26 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 7:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 359.5 lbs
Length: 30 minutes
Program: Shoveling snow
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: n/a
Rating: It always goes faster with the neighbor using his 4-wheeler to plow lots of snow away, but I got in 30 minutes of activity too.

22 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 363.7 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU Twist
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 308
Rating: I think I'm past the worst of the cold, thank goodness. I've been surprised at how consistently I get 307 to 308 calories burned with the TPRU Twist. It seems to be pretty reliable for me to put forth the same effort.

19 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 367 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU Twist
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 308
Rating: Two days in a row with the twist. I hope I'm getting completely over this cold.

18 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 364.6 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU Twist
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 308
Rating: I slept a little better last night, and I was able to breathe easier today, so I threw the twist back into the mix.

17 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 364.0 lbs
Length: 10 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 177
Rating: Still sick, still kind of hard to breathe, still plodding, but I've been fighting diarrhea too.

Weekend of Worry

Ever since my wife's parents have divorced, we've had to put new rules in place to protect my wife and the kids from as much of the fall out as possible. We now do not allow either of them to stay at our house overnight due to the stresses it creates. While that particular stress is now avoided, there are still plenty of others to go around.

Without going into too much detail, our family has suffered this weekend from the affects of a visit from one of my wife's parents. It has been an emotional and physical strain that makes us wonder how to balance our needs to protect ourselves with the commandment to honor father and mother, who sometimes are not deserving of honor in my opinion. If we continue to have this kind of fall out (EVERY member of the family has been negatively affected), how can that be good for our family, immediate and extended?

15 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 366.4 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 277
Rating: Still sick, still kind of hard to breathe, still plodding, but for 15 minutes today.

11 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 366 lbs
Length: 10 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 173
Rating: The sinus infection is making it hard to breathe deeply and rapidly, so I just plodded today.

Obsessive Compulsive

My son has mild Tourette Syndrome driven Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). As far as I know, I don't have Tourette Syndrome, but I do notice OCD tendencies in myself. For example, I try to be very consistent in the format of my workout posts.

I used to use workout in the title, but then I decided Workout capitalized was more appropriate. I am using Dec for December this month, but I just noticed that I was using October in October, and I nearly went back to all my December posts to update them to be consistent.

Fortunately, my OCD let me write a post about it instead of making me go back and do it. Of course, it will also encourage me to make sure that the rest of my December posts will have Dec and re-evaluate which format I'll use when January comes around. *smile*

10 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 363.8 lbs
Length: 10 minutes
Program: TPRU Twist
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 193
Rating: I have a bit of a sinus infection, a bit of an upset stomach, and the bed sure felt comfy this morning. I hate that. *grin* At least I added in the twist for the 10 minutes I did today.

Moral Victory

I saw the doctor yesterday about my diabetes. My wife showed up unexpectedly to be courtside and help pound the seriousness into me. :)

In the end, it looks like the diabetes is still in the very early stages, and it doesn't appear to have progressed since March. The doctor told us that I should worry about it a little more and my wife a little less. All in all, I feel like, if I have to have diabetes, then at least it's this way and things can be greatly improved with continued effort on my part.

9 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 365.3 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU Twist
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 305
Rating: I almost didn't do the twist addition this time. By the time I got 2 minutes into the workout, though, I was feeling more like trying hard than I was at the beginning.

8 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 365.0 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU Twist
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 304
Rating: I tried a twist to my workout that was suggested in an email from my sister. Instead of just plodding along for 15 minutes, I did a 2 minute warm up (plodding along), then 30 seconds of "sprinting" on the machine, followed by 90 seconds of catching my breath, except for the last time, which was only 30 seconds of catching my breath before 15 minutes was up. Essentially, at the start of every even numbered minute, I go fast for 30 seconds, and then plod.

I burned about 7% more calories this way than on Friday, and it was somewhat more interesting than just plodding. I know I was sweating more after this workout. We'll see if I keep doing it.

5 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:30 AM
Weight beforehand: 368.9 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 284
Rating: Told you so (see previous rating). ;)

4 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:25 AM
Weight beforehand: 375.2 lbs
Length: 15 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 270
Rating: Oops, I forgot to take my blood pressure medicine yesterday. I'd expect the majority of the weight difference between yesterday and today is water weight. I've taken my medicine today, and after visiting the men's room a few times today due to that, I'll probably be back around 370 tomorrow.

I Lose

When we got back from Thanksgiving, there was a message on the answering machine from my doctor, with whom I'd had an appointment the day before Thanksgiving. He hadn't ever received my blood tests from back in March after my last appointment, and when I told him that at this appointment, he said he would get them.

The phone message said that I had more serious problems and that I needed to come in and see him again. We set up an appointment for this coming Monday. Well, my wife just told me that he called again today all upset that he hadn't heard back from me. Here's the essence of the conversation.

[Wife]

You have diabetes

[Me]

I do?

[Wife]

yes

[Me]

Did you talk to (the doctor)?

[Wife]

He just called upset that he hadn't heard from you yet

He said that you have diabetes that we can't ignore

we cannot wait for you to lose the weight, even though that will probably correct it

[Me]

Did you tell him that we've got an appointment?

[Wife]

He's glad you're coming in on Monday and wants me to pound into you how important this is

So, as of March, I have diabetes. Fun how I got to save finding out about it for a Christmas gift!

3 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:50 AM
Weight beforehand: 371.3 lbs
Length: 10 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 168
Rating:

SEO Update

Well, things at CTR-Ring.com seem to be improving with some SEO work done by us. My wife recently told me that she was the #2 link for CTR Ring on Google, after the Wikipedia page. There are more search terms that she'd like to rank higher for, but that's her bread and butter, so to speak.

So, just in time for Christmas, here are a few other items for sale (literally, having a sale right now, plus, you can save an extra 5% off orders $75-$149.99 with coupon code Christmas5 used at checkout, or 10% off orders $150 or more with coupon code Happy10).

• 20" Christus statue, $149.95 (regularly $169.95). Also available in 6" size, $19.95 (regularly $24.95)
• Temple Square Lights Christmas Ornament, $5.00 (regularly $12.95)
• Christus, Believe, and Nativity Crystal Cubes, (select from the dropdown list) $10.00 (regularly $19.95). Also, the lighted base to go with any of the crystal cubes, $8.00 (regularly $9.95).
• Finally, Church Puzzles, $6.00 (regularly $7.95)

Merry Christmas!

1 Dec 2008 Workout

Time: 6:20 AM
Weight beforehand: 370.7 lbs
Length: 10 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 161
Rating:

29 Nov 2008 Workout

Time: 10:50 AM
Weight beforehand: 370.5 lbs
Length: 10 minutes
Program: TPRU
Elliptical Reported Calories Burned: 183
Rating: