Fitness

Recalibration

Welcome to week 11 of my Peak Body Transformation subscription. I’m now working out 5:15a to 6:00a, an hour earlier than my previous session. Technically it’s supposed to be an alumni class, but we still have several newbies enrolled in this class.

Ever since the time change, it’s been dark going to and from class. And unfortunately, that’s also deterred me from my morning jogs and dog walks. This of course puts a time crunch on me, making me late for work. I was hoping to reverse this 10-wk trend, but looks like I need a hard reboot to get my schedule aligned correctly. Hope to get this all worked out soon; I dislike exercising after work and I can already tell the mosquitoes will be populous this year.

My scale broke this morning. It finally had enough of my too-frequent weigh ins and croaked. This prompted an early morning trip to Walmart to pick up a new scale. I took home a Healthometer which is a body fat meter and scale. It also calculates BMI, hydration level, and daily caloric intake and stores measurements for up to 4 user profiles. Lastly, it allows users to set a goal weight and calculates in weeks how long it will take to reach. (FYI, it told me that to reach my goal weight of 130lbs, it would take 18 weeks at roughly 1600 DCI.)

Since I had long suspected that my previous Sharper Image digital scale was inaccurate, I was glad to see that this new Healthometer was closer in measurement to the scale at the gym and at the doctor’s office. It read my body fat % consistent with the Omron body fat meter used by my gym. Though I’m sad to see that I am once again over 145 (and once heavier than I thought I was), at least I will be more comfortable knowing my true weight from now on. Now how long will this scale last?

So my little MFP ticker will need some recalibration. Goodbye, 144; hello, 147 (again).

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Ye Olde Garden

More March buds and plants

Wishlish plant of the day: Malvaviscus candida Variegata or Variegated Turk’s Cap (a shade plant for Texas)!

First stop is the planter box by the patio door. I dropped some cuttings of stonecrop (?) that I took while trimming my succulent planter. I didn’t have high hopes that these stray cuttings would flourish, but they look pretty alive in that dirt, don’t they?

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (1) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (2)

The oxalis in the blue bed appear lush and full. Notice the remnants of the yarrow I pulled out a couple of weeks ago lying in wait to take over.

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (3) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (4)

I am baffled by these rosettes in the blue bed. These are the surviving Blue Knoll Chrysanthemums, aka Heteropappus Meyendorfii. They are reportedly annual, but these two are starting their second year in this bed. They sat in mulch, tolerating dry-to-drought conditions, part sun and displayed no flowers last fall. They have not grown beyond the size they currently are. Is there a chance that these might provide some autumn color this year? I’m going to have to pull out the Days Aster–it spreads everywhere and has invaded the camellia bed on the other side of the fence.

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (5) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (6)

The next camellia bud is about to burst. This particular bloom occurs very low on the plant and to the back. It requires some position to take it in full view.

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (7) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (8)

Front flower bed: tulips bursting out of the mulch and the newly transplanted Valentine dianthus. Notice the white edging on the tulip leaves; this appears to be the Happy Generation tulip planted last fall. The other tulip sprouts are smaller and do not display edging; most likely they are Tubergen’s Gem.

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Hot Lips salvia starting out with red blooms, but the bicolor blooms are coming on fast. I just love the variability of this salvia.

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Daffodil buds have appeared. I expect to see them bloom in a matter of days.

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This particular foxtail fern has new plumes. The foxtail ferns did not die back down into the ground this due to the mild winter weather. It was pleasant to see them provide some greenery and vertical shape to the shade bed. Check out the japanese painted fern behind the foxtails!

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (16) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (17) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (18)

The lily bed would like to welcome our newest bloomer: origami red and white columbine. Beautiful spurred flowers are blooming on this one specimen. The other columbine is looking rather straggly but at least it endured summer and winter. The colors are synching with the red-and-white theme of the neighboring dianthuses and pansies. I hope in a future season, we will see some lush foliage and growth show off this bed. For example, the orange and white mums appear to be bulking up in anticipation. The Charmed Wine oxalis appear to be a little shy coming out of winter; they don’t show off as many blooms as the neighbors in the blue bed, and they are half the size.

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (19) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (20) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (21) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (22) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (23) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (24) 3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (25)

I filled in the new garden bed this morning and tried to level the ground up to the bed at the same time. We’ll be requiring some good soil to fill in the rest and start arranging the cinder block edge. Now if it would stop raining/sprinkling long enough for us to get some garden work done!

3/10/2012 March Buds and Plants (26)

Ye Olde Garden

March seedlings and the last winter heave

We’ve dipped back down into the 50s this weekend, after a short 2 weeks of pleasant spring weather. I suspect this is winter’s last gasp and we are headed into the 70s-90s for the next 3-6 weeks. We’re also seeing some rain for this weekend, which means work is suspended on the new garden bed. But at least we’ll know the seal is tight on the newly-repaired sprinkler pipes.

I sowed some Coreopsis tinctoria Roulette seeds today, brought in the Pesto Perpetuo basil and snapped up some pix of the bathroom greenhouse. The dusty miller cuttings are having a hard time, so I have covered 2 of them to see if a more controlled environment will help them thrive. The thyme and oregano cuttings are certainly doing well, putting out new growth. I’m still wary of the salvia cuttings, not sure if they are developing new roots under the surface. The alyssum have begun to sprout; I will be monitoring their progress in the coming weeks to see how well they grow. I’m anxious to get some of their pastel colors out into the gardens in time for Easter. We shall see!

3/9/2012 March Seedlings (1) 3/9/2012 March Seedlings (2) 3/9/2012 March Seedlings (3) 3/9/2012 March Seedlings (4) 3/9/2012 March Seedlings (5) 3/9/2012 March Seedlings (6)

Fitness

Here and back again, a Foodie’s tale of fitness at PBT

This is the last cardio day for my 10 week (6 days a week) stint at Peak Body Transformation. Tomorrow, I go in and take measurements and tests to see exactly where I go from here.

Actually, I went ahead and signed up for another 3 month stint at $74 a month so that should take me all the way to May, in time for beach weather!  

I have definitely seen some improvement in my overall strength and endurance, and the waistline has definitely trimmed down an inch perhaps. We’ll see what the tape says tomorrow. I’ve been wearing size 6 jeans for the last couple of weeks, and it doesn’t chafe or constrict like it used to when the muffin top was my bane. Lucky me! 

Lately, I’m been staring at 143-144 lbs on the scale. I think that road trip to East Texas tipped me out of the 145 doldrums and now here I am. Is a 142 somewhere in my near future? I’ve been cutting out the morning jogs recently, drinking coffee in the morning, and feeding the food monster at dinner time (this part isn’t new). So I suspect I’ll be frozen in this range for another 2 weeks unless I force the issue somehow. 

Silly me, I’ve got those Groupons to a Brazilian steakhouse and Korean BBQ that I still have to consume. Discipline is such a harsh master. And Yelp asked me to be an Elite again this year. Hmmm….

Those ab twists are still killer, and I’d like to find some method to end that lower back pain. I just need to get back on the wagon and do some evening strength exercises and leave out the cardio so I can reasonably achieve some restful sleep. I’d love to do the Bodyrock thing some more, but I might just need to reserve that for Sundays.

So here’s to 10 weeks down (about 8 lbs gone) and another 12 weeks to go. I’d love to head out to the Texas beaches this summer and finally wear that bikini that’s been hanging in my closet for a couple years…so let’s see where ambition takes me. 

(PS I’m thinking about getting a weight bench.) 

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