Week 13 Day 4

Posted on May 5, 2011 by admin

Holy Cow Batman!  Today was the day of hiking!  Hiking I say!

We went to the area of the Smoky’s called  “the Road to Nowhere, a promise broken”.   We hiked for 5 hours and 20 minutes.  Insane!     There were lots of ups and downs and the trail was shaded for most of the way.  When we got up this morning it was 32 degrees out.  We started hiking when it was 50 degrees.  When we were done it was 70 degrees out.

At the furthest point of our hike we met a fellow hiker that happened to the area while riding his Harley.  We shared some snacks and some water with him and enjoyed some conversation.  We parted and journeyed on to the lake a few hunderd feet away.  What a sight.  We headed back and the walk was equally enjoyable.  About 45 minutes away from the truck we heard a big cat screach.   We saw bear tracks in the mud and found what we believed to be a big cat paw print.  This was alarming.  I was walking with a stick and we had some mace with us but we were not looking forward to seeing nature that close.  We made it back no problem but the last 45 minutes had a different feel to it.  Once we were back our biker buddy was still in the parking  writing us a thank you not on a trail map for sharing the water.  He had drank half his water on the way to the lake, and felt like he had enough to get back but we insisted he top off his canteen with some.  I figured it was warmer and he would drink more and we were right.  He finished the water on the way back.   He was glad to see and returned our hospitality by sharing some home made banana bread his lady made for him.  He let us have his last 2 pieces.  It was tasty.  We hung out and chatted some before heading out on our seperate ways.  This interaction was a great  bonus to a great day.

As for nutrition today I ate well.  We cooked breakfast at home, bought subway sandwiches for lunch,  packed fruit for break, and cooked chicken breast, pinto beans and canned tomatoes for dinner over a bed of baby spinach.  Total calories of 2,163 were consumed.  I will have a snack tonight of a piece of fr

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Week 13 Day 3

Posted on May 4, 2011 by admin

What a start to the day.  We decided to return to where we walked along waterfalls and did a jog.   We parked further away than yesterday and jogged further than we walked to see the falls.  We jogged 55 minutes and went at least 3 miles.  All up hill on the way out and all down hill on the way back.   It was great to do that.

We ate breakfast in town and I pigged out with biscuits and sausage gravy plus some scrambled eggs with cheese.  It was about 1,000 calories for that meal.  I should not have done that but it was good and I really had a craving for it.  In the end I was OK with the calories,  I totalled 2,323 calories.

Another highlight of the day was a small walk through an Island Park in Cherokee NC.  There were some ducks that came to greet us as we had a snack.   Some of our snack “may”  have fallen to the ground for the ducks.  They loved it.   To get there we rode the motorcycle and cruised around some and found where we will hike tomorrow.  We found an area called the “road to nowhere, a promise broken”.     A legal batter is still ongoing over this area and there are miles of hiking trails to get you around.  We plan to do some exploring.

Today I skipped my PM weights workout.    I was physically beat and did not have it in me.  One big difference I know is that we are on the go from early in the day to later in the evening compared to at home where I get my PM workout in early enough in the day to not be so tired.  I will get to bed earlier and hit the weights in the AM before the hike.  I can’t wait to add the pictures to these pages to show what it was like here.

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Week 13 Day 2

Posted on May 3, 2011 by admin

Today was a crash day.    I was stiff, sore, tired and not feeling like conquering the world.   Today was supposed to be a rainy day but it turned out to be nice into the afternoon.  We went for a 2 mile hike to see some waterfalls and the trail was great and the water falls were cool.  I was just in a funk.  I was dragging my feet and feeling really slow and out of energy.   We did some local shopping and walking from store to store but in general it was a very leisurely pace.  We got back to the cabin before the rain started and I tried to take a nap but could not sleep much with the cat jumping on my repeatedly.

TV and the couch was in order.  We ate pretty well but I was higher on calories with some snacks of pretzels and peanut butter and apple.  Total calories were 2,562.   That plus less activity might mean bad things on the scale.  Tomorrow we plan to get up early and go back to the waterfall area and jog the trail.   I hope tomorrow will be a better day.

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Week 13 Day 1

Posted on May 2, 2011 by admin

Here is the half way point,  week 13.  I am out of town with no scale so I don’t know where I am.  Today was an incredible day.  We did a weights/cardio morning workout before breakfast  and had a day full of hiking in the Smoky Mountains.  Our first hike was around 2 hours and started at an altitude above 5,000 feet and went up from there.  It was colder and misty and work to hike up hill the whole way out.  The coming back was smooth sailing.  It was starting to clear and when the sun broke through it was warm!  That was important since I forgot to bring a jacket or long sleeve shirt and was cold when I started the hike.  After this we started back in the direction home and stopped for another 1 mile hike.  It was boring with nothing to see since we were winding through the trees and we stepping on a down hill slope each step.  It started to become uncomfortable on our ankles since we were in sneakers and turned back.   We were not done though!  We found a trail along a creek that was the gem of the trip so far.  We hiked for another 2 hours and 10 minutes.  This was our trail.   It was up hill the whole way, and there were these amazing log bridges with a single sided hand rail.  We crossed the stream 4 times.  We were trying to make  it to the 2 mile mark but fell short.  We were beat and the trail became much more steep.  We turned around and on the way down we jogged at least one half mile back.  That kicked ass.    We did soo much walking today.  We had back packs for some of the hikes.  every bit helps the burn.

