June 8: An Unexpected Challenge

It's Monday and that means it's weekly weigh in day.

This morning's scale was a solid 240, so I made my first interim goal a few days early.

I had a very weak step day yesterday (2,911), but did get a good 45 minutes on the exercise cycle. I am okay with that and actually starting to prefer it as a daily exercise time. I get more cardio benefit from cycling than from walking and also burn more calories.

But ...

Last night I received a text from my younger sister asking if I made my 10k steps and making a challenge that we both get our 10,000 steps for today.

Sacrebleu! I guess I'm in for 10k steps today.

Yesterday was a good day on the diet. I still need to up the protein intake so I might decide to make a protein shake a daily snack or meal replacement for a period of time. I have twelve weeks to lose my next 20 pounds. I know it's not a great challenge for the weight loss, but the weight is just a way to measure my progress. The real goal is to be more healthy, and that includes how (and what) I eat as well as getting to and maintaining a more healthy level of fitness.

Be well,

John

Oops! Missed a day.

I meant to blog later in the day yesterday -- but didn't. It's okay. Tuesday kind of sucked on the fitness front anyway. 4,100 steps, no cycling and just a lazy day. I did meet my food targets.

Yesterday was much better. I used the indoor cycle again (30 min) and took a short walk with Chris. 

10,479 steps plus time on the cycle felt good. And I had another good food day.

We'll see how today goes. My left foot is bothering me this morning. I have a pain along the outer edge that bothers me just standing. I'm not certain of the cause, but have learned that the older John can no longer power through minor pains and injuries as a once much younger John did.

Be well,

John

Something Different

Yesterday was a cold, dreary, and sometimes rainy day. There were certainly times when I  could have gotten out for a walk, but I really wasn't feeling it -- so I didn't. But I did manage to put the exercise cycle to good use by putting in an easy 30 minutes.
It wasn't much and I wasn't very fast (11-12 mph), but it was different and felt good. I could tell that I'm in need of something that's more of a cardio workout than just walking. I feel the 30 minutes on the cycle is well worth missing out on the 10,000 steps. My step count was only 4,153 but I may do more cardio exchanges for steps in the future. I'll need to build a little strength and endurance on the exercise bike before actually riding my bicycle. Even the long gradual slopes of the roads around here would be a challenge right now; the hills might kill me.

Diet came in under target again. I even managed a pretty high calorie, high fat, delicious BBQ pork rib dinner. Logging foods helps me be mindful of portion size. I'm sure I could have (and probably would have) finished off the slab if I wasn't paying attention to what and how much I'm eating.

Looks like another cold, rainy day. Maybe I'll be back on the exercise bike.

Be well,
John

Ugh! Minor injury

After 5 days of P90X3 I'm beginning to think that the arm soreness from Day 4's Challenge is more than your ordinary muscle soreness. It (left arm bicep) felt a little better after yesterday's cardiovascular workout but soon stiffened again and by evening I was beginning to think it may be more than just overuse of an unused muscle kind of soreness. I woke in the middle of the night, unable to straighten it without considerable discomfort. It appears to be injured near the tendon connection at the elbow. The pain occurs more when trying to straighten my arm rather than bending it; when stretching the muscle vs contracting it.
Ugh!

So...
Since the P90X workouts are pretty much total body workouts, I'm going to have to shelve them for a little while. I'll reassess after a week. Even if I restart at that point with the repetitive motion, it will be without any added resistance for a little while. I'll take a look at tomorrow's workout and may still do the agility workout.
In the mean time, I'll increase the daily walking (I restarted my daily 10K steps streak) and keep up with the daily squats (100). I may even add some cycling, yoga, or some ab/core stuff -- something that won't tax the arms too much.

I've been eating well and focusing on healthy foods in healthy portions. While better health is the goal, a better weight is one of the indicators and I'd really like to get the BMI out of the obese range. Since the weight loss was in the 1.5 - 2 pounds per week range before starting the P90X stuff, and since I'm still a subscriber to the "eat for weight management, exercise for good health" way of thinking, I expect the weight to continue to drop at a steady rate as my lifestyle becomes one of a more health minded individual.

