Week 9 Day 2

Posted on April 5, 2011 by admin

Why is it some people keep doing the same things but are expecting different results from what have gotten in the past?

Today was another regular day for me.  Work was easy and I had 2 great sessions in the gym today.   Since I jogged outside yesterday I was looking forward to the elliptical machine and the stair stepper.  I did 30 minutes each on them.   I can’t say it was the most intense workout I have ever had,  but it was a solid mid pack performance for me that had me sweating pretty good.     After work at the gym I was determined to jog a mile for a warm-up so I did.  I like how I feel once I am done with the mile.  I am feeling pumped up instead of tired.   From here I moved into the weights:

Bench press

135-15

185-8

225-2,2,2,1

185-10

squats (I don’t like to do these 2 days in a row but they felt great today, and I was deeper squatting)

95-10

135-8

185-5

135-7

dip press machine

165-10

180-10

195-10

210-10

225-8

240-6

255-5

EZ-Bar curls (Bar +50 lbs)  12,12,12,12,6

WOW did my muscles feel pumped up.  It is hours later and I still feel it in my biceps.

I was better with spreading out my calories throughout the day.  

Breakfast – 491 cal

morning snack -629 cal

lunch – 250 cal

afternoon break -239 cal

evening break -100 cal

dinner -402 cal

That totals 2,112 cal

That is right where I want to be.   I will need to see if eating the larger calorie meals earlier is what is best for me.  My  jogging did not suffer and my weight lifting felt great too.    I almost forgot,  I weighed myself this morning.  I was 8/10ths a pound heavier than my lightest point last week.  Not horrible.  I don’t know if it was from my poor showing at the gym on Sunday, my only doing 30 minutes of jogging outside yesterday morning, or the high calorie ground lamb and chick pea dinner I made.  It could have been a combination of the three.  No matter I am back in the zone!

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Week 9 Day 1

Posted on April 4, 2011 by admin

“A measurement of one’s success in not all he has accomplished, but rather all he has overcome to reach his accomplishments.”  -Unknown

That seems to be a repeating theme for folks that have done great things or reached some level of success.  They persevered,   the struggled, they did what others said could not be done, or could not be done easily.  They failed repeatedly but keep on trying until they succeeded.  They overcame the obstacles before them.  They did not accept failure.  You should not either.   In anything in life.  Work hard and succeed.

Today was a test for me.    I worked 1 day at my new temporary site away from my normal site.   My normal site has 2 fitness centers and I go twice a day for cardio and weights.   This new site MIGHT have a facility open to me,  but it might not.  I tackled my morning cardio with something I have been wanting to do for a while,  I went jogging with my wife in the very early AM.   We did 30 minutes.  It was great to be back jogging, but darn those hills are a lot tougher than jogging on a flat treadmill.  I got my work cut out for me.  I will get better.  I will increase my jogging times and distances.   Unfortunately when it rains this plan does not work for me (unless it is a light drizzle).   I have an exercise bike so I have something I can do.  I can also do a cardio DVD with my wife, but that is not my normal thing which has been giving me success.  I also don’t have the afternoon weights right by my office now.  I do have a Bally’s membership and went there today to try it out.   I did 20 minutes on the elliptical machine to warm up and then hit the weights.  The squat cage was different from the one I use at work so my routine was altered.  Also they did not have any type of foam cushion to put on the bar to keep it off you back and neck.

Squats:

65lbs- 10

95-7,7,7

135-5

185-5

135-7

Overhead press from the ground

95-5,5,6

overhead press from chest

95-8,8

Dead lifts

135-5

185-3,3,3

135-5

bent over rows with barbell

95-8,8,8

I feel like it was a pretty solid workout.  Especially for the first one there doing my routine, and without my co-worker getting sets in too.   I am not sure when my rotation at the new site will begin, but I am confident I can atleast maintain what I have been doing, if not improve some since I have some different machine to pick from for lifting.  I did forget to do my deep squats with a 45lb plate held to my chest.   I also ended up doing a few extra sets of squats so I hope it all balances out.

