Day 24: General Conference

I wanted to watch General Conference while exercising.  Fortunately the television in the gym is on Bend Broadband, so I looked up on-line and learned that BYUtv was on channel 208.

I missed the General Assembly, wherein President Nelson was sustained, but I did get to watch and listen to the balance of the session, and as I was the only one in the building, sing out loud and loudly with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I completed my course before closing prayer.

Mountains program:  9.33 miles, 272 calories, 50 minutes, 67 rpm, 129 heart rate

Day 23: Do Not Panic!

The cycle screen wasn't responding.  The resistance dial wasn't lit.  Everything else in the gym was fine.  The staff was out on the grounds.

I cycled for a while, and then decided to try the good ol' call center answer:  Unplug the machine and plug it back in again.  The screen went dark and stayed dark.  I had the Beach Boys' Greatest Hits playing and grimly decided that I would suffer through.  Fortunately, the screen and the dial both came on after a minute or so and it was back to business as usual.

I did 15 minutes on the 3-4 interval, got off for a few minutes, then switched over to the 30 minute Heart Health.

Another user came in, who fortunately was a Beach Boys fan and sang along with the music.

On a different note (HA!) the fat/water/muscle scale shows that I am slooowly loooosing fat and slooooooly gaining muuuussscle.  I was surprised to see the bone weight go up a couple of decilmal points.  However, my total weight seems to stay within a three pound fluctuation.

I decided to up my water intake (that's on the scale too), and drank so much over the course of the day (including 28 ounces of water from a 32 ounce Big Gulp cup) that my eyeballs felt like they were floating when I went to bed. 

I've also noticed an improvement in my posture.

3-4 interval, 3.16 miles, 102 calories, 15:16 time, 76 rpm, 129 heart rate
Heart rate,    5.73 miles, 138 calories, 30:00 time, 77 rpm, 130 heart rate

Day 22: Beach Boys' Greatest Hits

"Rolling Hills" is a fifty minute work-out with a five minute cool-down.  The different resistance steps up and down the "hills" take one to three minutes.  Each of the songs on the Beach Boys' CD are on average maybe a bit over two minutes, and on the whole, the album is fifty minutes long.  It really helped with the pacing and the endurance, as do the other albums.

After the cycling, I lurched on a treadmill for five minutes.  I'm not a fan of treadmills, and I'm jealous of the people who make walking on them look so easy.

9.8 miles, 313 calories, 50 minutes, 68 rpm, 123 heart rate.

Day 21: Next step

A month or so ago, I bought a scale that reports my weight, percent of fat, pounds of muscle and bone, give a body mass index and tells me how many calories I need to eat to keep that weight.  I pull it out every few days and write down the results. 

I've started logging in a small book what I've eaten and the calories and sugar grams, with the aim of eating fewer calories than were shown on the scale, and keeping the sugar down.

I've swapped out my butter-laden breakfast for no-fat yogurt, a quarter cup of blue berries.  For example, yesterday I had a half packet of Belvita biscuits and today I had three-quarter cup of Honey Nut Cheerios.  

Today I went to the gym and cycled the Heart Health program to "Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 1"

6.4 miles, 218 calories, 30 minutes, 71 revolution per minutes, and 120 heart rate

Day 20: Reasons

Some days I have to find a reason to go to the gym, and I go back to the original post and read it, and today was one of those days.

Still working on it.

So for today,  on the 4-3 interval program:

9.21 miles, 256 calories, 50 minutes, 71 rpm, 125 heart rate



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by Imran Esmail, posted on this site October 15, 2015:










The ONE habit to change your life.

Because the truth of the matter is...99.9% of people struggle to even maintain ONE good habit.

Most people (not all) can't do anything with enough regularity to have a MEASURABLE impact on their lives.

So what is it?

Exercise.

Yea yea, I know you know...but do you do it EVERYDAY?

Let's talk about why you should:

Here is what some famous names had to say about it:

I’m thinner and healthier with more muscle, for one thing. But I’ve also gotten out of debt, improved my relationships, become a better dad, started my own business - Leo Babauta, Founder of  Zen Habits

It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor - Cicero, Roman philosopher & politician

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. - John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States

So here are a few ways exercise is the best habit you can possibly take on:

1. It makes you more confident
After you work out for a few months, people will compliment you all the time (oh you look so thin, or look at those big muscles, or just blank stare downs from the opposite sex).

Imagine how that will make you feel.

You will start walking taller and your confidence will skyrocket.

2. It makes you eat better
You start to eat better because why would you put crap into your body when you've spent so much time making it perfect.

Also, you just stop craving bad foods because you NEED and your body knows you NEED vitamins, nutrients and all that good stuff.

