Opposite From Yesterday

I thought I wouldn't work out yesterday, but I did. Last night, when I went to bed, I thought I would work out this morning, but I didn't. I slept okay, but I was very tired when the time to work out came around. My wife seems to be feeling the same thing, as she had a struggle to get out of bed too. Hopefully we can get feeling better soon.

Nearly End of Month Review

OK, so I've been working on this for almost 2 months now. Time for a review.

I'm still not down to the 352 lbs that I thought I was starting from with the old scale. I AM down about 26 lbs from where the doctors office said I started from, but I haven't weighed myself again on their scale to know where I am now.

Here's a picture showing my goal to get to 300 lbs by the end of the year. For the expected weight, I took the 382 starting weight, subtracted the 300 end goal weight, and figured out that I had 300 days to get there. I then entered in what the weight should be each day to get down to 300 lbs evenly.

For the actual weight, I started with 382, and since I don't have valid data from the new scale for most of March, I did a similar average weight loss per day to get to where I started with the new scale. After that, I took the numbers from the blog, and on days that I didn't work out, I copied the weight from the last time I had worked out. Here's what it looks like.

29 April 2008 workout

Time: 6:05 AM
Weight beforehand: 356.3 lbs - only 4 lbs to get back to where I thought I started from!
Length: 40 minutes
Program: TPRU. Yes, I really did do level 12 for 40 minutes.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 702
Rating: I went from thinking there was no way I'd work out in the morning due to my cold last night to feeling strong enough to try the galactically stupid this morning. I made it all the way through, but I also learned that the Pedestal and TPRU programs are more strength training, whilst (yes, I work with people in the United Kingdom, and they say "whilst", and I like it) the Train program is more cardiovascular based.

Sick and Carpooling

I've had my cold turn worse again over the weekend. I didn't work out this morning, but I did get a blessing yesterday.

I also started a carpool today. I drive about 7 miles to a meeting point that is convenient for the three of us, and then we drive the remaining 19 or so miles to work. I am driving this week. I hope it will help reduce my commuting expenses.

25 April 2008 workout death march

Time: 5:55 AM
Weight beforehand: 357.8 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: The Pedestal. See below. Here's the visual.
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Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 525
Rating: I call this program the Pedestal because it's the one my wife uses. She burned 550 calories using it yesterday. The elliptical can't report the burning of my eyes from the sweat pouring into them, or my heart jumping out of my chest and slapping me upside the head while screaming "What where you thinking?!"

All hyperbole aside, this was a tough program. I'm going to call my regular program The Train because it has plenty of time for me to start slow and get up to speed before trying to hold that speed through the harder section and then cooling down. The Pedestal is just a mountain climb with no chance to get up to any speed. I had to just start slow and try not to stop.

It got me thinking about the amount of resistance fought versus the total possible amount of resistance. Our elliptical machine goes up to level 12, and if you did that for 40 minutes, you'd do 12 * 40 = 480 Resistance Units (RU). If you add up the resistances from the Train, you get 150 RU, or 31.25% of the Total Possible Resistance Units (TPRU). The Pedestal adds up to 289 RU, or 60.21% TPRU.

Tiredness Strikes Again

I woke up on time this morning, and I could have forced myself out of bed on time again. I've been doing that a lot this week, though. I decided that it would be better to get some rest. I did try to go to bed extra early the night before last, but my mind was still alert even though my body was tired. I'd like to find a way to get both to want to sleep at the same time. :)

23 April 2008 workout

Time: 6:05 AM
Weight beforehand: 359.0 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: The same program.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 423 or so
Rating: I wondered if yesterday's weight was real. Regardless, I've been below 360 this whole week so far, and that is a milestone in and of itself. The workout went fine, although I felt like I should have paced myself more during the warm up so I wouldn't wear out. I didn't really wear out, but I didn't feel as strong as yesterday.

22 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:50 AM
Weight beforehand: 357.2 lbs - I was so surprised that I had to check again!
Length: 40 minutes
Program: The (full) same program.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 442 - a new record
Rating: I guess this is working, even when I had to cut the last two workouts short. I'm not sure that I really believe that I lost nearly 2 lbs since yesterday - we'll see what the scale says tomorrow. Maybe someday I'll get back to where I though I was starting with the old scale.

