Weeks 20 & 21 of my Fitness Journey

Well, it's not much of a journey lately. Work has been so crazy the lat couple of weeks. The Week of October 25th was the last week of Early Voting so things were crazy. I was on call from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. and that continued this week, the week of November 1st. Not to mention Tuesday the 3rd was Election Day. On Tuesday, I worked 18.5 hours! From 5 a.m. until around 11:40 p.m.

Needless to say, I've been pretty exhausted still. This coming week should be a little better. I'll only be on call until 6:30 p.m. so saving 2 hours per day will feel like I'm getting out early. Really looking forward to next week when I'm back to a regular 9-5. Of course, I suppose that depends on recounts, protests, etc. so we'll have to wait and see. 

The week of the 25th, I weighed in at 199.4. This morning, I was 198.8 so a slight improvement from last week. Once the crazyness stops, I am determined to get away from all the fast food I've been living on, all the sodas to relieve stress, and all the frickin' Halloween candy left over. We had 4 trick or treaters. Last year, ran out of candy. Go figure. Now I'm stuck with all my favorite candies in the house, easily accessible. 

Week 19 of my Journey

 I Got Nothing For You This Week...Except...

You know that meme of Tim Robinson where he says loudly, "I didn't do shit!"? Well that was me this week. Work was crazy. On-Call work from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. each day with shorter on-call periods during the weekend. But some nights, people ignored the schedule and were reaching out up until almost 10 p.m. which I really don't mind. I'm happy to help. But the idea that I can't walk away from phone is mentally exhausting. 

On the bright side, November 3rd will be here before I know it, and then Canvass week - the week where counties verify that ballots cast equals voter history - which usually isn't too demanding although it's the same on-call schedule. Canvass will wrap up November 13th and then I should (fingers crossed no recounts or election protests) get my life back. 

From last Sunday until this past Friday, I didn't walk, didn't workout, didn't do my ankle exercises - more on that in a moment - and felt like I had no free time. With that said, I did go for a hike on Saturday after my on-call shift ended. It felt so amazing to be outside. I even saw 4 deer which is alway wonderful. It was like nature saying "Welcome back. We missed you".  LOL

The interesting thing this week was that my ankles have not been hurting as much or as often. I'm going up and down stairs like a normal person. Maybe the ankle exercises all the time were keep them sore and painful and they just needed rest. Don't get me wrong. First thing in the morning, they are still stiff, but nothing like they've been. Chalk one up for working sunup to sundown and doing little to no exercise I suppose. 

This next week coming is my birthday and I'm nowhere close to where I wanted to be. I weighed in at 198 Saturday morning. Up a little from last week, but sitting on your butt for 12 hours per day plus will do that I suppose. My goal was to be at 180lbs. I guess now it's still the goal, just the goalpost has moved. 

I will say, I do think I look better though. Same weight basically week after week, but I do notice my clothes fitting different still and that to me is a win. I have no way of knowing as I don't have a Hume body scale, but my clothes seem to fit better, hang different and I feel more confident which is odd, but a great feeling.

Until next week...

Week 18 of My Fitness Journey

A Bit More Progress. I'll Take It!

Well, it's week 18 of this journey I'm on. I didn't do much better at tracking like I said last time, but I did try to be more aware once again. Honestly, that does seem to help a lot. 

Today I weighed in at 197.6. which is .6 lighter than last week. This means that I'm juuuusssst a little below maintenance level on my caloric intake. The good news is, I never felt hungry at all this week. I don't in any way feel deprived. 

I didn't workout as much as I wanted to. Work is crazy right now, but I did use that craziness to my advantage. On Thursday, I found out last minute that I had to travel for work. I figured that I'd hit Planet Fitness and use my fancy new Black Card. By the time I got to the hotel, checked in, changed my clothes and traveled to the gym, it was 10:25 p.m. and I was beat. But I had a really great mile warm up. I ran it in 11:27 and felt amazing. I think did a total body workout and got out of there in just under an hour. 

