Speaking of which, how was yours? We didn’t get the usual preview of your anticipated holiday and the behaviors of your various loved ones. I look forward to it every year!
It went pretty good! Sis in law was pretty well behaved. No passive agression.
Father (
) in law was actually pretty decent, almost like, easy to be around. He loves my rolls & expressed genuine appreciation for my effort. I mean, Its not really effort. I like baking buns & breads. But getting good feedback is realy great.
Had a long talk with my sis in laws father in law, cuz his family is a big part of the holiday gatherings. I told him about my parents and early life, mostly as it relates to my mother, and how that ties into my current feelings on my wife & son. That might have been a bit much. He was visibly shaken and had a hard time walking, and he wasn’t even drinking. I never told any of them about that part of my life because my wifes dad spent the first several years gathering information about me and my family (military service, etc.) Then got really drunk one thanksgiving (about 15 years ago) and threw it all back at me like it was something to be ashamed of. So I just shut that whole line of information off until now. It will still be pretty closely guarded though, particularly from him.
Kiddo had a good time and played well with his cousins. They don’t usually get along, but he has gotten significantly bigger than them so I think that made a difference. He also played a few things on their piano. A few video game songs and one classical riff that I can never remember the name of.
Wife was just happy that her pumpkin pie casserole with toasted marshmallows topping was a big hit. That was how her sis dissed her last year. “Forgot” to include it with the other deserts and gave it back to her cold when we left. 
So I happy. Nothing got broken, and no one got hurt. 
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You know, this makes for a decent string of survived Thanksgivings. And this one sounds better than usual. I’m hopeful! (lol)
Tell or don’t tell what you want, but as you’re already aware you have no reason to feel shame just because someone wishes that on you. As attempts to hurt you go, it’s pretty limp-wristed to throw your difficult family history at you, so why even bother to avoid it? I don’t know. I just think the people who should most feel pride - the conscientious, loving people - are the most likely to feel pain over their shortcomings, while the worst people feel none as they tear through the world, doing harm.
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I like that. Limp Wristed! .
But wait, there’s more!
He didn’t do that with the difficult stuff. He tried it with the things like millitary service that we are proud of! He was seething about this stuff for like a couple of years after having met my one brother, a lifer in the navy that had recently retired after 30 years at the rank of Senior Chief.
So yeah, that shut the door to any sensitive information.
That’s very accurate. His family has a malignant streak that goes back generations. His mother is in a care facility with dementia. She is the most vicious woman I have ever met. Even as far gone as she is, at her core in the husk of a human thats left of her is a venomous little creature that is still capable of lashing out, and does every chance it gets.
52 and counting! 
Me too.
Thanks. 
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Monday, December 2
Day 22/30 Iron - chest and back - 15 minutes cardio warmup.
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Wednesday, December 4
Day 23/30 Iron - hams and glutes - 15 minute/1 mile cardio warmup.
It went quick!
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May I ask, what program are you working?
@Friedrich, I’m doing Carolyn Girvan’s Iron series currently. She’s relatively new to the scene - she started doing youtube videos for her personal training clients at the beginning of covid and it just blew up. I’ve been aware of her for some time, probably since 2021 or so. Wherever there are women showing really impressive before and afters, there seems to be CG. I’ve also seen some pretty impressive changes in men following. In the beginning her Iron workouts were too intense for me. During last year’s T-ransformation I moved lifting (dumbbells and kettlebells) to the forefront of my workouts and made cardio secondary. In June I started Girvan’s six week beginner program (she has an app, which is where that’s located), completed that twice (because of sciatica) and now am 2/3 of the way through Iron, which I find very challenging as well as educational and enjoyable. I’ve had to drop weights quite a bit to maintain form.
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Friday, December 6
Weight 154.4
Day 24/30 Iron - full body - cardio warmup 15 min/1 mile.
Intense! The whole thing was speedy supersets. But it felt really good.
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Saturday, December 7
Weight 155.1
2.5 mile walk, almost normal speed. Temperature was 20 degrees with snow flurries, still sweated a bit and had to reduce layers. Nice!
Today is my 11 year dating anniversary with Hockey Guy, @SkyzykS. Hard to believe it’s been that long!
