Workouts ... Week beginning 24-Dec-2007

24-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:40:19
Time In Zone 0:33:31

Watch calculated limits: 129 - 151
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 530/45%

Workouts ... Week beginning 17-Dec-2007

17-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:35:00
Time In Zone 0:31:42

Watch calculated limits: 129 - 151
Average Heart Rate 138
KCal/Fat: 427/45%

18-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:35:18
Time In Zone 0:30:43

Watch calculated limits: 129 - 151
Average Heart Rate 141
KCal/Fat: 448/45%

19-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:36:45
Time In Zone 0:32:05

Watch calculated limits: 129 - 151
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 488/45%


20-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:40:02
Time In Zone 0:33:08

Watch calculated limits: 129 - 151
Average Heart Rate 142
KCal/Fat: 515/45%

Workout December 08, 2007

Ok, so I'm only 42, I will eventually learn the really basic lesson.

Exercise is not just good. Exercise is necessary to remaining physically fit, living as long as possible and seeing your nieces grow up, graduate high school, college and get married and have great nieces and nephews.

Though I only took a month off this time, so maybe I am slowly learning.

Time exercising.. 0:45:29
Time In Zone 0:32:34

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 151
Average Heart Rate 146
KCal/Fat: 622/40%

10-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:35:53
Time In Zone 0:31:50

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 151
Average Heart Rate 143
KCal/Fat: 469/40%

12-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 0:40:42
Time In Zone 0:33:10

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 151
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 543/40%

16-Dec-2007
Time exercising.. 1:15:31
Time In Zone 1:03:37

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 151
Average Heart Rate 142
KCal/Fat: 981/45%

Workout 07-November-2007

Time exercising.. 1:07:23
Time In Zone 1:01:26

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 151
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 909 /40%

Tonight's workout crowd was a bit of a switch.. three guys from about my age to college age. And the stationary bike was free so I did my entire workout on that.

I'm not sure if it's just that America's Top Model isn't there to watch, or if guys have different inspirational TV watching than young women, but tonight's fare was the Comedy channel, one full episodes of scrubs and the daily show (I don't think I have ever bothered to watch the daily show in it's entirety.. it was pretty good.)

I think tomorrow might be a rest day.. we'll see.

Workout 06-November-2007

Time exercising.. 1:12:42
Time In Zone 1:03:15

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 151
Average Heart Rate 143
KCal/Fat: 955 /40%

The workout room was not appreciably cooler. It was appreciably fuller. 3 young women, one adult female and one college age male. the only machine left available was the stairmasterish thing.

I was and am not thrilled. Out of 60 minutes on the stair stepping machine I was in zone for maybe 35-40 minutes. They bailed around then and I was able to get on the stationary bike for the rest of my workout.

I'm not sure what the relationship was between the one adult female and two of the younger girls, it seemed somewhat mother daughterish, and somewhat the crazy aunt. I bit my tongue to not take her to task for calling the shorter girl fat and teasing her about her workout. Yes, it made her up the speed on the treadmill, but no I don't think that's the kind of reinforcement that helps build good esteem or good workout habits.

Workout 05-November-2007

Time exercising.. 0:33:58
Time In Zone 0:31:15

Watch calculated limits: 116 - 151
Average Heart Rate 141
KCal/Fat: 432 /40%

I do really dislike working out in excessive warmth. And unfortunately today, they community workout room appears to have a heating problem. It's near the first freeze outside, but they had to turn on the air conditioner in the workout room.

I think they got it down to about 80 something, but that's just not quite low enough for me to be comfy, so I left it at a 30 minute workout.

This time my only company in the workout room was a college aged male. At least I think he might have been college age and not post grad. The further I get from an age, the less I am able to judge how old a person is.

Workout 02-Nov-2007

Time exercising.. 1:21:25
Time In Zone 1:05:30

Watch calculated limits: 116 - 151
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 1129 /35%

Once is chance, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern. This make the second evening where the young lady working out in the community workout room has chosen "Next Top Model" as her inspirational viewing while she works out.

For my workout, since the young lady was sitting on the stationary bike when I walked in, I chose the elliptical. I don't like the elliptical yet because I can't stay inside my workout zone very well while doing a random pattern on the elliptical. I kept going high. In a 20 minute workout I got maybe 12 of tht inzone. When you're goal is an hour in zone that's just not a happy thing.

What was a happy thing is that the treadmill opened up and the young lady just sitting on the stationary bike got on to the treadmill, did her workout, some sit ups after and left before my time on the elliptical was up, so I could do the remainder of my cardiovascular time on the stationary bike.

Either I need more padding or the seat on the stationary bike does.

Workout 01-Nov-2007

Time exercising.. 1:13:42
Time In Zone 1:00:45

Watch calculated limits: 116 - 151
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 1026 /35%

OK.. on to something new and different. My last workout method went from jogging in place/circles around my living room to jumping rope. Jumping rope actually took a little more coordination and was kinda fun. Well, kinda fun till my left foot started hurting, just about an inch up my arch from the ball of my foot.

That's what put me on hiatus for most of the last month. I figured if I strained something or if I caused hairline fractures it needed time to heal and I could resume.

Well, apparently, from my workout yesterday, i didn't wait long enough. So tonight was on to a new plan. My apartment complex does have a workout room, and it has elliptical machines, stair climbers, a stationary bike as well as weight machines.

I can feel a little bit of twinge there after today's workout, but we'll see if that continues. It's not much of a twinge and I had that just from the day's walking around at work.

The only reasons I haven't normally used the apartment complexes workout room are the hours (I basically gotta go right after work if I'm going to get in a workout) and the fact that most of the other users are one to two decades younger than I am. Call that a benefit or drawback to living in an apartment complex that is a 2 minute walk from a college campus. a 20 something female working out next to me, or in front of me is not what I call incentive, it's what I call "lets not make the nice girl uncomfortable, she's not here for your entertainment." So while I try not to ignore the fact she exists, I also did my best not to do more than that.

