In addition to a good workout I also had the personal trainers run my body-fat and blood pressure numbers. The BP numbers turned out so good I am sure the machine was broken. I was so sure they couldn’t be true that I insisted on three measurements (2 from the right arm and 1 from the left). The end result averaged out to 95/65 with a resting pulse of 67 beats per minute. The body fat measurements were a bit on the high-end. I had my BF measure with body electronic calipers and the handheld machine. The electronic calipers gave a reading of 28.95% (60.5 lbs of fat on my frame) and the handheld gave a reading of 22.1% (46 pounds of fat on my frame). Either way I have plenty of fat to shed during my fitness journey.

I had a good early morning walk (which I started doing last week) and a decent reintroduction to Tabata Training. I say decent because I ended up not being able to do the full 10/10 program, but I did make it halfway through. I will have to focus on rebuilding some of my basic strength before I venture back into Tabata training. Maybe next month I will try again?

A picture says a 1,000 words (or in this case 40+ extra pounds). Other than my obvious state of half-sleep (thepicturewas taken at 7 a.m.) my well-rounded cheeks and less-than-subtle second chin aren’t camera-shy. It appears much of what used to be known as “my chin” is now lost in a round, full face. A face that sits upon a neck that sits upon a slow, lethargic, weak body. Wow, this sounds even worse typed out than it sounded as part of my internal monologue. So as far as changing this less than flattering look it is important to begin with an adequate assessment of my current (not-so-)well-being. Let’s just say that most categories leave plenty of room for improvement. Some will be updated on Wednesday with more accurate numbers, but this is what I’ve got thus far.

• Chest: 40.25 (exhale)/44.25 inches (inhale)
• Arms: (r) 16/(l)16.25 inches
• Forearms: 13 inches
• Waist: 41 inches
• Weight: 212.6 (Ouch! Pizza and wings yesterday)
• Body FatPercentage: 32.1% (but using the unreliable bathroom scale)
• Blood Pressure: 118/63
• Push-ups in 60 seconds: 25
• Mile Run: 14 minutes (Ouch! Shin splints acted up and my walking was even slower than usual)

Now to try and improve all of these! I started that change today with a 35 minute walk (in about 35 degree weather) and then went to the gym for a 25 minute full body workout. I feel good. I definitely feel better than I did when I woke up this morning.

Here are the numbers:

• BP: 118/63
• Pulse: 97 (a hour after workout- which s a bit worrisome)
• One Mile Run: 14 minutes (shameful)
• Push-ups (1 minute): 25 reps

Ended up spending most of the day grading papers. In the end the only test I performed was one minute worth of push-ups. That resulted in a measly 25 reps. I have free time tomorrow, so I will get the rest in tomorrow.

I am putting together a list of factors to get a baseline of my fitness level. I will run through the list tomorrow and see what my personal bests are for each item on the list. So far it includes:

• Push-ups (# in two minutes)
• 1.5 Mile Run
• Sit & Reach (3 attempts)
• 300 yard sprint
• …and the usual waist & weight measurements

I will post the numbers tomorrow. I don’t expect them to be pretty or flattering.

The Skyrim workout: Every time you encounter a screen load (so about every 30-60 seconds) drop and do about 10 push-ups or, if you are in better shape, do push-ups until the load screen disappears. Bet you didn’t think you could combine gaming and working out. Well I just did.

I couldn’t be more apathetic if I tried, but then that would kind of be self-defeating (more self-defeating than my present apathy?! Maybe.)

Nothing much happened today. I mean that. Almost nothing. I ate, graded papers, went to church, graded papers, ate, graded papers, went to a party, and then sat down here to type this. Man this is a real slow, and boring, start, to my fitness journey.

Nothing much to report other than feeling like crap.

The Set-up: Back in 2009 I got yet another attempt to advertise a product on my blog. I decided to have some fun with the salesman and his product. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

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From: Nick
To: John
Subject: text link

Hi,

I was curious what it would take to get a text link on your blog saying something like Tungsten Wedding Bands or Tungsten Wedding Rings with a hyperlink to our site [website address omitted]. We are a relatively new company and we are currently trying to improve our page ranking on Google. We operate on a small budget, and we would be more than willing to give you a tungsten ring from our site in exchange for a link. Let me know if this would be something that you would be interested in. Thanks for any help you can give us.

Thank You

Nick
———————————————————————————
From: John
To: Nick
Subject: Re:text

Nick,

As I run several blogs I am curious which blog you are referring to. That said, I am glad to accept your offer of a free ring, please make mine a diamond ring. And be sure that the ring is made of real gold, as I am allergic to fake gold and it causes me to break out in hives.

J.J.K.
———————————————————————————-
From: Nick
To: John
Subject: Re:Re: text

Hi John,

Thank you for getting back to me. In exchange for a text link on your homepage saying Titanium Wedding Ring you can pick any Tungsten ring with a value up to $120 just let me know what style/size ring that you want along with your shipping address and I can get that right to you. If you sould send me a links to your blogs I would really appreciate it.

Thank You
Nick
———————————————————————————-
From: John
To: Nick
Subject: Re:Re:Re: text link

I would be glad to post a link provided you let me know what you would like me to say about them. For example, should I let me readers know that they have special healing properties? I have heard that some metals can cure illnesses ranging from rectal bleeding to anal warts. On second thought, I am not sure why the medical literature I am familiar with deals primarily with illnesses of the gluteas maximus, but perhaps that isn’t the best idea.

Do these rings bring good luck? Could they remedy a Gypsy curse- like in that movie Thinner? That movie was quite terrible, but at least it gave me an excuse to make out with my date. And comparing my date to that haggard old gypsy definitely made me feel lucky to be kissing a woman of average attractiveness instead of a mean old curse spewing gypsy. Although, as a historically oppressed people, I probably should not be so hard on them.