This leads to a longer and healthier life.

3. It makes you smarter
Dr. John Ratey, author of “Spark – The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” says that exercise improves your brain in the short term by raising your focus for two to three hours afterwards. Check out this article for more info 6 Ways Exercise Makes You Smarter.

4. It gives you more energy
Eating bad food puts a huge metabolic load on your body - thats why you feel tired after eating a heavy meal. But now that you are working out and eating better, you have more energy. Even just walking and lifting things is easier because you are stronger.

5. It creates a base for other habits
Finally, exercise is whats known as a keystone habit - that means that its 10x more powerful than all other habits you can take up.

Its the building block, the base for your entire life.

So start working out today.

You'll be surprised who you become in 3 months.

Good luck!

Day 19: Hurray for Neil Diamond

Yesterday I did some yoga and house cleaning. I don't know how much vacuuming counts for exercise, but it did involve carrying out the garbage after I emptied out the bag, plus taking out more garbage and recycling, making trips up and down the stairs.  Whatever.


Today I chose a different cycling program, the 3-4 interval, where it's three minutes at low resistance and four at a high resistance for 45 minutes, followed by five minutes cool down. I made adjustments to the program.  Afterwards, I did some weights and then some stretch and flex, followed by an abbreviated yoga routine that included downward dog and plank.

I had "Hot August Night" CD going. It made it easier to do the work, while watching the little line across the bottom of the screen for each song.  I also know that I spent minutes with the weights, instead of seconds.

One of the other gym users came in toward the end of my workout.  He didn't mind the music (his mom being a little younger than me, she probably plays it too) as he went onto the treadmill for a while, and he even sang a bit to some of the songs. 

Results:   9.03 miles, 249 calories, 50 minutes, 69 rpm, 131 average heart rate.

Days 17 and 18: Keep going

Aw, come on, I must have done more since the last time I posted!

Anyway, for sure I went yesterday.  Guardians of the Galaxy, did free weights afterwards, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Today another gym user came in after I started on the cycle.  She had earbuds in and was fine with my playing music over the television system.  Which was understandable, because when she started on the treadmill, that's all I heard, and I kept pace with it, which was considerably faster than what I'm used to, and as a result, the machine set the resistance far lower than it's been before, but I don't understand while I had fewer miles when I have more rpms.

After she ran for 20 minutes, she used the free weights and then went on to core exercises.  I've been reluctant to use the gym mat here, but she seemed to be comfortable with it, and was able to check her form.  I, on the other hand, went on to a simple no-resistance 10 extra minutes of cycling for coo-down.  She left the room.  My time ran out and my music ended.  I noticed that when I stopped pedaling during the program, that rpms were still being tallied as if I hadn't stopped--what's that about?

I wiped down my equipment, put things to right, and then headed over to the store to buy groceries.


                                    miles                calories        time               rpm          heart rate average
March 14
    Heart health              6.17                 200             30                  73                   130
    1-1 for cooldown      1.18                   25             7:24               67                   127
March 15
    Heart health               5.86                  141           30                  79                   130
    flat out                       1.59                    29            10:21            68                   121  

Day 16: Post -procrastination

It took me long enough to get back to the gym.  No reasons, no excuses.

The apartment looks a bit tidier, as I was working on getting it cleared out in 20 minute intervals and one day I got about 4 hours done, minus distractions, and I spent a few hours away from the place, taking a friend shopping and visiting another in a physical rehabilitation facility.  I also started working on the brown family history filing cabinet that stored in the kitchen.  The first page I pulled out was a logic puzzle.  Go figure.

I didn't break a sweat until around the 15 minute mark, by which time I got credit for burning more than 100 calories.  The resistance was up around 21, 22.  After the half-hour Heart Health, I did 15 minutes more on the 3-4 Interval, to cool down.  I did the first three minutes at resistance one, and then four minutes at resistance 4, and then set the resistance back down to 1 for the remainder of the time.

I did a round of stretching exercises, and then a round with the 10 pound weights, followed by more stretching.

As I walked to Fred Meyer and back (groceries), I noticed that my legs are rubbing up against each other.  I'm taking it that my legs are getting stronger and straighter.  I noticed my jeans are dragging on the back hems more and hanging straight down the front and my tee-shirts and church tops have some ease when wear them.

Anyway, to the CD of "Hot August Night, Disc 2:
     
                                      Distance          calories         time             rate             average heart rate
Heart health                        6.08                217            30:00          58                        139
3-4 interval (cool down)    2.13                  44            15:08          59                        128


To reread:
http://dariusforoux.com/stop-wasting-time/