Yes, I know, that’s the name Saturday Night Live uses for blah, blah, blah… This blog is about losing weight, not being original. If I think of a better name, I’ll use it.
Stepped on the scale this morning and got a false alarm. I have a scale that is made for reading weights up to… 600 pounds, I think. There is a handheld device that you use to tell the scale to start weighing, and that same handheld device/remote (big enough to fit into the palm of your hand, shaped like a teardrop) gives you your weight readout.
Of course, if you’re as big as I am, you have to hold the device as far down as you can so the the remote and the scale can communicate properly. I hopped on the scale before getting in the shower and looked at the remote. 435. “No… it can’t be!” So I reweighed myself. I was right. It couldn’t be. In fact, it wasn’t. I weight the same as I did the last time I was weighed. Oh well… it was a nice feeling for a moment there.
I got in an extra workout last night. I went outside and walked up and down the driveway. I find that a lap up and back takes around 2 and a half minutes. A little more if I walk the entire perimeter of the driveways blacktop. After a while, I wanted to change it up a bit (and traffic was light), so once I got out to the street, I started walking on the shoulder – to the first tree, in one direction, and then past the driveway, and to the mailbox, in the other direction.
After a few laps of that, I ramped it up again, walking past the first tree to the first telephone pole in one direction, then past the driveway and mailbox, down the property a ways to the first telephone pole on that side. Then back to the driveway and back down to the house, so that I was walking something of a “T” pattern.
I didn’t expect to get very far. My back had been KILLING me since I had worked out. Enough that I couldn’t simply suffer in silence. Groans escaped me that I had no control over. But I’ve been demanding of myself that I do two workouts a day. I promised myself ten minutes, but realized that I could keep going for quite some time, using the Pandora app on my cell phone for music (I wasn’t sure what station to use – I wanted upbeat music – so I settled on Weird Al Yankovic. PERFECT!) and stopping only when I started to get sore, and then to put my upper body weight on something and keep pumping my legs. Once the pain went away, back to walking!
I kept this up for over 20 minutes, and surprisingly, wasn’t nearly as sore as I had been, before walking!
This morning’s workout started (after the warmup) with ten laps inside the house, standing in place low blocks and punches (20 of each for each arm), walking low blocks and punches, repeat, and then another 5 laps around the house, with the 2nd for blocks, the 4th for walking up the stairs. After the fifth, I just kept going and quit keeping count. I did look at the clock every few laps, to see how close to 20 minutes I was. After I’d hit 20 minutes, I got down on the ground and fought off our mascot – Buddha, the puppy. I did some core exercises there on the ground, starting on my back, putting my arms above my head (and avoiding Buddha’s tongue) and lifting my legs in turn. Then a little leg cycling (not much, can’t take it yet). Then I got on my side and did leg lifts, that’s easier. Then on my stomach to do those “Superman” exercises. One arm with one leg (opposites) and then the other with the other. I followed this up by bringing myself up on my knees and doing those… well, those leg lifts that look like a dog taking a whiz. I did some of those.
All told, I got in close to 30 minutes this morning, and I’ll hopefully do some more walking tonight. Gotta get ready for October!
