The fucking thing stopped working again.

:| <--- no, I'm not mad, what makes you say that?

the weather turned out to be gorgeous today....Im gonna get in a good hike today.....

:)

One hour swimming in indoor pool and now relaxing at clubs outdoor pool...heaven

Lifted weights and went on a 2 mile run today. Might go swimming later depending on how I'm feeling...

Well, I've been using the sleep cycle app for 7 nights now and have mixed feelings. It is a fascinating experiment and that alone is worth it for me. The graph of the nights sleep reveals a lot. Example: The first night my sleep looked rather like the sample of an average night. The next day I had a stressful situation come up, not bad but one of those that sets up brain spin. That second night my sleep graph looked really different and it gradually came back to normal by the fourth night.

As far as I can tell its main purpose, to wake you at the least intrusive time works well. I only did that three days as I normally sleep till I wake anyway. If I were back on someone elses clock I think it would be terrific.

It also has built in heart rate monitoring in that when you turn it off in the morning you are prompted to check the rate via the camera (and it works!). It gives me a record of my waking HR, if only.....See below

The problem for me is in the compilation of the data. It uses 5 nights sleep before it gives a "sleep quality" rating. Hmm, 83% of what? Out of 100? As compared to the night before? My best night so far? Some aritrary scale? It tells me how many hours I was in bed, or more accurately, had the app on. That's good, but any clock tells me that. I would like to be able to set a rolling avg e.g last three nights or last two weeks etc. Same with the HR, one day, and I can scroll back to see each day at a time, but cannot set for any analysis. This would be easy to set up in the back end with a couple of formulas and I think it would add a lot of value. Which leads me to.........Another app! :cheesy:

I think we are getting close to something that will auto aggregate all of these things we track (if you're into it) and in fact quite a few do play well together but then it's back to who has your data? We can export CSV data to a closed excel sheet but that gets a bit messy for most folks. Another app called Loggr looks very promising, I am just starting to tinker with it. If you're into tracking anything at all you can put it here, of course you have to do the putting which will stop a lot of people. But once there it looks like it will be a nice little shortcut to have for making all this info actually useful, or at least more playful. Btw, this is for any data, not just for exercise. Make it up as you go along or use templates. This little guy will also let you export any of it to your personal sheets via CSV if you want to for extended fun of the very geeky variety. I may be in love. :cheer:

Oh yeah, I walked on the beach and did PT.

:theisland:

I took a 5 hour walk in Riverside Park today. The weather was so beautiful out.

I said that wrong. I meant to say "we can't export CSV to a closed excel sheet and that gets messy"..meaning for most apps. This app fills that gap if a person wants to go that route. Too late to edit.

:blush:

after dinner I did my step workout with weights for about an hour. I tend to do more upper body since I hike pretty regularly.... but I did do leg work that would help with hiking....lots and lots of lunges....all kinds...all directions....ad nauseum...lol

it feels very good to feel stronger....and seeing the definition changing in my muscles is a great motivator :)

Today I worked out with a speed bag and the heavy bag.

The speed bag is always a mix of letting go and hanging on because when the rhythm is right it is so fun but when it is wrong, bah!

The heavy bag was especially good today because I have some anger issues to work out, nothing like whaling the shit out of the heavy bag until my arms are shaking to take the edge off

Today I did 1/2 hour recumbent elliptical. Half hour weight machines
Took a rest by the outdoor pool. Taking it easy in the sun...I have all summer long. Decided to return to the empty indoor pool and swam for 40. Feel so relaxed.

15 min. stair master (intervals 45/50)
45 min. combined weight lifting and yoga

I got a compliment on my outfit. A woman I don't know and who looked unlikely to give a compliment said, "I like your colors." I had thrown things together without even looking at the colors. It was my Smurf blue shirt and purple shorts. Who knew?

I hiked for 4 hours today.... :)

if it hadnt been for my uncomfy shoe I wouldve hiked til dark.... It was nice seeing my favorite woods...

Just the usual bike rides this weekend. The weather was mild, and the trees are lush and green now as the translucent green of new leaves darkens into their warm-weather pelt.

I go around the park once (it's a three-mile loop), then down that path on Prospect Park West from Grand Army Plaza one straight shot all the way to 15th Street.

Then I took 15th Street all the way down to Third Avenue; long, long blocks of smooth downhill coasting. Then back up the slow incline on 14th Street, then down Vanderbilt to Dean, right on Dean, and I took that bike path to the very end. about 15 blocks I think, then turned around and went home.

I can't imagine those street names are of interest to anyone who isn't familiar with this particular neighborhood. But it gives to satisfaction to recount the route.

I have a little sunburn on my shoulders, and just took a shower. My skin feels tight, in that good way after exercise.

I like to stand on the pedals and pull up on the handlebars with each push down on the pedals. I do that instead of changing gears sometimes. It feels like a full-body workout that way.

