That picture is gorgeous but I'm glad the sun goes up higher around here. Well done restraining yourself on the McD order. How do you feel about food generally right now? You've been doing this for a while now: do you feel like you've given up important things/like it's all hard work? Or is it starting to feel like the new normal?
By the Numbers
- Thread starter Hale
- Start date
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Hale
New member
LaMa: The sun helps make it liveable here. There are places where it's warmer but the absence of sun is intolerably dreary. Around the winter solstice, regular working hours begin before the sun rises and end after it sets so if you work indoors, you're always waiting for the might to end.
The most difficult aspect of the dietary changes is that, although Spice supports me, she likes her fast food, wine and salty snacks so they are always around. As she does most food prep, I try to make it easy by stocking high quality quickly prepared foods and she has gone out of her way to support me in this effort, but I feel a bit guilty and cave to Subway sandwiches, McDonalds, pizza or donairs and the like. Lunch with musical buddies is driven by other's restaurant choices and the lunches with the nerd herd were traditionally faat food venues. My brother bought me a beer without asking and I just couldn't decline. I just order less and know it's a positive change but feel a bit guilty. Generally, eating less junk is no hardship but cutting it out would impact my social life, especially in regard to the family Sunday coffee. Missing out on workplace snacks is a doddle.
There's nothing I've really given up and the variety is not restricted in any way but having it constantly in mind still feels like a bit of a chore. I think I'd resent it a whole lot more if I was counting calories.
Thank goodness the exercise takes up a bit of the slack.
The most difficult aspect of the dietary changes is that, although Spice supports me, she likes her fast food, wine and salty snacks so they are always around. As she does most food prep, I try to make it easy by stocking high quality quickly prepared foods and she has gone out of her way to support me in this effort, but I feel a bit guilty and cave to Subway sandwiches, McDonalds, pizza or donairs and the like. Lunch with musical buddies is driven by other's restaurant choices and the lunches with the nerd herd were traditionally faat food venues. My brother bought me a beer without asking and I just couldn't decline. I just order less and know it's a positive change but feel a bit guilty. Generally, eating less junk is no hardship but cutting it out would impact my social life, especially in regard to the family Sunday coffee. Missing out on workplace snacks is a doddle.
There's nothing I've really given up and the variety is not restricted in any way but having it constantly in mind still feels like a bit of a chore. I think I'd resent it a whole lot more if I was counting calories.
Thank goodness the exercise takes up a bit of the slack.
Hale
New member
Day 44. HRV: 9, BP: 120/74 - 56, 104.7 Kg, 6.5 hrs sleep.
Short sleep left me a bit out of sorts this morning so I changed my plan to have a workout later today. At least my 7 day running HRV summary shows all green meaning all readings have been 7 or higher. A late morning yesterday led to late breakfast, missed lunch and then early supper. Having missed a meal, I had some tortilla chips with salsa a couple hours after dinner and despite the salt, it mustn't have triggered too much water retention as the scale still nudged in the right general direction.
It's above freezing today for the first time in a long time. We've had a spell of below -20 C and it's great to have some warmth. It would be a great day to find an hour skating time as the forecast is for more snow and cold with today being just a one day blip. An hour skate just might be a cardio replacement tonight.
Dinner yesterday was lightly grilled beef tenderloin with pea pods and quinoa; yummy but somewhat lacking in excitement.
View attachment 25176
Spice joined me by doing some time on both the rower and the elliptical and, although she wasn't into it this morning, suggested she would again join me later today. We were asked to join a friend at a Paint Nite at a restaurant, where, for a single fee you get dinner, a canvas, paints and a group led painting of a common subject. It sounded like fun but, first we needed to install Groupon on a device, register your particulars and credit card, then get the vouchers, then book the evening then.... The ordeal took hours and apparently there was some fine print somewhere that although you could buy as many as you wanted, you could only use one at a venue on a given night. They somehow think that it is better to inconvenience two individuals with the process rather than allow one person to run the gauntlet on behalf of a couple. Then there was the whole process of contacting help, phone menus (press 7 for dog toenails....), registering credit cards, email addresses. What is this world coming to. I've done IT work and hate incompetent websites but this shuffling of responsibilities between venues, Groupon, help desks, online chat help, phone numbers that go nowhere and fine print, it was all too much. I would have contacted my credit card company and had them refund me and report the whole thing as a fraud but Spice spent two hours undoing it all to get a refund promised for up to 10 days later.
