Counting through the morning

Cluster of Seven Lavender Blooms

This morning I counted my way through the morning and realized I do this quite often since I started my mindful exercise and health regimen. Some of the counting is simply watching the clock to make sure I get to work on time, but a lot of the counting is just that - counting, 1, 2, 3, etc.

For example I perform Kettlebell Thursday training by repeating some number of KB swings and some number of Turkish Get Ups. I decided for change of pace sake to mix it up today and thus I performed (counted) 100 KB swings (switching hands each swing) then I did 2 TGUs, then I counted 50 KB swings, 1 TGU, and finally 50 KB swings and the last TGU. Great workout that even now left my body in a glowing healthy state!

But the counting didn't stop there because after shaving and showering, I mindfully brushed my teeth 4 times around the inside and 4 times around the outside, and last, but not least swished mouthwash for a 30 count. I continued another minor count by preparing lunch of 1 tomato, 1 pickle, 2 apples, 2 teaspoons of salad dressing, and 1 package of tuna to make a tuna salad. Light calorie count lunch to go with the counting exercise regimen.

Even though I use a timer to manage my Mon-Wed-Fri Kettlebell strength sessions, I count how many reps I perform of each exercise during the 25 second workout (per session.) So it seems, with Kettlebell training I choose to track exercises by counting even when it's not necessary.

I Hate Squats - and other Kettlebell strength session observations

Shoveling Donkey Doo at dawn

I hate doing squats as much as I hate shoveling donkey doo. My thighs burn every time I perform squats and they seem such a primitive exercise. Yet, I know they're great thigh and calf builders so I knock them out with a sour face. Although performed on off-strength Tuesday-Thursday workouts, I find I dread Turkish Get Ups too. There's a lot of work needed to perform them and lifting the 20 lb barbell to do them is still tough. TGUs and windmills are the only two exercises I haven't performed with the 30 lb Kettlebell.

My favorite of the Kettlebell exercises is the halo. It's tough, but I can feel the muscles in the upper abs and lower chest getting a workout from this simple exercise. I remain puzzled over the around-the-world exercise because it's supposed to be an ab exercise, but I don't feel ab burn from it. I feel arms, shoulders and calves and ankles getting juiced though and it's a fun exercise so I keep doing it even if I don't feel any ab burn. Because I want to tighten and tone my abs, I swapped out bicep curls for crunches holding a 20 lb barbell on my chest. I'll give it a few more weeks to see if it helps my abs.

I bought the 30 lb Kettlebell three months ago and definitely feel stronger and can see more tone in areas like my chest and shoulders. However, I've noticed the last two weeks that my conditioning has reached a point where I'm not getting the same burn and sweat I got earlier. I'm beginning to believe I may need to upgrade to a heavier Kettlebell to up the intensity again because most of the exercises feel easy with the 30 lb KB. It will feel weird to see two Kettlebells in my exercise area. I won't get more though.

I will employ the heavier Kettlebell on KB swings, around-the-worlds, halos, and squats (yuck!) as they have all become easy with my current bell. I still use the 20 lb barbell on crunches, windmills, and Turkish Get Ups. And if I'm tired, I'll also use the barbell on shoulder presses, but of late I've performed shoulder presses with the 30 lb Kettlebell with grunts, groans, and much straining. 

Before and After Photos, Month 3 and Report

Before and After Photo May 2013

We've reached the beginning of May and thus, another exciting chapter of looking at pictures of a rapidly aging man. Nope, not the six-pack abs of youth here! What we have is a roly-poly jelly belly that shrinks much too slowly for the effort expended. And this month, looking at the difference, I'm just not overwhelmed with pride and joy at the accomplishments after three months of Kettlebell training and reduced calorie food consumption.

Before and After Photo April 2013

For comparison I re-posted last month's photo set too and recall that I did some minor gut sucking last month that improved the appearance of results. The angle at which I stood and the lighting differs as well with the result that, photographically, last month appears to present a better comparison than this month's comparison in the belly. Weight wise, I'm only a measly 3 lbs lighter, but I have been consistent in getting my exercise so I know underneath, the current muscle tone is better than shows in the photos. Therefore, I learn a lesson: photos don't show all.

I am currently up to 18 exercises on my Mon-Wed-Fri strength KB days. The list of exercises are:

• Two single-arm KB swings
• Two around the worlds
• Two KB rows
• Two KB Halos
• Two KB Squats
• Two shoulder presses (Depending on energy level, lifting either 30 lb KB or 20 lb barbell)
• Two sets of crunches holding 20 lb barbell
• Two BB windmills
• Two side lifts (need to find a better name)

I follow this up with 40 to 60 KB swings depending on available time and energy. I'll write more soon about observations of where I stand with this regimen physically.

Jiggly Stomach - aka Belly Quakes

Ladybug on Grass

Today's blog will be just a bit silly and perhaps a bit disturbing to envision. But before I go there a short report on successful breakthrough - my weight dropped below 180 lbs today (179.5 lbs) for the first time since I lost 40+ lbs in 2006. Oh happy days!

I performed a full week of Kettlebell training last week and this morning as well. I'm up to 18 exercises per session and later this week, when I present the three month side by side photo comparison I'll also list the exercises I've been executing.

On to the silliness. If you, like me, have been at one time or another, a bit overweight, you might have paid attention to the appearance and attributes of the extra weight you carry and where you carry it. My extra weight ends up in my belly as a spare tire and love handles. In my disgust with the size and shape of these fat rolls, I would sometimes pinch a roll with a sour face to see how big it was getting. Occasionally I'd give that pinch a shake and watch how my belly wiggled like a bowl of jello. "Eww-yuck," I'd think as I observed the waves roll around my waist in a mini-earthquake.

A couple of days ago, after nearly three months of working out with the Kettlebell, I admired in the mirror that my belly shrank considerably, and gave the shrunken, but still present roll a measuring pinch (yes! smaller!) and for fun, gave it a generous jiggle. I was stunned at the difference in the jiggle! Thinking in terms of earthquakes, instead of long waves that spread across the whole belly as before, the jiggle only wiggled a short distance from the pinch with short wave appearance. I took the change as confirmation that the crunches and other exercises have tightened the muscles under the shrinking fat rolls and thus the jiggle didn't wiggle as far.