Work is super crazy right now, but I'm hoping I can squeeze in some workouts. The problem is that I just don't know when the phone is going to ring. By the time I'm no longer on call, I'm just so exhausted I don't feel like doing anything. It wasn't a problem when I traveled for some reason. I worked out despite being tired. I think I love my wife too much and don't want to take time away from her and our "together" time. I love getting into bed with her around 10-10:30. We read, talk about the day sometimes and then curl up and go to sleep. I love that time together. When I travel, I have nothing pulling me to the bed so I don't mind staying up until midnight or later. I've always been a night owl, but something about her just makes me want to curl up and take every minute I can get with her. I guess you can say I'm totally in love. 

Alright - THAT took a crazy turn. Back to fitness! The weather is finally cooling down so I plan to start adding in some morning runs once the election is over. Right now, I'm on call early in the morning and then again at night until 8:30-9:00 p.m. depending on the craziness. 

I did have my annual physical this past week and that went well. That was good news! I was worried, but Doc seemed to think I was doing well. 

Week 17 of my Fitness Journey

Progress!

Great news! I'm back under 200lbs. I was 198.2 at my weigh in yesterday which felt amazing. 

I think I mentioned that I had re-joined Planet Fitness and this past week, while away for work, I used my Black Card to workout at the local gym. I have to say, I don't mind the machines. I don't feel as "exposed" as I do in the free-weight area. I don't know why I think this way. I know that nobody is paying attention to me, but still, I can't help but feel self-conscious being the old out of shape guy in the free weight section.

I did two sets of 10 on pretty much all the upper body machines: Chest press, Row, Lat Pull Down, Curls, triceps/Dip machine and then two sets of 15 of the leg press, leg extension, leg curl and calf raises. 

But here's the best part!! I warmed up on the treadmill and I was sweating like crazy, but I ran the whole mile and I ran it in 12:07! At the end of June, I had tried to do an all out mile (on the track) and ran a 12:18. But it gets better! That was my warm up. After working out, I ran another mile, even though I was fatigued from the weights, and ran an 11:38!! I just kept notchin' up the speed on the last quarter mile. I felt amazing. I swear I walked out of the gym feeling 10 feet tall and bullet proof. I love when a workout just goes that well. What a great feeling! 

I didn't do a great job with food this week. I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, but I was much more mindful about it. If it was lunch but I wasn't hungry, I didn't eat. At dinner, I tried not to pig out like I often do and ate until satisfied, rather than feeling stuffed. I tracked nothing though, so no idea how I did on macros or calories. 

I also definitely need to be better about water. A lot of sodas this week, (Coke Zero) which I keep telling myself to quit, but they are just so much more appealing to me than water. I also - after 58 years - started drining black coffee in the last week or two. Not every day at first, but just to try it. Surpisingly, I've been OK. I don't find it delicious in any way, but in the past, I couldn't even handle the smell. No idea what has changed. Maybe I'm finally growing up...LOL

I have my annual physcial this week. I'm not anywhere near where I wanted to be weight-wise, but hopefully the check-in isn't too bad. I just really wanted to be around 180 for my visit. But hopefully I won't go crazy today or tomorrow and I will be under 200 for my physical. 

Weeks 15 & 16 of my Fitness Journey

Life, the Universe and Everything...

Last post I was dialed back in and feeling good about things. And then life, the universe and everything else happened. To be more specific, a wedding happened. My step-daughter got married in Nevada. There was a full day of travel on the front and back end of the trip. The rest, of course, was eating out, drinking and celebrating. Then, I got back from the trip and work was kinda crazy this past week with travel, fast food, etc. 

I actually did pretty good overall and I'm not really too upset. This morning, I weighed in at 200.4lbs. In my last post, I was 199. However, I see this as a win given all the drinking, eating, etc from all the travel. Not to mention, that I haven't worked out in almost two weeks at this point. Starting this week, I'll get back on track with the workouts. With the travel, I actually did very well in keeping up with my goal of 8-10K steps everyday. I hit that target most days the week I was away, but fell off this past week that I've been back. 