21 April 2008 workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 359.0 lbs
Length: 20 minutes
Program: First 20 minutes of the same program.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 213
Rating: I really need to start getting to bed earlier, not that last night was too bad. I was getting started so late that I only worked out for 20 minutes, but it's better than nothing. I REALLY don't want to get into the habit of cutting my workouts short, though. I need to watch that.

18 April 2008 workout

Time: 6:20 AM
Weight beforehand: 359.5 lbs
Length: 30 minutes
Program: First 30 minutes of the same program. I left off the cool down part.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 320 to 330 - I didn't pay close enough attention.
Rating: I ended up staying awake far too long and not wanting to work out. In the end, I decided I should do it anyway, but I only did the first 30 minutes in an attempt to be done and showered before the kids got up. That didn't work out, but at least I did.

17 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:55 AM
Weight beforehand: 361.6 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Same program, but I had to adjust the first 14 minutes back to what it used to be because my wife inadvertently modified my custom program.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 410
Rating: My wife works a lot harder than I do. My first 10 minutes of warming up is at level 3. She starts her workout at level 6. My highest level is only level 5, she goes up to level 10 in the first 14 minutes! Maybe someday I'll be able to handle the workout she does, but I already know I can't handle the work load she does. I am a terrible mother. She says I'm a decent father though.

16 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:50 AM
Weight beforehand: 361.7 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Same program
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 406
Rating: I intended to take this one slow as it had been a while, and I'm still tired and feeling sick, though better than yesterday. It ended up being a better workout than I expected. I've put some weight back on, but hopefully getting back into a workout routine will take it right back off.

Sick Day

I wanted to get up at 5:30 this morning when I set the alarm last night. When it went off, I turned it off and set the second alarm that goes off at 6:00. When that went off I wanted to get up at 6:30. When that came I couldn't get up either. With all of us under the weather and worn out, we decided to all take a sick day. I stayed in bed until 9:00ish, and my wife was able to rest until after 11:00. The kids have been restless, but it is good for them to get to, or be required to at times, take a rest. Our youngest is sick or growing or both and has already been napping for some time. I think I should do that soon too.

New Floor, New Appreciation

Our friends came Friday night. That night, the husband climbed up onto our roof to disconnect an unused dish left by the former homeowners that just banged against the house in the wind. Saturday, from a little before 9:00 AM until just after 1:00 AM with a few breaks for meals, he did the majority of the work to lay most of our laminate floor in the kitchen, closet, hallways, and bathroom. On Sunday, he again did the majority of the work to finish the flooring, and this morning, he finished putting our bathroom back together after we weren't able to get new toilet anchors yesterday. His youngest son, about 4 months old, has a doctor's appointment at Primary Children's Hospital today for cleft palate, and then they'll drive the 4 hours back to their home in Idaho. The only payment I gave him was meals, and my wife may have given them some money for gas.

There is great value in handyman skills. I have learned this over and over, but I am not the type of person who will ever really master those skills. I am grateful to know people who have them, and I'm grateful for their willingness to give so freely. I hope that I can be as free with the skills that I do have to those who are in need of them. I try to do the best I can when the opportunity presents itself.

Even though I mostly played "go-fer" while he did the work, I certainly wore myself out. There was no way I was going to work out this morning after the weekend we had. I'm just trying to stay awake! I was grateful for the improved physical condition I have compared to a month ago, though. If I had tried to do this in that condition, I don't know that I would be able to stay awake right now.

Big Project Weekend

We've got some friends coming to visit this weekend. He is a construction and handyman type, and he's going to help us install some new flooring in our kitchen. My wife is VERY excited for this new floor - our linoleum is ugly, and this new laminate should look much better.

Part of preparing for this visit is to get the whole house tidied up. Due to difficulties with our last pregnancy and surgery, it has been quite some time since certain areas of the house have had much attention - we've just been trying to get by. Yesterday, my wife and kids put in lots of work to get one of our three levels very nicely cleaned up. We also picked up the crib we ordered and put it together.