None the less the one gal that was in there when I came in left after I was there for about 10 minutes and a second one came in half way through my workout, put America's next top model on the workout room TV and then left after about 20 minutes.

Now maybe that's their normal workout time, but part of me feels they were just being safety conscious/smart when it comes to being alone in a workout room with an adult male they do not know.

workout 31-Oct-2007

Workout 31-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:20:39
Time In Zone 0:19:17

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 243 /45%

Workouts... Week ending 20-Oct-2007

Workout 16-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:35:04
Time In Zone 0:31:11

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 152
Average Heart Rate 141
KCal/Fat: 448 /50%

Workouts... Week ending 13-Oct-2007

Missed recording Monday, didn't workout Tuesday..

Workout 10-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:39:52
Time In Zone 0:31:00

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 525 /45%

Workout 12-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:42:50
Time In Zone 0:33:54

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 152
Average Heart Rate 138
KCal/Fat: 529 /50%


Workout 14-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:36:50
Time In Zone 0:30:51

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 488 /50%

Week Ending 06-October-2007

Workout 03-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:36:54
Time In Zone 0:34:12

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 138
KCal/Fat: 452 /45%

Hmmm.. I think I missed recording a workout in here somewhere.

Workout 05-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:41:36
Time In Zone 0:31:32

Watch calculated limits: 127 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 544 /40%

Did something odd to my foot, top muscles of my right foot are not happy, so bouncing seems like a bad idea.

Workout 07-Oct

Time exercising.. 0:51:10
Time In Zone 0:30:20

Watch calculated limits: 127 - 152
Average Heart Rate 124
KCal/Fat: 472 /50%

Observation: At my current fitness level, attempting to make hola hooping an aerobic activity.. not so easy. working in lots of breaks for push ups and sit ups, it took about an hour to get 30 minutes of that in range.

Testing embedding of flashish stuff.

Since I'm testing the new version of Trillian I've been putting this funky little widget wherever I can.



So what's it telling you or anyone.. my current avatar graphic

Which IM clients am I signed into, and what's my status on them.

IM Clients from Left to right..

Trillian Astra (They created their own IM as well as supporting everyone elses.)
ICQ
Yahoo (I've been using the native yahoo client for this one because Trillian doesn't do webcams well)
MSN
Google
MySpace

The installed widgets are:

The current time here in Minneapolis.

The current weather here in Minneapolis.

Week Ending 29-September-2007

Ok, Monday and Tuesday were fairly late starts so I did abbreviated workouts which I didn't bother to put on my watch for..

Workout 26-Sep

Time exercising.. 0:44:47
Time In Zone 0:40:04

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 590 /40%

Workout 27-Sep

Time exercising.. 0:40:59
Time In Zone 0:32:32

Watch calculated limits: 129 - 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 551 /45%

Workout 28-Sep

Time exercising.. 0:41:21
Time In Zone 0:34:22

Watch calculated limits: 130 - 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 551 /45%


Workout 29-Sep

Time exercising.. 0:44:38
Time In Zone 0:37:51

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 587 /40%


Workout 30-Sep

Time exercising.. 1:22:55
Time In Zone 1:12:36

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 140
KCal/Fat: 1041 /40%

Back to it.. week ending 22-September, 2007

09/20/2007
Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:38:53
Time In Zone 0:33:67

Watch calculated limits: 128 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 523 /45%

09/21/2007
Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:39:35
Time In Zone 0:34:35

Watch calculated limits: 128 - 152
Average Heart Rate 139
KCal/Fat: 493/50%

09/22/2007
Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:45:58
Time In Zone 0:35:51

Watch calculated limits: 128 - 152
Average Heart Rate 143
KCal/Fat: 602/45%

Summer's come and gone..

I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to "blame" my hiatus on Summer, or the shift to earlier, shorter workouts or whether I'm just gonna say I had a failure of willpower.

None the less.. I'm back. It's fall, my weight's creeping out of the range I decided was my goal and my body fat percentage is climbing even more. To bring things up to date to the end of August..

Nearly a year's worth of data..


Not too bad for a summer of not working out consistently (I kept up with sporadic jump roping, push ups, and chin ups)


I think I need to keep myself closer to the middle of my range, and I think I could have done that with my current diet if I had just maintained a consistent workout schedule.

We'll see.. I'm nudging my diet but trying *not* to go back to people kibble.

I'm trying some various times for workouts so we'll see when I start putting on my cardio watch again.

Workouts ... Week beginning 08-Jun-2007

Non Workout 24-Jun - 13-Jul

I did jump rope most days, and did some push ups and/or sit ups, but nothing organized enough that I put on my cardio watch and tracked it.

Workout 14-Jun

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:36:19
Time In Zone 0:32:01

Watch calculated limits: 117 - 147
Average Heart Rate 132
KCal/Fat: 410 /45%


Mostly jumping rope, a set of situps/pushups when that got boring.

Workout 15-Jun

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:36:32
Time In Zone 0:32:58

Watch calculated limits: 120 - 150
Average Heart Rate 137
KCal/Fat: 442 /45%


Mostly jumping rope, a set of situps/pushups when that got boring.

Workouts ... Week beginning 17-Jun-2007

Non Workout 17-Jun - 23-Jun

I did jump rope most days, and did some push ups and/or sit ups, but nothing organized enough that I put on my cardio watch and tracked it.

Workout 24-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:03:01
Time In Zone 0:37:36

Watch calculated limits: 133 - 152
Average Heart Rate 146
KCal/Fat: 850 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workouts ... Week beginning 11-Jun-2007

Workout 11-Jun

Workout 12-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:27:53
Time In Zone 0:14:31

Watch calculated limits: 125 - 152
Average Heart Rate 142
KCal/Fat: 357 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 13-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:33:47
Time In Zone 0:23:25

Watch calculated limits: 127 - 152
Average Heart Rate 143
KCal/Fat: 441 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Non Workout 14-Jun

Workout 15-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:33:32
Time In Zone 0:17:36

Watch calculated limits: 133 - 152
Average Heart Rate 147
KCal/Fat: 458 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 16-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:54:13
Time In Zone 0:42:05

Watch calculated limits: 133 - 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 731 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

A non workoutish semi success..

