Back in the Saddle

It has been awhile since I have posted anything.  There is good reason why; I have not done anything worth writing about.  That said, here I go again.

I am on the road in Kentucky with my boss this week.  We are getting some data for new products for our company.  It will help us determine what our targets and goals should be when we run the new products ourselves. 

This will be a good chance of pace except that we will be working in the freezer.  I hope I have enough layers to survive the hours we will spend in the actic enviornment.

Only one hotel available and it has an outdoor pool (closed this time of year) and no hot tub.  I was counting on the hot tub after working in the freezer all day.  May just soak in the tub while reading a book.

Meals so far have been a Brave Latte from a concessions in the Chicago Midway airport, Baconator from Wendy's, and a fair blackend salmon from a local restarant Colby's.

Since I flew to the location, I was not able to bring my weights.  I will check out the workout room, but plan on doing as much of my workout as possible in the room.

Little hunger tonight and look at what I am reading

I had one of the saltiest taco salad ever made.  It was good and I did not eat the shell, but I was thirsty all day long. After drinking water every 20 minutes or so, I found that I was not very hungry. Tonight's dinner was a Dole Garlic Caesar salad.

  I am not sure why the servings is 3, I eat a whole bag myself every time. Total calories = 450 with 330 from fat. Gotta like that.

Did my full workout and the body is tired.  Love that Slow Burn.  Fred Haun is my man!

After my workout I sat for a long time in the hot tub up to my neck until the sweat was pouring down my face.  Probably not recommended, but if I do not do this, I am very sore the next morning.  Being at a hotel all week/every week does not allow for much movement.  When the sun stays up longer, I can go for a relaxing walk after working out or as I did many times last year, go for a bike ride which I very much enjoy.

I just finished, "Killing Floor" by Lee Child.  I wanted to read one of the Jack Reacher novels before I go see the movie. I gave it 3 starts (out of 5). 


Next to riding my bike, I enjoy reading or listening to audio books. To see what I am reading, go to Goodreads.com and look for me Kenn Anderson.  I would very much like to have more friends in order to find more great books to read.
 
 
The books that I am currently reading are:

Japanese Dinner: Fail

I enjoy trying new restaurants whenever I can. Went to Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and was not overly impressed. It was not the cleanest place and the menu was cracked and sticky.  The worst thing was my chair and every chair in the immediate area was wobbly.  The food was pretty good (grilled Sea Bass) but I will not be going back.  There are too many other restaurants in Columbia, MO for me to try and many I have tried that are way better.

My shoes have holes in the soles so I bought a new pair. The are American Eagle brand (not American Eagle Outfitters) from Payless.  They look great and I am breaking them in.

Workout tonight will be belly and arms. Then I am off to the hot tub to unwind. Better call the parents tonight to see how they are doing.

Back at it!

First workout in a couple of weeks complete.  Legs and arms are dead.  After a dip in the hot tub, I am ready for bed.  Performance was down on push ups and squats, but up on curls and triceps.

Dinner was a salad.  I dig the bagged salads that you can get.  The garlic Cesar is my favorite.


I ate the whole bag.  Dessert of some of the leftover ham I made Sunday night.

Just broke out in sweats.  Wish I knew what that means.  I just know I will be hot when I go to sleep and will wake up a couple hours later freezing.

Tomorrow is my night to go out to eat.  This is one of the rate times that I do not know what I want.  It will probably be a last minute decision. So much for planning.

A New Start

Now that my hair is cut back to a manageable level, I have renewed ambition to cut back on my belly.  I have been doing very well on maintaining my weight and my waist has decreased.  I still have more belly fat than I like and want to really get after it.  My workouts may change somewhat from day to day, but I want to keep the crunches going every day with a break during the weekend. It has been almost 2 weeks since my last workout: TIME TO GET BACK AT IT!

My wife may be looking at beginning resistance training.  I hope that she starts soon and I can work out with her. Also, I am waiting for spring so I can get back to riding my bike.  I admit that I ride for enjoyment, not for exercise (SLOW BURN philosophy).

Relaxation

One of the most relaxing activities I have is working with my aquarium.  I have a 50 gallon tank with a few cichlids.  They are fairly large so I cannot add more fish.  It was time to clean the filter so I went to buy some carbon bags.  They were $10 (for three) at the pet store so I checked online at Doctors Foster and Smith and found a great deal: 3 boxes for the price of 2 at the pet store.  It just arrived today. Tomorrow we clean the house and that will include the fish tank.

My other passion is reading (or books on tape).  I picked up 2 audio books from eBay: The complete works of Jane Austin and The Secrets of Judas.  I plan on listening to them in the next month or so.  Currently I'm listening to the 2nd book of Ken Follett's series.

