Alligatorob's Diary

[Llama]

212 dollars for a 4.5 hours walk? That´s ludicrous! It is a beautiful walk though. Not to mention in early autumn you can take the longer, flatter route around the mountain through the vineyards instead of the shorter, steeper one through the woods and you can stop off at a little wine&Sturm stands every other km or so

 

[overlandflyer]

... it has always struck me as odd how little attention most people around here pay to the mountains. ....

probably like how we see the ocean. i have a friend who lives in Vegas and his wife goes crazy when they're at the beach. for over 25 years i had a window at work that overlooked the ocean. most of the time i probably didn't give it a second thought, but some days in the winter when i'd catch the sun setting, i often considered how lucky i was.

 

[Cate]

I love looking at the mountains & we have chosen to live looking out at them in a house made of stone, picked up from our land. There's something really grounding about it. Reading about your walk had me feeling a little nervous. I have always been inclined to push myself & go flat out with most things, but know I need to be very careful on rough ground, but that hike sounded treacherous. Did anyone know exactly where you were? Do you take your phone & if so is there reception?

 

[alligatorob]

It was a good day, I ate well, exercised and feel good. The gym remains open, but we keep expecting it to close every day. I got in a workout, but no walk, the weather has not been good. I may not be losing weight in pounds, but I have noticed my pants are getting a bit looser. Not completely a good thing now that I am having to buy new smaller clothes as I shrink. But better to have lose clothes than tight!

212 dollars for a 4.5 hours walk? That´s ludicrous! It is a beautiful walk though. Not to mention in early autumn you can take the longer, flatter route around the mountain through the vineyards instead of the shorter, steeper one through the woods and you can stop off at a little wine&Sturm stands every other km or so

Yeah, I noticed the price too, and that doesn't even include lunch. Maybe a new profession for you? Stopping for wine & strum every km or so really sounds like a great idea, wish that was the case on my hikes! Probably can't even find strum in Utah.

for over 25 years i had a window at work that overlooked the ocean.

Can you see the ocean from where you live now? You are pretty close aren't you?

that hike sounded treacherous

Yeah, it was, more so than I should have tried. It was a kind of spur of the moment thing, my idea was just to find the trail head so I could go back in better weather, but once I found it I got tempted and started hiking. No one knew I was doing it, and there is no cell service in the canyon. Bad idea all around, won't do it again.

I love looking at the mountains & we have chosen to live looking out at them in a house made of stone, picked up from our land.

Than really sounds nice, have you posted a picture of your house? I'd like to see it.

 

[bensanon]

All things being equal I do prefer the hiking or biking, being outside. However the gym is more weather proof, and in the gym I workout upper body muscles that don't get use hiking or biking. If the gym can help build my legs to make hiking better that would be great, I am not sure if that's the case or not. My goal? Just to get into better shape and feel better. Increasing mobility and agility would be great. I don't feel the need to build a lot of muscle or be able to lift a lot of weight.

I don't have specialized fitness knowledge or professional experience with it but I hear that squats are the single most effective weight lifting exercise you can do. They work a lot of muscles and you get a big bang of benefits with your buck.

Also, I've seen a lot of older adults getting coached on stability and balance-type exercises. I think that makes a lot of sense with your hiking and wobbliness with your knees/legs. Are you still working with a trainer? Maybe ask them? I haven't checked @Trusylver's thread but maybe you've been talking with her and I think she would have some great ideas in addition to what @LaMaria has suggested.

Seems like you wouldn't do it consistently in the gym and maybe you don't need to if you're hiking. I think you would still get a benefit if you could do a small routine at least a couple times a week in the gym. Seems important to me to help prevent injury and strengthen your musculoskeletal system for myriad benefits, not just mobility and agility.

I love following along your progress. Look at you, Rob!

 

[overlandflyer]

...Can you see the ocean from where you live now? You are pretty close aren't you? ...

a little over a mile away... not that it's bad in any way but being sporadically Bohemian and rather noisy at times, the first ½ mile or so off the beach is often referred to as the "war zone", so being a bit up the hill puts me in a lot less hectic area with just a short walk to the ocean. i have heard there are better surfing areas but our beach seems to be rather popular.

 

[Llama]

Probably can't even find strum in Utah.

You´ve got all that frozen peach juice, don´t you? Worth a bit of experimentation People here do the same thing with apple juice, too, and the word they use for regular and alcoholic apple juice is the same so you have to specify "sweet" or "bitter" if you care which you get (which I do, because pure apple juice is wayyy too sweet).

 

[Emilyrose]

Wow, good for the gym that they have managed to remain open and good for you too!

Thanks for telling me your BMI, I was just curious as to how far you were going to go, considering how much you’ve lost already. 50 down to 32 is phenomenal. In such a short space of time, that’s epic.

 

[Petal001]

Agree with Emily . It’s epic .
I just posted that I feel trimmer from walking . Seems like you are feeling the same effect . It’s a good feeling

 

[Cate]

I'm glad you're not going to do that hike again & maybe be a bit more careful. I think squats are really good & I must start doing them every day again. I'll start adding some photos to my diary soon, when I work out how to re-size them so they're not too big. I might do that today.

