weight training

atthequillsmercy

Workout Weekly Recap: FFS

Every time I feel like I’m getting back on track, something happens. I was hoping to get back into workouts on the weekend mornings, but instead, there was a leak in the basement, and I spent the whole day dealing with plumbers, home insurance, and water damage remediation. Over the next couple days; repairs and a new water heater. Oh lovely! I can’t wait to add 7k to my debt (if the home insurance decides to jerk me around). But it did feel good to get moving on the days I was able to. I can’t really complain about that.

I’m varying my food some more by trying out spinach in my Itaki meals, and it’s okay. I’d rather have broccoli or bok choy. The timing is better for cooking, and it’s more filling for me. I managed to get some ground bison on sale and made some chili (while the nice men were working in my shitty basement). The pasta dish was a way to use up those cherry tomatoes and spinach before they went bad, and it was actually pretty good! It was just butter, olive oil, pasta water, and parmesan cheese. Creamier than I’m used to but I’d totally make that again. I’m more in favor of setting up the slow cooker so I can do other things. I guess in a way it was a good thing the leak happened on a rare weekend I wasn’t working… 

This coming week is also going to be a mess. At least to start. Things will go back to normal once the new water heater is installed. At least I hope.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Welcome to January

Yeah, the January workout posts. Guilty as charged. But, as I did this, I could tell that I hadn’t lost much strength from not working out for a while. This was challenging but not impossible. Not every day should or can be a cardio day, no matter how much I enjoy running while I’m doing it.

I’ve been having fun with random meals and doing my best to try and have something light for breakfast. I usually don’t eat breakfast at all. And of course, I made a big ass pork shoulder for New Year’s that will be in a few more meals. I’m upping my veggies and protein most of the time since I’m still working on my goal for all ten fingernails to be completely attached. It’s just the ring fingers that need to grow out now. That’s so freaky… That’s why I want to wean off the Saxenda at some point.

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Workout Dump: Season One Complete!

Now, you may be saying: “Lenni, you already finished season 1 years ago!” And you are correct! These workouts were finishing all the season one Radio Abel clips. With some 5k trainer thrown in there. After NYCC, I kept up with some very easy walking workouts and I think it actually helped me recover faster! Moving more in general is good and the scale is inching in the right direction again. I’m also doing my crunches and upped the number of wall pushups. Kinda like my writing, bit by bit progress is being made.

I got some boneless chicken thighs on sale and made a whole batch of buttermilk fried chicken for me and my kid to eat during the week. For the first time, I had it over a bed of Napa cabbage and onion with lemon juice, olive oil, and lemon pepper on it. It was actually quite refreshing! I scored more of that amazing focaccia bread from the farmer’s market for sandwiches (yes, that is a book bento box), and I’m eating more types of vegetables. Sometimes, I have the energy to stand there and chop peppers, sometimes it’s lightly sauced steamed in the microwave vegetables. Lately, my calories have been over 1000 a day but I am totally ok with that if I’m active and it’s not junk food. I’m back on the Saxenda on a low dose. I don’t feel overfull and I think my nails are growing back attached. I’m super excited about that.

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Workout and Food Dump: I miss some things

I’ve been pretty active and trying to do more strength training regularly. I remember my morning and evening squats more often and even grabbed the kettlebell here and there. The only real change I’ve seen is better endurance for my runs and a slight drop in my body fat percentage (37.4 to a flat 37). By weight is still stuck but hey, less body fat is a good thing!

With the longer runs, I try to have dinner cooking while I’m running, but that doesn’t always work. That salmon turned out dry as fuck. Edible but not enjoyable. The rice and beans turned out good, though. That could sit in the rice cooker during a workout without getting ruined. Those pickled onions aren’t homemade this time; I got them from the farmer’s market. They’re pretty good, but there’s just something about making it yourself. I’m probably doing it wrong, too. That’s usually how I end up with unique things at home.

I’m happy-ish with my progress but I miss some of my old workouts. I used to do Zumba and it was fun! But so’s running. I dunno, I’ll think of something.

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Today’s Workout: Incorrect

I goofed and didn’t time the mission correctly and the stride length was wrong so my pace is completely off for this run. The treadmill has a bunch of metrics on it and it said I did 2 miles. I’ll have to tweak it tomorrow for the next run. I know it’s not about the numbers, it’s about burning calories but still! I did those miles and I’d like to see them.

I tried white balsamic vinegar for this salad and it was pretty good! Totally different vibe from the darker stuff. And I got into the spirit of warmer weather and grilled myself a hamburger for dinner. I ended up giving the pickle to my kid because I couldn’t finish it; I was too full. It’s so strange to feel so hungry I could pass out before lunch but too full to finish dinner. While the scale hasn’t moved, I have noticed my face is thinner and so is my waist. I’ll get there. I’m so close to getting out of the 200 club. Once I’m done with the 5k trainer, I’m gonna switch to the 10k, meaning longer runs. I’ll have to do them on my days off or days where I go into work later and do shorter runs during the week. I am aware I need to do more strength training. I invested in some adjustable weights for me and my kid to share.

