Weekly Fitness Updates - 2021

I took advantage of the spring-like weather and got a couple of trail runs in. More burpees on the off days (avg of ~160/day), along with some stretching.

I'm getting used to the new diet. Not nearly as many cravings.

Weight remained steady.

I took Deep Blue, my restored Bianchi, out for her first post-rehabilitation ride yesterday, after finally procuring the desired components and related doohickeys. Well, almost. I did resort to my local shop for one last item, namely the cable from the rear chainstay to the rear derailleur - seems as though things have changed in 30 years, and modern cables/ferrules don't fit my old fashioned bike. Harumph! I wasn't going to spend hours searching for the wrong part and berating myself when it arrived and didn't work, so I turned them loose.

Steel is real. It was only an hour after work, but good times.

I plan to ride again tomorrow after work.

I lost a couple of pounds the last week or two, so that's also headed in the right direction.

Staying the course. Down another pound.

I've started doing pullups... just one set of 7-10 each evening. I've now past the initial soreness stage and will be able to quickly add more.

I've been able to ride my bike to work most days. I've also squeezed in a few trail runs. Yesterday's run averaged 200' of climbing per mile, and I rarely felt winded.

I've also started stretching more. Now a full body stretch routine every other evening while I watch TV. On the flip side, I haven't done any burpees since the NCAA finals. I still have the women's final game to watch, plus some NBA games. Time to strike a balance between the two.

I got blood drawn today to check my numbers after 8 weeks of my hybrid Paleo/Keto diet.

I copied this post from the "Diabetes" thread...

If you recall from above, I went on a Keto/Paleo hybrid diet a couple months ago because although my sugar and lipid numbers were still in the "normal" range, they were on the verge of becoming "of concern". At the 8 week mark, I got bloodwork to see if the diet 1) lowered my blood glucose, and 2) raised my lipids (because the diet substitutes fat for carbs). Well, I got my bloodwork results back yesterday, and WOW!

My serum glucose had been in the high 60s to low 80s when I was a strappin' young lad. It had been in the 90s the past few years, with the occasional slight breach of 100 (102, 103, etc.). Yesterday's result... 85! My A1C was 5.5, which is normal. I never had it checked before, so there's nothing to compare to. Intuitively, it seems a little high compared to my serum glucose level. Maybe because it takes more time to change A1C?

The biggest surprise was my lipid panel. In the past, my total cholesterol had almost always been around 210-230 (borderline high), and my LDL was also borderline high. But that was offset by a good HDL number, so my T Chol / HDL ratio was always good. I figured the current numbers would be high because I have been eating more fat. And not just more fat, but the way things worked out... a higher proportion of red meat / saturated fat than I would normally eat. Boy, was I wrong. My total cholesterol was the lowest it's ever been (175), my LDL was reduced but still a bit elevated... but that was due in part to my VLDL being rock-bottom and my HDL being a bit lower than my running average (though still stout). My ratio was also the best it's ever been. Triglycerides were normal, but they've always been.

My kidney function numbers (creatinine, potassium, etc.) had also been high end of normal / borderline concern, and those numbers improved as well.

I also had a vitamin panel done and everything was good there, too.

This was all done in 8 weeks. So I'm a happy dude today, and I'll gladly continue on this diet.

PS - I also lost 8 pounds, and my blood pressure down to one of my best readings (I don't have the numbers in front of me but I believe it was 124/78). I'll be planting beets this weekend!

PPS - This prompted me to make an Excel table of the past 20 years of my results, which I should have done much earlier.

Some nice weather has finally moved in. I've been able to squeeze in some trail runs and bike rides between my daughter's softball games. I did a 10-mile trail run on Sunday in an area I hadn't been to in 20 years. It is much nicer now than it was 20 years ago.

Weight has remained stable.

I'm now up to 6 sets of 12 pullups nearly every day. Stretching continuing to improve in minute increments.

I have a touch of a pinched nerve on the left side of my tailbone (doesn't really affect me). Hopefully that works itself out in the next couple of days.

For around 17yrs, I went to the gym around 3-4 times a week. My workouts were never very extreme, my thinking being that with the somewhat lighter effort motivation wouldn't be an issue, and I would be able to keep this up...forever. The workouts were supposed to supplement my weekly hike, which was typically on the more extreme side.

So, for 17yrs I kept this up. And then, in January 2020, with reports of COVID-19 becoming ominous, I stopped. The hikes continued as normal. Once we all went into lockdown, I started to do walks around the neighborhood, plus some simple exercises like squats, pushups, and jump rope workouts for cardio.

Today, after a break of 17months, I finally went back to the gym.