I'll be back with the Monday weigh-in.
Enjoy the weekend.

Be well,
John

Variety is the Spice of Life

I imagine that variety is also good for fitness.
I guess I've kind of gotten into a fitness rut and have gone back to just walking (which I like) and an occasional run.

I really need to include some kind of strength training in my weekly routine. I like using my weight machine for circuit training and am okay with HIIT using just body weight exercises. (Okay, actually I think that HIIT sucks. I need to do it, but it is killer for me!)
I also see some great benefits from yoga but it has been a little while since I've really done anything more than some simple stretching.

All on all, I feel pretty good about staying active and am in better shape than I have been in for quite some time. My blood pressure is at a healthy level (122/78 yesterday at the Red Cross) and my resting heart rate is decent at 58. My weight is staying below the 210 mark and I'd like to get it to around 200. However, I am less concerned with the actual number at this point, and more concerned about feeling (and being) healthy.

Yeah, I'd also like to look good, but it feels a little bit vain to actually say it. Besides, there is only so much a soon to be 55 year old can do to look great. Time and poor life habits have taken their toll on this old guy.

If I could reach back and talk to my younger self, I would tell him to take better care of himself (myself). Even if I wasn't going to exercise, there was really no excuse for the poor diet and over indulgence in crappy foods. Even over indulgence in good foods had been a detrimental part of my eating habits.

If you are young, take care of yourself. If you are older, take simple steps to reverse your situation. If it took years (decades in my case) to get to where you are, don't expect to quickly change. It may take years to get healthy again -- but get started TODAY!
Don't wait for next month or next Monday or tomorrow. Start NOW.

Get up and take a walk. Pass on dessert. Skip the late night snack.
Drink more water. Park farther away. Take the stairs.

Be well,
John <><

Running

Last week I made an attempt at getting back into running. It's an idea that I've been toying with for some time. I made a start at it last year but was having some foot issues that needed a surgical correction. Although I am not real pleased with the results of the surgery, it did help some and I should be able to run now.

Still, I have put off running. Poor knees, poor condition and lack of real will have all had their part in not running. Enough is enough.

Last week I managed a sequence of walk/run intervals of half miles for four miles and ended with a half mile walk -- two miles of running, two and a half walking. Yesterday I upped the interval to one mile intervals and started with the run for a run/walk/run/walk four mile total. I felt better than I expected. My times were about what I expected with the first mile run at just under eleven minutes and the second one at a little over.

I'm still not convinced that running is going to get into my system in a way that I'll be doing it on a regular basis, but I did feel pretty good the rest of the day. It was that "I had a good workout" tired kind of feeling that makes you feel good about yourself and your day. I finished the day with some good stretching while watching the NCAA basketball final.

Today, I think I'll start out with a little run. I don't know that I'll set a goal distance. Maybe I'll just start running and see how it goes. I know that's not the way to go about building endurance or increasing time but those things aren't really that important to me. I'll just see how I feel at a mile and either go a little longer or stop and walk for a little while. I may or may not run again. We'll see.

It's not goal motivated or anything and it may not work in making a habit of running. For now, that's okay. Right now I'm just interested in getting the miles in (walking or running) and making my daily step goal. I don't plan to run a 5K or anything like that. I'm just trying to maintain a level of fitness that is more healthy than what I've done in the past.

Be healthy.
Be well,

John <><

From the Last Week of Winter to the First week of Spring!

Today I am looking forward to wrapping up my week of 80,000 steps. I start the day at a little over 74K, so today will be a breeze. I'll go ahead and make sure that I get in 10K steps just to keep that streak going, but I am starting to look at fitness goals for next week.

Yesterday I did a little running to go with my walking and think that I will include a small amount of running in my goal for next week. I also want to include some simple bodyweight stuff into my routine for next week.

