plus size fitness

atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Numbers

I went in for my annual and they did my regular blood test. I clearly got too complacent in always getting great numbers because this time was not good. My bad cholesterol went from 155 to 177. Holy shit. I guess I treated myself a bit too many times here…

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Now, my plan is to do extra workouts daily. I have the desk bike at work and I grabbed my kettle bell today. I know I do have a weight loss goal for the scale but it’s more important for me to get healthy and have a better quality of life as I age. I may not be able to run like I did in my 20’s but I want to be able to walk when I’m in my 60’s.

One of my little tricks is to do 50 squats whenever I brush my teeth and considering I’m gonna try extending my desk peddler time to at least 40 minutes, my legs are gonna be burning. My arm muscles are already trembling from just 10 minutes of kettle bell so I am CLEARLY not in as good a shape as I could be. I mean, I have good endurance that I can walk for long distances and the bag I carry daily has to be about 20 pounds and I don’t struggle much to lift it. I have a lot of work to do.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: I haven’t stopped

I did stick to my three cardio days last week but I got lazy with posting. And if it’s not on the internet, it didn’t happen, right? Joking aside, my workouts are always in my MyFitnessPal and I am brutally honest about what I eat on there. My username is lightinash if you want to add me. 

This time, I was working out how to set up a mailing list for writing updates. I’m futzing around with MailChimp since I signed up for a promo for my First Brood series. Once I’m confirmed, I’ll post about it here. Those 30 minutes flew by while messing with the settings and trying to link MailChimp to BookFunnel (which I have also signed up for). Just tinkering with it made me forget I was peddling.

Once the promo is live and my mailing list is set up, I’ll post about it here. I’ve never done a mailing list before so this should be interesting.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Training Complete

This long three day training is finally done! And my coworker loved that blanket, so I’m feeling pretty darn accomplished this week.

I have been writing more and I have the cover for Dahlia 3 up for patrons on my Patreon if you’d like to support me there.

Next week will probably be more of the same; desk bike and multitasking. It’s so easy for 40 minutes to just fly by and I get progress on my side hustles. It’s a win-win.

Yeah, this is a short one. Not much to say; did workout, it was good, feeling proud of my successes! 

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Week 4 Day 2 and Today’s Dinner

Today was an off day! So, I gave myself a little break and slept in but the first big thing I did was this run. I pumped up the speed in the end and it felt great. My muscles felt like they did some work but I was fine to do some chores after. Cue some meal prep!

Butcher Box and Misfit Market were my inspiration for dinner. Above is a serloin cap steak searing in a cast iron pan with some salt, pepper, garlic, and red chili pepper.

I was searing the steak while the oven heated to about 400F. I tossed in some whole garlic cloves, dried rosemary (I’m too broke for fresh) and unsalted butter (because there’s already salt there) and basted like all those fun Tiktoks you see.

This was after 25 minutes in the oven then I took it out to rest while I did the veggies.

Like I said before, the vegetables from Misfit Market need to be used right away. My delivery was today so, I tossed the brocolli rabe and regular broccoli in the pan and cooked them on the stove.

Steamy, right? I sliced up the meat while the veggies cooked and this was the final stage before plating.

I made myself a small bowl and put the rest in a container for lunch tomorrow. This was so savory and comforting. I did the veggies just long enough so that they retained the crunch that I like, even if I have to reheat them another day.

This was the perfect dinner for a day I do a run. I had just a salad with tuna for lunch before this; super light and easy to make.

I dunno the science behind protein before or after a run but since I don’t really do breakfast (I have gummy vitamins and coffee) it’s usual for me to have food after a run when I’m off for a day and run first thing in the morning. Also, this wasn’t a huge meal prep day. This was more of a big dinner that fed me and the teenager (no clue if they even like this…) tonight with some leftovers for me to use the next day. The amount of food I used wasn’t suited for a week’s worth of food unless I cooked it all in a different way. I had fun cooking this and is totally a meal I’d only make if I had time. This isn’t something to throw in the oven after work and eat while still giving me enough time to workout, do one of the three side hustles I have, get the dishes in the dishwasher, and get to bed at a decent hour.

But the last bit of meal prep I did was a huge hit with the teenager; who demanded I make that more often. Hey, cabbage is cheap. I’ll make that whenever.

Just, in case anyone hears my kid saying I don’t know anything; I had to teach them to put lettuce on the bottom bread before you put the juicy chicken and coleslaw on top to make sure you don’t have a soggy sandwich. This is to the kid who also said they hated sandwiches…

Parenting is a journey, let me tell ya.

