Exercise!
Just keep walking…
2017 New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s Resolutions are lame. You will break them by the January 2nd if not before. That being said I’m writing out my New Year’s Resolution in order to be transparent. How long will they last? It is up to me. I need to work on my perseverance.
Health
- Target weight 210. Stretch goal of less than 205. Today I’m about 230 wet. 210 is 20 pounds away. I have 12 months. That’s about a little over a pound a month. It can happen. It must happen because my pants are getting too tight.
- Lose 5 inches around the waist. What is it now? What constitutes the waist? I would like to lose my belly or decrease that by 5 inches. Anything to get me to fit in my pants.
- Lower my resting heart rate by 4 BPM. What’s it now? I will say 84 BPM. If I can get it to average under 80 BPM success!
- Lower my blood pressure targeting 120/85. What’s it now? I would say 125/92. Maybe it might be, but it needs to be less.
Exercise
In order to get healthy, I’m gonna have to get off my butt and do some exercise. I got an Apple Watch to help me track it, but I need better metrics.
- 150 miles on a bike. I haven’t ridden faithfully for 5 years. I’ve always wanted to get back to the feeling of joy as I pedaled by bike. Two hundred may be a bit too far. My rides around the block were usually 10 to 13 miles. The ride at the NCR trail to Sparks is 12 miles. The airport loop is about 12 miles, too. There’s gonna be a lot of bike riding if I actually get on the bike.
- 120 outdoor walks. That’s about 10 a month. I didn’t say the average, because it depends upon the weather. What is a walk? 15 minutes!
- 5 sessions a month on the rower. I’ve got it in the house. I’ve got to use it. What’s a session? 15 minutes! Hopefully, I don’t hurt my elbow doing this.
Professional Life
- Learn a new language and use it. Maybe use it to write an actual iOS app.
- Maybe a new job. Not a new position, but somewhere else. Is it possible to even change jobs at this age in this particular field?
Personal
- Blog more. Not just movie reviews or link of the days. Blog something meaningful. Start a series of posts on a topic. Blog about the bike rides. Something. Anything. Target five meaningful posts a month.
- Cook more. Don’t eat out too much. Lessen my snack spending (lattes, donuts, ice cream) by 25%. Lessen my dining out by 25%. Currently, Quicken tells me I spend a total of $6700 on dining out of which $1400 is snacks.
- Read more books. Read literature a bit more. Maybe finish the novels on the nightstand. There are 3 or 4 I believe. Whatever needs to happen so I don’t stay on the computer all night.
- Japan. I really want to go there. I will. Tokyo for maybe a week. Really want to go there. Tokyo would a start.
- Study Japanese more. Maybe 30 minutes a night or an hour for 3 days a week.
Is this too much? Can I do it. Follow me and find out. 2017 here I come.
“On this date in 1777, there was a lull in fighting at Valley Forge. Why don’t we take the opportunity to make a person-to-person call to General George Washington on the Max Louis history phone.”
Link of the Day [9.29.2016]
I don’t know what today’s site is about, but if it could get me to Japan on the cheap with a good itinerary from Fukuoka to Hokkaido and back to Tokyo, I will link to it.
Link of the Day [5.08.16]
It took two weeks, but finally finished up the compilation anthology of Road & Kingdoms travel/food guide for Japan: Fish, Noodles, Rice — Deep Travels Through Japan’s Food Culture. Reading through it made me really want to go and travel Japan from tip to tip. From Fukuoka on the south island, Kyushu, to Hokkaido in the north, I want to travel and experience the food of Japan.
Maybe. Maybe. Maybe someday…
Link of the Day [3.03.15]
“Lift. Move. Regularly.”
Fat war needs to start again. I’ve put the weight back on. I don’t know how to take it off.
Fat war needs to begin. Again.
Tater Tot Nachos!
Here’s some cooking I did for the Big Game: Tater Tot Nachos!
It’s tater tots covered with chili, cheese, and corn-black bean salsa. It’s a Big Game fiesta all its own.
