Brontus's fitness log

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
I didn't exercise on Friday. That morning I was given the opportunity to make a few involuntary snow angels. They had close the campus on Thursday, which allowed me to dig out my car during the day time and not during the dark times, but they reopened it on Friday. A colleague said, and I agreed, that they should have kept the campus closed. There was virtually no one there. The roads were slick and I wasn't wearing my ice cleats, you know...like an idiot. I fell three times just walking into a building. Normally, I could recover myself quickly, but I was carrying a backpack of tools, so when I slipped, it brought me right down on my back. The first time I tried to recover, I couldn't get my arm back far enough to catch myself because of the backpack, so my should jammed into my neck. The second time, nothing much. But the third time, I almost bit my tongue off. No blood, though, so all's good...but I can still feel where I bit down.

So, I just took it easy the rest of the day. Put some time in on a side project and called it a day. Today, I was consumed by my side project and almost didn't exercise. I eventually forced myself to do three of the five sets of Power Builder - Day 7. Those 3-count exercises really mess me up, especially ones that are hard to figure out where the 3-count goes. Lunges and I have a love/hate relationship...I love to hate them. I'm typing more than I usually do...I might be just a bit delirious, I guess. It's been a weird end to the week.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
One thing I didn't mention in my last post was that I started feeling really fatigued and wasn't sure why, and started having other respitory symptoms as well. That was another reason I only did 3 sets of the previous day. Turns out I had gotten down with the sickness, but I don't know when. Saw a doc this morning thinking it was bronchitis...he said no. It wasn't covid either. At 3am this morning I gave myself a basic examination - oxygen level, blood pressure, temperature reading, covid test, everything I could measure and note so I'd have it for the Doc. I didn't get any good sleep last night, but I've been able to make up for it on and off this morning. Waiting to hear about some meds from my pharmacy.

As of this message, just did Power Builder - Day 8 despite still feeling rather sickly.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Power Builder - Day 9 - done...although, could only do 4/5 sets of shoulder presses, 2/5 sets each of chest rows and bent over lateral raises.
Still sick, but not as bad as before. I think I figured out what hit me...the flu. It explains every one of my symptoms. I haven't had the flu before, so that would be why it took me down so hard. Still don't know when I contracted it. I drug myself to the pharmacy to get my meds yesterday and have been on a diet of mostly fruit cups and apples since Sunday morning. Was finally able to eat some heavy food this evening (Tuesday, 11/14) - Hawaiian BBQ chicken, rice, and macaroni salad.
I knew I couldn't exercise last night, but I could tonight, so I did. I should mention that I'm doing this program with two 15lb dumbbells (~7kg).
One side effect of one of the meds is dizziness, which I think is making its presence known, but not in a way that jeopardizes my general safety.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all...
This dam flu... been sick all week, hacking and coughing up a lung, but had to work...supervisor went on leave and I don't really trust the other two leads enough to know whether it was okay to call in sick for a whole week...'Murica...plus I need to cook a turkey and a ham for an event this weekend...
Yesterday was just... almost a breaking point for me. There've been a lot of things that I haven't been able to properly address or deal with and in my vulnerable state yesterday it all got really to carry. I wrote out list this morning and it ended up being 25-30 things, both work and non-work related.
One of them was failing at a program...again. It's been three days and I don't have energy...I crash in the middle of the day and then just sit in limbo until I'm able to get home and put myself to bed.
To be clear, the difficulty is not the problem...I guess my mind still sees programs as marathons...and I can't do marathons.
I'll just try something different later, I guess.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Feeling a lot better today. Still taking things easy and monitoring myself, but health is looking good. I cooked a turkey this past weekend and my apartment STILL smells like butter, garlic, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I'm gonna be rearranging my apartment again this weekend, so I'll get some activity that way. With general exercise and food, I've got some things I'm gonna try for a while. A spasmodic approach...just whatever whenever. I've kept myself from that approach before, trying to lock myself into a consistent routine because consistency breeds results, but it produced more stress than it was worth.

So, whatever whenever. It's not an excuse to skip working out, it'll just allow me to do a workout or exercise when I think of it. Say I'm perusing Darebee and I see something interesting and it's the middle of the day and I'm in the office. I can shut my door and do a couple of exercises or the whole thing or whatever it is. Then maybe on a weekend if I need some movement for my restless muscles, I can hop in my bookmarks and do a few workouts. Maybe some other day I can devote a two-hour session to exercise and I can dig in to my bookmarks or the workout database or whatever. Or, maybe there's a day where other things take priority or I'm sick or I'm just exhausted from work. I can let exercise go without feeling guilty.