I stayed within my preferred upper and lower bounds and started experimenting with foods outside of my rather boring rut of "What I have been eating to lose weight". So far not a lot of excitement but I'm not really looking for some yet.


Over all, I am continuing to be fairly pleased with myself, but I really have to avoid long hiatuses from working out.. it hurts to get started again. And it also set me back on a secondary goal, lowering by body fat percentage. It not something I'm getting exceedingly serious about because I doubt the accuracy of my scale's measure of it.. but I expect it should be at least consistent with itself. When i started back in october the measurement was in the 20-21 range, by the beginning of may it was in the 17-18 range. Now it's in the 18-19 range and I want to get it trending back down. I would like to be in the 15-16 range.

Workouts ... Week beginning 28-May-2007

... Lots of non-workouts

Workout 01-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:33:10
Time In Zone 0:09:09

Watch calculated limits: 134 - 152
Average Heart Rate 154
KCal/Fat: 491 /35%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

I always wondered if time above zone counted into the average.. I guess now I know. I don't know if I needed time off because I finally reached my goal weight, or just the draw of Age of Empire III: War Chief's expansion was a bigger draw than workouts. Either way, I'm reaching an end point in game play on War Chiefs and a new month has begun, so time to get back to it.

Non-Workout 02-Jun

Ow.

Workout 03-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:13
Time In Zone 0:25:29

Watch calculated limits: 131 - 152
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 681 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Non Workout 04-Jun

Non Workout 05-Jun

Workout 06-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:26:10
Time In Zone 0:16:19

Watch calculated limits: 124 - 152
Average Heart Rate 140
KCal/Fat: 330 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 10-Jun

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:05:16
Time In Zone 0:28:28

Watch calculated limits: 124 - 152
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 922 /35%

7 sets of 15 Push ups

Wait.. where are we at?

Or perhaps that should be Weight..

And the answer is.. not bad.. all of April I hovered around and stayed in my goal area.

The challenges have been adjusting to getting into work earlier and thus having less time for a morning workout and my gaming addiction flaring up. I picked up Age of Empires III, War Chief's expansion.

The good part of that.. I get absorbed in the game to the point I don't notice i'm not eating.

The bad part of that.. I get absorbed in the game to the point I don't notice i'm not eating. Or sleeping.

Over All..



Not too bad.

Workouts ... Week beginning 07-May-2007

Non Workout 07-May

Workout 08-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:33:13
Time In Zone 0:25:04

Watch calculated limits: 127 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 442 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Non Workout 09-May

Non Workout 10-May

Workouts ... Week beginning 30-Apr-2007

Workout 30-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:35:03
Time In Zone 0:26:55

Watch calculated limits: 121 - 151
Average Heart Rate 138
KCal/Fat: 430 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 01-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:30:04
Time In Zone 0:17:16

Watch calculated limits: 121 - 151
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 400/40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 02-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:31:48
Time In Zone 0:22:46

Watch calculated limits: 137 - 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 424 /50%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 03-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:31:28
Time In Zone 0:18:46

Watch calculated limits: 137 - 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 424 /50%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 04-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:33:58
Time In Zone 0:14:47

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 152
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 469 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 05-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:36:53
Time In Zone 0:19:10

Watch calculated limits: 124 - 152
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 518 /35%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 06-May

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:34:21
Time In Zone 0:17:31

Watch calculated limits: 124 - 152
Average Heart Rate 147
KCal/Fat: 468 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

A change of pace..

Well, work has decided I need to be more of a morning person. They've been very flexible about when I can come in as long as I get my work done, but there has been a change in the wind and they are tightening the rule about "contractors can only work when a manager is on the floor" and since my boss tends to leave a little after 5 pm, I need to be about the same time.

So.. getting in an hour earlier means less time for a workout. I think I can still dedicate about 30 minutes, so I decided to see how much in-zone time I can put into a 30 minute workout.

Today should be as bad as it gets. My living room Air Condition is broken, so my living room is about 82-83 degrees for today's workout so it was really, really easy for me to go way too high. (The apartment management informed me that the air conditioners are on back order a few weeks ago when I first reported it broken.)

Workouts ... Week beginning 23-Apr-2007

Workout 23-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:52:14
Time In Zone 0:41:58

Watch calculated limits: 118 - 148
Average Heart Rate 136
KCal/Fat: 623 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 24-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:41
Time In Zone 0:37:54

Watch calculated limits: 120 - 150
Average Heart Rate 140
KCal/Fat: 627 /40%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned4

Workout 25-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:39
Time In Zone 0:34:13

Watch calculated limits: 128 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 657 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned4

Non Workout 26-Apr

Non Workout 27-Apr

Non Workout 28-Apr

Workout 29-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:36:53
Time In Zone 0:19:41

Watch calculated limits: 121 - 151
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 492 /35%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workouts ... Week beginning 16-Apr-2007

Non Workout 16-Apr

My ankle is feeling a little twingy so I'm going to pass on working out today.


Workout 17-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:52:07
Time In Zone 0:41:54

Watch calculated limits: 130 - 152
Average Heart Rate 136
KCal/Fat: 622 /50%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workout 18-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:21:10
Time In Zone 1:07:08

Watch calculated limits: 130 - 152
Average Heart Rate 140
KCal/Fat: 1026 /50%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Non Workout 19-Apr

I can't believe I'm slacking twice in the same week, but my stomach just isn't happy this morning.. I may see if I am in the mood for a rare after work workout.