Another similar observation occurs on my chest. When I poked my chest with my finger at the beginning of the year it reminded me of commercials of poking the Pillsbury Doughboy. Little to no resistance for quite a depth. Now, with the Kettlebell training, I encounter nearly immediate muscle resistance to the measuring poke and a pinch of skin results in pain and very little loose skin. In fact, the chest area shows the results of the training quite well in my eyes. The belly, though, needs more work to get to the appearance I envision.

Healthy eating or extreme diet?

(Wheatless) Jalapeno Poppers

I am reading a book on my kindle reader app that blames the entire obesity problem on wheat. Typical of books written by doctors, the title comes in two parts, of which, "Wheat Belly" by Doctor William Davis, is sufficient here. 




In "Wheat Belly", Dr. Davis presents what appears to be a logically sound case that wheat, especially the hybridized wheat developed since the 1950's, stands as a major culprit in our nation's (and increasingly, the world's) obesity epidemic. He cites numerous studies that support the case, yet, in most cases the target of the case was gluten induced problems, not wheat particularly. Dr. Davis goes on to point out studies that may connect wheat consumption to some mental issues like schizophrenia and that wheat may affect areas of the brain associated with addiction in the same manner as heroin.  In essence, the book's theme is based on his observation of the coincidence of wheat hybridization combined with the gluten and other studies and his observation that his own patients that followed his no wheat prescription obtained good results.

I am not done reading the book yet, but I find the cure hard to imagine, let alone follow. By Dr. Davis's recommendation a healthful thing to do is to not eat any wheat, or wheat products at all. At least that is what I gather having read half the book. However, that idea strikes me as rather radical and difficult to accomplish, simply because there are a lot of wheat products I would find difficult to give up. I enjoy "Mischbrot" a German mixed wheat-rye bread I bake. I enjoy Inge's German cakes, which are not cloyingly sweet like American cakes. I enjoy pasta occasionally. These three things I would have a hard time giving up. However, I would find it reasonably easy to surrender eating most of the rest of the wheat products available in the market place today.

For now I will leave this here and finish reading the book. I am interested to find out if Dr. Davis writes of the possibility of a vastly reduced wheat consumption prescription rather than a total elimination. I could live with vast reduction, but total elimination places the bar too high in my mind. I will, however, given the sound reasoning he presented, choose to eliminate what wheat I can for a couple months to see if there's any noticeable difference - especially with the belly fat.

Posting Hiatus Ends (for now)

Landscaping Weekend Workout, Part 2

The last few days I've been working on a new project at work that involved a lot of extra hours, the result of which I haven't posted to this blog for a few days. I don't intend to make it up, but I will provide a report on my progress on the exercise and weight front.

The photo above shows the Saturday workout, where I again moved about a ton of stone in order to choose the pieces that allowed me to complete the walkway. It's not a work of perfection, but it beats the packed dirt or mud that we walked on before. I have noticed that a big benefit of the Kettlebell strength workout is that a day of moving a ton of stone only results in soreness for that day. By Sunday I wasn't sore at all. Last year if I had done this amount of work I would have been sore for at least two, even up to four days after the activity.

Last week I only performed the Kettlebell strength session on Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I skipped the workout due to varying excuses, some valid (like Friday going in to work at 06:30 to get a lipid screen at the health center) but most just convenient yielding to a lazy streak. Next week I vow to get back to the full five day Kettlebell regimen. (Three days strength, two days swings and Turkish Get Ups.)

On the weight front, I have reached 180 lbs three times last week and this week, but bounce back up during the week. I really wish to break the 180 lb barrier and start the descent to 175 that's my goal for July 4th. I haven't been counting calories specifically since Melissa's visit and I know, mentally, that I have been indulging in too many calories of late. It hasn't resulted in weight gain as yet, but I need to hunker down and get back on track to loosing the weight.

Sugar Craving or even Addiction?

Photo of Rose from our Garden

I couldn't find photo of a sweet treat in my library so I tossed in a rose photo from our garden to represent a sweet. Yesterday, on the way back from Die Gruene Weide, we stopped at Sonic and each got an ice cream treat. For some reason, I seriously craved something sweet all day long. I wonder if the craving was partially a result of the huge amount of calories burned with landscaping work. Or is there a more sinister reason to crave sweets?

During the past four months of calorie reduction, I managed to reduce my sweet intake to one to three items per week, such as a piece of dark chocolate, or a slice of Inge's German cakes. I also avoided eating ice cream - a particularly tempting treat. However, I got to eat a serious dose of sweets including ice cream while the family visited week before last and I wonder if my body now demands a return to heavy sweets - as in a sugar addiction calling for surrender. 

I find that during the week I manage to resist the calling most days, but during weekends, in both sweets and total calories consumed, I tend to weakness and frequent lapses in will. I mentally endure a fight over food every weekend, exacerbated by Inge's baking a delicious dessert almost every weekend. During the best of my weight loss I survived the fight, but of late, the lapses come fast and furious. To break through the plateau, I must once more resolve to limit calories and sweets on the weekend.

Even though I put in a multi-ton-moving workout this weekend, I found I wasn't too sore to prevent a nice long walk with Penny and perform the Monday 16 Session Kettlebell strength training. I am noticing a reduction in the workout stress and will need to make adjustments to the quantity or timing of the workout to keep the training to a high edge. It was nice to discover I wasn't massively sore today - a symptom of having achieved a better level of fitness than I possessed last year. 

Landscaping - Extreme Workout Weekend

Compacted Topsoil - Time to Landscape

The area in front of our house has never grown anything due to foot traffic and for years I have desired to replace the compacted topsoil with a paver path of some sort. My vision typically included paving the area with the light limestone common to this area. I had planned to drill more on the water well at Die Gruene Weide, but when my brother said he was unable to join me in water well drilling this weekend, I decided that now's the best time to finally tackle the landscaping chore of beautifying the front of our house.

