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Wednesday, January 26, 2005
‘You will be assimilated…’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I am not a real sci-fi buff, but wasn’t there a show where “You will be assimilated” was a recurring line? That is about how I feel. Slowly but surely, the right foods are working their way into my regular, day-to-day lifestyle. I am eating a healthy spinach leaf salad with every dinner. I am steaming vegetables for side dishes instead of rice. And I have replaced my weekly 1 pound ribeye steak with a 1 pound fresh Tilapia fish filet.
The healthy food thing is going good. I have actually gotten used to the taste of sweet tea brewed with Splenda. Fiber One cereal does not taste like tree bark anymore. And I have learned that just because it says “wheat” on the label, does not mean it is 100% whole wheat.
Grocery shopping has changed, but the bottom line on the receipt has not changed that much. In fact, it may be slowly falling (like my weight) since I am not adding expensive junk foods to my cart.
Working out is going good as well. After a couple of days on hiatus, I got back in there with a vengeance. I burned 400+ calories on the elliptical before getting on the weights to work out all the upper body muscles. I need to improve on stretching beforehand because I feel really tight & sore the day after. This afternoon I am back on cardio for 30-45 min before doing lower body weights.
Also, a friend is running the Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans in a few months & he sent me the training schedule to prepare for it. Even though I will not be running with him, I may stick to the schedule anyway and have myself in 10K shape along with him!
I purchased a Polar heart rate monitor watch & I will start using it today. I think if I take the time to track my progress, I will see where I can improve and where I am making headway.
My progress seems to have leveled out longer than anticipated. I have lost 12 pounds (one more pound lighter than last week) which puts me at 209, and my body fat percentage has stayed the same.
Permalink | | Categories: Drew Wilkinson
Time to ‘CUBE-ER-CISE’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well… January certainly hasn’t gone as planned. Weight went up instead of down until this past week when I started to get back into a normal routine. In fact, at Sunday’s weigh-in I actually had lost four lbs.(WHEW!)
I also have found that doing some exercises in the office helps. Especially on those nasty days when walking is curtailed.
I get into the office at 0645 am. The office is empty so doing these few simple exercises at my desk before everyone arrives doesn’t break the entire office into fits of laughter. I call this “CUBE-ER-CISE”
Desk Top Push Ups: Pull your chair out and lean on your desk at a 45 degree angle. Lower and raise yourself in a push up fashion. Work your way up to doing three or more sets of 10 pushups.
Deep Knee Bends: Use the desk to steady your self (so you don’t fall over making a complete fool of yourself). Keep your back straight and bend down Again, work up to doing 3 sets of 10. Don’t worry about that popping sound you hear… it’s probably your knees!
Toe Touches: These are simple. Slowly bend over at the waist and try to touch your toes. Hold for 20 seconds and raise back to vertical. Can’t reach them yet? Try not to fall over. Just do this one slowly and let your arms dangle. As you practice you’ll eventually be able to reach your toes. If your back goes out you’ll be stuck like this for weeks. The upside is that you’ll find all sorts of lost stuff while bent over. Besides if someone sees you going this you can always say you lost a contact.
Stretching: These are fun, as you can do these at any time of the day. Sit straight in your chair, slowly take your arms and reach above your head. Stretch hard… reach for the sky, partner, but reach slowly. Hold this for :30 seconds and lower your arms slowly. If a co-worker catches you doing this just wave!
Again sitting in your chair, raise your legs up off the floor and hold them straight out. Hold this position for :30 seconds. Do this 3 or 4 times. It’s not as easy as it seems but very effective. Create your own variations of these. Remember, You’ve had your butt planted in that chair for hours surfing the net instead of working. So “CUBE-ER-CISE”
Stay tuned and Semper Fi
Christian
Permalink | | Categories: Christian Roberts
