Salt Away

I was feeling discouraged this morning because I haven't lost any weight for close to a week, even though I've been staying within my calorie count and assiduously avoiding sugar and alcohol. I talked with Mark about it at Fitness Together and he reminded me that I went to the midwest to visit my family one week and celebrated Christmas the next (not to mention the 5 parties the weekend before I went to the midwest) and was down 5 pounds during that time. Usually I would have gained at least that much weight with all those great eating occasions. That made me feel somewhat better. I wish the way I felt about myself physically wasn't so tied to a number on the scale. My strength and endurance have increased so much in the last month.

I felt even better when I came home and recorded my food from last night. Liz, our friend Bob, and I did the 6:00 pm spinning class at the Y with Peggy last night (what a workout!). Bob's wife Diana  picked us up at 7 and we had to have a quick meal in order to make it to the 8:10 showing of "The Fighter" (good movie). I suggested Panera, because I thought it would be a healthy option near Cinemark.

Panera is great, because they list the calories for each item right on the menu. I had the cobb salad, which left me with enough calories to have popcorn at the movie. What shocked me when I looked up the Panera nutrition information this morning was that the salad had about 1,200 mg of sodium. The nutrition program I'm on recommends 1,500 mg of sodium for the day, so between the salad and the popcorn, I must be retaining 25-30 pounds of water. Or maybe 1/2 pound--anything to get me below this stuck place. I'll see in the morning.

I worked out with Mark at FT today. What a great workout! We started doing 10 minutes of intervals on the exercise bike--I was amazed my legs weren't dead from spinning last night. I did some balance work on the Bosu, and then we did a really hard and fun set of exercises.

In the set below, I started in a plank position on my elbows and my toes and then one arm at a time moved to a push-up position with my arms straight and then back down to a plank. I sounded like one of those weightlifters trying to bench a few hundred pounds (I guess that's sort of what I was doing) lots of grunting and groaning.

 

By the way, it's probably obvious, but I didn't bring my phone to FT today, so I recreated the exercises at home tonight and Liz took the pictures. It was painful to have to recreate them!

The exercise below was my favorite from today. I was in a push-up position resting on 10 pound dumbbells, and then alternated rowing with each arm. The first time I tried it, I couldn't even budge the weight.

 

Then another tough one. I started in the push-up position, did a push-up, and then at the top of the push up, elevated one arm and turned sideways (terrible form in the picture--my two arms should form a straight line), came back down, did another push-up, and then elevated the other arm.

 Hey--if you're bored with your workout--try these exercises!!!

Bah Humbug!

We were madly rushing around today, trying to get ready to leave for our trip: cleaning the house so Lynn, who is housesitting for us, wouldn't be appalled at our slovenliness, preparing Lynn and Nancy, who is staying for 2 of the days, for what to do if Lucy started failing again, doing laundry, printing our boarding passes, getting out our passports, etc., all much faster than we had planned because we decided to head to the airport ahead of the snow storm, so we wouldn't have to drive through it really early tomorrow morning.

Then we got the call from the airline saying our flight was cancelled and to call to rebook. I called, and after 20 minutes on hold, was told that the soonest we could leave was Thursday. Thursday!!! So we cancelled. We get snow and ice instead of sand and ice.

Normally, that kind of news would have sent me straight to ice cream and chocolate--I deserve to treat myself since I lost my vacation. We had been looking forward to this trip for months. But since we can't go, I want to use the time to work on my fitness goals. I want to see if I can get some appointments at FT, and take some classes at the Y--all assuming that we don't get so much snow that everything is shut down for days.

I do love snowstorms--I just wish the first one of the season didn't hit perfectly to prevent us from heading to Los Cabos.

Merry Christmas!!

It doesn't feel like Christmas, because I usually spend Christmas flying on a massive overdose of chocolate. It's the only day I typically start eating chocolate before breakfast and continue ingesting it at regular intervals throughout the day. I have to say, Christmas is much better without it. I usually have mood swings on Christmas that I've blamed on normal emotions around Christmas--who knew it was the chocolate!