First I chiseled an outline of the shape I wished to install, then started digging. Fortunately, it has rained enough lately that the soil wasn't too dry and tough to dig. It took about two hours of digging to excavate the area for the new flagstone walkaway. Up front I dug down to six inches deep. Along the side I dug between three and four inches deep because limestone boulders prevented digging deeper. Fortunately, the boulders were deep enough not to require removal. (From personal experience I know that breaking limestone boulders with a rock bar provides a significantly more intense workout than shoveling!)

Topsoil Shoveled Out. Two hours work. Crushed Granite added too.

 Although my primary vision consisted of light limestone, when Inge and I inspected our local stone and landscaping supplies company, we found a pallet of Oklahoma Fieldstone, most about one inch thick, that we thought would look great in front of the house. We bought our stone and crushed gravel from the folks at J & M Stone Supply on RR 620 in Austin just past the big HEB at Anderson Mill Rd. Their prices have always been reasonable, though the Oklahoma Fieldstone was the most expensive thing we've bought there. We bought 1.5 tons of stone, which may be a bit much, but we have lots of area around the house to apply the stone.

Oklahoma Flagstone initial placement.

 Notice the tarp covered pile to the right above. That's 1.5 tons of stone Inge and I moved from a pallet in my truck to a pallet on the ground yesterday afternoon. Then this morning I moved about a ton of the stone myself while searching for the pieces I wish to place in the new front path.

Oklahoma Flagstone from door looking out.

I underestimated how much crushed granite I needed to buy, with the result that we only finished this front segment today. I still need to tweak the height of the stones a bit and make sure they're level and sloped to allow rain to run off correctly. But after two days of hard work we're seeing the achievement of the vision of a prettier entryway to our house. Hopefully this pathway will reduce the amount of mud tracked in when it rains.

From an exercise standpoint, Saturday I shoveled 66 square feet between four and six inches deep which consumed two and a half hours.  Afterwards Inge and I bought and together we moved 1.5 tons of Oklahoma Fieldstone. Then we returned to the landscape supply to purchase one-third of a yard of crushed granite of which I shoveled a layer into the new pathway. Sunday I manually compressed the granite with a tampter, then shoveled and compressed several more layers of crushed granite to bring the level up to just under one inch depth below grade. I then moved about a ton of stone searching for pieces that fit the pathway jigsaw I built. So this weekend counts as an extreme workout. (And my sore, tired muscles concur!)

Driving Passion

Random Red BMW in Germany

As Inge and I were walking in Germany I spotted this red BMW and snapped an impulse shot because it's a beautiful car. I can see that it has a sun roof and it would be a massive insult to my sense of what's right with the world if this car possessed an automatic transmission. I didn't look, but in Germany, my experience is that this auto would have a manual transmission.

I write about this because I really love to drive and especially drive vehicles with manual transmissions. Unfortunately, most pickup trucks sold in America come with automatic transmissions and because I need a pickup for our ranch and my woodworking I own an automatic transmission truck. One huge reason I love to visit family and friends in Germany is because I get to rent cars with a manual transmissions and thus I get a touch of my gear jamming driving love every time I visit.

 

Honda Rebel I trained on after MSF course.

I took lessons with the Motorcycle Foundation Safety Course and I learned to ride a motorcycle because my heart told me that motorcycles provide a gut level experience of driving beyond anything you can get in a car. There's no "cage" around you - just the elements and the vehicles around you. They too impart motion with manual transmissions so I got to experience the joy of shifting up and down through the gears under various situations. Another unique motorcycle experience I enjoyed was the cornering lean. What a rush! However, Inge fears so much for me when I ride and she is so saddened by my riding that I gave my motorcycle up to make her happy. I sold my Honda Rebel (above) after a just a few months of riding.

The next best thing, in my mind, to a motorcycle for a way to enjoy the driving experience, would be a sporty convertible. There are a lot of them out there and if I had unlimited money I'd get a Porsche Boxter. But within my budget, the car I'd like to own would be a Mazda Miata. I'm not into massive horsepower roaring engine driving expereince - I'm into the top-down, wind in my hair, gear jamming, curvy country road experience of driving. From a purely cost effective standpoint, a miata fits the bill and I have test driven a couple to know I really want one.

But life is about making choices and I keep coming around to the thought that I have a hard time justifying owning both a truck and a car for myself. I need the truck for ranch and household chores and woodworking and I use it for commuting but at an average of 17.6 mpg, it remains a costly commuter vehicle. If I got a miata I would take advantage of the nearly 30 mpg for commuting to cut my fuel bill down and it would be a "fun drive" vehicle too. (aka toy). But to own both feels greedy in some way.

Possessed by Obsessed - Spousal Observation

Fence Rolling Fun!

Last night I finally got around to merging the before and after pictures to insert into the Two Month Before and After Blog so that the merged images appeared side-by-side and in similar size for better comparison. My computer sits on a table next to my recliner and Inge inspects whatever I'm working on. So there I am examining my PhotoShop Elements side-by-side images when she pipes up, "you're obsessed with yourself." (or similar).

Over the years, "you're obsessed with X," has been a common statement from her watching what I do on the computer. I google topics of interest to read and watch videos. So for a while I was "obsessed" with guitars, and I was "obsessed" with motorcycles, and I was "obsessed" with radio controlled gliders, and "obsessed" with owning a Mazda Miata and so on. In every case from her observation point of seeing what's on my monitor, I do go through spells of being obsessed with a topic or object or hobby.

The result of my obsessions, so far, has been that I learn and act on something I want to know about. I flew radio controlled gliders for several years, giving it up because I built large beautiful gliders to which I became emotionally connected to and the pain of crashing them with resulting splintered plane bits left me realizing the pain of plane loss was greater than the joy of flying them. (Occasionally I think of picking remote controlled glider flying up again because flying was great fun, especially when one catches an awesome thermal!)

