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Tag: exercise

Sleeping on Super Charged Batteries.

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Whatever combination of sunshine, heat, fun, two or three two hour long swims a day, long walks about the resort village, or the current time change, that it was, it has left me unable to fall asleep at night until about 3:00am or later. I don’t know if being a boring lump whom suddenly Pumps Up the Jam for eight days straight, and then returns home to a quiet life of lumpishness is what’s doing it, or if I have insomnia about my MRI results again, i don’t know. But it is irritating. I’m going to need to find a very physical activity to do here in the cold that saps my strength in a similar way, because my 7:00am wake up for school is going to get ugly fast if i can’t fall asleep until 3:00am, instead of around 10:00pm for the foreseeable future. Can all that vitamin D from the southern Florida sun supe up your internal batteries? I don’t know. Feels like it can. I’m buzzing. Brrrt!

Maybe a vigorous walk around the farm will help temper all this pent up energy. It isn’t like I’m snacking on high sugar treats well into the evening, or pounding sodas to keep me wired awake at night.i don’t drink coffee, or tea, nor espressos or cappuccinos either. If anything I’m taking in more water here than while I was away. Hm. A real conundrum. A puzzle, if you will. I shouldn’t be worried about work projects. I have submitted samples and am waiting on a data sheet. I filed paperwork for the non-profit on time, and I’m in the process of getting my taxes sorted out ahead of April. So those shouldn’t be a factor, atleast not consciously anyway. I’m back in my own bed at night, which I prefer to where I was sleeping in the Keys. My room is a lot darker than the one I stayed in too, so it shouldn’t be a matter of light pollution. Our neighbourhood is pretty tame, so it isn’t a noise issue. I think it’s just energy. I was building up and expending lots of energy when we swam for 90-150 minutes two or three times a day. Plus walks, and beach combing with the kids. I was even riding a fixed gear bike around the resort grounds once or twice.

I absolutely detest the cold so I get pretty sedentary between December 1st, and April 15th, where our weather is just The Worst. I need to figure something out. I know that the heat itself down there does a lot to sap my strength and make me tired. Plus all that fresh sea salt air that can make me tired like it does on the lake at the cottage. Probably a collection of things.

I felt just like this when I had to do both courses of Steroids for my guts. I slept maybe three hours a day, and felt like I could punch a mountain. I got so much done during those eleven weeks. Was also pretty irritable, bordering on angry towards the end of those courses too. Now, I’m not mad, just annoyed at myself for not falling asleep at a reasonable time.

Pulling muscles and exposing weaknesses.

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To say that my fitness journey has been rocky is a vast understatement. My goal of getting down under 200lbs has stalled, stopped, started, faultered, and sputtered more than it has actually delivered any results, and mainly because I haven’t been able to keep with it for more than a week to ten days at a time.

I was moving along at a fair pace during winter, until I caught Covid during March break. And since I’ve had EBV fairly recently, like late 2015, I wasn’t in a rush to have SARS2 kickstart that virus back up again, nor risk any Long Covid symptoms so I gave myself twelve weeks less a day before I picked up my weights, and actually got physically active again. Then we got into summer and our travel plans and I did not ship my weights, nor my bike along with us. And now I’m home, heading into the fall, and I have done only a day or two of exercise in the last month or more. I tried pull ups in the park the other day, and did a horizontal zip line type thing, and the muscles through my chest and abdomin are screaming bloody murder at me. So no sit ups just yet. No body weight hangs either!

I do fantasize about doing a proper free weights regimen, or getting into cycling, or Crossfit again, but ultimately I want to lose weight, get into better shape, but not spend much money at all to do so. So much like my writing, I need to convert action into habits, and fit it into my every day without fanfare or bluster. I know I will NEVER wake up early just to exercise, but I would stay awake 10-15 minutes more to fit in a quick jumble through some minor movements, provided I don’t make myself all sweaty after having showered for bed already.

Whatever – point is, my physical fitness is lacking, my discipline and motivation to get in and do anything is an uneven ebb and flow. I need to change it from an event to a habit, and that requires a mental shift I haven’t been able to replicate since 615 days ago when I started writing every day. And in most cases my blog post is more like an uneventful journal entry, and not the short stories, or long form writing I had intended it to be. Still going though! So that’s something.