Last night, I checked the arrivals information at our airport and it reported the flight coming in 20 minutes late, and continued to show the flight pending arrival after my brother cleared customs and was in my car. I contacted the airport by email this morning and rather than apologizing for not updating the arrivals board when the plane landed, 10 minutes AHEAD of schedule, they blamed the carrier for not giving them accurate information. I verified departure from the US airport and it was about on time and not cancelled so I wouldn't have to possibly wait two hours before our arrivals board showed a cancellation. Fortunately, Spice was accustomed to tracking me on a flight tracking website and convinced me to head out a half hour early because that is in fact when the aircraft arrived. I managed to make it home by 1:00 AM rather than 1:30 and didn't need to make my brother wait as I would have had I relied on our airport's arrival board.
Breakfast this morning was an oatmeal mix with coffee and 2% milk and a mini Kind chocolate egg from a bowl left out for staff at the office.
Today's workout will be posted with tomorrow's update.
Short sleep left me a bit out of sorts this morning so I changed my plan to have a workout later today. At least my 7 day running HRV summary shows all green meaning all readings have been 7 or higher. A late morning yesterday led to late breakfast, missed lunch and then early supper. Having missed a meal, I had some tortilla chips with salsa a couple hours after dinner and despite the salt, it mustn't have triggered too much water retention as the scale still nudged in the right general direction.
It's above freezing today for the first time in a long time. We've had a spell of below -20 C and it's great to have some warmth. It would be a great day to find an hour skating time as the forecast is for more snow and cold with today being just a one day blip. An hour skate just might be a cardio replacement tonight.
Dinner yesterday was lightly grilled beef tenderloin with pea pods and quinoa; yummy but somewhat lacking in excitement.
View attachment 25176
Spice joined me by doing some time on both the rower and the elliptical and, although she wasn't into it this morning, suggested she would again join me later today. We were asked to join a friend at a Paint Nite at a restaurant, where, for a single fee you get dinner, a canvas, paints and a group led painting of a common subject. It sounded like fun but, first we needed to install Groupon on a device, register your particulars and credit card, then get the vouchers, then book the evening then.... The ordeal took hours and apparently there was some fine print somewhere that although you could buy as many as you wanted, you could only use one at a venue on a given night. They somehow think that it is better to inconvenience two individuals with the process rather than allow one person to run the gauntlet on behalf of a couple. Then there was the whole process of contacting help, phone menus (press 7 for dog toenails....), registering credit cards, email addresses. What is this world coming to. I've done IT work and hate incompetent websites but this shuffling of responsibilities between venues, Groupon, help desks, online chat help, phone numbers that go nowhere and fine print, it was all too much. I would have contacted my credit card company and had them refund me and report the whole thing as a fraud but Spice spent two hours undoing it all to get a refund promised for up to 10 days later.
Last night, I checked the arrivals information at our airport and it reported the flight coming in 20 minutes late, and continued to show the flight pending arrival after my brother cleared customs and was in my car. I contacted the airport by email this morning and rather than apologizing for not updating the arrivals board when the plane landed, 10 minutes AHEAD of schedule, they blamed the carrier for not giving them accurate information. I verified departure from the US airport and it was about on time and not cancelled so I wouldn't have to possibly wait two hours before our arrivals board showed a cancellation. Fortunately, Spice was accustomed to tracking me on a flight tracking website and convinced me to head out a half hour early because that is in fact when the aircraft arrived. I managed to make it home by 1:00 AM rather than 1:30 and didn't need to make my brother wait as I would have had I relied on our airport's arrival board.
Breakfast this morning was an oatmeal mix with coffee and 2% milk and a mini Kind chocolate egg from a bowl left out for staff at the office.
Today's workout will be posted with tomorrow's update.
I think keeping your normal convenience with food but just reducing the amount is an excellent way to keep things working long-term. My family and friends have all reduced the socializing around food a lot and when we do go out to eat we´ll usually find places that offer healthy options (and nobody expects anyone to drink alcohol - or to not drink alcohol, for that matter) but not everyone is that lucky and socializing is important for most humans.
