Saturday Morning

I slept late today. I didn’t get up until almost 8:00am. The temperature outside at that time? 31 degrees. Shit. Winter is here.

I did my morning exercise before breakfast today. Over the last couple of weeks I have been walking in place for a bit then running in place for a bit and alternating until I hit about 5k in simulated distance. Yesterday I just ran the whole thing About 32 minutes, I think. Today I did the same except I actually used the indoor run workout in the workout app instead of the indoor walk setting. I went a little over my distance goal so that I could get up to 700 calories. I ended up at four miles (simulated). My feet and my calves are hurting, but I feel like I accomplished something.

The plan for today is another small kitchen improvement project, a visit to my mother, and a visit to my father. Beyond that, I don’t know for sure. Guitar, I hope. Bond movies, I assume. I want to watch yesterday’s That Pedal Show but the topic is a Boss pedal and I don’t really like Boss pedals, generally speaking.

I just stumbled over the new clock app in the new MacOS. I opened the clock on my phone and it came up on the laptop as a handoff. Sweet. Now I can track my time between bites on my computer instead of my phone.

I started a Bond movie while doing my faux running today. A View to a Kill. The last Roger Moore. It’s better than I remembered it, but it’s not very good. Christopher Walken as the bad guy. Can he play the bad guy in every Bond movie going forward? That would be fun.

I haven’t done my pick for the World Series post yet. Game one was last night. No spoilers on my pick, but the Phillies won and I am happy. I’ll do the real post later today. The UMass Lowell Riverhawks won too, and the Bruins are off to their best start in 10000 years at 8-1-0 after another win last night. I failed to watch/listen to either game, but I followed the scores as best I could. It was the first time I didn’t listen to at least a few minutes of either team’s game. Oh well.

Last night Jen and I both threw our names into the hat to be beta testers for Jack Dorsey’s new social network, Bluesky Social. Over the last year or so this page has been the only sort of social networking service that I’ve really been using. Actually, that isn’t entirely accurate. I stopped using Facebook and I’ve nearly stopped using Twitter, but I still use Flickr and lately I’ve been using the Flickr Groups more than normal and all of that counts as a social network. I have no idea what Bluesky Social is going to entail, but if it lets me thumb my nose at Musk and Twitter a little then sign me up.

Okay, time to wrap this post up. Bond and Tanya Roberts just stole a fire engine and jumped a draw bridge and that’s not cartoonish at all, right?

Check In with the Surgeon

I’m taking half a day off of work today for a doctors appointment. Today is my five month (approximately) check in with the surgeon. I don’t expect anything beyond how are you doing, that’s great, any issues, that’s great. That’s what I am hoping for at least. We’ll probably be booking the next round of appointments too.

I got a decent night’s sleep last night. I only got one of those last week. Here’s hoping I don’t make that a habit. Let’s have another good night tonight, please.

This morning’s exercise was different than usual. I went 3.2 miles as normal but I did it in 32 minutes. 18 of those 32 minutes was done at a trot. I kinda sorta ran for half of the time. It hurts my feet and my calves but it cranks up the ol’ heart rate. That’s good, right?

Check in today. Weigh in tomorrow. Here’s hoping for a good week all around. Right on, brothers and sisters.

Week 23 Weigh In

Happy Wednesday Weigh In, once again. 23 weeks post surgery and nothing but a lifetime left to go. My 10’s column changed again so let’s celebrate.

I am down 3.6 pounds. That brings me down to 287.2. 300 pounds seems very far away now. Happiness. Granted, 300 would feel more comfortably far away if I was down to 187.2, but we’ll jump off that bridge should we ever come to it, m’kay?

I just earned myself an Apple Watch activity app award. Most calories burned in a single workout. I was doing my walkies while watching the new episode of Andor and I hit that 3.2 mile (simulated) goal without realizing it. I didn’t notice that I could allow myself to stop until I was almost at four miles (simulated), so I just kept going. 4.02 miles in 45:21 for 758 calories. My exercise goal for today has been obliterated, and my calorie goal is over 75% done. I think I am in good shape for closing that ring today. Hurrah, babie.

Speaking of goals, I didn’t hit my protein goal of 60 grams yesterday. I was super close, 58.38, but I didn’t get there. I had some trouble with my lunch and I didn’t want to push things at dinner so I kept it a lot smaller than usual. I will do better today, guaranteed.

My next check in at the clinic is on Tuesday. Everything is going well so I expect that appointment to feel like a formality. Here’s hoping it all stays on track.

Got it in Two

Remember what I said the other day about what I am going to do when I get Wordle in two guesses? Remember?

Wordle 479 2/6

⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Oh yeah.

After not getting to sleep until 1:00am-ish on Sunday night/Monday morning can you guess what time I fell asleep last night? That would be 1:00am-ish, yet again. I wanted to get up super early to run some errands while still having time to get all my exercise in. Nope. I slept late. I had to run a little during my walkies to make sure I got the distance in before work started. The workout lasted 33 minutes (instead of the 38-42 it has been taking me to get up to 3.2 simulated miles lately) and I ran for about 11 of it. In the immortal words of Austin Danger Powers International Man of Mystery… ouch, babie. Ouch.