Workout 20-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:54:08
Time In Zone 0:45:43

Watch calculated limits: 118 - 148
Average Heart Rate 133
KCal/Fat: 622 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calories burned

Workouts ... Week beginning 09-Apr-2007

Workout 09-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:03:48
Time In Zone 0:57:58

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 142
KCal/Fat: 818 /40%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 10-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:53:35
Time In Zone 0:45:24

Watch calculated limits: 114 - 144
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 624 /45%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 11-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:35
Time In Zone 0:37:44

Watch calculated limits: 114 - 144
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 547 /45%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 12-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:45:40
Time In Zone 0:38:26

Watch calculated limits: 114 - 144
Average Heart Rate 133
KCal/Fat: 515 /45%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 13-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:05:35
Time In Zone 0:56:29

Watch calculated limits: 130 - 152
Average Heart Rate 140
KCal/Fat: 823 /45%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 14-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:18:06
Time In Zone 1:07:21

Watch calculated limits: 130 - 152
Average Heart Rate 143
KCal/Fat: 1027 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calorie mark

Workout 14-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:20:08
Time In Zone 1:07:52

Watch calculated limits: 130 - 152
Average Heart Rate 141
KCal/Fat: 1026 /45%

15 Push ups on each 100 calorie mark

Workouts ... Week beginning 02-Apr-2007

Workout 02-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:08:41
Time In Zone 1:00:55

Watch calculated limits: 117 - 147
Average Heart Rate 136
KCal/Fat: 819 /45%

5 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 03-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:22:20
Time In Zone 1:10:50

Watch calculated limits: 117 - 147
Average Heart Rate 138
KCal/Fat: 1002 /40%

5 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 04-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:44:19
Time In Zone 0:31:17

Watch calculated limits: 115- 145
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 523 /40%

5 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark in zone


Workout 05-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:40:01
Time In Zone 0:33:02

Watch calculated limits: 115- 145
Average Heart Rate 134
KCal/Fat: 467 /45%

0 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 06-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:06:37
Time In Zone 1:01:04

Watch calculated limits: 115- 145
Average Heart Rate 134
KCal/Fat: 780/45%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 07-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:17:50
Time In Zone 1:06:58

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 1026 /40%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Workout 08-Apr (Happy Easter)

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:27:31
Time In Zone 1:22:11

Watch calculated limits: 122 - 152
Average Heart Rate 142
KCal/Fat: 1131 /40%

10 Push ups on each 10 minute mark in zone

Positive Attitude..

Well, I did have a positive attitude, and it's still there.. but the motivation.. that's currently more than a little lacking. I can't complain too much since I haven't gone badly off track, but I've basically switched into maintenance mode a month early. If i were playing bounce around the trend line with the lower boundary of my goal weight I'd be ecstatic, but the fact I'm doing it with the top boundary just doesn't make me happy.



Time to start a new month and see if i can't move downward again and start playing with that bottom line instead of the top one. I may just be skipping chin ups for a short while.. sets of chin ups every 10 minutes has been more demotivating than motivating and I think until I'm trying to be in maintenance mode and can add some extra protein that might turn into more muscle to make those chin ups easier.. they can wait.

Workouts ... Week beginning 26-Mar-2007

Workout 26-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:05:13
Time In Zone 0:55:53

Watch calculated limits: 123 - 152
Average Heart Rate 137
KCal/Fat: 793 /45%

10, 10, 10, 10, 9 Chin ups

Lack of workout 27-Mar

Arms hurt again.. new book arrived.. The Dance of Time, David Drake and Eric Flint.. maybe workout tomorrow if muscles don't feel like I pulled something

Workout 28-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:44:32
Time In Zone 0:31:48

Watch calculated limits: 123 - 152
Average Heart Rate 133
KCal/Fat: 502 /45%

10, 10, 10 Chin ups

Workout 29-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:42:32
Time In Zone 0:31:55

Watch calculated limits: 123 - 152
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 502 /45%

10, 10, 10 Chin ups

Workout 30-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:44:13
Time In Zone 0:32:56

Watch calculated limits: 123 - 152
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 516 /45%

10, 10, 10 Chin ups

Workout 31-Mar

The most I managed today was a set of push up and a set of sit ups.

Workout 01-Apr

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:32:05
Time In Zone 0:26:19

Watch calculated limits: 123 - 152
Average Heart Rate 137
KCal/Fat: 387 /45%

0 Chin ups

Workouts ... Week beginning 19-Mar-2007

Workout 19-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:06:59
Time In Zone 0:55:24

Watch calculated limits: 118 - 148
Average Heart Rate 136
KCal/Fat: 804/45%

10, 10, 10, 9, 9 Chin ups

Workout 20-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:41:26
Time In Zone 0:31:45

Watch calculated limits: 113 - 143
Average Heart Rate 131
KCal/Fat: 461/45%

10, 10, 10 Chin ups

Workout 21-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:14:10
Time In Zone 1:01:28

Watch calculated limits: 113 - 143
Average Heart Rate 134
KCal/Fat: 857/40%

10, 10, 10, 9, 9 Chin ups

Workout 22-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:42:26
Time In Zone 0:31:12

Watch calculated limits: 113 - 143
Average Heart Rate 133
KCal/Fat: 471/45%

10, 10, 10 Chin ups

Workout 23-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:11:58
Time In Zone 1:01:06

Watch calculated limits: 118 - 148
Average Heart Rate 136
KCal/Fat: 858/45%

10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Chin ups

And just 'cause I had time and wanted to see if doing some extra work would help me push through a stubborn weight slow point.

Time exercising.. 1:26:04
Time In Zone 1:22:35

Watch calculated limits: 118 - 148
Average Heart Rate 135
KCal/Fat: 1012/45%

Workout 24-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:16:50
Time In Zone 1:08:34

Watch calculated limits: 123 - 152
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 1013/40%

10, 10, 10, 10, 9 Chin ups

Lack of Workout 25-Mar

I might have just pushed a little hard the last couple days.. neck, shoulder and arms are unhappy so I'm taking the day to let those muscles heal a bit before pushing again on Monday.

New Watch.. Cardio Monitor that is.