My weight is hovering around 203-206lbs, and my goal is to reach 185lbs, and then possibly continue to 175lbs, and then remain close to that goal weight. Heavy enough to remain substantial, but not heavy enough to really harm my joints, knees, hips, ankles etc… take some pressure off of my abdomin, try to reduce my snoring too. Do my best to reduce all these new jiggly bits. Size down the stomach an inch or two so that my pants fit more comfortably. I don’t need to go back to a size 30 waist, but to be comfortable in 32’s would be beneficial for my wardrobe. That would open back up all the nicer menswear I had to put away as I got heavier. My dress shirts would all become wearable, same with my suits, sport coats, and jackets. All my medium t-shirts could come out of retirement too. Oh to dream. Ha. But I need to do it though. Wishing and wanting don’t seem to get me more than a day or two in. Going to HAVE to do things. Eat smaller portions, and be more active. Walk more. Squats, push ups, sit ups, lunges, burpees, running, cycling, swimming, lifting weights, stretching. Some, all, or a combination of the above. Consistently. For weeks and months on end.

Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging. I will be sure to report in regarding how things progress, or not. It’s a shame Fitbit’s are so pricey, a cheap step counter might be my best Avenue in. I like seeing a visual goal, and then reaching or exceeding something that I can see might work in my favour. Doubtful. Just an excuse to spend money. Though, I bet I can find my wife’s old first gen fitbit somewhere. Hmm.

At home, the battle for soft water rages on.

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Awoke this fine Saturday morning in early July to the sound of my water softener running a cycle. Not good. It is programmed to run at 2:00am, so it was stuck flushing, or in some other portion of the cycle. From what I learned before, parts 1 through 3 are fine, but returning to home for the final part 4 it hits a snag, and it goes off. First it was Err01, then Err03, and now we have a return to Err01 again. Fun, fun, fun. I have a box from the supplier with some replacement parts, so I hope that sorts things out. I just need to swap out a block of interconnected do-hickies, and hopefully put this thing to rest. Home ownership, this shit never ends. Softener, heaters, furnace, AC unit, fridge, freezer, on and on they cycle. One after the other requiring service, parts, or replacement. Yikes. Makes me want to scream.

Oh! Now I remember what I was going to talk about. Two updates really. One: weight loss – bit of a slow start to be honest. After Covid I put the weight training down for 3 months less a day, to try to avoid causing Long Covid, seems to have worked out. I was able to start lifting and exercising again on the 12th of June. I’m not at my heaviest, which was around 213Lbs, but I’m not far off at 204Lbs. I would like to get myself down to a reasonable 175-180Lbs range, which I think would suit my frame, and not leave me looking unwell, nor “chunked out”. If I had my way I’d be doing olympic style lifting again, but I can’t afford CrossFit gym memberships at this point. That was full time working me, with no kids, and I’m not earning more than half of what I used to. Plus the local gyms here are all machines. I want free weights, and to be able to clank if I need to clank, you know? I tried very hard to always control my weights & bars, but in a pinch, you gotta clank. CLANG-CLANK-CRASH!  So there we are. I need to buy myself a bar, and some smaller plates, and a bench. We have no room for any of it. So there’s that to contend with too. I want, I want, wah-wah-wah. Yes, I hear it. Riding my bike with my oldest isn’t out of the question, but I’d have to take us somewhere remote so we were unaffected by potential traffic, cars or inattentive drivers. I don’t fancy getting my child squashed because I want to loose twenty five pounds.

And two: I’m finally half way through book fourteen, another Mo Hayder book, with eyes on book #15 by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The third installment of a trilogy. Hope it’s a satisfying end! Can’t wait. But in the meantime I’m reading this sad, suspenseful story about distasteful people preying on children and minors, and I’m not thrilled about it. The book is good, but the subject matter is not exactly what I’m craving to read about. I’m not jazzed to read before bed, which is what I would usually do. Now I find the time to read a bit during the day only. So it’s been slow going. Not like “The Grapes of Wrath” slow, but slow enough. I just don’t want to devote hours of my day to read about the SA of small kids. And definitely not about their murders either. Very depressing. Hard on the soul. I know it is fiction, but still. Ugh.

Well this post is all over the place though huh? Malfunctioning household items, weight training and weight loss, and book recco’s. What a Saturday. Ciao Bella!

Carving their initials into my display unit.

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Was tidying up around the fireplace and noticed something odd with a lone flat, laid out tissue (unused), so I picked it up, and what did I find you ask? I’ll tell you. The letter “H” carved into the top surface of our new display unit. In black ball point pen. Sunken into the wood grain. And some other random drawings, equally pushed into the wood surface. I was not impressed with the youngest. Not in the least. She gouged it in there good and deep. I am impressed with myself for not losing my shit. Not much I can do about it, without having to sand the whole top surface. Restain it all, and then add all new clear coat to it too. It is too cold for much of that to be done in my garage. And far too smelly to do inside the house. It off gases for so long. I left it outside for a few days after each step when I built it in September, and it still smelled strongly once it came inside for set up.

The youngest’s handiwork. Pitted and gouged up real good. Thanks random ball point pen.

