Good Saturday Morning All.
Feels like a great day on the horizon. I was able to leave the office by 10 pm yesterday completely caught up. First time I've been out of there before 11 all week. Work has been incredibly busy all week, but it hasn't been stressful, which is perfect. Projections were for this week to have been very slow. Didn't work out that way. I just looked at the schedule and I am booked solid from open until close today without a break again. However, my son is flying back in today, so starting tomorrow, I will have some help handling the workload.
I couldn't have survived this week without my great new secretary. She has kept the entire office running by herself, while I got all of the client appointments and work taken care of. Everything in the office ran smoothly and she kept the clients happy and the schedule full. I'm giving her a bonus and a 12.5% raise today. She definitely deserves it! She saved my bacon (ummmmmm BACON ..lol).
On the home front, I'm waiting for my 3 year old granddaughter to wake up. She spent the night with us and she's going to ride into the office with me. My wife will pick her up there before the office opens at 10. So we will get to spend some time together this morning. Its cool and misty outside and sitting on the back deck with the laptop and my café Verona, it feels great. The dogs are napping and the rooster is perched on the railing next to me crowing his head off. Its still completely dark, but he likes to start crowing at about 4 am, not at sunrise.
I broke down and ordered a Tanita BC-533. I really like my FB-680W, but being a bit of a numbers geek, I wanted to get the scale with 9 different body measurements (thanks for the great tip Bill). The 533 was delivered yesterday. I brought it home from the office, but haven't set it up yet. I'll get it up and running by tomorrow for my official weekly weigh-in. I was going to wait to get it, because for the next several weeks, it will be hard to have a consistent weigh-in time that will be ... a) not when I first rise and b) two hours after a meal. But not to worry. I really just wanted to have it ready to go for when work slows back down and I have a more laid-back schedule. When I have time, I'll have to revise my spreadsheet to track the extra 7 measurements that this scale provides.
On the health front, things are good. I'm still having water issues. Monday through Thursday were OK. Water weight was up a bit more, but not tremendously, however, since last evening my legs have been painfully swollen from the knees down from water retention. I just took a torsemide, so that should resolve the issue temporarily. I'll give it another week or two to see how it goes. On a very positive note, I decided to see if my significant weight loss had any effect on my Sleep Apnea. So I started sleeping without my CPAP machine as of last Monday. I have slept very soundly, and, according to my beautiful wife, without the FREIGHT TRAIN snoring that I used to have when sleeping without it. I have to admit that after decades of sleeping with the white noise of the machine and the mask strapped to my face, it felt (feels?) very odd sleeping without it. It does feel like a very positive event, though.
Food-wise, I'm sticking to the increased calorie count. Trying to hit around 1,500 per day average with 170 grams of protein. The increased calories and protein are having a very positive affect on my resistance training. I've been able to up the weight I'm lifting as well as the number of reps. I guess I was under-fueling myself by trying to build muscle while keeping to a VLCD. Understanding that as I'm approaching 60 years old at a rapid pace, I know that I'm never going to be a body-builder, I do want to increase my upper body strength. Its an area that I've never emphasized, so its new to me. I've done upper body workouts over the years, but never consistently. I've always reverted to hiking, walking and running. Probably, because those have always come easily for me. My lower body strength has always been very good, so I find myself choosing sports that utilize that. Hiking, running, skiing, tennis, taekwondo, etc. Now, though, I am committed to sticking to the recommended 3-day per week lifting schedule to see if I can re-define my body somewhat. I find it an exciting challenge. Much like the challenge of losing 150 pounds was. Now that weight-loss isn't a priority, I believe that by setting new goals to strive towards, I will be able to keep the weight off and keep my health and fitness moving in a positive direction. Its a source of motivation that will help to keep me from becoming lackadaisical and remind me not to fall back into the old habits of poor food choices and slothfulness.
Well, the sun is up now, the granddaughter is awake, and my coffee cup is empty. Time for the making of hot chocolate for the toddler, and a quick 45 min on the stair master before heading to the office.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Diet Calendar Entries for 01 February 2014:
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1852 kcal
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Fat: 82.01g | Prot: 159.10g | Carb: 150.33g.
Breakfast: GNC 100% Whey Isolate Chocolate Supreme, Marquis Nutra Foods Chia Seeds - Black Organic, GNC Fish Oil 1000, GNC Total Lean CLA Soft Chew, Pork Sausage (Cooked) , Starbucks Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup, GNC Chewable C 100, Coffee, GNC DHA 600, GNC Vitamin B-12 2500 MCG Soft Chew. Lunch: Marquis Nutra Foods Chia Seeds - Black Organic, Bell Peppers, Boca Original Vegan Meatless Burgers. Dinner: HEB Select Grilled Zucchini, HEB Select Grilled Eggplant, Beef T-Bone Steak (Lean Only, Trimmed to 0" Fat, Cooked, Broiled). Snacks/Other: Peanut Butter, Blue Bell Sugar Free Bullets, Unsalted Butter Stick, Rudi's Organic Bakery Gluten Free Multigrain Sandwich Bread, Walnuts, Kellogg's Special K Cracker Chips - Honey Barbeque. more...
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2589 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Stair Master - 30 minutes, Resting - 16 hours and 30 minutes, Sleeping - 7 hours. more...
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