This coming week I will again be traveling for work, but it's overnight trips so I can better manage what I do and don't eat. I have my annual physical coming up the middle of this month and I really wanted to be farther along in my journey than where I am right now. One solid goal I have is to be under 200 for my annual physical. I was hoping to be around 180, but that sure as shit ain't happening in two weeks. 

But what I have to remember is that the weight didn't come on overnight so I can't expect it to go away overnight. The same goes for anyone reading this post. Be kind to yourself. Focus on what you can control and don't be such a rush that you do stupid things and create other issues or problems. 

We've got this! 

Week 14 of My Fitness Journey

Making Progress - I'm Dialed Back In!

Well, it feels good to be dialed back in. This past week, I worked out, ate right and got back under 200. I weighed in this morning at 199lbs. 

This week was crazy at work and I had to travel, but honestly, that helped. I used my Black Card at Planet Fitness to go to the gym while I was out of town and got in a great workout. I tracked everything I ate and I even sat down before dinner and figured out what macros I had left and what I could therefore "afford" to eat and still stay within the macros. 

I hate to say it, but this is easier to do when I'm not at home because I don't feel judged, or weird, or like I'm not eating what was made at home. I'm sure I've mentioned that we have a LOT of pasta dishes, rice dishes that are just a lot of carbs and apparently my body just doesn't like them anymore. Trying to stay under 120g of carbs at home can be challenging because I don't weigh out what I'm eating when it's home cooked. Packaged foods, which I know aren't the best for me, at least have the macros on the box or can so it's easy to know. I do have a food scale but I know me and I know I won't weigh out dry pasta, and then try to get that right after a whole pot has been cooked. 

I also got a suit, got it tailored and it looks really good. It was not a fancy suit by any means, but it's amazing how a proper fit can make any suite look good. 

I got my Covid shot and flu shot yesterday and woke up feeling fine this morning. No sore arm or any symptoms. I swear the key to avoiding a sore arm the next day is to workout after the shot. Get those muscles moving. The one time I didn't do that, was the only time my arm hurt the next day. 

I think the big take-away for me this week was that consistency and tracking (as best I can) is really going to be the key to this whole journey. Working out when I don't feel like it. Tracking macros even if it feels like a pain, etc. 

Week 13 of My Fitness Journey

Progress or Not?

This week, I did not get back on track per se. In fact, Saturday morning I weighed in at 203lbs - a slight increase over last week, but I look in the mirror and I look more toned. I would love to say it's muscle, but I know that's highly unlikely. I'm still only doing one set of my exercises on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And I did get in all my workouts this week. 

However, I was definitely not even trying to log my food and that's where things get away from me. The carbs are too high. I know that for sure. Lots of pasta dishes, rice dishes and fast food without any thought going into the orders. Normally, I can order a burger, no bun, but this week, I was just ordering off the menu. 

The only real con is that my weight is still up over 200lbs but I know if I can just get back on track, it should come off quickly. 

So Pros for this past week and the coming week: I look better in my opinion. I feel really good too. I joined (re-joined) Planet Fitness and I signed up for the Black Card so I can work out when I'm traveling - assuming there's a PF around somewhere close. I just joined, so haven't used it yet. But, with all that said, I am traveling for work and when I go out of town, I can better manage what I eat. I don't know why that is, but I just feel like if my wife makes dinner, I need to eat it, no matter how many times I tell her I'm trying to be low-carb. I think it would do all of good honestly. So much processed sugar everywhere. It was fine when I was young and bullet proof, but now all I have to do is look at a cookie and I feel like I gain a pound. 

So overall, weight essentially the same as last week. I feel good. Look good. Joined a gym to be able to lift heavier and when I'm traveling. All in all - I lean toward this past week being a win.