The reason for my brief hiatus from cardiovascular workouts was because my old Cardiovascular monitor watch (A Polar M21) was really starting to frustrate me. Sometimes once or twice a minute it would lose track and suddenly instead of the heart rate of 145 it was registering moments ago, it would think my heart was beating 76 beats a minute. This kept getting more and more frequent. I could make it stop by holding the watch a couple inches away from the chest strap but it still took a few seconds to correct itself and that tended to mess up both my pace and the watch statistics for amount of time in-zone.

Finally reading the FAQ on the Polar website I discovered that this was a sign that the battery in the chest strap was failing. They have a rated life of about 2500 hours of use and I'd certainly had mine at least that long.

Well, they don't make the model M21 anymore, so the closest to that currently is the M32. Now I get to go through the fun of getting the watch to figure out my fitness level and give me a in-zone range that's a challenge.

Right now the challenge is staying down in the range that it's set for me. Ok, I figured that the top range was going to come down. Apparently my old watch didn't increment my age as time went by so it still thought I was in my late 30s, so a the top range didn't decrease.

According to my age, a heart rate zone of 65 to 85% of my maximum heart rate is.. 220 - my age, so 179. 65% = 116.35, 85% = 152.15 which is the range my watch used the first day. But it does have a function called "OwnZone" that is supposed to be able to determine a narrower range than that from your heart rate's activity during a warm up period.

I'm no longer sure I plan on using the OwnZone function and may just set it to go by my age. I felt like I was really slowing down a lot to stay under a max of 147. And I have no clue why it brought the top end down that much. We'll see what happens with a few more attempts.

Workouts ... Week beginning 12-Mar-2007

Workout 12-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 13-Mar

Nada, zip, zilch, took the steps in the stairwell at a pretty good clip, but that's as close as I got to exercise.

Workout 14-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 15-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 16-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:57:05
Time In Zone 0:45:42

Watch calculated limits: 116- 152
Average Heart Rate 145
KCal/Fat: 757/35%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 17-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 1:17:18
Time In Zone 0:55:38

Watch calculated limits: 117 - 147
Average Heart Rate 141
KCal/Fat: 974/40%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 18-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:46:39
Time In Zone 0:31:26

Watch calculated limits: 115- 145
Average Heart Rate 136
KCal/Fat: 554/40%

10 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep performing extra cardiovascular exercise on my "off" days, or if I'm just trying to make up for those days I missed.. time will tell. The time (today and yesterday) is longer than I would normally record because I've been having the heart monitor active during my calisthenics too. That's actually making me be a little more mindful of how I'm doing them and keeping me from waiting/resting too long between exercises.. not sure if I'm keeping that either but I was curious how much of my calisthenics were inside my target heart range as well.

Workouts ... Week beginning 05-Mar-2007

Workout 05-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:57:24
Time In Zone 0:45:36

Watch calculated limits: 145 - 156
Average Heart Rate 142
KCal/Fat: 760/55%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 06-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 07-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:57:01
Time In Zone 0:47:41

Watch calculated limits: 145 - 156
Average Heart Rate 144
KCal/Fat: 775/55%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 08-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 09-Mar

Morning Calisthenics


Workout 10-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 11-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Febuary weight

If i can get some time during the work day I'll see if I can pontificate on the month, but at the moment I really need to hit the shower and hit the road.

And now, I'm getting ready to go home from work and I realize I haven't said anything.

Well, I'm not sure how much there is to say, the trend downward continues, not always at the same speed, but a respectable 5 pounds over the month (and a short month at that) and my actual weight dropped to nearly the high goal weight I've set for myself a couple of times so far.

I strongly suspect that March will be the month I reach my low goal weight and start on the even more interesting task. Maintenance.

I know what to eat to lose weight.

I know what I ate to gain it in the first place.

I have little clue exactly what foods and amounts are going to be keeping me at a given weight.

When i do reach my low weight.. I'm definitely going to Culvers, calorie and fat overkill or not. And rather than taking it home, I will eat it there and do my best to savor it. For now.. I'm going to head home and wait for the snow.

Workouts ... Week beginning 26-Feb-2007

Workout 26-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 27-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 28-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:53:13
Time In Zone 0:47:35

Watch calculated limits: 145 - 156
Average Heart Rate 151
KCal/Fat: 793/50%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 01-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 02-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:56:39
Time In Zone 0:49:19

Watch calculated limits: 145 - 156
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 799/55%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 03-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 04-Mar

Morning Calisthenics

Workouts ... Week beginning 19-Feb-2007

Workout 19-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:50:14
Time In Zone 0:46:45

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 739/40%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 20-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 21-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:52:53
Time In Zone 0:47:16

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 736/40%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 22-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 23-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:52:48
Time In Zone 0:47:46

Watch calculated limits: 145 - 156
Average Heart Rate 151
KCal/Fat: 779/50%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 24-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:56:31
Time In Zone 0:47:48

Watch calculated limits: 145 - 156
Average Heart Rate 152
KCal/Fat: 836/50%

9 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 25-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workouts ... Week beginning 12-Feb-2007

Workout 14-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:50:39
Time In Zone 0:46:00

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 151
KCal/Fat: 747/40%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 15-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 16-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:52:19
Time In Zone 0:47:02

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 147
KCal/Fat: 738/45%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 17-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:51:52
Time In Zone 0:48:31

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 756/40%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 18-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Non-workouts, week beginning 12-Feb-2007

Yep, you read that right.. non workouts, at least for a couple days.

I'm not sure exactly how I caused a muscle in my hip to be really highly irritated with me, but it is, so Monday was my first sick day in a few months as I let a muscle relaxant have it's way with me. Now I'm back at work today, but I still didn't even attempt my calisthenics yet since things still aren't quite happy there yet.

I'm hoping to ease back into it later in the week, but at this point I feel like most of my exercises would just aggravate things.

Which way to indulge myself.

Well, I've indulged my workouts in two way this week. One, I got myself a hula hoop. You go ahead and laugh, but I was watching one of the VH1 "100 best toys" or some such thing and one of the featured toys was the hula hoop. You're not moving far, it looks like it could burn a fair amount of calories and it's just absurd enough to be fun.