I would have given up on that groupon thing after half an hour at most. I admire your tenacity.
I would have given up on that groupon thing after half an hour at most. I admire your tenacity.
Hale
New member
Day 44 workout - yesterday. I bumped cadence on the bike to 87 and did the easier gear 2/8 intervals for an indicated power output of 375 and 482 watts for 20 minutes plus 20 minutes with 2 regular intervals at 68 RPM on the elliptical; same as the past few days. Rower reported a 1:56/500 rate for 3115 metres in 12 minutes with an average/max heart rate of 146/162 and HRR of 60 which suggests a marginally greater effort than yesterday. In reality the rower kicked my butt yet I recovered fairly well from that portion while doing the other machines. Spice didn't join me as she had expected. I had warned her she might be sore and might not feel up to it.
The book about backs I was loaned strongly recommends not doing conventional sit-ups if you have any injury and I've modified my sit-ups a fair bit to maintain a much more neutral spine while doing them. It makes them quite a bit more challenging and is practice for hinging through the hip for future dead-lifting. In addition to the bird dog exercise, the author strongly recommends side planks so I will do some of these as well.
There was one day last week where I could have probably done over 15 push-ups in a set but yesterday for some reason, a couple of well spaced sets of 10 was quite difficult. I just need to remember that a month ago a mere 5 was difficult and caused muscle aches.
Together with the warmer weather yesterday we had a significant rainfall. Water on ground chilled to below -20 for weeks on end meant the entire world was a skating rink whereas skating rinks were hardly conducive to actual skating, hence the reported workout. Today the weather is much colder again and we're getting more snow. At least it isn't quite so slippery outside today.
Spice provided me with a store bought cauliflower rice pie for lunch but I ate a Granny Smith apple and a ripening smallish banana instead.
Dinner was a pasta, 5 cheese sauce, pork meatball with snap pea pods mix sprinkled with parmesan cheese flakes. Yes I removed the hair at the bottom of the photo. My neighbor dropped by 4 foil wrapped chocolate hearts and some individually wrapped Filipino cookies. Together with a couple cups of licorice spice tea, I had one of the cookies for desert and found it not overly sweet.
View attachment 25177
Day 45. HRV: 10, BP: 103/72 - 52, 104.2 Kg, 7.5 Hr sleep.
Great numbers, especially considering that I worked out in the late afternoon and had less recovery time between workout and readings. Harvey was demanding but I just didn't feel like I had a lot of get up and go so decided again to defer the workout to later today. It just seems a little daunting to spend over an hour in the morning at this since I've upped the cardio to a total of 52 minutes and resumed double sets of resistance work. I had a typical oatmeal medley for breakfast as part of my lazy morning. I'll post the afternoon/evening workout tomorrow.
The book about backs I was loaned strongly recommends not doing conventional sit-ups if you have any injury and I've modified my sit-ups a fair bit to maintain a much more neutral spine while doing them. It makes them quite a bit more challenging and is practice for hinging through the hip for future dead-lifting. In addition to the bird dog exercise, the author strongly recommends side planks so I will do some of these as well.
There was one day last week where I could have probably done over 15 push-ups in a set but yesterday for some reason, a couple of well spaced sets of 10 was quite difficult. I just need to remember that a month ago a mere 5 was difficult and caused muscle aches.
Together with the warmer weather yesterday we had a significant rainfall. Water on ground chilled to below -20 for weeks on end meant the entire world was a skating rink whereas skating rinks were hardly conducive to actual skating, hence the reported workout. Today the weather is much colder again and we're getting more snow. At least it isn't quite so slippery outside today.
Spice provided me with a store bought cauliflower rice pie for lunch but I ate a Granny Smith apple and a ripening smallish banana instead.
Dinner was a pasta, 5 cheese sauce, pork meatball with snap pea pods mix sprinkled with parmesan cheese flakes. Yes I removed the hair at the bottom of the photo. My neighbor dropped by 4 foil wrapped chocolate hearts and some individually wrapped Filipino cookies. Together with a couple cups of licorice spice tea, I had one of the cookies for desert and found it not overly sweet.
View attachment 25177
Day 45. HRV: 10, BP: 103/72 - 52, 104.2 Kg, 7.5 Hr sleep.