Why it wasn’t done in pencil, I’ll never know. Oh well. That’s a 2023 downtime problem to solve. Or a spring cleaning effort come April.

Otherwise it is now Wednesday December 7th, 2022 and I don’t have much else to say today. I mean, I do, but it’s not kind. And doesn’t involve my marred table. So happy hump day. Oh, also we are now well inside the last ten days before I reach my 365 days of writing goal. I am very excited to finally see that big number, and know that i somehow managed to stick with it, even with the storms, illness, vacations, and hectic school/work schedules we all have. I wish i could say the same thing about my exercise plan, but that was always second fiddle to the writing. It is still important, now that i am getting into my near mid forties. Staying in some kind of shape besides round, or pear are of a higher importance to longevity, and general satisfaction when looking in the mirror. So perhaps i will shuffle my priorities in 2023, and put exercise first and writing second? I doubt it, but it’s a fun mental exercise to play around with. What would that look like. How do i monitor success? Do i have to go “buy” an app or Fitbit or membership somewhere? If so, count me out. 2023 should be a year of cheapness. Saving since you never know if things are going to tank hard, and leave you wishing you’d put more away for a bad year.

2022 may wind up being one of my better years for the business. No where as good as when i worked full time in house for another company. But good for me still. It can get real easy to fall into the trap of living up to your new found wages. If they slip, fall shy, or disappear you are pooped. So best to find your line, and live there through good years and hard. Keep it as simple as you are able without being a deprivation weirdo. You know the type. All boisterous about going without, but then secretly binge behind closed doors instead of using sensible moderation. But I digress. Take care out there folks. Ciao Bella!

Delayed onset of muscle soreness.

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Is definitely unpleasant. I find it in my quads, hamstrings and lats more than anywhere else on my body. Excepting maybe my abs if I get into the flow of doing situps or crunches, which I’ll admit, is rare. Sore thighs make sleeping on a hard mattress a bit of a bitch. Hate using a roller to break down those fibres but I just might have too. Blargh! That or lather in some A535 and put my feet up. No good deed goes unpunished. Take care of yourselves out there. Ciao Bella!

PA Day: Scramble to find something suitable to occupy these kids.

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That doesn’t cost an arm and a leg either. It will be far easier to accomplish if the weather is as nice today as they have been forecasting for the last few days. I think a quick wander around a mall, with a hot lunch, and a small scenic drive might potentially be enough to salvage this Friday. I think I managed to get all of my current work out the door earlier this week so that I shouldn’t have too much to worry about, work wise, while the kids are home with me again, today. The Joys of PA Days. It was way easier in June, we could swim and go to the park, and Bam! Both kids happy and satisfied with their spare day at home with dear ole dad. Not so much when it’s cooler, and we have to actively try to all get on the same page. Which as many of you with children will know, is not as easy as it sounds. Whether it is meals, snacks, toys, or locations to play in the house, they don’t always line up, and on most occasions are actively in conflict with one another. Oh, today you wish to be actively engaged in opposing every option provided? Oh joy. I’m certain we will find something to do. I just don’t know what that thing is yet. I do know this, the Zoo is out today. I’m not interested in going back to the Zoo – yet again, today. I love it, but I’ve had enough for now.

Heard a new random term used on Twitter the other day. What is called a “milkshake duck“. And I found it both funny and alarming. As I had been watching the clips with the Emu, and having a laugh, but those deep diving account checkers found a sordid (read racist) past, and now the whole thing is spoiled. I was just interested in the silly bird, but now I gotta deep dive every account to find what shitty thoughts they harboured? This sucks. And also, I’m not vetting every single twitter poster I come across who says something funny, or interesting. People suck.

If you don’t know, today is Friday. So that’s always good news to hear. Congratulations, you’ve made it through yet another week. I’m also down to 55 days left in my 365 days of writing challenge. It has gone far smoother than I had thought it would. But there is still a good stretch ahead of me to still complete. It was initially just a mad rush to add content to this blog before the new year kicked in, and I just kept on going. Do I plan to do this next year too? I can’t honestly say. I feel as though it has become apart of my daily schedule/routine. I am still actively trying to get exercise firmly planted inside my daily schedule/routine as well, but have been far less successful at that. I don’t enjoy being a round as I am through the middle, but it doesn’t seem to be enough of a push to get me to stick with it every single day. I will say this though, I have worked out, with weights, more this year than just about any other in the last decade. So it is more than I was doing before, just not as much as I probably should be doing. Again, in the summer things were easier. More swimming, biking and riding my longboard. Now do I think getting a pair of cheap cross country skiis would help? Possibly? I used to love cross country skiing in my teens and very early twenties. I can go to the farm, and listen to music while I putter around the fields doing laps. Depends on if I can find them cheap enough to warrant the expense. Something to ponder, and do a web search on later. Anyway, take care out there. Ciao Bella!