 

[alligatorob]

It was a good day, I ate well, exercised, and feel good. The gym remains open, but every time I go in there is more talk of imminent closing. As I have said they take some pretty extreme precautions, so much disinfectant spray everything is sticky. And the 6 ft distance thing is rigorously followed. So far we have only 1 confirmed corona virus case in the county, and he got it in Salt Lake. Course that may mean we've only had one person tested so far.

In addition to the gym I went for a walk this afternoon, the weather wasn't great and I stayed on paved or good dirt trail, no canyoning today. According to my app I walked 2.7 miles (4.3 km), not a long walk but it was up and downhill, the app says I gained about 400 ft (120 m) of elevation. Not so much as some of my canyon hikes but not bad. It felt good, though compared to the canyons it was a bit boring. Picture from the top of the walk.

I don't have specialized fitness knowledge or professional experience with it but I hear that squats are the single most effective weight lifting exercise you can do. They work a lot of muscles and you get a big bang of benefits with your buck.

Thanks for getting back to me Rob. I have been doing a lot of squats in the gym, different kinds. My strength is not bad, but I can't go as low as I would like, working on that. I think the squats have been real good for my knees. I will ask Trusylver, she has been helpful to me with other questions.

a little over a mile away...

From a Pacific beach in San Diego, that sounds like a great place to be. I love San Diego, its beaches and the climate. Only problem is so do millions of other people!

You´ve got all that frozen peach juice, don´t you? Worth a bit of experimentation People here do the same thing with apple juice, too, and the word they use for regular and alcoholic apple juice is the same so you have to specify "sweet" or "bitter" if you care which you get (which I do, because pure apple juice is wayyy too sweet).

I may try that, but we still have many gallons of peach wine to drink. Strum would be unique, here anyway.

that’s epic.

Thanks Em (and Petal), it does feel good.

I just posted that I feel trimmer from walking . Seems like you are feeling the same effect . It’s a good feeling

Yes, I saw that on your diary. I think I am, my weight loss seems to have slowed a little, but I am feeling a bit more trim, same effect I guess. Perhaps we are converting some of the fat to muscle? I'd like to thing so.

I'm glad you're not going to do that hike again & maybe be a bit more careful

I do plan to try the hike again, but on a drier day with more preparation. And I will try a path on the other side of the canyon I spied, it looks a little safer. The lure of the fabled waterfall is too strong to resist. Today's walk was quite safe, if a little boring. I am looking forward to seeing your pictures Cate.

 

[liza]

Sort of catching up here on your last couple of days Rob. All continues to sound very positive--really good to hear. I agree with the others about being careful on your walks. I like walking where people tend to come by not too infrequently in case I do hurt myself...Do you have any wildlife in the area you need to stay aware of too?

 

[Llama]

The good thing is that as you get fitter and more agile again what was dangerous this week won´t be as much in a couple of months, regardless of weather.

 

[aiminglow]

Hello there, Rob! I'm just back after a few days away from the site, so it'll take me a while to properly catch up, but it's so good to see you're here and having a great time enjoying life and the agile, slimmer, stronger new body you've made for yourself.

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a good day, but got some bad news. The gym has been shutdown, I am disappointed, but not surprised. The governor specifically closed gyms, kind of odd as there were only 2 left open in Utah. Oh well, it may be for the best. Today was the beginning of my 5th week of weight training, I was just kind of getting the hang of it. Most of the sore was gone and I was feeling a little stronger. In the short term I will have to do a bit more walking, but I will see if I can figure out some exercises I can do on my own to at least maintain some of the muscles. That aside I ate well and feel pretty good.

Do you have any wildlife in the area you need to stay aware of too?

Only rattlesnakes really, and its still too cold for them. We do have a few mountain lions and the odd bear, but I don't worry much about them. Do you have dangerous wildlife you might encounter on your walks?

The good thing is that as you get fitter and more agile again what was dangerous this week won´t be as much in a couple of months, regardless of weather.

You are right of course, a few months ago I could not do what I am doing now, if I can keep at this I know it will get better.

I'm just back after a few days away from the site

Really good to see you back Amy.

 

[Llama]

Shit happens. The gym will open up again. Didn't your trainer give you home exercise?

 

[liza]

Only rattlesnakes really, and its still too cold for them. We do have a few mountain lions and the odd bear, but I don't worry much about them. Do you have dangerous wildlife you might encounter on your walks?

Rattlesnakes! Wow. Have you ever encountered one?

That is too bad about the gym but not surprised. Yes hopefully you can get a routine going at home.

 

[Petal001]

Rob sorry the gym closed but as LaMa says it will open again. This will all pass at some point . Keep up your walking and cycling. Have you any dumbbells or anything . My son wanted to buy a bench thing he is really missing the gym but they were so expensive and now lockdown is here he won't get one I say . Glad you feeling trimmer and good

 

[jackbenimble]

It does seem very possible that your weight gain was due to muscle. Although I would be careful with that one, as I've often speculated that was the case when I gained, but I'm pretty sure I was just fooling myself.

Kudos on the continued workouts, Rob.

 

[Llama]

It does seem very possible that your weight gain was due to muscle.

Nope, not in 5 weeks and not 2 pounds. Don´t want to burst anyone´s bubble but in that short amount of time after starting the weight gain in your muscles is water. And if you stop working your upper body I expect the water weight to drop within a week or so. If you keep at it it depends on intensity.