I'll still be working on food stuff and maybe one day I can have a consistent schedule, when the strength of Men increases...but it is not this day.

Tally ho!
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Pretty much all better today. 2 weeks to the day. Did Boxer Arms either yesterday or day before...in the shower, cuz my arms wanted some movement. Did Epic Glutes today, all 3 sets, cuz my legs were feeling a bit restless.

A friend showed me a video of a guy talking about shakshouka and the simplicity yet colorful nature of it inspired me to branch out with my food choices. I was reminded of Mediterranean food I kept meaning to look into. I found a website created by a cook from Egypt filled with all sorts of delicious and colorful things. I was reminded that good food doesn't have to take forever to cook and can be appetizing without too many ingredients. I was in a funk with food because of this metabolic disorder I have.

Now, I know there's amazing stuff on here too that our fearless leader has put a lot of time and effort into, but, regrettably, it hasn't appealed to me the same way the Mediteranean dishes do.

I plan to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes, garlic...remniscent of shaksouka, but obviously not quite. Pesto spaghetti, with garlic and shredded parmesan. And caprese kabobs - a piece of fresh mozz, a piece of basil, and a piece of tomato on a toothpick, dressed in extra-virgin olive oil. And then some other american italian things.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Did Stretched and Hamstring Mobility here in my office. It's my lunch hour when I'm posting this. Couldn't get myself fully awake today, so I thought I'd do a little something to get at least a little blood flowing. I did a few dips in my office, too. I have two desk arranged in a U-shape and the ends are just close enough yet wide enough that I can do dips.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
I happened to weigh myself last night and I weighed in at 317 on my scale. 11 pounds down from last measured weight a month ago. I don't imaging that's healthy but I've been forced to cut back on my eating...money shortage. I had bought some food the weekend before last to do more cooking at home and that was cool. Caprese kabobs, scrambled eggs with fire roasted tomatoes, spaghetti with meat-flavored sauce. Less calories, forced portions....more hunger, more physical weakness. For food this week, I had to dip back into survival mode...just-add-water pancakes, tuna salad that's just canned tuna and mayonnaise on wheat bread, canned chicken to add to ramen noodles, split 8 pieces of pizza across 3 meals, vending machines, etc. Fun times. I get paid tomorrow, so I just gotta last 22 more hours and then I can indulge a bit. I haven't done much exercise beyond the day-to-day movement from work to save my strength and energy and keep my hunger down.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
I happened to weigh myself last night and weighed in at 321 lbs (~145kg), which isn't too bad. I did indulge myself for a couple days after my last post with moderate helpings of pizza an burgers, though I ate three quarters of a 12 inch (~30 cm) pizza in one sitting. And I did regain my strength and stamina back. after a few days of regular eating.

Yesterday I did some exercise. I did the Stretched workout and 1 set of Epic Glutes. I had planned to do more, but didn't end up happening. But at least I got some movement in.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
I was feeling motivated to exercise this morning, so I prepared to straighten and clean my room to make space. Then some folks started doing work or something in the apartment next to mine and freaked me the heck out. Anxiety triggered and I after a few minutes of deciding whether to call someone about the noise, I decided not to and straightened and cleaned my room instead. The noise died off after a while and then I had lunch. And THEN I exercised.

I had some microworkouts lined up.
Good Morning - made by me a while back.
Boxer Arms
Power Squat
Hang In There - I modified this one, but I still used a bar and made sure I went to failure.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Been a while. I did some exercise today. A drunk guy tried to "force" his past me into my apartment and I had to fend him off. No one was hurt, but it wasn't much of a scuffle. He tried to shove me but responded by pushing him back with arm and holding him against the walkway railing until I could figure out how to push him far enough away for me to get back into my apartment and lock the door without hurting him or angering him. I was physically fine, but the whole experience caused me to have an anxiety attack.

I eventually calmed myself, but to calm myself more and keep my hands busy, I did the following:
Boxer Arms
Final Bell - Level 1 (3 sets)
Stapler
Reset Stretch

Still feeling a tad bit of anxiety, and I expect it to stick around for the rest of the day, but I'm functional.
 