Great numbers, especially considering that I worked out in the late afternoon and had less recovery time between workout and readings. Harvey was demanding but I just didn't feel like I had a lot of get up and go so decided again to defer the workout to later today. It just seems a little daunting to spend over an hour in the morning at this since I've upped the cardio to a total of 52 minutes and resumed double sets of resistance work. I had a typical oatmeal medley for breakfast as part of my lazy morning. I'll post the afternoon/evening workout tomorrow.
Jenniquest
New member
Looks like you are steadily marching on, Hale! Happy to read this!
Hale
New member
Day 46 workout - yesterday evening. I didn't get an accurate rower reading but know it was at a rate faster than 2:00/500 m and over 3000 metres. I did the recent standard elliptical routine and on the bike, tried gear 3/5 for the intervals at 87 RPM and that gave me a rate of 519 watts for the intervals which is a bit tougher than the 2/8 interval but easier than the 3/6 interval. This may be the goldilocks zone for 1 minute long intervals, but 3/6 may be ok for shorter intervals in the near future. I was interrupted in my weight routine by a phone call and realized I missed a set of push-ups. The graph showed the hardest recent workout at a 151/169 average/max heart rate with a 66 HRR which is a pretty terrific number.
Lunch was a cauliflower rice pastry that I skipped the previous day. It was a bit much so I skipped on my apple.
View attachment 25178
Spice put in extra effort for dinner with a pair of grilled lamb chops and lobster tail with rice, peas, red peppers, soy sauce and Brussel sprouts with walnuts and cranberries. Again too much but at least there was no desert. I did have a small glass, 3 oz, of cabernet sauvignon in a salute of the Valentine effort.
View attachment 25179
I have a quick video edit to do this morning and am again going to defer my workout to the afternoon/evening. It will probably not normalize until the weekend at this rate.
Day 46. HRV: 9, BP: 107/67 - 49, 104.8 Kg, 8 hr sleep.
At least the weight didn't bounce too much and the weely average is on target. Breakfast thes morning is the oatmeal medley.
Lunch was a cauliflower rice pastry that I skipped the previous day. It was a bit much so I skipped on my apple.
View attachment 25178
Spice put in extra effort for dinner with a pair of grilled lamb chops and lobster tail with rice, peas, red peppers, soy sauce and Brussel sprouts with walnuts and cranberries. Again too much but at least there was no desert. I did have a small glass, 3 oz, of cabernet sauvignon in a salute of the Valentine effort.
View attachment 25179
I have a quick video edit to do this morning and am again going to defer my workout to the afternoon/evening. It will probably not normalize until the weekend at this rate.
Day 46. HRV: 9, BP: 107/67 - 49, 104.8 Kg, 8 hr sleep.
At least the weight didn't bounce too much and the weely average is on target. Breakfast thes morning is the oatmeal medley.
That looks like a gorgeous dinner!
Hale
New member
Lama: Let's not confuse the meaning of decency with a double entendre.
Jen: One foot after the other. I have a destination and will do what it takes. The only thing that can stop me is a significant health problem such as an injury or illness and I'm proceeding cautiously to mitigate those risks.
I eat ham, bacon, beef, lamb, goat, pork, eggs, oysters, shrimp, cod, salmon, walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios, pecans. I've had whipped cream, dairy products, cheeses, breads, pastries, cake, chocolate, cookies, wine, champagne, beer. There's been pineapple, lemon, oranges, apples, watermellon, honeydew, cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate juice, rice, oats, potatoes, quinoa, beans, peas sweet and regular potatoes, Brussel sprouts, carrots, radishes and various leafy greens. Some of it has been fast food of indeterminate quality and much of it has been excellent. Most importantly, I have not once felt deprived nor have I been hungry except maybe 2 or 3 times but only for a very short time. Far more often I have eaten beyond satiation to clean my plate.
In the absence of my inate rejection of waste and pressure of participation in social circles, this process would be simpler. It's been about half a year since I was told my thyroid was tending to hypoactive. I'm hoping my diet and supplementation with iodine and vitamins might have helped on this front and will probably see my pharmacist to have this assessed again. Hopefully my improved body composition and regular activity will also have had an impact on my hormonal balance. It's supposed to be hard for a guy to get muscle after 60 and although that isn't my objective, it would be bonus. I'm at least a month ahead of my plan of 95 Kg by my 63rd end of June so am very optimistic at this point. Minus 19 C this morning and this will only get easier once I can get more outside activities going in the coming months.