So far.. I've knocked things off two different tables and this morning, worked my way up to a count of 40 before I end up with the hoop around my ankles, which certainly beats last night when I couldn't get it to stay at hip level or above. I was actualy looking for Heavy Hands at Target (because I had found them online at Target.com, and didn't notice the text saying "available online, but not in stores) and I'd been thinking about getting a hula hoop anyway.

Second, I ordered some heavy hands from Amazon because they seem like a good and adaptable way to keep challenging myself during my cardiovascular workout. You can change the weights on them to be up to 10 pounds that I can find, and thus ought to keep being challenging, yet remain about the same size for me to hold on to. (As opposed to my 2 kilogram juggling balls which are a bit large to hold onto with sweaty hands.

Now I'm trying to decide between two indulgences. Behind Door number1, we have, crossing the weight barrier of 190 lbs. I'm really close and if I push, i think i can get there by end of this week, or middle of next week at latest. It would likely be my lowest weight in a decade. Behind Door number 2, we have a lunch or dinner out at a restaurant I have had a taste for. (Not going into detail because I don't need to trigger anyone else, let me just summarize by saying meal parts = 684 calories, 396 from fat + 584 calories, 270 from fat + 320 calories, all carbs. )

I think at this point I'm going for the weight goal, because I had not looked up the calories before this moment. I can certainly let myself indulge in things like that infrequently, I'm not interested in denial or abstinence from food or anything else, but I am certainly all about "all things in moderation." And that includes high fat fast foods. Something that artery clogging definitely qualifies as a very infrequent indulgence.

A little more about this chart...

One of the things I really like about the the The Hacker Diet philosophy is that it is a change for life. You see I'm not planning on weighing myself every day until I reach my goal, then I'm done dieting. Maybe I could succeed at staying a slimmer me if I were to do that, but I doubt it. My weight would surely creep right back up that same slope and I'm certainly not guaranteeing that the slope would be an gentle as the route down has been.

No, the idea is to continue to weigh yourself. Every Single Day. That way, if I start to bounce out of that nice wide band of "Low Goal weight" and "High goal weight", I know very quickly and I can adjust to get back in bounds. Not 10-20 pounds later when I check because my pants feel too tight.

I don't really have a date by which I feel I should reach my goal, but mostly I'm just going for continuing to have the trend line go downward.

Workouts ... Week beginning 05-Feb-2007

Workout 05-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:57
Time In Zone 0:46:37

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 704/45%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 06-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 07-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:29
Time In Zone 0:47:00

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 717/45%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark, edged up to 8 for the last 2 sets

Workout 08-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 09-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:14
Time In Zone 0:46:01

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 711/45%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 10-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:44
Time In Zone 0:47:20

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 722/45%

8 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 10-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Trend Graphs January

Now that's a fair image, hopefully clicking on it makes it even larger. That red line that's bouncing around a bit is my actual weight from my daily morning weigh ins. The smoother yellow line is the one I pay attention to. That's the trend of my weight.. am i gaining, am I losing and how quickly.

So far.. so good. I haven't pulled together the whole "since I started losing weight" graph yet.. perhaps over the weekend. edit, or maybe I can come up with something faster

Food..

Reading through lots of other blogs by people trying to lose weight and I notice that pretty much everybody mentions something about food. That's something I'm still trying to figure out.

My basic approach has been to follow the The Hacker Diet methodology of daily weigh ins on a spreadsheet that averages several days of weights to create a trend line. The philosophy is that any single time you weigh yourself, it is prone to error. Even if you weigh yourself at the exact same time of day, buck naked ever time, your water consumption, hormonal shifts and many too many other things can change you weight. Therefore, single weigh in's, especially daily ones can be a pretty disheartening way to track your progress.

Yet, if you average them, you get a pretty clear trend to indication if your weight is going up down, or staying about the same. (I finally spent a little time playing with Open Office's graphing so I'll see if I can post my January actual weight vs trend line)

When I started, I made minimal changes and checked what my trend line was doing for a week or so. Then I started taking things out of my diet that didn't need to be there. 2 to 3 can's of Mountain Dew once I got to work (Hello vending machine) (approximately 170 calories * 3) replaced with a cup of coffee instead (black, no cream, no sugar) (Approximately 1 calorie per oz, so for my coffee mug, 12 calories) I cut out my work, afternoon break, milky way bar (more than 117 calories) , and my before work stop at Caribou (Large Mint condition, 559 calories).

That actually didn't cause as much of a downward trend as you might think. And that's because prior to cutting those out my trend line was going upward.

That was my starting change, and I've slowly changed that. I'm living in a one bedroom apartment with my two cats, so my fridge is umm... bachelor like. With a slight odd variation because there is a natural foods type co-op less than a block away. So I've been adding more friuts and vegetables as well as whole grains.

A couple weeks ago I finally started adding in more lean meats. I have concluded that Pollack is not something I enjoy eating.. I'm sure there are wonder methods of preparing it, but the last time my oven had something other than a pizza in it.. umm.. I'm not sure I can remember. Microwave, and my George Foreman grill are my current methods of food prep. So lime juice and salt are not sufficient seasoning to make pollack palatable.

I think chicken breasts, salmon, and possibly lean cuts of beef (I don't know of anyplace i can get goat at a reasonable price) will be my main proteins.


As of last night, I've added pears, oranges, dried cranberries and dried blueberries to my diet, along with replacing my "normal" snack of pretzels with walnuts and soybeans (Can you tell I found one of the myriad links to the list of SuperFoods?)

I doubt I will ever actually count the calories I do eat (instead of just making note of the calories I am no longer eating) because that's just not in my nature. Yes, I have a PDA, yes, I could download the food list application from the Hacker's diet website, but it's just a level of organization and forethought that goes against the grain for me. Techweenie or no, I am good at viewing problems from two possible view points.. I see neither forest or trees. I see multi-forests (odd connections between groups and business areas is a job specialty) and I see bark. (I get lost in the details sometimes to the detriment of my overall task schedule). I see calorie counting as more of a tree thing.

