Here we go...

So it is Saturday, the last one before I head back to work after Christmas vacation and I had finally gotten off my lazy ass and decided to jump in both feet with a workout. I was nervous I will admit as I have changed my eating habits and would be testing my insulin pump, for the first time really, on a temporary basal rate so that I didn't pass out while working out... that might be counter-productive you see.

First things first, I have managed to not gain any weight over the holidays!!! In fact I have lost some weight, which is HUGE!!

So, before I began, I had to run out to buy a couple of supplies; most notably a heart rate monitor watch just so I know what is going on. Now unfortunately (because I didn't read the box thoroughly) I won't be giving up how many calories I've burned because it ain't got that feature but that is okay. I also bought a Nike Sparq Power Band, which is this thing you strap to your ankles with a thick rubber band between that helps to strengthen you hips, groin and hammys, but more on that later. I also, previously, had a bought a "Perfect Pull-up" set up at Fitness Source so that Pam, my wife ( you already knew that Lisa ;)) could use it for her P90x workouts if she wanted to, but I also planned on using it.

So... Had a good day as far as eating went, had a weigh-in this morning and I had backed up a little because of New Year's ( 1 1/2 lbs) but I can live with that, so today was a good day for eating. Made myself my favourite Spicy corn omelet (sounds strange but so good) with a sliced up pear for lunch & then made a great steak for dinner with sweet potatoes and peas ( we purchased like 225 lbs of hormone free beef from a family North of Bobcaygeon, and it is awesome!!! If you and your hubby ever want the info Lisa they deliver to you area as well, just ask Pam for the info) and then a cup of blueberries with 3 tablespoons of Vanilla yogurt for dessert. Then it was time to exercise.

Checked my Blood Sugar before heading to the basement and it was 16.1!!! not good but I can deal with that and I am honestly more comfortable having it a little higher when I exercise,. So I had to correct for that and at the same time had already decreased my basal rate on my pump by 50% at that point so that may have had something to do with it. Grabbed my big Nalgene bottle, filled it up and went to the dungeon. My plan was to walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes at a 3% incline which is 25 minutes longer than normal and I normally do it on the flattest setting. However, I had read that if you want to mimic walking on solid ground it is better to have it a 3% incline to better attain the same level of stress on your legs that you get from walking outdoors, so I figured I would give it a whirl. So 45 at 3% it was and I started at 4.5 for my speed ( i want o say it is km/h but I think it may be miles/hour as I am pretty sure that I can walk further than 3.5 k in 45 minutes). at about the 35 minute mark I cranked her up to 7.5 and jogged for 2 minutes to get a good sweat going and to get the old heart rate up (156 after) then back down to 4.5. At the 20 minute mark I increased slightly to get my heart rate up again as I had been only at 125, so up to 5 I went and the HR hit 140 which was pretty good and I did that until the last 5 minutes where I went back to 4.5 until the end. I made it!!!.... through the first part....

So now it was time for the perfect pull-up. Now I can't do a regular pull up so the magic of this thing is that it allows you to do 3 versions of a pull up depending on you fitness level; regular, standing angled and Australian which is lying on the floor and pulling yourself up as the Perfect Pull-up swings down for just such the case. So regular was out so to start you have to see what your max is and you build your workouts from there. My Max is: 5 Australian and 10 standing with my feet against the door frame and me angled away from the door... I am feeling them this morning so don't write off this thing as a gimmick, f%#king thing WORKS!!! It progresses through a 3 week cycle and then it increases from their so I will keep you informed.

Off to the Sparq I went. Now this is a setup for athletes (or wannabes in my case) who want to strengthen their hips/groin/hamstrings so they have a faster first step and are less prone to injury while playing their chosen sport, which in my case is Softball where on my team I may not be the star second baseman... but I am the tall one.... (sorry little Dave) Being in the shape I am in it has really hindered my ability to play like I did when I was younger where I was a pretty good first baseman, so this little set up is going to help strengthen my Right hip which is really week after I hurt it a few years back ( at the driving range no less, because I was stupid and didn't stretch first). So this thing you stand in your starting defensive position, which is basically feet should width apart, knees bent and and then you kick back with one of you feet, plant it and bring your other foot back. You do this for 20 seconds and then repeat with the other leg. Then you do something similar, moving laterally. I love this thing, it is so good and it works as well.

So, 1 1/2 hours later and 1 1/2 episodes of Long way Round on the DVD player I stretched, drank some water and then was off to bed.

I can honestly say that I am proud of myself for doing this. Having this outlet to talk about what I have done, my fears and to know that someone (2 of you anyway) are following along is encouraging to keep going. I plan on being down at least 30 pounds by the start of baseball season in May (hoping for 50 to be honest) and this is step one. Of many more.... and don't worry the posts will be shorter from here on.

ps: My weight this morning was 239.5 which is the lowest I have seen it in about a year. Can you see the smile on my face?