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That is so awesome. And that they’ve been 11 really good years. Not without some ups & downs, but even better still that you’ve been in it together lovingly and supportive of eachother.
I’m really happy for both of you. 
May you have many more walks in the woods, hunting camp shindigs, and cozy times by the campfire/fireplace.
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Sunday, December 8
Day 25/30 Iron - shoulders - 15 minute/1 mile cardio warmup. Good workout, though I was feeling a little queasy because we had tapas and fancy drinks for dinner, which was super fun, but definitely not enough food after a day of Christmas shopping, while also being perhaps more drink-y than was absolutely necessary given that my protein for dinner was like 3 scallops, 2 shrimp, and one tiny lamb chop.
Also, when we got home we opted to play a pub game, taking shots of Coors Light (me, he had different beer) when we were low scorer.
However, workout is in the books, and we’re off to Christmas shop more.
Thanks.
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I took a look at this. I am going to think about it. time for a change anyway.
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Monday, December 9
Day 26/30 Iron - legs - with 15 minute/1 mile cardio warmup. I can’t believe I’m almost done with this program! I’ll probably just start it all over again and work on increasing weights.
Also took a 2 mile walk first thing this morning with the team. We averaged 33:50/mile. That’s a pretty quick pace for Buttons lately! We were on a groomed snowmobile track, though, so more like walking on the road, which we never really do because it makes Buttons nervous and it takes time to sniff every driveway suspiciously and hairy-eyeball whatever structures or other people-things we might encounter.
It was quite a weekend in terms of poor dietary behavior, but we got a ton of shopping done and I’m feeling more in control. Workouts are feeling fantastic.
Does your wife work out?
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She cycles, in the summer. But, generally, not anymore.
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Tuesday, December 10
Day 27/30 Iron - upper body - 15 min/1 mile cardio warmup. I was definitely able to notice gains today.
@Friedrich, maybe she’ll be inspired!
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It could be inspiring for her. She was a gym rat for years. I think I mentioned (somewhere else) the church ladies who frequented the same gym were scandalized by her gym attire. I wasn’t. In fact I dug her gym attire. And I told them so. It was not their business. She had cancer some years back and the radiation and hormone therapy wore her out. But summers are her cycling days. I will see if I can get her on board. Thanks for the tip.
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Wednesday, December 11
Day 28/30 Iron - glutes - 15 minute cardio warmup.
Fantastic.
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Thursday, December 12
20 minutes treadmill HIIT, 1.4 miles.
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Friday, December 13
Weight 154.7
Day 29/30 Iron - full body - with 15 minute/1 mile cardio warmup. It was a very basic lineup today: shoulder presses, static lunges, chest press, goblet squats, pullovers, RDLs, “and for a wee fun finisher,” body weight bulgarian lunges and pushups. I’ve progressed in all of them, both in terms of weight and balance/form. As @simo74 would say, quality. Sunday I finish the program. January 1st I’ll restart it, with something full body to bridge the couple of weeks. Maybe just grab some sessions from the beginner program, as they’re full body 3x/wk for the first 4 weeks.
Not bothering to track average steps or calories, as everything is so wonky right now at work and home. I don’t need the pressure - if I can sleep for 10 hours, I want to. If I can sit and read a book, I want to. As for the calories, I’m only tracking on “normal” days. I ate catered lunch with my team on Wednesday, and had some of the grocery store cake (probably first time this year for that, though I’ve had ice cream cake a couple of times as well as good cake, e.g. good carrot cake). I have no desire to try to figure out what the spoonful of eggplant parm was worth, or wtf was in the ziti that made it pink rather than red. Creamy something. Just not worth even logging, as who knows, and in the big scheme of things it doesn’t matter.
@unicornsandrainbows I was on the treadmill yesterday and was thinking of you. At some point I realized that I’m being pulled into wanting to compete - not with you, exactly, but maybe something closer to FOMO? Because you’re on this big buildup and your excitement is contagious. But then I realized that I was starting to want to chase you - fully aware that I won’t catch you because of age - but it’s just this competitive thing in me. And I had to laugh at myself because it’s the same thing as you wanting to earn your food. Just this weird thing built into me. Anyway, then I remembered that I’m keeping the goal the goal and the goal for me is not a marathon, lol.
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