Buddy’s Fitness News

It goes something like this…

Load 18 60-pound bags of ready to mix Quikrete plus several pieces of rebar onto one of those flatbed cart thingies (1100+ pounds).  Push the darn thing all the way through the store and past several male employees who must think you’re doing a pretty good job because none of them offer any kind of assistance whatsoever.  Checkout.  The cashier offers no assistance to get the stuff loaded into my van.  Load the van.  Drive home and unload 5 bags at a time onto the handtruck and cart up the drive into the back yard.

Round two…

Go back to Home Depot for the remaining 12 60-pound bags of Quikrete (720 pounds) PLUS one very heavy and awkward 94-pound bag of Portland cement.  With a few pounds less and my legs all warmed up, I fly to the opposite end of the store to the only open register to check out only to hear, “OMG, did you load this by yourself?  Do you need help loading it into your vehicle?  Are you sure?  You might hurt yourself!”

Was I in the same store?  Did I run into the only employee who payed attention to the training video?  Too little too late.  I was all warmed up and ready to continue my workout, so I declined any offer of assistance.

Day two…

Mix, pour, spread, tamp, and level 25 bags of Quikrete.  This part of the job made the previous workout seem like a cakewalk.  Surprisingly once Jen and I got going on the job, we finished it in just a few hours and had the tools cleaned and were in the house by 7:30pm.

Day three…

Removed the forms.  Patted myself on the back for making the executive decision to staple 3mil plastic to the forms as they easily lifted away from the slab.  Did some measuring for my ghetto deck and stairs I intend to build.  Drove back to Home Depot.

All I can say is this… they must have an entirely different training program for the guys in lumber than they do for the guys in the garden department, because all I had to do was look female and helpless, and the guys did most of the work.  They sorted through the lumber for me, picked out the best boards, and loaded them onto my cart.  They answered all my questions, did price checks, and assisted me in finding the other items needed for my project.  What can I say, it was a “lite” workout day!  All Jen and I had to do was load and unload the van.

Oh yeah… for all you “green” people out there who frown upon people with gas guzzling vehicles… um… I loaded ten footers into my van and had a couple feet to spare with the doors closed.  So you can just kiss my ass, ok?  You try doing that in your little matchbox Yugo.  There was a reason why I bought the beast.  My Chevy Cavalier days are way over!  I often joke that my next vehicle is going to be a Uhaul!

Next post:  some pics of the project.

This past weekend I decided to tackle a project which has been on my to do list for quite a few years now.  Like any other home improvement project, this thing has grown to mammoth proportions.

Basically, all I need is a set of steps at my side door.  Well, now I’m in the process of major excavation with the intent of pouring myself a concrete patio area with concrete steps.  It’s what I intended to do all along, but never had the motivation to begin the project.  Now I’ve begun it, and I’m in a race to try to get as far as I can before we hit freezing.  As it is, tonight we’re expecting snow showers and the current temp is 34 degrees!  On top of that, I’m at work during the prime daylight hours.  I’d hate to say it, but it’s times like this that I miss NOT having a job!  Well, we’re supposed to have a couple dry days ahead with temps going back up to the low 50’s (I hope).  I’ll just have to work fast.

Between the digging and shopping for supplies after work hours, I haven’t had much of a chance to even think about working out.  My eating’s been ok for now.  The good thing is I’m broke, so as tempting and convenient as fast food sounds for 3 meals a day, I can’t afford it.

The fun all starts tomorrow when 4 tons of #2 crushed stone will be delivered to my house.  I’m praying that they can dump it in my drive between the houses.  If not, they’ll just dump it at the end of the drive and I’ll have to cart it one wheel barrel load at a time to where I need it.  I just don’t like the idea of it being at the road, because in my neighborhood, it it ain’t tied down with a homeowner on guard with shotgun in hand, it’s free for the taking.  Oh well.

Why is it that diets always start on a Monday?  Ok, well maybe it’s different for other people, but I always tend to lean towards Monday as my official start date for a diet.  Anyhoo, the point of this post is to confess that the past three days have pretty much gone out the window.  Not only did I fall off my “water intake” wagon, but my eating has been pretty bad too.  I don’t think my total calorie counts have been all that bad, but my choice of foods tended to be anything but healthy.

Friday was a disastrous day at work, followed by fielding phone calls from my players saying they wouldn’t be at practice that night.  I suppose the good news is that Jen and I had a whole sheet of ice to ourselves for an hour and a half.

Saturday turned into a major construction day at the house.  I started outdoors by digging a foundation area for my new back steps I intend to build.  Then after dark, Jen and I crawled under the house with all the petrified spiders, scrurrying mice, and who know what else was watching us, and we began excavating under the exterior walls of the house.  It’s a long story, but after years of drainage problems and erosion, my pre-1896 house has some issues.  Needless to say, by the end of the night, we were covered in soot soaked dirt, webs, and other nasty stuff, so eating scheduled balanced meals wasn’t at the top of my to-do list.  So, a single trip to the McD’s drive-thru, and dollar menu fare it was.

Today is just another day.  Hockey at 9am, no time for breakfast, drive-thru lunch while running errands afterwards, and now were off to a friend’s house for chili and a football game.

Like I said, there’s always Monday.

Well, well, well… why am I not surprised?  It didn’t take me long to blow it.  I suppose the good news is that I was only 279 calories over my daily limit.  It could’ve been worse.  Fortunately for me, I was more tired than I was interested in eating!  I did fall way short in the water intake department though.  I managed to only get in 8 of the 19 cups.  8 is good, but I kind of really wanted it to be a hydration day since I’m playing hockey Friday (today).  The halloween candy got the best of me today.  I ate two fun size M&M’s while at work, but the real kicker was the king size Nestle DrumStick ice cream cone I picked up at the gas station on my way home from Jenniffer’s hockey practice.

I was on my way to a 19 cup (of water) day, but fell short at 14 cups.  The water intake is getting much easier, and I left work with only 5 cups to go.  I think the water is helping out a bit with my hunger too as I’d only consumed just under 800 calories for the day before I left work.  BUT… things didn’t turn out so great for me.

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