Jen: One foot after the other. I have a destination and will do what it takes. The only thing that can stop me is a significant health problem such as an injury or illness and I'm proceeding cautiously to mitigate those risks.
I eat ham, bacon, beef, lamb, goat, pork, eggs, oysters, shrimp, cod, salmon, walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios, pecans. I've had whipped cream, dairy products, cheeses, breads, pastries, cake, chocolate, cookies, wine, champagne, beer. There's been pineapple, lemon, oranges, apples, watermellon, honeydew, cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate juice, rice, oats, potatoes, quinoa, beans, peas sweet and regular potatoes, Brussel sprouts, carrots, radishes and various leafy greens. Some of it has been fast food of indeterminate quality and much of it has been excellent. Most importantly, I have not once felt deprived nor have I been hungry except maybe 2 or 3 times but only for a very short time. Far more often I have eaten beyond satiation to clean my plate.
In the absence of my inate rejection of waste and pressure of participation in social circles, this process would be simpler. It's been about half a year since I was told my thyroid was tending to hypoactive. I'm hoping my diet and supplementation with iodine and vitamins might have helped on this front and will probably see my pharmacist to have this assessed again. Hopefully my improved body composition and regular activity will also have had an impact on my hormonal balance. It's supposed to be hard for a guy to get muscle after 60 and although that isn't my objective, it would be bonus. I'm at least a month ahead of my plan of 95 Kg by my 63rd end of June so am very optimistic at this point. Minus 19 C this morning and this will only get easier once I can get more outside activities going in the coming months.
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Hale
New member
You've already let on you're more complicated than that LaMa. No pretending. The kiss principle works well for me on Valentine's day.
Day 46 workout. Made up my missed 10 push-ups in the morning. Got the workout in before dinner. Did the triple threat cardio and 2 sets resistance. Rower was again failing to record during the first half of the session. I know the batteries were a bit low from last time I checked and will replace them on the weekend. The 2nd 6 minutes were at a pace of about 1:58/500 metres and I generally manage a consistent pace so I'll go with that rate and extrapolate over 3000 metres total distance for 12 minutes. I upped the bike cadence to 88 which is finally getting close to my typical 90 outdoor biking cadence. The bike reported 382/530 watts for the regular and interval power output at this cadence. I kept the elliptical as before and it all worked out to 630 heart rate at average/max rates of 150/166 with HRR of 59. At this volume, which is about double what I started at day 1, 6 days of workout alone is a bit better than a pound per week. If I can get in another racquetball game, it would be another 600 or so burned. My last 11 days have all seen an HRV reading in the green so, provided I can find the time and I don't injure myself, the effort should be sustainable.
Lunch yesterday was unusual. Spice made an avocado dip with fresh avocado and salad dressing, thin sliced and backed some mini potatoes and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It wasn't really enough so she refilled the bowls with some taco chips in order to use some of the excess dip. We had pomegranate juice and I had an apple as well.
View attachment 25181
If that wasn't weird enough, dinner was pancakes with cheddar cheese in them with a couple strips of bacon, margarine and blueberry syrup. I had a matcha green tea with a bit of 2% milk after.
View attachment 25182
Day 47. HRV: 9, BP: 110/69 - 50, 103.9 Kg, 7.5 hrs sleep. TGIF, workout this evening. Oatmeal medley this morning.
Day 46 workout. Made up my missed 10 push-ups in the morning. Got the workout in before dinner. Did the triple threat cardio and 2 sets resistance. Rower was again failing to record during the first half of the session. I know the batteries were a bit low from last time I checked and will replace them on the weekend. The 2nd 6 minutes were at a pace of about 1:58/500 metres and I generally manage a consistent pace so I'll go with that rate and extrapolate over 3000 metres total distance for 12 minutes. I upped the bike cadence to 88 which is finally getting close to my typical 90 outdoor biking cadence. The bike reported 382/530 watts for the regular and interval power output at this cadence. I kept the elliptical as before and it all worked out to 630 heart rate at average/max rates of 150/166 with HRR of 59. At this volume, which is about double what I started at day 1, 6 days of workout alone is a bit better than a pound per week. If I can get in another racquetball game, it would be another 600 or so burned. My last 11 days have all seen an HRV reading in the green so, provided I can find the time and I don't injure myself, the effort should be sustainable.