Here's what I'm thinking:

* Continue with at least 10,000 steps per day
* Run 7 miles (I don't plan on running everyday. I'm thinking 1.5 every other day, + a mile somewhere during the week)
* 400 push ups (75, 50, 75, 0, 75, 50, 75)
* 20 walking lunges (10 each leg) every half mile while walking on non-running days.
* 700 squats (I haven't decided how I'll do that yet, maybe 100 X 7 or maybe work a rest day or maybe go heavier on walk days, lighter on run days. We'll see)
* 600 crunches (100/day with a 0 day in the middle)
* 12 1 minute planks

For a 50+ yr old, out of shape guy that hasn't been doing much of anything it looks like a lot when you read it all together. For anyone that is in even modest shape or works our regularly, it's pretty light.

For me, it's more than I have been doing and yet it is still pretty doable. The running still gets counted in with the daily step count as do the walking lunges. Those add a little variety to the steps and work the cardio and legs differently. The push ups, squats and abs are not a big deal, just a way to make sure I'm doing something for a little strength along with the walking.

At some point, I'll probably take a short bicycle ride.

That's the fitness plan for the week.
I know that if I don't spell it out, it won't happen.
Do you have a plan?

Be well,
John <><

Burpee Challenge ... again!

Last summer I posted about this Burpee Challenge.

I saw it in July and decided that the fat, out of shape old man was going to do it for August. Well I managed to complete the 100 burpees in just over the 12 minute challenge time. I was hoping to break it in September. However, a knee injury at the end of August and foot surgery in September put an end to that.

I'm posting this to say that I'm in again for March! I'll finish up my 30 Day squat/pushup challenge about 10 days before the first Friday of March. I don't know what that will do for my time, but it should help me to complete the 100 burpees.  I have to admit that my cardio/endurance ability is down and I should probably not wait to start building that up. Tomorrow is a rest day on the 30 Day challenge. Maybe I should skip the rest day and see what it feels like to do 50 burpees.

My daughter in law says that she may have a go at it. Anybody else want to join me? If work gets in the way of a Friday challenge, go ahead and do it on Saturday the 7th. I may give myself a rest day on Friday and hit the challenge on Saturday. I'm pretty sure that I can do them in less than 12 minutes this time around. We will see.

Be well,
John <><

Alternative Workout: Shoveling snow!

It's 9:30 am and it's still snowing in the Ozarks. It looks like we have about 6 inches already on the ground. I'm not sure how long it is supposed to continue. Temperatures are not forecast to be above freezing until Friday and skies will be overcast for a few days. This stuff isn't going to melt any time soon. Looks like John gets to work moving it off the driveway.

Here's what I'm thinking:

I'll make some more coffee before getting started. After all, there is no real hurry.
A post shoveling yoga session might be in order.
A post shoveling sauna will definitely be in order.
Chris will need her daily fix of fountain Diet Coke, so I'll need to decide if I'm going to walk the 1.5 miles or drive to get it. In spite of the cold temps (16F feels like -2F), safety from traffic is more of a concern since there are no road shoulders and walking in Ozark is hazardous in good conditions.

Okay, maybe I'll skip the more coffee until post shoveling. I might as well go ahead and get this alternative workout started!

Be well!
John <><

Cardio Wake-up Call!

I guess it has been longer than I realized since I've done any real cardio work. On my last few bicycle rides, I blamed the local hills for killing me. After getting on the stationary bike today, maybe it's just that I'm in really poor condition!

I started with the idea that I was going to do a body weight circuit today but was rethinking that since this is supposed to be a rest day in my 30 Day squat/push-up challenge. I hopped on the recumbent cycle for a warm up and to figure out what I was going to do and soon realized that I need to get some cardio work into my routine more often.

I ended up using dumbbells, my pull-up bar, my machine for triceps push downs and crunches along with a few more 5 minute intervals on the bike. After just 45 minutes, I felt pretty good--tired, but good. I guess this old guy is going to have to use some of this interval work more often.

(Heavy sigh!)

Oh well. It is a relatively small portion of my day and I really don't have the time excuse anymore.

It's said that you should eat well to look good fully dressed and exercise to look good at the beach.
Here's to being beach body ready for summer!

Ha! Last year I was happy not to be the fat American old man anymore!
This year I'm going for the fit American old man!

Be well!
John <><