I learned to ride a motorcycle and bought one and rode it for a few months before I sold it. I learned an important spousal communication lesson there - "Do what you need to do," does not mean "yes". I sold the bike because I value peace with Inge more than I valued riding a motorcycle.

I learned to play guitar and still play. I really want to get a lot better and that's an area where I need to mindfully work on improving my practice habits in order to play better. I don't see myself giving up guitar and music playing any time soon because there's no pain I can think of associated with playing that exceeds the joy I get at making music.

So far one unfulfilled obsession is owning and driving a Mazda Miata. It may happen in the future but I keep putting it off because the cost-benefit analysis of owning a second "toy" vehicle doesn't compute.

So back to my newest "obsession" - getting fit. Unless I injure myself there's nothing but positive outcomes from pursing fitness. My writing about the pursuit serves as a personal goad and journal of progress and allows me to ponder other observations of life. The writing may not be necessary, but I enjoy it and will keep writing until I run out of things to say. Frankly, I'm amazed at two things in this pursuit - 1) I've managed to keep the exercise program up so long, and 2) I haven't run out of things to say in more than two months of writing multiple times per week. I believe the exercise reinforces the writing which reinforces the exercise - so far it's a beneficial feedback loop.

Today - 280 KB Swings, 4 Turkish Get Ups each side and all of them "strong man" style. It won't be long before I graduate from 20 lb dumbbell to 30 lb Kettlebell for the TGUs.

Strutting Your Stuff - observing walking posture and gaits

(Pose) Walking in Schwarzwald

The other day as I walked down a hallway at work I recognized a coworker approaching purely by his silhouette. In late afternoons, the sun shines brightly down the hall making it impossible to see who's coming until you're right on top of them. But I recognized my friend by his gait. There's nothing odd or unreasonable in his gait but I've seen it enough to know him by his stride.

I recall a previous post where I wrote about slouching while walking and straightening up to improve my walking posture. In addition to improving posture, I have also, at times, found myself walking with a different cadence. The cadence harks back to my Army days where I almost feel like I'm marching rather than ambling. It feels very purposeful and at work would likely present the appearance of someone having somewhere important to go with work of import. I recall that I tended to walk like that when I was a manager.

Sometimes lately, I've even found myself almost strutting. Yes, strutting! Not loudly, but I feel good about how I look and people have started commenting - "have you lost weight?" So why not walk with a pep in my step when I feel it?

Watching people walk is a fun way to observe life. Most people have nondescript gaits and paces, yet if you've seen them enough, you know who's coming by their pace. Having lived in Germany for several years, I noticed that most people there walk with shorter, quicker steps, I assume due to more crowded walking conditions. Americans I have watched tend to walk with longer strides and I could frequently spot an American in Europe simply by their gait.

Sometimes, people have walking habits that are annoying too. I worked in an office a while back where every morning one coworker walked by scuffing his heels with every step. Shh-clump shhh-clump, shhh-clump, shh-clump - What an annoying sound! As badly as he scuffed along, I figure he must wear the heel off of his shoes at a prodigious rate! There are people that are a joy to watch walking too. One guy, Rick, is a very confident man and walks that way. I know he's competed in marathons and triathlons (but he's not a beanpole either). I often wonder if he practices martial arts because his walk glides so smoothly across the room it's like his feet are steel wheels on the smoothest track in the world. No clickety-clack there.

Naturally, being a man, I like to observe the female gait as well. Most women I observe walk with efficient, nondescript gaits meant to get from point-a to point-b with little energy expenditure. However, two co-worker's gaits stand out in my mind. One woman represents the consummate professional whose gait speeds her from one meeting to the next with military precision, at almost quick-time speed. I tend to move out of her way when I hear her coming because I don't want to impede her progress. The gait of the second coworker presents a confident (and pleasing) view in that she walks with abundant bounce in her step. I've never seen her walk any other way so it gives the impression of a woman with abundant energy in a small package that uniquely shouts, "I am woman".

Today, I didn't walk Penny because it rained. I still performed the Kettlebell 16 strength sessions and to make up for not walking performed an extra 100 KB swings. Looks (and feels) like I'm back in the groove after the family visit.

Wastefully Removing Temptation!

Cowboy Boot!

Yesterday I took out the garbage. On the way I stopped at the freezer to remove the remaining half gallon of delicious vanilla-pecan ice cream and toss it out with the garbage. I tossed the cream because the last five days I raided that tub to obtain one tablespoon of ice cream. I justified the indulgence because I only got "one spoon" of ice cream. However, the last two days I loaded that "one spoon" with almost half a cup of ice cream. By throwing away (what waste!) that tub, I removed the temptation to indulge and helped remind myself that I must get back to the sugar (and calorie) reduction diet I've successfully worked with for the last three months.

Frankly, this is not the first time I have thrown away part of a tub of ice cream. In addition to discarding ice cream, I have also given "excess" beer to my brother. We always have too much food and beer around the house and when I realize I'm indulging too much, I find ways to remove the temptation. Funny that I don't throw beer away but discard ice cream. An external observer may deduce that I retain an intrinsically higher value for beer than for ice cream.

This morning I performed my first Turkish Get Ups since Melissa's arrival over two weeks ago. After swinging the Kettlebell 250 times I grabbed the 20 lb barbell and managed three full TGUs on each side with all "strong man" version on the right side and 2 of 3 "strong man" on the left side. My weight remains high but I continue to blame my still sore muscles from Sunday's post hole digging. I figure another couple of sore muscle higher weight days remain.

I posted the boot picture because I don't have a garbage or ice cream photo in my library. But the boot looked cool, so there it is! Enjoy!

Post Hole Digging As Exercise

Posts Installed for Berry Row Trellis

Yesterday Inge and I spent several hours on our ranch performing garden chores. I've put off for a time installing a trellis system for our "berry row" so yesterday I finally got started with trellis by installing the three posts shown in the photograph above.

