Friday, April 25
Weight 155.4
Average steps 9560
Average calories 1258
Iron day 18/30 - glutes - 15 minute/1 mile cardio warmup, 10 minute treadmill walk cooldown.
Hike planned for later.
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Yep. Big blockhead. Like an english lab or something. They have big baby heads. Like 1/3 of their body weight.
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Welp, all the better to kiss his forehead, I guess!
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And he makes those humongus smiles. How can you not love that?
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Saturday, April 26
Weight 155.8
Ave steps 10,344
Ave calories 1370 (whomp whomp)
15 minute recovery walk, aborted to spend time with husband before we go get the dog. Yay!
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Happy New Dog Day and also Happy (early) Birthday!! (just in case I don’t get back in here until next weekend).
I hope you have the most fabulous weekend with the new pup and birthday with your family, ever!!
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Tuesday, April 29
Weight 154.5
Ave steps 9495
Ave calories 1471
So I woke up Saturday (dog pickup day) feeling a little punk after a night of trouble sleeping. I kept waking up achy, but I fell hiking on Friday and thought maybe I’d gotten more banged up than I’d realized. But by 9:00 A) the dog was delayed and B) I’d tested positive for covid. The transport didn’t arrive until 10 pm, then 2 hours home, arriving at midnight. So it’s been a rough/sick weekend for me, and I’m home sick today.
But this dog! OMG! He’s a total lover - all he wants is to gaze soulfully into our eyes from an inch away and occasionally float a little chin lick, or if allowed, some neck lovin’. He hasn’t eaten since he’s been here despite enough exercise to keep my steps up and he’s disinterested in treats so far. We were worried about what this might mean for training, but he seems to do just as well with “good boys” accompanied by passionate eye contact. He’s learning the yard, somewhat, so the covid was probably a blessing - trapped at home, just the three of us, in beautiful weather. Although Sunday we wound up driving to a dog park 30 minutes away at 7 am in the wet, slushy snow to let him burn some energy. He’s a strong boy, so it was a good move. We also went hang-out-ing a quarter of a mile into the woods, still in the snow, so he could explore on a long rope while I sat on a rock, but he hurt his dew claw there and we had to limp home. He slept for an hour and then bounced back up. We’re taking him to the vet for it in an hour, but I think it’s healed now anyway. That’s okay, because he needs a lyme vaccine, which they don’t give in Texas. I’ve already found a tick wandering around on him. So the report so far is: incredibly snuggly; soft, clean-feeling fur; bright; friendly; and responsive unless he doesn’t want to be (the lure of the open driveway).
Husband is noncommittal, but completely engaged. I don’t think he wants to admit what a sucker he is.
I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to work out again, but I suspect it’s going to be tough with Mr. Love on the job.
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I hope you feel better soon. Doggy looks awesome. The stuff of heroic dog novels for sure. 
There’s something that just feels incredibly good to come home to a happy tail wagging fur buddy.
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There are days when my dog is the only sentient being happy to see me. Or weeks…
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Friday, May 2
Weight 153.6
Ave steps 8945 (had been good, but yesterday I went back to work and was completely beat afterward…it killed me, because I was getting ready to average >10K)
Ave calories 1486 (deceptive, there was one bad day when Louie’s transport was 12 hours late and we wound up at Olive Garden - have been under 1300 for three days now)
Iron day 19/30 - full body - 1 mile walk/jog with dog, 10 minutes cardio warmup.
I’ve taken Louie on a 1 mile walk or walk/jog every day first thing. He can’t be trusted in the yard yet, and needs his 6-7 am energy siphoned off. Paperwork shows him as having just turned 9 years old, but I feel like I’m dealing with an 18 month old lab. Just all love and energy. Husband is hooked.
I told my husband the same thing when I was pushing to get him - husband has occasional spells of introversion or moodiness or something, and on those days I’m lonely. I like having a best bud around who never needs solitude.
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What if they put the right number in the wrong field, and he was actual 9 mos. old at the time of the paperwork?
He looks very content. No doubt he’ll be happy to help you reach 10k/day.
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Tuesday, May 6
Ave steps 8448
Iron day 20/30 - arms and abs - warmup 1 mile walk with dog, little bit of jogging mixed in.
Trying to find my balance again after covid and the dog’s arrival. The family was around this weekend, so there was crazy eating.