We ate well today and had a barbeque for dinner.  We had corn on the cobb, chicken breasts and squash.   We even had some wine after the hot tub.   Today was a top ten day for vacations!   I can’t wait for tomorrow to see if we can top it.  Even with the wine my c

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Week 12 Day 7

Posted on May 1, 2011 by admin

A much better day!   Today was not perfect, but it was a great day.   We journeyed into the Smoky mountains and drove around a bunch.  We were surveying where we will return to hike tomorrow.   What we did today was ride our bikes through the Cade’s Cove area.   It was 11 miles of ups and downs though a beautiful flat lands area that is home to deer, wild turkey, bear and other critters.   We  had to share the roadway with cars and motorcycles, but there were other bicyclists out there too.  We saw bears and turkeys  from afar and deer  and a small bear up close.  The bear was keeping an eye on the the cars (and us)   but he was down in a ravine so he would have had to run uphill to get us.  We would have jumps up onto or in a car if we needed to.  We were glad we did not need to.   As the riding went on the hills became too much and we needed to walk up them.  The biggest problem was the cars would sometimes go soo slow we needed to come to an almost stop and lose our momentum to get up the next hill.  That is ok we got through it.   There was a major traffic jam so we took the long way home and had a taste of “the Tail of the Dragon”.   Look it up.    We got back to the cabin at 8pm  and I got in a 20 minute dumbbell cardio workout.

I used my body weight or 35 lb dumbbells for the exercises.  I moved from one exercise to the next with as little rest as possible.   Here is what I did:

Push-ups              10,8,7

body weight squats 10,8,8

overhead presses 10,8,7

deadlifts                  10,8,7

alt. arm curls          8,8,8

crunches                 10,8,7

I am sore!  Today was great,  I did good eating and finished the day at 2,340 calories.   Pictures will get added later once I get home.

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Week 12 Day 6

Posted on April 30, 2011 by admin

Ten Hours of travel!  Yep today was the “what did I do” day.  I totalled 2,809 calories of food with one bad meal but boy did it blow my nutritional budget.  We stopped at the gloden arches and I had the big breakfast with hot cakes and a coffee.  That was 1,300 calories for 1 meal.   Damn why did I do that?    We did stop alot on the trip and we did walk around some and had some “quality time” together, but it was not the same as working out twice a day.

Tomorrow will be filled with hiking and/or biking.  We bought groceries so we can eat right for the next few days.  No scale here

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Week 12 Day 5

Posted on April 29, 2011 by admin

Today I tried the new gym first thing in the morning.  It was OK.  My ankles were sore from the steel toe boots and up and downs on the ladder yesterday so I did not jog at all.  I did do 60 minutes of cardio.  I did 20 minutes each on 2 different types of elliptical trainers and 20 minutes on a stationary bike.  I was never in the hard sweat zone but my muscles feel worked.

Today I was pretty good eating.  All went as planned except for me eating more of the reduced fat kettle chips.  I will not need to worry about them anymore as there are none left in the house.

Total calories for the day is 2,326.   I will need to do a light weights workout before I call it a night so I can work my muscles some.  I will be out next week on an adventure and will not have access to my gyms or garage weights.  I expect fun and sun but always seem to get some rain when on these adventures.  I do not know how the internet access will be and I may not be able to do a daily update like I have been doing.  I will keep notes and do a catch up one  if I do not find internet access.

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Week 12 Day 4

Posted on April 28, 2011 by admin

Today started as a truly amazing day!   My wife and I did a jog through our neighborhood totalling 2.9 miles.   That kicks ass!  There were some hills and we were not fast with it, we averaged 13:30 a mile, but heck it was 2.9 miles.  I was holding back in the beginning since I knew I wanted us to go the distance.  On the route we took there is a place that is the point of no return.  Once we get there, we have done over 2 miles and there is no shorter way home.  We just need to tackle the 2 bigger hills then the not visible but surely felt smaller hills.  The day sure did start great.

