September 30, Day 9

I'm not doing well on this 100 Day Fitness Challenge.
I know I was giving myself these last few days of September to warmup and ease into it, but I'm going to need a bit more get-to-it kind of attitude.
I also said I didn't want to use yardwork activity as fitness activity, but that's pretty much what I did for yesterday.

I'm going to use one of those 30 Day exercise challenges for October and hope to get into the habit of doing some daily exercise. the early days aren't much and I hope to supplement with some walking, cycling, working, or other stuff, but want to focus on something every day. This is what I've chosen for October:

Diet was good yesterday--better than it has been. I need to keep that up.

Be well,
John

September 29, Day 8

I spent a couple of hours in a kayak on Lake Springfield yesterday. That was my exercise/activity for the day. The step counter on my watch uses arm motion to calculate steps. This is usually a disadvantage as it misses steps when I carrying something, pushing a cart while shopping, or using a push lawnmower. 
Yesterday it counted paddling as steps and I came off the lake with over 8000 "steps."

Unfortunately, I also worked up quite an appetite and ate a larger than I needed to dinner. It was a definite lack of self discipline on my part. 
Today would be a weigh in day but since it's the end of the month, I'm going to wait until October 1. September was pretty much a big pause in weight loss.

John

September 28, Day 7

I dusted off the exercise equipment in the basement yesterday. I pushed a few weights on the machine, used some dumbbells, and spent a little time on one of the cardio machines. I'll need to spend a little time rebuilding the muscle memory for weights and exercise. It's amazing how much longer it takes when you have a little age and it's been a while.
I put off the kayaking and plan on that being today's exercise.

Diet was okay. 
I've been careful about the added calories and metabolism effects from beer. I've only had one bottle since I've started this. I have to admit that I miss it when partaking of my other unhealthy habit--smoking a cigar. 
Yesterday was a decent diet day overall, but I think it was probably too high in calories to lose weight. I should go back to logging foods. It's just that I really hate that. September will probably be a neutral month, so I may need to consider a change for October. As is often the case, I know what works; it's just a matter of doing it.

Be well,
John

September 27, Day 6

Okay, so maybe I am going to count activity as fitness.
At least that's what I did for yesterday.
Today I'm going to take my new inflatable kayak out for a test run.

Diet was okay yesterday. I could have done without the ice cream last night, but I limited it to one scoop so I'm okay with it. I did a scale check this morning--no change.

Be well, 
John

September 26, Day 5

Damn! I'm going to need some focus.
For my day four exercise I thought I was going to keep it simple with some stretching and light bodyweight stuff. I should have remembered that part of the reason for this 100 day challenge is that this frickin' body weighs a bunch!
I'm going to have to get back to some yoga to build both strength and flexibility back into these old muscles and joints. Still working on a daily routine for October.

Overall, a good diet day.

Be well,
John

September 25, Day 4

If you're up way past midnight (2 AM) and have a snack, do the calories count for the previous day or the new day?

Overall a good day. We needed to pick up a couple of things yesterday morning, so we extended our walk a bit and walked to the nearby Dollar General. That made for a three mile walk for my day's exercise and completed the errand in the process. I realize I'm going to need to step it up on the fitness challenge, but after sitting on my ass all summer, I'm going with starting slow. I really don't want any injury setbacks.
Today might be back on the exercise bike while watching the fights later tonight.
I think I'll give myself the rest of September to do this day-by-day warmup thing and try to plan something more scheduled for the month beginning October 1.

Yesterday was a big food day (at least after 6PM) so today and tomorrow will be light days. It's all about balance, right?

Be well, 
John

September 24, 100 days Day 3

Ugh!
I know I said that I wasn't going to use yardwork activity as exercise, but...
Dang! Two and a half hours of tilling this SWMO soil kind of beat me up. The only other exercise for the day was some light stretching in the evening. Today will be better. More tilling in the plan, but I'll try to at least get a good walk in. 
It's a pretty slow start for my 100 Days of Fitness, but it's a start.