Oh... and I am not sure if it's a guy thing or a me thing.

Yes, I can and do eat the same thing for several days in a row. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

No this does not make me feel deprived. It makes me feel like I know what will leave me satisfied at the end of the day and have what overall effect on my weight.

Diets that try to switch things up to keep it interesting? Ummm.. thanks but that just leaves me staring at the choices in my fridge/freezer, unable to decide which I'm going for.

Why we do this..

I created a workout/weight loss specific blog because I ran across Mr. Greg Todd from a link in Fark (or more appropriately TotalFark because I'm not sure if that ever got over to the main page).

I'd been tracking my workouts in my normal LiveJournal but that was a hodgepodge of my normal occasional rant/flight of fancy that slowly got taken over by my workouts. Time to let that get back to "normal" in time for the next presidential election cycle and move over here for exercise, etc.

I've been using Greg's link section to jump off and read other people's stories as well, and there seems to be a rather huge community of us out here blogging on this same subject. All at varying levels of fitness and weight and all at varying levels of success.

So why is that.. we're vying for our 15 minutes in the spotlight?

Maybe, but I don't think that's the primary motivation. The primary reason we're putting ourselves out here in this fashion is personal accountability. Even if no one ever reads this blog (or if no one ever comments on this blog, which amounts to the same thing from my side of the screen), I know it's here. I know that if I skip a day of calisthenics, or I don't do my cardiovascular workout on a day I am 'supposed to', it's going to end up published right here.

Because I made that commitment to myself.

Am i going to honor that commitment? Well, the only way you'll know that is to keep on reading. (Or, if you happened upon this blog and the current date is sometime in 2008 and this is still the most recent post in the blog, the answer would be "no".) :D

I am fairly confident that the commitment to post is one I can keep.

I'm only slightly less confident about the commitment to get in shape and maintain that level of fitness for the rest of my life.

Why is that? I've got a couple friends who think it's because i have iron will power.

Ummm.. no.

What is driving me to make this change, and gives me confidence that I will achieve it is simple. My desire to change is stronger than my desire to stay on the same path I am on.

So.. I'm no longer a smoker.

And most likely, even at this moment in time I am in better shape than i have been in at least a decade, most likely two.

And reaching my goal is getting harder. I've been bobbing up and down around the 195 lb (88.5 kg) mark for most of this month. And even less to my liking, my body fat percentage keeps hanging around the 20 percent mark. That means that approximately 40 pounds of my 195 pounds is fat. Now I only really show fat in two areas.. my love handles/spare tire and my butt.

I'm not completely confident about my scale's ability to give me an accurate reading on that front because I absolutely know I have added muscle (I'm doing more push ups with about the same difficulty as I had) and looking in the mirror I'm seeing greater definition which should mean less fat.

None the less, if I keep on this track, I should be able to nudge that percentage down as my weight continues to decrease and my strength continues to build. I could be wrong, but my view of the situation says that is the only logical outcome.

The other "why do we do this" which seems to strike the general population as odd. The glowing terms that we (those attempting to lose weight and get more fit) use for what we're doing. Some seem to think we're attempting to win converts to the cause, or even to our specific method of weight loss.

Maybe to one degree, in that one person who succeeds wants others to succeed as well, so they will suggest the method that works for them (You'll likely see me pointing folks toward The Hacker Diet or at least the exercise portion of it) but another reason is very selfish. Being upbeat about successes, no matter how small, reinforces our own desire to continue that success. My sounding pumped about getting heavier hand weights for my cardiovascular workout makes it more likely that I will actually go out and buy them. I couldn't care less if you read this and do the same, I'm making the suggestion for myself, and I may end up deciding it was a silly idea some weeks/months down the road.

Workouts ... Week beginning 29-Jan-2007

Workout 29-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:46
Time In Zone 0:45:57

Watch calculated limits: 127- 156
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 711/40%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 30-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 31-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:58
Time In Zone 0:46:04

Watch calculated limits: 127- 156
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 709/40%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 01-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 02-Feb

Morning Calisthenics (Well, in the afternoon)

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:23
Time In Zone 0:47:01

Watch calculated limits: 127 - 156
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 723/40%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 03-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:50:31
Time In Zone 0:46:27

Watch calculated limits: 132 - 156
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 714/45%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 03-Feb

Morning Calisthenics

Odd workout..

Saturdays, being my only cardiovascular workout day that doesn't have a rest day in front of it are usually paced a little slower. So my calisthenics are one group at a time, rest, then another group. Until it's time for the cardiovascular then I gotta hit it all at once.

So first, my Polar Heart monitor watch which threw me for a bit of a loop by bringing the bottom end of my target zone up to 144 a little over a week ago. Now, today it decides to drop down to 127, which is below where it's been in along time. Part of me was tempted to take things easy and go with the flow but then I remembered my own post. About Challenging myself.

As you can see by my average heart rate, I did pretty well at staying at the challenging level. It's more difficult because there's less indication that I'm slowing down.

I thought about changing the watch target zone from automatic to manual to move it back up, but that's not in the spirit of how I want to be using it. I'm the techweenie, I use technology to help me achieve things and I am going to let this piece of technology do it's thing.

And I think I'm also going to hit Target in the next couple weeks and pick up some hand weights. Maybe something like these so I can keep it challenging. I've tried my heaviest juggling balls, but their 4.4 pound weight along with their size make them too much of a challenge right now. But eventually I will need more weight than 2 pounds per hand which I'm using right now.

Workouts ... Week beginning 22-Jan-2007

Workout 22-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:49:31
Time In Zone 0:45:41

Watch calculated limits: 144 - 156
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 717/55%

6 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 23-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 24-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:55
Time In Zone 0:45:49

Watch calculated limits: 144 - 156
Average Heart Rate 149
KCal/Fat: 708/55%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark (Well, 6 the first two then I decided to kick it up a notch)

Workout 25-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Workout 26-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:51:14
Time In Zone 0:46:43

Watch calculated limits: 144 - 156
Average Heart Rate 150
KCal/Fat: 752/50%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 27-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Cardiovascular:
Time exercising.. 0:48:42
Time In Zone 0:46:00

Watch calculated limits: 127- 156
Average Heart Rate 148
KCal/Fat: 693/40%

7 Chin ups on each 10 minute mark

Workout 28-Jan

Morning Calisthenics

Workout schedule..

