September 2004

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
recumbent bike		55	60		46		32								30			50	30		30		55	50	50	33	30
treadmill
ergonomic rower
water aerobics						60																50					60
chest, shoulder, triceps		x					x														x				x
leg, back, bicep					x											*	*						x			*
lower back																		x						x
ab exercises			x														x	x						x		x
stretches
walking
tennis	60																90			120		120						120	120

*Notes

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 26, 2004 — I got very close to finishing the leg, back, bicep workout. I omitted two sets. It is hard sometimes to just keep doing it but I feel the difference in my muscles, I really do.

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 2, 2004 — It seems to me that some assessment is in order of how I've done in the last almost two years. Two years ago I weighed between 175-185, usually in the middle of that, almost never 185 like it was a barrier. I was weak in the muscles and my joints ached. I was dealing with my mother's death...memorial services and decisions and all of that. Now I weigh between 150-155, have some muscle tone, have few joint aches. I can easily touch my toes. My posture still sucks. (Note to people who see me in person...you cannot correct this with your bare hands or by pointing it out to me and recommending a regimen or calcium or telling me to 'stand up straight.' If my posture is to improve, I have to build the muscles in my back, neglecting from years of being in front of the keyboard, I'm told. Calcium supplements for me? Do you know anyone who consumes more cheese? Practicing better posture is something I try now but only after working on the muscles does it seem to help. I do notice that I can now stand comfortably for a longer period of time as well.) Certainly I can walk, sprint a few feet, go up stairs and recover my wind far better than before my weight loss and workout program. All in all, I've accomplished a lot physically. But it has been darn near two years. So, yeah, I should have done something. I've improved my diet a little, but not much. I eat more salads, fruit and fish. But I still eat a lot of junk, plenty of high-fat foods, especially cheese. I drink too much. I think I'm getting adequate amounts of water these days. If you had told me in September 2002 that I'd lose twenty-five or thirty pounds and my joints would be this much better, I wouldn't have believed it. Naturally, though, having arrived here, I want more. I want to have better posture and more agility. Maybe really learn to play tennis well. We are never satisfied. That's the grand thing about humans.