From an exercise perspective, my arms and shoulders vigorously tell me that digging three 30 inch deep post holes qualifies as exercise. Tamping the clay soil around the posts requires more muscle jarring work. Even though I was very sore last night and this morning, I performed my regular Monday Kettlebell strength session. However, I wimped out on post session extra swings at 15 due to exhaustion.

As a side note, yesterday I recorded a weight of 181 lbs (yea!) but today I clocked in at 184.5 lbs. This serves as further validation of my hypothesis that performing work that leads to sore muscles results in a two to three day weight gain.

Just for your information - black berries and raspberries both grow vines from root stock that follow a specific growth pattern. The first year the berry plant grows a vine that shoots up to three to five feet in length with lots of foliage. That vine becomes dormant over winter, then the next year the vine grows flowers that produce succulent berries. The third year, the former vine dies and becomes a dead cane, which the farmer prunes away in a well-maintained berry farm. Berry plants not maintained become brambles.

Installing a trellis system eases care of the berry plants (we're growing blackberry and raspberry plants). The above simplified diagram shows the trellis system I'm in the process of installing. I will likely build two rows of crosses, one above the other to contain the berry vines vertically as shown above. The main difference between the diagram and my construction will be that I plan to use a different support mechanism to brace against the compression stress of the wire supports. The following photo shows how I installed the intended brace for a fence post on our land.

Post Bracing Method

Parting - Emotional Smorgasbord

Variety of Grasses Harvested for Display in Vase

Every fall Inge harvests a bounty of grasses from our land, Die Manchmal Gruene Weide, that she places artfully in vases around the house. There is a joy at having watched them grow and admiring their beauty at home, and a sadness that their destiny is not re-seeding the pasture.

Friday morning we too traveled the emotional smorgasbord of parting with loved family members. Melissa and her beau, Christian, and Janice and Stephen, departed after two weeks of quality family time. Even though we maintain contact with our distant children via that awesome tool, Skype, video chatting is not the same as being in the presence of family. So our two weeks with daughters and their boyfriends was time well spent. And when we shepherded Melissa and Christian through their airport check-in, Inge's tears flowed as always. It was a sad time.

Yet, now that Inge and I have been "empty-nesters" for a few years, there is a sense of relief at their parting because we get our day-to-day relatively stress free routine back. Life returns to normal and our worries abate to standard work and life things. The infrequent nature of our daughter's visits means we must prepare the house and itinerary to ensure smooth and joyful time spent together, and the preparation leading to, and the time spent with them while here results in abnormal stress. Any stress we endure, though, is overcome by the great joy at being in their presence and sharing the love of serving them while here.

And now, the routine starts again. Monday brings back the Kettlebell strength session, Tuesday swings and the first Turkish Get Ups in two weeks. Time to get back on track so my before and after photos next month show continuing progress towards the goal of flatter abs and better physique.

Partnering with Spouse

Inge and I in Garden area of The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas

After two weeks of feasting honoring guests, my wife, Inge, and I talked yesterday that we need to both get back on track to loose weight. In the past we've done our own thing when it comes to weight loss, but this time she and I are negotiating a period of time where we severely reduce calories. The starting point for the negotiation is to go on something like a Ramadan-style fast for one week - no food until evening dinner for one week.

Installing Fence Post

It's fun and interesting to involve Inge in sharing a goal like this. However, it is also fraught with hazards as it is easy to misconstrue comments into perceived personal attacks. Over the years I have learned that in order to preserve a harmonious marriage, the topic of weight and what and how much we eat is taboo. Thus, a discussion of sharing a goal of weight loss becomes an area where I must exercise the greatest of restraint and mindfulness of what's said to keep the peace while ensuring we achieve our goals in harmony.

I ate a massive protein dose yesterday - lamb for lunch and steak for supper. Enjoyed to the max but man-O-man, do I need to get back on track on calorie reduction! Not only that, I skipped my usual Thursday Kettlebell swing session this morning due to being off schedule (and being lazy too.) Mentally, I know I can't afford to slack because I have a physical appearance goal I want to reach and skipping sessions won't help reach that goal.

Pondering Posture

Week before last I spent some time watching Ted Talks Videos on YouTube. These consist of speakers from all walks of life giving inspirational talks lasting, typically 20 minutes. I have found some really good material here to watch while Inge is watching stuff on TV that doesn't interest me.

One topic I found quite interesting involved how posture shapes your world. The title of the video is "Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are". In summary, a good, strong posture results in positive outcomes, even down to the physiological level (eg more testosterone measured in blind studies of people asked to assume strong posture vs people who assumed weak posture.) I also remember from the video that in situations where one meets unknown people, their first impression can be seriously affected by the posture observed.

Needless to say, I started observing my posture in various situations. Above, from our trip to 63 Ranch in Montana, you can see two posture examples - one rather slouched and the other with shoulders thrown back which positions one in a strong posture. However, maintaining a strong posture turns out to be hard work and even impossible in some situations. Take, for example, eating.

Meadow Lunch in Montana

As you can see in the picture above, the natural posture for eating is to curl around the food. I suppose one could throw the shoulders back to eat, but it feels rather unnatural to do so.

Fatigue also affects posture. Last week when our family visited and walked around San Antonio, I found myself, towards the end of the day, walking with a weak posture, shoulders curled forward and back hunched. Practicing mindfulness, several times I deliberately re-adjusted my posture to straighten the back and throw open my shoulders, but once the mind disengaged from observing posture and engaged in the shopping and sightseeing, my posture slipped backed to curved and hunched. Interestingly, I can't find a photo in my library with me walking in a hunched posture because no one photographs me in a natural setting. I'm always posing for pictures and who doesn't try to put their best posture forward for a posed photograph?

One thing I will try to adopt from the posture Ted Talks video is to purposely pose with a strong posture for a few minutes prior to engaging in an activity where first impressions matter, like an interview. First impressions last and it certainly won't hurt to put my mind and body into a positive mode by posing in a strong positive posture.

Charting Plateaus

Roman Encampments on field and plateau at Masada near the Dead Sea in Israel

A few weeks ago I touched on the topic of plateaus in my weight loss goals. Anyone who has attempted to loose or gain weight eventually encounters a period of time where every effort seems to make no difference in breaking through a plateau of a particular weight. I am currently experiencing a four week plateau that bounces around 184 lbs.