Pedal to the Metal
It’s been a long time since I ‘pedaled in anger’ as Phil Liggett would say. I got on the bike in the cool of the morning and rode for thirty minutes putting 8.5 miles on this year’s cycling log. I looked at my historical cycling logs and see that I really stopped biking in 2009. In 2009, I put in 500 miles. In 2010, it was just 22 miles. In 2011, only 32 miles. Mileage went up to 65 miles for 2012, but last year it was just 13 miles. So far, 8.5 miles is a start. Hopefully, those will be only the beginning and not the end.
I’m riding my bike, because rowing has caused some issues with my shoulder and elbow. Lately, I can’t row as hard or my elbow begins to ache with overuse, and my shoulder feels funny. Lifting my left arm up feels awkward. So, I need to give rowing a rest. Although, I thought that it would help in my cycling, but as much as I can tell, I still feel slow on the bike. I do feel that my cardiovascular system is functioning better than it would as I wasn’t too much out of breath. I currently don’t have the cycling legs. They need another 100 miles to feel right.
But I looked the part. The weather was about mid-50s, so I dug out the knickers and the jacket. Because I am now under 200 lbs, they fit better like they used to back in 2009. One thing I noticed which I had forgot is that these knickers don’t fit me well. When I am in the saddle, the padding rids up in front of my crotch barely doing its job which is to pad my buttocks in the saddle. I have to pull the back up just to get the padding to slide onto the saddle. The jacket fits except for the neck being tight, but that’s because I am still 10 lbs too heavy for it.
My prescription eyewear is the safety glasses I bought several years ago. The shoes fit perfect although I wish I had toe covers on. They don’t fit perfect to the pedals as my left foot feels too far forward on the pedal. I’ll make an adjustment to get a better fitment.
The bike rides okay. I feel too low in the saddle. Might adjust the height although I know that if it is too tall then my knees begin to ache. The stem I put on it is now too long, because I dropped it down 2 notches in height. I may revert to the old stem or bring it up a notch.
The route was short and the roads were brutal. Winter messed things up.
I’m looking forward to more cycling.
“Let’s see, there’s Indigo, Sapphire, Sky, and Standard Blue.”
The War on Fat: Dog days of August.
It goes up this time of year. If I was losing ground the previous month, then I’m giving up gains this past month. It’s what happens.
Basically, I just felt like eating.
Also, I spent the month offline not working out to let my elbow heal.
It’s time to return to some serious work. Can I really get down under 200 pounds by the end of the year? Not sure. It’s going to have to be salad and yogurt or some kind of diet to get me going. And I just lowered the bar!
The War Against Fat: Losing Ground
I miss 202.8. I’m now bouncing around 203 to 206 which is sort of making me depressed. I know what’s the problem: summertime. I just want to eat food during the summer. The crabs, the corn, the barbecue, the paella, etc., etc. Don’t forget the ice cream! Food’s too good to pass up.
I’ve slipped on the food end and also the exercise end. Rowing was hurting my left elbow. I was basically trying to increase my stroke rate that I was pulling too much. Eventually, my elbow started hurting. I haven’t rowed in 2 weeks. I’m not going to for another couple of weeks. Not sure if that’s good. I’m gonna have to find something in the mornings. Perhaps some calisthenics?
Anyway, does it look like I can make my weight? No idea. 195? That’s a long way away and lot’s of work to be done.
The War on Fat: 202.8
I despise that number.
On the first of the month, it’s 202.8. On the thirtieth, it’s 202.8. In between, it was up, and down. It never got below 201, and on a few days it was above 206 — those were the days that went unrecorded. But, ultimately, it returned back to 202.8. June was a cruel month.
So, I cheated. I don’t record those bad days. If I put it in, the trend line points up steeply. And when I return back to 202.8 the trend line barely point down. At this rate, I will hit my target goal in December. Of 2014!
I have put in the time on the rowing machine. I pushed 150 K this month, the second highest of the year. Still it’s only 202.8.
I have a theory. Perhaps I’ve already explained it in a previous post. I’ve looked at my historical data on weight and noticed that I don’t loose weight in the summer. I gain it. My theory is that this is part of evolution. Humans over the course would gorge themselves in times of plenty to be ready for the lean times. Summer is filled with foody delights. Eat before winter sets in when there is nothing to eat. I’m gaining weight because of evolution. Also, cookouts, ice cream, and beer. Good things to eat when times are plenty.
Maybe the fall, I’ll finally start losing the weight.