<p>My workout tonight was putting the lights on the Christmas tree.</p>
<p>What I’m noticing having adopted a pretty good exercise regimen in the past year is not so much comments on my weight – which doesn’t seem to change much no matter what I do – but on my lack of commentary on health problems. When I’m with others my age the litany seems to revolve around high blood pressure, diabetes, bad knees, etc. Exercise seems to have inoculated me from this stuff . . . at least for awhile.</p>
<p>"It’s nice to be able to chew on both sides "
-Congrats!
This is the luxury that happened to me sometime. Most of the time, there is something going on on one side of my mouth that lasts for many months and then I even forget that I can chew on both sides when problem is corrected or whatever was there got healed. Most of it though have to do with implants. At this point, I am the same as you, enjoying chewing on both sides while it lasts, let see which one will get bad next, as my dentist said, with my teeth, you never know…I can just pray that I have at least one side of my mouth and I like to chew on very hard and crunchy apples, many ouches in my life as far as I can remember…I totally understand your satisfaction…</p>
<p>My problems are generally self-inflicted: I don’t go to the dentist frequently enough to catch problems. This last one was a problem crown. I had problems with it but I had been in the dentists chair so much that I just lived with it until the thing broke and I didn’t realize it early enough. I have a todo list item to get a Sonicaire for the office.</p>
<p>The funny little things that you get after a root canal seem to be gone which is nice too. After root canals and crowns, things can be a little tender. I imagine the same is true for implants. I am very happy that there is the implant technology as that’s a nice backstop if everything else goes bad.</p>
<p>^I have had many more root canals and regular crowns, than most others, including you, believe me. Implants are just the end of the rope situation, I do not give up my own teeth easily, I go for second opinions and my dentist is very good and open to anything to fight for each individual tooth. Yes, the fight starts with normal root canal, regular crown, I had many surgeries with what used to be undisolving stiches, that had to be pulled out later. Well, technology evolved rather quickly and I have unfortunate experience with most of it. Implant is not what you want, you want to save your own as much as possible.<br>
One thing I have learned when I was pre-teen, I do not wait. Still have memories of 50+ years ago rolling in bed with huge toothache again and again and again. My poor granddaughter who happens to inherit my teeth, already has crowns, she is not even in HS yet.</p>
<p>Five pound party! Woohoo!</p>
<p>Got to brag here.</p>
<p>Asked DW to put some lotions on my back this AM stepping out of the bathroom. She said “wow… …”. I was thinking " I know, it is very dry" Guess what she said?</p>
<p>“very nice looking back!!!” </p>
<p>So the two+ months working out in the gym does pay off - 30 inch waist and full muscles on the shoulder. </p>
<p>Too bad that I got to leave for work soon after.</p>
<p>DadII,</p>
<p>Very, very nice.</p>
<p>Except for the last sentence. :)</p>
<p>LOL. Good work, Dad II.</p>
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<p>Yay! I just dusted off my party hat and noise-maker. I love a good five pound party.</p>
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<p>No question about it. All of the “metabolic syndrome” maladies (Type 2 diabetes, etc.) are largely caused by poor diet and lack of exercise. And the routine joint stiffness/ache problems (as opposed to torn ACL’s and so forth) are largely symtoms of poor fitness and loss of flexibility. I’m a walking example of how that stuff can be reversed.</p>
<p>Just finished raking leaves- property is 150x 200 ( front yard). The back yard is larger. I will get to that over the weekend.</p>
<p>Went to run on the treadmill. Got to the fitness center and I couldn’t turn my headset on. Went back to the office and plugged it in once and there’s a flashing purple light - which from past experience usually means that it’s toast. I plugged it into my laptop and it gave a flashing green light - no clue what that means. I’m going to leave it plugged in overnight but I think that it’s truly dead.</p>
<p>The local Best Buy has the latest model in stock. I’m going to head over and pick one up. I don’t have any other earbuds, headsets or headphones with me in the office and I won’t run on the treadmill without music.</p>
<p>My backup is an iPod Nano + Sennheiser but those are at home. We’ll see if I can salvage something this afternoon.</p>
<p>In case anyone cares…I finally made it to Dunkin Donuts. Totally not worth it. I got some donut holes to share with DH & son…they were stale. I found out later Dunkin makes them from frozen dough they bake at the store. OK, they weren’t greasy, but they weren’t very good either. “No trans fat” the bag says. Whoopie.*</p>
<p>BUT I had a lovely walk over there in the crisp wintry air. 
