health

Stormy Weather and Wednesday Weigh-In, June 10, 2009

June 10, 2009

While we were gone on our May trip, there was a lot of rain here. We expected everything to be really green and wet when we got back.

Well it was really green for sure, but actually had already started drying out.

Up until last night, we had only rain on one day since we got home and that wasn’t very much. Karen was actually starting to water things in the yard.

However, right now we are in a weather pattern where we have a chance of rain for the next several days. Early this morning — I just happened to be up and on the computer — we had a short heavy rain and it turned out we were in a severe thunderstorm warning.

Then about 90 minutes ago we had another storm cell go through and I managed to get a fairly decent photo of the clouds. It was actually a lot darker outside than it appears in the picture, except when the lightning was lighting things up. In the picture, the clouds are being lit by distant lightning behind the trees.

While we need the rain, I can do without the thunder-bumpers.

I have been able to get back into my routine somewhat at the fitness center. My back issues have receded and my endurance is almost back. I’ve been able to replicate my personal best on the stair climber three times since I got back — including two days in a row, yesterday and today.

I made it to the gym four times this week and I’m also working in the yard on a landscaping decking project, though I have been taking plenty of breaks.

Status:

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
Last week = 266.5 lbs.
This week = 266 lbs.
Difference = -.5 lbs.

Initial goal: 210 lbs.; 56 lbs. to go!

Check out the other participants progress at Blog-to-Fit

Day 6

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Back Home and Wednesday Weigh In for May 27, 2009

May 27, 2009

We were without internet access for most of the last week. I’ll be sharing some pictures and information from our trip in future posts.

We made it back home today — day 27 of our May 2009 trip.

I was starting to get a little concerned the last few days as my belt and the waist-band of my blue jean shorts seemed to be getting tighter. We have been able to take quite a few hikes and walks, but my exercise is no where near what it had been before we left.

My official scales that I go by for my weekly weight is at the gym, but, for today, I did weigh myself on the scales here, with a bit of trepidation, of course. The results:

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
April 29 — four weeks ago = 265.6 lbs.
This week = 267.5 lbs.
Difference = + 1.9 lbs. in four weeks! — and I typically weigh heavier on the scales at home than I do on the “more accurate” scales at the gym.

Initial goal: 210 lbs.; 57.5 lbs. to go!

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

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Traveling in Tennessee, Virginia and Wednesday Weigh In

May 7, 2009

2009 05 04 039small

There are more images at Out ‘n About

We are currently camped near Staunton, Virginia. Tomorrow we will be camping in a small campground in Virginia Beach and will be visiting my Mom in Norfolk.

This hasn’t been the greatest week for a traveling and camping trip. When we are camping, we like to take hikes and we only got a couple in. It’s been raining every day and every night — not continuously, but heavy at times and often enough to make things a little difficult.

When we’re traveling, we stop every couple of hours or so and find some place to walk.

Sometimes, we are able to walk at rest areas. When we are able to do that, we make from a couple of “laps” on the walkways to several if the walkways are limited. It helps loosen us up and makes the trip go better. Today we were able to walk at three rest areas. One of them had a “pet trail” that turned into a half mile loop trail into the woods and we had already done the generous rest area walkways.

Off the interstate highways, rest areas are few and far between. We’ve found other places that work well for walks. Shopping malls, of course, are good. However, we’ll often stop at a “big box store” like Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot, and make several laps around the inside of the store.

We also walk at campgrounds. Walking the entire campground that we were at in Great Smoky Mountain National Park was probably about a mile, which we did 3 evenings, I think. The campground we are at now is at least that, but also has a rather generous uphill section.

We did get several short walks in that on a couple of days when we were able to dodge the storms. Yesterday afternoon when we the campground, the rain had stopped, so we decided to do one of the closest trails, a 2.6 mile round-trip hike to Laurel Falls. It was nice. I’ll post pictures later.

So far as food, I generally don’t overeat too much when we are traveling. We’ve eaten out twice, McDonald’s and Subway. We’ve been eating sandwiches mostly for lunch and regular food for supper. I’ve been eating less snacks, I think.

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – May 7, 2009, exit78.com

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Wednesday Weigh-In plus 3, 1, 2000 and 2

April 22, 2009

This week was not as good, in some ways as previous weeks. I only made it to the gym 4 days. We were out of town 2 days, one day going in to Little Rock and another day driving up to Bentonville (home of Walmart corporate offices) to visit my mother-in-law. Took Sunday off as an extra day to rest sore muscles. My weight was up 1.4 lbs from last week.

In other ways, though, this was the best week yet.