I know fully the reason I reside here at 184 lbs - I have reduced my calories enough of late to loose weight. Very simple. From the hacker's diet I know we are basically chemical energy extraction and storage machines and my consumed calories about equals the burned calories with the result that I plateau. Interestingly, the Hacker's Diet spreadsheet chart tracking weight points and weighted moving average clearly shows the plateau forming and thus the topic of this blog.

Note that starting around March 27th, the blue dots representing daily weight start to appear above the red line of the weighted moving average. Visually, this indicates that I am no longer pulling my weight down and if the points continue to appear above the red moving average line, my weight will start going up. Even without counting calories, I can see that the line is going in the wrong direction and I need to eat less to cause the line to resume its downward trend.

I have already started this week to reduce calorie consumption, but after several weeks of specifically measuring daily calories, I have decided I have a good feel for what constitutes the correct consumption amount and I will try for the next few weeks to track only the weight (as suggested in the Hacker's Diet) and observe but not measure calorie consumption. I'm calling this an experiment within an experiment. Can I loose or maintain weight simply by mindfully observing what I eat, but without specifically measuring every calorie? The weight tracking, however, is the feedback mechanism with which I can determine if I am indeed appropriately controlling consumption.

Two Month Before and After Picture and Report

Before and After Pictures - two months results 4/1/2013

Displayed above are the before and after pictures after two months of Kettlebell training. I finally pulled them into a photo editor to crop and enhance them to show approximately the same size and lighting images in one picture. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't the same for both photos and the before (of which that's the best image I have) is a bit out of focus. Still, the results are reasonably visible even through the less than optimal photography.

I pulled the two pictures up separately from this blog so I could evaluate the them and I observed the biggest difference in improved stomach size all around. The love handles start higher and don't protrude so far (not so roll-y looking) and there's not as much hanging over the belt line up front. The pictures do not show the chest definition at this angle very well. I might see if I can grab the Asus Pad side photos I took a couple of days after the "before" photo to compare before and after side views.

This past month ended with a slacking on the Kettlebell exercises excused by the visit of my daughter and her boyfriend from Germany. We have traveled every day and I wasn't on my regular schedule with the result that last week I only performed one set of 240 KB swings. That's not to say I didn't exercise! Between the two-plus hour kayak Saturday and miles and miles of walking the rest of the week, I am satisfied with my calorie expenditure levels.

That said, my calorie intake levels took a big hit last week. Mexican restaurants twice, (lots of chips and salsa) BarBQ twice with added BBQ leftovers consumed for lunch yesterday. I ate pizza Saturday and lots of cakes and even two donuts! The result is that I am now working on the fourth week of bouncing around within two pounds of 184 lbs. Talk about a plateau! This week I hope to get back to my 1800 calorie per day limit and hopefully break through the plateau to get below 180 lbs. Now that my 180 lbs weight goal for Melissa's arrival has passed, I am now setting a goal to reach (and afterwards maintain) a weight of 175 lbs by July 4th holiday.

This morning I chose to get back into the swing of things by getting back on the 16 session Kettlebell strength bandwagon and I added 60 extra KB swings too. For calories I intend to go very light during the day every day and partake lightly in the guest feasts in the evenings to bring my average back below 1800 calories.

For your entertainment, I took the photo below this morning. I tried to emphasize my physique with some chest flexing and sucking my gut in without it appearing obvious I was doing so, but as you can see the stiff neck and face muscles gives away any attempt to appear to have a relaxed pose.

Central Texas Wildflower Hunting

Clump of tiny blue flowers

The last few days I have neglected to post in the blog as we have been driving over this area of Texas showing our guest of honor Christian the lay of the land. East we show the fields of corn and cotton stretching through the mostly flat topography of the Blackland Prarie ecoculture.

Lizard with reddish-brown scale pattern on tail and back.

We traveled west through the genuine hill country to Llano and walked the Llano River shores hoping to spot snakes and arrow heads but mostly seeing lizards and birds. One thing I've noticed is that I find the clumps of tall grass along the river shores so incredibly graceful in appearance, but when I photograph them, the pictures never quite capture the vibrant life I see in nature.

Llano River Grass Clump

Saturday Christian and I kayaked for two hours on Lake Austin where we put in just below the Lake Travis dam and paddling down lake for quite a distance. We fought a stiff breeze on the way down but enjoyed a nicer paddle back with the wind at our back.

Christian paddling through wind-driven waves on Lake Austin

Sheltered from wind by shore

 Easter Sunday, after an enjoyable church service we drove to the Gruene Weide to feed and water Herbie the donkey and after waiting out a spring shower we walked the land photographing wildflowers. The photo at the top of the page is one of many, which you can find the rest on my flickr site at this link.

Family Time Rocks!

(picture here)
My writing lags because I've been spending time with my daughters and the boyfriend of the youngest. He is a nice young man and appears to be a good match to Melissa.

In addition to neglecting my writing, I have also neglected my kettlebell training and my calorie counting with the result that I've gained 4 lbs since last Friday. (I always watch the weight.) Too much feasting but lack of exercise not an issue even without KB training because we have walked for miles every day.

In a way it shows how weight is more a function of calories consumed than quantity of exercise because I have walked and exercised a lot, seemingly mitigating the increase of calories, but no, I'm gaining anyway.

What Makes You Angry?

Spring Flowers Adorn Fence

This morning I got totally frustrated with my iMac - HTC DNA file transfer capabilities. Frustrated to the point of getting quite grouchy. My last HTC phone, an Incredible, just plugged into my iMac and popped up a query if I wanted to attach as disk. But the HTC software team decided to disable direct access of the drive and provided an application to transfer files from device to to device. The problem is, it doesn't work on an iMac. I have found several work-arounds but they all failed to work this morning adding to my anger at not being able to perform such a benign task as transferring these photos from phone to iMac.

