I skipped the gym this morning.

I didn't go to the gym this morning. Normally that means I skip a lot of other things, and go straight to work. This morning, I took the trash out, and attempted to do some light cleaning and organization in the garage before I headed out to work. I did, however, get to show Holly our new pet mouse, who has evaded capture so far. I just went straight to work after that.

The gym is now a 5 to 6 day a week thing for Holly and I. I haven't asked her how her checkup appointment with her bariatric surgeon went, but she was concerned with being a couple of pounds away from her personal goal. Sometimes I wonder if I should push her harder at the dinner table, or at the gym, but she's doing well. She takes some indulgences, sometimes out of convenience, sometimes out of guilty pleasure, but she looks great. For me, skipping the gym was more about time management. I've got a few things I need to get done outside of work, and getting to work earlier makes those possible.

Namely, our garage/rodent problem. The garage is a total sty. It isn't "nasty" but it is cluttered. Mostly, this is due to having stuff with no home. I have some cabinets on the wall, and they aren't completely full, but I need more cabinets, but that's an expenditure that keeps getting put off. We've got some free-standing shelving but I've been saving some of it for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law who probably need more help in their garage than we do. I think their time is up though. I've got lots of projects around the house that are half-done or unstarted, and I'm going to pick one this week and get it done. With the kids, that's hard, because they still require (and request) constant supervision. I might be able to get home today early enough to ask our sitter to hang out for a while while I try to orangize a few things, but that almost always ends up with my kids screaming and generally throwing a tantrum until I decide I'm tired of hearing it and come in (so I can listen to them scream until their mother gets home).

So, back to the gym. I've set some personal goals regarding gym activities. My main overall goal is weight loss. I'm supporting Holly in her gym membership requirement for her surgery, and that's all well and good. However, for me, I just need to be able to go a whole day without feeling like I got my butt kicked. In general, I'm trying to build muscle, so that I can burn fat while I sit around all day... because I'm lazy. So, I'm hitting the weights pretty hard, rotating muscle groups and trying to rest and not do weights once or twice a week. In addition, I'm doing cardio work *after* weights. I'm supposed to get 30 minutes in, but more often than not, I run out of time in the mornings I end up doing 15 or 20 minutes, and then running to the shower, so I can get to work in time.

I'm usually not late, but I try to get in by 7:30, so I can leave at 4:00, so I can get home, so that the sitter doesn't have to work a 12 hour day. I could come in later, and put more time into the workout, but I'm sure the real reason I don't just push to 30 minutes, is that I just can't do it. I love using the treadmill, as opposed to other cardio stuff, because I feel like I'm doing something, I'm barely coordinated enough for some of the stuff. Stair climbing is awful, and riding the bike just seems too easy.

However, if anyone remembers in high-school, where we had to run a mile. I couldn't ever run the whole thing. I hated that, and I think I just want to prove to myself that I'm not that fat, weak, kid anymore. There was actually one teacher who would run behind the class, and trip the kids who lagged behind. Sigh... So, I've set a goal of being able to run for a mile. The whole mile. No walking. That won't take 30 minutes, and I can go a whole mile now walking some of it. After that, I'll just try to sustain the run up to 30 minutes. For me, that's a goal I can live with, and work toward, and build from.

The mp3 player helps, but I really need to pick a few songs that I can consistently listen to and keep me moving. I'm open to suggestions. Generally, I just need something loud enough to block out the music that gets played in the Gym, fast enough to run in time to, and doesn't make me think to much. I'll probably blog about the songs I end up choosing, and I'll give credit for suggestions as well. For those who wonder, I'm currently using a 30 GB Zune. I need an arm-band/case for it, and I saw one on Amazone, but it's like 30 bucks... I guess I'll have to hold it in my hand until I can find a few bills on the ground or something. I'm certain that I should move to something flash-based, but I'm just not feeling like switching around right now. We'll see.

With the weights, I have the numbers memorized on the machines that I use, and I don't do free weights yet. My goal really should be to write down and chart my weights, and then improve them and also increase the number of sets. I'm doing 3 sets of 8 on most stuff, an then a set to exhaustion. I'd like to increase that to 4 sets by mid-year and 5 by the end of the year. I'll tackle weight increases as I can, and try to set a better goal once I start charting. I've considered bringing a pad and paper around, but I really think I'd rather use my Windows Mobile phone, and just get an application for it, and use it for music too... but the media player on it kind of sucks... and bluetooth stereo is cool, but I get drop-outs somewhat frequently. I might have to ask this other guy that uses bluetooth headsets what he does. His wife is a social worker, and we chatted briefly about having wives "in that line of work".

