With my changed schedule, and eating out, my week has been messed up. Skipped a couple of days workout, took it too easy on the other days and could not see my trainer till today. So he decided to do make up on me.

First a double time on the treadmill, alternating walking with bursts of running and getting faster each time. So my 15 minute warmup was harder then a half hour regular session. Then he followed that by stretches and some stair pushups. Dropped my down to the second step, for the last few weeks I’ve been on the third step and trying to increase my reps.

Barely able to catch my breath I then did three stair walk-ups two at a time. My kids think - what’s the big deal about going up two steps at a time, and I ask them to do it carrying a hundred pounds on their back. Anyway, I was able to do it - easier than I thought. But he must have seen my smirk, so after two minutes to catch my breath, he made me go up another three times.

Followed all that by another half hour of stretching and crunches and knee bends and ball work. At the end of which I could barely stand up.

Posted by Administrator as Training at 4:56 PM CDT

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In the middle of the night when I should be getting a decent sleep - I’m surfing blogs. What I need is a live-in cook who can knock together food like what I found here. I also need my kids to leave home so I don’t keep having to make grilled cheese sandwiches.

The photos are incredible. I wish I had more time to do the presentation of what I feed myself, but it’s hard enough to knock together five or six meals a day. Too late to write much more tonight - but here’s the link and I’ll blogroll it as well.

Asian Vegan

Posted by Administrator as Eating at 2:07 AM CDT

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This week I’m eating at other people’s houses a lot. Up till now, 99% of what I eat I make for myself at home, and had established a nice pattern of eating that’s been easy to follow. Part of the trick is to make small portions, and eat only what’s out on the plate. When there’s lots of food on the table, I find it hard to stop nibbling.

Also meat has been a temptation. Normally I only eat meat once a week, that’s easy to keep to, since there’s never any meat around the house. Faced with four juicy burgers, my old eating habits are waiting to care of them. On top of that, chocolate, which I had not eaten for several weeks was waiting for me. The whole balance of carbs/protein/fats has also gone by the wayside.

The result of this - is three pounds up in three days. I’ve got to be firm for the next few dyas, and try and reverse this.

Posted by Administrator as Setbacks, Eating at 3:39 PM CDT

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Contrary to general advice and contrary to my trainers’s advice - I do use the scales every day. Here’s my reasoning.

• I have an expensive upright balance scale that is highly accurate. Most bathroom scales are not - (though I used to have one many years ago that was).
• I weigh myself every morning at the same time, after getting up, before eating or drinking - that sets up a uniform environment.
• My body is predictable and does not vary much in the morning, even though during the day it’s unpredicatable and can fluctuate over five pounds.
• If I see my weight move up, it acts as a warning that my eating might have gone off. For those who weigh once a week, you might go through six days of bad eating before getting the warning. See the section Keep Track of Your Weight and Eating in this site

Articles on weighing

The best time for weigh in

Posted by Administrator as Uncategorized at 9:50 AM CDT

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It’s the end of the week and I was feeling so trim I weighed myself in the afternoon, not something I normally do, since my weight would be unpredictably higher than the start of the day. I’m at 295 still, that’s excellent, since I thought the loss at the start of the week might be an anomaly.

Posted by Administrator as Uncategorized at 5:59 PM CDT

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In the last few days - I’ve seen several news items on the new food pyramid - so I decided to check it out. Actually I think the last time I paid attention to the food pyramid was so long ago, I’d rather not say.

United States Department of Agriculture - Step to a Healthier You

It tells me that my basic needs are

My first problem with this is the milk - personally I love milk and would easily have three cups a day, but I think that’s too much and I spend a lot of energy trying to avoid drinking it. So I’m very surpised to see it here. Even with low fat (1% or 2% milk) there is too much fat, and too much of the same thing.

Posted by Administrator as Eating at 9:38 AM CDT

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My trainer showed up and insisted I exercise despite still feeling sick. Left on my own, I would have waited at least another day. So I did a full intensive hour of workout and felt much better. It almost seemed that it burnt out the remnants of the sickness, in retrospect I think I should have started yesterday.

It’s difficult trying to balance this - I think when I’m really sick that doing intensive workouts is too stressful on the body, so how does one decide that the body is now well enough to get back on the track?

I’ve been looking for links - and have not found much - just this one so far.

Rest or Exercise When Sick? Here are some exercise guidelines to follow if an athlete is sick. Remember to always consult a physician if there is any doubt about an athlete’s safety:

If the symptoms are from the neck up (e.g., nasal congestion from the common cold), moderate, supervised exercise should be acceptable.

When symptoms are spread throughout the body, such as a fever, chills or muscle aches associated with the flu, the safest approach is to avoid all exercise until the symptoms are completely gone. At that point, a slow return to a normal exercise routine should be followed.

Never attempt to “sweat out” a feverish illness with intense exercise. In some athletes, exercising when sick can lead to a severely debilitating condition known as post-viral fatigue syndrome. Symptoms include weakness, increased fatigue, frequent infections and depression and can persist for several months or even years.

Posted by Administrator as Training at 3:35 PM CDT

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OK, it’s been three days without exercise, since I’ve been too sick and totally exhausted. However today, I was outside, and my pants seemed much looser. So I got on the scale, and I’ve dropped three pounds in two days. (I weighed myself yesterday and was down, but just assumed I was dehydrated)

So is this the new regime - exercise less - lose more. I’m back to what I was at the start of last December - but I worry that it’s just a temporary loss.

Posted by Administrator as Uncategorized at 10:57 PM CDT

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I’m sick as a dog - came down with a major cold yesterday - and just have no energy to do anything. No stretches, no treadmill, zilch.

Posted by Administrator as Setbacks at 9:35 AM CDT

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My good mountain bike has not been used for three years, so I have to get it out and get it working again. I spent an hour trying to get a tire pumped up. It would start getting filled, then when I pulled the pump off, the air would rush out. I finally figured out one of my kids had used the frame pump (the small pump that fit on the frame) last year, and messed up the insides. It looks like the pump in this page - Fixing a Flat Tire

It fits either a Presta or Schrader valves - but turns out that not only the outside rubber rung has to be reversed, but an inside plastic part has to be reversed in order to go from one to another. I have the thinner Presta and once I fixed the pump, it took less than a minute to pump up the tire.

At least I found a good link on the pros and cons of the two type of valves Presta vs Schrader valves - and it’s true that using a small hand pump like mine for a Schrader valve is hard work. In the end I used an electric pump from the cars’ cigarette lighter, but sadly my kids bike has a slow leak, so that cuts out the plans for bicycling on Sunday.

Posted by Administrator as Equipment at 11:14 AM CDT

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