One Day at a Time

I can’t believe that I managed to complete last week as planned.  Two leg workouts along with all the rest and a minimum of 1 hr. of cardio a day    Everything was intense, tons of drop sets.  I haven’t done those in a while.  I wish I could finish my workouts quicker.  I try, I really do.  I realized today though that I enjoy my workouts the way they are.  So what if I take extra time.  I have the time and it makes me happy to be in the gym.

Did arms & chest today.  Drum roll…………….I curled the 35# dumbbells!!!!!!  Four reps the first time and three the next.  It’s a start.  I was so excited.   I remember when I started with the 30’s that I could only do one rep.

Food has been great as well.  Been terribly hungry the past couple of days.  Typical for this TOM.  It will pass.  If not, I’ll add another protein.
I have a lot of packing & finishing up details at home this week so that I can hit the road on Saturday morning.  That is, provided another storm doesn’t chase me away earlier.  Looks like Hanna will miss us, but Ike & Josephine are rolling in just behind.   ::sigh::

I have gyms & hotels mostly planned out for my route to Salt Lake.  I’ll figure out the return once I get there.

I think that’s what it was called?  Remember?  There was a girl at the gym today doing walking lunges, and that was what she reminded me of.  The lunges were so bad, so LAZY, so silly   I wish I had a video of it.

I was just too pooped from the past two days, so I did some nice, relatively easy two hours split between the bicycle and treadmill at the gym.  I started talking to a lady there, which I rarely do, and I was actually moving a lot faster than when I just get lost in my music.  I never would have guessed.

I’ve done a bunch of drop sets the past few days trying to get my muscles sore.  I seem to have a terrible time getting there?  Have tried drop sets, increasing sets, super heavy, high reps, even 100’s.  I worked with a trainer about a year ago, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t get me sore either.  Even the 4-5 hr. bicycle rides don’t make my legs sore.  No that I mind, but I just have it in my head that you gotta get the muscle sore to grow.

That being said, my legs did get sore last week after doing 4.5 hrs. of yard work, bending over & cutting & pulling weeds.  My back also hurt like crazy.  That was no fun ;-(
I think I’m driving my new friend to the dr. next week when she gets new boobies   She’s been in the gym quite a while, but we’ve never spoken more than a brief hello.  She has no family here, few friends, so I figured I’d help out.  She’s very tiny and VERY muscular, so I’m hoping we can help each other out on occasion.

Now, if I could just talk her out of smoking.  I never have figured out how or why people who are so into fitness (or anyone for that matter) can allow themselves to smoke.  Yeah, I understand the addiction, but she has the diet down, and I know from experience how hard that addiction is to break.

Going to start doing legs twice a week now at least for a while.  They are really lagging behind no matter how much I try.  Saggy skin doesn’t help but I’ll just have to live with that.

I’ve tightened my diet up quite a bit.  Back to the program I used to initially lose all the weight.  Still very high protein, but I’m still concerned about muscle loss.  Will just have to see how it goes.  The size of my rear is just not budging otherwise.
After I opened my big mouth about the storm missing us and getting no rain, we got slammed!  We do need it though.  Now it looks like another storm is right on it’s tail.  I really hate FL this time of the year.

I was going to hit the gym this weeked, but I was just too tired.  I have been so lazy all weekend.  Gotta hit the road running in the morning.
Rode my bicycle for an easy 24-25 mile ride on Thursday.  Very slow pace, but exhausting never the less.  Just trying to burn this last fat off.  Took my lunch, ate at the beach, took several rest stops.  It is not more than a once a week thing though.  Way too tiring.

I ended up getting a flat the last couple of miles.  Had a little can of flat-fix that got me back.

Diet was great last week other than three beers last night.  Two weeks until I leave for vacation.  Hubby says it’s going to be cold?  He ordered us some heated riding suits last night    I had one years ago, but it got way too big so I sold it.  I hope this one works as well.

The tropical storm was a big bust here.  Just light wind and misty rain.  We really, really could of used some of that rain that so many folks got way too much of.

Sorry I’ve been missing.  Just too much life going on lately & the sitting in this chair on the internet really needs to be at the bottom of the list.

