The Weekend and an Upcoming Challenge

259.

In addition to the normal weekend moderation challenges, I have a business trip from Sunday night through Tuesday night. I don't travel well. This will be a challenge. I must rise to the occasion!

Damn!

260. 260. 262.

Too much lunch, two days in a row.

I need a new plan, since I'm executing on my current plan and having no results.

Temptations Abound

260. Limited myself to 2 pints and a bomber bottle (Arrogant Bastard), ate almost nothing. Had a good workout. Got my 100 in. And stayed the same.

And there's so much good beer here. We're in the national news again. You can read about it here.

The Week Ahead

260.

I'm feeling like I can make some real progress on the fitness and health front this week. I just need to stay the course.

Living a two minute walk from a fish monger has its merits. I was craving scallops yesterday for some reason. A short walk, a hot pan with Pepperino olive oil and some salt and pepper, some rice and some spinach, Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA, and I had a Sunday afternoon feast. And enough leftovers for dinner tonight. Urge satisfied.

Strange winter weather today--rain and fog. It's supposed to be similar tomorrow. Maybe it'll wash away enough snow so that can get back into walking mode. Plays hell on the cross country skiing though.

From My Balcony This Morning

An impressive sunrise, and a huge tanker--aided by tugs--moving silently through the water. They had to put the bridge up to accommodate.

Need A Big Finish

To the week. 261.

It's important to plan meals and avoid spontaneous eating of junk food. I violated this credo and paid the price yesterday: nachos and battered (coated in something not beat up) fried vegetables became my evening meal when the comfort of beer with friends at the GLB dinged up my get up and go.

My workouts have gone well this week. 4 Tabatas and the associated warm-up. 3 runs (25 minute jogs). I got my 100 push-ups in 4 days (my plan). Did a nasty kettlebell sequence on Wednesday. Night skiing on Tuesday. Today the plan is really hard: the monster (a 60 minute kettlebell sequence) in the morning, a cross country ski outing in the afternoon.

I'm going to eat well today also. Quality, not quantity.

The Weekend

260. The weekend is always a challenge. An additional challenge is some right foot soreness. I need to eat and drink very sparingly.

It's Going to Take More Effort

261.

I'm going to really have to ramp it up to make any significant progress on the weight loss front.

Eating a whole bunch of chinese food last night didn't help matters, though.

Just Plain Stuck

261, 262.

The heavy snowfall has made walking to/from work impossible. So, despite some nasty workouts I've had no weight loss this week. I guess I need to do more (less, actually) on the intake side.

On a positive note, the night skiing worked well. There's enough light polution at the Riverside golf course so that the visibility is fine.

Stuck the Landing

262. 262.

I survived the weekend in maintanence mode. The new challenge: a big, beautiful snow storm which makes walking to work temporarily unfeasible. Time to uptick the cross-country skiing.

The Weekend

262.

The weekend is always a challenge! This weekend also includes long hours driving, which inspires bad food consumption and limits workout time.

The goal is for the Monday morning weigh in to be 262 or less.

Back At It

262.

I didn't walk, or workout, yesterday and the uptick in weight reflects the lack of calorie burn.

I'm back at it today but need to be careful managing the minor twinges of plantar fascitis flare-up.

Some Progress

260.

Snuck in a second walk at lunch time yesterday and had sushi for dinner. Little steps, stay on task.

Today's plan includes cross country skiing after work.

A Tabata A Day

262.

In addition to the walk yesterday I did my version of running: a 2 mile waddle. This was after work. Before the walk I did a thorough 10 minute warm-up (joint mobility exercises plus swings, push-ups, and planks) then blasted through a Tabata sequence using kettlebell thrusters. All in all a good workout day.

I ate and drank moderately as well.

Tabata is a Japanese exercise physiologist who discovered that having athletes work all out for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest X 8 (4 minutes total) produced significant fitness gains. It's supposed to work for non-athlete chubbos like me, too. I'm going to find out.

The Commute

The first part of my commute is nice, a brisk walk up Park Street (shown here). It gets a little ugly after that. It'll be cold, too, it's 10 degrees F. But the sunrise is beautiful and the air is clean and crisp: I'm looking forward to it.

Went cross country skiing yesterday. Despite my lack of balance and grace this is a wonderful thing to do, on many levels.

It's On!

265.

I entered a weight loss contest with/against my friends George--who makes my last few months as an insurance executive bearable--and Greg. Greg is the recently published author of the highly acclaimed memoir My Midlife Crisis. They are pictured here.

Killing Two Stones...

.....as they say in Lewiston. 263.

Sam is spending the rest of his school break with Kim, at Holly Haus. That's fine, she looks after him like the big sister that she is, and they love each other. It's a good thing. Left a little unclear, though, was the status of my car. It became more clear this morning. Anyway, this is all back story. The point is, I didn't have a car so I walked to work. It's not bad--a bit icy in places--but on balance ok. It was about 28 or so degrees F. I was overdressed up top in wool sweater and leather coat (sweaty) but comfortable in jeans and wool socks elsewhere. Barring terrible weather, I'll make this a habit. It takes 70 minutes to cover the 4 miles.

Recovery?

262. Feeling slightly better. I may try a workout today.

Update: after a thorough 10 minute warm-up/joint mobility session I hammered out a 4 minute Tabata snatch workout. 8 snatches each side during the 20 seconds of work. Very tough! But good.

Losing The Cold/Flu Battle

263. Feel shitty.

Battling the Cold/Flu

264. By overeating? Oh well.

I'm feeling badly but convinced the Zicam helps. I'm also taking a break from the workouts for now.

Let It Snow

262. We're in the middle of 3 days of snow--none of it blizzard-like, just a steady downfall that is starting to accumulate. I think I'll try to sneak out for some cross-country skiing. Or go back to bed and read a book.

The New Year

262. Exactly the same weight as when I started this blog on December 13. I suppose that getting through the holidays and maintaining weight is a good thing. yes, that's right--it's ok!

I'm fighting a cold, and Zicam seems to genuinely help reduce the symptoms.

On New Year's Eve, I drank (among other things) a Burnt Trailer. This is a Maine classic: equal parts Moxie and Allen's Coffee Brandy. It is absolutely wretched. If all booze was Burnt Trailer and Beer (??) with the word Light (or Lite) in the name, I'd easily give up drinking today and never look back.