My total calories for the day were 2,185 calories.   The total is right where it needs to be.  The problem with today was that I had a high calorie dinner of Ground lamb, chick peas, yogurt, sour cream and spinach that totaled 1,087 calories by itself.   That was too much for 1 meal.   I need to work on keeping dinner around 600 to 800 calories.    I should have put half of what I ate over a salad instead of eating it by itself out of a bowl.    It still would have tasted great, I just would have ate less of it.   There are always places to improve when you are trying to improve youself.

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Week 8 Day 7

Posted on April 3, 2011 by admin

Sometimes you can be so wrong.  You see the  “facts” and jump to conclusions.   You might even feel like you did all your homework on it.   The next day you follow up and things are not as they should be!

My day started with a slow motion feel to it.  Mt body was stiff and sore from the jogging and weights I did yesterday.   I slept in hoping I would feel rested but that did not happen.   I struggled to get myself to the gym, 30 minutes later than I should have.   Feeling stiff I was not sure how far I would jog this morning.  I started out walking to get the kinks out and never felt good to go for the jogging.  I walked 20 minutes at 5% incline at 3.3 mph  and never broke a sweat really.   I felt my muscles tight in my back and decided jogging was not for me today.  Bummer.   I was expecting to follow up my jogging on the elliptical machine, but that was not to be either.   I did not want to half ass the effort if I was not feeling good about the exercising.   I changed gears and went into the weight lifting area.  I looked around and settled in on the Hammer Strength equipment to lift on. 

Hammer Strength (HS) bench press

135-15

225-5,5,5

HS incline press

135-10,10

225-5

HS decline press

135-12

225-6,6

Triceps curls

80-10

70-10,10

Leg presses

210-12,10,10

I felt better after lifting today.  That got my back muscles stretched and blood pumping through them.   This also felt like a disapointment to me since this was supposed to be a cardio workout, and I was not able to get into a groove and do it.  No problems though, my wife and I had a date to see the cherry blossoms again.

And one more, with my wonderful wife!

We hiked for 3 hours again.  This time out we each had a backpack to split our food and water so neither of us would take the full weight of it all.   I had taken 2 advil  right after the gym and was feeling OK  but knew this was going to be a tougher hike to do.   We made tuna salad and had baby carrots, sliced red peppers, and cherry tomatoes as veggies and some special K wheat crackers as a carb to go with the tuna, and enjoyed the nutrition 35 minutes into the hike.  We had planned to park closer but the blossoms were in full bloom and the weather was rainy the day before so more folks were out today to get their cherry blossom fix.   Not quite at the half way mark  my back was feeling stiff.  I knew it would happen and became more irritable from the soreness.  My wife thought we had more advil in my back pack but I knew there was none since I noticed this as I put stuff into the pack.  Not a big deal, they would not have shortened the walk back any.   We made it back to the car after 3 hours.  That was a long time today.  It was a long time last time too, but today I was more fatigued.  This was the type of day I would have layed around on the couch all day!   I did feel bad but not quite that bad.  I needed the activity after going easy at the gym.   

Food all day was healthy.  My calories for the day were 2,001 calories.    That is on the lighter side for me but I was slightly heavier at the gym scale, so I am ok with lower calories for today.

Tomorrow is a test run for me outside.  I will be working offsite and not have my normal gym access.  I plan to jog outside for cardio, and my PM workout will either be weights at Bally’s  or in my garage.   As of now I am leaning towards Bally’s  so that way I do some cardio too.

Good

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Week 8 Day 6

Posted on April 2, 2011 by admin

I am on my journey.  I am doing it.  I am losing weight and getting in shape.  Along the way I have freinds, family and strangers rooting for me, encouraging me and some quietly watching to see if I can do it or not.   I don’t post their names here.   If they ask me to include them I will, but out of repect for their privacy I will not include their names unless asked to.   Today I had a chance to hang out with a buddy I know from work.   To keep his identity safe I will refer to him as either Mr. S. Wesson  or Billy Bullseye.   I think that would be appropriete since he keeps things on target and doesn’t go off half cocked and cause trouble.   Mr. Bullseye, way to go today.   You sir have outdone me at my own game. Bravo.  Which ever choices you make will be the right one for the budget and application.    For eveyone that has no idea what I am talking about, consider it an inside joke.