Of course I forgot about crossing Day 300.

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Talk about consistency eh? Was so angered by the refrigerator acting up for the fourth time I totally spaced on crossing day 300 of my writing challenge. Which is a milestone for sure. Perhaps when I get into the whole self indulgent year in review mood, I’ll get a final word count for every single post over the 365 days. What do we think the total will be? My early guess will be around 250,000 words for the year. Nothing too insane, given I wrote about 100,000 for my second book in the early part of the year.

I have definitely not been anywhere near as consistent with my working out, but I’m still working on that. I need to find some additional exercises to do in order to keep things fresh and add a hint of fun. Or, now hear me out here, make it more exciting. Standing still while using dumbbells is not a thought that inspires me to action. Though I feel better now after doing it more often than not. I do miss my olympic lifting sessions. I just don’t have the room for a squat rack, full complement of bumper plates, bars, and kettle bells, and essentially a full box gym. Which is a shame. But that’s the reality. I also don’t want to pay to join a gym I won’t go to as much as the expense would demand. Wah-wah-wah. I get how this all sounds.

With the recent big clear out of the shed, by sending the pergola to the cottage, and gifting our Barbie Corvette power wheels vehicle to my niece I was able to move all four bicycles out of the garage and into the shed. You can now move freely inside the garage for the first time in many months. I took some time during our holiday weekend at home to rearrange some elements in the garage. Giving me the ability to make some longer cuts on the table saw before I have to rotate the whole saw in the space for really long cuts. Or anything over four and a half feet long. Which is pretty rare for me. I work in the two to three foot long space most often. When I build boxes and end table and such, I keep my projects on the smaller side. As much as I would love to, I just don’t know if I could do a whole dining room table build. Would get awful tight in the space I have. I’m thinking on whether I could replace my radial arm saw by getting a larger and more robust sliding double compound mitre saw. One with a twelve inch saw blade to it. I’m hearing conflicting reports about the veracity of that statement, but I think a chunky well made mitre saw would do what I need, and save me even more floor slash wall space. I need to somehow regain some assembly space, which I don’t currently have. I don’t like having to leave partially assembled bits on my work bench if I still have more building left to do. And constantly moving things between the bench, the floor, or the table saw top is a hassle. Again, more whining. But, in this case I am doing something about it, albeit slowly. Piece by piece over months or years. Playing the long game here with this one folks.

The youngest is home under the weather again. I think she’s pulled a groin muscle after tripping on a dining room chair, falling at the park, and falling over at school all within a 48 hour period. Then swimming for two hours last night to aggravate it. So she’s doped up with kids Tylenol for the ache, and is watching the Spongebob movie for the hundredth time. On the plus side her cough is settling down again. She’s self contained, bundled in bed with drink & snacks. Which means I’m able to work, glad I’m not as busy as the last four weeks had been. Stay well out there. Ciao Bella!

Looks as though the plan is working.

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Every single day, for an undetermined amount of time I put some work into my childrens book, and thus far it seems to be paying off. I have the whole layout done. The type is set in place, the cover & Title design is done, and I have started to produce artwork for the internal pages.

This is way more work than just writing stuff. I knew it would be, but sweet cheese. I still have a lot to do. The bonus is, that I am making headway after more than a year of putting it off. Much like my short story series I don’t believe this will bring me any sort of fame or fortune. I just wanted to do it, so I am. In my own way. No need to be hood at it, just trying things out, striking items off of the bucket list. It’s actually fairly rewarding in an internalized, intrinsic way. Good enough for me.

My thinking for the books interior pages is this, I will build out all of the colorful backgrounds first, as I’m enjoying the painting process in Photoshop right now. Though I wish my tablet was still supported, but it crashes everything when I plug it in, so mouse painting it is for now. Then I’ll have to settle on the design for my two lead characters, and some peripheral materials. But that’s a decision for future me to wrangle with, not present time me.

Slowly filling in the background of the illustrations. Some I like & will keep, while others are a starting point to be improved upon.

Still working out every single day. I used one skip it day, when my back was really jammed up, so I’ll take that 24 hours of no weights, or body weight exercises as a small win. As I came right back too it, instead of three months from now. I might even ride my bike today. Or I’ll shape up the hedge rows in the yard. Or continue to line the curbs. Cutting away all of the over hanging mess along the far side of the property.

Trying to stay busy, and focused on getting things done around here while I can. More outdoor birthday parties coming up, so saving things for the weekend weather gets harder to do, when I loose prime sunny working hours. No matter. All good here. Stay strong, we’re all ready at Thursday! Yay!