Even though I almost got run over by a little old lady with a handicap tag hanging from her mirror. I thought she saw me, and I was trotting across IN the crosswalk, for heaven’s sake (I always walk quickly so as not to inconvenience drivers, if possible). Well, she HONKED at me and glared. I think her handicap was ignorance of driving rules. :D</p>
<p>*I’m GLAD they weren’t very good, of course. Wouldn’t be nice to have a temptation so near by, would it?</p>
<p>I picked up a pair of Jaybird Freedom earbuds. They have wings and optional over the ear hooks so they look secure. They are supposed to be sweatproof and they’re a lot lighter than my S9s. I got them set up (they have three different sizes for the wings and the in-ear piece. It’s basically two small pieces connected by a wire as opposed to a solid bar in the back. The battery life is supposed to be around four hours. A big advantage of this style is that I can lie down with it which may be useful for stretching or situps.</p>
<p>Of course after I got it working, I played with the S9s and managed to get them working too. It looks like I completely drained the battery and it is charging now. Looks like I’ll have two usable solutions. I’m probably going to carry both around - it really helps to have a backup solution. They S9s will die eventually (they always do).</p>
<p>I was at Walmart today and checked out their fitness selection for the first time in ages. Gotta hand it to them, they have some really nice stuff.</p>
<p>In addition to the gray iron hex “prison dumbbells” I bought, they are now stocking neoprene coated hex DBs with shaped grips. Really nice, for just a buck or two more than the prison DBs. I would have bought these in a flash. Looks like they stock 10 lb up to 35 lb in five pound increments. These area steal at their prices with no shipping:</p>
<p>[CAP</a> Barbell Coated Hex Dumbbell: Exercise & Fitness : Walmart.com](<a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/CAP-Barbell-Coated-Hex-Dumbbell/19866908]CAP”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/CAP-Barbell-Coated-Hex-Dumbbell/19866908)</p>
<p>They also have a cheapo TRX knock-off for $39.95:</p>
<p>[Gold’s</a> Gym Suspended Body Weight Trainer: Exercise & Fitness : Walmart.com](<a href=“http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gold-s-Gym-Suspended-Body-Weight-Trainer/21811900]Gold’s”>http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gold-s-Gym-Suspended-Body-Weight-Trainer/21811900)</p>
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<p>BC: </p>
<p>After breaking and repairing the cord on my workout Sennheissers, I finally ordered another set, this time with the built in iPod controls. Those are really handy – PAUSE/PLAY, NEXT TRACK, and VOLUME controls on the cord up near the headphones. Really handy for hiking because I can bury the iPod in a pocket and still have access to the controls.</p>
<p>Remote controls are great. BTW, you can do previous track too.</p>
<p>On my Motorokr S9s, there are also buttons to answer phone calls.</p>
<p>I tried out the new headset tonight. They’re great. They only have volume +/- but I can live with that as my running playlist doesn’t have many bad running songs. Prev/Next would be nice but finding a place to put the buttons would be a problem as these things are so small. One other thing that I like about them is that they provide a clamshell case with a magnetic closure. Keeps cord tangle to a minimum. I should put these things on a scale. The S9s weigh 1.1 oz. I imagine the new ones weight a lot less.</p>
<p>Almost forgot: 2 miles, and a bit on the free weights. The headphone issues really messed up my schedule this evening.</p>
<p>Punched the clock in the basement. </p>
<p>Twisting sideplanks with a DB.
DB snatch</p>
<p>Barbell front squat
3-pt DB row
Single leg squat
TRX/Jungle Gym pushups (hands version)
Combo: reverse lunge w DB overhead press</p>
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<p>Front squats came around a little bit today. I’ve been really fighting 'em. It’s a pretty unnatural position, pressing a barbell against the collarbone with the fingers, while the wrist is bent backwards. Not quite as uncomfortable today.</p>
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<p>Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) also has been linked to metabolic syndrome. Not that you’d have to worry about it, interesteddad, but some of us do. 
Heaven knows I had my fair share of unhealthy eating and inactivity, too.</p>
<p>22 lbs to my initial goal weight. My revised goal is another 36. BMI is down to 28.3.</p>
<p>Overheard a woman at cardio rehab today who was telling the nurse her weight. She weighs exactly what I do and is about my height. My reaction was “she doesn’t look like she weighs that much at all.” I look at myself in the mirror and see something completely different, though. Perception is everything, I guess.</p>
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<p>May give it a try!</p>
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<p>Definitely linked to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. It’s looking like coronary artery disease is linked, too. High levels of triglyceride production.</p>
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<p>Just keep focusing on the next five pound party. Everything else in terms of final goals and all will take care of itself as long as you string together those parties!</p>