Lunch yesterday was unusual. Spice made an avocado dip with fresh avocado and salad dressing, thin sliced and backed some mini potatoes and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It wasn't really enough so she refilled the bowls with some taco chips in order to use some of the excess dip. We had pomegranate juice and I had an apple as well.
View attachment 25181
If that wasn't weird enough, dinner was pancakes with cheddar cheese in them with a couple strips of bacon, margarine and blueberry syrup. I had a matcha green tea with a bit of 2% milk after.
View attachment 25182
Day 47. HRV: 9, BP: 110/69 - 50, 103.9 Kg, 7.5 hrs sleep. TGIF, workout this evening. Oatmeal medley this morning.
Hale
New member
She is indeed very likable - and she tolerates me!! She'd be interested in operating a food truck business and has quite a few menu ideas. Deliveries of a sort are potentially in the cards though Europe is a stretch. European van and truck conversions are among the most intriguing we've seen.
It's not really up my alley, but she has a couple sisters who also have time and inclination. I'm not quite ready to stake my retirement on this but could be persuaded to contribute and participate if she genuinely pushes the concept.
It's not really up my alley, but she has a couple sisters who also have time and inclination. I'm not quite ready to stake my retirement on this but could be persuaded to contribute and participate if she genuinely pushes the concept.
My youngest sister has a master´s in food technology, whatever that makes her. There´s nothing she´d like to do better than run a small lunch café/bake shop. As far as I can see it´s a hard thing to make succeed without working 24/7, but I can kind of see the draw. And I really like all the tiny cafés that are popping up everywhere, even though they usually use ingredients I´m allergic to.
Hale
New member
The day 47 workout was delayed until 9 in the evening but it got done. It was a complete repeat of the day prior's with 150/165 heart rate average and max and only a 56 HRR. The rower portion was at a 1:59/500 m pace for 3022 metres. The dumbbell curls to press were difficult but I managed to complete them.
Lunch was a 560 ml can of Thai chicken soup that claimed a measly 70 Calories per 250 ml. I also had a good sized navel orange after. Not much but the oatmeal breakfast rarely leaves me particularly hungry by noon.
Spice went shopping with a dinner menu if samosas in mind. She toasted some cashews, added shredded carrots, spring peas, diced onion, coconut oil, garlic, ginger, roasted coconut and spinach. She wrapped them in rice paper and baked a pile of them. They were served with a chutney made of hot salsa mixed with mango salsa which wound up milder than expected. I had one more than shown on my plate.
View attachment 25184
Day 48. HRV: 8, BP: 107/66 - 54, 104.4 Kg, 7.5 hrs sleep. A fish and chips venue has been selected for lunch with the music crew and my son agreed to play racquetball for an hour Sunday for my weekly day off working out. I plan on getting in today's workout at about 3:00 so as to be well rested for the game.
Lunch was a 560 ml can of Thai chicken soup that claimed a measly 70 Calories per 250 ml. I also had a good sized navel orange after. Not much but the oatmeal breakfast rarely leaves me particularly hungry by noon.
Spice went shopping with a dinner menu if samosas in mind. She toasted some cashews, added shredded carrots, spring peas, diced onion, coconut oil, garlic, ginger, roasted coconut and spinach. She wrapped them in rice paper and baked a pile of them. They were served with a chutney made of hot salsa mixed with mango salsa which wound up milder than expected. I had one more than shown on my plate.
View attachment 25184
Day 48. HRV: 8, BP: 107/66 - 54, 104.4 Kg, 7.5 hrs sleep. A fish and chips venue has been selected for lunch with the music crew and my son agreed to play racquetball for an hour Sunday for my weekly day off working out. I plan on getting in today's workout at about 3:00 so as to be well rested for the game.
Hale
New member
LaMa: The rice paper turned transparent with the coconut oil as I'm certain you knew.
Fish and chips was a one piece battered haddock with tartar sauce, coleslaw and french fries with malt vinegar. There was a mint candy with the bill.