Anyway, my motorcycle riding buddy & I have been trying to find things to do on our "play days" lately other than riding the same old roads.  She got out her bicycle over the weekend, cleaned it up, got new tires, etc.  How about a bicycle ride?  Sure.  She lives near Pensacola & wanted to ride to Ft. Pickens.  I thought that was still closed from the last hurricane?  No, friends told her it was open to walkers & bicyclists just not cars.  Ok?  So I made the 1.5 hr. drive (in my big SUV), picked her up & we headed to the beach.

Are you SURE?  Oh yeah.  Hubby says there is even a ’shuttle’ that takes folks out to the fort.  There are small sections where the road is washed away, but not far.  A shuttle couldn’t get through otherwise, for sure.  Ok???????????
Turns out this "shuttle" is a 4WD utility cart!!  There are a couple of bicyclist there, and she talks to them while I head off for one last potty break.   These small sections  are NOT SO SMALL!!!  One is over a mile long.  WTF???  Not bad they say if you just stay on the bay side.  FL sand not so bad???  Total distance is 7 miles out, around 2 miles of sand and the rest paved.

Friend still wants to go.  I am very skeptical, but I did drive all this way, spend the money on gas.  So we head out.  In less than a mile the asphalt ends.  Off we push.  Actually, I would have probably been better just to lift my bike over my head & carry.  It was just sinking further & further into the sand & I had to hold it up & pull the entire way.  We did find some harder packed sand where it was brackish & wet, but a lot of it was fenced off in the bird nesting area.

Oh, I forgot about the shuttle.  He was carrying a couple of folks ahead of us, and we had been told he’d pick us up if needed.  About half way through this first stretch, we come across him, broken down.  A truck finally came along & picked up his passengers, but he never even slowed to check on us.

35 minutes of pushing later, we made it through to asphalt.  Completely wiped out.  My friend is nearly 10 years older than me, rarely works out, so I was a bit worried.  But she is a trooper & always tolerates more than I give her credit for.  I think neither of us wanted to just turn around and push back immediately.  So we headed on.

We hit several more patches of sand along the way, but none were more than 5-10 minutes of pushing.  The remainder of the ride out was really quite nice.  It clouded over a bit, so it cooled some.  We stopped at a picnic area with our lunches & actually found a bit of a breeze.  Afterwards, we rode through the old fort, checked out a cemetery & took some pictures.  There were a few people walking around.  The campground seemed open–to those who found the shuttle or were adventuresome enough to walk the route or perhaps came by boat.

Of course, as soon as we started back, the sun came out and it heated back up.  We rode through an area where it had rained and the steam coming off the road was even hotter.  When we finally made it back to the sand, a park ranger caught up with us.  She was on a 4-wheeler, no room for us or the bikes, but she check on us, asked if we needed more water (nope, we are good), and she headed on her way.  By this time, I didn’t care if I did get arrested for being in the bird nesting area!!!  There was still a huge area of soft sand where the fencing was still intact, but once we passed that, I headed for the edges of the brackish ponds.  Very smelly there, but mold was growing on the top of the constantly wet sand, so it was much easier to walk on though stunk horribly!  I kept a watch for alligators, and had visions of us sinking in quick sand?  We were able to cut the push by about 5 minutes, so it was worth it.   It didn’t seem nearly as bad to me on the return because we knew how long it would last I suppose.

All in all, a 5 hour adventure for seven miles of untouched beach, old forts & old cannons!!

My friend confessed at the end that she (a nurse) was seriously afraid she was going to have a heart attack on the push back.  She kept stopping & laying her head on her bicycle seat.  I have never seen her so exhausted.  I just kept reminding her that it was her idea and she couldn’t accuse me of trying to kill her!  She had to go home to sleep and get to work at 11pm.  I still don’t know if she made it.

Me?  I’m ready to do it again   I’d have to go by myself though, and it was so horribly deserted out there.

I was so hungry when I got home.  I ate a huge salad, two gigantic steaks, cottage cheese with protein powder for dessert.  I was still hungry!

