Not a Day

Looking back on my former posts, all I can say is, well, that was a nice run with the gym.

Since then the gym has been closed for months, thanks to the Pandemic.  And then there was the wet and icy weather, and things finally warmed up.  I took a long break, and then I did the HASfit YouTube exercises for a while.

So I've been walking in Farewell Bend Park in the morning, tossing in Riverbend Park on occasion for twenty minutes at a time, less when I met someone I knew, like a former co-worker.

Today I went to Stone Creek park, a rocky area that the developers donated, which was a nice change of pace.

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Not a day

I have only been to the gym on Tuesday.  Even then, there were three of us there, and I wondered if I should be there, given that it is an enclosed place and I didn't know if anyone else there had the Corona virus.  I wiped stuff down, and that was before I found out that the virus can stay for days.

Today the apartment management sent out a letter, that the front area would be open certain hours, please drop off rent checks into the slot or pay on-line, etc., etc.  The hot tub, lounge and exercise rooms will be closed.  However, since the lounge and exercise could not be locked, if you wanted to use them, it was on your head.  Be sure to wipe the equipment.

Great.  Well, I have YouTube, free weights, stretch bands,yoga mats, and I have a stair well, plus there are parks around and an empty field next door and Fred Meyer's outdoor sidewalk beyond that. 

So.  No excuse.  I do rather like doing the bike as it has set course goals and time, and the whole "Wow, I'm being an adult!  I'm at the gym!" sense of accomplishment. 

But there's a lot to be said for not getting sick.

*Sigh*

Day 40 in the year 2020

Today ends the eighth week of going to the gym and cycling.  On average, it's been 5 days a week.  Some weeks have had six, while one week had three.

The scales hasn't moved, just fluctuated.  However, I've gone down a pants size and my tee shirts are looser around my upper chest and there is a definite gap between the bottom hem of the shirt and my pants.  My go-to outfit for size change are my Sunday clothes, they are definitely looking a bit baggier.

I was cycling 45 minutes, until my knee hurt so bad that I went to the doctor.  I received a prescription for a ointment that is usually prescribed for arthritis, but after a week or so of using it, I no longer needed it.  I now cycle a 25 minute program, or 6 kilometers.  Two, sometimes three times a week I also do a free weight routine that is 15 minutes long, followed by yoga for six minutes, and when I can, there's the 10 minute calm meditation.  I am so grateful for having a smart phone as YouTube makes this bearable. 

I am making improvements in my diet.  Daily I write in my book how much I weigh in the morning, what exercises I did and jot down other health notes.  Writing down what I eat and the calories has always been a source of stress and so I've ended that.  I have taken to chewing my food twenty, thirty, forty times a bite, which makes mealtimes last forever and eating a bit boring, which is a good thing.  The candy is out of the house, and cookies are rare, usually the only time is when we have chicken pot pie from KFC, and even then I don't finish. 

So where does all this put me on the 90 day challenge for this time around?  Figuring 5 times 8, it's at 40.

Not a Day

When the bad weather hit, I chose to stop going to the swimming pool and instead return to the gym at the apartment complex.

I found that I'm more likely to get over to the gym if I've dressed in gym wear first thing in the morning, though when I go, it is usually about 10, 10:30 although some days it's been as late as 2 p.m.  I don't bother changing out afterwards.  I bought some new ebony sweatpants, so I look presentable when I go places.


I am reminded though, of the Spiderverse movie, where in Aunt Mae says, "Good Lord, Peter, are those sweatpants?"  His are the gray kind, with the old fashioned gathered ankle cuffs, like what Captain Sweatpants wears on "The Big Bang Theory."


And pin a rose on me, it's been five weeks of 5-6 days in the gym.  Cycling daily, usually 45 minutes, with some weights and stretches recently added in.  I listen to the Book of Mormon's Sunday School lessons, which include Youbube channels  Cwic, Don't Miss This, and The 29th Floor while cycling.   I've returned to a 15 minute weight set on HASfit, and for yoga, Pachelbel's canon in D major.  I've lost maybe two pounds, but my clothes are more wrinkly on parts of my body and the skirt I wear to church on Sunday is now held up on my hips at it gaps at my waist