View attachment 25189
I had another repeat workout and managed a bit less of a row than the day before. 1:59/500 m rate for 3010 metres in the 12 minute row followed by 20 minutes on the bike at 88 cadence with two one minute intervals and 20 minutes on the elliptical at 68 RPM also with two one minute intervals with increased resistance. It seemed like a hard workout from the get go but the heart rate monitor showed just under 600 calories with average and max heart rates of 146/163 with an HRR of only 53. Regardless of what Harvey said and the fact that this is the fewest calories expended in a 52 minute aerobic session, a recovery down only to 110 is poor for me and a confirmation of how difficult the session felt and an indication of over training. Good thing tomorrow is a day off for racquetball.
Spice got creative again and created stacks of alternating slices sweet potatoes and beets topped with rosemary and feta cheese. There was more of the chutney and some dill dip for the stacks and a spinach and watermelon salad with balsalmic vinegar. We had some lobster as well left from Valentine's day and a glass of pomegranate juice followed with a matcha green tea. I missed focus on the plated meal so I included one of the stacks before they were plated first.
View attachment 25190
Fuzzy pic of meal here.
View attachment 25191
I neglected to mention that I had a good sized tablespoon of peanut butter after my late evening workout last night.
That's 7 weeks of 6 days a week working out completed. I did need to move one workout day due to an HRV reading of 3 early on and managed to get past a bit of an achy lower back by swapping rowing for the other machines and cutting back on resistance training for a bit. All in all I'm happy with the plan and the flexibility I've allowed myself to date.
Fish and chips was a one piece battered haddock with tartar sauce, coleslaw and french fries with malt vinegar. There was a mint candy with the bill.
View attachment 25189
I had another repeat workout and managed a bit less of a row than the day before. 1:59/500 m rate for 3010 metres in the 12 minute row followed by 20 minutes on the bike at 88 cadence with two one minute intervals and 20 minutes on the elliptical at 68 RPM also with two one minute intervals with increased resistance. It seemed like a hard workout from the get go but the heart rate monitor showed just under 600 calories with average and max heart rates of 146/163 with an HRR of only 53. Regardless of what Harvey said and the fact that this is the fewest calories expended in a 52 minute aerobic session, a recovery down only to 110 is poor for me and a confirmation of how difficult the session felt and an indication of over training. Good thing tomorrow is a day off for racquetball.
Spice got creative again and created stacks of alternating slices sweet potatoes and beets topped with rosemary and feta cheese. There was more of the chutney and some dill dip for the stacks and a spinach and watermelon salad with balsalmic vinegar. We had some lobster as well left from Valentine's day and a glass of pomegranate juice followed with a matcha green tea. I missed focus on the plated meal so I included one of the stacks before they were plated first.
View attachment 25190
Fuzzy pic of meal here.
View attachment 25191
I neglected to mention that I had a good sized tablespoon of peanut butter after my late evening workout last night.
That's 7 weeks of 6 days a week working out completed. I did need to move one workout day due to an HRV reading of 3 early on and managed to get past a bit of an achy lower back by swapping rowing for the other machines and cutting back on resistance training for a bit. All in all I'm happy with the plan and the flexibility I've allowed myself to date.
That´s what I like about the way you´re handling this: you have pretty rigid plan in principle but have no trouble deviation in a sensible way when necessary. That´s the stuff for long-term success.
Hale
New member
Thanks LaMa. In my case, inflexibility or excessive rigidity is a recipie for disaster. By externalizing a bit on the rationalizations for skipping or reducing exercise through HRV and other recovery markers, I shift some of the burden outside myself. It becomes a bit more like a job with a boss and that's something most people can motivate themselves to do.
Day 49. HRV: 10, BP: 111/67 - 47, 104.2 Kg, 8.5 hrs sleep. Weekly average weights from the Garmin app are:
111.3 - 109.9 - 108.5 - 107.5 - 106.5 - 105.7 - 104.3
Which works out to a bit better than one Kg/week on average and even more if you consider that the start weight is a full Kg more than the first week average. There was one week where there was less than a one Kg difference but that point was precipitated by achiness necessitating an adjustment which more than restored the loss rate.