Melissa and Christian Bluebonnet Pose

 Thus I write this blog and reflect being mindful of what makes me angry. What are the things that trigger angry responses? Well, as you can see, technology that doesn't function seamlessly often raises my ire. In general, I don't get angry very often and think my trigger point is pretty high. Inge's trigger point is a bit lower and is usually related to people not behaving as she expects. I worry about this a bit because her high blood pressure could be aggravated by reacting with anger to things people do that she has no control over.

That said, I responded with anger at not being able to control technology under my fingertips. So in the end I need to evaluate whether the anger response is something I enter mindlessly and see if being mindful can help to lessen the anger.

Even I pose with Bluebonnets

Yesterday we went out to the land, which threw off my exercise regimen. I knew I would be doing a bit of garden work so I excused myself from Kettlebell training. I hoed, raked, trenched, and planted Black Eyed Peas, Green Beans, two types of cucumbers, and carrots. We also watered both the orchard and garden (170 Gallons worth) both with siphon and a new pump. Finally, we walked the trails in the woods. So I know I am not lacking exercise - to the point of feeling sore this morning.
 

Christian Embraces Prickly Pear Cactus (Dreaming of Melissa)

This morning I traded my Tuesday Kettlebell swings for the missed Monday strength session. I enjoyed the workout but it is hard to start a workout when taking vacation - daily routines get messed up and it's easy to make an excuse not to exercise when off routine.

Melissa and Christian Unite Over Thorny Patch

Family Reunion Brisket Celebration

Primo Grill Installed in Mosaic Grill Table

Melissa arrived from Germany with her boyfriend, Christian late last night. To celebrate her return I put an 8 lb beef brisket on the Primo Grill at around 9 p.m. to allow it to slow cook at 225 degrees Fahrenheit for around 18 hours. I've eaten many briskets in Texas BarBQ joints, but the briskets pulled from my Primo consistently come out better.

Because smoking a brisket produces a large feast, we've invited our Gruene Weide neighbors, Kenneth and Darallenne and my brother Ken, and our daughter Janice to help celebrate Melissa and Christian's visit. Inge also baked a German Strawberry cake and a Cheesecake for afternoon coffee time. It will be fun to have so many friends and family around (but not too many!)

UPDATE - Added photos from Melissa's camera with Jalapeno Poppers and the Brisket we feasted upon.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper on Primo

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Platter

Platter of Primo Smoked Brisket

Short post for today.

Woodworking Mindfulness

Cherry Library With Desk

Returning to the topic of mindfulness for a post, the picture above shows a cherry library I built in our home in 2006. I have a strong passion for woodworking and will in the near future "retire" from engineering to a career in woodworking.

No two woodworking projects are the same because wood, as a product of nature, never repeats the same fine level characteristics from piece to piece. Yes, wood as a whole has repeatable characteristics for which man produced a plethora of tools designed specifically to create wood products. But for me to create a product from wood, I must be wholly mindful that this piece of wood, in my hand at this moment, tells a story about its grain direction and hardness, its suitability to purpose, and most importantly, how it can be best displayed in a product to accentuate its inherent beauty. 

Mindfulness in woodworking though, goes beyond the task of being present in mind about the wood itself while designing and creating a wood product. An extra level of mindfulness arises from applying tools to wood because virtually all woodworking tools can injure a mindless operator. From the throbbing thumb of misplacing a hammer blow, to the potential to loose that thumb to a tablesaw, mindless woodworkers risk debilitating injuries with virtually every project.

In a way though, I think my strong attraction to woodworking arises from the  mindfulness required to create and build wood products. For example, I always approach the table saw with both terror and respect which induces an intense focus on how to accomplish this cut at this moment in the safest manner possible. I find fulfillment in those times I intensely focus in safely performing the task at hand.

As a computer engineer I must also become absorbed in the task of the moment, but the risk of danger to myself is missing and I produce a program on a computer screen that tests a product I can't easily see. The work challenges me mentally and eventually I may see the resulting computer chip, but for me, beholding a minuscule piece of silicon doesn't produce the same level of joy engendered when I behold the warmth and beauty of a table or box or bowl I created from a piece or pile of wood.  

Will Adding Cute Labrador Puppies Drive More Traffic

Cute Lab Puppy Ear Flopping During Run

I primarily write this blog with the intent to serve as a personal goad to continue the fitness and weight loss regimen by publicly affirming the goal. So far, it has worked quite well to that purpose as I am now almost at the end of the third month of exercise and writing and I can see and feel the effects of the program. In another week or so, I'll even snap the two month photo for the before and after comparisons.

However, even as this blog meets the intended goal, there is a small side of me that wishes that other people found what I write about food and fitness interesting or affirming. Thus I try to write about different fitness and food related stuff nearly every day. I have been surprised that nearly three months in I've managed 37 entries (including this one) without repeating myself.

That said, I found the audience of people reading the blog pretty small. I researched why this is so and found that in the world of blogging, the ability to get search engines like google to list a blog in the first page or two of results requires a lot of work to make the blog pop. This falls under the topic of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and after reading what it takes to get listed, I decided that the extra effort (hours of work) isn't necessary given my primary goal for the blog. I'm not in it to be a world class blogger.

Just for the fun of it though, I have posted a picture of Penny as a puppy, looking super cute running with floppy ears across our land, The Sometimes Green Pasture. Isn't she soooo adorable. You just can't say cute in strong enough terms to describe Penny as a puppy. Below is a photo of the litter Penny came from. Aren't little puppies so adorable? Now that I have overloaded today's blog with cute Labrador puppies, maybe I'll get more traffic!

Litter of Chocolate Labrador Puppies

Not Your Average Physique

Cowboy Statue Texas Capitol Grounds

The book, "Counterclockwise" (subtitle omitted) discusses the fact that all medical studies base results on statistical averages. The medical field then uses the statistics to arbitrarily choose dividing lines to provide prognoses with the result that one person may be diagnosed with cancer because a test came in a smidgen above the arbitrary line and the next person whose results came a smidgen below that same line would be diagnosed as healthy. The mental impact for the two receiving the news (cancer or healthy) differs significantly yet the difference is statistically insignificant from a test results standpoint. In any case each individual differs from the norm in ways that the prognosis may not be applicable. Another statistical example is the BMI (body mass index) that purports to define obese vs overweight vs normal people. BMI, however, grossly over-reports people who, through strength training, have high muscle mass vs body fat content.

