Day 333 - I'm Gett'n It In w/ Andrea

Looking forward to this evening. The weather will be decent, 50F after work, swweeettttt!


And with the time change to DST it will now be light out late enough for me to return to Lake Andrea for some outdoor cardio. Folks that is HUGE news to me, worthy of an Oh Yeah!

Lake Andrea is where I notched many a NSV last summer & fall. I am excited about my weekly return to dance with the challenge that is Lake Andrea's 2.25 loop.

What opportunities do the longer & warming days bring you in your effort to get & stay healthy?

A quick picture duo from my Albuquerque...
Tex-NewMex Platter...

Beef Rib Platter...

No mystery why my time away saw me gain ten spins on the scale!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 315-319: Here Is March

Good Morning Folks, Welcome to March!

Thank You to those of you whom have sent me emails or Twitter DM's the past day or so inquiring about my absence. I am alive and staying healthy; all is well. Over the past couple of weeks my morning schedule has become increasingly compressed and the bit of time I usually write up a post & hit the blogs has been narrowing. It bothers me more that I have not been able to get to your blogs more so than I've not had time to write a post.

So I will need to get more creative with wringing out some blogging time it seems. That in itself may be my main goal for March. Yes, it is March. Spring is oh-so near, or so says the calendar. Hopefully the weather will equal the calendar's expectations. I am hungry to get out there for some outdoor cardio. Last December I was toughing out the frigid temps for some outdoor cardio and I was rewarded by catching a cold twice. So since then I have limited my cardio to the elliptical.

March, what do I have planned for March...

• A weigh-in, been about a month since I did that, thinking next week I'll give the scale a visit.
• I'll be attending the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show this coming weekend. That'll pose some dietary challenge which I will handle just fine. As well I'll be golfing a couple of rounds for exercise.
• My son has advanced to state regionals in Wrestling, not something we expected. I will miss regionals as they are this weekend but fingers crossed he advances on to the state finals the following weekend in Champaign; or are they in Springfield? We'll figure that out when he advances.
• I am going back to the plastic surgeon to get more of my face sliced off. Recall my recent brush with melanoma, I have another spot on my forehead I've been advised to kick to the curb as a precaution so kick it I shall. Damn!, I just this minute remembered last September I was told to park the weight lifting for a week or two while the incision healed; $#&T!!!!!.
• Spring Break is the last week of March, I'll take a day or two off that week for yet to be determined fun.

So what do you have planned for March?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 273 - Oh You Have Time

source

I can count on more hands than can be found holding beer cans at a Nascar race the number of excuses I have used for not working out. One of my favorites, "If I exercise today I won't have the energy I want for that really hard workout I have planned tomorrow!"

But I don't want to go on here about excuses for not exercising. Oh no, I want to get into the remedy, the things you can do to make time to exercise. Now I have to say, I am writing this because I admit that I need to find more time to do so. So, here is what I am thinking; just maybe you need to think about this too...

Tele-commute more often. I do have the option to work from home when desired. I choose not to unless I really need to because I crave the face time with the people I work with, even the people I find as friendly as vultures in a desert. But on days I do work from home I can easily convert that 60-80 minutes of drive time into exercise time.

Sleep less, or sleep faster which ever feels more comfortable. I am going to try the sleep faster technique and if it doesn't work I will wake up 30 minutes earlier and get in a focused mini-work out before getting lost in the tasks of the day.

Give up stuff that wastes my time. Some quick possibilities... watching television - such a suck-hole of life; shopping - I hate shopping of all types with a passion, some forms I can pay others to do for me I bet; doing other peoples work for them - this applies at work, home and places in between.

Read less. Oh I don't mean stop reading but there are book shelves of under-appreciated short-stories out there. Put down the 3-400 page best selling novel and pick up some compilations written by authors that can get to the point in 30 pages of less. When the story is done, the sweating starts!