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Friday, May 9
Weight 154.1
7 day ave steps 7585
4 day kcal ave 1293
Day 21/30 Iron - legs, i.e. one million lunges, squats, step-ups - 1.5 mile walk with dog (48° w/ steady rain) 15 minute/1 mile cardio warmup.
Feeling good, though I still haven’t stabilized my schedule yet. It’s funny to me that I’ve added a 30 minute walk to my day and yet my steps seem about the same. Am I walking less at home in the evenings now?
I’ve been noticing all sorts of good things lately. I was braiding my hair the other day and had my arms positioned such that I could totally see my delts. My core is nice and tight under the inch of flub, and my butt is showing the work in the way my pants fit.
I’m achy a lot, however, and am not sure what’s going on. I’ve slipped back into diet coke with lunch because the tedium of unending chicken is hard without a little treat. Is it the Franken-drink? Who knows. I have my annual checkup right after the challenge ends, and I’ll again be curious to see my numbers. I’ve been eating like a saint, I feel. I don’t even buy grapes anymore! I’ve switched to blueberries and strawberries with a 6oz yogurt at night. Although disclaimer: I did have tortilla chips, guac and salsa, etc, over the weekend, and generally there is always weekend wildness of some sort. Wine/beer and either snacky food or restaurant food, depending. But nothing crazy. I’m definitely hitting 80/20 at least - maybe 90/20.
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There’s a lot of observation of this effect. The body seems to like a predetermined amount of activity, and will become “lazier” the more we train. Athletes who crush themselves for an hour in the gym tend to be more lethargic and conservative of energy compared to those that employ a more moderate style of training. Same with those that engage in massive caloric restriction: they move less than those that have a more moderate amount.
maybe 90/20.
I like this math!
Diet soda definitely wrecks me. I used to drink literal gallons of the stuff, but, in turn, I never realized how awful I was feeling until I stopped. I totally get that chicken ennui though. My immediate thought is spices, sauces and seasonings, but those can get tricky as well, and the diet versions of them are just as much a frankenfood as the diet coke! Haha.
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This is a great point, and I have to bear in mind the (admittedly inconsistent) calorie restriction.
I think I do well here. I’m not for sauces or gravies particularly. My favorite chicken is grilled with Montreal seasoning, I like salt n pepper for the salmon I eat weekly, and my stir-fries have my own seasoning (e.g. garlic, onion, ginger, jalapeño, basil, lime, variously, and of course soy sauce). The only bottled seasoning I really use is buffalo sauce to bake chicken breasts in. Way back in the day I liked to fascinate myself by reading the Weight Watcher message boards. Their “diet coke chicken,” and fake “chocolate mousse” was horrifying. And the higher the weight that needed to be lost, the more they were trying to mimic the crap foods that got them where they were (one thread was “300+ pounds to lose”). I don’t do pretend creamer in my coffee - I use skim or 1% milk. So the sugar free gum and diet cokes are part of the 10% in my 90/10.
Actually, I’m going 85/15. That seems most accurate.
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Saturday, May 10
Weight 154
Ave steps 7757
Eating is in line
Iron day 22/30 - chest and back - 1.75 mile walk, 5 min cardio/dynamic stretch warmup. Chest and back are far and away my favorite days. There’s just something easier about the hard.
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There is nothing worse than fake food/diet food. Its like you can taste the delusions.
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Monday, May 12
Ave steps 9077 (go go go)
Iron day 23/30 - glutes and hamstrings - with a 2 mile walk for warmup. Good day so far, but I’m suffering from yesterday’s Mother’s Day celebration, which was bowling alley food, which was all fried. We meant to eat real food later, but all pigged out on the tater tots, chicken strips, fried pickles, etc, and then didn’t care about real food. Also drank 20 oz Pabst Blue Ribbon drafts, which I can still taste along with the friend green beans (“vegetable” according to my daughter).
This marks two years in a row now that we’ve bowled on Mother’s Day. That probably makes it a tradition.
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This needs to be the slogan. And I say this as someone 100% guilty of this crime. That stuff is SUPPOSED to be “a bridge” to getting out of bad habits, but I found it went the opposite way. Gateway foods, haha.
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Yeah. Also why I don’t drink NA beer.
I can only be disappointed so many times before its time for the real thing.
Honesty really is the best policy.
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