I was up at 3:56 am this morning. I just woke up, without an alarm, so I got out of bed. After spending a good 15 minutes on the toilet I hemmed & hawed about what type of workout to do and finally decided to just do another 30 minutes on the elliptical. I have to admit it is nice to have it available for convenience. But, what I’d really like to do is strength training. The problem is that the all the strength exercises I want to do should be done with a spotter and I don’t have a gym partner and I don’t see myself finding one willing to meet me at the gym at 4:30 in the morning.

So I think I need to decide the night before what I am going to do the next morning so I don’t have to make that decision in the morning. Also, on top of that I need to put together a routine that I can follow so I don’t have to think about it each night.

After exercising I was a bit frustrated to see that I gained a pound since yesterday. After playing basketball on Tuesday I weighed 231.4. This morning after exercising I weighed 238. I’m going to cut myself some slack because first and foremost I feel good. Secondly, I think it is mostly water weight. I was very dehydrated after playing basketball. The past two mornings I drank 16-24 ounces of water while working out. On top of that my legs are swelling up again and I have pitting edema. This is a side affect from taking Gleevec which tends to come and go. Plus, I stood all day while working because of my sore butt!

One of my goals is to learn by reading a non-fiction book each month. Last year I started listening to Les Miserables. I got about halfway through it. It is a 60 hour audiobook! To be quite honest I think the offer goes into way too many tangents. But, I have decided to finish it before starting another book. It’s taking all the willpower I have – and I’m listening to it on 2x speed. I have a number of books I want to spend my time listening to when I finish Les Miserables.

  1. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess – Jesse Mecham, the creator of You Need A Budget (YNAB) talked about this book in a podcast.
  2. 4 Hour Body – I’ve listened to this in the past, but now that I am getting serious about getting fit, I’m curious to listen again.
  3. Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job – I downloaded this for free from Dave Ramsey’s website. Curious more than anything.
  4. Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela’s autobiography. This is another book I’ve started. I’m about ¼ of the way through it. It is a 27 hour audiobook.