Today was also the first day for me at the new temporary job site.  It was better than I thought it would be.  I had plenty of up and down on 8 foot ladders,  there was lifting and moving boxes and reaching and stretching.  Work was a total body workout.  I got home and was stiff and sore.  Enough so for me to take 2 Advil.   I can’t remember the last time work got me like that.    I also did something good for me after work too.  I went to the new local 24 hour gym (minutes from my house) and signed up for 20 a month to month membership that is 20 dollars a month.  I have a Bally’s membership already, and the bally’s facility blows this one away, but the Bally’s only opens at 5am and that does not give me enough time in the morning to exercise (if the weather is bad and I am not jogging outside), get home, shower, eat and be ready to go at 6:15 am.    At this new place I can get an hour in of cardio and be home by 5:15 am.   I don’t really plan to go there more than 3-6 times a month, but the weather will dictate how often I will actually be there.   The duration of the project will too.   I met a new piece of cardio equipment today.  It is an elliptical trainer that allows for varying strides from an almost up and down as a stair stepper to a full stretched out stride like you were sprinting and everything in-between.  It is by Precor.  I tried out the elliptical machine right after I joined the gym.  I figured since I was there I should try to get some time in.  WOW this machine worked me!  I was changing my strides from stepper to jog to sprint to stepper and so on.  My leg muscles were burning after only 4 minutes.   The jog this morning and the ladder work today could have been a contributor to the muscle feeling, but the range of motion was something else.  I did not look around the gym at all.  I was too focused on getting some time in.  next time when I go I will look around and see what all they have.

My eating today was good.  On this construction site food is not allowed in the building.  You need to go to your car to eat, and I was told there was no eating in the parking garage.  Weird.   I will wait to be told to stop eating IN MY CAR before I believe that one.  We do not have a construction trailer to go to.  It is our cars or nothing at all.   At lunch you can leave to go out and eat but who wants to spend money like that when you can pack great healthy meals yourself?  I ate breakfast at home,  had a yogurt in my car once I got there, had a banana and a special K bar for break, a chicken breast sandwich with baby carrots on the side for lunch, an apple and orange for afternoon break, and a salad with chicken breast, black beans, corn, portobello mushrooms and tomato sauce.  I even had some dessert, an orange, 1 scoop of peanut butter, a pretzel rod and some reduced fat kettle chips (I know they are still evil but I had to  have some).  I still had my calories for the day be where I need them to be,  I was at 2,150 calories.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

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Week 12 Day 3

Posted on April 27, 2011 by admin

Bally’s at 5am…..  Not bad, no big crowd so that would work.  What would not work is only having 30 minutes to use the cardio equipment.  I would need to leave time to drive home, shower, eat and get out the door to work and this does not work using Bally’s.  Tomorrow is the real test.  First day at the new site.  Looks like 50 % chance of rain in the am so I do not know what I will be doing for exercise.

I spit my 30 minutes at the gym between the treadmill and the elliptical machine 15 minutes each.  It almost felt like a waste of time to drive to the gym to just jog.  I could have hit the neighborhoods and did more time than 30 minutes.

I went about my day taking care of business, moving out our old living room set by myself, Thanks Honey,  and doing the shopping that was needed, not too physical.  I then decided to do a garage workout in the afternoon.

Squats

110-8,10

138-10

156-6

70-10

double overhead press starting from the ground

70-5,5,5

lat pull downs

108-10,10,10

chin-up pull downs

108-10,10,10

That took 30 minutes and was less intense than yesturday but still felt good.

 

My eating was off some today.  I ate more turkey sausage as a snack today and also ate some reduced fat kettle chips.  I really did not need them.  Dinner tonight was not the best either,  turkey Keilbasa with sauerkraut.  It was good for a change but I did not need it on a day where I ate other stuff that was questionable.  Total calories for the day were 2,396 calories.  That is on the higher side of

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Week 12 Day 2

Posted on April 26, 2011 by admin

Today was all about getting home.  I helped out with what I could and feel like I made a difference.  I was glad to be heading out early to beat traffic on the way.  Traveling is always a wild card adventure since accidents, construction and weather can make a short trip take all day.   I was lucky and only had one area of 20 mph traffic and that was within 20 miles of my house.

I ate a normal breakfast and had an apple plus a special k crisps bar as a morning snack.  I hit subway for a chicken breast sandwich as my lunch break and did not eat again until I made it home when I had an orange.  I felt like exercising since I did not his morning, but I did not feel like going to Bally’s.  I decided on a garage weights workout.   I spent 50 minutes lifting so it was good I did it.  I felt strong and needed to push my muscles some.  This is also a prelude to the workouts I might be doing over the next 6-8 weeks.

Squats

70lbs-10

90-10

110-8

138-7

156-6

overhead presses

70-10

90-5,5

military press

90-8,7,7

Alternate arm curls

35-8,8,8

bent over rows

90-8,8,8

deadlifts

90-10

110-10

138-7

156-5

That felt really good!  I know it is lower weights than I push at the gym, but it is also a chance for me to focus on some higher reps with lighter weight for a few weeks.   No matter what I will hit the gym once a week and do a heavy lift day, maybe on Saturdays.  I will be weighing myself less  and will need to go on how I am feeling more now than ever.   That might be a good thing,  We will see.  I will be in the gym in the AM to do a normal workout and get my weight.

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