<p>Hour aerobics class and hour of set training with trainer.</p>
<p>~ 4 mile park run. 46 degrees and cloudy.</p>
<p>Today’s run was overall a good one, but for some reason my arm was bugging me. For the first couple of miles I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t overdo it on yesterday’s workout so I was definitely puzzled. Then it dawned on me. The hour or two of digging up weeds yesterday afternoon with the new little shovel (very nice, no palm soreness, unlike when I’d use the old mini shovel). Interestingly, I didn’t notice anything leg-wise. Niquii would have been proud of me, after all that extended squatting. :-)</p>
<p>Hope that all it is Deborah! Sounds like a good bet. </p>
<p>Went to the gym this afternoon - no running on the track forest my hip area. BUT. I noticed they had a foam roller! I did my best to remember a bit about idads videos he posted. They also had a diagram up with some demo pics- helpful! Wasn’t sure how long to do them for - did about a minute in each spot. So combined this at the beginning of my gym time and at the end and then just did some fast walking and running elliptical. Still broke a sweat and felt like I “worked out”. Going to baby the hip for a few days - and get to know other parts of the gym!</p>
<p>Dealing with temps close to zero here and quite a bit of ice. Yesterday was warmer but we got a lot of snow (a lot for our area - close to 8 inches). Yesterday’s exercise was shoveling and playing “snowball” with the dogs - good thing it was a rest day. Walked to work this morning and home as our roads were icy - quite a bit of melt today, thankfully - we had lots of sun. </p>
<p>Back from the gym where I forced myself to run slowly. 6.23 terrible miles on the dreadmill. Oh well. That’s done.</p>
<p>iDad, I hear you on the food tracking. I went to Whole Foods this past weekend and yes, I bought way too much bread. Including brioche. It’s gone and I ate the vast majority of it. I think I’m going to have to stick to Fiber One English muffins every other day. Tracking sounds like a good idea. I’m afraid to even get on the scale.</p>
<p>sabaray:</p>
<p>The good thing about food tracking for a while is that it gives me a “reward” for NOT EATING something to balance out the “reward” of eating it. I mostly know where my excesses are (nuts, apples, croutons, etc.), but actually having to track them shines a big ol’ spotlight on the quantities. I’m going back and revisiting many of my saved recipes to make sure I’m got them as accurate as possilble.</p>
<p>Another plus I forgot to mention when I was using the foam roller (just like a thick pool noodle and more dense!) . As I had my legs extended and was on my side I was watching my legs closely as I slowly “rolled”. Wait a minute . Whose legs are those? They are toned and not fully flabby!! Leaner and meaner! To looking bad in those shorts! Really, it was a kind of a-ha moment! </p>
<p>I look in the mirror everyday, but this was different. And good for my mental state. :)</p>
<p>abasket:</p>
<p>Now, that is a nice reward! Muscles are a good thing…</p>
<p>Yay, abasket! One more benefit of all that running and squatting!</p>
<p>Deborah - I hear you on the weeding injuries. I was put on Celebrex a while ago because I developed a bad case of tendinitis in my wrist. When my doctor asked if by any chance I was a molecular biologist (meaning if the injury came from repetitive pipettig), I said, “No, but I have a garden!” The neighbor’s “dandelion plantation” was spreading weeds all over my yard, and that was the cause of the injured wrist.</p>
<p>4 mile easy paced run today.</p>
<p>I have 10 days until my half and I’m wondering if I should I try to do one more long run?</p>
<p>Deborah- hope it is minor and clears up fast.