Now it is family movie time: Frankenweenie.

It's been a good week

I have eaten very well this week.  The test strips have shown me to be in ketosis all the time.  Even after my meal on Wednesday which I added a couple glass of Irish. The downside was that I was too occupied to exercise.  Maybe this will be the weekend I exercise at home. We'll see.

I have been spending most of my time in the hotel listening to books on tape.  I purchased a small speaker for my iPod.  It was really cheap ($7.00) and has a rechargeable battery.  Now if I am in my room, I am listening to an audio book or podcast.  Another advantage is I have not turned the television on during my travels the last two weeks.  The only television I watch is at home on the weekends and at a restaurant/bar which is showing sports.  I am proud of this accomplishment.

Next week I travel to Indianapolis for a conference.  I am predicting that we will be going out to eat quite a bit.  I may have to search the greater Omaha area for some Quest Bars.

Wonderful Weekend

Great time this weekend.  I was able to stay clean with the exception of a handful of trial mix this weekend.  Still able to stay in ketosis for 3 weeks straight.

The weather was above 50 and I fired up the grill.  We had fillets and I cooked my first spaghetti squash.  Both were great.

Leftovers the next night were even better for some reason.  I am planning on spaghetti squash being part of my diet on a regular basis.

Last night I tried a garlic Casar salad.  It was pretty good.  I will choose it over the regular any time.  Plus I will buy extra Parmesan cheese to make it even better.

A Great Idea

When visiting my parents, I picked up a great idea.  My father used to be a voracious reader until his stroke.  He now enjoys books on tape/CD.  He does not use ear buds or head phones to listen.  Instead he just plays them over a speaker. 

I listen to many audio books when away on business.  When driving I can listen through the car's speakers. Otherwise I had been listening with my ear buds.  I miss a lot of time listening to my audio books when in my hotel room when I usually have the television on.  The only time I listen other than in the car is when I am out walking. 

After seeing what my father is doing, I thought that if I can find a small and inexpensive speaker for my iPod, I could listen to my audiobooks and podcasts while in my hotel room: working out, playing pc games, crunching numbers for work.  I found a small and inexpensive speaker that is rechargeable and I did not turn on the television in my room once.  I think I am on to something here.

After the Return

I am back from vacation.  Went to Arizona to see my parents and do some chores: put up a ceiling fan and unclog a couple drains.  The weather did not cooperate at all.  It froze every night and we had to let the faucets drip.  The days only got into the 40's.  Hey, still better than it was in Nebraska.

Too soon and I am back on the road.  My weight was down to 183lbs. before I left.  I'll do the whole workup Friday morning and Saturday.

A full workout followed by a dip in the hot tub and left me totally drained.  I think I will only work on my gut and arms tonight.

Huge omelet for breakfast today.  Will go out for lunch with a coworker and then a good meal for dinner.

I find it hard to separate my beliefs that I grew up with from actual facts that disagree.  If there is a "study" that disagrees with what I believe, I will dig until I find the study and the data.  Most times I find that the data is not whole, does not support the conclusion, or has been manipulated so it yield results that are skewed to the beliefs of the researchers. I love to do this.  If the study is sound and the results are not what I believed to be true, I can change my position to accept it.

My problem is if there is a study supporting my belief, I accept it.  No questions asked.  I have gotten blindsided when quoting these studies and it is argued that they were not sound.  Not that they were incorrect, just the data did not support the conclusion. Then it does not matter if I can offer a study that does support it.  My position is on shaky ground and that one misstep will keep coming back to haunt me.

It has been awhile since I was able to sit in front of my computer. I will not bore you with trying to update you on what I have been doing since my last post.  I found my tape measure again and updated my graph:










 

Holding pretty steady for awhile now.  This week has been low calories because I have been working so many hours.  Tonight I will have a nice big steak with broccoli smothered in butter.

Had to buy a couple of pairs of jeans. My old ones were wearing out.  I usually buy 34X30, but I fit into 33X30.  Being optimistic, I bough the cheapest jeans possible.  I do not expect them to last very long, possibly 3 months. Then if all goes well, I will buy an even skinnier pair. Sound like a plan?  Anyone out there?

My relaxation plan went somewhat askew.  With losses by the Green Bay Packers and Nebraska Huskers, I found it hard to remain relaxed.  I had to do the all you can eat wings therapy at Quaker Steak and Lube to get back to relaxed mode (full and sleepy).  Then I stayed up till after 1:00am watching Return of the King with my oldest.

Today, I am back to work in the basement office.  Running out of busy work and will have to start a real project later this afternoon.

L8r,