EnbyFitness

Well-known member
Boxer Pronouns: they/them
Posts: 51
"doing grad school and getting buff"
I'm glad nobody was hurt. It's kind of amazing that you were even able to exercise after something like that happened; I probably would've had the anxiety attack and then numbed out the rest of the day. I hope things are okay with you.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
I'm glad nobody was hurt. It's kind of amazing that you were even able to exercise after something like that happened; I probably would've had the anxiety attack and then numbed out the rest of the day. I hope things are okay with you.
I know what you mean about numbing out. I'm still a little jumpy, but okay. I usually channel my anxiety into cleaning, but I didn't have anything adequate enough, but my hands needed something to do, so I tried channeling it into shadowboxing.
 

neilarey

Administrator
DAREBEE Team
Shieldmaiden from Greece
Posts: 719
"Trust The Awesomeness"
Happy Birthday!!!!

Greeting Happy Birthday GIF by macniten
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checking in.
My aspirations for exercise have been dashed by some recent housing troubles. Namely: second-hand smoke and noise and general safety concerns. I brought some small pieces of exercise equipment to work so I could get some more activity during the day and/or after work. Or try, at least. It's a work in progress. I haven't been getting good sleep because of these housing issues. Had a detailed conversation with a property manager and I'm hoping to be transferred to a unit at another property that so far seems to allow for better things all around.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in...from my new digs :yas:

Did quite a bit of stair work yesterday, lol, moving some stuff to the new place. It's bigger, so there's more room for home gym stuff. The building is of sturdier construction, so I can actually do actually jumping exercises. I may be able to actually *gasp* do burpees!

It's a definite upgrade from what I had. I'm excited for future possibilities. I may even look into more equipment. Hero body here I come, lol.

On the food front, it didn't come with a microwave and the front security door is not accessible by food delivery drivers, so I will most likely use that to my advantage and make shopping trips and get food that I have to cook myself. The kitchen is bigger, which is awesome, and there's more storage space. So, yeah.

Should be an interesting 12 months.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in
I been getting plenty of movement in this past week moving more stuff. Monday and Tuesday after work, I'd gather a load of things from my old place and haul them over and up to my new place. Wednesday took a break. Thursday, I hauled my portable air conditioner down the stairs of my old place (almost fell down the stairs too) and left it in my car for a night. Friday I hauled my air conditioner up to my new place and then did some more gathering of things and taking out of garbage at my old place. I had also been moving stuff out of my

I decided on a plan for my new place. My entire front room will be the home gym, which will also host my computertainment center so I can have Darebee workouts up on my screen and see them from anywhere in the room. I expect to buy more equipment :muahaha:. My kitchen is a dedicated kitchen with actual counterspace and to get in the front door requires a key, so that will cut down on me ordering food delivered, because I don't like getting ready to go somewhere if I don't have to, even down three floors to get a delivery from the front door to the building. I expect to be cooking a lot more home meals. :bigyes:

Recently, I've mostly been eating two meals a day - breakfast and dinner. Lunch has pretty much been reduced to a snack, and not even a healthy one - a small bag of chips and a soda from a vending machine.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hi all, just checkin' in
It took a while, but I've finally gotten my stationary bike and my pull up bar together and my living room rearranged enough that I can do some small workout stuff. I have yet to find my scale and put new batteries in it.

I sat down the other day and went through my bookmarks and developed a training plan for myself that I aspire to. 3-a-days. Something for morning, a little bit for mid-day, and the heavier ones for the evening. Sorta like how I do my meals now.

Today I did a few of the smaller ones:
Fighter's Warmup
Eye Workout
Eye Rest
Micro Break
Keyboard Warrior
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
A rather disappointing turn of events: the metabolic formula I need to get my protein properly for my metabolic disorder costs an arm and a leg and a small fortune, rendering it inaccessible to me. This prompted me to research bodybuilding for PKU. I was not thrilled with what I found. A couple articles saying the same thing that, in a nutshell, I cannot exercise as much as everybody else. Slow weight loss is necessary. The agreed upon MINIMUM by health organizations of 150 minutes per week of exercise or 75+ minutes of intense exercise...should be my MAXIMUM. The reason is, exercising raises phenylalanine levels in a PKUer's blood which is generally bad. I eat more high-protein food than I should anyway, because the diet of a PKUer is extremely limited to begin with. The "therapeutic" food that is marketed to our kind? Straight chemicals compounds. The lamest thing ever is there is a PKU-friendly baking mix (chemical compounds) and there is a product called "Eggz" (PKU-friendly egg mixture, chemical compounds). I compared the two ingredients lists...the difference? Turmeric. To make the "Eggz" yellow. Major facepalm. It's like they're not even trying. Soy, Lentils, and other plant based proteins? Half that of meat, but still too high for your average PKUer.

