Exercise 07/15 - 07/21

Not a terrible week but not as good as I would hope.  Had a combination of the rest of the family having a stomach bug and my having one very late evening due to an eye doctor appointment and getting my eyes dilated.

Wednesday - 2.5 miles walking in 50 minutes.  I jammed this one into my day and got what I could. 

Friday - 1.5 miles walking in 30 minutes.  Again, what I could fit in.

Saturday - 18.91 miles cycling in 1:27 (13.1 mph).  A very good ride. I'm getting somewhat faster and stronger. I can ride faster on the streets than in the park but the park is more fun and prettier. 

Saturday - 15 minutes of core work.  My first core work in months. I did a 1:00 plank and a :45 plank and some ball work and crunches.  I need to do more core work.

Sunday - 2.6 miles hiking in 60.  I was planning to go for a run but then I suggested that we take a family hike and we did. We went to Walnut Creek a little later than we would have liked because ChocolateSon needed some hiking shoes.  It was a good hike but everyone got too hot and tired by the end.  We went from the park to Chuys so all was good in the world.

My weight is back "down" to 170.  I think I started this effort at 169, got down to 165, and up as high as 173 (my lifetime high I believe).  I want to be at 155 or 150 so "down" to 170 is not good but it's better. 

I'm reading The 4-Hour Body.  It is much much thicker than I expected but is going very quickly.  So far my very general and preliminary thoughts are:

• *While I am sure it would help me to reduce my intake of "white foods" (starches) I don't intend to eliminate them entirely (his classification of white foods includes brown rice).  More strongly, I'm not going to eliminate fruit from my diet. 
• One thing I am really enjoying from the book is his instruction to just read the parts you are care about and just implement the parts you want to implement. He even says "if you want to lose weight, read these chapters" to build muscle, read these ones, etc.  It's not all or nothing. 
• Another concept he has that I really like is that all goals should be 20 pounds difference (defined as 15 pounds fat lost, 5 pounds muscle gained or 20 pounds muscle gained or whatever as long as it adds to 20).  If someone needs/wants to lose 150 pounds, their goal should be a 20 pound meaningful movement and when that is done they can set a new 20 pound goal. He says some people only need 10 pounds but they are the exception. 

I should probably say that I signed up as an Amazon Affiliate so if you click that link and buy the book or click that link and buy something else, I'll get some small amount of money.