Today was a great day all around.  I had another breakthrough at the gym.  I jogged 3 miles continuous at 4.6 mph.   I now know I am ready to jog with my wife in the mornings when the weather allows.   I also ended my day with some garage weight lifting.   Here is that breakdown.

Overhead presses starting from the floor

70lbs-10,10,10

squats

70-10,10,10

barbell curls

50-12,12,12

lateral raises

70-10,10,10

bent over rows

70-10,10,10

lat pull downs

105-10,10,10

This was not meant to be a full blown weight lifting session, just a get the muscles pumping some and get off the couch and do something kind of thing.   Say that ten times fast!  I dare you!

So far today I only ate 2 meals and a snack so I am due for a little more nutrition but don’t feel hungry.  I can’t post final calorie count for today but so far I consumed 1,667 calories.  I am going to get it closer to 2,000 before  I go to bed.    If I remeber I will update the calorie count tomorrow or right before I go to bed.  

And here is a parting thought from Jesse “the Body” Ventura, WWF wrestling legend   “Win if you can, Lose if you must, BUT ALWAYS CHEAT”.

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Week 8 Day 5

Posted on April 1, 2011 by admin

Have you ever driven to a place you have not been to in a long time?    Things look kind of familiar, but you really need to use the directions just to make sure you get there ok.   Turns out you missed a turn and did not realize it, but kept on driving not realizing you are off course but things do look familiar?

I felt like that today.   Since I have been exercising twice a day I have had more energy than I am used to.   I get up early, get home late, shower, cook dinner, eat watch a tv show while eating and then work on the blog here and before I realize it it is 9pm or later, sometimes 10 pm.  Then I am back up at 3:30 AM!    I have become an insomniac.   Today it caught up with me.   My co-worker needed to take of some business after work so I decided instead of exercising at work I would drive home and go through my garage workout again.   It would be nice to beat traffic and have a stressfree  ride home.   Once home I felt a little tired and decided I would lay down and take a nap.  I have done this before on a Friday so it all seemed ok.  I used to take a nap on either Saturday or Sunday as a catch-up rest to help me through the week but I have not done that for weeks now.   I slept for an hour and when I got up I was still tired and decided to skip my PM workout.  I feel bad about it but at the same time sometimes you just need to rest to avoid getting sick from being run down, or your performance suffers.   

My morning workout suffered today.   I wanted to run but did not have the energy and drive to do it.  I instead did the elliptical machine for 25 minutes,  then I did the recumbent bike for 10 minutes followed by the stair stepper machine for 15 minutes.   Fifty minutes of workout is not bad, but I was not soaked in sweat.  I did not feel like I pushed it hard enough and using the bike was a cheat for me since I never feel like I worked out hard using it.    The whole day I was in a tired fog but kept on trucking along.   Once I got home though there was no denying it, I was exhausted.    I plan to get a good night sleep and hit the gym fresh tomorrow as a new day.   I also hope to return there in the afternoon so I can get some extra cardio time in to make up for not doing a PM workout today.  I might also check out the weights area at Bally’s since it has been years since I went to that side of the gym.  I might be needing to hit the weights there soon as my “New Site project” is about to start and I will not be going ot the gym after work with my buddy.  I feel bad for him since he too has been making good progress.   He might still be able to make it to the old location gym if he goes home the round about way.  I hope he does since he will not be happy to lose the gains he has made.   This is only supposed to be a temporary assignment, and this will be a good test of my ability to adapt to change with my new way of living.

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Week 8 Day 4

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

Some of the greatest discoveries, inventions and break throughs came from the failure of another goal or persuit.     How do you define success?