But it's still advised that PKUers can exercise just as often (3-5 times a week).

This revelation changes how I have to look at exercise by a lot. Exercise dreams are dashed. Just have to exercise for strength now and keep fighting the food battle. Which 80% is food, 20% is exercise anyway, so I guess that lines up.

*sigh*

OH, AND I can't use caloric deficit as a means of weight loss for the same reason as exercise. Raises the levels of phenylalanine in the blood.

:smash:
 
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Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in
Rode about four minutes on my little stationary cycle. Got some new headphones and was testing them out with some songs on Youtube and became inspired (with the help of a pick-me-up from some pizza, chicken wings, and a caffeinated soda beverage), so I pedaled most of the length of one of the songs at a decent clip. Got my heart goin' and my legs workin' anyway.

In other news, I inadvertently deleted all my workout bookmarks, so I had to go through the database again and find them. Ended up finding some new ones, too.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Somehow I pulled my Achille's tendon in my left foot, so I've been hobbling about like an old codger. Not sure how it happened. Maybe with work picking up recently, the more frequent activity had a hand in that. Especially since my leg muscles have been feeling a bit tight. I have a way to massage them, so I'll have to dedicate some time address that. I can feel them spasming in random places.
Last weighed at 320lbs (~145 kg)
Did some exercise today, but I think I shot myself in the foot by starting off with the Balance workout. I lost my balance and cause more stress to my tendon, which cut short my plan exercise activities.
I did Level 1 Lazy Abs, Posture, and 2 sets of Spring Chicken.
Foot hurt too much after Balance so now I've got it elevated and on ice.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in,
Tendons were feeling better, but I think I undid that with my 5-minute bike ride this morning. Last night, I felt my lower leg muscles cramping up while trying to go to sleep. Based on my limited knowledge of human anatomy and basic mechanics, relaxing the muscles may be the key. I feel the same tendon discomfort in my right ankle at times.

I figure I need to do some more stretching or warming up in the mornings, so that was my thinking with my exercise this morning. Of course, I didn't do any stretching, lol. Just the bike ride for a warm-up and then 3 sets of 4 reps each of inverted rows and modified pushups.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Foot's all healed. I didn't end up doing any muscle relaxing things, just kept off it and put a brace on it for a day.

Saturday, I took a jaunt through the grocery store. Like, a good old fashioned weave through every aisle and section of stuff, reconnecting with my personal culinary history, and reprogramming my mind to get away from junk. Filled my shopping cart to the brim (trolley for y'all across the pond) with a smattering of fresh, bulk, and singular items...and a few sweets, too, to satiate my inner child. I'm trying tofu again. I did not know there are different firmnesses of tofu. It's the mattress of food, apparently. I've never had eggplant, so I bought one to use for a Mediterranean recipe. English cucumbers for eating and a regular cucumber for eye spa treatment. I bought a lot of things for a lot of things and tried to get something for every purpose - meal, snack, quick-prep, long-prep - so hope to have some fun.
 

Brontus

Well-known member
Ranger from Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 98
Hey all, just checkin' in.
Had my annual PKU check-up today and received great news. I asked the doc about the whole exercise thing and he said I can pretty much workout like a normal person!:pose: Because of the way resources are broken down for energy, once resources start being taken from muscle, yeah my phenylalinine levels will rise, but it's only temporary. The phe will be absorbed back into the muscle as it rebuilds. He said after about an hour of moderate exercise would be when he would expect the phe levels bump up, so that gives me lots more to work with. We about to get crazy, y'all :curlz:

Got some more food things to work on to get my phe levels down. I haven't been doing too well mentally, and I have no frame of reference for getting older with this disorder, so I've been concerned for my future mental state.

But we're on a good path now, I think.
 
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