Diet was good. Good foods and not too much. Today...that's going to need some attention. With friends coming to dinner and French Silk pie on the menu for dessert--yeah, I'm going to have to sacrifice some daytime calories to make that balance. I'm also going to have to stick to a single plate of the pork and chicken fried rice that I'm making for the main course. Maybe I'll double up on the kale salad that Chris is making.

Be well,
John

September 23: 100 days, Day 2

So I did manage to do 30 minutes on the exercise cycle yesterday. It's a start.
Diet-wise was another story. I gave in to a craving for a fried tenderloin sandwich and ended the day with a fried pie. That's probably a day's worth of calories in a single meal, but I didn't have much the rest of the day, so...

Today will be a pretty active day of working around the house, but I still plan on getting in some exercise. I also plan on doing better in the diet department.

I feel like I should also point out that when I talk about "diet," I am referring to what I eat, not some restrictive or structured program of eating. Our "diet" is whatever we consume so when I talk about "diet," I am just talking about what I'm consuming for the day and my overall food/drink lifestyle.

Day 2
Time to get started.

John

September 22 and 100 Days of Fitness

This week's weigh-in was like last week's weigh-in -- just on the high side of 250. Another week of no progress. 
Today's weigh-in also coincides with 100 days remaining in the year 2021.

So...
I am going to challenge myself to 100 days of fitness. I'm not sure what that's going to look like for the entire 3+ months, but I am going to do something physically active every day, even if it's just 30 minutes on the stationary bike. Some days might be yoga or Tai-Chi. Some days might be walking. Some days may be some work with dumbbells or the weight machine. But something every day and I'm not going to count working in the yard as fitness activity. 

It's Day 1.

John

September 15, midmonth

Well we are half way through the month of September and I have made absolutely zero progress. Truth be told, I haven't been paying much attention to diet and have been pretty inactive.
Today it's back to yardwork and moving on to the next project. And while that will certainly boost the activity level, I also find that I eat better (and less) when I am working hard. Hopefully, I can still drop a few pounds by the end of the month.

John

September 13

I haven't been very conscientious of my diet this week. I am not looking forward to this week's weigh-in on Wednesday morning. I need to refocus.
On the fitness front, I ordered a couple of inflatable kayaks for us. It's getting late in the season for kayaking, but that got me a good deal on the boats.

We've rented a two person kayak a few times at Lake Springfield. The last time Chris said she would rather have her own. These inflatable two person kayaks will allow us each to paddle our own. The reviews said that they really aren't suitable for two adults, but with adjustable seats they work fine for one.
I am hoping to put at least one of them to good use!

John

September 8

It wasn't unexpected.
It hasn't been a good week on the diet front. It wasn't just the holiday weekend. It was mostly being lazy and not caring about how much junk I was eating. The weekly weigh-in wasn't too bad, but it definitely wasn't good as I am back on the high side of 250.

I'm not going to sweat it too much. Just going to get back to it--today.

John

September 1; Success!

I made it!
250 pounds (maybe a shade under) (113.4 kg).
I have to admit that I was a little more extreme than my normal habit for the past two days. Yesterday I ate a single serving of pork fried rice for dinner and that was my only food intake for the day. Monday was similar with a fruit and cereal breakfast and a decent plate of pork chop, salad, and veggies for dinner.
Both days were fairly active days.

So I'm back to where I was two months ago...and I feel pretty good about it!
Maybe that August 1st weight bump was the jolt I needed to get serious about paying attention to my diet. Putting on 12 lbs. (5.4 kg) in a single month is a bit of a shock. 
Why is taking it off in a single month so much harder?

I don't really expect to keep dropping weight at the same rate as I did in August. I feel that 2 lbs. per week is a healthy rate of loss and can develop sustainable habits for when I reach a healthy weight. Experience tells me that it may be slightly higher early and and slightly harder later. I'm shooting for -10 lbs. (4.5 kg) for the month of September. 

We started morning walks last month, but weren't too regular during the hotter days. We'll try to do better during September. Also, I may add more intermittent fasting days into the month, maybe once per week with the one meal and maybe a snack at some point.

So far, so good.
Here I go for month 2!

John