And if those don't work, just  make time. Seriously, have you ever looked at a clock and noticed how much wasted spaces is between the numbers? Reduce by 1/12th the space between those numbers and add a 25th & 26th hour to the day. Eureka, now I have a new two hour window to work out every day!

Yep, I took some creative liberties in my thoughts.

Creative or otherwise, hit me up with some additions to this list please.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 74 - Semi Complete

The last day of June is here. Half of 2010 is just hours away from being history. Did you hear me; HALF! Where does the time go?

Seriously; Where does the time go?

For me it used to get thrown away waiting 6 cars deep in a drive-thru line for a Big Mac value meal and 2 double-cheeseburgers off of that lovely dollar menu (where was that when I was in college?). The doubles were my appetizer before the Big Mac main feast; anyone else do that before?

Time was also given up to watching hours, 4-5 hours an evening, of TV. Crap like reality shows and how-to shows. Did I really need to learn taxidermy & how to grout tile on the same day? Will there ever be a time I do either; let alone do them both on the same day?

Oh let's not forget those hours I punted by napping on weekends if I didn't have anything else to do or because I was stuffed from stuffing my face. Just how relaxed does one person need to be? Plus dreams from naps aren't as good anyhow.

That's where too much of my time used to go to waste when this year began. Today Big Mac's have been replaced by balanced & portion controlled choices, most TV time has been replaced by blogging, and extra sleep has been replaced by weight lifting & walking.

How is today different for you from your days just six months ago?

Did you make any resolutions on Jan. 1, 2010 (I didn't) and if so how are you doing against them?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 66 - Putty Time

Tick tock - tick tock. Where does the time go in a day? Well it goes where ever you want it to go if you are in control. But even on days where we are in control and getting things done, difficulty is there to get in the way of all we want to get done.

And when we can't get it all done what do we usually decide to put off for another day?

For me exercise has often been the easy victim. Less and less in these healthier days I am enjoying go I give exercise the cold shoulder. Instead I am making less time for television or I am trying too. But exercise, oh that exercise, it takes time doesn't it?

How long are your work outs?

Mine range from 30 minutes to an hour. Occasionally less or sometimes a bit more. Some of you more seasoned veterans of the healthy ways of life may do much more; and I'm curious to know what a 2-3 hour workout looks like. Those new to this may put in much less time. I know a couple months plus back when I started this mission I was thrilled to get in 10-20 minutes before feeling the need to buy extra air or mainline it to catch my breath again.

Yesterday, no not the 1965 hit by The Beatles - Help! was a brilliant album by the way, but yesterday as in June 21st, 2010 I had one of those days where I couldn't get that 30 minute window to happen. But, I did not go without exercise altogether. No no no! Instead I hit the putty!

A moment for that to sink in... well if it weren't for the picture here your mind may have wandered to less savory thoughts at the phrase "Instead I hit the putty!"... but as you can see there the putty I am referring to is Power Putty. I love this stuff. Recently bought a new one, owned my first over 20 years ago.

It is a hand exerciser, although I think it works out the forearms much more than the hands. I am sure most of us have used the metal & plastic hand exerciser contraptions that clank, click and creek as you use them. I have some at home too. Back in the 80's I worked a customer service job and wanted a hand exerciser for those long days on the phone but the noisy gripper version was not a good idea. So lucky I was to find Power Putty as the only noise it makes is the noise it forces me to make when I am trying to squeeze the devil out of it.

OK, let me step back as I don't mean this to sound like a commercial, I am not one to do product reviews, and that wasn't my intent of the post at all. My intent, this item, and even the noisy hand exercisers, can fill in some of that time you think may be escaping for getting in your exercise. Because of the quiet nature of Power Putty I can use it at my desk at work during a conference call, and I do; but I have to control my natural desire to grunt as I work it. Hhmm, that sounded off color too. I use it in the car. I use it sitting in my chair when I give into watching some television. You get the idea.

What about you - use something similar to get in exercise when you can make 30 minutes or more available for a good run or gym visit?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!