Lissee's Exercise Journal page

[lissee]

Who: Me.

What: An exercise journal.

When: Mornings mostly, because if I wait until I get home from work, then it’s game over.

Why: Because I’ve somehow deluded myself that an exercise journal will be more successful than the online food journal that I let die several weeks ago. (On a side note, I’ve been faithful in tracking things with the 90-day n=1 journal thing at home.)

Where: At home, sometimes outside, and in the tiny hole in the wall gym that I have a free membership to.

Challenges: Bum knees. (I aggravated some ligaments while hiking back in July. But boy was the hiking wonderful!) Asthma issues that won’t quite go away since I got back from my last trip.

Goals: Become stronger. Have better posture. Ski this season, without dying after the first day.

Tools: Peak 8 (or Sprint 8). Anyone else doing this? Walking lots. Lifting weights for posture. Kettleball. Body weight exercises, with a focus on my core and legs.

Exercise for today: Walked briskly for 2 miles. Knee hurts going down stairs so I hobbled down, one at a time. (Too many stairs yesterday.) Some pain in knee and hip while walking to work.

[lissee]

Wow, okay, so I'm a lot more out of shape than I used to be.

First time doing Peak 8 in MONTHS. Was only able to do 5 out of 8 of the sprints, but I feel good now, so all is well.

Made the mistake of not taking water with me, and I was THIRSTY! Then nauseous, because of the thirst or the intensity of the workout, probably a combination of both. Am slowly sipping water now, while eating bacon. Phil Campbell says to eat 20 g of protein shortly after doing Peak 8 to promote HGH release. I'm eating 80 grams of bacon (39f/24p). I'm not sure that's what he had in mind. lol

Interesting note, today my feet didn't go numb. They usually do to some degree when I bike (or use the elliptical), the only difference in today's Peak 8 workout, is that I was wearing my newish barefoot Merrills.

Did three sets of a mid-row lifts. 2 sets of 15, 1 set of 10 using different weights.

I think taking that first step back is the hardest part. Now that I've done the HIIT again, it'll be easier to do it again.

Oh, and one more note, I used the recumbent bike for my sprints and the knee didn't and doesn't hurt. I'd heard biking was good for knees. Here's hoping it speeds the recovery.

[lissee]

Walked 2 miles yesterday and walked 2 miles today. The weather is lovely here, the streets beautiful, the architecture interesting. Fall is my favorite time of year, and with the slightly cooler weather, clean air, and mild breezes, I feel like I am in heaven!

My knee ached horribly last evening, I've realized that the way I sit at my desk ends up torquing (sp?) my knee. This morning, the knee was only slightly stiff, but found myself jogging up the stairs to catch a door anyway. That's a first for me in 2 months! Knee felt fine-ish the rest of today, took it easy on the stairs, and really focused on trying to keep my feet flat on the floor. No crossing of ankles allowed. I'm thinking just one HIIT session on a bike really made a difference! Am looking forward to see if the trend continues!

Okay so for the fabulous news of today. I've been putting off doing laundry for the past week, and have been scrounging through my closet to find something to wear to work. (Laundry machines are not in my apartment, and I haven't felt like lugging my clothes out and about.) So this morning, I was going to wear a tailored suit skirt, but at the last moment, I grabbed a khaki pair of dress pants I haven't worn in 2 1/2 years. I slipped them on, thinking that I probably wouldn't be able to fit into them, and voila! They fit! I was very happy. They were tight through the thigh then flared, so it was a bit close, but they worked.

I've been wearing baggy clothes for a while now, seem to be losing quickly now, and so people at work weren't used to seeing me in clothes that actually fit. Anyway, I ran into one of my Austrian colleagues today, and he stopped me and said, "I need to take you to lunch," he gestured to his torso, said something else jokingly that I've forgotten, to which I replied.

"Oh, I promise you, I'm eating." I beamed back at him. Thinking of the coconut oil I'd had that morning (heavy & late dinner the night before), and the early lunch I'd eaten. An avocado, pickled beets, and 50 g of bergsalami.

He grinned back, and said, "You're looking very good. Keep it up." (Or something to that effect.)

Anyway, it totally made my day! 40 lbs down, 40-50 to go, happy day.

[lissee]

Went modern-day hunting & gathering and lugged finds home. 1.5 miles.

[lissee]

Okay, since I get busy in the week and don't have time to check in, let's just say that moving forward, you can expect that on Mondays through Fridays I'll be walking at least two miles a day. Sometimes I'll walk that on Saturdays, probably not on Sundays.

Update on the knee, it's getting stronger. Yesterday at work I climbed a total of 10 flights of stairs and went down 4. :) The knee was aching by the end of the day, and I started going one by one at the end of going down that last flight, but this is good progress.

I did 5 sets of 5 inclined pushups on Thursday, muscles were tight and sore on Friday, I had to keep stretching, because my shoulders wanted to hunch in.

I switched to a ketogenic diet on September 1st. Am down 7.6 pounds since then, which averages to .5 lbs a day. :) of course I didn't lose .5 lbs each day, I lost in in leaps after stalling & hovering for a few days. We'll see how things continue moving forward. :) Hopefully it won't jump back up, would like to make it to Onederland soon.

New weight is 205.


On my mind these days are the deaths of the US Ambassador and three of his staff in Libya, of how the hard-line perimeter was overrun in Cairo where a friend serves, and how I can't forget the image of the front door in Yemen, where even that thick security glass had a difficult time holding the throngs back.

In Vienna, in the hushed halls of our Embassy, I've shared shocked and saddened discussions with my fellow colleagues. There are more Austrian security forces now on patrol outside our doors, and their larger guns are more prevalent. Which in turn propels my thoughts further inward, about the ramifications of these actions, and the meaning laying underneath. These security forces are friends of longstanding, I wish them a good evening and weekend. Must remember to stop and not just shoot the breeze, but tell them a meaningful thank you. They put their safety on the line to protect us.