I used to dread the scale.  It never had anything good to say.  Now I look foward to seeing it almost daily.   It is amazing how things can change.   Today was another great day.  I jogged a mile in both my morning and afternoon workout.  My times are slowly creeping down.   My fasted time was today at 12:18.  This is edging out 12:30 from Tuesday.   Success tastes so much better than failure.

Meals today were normal and followed what I have been doing.  Dinner tonight was a bit of a wild card.  I stopped and picked up some middle eastern veggies with white rice.  I have noticed a pound or two swing when eating from this place but I did a few things differently this time.  I passed on the bread.  I like it and is amazing hot out of the oven, but I don’t need the extra carbs.  I also plit my meal with my wife and we put it over a salad.  I used to eat the entire meal myself and the whole piece of bread and a rice pudding after.  Not so today.   The veggies were yellow lentils, chick peas,  and some peppers and i’m sure what else mixed in.  All very tasty.  I am luck because they did not have my favorite, Chicken Haleem.   There would not have been any sharing of that!  Just kidding, but it is my favorite.   These veggies tend to be good for my digestive system, though my wife, our cat and my co-workers (tomorrow)  may not appreciate the veggies.    Hey it is all natural and a body’s got to do what a body got to do.   My total calories for the day are 2,277 calories.    I can live with that.

I almost forgot to add in the weight workout from this afternoon!  I can’t do that.

After the mile warm up We started with leg extensions. 

150lbs-10,10

170-10

190-10

Assisted pull-ups

+200lbs-6

+180-5

+170-4 1/2

neutral grip pull-ups

180-6

200-6

Hack squat machine

150-7,7,7

leg presses

180-10

270-10

360-10

 Triceps cable curls

150-10,10

135-10,10

overhead triceps cable curls using rope attachment

90-8

80-8

70-10

Dip press machine

165-10,10

195-10

210-6

Curls with the ez-curl bar

+50lbs-10,10,10

That brought us to exhaustion and ended the workout.  See I told you another great day!

On a side not I was given notice a job at another location would be starting soon and I am going to be on it.  It is a longer commute and will drasticly change my workout schedule.   I have some things in place to assist me and will need to explore some other options as well.  I worked too hard at my gains and will continue one way or another.  My gym time may get changed to once a day and be 1.5 hours plus  with jogging though my neighborhoods outside in the am before work.  I still have to work so Ineed to go with it, but I will look to see what I can do to make the best of these 6+ weeks.

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Week 8 Day 3

Posted on March 30, 2011 by admin

Today started just like any other day, I got out of bed.  Just like everyone else.    I met with a group of strangers, some of us recognize each other but we are strangers to each other.   We met at the gym.   We are all there to improve something.   Some want more strength, more speed, less weight, better appearance, healthier living,  whatever.  We all do our thing without much interaction, but we know when one of the hive is missing for a day.  That seems to be the one thing that causes more folks to speak than just about anything.   Hey you missed yesterday, is everthing OK?  Were you sick?   I see it when one person says it to another, I smile, and I keep on doing what I am there to do,  exercise.  Just like everyone else.

This morning workout was good.  I jogged 20 minutes on the treadmill, walked 5 then jogged 5 more minutes and it felt great.    From there I moved to the stair stepper and did 20 minutes more.   I like the jogging best.   I see and feel small improvements as I go and know I will be back to 45 minute long jogs before too long.  Work went by fast and I was hitting the gym for my afternoon workout before I knew it.  I did another mile as a warm-up for weightlifting.  I did my fasted mile to date, 12:30.    That is not great, but every few runs seem to shave some seconds off the clock.   Ten minute miles could be in my future again.  My buddy from work has been pushing it on the treadmill too.  He is faster than me, and with most of the lifting he is stronger than me.   I doubt I can pass him in stregth as I lose weight, but I have a chance at getting faster than him again.  It is cool to have each other pushing which makes both of us push more.  That is bringing both of us success.

Once the warm-up was out of the way it was weightlifting time!

Squats

95lbs-7

137-7

185-5,5

135-7

deep squats with a 45lb plate held to chest  10,10

Overhead press from ground:

95-6,6,5

Overhead press from shoulders

95-8,8

Bench press

135-10

185-5,6

225-2

We were both done at this point.  Muscle fatigue.