 I got involved in this train of thought because many different areas of my body don't match what should be "normal" for my height. As an example, my arm length is shorter than should be for my body height. I inherited this from my maternal grandfather as he too had problems where long sleeve shirts always needed adjustments because they were too long. Some basketball players appear to have abnormally long arms - I inherited the opposite trait.

The picture above shows something that relates to another abnormal body feature of mine that impacts my exercise. The cowboy above shows a fully extended and locked at the elbow arm. I have never been able to "lock my elbow". My wife is double jointed and goes beyond locked. There are lots of exercises with weights and Kettlebells that call for a locked elbow that I don't do well since I can't lock my elbow. (That is, my elbow always appears bent.)

Where I notice this is in tasks like shoulder presses or Turkish Get Ups where I am supposed to hold the weight above my head with a locked arm. Since there's no locking my elbow, I have to rely purely on arm strength to support the weight. Tuesday when I performed TGUs, on the last round my arm tired to the point that my elbow collapsed and the weight descended to be supported on my shoulder while I finished the get-up.  But, even with my defects in physique, I choose to do as Clint Eastwood said in "Breakheart Pass", "Improvise, Adapt, Overcome."

Weight Fluxuation and Diet

Blazing Trail Through Brambles

If I had maintained a modicum of self control over the weekend, I might have reached my goal of 180 lbs this coming weekend. However, three days averaging over 2500 calories resulted in a four pound bounce up this week. It peaked at 185.5 lbs yesterday and today subsided a pound.

Mathematically, an excess or deficit of 3,500 calories should result in a pound of gain or loss. However, as someone who has weighed myself daily for years, the math doesn't consistently add up in short term observations. Take this weekend for example. I consumed, for three days, around 2100 calories above my 1800-per-day goal. Yet I gained 4 lbs over those three days. What's up with that?!?

There are two things I've found  in my many years of weight watching that almost always results in a spurious weight gain. The first case occurs if I perform some work or exercise so strenuously that I have very sore muscles on the following day. Every time I've come away from physical exertion to the point of being sore, I see a two to three pound gain that lasts two to three days. I've done some research on this but found nothing conclusive that describes a mechanism whereby sore muscles creates weight gain.

The second observed way I gain more than expected from caloric intake is when I eat or drink something with a lot of sugar. During the weekend my brother offered, and I accepted, a bottle of Gatoraid to quench my thirst. I drank two of such, each of which contained 200 calories, and each of which contained 21 grams of sugar. Also, I drank six beers over the three days and each beer contains 13 grams of carbohydrates, which get processed to sugars by the body. Therefore, I consumed what I call, "a sugar bomb", over the weekend and as I have always observed, my weight jumped far out of proportion to the actual calories I consumed.

I have observed this effect when eating ice cream, cakes, chocolates, you name it! I haven't done more than a cursory search on this effect, but from a sample of one who tracks weight daily, there is no doubt in my personal experience that sugar bombs increase my weight far beyond strictly counting the calories consumed.

The Hacker's Diet explains the fluctuation as water gain or loss, which certainly has an impact. But the sugar and sore muscle fluxuation observations always occurs in my data.

Dealing With Sleeplessness

Tarp Shelter for camping in pleasant weather.

This morning I woke at 4 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. As a result, I trained a bit weakly during Kettlebell swing session. I accomplished all 240 swings but needed to bull my way through the last two 30-count sets. I only executed 3 of the follow-on Turkish Get Ups instead of the 4 TGUs I performed last week.

A lot of people have trouble falling asleep. That has never been my problem with getting enough sleep. My issue is waking after five to six hours and not being able to go back to sleep. It started about four years ago when I woke every morning at 3 a.m. for weeks on end. I went to the Doctor but he had no solution other than to suggest trying an OTC sleep aid.

One night I woke a few minutes before 3 a.m. and at the top of the hour I heard a tiny persistent beeping in another upstairs room in the house. I was too tired to hunt it down and it took days to track down the source. When I found it I blamed my sleep problem (perhaps unfairly) on my ex-son-in-law. Because about four years ago my daughter bought her husband a watch as a gift. It was one of those inexpensive black plastic button-laden watches and SOMEONE set the alarm for 3 a.m. and put it in a shoe box in a neighboring bedroom. I am a light sleeper and every day for months on end I woke to that distant beep. When I found the watch I threw it in the trash because I didn't want to deal with finding out which of those annoying buttons disabled the alarm.

Without the alarm, the wake time shifted over several months from 3 a.m. to somewhere between 4 and 5 a.m. Taking the advice of my Doctor, I tried using an OTC sleep aid. The first two times I took the sleeping pill, I slept through the night but woke up groggy and that grogginess persisted for hours after waking. Then it dawned on me that I could cut the pill in half and I found I could sleep through the night and wake refreshed.

The problem with sleep aids is that people become addicted and I have no desire to be addicted to any man-made substance. In a related vein, I suffered from the usual Austin allergy problems (ragweed in fall and Oak in spring) and tried using Zirtec to help, but found myself falling asleep at work when I took Zirtec. Aha! Sleep solution! I switched to taking Zirtec at bedtime and found I could sleep through the night! Now, to prevent becoming addicted to sleep aids, I mix taking half a sleeping pill a day or two, with a day or two of taking Zirtec, with two or more days of taking nothing (and waking up at 4 a.m.).

I have often wondered if the 5-1/2 hours of sleep is sufficient to not need the sleeping aids, however, on the days I wake at 4 a.m. I find myself seriously dragging at 2 to 3 in the afternoon. I usually have a full day's worth of energy when I get 7-1/2 to 8 hours of sleep.