Monday, January 16, 2012

Back in the Saddle and Trying Keep Us There (by Tug)

So last time I posted, I had pretty much completely fallen off the wagon and not worked out or ridden in several days.  Ridiculously sad considering I had only been "on the wagon" for about a week before getting mule-kicked in the ass by my old friend Mr. Lazy and landing, splat, in the mud by the side of the road while my fitness goals kept on trucking down the highway. 

So, how's it been going, you ask?  Actually, pretty dang well, if i do say so myself.  I DID get up at 5am on that dreadful Wednesday morning and I DID work out downstairs.  On Thursday, I spent about an hour on the trainer, riding and pacing my pedaling to whatever came out of Pandora's convoluted algorithms on "Allman Brothers Radio".  Made for a good ride that had the floor covered with sweat when I was done.  I  kept the big Mo (that's Momentum, btw) going on Friday by getting up at 6am and hitting the weights again.  Saturday, I worked most of the day, watched the Broncos get their butts handed to them by the Patsies, and caught up on DVRed shows with Andi.  I think we watched "Parenthood" and "Modern Family".  Both of my favorite shows on TV for their decidedly different takes on parenting and family life.  Sunday, I worked out AND put in a good ride.  Today is an "off" day, but I am getting up early tomorrow for weights. 

Also on Sunday, I worked on some home "fitness" by cleaning and organizing our basement rec-room to make it a more functional and inviting place for the family.  For anyone who's ever been down there, its a pretty cold and sterile feeling place.  And not sterile as in clean.  The god-awful linoleum tile just seems to collect dirt.  Making it a full-time liveable space is an on-going (read: 4 years and counting) project.  I finally have a vision for the space, and budget willing, should be able to do what I want down there and have it completed by the end of the year.  I feel like I've said that before though, so we'll see how it goes.  Life always seems to throw us curveballs when I think I've got it figured out.  The plan is to carpet 2/3 of the space with carpet tiles (Anyone know a store that actually carries them???  The only place I've found them is by ordering on line.  I'd like to actually see something before I order it.  Especially carpet!).  Then I'll put down some "rubber" exercise pads for where the eliptical, my weight bench, weights and bicycle trainer will go.  The goal is to have a space where the kids can watch a movie, play video games, do art projects, work on homeword, etc. in the same space Andi and I work out so we don't feel guilty by going down there and leaving the kids upstairs doing something without us.  Its about 1000 sqft, so we should be able to make this work.

Speaking of Andi... I couldn't be more proud of what she's been doing.  Getting up at 4am and working out before work and then coming home and doing the mom thing is an amazing thing to behold.  I'm really hoping she can stay on track.  Sadly, in the past, I think I took on a huge role in her "finding weight" after she'd done a wonderful job of losing it.  If you haven't read her blog post from a few days ago, she is constantly battling temptations in the house.  The good Lord has apparently blessed me with good metabolism.  I can pretty much eat anything I want and not put on a lot of weight.  I think at my heaviest, I've been maybe 172 lbs.  My "normal" weight, without exercising or eating "right" hovers around the mid 160s.  (This isn't to suggest I am a sloth and sit on my ass all day.  Even though I have a "desk job", I am on my feet about 3/5 of the day, checking on my staff and helping people out.  Even when i'm at my desk, I am often standing while typing, etc.)  My old weekly diet would include eating fast food 4 or 5 times a week, having salty potato chips with my lunches, about 48 ounces of carbonated soda a day, etcetera, etcetera.  Thusly, if I was out doing the grocercy shopping (which I do a lot because it's easier for me to do it on my weekday off than for us to go as a family on the weekend), I'd usually bring home some stuff that I'd like, but that would undoubtedly sabotage Andi's efforts.  Oreo's, Lay's BBQ chips, eclairs.  Basically anything with a lot of sugar and/or salt.  To wit, right now in the pantry there is a bag of insanely addictive Honey Mustard and Onion Snyder's Pretzel Nibblers.  In the freezer there is some peanut-butter cup ice cream and about 2-dozen frozen chocolate chip cookie dough balls waiting to be cooked and eaten.  With the crap I would bring home, it's hard to imagine any sane person with just an inkling of a sweet-tooth to be able to live a week, passing through the kitchen multiple times a day, WITHOUT taking part in the delicious yumminess that comes with high-calorie, fattening goodies.  I know I can eat them with little impact.  I also know by now that she can't.  I don't know if that's just a difference in the sexes or what, but I know my behaviour had impacts on hers, whether intended or not.  So this time around, I'm going to do my best to see that I'm not bringing stuff into the house that might derail her efforts.  When these devilish temptations are gone, I'm not planning on bringing any more chips, pretzels, ice cream, etc. in the house.  I've rediscovered apples and peanut butter as a terrific snack and hopefully that'll continue to satiate my needs for a bit of sweet in the evenings.  I think I can do it.  When Andi's doing the healthy eating thing and exercising, she is a happier person.  Her happiness makes me happier, which makes the marriage stronger.  I can easily skip the cookies and ice cream at the grocery store knowing we're heading toward a better place as a couple.

For this week, I'm going to continue the pattern of weights and cycling on alternate days.  I'm also still doing well on the brown-bag lunches at work, subbing the chips with apples.  I also have a slew of magazines to catch up on that always have tips for healthier living.  "Men's Health", "Cooking Light", and even Andi's "Weight Watchers" are on the docket.  I'll let you know if I find anything of note between the pages. 

Thanks for reading!   

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