#198 - Winterizing - September 27, 2013

Last 24: the Pres of the US spoke with the Pres of Iran for the first time since I was 5 years old.

This is a big deal.   I think Obama has done a good job with a tough situation.  After 4.5 years in office, we're out of Iraq, mostly out of Afghanistan, have engaged in no more major wars, the economy is looking steady and improving.  An improved health insurance system is on its way.  We have recently secured an agreement to destroy Syria's chemical weapons, and Iran has stated its willingness to verifiably not seek nuclear weapons.  That's a sound list of accomplishments.

Obama's not perfect, not by a long shot.  But he has certainly done a lot of good for our country, and he has been better for the world then either of his challengers would have been.  I'm particularly disturbed by the lack of civil liberties at home and abroad.  He should have known better, and if he wants to leave the nation constitutionally better than he found it, he'll have to start finding ways to torpedo his own policies.

In other news, I recently learned that this blog's readership has increased a bit.  Hi, guys.

And I've been working through a bunch of things at the house.  Fall came early, and suddenly, this year.  I have removed the railing from the deck, pressure washed it and painted the deck.  I am nearly ready to put up the new rails.  I have prepped the pool for winterizing, put the deck chairs in the basement and pulled the sleds out for the winter.  The lawn mower is in the basement, a new leaf blower should arrive next week, the trampoline is taken apart and put away.  And we're getting quotes to get the rest of our roof replaced.  It's a lot in parallel.

Thankfully, the weather has been fantastic.  So - time to go work on the pool area some more.  Life is good.

#197 - Catching up a little - September 12, 2013

Cool thing: ran again.  You have no idea how good that feels.

Long hiatus.  Who expected that I'd skip the whole summer?  Not me.  Too much has happened to even sum up, so this post is simply about weight loss.

I've lost weight on purpose once before, and gained it accidentally twice before.  This time is extremely intentional.  I started at 235 in May.  Not fat by American standards, but "overfat" by medical standards.  So I started running.  No other changes.  And lost no weight for 2 months.  My goal was to get to 215 by Oct 12, and I was not going to get there.  So I ran more.  And started lifting weights.  No other changes.  And pounds started coming off.  Of course, part of this is the age-old, "lose fat, gain muscle, no change in weight" thing.  I knew that was true to start with.

But with my goal date swiftly approaching, it was time to be a bit more disciplined and drastic.  So I thought I'd just fast for a couple days, keep exercising, and see what that got me.  I wasn't able to do it, but I was able to skip meals.  In the end, I made a compromise with myself: I would eat enough to get nutrition, but very little more than that.  So for the past week I've been eating about 1.5 meals a day.  I skip either breakfast or lunch, depending on how my work schedule is, have a snack instead of the other meal, and keep my dinners carb-low.

Result?  Something like 4 lbs down in a week.  1 lb of body weight is approximately equal to 3000 calories.  If I run 3 miles, the treadmill tells me I burn about 500 calories.  MapMyFitness tells me it's more like 700 because I'm tall and heavy.   Lifting weights and upper-body cardio should be in the same ballpark if I'm working just as hard.  So if I've taken my 3000-calorie per day food intake down to 1500 calories and work out another 1500 calories (and do not eat more), then the net is I shed 1 lb per day.  Turns out for a tall person like me, half a pound or more per day is doable and healthy, even.  

I came down with a cold a week ago, and kept up my workout routine.  Until Sunday, when I had to cut my 8-mile run to 6 because I hadn't slept at all the night before.  Mon-Wed I had deadlines for work and otherwise tried to sleep as much as possible.  Usually I would take a sick day, but instead I worked 13 hours on Tuesday because I just had to get things done.  Finally, I slept well last night, finished my project at work in the morning and delivered it before lunch.

The rest of the work day was makring time, cleaning my inbox out, and making a task list for tomorrow.  And then I got home and ran just over 4.5 miles at an 8:15 pace.  My legs are not tired or sore, and everything else feels good, too.  So my body is on the mend.  I had an open house for Libby tonight, and then math homework with Aria, so no chance to do upper body tonight.

Tomorrow, Christian and I are headed out for our last campout of the year.  I'll do a little trail running, and my upper body will be pushups and situps.  I might take my little dumbell, too, since no hiking is involved.

So no entries for a few more days.

Go Ducks!  2-0 so far, and Saturday looks like another winner!