The condolence book will be out next week, our flag flies at half-staff.


Front door of the US Embassy in Yemen:

[lissee]

Oh My Goodness Yummyness!

I just had chocolate raspberry pudding for breakfast this morning, and Wow! Just WOW! Was it yummy! It hit all the right notes.

Here's the recipe if you're interested:

3 Packets of gelatin
Raspberries, 125 grams
Organic Creme Fraiche, 32% fat, 125 gram(s)
Coconut milk (21g/fat per 100 ml), 400 ml
Organic Heavy Cream 36% fat, 200 ml
Dolfin -- Noir 88% Belgian Chocolate bar, 45 gram(s)

Nutritional Info per serving, (makes 4 servings)
Fat: 54.5g
Carbohydrates: 4.9g
Calories:545.5
Protein: 5.1g
92% fat / 4% Protein / 4% Carbs


Stir gelatin & cream together, then let sit together on counter until gelatin softens. Then heat over med-low heat until gelatin cooks. Take off heat, add chocolate, let melt. Then stir together.

Smash raspberries, add all ingredients together, stir. Pour in to 4 dishes.


Number of Servings: 4

[lissee]

Did incline pushups at the window today. 5 sets of 5. I also did squats and assisted tricep dips. The pushups seemed easier than last time, although I was on a steeper incline and did them slower. I also only took the elevator 2 times today, that's big progress. Knees still bother me on and off, but they're getting better.

Slow and steady wins the race, right? Have also been doing calf stretches. The goal is to wear my ski boots for an entire day without my calf muscles freaking out from being stretched all day.

________________

Can't sleep tonight, so I got back up and am working on some projects, thought I'd update my exercises here. We had grief counseling at work today because of the deaths in Libya. They spoke about how when something happens, it triggers old memories or experiences within us and so what we're feeling now, is often laced with emotion for long ago. They talked acknowledging the past but living in the present. That it's more manageable that way.

The discussion made sense, there was a lot of peace in the room.

However, the discussion seemed to have stirred up old memories, because tonight no matter what I did, my mind jumped from one horrible moment in my life to the next. The friends I met in Haiti who have no hope for a better life, losses in my life, my younger sister's death. Why I thought of her I have no idea, but of all things I kept thinking of was the night she died, and then my little niece who is growing up with a wonderful step-mother (really, she really is wonderful), but without my sister in her life.

I swear, I couldn't keep myself distracted long enough to fall asleep. Am exhausted today, even my eyes are tired, but my mind is racing.

I'm very anxious about the continuing riots around the world. Jakarta, Sydney, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, Tunis, Niger, Germany, etc. Shouldn't write more. Will leave it at that.

[lissee]

My knee is feeling much, much better. I actually jogged down a few flights of stairs today, and took stairs two at a time on the way up. I felt a slight strain towards the middle of the day, so I took the elevator the rest of the day. But happy day, the knee is finally getting better-ish.

I did 3 sets of 7 incline pushups today against the window sill. Calf stretches.

Squeezed into the next size down pants today. Kind of fun that I'm the same weight, but that the clothes are fitting looser.

Bought a ticket today to attend the Marine Ball in November. Am wondering what I should wear... I'm hoping to continue shrinking, so that makes shopping hard.

[lissee]

Did Peak 8 this morning, managed to get all 8 sprints in. Did 3 sets of 12 mid-rows and 1 set of 20 hammer curls. Am waiting for my bacon to finish cooking. Mmmmmm bacon!

Was only a little shakey this morning, but I feel good.

[lissee]

Knees were a little sore yesterday going up and down stairs. I've been jogging down stairs and I'm thinking that it pressed things a bit..... Am going to back off a bit, and try to remember to take things slowly. Would really like to go skiing A LOT this winter, but if I keep on pushing the knees to far, too quickly, then I'm not going to be able to ski at all.

Was very discouraged this morning with the scale. I've hit another stall and am up a pound from yesterday, but I feel like I'm holding a ton of water, so I keep thinking that the scale is going to drop soon. But it hasn't. And it's very discouraging. Yesterday, I was remembering that my body doesn't do moderate. That my metabolism has been so messed up (and hasn't finished healing) and so I have to be 100%, 100% of the time.

For me, that means, no fruits, no starches. Just because other people are eating more starches in their Primal diet doesn't mean that I can too.

1) So anyway, am re-commiting today to watch the carb intake like a hawk. Eating these items once or twice a week in even a small quantity, is enough to stall me out.

2) I realized I've been at this weight before for a very, very long time. I might be at this plateau because my body thinks it wants to be this weight forever, because I was this weight forever.

3) Exercise is more important than I'm making it out to be. I'm remembering back that the times I've dropped a few pounds quickly, it was because I was exercising. Have been good this week to incorporate more exercise. Am looking forward to the Whole Primal 30 for October.

4) I've been incredibly stressed out at both work, and personally in my life. And that makes you hold on to weight and put it on. So I should cut myself some slack. Yes, I'm going to stall when I'm stressed.

5) So this morning I was incredibly discouraged when I stepped on that scale, and thought I was failing at everything, that I wasn't making progress, but then I pulled out my n=1 90 day journal, and flipped back to when I started, and since I started tracking this back on July 27, I'm down 12 pounds! (To my current weight, not my low weight last week.) Six pounds a month on average is GOOD progress!

12 pounds is good! It's 12 pounds I was carrying around before, that I'm not anymore. So good riddance. And slow and steady wins the race...

Yesterday, I walked 3 miles.