The low tides are cycling back to mornings so today I got my chilly ass out there at 5:30 for a sunrise beach walk of 5 miles.

I think I'll do that again tomorrow.

:theisland:

well.....

yesterday while hiking I rolled my ankle....ever so sliightlly....I thought....this morning its been fun just to walk....so....

gentle yoga and upper body work for me today....and packing....it counts....since I have to go up and down a ladder to the barn loft with heavy boxes....yay

Alright, here I am at sunrise ready to go. Clouds. :blink:

The are light and high so it shouldn't last long, here they call this 'fog'.

There will be many trips up and down stairs for me too today. Oh yes it does count, especially when carrying.

:theisland:

Kelt, you reminded me, Ive started hiking with a weighted pack (10~15lbs) so that I can condition for backpacking trips to come :) Im VERY excited about that!

Just finished my exercise commitment for the day. Half hour recumbent elliptical. I did increase time and number
Of reps on machines. Totally cool is that I am increasing the weight load on the machines.:)

Recumbant elliptical? :thinking:

I don't think I know what that is. Do share. :heavyweight:

Swam for about an hour today. Also went on a hour long jog.

So do I,I haven't herd of one like that,I have a normal one that kills my knees.

Even though I haven't posted much I am reading the post that you''all put hear.I am glad to know we all have a common goal of weigh loss with good health,I have learned a few things from the things I have read.thank you all for that.
My biggest issue with weight loss has been fighting the fight that seems endlessly harder than I ever though it would be.I would lose a few then get stuck going nowhere,exercise harder and longer .eat more or eat less to find the
still where I was...totally frustrating. Then I found out my thyroids and hormones were a wreck plus my sugar count was up.I get it all worked out but my sugar count as it was is a battle and I guess will always be one.My last A C 1 test was over 7 so then metformin came into the game.Boy did I make a diffrents as in the last two months I have lost from 262 to 249.Thought it isn't for weight loss it re gears my body into procesing sugars and carbs that even on a lite workout program I am on the weight loss has gone on.I was shocked when the weight started falling off...I wish I had know about that med sooner.

Still on schedule...one hour of swimming.

Today I took a two hour walk in the park. It was perfect weather for walking. There were a lot of shadows from the trees with speckles of light. I went up and down the St. Clair Stairs (built in 1935, 90 steps). I walked the "Forever Wild" path which is sometimes too muddy to walk but due to a lack of rain it was lovely.

Thanks to everyone for your posts. The struggle continues. Some days are better and some days feel like a step forward then 2 steps back. Been sick with the flu...just want my relationship with snot to end and have my voice back. :blah:

Yesterday I did 30 minutes on the recumbent elliptical and 40 minutes of weight machines and a little bit of weights thrown in. That's 10 minutes more of weights and machines than I have done before.

Today went to the gym and I must say my muscles were a little sore and tired from all the machines this week (more days than I have in the past) so I swam for 45 minutes. I decided to stop when my body say...no more, rest. I feel relaxed but sore. I like when I feel sore because it indicates that I am working my muscles

Hey Gemme

I figured out a trick for the heart rate thingy a few years back. The cardio machines tend to vary wildly in calibration of the hand grips so one machine will read a lot different than the others and then the internal calculations go off (calories etc). To get consistent accurate reading you can get the chest strap for a Polar heart rate monitor and use that instead of the grips. All the big manufacturers have that sensor baked in. You don't have to use the grips and you get more accurate readings. You can buy a replacement chest strap without having to get their watch/software/expensive part. Last time I checked they were $20-$30 :cheesy:

:theisland: <<< Public service announcement for the numbers geeks.

60 minutes of Pilates this morning.

Sobering to really find out which muscles have been totally underused for the last two years.

I am going to stick with private lessons for a while.

Paid for 5 in advance..

:thud:

I've been knocking out 4-5 miles a day although I've been slacking on my PT a bit. Got busted at my appt today so I hit the bricks hard again tomorrow. :blush:

:theisland:

Back at my running, I took a bit of a break after doing the Bolder Boulder 10k the other week, as well as doing some hiking and backpacking.

Sooo, right back with 5 miles this morning on the trails with the dogs. They definitely have the most fun!

Also started working out with the heavy bag this week, doing some basic drills for about a half hour. It is quite fun, thanks for the tips Venus007... Though I still managed to split 3 of my knuckles! I have since perfected wrapping my hands.

My abdominals have healed enough to get up off the couch without moaning.

Back to Pilates tomorrow at noon for an hour.

Trying to work up to 3 days per week from two...

All of you inspire me!

I wear bag gloves and I wrap my hands still sometimes, if I am particularly angsty, my knuckles get red and a little swollen. I found icing them right after helps. The good part is that with repetition they will toughen up in a bit so that it gets better.

I did yoga before I had to leave for work....I caught a glance of my shoulders in the mirror today and I was like...........they are looking like they did when I used to swim a lot! :)

after work today Im picking up my niece and nephew and taking them for a hike... :)