I think.  After vacation and company, it is good to get back into a routine.  My ‘rear’ has grown a bit with all the fun lately, but I’ll have it back off in no time.  I don’t like the ups and downs sometimes, but if I’ve learned anything in the past few years, it’s that I CAN get it back off.  It’s not that terribly difficult even; it just takes getting back in the routine and being patient.

I also had some minor surgery on my back last week.  Nothing serious at all, but it the stitches are a bit itchy, and I don’t want to tear them by accident (did that a bit the evening I had it done) or get it infected.  Hopefully they will come out in a day or two.

I’ve been trying to do two hours of steady cardio every day.  I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up though.  It just seems to make me crazy hungry by the end of the day.  I ate fine yesterday, but I had an extra serving of cottage cheese and some steak that wasn’t planned for the day.  Nothing that will kill me, but it won’t get the added pounds off either.

I am off to walk the dog.  I think we probably have about three more weeks of nice weather before it gets so hot that we’ll want to just stay inside.  Better go enjoy it while we can!

I broke a nail at the gym yesterday.  That HURT!!!!  I was attempting (key word–attempting) pullups and somehow my hand slipped & then the hook slipped and #$%^%&**&.  It is still sore.  I dropped an EZ bar on the same hand a few months ago.  It may have been the same finger?  Nails are even shorter now.

Yesterday was back.  Pretty good workout though I don’t think I increased weight on anything.  I am FINALLY seeing something happening back there!!  One hour on the treadmill with the 20lb. vest.  Dance class in the morning ran nearly two hrs.  It’s not really much of a workout, but at least I wasn’t on my butt (like I am right now!).  I was so exhausted last night that I could hardly hold my arms up.  No way could I type.

Food yesterday was exactly as Weds.  I’ve already messed up for today and accidentally had double oatmeal.  I’ll have to readjust the day and figure something out.

Today is legs & a PlasmaJet day.  Day three on the Gaspari stack.  I really haven’t noticed much difference to tell if it is working or not.  I am definitely getting thru my workouts, but I’m not bouncing off the wall either (which is what I keep looking for).  I had 1 1/2 scoops of the SuperPump yesterday.  Maybe I’ll try two today?  I mixed it in water & let it sit for a while, and that seems to help it dissolve slowly.  The SizeOn got mixed in 64 oz. of water.  That went down much easier, though slower, and with much less burping.

Gotta get off my ass now & get some work done.

From just two days of running intervals   Friday and Tuesday.  I know running is not good for me, but I do love it.  What to do?  I HATE the elliptical.  It makes my feet numb.  The stairmill rarely works.  It kept randomly quitting on me yesterday.

I am going to try again on Friday and see how it goes.  The ol’ knees really only hurt when I did lunges today.  I hate lunges even more than the elliptical.  I could ditch those!

I really thought that the aches & pains would go away after losing 100 lbs.   But noooooooooooo.  My dad has had both knees replaced.  I guess I need to be careful.

That’s what the SizeOn did to me.  Nitric Oxide does that as well.  It does slow down the workouts a bit waiting for the bubbles to come up    I hope I’ll get use to it.  I do have to mix it with a lot more water to get it down than recommended–like 64 oz.  I sure hope I can count that toward my 128 minimum for the day.

Today was chest day.  Definitely my weakest area and the least energetic of my workouts.  Nearly half of the workout is spent sitting at the same bench doing presses, flyes, and various inclines.  I know I get done faster and have more energy the days I’m running around the gym.  Once I get my bench and weights though, I am NOT giving them up until I’m done.  I was definitely  the dumbbell hog today!

No cardio today.  I had a facial peel, and no sweating or washing the nasty stuff off my face until bedtime.  There was just no time to get it done earlier in the day.

Food today:

Meal 1:    oats, egg whites, blueberries, sf maple syrup

Meal 2:     romaine, flax oil, ff salad dressing, yogurt

Meal 3:    peanut butter sammich (I am soooo enjoying those!)

Meal 4:    ground turkey & stir fry veggies with olive oil

Meal 5:    instone pudding & rice

Meal 6:    cottage cheese & syntrax

Tomorrow is dance class and then the gym and then housework as I have guests coming.