Going just by the averages, 7 kilos over 7 weeks ((111.3 Kg - 104.3 Kg)/7 Wk) is 1 Kg or 2.2 lb/week which may be a bit too fast. My TDEE has dropped about 180 kcal over the time period. I was averaging near 300 kcal/day cardio at the start and am now at a bit over 600 which allows me to continue to eat as much as I want provided I choose consciously. I am reluctant to let the rate of loss slip but I know I should probably slide less abruptly into maintenance. Although I am not there yet, I want to see where my body composition percentages are before I settle on a mission accomplished number. My tentative number was 95 Kg but I may not have enough muscle left at that weight. Ultimately, I may choose a target fat percentage as my goal and cut cardio time to 30 minutes/day with more rower and HIIT focus and a more comprehensive weight training focus.
My son has bailed on our game today as his baby's mom/spouse has strep throat and he's keeping baby from her. It's -18 C here right now which is just below 0 F with some wind. There is a skate festival going on in town but moving at any speed against the wind isn't pleasant.
Today may be a good day for bundling up and just going for a walk in the park.
Day 49. HRV: 10, BP: 111/67 - 47, 104.2 Kg, 8.5 hrs sleep. Weekly average weights from the Garmin app are:
111.3 - 109.9 - 108.5 - 107.5 - 106.5 - 105.7 - 104.3
Which works out to a bit better than one Kg/week on average and even more if you consider that the start weight is a full Kg more than the first week average. There was one week where there was less than a one Kg difference but that point was precipitated by achiness necessitating an adjustment which more than restored the loss rate.
Going just by the averages, 7 kilos over 7 weeks ((111.3 Kg - 104.3 Kg)/7 Wk) is 1 Kg or 2.2 lb/week which may be a bit too fast. My TDEE has dropped about 180 kcal over the time period. I was averaging near 300 kcal/day cardio at the start and am now at a bit over 600 which allows me to continue to eat as much as I want provided I choose consciously. I am reluctant to let the rate of loss slip but I know I should probably slide less abruptly into maintenance. Although I am not there yet, I want to see where my body composition percentages are before I settle on a mission accomplished number. My tentative number was 95 Kg but I may not have enough muscle left at that weight. Ultimately, I may choose a target fat percentage as my goal and cut cardio time to 30 minutes/day with more rower and HIIT focus and a more comprehensive weight training focus.
My son has bailed on our game today as his baby's mom/spouse has strep throat and he's keeping baby from her. It's -18 C here right now which is just below 0 F with some wind. There is a skate festival going on in town but moving at any speed against the wind isn't pleasant.
Today may be a good day for bundling up and just going for a walk in the park.
Hale
New member
Day 49 wrap up.
Breakfast was a couple potato pancakes made of sweet potatoes with an egg, a couple strips of bacon, 1/2 an avocado, lemon hollandaise, parsley and some fresh orange and several cups of coffee. Delicious and a bit later than usual.
View attachment 25193
No bundling up yesterday so very little activity on the rest day. Instead, I did have cake at my folks. I ate a small fist full of nuts to tide me over a missed lunch and was greeted with an open box of chocolates from which I selected a white chocolate item. My mother had baked a strawberry short cake topped with whipped cream and I had a couple of good sized pieces as well as a slice of some kind of loaf cake. At home afterwards, Spice made up dinner of left over stacks of beet/sweet potato, grilled salmon, saffron rice, pea pods, watermelon radish sticks and a couple cubes of watermelon drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
View attachment 25192
Breakfast was a couple potato pancakes made of sweet potatoes with an egg, a couple strips of bacon, 1/2 an avocado, lemon hollandaise, parsley and some fresh orange and several cups of coffee. Delicious and a bit later than usual.
View attachment 25193
No bundling up yesterday so very little activity on the rest day. Instead, I did have cake at my folks. I ate a small fist full of nuts to tide me over a missed lunch and was greeted with an open box of chocolates from which I selected a white chocolate item. My mother had baked a strawberry short cake topped with whipped cream and I had a couple of good sized pieces as well as a slice of some kind of loaf cake. At home afterwards, Spice made up dinner of left over stacks of beet/sweet potato, grilled salmon, saffron rice, pea pods, watermelon radish sticks and a couple cubes of watermelon drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
View attachment 25192
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