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Today’s Workout: Gross?

Every time the Zombies Run! app updates, I have to adjust my stride length… Which I did not do before this run so my pace is completely off.  I was digging around in the app and adjusted it and also noticed that 2020 was still the year of my highest mileage. I mean, of course. I was in lockdown and doing c210k, running a minimum of 45 minutes 6 days a week. Probably not likely to top that anytime soon. But, this was another really long run with no breaks and while again, the intervals give me water breaks I enjoy, I was able to get through the whole thing. I even did peek at the timing for c210k for the Just Run app and the shortest runs are 50-ish minutes. Doable if I get up early on a day I’m working late or run on a day off. There’s just no time to do a run that long after work but still have time for dinner and get to bed at a decent hour. I’ll have to tweak my schedule and see but I’m not finished with the 5k trainer yet.

These are… Not the most appetizing food pictures I’ve taken. I had a craving for pancakes. I had them after my run mid-morning. For dinner was butter garlic ready rice, salmon with garlic confit and shallots with some corn thrown in there. It looks greasy as fuck because the garlic confit I made had a ton of olive oil. Ugly to look at? Yes. Fucking delicious? Also, yes. This isn’t a food blog. It’s a “whatever random crap I decide to include” blog. And when you’re satisfying a craving, it doesn’t matter if your plate looks pretty. 

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Today’s Workout: It happened again

I got so little sleep last night. I was up tossing and turning with terrible gas pains because I restarted my Saxenda. If I go out with friends, I stop taking it so I don’t end up sprinting for a bathroom randomly; particularly if I’m spending the day in the city. The downside is when I restart, the side effects are worse than normal. As I’d gotten no decent rest, I didn’t trust myself on a treadmill and finally dusted off the ole kettlebell.

I’m not ashamed of the fact I snagged a doughnut at the morning meeting at work but since it’s April Fool’s day, the calories don’t count since I didn’t take a picture. Lunch was normal but I was not going to bother cooking when I got home and didn’t want too many calories. Popcorn was my solution; just a small bowl with Trader Joe’s Garlic Citrus Seasoning on it. It took way too many gas pills to get through the day but I’m still declaring it a success.

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Today’s Workout: Good News!

On Monday I went to see the podiatrist about the weird toenails I have and she strongly advised me not to do any permanent toenail removal unless they are causing me pain or other issues. It would be too much pain, risk, and trauma to the tissue for it to really be worth it to remove them all as a preventative measure for a problem that may not happen for decades. So, I’m not getting that surgery and I can get back to running whenever I want! I’ll probably just to c25k again. That seems to be what’s the most effective and convenient time-wise. I just need to make sure to tweak my schedule to make sure I have time in the evenings.

Now, as for food, I remembered breakfast but when time came around for lunch, I could only take a few bites before I had to put it away and have it for dinner. I mean, the Saxenda is doing the job but it was still strange. I’m usually starving by lunchtime. I did have stronger coffee than normal. That might have done it.

atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: More Food Prep Experiments

I think I’m doing pretty well with the biking. 40 minutes is a reasonable length I can pull off during a webinar or something and luckily nobody minds if I do the peddler as long as I get my work done. In fact, most of the people I work with think it’s a fantastic idea. I still need to do more body weight work but, I’ll get there. It’s fine.

I finally fucking remembered to bring an orange for lunch! Geez, they’re right there in the damn kitchen in my face. You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard. But aside for that, I decided to give green beans a try in the Itaki and holy shit, it was amazing! The meat I used was a wagyu beef patty that I just broke up and let sit in the sauce till lunch time and I’ve also enjoyed putting some sliced up ginger in the meal. It gives a nice little punch that I like. For dinner, I was so damn tired that I just grabbed a portion of the pulled pork I’d made from the freezer and had that with some rice. Fast and simple was the name of the game by the end of the day. 

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Today’s Workout: Preparations

While I’m working the stationary bike for now, I feel the urge to get on that treadmill again. I may restart c25k, I’m not sure but I want more movement. Something that gets the heart pumping more than the desk peddler. I’ve been rethinking how to prep dinners and such to make sure I still have time to write, blog, and do needlework. That’s the one great thing about the desk bike; I can multitask.

This was one of those weeks where I bought food with the best of intentions then ended up forgetting about things. I still have a problem eating enough fruit (or any fruit, actually) and I bought some oranges but I keep forgetting to eat them. My kid will eat them but, somewhere between the thought “Don’t forget to grab an orange” and packing my lunch, I forget to grab the damn orange. At least lunch and dinner went to plan…

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