Stairs: I am not the master

I got rather inspired by the recent stair climbing post by Bitch Cakes and thought it might be good to try some stair climbing here at work. Originally I was planning the north stairwell from basement to top, four flights, starting with one flight on Monday and working up to five on Friday. Today, the first day I was to attempt, it occurred to me to try the central stairwell which is six flights (yes, there are additional stories in the middle of the building.) Let's just say I'm happy I started with one. While I'm sure I can work my way up, I may resort to the shorter stairwell until I'm fitter.

In addition to the stairs today, I got my ass out of bed early so I could start week 1 of Jack LaLanne before work. He starts things off rather easy so it wasn't a real challenge to start my week. It even got me warmed up enough to do 30 minutes of Wii Fit after while listening to the news. So today I've not only managed to get all my exercise in before noon, I got in more than my typical goal.

Exercise Goal for the rest of the week:
Jack LaLanne every morning
Stairs (four or six flights) every late morning/early afternoon, increasing by one repetition each day (six flights today, twelve tomorrow, etc). If I have to rest on a landing, that's okay.
At least 10 minutes of Wii Fit either before or after work.

Wish me luck!

All right Jack, you talked me into it

Or: Maybe you can live to 96 too.

My challenge is to follow Jack LaLanne's 6 week exercise regimen.

Exercise

Before Christmas, and after my last doctor's appointment, I told Spouse nag me to exercise five days a week. The run up to and after Christmas were dead losses, but we did manage to come up with something that would work for us where I exercise for 30 minutes and he practices piano for 30 minutes (he's exercising too, but since that's not part of the deal I don't nag.)

I am happy to report that I have exercised every day so far this week (beginning Sunday) for a minimum of 30 minutes. I've even bought a new sports bra that actually WORKS so can do some of the more aerobic Wii Fit exercises. In fact, I have mainly been doing aerobics (since I CAN), but last night went for yoga and strength so I can mix things up a bit. I will probably incorporate some pilaties and/or belly dancing for more variety.

I can't say I've been looking forward to exercise (it has, after all, not even been a week), but I do feel so much better after I do it! It's just the forcing me to do it I still need help with . When I get home from work, the first thing I've been doing is getting into my workout gear before having a chance to sit down or prep dinner. I know that if I do anything else first I will kill any possible motivation. The trick for me seems to be just get it out of the way first thing (well, first thing in the evening as there's just no way I could do this in the morning.)

On the food front, I've been baking bread, made some more butter (not a particularly good batch this time, unfortunately) but have been using lots of veggies in dinner. Plus I've brought my lunch to work every day this week. I'd like to get the exercise to start being a habit before I try doing much more though. That said, I put on a skirt this morning that's usually a bit tight even with a waist cincher. This morning, no cincher, it zipped right up with a heavy shirt TUCKED IN! Maybe this exercise thing ain't so bad after all.

190.5

I had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago that showed fatty liver (my fois is gras) so now that's one more thing saying LOSE WEIGHT!

I've asked Spouse to make me exercise 30 minutes 5 times per week and he's been quite god about it so far. We've even had negotiations about days I want off or how I can trade one activity for another. While I'm not thrilled about having to exercise, I do notice how much better I feel after I've done it. Eventually it may get to a point where I look forward to it, but I don't see that happening for a while.

Brunch
scrambled eggs with leeks and spinach
tea with 2% milk

Snack
Cider down the pub

Dinner
veggie pizza (whole wheat crust)
salad

190.5

BREAKFAST
tea
egg and cheese sandwich

LUNCH
leftover homemade lasagna

190

BREAKFAST
tea
toast

SNACK
Tea and biscuits

LUNCH
convenience food, microwaved frozen lasagna

DINNER
Proper home-made lasagna (albeit with jarred sauce)
wine

189.5 - Weigh-in Day

BREAKFAST
grapefruit
tea
egg and cheese on croissant

LUNCH
BBQ tofu
Quinoa
broccoli
pumpkin pie (damn you pie!)
fizzy water

188.5

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg with spinach
toast
tea
water

188.5

BREAKFAST
Pink grapefruit (can one even buy white grapefruit anymore?)
Tea
scrambled egg with spinach
toast

LUNCH
Salad of veggies with hard boiled eggs
tea
biscuits (2)

DINNER
"chicken" pot pie
rum and diet cola

191.5

I was 186.5 on Saturday. Let's pretend it's Saturday today.

BREAKFAST
Quorn sandwich (1 slice of bread)
tea

LUNCH
Another sandwich (2 slices of bread)
water
Nice cup of tea and a biscuit


Okay, two biscuits

DINNER
Another Quorn sandwich (with spinach in it this time)
cider

188

BREAKFAST
tea
toast with honey

187.5

Sick again. Throat is sore, probably from the acid reflux (or whatever you want to call it) over the weekend.

toast with honey
tea
veggie calzone
water with bitters
plain water
ice cream

188.5

Bread and boxed mac and cheese today. Water and tea for drinks. Home sick because of random acid tummy thing that kept me up all night.

190 - Weigh-in Day

Fuck you scale

BREAKFAST
tofu
tea
egg and cheese on croissant (yea, that'll show that scale)

LUNCH
mushroom quiche
kale
carrots
tea

187

BREAKFAST
veggie bacon
scrambled egg with kale
toast
orange juice
tea

LUNCH
macaroni and cheese
garlic spinach
mixed veggies
corn bisque
water
tea

DINNER
soup of baked tofu, rice noodles and mixed veg
diet Coke

189

Fresh, hot bread at 11:30 at night is not such a good idea for the waistline

BREAKFAST
veggie bacon
scrambled egg with kale
toast
pineapple juice
tea

LUNCH
vegetable soup
slice of dry bread
water

DINNER
Quorn with:
potato, parsnip, apple, saurkraut
cider

188

BREAKFAST
tea
toast

LUNCH
spaghetti with tofu and red sauce
zucchini
green beans
leek and apple soup (not that tasty)

DINNER
"chicken" noodle soup
cocktail
fresh, hot bread

186

Ah, avoid solid carbs at night and the weight comes right off

BREAKFAST
egg and cheese on english muffin
tea
grapefruit juice

LUNCH
brie
bread
minuscule amount of fruit
glass of wine

189 - Weigh-in Day

Okay, 187 by next week even if I have to stop eating all together

BREAKFAST
scrambled egg
veggie bacon (2 slices)
dry toast
tea

LUNCH
I have no willpower
Cafeteria mac and cheese, broccoli, green beans, a cup of homemade soup
water

DINNER
beer
3-4oz tuna
breaded Quorn (it was a protein extravaganza tonight)
rum and Coke

189

The back is slowly recovering. I make a point of getting up periodically throughout the day so I'm not stuck in the same position in my chair.

BREAKFAST
shirred egg with spinach
dry toast
tea

LUNCH
cafeteria salad bar: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, roasted veggies, broccoli, potato salad (not much), sesame dressing
water
tea

DINNER
When Spouse went off to UDS he said I'd be having lots of girls nights out while he was gone. Well, no such luck (do I *ever* go out when it's not a show someone I know is playing?), so tonight I had a Girl's Night Out instead and went to Franklin Southie for a cocktail and decided to have dinner there as well since the special sounded good.
Salmon
lentils
carrots
beet relish
Daiquiri thingie made with vodka but somehow didn't suck

Came home to roast the squash for the soup I'd originally planed for tonight. Soup part only takes 20 minutes so I should be able to make it to take to work.