Blankmind- I would do an 8 or 9 if you want another long run. Nothing longer.</p>
<p>Basement for me. Brrr. 53 degrees down there, even with my little heater running. Actually, the cool temps are pretty good for workouts.</p>
<p>Farmers carries
Plank Rows
Side Plank Rows</p>
<p>Box jumps
KB swings</p>
<p>Single leg squats
TRX rows
Hex bar deadlifts
Alternating overhead DB presses</p>
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<p>Good solid 65 minute workout, including my usual warmup. Shoulder is fine. Wrist is fine. Knocked off a couple more fitness podcasts.</p>
<p>sabaray, I read earlier that you did 6.23 miles, so I increased my planned 6.1-mile run to 6.27 miles! Thanks for the encouragement! I actually joined the 1500 miles in a year group on RunningAhead.com to see how long I can keep up with the pace bunny. MoWC is way the heck in front of the bunny. I’m about 6 miles ahead of him. He’s tough!</p>
<p>interesteddad, I read a study that said 52 degrees is the best temperature you can run in. Our basement was 46 degrees tonight. I wish it would be that cool outdoors in the summer!</p>
<p>My basement was 47 degrees before I turned on the little heater for an hour before my workout. It’s 9 degrees outside right now. Yikes.</p>
<p>Too funny, ML - I saw you had reached 70 miles for the month and that pushed me to get my rear in gear! I would love a home treadmill but that’s just not going to happen. The hard part is getting to the gym.</p>
<p>So, I’ve been catching up on diet, nutrition, and fitness stuff after football season ended and I had a real “aha” moment this week, juxtaposed from a blog from Dr. Michael Eades (author of Protein Power) and a video lecture by S. African running guru Tim Noakes (author of the Lore of Running).</p>
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<p>First, just a little basic stuff. To lose weight effectively really means to get the body to release fat stored in the fat cells (as triglyceride molecules), circulate it in the bloodstream, and burn it for energy in the muscles. In a normal functioning body, this happens when we eat less than we need and we don’t really feel the symptoms of starvation because we are getting extra fuel by burning our stored fat. I never felt particularly hungry while losing 90 pounds. That’s because I was burning stored fat for energy so I wasn’t really short of energy despite eating less than I was burning.</p>
<p>Second, this goes haywire in the significant percentage of people who are insulin resistant. Insulin is released by the pancreas whenever there is a need to lower the level of blood sugar or blood glucose. Insulin works by signalling cells to burn glucose AND to shut the flood gates to keep fat from leaving the fat cells. No fat can leave the fat cells until the glucose is burned first. Obviously, high insulin levels aren’t what you want when you are trying to make the body burn stored fat. And, that’s why insulin resistance is linked to obesity. Insulin resistant people have elevated insulin levels throughout the day. Every time they eat carbs, their insulin levels goes sky high and tends to stay high. The whole theory behind cutting carbs is to keep insulin from spiking. These diets are most successful for insulin resistant people, perhaps less effective for people who are highly insulin sensitive and who don’t produce big spikes after eating carbs.</p>
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<p>Why diets fail for low carb dieters. Eades lays out the obvious problem when a low-carb diet stalls. Carbs may be low. The gates to the fat cells may be wide open, just ready to release fat for burning. But, it doesn’t matter how low your carbs are if you are eating more than your body needs. In that scenario, the body won’t burn stored fat for energy, even if it is begging to be burned. Doesn’t need the fuel. Eades points out an obvious culprit – calorie bomb snacks, even low carb snacks. A bag of mixed nuts, easily eaten in an evening 1300 extra calories.</p>
<p>[Caloric</a> torpedos » The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.](<a href=“http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/weight-loss/caloric-torpedos/]Caloric”>http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/weight-loss/caloric-torpedos/)</p>
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<p>Why diets fail for high carb dieters. This one is so obvious that I don’t know how I missed someone stating it so simply before I watched Noakes’ lecture. Starvation diet. Somebody killing themselves to stick to a 1200 calorie a day diet, following all the “rules”. Whole grains. Low fat everything. And still not losing weight. We’ll guess what? If they are insulin resistant and eating carbs morning, noon, and night, the high insulin levels will keep the fat cells slammed shut. Even though there may be 50 pounds of excess body fat to burn and even though they are literally starving, the body won’t burn the stored fat. So, they are starving themselves. Hungry all day. Don’t feel like exercising. And the pants still don’t fit.</p>
<p>[Professor</a> Tim Noakes on the topic: “The Great Diet Controversy: UCT taught me to Challenge Beliefs.” - YouTube](<a href=“Professor Tim Noakes on the topic: "The Great Diet Controversy: UCT taught me to Challenge Beliefs." - YouTube”>Professor Tim Noakes on the topic: "The Great Diet Controversy: UCT taught me to Challenge Beliefs." - YouTube)</p>
<p>Woke up this morning to an e-mail of just booked concerts at the little venue around the corner and among them was an artist who pops up regularly on my iPod exercise favorites. I can’t wait to see her live. Here she is doing a cover of Slim Harpo song that the Rolling Stones recorded on Exile On Main Street. I guess this one would be a good workout song for a hip dominant exercise like kettlebell swings:</p>
<p>[Joan</a> Osborne “Shake Your Hips” - YouTube](<a href=“Joan Osborne "Shake Your Hips" Peak Performance - YouTube”>Joan Osborne "Shake Your Hips" Peak Performance - YouTube)</p>
<p>“Why diets fail” is often more basic. Most people who go on a diet (any diet with any restrictions, low-carb or low-fat or anything else) fail because they become more lax about following the diet over time, eventually returning to their old habits.</p>
<p>That, too…</p>
<p>Core torture tonight… The stuff that my trainer taught me, which is simple and yet very efficient.</p>