I already covered my daily calisthenics in my previous post.. so every single day I get Bend & Bounces, Push Ups, Sit ups, and Raises, running in place and Jumping Jacks..

I am adding a little bit to those because I like customizing things..

For push ups, I got myself push up bars, so I'm raised a little further off the floor and I get a better range of motion. Upper body strength is a major weak point for me. As a kid I certainly rode my bike hither and yon, I ran around a lot and even through college I ran a bit and I danced at least once or twice a week. But nothing for upper body development. Well, juggling, but until I started actually buying heavier juggling balls, that wouldn't qualify as much of a workout. Push ups are definitely my major nemesis when it comes to working out.

For sit ups, I have a stability ball, and I use a couple of my heaviest juggling balls (2 kg each), so I have 4 kg (8.8 lbs) in my hands as I lay back on the stability ball and do my sit ups. As with my push ups that gives me a greater range of motion. I can definitely feel it.

I also do a cardio workout 4 days a week. I'd been doing 30 minutes of cardio 3 days a week before i started the daily calisthenics, so it felt like I would be cheating if I counted my running in place/jumping jack time, since that was part of my calisthenics time in my 30 minutes. Using my Polar heart rate monitor, I just decided my running in place was about 10 minutes so I needed my cardio days to be 40 minutes including that.

As my customization of my cardio.. I got myself a chin up bar. Every 10 minutes of cardio means i take a break and do 6 chin ups. That many always pushes me over my cardio target range, but it comes back down pretty quick.

I've tended to do one post a week with the statistics my watch gathers.. then I edit that post each workout and add to it. Hopefully if/when I end up with a reader or two, that'll be easier for them to see what I'm doing.

Welcome..

Hi there.. yes, this is the obligatory introductory post. an obligatory picture or two will follow once I get around to uploading them and setting up an account on one of the various services that let you upload pictures (not necessarily in that order)

I'm debating whether to backfill my workout posts from my other journal, or just start fresh here. At this moment I'm inclined toward starting fresh.

I made a major change to my life in 2006. For my 41st birthday, I quit smoking. I had smoked a pipe since I was in college. I started smoking with cigarettes. I didn't like the taste, and rather than choosing the sensible course of "Well, maybe I won't smoke then", I tried cigars. I found some cigars I liked but couldn't afford those that I enjoyed the flavor of. So, I settled on the same source of nicotine that my father did before me. A pipe.

And for 20 plus years that was a huge part of my identity. But, along with other signs of getting older, I recognized that smoking was interfering with my efforts to get back into shape.

My Dad quit smoking in his 60s. Now I know that being in your 60s today isn't anything like being in your 60s was 20 years ago. Thanks to modern medical science and lots of learning about what makes us tick, 60s aren't the end.. they are for many people a new beginning. None the less I couldn't shake the feeling that if you're going to quit smoking you should do it when you're still young enough to enjoy the benefits.

Well, ideally that would have been about a decade ago, before my metabolism slowed down and I stopped fitting into my 32w, 32l 501 jeans. But that didn't happen. I was going to quit for my 40th birthday, but I had a storm of wonderful stress producers fall from the sky and into my lap a couple months before that birthday and I decided that trying to quit on top of the rest was a road map to failure. I didn't want to quit and fail. I wanted to quit and be done.

So i worked through those stress producing months, and I kept to an on/off workout schedule, trying to get into better shape whether I was still smoking or not.

Now, 2007 has rolled around and for the first time since 1985 I didn't light up a smoke on New years day. Instead I have marked the beginning of my 6th month as an ex-smoker.

My workouts have been a part of my life since 2003, I'm not even sure what the inspiration was at the moment, but it certainly didn't become a constant thing. I'd workout for a few months and something would interrupt my workout schedule. Sometimes I would get back to it, and sometimes I wouldn't for several months.

Releasing myself from my daily nicotine dependence has changed that. because about 2 1/5 months after my last dose of nicotine I discovered that many smokers discover when the become ex-smokers.

As of the middle of October 2006, I weighed more than I have ever weighed in my entire life.

On the grand scale of things being 6 foot tall and 210-220 pounds isn't a terrible thing. In the United States I could certainly walk down the street and be considered of at most average weight/size. But it sure as heck wasn't average for me. In American culture men don't usually worry as much about their weight as much as women do. We're not surrounded by as many cultural messages that we need to be thinner, we need to be taller, we need to be thinner, etc. That's slowly changing, not in the lessening of such messages for women, but in the increase in those messages for men.

For me, the first trauma was having to buy pants with a 34 inch waist, then a 35 inch waist, and finally settling in at a 36 inch waist, then after I started working out in 2003, back to a 35 inch waist.

So when I saw my weight in October 2006, there is no way I will buy 38 inch waist pants. No way, not gonna happen.

I ventured over to a website by John Walker, founder of Autodesk, called The Hacker's Diet because I had found it months before from a posting on Fark and forwarded it on to a friend at work who'd just started to try and lose weight.

His approach to weight loss made a lot of sense to me and while I'm not really up for counting calories, his idea of exercise and his approach to measuring your weight loss both worked for me.

So, that's what I started doing. I started myself on rung 10 of the "introductory ladder" and have not missed a single day since. I'm currently at rung 30, getting ready to move up to rung 31. I paced myself by the method he specified.. what rung of the ladder can I complete in about 15 minutes.

And I started weighing myself. Every single morning.

So far I'm down about 12-13 pounds. Which is about the pace I was looking for. When it came to the holidays I decided all I really wanted was to keep a holding action.

Now I'm back on track for slow, maintainable weight loss.

Welcome to my journey.. we'll see where it goes.