Speaking of chatting at the gym, and keeping motivated, and wrapping up blog posts. Here's a funny. We (my wife and I) have code names for people at the gym. It's fun, and keeps us at least interested enough to pay attention while we're there. There's Thelma and Louise, SuperGirl (Kara), Marky-Mark, Greg Brady, Barney Fife (The sherriff), and a host of others. That's my tip for those of you who can't find a reason other than the fact that you just need to exercise to be there. Come up with nick-names for the "regulars". It's almost harmless, and somewhat entertaining.

Working out is hard work.

Today, I upped repetitions and weights at the gym. I was doing 8 sets, basically to exhaustion. We do weights *before* cardio and 9 and 10 really hurt. Holly wasn't feeling well today, but she hung tough and we did do cardio on bikes. Not much time today, since we're on our usual late schedule in the AM.

I managed to get some music on my phone and use the bluetooth headsets the past couple of days... It almost makes the workout tolerable. I'll need to make a playlist of the hardest hitting songs I can think of, hoping that will at least drive me work harder.

I haven't really been keeping track of weights or time. I'd like to get a mobile program, but I'm finding that if I can remember the weights that I use on most machines, and I just do cardio until I run out of time before I have to head to work. If anyone has a suggestion for workout tracking, weight-loss, or food intake programs for Windows Moble. (or any other platform, I'm open to switching, or using multiple devices) hit me up.

Holly's Weight Loss Journey

My wife, is about 6 months post-op from having weight loss surgery. She lost 100 pounds, meeting one of her major goals for the six month time frame.

You can read all about it here.

Short story, it has been a struggle for all of us. What we eat, what we keep in the house, what the kids ask for, and making time to do the things that are necessary to keep us on a healthy path so we can be there for our family.

I just wanted to give a public shout-out to my awesome wife for working so hard and meeting her goal. I may even respond to her request for being a friend on MySpace... you know, since she's hot... LOL!

Even more Facebook, switching Mom from Mac, Warhammer Online

Wow, an action-packed weekend, and a quick start to what will probably be a super busy week...

I connected to a lot of old acquaintences on Facebook this past weekend. Awesome. I guess I'm officially out of hiding. I have quite a few responses that I need to get to, but it also probably means that I have many more readers of my blog. (The content of my blog gets syndicated on Facebook.) Thanks everyone!

My mom uses an older Mac that I had. I have a PowerBook G4, and if I ever come into some extra money, I might upgrade to a 17-inch MacBook Pro. I still keep my desktop PC for games, and I don't see that changing at the moment. Anyway, the reason I gave my mom the Mac was because the accessibility features were top notch, compared to Windows XP anyway. However, My mom might be able to benefit from having a PC and I wanted to investigate how screen magnification works in Vista. My mom's vision isn't great, and the zoom feature in Mac OS really helps her out. I'd like to upgrade her to Mac OS X Leopard so that I can do remote desktop assisance more easily. Options? If you're reading this, and you care, hit me up.

I hit the doctor's office for a 3-month checkin. Hemoglobin A1C is rock bottom 6.0 so, apparently, this working out and eating better has done a little somethin' something. Weight is down to 293 (officially) a little higher than what I've seen on the scale, but hey, it's about 45 pounds from what the doctor observed by browsing through my chart. We'll be cutting one of my meds down to half, and I'll have to watch my sugar when I exercise to make sure that I don't go hypoglycemic.

Oh, and my wife's sister had a little baby shower this weekend. We also finally got a few of the baby things that we were saving from our two kids over to Amy and Paul's house. They're getting the baby's room together, and I think we might have to spend some time helping them prepare their home for the arrival. We'll see.

We took the kids to a fire truck showing at the library branch this weekend. I took a few pictures, but I don't know how many of them turned out well. I'll try to put some up on my blog for everyone, but no promises. Scott pooped his diaper, so we cut the visit short. They had fun.

Since my kids were up in Fort Wayne Sunday Afternoon with Holly and her Dad, I got some personal time this weekend. After a long struggle and much internal debate, I decided to return the set-top antenna I purchased and empty the coin savings jar and pick up Warhammer Online. I only got a quick spin in, but I'd say I'd rather play that than World of Warcraft right now. I don't know if WotLK will change that, because I *still* haven't gotten any end-game content, so they're just adding more stuff I'll probably never see.

Going to the gym... getting smaller.

Holly and I made an arrangement with the Monday to Wednesday babysitter to come in at 5:30 AM, so that we could hit the gym *before* the work day. Today was the first day of that. I made it to work, after a harrowing reminder of high-school post-gym-class-showers past and forgetting a belt and a hair brush.

I think that will work out. I weighed myself on the way out... and I'm an astonished at my 285-pound outcome. Geez, if I start working out more, I could probably lose more weight... and then get my fuel efficiency up in my car! And be healthy! And... yeah yeah yeah...

At the store, before work, I picked up a brush, some Crystal Light powder, and a couple of belts... just a bit smaller than the huge belts that needed extra holes because I've gotten smaller. A couple more inches, and it'll be new pants time. Yay!