I do plan to post an example of how I cook my lunches at work soon!

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Pedals and Progress Pics

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I’ve been doing a lot of trainings at work lately so, I used my Wirk Peddler again rather than just sit there motionlessly.

Since I’ve been doing all this work, I’ve given more consideration concerning progress pictures. I went hunting for a suitable before picture and realized I had not taken a full body picture of myself in several years. And I mean no pics since 2018. Once I get back to more running after I start making more money with my books, I’ll take another one because I am definitely lighter than I was in 2018. I’d like to get out of the 200 club first. That’s 10 more pounds away!

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout and Weight Update

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I’m still sticking with the biking so I can write at the same time but I can tell I was more focused on the writing part this session than the workout part. I had to remind myself not to slow down so my heart rate was off. But, I count this as a win as it’s not just being motionless. 

Also, I did say that I would post a weight update when I made some kind of good progress and, here we go!

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I am so close to under 200! I know my dream goal is 170 (10 pounds lighter than I was before I got pregnant) and now it seems like I may finally make it!

I dunno what I’m gonna do once I hit that goal in terms of celebrating. I thought of going to get my nails done like I used to but I don’t have the money for fancy acrylic nails.

Unless someone wants to buy a book or three to contribute… Or just to help me pay bills in general… Hint hint…

I kid. Sort of.

Maybe I’ll finally post a photo since I never did take a before picture just in case the Saxenda didn’t work. I didn’t want to post another ‘before’ photo only to have it just mean ‘before another failed weight loss attempt.’ I guess that means no super dramatic transformation evidence but it’s more important for me to hit my goals. Showing off isn’t the point.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Breaking the budget…

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I had a webinar about a bunch of awesome graphic novels that will be published in the next few months so, while I was hurriedly ordering them for my collection, I did some quick under desk biking.

I think I screwed up my collection development budget…

Anyway! This was a quick way to get in some cardio in a profession where we spend most of our time sitting in a chair. If I don’t go somewhere on my lunch break and/or run after work for 30 minutes or more, I struggle to hit 3,000 steps in a day. Having the under desk peddler to do some quick low-impact cardio to pump my heart rate up and move my legs is better than not moving at all.

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Granted, this is probably not the high intensity calorie burn that is necessary for some more impressive weight loss, but moving a little is better than not moving at all.

In terms of food, I think I did OK today. I’m on MyFitnessPal if you wanna see my caloric intake. I am brutally honest on there. If you wanna follow me there, my username is lightinash. I’m not shy. Feel free to give me a follow! Leave a comment when I eat popcorn for dinner! Go for it. Just don’t be a fatphobic jackass, and we’re good.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: More Multitasking

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Since I’m worried about writing more books but don’t want to miss out on my cardio, I’m back to the desk bike while I work. The good news is I finished one short story and started another one right after. My goal is to have a back log of completed work and then schedule regular release dates. But, we’ll see how it goes.

As for my weight, there hasn’t been much of a change other than the standard 1-2 pound fluctuations. I’ll give an update when there’s a substantial change.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Week 3 Day 3

After doing what I should do around my birthday, whatever I want, I’m back to my running! And since I haven’t given up on my desperate attempts to not lose my house by supplementing my dismal income by selling my writing, I put Shelley up on the teadmill and I was able to do a little bit of writing during the walking portions of c25k. I could only type with one hand since I have to hold the phone to count my steps on the app, but hey, any words cound as progress.

And you’re damn right I’m 41 and have stickers. Let me enjoy things.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Time among the bones…

Week 3 day 2 and of course I pick more paranormal stories to run with.

Today, I played around with the timing of my run. With the Saxenda, it takes me longer to be hungry so making and eating dinner right when I get off work isn’t as convenient. I’m just not as hungry. This time, I changed right into my workout gear, did my 28 minute run, THEN made dinner after I cleaned up. I have to say, I do feel better. I have a limited amount of time between getting home from work and sleep and running with a full stomach doesn’t always feel the best (depending on what I eat). I’ve read conflicting articles about if it’s better to eat before a run or after and I’ve just decided to do whatever feels best to me. It’ll take more than one day of this but on days I’m off or work late; I run early in the morning before I eat breakfast and I like it. Mostly because it’s the ‘hardest’ part of the day done and the rest of the day seems easier.

But I’m also not the ‘get up at 5am’ type. I like my sleep and write in the evenings sometimes until 11pm. I’m too old to get only 4-5 hours of sleep and function properly the next day. 

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