I enjoyed an apple on the drive home and stopped to pick up some salmon for dinner.   I also bought a small piece of Chilean Sea Bass.  I figure I should try some other fish every once in a while.  I am not a fish fanatic like my wife, but I am finding there are more fish that I like other than canned tuna and salmon.  This sea bass is also a winner.  It was more expensive by a few dollars a pound and salmon is already a little pricy to me so I am not going to make it a regular in the dinner rotation, but if I see it on sale,  Well I will stock up!  Here is what the fish looked like once I cooked it up.

The Sea Bass was 1/2 a pound.  The salmon was 1.2 pounds.  More than enough form me, the wife, our cat and my lunch tomorrow.  I put some of each on my salad which had some asparagus on it already and topped it all with balsamic vinegar.

I feel great with my calories for the day, 2,239 calories.   I had a good balance today as well.  The breakdown was 35% protein, 37% carbs and 28% fat.   I think my body will be happy with this.   Enough of everthing and I did not need to try to rebalance my ratio today, it just worked out that way.   My wife brough home a surprise today, she received an edible arrangements gift so we were able to enjoy fresh pineapple, strawberrins, cantelope, honeydew melon, and grapes for dessert!   WINNING!   Sorry about that,   I  just felt like adding something from “important current celebrity events”.   Years from know when myself or anyone else is reading this,  they will have no idea what the one work phrase “winn

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Week 8 Day 2

Posted on March 29, 2011 by admin

“That’s ludicrous, ludicrous I say”!  

Look at the scale,  how can that be? 

a little more weight lost by me. 

Where did it go?  I don’t really care

do not return, here or there!

I was happy to see the numbers drop some more on the scale.  Sometimes it really surprizes me as there can be a pound or more gone in a day.  I am working out with good effort, and I am eating well.   This is great.  Sometimes I wonder why didn’t I do this sooner?   I guess I was not ready.  You need to make that conscious decision to make changes.   What ever it was that caused the  light bulb to switch on in my brain is an unknown to me.  I just felt like I need to do this, and I am.

My morning workout did not involve jogging today.  What? you say.  I know I need to keep mixing in othere things to keep my muscles guessing.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer and 30 minutes on the stair stepper.   Both got me sweating, neither as intensely as jogging though.   I had planned to jog this afternoon to keep the jogging daily going but there not any open treadmills when I was ready to jog after work.  I decided to do 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer in its place.  The gym has been geting pretty warn in the afternoons and that helps with the sweating.  I like a good sweat.  Others enjoy a good sweat too.  Unfortunately people do not like the smells of eachother sweating.  I have seen people move to different machines.  I have done it myself.  I also have seen people move away from me especially after a hard day of work.   It goes with the territory.   If you don’t want to sweat, don’t push it too hard.  That defeats the purpose though, doesn’t it?

Not only did I have 2 good cardio workouts today I also ate very well today.

Breakfast:

3 hard boiled egg whites

2 morningstar meatless sausages

4 mini pancakes (10 equal around 260 calories)

1 orange

and a few baby carrots because I really felt like having some carrots!

451 calories

My morning break and lunch were salads with steak, red pepper, onions, portobello mushrooms,  white rice, black olives and canned tomatoes on top.  I also used some vinegar as my dressing.  The break meal included an apple and lunch included a yogurt.  Both meals were about 450 calories each.  (I did not plan it that way, it just worked out that way)

My afternoon snack was a yogurt and a banana, 205 calories.

I had an large apple on the drive home  , 130 calories.

Here is a picture of my dinner tonight.

It was a chicken breast, brussle sprouts, white rice mixed with red beans,  peach salsa and black olives, and not pictured a mixed greens salad.   After I ate I had 1/2 seving of almonds and a pretzel rod. Dinner was about 590 calories.

