Today’s check-in up top – 260.
I’m a little cautious with that, skeptical that I’ll be able to maintain, but we’ll clock it. Also, I don’t think I’m going to check that in every week going forward. I do think I’ll keep up the general check in, which will likely stay fitness focused and on Friday, for free. Fun? I just won’t be logging my weight here until something of note happens.
I think it undermines my overall fitness goals and explorations to just focus on that number. I stated that when I first started the fitness check and then, you know, did the opposite. So let’s get that part of my blogging back on track, and only log the weight when something happens. Instead, let’s get to what the check-in is supposed to be about – overall progress and what I’m doing to get there.
Let’s start with what I’m doing to get there. I mentioned in the last post that I finally followed through on my threats of HIIT, in both the sprinting and calisthenics flavors.
Side note – what is up with the spelling of that word? Calisthenics, I mean. How does anyone know how to spell that without a spell check? Truly, every time I go to type it in for the first time in any session, I inevitably get it wrong. I’m not even consistent in my misspelling. Sometimes I remember there’s a “th” in there, other times I don’t. That “i”? Yeah, sometimes that’s an “e” in my head. About half of the time I think it’s like “calisthedics”. That’s not right, we all know that’s not right, but for some reason my head thinks there should be a “d” sound in there, and I do not know why. Words are bad and I don’t like ’em.
Right, two flavors. Three, I guess, counting the spinning session. Unless we can just call a stationary bike HIIT session another sprint, which seems fair to me. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it because the research on HIIT suggests that it is far more effective at fat burning than most other forms of exercise. Fat burning is pretty high on my list of sub goals under the overall fitness umbrella-ella. It’s one of those compounding things, where the various changes that accompany the core results give an additional boost to other areas. Yes I’ll lose weight, get thinner, and fit better in my clothes, and those are all important to me. I’d love for a woman to look at me with wanting ever again in my life. It’s a feeling I didn’t realize that I’ve wanted until it recently became painfully clear how deeply I’ve been longing for it. But I also have to think about stuff like, my mobility, blood sugar, pressure on my heart. Mortality shit. Arguably more important than lookin’ spiced, but then the soul doesn’t burn for the touch of, like, target heart rate.
Now this isn’t going to be a deep exploration into any of that, though perhaps there are some subjects for other days in there. So back to the subject at hand. The short version is that I think I’m going to try incorporating HIIT sprints and cales… body weight exercises sooner than I had originally planned. I figured I’d pull in the HIIT stuff around the end of summertime, but I’m feelin’ like now would be better. However, I would have to be carefull with balancing the workouts. When it’s just a few jogs and lifting sessions, I can kinda do them whenever. But when each workout effects the next, I gotta Jenga these things better so I don’t just topple over.
I mentioned that the HIIT session canceled my scheduled Leg Day. I had plans to just treat it like a rain out postponement, and pick the leg stuff up the next day. But when I got up yesterday, my legs told me “no thanks”. It is now two days later, and my thighs are still on fire. I think we gotta admit that leg day ain’t gonna happen this week. I guess I count the HIIT session as both, but given that the different workouts focus on different fitness aspects, I don’t want to completely replace my actual leg strength training with something that isn’t focused on that going forward. So my loose plan to put together a schedule eventually has to tighten up. Evidentially, “eventually” is now.
Okay, now for the overall progress part, for which we shall do a “fit check”. This is the space between the numbers on a page and how you might feel about yourself in a more ethereal manner. For me, that is squarely in how my clothes fit. And I have a great check in for that today.
Late last week and early this week, there has been some rain and chilliness. That coincided with my leg day turned HIIT, of course, but that wasn’t the only chilly day. A few of those days brought me out of doors, which precipitated me throwing on a jacket. This is a jacket I’ve been wearing a lot the last few years, and one whose changing feel of fit I’ve become quite familiar with. The last few years have been marked by insane weight gains, near instant losses, rapid regains, and now (hopefully) slower and more healthy losses. That jacket has been along for the ride, and I’ve felt its distinct fit at each level. A couple of years ago, I got too big to even put it on.
After leaving the hospital, having shrunk down considerably, it basically hung off me. Before the spring of 2024, when I’d gotten down to about 220lbs, I was practically swimming in it. It of course got tighter as I rebounded to a bigger me. A few months ago, it was starting to feel real tight again. Tight enough to raise concern, like I worried how much longer I’d be able to zip it up. That was a real motivator, one of many, to step the exercise up a notch. This week, however, I am happy to report that every time I donned my dark blue jacket, it felt comfortably loose. Fancy free. And that’s a very dope feeling.
Anyway, that’s it for today. I’ll try and write about something that isn’t my stupid gut next week. In the mean time, have a great weekend. I will.