I started by spending the whole workout one day on the track, walking two laps and then running (slowly) 2 laps. Ended up running a total of six miles.

The next day, I started by running and made 20 laps before walking. Twenty laps = 1 mile!

On my next trip to the gym, I didn’t run, but extended the workout a bit longer to make it to 2000 calories, as calculated by my heart monitor.

Yesterday, after 2 days off, I started with a slow run. After hitting a mile I kept going. While I would have liked to go further, At 40 laps — 2 miles — my slow run degenerated into a fast walk.

And I’ve added a new category to Exit78: running!

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
Last week = 263.4 lbs.
This week = 264.8 lbs.
Difference = + 1.4 lbs.; -20.8 lbs since starting
Initial goal: 210 lbs.; 54.8 lbs. to go!

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – April 22, 2009, exit78.com

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Wednesday Weigh-In for April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009

Happy tax day!

I finished our taxes on Friday and they were accepted by the taxing agencies by Monday. Unfortunately, we had to pay in to state and got a little bit back on federal. The federal was bumped up a little bit. We were not eligible for the incentive rebate last year because we sold some stock to keep from losing money and it became taxable income, pushing us up over the limit. However, the rebate was actually for the 2008 tax year and was “advanced” last years for those who qualified. Since our income was a LOT lower in 2008, we qualified for it this time. Unfortunately, it only just balances what we had to pay the state.

Made it to the gym every day except Sunday.

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
Last week = 265.4 lbs.
This week = 263.4 lbs.
Difference = -2 lbs.; -22.2 lbs since starting
Initial goal: 210 lbs.; 54.4 lbs. to go!

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – March 18, 2009, exit78.com

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Wednesday Weigh-In for April 8

April 8, 2009

Even though I was down 2 lbs last Wednesday, I was back up above the lost 2 lbs by the weekend.

I’ve been struggling a bit, finding it difficult to stay motivated about going to the gym. My weight was still above last week’s on Monday and I left the gym a half hour earlier than I normally do.

Yesterday and today I pushed myself. My weight yesterday was back down to just below last week’s weight and, today, I had lost a little more.

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
Last week = 266.4 lbs.
This week = 265.4 lbs.
Difference = -1 lbs.; -20.2 lbs since starting
Initial goal: 210 lbs.; 56.4 lbs. to go!

Made it to the gym every day except Sunday.

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – March 18, 2009, exit78.com

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Wednesday Weigh-In for April 1, 2009

April 1, 2009

In the first half of the 90s, I started out at somewhere around the same weight I did this time and managed to get down to 204 lbs. I was maintaining it pretty well — until I got hooked on wallyball, a variation of volleyball that’s played in a racquetball court. Volleyball was one sport that I really enjoyed in Phys. Ed. and, even though I was over 40, I held my own in wallyball.

Since I didn’t go out for sports when I was in school, I never had any sports injuries. In a few short months of playing several times a week after work, I strained both rotator cuffs, strained a trap muscle and had a finger on my right hand dislocated. I never did get back to the good fitness routine and then, at home 13 years ago, I had a lumbar disk herniate. That put me on short term disability and bed rest. I never had to have surgury for it, but recovery took a bit of time and by the time I was getting around fairly well, I was plumb out of the fitness habit.

I know now that I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. I’ve tried many, many times in the past with dieting and/or exercise, but, until now, I’ve never been able to have the success like I had back then.

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
Last week = 268.4 lbs.
This week = 266.4 lbs.
Difference = -2 lbs.; -19.2 lbs since starting
Initial goal: 210 lbs.; 56.4 lbs. to go!

Made it to the gym every day except Sunday. Sunday, we took a hike that was about 4 miles.

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – March 18, 2009, exit78.com

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Wednesday Weigh-In for March 25, 2009

March 25, 2009

While I’ve been successful in reducing my weight by faithfully making it to the gym on a regular basis, it’s going to be difficult to keep it up when we are traveling. The good thing is that I generally don’t gain weight when we’re away from home as we stay fairly active. Taking walks at the campgrounds and going hiking on trails will not have the same intensity level as my regular workout and, when we get back home, it’s usually difficult to get back into the routine and I’ll have to start back at a lower intensity. However, part of the motivation for getting in shape is to be able to do the trails without struggling.

Started November 1, 2008 at 285.6 lbs
Last week = 269 lbs.
This week = 268.4 lbs.
Difference = -.6 lbs.; -17.2 lbs since starting

Made it to the gym 6 days out of 7.

See other participants’ results at Blog to Fit – Wednesday Weigh-In.

Wednesday Weigh-In – March 18, 2009, exit78.com

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