My daily total was 2,380 calories.  Slightly higher than what I was hoping for (curse you pretzel rod and almonds!) but plenty ok with me.  I worked out hard and had lost weight this week already, I can’t be mad when I am under 2,500 calories in a day.  2,200 is better for me though.  

I am already looking foward to tomorrow and some jogging.  Plus more weight lifting tomorrow!    YES!   Ludicrous indeed

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Week 8 Day 1

Posted on March 28, 2011 by admin

Seven weeks have gone by.   My eating habits have changed, my exercise routines have changed,  my outlook on life has changed.    This past weekend I was able to jog 2 miles constant, 2 days in a row.  That is something I have not been able to do in a long while.  Today during my afternoon workout I jogged faster for a mile than I have in years.   I am not desined for Olympic Gold,  but I am heading in the direction of 5k fun runs.   Today while I was bored and had a few minutes I was looking up hydration back packs for hiking and jogging.   That is for days I have not even planned or imagined yet.   Five months ago I would not have done that.  I would not have the need to do that.   I am changing.   Behavior and desires are changing.   I am desiring to do more.  I want to do the Army Ten Miler again.   It may not be this year (but it might), but next year looks like there is no way I would not be ready.   I bought a fitness magazine and read an article about a guy that decided to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.    That was amazing.   That is not going to be me, but it was inspiring.   I want to do great things.  I want to do what others may not see me as being capable of doing.   I want it all, and I want it now!   It is not going to happen over night.  But it is going to happen a little bit each day as I push just a little harder,  As I try something new, as I eat to feed my body, as I struggle to get better at being fit.     It is a struggle.   It is only as hard as you let it be.   You are the sole competitor in your own life.  You are also the sole judge as to when you have done enough, or if you need to do more.   It is easy to put things off till tomorrow.  But there is no reason to do that.   Spend the time today to make things easier tomorrow.  Or to make things better, or faster, or stronger, or just to complete what you set out to do.   How is that for some ramblings of a mad man!  WOOHOO!   sometimes you just got to say what you are thinking, even if you are the only one listening.

Well today is Monday and that means time for the scale.

Not to bad.   I am 6/10ths a pound up from Friday.  That is a negligible amount.  I feel great and will continue to do my thing.

My morning workout started on the treadmill.  I decided to get the sweat going with 13 minutes of jogging followed by 17 minutes of walking at 5% incline at 3.2 mph.   I planned to jog for my afternoon workout warm up so I did not push it or want to go beyond a mile jogging.   I then moved to the stair stepper and sweat some more for 20 minutes.   A solid effort and a good feeling once I was done. 

My work meals were all packed.  I enjoyed my burger, baked potato fries and asparagus for lunch.  It was only outdone by today’s dinner.  Total calories for the day are 2,273 calories.   A good place to be since  I was lite on calories yesterday.  I do not want my body to think it needs to start storing fat!  That would be bad.  The fun happened again after work with a great workout. here is what I did:

jogged 1 mile at 4.8 mph then wanked the 2+ minutes to complete 15 minutes of cardio for warm up.

Squats:

Smith machine squats  115lbs- 2 sets of 6.   I did these waiting for the squat box to be free

Squats  135-7

185-5

225-5 ( hardly any squatting at this weight but I got to get used to the weight on my shoulders)

185-6

135-7

Deep squats with 45lb plate held on my chest  2 sets of 10

Dumbbell bench press

50-10

60-10

70-8

80-7  I could not get 8,  I was too weak to get it!

bent over rows station

45-10

70-5,5,6

45-10

At this point I was tapping out.  I had it, my muscles were done.  No Mas!

I made it home and enjoyed a hot shower.  I got started on dinner and cooked some steak and decided it was going to be a Mexican style meal.  I cooked peppers,onions and portobello mushrooms.  I also boiled some rice and added a can of fire roasted tomatoes and a small can of sliced black olives.    What a meal.   Take a look for yourself.