The end result is that we put the kids to bed around 9:00, finished cleaning around 10:00, and had our personal dinner and watched TV to relax until about 11:30. With the upcoming project, my level of fatigue, and the cold I have, I decided to not workout this morning too. I still ended up being grouchy, and I need to work on that - it's not anyone's fault but my own that I stayed up an extra hour last night that I didn't need to. Sorry honey.

No workout today

Yesterday was a very long and tiring day for myself, my wife, and my children. We've been driving about 45 minutes to get my oldest son to a counselor to try and determine if he has been abused, and if so, how badly. The good news is that there is no obvious sign of abuse. There does appear to be something bothering him, but yesterday the counselor said it might be due to the OCD that my son has been diagnosed with. We'll have our last appointment next week.

By the time we get home, we just want to get everyone to bed and settled and relax. Unfortunately, my wife seems to be getting a bladder infection as well. We spent some time trying to find her some relief from that.

After a day like that, even though I was awake before the alarm went off, I decided it would be best for everyone to get as much rest as we could. I know the extra sleep did me some good.

9 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:55 AM
Weight beforehand: 358.1 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Same new program
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 404
Rating: I tried to warm up again today, but I must have pushed too hard when I started getting up to speed, because I had to slow down about a third of the way through. Still, I made it, even though I was pretty tired.

This is Why I Want to Use Money to Make Money

My company announced today that we will be forced to take two weeks off, one the week of Memorial Day, and one the week of July 4th, for short term cost savings. I probably don't have enough vacation time to cover the whole thing, so some of that will be time off without pay. There will also be the "traditional" two week shutdown over Christmas, and I may not have enough vacation time built up to be able to take those without any loss in pay either. Flex time rather than separate vacation and sick would be helpful here.

While not as bad as losing my job, being at the mercy of someone else's fiscal policy is uncomfortable. These kinds of things are why I want to invest and use money to make money so that I don't have to worry about the stability of a job.

8 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:45 AM
Weight beforehand: 359.6 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Same new program
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 434
Rating: What a difference a warm up makes. I can't believe I'm doing enough exercise to know that from experience rather than just hearing about the theory.

Busy

It's been a month since I started working out. This past weekend was a spiritual feast. My children are growing up. Work has some good points and bad points. All of these things and more want me to write about them. Sadly, I am so busy with all of them that I don't seem to get the time to do it.

7 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:45 AM
Weight beforehand: 361.3 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Here is a visual representation of the tweaked program.
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Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 401
Rating: I didn't warm up as slowly as I should have, and I ended up burning out far too early. I finished, but more than half of the workout was just me dragging to get through.

4 April 2008 workout

Time: 6:00 AM
Weight beforehand: 359.7 lbs - The first time this scale has me below 360!
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Same program, but I'm thinking about tweaking it again.
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 412
Rating: I was afraid of Montezuma's Revenge again when I first woke up, but I made it through the whole workout without interruption. I even burned more calories than I thought I might.

3 April 2008 workout - Interrupted

Time: 5:40 AM
Weight beforehand: 362.0 lbs
Length: 14 minutes
Program: First 14 minutes of the same program
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 143
Rating: I was up using the bathroom at 4:30 and again at 5:30, and even so, the workout needed to be interrupted today. It took long enough that I thought I would just move on, especially since I was afraid I would be interrupted again.

I Wimped Out Today

I was really tired and grouchy yesterday. My wife was very tired too, so we made sure to go to bed earlier than we had been. My daughter woke up and needed some brief words of comfort around 1:30 AM, and after that I couldn't get back into a restful sleep. When the alarm went off, I wondered if I should get up and run the risk of being mean and grouchy toward my family again. In the end, I decided I should get more rest.

The result? I'm not as tired as I was when I first got up, but I feel like I should just choose to not be mean and grouchy rather than allowing myself to be mean and grouchy when I'm tired.

1 April 2008 workout

Time: 5:50 AM
Weight beforehand: 361.7 lbs
Length: 40 minutes
Program: Same program
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 385
Rating: This is more what I expected yesterday to be like. I was tired and didn't want to workout, but I did it halfheartedly because it's good for me.