I've been reading a book my niece Sara recommended--Ultramarathoner--Confessions of an All Night Runner by Dean x. It's not the best written book I've ever read, but it's really inspiring. Dean has run some amazing races--100 miles up and down mountains, 135 miles across a desert and ending at the top of a mountain, a marathon to the South Pole, and I'm currently reading about a 200 mile race he ran. I know the mental struggles I have about working out--questioning what I can do--but my struggles are minuscule compared to what it takes to complete ultramarathons. Reading this book makes me even more committed to exploring my limits--what am I capable of doing physically at age 60. I've also realized that I need to add this kind of reading to my training--being inspired by how other people are training, what their struggles are, and what they've been able to accomplish. Any suggestions?

Hitting the Bars

Today was my last workout at FT before heading on vacation. In addition it's Christmas eve and Alexandra's 14th birthday. We're going out to lunch to celebrate Alexandra's birthday and I'm making prime rib for a group for dinner tonight, so it was a good day for a tough workout.

Brandon had me workout with barbells today. I started with 60 squats, with weights ranging from 15 to 65 pounds. I'm pretty sure I alternated squats with some other exercise, but I sure can't remember what (perhaps osteoporosis isn't my only aging-related problem).

Then I alternated the bench press with the standing row.  Weights for the bench press went from 45 to 65 pounds. I really worked up a sweat with 65 pounds. I did 50 presses in total, but only 5 at 65 pounds. I am going to be sore tomorrow!

I did 60 standing rows, with weights ranging from 15 to 45 pounds. That's a tough exercise to keep good form with. I want to lift the weight with my shoulders instead of my back.

I am feeling great. I've lost 5 pounds in 3 weeks, and can feel the difference in how my clothes fit. I think I see a difference in the pictures of me  lifting weights. Be the first person to comment on my noticeable weight loss, and win my undying gratitude (or if you're a Pokela, a frozen Snickers bar at the lake--I know what appeals to my family).

So now my challenge is continuing my progress while we are in Los Cabos for a week. It's hard to know how many calories I'm consuming when restaurants are preparing my meals three times a day. Brandon recommends sticking to proteins, fruits, and vegetables and staying away from dishes with sauces or a lot of cheese. I'm hoping there is a scale there to help me stay in touch with reality. I know from pictures on the website that the hotel has a great health club. It'll help to be in beautiful weather--we'll be spending a lot of time be physically active outside.

Happy holidays!!!

It's Been a Hard Day's Night

Today was really hard. At 3AM, our dog Lucy collapsed and couldn't get up. Our vet told us that she might have a condition that would cause her to die suddenly, but without pain. She could have surgery which could either fix e problem or make it worse. We decided to err on the side of not operating. Liz and I spent many hours today crying and caring for her. Our friends Diana, Bon, Alexqndra, and Diane came to say goodbye. Here's a picture of Alexandra and Lucy.

But as the day went on, Lucy gained strength. She started doing some shaky walking, and then more normal walking. I wouldn't say she's back to normal, but we are starting to hope that she'll live through this!

When I Woke Up This Morning . . .

. . . I was feeling so much better than yesterday, that I went for my workout. I did a two circuits of squats, rows, shoulder presses, and lunges with 15 lb. dumb bells, followed by cobras and a partridge in a pear tree, no, it was a plank.

I can feel myself getting stronger, even with a cold. It feels great.

By the end of the work day, though, I was shot. It was a very intense day, with lots of deadlines, and when I turned off my computer, all I wanted to do was go home to bed. I asked Georganne if she cold handle the call to Nicaragua herself, and it turned out that Skype was down, so the call didn't happen anyway.

I'm off to bed!

You Give Me Fever

I can deny it no longer--I have a cold. I spent the day at home, napping in between doing the tasks that had to be done for work today. The hardest was a nearly 2 hour phone meeting with a client. It's amazing what the brain is capable of when needed. I had very little brain function before the meeting and even less after, but was able to pull it together for the meeting.

So the question is, should I try to do the same thing physically tomorrow? I only have 2 more sessions before I go off on vacation, so I really want to go, but will it make me sicker? I have a full schedule at work tomorrow, followed by an evening phone call with Georganne and John in Nicaragua about our upcoming trip to Ometepe.

I'm going to see how I feel in the morning, but I will err in the direction of training-- I have less than 2 months until our trip, and want to be in as good shape as possible-- I've got a week on the beach next week to relax.