I wish I could have eaten more.  It was delicious!    At first I was going to put it over a bed of lettuce, but once I started to look at each of the components I decided to eat it like a regular dinner.  Not everything I eat needs to be over a salad.  What I have left over will be split into 2 meals tomorrow over salad.  There was too much for it to be one meal, and I did not want to put myself in the situation of leaving some as a snack for tomorrow.  It was as easy to pack it with two salads and not have to think about it when I might be to hungry and not have the will power to not devour it.    It is far simpler to not put myself in a situation where I might over eat.   Planning!  Just like for retirement, studying for a test, a vacation, whatever,   do the work before you need to and things will turn out better for you.  Here’s to making it another day filled with enthusiasm to work towards being my best.   I want to be my best,  do you?

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Week 7 Day 7

Posted on March 27, 2011 by admin

Happy Sunday.  When I was a kid I hated Sundays.   Sunday meant school was the next day.  It meant I needed to stay in after dinner and finish homework.  I was not a great night for kid’s tv shows.  For a lot of my adult life Sundays felt that way too.  It did not matter if my place of employment at that time had me scheduled off on Mondays, because the majority of folks that were employed would be at work then,  so what did it matter if I was off.   Sundays are different now.  They are a day that holds the possibility that anything could be done and anything can be fun.

Today I woke up early and was just awake.  No reason to lay in bed so I got up.  My wife was already up herself so our day together was starting early,  YES!   She wanted to some DVD workouts and I decided to get to the gym close to when it opens.  I planned to do a light workout knowing she and I were going to be walking to see the Cherry Blossoms in DC.   It had snowed during the night and that made us smile.   Snow and the Cherry Blossoms.   Once I got to the gym I abandoned my plan to use the elliptical machine and bike as my cardio workout.  I saw the treadmill and had to get on it for 30 minutes.  I did not want to run since I knew I would be walking for hours later.  I could not help myself.  I decided just one mile, you know to get the sweat going.   That was a lie.  I was lieing to myself.  I knew I wanted to do two miles and I did.  I did 2 miles back to back days.  I then decided to walk for 25 minutes at 10% incline at 3.2 mph to keep the sweat going.   I lied to myself and I am better off for it.   I headed home and within a hour or two we were on our way to see the Cherry Blossoms.  The snow had all melted but it was still a chilly day.  We parked in Virginia near the Pentagon and walked to DC.  We walked past Monuments, past Cherry Blossoms, past crowds of folks all there to see the trees.   Had the weather been warmer it might have been unbearable,  but with the chill in the air it was not so bad.  We packed lunch but I was not hungry when we stopped.  In fact the whole day was off for me when it came to food.  I had a bigger than normal breakfast before I left, a snack while hiking that was 8 crackers and one red pepper slice, and I did not eat again until dinner.  We were done hiking at 3:10pm.  We did between 5-6 miles.  We were gone for 3 hours. Sometimes we were walking faster, sometimes slower, but it was an activity for sure!   Once back to the truck we were off to do our grocery shopping.  Time flew by.  Once everything was put away and I was showered it was time to make dinner.   We both were in the mood for hamburgers so we paired up some asparagus, some sliced peppers and drizzled them with olive iol and got the into the oven,  We also took 2 potatoes that we would have baked and sliced them up into french fries and drizzled them as well and set them in the oven too.   It was a great dinner!  It felt like a “bad meal” from a restaurant but it was really a good one.   I totaled 778 calories for the burger, bun, mayo, ketchup, fries, asparagus, roasted peppers and the olive oil.    It was a meal I was craving since last week when I felt like I wanted a burger.   We used 92 % lean ground beef and made the burger 6 ounces each.  I had one, my wife had one and I have one for lunch tomorrow.   Since I did not have a real lunch today I was way behind on my calories for the day.  I decided to add a Special K fruit bar to dinner and I had one pretzel rod and 30 grapes for an evening snack.  Total calories for the day were only 1738.   I guess that is ok.  It is lower than my target goal of 2,200 that seems to keep my body happy.   I will have to see how I feel tomorrow.  I did not have it in me to eat more just to push up the totals.  I guess this helps offset the times I run higher on calories.  If I remember I will add a picture from  today’s walk when I download the camera this week.

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